Our Family Recap from April of 2019.
This month we kicked things off with our Spring Break trip to Great Wolf Lodge!
When we got home from GWL I kept things pretty chill the rest of the week (trust me, GWL was PLENTY of FUN for Spring Break ha!) but we did make our trip out to the strawberry patch!
We didn’t go last year so this was Spear’s first visit and he loved eating all the strawberries.
We have a few local spots to go, several within an hour of us that have playgrounds and such but Kye and Britt don’t think picking strawberries is all that “cool” so I wasn’t going to drive an hour there and an hour back with a toddler when only Tess would be the one to really appreciate it 😉
We hit up a local spot instead that had plenty of pickin’ fun!
Spear had more fun tasting than he did picking! I was SO proud of the big kids, I just gave them instructions on the type of strawberries to pick and how to properly pick them and let them GO!
They did AWESOME and we had the best bunch of strawberries ever!
We hit up the strawberry patch in the morning and then headed to the playground to eat a picnic lunch and play for a bit before naps. It was such a fun outing and a glimpse into summertime!
While we were at the park we ran into some friends from school and I am really, really hoping to let the kids have more playdates and make more neighborhood friends this summer. Especially Kye…he needs DUDE TIME!
Tess had her very last Chapel at preschool this month. It was actually the last Chapel EVER as the school is shutting its doors at the end of the year. It was SO emotional!
On top of the already emotional feelings, Tess and Carter got to hold the flags for the pledges AND talk about Jesus (I did keep waiting for Tess to add in Baptism!) AND lead the prayer!
It was all so cute, including when Tess’s class lead the songs for Chapel too!
Tessie loves school but she also lives for the weekend and for days they get to skip school (like we did this month for a random storm? So odd!)
Speaking of Easter…Tess’s teacher sent me this photo of Tess’s drawing of Jesus dying on the cross:
Tess also celebrated her birthday at school this month.
Which, by the way, was a little over three months prior to her actual birthday. C’mon y
Some nights you just need a little mental health
If you ever wondered why McDonald’s ice cream machine IS ALWAYS DOWN.
I had a blog friend reach out this month as she and her family were driving through town on their way back from a Disney Cruise!
Holly is SUPER sweet! I have no clue how we originally found each other but I’m so glad we did. She’s a fellow Disney mama AND a hardcore keep it real mom so you know I love her 😉
You can find her on her blog: Sunshine and Holly and her Instagram: @SunshineandHolly
I’m not joking when I tell you guys to LET ME KNOW when you come through Valdosta!
Our town is not that huge but it’s a GREAT stopping place when on the way to anywhere on 75.
I’m so glad the timing worked that we were in town and able to meet up. And y
Our kids all played so sweet too and I hope we’re able to make another get together happen soon!
Speaking of blog/
Over the last twoish years I’ve really evolved the blog from a hobby to a J-O-B. It’s work y’all. It’s a TON of time and effort and energy.
I love it! It’s been a weird transition for me to go from being a full time stay at home mom to more of a work from home mom but I’m enjoying it. Enjoying learning more, connecting with other bloggers, growing and having something to show for it!
Part of that blog grind has been via Instagram. It’s been a natural transition and it’s also been really fun! However, it’s also a lot more work to get that
I had a TON of great Instagram opportunities this month and the kids and I had a lot of fun with them!
I was able to work with the new movie Ugly Dolls and I was so excited about it all that I took a ton of pics and went to submit them and realized it was supposed to only showcase kids ages 6 and up. Oops.
The kids were SO patient with having to take them all again without Tess in them!
While I love the chance to work with companies, I especially love when it’s with a product I LOVE and an item that can benefit my kids.
When Madame Alexander reached out to me I. ABOUT. DIED.
Y’all their dolls are GORGEOUS. The girls were able to each receive a doll (they were gifted the Middleton Twins) and they LOVE them.
Britt named hers Amelia and Tess named
We were also gifted an AWESOME book this month called “What Should Danny Do?”
Kye loved it. Britt loved it. Tess loved it. They read it together and it has all these different choices that take you through different pages of the book with alternative endings depending on what choices you make.
It’s all about the power to CHOOSE which I something I highly value in training our children to understand.
God gives us FREE WILL. WE get to CHOOSE. Good choices. Bad choices. They are OUR choices and I love that the book walks them through consequences that occur depending on choices made.
Tessie fell in love with Danny and wore her cape all over the place. Including to school. And to sleep!
Let’s hit a few highlight of each big kid this month!
I love that Kye is at an age where I don’t have to be super hands on all the time with every little thing.
For Easter he got a slime kit. He asked to make the slime and I told him to keep it from getting messy and GO FOR IT.
He did it all 100% on his own and cleaned up. MOM WIN.
We are def in the full on pre-teen stage with Kye. Sometimes he just in a MOOD. And, real talk, it’s hard for me.
I struggle with feeling secure in relationships in my life. I have a hard time trusting love. Believing that it’s truly unconditional.
So when Kye is just being hormonal? I tend to take it personally and think I did something wrong to cause it. I overthink it, over analyze it.
I’m so glad I had a son first so I can adjust to this hormonal stuff before the girls hit it!
I have found that he responds best when given time to himself. I told him to fix a snack and go sit in the hammock for a bit. Totally did the trick! Fresh air is basically a cure for most grumpy moments, right?
A sweet blog friend mailed us some Sorcerer Cards and Kye was SO PUMPED!
Kye, Tess, Spear and I went to a playground while Britt was at gymnastics and Kye rocked the monkey bars!
Kye is reminding me more and more of Zach and it cracks me up. We had a family game night (and played The Haunted Mansion Game of Life) and he was HARDCORE about reading the instructions. MINI ZACH!
We had a couple movie nights this month and watched the 4th and 5th Harry Potter Movies!
Kye has finished reading all the Harry Potter books and Britt is listening to them all on audio tape. Kye has been envious of her having something to listen to all the time so we found a GREAT kid friendly podcast for him!
He is LOVING it and Tess is enjoying listening to it with him too (she trades off from listening with Britt to listening with Kye depending on her mood ha!). It’s called Finn Caspian and came recommended from another Babywise Mama so I knew it was trustworthy 🙂
I love my talks with Kye and right now? He’s ALL ABOUT Minecraft and loves telling me all of his plans for his little world.
Britt had a BIG milestone this month! She has completed the Intermediate Level in gymnastics and is now moving on to the ADVANCED class!
They invited her to try out for the competition team but Britt is insistent that she has no interest in competing.
She just wants to keep learning and bettering her skills! We are completely supportive of this passion and will take it as far as she wants to take it!
Even though she doesn’t want to be competitive with gymnastics, Britt is still a VERY competitive child! She loves to WIN but has been doing so well with playing games and accepting the times when she doesn’t win too.
Britt has been doing GREAT with her reading. She loves listening to Harry Potter on audio but she is also in a nice routine of reading for 30 minutes before bedtime.
This month Britt has asked to start having her own video game time. Kye gets 3 hours a week of video game playtime and Britt is allowed to have 2 hours of her own.
I’m not quite sure how to navigate the fact that she wants to play WITH Kye during her video game time. That’s adding too much time to Kye’s overall screentime for the week but I also love that they are bonding over Minecraft and having something to share together.
Kye really struggles with feeling left out when it comes to the girls and their bond so I do want to encourage him and Britt and their shared interests!
Britt loves Harry Potter but does get scared after watching the movies. I remember always being the same way. Heck, even now I need to sometimes watch a “happy show” after something scary so I’ll be able to fall asleep!
We have found a good solution to her bad dreams or struggles falling asleep after a scarier movie: sleeping with Mommy’s friend from childhood. I have my bunny that I slept with every night growing up and it gives Britt that comfort she needs during those moments.
I’m very proud of Britt and the helper she is around the house and how much she enjoys cooking and sharing in the household responsibilities!
Tess is SUCH a great helper. It seems like every
She’s also my big helper at home. She’s always the first kid to put away her clean laundry each week and always has a happy heart about helping around the house.
She especially loves helping unpack when we get home from a trip! I lay out a laundry basket for each person in the family and she sorts everyone’s items into the proper basket. It’s a HUGE help!
Tess loves being a little sister and the benefits that come from having an older sister: the hand-me-downs!
She was SO thrilled to inherit Britt’s old
I asked the kids about doing camps this summer. I talked to Tess and asked if she wanted to do any. Maybe dance or basketball or gymnastics. Her response? “No ma’am I don’t want to do any sports because I don’t like sports.” MY CHILD.
Tess is still SO SWEET but
it’s hilarious because when Britt was a baby she was my toughest. But right now? She is THE EASIEST.
I have totally sent Kye and Tess outside when their hormonal emotions strike haha
I have never experienced the emotional four year old stage before, until now. Her teacher will even talk to me about it and warn me to get ready for the teenage years!
Tess just cries very easily and she can’t always express why she’s upset or know how to best calm down. It’s just a tough thing she’s dealing with and I’m trying to help her through
Another full month of a busy mama life!
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