Memorial Day with Grandpa & Grandma Howe

We were so glad that Grandpa and Grandma Howe could come visit us for Memorial Day weekend! The forecast was terrible - daily severe storms - but luckily we caught just enough breaks in the weather to do some fun things. On Friday they met us at Braums for an end-of-kindergarten treat, on Saturday we went hiking in Palo Duro Canyon and then saw Aladdin, on Sunday we went to church, did a puzzle and played games, and then on Monday we said good bye. Luckily we will be seeing them again in just a couple weeks when we drive down to Dallas. Thanks for coming to visit!

We had the perfect weather for hiking in the canyon - overcast skies with temps in the high 60s. It looked like it was about to rain any minute and did sprinkle for just a few seconds, but the big storms held off until that afternoon. 

All the rain has made everything so green! There were wildflowers blooming all a long the trail.

Lots of flowers meant lots of butterflies, which Sophie loved

 

We hiked a portion of the Kiowa trail, which follows the river - perfect for throwing rocks!

After the Kiowa trail we made one more stop to check out the "Big Cave"

After hiking we hurried home, changed out of our dusty clothes and ran over to the theater to see the new Aladdin movie. We were surprised to find Jasmine and Aladdin there in person to welcome us!

We love the reclining chairs and seat heaters at Cinergy. Grandma did not need her seat heather though, because Charlie fell asleep almost immediately and spent the entire two hours napping on her lap. 

Working on a sea turtle puzzle that grandma brought. It made us excited for our beach trip in just a couple months!

Davey led Papa away to his room to play with him any chance he could get

Went went on a walk around McDonald Lake to help grandma get some of her steps in before driving back to Dallas. Davey was able to do the entire loop (.8 miles) on his scooter. I also brought an old hamburger bun for the kids to feed to the ducks. 

It rained hard Sunday night and water level in the lake had come up several feet (it's a run off storage pond). It was crazy how sunny and clear the skies were after the monsoon the night before. 

Sophie's tiny bouquet of Texas wildflowers she gathered on our walk

The kids in their red, white and blue for Memorial Day. We ate lunch at Red Robin before the grandparents had to hit the road

School's Out Shaving Cream Party

In Amarillo it's tradition to meet at the park on the last day of school for a shaving cream war with a bunch of families from our stake. We didn't go last year because Charlie was a newborn, Davey was napping, and the weather was cold, but this year we made it! The kids had a blast covering each other head to toe, and then they all rinsed off in the splash pad afterward. The clean up took longer than expected, but everyone smelled nice and fresh afterward!

Ready with their cream and sunglasses for eye protection

All the kids waiting for the cue to start!

Charlie loved it! I though he would be more of a spectator and didn't bother to put him in a swimsuit, but he didn't want to be left out of the fun!

Cream covered Sophie

Davey was a little hesitant at first and didn't like other people spraying him. He got braver by the end, but still was happiest just spraying himself. 

Happy Charlie after I cleaned him up

Hooray for the start of summer!!

Sophie Finishes Kindergarten!

Sophie is done with kindergarten! We are both a little sad that school has come to an end, but it is nice to be done packing lunches and trying to her out the door int he morning. She had an amazing year and grew so much, both physically and academically. She made some good friends, became a fluent reader and a math wizard, and only had to clip down to "yellow" on her behavior chart a handful of times. I think she is more than ready for first grade!

First Day of School vs. the Last Day of School

She went up a couple shoe sizes, grew an inch, lost her summer tan and some teeth

Sophie with her teacher, Mrs. McCready

Sophie really took off with reading! She went from short little readers to beginning chapter books by the end of the year.  She is currently at Level J, which is the benchmark for graduating 1st graders. 

Here are a couple of her writing samples from April and May

We are so proud of how hard Sophie worked this year!

We attended Sophie's kindergarten program the last week of school. She was so excited and had been singing the songs on repeat at home all month leading up to the event. I recorded a few of the songs for any grandparents that want to watch, as well as her part in the story video saying what she would eat if she was the Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

Clips from Sophie's Kindergarten Program (unfortunately she was behind someone with a giant pink bow, which made it hard to see her during the program)

Davey was his usual, lovely self during the program. Thankfully Charlie fell asleep just a few minutes in so we only had to wrangle one crazy boy. 

Her program did not include a graduation ceremony, but they did have these photos taken and sent home with the kids, which was a fun surprise. Look how big she has gotten! High school graduation will be here before we know it. 

Mother's Day 2019

Everywhere I go people tell me I have my hands full, and it's true. These kids have endless energy (until it's time to do chores) and I'm outnumbered most of the time. Someone always needs a snack. Someone is always scattering toys or crumbs to the four corners of the house. Someone is always hitting someone. But even as they go about filling my day with noise and mess, they also fill my heart. Sophie is a great helper and is always leaving us sweet notes or pictures that she drew. Davey loves to climb into my lap and has been saying the funniest things lately. And Charlie just walks around the house all day long with the biggest smile you've ever seen. I sure love these kids. 

We had a nice, simple Mother's Day this year. I never ask for gifts, but the kids did get some little surprises at the store with Dave. At church I got to hear Sophie sing, and after meetings ended  all the women got to enjoy a delicious dessert buffet, and after we had our fill the rest of the ward swooped in to finish things off. Davey ended up eating an entire tray of honey dew - that boy sure loves his fruit! Then we finished our day with some steaks and corn for dinner - yum!

My only Mother's Day request was a photo of me and my little loves

My lovely Davey had his hand inside his shirt for every photo. 

Charlie woke up nice and early so we could spend extra time together that day

The kids with some little gifts and pictures

Wild Amarillo Weather!!

We've had some wild weather already this year and storm season is just beginning! I love storms (as long as they're not damaging) so I have been enjoying all lightning displays, the thunder that rolls on for hours, and the greenness brought on by all the rain. They have also been helpful for keeping temperatures in check so we don't sail into the scorching days of summer too quickly. In my opinion, it should not be allowed to go above 85 until the pool opens :)

I left Amarillo one morning to spend time at my friend's house in Canyon, and when I returned I found that our house had been pounded. I'm glad we didn't have to drive through that! There were several pieces of grape-sized hail in the yard, and piles gravel-sized hail that had run off the roof. 

These were the coolest clouds! They almost don't look real.  I saw them on my way back home one evening as a storm rolled in. They are called "Mammatus" clouds, or Mammary clouds, because apparently someone sciencey thought they resemble mammary glands. 

More grape-size hail one evening. This time Sophie was still awake, so I let her come outside with me after the storm had passed to gather some ice balls. 

On May 7th we were supposed to get a really bad storm. It had been brewing over the panhandle and was supposed to hit hard that afternoon. Amarillo was in the severe zone and we were told to expect large hail, strong winds, heavy rain, and possibly tornadoes - yikes!! As a precaution Dave came home from work early, Sophie's kindergarten field trip was cancelled, her gymnastics finale was cancelled, my book club was cancelled... it was like doomsday. 

And then it didn't come... The winds changed and the storm missed us. We did get some rain and about 1 minute of tiny hail, but that was it. I really am glad we weren't hit by tornadoes, but after all the hype it was a bit of a let down to have nothing happen.

The warning statement for the storm

Scootering outside to burn off some energy since everything was cancelled, but no storm came

Weekend Fun in Amarillo

There have been a lot of community events happening around Amarillo lately with the warmer weather, and our family has gone out to a couple of them.

The first was the grand opening of the Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. The fundraiser where we purchased the Scales & Tails birthday party for Sophie at a silent auction a few years back was for this operation. The kids love animals and so it was fun to tour the new facility, meet some critters, and we even got free burgers for lunch, catered by Outback!

They really enjoyed this skunk and raccoon cookies

Eating lunch with an owl!

Peeking through the window at an orphaned raccoon pup

The next Saturday we went to Family Fun Fest at a park closer to downtown. There was lots to do, but we didn't stay long because the boys both fell asleep on the way there. Dave took Sophie around to meet animals and run through the inflatable obstacle course, while I hung out in the van with the nappers. 

You had to purchase a $1 ticket for the obstacle course, but then you could cycle back through as many times as you want. Sophie complete it 20 times!!

Sophie loooves reptiles and would be so happy to get one as a pet someday

Charlie woke up towards the end, but Davey kept on sleeping until we got home and never knew what he missed...

Spring Soccer - Go Team A!

Sophie's first soccer team she played on in the Amarillo league was so competitive she couldn't keep up. Her second team was so passive they never touched the ball. She was starting to get discouraged, and almost half our games were on Sundays anyway, so we called it quits. 

Then our friends who live in Canyon (a town about 15 minutes south of us) invited us to join their soccer league this spring, so we decided to give it a try. It wasn't perfect - we had to drive further, our coach was pretty low energy, and the team never even got a name, but in all other ways it was so much better! Sophie got to play with her best friend, games were never on Sundays, it cost less money, and she learned to love soccer again. I'm glad we found a better balance!

Team A: Adaleigh, Chloe, Emery, Sophia, Jordan and Sophie (she is a giant)

Sophie's friend Emery is actually a grade younger than her, but they organize teams by birth year instead of school year, so they were still able to play together! Also, she got hit in the face by the ball at the very end of the game, which is why she doesn't look very happy in this photo. 

During her first game, Sophie kept volunteering to sit on the bench. It is a fun place to hang out, especially when you're there with a friend :) After that game, however, we told her she could have some chocolate eggs if she got a goal, which really got her motivated. She ended up scoring in her next four games!

Look at that smile on her face! Sophie's specialty this season was running down loose balls and redirecting them back towards the opponent's goal. She could outrun anyone on the field when she tried (there were some moments of laziness). 

Our team went undefeated! They don't keep score at this age, but I'm pretty sure they won every game by at least 10 goals. 

First game photo and last game photo - you can tell how much rain our area received during those six weeks. The grass went from completely yellow to green! 

A few clips from her last game. Sadly I never had my phone out when she scored during the other games, but I did get a funny goal by her friend Emery this game :)

 The brothers did a good job cheering her on when they weren't busy eating snacks or running off to play. Charlie learned to walk in the middle of the season and it was tricky trying to keep him off the field. 

Davey's preferred place to sit was daddy's lap

Davey also wanted his picture taken here after the last game. He was so jealous of Sophie this season and can't wait until it's his turn to play. He especially wants to be able to wear soccer cleats. Just one more year to wait bud!