Texas Snow

"WOW!!" is what Madison said. She was so amazed by the snow we received here on Wednesday evening. Now, Madison has seen snow once before, but she was only 6 months old and it was her 1st Christmas. Isabella didn't like it, she didn't like the cold. I'm going to post a few pics of our beautiful "white" night. Oh yeah, that's BIG RED ELMO lying flat on the ground covered in snow. Enjoy!

Before, During and After the Storm (IKE)

So I know its been awhile since I've posted. And I'm very sorry for all of those that read regularly trying to stay up to date with our family. There has been much happening. September was the beginning of school for the girls and also our Family vacation. Isabella started preschool in the 1 year old class and Madison is now in Pre-K 4! Isabella made herself right at home walking straight to her class. And just 2 weeks into school we had our Vacation. We went to Florida. Stayed in New Smyrna Beach, just 20 minutes south of Daytona and we were able to miss all of the Hurricane Ike storm. Our flight from Houston was just one of the very last flights to leave before Bush Intercontinental shut-down operations. We just barely made it out of town. We enjoyed ourselves the whole week relaxing and the girls loved playing in the sand. We spent 1 full day at Disney's Magic Kingdom and had a Princess dinner with the girls. They met ALL the princesses and even Mickey and Minnie. Isabella was a real trooper. We arrived at 10am and stayed until 9:30pm. Isabella lasted all day on only a 30 minute nap. FYI, she usually sleeps 3 hours at nap time. She loved all the rides and even the characters. This was not a Planned visit, as we were lucky to find a lady selling her 1 day passes here in Kingwood. We were able to visit Disney for really cheap. This was a test for us to know what our next trip would be like and WHEN we plan on spending a week over there. Madison is ready to go back, I'm not however. It is really exhausting. The family photo with Mickey and Minnie was at 8pm and the girls were so very tired, but they still were very happy. I'm going to post several pics of vacation here, so be looking for them. When we returned to Kingwood, we had no power. Our neighborhood lost power at 5pm on Friday, Sept 12, the day we left town. And it did NOT return until Thursday, Sept 26th. We were so uncomfortable, but thankful and fortunate that POWER was the only thing we lost. And NO, we had no generator. We didn't think we would be coming home to no power after a week in Florida. I remember the exact time it returned too. I was returning from school with the girls and tried to open the garage, (out of habit, pushing the button) and nothing happened. I parked in the driveway, opened the door and POP, the sprinkler heads popped up out the ground spraying me with water! I was so happy! It was exactly 3pm. Tried the garage door opener again and bam! it opened. The girls were happy too. Only problem was the DANG ALARM to the house would NOT stop beeping. It beeped for 4 hours straight!!!! UGH!!! I called the builder, alarm services, friends, etc... I could not figure the thing out. And we've never used it before. It was about 7pm when I finally pulled the control boxes off the wall unscrewed each wire disconnecting them. The following week I returned to school and found out that I would be working as a long term sub. Needless to say I am NOW a permanent teacher in the 1 year olds class, with Isabella, and its a LOT of work. I'm so very tired right now, but I needed to get this post in since it has been nearly 2 months since the last time I posted. I plan on going to the gym in the next 20 mins, so if I don't get the photos up soon, check back later. Hope everyone is doing well and we love you all! Take care! The Shaws.

Isabella's Dance Moves

Okay, so every time Jingle Bells comes on in the truck, Isabella squeals with excitement and starts to dance. So, I thought I'd play it in the house to see what she does. Its cute, she LOVES to dance. I also played Madison's Hannah Montana music to see if she would still dance to something different, guess what, she did. She liked it even more than Jingle Bells I think. Yes, I know its not Christmas yet, but Madison LOVES Jingle Bells, so sometimes we play it in the truck when we are just driving short distances. I'm going to try and attach 3 video clips to this post. The 3rd is one of Isabella "chillin" watching Max and Ruby, a cartoon from Noggin. She is such a clown. I hope you enjoy.

Ellie is back!!!

Well, Madison missed her "sister" friend Ellie for an entire month. Ellie and her mom, Letty, were in California for the entire month of July. While they were there, Ellie wanted to cut her hair too!!! Wow, do these girls think alike or what? So now they are back and Madison really wanted Ellie to come over to play. One evening while Letty went to the gym Ellie came to play. It was really hot and humid even at 6pm, and we had just gone for a LITTLE walk, but the girls were sweaty and wanted to play in the water. They drank alot of water too! Next best thing to a pool? SPRINKLERS!!! So we may not have a pool, but we have a sprinkler system and that entertained the girls just fine for nearly 45 minutes. They had so much fun running around getting their SHORT hair wet and jumping over the water spouts. Here are a few pictures of the girls playing around. I will post again really soon with Isabella's Dance Moves!!! She is such a character. Take care!