Are you ready for some football?

The end of summer also marks the beginning of our other favorite season around here -- FOOTBALL! NC State opened the season at home on Saturday against Liberty, so after Molly's party we headed out to Carter Finley for a little tailgating before the 6 o'clock kick-off.

These kids do love them some Don and Jen!  

Kate and Jackson had a couple of other little ones to play with since two of our friends from college also brought their kiddos. 

Me and my girl..

With a late day kick-off, we knew Jackson and especially Kate wouldn't make it through the entire game.  They actually did pretty good though!  Jackson was super excited to see Mr. Wuf and Kate loved all the clapping!  Jackson is working hard on perfecting the Wolfpack hand gesture -- he's got the right idea, just needs a little more practice.  

Look at those two little cuties -- cheering on the Wolfpack!

We decided to head out just before halftime in an attempt to get home before meltdowns erupted. They both had a great time and loved every minute of it!  

One more thing...  Isn't Kate too stinkin' cute?  Guess what?  I made her dress -- all by myself!  It's a pillowcase dress that I've wanted to try forever.  After getting a little confidence boost from a friend on Friday, I decided to grab a yard or so of fabric, some ribbon and rick rack, and try out my sewing skills.    There are tons of tutorials for this type dress all over the web, but I used this one from A Room Somewhere.  I think for my first attempt at a 'wearable' I did pretty good!  We got lots of comments on her dress (and her shoes) all throughout the game, so that made me feel even better about it!  

Molly turns 1!

This weekend, we celebrated Molly's 1st birthday -- the sweet little love of our good friends, Jason and Tricia.  Here are a few of my favorites from her big day...

This was the look she gave Sean after he said he was going to take some of her cake!  I'd say she meant business!

Adventures of the first day!

Today was a pretty exciting day around here!  It was Jackson's first day of preschool in the 4's class and Kate's first day ever at preschool in the 2's class.  Aside from excited, I was pretty anxious, too.  First of all, this was Jackson's last 'first day' before kindergarten.  Scary!!  But mostly, I was anxious b/c of sweet, little, strong-willed Kate.  Just two weeks ago, we went to church and had to be called back to the nursery b/c she wouldn't calm down.  So I expected that today would be tough for her.  (Maybe that's the problem -- I expected it. hmmmm)  So how did it go?  I'll get there.  First, here are my little loves before we left for school...

So sweet and getting so big!  Wow!

Jackson's teacher gave him some homework at orientation.  It was a blank paper doll and we had to decorate it 'all about Jackson'.  

To decorate his doll, Jackson painted on some jeans and we used some scrap material to give him a camo shirt.  He put a few stickers on his doll, showing he likes Spiderman, NC State football, the beach, the farm, and his dog, Maggie.  Oh yeah, and his mouth and nose were candy!

I made these sweet little 'apples', after seeing the idea on Pinterest, for the kids to give their teachers.  

Jackson was one of the first to his class, so we were able to see him tell Mrs. Dana all about his doll.  He was very proud, which made me even prouder.  :-)

Finally, after nearly two minutes, Jackson's best bud Landon arrived.  Just kidding, Jackson did fine before Landon got there, but on Friday at orientation, he walked in the class, look around for Landon and as his eyes filled with tears said, "Where's Landon?" And as if timed perfectly, I looked towards the door and said, "Right there!"  Whew...crisis diverted!  These two were 'best fwiends' last year and I'm so glad they are in class together again.  They seem to get along great and have the best time together!  

Jackson and Mrs. Dana on the first day!

So, Kate...  She was quite a bit more apprehensive about her first day.  At orientation on Friday, she cried as soon as we walked through the door.  However, after going to Jackson's class and playing there for a few minutes, we went back to her class and she did okay.  And today, when we walked in she was fine.  Not so much when it was time to go though.  She got pretty upset and we just had to do a quick good-bye and slip out.  We stayed outside in the foyer for a few minutes, listening to her scream, when one of the other parents walked out.  I asked if Kate was still upset and she told me that Ms. Faye (the director) had taken Kate out and was walking her through the halls.  We left and prayed that she'd settle and have fun.  Around 11, my phone rang and it was Ms. Faye.  She said Kate was having a hard time adjusting and suggested I come a few minutes early to sit with her in the classroom -- to end the day on a positive note.  When I got there and peeked in, she was sitting on one of the helper's lap, in circle time singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  As soon as she saw me though, she lost it again.  So I went in and sat with her for a few minutes and joined in on circle time.  She let us stay for a few more minutes, but it was clear she wanted to go 'home'.  

Ms. Edie, the wonderful 2's teacher, called tonight to see how I was feeling and talk more about the day.  She said that Kate actually did better than I originally thought and she felt sure that this would pass pretty quickly.  We came up with a plan for the next couple of days, so we'll just have to wait and see.  Say a little prayer that she'll adjust and have fun soon -- because I know as soon as she does, she will LOVE preschool!

We snapped these pictures this morning before the tears...

Clearly this is a look of uncertainty..

But having fun is on the horizon!