Soccer 2011

Chyenne played her first season of soccer this year.

TOT SHOT (3-4 years old)

I was her coach... and we finished with a completely undefeated season (I have coached youth soccer for several years).
She wasn't the BEST player on the team, but she did HER BEST and it was awesome. So proud of my princess. She scored a total of 12 goals during the season. :) Excited for Spring Soccer and Cohen cannot wait until he is old enough to play on the team too!

Wordless Wednesday

family and fall

My girl is obsessed with hats, unfortunately most of her hats do not fit this year--so we must buy more! :)

 In between school, work, more school, more work, etc, we have a little time for family fun. Here we were leaving the movies. Cohen is SUCH a daddy's boy. When daddy's around, he claims him immediately. Chyenne is perfectly content with the extra cuddles from mommy. She is so sensitive that daddy has to be careful with his voice tones around her. She had a twenty-seven (yes I timed it) meltdown the other morning because she refused to give daddy night kisses and he said "oh that's fine, I gave all of my kisses to mommy and Cohen anyway!" She's still daddy's number one girl.

 But overall, she is a mommy's girl! She is so much like me, minus the whole girly-girl, diva thing. She is opioniated, passionate, hilarious, caring, sarcastic, omniscient (or so she thinks), witty, and highly competitive.

 Cohen adores pumpkins. We have bought him SIX mini pumpkins (on seperate occasions) thus far. He has always adored the color orange since he was a little baby. So I'm betting that has something to do with it. :)

 He's such a ham. He refuses to take good pictures for me anymore. SIGH!

 Here are the proofs from Chyenne and Cohen's first school pictures. The quality is not that great, but we had to order them (the one on the left).

 SEE?! He tries to humor me but he just looks like a goofy old man when I take out my camera or phone for a picture of him.

 WE have been working on our marriage. I gripe less, he respects me more. Win, win? YES!

 My piggy princess with Miss Piggy. She could not be any happier--unless maybe she saw a REAL Miss Piggy.

Cohen dotes on daddy ALL day long. I guess it's because daddy lets him get away with anything and everything. Colt told me the other night "I am so glad I didn't deploy this time, all of these extra hugs and kisses from Cohen is so worth the headache of my new job!" -We're so glad too! :)

Routines

I have never been one much for routines. I'm a firm believer that children naturally develop their own routines.

Since I started teaching preschool and the kids have started going to preschool, we have stuck to a pretty tight schedule. I sure miss staying up late and waking whenever I wish.

For now, our schedule is as follows:
I wake up at 6:15am, shower, get ready, prepare breakfast, and finalize lesson plans.
Between 7:20-7:30am I wake the kids. Oy! Cohen is a morning person, just like his daddy. Chyenne? Well she takes after me and doesn't fully open her eyes until I put her in the car. LOL!

They eat breakfast, use the potty, I help them get dressed, do hair, brush teeth, and load them in the car by 8:10am.

On Mondays, we're at school from 8:30-12:30. We eat lunch immediately after school.
On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, we're at school from 8:30-1:30pm and we eat lunch at school.
On Thursdays, we have music class, so we're at school from 8:30-1:00pm. We eat lunch after school.
On Fridays, the kids stay with my mom or sister, as it's only the 4/5 year olds. I get to leave school around 12:30.

The kids nap some days...Cohen more than Chyenne. I could use a nap every day.

Dinner is served between 6pm-7pm depending on schedules, (i.e, Chyenne has soccer games at 6 on Mondays, so we eat a snack before and dinner immediately following).

They get a bath EVERY single night. I bathe them immediately after dinner. They get in pajamas, read stories, snuggle, and get in bed no later than 8:30pm. I prefer to put them to bed at 8:00pm so I have time to clean the kitchen, get ready, and be at the gym by 9:00pm.

Saturdays and Sundays haven't been regular for us--yet! We've had so much going on lately with the military. I hope to get in a better weekend routine real soon. Hopefully getting back in the groove for church every Sunday and FAMILY DAY every Saturday.

I'm exhausted, but this schedule seems to be working with the kids.

He's HOME to stay--for now!

Several months ago hubby applied for a STATE-SIDE position with the Army. He didn't think he got the job because they sent him away for training for his Kosovo deployment... well halfway into his train-up he called and said "can you pick me up if I get a ride close to home?" umm YES!

He got the new JOB and he won't be DEPLOYING now... or in the next THREE YEARS! We are SO excited!!!

Chyenne is still a little to apprehensive about all of it to be happy that Daddy is home. We've told her that he doesn't have to go away with the Army for a long time again but she doesn't believe it. She's far too smart for her own good. She said she "hates afghanistan-ddd!" and I'm sure she would say that she "hates Kosovo" if he went there too.

Cohen is just happy to have daddy back. He follows daddy everywhere.

Hubby is especially excited that he won't get to miss any of Chyenne and Cohen growing up--for now.

I'm excited and anxious to live like REAL PEOPLE. A normal life without seperations. ah!

Chyenne's First Pageant

Last blog I mentioned how Chyenne was in her first pageant on the 21st of August this year. She had SO much fun.

My sweet girl is a natural on stage. The words we used to describe her for her "about me" portion were: imaginative, articulate, and peppy. TOTALLY her. :)

The pageant host was Georgia's Heavenly Faces and boy did she look heavenly. The title of the pageant was Miss Boots and Bows. She participated in all of the categories that the pageant offered. She was contestant number 17.

For beauty wear, she wore a navy blue dress, white dress shoes, white dress socks, a navy blue and white bow and a pearl necklace. Her hair was curled and she (of course) wore NO makeup. She was absolutely stunning!

She was such a doll on stage. When they announced her name and number, she pranced onto the stage with a smile on her face and her hands on her hips. SUCH a DIVA. She charmed the judges and all of the viewers.

She kept spinning around in circles like a ballerina. SO cute. I was highly impressed with how she didn't FALL. She is an extremely clumsy princess.

After beauty, we had to rush to change her into her WESTERN WEAR. Of course my princess LOVES pigs so we had her a piggy princess shirt made. We paired her pig shirt with a tiered denim skirt, her pink cowgirl boots, and mommy-made bows (with pig centers). She also carried her cowgirl hat on stage.

She was fanstastic. She did her little "spin-arounds", blew kisses, and waved. Absolutely adorable.

She did not want to get off the stage when her turn was up. She is such a star!

We had a good little wait (well at least 30 minutes) until they did crowning... in the mean time, the judges were scoring the "most photogenic", "best dress", "best attire", "best western wear", "prettiest smile", "best hair", "best eyes", "best personality", "miss bows and boots princess", "little miss boots and bows queen", etc.

She was so silly during the waiting time. Cohen was ready for a nap, but he looked adorable sporting his "world's best brother" shirt. He certainly is!

Next came time for crowning. When Chyenne first decided she wanted to do the pageant, she said "I really want to win a big crown"...

Her age division (3 years old, and 2-5 years) was up.

They had all of the girls in her division line up. Then they called out the winners.
They called her name SO many times! She won "best hair", "best eyes", "best smile", "best western wear", "best personality", and "QUEEN!" for her division! SO PROUD OF HER!  

 (slightly OCD, lining her trophies up)

SO incredibly proud of my sweet girl! She's already planning her next pageants...but daddy is going to have to build her a new shelf if she wins any more!
SIX TROPHIES, A HUGE CROWN, AND A SASH! SHE ROCKED!

Changes

Life has been full of changes lately.

Colt, my husband, is leaving for Kosovo any day now. Whew, I'm not sure we're ready for another LONG YEAR away from him.

School started back for me and I have a full schedule. That is enough to drive anyone insane. :)

I also got a new job! I am now a K-4 teacher for a semi-local Christian preschool. So far, I LOVE it! It's been 2.5 weeks and I my students have already made great strides. My kiddos get to go to school there for free too! :) AWESOMENESS!

Chyenne started soccer and I am coaching her tot shot team. She likes it so far. Cohen is SO jealous, he REALLY wants to play. Next year little buddy.

Cohen is a whirl-wind. He's constantly talking, moving, touching, messing, breaking, loving, giving, pushing, hugging, kissing, etc. He is simply amazing.

Chyenne is growing up so fast. She's SO smart and SO considerate (most of the time). She is a complete girly-girl still, and such a diva. She works hard to be good at everything she does. I am one proud mama! Just over a week ago, she entered her first PAGEANT! Now don't get all crazy and think "whoa, this broad puts her girl in makeup, spray tans and $1000 dresses!" That is most definitely NOT the case. She was in an all natural pageant with a $35 (well I couponed to get it that low) dress, in her naturally pale skin, and beautiful natural glow. She was amazing. I will blog next about how well she did. Needless to say, we have a pageant queen on our hands. :)

We have been renovating our house and it's driving me absolutely crazy. I LOVE what we're doing with the place... I just hate the mess and choas it causes. I will definitely be able to breathe easier once it's all completed.