New Family Pictures!!!

Sweet family pictures. We are so thankful to have wonderful pictures of our kids. Note to self, June is too hot to take outdoor pictures in Dallas. We scheduled pictures for two hours and made it just under one. Gabe was not interested in getting his pictures taken AT ALL. So we focused on the family pictures and Emory.

 This was the end of the line for Gabe. We tried really hard, but he was over the whole thing.

 Outift change! Emory looked adorable in her pink tutu.

 Even Emory tried to get Gabe to participate. Still no luck, but what cute siblings.

Keeping Cool...

Well, the Texas summer is upon us. We have already had numerous days of 100. Boo. But, with busy kids, you have to find things to do..... inside. We met our friends Kate, Lucy and Will at the aquarium at Fair Park last week. We had never been there and it was great.

The girls did not want to touch any of these....

 Sweet Gabe exploring.

 I think he noticed the fish.

 "Shhh, the alligator is sleeping."

 The aquarium has a sting ray petting tank!! But, none of the kids wanted to touch these either.

 Boys on the loose!

 Snack time.

 Another snack time, notice the dirty knees. That's a sign of fun.

 Time for some hugs.

 Then the girls decided this was the perfect place for ring around the rosey.

 And we leave holding hands.

One Year Later....

A year ago today, our house caught fire. The chaos of that day, and the days, weeks, and months following still make my head spin. Our house was a mess last year, but this year is a different story! We have worked really hard to take full advantage of remodeling our house. We are so happy with the result and SO thankful to be done with contractors, insurance, paper work and receipts.

The new kitchen. My favorite parts are the farm house sink, down draft and dual fuel stove and the pull out trash.

 Our family room. Missing some art, but nearly complete.

Entry way.

 Play area and dinning table. This white couch is amazing. You might question a white couch with toddlers, but it's Ikea. And slip covered. Amazing.

Side console behind the dinning table. Thank you Home Goods.

Emory's bedroom.

 Gabe's room.

 Our room.

 Guest bath.

I did not get pictures of the master bathroom. Kinda small and can't get a good angle, so just believe me that it is done too.

Again, thank you to everyone who helped us along the way. What a turbulent year! We are settled in our home and are so glad to be back.

What We've Been Up To Lately...

Busy busy! But the Dess family is having so much fun. I will try to catch you all up!

The kids had their last day of Mother's Day Out/Preschool. As much as I miss some time alone, I also appreciate the relaxed mornings where the kids are sleeping in until 8:30. Ahhhh. Anyways, the kid's teachers were just wonderful and we miss seeing them.

Here are the kids on the first day of school. Look at how little my kids were!!!!

 Gabe's teachers. Such amazing women for Gabe's first "school" experience. They were so loving and patient with our little mama's boy.

 Emory's teachers were soo kind. She has her shy moments, but they totally helped her through all that.

After Gabe's first hair cut we are dealing with a new phenomenon..... bed head.  He is just so cute that some messy hair does not matter.

 With the upcoming release of the new Cars movie, Lightning, Mader and some new character are traveling around the U.S. for kids to see. Well, another mommy lesson learned. Never tell your kids about plans you have until you are there. The line was 2 hours long to get in to see the cars up close, so we just walked around them, and this is as close as we got. I really had to talk to Emory about how Lighting and Mader were really busy and they understood that we couldn't wait that long.

 We have been enjoying a lot of play dates lately. Dear Brady came over and the kids were too cute together. They were riding the plasma car around (together) while Emory was all dressed up.

 Now it's her turn to drive!