1st track meet 2018

We signed Shecklets 1, 2, and 3 up for a month-long track season in a neighboring suburb. Today was their first meet. They each had three running events and one field event.

Catapult War

Shecklet #1 spent time with two of his aunts and one of his (almost) uncles this past weekend.  He went to a state park with caves with Kari, Stacie & Nick on Saturday and then spent the night at Kari’s house.  On the way to Kari’s, they stopped at Hobby Lobby and he picked out a catapult kit.  Upon finishing building (and decorating) the catapults at home this afternoon, #1 and #2 decided to create a game – complete with a board, cards, and rules.  I’m amazed (and impressed) by the level of thought and detail they put in to it – without any encouragement or help from anyone else.

Weekend away

My friend, Michelle, and I don’t get much of an opportunity to catch up (uninterrupted) when we see each other.  A few weeks ago, she threw out the idea of a pre-baby girls weekend.  (She’s expecting another sweet baby and we both know that life gets more complex when adding a new member to the family.) Anyway, we accomplished the feat of finding a weekend that worked for both of us and decided to keep our plans to a minimum.  In fact, the only thing we decided on by the time we pulled our of her driveway late Friday morning was that we would head south in I-35.  We figured we could stop once we didn’t see snow anymore.  That put us smack dab in Des Moines, IA.  Not exactly a common place to road trip to, but for us, it wasn’t about the destination.  Rather, we were hoping to get a chance to talk, laugh, and sleep.  All of which we accomplished.  Well, maybe not so much on the sleep end, but it was still nice to sleep through the night and not be woken up by a child.

On Saturday, we did get out to see the botanical gardens in downtown Des Moines, had dinner at a taco restaurant (food was tasty, but the service was terrible,) and saw the 9:30pm showing of  I Can Only Imagine, before continuing to talk until almost 2am.  We got up Sunday morning, had breakfast at the hotel, and found a church nearby that had mass at 11am.  After mass and a stop for a cup of coffee, we headed for home.

Both of us are grateful for our husbands who managed things on the home front so we could get away and recharge.  (Here are the Shecklets with the homemade pizzas they had for dinner on Friday night.)

Eye check

At Shecklet #4’s 5-year well visit yesterday, the doctor noticed something about her eyes that she wanted double checked by an ophthalmologist.  When I called to set up the appointment, they had one for this morning.  Everything checked out just fine – no concerns.  She did a great job reading letters and following directions.

Random side note.  I compared #4’s 5-year stats to her sister’s 5-year stats and #4 is 2.5 inches taller than #3 was at age 5!  I had a hunch she was taller, but didn’t realize it was by that much!  It will be interesting to see if she continues to grow at the same rate!

Music and Art – Shecklet #2

It was Shecklet #2’s night to shine.  We wandered through the art show and found the two pieces he created.  I know I’ve said this before, but I love that my kids attend a school where the arts are an important piece of their education.  After the art show, we were entertained by the fourth graders’ singing and recorder playing.

Snow day…in April

19″ of snow in 48 hours was enough to have the kids’ schools declare a snow day today! It’s finally warm enough for them to enjoy the white stuff without getting cold in 10 minutes.

Stylish boys

What do you do when there’s a snowstorm in April? Go get haircuts, of course! Shecklets 1 & 2 got cuts and were shown how to style their hair. Don’t they look sharp?

Music and Art -Shecklet #3

It is concert and art show season at school. Tonight I as the first of three events we’ll have in the next month. This girl did a great job in art class as well as singing with her fellow 1st graders!