Mother's Day 2016

We had a really fun and relaxing Mother's Day weekend! On Saturday, we watched Sofia and her Pink Pirate team mates win their age group in soccer and then returned to the house to relax in the backyard while the girls played. Sofia pretended she was an author and illustrator and Olivia was a jewelry designer. She designed and made jewelry and Sofia wrote in the newspaper about her jewelry.

A few days before Mother's Day, I received an envelope full of pictures of my Mom from my Aunt Cathy! She's in the middle of planning a McConnell/Fulton/Brumfield family reunion in California in June and we've been talking regularly to talk about plans. It was such a wonderful surprise to receive the photos and most of them were those used in her memorial service. They are all really great photos of my Mom with a few with my Dad and they are just great to have. It was perfect timing too and I enjoyed so much looking through them and sharing them on Facebook. I showed the girls the photos with my Mom and Dad and told them stories about my Dad and what he loved to do and what he was like. They are used to hearing me talk about my Mom but I don't get a chance to talk about my Dad as much, so it was fun to share memories with them.

On Mother's Day Sunday, I woke up, made coffee and sat in our backyard enjoying the morning. Sofia actually woke up earlier than she normally does on the weekend and showed up with the book she loves reading to me "Matilda" by Roald Dahl. She read to me for a bit and then she and Olivia presented me with their Mother's Day gifts they had made. I suspect Olivia's gift was made minutes before she gave it to me, but it was very cute. Sofia also wrote me a note of thanks from both she and Olivia. It was very sweet. On Thursday, Olivia came home from school with a write-up about "Mom" which was very cute!

After getting ready, we went to Meeting and then CK took us to Cool River for Mother's Day Brunch, which was really delicious! Of course, it was a ton of food so we all left feeling very full and as if we never wanted to eat again. We returned home and relaxed briefly before I took both girls to get a pedicure. Sofia went with me on her 8th birthday, even though she isn't really into pedicures and "girly stuff" and ended up really enjoying it, although a lot of the treatment tickled her too. Olivia is always begging me to paint her toes and fingernails and loves all the "girly stuff," so I knew she would have fun. They were able to start all of our pedicures at the same time and both girls had a great time. As expected, Olivia loved it and Sofia was like an old pro. She put my sunglasses on at one point and actually looked like a teenager! I couldn't believe it! At the end, Sofia ended up getting flower stickers on her big toes and Olivia had a flower painted on her big toes since her toenail was too small to hold a sticker. It was a fun outing and something fun to do with the girls. I'd originally asked CK if I could work in the garden all day, but it was overcast and a bit rainy out so the pedicure was perfect. After the pedicure, we returned home and just hung out.

Hanging out Saturday afternoon after soccer.

The author and jewelry maker

My Mom and Dad - Love these pictures!!

Sofia reading to me on Sunday morning....

Olivia's school Mother's Day gift

The Mother's Day thank you note from the girls....

Sofia's homemade Mother's Day gift

Buddy!

Olivia's gift given to me on Mother's Day -the ink was still wet on this portrait of me. So sweet!

The girls and I on Sunday morning

Brunch at Cool River

Pedicures! So fun!

Sofia suddenly looking like a teenager!

The finished product!

Purplicious Awards

Although Purplicious' soccer season was over more than a week ago, we finally held the end-of-season award ceremony and pizza party at one of the parents' house on Tuesday afternoon. It was a crazy day with Sofia having her 3rd grade field trip to the Perot Museum followed by a visit to an archery studio with her Girl Scouts after school. She absolutely loved shooting with a bow and arrow and had a great time, but the archery studio was about 30 minutes drive away, so we were about 40 minutes late to the Purplicious party! I felt bad because not only do I take the photos, but I had the coach's gift as well. Everyone chipped in $10 and I bought him a gift card to a restaurant for $75. It was hard to decide what to buy for Coach Ryan since he's a competitive body builder, so I'm sure he doesn't eat out very often. However, the gift card gave him and his family three different restaurants to chose from, so hopefully he finds something he likes. Along with the gift card, I printed off a photo of him coaching the girls and had each of the girls sign it at the last game, which he wasn't at due to a body building competition. The card really turned out super cute and I included a few additional photos I'd printed that I thought he'd like to have.

So, not only did we arrive super late to the party, but we really only should have stayed about 15 minutes before zooming off to Kindergarten Round-up at the elementary school so Olivia could meet the teachers she will have in the Fall. Of course, we were the only ones who had this obligation since most of the girls on the team aren't starting Kindergarten or will be starting at another school, so I was getting nervous as all the girls played and ate pizza. Finally, one of the parents suggested we pull all the kids in and do a team photo and then hand out awards.

The team photo turned out really cute and the girls are all so sweet and listen well. After the photo, he invited all the girls to climb on him, which the girls loved and went crazy! I'm surprised he didn't get hurt from all those girls jumping and climbing on him! Then Coach Ryan gathered the girls in a semi-circle on the driveway to hand out awards. He thanked the girls for their dedication and said he looked forward to next season together and then started to pass out the trophies to each girl. As he did, he spoke for a few minutes about each girl and what he found to be special about them and their soccer. It was really thoughtful. For Olivia, he thanked her for always listening and doing what he asked of her and said she is super fast and could be a great soccer player if she got her foot on the ball more. So, hopefully we can work on that for next season. It was really sweet of him to talk about each player, even if the girls were just focused on their trophies.

After the trophy ceremony and before the girls could jump up and run off and play, I thanked Coach Ryan, told him we'd be back in the Fall and said goodbye to all the parents and hurried over to the school. We had 15 minutes left of Kindergarten Round-Up and CK was there waiting for us. Of course, Olivia refused to wear her soccer uniform to school and had to change into a dress and sandals. She's very particular in how she looked. We changed quickly before arriving at school and headed to the Kindergarten hall. It was so fun to see Mrs. Schultz again, who was Sofia's 1st grade teacher, and talk with Mrs. McMeans and Mrs. Maddox. Whoever Olivia gets will be a great teacher for her. Hannah was there with her family, so Olivia ran around Mrs. Maddox' classroom and acted crazy. We finally reined her in and headed home! It was a long, fun day!

The Purplicious Team Photo!

Climbing all over Coach Ryan after the picture

The only photo with Mai, who was not interested in partaking!

Coach Ryan talking to the girls before he passes out the trophies

Telling Olivia how good she is at listening and hopes she gets her foot on the ball more next season.

Her trophy

Olivia checking out her trophy

Olivia and her trophy!

Blue Bonnets

A few years ago we drove to Ennis to see all the bluebonnets and take photos and I was hoping to go again this Spring, however, the bluebonnets didn't come out as well as they have in past years. Plus, we ended up waiting a little too long and missed the peak of the flowers, although they didn't peak as well as they usually do. I decided against driving to Ennis and took the girls today after school to the fields in Grapevine we've visited before and had good luck with bluebonnets. I'd driven by the fields a few times in the past few weeks and hadn't seen very many bluebonnets, but I figured it was better than nothing. We decided to take Buddy with us too and both girls brought their favorites - Green Beup Beup and a light saber for Sofia and Glamour, a stuffed animal for Olivia. The girls were mainly interested in running around and horsing around more than anything and the bluebonnets weren't very plentiful so I didn't capture very interesting photos, but it was better than nothing. Hopefully next year the bluebonnets will be more plentiful, although they are predicting that all the rain we've had recently will create similar conditions to this year. Hoping they are wrong and we have an opportunity to visit Ennis next year. I did end up getting a few cute photos of Buddy though!

Girls and the few bluebonnets

Olivia

Sofia

Sisters!!

Green Beep Beep got his photo taken in the bluebonnets too

Bluebonnets

Posing with Glamour

Sofia and her favorites

Running around acting silly

Buddy

Girls running around....