Emily, Ava and Noelle all got meet and greet tickets to the Joshleen Tour as their big Christmas present this year! They were all in shock and beyond excited to meet their role models! It was a super fun girl’s night out!

This gives you an idea where the concert attire idea came from (and the faces in this picture)!

The girls had the best time ever at the concert/comedy show! Josh and Colleen build each other up and have sooooo much fun together! It’s so great watching. They are both great singers, dancers and comedians too! They put on a super entertaining show that kept us laughing, and also feeling all the feels!

The theme of the show was all about love and your “One True Pairing!” Each sub-section focused on how to have a successful relationship and making fun of girl/guy quirks in relationships that we all can laugh about. But at the end of the night, they seriously talked to the audience about being who you are meant to be first and foremost and then sharing that with someone else. Totally impressed with these two! They work harder and play harder than anyone I know, and that’s inspiring to have that perfect combination of both!

During one part of the show, Miranda Sings, Colleen’s YouTube character made an appearance. The girls were cracking up, as always. She’s so funny! I think the best part about her is that she truly doesn’t care what anyone thinks about her and enjoys being her silly self. That means a lot to kids these days.

It’s so awesome that the friends Noelle made all by herself in kindergarten lead to me making some of the best friends I’ve ever had. Thanks Noelle! You did good!!!

I love that you can see everyone in this picture! We all took turns taking pictures of each other with our girls, and we support and love each other so much, as you can see!

So the night went a tiny bit south when we realized the meet and greet portion was before the concert, rather than after, and we had missed it. Our ticket and confirmation email both said 7:00pm, so there was no way for us to know to arrive early. Afterward, we talked to their tour manager, and she was so empathetic and understanding. I knew her crew would be super awesome too! It was TicketMaster that messed up, but it really upset Colleen when she found out about it. She posted such a heart-felt vlog that explained how mad she was that her fans were disappointed and that the people they pay to handle this messed up.

To make a long story not any longer, her manager wrote down our Instagram and Twitter accounts and said Colleen might follow us, just to give the girls something to leave excited about. We also emailed her the above picture and asked her if she could show it to Colleen since we worked so hard on the outfits. And that was that. As we were driving home from the concert, my phone started blowing up! Not only did Colleen/Miranda follow both our Instagram and Twitter accounts, but she tweeted the picture we asked her manager to show her! The girls were going nuts! It was so exciting and really lifted all of our spirits! Her mom, @gwentrent even liked all of our posts! So sweet!

Then, after all the twitter excitement, she posted Emily’s fan art that she handed Colleen during the concert on Instagram. The girls were over the moon by this point. It was all screams and cheering in the car! The night went from soooo disappointing to absolutely thrilling for our little 9 year olds! We can’t wait to see Colleen and Josh to thank them in person for having such huge hearts and making our girls feel so special… maybe sooner than later!

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Here’s a video of all the social media love and Emily giving Colleen her fan art. It has over 18,000 views on my Instagram account. Crazy! Everyone loves Colleen and Josh!

  

Noelle, Anna Kate and Rose all at their 5th birthdays!

Noelle turns 5! 5/05/11

Anna Kate turns 5! 3/16/14

Rose turns 5! 2/11/16

Birthday girl, Noelle!

Birthday girl, Anna Kate!

Birthday girl, Rose!

  

Happy birthday to our sweethearts throughout the years!

 

 

Sisterly love!

 

  

  

Daddy and doll time, lol!

 

2014 and 2016

  

This was a fun tradition for our family that we’ve looked forward to and enjoyed for years! I’m sad that it’s over, but I’m glad that it happened! Ahh, life is passing so quickly before my very eyes, and I want to hold on to every minute of it! These are for sure the sweetest days I have ever known.

Rose had a great family birthday party this year at the American Girl Bistro! The pictures tell the story, and the girls had a blast celebrating together!

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy 5th birthday, Rose! You bring the best into every day and make our lives so fun and entertaining. You are gentle and kind, crazy and fierce! We are absolutely head over heels in love with you, baby blossom, and had so much fun celebrating you all month long!

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When I think of Anna Kate, I think of happy and tenderhearted. This is a little flip of just a few of my favorite memories with our now seven year old baby girl! I always think of her when I hear this song because she’s just so… all things good, and I can’t say enough sweet things about her. She tries her best and cares deeply about everyone around her, and I’m crazy proud and in love!

*I’m posting Rose’s birthday pictures tomorrow, and then I’ll move them back to February once I get caught up, if I do, lol! Anna Kate’s birthday pics will be up at some point! She had an awesome little birthday party ice skating this year!

 

Noelle dressed Rose up like Jasmine from head to toe, and I took these adorable pictures of our little firecracker! I can’t wait for each new day to see what this kid says and does. Her personality is so awesome! See for yourself!

 

  

 

She definitely keeps us entertained, and we adore our baby girl!

 

Fancy little love hearts ready for their date with Daddy!

 

Hair on fleek if I do say so myself!

 

Love love love the way Anna Kate’s hairstyle turned out. Noelle created the idea during her rock star make-over, and I just copied it for Anna Kate tonight, and she loved it!

  

Rose was super cute and happy to get to hang out at the big girls’ school for the dance!

  

 

 

I was sad that we lost our sun for these pictures, but I’ll treasure having these shots of the girls dancing with their daddy forever!

  

 

 

Mike mostly videoed the girls at the dance, but these were a couple of sweet still shots! Love these beautiful girls, and the awesome relationship they have with their seriously amazing Dad!

 

 

 

 

Noelle is full of such personality and joy! Our family could not function without her daily encouragement and cheerfulness. She got accepted into a girls’ leadership program at school, and it’s the neatest group! These are fun pictures of her wearing her “leadership attire.” They do all sorts of service projects and training sessions on what it means to be a true leader. Then they take what they learn and act it out in their school and community. It’s been an awesome experience for Noelle so far, and I’m so grateful she is getting to be a part of it! A true leader is one who serves, and Noelle does this so beautifully every day for our family. She truly is my leading lady!!!

 

 

  

 

Just the cutest Jessie ever walking her little pony!

 

Keepin’ my one month behind in check… I’m wondering if I’ll catch up or give up first, lol! Great Wolf Lodge 2016 was a blast!

 

We adore baby Hutson and had a blast celebrating him at his first birthday!

  

 

Anna Kate was finally ready to get her ears pierced. We pierced Noelle’s in first grade as well. Now Rose is begging to get hers pierced, and we’re thinking about it. The main hesitation is that I don’t have time to clean anything else right now, lol! Speaking of Rose, she made me this super appetizing play-doh breakfast one winter morning. So sweet!

 

Noelle loves eating her oatmeal with cranberries and strawberries, and Mike Pond is awesome! 

 

Yummy!

Noelle trying out a new way of waving her hair, as always. She has a lot of talent, especially for being only 9 years old! I would never have the patience to do this to my entire head of hair. She amazes me! For Rose’s 5th birthday present, she got an American Girl doll. She was super cute and excited to bring her baby home.

 

The girls were so excited to hang out with Kara! Here’s the neighborhood crew one day after early release. Who can spot the lizards???

 

Love these crazy kids!

 

Rose with her new baby, she named Emma, and Noelle dressed up as Bubbles from one of Rose’s favorite cartoons, Power Puff Girls. Rose acted like Noelle was famous and was asking her all kinds of questions about the show. It was so cute! Rose even wanted “Bubbles’” autograph.

 

Rose is still crazy about Rainbow Dash and all of the My Little Ponies! We spent much of January switching out our beds and updating our bedrooms. The girls had a blast at furniture stores and especially the ones with adjustable mattresses!

 

Noelle and I are always up to no good!

 

Noelle made this awesome snowflake for Uncle Jim! Rose has to do a different letter collage for “homework” each week at preschool. I thought this one turned out really cute!

 

More furniture shopping!

 

Rose had a blast at rodeo day, which she called, “cowgirl day” at school this winter! Here she is insisting a classmate needed a goodbye kiss from her pony at the end of the day, lol!

 

Lucy and Harper make the best preschool buddies!

 

Rose with her Twilight Sparkle. She wished for this pony from her birthday last year (Feb. 15) until she finally got her this Christmas. She never whined or complained that it wasn’t an instant gratification request and worked hard throughout the year earning her pony with roller skates piece by piece. I think that makes the girls appreciate what they have even more when they work hard to earn them and aren’t just handed things, and her hard work all paid off on Christmas morning!

 

Anna Kate was assigned the monarch butterfly for her 1st grade Texas Symbols project. Noelle was assigned the monarch too when she was in 1st grade! We did a symmetry art project this time so Anna Kate could see how both sides are exactly the same. After we outlined the right side of the butterfly, she squeezed the page together spreading out the paint and creating the left wing at the same time. She loved it and has been making lots of symmetry art this winter! A ladybug is an easy subject to start with if you want to give it a try with your kiddo!

Ava’s nebula/space 10th birthday party was out of this world! The girls had a blast making nebulas and getting their faces painted with glow-in the-dark face paint.

Such a creative party!

 

Looking forward to lots of purple lights and confetti in April!!! Any guesses who this singer is? Our baby boy is a mover and a shaker! He’s so so busy! This was my favorite picture taken from his 19 week sonogram.

Love this!

 

Anna Kate and I are finally on the last book in the Little House on the Prairie trilogy. The Ingalls family had to move across country because they accidentally settled in Indian Territory the first time. They traded most of what they had for land that already had a dugout existing on it. When Laura described it as a house built into the land with grass on top of the roof, we definitely had to look up a picture of what one looked like in real life. Love finding things that interest each child and spending time with them learning new things!

 

Barbie and Sleeping Beauty

 

Ariel and Flounder