Jared's first soccer game

Jared has his first soccer lesson yesterday. It was absolutely priceless. I thought my heart would explode with how adorable these little ones were and how much fun they had. It was a little like herding cats to start with but as the hour went on they did better and better. The coach said that they had done very well for an under 4 team. He says it is usually a lot more chaotic.

They all got their team shirt and shorts and socks. We had to supply the boots and shin guards. Their colour is orange and they all decided that they will be known as the Tigers!! They also each got to choose the number that they wanted to be. Jared chose 6. The shirts were of course 3 sizes too big on all of them. But nodoby even seemed to notice.

The lesson started with 30 mins of warm up and excerises with the ball. Jared would not part with "his" ball for anything. He made sure if it wasn't in his hands that it was very close by at all times. They did some running between cones with the ball and some stretching once they were warmed up. All very professional for a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds. In the beginning I thought we were going to have to can the soccer idea and rather enroll Jared in Basketball because he wouldn't leave the ball on the ground. He insisted on picking it up and no amount of "no hands" was going to convince him that was a good idea. He caught on after a while though and seemed to get it.

After the warm up they all got a snack and a juice. And then the big moment of their first game against another team. They played against the grey team - The Dinasours. Now that was a sight!!! There were tears from one little guy because the children wouldn't play with him, they were all running away. He never realised they were chasing the ball and not running away from him. Jared cried because he couldn't get the ball. One of the others was crying because he just wanted a turn. Hannes went onto the field with Jared and explained to him that the game was to chase the ball and try and get it away from the other children. He shrieked with laughter declaring that was a fun game and was off and running. From that moment he was all over that ball like a rash.

I tried very hard to limit the photos but it was very difficult so here is my best selection from over 100 pictures.

Warming up between the cones. Notice Jared with his ball in his hands.

Getting the hang of the no hands rule finally.

Doing stretches for their warm up. Too cute to even try to describe.

Still stretching

Playing Red light, Green light. When the coach shouts "green light" they have to run kicking the ball. When he shouts "red light" they have to come to a stop and put their foot on top of their ball.

And it's a green light!!!

Soccer mom in training.

Snack time.

Soccer dad and the team mascott in training.

Jared fast on his way to get the ball from the coach.

GOT IT!!!!

A plane flying overhead with a beautiful vapor trail. Jared loves seeing this and is convinced that it is a shooting star. He spotted this one and the result is in the photo below...

He had the whole team stop what they were doing and all were trying to see the shooting star that he was all excitedly pointing out to them.

Team huddle before the start of THE BIG GAME!!!

Jared and this little guy were both after the ball. Jared was trailing behind...

He caught up and got the ball...

And this was the end result of that little run. No tears, these boys are tough.

I love how big these shirts all are. It's just a reminder of how small these little guys actually still are.

Running full tilt with the ball in his hands while the coach was shouting "no hands, no hands".

This was an awwwww moment. This is the coaches wife with her little boys. He little guy ran and went and sat down on her legs, Jared saw this and decided that would be a fun thing for him to do too. She totally just took it in her stride with a big smile as though it happens often.

Our beautiful little man.

'Till next time xxxx

A day at the zoo

Spring has finally arrived. This has been the worst winter in terms of amount of snow and duration in the last 30 something years apparently. We all survived it though and nobody threatened to leave on a jet plane. In fact, if this is as tough as it gets, we have nothing to worry about.

We spent yesterday at the zoo enjoying the sunshine. Jared had a ball running around and jumping in all the puddles with his shark boots. Joel had fun too being pushed around and watching the world go by. It was a really lovely day out. Here are a few photos of our beautiful boys taken at the zoo.

This smile lights up the room. Joel was 4 months old yesterday.

Like his brother, Joel has beautiful blue eyes

We treated Jared to an Oreo cookie ice-cream. Let's just say he enjoyed every morsel

Our cool cat with his sunglasses

Check out the shark boots. The day we bought those we tried them on in store for size and he refused to take them off. The sales lady had to cut the tags off them while they were still on his feet and then he would pretty much only take them off for bedtime for a few weeks.

Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake

Jared and I decided to bake some cookies yesterday. We have never baked at home but he loves to help in the kitchen so I thought it would be fun. I usually keep him busy while I'm cooking by filling the sink with water and giving him measuring cups and spoons. He amuses himself for ages pouring water from one sink into the other. He doesn't always manage to keep it all in the sinks though!!

Anyway, the baking went really well. We had fun. It was a very easy recipe but I'm guessing it has to be in order for it to be flop proof. With the amount of tasting that Jared did and sticking his fingers into the mixture and poking and prodding I was sure that the recipe would flop but it didn't. I must say the cookies are not the nicest I've ever tasted but they are edible. Well Hannes and I think so anyway. Jared seems to think that "they are yucky mommy". It was fun to do though. Next time I think we'll try some cup cakes (pup cakes as Jared calls them).

Here are a few photos that I managed to snap in between the baking. We are still enjoying the I have a really silly grin on my face stage! I have faith that it too shall pass.

Very cute in one of my aprons and wearing his Chef's hat that he got at Christmas time at the cookie decorating stand

This is the closest I got to a normal smile

Concentrating really hard on getting everything well mixed

So much fun!!

Messy boy adding the M&M's

Very proud with his cookies all ready for the oven

The silly grin covered in chocolate from all the tasting

The finished product. Jared's Polka Dot Cookies