My favorite things

Most of Jackson's accomplishments come pretty easy to him.  He always gives 100%, but he's also just got so much God-given talent in that tall, skinny body of his!  We are usually celebrating his athletic victories, but a few weeks ago, we were invited to school for academics.

Jackson was inducted into the National Elementary Honor Society along with three of his friends.  In order to be considered, these kids have to have an average of 95 or above, and get two recommendations from adults.

He has handled the transition from elementary school to middle school extremely well.  He takes care of his homework on his own and studies for his tests when it's called for.  So far, so good!

Baby sister is also working on getting smarter.  Her pre-school celebrated the 100th day of school and made cute shirts and hats for the occasion.

She's working on reading and math, but she's already got the personality of a super star.
Cameron loves the stage, being dressed up and even has the toe pop!

She's not afraid to share the spotlight, though, and can easily play the drums as well. 
Playdates like this are made for Miss Cami.

She had her 5 year check-up and Dr. Betty confirmed my thoughts.  She's tall, but proportional, in the 90th percentile for both, and incredibly intelligent.  Her pediatrician highly recommends that we have her tested for skipping Kindergarten and going straight to 1st grade.  While we appreciate the acknowledgment that she is so smart, we wouldn't want her to miss out on all the fun that Kinder offers.

It had been a while since we've been able to watch Maddie play soccer.  A few weeks ago both she and Lila played in the same tournament, though, and we were able to catch lots of games.

We loved cheering for Madison.  For the first time, her coach moved her to forward, and she scored three goals the first game!  Yes!  There were smiles all around on our sidelines, with the cutest little baby girl there to support Maddie.  

Madison's team ended up winning the '08 division in the Winter Cup!  Go Texas Spirit!

Lila's team played well, too, but lost in the championship game that night.  We are so thrilled for Lila and cannot wait to watch her dominate, especially since she's playing against her own age now.  She's a force to be reckoned with on that field!

And Lila isn't only good at athletics...her artwork was chosen as one of 150 pieces to be featured at the Plano ISD Art Show.  They chose artwork from all the grades, Kinder - 12th, and only 3 kids made it from her school!

Such a well-rounded girl.  She's super smart, athletic, and good at art!  Way to go, Lila Grace!

Hip Hip Hooray, it's Cami's 5th Birthday!

 On January 15 this year, our littlest baby bear turned 5.  A whole hand!  

Who can even believe that?  

Five years ago...

Lila and Jackson could not wait to lay eyes on her...

and neither could Maddie!

Cameron Nicole entered this world with great fanfare...

and has only gained more fans along the way!  Her daddy brought home donuts after taking Lila to school.  Happy, happy birthday girl.

She loved her birthday banner, too.

She decided to spend the day with me and had a few ideas in mind.  First, she picked out her outfit and even let me spice it up with a scarf from Lila's closet.  So cute.

Then we remembered that I have a matching one, so I wore it proudly.

We had a lovely, fancy lunch at the Chocolate Angel...

and then walked next door for our manicures. 
The ladies in the salon could not get enough of Cami!

After dinner, it was finally time to open her gifts!  She had been so intrigued with the tall present all day long...

and was giddy with excitement when she opened up the ukulele!

We ended the evening with some singing and then the birthday girl made a wish.  (She was NOT thrilled that her brother blew out a candle for her!)

The next morning, the Superheroes had their very last game of the indoor season.

Cami scored 4 or 5 goals!  She has improved SO much over the past few seasons.

Right after her game was over, Jackson's basketball game was beginning.  It was a Murphy Middle School showdown, with kids on both teams.  The boys had made such a big deal about it that their principal, vice principal, P.E. Coach, Math teacher, English teacher and another teacher all came to watch.  Wow!  The Mavericks won big time and Jackson was stoked about their huge fanclub that day.

A couple hours later, we had picked up the cookie cake...

and arrived at Obstacle Warrior Kids.

Colby and Nash were some of the first to arrive...

And then Jules and Hadlie got there.

Pretty sure our little ninja was way happy!

She jumped and got this close to holding onto the bar.

Big sister made it all way to the cargo net!

Like her shirt said, she continued with her "best day ever,"

and after five failed attempts to reach the top of the warp wall...

She made it!

This little goofball played with all of her friends, including Sami, 

and Callum, one of her BFFs from school.

They loved trying their best at some toe touches...

so funny!

Dodgeball was next, 

followed by pizza and then cookie cake!

The kids didn't hang around in the party room for very long.

There were so many other great things to be doing instead!

Yeehaw!

It really was such a wonderful time for all ages, the tall and the small.

And the best part was seeing my little ninja smiling the entire time.

Cami is so thankful that all her best friends could be there--such a good group of kids!

We gave out the popcorn party favors and said goodbye.

That evening she opened all her gifts...

and then got even more after her aunt, uncles, cousin, and grandparents arrived!

We had one more round of Happy Birthday at the restaurant and the celebrations were finally complete.

Miss Cameron Nicole, we simply adore you.  You are one of a kind and we are so glad you're ours!