Sleddin' Down "The Mountain" Fun!

On the fourth snow day IN A ROW, we were able to get out for

some good old fashioned sledding fun. Did I just say that ?!?!

Steve and I have mentioned to the boys not to expect this

every winter. I remember so many times as a child getting way too excited

about the prospect of snow that never came as my face pressed 

against the cold window just hoping and praying for

a glimpse of the beautiful white flakes.
Harold Taft got my hopes up way too many times! 

Both born and raised here, never in our lives have we ever seen such.

As one of our friends said, our children have a "completely warped view of a typical winter around here."

Anyway.....it was one of those afternoons that we will always "remember when..."

SO.MUCH.FUN.

Daddy and Hayden test it out first.

We have to get creative in these parts for what could be 

used as a sled. The inside floor of Lizzie's dog crate Steve

decided would do just fine and we got some great momentum!
 

The boys had no fear sledding down "the mountain" as they

refer to it in our neighborhood. It is actually a great sledding venue but an 

unfortunate location as it is surrounded by the neighborhood traffic circle.

The teenagers especially were getting enough speed to jump the curb and slide

right across the street. Genius, I know.

Fortunately we had a pretty good system with all the parents out there standing 

guard in the street and the cars passing through could see all the madness so were extra

careful to wait for the okay as parents held their little sledders at bay.


 

Hayden at the traffic circle waiting to throw a snowball

at Daddy.

Evan had a good time on it alone a few times but just couldn't 

quite manage to stay on or veer off into the bushes.

He was having a blast anyway.

Hayden is already an old pro!

This was a great opportunity to get Evan in his bear hat.

I love this hat and he gets comments everywhere we go.

As a mom of boys, we don't often get the chance to put clothing and

accessory items on our little men that gain comments of 

"oh my gosh, soooo cute!"

Steve was hesitant to even encourage this purchase as he saw me 

giddily adding it to my online Baby Gap shopping cart.

He told me Evan wouldn't wear it. I told him, "Let me have this

for me!! If he won't wear it, I will take it back."

I am so happy he was wrong.

 

I also had a great time sledding with my "mini-me".

I love these pics of us together. It makes me smile.

 

In the midst of the fun, Steve decided to head back home to get a better "sled".

He decided to try out the surf board...oh dear. Here is some footage of the run.

I tried out the surf board too..

One of Hayden's classmates who lives around the corner 

happened to be out there too.

They enjoyed a few sledding races together.

Evan gives his brother a shove to help him get started down.

They had so much fun that Daddy took them out again 

the next morning before the snow got too slushy.

Good times!

Evan's Hit Single "Singing in the Bathroom"

This was much funnier to me the day I filmed it but it still makes me giggle.

Let us keep in mind we were on the third consecutive day of being "snowed in"

and Mommy was getting a wee bit delirious, AKA crazy.

I was doing dishes in the kitchen when I heard him carrying on while on "the throne"

with the door open and I just knew I had to capture this one for keepsake.

Watch out, Bieber fever!

One "Back Blog" a Day Post February Challenge.....

So "back blogged" it is not even funny!

Where did 2010 go for the Sosbee Family? stay tuned....

(for all two of you who are even reading anymore)

These Are Our... DRAGON "TALES": Hopefully, the photostory will upload! Hayden's d...

 Below is a link to the class blog so wonderfully

maintained by Hayden's awesome 1st Grade teacher.

They did a unit on Arthur and Hayden is featured here reading. I love that I can jump

on almost every day and see what they are doing and learning about.

You know our first grader isn't going to provide much detail other than 

"recess" when we ask what he did in school that day :-)

 

These Are Our... DRAGON "TALES": Hopefully, the photostory will upload! Hayden's d...: "Hopefully, the photostory will upload! Hayden's dad was lucky enough to meet Marc Brown when he was in elementary school. Hayden..."

First Day of First Grade 2010!

Our handsome boy so grown up and ready for another year of elementary school!

He loved the laziness and fun of summer but was excited to get back and see his friends.

We were thrilled his good friend, Kerry, was in his class again this year.

His teacher is great and she updates a class blog everyday with pictures.

It is wonderful to be able to discuss with Hayden each day

and to see what he is learning in the classroom.

Oops, Mommy hadn't gotten another pair of "school shoes" yet as

you will note from the worn out Vans he is sporting.

Oh, how I appreciate the greatness of the good ole'

trusty flip flops that we sported each day of summer!

But alas the flip flops just will not do for school day activities.

last year's First Day pic for comparison- growing boy!

 Sadly Evan's first day of Hayden's first day of school was not so joyous...

Now I must not mislead in saying this was Evan as Hayden got out of the car.
This was just how he spent a good portion of the morning as Hayden was away.
I will say that he does miss his brother terribly and would often ask
me when we could go get brother from school last year.
Let's just say he just typically does so much better
when he has his playmate.
Even a fun trip to Going Bonkers that morning was not enough to
make this little boy happy that day.
Oh, my Evan, you look so pitiful in this pictures.
Preschool starts soon for you and you will get to swap play stories
 with your brother in no time!

Who says there are no good beaches in Texas?

Since last summer the boys and I have enjoyed venturing

to the beach park up the road at the lake.

It is free, usually not too crowded, and we enjoy bringing

       lunch to enjoy in the sand before we play.

It always makes for a great afternoon together.  

            

We don't have a real beach umbrella so this time I just brought the 

Little Tikes Umbrella from the boys' standing sand table.

(classy I know!!)

I figured it would work just as well.

Not so much...

Granted it was windy out that day, (thus the mess you

see all over the place in front of Hayden,) but that thing 

became a flying projectile at least 3 times before I finally

secured it. It did the job though. Hayden and Mommy picnicked

quite nicely under it.... 

 Evan, on the other hand, prefers to eat on the go.

The boys quickly started in on their construction project -

a fort and a river.

I know he will be so mad at me one day but 

I just couldn't help myself. Older brother's old

swim shorts were still just a tad too big.

Evan had to keep pulling them up but

little boys get too busy when they play to

worry about silly things like exposed behinds.

I kept getting the perfect "plumber shot"

as I watched him run back and forth from the water.
I am sure this pic will come in handy some day :-)

It is kind of hard to see with the bright sun, 

but you can see the little "river" they dug

running diagonally along the lower left corner

of the pic.

The little "fort" they master pieced

is the little elevation to the left 

of Hayden and was even topped with a tiny leaf like

garnish they had found in the sand.

My little engineers had a great afternoon. 

Year End Kindergarten Fun!

Hayden's Kinder year was wrapped up with some good ole

fashioned outdoor miserable Texas heat fun! 

Evan joined the ranks as an honorary member of the class this year.

The kids love him and Hayden's teacher was always smitten

by his big bear hugs. He was kind of the class mascot.

He loved going up to the school with me when I helped out

in the classroom and for parties. Hayden also enjoyed

seeing him and showing little bro off.

Mrs. Hodges class won 2 of the 3 tug of wars.

Perhaps it was the 30 extra pounds of assistance?

This contest involved running back and forth

soaking the sponge and then running across to

squeeze the sponge into the empty bucket

to see which team could fill their bucket first.

Hayden took this competition seriously
and really hussled!

Hayden and his buddy, Kaden - then 

Evan right back in the middle of the action.

(He had dropped out for a while because he was

sad they didn't have a baseball hat with his 

name on it like the other kids. It was a pitiful

scene there for a while.) Fortunately he made a full recovery.

This pic was actually from field day from a few 

weeks earlier but I wanted to show off his mad

shoe kicking skills.

He beat all his classmates by a mile in the shoe

kicking competition.

Look at that shoe fly! That soccer

has paid off apparently. He was so 

proud.

The Raptors dominated in Division I Spring Season!

The Raptors moved up to Division I soccer this season for a challenge and still dominated! They had one loss all season to a team that I am pretty sure had a kid that was "Bending it Like Beckham" by the age of 3. CRAZY!!! Anyhow, these boys get better and better each season. In the fall they move
up to the "big field." It seems like yesterday we were holding up signs for them to make
sure they were kicking the ball down the field in the right direction.

Hayden really excelled in playing the sweeper position this season. He stopped many opposing goal kicks and his coaches, Steve, and I could not have been more proud. He seems to do better in this type of position where he can concentrate and not be stuck in the "mosh pit" of 6 year old boys fighting for the ball.

I didn't even notice Hayden kind of pushing on this kid

until I uploaded it.With the big smile on his face, it looked friendly
enough.

The Raptors

Hayden- a.k.a. " Dominating Sweeper"

 End of year kudos from Coach.

 Hayden proudly displaying his trophy.

Soccer Shots

We had Evan enrolled in a great soccer clinic for pre-schoolers called Soccer Shots the past couple of months. He loved it and was so excited to get to put on his big brother's old soccer gear - shorts, socks, shoes, shin gards, and all! They said he didn't need shin guards and cleats but it was so much fun for him to be able to wear it so I gladly put him in it each Monday morning.

He wore it with pride.

Evan happily followed coach's instructions. 

Doing a little drill where he was to touch his nose to the ball - great technique, Evan!

Even better, Evan got to be in Soccer Shots with his friend, Will.

I think they both equally enjoyed getting decked out in all the soccer gear.

Too cute this pair. 

Evan was frequently seen adjusting his socks making sure they were at just the right height

and folded to his liking....

He made sure he was well hydrated of course and liked to carry Mommy's water bottle 

she often uses for running. 

(Notice at this age how with these little guys there tends to be a 

seamless transition between the bottom of the soccer shorts to the top of the socks.)

It brings so much joy to see my little boy having so much fun.

This is a little video of him kicking a goal.