Just for kicks

Anna is playing soccer for her school this fall and is really having a great time. Gary decided to help coach and is enjoying having a co-coach with coaching experience. Anna knows everyone on her team and is working hard at her soccer skills. Her favorite new thing about playing this year is getting to try out the position of goalie!! This is the first year we have actually had a goalie position. For the two previous fall seasons we have played 4 on 4 with no goalie. Here's to a great season full of fun!!

anna and mckayla ready to play

anna playing goalie...no goals scored on her!!

good game...even caroline joined in the sportmanship

My little princess is 3!!!

Caroline turned 3 years old on Monday. Over the weekend we had her birthday party with some friends from her class at school. We had Cinderella come to the party and the girls LOVED it. They all arrived dressed up as their favorite princess. Anna chose Pocohantas (is she a princess???) and Caroline chose Cinderella, of course. The kids had a great time. We enjoyed having all of Caroline's grandparents at the party, including Gary's mom from South Dakota.

Suddenly, out of the clear blue, on Friday Caroline decided to be potty trained. SHe has been pretty frustrating lately choosing not to potty train but she has been completely aware of what she is doing in her pull-ups. Friday was the magic and we are THRILLED. She has even worn "big-girl" panties to school with no accidents so far.

Caroline had her 3-year check up yesterday. She was not too thrilled about being there at first because Anna kept telling her she had to get a shot. She brightened up for Dr. Larkin and told him about her party, meeting Cinderella and most importantly that she was wearing panties. She told him she had been wearing them "for a long time". So funny. She weighs 30 pounds and is 38 inches tall. This puts her square in the 50th percentile. This is an improvement over the 25th percentile which is where she was when she had her heart problems. Overall, a great check up. And, I earned mommy of the year for asking for the flu mist rather than an injection.

Caroline is a great little girl. Funny every day, sassy every day and I love her so much!!!

fun castle cake for her princess party

caroline's new princess bike was a hit!!

caroline with cinderella at her party!!

caroline in her big girl panties playing with her castle from uncle james & his family

Germantown Festival

We headed out to the Germantown Festival on Sunday afternoon to check out the weenie dog races as well as let the kids have some fun. Two friends from our small group at church, Harriet and Chase Turk have a cute weenie dog named Oscar. They decided to enter him in both the costume contest and the races. He placed second in the costume contest dressed as a vegas showgirl and he did not fare as well in the races. The girls then wanted to ride some rides. Anna has been dying to do this jump contraption ride that they have at the mall, and had at the Delta Fair and had at this festival. We finally said ok. So, during the wait in line for that ride (Gary opted to wait with Anna), Caroline did 2 moon bounces, an obstacle course, got a snowcone for Anna, a snowcone for herself and some water for Gary. So, now can you tell how long the wait was? Anna was thrilled. Aftewards, she and Caroline rode the swings before some cotton candy. Overall, fun time. Wish I could have shopped some. Did not happen this year as we had a busy Saturday. There's always the Cordova Festival and the Hope Market Square as well as Merry Marketplace and the Mistletoe Merchants all coming up quickly!!

ocscar as the proud vegas show girl collecting his 2nd place medal

anna was so excited as she got suited up

caroline on the obstacle course

on the swings

What I love about fall......

Fall is definitely around the corner and it is really my favorite time of the year for a lot of reasons.....in no particular order!

1. College football begins.....going to college at Auburn taught me to truly love college football....winning season or not. I've seen Auburn go undefeated and I've seen us not be bowl eligible. Of course it is better to have a double digit win column!!

2. School is back is session. Summer is great and we enjoy the carefree times, but I love the routine of learning and being back in school. Anna started first grade which is so fun to me. I remember first grade at Campus School and know that Anna will love it.

3. The cooler temps. August in Memphis is usually dreadful with a multitude of 100-degree days. Of course this summer that was June. I'm eager for 60's and 70's for the highs and breaking out the jackets and sweaters.

4. New television shows. I don't watch a lot of television. The few shows I do enjoy include The Biggest Loser, The Office and The Amazing Race. All start their new seasons over the next 10 days and I'm so excited about it.

5. Fun holidays. Don't get me wrong, Memorial Day and Flag Day are great, but I love Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Times for fun, family and fellowship indeed.

6. Fall = Festivals/Fair. We've already enjoyed the Delta Fair and the Germantown Festival, but there are plenty more where that came from. I enjoy perusing the wares of many artisans as well as cute gifts I can buy for others for Christmas.

7. Nature. Love to see God's beauty through the changing of the leaves and the transformation in nature.

So glad that fall officially starts next week....right around Caroline's birthday. It's a crazy busy time for me at work and at home and I am anxious to enjoy it to the fullest!!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend was a great time for us to spend some time with family and to enjoy the Delta Fair. On Saturday morning my older brother James arrived with his two boys, Blake and Drew. Their visit was heavily anticipated by my girls as they love playing with their cousins from Dallas!! We spent a lot of Saturday at Dad's so that we could all visit with my new nephew Benjamin and enjoy some college football. Saturday night we enjoyed celebrating my stepfather Dan's 65th birthday. Yummy BBQ and an ice cream cake were great!! On Monday we ventured out in our Auburn gear to Chick-fil-a to participate in their promotion and each receive a free chicken sandwich. What could have been better than free lunch?? Six of us ate a complete meal for $11.88!! Next was the Delta Fair. What more can I say?? Anna was tall enough to ride any ride there and Caroline was tall enough to ride the kid rides by herself. We all know that Caroline is fearless but Anna rode the big roller coaster twice (I loved it too!) and the rock-n-roll ride and was all smiles afterwards!! I love to ride roller coasters so can't wait for her to continue to enjoy them. Fun weekend indeed!!

james with benjamin for the first time

blake, anna, caroline and drew with their silly faces

the sweaty girls on the bumblebee ride at the delta fair
caroline feeding the baby goats
anna at the petting zoo
caroline finishing up the obstacle course ride on the slide...for the 100th time!!