Claire's first soccer game (and Coach Daddy)

Coach Daddy and Claire

Claire had her first soccer game this last weekend. Daren signed up to be her coach. We were so excited! The boys are also on her team and they loved the idea of playing for Coach D! The first two games were cancelled due to weather, so Claire was revved and ready to play. She wore her cleats all weekend long. She couldn't wait to put on her shin guards, but then once they were on she couldn't wait to take them off. We got to the field, and her attention span was very short. She participated in all the drills, wandered a lot, pouted a little, posed on the field, and ran around on the soccer field when it was her turn. She says she loves soccer but we are not so sure. We'll keep trying. She is almost four years old and the goal is certainly exposure, experience and fun. Harper and I froze watching them play, but we were proud. Coach Daddy was awesome! He was encouraging and patient; competitive and easy going. I was really proud of him. He let Claire enjoy it on her terms and he paid equal attention to all the other kiddos. Claire says she loved playing soccer. The jury is still out, but we are proud of her for playing.

Charlie scored THREE goals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is a natural and he is so focused. We were so proud of him.

Coach Daddy handing out jerseys

Team Huddle

Lining up for Coach Daddy's drills

Charlie practicing his moves (Did I mention that he scored THREE goals!!!!!!!!!!!)

Posing on the field

Kicking a goal during practice (Please notice the pink soccer ball)

Carter and Caleb's visit

Daren's cousin, Julie, and her boys came to visit recently. Claire loves Carter and they had so much fun playing. Harper had lots of fun trying to keep up with them, and sweet Caleb just chilled in the grass taking it all in. It was a great afternoon with family, and Claire is still wondering when Carter is coming back to play.

Carter loved playing in the house and it is Harper's favorite play spot, so they played very well together.

Claire and Carter are up to something... Uh oh!! This might be glimpses of years to come.

Caleb is the most mellow, sweet baby in the world. He just watched all the big kids play and he smiled the whole time.

Harper on the move trying to show Carter her helicopter.

A talking machine

Out of nowhere, Harper is talking up a storm! She mimics our words and she loves to pretend to tickle us and say "goolie, goolie"- her tickle words. She also says the following words:
Hi
Bye, bye
Mommy, Daddy, Clah (Claire)
Mamaw (Grandma), Pops, Mimi, Papa, LaLa, Tistee (Christi), Affrin (Catherine), ah-lee (Charlie), Tis (Chris)
Day-see (Daisy our dog)
Nose
No!
Eyes
Me Me Me (she squeals this at high pitch when she wants something)
Mini (reference to mini vanilla wafers)
Wa-wa (water)
Pee-Boo (peek a boo)
Light
Baby
Dank doo (thank you)
More
Shooos (shoes)
Cookies
Book

She makes all the animal noises but our personal favorites are the elephant and the fish.

Wagon rides, the bike and baby

One of our favorite places to go after naps is to the park by our house. You can almost bet that on a Sunday, after naps, you will find us there. There is a track where Claire rides her bike and the girls ride in the wagon. After we finish on the track, we head up to the park where the girls love the playground there. Claire is getting really good at riding her bike. She is very cautious but she does ride it well.

Harper loves her rides in the wagon, especially when Daisy comes with her.

We must always be sure, wherever we go, that Harper has baby. She is not particularly attached to any one specific baby doll, but she LOVES her babies

Claire on her Dora bike

The afternoon that I took these photos was a warm, sunny January afternoon! Daren was in shorts!

Harper wants to be just like big sister!

Mommy and the girls holding hands

Daddy pulling Harper in the wagon and Claire on her bike

Whee!!!

Peek a Boo!

Christmas in one big post

It seems that I can't seem to get in a good routine with posting on the blog lately. So, I am going to catch you all up on Christmas in one post. That way, I can start fresh. We had a wonderful Christmas celebration. It was magical and it was exhausting. Overall, though, all we can do is praise God and thank Him for all the love and blessings we have in our lives.

Christmas kicked off with the girls' school parties. Daren and I rotate one room and then switch and go to the other girl's room. I was good about taking pictures with the girls when I was in their rooms.Unfortunately, Daddy didn't do that but I swear he was at both girls' parties in full effect. All of the grandkids go to the same school, so it's really special for the kids because Grandma was there too.

Mommy and Claire

Mommy and Harper

Grandma and Claire

Somebody does NOT like Santa

We then had a really fun Santa party at a friend's house. All the kids dressed up in their fancy Christmas best and Santa came. We couldn't peel Claire off of Santa's lap and Harper couldn't get away from Santa fast enough.

Somebody LOVES Santa!

The girls in their new wagon

We headed to Houston where we spent Christmas day. Santa visited Mimi and Papa's house and the girls loved their new wagon. They were spoiled rotten and we had a great time. Claire loves her Tiana toys and Harper loves her Elmo music player. Despite Mimi having walking pneumonia, the house was fully decorated, she cooked a wonderful meal, and our time there was so much fun!

The Nix family on Christmas

Mimi, Papa and the girls

Anyone who knows Claire well knows how much she LOVES princesses. Mimi made Claire her very own princess tree and Claire LOVED it!!!!! Why didn't I think of that?

We headed home after Houston for our very own Christmas. Claire and Harper set cookies and lemonade ("Santa doesn't like milk, Mommy."), and Santa came to our house that night. It was a magical experience that I can't describe with words. The girls had a blast! Pops and Grandma came over at 7 a.m. to wait on the girls to wake up with us so that we could all share in their reactions. It was so much fun!

Santa brought Harper a lot of play doh! She squealed with delight and brought Pops each jar one by one. Harper loves to "go, go, go!" in her new car. Does that surprise you? Claire asked for a Rapunzel doll and she got one. She was ecstatic and I don't think we have put Rapunzel down since we got it. Santa also brought Claire a doll house that has brought her so much joy. She loves to go in her room and play with her princess dolls in her dollhouse.

We then headed to Grandma and Pops's house for our last Christmas celebration because Santa came there too. The girls had a blast! Claire was so excited about baby Aurora and her very own unicorn. Harper loves her Elmo and her babies. Did I mention that my girls are spoiled rotten? Grandma cooked a wonderful meal and we enjoyed spending time playing there.

Grandma and Claire

Daddy, Harper and Elmo

This is our only family picture?! I don't know what happened. I really took very few pictures this year. Next year, I will do better.