March Memories

Here are some more memories from March:

On the first weekend of March, we took the kids to Pebble Creek Elementary's annual carnival.

The first game Atticus wanted to play was throw a ring on a 2 litter bottle of lemonade and win it! There were probably 150 bottles of drinks to choose from. However, the deal was that he had to carry the bottle around all day - we were not carrying it because we thought he should wait until the end of hte day to to this game. But, he REALLY needed the lemonade and didn't want anyone else to get it. Did you know I bet I asked him 10 times, when I noticed he was walking around without the beloved bottle, where it was and he had to retrace his steps to find it? haha! I didn't care if we went home with it or not, but it as funny that he kept forgetting it and somehow kept finding it!

 There were lots and lots of games and Everly wanted to play them all.

 And a sucker was her favorite prize. This girl loves her suckers!

 She was SO exhausted by the end.

 This was a different day, but it's so cute when busy little toddlers just have to give it up and fall asleep in their high chairs.

 We took our friends next door to play at the park and spend the day with us playing at the house during Spring Break!

 Everly ate lots of popcorn - she LOVES popcorn.

 We practiced blowing bubbles...unsuccessfully.

We were very fancy and carried our purse and juice around with us in the house. 

 We played at the park while Atticus had baseball practice.

 We looked cute.

We dressed up.

 We watched Grace hunt Easter eggs at her school hunt.

 And then we spent a lot of time learning about Texas History and specifically the Alamo this month. Atticus's class was assigned topics to research and come up with a project to present to the class. Oh my goodness. This was so much fun because he got the Alamo and there's so much to learn about it. Many of his classmates got things like state bird or state tree, but I was excited about this one because it fit Atticus perfectly. We read books, read online, watched The Alamo (John Wayne movie) and then we came up with a project. Many of the kids did powerpoint presentations, but that is not my expertise and Atticus loved making his poster. He learned all about the men who fought in the Alamo and the details of the mission and the battle. I had thoughts of taking a day trip to San Antonio for him to see it, but it just didn't work out during Spring Break. Too far. But, that is on our to do list! Also, each kid had to give a presentation on their class board and speaker system and his teacher, Mrs. Payne, emailed me to say she had never been more proud of Atticus! My heart soared. She said he did such a good job explaining everything and answering questions. He loves school and learning and he had the best teacher to encourage him and inspire him. So, this was a fun project to do!

Also, I have to say that he is such a child of Vic and me. He is my little organizer anyways, but during this week, they would present their projects on whatever day they turned them in. They had a week to turn them in. Well, Atticus loved to come home and tell us what person did what topic and what he learned. He even made lists of each kid, their topic, fun facts. He made a poster at the end of the week, similar to his with all of this information. He couldn't get enough. That is one reason I loved going to Washington on the Brazos. He had planned to make another poster about that and take it to school, but he never did. He just soaks it all up!

 And here he is presenting on the Ladybug (what they call this thing) his Texas book. I think he talked all about Texas sports teams.

 The other super fun thing they did this month was Market Day and Factory Day. They learned about businesses and products and had to make a certain product to sell (his teacher provided ideas). They took the supplies in to Ms. Payne, had a Factory Day to make their products and then the day before Spring Break, they sold their products at Market Day. They setup tables and named their store. They had to earn money the month before with good behavior and doing things Ms. Payne needed. She is so fun; she even made them buy their chairs and pencil boxes back and sold things like pencils to them. He LOVED this project and according to Ms. Payne, the kids love this every year and are so proud of their items!

 Everly laid on her stomach and drew in books (technically, she should have had a coloring book, but Atticus told her this was ok - it was his Pokemon character book.)

And we played with our babies!

 And Daddy took Everly for a day - I love the outfit because he was smart and turned it into a dress since it was a 3T! And I really love the hair! Only Dad's can do hair like that.

 And Daddy did the hair again on this day!

 And they must have been doing something fun again on this day! Daddy is usually good for all of the outside adventures!

 More Daddy time at Lowe's.

And they colored Easter eggs and made Easter crafts - I must have been busy on these days! Daddy did a good job entertaining!

 And last but not least, Atticus was REALLY into March Madness this year. It was fun because he knew all of the teams and had Vic, me and him do brackets and keep points and watch lots of games. He was so funny because he would get so dramatic over teams I picked (I picked A&M to win it all and usually the underdogs to win a game because it's the opposite of what he and Vic were choosing) and would act shocked and tell me I was going to lose and was so into it. It was so fun!

 His bracket.

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

So, also that afternoon of our Washington on the Brazos Day, we took our kites I recently bought and flew them. I have NO idea the last time I flew a kite was, but Vic and I both enjoyed it so much. I think Vic loved it the most! It was a great breezy kite flying day. Vic started with the big kids and when Everly woke up from her nap, she liked it too. Of course, Everly thinks she can do anything, so getting her to understand we BOTH had to hold it took some extra effort. But, it was just a sweet family afternoon and I loved it!

Washington on the Brazos & Bluebonnets

On Easter weekend, Vic always takes Monday off of work so it makes it a nice long weekend to celebrate. So, after T-ball practice Saturday morning, we loaded the kids to go to Washington on the Brazos to picnic and see the museum and run around. It was the most beautiful weather day! It got hot by the end, but mostly it was just wonderful. We arrived, took pictures with bluebonnets, toured the museum, then had our picnic and then checked out Barrington Farm, which was the home of the last president of the Republic of Texas, Anson Jones. It was a great day!

  This was the museum. And the kids really got into exploring it, before we even got to the children's area. Atticus and Vic can really enjoy learning history details.

 A cabin in the museum. Then we went into the children's area. I was blown away by how great it was. It was so perfect for imaginative play and Grace and Everly could have stayed all day long. Atticus got into it also, but the girls really played and did not want to leave.

 They had a cow that had a working udder.

 There was a wagon and it was really fun too. They loaded all kinds of things into it throughout the time we were there.

 There was a kitchen and fireplace and eating area, as if they were in a log cabin. This was so much fun for Grace. She stoked the fire, cooked food in a pot over the fire, swept the floors, organized food and dishes, and pretended away.

 You will see that Everly got attached to this plate, cup, and tomato and carried them around the entire time.

 They had to haul water out of the well.

 They gathered the eggs.

 The washing had to be done too.

 And they were very busy in their pioneer wagon. It was just a great children's museum.

Atticus had been learning all about the Alamo and people in Texas history this month, so it was fun to take a photo with Sam Houston's statue.

Then, we left and drove around the corner to the picnic area and had a delicious lunch. 

And then we headed down to Barrington Farm to check it out.

 The house and buildings had some original furnishings and people dressed up to answer questions.

 I love seeing old homes from the 1800's and learning about how people lived. Even the wealthy had a tougher way of life than we would be used to, but anytime I think about a time period I would want to live in, I always think of these days.

 Everly took her normal pose on the floor to write on the chalkboard.

 We checked out the Kitchen House where the cooking was done.

 Atticus attempted washing clothes, but didn't really think this was that great of a way to wash clothes.

 Inside the house, the kids learned about how people went to the bathroom as well as things kids would do during these times.

 We also went down to see the barn and the slave cabins.

 Atticus was checking out their work areas where they kept their supplies and equipment.

 We learned about the garden and the jobs of the slaves.

 The kids looked at the slave quarters and realized how different they were from the big house where the family lived.

 We checked out the animal pens and boy, were those hogs stinky! I hadn't smelled that smell since my hog showing days!

 The kids thought so too!

By this point, everyone was hot and falling asleep, so we headed back home. It was such a fun adventure for the day and nice to have it so close by. We will definitely do it again. I might just take Everly to do nothing but play in the children's area when the big kids are in school this fall!