Dinner Fun!

OK...For those who know me knows that I am a bit goofy!  Each day that goes by I know that my girls definitely have some of my goofy traits.  Well, the girls and I were having a blast while having dinner one night.  It all started with Audrey putting a napkin on her head.  Audrey loves to make people laugh.  So, when she saw me laughing at her funny head gear she was happy to let me capture some shots.  What was so funny is that Lauren started being funny as well.  I am sure with these two, I will be doubled over with laughter for me many years to come.  Every time I see these pictures I start laughing because my girls are so funny.  I hope you enjoy them as well.

  

I love the progression of different faces.  

Lauren does not have the same progression of faces changes like Audrey.

But she can show me her muscles!  Can you see it as well?

Can you see the choreography in their dance move?  By this time I am laughing so hard I can barely keep taking pictures.

Lauren's moods change so quickly...

So quickly!

I hope you all have a fun dinner soon with those you love.  I am so thankful that my girls keep me laughing.  

Summer Vacation

Yes, school has started and now that I only have one at home I should be able to post more.  But first, I need to get caught up on all of the summer activities that we did.  One big activity that I was so happy to do was our first family vacation.  Just the four of us being with each other and having fun.  It was such a treat to relax and enjoy my sweet family.  Since this was our first vacation and with the kiddos being a little young, we decided to keep things close and go to San Antonio.  It was a great choice!  Now since most of the time we were near water we used our point and shoot most of the time so the pictures are not the best quality but sometime it is all about capturing the memories.  I hope you enjoy the pictures.  I am hoping to post more as the week progresses.

What is a summer with out goofy pictures?

At the resort we stayed at they had a fire pit for people to toast their own marshmallows for s'mores.  Audrey is so excited she is singing as we wait in line.

This is the beautiful bouquet of flowers that my sweet girls picked for me.

There we are...Happy and loving vacation!  

Yes...that is what I look like on vacation.  I am typically not in front of the camera very much.

I know it is not focused well but I love anytime there are sweet kisses from Kris to one of his girls!  He is the best Dad I have ever known!

Check out Lauren swimming to Kris.  Yes, she is getting so big.  Thank you Sigma Swimming for helping my girls.

For a point and shoot, I thought this was a good shot.

This shot cracks me up.  Mostly because I have joked around with Audrey and Lauren about their chicken nuggets and here I see where they get that from.  In case you are wondering what chicken nuggets are, they are the little extra flesh or in my case fat that is next to the armpit. As you can see, looks like a chicken nugget...

Lauren...being Lauren!  She is so funny!

Here we are on the River Walk in San Antonio.  It was SO HOT!  We did not last long walking around.

So cute.

After this shot we got ice cream then headed back to the hotel.  I am looking forward to our next vacation all ready.

Home Made Slime

I thank God that I am a planner.  There are some things that I wish God would have blessed me with but I am so grateful that being a planner works so well.  Since this is the last 12 weeks that Audrey will be home before she starts kindergarten I wanted to be sure that we are making the most of it.  So, thanks to Pinterest I pulled some ideas of what can be done in the DFW area and made a list.  I then looked over Pinterest again for all of the cool ideas for crafts, projects or whatever that I think the girls would enjoy.  Then with those two list in hand made up a calendar of one field trip and one craft per week.  I may be a planner but this mama can only handle so much activities between swimming lessons, working out and general upkeep of the house and dinner...oh lets not forget laundry.  So, this is week one and we were scheduled to go to Ripley's Believe it or not...Check.  And for the craft we were going to make homemade slime...check!  What is so great that it gives me an opportunity to take loads of pictures.  Sometimes we mamas have to have inspiration!
Enjoy!

As you can tell Lauren was not having much fun with slime.  Lets just say, she DOES NOT like to get dirty, messy and REALLY HATES being STICKY!

Audrey...as you can see was having a BLAST!

I love Lauren's stink face!  It cracks me up!

Audrey was trying her best to get Lauren involved.

Then I walk away and then Audrey's magic takes shape!  Here Lauren is with her slime ball...very tiny slime ball!

Slime balls...takes on a new definition for me.

Audrey really enjoyed playing with the slime.

I love the comparison between Audrey's slime shoes and Lauren's on the bottom.

I wish this girl would look at the camera!

Slime success!  Way to go Lauren!

So, let me give credit where credit is due...first of all thank you Pinterest for the collection of ideas that you can keep at your fingertips for those rainy days like today.  Then, big thanks to http://www.ourbestbites.com/.  My friend Meridith showed me this website and it is amazing.  Finally my summer list of activities are listed below if anyone is interested in making a list of their own.  I wish there were more list out there of activities for summer for mamas like me that does not have a whole lot of creativity.  I hope you all get out with your little ones and make this a summer for you to remember!

Summer Activity List
Ripley's Believe it or not - the mirror maze was so much fun to do with the girls
FW Museum fo Science and History & Planetarium - we have been to the museum but we have not been to the planetarium.  We love bringing a lunch and spending several hours hanging out.
Kids Kamp at Christ Chapel Bible Church - This is the best week of summer!
Forest Park Train Ride then National Cowgirl Museum - We have done the train loads of times but we have not been to the Cowgirl Museum.
FW Zoo - Thanks to Pinterest we are going to use a scavenger hunt with this trip
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center - It is a drive but I think it would be loads of fun
Dallas Aquarium - Never been but I hear loads of good things
Fishing at Burger's lake - TX law says that you do not need a fishing license if you are under 6...I believe so we should be good for some perch catching
Cowtown Cattle Pen Maze and then heading over to Benbrook Stables - this should be loads of cowgirl fun!
Bowling - Seriously...how could this not be fun!
Modern Art Museum - I think this would be fun to talk about the different stuff we see there. If we get through the museum super fast, maybe we will check out the Amon Carter or Kimbell...We will see!
Granbury Beach - We went loads of time last year and it was so much fun!  Great beach especially since it is FREE!
Hiking and Fishing with smore's cook out at Eagle Mountain Lake - Again using a scavenger hunt with a stop for making smore's using a very small fire.  It is like getting all of the cool camping stuff down with out having to sleep in a tent.  I hope it is fun!

Craft List
Homemade Slime
Painting - because we always love to paint
Fairy dust in a jar
Toilet Paper Roll bird feeders
Make it Rain - with shaving cream, water and  food dye
Other science experiments
Balloon Nijas - This looks like soooo much fun!
Water Marbles
Jelly Fish in a bottle
Marshmallow shooter
Father's day craft
Jelly fish plates

Dance Recital

OK...so I know it has been a long time since I posted anything but in my defense we did put our house on the market and sold it.  Praise the LORD!  Several months later and we are all moved in and now I am ready to get back into the swing of things.  But before I move to daily stuff I must post some pictures of the girl's recital.  Let me just say, I am not a big fan of dance mostly because I do not have much rhythm.  But to see my girls all dressed up and on stage was just too cute for words.  Now as a photographer, it was my first time to take pictures while they were on stage and lets just say...I did my best and wish I would have been better pictures.  But...they are my girls so it does make the pictures a bit better in my proud mama opinion!  So, enjoy!

Personally I love this shot!  This to me shows the love of Lauren for her big sister and BEST Friend, Audrey!  I love how they love each other!

Now it is Audrey's turn for some good lovin'!  I have to admit she does give some good lovin'!  

This is where Audrey stole the show in my opinion...mostly because she is waving to me and blowing me kisses!  Seriously, this was worth the couple of months going to dance class.  

Everyone was so impressed with Lauren because she did so good for her age.  According to her teacher she listens very well and it able to focus.  I believe this picture really highlights that considering all of the other shots are of her trying to find her spot and staying there.  So funny...I guess that was what they talked about over and over back stage!

I love this shot!  Kris and I were so proud!

Kris was so sweet to let me get a shot with the girls.  They were so good!

I have one beautiful family!  

Aunt Kathie had to get in the shot because she has become such a sweet treasure to our family!  I am so glad she has moved here.

Here is a shot of my mama, Bonnie, Kathie with Lauren and Audrey.  So lovely!  

Well, I am hoping that I will be able to get my camera and get out there and get pictures of our daily adventures.  Of course, I say that and the girls and I went today to Ripley's Believe it or Not and I forgot my camera!  Oh...to get back into the habit of taking pictures daily!  Wish me luck!

My little models

So, I am taking another photography class and I am late getting my pictures in.  I know, you would think I have loads of time to go out and get my assignments done, but it did not happened.  So, needing to get my assignments done quickly I decided to use Barbie as my model.  For obvious reasons...she looks good, always available, does NOT complain, and yes, always looking at the camera.  So, I pulled out my camera and started going through my assignment and Audrey found me.  Yes, she has been working so hard at looking at the camera that she was a bit offended that I would seek out another model than her.  So, she pushed Barbie to the side and I was able to capture this wonderful shot of her and Lauren.  I just love my girls.  They drive me crazy when I am trying to get a good picture of them but they are so much more fun to photograph than Barbie!

I converted it to B&W because it seems to have a more impromptu feeling to it.  

I hope you are all having a great day and for those procrastinators out there...Stop Procrastinating...it only brings on stress!

No pictures

I feel like that John Mayer song 3 x 5.  "I didn't have a camera by my side this time.  I wanted to see the world with both my eyes."  Yes, that is what I have been doing this last week.  I am happy to report that there are loads of beautiful images and memories that occurred this week.  I personally love the image of Audrey running to give Lauren a hug to console her when she is crying.  I love the sweet admiration that Lauren has for her big sister.  I love when I see them playing Pokemon together.  Pokemon has been the latest craze for them two.  The amount of lov'in that happens between the two of them is so frequent that I wonder what I did to deserve it but I do pray that they will always have that special bond.  I love my girls and I am loving being home with them.  Thank you Lord for giving me this awesome opportunity to be with my girls.

Have an amazing evening. 

Beautiful January Day

So, I am really wanting to post more often mostly because my family really miss all of my post. Kris and I are working on nightly focused computer time.  We will see how long that will last but in the mean time...I wanted to share what the girls and I did today.  Well first let me just PRIASE GOD that is was 70 degrees in January today!  That is something to be celebrated and we did by going to the zoo.  Then to make it even better we got to go with the best neighbor ever...Meridith and her family!  How cool is that?  So, we have lunches...check!  We have a stroller...check!  We have phone and money...check!  So, we get to the zoo and get our memberships updated and then it dawns on me...I forgot my camera!  Seriously...how am I going to keep up with the photo mama in me if I do not have a camera!  UGH!!!!  So, my sweet Audrey tells me..."Mom you can use the camera in your brain."  Then she shows me where hers in located and how she takes pictures and then how she takes pictures of herself.  This girl is so darn cute!  I love her to pieces!  So, I unfortunately cannot upload all of the images in my brain to this blog nor the video of Lauren talking to the baby turtles or Audrey asking if she could touch the tarantula to everyone's surprise.  Nope...but I did at least got one somewhat of a good shot of the kiddos with my iPhone.

I just want you to know that Audrey suggested I get out my phone and take this picture. She is just so smart!