So far I’m liking splitting the monthly posts in half and having a mid-month and end of month update. You can read about our family’s first half of February here.
Kye
As always, we continue to be so proud of Kye. When I was reviewing my goals from 2018 I saw that one of my goals for that year was to help Kye figure out what HE enjoyed and to help him find his passions. Now in 2019 I feel fully content in that area. My heart doesn’t long for Kye to find things he loves and enjoys and desires to participate in. He has FOR SURE found those areas!
Kye is very passionate about leadership and had to campaign to be elected for Student Council this year. He also was asked to join National Jr Beta Club AND was selected as one of only a few students from his school to participate in a local leadership conference.
The leadership conference was on a Saturday morning for 5 hours. He knew no one else going, other than the teachers, but was still very excited to learn more about leadership. He has said for a long time now that he wants to be President someday and he’s def working towards that goal! Strong leadership is crucial to lead our country!
When I picked him up from that conference he was BEAMING. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him SO PUMPED about something. He had a BLAST and learned so much. They talked about important issues like bullying and how to help prevent bullying among their peers and help those who may be dealing with it.
Some of the things they did include figuring out the types of leaders that they are. Kye said he’s a “participation leader” which means as he leads his goal is to have everyone involved. I think that’s a great thing to know about yourself, especially at his age when he’s just starting to work in group settings!
He did also tell me a story about a kid who drew something on the board and that the kid drew a “number symbol.” Yall it made my heart so happy that he didn’t call it a “hashtag!”
It was such an honor to be asked to be involved in the event and he had an awesome time!
They gave him so many goodies, including a shirt!
Not only has Kye found his passion in student government involvement, but he LOVES basketball. Like it’s his THING FOR SURE. Well, he technically said skiing is now his favorite sport but basketball is a close second.
I know he loves it because he is eager for practice and games and will use his free time to go outside and practice. He is not the best player and that doesn’t cause him to want to quit – instead, it has motivated him to want to learn more, do better, and be the best he can be on the court. You know you love something when you want to work hard to improve at it!
I have always said that basketball is my least favorite sport. It’s because of the sound the shoes make on the court. That squeaky sound is like nails on a chalkboard for me. BUT with kids playing there is no squeaking. I’m assuming it’s because of the flooring in school gyms maybe? Whatever the reason I’m thankful for it!
I like basketball a LOT more than I thought I would personally! I don’t understand it but it’s fun to watch. It’s fast-paced and the games are short and indoors. I also think if Kye had LOVED football that I would have enjoyed it more. Knowing how much he LOVES this sport makes me naturally love it too! I guess we are officially a basketball family!
Cool oppourtnity to play at the high school gym! Same place Daddy played basketball in high school too.
It’s been SO cool to see Kye learn and grow and improve throughout the season. Everyone knows Kye is so sweet so he’s struggled with getting aggressive. I told him I wanted him to foul someone. Yall when he did it he looked at me and smiled SO HUGE. It was PRECIOUS.
Not only is Kye well rounded in sports and activities but most importantly he puts God first. I keep seeing this meme circulating about how your child has like a 1% chance of playing professional sports but that they have a 100% chance of meeting God on judgment day. It’s a great reminder to keep priorities straight.
And I get it. Basketball nights are often LATE. We are worn OUT. It’s tough to feel up to getting the kids to church on Wednesday nights for Bible Study! But we gotta always keep that in mind…our #1 goal in parenting is to raise our kids to love the Lord and have that confidence in their salvation!
Kye spoke at church again this month!
For Read Across America week the kids had dress up days!
I love that he loves getting into stuff at school! He always wants to represent the student body well as a member of student council and takes that very seriously…even if it means being super wacky for Wacky Wednesday!
A bit of a weird thing happened with Kye this month that I want to mention for future reference. Before bed one night Kye came to me and said his eye was hurting and bothering him all day. My first thought was PINK EYE. But his eye wasn’t pink and he said it didn’t itch, it was just painful. My second thought was a cold in his eye as he’s had that happen in the past. But he said there wasn’t any goop in it or anything. I put some eye drops in and then he realized what was bothering him: a decently large section of his eyelashes were tucked UNDER his eyelid.
It was the craziest thing yall! It was in the outer corner of his eye and they were tucked in so far that I had to get Zach to hold his eye open while I slowly picked them all out. C-RAZY and I didn’t even know it was a “thing” I shared about it on Instagram and had someone reach out and tell me it’s something to keep an eye on as it could be entropion which is a medical issue with the eyelid. So weird!
We have been reading through Harry Potter this month in anticipation for our upcoming trip to Universal Orlando Resort! We listened to the first book on Audio but I knew Kye would prefer the legit books, just like I would. Zach said if we were going to buy them that we needed to invest in the hardcover copies to keep them nice and have forever for our family to read again and again. Kye is LOVING them (no surprise there!) and Britt is equally enjoying listening to them too!
I read a lot of the reviews on Amazon and a lot of the book sets seemed fishy so I ordered this set from Target and it’s great
Britt
Britt had her 7 year well check this month and got to skip school in order to attend the appointment. She LOVED getting to walk Tess to her class and seeing her former teachers and school! Tessie loved it too and felt so proud having her big sister with her. It reminded me of a few years ago when Britt would walk Tess to class every day and I know she’s so excited for that next year!
I was so proud of Britt for her reading accomplishment in January. She filled her whole reading calendar with checks and as her reward, I gave her a $5 gift card for Starbucks. She LOVES visiting Starbucks and we enjoyed our time together prior to her doctors’ appointment.
Britt had fun using her gift card to order whatever she wanted…when visiting Starbucks with kids you can order warm flavored milk – no caffeine and not actual coffee. Britt got white chocolate and a cake pop and was so pumped!
We had such a great talk. Britt has a natural gift from the Lord of really being a magnet to others. She’s a light and can use that social talent to really glorify the Lord in a HUGE way and help bring others to Him. Just like WE see this gift, so does Satan.
And yall know. Satan will ATTACK when he sees a way we are working for Jesus. Britt is struggling a bit with being attacked from Satan and she had a lot on her heart about that and wanted to share her heart with me. I’m so proud of her. She loves Jesus and takes that love seriously and really wants to do her best for God.
I love that she feels comfortable sharing her heart with me and I always, always want to be there for her through all the big and little moments in life and I know she’s going to do HUGE things for God’s Kingdom!
Britt is not as into the dress up school days as Kye is. She didn’t want to do hat day and didn’t go wacky for wacky day. But she did do a slightly silly sock day theme 😉
Britt is loving listening to Harry Potter! We had it on CD and she listens to it on the portable dvd player!
Out of all the kids Britt is the only one that ever ASKS to go outside. She LOVES being outside!
Britt is SO in love with gymnastics and she’s really rocking it! Here’s a video of her showing off her skills.
I often think about Britt as a baby. Everyone knows, she was my toughest baby. I know people say things like “I’m glad the toughest baby wasn’t my first because I would have stopped have them!” But I have always tried to think about the benefits of the tougher baby. I learned SO MUCH with Britt and she helped me really become a better mom!
Another benefit of a tough baby? As they get older…it gets easier and easier. I feel like every age with Britt is better than the age before and I just LOVE where she’s at now and the incredible bond we share!
Tess
Tess continues to excel at school which is such a blessing! I laugh a bit when she comes home with all these notes praising her behavior because she was my kid who struggled with hitting when she first started school and pulled the most clips but now she’s SHINING in the school setting! I’m so, so proud of her!
Tess continues to really enjoy her alone time and plays so well by herself. She loves pulling out her toys and setting them up and playing! She loves her Calico Critters set!
I shared this on Instagram but wanted to share it here too. It was such a proud moment for me as Tess’s mama:
With Kye having so many basketball games I’ve let the girls bring a snack to eat while they sit in the stands and cheer on their big brother.
At a recent game we walked into the gym and saw these huge signs “no food allowed.” 🚫
I told the girls their small snacks were okay. To just be mindful of not making any mess and to throw away their trash when done eating.
Tess ate her snack then walked up to me with big tears rolling down her cheeks. 😢
Police officers attend each game to watch over things and Tess told me she needed to go talk to the police. She needed to tell them that she broke the rule and ate the snack when she wasn’t supposed to eat in the gym.
I know to some it may seem silly. But I saw the Lord working in her heart in that moment. Her tears showed that conviction. And I never want her to ignore the Holy Spirit and His guidance.
So together she and I went and spoke to the police. She asked me to tell them for her and was relieved when she didn’t have to go to jail for going against the rules. ❤️ I saw the relief in her body after confessing. She felt free. She happily went and played and didn’t speak of it again.
But that moment has stuck with me. There is freedom in Jesus y’all. Freedom when we share our hearts. When we confess our shortcomings. When we listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling us and follow where He leads.
Such a great reminder for us to have the heart of a child 💕
While watching Harry Potter I started working on my french braid skills 😉 I joked with her that it was magic from the movie that turned her pony tail into an “Elsa braid.” Big mistake. She kept saying she wanted to wear her hair in a pony tail to school and that it’d magically become an Elsa braid…sorry hun doesn’t work that way!
Tess was ALL ABOUT some Wacky Tacky Day for School!!! She was INTO it and especially loved wearing a hat!
Wacky Chapel!
Tess has extended her love for Wacky to wearing her hat all the time. She is also my hardcore pjs kid. She reminds me of Kye in a lot of ways. Kye has always loved to just wear his underwear all the time. And Tess walks in the door and immediately changes into PJs 😉 She said: “I wish I could wear pjs every day, everywhere I go!”
So proud of this well behaved girl!
Tess is really working on her sight words for school and on her reading. I got these Bob Books for her and they have been FANTASTIC! I took this video of her reading an entire book by herself for the first time. While I’m naturally proud of her hard work and abilities, I’m the proudest to see HER proud. I want my children to ENJOY reading and for it to be FUN for them and seeing her loving it is HUGE!
A beautiful day outside calls for more pics of my sweet girl soaking up the sunshine!
Spying on the neighbors is a fun outdoor activity haha!
Speaking of outside we finally had a DRY day where it was also warm enough for Zach to paint our pool cooldecking! It’s a little lighter than we’d planned for it to be so he is planning to add a second, darker, coat but it still looks SO GREAT and FRESH! Ready for pool parties this summer whoop whoop!
We finished the first Harry Potter book on our ski trip so we watched the first movie as a family and LOVED IT. Even Tess really enjoyed it and I felt comfortable with all of the kids seeing it. I know I’ve heard the later movies get a good bit darker so we may have Tess wait until she’s older to watch them (like we do Star Wars), but we will see!
Was not prepared for how long it was! OOPS!
We had a fantastic February and I enjoyed writing these posts split up so that’s my plan moving forward!
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