They Grow Up So Fast: March 2016

March is nearly over, so I thought I'd share what we've been up to.

The beginning of the month marked the end of Ashlynn's All Star season, with the team's play-off game. They played well, going into overtime and then two rounds of penalty kicks before losing. We were kind of bummed but also kind of glad to end the season, especially since we knew the start of the spring season was just a few weeks away.

Ashlynn really grew as a player this season. She's always been decent, but she would sometimes zone out during games. Her focus improved greatly and she became a smarter player. She seems to be a natural forward, with good dribbling skills, but she learned defense and even how to switch between defense and offense while playing midfield. Unfortunately, her coach didn't realize that she's a lefty until late in the season, but it was fun to watch her develop that advantage.

Eric served as an assistant coach this time, which took the pressure off him (he was head coach in the fall and is again this spring), but it meant he had to hold his tongue sometimes. I grew as a sideline parent this season. I used to yell at Ashlynn when she zoned out, but she got better about that, and her coach was a major yeller, so I learned to just keep quiet or positive.

Fancy footwork

Penalty kicks

The look of disappointment. The kid takes it hard and usually blames herself for her team's loss. We're working on that.

Carter and I continue to have special times together. One day we grabbed smoothies after school. It's nice to have someone to share my love of fruit.

Here's a random, post-church picture. I thought it was funny that they coordinated with the cones.

Ashlynn had Lydia over for an overnighter on a night before a student free day. Those girls have so much fun together and are such nice and supportive friends.

Our family took family photos at a beautiful park in Pasadena using a session Eric and I bought at last year's Mayflower auction. We were super pleased with the results, which will be featured in another blog post. Here are some photos I took at the garden after our session.

Wish trees

We are enjoying our church small group that meets twice a month. I love getting to know the four other couples and watching our 14 kids play together. Yes, 14 kids between 5 families, and Ashlynn is the oldest. It is kinda crazy.

I spent quite a bit of time this month helping prepare for the auction for the kids' school. This year's theme was "Anchors Aweigh!" so there were many nautical crafts this year.

We had fun checking out Sierra Madre's annual Wisteria Festival one Sunday after church. Our second daughter, Lydia, joined us. Ashlynn's a little sad about the stair stepped height that is going on now (with Lydia being about halfway between Ashlynn's height and Carter's), since she's had a growth spurt.

Carter was looking hip

Those girls crack each other up

Oh, and here's the trio, plus Pippa, after picking the girls up from violin class.

One Wednesday afternoon, on a week when Ashlynn didn't have a private violin lesson, I took the kids out to APU. They were going to be having "college week" the following week and I thought it would be fun to show them where I went for my BA through MA (and Eric did his credential and MA) and get them some APU clothes to wear.

I was really proud of my alma mater. The campuses are still very nice and the students were friendly and acted respectfully. Ashlynn was blown away when we went to buy a Gatorade and the student ringing us up put it on his meal card.

The gap

Taking the trolley between main campus and west campus.

St. Patrick's Day began with a visit from a leprechaun who ate from our annual box of Lucky Charms and turned our milk green.

We also had our annual corned beef with cabbage, potatoes and carrots, along with a delicious loaf of soda bread

Carter and I made the soda bread. He loves working in the kitchen and the fact that making soda bread involves kneading the dough makes it even more fun.

Ashlynn and Carter have so much fun together. Here they are hanging out while the soda bread baked.

St. Patrick's Day dinner

That next Saturday was the Mayflower auction. A ton of work goes into events like that! The kids and I were part of the ceremonial walking over of the welcome arch.

Here's a project Ashlynn's class made for the auction. Each kid was responsible for drawing and coloring one square of the artwork. I think it went for $200!

The kids helped with set up while Eric reffed a soccer game.

Ashlynn had her first spring soccer season game that day. This season she is one of the tallest on the team, which meant that her uniform is GIGANTIC! We joked that it makes a very unattractive dress.

The auction was a lot of fun. The MC dressed up as Popeye. I was the photographer, which kept me busy but allowed me to still chat and enjoy some of the night.

Last week was my spring break. Since no one else in the family was off, it didn't feel like much, since I still needed to get up early to get kids to school and had the usual responsibilities, like school pick up and getting homework done. But, the glorious thing was getting to go out to lunch every day with friends. I twice ate at a new-to-me place called Lincoln in Pasadena. It was so good, especially the olive oil cake!