Veterans Day

We took the opportunity to finally get an up close view of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Canby on Veterans Day. 

Isaac loves that helicopter we see on an almost daily basis and we’ve been meaning to take him to walk around it for quite some time.  Veterans Day was the perfect day to do that.

We listened a little to the information about the memorial.

Then we discussed with our children the blessing of living in the United States of America and how thankful we are for those who defend our country.

It was especially touching to hear Lee tell stories of his Dad’s service in the Vietnam War as a medic. 

The memorial statue prompted endless questions from Isaac and Grace.

I’m glad we finally stopped to see the memorial and discussed the significance of it.

When we got home Lee talked more about our country and the twins showed off their memorization of the Pledge of Allegiance.

How grateful we are for our country.  This was a great discussion to have after coming off of a disappointing election earlier that month.   Not only did we talk about veterans, but also how we support our leaders and how we can make a difference in our own home and in our community.

Soccer 2012

*None of the game pictures in this post were taken by me.  I hardly pulled my camera out this season for some reason.  Thankfully other parents were better photographers…

Emma’s soccer season was a little rough.  She’s been playing with mostly the same girls since 3rd grade and they have always been a winning team.  This year was a little different.  They only won two games, tied one, and lost the others.  It was frustrating for Emma, but a good learning experience.

This year they moved up to a bigger field and to 11 players on the field, Emma’s team just had a hard time adjusting to those changes.

But, she had fun.

Emma kept her usual position of defender.  At their very last game she played forward and came oh so close to making a goal.  Her coach said he might play her there more often next year.

Coach Bill was Emma’s coach again this year.  He is such a nice man and Emma likes him.  He makes an effort to go to the other activities of the girls such as band and choir concerts and plays.  Emma’s team actually practiced with the team that is just older than them that Coach Bill also coaches.  He was a busy soccer coach!  Practicing with that older team was also a challenge for Emma’s team (the older girls weren’t always very nice to the younger girls), but they got through it.

Even thought it was a tough season, the girls had fun playing together. 

This field is always so disgusting and I’m always so glad that Emma doesn’t take part in rolling in the mud.  Gross!

After the last game (which they won!) was their end of the season pizza party.

So, another soccer season ends.  We didn’t get rained on too much and we weren’t too cold, which is always a plus!  Even better, the sister of one of Emma’s teammates totally took over the care of Isaac and Grace during the games she was at.  She was awesome!  She played with them and allowed me and Lee to actually watch the games.  At the last game she was so sweet and brought gifts for them.  Isaac and Grace were always excited to see her, I hope she is available next season too!  :)

Fairy Tale Ballet

Gracie was beyond excited to start Fairy Tale Ballet, or “dance class” as she calls it. 

She was excited to wear leotards, pretty ballet skirts and ballet shoes, and to have her hair in a bun (which she requested a picture of).  She was ready with her CTR ring (look closely) which she had to wear to remind her to choose the right while at dance class. :)

Even better, she had two cute friends in her class.

She wasn’t nervous at all and went straight to sit down with her teacher without even saying goodbye to me.

Parents can’t stay for the class but we do get to watch the last 10 minutes.  Each class they focus on one fairy tale princess and use props that represent that princess.  It’s been fun to see they have learned, Grace just eats it up.

My favorite has been watching her learn first position.  Instead of putting her heals together she was putting her toes together.  So cute and totally wrong!  At least her arms are in the right position in the picture below.  I was almost sad when she learned how to do it correctly.

Isaac has been adamant that he does not need to take a dance class.  He has told other people that he plays sports, not ballet.  Grace goes back and forth between telling him that there are no boys in her class so he can’t come to telling him that her class needs a boy.  Such funny conversations!  Isaac and I get a little bit of one on one time while Grace is at class.  One day I got escorted to the store by Superman while Grace was at dance.

We’ve also spent time at the Lego Store.  Isaac keeps asking me when I am going to sign him up for a sport.  Not yet, for now we get to enjoy our little dancer.