Monthly Family Recap: April 2022

Here are all of our family moments from the month of April!

Spring break kicked off at the start of the month and Kye and I spent it on our trip together to New Orleans (you can read about it here). Once we got home the game plan for the remainder of the week was to CHILL. I love downtime at home with my babies and they love hanging out and spending quality time together.

We also had some updates to the lightning damage on our house – the neighbor cut down and got rid of the tree which was awesome to have gone, but also revealed just how much damage there was to the fence and you could also really see the trench too. C-razy!

Spear and Tess had their first ever successful sleepover!!! Finally! We’ve only been trying for a couple years now! They read books, had talk time and then the both actually slept 🙂 While the littles had their sleepover, the bigs had one too.

During our chill week we did a movie themed morning. My kids LOVE when I put together these movie themes for them and it’s a great excuse to pull out stuff we have around the house too. It’s always fun to make a craft, have themed snacks and watch a movie.

This time we did Wreck-it-Ralph and they had so much fun making their own Sugar Rush cars! We were also able to use our Wreck-it-Ralph costumes from a few Halloweens ago too. Spear chose the movie theme and he had an absolute BLAST with it!

After our visit to the World War II Museum Kye was all about building war vehicles. I love that watching Lego Masters really inspired him and that he’s now using his LEGO beyond just what the instructions tell you to build. Kye has NEVER been one to branch out and get creative and I love that he’s been inspired to enjoy LEGO in a new way 🙂

For Kye’s birthday he just really wanted to go play paintball so we surprised him with a “guy’s day” in Tallahassee with Daddy and his best bud, Evan. Evan stayed over the night prior and they went to Tallahassee for the day where they played paintball and watched the FSU Spring Game!

Kye had a big month in March where he won awards for both TSA as well as FBLA. He won 2nd place in a prepared speech, 1st place for inventions and innovations, and 5th place for leadership strategies. He also won 1st place for video game design in FBLA. Both of these wins were for the ENTIRE STATE. And he was invited to attend nationals for FBLA in Chicago as well as for TSA in Texas over the summer.

While it was a HUGE honor and we are SO proud of Kye…when we started looking into the cost of the trips we just couldn’t swing ’em. Each one would cost us over $3,000 out of pocket and being that he’s in middle school these achievements won’t really make a huge impact on college the way they will when he is winning them in high school!

Instead of the trips we decided to host a celebration in Kye’s honor. We invited the whole family over for dinner and for Kye to show us the videos and go over his big wins! I kept it super low-key but still wanted to make it special so I tried to decorate a bit with video game stuff as well as “inventor” stuff too. I didn’t do themed food 😉 We stuck to pizza and Sam’s cookie cake, and even Dr Pepper since it’s Kye’s fav soda!

Kye shared the details about his invention with us – it’s a phone/tablet holder that attaches to the end of a bed in a nursing home. During shut down there was a lack of staffing in nursing homes and residents were very lonely so this invention would allow them to easily FaceTime with family and friends from their bed 🙂

G-Mama was so sweet – she made posters for everyone to hold up to cheer Kye on and I think Kye felt celebrated and special 🙂

In addition, Zach and I discussed it at length and both felt like we needed to do something extra for Kye for his achievments. Rather than spend the $6000 to send him on the two trips to Nationals, we opted to give him $1,000. He’s saving money towards his first car in a few years and we knew he’d appreciate the boost in his savings!

We are so blessed to have such a supportive family who are always cheering for our kids!

Kye’s last time shooting archery as a 7th grader (and a sneak peak into the future…but he actually decided not to participate in archery in 8th grade so this ended up being our last time seeing him shoot during a season!). It was a fun day where the archery team hosting a partner tournament. Zach and Kye got to shoot together all day long and ended up winning 3rd place for the entire tournament and received a $50 gift card!

Now that Kye is 13 I totally feel comfortable allowing him to babysit his siblings and we had a chance for just he and Spear to have some time together. I ran a short errand to allow him that opportunity and he did fantastic (which is no surprise!).

Kye had his first school dance! It was an after school hang out situation which we felt comfortable with him attending…I’m still not quite sure how we’ll navigate the real-deal dances to come but for this one, he attended. He even asked a girl to go with him – although they both ended up just hanging out with friends and not really interacting with each other (true middle school life right there!). He didn’t dress up but he at least wore a collared golf shirt 😉

Kye and his fellow TSA State Champs were presented and recognized at the school board meeting and it was awesome to get the chance to meet and talk with his technology teacher. I owe him SO MUCH. He saw something in Kye at the very beginning of 6th grade. He runs the school morning news program and having Kye as such a big part of the newscast (Kye the News Guy was BORN) really gave Kye an identity and confidence at such a tender age. I’m forever grateful.

As a teen Kye is also getting more responsibility around the house like taking out the trash for his mama and Zach is being mindful to be more intentional in making sure Kye is learning skills too – like how to grill!

Kye loved the chill time and downtime of the break at home over Spring Break. He spent time building traps for nerf gun battles, loved playing board games (and beating me at Checkers), and spending time with his siblings. Kye is really a FAMILY kinda guy. He truly enjoys the time with all of us. While I know he’s a teen now and that may change some, I truly don’t see him suddenly turning off that family switch anytime soon. My precious boy! I’m just so proud of him and who he is!

Britt is Zach’s football buddy. She absolutely LOVES watching football and loves attending the games. He took Kye to the FSU Spring Game and took Britt to the VSU Spring Game. Hers was at night which she LOVED. They got to have quailty time just the two of them – and she wore MY hoodie from college! She was THRILLED for the opportunity and said she HAD to go to the Spring Game because “It’s been sooooo long since football season”

Britt also kicked off volleyball! Perk of being the 2nd kid…we learned with Kye that basically if you want ANY shot at playing ANY sport at the middle school level that you have to start EARLY. I had a talk with Britt about this and she mentioned she’d like to try volleyball which just so happened to be having sign ups for Spring!

She went for it and instantly LOVED it. Volleyball starts at 4th grade so it was the perfect time to try it out and there is time to grow in the skills before middle school try-outs. I am SO impressed with her for going for something like this. I could neverrrrr join a team and have NO knowledge about a sport and then jump in and be so eager to learn and compete the way she was! It was super inspiring!

She had her very first volleyball game and the ENTIRE fam came to cheer her and Ella on (Ella’s first game was after Britt’s).

When I tucked Britt in that night, following her first game, I was talking to her about how awesome it was that so many people came to support her and she agreed…and added “but what I needed most was seeing you and your thumbs up everytime I looked at you.” She has NO way of knowing how HUGE that is for me to hear and how it’s literally what I’ve been striving for for as long as I can remember!

Volleyball is such a great fit for Britt – it’s so positive and so much social interaction too! We enjoy watching her as a family and even sweet Marleigh went to see her in action 🙂 Being a 4th grader on a combo 4th and 5th grade team and being with a LOT of 5th graders who had all played together before was a humbling first season – she didn’t get to touch the ball often but she still loved the sport and was excellent about cheering on her teammates.

By the end of the month she was doing great and already improving so much – her best game yet was four awesome serves in a row!

Britt is obsessed with listening to Harry Potter and basically she can ALWAYS be found walking around the house with her headphones on listening to the books 🙂

We had bad storms one Wednesday night and our evening Bible Classes were canceled so Britt and Tess did some studying and singing songs and they were so precious taking turns and not wanting the night to end.

I love the way the girls come in the bathroom with me in the mornings and love how they intentionally try to coordinate their outfits for school. Britt is getting so great at doing hair and she’s always so patient with Tess and they are just THE sweetest sisters! Britt has also gotten really good at braiding her own hair!

Now that Kye is 13 he’s allowed to sit in the front seat sometimes and Britt LOVES getting to sit in Kye’s seat 😉 She is getting more responsible too and I’m trying to do a better job at giving her tasks and teaching her skills – she washed and dried all the blankets for me!

This month I had a partnership with Justice Brand on Instagram and it was the first campaign that Britt had completely on her own! She got to choose the pieces from the collection and I let her lead the way for the entire campaign. She picked the locations for the photos and did her own video reviews about the items. She did awesome and LOVED it! I ADORE how these photos turned out of her too!

When Britt first had to start walking at theme parks (because Spear was born and he needed to use the double stroller with Tess) I went on a hunt for cute but comfortable theme park shoes for her. I found these random ones that she LOVED and now they fit Tess and she is OBSESSED with them. Wears them literally every single day! Sadly they finally broke…but they are one pair of shoes that I don’t mind spending whatever I gotta in order to replace them!

I surprised Tess this month with a trip to Disney on Ice and we had the best time together (read the post here).

Barbies have been Tess’s toy of choice lately which makes me so happy! I was worried maybe those days were behind us, but she’s been loving them. Tess especially loves creating things for others. She spent a day over Spring Break making cute little coupons for Britt. She said “I just love being thoughtful, thoughtfulness is my thing.”

Tess and Kate are such cute besties and we’ve been trying to have plenty of playdates together! I’m terrible about remembering to reach out to the kids friends to plan playdates, especially for the girls. Having sisters means a built in best friend!

Her favorite subject in school is MATH (def one area we are not alike!) and she is thrilled that she started algebra this month!

Tess loves creating art out of paper and enjoys watching paper creation videos on You Tube. She also loves to chat up her mama, wherever I’m at – including when I’m in the bathroom 😉

Britt wrote out the plan of salvation for Tess and has it hung up in their bathroom so they can review it together. Such a sweet big sister!

Tess had a coupon from our Easter egg hunts that was good for getting to stay up 30 min later than everyone else to spend quality time with Mommy and Daddy. She LOVED it. I def think quality time is her love language! We played 2 card games together and watched Olaf Presents. Her little eyes were lit up with joy the entire 30 min. Something so simple that cost us nothing and made her feel so loved and special. Def a good reminder to do things like this more frequently 🙂

Tess also decided to start making Bug Adventure Videos. She borrowed my phone while I was laying out reading and walked all over the backyard hunting bugs and creatures.

My little girl is growing up quick for sure and I’m trying to soak up every second! It’s a big milestone year for her as she made the decision not to get a Miss Watermelon bathing suit this year. I sure do love the one she chose though!

I have been so thankful to Brave PR Media and Feld Entertainment out of Atlanta who have reached out to me regarding local Atlanta events. I LOVE any opportunity to make memories with my babies and the Atlanta events have been the perfect opportunity to have one-on-one experiences with them.

First Kye and I went to Monster Jam, then Britt and I went to Grinch the Musical, then Tess and I went to Disney on Ice and finally Spear got his turn when we went to Monster Jam together! We invited Cam and Aunt Casey to come along for our fun-filled adventure.

We decided to just make a day trip Spear absolutely LOVES Buc-ees so we made sure to leave in plenty of time to stop there first. Had to get a road trip icee right?

Monster Jam was at Atlanta Motor Speedway and it was my first time visiting that location. I prepaid for parking and it was a total breeze!

This time we were able to take part in the Pit Party which allowed us to get up close and personal with all of the trucks. They are just MASSIVE in person and it’s a totally different perspective than from sitting way up. You can really appreciate the details of them!

It also helped to attend the Pit Party because we were able to choose our favorite trucks to root for during the main event. Spear about lost his MIND when he saw the huge construction truck! More than the trucks themselves though Spear was super into watching the guys WORK on the trucks. He loves to see how things work!

The event was very kid friendly and they had a big sand play area that the boys loved as well as a color station too!

We had time between the Pit Party and main event to get some lunch and get settled in our seats. It was great because we had plenty of shade and even had a little table section in front of our seats. Helped keep the boys contained! We splurged on shaved ice for them both in Monster Jam cups and enjoyed watching the events. I’m glad I brought along our headphones to help minimize the loud sounds.

I was very surprised (and impressed!) with how well Spear paid attention. He was facinated by all the construction vehicles prepping for the event as well as the trucks themselves. He kept asking “who winned?” after each event.

He did amazing all day! It was a long time in the car but he was awesome, even without a nap, and never had any issues whatsoever. It was such a great time together! A man sitting in front of us was notttt watching his sons and they started messing a good bit with our boys which distracted them. Since they weren’t really watching the event anymore we just went ahead and headed back home. We got our fill and had fun and there was NO pressure to stay the whole time. I’m just glad both the bff cousins had a fun time!

Spear had a little art show at school which was a chance for us to come and see the work he’s done throughout the school year. He was so proud and it was so sweet of Big Papa and GMama to come by to see too! So thankful for his amazing teachers!

Spear had a day off from school that the big kids didn’t have off and I tried to really be intentional on using that day to pour into HIM and having quality time together. We went on a walk (telling spooky stories about skeletons and zombies), went to the store, and even went to Friday Frolic. It was so interesting to watch Spear run and play with other children close to his age…I was surprised by how bossy he was!

After we played for a bit we headed to CFA for a lunch date together. He’s my first kid to choose to order applesause as a side instead of french fries! I loved our special day together 🙂

Spear is at that precious age where he

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