what livi has been up to in g/t

the latest ~ology that livi has been working in g/t is meteorology. they have been thinking like meteorologist & creating weather forecasts. they students teamed up in twos & got to choose a city & researched the weather for upcoming days. they all loved getting to film in front of a "green screen" & pick graphics to go behind them in their completed videos. livi picked salt lake city because she loves utah from when we've gone on our road trips. look how fun livi's video is...

teacher of the year

we're all so excited we just found out that livi's teacher is teacher of the year at dickinson elementary! we couldn't agree more with all the votes because we all think she is awesome & love her to pieces!

strawberry heart cake with a lemon glaze

the other day mommy & daddy were grocery shopping & they saw a box of cake mix with a heart shaped pan & knew that livi would love it. she's really getting into cooking & baking even more now that she's older & can do most things by herself. she's an expert at cracking eggs, soon she'll be doing it one handed! she's even gotten really brave at putting & taking things out of the oven! her favorite is the mixer & she always has to put it on the highest speed just for a second to get a good giggle. this was the 1st time she's made a shaped cake & getting the batter spread just right was super important! when it came time to make the glaze she worked hard on it not being to watery or to thick & she did it amazingly! we all have to say it was by far the most delicious cake we've ever had in our entire lives!!! so now we know that we love strawberry cake with a lemon glaze on top... mmm, mmm, good!

a really great day

today was a really great day!! mommy's good friend (stacy) with sole loved received an email on thursday, from a local elementary school nurse, who had a little boy that needed new shoes. in fact, she noticed him walking the halls in the shoes you see on the right. when she asked him "why?" he said those were the only ones he had. now, i want you to think about that!!! mismatched shoes? that's it? can you imagine his embarrassment from what the other kids were saying in his class when they saw him walk in?!?! on top of all that one shoe was to big & the other was pinching his toes they were so small. ms. stacy had to work today, and was so afraid that this sweet boy wouldn't get his shoes until next week....so mommy delivered them for her!! the ones on the left are his "new" shoes! this adorable little boy was BEAMING with pride & was jumping up & down, so excited to have MATCHING shoes that FIT!! later on today the nurse emailed ms. stacy saying how proud he was to show off his new shoes to all of his friends & how this was the nurse's favorite sole loved experience & she was so happy to watch mommy interact with her student. so please know there is always a huge need for shoes & we depend on your donations. we can't do this without you & thank you for helping put shoes on bare feet!

up beat art

the last few years i haven't been sketching as much as i used to & i've really missed it. so for christmas i asked for a new sketch book & i'm so thrilled that i got one. here's a few pieces that i've started & am still working on. mommy & daddy even let me start up my own instagram page for people to follow me & leave comments. i named my page Up BeAt ArT & i have a quote that i wrote that says "do what you want with your life even if it seems impossible!" i really want to inspire people with my art & help them stay up beat!

10 years

last month was daddy's 10 year anniversary working at texas children's hospital! to celebrate the hospital brought him a cake to enjoy! he shared it with all of his friends, but don't worry he brought home us each a slice too. daddy we're so super proud of you & you are the best nurse EVER!!!

happy martin luther king jr day

popo, a special message just for you

happy birthday to you cha cha cha, happy birthday to you cha cha cha, happy birthday dear popo, happy birthday to you cha cha cha. we miss & love you so, so, so much. we're blowing birthday kisses to you in heaven.

jersey day

today all the students at livi's school got to wear an nfl jersey to school to show their support for the cowboys and texans making the playoffs. well we bleed blue & green in our house so livi was all about showing off her new russel wilson jersey she got from santa for christmas! go hawks!

into the woods

today all the drama classes at my school are taking a field trip to the high school to see their drama production of into the woods. so i wore a nicer shirt to school rather than just a t-shirt because i was excited to visit the high school. mommy was overwhelmed by how beautiful i looked & how i'm almost a teenager she had to stop me & take a picture of me as i was leaving for the bus stop. she also couldn't believe i was wearing her shoes!

youtube dinner

livi loves watching the food network & cooking channels on youtube. she found a video of a recipe she really wanted to try so she wrote down everything she needed, how to make it & off she went.  there was a lot of chopping involved so livi made me her sous chef. the recipe that she picked was one that a girl my age makes by herself so she knew the two of us could do this no problem & we did.
all that's in it is bell peppers (any colors you like), onion, ground turkey or meat, chili pepper, salt, pepper & livi's favorite paprika! you cover everything & let it simmer for about 7 mins. then you can make rice on the side to mix in with it when it's done... easy peasy. in all honesty it wasn't our favorite, but we all ate it & we tried something new!

flowerpot

for the last week we've had an extra furry child named flowerpot who is an english bulldog. her family went on vacation to disney world. flo & her family have never been apart in the 2 and a half years they've had her & were really nervous about boarding her for so long. well we swooped in to the rescue to say we'd keep her & her human mommy was so so so happy. that way she knew flower would be getting spoiled, covered in kisses & most importantly we'd be sending pictures of her adventures with us. flower & i really bonded so whenever i was home the two of us were together. we had a really crazy fun 8 days with this mushy face here are just a few out of many many things that our family will be missing. We're going to miss her louder than even mommy's snoring, her ability to make crazy noises that we've never ever heard, her confusion that our fingers are not sausages for her to eat, her silent but deadly stink bombs after dinner, her mad tug of war skills, the time she tried to eat Livi (she thought livi's shoe was a new toy & attacked it with livi still standing them), her knocking us over in excitement or just because she felt like loving on us, her cinnamon roll tail, her ability to hear any package we open (no matter how quiet are) to see if there's anything for her to eat, watching her bound from one thing to another with her momentum from all of her weight making her miss her landing spot by about 3 feet, watching her mad skills playing soccer even if she is a ball hog, her pitiful begging face, she has the cutest underbite we've ever seen, her little shashay, her ability to fall asleep anywhere in the middle of anything, the way she pouts, the way she drinks water is fascinating yet disturbing... it's our favorite, her constantly stealing sadie's toys (in the end we just sent one home with her because sadie doesn't play with it & flo loved it), her love for hanging out right outside the the tub so we trip over her every time but she licks us in apology, her marshmallow catching skills from across the room, her bunny teeth & of course her sweet mushy face! We love you flowerpot so much & are so happy that your family trusted us to take care of her while they were on vacay.