The Big 6th Birthday Party

I cannot believe it, but it is that time of year again, my little guy's 6th birthday party. I have a hard time believing that is has been six years! I think that he and his friends had a blast. We had 43 people at our house, CRAZY right! They didn't know where to start first, the waterslide or the moonwalk. We had a Speedracer theme, picked by the birthday boy, except they don't make a Speedracer moonwalk just yet ;) At the conclusion of the party, Braden told me "that was the best birthday party ever, mom! All my friends were here playing with me and I got the best presents!" He was so adorable, and thankful, which was the best part I think. Josh and I got him a Nintendo DS Lite, which was on the top of the wish list. You should have heard him when he ripped it open :) We are very thankful to all of our friends and family who came out to enjoy the afternoon with us, and for all of their help in getting the party to run smoothly, thanks to all! Here are some pictures from the day to share with all of you.

Can you believe this sight...and that is only a portion of the people actually there!

The kids just ran around like crazy, I am sure they all slept good last night!

I just had to include this one because after I looked at Paula's facial expression, I then looked at Squidwards on the side of the moonwalk, and I thought they looked strikingly similar - ha!

Birthday boy and his Speedracer Cake!

His favorite present - ever!

I just thought this was a cute shot because it showed a portion of his friends gathered around him while opening presents.

Soccer Practice

Today was the first soccer practice Braden had with his new team, they are the Lees Summit Rockets. He LOVED it! He says that this is his game, and that this is SO much better than t-ball! I have to admit, he definitely seemed more in his element, but then again, he has been doing Happy Soccer Feet for two years now, so he knows his way around a soccer field and ball alot better than the way around a baseball field. He had fun, and I, naturally, had my camera to snap shots of this new experience for him :) Here are some pics from this evenings practice:

Braden told us on the way to practice that he was "serious" about this game, and by the looks of this picture, I would say he is absolutely serious about the game :)

They ran a scrimmage game, and here are the little guys going after the ball. Braden definitely uses his size to his advantage with this game, but the coaches don't seem to mind, they liked the aggressiveness.

I just love his facial expression in this picture, he is really concentrating and is planning on really kicking the heck out of that ball!

And it wouldn't be the same without one of these. All the koddos are six years old, Braden is the only one who hasn't officially turned six yet...next Monday...anyway, look at the size of him compared to the other kiddos. We are going to have to show his birth certificate in this league too - ha!

1st Day of Kindergarten

In the house before finally getting to go outside and wait for the bus

Braden and Alex waiting for the bus

Posing for me before getting onto the bus this morning

Hopping off the Bus and arriving at Kindergarten

Standing in front of the doors to his school, this is the smile he wore on his face when I finally left him at school this morning :)

Today was Braden's first day of "official" school. He calls it his REAL school, as opposed to pre-k at Boone. The bus is scheduled to pick up outside our house at 8:38 a.m. Braden was up and dressed and begging me to go outside and wait for the bus at 7:45 this morning! Now this is a kid that I normally have to wake up three times just to get him out of bed by 8:15 a.m. He wouldn't eat breakfast, he was dressed, medicated, teeth brushed, and pacing the living room floor looking outside the window every 45 seconds to make sure no one else was already out there waiting for the bus without him. We finally went outside at about 8:20 a.m., because a couple of other kiddos were out there with their mom's. They were all going absolutely crazy with excitement, several of them are first time kindergarteners. It was so cute to see them all excited for the school bus. Braden and Alex, our neighbor, are good friends and in class together, look at the difference in the size of them! The bus finally arrived and I made him pose in front of the bus doors for a picture before boarding. The bus driver was very nice and understanding, he said "not a problem at all, this is why I like driving the a.m. kindergarten bus, to see the parents on the first day." So once he was loaded and heading down the road. I hopped in the Explorer in an effort to beat the bus to school so I could take pictures of him coming off the bus - yep, you read that right, I went to the school to take more pictures -ha! Josh told me that I was crazy for going to the school and that I was like one of those crazy parents on commercials following the bus to school and waving to their kid the whole time. I just said, "he is six, he doesn't know embarrassed yet!" I got there just in time to see the bus pull up to the circle drop off. The kiddos started piling off, of course Braden was one of the last ones to get off the bus, but I was able to get a shot as he jumps from the bottom step - obviously thinking he is a BIG kid now. He then notices me and poses for a couple more pictures. I held in all the tears until after passing him off to his teacher and getting into the Explorer to head to work. My baby, is still my baby to me, but to everyone else he is now just a school age kiddo!

Westview Elementary

Starting August 19th, Braden will offically be a Westview Wildcat beginning his kindergarten year here in the Lees Summit R-7 school district. He is very excited, for some reason the most exciting part right now is getting to ride the school bus in the morning - ha!!! Braden's teacher is Mrs. Merle, and and he will be attending her a.m. class, yep Lees Summit still does half day kindergarten (but this is the last year for it). There were other things Braden was interested in at the Meet the Teacher event...like cub scouts. He was very intrigued by the badges and the gizmos that they had at their booth in the gymnasium. Once the gentlemen at the booth saw they had his attention, they began selling him on the events of cub scouts. I was looking around at the information, and it said that was a program for 1st - 3rd grade, and then boy scouts picks up at 4th grade. So, I politely interrupt them and tell Braden that he is too young for cub scouts. Each gentleman told me "oh no, he is old enough", I smiled and said "he is going into kindergarten next week." They were both stunned...and I just said, "yeah, I get that alot, he is a big guy for his age." They both just nodded as we walked away to the next booth to see what bus number he would need to catch to and from school. If you are interested in finding out more about Braden's classroom activities for this coming year, here is the link to his teachers page on the school website.

http://wve.leesummit.k12.mo.us/lmerle/

Also, there has been a change in Braden's after school care. He is now riding the bus home and staying at Marten and Suzy's house (our neighbors) in the afternoon. Braden is so excited, because they have three little boys (Angel - 2, Alex - 4, and Adrian - 6) and he plays with them ALL the time and they are great buddies. I am excited as well, because it is going to save me about $270 a month :)

We are looking forward to this school year, I will have pictures to post for his first day of school, lets hope I can keep it all together!