Happy Birthday!!

Christmas was beautiful and there was a lot of family and friends and tons of
food!

Here's Nick looking like a kid himself opening some Wii goodies to go with the Wii John and Debbie bought us.
He's all smiles.



The aftermath from opening gifts.



And the Happy Birthday Jesus Cake.
I baked and the boys decorated.



We didn't get to do this on ACTUAL Christmas Day as planned, we ended up doing this at home with just the four of us.
The boys insisted on candles.




They sang Happy Birthday and then blew out the candles.





It was sweet, fun and we will be doing this yearly from now on.

Now that the Christmas season is over time to move on to New Year's Eve plans.
Bunuelos (fried tortilla with cinnamon and sugar) and pan de polvo (Mexican short bread cookies)...delicious!

He's the Reason for the Season!

Christmas Eve is finally here.
And we've been running around, wrapping and mmmm... baking.
We finished up our gingerbread men and chocolate chip cookies.
Because Santa MUST have cookies and milk.

But aside from this plethora of goodies.

The boys are most excited about birthday cake.

A birthday cake they are baking for Jesus.

I really want them to know the importance of this season

and hope they are not forever lost in the materialistic world we live in.

Yesterday my boys watched a total stranger (cashier) hug me at the grocery store.

She loved my shirt, it looks like an Reese's Peanut butter cup ad.

But reads "Jesus Sweet Savior, King of Kings."

When she expressed how much she liked it,

I told her well all this shopping were all doing is nothing compared to him after all HE is the reason for the season.

I giggled at how corny I must of sounded to her and she stood there mouth opened.

For a second I thought I could hear Crickets.

And then she told me of all the years she worked as a cashier no one...NO ONE mentioned Christ during the holidays.

So sad.

She then asked if she could hug me and if we could pray together...there while standing in line.

I said "YES"

She prayed for my family and that May God bless our upcoming year.

I felt so happy and warm as I steered my cart full of groceries out the store.

This stranger gave me the best gift of all this year.

The gift of prayer.

Have a Very Merry Christmas.

Catching up

I had so many crafts that I wanted to do with the boys and not enough time.
Nick told me not to do ANY housework and just have fun and do the crafts I had been wanting to do.
I LOVED the no housework part but the crafting didn't go as I imagined.
There was a lot of whining, pouting, distraction and a whole lot of watching...."Return of the Jedi"
BOYS!
But Little E did enjoy the crafting.
We strung popcorn and cranberries, in the middle of it my dear friend called me.
When he learned what we were doing he asked me if I was basically "torturing" my kids.
Yeah...Z really made it seem that way.


BUT they both really enjoyed making wreaths out of gumdrops.
It was a sticky craft but we gobbled as we crafted.
E's came out great!



Zenny he strung only three gumdrops but was way proud...so was I.




Now we are off to make gingerbread men and some
chocolate chip cookies per daddies request.
What does he think I am a baker???
Oh who am I kidding, I love baking.

Holiday Craziness.

So much left to do I feel like I am losing my mind!
I am oh so asking for Anti-Anxiety medication next Christmas...Seriously.
E and I met up with Tonya and the girls on Friday.
We had a lovely time...I kept saying "Hey Boys" to Presley and E and Tonya kept saying "Come On Girls".....were creatures of habit.

E and Presley get along wonderfully..... I caught this sweet pic of them.

This may look sweet but I think we were banned from the Disney store.
You can read about their naughtiness here.

http://mycookiesoup.blogspot.com/2008/12/fun-times.html



We also went Christmas light watching.
2 hour long wait...What??
Yeah all for lights.
John totally cheated and cut in line...hee hee.

This set up below was cute. I loved the message.




And this was to say "...For the Season"
John took off too fast :(


Plus I cracked up because some houses received awards for their lights.
The winner got the Honorable "Griswald Award."
Pretty funny.

Well off to battle the stores just one more time and have a panic attack in-store.
Wish me luck and for goodness sake...you too go get your shopping done!

Icy

I woke up about 6:00 a.m. to do a morning run, but woke up to this instead.

Iced over patio table........


Frozen over water barrel.




Needless to say I didn't do the run.
I guess I COULD of used my treadmill...but I hate using the treadmill.

Also, Zenny's school wasn't closed or delayed so I braved the roads.
I slid three times, I saw two parents fall as soon as they stepped out of their vehicles, a few kids slipped too, we all walked toward the school is shuffling steps and just as you see the top picture of the iced over table that was the roads and side walks as well.
Zenon had a whopping number of 4 students in his class this morning.
I guess the other 17 were bright enough to stay home no matter what.
I was kind of hoping they would of closed the schools.
So we could of stayed all snuggly at home and make strings with popcorn and cranberries for our tree.
I guess that will have to wait for tonight.
If its icy on your end...be careful.

Blessings

I sat on the recliner watching a movie with my family.
It was only 7:00 and I was already nodding off into sleep....luxurious, beautiful and much needed sleep.
Felt like I had only nodded off for a second when I realized I had slept through more than half of the movie.
As I groggily tried to straighten myself up I turned to see Nick watching me.
Those sweet eyes that are the color of a brand new pair of jeans.
Those eyes watched me lovingly and smiled as he held a snoring E in his arms.

How did I get here?

One minute I'm practicing slides for my clinical Pathology lab and in a flash I have a wedding band on my finger, Nick is handing me our first born son for the first time, I'm trying to decide whether to have chocolate or vanilla cake for both of the boys birthdays, and then I'm here.

Sitting here looking at a pair of blue eyes study me.
Sitting here looking at Zenny give all his attention to Horton as he hears him some Who's.
Listening to E gurgle and snore with his sweaty little head on his dad's shoulders.

Nick and I may not have financial riches, we may struggle from time to time.
But sitting in that t.v. room, sleepy and tired I had all that I could possibly want and need.

Life does not always take the turns we wanted or expected.
But the Life God sets us up for is so much better than we could of planned.

I am definitely blessed.

Have a great weekend.

Apple Cider & "You'll shoot your eye out"

With the kids tucked away we kick back and relax.
Nick and I took advantage of the cold night and the fact that the kids were sleeping.
What better way to do so but with hot apple cider, cookies and a holiday movie.

Our pick...."A Christmas Story."

Sadly, both of us were nodding off not even half way through.

Oh well it was the thought that counts.

Maybe we'll try again later.

Lock Down

I take E to therapy at the local elementary school Zen attends. I usually just wait in the reception area, usually cutting out laminated sheets for Z's Teacher or other little projects.
Well its about 5 til 9:00 (time E lets out of his session) when I see a police officer behind the reception desk and say something about a "lock down."
I quickly hear the principal say "School lock down" over the P.A. and they usher me into a safe room with a mom who was dropping off a note for her son, some staff and maintenance guys.

Scary.

Of course this is a drill but while in this room with "bullet proof" doors I can't help but feel my heart grow sad.
How awful that we live in a world where our children have to go to school where the doors don't open unless someone behind a camera checks you out before unlocking the door with a click of a button.
Where their class rooms have bullet-proof doors and shades to cover the window so some gun crazed lunatic can't see INNOCENT children hiding.

How awful has society become?

So scary, so sad.

Traditions: Starting our own.

Nick's Christmas's were a bit different from mine growing up.
His was very colorful every Christmas morning, John (my father in law) went all out!
Every morning it seriously looked like Santa had come in and left a bit of magic behind.
Our's was different we went out of town every year to visit Grandma and Grandpa and we couldn't fit all our gifts in our 2 door Pontiac so we just opened them up before or after our trip...it never bothered us one bit.
One thing both our Christmas's did have was tradition.
Nick's was a beautiful Christmas morning, and family coming to enjoy food and fun.
Our magic was the fun working up to Christmas day.
Mom and us girls made and decorated Christmas cookies, baked cakes, pies and tamales...yum!
And our traditional buying of the Christmas tree, that was my all time favorite.
So Nick and I decided to take the favorite part of our holidays and mix them together for our boys.

They LOVED shopping for a tree. I wanted a little "Charlie Brown Tree."
But since this was Nick's first time in a tree lot I let him pick.
And he picked a beauty.



Since we bought our tree at night and the boys fell asleep on the way home we decided to decorate the following evening.
BUT first things first...the cutting out of sugar cookies and decorating them.

I couldn't resist but take pics of our living area and tree before we put on ornaments.

It just looked so pretty to me, stockings hung, fire going and cookie crumbs galore.

The first ornaments on the tree are our own.

The boys put up their "First Christmas" ornaments followed by Nick and I putting up our "First Christmas Married" ornament.

I know a bit mooshy but we like it :)

(Little E and Nick)

(Zenny with Nick)

Last but not least the Christmas star.

The kiddos couldn't wait for the star to be put up.

They kept calling it "Patrick Star", oh them and the Spongebob.

Zenon fought and fought to stay awake just to see that star put up.

Seriously he fell asleep right after it was put up.

They had a great evening...actually we all did.

Mexico

It has become a ritual of ours. Nick and I can not go visit my family without crossing into Mexico for treats and eats.
Nick "HAS" to take his empty bottles of Mexican coke so he can return them and repurchase more to bring home. It's way cheaper to get them across the border.
Well Mexico has stepped up security since they have had a lot of problems lately with the Cartel.
Drugs, murder you know the usual.
Well they haven't stepped up with cops but with SUPER young soldiers holding semi-automatic weapons.
Seriously, do we need Mexican cokes that bad???
Well since we were in a van we were asked to step out so they could search our vehicle.
I was driving so I stepped out and thought I was going to puke I was so nervous.
When given the green light I got back in my van scared stiff...Nick was smiling!?
Yeah, he thought it was COOL!
Well you can drive next time mister!!







After we purchased an Army of Sodas we had oh so yummy LUNCH!
That is eaten outside on the side of the road no less.

See Mr. Man riding his bike behind Nick...seriously a car passes and they can roll down their window and punch you in back of the head they are so close.




But oooohhh those Tacos are to die for.

I saw this bad boy outside a bar...yeah 11:00 am and the bar was serving up the Corona and Pina Coladas.

One thing about Mexico is it makes me melancholy for my Grandma Elena.

I swear she had a little pig just like this.

And this horse, means so much to me. As a child grandma bought a lot of her dry goods in Mexico, raw sugar, cinnamon, essential oils and oh our summer sandals...Aka "Chanclas".

Anyway this horse was outside the general store she shopped at and always put in a dime for us to ride.

Though sometimes I was not allowed to ride as a punishment for straying toward the newspaper stand inside the store.
She didn't allow us to see or read the paper because they don't censor anything. They always had grizzly pics on their front pages.

They've since downsized the store but they kept this ol' horse up, I'm so glad they did.

This is how it is in "Las Flores", Mexico.

Rows and Rows of Tables of various vendors.

This little beauty was under one of the tables that had sunglasses for sale.

He was SO adorable I had to stop and ask if I could take his picture.

Nick and I really do enjoy our trips to Mexico together, not to mention its always just the two of us...way nice.

Turkey Day, oh so thankful.

Our trip to the Rio Grande Valley was wonderful, but way too short of a visit.
So many pictures and wonderfulness but I want to share Turkey Day first.

I have to say it was the most relaxed Thanksgiving...EVER.
Our uncle introduced his girlfriend whom we instantly fell in love with.
We saw our cousin who we hadn't seen in a LONG time.
And so much family around...20 to be accurate.

We made all food from scratch!
We even whipped out the molcahete for the grinding of the garlic, this little puree went into the most awesome mexican rice you'll ever allow your lips to touch...You rock Lori.
Though I'll give credit where credit is due, Rita ground the herbs :) ( and she too makes awesome rice...I on the other hand don't..sigh)




All us gals took turns in the kitchen making our specialty dishes.
Mom made all the pie crusts and pies the day before, which were all yummy.
She also made the Turkey, Ham, and YES her FAMOUS corn bread stuffing.
I made broccoli and rice casserole, Lori made her infamous Mac and Cheese, Rita brought over her oh so yummy green beans, with turkey bacon and not pork bacon because she loves me.

While us gals were in the kitchen men folk kicked backed and relaxed...typical.


I had to take a pic of daddy and Yuyo.
This defines my childhood to a "T".
We were always learning "fighing moves" from daddy.
Needless to say if we were picked on in a fight.....we WERE the last ones standing.
Oh the violence.



The other men folk tinkered with the go cart, the boys watched anxiously to see if they could get it working.





Lots of running, Grapefruit picking (and eating)........................

...and sliding!

This slide was a bit high up and I'm super scared of heights but I fought through my fear because this slide was a bit too much fun.

My bro in law put it up against a tool shed where a club house on top is in the works.

The boys climb up a big ladder and when they want down they well....slide.

Finally the food. It was so darn yummy.

The 20 of us gathered in a circle as mom said grace.

I can't remember a more beautiful prayer of thanks.
She was most grateful to have all her children under one roof again.

Kiddie Table

Carving of the roast beast.

Sweetest Thanksgiving that I can remember...and oh so relaxing.

And quick note.
Nothing and I mean NOTHING came out of a box...mmmmm hmmm thats how we roll.

ReCap

Been pretty busy so here's a fun recap of our family weekend.

Homework: Zenon HAS to do it and doesn't quite enjoy it.
But give the boy incentive like lets say....a yogurt cup or grapes yeah...he'll get the job done.



And E....well the child just loves his homework.
For crying out loud he had me downloading worksheets at 8:30 one morning.
Like I've said before Switched-At-Birth!!



While cooking dinner I caught my guys watching a cassette of "Dino Riders."
Nick said his cousin used to LOVE this show and had all the toys.
When Nick used to spend summers with him he said he loved playing and watching the show.
So he bought the cartoons for the boys...at a thrift store.
Boys loved it and I think it made Nick melancholy.
Sadly, his cousin passed at a young age.



Also, I received my "Scentsy" kit. My house is extra yummy smelling.
I also decided to make my own Basket testers...aside from getting a bit overwhelmed from all the scents ( I had to vacate for a while and hide out at Sarah's), the death of 3 party testers thanks to my "SUPER Microwave" all came out great.
So if you want to have a smelling party or know anyone who is just curious about the scents your more than welcome to borrow my testers for a few days.



Barbie, this was so much prettier than the prototype.
I had a hard time mixing the color to match the bodice, but Nick came to my rescue and helped me (he mixes paint for car interior work), such a darling.
Finally...Voila... Cinderella for Presley.




And through it all this smile made it all worth it.
She came and thanked me and asked if I would take a picture with her next to her cake.....
I just about died when she asked...too cute!







That evening I went to a Moroccan restaurant with my friend Amina, and new friends, Naima and Angela.
I had chicken cous cous with a cup of hot mint tea OH MY soooo good!



They had a live band and everyone cut a rug!
We tried dancing too.
Angela and I being the non Moroccan or non Arabic speaking just soaked in the beautiful culture....and I mean Beautiful.



They sure can party.
Angela and I both agreed it reminded of Mexican dances and Quinceneras we have attended in our life time.




Hope you enjoyed our crazy recap and have a great Day.