Some firsts

In the midst of surviving temperatures that rival that of the sun, we've experienced a few firsts lately that are worth documenting:

1. Speech Therapy for Clara

We've noticed for a while that Clara has issues with articulating certain sounds ('k' and 'g', to be specific) and after realizing she wasn't self-correcting, we finally took her to get evaluated in June. She started weekly speech therapy pretty soon thereafter and now has about 1.5 months under her belt. The sessions are quick (30 minutes), but her speech therapist is awesome and we're already noticing some progress. 

Meanwhile, Clara is loving the quick mid-day getaway with Mommy (I take her during my lunch break- such is life as a working mom!), and perhaps even more than that, she is loving the weekly visits to the treasure box. Her favorite find thus far is this get-up:

Every time she puts it on, she says she is Granddaddy (Brian's dad) and starts talking in this hysterical deep voice, saying she has to "go fix the television"- ha!

2. Visiting the library

I'm not sure why we waited this long to take the twins to the library, but we took them for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it was a hit. Once they got past the initial excitement of the computer game section, they made their way to the activity area and eventually to the actual books. We've now been twice and let them each pick out one book to check out at each visit. The biggest benefit to this is that they now actually want to sit still when we read to them before bed! I guess they were just bored with their collection and needed some variety, so I'm glad we've made this discovery. 

Colby's first two take-home books have revolved around Star Wars and robots, while Clara's have been about "The Nutcracker" and unicorns. Standard.

3. Pinot's Palette

Brian gave me a gift certificate to use at this place over a year ago, but I couldn't ever find a painting I liked on a date that worked. I finally found one last Saturday that I thought I might actually want to keep and miraculously convinced 6 other people from small group to go with me! We ate, we drank, we chatted... oh yeah, and we painted. We had a great time and I definitely want to go back again! 

For those that are curious about how it works like I was, I included a progression of the steps it took to get from beginning to end:

Love these ladies!

4. Colby's first Astros game

Brian and Wade took Davis and Colby to their first Astros game last Sunday. They lucked out with great seats and even ended up on the jumbotron... throw in the fact that Colby got a giant ice cream cone all to himself and I'm pretty sure this outing made it on his list of favorite activities ever!

5. Storybook Cottage

While the boys were at the game, Allison and I took Clara and Avery to a princess birthday party for a friend at this cute little place. They dressed up, got their nails painted, did a style show, frosted (and ate) cupcakes, decorated picture frames, read a princess story, and helped the birthday girl open presents. So yeah, Clara wasn't exactly excited when it was time to leave! Thankfully I bribed her with the promise of getting to watch an episode of Elena of Avalor while wearing her Elena dress once we got home... worked like a charm.

We ended Sunday evening with one more first: introducing the twins to Guitar Hero. It did not go well and once they started using the guitar as a weapon, we scrapped that idea... but not before snapping this pic:

So how about you- any noteworthy firsts you've experienced lately?

More Colby & Clara-isms

These two never cease to amuse me, and I thought it only fair to share their latest shenanigans with you all as well:

Nope, not their birthday

When I met Brian at daycare after the Father's Day party last month,  he took Colby to the restroom while I watched Clara finish up her dinner. Imagine my disgust surprise when I watched her pick up her hot dog, DIP IT IN HER CUP OF TEA, and eat it. Because that wasn't weird enough, she then proceeded to do the same thing with her potato chip. 

After we got back from our trip to the Dominican, the twins had a lot of questions about our travels. My favorites from Colby were, "Why did you go to the beach without us? Did the airplane man say no kids could come?" (Yes, that's exactly why we didn't take you... blame the airplane man.) Also, thanks to Captain Jake & the Neverland Pirates, he was very interested to find out if Brian and I had spent the week throwing coconuts at each other's heads.

After one of the more recent sibling skirmishes, I reminded Clara that she needed to apologize to Colby and give him a hug. She looked at me sullenly and said, "I don't have no more hugs in my heart." She's nothing if not honest (... and grammatically challenged).

The twins recently requested that we each take one of their stuffed animals to work with us and take pictures to document their activities. Unfortunately, Brian forgot Colby's beloved Teddy at work. Once they were reunited the following evening, Colby said to me, "Mommy, Teddy wasn't alone at Daddy's work because he has Jesus in his heart." Bless that little boy's heart!

The monitor had been quiet for a good 20 minutes the other night after we put the twins to bed when we heard Colby calling for us:

Me: What is it, bud?

Colby: I tooted.

Brian & me: [laughing]

Colby: Did you hear it?

Me: Sure, we heard it, bud.

Colby: Was it loud?

Me: Oh yes, it was really loud.

Colby: Did you and daddy laugh?

Me: Yes, bud, we both laughed. 

Colby: Ok... I'm gonna do it again.

And then a recent conversation I had with Clara at bedtime:

Me: Are you going to be a mommy some day?

Clara: I can't because I don't have a baby in my tummy.

Me: Well one day when you're grown up, maybe God will put a baby in your tummy.

Clara: I'm this many [holds up 4 fingers], so maybe God can put a baby in my tummy now!

Yep, age 4 is obviously the appropriate age to conceive a child.

And lastly, the twins discovered the wonders of the Amazon Echo at Brian's parents house a few weeks ago. After they got over the initial amusement of asking her basic questions, they moved onto their favorite activity: poop jokes.

Oh, age 4, how you amuse us, so!

Celebrating the 4th of July

Last weekend, we made our annual pilgrimage to Dallas to spend the 4th of July with my family. Though the weekend got off to a bit of a rocky start when Clara tossed her cookies not once, but twice during the drive up there, we ended up having a great time.

The barfer, stripped down and looking pitiful/stoned for the last part of the drive

We partook in many of the same activities we usually partake in when making our 4th of July visit... 

eating excessively...

This would be our family, taking up the entire patio at lunch one day!

... playing with cousins...

...making frequent trips to the park...

...playing at Northpark Mall...

(including a visit to the movie theater to see Despicable Me 3)

... playing with my parents' collection of dogs... 

Seriously, it feels like they add a new one to the pack every time we come to visit :)

... and of course, attending the parade with the whole gang on the 4th of July!

What I post on social media vs. ...

Real life

Franny & Pop Pop with all 8 of the grandkids, ranging from 3-12!

We headed back to Sugar Land that afternoon and after a few hours of unpacking and distracting the twins, we met up with the Olivers to watch the fireworks. We weren't as close to the show this year and I think that actually worked out in our favor because they weren't quite so loud. 

The twins were troopers and made it until the show was over around 10 pm, but this little lady promptly fell asleep for the 10-minute drive home.

It was another fun-filled 4th of July, and now we're all back to work/school and counting down the days until the next holiday (I'm looking at you, Labor Day)!

Father's Day 2017

Soooo I intended to blog about Father's Day weekend early last week, but then I got hit with the plague came down with strep throat and was too busy wanting to die to actually sit down and write anything. A week and several doses of Penicillin later, I'm back and ready to share (I can just hear all of you breathing a sigh of relief)!

The twins' daycare had its Father's Day program on that Friday afternoon, which consisted of painting pictures and eating hot dogs, chips, and brownies. (As a side note, this sounds infinitely more fun to me than the normal Mother's Day tradition of having a tea party.)

We spent Saturday morning playing with friends at their pool/splash pad. I seriously despise the summer, BUT as a parent, I do love having the option to take the kids to the pool for hours at a time and not have to do much besides watch them, make sure they stay alive, and occasionally give them some snacks. Er, I mean I love watching the joy on my children's faces as they experience new adventures, etc.

We spent the afternoon at Brian's parents' house for an early Father's Day celebration with them, his sister, and his grandparents. The twins were, as usual, never short on toys, food, or attention, and we had a fun time stuffing our faces and hanging out with the fam as well, so it was a win for everyone. 

On Father's Day, we started the day off right with cinnamon rolls, bacon, and presents for Daddy before heading off to church. We followed that up with lunch with some friends at Torchy's, and then spent the afternoon at the local science museum. Truthfully this place is always a bit of a dud, but the twins were excited to see the dinosaurs again and it's hard to beat a place with air conditioning this time of year, so we weren't complaining. I think the highlight for Brian was finishing up our visit with a stop at the Proud Pie truck... Colby and Clara didn't hate it, either!

Hopefully Brian felt appropriately celebrated- there's really no sufficient way to show him how much we appreciate the ways in which he loves and takes care of our family, and most often with a smile on his face (which is way more than can be said for my grump-a-lump self!). And in fact, he had ample opportunity to prove what a great dad he is when I got sick less than 24 hours later and he had to spend the next 2-3 days taking care of all 3 of us. He's the best!

(And in case you're wondering, I didn't get to see my dad for the weekend, but made sure to send him cookies to let him know we were thinking of him- couldn't let a Father's Day post go by without acknowledging my own great pops!)