paige's post

Paige has a new obsession with typing names on the computer. So, as she climbed all over me as I posted the rodeo pics, I promised her she could do her own post when I was done. So, here it is....typed by Paige & Paige alone. No help from Mommy here...


paige
taite
daddy
mommy


"Ta-da"!

Rodeo

I haven't posted in a few weeks. We had a great spring break a few weeks ago. At the end of the week, we all went to the Livestock Show and carnival. The girls really had fun.

I can never find any inexpensive 'rodeo gear' for the girls to wear each year. This year, I found some iron-on cowgirls at JoAnn's. They worked perfect. The girls liked their shirts.

Here is one picture from the petting zoo. I have other pics from the livestock show, but they want to go in the blog sideways for some reason, so I'm just going to leave them out!

We also let the girls do some rides at the carnival. Paige's very first ride was a "pirate" ride that she rode with Lewis. She thought she was so cool when she was done. The girls also rode a couple of other rides together.

Feelings

So, we have this little thing where we tell Paige, "show us 'happy' or 'sad'", or whatever, and she'll make the faces. Earlier this week, I got Paige and Taite to do their faces for the camera. This was a big feat, too, since Paige does NOT like to get her picture taken. I'm kind of cracking up over their outfits, too....Taite in her spaghetti-strapped dress & Paige in a coat! That unpredictable Gulf-coast weather for ya!

Anyway - here are the girls showing their feelings....

Happy

Sad

Sleepy

Angry (this doesn't come close to their REAL angry faces!)

(my favorite) Surprised!

Anniversary

Today is Lewis & my 9 year anniversary. Time sure flies! We're looking forward to a night out up in the Woodlands Saturday night (provided our kiddos are well!). Mom & Dad are keeping the girls. We're going to eat at the Melting Pot (yum!) & stay overnight up there. A much needed mini-getaway! I'm thinking we need to start planning a BIG trip for our 10 year anniversary next year!! ;)

Back to McCray's CRAZY Days!

AN UPDATE ON 2/19: Paige got the stomach bug, too! Vomiting last night.....minutes before Lewis calls to say he's missed his flight home from Mississippi & won't be home until tomorrow! AHHH! I was ready for a LONG night. BUT, she made it through the night & is playing this morning. So, hopefully, it's short-lived like Taite's bug!! Calgon, take me away.....

It's been a few weeks since I've had an update! Things have definitely been chaotic around here. So, here's the run-down of the last several weeks' craziness....

A few weeks ago, Lewis got the flu. Two days later, I had it, too....just in time for him to leave on a week-long business trip to Washington state. My grandma and Auntie & Uncle Larry from Ohio were in town (at Mom & Dad's) that week, too. I did okay that week....felt crappy, but the girls were GREAT for me!

We had a nice visit with our Ohio family. I wish we could've spent more time with them, though. We went up the first day they were in town & they came down to our house at the end of the week. The day I was up visiting them, I gave the flu to Steven! He was out of work for a week with the flu & tonsilitis! I felt bad about that! Paige, Taite & GG

Auntie with Paige & Taite

At the end of that week, I got a horrible, horrible call from Lewis' mom. His sister, Gyn lost her baby, just 3 weeks before her due date. It was unexpected and a terrible tragedy. Lewis flew straight from Washington to Dallas to be with his family. He came home that Saturday & we all drove up there for Aubrey Kate's funeral. It is a terrible loss for all of us. Please continue to keep Gyn & Chad in your prayers.

We came home, half-way through the week and slowly started to get back into our 'normal' routine. We did have a 'fun' event that following weekend. We went to see Sesame Street Live with Grandma & Grandpa. Both of the girls enjoyed it. It was really cute.

This might be the most still we've ever seen Paige!!

Fast forward to this past weekend. Taite ended up with a stomach bug! Ahhhh! We've already done the stomach bug this year. Didn't someone get the memo? I thought she had already 'paid her dues'! Luckily, it was short-lived. BUT, she did miss her 100 Day celebration at school yesterday! She was so bummed! This is the 2nd party she's missed this year due to illness. Kindergarten has been rough on her as far as illness this year! Argh! She's back at school today, so that's good news.

Maybe, just maybe, things will be getting back to "normal" soon. Or, does that exist in our world? Maybe not. But, I just like my routine and that's what we need to get back to!


Lewis & my 9th anniversary is on the 19th. Mom & Dad are watching the girls for us overnight on Saturday. We're going to go have some fondue at The Melting Pot up at the Woodlands and stay overnight up there. We're looking forward to a little mini-get-away.


So, that's the latest craziness with us. I wanted to also post a few more pictures. When we were up at Mom & Dad's, we found some of my old gymnastics recital leotards. I probably wore them when I was in about 1st grade. They fit Taite perfectly. The girls had fun playing dress-up in them. Too cute!

Taite's 6th Birthday

I can't believe Taite is SIX! Every year sounds older & older! She had a great birthday this year. Her birthday fell on a Saturday, so Mrs. Vermeer gave her the birthday crown & ribbon on the Friday before. That same day, Lewis surprised Taite & brought her lunch at school. That was fun.

Saturday morning, Taite woke up to a GIANT present in the living room. Check out what she got....Her very own BARBIE house. Now her 40+ Barbies have a place to hang out! It fit just perfectly into her room. She & Lewis (who shares her birthday!) also got Guitar Hero from Paige & I.
Saturday afternoon was the big birthday party. This year, she wanted to have her party at a "jumping place" (you know, where they have rooms full of giant bounce-houses, slides, etc.). We also decided to invite her whole class to the party. She ended up having 16 kids from her class, along with her long-time friends & all together, there were over 30 kids at the party!! It was a little bit crazy, but LOTS of fun for the kids. The kids were all really good. It was the perfect place to have a party with 30 kids!

Taite & all of her friends really enjoyed all of the jumping. Just watching them made a lot of us adults tired!

I love this picture (although it's blurry) of Taite airborne on the bouncy slide. And, notice Paige in the background...

We also had a lot of fun watching Paige "hang" with the "big" kids. She got right to it. She was right in there with all of them and nothing slowed her down. One of her favorites was this 'rock wall' that had a slide at the top.....
After the kids jumped, they went into the party room for cake and gifts. Many of you know that I ALWAYS make the girls cakes for their party. This year, Taite wanted a Strawberry Shortcake cake. We bought a really cute, personalized icing cake topper on ebay for her cake. It was really easy. BUT, I forgot to take a picture of it! So, you can kind of (barely) see it in her picture as she was blowing out candles....

I wanted to include a picture of the kids eating cake. This is a little over half of the kids who were there. There are other kids sitting at another table in the background. Really - the kids were great overall & it was fun to have them all there!

And, I had to include a picture of Lewis (the birthday "boy") sitting on the inflatable thrown. This is where Taite sat to open her gifts!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TAITE & LEWIS!!!

Christmas

We had a great Christmas. I can't believe it's almost time to get back to reality!!

We went to Lewis' parents' house, north of Dallas for Christmas. I should've taken a picture of our "Grizwald" vehicle that we took up to their house. We had our "turtle-top" carrier on top of the Tahoe, a platform on the back, and the entire back was full. We left a few gifts for other family members, but we definitely came back with more stuff!

It was fun to see the girls' reactions to their gifts. Wii was our big "family" present. We've been having lots of fun with that. Some of Taite's favorite gifts were a fashion drawing table, a Lego set, board games, arts & crafts kits, the cupcake maker, & a Barbie computer. I'm probably forgetting something, but that is enough! :) Paige was so cute and was SO excited to FINALLY open presents. She just enjoyed the whole day. She got a little dollhouse, the Little People town, Elmo Live, and lots of other fun little toys.

We still haven't done Christmas with my parents yet. That comes tomorrow. So, I'll probably have more to add later.

Other than that, we enjoyed New Year's Eve. Taite, Lewis & I stayed up playing Wii. Taite made it until 11:15, then said, "wake me up when it's my turn" and she was OUT on the chair. We couldn't even wake her up at midnight. She was DONE. 11:15 was LATE, LATE for her, though. I was impressed with her stamina. Oh, I didn't mention that Paige rang in the new year with a nebulizer treatment! We haven't done the neb. in a LONG time...inhaler, yes, but not the neb. She has been coughing like crazy & the treatments are definitely helping!

ANYWAY.....I suppose that's all for now. I could write a book. The long & short of it is that we had a a great Christmas. I'm kind of sad to see it go!