I bet you thought I forget about my blog...

Yup, it’s really been since October that I last blogged. I guess life just got in my way. Sorry. We went to Disney World in January and had a FABULOUS time. I could go to Disney World once a year because the wonder on those little faces is just awesome. We had a great time with everyone, and I can tell you confidently everyone enjoyed the amazing food Disney has to offer. Brynn asks to go back to Disney World at least 3 times a week and I know Reese would go back tomorrow if we let her (I would too). Here are just a few of the pictures I took while in Disney.

What more can two little girls ask for than dining with their best Disney Junior pals. Brynn was stunned when she met Doc McStuffins.

Phineas and Ferb!

Ryan and I celebrated 9 years of marriage on our first day in Disney!

We hit the Magic Kingdom, riding the Royal Carousel, and Dumbo (B’s favorite ride), an awesome parade, and meeting The Little Mermaid. We also ate dinner with Winnie and Pooh and friends, watched the fireworks show and got to meet Tinkerbell…who told Brynn she must have been in a Tinker trance because Brynn was literally speechless when Tink said Hi to her.

We were back at the Magic Kingdom. Brynn braved yet another roller coaster, with panic in her eyes (and all over her face) and the girls met Elsa and Anna from Frozen. I can’t begin to tell you how much they loved that meet and greet. It was awe inspiring for them. For dinner we dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, along with Lady Tremaine and her daughter (Cinderella’s step-mother and sisters)

Animal Kingdom was another stop on our adventure. Breakfast in Africa with Mickey and his gang, meeting all our Jungle Book friends, along with Pocahontas and some others.

When we met Rafiki we pretended Brynn was little baby Simba and held her up in the air!

Everybody LOVES Baloo and King Louie. Hadley wanted to ride the Kali River Rapids ride but it wasn’t warm enough for anyone else to want to commit to getting soaking wet…well everyone except Brynn. We got her all ready in Leslie’s raincoat and off she went with Hadley for the adventure. Everyone came off the ride soaking wet except Brynn.

This kiddo had a HUGE grin on her face the entire ride and when she got off. She had so much fun with Hadley and I think she knew how cool she was for braving the water ride like a champ.

She looked as if she were hovering on the ground with how the jacket was the perfect length for her.

School for the girls has been plugging along. Brynn is learning a TON of stuff and Reese is doing well. They both enjoy school immensely and never complain about going. Spring Break came and went. We visited Meems and Grampy in Houston, saw the new Cinderella movie and went to Brownsville to the Gladys Porter Zoo. The girls enjoyed themselves on all our little outings.

Reese is playing softball this year and has had two games already. The seem to be doing well and we look forward to a full season. This last week Reese was given a very special award for being a “Student of Character”. She was chosen as the 1st grader for this award, and we were very honored for her to receive this. Each time I go to her school, which is often as I volunteer A LOT, I am stopped by staff members who tell me what a joy it is to have her on campus. I have been told that she is the bright spot in their day. She is extremely caring towards other students and always looks out for others. We are very proud of her for earning this award. Reese receiving her award from the Superintendent.

All the students from Calallen ISD who received the award (each grade level picked a student)

Here's to hoping I can get around to Easter pictures soon. My old trusty shortcut app for writing my blog quit working and this long way was a pain in my booty-heiny (as Brynn calls it)

Camping, School and other shenanigans...

This last weekend I had a kid free trip to Houston for a day and a half to hang out with Leslie. We stopped in at Nana’s and I was told her friends in NC are wondering why I haven’t been blogging. So by popular demand here is a new blog.

At the end of August we went camping. Ryan’s parents were kind enough to loan us their truck and camper for our first family camping adventure. Ryan spent much of his childhood camping and the girls have stayed overnight with my in-laws when they camp close to our house, but I don’t camp. To prove my love for my family I agreed to spend a few days roughing it. In some aspects it was better than I expected…and in others it was exactly what I dreaded. We encountered some rain, met some interesting people, saw interesting campsites and made a lot of s’mores.

The river was nice and exactly what Ryan dreamed of all summer while he worked in the fields. If Reese hadn’t convinced Brynn that every rock in the river was an alligator, Brynn might have enjoyed it a bit more and moaned a little less.

We thankfully had no cell phone service so we didn’t have to compete with technology but that also meant there was no way to check the weather when it rained for 11 hours straight.

I also confirmed that I do NOT like using public shower facilities and they are just as horrific as I had imagined them.

We all survived, and we brought home a lot of dirt.

We had one real mission on our trip, to teach Reese how to ride her bike without training wheels. Mission was accomplished, but not without a few temper tantrums. She’s doing great riding on her own. She still needs a little work but she knows what she’s doing.

These pictures were on the way to camp. Reese was exhausted from a week of swimming and fun at home…and poor baby Ty, I think he got car sick.

Right after camping was done, the girls started school. Choirs of angels sang from the heavens…

Reese started 1st grade, she LOVES school so it’s never an issue for her to get up and get ready to go. She was one happy camper that school was starting. She has a few friends in the class from last year but she knows every kid in school…I swear, it’s crazy. I was there last week and a kid I have never seen in my life, said “Hi, Reese’s Mom”.  She’s running for mayor next week.

Brynn started school the next week. To say she was overjoyed to go to school would be a BIG understatement. She LOVES school, maybe more than Reese. She loves bringing her backpack and lunch box and she races into school so she can be the first one in class (her words not mine). Each morning she asks if it’s her day for school and if I say yes, she runs around the house screaming with excitement.

(no one was home so I had to work with funky camera angles and a self timer)

 

I swear I wore an outfit like this when I was little. She’s just too cute!

Leslie came for Labor Day weekend. It was operation get Brynn’s room redecorated and converted to a BIG girl room. After Nana’s party in August we brought home the twin bed for Brynn and she moved out of the toddler bed. She was so happy.

We painted all kinds of wall decorations, re-did the colors on Reese’s letters and painted her bed. Both girls had fun painting

We made Brynn a popcorn cake since it was almost her birthday. It was awesome!

The finished product for Brynn’s room. She painted the canvas behind each of the letters to spell out her initials. They hang above her bed.

We headed to College Station for the first game vs. Lamar. Our dear friend Jason Henderson is the AD for Lamar so we were thrilled that we could see him back on our old stomping grounds. I had a blast on Friday night seeing Jason and his great girlfriend Taylor. Brynn had fun too with Meems and Grampy at the condo, so much that she passed out at the tailgate and slept for HOURS. It was brutally hot too.

Jason was super nice and let us sit in his press box with him and some high ranking Lamar folks. It was an amazing experience, one I am glad we got to take part in before they knock down the press box to build a new side of the stadium. We had a heck of a time finding the elevator to the press box. It resulted in Ryan and I walking the entire perimeter of the stadium and seeing all the new features from underneath.

The view from our seats.

There has always been a rumor that the press box sways during the Aggie War Hymn when we “Saw Varsity’s Horns Off”. Being an average Joe in the stands you assume it’s an optical illusion because you are moving. Well we were greeted with the paper below that explained that the press box will in fact move and not to be alarmed. It was NUTS. I video taped it because it’s so noticeable that you really are moving. It doesn’t move a little, that sucker is swaying. I had a water bottle on the table and the water was swashing around in there. It was an amazing thing and we are forever grateful to Jason for letting us share in it.

I finally found what I had been looking for to hang between the two mirrors. Our bathroom is complete!

Brynn’s actual birthday

The last weekend in September we had a joint birthday party for the girls. We rented the community center in our neighborhood and a bounce house. About 3 minutes before the start of the party, the heavens opened up. With the help of my in-laws, parents, Leslie and Stacey we all got drenched and moved the entire party (minus bounce house) to our house. We were soaking wet. To say it rained like it did when Noah was loading the Ark would be a good description. It was insane rain for HOURS.

Making candy necklaces

Some of the food.

Some of the kids

Ryan decided last minute to go get the karaoke machine from work and it was a great idea. Dance Party was in full swing during the party.

The popcorn cake we made for Brynn’s birthday with Leslie was so good that we recreated it for the party in ball form. They were so good that Thurman ate 3 and was on his 4th before he got busted.

Our amazing neighbors the Ferguson’s who came to the party.

All the guests. Somewhere back there is an immense amount of dog food. Reese and Brynn decided that instead of having friends bring gifts to the party they would request dog food to donate to the local shelter. We donated at least 100+ pounds of food. It took up the entire back of my car.

After the party they opened gifts from family and some friends.

We dropped the dog food off at the shelter on Monday and Tuesday we got a new dog. I of course looked through the kennels at the shelter for a dog while we were there and found this sweet little doggie who needed a home. Ryan went down the next day with me and met Hank, then he met Thurman and then he came home. His name is now Zorro, and he is about as big as he will get. We all love him. It’s like dog wrestle mania around here most days, with naps in between rounds. They have a blast together. Zorro’s goal in life is to find things we leave on the floor and drag them through the house.

Plus he looks JUST like this old stuffed animal Leslie had when she was little.

Some work Reese has on display in the school hallway

Some kids can fall asleep anywhere

The BIG girls!

Our old oven sucked. Like took 2 hours to pre heat sucked…and couldn’t heat above 375…We finally got a new oven.  I had to cook our meatloaf in the toaster oven before Ryan realized I was serious about how bad our oven really was. Now I can preheat to 425 in 5 minutes and things cook in the amount of time they are supposed to, instead of an hour more than the directions call for.

Brynn in Reese’s fake glasses

Face painting.

Reese got her ears pierced for her birthday but those pictures are on Ryan’s phone so that will need to be for the next blog.

The girls are going to a clinic this weekend where they will learn a dance that they will preform with the high school dance team the following Friday night at halftime. Ryan and I are competing in our first sprint triathlon on Saturday as well. Hopefully we won’t drown.