Summer Soccer Continues

Summer soccer continues, and while Camden is doing great and scoring a goal in every game, we can not say the same for Casen. Every week he acts so excited for his soccer game and can't wait to play and then . . . . . . .nothing but crying. He refuses to play with the other kids - he sometimes will kick a ball that the coach will send his way while the other kids are playing at the other end of the field, but that is as good as we get. Talk about FRUSTRATING!!!! I tell you, he is a great little soccer player at home - very aggressive when playing against Camden. I am not sure what happens to him when we arrive at the fields, but I am ready for his hard headed self to decide he is ready to play.

Camden's team is really not good, honestly they have lost every game. There is only one or two other players that act like they really know what is going on, thus it makes it difficult for his team to score or block goals for that matter. Camden obviously knows they are loosing, but luckily it doesn't seem to bother him too bad at this point.

Swimming Lessons Come to an End

Camden has done AWESOME during his swimming lessons. He has learned how to swim the front crawl, has somewhat learned the back stroke and is still trying to master floating. He does awesome and loves to do front and back flips under water.

After the first week, Casen's teacher felt like he could move up classes, which thrilled Shane because that meant Shane did not have to get in the water with him. She gave Casen and Camden a tattoo for having such a great first week.

Casen has had good days and bad days - it all depends on his mood. On good days, he will do everything his teacher tells him and will not have melt downs when she makes him swim with his head under water, and then there are bad days when he will cry half the class, just to be stubborn.

Due to thunderstorms in the area the second week of swimming lessons, the boys missed a day of swimming lessons. They offered us a private lesson for the boys with a different teacher. I will say despite it being a different teacher, Casen's last day was great, which it probably helped that he was with his brother. He did everything his teacher asked and even swam under water a short bit and was thrilled afterwards!

The boys ready to swim

Casen jumping in the water

Our goals for the boys swimming lessons were accomplished. Camden learned a few strokes and Casen is more comfortable in the water now. This should make our time in the pool extra enjoyable this summer. 

Summer Soccer

We signed the boys up for indoor soccer for this summer, which has no practices, just games on Saturdays. Casen is finally old enough to play, so we signed him up as well as Camden. Casen has been so excited to play and he and his daddy and Camden have been practicing.

Well, much to my dismay, when it was time for Casen to play his first game today, he became a crying, slobbering mess. UGH!!!! He basically refused to even walk onto the field while the other kids were playing. Shane did a lot of talking and coxing, but to no avail.

This is as close as he got to playing soccer

Still crying!

How Casen spent the majority of the game.

After Casen refused to play, despite Shane's attempts, we left during the third quarter. I will say, Casen is very stubborn. According to Shane's mother, he gets it honestly. Apparently Shane did the exact same thing when he was Casen's age. I will admit, Casen probably received a double dose of the 'stubborn' gene, however I know good and well I did not act like this. : ) Perhaps, next week will be better for Casen . .  . .

Camden's first summer game was a bit later this morning and he was excited to get back in the swing of things since he took off a season to play t-ball. He was really excited about his cool jersey - he thinks it is the coolest jersey around!

Camden started out a bit shy, but after he got in the swing of things, he scored a goal. Woo Hoo!! I will admit,I think this is going to be a rough season to watch because aside from one or two other of Camden's team mates, the other players lack focus. I am not seeing too many wins on the horizon, but that is OK, we are here to just have fun, right?

Swimming Lessons

After Casen's doctor's appointment this morning, we headed home, changed Casen into his swim suit, got Camden and Daddy and headed to swimming lessons at the YMCA. Camden took lessons there last year and learned a lot in two weeks, so we decided to go back there this year. Due to Casen's age along with him being uncomfortable in the water, we decided to start him in the 'Mommy and Me' class. Luckily though, Shane and I felt Casen would respond better if Shane was in the water with him since he is more likely to do things for his daddy than he is for me.

Camden had an awesome first day, which I was not surprised since he LOVES being in the water. Casen on the other hand was very apprehensive and it was obvious that he was anxious while in the water. Casen's teacher, Micah, appears very knowledgeable and knows how to handle someone as stubborn as Casen! : ) Our hope for Camden is that he learns actual strokes and has fun and for Casen it is that he becomes more comfortable in the water and will put his face underwater without freaking out. Here's to more summer fun!

Three Year Old Appointment

Today was Casen's 3 year old check up with Dr. Worrall. He was such a big boy and did everything both the nurse and Dr. Worrall asked him to do. He was able to even take the vision test without problems. Go Casen!!!

His 3 year old stats are as follows:

Weight - 35 pounds, 85th percentile
Height - 39 inches, 81st percentile
Vision - 20/40 both eyes (which is passing at this age)

This time of year is difficult on Casen and his breathing. Up until now, the doctor has felt his wheezing to be due to seasonal allergies. For the past month, he has been using his Q-Var inhaler prophylactically to try to prevent him having to be on Prednisone as he has had to do the past two years. Despite using it daily, he was still wheezing today (especially with exertion) and Dr. Worrall felt that he probably does have asthma, which I had felt since last year since he has not seemed to grow out of his symptoms. Today, Dr. Worrall prescribed him a ProAir inhaler to use as needed for wheezing and said for the next few days we should use it (or his nebulizer) every 4 hours to try to get his wheezing under control. I pray that he still outgrows the asthma as time goes on.

As I have done with Camden since he turned 3, I asked Casen some questions that I will ask him each year on his birthday to see how they change.

 1. What is your favorite color?  Yellow
 2. What is your favorite toys? Tractor
 3. What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries
 4. What is your favorite TV show? Fresh Beat Band

 5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Peanut Butter and Jelly
 6. What is your favorite outfit? Mickey Mouse Shirt
 7. What is your favorite game? Baseball
 8. What is your favorite snack? Popcorn
 9. What is your favorite animal? Rabbit
10. What is your favorite song? Ice Cold song (Uptown Funk)
11. What is your favorite book? The Poop Book (It Hurts When I Poop)
12. Who is your best friend? Mom
13. What is your favorite cereal? Fruit Loops
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play soccer
15. What is your favorite drink? Lemonade
16. What is your favorite holiday? Santa (Christmas)
17. What do you like to take to bed with you all night? Rabbit
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Donuts
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Cheeseburger and fries
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Doctor

Casen's 3rd Birthday

Today is Casen's 3rd Birthday and we celebrated Mickey Mouse style! When I asked Casen what kind of party he wanted, he quickly chose Mickey Mouse, just as Camden had at the same age.

One difference between he and Camden though, is that since his 3rd birthday, Camden has always been very particular about what he wants his cake to look like. Casen on the other hand, is not picky. So, I decided that he needed Mickey Mouse ears on top of his cake.



















Of course, my mom made the cake as she does each year, thank goodness. I really want to learn how to ice cakes like she does, however I hate to make mistakes, and I do not have a steady hand, so don't feel like I would do that great with it. This year, I did decide to make the 'ears' myself out of fondant so that I could actually contribute to the cake. Can I tell you, it honestly was not as difficult working with fondant as I expected it to be. I was very pleased with the way the cake turned out, as was the birthday boy! I think Mom and I make a pretty good team!!!

All of our immediate family, minus Mason who was at camp, were at the party. After all the boys played, Casen opened presents, and then we enjoyed hamburgers.

Shawn, Melissa and Braden

Grandpa Key and Camden

Poppa Ron and Casen

Grandpa Key and Casen

Shanelle, Nana and Camden

Casen received several 'big trucks' for his birthday, which he is loving right now. One of his favorite gifts was a big green garbage truck. I hope that is not a sign of things to come. . . .  : )

  


















We then sang Happy Birthday to Casen, although he did NOT want candles, so there were no blowing out of the candles. We also enjoyed homemade ice cream that my parents prepared which was absolutely delicious.

Licking the bowl clean.

We had a great day celebrating Casen's birthday with our family!

Last Day of School

Today was the last day of school for both the boys and myself. Woo Hoo!!!!

And of course since it is Friday, we had to make a stop at our favorite donut shop that we stop at every Friday before school. For Camden, 'a red donut with sprinkles' and for Casen, 'a brown donut with sprinkles'.

I, of course, was being all sentimental since not only was it Camden's last day at the Early Learning Center, but it was also the last day that I will be taking both boys to school since Shane will start taking Camden next year. I swear Camden is dealing better with all this change better than I am. I asked him today if he was sad that it was his last day and his response, "No, I am ready to go to Kindergarten!" I would have to say, they did their job at the ELC and have him prepared and ready to go.

 

Casen's School Birthday

This week at school they celebrated summer birthdays. Since Casen's is on Sunday, they celebrated his today. Casen wanted a Mickey Mouse birthday, which was surprising since he really is not overly into Mickey Mouse. But, I did not mind at all, because that is an easy theme to go with.

As you may recall, when Camden had his Mickey Mouse birthday, I made Mickey and Minnie mouse ears for his party at home and then had made a few extras so he could take them to school and his friends could wear them while they celebrated there. Well, if you do for one, you must do for the other. However, this time instead of only making 19, I ended up making 34. Since Casen's birthday party at our house is after his party at school, I had to make enough for all his classmates as well as our family members.

 

The other fun thing I did was make the chocolate Mickey Mouse ears for the cupcakes out of Wilton Chocolate Melts. I simply melted the chocolate and squeezed it out onto parchment paper and let them dry. I was thrilled with how cute they turned out. And of course, we had to have yellow cupcakes, since that is his favorite color!

  

Everyone in Casen's class enjoyed their 'ears' as well as their cupcakes! Happy Birthday Casen!!

Camden got to celebrate with Casen

Mrs. Nataly with the boys

Ms. Caroline with the boys