Soccer, soccer, SOCCER, SoCcEr!!!

This was a great season for Jayke in soccer.  He was one of the leading scorers on his team, being moved from defense to striker.  He got to play with Mason and Chase on his team and they became great friends both on and off the field.  They dubbed themselves the "Muska-crazies"!  It was agreed upon by most of the parents on the side line that when they put these three up front as their offense it was a thing of beauty to watch!  Jaykeb even scored a couple of hat tricks this season (three goals in the same game...for those who don't know)!

The team president is retiring at the end of this season and the kids all decided to wish him well by having their photos taken wearing mustaches in honor of the president's own infamous mustache.

Zoey even got in on the action!!!

A shot of the end of season picnic

Natalie and I serving the kiddos pizza at the picnic.  

Hot tub crew at the hotel for one of our tournaments

Tradition at the "Classic at the Rock Tournament" is to have your picture taken at the ROCK!

Above is Jayke's team and below is the combined two U9 teams

Jayke's celebratory run and little dance move after scoring...

After the tournament there wasn't much talking on the ride home...just sleeping with his medal in his hand...

New Kicks

I've created a monster!!  This child is obsessed with shoes!!  He LOVES shoes and not any ol cheap shoes, he has to have Jordan's or Lebron's or whichever is the hotest, newest shoe out.  Took him to get shoes for camp today and he got two new pair.  You would think I bought him a new car!  These are the current faves, his kds.  We even got stopped on the way out of the mall so someone could compliment his new footwear.  That made his day, and only added to his obsession.  He will be needing to get a job soon to support his new found love.

Bug Eyes

Jayke got sports goggles today for soccer and basketball...he loves them, I don't so much.

Awwww....Shade!

Got my pergola put up today.  This should help keep the sun from beating in the back of the house all day and keep it from heating up so much in the living room.  I hate that the majority of glass on my house faces west so for Christmas this past year my dad bought me this to try to help and today Jima and Mom came over to put it up for me.  Please ignore the broken deck rail that my mom managed some how.  I think she did it on purpose so I'd have to take the entire railing off. 

And here is why I don't want to take the railing off...My doves.  They come back every spring to make their nest in the planter.  Last year I had two babies in there and I worried over them all the time until they left.  Gave them a little roof to protect them from the rain and give them some shade.  Momma must like it since she has returned this year and looks like she is preparing to build too!

"Z"

Zoey looks so cute with all this long hair but we are going to have to get her groomed soon.  She gets so greasy looking if I don't bathe her often plus I'm sure this will be hot for the summer.  I wanted to get some cute pics of her before she gets cut...my little ewok!

The Life and Death of Carl...

....the carrot.  My coworker made this for me because I didn't want to partake in her healthy snack.  I'm sure she thought I would throw little Carl the Carrot away but I had other things in mind.  I documented his demise daily and posted the pictures on the wall of my cube.  

As you can see it didn't take Carl long to wither away.  Our big boss, the president of Mid-West Homes for pets was intrigued by my little carrot dude, (or maybe disgusted by his employees' blatant lack of productivity) so we made him one too!!

Carrie the Carrot who was equally as beautiful as Carl in the beginning, even more so with her long flowing pink hair and nice green skirt, soon met the same demise.  I decided to let Carrie die with her dignity and didn't photograph her in her advanced state of decay.  God rest their little carrot souls!! 

O.o

Smothering D!!

Jayke's second time playing for the Royerton League went a little better but with the same end results.  He did very well playing point guard and was a smothering defensive player.  His offensive game needs some work but that will come as he continues to get more experience.  

He had an exceptional game defensively to keep us going in the playoffs.  He played the first, second, and fourth quarters.  I was wondering why he wasn't playing during the third quarter but then saw the coaches' plan at the beginning of the fourth.  He put Jayke, our best defensive player, on the opposing team's best offensive player, Landon, to shut him down and hope that the rest of our team could get us the lead offensively.  It worked.  

It was amazing watching that kid play defense the way he did!  I had no idea he had that in him.   He had Landon so covered up he couldn't even move when he had the ball. You could see and feel the frustration building in him as Jayke was there with every touch of the ball.  The momentum began to swing our way. The coach was on the side line yelling, "This is your time, Jayke!!" and I felt like I was watching some movie about an underdog player in his shining moment!  

We won the game and by the end of the fourth quarter poor Landon was laying on the floor exhausted, face beet red. My boy did that!  He and Landon are friends so it was just an case of great defense facing great offense and this time,  the defense prevailed.  I have never been more proud of him than I was in that moment!  I was ecstatic that all four of his grandparents were there to see it, especially my dad who loves watching him play basketball from all of his years going to high school basketball games as a teacher. I think Jayke was pretty proud of himself as well...and maybe a little surprised at what he just did.  I only hope he can have many more games like this and feel that feeling of success the way he did tonight.  Even though we went on to lose in the next round at least for one game, in one quarter, they did no wrong and excelled together as a team and my boy got to shine!

Sky Zone B-day Extravaganza!!!

We celebrated the birth of The Boy this year by taking him to Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park!  Jayke invited friends from school and his soccer team.  We caravanned with Bob and Ryan to Indy and I think the ride down was enjoyed as much as the party.  Bob brought along his walkie talkies so the boys in each vehicle could communicate with each other.  As usual the adults ended up enjoying it almost as much when we took over the walkies to critique each other's lack of pace and other driving skills.  Those were two very loud vehicles!!

We had two renditions of Happy Birthday sung, one in English and the other in Portugese by Gabi, who is part Brazillian.  Jayke was super embarrassed when she serenaded him solo!

His cake was awesome...as always and made by Cheryl at Pat-a-Cakes and Cookies Too, who has made his birthday cakes since he was born!  

He had a great day sharing his birthday with Mason, Chase, Aidan, Cooper, Gabi, Ian, Parker, Carly, Matt, and Alec! The Pierce's, Bob, Tiffany, Ryan, Meemaw, and P'pa were all there too.  Jayke is lucky to have so many friends and family to share his 9th birthday with him!

Dog Shaming

Luna Approved

The new room has passed the test...the Queen approves.

The Best Present

Is a new pair of Jordan's apparently...since he is all cuddled up sleeping with them!

New and Improved...Merry Christmas!

Jayke got a new bedroom for Christmas and these fish were the first to see it!  We got rid of the bunk beds and got him a nice new big bed that he doesn't have to climb up into.  After staying in a hotel and having a whole queen size bed to himself that was all he could talk about...that and a heated, padded, toilet seat.  I opted for the new room and passed on that funky toilet seat.

We went with a super hero theme.  It looks nice and clean and un-cluttered, we shall see how long it stays that way.

His buddy, Nemo is loving the new room too!  I don't know what he likes better, the nice big bed or the fish entertainment!

Mason was the first friend to stay with Jayke in his new room, as you can see they even through on some matching pjs to make things look extra spiffy.

Christmas Weirdness

My gift from my aunt Robin...Wonder if I can get Jayke to use it, THAT would be a gift!!!

And...below, my co-workers secret Santa gift.  Shows you what kind of crazy people I work with.  It got even better though when I took these panties, with the air freshener taped to the crotch, and stole the president of the company's keys to his truck to hang these bad boys from his rear view mirror!  We all gathered in the windows upstairs to watch as he left for lunch and discovered them dangling from the mirror.  He didn't even bother to remove them, just drove off and waved.  LOL...great people!!

The Elf...Just Hanging Around...And Then!!

Frisbee has been pretty good this year.  Just hanging around and hiding here and there...

He did fool Jayke by hiding in the door of the fridge one day...

Jayke asked me the other day if I remembered all of the messes Frisbee made last year.  I told him I remembered and maybe he would end up doing some of that stuff this year too.  So far the elf has been rather dull.  I think he has gotten lazy...or maybe he has another full time job somewhere that causes him to not be as creative as he was last year.  I seem to recall him telling me that he was unemployed last Christmas so he had plenty of time on his hands to make mischief all night.  I'm sure he has heard that he hasn't been near as fun as he was last year.

Well, I think he must have decided to step it up a notch...

This year he has taken naughty to a whole new level!!  Poor unsuspecting Bobby sound asleep and that rotten little elf shaved a stripe right across his head!  I sent Jayke in to wake Bobby up and the look of horror on his face was priceless.  He was hesitant to wake him.  He probably thought Bobby was going to dismember his sweet little elf.  He shook him gently and said, "Wake up, my elf shaved your head."  Then he took a step back and just looked at him.  Bobby was in disbelief at first.  He felt the top of his head and there was still hair there so he didn't believe him.  Jayke assured him that there was in fact a stripe shaved on his head.  Bobby finally looked in the mirror and absolutely couldn't believe how rotten that elf had been.  Jayke laughed hysterically!

Rotten elf...just look at that face!

There May Be Something Wrong With Us...

Just a thought...