Soccer!!!!

We signed Taryn up for soccer a couple of weeks ago.  She is playing in Plainview at the Y.  She has been so excited about getting to play. 

Her first practice was on Wednesday, during Spring Break.  So was super excited.  We bought her a couple new pairs of shorts and she was all set.  Her Doakie and Gramps had gotten her a soccer ball and she practiced before going to her first practice.  Cory and I are neither soccer players, so this is all new to us.

Notice the hands!!

We were pleased at how well she did for her first time.  She cracked us up with her hands.  She kept them up in the air, so that she wouldn't touch the ball.  She was a little shy and let a few of the more "aggressive" kids go in front of her several times.  She will learn.

It's a little hard to play soccer when you don't know how to tie your own shoes.  Good thing dad was around to take care of that problem.

 Last Thursday night, she had her first game.  This just after 2 practices.  She was so excited to put on her green shirt and go play.  There are not very many on her team, but she was one of the only ones who did not get pulled and replaced.  She played the whole game.  :) Proud momma!!

Go TARYN!!  Get that ball!!!

She ran and ran.  She was one tired little girl.  If you are in need of a good laugh, you should go and watch a 3-4-5 year olds play soccer for the first time.  There was no real rhyme or reason, they were just running and chasing the ball.  Taryn did get the opportunity to play goalie.  The first time, an older boy kind of took over, but they put her back and she did stop the ball, once, and then they kicked it in again.  oops!

Playing goalie!  I think this is what she likes to do best!

They really didn't keep score, but the other little team did have a few more goals than we did.  That's ok it was worth all the laughing the parents did.  We play again this week and she is already ready.

After the game, we headed to Taco Bell, her choice for supper with Doakie, Gramps, PaPa and Carol.  Then we had to run to Wal-Mart.  She was asleep before we got back to Petersburg and slept til morning.  I think we should play soccer everyday!!

Where Did Spring Break Go?

Wow! Spring Break has flown by. We have stayed busy and spent little time at home. I am not ready to go back to the grind of everyday life. I want another week to spend at home playing with my girls.

On the good side, there is only about 10 weeks left of school! Then SUMMER!! I am so ready to be home and play outside.

I started walking last week with one of the other coaches wives, Jennifer. We have been doing pretty good. We started with a little over a mile walk and have quickly increased to a three mile walk. It feels so good to be active. I am going to work really hard at watching what I eat, that means no more cafateria food. We are in a contest at school, and I would really like to win. Don't know if that is possible considering our sup. has already lost 15lbs. I'm going to try.

Well, I put off grading papers and entering grades until tonight. So here it is midnight and I am just now done. Oh tomorrow is going to be along day.

We have a busy week coming up; Buncos, soccer practice, first soccer game, track meet, trip to Austin, and normal day stuff thrown in there.

Hope everyone has a great day back to work in the morning. Just think we are almost there!!!

A Zoo Trip

Spring Break in the Golden house is usually a week to get stuff done around the house. We usually clean out the garage and get ready for "storm" season. This year though we decided to take a little trip to Abilene to the zoo.

Rhealee had her 2 year check-up on Monday morning, so we packed the car and headed to Lubbock for that. After getting all her measurements (she is 35" long 90%, 24lbs 25%) we made a few stops in Lubbock then hit the road for Abilene.

Everybody traveled very well!!! This was a huge accomplishment for the Golden's.

Rhealee slept most of the way!! This is a good thing, she is not usually the best traveler. Taryn watched a movie and then talked, and talked, and talked. We played a couple of games, and she did the typical "are we there yet?" She was really excited and couldn't wait to get to the hotel. We had been counting down the days on our calendar at home.

Cory of course was our driver. I am so glad I have him, I really don't like driving long distance. I will do it, but I would rather be in the passenger seat with a good book, a diet coke and my pillow.

We made it from Lubbock to Abilene without any stops! This was a record for Taryn not having a break down and needing to stop and go the bathroom when there was absolutely no place to go.

We got into town a little before 4, got checked in and changed into our swimsuits. Yeah! not!!! I was so not ready for it to be swimsuit season! But I put one on for my girls!

We swam and relaxed in the hot tub for about an hour and half before deciding we were hungry and ready to go find some supper. Taryn did not want to get out. She wanted one of us to go get something and bring it back, so that she could keep swimming. She was doing so well in the water. We will have to get her swim lessons this summer. She is such a little water bug, but she had no interest in the hot tub. She doesn't like hot water (even at bath time).

Rhealee is my child with no fear. It only took her a couple of minutes to figure out she could get around without one of us holding onto her. She was jumping off the side of the pool in no time. She also liked the hot tub. It took her a minute to get use to the temperature, but then she was all about going from one to the the other. No wonder the little fart is so skinny. She never stops moving. She would go right up to anybody in the pool and jump towards them. She is very trusting.

After we got them out of the pool we went and had a supper at TaMolly's. It was a pretty good Mexican food restaurant. We made a quick stop at Target for some batteries, then we were back at the hotel, putting our swimsuits back on and getting in the water. We stayed in the pool almost another hour, before it started getting kind of rowdy with older kids. We literally had to drag the girls back up to the room crying. Once we got them bathed though, it didn't take them long to go to sleep.

Everyone slept until almost 9 the Tuesday morning!!! I love hotel sleeping, dark curtains, comfy beds and an air conditioner set to freezing (and I don't have to pay the bill). After breakfast, we headed the the ZOO!!!

It was a cool morning, luckily we all had jackets in the car. Well, Taryn didn't but she was able to put on one of Rhealee's jackets and then Aunt Kami had an extra one.

This is the face we got from Rhealee several times. She loved the zoo. She loved seeing all the animals. She especially loved the giraffes. She got so stinkin' excited while feeding them. She would jump up and down and say "more, more!" Then she would slap her leg and say "mere, mere!" She is still telling us about the giraffe touching her hand with it's tongue when trying to get the cracker. Oh this child cracks us up!! She called all the big cat's "Meows! or Big Meows!" This had us rolling.

The giraffe's were probably my favorite also. They were so much fun to watch!

Taryn was in a sour mood, most of the time we were at the zoo. She had fallen in the hotel room and hit her eye. It looks bad and I guess it made her feel bad also. She really did not want to have her picture taken at all. I wanted to take a picture in front of my favorite animal, the zebra!!!

The sun finally started coming out when we were getting ready to leave. I was able to get one good picture of the girls together. I love the look on Rhealee's face, this is a typical face we see everyday!
Thanks to my wonderful sister, we actually got a family picture. After the zoo we headed to Red Robin for some lunch before hitting the road home!

It was a short trip, but it was a fun trip. We will spend the rest of spring break cleaning and being lazy.

Hope everyone is having a good Spring Break. We are and are already planning our next mini-vacation!!

Happy Birthday Rhealee Grace!!!

(These pictures are all out of order and in random places. I did the whole post, hit publish post and then realized I was some how logged into my dad's blog. I didn't even know he had a blog!! He had used my computer and guess it remembered his password. Crazy!! He had a different layout and I really liked it, so I may have to change mine!). Enjoy. All the cousins together. Back row: Sydni and Taryn Rhea. Front row: Kagen Rhea, Bragen, Payten and Rhealee Grace.

Rhealee loved opening her gifts. She understood what she needed to do and did it!

She loved all her gifts, but she really loved all her new clothes!!

Today we celebrated Rhealee's 2nd birthday. Time is flying by so fast. It seems just like yesterday that we were welcoming her into our lives. I just can't believe that she is 2 already. We did a small party here in at the house with family and the Rendon's (Jennifer keeps Rhealee). I am learning to make cakes from my famous cake decorating Aunt Tammie. This was my first attempt at anything, and I must say it was fun and it looked pretty good. I am looking forward to lots more practicing.

So what is Rhealee doing at 2?

Rhealee at 2 you can say "no" very well.
You can also say "mine" excellent.
You love to make your sister mad.
You also love to give her hugs.
Sometimes you can be a little mean to Taryn, but then you turn around and give her a kiss.
You call everything you drink "milk".
Your favorite thing to drink is milk. I can't keep enough in your sippy cup.
You love pizza, grapes, cheese and hamburgers.
You love to play outside, especially in the dirt.
You love to be rocked and think that we need to lay beside your bed every night.
You sleep with a very large puppy dog, and often drag it through the house to come sleep in our room.
You area a girl on the move. Very rarely do you sit still very long.
You like to watch cartoons, and have a hard time listening to a book.
You like to talk and play on my phone.
You are tiny. Most of your clothes are still 18 months, we put you in 24 months, but they seem to fall off.
You are tall and have curly hair!
You like to grab mine and daddy's hand and tell us "ance" aka dance. You love to dance and sing.
You like to take baths and could stay in there all night if we let you.
You make us laugh and want to cry all within a split second.
You like for me to hold you when I am eating and really don't like to sit down and eat. You would rather walk around with your food and play.
When I get the food mixer out to bake, you instantly grab a spoon and stand beside me and say "bite, pease!" It is really cute, I have taught you well.
You are a traveling girl, you love to stay the night with your Doakie/Gramps and Ganky.
You cry almost everyday when I pick you up from Jenny's cause you don't want to come home, you love being at their house. It makes me a little sad, but honestly I like the fact that you are happy there.

We woke up this morning with you laying in between us on our bed and we sang Happy Birthday to you! Tonight I rocked you to sleep singing you the same song. It has been a great day, and I am so blessed to be your mommy!! Rhealee enjoying her birthday cake!! It was yumm-o!

My first attempt at cake decorating. Red velvet cake with cream cheese icing. I am learning from fantastic Aunt Tammie.