Sports Season Begins

We are officially back into our Fall routines now that school, gymnastics, and my Bible Study have started back up. Only thing left to get underway? Some new sports for the girls! Addie decided she wanted to try soccer this Fall, and Collins wanted to try tennis. We are all for some athletics in this household so fingers crossed they like it!

I decided to put both sports on the same afternoon (which hopefully won't be a disaster) so we headed to Laurel Hills park first for Addie's soccer practice. Bonus? Sassafras Park is there, and we arrived a few minutes early so they could play...

Then on to soccer...Addie really went for it! She looked like she knew what she was doing out there. I think she enjoyed practice except for the heat and the bugs. She did not like that part!

Luke enjoyed eating dirt...

and Collins enjoyed climbing fences...

  and tackling Addie during water breaks. She leaves school with a lot of energy. :)

Then on to tennis! Collins and Reeves are doing it together and looked cute in their matching tennis skirts. They are playing at Northbrook, and I think they enjoyed it too.

 

 Here's hoping one or both of these sports stick!

A Tailgating We Will Go

After a long off-season, finally football was back and it was time to go tailgating!

The girls were up, dressed, and ready to go in cheerleading/Ms. Wuf attire at 7 a.m. I told them they would only have to wait eight more hours to leave. :)

And then this happened...another tooth lost to another apple!

I spent the morning trying something new...gluten-free and dairy-free baking. We have decided to keep Addie off both for two weeks to see if it helps her excema. So making a tailgating dessert was going to be a little more challenging this time...I ended up making smores bars and pumpkin cookies. They actually were not that bad to be void of real flour and chocolate!

So Brian has a new tailgating spot this year, and it's in the woods. He was a bit bummed to lose his end spot in the Southeast lot, but turns out it all worked out for the best. His new spot is shady, has a forest you can play in, and has some serious neighboring tailgaters. And the best part? You can bum a fancy ride to the party....

Brian was inspired (by Lewis Barbecue in Charleston) to try brisket for the first tailgate, and he knocked it out of the park...

Luke's first jersey (his father mandated what he would wear) and first time trying brisket...

Brian and Chip were proud to be third-generation tailgaters with their sons...

In typical boy fashion, Luke enjoyed playing in the dirt...

A successful first tailgate!

Trouble with a Capital T

Mark my words- this one is going to be trouble. At nine months, Luke's favorite things are:

1) Messing with electrical outlets

2) Playing with his big sisters' favorite toys

3) Chewing on cell phones

4) Standing up in the bathtub

5) Eating old food crumbs off the floor

6) Yanking hair

7) Trying to reach the water in the toilet

8) Pulling cleaning products out of the janitor's closet (as Collins calls it)

9) Reaching for the monitor in his bedroom

10) Eating books

And his newest trick? Shutting the door in my face! Oh Luke, you little stinker. You are going to get away with a lot because your Mommy is crazy about you. Be nice, please!

Right Before My Eyes

All of a sudden, for some strange reason, my kids are growing up right before my eyes. Maybe they are all going through growth spurts (they have been eating a lot lately!), but they all are changing fast all of a sudden.

Case in point...this past week at school, we were walking to our car and I tried to hold Collins' hand and she kept pulling it away. I don't know if she was embarrassed to hold my hand at school (has never been a problem before) or because she was just bounding with energy and didn't want to be tied down. I hope it was the latter because it sure made me sad in that moment. But for the record, she has held my hand since then. :) Also- her hem lines keep getting shorter and shorter, there have been hints of girl drama at school, and she has asked when she can get her ears pierced. Time please stop! I am not ready!

Thank goodness she still loves to make puppy houses out of Kleenex boxes, always drifts over when I am reading a story to Addie, and pronounces spaghetti "skabetti".

Addie's biggest change lately is a physical one. All of a sudden, she is longer and leaner. Not long ago, her doctor labeled her as "obese" based on her BMI but guessed it could be because she grew outward instead of upward first. I'm pretty sure that is what happened because she has shed that baby weight recently and looks every bit of the four-year-old she will soon be. She also uses big words like "appropriate" now, can sing most country songs on the radio, and is pretty darn good with a kitchen utensil. See? No longer so little!

But...she still puts her shoes on the wrong feet and loves to snuggle and for that I am grateful!

And last but not least, the actual baby. The one who is now longer than the nursing pillow he lays on. The one who understands what the word "no" means, and the one who wiggles out of my arms so he can get down on the floor and play. The baby is disappearing before my eyes!

But for at least a little while longer, he will still have that sweet baby smell, smile that gummy smile, and cling to me with that tiny hand. I will take it as long as I can get it!

It's such an amazing thing to see your kids blossom with new abilities, new thoughts, new feelings, and new looks with each new day. But dang, if it doesn't make you a tiny bit sad at the same time. It all goes by so fast.

Old Friends and New Friends

I'm excited that Collins has already met some new friends in first grade. We recently got together with some old friends from Lacy who are not in Collins's class this year, and these girls had so much fun together. Addie and Luke joined in too!

Addies Goes to School

Addie started at a new preschool this year- our church preschool- Hayes Barton Methodist. We talked about the change, but she didn't have a lot to say about it which told me she wasn't so sure about it! It could not have been easy to walk in to a new place for school (even though it is actually a familiar space because it's where she goes to Sunday School) and see new teachers and new classmates. But she handled it so well! Although she was shy with her teachers, Ms. Karen and Ms. Melody, she did not get upset when I left and seemed happy when I picked her up (which was only an hour later!). 

Here she is headed off to school. She tried to negotiate with me to take her to Gigi's house instead of school, but I didn't fall for it. :)

Last Friday was her first full day of school, and she just happened to be the class star. This worked out really well because it made her excited to go to school. When you are the star you take the snack to school and a special show-and-tell item. Addie chose to take some unusual items- salami for snack and a coconut purse Gigi and Pop Pop got her from Hawaii (along with some clay inside!). The class apparently loved it!

And she got to bring a special buddy home from school to take care of all weekend. We had to journal "Honey Bear's" adventures with our family. She thought this was super cool.

Brian asked her at dinner the other night if she liked her old school or her new school better, and she said her new school. Because it was "awesome and handsome"! :)

I am hopeful she will acclimate easily to her new school, make lots of new friends, and grow so much this year.

Labor Day Happenings

Unlike the rest of Raleigh, we stayed home for the Labor Day weekend. It was like a mass exodus from town which was fine by us! Brian did actually go to Charlotte/Davidson for not one but TWO football games in one day. He said it might be the only time that State and Davidson were playing within driving distance on the same day but different times. I agreed with him- go watch lots of football! The kids and I watched football from the comfort of our own home...with some Mami Nora's. :)

We went to Promotion Sunday at church where the girls moved up to their new Sunday School classes (the 1st grade Grapes and the 3-year-old Lambs)...

Then on the Labor Day holiday, we decided to explore somewhere new- the Eno River in Durham. We had never been there before, but I had heard it was neat. We agreed!

We did an easy 1/2 mile hike and then found this cool suspension bridge...

 and the girls had to get in the water and play a little...

and then their reward for completing the hike? A trip to Picnic! Collins talks about this Durham restaurant, Picnic, all the time because she thinks they have the best ribs ever. She will tell you that the best ribs are 1) Picnic 2) Her Daddy's and 3) Lewis BBQ in Charleston. Girl knows her stuff! So we all went to Picnic for BBQ, ribs, and brisket. Soooo good.

Then to finish off the holiday, we went to the pool. It was not fun for Addie because her excema bothered her (chlorine does seem to set it off), but Collins had a great time because she got to do this...

This trip to the pool solidified the end of Summer to me. I am ready to move on to all things FALL! We squeezed every bit of a fun possible out of the summer, and it was really wonderful, but it's time for football, pumpkins, leaves changing, and cooler weather. I cannot wait!