Happy summer! It honestly kind of freaks me out that 2023 is already halfway over. I don’t know how this year is flying by so quickly! We’ve really been enjoying this busy stage of life with the kids! Here’s a recap of the last few months.
APRIL-
Evie Anniversary
We had our one year anniversary of when we got our pup, Evie! We are all pretty much obsessed with her. She is the absolute perfect fit for our family – a good combination of fun and energetic to sweet and snuggly. We’ve had the best first year with her and can’t wait for many more!
Easter
We had a fun, busy Easter season! We loved making and decorating our annual Easter cookies, as well as dying Easter eggs.
We had multiple Easter celebrations with family. The first was at Ryan’s sister’s house with his dad’s side of the family. There were HUNDREDS of eggs hidden for the Easter egg hunt, and with my competitive kids, we ended up with most of them! The kids loved it, but we still have some of that candy leftover!
On Easter day, we went to Ryan’s aunt’s house to celebrate with his mom’s side of the family, and my family joined as well. There was tons of food and cousins and lots more eggs to hunt! The kids had a blast and we ended up coming home with a ridiculous amount of candy!
Start of Baseball/Softball Season
We had a wonderful softball and baseball season! Both kids moved up to the next league – Kinsie was in 10U, which was kid pitch, and Brax moved up to 7/8. They both got on great teams with great coaches. On opening day, my parents came and the kids had their first games at the same time, so between the 4 of us (and Brody), we ran back and forth between fields to see both of them play!
Losing Teeth
Braxton lost both of his top two teeth this month! I LOVE this phase – he was the absolute cutest!!
New Orleans
Ryan had a work conference in New Orleans, so I was able to tag along! I had never been to New Orleans, so it was quite a fun new adventure! We stayed in a nice hotel, so when Ryan had conference meetings, I worked out, hung out by the pool, or just sat in the room and got lots of reading done. Then when Ryan was done with meetings for the day, we would go out and explore!
We had some of the best food we’ve ever had in our lives. We tried New Orleans’ famous beignets at many different places so we could compare and see who really had the best ones!
One day we went on a swamp tour, which was a lot of fun! We got to get up close to some gators and even feed them some marshmallows!
We also decided on a whim to get matching tattoos of our anniversary!
I absolutely loved exploring this unique city with my favorite travel partner! We had a blast!
Outside Time with Bro
Brody was especially obsessed with spending time outside this spring. When the big kids were at school, we would spend hours outside swinging or playing with all of his trucks. He and Evie would also team up to dig holes in the yard!
MAY-
Braxton’s 7th Birthday
Our boy turned 7 in May!! The stage of life that he’s in has been my favorite!! He is so much fun to be around. He is funny and sarcastic, but also sweet and helpful!
On his actual birthday, the kids didn’t have school because it was an election day, and they use the schools as voting places. We started our day with our usual donuts, then tried to find some fun inside activities because it was actually pretty cold. We had his best friend over for a playdate, played some Mario Kart, and eventually went to sushi for dinner (his favorite!) and then ice cream afterwards! He had a great day!
A few days later, we had a sports birthday party with his friends at the YMCA. They got to do some fun games and activities in the gym, then we had snacks, a cookie cake and ice cream in the party room. Brax LOVED having all of his buddies together playing sports with him! The only other person who I think was as happy as Brax was Brody! He was so happy running around with all of the big boys!!
Baseball season continued
I love baseball season! I love the atmosphere of the ball fields, and we all love seeing all of our friends there. Most of the kids’ friends also play, so no matter what, there is always someone we know playing. Brody’s favorite part of the ball fields though – is the concession stand! You can almost always find him living his best life with popcorn, a snow cone, nachos, or some candy!
Mother’s Day
Ryan and the kids spoiled me for Mother’s Day! Ryan had to work, but he still made me feel loved with fun gifts. And the kids made so many sweet homemade gifts!
Brody’s 3rd Birthday
Our baby boy turned 3 this month!! Goodness we are obsessed with him. He is quite the handful – extremely stubborn and marches to the beat of his own drum…but he is the absolute sweetest, the funniest and the cutest little human!
Brody had quite the busy birthday! We started the day with donuts as usual. Then once we took the big kids to school, we went to the mall to make a birthday bear at Build-a-Bear. My mom met us at the mall to eat lunch with us and shop around for a little while. After the mall, we took him to play at the playground.
Once Kinsie and Brax got home from school, and Ryan got home from work, we let him open his presents and then we took him to Buffa-Louie’s for dinner. After dinner we walked around campus, and then ended the evening at our favorite ice cream place, Jiffy Treat. He was a very happy little 3 year old all day!
End of the School Year
May is always such a busy time with all of the end of the school year activities. Brody had a closing program where his class was supposed to sing a few songs and then say their name into the microphone. A few kids cried or hid behind their teachers, but Brody wasn’t one of them so I was happy!
Brody had a wonderful first year of preschool. I was a little nervous about him – considering he was my 2020 baby who didn’t interact with other humans for the first 2 years of his life. He cried at drop off sometimes, but it never lasted long. His teacher said he was always a good listener and participated in the classroom activities. I am very proud of him for a great first year!
Kinsie and Brax both had a wonderful year of school too!
This was Braxton’s first year at this school, and he started out a little nervous and timid but soon became extremely comfortable and close with all of his friends and teachers.
Kinsie had a fantastic year in third grade. She has made SO much progress in the last few years with coming out of her shell and being less shy. She’s such a natural leader and her teachers adore her. Kinsie was given an amazing opportunities to join the ALPS program (advanced learning program for students) for 4th grade next year. She will attend a new school where she was be with other advanced 4th graders in the district. This school is especially great for her because they have an integrated arts program. She is sad to leave her current school but she is really excited to start at this new school. I can’t wait to see the amazing things she does in this new chapter!
The kids enjoyed a Field Day on their last day of school. I came to help out with one of the stations, and I love seeing the kids in their element with their friends and teachers. The highlight for Braxton was getting to pie his P.E. teacher in the face!Ā
Carpal Tunnel Surgery
I have suffered with carpal tunnel syndrome for over a decade. The first flare up I ever had was when I got my first teaching job in 2012, and I was using my hands a lot while setting up my new classroom. After that, I had severe flare ups every time I was pregnant. It was so bad when I gave birth to Braxton that I could barely hold him for the first few weeks of his life. I received multiple cortisone injections after giving birth to Brax, and some when I was pregnant with Brody as well. After I had Brody, my hands pretty much always bothered me. They were numb while doing almost any task – my right hand always much worse. So after a very long time – I finally got surgery on my right hand! The sports medicine doctor that I saw said that my carpal tunnel was extremely constricted – so much so that I was beginning to show signs of atrophy in my right hand, so I got the procedure done at the right time. My mom came to watch the kids while Ryan took me for my surgery – which was done with a local anesthetic, meaning I didn’t even have to be put to sleep. It’s been almost 6 weeks since my surgery and I am still gaining my strength back in my hand, but the numbness and carpal tunnel discomfort is gone!!
Summer Fun
We’ve been busy but have still managed to make time for lots of summer fun – including ice cream trips, swimming, Jeep rides and water activities!
Memorial Weekend
We were so excited that Ryan got the entire Memorial weekend off! So we took full advantage of it but spending the weekend at the lake. We brought my nieces with us because my nephew had a baseball tournament, and I knew they would have more fun at the lake with us.
We started our weekend with pizza and watching the Super Mario Bros movie on the projector outside of the lake house. The kids loved it!
Brody is OBSESSED with riding on golf carts, so we had to make sure we took him on plenty of rides through the weekend!
The kids enjoyed swimming in the lake and wearing matching swim suits š
We also did lots of fishing!
The kids all had so much fun together doing all of the various outdoor lake activities. And it was good to see my husband get to relax and enjoy the lake too!
While we were there with all of our family, we celebrated our May birthday boys!
We enjoyed lots of boat rides too! It was such a fun and busy weekend. We hated to see it end!
Spotty
Braxton’s pet gecko, Spotty sadly passed away at the end of May. Brax was really sad to lose his buddy, but we were all there for him and had a small celebration of life for him before burying him in our backyard. Kinsie even made Spotty-themed snacks. We love having pets, but it’s always so hard when we lose them.
JUNE-
Welcome to the family, Goomba!
We were sad to lose Spotty, but shortly after, there was a reptile expo at the state fairgrounds, so we told Brax he could pick out a new lizard. He chose a bearded dragon and named him Goomba! We were excited to have a new pet join the family!
End of baseball season
Baseball season ended at the beginning of June. Both of the kids had fantastic last games in their tournaments, and Brody enjoyed a nice nap in the second half of Kinsie’s late night game! Kinsie’s team ended up getting 2nd place for the season. We loved watching them both grow and develop in their skills this season!
Touch-a-Truck
Our town had a fun event called Touch-a-truck, where lots of local trucks gathered together and kids could get up close and sit in them. There were firetrucks, a digger, a cement mixer, and lots more. It was Brody’s dream! It rained pretty much the entire time, but he didn’t mind at all!
Father’s Day
Ryan had to work on Father’s Day this year, so we celebrated him a little early. He loved the cards that the kids made him!
While Ryan worked, the kids and I spent the weekend at the lake. We loved lots of boat rides, fishing, and Brody even had his first tubing experience and absolutely loved it!
Potty Trained!
I’ve attempted potty training with Brody a few times now – each one unsuccessful. As I said earlier, he is a stubborn little fella and didn’t want to be told to do it, but he wanted it to be his idea. It has also been hard to be consistent with our busy schedule of school, activities, and baseball. I finally found a few days this summer that we would be home for a few days. We woke up one day and I told him he wasn’t going to wear diapers anymore. He resisted for a little while and tried to put his diaper on himself, but eventually gave in. Then he learned how to use the potty in ONE DAY. He started by going outside a lot, but quickly picked it up going on the potty inside too. It was the easiest potty training experience EVER! I cannot even tell you how happy I am to finally be DONE with diapers!!
11th Anniversary
Ryan and I celebrated our 11th anniversary this month! It was been quite an eventful 11 years – but I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world!
Ryan was on night shifts during our anniversary, so we barely saw each other. However, my van wouldn’t start that morning so the most time we got to spend together was when he tried to help me jump start it! Luckily we were able to have a date night the next weekend!
Cincinnati Zoo
Every year we try to take a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo to see Kinsie’s favorite hippo, Fiona! This time we also got to meet Fiona’s new baby brother Fritz!
My parents and my sister’s kids came to the zoo with us. The kids loved getting to feed the giraffes, get up close to the kangaroos, watch the hippos swim back and forth, and much more.
Brody’s favorite part was Ryan taking him on a train ride!
The kids had such a great day together at our favorite zoo!
Sweet Summer Time
We’ve had some weird weather this month, but whenever it’s been nice, we manage to make our way outside for swimming, water fun, popsicles, and driving their little vehicles!
Indians Game
Near the end of the month, we met up with some friends in Indy to go to an Indianapolis Indians game at Victory Field. The kids had an absolute blast with their friends from school!
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Even though we’re busy, we have all really enjoyed lots of family time! We have some fun planned before school starts, then some fun new adventures coming this fall, including a trip to California in September!Ā
Happy summer!!
More Matthews 
Thanks so much for sending me this email. I like to hear what you guys are doing. Love you, Grandma Sue