Girls first trip to Brennan's!

After just eating at Brennan's for our first time (our anniversary back in June), the girls got to go on Friday! We all dressed up in our "princess clothes" and went to celebrate Pops' 70th birthday. We feasted on a lot of delicious food (I tried the shrimp and goat-cheese grits, omg!!) and the chef prepared a special steak and french fries meal for the girls. I think the girls really enjoyed watching our waiter prepare the banana's foster and seeing pops wear the silly birthday hat. The girls were SO well behaved. Daniel and I were holding our breath for the first thirty minutes, but honestly, they were great. I think they could tell the place we were at was really nice and they even sat still from 7-9:30pm! Can't wait to take them back!!

ARTreach :: Houston

Yesterday I had the privilege of going to ARTreach in downtown Houston with my MOPS group. I am blessed to work and attend a church that supports several nonprofits/ministries both financially and with volunteers... ARTreach is one of those partnerships. ARTreach is a ministry that takes teenagers off the streets who have been involved with graffiti and teaches them how to use their artistic talent for good. MOPS (since we are in charge of decorations for VBS) and our VBS coordinators decided to commission these young men to do our backdrops for our main VBS stage. Well, they were so excited about the task that they invited us to come and help! 

So, about 20 of us went to ARTreach, shared our vision for the backdrops and Mark went to drawing. Using a fat, black marker, he drew each of the backdrops in about 10 minutes. It was amazing to watch. We basically did a paint by number - ha! The entire project took about 1.5 hours and was so much fun.  I love painting so this was a great project for me. I am so proud we (MDUMC) work with ARTreach - what an amazing ministry! They have church on Sundays, Bible studies during the week, art lessons and a street-dance performance group. The street-dance performers are going to come to our VBS and teach our older kids some dance moves as a break-out session. I may or may not be joining in on that!

getting to work - that's me in the bottom right working on the tree trunk - very proud of our finished product!

family pictures :: la brisa photography :: sneak peek

We finally took our family pictures on Monday night. Chris from La Brisa Photography posted a sneak peek on his blog and facebook today and I can't stop looking at them. What a wonderful gift and what a wonderful way to capture the joy that our girls bring to us. He posted 20-something pictures and we will receive the entire set in 4-6 weeks. 

Chris was fantastic and the girls loved him. We took the pictures from 6-8PM so the girls would go in and out of waves of tiredness and frustration, but overall we did great! Claire and Emma even got to learn how to pee-pee in the field (no restrooms around) - so they probably remember that the most as they thought that was hysterical. Two year olds! Here are my favorites from the sneak peek:

window shopping

We went up to Gittings today to drop off the frames for the two smaller prints we ordered and look who is on display - the Irving twins! The men at Gittings told us they wanted to put them in the window, but I shrugged it off thinking that they probably say that to everyone... but they weren't kidding. Emma and Claire squealed when they saw it and admittedly, I did, too! We haven't received our portrait yet as the frame is still being built, but to see it this big in the window made me so excited. It's hard to believe that picture was taken on the window seat in our playroom. I know I am biased, but it's just a magical picture - what a sweet moment the photographer caught!

Speaking of photographers, we have our family pictures tomorrow morning. They were supposed to be today, but after seeing the pouring down rain and 45 degree temps, Chris texted and said we could reschedule for tomorrow - whew! Hopefully he will post some sneak peeks and I can share them on the blog next week!

how does my garden grow?

We really have been blessed with a nice spring - we have had our waves of hot and cold, but overall it's been very pleasant. Actually, as I type this a cold front is blowing in and I swear it's dropped 20 degrees in the last two hours. Regardless if it is 60 outside or 80, my garden has been blooming! Sorry for you northerners still dealing with snow... I've been dealing with ladybugs, butterflies and mosquitos, which I guess isn't a bad problem to have. 

We've started a garden behind our garage and things are going really well! Our herbs are growing really well and I think our tomato plants look awesome. The cucumbers look a little drab - I think Boaz is the instigator there... he gets a little dig-happy. My vines have grown back, my basil has grown back and my begonias are in full bloom. Walking in our backyard makes me so happy. It's a lot of work but so worth it! 

TIP: I have found that my basil grows best in a pot - it's easier to keep watered, Boaz doesn't step in it and I feel like it grows back faster once pruned.

BEFORE: Had to pull weeds, till the soil... 

AFTER: peppers in left bed, cilantro and tomatoes in right bed.

AFTER: cucumbers, rosemary and mint in left bed; dill, parsley and cucumbers in right bed.
Still to do: lay down cardboard and make gravel walkways, clean up compost piles, cut down weeds and growing tree in back yard. 

emma and claire do easter

Emma & Claire at Good Friday service

*just because people ask: Target dresses and Saltwater Shoes

We had a very blessed Easter weekend. Friday afternoon we went to the Good Friday service for families and it was awesome - it was such a "kid-friendly" way of talking about Christ's death. Emma and Claire loved it and were so excited to see the donkey (the service actually covered Palm Sunday - Good Friday so the kids could see how the story unfolds). After the service, the girls went home with the Irvings and Daniel and I went to the traditional Good Friday service. Our orchestra and choir performed Dubois' Seven Last Words - I felt like I was at the Orchestra. It was amazing. Afterward we cheered our Blue Devils with our Duke friends. So fun!

Saturday morning was the Easter egg hunt up at church. Emma and Claire dominated the preschool playground... well actually, Emma took most of the pink eggs (she had told me that's all she wanted) and Claire just ran around like a crazy person (aka her dad!) picking up as many eggs as possible. We also dyed eggs that afternoon which is crazy with toddlers. Thank goodness I made them wear old tshirts!

Today was just a beautiful Easter day. We had record numbers at The Journey and Daniel did an awesome job preaching four different services. We feel beyond blessed to have such a great worship community. Emma and Claire looked like little angel dolls in their white dresses and we had a delicious brunch here at the house after the third service. While Duke didn't win the game today, we had fun all cheering on the couch together and stuffing ourselves with leftovers and candy. I hope you had a wonderful Easter and that we can all live in the truth that God has the final word above pain, death, hurt and disappointment! He is Risen!

Claire & Emma at the Egg Hunt - wearing Orient Expressed

Today after church: Claire wanted to pick flowers and Emma told me
that I "hurt her feelings" - this is real life with twins, people!! Ha!

swim lessons

Jack, Claire and Emma with Mr. Rudy

Emma, Claire and best-bud Jack started swim lessons on Monday at Houston Swim Club. We are going every morning for two weeks for the swim bootcamp (as I like to call it). The girls have done awesome. Claire got in trouble the first day for continued splashing, but today she didn't splash one time! Emma has been a little timid at the beginning so far, but throughout the lesson she warms up. I can tell she really likes (and trusts!) Mr. Rudy a lot. The girls have learned how to blow bubbles, go under water, kick forward and started to float on their back. Supposedly by the end of the two weeks they should be able to float by themselves! We have to sit behind the glass during class but on the last day we get to go watch them out front, take pictures... and they get an award with a ribbon. I'm really happy we quit gymnastics to do this swim class. It has been so worth it already - I totally recommend HSC to any Houston parents!

yehaw! houston rodeo

Callie and I took the kids to the rodeo today and it was so much fun! We piled three toddlers, a seven month old baby, two double strollers, two adults, bags, lunch boxes, toys and jackets all into a Tahoe and drove down together... I can't believe we all fit! It was so worth it because Callie had a great parking pass and plus, it was just fun to be together. I love this picture above of Jack... I don't think he is used to a car full of women!

The rodeo was crowded but it was actually super fun and not crazy. We met up with a few of my MOPS friends and had fun checking out the birthing center, the petting zoo, the John Deer tractors and the outside farm. I told Daniel that next year I really want to go to the Livestock Show and some concert... I've never been to that stuff before and it looks so fun. I also think that Emma and Claire are definitely going to need cowboy boots for next year as well! We were able to do the whole trip for $5 as the girls were free and it was half-off day for adults. I packed our lunch and didn't spend money on pony rides/pictures as they just did this at their school's rodeo round-up. Also, great advice given to me that I'd like to pass on - take the elevator upstairs to the bathrooms... no lines, not crazy and clean!

I'm back! The weeks in review...

I promise I'm back to blogging... the past week, well two weeks actually, were cra-zy. First, Daniel and I went to Seaside to celebrate his 30th birthday and to have a nice get away. When we went to Seaside back in May, we earned a $1000 flight voucher so we used the flight money to get there and stayed at a friend of a friend's house in Sandestin. Daniel's best friend from seminary, Andrew, and his fiance, Mimi, joined us for two days. We had a lot of fun at the beach, ate lots of yummy food and enjoyed Florida at such a beautiful time of year! We got back Sunday afternoon and the girls were on a godparent and grandparent high as they just spent four five days with them! 

Then, I think I worked over 30 hours in three days as I helped co-chair Hearts and Hands Holiday Market at our church Monday-Wednesday last week. While it was SO fun, it was a lot of work and more than I realized I had taken on. My friend, Lindsey, did an amazing job overseeing the vendor committee and brought in some pretty awesome new people. About 80% of my Christmas shopping is done. Yay! 

Lastly, Sunday was Daniel's 30th birthday party. We celebrated his birthday on Friday night with lots of friends. Daniel seemed to have a great time - especially when he busted out the Wii Dance game and danced his behind off for two hours. Haha! I barely took pictures of the decorations but I had pictures of Daniel up all over the house, made a happy birthday banner, baked pumpkin cupcakes and a chocolate cake, had Daniel's old yearbook and books he had written from elementary school... we even watched a few of his home videos. The girls stayed up until 10:30PM and Emma told me she was a party animal. Ha! After everyone had left, Daniel's parents, Jessica, Joe, Daniel and I read through his biggest surprise: I had gathered up 30 memories for 30 years from friends and family. I saw the idea on Pinterest maybe 6-8 months ago and knew I had to do it. I had Daniel's favorite professor from SMU (Dr. Mark Chancey) write a letter and his was probably the best! We laughed, cried and laughed even more. It was so fun to hear what everyone had to say! Thank you to those who participated. 

We capped off the birthday weekend by celebrating Halloween at our church's annual Trunk Treats. The girls went as owls and Daniel showed up in the youth department's ostrich costume. Daniel probably had his picture taken 100 times. The girls wore their costumes again on Monday for the school parade...  Today is Halloween and we will be trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood. The girls have been saying "Happy Halloween" all day! 

watching Daniel paddle board 

Mimi, Andrew, me, Daniel

spent all of Saturday in Seaside - perfect!
i know... we can't take a normal picture...

one of my favorite vendors from Hearts and Hands
I bought those burlap xmas trees!

One of my favorite vendors, Kitty Keller Ornaments. Beautiful!

I know. Stop the cuteness.
First school pictures!!

Garrett and Daniel dance off!

First of many letters we read...

reading and laughing... so fun!

my party animals... got these dresses from Crewcuts (the outlet - like $15 each!), tights from Target and those are the new glitter mary-jane style TOMS ... the girls called their outfit their "princess dress"!!

Robbie and Daniel // best friends // coke vs. pepsi

in the school parade... I think they were in conversation about the craziness.
Emma on left, Claire on right

weekend update

We had a FULL week and weekend at our house... all on top of trying to get Claire well. Thursday night Daniel went out to The Houstonian for the LifeHouse Houston silent auction and gala. It was fun to get dressed up, drink wine, chat with friends and, of course, support such a wonderful ministry. Daniel told me on the car ride to the gala that we were NOT going to bid on anything at the silent auction... well, it was like a kid on Christmas morning. Daniel bid on about five things and won... all five. He's never allowed at a silent auction again. Ha!

Aunt Jessica came into town and we went to the Children's Museum to play. If there is a stage the girls will find it in seconds!! We had fun spending time together and church was really good on Sunday. Daniel introduced the capital campaign our church will start in January and it's so exciting to work for such an amazing church that is out to do amazing things! I took the photos below after church on Sunday and had to show off the girls cute fall outfits. I snagged these at the Nordstrom Anniversary sale for like $15 each! Oh, and Claire is wearing her new pair of glitter mary-jane style TOMS. Emma's are in the mail!

Speaking of fall clothes... we kept the door open all morning today. The cool breeze has arrived in Houston and the weather today was incredible. We played and played outside... the girls had a good day at school and I think Claire was so happy to see her friends and teachers again. 

Lastly, I'm in the process of planning Daniel's 30th birthday party. I've actually been planning and pinning ideas for about six months now. I have made the invitations and all I need to do now is buy stamps and mail them off. I have a few surprises up my sleeve... one of them includes pictures of Daniel... here's one I snagged from his parent's house this weekend. You see where Claire gets her blonde hair and blue eyes?!?