Princess Bella's Quinceañera

We went to a fabulous party tonight. Everything was simply perfect. Bella looked like a true princess. The food was phenomenal, especially the dessert table. We walked in right as she was descending down the stairway. Her father escorted her into the living room for their first dance. He then took off her tennis shoes and slipped on her "first" pair of high heels. After that, she was free to dance with whomever. There were lots of teenage girls dancing in a group and singing at the lop of their lungs.

Party Prep

We are all dolled up to go to a Quinceañera tonight. We're friends with a family that is half Scottish and half Brazilian. Their daughter turned 15 this week, so they are having a huge formal party. That called for extra beauty on our parts. I did the make up and hair for Lexi, Miriam and me. We also had fake eyelashes to put it over the top. They really looked beautiful. 

Selfie Kind of Day

Cinco Water

Summer is coming and Miriam's time with us is winding down. We had a busy day planned, but I realized that we need to squeeze in a trip to our neighborhood water park. Miriam should get to enjoy as much warm weather time as possible before heading back to Montana (where it is still snowing). We will also be traveling a lot this summer and will not spend as much time at the water park as usual.

I happened to get a great video of Lexi doing a flip off of the diving board. Her hair might have been the best part.

Miriam's Eighth Grade Dance

Miriam had her Eighth Grade Dance tonight, which is a big deal here in Texas. The theme was City Lights and it was amazing what they did to decorate the school.  The dance went from 7 - 10 pm and it looks like Miriam enjoyed every minute of it. The friends she has made this year are really going to miss her. 

 

Field Day

These two happened to wear the same shirt today. It isn't that uncommon since this is the 5th grade t-shirt for the year, but it is still picture-worthy. Their grade have field day yesterday and then they helped with field day for the 3rd and 4th graders. Today, they are running field day for the kindergarteners, 1st graders, and 2nd graders. These end of the year tasks are all about loving school because it is secretly fun.

I just got the photo below from Lexi's teacher showing her class studying owl bones. I guess they are actually working too.

Biz Town Field Trip

Lexi's teacher posted this photo of her at Biz Town. The 5th graders are on a field trip to a place where the kids run the town. A few weeks ago, Lexi had to be interviewed for a job (by professionals in the real community). She was selected to be the CEO of a real estate company. Some of the kids ran for public office like Mayor and had to be voted in. She spent the day working her tail off and didn't get to take breaks like some of the other kids. They had to pay bills on their businesses and work out problems. I guess it is like the real world.

Mother's Day with Grandma

We drove up to Montgomery yesterday to spend time with Grandma & Papa for the Mother's Day weekend. We went the their community pool in the afternoon. In the evening, they took us out to Red Lobster for dinner. We all ate too much, but it tasted great. This morning, we snapped a quick picture before heading to church with Grandma.

She had to give a talk in church. She started the talk off by saying she wasn't a perfect mother and she doesn't even know if she was a really great mother. Of course that got everyone's attention, but especially Lexi's. She also talked about her "Angel Mother" and "Rascal Father." She told everyone how much she misses her mother even after 26 years. Mostly, she talked about how her mother went on a proselyting mission to Wisconsin at the age of 71. She believes she is still doing missionary work in heaven. 

Treat Before Miriam's Game

Every Friday night, we go to the YMCA for Miriam's volleyball game. This evening, we stopped at Bahama Bucks for flavored shaved ice. Yum!

Whole Volleyball Team

The entire team showed up for practice, so it was a great time for a photo.

Girl's names (in order from left to right):
Krysta
Natalie
Valery
Annabeth
Megan
Maria
Lexi
Iyanna
Sonja

I am actually beginning to see that they might like practice more than the games. That usually isn't the case with sports, but we do have a lot of fun and sometimes I get the parents to play against them for the last 15 minutes or so.

Matching with Miriam

The girls happened to put on matching dresses today for church. I talked them out of changing so we could take photos. They wore the dresses to church and didn't mind at all. These two have gotten really close over the last few months. I thought they would fight a bit, but they really don't. They mostly laugh and act silly.

Love the Mystics 💙

Our team came up a little short today, but I really love these girls!

Moon Phases Costume

The 5th Grade had a science vocabulary parade today. They had to dress up as phrases. Lexi got Lunar Phases, so we painted this shirt. We enjoyed coming up with something that was sciency & cute. Lexi got the idea from Pinterest and my mom bought the materials. This morning, she realized it needed some pizazz and asked me to add the shoulder bows.

Masks

There are lots of big events coming up and these girls want to look their best.