Sugary Fun at the Candy Shop

Jaina has baton every Tuesday afternoon from 4:30-5:45. Many times Jolee will ride the bus home and stay home with Justin, and I will leave work early to pick Jaina up and take her. Some Tuesdays I'm off from work and have to lug the other two with me to baton. 

Keeping these two busy for over an hour can be hard sometimes especially sitting in the car during cold or rainy weather. But when it's nice outside we play at the school playground. This particular day I took the girls to the Sugar Shack

 Jolee had a gift card, so she shared it with Jewell. They both got candy and we even took some candy to Jaina when she was done.

The Sugar Shack is their favorite place in town!

Then we got snow cones and ate them at the diner booth. 

Then we headed back to the playground. 

Jewell likes to play in the rocks while Jolee swings

And they both like to throw the rocks up in the air. Jolee says they are not allowed to throw rocks at school so it's like she's breaking a school rule lol

My beautiful Jolee :)

These girls definitely keep me on my toes and keep us busy

So much energy!

From Brownie to Junior

Sunday the girls completed their year in Girl Scouts. The girls had a great year in Scouts. They completed lots of badges and journeys, sold lots of cookies, went camping and had a fun end of the year trip to San Antonio.

Sunday Jolee bridged from a Brownie to a Junior. Meaning that she completed two years (actually three) as a Brownie and graduated up a level to a Junior. She will be a Junior for two years and then will bridge again. 

This year bridging was held at Jackson Park, and they got to actually walk over a bridge. It was really cute to watch them walk across

Jolee was really proud of herself. She said I can't wait to be a Junior!

She received her bridging badge and pin for her vest

I know for Jolee sometimes going every week to Girl Scouts was over whelming, sometimes boring and trying at times. But with that she has made several friends, has had lots of fun and has accomplished a lot of things that she normally wouldn't have. Next year as a Junior she will get to be a little bit more independent and take on more of a leadership roll

Jaina did not bridge but did complete her second year as a Cadette. Last summer she had made up her mind that she did not want to do Girl Scouts anymore which I was completely fine with but then at the last minute changed her mind and said she wanted to do it. I told her if she started, she would have to put the work in and complete the year. But I'll be honest going to Girl Scouts twice a week is a lot! There were a lot of Wednesday's that I was stuck at work or we just didn't go. Because the girls lead themselves she said it was very trying. She said the meetings were boring and not fun. She still completed alot of badges, went to camp and enjoy the Sea World trip. 

I totally get Girl Scouts is a little "dorky" and not cool especially at 13 years old. 100 percent get that and she said she doesn't want to go to the meetings next year. At first saying she did not want to come back but then changed her mind and said she would love the opportunity to help teach the younger girls. So with that being said she will be a co-leader next year with Mrs. Christi over the Brownie troop!

She is sooooo excited yall! 

I told her it's a big responsibility but she's excited and Christi is happy to have Jaina help. So that means Jaina will still have to be registered as a Cadette. She will receive community service hours for teaching and will work on her Gold and Silver awards independently. All of these things will go towards her college application and future college scholarships. She will no longer have to go Wednesday nights so she gets the best of both worlds. 

Jaina works best independently, sets and achieves her own goals so this will be great for her. 

I'm so proud of both of them and all of their accomplishments. 

Way to go girls! Another year completed

Texas Tumblers Award Night

Last night Jolee had her last gymnastic practice.

Gymnastics is something new we tried this year. I always wanted to sign Jaina up but never did. Jolee kept begging so I made it a point to sign her up this year. So I looked around and found Texas Tumblers in Harker Heights.

Since she never had any training, I had to sign her up for a beginner class. Then I had to squeeze her in on a night we didn't have anything going on which was Monday nights. They only had a few spots left for their 7pm class, knowing that was a little late I went ahead a signed her up anyways.

She was in class with about 10 other kids. At the beginning of the year she went every Monday and took the class really seriously. Then after Christmas break we started slacking and she missed several Monday nights only cause we either had other things going on or Justin and I were just physically too tired to take her. 

But with that, she learned a lot, got in a bunch of exercise and ran out some of that energy. The class has been good for her.

She met some new friends and learned how to do a cartwheel (something I never mastered as a kid) She got to practice on the floor, balance beam, trampoline and play in the foam pit. This is definitely something she really enjoys.

Monday at their last practice they stretched, practiced on the beam, trampoline and then gave them free time for their favorite, the foam pit.

Then all the kids sat in a circle and the coaches called them up one by one. 

They received a metal and a completion certificate to move on to the next level.

We are so proud! Proud that she is putting herself out there to try new things and have fun while doing it! Way to go Jolee!

Last band concert of 2022

We are rounding out the year with lots of performances and activities showcasing all the hard work these girls have done this year. Jaina had her band concert at Temple Junior College last Monday. (The same stage her Daddy walked across when he graduated from the fire academy). She is in the Symphonic band. They played several songs to show us how much they have improved over this last year. 

Jewell played in the seats during the concert

We are so proud of all her hard work this year!

And of course a picture with Sissy. Jewell is proud of her Sissy too

Afterwards we went to eat pizza, Jewells favorite part :)

Over the past two years since starting band Jaina has really loved her band experience. She said that band has been one of the best decisions she's made in Jr. High so far and she has had an amazing experience. It has taught her a lot and she has made so many memories. They earned a trip to Six Flags Fiesta Texas amusement park in San Antonio. They went last week and said it was a lot of fun. She will continue to work hard and learn as much as she can with her clarinet. 

A few weeks ago she tried out for an optional competition at Riesel High School and got a 2. She said she cried because she didn't get a 1 which is a perfect score but on a scale of 1 to 5, 2 is still really good! We gave her lots of praises for all her hard work. Even if she got a 5 I would still praise my baby all day long! Way to go Jaina! We love you!

Spring Fling

Last week Jolee's school hosted spring fling. This was always an event Jaina looked forward to when she was in elementary school.

Jaina stayed home with Justin, and I took Jolee and Jewell. The first thing they spotted was the train.

They rode this train at least five times. Jewell loved it.

Then we checked out the other activities. It was mainly bounce houses. She wasn't really interested in the bounce houses and Jewell was too little to bounce with all those big kids. So Jolee took us down the 3rd grade hall to show us her locker.

Jewell was very curious to see what was inside

Then we headed to the gym where Jolee got to do a little archery

And then outside for a few games that Jewell could play

There wasn't a whole lot else for them to do and it was close to being over so we walked over to the playground to play for a bit.

Then we headed home.

It's a Freddy's Kind of Night

We love Freddy's! Do you have Freddy's near you, if you do, you need to try it. 

 

The girls love coming here. We have one close to the house that we like to go to every now and then when Justin is at work. Usually when he's at work I go easy on the cooking. I make something super easy that I know all the girls will eat or we get something like Freddy's. 

They have the best burgers, string fries and ice cream for a fast food joint

Yummy in my tummy!