But first... The new season of soccer happens to coincide with my birthday. Which is perfectly fine with me since my birthday plans generally include spending all day with my boys anyhow. :)

Since it is the dead of winter, soccer is played indoors in The Dome. It's the biggest inflatable indoor stadium in the state (not that there is much competition...). Thomas has played here once before and apart from the lighting not being great for photos, it's an awesome venue.

Even though it's been a few months since he's played, he got right back into it after just a few minutes. He's starting to look like a real soccer player too! This is the third club we've played with here and they are pretty big on teaching them specific ball handling skills, which is great! Also, his uniform is so fun - the coach convinced them that the team name should be Candy Canes - which I love because I had already declared he was an adorable looking candy cane. Ha!

But why did we try another soccer club?

Because...

Their kiddie soccer goes down young enough that Henry can play too! Sure, there groups are scheduled in such a way that we have a down hour between them, but that's pretty minor. Look at how excited my little guy is!!

He's wanted to play soccer every time he watches his big brother play and now it's his turn to play too. Kiddie soccer is really just about getting them comfortable with the ball and learning to listen to the coaches. And he did great for his first practice - he didn't quite get all of what was going on, but he got the gist of kicking the ball toward the goal and that's the start! :)

On to birthday time! Heather made the cake and Nonni decorated it for me. Henry clearly wasn't helping here, he just wanted to see the cake!

Mom did a pretty good job on it. I may have insisted on the giant candles because I thought they were awesome. I figure we can re-use them in a few years when Matt turns 43. ;)

Even the girls were ready for a party! Ok, ready might be a strong word - Eliza was tolerant of the idea of a party. And didn't shake the hat off immediately when I put my birthday hat on her. Even Eliza is a good sport on her momma's birthday! :)

Bless her heart, Natalie tried. But she has the same blinking problem as I do apparently. I got a few photos, but none of them were any better. Love you anyways, sweet girl!