BROOKE'S 7th B-DAY (part 4 of 4)

It just so happened that the weekend of Brooke's birthday was they same weekend that the movie Secretariat came out. Brooke saw the commercials for weeks beforehand and was dead set on seeing it for her birthday.

4th part of birthdaying: Movie time

I managed to put her off for a couple of days but that was it. The movie was a little slow at times but pretty good. I was shocked at how many people were there to see it on a Sunday afternoon. I thought Brooke was a little bored during it but since she shushed me several times and trotted like a horse the whole walk back to the car, I'm pretty sure she enjoyed it.

I think she secretly enjoyed our mommy and daughter time together, too.

She had a surprise waiting for her when we got home from the movies. We had such a busy Saturday that we completely forgot to check the mail. Brooke had even more presents waiting after school on Monday. I absolutely LOVE these boots! I want some just like them!

Oh my word...These dorky Zhu Zhu pets. We used to live with woods right behind us and all kinds of woodland creatures so, these squeaky, furry rat toys on wheels do NOT appeal to me. They actually kind of freak me out a little bit. But those darn commercials make them look so cute to kids. Grrrrr!!!

Thanks to those that sent her birthday presents in the mail. She loved it all!

BROOKE'S 7th B-DAY (part 3 of 4)

3rd part of birthdaying:

The evening of Brooke's actual birthday was spent with our friends celebrating two of their boys' birthdays. Devin and Dain are 12 months and 1 day apart. Can you say Yikes?!?!

Their mom, Sara, knew it was Brooke's birthday and suggested we bring her a cake and kind of make it for all of them. I really thought it was so sweet that she wanted to include my little girl. She and Mac have all boys and have really taken to Brooke. Can't say I blame them. :)
They had a trailer set up full of hay to take everyone out on a hayride through the woods. They live on some land in the boonies so, it's basically all country back woods. It was so much fun listening to the boys act like they were tough stuff. Cole was a little scared and sat on the floor of the trailer but, Brooke loved it. She sat next to her daddy and held on tight. During the hayride Nathan asked her if she was having fun and, she told him that it was the BEST birthday ever. Awwww!!!

We all had so much fun sitting around the bonfire and watching the kids play flashlight tag. After a stern warning from Nathan that they'd better not leave out Brooke, a couple of the boys really took that to heart...And held Brooke's hand as they were running all around the property. Ummm slow down now there boys. I know she's cute but, you're like 9 and 10 years old. It was so adorable to see the smile on Brooke's face the whole time though. What a great night that led into the wee hours of the morning.Look beyond Cole's giant mouth and crazy eyes and notice Brooke's face. Love it! She had that look the majority of the night while hanging with the boys.

BROOKE'S 7th B-DAY (part 2 of 4)

Brooke's actual birthday morning started off bright and early. She was so tired but Cole's three games were right off the bat. She was annoyed with that but, we didn't really have a choice.

2nd part of birthdaying: Officially 7 yrs old

We let her pick a couple of presents to open before we took off for the fields because that's all we had time for.She was at least happy running around the trees free as a bird at the baseball game.Finally back home and tearing into her presents that she couldn't stop thinking, talking, and asking about during the three games. She actually was really very patient for hours knowing what was waiting for her back home.

The sweet girl wanted a few more silly bands and now somehow has about 100 of them. Holy moly...And she doesn't give them away even though kids give them to her at school. It's so cute to see how many kids wave and say hi to her when I go eat lunch with her.Seven sounds sooo incredibly big. Our baby girl is growing up. Now if she'd only grow in that other front tooth that came out over 6 months ago and hit her lagging growth spurt, she'd really look big.

We love you Brooke Celeste!

BROOKE'S 7th B-DAY (part 1 of 4)

Since Brooke's birthday fell on a Saturday and Cole had 2 baseball games and a football game that day, we decided to birthday her a little bit here and there for 3 days in a row. The kids were out of school for Fall Break the whole week of her birthday so, I'd say she had it pretty easy to start off with.

1st part of birthdaying: Chuck E Cheese

Somehow she whooped up on Cole at air hockey and loved every min of it.

She cleaned out some tickets, too...Musta been her lucky day.

Even though our Chuck E. Cheese is 1/4 of the size of the nice Texas ones and pretty much on the lame side, it's a lot quieter and you don't have to stay there near as long. I'll take that.Dude, who's kid is that behind the giant mouse???

1ST FEW MONTHS OF SCHOOL

First day of school...on August 2nd. That's right, I said August 2nd, people. Absolutely ridiculous.Brooke didn't want to wear a bow. I was so sad but I gave in and let her sport this headband. All the teachers were asking me if she stopped wearing bows when I picked her up. They all know who she is from her cute hair bows. Her hair was so messy at the end of the day. Grrrr!

Brooke was saying, "FIRST GRADE" in this picture. She was slightly excited.The first report card of the year...

The kids did awesome. Cole is so smart and things come fairly easy to him so, we have come to expect that he'll get good grades every time no matter what.Brooke is more of a wild card though. We really didn't know what she would do because she is so difficult to do homework with. Nathan and I quickly both get frustrated with her sensitivity and throwing a fit when we correct her work.
We were shocked and yet so proud that Brooke has already been chosen for student of the month this year. She was picked for October. Her teacher, Mrs. Isip, is so fun and sweet and, Brooke has really taken to her. Thank goodness.Cole was so ticked that she got it before he did. He got over it once he was chosen as student of the month for November. He loved his tough football picture on there. Which reminds me that I still need to mail out all of their school pictures...Oops!We have been sooooo busy with Nathan coaching Cole's football and fall baseball teams these last couple of months. Oh my goodness...Practice nonstop and 3 games a weekend. Seriously not cool.

It was pretty rough on Nathan. He almost passed out a few times because of the huge energy strain combined with the heat, medication adjustments, and not having time to eat enough in between games. We would literally run from one field the next. It was nuts.I'm sure you can imagine how Brooke was beyond fed up with the back and forth of all of it. She was yelling at me to stop taking pictures here. Geez...attitude much???That's why I got so behind on the blog but, I'm trying to catch up. I promise I am.