Vacation Bible School

Since we've joined Foundry, I thought a fun way to start getting involved with the church would be to volunteer for VBS.   When I was filling out my volunteer registration form, I didn't specify which age group I'd like to work with.  I ended up with 20 5th/6th grade boys!  I'm not going to lie.  I was scared out of my  mind when I learned my assignment and almost asked to be reassigned. But then I heard God speaking to me, telling me to get out of my comfort zone and go for it.  So I did!  

Here are my goofballs that I actually had a good time hanging out with.  

Our group was assigned to go out to the Hope Centers a few days to do volunteer work.  

Little Mommy

Audrey has turned into our "little mommy" in our house.  She's really in to taking care of her babies lately.  

She makes sure they have a good breakfast.  

Sometimes they even get an afternoon snack.  One bite for you, one bite for me.  

She likes to play "house".  

Babies get tired too and need a nap.  She rocks the baby and pats her back saying, "rock, rock" and "night, night baby".  

Welcome Summer!

Another school year is behind me and another summer is ahead.  I must say it was satisfying when my alarm went off on that last day to completely turn the alarm off for good.  We had a to work a few extra days this year because of the "no snow" snow days we had back in January.  As I was sitting in my empty room waiting for the "ok" that we could leave, I was already brainstorming ideas for next school year.  I feel like I finally found "the one" when it comes to my school.  I feel blessed to have met all the people I have along the way, but my new little school feels like home.  It's on the "short list" for Audrey to attend when she gets ready for kindergarten.  

Before our super fun summer could get started, Audrey had to say good-bye to her fabulous teachers.  She has blossomed so much this year with Ms. Liz and Ms. Nadia.  She even still talks about her infant teacher,  Ms. Ana.  Those ladies make me feel like Audrey is their favorite.  I'm sure they make every parent feel that way, but it's such a relief that I don't have to worry about her there.   One day this week, when I went to pick her up, Audrey waved at me and said, "bye mommy" and then ran into the playhouse on the playground.  

I can't think of a better way to start summer than a visit to a sno-cone stand.  The owner gave the kids some ice to play with while we were waiting for our sno-cones.  

Miss Independent was not happy that we had to share a sno-cone.  I kept holding the cup to prevent it from spilling and she kept swatting my hand away saying "no, mine".  

Here's to a great summer!

Audrey Lately~Where did my baby go Edition

Just when I think life with Audrey can't possibly get any better, it does.  She's communicating so much more now and what she's saying is more intentional.  She's a pro at naming body parts, singing Wheels on the Bus with the hand motions, saying her name (and Nana too), and requesting Doc (Doc McStuffins).  She's also become quite the climber.  The other day she scaled the couch all by herself. Mack went outside and she was banging on the window saying Mack!  Like the good mother I am, I let her climb to the top so I could get a picture.  :)  

Another happening is not so fun.  We're on our 2nd ear infection in the past month.  She's falling and bumping her head more often too so I'm pretty sure the last ear infection never cleared up which is affecting her balance. I'd put tubes in her ears right now if the doctor would go for it.  She's not ready to go that route yet so we'll just wait & see and hope this second round of antibiotics does the trick.  

So what do you after you get sent home from school and have an ear infection?  Go to the park of course!

Saturday I had a hair appointment and Audrey spent some quality time at the store with her Daddy to hear the live music.  I feel like this picture should be in Texas Monthly.  

TNO sponsored an event and a chute at the Katy Rodeo so we made a family night out it.  We made it about half way through the rodeo before it was time to head home to put Lovie in bed.  

Totally random but there's also a baby elephant at the zoo named  Duncan that I'm obsessed with.  I've never thought of elephants as cute but this little guy is adorable.  We went to visit him last weekend and I can't wait to go back.  

Fun on a Tuesday

Today was a typical February day:  cold and rainy.   Yuck.  I was standing out in this mess doing bus duty today.  I was thinking about how fast I could get Lovie and get home to put 5 layers of clothes on to stay warm.  That's an exaggeration.  I would probably only need 3 layers since our house has been drafty lately.  I walked out of the school to go home and couldn't believe it.  The clouds had disappeared and my old buddy the sunshine was shining brightly.  Amazing how a tiny exposure of Vitamin D can make my mood do a 180.  

Neal had a meeting tonight so Lovie and I were on our own anyway.  Instead of coming home to do our normal, boring routine, I picked her up and headed to the mall.  Treats from Target for Valentine's Day.  Check.  Ride on the carousel.  Check.  Selfie on the carousel. Check.  Since I was feeling adventurous, we opted to ride in the carriage instead of on a horse. Big mistake.  I get dizzy fast on things that round and round.  I can tolerate it if I'm standing up but those 2 minutes when were sitting down on that thing were treacherous.  I learned that she'd rather be on a horse too as evidenced by her trying to jump out of my lap.  Oh well, life is too short to not ride a carousel on a Tuesday.  I feel blessed that said carousel is also 5 minutes from our house and we've ridden it too many times to count. 

Chick-fil-a for dinner was a hit.  Even if she mostly only ate French Fries.  To my credit, I did ask for fruit with her kids meal but they gave us fries instead.  I took that as a sign of divine intervention and let her go for it.  You only live once, right?

One Tough Toddler

I think we're going to start bubble wrapping Audrey every morning when she wakes up.  On Wednesday morning, we received a call that she had an accident at school.  I was actually in a meeting with a parent at the time and the secretary tracked me down to hand deliver a note to call the school.  She lost her step and fell just right on the corner of a giant Lego.  Now I've heard the horror of stepping on a small Lego barefoot but never did I think a Lego could cut your face.  Lesson #578 learned about having a Toddler.  

Anything is possible.  

So I went to pick her up and took her to the doctor to get checked out.   No stitches needed but they cleaned her up and sealed it with liquid skin.  During all of this, she hasn't messed with it nor does it seem to hurt her which I'm thankful for.  As only a good Mother would think, my first thought when they called me was Thank Goodness we took our Valentine pictures the previous weekend!

The silver lining in all of this was that we got to meet Daddy for lunch.  On a school day!  #rebels

Bonus selfie pictures from the most uneventful snow day in the world.   It was so weird having 2 snow days within a week but boy did we enjoy our days!

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Hello There

Today was the day I decided to dust off the old blog and get to writing again.  Plenty has happened in the past few months that was blog-worthy but it just didn't happen.  

We celebrated Sophia's first birthday this weekend.  Audrey was definitely born in the "year of the girl" as evidenced by all the girls running around this birthday party.  She had so much fun playing and really loves being around people.   It's priceless to watch these little people interact with each other, especially now that they are starting to have little conversations.  So what if you can't understand most of what they're saying, but it's still cute to hear them talk to each other.

Audrey and the birthday girl digging for treasures with their bubble wands.  

This girl is full of spirit.  The bounce house was a hit!  Well maybe except for when it collapsed with 3 toddlers stuck inside of it.  No pictures of that because we were all working to save the babies!  Kudos to the mom who threw her margarita down and dove in wearing a dress to rescue the girls.  

A weekend wouldn't be complete with a nice shiner on our forehead!

Baby blues!

After church today, we had Valentine pictures made with Pink and Purple.  It's getting harder to coax this one to be still and pose for a picture.  We made it through the photo shoot with a lollipop.  At least it was a Valentine's Day sucker to go with the theme!