Blast off to Atlanta

Todd took the girls for an early Thanksgiving/Christmas visit to see his dad. I joined them later in the week. Todd says the flight was uneventful, which is what a mother wants to hear when her husband takes to the sky with her two precious baby girls. Once they got to Atlanta Grandma Dyer spoiled them rotten. She had a Dora tent for them to sleep in and Dora sleeping bags to sleep under. They had Dora sippy cups if they got thirsty and teddy bears to comfort them if they got lonely. They had clothes to model and little fairies and doggies to play with. We also had a visit to the aquarium and the park; they made cookies with Grandma, and most importantly lots of tickle time with the grandparents.

Halloween spookiest night you never seen

I don't know if that is the correct line to that song, but that is the way Bella sang it. And she sang it all month long. Before we were even in the month of October, I had seen a princess yellow dress on sale and had purchased it for Bella, thinking that I could convenience her to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast (I knew Bella would want to be Aurora because she wears pink, but even I get tired of pink sometimes). I also bought a blue dress so Becca could be Cinderella. Well, my first hurdle was educating Bella as to who Belle was. I had to break out the VCR to show her the movie. But as soon as that yellow dress came in the mail, Bella did not want to take it off. She would get home from school and immediately disrobe and put the dress on. Grammy's annual Halloween party was the first of many opportunities to dress up, and that was the only time Becca was willing to be a princess like sister. After that she found Bella's old butterfly costume and was in love. In fact she loved wearing the head gear to the costume. Wouldn't take it off. She'd rather sweat than let you take it off.

We did our annual visit to the pumpkin patch that is on the way to the girls school and picked out a few pumpkins. And this year I took the afternoon off, and just the girls went to the Owens Farm pumpkin patch. They thought the hayride and maze was a lot of fun. It's amazing what little it takes to entertain them because I kept thinking how lame it was compared to the one we've been to in Michigan. We also fed some goats, but we didn't wind up staying too long because all t

he hay made Becca start coughing. We also did the fall festival at the girls' school, but somehow missed all the trucks with all the treats. Oh well - not like we don't STILL have Halloween candy left over. And then on Halloween night we tried to do too much by going to our church's Trunk and Treats AND make the neighborhood parade. Well, apparently at the neighborhood party they ran out of pizza, so the parade started early, and we missed all the neighborhood kids. But Todd still took our girls and the girls of our Karen neighbor to neighbor family trick or treating. Poor Todd took off through the neighborhood

with six girls, only three of which spoke English

- and I'm counting Becca in that number. It was fun to do something with our Karen friends outside of their apartment complex. It took a little while to build a relationship with them before we felt comfortable asking the parents if we could take their girls with us somewhere. I think all the girls had fun that night.

State Fair AKA Eat-apalooza

This year the visit to the State Fair was all about eating. Our morning and afternoon was already full, so we just went for a very short time in the evening. As you can see from Bella's blue nail polish and multiple ponytails, Bella had a hair and make-up birthday party earlier in the day. Well, it did not seem like we did much, Bella said it was a fantastic time. Besides eating the girls spent a good bit of time jumping on a pile of ice that one of the food vendors poured out on the grass. So, maybe next year we'll make it to the rides, but really what we learned from this experience is that some funnel cake and ice is

only that is needed for a fantastic time.

Cinderella

Bella is now at the age where she can go to movies and plays and musicals, so this year I bought tickets for her and me to several shows - one of which was the Texas Ballet Cinderella. So on Sat afternoon Bella and I and LOTS of other little girls and their mommies went to the Winspeare to see Cinderella. The dancing and costumes were beautiful. And despite having what I think was her first sinus headache, Bella did a great job of sitting still and quite through the whole show. This month we went to a Sunday afternoon play of "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake". It is a special children's series that the Eiseman center in Richardson puts on. It was cute and just right for little ones. It's fun to have some special one on one time with Bella. I think she likes it, too.

Halloween

The girls were a lot of fun this Halloween. We actually got to do some pumpkin activities this year. Last year it was too wet to do too much. We picked out a pumpkin at the little pumpkin patch near the house on the way to school. I guess it has become a tradition. And I took off early one day and took the girls to the Owens Farms pumpkin patch. We went on a hay ride, feed the goats, did the maze, and picked at some pumpkins. Bella also taught us a halloween and fall song. And as is also becoming a tradition, we had a costume controversy. Initially Bella said she wanted to be Spider Girl. And then a pink superhero. A pink super hero that can make flowers bloom and rainbows. And she can fly, and she take me along with her. She told me all this on the way to school one day. So when I saw a pink super hero cape, I thought I'd found the best costume. But then, the girly princess kicked in, and she ultimately was Belle. And actually she put that dress on any chance she got. We also went to the festival at the girls' school. That was fun, but we missed all the trunks of treats. Then we also did trunks of treats at our church before they went trick or treating. Needless to say we did it ALL!

The little patient

It can't all be fun and games, and earlier this month it certainly wasn't.

Princess Power

The girls are really having fun now, play together, pretending together, chasing each other, and just having fun. The girls were playing dress up after I came home from Target with new wands. I also came home with one new crown because on my previous visit to the Target Dollar Spot I only picked up one crown. Uh, hello. As Tica pointed out, you have two daughters. You should have bought two crowns. DUH! There, now they can play without complaint.

Monkey Business

This was the last shot from our Galveston vacation. A picture perfect end. Please note that the monkeys are the result of Daddy taking them into the gift shop. Mommy had bought them these crappy 1.99 key chains. Those monkey entertained the girls for at least on hour in the car, not to mention they continue to be fine, furry friends.

Galveston

Well, we finally took a family vacation in early July, just after the July 4th holiday. And we took it to where you ask? That's right Galveston. For quite some time now, all Bella has been talking about is going to the beach. Every picture shedraws is of the beach. We picked her up from Sunday school the other day, and her teacher said, "Bella even drew a picture." And I said, let me guess, it is of the beach.Yep. I'm mean these are pretty great pictures for a gal who has never been. There are blue waves, yellow sand, a yellow sun and muli-color fish. So, I finally decide, ok let's take this girl to the beach. Only problem is the nearest nice, beach is at least 11 hrs away. Uh, say what? 11 hrs in the car with my kids. "That's mine." "Mommy can you get that." "I'm hungry" and the dreaded "Are we there yet?" No thanks. I said, she's three; Galveston will either meet her expectations or not. Either way it's a win for us.

Well, we got there late on a Thu afternoon, so after we checked into our room, we went to the beach. What fun! We had sand castles and chased the waves. The sand was still brown and the water still murky, but it didn't stink, there were no tar balls and there were no massive amounts of (fill in the blank) washed up on shore. So the next day we set off for Moody Gardens. That is after we did battle with the millions of mosquitoes that were waiting for us in the parking lot. Oh yeah, and after we got a jump for our battery. Yes, our battery decided to die while we were on vacation and while we were sweating to death in the safety of our car. I'mserious. The mosquitoes were vicious. It got to the point where we would put OFF on just to get to the car, and they would attach the one place bug spray missed - behind your ear, your armpit, your ankles. I digress.

We then got to tour the Rain forest pyramid and the aquarium pyramid. We took in an IMAX 3-D show. Then we did more beach fun that evening. The next day it was back to the Moody Garden splash park which was just perfect fun for the girls. They had two large pool areas, lots of WHITE sand, and a little splash pad that Becca loved!

We also watched Happy Feet in 4-D, and then headed home early. As we were debating on whether to lea

ve in the evening or stay the night, Bella asked if vacation was over. I told it was. And she started to cry. It made me so

sad I wanted to cry. She really had fun. I'm glad! I had fun, too!!

Fireworks

I think Forth of July will always remind me of when Becca was born. I can remember lying in bed in that foggy, sleep-deprived place that comes with having a newborn and just wishing that all the fireworks would stop going off so I could get some sleep. But this year was much different. The first night we just watched the fireworks at the mall from within our neighborhood. They were nice, but nothing special. So the following night we decided we'd try the fireworks show at Breckinridge Park. It started with a bus ride over to the park. And boy that would have been enough excitement for Bella. She was so excited to be riding on a bus. But then we had several hours to wait on the lawn. Bella quickly made friends with the two little girls that were next to us. And once the music started, then had fun marching and dancing to the music. AND then the fireworks started. The show was fantastic! The only complaint was that the show didn't get started until after 10:00 and by then the girls were wiped out. But we thought it was great.

Terrible Two's Here I COME!

Well, Becca turned two last month. She started the day with her sister bringing in a bouquet of balloons to her. Then, they began to fight over them, so Becca decided that to secure her balloons, she needed to put her balloons in her mouth while she pushed her shopping cart around. Then Bella poured lemonade on her hair, so we were late for school.

But later that day we had a little party for Becca at her school. She loves to wear sunglasses, so instead of party hats, I brought sunglasses for everyone to wear. That would have been enough, but we celebrated her actual birthday with the cousins and Popo and Grammy. I made the cake this time. Hello Kitty. Wish I had used licorice.

Happy Father's Day

For Father's Day we went to church and then met my mom and dad at a local pizza place for lunch. Here is Bella being silly.  Todd got to take a humungo nap and didn't change a diaper on Sunday.  He also got a new golf outfit so he doesn't look like a slob should he ever get to go golfing. 

G-ma's 80th Birthday

My grandmother celebrated her 80th birthday this week, and we threw her a big birthday party. All her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were there (well, almost). I wish we would taken the time to take more group pictures. Oh well, maybe for her 100th - no lie. My grandmother is a strong and healthy old lady. And get this, Todd made and decorated the cake (I made the frosting).  

Museum Mania

The Nasher Sculpture Museum in Dallas has fun kid activities on the first Sat of every month. So I took the girls in May. It was a really nice activity for just me and the girls. We got there by 10; participated in the guided lecture; did the art project; picked up a lunch from Panera and had a picnic at a park that Todd and I frequented as undergrads; and played in the park. Bella even saw a classmate there with her grandparents. Apparently later that week during recess, Bella and the classmate were pretending that they were at the Nasher. So cosmopolitan! 

Then the following weekend Todd and I took the girls to the Heard Museum in McKinney. We took a couple different nature trails and "walked through a forest". They had some animals for viewing, and the girls were able to get up close to see them. The trails were nice, but not something to do during the summer. Forgot the camera though. 

And then today I had the girls to myself again, and I took them to the Science Museum since the second Sat of every month they have Discovery Days. Wasn't too impressed with the "Discovery Days" part of it, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the Children's Museum was at Fair Park, too. The girls had a great time playing in the dino dig and the water table. Of course we have a sand/water table at home, but I guess they really don't compare.

Bella's first fun run

Last weekend Todd and I did a 5K (Todd pushed the girls in the double wide), and before the 5k, there was a 1 mile Fun Run. We saw another family entering their 4 year old daughter, so we decided to sign Bella up, too. Bella has done a 50 yard dash, but never a mile. She has certainly walked that but we wondered if she would run it. So, we entered her, and I walk/ran it with her. She really did walk most of it with spurts of running. But like a true champion when she saw the finish line, she ran it in. I was so proud of her. And she has been proud of herself, too. She's told everyone to from her Popo to the lady at the restaurant that she ran a 1 mile race, and that her new pink shoes made her go super fast.  Todd and Becca assisted by taking photos and cheering us on.

B stories

Bella has a difficult time with the state of disarray that our van is typically in, and sometimes it gets to be too much for her and she has to say something about the mess. The last time she commented on the mess,  I said well you keep bringing stuff in here and you never take it back out. To that Bella commented, "You bring stuff in here, too, Mommy." Nuf Said.

Becca has always been quite a chatter. One of the first phrases I can remember her saying was while Chris and Julie were here. She stood in the kitchen and cried, "But I don't want to share." So much of what is says is clear, in fact she can now say Bella and not Beya. But she still can't say "sweaty". The other night Becca asked me, "Mommy, why you so sweaty?" I wish you could see it. She rolls her tongue when she says it, and it reminds me of those Jack-in-Box commercials where Jack's mouth just becomes a squiggle when he tries to say chipolte. 

Bella thinks herself quite the fashionista. If she had it her way she would exclusively wear pink dresses. So yesterday morning when I paired a turquoise blue shirt and necklace with black pants, I think she just didn't know what to make of it. She crinkled up her little nose in disapproval and said, "Mommy, your pants don't match your shirt OR your necklace." Me, "Yes honey, but black goes with everything." I could see her filing that bit of information away.  So today I decided to test her fashion sense, and I genuinely asked her opinion on which necklace I should wear today. And you know something, I think she got it right. 

Becca is the master of  faces. Always has been. From better beer face to "the Look". Now she has the silly face and the suprised face. And she performs on command, sometimes.  In between each time she gives "the Look" she'll roll her head back and laugh.

Some of Becca's favorite phrases right now, "I can do it. I can do it.", "I fell down.", "Daddy's turn." "Why Bella crying?"  "Mine. Mine! That's MINE!" 

More Easter

Easter was a little bit wet, but we still managed to have a egg hunt at Grammy's and Popo's.  We changed things up a little bit this year. We had Easter lunch at Grammy and Popo's, and PoPo bar-b-que'd. It was a refreshing change. And the cousins brought Cascarones to the egg hunt, and it FREAKED Becca out. She could not understand why everyone was heading each other on the head.  Todd had to comfort her a little. 

Rabbit Season

We had a lot of fun again this Easter. At the mom's club Easter Festival we almost got blown away, so we didn't stay too long. Todd's friends from Michigan were visiting at the time, so they came along for the hunt with their daughter Leah. 

Snow Days

Ok, so this is old news, but since the grand plan is to print this blog out for my girls as a quasi- scrapbook, I think I should put an entry in her that covers all the snow we had this winter.  The best snowfall came on  February 11, 2010 (several years ago we had a good snow day on Feb 14th).  So, as with all good snowfalls around here, this one took everyone by surprise. Let me rephrase, the 12 inches of snow took EVERYONE by surprise.  It started with school getting canceled at noon. So I picked Bella up early, sent mom home, and bundled the girls up for some romping around in the snow. We, along with the neighbors played in the snow and built a snow man. We came inside for no less than an hour when Todd came bursting into the house at 4:00 wanted to play in the snow. So I threw all our non-water repellent clothes in the drier, wrapped the girls feet in sarin wrap (when I threw the girls in the tub before Bella's feet looked really red and she said they hurt when she put them in the water and then she told me that it felt like needles), and we headed back outside.  We built a snow slide that time. The following day was a snow day for me and the girls, and we went back outside and made snow angels up and down the golf course.  I feel and got up so many times that then muscles in my neck were sore. 

And then as my plane from Honduras landed, it was snowing - March 21st. That time we just went outside for a little bit and just made snow tracks. We were hunting bears.