We got donuts one day (we maybe get donuts twice a year now), and this was on our bags: “It’s all good!”  If only donuts made me feel as good as they taste!  Cracked me up though… as if they knew you’d have buyer’s remorse, they had to add a little extra encouragement on the bag: “It’s all good!”  Made a Monday a whole lot more fun a few weeks ago!

My baby is growing up! 

 

Rose drew her first monster with her shoes on backwards.  Maybe that gave her her inspiration!

Anna Kate’s awesome class this year!

Susie always sends me the sweetest pictures of Anna Kate and Malia at lunch!

 

My working girl!

Rose and I have enjoyed some one-on-one time this year.  We’ve never had it before!  She loves story time, and I enjoy watching her listen and learn!

 

If we have an errand near the mall, Rose knows she’s going to get to ride her favorite: the “carou-shelf!”  The carousel and my little pony are two of her favorite things right now!

 

What a goof!  She was totally joking with me and not sad at all.  She is seriously such a ham/mess/you name it!

Noelle’s cheerleading squad was lucky enough to get some awesome coaches for the second half of our season.  We are so thankful to them for their service to our girls! 

This was one of my favorite lunches this fall.  The family met up at Gloria’s, and this young lady was having a birthday.  Noelle begged to give her a dollar for the stack she was wearing on her shirt, and we snapped a picture.  Love when out and about, we can all be a part of each others’ stories and have fun together!  Life is too short.  Try not to stay to yourself in your little bubble in your little family in your little world.  We’re all in this together, and you never know what a quick smile or high five will do to lift someone up!

 

Cutie Kate with our family cheerleader, Mrs. Eubanks!  Love you, girlfriend and the way you love our girls!

www.greatkidssnacks.com We subscribed to Great Kids Snacks last month to try it out because I was struggling to find healthy snacks for our girls for after school snacks.  We loved trying things we would’ve never tried before and can’t wait for our next box.  It is very reasonably priced and healthy.  The things the girls don’t like, I will gladly eat.  I think we hit on something great!

 

So be it!  Let’s go face the world and be brave, people!

 

Fall teacher gifts just for a little pick-me-up fun!  Occasionally, I will take a few #selfies if I feel like it.  Today, I was like, “BOOO!”

  

Rose loves when we have a make-up errand!  All the girls up there love to help her experiment… it’s super cute!

 

These two pics are semi-unrelated, but Mike and Jon definitely do their own thing!  Jon has started a tradition of decorating, for lack of a better word, Mike at the office each year for his birthday… that’s what best friends are for, right!?!

 

Anna Kate and Malia and Rose with Braxton at school.  And Rose’s shoes are backwards again. 

 

Anna Kate had a blast at Katy Perry, and this is a throwback picture of Noelle at her first concert, Taylor Swift.

Mike had an awesome birthday this year and got to hang out with his best friends too! 

 

Blackfish is a documentary with mixed reviews.  If I’m following my heart and my gut feeling, I agree SeaWorld is not a good place for Orcas.  I’m sad we ever went there as a family.  Granted, it’s amazing to see killer whales up close and in person, but at what expense?  Watch the documentary and come to your own conclusion.  Some parts may be exaggerated but at least it’s another perspective to consider.  And you can’t deny the science behind a lot of it. 

 

Noelle made up this awesome hairstyle!  We named it the dutch braided high cheer pony.  Noelle loves to cook!  She is great in the kitchen, and it’s a fun activity she and Mike do together (I assist too but it’s just not my thing, and I’ve finally gotten to a place where I’m okay with that.  Traditional gender roles make no sense for our family.  We delegate our tasks based on our skills and abilities, not our gender, which makes much more sense to us.)

 

I still can’t believe we have two girls in elementary school this year!  Noelle and Anna Kate had a blast at the Fun Run this year!  Here is Anna Kate with her sweet friend, Cori, and Noelle running her little heart out!

In loving memory of Oscar de la Renta (July 22, 1932-October 20, 2014) by Noelle Pond, Age 8.

 

 

Noelle is getting bigger every day.  I love it, and it makes me sad all at the same time.  Time isn’t slowing down, but we’re so incredibly proud of Noelle!  She is a hard worker, and her heart is good through and through.  I have never met a kinder, sweeter soul in all my life. 

Can’t beat a “B” is for bubbles afternoon at Mrs. Paula’s!

Making bread with butter while studying the letter “B!”

They look like little birdies!  Aww!

Snack time gets a thumbs up from these guys!

 

Mrs. Paula’s youngest son, Tanner, had a music lesson with the kids and played his base for them; They loved that!   

 

Everyone in class had a bee that looked very similar to Will’s (left picture).  Rose’s bee was unique (right bee)!    Love that she marches to her own beat!

 

“C” is for caterpillar and cars!

 

“B” is for buttons (and sorting and a million other productive things) and “C” is for cooking and cookies!

 

 

When it rains, Mrs. Paula loves to let the kids go puddle jumping!  She wants them to experience nature and life with all their senses, and it couldn’t be more perfect for our preschooler!

 

Will and Rose are definitely two peas in a pod.  They are together in almost every picture Mrs. Paula takes!  Funny thing is, we live 25 minutes away from Mrs. Paula’s school, and Will lives in our neighborhood!  I am friend’s with his mommy, but he and Rose didn’t meet until school.  And the rest is history…

 

Yummy “C” shaped cookies for snack time.

Two words: Drama Queen.

Petting patriot the puppy on puddle jumping day, wait, this was the “C” day!  Mrs. Paula moves fast!  You better keep up!

 

Art all day every day at pre-k!

No words.

 

Their fearless leader.

 

 

One day, Mrs. Paula said the kids gathered every single toy up and put them in the play land so they could pretend to be garbage collectors.  See how they’re holding on to the back of the garbage truck with the handles?

 

What an awesome zoo day!  Can’t thank Mrs. Paula and Mrs. Julie enough for sharing these days with our baby!

 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

Back to school and more creative fun!

 

 

Some of my most treasured pieces of art! 

 

Beginnings are scary, endings are sad… but it’s the middle that counts the most!  (Hope Floats)

Hope you have enjoyed our middle with Mrs. Paula!

…scratching their heads, giving her their undivided attention!  Best pictures ever!  Thank you, Mrs. Paula.  These are too good!

 

We were beyond ready for the show to start!

First up, “Roar!” which exceeded Cutie Kate’s expectations.  I loved the way she looked at me every few seconds like, “Can you believe this is real life!?!”  We were in heaven!

 

The Egyptian set, which included “Dark Horse,” cool costumes, and lots of acrobats!

Kitty Purry as Katy Perry.  There were tons and tons of cat-themed things all throughout the concert.  Anna Kate loved that!

Milk bucket challenge… so silly and fun!

My favorite, the acoustic set, with songs including, “By the Grace of God” “The One that Got Away” and “Unconditionally.”

Lol!  I saw a picture of the floating blow-ups from one of her concerts last spring and knew this concert would just be too much fun!  Anna Kate and I love silly humor, so we were both cracking up!

 

Then, she had a little girl come on stage for a bit, and she gave her a pizza to share with the audience around her.  Anna Kate was so into everything!  Of course, Katy made a big deal about wearing a cowgirl hat and being in Texas, which made us proud, lol!

“Birthday” and the only big balloons the song is talking about, right!?!

Fun hyper neon finale!

Time for prisms everywhere!  The encore song was Anna Kate’s first favorite song ever, “Firework” which came out when she was one year old.  I remember her dancing her little heart out to it on July 4th when she was two years old.  That’s when I knew someday we would come to a concert together. 

There were real fireworks and long solid strobe lights and blinking lights climbing up and down strings like spider webs all over the arena.  With the 3D glasses on, it was just too cool! I don’t know how you could top this! 

Such an awesome first concert date for our Cutie Kate!

 

 

After a crazy night of driving directly after a storm hit that knocked out power, trees and fences, we finally made it to the Katy Perry concert (after 3 1/2 hours in the car).  Good thing we left right after school, and Mike detoured us off the highways 3 different times, or we would not have made it (and the first song of the concert was Anna Kate’s favorite, “Roar,” so we had to get there!).  We wanted to people watch; That’s why we left so early for the concert.  We didn’t get to meet as many fans as we had hoped, but the ones we met were awesome, fun, confident, happy, energetic, and alive!    

 

  

 

Anna Kate and I had the best date ever last week to her very first concert!  Any guesses who we saw?

Noelle, Ava, Kennedy, Carson, Samantha and Emily having fun at the football game!

 

I love watching Noelle cheer because she has so much fun!  I caught this super sweet moment of Noelle and Emily during their break.  So sweet!

 

Poppa and Rara finally got to come to a game!  We were so happy to have them there!  Rose just had to wear her “rainbow dress,” and she loved every minute she had it on!  I love that kid.  Ava, Madeline and Noelle are so lucky to be cheer friends and school friends too!  They are sweeties!

 

Poppa and Rose and the plastic bag that couldn’t be put down, lol!

 

Noelle and Emily livin’ it up!