Dogs biggest fan

For Bella's date she requested that Mom take her to the animal shelter. Bella loves dogs with all her heart, so she brought a book along to read to the dog. I guess she wanted to look like a pet too, because she wore her gray ears. She (of course) picked a dachshund named Porsha. Porsha sounds like a name of a car, but Bella named one of her Beanie Boos after the dachshund. You probably won't find anyone who loves dogs like Bella does. Please visit the local animal shelter and be with a dog for just a few minutes. They really do like it.

The Little Mermaid play

Boo was given a special gift from one of my fighters in tickets to the Palace Theater in Georgetown to see the live production of Little Mermaid.  He is a volunteer and wanted Boo to see a production because of her excitement in theater.
The Little Mermaid opened the weekend after her birthday.  It was a phenomenal production.  It reignited her desire to pursue theater again.  (Her teacher is taking some time off to raise her kids).  We are looking for a new production company for Bella to be a part of, but we will probably have to wait till summer or next school year to enroll.

10 year old birthday- a sleepover

Bella chose a smaller party this year so she could have a slumber party.  We had pizzas, movies, and cupcakes and played trivia.
She was blessed to be able to reunite with her friend from drama and of course other home school friends.
Happy Birthday Double Digits Kid.

double digits birthday

It is a home school holiday on birthdays, so Daddy and Mama took the day off to celebrate.  We were able to get in a matinee showing of Trolls.  Kids loved it, it had its funny moments, but I think it was a one-timer for the adult folk.

Happy Birthday Boo

Oh, you my spunky girl.
This year, you have seemed to discover yourself.  You really enjoyed being in the drama classes and seem to blossomed in that role.  You have become more interested in art and your creative side consistently amazes us.  God has blessed you with a gift through your creative spirit.
You love to cook, but I am little scared of your ability to mix flavors.
You love animals, especially dogs.
I wish you knew how incredibly loved and special you are.  I think you sometimes question that.
God has amazing plans for you and I cannot wait to see the lady God has called you to be.

Favorite subject- cooking/baking
Favorite food- Italian meatballs
Favorite book- Magic Tree House series and the Who Was...series
Favorite movie- Nightmare Before Christmas
Best friend- Angela (friend from down the street)

library pumpkin context

The girls entered the RR public library's pumpkin contest.  The theme was a literary character or book, pumpkins had to be decorated and could not be carved.
LE used two pumpkins to make Garfield sleeping in his bed.  Boo decorated hers as Jack and Annie from the books Magic Tree House.
We were so excited when we got the call that LE won the contest and received a bundle of books.
We are so proud of both of our girls and the gifts God has given them.

Happy Halloween!

Bethany Hamilton aka LE
Britt Nicole aka Boo
a vet aka r2
Chase from Paw Patrol aka HR

We had a fun night of trick or treating in our neighborhood with our friends in the cul-de-sac.  Too much sugar was consumed and too much is still in my pantry.

round the rock challenge part 2

We marked off number 30 on our challenge this week.  We tried geocaching, found a trail in RR to hike, we skipped riding the train at the outlet mall and instead rode a time machine, who knew time travel was cheaper. We've done 8 of the 10 Where's Waldo challenges at Kaleidoscope Toys.  We had breakfast in our pj's at Chick-Fil-A which counted for 2 because it was a restaurant with a playground.  All four participated in Bass Pro Shop Summer Camp including earning badges for archery and gardening.  This past Saturday, we visited a farmer's market to complete our 30th of fifty activities on the list.
LE has been working on a list we can do after school starts.  It has really helped me to be get us out of the house and try new things this summer.

Boo's piano recital

Highland Lakes PreTeen Camp

This past Sunday, Ben dropped the girls and I off for Preteen camp at Highland Lakes.  Our church took 21 kids and 4 chaperones to camp.
I quickly realized I am a Mama.  The clutter, giggling and disregard for rules was almost too much for me.  Jesus and I had a moment that first evening and I realized there is a lot I have to let got of.
The girls had an awesome time.  We swam, kayaked, rode a banana boat, had outdoor fun at archery, and BB guns, BMX bikes.  The guest speaker was phenomenal.  He knew how to connect with the kids and taught on obedience through the story of Noah, loving like Jesus and the story of Elijah like I've never heard before.  I am so grateful I had these four days to connect with my girls, but I think it was a one time adventure for me, unless I can learn to relax again.

Round the Rock Challenge in June

This summer we are participating in the Round the Rock challenge.  We have a list of 50 activities to complete this summer to receive rewards from merchants in Round Rock.
In June (from top left), we watched a movie in RR, participated in the library reading program, found the wagon ruts, participated in a summer library program, played in a RR park, took a pet to the dog park, played at All Abilities Park, found Sam Bass final resting place, found the RR mural, enjoyed a cool treat, had a RR Donut, found the Round Rock, went to an Express game, and found the statues in downtown RR.
We have had so much fun and earned our first gift card to Kaleidoscope Toys.

Vacation Liberty School

This past week, the girls participated in Vacation Liberty School.  A homeschool friend is one of the leaders and every she invites us.  This was the first year we could make it work.  The girls loved it and cannot wait for next year.
They started off in England as peasants living under King James and had to travel to the New World.  They met George Washington and Ben Franklin.  They also made cards for soldiers in the army.  I regret not making this a priority in past years, but will make sure it doesn't happen again.

last day of school 2015-2016

I have fallen victim to Instagram and thus my blog has been neglected.  As much as I love the easiness of Instagram, I love coming to the end of the year and reviewing our year. I also love seeing LE and Boo looking back at where we've been.  Thus, even though I know most have given up on blogs I will persevere.  Great, now I've got I will survive stuck in my head.
We wrapped up our official school year on May 26th.  Which means LE finished her elementary school career.  And when we begin in the fall I will have a junior high student, 5th grader and two beginning kindergarten.  Be still my heart, I am not sure how that is humanly possible.  We will continue to read and do Math U See during the summer.  We are participating in as many reading clubs as we can join, no complaints there.  I hope they can some day fall in love with their math books.

day two by Bella

To start my day, I ate a breakfast of pop tart, eggs and toast.  Then, we went to the Titanic museum and saw what happened on the Titanic.  Then, we went back home and went to the pool.  I got to swim with my new goggles. Then, we walked to our room and watched tv.  Then, me and my sister Landry and my Mama all went to see the Chinese Acrobats and they were amazing.  That's my second most favorite thing about Branson.  That proves my day was awesome.

cast friends

Boo with her friend, Noah and the leads, Ethan and Paige.

I Never Saw Another Butterfly

 Bella was in Christian Classical Theatre's prodution of I Never Saw Another Butterfly.  After weeks of practices and I mean five hour practices some nights, her show was a hit.  Friends commented that she stole the show and I was even asked if I would consider betrothal this early.  She was one of the youngest children in the play and she surprised us when she sang a solo.  There were four performances and Boo was in two.  After the final night, there was a cast party till midnight!  And she tried to convince me to stay for the entire time, we settled on 11 pm.  I think my girl has caught the bug.  She was so nervous, but once curtain went up she loved it.
I really liked all of the friends I made.  I liked how much they appreciated and liked me.  I liked how much Miss Heather made us concentrate and wanted it to be a great play, not just a good one.  Some times she was strict, I know why she was.  -Boo, age 9

Chrismtas: Toby Mac Deep Hits

For Christmas, we gave the girls tickets to see their first concert, Toby Mac.  Ben and I saw DC Talk when we were in high school at Schlitterbahn, so we think it is surreal to be taking the girls to see him 20+ years later; yea he is the coolest 51 year old around.
We also got to see Britt Nicole (Boo's fave), Building 4:29, Colton Dixon, Finding Favor, Hollyn and Capital Kings.
Thank you Mimi and PawPaw for taking the boys so we could make such a fun memory.

I never saw another butterfly

Boo had the opportunity to design the cover for the playbill for the production she will be in.   She water colored the background, designed the butterfly and painted the fence post.  Daddy helped her scan them into the computer and then add details in photoshop.

Very proud that she is using the talents God gave her.

Chopped birthday party

I wish I could take credit for this party and even though it was a surprise party, it was all her idea.  The party was inspired by the Food Network show Chopped, which is a cooking competition among chefs.  There are three rounds and each round one chef gets eliminated.  Instead of eliminations, we had awards for each category, appetizers, main course and dessert.  For round, they made yogurt parfaits.  Daisy won most creative for dyeing her yogurt blue and adding marshmallows and goldfish.  Angela won tastiest with raspberries and strawberries.  Emery won most unusual dyeing hers yellow and adding chocolate syrup.  It looked like mustard, but tasted like chocolate.
Round two was pizza.  Elise won most creative making a face out of pepperoni and olives.  Molly won best use of ingredients, using all of the ingredients to make a meat pizza and Avery won the cheesiest with a mountain of cheese on hers.
Round three was cake balls.  Jacoby won the most original as he was the first to add eyes to his eyes and make a turkey.  LE's was most creative, her cake balls were kissing.  One was pink, one chocolate.  R2 used the most ingredients.  Boo was the top chef.
It was a super fun party.  I have had multiple parents comment how much their kids enjoyed themselves.

surprise birthday party

I think we pulled off a surprise party for Boo.  It was quite difficult to convince her to have her birthday party a week later, but when Ben got called out of town for the week she agreed.  Instead, I was able to pull off a party on her actual birthday.  She designed a board game and had been wanting to have friends over to test her game out.  So, I came up with a night of games and pizza. When she made her own list of ideas of what her ideal party was, at the very last minute I was able to pull it off.
Her theme idea, yummy to my tummy which included taste testing and Chopped.  I opted for Chopped.  We still got to play her game and incorporate some of her ideas.  She seemed pleased.  We along with help from Mimi and PawPaw were able to get her a new bike too.
We collected board games and have plans to take them to the local children's home before Christmas.