May is always a crazy month with end-of-the-year school activities, soccer, and plenty of other parties and things to do. This month, we also got the dreaded stomach bug that worked its way through part of our family and forced us to slow down a little more than normal. Here’s the recap:
Having a birthday at the end of the month makes it likely that the celebration will spill over into the next month, and that’s what happened this year with Savannah’s birthday. Paw, Rae Rae, Chandler, and Jenn (who were in AL for a couple of weeks) all came up for dinner on May 1st, and we celebrated Savannah’s birthday while they were here. As soon as they got here, the girls ran down the stairs and ran outside screaming they were so excited. They hadn’t seen Aunt Jenn and Uncle Chandler since July 2022. Savannah got several Squishmallows that she was excited about and quite a few Critter Club books. She also got a new polar bear t-shirt since her old one is getting a little small and faded. It was a fun evening!
Savannah’s class released their butterflies this month!
Savannah wrote about presidents in her journal on May 2nd.
Savannah and her reading buddy after school ;)
Little sisters at Savannah’s soccer practice that night – Abigail always enjoyed spending time with Madison.
On May 3rd, Savannah wrote in her journal about why being a baker is the best job to have :)
Abigail had fun using a stencil kit from Rae Rae and Paw and drawing lots of things.
I’m not the best at doing hair, and for some reason buns are the bane of my existence. I had to document this one in Abigail’s hair that turned out looking decent!
May the 4th is always a fun Star Wars dress up day, and Brooklyn let Savannah borrow her Star Wars shirt for it. Some of her classmates wore themed shirts too!
Savannah wrote in her journal that day about being sick…
Also on May 4th, Brooklyn had a field trip to the Madison County Drinking Water Festival. She didn’t want me to come on the fall field trip to Guillion Farms, and we missed the Montgomery field trip in April because we were out of town, so I told her I wanted to come on this field trip with her. She agreed, as long as she could still sit with her friends on the bus ;) I actually ended up driving myself, so it all worked out anyway. I dropped Abigail off at Leslie’s house that morning and had to be at UAH around 10:30 AM.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from a “drinking water festival”, but it actually turned out to be a pretty interesting and fun morning! This event was put on for 4th graders all around the county, so there were classes from other schools besides just Mill Creek there too. I found this on their website: “The purpose of the festival is to educate students and their families about surface and groundwater through enlightening hands-on activities. Our goal is for students to know where their drinking water comes from, how they can protect it and keep it clean, and how water is linked to other natural resources like forests, wetlands, and wildlife. The students will leave the Festival environmentally aware and equipped with a sense of stewardship for our greatest natural resource – water!”
When the students arrived, there was a guide for each class, and they led us to 3 different classrooms. In the first classroom, the leader read a book to the kids about the water cycle, and then they made bracelets with different-colored beads to represent the different parts of the water cycle. Next, we went to a classroom where an instructor taught the kids about the different layers of rock/soil underneath the ground, and they made their own creation using gummies, ice cream, sprite, chocolate chips, etc. The sprinkles on top represented pollution, and then when they poured more Sprite (rain) on top, they watched the “pollution” sink into the ground water below. I thought it was a neat visual to help the kids understand how pollution gets into our water sources. In the third room, the kids mixed dirt, “trash”, vinegar (which represented pollution that you can’t see), and other things into a cup of water, and then worked to filter it using a metal strainer, coffee filter, and cheesecloth. They had fun seeing what particles could pass through the different filters.
After that, it was time for lunch. We ran into Brooklyn’s best friend from church, Nathan, when we got outside! He is a 4th grader at Legacy. I was glad I was there on the field trip because Brooklyn realized after digging through Mrs. Prevatt’s cooler that she had forgotten to get her sack lunch out of her backpack and put it in the cooler. Somehow all of the other kids’ lunches made it there, so I have a feeling my child wasn’t listening when she was told to put her lunch in ;) So I gave her my lunch and ran through the Chick-Fil-A drive through on my way to get Abigail. I was glad I was able to attend and I don’t think I cramped Brooklyn’s style too much. It made me so proud to see her engaged during each activity, and she frequently raised her hand to answer questions. She makes me proud!
Abigail played hard at her soccer practice that night :)
The girls enjoy taking care of Pixie when the Johnsons are out of town, and we got to do that one weekend this month.
On May 6th, the girls all had soccer games. Abigail played first at 8 AM on Dublin 7. She had a lot of fun and scored one goal. The Loveless crew came to the games as well as Cici! We had a break for a couple of hours after her game and went home to rest/eat lunch before we needed to be back at Dublin.
Brooklyn and Savannah both played at 12:30 pm, but they were on fields 3 and 4 right next to each other, which was nice. I started out at Savannah’s game, and Travis started at Brooklyn’s and we switched at halftime. Savannah’s team was playing Caroline’s team (or at least a couple of the girls – Caroline plays softball and not soccer in spring). Caroline and Felicity came to watch the game today though! Savannah scored two goals in the 2nd half, so I missed them, and she played really hard. Her team won, but she said she couldn’t remember the final score.
Brooklyn’s team also won their game today 4-0! Brooklyn scored two goals, and I got to see one of them. She sat out the first quarter and played the rest of the game.
That evening, we went to Travis’s cousin Logan’s wedding at Annabella. It was a really nice evening with beautiful weather, and we got to see a lot of family that we don’t see very often. We were seated at a table with Aubrey and Bradley, and the girls kept them entertained with all kinds of stories and questions ;) We got up from the table to take a picture with Travis’s cousins, and when we came back, we noticed that part of our table runner had a hole in it. We think that a candle on the table caught a leaf on fire, which must have touched the runner. It was a pretty big hole, but somehow it didn’t catch the tablecloth underneath on fire. We were thankful our whole table didn’t go up in flames!!
Back to take care of Pixie again!
Savannah was excited to wear her new polar bear shirt to school on May 8th. Little sis had to be in the picture too :)
Savannah wrote a description of Ms. Kuenzli’s classroom in her journal that day…
Abigail definitely has a unique sense of style and loves to dress up! When she came out wearing soccer shin guards and princess shoes, I had to get her picture :)
On May 9th, Savannah wrote in her journal about her favorite thing to do outside – play soccer!
I love my little shopping buddy :)
Savannah got to do her favorite thing that night at practice! :)
Savannah wrote these letters to her best friends in Ms. Kuenzli’s class. So sweet!
Savannah wrote in her journal about her favorite cold treat on May 10th.
Abigail and I played outside after lunch on May 11th, and I wrote out the alphabet with sidewalk chalk. Abigail practiced hopping on each letter as we sang the ABCs :)
Brooklyn’s team played that night at 5:30 pm instead of playing on Saturday (May 13th) because Coach Theresa was going to be out of town that day. We were glad the game didn’t have to be cancelled! Brooklyn’s team was playing Lillian, Savannah’s classmate, so Savannah was excited to watch both her sister and her friend play. Lillian was super talented! She scored a goal almost right off the bat after the kickoff. It was a really exciting game that went back and forth. The Grizzlies ended up winning 4-3, and Brooklyn scored two goals. It was a great win!
Abigail and I did “drawing class” together, and she wanted to take my picture with our artwork :)
On May 13th, Savannah’s team played at 8 am. They played a team with a really talented player this morning, probably the best one in all of 8U. It was an exciting game, and the Dolphins ended up winning 6-3. Savannah struggled more than usual on defense, but she did score one goal when she kicked it hard from about midfield and it bounced off another player and into the goal. She played really hard, as usual!
Abigail’s team played at 11:30 am. Both teams scored quite a few goals, but Abigail was disappointed that she didn’t score this week ;) She takes it very seriously! She ran hard and had some big kicks. It was very hot, so umbrellas and shade were a must for the spectators on the sideline.
That afternoon, the girls were invited to Savannah’s teammate Emma’s birthday party at Altitude. Everyone had a blast jumping, and Abigail was especially excited to spend some extra time with Emma’s little sister, Madison.
Such a busy Saturday = extra tired on Sunday!
The local high schools had their graduation ceremonies on May 15th, which meant that the district had an e-learning day at home for everyone else. Abigail joined the party by doing some pages in a preschool workbook. The girls got their work done and had plenty of time for fun like racing their monster trucks. They also assisted me on a grocery shopping adventure ;)
Brooklyn had Field Day on May 16th, and I was glad to be able to volunteer in the morning at the “leaky bucket” station. She loves Field Day, especially the water activities and getting shaved ice.
Abigail was riding in style that afternoon to pick up her sisters from school. Check out that fan attached to her scooter…haha. It was a hot day!
Last soccer practice for the season! These girls have played together for several seasons now, so it was a bittersweet day with Emma moving to Utah soon and Arabelle not playing next season.
Unfortunately, Savannah came down with a stomach bug that night and threw up 4 times overnight, so she had to miss school on Wednesday :(
We thought she was better on Thursday (May 18th) and sent her to school for Field Day, but I ended up getting a call from Ms. Kuenzli that morning that she was feeling bad again. I checked her out, and she threw up twice at home that afternoon/evening and had really bad diarrhea. She felt a little better on Friday, but had to miss school again, including her end of the year party. She was so sad, and I felt so bad for her! It’s never a good time to be sick, but especially during such a fun week at school.
At least she had Abigail and Gabby to keep her company while she was at home :)
Last soccer practice of the season for Abigail on May 18th!
Abigail’s team played their last game of the season at 8 am on May 20th. It was a pretty rainy day overall, but it was actually dry during the girls’ games, and they didn’t close the fields surprisingly! Abigail scored the first goal of the game today. She dribbled the ball all the way down the left side of the field and kicked it right in. She also played great defense and had a really big kick that went over some of the other kids’ heads…haha. All the parents said, “Whoa!” We get comments regularly about how she kicks so “big” for having such a small frame :)
It was a bittersweet morning because it was Abigail’s last game with Maddie on her team. They’ve gotten really close over the last few seasons, and we were so sad when we found out her family was moving back to Utah (understandably, to be closer to family, but sad for us!!). Abigail still cries on a regular basis when she thinks of Maddie, and it’s been over 6 months now. They’ve kept in touch by sending each other letters and drawings, but it’s still been hard.
Savannah wasn’t at 100% when she woke up that morning, but she felt well enough to go to her game. Her team was supposed to both play at 11 am, but the other team didn’t show up. Their coach apparently told the team not to come because of the rain but didn’t bother to let Coach MJ know. (It actually wasn’t raining when we got there anyway). After we stood around waiting for a while, we gave up and all went to Sam and Greg’s for lunch instead. It was yummy! It actually worked out in Savannah’s favor that the game was cancelled because I don’t think she would have had the energy to play much anyway. Coach MJ had nothing but good things to say about Savannah and the effort she gives on the field each week!
Brooklyn’s team played at 11 am, and Travis took her to Palmer for the game. The Grizzlies won 2-0, and Brooklyn scored one goal. All week, she had been talking about how she’d never been on a team that has won their last game of the season, so she was really hoping they would win today, and they did. Her team lost the first game, tied the second game, and won all the rest of the games. They improved over the season and had a lot of fun together!
Jacob, who lives in our neighborhood, rarely contributes anything to the Millstone newspaper, but this month he made an “animal bracket” (kind of like March Madness) that everyone was supposed to fill out to guess his favorite animal. All 5 of us filled out a bracket, and I was hassling Travis one afternoon to fill his out so I could turn them in on time. He quickly filled it out without giving it much thought at all (if you know him, you know that’s totally unlike him), and we were shocked to find out that not only did he win 1st place, but he got a perfect bracket!! Haha!! We thought that was hysterical!!
That afternoon, we were invited to Alexa’s house to swim and celebrate the end of the soccer season. It was rainy and much colder than I thought it would be. The girls swam a little, but the water was so cold that they didn’t last too long!
We were sad to find out on May 21st that one of Brooklyn’s fiddler crabs (Syrup) had died. Brooklyn was sad and cried about it. We buried Syrup in our front flower bed, and she put a little rock there as a marker. Syrup lived with us for 6 months, and luckily her sister Waffles was still doing well :)
Brooklyn had her 4th grade end of the year party on May 22nd. It was held at the outdoor track and involved the entire 4th grade. Mrs. Prevatt’s other room moms and I were in charge of Musical Squares, and the room moms from other classes helped with other games. The kids were free to run around and do whatever they wanted to during the party. Brooklyn had a great time! At the end of the party, the teachers and parents pulled out secret cans of silly string and sprayed as many kids as they could. It was a fun surprise for the kids!
I love catching the girls reading together :)
I unfortunately came down with the same stomach bug as Savannah and didn’t feel great for a couple of days…
Savannah made it to school all this week, including the last day on May 25th…
But sadly Brooklyn woke up having diarrhea and had to miss the last day of school. (We still took her picture anyway). We definitely went out with a whimper this school year. Even though they don’t do much on the last day, she was still not happy to miss it!
Savannah was excited to see Mrs. Pride (her 1st grade teacher) before leaving school. Summertime was officially here!!
Not only did Brooklyn have to miss the last day of school, but she also had to miss swim time with friends at our neighborhood pool as well as her soccer pool party that night. I took Savannah to the neighborhood pool, but left Abigail at home too since we weren’t sure whether she would get sick. Savannah had a good time with friends, but we were definitely missing her sisters.
Savannah had been really upset to miss her end of the year class party because they had a silly string battle for the kids. We tried to make up for it that afternoon with some silly string in the backyard, but it was obvious that Brooklyn didn’t feel great.
Brooklyn continued to feel poorly the next day and even took a nap, which is very unusual for her. Although it could have been much worse, it was definitely no fun to have a stomach bug that took 10 days to move through our house. It was mainly a bummer with the timing of both girls missing so many fun activities. Brooklyn was finally feeling better on Saturday and able to go back to church on Sunday. Somehow Travis and Abigail never got sick!!
The weather was nice on May 26th, so we spent some time in the backyard. Travis entertained us during his lunch break by showing us that he could still jump rope :)
Gabby didn’t realize it was summer vacation when she was studying the U.S. map :)
Thankful that everyone was feeling well and able to be at church and Cici’s house for lunch on May 28!
We didn’t have any big plans for Memorial Day this year, but we did decide to grill hamburgers/hotdogs and make homemade ice cream. The burgers were delicious!! Savannah even said, “There are no words to describe these burgers!”, and she is our child who usually calls everything “good”, no matter how great it is ;)
Elaina, Bristol, and Addie came over on May 30th and played for a few hours. The girls had a picnic lunch outside and had more homemade ice cream for dessert. We also kicked off the summer with lots of downtime and games like chess.
Brooklyn and Savannah each made a summer bucket list, and we were looking forward to having a lot of fun together!
Notes and Quotes from May 2023:
- 5/1/23 – Abigail (while riding in the car): “Is Satan invisible?” “I don’t really know. I think so.” I replied. Then, she asked the weirdest question ever…haha. “What if you’re Satan, but you don’t know it?” Haha! I told her I was too sweet to be Satan ;)
- 5/8/23 – Abigail: “Whenever I look at cake, it makes me feel like I’m allergic to it because the bread part tastes so horrible.” She CAN’T be my daughter, but she could be Travis’s…haha!
- 5/14/23 – Abigail: “I picked a big earwack out of my ear during church…it was a GIANT earwack!!”
- 5/20/23: Travis and Abigail were talking about the story of Mary and Martha. Travis said, “Don’t you think if Jesus was coming over that we’d be running around vacuuming and doing lots of cooking and cleaning the potties?” Abigail replied, “But I don’t think Jesus would need to use the potty…” Travis asked, “Why not?” and she replied, “Because he has powers!!”
Thanks for reading!!
