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...

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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!