Today's Soccer Game

Ruben is really enjoying soccer. He has practice twice a week and this week he had two games. Usually he just has games on Sat. but this week he had one on Thursday night and one today. It was a bit hectic this week but it's over now. :)

He plays in the YMCA soccer league. They do not keep score, however Ruben does. He knows every game how many goals his team and the other team scores.

The first two games they played, the other teams were a little better and scored more goals. This really frustrated Roo, even when I tried to tell him it's all about having fun and not about who scores the most goals. He apparently didn't buy that for a minute.

They did better on Thursday night and also today. Roo scored his first goal on Thursday and two today. He was over the moon about this. I continue to tell him it's about having fun and not about "crushing the other team." (He used that expression when we were getting ready to go to the first game, after a very long talk he has not used it again.) Apparently, I need to explain this to some of the other parents there because there are a few kids on the team that have no interest in soccer and certainly have no fun whatsoever playing soccer. But the parents, mainly the fathers, continue to make them play. I guess it's a "my son will play sports" kind of mentality.

Ruben plays because he has been begging to play for the last year. And though he could have played last year, they can start at 3, I thought he was too young. I'm glad we waited.

Anyway, I will stop rambling and get to the pictures. :)


Saying a prayer before the game. Ruben's on the green team.



Pointing to their goal. They are 3 & 4 year olds, so this happens often in the game. Ruben is the second from the right.



Ruben (#10) getting help from his teammate.

What Happens at Nana's, Stays at Nana's

Next USA World Cup Soccer Player

Ruben has been excited about his first soccer match. Well I have been excited about his first match as well. He did very well. Mommy, Daddy and Marissa are very proud of him.

Remembering My Sister on Her 34th Birthday

To hear the music on the slideshow, scroll down to the bottom of the blog and pause the music player.

The Quotable Ruben

With the addition of Toby, Ruben has come to learn some new words. One word he has recently learned is "fetch". I'm not sure he really knows what fetch means though, but he's sure he knows "fetch".

Kiesha: Ruben, what is "fetch"?

Ruben: Mom... fetch is when you fetch, then go fetch it.

Got that?!

Happy Birthday Baby & Update

Today is, actually it was Jose's birthday. It's 1 AM now the 27th technically.
We ordered in from Jose's favorite Thai place and had cheesecake afterwards. We sang Happy Birthday to him while Marissa looked at us like we had really lost our minds. She wasn't too keen on the Birthday song. She wanted to go straight to the cake!

He got an expensive fountain pen from his Employees at work and was thrilled.
The present we got him has not come in yet but he will love it. I can't reveal it here because he may surprise me and actually pay our blog a visit. :)

This weekend the kids are going to my mom's so we can celebrate our 5 year anniversary on Sat. I want to try and paint Marissa's room this weekend but not sure I should take on a task like that when we should be celebrating.

Roo is playing soccer for the first time and is so excited. His first practice was supposed to be tonight but it was canceled. They rescheduled it for Friday.

Toby is doing great. Marissa continues to climb on his back and scream "Ride!" He hasn't caught on yet but she tries everyday hoping it will be the day he finally gets it.

Well, I'll be sure to post pics from this weekend. I'm heading to bed. Night all. :)

What happens when you put a little water in the tub and shut the door?

She was so proud of herself.


She was holding her Tiggers up for me to see how clean they were.


A rescued Tigger drying off.


Marissa sneaks to her room and smuggles her tiggers into the bathroom for a swim in the bathtub, diaper and all. I was going to give Roo and Rissa a bath early but changed my mind and was headed to the bathroom to let the water out when I found Miss Priss and the two poor Tiggers.

And Then There Were Five

We are officially a family of five now. We adopted our fifth member this past Sunday at Jack's Place in White Plains, KY, an animal rescue. Jose has been wanting a Boxer so we have been looking online and at several animal shelters to see if we could find the right Boxer for our family. I have always wanted a Chocolate Lab but since Jose has never had a dog I was ok with letting him have a boxer.

I saw that Jacks place had a boxer so I called and was told that the boxer would not be good around kids. So I asked about the chocolate Lab I saw online. After talking to Jose and calling many places for a boxer we made arrangements for us to go see her this past Sat. After I got off the phone I continued to look at the other dogs they have at Jack's Place. I had just pulled up a picture of one of the dogs when Ruben came up behind me and yelled "I want that one!" Well that one happened to be a brown and white mixed cattle dog and red heeler.
I had no interest in this particular dog so I told Ruben we could not pick a dog based on looks or even breed, yeah I said that and was immediately convicted.
So the next day we all go to the shelter and see the chocolate Lab. Well I knew right away she was not the dog for us and neither was the boxer. We looked at a few more and then I decided to look at the one Roo wanted. After much consideration we decided he was the one for our family.
We went back and got him on Sunday.

We could not have asked for a better dog. He already knew the basic commands and is great with the kids as you can see in the bottom picture with Marissa. Poor dog.
He walks great on a leash and loves to play fetch with the kids. We are working on other commands and he is doing great.

Introducing Toby:

Watch out Gisele

A friend of mine has started making dresses. She came by to show us some. As soon as Miss Marissa saw them she was taking off her clothes so that she could put them on. So we decided she would make the perfect model. She was such a little ham. Turning all the way around slowly so we could see the whole dress.
Unfortunately for her, we did not have time for a full out photo shoot. These pictures were just quick snaps as you can tell.
She does love to have her picture taken. I'm sure we will get more pictures in all the dresses soon and I will be sure to post them up. :)