April 2021

April was a busy month with Easter, soccer practices and games, and Savannah’s birthday. I will save all the birthday details for a separate post, but here’s the rest of what we were up to this month:

Brooklyn’s soccer team practiced throw-ins on April 1st…

The Easter Bunny visited Mrs. Curry’s classroom on April 2nd! Savannah informed me that afternoon that it wasn’t the real Easter bunny…it was just someone dressed up like the Easter bunny. I asked her how she knew, and she said his eyes were too big and she could see the person’s neck peeking out behind the costume…haha. She’s too smart!

The next evening, April 2nd, Savannah had soccer practice…

After practice, Coach MJ and Coach Alison set up an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Savannah and the other girls really enjoyed it!

On April 3rd, there were no soccer games because of Easter weekend. Travis went with Matt to watch him run a half marathon in Tennessee. (Travis was actually planning to run it too until he hurt his achilles a couple of months before). I took the girls to Hannah’s 3rd birthday party. It was at a nearby playground, and the weather was great!

The kids enjoyed taking turns hitting the taco piñata!

We learned that day that face masks can double as a blindfold…haha. It was a fun party!

That night, Brooklyn and Savannah left some notes and gifts out for the Easter Bunny :)

Savannah left an empty egg in the bag for the Easter Bunny and was excited to find a piece of candy in it the next morning ;)

We’ve never made a very big deal about the Easter Bunny at our house, but the girls do get a few small things in their baskets (candy, stickers, and a book, etc.)

All three girls were excited to see what was in their baskets the next morning!

We took a few quick pictures before church that morning. Savannah and Abigail wore the same dresses that Brooklyn and Savannah wore for Easter a couple of years ago. I thought Brooklyn’s yellow dress (a hand-me-down from another family) coordinated well enough!

I liked how Brooklyn picked out a necklace to go with her dress :)

Abigail woke up so early that morning that she fell asleep ON THE WAY to church at 8:30 AM…haha. Such a Peapod thing to do…

We snapped a quick cousin picture before lunch, and this is probably the best Easter picture we’ve ever gotten of all 6 of them. It’s so hard to get everyone to look and smile at the same time!

Cici has a nice big backyard for hunting eggs! This year, the big Easter egg hunt was even more special because we missed doing it together as a family in 2020 due to covid.

Abigail knew what she was doing this year and didn’t need too much help!

Brooklyn took it very seriously and was running everywhere to gather as many eggs as she could find.

At one point, Abigail announced, “I’m all full of eggs!” when she had found all the ones she could…haha

It’s usually an adventure trying to count the eggs when all the kids are finished. Cici always has an equal amount for each child to find, but somehow somebody always ends up short!

Brooklyn gets most excited to check out what’s inside the eggs, of course :)

Sweet Savannah!

Abigail is getting so big…

The girls had to give Peaches some love before we left to go home…

As we were getting in the van to leave Cici’s house, Brooklyn asked very loudly, “Is the Easter bunny real, or is it just you and Daddy giving us presents?” I asked her why she thought that, and she said, “Because Carter told me!” Haha. We tried to keep her from asking any more questions and told her we would talk to her about it later. That night, Travis took Brooklyn on a “date” to Freddy’s (same place that he and Savannah went a few weeks earlier), and he answered all her questions about the Easter Bunny. He said she didn’t get upset, and he told her not to talk about it with her sisters but forgot to mention that she shouldn’t tell her friends. And then the next day after school, Brooklyn told Elaina! I felt bad, but I guess all kids are bound to find out at some point. Savannah doesn’t seem to understand because she was still excited about the paw print that the Easter bunny left on her note and said she wanted to take it to school for show and tell ;)

Savannah dressed up as a unicorn while Brooklyn and Travis were out on their date :)

Another day…another fun activity in Mrs. Borys’ class!

Brooklyn and Logan got to be good friends over the course of 2nd grade!

On April 5th, we stopped by the Johnsons’ house on our walk home from school to play for a few minutes. Brooklyn tried shooting a bow and arrow for the first time!

Abigail and Addie enjoyed playing together…

…and the big girls rode scooters and bikes up and down the sidewalk. We enjoyed the nice weather and the time spent with friends!

Brooklyn had another soccer practice on April 6th…

Abigail and I went to the library on April 7th and picked up a take-home craft along with some new books to read. Abigail liked making the rain drops with blue paint and a q-tip.

Mrs. Borys was so great about taking pictures and sharing them with us throughout the year. It really helped me feel more connected to what was going on in the classroom since parents weren’t allowed in the building with all the covid restrictions.

Learning about chimpanzees…

Mrs. Borys texted me and said that Brooklyn wrote the sweetest journal entry about her favorite person in the world…ME :) Made my day!

Breakfast with Gabby :)

Sarah and I happened to wear our matching shirts on the same day, so we had to get a picture ;)

I got my first COVID shot on April 8th, and I was so excited! We had to wait for several months to get our shots because we weren’t eligible right away, and then it was difficult to find an appointment because so many people were trying to get one too. But I managed to find an appointment at the CVS off Winchester Road. I left Brooklyn and Savannah home with Travis after they got home from school, and I took Abigail with me to the appointment. It was quick and easy once we got there, and I was so happy to finally be getting vaccinated!

On April 9th, the girls had an asynchronous school day at home so that the virtual kids could take their standardized tests at school. Mrs. Curry had her class do a measurement scavenger hunt! I thought this picture turned out cute :)

We had some furry friends join us for lunch.

Mrs. Borys’ class adopted some caterpillars this month, and Brooklyn named hers Butterscotch :) She was really excited about it!

Doing school at home gives us more time for things like scootering around the neighborhood. Although the girls definitely prefer in-person learning, there are still blessings to be found on the days they are home.

Brooklyn helped Savannah make a wish list for her birthday coming up :)

Brooklyn went to Nathan’s birthday party on April 11th…

The party was Star Wars themed, which was right up Brooklyn’s alley. She has gotten to be a big Star Wars fan lately. She had a blast with all the activities, including the inflatable light saber battle.

She didn’t know any of the other kids there besides Nathan and his siblings, but that didn’t stop her from jumping in there and having fun. I love how she can make friends no matter where she goes.

Brooklyn and Nathan have been friends since they were babies! We have pictures of them propped up side by side on the bench at church. Can’t wait to put those in their graduation slideshow one day :)

That night, Savannah read part of What Would Danny Do? before bedtime. We are proud of how well she is reading now!

The next night, I caught her reading her Danny book again in bed while wearing a pretend cape just like Danny :)

Another Tuesday evening soccer practice – Brooklyn really had fun with this group of girls!

We walked Brooklyn and Savannah to school on April 14th, and I let Abigail walk the last bit of the way home once we got back into the neighborhood. She looked so cute marching home in her PJs!

Daddy’s shoes are just a little too big ;)

“Take a picture of me too, Mommy!”

There is a really pretty tree outside the front door of the school that drops pink flowers in the spring. The girls always like checking out the petals as they drop.

Brooklyn’s team had a makeup game on April 15th against the team they were supposed to play on the previous Saturday that got rained out. The Galaxy Queens played great!! They have improved so much in the last few weeks. This was our closest game yet. They ended up losing 3-0, but the other team didn’t score any goals at all in the 2^nd half.

Brooklyn zoomed all over the field at full speed and played great defense. She played both defense and midfield and did such a great job hustling to the ball. She passed really well with her left and right foot and played so hard. We were so proud of her!!

On April 16th, Savannah was supposed to dress up as what she wanted to be when she grows up. She has decided she wants to be a baker one day, so we used an apron and some props from our play kitchen upstairs to make her costume.

Mrs. Curry sent me this picture of our sweet girl telling the class about her future career :) She said she was the only baker in her class that day!

The Johnson girls came over to play for a little while after school that day…

Abigail and Addie happened to be matching in purple and blue and looked so cute!

Savannah had her game at 11 AM on April 17th. Cici got to come today! The Mighty Mermaids played great and scored a bunch of goals. Savannah even scored her first goal of the season! She was so proud of herself. She also kicked the ball away at the very last second before the other team scored a goal. I was sure the ball was going in the net, but somehow she saved it!

Brooklyn loved hanging out with Avery during the game, and everyone enjoyed the popsicles at the end. Savannah’s favorite parts of soccer are running through the tunnel and eating the snacks ;)

Savannah loves being on the same team as Felicity, Avery’s little sister. This was their second season playing together.

Popsicles + friends = fun!

After soccer, we came home and ate lunch, and then Mrs. Curry and several moms (Lincoln’s, Heather’s and Vincent’s) from Mrs. Curry’s class came over and helped cut out/glue/tape rocket ships for the kids’ desks at school.

I enjoyed meeting the other moms…

and getting to know Mrs. Curry better. Because of the covid crazy school year, this was literally the first time I’d seen Mrs. Curry in person since the first day of school when I walked Savannah into her classroom. We worked in our garage at folding tables, and the weather was perfect.

Savannah and Brooklyn had a blast playing with the other kids outside in our yard. It was a really fun afternoon, and I was excited at how the rocket ships turned out. 

Mrs. Curry set them up in her classroom with the “fire” attached and sent me this picture. She is so creative and has such a vision for making projects come to life. I was so impressed!

Savannah loved seeing her desk transformed into something new the next day! They were going to start studying space that week, so it was the perfect theme.

Brooklyn opened her own “gadget store” this month, and Mr. Mike at church heard about it, so she made him his very own computer. It came with a mouse, mouse pad, charger, and a manual :)

These girls both wore Cici-original dresses to church on April 18th, so I had to snap a quick picture.

Of course, Brooklyn wanted to be in a picture too. She wore these green and black pants to church almost every Sunday. She wore them so much that I’m donating them before the other girls can wear them because I’m so tired of seeing them…haha. She’s definitely a creature of habit and cares more about comfort than style ;)

Brooklyn had a soccer game at 1:30 pm, so we hurried home after church and ate a quick lunch before heading to the game. The opposing team was another one of these teams with older girls that had played together for a long time, so it was never competitive and very lopsided. Thankfully, this coach had mercy on us and “called off the dogs” before the first half had even ended. Our team did end up scoring our 2^nd goal of the season today!! Brooklyn got to be the captain!! This was the first game that we’ve had a ref and a sideline ref that flipped a coin to start the game, so Brooklyn was the first-ever captain for the team. That was pretty cool!

Brooklyn played hard and made some good passes (another good left footed pass today!). It was fun to watch the girls give their goalie (Addison) a big group hug and cheer every time she stopped the ball from going in the goal. They were so excited when they were able to keep the other team from scoring!

Mrs. Borys came to watch Brooklyn and Sydney play today, which was really special. We enjoyed getting to sit with her and chat a little bit during the game. Abigail talked Mrs. Borys ear off at one point, and we joked that Abigail thought that Mrs. Borys had come just to see her ;)

Mrs. Borys has been the most special teacher this year and really goes above and beyond for her kids!

Another month…another bird nest on our back patio

We had noticed that the baby birds were getting bigger and bigger, and then one day I walked outside and scared one of the babies out of the nest. It flew over to the corner of our patio and stayed there for a few minutes. Later that day, we caught it practicing flying between our trees and the neighbor’s fence. Hopefully he didn’t leave the nest too soon!

On April 20th, Leon came over to spend part of the day with us while Amanda was doing her student teaching at school. Leon is only about 10 months older than Abigail, but they are at opposite ends of the growth chart ;)

We spent a lot of time playing outside, and they both had a great time.

We walked down to the neighborhood playground, and I was amazed at how well Leon is already reading. He read a sign on the gate to the pool, and I didn’t even know he could read! Abigail loved having him over and still talks about wanting him to come back even though they moved to California :(

“All About Butterflies”

Mrs. Borys also did an ABC Countdown for the last 26 days of 2nd grade, which started on April 20th. It was hard to believe the end of the school year was getting so close. “A” was for Airplane Day, so the kids made and flew their own paper airplanes in a class contest :)

She also shared a picture of the kids making shapes out of Play-Doh. (I don’t think this had to do with the ABC Countdown…Mrs. Borys just shared SO many pictures of their fun activities).

Brooklyn had soccer practice that night. I really liked how Coach Joe was so patient with the girls, but also a great teacher of fundamentals and skills since he played soccer for so many years.

Savannah set up her own bakery downstairs near the kitchen table. Her sign said, “Call me Baker. Enjoy!” :)

Mrs. Borys’ class worked on a butterfly scavenger hunt…

…and built shapes out of toothpicks and mini marshmallows as well.

More snuggles with Gabby at breakfast time…

Brooklyn loved being silly and playing with her teammates before, during, and after practices :)

April 22nd was “Clean Our Earth Day” (letter “C” on the ABC countdown). Mrs. Borys’ class had made tie-dye shirts earlier in the month, and they were supposed to wear them that day to school!

April 23rd was “Don’t Come to School Day” for letter “D”…haha. The girls had another asynchronous learning day scheduled, so they did their schoolwork at home that day.

Savannah collected different objects around the house and labeled them for a fun “shape scavenger hunt” that Mrs. Curry had her class do.

We took advantage of the short school day at home, and I took 3 kids to the grocery store for the first time since the pre-pandemic era ;) It was definitely easier this time than it was when they were little!

Abigail helped me make puppy chow for Savannah’s birthday party that was coming up over the weekend…

…and Savannah had soccer practice that night!

It rained a lot on April 24th, but afterward we saw a double rainbow from our back windows!! The top part of it is very faint in the picture, but it was definitely easy to see in person.

Savannah enjoyed playing with a new Playdoh set that she got for her birthday.

April 27th was “Extra Recess Day” for the letter “E”. The PTA surprised the kids with popsicles, which was a huge hit, I’m sure ;)

After school, we helped deliver the “Millstone News” with Elaina, Bristol, and Addie :) I am loving their little newspaper club!

We got the girls’ final progress reports of the year…

Mrs. Curry and Mrs. Borys were the most AMAZING teachers. We couldn’t have handpicked better ones, and we felt so blessed to have our girls in their classrooms this year.

April 28th was “Furry Friend Day” for the letter “F” where the kids could bring their favorite small stuffed animal to school. It was also the day that Mrs. Borys’ class released their butterflies!

Loved this picture of Brooklyn and Logan!

Cutie Abigail in her PJs walking home from dropping Brooklyn and Savannah off at school :)

April 30th was Hat Day to represent the letter “H” :) Brooklyn wore her Mill Creek hat!

We ended the month with Savannah’s soccer practice! It was a whirlwind month!

Notes and Quotes for April 2021:

• 4/7/21 – I am so impressed with how fun the girls’ teachers are making school this year despite the circumstances. Mrs. Curry’s class had a leprechaun come and leave a note and a recipe for “leprechaun punch” one day. Savannah said she was so surprised that a leprechaun visited their classroom that she could barely eat her lunch…haha. Mrs. Curry made the leprechaun punch for the class for snack that afternoon…she just happened to have all the right ingredients there with her that day ;) They also made a “cloud in a jar” last week! Mrs. Borys got all the kids in the class their own caterpillars, and they will watch them hopefully grow into butterflies. Brooklyn says she is going to name hers Butterscotch. They are also tie-dying t-shirts for earth day. So many fun activities!! We are going to be sad to lose these amazing teachers when the end of May gets here.
• 4/13/21 – Brooklyn and I got home from soccer practice, and I noticed that Abigail had different pants on than when we left. I asked her, “Why did you change your pants? Did you have an accident?” “No”, she replied. “Then why did you change your pants?” I asked. “They were too wiggly, and I needed new ones!” :)
• 4/13/21 – Brooklyn had the hiccups at bedtime, and it was time to say her prayer. I asked her if she was ready to pray, and she said, “Do you think God will mind that I have hiccups?” :)
• 4/14/21 – We walked/scootered to school this morning, and we got all the way to school before I realized we’d left the girls’ backpacks at home. I felt like such a dummy! Thankfully, Travis was able to hop out of the shower, throw some clothes on really fast, and drive the backpacks to school while we waited outside. There wasn’t time for us to walk all the way home and get back to school before the girls would have been late. Daddy to the rescue!
• 4/14/21 – On the way home today, Savannah said, “If aliens are real, I don’t ever want to know about it.” Travis said, “I have the perfect movie for you—ET.” Savannah asked what ET was, and Travis told her what it stood for. She asked, “Extra-terr-restroom? What does that mean?” :)
• 4/16/21 – Abigail came out of her room first thing in the morning, and I asked her, “Why are you PJ pants inside out?” She replied, “Well, I couldn’t unsleeve them. It was too hard!”
• 4/17/21 – Both girls had soccer pictures made today. Right before we left for the pictures, Brooklyn asked me in her room, “Is Santa real, or are you just giving me the presents? It makes sense that if you are the Easter Bunny, that you are Santa too.” So I told her the scoop about Santa–that there are many and not just one. And how she can be a “Santa” by giving gifts to others and not taking credit for them. I explained that now that she is in on the secret, she might be able to help put out the other girls’ gifts on Christmas Eve and even eat some of the cookies ;) She was initially disappointed when I first told her the news (and looked like she might cry, but she didn’t), but then the more we talked, the more excited she became about being one of “Santa’s helpers.”
• 4/27/21 – Abigail, after noticing a tiny scratch on her hand: “Our Gabby cat bited me with a bite, and it hurted really bad!”

Whew, that was a lot for one month! If you made it this far, thanks for reading! :)