A 2 Goal Night

We are now officially halfway through the Summer soccer season.  Time flies when you're having fun!

Careline scored the final 2 of South St Paul's 4 to 3 victory over Woodbury last night.  Mrs. Kirchner, Careline's Teacher, was able to watch some of her game again last night as her Daughter coincidentally was playing on the next field.  We told her that she just may have to continue to show up for the rest of the season as Careline has kicked home 5 goals in the two games she's been at.

The girls are having a great season so far sporting a record of 5 wins and no losses.  This weekend the Packers are playing in the Bloomington Mega Cup soccer tournament.  It should be fun!

Quite The Leadoff Stance

Buddy looked more like a runner waiting for the gun to sound at the start of the 50 meter dash than a baseball player waiting to be hit home from 3rd, but it did the trick and as soon as the batter made contact with the ball he was off (in a flash) headed for home.

A Productive Long Weekend

Much was accomplished at the McLaughlin residence over the three day weekend.  Pat mowed and fertilized the lawn, I weeded in my various flower gardens and moved some plants around before we spread twenty-some bags of fresh mulch, and I spent 7 hours on Sunday washing the windows both inside and out.  The cooler weather and overcast skies made it a perfect weekend to get this much work done.

Play Ball!

Buddy's baseball season started last night.  He gave the ball a good ride each of the times he was up to bat.  For this first game he played catcher.

Front Page News

The South St Paul Youth Soccer Association newsletter came out this week and did you notice who made the front cover? Ole "Hat Trick McLaughlin" herself!

The Goal-less Streak Has Ended!

Tonight Careline got back to doing what she does best, scoring soccer goals.  And oh did she do it in fine fashion.  She scored not one, or two, but her first THREE goals of the year (a natural hat trick) in the span of less than 5 minutes.  How happy does she look to have that first goal of the year under her belt?

One of that Dad's held up this salute to Careline after her third goal.

The Packers went on to defeat Cottage Grove by the score of 5 to 3.  If you're keeping track (and this Mama is) the Packers are undefeated this year with a record of 3 and 0.

Careline was extremely excited that her Teacher, Mrs. Kirchner, and her Daughter Lily came to the game tonight to cheer her on.

Triker Chick

If I had a dollar for every mile that Adeline has pedaled on her tricycle since the Kay's gave it to her last month for her birthday I'd be a rich rich woman!

Oh So Beautiful!

Winner!

It's usually Buddy who is our Lucky child...but dinner is on Careline tonight as she just opened a pull tab worth $150!

Another Packer Victory

Careline had a game last night in White Bear Lake.  Her team won by the score of 4 to 2.  She's a little frustrated that she hasn't scored in either of the first two games.  She came close two times last night, one of the them with a shot just wide left seconds after I snapped this shot.  We remind her of her great team play, as again tonight she set one of the goals up, and assure her that her own goals will come.

She Did Actually Get Some Of Her Treat IN Her Mouth

So Proud Of This Little Girl

Adeline officially made it through the entire day ACCIDENT FREE!  Can I get a Hip Hip Hooray?!

There were numerous wardrobe changes on both Saturday and Sunday...but things clicked on Day 3 of potty training and I couldn't be more proud of her.  The super cool thing is that she's pretty darn proud of herself...as she should be!

They're Ba-aaack

Happy Mother's Day 2013

Big Girl Panties

Cross your fingers everyone...Adeline has been wearing her big girl underwear all day today instead of her pull-up diaper and so far so good!

Although she showed some interest in potty training at an earlier age, she never stuck with it long enough to get the hang of it.  Now that she's 3 and is fully capable of knowing when she needs to "go", she's going to prove to us how much she's grown up and convert to undies.

It's going to be truly exciting to be a diaper-free household at long last.

1 and 0

The soccer season got off to a good start last night when our Packer's beat a good (and BIG) Woodbury team by the score of 3 to 2.  Careline helped get the scoring started by making a sweet pass to one of our new players who put the ball in the net.

I just had to share this photo to show the size difference of our smallest player, cute little aggressive Brooke, next to Woodbury's largest player.  This girl is closing in on my size in both height and weight at just 9 years old.  Wowsa.

Oh the joy after they scored the first goal of the year.

Careline played goalie for the second half of the game.  True to form, she played hard and well and secured the first Packer win of the season.

If you want to check out the new blog I created for Careline's soccer team, it can be found at: http://sspyouthsoccer.blogspot.com

5 Years Of Blogging

It was 5 years ago on this very day that I sat down and made my first blog entry.  5 years!  For old times sake, here's a photo taken from that first posting of a much younger Careline and Braden.

Today I sit down to write my 1,383rd post.  That means that over my 5 years as a Blogger I've averaged 276 posts per year; more than 5 per week.  I obviously love to blog.  

Later today I'm going to be launching a 2nd blog devoted to reporting about Careline's soccer games and sharing photos.  I'll post a link as soon as I make my first entry.

Singin' In The Rain

This Bud's For You

I'm fairly certain that I used this same cheesy blog post title at this time last year....but I'm just so excited that it's finally stopped snowing long enough to allow the trees to start to bud that I took my annual jaunt around our yard taking extreme close-ups of the trees.  Oh what the passers by must think!

Happy 42nd Birthday

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Let the Margarita drinking begin!

Braden's First Communion

Braden made his First Holy Communion this morning.  He looked quite dashing in his suit and tie.  Buddy had the extra special privilege of bringing up the gifts during mass.  Careline would have paid for that honor last year but of course it's all based on the luck of the draw and there's not many people luckier than our Buddy!

But Buddy's not just lucky...he's also quite smart.  His Religion Teacher made a point of coming up to Pat and myself before Mass to tell us that Braden scored the highest in his class on the final exam of the year missing just one answer. Boy these kids of ours make us proud often!

Just as his Sister did last year, Buddy also had the honor of holding on to Bubba's prayer book from when he made his First Communion.

Braden asked to be given a cactus to commemorate the day.  I can't imagine many kids wanted a cactus as a First Communion gift, but it looks quite nice next to the photo of him on this special day.