Easter Party

Today I hosted a small easter party for my group of SAHM friends. Kate, Claire, Collin, Hudson and Will came over. We dyed Easter eggs (which didn't hold the kids interest long), Hunted eggs in the backyard and then relaxed and watched the kids play together in the yard and let the babies stretch out on a quilt for awhile. The kids played remarkably well together kicking the ball to each other, taking turns sliding down the slide, and riding the tractor. All this outdoor activity was great for Rett who napped for several hours after his friends left.

Melissa took all these great pictures:













The babies relaxin'

Zoo Trip

Today I wrangled up the kids and we headed to the Dallas Zoo. It was a perfect day...nice weather and small crowds...plus I scored a great parking spot right up front. We did not see many animals and alot of the zoo was under construction but we still had a good time. We spent a good amount of time in the Children's Zoo where Rett could get out of the stroller and pet some animals and run around. He *almost* rode on the pony but changed his mind last minute. We also went for a carousel ride which was the highlight of his trip. Ellie was a perfect sport taking it all in.

It's been a long day...

Today was a long day or at least it felt like that to me. I have *planned* to go to Jazzercize this morning but after staying up til midnight tagging items for a consignment sale and then Ellie waking up at 5:15am followed by Rett at 6am I was too tired to even get my workout clothes on. After a little coffee I perked up and started loading all of the 102 items into my teeny-tiny car. I packed it all in...with a car seat in the front seat and all. We headed to Little Gym for our Tuesday class and then to lunch and to drop off our items at the sale. My dear friend Melissa and I coordinated dropping off at the same time so one of us could stay at the car to watch kids. It would be a nightmare taking kids inside to dropoff. So, I went in first...she second. The kids melted down pretty quickly. We ended up taking them out of their carseats to play in the grass by the car. I thought the kids would fall asleep in the car on the way home but no such luck! Neither of my children took ANY naps today. Ellie was asleep tonight at 6:00pm and Rett at 7:15pm....so how can I really complain. Now I can catch up on some Tivo-ed shows..but I really should do our taxes...what a situation.
I took these two pics with my phone:

Guess What?

Ready for some exciting news....We're MOVING!! Yep, after lots of looking we've finally found our diamond in the rough. Our new home is in a wonderful Lake Highlands neighborhood with a fabulous Elementary school (exemplary rated by TEA) just down the street. The neighborhood is chock-full of little kids for Rett and Ellie to play with. As you can probably tell, this was our motivation for the move. We wanted our kids to attend a school with a great reputation for academics, AND sports. We wanted them to share classes with neighborhood kids that they could ride bikes with to the park, and walk to each others house on the weekends. We have looked periodically as homes came on the market for the past two years (we really wanted to find the one that we could see ourselves living in until all our children are out of school) and found this one on January 15, 2010. We viewed it on a Saturday, obsessed about it until the following Friday when we submitted our offer. That's when the waiting began. The house was being sold as a "short-sale" so we were communicating directly with the bank rather than the individual owner. Apparently, banks work very slowly. We finally heard back from them on March 15th (2 months later!!) that they accepted our offer! Pending a good inspection we should close mid-april and we have a projected move-in date of May 1st.

What's the house like you ask? It is a spacious 2,100 sq ft home with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a playroom and office! It has lots of potential. I will divulge more later as I plan on documenting the enire renovation/move on my blog. Here's a sneak-peek of what you'll be driving up to when you come to visit:

Saturday Night

Saturday night Troy and I went to an engagement party for our friends Andy and Angela. The party was alot of fun as we saw many friends we had not seen in a long time. My parents kept Rett and Ellie overnight. It was such a nice break for Troy and I. The last time we went out without kids was Valentines Day...a month can feel like a long time! This morning we woke up (at 10am!!!) to a white landscape and went and ate a warm breakfast of omlets, country potatoes, and english muffins with fresh coffee here. Rett played in the snow this morning with my brother and mom. Ellie and my dad played inside where it was warm.

Before the party...did anyone notice Troy got a haircut?

Busy little bees

Wow-wee! We have been busy the past few days. We went to the lake over St. Patricks day. It was beautiful weather and we were able to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. A goose has been hanging out around my parents house and came up pretty close to us. We kept our distance because they have been known to peck at little ones. Rett of course wanted to get as close as possible...

We were so wiped out from our trip to the lake that we decided to skip the zoo. We are planning on going back...just another week when it's NOT spring break and packed to the gills with school aged kids. Since we skipped the zoo Rett was able to go over to Kate's house to play for a few hours thursday morning. He had a blast playing soccer with her and bouncing in their bounce house. Here are a few pics from the lake and also playing at Kate's house.









We have a busy weekend ahead of us. We are going to an engagement party Saturday night (sans kids, whoo-hoo) and my mother-in-laws birthday brunch on Sunday. We have a few more events in the works that we can't wait to share with you. STAY TUNED...

Arboreteum

Today we went to the Arboreteum. It was a mad-house! There were so many people there they closed the parking lot and started shuttling visitors via bus from a remote parking lot. Needless to say I was exhausted by the time we got home...but the kids had fun and I got great naps out of both of them.
A few pics:

Bounce Town

Today we went to Bounce Town in Wylie. Rett LOVES to bounce and slide and weave his way though inflatable mazes. Here are a few pics: