Independence Day 2014

This year we spent Independence Day the same way that we usually do, with family, food & fireworks!

We went to Nick's brother's house & swam during the day.

And then in the evening, we went to my brother in law's office in downtown Beaumont where we

ate hamburgers

and hot dogs

and cupcakes!

And the kids played with sparklers

And we watched Beaumont's annual fireworks show

with family!

Happy Birthday Addy Girl

On June 15th, Addy turned 8 years old!

She started the day with some celebratory pancakes!

And then a trip to Build A Bear to make Rarity, one of the unicorns from My Little Pony.

And then we had a cookie cake 

presents

and a game of musical chairs!

And here are a few of Addy's favorite things at 8 years old...

Dynamos Soccer Camp

Since Alex loved his Soccer Shots class at school, I decided to try to keep his love of soccer alive by signing him up for a Houston Dynamos soccer camp. The camp was held June 16th thru 19th at Camp Sienna, which is here in our neighborhood & the same place that Addy played baseball.

Alex had a rough start to camp. As you probably already know, he doesn't like to try new things. He was pumped up & excited to go to camp & so I thought that maybe school had helped him grow out that. But no... As soon as we got to the fields & he saw the other kids, he decided that he didn't want to play soccer after all & he wanted to go home instead.

On top of that, all the kids were given Dynamo jerseys on the first day of the camp. I had requested a small for Alex during registration, but they ran small & so that small I had ordered was too tight on him. They said they could get him a medium, but they wouldn't have it until the next day. So on that first day, he didn't have a Dynamos jersey like the other kids.

It took a lot of coaxing (and bribing) on my part, but he did finally join the rest of the kids out on the field.

Camp was 90 minutes long & throughout that 90 minutes, Alex kept sitting off to the side, cried a couple of times & just seemed to be super moody. What I didn't know though was that he wasn't just being moody, he was getting too hot! At the very end of that first day, he threw up on the field because he was overheated. All in all, he just had a really bad first day.

His second day was much better though. He got his jersey & a cool new Gatorade sports bottle filled with grape Gatorade. And he knew what to do & so he was much happier & had a great day!

And by the last day, he was sad that it was over.

Here are a few pictures of my little soccer star.

At the end of the last day of camp, all the kids had a Q&A with one of the coaches, Megan Kinneman, who is from Sienna & played goalkeeper for LSU. And Alex got her autograph on his soccer ball!

Alex ended up really enjoying the camp & said that he wanted to play soccer in the fall. But when I started writing this post today & asked him if he still wants to play soccer, he said only if the games are at our house & no one is watching him. Hmm... sounds like he might have changed his mind!

Our Girl Scout Bridging Ceremony

Thursday, June 5th was Addy's Girl Scout bridging ceremony.

Bridging is where the girls progress from one level of Girl Scouts to another. In Addy & her troop's case, they went from being Daisies to being Brownies.

We began the event with a traditional Girl Scout flag ceremony.
Addy was part of the flag guard & carried the US flag.

After the flag ceremony, I shared with everyone what our girls have done as Girl Scouts over the past 2 years.

And then it was time for the actual bridging! 

One at a time, the girls crossed over the Yellow Rose Community Girl Scout bridge & became a Brownie scout!

Here is Addy as she is crossing the bridge.

After all the girls had crossed the bridge, they came together as a troop & sang a couple of songs & a few of the girls recited a poem.

And then it was time to eat cake!

I'm so proud of Addy & her sister scouts for their hard work & dedication to being wonderful Girl Scouts! They accomplished so much in just 2 short years. I can't wait to see what they will do as Brownies!

Pre K Graduation

Alex graduated from Pre K on Thursday, May 29th. It was absolutely the cutest ceremony ever!

The program opened with the kids from all 4 classes singing 'In the Beginning,' a really sweet song about the story of creation.

After that, the 2 year old & the 3 year old classes both sang a couple of songs.

And then it was time for the Mustangs performance!

They started with Mi Familia.

And then recited a poem called 'Kindergarten, Here We Come!"

A-Man held the E & did a super job!

After Alex's class finished their part, the bridge class sang a few songs.

And then it was time to graduate from PreK!

Alex had such a great year in PreK. 

He had 2 terrific teachers that he is going to miss so much next year.

Ms. Linda

and Ms. Sandy

And he made lots of sweet friends!

Way to go sweet boy! Mommy & Daddy are so proud of you!

K-I-N-D-E-R-G-A-R-T-E-N here you come!

Addy's 1st Grade Awards & Talent Show

Addy had her first grade awards on May 29th, which was one week before school got out for the summer.

During the awards ceremony, Addy got 3 awards. They were...

Friendliest Girl
which was voted on by her class!
Do you all understand the awesomeness of this???
My sweet girl with ASD with 'delays in social skills' was voted the friendliest girl in her class by her classmates!
AMAZING!

The Young Artist Award

which was given to her by her art teacher.

And a Spelling Achievement Award

given to her by her teacher Mrs. Lowe for not only knowing all her weekly spelling words all year long (without ever studying) but she also added extra words to the test each week so that there would be 19 words on the test. (She did this because she was number 19 in class & it only makes sense that there is the same number of spelling words as your class number, right!)

And after she got her awards, she had to tell a quick joke while she had everyone's attention. Silly girl!

Here she is at the end of the awards with

 her teacher

some of her friends

and her class!

One week later, on June 5th, Addy's class had a talent show.

Addy was the opening act, The Comedy Kid.

Boy, did she do awesome!

All this from a girl who was hardly speaking just 3 short years ago!

And now she's a regular little comedian.

I sure am one proud momma!