Off to work they go!

Oh boy, Carson was so excited to go with Papi to work on Saturday morning. He couldn't wait! Since the moment Carson woke up, he wanted to get ready. Carson was afraid Papi would leave without him if he wasn't ready to go. Papi informed me that Carson talked all the way to the Market and was so excited to get some alone time with him. And, of course, while at the Market Carson got a guitar, popcorn and I don't know what else. You know how it goes whenever one of the grandparents is around, "whatever they want - they get."



He had such a sad look on his face when he saw us coming. I guess, he wanted to be alone with Papi for a little bit longer.

Look at what my wonderful husband has been up to for the last several months...

Dave has been working so hard on the house, for a while now, and he is still going full force. Sometimes, it's hard to believe that one day this project will be 100% completed, but look at the kitchen now...what an improvement! Day in and day out he diligently works on the house and sometimes it seems as if it will never end. I can't imagine working as hard as he has been. He works at his practice all day long, eats dinner, and somehow, gets motivated enough to go to the house to work all alone. Then, every other weekend, while he is not working on the house, he drives all the way to San Antonio to see the kids and me. He never stops. And though all this, I've never heard him complain. On the contrary, he find the good in every situation. Wow, he amazes me!

In two weeks, the granite will be installed and the stainless steel microwave will go up and the kitchen will be pretty much completed! Then, it will be time to move into the hallway bathroom...

Ahhh...how sweet!

Lately, Natalia can't go outside without getting me a little gift. The thing about it is that she wants me to keep my gift right where she can see it.  I decided that the car would be the best place to put my gift.  Seriously, we desperately need a garden so that Natalia, at least, can cut flowers for me, instead of weeds.  You should see her little face when she so sweetly says: "Mama look, these are just for you." No matter how many times I tell her that we are running late, she insists in taking the time to cut these "just for me." ~Now, isn't she sweet!

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter, but we definitely missed Daddy. The easter bunny brought the kids a chocolate bunny (which they ate a little bit for breakfast) and some easter eggs with money in them. Then, Natalia, Carson and Luke had to go and pick up all the easter eggs that the bunny dropped through out the yard as he was leaving.



Later, my dad's side of the family came over and it was crazy from there on out! The kids, as always, had a blast. Natalia played with everyone none stop. Carson finally got comfortable enough and started playing with Victor and the other kids. Luke had a lot of fun playing with Madeline. And I, as always, loved visiting with everyone.

At Last

For those of you who have seen my mom's living room before, you understand how a make over was so necessary. Well, it finally happened! After 18 years, you know, things go out of style. Don't get me wrong, everything still looked in good shape and, I think, that's why it was so hard for my dad to see the need to replace the perfectly fine furniture they had. I don't think he understands or cares about what's in or out. He is a man, he is practical! But, thanks to my cousin who decided to buy new leather couches, my mom was able to redo her living room.

Gaining weight wasn't enough for me to get motivated!

After nagging for so long, Dave finally gave in. Last Sunday while in Beaumont, Dave and I went to pick up a few things to get me motivated enough to start waking up at 4:45 a.m. to jog. After we spent all that money on some clothes, a nano and a watch, Dave said: "All right, no more excuses, I'll call you tomorrow to see how your first jog went." Well, he called Monday and I had to fess up to the fact that I didn't jog. In my defense, I didn't jog because, according to the Running Program I'm following, Monday's are my days off (along with Wednesdays AND Fridays.) Hey, it's not a bad little deal I've got going here. If you are interested, let me know and I'll hook you up with the training program I'm using :0). All this to say, I've ran twice this week! After spending all that money, I hope I can stick with this "I want to start running again like I used to" kick I've been in for a while now.

Dirty Rain

It was raining mud on Tuesday evening in San Anotnio. At first I thought it was just the fact that Papaw's car was so dirty that all the dirt was being washed off down the windshield. After I got out of the car, I noticed that every car looked just like Papaw's. I looked up to the sky and I saw big brown clouds. I've never seen anything like this before!

Natalia is safe!

This morning, while the kids were watching TV, sweet little innocent Natalia was messing with the TV and the TV fell onto the floor. Thank the Lord that everybody is fine! (Hopefully Grannie was not too upset and took some pictures so I can post them later :0))

Annual Easter Egg Hunt @ the Ivey's

Oh we had so much fun! We had a chance to see other people we normally don't get to see very often and the kids had fun fishing, riding the boat and of course, getting those easter eggs. Natalia went her own way with Hannah. Those two are inseparable! It's a miracle I got pictures of her. Carson, this year, decided he only wanted blue easter eggs in his "easter bucket" and Luke, well, he almost missed the easter egg hunt because he was too busy fishing with Daddy.


But, after the easter egg hunt they all got to go fishing and they all caught fish! Carson was a little disappointed that we didn't cook the fish he caught though.

Official Carpenters

Now, they are official! This past weekend, the kids built a periscope at Lowe's. They received their apron, which of course, they were so proud of it that they wore it all day. They also got their patch for this particular project that I am supposed to sew on their apron. I'm glad my mom was with us because one against three does not work!

Luke might not be a trumpet player, but watch what he can say!

The conversation keeps coming up...

While in the car, Daddy was talking with the kids and for some reason this conversation came up again.

Daddy: "Now, you know kids, like Papaw always says, 'We don't smoke, we don't drink and we don't ride motorcyles."

Natalia with a confused look in her face: "What? We can't even drink water or nothing?"

Look at the talent!

After watching the Mariachis play their instruments, the kids had been wanting to give the trumpet a try. Carson has been wanting a trumpet so that he can "wake up YaYa." Well, while Daddy was in San Antonio, we brought his old trumpet out! Oh boy was that fun. First of all, as always, everybody was fighting for a minute of fame. Then, we all got frustrated because we couldn't even make a sound, except of course, Lia. So, watch out all you trumpet players...competition is on it's way!