weekend takeover

this past weekend was the 2nd annual takeover weekend at church... whoo hoo!!! it's a weekend that is jam packed with life change, tribe wars, amazing music & so much more. one of the most important things is always wearing your tribe color during the entire weekend so everyone knows who you represent. i'm team orange (not my favorite color) & will be until i'm a senior in high school. i need to get some more orange things, that's for sure. on friday night everyone is divided into their grades & genders and dropped off at their small group leader's house, then we  all head up to the church for snacks, hang time, worship, the hunt & small group sessions. we didn't get  back to our host house until after midnight! then the next morning we were up bright and early for breakfast & devotional. then we headed back up to the church for more tribe wars, more amazing worship & more small group fun!!! 

except they also announced the tribe that won the whole takeover weekend by leading from example, having the most spirit & overall having no fear and just making the most out of takeover! without further ado the weekend takeover champs was the orange team!!! we had no idea whatsoever that we were going to take the championship because it's usually a high school tribe that gets it. we were beyond ecstatic that us little 7th graders got it. goes to show that size doesn't matter its what inside that counts!!!

after evening worship the orange tribe got together to celebrate our victory at mcdonald's & we didn't go to bed until after 2, we were so excited!

then sunday morning it was time for our last session & of course wear our takeover champs shirts for everyone at church to see that we came, we saw & we conquered!

I'm taller than mommy!!!!!!!

Whoo hoo!!! The day has finally come where I'm is officially taller than mama!!! I've got her by 1/2 inch for now but I know it’ll be inches soon!! She's 5'1 and I'm 5'1 and a half.

pep rally dance

in my dance class we just started a unit on hip hop dancing & IT IS NOT easy!!! we think to light a fire under us to embrace it our dance teacher signed us up to dance at the pep rally with only 4 days to come up with a routine & master it.... say what?!?!?! out of 52 students only 28 girls had the nerve to dance at the pep rally & i was one of them. to say that we were freaking out was a huge understatement, but we did it! it was completely nerve wracking, but we were so thankful that it was a neon dance so we pretty much danced in the dark... yay! so no one in the crowd really knew who was dancing, so if we bombed it wasn't as painful. in the end i really enjoyed it, i know i was super shocked too. i do really need to work on loosening up & not being so stiff, but i'll get there! in the video below (a friend made it for mommy), i'm on the very far right front row.

happy valentines day

two years at school they stopped having valentine's day parties at livi's school because now they have an end of the year party instead & they're only allowed 2 parties a year. i know it kind of stinks, but don't worry livi is still so super duper excited about exchanging her valentine's with her friends at school!!! this year livi found these valentines printable & had to make them because they were too cute not to. plus, she'll do anything to have an unlimited supply of gum in the house. also in her class they were allowed to make valentine boxes & since livi loves her unicorn box so much from last year, she used it again this year. it's been displayed in her room & it's in perfect condition.

since i'm i junior high we don't exchange valentine's anymore but they do sell stuffed animal monkeys & candy to help support the animal club at school. well a very nice boy had a cute white monkey delivered to me & i really like it.

also for our yearly valentine's tradition daddy got us a heart shaped pizza for dinner because nothing says love like pizza in this family!

valentine's school store

today was the first day livi's school store has been opened for this whole school year.  this is the 1st year they haven't had a school store since even before i was there. everyone loves the school store & has really really missed it! just with everything that happened with hurricane harvey, it's thrown off the whole school year & student council hasn't gotten to do as many things as they usually do. but thank goodness mrs. reaves (the school counslor) saw how sad all the students have been with not having one & made a huge special valentines days one because let me tell you the school store is the most popular thing EVER! it was so big they held it in the cafeteria instead of the hallway because they knew every student in the school was going to be there. everything that was being sold was valentine related...  pencils, erasers, markers, pinwheels, stuffed animals, heart key rings, rubber duckies, jewelry, headbands & all other kinds of cool things. for a really special treat anyone could also get a heart stamp on their face or hand to show the love on this special day.  the student council runs the school store so all student council members where asked to be there to help... they needed all hands on deck for this one. well nothing was going to keep livi from missing this because she's been looking forward to working the school store ALLLLLLLL year! for starters she had to get up really early so she could be at school back door at 6:55 am sharp! once they got there they had 15 mins to get everything set up & ready to go before the madness hit. like i said this was the 1st time it was in the cafeteria so there was a whole bunch to set up! there were tons students lined up outside the front of the school at 6:45 waiting to get in to be the first in line for the school store. right before they opened the doors they assigned everyone (student council members) spots to stand in & jobs. livi really wanted to be a heart face painter & she was. she was so excited!!!! her & her partner for the morning took turns practicing on each other. then livi roped mommy into letting her practice on her too! the line of students wrapped around the school & jeez louise when the announcement that the school store was open, there were students everywhere! livi can tell you have that was the fastest, craziest, most insane, never ending, frenzied 30 mins she's ever experienced! thankfully she made it through my shift in one piece & stamped lots of hearts on her friends. mommy couldn't get over how in her element livi was. she greeted everyone & asked where they wanted there heart & she just wanted to do all the stamping... it was so cute to watch her do her thing!

the groceries

whenever we go to the grocery store, livi and i's main chore is to unload & put away the groceries. as much we gripe, we do like it. livi always takes the refrigerator & i always take the pantry. then of course we have sadie there to supervise us, but we really know she's in high heaven sniffing all the smells.

9 and 1/2

well livi is now officially 9 and 1/2 & since her birthday is in the summertime she gets to celebrate her 1/2 birthday at school today. daddy had lunch with & hung out with all of her friends which they all loved. she even got to wear a birthday pin & went to the front office to pick out a special pencil. this year livi brought donuts (12 glazed & 12 chocolate glazed) to share with her class as they celebrated the day away!