March 2024

March went by in the blink of an eye! Highlights of the month were our Spring Break trip to London, Hadley's 11th birthday, the Alaska State Spelling Bee, temperatures warming up (!!!), and a belated 40th birthday celebration for me with my sister in Phoenix!

Both of the girls qualified for the Alaska State Spelling Bee & did amazing! It was a long day that started with nearly 100 spellers. We checked in around 9am & didn't leave until almost 5pm. The girls participated with such poise & confidence! This was Hadley's first time qualifying for & participating in a state bee. This was Shelby's second state bee & her second time reaching the top ten!

We had a 90 minute break for lunch during the bee, so we headed to a nearby playground to get some much-needed fresh air & to stretch our legs! This is what Spring in Alaska looks like:

And speaking of Spring in Alaska...

The picture above was taken while Shelby was at her piano lesson. Her piano teacher lives on a cul-de-sac. When a cul-de-sac is plowed here, they move all the snow to the middle of the cul-de-sac making a giant mound of snow. These mountains of snow take forever to melt but are super fun to play on!

{Hadley trying out her new loom from Grandma!}

We had a string of a few days with cloudy and 39degree temps, and the kids were outside every spare moment they had! It never ceases to amaze how quickly your perception can change. In Texas, if it was cloudy & 39, we would be cuddled up with hot cocoa in front of the fireplace. If it's cloudy & 39 in Alaska, everyone is outside & you'll even see people in shorts!

Every Saturday morning, Derek & the kids make a quick Walmart run together. Derek snapped this picture of the girls at Walmart & sent it to me while I was in Phoenix. I couldn't love it more!

{Easter morning}

In honor of the big 4-0, Emily wanted us to have a special weekend together. I wanted to meet  somewhere warm & sunny for our weekend together. Derek suggested Phoenix, and I jumped on it when he told me there was a Cheesecake Factory there & the average temperature for that time of year was 80 degrees with one day of rain/month. Wouldn't you know the two days we were there were rainy with highs in the low 60s?! Even though we didn't get to relax poolside as I'd envisioned, lots of fun was still had! I think the last time we were together just the two of us was when her kiddos {who are now 4 & 6} were born, so this was quite the treat! We had so much fun chatting, reading, shopping, and just being together!

{accidentally twinning at the airport}

March was definitely good to us! It's so hard to believe that we're now in the homestretch to the end of the school year. We are ready for what April has in store for us!