Kids Love Soccer

Kate has been begging to play soccer for a while now.  Emeline started on a team the fall after she turned 4, but unfortunately the league we play in now doesn't have a team for 4 year olds.  So I decided to sign Kate up for a short session of Kidz Love Soccer which was held during Emeline's soccer practice.  It made for kind of a crazy soccer wednesdays, driving to Emeline's practice, then to Kate's, then back to Emeline's.  But Kate loved every minute of soccer, so it made it all worth it.

Here she is before her first practice, sporting the uniform Emeline wore when she was 4.

And here she is on a water break during her class.  Such joy!

Some photos from during the class...

And then she got her very own soccer shirt.  

And some more action shots.

She can't wait for soccer again next year!

Spina Farms Preschool Field Trip

This year we had lots of fun on our preschool's annual field trip to Spina Farms Pumpkin patch.  We missed last year's trip, so it was really neat to get to take both of our preschool girls, especially since this is Kate's last year of preschool.  Here are some photos!

Fun with the big pumpkin!

Snack time!

Enjoying the hay maze.

On the train ride!

Playing with pumpkins...

The giant chair.

On the hay ride...

Kate begged to do the barrel ride this year.  She and Adele had lots of fun.

Picking our her pumpkin...

Back at home, the girls and their pumpkins.

One of my favorite things about these annual traditions, is getting to look back at all the old pictures. The last time we went, Kate was 2 and Emeline was 4.5.  It was so cool to look back and see how Kate and Emeline looked when they were both 2 with pumpkins, and also so cool to see how much Emeline had grown.

This year, Adele is 2 (getting close to 3) and Kate is 4.  I got to look back at old photos and see how everyone has grown.  Here's Kate's picture from 2 years ago with her current picture.

And here's a sister comparison, Emeline at 4.5 and Kate at 4.

And here's a picture of all the girls when they were 2ish!

I love the nostalgia :)  And kids with pumpkins are too cute to resist!

iPhone Photo Dump - September

There were no spare photos from August, but here's some random moments from September.

Our friends Mitch and Luana, parents to Ollie, Austin and Anneke are moving back to Australia soon, so we've been trying to get together often for playdates.  Here's Ollie and Kate on the way home from the park.  Too sweet.

Wes enjoying lobster at Nola, a New Orleans themed restaurant on our 9 year anniversary.

Our neighbors passed on an awesome play structure that their older boys don't use anymore.  Here are the girls helping get the backyard ready for the new play structure.

Watching Papa...

Excited for Halloween.  Adele calls this her 'So Yoda' costume.

An after school ice cream treat with her friend Indi.

Sporting her fun glasses from her teacher that her table got for good behavior at school.

Swinging at the park...

6 and a half

Emeline hit 6 and a half!  I cannot believe how quickly time is flying by.  She will be 7 in no time.

We continued our little family tradition of a half birthday cake decorated by the half birthday girl to celebrate.  This was using up some leftover cake and frosting from another project, but she got to put all the embellishments she wanted on it.  Here are some pictures....

So what's Emeline like at 6.5?  Where do I start?  Here are some things about her, in no particular order...

She's in 1st grade with Maestra Anna.  She has a wonderful teacher who is very patient and kind.  She's learning to read and making some good improvements this year.  She prefers math over reading, but she's starting to enjoy reading books by herself.  

She is still as active as can be, and is enjoying playing soccer this fall.  She's been learning how to pass and work with her team.  It's really fun to watch all the girls on the team have more strategy than in previous years.  We got a larger play structure in our backyard and she loves climbing, swinging and jumping on it.  She's into the idea of American Ninja Warrior, and wants to make up hard obstacle courses to try.  She still loves riding her bike and asks to do more skateboarding, but we've had less time for the latter lately.  

She started Girl Scouts this fall and is a Daisy.  She hasn't done too much with it since it's only recently started, but she loves being part of a group, and the uniforms are fun too! 

She has a very compassionate heart.  She cares a lot about other people when she has the emotional space.  She has some big emotions that have been hard to manage sometimes, but when she's calmed down she asked Jesus to come into her heart to help her.  She's asked a lot of questions about what it means to be baptized.  Her thoughts of God are definitely growing, and we try to answer questions and let her experience God at her own level and pace.  She loves to help and take responsibility to do things, and she enjoys getting to do more and more on her own.  

Emeline loves to be goofy.  She loves to tell jokes and laugh at all kinds of silliness.  She has a sweet smile and a wonderful laugh. 

Preschool Cuties

Adele is moving up to PreK at Pasitos at the end of September.  Here are some pictures of her and Kate around school this last month.