Sopper

I never thought it would happen so soon, but I am officially a soccer mom (or "sopper mom," as Judah says). Yep, every Wednesday afternoon Judah has "soccer class" with Coach John at one of our local parks. (Coach John needs no last name; he is famous with the pre-schoolers in the DC community). Judah will miss class (again) this afternoon due to not feeling well, so I thought I'd at least blog about it.

Some people think I'm crazy when they hear that he already "plays soccer." But let's be honest~there are no games involved, no one is keeping score, and it provides twenty minutes of energy-releasing entertainment for several 2 year-olds and their mamas. I was a little skeptical myself at first, but I was hooked from the very first class. It provided a sneak peak at Judah's enthusiasm and love for all things sports, and I was so impressed with how well he listened and followed directions.

We arrived a little early (shocking), so Judah was able to see the older kids' class in action. He was soaking everything in and waiting patiently for his turn. (Winter attire clarification: these pics were taken the second week in April when it was still quite chilly in DC).

As soon as the older class cleared, Judah ran out to claim his spot. 

I'm ready Coach John!

First activity: kicking over the orange cones. This was a hit with Judah.

Although he paused for a bit so his ball could wear a hat :-)

He was such a big helper. Here he is assisting Coach Jamie with picking up the cones. 

Next, it was "red light, green light," running toward the goal. Judah is a little speedster.

Where is everybody?!

Finally, it was time to run and kick the ball all the way in the goal. Look at that focus!

Our coordinated kicker.

Who knows? Judah may one day want to trade in the sopper ball for the trombone or perhaps a paintbrush, but for now he is having ball ;-)

In His Hands

In keeping with the "green" theme, Judah and I wanted to share our Earth Day craft with you. I had intentions of creating this on April 22nd~ the day set aside to celebrate this beautiful place we call home. However, as you will continue to see (if I ever get caught up) April was very busy for us. We were hardly ever home, so we just didn't get to it.

Home is the only place we've been, however, for the past six days as Judah has been suffering from a terrible ear infection. High fevers, extreme fatigue, poor appetite, pain...it's been terrible. There's only so much Mickey and Dora and Elmo we can watch, and I think we've read every book we own multiple times. So out comes the forgotten Earth Day craft. A little late, but we should celebrate earth all year, right?!

If you want to replicate, all you need is cardboard from your next frozen pizza box, a little finger paint, foam & glue. Although not feeling well, it was a fun distraction for both of us!

Judah initially painted delicately with his fingers

But it didn't take long to cover the cardboard circle in green, blue & yellow and of course, he wanted to keep painting. So I tore off big pieces from our white paper roll, and messy hands followed!

His favorite was making green paint by combining the yellow and blue...a fun way to reinforce color combinations!

One yellow hand + one blue hand

Equals

Green hands!

We continued painting while the earth dried. Then it was time to glue on the hands.

He was kind of over it all at this point, as he was beginning to feel badly again. So I just let him play in the glue while I did most of the "handy" work ;-)

The finished product

He's got the whole world in His hands

He sure does.

Going Green

With spinach. Now that Judah is a "little man" with big opinions and big tastes, he much prefers fruit and complex carbs....anything with a little extra sugar....who can blame him?! Don't get me wrong, I am a very fortunate Mama as he enjoys a variety from every food group and refuses very little~but I do have to work to keep the veggies (especially greens) a plenty. So I ventured into the world of green smoothies. Internet search warning: "green smoothies" (milkshake-like drink with raw greens) are a movement, made popular by granola-crunching adults. Thus, there are some complicated recipes out there with some special/rare ingredients. However, I found one that is very simple and kid-friendly to begin with....the "Groovy Green Smoothie," courtesy of mamaiscookin on AllRecipes.com...

1 banana, cut in chunks

1 cup grapes

1 6 oz. tub of vanilla yogurt

1/2 apple, cored and chopped (I peeled as well)

1 1/2 cups of fresh spinach leaves

Mix in blender. (I added a little ice.)

Our little J LOVES to cook and help in any way he can in the kitchen, so I thought I'd get him involved. While he was napping, I prepared the ingredients in small paper cups.

Judah was so excited to be in the kitchen after his nap. Let's go Mommy! 

Although he wasn't too sure about the spinach.

No need to hide the ingredients, though, as long as it involves dumping and pushing a button that makes a loud noise. 

It was a huge hit! He quickly slurped down the first glass and asked for seconds. This one's a keeper so I thought I'd share. You really don't need a recipe, though...just a little encouragement to add a little raw greens to your favorite smoothie combo. Go ahead...it's groovy.:-)

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Okay, so maybe there is a reason for Judah's current obsession with baseball. 'Tis the season, so he recently attended his first MLB game a few weeks ago, thanks to an invite from his best girl Marilyn and her sweet Mama. Even if you're not a huge baseball fan (ahem, that's me), it's hard not to love our local team. After all, we represent all things American here in DC.

Go Nationals!

A beautiful new stadium along the river, and oh yeah~you can see this on one side...

And this on the other...

Judah was more than excited!

He thought having a ticket for admission was the coolest. 

Checking out the field. 

Look at Judah's little cheering arm...he was saying "Go Nats." This took a little work, though, thanks to all the Boston fans there. After hearing all of their very loud cheers, he initially said "Go Red Sox." Oops. Wrong team, little man.

After all of the cheering (for both teams :-), participation in the "wave," and a little singing, it was time for a hot dog!

Yummy!

And messy!

Go Nats! We'll be back to see you soon! Keep up the good season!

Egg Hunt-Beach Style

I did not forget about this promised "part 2" post. Our computer has just been too busy trying to crash, so we've been shopping for a new one and trying to transfer all we can over to an external hard drive. We haven't made our new purchase yet so for now (i.e., today at this very moment), our computer will turn on and boot up but honestly I probably shouldn't be blogging from it currently. However, our Spring is proving to be a busy one and I do want to continue documenting...before Summer is here and gone! Alas, this post was originally going to be much more clever. However, in the interest of time, it will mostly be just pics from our Easter Egg Hunt on the beach after church while vacationing in North Carolina (see post below). The pictures really speak for themselves. Miles of sand. Beautiful crashing waves. Endless sunshine. Two very happy toddlers. Oh yeah, and colorful plastic eggs.

I will tell you that Judah was much more interested in "digging" the eggs out of the sand with his "wand." (i.e., random light up toy stick with sports balls I bought for him at CVS for a few bucks).

He thinks it's the coolest. At one point during the hunt, he told me he was playing baseball. We try to tell him it's more like hockey, but he refuses to believe us. Baseball > hockey, according to Judah.


Anyways, if you ever get the chance~hiding and finding eggs in the sand with a gorgeous backdrop is highly recommended :-)

 All of the digging and hunting made Judah very tired. Right before this picture, he said "Night Night."

Daddy couldn't resist and joined in for a little rest time, too...

Hope to be back soon, from a shiny new Apple :-)