Sunday Evening Walk 3/22

On Sunday evening we went for a walk at Indian Camp Creek Park. It was a very nice evening. We climbed the silo and enjoyed the view. We also hiked down by the river and tried to see some fish. The girls enjoyed throwing sticks in the river and watching them float down.

Some cute (blurry) pics of the girls.

To the Zoo...with Daddy!

The girls were so excited to have their daddy accompany us on a trip to the zoo! It's usually a girls thing that we do during the week. They kept asking him, "Are you really coming to the zoo with us?"

Kathryn took this pic of Daddy & Sydney.

Sunday Walk

On Sunday afternoon we went for a walk at Brommelseik Park. They have a cute fishing lake that has a nice path all the way around. The weather was so mild and nice. The girls got excited about seeing some dogs there. What a difference! They used to be so afraid, but now Sydney will hold out her hand and say, "That dog wants to lick my hand!" Kathryn isn't quite as friendly, but she's not afraid. I'm so proud of them! She saw a chihuahua puppy and thought it was a cat! It was funny.

Spider Family

We had fun playing on this web crawler too. This was the first time that Kathryn had climbed all the way to the top. It's so interesting to see the differences between Kathryn & Sydney. Kathryn is very calculated and hesistant and careful. When she climbs she makes sure that she knows where each hand and foot will go. Sometimes she freezes out of panic, but can be talked out of it. Sydney just goes. She will just hang until she can find a place to put her feet. Then, if she feels like it, she'll just drop. (You can see Sydney in the last picture. She's near the bottom.)

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Kathryn successfully swung on the monkey bars on Saturday. She was so excited and we were excited for her.

Sydney successfully hung. (Or hanged, as Kathryn would say)

BTW, Mike and I also successfully swung on the monkey bars. And if you don't think that's impressive, you go try it.

So sorry...

Hi friends! It's me, Emily. See, there I am smiling at you! Sorry that I haven't posted any pictures for a while. When we got back from our quick trip to Arkansas, my memory card stopped functioning, so I lost the pictures that I had on my camera and I was unable to take more! So, a new card has been purchased and I'm back in action.

What we've been doing:

Quick trip to Arkansas - Mike's dad gave us his pop-up camper and we met him halfway to pick it up! We are SO excited about going camping! The trip could have been better, but it was fun to see Harry and Corrie and of course, to get the camper. We were expecting it to be in the 60s (per weather.com) but it ended up being in the 30! Our trip down there was uneventful and we shared a nice meal out on Friday night. On Saturday morning we got up and had a leisurely breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Then we met back at the campsite so that Mike and his Dad could hook up the brake lights for the camper. It was freezing! So the girls and I sat in the camper while they worked. Then I made a fire to try and defrost us and we half-heartedly (only because it was so cold) roasted some hot dogs. That night we took the girls to a Boat & RV show in Hot Springs, mainly because it was warm and indoors! The next morning we got up and were greeted with a flat tire on the Jeep. Luckily, we knew where the Wal-Mart was so Mike put on the spare and we popped on over to get it fixed. Voila! We were on our way...kind of. We ran into poor road conditions and tacked on an additional 4 hours to our trip. But, we all made it home safe and sound with the camper, so we were succesful!

Sydney's Teeth - Sydney had a bad run-in with an exercise ball and a baby and smashed her teeth pretty good. Our friend (a dentist) told me that it would probably be fine, but if she had hit it hard enough, that her teeth might discolor. :( So, as if that wasn't bad enough, I had Kathryn's dentist look at Sydney's teeth (we were there for Kathryn's check up) and she said that they might discolor (yes, I'm aware), but also that they might develop bubbles and have to be removed!!!! WHAT? Why tell me that? I was so upset! Of course, I played it cool while we were in there because she had this grim look on her face and I didn't want to cry in front of her. So, I fretted about that for a couple of days, but her teeth are still white and I'm continuing to pray. (You can pray too. I know it's superficial, but come on, how sad would it be if she had to have her two front teeth removed!?)

Home, Family, & Personal Enrichment - I am the Enrichment leader for our ward, so I've been busy planning our next meeting (on Wednesday).

Fishing - I went fishing for the first time with my friend Natalie. It was fun and I caught the only fish! A sweet 5-incher.

Playgroup at the Park

Tuesday was warm again so we had our playgroup at LSL Boulevard Park. We all brought treats to share and the kids played and played. There were some mud issues, but it was worth it to be outside and for the kids to be able to run. I invited the other two wards that meet in our building so that we could get to know some more moms and kids.

Here are some cute pictures of Ellie, Kathryn, & Emily running down the hill. Oh, to be a kid again!

Happy, Happy 30th Birthday, Emily Dear!

Monday was my 30th birthday! Mike arranged to have a few of our friends come by and surprise me that evening. The doorbell rang and when I answered it, there was a crowd on my front doorstep! We had Buffalo Wild Wings Honey BBQ wings (delish), pizza, and cupcakes from Heaven Scent.

Kathryn was having a great time and went a little crazy with the frosting!

Here is a group picture of all of us. Everyone was about to leave, so this was the best we got. I'm blocking someone in all of them. But then again, it was supposed to be all about me! Right?



The girls and I posing with my balloons (thanks Anisa) and cupcakes (so pretty).

Warm-ish Friday

On Friday we headed to the zoo after preschool. I finally got smart and bought a zoo membership. Boeing will match our contribution, so it was pretty inexpensive (AND I got a free tote bag!). So, for the first time we rode the train! We all loved it. The girls loved to shout, "All Aboard!" Even though there is snow in the background, it WAS a relatively warm day (50s).

Our favorite was the hippo. They have a viewing area where you can see through a plexi-glass wall into their pool. One hippo was swimming around and around and then bumping his face against the glass. The girls were giving him high-5s and kisses as he came by.

Don't worry! Sydney isn't seriously injured. Quite the opposite. She had a tiny scratch on her forehead, but couldn't stop scratching it (probably as it was healing) and making it worse! So, we had to keep it covered for a couple of days.

Visit to Nonnie's House

On our way home from Odessa, we stopped in Tyler to see my mom (Nonnie). She is in an apartment for now, until she decides what her next move is.

Nonnie took us to the Discovery Zone, a children's museum in downtown Tyler.

The girls had the most fun playing in the pretend town. They dressed up as firefighters, shopped in a store, waited tables at a restaurant, helped animals at the vet, fixed cars at the mechanics, took care of babies in the nursery, drove a car, responded to an emergency in an ambulance, and much, much more! Sydney's favorite was the babies and Kathryn's favorite was being a firefighter. I would create an emergency for her to help me out of and she would come running.

Trip to Texas

On Sunday morning the girls and I left for Texas. We woke up to a winter wonderland! It was a little slippery getting out of our neighborhood, but once we got to the freeway (about 1 mile) we were fine.

We stopped in Dallas and spent the night with my Aunt Pat.

Then on Monday morning, we finished our drive to Odessa. It was a very foggy, drizzly day. I made it to Odessa a couple of hours before a cold front blew in that later brought an ice storm! We had a lot of fun with Grandma and Grandpa Daly, but we don't have any pictures because they took all of the pictures and I haven't gotten them yet! We played at the mall, ate at Chick-Fil-A, went to the Midland Children's Museum, visited a meteor crater, ate at Chuck E. Cheese's, ate at Double Dave's, and opened Christmas presents! (Not in that order). Sydney was sick at the end of our visit, so the last few days we just relaxed.

Preschool Open House (4-5 class)

Friday, January 23rd was Kathryn's preschool open house. She is in the 4-5 year old class this semester and has 10 kids from church in her class.

Here are the girls on the way to school. Cassi will be carpooling with us in the mornings.

Siblings get to stay on the first day and Sydney had a blast. I left for a little bit and my friends said that all the bigger girls were playing like Sydney was their baby.

Kathryn & Ellie

Travel Pacifiers

No, not the kind babies suck on.

I couldn't have made my 36-hour long (both ways combined) car trip without the following:

Our entire family loves this CD. The songs are fun to sing to and Laurie's voice is not annoying.

The girls really love this microphone (girl not included). It has pre-programmed songs and you can sing along, change the pitch, song speed, and volume. The girls played with it for hours!

We still are pretty sure that Sydney gets carsick, and I'm not willing to test her. So, we don't watch DVDs on trips or let her read/look at books. Mike gets car sick, so it does run in the family. (Who knows if that's even possible, but whatever.)