starting preschool, take 2

Officially, the first day of preschool for Hannah and Ethan was last Wednesday. But, I didn't take pictures because it was pouring rain and Hannah was crying and I was running late. So...better late than never.

Both Hannah and Ethan attend preschool at our church. I love it there! It is a really loving environment and I felt like Avery came out very well prepared for kindegarten. Plus, I like the fact that the building is familiar as are many of the kids since we also see them in Sunday School. This year (her last), Hannah is going to school Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Ethan is going only on Wednesdays. Both of them go from 9 am to 2 pm, thus giving me 5 hours of freedom one day a week.

Hannah loves school but complains about going every time. She says that she'd rather stay home with me :-) After school, when I ask her what her favorite part of the day was, she says "All of it!"

I really wasn't sure how Ethan would react to being dropped off at school. Sometimes he cries when we leave him in the nursery room for church. But, from the beginning, he just went right in and made a beeline for the toy trucks. I am so proud of him for not crying! Just the thought of my baby boy learning to walk in a line, eat from his lunchbox and sing songs, totally makes me smile! He is going to have such a great year!

soccer star?

Saturday marked the season opener for our local recreational soccer league. Starting at 8 am Saturday morning literally half the town trudged out to the soccer fields with their collapsible chairs, water bottles and cameras in tow. Parents, grandparents and siblings all came to see their very own soccer stars in action. We were no different.

This year, Hannah is our soccer star playing in the Girls Under 5 bracket for a team called the Gators (so creatively named for the color of their jerseys). She is on a team with 7 other little girls her age, one of whom happens to be her good friend Paige whose parents Jeff and I know from our days at Baylor.


Hannah has been telling us that she wanted to play soccer for months now and so naturally, when the big day came, she was super-excited. And, we were excited for her. So excited, in fact, that we didn't realize her first game had a 12 pm start time. Our excitement dwindled significantly as we trudged the half mile from the parking lot to the field in 95 degree temperatures with 100% humidity (no, I am not exaggerating).


Nonetheless, Jeff and I just knew that Hannah was going to have a great game. After a bit of warm up time, the girls took the field. Hannah was chosen to make the first kick off. She did great! She kicked, she ran, she kicked again. Soccer at its finest!



Then, about a minute and a half into the game, the other team took control of the ball and somehow Hannah got hit in the leg with the ball. At this point, the heat, the frustration and the pain all got the better of our little soccer star.



Poor Hannah had to learn the hard lesson that the other team will, in fact, try and take the ball away from you. She was so angry and upset that she didn't stop crying until we left for home and her thumb never left her mouth, even when she did go back onto the field. Fingers crossed for a better game next week!