Springtime in Texas

Spring has been a bit of a crazy time for our family. Joseph's work has been in a lockout for about six weeks now. This means the operator's union and Dow have not reached an agreement or a new contract. Until they do, the operators are locked out of Dow so Joseph is acting as an operator. He trained for this several months ago but due to the details of it, he is working a TON! He was stuck at work for ten days, working, eating, and sleeping there until it was safe for him to cross the picket lines. Now, he is working 5-6 shifts/week of 3am to 3pm. He normally gets Sundays and some Mondays off but when a co-worker takes a day off or has a vacation, Joseph works a lot more. We've been living in limbo as we hear good progress and then a relapse in the negotiations. We also are very limited in vacation days and times so we had to cancel some trips and adjust days off. We're hopeful there is an end in sight soon but it doesn't seem to be promising. Dow is prepared for this to last several months.

Tanner wanted his picture taken on the last day of school with Ashton. He is sad he can't go to school next year with Ashton. He does have speech therapy at the school so that helps a lot.

Ashton's last day of preschool. Her teachers, Mrs. Wallace and Mrs. Dunn were great for her! She learned a lot.

First pony tail!

We said goodbye to the Coon family as they move to CA. We first met them when our oldest kids were about 18 months old. Since then, we've both added two more kids and lots of memories made between the kids. Ashton and Collin are convinced they will get married one day.

Ashton's final preschool concert.

BYU Wind Symphony came to Clear Lake so Ashton and I went. She loved it!

Ashton's piano practice with her teacher. She is loving it!

One of our favorite pastimes is skyping with Nana and Papa. We buy the same books so we can read together.

Rough life. Napping on the grass during Ashton's soccer class.

Ashton did a little soccer class through the YMCA for a few weeks. It was alright. We felt it wasn't planned or organized as well as we would have liked. It was super cheap though so we didn't feel like a complete waste and it got the kids running around some.

We love visiting the Space Center.

Tanner's first FHE

Tanner received some armor from our former stake president and his wife. They live a few blocks away from us and moved away to serve as a mission president. The wife told Tanner that it was his armor of God like in the scriptures. Since then, Tanner has desperately wanted to teach Family Home Evening on the armor of God. This past week, he did just that. He conducted the whole event. I was surprised by how much he knew to do naturally instead of me instructing him. He knew to call on someone for a prayer and he chose a song right away. Then he talked about the armor he was given and we used a story in the scriptures to teach how the armor of God protects us. While it wasn't focused on Come Follow Me, it was still such a wonderful and simple message from our three year old.

Summer Goals

Summer is quickly coming and I keep switching between nervous with all three kids home every day to excited to have all three home all the time. This is the last summer before Ashton starts school. While I know we'll have every summer home with the kids, it still makes it bittersweet to see the end of all kids in our home. I've prayed and wished away the years for this to come and now that it is so close, I am sad. As a family, we've been working on our summer bucket list so here are our ideas.

1. Ashton to learn addition, subtraction, and reading. She does pretty well with adding and subtracting but I'd love to improve on it by involving numbers 11-20. We have started teaching her to read. With dual immersion, they highly recommend that she enter kindergarten able to read in English as they only teach reading in Spanish. She loves doing the daily activities to learn to read so I see it going very well this summer. She also wants to learn how to tie shoes. I need to work on being patient enough to teach her. Ashton will also continue with piano through the summer and I anticipate that going well.
2. Tanner to learn to write some letters and shapes. He still prefers to just scribble everywhere. He knows his numbers very well but his letters need to improve. I also want him to be able to dress himself by the end of summer. With three kids, it's often easier to dress him myself so we can go but I think this summer will be a good time to slow down and have him do it himself.
3. Go the beach! We haven't been to the beach closest to us yet since moving so I hope to spend some time there. It's nerve-wracking to bring the 3 kids myself so this will have to be a whole family outing when Joseph's schedule allows it.
4. Complete temple ordinances for my grandparents. Now that I don't have a nursing baby, I can get to the temple more often. I have a few ordinances left on my grandmothers and I'd love to get those completed by the end of summer.
5. Live it up in Gatlinburg! We are beyond excited for our trip to our first national park this summer. As a family, we hope to see as many national parks as possible while our children are home. Our first one will be the Great Smoky National Park.
6. Plant a garden. This was on Ashton's list. She misses our garden beds from our old house and at times, so do I. While we won't do raised beds, I think we'll do some large planter boxes.
7. Swimming at the pool. I'm hoping to take the kids swimming at our HOA pool at least once a week and then again as a family during the weekends.
8. Complete some house projects like replacing all our gold door knobs, staining outside furniture, painting some more rooms, etc.
9. Move Tanner and Ashton together in a bedroom and move Gemma to a crib upstairs. This won't happen until mid-August right before school starts.
10. Build a massive fort inside.
11. Visit all the local splashpads.
12. Make a slip and slide in the backyard when it's not a rainy week.
13. Go hiking. Not quite sure where yet but maybe Brazos Bend State Park.
14. We'll all do the summer reading program at the library again I'm sure. With that, I hope to read a chapter book/week with Ashton.
15. Visit the Lone Star Flight Museum. They do a cool reading/story time once a week and I haven't ventured there yet. I know Tanner will love going.
16. Visit the space center as much as we can. Since we got a membership, I hope to go there when it's super hot outside.
17. Visit Schlitterbahn or another waterpark in Galveston. We haven't been to Galveston with the kids so this is definitely on our list of a few day trips there once Joseph's work schedule goes back to normal.
18. Visit the Houston Dog Show. We did this many years ago before kids and really enjoyed it. If Joseph can get a day off, I'd love to all go.
19. Visit some new parks. Once Gemma drops her morning nap, I'm hoping we could get going in the morning before the heat sets in and check out some parks that are a little farther away from our home.
20. Be outside as much as possible. I know for many people, Texas summers are not "outside weather." I try my best to deal with the sweating and the heat and just enjoy it. I'm going to sweat no matter what so I am going to TRY to find the joy in the heat. I'll stock the freezer with popsicles to make it better. I really want to try to be outside at least three hours a day when possible. I have read a blog with a goal of 1000 hours outside each year. This averages out to be 2.75 hours/day. Right now, we probably spend 2ish hours a day outside so I'm trying to increase this. Some days are easier than others (rain vs. sun) but I can still be more willing.

CFM The Good Shepherd

I want to write down what we do for Come Follow Me each week. Then I can use these ideas again in a few years when we study the New Testament again.

This week, we're learning the Good Shepherd story.

Monday night for FHE, Joseph was gone so it was all me. We made sheep ear headbands and we learned about shepherds herding sheep. The kids were the sheep and I tried to keep them corralled in an area. We likened this to how Jesus Christ wants us to stay with Him and close to our brothers and sisters.

Tuesday we did something simple of just memorizing a verse. Ashton has a scripture for primary on Sunday so we memorized it together.

Thursday, we used the coloring page from the primary manual and colored the sheep and the shepherd.

Friday- I wrote "What makes you happy" on a piece of paper and each kid drew or wrote what makes them happy. Ashton drew animals, the sun (for the outdoors), some toys, and a few other things. Tanner drew rockets, peanut butter, bread, and some squiggly lines. It was a fun activity to talk about when we do things that make us happy, our Heavenly Father is happy too.

Easter 2019

Easter came and went again this year. Between Joseph's bizarre work schedule and our campout, we didn't do a huge Easter meal. Oh well. I am slowly learning that we can have different traditions than the ones I grew up with. Camping was a lot of fun but I was exhausted so the idea of cooking a huge meal only to have three kids not eat it didn't sound fun. Instead, I took a nap after church.


My sister made the girls' dresses and Tanner's coat jacket. His jacket has hidden dinosaurs ironed in it. He LOVES it! They were perfect for our kids.

Instead of doing Easter baskets, my sister-in-law shared this cool idea with me. I felt much better about buying this instead of spending money on junk for baskets. We've never done baskets so Ashton still doesn't know any different. I think that will change next year when she's in school. The kids have acted out the Easter story countless times and play with this all the time. I love hearing their conversations too. It was the perfect gift for our children.

Springtime

 We've been soaking up the beautiful weather as much as possible this spring. It seems to me that it is not as hot as past years in April. I know it will be too hot all too soon. Here's a little bit of our spring.

A house down the street from us has a northern screech owl nest in it. The owl comes out a few times a week for us to see him/her. The kids are enjoying watching it grow.

 Ashton continues to take piano and is doing really well. She loves it and begs to practice several times a day still. Her first recital will be next month.

 

 Gemma is now walking full time rather than crawling. She also continues to love puddles and water.

 With all her walking, she is also finding new things to explore like the treehouse.

Random family shot of the kids and I. It doesn't happen often but we were sending some pictures to my parents.

 Our local Chick-Fil-A hosted a father/daughter date night in February and then a Mother/Son game night in March. Tanner loved going with me and played lots of games. We like this Chick-Fil-A because it is right across from the Space Center so is very "space" themed.

 We got the tricycle out for Gemma. She's slowly getting used to it.

Huntsville 2019

Ashton, Tanner, and I ventured up to Huntsville for the annual campout with our old ward/stake. This was Tanner's first year going and he did great. I'm glad we waited another year for him to go. He enjoyed it a lot more and only got lost a few times. He is such a quiet wanderer so getting lost is a gift of his.

We left Thursday afternoon once Joseph got home to stay with Gemma. We are not big fans of taking babies camping and I am grateful we left her home this time. Maybe next year, we can all go. Maybe...

We successfully did all the activities between Thursday and Saturday. The kids were exhausted and Tanner slept for the whole 2 hour drive home and then stayed asleep in the van for another hour after getting home. The weather was much colder than I anticipated, especially at night. But the kids slept well despite it.

The first two days were windy and cooler so the water was pretty rough. But Saturday was beautiful and we got the canoe out. The kids stayed still and didn't tip the canoe.

 Some gymnastic/cheer girls wanted to lift the kids. They loved it.

Tanner found some Y-scooter (or something like that) and loved it. He does well at balancing with his regular bike and he continued to balance well with this. I might be looking for one on sale/used for his Christmas present. We'll see what I find.

 Saturday morning is the Easter egg hunt. The kids loved doing it with all their friends. This was the only egg hunt we did this year and I like that. I am already sick of the candy.

 Friday night, we do a big dinner with the 100+ people who come to the campout. After the dinner, we do a skit show. This year, the kids and I sang "Alice the Camel" for the show. Tanner was pretty hesitant but quickly joined right in. One of the families brings their drones every year and the husband showed Tanner how it works.

 While they didn't stay overnight, the Coon family came and Ashton and Tanner were so excited to spend time with them too.

 We made it swimming but it was FREEZING! The kids begged me all morning to go and then begged me to go back to the campsite shortly after getting wet.

 Tanner swimming out on his own. He was pretty adventurous with how far out he went.

 Ashton stayed much closer to the beach.

 We did go real fishing but the kids preferred to "fish" at the campsite. Our fishing rod just has a rubber fish on the end of it so no hook. That way, they can "fish" wherever they want.

 If you look real close, there's an alligator in the middle of the picture. This was about 15 feet from us on the fishing boardwalk.