Happy Birthday Anna

Emma's first day of preschool was 3 weeks ago.  She was excited to go the 1st day.  She hasn't been so excited to go since then, but this past Thursday she didn't complain at all about going.  She always has fun at school and always seems to be very happy when I pick her up, but I think she might rather just stay home and play.  She doesn't seem to like transitions, but hopefully she's used to her school routine now and won't make me sad with the pitiful "I'm NOT excited to go to school" on the way there anymore. :)

Earlier that weekend, I took some pictures of them having fun in the backyard.

 Emma is pretty excited that she can climb on top of the playhouse now. 

Anna had been riding her bike around the yard...

That Thursday, September 13th, was Anna's birthday.  I surprised her at lunch.  I thought I read that we weren't allowed to bring in outside food, so no fun fastfood, but she seemed happy to have me there.  (I was wrong - I can bring my own food when I come for lunch!).  Here teacher gave her the hat.  I brought cupcakes for the class, which she was very excited about.  Tony was on a short trip and needed my little camera, so this is the only picture I got - taken with my phone.

I arranged for Emma to go home from preschool with a friend so I could spend the afternoon with just Anna.  We got a smoothie king and then went to this little pottery place.  She picked dolphins and a unicorn.  She loved it! 

Tony stopped by with the camera when he got back in town so I could take a few pictures.

Back at home we had the leftover cupcakes for desert.

 I had gotten her the "6" candle to put on her cake, but she insisted on having six candles, so there's 5 more little ones.

 This pose was Anna's idea.

She wanted a skateboard for her birthday.  Can't you just see her on a snowboard?  I don't know why she's been so interested in skateboarding, but I'm hoping she'll get good at it and will enjoy snowboarding too.  (no plans to go yet, just dreaming...)

 Tony took her outside and taught her how to do it.

 I don't think I could even do that!

I praise God for giving me my little Anna!!!!  She is such a joy, and I'm so proud of her! 

Labor Day Weekend - Visit to Lubbock

We went to Lubbock on Labor Day weekend to see Anton and TTU's 1st home game.  We weren't planning on it, but we were so excited about Anton making the drumline and it was a good weekend to go visit since we all had Monday off.  We got to catch the drumline practicing Saturday morning.  The girls were picking up acorns.  Anna's head is in front of Anton.

 We got them out of the way for a picture. :)

 The band did a preview show in the parking lot where they practice.  Anton's the tallest looking guy on a snare drum.

 They looked and sounded great!

 After the preview the drumline did some cadences.  They sound really awesome!

 The girl right in front of him to his right is Allie - they've know each other since Elementary school.  They were in band together and really good friends in High School.

 Inside the band hall.

We were getting ready for the band to start marching.  The band hall was right across the street from the B&B we stayed at.  I knew it was about a 3/4 mile walk to follow them to the stadium. 

  I had heard it was cooler in Lubbock with no humidity... I was on the drillteam at Georgia Tech one year and we always marched to the stadium with the band - I remembered marching pretty slow and stopping to do a dance along the way... I figured it would be easy to just walk alongside the TTU band as we all headed to the stadium.

 Well I was VERY VERY wrong about the weather and about the marching pace.  They march really fast, just so you know.  Hard to keep up with a 4 year old on your back!  It was really fun and totally worth it, but I was soaked in sweat by the time we got to the stadium.

 Anton is on the left. :)

I really love that their colors are red and black.  GT's biggest rival is UGA, which is red and black, so I kind of feel like a traitor for saying that.  Red is just my favorite color, though, and I don't look good in bumblebee yellow (or KPark green).  It's a goofy thing, but I get excited to wear a read TTU shirt just because I love red!

 The pre-game show... I think Anton is the 2nd snare at the top of the picture.

 In the stands... Anton is in front of the bass drums towards the left somewhere.

 It was dreadfully hot in the stands.  Since "the weather is so nice" in Lubbock, I didn't think it would matter if we got seats on the sunny side... HA!!  After the band got back in the stands, we retreated to under the stands to find some dinner.  The girls convinced us to buy some tattoos.

We had a yummy popcorn appetizer.

Corndog for the main course.  See how sweaty she looks??

 By half-time, the sun was low enough that there was shade on some lower level seats.  We found an empty bench and took it, since our seats were still in the sun.

 Halftime show... they looked and sounded great again.  Turns out the shaded side is also the side that the band performs to.  Next time I will know :).

 Back in the stands after half-time  Anton's head is right in front of the bottom of the 2nd biggest base drum.  Sorry to you football fans who might have been looking forward to an actual football picture...

 We got someone to take our picure. :)  I love my red TTU shirt!

 We snuck down into the student section to see Anton.  We couldn't get close enough to get his attention, but we got a picture.

 The next day we went to church and out to lunch to celebrate Anton's birthday, which was the next Sunday (9/9).

I always love this view!

 Then we went to Walmart to get a few things for Anton's dorm.

This is his new home!

 In his room... :)

 We headed out Sunday afternoon.  We saw a LOT!!!!! of these on the way back.  It was impressive!!

I still can't believe he's in college already!!!  It goes by so fast!