Mall Parks

Renee (Jeff's cousin's, Gabe, wife) and I are getting in this habit, and my great friend Jamie too, of going to the parks inside the malls on Fridays. Saturday we decided to try one that neither Renee nor I had been to in a different mall that's a little further away. Jamie, of course had been already, gave us directions on where to find it. First off, can I say how ROBBED I feel that we didn't have these as kids!!! I remember how we would come to Dallas, when I was still in elementary school, and Mom and Dad would take us to Prestonwood mall to shop. Does anyone remember this mall?? It's a true Texas mall...fitting the bill that everything here is BIGGER and better. It was 3 stories tall!! If we were lucky, we would get to ice skate and go to a toy store (and rarely leave with anything from there). We were there ALL DAY LONG!! I'm really not exaggerating. And shopping for clothes gets really old in just 1 store let alone 50 of them!! We're talking 8 hours...at a minimum! Oh how our lives would have been so much easier if we had one of these parks there. Dad could have parked it on one of the soft, cushiony benches in the play area and let us play for hours!! Well, maybe it wouldn't have been such a great idea...I'm sure he would have fallen asleep and we could have all wandered off. That happened on one of these shopping excursions. He was in front of a TV on the outside of a store watching a show. Mom gets done in her store and comes back to join us only to find Leah isn't there. She walked off while he was watching TV. Can't remember how long it took, but they found her in a store close by. I think she was about 3 or 4. But we would have had less fights, gotten beaten less from less fights and we would have had some fun ourselves! Oh how times have changed! Don't even get me started on PRAISE THE LORD for changing stations, hooter hiders (if you aren't sure what they are, google it), maternity clothing, travel systems.....the list continues, but I'll stop there. ;-)

Oh yeah, so back to this weekend. ha ha So we went to this new park and it was GREAT. The girls had so much fun there. It's so precious to watch all 3 of them together. Izzy is 1 year younger than Kendall and almost as tall as she is! They even had the cutest, tiny carousel that Aunt Nay Nay (what they call Renee) put them on twice!! So we'll definitely be going back to that one. Here are some cute pics of them.

Kendall saying "Cheese!"

Izzy & Kendall

Paps Warbucks

So this is what we got over the weekend. Paps, Jeff's dad, had this playhouse designed in China and wanted a prototype. So of course, he thinks he should make it for the girls. So he tells us about it and how it's going to go in their playroom ~ and he even personalized it for them. It was so funny listening to him laugh and the excitement in his voice just telling us about it. Then the box comes in and it doesn't take long for us to see why he sounded like that.

It says: Avery Troha's House Kendall

See, it looks like something Daddy Warbucks would have bought Annie!!

We know that there's NO WAY it will fit in the girls' playroom...it's not that big of a room to begin with and filled up as it is! In true Paps fashion, he won't take no for an answer and brings it by Friday night. Gabe and Renee were over with Izzy and helped build/put it together. Turns out it did fit as long as we put the kitchenette inside it! The girls were THRILLED to say the least. Kendall was so excited!! Izzy even loved it and couldn't wait to crawl in it. Now when Avery and Kendall go in to play, they are excited but screams soon follow with the fighting! LOL And I want more??

I know that I'm not tall, but it's still taller than me!!

Do you think this made Paps' heart melt or what??

Family Trip to Many

I am so horrible for just now getting to this! I had to write about our trip last weekend to Many, La. For those of you that are unaware, this is the small town (hour south of Shreveport) that Jeff grew up in. And I guess saying that we were in Many is a bit of a stretch. We were actually in Shuteye....the country area of Many. Jeff and I have been visiting there since we met, but I must say that I had one of the best times ever last weekend!

We left on Thursday night...easier for the kids to sleep. It was Jeff, Carolyn (his mom), Avery, Kendall, me and Jake (Dad, Phil, had to work in Chicago). We weren't sure how Jake would do on his first road trip. We were in Carolyn's mini-van so the girls could watch movies and Jake would have room. Needless to say, all handled the trip great! We made a stop in Shreveport on the way down to my favorite pizza place EVER ~ Johnny's Pizza!!! Oh, how I miss that. While I was there, and about to leave, I ran into a mother of a friend from elementary school ~ Tiffany Loden. We went to Calvary Baptist Academy together from K4-3rd grade. It was so great seeing her and showing off my amazing family to her. We made it to Many in less than 5 hours which is GREAT time!! Less than 10 minutes after being there, I started getting a headache. That is so rare for me now that I have been getting adjusted for so long. I knew that it was probably the pollen that was everywhere!

Molly, Kendall & Avery on the front porch swing.

Me & Tracie (with the ear plugs in our ears) out shooting

Friday morning we were up and at 'em pretty early. First thing on the agenda was going fishing. Wouldn't you know, Avery caught the first fish in less than 5 minutes...at the time she was the only one fishing! I wonder if she's getting the good luck the Trohas seem to have? ;) This was her first time and she was so excited. It reminded me of when I used to fish at my grandparents' in Waskom, TX. Only I fished with a cane pole instead of a rod and reel. We all ended up catching something...Jeff and Barney had the biggest ones.

Avery bringing in her first fish!!

Avery and Uncle Barney taking their picture with her first fish...a catfish!

A pro (Aunt Tracie) teaching a novice (Kendall) how it's done outside! ;)

Later in the day, as my headache kept getting stronger, we went playing in a creek that was up the road. Then we went to the pasture right by it and started playing a game of baseball. Tracie had bought a plastic bat and ball at Walmart. The ball was small like a baseball and the bat was really wide at the end. Avery had never played anything like this before. Let me tell you, she knocked that ball FAR!! We were so proud. You forget that baseball has rules until you have to teach your child how to play. Apparently, running the bases isn't something that we're all born knowing. While we were out there Kendall had to potty several times and LOVED getting to potty outside.

That night Megan, Brandy, Rodney and baby Kami came by. Megan and Brandy are Jeff's cousins. We all started visiting but I could barely focus because my head was still killing me. I knew that if I went to bed it would go away, but I didn't want to miss seeing everyone!! Jeff ended up carrying me to bed since I wouldn't do it myself! Have I mentioned that I LOVE my husband?!?

Saturday I woke up feeling SO much better. After we ate lunch, we put the girls down for a nap and left them with Carolyn. The rest of us "went into town" to Many to play. We went to a house that belongs to one of Barney's cousins. We went riding the 4-wheeler and the dirt bikes. I have never driven a motorcycle before. I drove a dirtbike that belongs to Molly, my 10 year old niece, but used to be Jeb's (14 year old nephew). It was fun, but a little scary I will say. Then came the real fun. We went to the back of the property that was all woods with a creek in it. We were about 10-12 feet above the creek...more like a tiny ravine. We threw empty aluminum cans in the creek and used them as targets. I fired my first pistol ever....and I hit the target!!! I shot a .22 pistol, 20-guage and 12-guage shot gun!!! I hit the target with every gun!! It was so much fun. I was so excited that I actually hit the cans!! After that, we went a little further down the road to another cousin's house where they were skeet shooting. That's where the girls and Carolyn joined us. Let's just say that Kendall wasn't a big fans of the guns. The sound really freaked her out. She was also mortified of the 4-wheeler too..probably because of the sound too. Tracie, mom and I left to go get dinner and up drive Avery, Kendall and Jeff on the 4-wheeler!! I was so proud of Kendall doing that!

Me and the tiny dirt-bike...when I was riding I had a helmet on. ;)

My sexy man shooting a gun. Look at those guns in his arms!! :)

Avery, Daddy & Kendall on the 4-wheeler (look at the joy on Kendall's face)

It was such a great weekend for all of us. We didn't watch the TV once and hardly spoke on our phones at all. Jeff so needed to get away and it did him so good to be with all of us! We're planning on going back to Many ~ Shuteye, really ~ for Easter now. Woo hoo!! We were out playing with Jake in the front yard not long after we got home. I was playing with Jake when Kendall started saying "Tee tee! Tee tee!" I went to go get her to bring inside to see her with her pants and panties down at the ankles and squatting in my front yard!! I cracked up! We've been trying to re-training her to indoor pottying! I must say that I could never imagine how blessed I would be from being in the Troha family! God is SO good!! :)

Learning to forgive and forget...from my daughters

Whew! I'm so glad that we made it through the weekend. It started off so great since Jeff was off on Friday and home with us. That meant that I got to work-out at my 5:30 am class with Jamie that I love and miss going to so much! :) The weather was so gorgeous over the weekend. Saturday proved to be fun...I'm determined to look at it positively.

We had 2 birthday parties to go to...9 am for Jack's 3rd (Cory's little boy) and 4:00 for Brenden's 5th (Leah's little boy). Jeff went to work for half the day on Saturday which meant I had to wash my hair, get the girls fed and ready for the party (heck no I didn't have time to eat myself!!) and take care of Jake before 8. Then I realized that I didn't have Jack's present, like I thought, so I was pretty upset and a little...make that a lot...hormonal!!! Let's just say that heads were rolling because I was a little short-tempered and bit them off.

So on the way to Target to get the gift, the Holy Spirit nudged me to make amends with the girls who were sitting all content in the back seat. "I'm so sorry girls that I didn't talk so nice at home and got mad at you guys. I just want you to know that I love you." "Luh you too, Mommy," says Kendall and "Love you to, Mommy" says Avery. So yes, the tears start coming after hearing that. They are so forgiving...I have so much to learn from them, because they also forget! I thank Jesus everyday for allowing me to raise them and love them.

Kendall had so much fun at Jack's party. They had the best little bouncy house for the little ones...I had never seen one like it. It was nice the party was so early...we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. Avery and Brenden were practically attached at the hip and had so much fun.

Brenden's party was great...how can it not be at Chuck E. Cheese?!? It was quite chaotic though. I have never been there when it's full to capacity before. Let me just say that I don't plan on being there during that time again. ;) There was a 20 minute wait to get in!!! We found out that Kendall isn't Chucky's biggest fan who had to come by our table to get to the stage. I had just left to go and get our pizza when he walked by Kendall. Honey, she got on the table and crawled across to get to Grammy's safe arms! LOL Cracked me up! So on the way home we ask the girls if they had fun. Of course Avery said a resounding yes. Then Kendall said "No, Cayuhed." Translation: No, scared! It was so funny. We had her saying that all night long.

Kendall in the bounce house with the "fountain" in her hair, as Katy called it.

Aunt Paula's Mickey Mouse Cake

This is what happens after eating black icing. She loved it of course!

My favorite pic of the weekend...you can feel the love. Kendall getting loved by Mother and Aunt Paula.

Avery showing she isn't scared of Chuck E.

It's a Boy!!

So we added a new addition to our family yesterday. His name is Jake Von Troha (Von to represent his German background). This is Jeff's birthday present from his wonderful father. We had been talking about getting a dog for quite sometime now and researching which breed would be best for our family. Jeff has been worried about leaving us for his rotation in Alexandria, La for a month. He wanted to have a large dog that would protect us. So we got it early for his present so that we could start the obedience training before he left. I told Jeff that he could pick the name since I chose for the cat that was my present. My personal favorites were Armani (goes well with Prada) and Baron. Jeff's favorite won out though...not that he did bad. ;-)

Saying that Avery is thrilled about this addition is quite the understatement. She cried when she had to go to sleep, because she wanted to sleep with him. She cried when we left him this morning because she didn't want to leave him. She scarcely ate a bite last night or this morning because she didn't want to leave him ~ and trust me, this child NEVER misses an opportunity to eat. Now Kendall, she's excited and all but nothing will come between her and her food. So she's ok to step away for a while and eat. She is quite the bossy one though screaming, "No!! Uh uh!!" I just laugh. We're letting her squeeze, lay and rough house with him some to teach him to take it....so the next little ones can do that too.

Prada hasn't quite rolled out the welcome mat. He's not angry with me but he's not befriending Jake yet. I'm hoping that they will be friends soon though. I know that he misses having another pet to play with. He's pretty much stayed in my room since he laid eyes on Jake. He's getting his water from the toilet (after it's been flushed of course) and not eaten yet. I doubt he'll keep that up for long.

Jeff playing with Jake this morning before leaving for work.

Very tricky trying to get a puppy, 2 year old and 5 year old in a picture all at once!

I'm So Ashamed!

Ok, so I started looking through my pictures on the computer to find the most recent family picture that I could so that I could post it. I am SO ashamed to say that I had to go all the way back to Halloween!! However, in my defense there is one more on my camera from January that I haven't been able to download on the computer because I cannot find my USB anywhere. ;) But this has spoken volumes to me. I know that it's because either Jeff or me are always taking the pictures. Now that I'm aware, I will make an effort to always ask someone to snap a picture of us while I've got the camera out. So, here is the most recent picture that I have of all of us. (this was the night that Avery was attacked by my sister-in-law's dog)

Here is her ear after the attack...for those of you that like that kind of stuff. ;-)

Poor baby. It was so swollen for weeks after that! She took it all in stride though. I was so very proud of her!

My First Blog

Wow! I am finally a part of the blogging family. I was highly encouraged by my wonderful friend, Jamie to join in. I don't have much time to write today. I'll do that later and add pics of the family. ;)