The rest of April

May is here!  School is ending soon!  Where is time going??

Before I get too far behind with blogging, here's what the rest of April looked like.

Soccer:

Sydney's team

Go Taylor!

GT Spring Game:

Balloon animals at dinner:

Guess what hit our house (er, apartment?) again??? 😡

Lots of pool time, now that it's actually been sunny and warm (finally!  Can I get an amen?):

Checking out new playgrounds:

Celebrating Kerrigan's 13th Birthday!

Randomness:

Stephen was the mystery reader for Taylor's class.

Braves Game was a wash-out!

Her majesty

Killing time while little brother plays soccer

Heading to church

Teacher Appreciation Week

In-school field trip, watching a play

Swim lessons

Letters from their old school

Sweet cuddles

New schools

The kids have now been going to their new schools for 6 weeks!  They have been the biggest troopers with having to start at a new school, mid-year.  All three of their teachers seem to be awesome, and have helped make the transition so much easier for them (and me!).

1st Day!

As much as I hated moving them mid-year, I feel good to know that the hardest part is behind them.  They'll get to know the school and make some friends before they start the new school year, so that day won't be so scary.

BINGO night at the new school.

Sydney has made some friends, enjoys playing basketball with the boys (and one other girl) at recess.  She took her first Milestones test last week and completes them all this week.  She really likes her teacher, and she is up and running with her gifted services as of a couple of weeks ago (when the paperwork came over from her old school) and really seems to like that teacher as well.  3rd grade isn't the easiest time to start new, but I think she's navigating everything well.

Sydney's in the turquoise top.

We had a conference with Taylor's teacher last week, and Taylor is doing great!!  Her teacher said that all the kids have really been drawn to her since day 1.  She's reading almost on a 4th grade level and is in her highest reading and math groups.  I'm so proud of her!

Parker has jumped right in, making friends and behaving well.  He was drawn to the kids who seemed to get in trouble at his last school, but it seems like he's making good friend choices now.  I registered him for Kindergarten at his sisters' school for next year, and I think he's ready to go!

Muffins with Mom

KG registration!

Only 6 more weeks left... they're halfway there from start to finish.  Hope they continue to go well!

Apartment Living

We are 7 weeks into life in our apartment.  It's hard to believe!  Sometimes I have to think hard to picture the house we lived in for 12 years.  Isn't time weird?

Anyways, apartment living has had its highs and lows.  The initial "holy cow, this place is tight" went away pretty quickly, thankfully.  I kind of like living more simply.  On the other hand, the initial "look at all these amazing amenities!!" excitement has also kind of subsided.  I guess we're just into the new-normal phase of change.

The downsides of having 5 people in a 3 bedroom apartment (on the second floor!) are probably pretty obvious... the small(er) space, the constant "Don't jump!  Don't scream!  Don't run!" is said multiple times, daily.  The girls share a room (and a bed!), which I would say works about 85% of the time.  When it works, it's great... when it doesn't, it's not.  Oh, and having to make several trips down to the parking lot when you go grocery shopping to bring the groceries in... that's different. ;)

Though I'd say the biggest downside is probably all the driving/sitting I have to do everyday.  We were able to enroll the girls in the school they're zoned for where our house will be (which is awesome!), but we're living on the other side of town... about 20 minutes away.  Parker is in a pre-K program at a school on the other side of town, about 15 minutes from the girls' school and about 15 minutes from the apartment. It's kind of like a little triangle I do.  This is how we roll... (no pun intended):

We leave the apartment at 7 AM, and go to the girls' school.  We get there around 7:20, sit in the drop-off line, drop them off.  Then, Parker and I drive to his school, but we get there around 7:50 (and drop off isn't until 8), so we get to hang in the car for about 10 minutes.  I walk him in, and then head back to the apartment, getting there around 8:15.

I repeat the process in the afternoon, but I have to leave the apartment by 1:15 to get to the girls' school in time to get towards the front of the car rider line.  Their school dismisses at 2:15, but by the time the girls get in the car, it's usually around 2:25 (even with me towards the front!), and then we have to head to get Parker by 2:45.  We usually get home around 3:10.  It is a lot of sitting and driving that I'm definitely not used to.  I try to make the best of it- I've gotten a lot of reading in!- and I try keep in mind that it'll be sooo much better next school year.

But, the pluses definitely outweigh the negatives!!!  The pool, the gym, the scenery, the putting green,  the fire pit, the walking paths, a huge green area where we've had many baseball games, soccer games, kite flying fun, etc., the shuffleboard game and pool table, the many grills around the green area, the trash that's picked up outside your house every night (!!).  We can walk to Publix and some restaurants.  It takes so little time to clean the whole place.  Our power bill has been cut in half, as has our water bill.  We don't have to worry about mowing the grass, landscaping the yard, and... best of all... if something breaks, we call for help!  Whoop!

It's a good thing the pros are better than the cons, because our closing date on our house has been pushed back 2 MONTHS.  Bleh.  The 4 month apartment tour has now become 6!

Here are some pics of the fun we've been having here so far!

Walking back from Publix.

The apartment peeps have fun little events.  This was where they made brunch for the residents.

Hmmm... maybe apartment living is the way to go?? ;)