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!

Easter 2019

Somehow Easter snuck up on us, which is ridiculous, because it was almost as late in the year as it could possibly be. I guess we are just not very on top of things. We didn't go to any community egg hunts, we didn't do the advent resurrection eggs I made in RS, my Easter craft I got to make with Sophie is still sitting in the laundry room, and we almost didn't even dye eggs (see below).

In retrospect, however, none of that really mattered. I have no regrets and am perfectly happy with how things turned out. The kids had fun with their baskets and egg hunt in the backyard, I got a great photo of our family in our Easter best, and we got to hear wonderful messages about Christ and his atonement at church. Maybe sweet and simple is the best way to go.

Easter Sunday 2019

Charlie, Age 1

Davey, Age 3

Sophie, Age 6

We almost skipped dying eggs this year and I thought all was well, until Sophie came out of her room crying on Saturday night, a couple hours past bedtime. She thought that if we didn't dye eggs, then the Easter Bunny wouldn't come and so I got out the dye cups and we did a rush job. They weren't pretty, but we made enough to appease her worries and it was worth it to see her excitedly search for those eggs in the morning.

Baskets waiting to be found... the Easter Bunny couldn't help herself and felt extra generous this year

Charlie loved his new trike. He knew just what to do with it and has been rolling all around. It took him no time at all to find the button that makes it sing a song, or honk. 

Davey got a dump truck for playing outside in the gravel pit. He was also very excited to wear his new bow tie to church. 

Sophie is still obsessed with Hatchimals and was excited about the new game. She also loved the golden glitter horse shirt the Easter Bunny left her. 

The kids literally had 3 minutes to hunt for eggs in the yard, but they took it as a challenge and found almost all of them in that time period. There were only about a dozen left behind that they went back for after we got home from church. 

Eating some of their egg hunt sweets after church

For dinner we made our first prime rib roast, since neither of us are big ham lovers. It turned out delicious, and since it was just our family for dinner there were plenty of leftovers to be enjoyed the next day - mmm!

Ready for bed in the new summer jammies the Easter Bunny brought (a new tradition for our family)

A few video clips from our Easter morning

Spring is Just Around the Corner!

I think most people assume that we don't have much of a winter here in Texas, but Amarillo does get cold. We rarely get buried in snow or ice like the northern states, but temperatures do go below freezing from late November to March and the blasting winds here always make it feel at least 10 degrees colder than it really is (which is heavenly in the summer, but bitter in the winter). Our cold season is coming to an though and we are starting to see signs of spring!

One day in March we hit 76 degrees, so after dinner we drove over to the park for a fun evening of play before bed. Coats were optional! The kids were so happy to be outside, and we were so happy they could run and play. Tired kids sleep well, which makes bedtime easy for us :)

I scream, you scream!

Charlie did his best to follow the big kids around on the play structure

Davey trying to grab me on the swing

I taught Sophie how to go upside down on the bars and how to do a flip!

Spring Break

The first week of April was Spring Break for my school! We are going to be traveling most of the summer, and had no plans to venture anywhere for this break. It was nice to just push registration and enrollment to the side for a time and have nothing else to do but spend time with the kids, a little preview of what life will be like in a few months after we move and I'm done working.

MONDAY: We were home most of the day. The kids played outside in the morning while I did some much needed cleaning in the house. Sophie had a birthday party for a friend from church later that afternoon. It was "Trolls" themed and she ate lots of candy, rainbow cake, and had a fabulous time. I was glad the party was during my week off so she could attend.

TUESDAY: I had promised Sophie a trip to Jungle Jim's during my break, and this was probably the highlight of her week. The place was a zoo and really hard to navigate with the stroller, but we still never had to wait more than one cycle for any of the rides. A co-worker also came up with her kids and it was fun to see them and hang out for a bit. Soph took several turns on the roller coaster, and Davey even joined her on a few rides!

I pulled their seat belt so tight, and he still almost managed to escape. I was definitely the first parent through the gate when the ride stopped to snatch him out of the rocket before he climbed out on his own. 

Sophie chose to wait another cycle for the carousel just so she could have this silver horse

While we were having a party at Jungle Jim's, Dave defended his dissertation and passed! HOORAY!! This was the final step of the very long journey we've been on. Now we just need to wait for graduation in a couple weeks to make it official. 

WEDNESDAY: To celebrate Dave's successful defense, we left the kids with a sitter and had a ski day up at Snowbird! It was strange to think this might be our last time here since we'll be moving in just a few months. Pregnancies and babies have really limited my time on the mountain, but we used to come up all the time and have so many good memories skiing here together. 

Dave took carved really sharp to get some good spray for the camera, but it was a little too much and wiped out shortly after this shot :) 

Enjoying the groomers on a nice spring ski day

At the top of Hidden Peak - one of my favorite views in Utah

THURSDAY: Davey took a really long morning nap, so we just hung out at home for first part of the day. After he woke up we ran to Costco for a few things (and some samples) and then wandered over to library story time. There were only 2 other kids there instead of the normal 30, which was both strange and a little nice. Sophie really enjoyed getting to answer every question and being selected as the "helper" for all the activities. After Dave returned home we had dinner and then walked over to Cranberry Park to enjoy the outdoors, since rain was in the forecast for the weekend. The kids had a great time on the swings and playing in the sand, definitely getting a sandbox once we have our own place). 

Daddy assisting with a minor "sand in the eye" incident

FRIDAY: This morning we set out for our weekly grocery run. We normally go on Saturday because of work and I love it whenever I can make a weekday trip instead. The store was pretty much empty, which was good, because Davey was working on his banshee calls and was making sure we knew he didn't feel like riding in a shopping cart at the moment. After naps we braved a trip to the aquarium. I knew it would be crazy because of Spring Break, but our membership will be up at the end of the month, so we are trying to visit as much as we can. We have loved being so close for the last few years and will really miss our weekly trips here :(

SATURDAY: Dave watched the kids in the morning while I went down to Provo for the last student "Gifts of the Heart" exchange. It was smaller than some of the previous exchanges, but I was still able to get a few good things for the kids and I think they are now set for summer. Later I took Sophie to see Beauty and the Beast at the theater near our house. I think she was more focused on the snacks than the movie, but she was happy and that's all that matters. I also had a good time, although I couldn't help but make comparisons and some things just can't live up to the original...

Davey peeling an orange in one of his new shirts

She's a popcorn junkie

SUNDAY: We were surprised to wake up to snow! I knew there was snow in the forecast, but it rained so heavily the day before that I thought it would be too wet for anything to stick. There were probably a couple inches on the ground and Sophie desperately wanted to play outside, so we let her. We might not see much snow on a regular basis once we move and so I wanted her to enjoy this opportunity. She tromped around with her shovel for awhile, and then I joined her to make a snowman. Davey still has no love for snow and was happy to watch from the doorway.