Saying GoodBye

The time has come to say goodbye to our playset. The kids haven't played on it for awhile, and we'd like to have the yard space back. We posted it for free on a yard sale sight and had a taker within 30 seconds. Seriously. It's big and will be difficult to move, plus we have a fence to maneuver around. We figured it was worth giving it away if we didn't have to do any of the work of removing it. They are supposed to come get it tomorrow while we are at school.

I'm a little sad to see it go. It's sad to be done with that part of our lives, although we've been done and I've known it for awhile. It was fun building it and saving up for the tube slide. We had picnics up in the top fort. We sat up there and went through our scavenger hunt goodies one afternoon. Clara dug a hole in the sandbox and then fell asleep in it when she was just a little puppy. Danielle and her girlfriends from next door used to spin themselves silly on the tire swing. There are a lot of good memories in that weathered, wooden playset.

Play Ball!

Danielle has had a few softball scrimmages over the past few weeks. She looks pretty solid in the field and has had some pretty good at bats. Hopefully it will be a good season for her. She looks like she's having fun, and that's what's most important.

Baby (Fox) Pictures

 

What I Did Today...

 

 

Another VB Tourney

I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to post pictures after yesterday's volleyball tournament. Those are long days! We have to arrive when the doors open around 7:30am, and we don't leave until our team is done with all our games and assignments. We weren't done until after 6pm and didn't get home until after 8. It's hard to spectate all day. :) I don't know how Danielle managed to stay awake on the ride home. She played in 5 volleyball games yesterday and all but one of those went to a third tie-breaker set. That's a lot of volleyball. Her team did really well and made it to the gold bracket but lost in the semi-finals. Danielle did pretty good. She had the last few winning serves in a few of the games. That's always fun. Her team played a team that had her basketball coach's daughter and softball coach's daughter on it. It was extra special to beat them. :)

At each tournament, teams have a designated spot where they set up camp for the day.
The green pillow and rainbow blanket are Danielle's.

Before each game, each team links arms and walks to the middle of the court with the refs.
The teams turn and wave at the spectators and then shake hands with each other. Danielle is always second in line after the team captain because she is the libero.

Teams often call a time-out to ice the other team's server.

Playing against her basketball and softball teammates.

Frozen!

Yep, that's ice in my hummingbird feeder. Hopefully this will be the last freeze of the season. The hummingbirds should be here any day now.

A Sweet Treat

Chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake. As wonderful as it looks.



Trying a New Do

Danielle likes to look up hairdo ideas online. She bookmarks a ton of them and then occasionally shows them to me to try. My problem is that I have to practice before we "go live" and she doesn't like to make time for that. (Honestly, she rarely sits still.) Instead, 10 minutes before I have to leave for school in the morning, she wants me to do something new with her hair. I try, and she gets frustrated and ends up going with the standby ponytail or headband.

We paused to enjoy the sunshine on the patio this weekend and I snuck in a quick fishtail braid. She had been asking me for awhile to try it. It was my first attempt, and it turned out pretty good. She had me do it for school one day this week, and the time crunch must have been too much pressure for me. It looked good but not as nice as the first attempt.

She has such pretty hair. So many different shades of brown and blonde.

A Math Problem

He's a good student, but not quite that good.

Today's Pic

My Milkweed

One day it wasn't there. The next day it looked like this. Yay spring!

A Personal Concert

Tyler humored his sister today and got out his beginner music book to play a couple songs with her.

She has improved a ton since her first concert! Tyler is still doing well, too. His band teacher told me earlier this week that he could easily be playing with the high school band right now. The kids' winter concert was cancelled due to a snow day. I'm looking forward to their spring concert which is mid-May.

Awards Day

Another grading period over, another awards ceremony to attend. Thank goodness we're almost done. The kids had their D.A.R.E. graduation assembly today, so they all had to wear matching shirts.

The past couple years the 3rd grading period has been the most difficult. We've had multiple snow days, which throws everyone's routines off. This year we had more extensive testing than in year's past. That was quite an interruption. And the weather is yucky and the sunshine minimal. I think all that adds up and makes it harder than normal for the kids to concentrate and stay in a groove. Tyler and Danielle both did well, it just took a little more effort, I think. Thankfully we are in the home stretch. We have 30 days of school left.

Danielle got 2 awards today. One for her grades and one for her effort in phys ed.

 

 

Another VB Tourney

After three weeks off, Danielle's volleyball team played in their 3rd tournament this weekend. Danielle played really well. Her team did pretty good, too. Their next tournament is in two weeks. I love watching her play. Whatever she does, she does it with everything she has.

She has her first softball scrimmage of the season tomorrow, and we are all looking forward to that.

Today's Pic

Happy Easter!

We enjoyed our Easter service on Friday evening. It was one of 6 or 7 services our church had this weekend. We thought it would be the least busy and it fit into our schedule well. It was kind of a nice way to kick off Easter weekend, too. I wanted to get a nice picture of the kids before church, but it was rainy and the lighting wasn't good. I thought I'd try again later in the weekend, but it didn't happen. So, this is it.

We enjoyed our annual Easter egg hunt at Mamaw & Papaw's house today. It was a beautiful day to be outside - another day of "abundant sunshine"! The kids are all getting so big. I think the biggest change is with Tyler this year compared to last. It really is amazing. Seb will graduate from high school next year! I don't know where the time has gone. I'm thankful for the memories we've all made together over the past several Easters. Long after they all have families of their own, they'll remember these fun times that Mamaw put together for them.

 

Happy Easter!!

Coloring Eggs