The Adventures of Anna and Kate

San Antonio, Take 2

2011-11-17T15:41:00.000-08:00

And, of course, we couldn't be in San Antonio without taking the girls to SeaWorld! Kate and Daddy at our first show...

Me and Anna ready for the show to start...

Anna's first roller coaster ride! A very cool (and surprisingly fast!) Shamu roller coaster in the little kid part of SeaWorld.

Kate's favorite was certainly the Sesame Street carousel. Just ask Daddy who rode it with her again. And, again. And, again.

On a lark, I asked Anna if she wanted to ride this roller coaster (for whatever reason, it had very low height requirements). I sort of said it jokingly, but she said yes! It took a bit of convincing once it got time to actually go, but she LOVED it! My adventurous girl...I have the feeling we're going to be skydiving together before I know it...

My girl coming down! This is the point where Mommy started to panic...

On the ground safely!

Anna with Cookie Monster and Zoe. Kate is the heat of her "terrified of live characters" phase, so she was having nothing to do with having her picture made with these guys...

Sorry for all the sideways pictures...I have to figure out how to fix this...

SHAMU!

My poor attempt for a pic of the girls with Shamu in the background. No one is looking at hte camera, and Shamu jumped back in the water. Fantastic.

Dippin dots! A requirements in what turned into a kind of warm May day....

Anna and Kate both had a blast on this GIANT climbing structure at SeaWorld. Made Mommy remember her new-found post-baby slight fear of heights....

More fun rides at SeaWorld. They had just opened their new Sesame Street section for the kiddos, and the girls LOVED it!

Doing a little splashing at the splash pad...

Anna feeding a dolphin. Definitely the highlight of the SeaWorld trip, at least for me!

Anna decided to try the big roller coaster one more time. This is the "before" picture...

...and, after! :-) Happy, adventurous girl!

San Antonio, Take 1

2011-11-16T15:22:00.001-08:00

Ok, let me start this post with a warning--there are a LOT of pictures! I just couldn't down-select anymore, so bear with me (or skip this post--you certainly won't offend me! :-)).

We had a fabulous family vacation this spring to the Wild Oak Ranch in San Antonio. The reality of Anna starting kindergarten in the fall and us having to vacation with the "rest of the world" was hitting us, so we decided to take a mid-May vacation while we still could!

The hotel was just fabulous...tons of walking trails, hammocks, and much more (see following pics :-))...

Having our own condo with its own patio was a real draw for us for this hotel...it was like our little "home away from home" for a few days. The girls thought having our own patio was too fun...

Mommy joined in the silliness at dinner...they're only little once, right?

Me and my sweet girl, Anna at dinner at the hotel...

The whole fam at dinner...beautiful weather and surroundings for an outdoor dinner.

The girls thought camping out on this pullout couch bed and watching TV and eating breakfast was just the best! Kate wasn't quite big enough to sleep in this bed yet (she's still Pack N Play'in' it), but she ran here as quick as she could each morning!

The hotel had a lazy river with a beach--hours of fun!

Both the girls had so much fun playing in the sand...

...and, floating along the lazy river...

Even Kate joined in the fun at the lazy river.

Hanging out in the rocking chairs at the hotel...

They also had a little "Camp Armadillo" where the kids could go play and do crafts.

Silly ladies!

The game room was awfully exciting for them too! Most of the games were a little too big for them, but they were able to have some serious fun with the air hockey table.

More lazy river fun...

Kate is such the beach bunny--she'd play in the sand all day every day if we let her...

Mama joined in the laziness!

Dinner on the patio...such an incredibly relaxing vacation, even with little ones!

Swing batter!

2011-10-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

We had another great season of t-ball this spring, this time with our former soccer coaches and good friends, Ramie and Adam. Anna learned SO much about t-ball, and had a fabulous time! Now I just need to convince Ramie to coach Anna's softball teams even after her son has gone on to play Little League.

Quite the big hitter this year. Or, at least big swinger...

Let's all be honest. Playing with your friends in the dirt is at least as fun as actually playing t-ball. At least.

Our little first base-woman!

Kate loved the whole experience too! I think she's chomping at the bit for when she can play too!

Slide pile!

A little bit of culture...

2011-10-26T15:50:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite "special events" at the girls' school is Multicultural Day. Each room is a "country", and the families bring in food, decorations, activities, etc., from that country. This year both of the girls had fun, pretty easy countries...Anna's class was Mexico, and Kate's was Japan.

I couldn't resist making these "tortilla chip" cookies for Anna's class. They're actually lemon poppyseed cookies! Yum! I was going through a bit of a panic thinking that I might not be able to make little homemade goodies for her once she started kindergarten (I guess every school has their own rules), but WHEW--disaster averted...I can indeed still bring homemade goodies to school for her and her little buddies! These were a hit...might have to make a repeat performance in kindergarten...

This picture doesn't really belong in this set, other than to explain the general "blueness" of Kate in the subsequent pictures. It was snowcone day with her playgroup prior to Multicultural Day!

My little Japanese doll...

The sweetest sisters...

Enjoying an Italian flag cookie. Italy always seems to be one of the most popular rooms with the girls. Who can blame them?

Some candy "sushi"...

Playing with the Matroshka dolls in "Russia". This was one of the coolest rooms. The girls have quite a few Russian kids that go to school with them, so a group of them did some authentic Russian dancing. Beautiful.

A beautiful day at Hermann Park...

2011-10-05T15:44:00.000-07:00

We had the MOST fun day at Hermann Park earlier this spring! I think the reality of Anna starting kindergarten in the fall was really starting to hit me, so we made our best effort to squeeze as much fun as humanly possible into this day! We were lucky enough to have my good friend Melanie and her sweet girls Julia and Jocelyn (our adventure buddies!) join us! We started with a train ride from the zoo to the play area...

The play area was a hit with all of the girls!

Kate was quite adventurous, see-sawing...

...doing the rings with Ms. Melanie...

...and sliding, sliding, sliding!

Anna also enjoyed trying out some of her new gymnastics skills.

We fed the ducks...

...and, the pigeons...

We really were meaning to feed the ducks. Really.

SUCH an amazingly fun day with my sweet girls!

We were having such a great day, and feeling so adventurous, that we decided to take a boat ride!

The girls' first paddleboat trip...

We were sad that Melanie and her girls didn't join us on the paddleboat, but sure appreciated having our own personal photographer dockside!

The boat ride? Success! The girls are still talking about it...

Happy ladies...

Dancing Queen

2011-09-29T15:44:00.000-07:00

Anna had her first dance recital in May. Oh seriously happy Mommy. I think this is one of those things that when I found out we were having girls, I was the most excited about! Its just a right of passage of little girl childhood! But, no pressure or anything...

She had so much fun, and did such a good job...

We somehow managed to not capture it photographically, but Grammie and Bucko came and surprised Anna for her recital. She was elated!

Snuggling her new "ballerina monkey"...

Pooltime with Nana

2011-09-28T15:39:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a weekend of fun in the sun when Nana came to visit. The girls barely let her get in the door and get settled before they demanded she come outside for some counter service at their "cafe".

And, showing off her mad ladder climbing + sliding skills was tops on Kate's list as well...

I think we pretty much stayed outside the whole weekend. Even when they tired of the pool, the girls decided to do some "science" outside, and play "name that food". Anna ensured that Kate's mask was securely tightened...

...and then helped her self to some of the "samples" once Kate was done guessing.

Kate thought the whole activity was just fabulous!

And, what could be more fun than a giant turtle...

And, a giant shark (DBA a dolphin).

A great relaxing weekend had by all!

THANKS for coming to visit us, Nana!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

2011-09-12T15:46:00.000-07:00

Anna had one of her most fun field trips yet to Taqueria Arandas. The people that own it and hosted the field trip could not have possibly been nicer! I highly recommend stopping by there if you're in the area...definitely a business worth supporting!

Are these little chef hats too much, or what?

(Ok, blogger confounds me...why do these pictures turn on their side??) Anyway, each child got their own cake, and own bag of icing and were set free! What cute (and SWEET!) cakes they made!

Anna with her final product--quite the fancy clown cake!

We also enjoyed a wonderful lunch of fantastic Mexican food after the field trip. And, the wonderful Arandas family didn't let us pay for a thing. Now, that's outrageous. Will definitely be visiting them again...

More painting...

2011-09-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned that these girls love art? And, painting?

Oh, Kate thinks its beyond fantastic that she's old enough to do spin art now. With a little of sissy's help and an apron, bring on non-washable paint being sprayed via battery power!

My little picassos

2011-09-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

We followed up our haircut adventure with a visit to the local pottery place to let the girls paint their "birthday" plates. I make plates for the girls every year near their birthday with their handprints on them...so fun to see how much they've grown year by year! Kate was old enough to get to "decorate" her own plate this year!

And, this was the first year that Anna really had the interest to sit and work carefully on a "design" for her plate. It turned out beautifully!! When Anna was little, I tended to just let her do the handprint and I did the decorating...I kind of regret that now...so much better to see how their "art" grows every year, just like their hands do! I had thought I would stop doing these after the girls were 5 or 6, but seeing what fun it still was for Anna this year and how amazing it was to see how much her artistic skill is growing, I'm thinking we're going to keep this tradition at least a little longer...

Kate's First Haircut

2011-09-09T15:24:00.000-07:00

I hadn't necessarily planned it this way, but decided to just bite the bullet and get Kate's first hair cut while we were getting Anna's cut this spring.

The "first" haircut is always so nerve-wracking, so it was kind of nice to get it out of the way kind of spontaneously so I wouldn't have to get all worked up about it!

And, Kate did great! She was a little hesitant at first, but then warmed up and was so excited about her "big girl" hair cut!

Pretty impressed with her new locks...

Future cheerleader

2011-09-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

This girl definitely thinks she wants to be a cheerleader when she "grows up"...

Go team!

The Boardwalk with their buddies

2011-09-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

The girls had so much fun on the Kemah boardwalk with some of their MOMS Club buddies!

Lunch at Joe's Crabshack...

...followed by splashing in the Kemah fountains.

And, of course, playing on the playground!

Kate wasn't so interested in riding the rides this day, but Anna sure loved taking a spin!

Butterfly babies

2011-09-03T15:34:00.000-07:00

Anna got one of the coolest gifts EVER for her birthday--a butterfly habitat! We ordered the larvae online, and the girls LOVED watching them grow, turn into cocoons, and then hatch into butterflies. Amazing.

I asked Anna when she wanted to release them, and she said she thought Easter would be nice since that's the day that Jesus rose again. Oh, my sweet baby...how I love that girl!

And, so, as requested, on Easter we sent the butterflies into the "wild".

Kate needed to be sure to take a closer look before we let them go...

This one wasn't quite ready to leave, so hung out with us for a while before we finally sent him on his way. What a great experience--we'll definitely be doing some more of these next spring! The girls still "look" for their butterflies around the yard, and have "spotted" them quite a few times!

Easter morning

2011-09-01T15:43:00.000-07:00

What a great Easter we had this year! The girls thought the "loot" the Bunny brought them was pretty fantastic...

Slip n slide

2011-08-31T15:31:00.000-07:00

Slip n slide hopscotch...great springtime fun!

Kate is loving being a "big kid" and getting to do so many more things with Anna...

Easter at school

2011-08-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

While Anna was at her Earth Day movie, Kate was partying it up at her Easter party at school.

Sweet treats and egg hunting with her friends? What could be better?

Anna was more than happy to come help out when she got back from her Field Trip...

Earth Day

2011-08-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, this picture is a bit random, but I just can't resist photo-documenting (however poorly) Anna's last field trips, and last time to be in school with the love of her life, Owen. Her class went to see African Cats on Earth Day--what a great show!

Palm Sunday Picnic

2011-08-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

No matter what I do, this picture won't turn on its side and act right. Oh well--I guess this is the way it was meant to be. :-)

Well, regardless of photographic technical challenges, the Palm Sunday picnic at our church was an absolute BLAST! We committed last Easter to be much more regular about going to church, and we've stood by that commitment and gotten much more involved in our church. What a blessing it has been to our family!

The girls had a great time eating fried chicken before the big Egg Hunt...

And, off they go! Hunting time!

Egg-cellent

2011-08-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

Second only to Christmas, Easter is one of my absolute favorite holidays! And, decorating eggs is one of the best parts of the celebrations. The girls tended to agree.

Even Kate got the hang of it and was able to dip her own eggs. And, I'm proud to report that none of our tile or grout is still Easter colors. Success.

Final products of our labors. Note for next year: do not buy "extra large eggs" if you want to use egg wraps. Many of our wraps turned into "egg hats" (which, of course, the girls thought were fabulous)...

The joys of summer

2011-08-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

There is no end to the fun, lazy days of summer. Are these two cool cats, or what?

Ice cream at Lupe Tortilla's after playing in the giant sandbox?

Perfect!

And, what's better (and, better for you?) than homemade popsicles (that you made yourself!)?

Happy girl...

Nothing seems to bring more unbridled giggles and joy than a crazy sprinkler!

Bluebonnet pics, kind of

2011-08-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

What's the best way to ensure total and complete lack of cooperation with picture taking? Try to take pictures you really care about. Doesn't matter what it is...bluebonnet pics, Christmas card pics, whatever. All terrible. But, the experience is ALWAYS memorable!

Between general lack of cooperation on the part of my subjects, and a noteably hot and dry spring (and therefore very sparse bluebonnets), there was no chance these pics were going to be frameable. But, definitely bloggable.

My subjects were much more interested in dancing than sitting still in the bluebonnet field (read: field where bluebonnets typically grow...really mostly a grass field this year...).

I think they're in on this conspiracy together...
Whew--done! Ready for their next adventure...

Kate's 2nd Birthday Party

2011-08-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

Did I mention my amazingly awesome friends and their amazingly awesome photography?? Yeah...in full effect for Kate's 2nd birthday party. I didn't even bother to take a single photo myself. Now that's ridiculous. But, would you if you had phenomenal friends that took pics like this??

From Whitney:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

The details...

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From Melanie:

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Kate's birthday at the zoo

2011-08-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, I admit it...my blog posting are getting longer and longer (or, at least more and more pictures). I genuinely am trying to weed them down, but these girls are busy!

We decided to go to the zoo for the day for Kate's actual birthday. She's beyond obsessed with animals of any sort, so the zoo is definitely a "hot spot" for her.

We passed a little time while Daddy parked the car feeding the ducks. Whether they wanted to be fed or not.

Our first stop? The new exhibit to feed the giraffes. LOVE the Houston Zoo! Kate was tickled by her up-close encounter with her long-necked friends...

Anna's not so sure about the giraffe kisses...

Family pic with the giraffes...

Sisters playing in the Children's Zoo area together...

We went to one of the shows at the Children's Zoo, and Anna got to be "in" it. She was thrilled!

Happy Camper.

Playing the bongos in the new African section...

Anna petting a REAL SNAKE. Brave girl. Terrified mommy.

Kate was pretty motivated by her sister's bravery, and was willing to do a little snake petting herself as long as Daddy held her...

My little gophers...Happy Birthday Kate!

Kate's birthday at home

2011-08-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

Let the posting of party pics from Miss Kate's 2nd birthday celebrations begin! We started with a fun celebration at home the morning of her birthday. Gift opening is always much easier with a little help from her big sis...

Curious George? Joy.

And, a kit where I can make my own pie?? Bliss. Such simple pleasures at this age.

Strawberries!

2011-07-22T18:59:00.000-07:00

Just arriving at one of our favorite springtime activities--pick your own strawberries! Of course, it would be an absurdity to consider letting Kate go out to the farm and pick strawberries without a perfectly clean face. Anna to the rescue!

Ok, NOW we're ready to pick!

So proud of her harvest!

And, what's a better conclusion to strawberry picking than a picnic at the farm?

A little post-picking, post-picnic swinging. This farm is so great!

For whatever reason, this swinging excursion made me realize how OLD the girls are getting. Anna is completely 100% self sufficient on this activity--doesn't need me to start her, push her, or really even accompany her to the swing. When did this happen?? And, Kate has officially ditched the baby swings and always insists on a big girl swing. They're like tiny grown ups!

All that swinging is exhausting! The girls insisted on me ferrying them back to the car via wagon while they "napped". A wonderful day!

Feelin' Moody

2011-07-21T18:55:00.001-07:00

We decided to get a Moody Gardens membership this year with our friends Chris and Marissa, and the girls had SUCH a blast at our first trip there (well, first one as members...we had of course been before that...).

Anna and Marissa getting ready for 4D Dora. Clint claims that spraying water in your face and making the room smell like bananas may not exactly be the "fourth dimension"...nobody tell the tots...

My sweet babies as Dora's friends...

Spring Break in Tomball

2011-06-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Fair warning: I had very little luck downselecting pictures for this post, so this is a long one...

We spent Spring Break at my parents' house in Tomball this year (as usual!). Amazing how different this year was from last...Kate was such a "big girl", and able to keep up with the other girls pretty well--including sitting at the princess table!

Riding the four-wheeler with Bucko. No matter how many times they do this, it still completely stresses me out...hold on TIGHT!!

We had such a good time at the rodeo for Anna's birthday that we headed back with the cousins. As it was the first time, Fun on the Farm was the hit of the day!

Enjoying a wonderful day with Grammie and Bucko...

Watering their seeds...

Two generations of "Ramsey" ladies...

How many tots does it take to milk a (pretend) cow?

"I bet if we put our heads together, we can figure out how to make this thing go..."

Again, PLEASE HOLD ON TIGHT!!

Little farmers...

Enjoying a little time with Miss Moo...

Apparently the theme of this week was to panic Mama...Anna went down this outrageously huge slide all by herself!!

Anna's Tangled Party

2011-06-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

You know, there are few things in life better than amazing friends. Well, except for amazing friends who also happen to be seriously amazing photographers. A PHENOMENALLY HUGE thank you to the wonderful Whitney and Melanie for taking such fantastic photos of Anna's birthday party!

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Anna's Candyland party at school

2011-06-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

And, the celebrations continue. I made the decision (mistake?) to tell Anna she could pick a different theme for her school celebration and her "real" party. Her choice for the school party? Candyland!

The cupcakes with the Candyland characters she had selected...

Getting her birthday "spankings" from her teacher, Ms. Ricki...

First "real" pedi

2011-06-23T15:35:00.000-07:00

After a long day at the rodeo, Anna had her first "real" pedicure. She had gone with me once before and had her toenails painted, but this was the real deal--including itty bitty bunny massage chair and OJ in a fancy glass!

Sitting and playing your new leapster while being massaged, having your toenails done, and being fed OJ? Yeah...that's pampered...

Birthday outing - the rodeo!

2011-06-22T15:38:00.000-07:00

What better way to spend your birthday than at the rodeo? That was Anna's chosen activity for the day, so we of course we complied (not that we were complaining!).

Kate wasn't quite up for the ponies--maybe next year?

I think Anna was attempting to enter her sister into the livestock show. Don't be offended dear Kate...Anna regularly tells us how cute you are!

Ready to head into Fun on the Farm--one of the biggest hits of the livestock show!

Gathering "eggs"...

Practicing milking a cow (not to worry--a wooden cow...)

She loved riding on the tractor--like Bucko's!

Ready to sell all of the things they harvested at the "market"...

So proud of their "earnings"--now its time to go buy a snack at the "store" with their profits! What a cool set up this is for kids to learn about the full lifecycle of farming/ranching...

Anna's Birthday - let the celebrations begin!

2011-06-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

So, its only 3 months after Anna's birthday--that's still totally in legal blogging range, right?? Good, good...

Well, the celebrations started early with some wonderful gifts from Anna's grandparents...

Having the girls wake up to a big setup of gifts and celebrations on their birthday is so important to me--have to make the WHOLE day special!!

One of Anna's all-time favorite gifts--cash! :-) Can you really blame her? You get exactly what you want AND get to shop! Its like two gifts in one!

Opening her "big" gift--her first gaming system! She's had some serious fun with this Leapster Explorer...

Ok, let's be honest. I may have bought this one a little for myself too. Fashion plates?? The BEST! Oh, and she likes them too...:-)

We had a busy day running around at the rodeo and getting a pedicure (pics to follow soon!), and just decided we were going to be "caked out" over the next few days with her party at school, birthday party, etc. So, she opted for a candle in a bowl of fruit...that's my girl...

Celebrating Grannie

2011-06-18T12:17:00.000-07:00

On February 28th, we very sadly said goodbye to my sweet Grannie (the girls' great-Grannie). It was a huge loss for all of us, but she had lived a long and blessed life, and we know she's in a better place now. My mom and her siblings did such a nice job of making her funeral, and the surrounding events, truly a celebration of Grannie's life, rather than a mournful event.

We followed up the funeral and burial with a nice lunch at the local Baptist church, and then an afternoon/evening of family time at my Uncle Jim and Aunt Linda's place in the country, also known as "The Pond". The girls had a great time hanging out with their cousins, meeting family they've never had a chance to meet before, and just being kids in the country...

Bucko teaching the girls how to skip rocks. For as many times as he taught me growing up, I still can't hold a candle to his rock-skipping...

Loving the country...

Grammie and Kate walking down to the tank together...

Grannie and me walking on the same land (all part of the Bar K Ranch--where my mom grew up), in February 1981.

Simple things

2011-06-14T20:11:00.000-07:00

For whatever reason, one of Kate's favorite things to do is to take this squirt bottle and spray water all over the shower door. It does tend to keep her occupied while I'm getting dressed, so I'm not complaining too much.

Anna showed her how she could change the angle and actually shoot water OVER the shower door. I think this changed her life. Oh, the simple things...

Mardi Gras!

2011-05-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

While we certainly had our share of fun at Mardi Gras in college, we've never taken the girls to any of the celebrations before. Galveston actually does a decent job of celebrating Mardi Gras (its no New Orleans, but its pretty good for being so close!), and our friends the Rupps invited us to go to a parade with them, so we decided it would be a good year to introduce the girls to this fun tradition!

And, a tradition for us I think it will definitely become! We had SO much fun!! The parade was great, and the girls thought all of the beads were just fantastic.

Anna was able to catch a string of beads or two....or seventy-three...

Bubbles

2011-05-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

Truthfully, is there anything more fun than bubbles?

George Ranch

2011-05-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned that I love field trips? I mean LOVE them! This one was one of my absolute favorites. I may have said that before, but this one I really mean. We went to the George Ranch, which is a 23,000 acre working ranch, and also a historical park that continues to operate portions of the ranch just like ranches were run in the late 1800/early 1900s. Amazing. Above, Anna met her first "real" cowboy.

And, her first wooden Indian...

The whole thing was really interesting but educational at the same time. This cowboy talked to the kids for a while, and then took them on a tour of his "home", which was a dog-run cabin. He actually lives in it for portions of the year.

Learning about pigs...

These chickens seemed pretty "domesticated" from having visitors all the time, and got quite a kick out of chasing the kids around. Anna thought it was pretty hysterical too....

Another real cowboy taught the kids (and parents!) how to rope a calf...the right way to hold the lasso, how to throw it, etc.

That's right! My girl got it on the first try!! She might be being raised as a little surburbanite, but she's got country roots....

The authentic cowboy chef, "Cookie", was one of the highlights of the trip! There had been some confusion with the field trip last year and the kids hadn't gotten the meal they were supposed to, so he made it up to us this year and made a FEAST! Some of the best smoked brisket and sausage I've had! And, peach cobbler to die for...

Anna's whole gang. Have I mentioned that I'm going to miss these kiddos when they all go their separate ways to kindergarten next fall?? What a great trip...

Valentine's cookies

2011-05-15T05:24:00.000-07:00

What sweeter Valentine's activity is there than making cutout cookies? And, with a new chocolate cutout cookie recipe too--you can't go wrong!

Anna loved watching Kate decorate hers--I think Anna gets even more joy than we do from watching Kate "grow up" and being able to do more and more of the things that Anna does.

But, her attention to Kate didn't last long--she had to dig in to the decorating herself!

One spoonful for the cookie, one spoonful for me...

If you didn't get icing in your armpits, you obviously didn't enjoy cookie decorating enough...

And, the final products! Its so fun to see how much Anna is growing up and wants to actually "design" her cookies instead of just dumping as much icing and sprinkles on them as possible.

Konnichiwa

2011-05-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned how much I love field trips?? This was one of my all-time favorites--Anna's trip to the Japanese Consulate in downtown Houston. Here, they're doing traditional Japanese morning stretches...

Posing for a pic with her buddy Andrew...

She's pretty fierce...

How cute is this?? Ok, you know she's petite when even the Japanese clothes are too big for her...

So, after going around helping some of her classmates try on costumes and taking pics of the class, I go back to find this. Anna laying on a chair, with her little "buddy" Aiden rubbing her feet. WHAT?!? If he weren't such a sweet little kid, I'd have to be a little concerned.

My angel and me...

The whole Room 9 gang, with the wonderful folks at the Consulate...

And, as if the Consulate weren't cool enough, we also had lunch in the downtown tunnels. The kids thought it was amazing that we were eating lunch underground, and I think the business people enjoyed a little levity in their day by seeing a gaggle of school kids (once they got over that we were taking up most of their tables...sorry!). Overall, another wonderful field trip...

New Years with the fam

2011-05-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas/New Year's celebration with Clint's family! (Yes, I realize I'm posting New Years pictures in May. Get over it. :-))

The kiddos of course were showered with gifts from their sweet Nana and aunt/uncle/cousins...the holiday giftapalooza continued...

Having a yummy lunch poolside on New Years Day. There are some real upsides to living in Houston...

Anna and Finn decided it would be a good idea to golf "near" the pool. We think it was just a ploy to accidentally fall in...

Did I mention the upsides to living in Houston?? We decided to heat the pool this year, and take a little dip. I think this may become our new New Years Day tradition...I can't think of a better way to start the year!

Anna spent some serious time one of the mornings reading the comics. We didn't have the heart to tell her that we cancelled our subscription to the paper starting in 2011!

And, we can't let Clint's family visit without a trip for some fabulous Mexican food. While Pappasito's tends to be the restaurant of choice for this gang, we decided branch out to Chuy's this time. I don't think there were any complaints. (And, I would like to make note of this historic photograph...ALL SEVEN of us are looking at the camera. Really?!?)

Bedtime with their cousin Finn. What a fantastically fun trip--thank you guys so much for coming to visit us!!

Together

2011-04-26T15:22:00.000-07:00

There are no words for the ridiculousness of my lack of blog updating recently. Crazy. But, I am finally getting my act "together", and am committed to work to catch up! I have been waiting for some magical huge chunk of time to do a giant update, but let's face facts...that's never going to happen. So, instead, I'm now committed to just slowly but surely update it. I'm not going to leave anything out, so you're going to have to bear with me on some outdated pictures, but I'm determined to be caught up and doing more "real time" blogging by summer time!

For now, just a few cute pics of my little angels "together"...their favorite way to be...

Christmas Day

2010-12-31T20:00:00.001-08:00

Christmas morning! The girls anxiously await going into the living room to see what Santa brought...

Oh, they were thrilled with their "loot"! Santa did good this year...

They both got dolls, Kate got a baby care center, and Anna got a vanity. Goodness did they have fun playing with all of their new stuff!

Kate serving tea to Grammie with their new tea cart...

A bank from Grammie and Bucko...as Kate would say, "FEEESH!! FEESH!". I think the fish-face that accompanied opening this gift was my favorite Christmas morning memory this year...

A Tangled nightgown AND sparkly Sketchers? Anna was one fancy lady...

Kate sported her new hat, gloves, and sparkly shoes to go outside and check out the cold weather we had Christmas morning...

Being sure her new puppy was healthy with a wonderful vet set from Grandpa Pete and Grandma Paula...

A wonderful, blessed Christmas, and a great end to a very very blessed 2010!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-31T19:46:00.007-08:00

We were so lucky to have Grammie and Bucko come spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us.

They came early enough on Christmas Eve to go to the special Children's service at our church. The girls (and we) loved having them there with us!

As was the tradition in my family growing up, we let the girls each open one gift after we got home from church.

Kate picked her gift from Anna--a monkey from Build-a-Bear, and Anna picked a gift that turned out to be a Magic Fabric maker she had wanted. Everyone was thrilled with their selection!

A family pic.

Bucko and Grammie.

Anna decorated a gingerbread house with Bucko and Grammie while I got dinner together. What a great Christmas Eve tradition to start!

Anna's work in progress...

And, of course, Christmas Eve dinner. Our traditional (started by my family) lasagna. What a wonderful evening...

Nutcracker

2010-12-31T19:46:00.005-08:00

Anna and I took our 2nd annual trip to the Nutcracker this Christmas season. I just can't believe how much she's grown since we did it last year!

She loved the ballet so much, and thought the costumes were just fantastic. She's already bugging me about what she has to do to dance in it next year. Hmm...twist my arm...we'll have to look into that...

With the Sugar Plum Fairy, her favorite!

MOMS Holiday Party

2010-12-31T19:46:00.003-08:00

So, in my effort for a more calm, enjoyable Christmas season this year, I decided that we should have our MOMS Club Holiday Party at Gattiland, instead of doing some big party where everyone had to bring potluck items, decorate, etc (one of the benefits of being the party committee chair!). A success! I think all the kids had a blast, and at least I think the parents appreciated not having to add any more overhead to their already busy holiday season!

Even Kate had fun playing the games!

And, of course, greatly appreciated the pizza buffet...

Um, Daddy...I think the games are supposed to be for the kids?

This was Anna's first attempt at playing skeeball (my personal favorite), and she LOVED it!

Climbing in and out of the car is way more fun than sitting and riding in it...

Festival of Lights

2010-12-31T19:46:00.001-08:00

Another one of my absolute favorite Christmastime activities to take the girls to is our local Festival of Lights. The lights are beautiful, and I love that its a local event...

Much like last year's adventure, it was pretty chilly this year! But, that just adds to the ambience...

Family pic with Santa. As you can tell, Kate was not the biggest fan of Santa this year...

More cookie decorating! It never gets old...

We may not have White Christmases here in Texas, but we certainly do have Christmas light mariachi bands...

Christmas cooking baking

2010-12-31T19:45:00.006-08:00

What would the Christmas season be without multiple cookie baking extravaganzas? Anna adored the icing pen that she got for Christmas, and had so much fun decorating these Rudolph cookies.

Her final products--not too shabby for her first time with an icing pen! Maybe we have a future cake decorator on our hands??

She also loved making Mexican Thumbprint cookies with me. Once we got the batter mixed up together, she did the rest of it all by herself...rolled the balls, dipped them in egg whites, dipped them in pecans, and arranged them on the cookie sheet. My little baker...

Christmas in Tomball

2010-12-31T19:45:00.005-08:00

We had the most wonderful time in Tomball at Grammie and Bucko's for Christmas! Here, the girls wait patiently to open their first (of many!) presents...

Kate had many the long (babbling) conversation with Bucko...

...and loved snuggle time with her cousin Sydney.

Who knew Bucko was so good at accessorizing?

Grammie and Bucko got the big girls skate for Christmas. I was both excited and terrified at the thought of Anna on skates (on the concrete!).

But, she did GREAT! In no time at all, all three "big" girls were skating like old pros!

Kate wasn't quite ready for skates yet, but did insist on donning a helmet to ride around on her little ride-on toy. I think she's so ready to be able to do what the bigger girls do...

We also had a great time with our extended Williams family. The girls loved playing with their cousins, Charles and Will (and Drew and James, not pictured here...).

And, one of my favorite pictures--Kate playing with my mom's old baby dolls....

Christmas parties at school

2010-12-31T19:45:00.003-08:00

Both of the girls had so much fun at their Holiday Parties at school this year! I love that Anna's teachers this year fully believe in the need for kiddos this age to "party", so they basically make the party last all day. So much fun!

Kate loved getting to eat "treats" with her little friends...

...and, unwrap a gift from their class book exchange.

In an effort to teach the kids about many different religions and cultures, they played a game with a dredil in Anna's class...

Anna's class also got to do the coolest thing this year--a few different groups within NASA "recruit" her class to come sing at their Christmas Parties! This particular concern was for the NMA, but they also had a great time singing at a few other parties.

Choir girl...

They were just too cute...

Snow at the mall

2010-12-31T19:45:00.001-08:00

If we can't have "real" snow in Houston at the holidays, at least we can have snow machines at the mall! The girls loved this little display set up at our local mall where it would "snow" a few times a day...

Dancing in the snow...

Childrens Museum Christmas Party

2010-12-31T19:44:00.002-08:00

Of the many Christmas celebrations we take the girls to, I think I definitely found my favorite this year--the Children's Museum Holiday Party! The girls had so much fun, and it was so neat to be there with lots of "special" activities planned, but without it being too terribly crowded.

Anna adored Mrs. Snow-woman (is that her official name?). Kate was more than a little freaked out by her, though, so watched from afar.

Life-sized Candy Land? Anna still talks about it...

As with everything the Museum does, the gingerbread man/house decorating was so well organized and planned. The girls had so much fun with their little "kits" for decorating.

Now that's some serious gingerbread artwork...

Anna also loved making an ornament that really lit up...

...with an LED/battery unit that she put together herself! It warmed her electrical-engineer-Daddy's heart...

And, of course, we can't be at the Museum without spending some serious time in the puppet theatre...

A great time had by all!

Cookie decorating party

2010-12-31T19:44:00.001-08:00

We embarked on our annual tradition of cookie decorating at the Maples house this year. Oh, what fun we all had! Kate couldn't even wait til we got her icing before she started eating her first cookie. Oh well...as Whitney kept saying, "The only rule is that there are no rules." Eat away.

Whitney helped Anna to be sure she had all the right "accessories" for cookie decorating...

Glitter icing? Fabulous! Just fabulous...

We were actually pretty impressed with the cookie production rate of these little ones. It was like our own little very merry cookie sweat shop.

Kate quickly realized that the cookie was really an unnecessary interference between her and the glitter icing. Forget the cookie--just put the icing directly on the finger. Brilliant.

After some kiddo cleanup, Matt and Melanie supervised the little girls' first attempt at Heart + Soul. Or, just banging on the piano.

Picking the tree...

2010-12-31T19:43:00.008-08:00

The girls had so much fun helping us pick out a Christmas tree this year...

So many choices!

Hiding in the trees turned out to be a lot more fun than actually selecting a tree...

And, of course, the most fun part of all--decorating it! The girls loved having ornaments that were "theirs" that they could put wherever they wanted, and take on and off (and on and off, and on and off). What a fun age this is, especially at Christmastime!

Christmas dresses

2010-12-31T19:43:00.007-08:00

Could I get the girls to stand normally and pose for a picture in front of the tree in the dresses I made them? Of course not. So, these pics will have to do. :-) They were having fun, if that counts for anything...

Thanksgiving at the Rupps

2010-12-31T19:43:00.005-08:00

Because we had celebrated Thanksgiving early with my family, we got to spend the holiday itself with our good friends, the Rupps. The girls had such a blast playing together!

Running back and forth in one of the Rupps hallways proved to be endless fun....

Endless...

A hallway? I mean, really...what could be more exciting?

Seriously, though, it was so fun to see them all play together so well! It seems like every time we get together with these ladies, the differences in ages between the girls is less and less relevant. Love it.

And, we of course had the most fabulous dinner that Melanie prepared. THANK YOU Rupps for having us over to celebrate Thanksgiving with you!

Decorating for Christmas

2010-12-31T19:43:00.003-08:00

Anna was so excited to help us decorate for Christmas this year! The nutcrackers on our mantle are always her favorite, and she served as quite the useful consultant to Daddy in their proper placement.

She also had a blast painting a wooden tree for her room...

And, quite possibly THE most exciting part of the Christmas holidays (other than Santa of course) is the advent calendar! We had a very important rule that the girls could eat whatever they received in the advent calendar whenever they wanted. Chocolate for breakfast? Yes, please.

Home for the Holidays

2010-12-31T19:43:00.001-08:00

One of the advantages to celebrating in Tomball before Thanksgiving weekend itself was that stores were still open the weekend we were there! We decided to venture to Old Town Spring to their annual "Home for the Holidays" celebration. We used to always go to this growing up, and its so nice to take the girls back there now! We had gone last year, but waited til Christmastime to go, so actually missed most of the decorations, festivities, etc.

We went to our favorite (and most traditional) restaurant in Old Town Spring--Wuenche Bros. You just can't beat their burgers...the girls agreed...

A wonderful time with MY sissy...

I couldn't resist this picture of our little Dutch girl outside one of the neatest (and most authentic!) stores in Old Town Spring...

As Grammie and Bucko have termed them...their "SNAK" babies...

Thanksgiving in Tomball

2010-12-31T19:41:00.001-08:00

Because of other conflicting family plans on Thanksgiving itself, we decided to celebrate the occasion with my family a week early. It was still a most festive time!

And, what is Thanksgiving without chocolate pie? And, a spoon to lick from the preparation of said pie?

(Please disregard the lack of pants. They had been deemed "uncomfortable" by this point. If I had known that was an option, I might have exercised it as well.)

As always, the girls has so much fun together! Especially eating at the princess table. Does it get any better than that??

Grammie and Bucko gave the girls (and us!) a special treat by heating up the pool for the weekend. What fun to swim in the middle of November!

Kate mostly stuck to the sun deck where she could happily play with all of her toys...

But she did venture out on the raft as long as Natalie was ferrying her around. Maybe she's on to something...

Kate had the most fun playing with her Little People poolside. She generally wants nothing to do with them at our house, but at Grammie and Bucko's--they're fascinating.

Turkey Day at school

2010-12-31T19:40:00.004-08:00

Our little turkeys had a great time celebrating Thanksgiving at the annual Feast at their school. The beginning of the girls' "New Food Chart" also instigated some more adventurous eating at the Feast...whatever it takes...

Our little Pilgrim...

The girls had a great time swinging on the tire swing with their buddy, Charlotte...

Kate just sits on these bikes (in the "big kid" playground) dreaming of the day when she can ride them...

Anna, however, is thrilled her "dreaming" days are over, and she can actually ride these trikes around (and around, and around) the circle...endless fun...

Princesses on Ice

2010-12-31T19:40:00.003-08:00

We made a last-minute decision to go see Disney Princesses on Ice this fall. To say the least, Anna was thrilled! We were running a few minutes later than I had wanted, and it was raining, so we decided to get one of the rickshaws to take us from our car to the stadium. Definitely a great way for the "princess" to start off her evening...she loved it...

I tried to get her to look at me to take a picture (above), but she wouldn't take her eyes off the ice (even when no one was out there!) We learned our lesson from the last Disney on Ice that we went to, and made sure to dress Anna in her Sleeping Beauty outfit. She felt like a princess all night!

As if there's anything better than the Princesses themselves, Anna was just blown away when they danced to "If You Can Dream", Disney's newest princess song that she is beyond obsessed with. She asked if we could get front row tickets next year. Yes, dear. Whatever they cost. Yes.

Zoo Boo

2010-12-31T19:40:00.001-08:00

So...I was so close to finishing the 2010 posts in...well...2010. But, alas, a computer crash on New Years Eve thwarted those plans. Oh, well. I will pick my self up by my blogging boot straps, and continue to write...

One of our favorite Halloween traditions is going to "Zoo Boo" at the Houston Zoo. As usual, the girls had a blast! Anna thought the parrot from Fiesta was just fabulous...

Kate is definitely entering the age of being a bit wary of large things in costume, so preferred to watch from afar.

Both girls loved picking pumpkins from the pumpkin patch...

Paint pens and a non-washable satin outfit didn't seem to be a great combination for Kate, so we left the pumpkin decorating just to Anna...

But, Kate was a trooper to wait patiently while Sissy decorated. Overall, a great day!

Halloween Party

2010-12-30T07:21:00.000-08:00

One of Anna's friends, Elena, has the most wonderful Halloween party every year. The kids have so much fun getting to play and trick-or-treat together, and the adults get to relax a little while the kids entertain each other. Again with my nostalgia about this being Anna's last year before kindergarten, we knew this might be the last year we'd be celebrating with some of these kids (since most of them will go to different elementary schools), so I think I appreciated it even more!

Charlotte and Kate had a blast getting to join in the fun this year. They were a bit too tiny last year to run around and play, so this was their first year to really "party" with the big kids...

The girls riding the horse together. This was Kate's standard reaction face to the direction "Smile, Kate!". We'll have to work on that...

Slide races with Elena...

The annual pinata...as usual, the kids had a blast with it!

For whatever reason, Kate was OBSESSED with taking her shirt off during the entire party. To the point that she continually took it off and threw it overboard in the wagon while we were out trick-or-treating. Well, she finally "won", and we managed to lose her shirt on the trick-or-treating trail. Oh well...it had served its purpose by this point...

The kids got to decorate "scary" cupcakes...

Kate and Charlotte riding in the wagon together. They weren't quite big enough for the trick-or-treating trail ride, so followed the trailer in their own "coach"...

Trick-or-treating with friends is the BEST!

Anna on the hayride with her friends. This was a new addition to the party this year--a hayride that Elena's dad drove around for the kids to trick-or-treat. It was so nice! They stopped every block or two and let the kids trick-or-treat for a block, and then picked them back up and drove a bit further. The kids had a blast on it, and it allowed them to do more trick-or-treating (more candy? Just what we needed...). A HUGE thank-you to Elena's family for hosting such a fabulous party!

Kate's official "first" trick-or-treat...she loved the whole activity!

MOMS Club Halloween Party

2010-12-30T07:17:00.000-08:00

We had yet another great time at the MOMS Club Halloween Party. I was kind of running around most of the party, so didn't capture as many pictures as I hoped. My friend Rynee built a very cool fishing booth for the kids--they thought it was fantastic! Many of the kids went back for seconds...and thirds...and fourths...

We decided to rent a bounce house for the party this year, and the kids loved it! Bouncing and sliding in slippery costumes? TONS of fun! And, somehow, we managed to escape without a single broken bone...

Halloween at school

2010-12-30T07:10:00.000-08:00

Let the many Halloween posts begin! As usual, the Halloween "season" (since when did it become a season??) was filled with fun activities for the girls (and us!). Clint and I joined Anna as she participated in the annual "trick-or-treating" onsite at JSC. This is always such a fun activity! As I'm sure I've mentioned on the blog, I'm not doing so well with the idea of Anna "growing up", and especially with the idea of her going to kindergarten next year. For whatever reason, this being her last year to trick or treat onsite at JSC was a pretty big deal to me. There may have been a few tears. And, not from Anna.

I love that even the employees that are handing out candy get SO into this yearly tradition...

Even though Kate is too young to do the onsite trick-or-treating (the little ones trick-or-treat to the "big kid" rooms at school), she certainly wasn't too young to get into the celebration of Halloween. I guess we should at least be thankful that she got a cupcake the same color as her shirt??

Bucko's Birthday

2010-12-30T07:08:00.000-08:00

One of the other great things about going to Old MacDonald's Farm was that we were close enough to Tomball to go spend the night and celebrate Bucko's birthday with him! Anna had a great time walking around the retention pond with Grammie...

This girl loves her Bucko....

Hanging on tight!

Old MacDonald's Farm

2010-12-30T06:58:00.001-08:00

Field trip time again! This time we got to go on a "joint" field trip with Room 8, which included many of Anna's friends from the last few years at school. The super-fast slides were a hit!

Anna loved swinging on the tire horse with wonderful Ms. Tess...

What fun these kiddos had together swinging on the tire swing!

One of the best parts of a field trip with Room 8? OWEN! These two are unfortunately in two different classes this year, but manage to pick up right where they left off whenever they're together. They were mostly inseparable at the Farm...

Anna loved being able to get in the pens with the animals and pet and feed them.

Feeding the donkey...she thought the way his tongue felt was hilarious!

Pony rides! She was thrilled. Do I see horse ownership in our future??

Anna reluctantly braved swinging on the rope swing and falling into a big pile of hay. She was pretty hesitant about it at first, but enjoyed doing it a few times...

My little Texan girl...

At the pumpkin patch with her friend Ava...

All of Room 9 with their pumpkins. Each child got to pick a pumpkin to take home with them...

We had a WONDERFUL time!!

Broken Arrow weekend

2010-12-28T18:22:00.000-08:00

It had been WAY too long since my college roomies and I had gotten together, so we planned a "Broken Arrow weekend" (our street name in college) in Dallas for the Aggie football game. We originally planned on going to the game itself, but after discovering how much tickets were going to be, and acknowledging that we really just all wanted to hang out and chat (which stadium seating at a football game isn't particularly conducive for), we opted out of the game itself and just had a great weekend hanging out!

We decided to meet at the State Fair in the morning so the kids could all play together. They had a great time! Kate wanted the full Texas State Fair experience, so of course opted for the corny dog. I think she'll be a fan for life...

Anna had so much fun playing with Sadie and Kylie, my friend Heather's little girls. Kate was a still a bit young to mix it up with them too much, but I think by next year she'll be pal'ing along right beside them.

Trying to get all 5 kids to stand still and look at the camera (especially right before naptime, and after a long morning at the Fair) was evidently completely impossible. But, we did at least capture that all of these cuties were together! The girls had so much fun with Heather's girls, Kylie and Sadie, and Lisa's son, Luke.

The "silly" pose at least got a few more of them looking in the general direction of the camera...we weren't too picky by this point...

Kylie and Anna loved being silly together. And, if you look closely, they weren't the only silly ones at the Fair...

The girls--me, Lisa, Brooke, Heather, and Melissa...

And, we got to be "adults" Saturday night and have a wonderful dinner out. (The boys were there with us too--just not in the pic!). We didn't quite party as hard as we did in college, but had a fabulous dinner, and even went to a bar afterwards! That's pretty hard-partying for us these days...

We also had such a great time staying with my sister for the weekend. As always, Anna and Kate adored playing with their cousins. And, we got to see both Syd and Nat play soccer (not sure where my pics are of that??). A HUGE thanks to my sister and Roger for keeping the girls while we went out on the town!

Back to the zoo

2010-12-28T18:06:00.000-08:00

We had a great trip to the zoo in September with our friends Rynee, Zach, and Caroline. The girls had so much fun in the petting zoo (while Mommy panicked about animal-germs...not a fan of petting zoos...).

Kate was not too concerned about what Mommy thought about it--she LOVED it.

Climbing on some of the animal "statues" in the Children's Zoo...

For whatever reason, the girls had so much fun posing together on these tiger chairs...it was a photo op, so Mommy wasn't complaining!

After the zoo, we took our first ride on the Hermann Park train. We had a great time! Will definitely have to do that again soon, and go play in Hermann Park...trips like this make me very happy to live in a city with so many options of fun things to do!

Sandy

2010-12-28T18:01:00.000-08:00

Having a great time at the sand table...one of my favorite outdoor play spots...

Kickin it with Grammie and Bucko

2010-12-28T17:57:00.000-08:00

Grammie and Bucko came to visit in September to watch one of Anna's soccer games, and to celebrate Grammie's birthday. But, I'm not sure it was Grammie that was getting the pampering. Having a (shirtless) post-game lunch watching TV while Grammie rubs your feet? Oh, the life of the athlete...

Anna also wasn't putting up any objections to riding on Bucko's shoulders while he danced around the entryway, letting her watch herself in the mirror.

Grammie set up the girls' adirondack chairs so they could eat their dinner outside while we enjoyed a few snacks and drinks at the bistro table. Win-win!

No one colors better than Grammie...

More riding on Bucko's shoulders. I think this was her favorite perch of the weekend. Thank you Grammie and Bucko for coming to visit!!

Field trip to Kemah

2010-12-28T17:12:00.000-08:00

One of the many things that I love about Anna's class this year is the TONS of (meaningful) field trips that they take--at least once/month. In September, they were studying France, so went to Kemah for beignets.

Admittedly, most of the kids enjoyed the powdered sugar more than the beignets themselves. They also got to see the people making the beignets, which they thought was fascinating (even though it mostly consists of cutting dough into squares).

And, the "icing on the cake" was getting to go to the Kemah playground and play with their friends! Anna had a great time climbing up the ladder again and again with her friend Elena.

They decided to take a group shot of everyone on the slide. Lesson learned: put the heavier kids on the bottom and lighter kids on the top.

Anna and her friend Ava had such great times sliding together...

This turned out to be a bit better place for a group photo...room for everyone...

First pedi

2010-12-27T18:59:00.000-08:00

Anna ventured with me to the nail salon this fall for her first pedicure. We had so much fun together, and she LOVED getting her toes done! The ladies were so nice to her, and did such a cute job of painting her nails.

The finished product. Needless to say, she loved them. She keeps badgering me about going back for another pedi. Well, if its what she wants to do, then I guess I could suffer through another one...

Bend it

2010-12-27T18:49:00.001-08:00

Anna continued her "interest" in team sports this fall by playing soccer. And, I put "interest" in quotes because we very quickly discovered that her "interest" in soccer was limited at best. I think she liked the idea of soccer much more than she liked playing the game itself.

Not exactly sure about the pose above, but she was insistent that that's how she wanted her picture taken.

At her first game, she's still pretty into it...

Playing on the playground at the soccer fields after the game was definitely one of the highlights of the season...

While Anna's interest in soccer seemed to wane as the season progressed, Kate's certainly didn't. She loved coming and watching the games, and was usually chomping at the bit to get in on the action. Given their personalities, if one of them is into soccer, I think it would certainly be Kate.

The highlight of the season was definitely our coaches. Coach Ramie and Coach Adam were so great with the kids, and made the whole thing so fun and positive--we so appreciate them!! I'm not sure Anna will be doing soccer again, and I think the thing that makes me the saddest about it is for her not to have them as coaches again!

One of the few "action" shots of the year...Anna did enjoy kicking the ball in from out of bounds...

On our way to one of the games at the end of the season--Anna: "Mommy, can I ask Coach Ramie if I can play a certain position this game?" Me: "Sure, honey. What position do you want to play?" Anna: "Sub." :-) Yeah, this was definitely her favorite spot during the games.

But, I don't want to make it sound like she totally hated it. She did enjoy quite a bit of it. I think it was just a little too aggressive for her, and it turned out to be a sport (which we didn't know going into it) that her petite size was a pretty big factor.

We think we'll stick to t-ball and try some gymnastics this spring...

Adventure Fridays - Chuck E. Cheese

2010-12-27T18:41:00.000-08:00

I think I had avoided the idea of taking the girls to Chuck E. Cheese because in my head I just associated it with sub-par food, spending lots of money on silly games, and total and complete chaos. Well, my friend Melanie suggested that we go there for one of our Adventure Fridays, and did that ever change my mind! Not that they're serving gourmet food in a calm, serene environment or anything, but it was way more fun than I expected! And, in the middle of the day in the middle of the week, not very crowded (or chaotic) at all!

Kate was mildly obsessed with this Bob the Builder ride. I was so impressed with the number of rides/games they had that were doable by one Kate's age.

And, lucky for me, the "no tokens required" little climbing play structure was one of Kate's favorites. It was low enough that she could do it by herself, and she just thought that was fantastic!

The girls had a blast riding in the Monster Truck together. All in all--a great time!

(That being said, I am NOT looking forward to the fact that Anna is insistent on having her birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. Twenty to thirty of her closest friends at Chuck E. Cheese on a guaranteed-to-be-mass-chaos Saturday or Sunday? No, thank you. We'll see...)

Half the birthday, just as much fun

2010-12-27T18:35:00.000-08:00

To me, life (especially as a kid!) is MUCH too short to not celebrate 1/2 birthdays. Not surprisingly, Anna hasn't taken much convincing to get in on the fun with me. We made the traditional "1/2 cake" for her half birthday, and she wanted to help decorate it this year. I was going to write her name on it, but she was INSISTENT that it needed Kate's name as well. So, I of course obliged, and it kind of became "their" cake.

Anna "drew flowers" all over the top--see them?

And, 4 big candles and one little one helped us celebrating Anna turning the "big 4.5"...

Caroline's party

2010-12-27T18:33:00.001-08:00

The girls had a great time at their friend, Caroline's Minnie Mouse birthday party.

Decorate (and then eat) your own cookies? I mean, what's not to love??

Crafty Daddy

2010-12-27T17:10:00.000-08:00

While I tend to be the one more excited about crafting with the girls, Clint is certainly a trouper and does his fair share of crafting as well. After I got a little bit into stamping this fall, Anna in turn got interested in it, and we spent some serious time stamping. Well, little did I know that Daddy might get into it too! :-) I left them stamping so I could get a few things done while Kate napped, and came back expecting Clint to be DONE with stamping, and he was coloring away! I know Anna really enjoyed her crafting buddy...

(Please disregard the outrageous state of my craft room in the background. I got a little over my head in crafting projects this fall, resulting in the craft room being a continuous mess with multiple "in work" projects...)

Anna continued her craftiness downstairs by decorating the window with little foam "noodles"...

School girls

2010-12-27T17:07:00.000-08:00

Its important to me to have a nice picture of the girls from the first day of school every year. Um, I'm not sure this quite constitutes as "nice". Oh well...

While I wasn't there to witness (Clint dropped them off), I'm not sure that Anna was quite as mad or Kate quite as aggressive as this picture might indicate, but this shot did make me laugh...

Hilton Head - the rest of the story

2010-12-24T06:18:00.000-08:00

Even though we had a ton of great "adventures" in Hilton Head, I think we had just as much fun some of the times that we were just "hanging out". Here, Anna shows us how fierce she is in the Savannah airport.

For whatever reason, getting the rental car took FOREVER. But, the girls were troopers and just ran and played in the baggage claim area with me while Daddy took care of the car. They were anxious to see their cousins by this point!

After checking into our condo, we promptly went over to Lisa, Shawn, Finn, and Cormac's place. First stop? The pool, of course! Finn and Anna had so much fun getting reaquainted via pool games...

We decided to rent a two-bedroom condo for our family + Nana in lieu of getting two hotel rooms. That turned out to be an excellent lodging arrangement--we got to stay with Nana, had a living room to hang out in after the kids went to bed, had a kitchen to make breakfasts and lunches on some days, and I think most excitingly, had a porch with a balcony! This was one of my favorites because I love to sit outside first thing in the morning, but to my surprise it was one of Anna's favorites too! She loved to come sit out here and color in the morning and watch the birds and other animals in the trees/ravine behind us. She still talks about that balcony regularly...

Kate is our little animal lover, but unfortunately doesn't get a lot of love from our fiesty kitty, Lily. So, when she met Finn and Cormac's doggy, Santos, and discovered what a kind and gentle sweet dog he was, she was smitten. She spent basically every moment we were at the Hazens condo following him around saying "Dog! Dog!" He seemed to love her too.

The girls had so much fun spending time with their Auntie Lees and Uncle Shawn. Auntie Lees, as always, was so loving and doting on the girls, and Uncle Shawn is pretty much just a big kid himself--seeming to love nothing more than getting down on the floor playing with the kids. Hanging out at their condo was one of the most fun parts of the trip! And, they were such gracious hosts to us--cooking us dinner multiple nights!

We kind of thought Kate and Cormac would be a bit too young to really "play" together, but they quickly showed us they had other plans. They had a ball together!

The end of the trip brought not only rain, but some weepy kiddos as they had to leave each other. We went to see a beautiful lighthouse in Hilton Head, and let the kids run around a bit before we left for the airport. They had a great time, but were so sad to have to part ways...

The plane ride home was pretty "smooth sailing", thankfully. Clint and I were so happy with how content the girls were, and then quickly realized that we shouldn't really be surprised. Her own row with a movie playing and a yummy pepperoni pizza? Yeah, traveling ain't so tough...

Kate was also a trouper on the way home. She seemed a bit aggitated (though not crying) on the flight home, and we quickly discovered after we got to the Houston airport that her diaper rash had gotten a little out of control. Little did we know at the time that the poor little thing had a pretty bad infection she was battling during our flight home! Poor girl thought she was headed home, and instead spent the next 4 days at Texas Children's.

Hilton Head - Children's Museum

2010-12-24T05:58:00.000-08:00

One afternoon when the kids were "beached" and "pooled" out, Lisa, Clint, and Nana took the big kids to a local children's museum, while the little ones napped. Yet again, Anna and Finn had such a blast!

Getting dressed up for the sea adventure...

That's one excited mermaid...

Nothing like a hard day's work...

Some pretty scary pirates, if you ask me...

Beach buddies

2010-12-24T05:54:00.001-08:00

The girls had so much fun playing in the sand together. Anna taught Kate how to build a "drip" sandcastle...

...and, I think Kate taught Anna how much fun the sand can be if you just jump right in and play with it (Anna's not really one for liking to get dirty).

And, apparently, they taught each other some secrets that Mommy and Daddy aren't supposed to know about, too...

Hilton Head - day at the beach

2010-12-24T05:42:00.001-08:00

We took a most wonderful family vacation with Clint's family to Hilton Head, SC this August. We had so many good times--I can't even come close to capturing it all in one blog posting! So, here's the first installment of many....

Our little beach babe, trying to be at least a little shielded from the sun for a bit...

It was so fun to see these cousins--who sadly don't see each other nearly as often as we'd like--just immediately bond. They were like peas and carrots through the whole weekend...

The girls taking a walk into the beach with Nana...

A family photo. You would think there's not a chance I'd post a pic of me in a swimsuit on the blog, but our pics of all 4 of us are so limited, that I decided to throw vanity to the wind and go ahead and post it...

Playing on the beach with Nana. Anna tended to prefer the waves (or running around doing whatever Finn was doing), whereas Kate was nearly obsessed with the sand.

Auntie Lees got "boogie boards" (sorry if that's an outdated term?) for Finn and Anna, and they had a BLAST catching waves and riding them in...thanks Auntie Lees!

Anna and Finn were two silly monkeys for most of the trip--oh, the fun they had together!

Cormac--the son Clint never had. :-) Its remarkable how much Cormac looks like Clint did at this age...

Adventurous

2010-12-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

We went to a birthday party at McDonalds for a friend of the girls', and Kate so surprised me with how adventurous she was! Climbing up the playstructure, and even deciding to venture into the tubes of the slides by herself.

I was hesitant to let her go at first, but was soon calmed by her older sister...

Anna: "Mommy--just let her go. She'll be fine--I'll take care of her! I'll stay with her the whole time." Well, I guess that is a reassuring argument...so, off they went...

And, Anna did indeed stay with her and take care of her. She even held Kate aside for other kids to pass so they didn't run over Kate. Kate--you may never fully know or appreciate it, but I think Anna will take care of you for your whole life long!

After tending to her sister, she did need a little playtime herself. Responsible? Yes. Still silly? Always.

Meteoroids

2010-12-23T19:24:00.001-08:00

Anna ventured into the world of team sports this summer and decided to play t-ball. Part of me was so excited (as a former softball player and baseball stat girl), and part of me was pretty hesitant that she was a little too young to "get" t-ball. Well, as I'm learning again and again--I should probably just trust her judgement! She loved it!

Hanging out with some of her fellow "Meteoroids" before a game...

Batting was definitely her favorite (followed by a close second of running around the bases)...

Whether or not she could catch a fly ball was far less important than how darn cute she looked in that little uniform...I mean, please...

I kind of thought the dugout time would be "boring" for the little ones, but they actually loved it! I think they liked hanging out with their "friends" while they waited their turn to bat.

"Hanging out" in the dugout. I helped out in the dugout being sure that the right kids were getting ready to bat and into the "on deck" circle. Anna kind of (pleasantly) surprised me with how adamant she was about being sure that I helped out every game. (Selfishly, I really like that she likes me being involved with her activities!)

And, let's be honest--the best part of the whole game...post-game snacks!

Running in after her last RUN of the season. She loved the whole experience, and is already asking me about playing again in the spring...

Summer fun with the fam, part 2

2010-12-23T18:58:00.001-08:00

We had just as much fun playing poolside at the house. Grammie fixed the girls' hair, and then they did "her makeup".

Beautiful ladies!

The girls also had a blast playing the pool with Bucko...

Kate got lots of Grammie snuggle time throughout the weekend...

More bonding time with Grammie...

The whole gang...

Summer fun with the fam, part 1

2010-12-23T18:48:00.000-08:00

My whole family came to visit in late July, and we had a blast both getting out and being adventurous, and staying home swimming. We just can't have a family visit without a trip to Kemah, and the girls loved riding the carousel (among other things!) together...

Apparently, watching TV before bed necessitates costumes...

We went to Palm Beach at Moody Gardens, and the girls had a blast swimming, playing in the sand, and going down the water slides together. Here they are as some pretty scary (two-headed) pirates...

These three are just the best of friends whenever we're all together. I think by next summer Kate will be old enough to mix it up with them!

Taking a break from the sun and building sandcastles...

Color-coordinated

2010-12-23T18:44:00.000-08:00

Crayons color much better when laid out in rainbow order...

More Children's Museum fun

2010-12-23T18:31:00.000-08:00

While we make regular trips to the wonderful Children's Museum, our trip in July was one of the first times that Kate had really gotten into the fun in ALL of the areas. I think her increased mobility helped a lot--the girl is really growing up!

Anna was excited that her sister could join in the grocery shopping...

...and, art with pastels...

Kate also discovered a new part of the Tot Spot that she hadn't played with much before--a little section with doors, latches, etc. for the little ones to open and close. Sounds relatively interesting if you're 15 months old, right? Um...that might be the understatement of the century.

Each of the little doors had a "scene" on the inside with a light that would go on when you opened the door. Kate thought it was at least the coolest, and most hysterical thing she had ever seen in her life. I've never seen her squeal and laugh with such delight--seriously. Multiple people even came over to see what all the joy was about--she kind of drew a crowd with her enthusiasm.

Again, and again, and again--this opening and closing and squealing never gets old!

When you look inside, you can understand her unabated excitement. I mean...there are tiny furry little animals having a teeny tiny birthday party. Squeal-worth, for sure.

Hard rockers

2010-12-23T05:37:00.000-08:00

These girls certainly love them some rocking chairs. Anna loves rocking in my grandfather's old rocker in our room...

Kate--the most obsessed with rocking--will rock in any rocking chair she can find! Hers at home...

...or, my dad's rocker from when he was a little boy in Tomball.

Father's Day

2010-12-22T18:56:00.000-08:00

Wishing the most wonderful Daddy in the world the most phenomenally belated Happy Father's Day!

We enjoyed a wonderful brunch out to celebrate our great Papa!

Summer in Tomball, Take 2

2010-12-22T18:48:00.000-08:00

The most fun times in Tomball in the summer are definitely spent in or beside the pool...the girls (of all ages!) are just in heaven there!

Nothing quite beats eating watermelon in the pool...

Not exactly sure what was so fascinating about their teeth at this moment, but they were happy ladies!

The gang having snacks poolside...

It never ceased to shock me how adventurous these girls are together. By the end of the weekend, they were diving into the deep end getting little torpedos from the bottom without a second thought. Let's hope this adventuresome spirit tames a bit before they turn into teenagers...

Summer in Tomball, Take 1

2010-12-22T18:40:00.001-08:00

Well, we just had too much fun during our summer trip to Grammie and Bucko’s to get it all into one blog posting. Its so fun to see what incredibly good friends these little cousins are…

Snuggle time in the recliner is a favorite Tomball pastime!

Chillin out by the pool…

Yet again, Kate was entertaining the crowds with her entire-giant-strawberry-eating-in-one-bite tricks…

Grammie, being the good country girl that she is, was teaching the girls how to shuck corn. They had a blast!

Our four little bears at breakfast...

Longhorn

2010-12-22T18:38:00.000-08:00

This summer, the girls had a young longhorn come visit their school for them to pet and meet. Anna was a little hesitant to get too close to it...that's my good Aggie girl...

Catch as catch can

2010-12-22T18:22:00.000-08:00

Its that time of year--I am COMMITTED (seriously this time, folks) to catch up on the blog before the end of the year. So, please consider yourself forewarned...there will be lots of catching up to do!

(And, no, luckily for her, they never did quite catch Lily...)

Summer Splash Bash

2010-11-14T05:30:00.000-08:00

We had a great “Splash Bash” party this summer with my MOMS Club, and the girls had a blast!

The giant water slide was definitely the hit of the party—endless fun!

Even though Kate was a little too young to partake in the sliding, she still had a great time watching the big kids slide and playing in the sprinklers. And, both girls enjoyed their picnic lunch and time with friends—a great time was had by all!

Jamalapalooza

2010-11-14T05:25:00.001-08:00

Some friends of ours used to have an annual party called “Jamalapalooza”. While they haven’t had it in recent years (when did we all grow up??), this year was the 10th anniversary. Reunion party required. They had daytime festivities for those of us with kids, so we took the girls to see everyone. Anna loved learning to play “pool”—a huge thanks to Q for keeping her entertained!

And, Chip was a champ to teach her the slightly more advanced version, using ½ a pool stick.

And, Kate did her fair share of entertaining the other partygoers with her propensity to eat entire giant strawberries by sticking the entire berry (stem and all) in her mouth at once. We may need to work on her party manners for the future…

Anna then deemed herself the Party Photographer and made the rounds documenting the occasion.

We might want to consider working with her on an angle other than the 3’ worm’s eye view…

Playing with Nana

2010-11-09T20:45:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful visit with Nana this summer—the girls loved playing with her and showing her all of their toys!

Anna and Nana had countless tea parties with all of Anna’s (stuffed) friends…

And Kate loved showing off her new stacking skills with big kid blocks....

…and using her “baby rings” now as bracelets.

Memorial Day

2010-11-09T20:42:00.000-08:00

As is part of our Memorial Day (and Fourth of July) tradition, we made our annual flag cake this year. And, as usual, Anna was more than happy to help! It was amazing to see what a difference there was between last year and this year—she was so good at all the steps of the process! She did a great job of smoothing out the icing…

…and, did such an amazing job of lining up the blueberries and strawberries. She was very adamant that it needed to look just like the American flag.

VERY proud of her final product! With a little instruction from me, she did the whole thing by herself! Proud mama…

And, of course, a flag cake is no good if not shared with friends! We went to our friends, the Rohloffs, house for a Memorial Day pool party. Anna had a great time swimming…

…and, Kate loved being a “big girl” with her new sippy cup. She always loves being around Caroline—she’s only 8 months older than Kate, but at this age, quite the “bigger girl”.

Pick your own

2010-11-07T04:43:00.000-08:00

We discovered the most wonderful local orchard this spring that had a ton of pick your own fruits AND veggies. Even though it was crazy-hot, the girls had a great time harvesting…

Anna couldn’t believe how many peaches there were on the trees...

We found the thornless blackberries, and Kate had a great time picking (and eating her fair share of) them. I think she wasn’t sure if she should touch them at first, but once she realized that she could not only touch them but PICK them, she was one happy camper!