Hurtado Family Blog

Missing

2010-09-13T08:00:00.001-05:00

I think someone is missing Sister now that she's started school.

First Day of School - Evelyn - 2nd Grade

2010-09-11T08:00:00.001-05:00

My beautiful 7 year old girl started 2nd Grade a couple of weeks ago. She's growing up so fast. I was teaching 2nd Grade when Evelyn was born and now I can't believe she is the same age as those kids I taught.

Maddox was happy to pose for pictures, but didn't really know what all the fuss was about. Megan, on the other hand, knew it was a big morning and wished it was her first day of school too.

Jadyn, Alyssa, Evelyn, Alayna, Kaylee, Bryn

Since Evelyn started Kindergarten 2 years ago, we've been getting to school a little early on the first day to take pictures with some of our best friends. I love this tradition. I hope it continues through highschool.

walking to class

Evelyn with her teacher, Mrs. Jebsen

Evelyn loves her!

"Okay Mama, you can stop taking pictures and leave now!"

Gymnastics

2010-09-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

Evelyn has taken gymnastics for a couple of years now. It's been great for her. She's acquired many new skills, but most importantly, she's gained a great amount of self confidence. She has moved up through levels and done things she never thought she would be able to do. We are so proud of her. Michael and I take turns staying home with Megan and Maddox while the other takes Evelyn to her hour and a half class. Recently, I got to snap a picture of out little gymnast.

Lunch with Daddy

2010-09-07T08:00:00.001-05:00

We love to meet Daddy for lunch during the summer.

The girls' favorite place to go is Trail Dust.

Megan has not always been a fan of the big slide, but each time we go she gets a little braver. During this lunch she quit holding on to the sides with her hands (skin sqeaking loudly all the way down) and just used her feet to slow her down a little.

Count Down to School

2010-09-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

We love to count down to just about anything - school, vacation, birthdays, holidays, etc. Making something tangible to help count down the days helps the girls visualize the amount of time before something starts. And . . . when I get asked, "How many more days until _____ ?" , I can say, "Go count your rings!". So, with a few weeks left before school started this summer we made count down rings to mark the first day of school for each of the girls.

Hopefully, Megan's class will be working on cutting skills.

Maddox was happy to color while we worked.

Evelyn

Megan

A Sleeping Angel

2010-09-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

Summer Book Club

2010-09-01T08:00:00.001-05:00

Over the summer my friend, Alyson, and I decided to have a book club with our girls and a few of their friends. We heard that a Ramona and Beezus movie was coming out towards the end of summer and we had our book! So, Alyson and I read Beezus and Ramona came up with some plans and did some shopping.

The girls made some fun t-shirts.

Each of the girls read a chapter a week and then we would get together to discuss the book and have snacks, do crafts and swim.

Emily with her bunny pears

Evelyn with her bunny cupcake

Me and Alyson with some of the group - Alyssa, Evelyn, Ashlea, Alayna, Megan and Maddox

Bunny ears - Jadyn, Alyssa, Alayna, Evelyn, Bryn, Maddox, Megan and Ashlea

painting imaginary animals

making checkerboards

Some of our craft ideas were better than others.

We ended each get together with a swim.

Evelyn and Emily

Megan and Ashlea

Megan, Alyssa and Ashlea

Ashlea, Evelyn and Bryn

Jadyn and Alayna

One week we gave each of the girls a dollar and took them to some garage sales.

They learned the art of negotiating and some of them found some real treasures.

Megan had the first purchase of the day with money left over thanks to Alyson's negotiation skills.

Ashlea with her special find

Jadyn was a wise shopper.

Evelyn

Bryn

We had a guest speaker, Alyson's mother-in-law - Sharon, who taught them some fancy cake decorating skills.

Evelyn putting her new found skills to use.

Megan

Evelyn

We even sang "Happy Birthday" to Beezus.

The whole group - Ashlea, Alyson, Emily, Alayna, Evelyn, Bryn, Sharon, Alyssa, Jadyn, me, Megan

We finished the book and had our last meeting watching the movie, of course!

It was a blast! My girls eagerly anticipated each week of Book Club and didn't want it to end. Thank you, Jake and Laurie, for letting your girls participate. And a BIG thank you to Alyson for hosting our group at her house each week.

Swimming at Randol Mill Park

2010-08-30T08:12:00.000-05:00

Summer break's over, but I still have a few summer fun posts. This day we met one of Evelyn's friends at a swim park. We had lots of fun and stayed all day!

Megan

Evelyn

Evelyn and her friend, Alysse

Megan and Maddox

2010-08-28T08:00:00.001-05:00

These two are quite a pair. Megan loves Maddox so much and is always in his space. Since she's always trying to hold him, hug him, kiss him, hold his hand, any time she gets near him he screams. But, every once in a while, Megan's love for Maddox is received with open arms.

Megan and Maddox watching a movie. Yes, those are 3D glasses Maddox is wearing.

Reading Corduroy, or as Megan says, "Quarter Boy".

Dance Class

2010-08-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

Megan has been taking gymnastics along with Evelyn for a while now. She likes it and is good at it, but the other night at bedtime she announced to us, "Tomorrow is my last day at gymnastics." She wanted to take dance class and she knows we have a "1 extracurricular activity per child" rule at our house. Dance class suits Megan's frilly, fancy personality. Evelyn danced before she started gymnastics and Megan loves dressing up in the old recital costumes. So we signed Megan up for a class that includes ballet, tap and tumbling. We got her set up with shoes, leotards and accessories. MiMi bought her a bag to keep it all in and she's loving dance class!

Grandpa's Birthday

2010-08-24T08:00:00.003-05:00

Recently, we got to go to dinner with MiMi and Grandpa to celebrate Grandpa's birthday.

Grandpa with two of his adoring fans.

Gazing at Grandpa

Maddox is THE MOST attached mama's boy I've ever seen. He rarely wants out of my arms. But when Grandpa is around, he turns in to Grandpa's buddy.

We had a great dinner followed by some frozen yogurt. We are so thankful for a fun, loving Grandpa.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

He is . . . . . . . El Guapo

2010-08-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

When Maddox was a baby we called him the grab-nabber because he grabbed everything. Michael even had a theme song for him using his nickname. Recently, Michael says Maddox should be a new superhero based on his handsomeness. He's even got the girls walking around saying, "He is . . . . . . . El Guapo." Maddox smiles every time.

The Caterpillar - May he rest in peace

2010-08-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

We found a caterpillar in the garage the other day. We "googled" him, which is what Evelyn always suggests when we want to know more about something, including things only God knows. We made a home for him and did our best to take care of him with the information we found.

But, sadly, he didn't make it. No worries though. We are expecting some butterfly larvae in the mail any day now. We'll try to have a happier ending with them!

There's no place like home, there's no place like home

2010-08-18T08:00:00.003-05:00

Megan and Maddox were playing quietly the other day. And in our house when kids are playing quietly you enjoy the moment of silence and ask questions later. After a little while, Megan brought Maddox into the kitchen by the hand. She had been helping him get on some of her favorite shoes. Wasn't that nice of her to share!

Since then, Maddox has also been caught wearing plastic high heels, flip-flops and jazz shoes. I often walk in on Megan trying hard to jam Maddox's foot into a shoe. Hey, at least the two of them are working together. And most importantly, they do it quietly!

Swimming with Aunt Jennifer

2010-08-16T08:00:00.027-05:00

My sister, Jennifer, lives about an hour away. Recently, she had a day off at work and invited the kids and me out to swim in her neighborhood pool. We had fun hanging out with her.

Megan, Aunt Jennifer, Evelyn

Evelyn

Afterwards, we went back to Jennifer's house to eat lunch. She has two sweet dogs that Evelyn and Maddox were excited to see. Megan was happy to see them through the window only.

I wish we lived closer to Jennifer. I always enjoy spending time with my sister, but it's hard to have a good conversation with any adult between all the, "Mama, watch me!", the bickering, the trips to the potty and the general taking care of kids' needs. I have visions of lunch dates with lots of adult conversation once all the kids are in school. Let's just hope that the conversation doesn't revolve around how much I miss my kids!

Museum

2010-08-14T08:00:00.036-05:00

What better place to spend a hot, July day (especially when the A/C in your house is out) than the museum. Our kids love playing at the museum. This day we met the cousins for some fun.

Megan and Maddox

The bigger cousins attended a class where they made sugar cube igloos with LED lights inside. The kids got to choose 3 colored lights, tape them to batteries and place them in their igloo building. Our igloos are still lit up in the girls' rooms.

Evelyn

Megan

Evan

Morgan

Afterwards, we headed over to let the kids explore the play area.

Maddox

The girls attending to some babies.

Even the baby toys are interesting when they're new to you.

On another note, I cannot believe summer is almost over. Well, I guess summer is not really almost over. It will probably still be hot for another couple of months, but summer with my kids is almost over. School will start soon and we will be back on a schedule. Bummer! I love going on play dates, sleeping in, pajama days, spending time with my kids. It almost (almost, but not really) makes me want to homeschool.

Vacation - Day 6

2010-08-12T08:00:00.020-05:00

The last day of vacation we packed it up and headed back to downtown San Antonio. We finally made it to the Alamo. The honeymoon was definitely over by this point. It was hot, the kids were sleep deprived, everyone was ready to be home. Megan had been crying about something just before this picture.

After a quick tour of the Alamo we got some Icees and took a very hot boat ride.

The drive home was not fun due to a screaming, exhausted Maddox. Megan had no trouble sleeping through the screaming, but after a while the rest of us couldn't take it. A little (slightly illegal) maneuvering and musical chairs fixed the problem and we finally made it home.

Vacation - Day 5

2010-08-10T08:00:00.012-05:00

We spent day 5 of vacation at the beach and pool again. It was another relaxing day. I can't believe how many hours sand and shovels can entertain the kids.

We ordered a pizza for dinner and ate it on the beach followed by s'mores.

Vacation - Day 4

2010-08-08T08:00:00.003-05:00

On day 4 of vacation we spent a lot of time taking it easy. We found a nice spot on the resort beach, played in the sand and floated along the winding river pool.

It was such a relaxing day. The kids would dig in the sand, make castles, catch butterflies and then one of them would say, "Let's go around the river" and off we'd go.

Michael and Megan

Maddox and Evelyn

Evelyn and Megan

Daddy buried Megan sitting up.

Then it was Evelyn's turn.

I burried Megan laying down.

Isn't this how you eat your pretzels?

Vacation - Day 3

2010-08-06T08:00:00.001-05:00

After breakfast at Mi Tierra and a walk around the Mercado, MiMi offered to stay in the room while Maddox napped. The girls, Michael and I had fun swimming and playing in the sand. Evelyn spent a lot of time chasing and catching butterflies.

She released the butterflies in this sand castle that she and Daddy made for them.

After Maddox's nap day 3 turned sad because MiMi headed home. We enjoyed having her with us and we were all sad to see her go.

Later in the evening we went back to Sea World to see the nightime Shamu show. It seemed even hotter than the day before when we'd spent all day there. Here Daddy saves the day with Dippin' Dots.

Vacation - Day 2

2010-08-04T08:00:00.037-05:00

We spent day 2 of vacation at Sea World. Here, Maddox is taking a look at the park map.

"Where should we start?"

How 'bout in the air conditioned aquarium.

Next, we fed the dolphins. Evelyn was braver this year and actually threw some fish into the dolphin's mouth. Megan watched cautiously and Maddox wanted nothing to do with it. It's amazing how fast 3 - $6 trays of fish disappear!

MiMi feeding a dolphin

We had fun watching the ski show. Afterwards the girls and I headed down to take pictures with the skiers. When it was our turn Megan kept staring at the girl's abdomen. I wasn't sure why until I heard the girl ask Megan, "Do you like my bellybutton ring?"

Next up, the Azul show. By this time we were beyond hot so Michael got some popsicles. The kids could barely get them eaten before they melted.

After a fun, but hot, day at Sea World we headed back to the resort and enjoyed popcorn and a movie, Flushed Away, on the lawn.

Vacation - Day 1

2010-08-02T08:00:00.002-05:00

In July, we went on vacation to our favorite place, San Antonio. MiMi joined us for a few days and even took Evelyn and Megan in her car for the drive down. Maddox got some headphones of his very own for the occasion and he wasn't quite sure what to think of them at first.

As soon as we got checked in to the resort we did some swimming. Later when we went back to the room to get ready for dinner we discovered some ponies grazing right outside our room.

We had dinner at our favorite restaurant on the River Walk, Casa Rio.

We always save a few tortillas to feed the ducks and pigeons after dinner.

We finished day one off with some ice cream.

more to come . . . . . . .

Cousin Morgan's Birthday

2010-07-31T20:35:00.001-05:00

Our niece, Morgan, turned 10 this month. We got to celebrate her special day. It's always fun playing with cousins.

Morgan and Evelyn playing Monopoly

Megan and Evan playing dress up

We visited with family, ate fajitas, ate cake and sampled some weird jelly beans. You didn't know what you were going to get. Some tasted good, others were flavored like toothpaste, dogfood, skunk, boogers, etc.

Happy Birthday Cousin Morgan!

D D D D Dora

2010-07-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

Maddox with his favorite TV character, Dora. Because of the song in the opening of the show, he always calls her D D D D Dora.

4th of July 2010

2010-07-23T08:00:00.002-05:00

We had a great 4th of July this year. What better way to kick it off than with a parade full of spirit and pride in the USA.

The weather was great for July. A little humid, which is why my camera lens kept fogging up, but temperatures were in the 80's.

Celebrating Mexican heritage in the USA - this one cracks me up - el vaquero on his cell phone!

Of course, Megan was in awe over Miss Cinderella.

The Six Flags float was a favorite

as was the Trader's Village junk truck.

We thought "Hoop Hard Core" would be a good club for Evelyn to join.

Megan was helping Maddox blow some bubbles.

By far, the best part of the parade was the Elvises on the little motorcycles.

After a post parade nap at home, we went to see Michael play a gig at a Mexican restaurant. Michael goes to a lot of trouble to make sure the audience has fun watching his shows.

We ate dinner and watched the show with some of Michael's family.

After dinner, Michael still had 2 hours of his show left so the kids and I headed downtown to watch the fireworks.

The next day we went to a picnic party at my Uncle's house. Of course the highlight of that day was seeing MiMi, Grandpa and Uncle Taylor. MiMi and Grandpa made about 100 trips back and forth on the dock with the kids.

Evelyn, MiMi and Megan enjoyed dipping their feet into the lake until a snake came to the surface and slithered between MiMi's legs and on top of one of her feet!

Say "Cheese"

2010-07-20T08:00:00.003-05:00

Father's Day 2010

2010-07-17T08:00:00.002-05:00

We celebrated Father's Day at our usual place, brunch at the Gaylord.

It's one of my favorite places to take pictures of the kids. It has the lighting and atmosphere of the outdoors with the air conditioning of the bug-free indoors. But, Maddox wasn't feelin' it too much because we had been up late the night before to watch the glow in the dark parade at Six Flags. Not to mention the fact that both of the girls are in a "fake smile" stage that doesn't make for the best pictures.

Michael is the best Daddy in the world. He works hard all day at a 100% commission job and then gets bombarded by all three kids each demanding his attention as soon as he walks in the door. He is 100% involved in every aspect of the kids' life when he's home and can often be found playing Barbies, reading books, playing "mama", bathing kids, blow drying hair, etc. I am so blessed to be in this parenting role with him.

Backyard Nature

2010-07-14T08:00:00.016-05:00

We love the nature we see in our backyard. Recently we watched a Robin gather bugs for her baby.

We only saw one baby. I love seeing baby birds open their mouths wide for food, but I never was able to capture a picture of it.

A chameleon that lives on our crepe myrtle

The girls, well mostly Evelyn, love to catch, feed and release various friendly bugs. On the menu this day was our left over watermelon rinds.

We tried to get this butterfly off of the roof using oranges and orange juice, but we never were able to catch it.

This guy is on his web, it just doesn't show up in the picture.

Pepe just celebrated his 12th birthday!

We have lots of snails and since it's rained so much lately they've been out and about. We watched this one climb all over the back doors for a couple of days.

Swimming with Friends

2010-07-11T08:00:00.002-05:00

Backyard Swimming

2010-07-08T08:00:00.022-05:00

We've been trying to keep cool this summer by having some water fun in the backyard.

Megan plays until a bug gets too close to her, then she heads indoors. She's not a big fan of the great outdoors.

Maddox likes walking around the yard dipping cups in the water and then watering the plants, or pouring it on himself, or stirring it with a spoon (one of his favorite activities, even inside with a spoon and empty cup). He's hit the "terrible two's" early and throws a fit when it's time to go inside.

Evelyn would stay in the pool all day if she could. She practices her "swimming" and comes up with all kinds of imaginative things to play.

Keeping hydrated

Megan - End of the Year Party

2010-07-05T09:34:00.014-05:00

Megan also finished up a great school year in her first year of preschool. She went to a Mother's Day Out 2 days a week. She loved school and always looked forward to those days.

Her class had a luau party on the last day of school. Megan insisted on her favorite outfit.

It was a full house with MiMi, Grandpa and Daddy joining us at the party.

Megan loved both her teachers so much!

Mrs. Melear

Mrs. Hernandez - We occasionally run into "Mrs. Hernanas" at Cracker Barrel and that's always a nice treat.

Megan will continue Mother's Day Out for one more year, but she'll be going 3 days a week to prepare for Kindergarten in 2011. She can't wait for school to start up again in August!

Evelyn - End of the School Year

2010-07-02T09:27:00.002-05:00

Evelyn finished up a great year in 1st Grade with Field Day, Awards Assembly and a party.

Field Day - Evelyn signed up for every event. She said that way she was more likely to get more ribbons. Smart girl!

In the 50 yard dash I noticed she was kind of holding her arm funny and it didn't look like she was running as fast as she could. She got 5th and when she came over to me she had a ladybug in her hand that she had found while waiting for her race to start.

She placed 2nd in Hula Hoop out of all the 1st grade girls and 4th in 3 other activities that I can't remember.

Awards Assembly - Bryn and Evelyn with their 1st Grade teacher, Mrs. Duron

The 1st Grade end of the year party was outside and it was HOT! They had a DJ, face painting, tug of war, snow cones, nachos, and a bounce house.

So, Evelyn's excited to move on to 2nd grade where she'll be with the teachers I used to teach with. She's hoping to be in my old room.

Dinner followed by Ice Cream

2010-06-29T09:15:00.002-05:00

Camping with MiMi and Grandpa

2010-06-09T16:14:00.014-05:00

I'm a little late with these pictures, but in April Evelyn and Megan went on a weekend camping trip with MiMi and Grandpa. They had a blast!

It was a Jellystone Park so Yogi Bear was there! They went on hayrides,

played at the park, did arts and crafts and played BINGO,
swam,

and even played "chocolate pudding wrestling"

and "chocolate pudding slip-n-slide".

MiMi and Evelyn had a super secret surprise planned for the weekend. Grandpa took the training wheels off Evelyn's bike and MiMi taught her how to ride!

MiMi says Evelyn learned very quickly and rode all over the campgrounds.

Thank You MiMi and Grandpa!

Powdered Donuts

2010-06-08T16:04:00.005-05:00

Megan

2010-03-25T10:49:00.002-05:00

I love this girl!

A Very Random Post

2010-02-27T20:33:00.015-06:00

As you may know, Megan is the Hurtado family fashionista. She can often be seen in many lovely ensembles throughout the day. This day she also had a bag of tricks with her.

"Whatcha got in that bag of tricks, Sister?"

"No, no, no Maddox! You don't crawl on top of the bag of tricks!"

"You open it up and look in, like this, see?"

"Here's a little something for you."

A couple of Maddox's favorite snacks:

the not-so-healthy McDonald's french fries

and the very healthy "bapa" (apple)

Over the past 2 months we have seen some crazy (for us) weather. There have been days that were so beautiful you felt like spring was just around the corner. We like to take advantage of those days by playing in the backyard.

"Peek-a-boo, Sister!"

"What's this stuff?"

"It feels a little weird."

On a side note - yes, I know I take way too many pictures. It's a problem - I know, at least I'm not in denial about it!

Don't worry, he's just building up his immunity.

We had pretty nice weather for our annual trip to the Stock Show where Megan got this new hat.

The hat has completed many outfits since then.

Michael took the girls to the annual Daddy Daughter Dance.

And then, we had a blizzard. Okay, okay it wasn't really a blizzard but it was a lot of snow! The most in like, a hundred years in our area. So, we picked up Evelyn from school . . .

and put Maddox down for a nap at home so we could go out and play in it,

(notice Evelyn's lost of couple of more teeth)

and taste it,

and build a snowgirl.

After a quick warm up, Daddy was home from work and the girls went back out to play with him. Maddox watched warmly form inside.

About 9:30 that night our electricity went out. Luckily the kids were already asleep, so we put an extra blanket on all of them and went to be also. This is what it looked like the next morning.

Yeah, trees weighted down by snow - probably the reason we awoke to still no electricity.

Almost 7 inches!

Michael survived the lack of electricity by keeping the Diet Coke "on ice".

This kids survived by bundling up and driving us CRAZY!

Thank the Lord for friends, Alyson's husband, Jeff brought us some firewood and lots of other camping gear to help us weather the storm.Before too long, the electricity came back on and between that and the fire we were warm enough for some more snow creations.

Evelyn's snow dog - she made it herself.

Megan's snow . . . thing - she also made it herself.

Evelyn and Daddy's snowman.

Listen, when you're usually lucky to see only one snow per year that barely coats the grass and can't even be measured and then you get the most snow your area has seen in 100 years you make lots of snowmen and take lots of pictures. We had a great time!

Last weekend we decided to surprise the girls with an overnight trip to the Great Wolf Lodge. We went last summer and the girls loved it. Maddox had been sick with a stomach virus but was seeming to feel better other than still being a little tired. I had been spraying Lysol all over the house like a crazy person and we had already paid for the room. MiMi and Grandpa were joining us so we thought we might just have to take turns staying in the room with Maddox if he needed extra naps.

Here's MiMi on the girls' bunk bed.

Maddox sporting his new swim attire.

We had a great time swimming that first day.

After dinner MiMi took the girls to story time while Michael and I went to ride some bigger slides. Then, we headed back to the room to put Megan to bed while Michael and Evelyn walked around the hotel doing MagiQuest - it's sort of a Medievel themed interactive hunt for clues around all the floors of the hotel. Here's Evelyn with the magical wand.

They came in around 10:30pm and went to bed.

That, folks, I'm afraid to tell you, is where the fun ENDED! If you have a weak stomach STOP READING HERE.

I'll wait . . .

Are you still here?

Okay then, around 2:30am we woke up hearing Evelyn vomiting in the top bunk. As we were holding her hair back for her, Megan woke up and started vomiting in the bottom bunk. Synchronized vomiting. Would that qualify as a new sport for the Winter Olympics or the Summer Olympics? For the next couple of hours they decided to play nicely and take turns vomiting instead of doing it at the same time. 5 or 6 calls to Housekeeping later, we had used up all of the Hotel's extra washcloths, towels, sheets, and trashcan liners and we'd made it through the night. So, we packed up our stuff and got the heck out of there. A couple of days later the girls recovered, I got a little sick, MiMi got very sick but Grandpa was spared. Michael had already been sick before Maddox. Maybe we'll try another trip the the Great Wolf Lodge later on, but I have a feeling MiMi and Grandpa are going to be busy that weekend!

Fun at the Park

2010-01-25T21:19:00.000-06:00

We have had some wonderful weather days around here lately. Some of our favorite afternoons are when we meet up with friends at the park after school. It's such a blessing to have wonderful friends and it's even better that our kids are friends too.

The Gate

2010-01-22T12:40:00.000-06:00

This is what Maddox likes to do while I cook dinner:

open and empty any cabinet he can get to. He stays underfoot and I'm constantly tripping over him and the things he's dumped on the floor.

Until the other day when I remembered we had

THIS

out in the garage.

Yeah, he was smiling about the new contraption for about the first minute. And then he discovered what it was for.

What's for dinner?

2010-01-14T16:34:00.002-06:00

Get Comfortable . . . It's A Long One

2010-01-05T12:26:00.014-06:00

So, obviously, a lot has happened since I updated last. Here are a few of the highlights:

Evelyn started First Grade

Megan started a Mother's Day Out 2 days a week

The girls took ice skating lessons

Maddox standing all by himself

The kids spend a lot of time playing outside

Evelyn turned 7

Maddox turned 1

We had lots of fun with friends for Halloween - Evelyn was a witch, Megan was (and still is) Cinderella and Maddox was a lion

Team CouraJESS walked in the Breast Cancer 3-Day

Mom, me, Alyson, Marla

Don't let that "Late Check-In" sign fool you. Team CouraJESS would NEVER check in late. We are all such rule followers. We ALWAYS ate the wonderful camp food, spent EVERY night sleeping on the hard ground in small tents and most certainly walked EVERY mile WITHOUT one bit of complaining!

Mom and me

Walking for a best friend lost

Sandy and Jacque were a constant support for us cheering us on, bringing us anything we needed, taxiing us around, etc.

Team CouraJESS with Jessica's girls and Aunt Sandy

Family and friends who came out to support Team CouraJESS

December 2009

tree up: check

house decorated: check

visit with Santa: check

Michael and I went to see Kiss in concert

Maddox started walking

Megan turned 4

Michael's company Christmas party was at the Gaylord. Thanks to MiMi and Grandpa we got to go to the party and spend a wonderful, stress-free night in the hotel.

The next day Mom brought the kids to us and we went to see the ICE display

waiting in line for ICE - I just like this picture

Michael took Christmas Eve off from work this year for the first time and we enjoyed a lazy day at home complete with playing in the Christmas snow.

The girls made a gingerbread house with Uncle Taylor

Learning how to put things together from the expert - Grandpa

Whatcha got there, Popo?

Out for lunch and then dessert with the cousins

We went to Six Flags Holiday in the Park

Both girls loved the Christmas Karaoke

Here's a sucker, be quiet - that's the way it is with child #3

For New Years we made a pizza and had a quiet (except for the noise makers and poppers) evening at home.

Finally, we celebrated Christmas with Papa and Nana, my dad and Annette.

We're off to see the wizard

2009-07-16T20:06:00.003-05:00

Does this orange-nosed boy remind you of anyone?

Lately, no matter how many jars of green beans I feed Maddox (he won't have anything to do with peas), the pigment from the squash, sweet potatoes, carrots and peaches seems to be showing up on him.

It brings this guy to my mind!

Swimming!

2009-07-07T20:48:00.008-05:00

Our summer has been great so far. We've spent some time swimming with some of our favorite friends!

Breaking a Z family rule for a photo opp on the slide: Ashlea, Megan, Evelyn, Alayna, Alyssa, Bryn and Jadyn. A Kaytaskie (KAYlor, HurTAdo, ZabriSKIE) play date always brings back fond memories and reminds us that we are short one very important person (not that we need reminding).

Maddox spends most of our swimming time taking a nap, but he's made a couple of appearances at the pool and he's done it in his usual cute style.

A girl can never have too many flotation devices!

Ashlea

Thanks to one very patient (and determined) teacher, Evelyn has made some great strides in the pool this summer. She used to think that getting her chin wet meant she was going under water. Even when bathing, Evelyn doesn't have enough hands to shield her eyes, ears and nose from the water. And since she mostly saves her drama for her Mama (and Daddy) I just stepped back and pretended like I wasn't there.

Before we knew it Alyson had her doggie paddling,

going under water,

and jumping in.

Look at that! I think even her eyebrows are wet!

Thanks to Alyson's helpful (and tall) assistant, Jeff, Evelyn was even going down the slide.

Father's Day

2009-06-21T19:52:00.004-05:00

This week Maddox started taking his baths sitting up. Bathtime is much more enjoyable this way. He loves splashing the water!

Lunch with Mimi

Evelyn lost her second tooth

You may have noticed from recent pictures I've posted that Maddox can now sit up by himself.

Well, since Megan's babies like to do the same activities as Maddox, this is how I found one the other day.

We continued our annual tradition of taking Michael to the Gaylord for brunch for Father's Day.

Forget the dishes!

2009-06-16T10:23:00.009-05:00

This morning after breakfast and a little "dress up" play I said, "Forget the dishes!" and instead we went out and had a dead plant digging, mulch laying, roly-poly catching, wet getting, sidewalk chalk drawing jolly good time - diva style.

I had been needing to dig up a few plants that didn't make it and lay down some mulch. The girls got their shovels and dug right in (Maddox was taking his morning nap).

The girls are not a fan of bugs except a few choice ones like lady bugs, butterflies and roly-polies. Luckily, roly-polies are the only bugs we came across this morning.

Yes, Megan's shoes are on the wrong feet. This is a usual occurrence at our house. And, often with flip flops, that little part between the toes is in between the wrong two toes!

Much better!

Have a beautiful day!

Sami's Graduation

2009-06-07T20:56:00.007-05:00

Can you believe it? I just posted last week and here I am back again! Maybe I really will try to stay caught up.

Bryn, Mrs. Maurer, Evelyn and Megan on the last day of school. Mrs. Maurer was so sweet to coordinate a day when she, Bryn and Evelyn could all wear their CouraJESS shirts together.

On Friday we were all set to go swimming at Alyson's house when Megan woke up with a bum ankle. When she got out of bed and stood up she immediately fell to the ground whining. After a trip to the doctor and then to the radiologist for an x-ray she just needed rest and ice for a sprain. We're not sure how it happened. She was running and playing right up until bed the night before. Thank you, Grandpa, for tagging along on our appointments. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to carry Megan, carry Maddox in his carseat, open doors, etc.

Saturday our niece, Sami, graduated from High School.

Sunday we went to a party celebrating her. Here, Uncle George from California is helping Megan blow some bubbles.

Maddox "playing" at the mall.

Michael and me

March, April & May 2009 and LOTS of pictures

2009-06-03T20:39:00.017-05:00

Well, here we go again. It's time for another edition of playing catch up. I really should blog along the way so I wouldn't get so far behind, but who am I kidding?

Uncle Daniel, Evan, Michael and Maddox

Slobbering all over the place

For Spring Break we got to have Jadyn and Bryn

At the zoo on the day of RECORD-BREAKING attendance

Jumping with friends

One at a time on the slide? That doesn't sound like much fun!

Maddox and Cade got to know each other

Here's the whole group - What? Someone's crying? Just take the picture, with this many kids someone's always going to be crying!

Fun at the park

Bryn

Jadyn

Evelyn

Megan

Maddox started eating some baby food

Jadyn's soccer game

Fossil Rim

Feeling the wind on our faces

Maddox was loving not being stuck in his carseat

Maddox really started intentionally reaching for things

Evelyn lost her first tooth - she pulled it out herself!

Megan loving on Popo

Maddox being cute

Hanging out at Chick-fil-a with Cade

Hello Uncle Taylor!

Megan getting ready to bake cookies

We went to the mall one day and the girls decided they wanted to bungee jump.

Megan jumped cautiously low.

Evelyn loved it and jumped as high as she could.

Maddox was not up for jumping yet, so he just slept.

Megan and Maddox

Field Day

Megan turned her visor upside down, put it around her waist and used it as a shelf for her snacks.

Awards Assembly

Proud Mama and her kiddos

Evelyn, Mrs. Maurer and Bryn

Sweet Friends

Playdate with Jace and Ashlea

End of the year party

That snow cone sure looks good Sister.

My sweet girls

How blessed am I? It really is a charmed life. Thank you, Babe, for working so hard for our family so that we can do so many fun things and I can spend so much time with our kids!

February 2009

2009-04-02T20:42:00.006-05:00

We went on a picture scavenger hunt for Ashlea Z's birthday. We earned points for taking pictures of ourselves with various things in different locations around town. In a family restroom:

With a FOR SALE sign:

Just some cute pictures of Maddox

A visit to the Zoo

Getting better at tummy time

Spending some time with Popo

Sitting in the Bumbo seat

Bryn and Evelyn's Valentine's Party

Cute pictures

Daddy Daughter Dance

Jadyn and Evelyn at a friend's birthday party

January 2009

2009-02-27T08:26:00.005-06:00

A few of Maddox's favorite sleeping positions:

swaddled on the couch

in Mama's arms

in his swing

Our annual family tradition: The Fort Worth Stock Show

January 25, 2009

The Stock Show is always a favorite activity for us. All year long the girls want to know when is it time to go again. We usually have special cowgirl (and now cowboy) attire. We get bundled up and ready to eat giant corn dogs, enjoy looking at (and smelling) the animals and get on some rides.

Every year since she was born Evelyn gets her picture with the baby goats and on a pony. Megan is not quite as excited about this tradition. She refuses to get a picture on the pony, but she tolerates a picture with the goats. This picture is starting out pretty good,

but quickly turns traumatic when the goat moves around.

Evelyn loved getting on every tractor for sale. I'm sure we really looked like we were in the market for a tractor.

Home on a school day because of ice, the girls play with some Moon Sand that they got for Christmas from Aunt Jen and Uncle Brad.

January 31, 2009
A trip to the Rainforest Cafe

Finishing Up 2008

2009-02-20T20:32:00.010-06:00

Hi all! Here's catching you up on things we've been up to since Maddox was born. Start at the bottom of this post to go from bringing Maddox home October 29, 2008 to New Years Eve December 31, 2008. Check back later for January and February 2009.

December 31, 2008

A New Year's Eve party at my friend, Laurie's house

December 22, 2008

The first real smile captured on camera

Being silly on the bus

Alayna and Evelyn

We took a Christmas light bus tour with a bunch of McNutts. Here are Alyssa and Megan.

Decorating Mrs. Maurer, Evelyn's Kindergarten teacher, at the class Christmas party.

Mama and her boy

Papa and Maddox

Nana and Maddox

Evelyn, Morgan, Bryn

We celebrated Megan's 3rd birthday with a gymnastics party. Of course, Mimi made the Cinderella (or as Megan says, Cinderenna) cake.

Pepe getting in his tummy time

Having some sisterly fun

Decorating our Christmas tree

We went to the Gaylord to look at the Christmas decorations.

Uncle Taylor and Maddox

Megan getting her tummy time.

Sometime around 1 month of age poor little Maddox lost the hair on top of his head. We called him our little old man. Here is the little old man getting in some tummy time.

Again, the day's activities wiped Evelyn out. This girl needs her sleep!

November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving

November 26, 2008

The day before Thanksgiving my brother, Taylor, got to come home from Iraq for his 2 weeks R & R. Picking him up at the airport is always so emotional.

Evelyn also loves to hold Maddox. She is so patient and kind with him. She will even hold him when he's fussy and she can usually get him calmed down.

Megan just can't get enough of Maddox. She always wants to hold him and squeeze him. When I tell her to be soft, she says, "But Mama I just love him too much!"

Evelyn and Bryn

The show really wiped Evelyn out.

We went to see Backyardigns Live.

November 15, 2008

The two men in my life

A visit from Papa and Nana

Megan helping me give Maddox his first bath at home.

Evelyn and Maddox

Grandpa and Maddox

Bringing #3 - Maddox - home

October 29, 2008

Maddox Frank Hurtado October 27, 2008

2008-11-06T10:17:00.001-06:00

Maddox Frank Hurtado

October 27, 2008

4:14 am

6 lb 10 oz

19.5 in

October 12, 2008 Evelyn's 6th Birthday Party

2008-11-06T10:04:00.005-06:00

October 11, 2008 Cheesecake Factory and Sleepover with Jadyn and Bryn

2008-11-06T10:01:00.001-06:00

October 2, 2008 Playdate with Ashlea and Megan

2008-11-06T10:00:00.000-06:00

September 2008 Baby Shower given by Alyson, Jessica, Rita and Judy

2008-11-06T09:47:00.004-06:00

Our moms - Judy, Rita, & Cyndie

Everyone should be so blessed with friends like mine!

August 2008 Rainforest Cafe

2008-11-06T09:42:00.004-06:00

August 2008 1st Day of Kindergarten

2008-11-06T09:32:00.005-06:00

August 2008 Sneak-a-Peek at School

2008-11-06T09:28:00.001-06:00

August 2008 One Last Summer Playdate at Chick-fil-a before school starts

2008-11-06T09:25:00.002-06:00

Alyssa and Alayna are going into 2nd grade.

Bryn and Evelyn are going into Kindergarten.

Jadyn is going into 1st grade.

Much Needed Catching Up

2008-07-03T09:58:00.014-05:00

I've been needing to catch you up on the things we've been up to for a while so here are lots of pictures.

Evelyn danced at Mayfest.

Evelyn graduated from Preschool.

We went on an awesome vacation to San Antonio. The resort we stayed at was great. It had a winding river that Evelyn loved and a beach area that Megan loved. The girls enjoyed swimming and playing in the sand with their cousins.

(Sorry, I'll try to stay out of the background of pictures from now on.)

They also enjoyed lots of junk food.

We watched movies on the lawn in the evenings.

Michael enjoyed sleeping in late every morning.

Right outside our patio door was a great playground area.

We spent a day at Sea World.

We spent one morning seeing a doctor because Evelyn had a virus, but she didn't let it spoil her fun.

We spent lots of time eating at our favorite restaurant on the Riverwalk, Casa Rio.

Of course, we saw the Alamo.

We went through a really neat mirror maze.

It was a great summer vacation.

Since we've been back, Megan got her first real hair cut. Because of her newly developed fear of heights, she didn't enjoy it much at first, but before too long she came around to the idea of eating a sucker and watching Elmo.

We spent a wonderful day at the Gaylord for Father's Day.

(Unfortunately, Evelyn doesn't like posing for the camera too much!)

We've had a lot of fun since I last posted, but probably the biggest news is that we are expecting Baby #3 November 10th. Evelyn is very excited. I don't think Megan has an understanding of what we are talking about, except that when asked she says she wants a baby sister. Well, she's out of luck, because it's a boy! Evelyn says a boy is what she wanted and she even has a great idea for a name - Sportacus, a character from her favorite TV show. Someday we will learn not to ask for her opinion on important decisions!

My buddies, my buddies, my buddies and me!

2008-04-30T16:36:00.011-05:00

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip,
That started from this tropic port,
Aboard this tiny ship.

Okay, so our tale didn't start from a tropic port, aboard a tiny ship but it's still a great tale so sit right back and read it.

It all started almost 5 years ago. Sometimes I can't believe it's been 5 years and sometimes I feel like I've known these 2 ladies all my life. Alyson and I taught 2nd grade together at Wood Elementary and Jessica's oldest daughter, Katelyn, was in my class. I decided not to return to work the next year so I could stay home to take care of Evelyn. Alyson had also made the same decision and we decided we would get together as often possible for playdates. Our principal, Sandy, said we should give her neice, Jessica, a call because she already stayed home with her 2 youngest girls. The more the merrier! So as soon as school was out the 3 of us started meeting twice a week. Twice a week! We really didn't have much to do back then. We mostly met at our houses at first, everyone bringing something to contribute for lunch. Then we started venturing out to the malls and Chick-Fil-A. But those things cost money, and we were, after all, stay at home moms. So we decided to start a very small business selling things on ebay just to make enough money to pay for our lunches. We never set out to be power sellers on ebay, but over the years the money we made paid for many lunches, kid painted pottery, admission to the Dallas Arboretum and other kids' play places, annual Mother's Day lunches we've taken our mothers out on, and even a moms and kids vacation to San Antonio and Sea World. When the kids were still all young enough to be strapped into strollers, we sped walked all around the malls leaving a trail of stepped on Cheerios behind us. We got together and sewed matching overalls for all the kids and then took them to have their picture taken together. Our kids probably thought we were all in the same family and they all really got along, for the most part. And you should have seen us every time we decided to splurge on a real restaurant, like Chili's. "That will be a table for eight please. Three adults, five high chairs. Yes, that's five high chairs." Even in 5 short years times have changed so much for our little playgroup. We don't get to have playdates as often as we used to but the time we served together has made us, and our kids I hope, friends forever. Kids have grown up and gone off to school. Life's problems have also grown. We have been together through numerous birthday parties, temper tantrums (the kids - not us!), broken bones, an arm stuck in the ball return machine at the bowling alley, the birth of two babies, the loss of one pregnancy, personal health scares, husbands' career changes, deaths and a near death of near and dear family members, and breast cancer. (Forgive me girls if I've forgotten something) But we've also had many, many belly laughs and really great times. And we look forward to many more good times, including sitting around playing bridge together in our Red Hat Society attire. I love being a stay at home mom, but I don't know how I would survive it without the wonderful friendship of these 2 ladies. They have taught me so much and mean so much to me. One of my prayers for my girls is that they will have friends just like Alyson and Jess as they go through life.

And now, some pictures from throughout the 5 years:

Evelyn and Bryn

Alyssa, Evelyn, Alayna

Evelyn and Jadyn

Bryn, Jessica, Jadyn

Alayna, Evelyn, Jadyn, Bryn, Alyssa - March 2004

Jadyn, Bryn, Evelyn, Alayna, Alyssa

Evelyn, Jadyn, Katelyn, Alyssa, Alayna in front of the van we rented and drove down to San Antonio

The drive home from San Antonio

September 2004

February 2005

March 2005

June 2005

August 2005

Alyssa, Evelyn, Jadyn, Bryn, Alayna - October 2005

Alayna and Evelyn

The whole gang - Spring 2006

Megan and Jadyn

Megan and Ashlea

3rd Annual Mother's Day Lunch

Shelley, Alyson, Cyndie(Shelley's mom), Rita(Alyson's mom), Jessica, Judy(Jessica's mom)

Evelyn and Bryn - October 2007

Jadyn and Evelyn - February 2008

Evelyn and Bryn

Bryn, Megan, and Evelyn

Evelyn and Bryn at dinner before Kindergarten Roundup April 2008

A recent trip to see Jess and paint her toe nails

Weekend Fun

2008-02-11T16:00:00.000-06:00

Friday night we went to the Maverick's game. Michael was given 2 tickets so we bought some really cheap seats for the girls just to get them in and then all 4 of us sat in the good seats. We were only about 10 rows up from the floor! It was a tight fit for a little while, but mysteriously several people around us cleared out after the 2nd quarter and we were able to spread out a little. I'm sure it had nothing to do with Megan crying every time she saw the horse mascot, Megan pooping her diaper, Evelyn holding up her sign and hitting people in the head with it during every game break, Michael having to leave our seats about 12 times for food, drinks, changing Megan's diaper etc. When we first got seated we realized that we forgot to get the girls some bottled water and they had drank all of their juice driving to the game, so they got a rare chance to drink some of our soft drinks. Michael kept asking Evelyn if she liked his Coke or my Dr. Pepper best (we are, as you know, a mixed family). She's a Dr. Pepper girl! Yay, I win! Megan drank as much as she possibly could and kept calling it "ice coke". Here's a picture of us on the jumbo screen.

After the game, we were walking out and a guy behind us said, "Hey, there's Evelyn. We saw you on the TV. You are so cute!" She was so excited to be recognized.

Saturday we went to Ashlea's 2nd Birthday Party. She is so sweet and cute! I wish I could post a picture of her but I realized later that the picture I had taken of her was very blury. If her mom had a blog I would direct you there, but sadly she doesn't. I had to leave early for a baby shower and I only got a couple of pictures before I left, but here they are.

Jadyn and Evelyn

Megan's not so crazy about going up and down

Saturday evening Michael and Evelyn went to their first Daddy Daughter Dance. Evelyn was so excited and they had a great time dancing the night away. Afterwards they went to Starbucks for some hot chocolate and checkers.

Every one of her dates better be this courteous from now on.

Sunday we went to the park near our house. They just put in some new equipment and it is like none we have ever seen. All of us had a great time on it.

And, of course, no child's life would be complete without some embarrassing bathtub pictures!

Brainwashed

2008-02-08T08:41:00.000-06:00

When Evelyn was still having some apprehensions about going to preschool, I bought some Toaster Strudels that she saw on a TV commercial as a special breakfast treat for school mornings. (page 32 of the Handbook on parenting clearly states: It IS okay to bribe your child with food.) Usually her breakfast is Cheerios, K (Special K) or Rice Krispies, but I figure only 2 days of pure sugar is okay. Don't ask me what we're going to do when she starts 5 day a week Kindergarten. And don't ask me, "So why is she having Toaster Strudel today, a Friday (no school) morning?" Anyway, one time I used the icing to write her name on the strudel and from then on she likes to tell me what to write on it. This morning her request was:

I think she's been brainwashed by someone.

Megan, the unsuspecting toddler, eating Rice Krispies.

Here are a few pictures Evelyn took with my camera. It's interesting to see things from her perspective. Apparently it's a dog's life.

HI ALYSON!

2007-12-12T10:00:00.000-06:00

Alyson has been telling me for weeks now how she is tired of looking at the lizard pictures and that I am neglecting all of my 2 or 3 faithful readers. So, here's some new material. I dedicate this post to my nagging - oops - I mean, loving friend Alyson.

The girls love to chase each other around the house.

It usually ends up with Megan tackling Evelyn.

Megan loves for Evelyn to read to her. They are such great sisters to each other.

Who would have thought that a kid looking like this

would turn out to be a wonderful Daddy cutting out paper dolls? I did!

October is a busy month for us - lots of birthday parties and Halloween activities.

Sami turned 17. Happy Birthday Sami! We went to Outback to celebrate.

Evelyn turned 5. We had a lot of fun at her party at Mainstay Farm. Grandpa took most of these awesome pictures!

Can you believe this beautiful cake my Mom made?

We played in a hay barn,

fed a donkey and some goats,

(this is not the donkey and goat)

went through mazes,

and bumped along on a covered hay ride.

Here's the famed photographer now!

Evelyn and Bryn looking like Heavenly Angels. Jessica took this great picture and I stole it from her blog. Hope you don't mind, Jess!

The 3-story tree house brought out the kid in my Dad.

MiMi, Uncle Taylor, and the girls' new favorite friend, Kelly

Evelyn's a little uncomfortable with everyone looking at her and singing Happy Birthday. You know, she's a little shy like Michael!

What a loot!!

We have an awesome pediatrician, Dr. Vert. At Evelyn's 5 year checkup she posed for a picture.

Of course, since Megan wants to do everything sister does, she wanted to say "cheese" with Dr. Vert too. Did I mention Megan usually starts crying as soon as they call her name in the waiting room and doesn't stop until we leave?

Ever since she took this picture with Dr. Vert, she has been great at the office. It's a good thing since we have been several times since then. The girls have had a tough time with their allergies this fall.

Another October birthday. This time we celebrated Milan's 1st birthday at the park.

Here are Michael and my brother, Taylor, at a Halloween Block Party in MiMi and Grandpa's neighborhood.

As you can see, Michael dressed up as Tinky Winky from the Teletubbies. He likes to say that I made him do it, but it was merely a suggestion that he never said "no" to. I will, however, admit to finding as many functions as possible for us to go to that required costumes.

Celebrating Halloween at Popo's house

Cousin Morgan as Snow White and Evelyn as Stephanie from Lazy Town

Megan as the Teletubbie, Po and Evan as his favorite animal, a doggy

Another birthday party and another opportunity for Michael to wear his costume. Alyssa and Alayna turned 7 and had a fun costume party at home. Alyson really knows how to put out a spread.

Brave woman, standing that close to a 5 year old with a baseball bat. I was safely behind the fence.

At home making our jack-o-lantern - Evelyn drew the face!

Megan, whipping up some eggs for breakfast

Megan gives Pepe a treat every day. She gets the box of treats out of the pantry, calls him over, gives him the treat, follows him wherever he goes and lays down on the floor to watch him eat it.

We went to Fossil Rim for some feed (and smell) the animals fun. The girls had a great time.

Evelyn tried to make sure that every animal got some food (except for the ostrich - they are on their own).

Megan also had fun feeding the animals and loved riding with her head sticking out the window.

In November, Michael and the coworkers in his department were rewarded with a trip to Las Vegas for having the highest grossing month their company has ever seen. Michael is so awesome at his job. Recently he accomplished Lease Master status after working at D & M for only 5 months. The same month, one of his coworkers also became Lease Master after having been with D & M for 8 years! Daniel and Frank joined Michael on the trip to Las Vegas for a little Father - Sons fun.

The 3 handsome Hurtado men.

Evelyn had a Thanksgiving feast at her preschool. It was the first "school" function that she's had and I had so much fun. I am lucky to have a husband that works so hard for his family so that I can stay home and have the opportunity to go to things like this.

Evelyn's class wore pilgrim hats and feasted with the class next door who wore Indian feathers. It was so cute!

Wow, that was a lot! I think you were right, Alyson. Well, hopefully that will hold you over for another couple of months. Just kidding, I'll try not to stay away for so long next time.

Some Catching Up

2007-10-15T11:26:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess I've got some catching up to do. These are pictures of some of the things we've been doing since about August. Also, I moved the Anita Renfroe video to the very bottom of the page if you're interested in watching it more.

One afternoon I opened the front door to go get the mail and this little lizard darted into the house. Evelyn was in love with him. She wanted him to crawl onto her hand so badly, but instead he just kept opening his little mouth real wide to say, "Back off!" We finally got him to crawl onto some mail and she was delighted to pose with him.

The release of the lizard.

"I love you lizard"

Since then we have found him (or one of his cousins) in our house 2 or 3 more times. I've lost count with all the catching and releasing.

One evening we were playing in the backyard and hit the grasshopper jackpot. They were everywhere. We had a difficult time getting a picture with a grasshopper before they would hop away, but finally here it is.

We also found a frog that night. We'll just settle for a picture of him on the ground, thank you very much.

Megan loves bubbles, as I guess most toddlers do. My dad got the girls a bubble machine. It was an instant hit and still is a backyard (and sometimes indoor) favorite.

This is my dad, Jim, and his wife, Annette (aka Papa and Nana).

Evelyn's cousin, Morgan, came for a sleepover recently. It was their first together. Michael said I was like the paparazzi. The girls watched Michael play a show at a local restaurant, made Rice Krispie Treats, played, watched The Little Mermaid, slept, played, ate blueberry pancakes for breakfast, played and finished off with lunch at Chili's before we took Morgan home. It was a lot of fun. Morgan is so well behaved and has great manners. Not once did either one of the girls get grumpy or into even a little squabble. I hope it will be the first of many sleepovers for them. I just hope that they aren't sneaking out of windows in sleepovers 10 or 12 years from now.

Side note: As I'm sitting here typing I just heard Evelyn tell Megan, "Megan, I'm going to have a wedding. Do you want to walk me down the path?" They are so cute together. Evelyn is always telling me how beautiful Megan is.

MiMi's birthday is in August. We had a dinner for her at our house. I ordered a black forest cake from Swiss Pastry shop. It was big (I thought a 1/2 sheet was the normal sized cake you always see, turns out it is the 1/4 sheet I should have ordered) and delicious, as usual.

Evelyn and Megan were following me around waiting for theirs pieces as I was passing pieces out to the guests. But, when I gave Grandpa his they jumped up into his lap and took it over.

Evelyn has started preschool 2 days a week. She will start Kindergarten next year. She loves it while she's there. When I pick her up she is hyper and full of excitement over what she did that day, but I am still having a little trouble with her at drop off in the morning. Here are some pictures from the first day of school.

We went downtown one evening for some dinner and fun. We ate at Uno Pizzeria. Evelyn got to make her own pizza and then give it to them to cook it.

After dinner we rode a horse drawn carriage around downtown. It was a nice, smooth ride (just hot and swarming with mosquitoes) contrary to what you might think when you find out that the horse's name is Dangerous Dan.

Okay, so it's taken me a couple of days to finish this post. I still have another roll of film to develop and many, many pictures from Evelyn's recent birthday to share with you so check back.

Killed Chicken

2007-09-27T13:49:00.000-05:00

Today we were eating Chick-Fil-A in the car as we drove around running errands. Not the best habit of ours, but at least we eat dinner around the table face to face every night. Anyway, in between Barney songs on the CD (quick, someone please invent one of those limousine windows as an option for SUVs) I hear Evelyn tell Megan, "You know that chicken you're eating is the same one that says, 'Bock, Bock' but it's been KILLED?!?!?" Ah, I guess the little siblings never quite get that time of complete innocence that the first borns live in for the first few years. Megan learns everything from Evelyn, good and bad. She repeats everything Evelyn says. If Evelyn has a hang nail to be cut, then Megan needs us to fix her nail too. If one of Evelyn's dollies (stuffed animals) has a stray string on it (it's like she goes over those things with a fine toothed comb every day trying to make sure every piece of string and fur is in just the right spot, and most days she finds one needing to be cut, can you say OCD?) then Megan has a dollie that needs attending to also.

Well, anyone?

2007-09-15T08:50:00.000-05:00

Evelyn loves to play with stickers of any kind. Recently after playing with some garage sale stickers MiMi gave her, she came to me oblivious of the "Make Offer" sticker on her forehead.

Well, anyone?