Lila's new 'do...

Lila got her hair cut this afternoon. She was so excited. Here's a before shot:
And after:

Sporting her new cut for the camera at home and we've romped around on it a bit:

Pajama Time

Mallory had her first sleepover last weekend. Her neighbor friend, Cami spent the night with us. Here they are working a puzzle LATE at night.

Happy Birthday Clara!

I can't believe my baby is two! We celebrated Veggie Style! Nana did a great job on the cakes. Here's Bob & Larry:

Clara & Jacob in their matching shirts:

King George's Ducky Pond:

Throwing water balloon's at Dave's giant pickle!

Mommy & Clara:

Blowng out her candles:

Back from Vacation

We all had a great time on our vactation. The girls were great. Here are a few highlights:

Meeting Baby Rose in Dallas (will post better pics from the other camera later).

Visiting the Texas State Capitol in Austin:


Hanging out at the Children's Museum in San Antonio:

And of course, Sea World.

Much Change

There's been a lot of change at our house this past week. The girls each got their own room, which meant reorganizing the playroom, ridding the "other" playroom of all the extra odds & end toys, and making a space for Lila's new bed. We gave Mallory the choice of which room she wanted, and she wanted to keep the one she had, so Lila moved into the Veggie Tales room and now she and Mallory both have their own rooms. They're both very excited.

Another change, not quite as exciting for Lila, is that we lost our nanny and the kids began to go to a day care facility. During the school year, they use a preschool curriculum, but during the summer it's a little less structured. Mallory's doing great. She already knew a few of her classmates from school, and she's made the transition fine. Clara, who I was the most worried about has done great. They say she's doing wonderfully. She does fuss a little in the morning when we drop her off, but by the time we reach the lobby, you can see on the screen that she's already settled down and is doing fine.

Lila on the other hand is having a pretty rough time adjusting. She cries when we leave, and frequently has been crying when I pick her up. She cries at home at the mention of day care. It's not pretty. We're hoping that it's just an adjustment and that she'll settle down soon. This morning, she took her American Girl doll and a backpack full of her books to read during rest time, and she said she wasn't going to cry when Kevin dropped her off. (Which didn't hold true, but at least she's trying). Say a little prayer for Lila and her adjustment. She could use it!

(Kevin walking the girls to day care this morning).

National Neighbors Night Out

Just got a couple shots - and none of the neighbors.... I'm so bad! The kids had a good time eating hotdogs, watermellon & chocolate chip cookies, playing with the neighborhood children & running from house to house!

Happy Retirement!

My Dad retired last week from Dow Chemical, where he worked for... well, let's just say since I was 18 months old, and I'm not young.

He's now free to piddle around the house as much as he likes. I offered him a job as a babysitter for my kids which he promptly declined. Oh well, it was worth a try, I suppose.

For the celebration, we had steaks, grilled by my brother Travis in the rain, & potatoes. Good stuff. Also celebrating were Travis and Rachel, who were engaged the night before! Congrats!