Grace and Hope

Grace and Hope
Wait for God. Wait with hope. Hope now; hope always! Pslam 131:3

Friday, August 28, 2015

July - August 2015

Summer Days--so much fun! I love having the kids home for the summer. Instead of counting down the days they go back to school...I'm cherishing all the days I still have with them!  I love the time with them and all the fun activities that we get to do together. This summer has flown by (don't all summers fly by?!). The girls have really enjoyed swim lessons this summer (who would have thought after last summer and the start of this summer?!). They often times tell me it is the most favorite part of their day. The continue with swim twice a week and gymnastics once a week. They are really learning skills in both and it is neat to see their confidence build in sports. Another favorite activity is going to the library. I love having new books to read and the girls get lost in looking at books in their beds-it's perfect.

In July we had some special visitors! Nana and Grandpa came for a fun-filled visit. They got to see the girls at gymnastics and swim lessons this month. Nana, the girls, and I had a "spa day" at sweet and sassy and enjoyed getting spoiled as a special treat. We had a great day at Kemah too...even though it was quite hot! We also had a wonderful visit from family we haven't seen or gotten to spend time with in a long while. It was so nice to have much of my dad's family together as a mini reunion. We celebrated my grandmother's (87th) birthday and she got to spend time with her great grandchildren. What a blessing. Aunt Maida and Uncle Ron, along with Dante, Aunt Dee Dee and Uncle Mike, cousin John and Amanda along with Lauren, and Poppy were all there to celebrate. Aimee, Israel, Jason and I loved having everyone under one roof-for the cousins to meet and play and for us to spend time with the adults. It is something we rarely do, but it was so wonderful that we did it.

In August, I got to enjoy another birthday with the girls. As a special present, we arranged to have family pictures done. They turned out so beautiful. We also took advantage of the time and took pre-school pictures too. Good memories! Later in August, Jason and I enjoyed a weekend getaway while the girls were spoiled and loved on from Aunt Aimee and Uncle Israel. Sweet Tessa was thoroughly entertained by my crazy two, she even skipped her nap! What a special treat for us to have time together during Jason's very busy work schedule.

The girls started pre-school-4 this year. They are in the same class and the teacher's name is Mrs. Beheshti. They attend school four days a week from 9a-12p. Each week they have a job (for example, Aubrey is the "line leader" this week and Avery is "materials management" which means she distributes all the papers, utensils etc). It is really neat how they talk about their responsibilities and what they did during their school day. On their first day in school, in my 2.5hr window to myself, you would not believe the amount of stuff I got done in that day! I was like superwoman! Hahaha. We really enjoyed our summer, but now it is back to school days!


JULY 2015:

July 4th:
This holiday was a lot of fun! We started the day off grabbing pictures before we got hot and sweaty  because boy was it a hot day! We then grabbed kolaches and donuts to kick off the day while we waited for the town parade. In the meantime, the girls rode bikes, visited a park and even had time for the splash pad before the parade started at 10am. Yes we are a busy family! Hahaha. After nap, we visited Aunt Aimee, Uncle Israel and Tessa for a short bit. And of course....you need to eat watermelon on the holiday!
Wearing three outfits in one day isn't anything out of the ordinary for us...and you don't even know that they also changed into swim suits at Aunt Aimee/Uncle Israel's house too! Oh the laundry loads in my house!







Riding balance bikes while waiting on the 4th of July parade.





Second Haircut:


Avery with a princess braid.


Aubrey excited about her princess braid.


Five point fancy braid!
Galveston Vacation: We planned a mini getaway to Galveston and took advantage of some free passes to Palm Beach Moody Gardens. We don't have any pictures at Palm Beach because our phones were stored in a locker but I assure you that the kids had a blast. We stayed in the wave pool or the sand 100% of the time. They couldn't get enough of it. Our night at the beach for playing in the sand was such a sweet memory. The girls were having so much fun. Jay's and my hearts were so happy just to see them having a blast being kids. We are so thankful we get to witness the big and the small things in their lives. 











Sand Angels!
Sand Angels!


Visit with Nana and Grandpa: The girls had a great visit with Nana and Grandpa. I think the highlight was visiting Kemah for the day and having lots of fun. Also, the girls (Nana, Momma, Aubrey and Avery) had a special girls day and the girls got manis and pedis!







Avery on the upper deck with Grandpa and Aubrey on the lower deck with Nana.











Cousin Love:


More fun days in July: 


Nearly 60lbs of toddler!
Miss Pam reading books to the girls. They love to visit Miss Pam and Mr John any chance they get.
Family Visit: We had a  mini family reunion of sorts in Houston with our extended family from Florida. What a treat to see family that we see so rarely and it was wonderful for all the little cousins to be together as well. We also got to celebrate my grandmother's 87th birthday!! What a wonderful reason to celebrate!



They look so much alike!




What a happy Great Grandma!
All the kids and their momma's, grandmother and great grandmother!
 


 
August 2015:
I had a very special birthday which kicked off by getting professional family pictures (that turned out beautiful and found at the end of the blog), brunch, morning at the pool, afternoon relaxation and then date night with my handsome hubby. It was a perfect combination of time with my favorite girls and sweet husband that I love so much. 


Fun at Children's Museum: The girls had a great time visiting the Children's Museum in Houston. Their most favorite place was the face painting station. Aubrey painted herself to be a monster and Avery painted herself to be a princess--I'm sure you could tell from the pictures!



I see two little girls putting on make-up in the future. 
Acting as scientists.

In other news:
Their response: BIGGEST bubble bath ever! I think they were right!

Thanks Aunt Dee Dee for our goody package.

 


First Day of Pre-school 4: Pictures, pictures and more pictures because momma doesn't want to miss a memory!

When we were eating lunch after their first day of school, the girls told me that they wanted to tell Gramma about their day. I smiled and told them that we can talk to Gramma any time of the day or night. So they proceeded to shout about the entire day's happenings...When asked about it, they said they needed to shout so Gramma could hear them in heaven. Shout it from the rooftops any time you want girls! Love their hearts.

 
 

 



 

Professional Pictures: August 1, 2015 (approx. age 3 yr 10 month)

Family pictures-I love how the photographer captured happiness!

Pre-school pictures--one of those things that are so not necessary, but I know I will appreciate them in the future:)

Gramma gave the girls a very special book when they were born. Avery was given: "The Crown on Your Head" and Aubrey was given "On the Night You Were Born." Gramma wrote them a special note inside the book as a momento. I was happy to capture some memories of them reading these books from Gramma. The storyline is most definitely something Gramma would want her grand daughters to know because it describes how special they are.














True happiness indeed.




Got the whole world in my hands...Got the whole world in my hands!
Aubrey is ready to change the world in her Pre-K 4 class.










Avery had the whole world in her hands!
 

Avery's little hands--ready to take on the world at school.

 See you in 2 months!