I know, I know, I know

I stopped blogging and now all of a sudden, it seems as if I can't stop.  It's just that there is so much going on and I have to post it.  Going back to our weekend with Daddy...

Daddy was such a good sport this past weekend.  Saturday morning, we went to see my cousin's daughter Elizabeth compete.  For the past two years, she has been horse back riding and loving it. I remember her love for horses since she was a little girl.  The competition started somewhat late so we were not able to stay for the whole thing.  But the kids enjoyed hearing, seeing and touching the horses. 

 

 

After all that excitement, we went home to eat lunch and to rest a little.

Then at 5:00 p.m., we went to the parade.  That's right, we went to the Battle of Flowers Parade!  The owners of the Aztec (the building I manage) allowed me to bring the people I work with and their families to the Aztec to watch the parade.  We brought food and we watched the parade from the 2nd floor.  Good set up, if you have kids.  Dave wasn't too excited about this - as a matter of fact, he hates parades, crowds and traffic.  And as you can imagine, we experienced all three.  He did so good though.  He was such a trooper.  We finally got home around 11:30 p.m.

  Dave enjoying the parade!

  Daddy and the kids watching the UT band

  

   

  

  Ladies I work with.  Left to right, Yolanda - Property Manager (I've known her for 14 years); Sarah-Assistant Manager; Peggy (Assistant to the Leasing Agent and NHRA racer - click on her name to read more about it) and last but not least Terese - Accountant and Property Manager (I have known her for about 10 years).

Ready or Not, Here I Come

The kids love playing hide-and-seek with Papi. As soon as he gets home in the evenings, he eats dinner and then it's time to play hide-and-seek before the kids need to go to bed. ~I'm sure that's something the kids will never forget!

Things I said I would NEVER do

I've always said:

1. I will not spend my money on slippers for my kids, since I didn't like slippers growing up.

2. I will not buy something for one of my children just because his/her sibling has one.

3. I will never buy them anything with a cartoon character on it. (I don't know why, it's just not my style.)

4. I will, definetly, not drive around town looking specifically for whatever item my child is asking for.

Well...yesterday I did all of the above, except for #1. Mami helped me out on that one.

It was all worth it though. You should have seen Luke's face when he saw his first pair of slippers.

Mission Accomplished

Natalia knows how to tie her shoes all by herself! Daddy has been trying to teach Natalia how to tie her shoes for a while now and on Sunday, she finally did it. I tried to teach her, but had NO patience. Thank God for Daddy who has ALL the patience in the world to handle important things like this.

So, I think this is how it goes:

"Go under the bridge, make a loop, go around the loop, and pull the other loop through."

Once again, having fun with Daddy!

I should've known that the kids and Daddy were going to have a blast while I was gone. On Friday, I had to run an errand. I wasn't even gone that long, but Dave doesn't need a lot of time! One thing I know, Dave has acquired a lot of experience while remodeling our home. He decided that watching Star Wars for the 10,000th time was just not good enough. So, they decided to build a fort. I've built forts before, but nothing like this. The kids were so comfortable in the fort that we had a hard time convincing them to go to bed. And Dave was so proud of it that he wanted to sleep in his fort! He is such a kid :0).

All the way from Guatemala!

It has been 9 years since I've been to Guatemala. I've seen several relatives since then, but some I have not seen since 1999! Tia Lety came to see us for our wedding and then she came again when Natalia was only 9 months old. Now, tia Naty came when Carson was only a baby. So, neither of them knew Luke. It has been so much fun having them here. Natalia has really been speaking a lot of Spanish with them. Carson and Luke, on the other hand, understand it but can't really speak it. I hope that they learn how to speak Spanish one of these days. Tia Lety and Tia Naty are so much help with the kids and around the house. They will be here for one month. They've been here for a week already. I can't believe how fast time has flown by.

C is for Citizenship

Yesterday, as soon as I picked Natalia up from school, she informed me that she was going to be getting an award today.  I tried to get information from her, but got no where.  After questioning her all the way home, she finally said:  "Mama, why don't you just ask Ms. Leach.  I just can't remember what she said."  So, I figured I would just find out today during the awards ceremony.  

So there I sat this morning.  With my camera poised and ready.  Parents lined the school's cafeteria awaiting to hear what award their bright young kindergartners had earned.  Natalia sitting proudly among all her classmates, waiting to hear her name.

Natalia's name was called for the Outstanding Citizenship award.  To be an outstanding Citizen meant that you do things to make the community around you a better place.  You are considerate of others, you are polite, you use your manners, etc.  Wow, I'm so glad she is a little different when she is not around her brothers LOL!  

Hey, maybe Dave & I are doing something right after all.

  

Happy 2nd Birthday Sarah!

 
This weekend, we went to visit the Ivey's.  It is Sarah's birthday today so we had to help her celebrate!  Natalia & Hannah had so much fun talking and playing together.  Boy, can those girls talk!  Carson, pretty much, did his own thing.  Meanwhile, Luke & Sarah were all over the place. 

Saturday, right after we arrived, we went to Hannah's soccer game.  Then, we went back home to get ready for Sarah's party.  The kids played non-stop.  After the party, all the kids went upstairs.  We got them ready for bed and let them watch a movie, hoping that they would all fall asleep.  Ha, the movie was over before any of them fell asleep.  It was close to 11:00 before they were all asleep. 

    

By 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, everybody was awake.  What in the world is all that about!  They were supposed to be tired, very tired after all they did the day before.  I guess, not tired enough to sleep past 6:30 a.m.  After eating breakfast, Hetal decided that we needed to go for a walk.  So, why not walk to Starbucks?  Great idea, except that only Luke and Sarah got to ride in the stroller, the others had to walk.  After walking one block, the ones walking had had it.  So, we had to hear them complain all the way there and back.  On the way back to the house, we stopped by the playground.  Even though they were tired of walking, they had fun, except for Luke, who was out by the time we got there.  

   

  

   

When we got back, Hetal ordered pizza (which, by the way, I still owe her money for it :0)), while the kids continued to play.  The kids ate so much.  They were so hungry after the long walk.  Later, they played in the sprinklers, ate more cupcakes and took a bath.  By then, it was time for dinner, so we ate dinner and we headed back home.  They fell asleep as soon as we pulled out of the driveway (approximately 6:15 p.m.).  When we got home, they went straight to bed.  What a great weekend we had!

  

It's all in God's hands...

Okay, so Monday, April 14th, the kids and I left Beaumont at approximately 1:45 p.m. About half an hour later Daved called me to see where we were. That's when I first heard about the accident that had just happened on I-10 near Ford Park. You can read all about it here. I can't help to think that it could have, very well, been us. We had just passed the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. 15 minutes before the accident happend. Then, I have to remind myself that God is in total control. Our days are numbered and that when He wants us home, He will take us home!

Please, keep our family in your prayers, as we travel back-and-forth.

Learning the Word of God

Tomorrow Wednesday is Cubbies for Carson and Sparks for Natalia.

So, tonight Natalia reviewed her verses for tomorrow and learned a new verse. So, this is what happened:

Mama: Okay Natalia, this is the last verse. Proverbs 12:22 - The LORD detests lying lips, but He delights in men who are truthful.

Natalia: (with a very perplexed look in her face) But Mama, I ALWAYS say a lot of lies. God hates me!

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Okay, then it was my one-on-one time with Carson. So, I'm reading him a story about how Cubbie looked very perplexed because he was thinking about how sad he felt that Carson won't be visiting him again until next fall, since Cubbies is almost over this year. I turned around and poor little Carson looked as if he was about to cry. Carson looked at me and said, "But Mama, I don't want Cubbie to be sad."

Enjoying the great outdoors

We went camping with our Sunday School class last Friday and Saturday. The weather was perfect! A little cold during the night, which made it great camping weather. We had a wonderful time. The kids had a blast. They wanted to stay another night, but we had to get back so we could go to Sunday School the next morning. If you want to read more about our camping trip, you can stop by Matt & Elizabeth's Blog. Hey, they even made fun of us! I'm sure y'all will enjoy what they had to say. But guess who kept coming over to our tent ;0).

Improv Night with Natalia

      

Lately, Natalia has enjoyed telling jokes. Here is a sample of a few she has been telling lately...


* What do you call a piece of wood with nothing to do?

Ans: Board

* Why did the bee get married?

Ans: She found her HONEY!

* Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Orange

Orange you glad I'm not telling you another joke?

Three Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, One Fell Off And Bumped His Head

  

       

     

Last night, while I took Natalia & Carson to Awanas, Mami called me to let me know that Luke had fallen off her bed. He cried for, maybe, 5 seconds and then he was fine. His head bled a bit. The carpet, the pillow case, his shirt and a towel had blood all over it, but it stopped bleeding fairly quickly. When I got home, Luke told me all about it and showed me exactly where all took place. He said, pointing at his head, "Mama, water - lots water." I didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't water what came out of his little head...