March and April 2019

I'm WAAAAY behind again.  Going to combine March and April, even though this month is totally over yet. 

Spring break was at the beginning of March and we enjoyed another great trip to AR.  We love getting to go visit Daddy's family.  We were happy the weather cooperated and we got to play at the park.  The rest of the week was cool and rainy so we went bowling one day. It was lots of fun and now the girls have played more than just Wii bowling.

Abigail got to play in her very fist piano festival.  She has been working really hard and did great.  Both girls have another contest coming up this weekend.  I am so proud of how much they have learned.  Abigail seems to enjoy piano just as much as Hannah...yeah!

At the beginning of April I got to go with Hannah's class on a field trip to the Perot Museum.  They have lots of really cool science exhibits you can touch and interact with. It was a fun day!  I've been working a lot up at the school lately, so it was fun to just be a parent.

We're so thankful we've had beautiful weather this Easter weekend.  We've tried to spend lots of time outdoors....we know the heat is coming.  Daddy has been working with Hannah to help her learn to ride her bike with no training wheels.  She still has a few things to learn, but she is doing awesome!

We had a great morning at church yesterday, including a fun photo booth and baby chicks to hold.

June 2018

Nathan and I decided that the girls were finally big enough to take a real vacation where we don't just go visit family.  We didn't want to go anywhere too far away or too expensive so we chose San Antonio (about 6 hours away).  It's HOT in Texas so we planned early June so we didn't completely melt.  We had a fabulous time and made so many great memories!!!

We left on a Monday morning and arrived that afternoon.  We made a potty stop at Bucee's and the girls wanted their picture taken with the beaver statue.  Once we checked into our hotel we headed downtown.  We walked along the Riverwalk and then went to the Alamo.

We spent ALL day at Sea World Tuesday.  I have always enjoyed the animal shows, but it was really fun to see the girls get so excited and listen to their squeals of joy!  We even got to see a baby sea lion that had been born early that morning.  SOOO cute!

 The girls have been saving their allowance money so they could buy a toy to remember our trip.  Abigail began talking about seeing orca whales weeks before we left.  Not surprised that's what she picked.

Wednesday we decided to take in easier and not spend all day outside.  We found a REALLY cool park to play at in the morning while it was still shady.  Then we had some lunch and watched a movie in our hotel.  My college roommate lives in San Antonio so we were excited to hook up with her and her kiddos that night.  They had tons going on that week and we were glad we were able to connect.  We met them at their neighborhood pool for swimming and pizza. 

 Hannah and Amelia are only a year apart so they became fast friends.  Abigail and Corrine had fun playing together in the shallow end despite their age difference.  Luke is 9 and he was happy playing with other boys in the pool instead of the girls.

Thursday we headed to the zoo.  I think this was the day the heat affected us the most.  Even though we were outside longer at Sea World the day was broken up by 30 minutes of sitting in the shade to watch shows.  The zoo was ALL walking.  However we had lots of fun and enjoyed seeing some different animals.  We bought tickets for the zoo experience which included a train ride and admission to the butterfly house.

The Japanese Tea Gardens were across the street from the zoo.  We went in for a few minutes but not long because we were really hot and tired from walking around the zoo all day.  They were amazing and I loved seeing all God's beauty!  But I think we would have enjoyed them more if we had visited on a different day.

The week after we got back was VBS at church.  Our theme this year was Amazed Beyond Belief (emoji's).  It was a super busy week but we had lots of fun.  And we learned that God can do anything!  The girls got to come help me decorate the room I was working in which they thought was super cool!  We also drove a friend back and forth.  Her mamma agreed to drive one more friend than she had seats in her car. The girls loved getting to play with Ellie while waiting for her mom to get back.

Abigail was so excited that she FINALLY gets to start piano lessons!  She is doing really well so far and already knows 4 different notes. So far she's pretty cooperative during practice too which is nice.  I'm sure we'll have plenty of arguments before long though.  HA!

I decided to take the girls to the Heard Museum one morning before it got too hot.  It's only about 15 minutes away.  We had a great time looking at the rescue animals and walking on one of the trails. 

April 2018

I have cousins that live in Arlington (about an hour away) and you would think we'd get together more often.  Sadly we are all busy and it doesn't happen often.  But my aunt and uncle were visiting them so we all got together at my parents house. It was great to see everyone, but my favorite part was the music concert!!  Hannah and my mom played some piano songs, and my sister and cousin Thomas played some cello duets.

My sweet aunt is a former preschool teacher so she always knows where to find fun things for kids. She was sweet enough to bring a box of goodies for my girls filled with notebooks, crayons, and even some Benadaroos or Wikisticks (flexible string wrapped in wax).  The girls love making creations!

Since both girl's birthdays are near Christmas we only ever celebrate with family, everyone else is too busy with holiday plans.  Every other year we try to have a belated party at the park in the spring.  It never fails that the weekend we plan it we get cooler or rainy weather, even it's been 80 the day before.  Such is life in Texas in the spring.  It was sunny and cool but it was CRAZY windy which isn't my favorite day to spend at the park.  The kids however had lots of fun.  I had great intentions of taking pictures and then completely forgot until all by one friend had left.  I was able to score one extra photo from another mom though.  😀  All in all it was a fun day!

Hannah competed in the Jazz festival again this year.  She worked really hard and played very well.  All that hard work payed off because she won 1st place in her division.  I was even able to snag a picture of her with her judge (and her trophy) afterwards.  Way to go Hannah!!

Both girls love singing in choir at church. One of my VERY favorite things they do each year is go visit local senior homes and sing for them.  Their director also challenges the kids to go talk with at least 2 residents afterward and thank them for coming.  I could not love this more!!!

March 2018

The weather is finally warming up but not TOO hot yet, so we're trying to enjoy playing outside while we can. Abigail is getting better at riding her bike and can now ride all the way to the park.  A little more practice and then we can go check out the MANY awesome trails in Plano.

We spent the first weekend of our Spring Break in Arkansas.  We got to see Daddy's family and some long time friends.  Sadly the only picture I remembered to take was in the car driving. 😒😒We'll head up there again this summer and I'll try to do better.

Daddy took one extra day off work and we decided to visit the Heard Museum.  The place is larger than I expected.  We explored 2 of their nature trails, saw the rescue animals, and checked out the indoor fossil and shell exhibits.  I'm glad we have a membership so we can go back and explore more.

Now that both girls are in school, Grammy Day's are few and far between.  We took full advantage of having Good Friday off.  We made bird nest cookies and painted on the easel outside in the beautiful sunshine.  My mom took pictures but hasn't finished editing yet. 

I do have Easter picture picture to share though. 😀 We took these two weeks ago during spring break. My mom bought these sweet dresses and flower wreathes last year off zulily.  She had visions of a dreamy photo shoot. 😍 We decided to save money and wear them for Easter too.  The Bradford pear trees were in full bloom when we took these pictures, you can almost pretend we are out in the country instead of 5 mins from my parent's house.  And we got totally lucky because 2 days later the wind picked up and all the blossoms fell off.  LOVE how well these turned out.

I love the flexibility that comes with working as a substitute.  I can pick and choose which jobs I accept.  That means I still get to go on field trips.  Joined Abigail and the rest of the kindergarten classes at the Outdoor Learning Center.  This is a facility owned by the school district and the students visit every year in elementary school  They talk about something different from their science curriculum each year.  They have a nature trail to walk along and a large room filled with animals that were once owned as pets that people could no longer care for.  People's poor judgement never ceases to amaze me....who thinks a bobcat is a good pet?!? 😕😕