Christmas Picture 2012

So as I think I have mentioned before my kids are scared of Santa.  So here is our picture from this year.  and well it pretty much speaks for itself.

Favorite pose

Here is another set of pictures from Christmas last year.  I just love the first one...Just so cute...This is such a typical way for Sam to lay.

Love those little legs.

Love that little face.

Christmas picture from last year

I am finally working on cleaning out some pictures on my camera and my phone and since I didn't post anything from last Christmas i thought I would post this one from last year since it is the only one that we are all looking at the camera for.  Even though we have our dog gate around the tree to keep Chewy and Alex out of there. 

Christmas parade at GG and Papa Johns

 

So this past weekend we went over to GG and Papas Johns house with all the kids and Larry and Lois and watched the Christmas parade through their town which happens to go right in front of their house so it is a front row seat.  We got there early to let the girls run around and that they did.  It was some beautiful weather so no coats needed.  We even got to see Santa after the parade. We also got to go for a golf cart ride to see the ducks and fishes.  Which is sooo much fun. Sam loves to scare the ducks...  It was overall a great day and so much fun.

 

Kendal and Alex goofing around in the golf cart before the parade.

Alex likes playing with Papa Johns mice.

All the girls waving and having a great time watching the firetruck go by in the parade.

All the parents and kids in Santa's sleigh.  Such a cute pic minus Sam who was just not wanting to take a picture.

Slumber party with cousins

So this past weekend we had a mini slumber party with our two nieces Aly and Kendall. They came over right around dinner time and spend about 4 or so hours with us.  We did a quick and easy dinner of tacos/nachos/quesadillas, quick showers (yes they all demand to take showers these days) and then movie/playtime and bed.   They did great and had so much fun. Can not wait to do it again soon.

Eating dinner

Movie time. 

Sam can tie shoes!!!

So about 2 weeks ago Sam decided she wanted to learn to tie her shoes. No idea what possessed it but she asked Dan to sit down and show her and he did.  She got it after maybe 2-3 tries and has been obsessed with tying shoes ever since. Apparently she helps everyone in dance class tie their tap shoes and loves being the big helper. She also demands to tie Dan and my shoes on the weekends when we wear our sneakers..Takes a few more minutes to get out the door but so worth it to see her excited face knowing that she accomplished something...

Experience with Santa = much better this year

So not sure of who knows this but both of our kids are scared to death of Santa.  It is pretty funny. They love the idea of him and the fact that he brings them presents but they refuse to get too close to him much less sit on his lap. So last year we told Sam that in order to receive anything from Santa she had to tell him.  So as her and Daddy were walking by the area that Santa was in at our neighborhood Hot chocolate with Santa event she yelled at the top of her lungs that she wanted a Tangled doll.  Funniest moment in a long time.

So the Hot Chocolate event with Santa was this weekend in our neighborhood and she actually got right up next to him with me and Daddy and Alex all together for the picture then shyly turned away while whispering what she wanted.  It was just loud enough he could hear something but we didn't push it and told her she did a great job. We also told her she could only ask for 2 things from Santa so she was able to narrow it down. 

They also had lots of fun activities at the event and there was a arts and crafts table, 2 full size bounce houses and a hayride.  We enjoyed the hayride it was all along the back woods in our neighborhood and it was a beautiful day for it. Oh and some yummy cookies and cake balls were had by all.

Getting ready for school

So back to school for us involved getting out the fall clothes which was new outfits for both, new for Sam and new from the box of Sam's old clothes for Alex...shhhh don't tell her.  We made just as big of a deal about her new clothes as we did about Sams so it was a win win.

Here are the girls in the second week of school still enjoying their new clothes for fall.

Sam and Daddy TCU game

So about a week or so ago Dan took Sam to the first TCU home game.  Sam seemed a tad hesitant as she really wanted to go to baseball game with Daddy.  She had had a busy day with soccer etc so they rushed out the door but not before I got a few cute pictures of them in their TCU gear.

 

She had a blast.  She like the fireworks, the cheerleaders, the popcorn etc....She sat in her seat the whole time with so many fun things to see.  She did not want to leave so they endedup getting home pretty late.

 

The only downside was Dan had to carry her from the stadium to the car (only about a mile away) both ways.  Silly guy he should have parked closer.

 

All in all it was a great success and Sam is excited to go again..

 

 

 

Sam's first soccer game

We had Sam's first soccer game about two weeks ago and found a few more pictures I wanted to share.. 

Alex getting a birds eye view and cheering on Sam at her first game.

Sam getting warmed up for first game.

Sam doing warm up with the team for the first game.  She did great. 

Alex got her first haircut

So I found a girl that used to work at the salon I went to forever in my 20's (gosh I am old) and she is now doing housecalls so I asked her to come over a few weeks ago to cut my hair  which then turned into Sam getting a haircut too and then Alex too.  I was not planning on it but they were so excited and once Alex saw Sam getting her haircut and sitting so pretty on the chair with a fun cape she had to have in on the fun so we figured why not.  She really didn't cut it too much more just trimmed off all  the fuzzy hair that is more than likely her baby hairs.  So her hair lays down much better now. 


Alex getting her first haircut. She actually sat really still. 

Sam and Sophie at first soccer practice

So Sam and one of her besties Sophie are on the same team this year and I got the cutest picture at the first practice of the two of them.  Being on a team with kids we know and parents we know has made this so much more fun for us too. 

First day of Pre-k

So Sam is in her last year at her current school.  She is in PRE-K.  She is now a Butterfly.  She is so happy.  She LOVES her new teacher Mrs. K.  On her first day in her new class she got to make a door sign and she loves it.  Here she is putting it on her door to her room at home...Very proud of herself.  She is growing into such a confident little girl and I love it.

New game at our house

So Sam has created this new game at our house. It has become a favorite before bed ritual.  Sam loves to pick up Alex and give her big hugs.  And well Alex is finally getting used to and even initiating it.  Sam thinks she is big and strong now that she can life her 30 pound little sister.  And Alex has learned to help her by jumping then wrapping her legs around her. At first the landings were rough had a few bumps but now they got it down.  Here is an action shot from one night last week. 

Soccer time!!!

Sam is finally old enough to join a soccer team.  We joined the Dolphins.  With her two besties Sophie and Katie.  She loves all the gear and is getting the hang of it.  We have had two practices now and one game.  She refused to play in the game and sat on the edge even though it was her turn so we figured out why and are working to fix it for the next game this weekend.  She loves to go and see all her friends and loves practices so we are hoping once she gets into it she will enjoy it more..

Here are a few pictures the weekend we went to get all of her gear.  and man I had no idea how much gear this all involved.

Sam with all her new soccer gear on.  And chewy doing her sniff of approval..

Alex demanding to try everything on after Sam was done.  What a little ham...

Grandpa and his girls trying on all the soccer gear.  Love that cheesy grin Sam is showing us.

And more swimming.....

So after Sam's intense two weeks of swimming class everyday she has become our little fish in the water demanding we go swimming a lot. Even when it is a tad chillier in the mornings then what we were used to all summer.  So one morning we went over the grandparents for the day and went swimming and Sam proceeded to show off all her moves and demand that Grandpa throw her repeatedly in the water.  I think Grandpa and Sam were exhausted after all that fun. 

Sam and diving board

So this week I have been taking Sam to an intensive swim class every day.  It is like swimming boot camp.  She did so well this first of two weeks. .She went in and tried everything they asked her to. I think he little goggles are like her new favorite thing. Also after her second lesson she was going underwater to pick up diving toys so we had to go to Target and get her her own set of diving toys.  Which she has taken in the tub this week.  But the best part is at the end of the second lesson they got the opportunity to go off the diving board and she volunteered to go first and jumped right in.  I was such a proud mommy.  GO SAM!!!

Mommy's office is fun!!

Last week was a doozy with Alex not feeling well, doctors visit, the crazy heat and the girls school shutting down on Friday for the day unexpectedly. 

So I was out one day with poor little Alex and worked from home.  And let me tell you working from home with an almost two year old is all kinds of fun.

So when Friday came around and we realized their school was closed while they fix the air conditioning I stayed home in the morning with the girls and Dan took the afternoon off.  However I had to get to the office to get two things in the mail by noon so I took the girls to breakfast...Yes of course our favorite place for bagels and blueberry muffins.  Then we stopped by mommy's office thinking I would only stay for 10 minutes we ended up being there almost an hour they did so well. They sat at the front reception desk and colored and ate snacks and just had a lot of fun playing with the chairs, etc.  While I printed away in my office which directly looks out onto the reception area...  Took a picture of the girls and thought you might get a kick out of it too.

Sam tennis time!

So this summer we decided to let Sam try tennis. She had to be 4 to start and she she is really doing well.  We go one afternoon a week and it is inside and she has taking a liking to her coach.  She really loves her tennis racket (so does Alex).  So it has become a fun afternoon outing for me and both girls.  Alex loves to go too and if a court is open she loves to dart across it barefoot.  I know she really makes me laugh and gives me a great workout. Luckily it is indoor so not terrible heat wise.

Where is Alex?

So last weekend Alex was in cranky mode and we knew we needed her to take a nap even though for the most part on the weekends she is done napping only because Sam is done so Dan layed with her in her room for a while and came downstairs when she was asleep to help me finish a few things. So about an hour later I went up to check on her and honestly for a second I could not find her in her room.  But when I did I cracked up.

Grandma and Grandpa had gotten Sam and Alex baby doll beds recently and at first Alex wanted to get in hers but I thought we were over that. Apparently she still likes to get on it as much as possible so she took a nap on it.  We ended up leaving here there passed out for well over 2 hours.  Sweet girl!

Lunch date with Alex

So last weekend on Sunday Dan really wanted to take Sam to see Ice Age the new one at the movies and well we have learned Alex is not quite ready to sit still through a movie yet and so her and I had a fun time just the girls.  We went to the grocery store and then we went and had lunch after dropping the groceries off at home.  She had so much fun at the little sandwhich shop. They had some fun music on and our little booth turned into a dancefest.  She was such a little sweetheart eating her lunch then doing a little dance.  We had the best lunch date ever.  Then we did a little bit of shopping and man Alex loves to shop.  She likes to carry the bags and push the stroller.  Now if we could just work on getting her to go the right direction we would be golden.

HEre is a cute picture of her at lunch.

Friday night summer tradition

Well this summer we started a family tradition of being good and eating dinner at home then the girls get their bath then at around 7pm we go to Frisco Square and we get ICE CREAM (AKA fat free yogurt but don't tell the girls that they think this is the biggest treat ever).  So after ice cream one evening we meandered down to the main open part of the square and they had a band there. Turns out they were to have a band every Friday night at 7:30 all summer long.  We have needless to say gone every week. We only stay for about 30 minutes or a little more of the music as by that time the girls are starting to get really tired and ready to head home.  It has become our fun little summer Friday night tradition.  What fun family seasonal traditions do you?

This past week I remembered to bring my phone/camera and got a few cute pics/videos of the girls dancing and playing.

Alex and Sam enjoying playing on/near the sculptures while listening to music.

Lunch and a little silliness

So we have been spending a lot of time this summer swimming. This past weekend we went swimming with Erik, Aly and Kendall and after all the fun at the pool everyone is HUNGRY so we go to one of our favorite hamburger places and we all dig in.  I got this cute video of all 4 of the girls jumping around after lunch.  They have so much fun together.  We are so lucky to be so close to each other so the girls can play together..

Movie time with Alex

So Saturday night Dan and I had rented a movie.  We thought oh that would be fun to get in bed and watch a movie together.  Well Alex has been a total silly kid since moving upstairs in her toddler bed. She can not seem to go to sleep on her own and prefers to come downstairs and hang with us then go to bed. She eventually just passes out from pure exhaustion. 

So we had just turned the movie on and in comes Alex so she got up on the bed and scooted down to the end of the bed and watched the movie with us for over an hour before passing out on me. 

Erin and Dan's 6th wedding anniversary

So in May Dan and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.  We ended up taking a little weekend away to Austin in June when we had some time off and were ready for some R and R.  It was so nice to connect and just relax and lay low.  We enjoyed every minute of it but missed our girls terribly and though about them a lot.

While in Austin we stayed at Barton Creek resort (long story we had already paid for a vacation there in the Fall but then I had my emergency gallbladder surgery at the same time so we never made it but they let us use it another time but we only had until the end of June good timing on our part to use it up).  We drove down on a Thursday and just took our time and enjoyed the drive.

We played golf together on Friday. What a blast!!  I enjoyed every minute of it. Forgot how fun golf can be.  Dan was a little nervous playing with me as I can only imagine I hadn't played in 15 years.  But i did not totally embarrass myself.  We decided early on no point in keeping my score so we did smiley faces and frowny faces.  There were about 7 smiley faces which is pretty good out of 18..The course was stunning.

Then on Saturday Dan played golf again and I chose to sleep in and do some shopping. Found a cute outdoor mall that happened to be having a festival so I poked aroudn there and had a lot of fun trying on some new styles of clothes that I have been wondering what they would look like on me. I even bought a pair of skinny jeans.  Yeah me!!

We even had time to hit a wine bar and a movie.  We also went to our favorite BBQ place county line twice on the trip. I will say we did go to two different locations both al ot of fun.

Overall great trip and great time with my amazing Hubby.  I still can not beleive it has been 6 years. It has flown by!!!

Here we are at the tee off on Friday playing golf.  Of course gets embarrased I asked the starter guy to take our picture but it was a beautiful view so wanted to capture it and now Dan is glad we have this picture...I am right occasionally.

Our dear friend Laura B had some great suggestions of places to go and one of them was this cute wine bar The Grove. WE stopped here on our way to the movie and had a snack and great wine.

Here we are our last night at the County Line BBQ. We sat outdoors while the sun was setting amazing view, wonderful food and the best company ever. 

Sam's 4th birthday party

Sam turned 4 in May.  This year we decided to share a party with her bestie Sophie.  Best Idea ever.  Thanks Kathryn for finding the coolest place to have it and sharing it with us.  Our two families have become close so it has been fun.

The theme was gymnastics as the girls love their Saturday morning gymnastics classes together.  They giggle while doing backbends...What could be more fun.  This place we found Infinite Bounds also had another side to it fun bounce houses and huge trampolines so fun for all ages.

Here is Sophie and Sam preparty.  Just hanging as the adults get everything set up.

Here is everyone lined up for a quick pic. Sam is hanging out on the left.  She really does not like all the attention. 

Here is Sam and Sophie on the balance beam. Such cuties.

Alex does not want to be left out so she took a turn too.

HErei s our only family picture from the party.  HEre we are at CUPCAKE time..

 Post Party Sam and Sophie hanging onto the baloons...SO MUCH FUN!!

I still can not believe my baby is 4 years old.  Man time sure does fly when you are having fun.

We are back!!!

Well it has been a rough 8 months but I am finally back to the blogging world. 

Back in September I took a new job at what I thought was a family friendly smaller firm.  Well I worked more and was more stressed out then I was before.  It was a rough time for us and we finally realized it was no longer working for our family although it was a great learning opportunity.

I found an amazing part time job in May that I absolutely love. It is a great place for me to learn something new accounting wise and a whole new industry. I have amazing coworkers and only a 5 minute commute.  Everyone seems to be enjoying this change in the family especially me.

The girls are sleeping in later I am able to keep up with the house and get back to doing some fun things that I enjoy doing like blogging and keeping everyone updated on our two beautiful girls, Sam and Alex.

They have grown a lot in the past 8 months so I won't be able to get everything on the blog so thought I would write up some new things and then go back now and then to that time I didn't get to document so well.

I am happy to be back and keeping you posted on our family!!!