The Slate Family

Valentines Day

2012-02-14T19:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines day!!!
This morning, the girls woke up to a few little things at the table and heart shaped pancakes. :)
Their most exciting gift was tickets to see Veggie Tales Live next week! I'm sooo excited to take them to this!

Showing off their Veggie Tales "tickets"!

The girls had a Valentine party at school and had a fun day overall.

Last week, Tony took the girls to CFA for Daddy/Daughter Night. Here is a picture of the three of them before they left!

Kaitlyn, Jillian, Kennedy

Lovin' on little sis

They love their daddy!

Tony took more pictures of that night, but they are on his phone and I haven't gotten them yet. That evening was a lot of fun for them! Flowers, food and a ride in a pink limo! What could be better???

Books of the Bible

2012-01-31T20:04:00.000-08:00

Just had to capture this. :)
Only 2 years old and knows all her books of the Bible.
(I give my mom full credit for teaching this to her!)

January

2012-01-31T19:17:00.000-08:00

It's the last day of January and I'm FINALLY posting something! Whew! It's been a busy month.

The first big news is that Jillian is potty trained!! Yipee!! She still wears pull ups/diapers for nap and bedtime but she is doing so great during the day. So proud of my little girl!

The next big news for Kennedy is that she can ride her bike without training wheels!! She started trying last week and has it down now! I meant to snap a picture of her, but it was raining today. I'll get one soon! Kaitlyn tried, but decided that she would rather have her training wheels back on for now.

All the girls had dentist appointments this month. It was Jillian's first time and she LOVED it!! No cavities for the girls. :)

Can her smile get much bigger??

She loved it when the chair went back.

She got to wear sunglasses to keep the light out of her eyes. :)

She asked the dentist first thing how old he was. I thought that was funny. He answered her, and then he asked her how old she was.

After he checked her teeth, she was concerned that he had not checked her cough. LOL. I think she was confused between a doctor and a dentist. :)

We did have to make a trip to the doctor this month. All the girls had to be on steroids and inhalers for their coughs and wheezing. :(

Kaitlyn had this first near the end of December, but Kennedy and Jillian followed her this month. We are still trying to get over the lingering coughs.

Tony and I got to go on a couple of dates! Yipee! It's been waaaaay too long. We had someone offer to babysit for free and we jumped on it! :) We had a gift card and we went to see "Joyful Noise" with Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah. Very cute movie and loved the music!

Tony's boss took all the managers and their wives out to a really fun restaurant called Buca Di Beppo.
Yummy food and a super fun atmosphere!! (Thanks to my parents for babysitting!)

The twins are doing great in school and Jillian and I are really enjoying our study in BSF this year. (Acts and the apostles)

Next month I'm hosting a Kelly's Kid's clothes party. The clothes are super cute and I can't wait for it!

Last, I'll leave you with a cute video of Kennedy and Kaitlyn singing a song that they learned in their preschool Spanish class.

Bike riding and more Christmas!

2012-01-01T07:18:00.000-08:00

We finally got outside and Jillian got a chance to try out her new bike! She did wonderful!

My big girl!

Kennedy made it her responsibility to make sure Jilly could do it. She followed her around everywhere....such a good big sister.

Sweet sisters

The next day, Tony's family came in from Ft. Worth! They brought lots and lots of gifts with them. :)

Snuggles with Aunt Dar!

Jilly had just gotten up from her nap and still looks sleepy, but she got really attached to Paw Paw on this trip. It was really cute.

Present time!! Pj's for all!!

Mermaid Barbie for the bath tub! (Kaitlyn)

Littlest Pet Shop!

Cute pj pants (Kennedy)

Our new door mat! Too cute!

Kennedy showing off a new gift!

(Can you tell they are back in their "rock star" outfits again? They love them!

Baby dolls! (You can never have too many)

This bead set kept them occupied for hours.

Trying (unsuccessfully) to get a picture with Paw Paw and Ya Ya.

Wish we could have gotten a better one!

We had a fun little visit with them and can't wait to see them again!

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T20:26:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning was so much fun!! Here are some of the highlights

Jillian got her very first bike from Santa! She has been talking about getting a bike for a while now. She so wants to be like her big sisters.

The twins got guitars and "rock star" dresses!

The girls in their dresses (which they put on right away) opening their stockings.

Angry birds!

Little Jilly got her own guitar too!

My little divas

After all the presents were opened, we headed back to my parents house for some more fun!

Group shot! (Kennedy cracks me up with her eyes so wide!)

Opening play kitchen coffee maker, mixer and toaster

Kaitlyn got a lite brite!

Kennedy's fun surprises! (On a side note....this Veggie Tales DVD, Princess and the Pop Star, is GREAT!)

Kennedy got a Rapunzel dress

Kaitlyn got a Belle dress

Belle book for her Tag! (Kaitlyn)

Jillian had a great time too! She loved this little snowman that danced and sang!

Aunt Jenn MADE these beautiful bow holders! Sooo talented!!

Jilly got a Veggie Tales sing along DVD that she asks to watch every day!

(This girl loves her Veggie Tales!)

My parents also got the girls puppies that you can walk! They love them!!!

We had a great day! We hung around, let the kids play (no naps!), ate way too much and enjoyed being together celebrating the birth of our Savior!
Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-27T07:44:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve, we headed to my parents house to celebrate with our family from Austin. The kids had such a fun time playing together

Kennedy, Jillian, Jarrett, Cooper, Kaitlyn and Cale

My girlies!

Trying to get another picture right before opening presents!!

Kaitlyn and Kennedy got a Tangled Wii game!!

Jilly got house shoes from Aunt Terri!

Modeling her shoes

She also got a bath time Ariel doll!!

The twins got "rock star" outfits! They loooved these and wore them all day (and wanted to wear them all the next day too!) Thanks Aunt Terri! (They also got fun house shoes...the more bling the better!)

All the grandkids made a hand print Christmas tree for my mom and dad. This was my wonderful sister-in -law's idea!! I have to admit, I was quite nervous watching Jenn paint all of the kids hands with green paint! Two 5 year olds, one 3 1/2 year old and one 2 1/2 year old with paint on their hands! But, everyone did well, and no one decided to paint the walls! :)

Another cute shot of my rock stars :)

We did our annual Christmas nativity play :)

Kennedy was the angel this year, Kaitlyn was Mary and Jillian was a shepherd.

Trying to get a group shot!

Cale was shepherd too, Cooper was Joseph and Jarrett was the narrator!

After the play was craft time!(Cale and Kennedy)

Jilly and Kaitlyn

They also got boxes with lots of goodies in them...including these microphones! They were so neat! They had a mode on them where you could make your voice sound like an elf! All 6 kids had one and you can imagine the noise! Fun times!

Tony had to work on Christmas Eve this year....that was no fun. :( But he was able to join us later that evening to tuck the kids in and help set everything up for the morning! What a fun Christmas Eve!

Christmas fun

2011-12-13T18:35:00.000-08:00

We have been busy and I haven't been very good at capturing everything on camera, but I have gotten a few things. This picture was taken one Sunday when we were busy with family stuff and we skipped naptime (which we never do!) I came out to find these 2 sound asleep!

So sweet

We also went to Chick Fil A's Christmas party! Here are 2 of my goof balls having fun! (Jilly and Kennedy)

Kennedy and Kaitlyn had a play at school. Kaitlyn was Mary and Kennedy was a shepherd. It was super cute! :)

Kaitlyn (Mary)

Nativity cast

Trying to get a good pic of K and K! It was cute to see them "act". Kaitlyn was pretty shy and Kennedy was bold!

That same week, they had their Christmas party at school! :) I didn't get to go, but Tony was able to and snapped a few pictures on his phone! They came home with a TON of candy and cute gingerbread houses.

Kaitlyn's masterpiece

Concentrating (Kaitlyn)

Kennedy working hard!

Next up, Santa Cow and Rudolph!

Santa Cow

Loving on the cow

Rudolph!

Face painting! (Kennedy)

Jillian

Kaitlyn wanted her hand painted.

I know there will be a lot more fun to come! :)

Sick turkeys

2011-11-25T18:16:00.000-08:00

Well, my little turkeys were still sick on Thanksgiving. In the words of Jillian, "boo, hoo hoo". Tony was off work, so we had a nice restful day at home, but no turkey for us. As it happened, my dad came down with a sinus infection and felt pretty bad, so Thanksgiving has been rescheduled for this Sunday with my family/extended family.

We did take the opportunity to decorate the house for Christmas! The girls were on pins and needles waiting to do this. They had such a fun time!!

Rediscovering the elf hats

Wow, that hat looks big!

My "cheesy" little girl

Posing with Scooter

Can you tell Jillian is a little ham???

Playing with the Little People Nativity (they love this and so do I!)

Group picture!

Our Christmas tree is very bottom heavy...hmmm...wonder why?

Jilly checking out the snow man

Putting up an ornament

Kaitlyn

Kennedy

That evening, my mom and I went Black Friday shopping!! I haven't been able to go in a few years, but since the stores opened at night I had lots of time! We started at 7pm and shopped until 2am! I was super tired by that time, but it was so worth it!

The girls are fever free (finally!) and on the road to recovery. :) Happy Thanksgiving!

First musical and fevers

2011-11-20T06:34:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Kennedy and Kaitlyn participated in a musical at Sugar Creek called "Under God's Sea in 3D" They were part of the choir and we were so proud of them! Here are just a few pictures of the girls.

Walking on stage at the beginning of show

My sweet girls! (They got "Under the Sea" hats)

Last week on Tues, Jillian starting not feeling so well. By Wed she had fever. We took her to the dr and they said it was just a cold/virus. Well....now we are on day 6 and the poor thing STILL has fever! AND...she passed this lovely virus to her sisters. Kennedy got fever Saturday and Kaitlyn woke up with fever today (Sunday). We are hoping and praying that this passes quick so we can enjoy Thanksgiving with extended family! I am very thankful, though, that I am off this week for Thanksgiving break so I can take care of them and they aren't missing school. That's a blessing!

Super Saturday

2011-11-12T18:45:00.000-08:00

Today was a fun filled day! Tony was off work (yea!) so we had lots of fun! Kennedy and Kaitlyn are in kids choir at Sugar Creek Baptist and they had a 2 hour rehearsal today, so we dropped them off at the church and we took Jillian to the mall. We didn't expect to see Santa so soon, but he was there, there was NO line and she REALLY wanted to see him. The prices for the pictures are sooo expensive, so I snapped a few on my phone. Sorry for the poor quality, but I'm so glad I got some! She LOVED it! She told Santa she wanted a bike!

My brave little girl! No fear from this child!

"Santa, I want a bike for Christmas."

Jillian had a lot of fun at the mall and really enjoyed all the "mommy/daddy attention". We ate lunch at the food court and she got to play at the play area for a while. Then, it was off to pick up Kennedy and Kaitlyn.

After naps, we went to Bass Pro Shop in Katy. They had a Santa Wonderland there and Santa was giving FREE pictures! Plus there were crafts and other fun things.

(Sorry again for the picture quality...using my phone)

This was the first time since the twins were 6 months old that they have visited Santa. Before this, they were way too scared! They loved it! They told Santa they wanted guitars.

Talking with Santa

Posing with Frosty

Craft time! They were making a Santa ornament

Concentrating

We left that store and headed out to the mall. We walked around and enjoyed looking in the different stores. We came upon the food court and of course they wanted to ride the merry-go-round!

Kennedy

Jillian

This was her first time to ride on a merry-go-round!

Kaitlyn

After the ride, we had dinner and walked around some more. By this time, everyone was getting tired.
We were so happy that Tony was off on a Saturday this week! We had such a wonderful day! Tomorrow is Kennedy and Kaitlyn's big musical! We can't wait to see them perform.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T20:24:00.000-07:00

We had a great night of trick or treating! Before we get to all the pics, let me give you a little background (for those of you who somehow don't know about my girls and their fears of Halloween.)

We have never gone successfully trick or treating. We tried when the twins were 2 and we got around to a few houses, but it ended badly...with lots of screaming in fright.

Year 3...all dressed and ready in their cute cheerleader costumes. Never made it out the door. They were terrified!

Year 4: I didn't even buy costumes that year. I put a bowl of candy on our door step because they were sooooo scared of the kids dressed up in their costumes if I tried to open the door to pass it out.

Anything and everything with a mask has utterly terrified them.

This year I didn't buy costumes either. They told me they wanted to trick or treat indoors. (They get in one bedroom of the house...knock on the door....we answer and give candy. ) Jillian was going to wear the costume that the twins wore and I was going to get a few pictures and that would be it.

Well, yesterday, Kaitlyn told me she wanted to go...for real. Kennedy was a little hesitant. Our cul-de-sac was going to have a pizza party and then all go trick or treating together and so, we decided to go for it! And they did GREAT!!

They literally thought of what they wanted to wear on the way home from school today.

Don't judge. :)

Kaitlyn wanted to be a ballerina witch (hat made today!), Jillian a bumble bee and Kennedy a ballerina (no witch). I totally expected them to come down in one of their princess dresses, but I guess they felt like this was better! :)

Pizza party time! (Kaitlyn quickly shed the "witch" hat)

Kennedy

Jillian

Madi and Meagan stopped to chat with the girls!

My ballerinas

Group photo! (Yes, we ALL went together!!)

Waiting for trick or treat time

Kennedy helping Jillian learn the ropes

"Trick or treat!"

Running to the next house

The bigger girls stayed behind and walked with Jillian...so sweet

They had to stop and hug a ninja turtle they saw on their way back home.

"I'm tired, mommy."

Kaitlyn and Jillian looking at all their loot! Kennedy got just as much. Can we say...too much candy???
I'm soooo proud of the girls for being so brave. They even saw some super scary masks along the way, but they didn't freak out. :)
Year 5 was a Halloween success! (and year 2 for Jilly...who has no fears of these type of things.)

Fall Fun

2011-10-31T19:17:00.000-07:00

After our pumpkin patch trip, we carved our big pumpkin and the girls painted their little pumpkins!

Kennedy

Kaitlyn

Tony did a great job carving!

Their painted pumpkins.

Our crazy pumpkin!

This Sat we went to a local fall festival with Cooper and my brother and sister-in- law.

Our "before' picture (bright sun!)

Train ride!!!

Sweet Kaitlyn

Jillian had a blast!

Next up....pony rides!! This was the first time they have wanted to do this! They loved it. (Kaitlyn)

Kennedy

Cooper

Jilly

Smile!

They had to ride the train again!

And definitely get snow cones!

This picture makes me laugh! I think at this point they had had enough of me saying" smile" and taking pictures! :)

Jillian trying some cotton candy along with her snow cone. She loved it!

Cute girl

There were lots of games and bounce houses too! They loved winning all the prizes.

At the end, Tony got off work and was able to join us! It was getting dark (and pretty chilly) but I was so thankful that he got to be there for some of it.

Pumpkin patch

2011-10-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

The girls were sooo excited about going to the pumpkin patch today. We met up with the Fox's and the kids had a great time.

The traditional "on the stairs" picture. (Kaitlyn, Jillian, Kennedy)

Having fun!

Kennedy

Kaitlyn

Jillian

Bounce house fun

Sweet sisters

Hmmmm....which one should I pick?

This one!

Kaitlyn

Kennedy

Kaitlyn, Kennedy, Jillian

Leigh, Ryan and Kade came! That made it so much fun for all of the kids to be together and it was nice to have friend for me too! :)

All the kiddos!

There was a playground nearby so that was our next stop.

Just a swingin'

After the playground, we made one more trip to the bounce house and then picked out our pumpkins. The girls each got one (to paint) and I bought a big one for us to carve.

Guess where we ended up after the pumpkin patch? Yup! Chick-fil-a. We were sad daddy had to miss all the fun, so we stopped in for a visit and some lunch. Jillian felt like such a big girl sitting at the table with her sisters and Ryan. Kade sat at our table. :)
What a super fun morning! Thank goodness for naptime! I'm gonna need one too! :)

Fire Station

2011-10-15T19:27:00.000-07:00

Today was the opening of the new fire station in Telfair. They had lots of fun things for the kids!

In front of the fire truck

Cheese!

They had a good time sitting on the truck!

This picture makes me laugh! Kennedy's cheesy face and Cooper's little frown :)

Little bit had a great time posing for the camera!

Uncle Chris and Cooper

Free popcorn!! What could be better? (Kaitlyn)

Jaws of Life demonstration (we ended up not seeing it....we got side tracked with face painting etc)

Kennedy in the police car

"Face" painting! :) Kennedy got a rainbow to match her shirt! Kaitlyn got a heart and Jillian got a butterfly.

She worked up a lot of nerve to climb up into the fire truck, but Kennedy did it!

Jillian in the fire truck.

Kaitlyn got in it too, but at the last minute she turned around and came back down.

Afterwards, we all headed to Chick Fil A for a bite to eat (and to see Tony). I snapped a picture of both tables, but this picture turned out much better than the one of my girls! :)

I think she liked it

2011-09-26T18:22:00.000-07:00

We made snow cones the other day....
This is how Jillian looked when she finished it! :)

She loves snow cones!! (I did manage to get all the red out of her shirt.)
Love that girl!

Stuffed with love

2011-09-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

Kennedy and Kaitlyn's little girlfriend, Ryan, had a birthday party at Build A Bear yesterday! To say that they were excited would be an understatement!
We arrived at 5 pm and the girls could barely contain their excitement!

**(I forgot my camera, so I had to use my phone...sorry about the quality)

Jillian saying hi to baby Kade (Ryan's little brother)

Kennedy coloring her build a bear "home"

As the birthday party leader was explaining everything to the girls, Jillian kept hugging Kaitlyn and playing with her hair!

After a while, Jillian had a hard time being still and decided to play with the computers with her pal, Kade.

Choosing their bear!

Each girl got to choose between a brown or white teddy bear. Kaitlyn chose brown, Kennedy chose white and Jillian chose white also.

Jillian stuffing her bear!

Picking out clothes was their favorite part! Kennedy had her heart set on a Rapunzel dress!

Kaitlyn wanted Cinderella! (Don't you just love the "no face" picture?)

And sweet Jilly got a ballerina dress for her bear.

All done!! By this point, Jillian was getting antsy so she didn't want to be in the picture!

After Build A Bear, we went to the food court and had pizza and cookie cake! Here's Ryan posing with her cake!
K and K had a great time at the party! Jillian had fun too, but by the time we got our food she was hungry, tired and she had a major meltdown. Poor thing. We left soon after we finished eating. The girls haven't stopped playing with their bears all day! :)

More fun at school!

2011-09-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

This past week at school, their teacher sent us more pictures of the things they did! It was food week!! One day they made fruit kabobs and another day they made mac and cheese!! They even had pizza on the last day! :) What fun!!

Watching Ms. Ella stir!

Taste testing! (As you can see...my girls are eating goldfish....they aren't big fans of mac and cheese. (I know.... how is that possible??)

On Thurs, they do science and this week they made goo!

Squishy!

They are loving school each day!

Rainbow

2011-09-24T10:44:00.000-07:00

(I forgot to post this earlier)

Right after school started, back in August, Kennedy asked me, "When will there be a rainbow in the sky?" We were driving home from school.
It was during our dry, hot drought- filled summer and I just told her, "When it rains again." (wondering when that was going to happen)
We went outside that day after dinner to play and I looked up in the sky and there was a rainbow! Kennedy was so excited that God had made that rainbow just for her!!

After about 5 minutes of being outside....it went away, but she hasn't forgotten about it!

Classroom snapshots

2011-09-16T18:47:00.000-07:00

Kennedy and Kaitlyn's teacher sent us pictures from things they did this past week! :) I loved that!

Elizabeth and Kaitlyn making their class t-shirts

Malea and Kennedy

Their cute class! :)

Showing off their shirts!

They each signed their name on every single shirt!

Science experiment!! How much water can a diaper hold?? They first made predictions...then tested it out!

Boys table

More water please!

Holding up their full diapers!! Kaitlyn is hidden behind a couple of people, but she is back there!

They are having such a great year! They are busy with gymnastics, Awanas and kids choir!

Bob and Larry

2011-09-13T18:35:00.000-07:00

Bob and Larry made an appearance at Chick-Fil-A today! :) Guess who was in the Larry suit???
Yup! Tony!!! Kennedy and Kaitlyn were so excited about that. (We kept it a secret from Jillian). One of Tony's co-workers was Bob.

My friend, Sarah Beth, always does the face painting! Kennedy got Larry (of course!) on her face.

Their friend, Ryan, got to come too!

Jillian got a turn next!

She chose Bob! :)

Kaitlyn was too busy hugging her daddy to stand in line for face painting, but they did stop for some ice cream!

Yum! Jillian's favorite!

First Day!

2011-08-31T18:15:00.000-07:00

Today was Kennedy and Kaitlyn's first day!! They were so excited they came down the stairs at 7 and the first thing they asked me was if they could put on their new shoes! :) And they did. Proudly. :) (If only I could get them dressed this quickly every morning!)

My cuties, ready to go!

Kennedy

Kaitlyn (check out those cool new shoes! :) Thanks Grandma!

Walking in to the church/school

Mrs. Ella is at the door and the girls are unpacking their backpacks.

A look inside their room! There are 9 kids in their class and 2 teachers! Wow! Check out all those boys!! Lol! They are supposed to have 2 more girls in their class, but only 1 showed up today.

New friends

This evening they were excited to tell me everything about their day. They seemed most excited about playing in the gym, the playground and the sand table! :) Sounds like a good first day!

Meet the Teacher

2011-08-31T17:58:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was "Meet the Teacher" day for Kennedy and Kaitlyn. They will be in a bridge kindergarten class this year at Sugar Land Baptist Church (formerly Williams Trace Baptist). The girls were excited to go and meet their new teacher, Ms. Ella!

My big 5 year olds (Kaitlyn, Kennedy)

Inside their classroom! They got to decorate their folder with stickers. Jillian came with us and you can see she made herself right at home! :) (We had to take away that other child's folder before Jillian put stickers all over it! She thinks she is so big!

Whats been going on

2011-08-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in forever it seems! We have been so busy and I've been horrible about taking pictures. August 8, teachers had to go back to work and Aug. 11 the kids came! We have already been in school for almost 2 weeks! It's going good...just trying to get back in the swing of things.

Kennedy and Kaitlyn start their bridge kindergarten class August 31. They are super ready for school and are going to love having that daily routine. Jillian is going to miss them! I'll be posting pictures of their first day! :)

Since I've posted last, we've been swimming, to birthday parties, play dates, and had Ian come to stay with us a couple of weekends. Ian is from Scotland and is here for work for 6 weeks. Tony went to Scotland on mission trips (in college) and has known Ian since he was 12. (and his family). Then, in 2007, Suzy, his sister, came to stay with us for 3 months. We loved having her with us!! Now, Ian is here and he soooo reminds me of Suzy. :) They are such neat people and we love their accents! (The girls giggle all the time!)

At church, I have been helping out in Jillian's bible class the past few weeks ( mainly because she was having a lot of separation anxiety). Starting last week, though, they asked me to teach Kennedy and Kaitlyn's class. I was a little nervous about how Jillian would do, but we talked about it and she was such a big girl! Walked right in and no tears! :)

Tony has been busy working and still loves it! He gets Sundays off and one other day during the week. It's been nice having him around in the mornings when he doesn't have to go in to work until later in the day.

Thats what been going on! :) Nothing too exciting, but busy as always. I'll hopefully get more posts in soon! :)

5 year and 2 year pictures

2011-07-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

Kennedy

Kaitlyn

Kennedy

Galveston

2011-07-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

We had a busy week this past week! I was busy looking at rental homes for a friend who is moving down here from New Jersey and Tony was working a lot. We had swim lessons and gymnastics and on Friday, we all celebrated my brother's birthday at Pappadeaux's. Here are my girls ready for some yummy dinner! These outfits were given to them from their babysitter, Carolyn!

Kaitlyn, Jillian, Kennedy

Group photo! (Sorry mom! Caught you with your eyes closed!)

Saturday morning, we loaded the van and headed to Galveston! A very sweet family let us stay in their beautiful condo for the weekend!

Finally there! Waiting for daddy to unload the van!

Here's a picture of the condo!

Do you think we brought enough stuff??? It doesn't seem to matter if you are staying 1 night or 10 nights...you still have to bring the same amount of luggage etc. when you have kids!

Here is a picture of the kitchen (Please don't mind the weird shadow of Tony....didn't see that until I had already uploaded the pictures! ha!) They left the girls a surprise on the kitchen counter!! So nice!

The girls were super excited to open this!!

Living/dining room

Master bedroom

There was another bedroom with large bunk beds that they twins slept on. (They slept together on the bottom bunk) Jillian slept in our room in her pack n play.

Opening the goody basket!

Before we headed to the pool, they played a little with toys I brought along. These kept them busy (and quiet!) for a long time!

Our view from the balcony (We were on the 25th floor!) By the way, the twins have been terrified of elevators but obviously, we weren't going to climb up 25 flights of stairs, so I'm happy to say that that fear is conquered and they LOVED the elevator! Yipee!!

Before we headed to the beach, we had lunch and then actually played in the swimming pool! Kennedy and Kaitlyn feel so comfortable swimming around (floaties and shallow water, but still!!) and it was so nice to see them having FUN and not being scared! :) I think I'm gonna love year FIVE!

After we got back from the pool, we had snacks, played a little more at the condo, then got sunscreened up (again) to head to the beach!

Kennedy!

Jillian (this picture cracks me up!)

Kaitlyn

Our long walk to the beach! (Tony was behind us lugging a huge cart of toys, towels, umbrellas etc!) Poor Tony!

Kaitlyn

Jillian loved the mud!

Daddy took her out in the water! She loved it. (She wouldn't have anything to do with the water back in October when we went)

Sand! The sand kept them occupied for HOURS!!

Kite flying time! (Kennedy)

Kaitlyn's turn

Jillian didn't move from this spot for about 45 minutes. She sat here and played in the sand and was soooo content!

I think they could have played all evening! We finally went in, had dinner, baths and all crashed. Jillian woke up the next morning and the first thing she said was, "Beach?" In fact, since we have been home, she keeps asking to go. We had such a fantastic time!! The girls are already ready to go back :)

5th birthday party

2011-07-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

For Kennedy and Kaitlyn's 5th birthday we did a swimming/princess party. We set out lots of pools, water table and slip n slide in the backyard and the kids played and played!

Kaitlyn sliding!

Kaitlyn and Gabrielle

Can't believe they are FIVE!

Kennedy and Gabrielle

Cooper and Liberty

Enjoying the cupcakes!

Opening a Rapunzel doll from Aunt Jenn, Uncle Chris and Cooper!

Pretty jewelry! (Kennedy)

The girls had a great time and they are really growing up too fast! I love you Kennedy! I love you Kaitlyn! You will always be my baby girls!

What the girls are doing at 5 years old: gymnastics, swim lessons, princess anything, drawing and coloring, crafts, dressing up, pretty dresses, learning to read (sounding out letters etc), babies and lots and lots of pretend play.

What they don't like: trying vegetables and new foods, getting their hair fixed, change, getting too hot (such girly girls)

I don't mean to lump them together, but they really are doing all the same things right now and they both don't like the same things! :) There are very big differences in their personalities but their interests are the same!

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn! Happy Birthday Kennedy!

Moooooo!

2011-07-09T18:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was "dress like a cow and get free food day" at Chick Fil A! So, guess what we did??? :)

My little herd

Tony was working but still came and took pictures with us!

Even my parents got dressed up!

We all got free meals and dessert!

Chris, Jenn and Cooper came too!

We had a fun time and this event made for some cute pictures :)

Elephant Bath and Happy Birthday Kennedy and Kaitlyn!

2011-07-07T20:37:00.000-07:00

Tony had a wonderful opportunity to bring all of us to watch the circus elephants get a bath! This was an event with Chick Fil A and it just happened to take place on Kaitlyn and Kennedy's birthday!!!

The birthday girls!

We waited in a little room for a while and the girls got a birthday message from their Aunt Dar while we were in there!

They also passed out stuffed animals and spin lights for all the kids! :)

Finally, it was time to move outside and wait for the elephants! The twins were pretty nervous and I was not quite sure how they would react to all the CFA cows that were there to promote this event. They are usually terrified of any costumed creature, but they surprised us today!

Tony with one of the cows!

Couldn't believe they were hugging the cows!!!

Cute pic!

Here come the elephants!!!

First, they spray them down

Then they told the elephant to lay down

Cute clowns

Then they soap 'em up!!

After the baths were done, it was back to hugging the CFA cows. Jillian loved them!!!

We told her to kiss his nose, but it looks more like she is biting it!

Taking it all in

Jillian had a great view! :)

Group photo of the firemen (they had to use their hose to wash the elephants) and the CFA cows!

All clean!!! Walking back inside

We were all hot and tired after being out in the sun but we had SUCH a fun time!!! The media was there and they tried to interview the twins, but they didn't want to talk. Oh well! That's kids for ya! A photographer from the Houston Chronicle snapped a pic of them and told us it would be in the paper tomorrow!! :) Their birthday party is on Saturday and they are very excited about that!

4th of July

2011-07-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

Ready for church in our patriotic clothes! (Kaitlyn, Jillian, Kennedy)

On the 4th, we went to my parents house for a yummy lunch of hamburgers, hot dogs and grilled chicken! We had a great time and the girls loved dressing in their red, white and blue. We painted their toes red, white and blue too!

My twinkies

That evening, we had a party with all our neighbors! We had hot dogs and hamburgers (again!) and lots of yummy desserts! Fun!!

Miss Priss

All the kids eating! YUM!!!

Jillian's favorite part...ice cream!! (It was so hot outside..can you tell??)

Kennedy

Kaitlyn

Next came colored hair spray!! (Kennedy)

I didn't think Jillian would want to do it, but she stood in line with the rest of the kids and said " Do me!"

Kaitlyn

Such beautiful hair and so much fun!

Happy 4th of July!

Princess party

2011-06-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Kennedy and Kaitlyn were recently invited to a birthday party and it was too cute not to post pictures. It was held at Tutus and Tiara's in Rosenberg. tiarasntutus.com.
We arrived and immediately, the girls were able to pick out a princess dress and all the fun things that go with it.

Kaitlyn, Kennedy


Kennedy getting PINK nails!

Green for Kaitlyn

Letting nails dry and sitting at the beautiful table with real china!!

Isn't this adorable? Waiting for more guests to arrive.

Showing me her tea cup! Kaitlyn traded her crown for a hat! They did quite a few costume changes! :)

This was the birthday girl, Ainsley's CAKE! Sooo cute!!!

Here is what all the other girls got! Too adorable! The whole cake/teacup was edible!

After cake, they each got to make a princess crown craft! Again, they changed their outfit! :) This was such a fun party!

Falling apart

2011-06-25T19:18:00.000-07:00

Our house is falling apart.....ok, not really, but it feels like it.

It started in May with this:

Our AC unit. Apparently, when we moved into our house, our home builder, Newmark, put in a unit that was too small for our house. They put in a 3 ton unit and we were supposed to have a 5 ton unit. So, every summer (our house is only 4 years old), something would go wrong with the AC and it would break. We finally had to bite the bullet and buy another unit. Ugh. On the bright side, our AC is wonderful now and I have peace of mind that it won't break again!

June has been an eventful month as well. Right around the beginning of June, I noticed that my oven was cooking things very fast.

I found out first by burning a breakfast casserole to a crisp and it still had 40 minutes on the timer to go! Next came the cupcakes for Jillian's party. They were supposed to take 24 minutes and they were done in 8! I was actually thinking that this could really save me some time! LOL.

Well, a few days later, I turned on the oven to heat a hot dog bun and after about 2 minutes (because it heats so fast) I took it out and turned OFF the oven. I then went upstairs to put Jillian down for her nap. When I came back down the stairs, I felt heat. I thought maybe I had forgotten to turn the oven off. I checked it and it was turned to OFF, but the oven was ON and blazing hot! I think it heated itself up to 500 degrees!

It would not turn off and it was quickly heating my house. Thankfully my parents and my brother came over and turned off the breaker and gas. We had to call someone to fix it....apparently we had a bad thermostat.

Moving on. This week, I noticed that all our sinks and toilets were making gurgling sounds.
Not good.
Called someone out and to make a loooong story short... our clean out drain (which I had no idea about, but it's in your front yard) was broken. The sewer line was broken!!! It had been broken since we moved in and had been filling with mud and stuff for 4 years! That's why we were having gurgling sounds etc.
Apparently, when they landscaped our yard, they ran right over our clean out drain and broke it. Again, thanks Newmark.
We got that fixed. It's nice to be able to shower at my own house again (and wash dishes and clothes!)

This is our new clean out drain! Isn't it beautiful?? :) I kid. There was a big bush in the empty space, but now just this pretty little white drain. (I think the workers left a blue washrag...not sure what it's doing there)

June is coming to a close and I'm praying that July and August are nicer to us!

Happy Father's Day 2011

2011-06-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

My girls have the best daddy! They love him so much and are so excited every day when he comes home from work!

At church yesterday, they gave 3 reasons why they love their daddy:

Kaitlyn: He brings me surprises, He lets me play with his phone, He plays with me

Kennedy: He plays with me, He brings me surprises, He loves me.

Kaitlyn, Jillian, Kennedy

Our attempt at a group picture! :)
(L: Kaitlyn R: Kennedy)

Kisses!!

Happy Father's day!

8 years

2011-06-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

After Jillian's party (see post below) , Tony and I were able to have a little get-away for our anniversary! Our anniversary is June 14th. Tony had gotten a hotel for us and we had a wonderful time just relaxing and being together.

In the lobby of the hotel

Out to dinner! We had so much fun!!

Our waiter brought us a free cheesecake for dessert and we took it to go and ate it in the hotel later that night! Yum!

It was so wonderful to be together and we were so thankful for Tony's family for watching the girls for us! Happy 8 years to my best friend and the love of my life!

Brought to you by the letter J and the number 2

2011-06-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

Tony's family came down from Springtown/Azle TX to come to Jillian's birthday party. We wanted to have a family party and were so thankful that everyone could make it. They arrived Friday evening (Jillian's birthday) and Tony was working, so we packed up and headed to Chick Fil A for dinner. Tony went on break and got to eat with us! The girls were soooo excited to have them all there!

All of us! What fun!

The birthday girl!

Ya Ya and Kennedy

Aunt Dar and Kaitlyn

Saturday morning we all got up and started getting ready for Jillian's Sesame Street birthday party. She had told us that she wanted a "Elmo, Cookie Monster and Big Bird birthday party"

We asked her to show us 2 fingers and this is what she does. She hasn't quite figured it out yet, but she tries.

My girls!

Tony grilled lunch for everyone! Thanks babe!

My birthday girl with her party hat!

Kisses!

L to R: Kaitlyn, Cale (my cousin's son), Cooper ( my nephew) and Kennedy enjoying their hot dogs!

Cookie Monster juice boxes! Big hit with this little girl!

"Happy Birthday Dear Jillian....Happy Birthday to YOU!"

Cupcake!!

Kisses from Pa

Present time!! She got a big Elmo book!

BIG BIRD!!! She held on to this present from Uncle Chris, Aunt Jenn and Cooper for the rest of the day!

Pots and pans etc

She got a new apron and started cooking away! (She has on new flip flops from Aunt Dar and of course she is holding Big Bird)

I snapped this picture of Dar and Kaitlyn. I don't think either were really asleep, but they were both very still and quiet. They kept opening and closing their eyes. I guess the party wore them out! :)

Jillian is 2!

2011-06-13T18:23:00.000-07:00

My sweet baby turned 2 on June 10. Where did the time go?

Here are a few pictures of when she was little bitty.

My one year old

My TWO year old

Here are some things about Jillian at 2 that I want to remember:

Favorite TV/DVDs: Sesame Street, Barney, Signing Time, Veggie Tales

Favorite foods: fruit, cheese, breads (muffins, biscuits etc) and yogurt....and of course anything sweet!

Favorite stuffed animals: She loves stuffed animals of any kind, but her favorites are Elmo, Cookie, Bob and Larry(veggie tales)
She got Big Bird for her birthday and now that has become her character of choice! :)

What she sleeps with at night: She has to have her paci, lovey bear and blanket at night and naps. At the end of her bed, she has about 10 various stuffed animals and some books. She is still in her crib and hasn't tried once to climb out. Her older sisters climbed out just days after their 2nd birthday, but I don't see that happening with Jillian.

Most used words: Jillian talks in full sentences now, but a couple of her favorite phrases are "What happened?" and "What is that?" She says those 2 things all the time! She completely understands when you give her a command ( Please go get your shoes and bring them to mommy) and can answer any question you ask her.
Right now she is using so many polite words: please, thank you, excuse me, bless you etc. I sure hope that sticks! :)

Favorite activities: playing with/in water, going outside

Pretend Play: She loves to pretend she is cooking in her little kitchen and often brings us "coffee" and other food and drink. She also loves to wear Kennedy and Kaitlyn's dress up shoes and I know it won't be long before she is wanting to wear princess dresses. She pretends to talk on the phone and it's cute to hear her one sided conversations. She rocks her babies and takes her stuffed animals for rides in her stroller and grocery cart.

Prayers: I love hearing her pray at dinner. She folds her hands and bows her head and usually says this: "Dear God, mommy, KK, D, teddy bear ....amen" Poor Tony gets left out! LOL. (KK= Kaitlyn and D= Kennedy)

Her independence is kicking in. She wants to buckle the top buckle on her car seat by herself now, tries to put on her shoes and wants to walk up and down the stairs with no help! (usually with an arm full of stuffed animals!) I have a feeling potty training is around the corner. She tells me she needs to go potty often.

She loves to give you kisses ( I love this!) and is generally very affectionate. She is still a mommy's girl and likes for me to hold her often.

Weight: 28 lbs 2 oz (75%)
Height: 35 in (75%)
Size 7 shoe
Size 2T clothes
Size 4 diaper

We love you Jillian! Happy Birthday!

Summer!!

2011-06-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

We are loving summer! We have already been quite busy, but at the same time, we have had a lot of time to relax and just be at home. I decided to see how Jillian would do if I tried to potty train her. She was a pro at sitting on the potty, but she never went in the potty (just decided the laundry room was a better place. lol.) By nap time, I put her diaper back on and just decided that I'll try later. I probably could train her if I kept trying, but I'll just wait another month or so.

Sitting on the potty with her animals...she always has some sort of stuffed animal with her at all times. Don't mind her crazy morning hair! :)

Kennedy and Kaitlyn started taking swim lessons this week. A student from FBBA is teaching them at his house and they are really enjoying it. They are going slow, but that's what they prefer anyway. Day 1: Get IN the water.
Day 2: Get your face wet
You get the picture.

Colin helping the girls put on their floaties

Kaitlyn going under water!

Slowly stepping into the deeper water

Each evening, we get out the water table and blow up pool and the girls play for hours. I love it and so do they!

Kaitlyn, Kennedy

Friday evening, Matt and Leigh Fox treated us to dinner at Taste of Texas! (Thanks guys!) We were celebrating our anniversary coming up (14th), Tony's birthday (15th) and the Fox's new baby coming in January!

Saturday we painted a dresser for Kennedy and Kaitlyn's room. This dresser had been in my baby room when I was little and my mom let us have it to use for the girls! It was originally yellow and we wanted to paint it to match their room and rug.

We painted the dresser white, the bottom drawers pink, and the top 3 green, purple and yellow. We put some cute knobs on it and it was done!

Going away party

2011-05-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, Tony resigned from teaching to move forward with Chick-fil-a! What started as a part time job to "earn a little extra money", has lead to a new career path! The Lord has set this in motion and opened many doors and one day, Lord willing, we will have our own store! I'm going to let Tony finish this blog post, as he has a lot more to say. :)

Tony's turn:
Well Ruth, our Spanish teacher friend, threw us a little goodbye party. It was so sweet of her.

The thing I will miss the most of Ruby, is her antics. She would always mess with me. Always playing pranks and always making me laugh. Okay well, the last part is true but it was more of me pulling pranks on her. lol! And she held her own very well.

Catnip, you will be missed! Thanks for bringing me coffee! LOL! Thanks for being such a great friend!

Andrea and I sat at the head of the table. We are retiring from education together. We both are excited about what God has in store for us. I believe firmly that God will use chicken as a tool for me, ha! And she is going to go into medical missions. Andrea has a true servants heart. I am happy for us both. The luncheon was great to be surrounded by everyone that we work with everyday. People that are like family. Some of the group have seen me grow up. Some were there before I got married, saw our wedding, prayed for our twins during their scare (prayforthetwins.blogspot.com) and have prayed for Jillian's birth and this career change.

Our Superintendent, Norm, was there as well. He has a great heart!

Our Cake! I am so glad Ruby's hand didn't burst through!

David, my principal and friend for 9 years, presented me with the signed picture of the cross. And he honored me with his tears and words. I am thankful to have been led by him. He has taught me so much about discipleship and his book studies are phenomenal!

Towards the end Ruth stood up to present me with one more gift. I looked in the bag and cracked up laughing. I wasn't expecting what I saw in that bag. And to some of my teacher friends there, they probably thought it was the weirdest most peculiar gift. So funny! You'll just have to ask me what it was! Ruth, if you are reading this, know that it will go in my (Lord willing) Chick Fil A office. On my very own personal shelf of important things that must not be touched!

To all of my FBBA family: Friends, Teachers, Students, and Administration, thank you for 10 YEARS of being able to serve with you. I have been blessed by so many people. I thank God for all of the wonderful people that have crossed my path. Wonderful! I won't be far away, so I can pop in from time to time.
God bless you all FBBA......soon to be FBCA!!!!

My little graduates

2011-05-20T19:01:00.000-07:00

Kennedy and Kaitlyn had their 4 year old graduation this past Wednesday. They loved getting dressed up and were very excited about their big day! (Kaitlyn, Kennedy)

Here is their little class walking on the stage getting ready to get their certificates. Kennedy is giving us a big wave!

Kaitlyn receiving her certificate

All done! (Kennedy, Kaitlyn)

After they had their graduation, they came back out and put on a little program for us. They sang lots of songs! It was so cute! :) We got lots of video and I'm hoping to upload some of it soon! (Kaitlyn, Kennedy)

Walking off stage! Program is over and now it's time for cake and punch! (Kaitlyn, Kennedy)

I got a cute picture of the girls with their teacher, Mrs. Kasey. They loooved being in her class!

Kaitlyn

Kennedy, Kaitlyn

Kennedy

Princess Night!

2011-05-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

This evening, Chick Fil A had a "Princess night" where all the little girls could wear their princess dresses! Cinderella and Belle would make a special appearance and all the little girls could also get their nails and face painted! What could be better? The twins were sooooo excited about this night! They talked about it allll day and when I came to get them after school they were bouncing off the walls! Before we left we got a photo of them all in their dresses. Poor Jilly....she had to use one of the very "loved" dresses that the twins have outgrown. I'm guessing she will be needing some dress up clothes of her own. :)

Last night, the girls decided, after much deliberation, that they wanted to wear their Snow White dress. (You know, because they almost have every Disney princess's outfit to choose from)

Once we got there, they handed each girl a cute little tiara and princess cup filled with candy. Plus, there were TONS of pink and purple balloons that all the little girls could have. I promise, it was like princess dream land! :)

Little one loved watching all the people and especially enjoyed her french fries!

Cinderella and Belle were a hit! They had to visit them twice!

There were soooo many people there (like, we could barely walk around)....and one of those was my friend Tiffany and her daughter, Allie.

After dinner it was time to paint nails. This was a special treat for them because I usually don't let them paint fingernails...only toenails. :) (Kennedy)

(Kaitlyn)

Each girl chose to alternate colors on each finger. (purple, pink, purple, pink etc)

I had left Jillian with Tony while I went around with Kennedy and Kaitlyn. After a while, I was surprised that she was not wanting to get down from the high chair (because she usually doesn't like to sit still for long). I look over and found out why. Tony had bought her ice cream. That girls loves her ice cream.

Next up.....face painting. Here they are picking what they want to have painted on their face.

A little side note: The artist is one of my oldest friends, Sarah Beth. We have known each other since 7th grade and we even went to college together!

Kennedy got a cupcake (with sprinkles, of course)

Kaitlyn surprised us all and chose the Chick Fil A logo! HA! Now, that's an employee's daughter!

What a FUN night. It was crazy busy, but the girls didn't even seem to notice. They were in princess heaven.

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T17:58:00.000-07:00

On Friday, after school, we all met at Outback Steakhouse for some yummy dinner and to celebrate my mom for Mother's Day. We had a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed being together at the restaurant! :) It was a rare treat for all of us to go out to eat together!

Group photo! (Jenn has taking the picture....thanks Jenn!)

Cousins!

(Don't mind Kennedy and Kaitlyn's closed eyes...couldn't get one with them open for some reason)

On Sunday Tony and the girls made me breakfast in bed! They were excited to help daddy in the kitchen...it was super sweet. We got dressed for church and I wanted a picture with my girls. Got a cute one! :) The rest of the day, Tony made sure I didn't have to cook (much) or clean! Ahhhhhh.....I wish mother's day was more often!

Baby shower

2011-05-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, my parents, the girls and I drove to Bridge City, TX (about 2 hours away) to go to my cousin Jenny's baby shower. She is having a little girl in June named Lillian.

We stopped on the way to eat some lunch!

Our next stop was my Aunt and Uncle's house. (My dad's brother) We had a couple of hours before the shower and I wanted Jillian to take a nap. While I put her down for a nap, the girls made pictures for Jenny and her baby. (Oh...and Jillian decided that she didn't need a nap....too much excitement)

After coloring, the girls watched a show. My Aunt and Uncle had JUST moved in to their house this week. She was very brave having 3 small children in a brand new house! :)

Finally, it was time for the shower. It was at the nearby community center. There was a large stage area where the kids could play. This picture makes me laugh! All the girls are posing like we asked, but Jacob, my cousin Leah's little boy, was rolling on the ground! :) At the back: Emma (Leah's daughter), Jillian, Kaitlyn, Kennedy

Holding hands!

My cousin, Jenny! 36 weeks

Cute cake!

The hostesses with Jenny (My mom, my Aunt Rae Lee, Jenny, Jenny's friend from Houston, my cousin Leah and my cousin Stacie)

Present time!

Drinking punch and watching her open all her gifts.

Eager to see what she got.

The twins never moved from this position...they were very interested in what she was opening. Jillian, on the other hand, stayed like this for about 1.5 seconds...then she was off running and playing.

Since she did not have a nap that day and she played sooo hard, it didn't take her long to fall asleep in the car on the way home. We were all super glad to be out of the car. We had a great time though and can't wait to meet baby Lillian.

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

The twins woke up bright and early (as usual) and found little surprises! I love Kennedy's reaction when she saw that they got the movie Tangled!

Princess socks!

Of course, princess fruit snacks are always a hit! :)

Jillian woke up about 30 minutes later and got her Easter surprises too. (She always brings down her "friends" when she wakes up...that would be Cookie, Elmo, Bob and Larry). She was most interested in the fruit snacks that she got.

I let them eat their breakfast at their little table and they got to turn on Tangled and watch it while they ate.

After breakfast, everyone got ready for church. Here are the twins in their Easter dresses. They are wearing white gloves that their Ya Ya sent them! They loved their gloves! :)

Attempting a group picture.

One more!

Jilly

After church and naps we let the kids have an Easter egg hunt outside.

Jillian held onto her little pig that Ya Ya sent her for Easter the whole time.

Found one!

We had a great Easter. He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

More Easter fun!

2011-04-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon we dyed more eggs! After doing them that morning at Grandma's house, they were a pro doing these eggs!

We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening outside playing in the pool!

On Saturday, we got everyone ready to go to another Easter egg hunt at a nearby church.

The Easter bunny was there. The twins stayed far away, but Jillian LOVED him and kept wanting to be next to him (and Alice in Wonderland).

They had separate egg hunts for different age levels. The first age group to go was the 2 and under group! Jillian was all set to go. She got the hang of it quickly!

But, she picked up her 4th egg and put it in her basket and in an instant the whole inside of her basket was covered with ants!! UGH! The ants had gotten to the candy. We had to stop and get all the ants out and by that time the hunt was done. :( She ended up with 1 egg. Poor thing. Good thing she really didn't know any better.

The bounce house made everything better! :)

Kennedy and daddy...waiting for her age group's egg hunt.

Bounce house time! Kaitlyn stayed in here almost the whole time. (As to not be near the Easter bunny)

Finally! It's egg hunt time!!!!

Look!! EGGS!!!

Daddy and Jilly watching the twins hunt eggs. Kennedy and Kaitlyn cracked us up because they kept running to the places where there were no eggs!

All done! Hot and tired!

Sweet thing...she walked back to the van all by herself with her basket dragging behind her.

They had a great time! Jillian kept talking about the Easter bunny! When we got back to the van, Kaitlyn had ants all inside her basket too! Those ants love that melted chocolate. :( We got them all cleaned out and we headed home. They were all worn out.....Jillian took a 3 1/2 hour nap! WOW!

Good Friday

2011-04-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

Friday morning, we all headed over to my parent's house for a big breakfast! We were so happy for be off from school and to just visit with family.

Can't believe I got all 4 looking at the camera!

My girls!

We had a very yummy breakfast.

Jenn, Cooper and Chris

Next on the list....making Easter cookies with Grandma!

Meanwhile, Jillian was having a great time playing with Uncle Chris!

After cookies, it was time to open Easter baskets from Grandma and Pa.

Kennedy was excited about her new book!

Kaitlyn opening her eggs! What fun!

After Easter baskets there was an egg hunt in the backyard. Jillian slowly got the hang of it.

Searching!

Then it was bike riding time!

This is one of my favorite pictures! I LOVE the way they are all just doing their own thing! (And I love Kennedy's pose! ha!)

I love seeing this smile on her!

Family picture time! (How did I end up holding 2 out of the 3???)

Back inside to dye eggs! Thanks Aunt Jenn for bringing the supplies! This was the first time the twins got to do this.

Then there was a big surprise!!!! About three houses down from my parents, they had baby chicks that had just hatched last night! The kids loooooved them!!!

What a fun Easter surprise!

Petting the sweet chick

The twins were very gentle with them.

Awwww.....sweet baby chick

We packed a lot into that morning! The kids were worn out and all took great naps! :) Thanks for a wonderful breakfast!

School Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

Today was Kennedy and Kaitlyn's school Easter egg hunt. We drove them to a park off of Eldridge in old Sugar Land and they were sooo excited. Before we left I snapped a quick picture of my cuties! :)

Kaitlyn, Kennedy

When we got to the park, we found their teacher, Mrs. Kasey, and she took them to their table. Later they would have a yummy snack here.

Play time! They had a little playground time before the hunt.

2 happy little girls! (Kennedy, Kaitlyn)

Kaitlyn

Mrs. Kasey gave their class instructions about the egg hunt.

And they're off!

Getting the eggs!

Mrs. Kasey checked each basket to make sure they got the right amount of eggs.

Kennedy after the egg hunt. :)

Happy Kaitlyn

We got the kids to sit still for a minute to take a class picture!! Such cuties! Only one of their friends, Gabrielle, was missing.

They had a few more activities planned for the kids and then they got to eat their snack! I had to leave for work so I missed that, but thankfully my parents came and took my place.
More Easter fun to come!

The girls

2011-04-19T18:20:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday for church I dressed Jillian in the twin's old Easter dress. (Jillian has another one for this Easter). I just couldn't resist doing a picture comparison. :)

Jillian (with her favorite Veggie Tales, Bob and Larry)

22 months

Kaitlyn

21 months

Kennedy

21 months

Again, trying to get a picture of the three of them. One day I will be successful! I just love it when they are all dressed alike! :) Love my girlies!
The twins are sooo excited about Easter. They have their school Easter egg hunt tomorrow! I hope I can snap a few good pictures!

This and that

2011-04-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

I have been horrible at updating the blog! Wow! I didn't want a month to pass before I posted again! We have been very busy doing lots of things, but I haven't been so good at taking pictures. Tony and I went on a date, we had friends come over to visit, we've had a few chick-fil-a family dates and lots of outside time. Jillian is now 22 months old and her vocabulary has really taken off. She can say full sentences now! ( ex: Where did Kennedy go?) She can pretty much tell me anything she wants and that is greatly reducing her frustrations. :) She is LOVING to sing these days. She bursts out in a song all the time. She sings along in the car with the twins and I'm amazed with how much she can remember.
Kennedy and Kaitlyn are doing great at school and loving it! They always come home with a new little bit of knowledge. They are also very into gymnastics right now. I'm thinking that we may have to sign them up for that this summer!
Here's just a little of whats been going on:

The girls all had popcorn as a little snack one day and Jillian decided Cookie and Elmo needed a snack too. She left this in their mouth for a long time! :)

It has finally been warm enough to play outside in the water! This was Jillian's first experience playing in the sprinkler! She loved it!!

Please don't mind her mismatched bathing suit... :)

Kaitlyn and Jillian

Kennedy

On Friday, April 1, Kennedy was "person of the day" at preschool!( I was horrible and only got one picture) She worked hard on making a poster of various pictures of her from birth to the present. She also was able to take a toy/book and make a snack for the class. She chose to take her Ariel doll and make blueberry muffins for the class. At school she made a presentation and got to wear the "person of the day" shirt! Talk about one excited little girl!!

Showing off her muffins!

Kaitlyn's day was Monday, April 4! She got to make a poster as well and she chose to take her princess book and make trail mix for the class! She had a lot of fun filling up the bags :) I sure wish I could have watched their presentations!!! They were so proud and excited and they felt so special.

That's pretty much it for now. Hopefully I won't wait another month to update!! :)

Rodeo

2011-03-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

Friday, Tony and I got a rare evening out to go to the rodeo! We both hadn't been to the rodeo in years! (I hadn't been since high school!) I had wanted to take the girls over spring break to ride rides and see the animals, but we never got a chance.

My love

When we got there we found some food! Tony got the turkey leg! I got baked potato with BBQ.

After dinner we got yummy funnel cakes!

Our view

We had seats waaay up high, but we still enjoyed watching all the events.

We saw Alan Jackson in concert!

We got home late but it was soo worth it. I loved having a night out with Tony and it was especially fun to see the rodeo! Hope we can do it again next year.

Inflatable zone, parks and picnics!

2011-03-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, we started out our morning at Inflatable Zone in Katy. They had open playtime for children 6 and under. My girls LOVED it. Even Jillian got very brave and went down the HUGE slide.

Daddy went down with her at first.

Climbing into the big bounce house!

Big sister helping her up the stairs to the big slide. She actually couldn't do this by herself. She would always turn around and ask for daddy's help. To her defense, it was quite steep and pretty tough for a little one. (I was surprised to find this when I actually did it myself)

What good big sisters! Kennedy and Kaitlyn had soooo much fun. They weren't afraid of anything and did it all! I was so proud of them. We have come a loooong way with all their fears.

Kennedy

After naps, my friend Janelle and her 2 little ones came over to play. The kids had a good time in the sand box in our backyard and playing dress up inside. Janelle is expecting another blessing this summer.

On Thursday morning our church's children's ministry was meeting at the park off University. We packed a picnic lunch and set off.

Playing on the equipment (Kennedy, Kaitlyn)

Daddy helping Jilly go down the slide.

After a little playtime we all sat and had our little picnic. The girls thought this was super fun.

After lunch, they were quite entertained by throwing rocks into the little creek.

My twinkies

After naps the girls played outside and helped Tony plant some shrubs in the front yard. (Kennedy and Jillian helping)

Kaitlyn planting an azalea

Tonight Tony and I are going to the rodeo to see Alan Jackson! Woo Hoo! I'll post on that soon.

Snow Cones!

2011-03-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

Tony had a great idea to get snow cones yesterday! He had heard about this place off Old Richmond Road, so we loaded the kids and took off!

When we drove up, there was a very long line. I guess we weren't the only ones who had that same idea. Here are the twins deciding which flavor they wanted. There were tons of flavors and they sold other food besides snow cones too! Kaitlyn chose watermelon, Kennedy chose grape and I got grape for Jillian too. Tony got coconut and I got raspberry.

While we waited, the kids had fun playing with the animal statues that were all around.

My three little monkeys

Riding the cow! :)

Well, I got one of them looking and smiling..... :)

These chickens entertained them for a long time. (We had to wait a while to get our snow cones!)

Jillian's first bite! LOVED IT!!!!! (Oh, and I got my hair cut and highlighted yesterday too! Did I mention how much I'm loving spring break???)

They were a hit!! We will be definitely be going back!

We are off to a good start!

2011-03-14T17:45:00.001-07:00

Tony came back very early Saturday morning (3am!) from a mission trip from Jamaica.We missed him so much but we know he was doing awesome work for the Lord there. I walked into the room to find this....all his girls (and Scooter!) sitting in his lap!!! They missed him!!! He brought them Jamaica shirts (the twins have theirs on) and also little purses.

Later on that day we went to a nearby park and the girls had so much fun!

Kennedy

Peek-a-boo!

Kennedy's turn

Kaitlyn

And now Kaitlyn (Had to get all three of them looking through the gate LOL)

Tony and the twins wanted to race....and Jillian decided to join in! Sweet thing...trying to keep up with her big sisters.

Kennedy

Kaitlyn

After the park we bought some new sand for their sandbox. They were in heaven! We let them play for a little while and then we packed them up and went to eat dinner at Chick-fil-a! We had a super fun day!!

On Sunday, for lunch each girl got to" redeem" their Valentine gift and go on a date with mommy!! Kennedy went first. (For Valentine's Day Kennedy and Kaitlyn got a coupon for a date with mommy/date with daddy)

First stop:PIZZA!!!

Next stop: TOES!!! She picked a pretty purple and was soo excited.

Sitting in the cute butterfly chair. She was a little nervous at first..she thought they were going to turn the water on.

Making sure those toes get good and dry!

Ta da!! They even put a design on her toes! Too cute! We had a super fun time.

I dropped Kennedy off and picked up Kaitlyn! She told me she wanted Pizza and ice cream for her date.

Coloring before the pizza arrived.

YUM!

So, we were all set for ice cream, and then she changed her mind and wanted her toes painted too! She chose orange.

Sitting pretty in her pink chair. She wasn't as nervous as Kennedy was. She was calm, cool and collected.

All done! :) I loved how they turned out.

Later that afternoon, we spent a lot of time in the backyard. The girls played with the sandbox again and Tony cleaned out the little playhouse. This was Jillian's first time to be able to play in there and they all loved it.

Cooking! :)

On Monday it was Daddy date day!! He took Kennedy and Kaitlyn to get donuts. First it was Kaitlyn's turn.

This girl LOVES donuts...can you tell?

Kennedy's turn!

Our silly goof ball!

I was so happy for the time to finally get to take the girls out for their dates. They have been asking about them since Valentines and it just seemed like Tony was working or out of town and we didn't get a chance. I'm loving spring break and just getting to spend more time as a family.

Yeehaw!

2011-03-11T17:55:00.000-08:00

Today was Rodeo day at their preschool!! They were sooo excited about dressing up! :)
(Kaitlyn, Kennedy)

Kaitlyn

Kennedy

They served the kids hot dogs and had fun activites. They even came home with a home-made stick horse! Kaitlyn named hers "Cloud" and Kennedy named hers "Rapunzel" . I love that they have so much fun at their preschool class! :)

21 months

2011-03-10T17:47:00.000-08:00

Here's what Jillian is doing at 21 months!

*Very verbal! Says any word you ask her to say. She is really doing well with her 2-3 word phrases.(Where is it? Here it is! Here ya go! Where is ____(name)? Want this!(and points)

Jillian loves to watch:
* Sesame Street (especially Elmo and Cookie)
*Barney
*Veggie Tales
*Gigi (God's Little Princess) I can't believe she requests to watch this! She seems so young to like this, but I guess that's what you get for having older sisters.
*Signing Time
(Ok, we don't watch all of those every day! LOL)

She likes:
*cats and dogs
*water! (Water table and playing "tea" with Kennedy and Kaitlyn in the bathtub)
*playing outside (especially digging in dirt or sand)
* to dance!
* to do anything her sisters are doing
* to say no (and says it alllllll the time..but at least she says it sweetly)
* to read books
*play dough and coloring with crayons (especially on walls and anything other than her paper. :)
*playing with her kitchen
*sweets

Songs (or parts of songs) she can sing:
*Hot Cross Buns
*BINGO
*Veggie Tales theme song (and the hairbrush song)
*Elmo's song
*Wheels on the bus
*ABC's
*Behold, I stand at the door and knock,knock,knock

Doesn't like:
*Not getting her way (and can throw a royal fit!)
*letting us brush her teeth for her (she is getting better)
*For me to wear my glasses or wear my hair down (not in pony tail) She tells me "off" and starts to whine. I guess I look too different to her. (and I really must wear my hair pulled back a lot!!)

Stats:
24 lbs 8 oz
24 month clothes
size 4 diaper
size 6/7 shoe
One nap at 12:00, bedtime: 7:00

We love our sweet girl. She makes us laugh every day. She is very affectionate and loves to give hugs and kisses. I LOVE that. She is still very much a mama's girl and I don't mind one bit. :)
We are finding out, though, that her little "red headed" temper is showing up quite nicely. She finds it necessary to hit, pinch or scratch her sisters when she is upset (doesn't get her way). She can throw a fit like the best of them and can give you some serious looks! She furrows her eyebrows.....and I can see visions of her as a teenager. Oh boy. But, the little tantrums don't last long and the next thing you know she is hugging you, giving you her famous grin or giving you a big ol kiss!

Jilly has had a rough couple of months. Last month she had the stomach virus and sinus infection and she started out this month with bronchitis. She is a trooper though! Sure hope the rest of this month and the next few are sickness free.
We love our little girl and can't believe in three short months she will be 2!!

Cooper is 3!

2011-03-05T17:41:00.001-08:00

This morning we went to my nephew's 3rd birthday party! I snapped a few photos of the girls in their valentine outfits before we left. They wore them to the party. They wanted to wear them again and since Jillian didn't get to wear hers on Valentine's Day, ( she was sick) she got to wear hers for the first time. (This picture of Kaitlyn was actually taken at Cooper's house)

The standard "stair picture". This was the best one...and thats not saying much. It's getting VERY hard to get a decent picture of the three of them. :) I got a picture of their cute flip flops that went with the outfit (made by their Ya Ya) but for some reason blogger is not letting me upload any more pictures. ugh!

Jenn had a darling game for the kids to play....pin the hat on Cooper!

Cooper giving it a try!

The twins each had their turn and at the end Jillian got a turn too!

"Ok, everyone...stand in front of the game and let us take a picture" :)

Silly smiles

After the game we had yummy hamburgers and hot dogs! Yum! Thanks Uncle Chris!!

Then it was present time!!!!!!! Look at all those gifts!!

The girls all watching Cooper opening his gifts (with their construction hats...the theme of the party was construction)

Chris and Cooper (cute with their hats on)

Jillian trying on her hat too!

And someone put a bow on her head and she didn't know it! :) Hee hee.We are so mean! (But she's cute!)

The cuuuute cake Jenn made!

Blowing out his candles! (Holding his new flashlight)

The girls had a great time! Kennedy said her favorite part of the party was the game they played. Kaitlyn's favorite part was the cake, and I'm pretty sure that was Jillian's favorite part too! :) Happy Birthday sweet Cooper!

Road trip!

2011-02-28T18:44:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday the girls and I went to Austin! My Aunt and Uncle from Virginia had flown in and were staying at my Aunt Terri's house in Austin. My parents, my brother's family and even extended family from San Antonio came too! Tony had to work so he couldn't join us! :(
He was missed!!

We got there and these 3 went straight to play in Jarrett's room (Jarrett is my 8 year old cousin) and then they all sat down and enjoyed watching Toy Story 3!

Jillian found lots of little cars and had a great time playing with them all. After lunch, Jilly took a loooooong nap!! She must have been worn out from the car ride and all the new people!

Aunt Terri has a great backyard...lots of land and trees! (Kaitlyn)

Kennedy

They LOVED the freedom to roam, play and explore!

Chris found a great spot to relax!

The twins loved the swing that held them both at the same time! (Kaitlyn, Kennedy)

Here are my Aunt and Uncle from VA! I hadn't seen them in 4 years!! It was my Uncle Randy's birthday so we all sang to him!

Kennedy and Kaitlyn couldn't wait to "help" Grandma with the cake!

Jilly with her Pa

Uncle Chris stealing a kiss from Jilly bean!

"You ready to go, Kennedy?"

Jillian loved playing with all the rocks and sticks...and loved telling me about the ants. She loves talking about ants! (But is very careful not to touch them.) My sister in law took this sweet picture and sent it to me. Thanks Jenn!

Before we headed back to Houston we got a group photo of everyone that was there!! WOW!! Thats a lot of family and we had a lot of fun!

We drove back and about the last hour, all three girls fell asleep! Jillian woke up as soon as we pulled into the garage and she just lit up when she saw Tony. Luckily, I changed her into her pj's and she went right back to sleep for the night. The twins were soooo out of it. Tony and I changed them into their pj's and they pretty much never woke up! Funny!!!

Our not so perfect Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T18:43:00.000-08:00

My Valentine cuties! Their Ya Ya gave all three girls these adorable valentine outfits! They love them! They also have matching headbands and cuuute flip flops! I'll have to get pictures of those soon!

This is how Jillian spent Valentines day. No cute outfit. Poor thing. Here's the story....
Last week she had another cold (I feel like we have all had colds all winter!) I noticed that she didn't seem to be getting better, so I knew that a doctor visit was in the near future. On Friday, she started having a few stomach cramps. I dreaded this when I saw this because last time she had these cramps there was throw up involved.
She slept fine that night but Saturday her stomach cramps got worse and she also had fever most of the day. She would just hold her stomach, moan and cry! It was so sad because there was nothing I could do to help her. We also noticed that she hadn't gone to the bathroom all day. (which made sense that she was having stomach cramps). Saturday night, she also slept all night.
Sunday, I stayed home from church with her and she still had fever and those cramps were still there....
Fast forward: 9:00pm. I hear her cry on the monitor and go up the stairs to find out that she has thrown up. Twice. In her bed. I get her out and clean her up while Tony takes care of the laundry side of things! She continued to throw up for the next few hours. She didn't want me to put her down so we stayed in the glider in her room until about 1:30am. (I was finally able to put her down) I slept in her room on the floor just in case after that. So, around 6am I realize that I need to get valentine stuff set up for the girls.

I took a quick picture of all the balloons (given by Grandma and Pa) and all the cards lined up by the window. I put out a couple of things for the girls and Tony too.

Kaitlyn woke up first. For this Valentines Day, we didn't want to get them a bunch of junk, so we decided to make date cards. Each girl gets to go out with mommy and daddy BY THEMSELVES!! They don't get a lot of individual time (away from the other) and we want to be more intentional about that. They also got a cute dot to dot workbook. Jillian got a new Barney dvd. She loooves Barney. ( I was planning on making those date cards A LOT cuter, but that was all I could do at 6 in the morning and not having the night before to work on it)

Kennedy working on her dot to dot book!

Dressed for school and playing with the play dough that Aunt Jenn MADE for them. They had a lot of fun with that! They had their valentine party at school today and had soooo much fun!
Tony and I both stayed home to care for Jillian. Tony took her to the doctor early this morning and the diagnosis was: 1) severe constipation 2) sinus infection 3) stomach virus.
No wonder she was feeling bad!!!! Just ONE of those things is enough to do you in!!! She has a lot of meds but actually, she wasn't much better today. In fact...a little worse (minus the throwing up which stopped....thank goodness!!) We are praying that our baby girl gets better soon. This has just about broken my heart seeing her like this.
Here's hoping next Valentines Day is better than this one! :)

Daddy/Daughter Night

2011-02-09T21:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Chick-fil-a had Daddy/Daughter Night! Tony had made "reservations" a few weeks ago and the twins were beyond excited!! (Jillian stayed home with mommy....still too little to go. Maybe next year!)

The table! (Complete with conversation starters)

Yum!

Of course, there had to be some play time! (Kennedy on the left, Kaitlyn on right)

This was the best picture out of the ones they took. (Poor Kaitlyn barely made it in the picture!) Tony was a trooper for taking the camera and getting some pictures so I could blog about it! :) hee hee
The girls LOVE their daddy! They came home talking non stop and showing me their balloons, candy, flowers and pictures they drew! What a fun night!

"Snow day" and Birthday fun

2011-02-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

Valentines clothes are so fun and cute! Here are the twins wearing one of their new Valentine shirts earlier in the week!

On Friday, we had off from school due to the snow and ice that was predicted to come! LOVED having the day off, but everyone was super disappointed when we woke up that morning to find NO snow! We stayed inside and just played and had a good day together. Kaitlyn read Jillian a book and she showed her the sign for duck.

Miss Priss showing off her shades. (The twins always call her Miss Priss)

Sun afternoon we went to Allie Klubnik's 2 year birthday party. It was an Elmo party and all the girls had a blast! The first thing Jillian saw was a stuffed Elmo and she claimed it immediately. :) They loved playing with all the toys at her house...especially the little kitchen! Of course....I ran out of the house without my camera, so please forgive the photo quality. I had to use my iphone.

Jillian playing with Allie (the birthday girl!)

Enjoying a yummy dinner! (Thanks Jon and Tiff!)

Yum!

Tiffany had a cute game for all the kids to play...pin the nose on Elmo! (Kaitlyn)

Singing Happy Birthday to Allie! (Isn't she cute?)

Adorable cake

Cookie fun!

2011-01-31T11:08:00.000-08:00

This week started out with PJ day! The twins were beyond excited to go to school in their PJ's! I was in a rush to get out the door and didn't snap a picture! Ugh! They had a great day and thought it was the COOLEST thing that they could stay in pjs all day! :)

On Sunday we were getting ready for church when my brother called to tell me that my dad has passed out in church. They were taking him by ambulance to the hospital. I went up there to see him. His heart rate was very low (in the 30's) and they were worried about his heart. (He had a heart attack a couple of years ago) They kept him overnight but released him today to go home. Come to find out, it wasn't his heart, but severe dehydration. We are all thankful to God for a good outcome.

Also, on Sunday, Tony took the twins to Quart and Carrie Graves' house to make cookies from scratch! (Quart is Tony's Chick fil a boss and Carrie is his wife) She was so sweet to have the twins over for 3 hours to bake!!! They LOVED it! These pictures were taken by iphone and sent to me! I was so thankful that they took them! :)

Kaitlyn adding sprinkles...Kennedy waiting her turn

Kennedy rolling the dough!

Ta da!!!! Do you think they could have used any more sprinkles??

Kennedy ready to eat her heart cookie!

Kaitlyn excited about her creation! :)

It has been an eventful weekend!! Can't believe that Feb starts tomorrow! I love Valentines day so I'm excited for this month to start!