I'm In Love

"I'm in love for the first time.

Don't you know it's going to last?

It's a love that lasts forever.

It's a love that has no past."

There's a new love in my life. But Hector's not a jealous guy. :-) You see, I received a Keurig for Christmas from my father and step-mother. It was a complete surprise. I'd only mentioned it to my step-mother once, and she remembered how fondly I spoke of it and bought it for Hector and I for Christmas. So on Christmas Eve, as I opened the gift and saw what it was, I was literally giddy. Why so giddy? Well, let me sum it all up for you:

1) No coffee filters

2) No scooping

3) No measuring

4) No rinsing out the coffee pot

5) No waiting

6) Variety (It is the spice of life. Didn't you know?)

This coffee maker is the bomb! All you do is open the lid, put in whatever flavor/variety of pre-measured coffee, tea or cocoa that you desire, close the lid, hit a button, and within a few short seconds you have your beverage. It really does rock! If you don't have one, I highly recommend it. And if you do have one, I'd greatly appreciate your suggestions on which brand and flavors of coffee you prefer. There's so many to choose from!

Happy Coffee, Ya'll!

Traditions

So, here I am, blogging at my in-law's house. As most of you probably already know, my family and I travel every Christmas to be with our extended family. It's a tradition that we established years ago, early in our marriage. There are things about our time with our extended family that we've done for several years now, like spending Christmas Eve with my father, step-mother, and my father's side of the family. My father smokes a brisket or makes barbecue. We exchange gifts. And we enjoy each other's company. And then we always spend Christmas Day with my husband's family. My mother-in-law cooks tamales and carne guisada. We all pile into the living room and open our gifts together. It's fun. It's tradition.

This year, my family started a new tradition. My brother and sister-in-law opened up their home the day after Christmas, and we were able to spend time with my mother and step-father during this holiday... something we have not done in many, many years. They cooked a traditional Christmas dinner, and we all sat around and laughed and laughed and laughed. We ate ourselves silly! The kids played so hard upstairs that we thought the chandelier was going to fall from the ceiling. And we already started planning for next year. It was a wonderful time, and I am extremely grateful to my brother and sister-in-law for starting this new tradition.

So what traditions have you done for years now with your family? Did you start any new traditions this year? I'd love to read your comments!

The many moods, the many shades, the many sides of Avery...

Avery loves to travel. And she loves to pack too. She gets so excited about it. But she tends to go about packing much in the same way as her Mama does... over-analyzing everything and therefore, over-packing as well.

So yesterday, Avery's ears perked up immediately when she heard me (from 3 rooms away) starting to pull out the suitcases, and she came barreling into the guest room and immediately went into "packing mode."

"Where's my suitcase? What do I need to pack? Is it going to be hot or cold there? How many days will we be there? Do I need tennie shoes? Flip flops? Church shoes? How many dresses should I bring? I want to bring my pink tights for my purple dress, my white tights for my red dress, and my peach tights for my blue dress. I should probably bring pony tail holders. You know it's always windy at Grandma's house. I should bring 2 jackets, just in case I get 1 dirty. Do I need shorts? Do I need lotion? Oh, I can't forget my ear plugs. What about food? Do I need to pack snacks? Do you think Grandma will make that brown meat (carne guisada) that I love so much, with all the gravy? I don't think 1 suitcase is going to be big enough. Where's my pink bag? You know, the bag that Aunt Amanda bought me? Maybe the princess suitcase should be for my clothes and the pink bag should be for my shoes, panties, socks and tights. Does that sound okay? Oh, I need to pack a bag with things to do in the car. You know how I always get bored in the car. Oh, can you wash my footy pajamas, the ones I'm wearing right now?"

She reminds me a little of George, from Seinfled...

.

Sorry for the poor sound and quality of that. But I think you get the point... We're leaving home for about a week, and the girl has packed half her closet, because you just never know what mood Avery will be in once we get to where we're going...

Whew, she's all packed and ready to go! Now maybe I can focus on getting the rest of the family packed!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas... The 5 Aces

To: Mommy, From: Avery

Each Christmas for as long as we've been married, Hector and I have loaded up the car and made the drive to go celebrate the holiday with our families. The only year we didn't go was 3 years ago when I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with Isaac. This is something that we look forward to doing each Christmas. We love the tradition we've created for our children, and we love being able to spend this wonderful time of year with our extended family.



As part of this tradition, Hector and I always let the kids open their gifts from us before we leave town. So this morning, we celebrated Christmas at home before the "real" Christmas day. We all received so many wonderfully thoughtful gifts, for which I am truly thankful. But this year, I received the best gift ever. My precious daughter bought me something! Yes! The school had a holiday store last week, and she used her money to buy me something for Christmas. Oh yes! She picked it out herself, just for me. I was so touched that she would even think to get me something, since she is the epitome of a "Daddy's Girl." My heart was truly touched! This is what Avery bought me:
BUT WAIT!!! The picture above really does not do the gift justice. So, I took this video footage, so that you all can get the full effect of the gift...

Fancy, right?!?! :-) I'll admit, it's not really my style, but I absolutely love it because it's from my baby girl! Here's hoping you all get the best gift ever this Christmas too!

This is what happens...

...when you have an older sister who loves playing dress up, and a mommy who got a bit absorbed in scanning and downloading all 92 art contest entries into her computer for the school yearbook at one time...

It's butterfly fairy Isaac, complete with a water-spout pony tail and purple eye shadow!

And speaking of the art contest for the school yearbook, Avery submitted an entry and she won 1st place for 1st grade!!! Her drawing will appear in the school's yearbook on the 1st grade's cover page! I was so thrilled when the committee voted and picked her drawing as their favorite. She did such a great job!

My favorite time of year

"Christmas time is here

Happiness and cheer

Fun for all that children call

Their favorite time of the year"

I love Christmas. It really is my favorite time of year because I get to be like a child again. I love celebrating the birth of Jesus. I have 3 nativity scenes, and wish I had room in my home to display more!

Somehow, a dog that looks an awful lot like Molly made it into our Little People nativity scene this year... See it on the right? Hmmmmm... Where did that come from?

I love the joyous spirit that seems to engulf people. I love the lights, the trees, the decorations, the sights and the smells. I love it all! I love getting to see the wonder and amazement that shines through in the eyes of my children. And I love decorating the house. This is probably why from the day after Thanksgiving right up until January 2, my house looks like, as my oldest sister Nina put it, a Christmas gift shop exploded and everything landed in my house! :-)

Besides the fact that everyone (dogs and cat included) gets a stocking hung by the fireplace...

...all 3 children get their own tree in their room, that they can decorate any way they want to.

I really do love it all. So this is why, when I saw my neighbors putting out their Christmas decorations and yard art a full 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, I seriously had to fight the urge to not put mine out. After all, I must give Thanksgiving it's proper amount of decoration time. But finally the day after Thanksgiving arrived, bringing with it the Christmas season. Hector got up on the roof to hang the lights, in the cold rain, all for the love of Christmas! :-) Thanks Hector! We also made our annual trip out to the Christmas tree farm. And this year, we had the special treat of going to the Christmas tree farm with my sister Nina, niece Aimee and nephew Adam. A good time was had by all, right up until I walked out of the barn with a cup of hot cider and was immediately swarmed by bees. I sat the cup down, and loaded everyone into the Suburban while Hector paid for the tree. Our time on the farm was cut short, thanks to those pesky bees. But we still had fun picking out the tree!

The final product...

This year, we all made our own gingerbread house. From left to right you have Avery's house, Hector's house, my house, Samuel's house and Isaac's house. The kids actually decorated their own house! Didn't they do good?!?!

And then last night at church, Samuel and Avery had their choir Christmas performances. It was a little hard for Hector and I to see the kids from where we were sitting, but Hector was able to snap a few pictures. The kids did a great job and it warmed my heart to hear them lifting up their voices in song.

I truly hope that you are enjoying this time of year.

What did you say?

Things I have recently said to my children:

I can appreciate your conviction. But despite what you may think, red, patent-leather heels with a peek-a-boo toe are NOT the best shoe choice for school today. Let's set aside the fact that you have P.E. But it's also 29 degrees outside.

I understand you're hungry, but I don't have any pancakes on me right at this very moment.

Yes, I do think it's time I did something about your over-flowing laundry hamper. Today after school, I will remind you how to use the washer and dryer. Don't get sassy with me, girl! I mean, who do you think you inherited that sassiness from anyway?

So, you would rather cross 1 toy off your wish list to Santa, not play with your toys for a solid week, and let your brother take the blame for something he did not do, rather than simply say, "I did it?"

It's almost 9:00 a.m. Sure, you can have a cookie.

Would you please stop standing on your head and get over here so I can put your hat on?

Do you really expect me to believe that Isaac did that? I mean, even if the boy stacked 3 chairs on top of one another, he still couldn't reach that. Now, let's move on to the truth.

Stop looking at your brother.

Stop shooting the shark.

Give him back his stylus.

Give him back his gingie.

Get in your car seats. Please get in your car seats. Could everyone please get in your car seats? Can anyone hear me?

I don't care what you forgot to get in your room, you're naked. Now, go get in the shower.

Yes, I am very happy you went poo poo in the potty.

What is a sacksie? Does anyone know what a sacksie is?

We're all out of dog bones. Would you like some Goldfish instead?

I personally don't think that's a good flavor combination. But hey, it's your stomach.

How should I know where your purse and baby are? I can barely keep track of where my purse and baby are!

I love you.

I'm proud of you.

I'll miss you.

Have a great day at school.

Yep, we're related!

I love comparing pictures. These are pictures of Isaac and Samuel, around the same age:

And these are pictures of Avery and I, around the same age:

I just stumbled across that picture of Samuel today, and it made me realize just how much we all look alike... And I thought it was pretty neat.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Beauty is...

A few weeks ago, I wrote this blog about the fact that Samuel had written a poem for a poetry contest at school. The theme for the contest was "Beauty is..." Here is Samuel's poem:

Beauty is...
Bold
Elegant
Artistic
Unicycle
Television
Youth

And while I thought Samuel's poem was wonderful, I was a little concerned that the judges might get stuck on one of the words (unicycle, in particular). I really hoped the judges could look past some of the more obvious/typical words that he could have used, like unity or universe. And you know what, they did! Samuel won an Honorable Mention award for his poem!!! Samuel won 1 of only 8 awards that were given out.

I'm so proud of him! I am a proud mommy! :-)

The 12 Days of Whataburger

Go to http://www.whataburger.com/. On the top right side of the page, click on The 12 Days of Whataburger. Enter your email address and zip code, and they will email you a coupon every other day for a free menu item.

I love free food! :-)

And while I'm on the subject of free things, have you clicked on the link to the right side of this page for Vista Print? Well, why not? If you go to their website and sign up to receive their email newsletter, they will email you tons of free gift offers each week. All you pay is the shipping costs. I placed an order with them just yesterday. I ordered a cloth tote bag with flowers on it for Avery, a t-shirt for Samuel, a calendar for my kitchen, a rubber stamp with my address printed on it, and a pen and notebook with Avery's name printed on them (because she loves making lists and can never have too much paper!). And all I paid was $7 and change for shipping. Love it!

I can't say that my home is the cleanest, neatest, biggest, or fanciest home out there. But what I can say is that as long as I have this home, my friends and family will always be welcomed into it with open arms, open hearts, and open minds. I am truly thankful that this Thanksgiving I get to say, "Welcome to my home!" to several family members. I am thankful that they are willing and able to drive several hours to spend this holiday with me, Hector and our 3 children.

Thanks be to God for my dusty, cluttered, warm and inviting home. For this, and for SO much more, I am truly thankful.

Gobble Gobble

There's so many things that I love about Thanksgiving. Getting to spend time with my family would be at the top of my list. But let me be honest... I also really love the food. That's got to rank #2 on my list, if I'm just being completely honest. And in my search for the perfect Thanksgiving poem to put on here, I came across several poems expressing gratitude for family, friends, health, etc. But when I found this poem, I knew it was THE ONE... It expresses exactly why I love Thanksgiving so much. I hope you all find this poem as delightful as I did... :-)

T’was the night of Thanksgiving, but I just couldn’t sleep.
I tried counting backwards, I tried counting sheep.
Still the leftovers beckoned, the dark meat and white.
I tried to fight the temptation, with all of my might.
Tossing and turning, with anticipation.
The thought of a snack became infatuation.
I raced to the kitchen, and flung open the door.
I gazed into the fridge, full of goodies galore.
I gobbled up turkey, and creamy mashed potatoes.
Dressing and yams, unidentifiable casseroles, and even tomatoes.
I felt myself swelling, so plump and so round.
Until all of a sudden, I rose off the ground.
I crashed through the ceiling, floating into the sky.
With a mouthful of pudding, and a handful of pumpkin pie.
I managed to yell, as I soared past the trees.
"Happy eating to all, now pass the cranberry sauce, please!"

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

What's A Wampanoag?

I didn't have a clue what a Wampanoag is, until this past Saturday...

Each Friday afternoon, Samuel comes home from school with a list of vocabulary words for homework. He's supposed to learn the words. And he's not just supposed to be able to read them and spell them correctly. He's supposed to have a good idea of what the definitions or meanings of the words are, and he's also supposed to be able to use the words correctly in a sentence. He has the weekend to work on the vocabulary list, and then he is expected to be able to read them to his teacher by Tuesday of the following week. After that, he's expected to be able to spell them correctly and use the words accurately in composition sentences on a spelling test on Thursday. Samuel's got a great vocabulary, and the few words he has struggled with in the past, after I tell him once how to pronounce it and what it means, he remembers it. I am always so impressed with his vocabulary and memorization skills.

BUT... I've noticed over the past couple of weeks that the words coming home on the lists are getting really difficult. This week's list has topped them all. This is the list:

1) Native American
2) Powhatan
3) Sioux
4) Pueblo
5) shelter
6) tepees
7) adobe
8) tradition
9) Europe
10) explorer
11) colony
12) colonist
13) Wampanoag
14) Squanto
15) harvested
16) Independence
17) American Revolution
18) pioneer
19) transportation
20) slavery

Now people, Samuel's in 2nd grade!!! He's 8... I'm 37 years old, and I've got to tell you, I didn't have a clue how to pronounce #2 and #13. And coming up with definitions off the top of my head for some of these words was, quite frankly, rather difficult for me. How on earth am I supposed to help my child, if I don't even know what some of these words are? Enter http://www.dictionary.com/. Seriously, what did parents do before The Internet and Dictionary.com? On their website, they have this cute little icon that looks like a speaker. When you click on that icon, it pronounces the word for you. How super helpful is that?!?! Anyway, I am happy to say that I did initially pronounce Wampanoag correctly. But I missed the mark on Powhatan... I don't know, but I'm thinking this is a little excessive for 2nd graders. I mean, if I were trying to learn a new language, I'm not sure that I could learn 20 new words and their meanings, how to use them correctly in a sentence, how to spell them correctly and how to pronounce them correctly, all within 4 days! I mean, Powhatan... Sioux... Pueblo... Adobe... The list might as well have read ερυθρόδερμοι Δείτε επίσης; διπλό αντίσκηνο, and αποικία, because most of those words looked Greek to Samuel. Goodness, I am honestly not looking forward to next week's list! I'm anticipating the words maize, cornucopia, voyage, Massasoit, and Plymouth to rear their ugly little heads! :-)

Now, go learn something new today! Hope everyone has a great week!

Maisy

Last week, my dog Maisy had surgery to remove a mass that had formed on her shoulder. Maisy had been showing signs that something was not 100% right with her health since this past June/July. I noticed the mass on her shoulder about a month ago. The vet had hoped it was one type of non-cancerous mass that older female dogs sometimes get. She put Maisy on medication and hoped the mass would shrink. Unfortunately, the mass nearly tripled in size over the course of the month, and the vet wanted to remove it immediately.

Maisy after her operation, sporting her Old Navy tee to cover and protect her stitches...

Once the mass was removed, Maisy was acting fine. But on Wednesday of this week, I received the news that I was dreading; Maisy has cancer. It is a very aggressive, quick-spreading form of cancer that will eventually overtake her organs. Based on what the vet told me and what I've witnessed at home, it is most likely already spread to some of her organs. At best, Maisy has 3 months left in her life. Our vet does not think chemo is an option at this point, due to Maisy's age and just how widespread the cancer already is. As of right now, Hector and I plan to enjoy our time with Maisy, with the hope that she will pass peacefully on her own. But we are preparing ourselves to let her go sooner, should the need arise. Maisy has lived a good, full life, and we do not want her final days to be spent needlessly in pain.


Even though I tried to prepare myself before the vet called with the biopsy results, once I heard the news, I was completely unprepared. The vet asked me if I was okay, and I could not even muster up the strength to say no. My desire to not let my time with Maisy come to and end is overshadowing the reality that I need to keep Maisy's best interest at heart. This has proven to be a very difficult few days for me, even more difficult than I imagined it would be. She is still here, but I just can't seem to come to grips with the fact that within a few short months, maybe even weeks, she won't be.

Maisy came to be my "furry child" at a particularly difficult time in my life. She was a loyal companion, providing me with endless hours of unconditional love and affection at a time in my life when I needed just that. It's impossible for me to think about that time in my life and not think about how Maisy came to be a part of our family. She will be greatly missed. I know that there is so much pain going on right now in our country, but I truly covet your prayers that my heart will be at peace when it comes time to say goodbye to my sweet Maisy.

It's Potty Time

Anyone who has ever said that a mother of 3 should know what she's doing by the time the 3rd child comes along obviously did not have 3 children of their own... Isaac proves to me again and again that he is truly a unique individual, and will do things his own way. Thus, on occasion I am left feeling just as unsure of my actions with him as I did with Samuel and Avery, and I am constantly having to re-learn my way of doing things to fit his personality.

Potty training... Ooooooooohhhhhhhhh... I said those 2 little words, dreaded by mommies of toddlers everywhere! Potty training Samuel was a nightmare. Potty training Avery was a piece of cake. Avery and Samuel potty trained at the same time. I tried to potty train Samuel when he was 3, then again at 3 1/2, but he wasn't ready. I finally potty trained him when he was almost 4 and Avery was 2. Samuel could have cared less about potty training. Avery was always wanting to please me. Samuel fought it tooth and nail. Avery was constantly seeking the praise that came when she did go potty, which is why we spent the better part of our days on the potty or in the restroom from the time she was 23 months old until she was 25 months old. That was when I had enough and wanted my life to be more than just "going potty" every 2 minutes, and that's when I put an end to all of that nonsense... :-)

And now, here comes Isaac. He had been going potty very willingly for several weeks. He was so agreeable to everything. He didn't fight it, but at the same time he didn't feel the need to be in the bathroom every 2 minutes. I thought he was close to making the full transition into pull ups or underwear and that he was going to be my easiest potty trainer, but then he completely lost interest in going potty. I didn't know what happened. I stepped back, unwilling to push him and repeat some of the mistakes I made with Samuel. But then this past Friday, as I was using the restroom, Isaac asked me if he could go potty. I sat him down and he went on cue! So I asked him if he wanted to wear "big boy underwear." And to my surprise, he said yes. He wore underwear all day long, had a few accidents, but did good overall. Saturday was still not great, but an improvement from Friday. Sunday, he came home from church with a dry pull up (I wasn't about to make his Sunday School teachers deal with him in underwear!). And he only had 2 accidents on Sunday. And here we are on Monday. He has not had a single accident today. YEA!!! He's doing better than I ever could have imagined he would. Still, I'm having a problem... It's a problem because I never dealt with this issue when I was potty training Samuel or Avery.

Isaac does not want me to put a pull up on him at nap time or bed time. But he simply can not make it 2 hours throughout his entire nap, let alone all night, without a pull up on. Samuel ALWAYS wanted the pull up on, and Avery just went along with that plan because she wanted to do whatever Samuel wanted to do. So every day at nap time and bed time, I'd put pull ups on Samuel and Avery. Last night when I put Isaac to bed, he kept calling out for me to come get him so that he could go potty. It took him over an hour to finally go to bed, after he broke down in tears because he did not want to go pee pee in his pants. Same thing at nap today... He didn't want me to put the pull up on him, but then about a minute after I put him in bed, he was calling me to take him to go potty.

So loyal blog readers, friends, and family, I ask you what I should do. Is it better to simply insist he wear a pull up when he's in bed while trying to explain to him that it's okay to go pee pee in his pull up, and just fight through that with him to spare myself (and Isaac) the frustration of bedtime accidents? Or is it better to allow him this bit of independence, and just wash his bed linens and clothes twice a day? I would really appreciate your advise.

The Fabulous Five

Batman Sr., Batman Jr., Spiderman, Super Girl and Super Mom... Together we are The Fabulous Five!!!

When Samuel first mentioned to me that he wanted to be a super hero this Halloween, it got me thinking... What makes someone a hero, let alone a super hero? You might be interested to know, as I was, that according to http://www.wikipedia.com/ a hero (or heroine) refers to someone who, in the face of danger and adversity, displays courage for some greater good. I like that! But I like this even more... A super hero is someone who possesses a strong moral code, a sense of responsibility, and a strong belief in justice. It also talked about how super heroes always have a "supporting cast." Hmmm, a supporting cast... And so I searched even more. And then I found this information on super heroes and their supporting casts. I love what I found...

"One of the biggest lessons that repeats throughout with super heroes is that although everyone has special characteristics that make them unique, ultimately the power to succeed comes from a cooperative effort, and no one person can do it on their own. Super heroes, like people, have to learn to put aside their differences of opinions, their prejudices and their personal biases, and learn to work with one another despite disagreements. Super heroes are not so different from humans. We too have to learn who we can count on in difficult times and who we can trust to protect us when we feel vulnerable. With both male and female characters, super heroes offer a role model for every child to look up to."

Well, despite how you feel about super heroes, I loved what I read. In fact, I loved it so much that I decided to make our entire family dress up like super heroes this Halloween! Yes, it's true that at first Avery wanted to be a fairy, Isaac wanted to be a frog, I wanted us to dress like the cast of The Wizard of Oz, and Hector didn't want to be anything for Halloween. But we put aside our differences, and worked together in a cooperative effort for the common good. And so it was, that we all came together and became The Fabulous Five!

We had a great Halloween, and we hope you did too.

Fall Fun

First things first... Samuel entered his school's pumpkin decorating contest, and took home the 3rd place ribbon for his pirate pumpkin! Woop Woop!!! Yea!!! I personally think he should have won 1st place, but it was some pretty stiff competition. Michael Jackson took 1st...

I love this time of year. The glorious smells, the vibrant colors, the cooler weather. I love it all. We've been busy around here, having tons of fall fun. I will keep my words brief, since the pictures are plentiful!

Last weekend, we took the kids to a local pumpkin patch. We ate cookies and hot dogs. We fed goats and sheep. We went on a hay ride. It was big family fall fun!And tomorrow is Halloween! Can you believe it's already here? I won't give away just yet what all 3 kids are dressing up as. But I will give you this sneak peek! Happy Halloween, everyone!