First Soccer Practice

Brookelyn had her first soccer practice with her new team, The Breakers, on Saturday morning. She was SO excited!

Here she is thinking about her big day:

We got there and got set up. B-man took his post in his own little lawn chair. He loved watching the girls, but he REALLY wanted to play!

Coach Allen started by stretching all the girls out really well. (Notice B-man is in the circle too.)

Then, practice started!
Here is Coach giving the girls a super pep-talk!

The star player takes the ball down the field!
At the end of practice Coach Allen let the girls have a little fun with the parachute. Notice his whistle? It might be taken away at home if he can't learn that it is for use ONLY on the field--there are no soccer players in this house!
It was an amazing first practice! I am not sure who had more fun, the girls, Coach Allen, or all the parents watching! Tomorrow night Coach David takes the reigns, as Allen will be out of town. The Breakers home opener is Monday September 13th at 6pm!

First Day of School for Brookelyn and Braedyn

This has been a wonderful week! Both kids started school, and I am finally beginning to feel like I am digging out of all the moving mess.

Brookelyn's first day of Pre-K was on Monday. She will go Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8-2. And, let me tell you, trying to get both kids dressed, fed, and ready to leave this house by 7:45 is HARD! Here she is on Monday morning:

If you notice, her shorts match her backpack :)
She had a great first day, and couldn't wait to go back on Wednesday!

So, on Tuesday, Braedyn had his first day. He will go on Tuesday and Thursday from 8-2. I love this schedule because it will allow me to have special one-on-one time with each of them. I had an adorable collared shirt all picked out for him to wear, but the diva that he is (and learned from his sister) decided he was going to wear Spiderman or nothing. As I said before, it is hard enough to get cooperative children out of the house by 7:45, much less my two stubborn ones. So, mommy lost. Here he is on Tuesday morning:
This is his GQ pose:
And of course, flashing those lady-killer dimples!
He also had a great day. It started off a little tough because he had gotten used to having his sister at school with him during the summer, but she gave him lots of hugs and told him to "pick a flower on the playground for me" and he happily waved goodbye to us.

WOW--What a CRAZY Summer

To say that we had a busy summer is the understatement of the century!

It all started when Daddy got a new job at Sam's Club, so Mommy got to sell the house in Dallas, pack up the house in Dallas, load the entirety of the house (well technically the movers did) onto a truck, and drive the kiddos up to Arkansas.

Goodbye Dallas house!

Hello new Arkansas house! Allen fell in love with this house at first sight (literally) and so did I. But, we have NEVER had to do so much to a house to make it ready! It had cracks in the brick, overgrown flowerbeds, needed paint, carpentry, SO MUCH cleaning EVERYWHERE, new furniture, stain, putty, you name it--it needed it. With that said, all the work is slowly coming to a close, and it is by far my most favorite home we have ever had. I love every inch of it!
And, since coordinating the endless contractors wasn't enough to put me in the looney bin, I decided to push myself over the edge with my least favorite mommy job--POTTY TRAINING! But, after a week of the nudie-bootie method, Braedyn had it all down. Of course, his favorite place to pee is outside!

When I thought I just couldn't take it for one more second, summer school started. Thank you Jesus! The kids had so much fun with their new teachers and friends. Here they are on their first day!

Of course the kids kept things interesting this summer, as the Bates' kids always manage to do. Braedyn had a terrible bout of Croup which landed us in the pediatrician's office for THREE hours. And, introduced us to one of Braedyn's least favorite things in the world, breathing treatments! (The sunglasses were not a stylish accessory--they kept the mist out of his eyes.)

And, of course there was the Chick-fil-A black eye I blogged about previously, which brings me to Braedyn's lovely gashed forehead. He managed to do this while Allen was out of town in New York. Brookelyn was being a kitty cat in the bathroom when he decided to sit on her back. After I told her to get up, he managed to fall forward right into the corner of the tile. Thank goodness Melinda rushed right over and helped me triage!

Not to be outdone by her brother that night, Brookelyn scared me TO DEATH by having what I now know to be a night-terror, but what I thought to be a seizure later that night. She screamed my name and then was totally unresponsive, shaking, and glaring around with glassy eyes. Terrifying! What a night. Needless to say, Allen has not gone on another business trip.

On a happier note, we got to take the kids to their first Broadway play, Beauty and the Beast! They loved it! Braedyn even cried the whole way home because he wanted to see the Beast again! Here is my little princess all dressed up ready for the show.
One of the most exciting events of the summer, was the birth of my new niece, Lily Kate! She is just perfect in every way--except that she lives 10 hours away! We had such an amazing time with everyone celebrating her arrival!
Whew! Seriously, a jam-packed summer. But, as summer ends, we know what that brings...Daddy's favorite 8 letter word--FOOTBALL! So I had to start the kids' education by taking them to a Razorback practice!

Tonight we had our end of summer dinner (a new Bates' tradition). While summer isn't technically over yet, the kids start school tomorrow so it feels as if it is. We are so thankful for all of our family and friends who have helped us through this crazy time, and we are looking forward to an amazing fall! Woooooo Pig Sooie!

Preparedness Fair

Since Allen and I can't sit still for very long (and thus, neither can our children), before we headed to the Razorback Fan Day, we checked out the Preparedness Fair (as in how to prepare for a disaster--little did they know I know it is impossible to prepare for the sorts of 'disasters' Miss Brookelyn and Mr. Braedyn stir up every day).

Here is Brookelyn sitting in a fire truck (no Braedyn wanted NO part of the firemen or the truck).

And, in an AWESOME life flight helicopter. It was SO cool! (Again, notice Mr. Party-Pooper is missing.)
Finally, something Braedyn loved--a balloon sword he could whack everyone with!
Brookelyn got her face painted with Ryan Mallet's number. No it isn't in any of the pictures from Fan Day because she got sweaty and it got wiped off, but it was super cute while it lasted!Here is the little princess playing in a ball pit...
and another one because I thought she looked so pretty!

Sister managed to talk Braedyn into going for a ride on the HUGE blow up slide. Here she is talking him through how to go down (AKA bossing his business).

And, like the amazing big sister she is, here she is catching him as he slides down!
It was an awesome experience! We will definitely have to go again next year!

Razorback Fan Day

Well, we officially indoctrinated the kids into Razorback football on Saturday! Here they are all dressed up and ready to meet the team!

We started off by meeting Tusk (which I didn't get a picture of) and, then the kids got to try out their very own Razorback tricycle!Brookelyn LOVED every second of the day and just couldn't pose for enough pictures (B-man--not so much)! Here she is with Sooie:
And, with the cheerleaders! I probably have five different pictures of Brookelyn with different cheerleaders, but chose this one. She loved holding the pom-poms!

Finally, a shot of Braedyn. Everyone commented on how cute his hair was.

He watched the pep-rally from Daddy's shoulders.
And, Brookelyn got to be a part of the pep-rally, as one of the cheerleaders brought her up to dance with her!
Here is Brookelyn with Boss Hog. B-man was T-E-R-R-I-F-I-E-D of him!
And, while she didn't get to touch him, Brookelyn got to see Coach Petrino!

Overall, the kids and Mommy and Daddy had a BLAST! It was so hot (over 100 degrees), but so worth braving the heat. Can't wait for the first game day!