Celebrating Kyle, "Thomas the Train" Style

We finally had Kyle's birthday party on August 10th. I felt really bad putting it off this long but we were trying to fit everyone's schedules and even still, my mom wasn't able to make it because she was in St. Louis taking care of her dad. However, this was the day after his first practice so he had a pretty kick-ass weekend!

Surprisingly, Kyle chose a Thomas the Train themed party over a "Cars" party. He has LOVED Lightning McQueen for about a year now but I asked him over and over and he always answered Thomas! It was just family and it was fun because Kyle was very excited and couldn't wait for his cake and to see everyone. I went pretty simple with the food and just did some wraps from Publix, chips, fruit and veggies and tea and lemonade.

I love celebrating my kiddos and their birthdays and even though this was simple and small, I still enjoyed seeing Kyle's joy at everyone being there to celebrate him!

 Cheeeessse! and below he is saying, "I'm threeee!"

Refreshment break before opening gifts.

 A little help from big sister on the first card.

 No McQueen themed party BUT, he still requested the wrapping paper. :)

 Thomas the Train underwear!!! Thanks, Grandma and Grandad! He also got a new pair of Thomas jammies, Curious George and Clifford books.

 This was his big gift from us. A track and Thomas train.

 Thanks Nana and Pa for the "Thomas outside chair"!

One more track for extra fun with the train "Dart". He also got several other trains from Nana and Pa, Gordon, Henry, and Toby.

This last picture was included because of the card. When you open it, it sings Happy Birthday and then you can "blow out" the candles. It's so cool and Kyle loves it! He is now officially 3!!!!

A Long Awaited "First"

Along with the first week of school, we also had another first in the family. And this one has been a long time coming for our little guy. Time and time again he has watched Daddy and Brice walk out the door to either baseball practice or a game. Even though we always go to Brice's games, Brice and Justin leave before us so that Brice can take batting practice and warm up. This means Kyle stands at the door while they put their shoes on, and then he cries while they pull away.

Last season, when Brice was on the Cubs, Kyle had his very own jersey and wanted to wear it just about everyday. We were not going to sign him up to play until fall because 1) I wasn't ready to have three kids in activities just yet, 2) I think three is too young, and a young three at that and 3) he is technically too young to play anyway. But then the director of the park emailed Justin and said they needed one more coach and one more player for Rookie Tee Ball and with that all of Kyle's dreams came true. He picked the team name, the Braves and wore his cleats around the house for 24 hours. He even cleans them off when he gets home from practice. This boy is in his element.  And so, here are some pictures from his first practice.

 This picture warms my heart so much. Big brother helping little brother. Brice is so good with little kids. Patient and kind, I think he loves helping out too.

 Kyle was so good about staying on his "safety cone" as Justin named them. Below, Kyle is telling his teammate to stay on his cone!

My sweet little ballplayer is so excited to be out there. He talks about practice and wearing his cleats all week long before Saturday at 9am arrives! He may completely flip when the uniforms arrive!

A 4th Grader and a Kindergartener

Last Thursday was the day, the day my girl headed off to the real deal. Kindergarten. To say Anna was excited is an understatement. She has been so excited for this day. She was pumped about Open House and then she was very excited about the first day. No tears, no walking her in, just dropped her off at the door and in she went. She told me she was going to tell the teachers she didn't even want help getting to her classroom the first day. This is so not like me. This girl has so much confidence in herself. She is not even at the same building as Brice which made me nervous. But, not her! She had her clothes all picked out for three days prior and did not allow me to bring her new Frozen backpack downstairs. She kept it in her room and even made her own lunch!!!

Even though she has been running off of pure adrenaline for the past week, I can tell she is starting to dwindle. She has been tired after her full days and doesn't want to talk much when I pick her up. It will be interesting to see how she is holding up at the end of this week, a full five days...
I know she is ready for this though. She continues to mature a rate I am not prepared for! Anna will of course always be our baby girl and so last Thursday was difficult for me. As soon as she closed the car door and walked in, I completely lost it. And, then around lunchtime, Kyle asked where Anna was and that he wanted her. It was like a dagger in my heart. I just wanted to drive to the school and pick her up!

And, of course there is Brice, the big brother who was ready for school to start. I think his brain had started to shrink a little after doing nothing academic over the summer. So not like him, but I have noticed that the "cool factor" has come into play. After meeting his teacher, he was excited for Thursday as well. He changes classes for his subjects so he was a little nervous about their personalities but he has a great homeroom teacher. I think he will have a great year!

 In the picture below, she is pretending to be a wolf, a Buford Wolf!

 Thumbs up for kindergarten!

 Can't believe I have two kids in school!