My challenge...

14 3 and 4 Year Olds.....1 Picture



I was asked to help come up with an idea for my daughter's school's silent auction. We were thinking something other than the usual thumbprints on a flower pot type creation. I'm super pleased with our result! It will be a 10x26 gallery wrap canvas.

Can you pick Katie out???

Kids at Play

We ventured out to our new neighborhood park yesterday. We've been to it before since we literally moved around the corner but now it's "our park." We will miss our old park, but it's nice not to have to cross a somewhat busy road to get to it.

Fish Friends

Meet the newest members of the family...

Cinderella (Dory would be too obvious of course :P) the Powder Blue Tang


Frank the Lawnmower Blenny


and our unnamed friends..

Pink and Yellow Damsel who might be named Belle or Aurora. Tough decision for a 4 Year old. I think we should let Ryan name it...and it would be Ish :P


Mr. Shrimp


The kids are in LOVE! I'm hoping to get a clown fish but Keith has a "plan" and a "process" to the whole thing...sheesh. :)

Random Ramblings

Look at my handsome (well as handsome as you can be wearing a princess helmet sitting on a Tinkerbell bike) boy...I think he's so stinkin' cute but I'm pretty biased :)



Daddy gave Mommy's Tahoe a good and much needed vaccuming. Yeah...it was pretty bad. The kids had fun sitting in the drivers seat...






Jacks favorite hiding place so far in the house. He has a brand new kitty condo, but no...he's just fine up here.


Daddy got a new toy...can you guess what it might be???


And a better clue...


Yes...we are now the proud owners of a 75 gallon salt water fish tank. Keith and the kids are VERY excited. Ryan has now added a new word to his repertoire..."ish...ish...ish!!!!"

A new normal

I didn't realize how much of a change it would be in our daily routine when we moved into the new house. I guess I sort of thought we'd do the same thing but in a new place? Boy was I wrong! Moving from a one story to a two story that is almost twice the size has been challenging! Upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs, sore legs....so tired! Anyway...I'm starting to see the light at the tunnel a bit so I'll post a few pictures from the last couple days. Shockingly I took NONE of us actually moving. I guess I was a bit busy! Also many people keep asking to the see paint colors, etc so hopefully I'll get to that soon. In the meanwhile this will have to tide you over (grandma!!)!

You are never to young to be put to work! :P You can sorta see the main house paint color here...


Relaxing with Daddy...



This box of toys kept him busy for 5 minutes while I unpacked a box ;P


Our poor Chicken Poo Spaniel Bear has had a rough transition to the wood floors. She's scared of her own nails clicking on the floor! So they sold these doggy socks at Petco but they didn't stay on long. Oh well :)


My life at the moment...(you can sorta see our dining room paint color!)


We are loving our new house and feel extremely blessed.

Home

Amidst the excitement of moving to a wonderful BIG new house, I'm feeling a bit sad. As the pictures come down and the walls begin to look bare and the boxes fill up with all our worldly possessions, I can't help but think back almost 6 years to May 15 2004. Keith and I weren't even married yet, but engaged. I'd traveled away from my friends and family to start a life in Houston, TX. I didn't know ANYONE. But we bought a house. A wonderfully awesome (to us) little house with SOOOO much room that we couldn't possibly fill it up right? It was in an awesome community where I'd hoped to get a teaching job.

If you could see our garage right now, I think we have quadruple the amount of boxes than we did when we moved into this house...


It's ours!


A clean slate...


But it didn't take long for us begin filling it up. With furniture... Couches first and then a few months later dining room and bedroom! I don't think I'd (via Keith of course) ever paid for anything so expensive before. Major buyers remorse if I recall!



We also planted this tree...a Sycamore that I LOVE and secretly wish I could take with me to our new house. It grew and grew...just like our family...


We continued to fill the house but this time with a sister for Jack the cat...Cali the Cockapoo...


Our family expanded and we brought home our sweet baby Katelyn Elizabeth...


Followed by Ryan Todd...


And it was quite evident we had outgrown our little house. We were busting at the seams! We had always planned to move when we had a second child and before we knew it there we were.

This house has endured a lot, and protected from harm many times....two hurricanes...one named Rita that passed to the East of us with hardly any local damage and one named Ike that made a direct hit and left us without power for almost 2 weeks...


Two trees falling on it...


And a flood from a washing machine. We were so blessed to have such a wonderful roof over our heads.

I will also miss our wonderful neighbors. We've watched our kids grow together. Some have moved to different neighborhoods as well but I'm sure we will always have a bond...



So little house I will miss you....so many memories created right here in your walls...in your yard...in this neighborhood. Way too many to narrow down in pictures; hopes for the future, newborn cries, first steps, squeals in the backyard, walks around our neighborhood in the wagon and to the park, birthdsys, and family get togethers...

So we are turning the page...we are going to make new memories in our new home. It has a lot to live up too.

Glam

Katie found her princess make-up from Disneyland and decided to give herself a little make-over.

From January 2010

I saw her run from her room to the bathroom rather quickly during naptime and I knew something was up. When I opened the door she gave me those puppy dog eyes and said.."Mommy...look I did my makes ups like Grandma from the airport." Too cute! And just an FYI this is not how my mom does her make-up...I'm sure she'd want me to make that clear :P