Kate is 8

And now, I will skip through seven months - mostly filled with school activities for Kate including the Principal's award, AR parties, and all A's in second grade.  She LOVED Ms. Hurt and will forever, I'm sure, go visit her!

 She decided that she wanted a butterfly party this year.  We ended up having it at the YMCA for a swimming party. 

Of course, as we were getting in the car to go it started raining.  It rained for the first hour of the party, but they were great and let us play, eat and do presents in the workout room.  We had watermelon, cheese puffs, butterfly hotdog crescents, and butterfly pasta salad.

Then Kate opened presents - she got some fun stuff including crafts, gift card that she used to get Land of Stories (her favorite) books, and a bracelet. 

Then we were able to go outside and swim!  The kids had a great time and I didn't take many pictures because it looked like lightning and confused the lifeguards.

We had cake at the last minute and then everyone left. 

It was a great party! 

Kate's actual birthday was a kids camp again.  This year, they sang to her on stage.  She acted embarrassed but I think really enjoyed it.  We are so proud of Kate. 

She has such a giving and caring heart.  She wants for everyone to be happy and taken care of.  She shares her love and joy with everyone she knows without concern for what they will say or think.  She shares Jesus in a way that is so pure and innocent.

I pray that she only grows in this and doesn't become worried about whether others will think that's ok or not.

Halloween

Kate and Caleb had a fun time this year at Halloween.  They both had parties at school. 

For that, Kate went as Jasmine and Caleb was Obi Wan Kenobi (again). 

Our church had a Harvest Carnival, so we didn't go trick or treating but still had fun.  For this, Kate was Merida and Caleb was one of her bear brothers. 

Kate had been talking a lot about her friend from school and she actually found her at the carnival.  We were so excited to meet her and Kate had a GREAT time running around with her. 

Arrow Dash

Kate's school has a 5K every year to raise money.  They have the regular race first and then the kids do a 1 mile fun run with color powder sprayed at them. 

The kids and I went while David worked.  I got to push Caleb in his stroller for the 5K walk

while Kate played with some friends.

 Then Kate did the fun run. 

Caleb cheered her own and she finished strong.

 Then, we waited around for the awards. 

I was glad we did because I WON the 5K!  :-) 

Weekend of Parties and Cheer

About a week after school started we had a weekend full of birthday parties.  Kate was supposed to go to a cheer camp that morning but woke up with a pink eye, so I didn't let her go.  Caleb had a birthday party for his friend form school and had a blast playing in the birdseed box! 

That afternoon, Kate went to the present portion of her friend's party. 

They had cake balls and both kids LOVED them! 

The next weekend, Kate got to cheer at the football game.  She is one cute cheerleader if I do say so myself! 

She was actually more interested in the game but I think that was because she didn't get to go to the camp.  She stood with some of her new friends from her class this year and then got to see her teacher! 

She had a great time and did a fantastic job.  We were proud of her effort and excitement.

Second Grade!

How is Kate in second grade!?  I can't believe she is already that grown.

 We had registration on Wednesday and found out that she has Ms. Hurt.  On the way out, we saw one of our friends who had her a couple of years ago and loved her, which made this mama feel better!

Friday was the first day of school and she had the traditional first day of school pancakes - this year with a 2 for second grade! 

This year, Kate says that her favorite color is blue and she wants to be a dentist.

 Mama, Daddy and Caleb all walked Kate to the classroom.

 It was a humid day and we ended up parking all the way at the high school because traffic was SO backed up (it was the right thing to do as we we walking out of the school before the cars originally in front of us even got to the school!). 

We got a picture of Kate with Ms. Hurt (which ended up being used by the school district in a newsletter!). 

Then we checked out her desk and got her settled. 

She is having a great year so far.  We are so proud of her hard work, good behavior, and how well she is doing with reading.  We are also thankful for the evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence and work in her life!

Lake Party

The first weekend of August, we had our traditional Sunday School lake party.  The adult guys build a GIANT slip and slide into the lake, we have food, and the kids just run around and have fun. 

It's a great day of fellowship.  When we got there, the kids were already on the slide and Kate jumped right in.

 I slathered Caleb in sunscreen and David took him over to slide. 

Yes, we brought his puddle jumper; yes, I totally forgot to put it on.  Caleb really didn't want to go but he went anyway.  They finally got moving and Caleb was ok...but then they got a little push from behind and, instead of stopping and the little flat part, they flew into the lake...with Caleb stuck between David's calves!!!!

 Somehow, David got Caleb before they went in and held him up high; the guys grabbed him so David could steady himself. 

Caleb was NOT a happy camper.  We came up to the top of the hill and he happily played in the kiddie pool.

He had lots of fun playmates, too! 

Later, he and Kate found a HUGE dog.

 I decided it was time for ME to go down the slide with Caleb and Kate. 

Needless to say, Caleb was a bit upset about this idea.  I got us going and successfully stopped at the flat portion. 

It was fun but Caleb was ready to go back to the safety of the baby pool. 

Kate did some sliding with the float

...and floating as well. 

By that point, Caleb was pretty shot! 

We left soon after and both kids fell asleep on the way home...and Caleb slept for 2.5 more hours after we got home.