Happy Birthday Sweet Valentine Babies...I Mean Little Girls

Ella Cate (left) Emma Claire (right) 6 months old

I can officially say that my girls are 3, since I am typing this well after midnight! Sam and I have been preparing for our little girls to wake up as 3 year olds...wow that still doesn't feel real...how can they be 3?! We hung the birthday banner and some balloons after everyone was fast asleep. Before that we left the kids with Nana and we hit 2 WalMarts trying to find the perfect b-day present for the girls, and let's just say that a Powerwheels pink Barbie convertible mustang is sitting in a giant box in our garage. The girls will be over the moon when they see it! Lots of sweet pictures to come! Chels I think it will be a perfect opportunity for a photo-op!
I am longing to do a sweet 3 year post, but at the moment I am simply too worn out to do it. Hopefully I can fit it in over the next couple of days since we have a 3 day weekend...woo-hoo!

3 years ago today 2 beautiful babies entered our lives. Who would have known that they would perfect our family and make it whole. As I was tucking them in tonight they listened as I told them about the day that they were born. I described their sweet lips and their tiny bodies. I told them about the hats that Chelsi had fancied so that we could tell them apart...one pink ribbon, one red ribbon. I described how excited that Cade was when he saw them for the first time, and how Carson who was still just a baby himself touched their heads. I told them how they loved laying next to each other in the baby bed and all about the tiny bottles of milk that they drank (I think that was their favorite part). I explained that all of the many people that loved them came to see them for the very first time at the hospital, and that the same people would be at The Little Gym for their party to celebrate their 3rd birthday.

Happy Birthday sweet girls! We love you with all of our hearts.

sadly around the time the girls were born my pictures were terribly disorganized. Most of my pictures from their birth are on Kodak Gallery, and they are not on my computer...I've got to do something about this!! However, this picture was taken right before the girls 1st birthday, oh how they have grown!!

Very Close to Valentine's Day

This year is the first year in the past 3 years that I can honestly say that I "feel" Valentine's approaching. I have gone through the motions for the past few years simply because I was so consumed with that day being the girls' birthdays. I guess after 3 years Valentine's can share this day with my girls! I am trying to explain to Ella and Emma that they are my Valentine babies and their birthday falls on a really neat holiday. I just hope no boy down the road sees it as an opportunity to save $...Valentine gift and b-day gift all in one...surely that won't happen to them! ; )
Since the kids go to preschool 5 days a week they will have their first Valentine party tomorrow, and they will have another party on Friday. There are benefits to being an all weeker at their school.
Tonight I filled with candy and labeled 31 Valentine's cards, and I fixed teacher gifts. It was a bit of work, but I can't complain, I have so much fun with little tasks like that! I feel like I am back in 4th grade fixing Valentine's cards for my classmates...so fun!

My finished products...; )

teacher gifts for all 4 kids teachers

Carson chose Iron Man Valentine's

Emma Claire chose princess Valentine's

and Ella Cate chose "baby animals" Valentine's

Cade chose Fun Dip Valentine's, but he will only get to pass one round of them out. One of the sad realities of growing up! ;)

Dollar Store Valentine's

Each afternoon when we arrive home I pull around the front of the house to check the mail. Each day the kids (especially Carson) anxiously await a piece of mail that belongs to them. Well...Tuesday was their lucky day! Each one of them had a Valentine card (the singing kind) from Nana and G-Dad. Their cards also contained $5 which they were determined to spend right that very moment (not Cade...he is a saver like his Daddy).
After dinner and a little good behavior I took them all to the Dollar Tree, and we loaded up the cart! They had so much fun getting 5 things each. The fact that the random stuff was junk with a capital J mattered none to them!
Emma Claire got a Valentine balloon, princess glitter colors, HS Musical pom-poms, fake hair, and Strawberry Shortcake bubble gum.
Carson got a sword, ninja discs, Kung Fu Panda window clings, an off-brand Power Ranger guy, and a Valentine balloon.
Ella Cate got the same as Emmy minus the gum, she got a roll of Princess contact paper (no idea what we are going to do with that).
The Dollar Store is our new place for toys! They have played with these junk items just as much as they would have played with the higher priced stuff that they have. Hallelujah for a happy toy buying experience that costs all of $15 plus tax, and thanks Nana and G-Dad for our Dollar Store Valentine's! We had so much fun!!
Emmy and her HS Musical pom poms

Carson and his sword

silly Ella Cate and her funny pink hair

Mr. Incredible Gets Tired Too!!

This is how I found Mr. Incredible on Monday evening...all tuckered out! This superhero MUST have been real tired because he fell asleep with lots going on around him!

Basketball, Bowling, and Birthday Cake...Oh Boy!

We've just ended a busy weekend that was filled with lots of fun things to do! Saturday was spent watching Cade play really well in his basketball game and being guests at Reese's 6th birthday at Alley Cats. Saturday evening Cade and Carson spent the night at their cousins' house (a first for Mr. Carson). Sunday the girls and I met Chels and Carter at The Galleria while the boys saw Pink Panther 2 and worked in the yard.
We look forward to another fun filled weekend coming up! The girls will turn 3 next Saturday!! Celebration posts coming soon!!
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Cade running down the court

The girls climbing on their daddy while he was trying to watch the game ; )

cousin Nathan and Uncle John came to watch Cade play...I think that you may be able to tell that Carson LOVES his cousin!

Emma Claire and Carson the one second that they sat still to watch Cade play

Emmy cheering for Cade

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It was just the girls and Mommy at Reese's party. Cade stayed after the basketball game to practice his skills some more. Since I wasn't up to chasing the 3 little ones at a crowded bowling alley by myself, Carson had to stay behind with Daddy.

Ella Cate loved bowling! She bowled constantly until she smashed her finger when she was getting her ball out of the ball chute. : (

After bowling the girls played some games. They are starting to request the way that they want their hair fixed. On this particular day Emmy requested a ponytail while El requested pig tails.

Emmy basically just dropped her ball. It took an eternity each time for her ball to get to the pins! She WOULD NOT let me help her...Miss Independent!

Bowling sisters

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After bowling we headed to the party room for pizza and Pokemon cake.

Quinny and her sassy haircut (so cute) enjoying some cake

Emmy is always up for birthday cake

El was too busy scarfing down the cake to look at the camera

These pictures are slightly out of order, but here is Brian singing Happy Birthday to Reese

and here is the b-day girl blowing out her candles!

Whew...What a Week!

I am not sure why, but I cannot seem to find the time to take pictures, blog, and check up on all my favorite blogs! I was doing pretty good keeping all of those things at the top of my priority list : ) before we moved, but I have been totally thrown off for the past month!
We had a busy week full of many blog worthy happenings, but I only captured a few : (...
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Wednesday we all woke up to a super surprise...DFW had experienced a ice storm, and school was cancelled for the day. We stuck around the house for the morning, and then we headed to the gym. After that we ran a few errands, ate at Chik-fil-A, and made a stop at Barnes and Noble to let everyone pick out a book. This was when all of the ice was melting off of our roof

Miss Ella Cate colored with markers

Emmy concentrating hard on her picture

Carson dressed up as a Power Ranger and "hung" around : )

Later in the day Ella Cate was all blinged out, she was also sporting a bit of spaghetti sauce or ketchup on her face

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Thursday was Rodeo Day at the kids' preschool. They have Rodeo Day to correlate with the Fort Worth Stock Show that is running right now. The little ones dressed up in their cowboy and cowgirl best....

Emma Claire, Carson, and Ella Cate

Ellie and her very best "cheeese"

Cowboy Carson

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Saturday Cade had a basketball game, and Grancie, Robin and G-Dad came to watch. He made the winning basket right at the buzzer in the 4th quarter! We were so proud of him!! No camera in sight! ; ( After the game we headed home and enjoyed the beautiful day in our backyard. Sam decided we should knock down the ugly barbecue pit in the middle of our yard, so that project became a family affair! After the demolition we met at Spaghetti Warehouse to celebrate Nathan's (my nephew) 13th birthday. I can't believe how fast he is growing up! Cade lucked out and got to spend the night with his cousin!

The girls loving their red cars before the demolition began...

a "before" shot of the ugly bbq pit...my photographer buddy would tell me that the lighting was ALL WRONG on this shot!

Cade knocked lots of bricks down

Carson and his sword succeeded

the "after" shot

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Sunday we had a fun evening at the Williford's Superbowl party. Lots of cute photo-ops with no camera to capture the moments! Here's to a week of being a better photographer and blogger!

Monday Moments

This morning I decided I had a moment that I must capture.
Grancie bought my girls sweet shirts and fun hair doo-dads yesterday, and I decided that they must be photographed before heading out the door to go to school. I went to the cabinet where I keep my camera, and since that poor camera hasn't seen the light of day in quite sometime it was no surprise that the battery was dead.
I knew if I let the moment get away I would forget to take a picture after school, so I dug around until I uncovered my old little camera. Thankfully the battery had enough power to capture some shots this morning, and a few more this evening! I guess there was a reason that I hung on to my little camera! Their shirts say "Girls Rule", and Emmy said that their fun purple hair thingys were "like a cheerleader" : )

Emma Claire and Ella Cate

Playing Rescue Heroes in our empty dining room

Carson played with this remote control robot for at least 2 hours this evening. It was a hand me down from his cousin, and he was THRILLED to have it!

Cade read to Miss Ella Cate before bedtime