Cute moments

Lita sent these cowgirl/cowboy dress up clothes for the children. The three girls dressed up this morning and even dressed up their Texas girl dolls to match. When we headed to HEB, we attracted a lot of attention (even more than usual with 5 children)! When we left, they said, "We are famous!" Anastasia just couldn't resist being in the photo here even though she didn't dress up. :)

Speaking of her, she was so cute reading her new favorite book, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, to this Texas girl doll who was abandoned on the couch in lieu of some Wii time. She is quite the little mommy, and when she sees any of the baby items that have been popping out around here, she says, "Baby buder coming soon. I get to hold him."

Swimsuits if Feburary?

Really?

This seems ridiculous. But we had I don't know how many weeks of freezing weather followed by this week...with highs in the 70's - 78 today with the sun shining. So while this is usually cool by Texas standards, it feels like the heat of summer! The girls begged me to get swimsuits out, so I let them dig through the bin. Good thing I just ordered swimsuits for this year. We may need them sooner than expected! It's so hard to find modest swimsuits as they get older, too...and they don't tend to like the rashguards. Too boyish/unfeminine I guess. Sigh.

Choir Field Trip

Yesterday, Austin took the day off to drive and chaperone for a field trip to our diocesan Cathedral and State Capitol with the girls' church choir. So he and the three girls left the house at 6:10am! Every seat in our big white van was filled, and some friends of ours also had their white van full! I wished the little ones and I could have gone, but it would have been a long exhausting day for the three of us...and there wasn't extra room!

Singing at daily mass at the Cathedral with the children's choir there

The two choirs together after mass

Our choir on the Cathedral steps

 

Our choir with siblings by the big "Lone Star"

I was so glad that the girls had this opportunity and that Austin was able to go with them. They had a picnic lunch after mass before visiting a museum of our State history. This was especially great since Allia was supposed to have a field trip to a state landmark as part of school last year, but we didn't quite swing it!

While they were gone, I felt like I was living "a day in the life of...". I always say if I could go back to being a mommy of only little ones, I would appreciate it so much more....and it might help me appreciate our busy life now. Yesterday, I did exactly that. We walked to the park and played, sat on the floor and played trucks together, read many books, played outside. It was great...but by 5:00 we were so ready for the rest of our family to be home!!! I did enjoy the chance to focus my time and attention on my littler ones for a day.

 Stephen has been telling me for weeks that we are going on a date to spoons, so after lunch I decided to make his wish come true. We got there a few minutes before they opened, and these two had a ball running through the maze of landscaping bushes.

Stephen and Anastasia really had a chance to bond with the others gone for the day. They were such good buddies. It was super sweet...especially since they just started sharing a room too (until baby brother is old enough, then Stephen's room will become the boys' room).

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had wonderful warmer weather and were able to have a Valentine's Day playdate at the park with many of our friends. Then, Pawpaw and Manah came to visit for the weekend (they were actually supposed to come Thursday, but Manah fell and broke her collar bone. :( )

Skating Lessons

Everyone else is playing soccer this spring, but Mariana is just not into soccer. We discovered a mini skating session when Austin took the girls ice skating a few weeks ago, so this will be her spring activity. She had her first lesson Tuesday night and did great!

Getting ready

The new baby car seat was delivered today. Our previous one was expired and had to be thrown out. We also went on the hospital tour last night since this baby will be born at the new hospital in town. It looks really nice! Getting closer...

Anastasia is obsessed with buckles, so she was thrilled to have a new venue in which to practice!

Snow day...again!

We had another somewhat unexpected snow day yesterday. It has been so cold lately that Mariana was the only one who braved playing out there this time!

Happy Baptism Day, Anastasia!

So fun to celebrate, especially as we are planning another baptism for the near future. Daddy surprised her when he came home for lunch today...he sure knows the way to a girl's heart. I picked up her favorite lunch (Chinese), but the lollipop was definitely more exciting. ;)

 

May you keep the light of Christ shining brightly, sweet girl!

On a side note, she has matured so much in the last few weeks since her birthday. She uses almost only complete sentences and often addresses the person being spoken to, especially if it is me. This is super helpful because then I miss a lot less requests and therefore have less fits (her, not me). She screeches a lot less too (partly because of the before mentioned improvement in communication). She has also learned to observe boundaries/rules better and can now stay in time out without being forced (I was buckling her in the high chair for time out), and she has stopped climbing out of her crib. So proud of my big 2 year old!

This is what happens...

when we all busy ourselves making dinner and forget to keep track of Anastasia. Gotta love that, "What did I do wrong?" look. She has perfected it, but trust me, she knows.

Apparently she was just too hungry and decided to help herself to some raw oats (blech) instead of waiting for dinner. Crazy girl! If you ever come to my house and notice my pantry is a disaster, it is her fault, I promise!