Annual Florida Trip

We were so excited to resume our annual trip to The Villages in Florida this summer to visit Jeff's side of the family. We always have so much fun there and look forward to catching up every summer.

This summer our trip was even more special, because we were able to meet our brand new nephew/cousin, Cash Courtright, a.k.a. Lil' Money. Ha! He is the most precious and laid back baby, and we were all instantly enamored with the little guy!

I'm in love! Look at that smile in his sleep!

Getting my baby fix!

Uncle Jeff meets Cash-man.

More baby snuggles.

Look at that sweet face!

The only bad part about our trip this time around was that Grandma Cheryl ended up having some pain and being hospitalized on the very first day of our visit. We were so worried about her! After a couple of days of hospitalization, we got a late-night call that the doctors thought she had a highly contagious bacterial infection. And we had just returned from visiting her in the hospital, yikes. I spent a few days of our trip doing load after load of laundry, just to make sure the infectious disease didn't spread.

But thankfully, Cheryl was released from the hospital on Day 5 of our visit. The Courtright guys decided to have a little fun with her to welcome her back home.

Makeshift masks to protect the Courtrights from infectious diseases.

Now that's a scary-looking crew!

Welcome Home, but beware of infectious diseases!!

They made Cheryl walk through the masked entry, ha!

We were so thankful to have Grandma back home with us for the rest of our stay. Some of the highlights of our trip included a girls spa day with my beautiful sister-in-law, Christina, the guys' annual fishing trip, a fun day at Wet 'n Wild, and a golf outing for the guys.

Christina and I loved our girls day!

The annual offshore fishing trip.

Courtright men's golf trip. Love this picture!

Another fun part of our trip was meeting Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Cheryl's new dog, Moose. Kaitlynn loved playing with him of course!

Grandpa and Kaitlynn enjoy Moose's company.

Grandpa Jerry holds Moose while he gives Cash a kiss, ewww!

As it usually goes, our fun week in The Villages was over before we knew it. We were sad to leave, but we were so glad to have had such a great week. And we all know what the sign of a great vacation is, right?

Zonked out after a fun vacation.

Connor argued with me for an hour that he did NOT fall asleep on the plane. Yeah right!

Connor's Recital

Last year, Connor took hip-hop at a local dance/gymnastics place and loved it, but he ended up not getting to participate in the spring recital because we moved to Katy and it was too long of a drive. Earlier this year when I signed Kaitlynn up for gymnastics, Connor asked to sign up for the all-boys hip-hop dance class at the same time.

As much as he enjoyed the class, it turned out that it was just a generic dance class and not an actual hip-hop format. But Connor didn't seem to care; he enjoyed attending every week and decided that he wanted to participate in the spring dance recital. The boys group was performing to the song Cool from West Side Story. I've never seen the movie but I guess that's a popular number.

Let's just say that Connor isn't much of a dancer, at least in the choreographed format. But he really enjoyed his class and the group of boys that participated. And he LOVED getting the opportunity to perform on stage in front of hundreds of audience members! But most of all, Connor was so excited about his recital costume -- leather jacket, white t-shirt, and converse sneakers. He definitely thought he was COOL!!

Our little West Side cutie :-)

A pic with Mommy! (I know, I haven't been a "Mommy" in YEARS!)

 

 

The spring recital was a BIG deal. It was held in a big auditorium and it ended up lasting over 3 hours long. Connor was all smiles, though. He wasn't phased at all by the bright lights and big crowd.



 

Pic before the performance.

I told him to look "cool" ha!

When it was time for the recital, we had to wait through about 2 hours of the show before Connor performed. And then we had to wait another hour afterwards. There were some super cute performances, especially by the little ones, and of course Kaitlynn loved watching all of the beautiful dancers.

Dad, Mom, and Kaitlynn in the crowd.

 

Here's my very amateur video of Connor's West Side Story number. The boys were cute and got some laughs.






Jeff asked me before the recital if we were supposed to get Connor flowers -- because, you know, getting flowers for the daughters at their recitals is a BIG deal. I told him no, I mean, boys wouldn't want that. Right? Luckily they were selling these super cool candy wands at the recital, and of course that was the perfect "congratulations" gift for our little performer.

2nd Grade Wrap-up

(Disclaimer: most of this post was written back in May!)

I have said for years that May is a Mom's busiest time in the Spring. Lately I have been spending my days back and forth between Connor's and Kaitlynn's schools as they wrap up the school year hosting lots of activities for the kids and parents. We are counting down the days of school, and I can honestly say I probably look forward to it more than my kids! I used to be terrified of summertime and trying to keep 2 kids happy and entertained. Now I just need a break from the overwhelming daily schedule and activities that we are committed to.

Connor's 2nd grade year is quickly coming to an end, so that means lots of fun activities to wrap up the school year. One of the events Connor recently participated in was the 2nd Grade Authorama. Each 2nd grader was asked to choose an author, conduct research about that author and their background, and then decorate an author "doll" in the likeness of the chosen author. Anyone who knows me knows that I am NOT crafty and therefore cringe at the thought of most crafty projects. When this assignment was brought home, I had to fight off the panic, ha! I am of the mindset that kids need to do their own projects, so I don't usually offer much help to Connor with these types of things. But I also didn't want Connor to just draw and color the thing and turn it in; I wanted him to spend a little more time and make his author look nice.

That's where Dear Old Dad stepped in. He's the creative one in the family, just so you know. Jeff and Connor got to work one Sunday afternoon while I was at the gym and when I came home, Connor's author was completed. Jeff had taken one of his old shirts, cut it up, and fashioned it on the paper doll. Then Connor colored in the rest of the author's face and clothes. It turned out great! Hmmm, I may have to leave Jeff in charge of the school projects from now on!

Connor and his author doll, Jeff Kinney.

Connor's chosen author was Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series for kids. I thought it was a good selection for Connor, because that book series is what Connor started reading in Kindergarten and really sparked his love for reading and especially for book series. (He is like his Mom, I LOVE a good book series!). If you look closely at Connor's author doll, you'll see that Connor drew in some chest hair under the shirt. Mrs. Sartor got a big kick out of that, ha!

On the day that the author dolls were due, the 2nd graders hosted an Authorama for the parents. All of the kids stood in a circle in the room and the parents were able to go from kid to kid, learning all about their selected authors. It was a cute event and taught the kids a lot about research as well as some of their favorite authors.

Mrs. Sartor gave instructions at the Authorama while the kids stood with their author dolls. They did a great job!

Earlier this month, Connor's school also hosted their end of year Book Fair. We always love attending and supporting the school, but it's such a hard choice when trying to narrow down our book lists! This time, Connor chose the first books in the Percy Jackson and Harry Potter series to see if he would enjoy them. About a week later, he was done with both of those books AND the 2nd book in the series. This kid is a READER, ha!

At the book fair. So much to choose from!

Also in May, I was honored to be the recipient of the WoodCreek Elementary volunteer of the month award along with a few other deserving Moms. I have definitely been spending a lot of time up at the school and was recently named the PTA's vice president of programs for the upcoming school year. It is always nice to be recognized for your contributions, and I shared some nice moments with the kids as they held a breakfast in our honor, and we even got to participate in the morning announcements at school. :-)

Enjoying donuts at the volunteer breakfast.

Volunteer of the Month photo that was hung in the hallway at school.

Photo from the morning announcements.

Jeff and the kids made me feel so special with these surprise flowers and sweet notes congratulating me on my volunteer achievements. He must've known that I needed some encouragement!

At the end of the school year, Connor's classroom held the annual Celebration of Learning. These celebrations at WoodCreek are held in lieu of classroom parties, and they allow the kids to make a presentation in front of the class.

Connor's class all sat at the front of the room and then gave their individual presentations at their Celebration of Learning.

For their presentations, the kids all talked about what they wanted to be/do when they grow up and how they were going to achieve that goal. For years now, Connor has said he wants to be a football player in the NFL. We keep trying to encourage him to come up with a good backup plan, ha!





After the classroom presentations, all of the kids were able to show off some of their projects around the classroom. And then we said our formal goodbyes to Mrs. Sartor and to 2nd grade!

One of Connor's end of school projects, his Connor doll with a timeline of his life (that he had to put bunny ears on).

Kaitlynn always has to be a part of Connor's classroom activities, too.

Connor with his 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Sartor. He had such a great year with her!

Finally, the last day of school arrived. (Is it just me or is school getting later each year?) Connor was SO excited to be done with 2nd grade and get started on his summer fun.

Thumbs up for his very last day of school as a 2nd grader!

Before we could kick off summer, Jeff and I really wanted to reward the kids for their accomplishments this past school year. Connor ended up with a 98 average for the entire school year! He has done an incredible job with his schoolwork and we wanted to make sure that he continues to feel excited and incented to work hard in school. He received his very own tablet -- a Kindle reader -- as a reward for such a great year. And of course, Kaitlynn couldn't be left out. She got a new Disney Frozen nightgown as a reward for graduating pre-K and moving up to Kindergarten.

Gifts for the end of school.

This girl can never have too many nightgowns.

He was very surprised to get a new Kindle. So proud of you, buddy!

FIVE!!

I can't remember the last time I had such a LONG hiatus from blogging! With our crazy schedules from the end-of-school season, wrapping up a big project with my job, starting a new role in PTA, and just LIFE...I have been so overwhelmed trying to keep it all together.

Proof that it's been busy around here these last few months. She was OUT!

Back in the spring, I had written/started several blog posts in draft mode, and then our laptop died and kept me from finishing things up. So now I'm going back and trying to get everything published, but just wanted to add that little disclaimer to explain why the wording in the posts seems a little off (writing a post in April and not publishing until July, ha)!

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It's still birthday season in the Courtright household. Next up is a BIG birthday milestone for the baby of this family. Kaitlynn is turning FIVE!!

We first celebrated her special day by taking donuts to her pre-K class. They enjoyed the yummy treats during snacktime together, and Kaitlynn was VERY excited to wear her Disney Frozen birthday shirt.

Posing in her birthday outfit.

Sweet 5-year-old!

That's a big box of donuts for our big 5-year-old!

Since Kaitlynn has a summer birthday, we've had trouble over the years getting a good celebration scheduled for her because her friends are often traveling during the busy summer months. This year, we decided to bump up her birthday party to a weekend in May in hopes that more friends could attend. But then I made the mistake of scheduling it for the busy Memorial Day weekend, so we still had many friends that missed her celebration. But Kaitlynn never knew the difference because she had a wonderful time at her big 5th birthday party!

The party was held at our favorite gymnastics facility, Westwood Gymnastics. They do such a great job with fun gym activities for the kids, including trampolines, foam pits, the big parachute, and enjoying the big play structure (a.k.a. The Mountain). Kaitlynn and her friends had such a great time!

All smiles at her birthday party, and yes, wearing the same birthday outfit! That's her Disney Frozen cookie cake in the background.

Here's the birthday table set up and you can see the awesome gym in the background.

On the rope swing.

The birthday girl in the middle surrounded by her sweet friends.

Time to sing to the birthday girl!

Back home, she loved opening her presents!

Another birthday gift and typical expressive reaction.

Since Kaitlynn's birthday party was held a full month before her actual birthday, we still had some fun birthday surprises in store for her when the big day -- June 14 -- finally arrived. She had a few gifts to open and also got to choose her favorite spot for a birthday lunch.

Jeff's special birthday gift to Kaitlynn: her very own fishing pole for the lake behind our house.

She is now at the age where she is receiving cash from grandparents. "My first money!" she exclaimed!

Have I mentioned Kaitlynn is expressive? Love her reactions!

One final birthday cake -- this time to celebrate Kaitlynn's birthday, Kevin's birthday, and Father's Day all in one.

 

Birthday hug from her Sweet Daddy at her favorite restaurant, All Star Grill.

At 5 years old, Kaitlynn is still quite the girly-girl. She is constantly singing, twirling, wearing princess dresses and jewelry, and into all things pink and sparkly.

She LOVES getting her nails and toes done!

She was beyond delighted when I let her wear her ballet costume out to lunch one day.

Because I spent many hours working from home this past spring, Kaitlynn has become quite independent while she plays with her toys and entertains herself.

I love this shot of Kaitlynn playing by herself in her play room.

Kaitlynn still LOVES riding her bike. She has decided that she wants to be a bike-rider to Kindergarten when school resumes in August. I'm a little nervous about that after she had quite the bike crash with another biker last spring, but hopefully she's better with her brakes these days.

Kaitlynn and Anais riding their bikes at the park.

One thing that Kaitlynn has gotten into lately is singing. Lots and lots of singing! Everywhere we go, she is singing various songs from the radio or movies she watches. Her singing is not quite on key, and it has now evolved into a falsetto, vibrato type of musical sing-song with everything she does. She'll be playing with her dolls and will suddenly break into song, having her dolls sing their conversations to each other in voices we don't even recognize. It is hilarious to me! I caught this exchange on video one day while she was playing Doc McStuffins. It's kind of lengthy but I figured the grandparents might get a kick out of it!





Kaitlynn has made incredible strides in her academics this past year. She learned so much in pre-K, and she continues to attend a weekly reading/writing class that helps her with those skills as well. She does great in a classroom setting, but she is just so stubborn when I try to work with her on that stuff. She will whine and fuss and put up a big fight, unless it's HER idea and then she's happy to do her homework. Recently she was completely a workbook page where she had to count the items and write the number that she counted. She had answered the question incorrectly -- the answer was 10 but she had written 6. I pointed the incorrect answer out to her and told her to recount it. She counted the 10 items (which was correct) but still INSISTED that the correct answer was 6 and wouldn't stop arguing about it. Oh my, am I going to have my work cut out with this girl!

Kaitlynn practiced her writing by addressing her birthday invitations.