Team Tovar

Random

2012-02-19T19:41:00.000-08:00

Here are a few unexplained shots to enjoy.

I think I am going to die up in Alaska--that's right, Alaska is our next duty station come July (buy my home). Anchorage is mild comparably speaking, but still. I busted out these beauties a few weeks ago because I was too cold in Texas.

SABOT

2012-02-09T18:47:00.000-08:00

A little acronym that stands for San Antonio Botanical Gardens. We decided to hit up this gem during the last few days of the winter break. It was definitely one of those places that needed some serious running around exploration excitement, but I held the group back with my new gimpy toe (read the previous entry if you are not sure what I am referring to). Though I tried not to, it was almost impossible not to compare this botanical garden with the Dallas Arboretum. Really it was like comparing apples to Cara Cara oranges--try them they equally stunning as they are tasty. Who couldn't love a place that looked like this:

(don't judge a place by my iphone photography. . .it is amazingly beautiful. If you are in Dallas, it is a must see)

and had all sorts of free fun including a petting zoo and face painting!

This place wasn't bad and is probably better in the springtime. The kids loved the amazon room with constant mist action.

The cactus area to imitate

and a metal scorpion

And the butterfly exhibit:

One Too Many

2012-02-07T19:42:00.000-08:00

WARNING>Contains graphic pictures of torn toenails. Be advised!

I have a pathological problem with status quo. Not that I am good at changing stuff that should be changed (eating, sleeping, and exercise habits to name a few that need this attention), but I often go around rearranging my furniture every few weeks. Now that we are attempting to sell our home (any buyers interested, feel free to buy), I find the need to change things up comes more frequently and with a greater intensity.

So a about a month ago, I was moving around some couches in our family room. They really aren't that heavy and slide quite easily across the carpet. When I slid the couch a bit too quickly and close, I ended up with a toenail 90 degrees away from its home position. I attempted to push it back into place and stop the bleeding, but then some of my kids needed help and walking while holding down a toenail just isn't a function.

I decided to do a little research on ripped toenails and realized that I needed a doctor visit. ER's with 4 kids are never a charm, but no one was home to watch the kids. I debated between going to a hospital 5 minutes from my home or heading across town to the hospital where Fernando was working in hopes that he might have the chance to watch the kids while my toenail was fixed. It just so happened that Fernando's family left the day before which was too bad. Free babysitters who love getting the chance to watch your kids makes such unfortunate events so much better. I took my chances with the hospital across town.

Mia reminded me that it was such a blessing that my left big toe was damaged because driving to the hospital would have been impossible. Fernando came after we were triaged which I think ended up being beneficial. No one wanted to rank me as a wait for space ER candidate with four kids buzzing with nervous energy. It was now a couple hours past the injury and the adrenaline had definitely worn off. The doctor tried to touch the toe and I almost screamed. He numbed up the toe (even more painful than the toe touching) and proceeded to sew my toenail to my toe. I waddled out to enjoy a little gyro sandwich with the kids before heading home.

Church was fun with flip flops. I am sure no one cared, but it was quite ridiculous wearing flip flops with a nice dress and a wool coat due to the colder temperatures. With over a month and a half healing time, the toenail is gone with a new one on the way. The next two pictures after the now picture are increasingly more graphic FYI.

Catching Some Z's!

2012-02-07T09:04:00.000-08:00

Joaquin has been a rockin' sleeper. (which in turn has made it possible for me to sleep like a rock--7:30 am or sometimes later rolling out of bed). I think a lot of it has to do with his thumb sucking prowess. The kid is ambidextrous with his opposable digits. Our sleeping routine is beyond fabulous. He usually goes to bed around 7-8 at night and wakes up around 6:00 am!! I feed him and he goes back to sleep (as do I). Then sometime around 7:30 he wakes up ready to play. About 2 hours later he goes down again for nap number one that last at least 2 plus hours. Wake up, eat play, sleep 2 hours more. Repeat.

I want to sing praises for such a kind and thoughtful kid. I am 100% positive that he was a direct blessing from above since I decided to do this whole homeschooling thing. (I have loved it, but think it really was a bit more for me than I originally thought it would be).

Pioneer Appreciation Day

2012-01-22T21:13:00.000-08:00

Almost a year ago, Fernando thought it would help the kids hyperactivity if they were able to walk to church. While I was still very pregnant with Joaquin and because of Talia's short legs, I drove while the two oldest kids made the 2.5 mile walk to church (minus the mile or so they were able to drive in the car with me to find a more suitable starting point). It worked great. They made it in time for our 2:30 pm church time (HELLO!) and were more than willing to sit still on the benches at church. No longer pregnant and with parents visiting, I thought today would be a good Pioneer Appreciation Day.

Our time slot this year is 8:30 am, so it was going to be a walk home from church. We came prepared with water, food, and tennis shoes which look so hot with a floral skirt and long white socks and white, hairy legs. Good thing Fernando already realized my lack concern for fashion or this would have been a shocker. My parents drove Joaquin home and we headed out in the drizzle to get a good appreciation for personal transportation. The kids started the 3.5 miles strong. Talia ran for the first half mile. A few friends saw us and offered us rides. I am pretty sure they thought we were the meanest parents making our kids walk for such a long amount of road, but I think their little bodies could use a bit more endurance training.

I loved walking and talking about lots of stories from Fernando's and my childhood. It wasn't until mile 2 that we were losing the troops. Thank heavens some hoodlums knocked over some construction signs that the kids loved to put up. That got us back on track.

Not surprisingly, the .5 mile walk from the entrance of our neighborhood to our door was the most trying for the kids. This is when they began to beg for us to call my parents to pick them up. Seeing as how it was flat for most of the walk and a delicious 60 degree slightly breezy day, we felt like they could make it. And they did! Good on ya, kiddos!

6 Months Old

2012-01-15T16:11:00.000-08:00

Big buddy boy here smells mostly of spit these days, but not from his own surplus of drool. No, Joaquin gets inundated by everyone of his siblings and parents with kisses which attributes to his overall skin smell. He has a funny workout combination when on his belly. It alternates between the skeleton position, flapping penguin, and the yoga move cobra. I will try to get a video of it so you can enjoy it for yourself. He has started in on the d and b sounds with an occasional m. The sitting up scene occurs when there is something interesting to sit up for. Elsewise he throws himself onto his back and promptly rolls onto his belly. Out of all the veggies he has been introduced to, sweet potatoes seem to be the clear winner. (Mia and Tiago preferred green beans, Talia loves peas. . .so this seems like quite a surprise). He hates infant cereal which I don't blame him. The stuff smells like fish food. Instead he has honed in on berry flavored kix more specifically the purple berry. Peek-a-boo is a riot for him and he still finds his own fingers and toes to be most interesting. We just love this kid!

Christmas Wrap

2012-01-03T10:29:00.000-08:00

I started out the season with a Bang! This year was going to be magical and meaningful. I planned daily devotionals that blended the Spirit of the Season and focus on Christ with the whimsical activity. The bang fizzled slightly as the month went on. I got sort of side tracked with the idea of moving this next June. We completely changed 5 rooms in the house which included moving several book laden bookshelves, a piano, a couch, and looking like Mayhem driving home with a queen size mattress from Costco (an hour drive on back roads to minimize chances of the mattress flying off. . .more later about that). I gutted out 6 closet spaces and reorganized them (which isn't my strongest point). We power washed our fence (thanks to all the Tovar family for the help with that mess) and painted the garage. Fernando even put up some hanging storage in the garage and we began that organization process. New lights went up and I began staining the fence.

Family gifts were made and never mailed. Christmas cards produced and yet were sent out very late or not at all for some friends (sorry). I didn't cook the Turkey all the way for Christmas dinner and almost blundered Christmas Eve dinner altogether. Still, it was great for me and hopefully the kids. Merry Christmas!

The 5 Best Toys of All Time by Jonathan Liu

2011-12-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

My clever sister-in-law found this article that was fantastic. I think it is 100% on target for true kid happiness and frankly the answer to all problems in the world. (ok may be not all problems but a lot more excess energy would go to these creative outlets than other problematic ones)

ARTICLE START---(pictures changed by me but his article can be found HERE)
Here at GeekDad we review a lot of products — books, toys, gadgets, software — and I know it’s impossible for most parents to actually afford all of the cool stuff that gets written up. Heck, most of us can’t afford it either, and we’re envious of the person who scored a review copy of a cool board game or awesome gizmo. (Disclosure: that person is probably me.) So while we love telling you about all the cool stuff that’s out there, I understand that as parents we all have limited budgets and we sometimes need help narrowing down our wishlists.

So to help you out, I’ve worked really hard to narrow down this list to five items that no kid should be without. All five should fit easily within any budget, and are appropriate for a wide age range so you get the most play out of each one. These are time-tested and kid-approved! And as a bonus, these five can be combined for extra-super-happy-fun-time.

(pictures taken in Maryland while I was in Utah surprising my mom who graduated with her masters degree Spring 2008)

1. Stick

What’s brown and sticky? A Stick.

This versatile toy is a real classic — chances are your great-great-grandparents played with one, and your kids have probably discovered it for themselves as well. It’s a required ingredient for Stickball, of course, but it’s so much more. Stick works really well as a poker, digger and reach-extender. It can also be combined with many other toys (both from this list and otherwise) to perform even more functions.

Stick comes in an almost bewildering variety of sizes and shapes, but you can amass a whole collection without too much of an investment. You may want to avoid the smallest sizes — I’ve found that they break easily and are impossible to repair. Talk about planned obsolescence. But at least the classic wooden version is biodegradable so you don’t have to feel so bad about pitching them into your yard waste or just using them for kindling. Larger, multi-tipped Sticks are particularly useful as snowman arms. (Note: requires Snow, which is not included and may not be available in Florida.)

As with most things these days, there are higher-end models of Sticks if you’re a big spender, from the smoothly-sanded wooden models (which are more uniformly straight than the classic model) to more durable materials such as plastic or even metal. But for most kids the classic model should do fine. My own kids have several Sticks (but are always eager to pick up a couple more when we find them).

One warning: the Stick can also be used as a sword or club, so parents who avoid toy weapons might want to steer clear of the larger models. (On the other hand, many experts agree that creative children will just find something else to substitute for Stick, so this may be somewhat unavoidable.)

Although she is not generally known as a toy expert, Antoinette Portis has written this helpful user manual for those needing some assistance in using their Stick.

Wired: Finally, something that does grow on trees.

Tired: You could put someone’s eye out.

Disclosure: I have received several samples of Sticks from one manufacturer for review.

(Christmas 2008 brought these wonderful box ideas into our lives. Tiago and Mia were using the vacuum box as a hiding place. Talia was then subjected to playing the baby Jesus in this made to fit Costco box.)
2. Box

Another toy that is quite versatile, Box also comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. Need proof? Depending on the number and size you have, Boxes can be turned into furniture or a kitchen playset. You can turn your kids into cardboard robots or create elaborate Star Wars costumes. A large Box can be used as a fort or house and the smaller Box can be used to hide away a special treasure. Got a Stick? Use it as an oar and Box becomes a boat. One particularly famous kid has used the Box as a key component of a time machine, a duplicator and a transmogrifier, among other things.

Still stuck for ideas? Check out this Box user manual by Antoinette Portis for a few more ideas.

The Box may be the most expensive item on my list, available from many retailers and shipping companies, but they can often be had cheaper if you know where to look. Amazon is one of my main sources of the small- to medium-sized Box; I include one with virtually every order I place there. If you don’t mind second-hand toys, the grocery store, bookstores and recycling centers are also great sources for Boxes. Oh, and the best place for the extra-large version is an appliance store (though sometimes they’ll try to sell you an appliance along with it, which could get pricey.)

Note: If you’re in a pinch, Laundry Basket is a similar item and can often be substituted for Box in some instances, though it’s generally not as great for costumes (other than a turtle). And if you’re thinking of using Box for your next building project, Mr. McGroovy’s Box Rivets make a great optional accessory.

Wired: Best celebrity endorsement: Calvin & Hobbes.

Tired: Paradox: what do you put Box in when you’re done playing with it?
(A fancy updo that Mia did on Sunday for my hair. It kind of reminds me of the 80's)

3. String

My kids absolutely love String — and when they can’t find it, sometimes they substitute other things for it such as scarves or blankets, but what they’re really after is String. Now, I should start off by saying that String is not intended for toddlers and babies: it is a strangulation hazard and your kids must be old enough to know not to put it around their necks. However, when used properly your kids can really have a ball with String.

The most obvious use of String is tying things together, which my kids love to do. You can use it to hang things from doorknobs or tie little siblings to chairs or make leashes for your stuffed animals. Use String with two Cans for a telephone (and teach your kids about sound waves), or with Stick to make a fishing pole. You’ll need String for certain games like Cat’s Cradle — there’s even an International String Figure Association for lots more information. String is a huge part of what makes some toys so fun — try using a yo-yo or a kite without String and you’ll see what I mean. Try the heavy-duty version of String (commonly branded Rope) for skipping, climbing, swinging from trees or just for dragging things around.

Although you can buy String at a store, it’s generally sold in much larger quantities than your children will probably need — usually my kids are happy with roughly two or three feet of it. I actually have no idea where it comes from, because I don’t remember buying them any, so it must be pretty easy to come by.

Wired: It really ties everything together.

Tired: There’s a reason “no strings attached” is a benefit.

"A Series of Tubes" by Flickr user Orin Zebest. Used under Creative Commons license.
4. Cardboard Tube

Ah, the Cardboard Tube. These are kind of like the toy at the bottom of a box of Cracker Jacks — they come free with a roll of paper towels and other products but you have to wait until you get to the end of the roll before you can finally claim the toy. (Perhaps this explains why my kids — who love the small size — go through toilet paper so quickly.) The small- and medium-sized are most common, but the large versions that come with wrapping paper can be more difficult to obtain — I had a roll of Christmas wrapping paper that lasted about three years before my kids finally got the Tube. There’s also an extra-large size that is sometimes sold with posters, and a super-sized industrial version which you’ll generally only find from carpet suppliers. (Of course, carpet stores aren’t toy stores, and while their product also goes by the name Cardboard Tube it’s hardly the same thing and probably shouldn’t be considered a toy.)

My kids have nicknamed the Cardboard Tube the “Spyer” for its most common use in our house, as a telescope. (Or tape two of them together for use as binoculars.) But if you happen to be lucky enough to get a large size, the best use is probably whacking things. Granted, Stick is also great for whacking, but the nice thing about Cardboard Tube is that it generally won’t do any permanent damage. It’s sort of a Nerf Stick, if you will. If that sounds up your alley, look up the Cardboard Tube Fighting League — currently there are only official events in Seattle, San Francisco and Sydney, but you could probably get something started up in your own neighborhood if you wanted. Or if you’re more of a loner, perhaps the way of the Cardboard Tube Samurai is a better path.

Obviously if your own kids are younger you’ll want to exercise discretion about these more organized activities, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to provide them with a Cardboard Tube or two just so they’ll get used to the feel of it. You never know if your kid will be the Wayne Gretzky or Tiger Woods of Cardboard Tube Fighting, right? Best to give them the opportunity so that if they show some particular aptitudes they’ll have that early advantage. And if not, well, there are still plenty of people who enjoy playing with Cardboard Tubes casually without all that pressure.

Wired: Comes free with purchase of toilet paper, paper towels, and wrapping paper.

Tired: Doesn’t hold up to enthusiastic play.

(Talia in Spring of 2009 loving playing and ingesting the very clean sand at Sea World)
5. Dirt

When I was a kid one of my favorite things to play with was Dirt. At some point I picked up an interest in cleanliness and I have to admit that I’m personally not such a fan of Dirt anymore — many parents (particularly indoor people like me) aren’t so fond if it either. But you can’t argue with success. Dirt has been around longer than any of the other toys on this list, and shows no signs of going away. There’s just no getting rid of it, so you might as well learn to live with it.

First off, playing with Dirt is actually good for you. It’s even sort of edible (in the way that Play-doh and crayons are edible). But some studies have shown that kids who play with Dirt have stronger immune systems than those who don’t. So even if it means doing some more laundry (Dirt is notorious for the stains it causes) it might be worth getting your kids some Dirt.

So what can you do with Dirt? Well, it’s great for digging and piling and making piles. We’ve got a number of outdoor toys in our backyard, but my kids spend most of their time outside just playing with Dirt. Use it with Stick as a large-format ephemeral art form. (Didn’t I tell you how versatile Stick was?) Dirt makes a great play surface for toy trucks and cars. Need something a little gloopier? Just add water and — presto! — you’ve got Mud!

Dirt is definitely an outdoor toy, despite your kids’ frequent attempts to bring it indoors. If they insist, you’ll probably want to get the optional accessories Broom and Dustpan. But as long as it’s kept in its proper place, Dirt can be loads of fun.

Wired: Cheap as dirt.

Tired: Dirty.

(Tiago "accidentally" dumped dirt all over our front porch after planting some flowers Spring of 2009 in San Antonio. Cute boy and his sister just cleaning up)

Biker Santa!

2011-12-06T10:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas in San Antonio might not always have the glow of new fallen snow, but we still rock around the Christmas block Harley Davidson style!

Joaquin was far to interested in the shiny things on the bike to bother about my attempts to get him to smile at the camera. Also, check out the crocs my kids are wearing. Poor Santa was decked out in the warm San Anton weather.

Guess What We Found?

2011-11-25T11:21:00.000-08:00

TOES!! I love watching kids discover things, but something about them discovering their hands and toes makes me giggle. Their face always seems so surprised and amazed once they realize there is more to who they are. On a less exciting note, we also found another UTI infection while we were in Dallas. We knew he could get another one, but it should've been caught with his prophylactic dose of antibiotics. It really was quite a miracle that I even caught the problem. I decided to give him a bath and was a little more than concerned that his urine was dark brown. Three doctors tried to convince me that it was anything but a UTI. The first doctor tried to tell me that he was dehydrated which was sort of silly since he leaked through his diaper and his shirt front was soaked in spit. The next doctor decided that the new food we introduced to him was the culprit. Also silly since the few times we had given him food, it was rice cereal which is very white. The last doctor tried to tell me it was due to teething! Really?
He got to enjoy getting a catheter twice and it was obvious when they got the sample that he had a UTI. They sent me home with meds and the inappropriate dosing amount. Thank heavens we have been doing this for sometime know so I could catch it. Poor thing. His meds stink and he hates it, but we have to get the kidneys to last his lifetime.

My World Wide Travels

2011-11-21T19:40:00.001-08:00

So I turns out that my life (that consists of diaper changing, kid request filling, may be shower taking, and sometime clean house) actually has a bit of world travel. Well, not really, but my emails seem to suggest it. Early this morning during my internet quick check, I came across several perplexing emails about whether or not I was ok. Turns out my email me took a trip to London and forgot to travel with insured travelers checks because she was mugged and lost everything but her ability to email any random person she has ever emailed with that account begging for money. Thank heavens for real friends who still offered me the cash!!

Teasing. Anyways, those who know me, know I never go anywhere without my ninja warriors (Don't mess with this crew and their bamboo skills!)

and my Russian spy!

The email was ridiculously funny, but I still feel bad for all those emails falling into the hands of some person who happens to be in Nigeria of all places with nothing better to do than to concoct silly tragedies and force people like me to abandon their 12+ year email account.

Now I am going to take a lesson on peaceful meditation from the master:

Too bad the picture quality doesn't do this pose justice. The one hand grips the sheet as the other holds onto his ever growing amount of dreads and he pushes his diapered self up while crossing his legs. Totally a great way to sleep. Whatever is making him only wake up at most ONCE A NIGHT!!!! just do it.

POST POST--the most exciting part of all this is that someone from the FBI called my house about it! What? I felt all cold war like. Well, it was definitely more exciting than getting around to doing the dishes.

Giddy-up!

2011-11-20T19:43:00.000-08:00

First I was like--

Lucky. . .

Then I was like

What?

Happy Halloween

2011-10-28T19:09:00.000-07:00

I love how my kids have strong personalities. It can be brutal at times, but for most of our lives, it just makes for a lot of fun. For example, my two oldest are in love with their costumes. They have worn them multiple times already. I am positive they will still be wearing them after Halloween.

Groupon Exploration

2011-10-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

Thank you groupon for our Children's Museum adventure. The 45 min drive from our house was a hurdle I never would have made to go to the best children's museum near San Antonio save it were for Groupon. Although it was just like any average children's museum, it was amazingly fun plus who couldn't love painting a real car!

I suppose I will forgive you for the misleading purchase I made for a pumpkin patch "deal" that ended up being a major waste of time and money. The groupon cost more than the normal admission price and came with four "free" coupons to ride a train that really was hollowed out barrels pulled behind a tractor.
Everything in the patch cost $3 to participate in which isn't that big of a deal if you have 1 kid to pay for. It gets ridiculous with 3. I would have rather paid to play somewhere else. At least we could commiserate with my sister and her family. Thanks for being troopers.

He's So Cute

2011-09-27T13:30:00.001-07:00

So says Talia. And I have to agree.

Rabble and the H-factor

2011-09-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

"The word rabble usually represents a disorderly crowd, but we recently learned that a group of butterflies is also called a rabble." (from the Houston Center of Contemporary Craft) Turns out that while we were in Houston, there was a "very special opportunity to contribute to a rabble—and not one, but two, public art projects." (HCCC)

To continue quoting from their site:

"As part of our 10th Anniversary celebrations, we are asking our members, friends and visitors to help us turn colored origami papers into three-dimensional butterflies that commemorate special events and activities this fall. Look for tables set up in the small gallery or lobby, where you can sit down and learn this simple origami fold. We expect that, over the course of the project, the installation of your butterflies will grow to cover a complete display wall at HCCC."

"The butterflies will have a second life during the Spring 2013 unveiling of I Never Saw Another Butterfly at The Holocaust Museum Houston. The Museum is collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies in a visual remembrance of the 1.5 million children who perished during the Holocaust. When the rabble settles down at HCCC, we will contribute the butterflies made by all of you to this honorable project. So, come on over, get folding, and join us for this fantastic community project."

Mia was loving it, and made 4-5 butterflies at the museum. She hasn't really stopped thinking about how we could make and use these butterflies. Tiago made one and then found some shiny origami paper to make a jet. Joaquin loved starring at them on the wall. Talia was streaming and yelling about everything. We stayed as long as we could with her antics or in this case her attempt at rabble rousing. I confess I was more than tempted to join in the craziness, but I got over it. Too bad the kids will not have the chance to see their butterflies at their final resting place. I just isn't really appropriate for their ages.

Blades vs Wheels

2011-09-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl (not so little that it was precious but definitely younger than now), I would pretend I was an olympic ice skater. Only draw back, roller skates just don't have the same physical capacities that ice skates do. I would make up various routines and even attempt tricks. Every so often, my family would visit our local rec center to ice skate and my ambition left me. For some reason sharp blades and hard ice were a bit more intimidating then the 8 pink wheels of my roller skates. So, when I found out that here in Houston there were rink times available for families during the day, I jumped at it. I was bummed out that I couldn't be on the ice with the kids but I couldn't bail on Joaquin and I was pretty sure it wasn't safe to bjorn it up on the ice. Thank heavens we had helmets and excited kids.

Fernando asked the kids what was easier and they all agreed that ice skating was far easier. I think they forgot the death grip on the wall of the rink, but I would take that above a 30 year old mom struggling (and sweating profusely) in order to hold you up while roller skating. I loved every minute of it.

We're Going To the Zoo

2011-09-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

My favorite time to be at the zoo is in the morning. No one is ever there. The one exception happened this last week. To help bring home the science lesson for the day, we went to the kid part of the zoo where they have various interactive habitats so the kids could see why certain animals need different structures to help them survive. As fascinating as science is, it was no match for the play ground and goat petting part. I wasn't really into the play ground and was relieved when a friend called. While I chatted the kids asked if they could go into the goat petting area. Strollers aren't allowed in so I stayed out with Joaquin and "watched" my kiddos brush lethargic goats. After a few minutes, some lady came out and asked me if I was the mother to the kids in the petting zoo. I promptly got off the phone to discover the local news station wanted to interview me.

I confess, I was more than a little embarrassed to be on the phone, but agreed to do the interview. It turns out (surprise surprise) that Sponge Bob is bad for kids! I won't get into the monologue I had with the news guy, but I think that he was disappointed that he interviewed a mom who didn't find Sponge Bob charming and therefore wasn't shocked by the recent discovery. Poor news guy. I think he wanted a good ole' stand up for my bad habits even when someone tells me I am wrong speech and all he got was a sweaty mom of four standing on the soapbox for higher learning and giving something to your kids to watch that isn't spastic. In the end, they didn't even get a good interaction shot. They asked me to interact with the kids as they videoed. Weird. Didn't they remember I wasn't in there interacting in the first place. In fact, if he hadn't cut the interview, I was about to go into my theories on child obesity and the lack of non-hovering parenting in the wild.

Too bad the mens US open match was going on forever which made my interview nonexistent (or at least that is what I am telling myself).

Just a Walk in the Park

2011-09-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

Houston has fantastic parks everywhere which is kind of funny since the weather isn't very pleasant for the whole summer and even into the fall. I am going to miss the one mile drive from our home to many outdoor activities.

Getting Creative with Face paints

2011-09-06T19:33:00.000-07:00

After our daily grind of school work (usually a total of 4 hours broken up over the morning and early afternoon), we head out to the museum district for a little fun. Knowing that the Children's Museum is my personal favorite (oh and the kids like it too), I priced out memberships that offered reciprocity so as to get unlimited access for the least amount of money. Unfortunately, since we visited last year, the city put in metered parking where we usually parked for free. The cheapest parking is now $5 for 3 hours. That would be fine if I only wanted to come once or twice, but we have planned to visit it at least 4 times a week. At that rate, we will have paid more for parking than for our yearly family membership.

SOLUTION: I found "free" parking at the nearby city park (which is an understatement to its size and contents) with the only caveat being that we have only 3 hours to park between 7am-5pm. Since we don't get there until 2:30 usually, we are good to go. We just strap on our helmets and razor the 4 blocks over to the museum of choice!

Mia wanted to be a leopard with claws. I love how she drew little white marks on her knuckles to represent her ferocious feline claws.

Talia was so intense in her painting, I had to try not to giggle. I missed taking a picture of Tiago's face after he wanted me to draw Yoshi, Toad, and a square ? box on his face. It was kind of hideous, but the kids thought I was amazing. In fact, that night I walked in on them discussing my artistic prowess. Tiago burst out "Mom you are the most amazing artist in the world." Good thing we haven't visited the art museums yet. I'll let him keep on diggin' my mad skills with face paint.

Game Day

2011-09-04T17:53:00.000-07:00

We kind of have a creepy love of BYU! I feel like it is slightly unhealthy, but who can help but love it (don't answer. . .really I know many who find BYU resistible). We love visiting it, encouraging it, and spending money to support it. This time of year, we even enjoy watching it:

Yesterday's victory over Ole' Miss was beautiful. The kids even enjoyed that we were watching the game which is a first. I think it helped that there was an egregious amount of junk food to be had.

Bully Alert Aisle 16!

2011-09-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

Our homeschooling experience has been a mixed bag. Overall I am loving it and have learned and grown a lot myself. The other day, we completed a section of her technology class that looked at the reality of bullying in some of its online forms. Having been a human development major, I knew a lot about the newer ideas of emotional bullying that is often far more damaging than even being physically bullied (especially since a black eye is far easier to explain the hurt than a dirty look or lack of communication).

After we finished the lessons for the day, I promised the kids a trip to the number one children's museum in america (at least so says the ads about it). We all needed tennis shoes to participate in the athletic area of the museum. So, off to target we went to find cheap tennis shoes. Just in luck, we found some $12 wonders that fit the bill and the kids earned themselves the free cookie at the bakery for making the shoe experience not a headache. The two youngest (that walk) were reliving the exciting new exercise we learned about in PE with their own rendition of ladders. Their unique twist was adding a squeal and using my moving stroller and the dairy case as the borders of the ladders.

Their first leg almost knocked over an elderly gentleman who happened to walk by at the wrong time. He was on his phone and seemed more focused on his grocery task and phone conversation to pay the kids much attention. Unfortunately, the older woman in the yogurt section wasn't so focused and glared at my children. My first instinct was to scold the children and apologize until I remembered the words I told my kids just a few minutes before in the Bully lesson. I told them in essence that allowing a bully to treat you poorly without pointing out their rudeness isn't being kind to you or the bully. You should always stand up for yourself. Now, I don't think I need to stand up for my kids' screaming or playground behavior in a grocery store, but I don't think it is appropriate to use your adult stature to intimidate 3 and 5 year olds.

From another, more bold, part of myself, asked "Are you bothered with my kids?" To be fair, her look was in between bothered and enamored/nostalgic. No verbal reply was made, but the eye roll and the cold shoulder was a point well made. Again, I asked, "Are my kids bothering you?" This got me a fire breathing glare and finally "This isn't a playground lady". I responded in a cool and collected way, "I never said it was." She then stated "Well, I did!" I finally add, "I wished you could have told me that you were bothered so I could have apologized to you. That's all." She ended the conversation. I walked off with a feeling of satisfaction for some strange reason, but then, in the privacy of an empty aisle, quickly reminded the kids that playgrounds and grocery stores are two different places and we need to act certain ways in each place.

Then, from out of nowhere, the first elderly man approached me. He adamantly apologize "on behalf of all elderly people" that "we aren't all like that" and that "she gives elderly people a bad name." He tried to convince me that "something obviously went wrong with her in her life" and that my kids "didn't need to be apologized for." I explained that I felt bad that my kids bothered her and that even if she didn't handle herself well, doesn't mean that I am any less responsible to be polite. I just want to have my kids see that standing up and being polite can coexist.

Homeschooling

2011-08-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

We have embarked on something unfathomable to myself, but hopefully remarkable in results. We are homeschooling. I feel a little out of the norm with both pro-school and the pro-homeschool groups. Needless to say, after much deliberation and agonizing the effects of this decision, we are taking the year away from the brick and mortar school house to travel around hooked into online school via Connections Academy. Who knows, if we can figure out how to make it work, we can become well rounded scholars and produce such greatness as seen below ;).

(funny sidenote: the first day was met with shock and horror when the kids realized that homeschool didn't mean playing all the time. In fact, several requests to return to normal school were made by my kinder/first grader after he had to sit in a chair for more than 5 minutes without games or food or book of choice in front of him. Little does he know that our day of sitting dwarfs in comparison to normal classrooms. Oh well, he'll find out next year)

Because Who Doesn't Love the ER

2011-08-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

Busy boys means many opportunities for injuries. My busy boy has been stitched (by his father) a few times for jumping wildly around the room, lost layers of skin via gnarly bike/razor accidents, and has had bruises aplenty from his very active life style. SInce he could walk, I was convinced a broken bone was in our future.

So the other day, when he tripped over a box in the kitchen while pretending to be a launching rocket (just to go wash his hands in the bathroom), thought I might have seen a prophecy fulfilled. I continued to worry about his foot especially when he woke up in pain in the middle of the night and wouldn't put pressure on it. I had hoped to just see a physician or just get a quick x-ray to confirm breakage, but I guess the rule is "if you think it's broken, go to the ER".

The four kids and I geared up for what I was sure to be a day long adventure in the ER. (mainly because there was no real emergency like large sharp objects protruding from him or dangerously high fever so our triage would be low) With camel bak loaded with snacks, lunch, books, and of course water, we braved the ER as best we could.

Thank heavens for the interesting factor ER's have and that the bed could fit the three mobile kids. I am sure they loved all the mixed emotions coming from behind our curtains since the bed sharing switched rapidly from fun to frustrating and back again.

In the end, his foot wasn't broken which I still am a bit skeptical about and he had the chance to get a pseudo cast. Avoiding a broken bone for now only makes me more anxious for the future. May be it has something to do with the tight rope he jimmy rigged on our wooden play structure that he climbs to get on top of the roof of the play fort!

Gas?

2011-08-15T15:59:00.000-07:00

So I confess, it bugs me when people excuse childrens' smiles as being nothing but gas. Last time I had gas, smiling wasn't my natural response. I think of all the times I catch myself grinning, and realize I didn't have to cognitively decide to smile, it just came. I am 100% positive that children have lots of things to smile about (just as many as they cry about) and it comes out without trying.

Remember This

2011-08-05T06:51:00.000-07:00

One Month Strong

2011-08-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

One month and this 11 pounder has been around the block or at least around the hospital. A mere few days after his 2 week well-baby which he passed with flying colors and given the stamp of health, Joaquin's body seemed to have contracted something it didn't like. He had a high fever, but we thought nothing of it (well, didn't want to think anything of it). Finally after a few days of this and a few tylenol doses, we couldn't ignore it any more. So on Friday at 4 in the morning we packed our new born back to the hospital for the inevitable---pokes, catheters, and the dreaded lumbar puncture.
(taken after all the tests---we aren't binkie parents but with all that he had to go through, he deserved that binkie)* All of the above and more started the long process of diagnosis:

UTI and more scary-urosepsis

So how did this happen. Well, after many hours of speculations, we were told our stay would be 48 hours just to make sure the lumbar test came back without the dreaded spinal meningitis. Everyone was positive that it would come back clean and clear. Thank heavens that came true. And, then as the tests rolled in, the doctors who visited our room seemed more serious and tacked on more time for our stay. More tests were ordered and x-rays and consultations with everyone from urology to infectious disease.
(urology needed to look at a radiology VCUG test that put a catheter up you know where. Let's just say it was a common response for sometime after to cry whenever he was laid on his back and diaper was touched.)

To get all these labs and to administer the various antibiotics to destroy the urosepsis and UTI in his body, Joaquin looked like a bruised pin cushion. In all fairness, infant's veins are impossibly small and wiggly. Still, it was all I could do not to suplex the various technicians pushing, rubbing, alcohol pad scraping my poor little guy's skin. He was a trooper.

Sadly, we finally blew the last of his 4 IV's for the antibiotics.
The last one only worked for less than a day. And as a testament to how celestially choreographed** our whole hospital experienced turned out to be, the nurse who was watching over night kept eyeing the IV site wanting to avoid any possible problems like the IV popping out of the vein and having the saline drip flow into his tissues around the site. No other nurse even checked once. They would flush the IV and hook up the antibiotics. This nurse neurotically examined it each time she came in. Thank heavens. Her fear of it slipping came true and we caught it in enough time to only produce minimal and non-lasting damage:

(that picture was taken hours after it had time to drain. . .it was really painful looking)

Final Discovery (we hope);

Urachal cyst--a left over remnant of his umbilical connection from his belly button to his bladder that didn't close off correctly leaving a pocket ready to collect goo. This goo caused the UTI or the urosepsis (chicken or the egg here).

Solution: daily dose of antibiotics until surgury in 6 months to remove the mass. How I wish we could do it sooner because I feel like I might miss an important sign that Joaquin will have a recurrence of urosepsis and it won't be caught in time. The beautiful thing about infants is that they can handle a lot, but they don't look sick. By the time they look sick, it is almost too late. The danger of the anesthetic at such a young age though is failure to continue to breathe. So thank goodness we are down one month and have only five to go.

*Binkies use is a personal decision. I think every family has a right to binkie or not. Our binkie decision is based on the battles we want to not have down the road. The other exception to the binkie for us is when the child appears to want to suck on their thumb (or finger as seen here:)

**It seemed that from the start of our stay, we happened to have the right person at the right time for what needed to happen. Starting with the fact that my mom was in town to help with Joaquin's birth. This is the first time she has been able to come and she sacrificed over 2 weeks of her vacation time to come. The first week and a half were uneventful in terms of baby needs (if you don't include the desperate need I had to recover his carseat). I felt more than not worried about my kids when we had to leave early to the hospital. I was even more at peace when I was told are stay would extend for 14 days. The nurse that helped us very first was kind of a no nonsense but very loving grandma character who even hugged me for awhile and attended to my emotional roller coster self. I would be strong as I watched his various proddings including the spinal tap, but broke down when they talked about how sweet and cute he was.

It also so happened that Fernando's parents had already arranged to come out the night that my mom left which covered the next week of kid watching. Fernando's schedule was nights which allowed him to help be a stabling influence on the kids and the list goes on and on.

Much to post

2011-07-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

Let's just say, the last few weeks have been interesting--

but good.

Awkward

2011-07-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

Awkwardness all depends on the situation. Take for example this car seat my sister gave me:

this would be tacky, but thank heavens for a sweet seamstress mother who refinished the car seat to look like this:
Much cuter and fun to make (well. . .fun for me since I just sat in amazement and giggled with her as the hours drew longer and later)

Awkward could be the feeling Joaquin is feeling with a loving sister trying to "hold" him, but he recognizes and feels the love so it was fine.

Real awkwardness is sitting down, waiting for church to start and being reintroduced to the medical student who was in the delivery room when Joaquin was born a little less than 2 weeks ago! I say in the room, but really he was an active participant in the whole process. Enough said---Awkward!

Happy Fourth!

2011-07-04T08:39:00.001-07:00

Our family has tried to instill the importance of national holidays. Today, after our patriotic waffles (cause it is totally respectful to eat our flag inspired waffles), we posted the colors and recited the pledge. Tiago and Mia did awesome with the words. Then we sang the National Anthem. I am sure our neighbors were wondering about us and our singing of the National Anthem this morning. Mainly because it was way off key and too high for my voice and well the kids only knew some of the words. Still, it was a moment to think about the sacrafices so many people have made to make this country a living possibility.

And how about a little game of war to round things out a bit! Fernando had the kids so into the game that they played for over an hour. And yes, Tiago is dressed in a Storm Trooper Costume.

Joaquin Alonso

2011-06-28T05:24:00.000-07:00

As if he knew that it was the most convenient time, our newest Tovar decided to make his enterance early Tuesday morning at 3:18 am. Weighing the smallest of the group at 8 lbs 6 oz., Joaquin (pronounced wah KEEN) Alonso has already proved to live up to his names' meaning: God will establish--noble and ready.

I had been having random but slightly uncomfortable contractions all day on Monday which made me only bitter I confess because I felt like the contractions were taunting me (ok not really but slightly sure that they weren't leading me anywhere). I kept myself busy all day to keep my mind off of things. That night I was a little concerned about how uncomfortable they were getting and yet how irregular they still were. Fernando convinced me that it was better to be safe than sorry. By the time we got to the hospital they were closer, but still irregular. I could barely walk or talk through them. The nurses in triage weren't convinced and talked to me about how I would need to be sent home if I wasn't dilated.

I expressed concern about my last delivery (Talia was a torpedo) so they were willing to check my progress. Sure enough I was a five and almost fully effaced. Luckily, one of the doctors took a little more precaution and wanted me set up in the room as soon as possible. Still unable to read my contractions on the fancy contraction machine, they waltzed around for the next 30 minutes. FInally the anesthesiologist came in to help ease my pain. Unfortunately, he was a little nervous as he is friends with Fernando and Fernando did a bit of talking up before he began the process. It took a painful amount of times and pokes before it was set, but it was the best epidural I have ever had. The doctor came in with the idea of ample time until she checked me again and I was at a 10 and ready to deliver.

3 contractions later, out popped our boy. He is beautiful and has a sweet disposition. He slept for most of the first day which was more than I did, but that is always the part of the parent. All of us adore him and are doing better at referring to him by his now given name as opposed to the name we called him in utero. (Vakulinchuk) Special thanks to our friend and very willing neighbor Wendy who came over to "sleep" at our house while I delivered him and to all the other friends who offered to do what they could to help.

Missing it already

2011-06-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

The funny thing about leaving Corpus isn't so much that it is a must see destination, but that we had so much carefree fun to enjoy everyday. The kids keep asking when we will go back and truthfully we will be going again when Fernando has his next away rotation there and has a similar set up.

Missing bike rides on the beach just minutes from our hotel:

Missing the abundance of ant free sand to shovel, scoop, and create with:

Missing the Aquarium's children's room full of fun and imagination:

Not really needing explanation, but definitely missed:

Surprisingly missing the small hotel room that made for creative ways to spend time together:

Missing being outside and loving it:

Moments that Matter Most

2011-06-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

Now that our time in Corpus is coming to a close (a week after I intended), I think I will miss the carefreeness that we have come to enjoy. We spend most days doing the morning regiment: Make beds (yes, I know housekeeping gets paid to do that, but who wants to deal with that lack of luxury at home), get dressed, read scriptures, say prayers. Then we get to Corpus life: walk downstairs or take the alligator (Talia's pronunciation of elevator) to enjoy Texas shaped waffles, eggs, bacon, muffins, juice, fruit etc, head out for a bike down the beach, may be even get in the water, naps, aquarium, swimming with daddy in the hotel pool. Life is beautiful.

Corpus Aquarium

2011-06-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

The Aquarium in Corpus Christi reminds me of a mini Sea World except you have the treat of picking up hermit crabs (Mia's favorite and Talia's fear*) and petting sting rays (everyone's favorite but some how Talia gets more frustrated than fulfilled since she can rarely reach them). In any case, we are only a ten minute drive away which includes a drive over the coolest bridge in the world at least by my kids' standards and we have a year pass now so we see it often. . .everyday almost.
Here is the reason Talia is scared of the hermit crabs. After watching her siblings pick up several shells and seeing the tarantula looking crabs crawl out, she was reticent to try picking up one herself. I, being a great mom, convince her that it just comes out to "tickle" you which is the line the aquarium people were feeding all the curious kids and adults. I had not attempted to touch them myself since they looked disgusting, but I get freaked out by little tiny spiders. I finally convinced Talia to hold one. As I am taking the picture, she starts crying, not in fear, but in pain. Turns out said tickles can actually feel more like pinching and biting and their little leg barbs grasp their victims with all the intensity one upside-down crab can muster. Awesome. Way to build that relationship of trust.
Luckily there were dolphins and turtles and all sorts of other animals to distract our sorrows. (including giant cartoon like turtles. . .Talia loves these dress up characters. Every time we go to Sea World, we have to find Shamu to hug and any other poor employee stuck in these ridiculously hot suits).

It is hard to see in the picture, but the kids are standing in a circle shooting each other with water guns. Life really can't get better than this.

Grimaldi's

2011-06-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

Supposedly this restaurant is what made the Brooklyn Bridge famous. Whether or not that is true, we enjoyed some seriously delicious pizza and calzone. Whoever thought up pesto sauce for the pizza was genius especially when it is complimented with sausage and chicken and fresh mozzarella. The kids got a chance to play with the pizza dough while we waited which proved to be better then the crazy stories I tried to tell to keep them entertained while waiting for our food. Check out Tiago's face. . .I am pretty sure he was flat out confounded by my stories.

The lemons were the only thing that dampened the whole situation.

99 Cents Bargain on Happiness

2011-06-12T20:24:00.000-07:00

For functionality, these goggles aren't going to win any awards. But the excitement these cheep googles brought to my kids has been worth every penny and more. A whole new way to enjoy our time here in Corpus Christi.

Memorial Day Mudder and other random weekend Events

2011-05-30T08:35:00.001-07:00

Fernando was still at the hospital completing a fun 30+ hour call schedule, so it was up to me to create the memory in memorial day. Like usual, our family tried to keep the theme of the day for the activities (last year's example--this was really fun but a bit difficult to reproduce 8 months pregnant) I felt slightly bad that my activity levels for the morning meant I drove behind the kids while they biked up to the school so we could participate in our very own Memorial Day Mudder.

We made a quick diversion at the high school tennis courts since we found tennis rackets in the back. The kids loved hitting the ball around or at least chasing the balls while attempting to hit them.
Tiago thought it essential to bring his helmet just incase.

It was kind of fun watching them make up their own obstacles and challenges. I just wish I would have remembered the Nerf target guns so it could have been a little more official.

After all that vigor and vim, we decided to head to Sea World to cool off. It was delicious.

Last, but not least, we happened to stumble upon a fantastic deal on Saturday. During a date with Mia, Fernando discovered that the Panera opening by our house was giving out free food so they could train their employees. Bonus! They had a free lunch on Panera and we all enjoyed a free dinner and bagels and cream cheese and cookies and drinks. Yummo! I just wish I had dared to try the other things on their menu since it was for free. Oh well. I like what I normally get there.

When it Rains. . . .

2011-05-25T08:09:00.000-07:00

take off your shoes and run like a wild thing up and down the streets, squealing with glee.

Afterwords: A Special Parent/Daughter Outing on the Riverwalk

2011-05-17T12:20:00.001-07:00

When I was a little girl, our family had a tradition with baptisms of going to dinner with our parents without our siblings. It was a big deal! We decided to keep the tradition alive even though Mia's baptism date fell on the Saturday before Easter. (our family's other tradition is to do all the bunny side of Easter on Saturday and spend Sunday focusing on the real Easter stuff) Mia originally chose a restaurant that Fernando and I abhor. Not wanting to overrun her special day, but attempting to avoid heartburn (to say the least), I reminded her of Rainforest Cafe on the Riverwalk! Genius! She gladly accepted the switch much to our hidden delight.

Fernando and I were full before we even finished the appetizer that we ordered. It was called the "Awesome Appetizer Adventure ideal for two or more (warning: its huge) featuring our Chimi-Cha-Chas (yummy), with Spinach Artichoke Dip, Cheese Sticks, and Chicken Tenders Served with coconut curry sauce (double yum). If we could have, we would have cancelled our main course, but our food was already plugged into the system. Unable to avoid the advertised dessert called a Volcano, we gorged ourselves past the point of sanity. I must confess that brownies and ice cream with chocolate sauce engineered in a fancy way has always been my weakness.

For the birthday special song that this restaurant did, Mia had to wear two water cups (as shown below) to look like a bird and wave her hands up and down while they sang! Good times!

Special Day

2011-05-12T06:20:00.000-07:00

Every birthday is special, but as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, eighth birthdays have special significance. Mia was now old enough to get baptized.

In college, my major in Human Development was fascinating (though kind of unmarketable by itself). I remember learning various theories to explain the similar human experience we all have growing up. Over and over again, the age of eight was a time when children view the world in terms of black and white, right and wrong, and have the desire to make choices that coincide with their understanding of the world. What a perfect age to make such a decision.

In preparation for the big day, we went shopping to find a perfect dress. In my mind, that meant a white dress which we found many. Unfortunately, the majority of those dresses were sleeveless and San Antonio weather doesn't really allow for a shrug to solve that problem. Just about the time we were going to give up (translation: my shopping time had expired before we went into the store, but it wasn't about me), Mia spotted her dress. I really couldn't have imagined a more "Mia" dress: feminine, delicate details, and just enough blue to make her eyes pop! After calling my sister to help me get over some strange protocol in my head that the dress had to be white (thanks Ang), we had one more important check on our list of to dos.

She also got to decide who was going to participate in her special day. Both her grandparents made sacrifices to come out which made it even more magical. Mia asked her Mama Clara to say the opening prayer, Grandma Cromar to lead the music, and I would give the talk about receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. I am grateful that Fernando was able to baptize her and confirm her.

Then, after years of preparing and teaching about the importance of baptism, she was baptized. I can't explain the feelings of happiness I felt. It was overwhelming. I can't think of anything more joyous than watching someone you love make correct choices on their own. She is an amazing girl, an example to our family. We love her so much.

Several friends came to support Mia including her Vice Principal who was also her 1st grade teacher. I wished we could have taken a group shot, but we got the most important people.

It's a New Generation

2011-05-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my kids rushed downstairs too excited to tell me about the miracle they just witnessed. I will quote directly so as not to miss out on any goodness.

Tiago "Mom, you know that thing that we take to music class that plays the songs?"

Me "The CD player?"

Tiago "yeah, that! Well, Talia turned it on and music started playing with out even a cd in it!"

Me "That's called the Radio."

Tiago (still a bit confused why I haven't joined the enthusiasm to his level yet) "Mom! After a song was done, it kept playing and the people were talking so fast and funny!"

Me "Yeah, that's Spanish Radio!" (trying hard to be really excited and cover up my amusement and huge desire to just hug him for his cuteness.)

Who knew how magical a Radio could be. They listened and danced for over an hour. Then they took it outside to play and dance some more. I was pretty ok with the spanish stations since most play Cumbia, but had to find a new station once we found the classic rock. Well, that is until they started dancing to this "Cowboy" Song:

Every time the radio announcers would come on, they would burst into laughter. I love my kids!

Viva Fiesta

2011-04-30T19:28:00.001-07:00

During the week of the birthday fun, San Antonio decided to celebrate Fiesta. It is kind of its own little party celebrating our Alamo heritage from both the angle of the defenders and the Mexicans. They even have a mock battle with Flowers instead of ammunition. We have yet to participate in any of the city activities since we all are in bed before most of the celebrations start, but thankfully the schools do their part in celebrating. They have cascarones, parties with nachos and otter pops (yeah, otter pops have nothing to do with anything) and piñatas*.
Mia's piñata was adorable and loaded with delicious treats to "share" whether she wanted to or not.

*Incidentally, the day I helped out at Tiago's class fiesta party was the last day he went to school. I was so enraged at what happened or I should say what wasn't happening in regards to education that I could no longer be ok with sending him there even if it was for only 2 1/2 hours. I think that if I hadn't just been dressed in a pink sequined number for Talia's birthday party and feeling a little hot from standing in the Texas sun, it might have been a little less dramatic. In any case, I wish I would have come to this conclusion clear back in September.

Safari Birthday Fun!

2011-04-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

Miss Mia has been an animal fanatic for as long as I remember. So, for her birthday party I had a genius idea to take a few of her friends to the zoo. The night before the party, I switched game plans for fear that the zoo would be crazy on a no school Friday. Since the party at the zoo was just going to be an exploration with a breakfast break, I had to come up with some games and a out door venue. The venue was easy and next to the zoo...Japanese Gardens that I love. Games--well they got creative. We started out with a tour of the gardens so I could set up the clues for the scavenger hunt. We happened to find a cute little turtle trying to find its way to the water
After we eat some deluxe waffles for breakfast. Too bad I didn't take into account that the wind would blow up dirt and get in the whipped cream. Most girls found away around the dirt nonsense.

When everyone was "full" or at least incapable of swallowing any more dirt, we started the scavenger hunt. As a funny side note, some kid was doing a photo shoot for his senior pictures. One of the camera helpers had brought his kids who were bored and found some of our clues around the garden. They took the clues down, but had the decency to confess and return the clues. I made up the rhymes for the clues quite late at night and had to remember various spots of note in the garden to hide the clues. I also felt driven to tie in the animal theme since it was supposed to be a safari b-day party. The goal--find a lion that escaped from the zoo. To give you an idea, one clue for the bridge with vines had references to camels and water divine (so we could rhyme with vine). They eventually found the lost lion under the waterfall.

The next game was a creature drawing game. The idea was to take a tri-folded paper and draw one part of an animal. Everyone had to draw one head, one torso, and one feet area. The girls switched papers after they drew each portion. So in the end, the creature would have been created by 3 people. Confused, well, the girls were too which made it even funnier.

I had two more games, but we had run out of time. I asked the girls in the car if they had fun. Resounding YES! I should have left it there. I then made the mistake of asking if they were sad that we didn't end up going to the zoo. Again, Resounding YES! Oh well. . .Mia loved it and said it was her "best birthday ever"!

Birthdays!!!

2011-04-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

This week of April is always a marathon week for me. Fernando and our two girls share this week in birthdays. Fernando starts it out on the 14th and then we hit the next two on the 16th and 17th. It is always a trick figuring out how to make each day special and avoid eating way too much cake and ice cream (yes. . .it is possible. . .at least for little kids and my backside). It turned out that school was not scheduled for Friday and so it made for an easier arrangement of friend parties and family parties. Talia who is in love with Princesses especially Rapunzel from Tangled (aka the only Princess movie she has seen) kicked things off with a Princess Party:

After everyone was gathered and finished dressing their paper doll knight or princess
, we ate a royal feast of "gold and jewels". I just had my daughters favorite foods like macaroni and cheese to look like gold, green and purple grapes for jewels, and royal carrot scepters. While the kids ate, I read to them the book Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox. In the book, a prince tries to get Rapunzel to throw down her hair so he can rescue her, but she mishears him and throws down random objects from her room instead including silky dresses , dirty socks, cantaloupe and a swine (instead of silky tresses, curly locks, rope, and twine).

I told the kids that we needed to help out Rapunzel. We sat in a near by room to go on a "Rapunzel Hunt" which was simply an adaptation of going on a "Bear Hunt".

I tried to help them imagine jumping over gorges, walking over bridges, cutting through tall grass, and snorkeling under a wide stream.

I luckily had my mom here and she hid upstairs ready to throw down some of the things from the book like socks and dresses. I told all the kids that the Queen had special treasures for each of them but that they were hidden in the mess that Rapunzel threw down to the prince.

After the kids found all their treasures, we went to decorate sugar scepters that they could use magically to change the color of their frosting. I wanted to read another favorite book of Talia's called Alice the Fairy. She uses her magic wand to do all sorts of things. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it. So I just had the kids use their scepters and funny magic words to repeat as they stirred in the food coloring.

Next came tower building for Rapunzel. Good thing they didn't connect the fact that the tower was actually a bad thing. I needed something to fill the time with that would work well with 3-4 year olds.
Accepting one little girl who wandered most of the party, the kids were really cute and seemed to really get into each random activity. They would listen to the books and even enjoyed putting together puzzles that one friend gave as a present.

Thank heavens for my mom's help with all the prep work including cleaning the house. Let's be honest, she was rockin' that orange rhinestone wonder! Also, great thanks to a wonderful mom that stayed so we could have all the really cute pictures. Happy Friend Birthday Talia!!

St Patrick's Day

2011-04-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

Years ago, when we lived in MD amidst all the amazing community events, we attended several St Patrick's Day thrills. Except for dyeing the San Antonio River on the Riverwalk green, there isn't much to do here. So I decided to make our own little fun event. Because of the dynamics of our ward (ie 120+ primary kids), we had to find some line of demarcation on invitees. I opted to limit the invitation to our neighborhood boundaries. We still had a good 20+ kids in attendance.

I originally wanted to split the families into 4 groups to rotate among the activities. Then I remembered that I am not really a true proponent of agency. I am the dictator in my family and when we do parties, I love to extend that dictatorship to those around me. With all the moms looking on, I spent the next hour making a slight fool of myself and loved every minute of it.

The stations were more glorious in my head than in actuality. We started off in a group explaining the stations and that after we became St Patrick Day experts, a leprechaun might lead us to the rainbow's end. The first station was Leprechaun training. Training meant picking pretend clovers (although my grass has plenty to pick, it was on the wrong side of the yard), whistling, dancing a jig, ducking into small hiding places, and clicking your heals into the air. I wish I could have taken a video.
They were adorable. Some kids were really concerned about their abilities which made me giggle. Then we went to get face painted and color St Patty coloring pages. After they finished, they dug for gold coins (which are surprisingly hard to find in stores the day before St Patricks Day). I buried them in our rock pile. Each time they found a coin they had to tip toe up the stairs to the slide. They would have to slide down and drop it into the Leprechaun's bucket. Finally they got to design a Leprechaun's home via chalk drawing.

While the children drew their pictures, I pulled on of the older girls aside to dress up like a Leprechaun and lead the kids around the block back to my house to get some otter pops (thanks wendy for the supply). The older girls only had whistles to communicate and the kids were strictly warned not to touch the leprechauns. Too bad the follow the leader bit lasted for only a few moments. When I came outside, I found a crew of moms walking back the way they went hoping to meet the kids at my home as they ran full speed around the block! Talia came in very last, but was still really proud of herself. I can't wait to try again next year.

Spring Break

2011-03-18T05:28:00.000-07:00

Texas celebrates spring comparatively early. Thank heavens it coincided with the time change because we have taken awhile to adjust. Also I am glad that two fantastic holidays of non import occurred during the week to help break things up. On Monday we celebrated National Pi Day (thanks Albert Einstein and Math nerds!) Our fun neighbor friends invited us down to be amazed by their 97+ numbers memorized past the decimal (3.14 etc) and delicious pie. The delicious pie and amazing pi feats were all them. For our part, I made us late to the party and brought nasty pie and couldn't even get confidently past the decimal. Oh well. Friends don't let friends get too concerned about such details.

(these glasses were worn by all adults and made the pi reading that much more exciting).

Amidst chores and "homework" and fighting, we found fun activities like Miss Honey Buzz Bee at a local Garden Center. She has a magical way of telling stories and allowing the kids to get involved. We enjoyed a Birds Tale on Tuesday that involved a worm saving bird illustrated with gummy worms and magical beans and marigolds.

Then on Thursday she dressed like a Leprechaun who had to learn not to take things that don't belong to him. Monkeys, lions, bunnies, and an orange puppet of fuzz (a flamingo I believe) helped reform this naughty holiday figure into a gold sharing wonder. As an added bonus, the kids always get lemonade and cookies along with some plants to take home. We scored another marigold and a tomato plant on this trip.

Today we opted for a riotious storytime with Miss Anastasia whose raspy voice and over the top animated readings make for a whole lot of giggles. She was celebrating spring and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. You know it is a successful storytime when Tiago even gets involved. Talia couldn't help getting into the storytelling action and the kids loved sticking green stickers on construction paper. Genius.

Last, but definitely not least, we drove up the street to my favorite garden in San Antonio. The Japanese Sunken Garden. Beautiful and peaceful. We ate a little picnic lunch and went to explore. We had to figure out how all the Koi fish made it around the little lake. We discovered turtles and Tiago seemed overly interested in the consequences of "accidentally" falling into the water.

Wondering about that bump?

Well, the ones on my legs are unsightly and painful varicose veins that always rear their ugly selves while I am pregnant (all 25 weeks pregnant that is with our second baby boy)! Just a little treat for those who endured the recap of the week.
Now I will break from this post and save all the St Patty fun for tomorrow.

Buried Treasure

2011-03-12T18:38:00.000-08:00

Spring break happens early here in Texas because the weather turns to Spring earlier than our northern states. It just so happens that St Patrick's Day falls during spring break so we decided to celebrate early. Dawning our greenest shirts, we shared a fun lunch with Mia at school. We came with rainbow cupcakes thanks to a play group party minutes before lunch. Fernando, who was on nights, was able to join the festivities. One must forgive him for his shirt color. . .he was slightly comatose.

The fun continued at home as the kids played bury your sibling in our rock pile pit on our playground.

A New Park To Love

2011-03-06T17:47:00.000-08:00

We love living so close to Sea World, but unfortunately, it isn't open year around. So, when that outdoor venue is unavailable, we get into a boring rut of lack luster parks that are kind of out of the way.

That is until recently. While driving in my dog pattern to the grocery store one day I glanced over into a near by neighborhood and saw a beautifully new park. Each time I drove past after that, I hungered to explore its potential. Concerned that the park was meant only for the neighborhood, I just drooled from a distance. Finally, I could take it no longer and was rewarded greatly for my curiosity.
ZIPLINES!

MERRY-GO-ROUNDS!

MERRY ME GO ROUND

BALANCE BEAMS

AND SO MUCH MORE! Ok, not that much more but enough to use our bodies and play pretty much all by ourselves most days! Thank heavens for new discoveries!

Chinese New Years

2011-02-27T11:24:00.000-08:00

I had hoped to have a fantastic party to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit, but didn't. I planned on attending the Asian Festival to watch Sumo Wrestling, Lion/Dragon Dancing, and some Polynesian hula dancers, but didn't. I did steal my friend's idea to make lion puppets

and watch Lion Dancing on the internet. . .good enough!

Rapture

2011-02-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

About two weeks ago, San Antonio had a snow storm. The snow was almost 1/4" in some places! Everything shut down. Well, almost everything. To be fair, they are completely unequipped to deal with such weather conditions since they are so rare.

Fernando had hoped that he wouldn't have to go into work, but never received a call. So, dutifully, he drove himself across town on iced roads at about 20 miles per hour. The freeways were closed which forced all traffic onto the famous Texas access roads. For several miles, a truck road Fernando's bumper. Fernando, who has driven many times in much more dangerous road conditions quickly realized that the all powerful truck driver was unaware of the laws of physics. Pulling over to allow the truck to pass, Fernando noticed a trafficless freeway and a simple orange cone blocking the on ramp.

Solution, move the cone and have free access to work without all those pestering traffic lights and over confident SUVs. He said it was strange to drive on the normally busy freeway devoid of any traffic, but it was when he passed car after empty car that really started to make him question. Did I miss the rapture?

With only one police officer attempt to stop him, he made it quickly and safely to the hospital to sit around with all the other driven doctors.

Elephants at Play

2011-02-09T08:17:00.001-08:00

Fernando has always loved reading. He tells of how he would hide in the log pile outside his home just so he could finish reading. His life as a resident has cut all possibilities of reading for fun and limit his selections to the scriptures and medical reference books which I am sure that his patients enjoy whether or not they realize his sacrifice. Thank heavens for audiobooks.

Now, as he drives to and from work, he can listen to book after book. Some of the best books I have "read" are from this endless collection of audiobooks Fernando has gotten for himself. Currently, I am overtaken by the book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. Amazing, frustrating, incredible, almost unbelievable. More than once I found myself shaking my head in disbelief and audibly guffawing.

Last night, as I listened to the story of Louis Zamperini, I became livid with the choices people make that drastically effect the lives of others. Some upstart Lieutenant, unfamiliar with the workings of airplanes, ordered Zamperini and his crew to go on a search and rescue mission. The only plane available was unfit for flight in the sight of all pilots, but passed all the "test" some book read inspector gave the plane. Even upon explaining that the plane was unfit to fly, the men had to follow orders with devastating results. Over and over in the war, men were killed in non combat situations. Thousands of men lost to "war" because of the ignorance or inattention to detail by the superiors. It made me think of the saying my mom often says "When Elephants play in the mud, the frogs are the ones who get hurt."

Get the book. Read it. Or, better yet, listen to it. It is not for the faint of heart and there are war scenes that are unpleasant, but it has been an amazing life story to remember.

This is SO Tiago!

2011-02-05T07:01:00.001-08:00

Tiago has been wearing his Darth Vader costume for days.

Best Laid Plans

2011-02-02T11:23:00.000-08:00

So remember those dozen donuts? I decided to freeze most of them, and "hid" them in our ice cube making machine box. This plan seemed so genius until the day Fernando found both plastic and chocolate donuts in his ice water. Whoops!

Musical Fans

2011-01-31T17:55:00.001-08:00

I don't really understand what possesses me sometimes. I have this problem of starting into big projects when the more important day to day chores (dishes, vacuuming, showering) are left undone. Such is the case this past week. I have been going to bed ridiculously early and waking up at 2 am. Too lazy to get out of bed (even though I had slept 7 hours) I would ponder various things like: how long would it take me to pressure treat my fence and seal it or how easy would it be to replace my light fixtures above my garage and outside my front door or how could I maximize the ceiling fans I currently own and fix the mismatched configuration that we have been "enjoying" these many months.

Realizing that the ceiling fans were the most irritating to me, I promptly headed to Lowes one day after picking TIago up from school to purchase the cheapest yet most effective ceiling fan for our downstairs family room. Then came the moment of musical fans. The downstairs ceiling fan and the ceiling fan in my room were identical which made placing them in the children's room ideal. The ceiling fan in one of the children's rooms was worthless while the other was fantastic in ability as well as ugliness (were talking gleaming gold metal with 80's oak blades). I opted to spray paint the blades black to match our bedroom set and deal with the bling since it is close enough to the antique brass hardware on our furniture in our room.

Five fans later and a repaint job, I was feeling pretty good about myself. Luckily, reality hit in when I turned on the fans in the kids' rooms only to realize my foolish error. The fans had dimmer remotes that also controlled the speed of the fan. To install, the fan must be set on high and then controlled by a remote located in the ceiling and on the wall. Because a little remote spelled disaster in my head with kids and playing too much with a non toy item, I opted to leave the remotes out. So now the fans have two settings---off and turbo jet speed. Good thing San Antonio weather makes such speeds desirable, because the problem has been solved for now.

Good Grades

2011-01-22T12:29:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all the hard work of Tiago and Mia during this last grading period, we all enjoyed a fun lunch at Cheesy Jane's and a dozen doughnut from krispykremes for free. I guess studying hard really does pay off! I think I will have to remind them of this the next time someone whines about homework.

Freedom

2011-01-20T06:24:00.000-08:00

For Martin Luther King day, we showed the kids a few clips from movies to help them understand the importance of the day. The first clip was from Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Then we decided to stress the importance of his message by watching the TV series America The Story of Us that showed how the slave trade operated and, in essence, was worse than cattle auctions. The show recounted the need for colored people to carry papers either stating their status as a freeman or who owned them. It turns out that Frederick Douglass , on his final and successful attempt to leave slavery, used borrowed documents from a friend to gain his freedom. It also showed how Harriet Tubman, a woman who already escaped to freedom, risked her life several times in order to offer that same freedom to over 300 other "slaves".

Still interested, I showed the kids part of Gandhi. Surprisingly, they watched over an hour of the movie asking questions the whole time.

I don't know if it was due to just finishing the book "The Hiding Place", but for some reason, the importance of standing up against injustices seemed more amazing and important to me this year. I wonder what I would do faced with such injustices. Sadly, I already know the answer. There are injustices all around and I do nothing about it.

Then my thoughts turned to the thoughts of Gandhi and his peaceful non-violent non-cooperation campaign. He spoke of how they would face pain and violence and even death, but all the people would have was his body. No one could take his spirit and will.

Our Family Home Evening lesson focused on the scripture in 2 Nephi 2

27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and call things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

28 And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;

29And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom.

No matter our life situation, freedom is found within. I loved the metaphor of staying within bounds:

Oh, no he didn't!

2011-01-13T06:05:00.000-08:00

I wish my camera would have worked to show you Fernando's reaction to this video. . .it was almost as entertaining.

Three Kings Day

2011-01-08T11:58:00.000-08:00

Just in case you were wondering, this special holiday commemorates the Wisemen's arrival to the Christ child's home. The Epiphany is what many refer to this finding.

"Epiphany, from the Greek word Epiphania, meaning "revelation" is based on the biblical story that tells of the Magi or Three Kings - Caspar, (or Kaspar or Gaspar) Melchior and Balthasar - who saw a bright star on the night Christ was born and followed it to Bethlehem.

There they found the Christ child and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The legendary visit would later gave rise to the custom of gift giving at Christmas on the Feast of the Epiphany, today traditionally observed on January 6."

One should also get gifts for this magical day, don't you think? Well, we did. We bought a ridiculous amount of luxury bath towels. When we had visited my parents over Thanksgiving, we were introduced to the wonders of such towels, but at $25 a pop, we decided we would just dream of them. I search the internet for knock offs and "found" a $10 version. I ordered 4 as a trial pair. They were false and wrong and over priced normal towels.

Then, on Wednesday, my dad called with good news. Macy's, the seller of such fabulous towels, was clearing out some of their discontinued colors at a ridiculous $9 a towel. We stripped one store of all their dark towels only to hit the jack pot at another local Macy's. We took a time out to get a little Cheesecake Factory goodness. It wasn't my favorite Cheesecake Factory experience, but it was cheap. Back to the towels. . .while trying to figure out our actual purchase, a sales employee kindly pointed out to us that the sale was ending right then and to get ourselves to the cash register. We made it just in time and brought home this load:

I want To Ride My Bicycle Part II

2011-01-04T06:56:00.000-08:00

For Christmas a few years back, we bought some bikes for the two oldest. The training wheels made them ride slightly sideways and when we tried the American iconic two wheel training wheel-less, there was nothing but anger and frustration from the kids. So, we bailed on the bikes and bought Razors instead. The kids had a new found freedom with the Razors which were much easier to control. Then one day a few months ago, Tiago decided to hop on to one of his friend's bike and took off. There was no magical let go and clap at his accomplishment. He simply rode past my shocked self and never needed anymore help. At that, Mia decided she should try as well. Done. No back aches due to hunching over holding onto the seat. No grumpy "I can't do this!" exclamations from the kids.

So, Christmas gifts were easy this year:

Talia's bike actually was a post Christmas purchase. I accidentally assumed that her love of Razors was for the item itself and not just so she could be like everyone else. After several snot filled bike sessions, we found a perfect craigslist solution.

Happy New Year

2011-01-03T06:11:00.000-08:00

Nothing says New Years like a Celebration Tray of Sushi and dumplings!

merry christmas

2010-12-30T06:33:00.000-08:00

Return to Zumba (at least in name)

2010-12-23T17:45:00.001-08:00

After Fernando coaxed me into listening to part of a book he is reading (audio style---check it out it is called Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain), I checked out local gym options. I had a free two year membership at our fantastic YMCA that ended in October. The new price tag for each month, $70+, was a bit too much for me to swallow especially considering the distance and mad race I had to get to and from class in time to pick Tiago up from school. Also, if I was going to pay that much, I wanted a few more amenities like a pool to use all year around to do laps.

Against my hesitations on account of the known tv dominated childcare, I checked out the nearby Gold's Gym. The facility was beautiful and huge. The pool was perfect size and the gym offered Zumba as well as the Body Pump and Flow classes. They let me check out Zumba today and boy was I surprised. A man was substituting for the normal class teacher. Zumba can easily be a coed class. It just usually isn't. The man was an amazing street dancer, but it really was kind of disturbing how he used his hand towel to twist whilst he shook his hips during the Belly Dancing inspired song. Almost as equally diverting was a lady who was loving herself. I totally get checking out your moves in the mirror. Go for it. This girl was ogling the mirror. Her shirt, it seems, was such a bother. It kept getting tied shorter and shorter as the class progressed. It even almost was removed entirely at one point.

So do I spend the $320 so for this new place or just buy myself some Zumba Dvds?

Rise and Shout

2010-12-19T14:03:00.000-08:00

The rocky season for BYU ended at a Peak during the smack down of Bowl game in New Mexico. Too bad we didn't get to be so celebratory at the U of U game we attended over Thanksgiving break.

Not that it wasn't awesome to watch the U get stuffed for the first 3 quarters, but it was so close and strange how we lost. Really, how often to you see a field goal get blocked? Ok, for avid football watchers may be that is more frequent. Regardless, the underrated team did quite well for itself. A funny side note: we went straight from game day fun to Handel's Messiah. I luckily brought a dress to change into because we were bundled up for the chilly afternoon game.

Mele Kalikimaka

2010-12-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

*pronounced meh-leh kah-lee-kee-mah-kah

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say
On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day

Mia had a school play the other day that was hilarious. It had nothing to do with Hawaii, but it turns out that Mia doesn't own any red or green shirts as were required for the play. She had to wear this little giddie up that happened to belong to her long ago as a dress (a really long time ago). The play was all about how Santa was "So sad, and here's the reason why. . .Christmas lost its I". In the end, a diligent exclamation point agreed to step into the I place by standing on its head. The microphones weren't really helping which made it all the more fun. Mia was an excellent choir member.

The Magic of Christmas

2010-12-11T18:25:00.000-08:00

Christmas music was playing, cool step ladders were offered, and all we could keep them interested in was a little bit a tree trimming. One of the these years, I am sure I won't end up as the only tree trimmer. Irregardless, it is the most wonderful time of the year.

Just the Two of Us

2010-12-09T14:17:00.001-08:00

Fernando really wanted to take advantage of the free babysitting by people we trust while we were in Utah. He had been asking me for weeks to help brainstorm some overnight adventures with just the two of us. This is a personal obstacle for my life right now. I really feel like my decision to become a parent means that my bulk time should be spent on being with those kids I brought into the world. I don't mind a few hours here and there to regroup, but the whole overnight thing was just a bit more difficult for me to handle. (IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: my feelings on overnight couple excursions is limited to me alone. I think that other people who choose to do such things for overnight and even longer is wonderful.)

With prodding from my brother, and Fernando's refusal to go without me, I agreed to a Park City snowboarding adventure. We found a decent hotel in Park City for only $68 a night and got killer discounts from my brother and sister-in-law for board rentals and the lift tickets. In the end, against my reservations we hit the slopes for some serious carving fun.

We made it down four runs before calling it quits. Fernando took a nasty spill his first run that made the rest of the runs quite painful. I some how manage to get my groove on only to take some pretty gnarly spills myself. Still, I hope someday we'll go back during ski season and this time we'll bring the kids.

Tis the Season

2010-12-07T13:36:00.000-08:00

After getting back from a fun but exhausting trip in Utah for Thanksgiving, I confess I feel overwhelmed at blogging about all the fun that we had. It would help if I took more of my own personal pictures. Thank heavens that other people were on top of that but now I have to figure out how to retrieve those from everyone.

My dad did just send me an email with this picture attached:

This was from a Santa 5K run that we participated in the night after Thanksgiving. The idea was hilarious since you had to wear Santa suits to even run in the race. Too bad they were made out of felt which was a lifesaver in regard to insulation (who knew) on that frigidly cold night, but were lousy for staying together especially in the crotch area.
The kids made one lap with only a few sorrowful melt downs and bathroom stops. I ran the next lap with Fernando and almost passed out. Fernando and my mom were the only ones who made the full 5K! View Photos from Provo Santa Run

Bread Bowls

2010-11-18T13:24:00.000-08:00

Here is the secret recipe:

I use a bread recipe and make it into round balls. Cook them and scoop out the insides. I am sure you all have a better homemade bread recipe than I have so don't be too concerned about the specifics of that. "If you want really crusty bread, great for dipping in olive oil or marinara sauce, (or making bread bowls) place a pan of water in the bottom of the oven. The steam will keep a skin from forming too fast, giving the bread more time to rise. It will also make the crust crisper." So says Cook Like Your Grandmother website.

Enjoy!

Another Random Halloween Moment

2010-11-16T15:34:00.000-08:00

The school day closest to a given holiday gets a special lunch visit. I brought the beloved soup in her carefully kept bowl. But the best part was the caramel apple. Besides the huge apple that made it seem even more amazing, there was caramel with white chocolate and cinnamon and sugar. It got a lot of comments as you could imagine. I mean anything homemade next to junkie school lunch is going to look rockin'.

Carving Pumpkins!

2010-11-14T08:42:00.000-08:00

Although San Antonio's weather makes one feel more like putting on a swimsuit than wearing a cardigan on a fall afternoon in October, I still had a huge desire to make soup. Trying to be creative and festive, I made pumpkin shaped bread bowls (if you use your imagination it could totally look like pumpkins) and potato soup (recipe below)

It's always nice to hear and see approval for the food I prepare, but the kids were so funny about their adoration of this soup. Tiago wanted to eat it so badly, that his mouth kept getting burned.

Mia kept talking about the soup bowl phenomenon and ate so carefully so as to preserve her pumpkin for more soup to come.

Talia, on the other hand, thought that spoons just got in the way of goodness and attacked dinner as follows:

Running the risk of moldy pumpkins on Halloween, we waited until Thursday night to carve our pumpkins. Mia had written a book all about how to carve a cute pumpkin. She also was in the know about the innards of the pumpkin and warned her siblings appropriately.

It has been nice approaching Halloween in a more favorable light.

Potato Corn Chowder

1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1-2 carrots peeled and chopped
1-2 celery sticks chopped
1 cup water
1 medium potato, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1 pkg McCormick Original Country Gravy Mix
2 cups milk
1 cup whole kernel corn

In a large saucepan, melt the butter with onion, carrots, and celery and cook 2 minutes. Add water and potato cubes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 5 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Mix gravy and milk. Add gravy mixture with the remaining ingredients to the saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Sometimes, I have added dill to add an extra flavor to the mix.

Labors of the Day

2010-11-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

Although the title of this post could describe the feelings I have most Sundays after a hectic nursery day. (especially when a rambunctious nursery child decides to stomp on another nursery child's head!) But actually this is a post about our Labor Day adventures with a family friend.

Early Labor Day morning we headed to Walmart in hopes of securing our posterity in much needed life jackets. Luckily, there were a few left, but the pickins' were slim. While I search Walmart, Fernando search a nearby store for wooden paddles. We finally make it up to Guadalupe River State Park. It's decided that we will play in the river,

rope swing,

and eat before we raft down the river for about a mile*.

There was a fun playground and the new friends made it more than magical. Then it was time to go on a trip we never anticipated. We loaded up into one van and drove several miles to a entrance point further up the river. The water was flowing, but by no means rapid. We should have taken a clue for how the rest of the trip would have played out by the more than rough launching of the rubber boat. The men stood on a bridge and attempted to drop it into the water below. Unfortunately, it wasn't let go at the same time so it tumbled haphazardly into the water that happened to be flowing quite steadily. I immediately jumped into the water in attempts to save the boat, multiple paddles, and the gear. Luckily I got it in time and the men were able to scramble down to help.

We only assumed we had a mile to paddle until we made it back to our picnic site. I swam for a good half hour without any life jacket. My arms were feeling a bit tired so I asked to row. I rowed down the quiet tranquil river with the other mom and most of the kids on board. We talked and sang and ate fruit. After another hour of rowing, we figured it was getting kind of late and that we all should focus on the last leg of the journey. We attempted a four man row which just took a lot more energy and got us nowhere. The kids were spent, our energy was drained. The boat would travel pretty quickly when the water was deep, but then a shallow, rocky portion of the river would maroon us and take all the adults to push it back into the deeper water, but we thought our site was just around the next bend.

We had started this journey at 1 pm. The boat and all of its weary, rock torn passengers made it back a little before 7 pm. When we saw the rope swing, we couldn't help but smile. Fernando, Joe, and I all tried the swing one more time. Unfortunately, my arms had nothing left in them. I willed them to hold on just long enough to not kill myself on the gnarled root system, but paid with rope burns up and down my arms and hands. Our somber little group rallied enough energy to load all the stuff into the van and left around 8 pm. It wasn't until we met up with the other van that we realized we had left the brand new life vests at the picnic site's playground. We drove the 20 minutes back and searched for several minutes for the vests. We found them thankfully and giggled at the misfortunes of the day.

Although it was tough, the day was more than memorable. We loved it so much that we are thinking of getting a boat of our own and doing it all over again. Next time, we'll have a more reasonable expectation and understanding of the distance we will need to travel and bring enough food to rally the troops as needed.

Tired of Voting?

2010-11-04T19:31:00.000-07:00

Well, this is for a great cause. Talia! I entered her into a drawing on facebook. If she gets the most likes, she wins some prize. Here is your job. . .

Soliciting Votes:

There is no random drawing for this contest! It is based purely on votes from your family and friends, as well as our website/YouTube/Facebook visitors.
All voters will need to become a fan of Cute Girls Hairstyles facebook page before they can vote for any photos (see below)…

Vote Nov 2-8th!!!
Votes will be counted via the “Like” feature below your photo in our photo contest album B under PUMPKIN

SEE HERE

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T18:01:00.001-07:00

Who need professional make up artists when your body can pull of this wonderful look?

(scary no?. . .better pictures to come)

Side note: I really could use a good night sleep as you could imagine with eyes that looked like that this morning. Unfortunately, my deepest wish has come true with a vengeance. Every Halloween I think uncharitable thoughts about those "kids" who are capable of growing mustaches and have an hour glass figure and think they still can trick or treat. I always think and sometimes bravely suggest that they should be at a party instead of trick or treating with elementary kids.

I guess they took my suggestion seriously. Two doors down behind my house is a thuggin' sound system and multi colored disco lights bustin' out some serious party music. Really? The neighborhood average age is 8. Turn it down!!

Houston For the Weekend

2010-10-24T16:06:00.001-07:00

After hearing about a fantastic Pumpkin Patch near Houston and the kids having a strategically placed half day of school, I planned a weekend reunion for our family and Houston sites we loved. (this should be read as the zoo, children's museum, and space center) Fernando was finishing up his last day in Dallas and decided to meet us there Friday night.

The zoo was our first destination for a trick o treating fest. The zoo was decorated so cutely and the activities were well thought out. We dressed up as cooly as possible since it was already 86 degrees when we pulled up. Except for the $8 over priced chicken finger platter to help stave of starvation, the zoo was perfect. The kids got candy, animal interactions, and water entertainment.

Confession: The Children's Museum was the really reason for going. It did not disappoint. The Museum was deck in cute Halloween decorations and dressed up helpers. The trick o treating was a scavenger hunt. I could go on and on, but I won't Let's just say they had to kick us out at closing.

Saturday was a super short day and slightly bittersweet. We went to the Space Center which had a Lego Themed exhibit that was amazing. Jousting, dress up, catapulting, among building with legos made it difficult to stick to our noon departure time.

Why are you so far away from us Houston?

Monster Mash

2010-10-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

We totally did this last year and the kids just had to do it again this year. I hope you enjoy. . .especially the toothless vampire.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Not So Good

2010-10-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

My attempts to be cutesy for Halloween failed miserably tonight. I thought I would help distract the kids from missing their father by making a treat after church today. I got the idea from a fun cooking blog and decided the red apples could be transformed into a Halloween treat by switching out the red Jell-o for orange. I am not sure how her Krispy Apple Treats turned out, but ours were a rancid sugar overload and not even close to being in a good way.

I wanted to blame it on the semi stale marshmallows. I kept trying it and bite after bite I shuddered. Mia loved it. Too bad, I couldn't allow her to destroy her body with that marshmallow mess. Into the sink it went.

Baby Steps

2010-10-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

I hate Halloween, but I don't want my kids to have to go looking for Halloween fun at someone else's house that might choose to be more graphic in nature. So I have been taking baby steps towards adopting some fun Halloween things. This helped:

How can you say no to this cute pizza?

Curse You Technology

2010-10-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

Today, after Mia found and wore my dance shoes downstairs, we decided that we haven't really danced for a long time. I took the shoes and began spinning and imagining it looked hot! (Not like hot mess with greasy mom hair still in pj's look. . .but wow I wish I could move like that). The kids quickly joined in and were becoming increasingly more video-able and frankly sellable. . .if one were to do that sort of thing. So I grab the camera and switch it to the movie option and nothing. The camera was on but unable to record anything! 20 minutes after the spontaneous charming dancing was over, I figured it out. Lame

Leprosy or Small Pocks

2010-10-03T19:15:00.001-07:00

Fire ants have to be a reminant of the plagues sent to Egypt when Moses wanted to help free the Isrealites. They are wicked and bite with a vengance. They attack in droves and continue to bite over and over again until they are beaten off the victim. Thank heavens that my helpful neighbors were near. One ran to get vinegar and benadryl while the other made sure that Talia's beloved Lambies wasn't going to act like a Trojan horse. After being swatted and dowsed in vinegar, Talia was relatively calm about the whole ordeal and discussed it as one would discuss the weather. Her arm swelled up and it really appeared to be more akin to a contagious disease than bug bites. She still has some residual scars from the whole ordeal.

In other news, Conference weekend provides the opportunity for many fun diversions that never really happen at any other point. For example, we never watch 8 hours worth of TV in two days. We don't have loads of junk food while we watch and we most definitely don't make ourselves into Mummies with multiple rolls of toilet paper. I didn't really mind until I found out how much toilet paper was strewn all over the upstairs. Even then, I was only mildly bugged about the sheer waste of paper. Thank heavens it was creatively used instead of just for the sake of being destructive.

Pancakes

2010-10-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Tiago loves pancakes. He requests them frequently. I think he would love to live life eating pancakes and meat. Tiago has been loving life now that a friend his age has moved in a few houses away. Strangely, they seem to be twins in actions and deeds. What silly pair they are. They were so excited about my pancake interpretations of a dinosaur and car .

Family Tree and/or What is Important

2010-09-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

In school, they learned about families and even got a chance to draw their own family tree (as shown above). One should notice the large happily grinning Tiago next to the circle of MONEY! With all the time it took to make the money, there wasn't much time for anything else. Fernando and I are happy and have obviously achieved unity since we are the same person. Talia got recognized, but Mia (as stated by Tiago) is standing behind Talia. What a character!

Happy Happy Birthday

2010-09-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

It's always a party during birthday weeks in our house. It makes it easy since half our family is born during the second week in April and the other half is born third week of September. This month brought me out of my 20's and Tiago into 5 year old status.

Birthdays as a mom have always been different, but magical in there own right. Like going to library storytime and laughing at the kids trying to activity participate in the book.

It was nice to get all the well wishes and what not. Fernando started off the day with letters hidden throughout the house that discussed various memories he had of me from the 12 years we have know each other.

Tiago's day included treats aka donut gems at school then going to Red Robin for our free birthday lunch and over to ColdStone for our free birthday ice cream creations.

Irish Dancing

2010-09-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

Confession, I love Irish Dancing. I took a class at BYU and it made me appreciate it even more especially when my 60 year old teacher was leaping around effortlessly like a gazelle and I felt like my shoes had cement in them. This video adds a fun twist on Irish Dancing with the cutest song.

Oops!

2010-09-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

Monday was full of hope and potential. The children were up early and happy. These things aren't always mutually inclusive. All was going well as we were leaving the home ready to razor up to school. Oops! The stroller that has seen many a days with our family, the stroller that exploded under the weight of three children while attempting a family jog, a stroller that was coming apart at the seams was gone. Some soon to be family bought it for $15 at the yard sale and well, I wasn't hiked Talia up to school on my hip.

Solution: Drive slowly behind the children whilst they trek up to school on their razor scooter things accomplishing some physical exertion for the day.

Draw Back: People who are also attempting to get their kids to school via their car are a bit annoyed by the seeming stalker creeping up the hill behind children who seem to be doing their best to escape (or so it would seem).

New Solution: Bust out the $300+ for a bike trailer stroller combo that I have been eyeing for years. Beautiful isn't it. . .and it is coming to me so soon.

Now if Fernando and I could find some bikes for us. Oh, and some new bikes for the kids since I sold their bikes at the yard sale too.

Men's Bathroom (again)

2010-09-19T18:53:00.001-07:00

Being a nursery leader is a riot. Sometimes in the funny way and sometimes in the crazy way. There is fine balance between being a mom to my kids and taking care of my calling. I rely heavily on my kids' obedience and Fernando's quick assistance. We have a small window of time between my nursery clean up and the next ward needing to set up. More often then not they overlap. This freaks me out because many a kid could easily be lost in the confusion.

Today, it was my child. One second I am stacking play dough and the next second she is gone. Up and down the halls we searched. Finally, another father beckoned me to the men's bathroom down the hall. Turns out that Talia felt like she needed to potty and didn't really care about the whole boy/girl problem. The father told me to just go in an get her since he was the only one in the restroom with helping his little son. Talia was in the stall panties on the floor not the least bit concerned. In fact, she was quite proud of herself. Trying not to lose the mound of junk in my hand, I attempt to help her quickly finish. Concerned she would have an accident before we made it to the womans room, I stayed. Finally realizing that she was not in any danger of "losing it", I decide to make the great escape.

Unfortunately, the door that opened and closed a few seconds earlier wasn't my son who had come in to the bathroom. . .oh no. It was some unknown man standing ridiculously close to the urinal. Don't get me wrong, I understand why. Classic! At least I have had practice.

Adoraboll Bares and $90 Toy Airplanes

2010-09-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

Today was insane. I attempted my first solo garage sale and was grateful that Lord of the Flies didn't occur. Starting at 7 am, in my pj's, I was inundated with professional yard salers. Talis was naked and waving at all the incoming strangers. Thanks heavens (multiple times today) Mia stepped up and was mom for the day. The kids ate whatever they could find which happened to be carb heavy in the form of graham crackers, cheese crackers, leftover cake. . .yeah that is going to help them feel full.

In the end, I still had a lot of things. I regretted very little and made the money I was hoping for to buy some furniture for the kids' room.

Funny side note (as if nude Talia wasn't funny enough): the kids were promised all the proceeds of the sale of their items. Many items were sacrificed for the cause. They even tried gouging the people with ridulously overpriced items. $90 was just a little steep for some of the folks and yet the cute advertising of Mia to her oversized "Bare" didn't lure anyone either.

My Favorite Pillow

2010-09-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

CAN You Believe It

2010-09-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

During a daddy daughter date, Fernando and Mia bumped into these can creations. For some strange but delightful reason, several groups of college kids made these can creations using only cans and cardboard and elastics. NO GLUE. I took all the kids another day just to see them in person. Pretty fun use of recyclables.

Fiesta on the River Walk

Notre Dame Cathedral

Mr. Potato Head

Can Opener and a Giant Can

Pizza Man

The Little Green takes on The Big Blue

2010-09-10T16:42:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I thought it wise for me to purchase a Little Green wet vac. I had a few spills on the carpet that didn't really merit a large carpet cleaner, but still needed some attention. Little did I know how often our Little Green would save us. Tonight for example, I had the choice privilege of cleaning up projectile vomit that just so happened to look like a Smurf exploded on my carpet. Electric blue cupcake "frosting" was the culprit for such a pleasant puke color. I think it was one of the few times I was grateful for a stuffed nose.

Bodily fluid clean up is just part and parcel to the whole mother gig, but what happened at school made the process aggravating. Before I was scrubbing the Big Blue, Mia was painfully lying down in bed. In fact, she had felt miserable since lunch around 11 am today. For the first time in 2 years at her elementary school, Mia asked to go to the school nurse. The nurse takes her temperature and promptly dismisses her back to class. Mia never even dares to ask to go to the bathroom. To me, it would be a huge warning sign when she asked to see the nurse. Furthermore, even if she was faking it, wouldn't you think that I should decide whether or not she should come home. ARG!

Part of me felt like my life was a television show. Talia bellowing about who knows what while Tiago ran about pretending he was some karate master. I am trying to make food and discipline at the same time. Mia pukes, Talia strips to nothingness and prattles on about going to Sea World, and Tiago continues running around this time with his nose closed exclaiming how stinky it was. Sweetly, he did have the desire to help and retrieved some Gatorade without even being asked.

Pedernales Falls

2010-09-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

Trying to break our usual gym to Costco Saturday routine, Fernando thought we should explore Texas. It just so happened that I picked up our local grocery store magazine the day before and it just so listed several tops spots to visit. We decided on Pedernales Falls about two hours from our house. The hike in was cake which allowed for plenty of exploration time via rock climbing, cave finding, and water bridging.

Funny side note. . .while we were leaving the falls to go swim in the river, we bumped into a family from Provo. We were the first non-family member they had seen on their visit to Texas. Their faces beamed with excitement when they saw our Y shirts.

The only mistakes of the day were not applying sunscreen and visiting the lack luster Austin Children's Museum. At least there were giant games like Jenga and Connect Four.

Lucky for us, the BYU game that night made us forget our sorrows! Go Cougars!

Backyard Reunion

2010-09-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

Friday proved to be slightly pleasant weather wise and so dinner was held outside. Notice the lack of lawn furniture. It is so sunny all year round that buying any outdoor furniture seems crazy to me. I think it would be bleached the first week. Our poor barbecue cover was jet black at one point now it is a light grey. That is beside the point. It's nice to be outside again.

Sadly, our baseball game ended with our whiffle ball over the fence and into the mouth of the doberman pinscher behind us. We are never getting that one back.

Still hot

2010-09-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

Fall should be coming, Right?

I'm A Big Kid Look What I Can Do

2010-08-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

Does anyone remember that little medley from the pull up diaper commercial? Well, it was charming and a good theme song for our little miss. She has self potty trained and tries everything her siblings do. Here she is jumping off a ledge that is about as tall as she is all because Tiago and Mia did it.

We often get asked how old she is because of her constant conversational skills and no nonsense attitude. Oh, how I love getting a few hours each day to soak her in.

Saturdaze

2010-08-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

After a failed attempt to attend the Temple this morning and a birthday party to attend, the Saturday seemed open to possibilities. I was hoping for Sea World. There are a finite number of Saturdays that the Lost Lagoon will be open and I wanted to soak up the lovin'. (especially since strep throat last week excluded me from going with the family). The kids had hopes for Chuck E Cheese. . .yah right. Fernando was itching to spend money and I didn't really feel like shopping.

We pulled out the good old expo markers and our giant white board for a good ol' fashioned brainstorming session. The list was made and so were the plans. Fernando would get his haircut while we played at the park then we would meet up in the BX to do our version of a store scavenger hunt. Boys VS Girls in a mad rush to return the 5 items in the other team's cart. Unfortunately I underestimated the boys' ability to map a store. The boys won hands down. The next item was our all important donut buying which happened to be next to some Chicago Pizzeria. We opted to add in the kids' idea of eating out carry out style since the store scavenger hunt went on a bit longer than expected (not the hunt but waiting to buy Fernando's laptop while watching Kung Fu Panda on one of the demo tv's in the store).

In all, it felt good to break our normal gym, Costco, spend lots of money Saturday activities. The only downside was the overpriced mediocre pizza that could have tasted better if it didn't cost so much. Can't wait for next Saturday's brainstorming.

School Days

2010-08-26T14:48:00.001-07:00

School has started again. This kids are very happy and are loving their new adventures. (Tiago is a little miffed that he doesn't get to ride the bus. . .the only solace to him is the possibility of riding next year.) I confess that I have really enjoyed it too. Errands are easier, and the day flies by. I get extra time to give Talia attention which every third child needs. The only downside is the possibility of overspending with the ease I find shopping now.

Nothing is sweeter than their joy in reuniting at the end of each day. Talia misses her best friends dearly.

Space Center, Houston Tx

2010-08-23T15:22:00.001-07:00

The other big attraction that we attended frequently was the Space Center. The kids wanted to see the Star Wars Special Exhibit which was a series of themed activities for the kids to participate in. There was a ropes course, a zero gravity bike ride, laser tag, and rock light wall, water music, and a mirror maze. They only tried the last three due to wrong footwear or weight requirements, but it was fun enough. Aside from all the historic artifacts, there were loads of hands on stuff. The kids and I loved the three story climbing structure equipped with obstacles and slides and rolling tunnels and space ship that launch balls. Good Times!

I was so excited about the space stuff that I even ate at the McDonald's next door because it had an astronaut levitating off its roof holding fries.

Houston Zoo

2010-08-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

If you haven't figured out already, I am in love with deals and bargains. Ok, who doesn't love saving money. I wish I was a little more savvy with finding stuff, but I felt pretty good about the free entrance to the Houston zoo because of Fernando's active duty status. As aforementioned, the weather didn't really permit many outdoor activities and for some strange reason, the zoo (as well as everything else) didn't open until 10 am. Even still, it was amazing. Have I used that word too much yet? The zoo was huge and like a twofer. The zoo was a mix of animal exhibits and beautiful landscaping. Make that a threefer. . .I forgot the children's area had playgrounds, climbing areas for the kids to practice being like various animals, your standard goat petting, and a splash playground.

We even got to see some of those animatronic dinosaurs (the kids liked them and I thought it was funny how one spit on you its "poison").

Reciprocity

2010-08-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

I have been loving the opportunities we have been afforded with Fernando's Medical school program. Besides getting the chance to move several fun places (check my positive attitude in a few years), we have been able to visit for extended periods of time in other great places ie Destin Florida, Dayton Ohio, and now Houston Texas. We loved it so much that we extended our three day stay to over a week of adventures. Weather aside which I might add was abysmal, Houston was beautiful with plenty of activities for my kids to participate in. One of our favorites was the Children's Museum of Houston. Thanks to our travels years earlier to Dayton, we found out about the beauty of RECIPROCITY. Turns out that many memberships to zoos and museums will be honored in other cities. With a little research, I discovered that buying a discounted military family membership to that Boonshoft Museum in Dayton allowed me to enjoy free entry to not only the Houston Children's Museum (amazing!) as well as some around San Antonio and several in Utah which means easy, cheap ideas for when we are up there again.

It was kind of a bitter sweet experience though. The museum was one of the most incredible hands on museums I have ever seen, unfortunately that makes returning to our less than exciting museums all the more difficult. Day after day, for hours on end, we were educated, exercised, and enamored! Hear are just a few photos from our adventures:

The kids' favorites were a three story climbing structure that looked like giant pringle chips bound together by cords that created a vertical maze. Pictures didn't really capture the coolness.

They also loved Kidtropolis where they could do jobs and earn money to put in the bank and on their atm card. Tiago just took money at first because he loves LOVES money. Mia on the other hand tried her hand at being a vet, store clerk, police officer, and waitress to earn over $300. Not bad for an hour of work. Tiago eventually got excited about really earning the money as well and ended up with about the same amount. Talia just bopped around with her curls finding all sorts of fun things to do. Mostly she loved the "baby" she found that was some mangy looking dog.

We loved the obstacle courses, face painting, rocket/paper airplane making and launching, water works, etc The rest of the exhibits were really fun but I won't bore you with the details. All I can say is we are already planning on heading back. Too bad school got in the way of fun.

Cuteness

2010-08-10T16:35:00.000-07:00

So while I was blog hopping one day, I ran into this blog Make It and Love It. I love it. I have made only a few things from the site and feel a mixture of happiness and sorrow for not owning a sewing machine. I am happy because I think I would spend my days making things that probably wouldn't turn out. I do think I have plans for when all my kids are in school. Check out the site. . .if I could make these,

think of what you can do.

Little Read Wagon

2010-08-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

I just stumbled onto the best library event this side of San Antonio. It's a program to increase literary awareness in children. They bring activities and interactive books galore. We missed the first 4 of the 6 sessions at our library and we now drive about 15 minutes to get to the other library that is hosting it. The kids love it for the hour and a half and we come home with great ideas.

h