The evolution of the diaper bag

Then: Classy leather $248 Ralph Lauren tote.

Now: Flimsy canvas $5 Old Navy tote with the San Francisco bridge in a heart. (I've never even been to San Francisco.)

If you have more than 2 kids and they are 3 and under you probably know how just trying to get out of the house is a job! I used to pack all my things neatly in my RL tote before the straps got ruined from lugging all their things around, and these days I'm throwing random things that I think the kids might need in this Old Navy tote and hurrying them out of the house. 

Sometimes I don't even bring my purse too and just throw my wallet in there as long as the rest of the house is going in there. Vanity be damned. My shoulder hurts dagnabbit! I'm just bringing one bag. In all seriousness though, I will be looking for another bag soon. I need something with compartments so I'm not taking 10 minutes just to locate my keys. 

Our weekend (Miami & Key Biscayne)

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Ours was good. I love being so close to everything. This past Saturday we ventured briefly into Miami and then Key Biscayne. We parked near south beach and walked a little along Ocean drive and checked out an art deco festival that was going on. We also went by the beach but we didn't get in. The water was beautiful! Afterwards we had some cuban food at a quaint little cafe called tinta y cafe and then we headed to Key Biscayne for about 2 hours. Layla, Serena and H got in the water, but Mariam and I hung back. We don't like to get in the water when it's cold so we just sat around enjoying the view and playing with the sand.

Sunday was a lazy day. I've been feeling under the weather a bit and had plans to take the girls to the part while H watched football, but I ended up just staying home and we spent more time on our phones and tablets than we should have. Yesterday we spent the day exploring the city of Delray Beach which is only about 15 miles away. I'll do a separate post on that another day.

I love taking pictures of my family, however trying to get them to take pictures of me can be like pulling teeth sometimes. H doesn't mind too much, but he ends up getting shots like the one above. I guess that's what timers are for. 

Have a great Tuesday!

All moved in!

Finally we got our internet set up in our new place! We've only been using our data on our phones and it's so slow here. Now we've got the wifi going so I can start blogging again. I've missed it! 

Tomorrow marks 2 weeks here and I am loving this gorgeous city! Even driving to and from the store or Serena's school is just peaceful. It also feels very safe. In several of the forums I read back when I was researching Boca, I read a lot of comments about people being rude, but I haven't seen that yet. Most people seem pretty nice and the girls and I get a lot of smiles. Serena is settling nicely in her new school and made friends the first day she was there. She's such a social butterfly. We also found our new church and got Serena back in choir. 

Layla and Mariam settled in just fine as well. They ask about my parents and my inlaws, but they haven't mentioned the old house at all. My friend mentioned that small children associate home with being where ever their things are, so I guess that's why they feel at home. As far as H, he is loving his new work place. His hours are fantastic and he no longer has to drive far. Since we've been here, we've checked out the beach twice, took the girls to pony rides and checked out a couple nature centers. There's just so much to do and we are in a great spot to be able to travel to neighboring cities. West Palm Beach is only 30 minutes away and Miami is 40 minutes away. We've also got the keys 3 hours away and Disney World 3 and a half hours away. There are also 2 airports 30 minutes away. 

I've take a ton of pictures on my phone, but my phone has been acting weird lately so it's not letting me email the pictures to myself. Hopefully once it's working right I can share pictures from the first two weeks. I'll start taking pictures with my camera again soon so stay tuned. ;)

Have a great 3 day weekend!

We've moved!

Good-bye Texas, hello Boca Raton, Florida! 

Now you know the reason for my less than frequent posting lately. Things have just been crazy with getting everything in order for our big move. H got a job transfer in November with a start date of January 2nd, so we had to quickly get our house in order and put it on the market. By a stroke of luck we sold it the first day it went on the market. The first couple that saw it fell in love with our Victorian house, so it was a huge blessing to be able to sell the house quickly. The closing wasn't until December, but everything went smoothly. 

However we had a second hurdle of having to find a new home. We flew out to Boca a few weekends ago to look at a few houses with our realtor, but we didn't find anything we liked. We only had one day to look and it just wasn't enough time. So for the meantime, we are going to be renting a condo as we get to know the area and then find a house. We are so excited about moving. In the beginning we were nervous and wondering if we were making the right decision, but the pros outweighed the cons. Boca is beautiful and known for their A-rated schools and Serena is going to be zoned to the best middle school  in Boca. That was a huge selling point for us. Not too mention--the beach! We are only going to be about 10 miles from it. There is going to be so much more to do outdoors as a family as opposed to Houston. The cost of living is higher, but the quality of life is going to be better. Also, H is going to be super close to work and work shorter hours. No more hour to an hour and a half commute! We just arrived yesterday so we've got a lot to do! I can't wait to share updates on our new adventure.