SODA

On Friday Bryce got an early morning surprise wake up from a group of seniors to tell him he was selected to be a SODA next year.  Students in the SODA program go to fourth grade classes in our feeder schools and teach lessons about self-esteem and developing attitudes.  I loved SODA when I was a fourth grader, was sadly never chosen as a SODA when I was in high school, I but enjoyed the program again when I taught fourth grade.  I'm so proud of him and excited for this opportunity.  

 

Bryce and Avery were supposed to go to a concert in Charlottesville today, but it was postponed at the last minute.  Bryce ended up umpiring a game for Avery's brother's team instead.  

spring break

Spring break was low key again this year, but we made the best of it.  On Monday we ran errands and caught up from being out of town over the weekend.  On Tuesday we went to Williamsburg to shop at the outlets.  We got BBQ for lunch and went to a couple of breweries too.

One of the breweries had putt-putt so it was a win-win for everyone!

I got up early and worked in the mornings so I could do some things with the kids during the day.  Unfortunately, I don't even remember what we did on Wednesday.  I do know that I got caught up at work on Wednesday night, so I decided to take the whole day off on Thursday because it was going to be so nice out.  I walked, worked in the yard, put out my new porch furniture, washed the car and played pickleball with Emmy.

We continued the outdoor fun and grilled out for dinner. 

Then we had a firepit and did s'mores and then turned on the deck fireplace and watched tv. 

Bryce had plans on Friday, so we took Emmy to Ashland and had Sweet Frog and walked around the Randolph Macon campus.  

We even stumbled on a new restaurant and stopped in for happy hour.  We were close to Kelly's house where MeMa was watching her dogs, so we stopped by to visit and fish.  

We ended spring break the way it started, traveling to a meet.  We headed up to Delaware on Saturday afternoon and then went to a brewery to watch the first final four game.  Then we headed to our hotel for the second game and to get some sleep for the regional meet today.  

These meets bring out some stiff competition.  Emmy scored well on floor with a 9.650 and that got her 8th place.  It was a learning season this year in level 7.  Now to work on some things on the off season.  Now we count down to summer!

baseball and gymnastics

Atlee had their first home game on Thursday.  Bryce had a good game, and we won!  I'm thankful for people who get way better pictures than I do!

A student captured this picture of Bryce's sweet diving catch in centerfield.

The team had a spring break tournament that started on Friday afternoon.  Jason and I went to that game but missed the two games on Saturday because we headed to Blacksburg for Emmy's meet.  The ladies came out to cheer on the boys!

Bryce had two great games on Saturday and the boys won the championship for the second year in a row.  

The sophomores.  There are a lot fewer of them than freshman which is so hard for me to believe.  

So proud of his hard work and commitment to this team.  

We headed up to Blacksburg on Saturday afternoon and met up with one of Emmy's teammates' families.  It was a beautiful day for a brewery.   

We were up early today for the meet.  Emmy started off on beam and did great.  She stayed on and got a great score.

Next up was floor.  She did a great job and if it hadn't been for a big step on her floor pass, she would have gotten her best floor score to date.  But not to worry, she and a teammate tied for fourth on the event. 

This is the first year Emmy has been able to qualify for regionals.  Her last couple of meets were shaky and we were nervous about the qualifying score, but even with a stumble on the bars today she scored high enough to head to Delaware next weekend for the last meet of the season! 

a good week

We kicked off the week with St. Patrick's Day.  I love to gift themed treats!

Bryce's baseball season kicked off on Tuesday with an away game.  We won 8-0.

Our neighbor's daughter (who is Jason's goddaughter) turned 5 on St. Patrick's Day and had a fun Barbie themed party on Saturday.  We dressed in our best Barbie style.  

Their family loves a good theme, and they knocked it out of the park.

The hostess with the mostest.  

We learned that one of our neighbors is pregnant and is having a girl.  She hadn't planned to tell us yet, but it was divulged so we took the opportunity to celebrate the gender reveal since we were all wearing pink!  It was such a fun day spending time with our neighbors. 

a good week

Baseball is in full swing!  See what I did there?!?  Bryce received the wooden spoon award at practice on Monday.  This is something new this year that players award to a teammate who worked the hardest at practice.  Of course I couldn't get him in the picture too.

Emmy went on a science field trip on the Learning Barge in Norfolk on Tuesday.  And notice that pretty smile.  She got her braces off on Monday!  

Jason got to chaperone!

Friday was pi day (3.14) and Emmy's school celebrated Greek and Pie Day.  Each math class had to design a shirt to wear with free dress pants.  We were able to incorporate pie and Greek on her shirt.  She had to include Pythagoras' name in English and Greek.  

They had a special hot lunch brought in from a local Greek restaurant and they sold slices of pie.  

Bryce's high school (our alma mater) was playing the state basketball championship on Friday and we all went.  Bryce wore blue for the theme and sat in the well attended student section.  We WON!  This has been a monumental year for the basketball team.  It's the first time in school history to win a state basketball championship.  The team they played is local and they had never beat them in school history until this year.  It was a great season and it's been a great year for state championships for our school and the year isn't over!

 

not much to report

My stay-at-home mom days came to an end a couple of weeks ago.  I'm working two part time jobs, and they are keeping me busy!  I've been able to carve out just a few hours to work in between morning school drop off and afternoon school pick up.  The evenings are spent driving the kids around and hopefully getting dinner on the table.  Jason and I used to squeeze in Friday day dates, but this is the first time I've worked on Fridays in 13 years so there hasn't been time for dates.  We did manage to find a couple of hours for us on Saturday afternoon.      

We went to a local winery for a sparkling flight.  

They also had a lobster food truck, so I knew there'd be something for Jason too!

We were able to sit outside in the sun and not freeze.  Spring is coming and boy does that make me happy!

Bryce's "sweet" SIXTEEN

Bryce is 16!!  He got up a little early on his birthday so we could do presents.  16 seemed a little anti-climactic since we already got him a car in the fall, we already sent him on a birthday trip in January and you can't drive until sixteen and three months in Virginia.  But we were excited to gift him a soft top for his jeep!  
Well Visit Stats (6/16/25)
Height - 5'8"
Weight - 156.4
Blood pressure - 116/62

Since he got up early, we had time to go Chick Fil A for breakfast on the way to school.  And yes, I brought the candles and made him put them in his chicken minis for a picture!

He picked Chipotle for dinner with MeMa and Nana and Paul and then we had cupcakes and opened a few more presents at home.  Notice Jason's new wall ornament behind Bryce.

Money was a big ticket item on Bryce's wish list this year because he knows he's going to be spending lots of money on gas before too long.  He did get a job life guarding this summer so that should help too!

Here's a flashback to how we surprised Bryce with an early snowboarding trip to Snowshoe with his buddy.  

Bryce is in a club that requires volunteer hours this year.  Good friends of ours asked if he wanted to volunteer at the ASK Gala with their son who is one of Bryce's good friends.  We attended this Gala last year in support of these friends and their middle son who was being treated for bone cancer.  It's a great cause and I'm glad Bryce got to be a part of it.  

After manning a croquet game for donations, they got to help with the auction during dinner. 

When people bid on an item, they had to go bring attention to them so the auctioneer could see them. 

Bryce even ran into his and Emmy's third grade teacher who we adore!

While Bryce was volunteering most of the day/night, we headed to the beach with Emmy for her last regular season meet.  We usually have late Friday night meets that get us home around midnight.  But since this was earlier, we enjoyed dinner and shopping before we headed home.