Exercise 101

If exercising was this much fun we'd all be doing it a lot more often!

Precious Solution

Audrey has acquired some bad sleeping habits the past couple of weeks. It's been on and off, but when it's on we aren't fans. She'll just wake up a few times a night screaming (whenever she wakes up she screams). And then I (she screams even louder if Andy tries to take a turn) have to go in, help her get a sip of water, and then she plops back down and goes back to sleep. Definitely not anything like a newborn, but it's still interrupted sleep. So, last night when Audrey requested to sleep with her sister I figured there wasn't any harm in giving it a try. It couldn't be much worse, right? The bed was pushed against the wall and Rachel was blocking the other side, so she seemed pretty safe. When I peeked in at 11 PM last night, I had to take the risk and snap a picture. So precious! And Audrey slept fabulously last night. I'm hoping we're on to something new and it doesn't have anything to do with the double dose of allergy medicine she accidentally had last night... :) It definitely was sweet to get woken up to chattering girls instead of a screaming girl!

The Cutest Cowgirl in Texas

Rachel has had so much fun this month at school. The Rodeo is huge here in Houston. The first three weeks of March are all about the Rodeo. Rachel's school has been doing rodeo crafts and art projects. Today was the culmination and they called it "Rodeo Day". Rachel wore her rodeo clothes and they had various activities for the kids throughout the day. Rachel came home telling me about milking a cow ("It wasn't a real cow though Mom and I've milked a real cow before!"), washing clothes and hanging them up on a clothesline, mining for gold, and having a Rodeo lunch. She definitely enjoyed her day today! We actually made it to the Rodeo last Saturday, so there are more fun pictures to come...

Fun in the Sun

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous here recently. It's been in the 70s and we are still mosquito-free. So the girls and I have been spending a ton of time playing in the backyard. We've enjoyed picnics (real and pretend), playing golf, reading books, and just having fun. I love this time of year in Texas. I wish it didn't disappear so quickly...

It's February, right?

We get a kick out of the way Audrey says swimsuit!

Closets

Have I ever told you how much I love closets? I seriously do not know how we survived 2 1/2 years with a teeny (like 3 feet maybe) closet for all of us to share in Holland. Basically Andy's work clothes and my dresses were hung up. The rest of the stuff had to be folded up and put in drawers or on shelves. So, when we moved back to Texas it was so refreshing to have access to 5 fairly decent-sized closets. However, I have to admit that when we moved back I just stuffed the closets with boxes and didn't organize too well. Since we've been back for about 9 months now, I figured it was time to do some organizing. Plus finding clothes to fit Audrey was becoming a pain. So, last week Audrey helped me sort out her closet...

Much better! I got rid of several containers and used the nifty space saver bags that you vacuum to shrink up. Every size from newborn to 18 months has been vacuumed up. I also sorted through and threw away a lot of stained clothes. Why was I saving them??? I don't know... We have a ton of girl clothes for any season imaginable! I guess that's what happens when you have 2 girls in opposite seasons and different climates. Anyhow, maybe some day there will be another girl who will benefit...

Another exciting thing I discovered, I get to go summer clothes shopping for Audrey! We don't have very many outfits that will work for a Houston summer, since we moved to Holland when Rachel was 18 months old. So, Audrey is going to get some new clothes this summer. I've already got some shopping done. I love shopping for my girls! Everything I pick out for them looks even cuter on them than the hanger. :)

I've also organized my closet and last month I did the playroom closet. Now I just need to tackle Rachel's, which shouldn't be too bad. The only thing is the weather has been absolutely wonderful lately. So, the thought of staying indoors is quickly dismissed. Maybe in April/May (hoping for a long Spring) when it's hot and miserable, I'll get to Rachel's closet... Or I guess a rainy day. And Andy's, well that's all his... It sure does feel great to get a bit more organized.

Crazy Girls

I love how the girls play together, even when it gets a bit crazy:

Project Completed

The past couple of months I've turned semi-crafty. Nothing like other people I know... But a few little projects have gone successfully. Here's one that I got from Family Fun Magazine (I promise they aren't paying me money to advertise), which you can find the directions here. My mom actually helped me get this started over the Thanksgiving holiday. I then brought it home and wanted to change out the ribbon, which I bought in December, but I didn't change the ribbon and hang up the hair bow organizer until last week. The girls love it though! And I am grateful to not have to hunt through their messy hair bow drawer anymore. Word of advice though, you don't have to be a perfectionist with this project and make the braid and hair look perfect. It doesn't really matter because as you can see it gets covered in bows... Or maybe my girls just have too many bows... Also, I used twisty ties at the top and bottom of the braid before tying the bows on, which helped. Anyhow, it was a fun little project.

Our Dancing Queens

The other day I was at the library and noticed a friend checking out books on CD for her son. And I thought, what a great idea... I loved listening to books on tape when I was little. So, I grabbed a few for Rachel. When we got home I pulled out the boombox I used as a teacher and Rachel really got into listening to the books. Well, one morning the girls turned on the boombox and discovered the radio. Yeah, we don't really listen to the radio. Andy does in his car. But in the family van it's usually Wee Sing or Primary songs... Anyhow, the girls loved the radio and danced all morning long as I got ready. Silly girls! And just so you don't think I'm too horrible of a mother, the pencils were brand new and not sharpened... I wouldn't let me girls swing around sharpened pencils! :) Anyhow, here's a fun video:

"Normal"

A humorous conversation I had with Andy this morning:

Me: How's your week looking?
Andy: Fine...
Me: What kind of hours will you be working:
Andy: Normal...

Me: Okay, so I'm assuming normal is you coming home at 9:30???

Andy: Yeah...

It's kind of sad when working the hours Andy works right now is considered "normal". Some days it's still hard to accept it as normal. It's "late" hours, not "normal" hours. Anyhow, this too shall pass hopefully near the middle of May and then start up again in July. One day he may have a job that has what I would consider "normal" hours, although I think they are few and far between. Wishful thinking maybe...

On the bright side, Audrey has finally gotten over screaming at the top of her lungs the minute she opens her little eyes. However, even though we are thrilled with this accomplishment (yes, she's over 2 years old and could fill a toy box with the amount of stuff she sleeps with), it's kind of sad as well... You see, she wakes up and with her sweet voice calls, "Daddy, come get me, Daddy, come get me..." And who usually gets her - me. So, then she's disappointed. Although I don't think there's any job out there that would enable Andy to be home in the morning and after nap time. So, I guess wishful thinking on Audrey's part as well...

P.S. So, I guess the "normal" for this week is 11 PM...