Tis the season.....

....for soccer! Boy, oh boy, we had our very first soccer game today in the RAIN! Someone forgot to tell the weather that I'm a girly girl and really don't care to sit out and wilt in the rain, but I survived it after all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point, Britain just pretty much runs around behind the other boys. We've tried to tell him which boys to watch and do what they do, stay with the ball, and even watch his baby sister when playing in the yard because she gets it. So far, soccer is not looking like his sport, but it's early in the season yet. We'll see.

Yep..there he is in the back of the group!

Wow! It's been a while since I did ANY blogging. Oops! I guess life got a little hectic. Lots of things going on in the Coulter Crew. My newfound hobby, it seems, is photo story. This is a program you can download for free and it's really cool. You insert pictures, and music and it makes a slide show of anything you want; a vacation, party, first year of your child's life, etc. I've made one for Brit and Avery so far, and one of the Coulter's first five years. Unfortunately, digital cameras have only been around for the last few years and I don't have Dakota's early years on the computer. I'm thinking that might be a neat Senior project for next year to convert them to digital and do his photo story too.

So where to begin....well Dakota will be a SENIOR this year. Will someone please tell me how time has flown by so quickly? Jeez! He will have a busy year with pictures and different things that go on with seniors. At this point, he's really leaning toward Lousiana Tech University in Ruston, LA because he wants to major in Mechanical Engineering. Of course anything can change in a year's time.

Britain is growing so quickly. He is very interested in all things science related. He is constantly asking questions about animals, germs, brains, stomachs, how food digests, etc. If only he'd develop an interest in learning the alphabet! He will begin preschool this fall and soccer as well. Life is about to get very hectic for us!

Avery is learning everyday. She loves her "dooks" and brings numerous books to Mommy or Daddy all throughout the day for us to read to her. Many times she can be found just sitting in the floor or the Elmo chair quietly looking at her books herself. She's learning new words daily as well.

As for Brian and me, not too much new info going on here. Brian will still teach at Hallsville next year, which he loves. His current love/hobby is taking care of his yard. He loves spring and summer so he can plant and garden.

I am moving back to 3rd grade which makes me quite happy. Next week, I'll be out of town for a workshop in Kemah, TX. I'm looking forward to visiting a new place and having some "girl" time with my coworkers.

Wow! Where does the time go? I can't believe my little preemie boy is going to be 4 years old this Saturday? Just four short years ago, he was born 7 weeks premature and only weighing 3.5 lbs and now he weighs approximately 42 lbs. Britain is a constant source or entertainment or worry depending on the day. Some days we are told cute, detailed stories about "Mustardbeard" the pirate, and others we are heading to the ER to be treated for drinking body spray. To say each day is an adventure is an extreme understatement in our house!

Little Miss Avery is growing way too fast for my taste. She is now weighing approximately 22 lbs and is learning new things daily. She is "army" crawling all over the house and finding each and every toy that Britain has that she shouldn't play with. She seems to be following in her brother's mishievous footsteps because today she knocked a ficus plant over, managing to scratch her cheek.

Dakota is working part-time and driving now. He is also busy with ag and making things to show in a Harvest Festival. Most of his items involve welding so I guess this is turning into a bit of a hobby for him.

Last weekend we went to the pumpkin patch and enjoyed a day with the little kids. Here are some recent pictures for you to see.

When it rains it pours.......

....so the expression goes! Things have been so busy around this house, mostly fixing things that are not working properly! :) We have had a virus on the computer lately...joy! We haven't been able to load email or other things and the latest episode is that pop ups of inappropriate things are happening which is not a good thing when you have small children in the house. Believe me, Brian and I are the two most boring people on the face of the earth and don't look at such websites, but for some reason whenever you get a virus that's the kind of junk that pops up there. This is our second time to have a virus and not on the same computer mind you. It's so aggravating!

Not only that, but the nozzle to the bathtub broke off the other day and yesterday we had a mini flood in the hallway and bathroom. I have been hearing water trickling for some time, but we thought we found it and fixed it and then Brit overflowed the sink and flooded the hall. The plumber came today and fixed it (nothing more than a clogged drain behind the wall), but now we will have to place the floor in the hall because the wood is buckling....great, huh?

In a few days I'll be on summer vacation! If I can just hang on to my sanity until then all will be well, I keep telling myself.

All is not gloom and doom in our household, however. We recently took Britain to the Air Show in Shrevport where Brian and I got truly baked and came back looking like lobsters! In fact he made fun of the burn on my knees saying that it looked like Neopolitan ice cream where the pink met the white of the rest of my leg. Lucky me, I married a smart aleck!

Britain is a constant source of entertainment (and fatigue) for us these days. He gets into everything, but he really says some funny things these days too. Earlier he came in here naked from the waist down and Brian told him to go get his pants. Britain replied, "I can't" and when Brian said, "why", he got this reply..."a monster has them"

Miss Avery continues to grow way too fast. She is such a sweet baby. I really enjoy having a girl in the house. Believe me I can go nuts over some bows! :) See her sweetness below? That's my precious gerber baby!

Until some other catastrophe happens.......

Cute stories......

From the mouth of babes.......

Brian and Britain were sitting on the couch yesterday and Britain said, "Daddy where do babies come from?" As Brian was processing this complex question from a 3 year old, he got the idea to make it simple, and of course as nonsexual as possible, so he replied with an explanation telling Britain that God gave Mommys and Daddys babies. Britain replied, "Who is God?" Brian began to explain that God was Jesus' father and Jesus was this really good man when Britain cut him off by saying, "yeah I know who Jesus is, I see him at church!"

And today....Britain was running around the sunroom with a popcicle stick yelling, "hey I have Harry's Potter's stick!"

Another holiday....

Ok so what is it about holidays that pretty much guarantees your kids will be cranky and uncooperative? On Easter morning I got not one good picture of kids in Easter clothing. Check out these two examples:

Notice the lack of eye contact in picture number one and the facial expression? In picture number 2 we have the giant green passy that really sticks out among the sea of pink....otherwise all of her pictures would show a contorted face and wide open mouth!

How do kids this age know it's a holiday and put on their worst behavior? It never fails....oh well maybe next year I can get good pictures in Easter clothes.

On to the Easter egg hunt.....

Britain got to hunt eggs with one somewhat distant cousin. This little girl was all about Easter egg hunting. She was all over the place picking up eggs and running to find the next one. What does Britain do? He finds an egg and puts it in his basket and with much prodding from Daddy goes to find another one. After finding four eggs, he declares to all around, "I'm tired of eggs!" and proceeds to throw down his basket and take off running to the backyard to play with my aunt's little dog. What does it say about Britain that this dog tried every means possible to escape him and was seen shivering in fear at least once during the day? Britain is known for trying to love "too hard". His idea of hugs is to squeeze the object of his affection tightly around the neck!

Needless to say after spending quite a few days preparing for this big, yet disappointing event and having the usual family tiffs I was disgruntled too by the time we got home! Next Easter I think I'm just going to stay home! What is it about holidays?

First time at this!

Well it seems that every family I know or at least the ones with small children are blogging these days! I don't know that we are an exciting enough family to do much blogging, but I'm going to give it the old college try anyway.

We have been a very busy houshold lately. Avery is one month old already and growing like a weed. She slept for 5 hours straight last night, thank goodness. If she didn't fight bedtime so much, she might have slept longer, but it took a while to get her down after her last feeding. She is a very good baby and the whole family is enjoying our new addition.

Britain is proud to be a big brother. He is jealous occassionally, but takes it out more on Mommy and Daddy more than anyone else. He seems to have adjusted well the last few weeks though. He is doing well with potty training. He almost never has accidents lately, so I'm hoping to ditch the pull ups soon (I say this as I cross my fingers, knock on wood, hold my tongue the right way..you get the idea)!

Dakota is mostly thinking about driving these days. He got his permit in January, and is waiting for his "log" to come in from the state where we have to document the road hours he spends actually driving. He is driving to school daily with Brian. So far, so good. Brian says he has been careful and has done well so we'll see.

I just went back to work yesterday (sigh). It was a financial decision on my part since I was on bedrest for about 5 weeks prior to Avery's birth. She is 4.5 weeks old, so I tell myself that it's only a week early and if I count spring break then it's the same as having a whole six-weeks! I'm taking a longer time to heal from my c-section this time, but I think I'm finally on the mend. I'm starting feel almost normal again!

Brian is still enjoying his new job at Hallsvile High School. He has finally found the school for him. After two years at Marshall and then 2 at Longview, he is really enjoying the climate and students at his new campus.