Hilarious!  Rose and Jameson (2 1/2 years old), Anna Kate (4 1/2 years old), Julia (5 years old), and Noelle (7 1/2 years old). 

Playing monster…

and sharing a little kiss on the cheek!  Love our neighbors!

Noelle (age 4 3/4 years), Rose (age 2 weeks), Anna Kate (age 23 months)

This picture is perfect for today, because it was literally the hottest day of our lives!!!  Both the cheerleaders and football players rocked it out and had a blast in the heat!  We were all so proud of our kiddos!

Here’s a quick snapshot of Noelle and Emily, and the Pond girls before the game!

This was such an exciting start to an amazing football game to kick-off the season!

Noelle was in the zone performing for everyone!  She did great and cheered/kicked her little heart out!  Here we are enjoying the memories of Noelle’s first cheerleading game!

Go Bobcats!

This is right after the girls cheered, “Go Bobcats!” and held out their little paws.  They learned SO many cheers for this first game.  Everyone was so impressed!

Aren’t they doing great staying together during their cheers, and it was just their first game!  Can’t wait to see them at the end of the season! 

Half-time cheer!

All I can say is it was HOT, HOT, HOT!  All us moms told our little girls to take their shoes off so they would be a little cooler, crazy, right?  Sitting under umbrellas felt like diving into a fresh cold swimming pool… there are no words to describe it.  Squirt bottles were our best friends; it was crazy hot, and the girls did not complain one bit!  Here’s a sweet/sad pic after Anna Kate didn’t catch a spirit stick.  Her friend, Sydney, was there to cheer her up!  Don’t feel sorry for them, they got plenty of treats!  I promise!  I just thought this was a really sweet picture of one little sister lifting the spirits of another!

At the end of the game, the girls got to perform for their football team!  It was so much fun to see them smiling so big and enjoying themselves so much after a really long afternoon in the blazing heat.  Here’s the football team cheering for the girls, but right now, Daddy is Noelle’s biggest fan (thank the good Lord)!

During this part of the cheer, they were saying the words, “Work, work, baby, sweat, sweat!”  And they really were!  This is pure dedication and team work!

Here are the great guys on our team on one knee cheering for the girls!  It was really neat to see all the sportsmanship, and then the girls passed them out spirit sticks, and then they had treats for the girls too!  So cool!  And, another fun part of our day, was seeing our neighbor Lesleigh and Jillian and their Tiger teammates!  That made the Pond girls and Brianna super excited to be part of such a fun day! 

Noelle’s first season cheering got off to a great start!  And the most important thing of all, she had a total blast hamming it up for the audience doing her thing and enjoying being with her friends!  Go Bobcats and Go Noelle!

Never forget.  Never stop believing in the goodness in mankind, in the “helpers” as Mike describes them to our kids.  He tells them if we’re not there, to always look for “helpers.”  There was a beautiful ceremony at Noelle’s school flag pole this morning honoring those who died in the 9/11 attacks on our country and those who currently serve or have served in the past.  It was so moving, to say the least.  Very few of us had dry eyes who remembered the horror of that day; we are still praying, treasuring our blessings, and hoping upon hope, that the heroes among us stay safe as they answer calls for help every day. 

To my sweet friends out there in the world who don’t feel a part of the freedom we experience in our country, hold out for it.  We believe. 

Happy Birthday today to Mike’s dad, Paul, who served our country well, and to my sister, Michele, whose husband is serving our country right now as I type this.  You are both very special blessings in our lives, and we are so very proud of you both!

From the ceremony this morning:

The flag pole ceremony and Noelle’s 2nd grade class posing in front of the fire truck for a group picture.

Just finished honoring our service men and women with beautiful songs the kids worked so hard on the first few weeks of school in music class!  They had us all in tears.  It was just totally amazing.  Words cannot describe how special it was to hear all of their little voices singing altogether to thank their heroes who answer our call when we are hurting or in need.  It was an amazing moment I won’t ever forget.  I couldn’t wait to scoop Noelle up and hug her like it could be our last, because you never know, and I don’t want to take one moment for granted!  We often get comfortable in our rhythms of daily life and routine, but today was a good reminder of how fragile life can be and how quickly life can change in an instant.  How could we forget?

Silly Jacob asked me if he could photobomb a picture, lol!  So, I said, 1,2,3, and he totally had a blast doing just what he had planned!  I sent this picture to his mom, with the caption, “The best part of his day!”

Some of Noelle’s sweet new classmates: Claire, Allie, Addison, Noelle, and Mia

Cutie Kate had an awesome last first day of Pre-K at Mrs. Paula’s!  I asked her if she was ready to go back to school, and she said, “Actually, I’m excited!”  I asked her if she wanted me to come with Mike to drop-off, like I’ve always done for she and Noelle in the past.  She said, “I think I’ll just take a picture on the sidewalk and hug you goodbye at home.  If you came there with me, I would probably cry and want to come home with you.”  Aww!  My sweet baby!  It made sense, so I said, “Okay, if you’re sure!”  It would have been 45 minutes in the car for me to get there and back (because it’s on Mike’s way to work), so it made sense in that way too. 

So that is what we did.  We took pictures on the sidewalk and hugged and kissed our goodbyes.  And just like that, this was the beginning to her last first day of preschool!  Oh, and one more thing, little miss is reading!!!  She read her first book on 9/04/13 at 4 1/2!  She’s been reading words for a long time, but now she is reading sentences.  Yay!  We are so proud.  She is so proud.  After she read two books all by herself, she looked up at me and said, “If anyone says I can’t read, I’ll go get a book and show them and they’ll be all like, wow, you can read!”  She always cracked me up!  Love you, Cutie Kate!

Rose goes to a wonderful “school” on Mondays so she can enjoy her day with other children, and I can go to my doctors’ appointments.  She loves socializing and being a part of the group!  She has learned so much since we started last spring, and I always look forward to her bursting through the back door at the end of the day!  Her favorite things at school are first and foremost, Mrs. Kim, learning new songs and her friend Grace!

*Sorry I didn’t dead-head our roses, Rose!  I will next year, because next year I will have time, because next year you won’t be 2!

As I watched the four of them drive away, I felt my entire world leaving the driveway in the same car.  Thank God Anna Kate and Rose will be home tomorrow!  “Work hard today, so that I can play hard tomorrow,” I thought!  The girls are making wonderful memories with their daddy on the way to school.  I’m so glad they get this time special time together.  The middle picture is Anna Kate’s Hello Kitty rabbit.  She said, “If the boys look at her (the rabbit), she will just have to cover her eyes with her ears!”  Such a funny kid, that Cutie Kate!  All three of my beauties were lined up in a row with their (can I say adorable), okay, okay, handsome Daddy in the driver’s seat!  Wish their daddy could always be their driver!!!