Fun Friday

Chick Fil-A, Children's Museum and Target...with my cute little sidekicks!

Iowa City has THE BEST Children's museum I have ever visited. I am determined to return to Austin with ideas for how they can improve their museum...it just DOESN'T compare!

Here are the girls "grocery shopping":

Addy likes donuts, can you tell?

There is a whole section dedicated to the alphabet with puzzles, art, magnetic letters, felt letters, tracing letters, etc...

and a whole art room where the girls can create stuff to take home (without the mess actually being at home):

After the museum, we headed to Target so Aubrey could spend her hard earned allowance. She's been saving it for about 6 weeks, so she had 10 bucks. She bought this game and a microphone that she used to sing throughout the store. FUN FUN!

Have I mentioned before that I love my cell phone camera? I mean, it's obviously not the best quality, but it's definitely acceptable for days like today! :) Have a great weekend!

go green.

misrepresentation...

So, over the weekend, I obviously managed to choose the most unflattering clothes in my closet. My mom said I already looked a little pregnant, and I don't disagree. I mean, my jeans are already starting to feel snug. However, I think I looked A LOT MORE pregnant than I am in the pictures I posted of our Chicago trip. So, this is for you, Mom...a picture of my growing bulge, up close and personal...

weekend update...

Is it already Tuesday? My brother, Kody, and sister-in-law, Candice, arrived here Thursday night. We had an awesome weekend, but it went by WAY too fast! They left yesterday afternoon, much to the disappointment of my children!! Aubrey said she was already feeling lonely this morning (it doesn't help that her mommy is a hermit). Anyway, I am one tired mama these days, so my blogging has been replaced by naptime most afternoons. Here are a few pics to keep you entertained:

We spent Friday doing the typical touristy stuff in Iowa City...aka, driving out to Kalona to gawk at the Amish...not in a bad way, just in a completely fascinated, "I can't believe they live like this" way...
We visited the Kalona Bakery, and FINALLY found donuts worth eating!! YAY!!


we visited the Amish run community store out in the country and bought fresh eggs and couple little toys for the girls...

and Kody tried on a hat...

Then we headed to the Amana Colonies for lunch at the Ox Yoke Inn...this is one of the only pictures of Dave and me, so forgive me for no make-up and greasy hair...I'm exhausted people!

We then decided to head to Chicago Friday night since it was supposed to snow Saturday morning...there are a lot of pictures from Chicago, but here are a few of my favorites...
Eating at Giordano's...check out Addy in the background...she was WAY into her pizza!


Just a cute picture of Kody and Candice with the girls (NONE of the pictures of the girls with Dave and myself turned out this good!!)

On Sunday, we headed to the Shedd Aquarium. We watched Spongebob in 4-D (always a good time), saw a dog show, and managed to get a picture of the whole group that was just as good as the one they were charging 20 bucks for at the place...Addy wasn't looking in that one either!




It was a great weekend, and I am currently taking volunteers for visitors...I, like my eldest daughter, am feeling a bit lonely. :)

what a pain...

For about a week now, I've had this dull ache in my left lower abdomen. I drove Dave NUTS over the weekend, but I finally called the doctor today and they worked me in this afternoon. Turns out it was nothing...I got to see my "little blob" on ultrasound, and it's a cute little blob with a beating heart! YAY! It's also growing in the right place, which is really what I was most concerned about...anyway, I guess my lower abdomen pain isn't related, and I'm wondering if I pulled something walking on the treadmill...that's right, walking...not even jogging...that's pretty sad!! :) Random Pic Wednesday may happen tomorrow, unless I get a sudden burst of energy later.

in need of monogramming??

If you are like me, you want everything your child has to be monogrammed! OR, you choose monogrammed goodies for wedding gifts, baby showers, etc...well, if you are in search of a monogramming source, look no further!

My friend, Brooke, just started a business and I have to say she is doing some pretty cute stuff! She sent the girls these adorable shirts today:


and she has examples of many more on her website (including a lot of cute BOY stuff too!):
http://www.bellesandbeausmonogramming.com/
Check it out!!

Lots of love...

Everyday seems like Valentine's Day around here. My heart is always full. The blog world opens your eyes to other people's everyday joys and challenges, and reading the stories of so many who suffer the loss of loved ones, especially children, makes me appreciate my own life even more. Not a day goes by that I don't tell Dave or the girls that I love them. I am truly blessed with an awesome family! We had a great weekend with the girls. We loaded them in the car on Saturday morning and headed off to our surprise destination. Everyone started off a little cranky, but it was nothing that breakfast at McDonald's couldn't fix...


and then their Valentine's goodies made it even better...


The big clue in their Valentine goody bag was a heart covered swimsuit...

Aubrey loved her swimsuit, even though she was a little confused (it is still winter here)...

We finally made it to our destination, Wisconsin Dells (THE waterpark capital of the world). The girls didn't wait long to strip off their clothes and put on their new swimwear...
They were super-pumped, can you tell?? We stayed at a little hotel with an indoor waterpark perfect for little kids, and the girls had a blast! They also slept REALLY well. It was an awesome weekend. Dave and I watched the NBA HORSE competition, along with the 3 point and slam dunk competitions, and he kept repeating how I was the best wife ever...it obviously takes very little to impress him. Then on Sunday, we met some friends in Mt. Horeb, WI for lunch. They are our friends from Temple who are also stuck in the midwest doing a fellowship. It was a cute town, full of large wooden trolls along the main road, or trollway, as they call it. We ate at a place called The Grumpy Troll, and then tried to walk around, but it was way too cold!! Here are some more pics from our weekend excursion...enjoy!
Addy was very distracted by her surroundings:

testing the waters...

the sweetest sisters around...


my girls...




I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day, I know we did!! :)

I really wanted to take a nap this afternoon...

but I baked cookies and set up a decorating session for the girls instead. It was really fun, and probably created better memories than napping. We have a sweet surprise for our little sweethearts this weekend. Stay tuned for pictures from our Valentine's Day roadtrip. :)

technical difficulties....

Random Wednesday is semi-random today....the wireless internet on my laptop isn't working, so I had to improvise. I had some CD's that I saved pictures on from my school computer last year so I randomly picked the CD, but then I chose one picture from each event to post.

My friend, Carrie's, baby shower last summer. I was soooo happy to see her, and Carrie, if you see this...I still have the CD with the shower pics on it to send you....I'm a little slow....

This was the cake from a co-workers wedding last year. It was beautiful, and it looks sooooo good right now!! I really wish I had a piece of cake!!

My brother, Bink, and his new truck...that he got BEFORE his senior year of high school...spoiled little turd.

The girls inside a dresser...trying to have some fun while we were moving last year...
I'm going to rest now...I've had this nagging cramp on my left side, so of course I'm worried....that obviously doesn't lessen with each pregnancy!!

quote of the day

I sat down to pee while the girls were in the bathtub tonight. With the most serious look on her face, Aubrey said, "I sure hope you don't poop out your baby, mom."

a stranger's prediction...

When I was pregnant with Aubrey, the ladies at work did the "ring test"--you know, where you hang your wedding ring on a piece of string to see which way it swings, and that supposedly tells you the sex of your unborn children---well, mine swung three times, all in the same direction...all in the girl direction. I didn't think much of it, and Dave definitely thought we were crazy. Well, today we went to Panera for breakfast. The girls wore their super cute Valentine's outfits that Nanny and GG Dada sent, and this lady asked me where I got them. We started chatting away, and I popped out my pregnancy news (I think I've now told the entire planet). Anyway, she told me that she would be able to let me know the sex of my baby.... she said that she is a hairstylist and she has done the "pencil test" (very similar to the ring test, just with a pencil...) on 97 of her clients and she has only been wrong once. No lie, the lady went out to her car, got her special pencil that was attached to a rubber band by the way of a safety pin, and came to find me while we were eating breakfast. I thought it was kinda funny, so I put out my wrist and the thing went to swinging...three times....all in the same direction...so we'll see.

A new reason to look forward to Thursdays (other than good TV)...

5 weeks down, 35 to go....

for your viewing (and listening) pleasure...

It's already random pic wednesday!!

Keep the weeks rolling by, I am READY to be in Texas! A LOT has happened since last random Wednesday...
Folder 18, Pic 13- Aubrey's fish, Nemo. We got him last March, and he made the loooong trip to Iowa with us. Unfortunately, he passed away soon thereafter.

Folder 7, pic 8- Eating Pops' pancakes on Addy's first birthday.

Folder 20, Pic 11- Playing in the backyard on St. Patrick's Day last year.

Folder 12, pic 6 (there were only 3 in this folder, so I used the first one)- New Year's Day, 2008

Folder 24, Pic 13- At my god-sister's (is that a word) wedding last year.

and that's all folks. :) until tomorrow...