Phone Pics

I was going through my phone last night and found some cute pictures of the girls.

Washing dishes

Monkey and Dinosaur

Posing with monkey and dinosaur

 Yes, the girls are posing with their friends in the bathroom on the toilet. We must spend a lot of time in the bathroom.

Can you tell Gracie fixed her own hair and then found my phone?

Sleeping in momma's bed

 When Wes has to travel, we have a slumber party in momma's bed. One night, the cat came in too and tried to sleep on top of Lizzie. Lizzie did not appreciate that. The girls love slumber party (and I do too).

Lizzie

 At lunch one day, the girls had grapes. Both girls had to put them in their cheeks and wanted me to take a picture.

Gracie

Its been a fun and busy summer. One more week left before we go back to school. The big kids go back this week. This time next year, we will be starting kindergarten!

Barbies

Lately, the girls have been playing Barbie. So far, they have made Grandma and Wes play with them. It is their favorite thing to do. They will play for hours with them. The girls take after their aunt and myself. My sister and I loved Barbie as kids and would play with them forever. We had a screened in porch and every summer that's where we spent a lot of our time with our Barbie pool, Barbie car and a doll house my dad made.

Barbie in a toilet paper roll

This cracked me up the other day. Fairy Barbie in a toilet paper roll on the back of the toilet. I asked Gracie why she did it. She told me she didn't want Barbie to fall into the toilet and she figured she wouldn't fall off this way. Amazing how their minds work.

Conversations with Lizzie and Gracie

We have had some interesting conversations with the girls lately. I thought I would record a few.

My sweeties

Gracie - "I didn't nap momma instead I prayed to God."
Me - "What did you pray about?"
Gracie - "All the things I want God to give me for my birthday."

Me - "How did you get that sweater, it was up in your closet? Did you get a step stool?" (why would you need a sweater when it's 102 degrees outside, I don't know.)
Gracie- "No, I was on my tippy toes."
Me - "You aren't that tall."
Gracie - "I can when I want to be."

Me - " Did you have a good time at Grandma and Papa's"
Lizzie - "Yes"
Me - "Did you give them trouble going to sleep at night like you do for mommy and daddy"
Lizzie - "No, well maybe just a little bit of trouble but not that much." (very matter of fact)

Lizzie - "Mommy, make Molly (our dog) lick Gracie."
Me - "I can't make Molly lick anybody."
Lizzie - "Well, it hurts Gracie's feelings. She always licks me and not Gracie"

Some other things that make me smile about the girls.

• The way they automatically hold hands
• When they say to each other "we're friends, right?"
• How they play sweetly together
• They watch out for each other everywhere we are

We still have challenges but four is a fun age.

Parent's Anniversary

Today is my parents anniversary, they have been married for 45 years. My parents taught me what marriage should look like. It's not perfect, sometimes its hard and it takes a lot of work. My parents taught me how to love and led by example. They don't always agree but they showed me its OK to disagree. You should always fight fair and communication with each other. 

My sweet parents

When I think of my parents, I think of love and acceptance. That's always what they gave each other and their children. They took my sister and I to church and taught us by example what Jesus meant by giving to the naked, the hungry, the sick, and whoever else was in need. My mom is a retired teacher. She was the kind of teacher who loved every child, even the worst kid in the class. She tended to love them the most because she knew they needed it. Looking back, I see all the little things my parents did to teach me how to be a good person.

They took us on vacation and taught us to learn about the world and not just our own backyard. My sister and I were exposed to so many things. Both my parents are teachers by nature and logical. One of my favorite stories to tell on my dad, a retired Geo-physicist, is when my sister and I would ask questions like why is the sky blue, his response was always scientific in nature. We got responses like "its the reflection of the sun light on particles" not "because God made it that way".

I consider myself very lucky to have the parents I do. I hope that I'm half the parents they are to Lizzie and Gracie. Love you mom and dad.

Silly faces

The girls were playing dress up the other day. So, I asked them to make silly faces for me. Silly girls.

Silly Lizzie

Another silly one

Smiley face

Sweet face

Silly Gracie

No idea why she is licking her hand

Dancing Gracie

Silly face

Did I mention that they were wearing their cute pirate girl outfits! These two love to dress up. They would prefer to wear dress up clothes all day if I let them.

Summer Fun!

This week has been a busy one for us, Nana is visiting, we had swimming lessons, work at the church and a yoga play date with our twin friends. The girls really loved their swimming lessons with Ms. Marci. They did really well and had fun. Lots of summer fun!

Getting ready for swimming lessons

In our swim suits ready to go

Listening to Ms Marci

Walking with their hands around the pool

Still walking with their hands

Yoga Play Date with Ms Cheryl

Fun Trip to Houston

This past weekend, we went to visit our friends Bev and Geoff Smith and their sweet kids Avery, Colin and Noel. We had a great time. The girls got to have a slumber party with Avery for two nights.

Saturday, they cooked out a yummy dinner and we went swimming. It was nice to put the kids down and have adult conversation. The Smiths moved a few months ago and we have missed them ever since.

On Sunday, we went to the zoo. It rained on us for about an hour and then it was sunny again. As soon as the sun came out, so did the humidity and we were sweating buckets. Ah, Houston in the summer time. Sunday night, the kids got out some Legos and worked together and we had another yummy dinner!

Looking at some cool fish

Fun tunnel that runs behind an aquarium

Looking at the momma and baby elephant

Splash park fun with all 5 kids

 

Lizzie

Gracie

Lizzie tired after the zoo

Gracie after the zoo

The kids all playing

Monday, we got up, had a great breakfast and then went swimming. After swimming, we left to come home. We stopped to look at the Sam Houston Statue outside of Huntsville, TX. At first the girls weren't too sure about the statue. After we saw it, they said that they wanted to see another statue. 

Wes and the girls with Sam Houston's face

The girls and I with Sam Houston's face

We had a great time and enjoyed staying with the Smith's! We really miss them.