Cali's first......

HAIRCUT! It was last week when I realized she needed a trim as I was attempting to comb through many,many tangles in her hair. The ends of her hair were so fine and tangled easily in her curls. So, I called our great beautician and she hooked us up. At first Cali did not like it.




Once she was sitting up and saw herself in the mirror, all the tears dried up and she sat fine.


I even got a cheesy smile out of her.

Thank you Aunt Sherri for doing such a great job on all of our hair!! We love you.

Cali even felt so confident with her new hair cut that she thought she might look like Hannah Montana in this nifty wig!!

"Monika".....

This is what my 3 year old has been calling me lately. Yes it is my name, but so wierd to have her do it all the time. She'll say, "Monika, can you get me a snack?" or "Monika, I have to go potty!" It is cute but I keep correcting her and telling her I want her to call me mommy. Gotta love that girl!!!

christmas activity #2...

Last night we had our home group Christmas party. Rather than all of us make a dish, find a silly gift to exchange or steal, or do the same things we have always done, we did something very different this year. We all got sitters for our kids and headed to Las Colinas area to stay the night at my brother-in-laws hotel. We did a little shopping during the day with the Lathrops, went to the hotel to change, we all headed to a mexican restaurant called 7 Salsas, and then came back to the hotel for dessert, coffee, and games. We really had so much fun together. It was a nice relaxing night before all the hustle and bustle of Christmas. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends that we can do these kind of things together. ( Sidenote: Lance and I are almost completely finished with our Christmas shopping! Yea!!!!!)

Christmas in style...

This year we have made a pact with our best friends, Justin and Andrea, that we would do more Christmas activities together. It has begun. We have started it off with a Christmas concert. Tuesday night we went to see Michael W. Smith and the Dallas Symphony sing and play Christmas music. It was so much fun. We think we might start doing it every year now.

Here is our group that we went with.

Stay tuned for more activties with the Lathrops......

a fun party..

Last night we celebrated Cali's best friends 4th birthday. It was such a fun time. I didn't take pictures but thought I would blog about how creative her mommy is. It was a reindeer themed party. So, as we arrive, the house is all decked out in Christmas decor. Then Andrea had little reindeer hats for all the kids to wear. She also had 2 different crafts to make. Each kid made a candy cane reindeer and also a reindeer ornament. It was really cute seeing all the kids around the table with adults closely behind them. She even had all reindeer food. Cookies decorated as reindeer and also reindeer cupcakes. It was so much fun. I was impressed by her creativity. (Not that she has ever let me down at a party she has hosted!!!)

the love of my life....

Yesterday, Lance and I celebrated our 7th anniversary together. It is amazing how quickly the years seem to fly by. We decided to spend the whole day together. We had paid for an extra day at our sitters so the girls went there during the day. Our day looked like this:

We got up early and did a little jean shopping for Lance;

then watched the new James Bond movie with one of our couple friends;

next, we ran to the grocery store;

we picked up the girls and hung out with them for a little bit;

then, my brother's wonderful girlfriend, Brittany, came and stayed with the girls;

Lance and I headed to Texas de Brazil (a fancy restaurant with a great salad bar and lots of meat);

after totally stuffing ourselves, we headed to Northpart Mall to walk around;

we bought Lance a new wedding band (his first one had 2 places that were broken);

lastly, we grabbed cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory!!!

Our day was absolutely perfect!!

I must say every single year keeps getting better and better. We joke about how our first couple of years were pretty rough (more from Lance's end ;)!!!) We both knew to make it better we would have to change and really listen to eachother. God couldn't have placed a better man in my life. I am so thankful for the leader that he is, the father that he is, the friend that he is to me. So, this blog is for Lance and how great he is to me and our girls! I love you.

a chance to give.....

A friend of mine, Melissa, and I go to a MOPS group together. At our last meeting, they discussed everyone putting some things together for Operation Christmas Child. Basically, it is a Christian organization that takes Christmas presents to children in need as well as tell them about the love of Jesus. It really is a wonderful program that I know really ministers to these children in poverty. Melissa and I decided it would be a great thing to start doing with our girls each year. They are both 3 and we want them to learn how to be givers to others in need, especially this time of year. The other night, we took them to the store to pick out some things we could send to another little girl about their age.

The girls totally loved picking things out that they liked so we knew those were the perfect things to put in our box for our special girl. We picked out a baby and an outfit, crayons and a color book, a slinky, some of our favorite hard candy, gum, a tooth brush and tooth paste, a brush, some hair things, and a ball.

We know the girls had such a great time doing this together and we hope to continue to teach them about giving to others in need. We want them to know how rewarding it is. Melissa and I hope that as they get older this will be something that they do on their own initiative. Take some time this season and give to someone in need.

it is finished...

Here's our tree all finished. I thought this was such a sweet picture with the girls in their matching pj's looking closely at our tree. Really they are the reason we enjoy the holidays so much more. They both get so excited to wake up in the mornings and see it there.

I have to say that it was so much fun putting it up. As Lance was pulling everything out of the attic, I was telling him that I needed to go get a tree skirt. I haven't ever had one and thought I would get one finallly. Anyways, as we are unloading the boxes, Lance pulls one out that I had bought last year after Christmas. I had totally forgot and was so excited that I had one. Then, this gets even better!! I was looking at our ornaments and things and started telling Lance that I was really tired of the same ones we have used for 5 years and that maybe we should get some new ones. Suddenly, Lance started pulling out some bags from the attic that had new ornaments in it. I had forgotten that I had found them after Christmas for a fourth of the price and decided to load up for this year!!!!! Again, I was so excited and totally love our new color scheme. Yea for planning ahead!!!

in the spirit.....

Yes, that is a Christmas tree you see. Yes I realize it is only November 11th. But, if you know my husband, you know that he is a huge believer in Christmas. He just LOVES this time of year. We had quite a busy weekend with my dad's birthday on Friday night and then a dinner with some old friends from Katy on Saturday night. We got in really late so we ended up skipping church. We had a very nice, relaxing morning. Lance and I were sitting on the couch, drinking our coffee and watching the girls play when he says, "Let's put up our tree." A little hesitant, I agreed. We actually had alot of fun and the girls really enjoyed it too. It is not decorated yet because we had loaned out our lights, so as soon as we get those back, we will finish it. Yeah for Christmas!!!!

thoughtfulness....

That is what my husband is. He came home last night with these beautiful roses. When asked why, he just said, "I just wanted to!!" So sweet. I sure appreciate his thoughtfulness. The girls and I are so blessed to have such a good man!! (Shout out to the ones that raised him)

a night to remember.....

Our halloween started off with pictures at Papa and Mimi's house. Here's Cali as a ballerina fairy, Keziah as a lady bug and London is a strawberry. So cute..

Next we have a family picture of my sister and her joker husband, Scott with the little ladybug.

Then, we went to one of our halloween party. Chris and Cara had everyone over for soup, salad, and desserts. She had the kids make their own pizzas shaped like a pumpkin. They they got to frost and decorate a cupcake. The kids had lots of fun and so did the adults. Here is the picture of all the kids together. They are a great looking bunch!!!

These were all the girls that were dressed as a princess of some sort. Cali has the greatest friends!!

Here they are, crowding around a door for candy. They would all yell trick-or-treat before they even rang the door bell. It was really funny.



Our last stop was at Grammy and Pops house to get a quick picture in. It was alot of fun.

another fall festival...

Last night, Cali was a soccer player. A local church had a fall festival with all sorts of things for kids her age to do. Of course we road another pony.

Our friends Paul, Candice, Lola, and Justus are the ones who invited us. Here is Lola dressed as a flower princess and riding her pony.

Next, we were in the petting zoo. Cali and Lola played with bunnies, ducks, goats, and piglets. So cute!

Here is Lola's new little brother as a cow. He is 3 weeks old.

A little game of tic tac toe for some candy.

Toilet paper throw. It was really cute to watch them throw it into the toilet. Cali did get one in too!

Here's the guys with their two darlings.

And of course, the 3 of us.

London was not here because she has a bad cough and I didn't want to aggrevate it more. But we missed her.

temper tantrums...

Malery London Bray. The baby. Our fit thrower. It is almost humorous how quickly she goes into screaming and crying and laying on the floor when she hears the word "no". She is more passionate it seems than Cali was at this point and I feel we are headed to stronger disciplines with her in years to come. It seems cute now but I am sure later it will be different. Here's the picture of her when we first tell her "no".

Then here's the picture as she is throwing her fit on the floor.

A fun-filled Saturday...

I woke up really early Saturday morning with the book I have been reading on my mind. It is called The Shack written by William Paul Young. I knew I only had a few chapters left so I decided to make myself a cup of coffee and read before anyone else woke up. The end of this book just moved me to tears and reflection of my heart towards God. It was very refreshing to just cry and read and enjoy the dark quiet morning. It was a great way to start off my Saturday.

Then we went to the Midlothian Fall Festival. We went with some of the girls' friends and their families. It was beautiful weather and such a neat thing to do together. It had lots of local businesses and a little dance show had started just as we got there. It had a little fair food and jump houses for the kids. It was so much fun!

We ended it with Cali getting to ride on a pony for the first time. She loved it!! Especially the pink hair!! Afterwards we went home for naps and lunch. It was relaxing just to lay around for a few hours.

Lastly, Lance and I actually got to go out on a date. It has been pretty rare that we are out alone without any kids. My wonderful brother actually kept our girls for us. We went shopping and then out to dinner at Olive Garden. I have been begging Lance to take me there for a while. But, most importantly, we got some time to have really good converstation. It was so nice to have 4 hours of uninterruped time with my hubby and be out of the house too. We had a wonderful time and vowed to not go so long in between dates!! It really was a nice Saturday.

Acting like a teenageer again.....

This past weekend, some girlfriends and I went to Houston to see on tour the show So You Think You Can Dance. Alishia and I drove to Kansas City last year to see them so we decided to take another road trip again this year. It really was so much fun!! Andrea, Alishia, Brittany, and I got to Houston about 1 p.m. We checked in at the hotel, grabbed lunch, then did a little shopping. After that we hung out at the hotel about an hour before we got ready and headed to dinner. Our show started at 7:30 and we wanted to get there early to find out where we could go afterwards to get pictures and autographs from the dancers. The show itselft was so much fun and we were all screaming like the 10 year olds next to us!!! As soon as it was over we made a mad dash to the area where we were to meet the dancers. Of course, Alishia is the one that was really running and screaming the most!! It was truly the funniest thing watching a 28 year old run beside 10 and 11 year olds to be first in line. We just made fools of ourselves and enjoyed every minute of it. It was nice not to have any other responsibilities other than enjoying ourselves!! Enjoy the pics. (of course you won't really appreciate them unless you watch the show! (: )

My cali turns 3!!

Well, my little one turned 3 on Sunday. We had her party on Saturday with friends and family. It was so much fun to see her just running around playing with her friends. We grilled out at Getzendaner Park in Waxahachie. It ended up being a beautiful day. Shout out to Sherri for making such an AMAZING cake! Lance and I are so blessed to have a child like Cali. She has brought us so much joy ever since she changed our lives 3 years ago. Often we look at eachother and say how much we love our girls. So, Happy Birthday Cali!!