The Wild Orcas 2013

Aubrey has had another great season with the Wild Orca swim team. She has been swimming since March, but the actual meet season was very short this year because of league wide issues.  For her, it was even shorter because the first meet was rained out and we missed the second meet because of a family wedding (more on that to come).  So, she only had two meets to qualify for CHAMPS. She worked VERY hard this year to get a qualifying time in the butterfly, and she did it today!!!  She also swam her personal best in freestyle and backstroke today. CHAMPS is next week at the UT swim center and she can hardly wait.  We are so proud of her dedication and determination.

She won both her backstroke and freestyle heats last week. 

The team.  I love how much emphasis her coach puts on team spirit!

Today's meet against the Redfish.  So glad I remembered my camera this time.

Aubrey and her friend Annie.  No one can tell them apart.  

Coach Sandy and the 7-8 girls

Orca tail!

Heat winners for backstroke. 

Aubrey's 7th Bday

Yes, this was way back in November. She is past the 7.5 mark now, but better late than never.

As I mentioned in her 1st grade post, Aubrey has grown and changed so much in these 7 short (sometimes long) years.  6 was a big year with a lot of firsts.  First year of Elem school, first lost tooth, learning to read, first year of organized sports, etc.  This girl is up for anything and wants to try everything!  We could very easily over schedule her, but I know better. She is still my girl who handles everything fine on the surface, but gets overstimulated and melts down when things quiet down, so I have to be the mean mommy sometimes and hold her back a little.  I'm pretty sure she'll thank me one day, right?  

She had school on her actual birthday, so we woke her up early to a few surprises.

Ever since going on a trail ride in Colorado last summer, Aubrey has wanted to take horseback riding lessons.  While I am 100% on board with the idea given my own love of riding, it is a huge investment and not something we were ready to start up just yet.  So, I was able to convince her a horseback riding party would be just as great... and she agreed!  She was able to invite 5 friends for what turned out to be a long afternoon of  grooming, tacking and riding.  She was in heaven.  She somehow convinced the laid back instructor to let her trot, which wouldn't have been a big deal if she hadn't handed Aubrey a LONG crop, which of course she had no idea how to use.  It didn't take but a few seconds for the horse to startle and for Aubrey to end up on the ground.  I think she was a little stunned, but she hopped right back on and ended up giving it another try, this time without a crop and with a mom leading the horse.  It was such a fun day!

I know, I know.  I said never again to the cake madness.  But after two cakes for Henry and none for her, I couldn't say no. I loved this one so much... too bad it was a little dry :(

A friend of mine who has older girls that used to ride loaned Aubrey all the right gear.

She had the party at the stables where I once took lessons, which made it even more special.

One of the girls was a little scared, which gave Henry the chance to ride.  He loved it too.

All the girls who rode have been in Aubrey's class the last two years. I'm not sure their parents were super happy with us afterwards. I believe there was a lot of begging for lessons involved.

Chloe

 Elizabeth

Gabrielle

and Sydney

She is still asking to take lessons, but we settled on a week-long camp this summer.  She can hardly wait.

I interviewed her around the time of her birthday, and I didn't lose what I wrote down on a scratch piece of paper.  That is no small miracle.

What is your favorite food?

A: mac and cheese

What is your favorite book?

A: My baby book.

What is your favorite color?

A: black and white

What is your favorite song?

A: Beautiful - One Direction

What is your favorite toy?

A: Doll

What is your favorite thing about 1st grade?

A: homework

What is your favorite movie/show?

A: Wild Kratz

What is your favorite game?

A: sharks and minnows

What is your favorite thing to wear?

A: shorts and a t-shirt

Who do you miss?

A: Avery

Who is your favorite brother?

A: henry (I think they have finally caught on to my joke)

Who do you love?

A: mommy and daddy and sister and GiGi

What was the best part about being 6?

A: Going to Disney World

What do you want to be when you grow up?

A: An artist

Who is your best friend?

A: Sydney, all my friends, and Henry

We love you Miss Aubrey!  What an adventure these 7 years have been.

Goodbye 1st grade

I finally understand what people mean when they say your children grow up too fast.  For years I thought they were crazy because it did not seem fast. at. all.  Those first 5 or 6 years were pretty overwhelming and exhausting for this stay at home mom.  Then all of a sudden they are at school more than they are at home, and when they are home you are carting them to activity after activity. Before you know it... you have a 2nd grader!!!!

Aubrey had another great school year and loved 1st grade as much as Kinder.  It certainly helped that she had her same teacher, and the whole class stayed together too.  They jumped right in at the first of the year and her reading took off.  I'm so happy she has developed a love of reading.  Reading was more of a struggle for me and it wasn't until my adult years that I developed a true love for books.
Mrs. L really encouraged her and challenged her.  She had a different teacher for science, math and social studies, who we also just loved.  Mrs. H was lively, and funny, and Aubrey really enjoyed her approach to teaching too.  I'm so grateful for these two ladies and can't thank them enough for loving Aubrey and growing her brain.

I downloaded all the photos on my phone the other day and thought I'd post ones from her school year before I forget about them again!

First day of 1st grade

This photo was taken at the Salt Lick restaurant way back in November when we were entertaining some out of town guests.  It was the first time she brought a book somewhere and chose to read to herself while waiting.  It was a Junnie B. Jones book.  I was so proud and excited, until the next night when she called the babysitter a "nit-whit."  And.... that was the end of Junnie B.

Aubrey has shown a big interest in theater.  We signed her up for an after school enrichment acting class.  I was not terribly impressed with the class, but she enjoyed it.  Here she was dressed up for her last class when the parents came to watch. 

She underwent strabismus surgery on both eyes and lost 4 teeth this year.  This photo was taken 2 weeks post-op. 

And just a few months later...

Almost the whole class on Sports Day. They have become a family over the last two years, but we're excited to mix things up next year!

It was a total coincidence that Aubrey wore the same dress on the last day of school that she wore on the first.  

                             Mrs. Langham                                                   Mrs. Hobbs

Celebrating the last day with ice cream!

Henry is FIVE

Henry is 5 today! I know I should probably say, "Wow, I can't believe he is that old."  But honestly, It is so hard for me to imagine life without him, so I really can't believe it has only been 5 years.  This has been a huge year for Henry.  He has grown and changed so much.  That said, he is still just as sweet and snugly as he has always been.

Henry has developed a love of learning and really came out of his shell this year in Pre-K.  His language has improved tremendously and I can hardly get him to stop asking questions. He knows his letters and numbers and is starting to read simple words. If you put him on the spot, he will pretend he doesn't want to do it, but I will secretly catch him sounding out letters.  He listens well in class and can focus on the task at hand, so this boy is all set to start kindergarten in the fall.

Henry dove into sports this year.  He played flag football, which was a hoot to watch.  He was none to happy about getting his own flag pulled though.  He absolutely fell in love in baseball.  He played T-ball this spring and can't get enough of batting.  I need to improve my pitching skills!

Henry still loves to play dress-up and can be seen walking Aubrey to school in a variety of super-hero costumes.  He is quite the comedian with the right audience.  He loves his sister dearly and longs to play with her more than anyone else.  In true sisterly fashion, she knows this and uses it to her advantage.  If she isn't in the mood to play, he melts into a crying heap.  I can see her smiling at this. Stinker.

Henry loves to play games, especially card games, Farkle, and Sorry.  As you can tell, Henry is slightly into "Army" and anything camo.  He also loves doing puzzles.  He is less trilled with art projects.  As I mentioned, he has a pretty great sense of humor and loves to make people laugh.  I can already see him trying to use humor to get out of trouble.  Oh boy.

Henry opted out of a big party this year.  I've determined that he tends to feel most comfortable in small groups.  Instead, he took his best buddy Hodges from school to a baseball game last weekend.  We had four tickets, so I assumed he would take Aubrey or me.  Oh no, he wanted to take his T-ball coach!  Ha.  Luckily, the coach is his buddy's dad and he was willing to oblige.  They boys had a great time and ended up with two game balls, bellies full of junk food, and some baseball bats.  They came straight home and spent more time playing ball.  

Today, we met friends at the park, had a lunch date (just Henry and me), and then had some neighbors and Hodges over for cake... camo, of course.

Plotting their war strategy at the park

New batting gloves

The Army/camo cake

What was on the inside... 

A very happy boy

I knew if I let one single day pass without writing this, it might never get done (I'm 7 months late on Aubrey's).   I'm so glad I did.  It makes my heart smile to think of all the joy Henry brings to our lives.  And finally, we had some time together today to talk about his favorite things...

What is your favorite food?

A: Cheese Pizza

What is your favorite book?

A: Star Wars 123

What is your favorite color?

A: turquoise and violet

What is your favorite song?

A: That One Thing - One Direction

What is your favorite toy?

A: toy guns

What is your favorite thing about Pre-K?

A: The playground

What is your favorite movie/show?

A: Return of the Jedi (I think he has seen 5 mins of this)

What is your favorite game?

A: War (card game)

What is your favorite thing to wear?

A: camo

Who do you miss?

A: GiGi and Granda and grandma and grandpa 

Who is your favorite sister?

A: Aubrey

Who do you love?

A: mommy and daddy and sister and GiGi

What was the best part about being 4?

A: Going to Pre-K

What do you want to be when you grow up?

A: An Army man

Who is your best friend?

A: Hodges and Carson