Thanksgiving in Texas

We spent a whirlwind weekend in Texas for Thanksgiving and had a great time visiting with my mom's side of the family. In fact, it was so crazy, I never even got my camera out to take pictures. Fortunately my Aunt Jean sent us some, so I'll share them with you.

It was stressful getting there and home with the girls, but we're so glad we made the investment and were there for the holiday.

We stayed with my cousin, Erin, and her husband, Doug. It was really fun to get to know them as a couple and share the girls with them.

Since the girls are the only "babies" that were there, they got a ton of attention. All of my aunts and uncles were there and most of the cousins. It's fun to catch up with everyone. Two of my cousins are now engaged, so the family continues to expand. My Aunt Jean is in remission from her cancer and is looking great (go Aunt Jean!!).

What a blessing to have such an amazing family! We love you, Texas family! We enjoyed our time with you!
My cousin, Kara, had a fun time with the girls. Lauren especially liked her.

The original twins! My mom's identical twin sisters, Jan (left) and Jean!




Cousins Kara and Kyle and future cousin-in-law, Crystal (she's the one in the middle) (She and Kyle are getting married in San Diego in April 08)


Uncle Don (mom's brother) and Aunt Shelly

Uncle Bill (my mom's brother) and Doug.

Pantry fun!

I've probably mentioned this before, but it's just so darn cute. The girls love to play in the pantry and it has literally provided hours of entertainment for them over the past few months.

You can see all the cans by the laundry room door... those are from Lauren. She was taking all the cans out of the pantry and stacking them in the laundry room. Then, they were both taking the popcorn out of the box and putting it back inside.

Side note - can you believe how long Lauren's hair is getting? I just really noticed it in these pics.

Fall birthday celebration

Last Friday, we got together to celebrate the fall birthdays in the Fertig family up at the McCord's barn - Steve and Connie Quinn, Cecil and Becky McCord and my mom (not a Fertig, but still celebrated).

We had a fun time. The girls had fun playing with cousins Sophie, Jake and Emily. It was so cute when after Chicken Little was over, the credit music was playing and my mom and Jake started dancing, then Sophie and my girls all joined it. It was very entertaining to see them all shaking their booties - even my mom.

Also, sorry for the blog silence. The girls continued to be sick after my last post and then today, I'm not feeling so hot. Will it ever end?



The girls had a lot of fun playing with the trash cans. They'd push them around the floor and beat on them.


My dad and Emily (Ryan and Shannon's new baby girl). She looks exactly like Jake did when he was a baby. It's crazy.




All the kids "got down" with my mom. So cute!



This dress was the dress that Shannon wore in Becky and Cecil's wedding when she was Sophie's age. It was so sweet to see Sophie in it... she looked just like Shannon must have as a little flower girl.

Delicious and nutritious

I just have to share this new product I tried recently. I'm a fan of couscous and often make it as a side with dinner, but I found this Parmesan flavored brand from Hodgson Mill (at Target) and was anxious to give it a whirl.

It's mighty tasty and the best part is it's whole wheat, has milled flax seed and soy protein. In fact, one serving has 10g of protein!

I was hoping my girls would like it and they LOVED it. In fact, Jillian was crying when I didn't have any more bites to give her.

It's an on-going struggle to find healthy, nutritious food to feed our kids, so I thought I'd pass on this great new discovery to all my family and friends.

I'd love to know what creative, nutritious stuff you've found for your kids!

Sickies, go away!

This picture was taken last night, after a really hard day with the babies. They don't look so bad, but I think I wear the markings of a week with sick kids.

We're going on two weeks, plus, of sickness in our house. It started with colds, so bad that the girls had a hard time breathing at night. We recovered from that and Jillian got really bad diarrhea and, of course, shared that with Lauren, too. Not to mention that Lauren has had sensitivity to food and for the past three weeks was having tummy troubles, before getting the big D.

Having twins with diarrhea has left me up to my ears in poo-poo and two-plus weeks of sickness has nearly sent me over the edge.

I'm so thankful that my mom lives in town and came to my rescue today, giving me five whole hours to myself!

A perfect example

I've noted several times that Lauren is very into stacking/sorting these days. Here's a perfect example...

She was playing with this green cap before I put her in her high chair for a snack. I let her hold on to it, while she ate her quesadilla. When I turned around, she had discovered that her snack fit into the cap and had stacked almost all of her quesadilla pieces in it.

I think she was proud of herself, too. Judging by her expression in the photo. Funny girl.

Halloween Pics

I've tried all I know to try to get my videos to work and they're still not working. So, here are some pictures that I took.






Here's Jillian trying to climb back in the wagon. When I took her off after taking this picture, she was MAD at mommy.



Lauren enjoyed riding Sophie's rocking butterfly after trick-or-treating.

Basketweavin'

Here is a picture of my final cake from Wilton Course 2. I have to be honest, I didn't enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed the others. Making all the flowers, baking the cakes, mixing and coloring the icing, etc. took me at least five hours of prep time. And I did it all the week my girls were sick (with colds). I'm proud of how it turned out, and SO glad it's done.

Halloween Memories

We're having trouble with the videos - we'll get them posted ASAP.






I wasn't planning much for Halloween, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Shannon invited us to trick-or-treat with Sophie and a crew of others we're related to and kinda-related to. I'd explain all the connections, but it makes me tired just thinking about it.

Enjoy these videos... first is an attempt to get all the kids in one picture (Sophie Pongratz, Tyler Pongratz, Jacklynn McCord and my girls, of course) and second is poor Jacklynn trapped between the girls on the wagon ride.