Third Birthday Party

On Saturday, we had the girls birthday party on their actual birthday! How fun is that. We of course picked one of the hottest June's on record to have an outdoor party. Fortunately, the party was in the morning and the kids played in the water and only the parents were really hot. I was sweating buckets! The theme was Olivia the Pig. The girls LOVE her! They always want to watch her on TV.

The kids in one of the pools

Reese and Riley stopped playing to get a snack and Lizzie couldn't be left out. Riley loves her snacks!

Lizzie checking out the cake

Lizzie and Gracie playing

Gracie in her sunglasses. They did not come off.

The girls had a blast and I think all their friends did too! We had about 20ish kids in our back yard which included 5 sets of twins and a set of triplets!

These pictures were taken by Nana. My friend Allison took some too! I can't wait to share them!

Birthday Weekend

The girls turned three on Saturday. It's hard to believe that these little babies are getting so big. Gracie is mastering the potty with fewer and fewer accidents. Lizzie has absolutely no interest. Lizzie spoke her ABC's exactly right and clearly. I was so surprised.

Anyway back to the weekend, Nana came the Tuesday before, Grandma and Papa came on Thursday and Laura, Paul, Sydney and Sam came on Friday. We had a house full of people but it was fun. From Thursday on, we were all working either in the yard or house to get it all ready. We were tired before the party even started. We had all kinds of things getting ready for the party. Because the girls are the youngest cousins by about five years, we get tons of fun hand me downs. Some of the best have been outdoor toys.

Awesome swing set given to us by Kassidy

After the party, had lunch (girls favorite spaghetti), napped, had dinner and then went to Bonkers. It was a blast. I say it was a blast because I got to sit and Sydney and Sam did all the work. Darlene (Nana) got up there too.

My goofy niece and nephew with my sister Laura. They were all so helpful.

We had a really fun weekend with lots of family. The girls loved every minute of it. They can now show how old they are on their fingers. Also, I told them because they were three they should start climbing in their car seats and they are!

Next up, the birthday party!

At the Movies

Today, we went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 with our friends. We went with our friends, Reese and Riley and Anna, Isaac and EJ. Yes, we took 2 sets of twins and a set of triplets all under 4 to the movies. That's 7 kids! We met at the mall and had Panda Express first. Then we headed to the movie. All the kids were so excited (and I think all the parents especially the dads)!

We first had to stop and look at the fountain.
From left to right: Lizzie, Riley, Gracie, Isaac, EJ, Anna and Reese

The girls stopped running down the mall to stare at a women getting her eyebrows threaded.

All 13 of us waiting for the movie to start! We took up an entire row! Its so dark you can't see all the way down.

Here are the girls cheesing it up.

We had such a good time. Lizzie and Gracie ate half a box of popcorn. All the kids were so good during the movie and they all loved it! Gracie did get a little scared of the peacock and wolves that were in the movie. She was upset the entire car ride home. Lizzie told me a couple of times she was scared but didn't seem that upset. She did whisper to herself a lot during the movie.

So now on our list of scary is talking trees, peacocks and wolves. I only see this list getting longer.....

Fun with Nana

While in Alabama, we saw alot of Wes's family but we spent a lot of time with Nana (Wes's mom Darlene). The girls really love their Nana and Lizzie wanted her to come home with us.

Blowing bubbles with Nana

Nana and her girls.

Watching movies with Nana. The girls watched the entire movie "Follow That Bird" from Sesame Street.

That's Nana in the water with the girls.

Memorial Day Weekend Part 2- Fun in the Sun

One of the other activities we did in Alabama was to go play in a fountain at an outdoor mall. It was really fun. They had live music which the girls loved.

Gracie playing in the water. She kept falling on the concrete.

The girls playing with were the water comes out.

Lizzie had a blast, she would squat down and put the front part of her hair in the water that was pooling. It was only like 2 inches thick.

This is Lizzie after one of the naps.

This is Gracie after the same nap. She finally got happy after we told her she watch a movie.

We had fun in Alabama. The car ride back was long and we saw some of the damage from the tornado that went through a few weeks ago. We also passed over the Mississippi River which was really high. Such weird weather right now.

Memorial Day Weekend Part 1- The Scary Tree

For Memorial Day we loaded up the girls and headed out to Huntsville, AL to see Wes's side of the family. It was a long 13 hour car ride with 2 clothing changes. We finally got in around midnight. We almost thought our trip was going to be cancelled. Gracie had this strange rash pop up. We took her to the doctor and found out it was hives. So, she was "polka dotted" most of the trip. The girls kept asking when we were getting to Nana's house. I forgot the camera for the first couple of days but finally remembered later.

On Monday, we went to a place called Early Works. Its a kids museum. Everyone was telling us how the girls would love it and that it had a talking tree.

Turns out for almost 3 year olds it can be the most terrifying thing you ever saw. It started talking and they ran for the front door. They wanted no part of that tree.

Not only was there a talking tree, but also a talking clock. Again terrified. That's all they talked about afterward,they told every one there was a "scary tree and clock".

We finally talked them in to coming back in the building and there was a little village room with a garden, a water table, a grocery store and post office. This is Lizzie picking carrots.

Gracie loved the cash register and wanted to play store clerk.

Don't they look sweet riding in the wagon. The reigns were not attached to a horse and they were quite disappointed. They both kept saying "giddy up horsey".

They are not as sweet as they appear. Gracie told her cousin Sean to get in. When he went to sit in the wagon, she told him to lay down and wouldn't let him get up. Here he is being a sweet and doing what he was told by an almost 3 year old. Interesting fact, the girls and Sean are exactly 9 years and 364 days apart. They were born on June 11 and his birthday is June 12.

Half Way Done

This past weekend marks the half way point of my classes for my in-depth yoga training. There are 13 weekend sessions and we are in about weekend 7. I have been practicing yoga for about 10 years, I started by taking a class at a local college. Then that teacher moved on and so did I. I then floated around from class to class looking for the "right" one. Finally, I found a teacher, Shanon, that I connected with and enjoyed the class.

My practice went along fine, I had a bit of an ego (I know I know, no ego in yoga). I had a 2 day a week practice for many years and then I became pregnant. I did prenatal yoga for a while until I was put on restriction for complications because of the twins. I was so sad. I loved prenatal and it taught me to throw my ego out the window because we a huge belly you aren't able to do everything.

Two and a half years later, I finally start a regular yoga practice without feeling mommy guilt. Yoga has actually helped me as a mom. It's given me balance, helped me find the "me" that was lost in mommyhood and helped me have a different perspective.

I'm looking forward to the remainder of my weekends of yoga and what I will learn about yoga and what I will learn about me.

Sayings

The girls are almost 3 (one month away!) and have more things that they are saying and doing. I just wanted to get some of them down. Of course, I think they are the smartest, cutest things ever. You may or may not agree. :)

• I ask Lizzie to put on her shoes and she says, "No mama, just foots" meaning barefoot.
• Gracie talks on her "phone" (which could be a doll, a block, or any other random toy). She presses on it and then says "Helwo, Grama". When I ask her who she is talking to she holds up one finger and says "just one minute mama".
• When we are in the car, Lizzie says "turn on the noogget" meaning music. At first Wes and I thought she wanted candy.
• When I leave for yoga, Lizzie says "yogit mama?"
• In the mornings, I like to tease the girls and crawl in one of the beds and say night night. They always say "no mama time to wake up"
• I asked them yesterday if Olivia the Pig was a pig and they told me no.
• Gracie had her baby doll in the car and told me it was crying. I told her to burp it, so she turned to the baby and said "burp baby". I then demonstrated how to burp a baby.
• Gracie now says in the car - "are we there yet" and then once we get "there", she says "we're here, we're here".
• They both ask every morning, "what we doin' today, mama?".

Mother's Day 2011

My Mother's Day was great! We went to Oklahoma and saw lots of family and my grandma was visiting too. We ate so much great food. My mom cooked some and we went out to dinner with my cousins. We followed up dinner out with a trip to the ER because my grandma fell but x-rays showed nothing was broken and she was just sore.

Some more fun things that happened:

With daddy's help, Lizzie and Gracie made "cards" for the moms. This is the first year they have really understood what they were doing

Another first, I cut Lizzie's bangs. She usually gets them cut when we all get our hair cut. She did really well and sat still for me. After she was done, she said it was Gracie's turn. She went and got her and showed her how to sit in the chair. I only snipped a little off Gracie.

Lizzie playing with Papa's magnifying glass, one of his many toys that are usually off limits. She is sitting on Wes's lap.

Reading with Great-Grandma Susie as we call her (my grandma). The girls have 3 sets of great-grandparents. So lucky!

Hanging out watching "big kid" cartoons (Sydney and Sam were in control of the TV).

We had so much fun. They only thing I'm sad about is I didn't get pictures of everyone. We are exhausted and happy.

Check out my shop

So, I have had an Etsy shop, Monkeybee Designs, for a while but for whatever reason I haven't marketed it well (or at all). Any way, I decided today is the day! I'm am going to start pushing my shop. Some of the items in the shop are necklaces, pins are hair clips so click on over.

Glass Tile Necklaces

Beaded Necklaces

Flower Pins

Push Me Please

The other day we met Amy, Reese and Riley at the park. The girls are now big enough for the big girl swings. They were so funny because they wanted to push each other.

They are getting so big. They say the funniest things and know so much.

Easter 2011

For Easter, we went to Oklahoma to visit my family. We had a great time.

Looking for eggs (it rained so it was an indoor hunt)

Gracie on Easter morning hugging her huge duck that Grandma got them

Lizzie and her duck

My pretty girls in their dresses

Our family (you can't see it, but the girls and I have taken off our shoes) They wore their rain boots to church and everyone made comments. So funny.

All Aboard!

Today is Good Friday and Wes had the day off. We decided to have a family day and experience something new with the girls. Last December, DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) opened a rail station close to our house. Wes and I had been talking for awhile about taking the train somewhere and we decided today was the day! Last night before bed, Wes told the girls we would be riding a train today and they were excited. This morning when they got up, they said they were riding the train today.

We didn't really have an end destination in mind, we were just going to get on the train and see what the girls would do. We got to the train station and bought our tickets. We then went up to the platform (3 stories high) and waited for the train. The girls could hardly contain their excitement. While we were up there, we saw a freight train and Gracie waved at it. She is so funny.

Anyway, the train finally came. We climbed aboard and the girls LOVED every minute of it. They looked out the window and talked about everything we saw. They bounced up and down in their chairs.

Gracie on the train looking out the window

Both girls looking out the window, it was hard getting them together they kept bouncing around

Lizzie looking out the window, I love her hair

We stopped in the West End and walked around. When I first moved here that was the place to be and now a lot of it is closed. This is also where we ate lunch. People always talk about where we live being a "bubble". When we were downtown, I realize what they mean with lots of different types of people. In fact when we got off the train, the police where intently "questioning" a man. We decided to not go that way.

Getting ready to get back on the train, don't you love the girls poses. They crack me up!

After lunch, we got back on the train and headed home. The girls still LOVED it. A man got on and sat near us. He was listening to music and had his eyes closed. The girls were convinced he was asleep and they needed to whisper, which worked out well for us. He finally "woke up" and they informed us of that too.

After we got off the train and headed to the car, they wanted to sit on the bench (did I mention it was a really windy day?)

It was a really fun day and the girls had a blast. They loved it and talked about it all the way home. It is so fun to experience new things with them and see the pure joy and excitement that they have.

Dancing Waters

Today, Amy and I took the girls to eat lunch and play in a fountain. We first ate lunch at a restaurant near by (it took forever to order and eat) and then we let the girls play. I brought swim suits and Amy brought extra dresses (we think differently which we always laugh at). Anyway, last year when we took all the girls to something like this; Lizzie was all over it, Gracie took some coaxing but then got in to it and Reese and Riley weren't too sure what to think.

Fast Forward several months and Reese, Lizzie and Gracie were all in the water and soaking wet within 10 minutes. Riley still took some coaxing but did get a little wet. Anyway, ALL the girls had a blast and there was a lot of laughing and squealing! We are definitely going to have to go again.

Here are some pictures (I only had my iPhone as a camera).

Lizzie, Gracie and Reese

Gracie and Reese

Lizzie and Gracie