Janelle Belle Age 8

Janelle is growing up WAY too fast. Somebody please tell me how to stop it!

She's a cute kiddo. A tall cute kiddo with pink and purple braces. ;) She's an amazing big sister. She plays fairly well with Spencer and includes him when they play outside with my cousin Jenna. Ally adores "Nanelle." Sometimes when Ally's upset, she'll go to Janelle instead of me or Kyle! It's so cute.

Here's what Janelle's been up to these days:

• She loves 2nd grade and riding the bus. She's made some great friends since we've moved out here to Prosper and even told me the other day that Baker (her elementary school) is her favorite school she's been to so far.
• She reads at a 5th grade reading level, is a super speller, is getting better at timed math facts (which I'm still not a fan of), is really good at fractions and counting money and loves science and Spanish.
• She's progressing really well in piano. She doesn't love practicing until she gets really good at a song and then she plays it all the time. ;) It's a love-hate relationship.
• She LOVES gymnastics. We told her she could pick an activity for her 8th birthday present. She narrowed it down to gymnastics, dance or show choir and finally picked gymnastics and she seriously loves it. She's the tallest one in her class with those super long legs, but she enjoys every second of it. Plus it helps get some of that pent up energy out on Tuesday nights and she sleeps great!
• She also got a new bike for Christmas and is on it practically everyday. It's her incentive to get her homework done. She loves to ride with Jenna (who is not only my cousin, but our next door neighbor) around the neighborhood.
• She loves to draw. She keeps a notebook and pencil by her bed and is constantly drawing elves, The Cat in the Hat, portraits, flowers, if she's interested in it, she draws it.

Janelle is definitely a sweet heart. I can't believe that she's already 8! She just started going to Activity Days and of course she loves it. She's my little social butterfly. ;)