Butterflies!

Nana is in town so we decided to do something a little different for family day. We went to the Texas Discovery Gardens where they have a butterfly house, outdoor gardens and lots of bugs on display. 

 

Karis learned about caterpillars and butterflies in Pre-K. She watched four of them transform in their classroom. She was excited to see the butterfly house!

Karis really wanted a butterfly to land on her (we all did!), but unfortunately it didn't happen. 

  

Karis really wanted a book on insects so we purchased one in the gift store. Daddy read about a few of them as we hung out and relaxed in the garden.

We had lunch in Dallas and then headed back home for naps. Everyone had a great time!

Nana in Texas!

The kids and I just came back from a two week trip to California (more on that later), so time to catch up on the blog!

Grandma came to see our new home at the beginning of February. She stayed with us for ten days and was able to see Karis' preschool, Derek's office, our church and the town in which we live in.

The girls loved playing with grandma every chance they got, especially their Hello Kitty game.  Grandma loved feeding Kyle and playing with him too. He soon became attached to her, following her wherever she went. He loved to be held by her.

As usual, Grandma watched the kids for us so that Derek and I could go out alone. We went out to eat a couple times, used our massage gift cards and ran errands. 

Hopefully Nana will be able to come back again soon!

Time with Grandma

We spent the last four days visiting Grandma.  The girls really missed her so we wanted to go out there one more time before baby brother arrives.  It was pretty warm the first two days and then the next two days were unusually cool and breezy.  

The girls loved playing with Grandma, taking Riley for walks, swimming in the pool, coloring and eating lots of sweets they usually don't get at home.  Derek and I were able to sneak away to watch a movie and go out to dinner.  It's been awhile since we went on a date!

 

Recent Pics

Here are some recent pics from the last couple of weeks.  

The Wednesday after Christmas, we went to the zoo.  The zoo is located inside a large regional park, so afterwards we walked to a playground and then to the pond to feed the ducks.  

After the zoo, we went home and put the girls down for their naps.  We then quickly packed up, made a trip to the grocery store and headed to Grandma's.  We left around 5:30 pm, right in the middle of rush hour!  We arrived after midnight.  The girls were excited when they woke up and found themselves at Grandma's!

We spent a few days there where we rang in the new year.  Here's a pic of grandma sharing her cereal with Hungry Bird.

Last weekend, we went to a friend's birthday party where there was a bounce house and a visit from Tinkerbell!

A Fall Visit

On Thursday, October 20, we headed out to Gradma's house.  The weather was much milder than when we last visited a couple months before.  It was 90 degrees during the day which made it bearable to spend some time outside.  The girls did pretty well on the car ride thanks to a friend's portable DVD player.  

As usual, the girls enjoyed their daily walks helping Nana walk Riley.  

There were plenty of story times with Nana.

But no naps for Karis for the five days we were there led to dozing off in Nana's lap.

On Saturday, we went to Derek's cousin's place.  Kim and Casey live in Phoenix which was about 45 minutes away.  We spent time with them and Bella, their 3-year old daughter.  The kids loved being outside and playing with lots of toys.

We also got to visit with Aunt Alice who drove out from Indiana that weekend.

On Sunday, Derek and I left the girls with Nana and headed to the stadium to watch our first live NFL game -- Steelers vs. Cardinals.

The indoor stadium was beautiful and we enjoyed the controlled climate (read: no Arizona sun beating down on us!).

There were probably more Steelers fans than there were Cardinals fans.  It felt like a home game.

It was a great game.  We witnessed Steelers' longest touchdown pass thus far -- 93 yards!  The Steelers won 32 to 20.

Crazy Busy

What a crazy couple weeks it has been for us.  Our lives are not usually jammed pack, not even close, but for some reason, everything hit the last week of July.

I do consulting work for a couple of marketing research firms.  They haven't called upon me in about a year.  Out of the blue, they both contacted me in the same week and a half and needed way more hours than I could give them.  I had to turn work down, which was hard because the extra money is always nice -- and needed!  I ended up working about 10-12 hours each weekend and a little during the week.  If they had called me any other time, I probably could have done more, but that was all I could handle with my regular two days a week in the office and everything else that was going on.

Every night that week we had an event, whether it was a work-related thing that we all, or just Derek had to go to, or a dinner guest at our home.  On top of busy evenings and late nights doing consulting work, I was also making a cake for my niece's 4-year old birthday.  And if that wasn't enough, I hurt my foot (probably had a hairline fracture) the week before so getting around was exhausting and painful.

After a busy week, we packed up and made a trip out to Arizona to visit Nana and see Aunt Stephanie (Karis and I hadn't seen her for two years and she had never met Makena).  The car ride was probably the best it has been so far. Karis was so excited to see Nana and Aunt Steph that she just patiently enjoyed the car ride.  We also introduced her to lollipops!  Makena did pretty well too.  I think there was a span of 30 minutes where she just sat quietly while Karis napped.  That's huge for her!

 Here are some pictures from our visit at Nana's.

Makena eating yogurt ... all by herself (could you tell?)

It was about 110 degrees every day we were there.  We had fun cooling off in the pool.

The girls loved playing with Aunt Stephanie!

Steph, Jim and Derek went hiking at high noon.  Crazy!!  Too bad I had a hurt foot and couldn't go with them... not!

Aunt Stephanie introduced a frozen banana on a stick to Makena.

Aunt Stephanie trying to get a bite of Karis' ice cream.  Not a chance!

Aunt Stephanie reading a bedtime book to Karis.

Playing games on Steph's phone.

Sharing a good laugh. So sweet!