Ola...I'm stillllllll here

Hello world...I'm baaaaaaaaack!!!! What has gotten into me lately? What a slacker I've turned into. Shame on me! Sorry for not updating this site (*wink, wink...Laurie*) in 4-ever!!!!!!!!!!! So what has everyone been up to these days!?!?!? The Thompson's haven't slowed down...like normal. :) Just a few things that have been on the books at our house:

• Started Kindermusik with Mrs. Trish


• We got our kitchen painted


• I made new curtains for said painted kitchen


• I made a lampshade for lamp in said painted kitchen


• Mommy got to have 2 girls weekends (Memphis & Auburn)


• Carter, our adorable nephew, turned 1. Where did the time go??


• We got new sofas...yes, plural! 2 of them!!!


• The boys saw Thomas the Train


• Had pictures with live bunnies & a cute chick


• Daddy is having a guys "golf" weekend...this weekend actually


• Lots and lots of friend birthday parties

Coming up...we have 2 beach trips!!!! We cannot wait! We will actually be spending Easter at the beach this year. I don't remember not ever being in church on Easter Sunday, but I think Jesus worships at the beach too. :) We are all leaving Good Friday and then the boys and I are not coming home until the next Friday. Thank heavens for in-laws that have a FAB place in Orange Beach. We are truly lucky and blessed to have such a wonderful place...and wonderful grandparents to spend time with.

We come home Friday, April 29th, and then leave again Wed., May 4. It's the yearly "food show" trip in Destin. Typically we were just tag-a-longs with my parents, but with Brandon now employeed at Wood Fruitticher he (and I) will be working the show. We still make this a family affair, so Will, Morgan, Carter & Molly will all be coming down. This will be lots of fun since the boys (including Carter) will be a year older.

We are also trying to schedule a time to have a play date with our cousins (from Athens, GA) in Atlanta. Hopefully, it will work out sometime in May! :) Fingers crossed....

I just cannot get over how much my boys are changing. I think I say this every time I post, but really it's amazing. They are both definitely little boys...no longer babies(...cue baby fever, but Brandon is having none of it!). It's so wild to me how DIFFERENT they are from each other, but it's great too! You can certainly see their little personalities developing.

Brice loves every minute of his music class each week. He has met some new friends and loves singing with Mrs. Trish. We actually have CDs from the class that we listen to in the car each morning, and now Cooper knows all the words. It's pretty cute!

Coop is our little ball of energy! He loves running, climbing, throwing rocks...you know your typical little boy. He also loves sidewalk chalk and since the weather has been gorgeous lately, we've done a lot of "chalk time." He loves, loves, loves to play outside!

More later, but I hope you are enjoying the beginning of spring...other than all the nasty pollen!

Gone like a freight train

So, month one of 2011 is GONE...gone like a freigh train, gone like yesterday (that's for my parents who love that country song for some reason. HA!). I said I wasn't going to do this. I was going to start the new year off on a better foot. Well, obviously I've broken that resolution/promise/plan. :( It was not by intent, but seriously this last month has come and gone in a flash. So much has happened, so much to discuss...

First off I have to say WAR D*MN EAGLE!!!! I know people are tired of hearing me say this in every blog post, but my Auburn Tigers are National Champions for 2010 football season. I believe in Auburn and LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Secondly, we have had TERRIBLE weather. I mean, I'm beginning to wonder if we even live in the south any more. We have had more snow in the past 2 months than I ever remember having...and I've lived here my entire life. It's just crazy. I think our boys have seen more snow in their little lives, than Brandon and I have seen in our 30+ years of life. Spring, please hurry and get here!!!


When we had our 1st snow of January, the state of Alabama was basically shut down for about four days. We got approximately 4 inches of snow and ice...more ice than snow. The boys had an absolute blast playing in it, but couldn't understand why they couldn't throw snowballs. Like I said, there was more ice than snow so we did more sledding than playing in the snow.

Third, I am now unemployed. I along with millions of Americans am now job searching. BOO! :( We've known for some time that my job would be ending, we just never knew when. As you may recall, I've been working on a special project for the past 2 years (remember all that traveling...basically the 1st year of Cooper's life!?!?!?), and the project is slowly dwindling down. Many of my fellow employees have been phased out, but I was hoping to find another job within Southern Company. That didn't exactly work out, so now I am jobless.

I'm actually ok with the whole thing for some weird reason. I have this calming peace about it and know that it will all work out. So, now in the mean time I have been job hunting, going on interviews, doing things around the house that I never had time for and exercising. I hope you didn't just fall out of your chair! :) Brice and Cooper are still in daycare, so I have time to exercise when I drop them off in the mornings. We aren't sure how much longer that will last, but until then I am committed.

I have said that completing a 5K is something that I would accomplish this year, and I'm well on my way. Our church is having their 1st annual Flapjack Run. The course is as flat as a pancake, and there will be a pancake breakfast after everyone has finished. It sounds super fun and Brandon and I will be running...along with some of our close friends that we have recruited. All money raised will go to the missions committee, so it's for a good cause. Wish us luck and pray that we don't collapse on the course. :)

Oh, and we went to the circus with our friends the Watsons. Brice has been talking about the circus since last year! Cooper was actually sick that whole week and didn't get to go, so Brice & James took on the circus together. We had dinner at Chick-fil-a (the kid's favorite) and then went to the pre-show. We got to see lots of clowns, acrobats and an elephant. Brice loved it, but was ready to go before it was over. The show didn't start until 7:30 and by 9:30 they were still going strong. We made an exit and he passed out in the car. It was fun, hopefully Coop can join us next year.

So, those are just a few things we've been up to this past month. Stay tuned for more...

Happy 2011 & ABC's

Is anyone else wondering where 2010 went??? I think we definitely left it in the dust and gotta move on to the next year. :)

We had a wonderful, but busy holiday season. From Nov. 1 until Jan. 1 is basically a blur for us, so getting back in a routine is wonderful! You never realize how much you miss it until you don't have it. We spent most of our time with friends and family doing lots of fun things. Thanks to Santa for coming to visit and sending the boys a personal video message on daddy's computer. They thought it was so cool! HA!

So, I probably shouldn't admit this but I'm stealing this idea from another blog I frequently read. The author did it for Thanksgiving, and I started it before Christmas but never finished. I think I will use it as my ABC's of 2011. Maybe it will start me off right in this new year.

This past year has really opened my eyes to things I am thankful for, grateful for and down-right obsessed with so this should be interesting. Feel free to comment at the end!

A - Auburn. I believe in Auburn and love it!!! What an amazing year this has been for the Auburn Tigers. Although I did not go to school there (which some find odd that I cheer for them), in this state you must pick a side...Auburn or Alabama. It is a religion, not a game, for a lot of people and can get pretty ugly sometimes. However, this year Auburn has made me proud. I loved taking the boys to their first Auburn game. They haven't stopped talking about it, even though Brice says "Roll Eagle" and Cooper says "More Eagle." They are learning to love it! We will be cheering for them next week as they play for the National Championship. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR EAGLE, HEY!

B - Brice & brothers. I think I've said it before, but Brice Thompson has blessed our lives in so many ways. It is amazing to watch him change every day. He learns something new and wants to know all about it. Thank you God for choosing us to be Brice's parents. What an awesome little man. Now, brothers...how fun this is! When we found out we were having a second boy my heart was elated. I cannot even begin to describe how these two little guys are going to be best buds. I think it their age helps, and sometimes I wonder if we did the right thing by having them so close together, but over the past year they truly have become very close. Cooper wants to do what Brice does, Brice wants to play with what Cooper is playing with. I never understood how special that bond could be, until now. "A brother shares childhood memories and grown-up dreams." ~Author Unknown

C - Cooper, Coopie, Coop. Good Lord, I love this little guy!!! I don't think there are enough characters for me to type how special he is to our family. As much as he wears me out on a daily basis, I love that kid more than life. He is getting bigger and bigger everyday. I can't handle that he will be 3 soon. It seems like yesterday I was trying to balance a toddler, a newborn, a job, a house, etc. My oh my how times have changed...for the better! As freaked out and scared as I was to have a second child so close to the first, I would not change a thing...NOW. This little guy literally melts my heart! And he knows it...

D - Dedication. I have a really hard time saying "No" to people and to commitments. I am involved in w-a-y too many things, but I would be bored without them. However, this year I am going to dedicate more time to me. That may sound selfish, and I don't mean it to but sometimes you get caught up in doing for others that you forget about yourself. As part of my commitment this year, I want to dedicate more time to bettering myself.

E - Exercise. Booooooo, yuck, ugghhhhhh! I don't even want to discuss it, but it's got to happen! The. end. period. HA!

F - Friends. What I wouldn't do without my closest girlfriends! You all know who you are, but I'm sure you never know much you mean to me. You keep me grounded, restore my sanity and love me for the person I am. The older I get, I have realized that people change and friends change, sometimes for the worse but sometimes for the better. However, one thing remains the same "A good friend is like a good bra...hard to find, supportive, comfortable, always lifts you up, never lets you down or leaves you hanging and is always close to your heart!!!"

G - Grandparents & Great-grandmothers. Thank you LORD for amazing grandparents. Brandon and I are truly blessed with amazing families. I know not many people can say that, but this year our eyes have been opened to the amazing support structure we have. We are so lucky to have them! I'm not sure we could get through a week without their support on some level. Seriously, no words can describe how thankful we are for them. I am also extremely thankful that our children get to grow up with their grandparents and great-grandparents in their lives. Not many can say this. Both of my grandmothers (MeMe & Granny) are still living and are very much a part of our children's lives. How special is this!?!?! We are so blessed for our boys to be brought up in this type of environment.

H - Health. Should I even start down this road??? We all have the desire to lose some "lbs", but I have not been good about sticking to that plan. My goal for 2011 is to get in better shape, in turn making me more healthy. Brandon and I struggle with this daily and have decided that we want to be healthy role models for the boys; therefore, we have made a commitment that 2011 is going to be our year. :) Will you guys please remind me of this and hold me accountable?

I - Internet. What in the world did we do with our spare time before we had the internet? Reading blogs, playing with Facebook, clipping coupons has become a past time. When we don't have internet service at home, or heaven forbid on my phone...I feel lost! Thank you Al Gore for creating the "internets."

J - Jogging/Running. I've said for a year now that I want to start running. Everyone I know that runs is skinny! Therefore, I'm making this my exercise of choice but I've got to ease into it! I've never been a runner, so I don't plan to run a marathon next month. However, by the end of 2011 I plan to have run at least (at the very least) a 5K!

K - Kid's First. This is our church daycare where the boys spend most of their days. I am thankful for such a loving staff that cares for our most prized possessions on a daily basis. They have learned so much from their teachers. Thank you to everyone there that loves on my boys daily...even if a certain one drives them nuts-o! :)

L - Learning. I may have mentioned this a few million times already, but it is so fun to see the boys learning new (good & bad) things every day. It's true what they say, they are both soaking up everything they see, hear and do. Kind of scary if you think about it. We have learned new words this year from daycare...more on that later. On a serious note, one of my goals for 2011 is to learn more about the Word. Brandon and I want to learn more about the bible and our faith, bringing us closer as a couple and to the Lord. Although we have both grown up in church, doesn't mean we know everything about our faith or the bible. It is my prayer that we both stick to this commitment, so that we can better ourselves, our children and our family.

M - Miss Molly. My oh my how times have changed! I love this girl more than she knows. I am so very proud of the beautiful, somewhat responsible (*wink*), young woman she is becoming. She is so irritating to me sometimes, but other times I don't know what I would do without her smiling face. I am truly blessed to be her sister and I hope she knows how much I love her. So proud of you Mo! P.S. Anyone notice the resemblance of this post and Cooper's??? He is so much like her, it's scary!!!

N - Naptime. I am very grateful that our boys BOTH still take naps. If they don't have their naps, they are OOC (out of control)! I can slowly see Brice growing out of these naps, and I will certainly cry the day he does. However, for now...we love NAPTIME!

O - Organization. My plan for 2011 is to get my house organized!!!!!! Is that even possible? I don't know how some people do it, but I'm going to work on it. I want to get my closet back, get our garage back and my laundry room. We'll see if and how this works out, but one can hope.

P - Posts. I need to be better about blogging and "posting" in 2011. I started off with really good intentions last year, but certainly fell short. Here is to a better year with many, many more posts.

Q - Coupons or "Q" as the fancy bloggers call them. I was pretty good with my couponing in 2010, but I hope to be even better in 2011. My girl, Amanda, has inspired me! She keeps a fancy spreadsheet that tells her what she spent and saved. I'm hoping to be more like her in 2011. :)

R - Reality TV. I am a sucker!!!!!!!!!!!! I love, love, love just about everything reality TV has to offer. I know this is not something I should admit, but I cannot get enough of Bravo, Food Network, E! and all things reality. Thank you for not judging. :)

S - Spouse. What would I do without him??? He truly is my best friend. I love him with everything I have and love watching him be the amazing father that he is. Brandon truly has a heart of gold and strives daily to provide for our family. There are so many things I love about him, but just to name a few: I love the fact he truly believes we (YES "WE") will win the lottery one day, I love his sense of humor...it lights up a room, and I love that I make his crazy but he loves me anyway.

T - Turkey. No, not turkey like at Thanksgiving but ground turkey. It has become a staple in the Thompson house. We love it and have found so many delicious recipes to make with it. Brandon is OBSESSED with this turkey, spinach & pesto meatloaf recipe. It is pretty de-lish, so let me know if you need the recipe.

U - US Weekly. Probably one of the best magazines every! I told you I loved all things "reality" and this magazine lets me keep up with the latest celebrity gossip. I really don't know why I care about it at all, but it's kind of fun. To be honest, Brandon (who would never admit this, so I'm throwing him under the bus), LUUUUUUUVVVVVVVVVVVVSSSSSS to read the magazine as much as I do! He will actually buy them at the store, come home and read them before I can get my hands on them!!! Should I really be admitting to this???

V - Victory. "Split the V...Dot the I...Curl the C...T-O-R-Y!" Do you remember that cheer from elementary school? Since I can't come up with anything for "V", I'm making a wish that Auburn will bring home a victory in Arizona on Jan. 10. It would be kind of cool to have back to back national champions from the state of Alabama. So say it with me......"Weegle, weegle War D*mn Eagle, kick 'em in the butt big blue!!!!!"

W - Words from daycare. Boy oh boy...the things we are learning. :( Granted it's not a daily thing, but I'm starting to hear those dreadful words..."booty", "doody", "naaa naaa naaa boo boo." The talking back is starting too! Ugghhh, not fun! I never thought I would hear myself utter "You don't talk back to your mother. I am the parent and you respect me," but how quickly times change. I know there will be worse things to come, unfortunately, but I hope it is later rather than sooner.

X - Xylophone. Not that my children play this instrument, but BOTH the boys LOVE music! I think this is fantastic and am already preparing myself for a seat in the "band parents" section. :) One of them will be there, I'm afraid. We took Kindermusik classes in 2010 and plan to do it again in 2011. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the sessions, so instead of sports I think we will try this again....since soccer was a bust!

Y - Yellow. One of my favorite colors. I plan to revamp my wardrobe (a little at a time) with more color. I will never forget my best friend growing up (Stacy) telling me that my closet was so "drab." She was so right and things haven't changed. :) I own w-a-y too much brown & black!! Therefore, for the new year I'll add more color. Thanks Stace for that advice all those years ago.

Z - Zoloft. Enough said.....

We have so much to be thankful for. It is so nice to have a time of year to reflect on all of our blessings and plan for the future.

December already?!?!?!?

In true blogging fashion...here is my monthly post! Sorry, and I know I say this every time but it's been super busy around here.

Let's see...over the past month we have celebrated 3 birthdays (Brice, Bob & Brandon), taken the boys to their 1st Auburn game, helped my mom recover from surgery, eaten turkey with our family, visited the casino to bring home some bacon and watched the Auburn Tigers go undefeated and beat those stinkin Bammers. What a month, huh?!?!?!?

I think in my last post I talked about Brice turning 4. This child just amazes us more and more every day. Thank you Lord for blessing us with this little guy. He's definitely not a baby any more and it is so fun (and kind of sad) watching him grow.

In true Brice fashion, we had a "jungle party" this year for his birthday. We celebrated at home (WHAT WAS I THINKING!?!?!?) with tons of family and friends. Brice is very much into animals these days, specifically jungle or safari animals, and all year he's been talking about a "jungle party." He got just that and I think he was very happy! Grammie made cupcakes for the event (delish...as usual), we had jungle juice (aka...punch), face painting, a bouncy slide and a pinata. All in all, I would have to say A+ for the party! I think Brice was happy! :)

I must admit that I am very thankful for my Auburn Tigers this year! Man, what a ride it has been!!!! I mean, I am certainly thankful for them every year but this has been a super special time. I had been plotting and planning to try and take the boys to an AU game this year. I thought "surely they could handle homecoming." Well, it was an experience to say the least. We went down to the lake on a Friday night with our friends Chris, Amanda & James Watson. The boys had a super fun time playing in the condo and getting ready for the AU game the next day. Of all the games played this season, we picked the COLDEST game of all. It was homecoming, a 12:00 kickoff, and down right freezing!!!!!! However, it was gameday "on the plains" and you sort of forget all that. :) We got to Auburn early enough to take the boys to Tiger Walk. What an AUsome tradition this is and if the boys saw nothing else all day, I wanted them to see this. Before Tiger Walk started, some of the band and cheerleaders came through the crowd but the biggest suprise of all was Aubie. Aubie actually snuck up behind Brice and scared the mess out of him!!! When Brice turned around and saw him standing there, he ran behind Brandon's leg. I couldn't get to my camera fast enough to document, but the look on his face was PRICELESS!!!

The game was fun, Auburn was putting a hurtin' on UTC so we left at halftime. The boys loved seeing the eagle fly before the game, the band was great (as usual) and Cam Newton was pretty fantastic! I must say that I "heart" Cam...and so does Brice. Gigi (my mom) taught Brice to say "Cam New-ton is the best football player ever! Cam New-ton is #2." She's so proud of herself and so is Brice when he sees Cam. :)

So, my mom...poor thing! She was attacked by a dog while checking her mail one night. :( The dog bit her, and she is ok from that but the worst part about it was she fell and broke her arm while trying to get away from him. She's been a trooper, but the break was so bad that she had to have surgery. They inserted a plate and 3 screws right below her wrist. She will be out of work for at least 3 months, maybe even 6. :( :( :( Please keep her in your prayers as she has a long recovery ahead of her.

With that being said, I helped out with a lot of the Thanksgiving cooking this year. Let me just say, that is so tiring!!! I really had no idea, but I have a whole new appreaction for those that do it every year, year after year. WOW! So, we had Thanksgiving lunch at my parents with my grandmother and aunt/uncle from Atlanta. After we stuffed ourselves silly, we then arrived at Brandon's parents for Thanksgiving dinner. We were pretty much in a coma afterwards, but it was all delicious. Brandon's aunt and her husband visited from Columbia, SC, as well as his cousin and her family from Athens, GA. There were 5 children under the age of 4 (Brice-4, Louisa-3, Cooper-2, and Myers & Graham-1) in that house, and boys was it crazy! :) So crazy, but so fun. Brice & Coop loved playing with their cousins and have talked about them non stop since then.

You know the year is not complete without celebrating a lot of birthdays in Nov. & Dec. Most of you probably know that Bob, Brandon, Carol & my dad all celebrate birthdays within 3 weeks of each other. Well, Brandon has been itching to go gambling and for the most part you never have to ask Carol twice if she's ready to go. So, the Sun. after Thanksgiving we packed up (minus the little ones) and headed to MS for the day. It was super fun! We had a great time and I think B got his "gambling fix." We had an amazing dinner at Miko (the new Indian chief's signature restaurant) and even came home with some winnings. I will give B all the credit...he was the big winner of the day!!! We would have come home with more, if he hadn't of given me some of his winnings to occupy my time while he was still playing. HA!

As I type this, Auburn won the SEC championship game tonight!!!! That means 13-0 and we are headed to the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP in Arizona. :) :) :) It's great to be an AUBURN TIGER!!!!! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr EAGLE!

Happy 4th birthday RBT!

How is this even possible...no blog updates for OVER a month...shame on me!!!! Let's get back to the important stuff!

Our 1st born is 4 today!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW IN THE WORLD IS THIS POSSIBLE!?!?!?!? It seems like yesterday we were counting down the days until he would arrive. I was eating Halloween candy out of a bowl off my belly while Brandon took care of the tricker treaters (I can't believe I just admitted to this...and NO you will not see the picture evidence). I prayed he would come before his due date, but never in a million years did I think I would be begging my doctor to wait ONE more day so he wouldn't be born on Halloween. It just so happened that the year Brice was born, Halloween was on a Tuesday. My doctor schedules his c-sections for T, W or Th and of course Thursday was booked. I opted for Wednesday, Nov. 1, but not without a fight from the doc. He really wanted to schedule it for Tues and I basically refused. For someone that wanted a baby out terribly (a week and half early), I was not budging on this one.

From that day on...our lives have never been the same. In a good way, of course. :) Getting ready for the arrival of your first born is one that you really can't prepare for. For the most part, you have no idea what to expect, how to feel and what to do...but somehow we manage. November 1, 2006 was a day I will never forget (from what I can remember with the pain meds). I'll spare you the birth story, hospital stay, 3 days in the NICU and me having a come apart because I just wanted to hold and see my baby, but I will share what an amazing journey the past four years have been.

Robert Brice Thompson - 11/01/06 (9lbs 12oz)

The Lord has blessed us with such a tenderhearted little boy. He can be very shy (he gets that from his mommy...shocking to some of you!), but has the biggest heart. He is quiet and reserved, but once he gets comfortable...watch out he is WIDE open! Brice loves, loves, loves to learn about anything and everything...especially animals and music. He's a child prodigy and genius if you ask Brandon and I, but honestly I hope he continues to stay interested. He fits the "first child" description to a T! I see so much of myself in Brice, so I hope that will be a good thing in the end. HA! My parents always look at me, sometimes rolling their eyes, and say..."He is sooooooo your child!!" He can be bossy and sometimes a tattle tale, but hey we first-borns have to keep everyone else in line.

Brice is very loyal to his friends and loves his little brother. As much as they bicker and fight with each other on days, they really do love each other. He really looks out for Cooper and wants to protect his little brother (for the most part). To hear him wake up in the morning and say "Good morning Cooper!" is enough to melt a mommy's heart. I love these boys with every ounce of my being and couldn't imagine our family any other way.

I cannot believe it has been four years. So much has happened, so much has changed but one thing remains the same...we love him more and more every day. We love you Robert Brice Thompson more than you will ever know. Thank you God for blessing us with this amazing little boy.

A walk down memory lane...Enjoy!

One of my all time favorite pictures

1st birthday party

Sweet boy that loves to read

Remember all that hair??

Not too sure about becoming a big brother

Can't you just eat him up??

2nd birthday

His "Zoolander" face

3rd birthday

Soccer may equal..."bad decision"

I wouldn't exactly say that soccer was going according to plan. Actually, this is exactly how I envisioned it going down...I was just praying I would be wrong! :)

He did ok during our first practice. Had a meltdown for the last 15-20 min. I was shocked he lasted that long. 2nd practice we missed. Both boys were sick and I had taken them to the doctor that day. 3rd practice, Brice cried (or whaled according to B) the ENTIRE practice. Wanted nothing to do with it or anyone there.

So that means our first game was Saturday, Sept. 11. We were set to play at 11:00 in the morning. I knew this was going to be a team effort between B & I to get Brice fired up to play. First of all, it's still 100 degrees during the day in Alabama! Let's all collectively agree that is insane!!! However, this day seemed like it was about 9000 degrees with 100% humidity. Needless to say, sweat was running down every inch of our bodies...as soon as we arrived at the field.

Brice was in no mood to play soccer. He did not want to get dressed, he did not want to put on his shoes...he wanted NO PART! After some encouraging by both Brandon & I, he got on the field. However, he proceeded to stand there and started crying. I'm not talking about crying b/c he was hurt, but crying b/c he was miserable!!!! Brandon tried talking to him, I tried talking to him, Poppie/Gigi/Gramps/Grammie allllllllllllll tried talking to him. He just KEPT crying!

**Side note** Yes, we had an entire cheering section for his first game. All the grandparents, Meme (his great-grandmother) and Aunt Mo came to support Brice.

The child would not move from the middle of the field. His teammates were actually kicking their balls around him b/c he would NOT move. Brandon finally got him off the field, but still more crying! After getting him calmed down, oh and the game had started at this point, B asked him "What's wrong Brice?? Why don't you want to get out there and play?" He proceeded to say, "I'm HOT and I don't want to play in the HOT!" Oh no...could it be...he is MORE like his mother and I'm willing to admit??? :) Well, that answer did not sit well with his father so I got the "look", plus finger point and snap to get over to the bench.

When I got there, Brandon said "You can handle this..." and just walked away. He was b-e-y-o-n-d upset!!! So, I proceeded to try and reason with Brice and finally he said the words that NO parent ever wants to hear...."Mom, I don't want to play because I'm not good at soccer. I'm a loser." OOOOOOO-MMMMM-GGGGG..............are you kidding me??? Who told my son he was a loser and how does he know what that means!?!?!?!? Talk about breaking my heart in to a million and one pieces!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Uggghhhh, I'm getting teary-eyed just thinking about it.

Well, after that I thought there was no hope getting him to go in and play. I will say, he did go on the field...never ran for the ball or even kicked it, but he did make it onto the field.

So needless to say, Brandon and I have both been questioning whether or not we make him stick with it. I mean, after all...he is ONLY 3. It's not like this is life or death kind of thing, BUT...we don't want to be those parents that let the child dictate the actions. You know what I mean???

Practice, since then has been MUCH better. We actually had to skip the game last week b/c Brice woke up with a 102 fever, so unfortunately there hasn't been much consistency. Which is frustrating!

Fingers crossed our next game will be more successful!

It's official...I'm a SOCCER mom!!!

HA! I never really thought those words would ever come out of my mouth...EVER! :) I am by NO means cut out to be the stay-at-home mom, drive a mini-van (although I think I'm closer to this than I would like to admit) and play tennis every day kind of girl. So, the title of "soccer mom" never crossed my mind. Until now....

Brice is PLAYING soccer!!!!!! Shocker, I know! For the child who LOVES his instruments and animals too much to care about anything else, this is shocking. Plus, he was actually asking to play before we signed him up.

He is playing "under 4" rec league soccer. His team is made up of 7 children (3 girls, 4 boys). Two of the girls and one little boy are in his class at school. That was fun seeing them outside of "school." Another little girl goes to our church and her parents are in our Sunday School class. It should be a fun little team.

The poor coach has his work cut out for him. I think Brandon will end up helping him some, but during the first practice all seven were running in 90 different directions. HA! Brice was really into it at first, but by about 20-30 minutes in...he was over it! Actually, most all of them were.

Practice is every Thursday and game days are every Saturday. We'll see how this plays out, but hopefully we won't have too many meltdowns and he will be able to enjoy it.

Cooper was wanting to practice more than Brice was. He did NOT like it one bit that I would not let him go on the field and "kick with Bice." He screamed uncontrollable until Poppie took him walking. I guess I learned a lesson too...buy Cooper a soccer ball to take to practice OR let him stay with Gigi & Poppie while Brice has practice. Granted, both Brandon and I don't have to be at every practice but I cannot NOT go to any practices. Cooper will actually be old enough to play int he spring, so we will be debating between now and then if we will sign him up. :)

For now...enjoy the new pics!