Flowers in February

Ok so it has been rainy and gray for far too long. About this time every year I am done with winter and ready for some sunshine. So in my Vitamin D deficient state I went and bought a couple flowers to plant with the girls so I could have something spring like to look at in my kitchen.

Violet and Claire had so much fun helping me plant my flowers, they got out their sand shovels and filled the pot up for me. I was wanting to do this outside but it was pouring down rain that day so we did it in the kitchen.

two girls and a bag of dirt, what more could you want :)

Violet has been taking pictures with my camera and this is one she took of me the other day. I think it's getting to be time to replace our camera, thank goodness for tax return season!

Let's be honest...No one is really surprised this happened.

It was really just a matter of time wasn't it? She is quite proud of herself. Thank goodness she has an Aunt that could fix her right up. So today we are mourning the loss of some gorgeous long red hair with cute little curls at the end :( V looks adorable with her cute little hair cut though.

Here is V with her new hair cut all dressed up and ready to go to the Daddy Daughter ball. She is just waiting for her Date to finish getting ready, and playing colorfill on the ipod.

V and her date. What a cute couple!

V at the Daddy Daughter Princess ball! They danced, they ate ice cream sundaes and made a magic wand. Vi and her Dad had a great date!

A MAN AND HIS MOMMY

new ties!

Silly kids!

We are good here in Houston. Anticipating SNOW in the next day or two. . . What snow? Yes, snow. Snow is a BIG event here. I think there will be some school closures. We have had snow the past 2 years and if it does snow, well. . . that is rare to have snow for 3 years running.

In other news, the boys got new ties last weekend. I have always liked the idea of zipper ties, because they clip on ones seem too uncomfortable. So, we found some at Macey's and the boys love them, they look pretty cute in them too. This is one of my all time favorite pictures. Aren't they such cute kids (of course I am totally biased).

Wesley was trying to look serious here, I think. He is so silly when it somes to taking pictures, I am a little worried about how his school pictures will go next year. . .

Wesley's pre-school put on a nativity this winter and Wesley was a shepard. They preformed at a nursing home, the ward party, and for their parents. He did a great job.

Wesley and Sam love Allison. I often find Wesley in in her crib with her in the morning and after her naps. Sam sometimes squeezes in as well. I'm not sure how Allison feels about it, but she's pretty okay with it too.

ok so...

Ok so I don't want to be one of those Mom's that is endlessly talking about her adventures in potty training. But we have been in potty training mode for what seems like forever! And for the last 2 weeks I have been taking Violet to the bathroom every 15 minutes and doing the whole potty song and dance routine, and she loved it, she loved watching me dance around like an idiot in the bathroom all day everyday....however all my dancing was not producing any...ya know....results and I was getting very frustrated (not to mention tired, that's a lot of potty dances). Well today, we finally got the desired result from all that singing and dancing! Hurray! So I am so proud to announce that Violet stayed dry all day and it wasn't just because she has a bladder of steel!

a little bit of snow and a nice walk

We got a little bit of snow last week. I don't enjoy being out in the snow, but I do think it is really pretty, so I snuck out to get the mail and took my camera along.

Violet was all set to go to sleep when she peeked out the window and discovered the snow, she went and got all her gear to go outside. She did a little better this time and got a real coat and her own shoes. Do you remember how much fun it was when you were a kid and it started snowing late at night or early in the morning. It didn't matter what you were supposed to be doing, everything got put on hold so you could go out and play. Some how snow has lost that magic as we have gotten older but I'm glad it is still so exciting for Violet and Claire. Claire had been in bed for a while so she slept right through the snow.

By Saturday all the snow was gone and we even got a break in the rain for a few hours in the morning so we took the girls out for a little walk. The girls liked riding in the stroller (it's been a while since they have gone for a ride) but after seeing a few doggies running around they wanted to get out and explore the trail. We went to the Western Chehalis trail. It was a nice walk, and great to get outside for a little while. We've hit that point in winter where we are inside most of the time and we are all getting a little bored! If we could afford it this year I would just pack us up and get on a plane to Houston to visit the Woods. Maybe next year...or maybe the next....or....
Here we are right before heading onto the trail. We have made a point of taking more of these little couple pictures because last year we took like 2 in 12 months. We have like 10,000 pictures of the kids and 2 of us.

Violet was sure she saw a fishy in this lake/swamp. I think maybe it was a salamander or something.
ooooh....A fishy. (sidenote: Violet has been doing Speech therapy these last few months and can I just say what an amazing thing that has been for our family! Violet is speaking so much more and her little personality is coming out and she is such a joyful part of our family. I highly recommend it for any kid struggling with their language development, it has been such a blessing for us and she is so happy, she loves her appointments with Allison!)

Claire wants to be just like Violet. Violet has started wearing underpants, so Claire wants to wear underpants (over her diaper of course) Violet wears a hat, Claire wants a hat, Violet jumps on the bed, Claire jumps on the bed. Violet wants to be held by mom, Claire wants to snuggle too (that is the best part of my day, an excuse to just snuggle up on the couch with my babies...I don't want them to ever grow up). Claire loves her sister so much and now that the girls are starting to play more together they have been plotting against me and making huge messes (I am now starting to baby proof more....maybe I will share a few secrets I've learned about that later) and it has become more difficult to get Claire to nap because Violet starts to miss Claire after about one 20 minute cartoon and starts to beg me to go wake her up. Claire still likes to take about a 2 hour nap, so I have to spend nap time distracting Violet so Claire can sleep. It is so sweet. These girlies are so fun.

little girls :)

I am so blessed. I get to spend every day with these two little girls! Even though they are getting to an age where they are little stinkers and always into something they shouldn't be, they are so much fun. I am so lucky to have them. This morning it snowed and Claire ran right outside without stopping to think about a coat....or even shoes. She quickly realized the problem and ran back in. Violet on the other hand, knows that she needs a hat, a coat and 2 shoes in order to play in the snow. So as soon as she realized it was snowing she grabbed 2 shoes, a coat and a hat and waited by the door for us to open it for her. Now I don't want to be one of those nitpicky mothers but I'm not sure a gold ballet slipper and a black high heel shoe really counts as a "shoe" in this situation. Especially when said shoes belong on a grown ups foot and not a 3 year olds. We only stayed outside for a minute though so the shoes worked just fine.
Claire starting to realize that she is cold and has forgotten something.

Claire before she realized she was cold, just excited to see some snow!

On Saturday we got to visit both sets of grandparents while out running errands. Violet wanted to wear a dress, and so did Claire so all 3 of us girls wore dresses for no particular reason. Violet's dress was a special one, her dress is my easter dress when I was about 6 years old. I picked this dress out all by myself and I refused to wear any of the pink fu fuey dresses my mom picked out....pink and pastels for Easter? What was my Mom thinking? and at the tender age of 6 I started the battle over clothes that would last till I moved out. Ok I'm starting to understand the karmic consequences that I may have brought on myself.

Violet with Moosey.

Violet was upset that the kitty ran away and hid in the corner. Don't worry she gets to see the kittens and hold them all the time. Her favorite thing to do is to fish for the kitties with their toy on a pole, it is really cute.

Just me and my little girls.