Makayla's Award

We had gotten an invitation to an award ceremony for Makayla in the mail a few weeks ago. When we asked her about it she had no clue what it was for. She knew very little about the ceremony except for what we told her which was information from the letter. When we arrived and recieved a program we all tried to guess what she was getting an award for. My original quess before viewing the program was for her participation in the Duke TIP program. After seeing the program I knew that wasn't the case because he scores were below the criteria, barely. After seeing the program, my quess was right. Makayla recieved an award for honor roll. Each 6 weeks she made the honor roll! It was exciting and quite an achievement for her. We always keep close track of her grades due to her being in level one classes and her gymnastics. We never really knew except once that she made the honor roll because she never came home with the usual propoganda. Not sure why. We are very proud of her!

Unfortunately she did miss the Duke TIP award for reaching the state level of acheivement for taking her SATs in the 7th grade. The minimum criteria was to make a minimum of 510 on the math portion. Makayla made a 490. :( Poor Makayla...

Isa says goodbye to SEEDS

Isa completed her first year of school at SEEDS! She attended on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm glad she got to experience school before she started public school. She loves her teacher Ms. Loria. Isa is her little princess and always her big helper. She also attended dual language Fridays with Ms. Angela. Isa looked forward to Ms. Angela's class every week. They have a special bond and Isa has grown quite attached. Alayna will be attending next year on Tuesdays and Thursdays like her big sister, Isa. She is ready!! Even Ms. Angela says she is ready the way she marches into the classroom every Friday. Isa absolutely LOVED it and was very sad to go. Everyday now she asks to go to school and gets upset when I tell her it's over and there is no more school until after summer. I hope she is as enthusiastic when she starts kindergarten in the fall.

Originally their last day of school was to be the day of their graduation but since IKE interfered with everyone's plans at the beginning of the year school was extended one week. Since they had already graduated they had fun days. The last day was splash day and since they are the oldest they were the last to go so they had a blast!! They got to make the biggest mess and the best part for them, they didn't have to change out of their bathing suits!! They got to play in their bathing suits all day!! They finished with popsicles while they dried off outside and returned to their classrooms to get gifts from Ms. Loria and their friends. Isa will really miss all of her new friends.

Graduation!!!

Isabella graduated from pre-school last night. She was so excited!!! She loved her year in pre-school at our church. The program was wonderful! The started with a prayer by Father Lockey after processing into the church. Of course as soon as the program began Isa had to go potty so we missed the prayer. Then Ms. Judy, the music teacher told a story about S.E.E.D.S. and how all the children started as seeds and have all bloomed! Then Ms. Angela led a prayer they have learned in spanish!!It was very exciting to hear all those bilingual children!!! Then Ms. Judy led them in some songs that they had performed in prayer service this year. Believe it or not, from about 10 pews back I could actually hear Isabella during some parts! Then it was time to graduate! The stood on the alter with their class while their teachers handed them their diplomas! After all classes were done they processed out of the church and it was picture and cookie time!!!!

We are all so very proud of our graduate!!!

D.A.R.E. Graduation

Julie had her DARE graduation today. I have to say the essays that some of these kids wrote were amazing!! So eloquent and sophisticated! They understood the impact of drugs and alcohol on their bodies and their lives. It was a great ceremony. JUST SAY NO!!!

Alayna's Mayfest

Alayna had her gymnastic Mayfest during her regular class time Friday morning. It was a FUN day!!! She started out dancing and bouncing on the trampolines chasing balloons. All of the other kids were just kinda standing there but not our little Alayna. As soon as she heard the music she was jammin!

Then they did activities on the floor. She liked doing her backflip and jumping into the pit. On the tumble trac she just kept boucing and bouncing and then off into the pit AGAIN!!! Then it was mountain time!!! She was climbing and sliding with coach Nicki!!!

Alayna got her first medal!! Aferwards Coach Nicki let her go crazy again with the blue inkpad for the stamp!! Then we all went to breakfast with Grama and PooPoo!! Isa stayed home from school so she could watch and play some too!!

Isabella's Mayfest

Isa had her Mayfest gymnastics performance this weekend. The theme was "Welcome to the Jungle!" She's in HotShots this year so Mayfest was a bigger performance than usual. All the girls in her group had to have matching leos. It wasn't as difficult picking them out as we had all assumed. Isa's didn't come in until the week before and of course it was wrong! I had no time to correct it and she didn't have a problem with it so she just wore it anyway. My fear is it won't get worn again. Anyway, she had an audience and was proud that she thought she was the one with the most people there to watch her. Mommy, Daddy, Alayna, TaTa, Grandma Martha, Uncle John, Aunt Margie, Abeulito, Abuelita, Padrino and Tia Erika were all there to see her. She was a little distracted but excited to show off her skills! She did well in all the events and was excited to get her trophy!

Go Julie Go!!!

Julie has been a little over-achiever here lately!! She had her Spring Fling gymnastics competition on Friday at Cypress Academy. She came in 4th in the All-Around!!!! She came home with her report card the same day with Straight A's!!!!! Then back at gymnastics on Wedensday she moved up a level to SUPER-novas!!!! She is so excited and a little uneasy. Sh's not used to so much attention, positive attention!!

Go Julie Go!!!!

School

Well, my babies are growing up. I registered Isabella for kindergarten yesterday. She is excited to be going to "Julie's school" next year. It's funny how the administrators and teachers already know she is Makayla and Julie's little sister. She's comfortable there which should make the transition easier for her as well. I know she loves going to SEEDS and will miss it terribly but she is excited to follow in her sister's footsteps!!!!

Alayna will be going to SEEDS in the fall. She will get her 2 year shots soon and that will complete her paperwork for enrollment. I know she is ready for some sort of structure and interaction with other kids. I love having her with me but she needs interaction with other kids!!!

Both Isa and Alayna will be attending Building Rainbows in the summer 2 days a week. Isa loved it last year and is looking forward to going back this year!!!!

Texas Bluebonnets!!!!

We took our annual trip up 290 for our family pics in the bluebonnets. All the girls have grown very fond of this tradition!!! Our usual overpass in Hempstead was covered in blue but we kept driving into Chappel Hill. Ruben had spotted an open field last Sunday that looked like an ocean of bluebonnets. It was AMAZING!!!! There were cars everywhere but enough room to have your own space. All the girls took beautiful pictures!! We got to have some fun with the posing this year since Alayna is older and was in a picture takinig mood, for the most part. She was a ham making silly faces. I just kept shooting hoping to get the smiles, but the other faces and expressions I caught were just as good for a laugh. You can't help but smile!!!

After we were done in the field in Chappel Hill we drove into town for gas and a potty break. Then off to the overpass in Hempstead. Luckily when we got there it was empty! No other cars around. We climbed and only had one slip. Little miss Julie was wearing slippery new shoes!! We got great closeup shots with bluebonnets all around!!!

Superstar!!!!

Our little Alayna has been published!!! Tia Nelda called this morning and informed me that little Alayna's picture is in Katy Magazine!!! She was looking for their ad for the doctor's office and flipped the page and saw her niece staring back at her. She called me and I was so excited!!!!! It's the picture I took of her last year when we went picking strawberries with Michelle and the kids. It was too adorable so I submitted it to King's Orchard to post on their website. I never thought I would see it anywhere else! I haven't personally seen it yet. I went looking a the Katy magazine website but couldn't find it. I called my mom and told her. She was just as excited as I was. Then I called Tata and told her too. She was running out at lunch. I told her where she could pick up a copy. She picked up 2, one for me and one for her!!!! She's on page 93 of Katy Magazine. Check it out if you get a chance!!!!

Isa's First Date

The week before Valentine's Day Julie came home with a paper from a Methodist Church about a Father/Daughter dance. I thought it would be fun, but of course Makayla and Julie would be gone for the weekend. Ruben was out of town for the week which was usual, and we had other plans that night. When I told Ruben about it the day of the dance, he couldn't resist taking his little princess. She had really been missing her daddy. I got her all dressed up, fixed her hair, and painted her nails. Her daddy got her some flowers and came to the door to start their date. She was so excited!!! They left for their date, and she is her mother's daughter....a dancing queen!! Ruben said she danced and danced and danced. They only sat out about 4 songs in almost a 3 hour period!! She was tired and wanted to come home. Ruben told her we were going to get something to eat, all of us. She asked why they had to come pick up mommy and Alayna. It was he date and she wanted to go eat with Daddy!!

Extremely behind!!

OK so I'm really behind on updating the blog. I had prepared a New Year's update but then didn't finish it until tonight. So this covers us through the beginning of the year. There is of course more to add which I hope to add tonight or tomorrow.

Goodbye 2008…..Hello 2009

Alayna
It’s been an awesome year for all of us. Alayna started walking at the beginning of the year. IT seem like she went straight to running!! It’s been an effort keeping up with her ever since. Alayna celebrated her first birthday in April. We had a party at our neighborhood park. It was a carnival theme!! She has been growing like a weed!! She stopped nursing over the summer which was quite a relief to mommy. It had become more of a comfort thing instead of a necessity of food. She loves food, especially some good Mexican food, like Grandma’s beans and rice and some tortillas!!! We attended breakfast with Santa at Julie’s school and she wanted nothing to do with it, even with Mommy holding her nearby. Luckily Christmas Eve she sat in Santa’s lap without any issues.

Isa
Isa started pre-school in the summer at Building Rainbows. She absolutely LOVED it. She celebrated her 4th birthday with cookies with her friends at school. At home we had an ice cream party at Carvel. All the kids got to see how the cakes are made and each got to decorate their own personal ice cream cake to take home. In gymnastics she was selected to be in the Hot Shots class!! The preschool director hand picks the students and there are only a handful of classes. These kids are pushed a little harder and workout more and play less. The skills are more like the skills that Makayla and Julie are doing. They are all gymnastics ALL the time!! In the fall she started Mother’s Day Out at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, our church. She goes 2 ½ days a week and adores all of her teachers and has made lots of new friends!! Isa also started ballet/tap classes in the fall. She had her first show for Christmas and she was born for the stage!! This Christmas was especially fun for Isa. She understood what it was all about, the birth of baby Jesus. She enjoyed every minute of the entire season, even the SNOW!! It was only the second time it has snowed since she’s been born. Unfortunately the first time she was only 6 months old. This time she was with Grandma and Grandpa and was so excited about the snow!!!

Julie
Julie is enjoying her last year in elementary school. She has blossomed in her art!! She was enrolled in Art after school in both the spring and fall semesters. Academically she is still a whiz!! She has brought home numerous report cards with straight A’s. She rarely needs help with her homework and usually helps Makayla with the artwork on her projects. In gymnastics she was a Nova this year. At her winter competition she didn’t do so well, but she knows what she needs to focus on to help her the next time.

Makayla
Makayla excelled in her gymnastics as a level 6. She placed in the Gold division going into the state championships!! She was quite nervous about competing against the best of the best. She beat her teammate Kendall in a fluke so she was excited and scared at the same time. She knew she needed to step it up and so did we. We got her 2 private lessons a week so she could work and fine tune her weaknesses. It definitely paid off!! She placed 7th in the state of Texas in the GOLD division. Her personal best!!!! She was so excited!!!! She was also invited to participate in the Duke University TIP program. She got to take her SAT as a 7th grader!!! We are so very proud of her!!