Busy Four Year Olds

Today my sweet, intelligent, sassy, head strong, beautiful girls turned 4! Sometimes I can't believe that I am a mother of 3 kids let alone twin girls. They sure keep me busy and on my toes.

I think four is going to be a busy year for this dynamic duo. They are preparing for their 1st ballet and tap dance recital. They just got their outfits and want to wear them ALL the time.
Here are Layne and Bryce showing their Wee Rocketette costume off. I can't wait to put full make up on them and lather their eyelashes up in mascara. I have been dying to put mascara on them because their eyelashes are to.die.for! Thank goodness they got their lashes from their dad.

I convinced Layne to wear a dress on her birthday. Bryce always wants to wear a dress. Bryce's had a butterfly on it and Layne's had a ladybug. Layne only agreed to wear it because it had a ladybug on it. Graham was so nice to his sisters this morning. He even made them homemade cards. What a sweet brother!

After the girls last day of school, we picked up Graham and headed off to swim lessons with Ms. Mimi. Layne L.O.V.E.S. it, Bryce not so much. But they need to swim as we will be spending lots of time in the pool in Singapore.

While Graham was having his lesson the girls hung out with the Taylor girls, Jeanne and Jillian.

After swim lesson, we met up with the Crawford crew at Chic Fil A for some dinner and play time.

We finally made it back to our hotel and had a little cake on their birthday.

The girls will have their big party on Saturday when Daddy returns. They are so excited for their party but I think they are more excited to see their daddy!

Adjusting

Adjusting to hotel life has had its ups and downs. For the most part it has gone well but when something goes wrong it goes terribly wrong and takes longer to reel the kids back into sanity.

For example, on Monday afternoon, we attempted to go swimming. Here are the kids all dressed in their new swim wear and headed down to the pool for what I thought would be HOURS of fun.



The water is "heated" but if you ask me they lied. The pool was freezing! I opted to hang in the hot tub while the kids swam in the pool.

After about an hour of swimming the clouds rolled in and the sky grew darker and darker, so we had to call it a day for swimming. This, however, made 3 little kids so sad. Which in turn, turned into a difficult afternoon and evening.

But we survived the disappointment and had an early bedtime and we all regained our sanity by this morning.

The girls had a busy day at school with their Olympic festivities. I went up to school and cheered on my little Olympians.

Bryce and Layne carrying the torch around during the parade.

Bryce jumping into the hoop! She looks so happy for herself.

Layne balancing on one leg!

The rewards for the Olympians!

Genius!

Today was the day the movers packed the container that would set sail to Singapore and hopefully get there the same time that we arrive.

The girls and I arrived at the house after dropping Graham off at school and waited patiently for the movers to arrive. We had to borrow a chair from our neighbors so that we had at least a chair to sit in. The wood floors got pretty hard after a few minutes. The container was curb side by 8:30 am and the guys were ready to start loading it up. They will fill it from top to bottom and front to back and as tightly as possible to prevent any movement or shifting of the items while floating across the vast ocean.

As they started to bring everything out and load the truck I began to have a slight anxiety attack. It looked like not everything would fit. I had to make a pile of things to separate of things that would stay behind just in case. They kept telling me it would all fit but that it would be VERY close. So, of course, I went into panic mode and freaked out the girls would not get their doll house, table and chairs, pink rocking chairs and Graham would miss his book shelf and video rocking chairs. There were other things I pulled to the side but I was willing to let all my stuff go so the kids could have theirs. As it got fuller and fuller, I thought no way is it all going to fit but what do I know...I am no professional!

At the end of it all, EVERYTHING fit. Genius, I tell you! It was like shifting boxes here and there like a puzzle. I could not believe it. If you look closely at the picture, you will notice that the mattress is on the very edge of the container. The container was packed tight! They did tell me I even had room for more if it was the right size and shape! I was just happy that all the stuff I intended to go to Singapore made it on for shipment.

So we said good bye to our things and and we will see them on the other side of the world.

Living the Life of Leisure

Hotel life for the next 35 days...I think I could get use to this.
I just hope Graham, Bryce and Layne keep doing this every night!

getting ready...

This has been a busy week in the Doffing Household. We have been getting ready for lots of events. The big one for Graham has been the Spring Fling at his school. He has talked about this for weeks. Apparently he has been practicing different dances during PE because once we got to the gym Friday night he instantly began to bust a move. It was so cute. He wasn't shy at all. I was very surprised that he just jumped right in and danced the night away. And by that I mean about an hour because once he started to sweat he was ready to go home.

This picture is kind of hard to see him but he had a "spotlight' dance to Eye of the Tiger. He showed it to me at home and he had the entire dance down perfectly. He takes his choreography very seriously.

I, on the other hand, have been getting ready for the big move to Singapore. On Saturday, the packers came and packed and wrapped up all of our things that we are taking with us. It was an all day affair. The days and weeks leading up to this day have been very stressful but the actual day was quite easy.

Graham spent the entire day with his football coach's family and the girls spent the day with the their bff, Ella. Having them with their friends made the day so much easier....so a big thank you the the Barnes and Crawfords for all your help!

The packers were very professional and handled everything wonderfully. So come Monday morning, the movers will bring the container that will store our things and be shipped by boat to Singapore. We are hoping that everything will arrive there just in time for our arrival in early June.

The girls, of course, have been getting ready to play and play and play. Life as an almost 4 yr old seems so good to me right now!

Bryce and Layne enjoy hanging out with all the other little kids at Graham's football games.

Here is Graham in his final huddle as an Allen Eagle! He LOVES football! I sure hope he can find something in Singapore that he loves just as much. He did tell me that if Singapore does not have football then he would settle for baseball. But come on, we are from Texas...football rules!

The past, present and future

The Past:
As I prepare for our big move to Singapore, I have been going through closets, boxes and drawers. In the midst of it all I found my old football jersey from high school. I am assuming it is from my senior year but I can't really place why we got these jerseys. However, I am glad I saved it because now Graham can enjoy wearing it.

The present:

Graham went to his first hockey game this weekend and he insisted on wearing his hair in a mohawk! I think it looks pretty good. He just needs some tattoos and he can be a tough guy.

The Future:

This week I found out the best news of all...Eclipse will open in Singpore on July 1 which is June 30 back in the States with the time difference and all. I am beyond ecstatic that I will get to see it when everyone here gets to as well.

As for the rest of the the future we are 2 short weeks away before the movers come. Still lots to do but I am sure it will all get done.

Check out how the date is written. I am going to have to get use to the date and month being reversed among other things of course.

Weekend

The weekend started off with a surprise visit from Brian's brother, Uncle Kevin. The kids were extremely excited to have him for a visit. They were able to have quality time with him a few hours each day. The rest of the weekend was full of neighborhood fun and football.

Friday night we decided to go to dinner with some of our neighbors and all the kids. I was a little hestitant at first since I would be solo but I figured the worst that could happen is that we would have to leave. I was pleasantly surprised and how well we all did. After all we went to IHOP so I knew all my kids would be able to find something to eat. Fortunately for the parents kids eat free! That made it even more enjoyable.

Here are all 8 kids as we waited for the servers to get our table ready. IHOP was smart and put us in our own little "room" in the back.

Saturday, Graham had a football game and he was pumped that he was able to play center this game. The Eagles were short a few players this game so Graham had to play both offense and defense. He did not get a break at all. I was SURPRISED at the end of the game when he told me that he loved playing the entire game. The Eagles lost but Graham still loves playing .

Here is Uncle Kevin entertaining the girls at the football game. Bryce eventually feel asleep is his arms by the end of the game.

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As for Singapore, Brian will be over there later in the week and get our keys to our new house. We will officially have a Singapore address soon. I am still working on sorting and organizing the house for the movers at the end of the month. The clock is ticking and I still have tons to do but hope to get it all done in time and still remain sane.