Are We Really Doing This???

Sunday, December 7, 2014

May 2014: Road Trip #2!!!

As stated in my last post,

we had the privilege to attend

our goddaughter's
First Holy Communion,

the weekend after our second child's.

What a treat!

My husband had previous plans,

so the kids and I loaded up

and headed to stay with my college roommate

and her family,

about 3 1/2 hours away.

When we got there,

the kids all started playing together,

like they have known each other for years!!!

I loved this little blow up toddler bed that Tony Cruz slept on!

I wish I would have known about these YEARS ago!!!

My kids with their beautiful godsister.

(is that a "thing"? Godsister?)

Then I couldn't help but snap a picture of this handsome boy,

I loved his outfit:

jeans,

boots,

button up shirt,

rolled up sleeve

and

shark's tooth necklace.

Yep,

that's my kid!

After the service,

we had a small family celebration back at their house,

then went and found a cute museum.

Rico made a friend.

Then I found the 4 cutest bugs ever!!!

(bless his heart, he wasn't quite tall enough!)

We explored inside and out...

Jackson even gave piggy back rides to some tired legs.

(my sweet boy)

Then dinner...

And a movie!

(Look at all that couch space,

and those two squeeze into the same chair!)

We had a wonderful time catching up with old friends,

and watching our children become new friends.

I am very thankful for this couple,

and

appreciate their wisdom and thoughts on

many subjects.

I hope we get the opportunity to visit again!

Friday, December 5, 2014

May 2014: Jackson's First Communion

If you go back a little,

you can see that we have had quite a busy May.

(What's new, right?)

Along with all the other fun,

we were blessed to be able to celebrate

our second child's

First Holy Communion

in the Catholic Church!

What a beautiful experience.

And graciously,

some friends sat with us in the front row

and took these beautiful pictures

of this wonderful event.

(He was NOT impressed with the wine. Haha!)

The beautiful family joining us,

is the two biggest boys' godparent's

and their children.

The sweetie girl on the right,

is also our goddaughter.

(we went to her First Holy Communion the following week)

(there are a couple of hams in this picture!)

Our friend, Father Pat.

Who we have a crazy connection to!

My life...

My heart...

My joy...

My Purpose!

Thursday, December 4, 2014

April and May Boys' Bedroom Shuffle!

When we first moved into this house,

Jackson (child #2, then 7)

decided he wanted to share a room with

the youngest child (#4, then 2 1/2).

Therefore,

the two of them got the largest room

with 2 closets.

Our oldest, Rico, got the room closest to ours.

And our only daughter,

wound up with the room with the biggest closet

(imagine that!?!?).

Apparently,

the youngest child,

Tony Cruz,

likes to chatter himself to sleep.

This got quite old to Jackson.

So in April of this year

(yes, 8 months ago)

he asked to move to the finished third floor.

We obliged.

(This is what it looked like right after the move upstairs.)

Tony was still sleeping in his crib,

which was turned into a day bed.

So everything else stayed the same.

Rico was ready for a "big boy" bed,

since he has been sleeping in the same

completely wooden railed twin bed

(his half of a bunk set)

since he was 2!

We started looking for him,

since he was about to turn 10.

Never found anything that I thought was a good fit,

that I was willing to pay for.

My littlest sister was selling her mattress set,

so we purchased her practically brand new set,

for the master bed.

And this allowed us to give our set

to Rico!

However...

I did not want Tony Cruz on the complete other side of the house

by himself.

So...

the fun began.

(mid-process of de-babying the youngest room)

Tony even chipped in

and

attempted to help me take the crib apart.

in his underwear,

which I *think* was actually inside out too!

He is working HARD trying to figure all these tools out!!

After daddy switched the mattresses

in the master,

he took a break.

(these must have sat in our closet for a week before

we actually put them on our bed).

Rico moved into the room that Tony & Jackson

used to share.

And since I haven't found a bedroom set,

nor bed,

that I like,

his mattress and box springs are sitting on the floor,

and he is still using some hand-me-down

upcycled furniture that we got from my bestie,

whose brother's used it...

20+ years ago!

Ha!

He was already snug in his new bed...

and had explicit instructions

that he was not to leave his room

the following morning

until that pile o stuff

was rectified!

And Tony Cruz

took over Rico's old room

and

bed!

Eventually he got a new set of monster truck sheets.

But bless his heart,

mommy still hasn't taken Rico's name off the wall!

That is maybe,

hopefully,

something that will be done

sooner than later.

The next day,

we were still cleaning and organizing

and

Jackson comes to me and informs me that

Tony Cruz had knocked his tooth out!

What?!?!

They were wrestling

and Tony Cruz hit him just right,

and out came his, already quite loose, tooth.

So just for fun,

I had them pose:

(Love Tony's face here!!)

8 months later,

these rooms still look pretty much the same.

They have a few more items in them

and are a little neater (at times).

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Nana's Surprise Birthday Beach Trip!!!

This past May,

we did something we haven't done in a while,

quite a while.

All 12 of the member of our immediate family,

on my side

(mom & dad, baby sis & middle sis and her hub and baby)

all piled into the same house...

for the WHOLE

weekend!

My sisters and I planned it.

My mom was turning...

well she probably wouldn't want me telling her age,

anyways, it was a multiple of 10,

so a biggish birthday.

So we got dad on board,

booked the house

(thanks to my sister's inlaws)

made the plans,

plotted to deceive,

and

made it happen.

We are all SOOOO busy,

my baby sis was headed to Colorado for the summer

and everyone was just all over the place,

so it was not hard to tell mom

that we might not be able to all get together to

celebrate her upcoming birthday on May 10th.

But secretly,

behind the scenes,

we wanted to do something special.

We thought about a big party,

or dinner with lots of family and friends,

but ultimately decided,

what would mean the most to my mom

would be to have all of her kids and grandkids together.
For the first time in years,
and possibly the last time in a long time.

So we got dad in on the plan.
The baby sister was going to come up with an excuse
to go to the beach for the "day" on Friday.
Then there was discussion of staying in a bed and breakfast for the night,
before coming home on Saturday.
Then mom thought we were having a cook-out at her house,
with family and friends,
that Saturday night.
Dad was in charge of "calling everyone",
didn't happen (wink, wink).

Thursday, I baked up a storm,
making
a birthday cake for mom (Sour Cream Pound Cake)
& my oldest (Mounds Cake

).

Then, Friday,
my dad,
my middle sis,
and I,
all coordinated our timing
and met at the beach within about 15 minutes of each other!
Shockingly since we were all coming from different directions
and travel times!

Mom and my sis were having froyo.
So we all surprised her at the froyo place.
We let the 5 grandkids walk in first,
Mom was shocked.
Then when she saw dad...
she got tears in her eyes.
At first,
she thought that we had all just come for ice cream
(long trip for ice cream)
then when she saw dad,
she realized something else was going on!

I just *knew* she had a suspicion,
but I guess I get my occasional aloofness
honestly.
(love you ma!!!)

And since we were at the Froyo place,
the rest of us
HAD to get some!!