Happy Easter!

The last couple of weeks have been packed!  Nick has had a lot of work things and I have had a few extra meetings.  I also took over an extra class for someone who had to have surgery, so now our Wednesdays involve kid swapping and timing classes to both teach on the same day.  I also had an interview at University of Houston Downtown.  I am not sure if it is the best fit, but am waiting to see if I get the offer and we will decide from there.

We have also had some fun stuff too.  Today we went out to a quick breakfast, did a kids workshop at Home Depot and went to a bunny picture event.  

Last weekend we had a sibling class and tour of the hospital.  We also had a neighborhood egg hunt and crawfish boil.  The girls helped hide eggs for the little ones.

Zoey was in the middle age group.

Sam was with the older ones.

Sam took a turn at the pinata.

We also did some photos on campus last weekend.  There were some pretty flowers Zoey wanted a picture in front of.

It was so hard to get both looking at me with a nice expression.

This is one of my favorites.

Sam likes to pose like a model.

This one is SO Zoey.

We hope everyone has a great Easter!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Sam recently competed in a piano competition.  She was just judged versus doing her best.  She worked so hard!  She played 2 solos that she had to memorize and got a 5 on those.  She also played 2 hymns, for which she had the music.  On those she got a 5+ the highest score possible.  The competition works that if she gets a 5 for 3 years, she gets a gold cup.  Not sure if she will stick with piano that long, but her teacher says she is really good for her age and if she continues will be amazing.  She got great feedback from her judges too.

One thing about Texas is that they have a LOT of state pride.  There is a Texan day.  Zoey's school had several rodeo related events, include a song performance with buckles, hats and bolos.

It is our Spring Break.  We have a lot of work to catch up on and lots of house related stuff, but we are squeezing in some fun.  We went to San Jacinto monument.  It is the tallest monument in the country, even taller than the Washington Monument.  It was neat to see, but not worth the price to go up in the elevator for the mediocre view.

The girls on the steps.

The view of our next stop, the USS Texas.

The ship tour was neat.  We had a great guide and really enjoyed it.

We are in the final stages of planning an addition to our house.  The engineer came today to check measurements and that will finalize the designs.  It should go for permitting this week and then get approval in about 3 weeks.  HOA will be overlapping.  We are super excited to get it started, but it will be crazy because the estimate is 8 weeks, which will be right around my due date.  We will spend a lot of time at my parents, but have not figured all that out yet.  One part of the prep was moving a tree.  Nick worked so hard to get it moved, hopefully it will survive.  We originally thought we would move two, but decided one was enough.

We went to a playdate at a park in downtown Houston.  It was on a recent top 10 list.  The girls had a blast.

I love Saint Patrick's day.  This year is my first one being pregnant, luckily a friend loaned me a green shirt recently.  Corned beef is in the slow cooker and we are going to a playdate to make St. Patty's art and eat green stuff this afternoon!  I am getting bigger.  I will be at 30 weeks on Friday.

It was hard to convince Zoey to wear any green, but she did and is now on her second green outfit because she spilled bubbles all over this dress.

Have a great St. Patty's!  Enjoy a beer for me!  

Here's to a long life and a merry one

A quick death and an easy one

A pretty girl and an honest one

A cold beer and another one!

Slainte!

And a joke:

Why should you never iron a 4 leaf clover?

You don't want to press your luck.

Happy Birthday Zoey!

I know I keep saying it, but boy have we been busy lately.  So many fun events and so much work stuff.  In fact, even today Nick and I both have a work event; luckily at mostly different times.  But on to the recent fun.

The girls had Presidents day off so we got to go to a sand foam playdate.  Zoey refused to do it.  Sam loved it.  She was pretty funny though, slapping her hands together and proclaiming she was clean, despite her face being covered.

We also recently made a trip to the Galveston Children's Museum since the groupon was about to expire. It was small but nice.  The girls had a blast.

And since we had a free babysitter in town, Nick and I got a few nights out.  A friend threw a New Orleans themed murder mystery dinner party to celebrate Mardi Gras.  Nick was assigned the role of a chef, so he tried to channel the swedish chef.  I got French maid, a bit difficult with my belly, but I was able to find a two piece costume.We had a blast.

And we had lots of celebration for Zoey turning 4 (where did the time go?!?!).  We had a birthday dinner out.

Lots of presents.

And a super fun party.  It was an outdoor party and that was stressful as rain was on the forecast the week before.  We decided to try anyway with a backup plan of no pony rides, just petting zoo and pony painting in the barn.  But it was a gorgeous day.  We were so lucky, since the weather since has been pretty cold and often wet.

The girls loved the pony rides and each got quite a few.

The petting zoo was a big hit.  The baby goats were 2 weeks old.  And there were guinea pigs.

It was super windy, so the candle blew out, but that did not ruin cupcake time.

By far, the biggest hit was pony painting.  All Zoey's classmates were still raving about it the next day.  It was an option when we did Sam's pony party and I did not even add it on, but now I wish I had.  The kids lined up to go over and over again.  Zoey went first.

And we are so proud to share that Samantha got the Voyager Character award at school this week. They chose 2 kids from each grade at each monthly spirit day.  Sam's teacher let me know with some very sweet words about how wonderful Sam is and we all got to see her name called.  We are so proud that not only is she a stellar student, but a sweet girl and a great citizen of her school.

Hope everyone is staying reasonably warm.

Happy Birthday Samantha!

Tons of fun here in Texas.  We had some cold weather, but also lots of sunshine and nice weather.  The leaves just fell off the tree in January, so we made a pile and had some fun.

Zoey has become quite the artist.  She can write her name.  And she loves to draw our family, usually with a tiny Petunia :)

She sometimes make silly faces.

And she loves "ice skating" on the tile.

Samantha turned 7!  Yikes!  Here she is on her birthday.

We are so lucky that Nana came to town to celebrate.

There were lots of gifts.  We spread them out.

And we celebrated with a lunch with the girls, me, Nana, and 2 friends and their mothers.  We went to American Girl Cafe and had a birthday bistro lunch.  The girls were so excited.  They wore fancy dresses and dressed their dolls. 

Sam and her friends.

She even got a crown.

It was yummy!

I continue to get bigger.  Here is 20 weeks.

Here is 25 weeks, hearts for Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's day!