Tie Die Fun!

Yes, I will admit, I am 37 years old and this is the first time I have every tie died shirts and it was so much fun!  Jonathan (who is somehow not pictured here) came over with his friend Ann and schooled us on tie die!  

 Liv is going to open her own Etsy shop.  Watch out - taking orders soon!

Volleyball Time

So, after trying our hat at tap, gymnastics, ballet, ice skating, gymnastics again, ballet again we decided to try something sporty.  I have to admit I was very excited that she chose volleyball.  I was never all that good at this sport but I always thought it was so much fun and loved playing.  

 Not sure how her legs got twisted.

 Loved watching her play!  Hope she will take after her Auntie Laura.  She was the best server I ever watched!

 And here is her crew.  They were a little bit like the bad news bears, but they had fun and were a great bunch of girls.

Surrounded by Love

This picture makes me happy for so many reasons but here are the top 5:

1. She has a great OT Pam!

2. She has a great ST Shontanise!

3. She has a great nanny Wendy!

4. And she's surrounded by lovely ladies that LOVE her!

5. She's smiling from ear to ear.

Welcome Chloe Bear Brooks

So in case you didn't get the memo, Grace (our dog) moved to El Paso.  Prior to that move, my older brother's dog was adopted by my mom and also moved to El Paso.  So to finish off this inter-family-dog-exchange-trifecta we adopted my nephew dog Chloe.  Jonathan is moving back to Dubai and we rushed at the chance to adopt his baby Chloe.  This is dog we were longing for all that time.  She can be playful when you want her to but mostly she's just the best cuddler EVER!  She just fits in with our family so well, we couldn't be happier.  Don't tell anyone, but I think we made out like bandits in this deal.

And this is an amazing perk - she sleeps in the girls room which makes bedtime so much better and so much less scary!  Not that Chloe would actually get up and defend anyone.  No offense Chloe but she's a lover not a fighter.

Wal-Mart

Ok. Just had the worst experience of my life. This is not for the faint of heart so stop reading if you can't handle it. This will also serve as reason number 534,765 that you don't go to Wal-mart. I'm in Wal-mart with the girls and Ray. Suddenly I feel something on my neck. I reach up to see what it is and there's nothing there. Oh, it must have been necklace or my hair, whatever. I carry on when Ray screams "Kristy!!! DONT MOVE!!!" I immediately know what it is and I am trying so hard to not move but all I want to do is yell and scream. Finally I feel a swat to my back, then another and then a roach the size of Texas comes running off my back. It had wings people. That's all. Discuss.

Movie Time

These are days to remember.  Sometimes it's just the ordinary things in life that become really special moment.  Like cuddling on the couch with your two best girls watching a movie on a Friday night.  

We Heart School

Another great school year is on it's way!  We've got some great teachers on our team and best of all the girls are so happy!  I love their love for learning!

Juliana's Birthday Party

So, for those of you that don't know, Juliana hates celebrating her birthday.  And I don't mean hate, I mean HATE.  Like to the point that she actually gets physically sick to her stomach.  And it's not crowds, or lots of people, it's more the having all attention on her.  She does not like being the center of attention.  It only took us 5 years or so to figure this out.  I think it was last year when we finally said, "Hey wait a second, Juliana has thrown up every single birthday. I think she hates her birthday." So this year I asked her what kind of party she wanted and she told me with her computer that she wanted none.  I offered a bowling party, a skating parting, a swim party, one of those froo froo fancy parties and it was NO, NO, NO, NO!  So I finally talked her into a SMALL froo froo party with only 7 friends (because get it, she's turning 7.  I thought it was clever)  So I tried my very best to honor her wishes and make this a small affair, but things might have gotten out of control and before I knew it we were at 18 kids, plus adults and we were having a pool party now (we invited too many boys to make it a froo froo party)  I talked to her in advance and admitted my mistake.  I told her I tried my very best, but fortunately she has that many people that love her and want to celebrate that she is 7 and we have to do the right thing and celebrate.  I told her if at any moment she needed a break, her and I could crawl back into my room and take a quiet break away from everyone.  She hesitantly agreed.

So these were the party favors - no we were not serving pina coladas to minors.  They were filled candy - scouts honor!

 The pool

 The sweets

And my girl 5 minutes before the festivities began.  Does she look happy or excited to you?  Roger took her back to get her swim suit on and all of a sudden the face got really pale and she started to gag! Oh No!  Please No!  Roger talked her through it and she was able to control it.  She pulled it together, swam awhile with the 28 guests (I know, I went a little overboard) managed to even smile a few times. Her teeth were grinding to the beat of the Happy Birthday song.  She managed a few bites of cake and ice cream and then it was time for some Mickey Mouse therapy.  She did it, she made it through a birthday party without getting sick!  Hooray!

 And Hooray to me, mother of the year, who did not take a single picture of the actual party.  I know, I'm an idiot. What's really amazing, what makes this story priceless to me is that my girl is learning to express herself and learning to deal with things that make her anxious.  When everyone had left, Roger was feeding her and completely on her own, with her PODD on Tobii, she said "Today, bad, I don't like it"  Sorry friend, don't take offense if you were here.  It's not that she doesn't love you, she LOVES you!  It's just hard for her to be in the spot light.  Then later when I was putting her to bed we had this conversation:
Me: So did you have an ok kind of day?
J: Yes
Me: So did you like your birthday party just a little bit?
J: No
Me: Well, do you understand why we had to have this party for you?
J: Yes

She gets it.  She gets that so many people love her and want to be a part of celebrating her day with her.  She also knows now that she CAN do this.  Who knows, maybe next year she might even enjoy it a little.

This was just a cute shot of our cutie niece Isabella.  Love this little girl so much.

here we are, one day later, after all the guests had left and it was just us again, opening her gifts.

Happy 7th Birthday Juliana

I absolutely cannot believe my little peanut is turning 7!  She has blessed our lives more than I could have ever imagined.  Daddy found her the perfect birthday card which I would like to share.  I really loved this message for my special young lady:

Daughter

You are the author of your own life.

It's up to you to dream it, imagine it, sketch it, shape it, build it,

go after it and make it happen.

And then color it in with bright shining shades of joy

and deep lasting shades of meaning that are yours and yours alone.

No one else can know the dreams you dream

or the strengths you have within you 

that will help you make your dreams come true.

No one else needs to, because they're yours.

And so today, Happy Birthday

Juliana,

You are an amazing young lady and you are wise and strong beyond what we will ever know.

We couldn't be prouder of you.  You work so hard every single day and inspire us all to do the same.

We know you will go on to do incredible things in your life, you already have done so much. 

We know all your dreams will come true.  We love you to the moon and back!

Love Mommy & Daddy & Olivia 

And yes, this is a card she got on her birthday from Chili's in Irving.  Because yes, the rock and because Juliana is their number 1 fan.  Thanks Chili's

Bye Bye Gracie AKA DizGrace

So, as if our life was not ridiculously crazy enough, the Brooks' decided to adopt this adorable sweet little puppy. 

 What we didn't know, was that this was no adorable sweet puppy.

 She was a beast.

 A beast capable of destroying anything in the house, including all the baseboards.

 A beast capable of digging to China from our backyard.

 A beast with razor sharp baby teeth capable of cutting through flesh like a hot knife through butter.

 So we started trying to imagine what life would be like. . . . . .

 with a hole in the backyard to China, no baseboards and torn skin. . . . . . . . .

 I mean we could never just get rid of her. . . . . .

But then, all of a sudden, Auntie Laura and Uncle Gary came to visit.  And Auntie Laura happened to mention how they might be looking for another dog to keep their dog Sophie company. . .  And LIGHT BULB!  You know what I'm cooking!  Thank you Jesus (and Laura and Gary) for adopting our little monster, I mean sweet angel.  We feel great knowing she will be with family:)

Early Birthday Celebration with the Fam

Yes!  It's birthday time!  This weekend Omi, Opi, Auntie Laura, Uncle Gary, Aunt Teresa and Dylan came to town to celebrate an early birthday with Juliana.  The El Paso crew arrived on Saturday and we met them for dinner at Aspen Creek.  I had to take a picture of her Tobii/PODD page because she was so excited to be with her Auntie Laura that she - All by herself - navigated through several pages to get to this one. She continued to tell Auntie Laura "Birthday, present, happy, party, new"  I love to hear her voice

 Then the next night we had cake and gifts.

 This was a clever gift from Dylan and Aunt Teresa.  She had to have Liv help her pull it out!

 How fun is this!  Hope she has as much fun spending that money!

 Cake time!

 And this might have been one of her favorite gifts.  It was actually Auntie Laura's bracelet which she gave to Juliana because she told her that the happy face reminds her of her happy smile.  Juliana has been wearing it to school every day with pride.