First Day of Summer Vacation 2012

I will be fixing up this blog page ASAP! I am a little behind! I thought I'd give it a go and try to remember to blog this summer!  We have been counting down the days until the final bell rings and Lexi and Christopher are dismissed to enjoy summer vacation. I have so many fun things planned for the next several weeks! Cant wait to share our summer with you!

I had envisioned our summer fun to include things like making the kids mop the floors, do the dishes, watch after their baby brother, BUT I guess since they did such a wonderful job in school this year I will reward them this summer with loads of fun things. I'll hold off making them be my slaves ;)

We have finished the first day of summer vacation! For today we made a trip to the library. The kids enjoyed their time there, even Dominic. As you are reading him books he is talking right back at you. Christopher found himself playing with puzzles before we left. This summer I have every intentions of keeping up with the kids reading. They are both very good readers and I want them to keep that. Since mommy HATES reading books, I don't want them to be like me. I'll be sure to have my camera attached to me this summer! Enjoy the photos and reading! Happy summer to everyone.

God Said

Christopher came home with a little piece of paper from school and it said this



God Said:

"I have called you

by name."

Isaiah 43:1



My child who always asks the best questions wanted to know if God's phone number was on this piece of paper!!! He can always make me smile. Just a little something I thought I'd share with you.

We did it

We've made it through the first few days of school!!! I thought I would be more excited to have them in school, but the truth is I miss them. Lexi gets out at 3:15. So that gives us 5 hours everyday to do something, but with homework, cooking and baths, that doesnt leave us much fun time. When they say cherish the younger years they mean it. Christopher gets out of school at 12 so I have a little more time with him, but I bet this year will fly by fast and before I know it they'll both be gone until 3:15. :( I really need to find something to keep me busy and keep my mind off of what they are doing!!

Anyways Lexi is off to a great start. She was a little nervous the first day when I dropped her off, but she has adjusted well to her new routine. She is a big girl! She totally loves school. I cant get much out from her about what her day consisted of other than we had lunch, snack, we went to the playground, we had science and P.E. or something about the lolipop dragon....thats about it. Thankfully they have assignments come home everyday and I know what she did in class! Seems like she's really going to enjoy her school year.

My Christopher on the other hand has surprised me. I thought when I left him the first day he would cry and be upset. YA RIGHT....he walked in, signed in, washed his hands, and hugged me bye. He's such a big kid now. He LOVES school. I am soo happy for him. He comes home and spills everything about his day to me. He is already singing me songs they sing in class! He tells me what they had for snack, what they cut out, who was line leader, EVERYTHING!! They grow way to fast!!!

Summers end

The summer is coming to an end for us! I for one am WAY excited! I can't wait for the kids to get back to school and into a routine again. I am sad, because my babies aren't babies anymore! They are growing up so quickly. But this has been a long summer. The kids home all day long, everyday.... it was getting to be a little much for us.



So Lexi starts Kindergarten. She is going to Brentwood, where I went preschool to 5th grade. I am super excited for this new beginning for her. She is such a bright child. I am so proud of her. She slacked with her speech when she was little, but caught up quite quickly when we fixed all the problems. I am always amazed at her. She remembers EVERYTHING. She can tell you how to get anywhere shes been before. She'll tell you turn here, turn there. She reads street signs and tells you what street we are on. She has a great memory. When she was young we started writing with her, and she picked it up rather quickly. From there its only been unbelievable how far she has advanced. She reads books, tries to sound out words, and is doing addition. She is doing things that Kindergarteners are still learning!! She tested way high on her Kindergarten prescreening. They offered her to go into an advanced class right away. I will have to admit I knew they would do something with her. There is no way she was "regular". I was smiling so big and so happy for her! I had to brag of course. Most of what she learned was with me at home practicing and reading to her. Of course her teacher at Promiseland was amazing, which is why we are sending Christopher to the same school.



Mr. Christopher. Oh my little ba man! He will be starting preschool next week! How crazy is this. My little man is going to school too! Christopher, from the beginning spoke very early. He was (and still is) my little trouble maker. He always tested us to see how far he would push us. This holds true still to this day. Let's see Christopher knows shapes, colors, numbers, and he knows all his letters, but not all the sounds (Im sure miss Melissa will help him remember those). He practices his name, but doesn't have it down just yet. He isn't as self motivated as Lexi. I know if he would sit and have a little more patience he could know just as much, if not more than Lexi! Im so excited for him to go to school and to learn more and more. He surprises me all the time with the random things he comes up with. He is such a goofy kid. I couldn't have asked for such a loving little guy! Can't wait to see what his year of preschool holds for him.



We had a fun summer. Lyses wedding, a trip to the nick hotel, and all the many beach, and fountain trips. We did the beach today and hopefully get a little bit more fun to come for the rest of the week. We meet teachers and new classmates, and then the summer ends, and then we are starting a new rountine next Monday!! So then comes me..... UHHH what on earth will I do with myself while my children are in school all day??? I dont think it will be to hard to find something to occupy myself ;) I guess we will just have to wait and see....

Blogging?

WOW!!! Since September I haven't blogged!! Been so long I had to recover passwords and such with all these google accounts! Chit chattin with a friend, and remembered all about my blogging days! Thought I'd give it another spin! Love everyones cool posts!! Cant wait to dig right back in and see what new stuff is out there ;)

Quick catch up... Everyones doing GREAT over here! Lexi's about to have her preschool graduation, and start kindergarten, yay!!! Christopher is about to start preschool! I am totally ready for Lexi to move up, not so sure about Christopher. Lexi's into Icarly and Barbie Barbie Barbie..... Christopher just wants to be outside, or wrestling...he has matured a little bit in his behavior, but could still use some work!! When dads home we are always playing the wii with him and riding bikes! He is working 2 jobs and going to school, so when we see him we are always busy!! I am truly blessed to have this wonderful man in my life. He works so hard for our family! I am more in love with him now than I ever have been before. I have had some drama with friends lately, and all that it shows me is that he is truly my best friend. He will always be there for me in the end!! I love him more than words could explain!!! TE AMO HENRY xoxo


Well for my blog post today...Glad I have kids and a husband or I wouldn't know what to write about! Let me just start by telling one story for the day, about Henry! We have been driving on the high way a lot lately. Took a nice trip Monday to the Brandon mall, and realized we should probably try and remove some of the bugs from the front of my car. Henry wasn't so busy today so I took it down there for him to clean. I thought he was just going to clean the bugs and let me be on my merry old way...NOT!!! He wanted to detail the whole car....Very nice and all, but I cocked a little attitude. I didn't want to be there, I had other things I needed to do, and we hadn't eaten lunch yet. Ha ha, he didn't like my attitude, so ya know what he did....HILARIOUS!!! He was holding the water to clean the cars, and sprayed me, just like a 5 year old. He got mad and sprayed me with a hose....I was laughing so hard, and he didn't undertsand why until I was like seriously you just sprayed me because you were mad, how old are you? We had a nice laugh anyways!

Second story of the day.....I swear Lexi thinks she's all grown up. Her and her friend had planned during school to have a sleep over, she told me all about it on the way home today, but I didn't really think it ment anything. After dinner she was like okay Hannah said we can pick her up after dinner. I was like Lexi I haven't even spoken to her mother for one, your 5 for another, and its a school night.... I said I dont know where she lives. She was like its the blue house with all the rocks over in (such and such) neighborhood....Im sure I could have found it with the directions, but she really thought her friend was coming over!! My what am I instore for as she gets older? Well hopefully you enjoyed my blog for today, and hopefully I don't let 8 months go by before I write again!!!

Boys will be Boys

It isn't out of the ordinary to hear me yelling at Christopher to get down, or to stop jumping on the couch, or whatever oddly animal activity he is doing. Today was no exception. "Christopher get down." "Stop jumping on your sister." "Don't jump on there.""Stop, you're going to get hurt." Well finally today may be the day he stops these things....probably not, but only time will tell. Wanna know why? He fell off the couch and scraped his whole back up! He cried for forever. Of course I was like see I told you why you are not supposed to do that. He says he wont ever do it again, but ha we will see. Lexi to says she will not be jumping on the couch. Lexi also was crying and yelling "Ba, why did you do that, you scared me. Don't do that again." Well here is the picture...kinda gross so don't look if you don't like gross things......

The First Day of School

Don't turn around my little child

don't watch me walk away...

Because I'll want to take you home

and keep you one more day...

Standing tall in brand new shoes

your hand is on the door...

If I could freeze this moment, dear

you'd be my babe once more...

But new adventures wait for you

new places and new friends...

The road ahead is wide and long

and filled with forks and bends...

It's time for us to say goodbye

you show the strength I lack...

for as I turn to leave you there

it's I who must look back...

Dreaming!

My my what a handful Christopher has been these last few weeks! Very stubborn little boy he is! But he still manages to do things I cant help but aww over. I went to check in on the kids shortly after I put them to bed and Christopher was sleeping with Lexi. He asked me if he could sleep in my bed, but I told him I wasn't going to sleep yet and he had to go back to his bed. So I guess he hopped in bed with Lexi! Such a cutie (when he is asleep) :o)

Terrific Tuesday

So today started a little rough with me and my husband, but by the days end things are always looking up. Lately, financially things are a bit tight...we manage, but his work is REALLY slow right now. This hard time frustrates us and we are easily caught up into arguements.... BUT, fingers crossed we may have a buyer for one of the cars we have for sale!!! yippy!!!! So Mondays are gymnastics days! Lexi enjoys her class very much! She always has fun and is learning things like how to listen and pay attention to the directions she is instructed by her teacher. Hopefully we can continue to put her through gymnastics even in the fall. She loved having her dad watch her today in her class. When he came in she told everyone that was her dad and then she kept watching for his approval, clap, or thumbs up after she did some sort of a flip or balance beam, or whatever she did!

I dont know who reads my blogs...but if you do, friend or not please check out a website for me! If you have little girls or know of little girls who would like bows or dresses (sizes nb-4t) please order them from this website! Send details of colors or something we dont have! We can try lots of new things! I would surely appreciate ANY business! http://2craftymomes.ecrater.com/ Pass the website along to any and all!!!!

Empanadas!!

Sundays are always a fun day around here because Henry usually doesn't have to work! The day started off quite nicely I should say. I got to sleep in and my husband got the kids breakfast all made today! How exciting for me!!! We then sat around doing nothing, and I got an idea!! I wanted to make empanadas. So I went off to the store to buy a tortilla maker and the flour and such to get myself started! I did not know what I was getting myself into. First I made the dough, and then had to roll them into balls, press them, and then stuff and fold! Not too bad...but frying them was taking a lot longer than expected. Good ole Henry came to the rescue and fried all my tostadas and empanadas. I was seriously in there for like 3 hours, and literally everything in our home smells fried! The kids at one point had to go outside because their eyes were burning from all the cooking!! BUT it was fun working in the kitchen with the hub and the food was EXCELLENT!!!! Now I can totally see why Spanish ladies are in the kitchen all day cooking...this stuff takes a lot of preparing! We fed everyone and their mom because we had made so much! We called everyone over to his parents to stop by to eat! It was definitely a fun day! Now the day is done, and I am so ready for bed! We got gymnastics tomorrow, and I think I need to do laundry so Lexi has something to wear there. I haven't boughten her a leotard yet because I want to make sure it is something she is going to keep doing before I spend the money (that we don't have) :o)

Over Due Blog

My my where does all the time go? I feel like I don't do a lot in one day, but the time just goes so quickly. Before I know it we have eaten dinner and the day is over.

We have had a very fun filled summer so far. My last blog I wrote was about adventure Island when my sister was here. Well she is gone now (been gone for some time) but while she was here we did several more fun things, including bowling, some trips to the "cookie mall" the beach, and way more! Now that she is gone, we are still keeping up with summer activities. I have found my self to be keeping some what of a "tan" (by no means tan, just not as pale as my normal self) this summer. I also find myself sweating and being absolutely disgusted with this hot weather, but hey this is Florida, that's why we swim and go into the ocean, to cool off!! Lexi has started Gymnastics. So far so good, she seems to like it. I never had the opportunity to do these things when I was little because my mom raised 4 kids all on her own, so I am VERY thankful that I can put Lexi into something. We are still looking to find something for Christopher, we are hoping soccer or karate. If he doesn't start something this summer, then he will do something while Lexi is in preschool this year! YAY!!! Monday-Friday 9-12 she is going to promise land preschool. Hopefully we can get this family into a better sleeping routine and we can all be in bed and up early for Lexi to be off! I cant wait to start this next chapter in her life. I am so excited to see my little girl grow up and learning all that she does (we could do without the miss prissy sassy attitude some days) but girls will be girls! Christopher seems to be calming down in some ways (I guess). He is still 3 and acts it! He loves wrestling with his dad (and of course Levi). He is for surely all boy...eh well kinda...when he isn't playing dress up with Lexi.... He seems to be having "growing" pains these days. Everyone says he has shot up and grown a little bit. Poor kid is feeling all of it. Other than him being a wild animal, and Lexi doing her girly thing. We seem to be having quite the fun summer. Birthday parties, baby showers, all sorts of fun things these days. Well here are a few pictures of the kiddos the last few days and one of my oh so sexy man :o) Shhhh don't tell him I put this up here, he'll kill me! He is not a picture person and I had to snap one of him b/c I just couldn't resist!

Adventure Island

Yay!! What a fun day! Yesterday was my brothers 33rd birthday and so we all got together for pizza and birthday pie :) By the time everything was over with in the evening it was after 10 o'clock...so the kids and I camped out in Grandmas living room. We stayed because we had to be up early to head to Tampa to go to Adventure Island!!! We got there bright and early (seriously the best time to go). When we first got there we got on all the big slides and water rides! The kids pretty much got to ride all the big rides (with an adult). There were a few that you couldn't go on with an adult and had to ride solo, so we skipped those, but they had a terrific little kids area. After a while the park began to fill so waiting in lines for rides was not happening anymore! The kids rode a few rides more than once and then off to the kids land! The kids played in there for a long while and we also went to visit the wave pool! SUPER fun stuff!!!! We ate lunch, took sunscreen breaks, ate Shamu ice cream, slushies, and cotton candy! Then we left, and the kids were out in the car in like two seconds! We went home cleaned ourselves up, and then headed out to the beach for a pot luck! What a fun day!

I love, love, love the summer!!!!! Cant wait to go back to Adventure Island (we got season passes)!

Fishing

So last night we went fishing!!! We have always been fisher people! We took Lexi before Christopher was born and then brought the double stroller right along after he was here! We always like to go late at night as well! We go all over. Kacy Key, down by mote, and our favorite spot right under the bridge at St. Armands! Last night we took Henry's little brother and sister along with us. First we made a trip and bought new poles and hooks and such, then out we went. Lexi and Christopher's poles are the dinky little kids ones, but wouldn't you know, they caught the most fish. Lexi caught 4 and Christopher caught 1. We always have a contest to see who can catch the most, and mostly I would win, for some reason I always caught most, but this time it was Lexi. I got some competition. Right when we got Christophers bait on and he threw it out he caught something within minutes. We hadn't even gotten everyones poles out yet!! Then came Lexi, again, and again, and yet again. Henry and I caught nothing and Henry's brother caught one fish and a sea urchin! I love the summer time when we get to go out and fish!! Hopefully we can get out on a boat like we did two years ago and fish!!

He's done it again!

Who did what you may be wondering.....?

Henry!!!!

He's done something fun but oh so very scary! I thought one of my kids might fall on their faces....

So we all like hammocks....

All kids like swings...

I don't know what they are called, but those things that are usually found in vans or SUVS to help hold groceries in your trunk space....Well Henry took one of those and made it a hammock...until it half way broke and then turned into a swing. He tied it up between a fence and a basketball hoop thing that was just barely nailed into a tree. It looked fun, but I couldn't watch b/c I thought for sure one was going to flip over and hurt themselves.

Fortunately no one was hurt and this occupied the kids for several hours :o)

This picture was just for fun! We may have a carpenter on our hands. His guitar wasn't working the other day and I caught him unscrewing all the screws to hold it together. He told me he was going to fix it..ha ha. He is so serious when he does these things!

"I'm not Laughing"

Really quick funny story....today my children were being a little bit crazy. Christopher told Lexi I was a playground and then proceeded to jump on top of me. Lexi was laughing at him, and I said to Christopher it's not funny stop jumping on me. Then my little "smart mouth" Christopher went on and told me with such a serious look on his face, "I'm not laughing". It was the truth he wasn't laughing, Lexi was....and even if no one was laughing they still had to of thought it was funny to keep doing it to me....that little boy of mine....what will I do with him? Sorry no picture, just a story I thought was amusing!

Rainy days!!!

Oh how I love rainy days! I love to sit inside and listen to the rain, to hear the thunder and lightning and then the kids making up stories of who is making the noise....angry clouds, sad clouds, etc. So I might as well catch ya up on the weekend, since I have nothing else to do! Saturday seemed very long...The kids and I got up and spent the morning awaiting a birthday party. Finally we got to leave and go and the kids very much enjoyed themselves at the party. When we were finished with the party we headed on over to grandmas. The kids always go over there and water the plants and play with their outside toys in grandmas backyard. Then we went inside and did puzzles, played jenga, and candy land (the Christopher and Lexi version). We ate pizza with grandma, and before we knew it, it was time to leave. We stopped at Henry's parents house so I could drop off something to his sister, and then finally off to our home. I stayed up making a few bows and watching some of my shows that I so desperately need to catch up on. Then on to Sunday....we were going to head out to Lowry park zoo...but we changed our minds and decided to stay in for the afternoon. Then the evening came around and we got dinner, then went out to St. Armands for a walk and a visit to my favorite place....Kilwins chocolate. We got a few treats to take with us and then some ice cream! Then off to home! And now we are back to today....just waiting for it to clear up outside. This evening I am taking my sister in law to go pick out a dress for her 8th grade dance...how exciting her first dance! Yay! Anyways glad it is raining, we can really use it!!!!

Tomato

Yesterday we did not leave the house. Not once, not even to check the mail or anything. When it was time to go to bed Christopher said, but we didn't go anywhere today. I had to explain to my children that we don't have to do something every single day. That sometimes it is nice to just stay inside :)....today I should have stayed inside as well! Well it was fine while we were out, but now, not so fun! We went to the beach and now we are home and I am burnt! The beach really was perfect though. There was no one there. It was empty. The sky was clear. The clouds literally circled the outside of the beach and where we were it was totally clear. The kids could walk right out to the sand bar. It was great! They played with their new beach toys and tried to make castles! They kept making runs back and forth with their buckets to fill with water...Christopher had trouble keeping much of his water actually in the pail, but they managed to get some back up to our spot! Well hopefully this redness will be gone shortly and we can be back out there. Oh and BTW the kids are not burnt...I always remember their sunscreen...I forgot about my face :)

Mother's day

What a wonderful day, a day to celebrate mommies! We started the day having breakfast at peaches! Then off to pick up a gift for Henry's mother...We had to pick up his sister to, so she could find something for her. Lexi was so cute, when we left the store she told me we didn't buy anything for me and we needed to because it was mothers day. I told her she needed to tell her daddy so they could go back and pick out something for me :). Then off to the Tampa International mall. We walked around there and looked, then had lunch and cookies. Then we had a BBQ at Henry's parents for dinner. Just a simple ordinary day, with some extra loven :o)

BTW......I made this dress :o)

Sewing!

I haven't blogged in the last few days because I have been so busy trying to learn some new crafty ways! It started with some bows, and then led to some shoes and then finally to a new pattern to sew. I have completely finished Lexi's 4th of july outfit ( I know it is only May)...I cant help myself! I made her some really cool corker shoes, and I got some cool fabric for a dress...the only thing that might change is her bows...I am thinking by July I might have figured out a new bow or something! So as for today...Last night I went to Jo-anns and bought some awesome fabric!!!! I made Lexi a reversible dress! I am so stocked I have figured it out. Oh and Btw....I got an early Mother's day gift. Henry came home with a bag and a card and said Happy Mothers day part one....I got a bag full of all kinds of scissors.....who knew scissors would make a girl happy! It was quite thoughtful b/c just the other night I was complaining about how I needed better scissors for my crafts! But I am not the type of person to just drop $15 or more on some dumb ol scissors (I'd just borrow Shannon's) So he got the "good" ones! That's why I love him, always thinking about me!!! Anyways so here are the pictures of todays dress....don't worry there will definitely be more of where these came from....also I think we may attempt another pattern (maybe) so be on the look out for some more!!!! Oh and BTW will some of you start having baby girls or something so I can make some baby shower gifts (dresses) everyone has boys :( Don't worry I haven't forgot about Christopher in all this girly stuff....I made him a car pillow :) and I bought him the same flip flops as Lexi...minus the corkers I added to it!
Oh and in doing this pattern I have learned how to do button holes with my sewing machine, and a hand stitch thingy! Also I may note that in doing this dress not once did I have to stop and fix my machine because I did something to it....I am well on my way of being an excellent sewer!

Cargo??

Ok excuse my dumbness here, but I think these things are called cargo holders or something (pictures explain it). Today we had cargo fun! What else can you do with a cargo holder than hold your stuff on top of your car when traveling? Well dad always knows these things :) You can make a swimming pool and then you can drag your kids around in it pulling it with the car!
What a wonderful Dad! He always comes up with the most fun ideas....although they are things I always question :o) So after helping dad all day at work, finally the kids are sleeping, and I am just about ready to crash....just hoping to clear up something I stirred up and maybe shouldn't have....Good night zzzzzzzzzzzz