Everything's Bigger In Texas

This summer, Jason and I decided to do a small vacation with the kids and a big vacation to the beach by ourselves. I have to say, traveling with children should be considered "business travel" and not a vacation! We had a great time, don't get me wrong, but it is just work to keep everyone happy! We thought flying would be the best option for us and it would be a really short flight from Tulsa to Dallas. The only problem was the hour delay at the airport. This caused us to be flying right about their normal naptime, so it was meltdown time! Thankfully, we made it to Dallas in one piece!

Madelyn didn't want to sit in my lap, she wanted to sit on the floor. The stewardess gave her a coloring book, so she colored for a while.
Then, she laid down to rest! Yes, my child is barefoot and no, I do not care! She got a good scrubbing later!

Andrew passed out right as we started our descent into Dallas. Of course!

Clearly, the nap was not enough. Andrew threw an enormous fit while we were getting in line for the rental car.

We got checked in to the hotel and relaxed for a little bit and then headed to the Grapevine Mills Mall. We did a little shopping and stopped at Build-A-Bear. The kids had never done it before and I was just sure they would LOVE it. It wasn't the dream that I had pictured it to be where they were running in and every so sweetly choosing their bear and quietly watching as it was stuffed and then picking an adorable outfit to dress it in. It was chaos, but such is life!

Andrew chose a bear that he named Lovey Bear and Madelyn chose a cat that she called Kitty. Andrew really got into the bathing and dressing part, but I couldn't really watch him since Madelyn was running all over the place trying on little tiny bear shoes. What can I say? She is a shoe girl!

Andrew and his bear in Cars 2 pajamas. He had to wear his Cars 2 pjs that night just like his bear! So sweet!

After Build-A-Bear we ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. I love that place! It is so loud and my kids just fit right in! We sat right next to the elephants.

The balloon lady made them each a balloon elephant.

The next morning we went swimming, well Andrew and Jason went swimming, Madelyn and I walked up and down these stairs about 85 times. She is not into the water this year AT ALL!

Andrew, on the other hand, is loving the water! He won't get in without Jason or I. It's funny the things that he is cautious of. I am thankful water is one of those things!

Later that afternoon we went to the Galleria. We did quite a bit of shopping! Jason got him a birthday gift...did I mention he turned 31? They had a great playground on the top floor and the kid's loved it! They were able to burn some energy before they had to get back in the stroller.

Andrew on the elephant.

You can't tell in the picture, but the crocodile has a head that is separated from it's body to look like it is peeking up from the water. Andrew took one look and ran to the back to try to push it together. He said, "this crocodile is broken." I am so thankful for his humor!

That evening we took the kids to see Cars 2. Andrew LOVED every minute of the movie. He was so good! I see many more movie trips in his future. Madelyn did great through the previews, but the moment the movie began she was done. I took her to get some milk (that was $4.10) and she took a bottle and fell asleep on Jason through the whole movie!

Andrew brought Lightning McQueen and Mater to the movie with him. He dropped them about 6 times and I had to climb under the seats to get them. It was pretty gross!

Day 3 we headed to Legoland. It is in the Grapevine Mills Mall, so it is a lot smaller than the theme park in CA. It was great for the kid's ages, but it was pretty crowded (and expensive!) so we didn't stay all that long. The kids did have a good time while we were there.

Madelyn's favorite thing was the slide. She climbed up and went down over and over again! She has no fear!

The Miniland part of Legoland was pretty neat. They had all kinds of landmarks from Dallas/Ft. Worth made out of legos. I thought the Cowboy's Stadium was really neat. The football players moved on the field.

After Legoland we headed down to the Stockyards. We ate lunch and Andrew ate tons of salsa and cheese dip! He loves it, just like his mom!

And just because she is so stinkin' cute! My Madelyn!

We watched the cattle herd. It was HOT!

The Texas Longhorn Cattle!

The biggest hit of the trip...the $1.00 petting zoo! The kids loved it!

This baby goat was 2 weeks old. I could've taken it home with us...if it would stay that size forever! Madelyn kept saying "baby, baby."

Andrew did a great job feeding the animals. He made sure that each one got the same amount of food! He has to be fair!

Madelyn wanted to feed the animals, but she didn't want them to lick her hand, so she just threw it on the ground and said "here go."

That evening we went to the pool. Madelyn would rather watch Mickey Mouse on the iphone.

Andrew swam with Jason!

We had a really great time. It was the perfect amount of time for the kids to be gone. Now we are counting down the days to Grand Cayman...and planning next summer's vacation. I am thinking a Disney Cruise!

A Place To Play

One of my goals for this year is to organize, update, and decorate my house. This month we have lived in our house for four years and I am realizing that in four years I haven't done a lot of work on our house. I did have two babies, work full time, change jobs, and keep up with the rest of day-to-day life as we know it around here! So, I decided now I should get to work on making this house (that I LOVE) organized! I started in several different rooms and would get one thing done and then do something somewhere else and the projects never got completed. I am forcing myself to be diligent and get one room done at a time!

I finally finished the kid's playroom yesterday (ok, it's 95% done, but the rest requires other work that I can't do right this minute). I love this play area, because it is hidden from the main parts of the house and so it can be messy without being so obvious! The playroom is upstairs and it is a loft area that overlooks the living room. Once I finished it, I realized that there is more space in their room then I thought! So here is what I did....

I got these shelves and bins from The Company Store and they are great for storage! You can't see in the boxes, so it doesn't matter what kind of organization you've got. When it is picked up, it still looks clean! Andrew and Madelyn LOVE the Little People so those are displayed on the top of the shelf. I spray painted (which has become a new favorite hobby!) the shelf above blue and put Jason's Dr. Suess books on it from when he was young. The Harry Potter books are mine! The moose I got in Canada when I was pregnant with Andrew before I knew he was an Andrew! The bear was given to Andrew when he was in the NICU and it stayed in the hospital room with me since Andrew couldn't. I have a special attachment to that bear!
Here is a close up of the shelf...my spray painting ability is not perfect yet!

This set of shelves I have grown to love! They came from Wal-Mart and actually are really great. The colored boxes came from Land of Nod and the buckets and baskets came from Hobby Lobby. The baskets have a chalk board on them so I can draw what goes in them. I haven't gotten the kid's rooms organized yet, so a lot of their toys aren't in the playroom yet!

I made these bookshelfs using a rain gutter. When I say made, I mean sawed, hammered, made a hole for the screw, and screwed these into the wall. All.by.myself! I love the way that the books are displayed! When kids can see the books displayed vs. just the spines or having them in a box it encourages them to read.

And just another picture because of the hard work I put into these shelves...and the fact that I accidently put it in twice and it won't delete!

This is one of my favorite things! I got two curtain rods and the rings with the clips to hang artwork on. I still need to go through my piles of saved art work and get them displayed, but that is another project!

Here is a larger view of the room. I got the curtains from Land of Nod and I just think they are perfect for this room! The other set of shelves with bins has a picture that I painted in third grade that is blue, yellow, red, purple, and green that will go above it. I just have to get it from my parent's house next time we are in Conway! The wall to the left is going to be where we will put their kitchen...after Santa brings it at Christmas!

This was my table from when I was a little girl. It was white, but Jason spray painted it blue. I need to put another coat of paint on it, but I think the blue looks really nice!

So, this is my first project that is pretty well completed! I am going to try and do at least one project each week of the summer and I will update as I go. I have already done the kitchen, so that will be my next post!

Summer Fun!

I can't believe that school is already out for summer! We've been trying to do some fun things with the kids since it has been so warm outside. They both love getting outside! I've been busy trying to get things organized at home. I'm pretty sure that is just a never-ending project! Ha! I had last week off and we will start our summer program tomorrow. I am really looking forward to it. We have 71 kids enrolled this year. Last year we had 42, so we've really grown! Plus, it is only three days a week so I have Monday and Friday off! I'm going to try and plan some fun activities for the kids on those days. Here are some pictures of the fun we've had so far!

We had Water Days the last two days of school. Andrew LOVED it! He was the first one to just jump right it!

We met the Browns on the Bentonville Square for First Friday and had a lot of fun with them!

Murdoch and Madelyn sharing some puffs!

We let the kids ride the ponies, Madelyn didn't like it at all! She got off really quickly!

Andrew, on the other hand, loved riding the pony!

We let the kids stick their feet in the fountain. Finally, Andrew stuck his head in and said he was going to wash his hair.

One of the families from the preschool hosted a Pre-K Graduation cookout. It was a lot of fun to visit with the families and the kids enjoyed playing in the water!

This could be the cutest girl in a bathing suit I've ever seen!

Andrew and his friend Frankie had a great time with the water guns!