One of the "prizes" for being a top fundraiser for the Stallion Stampede was to be able to throw a "pie" in the principal's and assistant principal's face. The pep rally/awards ceremony was on October 26th, and parents were invited to attend. Well imagine my surprise when I got an email the day before to let me know that LUKE was one of the kids who got to throw a pie! The email asked not to say anything to him because it was going to be a surprise, but they wanted the parents to be informed so they could be there. Nate happened to have the day off that day, so we all went to watch Luke. We weren't exactly sure how he would respond!

Mrs. King and Mrs. Boiles showing off how much money all the kids raised.


When Luke was called up on the stage, we got a huge kick out of how stoic he was acting. You could visibly see him trying so hard not to smile. We thought it was hilarious!



Finally starting to show some personality once he realized it was okay!






Luke's turn!







After...

The Stallion Stampede was a fundraiser at Luke's school. The kids all ran laps around the parking lot behind the school and asked people to donate money by sponsoring them. The thing I liked about it was the money went straight to the school, and we don't have any random items junking up our house. Plus it was a tax write off, even better.

Caleb and I went up to watch Luke run. It is such a trip to see him in his school element, interacting with all the other kids, listening and following directions, etc. He is SUCH a rule follower and it cracks me up! But all the teachers just love him, and so do the kids as far as I can see. That makes me happy. :)
Waiting with his class inside the gym, listening to instructions from Coach Cain.


Caleb the spectator.


Mrs. Butler's class, ready to run.


There they go!



All done! He did 13 laps and only face planted once!

Today Luke got the game ball at his baseball game!

He played pitcher and catcher and he did SO good. He caught a lot of balls as the catcher and made good throws back to the pitcher. As pitcher he fielded all the balls that were near him and made good throws to 1st base. Unfortunately the runners always beat his throws, but that is okay! At least he did what he was supposed to do. And then batting he hit off the pitcher twice and the tee once. It was a GREAT game for Luke, and we were SO proud of him.

He got to lead the cheer after the game. He chose to have everyone yell, "Redbirds!"


He was so excited!

This was not how I expected the postseason to go this year. What a disappointment. I still can't really believe that they lost the AL West in the final week of the season, and then lost the Wild Card game. ::roll eyes:: At least it doesn't hurt as bad as losing the World Series after being one strike and one out away from winning it all...and it doesn't look like I will ever get over it. {sigh}

At least we got a date night out of the deal...

We said goodbye to our Toyota 4Runner today. After a little over five years, it was time to move on to {bigger} and {better} things. The 4Runner was a great car for us with one kid, but after having the second one we started feeling claustrophobic. I hated the fact that we couldn't ever take another kid with us anywhere. Three carseats/boosters would barely fit back there, and if it did then it was very hard to get everyone buckled in. In August we started kind of looking around at used Tahoes/Yukons, no pressure or rush, just seeing what was out there and in our price range. Luke starting school was the real kicker for me - I wanted to be able to carpool with our neighbors, or take kids to baseball practice as he gets older. So we started looking. It wasn't going well, in fact, after a couple weeks we both agreed to just stop looking and be content with what we have. We didn't need a bigger car right then, so we decided to just be patient and wait. Back when we first started looking, Nate contacted the guy they use at Classic GMC in Arlington for all their work trucks and told him exactly what we were looking for {we had very picky standards}. A little over a week after we decided to stop looking, Bill called Nate and told him he had a Tahoe we needed to come see.

We decided it wouldn't hurt to just go take a look. It was a white 2011 with the LT2 luxury package. Basically exactly what we wanted. Bucket seats in the middle. Black leather interior. Seat warmers in the front and back seats. Third row. Backup camera. Rear back up sensors. Bluetooth. Sun roof. I could go on. But the biggest, best thing about this car - it had 6,300 miles on it. That's less than the 4Runner had when we bought it new {it had been a demo car}. Six days after the initial phone call, we drove it off the lot.

It has been a dream. I love it. No regrets at all! The kids love it, too. Luke surprised us all by crying over the 4Runner and begging us not to sell it. Funny thing is I remember acting that way as a kid, too. His tune changed completely once we started driving it home!

Caleb loves to sit at the table like a big boy.

Luke and Caleb love to play together. It is so fun to watch them have fun with each other...at least until one of them {usually the little one} ends up in tears.

Caleb copying Luke, who goes out in the backyard and practices his throws and catches by bouncing the ball off the rock climbing wall.


Hanging out on the four wheeler before Luke's baseball game.

Caleb

So much personality in this little boy! These were all taken within two hours of each other.