Tanner's Birthday

 Tanner turned 8 this year! He was very excited for his birthday. As luck would have it, he had the day off of school because of a cold weather snap in Houston. It was nice that we were able to spend the whole day celebrating without the hustle and bustle of school. Although, the city pretty much shut down so there was no where to go. He asked for lots of books for his birthday. As well as some new sports equipment.

January Highlights

I am trying to catch up on our year. Things have been busy with life in general.

January had some highlights! It was also filled with Hand, Foot, Mouth disease for the first time in the Wilcox family. That was fun. Gemma and Lydia were very tired and irritable for a while.

Ashton earned a spot in the school spelling bee, which was fun. She made it about half way through the competition before getting out. She spelled a word phonetically in Spanish and mixed up a -cion vs. -sion ending. She had a good time.

BYU Women's basketball came to Houston to play so we took the kids to that. If you look really closely, Tanner found the BYU Sports Radio announcer guy at the game. The guy was kind to Tanner and gave him a Stats Page after the game. Unfortunately, BYU lost and the players didn't come back out to greet the fans. Oh well.

Tanner celebrate his birthday with friends at a park. We brought cupcakes and pizza. Tanner planned all the sport games. He filled his afternoon with baseball, soccer, and football. He was so happy.

Lydia was happy with the cupcakes.

With Tanner's baptism, my sister came to visit as did Joseph's parents. We had a wonderful time with them all in town.

 Ashton has been on her school's robotic team this year. They had a couple competitions in January that kept us busy as well.

Tanner's Birthday Interview

How old are you? 8

What is your favorite color? Light green and royal/dark blue

What is your favorite animal? Grey wolf and wallaby (he saw on at the rodeo recently)

What is your favorite book? Mac Sports Reports

What is your favorite show? Video on YouTube- he watches sports highlights videos

What do you like to eat? Chicken tenders, Sprite, mozzarella sticks, sandwiches, chips

What is your favorite game? Football game with Joseph

What is your favorite thing to do? Play sports

Who is your best friend? "I have 3." Oliver (neighbor), Joseph (school), Jack (school)

What do you like to do with Dad? I like when Dad is my coach.

What do you like to with Mom? I like to read books and play games.

Where do you want to go on a vacation? Isle Royale to see the wolves, or Europe, or Australia

What do you want to be when you grow up? Sports reporters who writes all the stories on athletes

What is your favorite song? I'm Good, by Blue. I think. It's the radio version.

What is the best time of day? When I read books at night and school

What makes you happy? Playing sports and having fun

Lydia's Birthday Interview

How old are you? 4

What is your favorite color? Purple and pink

What is your favorite animal? Sea lion, otter, and a cheetah

What is your favorite book? Daniel Tiger and Biscuit

What is your favorite show? Bluey (I finally let the kids watch Bluey over winter break. It was a huge hit.)

What do you like to eat? Mac and cheese

What is your favorite game? Pie in the Face

What is your favorite thing to do? Jump on the trampoline

Who is your best friend? Sofia (friend from church)

What do you like to do with Dad? Read books with him

What do you like to with Mom? Have sleepovers (we have a sleepover in her room a few weeks ago since we didn't make it to camping that weekend)

Where do you want to go on a vacation? To Aunt Trescha's house

What do you want to be when you grow up? Doctor

What is your favorite song? I am a Child of God

What is the best time of day? The day we go on field trips at preschool

What makes you happy? Love

December Happenings

 December was busy, as I am sure it is for everyone. Lots going on!

Ashton had some robotics tournaments. I still don't understand how the scoring works but she seems to get it all. Her team is still competing into 2024 so we still have robotics. This is her team's robot that they built.

It has been a warm winter. The girls got out the pool and swimsuits one day.

Every year, the GT program in our district has a big "showcase" project for each grade. 4th grade's project is focused on the National Park Service. Ashton chose a park, researched it, created a presentation, and then presented to a bunch of people. She ended up getting a perfect grade, which was rare. And her presentation was used an example to new GT teachers in the district. She thought that was cool. She chose Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota. I wish it was closer so we could go soon. One year, we'll make it there.

Tanner had two more soccer tournaments too! He got 2nd place at one and 1st place at the other. He was pretty content. We are scaling back with his soccer club team. It is getting a little more intense than we'd like. We'll see what is next for this kid. For now, he's happy in his basketball league and then summer swim will start in May. We also found a low-key baseball league for him in spring.

School winter parties took place. PTA takes the lead on these so it was a little busier for me. Not too much though.

Lydia walks around the school like she owns the place. She fits right in with all of Ashton's friends. They love Lydia. She joined all three of the sibling parties.

Decorating sugar cookies. Not my favorite thing to do, but the kids beg for it.

We're cat sitting for a family for a few weeks. The cat is the most snuggliest cat I've ever seen. Comes right up to everyone, sits on your lap, purrs the whole time. Crazy cat. So we love going to the house each day and seeing the kitty.

Fun Run 2023

Every year, our elementary school PTA holds a fun run (with the exception of last year for some reason). The kids love it. The person leading it this year did an amazing job at it! We changed it up to have it in December and it was a jingle run. We host a 1K for each grade level and then a community-wide 5K. Ashton, Tanner, and Gemma raced in their grade level races and then Joseph, Ashton, and Tanner did the 5K as well. Ashton's bestie is homeschooled but her siblings attend the same school. So the only way to run together was to do the 5K together. And Tanner, of course, just loves any physical challenge.

Gemma ran her little body as fast as she could. Tanner got 2nd place for his grade and Ashton won 1st for her grade. Then in the 5K, Tanner was the second school-age boy to finish. He and his friend ran the race together, which was cool. And Ashton was the first school age girl to finish! All in all, a fun (and exhausting PTA) day. Can't wait for the next one!

 

Thanksgiving in Alabama

Tanner's soccer team was invited to play at a national tournament in Alabama at the end of Thanksgiving break. The team decided to go so we made the drive over. My parents and step-sister decided to join us for warmer weather. We spent the week in Alabama/Florida with them. The tournament was fun too! Tanner scored a bunch against really talented teams. The team as a whole didn't do too well but we were pleased with Tanner's playing.

We spent a day at the Naval Air Museum on the navy base in Pensacola. We went several years ago with just Ashton, I think. But the kids loved it. After that, we drove all the way around Penscola/and the island to Fort Pickins. It's a battle fort used in the Civil War. The kids had a blast climbing and exploring the fort.

Near the rental house was the Gulf State Park. Right along the gulf coast but also with lots of woods/forests. We went geocaching and hiking there a couple times. Lydia found the sand. Not too long after she got up, some deer crossed.

Another day, we went to Mobile and visited the USS Alabama, a battleship, as well as the USS Drum, a submarine. You could tour both of them. The battleship was massive and the littles only lasted for part of it. Tanner had a great time learning all about the history of the battleship as well as learning about Fort Pickins. He could have stayed all day.

In the town we stayed in, there was a tea restaurant that held Teddy Bear Tea parties. My step-sister and her family wanted to do one so we all went. Gemma and Lydia had a blast eating small treats and drinking lemonade with their stuffed animals.

My kids adore my parent's dog, Molly. Her birthday is sometime in December so Lydia requested to celebrate it in Alabama. Molly went along with it. The girls were so happy.

We headed to the beach along the gulf. My kids thought the water was too cold whereas the northern family loved it! We played in the sand a bunch and collected bags and bags of seashells.

All in all, it was a great trip. The kids did awesome on the drive to and from. It was about 9 hours away. Good practice for our road trip next summer.