Love

Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy.
That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody's business.
What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy if anything can.

Thomas Merton (1915 - 1968)

Saturday, March 12, 2011

At Talking Rock Park with Friends

After Owen's soccer game, we ran home to get changed and then drove up to Jasper to have fun with Tabitha and her two boys.  We picked them up and made our way to Talking Rock Park which has a great stream running along next to railroad tracks, a playground and a large open field.

The kids had fun throwing rocks in the water.

And playing on the rocks.

Chloe liked leaning into this tree while sitting on the roots.

Owen fell on some of the rocks in the stream and scraped up his shin pretty badly.  There was quite a bit of blood and tears, so it was awhile before I got more than serious looks like this.

I was proud of my boy for helping push the Youngling in a swing....nice seeing him help out the littler kids!

He played on the trapeze bar, hanging like a monkey and sitting up high.

My little dangle did what she's good at....she dangled.  :)

After getting our fill of the playground, we went for a walk along the railroad tracks.

Chloe hung back and then ran to catch up with us.

She kept running to get ahead while Owen carefully balanced as he walked along on a rail.

We stopped along the side in an area by a gate and some bushes that he wanted to check out.  Owen asked me to take some pictures of him and this is the face I got.  It is his favorite face lately.  I think mainly because it gets such great reactions from others.

Wow, these rails were laid down in 1938!

Chloe had fun playing in the mud.

Time flies when having fun.  We arrived at Talking Rock Park mid-afternoon and already the sun was starting to set.  

I love how well these kids get along with each other! 

Amazing that the kids still had energy, but they did.  They just kept running.

Owen caught a grasshopper.  He named it Jerry.  Where does he come up with these names?

Chloe picked some flowers for me.

Then the kids worked together to hold onto Jerry and chase him down to recapture the poor grasshopper after many, many escapes.

More running, into the sun.  Back and forth they all ran.

Ben found some onions and maybe even grass that he thought were good to chew on.  Silly boy.

Chloe tried blowing on dandelions to make wishes, but they didn't blow apart like the dandelion seedling fuzz flowers.

As we headed back towards the car, a tree summoned the boy to climb up higher than me.

And of course, the girl child had to do the same thing as her brother.  Because she is not to be outdone.  Ever.

I love that the older these two get, the better friends they are becoming.  They still pick at each other and do things to irritate the other intentionally.  They tattle and sometimes they even still hit.  They push each other's buttons.  But for the most part, they have so much fun together.  They spend hours playing with each other and I love that.  I love that they can play and laugh and truly enjoy each other's company.

Saturday Morning Soccer

This little girl dressed in her soccer duds to come to Owen's game.  She was wearing her bright orange soccer shirt from a previous season.  I love the impish grin in this out-of-focus shot.

Owen started out playing goalie.  Our boy loves to be able to punt the ball out of the goal zone.

Our boy deals a lot with fighting his team mates for the ball.  The other kids don't seem to understand they're not supposed to take the ball away from one of their teammates.  Rather frustrating, but we talk about it at home with Owen to not get frustrated because they don't know better.

Chloe was happy that Megan and Catherine came over to play after their game ended.  She got a Kool-Aid from their team after the game, can you tell?

Owen scored a goal right at the end of the game and was giving five to his teammates and coaches.

I always love watching the teams file by each other giving five and seeing the coaches go through with them.  Sportsmanship is awesome.

Notice a little girl wedging her way into the team meeting after the game?  She's gotta be in the middle.  Always.  :)

Friday, March 11, 2011

And Another Friday Night

First up is Tae Kwon Do.  The kids got to use their nunchuks tonight.

They got to take turns practicing flinging them around in circles and figure-8's and over shoulders and under legs.

We had some gorgeous sun at soccer practice.

While Owen practiced, Chloe hung out.

She was quiet.  Because she was hiding something from another child.

She got really smiley after getting busted by the other child.

Then she sat on her own ball.  :)

The evening was a little chilly, but the weather is warming up overall.  It feels so nice to be saying good bye to winter.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Lunch with the Kidlets

I drove up to school to surprise the kids and sit with them while they ate lunch.  I saw a little girl with a mush face who did not feel like smiling.

And a little boy who wanted to ham it up.  One of his classmates had a birthday, so there were cupcakes getting passed all around.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Just Another Friday Night

Fridays are busy.  We pick the kids up early from school to go straight to karate.  Look at how high our boy is jumping in this practice exercise!

He has completely straight splits and amazes us all.

Owen got called up to the front of the class to demonstrate the perfect side kick.  Go Owen!

The class was good and earned the privilege of playing Karate Ball at the end.  This is basically the same as dodge ball, but only the instructors throw the ball.  The kids absolutely LOVE this game.

Chloe, move faster!  You're out :)

After karate, we high tail it home so the kids can change clothes and then we head up to the soccer fields for practice at the school.  Chloe always latches onto the older girls, whether we are at soccer, karate or anywhere else.  This one happens to be Leydin, who was in Owen's kindergarten class and is now in his second grade class.

The kids had to practice controlling the ball and navigating it around a coach to get to the goal.  Owen loves it that Todd is one of the team coaches.

After practice, we headed to our favorite Mexican restaurant.  Guess who acted like a goof?

She's such a silly little thing.  We don't know where she gets it from.  ;)

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