Violet at 5 1/2

Violet is just the best thing ever. I mean she's not perfect...but basically she's perfect. :) She's an absolute joy and my little buddy. Some things to remember about her at this darling stage:

• She is the absolute best sister to Davis. She takes care of him, helps him, plays with him--even a though he beats her up a lot of the time. 
• She loves to sing. Right now she's obsessed with "Into the Woods" (after we watched the movie as a family a month or so ago) and basically listens to the soundtrack non-stop. She sings along at the top of her lungs and does it so well. Her favorites are "Not My Fault" and "Giants in the Sky." She also loves the Encanto soundtrack and knows all those words too. She also went through a real "Zombies" and "Descendents" phase earlier this year and knows every word of those too. She has a karaoke machine that she got for Christmas, and belts her songs into that too. So cute! 
• She started taking piano in August and has done SO WELL. I can honestly say I enjoy practicing with her (which may not have been true with her older brothers when they started piano). She loves to learn, gets very excited about everything, and really tries her best. I haven't even seen her get discouraged yet. She takes lessons from Dr. Janae Williams. She practices about 30 minutes every morning. She just finished learning all her flashcards and is working on getting them under 1 min. Right now they're closer to 2 min. which is still super impressive for someone so little. She also just competed in her first concerto festival and got honorable mention! She played the third movement of Noona's Concertino in C Major and LOVES it. In general, she wants to "do things all by myself" and also loves to play duets with me. 
• Her other extracurriculars are tumbling, Singer's Company (we call it singing and dancing class), and soccer. She loves tumbling and has progressed so much. She can do a front flip on the tramp! It's extra great since they built a new location very close to our house! She's had the same teacher (Miss Stephanie) the past two years. She started Singer's Company in January and has loved it! She does it with her cute friend Nova. She has her first recital coming up and we're all excited to see it. This is her first year doing soccer. She says she really likes it! She's scored 2 goals this spring, so that's been very fun. She really likes the treats at the end too. :) 
• She's been doing preschool at Ridgeline this year and has loved it. She goes Tuesday-Friday all morning long. Her teachers are Miss Ariel, Miss Val, and Miss Mandy. She's very excited and ready for Kindergarten in the fall. 
• Violet's extremely social and always wants to be playing with friends. Even if she just had a friend over she's eager to have another friend to play with right when they leave. She plays a lot with Lauryn (they have a weekly playdate after school), Nova and sometimes Nova's cousin Remi, Ford and Monroe who live in our circle, Luke Tucker, and Brigham Peay who she says she wants to marry. :) 
• Violet has all the extreme up and down emotions of a little girl. There are many tears, but she's pretty good at recovering and bouncing back. :) 
• Violet has a real desire to do the right things and to please us. She tries hard to say the right things in family lessons--"This is a really good lesson." She's always apologizing if she does something wrong. She's incredibly loving and helpful. For Mother's Day she cleaned my room, even organizing all my shoes "because I know you like things clean." She has the most tender heart and is my little BFF. 
• Violet loves her toys! She loves her calico critters (she adorably calls them "critto crowters"), her barbies, and really any little figurine or trinket. She can occupy herself playing for hours at a time. She also loves to play games. I think her favorite is Sleeping Queens (which she calls "Sleeping McQueens"), and she has such a funny personality when she's stealing a card from me. She's a total tease! She likes playing Uno too. 
• Violet's a great artist and spends a lot of time coloring and doing crafts. She has a lot of attention to detail and works very carefully on each color and detail in her drawings. They're very sweet. 
• She's been doing Upstart this year (an online preschool that teachers her to read) and her learning has exploded! She started the school maybe knowing half her letters and now she can read 3 and 4 letter words really well. She loves her Bob Books and is so proud when she can read them. 
• Violet's so excited about life and what we're going to do every day. She finds the joy in the little things and is always pointing out to me things that are pretty: flowers, pictures, little details on her clothes, details on toys...everything. She also remembers who has given her basically every toy and gift she has. It must be her love language. 

  

  Nora, Venna, and Violet

  
  

  

  Violet loves her little cousins! Here she is with Carson.

  
  

  

  Violet loves Grandma Jean! She's on her mission now and really misses her.

  
  

  

  A Violet/dada snuggle

  
  

  

  Davis and Violet

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Cutest little new pianist!

  
  

  

  A picture her teacher sent me on her first day of preschool at Ridgline!

  
  
  
  
  

  

  Violet loves all her stuffed animals and babies.

  
  

  

  Violet did a little cheer camp at Kinlee Avarell's school.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  She has a really cute, silly sense of humor.

  
  

  

  Violet is so sweet with Ford.

  
  

  

  Violet takes care of her baby so well and carefully. If she's leaving for school, she leaves me instructions on how to take care of her baby while she's gone. :)

  
  

  

  Violet plays with Ford and Monroe all week long! They're the cutest little buddies.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Violet's Pre-K picture this year.

  
  

  

  Violet and her friend Lauryn had weekly playdates this year. They loved it! They always wanted mac n cheese with salt and pepper when they were here.

  
  

  

  Violet with her cute friend Nova.

  
  

  

  Violet had a big haircut in February and got the cutest bob!

  
  

  

  The finished result! She loved it.

  
  
  
  
  

  

  Violet and her friend Brigham. I was out of town, which is why her shirt is on backwards ha ha.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Violet lovesss makeup and would wear it every day if I let her. This is from a makeup set she got for Christmas. She loves when I let her wear it.

  
  

  

  She loves her favorite game "Sleeping McQueens"

  
  

  

  My best girl and I at Disneyland!

  
  

  

  Violet playing barbies with Nova and Remi.

  
  
  
  
  

  

  Violet and Grace are such good friends. This is at Grace's 7th birthday party!

  
  
  
  
  

  

  Cutest Violet/Grace shot!

  
  
  
  
  

  

  A pretty Easter shot

  
  

  

  Violet with her tumbling teacher from the last two years, Miss Stephanie.

  
  

  

  Violet on the day she scored 2 goals!

  
  
  
  
  

  

  Another Lauryn and Violet shot.

  
  

  

  Violet's class this year.

  
  

  

  Violet playing with Gage and Lauryn.

  
  

  

  Violet with her baby Lollipop and her diaper bag too.

  
  

  

  Violet in her Singer's Company costume.

  
  

  

  Violet gave a talk on missionary work a couple of weeks ago and talked about Grandma Jean and Grandpa Mark.

  
  

  

  Violet with most of her soccer team! Violet, Coco, Coach Paul, Dean, Bear (Jackson), and Kennedy.