Japanese anyone?

By the way, just in case you needed or wanted to know, this is how you write Carson Stovall (blue paper) and Luke Stovall (green paper) in Japanese. Well, that's what they told me anyway. Who knows, it might say something completely different. I just thought I would share this with you since I paid $1 each and I don't know what else I can or will do with these. So, enjoy!

We are going to the Zoo today!

We started our Sunday by going to eat breakfast at Pico de Gallo.  This mexican restaurant is one of my parents' favorite restaurant.  

After eating a very yummy breakfast, we went straight to the zoo. Oh, where do kids get all their energy from?  -Seriously, they never stop!!!  At the zoo they walked and ran and walked and ran and walked and ran... Thank God for another day with perfect weather.

Natalia, Carson & Luke reading the map

Mami bought popcorn and everybody wanted to hold the bucket!

Okay, so this is Luke as we were leaving.  Who can guess what he is doing in this picture?  Yup, you are right - throwing a fit.  Are you starting to see a pattern here???

Do I see a competitive streak in Carson?

Carson finally got a chance to play his very first tennis match last Sunday. It was by chance that Daddy and Carson were on one side of the court and Tia Naty and I ended up on the other side. Oh, Carson was so excited.  While playing, Daddy said to Tia Naty, "oh sorry, I didn't mean to hit the ball that hard."  Carson turned toward Daddy and said, "Daddy, don't say 'I'm sorry', we want to win."

Flowers, flowers and more flowers!

The weather has been so beautiful lately, so why not enjoy it? - Today we went to the Botanical Gardens. So peaceful and beautiful. The kids enjoyed running around and exploring. They also got an opportunity to join in and celebrate the Japanese culture in the Kumamoto En Day. Natalia's favorite part of the celebration was the story called The Peach Boy, a popular traditional Japanese story. Even the boys were listening attentively as the lady read the story with sound effects and all sorts of props. They also made some crafts and Carson and Luke got their names written in Japanese - now that was pretty cool. ~Oh, what a wonderful time we had! Everybody was in their best behavior which makes it for a good day.

This is a little house in the middle of the garden next to a huge pond. Luke kept saying "my house" and when people went in "his" house, he wouldn't like it. He would say, "oh oh, in my house."

Ah yea, and this is Luke at the end of the day....that's when we decided it was time to go.

Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up)

While Daddy was in SA last week, he gave Natalia her very first dance lesson! It was so funny. At the end, she kept saying: "But Daddy, I don't want to go around the world anymore."

I'm glad today is over...

Wow, what happened today?  I'm not sure but I thank the Lord that today is over and that everybody is okay.  Morning hours were great.  Got a lot accomplished and things were running smoothly.  Met people from work for lunch at Red Lobster.  So far so good.  Then this is what happened next:

1.  Found out about a small problem at the Aztec Office and Retail Building.  After an hour or so of talking on the phone, I finally figured out how to handle it.

2.  Air condition stopped working at the building I office at.  NOT GOOD!   Recently, we've lost a few compressors and the tenants are really not enjoying this.  

3.  I forgot that I had to go and pick up Natalia at school by 2:50.  At 3:05 p.m., I looked at the clock and all of a sudden remembered that my precious little daughter was still at school. Talking about feeling small.  When I went to pick her up, she had the biggest smile on her face and asked me:  "Mama, what took you so long?"  Hopefully she won't ever find out what truly happened.  

4.  As soon as I got back to the office, I fond out that we had NO water in the building.  At this point, I wasn't too sure of what was happening.  For the past week or so, we've been experiencing low water pressure from the city.  We also found out that we have a bad pump and parts to the pump are hard to find.  The upper floor tenants are not happy about this.  You know, now they have to flush 3 times instead of one.  

So, to make a long story short, my day was not going the way I had planned it to go.  There I go again, making plans. 

Things started to get better.  I got off from work and drove by my favorite place, Chick Fil A, to pick up dinner for tonight.  I got home, we ate and then we took my aunts and my mom to the mall.  While they were shopping, the kids and I spent some time at the park.  While at the park, Carson told me what had happened to Luke today.  I thought he was exaggerating, but he was telling the truth.  As soon as my mom got in the car from shopping, she started telling me the story. 

Okay, this is what happened!  My mom gave Luke a Lifesaver (you know - candy).  Nobody thought anything of it.  As a matter of fact, he eats those all the time.  My mom goes outside, while Luke stays inside with tia Lety y tia Naty.  All of a sudden,  (they tell me) Luke puts his little hands on his ears and doesn't make any noise.  He goes to my aunts searching for help. He can't breath, he is chocking.  As you can imagine, my aunts are freaking out by now.  Tia Lety goes to find my mom, while Tia Naty performs the Heimlich Maneuver.  Finally he stars crying and then he throws up all over my mom.    

Now, you understand why I'm so glad today is over.  I just thank the Lord for protecting us and for always being with us. 

You know what's interesting?  On Wednesday, Natalia's Awana's teacher asked her to memorized Psalm 23.  Well, in order for Natalia to be able to memorize Psalm 23, I have to quote it over and over again.  Wow, how appropriate this Psalm is for what I went through today!

Daddy, this one is just for You!

Last night, I was so excited that I was going to get some alone time. I had it all planned out! Well, I should know better than to make any kind of plans because nothing ever works out the way you had planned it in your own little head. Carson's Cubbies teacher didn't show up last night. So, he didn't have Cubbies. But it all worked out anyway. Carson and I got some one-on-one time. We went to Starbucks and then we played on the playground. He really enjoyed himself. We got to talk and play and really concentrate on one another.

During our little visit to Starbucks, we called Daddy. Carson talked to Daddy while he enjoyed his chocolate milk. After he was finished talking to Daddy this is what he said:

Carson: "Mama, I'm going to save this chocolate milk for Daddy."

Mama: "Okay - That's really nice of you, Carson."

Carson: "But, it's going to take Daddy a long time to come back. The milk is going to be old."

Mama: "You are right Carson. Why don't you just drink it all?"

Carson: "Na, I still want to save it for MY Daddy. Here, I'm going to clean all the germs off."

So Daddy, get ready because Carson is saving his leftover chocolate milk in the refrigerator just for you! Don't worry, the germs are all gone. Carson cleaned them all off with his shirt :0)