February Fun!

We’ve had such a busy and fun month!

We kicked off the month being sick…again! This time it was a GI bug that got passed around the house like a hot potato🫣thankfully it only lasted a day or so for each person and everyone was feeling better by the end of the week. The girls wanted to celebrate with a little game night!
The following week, I surprised them with a trip to get their nails done and popsicles after school! It really is the little things – like going a full day without any GI symptoms! 😆
A visit from mama and dada during lunch time always brings a smile to this girl’s face!
One of our favorite times of the year: Galantines Day and Daddy Daughter Dance!
On Super Bowl Sunday, the weather was unseasonably warm so we let the kids get in the pool/hot tub for a bit! Originally, it was only supposed to the girls but of course Levi wanted to get in on the fun when he saw them! 🤣
And enjoy a quick drive around on the cart! Levi is obsessed with golf carts ride right now so this keeps him occupied for some time before he’s onto the next thing!
Saturday mornings are for cartoons and cuddles! The headband Ava is wearing was a huge hit this year with the girls. They kept alternating who would get to wear it! 🥰
Some days, when they get ready for school on their own, I wonder when they got so big and how is time flying by so fast?!?
This was one of those days. 😭
Surprised the girls with a quick trip to the park after school this day and they were ecstatic!
Levi’s first trip to Bounce Bounce!
He had the BEST TIME!!!
Best part of church for her is the small possibility she’ll get chai after service! 😂
Ava’s first Science Fair!

The weather is warming up now and we are looking forward to a beautiful week with lots of outdoor time! Spring break is right around the corner and we’re looking forward to having a really good time!

Xx,

Vincy 💕

Friday happies!

We kicked off 2025 with almost everyone in the house sick with the flu! 🫠Part of me still feels like I’m recovering and we’re almost at the end of January!

Here are a few favorites from the last few Fridays since I’m still playing catch up!

This, of course, has to be my TOP FAVORITE! It snowed in Houston this week!!!! The kids had two “snow days” off from school after being off the weekend and the following Monday for MLK day. Five straight days of no rushing to get anywhere and simply just hanging around the house – it was exactly what we needed! Jacob and I did have to juggle working from home and taking care of the kiddos. Truthfully though, it was such a memorable time. I’m so grateful for these three (and Jacob)! 🤗
Weekend hangs with the oldest and youngest! 🤩

The girls coloring the garage with chalk was one of our favorite pastimes at our old house and it was sweet to see them do it at this house for the first time! 🥺

The sweet look from Aaliyah to Levi was a favorite for sure!
The sunrise view never gets old. Add in the melting snow and it’s even prettier!

Went to watch the Texans/Chiefs game at an outdoor area in SL TC this weekend. This was my attempt to start to try to understand football so I have something to talk to Levi about as he gets older! 😆

I. CAN’T. EVEN. 😍

Looking forward to a restful weekend and praying for a healthy week ahead!

Xx,

Vincy 💕

Christmas Highlights 2024

Closing out Christmas 2024 this week and just had to share a few pictures of moments from this season I never want to forget!

This was the first year Ava participated in the Elf on the Shelf shenanigans and it was so much fun watching her create little adventures for Aaliyah!
I did help create some of the magic occasionally 😂look at that smile! 🥹
Everyone’s off of their normal schedule thanks to the holidays so Levi woke up extra early one morning and got to join me for my quiet time by the fireplace! I guess it was a little too quiet for him to stay awake! 🥰
The sunrise from these windows always makes me so happy! The pretty tree next to it is just icing on the cake imo, I’m so grateful!☺️
We finally decorated our tree the night before Christmas and I think a tradition is born! Afterwards, we all wrote down our highs from the past year and our goals going into the new year and shared with each other. Aaliyah’s was to get better at piano and Ava’s was to learn guitar.
Before we went to bed we made sure to set out cookies and milk for Santa! the way Aaliyah is carefully monitoring Ava’s pour makes me giggle!
And of course we watched yet another Christmas movie at the girls’ “movie theatre” 😂the credit card machine got me!
This Christmas was filled with lots of performances! This picture is from the girls’ first Christmas dance recital!
Ava was Mary in the church play! Aaliyah ended up being sick so she skipped the play and stayed home to snuggle with Jacob.

School let out for Christmas break so we made a stop at the library to make sure we were fully stocked for the break! This is a dance session before we go into the library, obviously!

But only after we had pan fried pancakes and smash burgers from Oliver’s🤤
Christmas Day 2024
My Christmas cutie! 🥰
We hosted lunch the day after Christmas for Jacob’s side!
This year I noticed Ava loved to wear her lightbulb earrings and all her Christmas gear! I’ll take it while it lasts!
We spent lots of time outdoors on walks…and backwards strolls…
His first forced smile 😂
Just can’t get enough of him!
This season is so tough but I am so grateful for this little guy!
We’ve spent the last few days sick lounging on the couch. Today I walked into the living room and saw them both reading peacefully and had to document how grown they appeared!
She caught me taking a picture! 😂
All in all, this Christmas season was so wonderful in so many ways and I am so grateful! Jacob and I always say we are living out our prayers and that couldn’t be more truer than in this current season of life we’re in! It doesn’t mean it’s not tough – in fact, many days are a struggle for us but it’s definitely worth it. We are so thankful for this beautiful life we get to share. Praying for a wonderful New Year filled with more love, joy, and adventures!

Xx,

Vincy 🎄

Italy Trip PART TWO: FLORENCE & VENICE

We landed in Florence late Saturday evening and walked to our hotel from the station. We loved this hotel – the staff, the location, and the daily, yummy breakfasts were all so wonderful! After we dropped off our bags, we headed straight to dinner.

Our hotel had made reservations for us in advance but that restaurant didn’t have outdoor seating. The weather was perfect and we really wanted to sit outdoors and listen to the live music that was playing in the courtyard. We decided to stop at this hole in the wall place and enjoyed probably the best meal we had out of the whole trip!
A quick picture on the infamous bridge!
And then of course, more GELATO!

The next morning, we headed out to explore the city of Florence!

Really loved just walking around and enjoying the views!
Pictures on the Bridge of Gold!

Jacob and I at the Santa Maria Cathedral 😍

While walking around, we stumbled upon “buchetta del vino” or a wine window! So simple and yet so fun! 😆
We grab lunch at a cute little restaurant nearby the wine window and noticed a large train station/warehouse across the street. We walked over after lunch and realized it was a large food hall, how fun!
We head back to the hotel to get ready for our evening activity and come across the most beautiful street art! 😍
We finally arrive at our evening activity: a pasta making class! As soon as Ava found out about our trip to Italy this was her first request.
We did a class by Pastamania and loved it! This is us waiting for our class to begin.
Here we are ready to EAT!
Our wonderful instructor!

Aaliyah hard at work stuffing ravioli!

After the pasta making class, we returned to the hotel and went to bed. The next morning, we caught an EARLY train to…

Stop #3: VENICE!!!
Surprise, surprise – we stopped for lunch and got more pasta and pizza!

Truth be told, by this point we were all tired and a little homesick so I feel like we didn’t enjoy Venice as much as we probably should’ve. We were the for a full day and left the following morning to return to the States. The weather was dreary and we felt like the people were warmer/friendlier in Rome and Florence BUT we loved the tiny towns connected by all those tiny bridges.

Of course, we had to take a gondola ride with the girls!

Sweet sisters! I’m so glad they’ll always have these memories! 😍

🥰😍🥹
Afterwards we had some downtime, so we sat in the town square steps and people-watched for a bit!
Afterwards we grabbed dinner and wrapped up our night!
But of course we stopped for more gelato…
…on a cone…
And candy!!!!
The next morning, we caught the water bus to the square and caught a cab to the airport to finally head HOME! ❤️

We were all exhausted from traveling and returned home to Levi being sick with HFM! BUT I’d do it all again in a heartbeat because I am sure these are the trips that we will look back on years from now when the girls are older and be so thankful for! I am so glad we made the time to finally visit Italy as a family and hope we can all return one day with Levi! 🙏

xx,

Vincy 💕

Italy Trip PART 1: ROME

In October we spent the girls’ fall break in Italy! It was a whirlwind readjusting to normal life but it was SO WORTH IT! We had a wonderful time away visiting Rome, Florence, and Venice.
My parents watched this sweet boy for the week we were away!
Love these two! They are the very best travel buddies! 😍we flew into Paris on our way into Rome and this was on our layover after a 9 hour flight. They are seriously just the best and easiest travel buddies! They are truly the happiest when they’re traveling and I just love that! ☺️
As soon as we landed, we took a local train/subway and walked a few blocks to our hotel, checked in, and set off to explore!
FIRST STOP: Gelato, obviously. 😉
SECOND STOP: The Spanish Steps! We headed here right at sunset and were able to catch a beautiful sunset. We were hoping to catch dinner and drinks with a view at the restaurant right next to the Spanish steps but no luck with reservations! Afterwards we ate a quick bite and walked home to turn in for the night.
The following morning we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel!😊
We headed out for the day and quickly realized we’d be better off getting day passes for the hop on/off bus. We grabbed those tickets and headed off to see…
The Colosseum! The girls, especially Ava, were the perfect age for this! 😍
One with all of us (minus our sweet bebe)☺️
It’s a shame they don’t get along that well…😋😍
The bus rides were probably their favorite part of the day! 😂
We enjoyed pizza by the pound at a local place followed by more gelato, of course! 😉
We got back on the bus and hopped off at the Spanish steps. We tried our luck at the rooftop restaurant but stuck out again! We couldn’t stay too mad because at least we got to enjoy the view again!
We headed home again but this time stopped for pasta on the way home. I think it’s safe to say Aaliyah loved her pasta! 🍝
The next morning, we grabbed a cappuccino and explored some more. Needless to say, I LOVED IT! Walking around a new city with my people drinking coffee and soaking in the culture is my favorite way to spend the day!
Then we hopped back on the bus and did a little more sightseeing!
My sweet girl! 😍🥰
Side story: Aaliyah ran straight into a lamppost as we were walking out and hit her forehead pretty hard. You would’ve thought Ava was the one that got hurt! The way she rushed to Aaliyah’s side, comforted her, and even tried to pick her up to carry her just made my heart so happy. It’s something I don’t ever want to forget! 👯‍♀️ 🥹
We walked around a bit more, enjoyed the tourist attractions, and the beautiful views of just everyday Italian living! Then we headed back to the hotel and grabbed our bags…
And took a train to…
Beautiful FLORENCE!

Weekend Happies!

We’re headed back into the work week in full force over here but I wanted to take a moment to capture all the goodness that happened over Thanksgiving break and this past weekend!

Enjoying Kindergarten Thanksgiving lunch with our favorite kindergartener! ❤️
Later that day, we enjoyed an impromptu family hang at the neighborhood park. The gangs all here minus my brother!
The weekend before Thanksgiving, we all headed to the new Great Wolf Lodge in Webster to celebrate Alora’s birthday!
Matching Christmas pajamas will always be my favorite tradition with these kiddos!
The following Monday, the girls were dropped off at their favorite art (day) camp in Pearland and I took my sweet boy to B&N for his first time! It was very short live – he lasted 8 minutes total before he started pulling all the books off the bookshelves….so we left! 🙃🫠
It’s a good thing he’s so cute!
Later that evening, after we played with a few neighborhood girlfriends, Jacob headed to basketball, Levi headed to Ammachi’s house, and I took the girls for a little GNO! 😆
The next morning, we had a little brekkie date after art camp drop offs and for some reason I felt like the third wheel! 🤨
We spent lots of afternoons at Appacha’s house enjoying the sunset on the back porch and the swing. 🥹😍
The girls are finally old enough to really help decorate the tree and I was so proud of what a great job they did Wednesday night!
On Saturday morning, we spent lots of time on the couch napping and working on projects. It was the perfect lazy Saturday!
On Saturday evening, after Betsy’s birthday dinner, we got hot chocolate for the girls and drove around taking in all the Christmas lights in River Oaks.
My sweet girls!!! Love them so much!
Per tradition, Elfie flew in on December 1st with goodies and the girls were beyond happy!
Wrapped up a wonderful week with date night at one of our favorite sushi spots, Azumi!

So much to be thankful for during this season, I’m tying my hardest to be present and soak all the goodness during this time!

XO,

Vincy

Ava Rose is NINE!

I cannot believe we have a 9 year old!
This feels like yesterday! 😭
The day we brought her home from the hospital!
I remember thinking she is the prettiest little thing I had ever seen!
Her first “real” haircut!
Always ready for an adventure!
She is definitely a mama’s girl!
But nobody can compete with her daddy! 😆
She is clever, a little sarcastic (like her mama 🙃), playful, and so witty!
She surprises us everyday with her achievements and is growing into a bright young lady!🥹

Aaliyah Reese is SIX!

Our spunky middle child is SIX today!

She is creative, likes things in order, and her love for all things mini runs deep!

She marches to the beat of her own drum! Admittedly, it took us some getting used to at first. 😆 Now that we have embraced it, we love her even more (if that possible) for it!

We blinked and she went from this….
To this…
And now to this! 😍
She loves her siblings with her whole heart!
And she absolutely adores her daddy! 🥰
BUT she is a mama’s girl, through and through!
Aaliyah Reese, you will forever be our favorite (middle) child and we love you so very much!!!

Creating Lasting Memories: A Family Weekend

Sunday mornings are our always the highlight of our weekends!
Grandparents make our world go round! We really are blessed with the best of the very best! 🥰
I know the picture quality is not the greatest, but I just had to share so I could remember this day. My sweet mama surprised the girls with a trip to the nail salon to get their “birthday nails” and they were in love! 🥹

Ended the work week and celebrate the start of a long weekend with a sweet treat!

Cheers to another great week!

Adventures with The Curious Georges: Book Fairs and Plant Shops

We had a busy but wonderful week over here!

Pretty sunrises like this make the morning commute and school drop-offs so much more bearable! 😉

Nobody warned me how often boys need their hair cut! This is haircut #4 for my sweet boy and look at his cute smile! 😍
We had lunch with the newest kindergartener on the block! 😋
I volunteered for the girls’ book fair and snagged this picture of Aaliyah as she was walking back to her class with all her loot! 🥰
Visited Eden Plant Co. over the weekend – a plant store AND coffee shop?! 🤩
Looking forward to spending lots of time by the pool enjoying the warm weather this weekend. Cheers!