She's got Potty Power!

G has Potty Power! Any parent or person who works with toddlers knows what I mean and what a big deal it is to the toddler and the parents! Bye-bye diapers and congratulations G!!

Two Month Long Hiatus

Here it is Oct. 27, 2009, which is exactly two months from my last blog entry. I'm really not a slacker...well, not too much of one any way; we have been doing things that I could have been blogging about but we have just been busy with life. That doesn't sound like a very good excuse does it? I don't want to bore you with the details. I just want you to know that I'm ready to forge ahead and give my blog a little more attention and to say sorry for the delay.

So far, so good!

Olivia had a great first day of school.

Eve had a great first day of homeschool preschool.

They celebrated with an after-school snack of whole grain blueberry muffins. :)

What We Did on Our Summer Vacation

The girls and I have had such a memorable summer at Grandma and Pawpaw's. It's hard to believe that eight weeks have gone by and we'll be headed back to Cedar Park this week. We've had so many fun experiences such as going to Six Flags for Olivia's birthday and seeing the Ringling Bros. circus in Dallas. Every day has been a delight but most of all we have enjoyed being spending this quality time with Mary Ann and Michael who welcomed us into their homes with open arms. It will be sad to say goodbye and we will miss seeing them everyday. Thank you Grandma and Pawpaw Yeager for a most memorable summer vacation.

We love you!

Here are some pictures of our summer adventures as well as relaxing moments.

Olivia really learned how to swim this summer, ...

and Genevieve learned how to swim with her floaty.

How blessed we were to be able to swim almost every day in Grandma's backyard pool.

Grandma and the girls made cookies for Olivia's birthday which she celebrated in Plano this year.



The girls loved spending the evenings with Grandma and Pawpaw when they got home from work.


We spent one morning at Heritage Farms and learned about pioneer home life.

Pawpaw arranged a private tour of the Plano Living Materials Center for Plano ISD, and we got to meet legendary Jim Dunlap. In this picture we, together with Mr. Dunlap, are holding "Banana" who weighs 125 lbs. Later that morning, we watched her swallow a whole rat!


We missed Brian but he came up EVERY weekend.

Genevieve used her tools to build a "candy house".

Olivia and Grandma had some time to sew. Here they are working on camouflage slippers.

Genevieve learned to use scissors this summer. She cut lengths of colorful yarn to share with the birds for their nests. Her bag of yarn scraps read, "Birds, come play with me."

One weekend we visited Sandy Lake amusement park.

Olivia and I spun around on the Twirl-A-Whirl at Sandy Lake.

The girls painted (milk + food coloring) sponge cake for their snack one day. Genevieve concentrated hard on her masterpiece.

We visited Jump Town one morning...

and had a special lunch at Firehouse Subs.

We tried lots of new (to us) parks...

and we learned that the ducks like garlic bread but are not fans of tortillas!



We went to the IMAX theater in Dallas and saw the Coral Reef Adventure. Genevieve was amazed by how life-like the animals appeared on the big screen, and she sat in Daddy's lap to make sure the octopus would not eat her.




We disguised ourselves on our visit to the Dallas Nature and Science Center's spy exhibit. You don't even recognize us now do you?

We went to a local farmers' market and tasted the sweetest tomatoes!



Olivia had the idea to have a luau party for Grandma and Pawpaw (They were married in Hawaii.) to thank them for the lovely visit we had with them this summer. We made and ate Hawaiian food and even wore costumes. This is the invitation she made for the party.

Everyone gets a taste of yummy, fresh coconut.

Aloha Summer!

Granny Jean

Please keep my mom, (the girls' Granny Jean), in your prayers. She has been referred to Texas Oncology after her doctor found several cysts in her ovaries through MRI. Please pray with us that God watches over her, gives her peace, and that these cysts turn out to be benign. Thank you in advance for your prayers. Love, Apryl

Granny Jean, your smile is brighter than sunshine. We love you!!

Austin Zoo

Our last week in Cedar Park before the big move was so busy. We had movers come to move furniture into permanent storage, we packed and organized the rest of our things into boxes to semi-permanent storage (for when we move to an apartment in August) and the rest of our things went into boxes and bags to take to Grandma's and Pawpaw's for the summer. We also had to have a new roof put on our house because of the hailstorm in April. The new roof took a day and a half to install, and despite having lots of preparations to do for the move, the girls and I headed to the Austin Zoo for the day. Who wants to sit in a house filled with boxes and hearing constant banging from hammers on the roof, especially on the first week of summer vacation? The girls had a great time feeding the animals in the petting zoo, riding the train, and talking with the parrots. Despite the hectic week, we managed to have some fun and enjoy the ride. :)

Here's a video of the girls with their new friend the talking parrot.

Childbloom Guitar Spring Recital

Olivia played her guitar in the Childbloom spring recital program. She even wore a dress! Eve was excited for Olivia too, but she absolutely did not want her picture taken! Unfortunately, her guitar was out of tune when she played with her trio, so I'll spare you the video of them playing "When the Saints Go Marching In." She was a little disappointed, but a few minutes later she said positively, "Well, my guitar was out of tune, but at least I played the right notes." What a sweetheart! Here's a picture of her with her good friend and cohort, Martine. My friend and former boss, Janice, came to cheer Olivia on, and brought the girls a little goody bag. They sure enjoyed their treats when they got home!
We want to thank everyone that came to the concert to support Olivia and hear the music: Granny Jean, Uncle Brad, Mr. Jim, Ms. Ann, Ms. Janice, Ms. Constanze, Julius, and Vivian