Birthday Bling...

Izabella turns two on Thursday. To celebrate this we took both of the girls out tonight for a special right of passage for all little girls... ear piercing. I know, I know we are cruel parents.
She talked about it all afternoon. When we finally made it to the "paul" which is what Izzy calls the mall she was still excited, until the sweet Claire's lady wanted to touch her then it was a no go for Izzy. So, we decided we would do Sophia first. While we were marking Sophia another little girl came in to get her ears pierced. We then decided to let the other little girl go first and then have Izzy watch as it was done. The little girl did great and Izzy was ready to get her earrings! (We bribed her with a sucker) Once the dots were marked on the ear the lady did one side... click... and then silence... a deep breath... and then hear it came... a big cry. We quickly gave her the sucker and distracted her with it while the lady did the other ear. No pause this time just straight to the cry, until she saw her new earrings and she smiled and laughed and said... look at my earrings.
Then it was Sophia's turn. This took awhile to make sure that her dots were even... she is a squirmy little thing. Then it was time... Daddy held her arms and her head and the lady did the first ear... click... immediate scream. We decided not to wait and just keep going... click... oh my goodness, I don't blame her a bit, she was upset with everyone. She finally settled down after a couple of minutes and was laughing before we left the store. But I will say I doubt big sister would have gone after Sophia.
So it has been done they were both great and here are the pictures of the birthday bling...

What's cook'n...

Confession... I love to cook. I don't like to really follow recipes, therefore I hate to bake... there is a difference. My favorite way to cook is looking in our pantry and trying to throw something together... I like to taste it in my thoughts and then see if I can recreate the masterpiece from my head. I watch the food network all of the time for inspiration. Garth said I should be posting these D'lish Dishes on the blog so here it goes... Tonights D'lish Dish

Layered Taco Goodness

(Inspired by an episode I watched of Sandra Lee's Semi Homemade)

Ingredients
1 yellow onion (chopped)
1 package shredded fiesta mix cheese
1 package of corn tortillas (10 will do)
1 large can diced tomatoes (drained)
1 small can green chillies (drained)
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 package of corn tortillas (10 will do)
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 package taco seasoning
2 cans white chicken breast (drained)
Olive Oil
Cooking Spray
Casserole dish

Preheat oven to 400

Place tortillas in a bowl and cover with chicken broth to soak. Set aside.

Drizzle olive oil in a skillet and heat.
When oil is ready add onions.
Cook until translucent.

Add both cans of drained chicken to onions and package of taco seasoning. Cook until meat and onions are covered with seasoning and warm. (you might need to drain excess water off when finished)

In a large bowl combine the chicken and onions, green chillies, black beans, tomatoes and most of the cheese. This is the goodness!
Stir until it is all mixed together

Spray casserole dish with cooking spray. Cover the bottom of dish with one layer of soaked tortillas.

Add thin layer of goodness, then cover with another layer of tortillas.

Repeat this until the goodness filling is gone. You want to make sure that the last layer is of the goodness, not the tortillas.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Bake for 30 minutes or until boiling.

Easy, Easy and Quick!

Now there are a few different things you could do to this to make it your own... make it a vegi-version meal and leave out the meat and add more beans. Change from chicken to beef or pulled pork.
Anyway you have to try it. Our family enjoyed it... in fact I think I am going to have a little snack.

Let me know what ya think!

Happy Birthday Uncle Travis!!!!

Okay we have been practicing the Happy Birthday song for quite some time now. This past week we worked on singing it for Uncle Travis' birthday which was last week. I tried to post the video for his birthday but we were experiencing technical difficulties.
For those of you who don't know Uncle Travis is Izzy's BFF. Travis has helped to take care of Izzy since she was a little baby. He has always been there when we needed an extra hand to help whether it be with Izzy, the dogs, the house in Owasso. We love him very much and miss our Fridays with Uncle Travis!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE TRAVIS!!!!

Getting Plugged In...

The Renfrows have been searching for a church in Austin...
Let me start by saying we have attended Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa since before we were married. After visiting many churches we felt at home there and later joined. Pastor Tom Harrison has a way of sharing the stories of the bible while relating them to present day issues... If you are ever in the Tulsa area on a Sunday morning you should stop by to listen. And if you just feel like hearing the word they post video of their sermons on their website (live on Sunday and archived). Before today Garth and I were thinking we were just going to grab a cup of joe and turn on the computer every Sunday.
But YEAH!!!! I think today we found a place to plug into, Riverbend Church. (take a look at their website and click on the "about riverbend" tab... they have a lot going on) We dropped the girls off at their respective classes and then walked in to the sanctuary... or should I say concert hall? There was a guest band playing and they were really, really good, very red-dirt. In fact they will be playing Tumbleweed in Stillwater May 2. They were called Band of Heathens, my Dad and Brother would really like them (b/c of the red-dirt... not the heathens part). You are probably thinking... a band that will be playing the weed in Stillwater was playing in a Southern Babtist church, not in my Babtist church, not in any church that I have ever been to. Then the pastor begins with his sermon which was on the power of music and how whether good or bad everyone has an opinion, it stirs up all kinds of emotions. The sermon was based on Psalm 57. Oh my goodness it was a great message. Then at the end they sang Chris Tomlin's "How Great is Our God." ... tear and heart smile... tear and heart smile. There was only one other person I wish could have been there, she would have enjoyed the praise of this song and the energy... we both would have been smiling, crying and laughing together. I have always been moved by the music and Garth the message so to find a place that energizes both of us is essential. Today I think we found our place for our family to plug in.
Here are some pictures from our week...

National Geographic...

Okay, every since I can remember my mom has told me this story...

When she was little she was taking care of her younger brother and sister at the park. Out of no where she said came a swarm of hornets that started to attack the three of them. Mom says she threw her brother and sister to the ground and covered them with her body and in the process was stung many times.

Now, not ever having seen a swarm of hornets or a swarm of anything for that matter (except on Saturday morning cartoons) I have always just kind of filed this in the... "sure it happened" file of my head (and she knows this). That is until last Thursday. The girls and I were on the back porch playing. Our house backs up kind of to one of the main roads through the neighborhood and there are always "big trucks" as Izzy calls them traveling through the intersection. Sitting in the chair laughing at Izzy I can hear one of those "big trucks" coming, except this "big truck" was getting closer, closer and closer... now the "big truck" doesn't sound like a "big truck" at all it sounds more like... bees? I turn to look over my shoulder and there was a dark, buzzing cloud of bees moving across our back yard! I am telling you a cloud of bees so thick you could not see through them. Now, hearing mom's story all of my life about the swarm of hornets... and then I also had quick flashes of a Dateline or 20/20 African Killer Bees special... I went into survival mode. I ripped Sophia out of her activity station, picked up Izzy and threw them in the house and then turned around for the dogs. At this point the swarm was moving to the other side of the house but I could still hear the buzzing. I got the dogs in shut the door... we were safe... no stings. CRAZY! I had to call Garth immediately to tell him what had happened... in true Garth fashion he was glad we were safe but wasn't too excited. Then afterward I had to laugh... I guess now seeing a swarm myself I will have to re-file mom's hornet story into the "believe it" file!

So this started the National Geographic moments at the Renfrow's. In the days following we have discovered that we have a bunny living in our front flower bed and have had quite a few lizard sightings. Sunday after church we were washing the cars and a lizard decided to help us, it walked right up to us and into the garage. Then today Sophia and I were on the back porch, I turned to walk back in the house and there was a lizard sitting on our window ledge... just waiting to be invited in I guess.
Here are a couple of pics...

Here is a shot of the bunny... it is between the tree limbs (we'll try to get better pics)




Here is our friendly lizard...



Here is how close it was to the back door... which had been open for about 20 minutes or so before I realized we had a visitor...




FYI

according to dictionary.com

swarm

–noun

1.	a body of honeybees that emigrate from a hive and fly off together, accompanied by a queen, to start a new colony.

Trip to the Dentist...

This morning we took Izzy to the dentist for the very first time. I have been talking to her for the last couple of days trying to let her know what the dentist will say and do. Her new favorite show Barney even has a dentist episode that we have been watching.
Once we got to the dentist's office she was a little timid, but friendly. (wouldn't you know it they had a Barney with a tooth brush, yeah!) They looked in her mouth and brushed her teeth with fluoride. The doctor let us know everything looked great. We ended the visit with a sugar-free sucker and a super-bounce-ball! Yeah!!
She was a little lady and did great. I was loading her in the car and she said something that just took me by complete surprise and has now inspired me to start quotes from the day...

Quotes from the day... remember she is 23 months
1. Izzy to me as I am loading her in the car... "I love the dentist, it fun!"

2. After we got home she wanted a snack...
izzy..."I want Cheetos"
me... "we are out of Cheetos, baby"
izzy... "well go to store and get some... daddy can get some when he's home"

Oh my goodness... too funny. It's the little things that make my day ;)

Easter Sunday

We started Easter morning in sweatshirts and jeans and then ended the day in flip-flops and tanks. Here are a few pics from Easter Sunday...

Trip to Oklahoma...

The trips are always fast and furious. I worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the girls stayed with Garth's parents and brother. Let me just say that I am so blessed to have such nice, helpful and kind in laws and brother-in-law... without them our trips to Tulsa for me to work would not happen. When I come in they take over with the girls and I get to work.
We also took a trip down to Stigler. The girls and I needed to get down there to see Garth's grandmother. We took Garth's grandmother to lunch on Tuesday and then she came over to play with the girls on Wednesday morning... she kept up with us pretty good. She mentioned taking a trip to come and see us and I told her she better call Travis first so he could be her driving buddy! Tuesday night I got to go eat at the Chinese restaurant with Dannah. We finally got a chance to catch up, life gets crazy but I am trying to make time for everyone. Izzy really took to Pawpaw they ate dinner, read books, ate snacks, read more books... they had fun. Then, Wednesday evening all of our visitors arrived at once, it was just like old times at the White house. Lisa, Hannah and Sidney pulled up, right behind her pulled up Melissa Brown-Cross and Pegi Cariker behind her and then Amanda with her kids... SO MUCH FUN! Chaos, but fun. Amanda (who is a very brave mom) took all of the kids to the Stigler park to play while Lisa and I stayed behind and finished up her hair. Then before we knew it the kids were back, Pawpaw was back with the pizza and it was time to eat. After dinner Sidney decided it was story time with Izzy's Pawpaw so, Dad read many books to the kids... (heart smile).
On Thursday we decided it was time to head back to Austin and Garth's mom, Jerry Sue, decided she would make the trip with us. George and Travis came down on Friday and everyone stayed until Sunday.
We took Jerry Sue to Whole Foods headquarters in downtown Austin and gave her a quick drive-by tour of the city. Our favorite part of the weekend though was going to the IKEA store in Round Rock. If you have not been there or to their website you have to check out their home furniture, bedding, rugs... if you need something for your house, they have it. The website does not do the store justice... I highly recommend a trip to an IKEA store.
Here are some pics of our trip to Oklahoma

Oklahoma we are here!

We made it!!!!  When Garth and I drove it took right around 7 hours... last night it took 8 1/2.  One stop for gas in Ft. Worth, one stop at McD's outside of Ft. Worth... one more stop at the Moore McD's for another feeding and 7 showings of Hollywood She-she-wa-wa movie and we made it. 

April visit to Oklahoma

Today the girls and I will head up to Oklahoma for our monthly visit. I am finishing up packing... I try to pack the girls clothes separately in freezer bags with their name and day they will wear the outfit... this is helpful for the grandparents, uncle and even myself to keep things in order while we are there. Izzy's bag is complete and now I will start on Sophia's... and then mom last. Garth is coming home early to see us off... (heart-smile) Well I have to get back to it...

Keep us in your prayers that we are protected as we do all of our traveling this week and that the girls will ride comfortably and happy.

We will update when we get there...