Princess Dress Up Day

Emma wanted to dress up today with all of her and Abby's princess stuff. As you can see from the pictures Emma really got into it and had a blast! Abby tried but she did not like the way the outfits felt against her skin : (  so she would only try on the one dress... Both girls had a great time dressing up and taking pictures. We hope you enjoy their cuteness.

Sun Catchers

One of the activities we did this month was create sun catchers for the kitchen window. The girls had a wonderful time. Emma and Abby truly enjoy painting, even more than coloring, but parents be careful: not all craft paint is kid friendly... we spent some time scrubbing the extra paint off of little hands. I love doing these creative things with my girls.

What I learned from Ray's Trip to N. C.

The shirts that Ray picked up for the girls while he was in North Carolina

Well Ray had to go to N. C. for work and was gone from 6/15 - 6/20.  To say the least I was not looking forward to the separation, nor were our girls, but we got through it. Things always seem to happen when Ray goes out of town and I have now banned him from leaving unless we go with him :)

* I learned that I can handle it all on my own with my preschooler and toddler when Ray must go out of town. But I would rather not...

* I learned to keep myself busy so the time goes by faster and the countdown to his return is not so bad...

* I learned that to keep the girls happy was to structure each day where they did something a little special like coloring, painting, creating sun catchers, playing outside, etc...

* I learned that the girls really, REALLY do not like being separated from their Dada, resulting in one of them not wanting to eat, and both not wanting to take their naps...

* I also learned that I can handle when I have to make calls and do what needs to happen when someone hits my car and does not step up and take responsibility, did I mention the car was parked outside the house!

* I learned most of all that life is so much better when you have the love of your life next to you and not multiple states away.

The girls and I did have some sweet moments just the three of us, but we prefer our moments to include Dada.

Rice Crispy Bunnies

The girls spent some quality time with Nana and Poppa while we ran errands and we came home to our girls putting the finishing touches on their Rice Crispy Bunnies. It was a project we purchased for Easter but at that time the girls were more into the eggs and we never got around to doing them. So on a day the girls could not go out and play Nana and Poppa fixed up the mix and got at it with the girls. As you can see Abby was more interested in eating the decorative accents than putting them on the bunny. Emma decided the more the merrier with her decorations! We can all say that they were super tasty : )

Emma's First Haircut

We had planned on waiting until Emma turned 4 to take her for her first haircut, but her hair had been getting tangled easily lately and the ends of her hair needed trimmed.  We had been asking her if she wanted to get a haircut, but she always got upset and said she did not want one.  Today, out of the blue, she said she wanted a haircut, so off we went!  We were downtown going to doctor's appointments, so I googled "Children's haircuts" and a place called Snip-Its showed up nearby.  As you can see, it was very child friendly and Emma was very comfortable there.  A few minutes later, and Emma had a trim and was happy!

Parenting...

I have come across some really insightful websites, sayings, and advice by being a part of the fb world... so I wanted to share some sites that have helped me when I need more information or ideas on how to approach an issue from a new perspective.

www.handsfreemama.com
I found this website extremely insightful and it has helped with my approach to several situations.

www.DrJamesDobson.org
This quote is one that I plan on using: "I love you too much to let you behave like that" I feel this is an appropriate approach that I will be making an endeavor to use when correcting the girls behavior.

Baby Sideburns - on fb also does posts on www.chicagonow.com
When you're at your wit's end and really need a break to release some endorphins from a deep belly laugh go check out these sites. The language is sometimes "colorful" but she gets right to the point and does give me a moment of stress relief.

There are several more sites and quotes I could post, but I do not want to turn this into a novel.

The one thing I will always remind myself of: I am blessed with two wonderful little girls, that I am not a perfect parent, but every single day I will give my all to be the best Mom I can to show my appreciation for the most precious gifts God gave me, Emma and Abigail.

Goodbye to PISD and Hello To GCCISD

It is never easy to leave one job to start another when you have enjoyed your time there and made many wonderful memories with super special people. It was hard for me to move from JLMS to PISD, but I found a wonderful place at Milstead Middle School to call my own for the last 1 1/2 years. I will appreciate the open arms that welcomed me, the opportunities that I was given, the wonderful colleagues I was blessed to teach with, and all the wonderful students that walked through my door every day. There are so many positive things I can say and wonderful memories I will take with me, I just want the Phoenix family to know that they will be missed and thought of fondly.

Living in Baytown and traveling 40 minutes one way every day, it took its toll on my car lol. I have had to buy two new tires and had to have two flats fixed, also there is now a crack in my windshield and I had a nasty experience with the chrome trim coming off as I was traveling down 225...  Also with Emma turning 4 and starting her own extracurricular activities I want to make sure I have the time to get her to and from where she needs to be. We also needed to take into consideration Ray needs to be closer to his job than me for emergency reasons, so that left us with one choice and that was for me to look for a job closer to home.

So now that I have signed my contract and everyone has been formally notified of my change I can post about it! I am super excited to be announcing that:

I will be teaching 7th grade Texas History next year at ...

Piggy Banks and Bank Accounts

We decided the girls piggy banks needed cleaning out so we could make a deposit for them. Both girls have two piggy banks each. They have small ones decorated by Ray and I then they have these two huge princess tutu piggy banks! One guess as to who decided the girls needed these... Nana and Poppa!

So for the past year between Nana, Poppa, Ray and I, we have been giving our girls their coins for doing chores, helping out, etc.  They both take their coins straight to their piggy banks. Emma and Abby are really good savers when it comes to their coins. They rarely ask for anything at the store or in general, so we have a nice little nest egg building up for them in their saving accounts : )

We also have a Family Piggy Bank that Ray and I along with the girls toss in any extra change at the end of the day or change we find laying around. This piggy bank will help us fund or next trip to Disney World in 2014!

Mother's Day 2013

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Moms out there!  We had a great day today with the girls.  We got breakfast and took it to the park and ate while we played.  We then went shopping for a bit and came home for a nap, then went for lunch at Mom and Dad Pheris' house.  We came home and went swimming for a bit, then ate a great dinner of steak, mushrooms, au gratin potatoes, and cuppa cuppa cake!  All of this to celebrate the person the girls call "Momma!"

Abigail's 2nd Birthday

The party decorations

The birthday cake

The "smash cake"

Even her outfit was Finding Nemo!

Playing with a balloon

Posing with Momma

Abby, Nana, and Poppa

Opening gifts

Emma decided to help

Playing with her new Minnie Mouse

Riding her new train

Happy Birthday to You

Tasting the smash cake

Challenge accepted!

Drawing on the back porch

Today our precious Abigail turned two years old!  We started the day out by going to get her a sausage kolache, which is her favorite thing for breakfast.  We came home and started decorating for the party.  I blew up a bunch of balloons that we were going to hang, but Abby and Emma were having so much fun playing with them on the floor we just left them in their room for them to play with!  After a nap people started arriving for the party.  We all had a great time celebrating our little girl's special day!