2008 Dance Season

Breanna, Jadyn, Mikayla, Anika, Emily, and Elana pose for a picture after their first tap/jazz class!

It's All Coming Up Dance is the theme for this year's dance season at Rising Star Dance Company. Classes started the week of September 8th and it couldn't have been soon enough for Mikayla. She asked at least twice a week during the summer "is it time for dance yet?". I had to remind her that dance would not start until after school started. She is taking ballet, clogging, tap, and jazz again this year. This is a lot for a five year old in addition to full day kindergarten, but Mikayla would not have it any other way. It has not negatively affected her in any way - she LOVES dance! Right now, she is able to take combination classes so she dances 2 hours per week - one hour on Mondays for clogging and ballet, and one hour on Fridays for tap and jazz. Once she turns seven she will not be able to take combination classes anymore, and she may have to choose her favorites at that point. We want to expose her to as many different types of dance as we can so that she can choose her favorites when the time comes - hopefully - at this point they are all her "favorites"! Another reason Mikayla is excited about this year's dance is that Breanna, her best friend, and Breanna's cousin, Emily, will take dance this year too! They are in Mikayla's tap and jazz class on Fridays. We can't wait to see how much Mikayla grows and learns in her fourth year of dance!

Grits for Grandparents!

On Friday, September 12, our school hosted Grits for Grandparents for our kindergarten students and their siblings. Our PTA took care of breakfast for the grandparents so they could come and eat with their grandchildren. Drew and Mikayla could not wait to invite Mimi and Poppi to their school to have breakfast with them! Mimi and Poppi wouldn't have missed this for the world and met us at the school at 6:45 on the rainy Friday morning!
Mimi and Poppi move through the serving line with Drew and Mikayla - Poppi offers his assistance. Drew and Mikayla do this every day, but it has been awhile since my mom and dad have been in a school cafeteria.
Drew and Mikayla enjoyed having breakfast with Mimi and Poppi while I headed down to my room to get ready for the day. After they ate, Drew and Mikayla had the chance to show Mimi and Poppi their classrooms and they got to meet Drew and Mikayla's teachers! To get to Mikayla's classroom they had to go right past mine so they also stopped and visited a minute in my room!
Thank you mom and dad for coming to have breakfast with my children! All they could talk about the whole day is "Mimi and Poppi came to our school", and this is something that they won't soon forget!

Drew's 2nd Soccer Game

Drew played another soccer game last Saturday, September 13 (I am one week behind - look for this week's game coming soon). We were scheduled to bring snacks to this game and it started at 1:00. I was worried about our children playing in the heat of the day, so I slathered sunscreen on both Drew and Mikayla and we headed to the fields. Craig wasn't far behind us with the cooler for the snacks and drinks. We were playing the number one team in the league, and Drew's friend Josh was on the other team. Drew and Josh were on the same soccer team last year and they were also in the same class at school. It was a hard fought game with our guys scoring 2 goals right away. Then the other team came back and scored 3 goals so they were up by one. Then, Drew scores a goal to tie the game! I was so proud of Drew and all of our boys for playing hard in this game. They could have given up, but neither team did. They kept playing hard. Drew only scored one goal the whole season last year (that might have something to do with him always wanting to play goalie), but this year he has already scored 2 goals, one in each game we have played!

This is what Mikayla likes to do when Drew is sitting out. Everyone on the team takes a break during one quarter of play. Drew (and all the other guys) needs this break! Mikayla makes sure Poppi gets his exercise!

Drew hustles most of the time to get in there and get the ball. Sometimes Craig wishes he would play a little more aggressive.

Drew (as goalie) kicks the ball - this has some special name, but because I still don't know a whole lot about soccer I'm not sure if it is called a "goal kick" or something else...
Drew gets a hard kick in on kick-off! I think he has the form to be a big time kicker someday - what do you think?
The guys take a break during half-time and enjoy some snacks.
Mikayla and Poppi run some more!

This was such a great game, and it was a nail biter to the end! With AYSO, rank is based on a point system. You get so many points for a win, so many for a tie, none for a loss, but your team also gets points if your coach or another parent volunteers as a ref. I was happy with a tie because our team was able to get some points! Go Drew - keep playing hard! We are still trying to come up with a name for our team...

So Sweet at School!

Mikayla's class at school is down one room from mine (across the hall). She has walked from my room to her own room several times this year, but every now and then she gets a little upset when it is time to leave mommy! She feels more comfortable having someone walk her down. On this particular morning she "allowed" Drew to walk her down. You see, Drew had asked for several days if he could "walk" Mikayla to her room, but Mikayla wouldn't have any part in it. She wanted Mommy to walk her down. Drew was so excited that she finally let him have a turn. He feels like such the big brother these days, now that she is at school full-time with us! He thinks he is her protector, that is for sure! Mikayla rubs her eyes (she is still upset) as Drew prepares to walk to his class (on the next hall over).
One more sweet goodbye hug before "bubba" has to go. They are such "sweet siblings" - well, most of the time! :)

For the record, as soon as Mikayla gets seated with her friends in her class, she is fine. No more rubbing her eyes, or being upset. I'm beginning to wonder if it is a "show" for mommy - could it be?

Drew's First Soccer Game

Last Saturday, Drew had his first soccer game of the year! He was so excited he could hardly wait! His team had gotten their whole uniforms (we are red/white this year), and you can see the shorts and socks below. Unfortunately, they mixed up our shirts and they were all the wrong sizes. These are temperary shirts until ours come in hopefully this week. It didn't bother Drew or the other guys in the least, as they were just so excited to finally be playing a game. We have been practicing since the beginning of August. Drew gets ready to kick-off!My beautiful girl watches her brother play! Drew lines up to kick-off in the second half.
All the boys played very well. Drew scored the first goal for his team!! Our team ended up losing the game 5 - 2, but our boys had so much fun playing and they played hard. We were so proud of how well our boys played together as a team. Both Drew and Zachary scored points for our team! We were cheering like crazy during the whole game!

Drew has another game today, and we can't wait to see how this one goes!

Mikayla's Birthday Party!

This post has been one week coming as Mikayla's party was last Sunday!

In case you are wondering about lack of posts lately...I handmade invitations for Mikayla to give out for her party, I've baked and decorated her birthday cake, I am now the webmaster for our school's web page (that has taken up a lot of time that I usually devote to my blog), and we have been preparing for soccer and dance season. Lots going on here - which in turn means lots to post about. I hope to get some "catching up" done this week!

She wanted to have a swim party again, so Mimi and Poppi graciously let us "borrow" their pool (er house). Mikayla was very excited about her party, especially after "helping" mommy make her cake. She couldn't wait to see all of her friends, have cake and ice cream, and open presents.

We scheduled her party from 2:00 - 5:00, so we would have time for church and then finish last minute preparations for her party and have dinner with Mimi and Poppi. It had been a beautiful morning, but just before 2:00 I began noticing clouds in the sky. As the first guests began arriving, we headed on out to the pool. Lucas, Jadyn, Trevyr, and Ms. Amy enjoy the pool.The birthday girl jumps off the diving board and swims to the ladder.Tessa, Lucas, Jadyn, Lauren, and Breanna play in the pool as Bryson and Drew look for more toys!

Mikayla and Breanna

About an hour or so after all of the children had been swimming, it began to rain. Since it was just sprinkling at first, we thought we would wait it out - I mean, all the kids were already wet anyway. But as it began to rain harder, we thought it best to head inside before we were all soaked. The rain break provided a great time for cake, ice cream, and presents. Mikayla gets ready to blow out her candles!Drew and Bryson would rather play - first with toys and then on the wii!Mikayla and her friends enjoy some cake and ice cream!

Bailey, and Olivia help Mikayla open one of her presents!

By the time everyone had enjoyed their cake and ice cream, and Mikayla had opened all of her presents, the rain had stopped. We all headed back outside so the kids (some adults too) could spend the rest of the time swimming!

Drew, Bryson, Olivia, Mikayla, Trevyr, Breanna, and Lauren

Mikayla in the middle of the pool surrounded by family and friends!Olivia, Mikayla, Jadyn and Bailey play in the pool.And then the girls take a turn in the "bounce house"!

It was a fantastic party, and everyone seemed to have a grand time - especially Mikayla! Happy Birthday again, Sweet Princess!! We love you!

A Surprise Party and a Birthday Cake

Saturday was a busy day for our family as we were getting ready for Mikayla's birthday party. I also had been invited to a surprise birthday party for my assistant Saturday night at The Junction restaurant. Craig kept the kids so that I could go and celebrate with Mrs. Brooks and her family and friends. There was about 40 people there to surprise her when she came through the door and boy, was she surprised!! Her son and daughter-in-law came from North Carolina, and also our friend Martha came from North Carolina. We had a wonderful time, and I'm glad that it's over because it was hard to keep it a secret from her - seeing her every day like I do! Happy Birthday Mrs. Brooks - I hope that you have had a wonderful weekend with your family!

After coming home Saturday night, I began working on Mikayla's birthday cake. Making Drew and Mikayla's cake is a new tradition for our family that I started last year. I am by no means a professional, but it sure is fun to do, and the important thing is the cakes are made with love! Last year, Drew had a scuba diver cake (at the bottom of the page) and Mikayla had a princess castle cake (at the bottom of the page). This year Drew had a baseball field (in the middle of the page) and Mikayla requested a Hannah Montana cake. I thought "oh boy, how do you make a Hannah Montana cake". So I got online and searched for ideas. I found a Hannah Montana guitar cake and thought I could handle that so that's what we made. I baked two rectangle shaped cakes and cut one to be the handle and the other to be the guitar shape. Then I put them together and decorated them. It wasn't near as hard as I expected it to be. Mikayla even had fun helping me with the pink and white crystal sprinkles, and I think it turned out rather cute. What do you think?

Chuck E. Cheese and Football!!

One of our family traditions is that the birthday person gets to choose where/what we eat for their birthday dinner. This year Drew chose Kanpai of Tokyo (that is not really Mikayla's favorite place), and Mikayla chose Chuck E. Cheese (Drew was thrilled with this choice, too). So Thursday after school, we ran a few errands and then we were off to eat. Uncle Jonathan joined us for dinner and played a few games with Drew and Mikayla!

Mikayla enjoys some salad while waiting on our pizza. Drew didn't care anything about a salad and was already off playing.Drew "drives" one of the games while Uncle Jonathan watches.I think Uncle Jonathan was really waiting on his turn!Daddy and Mikayla have fun playing ski ball. This is Mikayla's favorite game - it was also my favorite game when I was little! Drew loves riding the jet ski - he gets upset though because he can never win. Craig said it might be because he chooses "expert" as his level.
Mikayla rides on the fire truck.Drew and Jonathan played a couple games of air hockey - each time Drew said he was going to win but Jonathan got him every time.Daddy watches as Mikayla tries to "catch some bees" in the honey pot. This is another favorite of Mikayla! Mikayla got to open one gift from Mommy, Daddy, and Drew at Chuck E. Cheese. It was the Hannah Montana game that she has been wanting for the Wii. In fact, she and Drew are playing this game as I type this!

After eating and playing games, Jonathan was off to watch the Carolina Panthers game. We came home to watch the Carolina Gamecocks game! Mimi and Poppi also came over to visit with Mikayla on her birthday and give her one of her presents.

Mikayla and Poppi pose with Hannah Montana!

Mikayla opens one of her gifts from Mimi and Poppi! She had them open the box and put that together before they left! She (and Drew) Loves it!

Drew opens the guitar picks that Mimi and Poppi wrapped for him to open Thursday night. You can see those Carolina Gamecocks playing in the background!

GOOOOOO COCKSSSSSS! After Mimi and Poppi left, we got Drew and Mikayla to bed and then we finished watching the game. It has been a great weekend of football! My Gamecocks won Thursday night, and then our high school won in a blowout on Friday night!