Tanner's Triathlon

Tanner set a goal at the beginning of the year to complete a triathlon. We found a kids level one near us. He trained for a few months ahead of time. The swim start caught him off guard a little. He thought everyone jumped in at once so when he jumped in, he thought he false started. His bike time was slow compared to the other kids and that got in his head. But then his run had him zooming by lots of people. He was pleased with his finish. But he did decide after the race to just stick to running races.

Gemma's Birthday

 Gemma turned 6 in March. Her birthday fell over the district spring break again. We left for camping on her birthday so we did a quick celebration before leaving. She wanted a Moana cake, which was easy. For her birthday party, she did a tiger cake with lots of sprinkles. It was an easy cake to make since the tigers were just little figurines.

We had a birthday party at home the following week. Gemma has some great little friends that love being silly together.

Her first squishmallow came as a gift from a friend. Gemma loved camping for her birthday, which also took a little bit of the "plan a fun day" away. Really, the whole week was celebrations as we made some fun day outings during spring break.

End of School Year

The end of school came! We went an extra week later this year because of a later start in August. That extra week was rough! We normally get out before Memorial Day. Everyone felt it was too much. I am glad the district is going back to their normal calendar next year.

Gemma had a great kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Gonzalez. While Gemma was a little more hesitant to learn this year, she ended the year pretty well. Reading has been slow-moving at home, but at school, she was fine. She ended the year above grade level in Spanish reading. I don't know how that happened because it is like pulling teeth at home to get her to read. She is capable; she just doesn't like to. Gemma also tested into the gifted and talented program this year so joins her older siblings in that.

Tanner had a fantastic 2nd grade year. He had high math goals and met all of them. He joined the gifted and talented program as well and loved the extra challenges there. His showcase project was on mutual relationships with animals. Tanner had the same teachers Ashton had in 2nd grade, so that was wonderful for all of us.

Ashton finished up 4th grade. This year was a bit of a challenge as she had 3 new-to-Brookwood teachers, two of which were brand new teachers altogether. Thankfully her homeroom teacher was a parent of a child in the Spanish program that we've known since kindergarten. Unfortunately, her math teacher was brand new and struggled with classroom management. Ashton started not liking math as much this year. But we found out at the end of the year that her homeroom teacher, who she adored, is moving up to 5th grade in the program. So Ashton will get her again! Ashton continued in the gifted and talented program as well. She participated in ALPHA, where the students who are GT go off campus each Friday for a special mini-course in a topic of their choosing. Ashton did nature photography and loved it.

Lydia wrapped up the year at preschool. It's a perfect fit for our family: cheap, just a couple hours a day, for 3 days a week. They go a little over the top on graduation and celebrations but Lydia loved it all.

Living Materials Center

Our school district has a Living Materials Center housed at an intermediate school. The building has dozens of animals living in it, which the middle school takes care of during the school year. Teachers can check out the different animals and take the animal to their home campus for a week at a time. Our school has had a hedgehog, ferrets, snakes, etc. During the normal school year, just the students in that program care for the animals. During school breaks and summer, kids 10 and older can volunteer there. Ashton went through the training and has volunteered there a bunch over the past year. Parents are welcome to join so I was able to come with one Friday when Joseph was off of work. We cleaned the ferrets enclosure and a bird enclosure. Then, the animals come out to play. Ashton played with the ferrets, hamsters, and snakes. I stuck to the little hamster.

 

Spring Break 2024

Spring break was a welcomed week at our house. We were able to get some rest and enjoy time together. Lydia really liked her rest. The first part of spring break was a ward campout at a local park. Because of the cold temperatures/wind, I took the two littles home after the ward dinner. But they still wanted to "camp" inside so they set up their beds in my room. Lydia loved it!

A ward family moved away last summer and Tanner was so sad. The family had several young men that played sports with Tanner. The family came to visit during the break and Tanner was very happy to spend time with them at the church.

I decided to take the kids to the rodeo on the kid-free day during break. It is always crazy and hectic but we made the most of it. The kids loved the petting zoo and pig races. I did not love how expensive everything is and how crowded it gets. We skip all the games and food. We like to visit the agricultural stuff like the eggs hatching, birthing barn, etc.

We spent the second half of break camping in Lake Livingston. It was a great time! We were worried the rain and storms would be terrible so almost cancelled. But the weather held out great for us. A few moments of sprinkles/light rain and a couple rumbles of thunder. Nothing too much. The kids loved swimming, kayaking, hiking, finding roly poly bugs, and playing with friends. A family from our ward came with us and all the kids got to play together.

 

February Highlights

February came and went quickly! I was a little busy with our school's largest fundraiser and event of the year. Our PTA hosts a carnival and silent auction every February. We bring in close to $40,000 in one day and it takes a lot of work to put it all together. If I wasn't teaching or with my kids, I was busy working on Carnival! It was nice to get it done with but also a lot of fun.

Lydia had a field trip to Galveston and the children's museum there. I was able to join her and watch her play with her preschool friends.

The area high schools do a bunch of musicals in January and February. One high school did Matilda. Ashton and I went and she loved it. We also went to Beauty and the Beast with all the girls. It had a live orchestra, which was really neat. Ashton loved Matilda so much she is singing a song from it for the school's talent show.

February brought Alpha class for Ashton. With our district's gifted and talented program, 4th and 5th graders get to pick a course off campus during the spring semester. Ashton picked nature photography and loved it. Apparently, she was a good friend to the kids in her class as I saw this note one day. It is a mixed group of kids from all over the district so it was fun for her too. Tanner and Gemma will get their chance in a few years as well.

Gemma hit 100 days of school! She had a blast walking around the school in the parade.

February also brought Valentine's Day parties. Lydia acts like she owns the school. She is there so much with me when I am volunteering and she just makes herself at home everywhere we go. The front office staff have started teaching her Spanish and give her candy every time. Most of the teachers know who she is and the kid's classrooms all love when she visits. Lydia found a reading nook in Gemma's classroom.

Tanner came downstairs one night to tell me that if he kept his eyes like this, they'd be stuck there forever.

At the school's carnival, we had a Pie Throwing game. This is one of Tanner's teachers. I also got my 30 minute shift in the pie booth.

A family moved into our neighborhood from a neighboring ward and we are thrilled! We've known the family for several years and are so excited to have them closer. We've met up at the parks lots of times and the kids can bike back and forth too. Most of the kids line up closely in age, which is nice.

 Tanner had a field trip to the Houston Space Center. We went on the tour of the Astronaut Training Facility, which was fun. Tanner got to be with his best friend all day at the field trip.

Lydia's Birthday

 Sweet Lydia turned 4 in January! She was "kind" to share her birthday with Tanner's baptism too. Plus we had family visiting so it was a busy weekend.

One gift was a new lunch box for her! She has some field trips at preschool so was very excited about her own lunch box.

We had a little friend party for her. It got delayed a couple weeks because Gemma and Lydia both got Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease the morning of the initial party. Lydia asked that we invite all her preschool teachers. She attends a preschool at a local high school. The program offers a small preschool a few mornings a week with about 20 high schoolers and 10 little preschoolers. I was surprised when about 6-7 teachers said they'd come. Even Lydia's nursery teacher from church came to celebrate with her.