go texan day

today is Go Texan day which is the annual marking of the beginning of the houston livestock show & rodeo. everyone in houston is encouraged to dress up in western gear, or cowboy stuff, or just wear a snap-button shirt & we even get to celebrate it at school... yee haw!!! houstonians look forward to this day all year, Go Texan day has been called a spirit. it's even been referred to as a fever. very few individuals - if any - can explain it, but we looooooove it! you can smell pit-smoked barbecue for miles, it's the best & you even get to see real actual horse riders and wagons going down the street. so everyone gitty on up, get snapped up & don't forget your boots... it's time to show your lonestar pride...YEE HAW!!!

art show

today was my art show opening & i was so excited to see all of my art pieces together with my friend's art pieces. i haven't had an art show since last august & i forgot how much fun they are, all the people, cheese, crackers, sparkling grape juice & amazing art... what more could anyone ask for?! the show looked amazing, the way ms. marjon put everything was perfect!!! the best part of the art show was my art teacher (ms. barnes) from my school (colony bend) came to see my work, i felt soooooo special! this last art session i really experimented with all different types of brush strokes, each piece was something new for me... i learned about pointillism, atmospheric painting, rendering & realism. this session ms. marjon kept calling me a painting machine, i was so focused & before i was done with the piece i was working on i already knew what i wanted to do for my next piece. i really want to thank my nonie for paying for my art sessions, because art is my passion & because of her i get to have the most amazing art teacher ever who constantly inspires me, i love you nonie & ms. marjon!!!  i'm so excited for next session to start, i already know what my first piece is going to be.  here are my art pieces for this session & what inspired me to create them...

van gogh "irises"

reinterpretation of van gogh's "irises"

carduelis cucullata

bird in bloom

spring time

the beauty in trees

brownies=love

the other night daddy made his famous brownies & they are the most delish thing EVER!!!!!

and as you see brownies bring out tons of love in us...mmm, mmm, good!

a beautiful sunday

 a few sunday's ago it was to beautiful to stay inside so we went to our favorite park to get some energy out & get some fresh air! we ran, climbed, jumped, slid, swang, laughed & even made a pretend ice cream shop. as you can see we love sundays!!!

 
 
 

breast cancer

my mee-maw (my great grandma) was diagnosed with breast cancer on february 1st of this year, she had a mastectomy on valentines day. i was really scared when my mommy first told me, but after talking about it for a long time & asking as many questions as i could think of, i felt a little better. my momo has also had breast cancer as well as my pop's mom & they were all ok after their mastectomy. we'll find out all of mee maw's results & what her plan of action will be in the next few days, but i want to say thank you to all of you who have kept my mee-maw in your prayers. i already told mommy that i want to the "komen houston race for a cure" in october & she said ok, that's a great plan let's do it for momo, grandma betty & mee-maw. if anyone wants to do it also or just learn more about the cause & make a difference please visit http://ww5.komen.org/.   as the susan g komen website says "make an impact", "get involved", "raise your voice" & i plan to do all of those!

here are some more links to visit to find out more information about breast cancer:
http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/
http://www.breastcancer.org/

hair by b

 

today livi & i went & had our haircut by the amazing brenda! the last time mommy got her hair cut, we asked brenda if she cuts children's hair also & she said yes. i told mommy i really wanted her to cut my hair, because i love how she cuts mommy's hair & i knew she'd do a good job on livi & i's hair too. for weeks i've been telling mommy i just want to get my ends kissed because i'm growing out my hair, well on the way to our appointment i decided i needed a new look & cut over 3 inches off... i LOVE it, i feel like a 1st grader! this was also livi's 1st time in a salon other than our bathroom & she thought it was so cool. we were a little nervous because livi wanted to go first, we didn't know if she was going to be all over the place or start crying, we just didn't know what to expect, but she was perfect! she loved the whole experience, she didn't want to get out of the chair when it was my turn, her favorite part was when brenda put product in her hair, she wanted brenda to put everything she owned in her hair it was so funny. all in all we are super happy with our hair & we think we look sooooooo pretty & we can't wait to see our brenda again!!!

livi we're so proud of you

1st therapy

we're so proud of livi, she has made so many steps this year & we want to take minute & share how far she's come. since she was born, eating has always been very painful for her, so right after she turned 1, she decided she really wasn't into it at all. every time we would try to feed her she would start crying, shaking her head & screaming "no", it was very heartbreaking. she really started losing weight & having to see a specialist to see if they could help, we were trying all types of different things ie... medications, feeding schedules, exercises, diet & procedures. there were times when she wouldn't eat for 6 days, but thank goodness for pediasure that's what has always kept her going. she had to have a procedure with biopsies at one point & that didn't go so well, she ended up on the or, but at least we figured out her body can only break down natural products. she also had to start therapy to help her learn how to eat & want to eat, that has been a bumpy road too. mommy had to leave her job to work with her full time & then they started going to therapy twice a week. she has a special protein powder that is from the u.k. (thanks pop for ordering us a case) & it adds calories to her pediasure, yogurt & mash-ups.

procedure

with therapy it's been a roller coater rides with lots of highs & lows, we would find things livi likes to eat, but it would never be consistent. finally in the last 2 months livi has had a HUGE turnaround... she wants to eat!!! in therapy & at home she's doing awesome & loves to make her "happy plate" (that's when she clears her plate), it's been amazing!!! livi has been doing so good that at the beginning of february she went back down to once a week in therapy... whoo hoo. livi has weigh ins every 2 weeks (we always dreaded these) & the last 3 weigh ins, she's gained weight (that's never happened). today when she weighed in she had gained almost 1/2 pound in 2 weeks,  she is almost  25 lbs, yes you read correctly 25lbs... whoo hoo! she has a long road ahead of her, she still eats like someone more than half her age, but we have made so much progress... from having no interest in food at all to wanting to eat, it's sooooooo grrrreat! she's not scared of food like she was before, if she sees something she likes, she asks for a bite... it's so cool. the other night we were having fajitas for dinner when livi reached up took it out of mommy's hand & took a bite, we couldn't believe it. she has tried fish sticks, pizza, a bite of rice, cookies, granola bars, yogurt, brownies, cereal, momo's donuts, bean dip, chicken nuggets and she loves pb&j sandwiches & cinnamon bread with butter!  we get so excited for weigh-ins now, i can't wait to see how many "gallons" she's gained. the funniest thing is livi made up her own song & it goes like this " na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, take a bite" we have no idea where she came up with it, but we all sing it now. we just wanted to say thank you to all of those who have kept livi in your prayers, sent hungry hippo thoughts her way & most importantly put up with mommy during all this... we love you all so much!

happy plate



trying a kolache

i like it when i can help too



valentine's day party

happy valentine's day everybody! yay, today was my valentine day party at school & i dressed extra pretty to clebrate because i was so excited. it was the best party ever, we had ice cream sundaes to celebrate, which means we had 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup, whip cream, sprinkles & a cherry on top... nummy! after my friends & i finished our ice cream it was time to open all of our valentines... whoo hoo. there was so many valentines to open & a lot of our valentines had candy with them (score more sugar), then ms. handy (my awesome teacher) gave us special treats wrapped in pretty paper & my good friend aiden hand made me the prettiest valentine flower out of paper! we didn't want the party to end we were having so much fun mommy, livi & i were the last to leave. as it was time to go to bed i told mommy i wanted everyday to be valentine's day because i like giving my friends presents to show them how much i love them. she told me every day can be valentine's day by showing everyone how much we love them by doing nice things for them & by giving them hugs... so that's what i'm gonna do because everyone needs to know how much they're loved!!!

 

valentine cards

 i'm so super duper excited about my valentine's day party at school tomorrow!!! we're going to have ice cream with sprinkles & exchange our valentines. i've made all my friends & teachers special valentines & it took me a whole month, but i think they will really feel my love. i made these awesome mosaic valentines with tiny pieces of magazines, all of them have red hearts but the outside is either gold, silver or turquoise. i also made a valentines mail box & it looks so pretty, i think livi & i did an excellent job on it. i don't think i'm going to sleep tonight because i just can't wait for tomorrow...i just love valentine's day so much, i hope all my friends like their valentines!

" peace out to bullying"

this is school counsling week & the theme for this week is " no name calling week" & we are aiming to end bullying & name calling of all kinds! all week we've had activities regarding bullying & we've been learning new ways to address how to show kindness. today we are hosting a "peace out to bullying" day & everyone is wearing tie dye or clothing of the 60's era. i'm so excited to wear my outfit that mommy & daddy made to shout out all the peace i have!!!

 

peace is hard work

 

 tomorrow i'm wearing a 60's inspired piece to school for "peace out to bullying" & mommy and daddy have been working for weeks on my outfit. mommy has tie dyed my shirt 4 times to get it just right, her poor hands are still different shades of pink & orange. believe it or not mommy & daddy turned a regular pair of my jeans into bell bottoms & it was hard work, daddy was up till 2 in the morning one night but they look awesome i mean groovy!!! today right after school mommy washed my hair & put almost 30 braids in it to make it really funky for tomorrow. livi was so excited about my hair she made mommy put braids in her hair too, to be honest we look really, really goofy! i can't wait to be in my outfit with my hair all done & see the final result!

 

bieber fever

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

breakfast for dinner

do you ever have those days where it seems you can't do anything right, well today was one of those days for me. at my art class i accidentally knocked over a cup of water & ruined my friends piece she was working on. i felt so awful because it was such a beautiful drawing, i couldn't stop crying & my friend was so nice she wasn't even upset at all. by the time i got home i was a mess, so mommy figured the only thing that would cheer me up would be breakfast for dinner. so daddy made me bacon (even livi ate some) with lots of love & mommy made me confetti pancakes with extra syrup... it was just what i needed to find my smile & remind myself tomorrow is another day!