Catch-up

The rest of August & September in a nut shell...

August 28




I know I'll laugh someday but for now I'm still upset. :( Ava's hair will cover up all of the layers easier, but I don't know what they'll do for Sydnee...I hope they can work wonders at the Hair Cut place...

later that day...
Well I think I learned somethings about myself today- not all that I liked. Parenting is so hard. I have moments when I just feel completely undone. I think that's normal. I behaved badly today & I hope my kids will forgive & forget it someday. I am not sure I've ever been more mad, and yet I wasn't void of reason. There was a little voice telling me all along that I just needed to calm down. I'm still a bit frazzled but, maybe tomorrow will be better. Anyhow, here are the after-we-went-to-the-haircut-place-shots. And FYI, they are losing a bunch of their toys to Goodwill, but they are most upset that they don't get to see family today for the birthday party. I am too. Ava's haircut is a little weird, but I can style it fine. Sydnee's is actually cute but hard to photo. I will say this- I'm going to have to dig a hole in the backyard for my scissors. The problem is, is that these girls are clever, and when something is out of their reach- they just go find something to help them reach. So maybe a combination lock...that's an idea. Ah, toddlers...

and I still love them b/c there are moments like this:

Sept 3
It's Ava's first day of preschool so we are getting ready for that- I'll post pictures & such later! Yeah for fun big steps! In the meanwhile, here's some fun shots:


and more stuff-

It went well, I am excited her Ava to start. I think she will really enjoy it, I only wish she wasn't the only girl. But hey- she can hold her own. It will be interesting for me to have to interact with a room full of boys as well. Anyhow, here are a few pictures.

Ava in her new outfit going to pre-school. Sydnee also- not to be left out! All of the moms came for the first time... Sydnee really wanted to be a part of everything, I wish she had something like this too, but I think we'll go to story time (which is at the same time) instead...

Last Todd played his first volleyball game of his season as well- and won! Todd sacrifices like crazy for his family, and never gets to do anything fun for himself- so when someone asked if he would join a YMCA team, we jumped on it. So he played his first game last night & had a blast. He told me he wasn't sure if he was more excited to spend time with people outside of church activities or to be playing volleyball again. I'm really happy for him. I hope we can go cheer on "Crusher"- his nickname. :)

Speaking of spending money... I was so excited when I came home from the store yesterday, and this may totally bore all of you but- but I'm getting better at saving money. I had my menu planned out for the week, with my grocery list, & Internet coupons all worked out. I checked the HEB specials and adjusted. In addition to the meals, I also needed diapers, punch for a baby shower last night, the brie dish + ingredients, and 2 baby shower gifts. I got them all for $120! Wahoo! I saved over $20 in coupons/value deals, and we have plenty of food to eat. Our HEB has a clothing section, so I found 1 cute outfit for $3! The other was $6, I added some little boy soap that I had a 2-for-1 coupon- and voila, they each get an outfit and some baby bath stuff. Anyhow, I'm determined to be this cost conscience for the rest of my life. It doesn't take a lot of effort, and the savings as substantial!

And that's it in a nut shell. enjoy.

A visit to Mayborn

We went to the museum yesterday with my sister, nephew, best friend, & her kiddos. As you can see- we had a good time!

Not so purple meal

We tried, but this was by far the least colorful meal we had. :) Oh well. I was busy, so Todd did the cookin' and I forgot to tell him to put food coloring in the pancakes. This little yogurt parfait would have been perfect, but I didn't let the cool whip thaw. Oops. It tastes better than it looks, trust me. :)The jello was a little too soft still, so no little molds of purple jello either. But hey- grape juice is purple!

Fishing for Reverence

Just watching the Olympics like a mad woman, but mainly at night when the house is asleep. During the day is a little boring, so I enjoy the high lights in the evening. I just wish I could watch the Today show. :)
Not much going on today. Yesterday was the first day I have been "book free" in a long time, but it seemed like I was a little off all day. :) Maybe I am part book worm.
Here are some cute pictures from Monday's FHE. Todd did a super cute job on his lesson about reverence where the girls fished for PURPLE reverent fish. They had fun.
Have a great Wednesday, folks!

Hello Purple, Goodbye Red

What would I post if I didn't have color week? I don't even know! :)

Well we didn't take too many pictures for Red week, but I'll share what we did do. Note the red straws, very important.Here's our meal. Menu: Spaghetti, pizza rolls, salad, punch. Check out the center piece. Check out these yummy frozen M&M ice cream treats. I thought they were all red, but alas they are not! Too cute! For the activity, Todd took the girls to Chuck E. Cheese- lucky guy! I was scrapbooking. :)

This week is purple, so today we are all in our purple duds. It was a little challenging, but that's alright! Any ideas on what food we could eat BESIDES grapes or eggplant? :)

Hola Vampire Lovers!

:) Well Todd & I did brave the "crowd" on Friday night to pick up my book. It was funny. They really didn't have much going on, it sounded like other's were more fun. They did have a blood drive, which I think is hilarious, and a costume contest. I totally should have come dressed up, Todd & I would have knocked their socks off. I would have put on my wedding dress.
So I've started reading it, just because I couldn't resist. I still want to finish the other book series I'm reading. Anyways, it's fun to reconnect with the world of vampires & werewolves.
Have a great week, pals!

An Olympic FHE

Since it is RED week, we learned about China- since the Olympic begin there this week. I LOVE the Olympics. Todd's parents were visiting. They got to experience Family Home Evening with a 2 & 3 year old again. Oh boy! Thanks to the Enrichment committee for putting this packet together, it was VERY fun!

Coloring the Chinese Flag:Strawberry Pretzel Squares- to die for!

Let's go shopping!

This is what we did for our activity for brown week. See all that brown? Me neither. The black bear has a tan nose? Our mall has a playground now! Yeehaw! This is a cute little TV News thing, they can see themselves on TV, Ava LOVED it!

Living with a 2 and 3 year old

My life is an interesting one. No doubt. Yesterday was a momentous day & not in the good way. Here's a break down of events. I thought you'd like some visuals, so enjoy the pictures.
#1 Any ideas what this is? No? Well it's Ava's hair. I gave Ava & Sydnee little trims on Sunday b/c they were getting a little shaggy. Here's Sydnee's cute new doo- please note that this child refuses to wear clothes. Another interesting challenge.Well Ava thought she would try it on her own. It was quiet time, which means Ava is supposed to be in the playroom. I was reading in the livingroom & I kept hearing a little snip snip sounds, but I had no idea what it was. I called for Ava to come & she wouldn't. This is a definite sign that something aint right. She normally loves to share the silly things she is up to, not today. So I go in the office & find Ava's hair. Then I start to brush it & it is coming out like crazy. Apparently she just thought an overall trim would be best. So she took a shower to get all of the hair washed away. Here's what she looks like now. Note the bangs. Fortunately since Ava has curly hair, no one will notice...but I hope I've threatened her so badly that she'll be nervous about picking up a pair of scissors in kindergarten.
#2 Know what this is? This is what happens when 2 little girls pull on their blinds too hard. This is super fun since their blinds were the nice/expensive kind AND their window is facing out front. Excellent.

#3 Notice something? Maybe the fact that there's only 1 door on the tv when there should be 2? The pin in that door falls out all of the time. Well, apparently it fell out & went into hiding. Attractive, eh? So Todd just took the door off to prevent injuries.

Unfortunately the latter 2 things happened while I was eating at Panera. A friend is moving so it was a little gathering for her. Poor Todd. He was a little frustrated. Imagine that.
All-in-all, I have to laugh about these things. They are just littel girls with a vivid imagination. In fact apparently Prince Diego is visiting today because the girls keep asking him to come with them whenever they leave a room. Funny girls.

And the last thing that happened last night I thought might send Todd through the roof. The power flickered several times while a storm passed through last night and it did something to our air conditioner. At first it wouldn't cool at all, it was 83 degrees in the house. Then it wouldn't cool half of the house, so Todd just turned off the cool & let it run. When I went to bed I tried the cool again & it was working. Whew. And thank goodness!!!