September 18 - Flair-Mingoed

We came home a few weeks ago and discovered we were "Flair-Mingoed" by the Clear Lake HS Fabulous Flairs (Reese specifically). There were adorable flamingos in the yard, all decorated individually by the dancers. Jillian thought it was the coolest thing ever and cemented her belief that she's "a real Flair!" 

Last weekend, Jillian participated in her third Flairs clinic with Adelyn and Ella (Girl Scout friends) and had an absolute blast. Reese and Hannah (Julia's GS Flair friends) both worked with the 2nd graders and it was so fun to see them all dancing their hearts out.  In a few weeks, Jillian will dance on the field at a HS football game with the Flairs. She is so excited!

Ella, Jillian & Adelyn

Jillian and Reese

Jillian and Hannah

Flair-Mingoed!

September 14 - First Sleepover Party

Last night was Jillian's birthday party. Her first ever SLEEPOVER party!! Thirteen girls were invited. All of them came but eight total spent the night including Jillian (first slumber party for all of them) and the rest were picked up at 9pm. The party started at 6pm and we had pizza and cake, opened presents, had a dance party (the girls all wrote down their favorite song and that was our playlist) and they spent a lot of time running around the house, chasing each other, screaming. After the first first group of girls left at 9pm, the rest changed into their pj's and we set up air mattresses downstairs. After the requisite "jumping on the air mattresses like a bunch of little monkeys", the girls watched Rio 2, ate an evening snack, brushed their teeth and then went to bed. When I say "went to bed" I mean they stayed up and talked and giggled until everyone fell asleep around 1.30am. In case you were wondering, no, they did not sleep in and were in fact up at 5.30am! I made them cinnamon buns for breakfast and we had another dance party starting around 6.30am. What an adventure!! Happy birthday Jillian!!  

Party time!

Love these girls!

This is my favorite picture. Jacqui, the little girl on the left, was deathly afraid of dogs just a week ago. She is in our GS troop and came over for a meeting, she was shaking like a leaf and crying. Bella and Apollo worked their retriever magic and she is now good with dogs. In fact, Bella slept with Jacqui and Guinevere all night!!

The dogs were in heaven with all the attention

Happy Birthday Jillian, we love you!!

September 13 - Family Zoo Day

This past weekend, Houston experienced a beautiful "autumn type" morning with temperatures in the low to mid 80s. Blissful! We did a family day at the zoo and it was so fun. In all the years that we have been there, we've never seen the tiger active and this time, he was walking up and down his area non-stop. So cool. The gorillas, which are also usually hard to spot, were playing a game of tag together. Simply incredible to watch. 

September 11 - The Great Eight!

Age: 8

Grade: 2

Favorite Class: GT

Current Style: she LOVES bellbottom jeans!

Current Activities: Girl Scouts, Spirit Squad (at NPE), Maker Space Club (at NPE), Fencing

Current Interests: Roblox, Lilo & Stitch, Garfield, rollerblading, snuggling with Bella & Louie 

Favorite Food: pizza, cheese nachos

Best Friends: Adelyn, Leeya, Scarlett

Dream Job: An Amazing Artist

Place you really want to travel: Colorado

Fun Facts: Jillian, you are such a little firecracker. First grade was fabulous and so far, you are loving 2nd grade. You did your first overnight camp last year and loved it. You have a zest for life and like to push boundaries, you definitely keep us on our toes (on our way to GS camp, you tried to convince me that you needed a belly button piercing!). You love your sister, and while you and Luke push each others buttons at every opportunity, I know you love each other. You love all of our animals and are such a great human big sister to all of them. You love to go into my closet to try on my clothes and especially my high heeled shoes (you love to remind me that I have "munchkin feet."). You are super tall!! You are also spoiled rotten and currently get a massage every night and want to fall asleep with me, a bad habit (bad habit from my point of view, it's great from yours!) that we need to break. You don't like to get up for school in the morning but once you are up, you are a little chatterbox. 

We love you Jillian!!

August 25 - Crumble the Cuddle Bug

The kids are back in school and guess who has become my little shadow and cuddle bug? Crumble! When I take a shower-he lays outside the door. When I brush my teeth, he wants me to pet him at the same time. Laundry? Right next to me. On my computer? He's trying to lay on it. Reading at night? He's on the bed with Apollo and Bella. Middle of the night? He's curled up on my legs snoozing away.  

Mom, I'll be your laundry helper

Living the life

a

August 21 - Back to School

And just like that, another school year is in session. 

Julia: Junior! She is taking a full load of AP classes it's going to be a busy year. Pre-Calc, English Lit, Computer Science, Psychology, Environmental Science, Econ & Government. Wowsa! She's also swimming and studying for the SAT/ACT. She gave me a list of prospective colleges so once we have the swim and robotics schedules, we will schedule some official visits. 

Luke: 8th grade! He is taking HS honors algebra and biology and is trumpet first chair in the symphonic band (which means he's the best trumpet player at the school). He is also signed up to be an aide for the beginner band so he will be going to A LOT of concerts this year. He is also the lead programmer for WIRED robotics this year, I think that starts next week. 

Jillian: 2nd grade! She has 2 teacher this year, Ms. Kramer (science and math) and Ms. Ugalde (reading and writing). I am room mom again and can't wait to do all the fun activities with her and her class. She is doing fencing classes once a week and might try out for HEAT and beginner cheer/gymnastics. She's going to have a great year!

Fencing

Getting school ready: haircuts and mani/pedi's!

New classroom reading nook

Luke and Riley squeezed in a Kemah trip before school started

August 20 - Sweet 16

Birthday dinner

Age: 16
Grade: 11

Favorite Class: you only had 3 days of school before your birthday; too early to tell!

Least Favorite Class: Computer Science (because you have on friends in the class); very upset that you don't have lunch with your friends this year

Current Activities: Clear Lake Swim team, HydroElite swimming, Girl Scouts, Girl Scout mentor to Jillian's troop; ChrisCo Co-Fundraising Chair

Current Style: girly!

Licensed to drive!

Current Interests: hair, makeup, shopping, music, binge watching shows on Netflix (no change from the last 2 years)

Favorite Foods: spaghetti and meatballs, dumplings, cheesecake (not quite a food but you LOVE parmesan cheese)

Best Friends: Mia, Ava, Madi, Gabi, Kendall, Imina, Myah

Dream College: somewhere warm with football and big school spirit

Dream Job: unknown

Place you really want to travel: Japan, Jamaica

Julia & Kendall - friends since kinder

Fun Facts: What a year! You had a great swim season, achieving almost all of your goals (made the A final in the 50F and finally broke 56 in the 100F). Best of all, you are so close with your swim family, making so many memories with Mia, Ava, Myah, Avery, Imina and Mariam. Academically speaking, you survived 3 AP classes and finished the year with almost straight A's (darn physics). Super proud! You joined ChrisCo, the winter formal planning committee and are currently the co-fundraising chair with Kendall. You guys are busting it trying to raise money for the upcoming dance at the San Luis and have been going to businesses trying to secure donations. So proud of both of you! You guys are also mentoring Jillian's Girl Scout and have lead Daisy events over the last year. You have finally started reading (a little LOL) and just chopped 6" off your hair. We celebrated your birthday this year with dinner at Villa Capri, complete with a photoshoot on the water and the owner singing happy birthday to you (yes, you were incredibly embarrassed). Oh, and how can I forget? You got your DL yesterday! Congrats!

August 12 - Galveston Beach

Ava, Becca, Julia

After our Florida beach vacation and Dallas trip, it was time to chill at home. Just kidding! Julia and I immediately headed to Galveston for three nights to celebrate Ava's 16th birthday. Amy (Ava's mom) has a close friend with a beautiful beach house that is a block from the beach. It was so fun! Ava, Julia and Becca (Ava's cousin from Kansas City) had a blast, while I hung out with Amy. We watched the Olympics, played cards and of course, went to the beach. On Tuesday, we did a 'family day' at the beach so I drove home and picked up Jillian. She played with Becca's 8 year old sister, Millie, and they had so much fun. The Galveston sun is FIERCE though and even though we didn't stay at the beach for too long any specific day, I was friend. I am still peeling! It was a great time though and I'm so glad we were able to go and celebrate Ava. 

Galveston Memories

August 2 - American Long Course Championship

After a fantastic beach vacation, we had one day at home to pick up the dogs from boarding, get a few groceries, do a load of laundry, and then we were off again! The girls and I headed to Dallas for the American Long Course Championship. This is the biggest USA swim meet Julia has qualified for (2nd year in a row). Julia had limited practice leading up to the meet due to the hurricane and vacation but she did okay all things considered. 

On Friday, Julia swam the 100FL and 200BR. After prelims, we went to SMU (Southern Methodist University) to check out the campus as our hotel was only 20min away. We walked around for 45min and it was really pretty. They have a residential college system there, which means as a freshman, you are assigned a "RS" that has it's own traditions, colors, crests, etc and you are part of that RS for all four years (think: Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff). We got a kick looking at the crests around campus! 

Next up, we had lunch close to campus, relaxed at the hotel for a little while and then headed back for finals. The next day, Julia swam in the morning and didn't make finals, so we headed back home. Overall, a great girls trip!