Summer at a glance

The last few months have flown by way too quickly! Most of it was spent begging Baby Sister to get with the program and come (to no avail). The rest was spent at Stone Mountain and the Zoo hoping to walk Baby Sister into labor :) Of course the Summer would not be a complete without a Braves game  - or two - thrown in along the way!

 

Soccer

Sydney decided she wanted to take gymnastics this spring, so we let Jaxy try his feet at soccer.

He played on a team of 3 & 4 year olds at our local YMCA. They had 24 teams with 9 players each. Jaxy's team was the Stallions. At this age, they play either 3 on 3, or 4 on 4, depending on what the coaches decide.

They only play on Saturdays for one hour. They have a 30 minute "practice" and then a 30 minute game. Jaxy loved his first practice! He and Donnie kicked the ball around, took shots at the goal, dribbled across the little field...whatever the coach instructed. Each player had their own ball during practice.

Then it was time to start the game. The coach asked who wanted to play first, and Jaxon's hand flew up the fastest. He was so excited...and then he realized that there was only one ball for 6 little kids, and people would push you down to get a chance to kick said ball.

The first time he went down hard, he was ready to go home :) He wasn't so excited after that.

Fast forward five weeks, and things began to change. We showed up for his game, and only two other players an one coach were there. With only three players, everyone had to play the whole time. Donnie was unable to be there, so it was up to Sydney and I to motivate Jaxon.

I promised him we would go to Menchie's (a frozen yogurt place he loves) if he would be a good teammate and play the whole time. He did a great job, and even started trying to kick the ball away from the other kids. By the end of the game, he was doing a great job of kicking, but he would kick the ball down the field and then stop and not follow it all the way.

Finally, by game number six, Jaxon was excited to go in to play. He would not only kick the ball, but kick it away from the other kids too. Then he would actually stay with it and dribble it down the field. At one point, it was Jaxon versus 4 kids from the other team, because his teammates were not interested in playing (it was really hot!).

Jaxon scored 5 goals! He was so happy and had such a great time. At the end of the year party they gave all of the kids medals, and he thought that was the coolest thing ever. We were so proud of him, and the progress he made!

BUT he said he wants to try gymnastics next time.

Birthdays

I did not get a three-day celebration (Donnie said it was closer to a two-week affair).

Sydney and I spent the afternoon getting pedicures, and Jaxy and Donnie went shopping. They bought me new shoes and lots of chocolate, so I'd say it was a good day :)

We went to dinner with the kids, and finished the night off with a yummy coconut cake (my fave).

For Donnie's birthday, we had a little party at our house. We invited over 6 other families and had a cookout. The weather had been really nice (like in the 70s and 80s for a few weeks at that point), so the kids mainly stayed outside, leaving plenty of room inside for the adults.

Also, we had pie and ice cream for dessert since Donnie is not a cake person. It was fun to spend time with friends and celebrate Donnie :)

H-A-doubleP-Y 'cause it's your birthday...

Sydney lucked out this year, and we had a three-day celebration for her 6th birthday. First, she wanted to have a "tea party" with her friends. So on Saturday, we decorated the house, made tea party foods and cupcakes, and set up a craft station.


Soon our house was over-taken by a gaggle of 5 and 6-year-old girls (and Jaxy). The girls dressed up like princesses, ate, played, and then made their own bags. Donnie was the master of crafts, and with the help of our friend Kim, the girls made very interesting purses. Sydney had a blast, and I was happy to see it end :)


On Sunday, we went to my parents' house for the family celebration. Sydney had a great time playing with her cousins, and it was a nice relaxing day. She stocked up on craft supplies (her favorite thing in the world; she comes home from school every day ready to make a new art project or craft), and books.


Then on Monday (her actual birthday), we ate lunch with Sydney at school, and brought cupcakes so her class could celebrate with us. It was also the 100th day of school, so her class had special activities all day. Then that night we took her out to dinner.


The only problem is Jaxon now thinks his birthday should be a three-day celebration too!

Christmas

We had a lot to celebrate this Christmas! We have been so blessed with a wonderful family, great friends, and a lot of incredible opportunities. After a long summer, with many ups and downs, it was nice to be able to relax and enjoy everyone - and give thanks for the way things turned out.

We had the Ralston family Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve at my parents' house this year. Then on Christmas Day, we went to Deidra's house to visit with Donnie's parents who came in to town. With two celebrations in as many days, we were a little tired, but it was nice to see both sides of the family at Christmas!

Jaxy was most excited about the candy canes and underwear in his stocking - why did Santa bring him toys? :)


Sydney stocked up on Lala Loopsy toys, and was happy to hear she would not have to share them with baby sister when she is born.

After Christmas, Donnie had to go out of town for a few days, so it was up to the kids and I to take down the tree. I ended up doing it alone when it became to much for the kids to bear. They didn't understand why we couldn't leave it up until next year :) Jaxy was very broken up about it.

Halloween and such

The kids definitely piled up the candy and costume mileage this year. We went to the annual "Boo at the Zoo," and the kids were so happy to wear their costumes (Sydney was Tinkerbell, and Jaxy picked out Captain America - I'm pretty sure it was the shield that sealed the deal there).

There were lots of candy stands to trick-or-treat at, and costumed mascots were ready for each and every photo op. Jaxon would only approach statues and cut-outs, but Sydney was willing to pose with random characters.

They had a great time!

The next Saturday we spent at church for the Fall Festival. There were games, treats, and trunk-or treating activities all night long (and we spent all day preparing for it). We do not have any pictures because Donnie spent the entire time chasing around two kids on sugar highs, and I was stuck at the cotton candy machine the entire time - I can't even remember if I had a chance to eat.

We had carnival games, a cupcake walk, sno cones, cotton candy, hotdogs, chips, a chili cook-off, and lots of candy. Everyone had a great time!

Then on Halloween night we took the kids around our neighborhood. There were a lot of houses to pick up candy, but very few trick-or-treaters, so we all ended up with bags of candy. Donnie and the kids came home to grab new bags and went back out while I stayed to hand out treats at our house! 

Fall in review...

Our Fall was all about playing keep up. Sydney started kindergarten, Jaxy joined a preschool co-op group, Donnie's schedule became even crazier than it already was, I started babysitting a little girl in our ward, and we learned that our family would soon grow to include another little one.


Even with all of that going on, we still managed to frequent Stone Mountain and Braves' games, and fit in some extended family time.

U.S.Open

We went to New York at the end of August/beinning of September to check out early round action at the U.S. Open. We went with our good friends the Hansens, and had a great time.


I forgot the camera, so we only have random pictures from Donnie's phone, and only when we weren't trying to conserve the battery :). We mainly stayed at one of the smaller courts - more action, closer seats - but we did venture in to Arthur Ashe Stadium to check out Federer :)



We saw great matches, including Isner v. Baghdatis and Ferrer v. Monfis, both of which lasted well into 5 sets, a few tie breakers, and even a couple of shirt changes :)


We had tickets for the day sessions (10 a.m. until 7p.m., or the last day match ended), and so we tried to spend the evenings around Times Square. We ate yummy food, marvelled at how many people were still out at midnight, and even found Michael Jackson.