April was an extremely busy month for our family with a trip out of town, Easter, soccer games, a field trip, Savannah’s birthday, and more. I took almost 500 pictures this month…whew. I’ll try to briefly (ha) summarize everything from April 1-15 in this post, and I’ll save the last half of the month for my next post:
We started out the month with a crazy day on April 1st. It was not only the first day of spring soccer games for the girls, but Travis also ran the Oak Barrel half marathon in Lynchburg, TN that morning. The rest of us weren’t able to go and watch because of soccer, but he had Matt with him at least.
This was Travis’s first time to run this particular race. He’d signed up for it once before but ended up being injured leading up to it and was unable to run that year.
Travis had a great race! It wasn’t a PR because this course was pretty hilly and challenging, and the wind made it even harder. But he really ran great and finished 72nd overall out of over 1200 runners!!
Savannah’s game was up first that morning at 8 AM at Dublin 4, and Cici met the girls and me there. Savannah and her team (the Dazzling Dolphins) played great!
Savannah scored either 2 or 3 goals and had some great passes and big kicks. Her team won by a bunch of goals and didn’t let the other team score. Coach MJ turned 40 today, and the girls made her some birthday cards to give her after the game. It was a good morning!
We went home for a bit and rested/ate lunch before heading back to the soccer fields. Gabby kept me company while I was reading my bible ;)
Abigail had a jamboree practice at 12 pm on Dublin 4. Her age group still didn’t have enough coaches at this point, so they just did some drills as a big group and tried to convince the parents who were standing around to sign up to coach. I have too much on my plate already, or else I might consider it more seriously ;) She had a lot of fun, especially because her friend Madison was out there too.
Brooklyn’s team played at 12:30 on Dublin 3. Travis got there in time to see her play! She is on Coach Theresa’s team again with a few of the same players from last season, but a lot who are new to the team. Brooklyn played so great! She mostly played defense, although she did force the other team to score an on-goal. Her team ended up losing 4-1. It was tied 1-1 when Brooklyn sat out for the 4th quarter, and then the other team scored 3 goals. We were proud of how hard Brooklyn hustled and how well she dribbled and passed the ball. She has improved so much over the last few seasons!
It was a fun but tiring day! After having the winter off from sports, it’s always an adjustment to get back into busy Saturdays…
This is one of my favorite smocked dresses in our collection, so I was excited for Abigail to wear it to church on April 2.
Scootering while wearing a princess dress = a common theme for Abigail when we picked up the big girls from school
We took a lot of pictures of Gabby this month because we found out she had intestinal lymphoma. For the last several years, she has been throwing up regularly (some days worse than others) and has been on Prednisone and Pepcid, but more recently, she’d started having diarrhea as well. It got bad enough that I took her to the vet, and the doctor could feel a mass in her belly even before they did the ultrasound. We discussed options and after talking about it, we decided to try chemo to see if that would help lessen her symptoms and improve her quality of life. The vet said there was no guarantee of how much it would help or if it would help at all. They gave her the first dose in the office and then said we would be able to administer it at home ourselves every 3 weeks if she tolerated the first dose well.
The girls have been used to Gabby throwing up, but when we told them that she was sick and we weren’t sure how much longer she would live, I’m not sure either of us were prepared for the emotional response that followed…
They cried inconsolably! It was so sad. The only one not crying was Travis, who has been ready for Gabby to go for years ;)
New day…new princess dress!
I felt bad that we had to board Gabby right after we got the news that she had lymphoma, but that’s just the way it worked out. We were making a quick trip to Richmond for Michael and Lauren’s wedding, and we were so excited to be able to be there to celebrate with them.
We left for Richmond on Thursday, April 6th around 5:25 AM (central time)…pretty sure that’s a new record for our family! The girls didn’t go right back to sleep in the car…they were ready to eat breakfast as soon as the sun came up while we were driving…haha.
Our drive went really smoothly! We never hit any bad traffic, and we made great time. We stopped for lunch at Chickfila in Bristol. We were all amazed by how beautiful Virginia is! I’m not sure I’d ever made that drive before, and the mountains were so pretty.
The girls watched Moana on the way, and it made me smile to see the girls making their stuffed animals “run” like they used to do when they watched that movie. Even Brooklyn, who thinks she is too grown these days, participated ;)
There were a couple of scenic pull-offs right off the interstate as we got closer to Richmond. We missed the first one, but Travis humored me and let us stop at the second for a quick picture. It was also nice to stretch our legs for a minute.
It worked out so nicely that my Aunt Gale and Uncle Bill live in Richmond and were graciously willing to host us for our quick trip. We got to their house a few minutes after 6 PM (Eastern time). It started to rain during the last 10 minutes of our drive, but we were able to quickly run inside without getting too wet. Aunt Gale and Uncle Bill went all out while we were there! Their house was decorated so cute for Easter with bunnies and chicks everywhere. They also fixed a delicious crockpot lasagna, bread and salad for supper that was ready for us when we arrived.
Brooklyn and Savannah were so excited to see their dog, Phoebe, and I think we probably wore her out during the first few hours we were there ;)
The next day, Aunt Gale and Uncle Bill fixed French toast casserole for breakfast and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. They really rolled out the red carpet, and everything was delicious! Unfortunately, Savannah woke up that morning with a headache, and she was also running a fever. She had been completely fine the day before, so this came out of the blue. We hadn’t really been sick at all since Christmas, so I guess we were overdue. I ended up taking her to urgent care just to make sure it wasn’t strep throat or something that needed an antibiotic, but she tested negative for flu, strep, and covid. Travis, Uncle Bill, Phoebe, and Brooklyn/Abigail went on a walk around the neighborhood while we were gone that morning.
We had originally discussed trying to do something fun like the zoo or park that morning, but when Savannah woke up sick and the weather was also rainy and cold, we decided to change plans. Aunt Gale put together some fun Easter activities for the girls and even had an Easter basket of goodies for each of them. It was so thoughtful, and they really enjoyed it!
After some deliberation, we decided to take Savannah to the wedding even though she was sick. None of us wanted to miss it, even her, especially after we’d driven so far to get there on Thursday. It rained for most of the afternoon/evening and was much chillier than the forecast called for when I was packing our stuff. It ended up being about 45 degrees and raining at the wedding…brr! The ceremony was outside under a tent, and the reception was inside. Everything was beautiful, and we were so thrilled for Michael and Lauren! The food was delicious, and it was a really great evening. Savannah toughed it out (with the help of some ibuprofen) even though she didn’t feel great.
Michael is so special to our family, and we were very glad to be at his special day. He definitely got himself a catch when he married Lauren! Also, Michael, if you’re reading this, I’m still waiting on you to send me some of the pictures that your sister took of all of us at the wedding ;)
On Saturday, we left Richmond at about 7:50 AM eastern time. We ran into a little bit of light rain after we made it into TN, but nothing too bad. This was probably our smoothest drive so far as a family!!
The girls did really great for spending two long days in the car so close together. They passed some of the time by playing hot potato with a Squishmallow ;) Brooklyn missed her field trip to Montgomery and was sad about that, but I was thankful we were all able to be at the wedding together.
We stopped at a Which Wich for lunch, and Abigail was entertaining us with her silly ways. She is turning into a little comedian like her biggest sister.
Savannah really toughed it out on the way home, despite not feeling very well. The girls were all troopers, but she definitely gets the gold star. We made it home at about 6:45 PM central time and were glad to be back!
The Easter Bunny somehow managed to have the girls’ baskets full the next morning when they woke up…
Checking out their baskets is always fun, but eating a piece of candy before church is an extra special treat!
Savannah stayed home from church that morning, but she felt well enough to hunt eggs in the backyard that afternoon with her sisters. Our yard is so small that it isn’t quite as exciting as it is at Cici’s house, but luckily we had already decided to postpone the hunt at her house until the following weekend.
Gabby joined Brooklyn for breakfast at the table on April 10th before school :)
Savannah ended up missing 4 days of school (2 for the trip and 2 for being sick). She ran a fever until Monday night…basically 4 full days! Still not sure what it was. Her class at school had adopted some caterpillars prior to our trip to Richmond, and she was very worried that her caterpillar, Twix, might form its chrysalis while she wasn’t there. I texted her teacher, Ms. Kuenzli, to ask for an update on Twix, and she told me I could pick her her caterpillar in the office and Savannah could keep it at home until she was feeling better. That made Savannah’s day! :)
Having Savannah at home made Abigail very happy though! We were able to go on a bike ride, and the girls found a bird nest on the sidewalk…
We were also able to head over to the lending library in the neighborhood while Savannah was feeling up to it.
Coach Klein has been the new crossing guard this year, and Jacob and Brooklyn love to try to race her down to the intersection if she is late coming out when school lets out.
When Coach Klein says the kids can go, Jacob always races out in front, and Brooklyn follows as close behind as she can. It’s hard to believe they are some of the biggest kids on campus this year as 4th graders. It doesn’t seem like that long ago that they were kindergartners.
We were all glad when Savannah finally started feeling back to normal!!
Savannah wasn’t the only one who took lots of naps this week ;)
We got this cute picture of Abigail and her friends from bible class :)
Brooklyn and Savannah had soccer practice every Tuesday at different fields. Here’s a snapshot of Brooklyn’s practice from April 11.
Abigail turned her drink dispenser and desk into a baby bed for her doll…haha
Abigail had fun at her soccer practice on April 13th!
My buddy :)
On April 15th, Savannah played first at Dublin 4 at 8 AM. Her team won 5-3. It was a beautiful, sunny morning but not too hot. Savannah played great! The other team had a couple of speedy, talented players, so this game was closer than many games typically are. I was most proud of Savannah for her sliding attempt to block a ball from going in the goal. She didn’t end up stopping it, but it was obvious that she tried her very best. Can’t teach that kind of effort and determination! (She said the slide was on purpose). She also got the ball on a breakaway and almost scored. A girl from the other team was actually the last to touch it before it went in, but Savannah was mostly responsible for the score. It was a fun game!
Abigail played next at 10:15 AM. Her game was a little late starting, so Travis and Brooklyn had to leave before she actually got to play. Abigail played the second and third quarters and for the last minute of the 4th quarter. She had a lot of fun and tried her best! Her team never scored…they were playing a team with a really good player, but I’m not sure Abigail realized that. She did a good job playing defense today!
Brooklyn played last at 11 AM. We walked up a few minutes after the game started and got to see her score her team’s only goal! I was glad we didn’t miss it! Brooklyn mostly played defense and finally got to play midfield during the last quarter. She almost scored on a breakaway during the last seconds of the game, but she dribbled the ball too far out in front of her and the goalie got it. The game ended in a 1-1 tie. Brooklyn was disappointed, but she really played great. Hopefully the Grizzlies will win the next one! We were at Dublin from 7:40 AM to 12:10 PM straight. The girls had team pictures today, so there was no time to go home in between games.
We topped off our busy morning with a family photo session that afternoon in Athens (pictures in my previous post)!
Notes and Quotes – First Half of April 2023
- 4/5/23 – Yesterday, Savannah came home so excited because her class got caterpillars! Each student got one and was allowed to decide its name. The caterpillars will stay in cups, and the kids will observe their caterpillar as it grows and changes. Eventually, when the caterpillars become butterflies, they will release them. Anyway, by the day after they got the caterpillars, Savannah had already memorized the names of everyone’s caterpillars except maybe 3. Wish I had her memory!
- 4/8/23 – The night we got home from Richmond, we were tucking Abigail in bed, and she said her prayer: “Please help Michael and Lauren to be safe. And thank you for Michael and Lauren’s baby…etc.” After she finished, I asked her what she meant, and she said, “The baby in their tummy!!” That’s what you call jumping the gun…haha!
Thanks for reading!!
