I guess this is serious...

I never really thought too much about staph infections, until I got one a few weeks ago. I won't go into all of the gory details, but I will say that I think I'm on the up-swing now... Well, I've just got to say that I could have cared less about swine flu, until this afternoon when I opened this email from the President of the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas.

"Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas treasures all of the children involved in our activities, and takes seriously the responsibility to look after their safety. Based on the information provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding the reports of Swine Flu, and yesterday's decision by the University Interscholastic League (UIL) to suspend athletic and academic competitions statewide, Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas is cancelling/postponing ALL Girl Scout programs and activities until at least May 11th. Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas recommends that ALL Girl Scout Service Units and Troop programs and activities be cancelled immediately until further notice."

Wow! Really? I guess this is serious... Even though the school district and the city that we live in have no confirmed cases of the swine flu, they have cancelled all activities outside of school. I don't know, is it just me, or does all of this seem to be a little too much? I mean, if they're truly concerned for the safety of the children, why not cancel school too? Come on, this could be a new school holiday, like a bad weather day... Swine Flu Day!

If you build it, they will come...

I love the movie Field of Dreams. Now, I realize that I'm not Amy Madigan and Hector's not Kevin Costner. Well, Hector's MY Kevin Costner. :-) But I think you all understand where I'm going with this. We're not movie stars and that movie is not real. Still, I built something last summer in the hopes that something would "come" to it. I built a lovely birdhouse that I got at one of my mommy swap parties. By the way, if you don't know what a mommy swap party is, and you are curious to find out, click here. Anyway, I am thrilled to say they have indeed come! Birds! Lots and lots of birds! Who knew I could ever get so happy to see birds?

I'm not sure that all of these different types of birds are supposed to be living in our rental property. But they are... We have a Purple Martin couple staying with us. They like eating the vegetable pieces of food out of the dog bowl. They never eat the meat pieces...

Here's the lovely couple at our duplex:

On the other side of our duplex, we have a Dove. She's perched herself outside of the actual room. I'm afraid to crank down the bird house to see if she has eggs in there, because she never moves (or so it seems). I realize that you might not be able to see her all that well in this picture. But if you look across the top of the birdhouse, just underneath the tiny second hole from the left, behind the green railing, you can see the top of her head and her black eye:

We also have a family of tiny brown birds living in our duplex. I believe they are Sparrows.These little birds are hilarious to watch, because they always seem to be "playing."

The Sparrows prefer eating the actual bird seed that I've set out. This is the feeder I have in the backyard:

And this is the feeder in the front yard. Sorry for the poor picture quality. It's the funniest thing... Every time I try to get a good close-up picture, the birds fly away! :-) But there's a bird sitting on the right side of the feeder (the feeder that I got, you guessed it, at a mommy swap party):

The Sparrows like to sit on top of my chimney and sing to each other, which has a tendency to get quite loud and echo throughout the house. But I love listening to them sing:
We also have a beautiful cardinal family. But they don't seem to be staying in our duplex. No, they have built their home in our home... in our attic, to be exact. I'm sure that at some point I will need to do something about this, like possibly cover up the hole in the roof (I know, it's crazy!). But for now, I'm going to just leave them be. Because I truly love the fact that every morning as I'm sipping my coffee and typing away on this computer, my cardinal family comes to say "Good Morning" to me, right outside my bedroom window.
What you can't see in this picture are the 2 baby Cardinals sitting under my sage plant. Simply adorable! The daddy was hopping along my garden bricks, and his head got cut-off in this picture. Oops! They're fast little critters, especially when they suspect someones trying to take their picture! :-)

And here is a completely off-the-subject, random bit of news for you all today. Yesterday after school, Samuel got into the car and started crying. It would seem that he had a loose tooth, and he didn't want me to know about it. But he was afraid it was going to come out in his sleep, and that he would swallow it. To explain... Last Christmas I was reading a card out loud from my friend Abbey, and in it she mentioned something about her son (and Samuel's friend) Carter. You see, sweet little Carter swallowed his first 4 baby teeth (I think that's correct) by accident. So, you can understand why Samuel was a bit nervous. :-) Still, we came home and the tooth was barely hanging on, so I pulled it. There wasn't even any blood. But the sobbing and tears flowed from Samuel. This was his 1st lost tooth of his 1st grade year of school (and his 7th tooth total). When Hector got home from work yesterday, Samuel told him, "I was so brave. I didn't even cry. Well, I cried a little, but I was still brave." And the Tooth Fairy must have thought that his act of courage was worthy of more than the usual $1/tooth she leaves. She brought Samuel $2 last night. :-0 He's already asked if we can go to the Dollar Store after school today...

Welcome to...

I stumbled across this picture online, and thought "How funny!"

Welcome to Hector...

Super Sam, Speed Reader Extraordinaire

Today, Samuel took his end-of-year TPRI test at school. His teacher emailed me and said that she "clocked him" reading at 130 words per minute. The end-of-year goal for 1st graders is 60 wpm. She also said that he answered all 8 comprehension questions correctly. Super!


In the past, Samuel's asked me about a hundred times, "If I was a Super Hero, what do you think my name would be and what would my super power be?" I'm thinking about making him a cape for his 8th birthday, and having the words "Super Sam, Speed Reader Extraordinaire" embroidered on it!


Super Sam, Speed Reader Extraordinaire... Able to read an entire book in the blink of an eye... Able to dazzle teachers and grandmas all over the world with a single smile... Able to tell knock-knock jokes like no other 7 year old in the history of knock-knock joke-telling ever has before... Able to devour an entire large pepperoni pizza in 1 sitting, and then turn around 15 minutes later and ask "What's for snack?"... Able to completely vanish from sight faster than a speeding bullet when bath or bed time is declared!

Pictures, More Pictures, and Even More Pictures

Random pictures for your viewing pleasure...

Spring School Pictures:

Looking so big!

Camping weekend with Samuel's Cub Scout Troop, April 24 - 26:

The kids played hide-n-seek while we set up camp:
Isaac loved checking out the fishing bait. He kept squealing with delight every time a worm would move:

ALL BOY!!!
He wasn't the least bit afraid to pick up the worms:

Samuel doing some fishing... he's on the far right, holding the fishing pole:

Playing in the leaves with Samuel's friend, Matthew:

Getting ready to go on a hike...
Avery was the only girl who went on the camping trip. But she hung in there and did everything the boys did... sometimes even better than the boys:

Everyone (except for me and Isaac) went on the hike. Isaac had choked on a bite of his breakfast that morning, and his stroller (that he was sitting in while he was eating) got covered in vomit. He was fine, but the stroller wasn't. And since I didn't feel like carrying him on a 45 minute hike, we let everyone else go without us while we stayed behind and cleaned up:
The M&M Sisters (Molly, age 12 & Maisy, age 9), enjoying a rainy Monday inside the house after spending the weekend at the dog farm (that's what Samuel and Avery call the kennel because it's on a huge farm):
Our garden, April 27.
Everything is growing really good after all the rain we got. We planted 3 different types of full-sized tomato plants, 1 grape tomato plant, 1 yellow tomato plant, 1 tomatillo tomato plant, cantaloupes, green beans, yellow squash, zucchini, jalapenos, Tabasco peppers, potatoes, carrots, asparagus, broccoli, cucumbers and cabbage! The only thing that doesn't look like it's growing is our eggplant plant. I'm going to pull it up this weekend (because it's dead) and plant okra in it's place.

God is.......

Last night, Avery asked me if God is Mexican. When I told her no, she asked me why not. So I started explaining to Avery that God is none of those things (Mexican, Italian, French, etc.), because He's not a real person. And I felt like I did a pretty good job of explaining it all, until I saw the puzzled look on Avery's face. I knew another question was coming. "But Mommy, my choir teacher told me that God created me to look just like him. And if I'm Mexican, then God must be Mexican too." I just sat there, taking in the profoundness of what my 5 year old daughter had just said. Finally, all I could think to say was, "You've got a really good point there, Avery." And then it occurred to me. Maybe Avery is right. Maybe it's not that God is none of those things. Maybe He's ALL of those things. All of them, wrapped up into one magnificent God. Maybe God is Mexican after all! :-)

The reason we don't eat lasagna for dinner more often...

Pictures from The Arboretum

I took these pictures of Isaac on a recent trip to the Arboretum. I went out to the Arboretum with a mental list of shots that I wanted to try to get. And I'm so pleased with the way they turned out. Who knows, maybe amateur photography might be getting added to my list of hobbies that I enjoy in my spare time!

Happy Earth Day

In celebration of Earth Day, I'd like to share 3 of my favorite "green" recipes with everyone. The first recipe is from The Sneaky Chef cookbook. At first, I thought there was no way the kids would ever drink green milk shakes. But they loved them! Well... Amanda, Avery and Isaac loved them. Samuel, not so much... I was a little disappointed the first time I made these, because they weren't green, go figure. So, I actually added green food coloring because the kids were a little disappointed too. And I will admit, I was nervous to try it myself the first time, thinking that the "green juice" was going to overpower the other ingredients. But I couldn't taste the green juice at all.

Earth Day Milk Shakes
2 cups frozen vanilla low fat yogurt
4 - 6 tablespoons green juice (see below)
1/4 cup low fat milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


To make green juice, cook 1 small package of frozen chopped spinach according to the package directions. Let it cool, then squeeze out all of the liquid from the spinach, making sure to save the liquid. The liquid that you squeeze out is the "green juice." Blend all ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Makes 2 servings.

2 out of 3 "big kids" give the Earth Day Milk Shakes a big thumbs up!!!

So, now that you've had dessert first, The 5 Aces style, what are you going to do with the spinach you just cooked to get the green juice from? Well, this second recipe is from my friend Robin's blog. I believe it is a Rachel Ray recipe, although Verde Bread is not the original name of the recipe. Here again, I never thought my kids would eat this, but they did! And every time I serve this to guests, they are shocked at just how simple it is to make. And as my step father discovered when he and my mom were visiting for dinner one night, Verde Bread tastes great on its own, but it tastes even better when it's dipped in Ranch salad dressing. :-)

Verde Bread
1 small package of frozen, chopped spinach, cooked according to the package directions
4 cloves garlic, cracked from skins
1 stick softened butter
salt and pepper
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (more than likely you'll find this in the Deli section)
1 loaf Italian bread


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place the spinach in a food processor with garlic, butter, salt and pepper, and cheese. Process, then scrape the mixture down if necessary and process again until smooth. Cut the bread in half lengthwise, then spread it with the spinach butter mixture. Broil or bake to crisp; 3 minutes under broiler, or 6 to 7 minutes in hot oven. Cut into large cubes and serve with pasta.

Serve with what? Oh yea, pasta... If you don't know what Wacky Mac is, I highly recommend that the next time you're in a grocery store, you take a stroll down the dry pasta aisle and find it. It's made by the same company that produces the ever-popular No Yolks egg noodles. Not only is it fun, it's good. I personally prefer the veggie spiral Wacky Mac, although the wagon wheels come in a close second place. This recipe is a spin on a classic dish that I grew up eating (Goulash). And even though the entire dish is not green, it has green pasta in it, and it is by far one of The 5 Aces favorite family meals. You've never seen kids (or a husband) gobble up pasta so fast! :-)


Wacky Goulash
1 package WACKY MAC Veggie Spirals
1 can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
2 teaspoons oregano
1 large onion, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
Velveeta cheese slices

Cook the WACKY MAC according to package directions; drain. In a large skillet, add the oil and saute the onion and garlic until soft. Add meat and brown; drain off fat. Return to heat, then add tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes. In a large casserole pan, add the cooked WACKY MAC and top with the tomato and meat mixture; stir. Cover the top with Velveeta cheese slices. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and starts to brown.

Hector's Revelation

Hector and I were watching tv last night, and out of the clear blue he said to me, "Hey, you're the same age now that my mom was when you and I started dating. Can you imagine Samuel meeting the girl he's going to marry, right now?" And then he told me that I should write a blog about how that made me feel. So, here you go... Here's my blog about how I feel.

I feel old!

Thank you, Hector, for sharing your revelation. I love you. :-)

Professional Pictures

These pictures were taken by a lady in my Mothers of Preschoolers group. Honestly now, aren't they 3 of the most beautiful kids you've ever laid eyes on?!?!

Can you see the rainbow (above) to the right of Avery?!?!

Oh the weather outside is...

... horrible! It's raining pretty hard out there. Isaac and I went outside on the front porch and he splashed around a little bit in the puddles that had formed on the porch. He liked stretching his hand out and touching the rain, right up until it thundered and scared him half to death. He wanted to go in at that point... the rain was no longer fun!

Since Isaac wasn't really enjoying being all cooped up in the house, I decided to work on a few sewing projects that have been sitting in a pile in the corner of my dining room for about, oh, 3 months now. When I bought the new curtains for our living room, the panels only came in one length, which was about 12 inches too long for the windows. So, I cut off the extra fabric, and used it to make throw pillows. Isaac helped me stuff the pillows, and he thought it was SO funny when I put his hand on the wheel that turns around on my sewing machine. He kept saying, "Again."

So, here's the finished pillows. Nothing like a rainy day to help you finally do something with that 3-month-old sewing project pile.... :-)

For this last pillow, I used the Muslin lining from the curtain panels. Then I sewed an antique doily onto the front of the pillow. I actually think it's my favorite one.

Oh, and now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think I ever shared this picture with you all of our newly decorated living room. Our living room looked pretty plain up until a couple of months ago. That's mainly due to the fact that I never could visualize what I wanted to go into the room. And then I went to Ikea! I LOVE IKEA!!! They have rooms set up throughout the store, so that people like myself can get a visual image of exactly how their items will look all together. Did I already mention that I love Ikea? Because I do... Anyway, here is our newly decorated living room.