December 3, 2006

In October of 1996, soon after Paul and I were married, a gift came in the mail from a family friend that couldn't make it to our wedding. It was a gift card from JC Penney. We went to the store and bought a popcorn popper. I was so excited about the purchase....it was our "first" domestic purchase as a married couple! That night we picked out our movie, made our popcorn and settled on the couch to enjoy the rewards of our first purchase. Well, to say the least, the popcorn was horrible. Through the next weeks, we tried different variations of making the popcorn but to no avail. We soon came to the conclusion that this was a bad purchase, but the popcorn maker still held a special place in my heart....it was afterall, our FIRST purchase together! So, we pushed it to the back of the cupboards and forgot about it.

December rolled around and in an effort to put the popcorn popper to good use, we decided to create the tradition of stringing popcorn (made with the beloved little device) and cranberries for our Christmas tree. We would make our own garland and watch "It's a Wonderful Life." It was perfect! In the end, we watched a great
movie, created a new tradition AND saved the popcorn maker from uncertain death.

And so the tradition became. We continued it until Aidan was born. We have yet to string the popcorn since Aidan's birth and consequently our tree has been lacking the garland since our move to the new house.

Yesterday afternoon, Aidan asked my parents if he could stay the night. They, of course, said yes. Immediately, the popcorn maker drifted into my mind. This was going to be the night! Paul and I enjoyed a quiet dinner out and then headed home to string our garland. We had watched "It's a Wonderful Life" just last week, on a night that Aidan fell asleep early because he was ill. So we decided to watch "Grumpy Old Men" instead. It didn't matter, it was still fun to have our tradition back and enjoy the peaceful house, with only the dog snoring at our feet.

December 2, 2006

I like to consider myself an organized person at this time of year. I make it my goal each year to have my shopping done early, my cards out no later than December 1st and our house decorated over Thanksgiving weekend. My friends are often sneering at me for this, but the truth is I simply love it. I love having my house decorated, I love shopping and I love taking pictures of my son. The Christmas newsletter is a bit chanllenging at times, but a small price to pay in the long run.

This year is no different. It is December 2nd and my cards are out, my house is decorated and my shopping is done AND my gifts are wrapped. I am thrilled to say the least! However, this year seems different. This year seems more peaceful. I've thought about it alot over the last couple of days and I think it is because I am simply doing what I told myself I was going to do. I am claiming this holiday/Advent season as my own.

Last year, at this time, Paul was remodeling our kitchen. We still decorated and celebrated Christmas, but it just wasn't the same. It was a vastly toned down version. Aidan and I did most of the celebrating on our own and Paul was absent from alot of things. This year, we are making up for it by truly enjoying everything about the Christmas season. In fact, we could open our own shop at this moment based solely on one of these joys....the Christmas cookie!

Our house is filled to the brim with Christmas cookies. We spent the day baking cookies and constructing a gingerbread house. It was a complete joy and even more of a joy now that we are eating the loot!! We made 3 different kinds of cookies and built our first gingerbread house.

In the evening, we enjoyed "Frosty the Snowman" on television. It was a truly relaxing day and an example of what I promised myself this season would bring to our family!

December 1, 2006

I was cleaning out Aidan's bookshelf the other day, making room for any new books that come at Christmas time. During my sorting and organizing, I found that Aidan has over 30 Christmas books....some of which have never been read! I thought about it all day and how I could put the books to good use.

I soon came up with my grand plan. I talked it over with Paul and after he and Aidan left for his moms on Wednesday night, I went to the basement and pulled out one of our Christmas baskets and some wrapping paper. I chose 25 of the books and started wrapping. When complete, I had a beautiful basket with 25 "surprises."


Every night until Christmas, starting tonight, Aidan will open one of his books and we will read the Christmas stories. He knows they are all his books, but the fun part is guessing which one we will open on a given night. Tonights package reavealed a pop-up book, "The Night Before Christmas." Even though tonight was our first night, it went over really well. I think this will become a new tradition for us.

The 25 Nights of Christmas

I've decided to succumb to the pressures of my friend, Trista. She commited herself to posting to her blog everyday for each day in November. She did it!!! And, I am so proud of her and inspired by her. I've decided to make a similiar commitment. I will write every night from now until Christmas. I am doing this for a couple of reasons.

1) Paul is complaining that I rarely update and that my viewers will stop reading.
2)I'm giving into the temptation of Trista.
3) I've advertised the website in our Christmas letter, so I thought I better make it worthwhile.

I am going to change the blog a little though. It was originally intended to keep the aunts, uncles and friends up to date on Aidan. However, I find it hard to write only about him. While I think he says or does something worthwhile everyday, I will admit my bias and the fact that people may not be interested in every little thing Aidan says or does. So, I am changing this blog to be writings about anything. It can be an event or feeling or whatever.

Wish me luck......

Said the little boy to the Mighty King

Aidan and I are really enjoying the holiday music. They are already singing them in school, so he if familiar with them when they come on the radio. A couple of his favorites are:

Do You Hear What I Hear?
"Said the little lamb to the shepard boy, Do you hear what I know?"

Over the River and Through the Woods
"Over the woods and through the woods to grandmother's house we go."

The Twelve Days of Christmas
"On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me FIIIIIIIVE golden rings.
On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a house.
On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me FIIIIIIIVE golden rings."

My Knight in Shining Armor

We hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

My Knight in Shining Armor

We hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Meet Jack!

Meet Jack O. Lantern. Paul and Aidan had a great time carving the pumpkin this year. Aidan drew, on his magna doodle, what he wanted our pumpkin to look like. Paul, had the difficult task of duplicating the masterpiece. How did he do?


Once the drawing was approved by Aidan, Paul set to work carving while Aidan set to work smashing pieces of the pumpkin guts with a spoon.


In the end, it was pure joy, as Aidan became one with the pumpkin.

Corn Maze

On October 21st, we spent the day with Pauls sister, Denise, and her husband Randy. We went to a UofM vs. OSU corn maze...how appropriate for this family, huh?!?


Here, Paul and Denise are trying to figure out the clue to get us to our next destination

Here, Randy and Aidan are, well....cheating. Instead of using the map and clues to figure out the corn maze, they chose a different strategy. Note to self, never play, for money, with Randy!!

After the corn maze, we went to the pumpkin patch to pick the perfect gourd. We found out that either Randy is a horrible pumpkin picker-outer or Denise is a PPP (picky pumpkin person). That's OK. Isn't that what the pumpkin patch is all about....picking the perfect pumpkin?!?

Here is my pick for the most perfect pumpkin in the patch:


That evening we feasted on a mexican dinner, watched football and (Denise and I) worked on some latch hook and quilting projects. It was a wonderful day with wonderful family.

Apologies

My girlfriend, Trista, is participating in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) where she is posting a blog everyday for the entire month of November. While I applaud her for that, I am telling everyone right now that I am NOT participating in that. I do, however, apologize for not being very diligent in the blog updates. Now that I've made my apologies and am (quickly) over my guilt, I'll get on with my posts.

A Beautiful Sunday!

Yesterday was a total washout. It was a dreary, rainy day. We ran some errands and watched ALOT of football (UGH). We decided to go to a Saturday evening mass instead of our usual Sunday morning in case the weather forcast for Sunday was better. Saturday was, however, my brother-in-laws birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, UNCLE JOHN!! Unfortunately, he lives several states away, so we didn't get to celebrate with him, but sent many good thoughts his way!!

When we woke this morning, the news channel boasted about the weather and Paul and I looked at each other and said, "Let's Go." We had been wanting to take Aidan to the Renaissance Festival, but time and weather never played in our favor. Aidan is really into Knights and Pirates right now (in fact, he is going to be a knight for halloween!!). We stopped by Kroger to snag our advance (and discounted!!) tickets and headed up north. It was a beautiful ride and we could barely contain Aidan's excitement. He had many questions and just couldn't believe that he might actually see a real knight! All the way there he kept asking, "are we going to see a real knight?" Even after we assured him many times, he still asked, "for real? We're really going to see a REAL knight?"

Once we arrived, we had to walk along a long foot path before reaching the entrance gates. Aidan called this foot path "the forest." I knew he was nervous for two reasons. 1) He kept saying "I'm not afraid, I am brave." and 2) every couple of steps he would say, "I love you, mama." This is something he does/says when he is nervous. I hate that he is afraid, but I LOVE how he reacts to fear. Once inside the gates, his eyes just lit up. He was glued to every stage filled with dragons. He stared at every "character" that walked by. We finally made it to the jousting event and he cheered for our section, "The East Shire" and our fearless knight, Sir Reynolds. We knew Aidan was having a good time but we didn't realize how good of a time until the jousting event ended. There were lots of bees around and at the end of the event Aidan started sobbing out of no where. We thought he had been stung, but through the sobs he explained that he wanted to see more knights. So, we made our way down to the knights and asked Sir Reynolds for a picture....and of course, he abliged.

The topping on the cake was when we were walking back through the festival, checking out all of the sights, Aidan looked up at me and said, "Am I dreaming?" It was truly a wonderful day, filled with wonderful memories!!!
A picture of my brave knights protecting me from any dragons we may have encountered on our way back through "the forest."

Aidan Fix

I don't really have alot to say in this update. Nothing out of the ordinary is happening here. I'm super behind on my scrapbooking so I'm attempting a page here and a page there, instead of blogging. Four years ago I started giving scrapbooked calendars away for Christmas, to the grandma's. Needless to say, I have done ONE month for ONE of the calendars. I MUST make progress on them as they have come to expect them and I don't think they'd be too forgiving if they didn't show up under the tree this year. But, for those of you that need your Aidan fix, I was printing it off for the September calendar pages and thought you might enjoy it as well. It was taken at the apple orchard....oh, how I love the fall!!!!

Now, it's back to scrapbooking....

Laughter is the Best Medicine

This evening as I took some time to catch up on my blogging friends, Paul folded laundry and Aidan watched a movie.....Madagascar. All of a sudden we heard this shrill scream. Paul went flying through the house and I just froze, waiting for a hint from Paul as to what was happening. Come to find out, Aidan was laughing hysterically at the movie. Paul came back through the house all smiles and said, "he is just happy." It's moments like this that make my heart melt. Boy do I love my guys!!! Well, I'm keeping this short, because I'm going to soak up some of that laughter.

Why?

This summer, we lost several of our friends and loved ones. It has caused many questions from Aidan. He is very vocal and inquisitive about death. He talks candidly about it, especially after the death of Paul's uncle. We answered many questions after that, but they have died down as of late. However, with the death of Steve Irwin, the questions come flooding back. It is amazing how the mention of the death of a complete stranger brings Aidan right back to being at an Uncle's funeral.

Last night's conversation went like this:

As we were getting ready for bed,
Aidan: Why are you crying?
Jenny: I'm not crying.
Aidan: Why WERE you crying?
Jenny: (puzzled) I wasn't crying.
Aidan: You were crying at Uncle Franks funeral. Daddy was crying and Grandma and Grandpa were crying too.
Jenny: Because we were sad, honey.
Aidan: Why?
Jenny: Because, Uncle Frank is in heaven and we won't be able to see him anymore.
Aidan: Why?
Jenny: Because he had a heart attack
Aidan: What is a heart attack?
Jenny: It is when your heart gets really tired and can't beat anymore.
Aidan: Will your heart stop beating?
Jenny: (Oh, where is Paul when you need him?!?) Eventually, everyone's heart will stop beating some day. But, then you go to heaven and are reunited with the rest of your family who will be waiting there for you....you'll get to see Uncle Frank again and you will have lots of fun with him.

A long silence....(just when I thought I was safe)

Aidan: (crying) But I don't want you to die
Jenny: Oh, mommy and daddy are going to be around for a really long time, Aidan. You don't have to worry about that right now.
Aidan: But after daddy drops me off at school tomorrow, his heart will stop beating and your heart will stop beating and I won't have anywhere to live.
Jenny: PAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUL!!!!!!!!

We've always tried to be real with Aidan and answer his questions honestly. We hope and pray that he is smart and can think logically for himself. I don't know who said, "Be careful what you wish for" but boy, they weren't kidding!!

Slip Slidin' Away

Today was water day at school. Once a week during the summer months, the school puts out sprinklers, baby pools and other water fun for the kids to play in. When I picked Aidan up from school he looked a little sad and then I noticed that he had his bathing suit in his hand. It must have been the final water day of this summer. On the way home I asked Aidan how his day went. He told me all about water day and asked if he could continue water day at home.

When we got home, I immediately put the sprinkler on. As I came back in the house to get dinner started, I remembered that my great friend, Trista had given Aidan his first Slip-N-Slide as a gift. I decided that dinner wasn't as important as extending the final hours of water day. So, out the door I went with the spiderman box in my hand. Aidan went bonkers....which was quite funny in itself, considering that he didn't even know what a Slip-N-Slide was. The mere sight of spiderman was enough for him. As I was setting it up, he got this very concerned look on his face and couldn't understand how he was going to float because "this thing was flat." However, once it was set up and I explained that he simply had to run and throw himself on the ground (two of his very favorite things to do), he was sprinting across the yard. Thanks, Trista for such an awesome gift!! I'm only sorry that I didn't open it earlier in the summer.

Good Ol' Summertime

There is not much to report here. We've been enjoying the last weekends of summer. Every sign that school will soon be here is lurking around every corner. We've been soaking in the nice weather, though. We've saw the 3-D version of Ant Bully (very cool!!), visited with friends and family, seen some baseball games and spent alot of time in the pool. Here are a couple of pictures, of Aidan, over the last couple of weeks. Enjoy! Aidan just got out of the bath and we're getting ready to wind down for the night, so I'll have to post again later. I just wanted to get an update out there for all of our Aidan fans!!

Aidan, with pal, Stephanie!

Aidan and Stephanie have been friends since birth. Stephanie's mom, Linda, and I were pregnant with our precious angels at the same time.

The Box

Paul and I were really happy to see the package on our front porch when we arrived home from work. Paul's brother, John, sent us a new (his old) computer. Aidan was excited with the content, as well. However, his excitment was with.....THE BOX and THE FOAM PEANUTS!!!!


Thank you, John, for the computer and the wonderful, boy-sized box!!

Just keep swimming!!

I was so proud of Aidan this past Sunday....he learned to swim!! He started swimming with a life vest last summer and has continued this summer. I was in the pool with him on Sunday, trying to convince him to take the life vest off. I tried explaining that it would be much easier to use his new spongebob kickboard because the life vest was a little bulky with the kickboard. He refused. So, I tried his technique of pestering away until he finally gave in. About every two minutes I would say, "how about now? Now? How about now?" After what seemed like a million times of asking he finally got frustrated with me and gave in. Off came the life vest and he clung to me for dear life. Then he got the brilliant idea to jump into the pool and try landing on the kickboard. I don't know how he went from refusing to take off the life vest to a daring thing like that, but he did. I knew he was going to miss that kickboard at one point and I didn't want that to be the end of our day at the pool. I kept warning him that if he got into a situation that he didn't have anything to hold on to that he should not panic. "Just keep moving your arms and legs and you'll be fine" I kept telling him. "I know mom, I won't panic" he would say. As soon as he got a little too comfortable, it happened. He jumped off of the deck and right OVER the kickboard. My dad and I had already discussed that when the moment came, we were not going to rescue him immediately. We would give him a chance and see what he would do. I just KNEW he would panic. That little rugrat started kicking and swam right to the ladder. He was as calm as ever. I wish you could of all seen the look in his eyes. Triumph!! He climbed up the ladder and started showing off his muscles, proclaiming, "I did it, I did it. I told you I could do it mom." I don't know who was more proud....him or me. That was the end of the life vest. After that, he was swimming all over the place.

I can't believe my little boy is growing up so fast. Next stop....kindergarten!! That evening we were giving him a bath. I couldn't believe how dirty he was. Afterall, we had spent all day in clorinated water.

After a good scrub, I realized it was not dirt afterall. This kid is TAN!!

Survivor - Family

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. We sure had a great time. It was hard to get back in the groove of work and school this morning.

On the 4th of July, we celebrated with my dads family by playing our version of the reality television show, Survivor. We called it Survivor-Family....clever, huh?

The day started with a potluck BBQ and then the challenges began. We had 5 teams of 4, involved in 10 different challenges. It was an awesome time and a great way to spend the holiday with family. Everyone was laughing and having a wonderful time. My mom even made buffs that said, "Got Family?" on them. I'm gonna need another scrapbook weekend for this event!!

Paul, winning the "Run For Your Life" challenge, for the yellow team!

Aidan, refilling his water gun, to squirt the contestants during challenges.

The whole gang!

Aunts and Uncles and Bears, Oh My!

Pauls siblings live in many different states and we don't get to see them often. However, recently they were all together (under one roof) and I decided to take advantage of the (scrapbook) situation. Here are some of the pictures with the aunts and uncles....in no particular order.
Aunt Maureen & Uncle Phil
Uncle John & Aunt Amy
Aunt Colleen & Uncle Jeff
Aunt Denise & Uncle Randy
Grandma & Grandpa
Great Grandma
We are so blessed to have family!! We miss you guys!

A little Red Bull goes a long way

Aidan asks everyday, when I pick him up for school, "how many more days to I have left." I was very excited this week for the 4 day holiday weekend not only because I didn't have to go to work, but because Aidan was SO excited to have a break from school. However, he thinks that the word vacation means we are packing up and going somewhere.

When I picked him up from school Friday evening, he asked how many days he had left. When I answered "none, because we had a 4 day vacation", he asked where we were going. I said "no where, but we have lots of fun things planned." Of course, then we had to have a big discussion of what the fun things were.

One of the things we had planned was a visit from Pauls sister, Maureen and her husband Phil. Aidan gets so excited for a visit from Uncle Phil. In fact, yesterday when we were driving in the car he was explaining how he was so excited to see Uncle Phil that when he saw him he was "going to go crazy."

I noticed when we walked in the door to see Aunt Maureen and Uncle Phil, Uncle Phil was downing a Red Bull beverage. I thought this was hysterical, but didn't blame him at all. Aidan keeps Uncle Phil (and all of his aunts and uncles) on his toes. They played cars, ran around the basement, played more cars, ran around the basement, and the cycle continued on like this for several hours. I've never had a Red Bull, but I can speak for its contents. The stuff really works OR Uncle Phil is....well, let's just say that the stuff really works!!

We had a really nice visit with Maureen and Phil. Thanks for playing so hard with Aidan last night....he slept like a champ!!

Baby Piranhas

When I picked Aidan up from school today, I was sent home with the dreaded pink piece of paper....A.K.A an accident report. Because we get these quite frequently, I've learned to remain calm when they rifle through the pile on the front desk as I walk through the front door. The assistant proceeded to tell me that Aidan had been bit by another student during story time.

I glanced down at the pink report and read that the bite was on the right leg. As Aidan headed toward me, I couldn't see any "battle wounds", other than the self inflicted ones that were already there. I figured it couldn't be that bad, if the bite was already gone.

As I was buckling Aidan into the car seat, I asked him who bit him and where. He pulled his shorts up and right there on the meaty part of his thigh was the HUGE black and blue mark. I'm sure my eyes bugged out of my head.

Jenny: (excitedly) Aidan, why did Michael bite you?!
Aidan: (ever so calmly) He must have been hungry or somethin'.
Jenny: Didn't he have breakfast? (I was thinking this in my head, but must have said it out loud.)
Aidan: Yeah, he had breakfast.
Jenny: What did you do when he bit you?
Aidan: I hit him.
Jenny: Why did you hit him? (as if I really needed to ask this question)
Aidan: (noticably annoyed) Because he was eating my leg.

Enough said!

Hot Fun in the Summertime

With only a week under our belts in the "official" dog days of summer, we've been cherishing every minute....

Going through the sprinkler, in roller skates....who knew?!

Aidan is becoming an excellent swimmer.

Havin' A Blast!!

Life Lessons Learned

This week was filled with much sadness for our family. Our 6 year-old friend, Jacob Duckworth (http://www2.caringbridge.org/fl/jacob/) earned his angel wings on June 12th. On Wednesday, June 14th we received the sad news that Paul’s Uncle Frank had passed away suddenly.

Although we had never met Jacob or his family personally, we have been following his story of bravery for over a year. Jacob reminds me a lot of Aidan and so I felt very close to him. His mom and dad shared their story of the life and death of their son so openly and I’ve learned an incredible amount about faith from them.

Aidan and I have been praying for Jacob and many conversations regarding death and heaven were inspired by Jacob. We were very sad to hear the news of Jacob’s death. Aidan asked many questions about where Jacob was and what he was doing. He asked if his body had any more germs in it. He asked if we would ever see Jacob again. He also asked if his mom, dad and brothers were sad. He asked which direction heaven was so that he could blow bubbles up to Jacob. As I answered Aidan’s questions, it became apparent that I wasn’t sad for Jacob and his short 6 years on Earth. I was sad for his family who mourns his loss. I was sad for his brothers who may have a hard time understanding why Jacob isn’t around to play anymore. I was sad for his mom and dad, that they wouldn’t be able to hold their precious son anymore. However, I was at peace with the fact that Jacob accomplished more in his 6 years than many people do in a lifetime. (If you check out his website, you will see that this little boy has touched so many people, near and far.)

When we received the call about Uncle Frank, we were in shock. He had no history of heart disease and was an active, healthy man…but still, a massive heart attack took his life. I was sad for his wife and two sons. I was sad for all of his family and friends. It was a very difficult funeral, but I am so grateful for the time that I did know Uncle Frank. I was concerned about the impact a second death, in a week, would have on Aidan. I was concerned about his attending a funeral and what would go through his little mind. However, he understood about as much as a 4 year-old mind could. His questions were very similar and as innocent as his questions about Jacob’s death. Are Uncle Frank’s germs gone? Why are there matchbox cars in his casket? Is Uncle Frank with Jesus? Is Uncle Frank still happy? My answer to this last question, is “You bet, little guy, you bet!!” At the funeral luncheon, Uncle Frank was the obvious missing link. As I walked through the hall, I just expected to see him there. It was his deep, genuine laugh that was missing. This was a man that, when he laughed, he REALLY laughed. He never faked his happiness. His presence was known through is laugh and genuine happiness. His presence was always known by his infectious smile, a smile that beamed through his eyes. This was something that I took for granted. However, I am at peace with the fact that he is in a better place. A place with no heart trouble. A place where he can laugh all of the time…and because of that, a place where he will truly be at home. We’ll miss you Uncle Frank!!

I have learned a lot this past week about death…and life!! Thank you Jacob, for teaching me to celebrate life, appreciate the miracle of life that has been given to me and to hug my little miracle a little longer, and a little harder each day!! Thank you Uncle Frank for always making me smile and for being a ray of sunshine on our family. I know you will continue to shine down on us in the many difficult days ahead. Thank you Aidan for bringing out the positive side of death and for adding that honest innocence to very dark days.


"Bubbles to Heaven"

Congratulations Aunt Maureen and Uncle Phil!

It's been a while since I've posted, but our May madness is officially over and we have been enjoying it. May was a really busy month for us, but the end was marked by the wedding of Paul's sister, Maureen and her new husband, Phil. The wedding was beautiful and we all had a great time. Congratulations Newlyweds!!

Aidan was the ring bearer for the 4th time in 4 years. He has yet to disappoint. He was only 1 year old for his first wedding. He was oblivious to what was really happening. However, the last three, we had to use bribery. Each "reward" was chosen by Aidan. (Ironically, I just saw a news story this afternoon shaming people who bribe their children. I'm hear to tell you it works beautifully on my son.) Anyway, for Paul's youngest sister Aidan was promised Harold the Helicopter (from Thomas the train) if he made it down the aisle. Currently, Harold is stuck in a box somewhere and makes it out to play occasionally. For Paul's brothers wedding, he was promised football cards. I can't even begin to guess where those are. For Maureen and Phils wedding, Aidan was promised Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shoes (influenced by one of the boys at daycare). Of course, as soon as he made it to the end of the aisle he had to put the shoes on and they were worn throughout the wedding and the remainder of the night. Those shoes (I've been told) make him run faster and jump higher than any of his other shoes. Hmmmm, I think I've heard that before. Anyway, to this day (mind you, it's only been a week) we can still locate these shoes and they are still being worn every day.

We are so pround of the little man he has become. We are so very proud of him and he was by far the cutest one in the wedding party....sorry, Phil!!

A League of Their Own

Aidan has officially joined the world of organized sports. He is now old enough to play Soccer. He really wanted to to play t-ball this year, but the little league organization raised the age limit and he wouldn't be able to play this year OR next year. We figured since he loves sports anyway AND loves to run, why not try soccer? We were skeptical because neither Paul nor I know ANYthing about soccer, however, Aidan was thrilled at the thought.

Tonight was Aidan's first game. He did awesome!! He was nervous at first, but as soon as he opened up.....GAME ON!! He scored three goals and we were so proud of him. The American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) is so great. It is a volunteer program so all of the coaches are parents and take a real interest in the kids. They cheer for everyone, even if they are on the opposite team (my mom and sisters family joined us on the sidelines, so our team had a great crowd). The kids were so thrilled to have people cheering around them, regardless of who they were cheering for. Everyone gets to play and they really promote having fun. They are not at all interested in who wins or loses....they don't even keep score (did I mention Aidan scored 3 goals)!!

To celebrate, we all went for pizza afterwards. It was a really enjoyable night. I still don't have a clue what is going on in the game, but you can bet on finding me there every Friday night cheering on The Green Goblins (the team chose the name because they all liked spiderman and they wear green.)