Noelle has the sweetest friends in the whole wide world, and they have such a blast together!  Happy birthday, awesome Ava!

 

 

 

 

We absolutely loved watching Anna Kate at her first school play earlier this month.  She did such a great job, and they were all so cute!

 

 

I forgot to post these super sweet pictures of Rosey Posey!

 

Two of the reasons the Ziemkes came were to help cure the winter blues we’ve been having and to teach Noelle how to ride a bike!  We are not the least bit shy to say Noelle hadn’t learned to ride a bike until this point.  We knew she could do it, but she wouldn’t even try because she was absolutely terrified at the thought of falling.  If something fun stresses a kid out, to us, it ruins the experience and simply isn’t worth it.  So, we waited until she was mentally ready to face this challenge.  It took all of about 20 minutes using the Ziemke belt method, and she was officially riding her bike solo! 

 

  

 

 

And she’s off!  Isn’t life such a ride!?!  Go Noelle! 

The Ziemke family came to Texas to hang out with us two weeks ago tonight.  It sure was time for a visit, and we had a blast!

Mike set up a group text for all of us called #partyintexasyall.  This was our first group picture, and throughout our vacation together, everyone texted pictures and comments back and forth.  That was such a great idea and sooooo much fun! 

 

One afternoon, we went to the Stockyards to do the Texas thing up!  Everyone had a good time walking around and hanging out!

 

There was a cowboy skit in the middle of the train station that was entertaining.  Rose wasn’t sure what to think of the fake guns going off and grown men pretend fighting!

 

When it rains in Texas, it pours!

Sweetheart picture!

The girls looooved spending time with Clarissa!

 

 

 

We’ve heard a lot about Sweet Sammies, so we had to try it out.  I think it was a dud, but it looks good anyway. 

Our long weekend went by so fast!  Here we are about to head to the airport after we ate at our favorite hamburger joint.

 

I remember holding this kid when he was a baby; I was in the 9th grade!  Love them all sooo much! 

Clarissa and I had fun trying out some fun hairstyles one night, and the kids loved jumping on the trampoline! 

 

Cayden rescued me from my pile of crepe paper I was trying (unsuccessfully) to turn into fun streamers for Rose’s party next week.  He figured out the sewing machine in less than 10 minutes!  I was so impressed as he was threading and working the machine all by himself after I showed him one time!  The rest of our nights together were filled with late night games and lots of laughs!

 

The Ziemkes brought us edible crickets for fun.  Noelle was the only one brave enough to try one.  She just put it right in her mouth, chewed, swallowed and gulped some water, just like that.  She’s such a brave little girl!  Clarissa picked Noelle’s room to call home for the weekend—I always pick hers when I go to Cali!  

 

The gang got barbecue one night while Cindy and I went to take pics at Ava’s spa slumber party.  They were adorable and so silly and fun to watch!

 

Rose and Corbin are our cute little family babies in the bunch!  The Ziemkes brought us such a fun party light (not sure what it’s called) that we will enjoy from here on out!  Thanks, Ziemkes!

 

 

More scenes from the stockyards.

Fist pump for the best weekend ever!  Miss you guys already!  xo

So proud of the big girls’ Reflections projects this year!  The theme was: The World Would be a Better Place if…

Katie, Rose and Cerly had too much fun having a winter play date in their pjs! 

 

 

After donuts, play time, waffles and stories, the girls gave one last hug before we said goodbye!  Little girls are so much fun!

  

This face!  Rose doesn’t want me to style her hair very often, so when she insisted on a bun for dance class, I was so happy to oblige!  She is such a hot mess! 

Jaalisa had her girlfriends with girls over for a little tea party, and it was the most special brunch you could imagine.  She taught the girls how to prepare their own tea and advice on proper etiquette.  Jada, Noelle, Jordan and Anna Kate were in for a treat!

Jaalisa made everything you see on this table from scratch, and I promise you, each dish was the best in its class.  She’s the real-life Tiana; A princess in every way!

 

I love Anna Kate’s honey face, and Jaalisa helping her figure the rest out!

Such anticipation!

   

Aren’t they adorable! 

The Banks boys came to check in on us at the end of tea time, just to make sure we had everything we needed.  We adore you, Jaalisa!  Praying your fifth one is a girl, but if not, you can borrow us any time you need some girl time.