November 2021 Roundup

November is a very transitional month here. The fall season of soccer ends and we suddenly have our weekends back. We say goodbye to Halloween and hello to Christmas. We pack away the shorts and tee shirts, and move into winter clothes for good. The highlights of the month were watching Sophie's team become U10 champions and our road trip to St. George, but here are a a few other things we were up to:

Took advantage of a beautiful November day and went to the zoo with the two little boys

Having fun with a few Boo at the Zoo games that hadn't been cleaned up yet

Running away from me in the maze

It is so fun to see these two become better friends now that Davey is off at Kindergarten

We had large patches of lawn sustain grub damage, but it's tricky to reseed in Texas as the window between scorching and freezing is usually very short. Luckily we seemed to catch it right this year and by early November there was new grass coming in 👏

It's exciting anytime the Discovery Center adds something new! This month brought an outdoor play area with a ropes course, swings and sand box.

Silly Griffin

Sam's had hot chocolate to sample, which made for a happy Charlie!

Boys live here :)

Dave is gone more now on weekends and evenings with his bishop calling so the kids are happy whenever they can catch him for a snuggle on the couch

Charlie loves this box at the Discovery Center that creates pictures by rolling a ball, controlled by a computer, through sand. He always runs to it first to see what the new image will be.

Once it was Starry Night - so cool!

Charlie called this Lego creation his "Christmas Lights"

Decorating the tree!! This moment looks magical but I promise there was plenty of arguing over who hung what and where they put it.

I also gave them their Christmas jammies on this day so we could have fun wearing them all month long! This year they were from our kids consignment store, which has great selection if you shop early. This will be my new plan going forward. Who cares if they match?!

Snowman branch, brought to you by Davey :)

June Roundup

June was a fun month! We made a couple weekend trips to Dallas, but for the rest of the time we were here in Amarillo since Dave is teaching a summer course. Our big trip to Seattle, North Carolina and Dallas (for the third time) will happen later in July and August. Summer will be over when we return, so to make the most of our time here, I created a big calendar of all the activities happening in Amarillo at the library, museum, etc... and then we filled in all the blank spaces with trips to the pool or fun at home, which is what this post covers. We were never bored! 

Building a little golf putting hole at the kids Home Depot workshop.

Charlie making mischief with a smile

The boys helped me clean out the pantry. It looked like so much stuff spread out on the floor, but it all went back on the shelves nicely. If only it would stay this way now... 

 I heard a weird sound while working in the yard and it turned out to be a baby bird that had fallen from it's nest. Sophie had found it and had it cupped in her hands. After sending her inside to wash immediately, we unsuccessfully tried to find his home. Dave ended up taking it to the wildlife refuge so it could grow up somewhere safe. They had received lots of birds recently with all the storms. Good luck little guy - we hope you made it!

Charlie was happy to be reunited with Blue after the laundry was done (his tantrum while Blue was in the dryer is in the video below). 

We had dinner at the elementary school park one night. While I played with the big kids on the playground, Charlie enjoyed a pickle in the swing. 

They just repainted the horse outside Sophie's school. The old one was blue and faded, and this new design was so fun and colorful!

Sophie wanted her picture upside down. I told her that she needed to frown since she was upside down so it would be a smile. This was the best she could do :)

Having a picnic at the splash pad

A table for two at Chick fil A! Sophie was so excited that Emery's family was eating dinner there the same night as us. These girls are the cutest best friends. 

I took my scooter/stroller gang for a morning walk through the neighborhood. It's nice that Davey can now make it the whole way on his scooter instead of having to jump in the stroller. 

We lost Sophie for a minute, but it turns out she was just swallowed by a large bush 

We added a little picnic table to our patio so the kids can eat snack and lunch outside

The hammock can almost always fix a grump Charlie

We found these mini Drumstick ice cream cones at Sams and they have been a fun treat. My grandma used to always have these in her freezer when we would visit - they were my favorite!

Sophie lost her first top tooth! It was a little wiggly when we put her to bed, but then she came out of her room 30 minutes later, tooth in hand. She pulled it out herself!

The kids reminded me that the water table was still in storage so I brought it back down from the attic. It's come in handy several afternoons when a trip to the pool just doesn't work for our schedule. 

Charlie has especially loved it

Emjoying a popsicle break. Then just a few minutes later Charlie dumped his out all over the garage mat. 

I had a coupon for a dozen donuts so we invited some friends to help us eat them!

June Video Clips - not pictured above, but included in the video, Sophie did Vacation Bible School at the Baptist church near our house. She attended with a friend and had a great time making crafts, playing games, learning Bible stories and singing songs about Jesus. She loved it and can't wait to go back next year!