Miles and Vivienne's First Soccer Practice

On Saturday morning, we went to Miles and Vivienne's first soccer practice.  We will be cheering on the Panthers for the next couple of months.  I'm pretty sure the MVPs on the team are #4 and #6, but I could be wrong.  At least they are clearly the MCPs (Most Cute Players).

They started practice by learning to kick to one another.

And learning to stop the ball with their feet.

And looking ridiculously cute in their jerseys.

Their little sister was content to sit on the sidelines with her apple and sweat like crazy (have I ever mentioned that this child sweats more than any kid I have ever seen?).

Vivienne wanted two braids for the occasion.

They also learned to dribble, of course.

The last half of the practice was a scrimmage game.  Vivienne was not a fan of the game portion of the practice.  Miles eventually caught on, but the parents spent most of our time yelling things like "Wrong way!" and "Turn around!" and "Other goal!"

At this point, I guess we should just be proud of them for not picking up the ball and throwing it to each other.

What About BOB?

I'm glad you asked.  Well, maybe I'm not.  As of last week, we are no longer the proud owners of the world's best stroller, the BOB Duallie.  I seriously loved that stroller.  We had it for nearly 4 years and got tons of use out of it.  I used to run with Miles and Vivienne almost every day, around 6 miles a day before I got pregnant with Evelyn.  It helped us stroll at the zoo, museums, even in a 5k (the day I found out I was pregnant with Evelyn).

Recently, it had become a source of frustration for the kids, fighting over who got to sit in the extra seat (because Evelyn always got a seat).  With Miles and Vivienne being 4 now, they are certainly old enough to walk on their own when we are out and about.  So it seemed clear that it was time to say goodbye to BOB.

Someone came and picked it up when I was away from the house.  When I got home and Jason told me that BOB was gone, I almost cried.  I actually almost cried over a stroller, which seems completely ridiculous, I know.

BOB, you were the stroller love of my life.  There will never be another.  I am forever changed.

Farewell, my friend.  Farewell.

First Day of Preschool

I don't quite know how it happened.  But somehow, my little 6 and 6.5-pound babies started preschool last week.  Their first day was really more of a half-day "meet the teacher" experience.

They were excited and a little bit nervous about going.  But I think they are going to love their teachers, Mrs. M (Miles) and Mrs. P (Vivienne).

It was a staggered morning, with Miles at school for the first half and Vivienne at school for the second half.  Waiting in line to meet his teacher, Miles seemed a bit shy and nervous.

But when I dropped him at the door to meet Mrs. M, he walked right in with his "special bag" (they give each child their own bag to be responsible for).  While Miles was enjoying meeting his new friends, I took the girls to get a biscuit, which is a very rare treat.

Then we went back to pick up Miles and drop Vivienne.

Last week was their first full week of school, and it went very well.  Miles had a little bit of a harder adjustment, but settled in just fine.

On their first full day of school (last Monday), I held it together when I dropped them off, but I cried on the walk back to the car.  I miss them, but is is nice to have 3 days a week with just Evelyn.  I have never had one child before, and I really enjoy it.


By the end of the first week, Vivienne is holding a pencil properly and writing her name on her own.

(Grandpa, I hope you are ready to receive this lovely picture of a hairy bug… or something.)

I had hemmed and hawed about whether to send them to preschool this year.  I'm so glad that I did. I think they are ready for preschool at this age, and this will be excellent preparation for kindergarten next year.  According to the school age cutoffs, they should be going to kindergarten next year, but they will also be youngest in their class (because of their birthday).  I'm so thankful that their preschool teachers will be able to help us assess whether to send them to kindergarten in 2015 or whether to wait another year to give them more time.