It's a zoo out there!

Thursday was a real treat for Avery & Austin. Mimi and Popo took the day off to take them to the Houston Zoo. This was their first zoo trip and I don't think they fully understood what they would be seeing until they got there. When they got home I think I was more excited than they were, but they were pretty exhausted. From their reports, they really liked the elephant, giraffe, big fish and pink flamingos. They seemed to get a kick out of the elephant pooping on the grass... big highlight. The train ride around the park was a big hit for Austin. Mimi & Popo said A&A did real well all day, never really wanted to be held... that was a worry of mine.

THANKS Mimi & Popo for the zoo trip. Avery & Austin loved it!

Blog books!!!

This post in primarily for my fellow bloggers, but it may help those of you debating whether to start a blog or not make a decision. I found this site today: http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook You can turn your blog posts into a book... a memory book. I am SOOO excited. I have been meaning to print of my pages so that the updates are somewhere besides cyberspace, but never have. I am definitely doing this one day. It will be great for the kids! You all may know about this already, but if not, I hope you are excited as me.
Happy Saturday. Summer is here... hot, hot, hot!

Ms Betty....

Today was the last day I dropped off kids at Ms. Betty's, aka Meme. Betty Wiesepape has watched all 3 kids their first year. How blessed we have been to have her! She has been so good to us and our kids! We will miss her, but I can honestly say I won't miss making 2 stops in the morning. Next Monday all 3 kids start St Pauls. It will be bittersweet.... so excited for them the be there, but so sad that our babies are growing up!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a very low key Memorial Day weekend. It's nice to be home, but at the same time it can wear on ya. Below are a few pics from the weekend. Friday Wes set up the tent and he and Austin actually stayed in there Sunday night. There's another pic of Austin learning to steer the mower with Wes.
The other pics are from supper at Toppe & Grandpa's. Grandpa Otto had birthday and we had dinner tonight to celebrate. Grandpa loves to cook ribs so that was on the menu along with some fresh veggies. I love the pic of Austin & Gpa playing baseball.... he loves baseball and I hope it's soemthing Austin enjoys doing with him.

Body Art???

Avery & Austin came home today with their end of the year school supplies: crayons, glue, paint, Oh no... paint! They were water colors, but still... paint. So of course Austin started going through his bag just as we were getting home and found... paint. "Mama, I wanna paint, Mama, I wanna paint.. MAMA, I wanna paint." "OK, Austin you can paint." In my mind I am thinking... it's just water colors. So I got out a giant piece of paper to cover their small outdoor table and let them have it. Wes was outside messing around and I went inside to start getting things unpacked from the day and get supper started. When I came back out, this is what I found:

Last day of the 2's class...

Today was Avery & Austin's last day in Ms. Ginger's 2's class at First Baptist. We celebrated with a trip to Fireman's Park which included the carousel. A&A were going to "school" twice a week from 8-11:30am. Ginger was great with the kids and Natalie, the teacher aide, was amazing as well. We will really miss them. I have decided that when Caleb starts a school day care in June, that all 3 will be making a new start at St. Paul's. It will be a transition for everyone. I am super excited about only making one stop in the mornings... I may actaully get to work on time!?!?

Ms. Ginger & Ms. Natalie's 2's (this is 2 classes combined in 1pic)

Home Sweet Home

I was in the store today and ran across a friend I hadn't seen in a while, but she let me know she kept up with us by reading the blog. We talked for a bit and some how it was brought up that I should post a pic of our house... she knew we had built about a year ago and was wondering how everything turned out. So here it is for those of you who may be interested:

The house sits on top of a hill on our 10 acres. We moved in just over a year ago... love it! We took our time planning it knowing we will be here the rest of our lives. It's no palace or mansion, but it fits us just right. It's got a very open floor plan, 4 bedrooms. It's already had it's share of nicks and bruises... to be expected with 3 toddlers. We have grand plans for an outdoor kitchen under the breezeway and a rock patio, but that will come with time and most likely won't begin until the kids start public school.... no more daycare fees. As you can see there's not much landscaping outside, that is our summer project. We just got stone columns put in at the entrance so we are slowly working on that project as well. Always something!!!