A Sleep Over Wkd

The girls got to have a weekend of fun with Kayla in Nacogdoches and then at Grammy and Pa's a couple of wkds ago.  Keith and I were prepping our house to be put on the market so we needed a bit of time to work without our little helpers. 

The girls were pretty stoked to get to see Kayla and spend the night with her in her new apartment.  From what I understood, they had a blast.  They LOVED her apartment and thought it was so pretty.  They played at the playground for a good two hours and even had lunch at Chick-fil-a.  They were good and worn out by the time Kayla got them to Grammy's house on Saturday night.

Being tired did not stop Carli from painting Grammy's nails.  She had informed me to not forget to pack the nail polish so she could paint Grammy's nails.  She did a pretty good job.  She did them in rainbow...can you tell?

After church on Sunday the girls ate their fair share of sopapilla and ice cream at lunch before convincing Deborah to jump on the trampoline and miss her afternoon nap! 

We finished up at the house and met up with the girls and Grammy  & Pa at church Sunday night.  It's amazing how super productive we can be when we have not kids around!  :)  We sure are thankful for all the help!

The Livestock Show

The girls were excited to go to the livestock show earlier this month.  Carli just wanted to see the rabbits but Ava was pretty excited to get to see all the animals up close!

When we first got to the show, we found Uncle Andy and the girls were quick to ask for a boost so they could see the cow show.

After they were properly impressed with cow showmanship, Grammy and I took them around the show barn.  They saw goats, pigs, rabbits, chickens and cows.

There was a storm brewing so after a quick look at the shop projects, we decided to head on out to get a bite to eat.

Kayla met up with us at dinner and she and the girls went back to Nacogdoches for the night.  On my way home, I was blessed to see an absolutely gorgeous double rainbow...both ends!

Carli's Special Pillow

The Cutest Lunch Dates...

Need Some Sugar?

One day Ava told me that she needed to give Kayla kisses.  Since Kayla was at school, we sent her this picture.  :)

And then Ava Got Strep, Again...

 The Monday after Spring Break we were working on getting back into the routine again.  I was kind of looking forward to it!  After the girls came home from school they were watching a show while I was on a conference call.  Ava came in with her blanket and asked to cuddle and then this happened....

Ava NEVER crawls into my lap and just falls asleep in the middle of the afternoon.  I knew something was wrong.  I was hoping it was just allergies from switching climates and riding on an airplane but when she woke up with a fever I figured I was wrong.  I called the doc at 4:55 pm on a Monday and left a msg BEGGING them to work us in in the morning.  Miracles of miracles they called back and got us in at 9:30 the next morning.

Ava woke up and acted fine and I almost canceled the appt but decided I might would regret that later, so we went on in.  The nurse agreed with me that it was probably allergies but I was paranoid since strep hit Ava so bad in December.  They did a strep test for me...and it came back positive.  The doctor said this was the happiest kid she had ever seen with strep...

Since Ava could not go to school on Wednesday despite feeling okay, she and I had a girls day.  I can't say we ever had had one before.  So I took her to have her first mani/pedi...she thought it was great!

And then we went to the Discovery Science Center to play...

We ended our girls morning by having lunch with Daddy before getting Carli from school.  Ava did great and then on Saturday morning we noticed she had this weird rash on her face and arms...

After talking to an on duty nurse and Keith and Tessie having a faint memory of Keith being allergic to penicillin when he was young, we got our doc to change her antibiotic on Monday morning.  The rash went away and odds are, Ava is now allergic to penicillin.  *sigh* Kid can't catch a break but she was totally oblivious and much relieved when her new medicine showed up and it was pink.  :)

Our Village

 Keith and I have been very blessed.  Both of our parents are very involved in our kids lives.  It is our goal that our kids have and continue to develop very strong relationships with their grandparents.  There's a saying that it takes a village to raise a child.  We like to think that the ppl in our village are pretty amazing folks, especially our parents.

I have been able to work from home and stay with my girls for the last almost six years.  Occasionally my job will require me to travel and between Keith and the two sets of grandparents it works out pretty well.  Over spring break, I needed to go to AZ with my Dad to attend some meetings.  It was kind of a short notice thing.  We thought about Grammy and Keith taking care of the girls but realized that that did not seem so fair since Keith was trying to take mid terms and Grammy was on her Spring Break as well and had plans with her sisters coming to town.  So we called Naggy and Pappy.  They were thrilled to watch the girls, but they couldn't come to Tyler.  Pa came to the rescue and with the help of his earned miles on Southwest we made a very round about journey to get to AZ with a stop in Amarillo to leave the girls with Naggy and Pappy. 

It made for a very long traveling day for Dad and I but the girls excitement and knowing they were going to have a blast with their Naggy and Pappy made it worth it!  We drove up to Love Field on Tuesday morning for an 11 am flight to Amarillo.

 We had no problems on this leg of our journey and enjoyed a nice layover in Amarillo.  We ate some yummy lunch at Rosa's then went to Naggy's house to play legos and catch a cat nap before Dad and I had to head back to the airport.  Carli is my very sentimental child and it was kind of hard to say good bye...

Dad and I had a very long night as we got stuck in Denver for an extra 6 hrs and finally made it to Tucson at 2 in the morning.  Yuck!  But we made it all in one piece.  Our meetings went well and we survived our sleep deprivation.  :)  We headed back to Amarillo on Friday morning.  Thankfully this travel day went off without a hitch.  When we got to Amarillo, Pappy was able to join us for a late lunch and we squeezed in a good visit before he had to go back to work.  

We had a couple hours to rest up before our last leg of our flight home to Dallas.  I have to admit I soaked up all the extra love the girls were dishing out after having not seen them for a few days!

It's so much fun to sit back and watch the girls interact with each of their grandparents.  They had an absolute blast in Amarillo on their spring break and even talked Naggy out of one of her beanie babies to bring home with them.

Naggy took us all to the airport around 5 and we headed home.  And it was Pa's turn to get in some extra attention from the girls.  He was a good sport to take such a long roundabout way to get home so he could help me in traveling with the girls.  

On the plane home, Ava insisted on holding my hand most of the way.  If she wasn't holding my hand she was picking on Pa across the aisle.  If you have never heard Ava giggle, you are missing out.  She has a very infectious little giggle.  When you hear it, you can't keep from smiling.  She had anyone in hearing distance on the plane smiling all the way home.

We made it home safe and sound.  The girls were so happy to see their Daddy and to tell Grammy about their adventures the next day.  And once again, Keith and I were reminded of how awesome a family we have and what an amazing gift it is to see our parents love on our kids.