Straight A's!!!!!!!!

Kiara has straight A's this quarter. She says that was her goal, and she did it!!!! I am so proud of you Kiara!!!!!!

Happy 14th Birthday Kiara!

Happy Happy Birthday Kiara!

Today you turn 14. At your last parent-teacher conference your teacher told us you were "the sunshine of the 8th grade class". I couldn't agree more. You have the ability to make people laugh, to be caring, loving and kind. There are not enough words to explain how much I LOVE having a girl. Especially you! It is so fun to talk with you about Jesus, miracles, boys, friends, family and the world. I love shopping till we drop, to find the perfect dress or item for your room. I appreciate your cooking skills. It helps me so much when you make dinner, our famous punch bowl cake, or help me with church potluck. This year you have done the weekly cleaning of our house to help pay for your rather large cell phone bills. I am a litle sad that you are all paid up, as it was so nice to come home to a clean house. You even went the extra mile and set a beautiful table. However, I am proud of you for being so careful now not to run up a bill. I am also proud of you for working hard to get good grades. This quarter you got all A's except one B which was the goal you set for yourself. You did this all on your own, even looking up "how to get good grades" on the computer. A lot of times your grades are more than 100 percent because you did extra credit. The reason these things mean so much to me is that you are growing up in the right direction. You are choosing paths that with Jesus guidance, will give you more chances of a happy, successful life.

I am so glad you have your own beliefs about what you want in life, and that when you feel strongly about something, you hold your ground. To me this means you will not be "influenced for wrong" on the things you have made decisions on. This is important because the "pull" to be like the world is so strong. Your favorite colors are light pink and dark brown. You wanted to paint your room and dresser in your favorite colors, so you paid for almost all the paint and did 99 percent of the work yourself. You moved everything out of your room, including your mattress and box springs. You taped up the window, removed the outlets, covered the floor and painted everything you could reach. You painted the dresser the next day by yourself, then moved everything back into your room the day after that. Here is what it looks like now.

This was a "biggy" as you are the baby of the family and our princess, so you don't usually complete jobs. When you were little you would say "my legs are broken" which meant you were out of energy, and we even carried you most everywhere till you were in kindergarten. It was fun birthday shopping for things to "complete your room. Your favorite car is still a Mini Cooper and you have a large poster we printed out together on your wall. Your best friend is Danielle

and you say you are so opposite, yet it seems like you are so alike, you could be sisters. She is fun too, and says things that make us all laugh. She is polite, kind, thoughtful and we like to call her "our adopted daughter" Your boyfriend is Aaron.




He is such a nice boy. He treats you like a princess and is every mom's dream for her girl. He is polite, respectful, helpful, and treats you good. (Doesn't hurt that he plays the piano for me) YOur two youngest cousins adore you and you adore them. Here they are at the park the day before your birthday.




Your favorite foods are Italian, Mexican and I think you have a new favorite which is Chinese. This year you finally changed your thoughts about chocolate and you even asked for a chocolate cake! You love See's chocolate and got to hand pick a pound, as a gift from Grandma Lou. You also asked for a "Famous Chocolate Wafer" cake that we had for your birthday at your grandparents house. Your nicknames are sis, schmoopie, and princess. I love you more than you will ever know. (Maybe someday when you have a girl of your own you will know a little)

Love, Mom

Thanks to my sister Laughing Mommy for the pic of Kiara in her new bedroom!

Photo Friday

Kiara and I about 13 years ago.

Kiara's Opinion Essay

Kiara L
English
Opinion Essay
2/28/07

The history of a Mini-cooper goes back to World War II. They made Mini’s to carry a lot of people. They were small and could handle a lot of weight. They also didn’t use a lot of gas. Everyone should buy a Mini-Cooper.

Mini-Coopers are the most fashionable cars in the U.S. They are really cute and sporty. What most people like about Mini-Coopers is that they are fun to drive and have good performance.

Mini-Coopers have tables in the back. When your on a long trip or don’t have time to go home, you can get take out and eat it in the back of your car. In the Mini-Cooper convertible you can take the roof off and look cool in your car. If your in the middle of nowhere of if your camping and you don’t want to sleep in a tent you can fold down the seats and put them into the car and you can sleep in your Mini.

Mini-Coopers are very comfortable. They also have seats that are very adjustable. So if you think you too tall, you can adjust the seat to your height. So anyone can drive a Mini.

Any Mini-Cooper can be customized to have the British flag or the American flag on the roof or the back of the mirror, which is really cool. If you don’t want your mini anymore you can sell it and it has a strong resale value, so you can get most of money back.


(Mini Coopers are Kiara's favorite car and she hopes to have one some day. I had no idea they could do all these things. I want one myself. Great article Kiara! You are a star!)

Museum Moment

Kiara's museum picture

Kiara and Moblogging

Testing blogging from my phone

Oh how cool is this. I just sent this blog entry from my phone! It is a picture of my daughter. She and I love all the faces she makes. Now I just have to figure out how much its gonna cost......(from cell phone provider)

Kiara gets top score!

Kiara got the top score in her class on her last assignment! I am so proud of you Kiara! And we just had her Parent-Teacher conference. The teacher said Kiara was "her sunshine". That she is always happy, respectful, and has a great attitude. And on top of that she had assignment after assignment with 100 percent. Some even had more than 100 percent because of extra credit! Kiara had a goal of 1 B and the rest A's and she met her goal!!! Way to go!!!!! The picture is of Kiara and her teacher.

Kiara's Top of the Class Grades

Kiara has worked really hard on her grades this year and loves it when she has more then 100 percent in a class. She looked up on line before school started this year on how to get good grades and found out that taking notes was a big part. Her classmates even ask her why she take s notes or why she cares. She says cause she wants to get into a good college. Very mature thinking for an 8^th grader. I am so proud of you Kiara!

Fridays Photos

Kiara and I doing the "matchy" thing. When she was 4 and 10. I wish there was more but Kiara went through quite a few years where she didn't want to match with anyone not even her friends. She likes being her own person and I am proud of her for that.

Friday's Photo's

Here is the Santa Suit that both my kids and my sister's kids have worn.

Braden 7 1/2 months


Kiara 9 months




Tessa 5 1/2 months


Emma 12 1/2 months

Friday's Photos

Kiara a few years ago doing her Tae Kwon Do poses.

A night to remember....

Braden and his girlfriend Andrea on their way to a formal that didn't turn out to be so formal.



Kiara and her boyfriend Aaron just before we went out to eat and to see "A Night at the Museum"

Kiara

Kiara,
The first in a series of letters to my daughter:
Kiara this year you are thirteen years old. An official "teenager" despite the fact you have been acting like one for some time now. You are so beautiful and you have a great independent, caring, and dramatic personality. I can tell you have no idea how beautiful you are. You act like your big eyes and thick hair are something weird. You may not believe it, but women all over the world wish they had big beautiful eyes and thick hair like yours. You are very independent and want to be "original" in the way you dress and act. You have never liked the "twin" dressing thing. I remember in 2nd grade all the girls decided to wear skirts and you agreed. But when it came down to it you just couldn’t bring yourself to "be one of the crowd". I am very proud of you for being your own person. You are the type of person that will not take drugs, drink alcohol, or do anything just because everyone else does. I am awed by your special love for Jesus which you have had since you were first able to talk. I can see how your love for Jesus and your independent spirit is doing great things for him! You love to help the poor and to pray for other people. We have seen miracles from the prayers you wouldn’t give up on. Like Aunt Staci having a baby. When everyone else finally decided the answer must be no, you kept on praying daily, and your prayer was answered!
Your dramatic personality is so you! You are my drama queen, dancing princess and comedy girl. You have been making your Dad and I laugh since you finally started talking for yourself (before that you let your brother do all the talking for you). The car you would like to have someday is a Mini Cooper. Pink is still the color you love, although your "signature" color for clothes is brown and your room decorations are purple, citrus green and a touch of orange. Chris Tomlin is the singer you like. Your Dad sang Chris Tomlin's song called ""made for worship" and you sent him a note that said "you nailed it". Your Dad was so happy to know you liked the song he sang for you. Your cell phone is one of the best around, and you like the fact that yours is special, because for a whole year the rest of the family had a phone and you were too young. You have lots of friends, but seem to like to hang out with Danielle, Alexis and Jazmine the most. Squirty is your dog even though she spends a lot of time with your Dad. You also like our big dog Kai. Your favorite food is pasta, and you still like salads. When you were little we loved taking you to a place that gave kids salad for free, because you would eat platefuls of it. You have always been my healthiest eater. When you get older you want to work for an Anti-terrorist unit. You also want to go to Italy and sneak away from college to go to the beach. Its not that easy, and you nay have to wait till you are out on your own, but you will find that out later. College is 5 years away. Speaking of college, you are also very smart. School work seems to be easy for you. When you are having difficulty with grades it seems as if its more of a boredom problem, because as soon as you get in trouble the grades go directly to straight A’s. You are also a computer whiz. You can read HTML codes and know how to do things on the computer that most people need to be taught. You are a great masseuse. And give great foot rubs, shoulder massages and back massages. You also enjoy cooking and are very helpful at home, and when we help with church potlucks. You have taken over making my punchbowl cake, casseroles and anything else I ask you to cook for me. You still love to sleep. You have always been a great sleeper and now that you are a teen you are taking more naps again. I love to call you Kiara, Kee, Sweet girl, Sis, Sissy and the name your friends call you which is Kay. I love you more than you will ever know and I pray that you will always keep Jesus close to your heart. I also pray that you will make great choices in life and find boyfriends and eventually a husband that will treat you like the princess you are.
Love, Mom

Decade clip

Back to the last decade when it was still okay to put your arm around your sister for a picture.

Decade photos: "The haircut"

Remember in my first Thursday Thirteen I talked about teens being old enough to not cut each others hair? Well here is the evidence. I believe she was 3 and even though I kept the siscors safely hidden, my hubby asked for them before I went to work stating they wanted to play "office". Well a short time after I left, the hubby let the kids play office while he checked the scores of a football game. The end result was this lovely "haircut" just on one side. My hubby was alerted when our 5 year old son asked his Dad "Do girls sometimes have boy haircuts?"......hmmmmmmmmm

Kiara

My daughter Kiara and her friend Jazmine


My son Braden after he got his braces off.

Beautiful

This is my beautiful Daughter Kiara.