Our Little Gymnasts!!

Two weeks ago, Nora and Ella each had thier gymnastics recitals. They were both precious performances that were "Wizard of Oz"-themed. The girls did FANTASTIC!! Check out their mad gymnastic skills:

 They each did the trampoline..... 

 

.....the high bars....(even though they both got a little scared of the uber-high one)....

 

 Ella did the rings and the high bars simultaneously!!

 Then, they moved on to show off their "floor skills" :)

 (one of Ella's floor-coaches is Mrs. Julia Hubbard.....Coach Hubbard's wife!! Nora thought that was "amazing!") 

  They, then, took a turn on the balance beam :)

 Ella's group (which included Addie Turpin) finished with a phenomenal dance of "Get on Down the Road." If you can, watch the video.....it's one of the most delicious things you will ever see!!)

Finally, it was time for our little tumblers to receive their trophies. Ella struck the BEST.POSE.EVERRRR!!

 We are so extremely proud of our little gymnasts!!

They keep our world spinnin', jumpin', twirlin' and whirlin'.....but we wouldn't have it any other way!!!! :)

Nora's Kindergarten Field Day!

Nora had her kindergarten Field Day last Thursday, and the weather was PERFECT!!! Of course, I couldn't be with her throughout the whole thing because I had to stay with my own third-grade babies, but Nora didn't miss me a bit!!! She was too busy having fun with her friends, getting wet, and playing games. Since I was only there for a bit, I am very grateful to my "homie," Mrs. Turpin, for sharing most of these sweet pictures with me. Check out a few pictures of her special day:

Nora and one of her best buddies, Annabelle (Mrs. Turpin's daughter)!

 Crab Walk!!!

 All the little ladies.....

 Senora Edwards and her AMAZING bunch of kiddos!! 

 Being goofy!!

 Sprinkling her with love (or something like that???)

They ended the day with popsicles (and a change of clothes!!)

I'm not just saying this because it's Nora's class, but I have NEVER seen a kindergarten class like her's. They are all so impressive.....so mature, so FUN, so respectful, and of course, so bilingual!!!! I am so grateful to Senora Edwards and Mrs. Ooten (along with the countless other OUTSTANDING teacher-friends) who made my baby's first year at Beulah so memorable and special. :)

Hooray for Field Day!!!!!

Rainy, Lazy Sunday ;)

(***this is my first post from my phone, so I hope it turns out okay! Yay for Blogger Apps!!)

Even though it already feels like summer with close to 90-degree temperatures on some days, the past few weekends have been total bummers. Last Sunday, it MONSOONED allllllll dayyyyyy longgggggg. However, this gloomy weather created the perfect LAZY SUNDAY!! With 3 little ones, a day of doing NOTHING can seem like Heaven!!! We did manage to make it to church in the monsoon....

....and afterwards, we headed over to Waffle House. Many people ask us why we post so many pictures from Waffle House and/or Dairy Queen. My answer is: because we are the poster-family of healthy-eating. ;) ;) :) Thursday nights (in between gymnastics practice and dance practice), you are guaranteed to find us at Dairy Queen, and on Sunday mornings, you will more than likely find us grubbing on the WH All-Star Special. Enjoy our baby, all "smothered and covered" with love.... :)

Nothing is better on a rainy morning (after stuffing yourself with a greasy waffle and scrambled-eggs) than a nap....

Once they awoke, Daddy and Clairy were ready for a little jam-session. Now that Claira is officially 11-months-old (wait....WHAT????), she loves to "sing," stand up (but no official walking yet), put EVERYTHING in her mouth, shake her head NO, laugh, dance, and crawl as fast as lightning!! She's absolutely precious!!! Enjoy her and Daddy "singing"....

Like most mommies, I enjoy baking, especially on rainy days. So the girls helped me make some Reese's cupcakes that evening. They were "slap-your-mama" delicious!!!

All in all, it was a wonderful day of "doing nothing" and taking advantage of a rainy day. 

One of my all-time favorite books is called "The Gift of Nothing." In the story, Mooch the cat gives his best friend, Earl the dog, the gift of ...... "nothing.....but YOU and ME"......

....which, of course, is the greatest gift of all!!! :)

Cheers to NOTHING!!! :)

Lea's First Prom!!!!

Last weekend, we all gathered to help Lea get ready for her junior prom!! Talk about feeling OLD!!!! It seems like yesterday that Josh and I were going to our junior/senior prom.......

Lea was only 3 years old at the time and dressed up in her princess dress so that she could look fancy, too!!! But, she's definitely not a little girl anymore........

Check out their excitement of attending her first prom!!! We started with the flowers....

....and a few smootches.....

....and I made them pose all "Smooth Criminal"....... :)

 ...and despite the HORRID weather (rain NON-STOP), we got some lovely pictures of the beautiful couple and their friends....

Of course, their true colors kept coming out during pictures....I call this one "Britney Spears (right before she went crazy and shaved her head) and her boyfriend, Shrek!"

They went to prom with a really fun bunch. Here's a shot of just the girls....

....and just the studs.....

....and the whole gang!!

And even though they were all "lookin'-nice" and whatnot, they are really a bunch of goobers (but REALLY GOOD KIDS!!)

Despite the monsoon, they were finally OFF in their super-cool limo (equipped with neon-changing-color lights on the inside AND outside!)

 They had a super-fun time!!

I was so happy to be a part of such a big day for my "little" sis. It brought back great memories while making NEW memories!! (Excuse the wet-mushrat look....I had been deemed the photographer, and of course, it was the wettest day of the year!):

In the family department, my cup runneth over.

Cheers to Prom, Pictures, and Pretty People!!!

 





Monday Mall Madness!!!

Last Monday, we headed to the mall after school and work so that Nora could pick out a new dress and snazzy shoes for her upcoming piano recital (and if you missed that, check the last blog post.....she did GREAT!!!). Just as our luck would have it (note sarcasm), the traveling-fair had come to Arbor Place Mall. So, of course, we couldn't leave without the girls riding about 3,000,000,000,000 rides (which were $3-$4 per ride.....so much for pinching pennies that night!!!). Still, it was a swell time!!

Before any fair festivities, I made Nora pick out her new outfit first which turned out beautifully (she picked out high-heeled sandals.....she's been really wanting some "high heels." Miss Priss!). And I also had to purchase a new cell phone before doing anything else......my sad, little redonkulous iPhone 3 had seen it's last days. So, enjoy these pictures from my new phone!!

Of course, Nora had to be the first one to test-out the new cell phone camera with a lovely self-portrait:

After eating, purchasing the new phone, and finding Nora's new recital-outfit, the girls had an absolute HISSY to go out to the fair. So, off we went....

 We can NEVER bypass these things - Nora and Ella always demand a photo-op!! Even with the sun blinding them, apparently...

We also attempted to win a goldfish with no luck!! Daddy posted this video on Facebook with the caption "Ella's killer aim," and Uncle Scott responded "I've seen a better arm on a snake." :) :) We'll work on that!!

We rode some swell rides.....but the Dizzy Dragon didn't mix very well with Daddy's mall-Chinese. :)

After the fair, Daddy took Clairy-Berry home so I could have some "girl time" with my big girls. We had our first-ever mani-pedi together!!!

 Ella talked her poor "nail-man's" head off!! But he loved her!! They each chose hot pink polish and topped them off with white flower-designs on their thumbs and big toes! :)

We ended the night with our all-time-favorite.....BLIZZARDS!!!!!!!!!

So thankful for this precious time with my girls. I foresee this "girl-time" being unbelievably fun in the years to come, especially with THREE DAUGHTERS!!

Cheers to mall-Chinese, painted nails, blizzards, "arms like a snake," and goofy self-portraits....

.....and speaking of goofy self-portraits, I am the world's BEST at photo-bombing pictures with ridiculous (and sometimes hideous) faces. So, I'll leave you with the sweet and considerate words of my husband that he utters to me AT LEAST once a month:

"Drew, you are so beautiful to me, but you make some of the butt-ugliest faces I've ever seen." ~Joshua D. Nesbitt

:)