Soccer Star!

Adalyn has had 3 weeks of soccer and she's still loving it! I am honestly shocked! Ha! DJ has always wanted one of the girls to really play a sport, and Adalyn just might be our girl!

She has just a few weeks of gymnastics left, and then we're going to let her make some choices as to what she wants to do next year. Right now she says either dance or cheerleading, but I'm thinking that just maybe, she'll keep playing soccer too!

Here are some recent pictures of her games. (which, they've won!)

 

A Homeschool Update

I don't remember when I've done a homeschool update, so I figured I would share one today! 

I get asked a lot if homeschool is going well, and I always answer with a resounding yes! I absolutely love homeschooling and being with the girls. I really never thought it was something that I would enjoy, because I was always stressed, but I found out that once we removed public school, and the running out of the house in the mornings and the rushing around after school and trying to get homework done, the stress of doing it all went away. We get the school work done, and then we're done, so there's no before or after school stress. 

With all that being said, the girls are going back to public school next year. I need to get back to working more, because things are just tight, and we are hoping that the school year will look much more back to normal than it did this year. One big reason we pulled them was because if they were exposed to COVID and had to quarantine, then it would be impossible to do that with our jobs. We can't really take off for 2 weeks, and we don't have anyone that could help and be home with them. The virtual school model was also stressful for two working parents, and we didn't want them off and on the computer all day. 

We also wanted to have some freedom to do a bit more traveling and camping, but knew that we wouldn't be able to do that in the Fall (thanks to football) and while we did go camping to west Texas, and to Arkansas, we ended up not having another one planned until Memorial day, and then we have a big trip planned this Summer- so while we thought we would do some little trips, they've all turned in to big trips. 

Anyway, here's a look at how our day to day homeschool life is going. 

When the weather is warm, you'll find us outside on the trampoline. Adalyn is working her way through her math and doing great. We've mastered 2-3 digit addition, regrouping, subtraction, subtraction with borrowing, and we're beginning to work on simple multiplication and division. She loves math, and says it's her favorite subject she absolutely hates borrowing when she does subtraction. In fact, she often cries or whines she has to borrow. 

DJ's aunt Gina came to town and we spent the morning learning new games like Rummikub. She taught them so well that they enjoy playing it on their own. 

Megan has art once a week, and Adalyn will often join in. One week, they made a Medusa craft, and then we found videos on YouTube to teach them a bit more about Medusa. 

Over Easter weekend, we did Peep science experiments. You can read about that here. 

Not every morning goes as planned, especially if we sleep late or I have to shower to get ready for the day. Those mornings, you'll find one kid in the bathroom with me taking a spelling test, or working on math or reading. 

Each week, the girls have spelling. Megan is doing great with her word lists and almost always makes 100% She's also working on long division, fractions, decimals, and doing a little review on all of the math concepts she's learned so far. Fractions are not a favorite at all. 

The last few Fridays we've dubbed "Fun Friday". Twice I've taken the girls to the park, and once they found a ton of caterpillars! They asked to bring them home, but I think we'll grab this kit and hatch our own butterflies. 

Adalyn's reading progress has grown so much this year! She doesn't love reading like her big sisters do, so one goal we really had was to get her reading more! She will finish with her 4th unit of The Good and the Beautiful Level 1 this week or next, and then we just have one more unit to finish up! We're starting to work through it a little quicker, and working on 1 1/2 days each time we work on it. 

We also figured out that if she can call one of her grandparents and read to them, that she's more excited about reading! It has been the best trick we've had, and it's one we're going to continue! Also, it's kind of relieved me of some time- while she's reading I can help Megan or do some house work. It's kind of taken that one thing off my shoulders and it's very rewarding for her. 

School has been more than math and reading though... this year we've learned about baking bread. We love being in the kitchen and it's really helped math skills. One fun thing about homeschooling is everything is actually school! The girls can hand write our grocery list, read a recipe, and learn really functional life skills that sometimes we just didn't have time for before. I know that non-homeschool kids learn these things too, but before- I felt so guilty having my kids do chores when they were at school all day, then had homework, and activities. So, while it might get done, it was usually grudgingly. 

Adalyn's 1st grade teacher made comprehension notebooks for her class last year, and it came home when school let out last Spring, but it wasn't filled out! We decided this would be part of her curriculum this year, and she just finished it last week! 30 weeks of reading stories and answering questions.... we're now moving on to a 3rd grade reading comprehension book, but I've told her she doesn't have to do it every day ;) 

We have just a few weeks left of our actual school year. I do plan on keeping them engaged this Summer and continuing with a little math, reading, and handwriting- Megan and Adalyn are both learning cursive right now. 

Gretchen is doing great. She does her school work independently, and it takes a few hours in the morning. She's working through two history classes right now, is writing a short story for a contest, and continues to work her way through pre-algebra. I'm not sure if she'll have to take pre-algebra next year, because it's typically an 8th grade course, but if she has to, I expect that she'll have a solid foundation. 

Here's to the next few weeks of our school year! 

 

Photo Dump

Happy Tuesday! I'm sharing a little photo dump with y'all today! Enjoy!

We finally switched Megan over to JO for gymnastics and I'm so glad we were finally able to go the route we wanted. Long story short: We loved the gym she was at, but we have always wanted her to compete the JO route. They kept telling me she needed to be in XCEL which is a different competition route than JO, and after asking again, I felt like they weren't listening to what we were asking for, and there were some skills that she should have after 6 years of gymnastics that she still doesn't because she wasn't being taught. 

She tried out one class, and fell in love with the new gym. She didn't even want to go back and say goodbye to her previous one, so we immediately withdrew her and started her the next day. 

Sometimes, school work gets done wherever it can. On this particular day, Adalyn was in my bathroom working on her math while I was getting dressed. 

I have tried to start a little "Fun Friday" with the girls. I was working lots of extra Fridays in February and March, so I was determined to not work extra in April or May so we could have some fun Fridays. Our plan is to hit up a museum, go for a hike, or hit the zoo, but so far, both of our fun Fridays have been at the park. 

We looked down and found one caterpillar, and then all of a sudden they were everywhere!

Remember, when we got a goldfish from Mail a Goldfish? Well, we decided that Hermie needed a friend, so Adalyn and I picked out Lily. We bought her from the pet store, and then had to run in to Target, so Adalyn sat in the basket with Lily. 

And she's started playing soccer! Check out her pink soccer shoes! She couldn't wait to get home and try them on. 

Gretchen received this friendship bracelet holder to hold thread as she's making bracelets and she loves it! If your kids like making friendship bracelets, this is a must! She was using a clip board, or safety pin and pinning the string down, but this holder is so much better, and it even has a little drawer to keep extra string. 

And we're already hitting the time of the year where the girls are cooling off with popsicles in the afternoon.

Adalyn and I were cuddling on the couch, and she told me that I had wrinkles. Somewhere in the past few months, I've realized that I'm more old than I am young- ha! It doesn't help that my kids remind me. 

We hit up the park one afternoon, just the two of us... and her ballet baby. 

And then she came home and put on her pj's and her soccer shoes and asked me to take her picture and post it on Instagram. 

Last Wednesday, we dropped Gretchen off at church, and then had an hour before Megan had to be picked up at gymnastics, so we hit up another park. Are you sensing a theme here? These ducks waddled right over to us, and Adalyn really wanted to pet one. 

She loved this spinny seat, and it was funny watching her try to get out, because every time she tried, it would spin her around again! 

I made her a flower crown and she was more embarrassed than she was impressed. 

And then she climbed a tree! 

We've had lots and lots of outside time and we are loving it!

 

3 Things

Happy Monday! It's been a while since I've shared a quick 3 things, so I thought I'd do that today! 

Gretchen

1. Gretchen is excited to go back to school next year. We've decided that our homeschool journey would come to an end (we knew going in to it that we would only homeschool for this year) and she is excited to go back to public school and to a new middle school! Two of her friends will be joining her, so she'll have some friends and she'll be in 8th grade! 

2. She's busy working on bracelets! Even though we haven't started her Etsy store yet, it's in the works. We've just had a lot of other things going on, and we're focusing on growing her Instagram right now. 

3. Gretchen has been taking lyrical dance  this year and she's loving it. She's asked to continue next year, and I'm thinking about letting her. She has become much more flexible this past year, and she's looking forward to her recital coming up in June. 

Megan

1. After years of taking gymnastics, we are taking a huge jump to level 3 USGA. She was going to move to XCEL Silver, which is just a different route in gymnastics, but she really wanted to spend more time and learn more skills than she was learning in XCEL, and we are making the switch to a new team, a new coach, and a new gym. After her 1st class last week, she said "That was so much fun!" and I knew it was a good decision for her. 

2. Megan's not as thrilled about returning to school as her big sister is. She says that we can just homeschool forever. Next year, she'll be in 5th grade and that blows my mind. I keep thinking about how she's now the same age as Gretchen was when we moved to Texas, and we've been here for 3 years, but part of me doesn't realize it's even been that long! 

3. Megan is all about bunnies right now. We have so many in our neighborhood! She set up a bunny trap and left out carrots and spinach, and she and her neighborhood friends have been working really hard to catch one! She keeps asking if we can have one as a pet. 

  Adalyn

1. Adalyn has two more months of gymnastics, and then she'll be on to another activity. It was always easiest to let her take gymnastics because Megan did, but it's not really her thing. She loves it, but we want her to explore some other sports and activities. So, she'll finish out through May and then get to choose a new activity! She's thinking about dance or cheerleading, but she's also enjoying playing soccer right now too! 

2. A few months ago, I started having her call her Gee every day to read her a book, and it's working so well! My mom loves that she gets to talk to the girls, and Adalyn thinks it's so cool to call her to read her a story! Plus, it really helps me out and saves me some time! 

3. Adalyn is obsessed with MacGyver. Every Friday night, she and DJ will cuddle up and watch the episode. She knows all of the characters and reminds DJ when a new episode comes out. It's their thing and she loves it! 

As far as DJ and myself.....

1. We are looking forward to the end of Spring Football practice! The Spring game is this weekend and we cannot wait. 

2. I tried convincing him to do the 75 Hard challenge with me and he was not having it! I'm not sure if i'll do it solo or adapt it to better fit our lifestyle, but I wish you could've seen his face when I was telling him about it. 

3. His CSVA convention is next month and I know he's looking forward to getting together with other video coordinators from around the country, and I'll be heading back home for a baby shower for my niece and her baby! I cannot wait to meet her!

I mentioned it the other day on Instagram, but life is really good right now. The girls are happy and thriving and even though there are some hard things behind the scenes, which come with every day life, seeing the girls so happy, has just been the best. 

 

Bailey

About 8 months after DJ and I got married, we decided to get a dog. Thankfully, my stepdad bred dogs and he had a litter that he couldn't sell. He was pretty sure the mom and dad of the litter were siblings, and inbred dogs don't sell very well. Bailey came from that litter and we loved her from the very beginning. I even dressed her up for Halloween. She was well trained (after spending a few months back home with my stepdad) and was an excellent dog 

Last Summer she started having accidents in the house and the arthritis in her hips got worse. I took her to my parent's house when we visited them in August, and when we got home, she was pitiful. I told DJ that we probably needed to start thinking about putting her to sleep and we told the girls. 

Then we decided to leave her in the backyard because the accidents were increasing in frequency, and it was a constant pain. I realize that sounds awful that she started living outside, but we also couldn't confine her to a small room during the day either, and she loves laying in the sunshine. On cold or rainy days, we would bring her in. 

At the end of February, we took her to a new vet and did a quality of life assessment. According to the vet, she was as healthy as could be other than the arthritis, and he said she had at least 6 more months. 

We took her to my parent's for our Spring Break, and let my stepdad really look at her. He has trained dogs for years and years and uses a vet he deeply trusts. After talking to my stepdad, we made the decision that it was time for Bailey to go to heaven. She had been an incredible dog to us for 14 years, but we couldn't let her suffer. It was very hard for her to get up after laying down, and her back hips were leaning toward the side. The medicine we had tried and tried wasn't working and she was in pain. 

Bailey stayed at my parent's house while we visited DJ's family, and on our way back to pick up the camper, we told the girls that Bailey wouldn't be coming home with us. 

That conversation went much, much harder than I expected, and we let the girls spend some time saying goodbye. Apart from loosing my grandmother, it was probably the hardest thing I've had to watch, and it was even harder watching my girls go through it. They were heartbroken beyond what I thought they'd be. 

Adalyn picked her flowers and we gave Bailey lots and lots of hugs. 

The next day, my stepdad took Bailey to his vet and layed her to rest with the other dogs my parent's have had that have gone before. 

It was really important to us that she be buried on my parent's land with their other pets, and thankfully, I'm so relieved that we didn't have to take her to the vet ourselves. I realize that it's selfish, but after the tears from the girls, and the months of worrying about what to do, I'm not sure we could've done it. How do you decide to end your dog's life? 

I am forever grateful to my stepdad who took her. Words cannot express how appreciate we are that he did that for us and for Bailey. That he was there with her and held her. It means the world to us. 

His vet also confirmed that it was well past time. 

It's been a month, and you know, I never thought I'd be someone to cry over a lost pet, but tears have definitely been shed, and sometimes, I think she is still in the backyard. Earlier this week, Adalyn told me she saw Bailey's soul in the corner of the yard, and she ran to get me. 

We won't be replacing Bailey any time soon. At this point, we are not ready for another dog and the responsibilities it comes with. 

We were so blessed to have Bailey in our home for 14 years and we know that she's running free with Flash, Ralph, and all of her other dog friends from Labrador Lane. 

Soccer Girl

Adalyn started soccer this past weekend, and she is pumped! 

Megan and Gretchen both played soccer when they were in preschool and then have both played basketball, but other than gymnastics, Adalyn hasn't played another sport. 

DJ somehow convinced her that she should play, and she agreed. I really think she only agreed to make DJ happy, but y'all, she loved her first time out on that field! 

We bought her bright pink soccer cleats so we can always spot her on the field!

She's one of 3 girls on her team, and she was fierce! 

Every time that she could be on the field, she ran out there! And when she came out of the game for a water break, she would run right back in (even if it wasn't her turn!) When the ball went out of bounds, and it was time to kick it back in, she was there for it, and was either kicking it in or as close as possible to kick it down the field! 

I was so proud of her running down that field! She'll play through May and then we'll decide if she wants to take dance, cheer, or keep playing soccer!