Layla is a teenager

We were at the Gaylord when Layla woke up on her birthday, so we did things alittle different this year!  She got a huge cookie and her favorite Vanilla Bean Frappuccino from Starbucks.  I think she was just as happy as every other birthday morning!

I still can't believe she is offically a teenager!

We got her the fun 13 balloons in gold.  I knew she'd have a fun time taking tons of pictures with them.

UNTIL the number 3 came off the string and floated AWAY!!  So sad y'all!

You can barely see it floating up high in the sky.

And then she was 1! heeheehee!

We went back to our neighborhood H_E_B and they gave her another free of charge.  How sweet are they?  That's wonderful customer service.  So the photo shoots continue.....

She tried so hard to get one with both puppies, but they are just too crazy!

Happy birthday to you Layla!  We love you!

She's made the team!!

We are beyond proud of Layla!  She has been working so hard and that hard work payed off!!

She was in twice a week gymnastics for months to learn to tumble.  Tumbling is a huge part of cheer!  It's isn't like the old days when I was a cheerleader.  She set her mind to it though and rocked the tryouts.

Every day after school this week they had practice.  When she got home she worked and worked until her feet hurt.  I felt so proud to see her working so hard, but also felt sorry for her when her legs just wouldn't move another second.

She made the MMS cheer team and we are thrilled for her.  She is proud of herself too!

Go go G-O!

Layla is loving her Monday nights as of late. She’s in the 7th grade pep squad. 

It’s so fun to watch her do her thang. 

She’s spunky and loud and cheering is a perfect fit for her personality. 

This girl is 11!!

Layla turned 11 yesterday on July 11th.  It was a fun day doing all things Layla.

She (like me) has been celebrating her day for a week so far!

She chose cookie cake for her birthday cake this year!

She is just growing into such a smart little lady.  She loves to play guitar.  Every time she walks by the piano she plays a couple of songs.  She doesn't realize it, but she's constantly singing, especially in the shower.  She's still as loving as ever with animals and she's pretty loving towards her brother too.  They have their moments of fighting, but mostly they are buddies.

Her legs are getting so long!

Yesterday for her birthday we went to see The Secret Life of Pets.  It was so cute.  We all enjoyed it!

7-11 continued their free slurpee on 7-11 tradition, so we joined in on that fun.  She got a birthday cake flavored slurpee and it was pretty tasty!  After the movie and slurpee we came home to swim and then she chose Chic-fil-A for dinner.  It was a fun day and that is exactly what I want for the kids birthday days.  I love celebrating them!

doin' a little pickin'

I am super duper proud of Layla and her sudden love for guitar.  She has a six week music class at school and they are learning to play.  She is loving it and yesterday she rushed into the house after school to play me a clip of this song!

She also has a very important decision to make between now and Monday.  She's had a few weeks to decide her elective next year for 6th grade.  She can pick art, choir, orchestra or band.  Last week she was leaning towards band and playing the flute, but now she is leaning towards choir.  She's hoping to also take private guitar lessons too.  I'm thrilled for her to have so many cool music choices.

    Gary has wanted to learn to play guitar for years and she is teaching him a few things here and there!  It's cute to see them learning together.  

I'm so bummed I can't get the video to work. Grrrrr!  

bubbles on her feet & toes

Layla decided she needed a pedicure this afternoon.  We painted nails and toenails and she soaked her feet.  I'm assuming you aren't supposed to put soap in the foot bath!  LOL!  Lily was eating the bubbles and Layla was so funny.  She was throwing them all around the room.  Bubbles are awesome!  And so are fresh painted nails!  :-)

La La Layla

I think this is her serious face.  Gosh her eyes are gorgeous.  She's one pretty little chica! 

 I hope I can be as cool as her someday.

A few weeks ago Layla and I were swinging together and we broke the swing dad created.  Thankfully he fixed it again and she's back to swinging and decided to do a little stand up swinging.  She gets a wild streak every once in awhile, but she's a pretty conservative girl. 

It's safe to say Layla loves 4th grade.  They are switching classes and she has 4 different teachers.  It's a bit different than third grade and she's learning to be more independent.  Last year she was elected to be a peer mediator.  She gets to go to recess with younger kids and listen to their problems and she helps solve drama that may arise on the playground.  She's loving it so far!

She got a fresh haircut and loved her spa time.  She loved having her hair washed and styled.  I just can't believe she is getting to be such a grown up little lady.  People fail to mention when you have babies that they grown up. Gahhhhhh!

I love this last picture of my girl.  It reminds me of when she was a baby.  She's such a sweet girl and I am so proud of her.  She has at least an hour or more of homework each afternoon and she is taking it all in stride.  She doesn't complain one bit.  As I mentioned earlier, she's pretty neat and I'd love to be like her someday!

ready, set, go...

This girl got her impressions and x-rays today.

She's on her way to getting an expander, braces and a retainer.

It's officially time for momma to get a J.O.B! 

In all seriousness, she did great.  She was worried and a tad nervous about the molds, but she did just fine!  I'm so glad I get to log her process.  I wish I could remember my whole braces and retainer process as a teenager, but I just can't.  Things have changed so much since I was a child.  It's crazy different, but I'm trusting in the process!  

Cheeeeessssseeeee!

For the love of backhand springs

I'm happy to say .... Layla seems to have found a love. A goal. An activity that she pours her heart into. It wasn't soccer. It wasn't tap dancing. It isn't reading books, although she does it because she has too.

It is tumbling! And she is so good at it. She is so flexible. She is so happy on the mat! She has a goal.....

She wants to be walking backwards talking to a friend and just bust out a back handspring! I can't wait for the day she does that!

It all started all those years ago when she put on that first little gymnastics suit. She's got this and I'm one proud momma!!

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Friendship bracelets

One of my favorite things to do when I was a kid was make bracelets with embroidery thread.

I sat in my room for hours back then listening to music and creating fun jewelry. I remember the thread bracelets always got wet and discolored after about a week.

Soooo,

I saw this fun set at the craft store I just had to get it for Layla. The material is basically rubber band like. It's simple to learn and easy to create fun patterns including school colors. I didn't realize this fun jewelry creating craze has a name....Rainbow Loom.

Oh!!!! I have a feeling we've only just begun our creating and I'm channelling my inner 3rd grade self!! Fun!

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The sweetest editor

I knew the time was coming, but I had no idea it would be so soon....

This chic said to me, "Mom you don't make sense when you write."  

What?? You mean I'm not an award winning author?  I have grammatical errors?   I've never claimed to be the best writer, and if you know me I pretty much write like I speak.  I'm glad I'm 'me' when I write and I know I'm true to our family in this here scrapbook I keep. 

The past few days Layla has been reading the blog.  She's been reading old posts from years ago.  She giggles and asks questions about what happened and when.   I'm so happy she's having fun reading it and it counts as 'reading' time for school!

I'm so proud.  It's the one thing I'm happy to keep up with and I always seem to make time to squeeze in a post or two even when life is crazy. 

Honesty she didn't point out specific errors, she asked me about a few sarcastic sentences.  I'm good with it.  I hope she continues to read it and I'm happy to continue to post about our life events.  

She's now my official proof reader!!

Big O Bubble

Layla just recently started blowing really huge bubble gum bubbles.  

It reminded me of my childhood.  I remember the exact day I blew my first bubble.  I was riding with my Grandma in the car, in the middle seat, with no carseat or seatbelt. In fact I think my legs were sticking to the white vinyl seats.  I even remember the stretch of road we were traveling.  We were going over a bridge.   

I'd been trying to blow a bubble for weeks.  Every time I'd blow my gum would fly out of my mouth and usually plop into the dirt or land on the carpet. Eewww.  Gosh, I'd get so mad trying.  I didn't have patience as a kid either.  This time was different and I just knew I was going to blow a bubble that day, that moment.  I didn't want to lose my delicious piece of gum on the dirty floor board of grandma's long red car.  I did it.  Once I felt that feeling I was unstoppable.  I was blowing bubbles non-stop all day long.  

Man, gum is so fun.  I still love blowing bubbles.  My favorite gum is Hubba Bubba, but it is so sweet to my adult taste buds.  It's crazy how our tastes change.

Layla is so much like me.  She is loving gum right now.  She loves to see how big she can blow a bubble.  I love her innocence.  I love seeing the glow in her eyes when she blows a huge bubble.  I want her to remember this silly bubble forever, just like I remember blowing bubble gum bubbles as a kid!

8 years old!!

Today is Layla Kate's birthday!

She is 8!

This year we stuck to our usual birthday tradition and we ate cake for breakfast.

The kids get to choose the flavor of cake they want, and Layla picked cheesecake this year.

I used a different recipe in a cheater crust and the cheesecake was spilling over the edges of the pan.  It tasted great, but I was thinking it was a little full, lotta sap...haha! Seriously.  I almost made a mess in my new oven.

Mmmmm strawberries!

Hayden loved joining Layla for cake for breakfast.

I love these birthday morning posts because I got back to years past to remember what flavor of cake they picked each year.  It's fun to see how they have grown over the year.

This year Layla asked for one gift.  She wanted a tablet.  She has proven that she is responsible enough to take care of one, so we gave her her wish!  It was awesome to see her face and the joy and excitement when she opened it!

Happy Birthday sweet girl...we love you to the moon and back!