All in Kids
Halloween this year was a bit different since Brad was traveling for work and missed it. He did carve pumpkins right before leaving as well as going to the pumpkin patch with us. But this year Melody picked Princess Leia as her costume of choice making it extra hard not having her Star Wars loving daddy there.
I didn’t take near as many pictures this year during swim lessons. A main reason was due to swim lessons being MUCH shorter this year. Melody did a refresher course which only lasts 2 weeks. Last year we went for 5 weeks. Melody also did dramatically better this year. We didn’t have any tears or real complaints. She even jumped off the diving board since finishing lessons!
Melody has made great strides in gymnastics this year. At the end of the season, they had what they call “Gymfest”. It is like a showcase for the gymnasts. It was really neat to finally get to see this. They stopped it due to COVID, and this was the first year back. Those pictures are the ones where she is wearing the blue t-shirt. We did decide to take a break for gymnastics this summer. And I actually signed Melody up for another gymnastics class closer to our house. I can’t wait to share how that goes!
Melody’s 5th year of dance was this year, and she recently had her recital too. This was her last year taking a combo class, so she was one of the oldest groups dancing in her recital. And I honestly think they did the best. She has really come out of her shell over the last 5 years too!
It is hard to believe 1st grade is already over! The year really flew by, but it was a great one. With COVID not being as prevalent, things really got back to normal as far as school goes. I was able to be at her school in her classroom at least once a week. And I volunteered outside of that as well. Melody has grown tremendously, and she has really blossomed. And to make things much less stressful, her 1st grade teacher is “looping” and will also be her 2nd grade teacher. I loved her teacher, and so this makes 2nd grade look so much better!
Dance for the spring has officially come to an end. It is hard to believe that Melody’s last year in a combo class is over! Next year she has to pick specific dance classes to take. So that will make things quite interesting! I didn’t take near as many pictures as a I did videos this semester. So enjoy the few pictures I did take below!
We decided to give soccer another try this spring. We found a program that had practice and games on the same day. It was very similar to last year, but I did feel that received more instruction through this program. Even so, this may be the last time. She did enjoy being goalie, but beyond that, she is more of a cheerleader/dancer/gymnast, ha.
After watching everyone around her lose their teeth, Melody finally lost her first tooth back in March!
Back in February, Melody had her dance pictures made. This will be her last year in a combo type class. Next year she will have to start narrowing down what specific dance classes she wants to take (jazz, tap, ballet, etc.). Her teacher picked a fun and completely different costume this year compared to years before. And we did a high pony this year too. I really loved how this turned out!
A few months ago, my daughter’s teacher asked if myself and another mom could help with a craft in her class one Friday morning. They were learning about various tiny people. She found some wooden pegs from Amazon, and she wanted the students to create their own tiny person along with an item from their story. I decided to google each character and make a “sample” to give the kids a starting point if they needed it. Quite a few had their own ideas and totally made them unique to their personality.
Valentine’s Day may already be over, but I wanted to still go ahead and share what I made for Melody’s Valentine’s Day exchange this year. You can pin it or save it so you can remember for next year if you want as well. It was super easy to make too. Melody did most of the work after I my Silhouette printed and cut them out!
Mornings (and evenings) can be quite the battle with Melody. So last year I created some daily routine charts to try and help keep Melody on track. It worked most of the time. To be honest, we don’t use it much anymore. But we did find it helpful at the time. At the bottom you can find printable ones as well.
A big problem area in our playroom is the amount of toys Melody has and her inability to really find all the things. One of those things would be all of her American Girl doll clothes. She has a bitty baby, all of the WellieWishers, and a TrulyMe doll. With all those dolls comes a lot of clothes. And she rarely change their clothes because she has trouble finding all their outfits. And when she did find the outfit she was looking for, all the others were left in the floor. So I started researching ways to better store the clothes. Here is what I came up with!
For Melody’s 101st day of school, all of the 1st graders all dressed as Dalmatian clothing. I decided to make Melody a shirt and scrunchies. I feel like it ended up more like a cow, but everyone said it worked!
So we are still doing gymnastics this year with Melody. She does enjoy it, but there are still some days she almost doesn’t want to go. The problem is gymnastics is on a Thursday. Well by Thursday, we are over all the things and need a break. But she has really improved a lot this year and conquered some of her fears. I look forward to seeing what all she is able to do this spring semester!
It is hard to believe we have already finished half of our dance year already. We have already received our dance recital costumes too! Melody is taking combo class that includes ballet, tap, and some jazz. She is getting to have her favorite teacher one more year. Next year she will have to pick a speciality. She had a fun semester dancing away!
Last weekend, we went to Memphis to go to Breakfast with Santa at my in-law’s country club. This is something we do most years since we had Melody. This is sort of like a kick off to Christmas every year. All the girls are old enough to not be too afraid of Santa and enjoy it. The youngest wasn’t afraid, but she just did not want her picture taken, ha. She even pretended to be asleep in one of the pictures!
My cousin recently got married, and she asked Melody to be her flower girl. Melody didn’t really know what that meant at first, but as we talked about it, she was so excited and eager for the big day. My cousin and Melody have grown really close over the last year or so. Melody truly adores her and her, now, husband. A very special part about Melody being Ashley’s flower girl…I was the flower girl at Ashley’s parents’ wedding. Such a sweet and full circle moment!
