April Misc.

 Here is a little of what our family was up to in April:

New Things for Adley

Our little girl is not so little anymore. This month Adley learned to ride her bike without training wheels! After only a couple of attempts with me holding the back of her bike and running behind her, Adley took off! She confidently rode down the entire street without needing to stop. No wobbling or falling! Learning to turn around and start on her own took a few more days, but she progressed amazingly quickly. We are so proud of our big girl!

I took this video of Adley only on her THIRD riding attempt!

While cleaning out for a family garage sale, we uncovered this build-your-own-straw kit. Adley loved it and built some fairly large and intricate straws.

Adley's Pre-K Events

Adley's Butterfly class had an Easter egg hunt right before Easter break. She was so excited to help fill eggs and bring her basket to school.

After the egg hunt, her class had a picnic lunch.

Adley has made some sweet friends this year. I love that when we get photos from her teachers, Adley's always sitting by someone different. She tells us that she is "friends with everybody!"

To celebrate spring, Adley's class made these cute butterfly headbands. So sweet!

Piano Recital

Near the end of the month, Jaden and Cody had their spring piano recital. Both of them selected at least one song that was a significant challenge, so they spent quite a few weeks learning and practicing their songs. By the time the recital rolled around, both boys were both nervous, but they pulled it off!

Jaden played "He's a Pirate"

and "Song of Kilimanjaro."

Cody's two songs were "Pachelbel's Canon"

and "The Fly's Adventure."

We were very proud of our musical kids! Abby, Nathan, and Ryan performed in the recital as well. We sure have some talented relatives! The kids especially enjoyed the post-recital reception.

Library R.E.A.D. Program

One day while at the library, Cody saw an advertisement for this reading-to-dogs program. All three kids were excited to participate, so we signed up. On the day of the program, we met two Reading Education Assistance Dogs (READ) and their handlers. Each of the kids got a 15-minute time block to read. The dogs were quiet and very well-behaved. Jaden, Cody, and Adley loved reading to them!

Adley was so proud to be able to read all by herself!

Strawberry Picking

We have had such good memories from visiting Atkinson's Farms in the past, so Adley and I repeated the adventure this month. Adley did a wonderful job of finding strawberries at just the right stage.

She even gave me some pretty cute poses. Ha!

Adley picked a yummy bucketful!

Last year, the farm added some great playground equipment, so of course we had to stay and play for a while.

Back at home, we enjoyed some fresh strawberries with whipped cream on waffles. Soooo tasty!

PSIA State Competition

At the end of April, Cody and I traveled up to TCU (Texas Christian University) for the State PSIA competition. We loved riding with Matt and Kim's family, as Ian and Ryan had also qualified for state. Cody was very impressed with the college campus. It was beautiful! Cody was a little nervous for his maps, graphs, and charts test that afternoon (and to be honest, his momma was nervous for him!), but he handled his nerves like a pro.

Here is Cody's relieved post-test photo. He did it!!

We stayed for the test verification and awards presentation later that afternoon and found out that Cody tied for 5th place! This was the last place that was awarded a medal, so he was very excited. We were so proud of him and his awesome test-taking!

Our one-night overnight trip to Ft. Worth was short and sweet but a great experience and a wonderful excuse to spend time with cousins.