All good things must come to an end...

I made the big parenting error this semester of signing Brooklyn up for SOCCER and T-BALL!

She was excited about both, but the games for both are played on Saturdays and the games often overlapped.  Regardless, she made HUGE strides in both sports!

 This was Brooklyn's second soccer season and she has really gotten the hang of it!  She can get out in front of the ball, turn it around and get it going in the right direction.  This is a FAR CRY from last season when we called it a great day if she just went on the field without crying and ran (regardless of whether or not she was anywhere near the ball).  

In fact, this season, she even scored her VERY FIRST soccer goal and above was the picture taken just after she did it.  You can't see my face, but I think I might be smiling even bigger than she is!!  Very proud moment in light of where she started with this sport.

 This was her first season EVER playing t-ball.  She had hit a big plastic baseball of our big plastic tee, but that was about the extent of what she knew about this sport.  She had no knowledge of running the bases, different positions on the field, fielding a ground ball etc.   

 She is left-handed, but based on our backyard observations, it look like she might be a right-handed batter, so that is how she started off the year on offense.  And on defense, she started off mostly just playing in the dirt with no knowledge or care about where the ball was on the field.  The coaches just tried to put her in a spot where she wouldn't get hit by the batter's ball that she was paying no attention to.  Throughout the season, though, they taught her how to get in a ready position and how to watch the batter and ball.  Eventually she started running after the ball whereEVER it was on the field and held it in the air like a prize if she ever managed to get her hands on it, but still wasn't remembering to throw it to first.  And this is why I was SHOCKED during the last game to see what position the coaches started her at.

 I was looking all over the filed for B and DIDN'T see her and was really confused.  I asked Eddie where she was and he pointed to the pitcher's mound!!!!  I didn't even look there because that is where the older and better kids usually start because, at this age, that is where 95% of the action is.  Suddenly, I was so nervous!!

 But she did SO AWESOME!!  She stood like this for every batter...with her glove on the ground, ready to field the ball and eyes trained on the batter.  She stopped EVERY single ball, shuffling left or right and did AMAZING!  She was good about picking it up and throwing it, too...not necessarily to the right base and she didn't get any outs, but again...compared to game 1, she was a super-star!  We also switched her to batting left-handed during the season and she really hits the ball solid.  Plus, halfway thru the season, she also started remembering to run to first!  It's the little things...

 After the game, she got a trophy and a medal and can you see how proud she is of herself?  After she decided she didn't like gymnastics or tennis, we are starting to find some things that she is loving and it is so fun!

School is also over and we are so sad because we are going to miss their awesome teachers and sweet friends!

Before we went to school this last day, I wanted to get a quick pic of each girl.  This is what Chandler gave me:

 I promise...all I was telling her to do was to smile...

And finally

 

Chan is such a poser!

 B was very cooperative and her photo session was much quicker!  =)

On Brooklyn's last day, they passed out awards...

 Brooklyn got the "Skittles" award for showing a rainbow of kindness to others!

This is her last school pic before she is officially a "kindergartener"!  Tear.

Once again, I asked the girls to take one last picture together and to smile...no surprise that this is what I got:

Man, we've had a great year and been blessed with the BEST teachers that have just LOVED ON and POURED into my girls!  Chandlers teachers sent home a SCRAPBOOK with all kinds of pictures of Chandler that were taken throughout the year with cute pages and stickers!  I can't imagine the hours alone that it took to just do Chan's book...much less every student!  Such a treasure!  And B's teachers made DVDs of pictures throughout the year and sent home prints of all the ones that B was in.  I'm telling you, all of their teachers just really went above and beyond.

So Blessed!  But now it's time for some summer-time fun!!

(supposedly...but with 3 tiny kids + 100 degree heat...not real sure...but here we go!)