Weekend in the Yard....

We didn't do too much this weekend.....Just a bunch of yard work and we have TONS more to do! But we love working in the yard....we have been edging and shaping our back yard....hard work because of the type of grass down here.....but it is starting to feel like a back yard now....we still need to put in the black edging stuff and weed block and then plant flowers and top with much but we are liking how it is looking......

As for the kiddos not too much is new.....Lila continues to amaze me with her speech she can say just about anything......Kiara and MJ are loving their bunk beds.....we switched them top to bottom yesterday.....MJ loves sleeping on top too.....I figure we will have to continue trading off on some sort of schedule so they both get equal time on the top bunk....Lila also LOVES the top bunk.....she tries to FAKE sleep up there during story time hoping that we will let her sleep there....So we are thinking when it comes time for her to get a big girl bed we are going to go with a Loft bed....that way she has more room to play in her room....it being the smallest bedroom in the house....anyway.....I am hoping to have a productive week as all the girls are loving their new schedule, I finally broke down and made one up so they have a little more structure to their day and then I drew pictures for the activities on what we should be doing when....they LOVE it, so far sooo good........After working less hours the past month I get to hopefully go back to my regular work schedule.....I actually missed working the past month (I worked 7 hours instead of my usual 80)....and moving forward I think I will be working 78 a month....or something like that.....it all has to do with benefit costs and what not....anywhoo.....here are a few pics from the weekend....

Last Weekend in March 2009

RIP My Cousin.....

So this morning I got a call from my mother around 8.30am Central time, which is EARLY for my mom cause it was 6:30am her time (she sleeps in till at least 9am on the weekends).....So I knew something was up and that it probably wasn't good news.....and of course I was right. She was calling to let me know that my cousin Syril had died in a car accident Saturday night....He was 43.....details about the accident are still being investigated, here is one of the preliminary storeys about it in The News Tribune, I am disappointed to read he wasn't wearing his seat belt......We will sure miss him and my heart goes out to my Aunt Ineze, Uncle Dick and my cousins Bridget and Scott (Syril's Siblings) and the whole rest of the Cookson Clan.....I love and miss you all!.....

Monday Already....Blah!

So here is it Monday again! I say it all the time but I am truly amazed at how fast weekends go by for us.....This weekend was pretty productive as I did not have to grocery shop, I actually finished that during the day Friday.....I got the girls photos back from JC Penny....they turned out so good....I have them up on Facebook for those who want to check them out....

Saturday we took the girls shopping for a few things for the yard and let them pick out some flowers to plant! Very fun, the girls LOVE to plant flowers...Danielle (neighbor girl) brought us over a Oak Tree Seedling so we will be planting that in the back yard soon! Yeah for a shade tree, it is so small right now we will probably have to stake it and keep the dogs away from it.....Shawn and I worked in the yard most of Saturday....I even got a tan.....just the way it goes down here.....So much for "Pale is the New Tan".....We are working on putting down weed stop netting in a few of our flower beds and then probably will get started on edging out part of our side yard and begin the process of making another pretty flower bed along the side of the house....we think this will add a bunch of curb appeal plus weeds seem to be the only thing that grows along our side of our house.....the backyard is still a work in progress too....we are edging it out too....along the entire fence to keep our neighbors grass from creeping into our yard...I hate it because we have two kinds of grass back there now because of it.....Oh well....We so love working in they yard.....and I can not wait for our green grass to come back, just need a few more days of hot sun and it will green up!

Joel came down on Saturday afternoon to stay the night, hang out and help Shawn with his baseball draft on Sunday....He brought with him a yummy new Vodka....Firefly Sweet Tea Flavored Vodka....You can drink on ice, or you can add a bit of water and enjoy w/ a Lemon Slice....OH MY WORD.....it is so dangerous....You have to like Sweet Tea (found at most restaurants all over the south) to like it but I must tell you it is YUMMY!!!......I only allowed myself one glass as I know I could have taken down the whole bottle.....Thanks again Joel for such a fun drink! Saturday night we did another BBQ with the neighbors.....we got started before the others but ate over with them....Makes for a super fun Saturday night.....Sharing food, fun, drinks and laughs....We ended up putting the kiddos to bed around 10pm or so and Uncle Joel for that matter (he goes to bed earlier these days!)....and headed back out for some adult conversation....I can not say enough how much I love our neighborhood, I am sure y'all are sick of me saying that!!! It is just fun to find neighbors with similar interests!.....

Sunday I was able to take a bike ride by myself....Shawn and I were going to go running since Joel was down but we got a late start and he had his Fantasy Baseball draft which lasted most of the day....So I biked about 5-6 miles around the hood....nothing crazy, I could have kept going but could feel my shoulders getting warm (I of course totally forgot sunblock)....but thankfully no burn just a tan....Other then that Sunday was pretty uneventful....we BBQed some dinner and said good by to Uncle Joel.....we were able to get our kiddos to bed at 8.00pm....trying to get them back on their usual schedule......

Shawn finishes up Jury duty today....he had to go back for sentencing today. They convicted they guy and will determine his fate today....it was a pretty nasty case so I am sure he will be in jail for a long time.....anyway hope everyone has a great week....I am looking forward to a few playdates and girls night in on Wed with my MOPS Discussion Group! Yay! Even better that it is at Sarah's house so I just have to cross the street! Love it!

Maybe we should start a B&B.....Totally Kidding....

Well we had a wonderful two weeks with my mother and Carol.....The girls absolutely loved having Grandma here and really soaked up their time with her.....They were very sad to see her go last night......Before they left we manage to have loads of fun!.....

Friday we headed up in the rain to the outlets in San Marcos.....I LOVE them....So many good deals I found an already discounted Coach Purse that I liked and got an extra 50% off of it....made it totally affordable....Plus they have every outlet store you can think of.....After shopping it was off to lunch in Austin. We went to Shady Grove, a great place to eat with good food. We even saw Thomas Haden Church eating while we were there.....My Mom and I actually had to move out of his way so he could walk by.....I was so oblivious that it was someone famous.....so funny! We spent the afternoon at Joel's new place, so cute! The girls were able to unwind and run around....Then it was off to Hoovers for dessert......SO good! The girls got chicken strips and the gravy it came with was simply amazing, probably not good for you but oh well....I see chicken fried steak or chicken in my future the next time we go there!!!!

We laid low over the weekend......Headed down to the market on Saturday morning and then to La Fogata for an early dinner and Margaritas (still one of my favorite places to grub on some Mexican Food)....we relaxed the rest of the day at our house with our neighbors....we love having them over!....Sunday Shawn and I went for a run, just the two of us, and then cleaned up and went shopping and to lunch....it was so nice to sneak in a date on a Sunday afternoon!.....

Here are a few pics from our last few day with Grandma.....

Austin & Market March 09

...and a video of Kiara "Doing her Serious Dancing"....She really FEELS the music!


So tonight G-Dad will be rolling into town.....he will be staying for a few days....We are excited to see him since it has been a little bit and it is so good for the kids to spend time with the grandparents.....plus it will be nice to have G-Dad here for the first few days of the NCAA Tourney.....

Riverwalk and out and about.....

So we have not been up to too much around here.....Monday we headed down to the Riverwalk for Lunch and a little bit of shopping.....we also headed over to La Villita, which is a pretty cool historic part of SA with lots of cute quirky shops and art galleries.....Carol got to see the "Little Church of La Villita".....which was something that she wanted to see since she knows someone that got married there.....


Yesterday Lila had her doctors appt at 9.30a.....but after waiting in the exam room until 11.15a and no doctor yet we got her dressed and headed out to reschedule, since the girls had a picture appointment at 12.00p.....Pictures went well and we ordered a bunch....as soon as I have the smiles by wire I will post the link for all to check out......As for Lila's 2 year appointment, I rescheduled it for this morning @ 8.30am......Our Dr actually called us back to the exam room and got us started, her nurses were running late, anyway she apologized for running extremely late the day before and did let me know that they are hiring another doctor so we will now have 3 doctors at our office.....so no more crazy late waiting......Lila's appt went well, she weighs 21.8lbs (3 Percentile), so we have to keep her on whole milk and start her on a good "high" fat diet.....she isn't too concerned but would like to see Lila put on some weight. Part of it is that Lila is SUPER active.....and she isn't the best eater.....some days she is really good and others she barely eats....so we have supplements for those days now....Her height was almost 34 inches (55 percentile).....so she is sort of tall and skinny......Our doctor did get a kick out of how much Lila talks.....She is talking at a 3 year old level, already putting together complete sentences....blew the doctor away.....I know it has a lot to do with her big sisters.....So not sure if many of you know but Lila sort of walks with a limp so I had the doctor take a closer look and she ended up referring us to an orthopedic clinic that only works with children......So I will be calling to make and appointment....and see where that goes......All in all she is totally healthy and happy!!!!

Tonight we ended out night with a good dinner at the Original Alamo Cafe on Hwy 281.....I swear they have the best homemade tortillas.....Warm and soooo good! We all had a great dinner, this was my first time at this location and it was pretty cool as they have the crazy sky ceiling that tries to get you to feel like you are outside.....The girls LOVED it!

Lila's 2nd Birthday and Neighborhood fun.......

Wow, we have been having a lot of fun around here. We have been enjoying the company of my mom and Carol. On Friday we celebrated Lila's 2nd Birthday.....She had picked Tinkerbell for her theme.....She LOVES "Bee-er-Bell"......So cute. She also picked Cupcakes for her "Cake" and for dinner we snacked on Capt N Crunch Chicken Tenders and a TON of Fruit....We kept her party small this year and had just us and the Garcia's at the party.....Lila loves Miss Heather (one of our awesome neighbors)!.....Lila enjoyed getting totally spoiled by all her family and friends.....Lots of adorable clothes, Mariners Princess Hat, wooden birthday cake kit (SHE LOVED IT & I love Melissa & Doug products! Thanks Kieren!), 4-5 Awesome Kid Books (8 Silly Monkeys is a new house favorite), Princess Mega Blocks, Tinkerbell Doll, a Ballerina Dance w/Me doll, and a Mini Baby Grand Piano! I am sure I am forgetting some stuff, oh yeah she is getting The TAG Junior by Leapfrog, but it doesn't come out until May.....She loves all her gifts and it well on her way to becoming a musician! On a side note she has been peeing and pooping in the potty pretty regularly now....she is in pull-ups and does it all pretty much herself, it has pretty much been all her....(I haven't started "Potty Training" yet)....So she may be easy...Here is an over kill of pictures....We had 3 cameras going so I went a little overboard!

Lila's 2nd Birthday

Here is a cute video of Lila learning to dance with her new Dolly from Uncle Joel! (sorry it is a little blurry but you get the idea)


Saturday we were out and about shopping with the kiddos and just having a relaxing day. We BBQ'ed with a bunch of the neighbors and celebrated Carol's Birthday. As with most parties we had SOOOO much yummy food and Margaritas were flowing.....we could have fed an army of people.....So much fun! I of course couldn't resist making more Red Velvet Cake Ball and Oreo Truffles......So Tasty!....I can not say it enough, we have the best neighborhood and the coolest neighbors around! We were up late too....I think the Lila fell asleep in my arms outside around 11 or so.....and then twins stayed past midnight.....I was so happy that mom and Carol got to experience what we get to most weekends! Of course we slept in pretty late today thanks to day light savings and springing forward......But the later sunlight will be nice!

BBQ & Carol's B-Day......

The bunk is up and so much more....

I have been having a hard time getting to posts....I suppose between work, email and facebook, I just have nothing left when it comes time to blog.....I must catch you all up.....for those that didn't know Grandma Paula and Carol arrived on Tuesday night....We are so happy to have them here again and still can not believe it has been a year since we last saw them. The girls love having Grandma and Carol here and today they treated the girls to a mini clothing shopping spree, each girl getting 3-4 outfits.....so spoiled I must say! And when we got home I think Kiara and MJ switched clothes at least 3 times.....So funny! We do not have too much planned while grandma is in town....but I will do better about posting while she is down here.....

The twins bunk beds finally arrived today. Shawn and I put them together with out too much trouble....Lila was the real trouble because all she wanted to do was help.....So funny....The girls finally picked out some bedding and now that we have the beds up and the new bedding we will finally be able to finish painting their room (it is just TOO white right now).....I must say they love their new beds.....and I will post some pics to prove it! TOO CUTE!

Twins Bunk Beds

Well tomorrow will be a down day as I have a ton of baking to do for Lila's Birthday tomorrow and Carol's Birthday on Saturday.....I can not believe Miss Lila will be two....so crazy....