Paris Elizabeth

I am going to do a series of blog posts about my twins leading up to their 14th birthday so today I start with my oldest Paris Elizabeth……she is the oldest by 1 minute ha ha! I wanted to do a post about each of my girls because they are so talented and I am extremely proud of who they are so why not share with everyone all of the cool things they have accomplished.
So to describe Paris would be to somewhat describe myself, she is very much like me in a lot of ways but then unique in her own way as well. She is quiet, tends to be a worrier and anxiety creeps in a lot and sometimes holds her back even though she might really want to do a particular thing. She is a fearful child and cried for the first 3 weeks of kindergarten EVERY SINGLE DAY!

We laugh about it now because I would literally turn the corner in my van to drop them off for school and she would start crying and as I pulled up in the car line and the van door opened she would get out of her seat and go to the back of my van and hide. The Vice Principal would come crawl in my van to get her and carry her into school over her shoulder. Some days I would drive away with a tear falling down my cheek because she was having such a hard time, it was a very challenging time for me as well. She did it again in first grade but it didn’t last as long and when she met her very best friend Becca things started looking up and her teacher that year Ms. Dirig was amazing (and a twin herself) so she really took Paris under her wing and Paris actually started liking school and doing wonderful. I always push her to break free and to not let worry hold her back because she is so smart and beautiful and has so much to offer this world.

So on the flip side of being shy in public she is a the light in our home, always dancing and singing, bouncing around our house. We call her a  Hot Mess most days, she is always doing something crazy, creating a spill or mess and keeping us on our toes. She makes us laugh on the daily. She will follow me around and tell me everything about anything, she is a very observant child and takes everything in and then will come home and talk, talk, talk. Only those of us close to her have seen this side of her and it is pure joy. She is also a dreamer and often texts me ideas or things she wants to do, most of them have to do with helping other people. She has a big heart and I love that most about her.

She has accomplished some really cool things for being so young. In 4th grade her friends and her decided to start making some little beaded pins, these pins represented a “Stop Bullying” message. They had heard a story about another friend of theirs that had been bullied and they wanted to take a stand. It went over great, soon they had kids requesting pins, they had meetings with the school administration to brainstorm ideas, they made signs to hang around school, it was great to see these kids taking a stand against bullies and promoting kindness throughout their school. While this was going on she entered a contest in our local newspaper, she wrote an essay on what she was doing at her school to stop bullying. She won! Her prize was to have the Harlem Globetrotters come to her school and speak about Bullying to the whole school; she also got tickets to their game. It was so exciting, talk about her anxiety flaring up! So in front, of the whole student body she got to help out the Globetrotter and got recognition and praise for the work she was doing at her school. She later told me it was the Best Day of her Life!

Summer between 4th and 5th grade she really started getting into Photography, she really loved it and had a great eye for different angles and views. She heard about another contest they were promoting at school called Reflections and she told me she wanted to enter. The theme was “The world would be a better place if…..” and she knew she had to enter a piece about stopping all the bullying that was happening in schools. Here comes those BIG IDEAS, she came up with an idea for a collage showing different people and then the center picture would be her school (all the students) spelling out “Stop Bullying” and she would take the picture from above. So I told her I would email her principal but she was going to have to talk to them about it and share her thoughts and ideas…….as you can imagine the anxiety crept in. I told her she would be OK and she was, she told them her idea and they said they loved it and would help make it happen, they gathered all the kids out on the playground, Paris and her sister wrote out the letters with sidewalk chalk so the kids knew where to sit, and we headed to the roof to take the picture. We ended up getting a ladder because she needed to be up higher to get everyone in the shot. It was AWESOME!! She completed her project and it was beautiful, she ended up winning the state competition and being invited to a special luncheon where she received a metal and certificate, her art went on to the national competition.

One day my Sister called me and said a teacher friend of hers in Florida was having trouble with Bullying at her school too and she shared with her class what Paris had done to be a role model at her school and stop the negativity. Paris was touched when she heard about this so she made each child a Stop Bullying pin and she wrote a letter to the class because she wanted to help. The teacher was so thankful and said it had really helped her class and she had each of them write a note back to Paris. One-day about 20 letters from kids came in the mail saying “Thank you” and they wanted to be just like her and they were going to stop being mean. It was so amazing and heartwarming to read these cards they brought tears to my eyes. Paris even had kids at her school that were known as “bullies” come up to her and tell her that they had changed because of her and they were not going to be mean anymore.

As she has gotten older, her photography has evolved and some of her shots are so artistic and beautiful. In between her 6th and 7th grade year, she came to my husband and me with an idea to start her own blog. Luckily, my husband is good at building websites and all things technical…..they worked together and built a beautiful blog, he taught her how to do a lot of it and also how to edit and do things in Photoshop. As her knowledge has grown she has been able to do many things herself and learn tons which I know she will use in the future.  Please check it out and subscribe to her blog www.leftyslens.com . She has also built up her Instagram account @parisdrew_, the atheistic of her account is so beautiful and she has a lot of followers and has built friendships with other teen bloggers. She has also been a brand rep for a boutique, is a frequent model for Red Shed Designs and has an internship with a positive teen girl’s blog/YouTube channel where she writes book & movie reviews, mentors girls and does promotions.

In 7th grade, she once again entered the Reflections contest at school; this time the theme was “What is your story?” So Paris wanted to show her sister and her reading books in the forest with pictures scattered around them of special events in her life to show her story. She set up the whole scene and set a timer on the camera, it is the most beautiful shot. This time her photo went on to the National competition and it won. Her photo was on display at her school and also in Las Vegas and Washington D.C. pretty impressive!!

I could write so many more cool things about her, I love her vintage style, her fashion, her make-up, her love of travel and adventure. Despite all of these things, I see a girl who is compassionate and so talented; who I know one day will make a difference in this world.  I am so excited to see what her future holds because I know the possibilities are endless. I also know that she will begin to break free from the shyness and fear and find her confidence…..once she does watch out world because this girl is going to do great things! God has given her the talent and drive and he is doing big things through her, she just needs to trust in him. I love you Paris Elizabeth you are the light in my life and I will be right here supporting your Big Dreams every step of the way!  Don’t forget to check out her blog!

Next week I will write about my youngest (by one minute) daughter Marissa!