Thanksgiving 2012

We had a really fun Thanksgiving. We traveled to Oklahoma to see family. The girls had a great time playing with their cousins! We were there from Wednesday and through Sunday. For my birthday, I got a new camera and I took a ton of pictures.

We left Wednesday morning and had lunch with my family.

Gracie on the car ride to OKC

Lizzie and Molly (our dog) in the back

Grandma and Papa with all their "babies"

Thursday, we had a house full of people at my mom and dad's. I think my mom said about 20 people. We had a ton of fun and ate lots of yummy food. The girls were lucky and Nana got to come too.

Ready for Thanksgiving

Kids are ready to eat

Cousins playing in the leaves

My sister, Laura, and I

Look how big Dawson is getting!

On Friday, my sister and I met up with Angie, our cousin, and did some shopping and had breakfast. It was fun. Also, we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Potter.

Gracie and Grandma Potter

The girls playing with Grandpa Potter

Lizzie and Grandma Potter

Saturday was a really special day! It was my birthday! I had a good birthday. My family took us to a Mexican restaurant that we hadn't been to and it was yummy. After lunch, we visited with my Grandma and Aunt Betty and did a little more shopping. Wes made pumpkin muffins and grilled steaks for dinner. It was a great birthday!

Laura, Gracie, my mom and Grandma

On my birthday

Today, we had lunch at my sisters and the kids played. They had so much fun. Gracie loves to let my sister's dog Roscoe climb all over her. The dogs love their play time together.

Molly and Roscoe

Having fun with the dogs

Wrestling Roscoe

Sam and Lizzie

Sydney and Gracie

 It was a fun weekend and busy weekend. Now, the girls are excited about Christmas. We put up our tree as soon as we got home.

Fall Pictures

Again this year, we had our pictures taken with Allison during the mini session with my twin group. She does such a great job and we are always pleased with our pictures. Here are some of them.

Love them!

Cinderella vs. Santa Claus

Its the time of year for Santa Claus to make his appearance at the malls for Christmas. We saw him this past weekend and for the fourth year, the girls don't want anything to do with him. All they want to do is stare at him from a distance and not get too close.

You would think that with two little girls scared of Santa, they wouldn't like any character dressed up or even scary Halloween costumes. They love Halloween and were not even scared of the big kids dressed in their costumes.

Cinderella with all the girls

I was encouraged this year when Cinderella showed up at a birthday party we attended. The girls loved her. I thought, maybe this was the year for Santa. But, I think I was wrong. Do you see my girls on the front row, listening to everything Cinderella says? Each year, I waste my money on getting a Santa picture that may or may not include both girls. This year probably won't be any different.

Halloween 2012

The girls had a great Halloween. We started off with costumes for school. They were so excited to wear their clothes. However, Gracie thought she was going to get to trick-or-treat all day. When I told her that she had to wait until night-time, she was not happy.

Cheerleader and fairy princess

While the girls were at school, I ran to Marshall's and found Halloween costumes for $5 each. I surprised them after school. So, that's what they wore last night.

Little princess and witch

Lizzie as a witch

Gracie as a princess

The gang

I call this bored model pose.......

Cuties

The last few Halloweens; we meet up with some friends, have dinner and go trick-or-treating. It is always fun! Of course, I get three pictures of the girls before my camera battery dies and have to use my phone.

While we were walking, one of our friends asked Gracie if she was going to eat some candy when we got back. Gracie's response, "Only one piece before bed or I'll get a tummy ache". I have no idea where she heard that. We got home late and they went to bed pretty well. The only thing missing was Wes. He was out of town for work and missed all our fun!

More Fall Fun!

This weekend was full of more festivities for us. We had a couple a birthday parties and some Halloween parties.

On Friday, we had our yoga Halloween party. It was really fun. The girls had blast. They wore some of their dress up clothes and loved it.

Getting ready

Butterfly pose

Listening to Ms Cheryl

 

 

 On Saturday, we had our twin club Fall Festival. It was really cold but really fun.The kids played on the playground and then ran around the pumpkins. We have gone to the same patch for three years.

Picture of all the twins

"Ring around the rosie....."

Two little girls that wouldn't cooperate for pictures

We had two birthday parties in addition to the fall parties. It was a fun but busy weekend.

Pumpkin Patch and Halloween HullabaBoo!

Today, was filled with fall and Halloween fun. The day started off with a pumpkin patch with the girls school and ended with a Halloween carnival at church.

This morning, we went into school and then headed over to the pumpkin patch. We had fun. The girls loved it. They got to play, learn about pumpkins, hear stories and do a scavenger hunt.

Listening to story

Love this!

The girls and I

 So after a long day, we went home rested up and then went back up to church for the Halloween HullabaBOO! We had great time. The girls loved it.

Ready to go!

Princesses!

It was a fun filled day! The girls love Halloween this year!

Two Girls and Their Pumpkins

Tonight, we "carved" our pumpkins with the girls. Last year, we had a cute Hello Kitty pumpkin that was stolen on Halloween. Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE Hello Kitty and to steal my pumpkin was a horrible crime.

This year, I set out to replace Hello Kitty the best I could. The closest I could come was Ms Potato Head princess and Minnie Mouse. The girls loved helping put these together. It was really fun.

This year, these pumpkins will stay inside and not sit in our porch.

Dentist

Last Monday, the girls went to the dentist to get their teeth cleaned for the first time. I was nervous about how they would do. They were awesome!

The hygienist, Laurie, asked the girls who wanted to go first. Gracie said, "Lizzie will go first". So, Lizzie went first. She climbed up in the chair and sat really sit. She was ready. First up was getting x-rays of her teeth. She sat really sit and did a great job. Laurie was very impressed and said that Lizzie earned two prizes. While she walked away to get the film developed, Gracie said "I'm gonna do good and get two prizes too". When Laurie came back, I made sure to tell her what Gracie said. The rest of Lizzie's cleaning went great! Up next was Gracie's turn. As she promised, she did excellent getting her x-rays. She sat really still for her x-rays and really still for her cleaning. I was so proud of them.

All of the staff had to come see the girls and tell me how good they did. Laurie kept telling me what great girls they were.

Busy October Weekend

This weekend was busy. It started with a twin club play date and ended with a Sunday school party. It was a mix of busy and relaxed.

Playing on the dragon

Gracie on the top

Lizzie Climbing up the dragon

The girls at the pumpkin patch

 Every year, we go to the same pumpkin patch. It's at a Lutheran church by the house. The girls love it! On Saturday, we went to see the pumpkins.

Little scarecrows

The pumpkin picture

Saturday was nice but breezy..... Look at our hair!

Lizzie loves pumpkins! They are her favorite color.

Gracie loves them too.

 After the pumpkin patch, the girls wanted to play. We took them to the new playground. Of course, everyone in town was playing at the new playground too! The girls had a blast.

Playing

 On Sunday, it was performance time. Lizzie and Gracie started choir practice this year at our church and today was their first performance. They did really well and loved it!

In their choir robes.

 It brought back many memories for me. I sang in the children's choir at my church growing up. Love those memories.

Sunday evening, we had a Sunday school party! It was really fun and we stayed out until dark! The girls loved playing and we enjoyed visiting.

Gracie enjoying a cupcake.

 What a great weekend! October looks like it will be busy for us! More fun to come!

Ice Skating!

On Monday, the girls started ice skating lessons. Wes has been so excited about the girls learning how to ice skate. He learned when he was 5 to skate and played hockey through college. So this was exciting for him! Unfortunately, he had to travel for work and missed the first lesson.

Gracie with skates on

Lizzie with skates on

Learning how to "fall down" - on the soft floor

"Marching" with our skates on

Finally on the ice with "walkers"

The girls had a blast! They loved every minute of it! They were actually pretty good. They were able to "march" back and forth really well. They can't wait to back next Monday!

10th Anniversay Weekend

Friday was our 10th anniversary!

On our wedding day

This young and skinny couple is Wes and I on our wedding day ten year ago. Our marriage has been good, but not without our own ups and downs. We have learned that the only constant was change. We have been through a lot, school, finding jobs, losing jobs, infertility, high risk pregnancy, birth, twins and life with twins. We still work on making a great marriage.

To celebrate, Wes and I went to San Antonio while the girls spent the weekend in Oklahoma with Grandma and Papa. We used some of Wes' well earned hotel points and stayed in a Holiday Inn Express that was converted County Jail. The room was long and narrow. I called it our "cell". Our hotel was within walking distance of everything.

Our cell

As soon as we arrived to our hotel on Friday, I received this text from my sister.

Gracie

And then this one.

Lizzie

I believe this is the work of my niece Sydney. She loves to put on makeup right now.

After we got settled into our hotel, we headed out to the River Walk. It was hot. We walked up and down the river and enjoyed being together. As we got to one part of the river, we saw some people on a stage. Turns out they were rehearsing for a marriage proposal. We hung out a bit to watch and wait for the bride-to-be to arrive. Good news, she said yes. After that, we went and had a great dinner and then went back to the hotel. 

On Saturday, we got up and went to Market Square. It was only a couple of blocks away. We spent the morning there shopping, walking and eating lunch. On the street they were having an old car show. As we walked out of a building, there was a pink car and an orange one (Gracie's favorite color is pink and Lizzie's is orange). It was a beautiful reminder of my sweet girls.

 After we were done with the market, we went back to the hotel and rested a bit. Once we rested up, we got in the car and went to see some sites. We drove by the Alamo (we have both seen it several times) and then went to the King William district to see some old houses. They were really pretty. Once we had seen enough houses, we decided to head to San Marcos outlets. Got all the way there and decided there wasn't anything to see and instead shopped at a shopping center nine miles away. By then, it was time for dinner and we had steak! A cold front moved in and started making it chilly.

On Sunday, we packed up to leave. We checked out of the hotel and had breakfast. After breakfast, we got on the road. We made a couple of detours and stopped in Waco to see our friend Candace. We were exhausted when we got home and ordered a pizza. 

We had a really good weekend and anniversary. We have many more anniversaries to celebrate ahead.