LMAO

An amusingly true depiction of Matt's and my views on fishing :)

 Click on the link above to watch this hilarious video about fishing and how much of an obsession it can become.  It epitomizes my lack of understanding of why fishing is such a major priority and Matt's lack of understanding why it's not.  Matt actually showed me this, so at least he recognizes he has a problem; that's the first step, right?  I hope it's not just funny to me because it hits so close to home.......

Who needs toys when you have Mother Nature as a friend?  We had a random hot day, as in the temperature got close to 90, and you can bet we didn't let this awesome day get by us.  Matthew and Meredith played with pepples for a good 45 minutes, why?  I'm not sure, but they sure seemed like they were having fun

Meredith is showing her girly side with her dolls.  She will pretend to feed them, she hugs them, pushes them around, and even puts chapstick on them.  (I wonder where she learned that from...)

 Add water to a sand table and you create more excitement



My Super Cool Bean

Matthew is a bike-riding maniac!  He will go in continuous loops around the sidewalks and patios in our backyard for a long time.  It's fun to sit out there while he is doing it because he will make up fun games and stories.  Once he was going back and forth from the grocery store and dropping off the groceries with me.  Another time he was playing house and every time he would come to "my house" (which was the deck) he would remember that he forgot something (like his wallet) at his house (the fire pit) and have to go back and retrieve it.  He has a superb imagination!

One of the frogs Matthew caught this afternoon from our pond.  He named him 'Monster', which seems to be his favorite name for animals.  Monster was released back into the pond after a short while to be with his froggy family ;)

This was Matthew's way of hugging Monster :)

The Bean's First Day Of 4-year Old Preschool

Matthew is growing up...and it's happening way to fast for my liking!  He had his first day of school today, which was a meet-and-greet for the kids and parents to get to know each other, the teacher, and the classroom.  He has a lot of the same students in his class as last year as well as some new ones that I'm sure he'll befriend in the next few days.  Tomorrow is the first day of his 'beginnergarden' which is a class he will attend every Tuesday that will focus entirely on reading.  Some of his friends are taking the class with him and he is psyched to learn to read :)

Getting ready to go through the doors of his school

His friends, Jilian and TJ, right before their grand entrance

The kids followed footsteps on the ground and walked through the bubbles to get to their cubbies

The kids spent the first half exploring their new classroom and meeting the other kids

Sitting down for circle time

His new teacher, Mrs. Levanti (who is awesome!) introduced herself, went over the class jobs and some of the curriculum, and then read a cute book

After doing a worksheet, Matthew was thrilled to show his work to his new teacher and then deposit it into his new mailbox

Meredith explored the classroom as well and it was fascinating to watch her "play" the computer-which was her moving the mouse around and watching the arrow move on the monitor

Live Action

A few videos of the action...the last video is from the warm-up.  In the second video, Matthew is the late-runner

Matthew's Very First Soccer Game!

Matthew's soccer team had their very first game today!  Matthew had been looking forward to it all week, although I'm not entirely sure that he understood what a "game" was.  He has only had two practices and the practice he was supposed to have this past Monday where the coach was going to go over game information was canceled, so the Bean pretty much was playing blind in the way that he really had no idea what was going on/supposed to happen.  We had talked about it, but like me, Matthew is a hands-on learner.  Their componenets, the Animals, did win, but I know once Matthew and his teammates get the hang of it they will be unbeatable ;)  Coach Matt asked the kids to show up early so they could practice kicking the ball into a goal (their first time ever using a goal)

The Ref did a safety check on the players to make sure they all had on their shin-guards and cleats

Matthew was a starting player...although at this age the coach's goal is to make sure all the kids have the same amount of field time

The weather was perfect!  Meredith just chilled and watched the going-ons

Matthew played well-at least when he wanted to.  He was off and on with his playing.  At times he would be really into the game but at other times he would just stand in one spot paying attention to anything but the game (which I have to admit was extremely frustrating for Matt and me)

He is number 3, but if you ask him "he isn't 3, he is 4"

The whole gang showed up to be a part of Matthew's debut as a soccer champ

I'm proud of my little man and will always be proud of him for just putting forth effort, trying his best, and having fun

Days Gone By

A hodgepodge of pics from the past several days.  Meredith is really getting into coloring.  Matthew's and my new favorite activity is coloring with Meredith

Matthew has been sharing so well lately and has fun finding things to share with Meredith.  He decided they needed to share a yogurt for a snack one afternoon and insisted they sit together on the floor to eat together :)

He even shares his vTech with her!  It helps that she shares her coloring book with him

I'm not sure what spurred this on, but I've decided our family needs to have better eating habits.  We don't drink soda anymore (well, the kids never did, but Matt and I gave it up), I try not to have so much candy in the house (one of my weaknesses), and I don't buy junk just to fill up the cabinets but rather make nutritious meals, like the one I made last night-Swiss steak-that Matt came home from a long day of work and ate it all up while saying it was delicious