zilker kite festival

as is tradition, we went to the zilker kite festival with our bff's! :) the kids had a great time! ken and mck were into picking out the "cool" or "pretty" kites and kam was just amazed by them all! every time we go outside now she wants to see kites! :)

there were seriously kites EVERYWHERE and the wind gusts were a little crazy. . . daddy had some trouble getting the kites to stay up for too long before they'd come crashing down on a poor bystander!

we finished the afternoon with a delicious lunch at hula hut on the lake and headed home! the weather was PERFECT! we couldn't have asked for a nicer day! :)

grammy and grampy's "soon-to-be" property

when grammy and grampy visited we took a trip out to property they have been thinking about purchasing (SINCE OCTOBER!!!). the girls had an amazing time exploring. it is a grand kid's paradise . . . water, sand, shells, rocks, lots of things to climb, and even some cactus to make it seem a little dangerous. the girls were sold on the property . . . now if we can just convince grammy and grampy to BUY it! :)

the tale of despereaux (YEA! we finished it!)

the tale of despereaux is by far my favorite kid's book. i would get so excited when the time came to read it with the kids in my 5th grade classroom. i have missed that terribly the past 2 years! so it was a big treat when i got to share the book with ken and mck! yes, both girls sat and listened to the 250 page book in its entirety! well, it took us a couple of weeks, but we finished it yesterday! ken was a great listener through the whole book, asking lots of great questions. . . mck needed lots of reminders to move her hands off the pages so i could read the words, or that she needed to stop singing so we could all hear the story! :)

as a special treat (and because there's still a lot of teacher in me who insisted we finish the book THEN see the movie!) we took the kids to see the movie last night! it was super cute, but so different from the book! a lot of the magic in the book was missing - a fun story, but nothing beats a wonderful book! the kids were able to name off countless differences on the way home (and yes, the teacher in me loved that too!). can't wait to start sharing even more of my favorites with them as they get older! :)


as an added bonus to the whole despereaux experience we had our own little despereaux IN THE HOUSE (in the pantry in particular!) i saw something scurry across the floor at 4 in the morning and sent bailey to investigate. i don't think he believed me until we looked the next morning and found he had helped himself to marshmallows and muffin mix! :) the girls thought it was fun and cute UNTIL bailey started putting out traps! poor ken cried for at least an hour (okay, not cried, SOBBED!) and kept saying "maybe it's a rat and not a mouse"! poor thing. bailey got a kick out of it, i could sympathize with her. the girls checked the traps all day yesterday . . . i think a little happy that the mouse was smarter than their dad! :)

a visit to the san antonio zoo

we made the "trek" to san antonio to visit the zoo there since we had never been (and i was motivated to go because we could make a pit stop at the pb outlet on the way!!!) . . . well we picked a warm day . . . over 80 degrees in january! hello? where is winter? we started off with a picnic by a little stream there . . . really nice in the shade of the trees. we were all a bit warm, but had a great time checking out all the creatures.

there were three cool things we saw . . . a joey in it's mom's pouch (too cool!) and two hippos chilling in the water (you could see them above and below the surface), and the prairie dog exhibit with all it's tunnels and peep holes was a huge hit with the kids!

ken and mck wanted to be pushed in the double stroller A LOT . . . next time we'll leave it at home! and kam loved her "princess seat" as we tried out her carrier for the first time (sadly we've had it for almost a year!)

would the day be complete without an injury? of course not . . . and of course it was mck who got hurt . . . she rested her arm on a log COVERED with fire ants and was bitten like 10 times. poor baby!

we stayed until it closed and then headed home. the kids were worn out, but had a great day!

let it snow . . . (texas style!)

with our crazy texas weather the girls got to see some snow flurries and some ice last week! it was soooooo exciting for it to finally be cold! :) the snow and cold didn't last long though. :( so on sunday we headed to play in some texas "snow"!

our playgroup friends are amazing and set up an entire room of "snow" again this year! the kids got to run, play, throw "snowballs" and make "snow angels". that's about as real as it gets in texas!

what an amazing afternoon! ken had lots of fun throwing it at everyone, mck wanted to lay down and be buried in it, and poor kam was a little overwhelmed by the whole crazy scene!

gingerbread village

thanks to our breakfast at nordstrom's, all of the girls had a gingerbread house to decorate! :) we spent a large majority of our day sunday assembling and then decorating them! ken knew exactly how she wanted hers to look, mck ate more candy than she put on the house, and kam was happy just to watch the commotion and eat an occasional gumdrop!

after we put the houses together the girls decorated the village with christmas marshmallows. they are so proud of it and are having trouble keeping their hands off! :)

a spectacular saturday

we began our day with the most wonderful treat . . . a snowman breakfast at nordstrom's! it was soooooo perfect. we were walked to our table in the cafe where ken, mck, and kam each had a gingerbread house kit waiting for them! we had a delicious breakfast then headed downstairs for more fun . . . a visit with santa, face/arm painting, balloon art, a candy cane hunt, letter writing. it was wonderful! ken and mck each really got to visit with santa and tell him what they're wishing for without any crowds! . . . santa told them he knew they'd been good (ha!). kam even sat for a few pictures and didn't cry! :) despite our very early wake up on a weekend (5:45!) it made for a magical start to our holiday! we'll be trying to do this every year - as long as i remember to call in july and get put on the list! :

in the afternoon we met our bff's in georgetown for the christmas stroll - lots of vendors and kid activities. we got some fresh air, a little bit of bouncing, a visit to bethlehem, and saw some cool characters in who-ville! :) the kids had fun hanging out with their buds and so did mom and dad! :) we ate an awesome dinner at monument cafe then piled back in the mini-van!

we drove to belton for the "nature in lights" display . . . the kids love it because they get to be unbuckled while we're driving and the lights are truly amazing! there are countless light displays along the drive and the tunnel at the end is completely covered with lights and moves to music. . . the best $5 we'll spend this holiday season! the girls enjoyed sugary snacks and popcorn while we drove through. a perfect end to our spectacular saturday!

tree trimming traditions

ken and mck got their own pick tree last year and couldn't wait to get it out of the christmas storage tubs and put it up. they wanted it all to be a surprise and had us close our eyes when we went in to see it! :) too cute! they were even good sports about letting kam help out! :) now they say they need a tree skirt for it! :)

the kids had so much fun pulling out ornanments and hanging them on the tree. i totally gave up control this year and let them hang them where they wanted to! :) (and i'm not fixing them!) :)

our tradition of the letting the kids put the topper on the tree continues! :) each girl took turns trying to put the snowman on top! :) it was the last stage of our tree trimming tradition fun today! :)

a fun start to the holiday season!

we went to the lighting of the macy's tree last night after a delicious (but much overdue) birthday dinner at cheesecake factory (okay, the dinner was like 3 years overdue!!!!!)! we waited FOREVER to get into the parking lot for the event, but the kids kept saying "it's worth it!". we got a great parking spot, only to find out the macy's doors to the event were locked. go figure. so we walked around and had a view of a spot of the stage and half of the tree, but were surrounded by the excitement.

we heard some caroling followed by a performance by jordyn sparks (i kept telling the kids they were hearing someone famous although bailey had no clue who she was . . . even after singing the songs that are on the radio!). then we counted down for the lighting of the tree with st. nick. . . and a million fireworks!!!!! it was soooooo cool to watch the girls' faces, especially as they did the grand finale!

the place was packed, but we walked around for awhile and just enjoyed the nice evening. we even attempted to take some cute pictures . . . you'll notice that all of them will not look/smile at me at the same time. ahhhhhh! we are working on that.

we all got sooooo in the mood that we had to put up the decorations and the tree today! :) what a fun start to the holiday season! :)

axe 'em jacks! our first family visit to sfa!

we made our first "trek" to nacogdoches to visit aunt sarah and see daddy's old hangouts! :) the girls had so much fun checking out sarah's dorm room - so tiny, but decorated to a tee! :) they thought it was pretty cool. we got a tour of her sorority house too! :) we walked around campus, got hot chocolate at starbucks, and toured all the "cool" places!

it was a super chilly evening, so we bundled up with winter coats, hats, and mittens for the football game! we we were all wearing sfa shirts, but they were hidden under lots of layers! ken LOVED seeing the cheerleaders, mck LOVED dancing to the band, and kam just loved being outside and eating snacks! :) what a perfect night for football! we left at half time for the hotel and bailey headed back to catch the end of the game and see old coaching buddies.

on sunday we toured the town in the morning - including seeing daddy's old frat house (a sad metal building which he was very proud to point out had a concrete floor that could be hosed off after a party! nice.) and his old apartment building! we ate a yummy breakfast at ihop then played at the park and took a walk. ken and bailey collected pecans to make a pie and mck collected acorns - she also thinks she is going to make a pie! :)what a great weekend! :) thanks sarah! :)

the acm cats and bats ball

dressed in full costume the girls headed to the austin children's museum's cats and bats ball! we met our "bestest" friends and started with a parade from city hall to the museum . . . the kids loved showing off their halloween duds! it was so much fun watching them! :) so cute!

the museum had lots of activities for the kids - face paining, tootsie pop ghosts, slime, balloons, icky stuff to touch, eyeball races, and of course the regular exhibits to explore! ken loved "everything", mck really enjoyed the balloon creations (she had a butterfly hat to match her fairy outfit!), and kam just loved being with the big kids! :)

on the way home we made a very late pit stop at mcdonald's and the girls got happy meals. ken commented "this is the best day ever!"
me "how come?"

ken "mom, we got to wear our costumes, we're watching a movie in the car, and eating mcdonalds ! it's the best day ever!"

me - smile!

two fun evenings out, two traditions "down", and only a handful of days until the big day!

halloween fun at the "y"

the kids had so much fun saturday with a visit to the "y" for games, rides, and bouncies! this year we went with our "bestest friends", so it was extra fun! :)

ken and mck were in heaven with the games . . . okay, more the picking prizes than the actual game! (not sure what was up with ken, but she kept picking "treasures rather than candy! yeah!) ken had a flower complete with sparkles painted on her face while mck had a heart, with farkles, of course! they had fun with all the bouncies and took a train ride driven by a CRAZY driver . . . way out of our sights! they came back with big smiles though!

kam had some trouble understanding why she couldn't go on anything. she really has the mentality that she is big (hello, she calls 2 year olds she sees "babies"! we're working on this!) she sat soooo still to have her face painted with a tiny pumpkin and finally started having fun while playing in the dirt in the middle of the baseball field and eating cotton candy!

what a fun way to start off the week before halloween!

hsm3 - what better way to spend a friday night?

okay, sadly we've been counting down the days until high school musical 3 hit the theaters (yes, we're a bunch of dorks!)! today was the big day! :) ken woke up and wore her hsm shirt, ate hsm waffles for breakfast, and was in a great mood thinking about the possibility of seeing the movie that night!

at dinner we had jokingly talked about the possibility of the show being sold out . . . but didn't think it actually would be. we arrived about 40 minutes early for the movie only to find a "sold out" sign over our 6:50 show. how sad. i told ken - who looked at me with her sad little pout. i walked up to the window with her and asked the guy if he was sure it was sold out. okay, i NEVER get lucky, but he must have felt sorry for me. he sold us 2 tickets! yeah! :)

we stood in line for a long time with a bunch of moms and pre-teens, and the occasional boyfriend or dad that got dragged to the show. ken was in heaven! :) girls were screaming, everyone was clapping! she loved the movie. i loved the time i got to be with just ken. what better way to spend a friday night?

time with family

yeah! we all had a nice weekend with grammy and grampy in houston. aunt sarah was home from college for the first time (the girls and i hadn't seen her since before she left for england!) and uncle tim, aunt missy, and baby sophia came over too!

sarah was so "collegiate" and really seems to love school and her sorority! the girls were so happy to see her. she even brought them treasures from england! :) straight from harrod's!

sophia is growing so quickly! she is such beautiful baby! she is so smiley and so happy! she looks sooo much like missy it is unbelievable! they are such a beautiful family. the girls always refer to sophia as "baby sophia"! super cute!

we had a nice time just "hangin out!", watching the red sox, and playing at the park! real quality family time!