Boosterthon Fun Run

Mallory's school had their biggest fundraiser this past week. They were raising money to put covers over two of their playgrounds. They used the Boosterhon Fun Run as their fundraiser and Mallory had a fun time all week getting to do fun things as they raised money. You pledged a certain amount per lap that the student would run on Friday of the Fun Run.

One day, their class raised a certain percentage, so they got to have Crazy Hair Day. I tried to do something fun with her hair sticking up but all she told me all she wanted was three pigtails so I obliged. I told her she just looked so cute with the two pigtails and then she just had the third one in the middle for fun.

Friday morning was the Fun Run and although it was a sunny day, it was coooooold. But the run went on so I got there early so I could cheer her on.

Her class lined up and got the instructions before it was time to run.

Once they said Go - Mallory and her friends were off!

Most of the time she was holding a friend's hand and running

One of the laps, they told the kids to stop with the parents and take a selfie so we did what we were told!  

My friend Joy and I cheered our girls on as they ran and I really loved getting to hang out with sweet Lydia too - even though I'm not sure she felt the same about hanging with me per the picture below :)

I really enjoyed getting to cheer Mallory on and she ran 28 laps! They all raised a lot of money for the school and for their covers! 

Labor Day Weekend 2016

We had a great long weekend and we were all ready for the extra day off on the weekend! I'm going back again and starting on the Thursday before Labor Day Weekend. Mallory had her first Open House so Brian and I went to meet with her teacher and see some of the things she has already done and learned since school started. She was more than happy to show us her room and all that she does during the day!

I volunteered for my first job as part of the PTA - popcorn anyone?!?

It was great getting to see her room again and her show us some of the things she has done. We had a great talk with her teacher who says she is doing great so it was a great night for all of us. I love getting pictures like this in her folder.

On Friday, I went to eat with Mallory for lunch for the first time. She was so excited when she walked it and saw me waiting for her! I loved getting to see her during the day and look forward to getting to have more lunches with her!

Saturday, we headed to the Cotton Bowl to watch the Yellowjackets play football! You can see they are working to get everything ready for the State Fair that starts in a couple of weeks!

The Estes Family ready to cheer the Yellowjackets on! I forgot to clarify I wanted us and the Cotton Bowl sign in the same picture but hey, I'll take it :)

The game started at 1:30pm and it was pretty warm, even in the shade. Rockwall played Rowlett and it was such a neat opportunity to get to play at The Cotton Bowl where so many great games have been played!

#11 is in!

This girl has got her nacho game down. 

We've been cheering Caleb on but can't wait to cheer Cade on when his football games start too!

It was a tough loss but it ended up being a good game until the end! It did not take long for this one to crash when we got back in the car.

Sunday morning, we went to church and I loved getting to teach on Hope with my Sunday School class. Some of them are going through some hard times and it was great to speak with them on this subject and to not lose their Hope in Christ! 1 Peter 1:3-9. 

After church, we headed to Pop and Mimi's house for lunch. It was great to visit with them and we enjoyed their burgers and banana pudding for dessert - yummy!

The one thing that Mallory looks forward to at Pop and Mimi's is riding in their golf cart. Cade, Caleb and she took many rides around the neighborhood in it and she loved it!

Sunday night, the boys came over and cheered the Longhorns to victory. They also enjoyed their favorite: French Bread Pizzas. Mallory was happy to have them over and be with them all night!

And on Labor Day, we did a whole lotta nothing and it was great. We relaxed, snuggled and enjoyed the rest before everything starts again on Tuesday.

I enjoyed our family time together this weekend so much and am so thankful for it! 

Weekend Wrap-Up

We finished up the first week of Kindergarten on Friday! We made it - and yes, I mean all of us! Mallory got to wear her spirit shirt on Friday so she was excited about that. She also was happy to wear her Haiti bracelet her Papa got her from his mission trip this Summer.

Every day, each student gets a color star in their folder based on how they've behaved that day and Mallory got this kind note from her teacher too! A great way to end the first week!

I'm actually going back to Thursday night for minute because I have to say how happy we were that we got to meet the newest member of The Lofland Family - Elias! It was also requested that I bring this below for Lyndsey - she was in need so I was happy to bring it to her :)

I remember how happy we were when we found out Lyndsey was pregnant so it was so exciting to meet Elias! Mallory and I both thought he was so adorable!

Congrats to our friends!

Back to Friday night, we headed to Highland Park for the first Yellowjacket Football game of  the season! I'll do a separate post on the game but this one was in her pearls and ready to cheer the team on!

Saturday, this is what we pretty much did: Rested and Relaxed.It was very nice and very much needed.

We did head out for some groceries and I took this picture because I was laughing at how she was standing with her hand on her hip just waiting for the garage door to open. :)

We made a cake Saturday night for Brian. Mallory likes to help bake and mostly for this reason: licking the beaters.

All weekend she had been repeating this poem that she's learned in school. I recorded so I could remember her little voice.

Sunday morning, we went to church and I got to meet with the parents of the girls in my youth small group. I can't believe the girls in my class are Juniors this year! I got to talk with the parents about things their daughters are going through and ways we can pray for them this year. I love when we do Parent Sunday and love being able to partner with them.
We went to lunch after church and Mallory found this old phone we had and has been pretending to take pictures and selfies non-stop. Here she is taking a selfie of her and Brian.

Sunday afternoon, Mallory and I worked on her first Kindergarten project together. She had to put pictures, drawings and write things about herself in the folder for when she is the Star Student. Parents were encouraged to help so it was a fun project for both of us to work on together. We both loved how it turned out! 

And that's a wrap!

First Week

We've made it to Friday and so far, the first week has been good! Mallory has made friends but she doesn't remember their names :) but she says she has new friends. She's able to sit by her friend Ava at lunch and they talk about sleepovers and she and Ava get to see their friend Layla at recess and play with her. She's gotten to go to Music, Art and PE and she likes them all. She started the after school program - ROCK - on Tuesday and she really loves it! That makes me feel so much better that she likes going there until we pick her up after work. They get another snack and get to play outside which always makes her happy! She's had a big smile on her face when I've picked her up each so so far, so good!

Kindergarten is exhausting though! She will ask if she can fall asleep when she gets home and she never has done that before so I know it's tiring! She came home on Tuesday and rested on the couch while looking at her book.

Trying to stay awake for dinner

She's always ready for bed when it's time and sleeps hard until it's time to get up. We read a book before bedtime, pray and then she's usually fast asleep right after that.

I will say that she's been a happy girl when she wakes up so that makes the mornings a lot easier. She finds her comfy spot on the couch to eat her breakfast and watch some Disney Junior. It's nice for her to have some rest time in the morning before getting ready to head out.

The first three days, we could walk her to her classroom but after that we can walk them into the cafeteria (where they can wait until it's time for them to go to their room). Mallory wanted me to drop her off so I did yesterday and watched her to make sure she walked in and went to the right place. She did and she knew exactly what to do and where to go. So proud of her! 

Yes, she has her jacket tied around her waist because she asked to wear a jacket to school because she gets cold in class. I told her I understood because I'm always the one that gets cold at work and she knows I always have a jacket in the car or with me because I hate being cold. I feel ya sister! 

 

She usually doesn't say much about the day at first but will start to tell things as the evening goes on. I tried to ask a lot of questions but I've learned that she will tell me as the evening goes on so I try not to pester her with a lot of questions right when I pick her up (which is hard for me to do!). I caught this sweet moment Tuesday night as Brian and Mallory were talking about their day.

Honestly, Mallory has done a lot better this week than I have. The first couple of days, I just counted down the time until I went and got her because I wanted to know everything about her day. I know that she's been in daycare for years before but for some reason, I missed her so much more even though she was so much closer at school than she was at daycare. I wanted to know that she was having a good time, learning, making friends, etc... so most of the tears this week were shed by me but I'm doing better now seeing her smile when I pick her up each day and knowing, she really does like it.

We've all made it to Friday and made it through the first week of Kindergarten! We are looking forward to tonight because it's the first game of the season for Yellowjacket Football!! We can't wait to cheer Caleb on! Go Jackets!

First Day of Kindergarten!

Well, the day we've been talking about coming for a while now (basically since she was born), finally arrived! Mallory has been so excited about it and I honestly have too! I'm excited for her to be closer to us and for us to be able to have lunch during the week (her daycare - which we loved - was in another town so we are getting so much time back now). There are so many things to look forward to but I will say it all hit me like a ton of bricks this past weekend. We've been celebrating and doing so much fun things but when I sat down and was thinking about it all, I let myself let it all sink in that my baby was starting school! So crazy and for a little bit Saturday night, so sad! I let myself have a good cry and thought I was good but at church on Sunday morning, as we were singing "How Deep The Father's Love for Us", the tears came again. I was worshiping and thanking God for His love for us and praying for Mallory to have a great year and be a light for Him. All Sunday, I just held her close and enjoyed the extra snuggles I could get before she started school Monday.

Sunday night, Nana and Papa came over to see Mallory before she started school. Mallory had been performing gymnastics and dance routines for us most of the day Sunday so that is why she is wearing her leotard :)

Nana and Papa brought some sleepy dust to put under her pillow and she loved it! I'm so glad they came over to see her before school started!

Painting her nails was must before the first day!

Auntie let us borrow some books about Kindergarten so we read "The Night before Kindergarten" before bed.

We read, prayed together and then she fell right to sleep. We did put her to bed a lot earlier than usual and she said "I can't go to bed when it's light outside" :) but she was so exhausted that she had no problem going to sleep.

After she went to sleep, I put her lunch together. I included a little note to go in her lunchbox. I know she can't read it so I told her what it said Monday morning but she said she still liked having it in her lunch.

Monday morning - First Day - Mallory was up bright and early ready to go!!

Everybody got ready and we headed outside for the First Day photo shoot. Mallory couldn't wait to put her dress on because she's wanted to wear it since we bought and the day had finally come! I got it at Belk and love it!

My baby's First Day of Kindergarten!

Brian and I each got our picture with the Kindergartener

We headed to school and Mallory put her backpack on to head in

Holding Daddy's hand as they walked in

When we got close to her room, she looked at me and said "I'm scared." but she still walked right in and we found her seat. She found her cubbie to put her backpack and lunchbox in. We went back to her seat and opened the playdoh.

We knew that we couldn't linger with her because that is usually when she will start crying so we knew we would have to drop her off and leave pretty quickly. We got her all situated, got our kisses and I told her I would see her when I picked her up in the afternoon.

One last picture before leaving. Love that big smile!

Knowing that she was happy when we left helped me so much. I left with a smile on my face too and felt so much better leaving her. Brian was really good too but when we got back to the car, I did see a  single tear roll down his cheek. He is a big softy who loves his little girl dearly.

We headed to Chiloso afterwards to drown our sorrows in breakfast tacos! Ha! We met The Ballards and The Loflands there and we were able to be with each other to help us all feel better! So thankful for sweet friends to share these moments with!

The day passed pretty quickly and then I got to take my first turn in the pickup line. This is what I've heard all about and now I was here.

I finally got my girl and we headed to Sonic to get a shake to celebrate us both making it through the day!!

She didn't say much at first and I asked a million and one questions. She said she had a good day and her favorite part was recess. She said she got to see her friend Layla at lunch and recess and that she didn't make any new friends but will tomorrow :) She got to go to the gym but didn't get to go to the library which she was really looking forward to so hopefully she will get to go soon. 

We Face-timed with all of our family so she got tell everybody about her first day. She said she wanted to go back the next day so I call that success!

And on top of all that, we ended the day with the first practice of the Soccer.

It was a long, great day! Thank you to all who called, texted and sent us messages saying you were praying for us! I can't tell you how much we appreciate it and how much it helped! 

Here's to Day 2!