In A Nutshell

I'm really not sure what I'm going to do about my blog. I'm not closing it, but I've tried so hard to keep it going the way I was but I can't catch up. What was once my outlet for the craziness that was raising twins has turned into more of my own personal family record, which I love. But I have more to write about than I have time for. So maybe if I just sum up spring in a nutshell I can get back to where I was.

For starters, let me say that 2015 has actually been rather tough so far. I have had countless health issues that have plagued me since about Dec.30. Root canal, diagnosed with osteoarthritis, bladder infection (that for months I thought was a flare up of a different bladder problem I have), difficulty with antibiotics, anemia and anxiety that seem to be in an interconnected cycle, abdominal pain, breast lumps (fibrocystic), and a plantar's wart that I've been limping on for about 7 months now. I've been to SO MANY doctors. A lot has been ruled out, a few things diagnosed, but still have weird problems internally that no one can seem to figure out, other than the anemia. Throw on top of that a two week bout with lice earlier in the spring, listing and selling our house, and then moving. My dad also has been having health issues for pretty much the same amount of time. He is on the mend and so am I. I'm better than I was but still need more answers. So that has consumed large amounts of time, energy and money but I guess it is just a trial I am supposed to go through at this time.

But onto the good stuff:

For spring break we took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX near Dallas. They LOVED that place. I think that ranked in top 5 for family vacations so far. It was also great because we got to meet up with my friend Bob from grad school and his family. We also got to meet up with my cousin Terri and family. It was great! On top of that, we ran into THREE girls from Mackenzie's dance company, 2 of which live in the exact same neighborhood that we have now just moved to. One was her duet partner Julia who we got to hang out with her family while we there. Then there was Sarah from senior company and Abby from apprentice company. So that was an added bonus!

Kaitlyn, Reagan and Ashley were in an Annie play held at our church. Reagan got to be an orphan while Kaitlyn and Ashley were in the big New York scene and musical number. Kaitlyn was a school girl and Ashley was a mommy. They enjoyed being part of what was quite a production!

Easter was lovely as usual. Egg hunts, cascarones, and dinner at MeMe's.

The little girls played soccer again. Their team name was the Cheetos...because they look like Cheetos. It was a hard season. Only one other team in their age group so they played them every week, and lost. Probably will need to find a new league if they play again. But they had fun.

Recital is always a favorite of mine. I believe Mackenzie was in 9 dances, Reagan in 4 and Ashley in 1. Makes for a busy mom backstage! But I love watching them at the end of all that hard work!

Mackenzie received the Most Improved Award from Miss Jennifer - quite an honor! She has worked SO hard this year and is excited to look ahead to another year in dance.

Meanwhile Reagan decided to follow big sister's footsteps and try out for company too. So she is now a member of the Robin's Apprentice Company. Hope it's not too much for her at such a young age! She is SUCH a performer though!

We had a raccoon visit us.

The girl scouts completed their Bronze Award and we had a closing "ceremony" since the girls and I are not continuing on in girl scouts.  

There was massive flooding in Texas, which sadly claimed the lives of wonderful people actually close friends and family of a few people I know.

The fifth graders went to their 5th grade pool party to celebrate the end of elementary.

The little girls finished 1st grade.

And our time at Settlers Way Elementary ended. The big girls are moving on and the younger girls are switching schools. It's bittersweet. I'm really excited about the new schools. But still. Just the milestone of the big girls moving on and the end of a 6-year era at a school. And never again will I have all 4 at one school, though I think that's probably a good thing.

We joined a new swim team, which has its pros and cons.

And then we moved.

But not without my kids getting about 8 balloons stuck in a high ceiling fan though the day we were going to lock up the old house. Their dad was thrilled, let me tell you.

So that brings us to where we are now. 3 weeks into summer, 2 weeks into our new house. I'll stop here. We are adjusting and just trying to slowly put the house together in the midst of everything else we typically have going on. It's been nice though. Enjoying a slower pace.

Announcement: We're Moving!!

For the past year and a half, we have been considering moving but within our same local area. We've considered a number of different neighborhoods and schools within our school district. But a year ago we found a little section of a huge master planned community, right next to the one we are in now, that we didn't know existed. We have not been able to get this one section of this one community out of our minds. It is what I would dream up if I could dream up a place to live.

With the big girls finishing up elementary school, we knew that the time was right and after putting in a backup offer on a home, it ultimately became ours and we have spent the last 6 weeks getting ours ready to sell, listing it, showings, and now at the end of an option period which will hopefully all go through smoothly. 

The new home is fabulous and the neighborhood section has all these huge wooded lots and this one comes with an incredible pool. We are really excited about not only the new house but more than that I think we are just ready for a change. I think a change will be good for all of us. It's bittersweet of course because the kids will be changing schools and I love my neighbor dearly, but I'm so excited about new people and new opportunities! Set to move in June...here's to changes....

Top Honors

Kaitlyn has had a very successful semester at school this year. First, she won 2nd place at the school science fair. Hers was Tornado in a Box. OK I must admit it was all in the box which required a lot of cutting that I ended up having to do. But it was her idea, her research, and she worked as much on the box herself as she could, including all the painting, and then of course the display board. She really enjoyed this project and we were all relieved that it actually worked! She even got honored at the district science expo for elementary students.

Meanwhile, she also auditioned for the district honor choir. It is for 5th graders only and they take five 5th graders from each school. She made it and spent about 6 weeks preparing for a choir concert. I was very proud of her for her commitment and a really fantastic performance by the kids.

Way to go, Kaitlyn!

What To Do With Her?

My darling Ashley. She is a piece of work. She is hilarious, spunky, energetic, but also sensitive. Sometimes she has a really hard time with self-control or dealing with her emotions. The day we came home from our little anniversary trip she was having a meltdown. I returned home to find her 2-page list of all her woes of the day.

Translation:

Balloon to the ceiling

Elsa doll lost 2 times

Reagan hit me on the head with this (see picture)

NaNaw gone

Kaitlyn took my thing outside

Crying 5 times

Wubble bubble ball not here

Wasted tattoo

Peter Pan doll lost 2 times in a row

Can't find him

Still can't find Elsa doll that NaNaw bought me

Mommy Daddy gone

Sitting here not doing anything.

Is this the saddest thing ever? In spite of how horrible she was to everyone and going crazy, this is what she was feeling on the inside. At least she wrote it down. Perhaps that was productive.

This writing of hers above cracks me up. According to her, "If I (she) were 100 years old, I would still have my pretty looks." Glad she is modest. And optimistic.

She does love Peter Pan. I'd say she is obsessed. Here she is at a middle school Peter Pan play. Now she likes the boy who played Peter Pan. But I love it that she loves Peter Pan. And nice for it to be something besides princesses!

Ashley (and Reagan) played a joke on me. They said "Mommy we left you something on your bed." So I went to check it out. As my eyes laid on this sweet note they wrote, the door slammed behind me and they tried to lock me in the bedroom. Too bad for them the door locks from the inside so it didn't really work, but they sure thought that was hilarious! I hope they at least really meant what they said in the note!

Ashley told me at church one day while she was working in her activity book, "Mommy, there are 10 commandments." Another minute later, "Mommy, Jesus prayed." Another minute later, "Mommy, Alma repented." It was funny how she was telling me these things as if it was all news to me!

She has her good days and bad. She DID just get the PRO Award at school for her class - People Respecting Others! So I know she knows how to act nice, just need her to show that a little more at home.

Oh, and the balloon is still on the ceiling. That was over 6 weeks ago!

Our Anniversary in Kemah

This year we celebrated 16 years! And to think when we met my longest relationship was 3 months. I'd say we're doing pretty good. I got 2 dozen roses! (Plus we got an extra white one over the weekend that was pretty in there with the others.)

So our anniversary is February 13th. I told Mike when we got married that our anniversary and Valentine's Day were definitely 2 separate occasions. And that if he wanted to lump them all together he had to do something big. And most of the time he has. Except that these big things are getting hard to do when we have kids with Valentine's parties who want their mom around for this sweet holiday. So this year I planned our little overnight getaway to The Boardwalk Inn in Kemah, TX. Right next to Galveston basically.

The ocean breeze was pretty darn cold! We started off on the ferris wheel but the wind was freezing us!

And we took the big spinning tower up to the top. Here's the view of parts of the boardwalk. The roller coaster was closed, which was a total bummer. We had an anniversary dinner at Landry's Seafood which was super yummy!

The next day we went to the Stingray Reef at the Aquarium Restaurant.

Then I talked Mike into riding this big drop thing. That was insane. I know I said I'm done with all that kind of stuff, but this was one big crazy thing that I thought might actually not make me sick. Sometimes you gotta live! Other times you gotta know your limits. But this was fun. My stomach jumped in my throat for 3 seconds, and then it was over. Glad I did it! I wasn't riding all this loopty loop stuff and since the roller coaster was closed, this ride was the big winner.

And we finished off our little trip with lunch at Bubba Gump's. It will always be a favorite of ours as it goes back to the time when we were a young, married couple living in San Francisco and just wanting some good southern food! Fun to relive that time!

We headed home to spend the rest of Valentine's Day with our 4 little sweeties.  We went to the park and Reagan explained how she wore her Aggie shirt out of love for me for Valentine's Day. Melt. my. heart.

And the kids wanted nothing more than to order a heart shaped pizza. Wah-lah!!

Sea Star Birthday Party

Ashley and Reagan had a fun birthday party at Sea Star Gymnastics. They played lots of fun games...

and jumped on the trampoline...

This was the first year I think that they decided to do two separate cakes. Reagan loved her  cutely decorated cookie cake...

And Ashley was ecstatic that she was able to get a Peter Pan cake. Nothing like edible images!

It was a great time! Family selfie of all us old people!