It's been a hard days night

Sometimes you just can't go as long as you think you can.

Soccer Star...

Well, maybe not yet but Bly started his first sport of soccer this spring. It is a skills class where they teach the kids the basics but it is great fun to watch. He is the youngest in the class but he caught on to the group mentality pretty quickly during class. He still has that big itch to kick the ball and sometimes that itch just needs to be scratched even when he is supposed to be just holding on to his ball. The result from his first class is that he wants to wear his soccer shoes everywhere he goes. Maybe the next Beckham in the future, but right now just a riot to watch.

Learning to stop the ball which is a real trick for people with such small feet still.

Action shot. One time while doing this drill he was yelling "I'm doing it Mommy!" all the way down the court.

Bly doing the group cheer.

Birthday Party: Part 2

Bly wanted to have a Peter Pan birthday party for his friends. It was a close choice between Peter and Toy Story, but Neverland won out so I decided to turn our house into Neverland. Bly was so excited with the decorations and I recruited several family members to dress up and help with the games. I dressed as Wendy, Azzi was Tink and Tim was a big hit with Captain Hook. One of Bly's friends didn't believe it was really him until he took off his wig.

I think that everyone had a great time and it was so fun to see Bly with all of his friends running around the house. He has grown up so much over the past year and this is just another reminder of the new (and fun) things to come.

Birthday Party: Part 1

Bly had two birthday parties this year; one for the family and one for his friends. On Saturday was the family party. Bly's favorite food right now is tacos so we had a taco bar that was a hit. He loved to have all of his favorite people around at once and kept going around the room to play with one person or another. I know that my kids are blessed to have this much family around for them and to be there for them on important days like today. Someday they will be able to look back and see how truly lucky they were.

Blowing out the candles on his Buzz Lightyear cake.

Sharing the spotlight with Azzi.

The Coleman men. If the baby pictures hold true, I told Bly that this picture will let him see what he will look like as he ages.

The Johnson men. I guess we need to take more shots of the opposite sex come Mother's Day.

Aunt CaCa and Bly's new gift. She couldn't be any prouder that he is a baseball fan.

Spring Time (Hopefully!)

We met up with some friends to feed the ducks at ND and then have a picnic lunch. There were four moms with seven kids so we were quite a crew. The older kids had a great time playing in the nice weather. The four baby girls pretty much hung out together on the blanket but had fun none the less. I know that Bly especially is so excited that the weather is getting warmer and we can go outside to plaly.

All Aboard!

Bly finally used his Amtrak tickets to ride the big train. He was so excited to go but had a little wind taken out of his sails after the train was over an hour late. Once it pulled up him and Daddy were out the door. I was able to catch one picture before he went on board. Once on the train, he had a hard time feeling it move so he wasn't sure if we were actually on the train or those twisty tunnels to the top lead us somewhere else. We assured him several times that yes, we were on the train and had evidence of the crossings (thank goodness we passed a lot of roads). We ended up in Kalamazoo where Papa, Mia and Azzi were waiting for us at the station.

Papa and Bly waiting for the train to come.

Stopping for Mom to take the pictures before hopping on board.

These boots are made for walkin'

Azley thought these were magical boots that would allow her to stand up all on her own. She learned that hard way a few times but did not let that deter her. I had to get a picture.

These are some extra pictures, which include her brother getting into the act. Bly is well trained in that he knows when a camera comes out, he is ready to pose.

Bad Hair Day

This was a lesson to not let Azzi's hair dry after swim class with her hat on. Bad things happen....