Noelle had a blast at her friend, Demi’s birthday party last weekend!

A party company came to Demi’s house and hosted the party, which was SO fun for the girls!  They dressed up, did nails, sang karaoke, had crafts, and ate a gourmet lunch together… and the party favors were a delicious candy bar!  Noelle was in heaven!

I love a beautifully set table… the girls felt so special!

Here is Demi’s candy bar!

After crafts, it was time for a dance party, and then they split into groups and had a singing competition!

 

More nails and singing…

Walking the run-way!

 

When the other girls in the group sang, the girls on the side danced (this was Noelle back-up dancing).  They did really good!  Noelle did a Taylor Swift song by herself at the beginning of the party and knew every word.  Everyone was really impressed… I was too!  I had no idea she knew that song!

 

Cheers!  What a fun party… these girls are so special!  Happy 7th Birthday, Demi!

*Noelle lost her other front top tooth this night after church!  You can tell in the first picture, it was soooo loose!

I never want to forget these spontaneous happy hours with the neighbors while our kids have fun playing all around us! 

 

On our street, everyone has someone to play with!  It’s so great!  We couldn’t have planned it better ourselves!

Rose and Jameson are a week apart, and it’s fun watching how much they have grown and changed over the past two years!

This is heaven on earth right here… the good old days unfolding right before our very eyes, and I don’t want to miss a thing!

God love this little sunflower with the first grade PE shoes, Cinderella skirt, and floral winter hat on as she realizes that she did this to herself!

Pretty girls enjoying the pretty spring weather!  This was last weekend… Noelle has since lost her other front tooth and is now toothless… we love her new smile and can’t wait to show you guys! 

          

Last week Noelle got to go to the science museum with her first grade class!  We had tons and tons of fun!

Noelle said her favorite part of the trip was seeing this dinosaur skeleton!

McKayla, Ta’Niah, Noelle, and Ava chillin’ in the footprint of a dinosaur!

This was the ceiling in the foyer.  I was taken aback.  The warmth of this photo and how I felt in this moment was amazing… we were finally out of the cold!

I loved watching my oldest baby girl discovering and learning new things!

 

Noelle and Ava were so proud to see the dinosaur skeleton.  Noelle spent a lot of time studying it, imagining what it would look like to move with skin on… I think she freaked herself out at one point, lol.  Ava climbed up on this wall before the movie, and her grandfather, Vane, and I were taking pictures.  She was just taking a breather up there, lol.  Vane and I were partners today, and we had lots of fun with our girls!

No work getting done here today… relaxing on the job!

 

After an intense movie about the history of the earth and drilling, we got to see and do lots of experiments with drilling.

Then it was time for the Dino Dig, not an activity this diva was too crazy about after getting gritty sand in her shoes.

 

She was a good sport though and gave it a good try.  Cameron was thanking Noelle for helping out in this picture because she moved quite a bit of dirt from the bone he was working on before she was done.

Posing on a stone in the middle of the creek seemed like a lot more fun to this little model!

…and learning all about worms was a hit too!

 

She loved touching the worm but definitely agreed it was slimy, and then we got to play around with our shadows!

 

A sweet mom offered to take our picture together, and I’m glad she did, because I wouldn’t have even thought about that.  We were playing too hard!  But I did wear Noelle’s pants and a yellow necklace to make her proud… which, of course, she was so excited about!  Giant Lite Brites… so cool!

I figured out Mrs. Paula’s trick for her special prism pic… I’ll have it down next time… here’s the one Mrs. Paula took of Anna Kate right here in this exact spot last week:

Live and learn… and ask lots of questions!!!

Here’s Noelle on a bed of nails!!!

And then they’re gone!  She’s so brave… always wants to try new things… always raising her hand to give it a go!  So cool… I love that about her!

 

Here’s Noelle’s buddy Jacob enjoying the water experiment and racing cars!

 

While Jacob was busy racing, Noelle was at the grocery store!

 

…and Ava was in the ambulance being rushed to the hospital because she was having a baby!  News throughout the whole field trip had spread that Ava was having a baby!!!  Her mom is having her third little girl this fall, so that made it even more adorable!

 

Noelle and Carson chowing down on some chicken!  I’m surprised it didn’t knock out her tooth…

More posing with the vegetables…

 

More shopping…

Noelle’s second favorite part of the field trip was hanging out with this tarantula.  She loves bugs!  You cannot read her by the cover.  She’s a girly girl with the heart of a tom boy, for sure!

Fun little train after a super windy lunch!

Noelle and her friend Claire were having fun at the picnic.

 

Ava, Noelle, Jovi, and Emily were the last kiddos to leave… we were having too much fun!

Noelle took this picture of Vane and me at the end of the day.  Vane is Ava’s grandpa, and it was so great being his partner today.  We had a lot of fun enjoying the girls together!

This just happened, and of course I took a picture of these sweet girls relaxing in the sunshine!

Hope you enjoyed the highlights of our field trip!  It was incredible and so much fun!  And a HUGE thanks to Kay Kay and Grandpapa for playing with Anna Kate and Rose today!

Emily, Noelle and Georgia made Play-Doh cupcakes and ice cream cones after their field trip last week! 

 

Mrs. Paula has asked us to save all our bottle lids to bring to school, and has researched and gotten the kids really excited about bottle cap art!

 

A couple of weeks ago, the weather was awful and the kids had to stay inside for most of the week.  Mrs. Paula got creative and did junk art with all the kids, letting them create art with all her junk… the kids argued with her that it was not junk, but treasures!!!  All in the eye of the beholder!

The kids spotted a lizard (on a good weather day), and Mrs. Paula being the scientist that she is, let the kids catch it and play up close with this spiny friends.  Glad Anna Kate has Mrs. Paula to help out with this part of learning, lol!

 

More junk “treasure” art!

 

Mrs. Paula let’s the kids help grow the fruits and vegetables that they eat for lunch and snack time!  Right now the bean plants are growing (left), along with the plums (right)…

And the peaches too!  I’m telling you guys, I don’t know how Mrs. Paula does it.  Her life is all about teaching.  She IS a teacher… she doesn’t do it for any other reason than that is the way God made her.  She’s a continual learner and a continual teacher with leaps and bounds of energy beyond anyone I’ve ever met.  I LOVE having Anna Kate around such an energetic and happy person during school!

Yeah, I’m not going near that thing, but it was the first thing Anna Kate told me when she got home from school.  She loved catching the big lizard, so good for her!

Volcano time!

 

Another indoor day, Mrs. Paula got a huge box full of beans, and let the kids work on their fine motor skills!  The activities and imaginary play at her house are endless!

 

 

See how they are all sitting in the box!?!  I would have loved this as a four year old!  So cool… such a fun and easy idea too!

 

More bean experiments and Emily rummaging through the pile of “treasure!”

Mrs. Paula’s sweet assistant Mrs. Julie, is always smiling and loving on the kids, helping with lunches, and being available to kiss a scratched knee or give extra cuddles to someone having a bad day.  Her sweet spirit is contagious, and we love her very much too!

This is the kids’ lunch room!  Mrs. Paula only accepts 10 kids into her program at a time, so the kids get lots of attention.  Patriot, the class (and family) dog, doesn’t count in her numbers, lol!  Anna Kate’s classmates are all respectful and sweet children.  We have not had one cross word at school… not one little mean thing said, and for pre-k, that’s huge!  Mrs. Paula works very hard selecting a class that compliments each other.  Anna Kate is part of a team at school, and she definitely feels valued and part of something very special.  We have been blown away this year by such an awesome pre-k experience for Anna Kate.  She will definitely be here next year, starting pre-kindergarten curriculum with Mrs. Paula.  She is already leaps and bounds ahead of where I thought she would be at four, so next year will just be icing on the cake.  She’s reading easy words, and is counting up a storm, along with simple math.  She loves to listen to books I read to Noelle, and remembers facts that I don’t even remember (like the name of the elementary school a kid went to in one book, the name of a random bird in another).  Her brain amazes me, and the associations she is making are honestly sometimes beyond me.  She saw a tapestry in a magazine and told me Rara had the same one in her house on top of her stairs.  I had no clue.  Sure enough, the tapestry in the magazine was the same tapestry in Rara’s house at the top of her stairs, just like Anna Kate said.  I know all kids do these crazy cool things from time to time, but I just had to share a few of my thoughts on our special little girl and how her brain works.  We are so proud of all of our children beyond words, but in this moment, I’m celebrating Anna Kate, her wonderful teachers and school.

Noelle, Emily and Anna Kate had a blast at their elementary school carnival last weekend, especially with Radio Disney there to entertain!

 

Emily got picked to answer a question and won a cool poster… Lesleigh did a great job jump roping and Anna Kate couldn’t wait to say hi!

 

The two things the girls wanted to do were get their hair painted and run in the hamster ball, so that’s what we did!  It was lots of fun, and I don’t blame them.  I want a turn!

 

The big girls danced and danced at the Radio Disney booth and Anna Kate hung out with her buddy Caden.  They all wanted to wear their wings from the party, and that was a big hit! 

 

Jillian is one of Lesleigh’s friends, and Anna Kate is crazy about her too!  I got one quick pic of Emily and Noelle in the hamster ball before it collapsed!  

Out they come!

They did some video clips for Radio Disney to video… Anna Kate looks so cute in this picture.  Apparently, she didn’t want everyone to run!  I didn’t even notice she was unhappy until I saw this picture.  She’s so easy; go-with-the flow Cutie Kate.  And Noelle always has a blast participating in activities and trying her best to do a great job!  They had a blast at the Spring Fling this year!

 

Berkley (above) and Hudson had the cutest Pixies and Pirates party on Saturday.  Rose and Berkley are a month apart, and they are big buds.  Hudson just turned 1 (on Berkley’s second birthday week), so it was tons of fun celebrating both babies today!

 

Holly turned their dining room into Pixie Hollow with a big pirate ship in the middle where the kids sat to have cake!  It was amazing!  Here’s Malia and Noelle, so proud of their new fairy wings!

Here’s the 3-4 year olds of the bunch!  Julia, Anna Kate, Malia, and Christian are having so much fun growing up together!  It’s so cool!

 

Such cute décor and beautiful birthday cake (delicious too)!

 

 

Rose, Malia, and Berkley were having a super snuggly group hug, lol!

 

The fairy juice boxes were a huge hit with Anna Kate and Julia as were the gold fish with Rose, lol!

This is the cutest little sis/bro birthday cake pic I’ve ever seen… they were both so excited and just couldn’t wait… it was an adorable sight to see!

 

Anna Kate with Malia and Noelle with Emily… friends of the heart right here!  Love these kids and are so blessed my girls have friends that are as sweet and kind as these two. 

 

Rose goes crazy over cupcakes and desserts because parties and holidays are about the only times she gets them.  She was in sugar heaven right here and was showing off her icing!  I caught Noelle and Anna Kate just standing here hugging each other.  I think they were getting tired.  Noelle had been at the carnival already, and Anna Kate got to skip her nap today.  They did great, but I could tell they weren’t as energetic as usual!

 

Here’s another sweet picture of the fairies, and someone else found her wings as well!  Look how proud Rose is.  OMG!  This child is precious and sneaky and lovely and always up to something.  We would be lost without her!!!

I love this on guard fairy.  She may be a fairy, but if a pirate is needed, she can protect her crew!  This was one of my favorite pics of the day!  So perfectly Malia.  She’s AWESOME!!!

This was another favorite of the fairies flying away!  Today was so carefree!

  

Check out these happy girls… they couldn’t be any more precious and each one is so crazy cute!

 

This adorable little fairy wasn’t ready to go home yet!

 

Talk about a face that melts my heart… Anna Kate’s got it down!  Little did she know, we were off to finish out our tickets at spring fling at sissy’s school!  Here’s Mike and Rose telling us goodbye.  So, while we went to the end of the carnival, Rose got to take her nap, and Mike got to get some work done.  This was such a beautiful day!  We were so happy to be back into the swing of things.  We love being busy and enjoying our happy life, and are thankful most of the sickness has passed us by!

The highlight of our week last week was Noelle’s 1st grade musical entitled “Nuts!”  It was the cutest, most entertaining little sing-along kid’s show we’ve ever seen!  The kids had a blast and all week Noelle couldn’t wait until it was show time!  Here are some of Noelle’s friends, left to right: Emily, Ava, Noelle, Georgia, Emerson, and Claire

 

Jacob and Noelle were in the same class last year and this year and are fun little friends!  Jacob is like the class clown, and Noelle loves to laugh, so they get along great!  And here’s a little pic of the sister stair step, but they are all growing so fast, I know they won’t be stair-stepped forever!

Here’s Carson, Noelle and Ava after the play!  They were all so giddy and cute!

Before the play, we got to go to the library and check out their “art show!”  Noelle did a great job with her design, and I knew it was hers right when I saw it… full of life and color! 

 

Here is Lesleigh trying to keep the littles entertained before the show began!

Noelle’s house color is yellow.  Rose got this yellow jewelry from the Easter bunny in her Easter basket and was happy to let Noelle borrow it for her special night, lol!  It turned out super cute.  Wish I could say I planned it, but I just thought yellow would be a pretty color for Rose to have, and Noelle found it in Rose’s bow drawer and asked if she could wear it.  Perfect idea and taste, as always.  She was really disappointed they couldn’t get all dressed up for their program like they did last year, so she accessorized to make up for it… always designing and getting her fancy on.  I wish I could be more like her.  She’s so brave and bold… I love her style!  She’s helped me come out of my shell a lot.  We were in a store today, and she told me she liked a flowy sheer top that went off the shoulder on one side.  I told her I liked it too and she said, “Someday I’m going to make you a top just like that one.”  She’s always thinking like that.  Those comments really stick with me because I have never heard another 6 year old talk or dream like that.   

 

Oh, and these littles are just waiting for their turn up on that big stage!  They’ve already got personality plus!

Noelle is to the right of the microphone on the bottom row.  She was still in her ending pose because she saw me taking a picture. 

 

This is Mrs. Baker’s last year of teaching.  She’s been the music teacher for 14 years at Noelle’s school.  Noelle was dying to get her picture with Mrs. Baker and loves her very much.  After we congratulated Mrs. Baker, Noelle showed Anna Kate how it felt to be on the risers.  They were so happy and proud to be up there!

  

After a quick picture with Momma, we headed to Yogurt Zone for a treat!  This was such a fun night that comes once a year now.  I can’t wait for many more of the special nights to come!

Great job, Noelle!!!  We are always so proud of you!  You are happy, confident, graceful, energetic and sweet and anyone who was watching couldn’t miss that snaggletooth cutie on the front row shining brighter than her shirt!  Lots of love always, Mom and Dad