ballet "show-off" day...

this past week all the moms, dads, and grandparents were invited into the studio classroom to watch our little ballerinas show-off all their ballet and movement skills. it was so much fun to watch the girls sing, dance, and move all over the studio. they have learned so much over these past three months.

olivia all dressed in her jingle bells and ready to perform.
olivia, our beautiful ballerina! :)
this was one of the girls favorite songs-- the train song, so cute!!

little reindeers getting ready to grand jete'(run and jump over a box in the center of the room).

the girls showing off their flexibility skills on the bar. ms. janie is reminding them to point their toes. :)

olivia, ms. janie, kingsley

ms. janie does an incredible job teaching the girls beginning ballet skills while working on several movement skills and doing it all through fun music so they enjoy every moment. olivia absolutely loves ballet and especially ms. janie.

at the very end of the class we learned a little more about the recital and we even got to find out what their costume will look like!! the recital's theme is dr. suess, "oh, the places you will go!" and the girls will be little mice!! the costume is adorable- grey and pink with ears and a tail. we are looking forward to may when olivia, kingsley, and the other girls will be on the BIG stage, but i know the girls will continue to love each tuesday they spend with ms. janie leading up to it.

bears v. raiders...

saturday after thanksgiving baylor played texas tech at cowboy stadium. it was neat to have the opportunity to go to cowboy stadium and cheer on our favorite team. we went with the bowlins and fifers and started with a little tailgate.


then we headed into the stadium...
to cheer on the bears with the cutest fans...
the bears did a great job!! one of the best games of the season. go bears. so sad the we didn't make it to a bowl game this year, but there is always next year.

cashing in on a really great gift...

last year for christmas my chef brother gave mark and i are really great gift- a private dinner party for 6 of our friends. so fun!! well it only took us almost a year to cash in on this great gift, but last week we did and it was wonderful! sean and mark came up with a fantastic menu and i had fun setting the table and getting the house all ready. i was only able to take a few pictures because my camera was still making its way home, but here are a few from our fun night!

chef sean in the kitchen workin' hard.

we ate outside in our backyard. i love any excuse to use my lanterns. it was a little chilly, but i still think it was the perfect setting for a perfect meal!

chef sean explaining our meal.

thank you sean for giving such a wonderful gift and for creating such a special evening for mark and i and our friends. we are hoping for a repeat gift this christmas! ;)

a splish splashin' good time...

was had by all at olivia and kingsley's 4th birthday party!!

olivia's birthday celebrations {way too many this year} ended with her joint birthday party with her cousin, kingsley. the girls wanted a mermaid party. mermaids swim, right! well, that sounds like fun party, but it is november and a little chilly for a swim party! it is chilly, but we still had an indoor swimming mermaid party at emler. it was so much fun!! olivia and kingsley invited all their friends and family and they had a splish splashing good time.

birthday girl #1, olivia

birthday girl #2, kingsley

the whole gang! thanks for coming friends!!

the cake, yum-O

it was fun for the girls to celebrate together since they are born exactly six weeks apart and on most days are the best of friends! :) i think everyone had a great time.

sarah, kk, olivia, and me

i love these little girls more than they will ever know. i love watching them grow up together and sweet relationship that they have. they fight at times, but love and understand each other in a very special way. happy 4th birthday precious girls. i love you!

meet emily...

so as i said in the last post about olivia's birthday, gram lois gave olivia a trip to the american girl store to pick out a special doll. it was a really fun and special day, but i think the best part for me to was watch gram lois pass on her love for dolls to olivia. when i was a little girl i had a special doll at her house that i used to spend hours playing with, dressing, and even making clothes for. those are such sweet memories that i have and they are all spent with my gram lois. so when olivia asked for an american girl doll i thought there is only one person who would enjoy the experience as much as olivia, gram lois. i was right!! after ballet nana, gram lois, olivia, and i all headed to the galleria to the american girl store.

when we walked in olivia and gram lois were in awe of the incredible display of dolls, furniture, clothes, accessories, and even the doll salon!! olivia walked around pointing to everything, while gram lois followed right behind with a big smile on her face. nana and i loved it too!!

after walking around for a while olivia spotted emily!! emily was the doll she had already decided she wanted. she picked her because she looked most like her. it was the sweetest thing when she spotted her. olivia ran up to her screaming,
"here she is!! here she is!! look it is emily!! i found her!!" nana even shed a tear, crazy nana!!

(sorry about the picture being sideways again, i was using my mom's camera)

we took emily off the shelf and i don't think olivia has let her out of her sight since that moment.

olivia and emily both in blue dresses. we didn't even plan that, but olivia made sure to point it out! :)

gram lois, olivia, emily, and nana

after some more looking around and taking in all dolls at the store we all walked over for lunch at nordstrom. emily joined us of course!!

it was a really sweet day and one that olivia nor i will forget anytime soon. thank you gram lois for creating such a special memory with olivia and for passing along a true love for dolls and imagination.

baylor homecoming celebrates 100 years...

our family had a great time. we were able to continue many of our homecoming traditions like going to the bonfire with b, pop, sarah, abby, and kk...

and the bonfire would not be complete with out standing in a really long line for a ride on the ferris wheel...

daddy and o always ride together and i am the photographer. maybe when jack is big enough i will have to be brave and go with him! :)

saturday the festivities continued, we all got up early and headed to campus to watch the LONGEST college homecoming parade in the nation... (betcha didn't know that!)
jack LOVED the BIG balloons (like in the macy's parade) and the girls LOVED collecting TONS of candy...

"look mommy, see them!!"

we also went to the game where we were able to see our extended family as well. b's brother and his whole family come to all the baylor games as well. it really is a family affair! :) kk and o are the same age as eden, so they always have so much fun together...

our weekend plans had been going along just as planned and then jack got sick...

so olivia got daddy's pigskin ticket (just have to go to baylor or have seen it to understand what that is) and loved it!!! her favorite act was the "crayons" and her second favorite was "the fruit." i was happy that she like the "fruit" since that was my sorority and they won 1st place!!

over all it was a great weekend even though jack got really sick and a few of our plans had to change. after each homecoming on our ride home, it just makes my heart happy to think about all the fun family traditions that we are continuing that have been alive in mark's family for so many years. baylor homecoming was extra special this year since it celebrated it's 100th birthday, but really each and every year it is a special and memorable time for our family. baylor might be one of the greatest places on earth, at least to this little bowlin bunch!! :) sic em bears!

the caterpillar and the butterfly...

celebrated halloween with several opportunities to dress up, tons of friends, and lots of sugar.

if anyone asked olivia what she was going to be she would tell them, "i am going to be a blue SPARKLY butterfly and jack is going to be my caterpillar!"

here is how the butterfly and caterpillar celebrated halloween this year...

kk and olivia, bffs! looking cute in their bats shirts and ready for their school halloween parties!!

"the butterfly" in her full costume for the first time and excited to "trunk or treat" at her school the wednesday before halloween!!

the pink butterfly, the blue butterfly, and the soccer player @ trunk or treat, looking so cute! jack was there too, but not in a great mood. no cute pictures of my caterpillar this night.

friday we went to the WACKY WEDNESDAY playgroup and had a fun party with our friends. it was great to get all dressed up again, have a chance to play, and the opportunity to give to others by collecting LOTS of food for a local food pantry. click on the link above to see those pictures. celena did a great job capturing all the fun we had!!

halloween night...

after watching the baylor game in waco, we headed over the herridges. olivia and daddy carved our pumpkin! well actually daddy carved it!!

the caterpillar, the butterfly, and the pirate ready to go trick-or-treating!

and FINALLY my little caterpillar smiles for the camera!! (ignore the shadows and focus on his smile)

on sunday when we got home the fun was not over. we put our costumes on for the last time and met up with all our mpe friends at the gilbert's house for our annual photo session and playgroup. it was great and hard to believe that this is our 3rd year to get together!! (no pictures because my camera is on it's way back to my house from el paso). :( sorry! they were all very cute!!

another great halloween!! so many activities, but so much fun to experience this holiday through the eyes of my children. they loved to dress up and pretend and i'm not going to lie they LOVED all the candy and treats that go along with it as well. o is already talking about what she will next year-- "a pink butterfly?" i think i will try and talk her into something more unique! :)

olivia's birthday bonanza to come, but i thought i could catch up on halloween first!! ahhh, i am so behind!!!

el paso here we come...

if you read our blog, you know that some of our dearest friends moved out the el paso at the end of the summer. we have been skyping and keeping up with lots of phone calls, but honestly o and i just missed our precious friends. since olivia's birthday was coming up i decided that would be a perfect excuse to purchase some airplane tickets and head out west for the weekend. i am so lucky that my sweet husband knows and values these friendships and was totally on board with this trip and having a weekend with jack. anyway...

o and i were so excited for a mommy daughter trip. she was THRILLED to get to ride on the airplane AND then get to see her friend lilli. she was all smiles at the airport.

all smiles at the thought of riding on the airplane and getting to spend 3 days with lil.

when we arrived in el paso after some delays in dallas, the girls could not wait to see each other. they ran and hugged for a really long time and then held hands. so precious!

i love how lilli's eyes are closed during their hug. it was so authentic and sweet.
does it get any sweeter? misty and i don't think so.

the next several days were filled with fun, giggles, hugs, dress-up, playing, and tons of sweet memories!!

the girls started out sleeping together. that didn't really last very long, but they were cute all snuggled in bed together night one.

we played at the museum in downtown el paso. the girls had fun playing the mind games and so did their mommies!

all dressed up in their princess jammies and ready for bed.

olivia modeling her birthday gifts- hello kitty stuff in the bag and her princess apron.

we can't wait to make another trip to the dessert and make some more mudpie memories!! thank you haynes family for having us. we love you all!!

a MPE halloween...

our tradition continued this year as my mpe (teacher friends) all gathered at anne's house to dress up our little ones, torture them with a million pictures, and then reward them with sugary snacks and fun toys. we have been getting together for about 4 years and halloween always seems to be a playdate that we just can't skip. we did miss several of our mpe buddies this year- lilli, lola, randall, alex, and abby, but we still had a great time together.

the whole gang

my butterfly posing for one of the hundreds of pics

jack having fun playing AFTER the pictures.

i cherish these girls, their children, and most importantly their friendship. what a privilege to have taught together and now be on this adventure in motherhood together. love you all!!