Cooper's Game

It's hard to believe that our nephew Cooper is old enough to be playing in soccer games. We finally made it to one of his games last Thursday. He looks so tiny out on the field, but he also seems so big when I watch him interact with his coach and teammates and go for the ball.

Tyler had so much fun watching his cousin play and Nathan enjoyed being held by his Uncle Jon. Nathan eventually gave Uncle Jon a break so that he could take Tyler to an empty field to kick a ball around. When I went over to snap a few photos, Tyler said, "Mommy, Uncle Jon is my coach!" He was having so much fun trying to kick the ball past his "coach" to score a goal.

Now Tyler really wants to play soccer and he wants Cooper to come see him. We'll have to see if we can find a league for him either this winter or next spring when Tim isn't in the middle of his triathlon season.

Most of my photos turned out blurry because the sun was setting and there wasn't enough lighting to get clear action shots. So, these are the best of the rest.

Tyler and Gabe played with some little train cars that we brought. They both love trains!

September Photos

I know I've been extremely bad about posting lately. I don't have a good excuse, except that my boys keep me busy! Tyler only had school one day last week, and that definitely seemed to affect my productivity for the week.

I was just viewing some random photos from September, so I thought I'd post a few here.

Here's a video from the beginning of September after Nathan had learned to quack like a duck. He also does his version of a cow's "moo", but it comes out more like "mmmm". He does all kinds of fun animal sounds now (a month later), so I'll have to see if I can get a video of him again soon.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

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For Labor Day weekend we had visitors. Tim's college roommate Jason and his girlfriend Kelly came up from Jacksonville, FL. Both of them were wonderful with our boys, so it was great when Kelly came with the boys and I to a birthday party for one of Tyler's little friends.

Palmer's party had pony rides, sand and water tables, and bubbles galore. Within the first 15 minutes, my boys were soaked with water and bubble solution, so we had to borrow some of Palmer's shirts. Tyler and Nathan both loved the pony rides (although you wouldn't know that Tyler liked the rides given his serious expression in the photos below) and all the activities. I was so grateful to have Kelly's help because it would have been pretty difficult to keep an eye on both boys and get photos of them on their ponies.

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For Tyler's first day of school, he was supposed to bring two or three things to show his teachers. At orientation he told his teacher that he likes bikes, so she suggested he might bring a picture of his bike as one of the items. Since we didn't have any recent photos of Tyler on his trike, we took a few and this is the one that he took to school.

I also took some photos of Nathan on the playset that our neighbors gave us. They were moving and since their kids are older now, they didn't want to take it with them. It has a slide and two swings. We haven't gotten much use out of it yet, simply because the mosquitos are so bad in our backyard. Once the weather cools off for good, I'm sure we'll spend more time on it.

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Our boys can find something fun to do with the simplest things. One particular day last month, they played in a laundry basket and then jumped off of a storage bin. Well, Tyler jumped. Nathan stood up on it and then carefully crawled back down.

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About a week ago, Nathan found a pink bear that Tim gave to me in high school. He loves this bear. He gives it kisses over and over. He would sleep with it if I let him.

Last Sunday we went to a park for a picnic with the Raleigh Running Outfitters team. Nathan fell on one of the playgrounds and busted his bottom lip with his top teeth. When he first did it, his lip bled quite a lot. He and I both had blood all over our clothes. I cringed every time he ate for the first day or so because it looked like it would hurt to eat. He seemed fine when he ate, though, and it healed very quickly.

Another photo of one of Tyler's creations. He made this caterpillar at MOPS.

Museum of Life and Science

We went to the Museum of Life and Science for Gabe's 2nd birthday at the end of August. Since the beginning of this month was kind of busy around here, I'm just now getting around to posting some photos from that day. I went a little crazy with the camera, so there were lots of pictures to sort through.

We'd never been to the museum before and we were pleasantly surprised with all the great exhibits. We didn't even have time to see everything because it's so large. The boys enjoyed the dinosaur trail where they have life-size replicas of dinos in a natural habitat. They also really liked the various children's playspaces. The highlight for all of them had to be the train ride. Gabe, in particular, kept asking when it would be time to go on the train, and he finally got his birthday wish right before lunch.

It was a great time for all of us and we're glad we could be a part of Gabe's special day.

Side note: These pictures were taken before both of my boys received a much needed haircut. Around this same time, several strangers mistook Nathan for a girl. I didn't think his hair was that long, but hopefully his new haircut makes it a little more clear.

The birthday boy

Cooper checks out an old caboose At the farmyard

On the dinosaur trail...Nathan and Uncle JonTyler meets a dinosaur up close

Tyler at the insectarium (we saw some nasty-looking bugs--yuck!)Photo from the butterfly houseBecki and her sister BethanyTyler had so much fun pounding on these big drums

Gabe carried this hammer around pretty much the whole day--it turned out to be a perfect drumstick.Cooper takes his turn with the bellsTyler feels what a real cloud is likeNot sure what Gabe was listening to here, but he looked cute doing it.Tyler on the rock wallPapa Rudy gives Nathan a rideNathan was getting tired by the time we got on the train. Here he is just relaxing with Nana before the ride began.On the trainI love how Cooper will always turn and give me a smile when I ask for one. My boys aren't so obliging.Evidence that Tim and I were actually present at the celebrationGabe and his cookie cakeNathan couldn't get the cookie cake down fast enoughGrandma Pittman and NanaGabe and a new train! He's a big Thomas fan.