Random things from the last few weeks

A few weeks ago, Jared went fishing on the coast for the weekend, so the girls and I went to see Marci and Ben in Austin. We got to do some shopping. Madison talked Ben into letting her play the Wii over and over. We had lots of fun. Maddie snuggling with Aunt Marci:

The handle on our front door broke so Jared put a new one on, and Annabel wanted to help.

Baby girl's first pig tails:

The girls loving their hats

The last two weeks, the girls have been taking swim lessons. I went to watch on the last day and took a few pics. Jared has been getting in with Annabel for her lessons while Madison goes to her class. On the way in:

Madison was not cooperating very well the last day with me there. She had been doing great, but just wanted to stay out with me. Here she is trying to float on her back and cry for me at the same time.

Jared and Annabel in with their class

The babies practices wearing life jackets

Doing "rocket ship arms"

At the end of lessons, they get to slide.

On the last day, they even let the babies go down the slide. Jared catching Annabel

Today, we tried something new. We made home made playdough. Madison picked the color - pink, of course. We tried to let Annabel play, but she insisted on eating the playdough.

Madison has discovered a new favorite fruit: Apricots.

Trip to OK

For Memorial Day, we decided to head to my parents house. We drove up Thursday. Here we are ready to leave. Because Annabel is still rear facing, it is easiest for me to sit next to her, which means that the we sit in the back and the dog's kennels can't fit in the car. Ginger likes to ride in the front and we lay the seat next to Madison down for Wrigley to lay on ... a bit of a traveling circus.

"I'm going to be in this seat for how long?!?"

Ready to see Grammy and Grandpa

The girls swimming in my parents back yard - they loved this!

Getting Grandpa wet.

Madison and Grammy put puzzles together.

My parents watched the girls on Friday while we went to Grand Lake with some friends. The dock that their boat was stored at had been hit by a tornado. Luckily, their boat did not have too much damage, so Jared helped get it untangled from the dock.

Pics of the tornado damage:

The damage to the houses in the area was terrible. We saw one house standing on it's side and another with a tree on the roof. Amazingly, no one in this area was hurt.

After freeing the boat, we got to ride around the lake a bit and have a really nice dinner with our friends at a restaurant that had a deck overlooking the lake. My parents kept the kids over night ... a much needed night away for us. Thanks mom and dad!

Maddie's end of school program

Madison has been going to preschool 3 days a week this year and had a wonderful experience. She has really opened up to new experiences, made lots of friends, and learned a lot.

About 2 weeks ago, she had her end of the year program. All of the three year old classes performed their songs together. Here, they are lining up before singing. Madison is wearing a white shirt and black pants and is the third one from the left. Because she is in the back it was difficult to spot her in some of the videos below except for when she is doing motions, but if you know where she is, you can see her from time to time.

Everyone in their places. Maddie's head is on the top row just below the X, just in front of the left side of the pulpit.

X

They sang two songs: The Opposite Song and Jesus Loves Me

Happy 1st birthday Annabel

Last Saturday we celebrated Annabel's first birthday.

Here she is just before her party modeling one of the two special shirts made by Aunt Marci. (Thanks Marci!)

Hanging out with Grandpa

Playing in the back yard.

With Aunt Marci

Opening presents ... with some help.

Maddie helping(?) Annabel with her new toy.

Marci and Ben. Thanks Ben for taking pics and videos.

Courtney, Jason and Bryson

Daddy putting the new giraffe riding toy together

A monkey cake for my little monkey

Daddy giving Annabel the first piece

The mess that followed

So, they had told me they were going to use white icing and do the pink spray on it. It turned out to be solid pink icing. Wow!

The big kids had fun playing in the back yard.

Bryson refused to share even one of his "ya ya's" with me. He loves to tease.

Easter

This Easter we had lots of fun celebrating the resurection of Christ.

We started our Easter festivities with an egg hunt at my work, complete with a visit from the Easter Bunny.

The girls were slightly more cooperative when I tried to take a picture with the inflatable bunny.

We got to go to Oklahoma for the first time in a very long time. It was great to see lots of family and friends. We went to Jared's grandma's house on Saturday.

We spent Sunday at my parents house. Mom, Dad and the the girls ready for church.

Marci, Ben and Maddie dying eggs.

Annabel unpacking an Easter basket

Mom and Annabel

Playing in the back yard

Us with the girls before church - maybe one day we will get a good pic of all of us at the same time. Until then, this is the best we have.

Me and the girls with my dad's mom (Mimi or GG Mimi to the girls)

The Easter Bunny even made an appearance at my parents house. The son of one of my mom's friends dressed up and was so sweet to come by and let my girls and all of my little cousins see him.

Me and the girls with my mom's parents.

It was a great Easter.

(If you think this is a lot of pics, just wait for the next one -- Annabel's first b-day)