Chandler Bear

Chandler is her school's mascot and does an amazing job! She is so full of energy. Sydney was scared of her at first, but now she will not just call her Chandler - it's Chandler Bear!

Duck Pond at Cinco Ranch

What child doesn't enjoy a good duck pond? This is the perfect little park to feed the ducks and play on the swings. It's even close enough to ride the scooter. We played a game of croquet while we were there. I didn't remember that my mom was so ruthless and cut-throat!!

Weekend in Houston March 2011

We all went to Houston to spend some time with Keri, Jamie, Madison and Chandler. The girls had such a fun time, especially in the pool.

Spring Break at Great Wolf Lodge 2011

We spent a few days/nights at GWL and had an absolute blast! Sydney wanted to stay in the kiddie area, but Evan finally wanted to go down all of the slides. We hung out with cousins, ate at the Rainforest Cafe, went to a cousin's birthday party and left Bear at the hotel! Luckily, the hotel found it and overnighted it. Sydney was soooo happy to have Bear back!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez 2011

We always go to the Highland Children's parade because it isn't nearly as hard to move around. They throw Spam sandwiches, Moon Pies, hot dogs, and this year - chicken feet on the end of a peacock feather! Sydney stole the show and got the best beads because she was so darn cute!

Krewe of Barkus and Meoux 2011

We shaved Chloe like a lion and took her to the Krewe of Barkus and Meoux. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon perfect for spending in the park! The girls had a blast!

Legacy Mardi Gras 2011

Every year Evan's school has a Mardi Gras parade. Each class does something different. So far, she's always been a spectator. I bought these cool masks for the girls, but they would only wear them long enough to take a picture.

American Heritage Poetry Contest - February 2011

Evan is quite outgoing, but she tends to shy away from doing things in front of people she doesn't know. She doesn't have a problem in gymnastics when all the parents are watching her, but put her on a stage in the spotlight and she's scared. She had an opportunity in Kindergarten to recite a poem for the American Heritage Poetry contest, but she got too nervous just thinking about it. Mrs. Reger bribed her in 1st grade. She told her she would get a 'Bear Buck' (she could spend it at school) if she competed. So, she had her poem memorized with just a few attempts about a month beforehand. She did a really great job, but there were so many competitors who recited the same poem. This year we are planning on writing an original poem.

A Real Louisiana Snow Day February 2011

So I'm still playing catch up for most of 2011. After our snow day that really shouldn't have been, we had a real snow day. we got quite a bit of snow for Louisiana standards. The girls really enjoyed themselves, of course. It is so amazing how quiet the world seems when there is fresh snow on the ground.

Curious George

Chandler gave Sydney a Curious George for Christmas. Sydney absolutely loves it! Usually Sydney carries her bear around EVERYWHERE! But now, she carries Bear AND George.

Happy New Year!

We celebrated the New Year at home - just us. It was really nice. We continued our fondue tradition by having Parmesan Fondue with asparagus, french bread, toasted ravioli and tortellini dippers. We had Chocolate Fondue for dessert with apples, bananas and strawberries. YUM! We popped fireworks for what seemed like ALL night (I'm sure our neighbors thought it was). It was so funny to watch the girls. Sydney was pretty young last year and really didn't have much to do with them. This year she was fearless! She had no problem trying to light something all by herself. My careful Evan threw caution to the wind and actually held a Roman candle (along with Dad). She was busy lighting all night!

When we watched the Times Square ball drop in New York, we tried telling them it was midnight. We should've remembered that Evan can tell time because she called us on it. So, we had to stay up for another hour!! Here's to a great 2012!!

Monster Truck!

Sydney got a Barbie 4 wheeler from Santa, but she insists that it's a monster truck. She rode it Christmas Day, but then she wouldn't have anything to do with it. When she told me she wanted to give it back to Santa, I told her that he would never bring her anything again. That scare her into trying it again, and she loves it! I love hearing her ask to ride her monster truck. She's such a petite little thing that it is so funny! She's a pro, though. We showed her how to make it go faster, and she rides it full throttle all the time!

Just a Few More!

Sometimes I just have to pinch myself - I can't believe these two precious little ones are all ours. Sydney is talking SO much now. We can't always understand her, but it is always fun to listen to her. Her favorite word seems to be 'mommy'. That's kind of ironic since she hated me for the first week or so.

What a Year!

I can't believe it has almost been a year since my last post! So much has happened that I get exhausted just thinking about trying to update. My goal is to get it updated over the next couple of months while not falling behind on current updates. I'll start with a halfway impromptu photo shoot the other day. We've found that we don't have nearly as many pictures of Sydney as we do of Evan, so I'm working on that. I took the girls to the Norton Art Gallery a few days ago to see what I could shoot. I'm redoing the pictures in our bedroom (they are all of Evan) and need some more up to date.

The 100th Day of School

Evan and I made a shirt with 100 gems glued on INDIVIDUALLY for her 100th day of school. I thought we did a pretty good job and were creative. Can you imagine how shocked I was to find out that the class winner just cut 100 holes in his shirt. Seriously?

Honors Assembly

Evan is such a good student! For the past nine weeks, she got perfect attendance, A Honor roll, and she met her Advanced Reading goal. She is such a perfectionist, though, that she gets upset if she misses a problem or question on a test. She's only in the first grade - it might be a long 11 years until graduation!!

Sydney Lou Who

We spend 1 1/2 hours at the girls' gym every Thursday night for gymnastics. There is a ball pit that Sydney plays in while we wait for her class to start. Mike put this ball in her hoodie one night, so Sydney now wants to walk around like this each week.

Frosty the Miniature Snowman

If you look closely, you can see their snowman. Believe it or not, it stood for about 2 days!

Evan and Chloe

You can barely see Chloe, but she so enjoyed the snow, too. Evan used Chloe for snowball target practice. They played so hard, Chloe crashed as soon as she came inside.

A Snow Day

So we didn't get that much snow, but the Department of Homeland Security (no kidding) demanded that schools close for our little dusting of snow. The girls absolutely loved it, though! They played, made a snowman and ate chocolate chip cookies straight from the oven with a side of hot chocolate.