The Soccer Tot in Action!

I finally got around to filming Abby at SoccerTots yesterday. It's pretty funny. While she loves to kick the soccer ball, you'll notice that she tends to cheat (just a bit, at least when she was told to kick the balloon in the goal.) Her two favorite parts of SoccerTots? Chasing the hula hoops and getting the stamps at the very end of class. Yesterday they all got stamps on their bellies too. Abby was so proud! After watching the video, you can decide if she has athletic talent like her daddy or is completely uncoordinated like her mama. :) Enjoy.

Roo at the Zoo

We took Abby to the zoo for the first time yesterday, and a great time was had by all! Abby had been in Longview since Thursday, so Matt and I were childless for three days, and it was glorious! Don't get me wrong, we missed Abby, but how nice it was just to get up and go! We went out to dinner (and even sat in a booth! Wow. Definitely a highlight of the weekend. Ha!), caught a movie (The Hangover is hilarious, by the way!), ran errands, went to the pool, all without a schedule. And while my goal was to sleep in, I was wide awake by 8:00. Oh well. Sure wish I could sleep later like I used to back in high school. Sadly, those days are long gone!

Anyway, we went to Longview Sunday after church for Father's Day. And then on Monday morning, we all drove to Tyler to visit The Caldwell Zoo. It was relatively empty, which was nice. And Abby had a great time seeing real animals right before her eyes. Her favorites? According to her: Lion (and she'll roar for you when she says this), elephant, and Swiper. (As in the fox character from Dora). We saw a fox right before we left, and I told her that itwas Swiper. She seemed impressed at the thought of meeting such a TV superstar as himself. :)

Here are the highlights:

Family pic Heading into the zoo
She's spotted a giraffe!
It's a shame her grandfathers don't love her more. Ha! She's got those two wrapped around her little finger!!
Watching the lions sleep. In fact, many of the animals slept while we were there. After all, it was sweltering, and they were exhausted! Don't really blame them.
Halfway done, and she's already felt the need to text BFF Ellie and tell her what an exciting time she's having at the zoo. Geez. :)
Feeding the ducks and turtles with Daddy. While she thoroughly enjoyed this feeding....
...not so much with the birds. If you look at the picture, you'll notice that a bird latched onto her feed stick and wouldn't get off. This freaked Abby out to no end. Love the "Holy Cow, There's A Freakin' Bird On My Feed Stick" expression on her face. Priceless!

Ah, the Snake House. I liked this. Well, I liked it because it was air conditioned. Despite the look of happiness on her face, Abby didn't care too much for the snakes. I don't think she understood the concept of the glass acting as a barrier between them. I don't really blame her. Dora The Explorer paints snakes in a bad light, and frankly, she'll believe anything Dora tells her. :)

Oh, to be a kid again! Side note: When Matt and I take Abby out for walks around the neighborhood, we always comment on how kids have it so well--being pushed around in a stoller, supplied food and drinks. Matt jokingly commented about how it would be nice if we took the old recliner in our garage, added wheels to the bottom, put Matt in it, and let me push him around the neighborhood, cold Budweiser in hand. You know, he might be onto something...

The whole Tenner/Craddock clan.

A good time was certainly had by all!

VBS

I'm helping at our church's VBS this week, and I'll be honest, I'm having a blast! My Crew consists of nine 6-year-olds, and they are just adorable! (I originally started out with eight kids, but one little boy attached himself to me the very first day, so I let him into my crew. Apparently he took a liking to me because yesterday he asked me to be his girlfriend. How cute is that?! However, he wouldn't take no for an answer, so I politely informed him that I could be his mother. Gotta love first graders! ha!)

It's hard to imagine that in four short years, Abby will be where they are. Unbelievable! Because I'm volunteering up there all week, preschool-aged children of helpers get to attend as well. So, Abby is in the Tumbleweed Toddler class. Now, they don't really have curriculum, and I'm fairly certain she spends her hours playing with baby dolls, putting on and taking off her shoes, and snacking like crazy, but she's having a blast, which is what's important. The toddlers get to wear VBS T-shirts just like the big kids, and I thought it's too cute not to post.
Monday's artworkI'm so thankful I'm helping with VBS this year; it's really been a wonderful experience. But, boy am I tired by the end of the day! All you working moms out there, I have a newfound respect for you. I don't know how you do it!

Catchin' Up. And how is it June 12 already?!

Gosh, there's so much I need to catch up on, but oh-so-little time. Having a two-year-old is demanding. Did y'all know that? And not in a "newborn demanding" kind of way but in a "We're-Always-On-The-Go-Kind-of-Demanding," which I oh-so-love, actually. The pool has been calling our name lately, and I plan on going there as much as possible this summer. Gotta love pools! Abby and I have been having a great June so far. Our little two-year-old will repeat anything we say (and I mean Anything!) and is picking up new words and phrases left and right.

Here are some highlights:

1. Abby's new favorite (and almost overused phrase) is "Kick the ball in goal." This she picked up from Soccer Tots, which she LOVES and is pretty darn good at, if I must say so myself. She proceeds to kick her foot and show us how she kicks the ball, then she throws her head back, pumps her fists in the air and yells, "Goooooooal" really loudly. It's the funniest thing!

2. Abby and I rocked out to some T.I. and Rhianna yesterday on our way Soccer Tots. While she loves Disney's Choo Choo Soul CD, this girl is a hip-hop fan at heart. Her mama is from Longview after all. :)

3. Her favorite song in the entire world is The Killers' "Human." Seriously. As soon as we're all buckled in Matt's Tahoe, she yells, "Music, Daddy, MUSIC!!!!!" This is our cue to turn to Track 2. As soon as the music starts, she gets so excited. Come refrain time, she's even got a whole choreographed dance she does along with the music. It's hysterical. Matt and I absolutely love the song too, but we're afraid it's losing its luster as we've listened to it dozens and dozens of times!

4. Abby loves talking about past events. "Ant bit toe." "Boo-boo knee." "Daddy's mower. Ouch. Sizzle." "Boo-boo. Ellie's. Wawa (water). Fall down." I realize as I type this that all of my example phrases have to do with injuries. Oy. Two year olds sure do keep Band-Aid in business, don't they??

5. Abby loves to count. But she forgets 6, 7, and 8. Oh well. Surely she'll get that all figured out by Kindergarten. At least that's my hope.

6. There's a lot more, but Dora's just made it to the Red Path in the Cornfield, so I need to wrap things up. I think they're almost to Mama Bird, so I fear the end is near. Sigh.

Here are some pics from the past few days:

Love pigtails!

Dancing with "Baby Clarky"

Just a hat

Abby's BFF Ellie in the same hat. What a doll.

Baboo (my brother Chris) is in town for some Ranger games (we went to last night's), so this morning, we took Abby to Willowbend to play. While she does enjoy running around and playing in the play area, she'd much rather use up all of my quarters on the "choo-choos."

She loves climbing in that darn cup of coffee!

Just some cute pics:
In the wagon, ready to head to the pool

Just Abby

Happy weekend, all! :)