10.26.2019

Ashton's Six Year Birthday Interview

Here's Ashton's responses to our birthday interview with her this year.

How old are you? Six

What is your favorite color? Pink

What is your favorite animal? Horses

What is your favorite book? Cinderella book (same as last year)

 What is your favorite show? Cinderella

 What do you like to eat? Ham and cheese roll ups that I make for her school lunches

What is your favorite game? Fairy Game

What is your favorite thing to do? Play the Wii with Daddy

Who is your best friend? Emery and Oliver (some neighbor kids down the street)

What do you like to do with Daddy? Play the Wii

What do you like to do with Mommy? Go on Mommy/Daughter dates

What is your favorite restaurant? Chick-Fil-A

Where do you want to go for vacation? To the Smoky Mountains again

What do you want to be when you grow up? Two things: a vet and a mom

What is your favorite song? Baptism (I Like to Look for Rainbows)

What is the best time of day? Juice box day (she gets a juice box for school one day a week)

What makes you happy? My family

10.24.2019

Ashton's school year so far

Ashton has adjusted well to kindergarten so far. We get updates from her teacher and I enjoy seeing how she is doing.
Her teacher uses a program to communicate with the parents. I sent her a message about how the special classes rotate as Ashton was a little confused about it. Her teacher decided to make Ashton the "daily helper" who announces what day in the rotation it is. This is the perfect job for Ashton and I'm grateful her teacher found an individual way to help Ashton.
Ashton says this states, I like to play on playgrounds. I love her labeling of the sun and bees and other parts.
More writing in Spanish.
Aside from mixing up a B with the R, it says I like giraffes in Spanish.
  
This is telling us what she likes to eat. Milk and cheese and something else.









This week, the school had a character assembly that focused on a few character traits that the school is working on. I think they loosely follow Seven Habits for Effective People or whatever that is called by Stephen Covey. Ashton was surprised and got a "Caught Doing Good" award for being proactive in the classroom. She said she was the only one in her class to receive an award but who knows how attentive she was to who else came up in front of the school. I was proud of her. She seems to be doing well in class. But then seems to make up for it at home. We've noticed a slight increase in attitude and acting rudely towards her brother once at home. Thankfully, she's good at school so I can't complain too much.

10.15.2019

Fall Events

 Our fall was HOT! I think we tied or came close to the latest cold front coming to Houston so it was very warm this fall. Thankfully, we've grown accustomed to the heat and still get outside. Ashton celebrated her birthday and we had contemplated getting her a bigger bike. We decided to wait until Christmas. Well, a week after her birthday, the tire blew on her old bike. It would cost 30-40 to repair it or 80 for a new, bigger bike. So we decided to get the next size up and then we'll fix the old bike when Gemma is ready for it in 4+ years. It's a little tall but still good for her. She loves being able to go faster and that it has a kickstand and a handbrake.
Tanner wanted his picture taken too. Everyone that sees him riding a two-wheeler is always shocked that he can do it.
 Chick-Fil-A hosted a Pirate and Princess night. We went for FHE and got some ice cream for the kids. It was well worth it as they handed out free kids meal coupons for each kid. They planned really fun activities for the kids and they loved dressing up. Tanner missed the memo that it was pirates and just thought it was dress up so he was a Firefighter Pirate instead.


A tropical storm made landfall not far from us and caused a lot of rain in Houston. While not as severe as Hurricane Harvey, it did some serious damage to the east side of Houston and eastern Texas. School was cancelled one day and released early another day. It rained a ton for a few days but the kids could care less. Gemma spent as much time outside splashing in puddles and playing in the rain. One mom on our street had the great idea of just having her kids wear their swimsuits in the rain, which was exactly what I needed to do. Then I didn't have tons of sopping clothes to wash all day.
Before the storm hit, the ice cream truck came to visit. We typically buy ice cream from the truck about once a year so the kids were thrilled with it. $7 is pretty pricey for ice cream so Gemma just got a popsicle from the freezer while the big kids picked out a fancy treat.
Ashton had Columbus Day off from school and we enjoyed a fun day with the three kiddos. It's odd; before Ashton went to kindergarten, I often had some anxiety about the three kids home all day with me (like days she didn't have preschool). But now, I welcome the nice break from the school schedule. I can see me liking summer break for about a week or two and then wanting the routine back. It was nice to have a day home with her. We celebrated by heading to the Y so Ashton could play there too and then went to Chick-Fil-A. Because the kids had free kid's meals, I spent a dollar for the entire lunch meal. Gotta love a cheap meal with three kids.
After naps that day, we ventured out to a new church for a pumpkin "patch." The kids picked their pumpkins for painting and had fun.






We spent one Sunday afternoon exploring the lake in our big subdivision. It is a little further than our pool/park area so the big kids rode their bikes down to it. We saw an alligator and a bunch of turtles and jumping fish. It was the perfect weather for a nice bike ride and then we spent lots of time at the park. For once, there were several other families there to interact with so the kids enjoyed it.

10.10.2019

Ashton's 6th Birthday

Ashton turned six last month and had a great birthday. She had school that day so was able to help with the school announcements and Joseph went to lunch with her. Ashton planned out most of her special day. It started with crepes for breakfast, ordering school lunch with Dad, and ribs and corn on the cob for dinner. On Saturday, she had a few friends over for a birthday party. The theme she chose was a baking/cooking theme. So we made pizzas with her friends and then decorated some cupcakes. The kids also decorated chef hats and played pin the candle on the cupcake. Ashton actually spent a lot of time decorating her cupcakes and I enjoyed watching her experiment with it all. It seems she has been watching me decorate over all these years.