Life Lately - August

 Usually, I say how fast I feel like time flies by but for some reason, I feel like August slowed down. Maybe because it has been hitting 100+ every single day? And I am not exaggerating, we are having a hot, late summer with temps above 100 for weeks. And why is Labor Day late this year? I think mentally it will feel better if we can say we are past Labor Day and ready for fall? Either way, we are full steam ahead since school & activities are in motion. Sophie went to a fun birthday party at the lake with an obstacle course:

We've had a few sleepovers & the girls love baking homemade gf donuts when we have friends over:

Bryan & I volunteer with the children's ministry at our church quite a bit and a friend sent me this picture of Bryan while he was teaching children's church. So fun seeing him in action:

Cross Country has started having weekly dinners before their meet & Sadie said it was fun eating pasta & playing soccer:

Last week their meet was in Wylie, so they had to be at the school at 5:00 am and thankfully she got a little nap on the bus ride because she did awesome:

This week they bumped up from 2 miles to a 5k, which is 3.1 miles I think the extra distance helped her pull ahead of the competition because it was her best race yet. She got 39 out of 229 girls! And she is running varsity so there are a lot of upperclassmen she is competing against, but these 3 freshmen are doing awesome:

Whoever thought to bring a snow cone truck to the meet was genius because they all got cold treats afterwards:

They even had a special visitor stop by to cheer them on - their principal came to watch them run:

They ran on Friday and then she had soccer games Saturday & Sunday. She guest played on Saturday, but her team had a league game on Sunday. They actually started their league last weekend and kicked off the season with a 9-0 win:

They won yesterday 3-0:

I think this might be the most excited we have been about a soccer team before - it's going to be a fun year with this group of ladies:

GMS 7th Grade Lady Gator Volleyball

Sophie has been on the sideline cheering for her sister for 2 years & last night she finally had her turn - middle school volleyball has officially begun! They had try outs the first & second week of school and then found out teams last week. Of course, we had to sneak up to the school to surprise the girls & decorate the locker room:

Have you noticed a theme? We are still loving bows this year:

But my favorite part is the name signs we make for all of their lockers:

Along with decorations, we had drinks for the girls to go with their pre-game dinner:

We were even more excited when we showed up and she was the only one wearing white, which meant she got to play libero:

Can you tell how giddy she was?! These girls played amazing for their first time together and won in 2 sets. In fact, all 3 7th grade teams won last night in 2 games. I am so excited for the beginning of her lady gator journey in the next couple of years:

Chomp Chomp Gators!

GMS 7th Grade Cheer Pics

I know the girls took a lot of pictures at cheer camp this summer, but right before school started, they had their official photo shoot at the Star. All of the pictures turned out so great so I couldn't help but share them all as we get ready to kick off football season:

Lots of individual pictures! After we took some in this area, we headed to the turf:

Of course we had to take team pictures also:

These girls have been working hard & are ready to cheer for football season. Let's Go Gators!

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: