First Sleepover

Little Miss A had her first sleepover!  She and T had so much fun!!! The girls played barbies, babies, puzzles, crafts and games then called it a night with a movie, popcorn and a prize!  :)

Mr. D definitely makes up the 3rd part of this trio and was trying to figure out how he played into the scenario on a sleepover night...here's what we came up with

Mr. D has already decided we need to have his friend D come over for a sleep over as soon as he gets back from San Diego. :)  Meanwhile, Little Miss A is aready planning her next sleep over as well.  Let the sleep over games begin!!!!

Inner Space Caverns

We went with some friends to a local cave to see the sights and have some fun.  K & T are the perfect complementary to pair to my A & D!  The double sets walked through the cave hand in hand!  It was awesome!  My kids just LOVE the G girls!!!  We are so happy to have met them!  :)

Rodeo Day

As we celebrate Texas Independence Day, the Kindergarten team hosts Rodeo Day!  The kids wear their "Texas Best" and have a morning filled with cowboy/cowgirl fun.  Crafts, games, activities and snacks. :)

They had so much fun with their friends. :)

Pedicures

Little Miss A went for her first "real" pedicure with more than just Mommy. :)  FUN!!!

Cinderella Ball

The UT Club hosted a Cinderella Ball for Daddys and Daughters!  Little Miss A and her sweet friend T went together with the Daddys.  I helped my sweet girl get dolled up for the occasion.  Make up and an up do and she was ready to go.  :)

 The "belles of the ball!

 The mommas and Mr. D crashed the party goers and created our own after party...gaming!

The princesses...

Marathon Kids

The marathon the kids were running over the course of the past few months finally had the "final mile" and "closing ceremony" of the games.

Pre-run hang out with friends!

Post run medals.

Little Miss A and Mr. D we are SO proud of you!!!

Our Special Day

In preparation for our special day, we picked Grandma and Grandpa B up from the airport Saturday afternoon. :) We are so thankful they were able to fly in to celebrate the weekend with us!

We began our special day with our official entrance into the church.

After a year of learning and growing in our new faith, J and I made our profession of faith in front of the whole congregation.

To make the day even more special, our sweet little angels were baptized too!

Deacon Tom, who has made this journey so special, did the honors of baptizing our little angels for us.

With amazing Godparents too, our sweet little angels are in great hands all the way around! We are so thankful for our amazing family and friends that shared our day with us!!!!

It's a Zoo!!!!!

We met our bffs (that we don't get to see anywhere near enough these days) for a fun trip to the zoo!!!!

In a matter of a few short hours we fully experienced the ENTIRE zoo!

(Gotta love that about our local treasure...

totally perfect for this age.)

It was awesome!!!! Such a great afternoon with our wonderful friends!!!!!

Lakeway Trail of Lights

We took a very impromptu trip through the Lakeway Trail of Lights after dinner on Friday night. All I can say is WOW!!!! Who knew there was such a local treasure? We didn't have to drive an hour to find a small trail that's just perfect for the kids to run through. We got back to the beginning tunnel and Mr. D said, "Wow, look!!!! Another tunnel" We were contemplating letting the 3 of them keep going and see how long it would take them to realize it was the same tunnel. Alas, it was already late, so we called it an evening! How fun!!! We have another tradition to add to the list. :)

An After School Surprise

N and I took the kids right after school for a surprise trip to the ice rink downtown for an evening of ice skating...what a nice escape!!!!!

The kids all had a blast...seriously didn't want to leave!!! Gotta do this again for sure!

A Tradition in Belton

We met our bffs for dinner then began our traditional treck to Belton for the drive through trail of lights.

Little Miss Energy!!!!

Mr. Tuckered Out...halfway through the drive!!!

Thanksgiving in New York City

It was another year of our every 5th year tradition celebrating Thanksgiving in the Big Apple. This year, my family was joining us...what a fun treat! :) Here is the WAY condensed version of our trip...

Bagels on the steps of the library

Grand Central Station!

Mamma Mia was AMAZING!!!

My dear friend L was in the city for Thanksgiving too!!!

Our kiddies FINALLY get to meet one another! :)

Balloon Inflation

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Thanksgiving dinner with the fam!!! :)

Ice Skating in Bryant Park

Carriage ride in Central Park

D, Daddy and Grandpa head to the Ghostbuster Fire House while the girls braved Black Friday shopping at Macy's with the CROWD!!!

Family pics in Central Park!!!

It was an absolutely amazing trip!!!!!!! We were so happy the family came with us...made the visit that much more special! :)

Six Years Ago Today...

6 years ago today our lives were changed forever in the most amazing way!!! I can't believe that our sweet little punkins are six!!!!! Where does the time go? Although, having said that, I think back and can't really even remember what our lives were like before their arrival November 3, 2004.

Little Miss A is the sweetest girl. Always so caring of others, super kind and considerate. She loves to take care of her family and friends...wanting to make sure everyone is happy all the time. She is so thoughtful and always wants to do the right thing. We are so lucky to have her!

Mr. D is our little funny man...he has the most amazing sense of humor. He loves to laugh and make others laugh as well. His laugh is contagious...completely infectious! Like his sister, he loves for everyone to be happy and is more than willing to share his laugh and silliness to make people smile. We are so lucky to have him!

I am happy to report that the bug they had yesterday was completely gone by the afternoon so they were able to spend their special day as we regularly planned. We had an early release day at school, so the kids had the best of both worlds...school with friends and a nice long afternoon of fun as well.

The kids woke up in the morning to the traditional birthday song. We learned when we split them up to their two separate rooms when they were 2, that we needed to sing loud and have them both come to the great room for presents together. (Not quite the same as my childhood where the whole family walked into my room singing the birthday song carrying presents, but we can't be in 2 places at once.) After a shower of gifts, the kids began to get ready for school. I headed out to Starbucks for our traditional birthday morning pick me up...hot cocoa. A little bit farther drive in the new house, but a tradition we can't possible give up. :)

At school the kids had their names called on the announcements...birthday wishes from the principal. As all of my students heard their kids names, they came to my class passing on birthday wishes, some of them even made cards for them...how sweet is that? Little Miss A and Mr. D thought that was so cool! They were both line leaders for the day sporting their birthday crowns from their teachers for the day...

The kids picked special cupcakes to share with their classmates:

(Princess)

(How to Train a Dragon)

We celebrated both birthdays in the cafeteria as one great big group. Which meant the boys in Little Miss A's class were able to enjoy dragon cupcakes/rings and the girls in Mr. D's class got to have princess cupcakes/rings. :)

With an early out at noon, I took the afternoon off to spend A & D's special day with them doing something exciting and fun! After a few changes in plans, we ended up at the Main Event. (A fun indoor play land.) We ironically bumped into some of our old playgroup friends, so we were able to join lanes and bowl together. :) After a few hours of bowling, the kids and I headed to the arcades to play some more. What a fun afternoon.

We left the Main Event and met Daddy for dinner...A & D's choice our old traditional Mexican favorite. I think we've celebrated their birthday dinner there for the past 3 years now even though we've moved. :)

In maintaining that tradition, the kids fell asleep (AGAIN) on the way home and we ended up having birthday cake the next day instead...

What a great day with two AMAZING kids!

Happy birthday "babies" we love you!

Austin's Park

We had a birthday party to go to at Austin's Park...a place we've been talking about taking the kids for a while now and just haven't quite pulled it together. It was so fun to see the kids run around like they owned the place. Little Miss A with the girls, Mr. D hanging up with the boys...both running in opposite directions, but what's new.

The tea cups were a hit for both. Little Miss A was super excited about the bumper boatsMr. D was too until the saw the people on the boats getting completely soaked with squirt guns. Then he realized there were super soakers on the side of the boat pond and decided that was his post. He'd sit this one out and take shots from the sidelines instead, stating that he didn't want to get wet. Clearly, he has no qualms about getting everyone else wet instead. :)

After running around outside, it was time to head indoors. Little Miss A and Mr. D are still obsessed with the rock wall. I almost think we should install one in the backyard. If I were confident in my skills at tethering and carbine-clipping, I just might. I know for a fact it would get daily use from these two!

We definitely need to go back again...day passes for all of us so we can put-put golf, laser tag and ride the cars on the track together.

Bike to the Park

We took our first official ride!!!! Daddy was in Canada on business and the kids had been BEGGING to go. So after a little sidewalk steering practice with the buddies down the road, we headed out! It was awesome!!! The kids did so good and so much fun! This is definitely an adventure we need to have Daddy come along for next time. It would be so easy to make this an all morning or afternoon event. :)

Fall Fest

Our school had our Fall Fest on Friday. It was a fun filled evening...for half the family anyway. Little Miss A and Mr. D both had TONS of friends all over the place and bounced from friend to friend. It was hard to keep up with who was heading in which direction with whom. With lots of games, bouncy contraptions and a great petting zoo...Little Miss Social did not want to leave. She and I outlasted the boys by a good hour and a half. Her "big" friends (some of my 4th graders) were quick to find her and take her under their wings and play. Such amazing girls!! So glad my Little Miss A has such good girl role models to look up to. :)

What a fun family night!