A not so typical Saturday

This Saturday was not your normal Saturday of soccer.  First of all it was September 11th which in and of itself is a bit sad and a reminder that we have these Saturdays because of all that so many give of themselves.

But it being the opening day of Soccer there was a party at the field and we made it a good day for the kids..

We started out with some of this:

Yeah that amazing little girl is my Sophie.  She is a killer on the field and I love watching her play.  She did sort of have a meltdown when the Raleigh Railhawk mascot came around- have I told you she is afraid of people in costumes..Okay afraid is an understatement- she is TERRIFIED.

But he left and all was okay.

Then we watched some of this:

That handsome fellow is my boy Jack.  He gets a bit distracted but man when he runs he is in heaven.  I think we have a track or cross country boy in him.  Don't you love those lime green shirts? 

Then we told the kids we had an errand to run.  For what they asked.  I replied we just have to pick up something I ordered.  We then drove to CARA - Carolina Animal Rescue and Adoption to pick up the puppy that we were adopting that they knew nothing of. He was a complete surprise to them.

Here is the newest member of our family- Boone. 

He is a 2 month old Lab/Retriever mix. I gave the kids the choice of 4 names:

Raleigh- the name the shelter gave him

Fisher- because we love the beach where we go - Ft. Fisher

Boone- we love the mountains we go to in Boone, NC

or Sam- well because it is just a cool name.

They chose Boone- which is what I secretly wanted.

We love him and he is so much fun.

Welcome to this crazy family Boone.

A day of Manners

Yesterday was the annual Kindergarten "manners" field trip.  My son did this when he was in kindergarten 2 years ago and now it was Sophie's turn.  She was waaayyyy more excited about it than he was.  I guess dressing up is a girl thing.

The class had to wear dress up clothes and then they all went for "tea" to practice their manners.

They went to Ms Lacy's Tea Room in Sanford.  It was adorable.

Now if you know my little girl she is the true mix of tomboy and princess.

She had to wear her dance recital dress- she begged but then told me she of course was wearing her pink cowboy boots with them.  I told her you wear what you love. 

She then got "partnered" with an escort.  How cute

..

Here are all the couples walking in.  The boys were not too thrilled with having to have the girls on their arms.  It was so funny to see all the girls grabbing the boys arms over and over.

Time to be seated at a table for two..And well instead of tea they had pink lemonade with strawberries and a big cupcake.  Much better than tea I suspect.

You notice here she forgot her mannerly way of sitting..I think she was hungry and tired of waiting.

When do we eat already?

Here is Sophie and her friend from preschool. Yes they are quite the fashionistas. 

And this is when the "meltdown" started.  Sophie decided she didn't want me to go home, she didn't want to go back to school, she wanted to go with me.  She started crying.  I told her it wasn't preschool that she had to go back to school.  She kept crying bless her heart so I had to leave so she could calm down. 

I found out she cried on the bus and the teacher let her sit with her and gave her lots of hugs. Sophie is one tough little girl - but unlike most little girls - she is a mama's girl.  And she can't stand to be away from me.  It is fine if she doesn't see me during the day - but if I show up then she wants to leave. It is nice having someone love you that much but I don't want her to be embarrassed by her crying.  So, my times at school are limited.

I couldn't miss this for anything though- even tears.

First day of school - the youngest flew the nest.

Today was the first day of school for my two elementary kids.  We are on a year round calendar so summer break is only 5 weeks long. 

It was a bittersweet day.  On one hand, the youngest - Sophie finally went off to school.  On the other hand, the youngest- Sophie went off to school.   It was hard to let her go as she is my shadow- my constant companion, my little buddy. 

But the little bird needed to fly from the nest.   I still think if the backpack is bigger than the kid they are too small to go to school.  I'm just saying.

Here is Sophie on her very first day of kindergarten:

Don't you agree she is too small to be in school?  But she sure does look the part right?

Then here is Jack.  He started 2nd grade today and actually was quite excited.  Fooled me - hope this year goes better than last and that he starts to like school again. 

Handsome fellow isn't he?

You'd think with them at school that I could get a lot done..well I could if I wasn't driving my high school kid to drivers ed and then taking the college kids phone in to get it repaired.  Maybe tomorrow will be more of an accomplished day.

I did hit the salvation Army store and picked up a load of frames to paint and distress.

Well off to pick up the high school kid..

off to the beach...

We are off to the beach for our vacation. 

We will be doing a bit of playing in the water.

A bit of building in the sand...

A bit of  feeding birds...

a bit of running from the waves...

a bit of playing in the water

and of course some relaxing..

might check in while there if the wireless works..

if not see you in a week and

Happy  4th of July

Red White and Blue Princess

Every year my family goes to the beach for 4th of July.  Of course with boys they just bear with me and wear their yearly tshirts with flags on them.  But once we got our princess I knew I could make cute patriotic outfits for her to wear on our nation's birthday. 

(You can click on the picture to see it larger if you need to)

I made the top with different patriotic fabric- well I will be honest - it was supposed to be a dress but somehow I always manage to make them too short.  Then so as not to have her be equivalent to a BRATZ doll I needed to make some bottoms.  And whipped up some pants with ruffles on the bottom.  I like the end result much better than just a dress. Sometimes mistakes are fortunate they say.  I also made a bunch of coordinating hair accessories- she is a diva I tell you.

Daddy's girl

It all started with making a sign for daddy.  We had to welcome him home she said. So, we did. 

Then daddy had his stuff laying around.  So, of course she had to try it on..here she is standing like a soldier. 

Of course, then she needed to "girlie" up the pose a bit.

Now tell me, can you tell she is a daddy's girl? 

Love you soldier Sophie- now stay safe.  :)

I finally finished her 4th of July outfit.  We go to the beach each year over the 4th and I always try to have a special outfit for her.  This is the second year I have sewn it..I'll take pics of her in it tomorrow to share .

3 days - only 3 days

Well only 3 days till hubby gets home...wooo hooo my sanity will make it I think.

Only 3 days till....

4 kids get hugs and kisses galore

I get a long overdue hug that I need

kids get bike rides to their hearts content

kids get rollerblading till knees are too bloody to skate anymore

kids get the pool non-stop

I get a break

I get to breathe

I get to get away and shop without kids:)

I get to sleep in for once

Yard gets finally edged the way I don't' know how to do it

My sprinkler head will be fixed so the yard doesn't die

we get to go to the beach

we get to go to ikea and get those heavy closet systems so our clothes have a home

I get to smell yucky coffee every morning brewing in the kitchen

I get to smell beer in the evening sitting on the porch

WE GET TO BE A WHOLE FAMILY AGAIN.

Hurry up three days... we are ready.