Recap: April

Uncle Spencie's birthday:

I thought it was too cold for the kids to go in the pool so OBVIOUSLY I didn't pack appropriate swim attire. No need.





Young Women fundraiser:

The girls did an awesome job of putting together a fundraiser to get them to girls camp. There were lots of desserts to bid on, a chili cook off and fun games for the kids.





(the rest of) April soccer:

Hudson was such a good sport about going to Maddy's games! He didn't watch too much of the action on the field, but was getting into mischief with Linc and making new friends with Coach Wes' son, Broox. He was also very happy to play with Clay every game / practice and now talks about zombies. A lot. :)



This game was on April 13th. It was the only game where the Warriors scored!!  It was so exciting. I can't believe we went from being undefeated last season to getting whooped almost every game this season!!!



(Maddy could often be found raising her hand for the ball when it was thrown in, or when her coach or the refs were choosing someone to throw it in. Reminds me of a West Wing episode)


♥

The next game Maddy got even more aggressive and seemed like she was having a blast.  It was so fun to watch!!



At the next practice, the girls were cracking me up!! Coach Wes wasn't there so the assistant tried to keep them all focused. Uhhhh, it didn't really work. It was fun to watch though!







Mia's dad is the coach of Martin football and let us practice on his field every week. Maddy & Mia became the cutest little pals, running around and being rascals.



Another shot of the Hud with his game face / smolder.



This is Preslee, Maddy's other little friend. I think this sweetie just turned four. She actually was a pretty good little player and they had fun.

 

Maybe instead of having all this fun, they should have practiced more? NAH. That'll come later. What a BLAST.

The rats:

Yep. They came back. They dug another hole inside and were camping out in our laundry room. UNDER OUR WASHER. Kill me now.



Hopefully they're gone for good this time. Or we'll get the heck out of here before they come back. :(

And let's end on a good note:

Girl's Night!!!



A bunch of us met up at Red, Hot & Blue and then went shopping for the rest of the night. (Really shopping equaled taking horrible creeper pictures of each other and then posting them to Instagram. Hilarious at the time, so so hilarious.)

Hud's birthday party. Or lack of.

As previously mentioned, Hud's original party got rained out. When I attempted to reschedule, most people couldn't make it. It all turned out great though - Tracy & her boys came, and our kids ran around the zoo like they owned the place. The weather cooperated and Hudson had SUCH a good time.

April showers bring... well, uh, April flowers

Every year I tell my self we're going to get a picture of the kids in the bluebonnets, and every year I fail miserably. This year a friend of a friend recommended the Bluebonnet Trails in Ennis, Texas. One Sunday after church I surprised my family and told them we were taking a little trip. My kids + road trips don't always equal fun for me, so I put on my best fake smile and got in the car. (Of course actually getting into the car was such. an. ordeal. *sigh*)

Hudson fell asleep right about Midlothian, right when we started seeing more flowers on the side of the freeway. Shortly thereafter, we saw the most amazing spread of bluebonnets... It was amazing. We pulled over and I got some pictures of Maddy while Mike waited with Hud in the car. (Don't worry, we were pulled wayyyyy over.)






Maddy didn't really want to leave but I told her the best was yet to come. Plus I really needed a picture with the two of them for this trip to be a success. :)  We got closer and closer to Ennis and kept seeing these amazing fields full of bluebonnets, but the website's notes said to keep going, so that's what we did. Hud eventually woke up and soon after we found the most beautiful place I've ever seen.



The kids had so much fun petting the horses and the scenery was beyond incredible.



At one point, both kids said they had to go to the bathroom, so we did what any roadtrippers would and pulled over (again).


(Got these post-bathroom attempts. Ha. Neither child was able to go - totally understandable - so on the way home we stopped and let them relieve themselves in a civilized manner.)

We stayed on the trail for as long as we could, but it was getting late and the snacks I had haphazardly packed had gone as far as they would go. It hit me at that point I still hadn't got a decent shot of them together, so this was in someone's yard and was literally the second-to-last picture I took.




(Scrounging around for... something. No idea. Kids are weird.)

Can't wait to do this again next year!

*Tip: remember to take wipes, more snacks and your allergy meds.

Easter

Some of my favorite parts of Easter:

Mike got up with the kids, I don't know why, I didn't plan to miss their Easter morning, but whatever. I forgot to tell him to take pictures BUT HE DID IT ANYWAY. Love him. I had to include all of the pictures because they're all hilarious to me. The kids were flipping out over searching for their baskets. (Obviously candy is their love language.)



We got ready for church and were running late (imagine!), so we barely got these pictures snapped. Bah. One day...



After second hour, we pulled the kids out and headed to Nancy & Norm's for Easter dinner. The food was quite plentiful and we had a great time.



Texas siblings, hollaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!



Heather can't stop herself from going NUTS over this kind of thing, and Nancy & my mom joined her this year. Obviously it's so much fun to watch the kids have a complete BLAST with the hunt and the toys, but... Regardless we're so appreciative and grateful for all our family.



Kaitlyn was sweet enough to take the kids on her horse. It was Hudson's first time and, uh, he was a little nervous. He did great though!!

Hud's birthday

Welp, this birthday for Hud was not quite what I had planned. I got in my mind a zoo party, and since he had a check-up with his doctor on his birthday, I planned it for the next week. (Half-price Wednesdays, yo!) That Wednesday, it was in the forecast to rain and be cold, so I cancelled the party. The cold really came through, I don't think it even made it to the 50s, but it didn't even rain. :/ I think I did the right thing though, that's a little chilly. I didn't want to reschedule it for two weeks past his birthday (which, good thing I didn't, because this last Wednesday, it did rain and rain, and was fuh-reezing!), so I just said to heck with it. Hopefully we can meet our friends at the zoo one of these days and the plus side is they won't have to worry about a gift (though some of them did anyway - thanks, ladies!)

So on March 27th, his actual birthday, we took the kids to Red Robin and then Dave & Busters. We hung out there as long as we I could stand and then came home.



A couple days later, some friends of ours insisted on bringing over cake and ice cream for Hudson, so we invited the Sharps too and made a night of it. Easter was that weekend, so I made some funeral potatoes, asparagus, we got some rotisserie chickens, and the Sharps brought a salad. After all of that deliciousness, we brought out the cake for Hud and sang to him. He loved it. (Best cake ever, for sure.)





The next night we had a little fiesta for him at my brother's house, inviting all both our families. It was so much fun, I'm so glad there are so many family members around!! We always have fun when we get together, and the kids love going up there and exploring 'the country.'







Hud scored big this year. Baseballs, a Kinsler jersey, a basketball, a Tball set, HIS VERY OWN CAPE - what more could this kid ever need??  He's such a spoiled little guy.



Love you bud!

Soccer, round 2

{These little cuties! Love them!}

At the end of last 'season,' Maddy was a little burnt out on soccer. When asked if she wanted to play again, she said no. I gave it a couple months and broached the subject again and she replied, "Sure." We talked about it off and on and I got with Stacie to see if she wanted Jack to play - turns out, they did!


{Before practice. Hud kept asking if Linc (Jack's little brother) was on his team.}

Maddy and Jack play for the Warriors and Coach Wes. At the first practice, I was very surprised. This guy is serious about the sport. He had them run a lap, do some stretching, and then had a legit practice. I was a teeny bit afraid - - Maddy can be kinda timid and shy - heck, at most of her games last year, she was so embarrassed to be doing anything in front of a crowd, she half-skipped, half-walked around the field. (When she wasn't standing there, being super shy.)  And Coach Wes is really cool, but I didn't want him to be too hard on her, or any of the other kids.







The practice went fine, she said she had a good time. Their first game was a couple days later and it was awesome to watch Maddy & Jack out there. Sitting with our friends on the sidelines, cheering them on - it made for a fantastic Saturday!!  They didn't win the game - the other team scored on us four times and we didn't score at all.


{Courtesy of Stacie}


{Hud & Linc causing a ruckus for most of the game. They can't help it.}

The next practice was okay too, they played a couple different games that got them used to dribbling the ball. They also had a couple races against Coach Wes to see who could run the fastest. Maddy is the second tallest kid on her team, but definitely not the fastest. :)







{This is all the kids version of getting open. Standing in the same spot, but waving their hands in the air and yelling, "I'M OPEN!!!" Hahaha.}


{Thank goodness for Clay! He's taken these rascals under his wings and wears Hud right out!}

That Saturday there was no game (I guess because of Easter) so that next Monday, we got together with Jack & his family and played some soccer at the park. When it came time for her to take the ball and kick it in, she couldn't, and she got really frustrated and said she didn't want to play anymore. She came and sat down with me (Stacie and I were shooting the breeze) and when I asked her if she could teach me some stuff about soccer, she perked right up. I've never played before, and it scares me to play sports, so I told her if she helped me, I would try. She showed me what to do but then kinda ran with it, and made a goal. Everyone burst into applause and yelled for her and she started crying!!!  Bless her little heart, she is just so sweet!!!!!  She just can't help but be embarrassed, I guess. After that, she had her game face on. She was being adorable with her instructions of how I should kick the ball in the goal, I loved it!!!  ♥  I think I could really see the wheels turning for her - soccer is... A. Game! A competition, if you will.  Ha.

At the practice last week, it was CHILLY. And of course the zipper on her jacket broke right at the beginning, so she was one hot {but really cold} mess running around. She did well though, kicked some goals in and ran as hard as she could. At the game on Saturday, she ran more for the ball than ever before. She kicked it quite a bit and I could see that something had clicked. Sadly, the other team was straight out of a movie and we couldn't even compete. They lost the game by a landslide, not scoring even one time.  :(



Right before the 3rd quarter (period?), Maddy kinda started limping on the field. She ended up being the one to sit out (they have 9 kids on their team, 1 extra) but she bucked up for the 4th. She was still limping out there and kinda running on her tiptoes, which was equally sad and hilarious to watch. Thankfully it was fine, but she did have me worried for a minute. It's just the beginning, I'm sure!!



Love this girl and her willingness to step outside her comfort zone!! ♥