Jeff's Birthday Morning

We were so excited that Jeff was off this morning. This way we could actually "sleep in" to at least 6 am. What the heck were we thinking?!? In order to sleep in that late Jeff kind of needs to turn off his 5:15 am alarm on his phone, doesn't he?!? So that goes off, I was a good little girl and remembered to change mine. ;-) Then, of course, we're wide awake. Every other morning this week, we pass out as soon as we hit snooze. But NO, not this morning. Then a few minutes later the girls come out and we just pile them in the bed with us only to delay the inevitable. It was fun though...having all of us in the bed together. We all sang happy birthday to him and made him so happy. Then we did our birthday breakfast. I must confess that one of my favorite foods is the absolute worst food on the planet to eat - donuts!! But on our birthday mornings, we get to eat whatever we want so donuts it is. Kendall wouldn't let me leave without her so off we went. Just hearing her say the word cracked me up. We did make the girls eat a bowl of cereal to fill them up some before hand. We made our order and went back home. Avery loves her chocolate sprinkles donut, Jeff had a bavarian creme-filled chocolate eclair and I had just a plain glazed and chocolate. Can I say yummy?? I know, they are so bad!! I'll have to do extra crunches tonight for it!!
Then I decided to get a family pic of us. We have hardly any of all of us. So onto the fireplace we go and Jeff stretches out his arm to take it. When you look at these, maybe you'll see why we don't have mnay. Only because Jeff is the birthday boy and told me I had to, while hysterically laughing, did I show the first one. Of course the turd takes the picture while I'm taking the shoulder strap out of Jake's mouth..he SO knew I wasn't ready. Then as you go down, you can see that Kendall looks as though she's getting strangled.
After the picture fiasco, the girls wanted to put their boots on to go and play in the rain. So off they went. The pictures follow.

Take 1:

Me reaching for the strap and telling Jake, "NO"...but Jeff and Avery are ready like pros!

Family picture take 2. Barely got Kendall's head in there....

Take 3. Now I'm literally ROFL looking at Kendall! Oh well, at least I tried.

Stomping in the puddle

Pulling out the umbrella

Kendall trying her best to hold the umbrella...yes, Jake is huge now!

Treasuring Today

So this morning was our usual Wednesday morning. The girls go to daycare on Wednesdays. We did our normal routine when dropping them off. I start off with Kendall and finish with Avery. So I go to Avery's room to tell her good-bye and give her a hug & kiss like she always wants. As I'm walking away, I feel the need to tell her that I love her again...while my back is to her. I turn around to see her after I say it to see her giving me the sweetest smile while waving the I love you sign ~ Hook 'em horns with the thumb up too. Uh!! Can I say that it hit me right to my heart. The tears just started welling up immediately. How precious of her to be so bold in showing her love for me. I just adore her sweet, loving heart. Then I realized that it won't always be this way. I know that there will come a day, quicker than I want, that she won't be so bold. I'm not so naive that I've never thought about it...Jeff and I have had several conversations on the subject but this really hit my heart today. So I will treasure these days from now on...no more taking these sweet gestures for granted for me. Thank you, Jesus, for giving me my precious, loving little girls and reminding me how great it feels to feel their love.

This is her shooting me the sign a couple of months ago

How can I NOT adore this little girl?!?

Jeff's Birthday Weekend

We had quite the busy weekend (this theme seems to be getting redundant)! I decided to finally give Jeff is Christmas present on Friday. Let me restate that ~ I was finally able to put together Jeff's present. For Christmas he wanted me to come up with a big date night. That's quite the fete to pull off with him in school, our busy weekends, and a sitter for 2 children, etc!! Nonetheless, I finally did it Friday night. I asked Tracie, his sister, to take the girls for the night. I then had Renee, his cousin's wife, take me to the hotel. She is SO wonderful for doing that for me. That made it so we didn't have both cars there. I got a FANTASTIC deal on priceline for a room at the Dallas Hyatt Regency. I had Jeff meet me there, after I got ready, for us to have a night on the town. Our dear friend, Kimmy, invited us to join her at the Ghost Bar at the W in downtown Dallas. It's pretty new and nice...cover is $20!! Luckily we got on the guest list and didn't have to cover that one. It was on the 33rd floor and such a nice night to be there. It's so great and modern. Oh, and because it's in Dallas ~ SMOKE FREE!! We danced the night away and then finished at the hotel that was just up the street pretty much. Unfortunately I hadn't covered all of the bases. We had to leave by 8 am to go home and let Jake out of his crate. DOH!!! I was not so happy about that. But I will say that I had the greatest time...and I'll leave it at that since I'm good at giving way TMI. ;)

Jeff, me & Kimmy on the balcony of the Ghost Bar

Me & my honey...such a hottie!!

Had to include the pic of the girls with their adorable pig tails!! LOL

Kendall loves doing this with her shirts as she's taking them off...yes she's on the pot

Sunday afternoon Jeff mowed our grass that was about way too long! I was so glad he did it. It was the perfect weather for it...cloudy, breezy and low 70s. After he was done, we got out the bouncy house for the girls. They had a great time. Avery is so proud of her new head- stand...she does it inside too. It was a fun Sunday afternoon.

Our Fun Wednesday Night

We had a fun night last night. My great friend Jamie asked if we could keep Austin and Kori while she got to be a model for her husband. Her husband is my hair dresser and is fabulous!! He was doing a training on up-do's and wanted to use her as the model. I was so excited. Kendall is one month, almost to the day, older than Kori and they have such a good time playing. Her son, Austin, is 10 and SO great with kids ~ so Avery was excited about getting to play with him. I got to see how Avery would be with a big brother ~ in no time she was in the trees just like him. He is so sweet and patient with all the girls. We all had a great time. I told Jamie today that I got a glimpse of what twins would be like with Kendall and Kori...although it was only for a few hours. And yes, I'm still praying for some!

Austin and Avery in the tree

Sweet Kori smiling at the camera unlike my child! LOL

Avery workin' the mic on Rock Band

Austin workin the guitar

I guess my child can look at the camera while smiling!

How Could I Forget Daddy-Daughter Date Night?!?

I told you I was tired yesterday! How the heck could I have forgotten to include Jeff's date night with Avery?!? So Thursday night he decided to take Avery out on a date. After all, she'd only been asking to go on another one for the past 3-4 months. I went and got her and brought her home to get all cutesied up. Yes, that is a word!! He was getting all cute himself and getting her treats. He says that if he doesn't teach her how a man is supposed to treat her on dates then how else will she know not to settle for less than what she deserves?? My goodness, have I mentioned how much I love this man??

So he comes up and rings the doorbell and greets her with the cutest flower! She was so excited that it was tangible. They went to the Movie Tavern to watch Monsters vs. Aliens. They ate pizza and nachos (huge treat for her). She was still on cloud 9 when they got home...so was her daddy. I am so happy that her father cares for her so much and he tries everyday to communicate that to her in more ways than one. I pray daily that she never settles for anything less than what God wants for her. Thank goodness Jeff is doing what he can to model that for her.

Whirlwind Weekend

This was one of the weekends that just went so fast that we were still exhausted on Monday morning! It wasn't like we haven't had busier weekends for sure. But we just could never stay ahead for some reason. Friday night was late...which plays a huge part in our exhaustion. How the heck was I able to stay up until 2 am so easily in college but not now?? I'm telling you, come 10 pm (and that's really pushing it) I'm as good as asleep!! I kill me sometimes! So for me to be awake for the night, I have to partake in some caffiene.

Saturday was a great day. We were supposed to have the Carter family in town but due to the weather, my plans for Friday and Jeff working all day Friday we all decided to take a rain check on it. That night we had Carolyn (my MIL), Dr. Micah Carter (our dear chiropractor friend that lives in Edmond, OK, Gabe, Renee and Izzy over for dinner. Lt me tell you I didn't realize that I had some Mexican in me. I joke that I'm like most Americans...a mutt...as far as my heritage goes. So apparently there is some Mexican in me. We made salsa, guacamole, mexican rice and chicken quesadillas. It was all so delicious!!! It was a great time having everyone over for sure.

It was just another weekend for my Savior to show me again how blessed I am with the friends and family that I have.

Getting some loving from Kendall because she wouldn't look at the camera and smile!!

Of course she looks at the camera with Daddy!!

Avery took her picture and I told her she needed to open her eyes since they were almost shut.

Can't say she doesn't know how to follow directions, can we?

This is what happens when I leave Kendall close to nail polish. She somehow opens it and floods her nailbeds with polish. Praise the Lord none got on the carpet!!

I Got All My Sistas With Me

So Friday night, I scheduled a little reunion with my Phi Mu sisters from undergrad. We all went to school at the University of Louisiana at Monroe (formerly known as Northeast Louisiana University) and now all live in DFW. There were several more that live here but couldn't make it. Facebook has just been so amazing. That's what made this happen. I would have had NO clue that so many of us live here had I not found so many on facebook. We met up at the Texan Station at the Gaylord for drinks and food. We then went to The Glass Cactus for some dancing. The band was an 80s cover band that was so great. Wouldn't you know that one of my sisters ran into a girl that she grew up with from Monroe?! What a small world!! The Glass Cactus was great ~ especially since no one was smoking!! Woo Hoo!! Other than some drunk running into Dawn causing her red wine to go up in the air and land all over me and in my eyes, it was a great time! LOL I'm so glad that we did it and can't wait for the next one!!

Me in the lap of my hot chaufeur for the evening.

Us at the Texan Station

Jamie, Me Mareatha & Dawn...yes all of them are younger than me!

Me, Monica (our favorite vet) & Dawn

Me and Kristie Holt (aka "Bolt" in college...don't remember why)

All of us at the Glass Cactus

More Easter Pics

I apologize for the Easter blog's clutter! I will just post the other pics on this one. ;)

Avery & Paps (Jeff's dad) on the 4-wheeler

Kendall, Avery & Jeff

Me & Kendall

The bunny bread Kendall loved

Avery and her little stuffed chiuahua and purse

Avery, Jeb, Kendall (yes, eating her bread) & Molly

Easter

I was so looking forward to Easter this year. I knew that Kendall would enjoy it so much more. Plus, Avery is getting at the age where she can begin to understand why we truly celebrate Easter. I love talking to her about our Savior and what He did for us out of His HUGE amount of love and grace for us. I really enjoyed telling Avery the story about it.

This year we went to Many for the first time for Easter. We left Thursday night...me, Jeff, Avery, Kendall, Jake, Carolyn & Phil (in-laws)...all in the mini-van. The trip down went pretty good. I was pretty bummed about not being able to stop at Johnny's Pizza on the way down like we did last time. We passed through Shreveport pretty late this time. :( I can't remember what time it was when we got in...around 11:00 or so.

Kendall, Tracie, Avery & Molly

Avery in Daddy's hat

Avery showing off her new-found hula hooping skills

I will start this part off by saying that I feel like such a horrible mother/wife on the last 2 trips we have taken down there. I have an iPhone (that I LOVE) and am constantly checking the weather...just a little OCD with it I will admit. So I should be completely prepared for the weather when we go to Many, right? Well let me say that I'm not ever prepared. I keep forgetting how chilly it is when the low is in the 50s even though the high is in the low-mid 70s. So I have yet to pack a jacket for any of us!! Thank the Lord that my girls take after their father and aren't cold-natured like me. But my goodness we end up freezing our tushes off thanks to my lack of planning!! I will say this to redeem myself. I did get the girls little sweaters to wear with their dresses. So Sunday morning, they were covered ~ literally.

Friday we decided to have a crawfish boil. So we asked Mom's brother, Uncle Pat, to do us the honors...he's known for his crawfish boils. Avery was so enthralled with the crawfish. Dad just took one out and ripped off his claws...poor thing, probably put it into shock!!...so that she could hold it without being pinched. I guess ripping his claws out was the least of his worries that day. We got to see Shane, Kasey, Tristan and Trayton that afternoon. They stopped by on their way in to Many. It is always so great to see them...we don't get to see them near enough. Shane is Jeff's first cousin (his mom's brother's son) and they're about a year apart. That night we put the girls down and then went over to Aunt Carole & Uncle Joe's to see Colin, Jason, Megan and Katie (Jason's girlfriend we had yet to meet). We had such a great time hanging out and laughing with them!

Tristen & Kasey

Avery and Uncle Pat sitting in the tractor

Avery holding her crawfish

My girls sleeping...Kendall started on the matress

I love this snapshot of Jeff and Kendall playing

My family in bed (I apologize for the nostrils)

Saturday is when we went to dye the Easter eggs. We went over to Barney's cousin's house to do them. There were so many kids there. My girls were the youngest there. They had the best time with it. My favorite was the pink/green one that Avery did...my 2 favorite colors! Jake had a good time out there since there was a 7 yr old female German shepherd that he was pretty intimidated by. We rode the 4-wheelers while we were out there too. Kendall rode in front of me and had so much fun with it. We also shot guns again. It was my first time with our 9 mm Glock. Let me say that I wasn't ready for the kick...the only other pistol I had shot before was the 22 and it didn't have one at all. Jeff forgot to prepare me for that. ;-) It was fun though. Avery even shot it a couple of times..with Daddy's help, of course.

Avery, Kendall & Molly dying eggs

Daddy with his girls and their baskets while on the Easter egg hunt

Easter morning was fun. Kendall was so excited to see the Bunny Bread (from Whole Foods) that the Easter bunny brought her. She could care less about anything else. She was just ready to eat...what can I say?? Avery adored her little chiuahua in the purse. Avery was pumped about the candy that she got. She got to pick 5 eggs to eat the candy from and she could hardly stand it. We all packed into the church in Many. I was so proud of my girls for being so good during a mass that lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes ~ huge success for Kendall!!

It was a pretty chaotic weekend but still so nice to be surrounded by such an amazing family. I have been so blessed to become a Troha. I can't tell you how blessed and loved I am by this family. I love my mother and father-in-law as well as my sister and brother-in-law and their children. I am blessed with the biological family the Lord gave me but now even more with my married family. :)