Audree (1), Cerly (3), Brylee (5), Noelle (8), Anna Kate (5) and Rose (3)
Tanna and I bought the same Easter dresses for our girls this past spring, so we thought it would be fun to take a picture of our six matching girls all together. They had a blast dancing around the park!
Rose and Anna Kate had a blast at Mrs. Paula’s swim party! Rose even made her a bracelet to say thanks for having us! She wrapped it all by herself in a Valentine’s bag and was so excited to give it to her!
We have a new “step girl!” One’s talking and the other’s swimming… that’s about right!
Thumbs up, thumbs up!
I loaded all of these pictures from Noelle’s phone today. There were hundreds but these were a few that captured the magic of her experience seeing these iconic dresses in person. Fashion excites her. Fashion fascinates her. Fashion captivates her. It’s incredible she is so passionate about a particular subject matter at such a young age. She’s wanted to be a fashion designer since she was able to talk. It will be interesting to see how her love of this art plays out in her life. Welcome to the exhibit from the perspective of our 8 year old.
I always run anything semi-personal about Noelle by her before I publish to the blog. I sat her in my lap to show her this post, to ask if it was okay to publish. When I finished reading the above paragraph, she didn’t say a word, she just started crying. I quickly realized they were happy tears. When I asked her to tell me what she was thinking, all she said was, “That is so cool. Thank you so much!”
Noelle’s designs from kindergarten 2011
Noelle’s designs from 1st grade 2012
Rara and Noelle had a very special girl day in Dallas a few weekends ago. I’m still gathering up their super fun pictures!
First stop, “The Mermaid Bar” in Neiman’s at the mall, and then they window shopped all of their favorite stores!
Then, Rara took her to the “Oscar de la Renta: Five Decades of Style” exhibit at the George W. Bush library. This was the perfect choice for our little fashionista! She was in heaven! Mom said she was running from one dress to another, quickly reading their descriptions of who wore them when and where, and taking pictures of everything! Anne Hathaway wore the gold dress in the picture to the left, and Taylor Swift wore the peach dress Noelle is so excited about on the right. The peach one was Noelle’s very favorite dress! She said she loved how mature it looked while still sporting a huge girly bow on the back. That’s our girl!
Then off to explore the replica of the oval office. She had a blast sitting at President George W. Bush’s desk!
We are raising strong and smart girls, and that gives me hope and makes me proud.
Noelle was on Cloud 9 taking everything in that Rara had planned to show her. It was an awesome day she’ll always remember! Thank you, Rara. Last night, while I was laying in bed with my racing thoughts, Granny came to my mind (Rara’s mom). I remember everything so vividly and miss her with all of my heart. Tears were just falling to my pillow thinking back on all our tender times together, be it when I sat on her lap in her pink chair every time I came home from college to visit, or taking her to doctor’s appointments, she was such a light in my life, and you are that for your grandchildren. XOXO
Walking their “puppies!”
Great idea to follow crazy around! This fearless wild leader picture of Rose is the best!
From Mrs. Paula: Okay, these were pretty adorable too. :-) Several girls were playing with the chalk, and somehow Rose managed to get blue chalk, I mean, makeup, on her face, then tried rinsing off in the mister… not very successfully!
Mrs. Paula sent Mike and me an email with this picture straight away. On her blog, she said, “Kaleidoscopes and other viewers are always available to the children. I haven’t seen this exact way of using them before, but when she put these to her face, all I could hear was the Beatles singing ‘The girl with kaleidoscope eyes.’”
Bubbles after being misted down!
Love her! So thankful for MPP!
Baby boy love!
Daddy Banks headed to work. Rose was really scared, as she should be, ha!
Brayden, Noelle, Braxton, Anna Kate, Breland, Rose, and Brevin
Noelle always has a blast creating art! So happy she has this love in her life.
Here are some of my fav phone pics from the summer! Camp DCC was such a cool experience for Noelle and Ava!
Anna Kate has been my little sidekick this summer, and for the past 5 years really! Kindergarten hits me like a ton of bricks, and I’m stressing out. It’s just such an adjustment for all of us in so many ways. We’ve got 2 weeks left before school starts, and we’re soaking it up!
My friend Angela has three girls stair-stepped just above my girls. It’s beyond encouraging to watch them grow and get a sneak peek at what’s coming next. Angela is an awesome mom and inspires me so much! Her girls are equally as awesome!
Phone pic of our baby getting her rainbow ballet picture made, and Poppa surprised us for a super fun lunch and mall date back in June.
Noelle is such a great girl! She is truly so kind and wonderful.
Thumbs up lunch for Cutie Kate and pencil dangles by Noelle.
Summer storm from Mike’s office window. This summer has been awesome with mild temps and lots of rain in Texas!
Science camp and cheer pool party, some hits and some misses of summer, lol. Let’s just say science camp really wasn’t up her alley, but she was a great sport and finished strong.
Lots of playing office and store around here! These girls play pretend a lot more than Noelle did at their age. She was always busy coloring. Anna Kate loves to set up areas of creativity and act scenes out all in her head, but Rose will speak out loud complete conversations between characters. She’ll change her voice when it’s another character’s turn to talk. It’s really interesting. They are all so smart and so different!
Here are the girls passing out 4th of July buttons at the nursing home during Bingo. I just finished 10 years of service at our local pregnancy center as a client coordinator so that I could focus more on incorporating the girls in my love for helping others. They are little lights everywhere they go, and to see their confidence build as they brighten someone’s day… well, it’s simply amazing. This is definitely intimidating and out of my comfort zone (I’ve gotten really shy in some areas as an adult), but it was so worth it! Try it with your kiddos! Once I follow through with an idea of service, I am always glad I did and look forward to doing it again and again!
We’ve had too many sleepovers to count!
And lots of lunch dates at McAllister’s with this sweetie! Rose has really matured over the summer. It’s bittersweet.
My sweethearts enjoying a relaxing evening of Mexican food on the patio. Anna Kate’s very favorite thing right now is playing store (well, when we are home). She has this cupcake game where she can build all different types of cupcakes. This day, she opened up shop, and Noelle was her first customer. Here’s how it played out:
Anna Kate: Would you like a cupcake, ma’am?
Noelle: Sure, how much do they cost?
Anna Kate: One thousand dollars a piece.
Noelle (looks super confused)
Anna Kate: Ma’am, are you concerned about the price?
As one of my friends said, nothing says “America” like a parrot!?! Regardless, the girls loved him at the 4th of July parade!
Our neighborhood has outdoor movie nights under the stars that are so much fun! This night, Noelle came downstairs with this twisted braid she created all by herself. It equally surprised and impressed me. I just wouldn’t have thought she would be doing her own hair like this at age 8! It’s fun to watch her creativity blossom with lots of different mediums.
Susie sent me these pics from a play date Malia and Anna Kate had one day this summer. So sweet!
Noelle and I love dates at La Madeline! Just for fun, guess how much this super-sized Olaf costs?
$500! I wonder if it’s full of gold!?!
Audree, Katie, Cerly, Brylee, Anna Kate and Rose all smiles for their swim play date last weekend!
3 is such a fun age!
5 is the age where they feel so big but still look little for a tiny bit longer!
Happy August!
