{Embrace the Camera: 3.29.12}

This week is kinda special...

Why???

My 3 favorite kids in the whole wide world are taking some time to {embrace} their favorite

Grampy & Grammy in the whole wide world!!!!

And that’s not all...

Because...

This week we celebrated an extra special birthday!!!

I couldn’t let today slip away without adding a picture {or two} of my now favorite 12 year old. She did take the time to {embrace} her favorite sister and brother in the whole wide world after all and even smiled extra big when mom and dad jumped in the picture!!!!

Happy Thursday Embracers!!!

{12 Years Old}

Happy 12th Birthday to my beautiful brown eyed girl!!! She is witty like her daddy and overly tidy like her mamma. She will make you laugh and stop you in your tracks with her extremely clever remarks. Her soul runs deep. Her heart is pure gold. She is quite unique that Bry of mine!!!

12 years old...REALLY?!?!?!

I’m beginning to realize that March is going to be a very difficult month for me which is kind of ironic in a way because I absolutely love the beginning of spring.

Here is my dilemma; we have a birthday right at the beginning of March and a birthday at the end of March. Don’t get me wrong, I truly love birthday celebrations but this business of having to celebrate two birthdays in the same month (which requires my girls to get older) is a bit much for this mom to handle!!!

The reality of “teenage hood” is right around the corner!!! On one hand, I’m absolutely amazed at how fast the time has gone by but then I look at Miss Bry and I feel as if I have known her forever. I feel as if she has always been with me. I guess it must be that old soul of hers.

This past year has been full of new adventures for Miss Bry. She ventured into middle school. She took risks and gained new experiences. She had her first “boyfriend”, experienced her first heartbreak, and has started learning the value of true friendships. Can you believe I'm still breathing?!?!?

Watching her hasn’t always been easy. There are so many times I want to step in and fix whatever needs to be fixed but I learned very quickly that there are many things that she will have to do for herself and all I can do is be there waiting with open arms, a shoulder, an open ear, and whatever else she may need from me.

I’m excited about the future and maybe a little scared too (hormones, boys, and heartbreaks are not my favorite friends) however, Bryanna is quite the determined girl. She sets her goals high, she believes that she can, she has a kind heart, and her faith in God is strong. To say that we are proud of all that she has accomplished in such a short time is a complete understatement!!!

Turning 12 has been pretty AWESOME!

A twilight kick off

A private birthday party hosted by a best friend

Shopping and dinner with Grampy & Grammy

and even a little surprise from Mom & Dad!

Happy 12th Birthday Bryanna!!!

{Catching Up Is Hard To Do}

I’m going to do my best to play catch up today. Trying to find a free moment to blog has been rather difficult these days.

This past week as I sat in class, one of my classmates and I were discussing the summer class schedule. I asked him if it was bad that I was fully counting down to the end of the semester, only because this is my first semester and I have a few more ahead of me. He kind of laughed and said “nope, we are ALL on a countdown!” I have to admit, that made me feel a little better. 

I will share that going though the Master’s Program is a bit tougher than I originally anticipated. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t expect it to be a walk in the park but I guess I was hoping that there would be some sort of transition. Things are a lot different and sometimes I feel like I am 10 steps behind. It’s been an interesting start to say the least. The good news is that in about 4 weeks, I will be done with my first semester as a grad student!!!

Okay enough about me! 

There have been a few things going on at Casa de Mall.

First and foremost,

We CELEBRATED St. Patrick’s Day!

I guess the first question would be

“Did I make corned beef and cabbage?”

The answer to that would be

HECK NO!!!

Poor Jason is deprived every year because my Mexican heritage stomps all over my Irish roots when it comes to this meal!

I AM NOT A FAN!!!

I think this year he kind of forgot about it (shhhh don’t remind him) because instead of eating a traditional Irish meal, we were treated to our first crawfish boil of the year!!

As Travin would say

“I tell you what, that was some good eatin’!”

   

Did I mention how much fun 1st grade is?!?!

Last year we got to make our very first St. Patrick’s Day hat.

It was such a fun project to do with Kalyssa that I couldn’t wait to do it with Travin. Trying to come up with a clever design for the 1^st Grade St. Patty’s Day Hat Contest was a bit interesting but after a long visit to the craft store, we finally figured out a plan that was “boy acceptable”.

Once again I missed out on an {embrace} moment. I actually thought about blogging at the last minute because we did snap a few shots on Thursday but I didn’t want to leave Bryanna out of all of the fun and her snap shots didn’t come until Friday.

This week we celebrated the end of the third 9 week grading period. It’s so hard to believe that we are now in the final stretch of the school year!!!

The kids have been working really hard this whole year. 

Bryanna set two goals for herself at the beginning of the year. The first was to have perfect attendance and the second was to keep a straight A average. I am beyond proud to share that as of this moment, she has achieved both of her goals!!! She is more determined than ever to make it to the end of the year.

Kalyssa was recognized as an all A honor roll student. This quarter was extra special for her. Last quarter she missed getting an A in reading by a couple of percentage points. These 9 weeks she was determined to get her A back. She worked extra hard to push up her grade and it all paid off because she was presented with a BUG (bringing up a grade) award without letting any of her other grades slip.

Mr. Travin received his third A/B honor roll award. This quarter was an extra special moment for Trav because he also recived his very first BUG award. We have been putting in a lot of extra time at home trying to master some skills. We have been working really hard on reading, writing and math. There have been moments of pure frustration. There have been moments where we had to walk away and try again another day. We have even shed a tear or two. However, one of the things that I have learned about my son over the past two years is that he is a fighter. He doesn’t quite know how to give up and after he has had his moment to let it all out, he always comes back ready to tackle whatever is in front of him. Travin brought up his math grade from a B to an A which gave him all A’s and 1 B on his report card!!! This was a huge moment for Trav. He worked so hard to earn his awards and I can’t even begin to explain how big my smile was I watched him cross the stage. Although it probably wasn't as big as his =)

I bet you were wondering what in the heck happened to the uniforms. Well, the special reward for meeting the AR (accelerated reader) goal for the 3rd 9 weeks was a day in regular clothes. Of course our two "smarties" took complete advantage of that prize!

                        

{Twilight "pre"Teens}

Somehow we managed to survive the weekend!!!

In case you hadn’t heard, two crazy parents agreed to host a slumber party.

Oh wait...it gets better!

Not only did we agree to host a slumber party but we agreed to host a "preteen" slumber party and we let our preteen invite 8 of her closest friends!!!

Not exactly sure what we were thinking, I guess batting those big brown eyes really does work every now and then.

We hosted an early birthday event this year because Spring Break activities will keep us a bit busy. Our house will also be full of out of town guests.

 (YAY!!!!)

I thought I’d be nice and save them from having to listen to a house full of girls!

YOU’RE WELCOME!!!!

Our Theme

I don’t know that I can quite explain the twilight obsession that has taken over our household and yes this includes mom too! I must admit, I held out for a really long time with Bryanna. I’m sure that she was one of the “last girls on the entire planet” (as I was told) to watch the movies and you know what, I’m okay with that! 

YES I made her sit with me and watch all of them before she was allowed to watch them with anyone else! 

YES we will read the books together this summer! 

YES I know I’m THAT mom and I’m pretty a-okay with all of it!!!

Decorating was a bit tricky. 

First of all, I waited until Friday (the day of the party) to do my shopping. I know, I know, me wait ‘til the last minute??? There is a first time for everything! I didn’t realize that there wouldn’t be any twilight themed decorations to be found. Silly me, I just assumed that the hype would last a little longer.

My next step IMPROVISE!!!  

  

The party started at 6 pm and by 7, my eardrums were pretty much shot for the night! Needless to say, I was grateful for warm weather, a trampoline, and living on a quiet cul-de-sac! My neighbors probably weren’t as excited as I was =)

The night was spent eating, dancing, singing, eating, talking about shhhhh boys, eating, talking, dancing, talking, oh and watching those ever so famous twilight movies!!!!

Somewhere in between movie 2 and 4 (3 was skipped) I dozed off. I woke up to the sound of rolling credits. I walked out to take a peek, thinking everyone would be asleep only to find a majority of the girls still awake at 4:40 in the morning!!!! I quickly shut the party down and made everyone get some sleep.

The girls were troopers. They all managed to get up (most had somewhere to be before noon). I made sure their tummies were full, although I’m not quite sure where exactly they found room to fit more food!!! Jason was a trooper too. He managed to survive a house full of preteen girls!!! Luckily Trav was home to keep him company. They decided to stay safe by locking themselves in the bedroom and having a Star Wars movie marathon.

I am learning that as children get older, you don’t always get to enjoy every little moment. Bryanna’s schedule is so hectic these days and most of the time we are the taxi service driving her to and from practice and of course all of those games that she has to attend. We don’t always get to see her with her friends. 

Having this moment, although crazy was actually pretty amazing because it gave us a chance to watch her in her own little world. I must share that I am proud of the little world my daughter has created for herself. She has an amazing group of friends!!! So even though my ears were ringing by Saturday morning, it was well worth it because I was able to capture a slice of Bry’s life outside of home.