Halloween

 

We had a great Halloween this year. Trunk or Treat went well and the kids loved celebrating with the wards. Gemma had at least 3 different costumes that she rotated through. Lydia rocked out in the Squirrel costume again. I think we have 3 years of that costume and this year was probably the last. I don't think it will fit anyone next year.

Tanner was a werewolf for his second year in a row. And Ashton chose a skeleton costume, which was easy.

Our school also does a Book Character parade on Halloween. They have to dress up as a character from a book and then the kids parade around the school. It is for grades K-2. Thankfully, Tanner picked a soccer book so just wore his soccer uniform. Gemma chose Princess in Black, which we made at home. Except, she got lost during the parade and didn't get to participate much. She got embarrassed when she got lost and it was a rough day.

The kids made it through part of the neighborhood on Halloween and hit up the teachers that live by us. We had dinner with a bunch of neighbors and then went as a big group. Poor Gemma, already having a rough day from school, fell at least 4 times during trick or treating, which led to a bunch of blood and bandaids. It was just not her day.

School Starts

School started back in August. Gemma started kindergarten, Tanner in 2nd, and Ashton in 4th. Gemma was excited about starting school. With dual language, there are only two teachers per grade (out of about 6-7 classrooms). I was hopeful Gemma would get Tanner's teacher but we got the other teacher instead. It has been a good fit for Gemma but I still miss Tanner's teacher. 

We've already had one parent-teacher conference with Gemma's teacher where she told me Gemma is behind academically. Her reasoning- Gemma isn't reading in Spanish yet. Suffice it to say, I am not that worried that Gemma is not reading in a second language that she just started learning 10 weeks ago. Hopefully the teacher calms down a little bit after I communicated that I wasn't worried at all. I get it- the school has to assess the child in the Spanish language, regardless of their native language. So technically, she is behind the standards. But the teacher did assess her in English (it's required if the student "fails" in Spanish) and she passed just fine.

Tanner has Ashton's teachers from 2nd grade and we love them! And Ashton has all new teachers for 4th grade. Thankfully, one of them is a mom of a student who has been in Ashton's class since kinder so we know the family.

For clubs- Tanner is in running club again. Gemma will do a STEM club next spring. Then, Ashton got into the school choir and made the robotics team. Only 8 kids in 4th and 5th grade get offered a spot on the team so we were surprised she was picked. It's been a little intense with building the robot in time for competitions, but she is enjoying it.

Lydia started preschool at the local high school that Gemma did last year. The school allows 3 and 4 year olds as long as they are potty trained. So Lydia got to go this year too! It didn't start until early October so we had a little bit of time of just the two of us in August and September. She loves preschool and has done well there.

Ashton's Birthday Interview

How old are you? 10

What is your favorite color? Baby green

What is your favorite animal? Dolphin

What is your favorite book? Anything animal

What is your favorite show? Dr. Oakley- vet show

What do you like to eat? Chicken salad and fruit salad

What is your favorite game? Set

What is your favorite thing to do? Go on hike

Who is your best friend? Lyra/London/Kate

What do you like to do with Dad? Go on rides (Joseph is the one to ride the rollercoasters with the kids)

What do you like to with Mom? Crafts

Where do you want to go on a vacation? Jewel Cave National Monument (she's doing a research project on it so wants to go now. Unfortunately, it's in South Dakota. It will be a while before we're in that part of the country.)

What do you want to be when you grow up? Teacher/vet

What is your favorite song? A Million Dreams; she just sang it in a talent show

What is the best time of day? Morning, after breakfast

What makes you happy? My friends and family

I Love to See the Temple

The temple in McAllen, Texas was finally ready for the open house! We have waited a few years for this. The timing of the open house wasn't great- right after school started and in the Texas heat. So I had the big kids miss a day of school to go. We drove 6 hours south and stayed the night in McAllen the day before the open house began. We were there at 10am for one of the first tours on Friday. After the temple, we drove to South Padre Island. We rented a beach house for the weekend. It was a great trip.

The kids enjoyed the temple. Gemma shared a sacred experience with me afterwards that I hope she will remember as she gets older. Ashton liked seeing the baptismal font as she is only 15 months away from being able to attend the temple as a youth.

After the temple and drive to the island, we visited a turtle rescue/rehabilitation facility. The kids loved it all. Then we spent Friday night and all day Saturday at the beach. Having the beach house right there was nice so we could walk back and forth for lunch and breaks when we needed it. The beaches and water were so much nicer than Galveston. We even found a sand dollar, along with bags and bags of seashells.

We drove back Sunday after going to a small branch in the area. The people there were so excited to have a temple nearby. The kids did great on the trip as well. We found out at the branch that this temple is a huge blessing to the area it was built in. There is obviously a customs border check at the actual Mexico/US border (maybe 30 minutes away) but there is also one an hour north (that we hit on the way home, complete with drug dogs and lots of border security officers). This means much of the area's population due to their illegal immigrant status are unable to leave the area due to the risk of crossing a checkpoint. This limits their ability to attend any temple- US or Mexico.

Tanner's Soccer Team

Last winter, Joseph was approached by another coach in Tanner's rec soccer league. He had seen Tanner play over the last two years and wanted Tanner to play on his club soccer team. I immediately said no when Joseph told me. I don't like competitive sports at such a young age and I don't want to pay that kind of money. Even the rec league is a little pricey for me. But then Joseph explained it to me. The coach finds business sponsors to offset fees. So there was no expense to play on the team. We decided to try it out.

The coach enters the team in little 3v3 or 5v5 tournaments. Some are local and easy to commit to. Others are farther away and require hotels/travel. We also made it clear we wouldn't play on Sundays, which wasn't an issue for the coach. Tanner enjoyed playing with the boys and liked that he was finally on a team of players who understood soccer. The coach is definitely stricter and more focused on skill development. 

The team qualified for a regional competition in Austin. Since it was on our way back from Arkansas and a Saturday-only tournament, we went. Tanner's team took 3rd place in the tournament, which made them eligible for nationals. It was crazy! Tanner was playing against teams that pay over $1000 a month for the coach/equipment and Tanner's team was beating them! His team has committed to going to Nationals in Alabama so that is our Thanksgiving plan.

After that, the team will go back to local tournaments. It's been a good balance for our family- nothing too expensive or high commitments but higher level soccer for Tanner. He loves it too.

Arkansas

 I took the big kids to Arkansas this summer. We wanted to do more hiking without as much complaining when we take the littles with. So I planned a fun trip to Arkansas. My sister flew into Houston and joined us for the first half of the trip. That was nice to help with the driving as well as the river float.

The first day, we found some fun hikes. I wanted waterfalls and we got more water-trickles. I want to go back some spring break and see the big waterfalls. We had fun just exploring caves and natural areas.

Then, we spent a day on the Buffalo River. We rented two canoes and did a 4-5 hour float down the river. The kids did well with the float. The water was a little low so we got out a few times to help the canoes through the water. We stopped at the sandy beaches and a little creek. Tanner loved the creek as we did leave races for a long time.

The final day with my sister, we drove to Little Rock and visited Little Rock Central High School. We read a ton about the high school and desegregation before the trip so the kids were pretty good about learning more at the visitor's center and seeing the school. We said goodbye to my sister who was flying out the next morning.

The kids and I kept going to Hot Springs, Arkansas. We visited the national park there and did some hiking in a nearby state park. We also went horseback riding.

Saturday was a tournament for Tanner back in Texas so we finished our trip off with the tournament.

Our view from our cabin.

Swim Season

We participated in the summer swim team again this year. The big news was that Gemma made the team! It took her the entire week of tryouts to make it across the pool unattended. But she did it!

Ashton moved up in age groups, which meant she swam 50 yard races instead of 25 yards. Tanner also moved up in age groups and swam all four strokes this year. Gemma swam free and back, when she felt like it.

Gemma earned "most improved swimmer" for 6 and under girls. It helps that her first 25 yard freestyle was over 2 minutes long. You can only improve from there. Tanner qualified for the "playoff" meet in July with his breaststroke. Ashton was very close to that in her backstroke. I have a feeling next year will include Ashton and Tanner qualifying in more events.

Lydia was the honorary coach for the year. She loves the head coaches and they love her. She gets popsicles from them all the time. At the end of year swim party, Lydia got right in the pool with the coaches. I don't think she'll be strong enough next summer for the team. Maybe the year after.

We had a good swim season. I am grateful it helps my kids be strong swimmers. When we canoed the Buffalo River, I had minimal concerns about their swimming ability in the river. They are strong swimmers, which is nice to know in Texas.

His face when he found out he qualified for the playoff meet.