My new addiction...

I had to post about this, because my brothers and father are going to be floored. You see growing up there were definite divisions of labor in our household. And it worked... The girls did the inside work and the boys did the outside work. I'm sure there were times my brothers wished they could have been a girl (but of course they'd never admit this). Anyhow, so I'm pretty lame when it comes to working outside yard equipment... I can weed, I can sweep, I can spread mulch...there's a few things I can do.

But on Tuesday I took matters into my own hands. I was brave and I got the gas leaf blower going. Poor Audrey peed her pants because I scared her - that accident was my fault! Anyhow...and I'm hooked. It makes cleaning up leaves (and pollen) so much faster. And oh the power... I told Andy he's missed out. I probably look pretty hot manning this thing! :) I even took it for another spin today. I'm really hoping the leaves stop falling and the pollen clears up. It has to at some point, right? But for now I am somewhat enjoying the excuse to use the leaf blower. Go me!!!

Spring Break

The girls and I enjoyed Spring Break up at my parents' place. It would have been just perfect if Andy could have been there as well, but he had traveling plans of his own (both business, but one included a surprise for his parents). So, we made the most of our Spring Break with Papa, Grandma, Uncle Jeff, and Aunt Amy. Amy booked tickets months ago for Jeff and her to come out and visit. Imagine my excitement when the week they were going to be in Texas was Rachel's Spring Break. Fabulous! It was fun to spend time with Jeff and Amy since the time we saw them in October they were a bit distracted (fully understandable). The girls loved being spoiled!!! Here are a few pictures of our Spring Break adventures...

Hanging out with Jeff playing with his fancy phone (Mommy is still quite behind when it comes to technology):

Audrey and Rachel making use out of Grandma's elliptical machine:

One morning the girls went on a walk with Jeff and Amy. The idea was for Jeff to pull them in the wagon. But Audrey tired of the wagon soon and preferred Amy's shoulders:

Many, many hours were spent out on the dock fishing. Audrey usually just enjoyed watching:

Rachel helping Papa find the needed supplies:
Happy girl all set up:
Audrey ready for a swing:
I don't think we had any luck that night, but no one gave up. The next night we were at it again...
Audrey even joined in on the fun:

The first catch!!! I believe Jeff caught 5 fish while we were there. We usually just catch and release. But I think they at least hung on to one (not this skimpy one though)...

One afternoon I was able to sneak up and grab this picture. Love it!

The girls and the minnows! They had so much fun playing with and torturing those minnows. Rachel even named them. And then once they were belly up, Rachel would happily toss them into the water and say good-bye. Silly girl! Papa brought home minnows twice and the girls enjoyed them both nights.

There's always time to play in the dirt as well. The girls enjoyed playing in the dirt that my dad (with Jeff's help) was using to fill in his "reclaimed land". Sometimes I wonder if he should have been Dutch... :)

Papa had purchased some marigolds for the girls to help him plant around the edge of his garden to keep the bugs away. Both girls enjoyed planting some real flowers.

Saturday morning Papa gave the girls a tractor ride. Definitely a tradition and something that can't be skipped. Grandma lines the tractor trailer with pillows and blankets, so who can blame them for loving it???

By the end of the week Rachel was quite the little fisherman. She could spend hours out on the dock. She'd cast, reel in, cast, reel in, etc... Over and over again. She never caught her own fish. Hopefully next time we can convince her to not reel in so quickly and she might have better luck. Regardless she had a lot of fun. And thanks to 2 good teachers - Papa and Uncle Jeff - she has it down!

It really hit me this trip on how blessed our girls are. They have great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who love them so much. My heart is full and I am so grateful for the family that we have. Even though time spent together is limited, it is always precious. Thanks Mom, Dad, Jeff, and Amy for a relaxing, fun-filled, enjoyable Spring Break!

The Houston Rodeo

If you live in the Houston area, you can't miss the Rodeo. Andy and I have gone before, years ago before kids... I think he may have gotten the tickets through work. Anyhow, the first Saturday of March Andy didn't have to work. Yay! So, we decided to try and make the most out of a cloudy, windy day. The girls took early naps and then we headed to the Rodeo. Although, we didn't go to the actual show. We decided to wait until the girls are a bit older. There's always next year... But we did enjoy the Livestock Show and Kids Country. It was a fun afternoon/evening for us all. Luckily the sun did make it's way out.

We first checked on the animals inside. Not sure why we did this first, but we did. The girls enjoyed seeing the animals - mamas, babies, and even a few long horns.

And here's classic Audrey... No fear when it comes to worms. Would her sister do this? No! :)

Outside they had a pretend course for children to go through called "Fun on the Farm". The girls had fun feeding chickens, collecting eggs, planting seeds, watering, harvesting, milking a cow, shearing a sheep, and selling their products. With their hard-earned cash they get to buy a treat on their way out (and the treat was real). It was a neat way to teach children exactly how it all works. The girls enjoyed themselves.

Audrey happy to pose and Rachel busy driving - one of the many tractors the girls climbed in and enjoyed...

The girls also enjoyed a petting zoo outside. And after petting some animals they were ready to be cheesy:

Rachel let the butterfly give her a big hug and Audrey wouldn't go near it:

We then watched some kids participate in Mutton Bustin'. Rachel was quite disappointed that she wasn't old enough. But really, I don't think she'd like falling off and possibly getting stepped on by a sheep. We'll keep you posted on next year's adventures, because she'll be legal next year... We missed the pig races. We didn't realize they stopped early evening. So, we grabbed some dinner. Word to the wise - you need cash when you go to the Rodeo. We paid to get some cash. We missed Europe and how you can get cash out of any ATM without any charge. Come on U.S.... :)

After dinner we were going to splurge and go on a Ferris wheel ride. Mind you, these things aren't cheap. After walking around and seeing the price of the carnival rides, Disney World looks like quite a bargain. Rachel had seen a Curious George episode on PBS one day and has been talking about going on a Ferris wheel ride ever since. Unfortunately it got really windy and we were afraid that we would spend $32 and freeze. So, we opted out and bought Rachel some cotton candy instead. A win-win situation for everybody! And Rachel worked on that bag of cotton candy for a week before I threw it away....

We definitely enjoyed our Rodeo experience this year. Rachel is still quite obsessed with rodeo things. She has decided that she wants to be a cowgirl dentist. She figures she can wear cowgirl shoes and fill cavities at the same time. :) It was so nice to spend a Saturday together as a family. I've been missing our Saturday outings... They don't seem to happen often enough, so we make the most of them when the do happen.

I love this...

I enjoyed a wonderful lesson this past Sunday. Our teacher shared this clip and I wanted to share it as well. It's worth the time it takes to watch it! :)

My favorite point of his is at the very end when he says: "And finally, when you are compelled to give up something or when things that are dear to you are withdrawn from you, know that this is your lesson to be learned right now. But know also that, as you are learning this lesson, God wants to give you something better."

Hot Gum

Audrey is obsessed with "hot gum" right now. She's finally mastered the fact that you aren't supposed to swallow it. So, really sometimes I just give in. For example, on our road trip last week I stopped off at Sam's Club and purchased 15 packs of gum. I'd hand her back a pack and it would keep her happy for about 30 minutes... Worth the 50 cents... I figure the gum is better than a sucker or fruit snacks that will rot her teeth. Right??? Anyhow, so this morning we had a humorous conversation:

Audrey: Mom, can I have some hot gum?
Me: I don't know where any is...(liar, liar)
Audrey: It's in my mouth!
Me: Well, I guess you can have some then.

Obviously she found a piece of gum somewhere. I'm glad she gets pretty excited about spitting it out in the trash. Otherwise we'd probably have gum in the carpet, on the furniture, and in her hair...

Six Dollars of Fun

Papa has been bringing home minnows to use as bait for fishing. They have had some success fishing, but most of all they enjoy naming and playing with the minnows. Next time we go to Sea World we aren't going to bother spending $6 to feed the dolphins. You only get a few fish and the fun is over rather quickly. A bucketful of minnows provides a lot more fun:

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...