Party of Five

Mother's Tea at the twin's pre-school

2012-02-12T17:56:00.001-06:00

Lauren and Emma

Emma with Miss Shelby
(Lauren's buddies are there earlier so were not there during the Tea)

Reading together

Lauren with Play-Doh

Reading a book in the "space shuttle"

Sitting with their friends

Good listeners

Kaitlyn presents at the Technology Festival

2012-01-28T17:49:00.001-06:00

Kaitlyn was one of sixteen children at her school who presented at the Technology Festival put on by the district at the Berry Center. She had made a cool Prezi about humpback whales, we really enjoyed it. It's neat to see what kinds of things kids are doing with technology. :)

Bike Riding

2012-01-22T19:15:00.000-06:00

Orman Girls in Their Texans Twirls

2012-01-15T11:30:00.000-06:00

Hoping for a Texans win!

Happy 9th Birthday Kaitlyn!!!

2012-01-03T00:43:00.004-06:00

8th Birthday party, 1/11

Annie is home!

Roasting marshmallows, 2/11

Western Day

Dance with Dads with Brownies

At the rodeo, 3/11

Butterfly Garden

Bluebonnets

Pie Eating Contest

Twins party day! 4/11

Twins' birthday morning!

Dem Bones program at school

Zoo with her bestie, Avery, 5/11

Mother's Day

At the pool, 6/11

Summer Haircut

With Annie

Nana and Papa visit

Daddy birthday

Cake!

4th of July, 7/11

Fountain at Galleria

First day of school, 8/11

Getting ready for some soccer!, 9/11

With Gigi and G-pa

Pumpkin picking, 10/11

Halloween, Argh matey!

Trick or treating

Loving on Daddy, 11/11

Sweet girl

Disney World!

Pretty as a princess

At Nana and Papa's with Lindsey and Kristen

Christmas Eve, 12/11

All the cousins!

Getting ready to open presents with Kristen

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T04:49:00.009-06:00

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-23T20:31:00.000-06:00

Back at my parents house in Bonita Springs!

5 cute blondies!

Let the present-opening begin!

Playing Boggle with Nana

At the beach!
Lauren, Lindsey, Kaitlyn, Kristen, Emma

Nana and Papa relaxing

All cleaned up and ready for bed!

Kaitlyn's collection of shells

Dad and Jackie

Mom and Me

with my big sis!

Emma napping before our trip home

Lauren napping

Disney World!!! (Day 5)

2011-12-22T15:06:00.000-06:00

Our final day in Disney World was at Hollywood Studios. Our favorite attractions were The Little Mermaid show, the Star Wars ride(which we even convinced Emma and Lauren to ride), the Toy Story ride(so cool!), and the Beauty and the Beast show(my favorite!). We left around 1:00 so that we could head back to my parents house in Bonita Springs. My sister and two nieces had arrived the night before and we were so excited to see them all!

Waiting for our meal at the 50's Diner

Happily waiting

Grumpy girl waiting

Sharing a drink

In line for the Toy Story ride

Look at all the Beauty and the Beast photos...can you tell it was my favorite?

This is as close as we got to the Tower of Terror!

Disney World!!! (Day 4)

2011-12-18T18:41:00.011-06:00

Magic Kingdom again because we had so much fun the first time..... Smartest move? Getting there early and telling them we were there for an event so we got past all the crowds and were 4th in line to see Rapunzel! Very sneaky, I tell ya!

The girls with Main Street behind them

Emma and Lauren coloring while waiting for Rapunzel

Rapunzel arrives!

One of my favorite photos!

On Swiss Family Robinson bridge

The view of the castle from the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse

With Alladin and Jasmine

Three sweet girls riding the train

The tree in our lobby
(Getting ready to head back out after naps and dinner in the hotel)

Look who's just a LITTLE thrilled to be driving at Speedway?!?!?!?

Kaitlyn drove on her own
(The only ride we had to separate our party of 5 so that someone wound up being alone.)

Best shot I could get of Lauren and Paul, she drove too!

Daddy adn his girls waiting for It's a Small World

Mommy and her girls waiting too!

Castle lighting back up after the Electrical Light Parade

Gorgeous!

Disney World!!! (Day 3)

2011-12-07T15:51:00.005-06:00

We went to Epcot on our third day at Disney World, which was a lot of fun. Our favorite rides were Soaring and Test Track. (Still can't believe we got all three girls to go on those rides.....Soaring lifts you 30 feet off the ground with your feet dangling and Test Track goes 67 mph!) We took a middle of the day nap again, which was a great idea! We missed the light show at the end of the night as the twins started crying when it started. Sigh, maybe next time we go to Disney World I'll get to see one of the shows at night! :)

Outside the Nemo ride

Emma and Paul in the clam

Kaitlyn, me, Lauren

The ball in the evening

Waiting for dinner, party of five. :)

Disney World!!! (Day 2)

2011-12-04T18:16:00.007-06:00

Day 2 started out bright and early with an appointment with the princesses for breakfast! We got to get into Magic Kingdom early, which was nice because we were able to get some good photos. We got to meet with Cinderella and have our (professional) pictures taken, then we went upstairs for breakfast. While we ate, Snow White, Ariel, Aurora, and Belle came through to talk with each table. We had a great time, and then we hit the rides. It was go, go, go all morning! We had a nice long nap back at our hotel, and then went back to the park. We got there just as they were lighting up Cinderella's castle with lights...beautiful! More fun at the park including It's a Small World, Splash Mountain (Kaitlyn, not the twins), and all of us rode Big Thunder Mountain (the railroad roller coaster) in the dark! We rode the train back to see the electric parade. And we knew the night ended with fireworks, and the twins are NOT big fans, so we watched the fireworks from the ferry. Perfect end to a perfect day!

Our first view of the castle during the day!

And....they're off!

Walt and Mickey

Back of the castle

Meeting Cinderella

Snow White

Ariel

Sleeping Beauty

Belle

LOVE this photo!

On The People Mover

Back at night

Lighting up...

All lit up!!!

It's a Small World

Parade

Our view of the fireworks from afar!

Disney World!!! (Day 1)

2011-12-03T20:29:00.007-06:00

We told the girls we were going to Disney World on Friday morning before we went to the airport. They were pretty excited once they "got" it! We flew to Florida and spent the night at my parents. Then we got up early on Saturday morning for the drive to Orlando--EARLY! We got there, checked into our hotel, and went right to Animal Kingdom. We loved it, especially the Lion King Show. Kaitlyn even rode a scary roller coaster with me! Then off to Chef Mickey for Dinner, which was a blast. We finally got back to our hotel and got our luggage after 8pm. We were exhausted! Quick showers for all and right to bed as we had an appointment with the princesses early in the morning.......

Waiting for The Lion King Show to start

Goofy wrote Paul a few funny notes about being surrounded by girls.... :)

Waiting for the ferry

The castle at night!

Dewberry Farms

2011-11-15T05:30:00.004-06:00

We went to Dewberry Farms this past Saturday. The girls (along with Kaitlyn's good friend, Sarah) had a blast! Hopefully a foreshadowing of things to come...... :)

(Paul kept on calling it the Redneck DW)

Mini-Halloween Post

2011-10-31T22:02:00.003-05:00

The girls had a blast tonight with our good friends and neighbors!

Twins' first day of Pre-School, 2011

2011-10-04T15:12:00.005-05:00

Emma and Lauren were so excited to start pre-school at the Bobcat Den today, can't you tell?????

Kaitlyn's First Day of Third Grade

2011-08-22T22:40:00.003-05:00

Kaitlyn was all set for the start of third grade. She had a great first day and is looking forward to a fantastic year! (And the twins can't wait for THEIR first day as Butterflies at their pre-school.)

First first-day-of-school photo with Annie in it!

Trip to Cali--Day 4

2011-08-06T14:06:00.005-05:00

Oh. My. Word! Another awesome day in Cali as we hitched a ride in convertible with Paul's friend, Molly (and her friend, Kristina) from work. We had such a great day...probably my favorite. Saw the Hollywood sign, went to the Kodak theater, saw tons of sights around there, went through Beverly Hills, down Rodeo Drive, ate at The Grove, and ended at The Getty Museum--GORGEOUS! Then for our final night, the company had a nice reception and dinner. So much fun, so sorry to see our trip come to an end, but also excited to get home to the girls the next day! (Warning....LOTS of photos!)

Kristina and Molly

Right outside the Kodak Theater

The Grove

Back at the resort

A room like ours but with 2 double beds....I know, I'm weird.

Kristina and Molly at our dinner table

Trip to Cali--Day 3

2011-08-05T17:23:00.002-05:00

Day 3---Universal Studios, truly a blast!!!

Part of the behind-the-scenes tour

In line for the Simpson ride

Ha!

COOLEST ride ever!

The Mummy entrance

Some views

Took this photo for the girls!

Back at "our place"

Beautiful views

A goodnight treat delivered to our room....

Trip to Cali--Day 2

2011-08-04T06:17:00.007-05:00

Picture of our room.....after we'd been there for a day!

Day 2--Paul had to go to a meeting and I went to breakfast with his co-worker's friend, Kristina. (By the way, we loved spending time with both Molly(co-worker) and Kristina!) Then Paul and I were off for a day in Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Loved the views while driving away from and back to the resort--very hard to get in a moving shuttle bus though! We had so much fun walking on the pier in Santa Monica (where they filmed the opening sequence to Three's Company), getting my fortune read, and doing some shopping. Then we jumped back on the shuttle for the quick trip up to Venice Beach. LOVED people-watching there....it's a great mix of people. I was under the impression that we were going to relax on the beach, but Paul had other ideas! We did some shopping, then it was time to once again hop back on the shuttle home. (Our resort was pretty secluded, so it always took at least 1 hour of travel time each way for these events, sometimes more due to traffic in LA.) We had walked so much, but took another quick walk around the resort and then got prettied-up for dinner out. It was good, but due to shuttle issues, took over 3 1/2 hours round trip, too much time since we were so tired. When we got back to the resort, we perked up though because they were just finished wrapping up a movie they were filming there. It is called Savages and it stars John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Benicio Del Torro, Blake Lively, and Salma Hayek; and it is directed by Oliver Stone. Of course, people in our group were seeing celebrities left and right, we never saw anyone! BUT, we were told that Benicio and Oliver were in a room right behind where we were to watch the Dailies from their filming that day. The production crew spent ALL Night packing up equipment...they were still doing it the next morning when we got up bright and early for our day at Universal Studios......

Trying to get pics while on the shuttle bus

Santa Monica Pier

Beach at Santa Monica

(Notice the lack of make-up because I THOUGHT we'd be relaxing on the beach...)

Venice Beach

My one time near the water...Paul laughed at me 'cause I am such a dork that I took a picture of my feet in the water!

Venice Beach Boardwalk

I missed getting a photo of the crazy guy waving a bag of weed in front of this banner...

Two doors down from the banner, complete with a list of 50 symptoms of ailments that are "cured" by weed

Back at the resort on our little walk...

FABULOUS Trip to California--Day 1

2011-08-03T07:48:00.004-05:00

Paul and I had the most wonderful time on our trip to Terranea Resort just outside of Los Angeles, CA. We dropped the girls off with Gigi and G-pa Thursday morning and we were off to the airport! We are so grateful to G&G for watching the girls...it was so nice to know they were happy and in great hands the whole time we were gone. After our relaxing (I haven't flown without children in over 7 years!) plane ride, we arrived at LAX at 11:00am. We got on a shuttle to Terrenea, which took us through the city, then through the town of Palos Verdes, and finally to breathtaking views as we approached the resort. The place was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!!! Paul and I spent most of the afternoon just relaxing in our room, such a treat! There was a welcome reception and dinner that night out on the lawn, which was really nice. I got to meet some of Paul's work friends and we all had a really good time! Then off to bed (since it was 2 hours later our time) so we could get some rest before our trip to Santa Monica and Venice Beach the next day.......

One of the great views from our room

The set-up for dinner that night

Don't we look relaxed?

This is the life!!!

Trying to get a picture of the gorgeous pool at night

OK---time to go to bed!!!

Getaway Weekend with the Girls

2011-07-26T12:47:00.017-05:00

We had a wonderful weekend getaway from home with the girls. It started a day earlier than we had planned due to the discovery of mice(!) in our house. Paul was so freaked out about all the places they had visited(everywhere but bathrooms, Kaitlyn's room, and the study) that he decided to book a last minute hotel room Saturday night. We got a room at a four-star hotel (Westin Oaks) for $65 thanks to Priceline....wooohoo! We didn't get there until almost 6:00 so we tried to jam in some fun in a very short amount of time! We cruised the mall, ate at the Cheesecake Factory, went to see the Wall of Water by the Galleria(about 10 seconds before they turned out the lights at 9:00, which I found ridiculous!!!), settled in for the night and fell asleep around 10:30. We got up the next morning to get breakfast at Starbucks(for some) and Dunkin' Donuts(for the rest of us) and then headed back to the Wall of Water so we could actually see it. Very beautiful up close, wish we could have seen it for more than 10 seconds with the lights on at night! And of course, Emma was running and slipped and got all wet. Luckily, they were already wearing swimsuits under their clothes, so she just wandered around in her swimsuit bottoms. Then off to the Downtown Aquarium we went, with Emma's skirt hanging out the window to dry off. We had a blast at the aquarium......rode the train, Ferris wheel, carousel, and Lighthouse Dive(except for Emma). The girls played in the fountains for a while(hence, the swimsuits), and then changed and toured the aquarium. We ate at the cool restaurant, and then played games(and won prizes), got faces painted(or an arm, in Emma's case), and rode the rides for a while. We left around 4:00 and headed for Galveston. We had the hardest time finding our hotel, but after several stops to ask directions and call the place, we finally arrived! Another great deal on Priceline, $120 for a big room with TWO KING BEDS, right across the street from the beach. After checking in, we spent about an hour on the beach, another hour at the pool(so Lauren could show Paul how she could FINALLY swim on her own), changed quickly and went to get something to eat and for a quick stop at the grocery store. After showering the girls in their goggles(I have issues with taking baths in hotel tubs and the twins have issues with getting shower spray in their eyes) and a quick movie, we were all in bed by 10:00. The next day we woke up bright and early, I organized everything at the hotel while Paul went back to the grocery store to get us lunch and munchies for the day along with ice for the cooler. After eating breakfast at the hotel, we headed to Schlitterbahn. We got there and they opened up before 10:00, and we got right to having fun. Oh my, SO much fun, but SO tiring....which didn't hit us until the ride home 10 hours later! Of course, we made the classic mistake of riding the scariest ride first, so Lauren was a little freaked out for the first hour or so. In fact, after calming her down with the kiddy pool and slides for a bit and then moving on to the Lazy River and white water "rapids", she said the funniest thing. Clutching onto me in the tube, she was crying and screamed, "I don't ever want to come to this water park EVER again!" Poor thing! And me being the awesome mommy that I am, I forced her to ride the rapids again! Halfway through, she was giggling and having a blast. We went on lots of rides (each time with Lauren asking if it was going to be scary and/or in the dark), but spent a good portion of our day on the Lazy River/White Water Rapids/Torrent River......SO much fun. All the girls wound up loving it.....I am sure we will go back again next summer. The one really hard thing? Having a family of 5. For most of the rides, Paul and I each had to have a twin, so Kaitlyn was left on her own(next to or behind/in front of us of course) quite a bit, which I felt bad about. She was great about it and never complained, and we took any opportunity we could to have one of us ride with her. Maybe next year we can go with another family so she can buddy up with someone her age......hint, hint Marla!!! :) We didn't leave there until after 6:30, so by the time we got home, we were all so tired. We fed the girls and had them sleep in the game room since they were all stinky from the day. (We did baths/showers first thing this morning!!!) So much fun......but Paul and I are REALLY looking forward to relaxing during our trip to CA that he won through his company......

Emma mad after slipping and getting all wet...classic!

And crying during group picture

On the train...it's hot!

Lauren's new pose for pictures

Lighthouse Dive...Kaitlyn's first time

And Lauren's....she looks so tiny in there!

On the Ferris Wheel....look how curly Emma's hair is in the heat and humidity!!!

I'm not a fan of Ferris Wheels...can you tell or do I hide it well?

Splashing in the fountains!

Grumpy Emma...she wanted to sit on the barrel...

Emma sleeping on the way to Galveston

Woohoo---at the beach!

Sleeping soundly after a day at the Aquarium, beach, and pool!

We didn't take any pictures at Schlitterbahn....it was hard enough keeping up with the girls! :)

Circus 2011

2011-07-21T16:44:00.004-05:00

We took the girls to the circus this morning. They had a lot of fun! Except Emma and Lauren STILL can't sit quietly for more than 5 minutes! Not sure how much they got out of it, in fact, Lauren asked me at intermission when we were going to see the circus! HUH?!? Sigh.....

But overall, it was a success! Kaitlyn's favorite part of the circus was the trapeze, Lauren's favorite part was the elephants, and Emma's favorite part was the escalator. Yes, you read that right. Sigh...... ;)

Having a Bunch of Fun!

2011-07-15T10:22:00.003-05:00

I took the girls (and Avery!) to A Bunch of Fun play place last week. I only got a few pictures, but there is so much to do there. Slides, art center, reading, vet center, home and grocery center, purple moon sand, train, Lego's, light maze.....FUN!

Emma and Kaitlyn in the home center

Lauren and Avery in the grocery center

Light Maze!

Reading books up on one of the second levels

After this, we went out to eat at Cici's...more fun!

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T22:21:00.002-05:00

Happy 40th Paul!

2011-06-29T23:04:00.004-05:00

Paul celebrated his 40th birthday with a trip to Yogi Water Park--woohoo! (Clearly, his choice of celebration!) We went with Denise and Kristen(and one of Kristen's friends) and everyone had a blast. Paul's REAL birthday present will be next weekend when he gets a guys weekend with the boys gambling in LA. (I had better not see any photos of him hanging out with girls in bikinis then!) :)

Kaitlyn and Paul playing in the pool

Kaitlyn

Emma

Lauren (I promise she is having fun, just waiting for the SPLASH!)

Kristen

Having a well-deserved snack!

Nana and Papa visit!

2011-06-25T09:19:00.003-05:00

Sadly, I am a picture-taker-slacker. We were so busy that I only got one picture with Nana and Papa. I know, I suck. :) (I didn't even get any picture son Father's Day with Paul and both grandfathers!) But we had TONS of fun. The girls were busy in the mornings the first half of their visit with VBS. We got to see the twins and then Kaitlyn in the end-of-VBS program on Friday. Paul and I got to go out on Saturday night while the girls went to Denny's with Nana and Papa and then relaxed at home. Late night for us....didn't get home until 1am! The second half of their stay the girls had swim lessons, so we went to those and even snuck in one day at the pool. The girls were so excited to have Nana and Papa here and can't wait for their next visit!

Lauren and Emma are all smiles with Nana and Papa here! (Ignore Emma's black eye, she'd gotten it a couple of days before while having fun with friends on a trampoline.)

Say what? Nana and Papa are coming back in October to visit again??? Too cool!

Can't wait to see you again soon!!!!!

Summertime Haircuts!

2011-06-12T19:42:00.002-05:00

Lauren (after nap), 3+ inches off

Kaitlyn (after a shower), 2-3 inches off

Emma (after nap), just a trim to even it all out!

Professional Photos

2011-06-09T16:22:00.007-05:00

I just realized I never posted the professional pictures we took in March. So...here they are! :)

New Swingset! (a post for you, Karen!)

2011-06-04T09:37:00.010-05:00

We got a new swingset about a month and a half ago. The girls love it, but it's so darn hot now, not sure it will get much use until late Fall! I am doing this post just for Karen, who has requested multiple times that I post pictures of the new swingset. :) ...and for my mom, who has requested pictures of Annie now that she is bigger! :)

In even more exciting news, the twins figured out how to pump their legs and swing themselves! Can I get a WOOHOO? Lauren is tall enough to also start on her own, Emma still needs a first push as her legs don't quite touch the ground.

Finally, there is also a trapeze bar, but we took it off for now so all three could swing together. Luckily, it is very easy to switch out!

You can see the new portion of our patio that we got extended in the background. We are still shopping for patio furniture, especially a type that Annie can't chew and destroy!

LOVE this picture of Emma's hair!!!

Kaitlyn went inside to talk to Kristen on Skype...

Annie!

Lauren out the window

Lauren ringing the bell

Kaitlyn out the window

Fun times!

Memorial Weekend Fun

2011-05-30T16:36:00.006-05:00

We all had fun on Sunday at my the house of my friend, Rhona. It was also her birthday so we celebrated with pizza, cupcakes, and cake! Here are some photos of all the kids having a blast. The twins had swim lessons all last week so we left the floaties at home. Lauren hung tight to her kickboard the whole time, and Emma did swim on her own a bunch between Paul and I and to the stairs. VERY scary without the reassurance of the floaties, let me tell you! Both girls fell off their kickboards at one point and went under. Both were able to get themselves up and get their heads out of the water, but it makes you think about how quickly something tragic could happen. Both times, Paul or I were right there to get them out and calm them down, and they were troopers and went right back in. With more swim lessons at the end of June, I am hoping for a floatie-free, safe summer!

Lauren

Kaitlyn (Is Camden taking a peek?!?!?!?) :)

One-flippered Camden and Kaitlyn

Emma(and more in the background)

Kylie posing

Emma jumping in

Lauren and Emma passing each other on the kickboards

Emma and Sophia chatting as they kick around the pool

(I had the same exact picture with Emma and Annabelle, can't find it now...)

Camden and Kaitlyn under the waterfall

Lauren sitting pretty

Andrew and Lauren

Emma and Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn

Emma having fun!

I think Lauren likes it!

Pre-School Program

2011-05-16T05:28:00.007-05:00

Emma and Lauren had their Pre-School program Thursday evening. It was circus-themed so they came in dressed up. Emma was a zebra and Lauren was a giraffe. The program was adorable and the girls had a blast! They also each received a detailed scrapbook of their 1st year in the Bobcat Den from their buddies. We are looking forward to next year already!

Lauren with her high school buddy, Miss Amber

Emma with her high school buddy, Miss Shelby

Miss Amber, Lauren, Miss Shelby, and Emma

Mrs. Tea, the awesome director of the program :)

Doing some singing and dancing

Emma getting her scrapbook from Miss Shelby

Lauren getting her scrapbook from Miss Amber

Lauren and Miss Amber

Emma and Miss Shelby

Kaitlyn having fun

Lauren chasing balloons

Emma having a blast!

A Monumental Day in US History

2011-05-01T23:18:00.000-05:00

Kaitlyn's 2nd Grade Program

2011-04-30T03:13:00.004-05:00

Kaitlyn had a music program a few weeks ago called "Music Gets Down to the Bone." All of the kids did an awesome job and we really enjoyed it. Kaitlyn had a speaking and dancing part in addition to all the songs. :)

What we THOUGHT she'd be wearing

What she came out in....some of the kids got to dress up, unbeknown to them or us

Loving the dress with the sneakers :)

In line to speak...

Delivering her line

Cracks me up....look at the length of the dress on the other girl as compared to Kaitlyn

Getting their dance moves on

Happy 4th Birthday Emma and Lauren!

2011-04-17T00:01:00.010-05:00

Happy 4th Birthday to my two sweet girls! Here are some photos from their party at Monkey Bizness yesterday....they had a blast!

Lauren

Emma

Kaitlyn

Sweet girls

Loving sisters

Some of their friends before the party started

And their off!

Kaitlyn with her good friend, Sarah

Tried to go around the room and get a picture of everyone there...it was really hard!

Back home with all their loot! :)

Western Day for the twins

2011-04-06T14:28:00.010-05:00

Western Day for the twins was back at the beginning of March. I forgot about it until the night before...this was the best I could do on such short notice! (Notice Emma's 2 tiny ponytails in the last picture, which she insisted on!)

Bluebonnets 2011

2011-03-30T20:23:00.007-05:00

I know there are a TON of photos, but I love so many of them so it was hard to pick just a few. Paul found a great location off the highway, so it was easy to get in lots of good pictures. Enjoy!

Spring Break 2011

2011-03-21T17:00:00.002-05:00

We had so much fun over Spring Break.....visiting with good friends, girl-time only manicures and pedicures, YoLo for lunch, RODEO(for the 1st time), playing outside a lot, and just hung out. So much fun......of course, I only took pics from the rodeo, so here they are!

Riding the light-rail, one of their favorite parts

Petting a bunny

So cute

Kaitlyn on Dr. Pepper, the pony

Lauren on Cowboy

Emma on Dolly

Kangaroos

Chicken on a llama

Lauren with the goats

Emma with a goat

And, Kaitlyn with a goat

HUGE longhorn

Tons of baby piglets

At the carnival

Kaitlyn and Mommy on a roller coaster

Kaitlyn with a butterfly

Emma with a butterfly

And....Lauren with a butterfly on her shirt

Sweet girl

Sweet girl number 2

Sweet girl number 3!

Kaitlyn on the merry-go-round

Lauren having a blast on the merry-go-round

Emma on the merry-go-round

Going through the "Farmer's Market"

Emma with her "goods"

Kaitlyn with her "goods"

And Lauren, no "goods"

My three cute girls

Lauren....with her "goods"!

Emma

Kaitlyn

Emma taking a rest

And Lauren taking a rest

God Bless America!

Austin, Mom's Tea, Western Day/Pajama Day

2011-03-03T18:40:00.006-06:00

Like my title??? I've been so busy, I had to cram several posts into one! Let's start with our trip to Austin at the beginning of the month. We went to celebrate my cousin's husband's 40th birthday with a wonderful kids-free night out. It rocked! Sadly, I only got one picture of the kids, they were always too busy having fun together. We are hoping they will come visit us real soon!

Emma, Lauren, Kaitlyn, Paige, and Trey

Birthday boy Dominique with his gorgeous wife (my cousin, Karen)

My Uncle Doug and Aunt Nancy

My cousin Scott and his wife Lorna

Paul and I

Moving on to the Mothers' Tea at the twins pre-school......I took a day off of work so I could spend it with them. We had a lot of fun, I wasn't able to get too many pictures though! We played, they introduced their mommies, then we sang, danced, did some arts & crafts, and ate a yummy lunch!

Lauren introducing me

Emma introducing me

Emma making her Valentine mailbox

Lauren making her Valentine mailbox

On to Western Day/Pajama Day....confusing, right??? Well....it was Western Day at Kaitlyn's school and Pajama Day at the twins' school! They were all so excited for their events! Gigi was able to come over and watch Kaitlyn at Western Day (as I had to work late) and then pick up the twins from Amy's house. Meanwhile, the twins had Pajama Day and were thrilled to be able to go to school in the pj's they wore the night before!

My little cowgirl

Yeehaw!

Emma in her very appropriate "Wild Child" pj's

Sweet as a cupcake Lauren

My three girls!

Annie's First Bath

2011-02-21T21:34:00.002-06:00

Say what?!?!?!? What's this thing called a bath that you speak of??? (Don't worry, she did awesome!) These are several weeks old....she's much bigger now! Sweet Annie weighs in at 23.5 pounds as of Saturday!

Emma's First Haircut

2011-01-23T17:37:00.003-06:00

Emma FINALLY got her first haircut last weekend. We've been trying to convince her to get one for the last 6 months, but she would always tell us "No!" and/or cry about it. We kept on telling her it wouldn't hurt, but it made no difference. Well, we told her last Saturday that she WAS GOING to get a haircut, and she got hysterical. As she was calming down and sucking her thumb while twirling her hair, it dawned on me. I asked her if she was afraid she wouldn't have enough hair to twirl anymore, and she told me yes. Poor thing, she's probably been worried about that for the last 6 months! After I assured her that she would still have enough hair to twirl, she was good to go, no more tears at all, even while they were cutting her hair and trimming her neck. If only I could set my brain to the mind-set of a pre-schooler!

Before.....

Watching Kaitlyn get her hair cut

During...

Lauren does not want her hair cut again anytime soon...she wants it to be long like Rapunzel.

See!?!?!?! Her hair is actually much longer than it looks!

Using the curling iron on her hair (The lady cutting it was in love with the blonde curls!)

After......it looks different than the way I do it....I wet it and scrunch it to bring out all of her natural curls, which I LOVE!

Cutie Pie!

Annie!

2011-01-15T20:50:00.004-06:00

We went to the Houston Humane Society on Kaitlyn's birthday to "just look" at the dogs there to try to find what type of dog would be a right fit for our family. Well, after spending some time with several puppies, we were introduced to Annie, a lab/boxer mix. After just 1 or 2 minutes, we were quite certain that she would be the perfect fit for our family. She came home with us two days later and is such a sweetheart......the girls absolute adore her! (Even Lauren!) She is very gentle, though we are working on biting (typical puppy behavior) and "potty training." (We were told she was practically trained....not so sure about that! She and her litter were infested with fleas, and Annie was allergic to them. She'd lost a lot of her fur, so one of the trainers at the Humane Society took her home. She came to work with the trainer every day and was like the mascot there, never in a cage, always with someone. It's nice to have the puppy with some grown-up qualities, but again, not so sure she's potty trained!) She has adjusted very well to our house and our routines, we are so happy to have her here with us!

Kaitlyn's Birthday

2011-01-10T20:32:00.004-06:00

We had an exciting day for Kaitlyn's 8th birthday. She woke up to LOTS of presents and had lots of fun opening them all, with the twins' help of course! Then came the exciting news that we were going to the Houston Humane Society to look (JUST LOOK) at dogs. Well....you can imagine how that went......we adopted the most adorable puppy named Annie. She is part lab, part boxer (they think) and a VERY good girl. (We brought her home a few days later after she was spayed...she'll get her own post soon!) We ended Kaitlyn's birthday by purchasing tons of things for Annie, eating dinner at Subway(Kaitlyn's choice), and singing "Happy Birthday" to our sweet 8 year old!

Sitting in front of her presents

Still in the Little Diva hair do from the night before

Emma and Lauren helping....Emma was a super trash collector!

What's this?

With her bed for her American Girl dolls, and her new overnight and make up bags from Nana and Papa

Buying supplies for Annie at PetSmart

Last photo of her hair before she had me take it out at PetSmart

Freshly showered and ready for some yummy dessert

Happy 8 year old!

Happy 8th Birthday, Kaitlyn!

2011-01-03T20:13:00.005-06:00

Happy 8th Birthday to the sweetest 8 year old I know! We love you very much, Kaitlyn!!!

Getting all dolled up at her Little Diva party

Oooooo, pretty!

The girls getting their grove on

Blowing out the candle on her "butterfly" cookie cake

Getting ready to open presents

She slept in her hair-do from Little Diva

Enjoying her loot

Last pictures at PetSmart (shopping for our new puppy, Annie) before she had me take out her hair.
(Yes, at PetSmart!)

We had added the pink hair paint earlier in the day

How could you sleep with all those bobby pins???

All clean after her shower and enjoying her cake!