I changed my mind .....I don't want a dog

I want to take some time to blog about my little dabbers do....aka Abby. Today we were at my brothers and we were getting toys out of the garage for them to play on. There was a toy I knew she wanted to get on but she passed it up. I said Abby don't you want to play on that, "she said it is dirty". It did have dog hair and leaves all over it. And Abby is my little neat nick. Everything has to be clean for her. A dirty table or a dirty chair and she will not sit there. She hates it when people have food all over their mouths, which most kids do when they eat. She asked my the other day, (after Olivia took a drink of milk and then had a milk mustache, "why do people all the time have food on their mouth" You get the idea, she likes things clean.......now back to our dirty toy, so I cleaned it off and off she went down the driveway on the newly cleaned toy, as she rode past me she said, "I have changed my mind.....I don't want a dog."
I got the biggest smile on my face....I knew exactly what she was saying......This poor child loves dogs and her daddy has been trying for quite sometime to convince me we need a dog, so it was interesting that she said that.
I asked her why don't you want a dog now, " I don't want all that dog hair everywhere! I said remember that Abby dog hair will be everywhere, all over your house and your toys on your bed....everywhere! Well, we shall see if that really changed her mind....somehow I think not.

Spring Break

This week has been Spring Break for the girls. We took off Saturday for Louisiana to spend time with David's family. The girls LOVE going to visit their MawMaw and PawPaw plus all their aunts and uncles and cousins! There is so much for them to do....they are filthy and tired by the end of the day. They stay outside for most of the day, riding the golf cart and four wheelers. On this visit Olivia earned the privilege to ride the four wheeler all by herself! Of course she thought she was hot stuff! We can't forget about the "big slide". PawPaw bought one of those inflatable slides, I don't even know how long ago now, and it is always their favorite place to play.
They did a little bit of fishing this time.....we brought their cousin Jeremy with us and he loves to fish, so that got everyone in the mood. The live crickets daddy bought for bate were probably more exciting for them than the actual fishing.
Of course a visit to Aunt Paula's is always exciting....this time they picked a little cotton and collected chicken eggs from the chicken pen!
We had fun celebrating Feb and March birthdays.....Cameron, Natalie and Emily!
It was off to a rough start shortly after we got there and Colton fell as he was chasing after Abby and fractured his wrist! After a Saturday night visit to the ER he was back the next day sliding down the big slide like nothing ever happened!
I know for a fact Abby's favorite activity of the visit was the Easter egg hunt. This has almost become a tradition for the past couple of years.....The girls especially like this Easter egg hunt because mawmaw fills the eggs with money and stickers....two of their favorites!
We got back last night with two more days of Spring Break left.....my how time flies when you don't have to be up and out the door before 8:00 am!

It's Rodeo time in H town!

Monday night we braved the yucky weather to make our annual trek to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It was a little wet and breezy but the girls wouldn't let that stop them from enjoying the carnival....This year we actually bought tickets to go into the rodeo and that would have been fun if poor Abby hadn't gotten sick. She didn't feel good when we left but she wanted to go so bad. But by the end of the night you could tell she was wiped out and not feeling well. Olivia had gone the day before to the rodeo to see the Jonas Bros and Demi Lavato with her cousin Natalie. She discovered the Surfer Shack at the carnival.....it was her favorite attraction there and it wasn't even a ride....we will see about next year. Hopefully everyone will be well and there will be no rain!

Baseball and Birthdays

Abby and her cousin after Wednesday nights game......Two cute Ladybugs!










Today was a busy day....Abby had her second softball game of the season and Emme had her birthday party today.
I can't really tell if Abby loves softball or not. She definately loves the snacks that come at the end of the game. When you ask her the question do you like softball her answer is, "kinda"......so I am not sure what to make of that. She is playing on a team with her cousin and her Uncle Steve is her coach and her daddy helps so it should be a good time. The are the Ladybugs....red and black are their team colors. She is a fast runner and can hit the ball off the tee so we are off to a pretty good start!
After the game we came home and Aunt Ruth put the finishing touches on the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake. Such a cute cake that took three people to make.
The party was at Bannon's Gymnastix's were Olivia and Abby take gymnastics. Emily picked out Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as her theme. I found a fun MMClubhouse CD at the party store and Emily loves it, especially #8 the song about Pluto.... Friday before her party Emily asked me if Mickey Mouse was going to be at her party! I told her he lived to far away to make it to the party. But Olivia informed her the next time we were in Florida we would be able to go visit him.
Emily had a fun time playing with all her friends and cousins.....it was a good day indeed!.....no doubt Emily is a very blessed 4 year old!

Happy 4th Birthday, Emily

Nana and Emme on her birthday......Nana brought Emily and her sister's a birthday treat from Rao's and we sang Happy Birthday!


Emily at 6 months


As I am blogging I am thinking back to 4 years ago today and I have just given birth to Emily it was after 9:00 at night and she wasn't suppose to be delivered for another 6 days. So it was quiet at the hospital after her birth. Her sisters were at home all tucked in bed anxious to meet their new sister in the morning. I remember being in labor pretty much all day waiting for David to get back from Austin. We were suppose to go to the rodeo that night but other plans were made for us. When David arrived home we left for the hospital and soon discovered that this day in fact would be the day of Emily's birth. I was taken by surprise at the fact that I was not ready to have her. I was hoping the dr. wanted to wait until the morning to come in and deliver her, but no,the doctor was ready to go, she got there before the nurses had a chance to filled me up with enough fluids to give me the epidural. I got myself together quickly and the next thing I know our precious Emily was out of her safe place and screaming bloody murder!
In honor of Emily's birthday today we pulled out the home videos of her first days. How precious and how sweet.....I want that little baby back in my arms. Those are such precious days that pass by before we are truly able to grasp the special memories they hold.
If David and I were not 44 we would definitely be ready for another.....and for that I hope my dad is proud. He is not so proud that I do not possess a love for animals like he has, but I do possess a love for having little ones (that belong to me) running around my house.Even though some days they suck the life right out of you, there are far more days when they fill your life to overflowing.
Well this is suppose to be a blog to celebrate all the Emily has accomplished in this last year......so let's get to it.
And now my mind goes blank.......what can we say about the baby of the family......she is turning into a far greater actress than her older sister Olivia. I do believe we have only scratched the surface of the drama that will be apart of Emily's life. She still has the greatest smile in the world, that she turns on immediately upon getting into trouble or anytime she feels the need to manipulate the situation. Some days she loves going to preschool and others she doesn't and who knows why. On Tuesday and Thursdays she wakes and immediately asks, "is it just me and you today momma?" She loves those days, though she always has a good time at school and comes home with plenty of stories to tell. Something new this year she started asking for was a baby.....every since her cousin had a baby, she now wants a baby. For the last three months she has been asking for a baby, while Abby would prefer a puppy! Emily loves to play outside, she especially loves to ride her bike and is learning how to roller skate, which she is very excited about. One of her favorite DVDs is Hopla and she absolutely loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Tom and Jerry.Those are just a few of the highlights of the year. It has been a great year of learning for Emily....and though I am sad that my baby is growing up too fast, I am excited about the years that lay ahead of us and the blessings and memories that will come. Happy Birthday my sweet little Doodles.....mommas loves you more than she can say.

Happy Valentine's Day

Today the Simpson's celebrated Valentine's Day......celebrating is one of our favorite things to do. Olivia and I went to church this morning and David stayed home with Abby and Emily since Emily was sick. David had already called in an order to go at Hasta La Pasta, that I was to pick up on the way home from church.
While we were gone David and Abby went and rummaged through all my valentine stuff and found lots of things to spiff up the dining room with. The set out the china and decorated the table beautifully. David said Abby had a great time digging through all my stuff finding more and more things to decorate with. David had gifts sitting at each girls place at the table and flowers and a card for me. When I sat down, Olivia asked, "mommy, did you forget about Daddy?" since I didn't have a card for him. I assured her I did not forget. We had a great Valentine lunch....Celebrating with the four loves of my life.....what a great Valentine's Day!

She Got The Part!

Olivia got the part of Taylor in the children's choir spring production. She came home so excited. See video below. ( Also notice in the video the voice of another child wanting to make sure she is recognized as well, I believe my mom recently pointed this out to me, if one child is momentarily getting all the attention this one particular child has to interject herself)I had to stay home with Emily last night since she was sick. I told David to call as soon as he found out. He was telling me all about it and I thought, I should have sent him with the Flip to capture her excitement. Oh well, I just Flipped it when she got home. She had to call both grandparents and share the good news with them.

Olivia completes her first 5K

Yesterday morning (Saturday) Olivia and I got up before the crack of dawn to make our way downtown to walk with Team Curtis and raise money for Mitochondrial Disease.
Curtis Jackson is a 3rd grader at our church and though we don't know him personally we were both excited to be apart of Team Curtis.
It was a quite a cold morning for Houston but we weathered the cold. We walked with Uncle Mark and Aunt JeanAnn and all their girls so that made it more fun for Olivia. Her an Allison were both dying after mile one and the last half mile you would have thought they had been lost in the desert for weeks. Silly girls, but I still think they had a great time.
To cap off the perfect morning we ate breakfast at my faaavorite place Goode Co Taqueria! Mark, JeanAnn and the girls joined us so it was an especially good time.

Olivia's First Audition

Yesterday afternoon Olivia tried out for a part in the Children's Choir spring musical at church. This was the first year she was old enough to try out. She has been waiting for the opportunity to try out since she was in Kindergarten. Of course she has been talking about this for the past two weeks, praying about it and asking all her teachers at school to pray that she gets the part. Her dad and I have tried to prepare her for a happy and no so happy outcome. In all her drama she says, " I will be soooooooooo sad if I don't get the part....I will want to cry"....and so on and so on!
So yesterday afternoon we pull up to the church with all excitement.....as we get out of the car Olivia says, " momma, can we say a prayer?" Just what her momma wanted to hear. I was going to ask to pray with her but I was hoping she would ask first. We knelt down on the ground beside our car, Olivia, Emily and I and we held hands and prayed for Olivia's audition. Such a sweet memory for me...wished someone was there to click a pic!
Olivia didn't seem nervous at all, full of confidence and excitement! WOW! I wouldn't have been like that when I was little. I would have been a bundle of nerves. I am very curious how she was in the audition....did she act nervous or confident? I would have loved to have been a fly on that wall!
Well, we find out next Wednesday what the verdict is......I will keep you posted!

Time to dig out the scrapbook stuff.......

I started scrapbooking when Olivia was born and loved it..... I did one book per year for her first 3 years. Then Abby was born and I struggled to get her first year book done by her first birthday, but I got it done and that was the only one she got. Then along came Emily....I started her first book and got 5 pages finished. When it got close to her first birthday I realized this book wasn't going to be completed anytime soon, so I made her a book on Shutterfly....which was very cute.
Fast forward three years....two nights ago Abby and I started looking at her first year scrapbook and then Olivia wanted to get hers out, so of course Emily wanted hers. I figured there was going to be a bit of a problem but I did not except little doodles to completely lose it. And that is just what she did. The tears were pouring from her eyes and she cried, " Where is my book, where is my book, I want one like theirs!" Daddy went and got her book that had 5 pages done and that calmed her down, but she quickly informed me once she got to the last page that I needed to finish her book.
I don't think I have it any me anymore, but how can a mother ignore the sweet tears her three year old baby. I will have to dig up by creative juices somewhere and get to it done! Just wish I had it in me to finish it before her 4th birthday which is only a month away.

Olivia's New Hair Cut....brought tears to her eyes

We have to go back in time for this one.....I didn't take the time to blog the story when it happened back in November.....so here we go.
I took Olivia to get a haircut or should we say get her hair trimmed....she was in the process of letting it grow out and the ends where way to straggly for momma. So I told her she needed to get the ends evened up. So in we go to SuperCuts....I know not the best place to go but anyway.... I told the guy we were just getting it trimmed she was trying to grow it out. I also mentioned that I know she didn't have any style to her hair but that was okay. He talked about putting a few layers in and I thought okay why not, maybe it will have a little style.....well I don't know what he was thinking but he went to town. I wasn't giving him my full attention because I had the other two with me so I was trying to keep them entertained. I looked over to Olivia and I see him pulling up the top layer of hair and cutting it pretty darn short. I start paying more attention to him and I realize oh my this isn't looking good. Then I see Olivia's eyes and she is looking at me with eyes that are saying "WHAT IS HE DOING TO MY HAIR". I start to get a bit worried and before she is even out of the chair the tears are flowing. I feel awful. She steps down and the guy shows me her hair which is now cut into some sort of shoulder length shag!
As we go to the check out counter Olivia is out the door and sitting on the steps outside crying.They guy asks,what do you think mom.....I replied well it is a bit short, I thought you were just going to trim it! He could see she was terribly upset and told me I didn't have to pay for the haircut since she was not happy. I was thankful for that but felt a bit bad for him.
As soon as we got in the car I told Olivia we would go home and find a cute way to fix her hair and it would look great.
We got home and I checked it out more closely. She really had a cute hair cut. For SuperCuts he did an awesome job, so then I really felt bad that I hadn't paid. We put a headband in her hair and she liked the way it looked. I told her I would take her to Justice, her favorite store, and buy her all the headbands she wanted. That made her feel better.
Later that evening she came to me and said, "Momma, it doesn't matter what my hair looks like, all that matters is what is in my heart, right momma?"

Olivia is Thankful......

Olivia brought this paper home from school the other day and I had to post it. She had to write a composition on what she was thankful for. It was a graded paper....I don't even remember what the grade was.....just thought the words were so sweet I had to save them and share them with you. It blessed my heart to read her words the day she brought this home. I treasure things like this and don't ever want to forget them!

Abby's First Spelling Test!.....

Abby had her first spelling test today. It was words in the at family. We have been practicing for days. She has been so excited to take it since her sister takes spelling tests every week and talks about getting 100's. Abby's teacher doesn't grade with 100's but that is all Abby could talk about. " I am going to get a 100 on my spelling test" When she got in the car after school she wanted to show me her spelling test of course. As I was looking a show she had a bonus word and she got that right as well. I said yea Abby you got your bonus word right too. Abby replies, " Does that mean I got 2 100's?" Abby is a very proud girl today and so is her mommy!