Jenny and I went shopping and had some fun along the way. What actually caught my mind was the teeth on this bag. Space between front teeth, multiple chipped teeth, etc. Is Lay's purposefully marketing to the rednecks of East Texas?
Nana and Grandpa made copies of the cards for the game Hi Jack. The girls had so much fun playing it.
At the park by the zoo.
Laying down is always an invitation to have kids climb on you...
Coloring while Grandpa reads to the girls.
Watching Cars 3.
Playing 'Simon Says'.
These girls were tuckered out from playing so much. And also waking up at early hours to get extra time with Nana and Grandpa.
Playing basketball at the church. Ashlyn made her first basket!
On Sunday we spent some time outside and had a little concert, directed by Ashlyn, where everyone had a chance to perform.
Nana got tuckered out too.
Lufkin zoo.
We were so happy to have Grandpa and Nana stay with us. We enjoyed them playing with the girls, the games, talking at night, movies, and more. Come back soon!
I can't believe this little girl is 2! We woke her up singing happy birthday and throughout the day she would say, "I'm the birthday girl", then start singing Happy Birthday. She knew how to soak up this day that comes once a year.
Desi has an audience
This present was the highlight of the day (and still continues to be with all the girls)! Thanks Grandma and Papa Martinson.
Every time Desi would sing happy birthday she would end on blowing air like she was blowing out the candles. She was so excited to blow them out when we sang to her in the evening that she just couldn't wait to blow them out!
She got some cute gifts and one was this adorable dress that she couldn't wait to wear and then this soft cuddly bear.
She also got an outfit that was too big for her so we called it a dress. Desi called herself the Valentine Princess and had to wear it to bed!
She got many cards for her birthday and she felt so loved! Thank y'all for thinking of her. It made her day very special!
Desi likes to go around the house with her baby stroller so we got her a lawn mower bubble machine! Oh she loves it so much!
Cards and chocolate!
Claire gets special time with mommy and daddy during the lunch hours while Desi naps and Brinley is at preschool. It has been really cold lately and so we are huddled together using the amazing bed jet!
We love our sweet Claire Bear!
I recently have been reading the book called The Entitlement Trap and one aspect that was taught in this book was teaching the girls about money early on by working hard at home. I made a new chore chart system and we bought the girls each their own banks, the one with 3 different sections (spending, saving, tithing) from Desert Book. The girls are so motivated and working so hard!
We went to Dallas for 4 days because Derek had a dental convention and we wanted to make it a family trip because it is very needed for me to get out of Lufkin and explore with my kids! We were all so excited! We picked up Ashlyn early from school and these girls love the "little furniture" that is in her school.
Our first day in Dallas, I took the kids to the Dallas Children's Museum! I love watching them explore and have a lot of fun. It brings back so many fond memories of Omaha when we would go to the Children's museum weekly.
Outside the museum, there are many statues of frogs that the girls loved to climb.
Before we went in to explore, I had to give them a talk about staying together because there were a lot of people. Well during the day, Claire did a little exploring on her own and got lost. It was a scary 15-20 minutes trying to find her. It turned out that she climbed up the stairs to the front desk (which is really far from where we were). I am just so grateful that a lady brought her back to the kids section.
Exploring!
Can you tell that Brinley loved the flower section!
They had a sports room and one of the activities was to race an athlete. The girls really liked it! Claire wanted to do it over and over again.
Lindsey, my roommate from BYU met up with us and her kids at the museum!
It was so fun to catch up!
To make things easier for me, we ate lunch (which was overpriced and not that good) at the museum cafe. Well this picture doesn't get the accurate experience that I had while getting our lunches. Desi had a full-blown meltdown, screaming and pouting in full swing. While Desi was having her meltdown, Claire was whining because she was hungry, and Brinley and Ashlyn were arguing. This was a moment that I was at the end of my rope and just wanted to get the meals and get out of everyones' sight. It was an embarrassment at the moment, but a funny memory now. As soon as the kids had food in their mouths, they were very happy and content!
After lunch the girls wanted to explore some more and the sandbox was a big hit!
The next day we went to another Science Nature Museum. The girls liked to explore the animal exhibit.
The had a "pond" and the girls loved stepping on the fish.
They had these digital games (12-15 games) for the girls to play. It outlines their bodies and in this picture they are catching the fireflies. We spent a whole hour playing with the games! It is nice when you have the museum to ourselves!
They had a section of the museum where you could explore nature using the binoculars. The girls spotted different types of birds, turtles, and fish.
Nature walk!
There was a park nearby that was a fun adventure.
We rented a house and the girls loved to explore the backyard as well.
We love renting a house instead of a hotel room. It is a lot more roomier and cheaper!
While on vacation, we get plenty of time to explore, but down time to rest and watch some tv.
We have friends that we made in Lufkin that recently moved to Dallas and they invited us over for dinner! It was so much fun to see them again.
The last day, Derek just had a half day so I wanted to take a trip to Ikea! These girls wanted to get checked into the daycare for an hour and Desi wasn't old enough to go, so we had our own special date.
After we met daddy for lunch at Chick-fil-a
Watching tv in the morning in Mom and Dad's bed!
The girls have been begging to do a tea party and so we finally did one!
Grandma Martinson sent a special Valentine's package and the girls were squealing with delight!
Derek is getting pictures for his dental consulting and for our date night we went to the mall to get him a few outfits. It was so funny to see Derek stress out about clothes because he doesn't care about fashion. It was a fun date and we got him some great shirts.
(this is the only picture I took that night).
His face says how much fun he has shopping!
Claire, Desi, and I went grocery shopping and Claire found treats that she wanted to buy with her own money. I love how hard she works and the excitement she had buying it with her own money!
Claire finished her gymnastics class through the rec center. She did a great job and worked hard. She looks forward to gymnastics each week!
I bought Claire some workbooks and she looks forward everyday to doing her "homework"! She has a love and excitement for learning. I love this special time together when we work on her "homework" together!
After Claire's gymnastics showcase they had a booth they we could take pictures.
The above picture is Claire with her friend Addy that she took her class with.
I am trying to work myself out of a job of doing dinner clean-up. On the new chore chart, each girl has a dinner job. This is what it looked like this week....ha ha.
We finally finished reading all the kid's scriptures (Old, New, BofM, and D&C)! It took us 1 1/2 years!!! ha ha. But we read in the mornings before work and school!
Reward for finishing the scriptures- CTR rings!
I was cleaning out all my preschool papers and stuffs and I came across a huge package of glow-in-the-dark sticks. We had to have a bath in the dark to play with our new findings!
On Friday, we decided to go for a family picnic to the zoo park and go on a walk on our favorite pathway!
Skipping rocks
The girls love to play with the neighbor girls and it was rainy on Saturday. We invited them over for movie and popcorn.
Our ward had a combined Family Valentine's Dance with the Nac ward in Nac. We decided to make this a big family date! Derek has been wanting to go to a sit down pizza place as a family for a couple of months now, so we went to a restaurant had delicious pizza, when to the dance and had a blast! The girls were in heaven! The were the first ones on the dance floor! It was fun to see so many families dancing together! Fun memory!
