Soccer Game and Miscellaneous

Danica is playing soccer again this year.  Now they're even playing games against other teams (in the past they were basically just learning the skills and practicing).  Clay and I went to see yesterday's game (Clay had been to previous games, but it was the first one I'd been to this year).  It was a beautiful morning, and it was fun to watch.  Most 5-year-olds are not very competitive, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves, for the most part (there were a few tears at times).

Danica likes kicking the ball.  

She's a pretty fast runner, too.

Time for a juice break.  This is hard work.

The whole team got in there to try and block the goal.  Not very successfully, though.  The white-shirted team had some pretty good players and made a lot of goals.

Danica played three quarters, then ran races with Grandpa while she sat out the 4th quarter.

I need a camera with a better zoom lens!

A hug for little sister.

A cheer for the other team when the game was over (that one little boy didn't look very cheerful, though).

Everything is a picture-taking occasion.  Here are my favorite girls.

Mira really wanted to get down and explore.  And by that I mean she wanted to eat the pretty little white flowers in the grass, and anything else she could find.

It's kind of hard to learn to walk when your pants are falling down and covering up your feet!

Mira turned 10 months old on the 15th.  Melissa really wanted to get some pictures, and it was a nice sunny day (really too sunny--it was hard to get a good picture), but kind of windy.

I don't think she could figure out why we were sitting her down in a patch of flowers.

I think she's saying: "I'm just not too sure about this, folks!"

We "borrowed" the neighbor's yard for a nice background, as our tulips were a bit past their prime.

But it was kinda hard to get the squirmy one to cooperate.

We girls have gone on a few walks lately.

Danica likes to pick up "souvenirs" everywhere we go.  We try to limit them to the least disgusting of what she wants to pick up.

Drumming on the bus stop with the reeds she picked.

On our walk today, Danica insisted that she was an "old lady" and had to use these "canes" for walking.

I was baby-sitting Mira and gave her a silky blue shirt from the dress-up box (because she likes things of that "slippery" texture such as nylon slips, etc.).  Somehow she managed to get it on by accident.  Upside down, but she wore it for at least ten minutes before she finally shook it off.

One hand was all the way through the sleeve, but the other one wasn't, and she got frustrated trying to pick things up with the hand that was covered.

She looks good in blue, don't you think?

And last, but not least:  Danica and Melissa were playing around with the Dynamo labeler.  I'm glad to know that I'll be able to remember their names now!

Actually, this might be useful for Clay--he has a tendency to mix up the names of his family members.  :-)

Spring Has Sprung in Eugene

We had a ward activity this morning at a local park, including a very nice breakfast, an Easter nature walk (looking for specific items to remind us of Christ), and some Easter games for the young (and young at heart).  It was a bit chilly to begin with (at 9:00 a.m. it's still in the 40's), but there was plenty of sunshine, which was kind of a miracle itself -- I thought our activities committee was rather crazy brave to plan an outdoor activity in March, even with a covered picnic shelter.  (It was raining yesterday and supposed to rain tomorrow, so we were really lucky to have such a beautiful day today).

After the breakfast, Clay and I headed out for a walk, as there are plenty of jogging and bike paths surrounding the park, and I wanted to take some pictures of the spring blossoms along the millrace.

We had a good view of the hotel Clay works at, since the trees along the side are still bare.

We were amused (and amazed) by the ducks that sleep standing on one foot with their heads turned backwards to tuck them under their wing.  I would think they'd fall over, or wake up with a neck ache.

We saw some trees with pretty pinkish blossoms and bright green leaves.  I like the blossoms against the blue sky.

Here's a close-up of the same tree.

Even Autzen Stadium looked fresh and shiny.  Go Ducks!

We saw tons of geese and ducks and other birds.  Clay can still identify a few birds by their songs, even though it's been many years since he studied them.  (He's a long-time bird watcher).

Clay doesn't like this picture, but I do.  I think most of us don't like pictures of ourselves.  You'll notice there isn't one of me in this post, even though I let Clay take one of me wearing the bunny ears he made for me at the ward activity.  The kids we teach in nursery looked a lot cuter in theirs.

It was just a beautiful morning for a walk, and we enjoyed ourselves!

And here are a couple of pictures I took earlier this month.  The first is one I took from inside the car (don't worry, I wasn't driving while I took it, Clay was).  And the second is some crocuses in our front yard.

Of course, there is a downside to all this beauty.  Here is a picture of our best friend this time of year:

HAPPY SPRING, EVERYBODY!

Mama's Helpers?

I'm told that Danica is a pretty good helper at home.  One of the chores she is learning to do is to put away the dishes.  I was invited over for a meal the other day, and while Melissa was making sandwiches for everyone, Danica was emptying the dishwasher and Mira was "helping."

But as everyone knows, everything in baby's hand goes right into baby's mouth (how else can she explore her world?).

Let's try the green plastic spoon first.   

Meanwhile, Danica is diligently working on her task.

Then Mira needs to try out a plastic plate to go with the spoon.

The next course is the metal spoon.  (Doesn't she look like she's plotting something?)

No, you can't have this one -- it's all mine!

Danica shows us how carefully she can carry the dishes.

Making progress.

Oh, are we done already?  I was having fun.  Can't I help some more?

Of course, the dishes that Mira "helped" with had to go straight back into the dishwasher.  :-)

More Mira

I was going to do a post on the signs of spring we are enjoying, but it was too much trouble to wander around in the rain taking pictures, so I'll fall back on that reliable stand-by: grandchildren.  We got to watch Mira while Melissa and Rob took Danica to "Family Bingo Night" at her school, so of course the camera must come out.

She gets a big kick out of the funny noises Grandpa makes to entertain her.

She thinks she's a big girl when she stands up.

 

  

Showing off her first tooth (and has another on the way).

 

She eventually falls asleep in Grandpa's arms.

 

Does Mira's shirt look familiar to anyone?

 

 Wow, that brings back memories!

Speaking of the Tooth Fairy...

The subject of the Tooth Fairy has come up frequently lately.  Danica has lost several teeth in the past few months.  (Mira is trying to help by getting some of her own, but that's another story).  

Poor Danica seems to have trouble producing the necessary "evidence" in order for the Tooth Fairy to be able to compensate her.  One loose tooth was missing when she woke up one morning, presumably swallowed.  The Tooth Fairy understood, and was generous.  Another one was missing one morning a couple weeks later, but found in her bed. And now her latest loose tooth (knocked the rest of the way out during a rowdy game of "tossing a ball" with Uncle Neil here at our house a couple days ago) ended up going down the drain in our bathroom at some point during the semi-traumatic aftermath (Melissa didn't realize Danica still had it on her tongue as she was leaning over the sink to avoid bleeding on the floor).  Clay declined to dismantle the pipes underneath the sink to look for it -- because the previous owners of our house had somehow jerry-rigged one pipe in such a way that it will need to be replaced with a new part if we ever have to undo it.

So here's a picture of Danica a few weeks ago, doing a puzzle with Grandpa (with one tooth missing).

Here she is last week, with another one gone (on the bottom)....

...and here she is today, with three teeth gone.

On a slightly related note, a few days ago Melissa made a pan of brownies while at our house, and she had taken a small piece out of the corner for herself, and gone to feed the baby.  Danica asked her mom if she could have a brownie and Melissa said yes.  When she looked at the pan of brownies afterwards, this is what she saw:

  

I guess Danica wanted to make sure she got her fair share of the brownies.  Danica told me:  "Well, I only took 2 or 3 brownies...I think it was only 2."     :-)

Virtual Babysitting

There's a game on the Wii called "Animal Crossing."  You can create up to 4 characters for your town (and you have 10 animal neighbors).  If someone else has the same game, you can visit each other's towns.  My town is Willowby.  Melissa and Danica play in Dewville.

Danica likes us to play together (from our own homes).  I'll get a phone call, and a sweet little voice says, "My gate is open, Grandma.  You can come visit me."  I've had to get creative in trying to entertain a 5-year-old online in a virtual town with limited options.  Here are some of the things we do.

We go fishing.  Sometimes we're after the same fish, and you never know which one will catch it.
(Danica's character is "Odette" and she's the blond in the tiara.  Mine is "CindyLou" with the dark hair.) 

We can show off fish we've caught.

We can go bug hunting...and we're not even afraid of the dark, or the bugs -- well, except for maybe the scorpion and the tarantula, because they will attack sometimes and knock you out. :-)

We like to show off the bugs we've caught.  Ha, ha...mine is bigger!

 We can listen to the music of K.K. Slider at the local cafe on Saturday nights.

 Or see the art exhibit at the museum, if we're feeling in need of some culture....

....or get up close and personal with the fish at the museum....

....or check out the dinosaur bones.

We occasionally play hide and seek, which can be challenging if we hide indoors.

We can even "talk" to each other.  Danica uses the game's onscreen keyboard, but I got lazy and hooked up a wireless keyboard to the Wii, which makes it so much easier.  Her spelling is quite creative, but I can usually figure out what she's trying to say.

 Grandchildren are the best "invention" ever!!