April 22 Recap

By the looks of the pictures, April was a fun month.  :)

First up was Rylee's play, Cinderella.  She played the evil (and crazy) stepmother, hence the makeup and hair.

Gaga and Jon were there too, but weren't in this pic.

Then we had Easter festivities like dying eggs...

(Rylee made this cute Easter crochet hanging.)

...and finding Easter eggs/baskets.

Rylee also made this cute Harry Potter inspired Easter decoration.  

She wanted to call it "Harry Pecker!"  Lol

When I explained what that slang meant, she was soooo embarrassed!

Of course, it was so funny that we HAD to keep calling it that.  :)

Since we couldn't be in Philadelphia with the cousins to do the 

Ovarian Cancer race, we did a 5K bike instead.

Selfie!

Jace went to a birthday party at Top Golf, so Jon, Rylee 

and I tagged along and rented our own bay so we could play too.  Top Golf is so fun!

It was Jace's first "official" Take Your Child to Work Day.

He went to work with Jon.

With his badge...

...and the name plate they made him.

Rylee went to work with me.  

She is such an amazing teacher!

Of course, all my kids loved her.

Rylee and Emily at the straight A banquet.

Jace wrote a joke that was used on the morning show:

March 2022 Recap

 

Rylee and I got all dolled up to 

go to the Broadway show Frozen.

I love this dress of Rylee's,

especially paired with her boots.

Rylee loved the movie so much when she was little that 

we had to see the musical.  It was really good too!

We had lots of fun over Spring Break.  The kids and I went down to the beach, walked around a nature loop, and had lunch at an outdoor place near the beach.

My Dad and I took the kids down to the Miami Zoo too.  I've always wanted to rent the bicycle thing and ride around the zoo.  It was expensive, but really fun!

Jace had never been to the Miami Zoo and 

Rylee was little the last time we went so she didn't remember it.

It was all decked out in Easter decore.

Over the break, we also met my friend, Alexis and her kids at the park.

The kids had fun playing with Kyleigh.  :)

Jace also got a cool new hair do...

...and a new gaming chair for the living room

to replace his bean bag chair.

He's not gaming here.  He's drawing.  He is in the process of making a Pokemon

calendar.  He has like 8 full color pictures.  He just needs a couple more.

He also got into poetry this year.  He has a journal of poems that he wrote and illustrated.

Aunt Laurie thinks he will really be able to woo the ladies later in life!

February 22 Recap

 February brought:

the 100th day of school

(dress like you're 100)

Jace's first biking injury...

We had driven our bikes to the corporate park and it was doomed from the start.  Rylee's handle bars were loose so we had to walk back to the truck.  Jon drove home, got the tools, came back, and fixed them.  Then after riding for only 10 or so minutes, Jace took a tumble.  Jon had to ride back to the truck, then drive to come pick us all up.  Jon was really the only one who got in any riding that day!  :)

The kids have a tradition where they give each other the "special treatment" when they are hurt.  As a joke, Rylee put on her old Doc McStuffins stuff from when she was little.  Still fits!  Lol!

Rylee's school started letting parents come back in 

for the straight A banquet so Jon was able to attend.

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this, but we love BattleBots.  Emily's dad, Carl, is on the TV show every year.  He's part of the Rotator team.  We love watching him and seeing how far Rotator makes it in the fights.  We even have the Rotator toy.  Rylee and Emily also joined the Robotics team this year in honor of Carl, but I don't think they have the same aptitude for it!

Jace was selected for Student Council this year.

He loved going to the meetings and helping

with all the service projects.

February's was donations for an animal shelter.

We went on a nature hike with the Moraes on a day off from school.

They told Jace about a new Pokemon cafe

so we had to check it out!  All the drinks are named

after Pokemon characters.

We went several times that Spring just in case it doesn't make it 

or gets shut down for copy right infringement!

My team wore tutus for 2-22-22

and Rylee had a Color Guard performance

at her school for an electives showcase night.

Lastly, Jace survived the Panther Prowl.

He had to run/walk two miles this year.  :)

January 2022 - Making Progress

January was only eventful because both kids got Covid.  First, Jace got sick.  Then a couple of days later Rylee got sick.  It was partially over the long weekend so it was weird for Jon and I to be alone in the house... like a glimpse into the future - I can't say that I loved it!

Quarantine really showed the difference in my kid's personalities.  Jace was in 7th heaven!  He did online school, played video games, and watched You Tube.  He didn't need anything except the food we delivered at meal times.  When we opened his door 5 days later it looked like what I imagine his college dorm room will be - a lived in disaster!

Rylee, on the other hand, was absolutely dejected.  She can't stand being alone!  She had to FaceTime people constantly for interaction!  She needed crafts, her ukulele, and guitar.  Her school also made her stay out 10 days (whereas Jace only had to stay home 5) so it was extremely hard with all her classes.  That one experience made her (and consequently the rest of us) decide to stay masked up all year.  She didn't want to get sick again and have to miss school or her end of year tests.  

Here are the other notable things from January:

Mason (and doggie Stella) stayed overnight.

Jace and Mason are two peas from the same pod.

Here they were working on a puzzle book together.

Jace's 3D model for his space project:

Jon gets some credit too.

It helps to have a model maker father to

help create scale parts!

The other thing I might not have mentioned is that my family has really gotten into riding bikes over the last year.  We started riding pretty much every Sunday morning.  There's a couple of different routes we can take from our house that end up in a nice linear park so depending on the route we can go anywhere from 3-6 miles.  In the beginning of the year, Rylee was riding an old bike, I was riding a bike that we had picked up when the neighbors were throwing it out, and Jace was riding a hand-me-down of Rylee's which was purple.  Lol!

After Christmas, Rylee and I decided we needed new bikes.  Rylee had saved up some money so she paid for hers.  It's a beach cruiser and she gets compliments on it all the time.

I got mine as an early birthday present.

We made Jace wait to get a new one for his birthday 

so I guess you'll see that photo in May.  :)

Like I mentioned before, Rylee is amazing at crochet.  

I can't show you all her projects, but this 

Hermione doll was too cute.

She also made these earrings for mismatch day.

(The Ovarian cancer ribbons she made as gifts for Laurie and Maddie too.)

She also made this cute earmuff headband

which she actually got to wear on a cold day.  :)