LittleBear's Upward Soccer Season 2013: Go Bumblebees!!!!

Warming up with Coach P!

LittleBear played his first season of soccer this fall and ended the season this past Saturday with his last game and an award ceremony.  He played with Upward soccer, which we found to be very organized and just right for our LittleBear.  We had an amazing coach, made some great friends and LittleBear is already looking forward to playing again next year.

LittleBear wore #7 and was one of five players for Team Bumblebees (all four and five year olds).   I tried to take video during the games, but it's hard to pick him out because everyone clustered around the ball.  So, here are some pictures instead...

Waiting for substitution time so he can go back in and play!

 

Run, LittleBear, run!!!

Kicking the ball!

 

Gotta stay hydrated (thanks to the spiffy water bottle he was given)!!!

 

Teachable moments...

 He is SO excited to get his first ever trophy at the awards ceremony!!!!!!!!!!

We happened to get to the church a few minutes early on the day of our last game and I snapped this video of coach P. coaching LittleBear how to be a better soccer player.  They were having a great time...both of them!

A Friend's Birthday Barnyard Bash...

A dear friend of ours recently celebrated her 2nd birthday with a backyard, barnyard bash and another dear friend of ours (who also happens to be a very skilled photographer with her own business) was kind enough to take some pictures, which I just received today.   I thought you guys might enjoy them :)  It was a totally fun party!!!

Mr. Handsome who declined the complimentary bandana, but had a great time, nonetheless...

Our accessory queen who refused to take OFF the complimentary bandana and also had a great time!

 Big blue eyes!!!

Family Treat Night 2013

This year for Family Treat Night at Baylor, we brought along Sam I Am and his signature Green Eggs and Ham for some fun meeting the Baylor students and seeing their dorms.  The kids' costumes went over well, though I would have liked to tweak LittleBear's a bit more.  Still, they were happy with them, which is the main thing.

As always, both kids really enjoyed it and LittleBear came away with WAY too much candy, which we are still deciding exactly how to handle that part of it, but it was tons of fun and there is already talk of going again next year (Someone wants to be Buzz Lightyear...we'll see).

 Hydration is important, especially as a fleece ham and a furry Sam with a turtleneck!

LittleBear and LadyBear Meet A Trash Truck!!

The City of Waco recently had several open houses where people could come and meet a real garbage truck (a newish, cleanish one) and talk to the drivers, as well as trade in any smaller recycling carts you have for bigger ones.  We already have the biggest cans we can have, but I knew the kids would enjoy seeing a garbage truck up close because every time one drives by, they flock to the window.

LittleBear was VERY excited to get to sit in the driver's seat.  Incidentally, he also honked the horn, which was INCREDIBLY loud (I think Daddy might have heard it at our house), made Mommy literally jump and scared LadyBear into hysterical tears, but thankfully she recovered and we moved on.  

He got to meet the "claw" up close and personal too, which he seemed to be happy about.

We were all impressed with how big the truck was!  It was HUGE!  We are most grateful to the city for a chance to do something new and learn a bit more about the folks that help make our city great.

Pumpkin Patch 2013

Happy Fall, Y'all!!!!!

Monarchs Are Here!

The Monarchs now seem to have left after a couple weeks of visiting our backyard and we had just as much fun as ever watching for them every day.  It's so neat to see how they come in waves!  They particularly enjoy our white flowered bushes, although I did notice that LittleBear's butterfly garden was particularly popular as well, which thrilled him to no end. 

 Click on the Picture to enlarge...how many Monarchs can you spot?

We also had a few other butterfly visitors including a Red Admiral and a Black Swallowtail, which were neat to watch as well.  We love that the Monarchs come through our yard every year on their way to Mexico!!

 Nom Nom Nom...mmmm, nectar!

LadyBear really liked the white flowered bushes too!

 Yummy nectar!!!

We also had plenty of honeybees around and still do, though thankfully they seem to be friendly...

LittleBear watching his butterfly garden for Monarchs...

Family Beach Trip!!!

 
Towards the beginning of this month, we had the amazing blessing of being invited to spend a long weekend with our dear family at a house right on the beach in Surfside, TX (near Galveston).   It was a WONDERFUL weekend!

The weather was lovely, the beach was fun and it was great spending some quality time with our family.   We already knew LittleBear would love the beach because he has been before, but we weren't sure what LadyBear would think of it.  From the sand to the waves, she loved it all.  Really, we had so many pictures to choose from, it's hard to know which ones to post, but I'll give it my best effort.

We all had a ton of fun playing in the water...

 Daddy and LittleBear figuring out the boogie boards...

And also in the sand...

 

 LittleBear building a sand castle with Cousins E, P and Uncle J...

While our own little beach princess enjoyed playing in the sand and also in this little pool with her cousin Ev.

 In fact, these two had a great time together the whole weekend!

  We took a walk on the beach and had fun looking for shells...

And just enjoyed the company of our wonderful family...

LadyBear enjoying some help from Cousin J...

 We enjoyed fun with glowsticks!  Thanks Aunt K!!!!

And celebrated Grandma's birthday!!

A great time was had by all FOR SURE!!  Thank you SO much Aunt S. and Uncle V!!!!!

Baylor Homecoming 2013!

We are getting caught up slowly, but surely! 

Baylor's Homecoming was earlier this month and is always something we look forward to.  We all went to the parade Saturday morning and then the boys attended the football game that evening.  While Mom and Dad would have liked to do more, this was about all we could ask of the kids without them being WAAAAAAY overtired (which trust me, is not at all worth it).

The parade was early on what started out to be a pretty chilly morning, but we had our usual tradition of a curbside picnic breakfast and met some wonderful friends next to us, including Teddy the very sweet Great Dane.  

We usually get to campus about an hour and half before the parade does to claim curbside seats, so we had some time to kill, which of course meant taking pictures of our adorable and somewhat cold kiddos.

 Then, the parade started!!  The flags, the cars, the band!   They were all right there!  The kids forgot about the cold and enjoyed the scenery in front of them.

Then, LadyBear spotted it...the Baylor Bear balloon, which doesn't look all that big in this picture, but trust me, it is HUGE!

"Woah, Mom!!!  What is that?!"

She did not take her eyes off of it and kept saying, "OOOOH!   OOOOH!"  It was very cute.

 
And then my camera stopped working... I. KNOW.    GRRRR!

There were lots of great floats, cars, etc. that came up next that I'd love to show you, but alas, they are all only etched in our memories.  If you're curious the Waco Tribune Herald has a photo gallery along with the fine photographers at Baylor.   The floats were all really good this year and we really did have some fun, family time!

LadyBear's First Steps!!

On October 14, 2013, LadyBear took her first steps!!!  Way to go, LadyBear!!!




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