Hadley's 8th Birthday!

On March 19th, we celebrated EIGHT years with our sweet Hadley Mae! I snapped this picture before Hadley went to bed the night before her birthday--her last picture as a 7 year old! And I'll apologize in advance--almost every single picture in this post was taken in "portrait" mode on my phone. My friend Nicole had just taught me how to use this feature on my phone, and I was a little excited! ;)

Just as she did with Spring Break, Hadley LOTS of ideas of how we should celebrate her big day, ha!

We started the day with birthday balloons, streamers, cinnamon muffins (per the birthday girl's special request), and opening one present--the graphic novel of Little Women! Balloons & streamers are a family tradition for us, but we weren't able to get balloons for Hadley last year as it was at the very beginning of COVID. So it was extra sweet getting her balloons this year. :)

After school, we fulfilled Request #2--a birthday lunch at Dairy Queen! 

After lunch, we came home & baked Hadley's birthday cake. Then we had dinner (a giant bowl of mac & cheese for the birthday girl!), opened a few presents & had our traditional Friday movie night. Hadley picked Cinderella for us to watch.

{Shelby made this at school for Hadley for her birthday}

Saturday morning was pancakes (which is our Smith Saturday morning tradition) & more presents followed by a much-anticipated birthday dinner at Chili's, which did not disappoint!

{Birthdays are exhausting!}

And I took precisely zero pictures on Sunday, but we of course had birthday donuts (we can't have a birthday in our family without donuts!) and dinner at Chipotle per Hadley's request.

We had so much fun celebrating our EIGHT year old! Hadley radiates joy & is so easy to celebrate! We tell her all the time, but she is truly the best little sister AND the best big sister. She is a graphic novel connoisseur, jewelry aficionado, hair styling expert, and a lover of all things handwork--finger knitting, crocheting, sewing, etc. Her favorite color is still blue, she loves playing games every Saturday & Sunday afternoon with us while Brady naps, and her love language is physical touch through & through! We are so thankful she's ours. Hadley Mae, we love you!!!

Spring Break 2021

We had our Spring Break here the week of March 8th. The first morning of Spring Break, Hadley came downstairs with this list in hand. She was ready to kick off her break!!

   

Derek had taken the week off from work months and months ago in the hopes that life would be more normal by now & we'd be able to take a little trip. Derek still can't technically go more than 150miles from base + we had lots of random projects to do around the house/yard....so we decided to stay at home to get some things done & take a couple of little day trips. It was the perfect mix of adventure, relaxation, and productivity!

We kicked off the first Saturday night of Spring Break with Panera for dinner (the kids have been eager to go there!) and a trip to Crumbl for cookies. :)

On Sunday, we volunteered to care for the animals at school. The kids were super excited because we had just gotten a new bunny at school on the Friday before Spring Break--her name is Joy.

On Monday, Derek finished up the lattice on our deck outside! And the kids enjoyed having a day at home to play. :)

And of course, every home project requires a trip to Lowe's. :)  We also got some plants & seeds for our garden! 

On Tuesday, we made the drive to the LBJ State Park & National Historical Park. It was a super fun day & we all learned a lot!

The swing in the picture below is situated in the front yard of the "Texas White House" overlooking the river. What a view!

We spent Wednesday morning planting our garden & playing in the dirt!

On Thursday, we went to Lost Maples for a six mile hike. The kids did great! And our family rule is that hikes necessitate a trip to DQ afterwards!

On Friday, Derek did a lot of car maintenance & yard work while the kids & I met up with friends at the park.

{Derek, Shelby, and Brady made an HEB run this weekend, and this was Shelby's haul of groceries as she came into the house. When did she get so big & helpful?!}

{Shelby's school is set up like a co-op of sorts. She does science, history, art, handwork, etc. with her class at school, and then we do math & language arts at home. Probably about 2 months ago or so, she had the assignment of doing a research paper on a self-selected topic--she chose Mercury. Then she decided she wanted to keep going. So one research paper turned into an entire book of the 4 rocky planets! She worked so hard on this, and it turned out amazing!}

We spent our last evening of Spring Break outside enjoying the beautiful weather & washing cars. 

{Please notice Derek & Hadley hard at work and Brady is whacking Derek with his towel, ha!|

This Spring Break certainly looked a whole different than Spring Breaks of years past, but it was every bit as enjoyable! And it sure didn't hurt that we went back to reality with a spotless house, lots of projects crossed off the ole to-do list, seeds sprouting (!!!), sleep caught up on, lots of miles logged running, countless games of Catan played, books read, and time spent together!