Soccer

I have been trying to add these soccer pictures for awhile, and they finally uploaded.  All three kids are deep into soccer season right now.  They all stayed on the same teams this year, which has made it really nice. 

 

Madison, starting at the center forward, is ready for the game to begin.

 The Lady Panthers tied their first two games, but they won this past weekend while Edward and I were out of town.

 Luke has really blossomed into an awesome player.  He scored three goals his first game and again this past weekend!

 Luke is on the Fire this year, and he is really fun to watch!

 Alex is in his last season of "Lil' Kickers."  He is on the Dragons again this year, and man, this league is so cute!  Alex started the season with the first goal at the first kickoff!!!  Of course, I was dropping Luke off at his game, came back, and found out that Alex was the star of the first game.  He has not looked quite the same since, but he's definitely having fun.  He is Number 9.

 He looks so intense in this one, but usually he's not intense at all for soccer.

Toothless

Luke lost his first tooth, which was on the bottom, the night before Edward came home.  We had been at Madison's soccer practice all evening, and when we walked in the door, he just pulled it out.  I'm happy to report the Tooth Fairy found Luke and left him a dollar.

HOME!!!!!!!!

After six months in Afghanistan, Edward returned home.  We are so glad to have our soldier home and thank the Lord he returned safely to us. Words cannot express the amount of relief we all felt with Edward arriving home, especially knowing some of his soldiers, and friends, would not return home.  War is horrible and the reality that good men have given the ultimate sacrifice will remain with us forever.

 

 I didn't tell the kids until they came home from school Friday that we would be going to the airport.  They thought it was going to be Sunday, which was our original date, but due to many circumstances, Edward arrived home early. I knew the kids would not focus while at school, and it was a great surprise. They came home to the banner up, as I hung it after they got on the morning bus.

 Once home from school, the kids quickly started working on their signs.

 "We have waited six months to hug our dad."

 Soon, it was time to head to the airport. Because Edward came home a few days early, he flew home partially with the Air Force and partially with a commercial airline.  He was able to come home early because he will be attending a medical conference all next week, something he hasn't been able to do for a few years due to back to back deployments.

 Beyond excited

 We were able to wait at the gate, which is a trick of the trade I knew about, and I'm very glad to report the Fayetteville airport was so nice (and helpful) with everything. They were excited for us too.

 Finally!!!!

 11,000+ miles and several days of travel=HOME

Edward was shocked to see us at the gate.  He was deep in conversation with another medical person from his unit that he happened to meet up with in Atlanta and ended up sitting with on the flight home (small world). As the guys walked off the plane, Madison flew over to meet him at the opening to the door, and Edward almost didn't know what was going on.  It was really sweet. Luke, who has been so stressed with everything, just started crying, and I don't even think he knew why. He wasn't upset, but the relief of seeing that airplane just came out. It was so good to see our favorite guy.

 Edward with his mini-me

 Luke was determined to carry Edward's ruck sack through the airport, in spite of it weighing well over 50 lbs.  He was so cute trying so hard to carry it.

 Finally together again

 This was the last day of our jar.

EMPTY and ready to be put away for a LONG, LONG TIME!

 

Lacrosse

The kids all love sports. Saturday, after soccer, we went to Raleigh to pick up our snow skis. We had taken them to the ski shop a couple weeks ago for waxing and adjustments. All five of us have skis, so it is a big job. Anyways, after we picked up our skis, we ate at our favorite spot, Sweet Tomatoes. Nearby is a great kids' consignment store we all like to check out, so of course, we went there. We also wandered into the sports store next to that where all three of them found these lacrosse sticks. The kids have been talking about lacrosse a lot lately, so they were very excited to find these. Who knows...they may play it in the spring here.

Lady Panthers

Madison started soccer again this past weekend. She is on the se team this year, The Lady Panthers. It is really awesome to see her growth from one year to the next. She is becoming a really, really good soccer player. She started the game as center forward, which I agree with her coach, is her best position. Madison has gained a lot of height this past year, and she is no longer the smallest on her team! I am very proud of the athlete she is becoming!
With her recent growth spurt, she needed ladies size 6 soccer cleats!

Running hard...they tied, 0-0, but both teams played very good offense and defense.

First Day of the Last Year of Preschool!!

My big boy is ready for Pre-K!!

Alex is so excited for this year. He has eight other kids in his class and has the same teacher Luke had. He is the only one of our kids to attend the SAME preschool all the way through. That is huge with a military family. 

Going into this year, Alex knows his letters, colors, and can count to 100 (no joke). He counts in the car everywhere we go. Alex can spell his name and writes it well. He is left-handed like his big sister. His favorite letter is X.

I know he will have a great preschool year! Several of his friends are in his class.

The Beach and Cousins

Labor Day weekend, my sister, brother, and their families were visiting our parents in Wilmington. The kids and I went over to spend a day with them. We met up at the beach for fun in the sun before heading to house for a cookout.

Madison and Alaina love each other so much!

Little Violet, such a hard life

It is really too bad no one wanted to pay any attention to Violet :) 

It was so nice to see everyone. After our yummy dinner, the kids and I drove back home. They already miss their cousins.