so thankful..

Yesterday marks TWO years since Jason's aneurysm incident. It feels like a long time ago and yet it feels like it just happened. I ran through the whole day in my head..'right now we were at the first emergency room, now we're in the ambulance, now we're at Parkland, wheeling you into the operating room....'

It was a great day yesterday, we were lazy, we cuddled, we played and we just enjoyed being with each other, and for that I am so grateful. I am so lucky, we all are. My girls have had their Daddy for two more years !! I thank GOD because I know it is only because of his grace and love that we were given this gift.

A couple of weeks ago Miss Priss and Jason went on another Indian Princess campout. It was a huge success with 10 girls and dads participating - a cabin busting at the seams with 20 people in it. Campfires, smores, BB guns, hikes, boat rides, horseback rides, and not a lot of sleep. They both had a great time, but they walked in the door, straight into the bath/shower and were pretty much exhausted for the rest of the day. I took this picture of them knocked out later that day and smiled because I know Miss Priss is going to cherish these memories with her Daddy and all the things he did to spend time with her and make her feel special. I was so grateful that she got to make this memory with him. Every day is a gift to us..

this child...

This child, this angel, this sweet delicate princess... she makes me laugh and keeps my on my toes every second...I've got a ridiculous amount of grey hair these days...

She decided to draw a masterpiece on herself during naptime..

Balanced on TOP of her sit and spin toy..

She travels with her goggles and rain boots, just in case..

This room is too bright for my nap..

state fair 2011..

We made our annual visit to the State Fair of Texas. It was nice and crowded, not the best combination when pulling the grumpy toddler in a wagon, lesson learned. Anyway, many corny dogs, funnel cakes, spicy nachos and about a million tickets later, we checked off another successful visit to the fair!

halloween 2011

Halloween in our new neighborhood was fun! The lack of sidewalks and distance between the houses made it a bit tricky for little miss and her little legs, but we had the wagon to help us out. They collected a pretty good amount of candy and we handed out a bunch so all in all it was a great night!

we moved!!

This might have been one of the first posts in my latest updates but better late than never. We MOVED! again!

Long story short, we had always loved this one neighborhood since we moved to this area. Beautiful quiet street, no sidewalks, gorgeous trees, huge lots, right by the park... Anyway - this summer the opportunity to look at this house for sale came up, and although we were not looking to move, this house just seemed like it would be perfect for us. One story, beautiful big front and back yards (the front of our old house felt like a mini freeway and we never felt comfortable letting the girls play out there), and huge potential (we love our home projects!)

After some back and forth we decided it would be a great time and opportunity for our family. It seems crazy, we sometimes think we're a little crazy, especially because our new house needs SO.MUCH.WORK and our old house was finished (had JUST finished remodeling the master bath), but we are all enjoying our new house, and little by little it is going to look exactly the way we want it to. For now, we are so happy enjoying our new space and looking forward to the future in our new home.

fourteen

The teenager turned 14 this August! She is growing up so fast. She loves her new high school and her grades are great. She is doing amazingly fantastic on the swim team and is having a ball with her swim friends. She loves going to church on Wednesdays and Sundays with her high school youth group. She is very busy and has a ton of energy. She wants to participate in everything, be everywhere, hang out with everyone. She is the best big sister and we all love her tons! Happy Happy Birthday Sissy!

homecoming 2011

This year the teenager went to homecoming with a bunch of her friends. She loves high school and has a great group of fun friends. She said her first homecoming was SO.MUCH.FUN. She said the danced and laughed and had a great time and she can't wait to do it again next year!

little miss starts school ...

Little Miss started school this year too, she goes Tuesdays and Thursdays for a few hours and she LOVES it! She did not shed one tear on her first day and barely looked back to say goodbye to me.

She had been very anxious to start school since we used to pick up big sister there last year. She looks forward to it all week and gets a little irritated with me on the days she gets to stay home with me because she wants to go to school too!

Smiling with teeth, haha

Look at that HUGE backpack! She picked it, she wanted DORA

Posing with Mommy!

Playing by the big tree

Her teacher, Miss Karen

catching up...

I've dropped the ball (again) in keeping up with all the stuff we've had going on so standby for several updates ;)

new beginnings..

Monday was the first day of school for the Teen and Miss Priss. They were nervous and excited respectively and they both had a fantastic first day. I almost shed a tear when I hugged Miss Priss goodbye, but she was cool as a cucumber!

High School and Kinder in one year, and in two weeks Little Miss will start her Kids Day out two days a week! Everyone is growing up and it's happening fast! We are so blessed and grateful for our sweet, beautiful and smart girls. Here's hoping for an amazing year!

beach bums...

Summer vacation planning planning fell on my shoulders (as usual) and I thought it would be great to take our family to the Destin FL area - we had never been and I have many friends who have raved about the beautiful beaches and great family trips they had taken.

We decided on Seacrest Beach which is right between Seaside and Rosemary Beach. Originally we planned to fly with our benefits, unfortunately the flights were too full for us to go that route and since we'd already booked a beach house, we just decided to drive...14 hours... with all our kids (plus some, the teenager took friends). It was a looooong drive, we cut it in half and spent the night both directions in Jackson, MS to give everyone a break.

Overall, we had a great trip, the kids loved the beach (most of the time), we had so much fun just not doing much of anything but swimming, playing, napping and just relaxing! Perfect vacation!

Our little beach cottage for the week..

Teenagers! They had so much fun..

Little girls playing in the sand..

Jason's only quiet time that day..

Look, I was there too! We went shopping one day in the cute little town of Rosemary Beach just down the road..

Beautiful sunset..

end of middle school

So the teenager is officially moving on to high school! We've got some exciting years ahead of us, but we will look back fondly on her years in middle school. The only thing she said she is going to miss about middle school is Ms. Springer - the most amazing, fantastic and loving Principal you will ever meet. When do you ever hear a kid saying they're going to miss their principal more than anything else?? That's how awesome she is!

Friends forever!

Final 8th Grade Walk of the Halls..

Best Buds!

Ms Springer! We'll all miss her..

spring break...

I know this post is MONTHS late, but I wanted to make sure to do a quick post about our little road trip in March to Broken Bow, OK near Beavers Bend State Park.

We rented a cute little cabin and stayed for two nights. We visited the beautiful State Park, went for a nature hike, had a picnic, fished, played on the playground, thew rocks in the lake, spent some time 'swimming' in the hot tub, had a bbq, and made smores! All three of the girls had so much fun, and J and I did too.

It was a quick, fun trip. It was so pretty and we really had a great time together.

On the road..

Cute but tiny on the inside of the cabin, J 'napping' with Little Miss..

Making a campfire..

Swimming in the hot tub..

SMORES!

Little Miss just wanted graham crackers, and jumbo marshmellows too!

Playground at Beaver's Bend State Park..

Family before the hike - all smiles!

Are we almost done, i'm tiiiiiiiiiired....

...and sleeeeeepy...

Fishing! Miss Priss is starting to show signs of boredom from all this waiting around for bites business. She thinks there's not enough action involved in fishing.

Mini train ride around the park..

Only picture I was in all weekend, proof I actually went on the trip too :)