Back to the last 6 weeks...Jackson has started soccer and he LOVES it!! He is really good at it, which I wasn't sure how much he would like it but he kept telling us he wanted to play so we signed him up and he started about 2 weeks ago. One of the other residents, Jeff, has a son jackson's age so they are playing on the same team. Jeff is the coach and Scott is the assistant coach, it is so funny to see them coaching 12-15 4 year olds soccer! Scott really likes it and Jackson loves having his daddy as the coach. Jackson is going to be 5 years old on Wednesday and I cannot believe it!! I'll save all the emotions that go along with that for Wednesday when I make him a bday post. He is truly such a good boy!! He has grown up so much these last 4 months since we have been here it blows my mind. He has matured so much where you can logically talk to him about things when he gets upset instead of him whining when he doesn't get his way. He is so sweet, it just melts my heart. His teacher took me to the side last week and told me how proud we should be as parents with what a good boy he is. She said he is always so nice to all the kids and is such a good listener and all the kids love him...nice things to hear about your kid :) He is getting so smart too!! He has words every week that he brings home from school, and I couldn't believe some of the words he knew...acorn, anchor, alligator!! Scott and I picked them up together on Friday and like 6 of the kids ran up and hugged him goodbye at the same time, it was really cute. Needless to say, he LOVES school!! 
Today we had Jackson's 2nd soccer game and on the car ride there he said "Mom, I don't think I am ever going to score a goal." I told him he was great at soccer and of course he was going to score a goal. Well, today he scored 2 of the 3 goals for the team!! I was so proud of him! When he scored his first goal, he turned around to Scott and said, "Dad, I just scored a goal!!!" His face was beaming, it was so fun to see! Moments like today are so indescribable as a parent, just to see how happy and excited he was to get his first goal at a game, it was precious and made me so happy for him. After the game, we went to Incredible Pizza to celebrate his birthday with just the 4 of us a little early. It was so fun! Jackson hit the jackpot on this car game and he ended up winning 4 times and got 265 all four times! We ended up with 0ver 1400 tickets and he chose a nerf gun that shoots nerf balls as a prize...he of course thought of Leah and let her use some tickets too and she chose a stuffed dolphin. It was a great day :)
Leah on the motorcycle at Incredible Pizza in the backlight miniature golf area
Jackson helping daddy at the ticket machine
Leah and I trying to keep track of all of Jackson's tickets
When we walked in and told them it was his birthday, he got a birthday boy sticker and got to spin a prize wheel and he won 250 tickets right away!
Jackson at his soccer game with his little buddy Ryan, Jeff's son
Leah has started tap and ballet on wednesday nights and she loves it! It is so fun to see her little personality come out when she dances. These pics are from when she got to put on her tap and ballet shoes for the first time.
Nice form....
On top of all the extracurricular activities, our kids have been sick....Jackson has been fighting an upper respiratory infection for going on 4 weeks!!! He just has this nagging cough and runny nose. I took him to the dr when he started running a fever this week and was getting really lethargic, so he is on an antibiotic and i hope it clears it up. He's acting a lot better now so I think we have turned a corner. Last Thursday Leah's eye got really goopy and by Friday night it was full blown draining yellow gunk!! Saturday morning, we woke up in a hurry to get ready for Jackson's soccer game, so I jumped in the shower and Scott made the kids breakfast and turned in cartoons. When I got out of teh shower, leah was eating her poptart with her eyes closed, I said "Leah why are you eating with your eyes closed??" She just said "I can't open 'em." Then took a big ole bite of her Poptart, I thought then it was Pink-eye but when I looked online it said it can be viral and go away on it's own. Sunday morning when her eyes were matted shut again and she refused to let us clean them, choosing to instead walk around with her eyes matted shut, insisting shw was "Just tired," I decided to take her to a clinic at Walgreen's to get her on eye drops. She had Pink eye...Monday she broke out in hives from her medicine, so we now know she has a sulfa allergy...which worked out great, because by Monday night Jackson's eye was pink and goopy so we could give Jackson Leah's medicine she was allegic to...You see what I mean about busy?!? 
Poor Leah with her eyes stuck together :(We also had to get a new car a few weeks ago because the transmission went out on our Explorer and was going to cost $2500 to fix!!! A month after we paid off the stinkin car!! We got a Hyundai Sonata and really like it! It's practical for us right now, gets good gas mileage and drives nice....sometimes I do miss the space of a SUV. Oh and we have a new addition to our fanily, Raisin the dog!! We rescues her for the Humane Society. They said they found her on the streets being kicked by some teenagers :( She is the SWEETEST dog ever! She is such a cuddle bug! But we will talk about her later...I am sick of writing this, so I know you are sick of reading it :)
Hope everyone has a great week!! Miss everyone back home!!
Love,
The Ludlows
