Bros

My brothers came to Houston and silly me, I didn't take any pictures! Oh well, I pulled some out of my collection. I think Greg will really appreciate the one of him. It was so fun to see them and I am so glad to have Paul home safe and sound and out of Afghanistan. We had fun sleeping in late (well, they did), catching Paul up on The Office and eating good food. My favorite part of them visiting is that they cleaned up after I cooked for them! You guys can visit anytime! We also went to the beach one day. Kate was scared of the water at first but I held her and went in gradually and she eventually had fun. Mother's Day was really nice. I didn't have to teach my primary class and after church the boys let me pick a movie to watch while Kate napped. For dinner my brothers grilled hamburgers, steak, corn on the cob and bought watermelon too. It was so good! I had so much fun hanging out with my awesome bros. Thanks for coming guys!

Easter

We had a very nice Easter. Saturday our neighborhood had an egg hunt. Kate had fun picking up eggs and throwing them back on the ground, but we managed to get 3 eggs in her basket. Then we threw her in a bounce house and determined she is too young for bounce houses when she crawled to the back and wouldn't budge so Jason had to go in after her.

Sunday I put Kate in her new dress and we went to church. After, we had an egg hunt of our own. Silly mom, putting jelly beans in some of the eggs. Kate figured out how to get the eggs open and proceeded to pour all the jelly beans in her mouth. Her cute Easter dress is now covered in jelly bean juice and the label says "dry clean only". What was I thinking?! Along with lots of candy, Jason received Guitar Hero Metallica (with the caveat that he only play it with headphones on when I am in the house) and I got a Cuisinart ice cream machine. Yeah! George got the jelly beans that somehow didn't make it into Kate's mouth.

Visitors from the Big Apple

My good friend Addy was flying from New York to Utah and had a lay over in Houston. She decided to make it an extra long lay over so we could hang out a little. We had lots of fun! I picked Addy and Conor up from the airport late Tuesday night and after a waffle breakfast Wednesday morning, we took the kids to the Children's Museum. We wore them out pretty good there so when we got home the kids had naps and we watched Persuasion. Then we visited with the Burrs who were in Addy's ward in New York before they moved to Houston. After dinner, I took Addy and Conor back to the airport. A short trip, but it was so good to see Addy again and spend some time with Conor. He is so cute and such a good baby! Thanks for coming guys, and you are welcome back anytime!

Fondant Fun

I have been wanting to experiment with fondant for awhile now. I got a kit from Williams Sonoma that had fondant and some cute cut outs and last Sunday I tried them out. The results are pretty cute, but unfortunately the fondant tastes awful! Now begins my quest for some good tasting fondant!

Flowers

There is nothing like real flowers to brighten up a room. Thanks Jason!

Firsts

Lots of firsts these last few weeks. We went to the Houston zoo for the first time since I have been here. It gets so hot and humid that my motivation to go has definately been lacking in the past. But now that Kate is older, I wanted to go before it got too hot. It is a really nice zoo. We checked out the petting zoo, a bat cave and of course the lions, tigers, and bears. The temperature was just right and the company was great. The kids were all exhausted and fell asleep almost as soon as we got in the car.

Nursery is another first. Kate has actually gone 3 times now. The first two were somewhat rough, but this past Sunday the leaders told me she didn't cry at all. Go Kate! I love our nursery. They do so much more with the kids than I ever did when I was a nursery worker!

Another first is a babysitting ring we started with 3 other families in the ward. Jason and I were the first to watch all the kiddos and it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. Kate has been babysat by 2 other couples so far and after cry for a few minutes when we first leave, she does pretty well. It is so nice to have date nights again!

This isn't really a first, but I wanted to include Kate's stats from her 18 month checkup:
Height is 34 inches (95th percentile)
Weight is 23lbs 3oz (40th percentile)
Head is 18 1/2 inches (60th percentile)

Girls Night In

My WONDERFUL hubby had to go to Utah for work for a couple of days. He shocked me by asking if I wanted him to take Kate with him. My answer was, of course, a resounding YES! Kate, I love you kid, but mamma needed a break! I was amazed how much I was able to get done without a little one following me around tugging on my pants so I would pay attention to her. Here is everything I did Tuesday:
Made strawberry jam
Cleaned the kitchen
Paid bills
Swept and mopped
Vacuumed
Took a bunch of stuff to Good Will
Got my hair colored and cut
Went to the grocery store
Made treats for girls night at my house
Watched a movie (Penelope-so cute!) with friends
Whew! What a day! Thanks so much Jason for taking Kate with you. I had a great time but I will be happy to see you both soon!