What a Saturday!

Today was a busy day for us. In the morning, we had a play day with our twin group, MPOM. I was hosting so I ran to the store this morning to get the snacks. We had a great time and the girls played well.

The girls waiting patiently

 Each time we have a big play date, we try and get a picture of the whole group. This is always a challenge because at least one kid isn't in the mood to get a picture taken.

Its a little blurry.

After the play date, we had lunch and all of us took a nap. After nap, we had dinner and then ran out the door again to a concert at church.

The concert was a benefit for Imagine No Malaria. It's an organization from the United Methodist Church that wants to eliminate malaria in Africa. Its a great organization and is already making huge progress in just a year or two. Emily Elbert, who grew up in our church, played an amazing concert. She has such talent and such passion. She has traveled the world and experienced much in a short time. At one point, she had her dad come up on stage and play the keyboard while she sang. It was so beautiful.

The girls were in the nursery and the workers brought them in to hear a couple of songs. Gracie was mesmerized. After it was over, she wanted to meet Emily. Emily was so sweet to her.

Emily Elbert

Emily with Wes and the kiddos

She was so kind and sharing. It was an awesome concert. So glad that my job allows me to do such fun stuff!

Here's a video off of You Tube.

Is This a Twin Thing?

Since the girls started playing with baby dolls, they have always put two to a stroller or two to a bed. I've always found it interesting. Sometimes they will even say something like, look mommy I'm just like you or it's like me and sissy.

I'm not sure if singletons play the same way or not. But I think it still shows the special bond that these two little girls have. It's like I've always said, raising twins is like a social and science experiment.

Comparisons Spring 2009 to Spring 2012

Each spring, I am reminded my babies are closer to another birthday. Because the girls were so premature, spring was the time we were able to breath a little easier with less illness going around. We tried until that time to minimize the amount of time that girls were really in public. 

Anyway, we've recenty done a couple of things to remind me of that time three years ago when the girls were about 10 months old. First was the butterfly chair at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. The first time, the girls were so little that I had to hold them. The other was our annual bluebonnet picture. This year we took the pictures in the same location as we did three years ago.

The butterfly chair - Gracie on the left and Lizzie on the right

Sweet little babies. Lizzie on the left and Gracie on the right

Three years later - Lizzie on the left and Gracie on the right

The bluebonnet spot - Lizzie, left and Gracie, right

I can't believe how far we have come. I thought we would never get through that first rough year, little to no sleep, Wes' layoff and caring for two premature babies with all their difficulties. We survived and have two sweet little girls.

Easter Weekend

Wes had Friday off (Good Friday), so we left that morning to go to Oklahoma for Easter. We arrived in time for lunch and then went over to my sister's for an Easter egg hunt with her friends. The big kids were so sweet with the little kids. The big girls let my girls play with them and made the girls feel so special. We had a great time.

Blowing bubbles with our new friend Liam

Gracie and her haul

Lizzie and her basket

Negotiations on trading candy

Examining the stash

Looking for tadpoles with Daddy. Love.

On Saturday, we met up with Wes' grandparents Potter for lunch and then went to their house for a visit. Nana drove in from Arlington to spend Easter with us. It was nice to have everyone together. That night, the kids dyed Easter eggs. The tradition in our house is for all the kids to take off their clothes and put on Papa's t-shirts, so they don't get dye on their clothes. They look like four ghosts. The girls had different approaches to dying the eggs. Gracie would plop the egg in, wait a second and pull them out. Lizzie would put it in, wait a few minutes, check it and then put the egg back in the same color again. 

With Nana at lunch

At Grandma and Papa Potter's. Wes climbed this tree as a kid.

Climbing trees

Grandpa Potter and his babies

Grandma Potter with Gracie

Grandma Potter with Lizzie

Snuggling with Aunt Laura while the for dying eggs to boil

Grandma loves dying eggs as much as the kids

Pulling the eggs out

Patiently waiting

Sunday, the girls woke up (Ok, I woke them up) excited to see what was in their Easter basket. They loved it. They looked for Easter eggs in the house and were really excited to put on their Easter dresses for church. We went to church with my family and then came home for lunch. My cousins, Chris and Angie, came over for lunch. The kids played and then after lunch it was time for the hunt. They had a blast. It was the first year that no one needed help looking and finding eggs.

Looking for eggs in the morning

Pretty girls in pretty dresses

the pretty girls and handsome boy

Us

Nana and the girls

The hunt

Looking for eggs

Look what I have

Where else could they be?

Happy kids with full baskets

Grandma and Papa with the girls

Easter was a lot of fun this year and very meaningful. So thankful for everything we have.

Weathering the Storm

Yesterday, some severe storms blew into the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It was a school day for the girls and a work day for me, so we were all at the church. Being a weather person, I am always checking the weather and have nine weather related apps on my phone with three of them for Oklahoma stations (yes, I am a little obsessed). Anyway, I was keeping an eye on the sky but went to lunch with some people. I looked at my watch and told them we needed to head back to the church for me to pick the girls up from school. When we got back to the church, we were told that the sirens were going to go off soon and the school kids were taking shelter.

Our pastor, Dennis, had the TV on with the weather so I watched for a few minutes and then decided to get the girls. I picked them up and brought them back to Dennis' office. Two other moms decided to stick around there too with their kids. So, the kids spent the time eating candy and having fun. I was very thankful to be around others and my church family. They are a great group of people to work with and very sweet with my little monkeys.

5 kids in Dennis' office plus 3 mommies

So, while we were in here doing this.

Can you see the broken windows on the cars?

This was happening outside. Hail ranging from quarters to baseballs was falling out of the sky busting out windows and denting cars.

At one point, we moved down to the school part of the building just so that everyone was in one place. Once the storm had passed, we stuck around the church because Wes said a second wave was coming. He was at his office with a huge warehouse where they put all the employees' cars. Thankfully, his car was saved!

While waiting for the second storm to slow down, we ran into Dennis again in the church. He was so sweet, he gave each girl a kiss and said he loved them. For some reason, that calmed me down a little.

Who needs a back window?

When we got outside, this was the state of the van. My seat was covered in glass but the girls seat was ok. The UPS lady that was "hiding out" with us had the idea of putting a trash bag over the seats. I was so glad that I grabbed one too. It helped my booty not get shredded. I did get a couple of glass splinters.

Front Window

 Wes left work early to come help us with the van. Both of our nerves were shot. I was so revved up all night.

The leave literally beaten out of the tree

Wes covering the back window with a trash bag

 Apparently, there were about 14 tornadoes that touched down ranging from EF2 to EF3. From what I have heard so far, there haven't been any fatalities and just some injuries. Now, we just need to get our van fixed.

Blue Bonnets 2012

Today, we went to find some blue bonnets to get pictures of the girls. I forget each time how wonderful the flowers smell. For some reason, we always have a hard time getting a good picture of the girls. This was the best we could get. 

The Hunt Is On!

In the last two days, we have been lucky enough to go on two Easter egg hunts; one for my twin group and one for church. For the twin group play date, we dyed eggs, did a craft and had an egg hunt.

Easter craft

Getting eggs

More eggs

The whole gang

The girls with Reese and Riley

Today, was our church egg hunt. Wes was on a plane coming home from a business trip so he missed the actual hunt, but he did get to come for other fun stuff. We were so glad to see him, he was gone for a week. The church had popcorn, face painting, cookie decorating, balloon animals, bounce house and a train. The girls liked the train so much, they rode it twice, in a row.

Waiting outside the church before the fun starts

My friend Janine took this of us

Even more eggs

Getting eggs and something in her shoe

Sweet girls

Riding the train

Face painting (Lizzie loves carrots because they are orange)

Cute bunny and cute smile

The weather was nice, but hot! We were all sweaty. I'm glad I remembered sunscreen for the girls. Lizzie takes after my sister and when she gets hot, her face turns red. Now, I just have to keep the girls (and myself) from eating all this candy.