Sunday, July 26, 2015

May Activities

In May we had a lot going on. May is always busy with end of season and end of school year activities. New to us this year though was a Lego Robotics Competition for Ben. Paul and another woman from school started up a Lego Robotics Club for third graders at school this year. There was a regional competition and our school put forth two great teams. Ben's team made a satellite radio tower and explained how it worked. It was really neat to go to the expo and see what the other teams came up with too.
This was their presentation.
Here is Ben receiving his medal.
Here is the team!

The team with their awesome coaches!

We also wrapped up soccer season.  Here is Abbey playing.
And Juliette.
Nice kick!

Matthew enjoyed watching the games...or rather, eating the treats that the team provides for after the game!  It was tough work for me keeping him off the fields.  He saw the ball being kicked around out there and kept trying to run in and play with it!  Not yet, baby, but soon enough I am sure!
We also got to see Ben play his recorder in the end of school Band Concert, which was a lot of fun!  He wants to be in the Band next year, so we will see how that goes.

And spring meant warmer weather (finally) and some trips to the park!  Matthew really likes going to the park and his siblings really like taking him and playing with him there too.

 See saw with Juj!
 And this baby loves a good stroller ride too.
 We got out the cozy coop and Abbey had fun pushing Matthew around in it.
 Matthew just tends to go along with these things, which works out well for everyone involved!
 And he found a love of books.
He loves to pull out every book from the shelf and flip through it!  I actually do not mind cleaning this up (multiple times a day) because he is so cute sitting there looking through all the books!
And he started walking too!
 More park time!

 And we have walked to the train station to meet Daddy when he gets in from work.  Ben was kind enough to cover Matthew's ears for him when the big train came through blowing its horn!
 Matthew is quite the helper around the house.  He loves to help unload the dishwasher (whether it is dirty or clean)...
 And he loves to help with laundry.  One of his favorite activities is taking clean clothes from his dresser and putting them directly into the hamper (as if I don't do enough laundry already)!  He also really enjoys helping me move clothes from the washer to the dryer, shutting the door, and pushing the button to start it.  What a big helper!
 And the boy loves to eat...especially Cheerios.  This is what I found one day when I noticed he was being especially quiet...don't mind me mom, I am just having a little snack here on the floor!
He is a big cheerleader to his siblings at their soccer games!
 Ben ended his travel soccer season with a second place win in a big tournament, which was exciting!
 His team really came together this spring and ended up being first in the league, which was especially exciting considering their fall season and winter season showed many more losses than wins.  Somehow, everything they had been working on all year seemed to click in the spring season and they all of a sudden started really playing as a team and doing really well.  It was really exciting to watch!

 This boy and his cheerios....at least now he just carries the bag around with him instead of dumping it on the floor!

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Recitals

In May, the girls had their dance recitals. Abbey took a Jazz class this year and Juliette was in Ballet. They were both super excited for their big performances.
Strike a pose!
Juliette is a Prima Ballerina (which was also the name of the song she danced to!).
Abbey is ready for a Girls Party (name of her song!).
Friends from dance.

Abbey gets into it!

I love this picture - she just looks like she is having so much fun dancing!


Juliette's turn!






They both did awesome!  I love recital day - it is so fun to see them up there really enjoying themselves!  I get a little teary watching them every year.  


Congrats flowers from Daddy

Supportive brothers...Matthew actually really enjoyed watching all the dances (thank you Paul and Ben for going early and getting us great seats up front), but in between performances the whole theater was dark and he did not like that part.  He cried during that time and then immediately stopped once the next music started or the curtain went up.
It was a great afternoon!  I will try to get the videos uploaded because they are so cute!