The girls love nachos

On Tuesday Jessica had the great idea to have nachos for dinner instead of tacos. Well it was a complete success. How do I know this? Well Lauren kept thanking Jessica for dinner over and over. That might be a first. Also, I am usually the last one to finish and after I was done Lauren was still eating. I guess we can add this to our list of dinners. -Bill

School Carnival

I got an email from a mom's group in my neighborhood informing me of the elementary school carnival this past Friday. I had such fond memories of my school carnival, mainly the cake walk, that I couldn't wait to take the girls. To my complete astonishment, this carnival was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Bounce houses galore, a bubble foam pit, a petting zoo, and yes a modified version of the cake walk, which wasn't a walk really, but kids standing in front of a number banging a washer on a string while the roulette wheel spins. I at least thought you should be walking around before you consume an entire cake...

My favorite part was the petting zoo - I think I had more fun than the girls. I asked Emma what her favorite part was, and she said the ice cream (blue bell in an individual cup and wooden spoon). Lauren's response was seeing her friends Delia and Cole. I of course loved holding the baby bunnies and chicks.

Sunday at the Pool

We were planning to go on the boat Sunday afternoon, but it was just too windy. So, instead we decided to go to the pool. Even though it was too cold for my liking, the girls got right in and enjoyed the water.

Girls playing

The girls were playing around outside and got the idea to drag each other around on the tricycle. -Bill

Windy day on the boat

Last Sunday we went on the boat. It was 80 degrees but really windy so it was hard to anchor the boat. We ended up driving around very slow for about 2 hours and then going to Volente Beach and playing in the sand. Our gas bill was a whopping $4.70. If it could only be like that everytime this Summer. -Bill

Visit to the Dentist

Lauren and Emma had their 6 month check-ups this morning at the dentist. They both LOVE the dentist, for real, and look forward to going every time. If it were up to Lauren, she would go every day I think. Emma wanted to be first for x-rays and first for cleaning. Lauren was nice enough to wait her turn. After the x-rays, Emma walked right over to the dentist's chair, climbed in it and said "I'm ready!". I didn't even need to sit next to her, she did it all by herself. Both girls had good reports, no cavities!

Future Girl Scout

Lauren had the opportunity to participate in Exploration Day at 3M with area Girl Scouts. I was volunteering for the event and asked if Lauren could come with since she had the day off from school. The age range was 6th-9th grade girls, and the activity was to create a mechanical hand out of paper, duct tape, straws and string. Lauren was able to trace her hand, apply the duct tape, cut out her hand, bend the fingers where her joints were, and started to cut all the little plastic straw pieces to apply to the hand, when she decided it was much more fun to make bracelets and necklaces.

We made the 3M presentation though to execs, since I found this picture posted on the internal 3M site. It was a lot of fun to have her there with me.

Lauren's Father's Day Picnic...with Mom!

Bill is in Omaha so I was lucky enough to attend Lauren's Father's Day picnic at school. We had so much fun making our sandwiches, sharing our fruit with friends, and playing on the playground.

Happy Earth Day

Grandpa Denny sent the girls Earth Day frog shirts, as a good biologist should. The girls were so excited to wear them today, they wanted to show them off. They wore them to school over their uniforms.

Father's Day Picnic with Emma

School is hosting Dads this week for an early Father's Day picnic (since they'll be on summer session in June). Bill attended Emma's picnic on Monday, and spent time in the classroom with her and then went to the playground for lunch. Bill had to make the lunches for the picnic and Emma was very excited to see what he brought for them.

Easter and the Trails

Sunday afternoon we finally let the girls eat a ton of candy. Right after that we took them for a walk on the trails to wear them out. It worked because they never got real crazy with the sugar since they used up the energy walking around for an hour. -Bill

Cleaning the house

Lauren decided to help out, on her own, and clean some dishes. Emma joined in and helped dry them. It will be nice to have helpers to clean the house. -Bill

Playing the Cello

The girls were interested in playing musical instruments today so we broke out the Cello. -Bill

New Packaging...Same Post

I decided to spend a few minutes playing with the layout of the blog site. Thanks to our superblog friend, Erica, for the link to free, cool blog backgrounds :-) Let me know what you think. Now that I figured out how easy it is, I may change it up more frequently! ~Jessica

More Easter Pictures

The Easter Bunny left us a basket of eggs to hide after the thunderstorms stopped Sunday morning. So, after Church we came home and I hid the eggs where the Easter Bunny told me. The girls had a really fun time finding the eggs and eating the candy.

I Can Teach Nights

Lauren and Emma both hosted us at their school for "I Can Teach Night" a couple weeks ago.

Emma taught us about the binomial cube (think 3-D puzzle), practical life exercises like pouring and tonging, and ten beads (counting from 1 to 19).
Lauren taught us sound cylinders, phonetic exercises matching items to letter sounds, and ten beads.

Easter at Theta House

Here are some pictures from the Easter Egg hunt at the Theta house that we go to every year. The girls love it. We finally got up the courage to take a picture with the Easter Bunny but it must have bounced away because we couldn't find it on our way out. -Bill

Chuck E Cheese with Emma

Emma and I went to Chuck E Cheese on Saturday afternoon while Jessica and Lauren went to a Easter party that one of the girls in class was having. - Bill

Rollin' on 18s

Lauren has been badly in need of a bike for a few months now. On Sunday afternoon we went shopping and narrowed it down to two bikes. A nice Pink one and this light blue one below. She really wanted the light blue one and the main reason was that it came with a water bottle. I promised her that she could have a water bottle no matter which one she picked. She also liked the hand brake on the blue one so that is the one we picked. - Bill

Saturday morning with the girls

Jessica had a Lake Austin Spa morning so I had the girls all to myself. Since Jessica had us run an errand at Barton Creek Mall we decided to go to Zilker park after. The rule was that they had to stay together at all times because it is very easy to lose a kid at Zilker since it is so broken up. First we went on the train and then played on the fire truck and slides. There was 1 point where Emma ran 1 way and Lauren ran the other but luckily I am quick and I grabbed Emma we followed Lauren up the slide. That was enough for me so we stopped and went to Huts for some good burgers and fries. I guess we will have a few more days like that since Jessica has 10 more Spa days left.... -Bill