happy girls

a date

2012-02-03T12:55:00.002-06:00

We like to take the girls out on little individual "dates" every now and then. So my last date with Bella, I thought I would be so creative and fun and take her kayaking. She hated it. Score one for me. I took some pictures though, so when she is older and forgets that she hated it, it will seem like we had a good time.

Lake Woodlands, TX

The water was a little chilly. And dirty.

She had to pee, so I told her the choices were to hang her bottom over the edge of the boat or go in the woods. She didn't like either option, which is weird because normally she is all over peeing in the woods, like it is just the funnest thing she can imagine.

We try really hard to raise classy girls around here.

She cracked a smile finally because there was a regatta going on and a bunch of boats passed right at this moment.

Of course, she got stage fright and couldn't pee, but honestly, who could?

Finally, one smile, so she can look back and see the illusion of fun.

as promised...

2012-01-27T16:16:00.002-06:00

A post about South Padre Island:

We went to South Padre Island over Christmas, oddly enough, it was warm (70's) before we got there and warmed up after we left (it was 80 by Saturday) but, while we were there it was cold. And by cold, I mean, my parents, from Utah, were cold. (That was a lot of comma's, I am not sure they are all warranted. I think I was absent on grammar day in elementary school.) Anyway, we proved that we don't need warm weather to have fun, we swam in the (heated) pool, browsed the surf shops and had Christmas dinner at Denny's.

It wasn't all about Denny's though, we went to the beach:

Dissected jellyfish (this is before - I will spare you the after):

Found a rope that had washed ashore:

Took pictures with cousins:

And went to some animal place, I can't remember what it was called. I think it is some sort of dolphin rescue, but since dolphins live in the ocean, not in plastic kiddy pools, we didn't get to see them. At least, no one was taking boats out in the hurricane force winds that were happening that day. Don't worry though, Bella told me her favorite part of the trip was holding this parakeet:

Next time we will just vacation at Petsmart.

I don't think she would mind that at all:

I think we have a crazy cat lady in the making.

this holiday season...

2012-01-03T13:44:00.003-06:00

We bought the Griswold Family Christmas Tree:

The girls had a dance recital:

(Aliz had a nasty case of the stomach flu that day, but she performed anyway and didn't puke on stage, so bonus)

We read The Nativity:

Santa came:

We opened gifts:

I finally figured out how to take a flattering picture of myself:

(Did you catch that? So here is the trick: hide behind as many things as possible, then, viola: flattering. And genius.)

And, I purchased super romantic gifts for Taylor, like this digital tire pressure gage.

I know, get a room right?

We also went to South Padre Island, but I will save that for later.

Gwen is the only nice person in our family,

2011-11-30T21:21:00.007-06:00

. . . at least according to Bella, who wrote Gwen this note the other night while feeling particularly picked on.

For those of you not accustomed to reading first grade ~~scrawl~~ calligraphy, here's a translation, slightly altered to improve readability:

"I love you Gwen. You are the only one who is nice to me every day. Love, Bella"

Halloween (a little late)

2011-11-17T09:23:00.002-06:00

I can't decide if this is the saddest or cutest thing I have ever seen.

2011-10-11T11:33:00.002-05:00

Gwen's little leg got run over with a power wheel jeep while she was riding her bike. The Dr. thinks her foot is broken, so he put her in this tiny boot. It is adorable. And she loves it, but that might just be because her foot hurts without it. She hasn't slowed down at all though, she is still running all over the place, like a miniature peg-legged pirate.

If you see this one driving, you may want to run the other direction.

Another Birthday

2011-10-11T11:13:00.003-05:00

For Taylor's birthday we had a s'more party, since, you know, he was turning 5 and all. Hopefully he didn't think I was too big a loser for doing that, but I thought it ended up being really fun. We were able to have a bunch of friends over and keep everything in the backyard, so clean up was easy (which I always like). Plus we got to find really cool camp-ish themed gifts for him, like a cookbook, a blanket, and a star projector (which I am really excited about -- I guess I am the one who is 5).

I grabbed some glow necklaces/bracelets for a little extra entertainment for the kids, it worked great. They ran around in the dark screaming like a pack of wild coyotes.

The Party

2011-09-23T14:49:00.003-05:00

Enjoying her blueberry tart and lemon sorbet.

Opening presents.

Trying out her new toy.

I know this picture is really bad, but her face kills me.

p.s. If you are wondering why we had a blueberry tart instead of cake, it is not because we are extremely fancy and sophisticated, it is because Gwen has some food sensitivities. She can't have dairy or refined sugars or she gets really sick and really grumpy. So we made desserts she can eat without troubles.

Gwen-ergy is two-ergy!

2011-09-23T13:44:00.002-05:00

Gwen turned two, so we went to the beach, where I proceeded to take 310 pictures (yeah - that is not an exaggeration). We had a little party at home for her as well, but I'll post those pictures later so as not to overwhelm. My favorite picture of the day somehow didn't make it from the camera to the computer, I don't know what happened. Actually I do know; I am a technology retard, is what happened. It is too bad too, I finally caught Gwen's classic dirty look that she always gives me, on camera, for the first time ever, and now it is gone. Sniff.

Taylor informed me that her swimsuit looks like a maternity swimsuit.

Jerk.

I think she pulls off the maternity look just fine though.

Is it wrong to be jealous of your kids eyelashes?

Because I am.

I think it is safe to say we are all quite in love with our little Gwenergy.

I don't know what it is about us finding dead stuff at the beach, but apparently that is a thing around here now?

This time we made a castle for the king, aka, dead fish.

Don't worry, we gave him a proper burial in his very own Egyptian inspired tomb.

Twinners

2011-09-14T13:39:00.003-05:00

Today I had an epiphany, of sorts. I have a celebrity twin. A hair twin, to be more exact.

What an exciting day!

I know you are dying to know who it is.

Wait for it, because it is awesome.

Here we go:

Yes!

I will no longer be embarrassed by my rats nest, I will embrace it in all its Hagar-like glory.

Just thought I would share.

That is all. Carry on.

p.s. If Van Halen is ever in need of a new singer, well, I am here. I mean, I can't really sing, but... I do know all the words to "Jump".

The Cone of Shame

2011-08-08T13:03:00.002-05:00

I didn't think it was possible, but we have found a way to make him look even more ridiculous.

Behold:

We like to have parties for no reason at all.

2011-08-08T12:39:00.003-05:00

This one was an ice cream and bike decorating party.

We had copious amounts of junk food.

See what I mean?

And another angle. Do you feel sick yet? I kind of do.

We loaded up the wagon with decorating supplies:

And went crazy on the bikes and scooters:

Gwen got her birthday present early so she wouldn't get left out:

You can see how her face got so messy. One part sticky soda to a bunch of parts cookie crumbs and ice cream. Mmmm.

And now, a cat...

2011-08-08T12:18:00.001-05:00

Those scarves would be her fur and the mittens are, of course, her paws.

so. so. rad.

2011-07-11T23:54:00.002-05:00

I loved her for that she was beautiful;
And that to me she seem'd to be all Nature,
And all varieties of things in one:
Would set at night in clouds of tears, and rise
All light and laughter in the morning; fear
No petty customs nor appearances;
But think what others only dream'd about;
And say what others did but think; and do
What others dared not do: so pure withal
In soul; in heart and act such conscious yet
Such perfect innocence, she made round her
A halo of delight. 'Twas these which won me . . .

- Philip James Bailey

camping party

2011-06-12T22:46:00.002-05:00

Bella was so funny this year, whenever I asked her what she wanted for her birthday she'd start naming off party ideas. So, like a good (ok, annoying) mom I kept bugging her, and finally she came up with a tea cup. And that is it. Nothing else.

I did grab a horse plate and a couple of books, too. And her favorite item; these little book labels:

Then she was off to school.

She really wanted a camping party, so we got out the fire pit and camp chairs.

We set up a little dinner and roasted hot dogs:

Added a s'mores bar:

Complete with s'mores cupcakes:

And made some little goody bags, with a notebook and little twig pencils:

All in all, a pretty simple party to plan. I am glad we kept it small since there was fire involved. I was pretty paranoid about a kid getting injured, fortunately everything worked out fine.

"crossing the bridge"

2011-06-12T22:25:00.002-05:00

That is code for "kindergarten graduation." She is pretty excited about it, if you can't tell.

Hey, remember this holiday?

2011-06-12T22:13:00.004-05:00

Um, yeah, it was a while ago. Does "better late than never" apply here? We'll pretend it does.

I'd say more about it, but, honestly, I can't remember much about it. So I'll just leave you with some questions:

Why did we use our crappy point and shoot when we have a nicer camera?

Why did we not even try to take decent pictures?

What were we doing?

It is a mystery.

pigtails and a pink wagon... with a little sassy thrown in there

2011-04-13T22:12:00.002-05:00

McKinney Falls

2011-04-13T21:49:00.005-05:00

During spring break (umm, like a month ago--clearly I am really good at updating the blog) we went to McKinney Falls, outside of Austin. It is a really nice little place; perfect for kids. They could easily hike from the lower falls to the upper, all on their own. Camelback required though, but mostly because it is cute. I mean, seriously, look at her and her dog, all ready to hike.

It is actually pretty slick in this river, lots of algae on the bottom.

Bella really wanted to catch a fish (minnow) with her bare hands.

See? Algae. On her eye.

There was a nice swimming hole at the bottom of the falls. We didn't bring swimsuits, but they went in anyway. Topless of course. Don't worry, I did not.

It was definitely worth the drive for anyone interested. Bella wants to go back and camp there for her birthday.

Toothless

2011-04-13T09:33:00.002-05:00

After weeks of wiggling, she finally lost her first tooth. And by lost, I mean she ripped it straight out of her mouth. Seriously, she is one tough kid. I don't think I have ever seen her so excited. But, sometimes excitement turns to tragedy. As she was rinsing off her tooth (like 5 seconds after she pulled it) it went down the drain. I am pretty sure I have never heard her cry with such complete and utter heartbreak before that moment, it was the saddest thing I have ever heard. Like the sound of a puppy being kicked, but worse. So she left a note for the toothfairy.

Fortunately, the toothfairy still came and left a trail of pixie dust from the window to the bed. And $2. Funny thing about that $2 though, Aliz was sleeping in Bella's room that night and somehow Aliz ended up with $1 clenched in her little fist in the middle of the night, so Bella thinks the toothfairy brought $1. And rather than start a fight, I am going to just let her think that. Nothing good can come of revealing the thief's identity, I am sure.

Rodeo Houston

2011-03-10T22:19:00.005-06:00

It's kind of a big deal 'round these parts. There was a petting zoo. Gwen was offering me some hay. Um, no thanks.

Aliz, awaiting the rodeo and Tim McGraw concert. What, you don't keep your kids out until 11pm on a school night? I would have felt worse if Bella's kindergarten teacher wasn't there too.

And finally, the highlight of the day: Bella went Mutton Bustin'. I don't know who invented this, but they deserve an award.

Here's the video. She cracks me up.

Aliz's Birthday

2011-03-10T21:52:00.002-06:00

Aliz turned four. She wanted a Rapunzel/Tangled party. So we went for it, lanterns and all.

And check out this cake:

Amazing, right? I didn't make it - which is obvious if you have seen any of my cake attempts. Our very nice friend made it - thanks Camille!

The party got started with coloring.

Aliz really loved the cake. She likes to hide her emotions, but with chocolate cake she just can't resist a smile. And cramming it in.

See? She loves her gifts, but here she is stone-faced as usual. Actually, it is more of a slight smirk.

I thought it would be rad to light these floating lanterns for her birthday, so I got four and pictured them all floating together. It didn't quite work out though, turns out you really need one adult to light each one, so we did them more one at a time. They did float, so still fun, but not quite what I was going for. We are definitely going to try it again.

Signs of Spring

2011-03-02T13:43:00.002-06:00

Butterflies:

Blossoms:

Buds:

Asparagus:

And an almost naked baby:

Just when you think nothing exciting ever happens

2011-02-09T12:57:00.005-06:00

A couple of weeks ago we put that epoxy coating down on our garage floor. I know what you are thinking... a blog post about epoxy? Exciting! Yes, yes it is. Anyway, we moved all of the garage type stuff out of the garage, things like tools, cabinets, bikes, 4 ft by 6 ft cabinets (can you see where this is going?) etc, etc. So Sunday night, with all of our goods in the backyard, it started to rain, because that is just what it does, no rain for months, and then you move your not so waterproof stuff outside and bam! Rain. Just like that.

Taylor, being concerned about how our extremely high quality particle board cabinets might fare in a rainstorm started moving things back into the garage. He picked up aforementioned 4ft by 6 ft cabinet and started to move it, only, the cabinet decided it would move itself. Straight onto the ground. I think the cabinet was throwing a tantrum. Only it didn't go straight to the ground, it hit the hose faucet on the way, breaking it clean off of the wall, leaving water squirting out everywhere. After the cabinet hit the faucet, it decided to really show Taylor who was boss and landed on his foot. Upon hearing the commotion, I ran outside to find Taylor floating in the frigid water, barely clinging to life. His frozen fingers unable to grasp the makeshift raft, the raft that had saved his love, as she called to him as loudly as she could, but barely above a whisper, "Jack. Jack. I'll never let you go."

Oh wait, that was Titanic.

Really though, there was a lot of water, and pieces of broken cabinet. That must have been where the confusion came from. We got the water shut off and the cabinet back in place, and the foot examined. The foot, unfortunately, was not so easy to fix as the pipe and the cabinet. I'll spare details for the squeamish (Taylor, I mean you) but let's just say he no longer has a toenail and there are now a few stitches residing in its place.

If this were all the excitement, it would barely be worthwhile, but when you add to it that our vacuum caught on fire yesterday. Now that, my friends, just tops it all off. Really, I knew this fire was coming, I mean, I have been shoving the cord in place for months to get around the short in the wire. And yes, I know that is not a great idea. I also know that a new vacuum is 'spensive, Lucy. Luckily, the fire barely got my hand and put itself out shortly after I dragged the vacuum outside. Because really, after I got it outside, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. I mean, can water put out an electrical fire? No, really, can it? I should learn this stuff for next time. Someone really ought to do some sort of public service announcement about how to handle this type of situation, or put it to a song. I know we have the old stop, drop and roll, but I hardly see how that was helpful.

Just so this post can have something cute to look at, here is Gwen playing in the rain:

Her boots are too big for her to walk in, which is why she is actually standing still.

The Zoo

2011-01-24T17:38:00.001-06:00

It was a smashing success.

Obviously.

Santa brought skinny jeans

2010-12-29T13:36:00.002-06:00

We finished up our Countdown to Christmas with some baking, more singing and dancing, and a Christmas Eve Feast. But we'll just skip ahead to the good part. I haven't been one for the skinny jeans trend until I saw them on this girl:

I don't know why, but Gwen in skinny jeans cracks me up.

It wasn't all about skinny jeans though, Santa did bring some other goodies:

And something else exciting, although I can't remember what it was. Maybe the remote control snake she had been dreaming of for months?

Fancy jewelry:

And the only gift Gwen cared about:

Actually, she warmed up to the bath toy she got. I am sure you can imagine how she looked after cleaning off the tube of rolo's.

Aliz enjoyed all the goodies. She especially loved the camelback she got from Grandma and Grandpa (sorry I didn't get a picture of her in it - next time). She loved it so much that she refused to take it off before bed, and since this girl really knows how to throw a fit, I let her keep it, hoping she wouldn't drink too much (and really there wasn't much in there). No such luck, however, she totally peed the bed. Lesson learned.

Bella in her outfit from Santa:

And Taylor, opening his gift on Christmas Eve. I made him do it. I couldn't contain my excitement anymore, but I mostly just thought it was sweet how Bella was looking at her Daddy in this picture. I think she likes him.

As you can see, it was a great Christmas.

For the Grandparents

2010-12-23T12:33:00.003-06:00

This year for Christmas we pooled the money from the grandparents and got the kiddos this:

It is a Kinect (if you can't tell from the random pictures). And since the grandparents don't ever get to see the kids enjoying their gifts, I thought I'd share. I know we should have made them wait until Christmas, but they end up with so much, it is overwhelming. And I also know we said we were going to get a freezer, but in the end we took the irresponsible route (as usual).

Anyway, the girls love their new game, so, thanks grandparents!

A Lot More Days...

2010-12-22T19:20:00.003-06:00

Day 14: Look at Christmas Lights

Day 15: Pick out new Ornaments

Day 16: Christmas Shopping
Day 17: More Christmas Lights
Day 18: Make Neighbor Gifts
Day 19: Make Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (they are like a brownie inside a cookie and they are awesome)
Day 20: Read more Christmas Stories
Day 21: Sing (and dance) to Christmas Songs

Apparently, singing and dancing is much better in the dark with flashlights. It's like we went clubbing. We just needed some Techno Christmas music and leather pants.

Days 10-13 and the happiest three year old I have ever seen

2010-12-14T21:34:00.002-06:00

Day 10: Church Christmas Party (No pictures, we were 45 minutes late.Luckily, we signed up to bring brownies so we had those for dinner since we missed the good stuff. Plus I feel weird and awkward taking pictures at things like that.)

Day 11: Looked at Christmas Lights

Day 12: Read Christmas Stories

Day 13: Made Peppermint Bark

Recipe:

12 oz dark chocolate chips

12 oz white chocolate chips

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

crushed peppermint candies

Melt the dark chocolate and spread it on waxed paper (on a cookie sheet). Refrigerate until hard. Melt the white chocolate, add the peppermint extract and spread it over the dark chocolate. Sprinkle crushed candies on top.

*I couldn't find dark chocolate chips, so I used semi sweet and I think it didn't get as hard as dark chocolate would have, so it kind of mixed a little when we poured the white chocolate on. Next time I'll try dark chocolate and more fridge time.

And the three year old:

She loves this cat. And for the most part, the cat handles it very well, she purrs most of the time and usually seems to enjoy the attention (sometimes she just tolerates it).

Day 9:

2010-12-10T14:00:00.001-06:00

Ice Skating:

Day 8:

2010-12-10T13:43:00.003-06:00

Pick up Vivian:

Vivian was sort of a last minute idea. Someone at church had free kittens and how can I say no to that? I can't. We all know I am a sucker, and Aliz is over the moon for this little cat. Aliz hasn't left her side since we brought her home. Those two are becoming fast friends.

Day 7

2010-12-10T13:31:00.002-06:00

Watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

Actually, it should be: Drive to three different stores to find "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," then watch it.

Feed Markers to Puddy (so that wasn't really on our calendar, but Gwen seemed to think it was more fun than the movie.)

Countdown to Christmas

2010-12-07T09:25:00.005-06:00

This year we decided it would be fun to use our little advent calendar and stuff it full of holiday cheer. The girls helped come up with an activity for each day to help us get in the Christmas spirit, which isn't easy for me when it is 80 degrees outside. I know, waaa, right. I am such a whiner, but as someone who actually likes snow, well, Texas just doesn't have the whole winter thing happening. The good news is that I have turned into such a wimp that I end up wearing my down coat (don't laugh... actually you should laugh) way more than I probably should, so I can pretend it is winter.

Day 1: Letters to Santa

Day2: Read "The Night Before Christmas"

Day 3: Make Hot Chocolate

Day 4: Watch "Elf"

Day 5: Make (and eat) a Gingerbread House

(I know this picture doesn't have anything to do with her making or eating the gingerbread house, but she is just so cute I could squish the stuffing out of her.)

Day 6: Aliz's Choice - she wanted to watch "the funny Dad movie"

Warrior Dash

2010-11-20T23:53:00.002-06:00

Before the race:

After the race:

Climbing over the ropes:

Jumping fire:

Through the mud pit:

These were only a small part of the obstacles she overcame along the course.

It was pretty frickin' impressive!

In fact, she inspired me to join her when the race returns to Texas next March.

Cagle

2010-11-07T17:18:00.002-06:00

Taylor was going to write this post but couldn't think of anything to say and started crying. So I have to do it for him. These pictures are from our short camping trip this weekend. We left Friday after work and came home Saturday afternoon, before a meeting Taylor had to go to. It seems like it took us more time to pack up and clean up from the trip then we spent at the campground, but it is worth it for these little kidlets. They had the best time and were begging to go to bed at 7 (which is a miracle for them) because they were so excited to sleep in the tent.

Gwen by the lake, she really wanted to go for a swim:

This smile is just so Aliz.:

In the tent:

Gwen mauling Puddy:

Don't feel too bad for him. He slept between Bella and Aliz, with his head on the pillow, and his paws wrapped around them.

The lake:

We tried to find an alligator, but didn't have any luck. There were signs all over though that said they were there. Next time.

Happy Halloween

2010-11-01T12:11:00.003-05:00

getting ready:

Aliz wanted to be "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"

Bella went along with the theme and was "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake"

So we made Gwen "If You Give a Pig a Pancake"

our attempt at a group shot:

My little "mouse cookie," as she calls it.

Bella was in a hurry to get to a neighborhood with more than a handful of houses:

The girls wanted me to dress up as well, and decided I should be a Wonder Pet, the hamster to be exact. So this is what we had around the house.

You'll have to use your imagination for the hamster part.

The End.

silver linings

2010-10-29T16:57:00.004-05:00

We disappeared for a while there.

The girls took turns getting the barf-ies. Silver lining: the couch and area rugs are freshly shampooed and all bedding is washed now.

Bella fell off her bike* and broke her arm. Silver lining: she thinks the cast is pretty much rad.

Other things that have broken and their silver linings:

-the vacuum; nothing a little duct tape cant fix

-the highchair; Gwen thinks it is fun to throw the tray on the ground since it won't stay in place

-the car; we found the broken part at a junkyard and can (in theory) fix it ourselves

-Gwen fell while we were at the tire store and hit her head in a couple of places then later fell down the stairs and added a few more bruises;

Silver lining: her Halloween hat covers most of them up.

At least she doesn't look angry about wearing the hat.

* She actually fell off her bike in front of me (on my bike) too close for me to stop and I ran over her arm. Bella and Taylor are having a great time telling everyone that I broke her arm. I maintain that the break was from the initial impact of the fall and deny any wrongdoing. Or maybe I just feel really guilty.

One Year Older

2010-10-08T10:44:00.003-05:00

Taylor had a birthday. These pictures are from his party. His parents were nice enough to come all the way to Texas for it. We tried to surprise Taylor, but he is a sneaky one. I hope he had a nice birthday. The girls had the time of their lives with Grandma and Grandpa here. Aliz cried when they left. All they can talk about now is going to Utah. They keep searching the house for plane ticket money and whenever they gather a few coins they ask if they have enough for a plane ticket yet, between the two of them and their piggybanks, they came up with $19.78. Not quite a plane ticket, but I was a little surprised they had that much stashed. Now that they are understanding more about how much plane tickets cost, they have decided that they want to take their money to Sweet and Sassy and do a little retail therapy for their sadness. The whole thing makes me feel guilty we live so far from family.

I am realizing that this is kind of a bummer of a birthday post. I feel like I should be a good wife and maybe write 31 things we love about Taylor, or something. But that is just not me. Sorry Tay. I hope you had a good day anyway.

Inside I am really an 85 year old lady.

2010-10-08T10:14:00.002-05:00

We finally de-whitified our dining room. Sort of. It started out like this:

So boring. In fact, I think it deserves an award for being so completely boring.

There. That is better. Anyway, we started out by adding a lot (and I mean a lot) of wood.

Then we painted all of it and, here is the old lady part, added wallpaper. By the way, it sounds like no big deal to paint all of it, but we primed it and then did two coats of miserable, oil based, stink. If you can't tell, we are a little sick of painting. Anyway, this is the result:

It is kind of hard to take pictures of this room and it is not totally done, as in we need to make the roman shades and get some chairs, but it is a nice improvement over the before picture (I think).

I am kind of digging the old lady wallpaper. It makes me want to say things like pocketbook and Ethel Merman.

Rainy Beach Day

2010-10-05T13:04:00.002-05:00

We went to the beach a couple of weeks ago (pre-haircuts). It was pretty much a monsoon, but we can't be phased. We swam and splashed anyway. Until the lightening showed up, then we had to call it a day. Too bad. We got a few (okay a lot) of pictures when there was a break in the rain. I think we should get an underwater camera next time, then we can laugh in the face of that electronics wrecking rain.

Get ready for the cutest thing you have ever seen.

2010-09-26T21:20:00.002-05:00

Bella and Aliz went to Sweet and Sassy to get hair cuts. And glitter. Lots of glitter.

You might want to sit down, they are that cute.

See what I mean?

I think they pretty much had the time of their lives. And I can't get over how sweet (and sassy) they look. I could eat them up.

I am a little slow about following through.

2010-09-25T07:46:00.003-05:00

I told some family I'd post pictures of this swing-y thing we built for Gwen's birthday, so almost a month later, here it is. I know, I know. I am the sloth of the blogging world.

So, here is the story: I really wanted to get Gwen a swing for her birthday, but we didn't have anywhere to hang it. I sometimes (okay all the time) get really weird ideas in my head that I can't let go of. Taylor tried to talk me out of the whole swing idea, but I couldn't let go. Poor ( ha! double meaning!) Taylor, right?

This is what we came up with for our swing hanging needs:

I am not really sure what to call it. A mini pergola, perhaps? When the girls outgrow these swings, it is just the right size to hang a porch swing from.

Gwen totally hated the set up at first, when we tried to have her swing, she'd get this panicked look in her eyes and scream like we were beating her. Needless to say, we were pretty excited that we spent an entire Saturday (which just so happened to be the hottest day of the year) building this so she could hate it. Fortunately, Bella and Aliz liked it, and now Gwen loves it, she laughs and laughs. And then the cows come home and she stops.

Here she is in the transition from hating the swing, to tolerating it:

Actually by this time she liked it. Do you see her trying to hide that smile? Yeah we totally caught her. Mwhahahaha.

It took us one day to build the pergola and we stained it one evening. The "us" was Taylor and our generous neighbor ( I dug, like, half of a hole-what can you really expect with three kids), who spent his whole day over here, baking in the heat. Without his help it would have taken a lot longer, basically we could never have finished it in one day. We pretty much owe him big time. And his wife who spent the day alone so he could help us.

p.s. I just noticed this is signed in under Taylor's account. Clearly, this is not Taylor writing, but you already knew that by the made up words and lack of spell check.

Check it out

2010-09-15T20:16:00.004-05:00

Bella learned how to ride a two-wheeler last weekend. We removed the training wheels, and off she rode. It was painless. If we'd known she was this ready we would have done it a long time ago.

As she rode around our neighborhood, I was struck by how much she looks like Nicole, who, judging from the below photo, learned to ride a two-wheeler at about the same age.

Lucky for Bella, I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

little one

2010-09-02T10:22:00.002-05:00

Gwen's Birthday:

She was distraught. Maybe it was the thought of getting older?

The cake couldn't even cheer her up.

But a bath did.

She tried to hide the smile on her new swing.

Then she came inside and opened presents.

And realized that maybe birthdays aren't so bad after all.

I guess we should have brought an umbrella.

2010-08-19T15:09:00.004-05:00

attorney by day, carpenter by night...

2010-08-16T11:14:00.006-05:00

After many, many, many hours of work, here it is: the study with built in bookshelves, cabinets and desk. I think Taylor wins the handiest husband award.

Check out how perfect:

and again:

I think this is Taylor's favorite part:

No, not the computer (okay, maybe the computer) the desktop. That sucker is 12 feet of pure beauty. You should see Taylor spread his work out on this thing.

And one last shot, for good measure:

oooh

aaah

This room was empty before (except for all our junk/boxes we didn't know where to put) with blank white walls.

Oh, and in case you were wondering how we did this, it was a combination of sources, we started with a couple of pictures from magazines, and Taylor's work office and these plans from Anna White, and adjusted it all to fit our space and wants.

birthday

2010-08-11T15:49:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, Bella woke up and told me that I couldn't have friends over for a birthday party because I don't have any. Sweet, my five year old already thinks I am a loser. I am kidding, she was very concerned that I have a nice day, she just thinks old people, like me, have no friends.

She was nice enough to offer to invite her friends over so I could talk to their Moms. I didn't take her up on it, but managed to have a nice birthday anyway.

Bella colored this picture for me and wrapped it all by herself:

Gwen was there too, she was just crawling around on the floor.

We pretty much pigged out all night on cake, ice cream, brownies and cookies. And then went outside to hang out in the sweltering, humid jungle in which we live (we lasted about 10 minutes, I think). Anyway, I think the best part of birthdays now is the total lack of obligation I feel to do anything, so I didn't fold laundry, or clean, or cook. I did nothing and it was great.

2010-08-11T15:41:00.001-05:00

"You've got to be kidding, this is the best chicken ever."

-Bella

Congrats Target, your rotisserie chicken has won her heart.

Independent Aliz

2010-07-27T22:03:00.001-05:00

I got out of the shower to find that Aliz had made herself breakfast:

It looked pretty good, so I joined in.

And that is the story of how we had ice cream and cookies for breakfast.

Bella's Trip to Utah:

2010-07-26T22:29:00.002-05:00

You could also say "Bella's Week of Heaven on Earth." When she wasn't riding horses, she was feeding them, or petting them, or dreaming about them, or pretending to be one. She does that a lot. She would wake us up every morning at the crack of dawn to go catch a horse to ride. And whatever few moments were spent away from horses, were filled with cousins. If it were up to her, we'd pack up and move to Utah.

I think this will conclude our trip pictures. I am getting tired of looking through the hundreds of pictures from this week and you must be tired of seeing them.

Taylor is pretty much the Michael Jordan of throwing rocks into the river.

2010-07-26T22:11:00.002-05:00

See? I think what really makes him excel is the passion.

You can't fake that.

Oh, and the kids had fun too.

I love a Parade

2010-07-26T21:59:00.003-05:00

Actually, that is not true. Parades are okay, don't get me wrong, but love is a pretty strong word. At least at this parade they throw candy at you, and hand you weight loss brochures as you stuff your face with said candy. Not that that happened to me or anything.

Gwen loves a parade though.

Others just texted, or played games. Whatever, it is cool, I am sure the South Summit Beauty Queen didn't go home and cry into her pillow because everyone was ignoring the wave she had, clearly, spent many hours practicing

And, almost as exciting as parades are blog posts about parades.

The end.

As promised, more pictures of Aliz...

2010-07-19T21:36:00.003-05:00

I couldn't find any of the aforementioned hot tubbing pictures of Aliz, but let me assure you, she looks adorable in her bikini. She usually rocks the bikini with her cowboy boots because she is rad. Anywho, I did find this picture of Aliz, right after Grandpa gave her some ice cream salt to try out. Not so good, I am guessing.

Playing horse, with the horses.

Hiking in the Weber:

Backyard Camping:

I did find a couple of pictures from the dinosaur museum (don't mind the nasty wrist vain jumping out at you in the background):

I feel like this picture should have "Just Hang in There" printed on it, like the infamous cat in the tree posters. Witty, right? And that it why I shouldn't be blogging at night when I am tired.

And finally, playing with her cousins. She thought they were hilarious. She was literally rolling on the floor with laughter.

The End.

"Car Talk" quote of the day:

2010-07-17T20:08:00.002-05:00

From this morning's show:

"A minivan is the most sexless vehicle there is . . . . We wanted to have our cat neutered, we didn't even take him to the vet, we took him around in the minivan for a couple of blocks and it was all done."

- Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers

2010-07-15T21:43:00.010-05:00

Erwin: "If you're so bored, why didn't you go to Utah with Alan?"

Gail: "Well, Utah's not exactly a cure for boredom."

Unless, of course, you're Aliz, who spent her vacation week:

climbing peaks in the Wasatch;

riding Mo by herself;

feeding farm animals;

and helping grandma (known to Aliz as "girl grandpa") water the vegetables.

And that's not to mention trips to the dinosaur museum, camping in the backyard, and hot-tubbing with the Rice cousins (pictures to come in a later post).

It was a sweet life for a week.

Cowgirl Is Her Name

2010-07-12T21:32:00.004-05:00

There's a hundred years of history
and a hundred before that
All gathered in the thinkin'
Goin' on beneath this hat.

The cold flame burns within her
'Til her skin's as cold as ice
And the dues she paid to get here
Are worth every sacrifice.

All the miles spend sleepy drivin'
All the money down the drain,
All the 'if I's' and 'nearly's,'
All the bandages and pain,

All the cowboy tears left dryin',
All the fever and the fight
Are just a small down payment
On the ride she makes tonight.

It's guts and love and glory,
One mortal's chance at fame.
Her legacy is rodeo
And cowgirl is her name.

-- based on the poem "Legacy of the Rodeo Man" by Baxter Black

a lot of catching up to come...

2010-07-11T15:29:00.003-05:00

We are home from a trip to Utah, there are lots of pictures to share, like 500 actually.

And, for your viewing pleasure, I am going to post them all.

Just kidding, even I don't want to look at that.

I don't know what setting the camera accidentally got switched to here, but I thought it was kind of cool.

More to come later.

breakfast

2010-06-16T15:01:00.005-05:00

It appears we need some help with this morning stuff.

Birthday Celebrations

2010-05-31T20:28:00.003-05:00

We started off Bella's birthday celebration with a trip to Sea World, so the rest of her birthday was a little more low key. On her actual birthday she really wanted to go to PF Changs, and ride the water taxi at the mall.

Aliz really liked the food, she couldn't shovel it in fast enough.

I think the big draw to PF Changs was the horse statue.

On the Saturday following her birthday, we had a get together with some of her friends, nothing fancy, just cake and ice cream.

And some good wipe-outs down the waterslide.

She had a great time and is already talking about her next birthday. It is so amazing and heartbreaking to watch her grow, part of me misses her as a little baby, but I just adore her as a little girl, we all do, we are very lucky to have her.

p.s. I left Gwen in the living room for a couple of minutes and when I came back she was standing. And she has been scooting all over the house. Yikes.Time to baby proof.

p.p.s. Doesn't this look like a really uncomfortable way to sleep?

p.p.p.s. Taylor really likes it when I do the laundry and don't fold it (which is pretty much every week) and just shove it all onto his side of the bed.

the end.

the dog who lived

2010-05-22T22:18:00.002-05:00

Puddy found some mouse poison yesterday. He thought it would taste good (it probably did too, since he ate the whole bar). Fortunately, we caught him in the act, and washed his mouth out and rushed him to the vet, where he spent the day vomiting and such.

He seems to be his normal self for now, and has earned the title of "the dog who lived (so far)". If he makes it through tomorrow unscathed, he should be in the clear, and we can drop the (so far).

Unfortunately, I can't say things are going as well for Bella's birthday cake:

Guess what? We have 8 inch pans, not 9 inch, I learned the messy way today. And I got to test out the self cleaning feature on the oven.

It works.

We'll have some pictures of Bella's birthday events up later. I know you are on the edge of your seat about it.

This Weekend

2010-05-16T20:31:00.003-05:00

We went to Sea World/San Antonio with my Mom, Dad, and Grandma. It was so much fun, we are all pooped. We pretty much played non stop. And fed dolphins, how cool is that?

This is what happened when Taylor took out her binky to make her smile:

Clearly, it didn't work.

Aliz on the steps at the river walk:

More river walk:

and some more:

When we got home princess dress ups were first on the agenda. Apparently, it is difficult to go two days without them.

Even Gwen joined the fun.

the end.

Springtime in Texas Rocks

2010-05-11T22:40:00.004-05:00

We've enjoyed nearly 4 straight months of 70-80 degree temperatures, eating outside on the patio every night, wildflowers, gardening, etc. It's been hard to stay inside. When we moved down here everyone seemed very concerned to tell us that the summers are hot. But no one mentioned how great the springs are.

Our Little Gwenergy

2010-04-29T10:28:00.003-05:00

She has become a different babe lately. She grabs anything and everything she can, she rolls all over the place and has started scooting around on her bum. She is becoming more mobile by the day.

Life as we know it is about to change.

Check out those fluffy arms.

Mermaid Bathroom

2010-04-29T10:16:00.003-05:00

This is Aliz and Gwen's bathroom. Aliz loves mermaids, and Gwen doesn't have an opinion on the subject yet, but I am sure she will love them too.

So, here is the mermaid bathroom, without being too mermaid-y.

The color turned out kind of weird in these pictures, it is not quite as yellow as it looks here, and we do have a blue or green (I forget) bath mat on the floor now to break up all that white. But taking a new picture and then uploading it, well, it seems like a lot of extra effort when I can just post these crappy pictures.

Also, I realized that I was not thinking at all when I picked the white grout. In my defense, it really threw me off to have to pick that and I had a bunch of other things to pick as well, so my brain wasn't functioning normally. So now I am in the process of staining the grout light grey, but it takes forever, and I enjoy doing it about as much as I enjoy making the roman shades (read: I hate it).

So there you have it.

an alliance

2010-04-23T17:25:00.002-05:00

Usually, Puddy spends most of his days chasing Milo, and Milo spends his fending off Puddy (it involves a lot of hissing and swiping). However, today they united, to chase off a snake that had made its way to the back porch. I think they scared the bejebers out of the nasty thing. It mostly played dead.

After about half an hour of those two tormenting it, (by the way, Milo is a much better hunter than Puddy, which is ironic since Puddy is bred to hunt) I had to man up and get rid of the dumb thing. And if you guessed that by 'man up' I meant that I chased it out of the yard with a rake, then you would be right.

Time to put some more snake away down.

my melons and earth day

2010-04-22T14:29:00.002-05:00

This is for Taylor and the very unsophisticated comment he left yesterday.

Here they are; my melons:

Watermelons, to be exact. At least I hope they will be.

And check out this beauty:

This cabbage is already a couple of feet in diameter, seriously, it is huge. And pretty. Don't you think this earth can grow amazing things? What a fantastic place.

Speaking of earth, if you want to help her out a bit (since it is earth day and all), how about some of these bags? I bought a pack a couple of years ago and I love them, they hold a lot more than any little plastic bag, they are sturdy, and squish down into their own little pouch. Plus, they come in a lot of fun colors.

Happy earth day. I've got go turn my compost, before it starts raining.

the garden

2010-04-20T08:53:00.002-05:00

We've been busy with the yard lately. We planted a vegetable garden,

and lots of fruit trees. This is an orange tree, so those blossoms should be oranges in about a year. How is that for slow food?

We planted a lot of fruit trees, 9 actually - it's a mini orchard really, so with any luck my trips to the grocery store will greatly decrease over the next year or so.

We planted even more flowers, these are the hollyhocks. Hard to believe that they'll be 6 feet tall and covered in flowers eventually. Well, assuming the dog stops trampling them.

There are a lot more flowers, but the rest of them look like this:

I am crossing my fingers that soon enough we'll have pictures of actual flowers to share. Until then, we are loading this guy up, trying to make some good dirt for all these plants.

princess milo:

2010-04-01T18:26:00.000-05:00

i {heart} this chunky monkey

2010-03-30T21:17:00.003-05:00

playroom cabinets

2010-03-30T13:45:00.003-05:00

I had been eyeing these for a long time, I thought about buying them, but I wanted the tv we have to fit inside one of the cabinets, so after calling around and finding out how much a carpenter would charge to build them ($1250) we decided it would be best to make them ourselves. I had no idea where to begin, but then Heidi shared this amazing blog. So now I had a plan, there were no excuses left.

Here they are:

I changed the dimensions and lowered the shelf so we could fit the tv in, and I am happy to say, my math skills didn't fail me. Honestly, I was a little worried about it.

I am really grateful to Ana, the creator of knock off wood, and all the great plans, she saved me a lot of time and frustration with her easy to follow plans.

The cabinets are definitely not perfect, but for the amount we saved I am very happy with them, and I learned a lot in the process. I almost feel ready to tackle our study, well, maybe after a few more projects.

ps we are having a great time spelling out words with our alphabet cards, my favorite so far has been 'gnarly'.

Quote of the Day:

2010-03-22T23:30:00.005-05:00

But former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich said Obama and the Democrats will regret their decision to push for comprehensive [health care] reform. Calling the bill "the most radical social experiment . . . in modern times," Gingrich said: "They will have destroyed their party much as Lyndon Johnson shattered the Democratic Party for 40 years" with the enactment of civil rights legislation in the 1960s.

- Washington Post

What the crud? Nice Gingrich. This is right up there with your extra-marital affair right in the midst of your relentless pursuit of Bill Clinton for similar behavior in the late 1990s.

Bella rode a bull

2010-03-18T16:15:00.003-05:00

...at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo!

Pretty rad huh?

this little girl

2010-02-27T21:22:00.004-06:00

turned three today.

We had a little family party at home, loosely based on her favorite movie right now. It was sort of a Peter Pan/Fairy party. Mostly, the party was just full of flowers and butterfly's and things little girls love,

like fairy princess crowns.

We went on a Peter Pan treasure hunt (in our weed filled backyard - don't look too close - the builder should be replacing the sod that didn't take this month, then hopefully I will love to show off our grass, until then, well, I am just embarrassed). They found lots of fun treasures, like pixie dust, pirate rootbeer barrels, thimbles, nana's treats, sea shells (from mermaid lagoon, of course) and star lollipops.

Aliz opened her presents.

When I asked her what she got, she said, "oh, it is just a book."

Gee, I am glad she liked it.

Her cake. Much better than last year, I'd say.

And finally, we just had to play with the pixie dust they found on their treasure hunt.

the wallpaper

2010-02-27T20:58:00.002-06:00

This is for those that were curious, here it is, my first experiment with wallpaper. I haven't painted the beadboard or moldings yet, so that is why they look crappy in the picture, but at least you can get the idea.

It was actually pretty easy to put up, I did it in an afternoon while the girls watched a movie.

p.s. the pattern is from Sherwin Williams

Give me a spinny ride and a plate of salmon and I'm a happy man

2010-02-27T18:08:00.010-06:00

A lot of things happened in February, but few of them would be of any interest to anyone reading this. We had an anniversary, celebrated Valentine's Day (despite the fact that it is by far the lamest of all holidays), Nicole and the girls visited family, and I took the Texas Bar Exam. I'll spare you the details, except the following:

As can be seen above, Gwen has developed a substantial amount of cleavage.

Bella and Aliz loved visiting everyone in Utah, and can be seen here at Grandma and Paul's place.

Bella rode horses, got bucked off, landed on her butt in the snow, and narrowly avoided crying.

Aliz is cute, and would have looked very trendy a few years ago with her puffy down jacket.

Nicole looks better than ever after three kids and eight years of marriage.

Nicole Is Now A Carpenter

2010-01-31T20:00:00.004-06:00

In decorating the house, Nicole has repeatedly encountered the same problems countless others have encountered, including:

1) Most furniture stores are filled with furniture that I can't imagine anyone actually paying money to put in their house, and

2) Stores that do have nice looking furniture are exorbitantly overpriced. For example, there is a leather couch at Restoration Hardware that I thought looked nice when I saw it. But when I looked at the price tag, it was marked down to $9,175.00. That's more than my car is worth. If I sold my car, took all the proceeds, and put them toward that couch, I still would not be able to buy it. And all for $100 worth of wood, leather and metal fashioned together into a couch.

So, after some thought, as well as some inspiration by a do-it-yourself blog, Nicole has decided she will build the furniture we need.

Her first project, featured below, and built using all of her free time over the course of about 4 days (1 hour) is the trundle. Now Bella has somewhere to sleep when we have visitors or when she and Aliz decide to sleep over in Aliz's room.

Impressive, eh? I would say yes. Please feel free to leave praise for Nicole in the comments. I figure that will only encourage her to build more.

p.s.

2010-01-21T21:18:00.001-06:00

It was 70 degrees today. You know what that means... swimsuit weather.

I know all parents think their kids are cute

2010-01-21T21:08:00.002-06:00

but I just can't get enough of this girl:

today

2010-01-07T19:01:00.007-06:00

7:46 Start out the day with probably the most awesome lie I have ever heard:

Aliz: The baby peed in my diaper.

Me: What?

Aliz: Gwen peed in my diaper.

Me: The one you are wearing?

Aliz: Yes.

Me: So, Gwen went into your diaper, while you were wearing it, peed in it, then got out?

Aliz: Yes. Change my diaper.

Clearly, we have an extremely talented 4 month old.

And a very creative 2 year old.

11:32 Went to Walmart

11:47 Got in line at Walmart

11:57 Still in line at Walmart

12:07 Still... in... line. Remembering why this was my second trip to Walmart in the last 8 months.

12:13 Why do people have the checker ring out 6 different orders with one batch of crap?

12:22 Finally, checked out and leaving Walmart.

4:10 Check on Bella in "quiet time". Find her wearing this:

I think those are jeans wrapped around her neck like a scarf. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.

4:53 Gwen is sitting (I use the term loosely, more like propped) on the couch, while I start dinner.

4:54 Aliz decides she needs room to dance and shoves Gwen off the couch.

4:54.29 Hear a sickening thud and baby screaming. Sweet. Start running over to Gwen, meanwhile, David Puddy runs under my feet. I step on his leg. He is yelping. I think his leg might be broken. Double sweet.

4:55.34 Chaos ensues. There is screaming (me), crying (Gwen and Aliz)) and yelping (Puddy).

5:01 Calming down. It turns out no bones are broken.

7:15 dinner: Spinach Gruyere Tart, Citrus Pomegranate salad, Cranberry Macadamia Flapjacks (the english kind, not the lumberjack kind) and lemon cordial.

All recipes from my favorite cookbook, In Season. It is arranged by month and what fruits/veggies are in season at that time. It is the kind of book you could plan a garden around. I highly recommend it.

because I am a lame blogger

2010-01-03T21:58:00.007-06:00

here is our month in review:

dance show:

opening presents:

milo got a reindeer hat, I think he liked it:

(just kidding, he hated it)

and for Grandma and Grandpa, who sent the "Daddle"

the kids love it.

bella gave us a concert with her new guitar:

enjoying the new puppy:

playing with fireworks:

and Taylor made Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon:

meet david puddy

2009-12-14T22:24:00.009-06:00

Our girls have desperately wanted a puppy, so Christmas came a little early.

Taylor named him David Puddy.

He stinks like a dog, but he is pretty cute.

Are we suckers?

"All signs point to yes."

*not sure who David Puddy is? check here.

potty training

2009-12-08T14:20:00.009-06:00

has resulted in numerous baths

Gwen gets a separate bath, so as not to be drowned by a not-so-well-meaning 2 year old sister of hers.

She is probably wondering where her wrists have disappeared to.

this week

2009-12-08T13:42:00.004-06:00

we tried these out. it did not go well.

any ideas?

she stays dry all night, but when she wakes up, well, let's just say, our floor is the new potty.

testing...

2009-12-03T13:23:00.011-06:00

I am trying to make the picture bigger, and the color more true to what comes out of the camera. Let's see how this goes.

getting bigger

2009-11-29T18:52:00.001-06:00

so soft and cuddly

2009-11-25T13:01:00.003-06:00

She likes to cuddle with odd items.

rough week

2009-11-20T17:54:00.004-06:00

We started off the week with an outing to the mall to pick up some shampoo (yep, we are exciting like that). As we were going up the escalator Bella -I have no idea what she was doing or how this happened- fell down. However, on her way she kicked my legs out from under me and grabbed my shirt, so I went with her (with Gwen in the front pack and holding Aliz's hand). We were falling down the up escaltor, so we more or less were falling in place. When we finally stopped we were dangerously close to the top and I had all of the visions of clothing getting sucked into the escalator. So, I grabbed the closest body parts I could find (for Bella, it was her foot and at least I still had Aliz's hand) picked up both kids and we stepped not-so-gracefully off the escalator. It was quite the scene. Really, it is too bad everyone missed it, although I wouldn't be surprised at all if a clip of the incident showed up on some bad-mom candid camera show. In the end it seems comical, but at the time I maybe could have died of embarrassment.

Now Bella has an ear infection, the Doctor is concerned her ear drum will burst.

And for those who were wondering how I have found time for all of the projects around the house, here is the answer: I just neglect other things. Seriously.

Boxes to unpack? Just shove them in the study and shut the door.

Want to play the piano? Good luck with that.

So, there you go, that is how we roll around here.

Oh, and my personal favorite:

There really is no excuse for me. The sad truth is when I go to bed, I shove all of the clothes over to Taylor's side. Can you tell I hate folding laundry?

what the...

2009-11-19T09:55:00.003-06:00

I had fed Gwen and put her down for a nap so I could clean the house, only half an hour later I heard her screaming. When I went to check on her, I found Milo (kitty) with his paws wrapped around her head, and licking her hair. Gross. Does he think she is his kitten? Does he dislike the way I style her hair? I just have one request for him:

Please don't lick my baby.

uh-oh

2009-11-19T09:50:00.002-06:00

we have a thumb sucker.

bella's bathroom

2009-11-19T09:41:00.002-06:00

Our first attempt with bead board.

she wanted a purple room

2009-11-19T09:32:00.002-06:00

Bella's room:

The roman shades. Handmade by me, which is why they are crooked and maybe hot glued into place. Definitely a project that would be easier if I could sew a straight line.

Taylor's first attempt at crown molding. Pretty good, right?

She still needs pictures on the wall and a dresser, but you get the idea.

our kitchen

2009-11-19T09:27:00.004-06:00

I am kind of in love with it.

Sorry the picture is blurry.

go utes (sorta)

2009-11-16T18:04:00.004-06:00

pre-game:

at the game:

they were happy until the fireworks,cannons and cheering. then bella wanted to go home.

family picture (gwen is hiding):

but she was there.

here is the proof:

the final (very sad) score

this pretty much sums up how we all felt about the utes performance:

hopefully, they can pull it together for their next game.

we still had fun going to the game though.

a trip to fort worth... through bella's eyes

2009-11-16T17:59:00.004-06:00

first stop, the zoo:

man hands:

the car ride:

she also got a bunch of pictures of random strangers driving next to us, but I thought the subjects might not appreciate being posted here.

ugh

2009-11-03T16:00:00.003-06:00

Today the girls had dentist appointments. They each wanted to bring a comfort item (Bella wanted her bear and Aliz wanted her Ella Enchanted movie case - I don't question these things anymore, I just let her cuddle up to her movie case and accept that people probably think I am a bad parent). We got in the car and realized that Bella had forgotten her bear, so I ran back inside to get it and noticed a Halloween spider ring on the porch. I figured I would quickly grab it and throw it inside, only when I grabbed it, it was not a ring at all. It was this guy:

Ugh. Good thing I was in too much of a hurry to really dwell on it.

Halloween Night

2009-11-01T10:36:00.005-06:00

Gwen had no idea what was going on or why she was dressed up.

Bella was happy most of the time, and Aliz was happy some of the time, although the moments of her smiling were so fleeting we could not catch them on film.

Also, as we were watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" I was struck by an insightful line offered by Lucy Van Pelt when she advised that "A person should choose a costume that contrasts her own personality." Perhaps that's why everyone at our house dressed like a witch.

Happy Halloween.

so happy to have a yard again,

2009-10-23T16:52:00.002-05:00

even if it is a little swampy. On the plus side, it is a great place to splash around in rainboots, pretending to be ogres.

*it was so humid that day the camera lens kept fogging up, I would wipe it off and immediately it would fog right back up. It reminded me of a steam room and made for some unique pictures.

**I will post pictures of the inside of the house as we get our projects done, for those that have been asking.

30 years

2009-09-30T16:11:00.003-05:00

Today is Taylor's 30th birthday. I have been thinking a bit about the last 10 years and how much has happened, he has:

served a full time mission in Argentina,
returned to Utah,
got married,
earned an engineering degree,
moved to New Hampshire,
had a baby,
earned a law degree,
was admitted to practice law before the USPTO,
had another baby,
admitted to the New York and New Jersey state bars,
moved to New Jersey,
worked,
moved to Texas,
worked some more
had another baby,
and now, will soon be buying a home.

And those are just the major events. Pretty amazing right, and that doesn't include all the day to day things he does, he has served faithfully in his church callings, been a devoted father and wonderful husband. What more could we ask for? Happy Birthday!

blessing day

2009-09-30T16:08:00.002-05:00

the problem with being surrounded by girls:

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sometimes, when it is raining really hard and you can't find your umbrella, you might end up taking a tinkerbell umbrella to work.