20 Questions with Atticus at age 8

Atticus at Age 8:

What is your favorite color? Black
What is your favorite toy? Legos
What is your favorite fruit? Mandarin Oranges
What is your favorite TV show? Sports
What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Burgers
What is your favorite outfit? Athletic Shorts & Shirts
What is your favorite game? Checkers
What is your favorite snack? Yogurt
What is your favorite animal? Okapi
What is your favorite song? Imagine Dragons "Whatever it takes"
What is your favorite book? The One and Only Ivan
Who is your best friend? Luc, Lance, Johnny & Greer
What is your favorite cereal? Trix
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play basketball
What is your favorite holiday? My Birthday
What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Simba and my blanket
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Bar & Yogurt
What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Shrimp
What is your favorite movie? Star Wars
What do you want to be when you grow up? Sports Player

Atticus's 2nd Grade Spelling Bee

Back in November, Atticus took a classroom spelling test, along with everyone else in 2nd grade and ended up being in the top 8 of 2nd grade of spellers. This led him to participate in the school spelling bee! They sent home a list of 50 words for the first spelling test, but for the spelling bee, they sent home a list of 450 words! Atticus was great at spelling the entire first half, but the second half were tough. However, we practiced every other day or so doing about 50 words at a time. Then, after basketball practice one night, he and I went to eat at Fazoli's for some one-on-one time and we spent the entire time practicing words. That, by the way, was one of my favorite evenings. I love each of my kids and Atticus really loves undivided attention. He is silly and smart and inquisitive and I just love it so much! And, that night, he not only loved trying out Fazoli's for the first time (it's now one of his favorite restaurants), but he had fun spelling the words and making me spell them. Ah - I love that memory! Anyways, the weekend before the big spelling bee, we worked really hard learning words. My hope was that he would make it a few rounds and just be proud of himself. He can be so hard on himself sometimes. And he would be competing with 3rd and 4th graders as well, so I just wanted him to feel good at the end. It doesn't help that my competitive side (that I do NOT want to force upon my children) was itching to come out because I know how smart he is and I knew he could win this thing! haha!

So, the Tuesday before Christmas break, we had a babysitter set and Vic and I were going to go watch him first thing in the morning for his spelling bee. He woke up and came to our room excited. Then, Grace came in. And threw up. And then she had diarrhea. Not trying to be gross but just keeping it real. And as soon as that happened, I realized I would not be getting to go watch Atticus at his Spelling Bee. My heart was honestly crushed. We had been practicing so much together and I had loved that practice time so much. I just wanted to watch him. But, mom duty calls sometimes. Vic told me to go and he would stay home, but that didn't' really make any sense because he would have to go to work anyways after the event. So, he kept me updated through texts and took pictures and videos. Atticus made it through 4 rounds of the spelling bee, getting out on Round 5 with the word "writhing". We had not practiced that one and the silent W got him. There were 10 kids in that round and only 6 left after it, so Atticus told us he was 7th place. I'll take that! And, he was the LAST 2nd grader standing. His other words were street, abnormal, something else, and perish (and this was one that he kept spelling wrong until the very end of our study times and I was so excited he got it in the bee!). The videos are precious because I am his mom and of course they are precious. Here are a couple of his rounds!
https://youtu.be/unimRawBhRs

https://youtu.be/bhLzn1OvGUY

Also, he was proud of himself and the cutest speller I ever saw! And he already hopes he gets to do it again next year! He wants to go to Houston and then Washington, DC for the bigger spelling bees. Haha!

Decades Day

These two had Decades Day at School! Atticus did not want to dress up, until the night before and thankfully we could pull together an outfit for a boy from the 40's. And Grace was the cutest 50's girl you ever did see! When I asked them what their favorite part from their day was (where they learn all about their decade during their school work all day), they told me:

Atticus: learning about WW2
Grace: eating ice cream during snack (aka Root Beer Floats minus the root beer for Grace)

Conversations

Conversations with Atticus:

One day, we were talking about something in the car and it led to me to somehow discussing with the kids how thankful we are to be to God for everything. And Atticus says, very thoughtfully:

"He does a lot for us. Yeah, he's probably the best person I know". Is was just so sweet.

Another day, Atticus was helping Everly, who had knocked over a kitchen chair. As he is getting it back up, he reads the bottom and says:

"Look Everly! Made in China. You are going to learn that everything we have is made in China!" He just said it so matter-of-factly and almost as if it was a burden she was just going to have to accept. I could not stop laughing though! I mean - what does he know about things being made in China? hahaha!

Atticus's Turkey Book

Sometimes, Atticus is just too cute! He surprises me with his thoughtfulness and when he is ready to work on a project, he goes all in! He made me and Vic this turkey book and I just loved it!

 I love the things he is thankful for: holidays, The Bible, outdoors, my mom, God, Jesus, friends, my dad, my sisters, 10 commandments, US Armed Forces, Aggies, food, and football. As Vic said, "it makes you feel like you are doing something right as a parent!"

Hunting in Orange Grove

This past weekend, Atticus and Vic made a boys trip to Orange Grove to go hunting! While they didn't actually hunt by shooting, they got to sit in the deer blind morning and night, and shoot cans with a .22, which Atticus loved! They saw both grandmothers at lunch, which was so nice for Vic. Atticus got to play with Keller and play yahtzee with Janice. They ate fried shrimp (Atticus's favorite) and just had a really nice weekend together with the Seidel's. Atticus can't wait to go hunting again!

 

 

 

 

 

And while they did that, the girls and I just hung out and played and stayed up too late each night. My favorite thing was that little Grace. On Saturday night, she decided she wanted to eat salads for dinner. She was SO proud to make her salad of lettuce, chicken and cheese and eat it with me. She's gone through phases in the past where she will just eat lettuce for her salad. But, she actually ate a real salad this time! She also told me "This is just so peaceful. I'm just so grown up!" and "This is fun just eating salads!" Oh and below you can see where Grace tried on my wedding shoes. I never wear heels but I did wear these under my dress at my wedding and she thought it was so fun to try on "high heels".

Atticus's Two Front Teeth

So, in the month of September, Atticus lost both of his top two front teeth. He had only lost the two bottom baby teeth during 1st grade, but out of the blue, when eating an apple one day, he realized one of his top ones was loose. Not long after he lost that one, the other one was loose. So, he decided he really wanted to lose that second tooth before picture day at school so he could have no teeth in his photo! And sure enough, while in Sanger, as he slept one night, he lost that second tooth! He met his goal and I can't wait to see his school picture! Also, I LOVE to hear him talk. His little sweet voice says things a tiny bit different without those two teeth. He doesn't even realize it, but I think it's just precious. Here's the before (when the first one was dangling by a thread) and the after!

 

Book Character Dress-Up Day

Pebble Creek Elementary has Book Character Dress-Up Day and Parade each fall. This year, Grace went as Emily Elizabeth from the Clifford books and Atticus went as a baseball player in My First Book of Baseball. They were too cute and so "themselves" when they walked in the parade. The parents line up in the gym and hallway at school to watch each class walk through with their books and costumes. Grace came in, totally shy and not smiling, until she heard and saw me and some other moms calling her name! Then, Atticus came in acting silly! It was cute. They were both very proud of their costumes.

Meet the Aggie Football Team!

On August 12, Vic took Atticus on campus to Meet the Team for Aggie Football. They had a really good time and while Vic said the lines were really long to get into the building (and it was raining too), once they were inside, things moved pretty quickly. They were given a big poster of the number 12 football player and they made their way through the tables to get autographs. It was separated by position and they got almost all of the players to sign! They did not get Coach Fisher because his line was the longest and it ended before they could get in to wait. But, Atticus liked getting the quarterbacks the most! They had a great time and even got a photo with the yell leaders. Atticus said Vic looked like one of the yell leaders because he was wearing a white shirt.

Afterwards, they took a special lunch date to the Dixie Chicken for burgers. And Atticus said they are going to go back another time so they can play pool together. One-on-one adventures with the kids are so fun, so I was so glad they got to go meet the team and kick off the Aggie Football season!

 Atticus came home and told us that one of the Aggie Football players (but he couldn't remember who) told him he liked his sunglasses and that Coach Fisher wore the same sunglasses! :)

 Vic even stopped at Walmart on the way home and bought him a frame to hang it up!

 Lunch at the Chicken!

And then Atticus came home and got back to work taking care of his littlest sister!

The Kids Right Now

I typically do birthday posts on the kids to record everything they are doing in that moment and stats and everything! But, their birthdays have come and gone and I have not done that. So, I will just do a quick update on each of my 3 kiddos right now.

Atticus:

• At his 7 year well check, he weighed 68 lbs (96th%) and was 4'2" tall (83%). 
• He is in size 2ish shoes, and size 8 shirts and shorts.
• He is a great sleeper and always has been. 
• Atticus's favorite foods are: breakfast bars or cereal for breakfast; the normal kids snacks; any kind of spaghetti/ravioli; mexican food; like Grace, he likes any sweets; he is not big on vegetables but will eat just about anything we tell him he has to eat; burgers with cheese, pickles and ketchup; he loves all drinks but we try to make him stick to water mostly; he loves a gatorade or lemonade or sprite; he likes strawberries, blueberries, applesauce, apples and grapes; he is really a good eater and will eat most of what we cook.
• Atticus's favorite things then were all sports cards, sports stats, and playing sports. 
• Atticus's favorite things right now are Star Wars Legos! He took a break for awhile from loving legos as much as he did in Kindergarten, but as soon as summer hit, he has gone right back to them. Mostly, he plays with Minifigs and makes Mocks all day long. Minifigs are the little figures that come with sets that come apart and he customizes them (with permanent marker), trades their body parts, makes every kind of Star Wars commander, pilot, clone, etc. that he can. He builds them all day long. He also makes what he calls Mocks which are setups of Star Wars scenes or just scenes he makes up. I have loved his imagination with these this summer and while it really is ALL he wants to do, it has been the perfect thing since I have wanted to be in the a/c so much and not out running around and entertaining the kids outside of the house. Now, the hard part to legos is picking them up. It shouldn't take long because you just scoop and dump, right? No. Atticus is my organizer and even though legos can all look the same to me, he wants to put them up specifically and it usually turns into a long ordeal. Part of me loses my patience waiting on him and the other part of me is glad he loves his hobby and cares about all of those little pieces! 
• And, we have also watched many Star Wars movies and he is begging to see Episode 3 as well as all of the news ones that have come out (that are other than Episode 1-6). Vic and I wanted to watch them all first just to make sure they were okay. But, when do Vic and I have time to watch a movie? ha! So, maybe before school starts, we can sit down with him to watch at least 1. He has waited patiently. He has also watched a lot of Clone Wars on Netflix and loves that series because it gives him "ideas for his mocks". 
• He has even taught Grace many Star Wars things and she likes to build with him pretty regularly too, which he loves. But, then, usually abruptly, she decides she is done and he is so mad that she won't play with him. On the other hand, she will beg to play with him, and he will be too busy and want to play by himself. Such is the story of life with siblings!
• Atticus is still my adventurer. He is up for anything and not hesitant - a trip, playing with friends, going to do something new.
• He is a great big brother. He argues with Grace more, of course, but he loves her and will encourage her and take care of her and almost always include her when they are playing with friends.
• He is also a great big brother to Everly, who thinks he is hilarious and loves to play with him. he will talk baby talk to her sometimes but he can convince her to do things or just gives in to what she wants to do!
• He went through a stage in the spring where he ONLY wanted to wear athletic clothes and black socks and caps. Thankfully, he didn't know brand names and still doesn't. And he still LOVES a sports shirt or cap and many times, he has to pick just the right cap to wear on that day. 
• He's also into only wearing pajamas shorts to bed. No shirt. I don't know why.
• He has been really helpful with chores this summer. We started an allowance and his jobs are usually making his bed, emptying the dishwasher, cleaning up Everly's toys and his own, cleaning up his room, and sorting and helping with laundry. He likes making money and while I'm making them wait to spend their money until the end of the summer, he generally has been patient and is usually every good at doing his chores right away.
• Atticus talks about me and says "Mom" but still calls me "Mommy" and I love it.
• I struggle the most with making sure I don't expect too much because he is the oldest, but also still expect what I should of him. I do the same with Grace - it's just hard to not want to expect the same behavior from each kid, regardless of age or personality or day they are having. But, overall, Atticus gives me lots of grace, without realizing he is even doing it. So does Grace, actually.
• Atticus just has the best smile and is so handsome and so much fun and with one-on-one time, he really thrives! He is imaginative, but in a more organized way. He likes to learn about real life things and historical things. He loves to watch history or nature shows, as well as America's Got Talent, Muppet Babies, and silly kid movies. And, as always, he zones into one passion (animals, dinosaurs, legos, sports) and sticks with it for awhile.  
• Some funny phrases Atticus has said recently are calling the foyer/front hallways of the house the "atrium". He has also been having days of being serious and telling us he "is just not ready for the baby to come yet".
• Atticus is just a great kid and I love him so much. I can't believe 2nd grade is here!

Grace:

• At Grace's 5 year well check, she weighed 37 lbs (33rd%) and was 41.5" tall (24th%).
• She is my petite little girl! But, I have to try almost everything on her because she varies from size 4, 5, 5T, and even some 6 in her clothing. And she wears size 10 to 11 in shoes.
• She is a good sleeper...once asleep. We have JUST mastered her putting herself to sleep! We finally convinced her (with the closet light on and the door staying open to their room), that she is safe and shouldn't be scared and doesn't need us to fall asleep). And, she has off and on nights of staying in her room all night. If she doesn't, she quietly comes to our room for her pallet and when she wakes up in the morning, she quietly goes to play.  
• She is a picky eater. Her favorite foods are cereal with milk in the morning; water to drink (or chocolate milk if we ever buy it); snacks of goldfish, cheezits, apples, watermelon, popcorn, or cheesesticks; any sweet you can imagine; plain pasta, carrots with ranch, pizza, chicken nuggets, applesauce, sausage, mac and cheese, ravioli, and OCCASIONALLY some kind of casserole for dinner; she tells us how much she loves cauliflower for her vegetables; and finally, she will eat anything we give her once we sit and force it down her. Sometimes, that even ends 30 minutes later in her telling us she LOVED THAT FOOD!
• Her favorite things to do are imaginative play and crafts!
• This past spring, she could do nothing but talk about LOL dolls and shopkins and hatchimals and which ones were common or rare or special edition. She has checklists and I cannot tell you how many times we had to go through the checklists to talk about the toys (the goal of the toy makers is to get you to buy them all, because they are generally surprises and you don't know what you have until you buy them - yikes!) and how many times we would be in the car having these conversations.
• She loves to play in her dollhouses and is my kid that can take two random items and sit in the corner and come up with some situation and play with them. 
• Grace loves music and dancing! She memorizes words to songs (like soundtracks and the most recent is The Greatest Showman) and sings them over and over. She loves to play music from my phone and dance. She also loves gymnastics and is constantly doing "tricks" with her little flexible body or somersaults or trying out cartwheels. She has already informed me that after she does dance this year, she wants to do gymnastics so she can "get that cartwheel down." 
• This summer, she has gotten into crafts even more. Grace loves anything with scissors, colors, paint, glitter glue, stickers, markers, etc. She actually has become excellent at coloring and will do it all day long. She also wants us to color with her. she has recently been working on a Beanie Boo coloring book and is probably going to finish every page. She is so proud of her work! 
• She came up (from You Tube Kids maybe?) with a 3 Marker Challenge and she loves it. She closes her eyes, picks three markers, and only colors her page with those. She really likes it when we join her. 
• One of my favorite things is for her to come to my scrapbook room and bring all of her crafty things she is working on that day and setup across from me, while I do my computer to-do's during Everly's naptime. She will color and talk and color and talk. While sometimes I do tell her she has to color quietly, I really love that she wants to come in here and do this. Just recently, she will call this "our scrapbook room" or talk about sharing the scrapbook room one day.
• She has also started asking about a new house. Why does she want a new house? We are not getting a new house. But, she will ask me if it can have stairs. She will ask me if she can have a bathroom attached to her room or to the scrapbook room, "like mommy and daddy's". Why? I have no idea. But, she is slowly planning it out.
• Grace loves games and puzzles. While Atticus likes them ok, Grace loves them. She has gotten really good at these 100 and 200 piece puzzles I've found and will do them over and over, as well as her regular 24 or 48 piece puzzles. She also loves to play games. She could play them all day long, as long as she has someone to play with.
• One thing Grace does NOT do well is clean up her toys. She will have days of waking up and telling me she wants to help me cook or clean, but most of the time, when I ask her to clean up the toys, she 1) immediately has to go to the bathroom and 2) does a lot of complaining about cleaning them up. 
• On the other hand, she will do anything I ask to help with Everly - grab her a snack, pick something up for her, attempt to make sandwiches at lunch, etc. 
• Grace is a talker. She talks from sunup (which for her is 6:45 am) to sundown. She is a spider-webber, as my friend Meghan calls it - and can go from tangent to tangent (just like her mama, I'm afraid!). She has a tiny little high pitched voice that can get REALLY high pitched when she is excited, but it's sweet and I love it. But, if she falls asleep in the car or even if she wakes up in the morning after I do, she immediately has something to say. One day, she had slept in the car for 45 minutes or so, wakes up and in the first moment of being awake, she asks Vic to turn up the music and then goes right on as if she never even fell asleep.
• A few funny phrases she uses are "I'm shocked!" and she says "ducilite" for duplicate because she gets so tongue-tied. 
• Generally, Grace is always in a good mood. Of course, arguing with Atticus or going to bed too late changes that, but she wakes up happy and easy going. She generally accepts being told "no" or me changing up a routine or schedule, where Atticus is quicker to question it or complain a little too much about something that might not be a big deal. Grace can just be really easy going.
• She is also a great little sister! She adores Atticus and loves to be included with him. She can't wait to be at Pebble Creek with him. She loved when he would play ball with her or warm up with her this spring during t-ball. She likes to be included when the neighborhood kids play outside. She will choose Atticus to help her with something (like blowing out her birthday candles). I hope he always knows how important it is to protect her, because she really counts on him.
• She is also a great big sister and Everly loves her so much! She will play with Everly and help Everly and doesn't think she is too big for her. 
• Grace is a girly girl who doesn't love to get too dirty, but can play and have fun. She does get hurt a lot - or have lots of boo-boos and tears really quickly before she remembers that she is just fine. But, she loves to dress in bows and dresses just as much as her regular shorts and tshirts. And, she likes to play with makeup and nails and hair color and loves those reverse sequin shirts and anything rainbow or colorful. She also complains about her hair being done because it pulls when we take our ponytail holders or when I am putting it up; but then another day, she will be so proud to tell me that she doesn't mind if it hurts her. She is just up and down silly!
• Grace is growing out of a little of her shyness, but she is still sensitive when in big groups or when being put on the spot. She has really come a long way in being confident with friends and not always needing me. But, when she is uncomfortable, it still takes her awhile until she realizes she can do whatever it is she's worried about. I am excited for kindergarten because she will love it, but I worry about that first time we have to work her through being upset over something. I just want her little heart to always know she can do anything she wants and to not worry about what others think.
• Sometimes when I think of Grace, I just think of a little fairy that spreads happiness where ever she goes. She doesn't realize how funny she is! I love this beautiful little girl so much!

Everly

•  At her 2 year well check, she weighed 33 lbs (96th%) and was 34.75 inches tall (77th%).
• She is in some 2T, but mostly 3T clothes and size 7 shoes. 
• She is a great sleeper and loves her bed as long as she has her blanket, paci, mickey, and kitty with her. She sleeps great and still take a great nap, but if she isn't in the mood to sleep or wakes up in the middle of the night, she happily hangs out by herself to play and talk until she goes back to sleep. It's amazing!
• She has gotten to be a pickier eater, and like Grace, will sometimes love something and then not eat it again for awhile. Her favorite foods are breakfast bars or cereal for breakfast; the normal kid snacks of goldfish, cheesesticks, crackers, popcorn, fruit snacks, teddy grahams, etc; she loves PB&J and really loves chips at lunch; she will eat chicken nuggets, sausage, pasta, green beans, regular beans, chips and queso, tacos, quesadillas, some casseroles or ravioli if we are lucky, pizza, french fries, applesauce, bananas and that's about it. She is not a big fruit eater at all. She drinks water and milk and sometimes a drink of my unsweet tea! And she loves cookies! She likes sweets, as most kids do. 
• Her favorite things change quickly because she is a toddler, but mostly for awhile, she loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Muppet Babies, cooking in her play kitchen, her train and tracks, occasionally playing in the dollhouse, musical instruments (especially a harmonica!), and her books of the week and puzzles. 
• She will play baby dolls off and on. She likes to use Mickey or her kitties to change their diapers, carry them around, put them in the stroller or baby beds, cover them up, and kiss them. She will sometimes do this with her actual baby dolls too. 
• She LOVES pushing things or sitting herself in her baby buggy or stroller (even though she is too big for the baby doll stroller!).
• She loves to get games out and play them. They are usually the big kids games but she entertains herself or we make up how to play. 
• She sometimes likes to draw or color and gets on her tummy on the ground to get comfortable almost every single time. 
• Her favorite books change weekly, but this week they are her farm animal books like Big Red Barn, 10 little kisses, the farm book that pops, the Roly Poly Egg and any Paw Patrol/Mickey Mouse/or search and find book with characters she knows. She has also loved Llama Llama books in and pulls them out often. She is pretty good about changing it up.
• She loves music and will do the funniest thing where she walks over to the speaker box in our living room, pretend to turn a knob, tell me she "turned on the music" and starts dancing. She also loves music in the car and whatever we are currently into, she will request it and say "turn up". She has loved Sing, Moana, and Greatest Showman music these past few months.
• She also loves to sing nursery rhymes and lullabyes, especially if they have hand movements.
• She loves to go through all of her body parts for us to name them. She also loves shapes and colors right now. She gets most of her shapes right, but her colors, she never gets right. But, she will tell you all day long what color something is. She also can count and while she doesn't know what the numbers mean, she remembers the order lots of times and it's just cute. 
• Some of her phrases are "I like it!" and "I careful!" and "I okay!" and "I sleepy" and "I hungry" and "I need snack" and "I all clean!" and many others, but also she speaks in full sentences and can tell you what she wants all the time.
• Everly is funny because she is so confident. She thinks she is as big as the big kids and can do what they do. She loves all of the outside riding toys, the big swimming pool, all of their toys and activities, and is not shy at all or hesitant to try something. Yikes! We have to watch her. 
• She had been very tough to share with for awhile, but after learning what a spanking was, she has gotten better. We don't have to even spank her; just bring it up and she remembers. She was into hitting and taking things, and while she still will because she is 2, she is getting so much better with other little kids her age, which is nice because I hate to be on her constantly during a playdate when she is only 2 and still trying to understand. But, she is doing so much better with her friend Hannah, and I've been so proud of her!
• Everly, in some ways, because she is confident, can be a stinker when she gets mad. Her patience is slim, but again she is 2. And I've noticed so much difference lately. But, she is also SO sweet. She loves to play and imagine and talk and do cute, sweet things.
• Everly also loves me. And I'm not just tooting my own horn. She loves to play with me and wants to do so all day long. She asks me to come to the playroom or her room or read or play or do whatever and she is so happy to have me there. She also uses that imagination to play and that is the most fun thing to watch. She will get distracted and also play by herself at times and that is good, since she will have to do more of that when this baby gets here!
• She does get upset and get her feelings hurt though and will run to her room and shut the door. But, she usually comes out happy and distracted with playing in her room.
• She doesn't always love baths, until she is in it. She would just rather play instead of get into the bathtub.
• She loves a dance party, particularly on top of the big kids bed. Our rule is no jumping on the bed, but since she can't technically jump up to this point, she usually likes to be on the big kids bed during the music. I go back and forth with how good of an idea this is. Goodness!
• Everly is pretty calm until recently. She would observe mostly, but now she is just older and plays and has fun all the time. But, she also laughs hard and is loud and talks a lot! She also will whisper if she thinks she wants to ask for something she shouldn't have or whisper if she is playing a game where she should be quiet. 
• She also loves to accessorize! She loves necklaces and bracelets and hats and glasses. She will choose something, wear it solid for 2 days and then forget about it and then come back and do the same thing a week later. It's just cute because she doesn't think anything of it - it's like it's just an everyday addition to her outfit.
• Everly is just fun and I love her sweet little self so much! Oh and her hair is getting more blonde, but holding some reddish tones so maybe in the fall, it will darken a little bit again. She has curls at the end of the longest strands down the back and while she might need a little trim, I just can't stand to cut off those curls! 
• Oh we love this sweet girl!

Last Day of First Grade for Atticus

Well, he did it! It was a great year for Atticus; he loved going to school, loved learning, loved his friends, and loved his teacher. However, the last day, he had a hard time. He got into the car after school and burst into tears. When we got home to have some one-on-one time (he did NOT like Grace asking him what was wrong in the car while he cried), he told me he was just so sad that he wouldn't see his teacher or friends again. He has the most tender heart at times and while he will see them all this fall, he just loves his friend and teacher and it bothered him. I love that about him; he is so thoughtful and really does know the importance of certain situations. When he got home, he looked at this entire ziploc bag of stuff that his teacher gave him: a certificate, a picture of him and and his friends, a letter she wrote to him, and some other special things from his first grade memories. He cried each time and just needed some snuggles. It had been a REALLY busy, exhausting month with so much going on and less sleep, and I think the emotional part of realizing 1st grade was over hit him. After a little bit, he was ok and by the time we went to our Last Day of School dinner at Torchy's, he was fine. And then he remembered how great summer was, so he has been fine since. Here is his last day:

This was his class photo this year. 

 So, Atticus decided he wanted to buy his teacher 10 giant bottles of Diet Coke for her end of year gift, because he said she would love that much Diet Coke. We bought her 1 2 liter and a gift card and then he wrote her a note. I loved it so much; he wrote a draft on a different piece of paper and then wrote the card and while I originally told him to write her something nice that he learned or remembered from 1st grade, I gave no other instructions and was so surprised to see this! Some of his language and some of the things he included just made me laugh and smile!

 Last Day of First Grade!

And this was about a week before, but here is his teacher, Mrs. Payne.

 We did this last year, because who wants to cook on the last day of school? And now we made it our tradition! Torchy's Tacos for dinner!

We are ready for summer!

Baseball Wrap-up for Atticus

Atticus finished up his baseball season mid-May. He did a great job this year and improved so much from the fall to the spring. Although there are so many fundamentals to always work on and so many things to learn, this season is when he learned so much more about how to play the game. He learned how to make plays and what you should do at different positions. He learned a lot about his swing, even though it was a tough hitting season for him. He got stronger and threw harder, which was a big improvement from the first day of spring ball. He always had a good attitude and listened well to his coaches, despite a tiring month and some hot games. It was always a fun night when he would get an out (usually he got them playing 2nd or short and one time in right field) and of course, always fun when he got a hit or made it home. His last couple of games were great because all of those things were happening! They ended their season 3-8, (there were 24 teams in the division - lots of players!) but even at 3-8, they were ranked 18th or 19th I think? They had a young team, so hopefully they just get better with time. Here's a few quick pics during this month:

 He got a hit this night and was so excited!

 Pop came for a weekend to watch the kids play. This particular game was tough - I think they finally turned the score board off after it got to 19-2 or something. They just happened to play the 2nd ranked team on the night Pop was here.

Oh these cuties! Don't grow up my little ball players!

His team, the Redwings. I don't have them in order of kids and coaches above, but on his team were Coaches Michelle Billings, Chris Hunter, Curtis Lemons and DJ Henley and kids were Atticus, Brenner Batten, Carson Lemons, Carter McCarty, Brody Halfmann, Emma Hunter, Emmett Courtright, Jaxson Billings, Jackson Pageler, Malone O'Shea, and Owen Roberts.

 Also, I can't talk about Atticus's baseball season without talking about Luc. He and Luc have played more baseball in the backyard, front yard, and street this spring (when they aren't busy with evening games) and have had the best time. Luc also played on a Twelve Futures team (another league) and Atticus wanted to go watch one of his games so much. We finally made it to his last one.

So, the night before his end-of-year party was his last baseball game. The next day, we met the team at Pebble Creek park to play and eat pizza. Atticus INSISTED we wash his jersey so he could wear it to the party. I love that he was so proud; no other kid wore theirs but Atticus had to wear his.

I have loved watching him play baseball this spring. This fall, he wants to try basketball, so we told him he could only do Fall Baseball or Winter Basketball, so he thinks he will try basketball because he can play baseball in the spring. This mama to a newborn did not think we could do 3 sports, non-stop, for the entire school year! But, I love watching the kids do anything they want to do, so I'm up for any of it!

Atticus's 7th Birthday and Party

Since we took Atticus to the Astros game, he knew we were not throwing a friend birthday party. He seemed to be completely ok with that. His birthday fell on a Monday, so he had school and a baseball game that night, so it was going to be hard to squeeze all of the family festivities into the day, but we did it! First of all, that morning, he dressed in his new Astros gear for school. He had a cinnamon roll with a candle in it so we could sing. Then, Grace and I took Atticus lunch at school (Torchy's Tacos) for his birthday. The funny thing he asked me that morning was "when are you going to setup for my birthday party?" I realized that he wanted to know when I was going to decorate. Fortunately, I'd already ordered some sports balloons from HEB and I was making a sports themed cake, but all of a sudden I realized he was expecting decorations! So, Grace and I went to the dollar store and got lucky enough to find some table/banner/cups/plates/decorations before we grabbed his lunch that morning! Whew!

We decorated a little; added some sunflower seeds and peanuts in bowls on the table; made his cake; wrapped his gifts and made a real party for him! When he got home from school, he seemed pleased. It's just funny because I wouldn't have thought that was so important to him, but I was glad it was. Birthdays are fun!

I'll show the day in photos:

 It was an early Monday morning for Atticus's birthday breakfast of Melbo's cinnamon rolls!

 On the way to school as a 7 year old!

 While Atticus was at school, Everly and Grace and I started making his birthday cake. Oh now that Everly realizes what licking spatulas is and what batter is, she wants to help with EVERY thing we bake. Reminds me of another little girl in my house...Grace!

 She's really no help at all, except she is cute. She wants to put her finger in just the dry stuff - she doesn't care what it is, she needs a lick!

 Grace and I took lunch to Atticus at school and sat on the stage with him.

When I picked Atticus up from school, he was SO excited because he got EIGHT laps on his birthday for running day in PE! This was the most he got all year!

 He had a baseball game on his birthday, which he was excited about! And this girl - she was too funny that night. This is the field behind ours and where we were sitting. Well, she took my Sonic drink (unsweet tea with ice - she loves it) and decided to plop herself in this spot. She just entertained herself for a long time. She wasn't bothering the other game or team in that dugout, so I just watched her and let her play. She was just too funny under the "foul ball hazard" sign! https://youtu.be/vXxufw2i-2o

 It was a great night because Atticus's team won their game! And here he is with Brody, his friend in his class and on his team!

 We got home to enjoy cake and presents. Here is the cake I came up with. Honestly, I was SO proud it worked. I had to Pinterest myself away to figure out how to make those sports balls on top and then of course decorating is always just trial and error. But, it turned out cute and Atticus loved it - which is always my goal!

 The kids had to eat dinner and take baths before cake. We decided instead of party hats, we would all wear Atticus's baseball caps!

 

 And then we sang happy birthday! Everly was REALLY wanting cake, but I still think we sang to him twice! https://youtu.be/YuhmlqipMuE

 

 And then we opened presents: Atticus got clothes, legos, football and baseball cards, and more!

 He was pretty excited about this binder of football cards I scored at his school's auction carnival! https://youtu.be/MGFdf_behHU

Happy Birthday to our great son Atticus!