NCL Kickoff Meeting & Philanthropy Fair

Last night we had our NCL kickoff meeting & philanthropy fair to start the new year & this year it was extra special since all 3 of us got to go! Somehow, they talked me to into being on the board for a 2nd year so I am the treasurer again. It looked so good when we got there last night with this year's theme & decor:

Sadie has soccer on Monday nights, so she only got to come for the first hour then she had to sneak out but not before I made her take a picture:

This was Sophie's first official meeting with all of the patronesses & ticktockers together:

They called up each girl from the class of 2032 with their mom & we got yellow roses. She has a huge class:

They also gave awards for last year & Sadie won for completing 30+ hours of community service last year, but of course she wasn't there to receive it:

This is such a great organization to be a part of & I look forward to serving together with the girls throughout both of their middle & high school careers:

Wakeland Wolverine XC

Sadie played all of the sports in middle school, but it's harder to do that in high school so she has decided to specialize & concentrate on soccer. No surprises there - I think that's what we have been working towards. However, school soccer is more of a winter sport, so she has decided to run cross country just to condition for soccer. There are several soccer players who do this. They run all summer at 6:45 every morning so Sadie spent most of the summer training with them, when she was in town:

The last Saturday before school started, they had a breakfast bash at Little Elm beach. They ran, had breakfast & then played some sand volleyball:

Those are a few of the freshman girls & here are all of the girls from all grades:

It's been great so far & she enjoys the camaraderie of meeting other students before school started:

When school started, they bumped the practice time up to 6:30 & they finally had their first meet last Friday. She was excited to miss school already but not excited about being dropped off at the school at 5:45 in the morning. Ha! 

They have 3 teams for boys & girls - Varsity Elite, Varsity Open & JV and we were surprised when we found out Sadie made Varsity Open! Huge accomplishment for putting in the work this summer. Here are the girls in her group ready to race:

And here is a group picture of most of the XC girls:

They had 6 different start times and hers was in the middle. There were 140 racers in just her group & over 40 schools at the meet. I was not expecting it to be so large!

It was hot & I think she was nervous for her first race, especially since she was running with older girls, but she did great! Bryan & I had fun trying to follow her on the course, but she was hard to keep up with at the end because she sprinted towards the finish line:

There were a few freshman who ran with her on Varsity & I was so proud of them all:

It was a fun morning & I am excited for the upcoming meets & to see how her time improves along the way. 

First Day of 7th & 9th Grade

I'm not sure how summer flew by so fast, probably because we were gone for most of it, but the girls officially started back to school this week. First up, Sadie - she is a freshman & officially started at Wakeland High School. What?! She had an early morning because she had cross country practice from 6:30 - 7:30 and then she came home to get ready:

She looked beautiful & I cannot wait to see what she does with her high school career. We have been praying for this day for quite some time & we are excited for the adventure ahead. She is officially class of 2030:

While Sadie was at home getting ready, we took Sophie for her first day of 7th grade:

We met early at the park for donuts & pictures with her friends:

Of course we had to take a mom pic:

When we finished at the park, we walked over to the Gator fence, where we always take first day pictures:

Then the girls couldn't grab their stuff fast enough because they were so excited to go inside:

After school we all met up at Braum's for ice cream:

It was a great day for both of the girls & I cannot wait to see what the year brings for us all! Cheers to 7th & 9th grade!

Back to School Prep

 Last week was our first official week back at home and I thought it would be a fun last week of summer, instead we were busy getting ready for back to school. First up - our middle school has Gator Camp for all of the new students & guess who got to cheer at the pep rally to welcome the new students?!

Besides camp, this was their first official time to cheer together:

Sadie had her own camp since she is a freshman & starting high school - Kit Kamp!

They took yearbook pictures, got their Chromebooks, walked their schedule & saw all of their friends:

We had a lot of doctors appointments & ortho appointments. Sophie actually saw Sadie's ortho & he recommended we have her last baby tooth pulled:

As soon as her permanent tooth comes in, she will be ready for braces!

We got the girls' nails done for back to school:

And Sadie has asked for years to get her hair highlighted. I have been tentative because her hair is already blonde & once you start, you can't stop. And it gets expensive! But her hair is still blonde on top but darker underneath, so we finally let her get it done since she is starting high school:

Of course, Sophie got a haircut too. She would love highlights also but I told her she has to wait her turn until she is in high school:

Sophie took their official cheer pictures for school:

We haven't gotten the official pictures yet - these are behind the scenes from my point of view!

Since we are finished traveling, she started working with her cheer coach again:

She has also been practicing volleyball because they have try outs this week. They got to go up to the school the day before to get their athletic gear & lockers so she was excited to get it all set up:

This girl cannot wait to be a lady gator & we can't wait to see what all she does this year at Griffin!