"Chained" together, Played together

We had a very productive day today.  Once again we attended RE.  Tomorrow is the last day and the boys are a little disappointed.  They will certainly miss seeing their friends.  I know I've had a wonderful time too and I feel very blessed to have made some new friends.  I will miss spending time with other adults every day, that's for sure!  Max is learning so much, coming home and telling me things about praying and Jesus.  He's even asking me some good questions.  Today he said to me, "You know after Jesus died and he came back at Easter?  Where did he come back to?" I thought he meant where did he come back from so I said, "He came from Heaven."  Max, "No, I mean where did he came back to, like was it Texas or something??"  I tried to explain things to him where he might understand, but he just said "Why not Texas?"  Awesomeness! He also talked to me about his conscience, although he didn't exactly call it that.  It went something more like there are angels trying to tell us the right way to do things and bad angels trying to get us to do things wrong.  I am very impressed with all that he has absorbed from his first year of Religious Ed.  These are only a couple of conversations we've had.   



I personally love the jelly all over his precious smile :)

The boys were having a lot of fun today at lunch.  They got really excited about their sandwiches!  I guess we rarely eat them because yesterday when Max noticed we had only one piece of pepperjack cheese left, he got really excited and made sure to let everyone know that it was his for a sandwich.  He reminded me three times that he was going to have that sandwich for lunch.  On the way home from the church he gasped and asked me "Oh my gosh, did Papa eat my cheese for his lunch today?"  I had to reasure him that it was still there for him.  I made Nico a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  He never eats sandwiches, but I'm trying to get him to eat them so that I can have an easy lunch to make for him sometimes.  The boys are a little spoiled with warm lunches most days.  (Which should explain the green bean Nico is showing the camera.)  I've never been able to get Nico to eat a sandwich, but today he completely polished off his peanut butter and black raspberry jelly sandwich.  Not only did he eat it all, he was jumping up and down because he thought it was so tasty.  I love how they get a kick out of the little things.  They LOVE green beans, so according to them I made the best lunch ever! 

 We spent the afternoon around the house so that Belle could get some rest.  The mornings get really long for her at the nursery.  There are so many kids she just has to watch that she doesn't get the best rest there.  Max spent a considerable amount of time with his slinky today, attaching one end to something or another and attaching the other end to something else.  He created "cages" and "gates" among many other things.  Of course it came complete with "What's the password?" to get by.  He always makes sure that if there is an emergency the password can be bypassed by simply stating "EMERGENCY!".  Another game the boys wanted to play today involved over sized shoe laces (from an activity the boys have to learn to tie shoes) on which they had me make loops at each end of two shoe laces.  Max then had me put my hand through a loop of one shoe lace, then had Nico put his hand through a loop of the other.  After that, Max put his hand through the other end of mine, then the other end of Nico's.  We were "chained" together!  But not only that, we had to stay clear of the monsters and work as a team to get away.  When I informed them that I was going to need to break for just a few minutes to switch out laundry, Max just declared that we were all going to have to go because we were chained together and there was no other way.  I tried to assure him that it would be okay to get out of character for 10 minutes while I took care of unloading, loading, and folding a load of laundry, but he wouldn't hear of it.  So we stayed "chained" together.  We were a sight!  We kept falling all over each other in the tiny laundry room trying to all unload the clothes.  We also kept tangling ourselves up with each other's "chains" and with the laundry.  We finally succeeded in getting the laundry basket of clean clothes into my room by kicking it with my feet.  I couldn't carry it because Max's arms weren't long enough.  Then it was all a circus from there.  We really did look like a bunch of clowns (or possibly stooges??)  Once again I told Max that I could let them play while I quickly folded the clothes and put them away, and then I would join back in.  He did NOT like that idea.  He just said, "I'll either help you or sit and wait."  When I mentioned that playing might be more fun he just said, "I like to sit."  In my head I'm thinking..."Since when???!!"  Nico, on the other hand, did NOT want to sit still.  He wanted to keep moving and taking his hand out of the loop really annoying Max.  I hurried as fast as I could with the folding, but when I started putting the clothes away we were all trying to walk in different directions.  I have to admit that I only put up with the "chain" playing for so long because I was trying to avoid a tantrum (that ended up occuring anyway when Nico just could not take Max's bossiness anymore and removed himself from the "chain" indefinitely.)  It became very clear to me that we would not excel in a three legged (or four legged with the three of us at one time) race, but tug of war...we may be able to take home the gold there!  Finally the boys tired out, mostly from disagreeing about wanting to and not wanting to play "chained" together anymore.  I left the boys to argue with each other for a few minutes and went downstairs to make them a snack.  Max followed shortly afterwards to get his.  I called up the stairs a couple of times for Nico to come down and he never answered.  I thought I better check since I made his favorite snack and he didn't come running.  Turns out the kid had crawled into my bed and fallen asleep!  I guess all of the excitment from our play pooped him out!  While Nico napped, Belle, Max and I stayed downstairs.  Belle sat in her booster seat while Max set up a game of Sequence for Kids (LOVE IT!!!).  We played three rounds of the game taking turns winning.  Max let me clean up the kitchen in between my turns so it was a very productive game of Sequence.  While Belle was sitting in her little chair, she was playing with a book that plays music and nursery rhymes.  When "Hey Diddle Diddle" was playing, Max sang along with it.  Then he started to laugh and laugh.  He said "Oh my gosh, wouldn't that be so funny if one or our dishes ran away with a spoon??"  Most of his best work starts with "Oh my gosh".  He's such a hoot.  About this time the next load of laundry was ready to be folded.  To spice things up I decided to haul the load down stairs.  My thinking was this, I haven't worked out since I posted about joining the gym (like two weeks ago) because my schedule with Max's Religion classes, Fer's birthday, party planning, etc., it just has not worked in my schedule to hit the gym.  I figured that I could fold the clothes down stairs and take piles one at a time upstairs to find their home.  Better than a stairmaster.  Only midway through I went upstairs with a load, forgot what I was doing, got sidetracked, and the piles downstairs lay forgotten for quite some time.  By the time I ran back downstairs for something and noticed I had not finished, I gave in and loaded up the clothes into the laundry basket and brought it all upstairs.  At least I tried!!

Belle's looking a little cross-eyed as she plays with her caterpiller.  All three of the kids LOVED this toy!



Max using his cleverly awesome imagination.

When Fer got home from work, we immediately loaded up and headed out to SAMS to get the last minute supplies for his party.  I've only got a few things to pick up still and I need to bake some homemade cookies tomorrow and we should have what we need.  Our costumes are almost complete too!  We are ready to party like a Rock Star and Rock 'n Roll all niiiiight!  We may be corny, but we are having fun doing it! "Oh my gosh" I LOVE my family!

Ear Infection, "Feeding the chickens", and Fresh Veggies

 You know when your kid or someone else you love gets sick, and you quickly make the call and get them into the doctor or constantly hound the person you care about to take care of themselves?  Does it also possibly sound familiar to neglect taking care of yourself, not sleeping, being in denial about being sick, trying to push through the discomfort, etc just so you can continue doing the things you "need" to get done to take care of the family?  And so is the life of a Mama.  If you recall, last Friday night the BFF and I stayed out late trying to gather up presents for the hubster.  During this time I started having ear and throat pain.  I was uncomfortable, but brushed it off telling myself I just needed to rest.  But then again there is no rest for the weary.  I had WAY too much going on during the weekend to get that rest.  Sunday evening the headache sets in.  I figure again, I just need rest.  Headache on Monday, now I think, okay I'm just over heating, it's hot outside right?  Headache on Tuesday turns into a full blown migraine as well as dizzy spells...yuck!  Okay now that's an awfully long rotten headache to have.  Thank goodness for Fer.  He realizes the truth behind "when Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy".  It puts a kink into the entire family atmosphere when any one of us are under the weather so he made me a doc appointment.  Thankfully he did because as it turns out, Mama's got an ear infection.  You'd think that at a certain age, one would outgrown such a sickness, but alas it just isn't so.  But no worries, the doc cleared out my ears, I've got my trusty antibiotics, and I already feel I'm on my way to recovery.  Today I felt better than I have in a week.  So after the doc, I finished up volunteering at Religious Education at the church, brought my kiddos home, made them a nice lunch, then started tackling the disaster that had become of the home since I'd been feeling sick.  My poor kids had to spend their Monday and Tuesday afternoons watching movies because my headache was so miserable, I could hardly function.  So today we made sure they got in lots of good play time!!!  Belle enjoyed playing with her brothers' old truck.  She loves to sit up and play with toys.  It won't be long now until she can sit up on her own.  The boys were at the top of their imaginative game today.  While I folded what felt like a million loads of clean laundry, they gathered tons of random toys, stuffed them in sock puppets and pretended numerous different scenarios.  One such scenario, according to Nico, was that they were collecting food for the chickens.  They loaded up the socks, hauled them into another room, and dumped the toys on the floor pretending to feed the chickens....RANDOM...and I love it!  Then Max pretended to sort through the toys.  This is where it got precious.  He would lift a toy up to Nico and say, "Should we donate this one?" and everytime Nico said "Yes."  According to Max, they were playing donation make believe.  It made my heart feel good that he has learned from us the meaning of donating and he knows it is important enough to play....then again they were also feeding the chickens...ah well.  Any time we start cleaning out our attic, or drawers, closets, garage, etc. we pick a place to donate our unwanted items that are in good condition.  Usually we give to a local organization called NEED.  Our parish makes it so easy.  We just have to drop it off at the church and there are volunteers who make a trip over to the facility for us.  Of course, there is also our local Goodwill.  They've received our larger items like tvs and furniture.  The boys love to ride along when we drop off things there.  I'm proud of them for embracing the idea of giving (even if it is just food to the chickens).  They also played "taking out the garbage".  I sure hope that one sticks!  I wonder if they'll think taking out the actual garbage is fun when it becomes a regular chore. 

One of my favorite parts of the day today was going to the St. Michael community garden and collecting some squash, peppers, and cherry tomatoes.  They made a super delicious addition to our dinner.  We ate it with a shrimp spinach salad.  Yummo!!!  Now just to finish kitchen clean up and head to bed at a more appropriate time....

...Alright, no kidding, as I was typing that last sentence I had the baby wake up and demand some significant time, so it's back to the late time when I usually finish up and get to bed.  At least I finished cleaning the kitchen!!  But I will be ending here to get some rest.  Peace out y'all! 

And Fer's 30th celebration continues...

We've had some ups and downs today as we do every day, but the important part is that we had more ups than downs and we are definitely ending our day up!  We had a wonderfully slow start to the day.  Nico was up at 6 a.m. calling down the stairs for Papa.  For some reason Nico thought that Papa was down there.  His shouting woke up Belle, so I hurried out of the room to scoop up the kids so that Fer could get a litte extra birthday weekend sleep.  Max joined us in the hallway and we went downstairs to start our morning.  Fer got in a really nice sleep.  He slept until almost 9 a.m.!  In our house, that is an accomplishment!  After lunch we decided to head out to find some costumes for Fernando's upcoming "Rockin' Birthday Bash".  We had no success and the only thing we came back with were bad attitudes, but we talked it out and all was right in the world again.  Nico had fallen asleep in the car (he must have been exhausted because he rarely naps) so Max and I headed out to the grocery store to collect the things we needed for the birthday homemade ice cream.  While we were there we went ahead and got some other groceries, including an individual slice of birthday cake.  Max says it's not a birthday without the cake, and so far we had not had any for his Papa.  That was the first time in I can't even tell you how long that just Max and I got to venture out.  I know it was only something as small as going to the grocery store, but it was one of the most pleasant trips to the store I've ever had.  I had great company and he was a lot of help.  We were able to have an uninterrupted conversation which does not get to happen enough.   I think I may try to make it a regular thing, just taking Max on the weekends with me to grocery shop when I need to go.  I get a lot of special time with Belle since she's the baby, and Nico is always cuddling with me, but it's been a challenge to get that good time in with Max.  We all need that special time with each other.  For the first time ever, Max, Fer, and I sat down all together and played a board game.  Usually it is just one of us parents with Max and usually Nico too (who tends to disrrupt the game play).  It was awesome!  It is going to be so much fun when all the kids are game playing age and we can implement family game night!  I'm already thinking it'll be Wednesday nights.  We'll have an easy dinner with little clean up and then spend the evening playing board games.  We will all LOVE it!  We are totally into cheesy family togetherness :)  While I finished some last minute online shopping for our costumes (that Fer had started while Max and I grocery shopped), Fer decided he would make his own birthday ice cream.  But don't worry, he loves doing it.  He doesn't look at it as a chore.  When the ice cream was ready to go, we had Max go tell Nico the good news and this woke him up quickly!  We've used it before when his nap gets too long where we know he won't sleep at night.  We'll whisper ice cream in his ear and he, more times than not, will bolt up with his eyes wide open ready to go.  It is hilarious! 

After the ice cream, we all took some time getting ready for Fernando's birthday weekend Mass.  After Mass, Belle was more than ready to get to bed so Fernando and the boys cooked dinner while I took care of the babe.  We had pork chops, corn on the cob, and fresh spinach.  Max and I had picked up some pork chops at the store.  Also while we were there, Max spotted these nice little corn on the cob holders that we had kept forgetting to purchase.  We've sure had a difficult time eating our corn on the cob this season. Max had remembered hearing his Papa say that he wanted to get some so when he saw them at the store, he started jumping up and down excitedly.  He said "Mama, we just have to buy these for Papa.  He will be so happy."  So of course we couldn't resist buying something that would put a smile on Fer's face.  We brought them home and Max got excited about wrapping it up in birthday wrapping paper.  We decided it needed to be one of his 30 gifts.  I think it will take the place of the homemade ice cream since Fer ended up making it himself.  And since Max had found the perfect gift for Papa, we pulled out of the freezer a bag of Fuhrmann Sweet Corn. www.82sweetcorn.com When I was in highschool I spent two or three Junes getting up before the sun and going out into the sweet corn fields to pick corn for the Fuhrmanns.  I'd spend my days selling corn on the side of the road with them.  I LOVED it!  And to make it even better, I was working for one of my best friends.  Good times, good times from back in the day.  The corn is delicious and I would recommend checking them out if you can.  I'm about to run out and need to head back over there before their crops are finished which I have no clue when that will be.  We are all sweet corn fans and it is all the better when we can get it on the cob.  The boys were happy about it and so was Fer and I!  After dinner we got our single slice of birthday cake, which happened to be exactly the perfect size to cut into four pieces for each of us who can eat cake.  Belle doesn't have too much longer to be left out.  She'll be 6 months already in a couple weeks!  We put on three candles (each one representing a decade of Fer's life), sang happy birthday, then divided it and ate it all up!  Yes we've been indulging in an insane amount of sweets this weekend, but we do NOT do this very often.  It's a special occassion where we have Fer's favorite things so we can't leave anything out!    I tried to upload a video of Max singing "Happy Birthday", Nico dancing, and Fer blowing out his candles, but I couldn't get it to work. 



Fer and Max sporting the milk mustache.
 I think they pull it off nicely...especially

Fer who took it to the next level with half a milk beard. 



Nico didn't have a milk mustache, but he didn't want to be left out of picture taking.  Such a cutie. 



This week we will be focusing on the last minute preparations for Fer's Rockin' Birthday party.  It's going to be so much fun.  The boys and I are so excited to give that final present to Papa.  Our week will be fun, but super busy.  We will keep trying to write this week if time allows.  I've got sewing to do too, Yay!!  And we'll also be at Religious Education classes for one final week.  Happy Week to all of you!  May you find many blessings this day and every day! 

Happy 30th Birthday, Fernando Castañeda!!!

Happy birthday, Papa!  Although his actual 30th birthday was yesterday, we are continuing our celebration today, throughout the week, and will end with a grand finale on next Saturday.   
 
First the kids and I want to mention how much we love Papa.  He is our rock (star).  He works so hard to make a living for us and to take care of us.  He's a devoted husband and dad.  It doesn't matter how strenuous or stressful work might be during a day, when he comes home he greet us with smiles; even if he's tired he plays around with the boys and helps with kitchen cleanup.  The boys are all about their Papa when he gets home, and since they have an early bedtime, Fer takes advantage of the precious couple of hours he has with them in the evening.  Because we have to focus on their routine, we'll have dinner together and then the boys go upstairs for their bath and bedtime routine.  Fernando takes charge of both so that he can get the most out of their time together.  During dinner, Fer feeds Belle her cereal so that he can have some one one one time with his baby girl (since she goes to bed at 6:30) He NEVER complains about being too tired to be with his kids.  He makes the time and finds the energy.  HE IS AMAZING!  I struck gold when God put him into my life.  I don't know what I did to deserve such an amazing man, but I'm so thankful he is ours! 

Fer, thank you for being the best person you can be for our family.  Thank you for taking care of us, loving us, and being so selfless.  Thank you for always helping us to be better.  Thank you for taking care of our home and always being willing to learn something new in order to better our lives.  There is no better superhero than you.  We love you and cherish all of the time we have with you.  We promise to try to give back to you the way that you give and give of yourself to us.  God has blessed us by putting all of us together as a family.  Let's continue to work together to do His will.  And let's continue to celebrate your life!!!!

Now for the festivities.  Alright, more confession time.  I am SO last minute!!!  I've been planning lots of things for Fernando to celebrate, but had failed to really come up with that perfect gift.  Last Thursday night I laid in bed wide awake thinking about what I should do present wise.  You see, earlier that day I attempted to venture out with all three kiddos (after they had been in RE and church nursery all morning and they were exhausted) to hunt down some PS2 controllers.  We pulled out the old Playstation 2 awhile back.  There are some games Fer would like to show the boys so we thought it would be a fun family activity.  The controllers would not work.  So my bright idea (since Fernando had conveniently mentioned repeatively that he wanted new ones) was to surprise him with some working ones for his birthday.  A few months back Fernando had found some used ones online at a local game store.  I thought that perhaps since I knew exactly what I was going in for that I could take the kids in, grab what I needed, and get out.  Yeah, I don't know why I thought this....hello...video game store...lots to see....lots to touch.  I didn't even bring in a stroller for the baby.  I carried her in so my hands weren't free for the boys.  DUMMY!!!!  The boys took off like kids in a candy store.  I mean running around, yelling, excited, knocking down displays.  This was serious.  I had to wait in a long checkout line to ask someone if they carried the controllers (since I couldn't see any) and it turns out they aren't selling any PS2 products anymore....well AWESOME.  So while I'm holding the baby, I'm on the floor assisting a sales clerk with the pick up of the knocked over display.  Nico grabs somethings small off another display and will not let it go.  I tell the boys its time to go.  Oh the scene we caused.  I'm telling you.  Our lives are a comedy of errors.  Max touched everything he could on the way out, and Nico would not give up what he had in his hands.  He tried to run out of the store with it and when I tried to guide him (one handed) out of the store he went dead weight on the floor.  I found myself half dragging the kid out of the store.  All the while he is screaming this high pitch shriek.  He continues this mess outside in the parking lot where he tries to run away from me.  So here I am in a pickle.  At least Max is somewhat follwing instructions as I shout them over Nico's screams.  I end up picking up my 36 pound two year old and carry him on my right side while I'm carrying Ms. Chunky Monkey 17 pound 5 1/2 month old on my left.  Nico tried to wiggle away, and when I FINALLY reached our car and managed to get my keys out of my pocket without dropping either child it took an act of Congress to get the kid to stay in the car (continuing his screams).  You know how sometimes you might feel like you wished you were out in the middle of no where and you could scream out into the dark wilderness at the top of your lungs and just let out your frustrations, well it took all of the inner strength I had, but I managed not to do just that right there in the parking lot...Luckily, most passersby just smiled as they hurridly walked passed and didn't say anything to make me blow up.  Even an elderly couple sitting in the car next to ours told me (as I was struggling with getting all the kids in the car) that they had raised three kids and that eventually it would get better.  I only commented back...."Really?  Will it???...During the whole ordeal I realize that I just kept repeating under my breath, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh", Max's signature expression.  He must be rubbing off on me (or me on him).  Needless to say, that was a waste of a trip.  To make it worse, I had bribbed with a Sonic run.  We had not been there in a very long time so my thinking was that I would offer to take them there if they were good for me at the store.  Well another dummy move this had been because when I looked at the time Happy Hour was going to end before we could finish at the store.  Therefore we had to go to Sonic first.  What am I, an amateur!?  UGH!  Of course there was no reason for them to be good.  They got the treat first AND was pumped full of sugar (at least no caffeine, they aren't allowed to have that).  So, a few bad mama moves and whamo, the afternoon was shot.  And then like a switch turned off, when we got home things were instantly better.  Almost like it had never happened.  WHAT?  Seriously? 

So there I am that night pondering in the wee morning hours, what can I do special for Fernando's birthday present since one of the ideas I had for him had fallen to pieces?  And then it came to me, 30  presents for his 30 years.  I'm telling you, right then it seemed like the best idea ever!  Who doesn't like getting 30 presents.  It was a great idea, actually, just not a great idea when there is only one afternoon left to shop!  Okay, now Friday, what an adventure we had!  Thank you, God, for my BFF!  After RE classes and lunch, my BFF came by to head out on the present gathering adventure with us.  I had compiled a list of potential gifts and a list of locations we needed to hit (in order of priority and efficiency).  She was a life saver!  Couldn't have done it without her.  We went to the bank, Half Priced books, the mall, Dollar Tree, and more.  Of course we didn't get it all done before dinner.  We went home so I could bake Fer's homemade birthday blackberry cobbler (there's a story there too) and have some dinner with Fernando.  After I got baby girl to bed, Ashlie and I headed out once more (kid free this time) to work on the 30 presents.  Yeah...we were kind of out until almost midnight, but we gathered up most of what we needed.  When we got home, we sent Fernando upstairs to bed and we wrapped his presents.  THANKS BFF FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP!!     

About that blackberry cobbler.  You see, my mom is one of the best cooks and bakers in the world, seriously.  And I've learned a lot from her and I get my best recipes from her.  In the past I've made some very tasty homemade pies (homemade crust and all).  Fernando has come to love blackberry cobbler and it's been years since I've made it for him.  I thought I'd surprise him with one as one of his 30 presents.  First I need to mention that I may not be one of the best cooks or bakers in the world like Mom, but I'm not bad either.  I like cooking for the family and baking homemade goodies for us to enjoy.  Mama brain stricks again!  I did four things wrong when I made this cobbler.  As I'm putting together the blackberry filling I added 2 tablespoons of lemon juice...when I looked more closely at the recipe it actually called for teaspoons...whoopsie!  Oh well, I'll just have a really tart pie.  I continued on to the crust.  Since I'm making a cobbler with a pie crust, I figured I needed to triple the single pie crust recipe.  I'm going along tripling all of the ingredients, when I get to the shortening.  Apparently I started looking at the double pie crust recipe along with the single pie crust recipe and I got mixed up along the way and ended up quadrupling the shortening instead of tripling.  When I started to roll out the dough it was so sticky and falling apart, etc.  When I realized my error, it was a little too late to redo...since I was very low on flour.  I just ended up using a lot of flour to roll out the dough so it wouldn't stick so bad.  Finally I had it rolled out, but I had to scrape it off the counter to even pick it up to put it in the pan.  And it fell apart!  After repeating this many times I finally just let it fall apart and piece it together in the pan.  Thankfully I didn't have as many issues with the top crust.  Unfortuanately I failed to put the middle crust on the inside.  I had the top crust on before I realized it and there was no way I was going to try to peel that off just to add the inside crust.  Also, I remembered, as I was putting the cobbler into the over, that typically I put a little butter on top of the filling right before the top crust...forgot that too!  So I figured this birthday cobbler was going to be the epitome of an epic failure.  FOUR things I did wrong to this thing, FOUR!  Sheesh!  As it baked it smelled delicious, but I had my concerns that it would be this nasty mess.  However, in my opinion, it turned out to be very tasty!  Sure the filling was a little on the runny side due to the extra lemon juice, but it wasn't too tart at all!  Actually the sugar and lemon balanced out perfectly so that it wouldn't be too sweet or too tart.  The crust was a lot thicker because I had failed to divide it out to put in a middle crust, and it had an interesting texture to it due to the extra shortening.  And although it had real potential to be terribly disgusting, the end result was just a different kind of cobbler.  No, it wasn't like Momma always made, but it's like Mama made.  Fernando and Ashlie told me that it was tasty, and Fer has had a couple of pieces since with Nico enjoying a few bites as well, so I'm leaning towards it be a success considering the circumstances.  Present #1 was complete!!!!  It was the first gift Fer received.  He got this along with a few other things on Friday evening that he could enjoy while Ashlie and I headed out to continue the shopping (a movie, beer bottle koozie with beer, bottle opener, pumpkin seeds,etc.) 

Saturday morning (and I mean early early morning) about the time my head hit the pillow after a super busy day of gathering and wrapping gifts, Nico woke up, leading Belle to wake up, causing Max to wake up.  Every one of them were in our bedroom around 1 a.m. So I decided to wake up Fer for a second and tell him we were wishing him a happy birthday.  Then we played musical beds for a few times in the night.  When we all got up the boys retrieved from the secret hiding place the cards they had made their Papa and delivered them to him.  The day was off to a great start!  I was supposed to make a homemade coffecake (another one of Mom's recipes) but breakfast, but since I had failed so drastically the night before to follow the recipe, I realized I should wait on that until later in the week.  Fer decided that he would like birthday oatmeal instead which is typically our breakfast of choice anyway.  Let me stress again, we eat this almost every day.  I cook just about EVERY SINGLE DAY.  I could cook this in my sleep...right??  You wouldn't believe it, I BURNED THAT OATMEAL.  I mean, COME ON!  What's going on here.  We are currently living in the Twilight Zone.  (Just to be clear, not "Twilight" Zone with vampires, "Twilight Zone" where everything is askew)  We decided then to just stick with the blackberry cobbler for breakfast with a steaming pot of coffee.  It actually made a wonderful breakfast treat.  Sad about that oatmeal though.  Our plans had been to take a family trip over to Lowes for the Build and Grow workshop.  Belle fell asleep right before it was time to go, so Fernando took the boys over by himself.  They had some good bonding guy time.  We didn't want to wake Belle since it was going to be a late night at a wedding for my cousin.  The boys and their Papa built an SUV from Madagascar 3.  It came complete with character cut outs.  When they got home they played with those things most of the day.  Max could be caught singing "I like to move it move it" at random times during his play.

It is tradition for us to take Fernando to Saltgrass Steakhouse for a steak on his birthday.  Fer and I have been doing this since the year that we were married.  Instead of a table for two like we got 6 years ago, we now get a table for five.  The meal isn't quite as quiet as it used to be, but it's still nice to see Fer enjoying his favorite food!  While we were there, the Tim McGraw song "My Next Thirty Years" just happened to appropriatly come on.  Couldn't have planned that better myself. Really, it's obvious that I couldn't.  Of course he had specifically requested homemade icecream for his birthday treat....and I had forgotten to pick up the heavy cream at the store the night before.  I had been at Brahms to pick up a couple of other things and STILL forgot.  Does anyone notice a pattern here?

We enjoyed a somewhat quiet afternoon at home with Fer even catching a teeny tiny cat nap with the baby.  We got dressed up in the evening for a night out at my cousin's wedding.  Of course the getting ready part was complete CHAOS, but I'm way too exhausted to even bring that up.  Let's just say things got a little wild.  At the wedding, the bride and groom were so happy.  They are beautiful together.  The boys enjoyed running around in the courtyard and Belle enjoyed time with her Mema, falling asleep in her arms.  Fernando and I got to spend time with our extended family which is always a joy.  Of course, we didnt get to spend near enough time, but so it goes when you've got little ones, and that's okay.  We got all the kiddos in bed then Fer and I made some birthday nachos, had a couple drinks, and watched Pawn Stars and Dog the Bounty Hunter.  We wanted to hold out until the end of his birthday, but didnt make it.  I was asleep before the end of the show and Fer followed shortly after....until of course the usual mid-night waking of one child or another (or all).  Overall, it was a great day.  Of course we are moving forward with celebrating with a Sunday of birthday party planning.  We'll take a trip to buy supplies for the party and work on getting our costumes together.  Yep, costumes!  You will hear more about this later on.  Birthday celebration to be continued... 

 Fer's BEST 30th birthDAY EVER!

"Bad guy", Bully, and Beans

During breakfast, Max wanted me to measure him but decided we didn't need to since he's exactly the length of the bench.  However, he wasn't exactly matched up with it when I took the pic.

My kids were in rare form today.  I just don't know where they come up with the things that they say or the things that pop up into their imagination.  Nico cracked me up today when he looked at me long and hard.  He was staring at my earrings.  He tells me, "Those earrings are NOT pretty."  Me, "Oh you don't like them?" Nico, "No, I don't."  Well okay then.  I guess I know which kid I'll be embarrassing first when it comes to looking cool in front of his friends.  I just can't imagine at this point how it will be when the kids get older if at 2 I've got one already saying these things.  But actually I'm not really surprised.  My oldest (who will be turning 5 in less than a month!) was telling me today that I was being "very rude".  All because I told him that I needed to take a break from playing to cook his dinner.   Apparently he thinks I should be called, instead of Superman (who I was supposed to be pretending to me at the time) "SuperRude".  I told him I'd work on my yellow "SuperRude" cape and put a big red "R" on the back since rude begins with the letter R.  Yea, I sure did make it into an opportunity to teach the letter R.  He proceeds to tell me that I don't need to cook his dinner because he's a superhero and superheros don't eat.  Me, "Then where do they get the energy to do all the superheroing that they do?"  He couldn't answer that one.  When I asked him to take a potty break, "Superheros don't go to the bathroom!"  After a long discussion Max just decided that I shouldn't even be a superhero.  I should be the "really bad guy" because I, and I quote, "NEVER play" with him and I "NEVER let" him "do anything".  Oh and I "NEVER buy toys" for him or "NEVER do anything" for him.  I thought I was living with a (close to) 5 year old, not a 15 year old.  Boy am I in trouble. 

Which brings me to another interesting reflection.  I was talking to a friend at church today while the kids were in religion class.  She has two sons like me only they are a little older.  One son is 20.  She was sharing with me what it was like having her two boys and some of the things they deal with now.  I swear it was me telling the story.  I could have replaced her 20 year old son with my 5 year old.  Kids never change?  I mean, I was one once, but of course I was NEVER EVER like that, right?  Nah, truthfully, I remember a lot about my immaturities as a little kid, as a teen, and now I'm aware of my immaturity as a young adult.  Well I don't want to grow up too much now do I?  Anyway, I guess the way a young man talks to his parents and the way a young boy talks to his parents is actually just how a guy talks to his parents regardless of age.  So with that said, I'm just bracing myself for it.  I'm glad I'm documenting this so that I can have a refresher course on how I deal with things now so that I can use any of the helpful techniques in the future.  I wonder if since a 20 year old and a 5 year old disagree the same way, can the same parenting techniques actually work?  When my son is 20 and thinks he knows everything, just as my 5 year old thinks he knows everything, and he's yelling at me that I NEVER let him (fill in the blank) and he's more screaming than actually talking, will it work to just say to him in as calm a voice as I possibly can to use his "indoor voice" or to "use his words" to explain to me his feelings and we can talk it out.  Hmmmm....

I think that Max just had some troubles today that causes him to act out.  That's another thing I need to remember.  Just as I did as a kid/teen/and even now, when circumstances or events of the day cause me to feel uneasy or stressed, the one that will get the full force of my blow will be the ones I love the most.  I DEFINITELY felt Max's punch today.  He's been having nightmares several nights now about toys being real and coming to life.  At first I'm thinking, well okay maybe he enjoys conversing with his toys?  But I don't think these dreams are anything Toy Story like.  We had to have a pretty significant discussion about what is real and what is make believe, and that his toys can absolutely NOT come to life.  The entire day he wouldn't go into his room alone and he was a little sad saying that he didn't want to play with toys anymore.  But when I suggested that he think of things other than toys that he might want for his birthday so that he can get things that do not scare him, he cried because he wanted toys.  Drama drama drama....and my daughter can't even talk yet....The little guy was also super clumsy today.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that he may very well have whined about getting a "booboo" about 12-13 times today.  He refused to take one Bandaid for any of his scratches, but sure did want to let me know it hurt, over and over and over again.  (I guess that sounds like someone I know very well...I'm soooo not good with discomfort.)  But the thing that I think probably hurt him the most today was his first encounter with bullying.  Actually I think it's been happening the last three days which is a complete shame because he's at Religious Ed. and it's a kid there.  He didn't tell me about it the last two days, but he told me he didn't want to go back to religion class anymore because any time they had recess he got pushed around.  I was proud of him because he did exactly what I've taught him to do which is tell the kid to stop and if he doesn't then go tell the teacher.  Only the kid continued after that.  So here I am faced with how to handle the situation.  Max claims that he's not the only kid that's being picked on either.  According to Max his two other buddies are getting it too.  It's one thing for boys to horse play, it's another when they get hurt.  I don't want to judge this little kid doing the pushing around because I'm just hearing the story from one side and I don't know the kid's circumstances.  It's just hard to see my son feeling bad due to another little kid's actions.  This is definitely a part of parenthood that I have not been looking forward to.  At the same time, I'm happy that my son felt comfortable coming to me about it.  I don't want to let him down by not following up to see what's going on. 

On a much lighter note, here's some of the roles I starred in today.  I've been Smurfette, Superman, Batman, Princess Peach, Izzy the Pirate, a monster, "SuperRude", among other things.  The boys had corresponding roles to play.  We played with cars for a LONG time this afternoon.  The boys decided it was time to show Belle how to play with them. She LOVED every second of tummy time beside her bros who played on their tummies too!  Poor girl has very few girly toys in this house.  She doesn't seem to mind though!  For dinner I had several happy campers.  Last night I put some beans to soak overnight.  This afternoon I made some bean soup (or as Nico calls it "Bean Sopa") Fernando is obsessed with bean so he was very pleased.  I've been craving this soup ever since I tasted it at my parent's house when my mom had some for leftovers.  Nico ate a bowl of them, took his bath and brushed his teeth, then asked for more.  When told he would have to wait because it was too late to eat more beans (potentially disastrous this time of night), he exclaimed that he would eat it for breakfast.  Max didn't have any bean sopa (he will only eat kidney beans so I offered those to him), but he did eat his entire plate of food.  I was completely impressed since it is hit or miss with the food intake in this house.  Belle sat with us at the table "reading" to her Papa.  When she saw her Papa come home today she smiled so big and kicked and giggled.  She loves him so much.  She's been a real trooper this week.  I've been putting her in the nursery at the church every day with Nico while Max is in class and I volunteer.  She's not the happiest of babies in there, but she's doing her best.  It is obvious when she gets home that she's missed her familiar space and her familiar faces.  I'm missing all of my morning Belle time!  But it's so nice getting to help out at the church too.

SPOILER ALERT FOR FER....

PLEASE TURN BACK NOW....

DO NOT CONTINUE...

I MEAN IT....

END HERE, PAPA!

Okay, do you think he got the hint.  Now I have to tell about something else we did today. 

The kids and I made birthday cards for Papa!  We had a lot of fun.  The boys picked out their Papa's favorite colors (except Nico picked pink for Belle's card) and we decorated the construction paper with birthday greetings.  Nico is still in his scribbling stage so that's what he did.  He was very specific in what he wanted me to write on the inside.  He wanted me to write "Thank you. I love you" but refused for me to write Happy Birthday in it.  Max did his card all on his own, complete with pictures of exploding presents on the front and the back.  I guess Jokey Smurf likes to give gifts that explode??  And he did the writing all by himself.  I had to write what he wanted to say on a piece of paper first and then he copied it over to the card.  Obviously I did the one from Belle and me.  Then the boys picked out a special hiding spot in the house where we hid the cards until Fer's birthday on Saturday.  I think they enjoy the secrecy of it all more than the actual making of the cards.  Max likes to be sneaky and Nico likes to be surprised.  I love that about them.  Nico got white marker on his forehead while he was coloring.  He thought it was so hilarious!

So that's our day today.  We had some great moments, some happy, some sad, but most of all some learning experiences.  We really tried and made the BEST out of our DAY.  And if the only thing that you get out of this article today is that beans are good...well then that's OK.  That was Fernando's favorite part of the day!  God bless you all!  Until next time...

RE Week and Madagascar 3

It's Religious Education week for the kiddos at church.  Max goes to class while, much to the little bro's dismay, Nico and Belle either hang out with me at the church or go to the nursery.  Nico was incredibly disappointed that he could not join Max at class because he wanted to "go learn about Jesus too".  Such a sweetie.  St. Michael Catholic Church is definitely a 2nd home for us, especially so far this summer.  It's been two years since I've worked there as the Coordinator of Children's Ministry and it's finally time for me to go back to the ministry in a volunteer capacity.  Today was a first day for most of us:  Max's first time in Religious Education classes, Belle's first day to go to the church nursery, and my first day volunteering in this ministry.  It brought back all kinds of memories.  All I can say is that it was wonderful to be there giving back to our church in an area I once enjoyed.  It was also just so nice not being the one in charge!  There was no pressure in making sure everything would run smoothly and making sure everyone was in the correct place.  I'm very content now in volunteering my time to a place that I love to be a part of and where my children feel comfortable and happy to be.  Instead of directing things I can now be the one being directed and it's just such a relief.  I get plenty of time at home being the one in charge trying to make sure everything runs smoothly and making sure everyone is in their correct place.  Volunteering should be about giving back in a way that is good for everyone.  If you haven't taken the time to give back to your church or community, I encourage all of you to give it a try.  Everyone has their own unique gifts that can be beneficial to others, and it can make you feel so good!  Okay, enough about that.  Chances are I'm "preaching to the choir" anyway :)
We spent the entire morning at RE (Religious Education) and then we all came home pooped and famished.  I raced around trying to get everyone fed before meltdowns could take control...I was only mildly successful.  I was sure that after we ate our lunch that the kids would be totally exhausted and just pass out on the couch for a nap.   Okay, I wasn't sure of it, that was just wishful thinking.  And it didn't come to be either.  If I could have allowed it, I would have passed out on the couch myself.  Nevertheless, there was really NO way I could do that.  Not just because the kids decided to stay up and play (even though I attempted quiet movie time), but because the house looked like a tornado had come through it.  I doubt I'm alone on this one, at least I tell myself I'm not, but any time we have to get somewhere, it is impossible to keep things or get things in order because no matter how early I start, it NEVER fails that we are running out the door at the last second (if not a few seconds too late).  Many of those times we forget something.  And forget about leaving the house in any condition that would be even remotely okay to bring a guest back to.  Usually we have to leave so fast that if someone were needing to come back to our place for something I'd feel the need to rush ahead of them and scramble to at least stack things in piles and throw things into a closet....and no I don't really feel okay about it being this way because my OCD tendencies are screaming with terror that things aren't nice and neat in their places, but at the same time, I have to prioritize.  More times than not, playing a game with my kids or fixing a treat for them or even chugging a train in the morning for five minutes instead of loading my dishwasher definitely tops my list of priorities.  It goes against my nature in so many ways, but I'm trying to train myself to let it go.  I do not by any means let my family live in a pigsty either.  It may get disorderly at times, but I also take pride in our home and take the best care of it as time will allow.    On mornings when we are staying at home,  we have our little morning rituals that we do to tidy up the place.  As you have probably heard me mention before, the boys like to help me with laundry, sometimes they help me make beds, pick up their toys, on occasion load the dishwasher, etc.  But the biggest help is when they sit on the floor with their little sister and play with her for awhile so that I can do a few things (very quickly since the boys have too short attention spans to do this very long).  But I digress, because as you can see today was not one of those kinds of days.  I got some straightening up done in the afternoon, but when my oldest son was playing in his room by himself and I came through with some laundry to put away (so NOT my favorite chore), he asked me if I wanted to play with him.  He was so sweet and polite I just couldn't turn the kid down.  We played with Thomas the Train Lego sets, but we used race cars instead.  The cars with the faces were the good guys and the cars without faces were the bad guys.  (Courtesy of Max's imagination)  Nico joined us shortly after we started and we had a great time "blowing up" cars.  When Belle woke up we played with her on the floor.  Since she learned how to roll over recently, we've been having fun practicing that with her.  We also discovered that she really enjoys looking out the windows at the trees so I spread a quilt out in front of our storm door and let her play where she could peak outside when she wanted too.  She LOVED that. 

Over Father's day weekend, we had promised the boys we would take them to see Madagascar 3, but the timing never worked out right with Belle's schedule.  Mostly because she's been cutting those teeth that you guys are all getting sick of me mentioning...believe me, I'm tired too!  She's been even more fussy and getting even less sleep, so Sunday was out.  Fortunately a few of those pesky teeth have broke through and she was much much less fussy today, but she's still been a little tired from not getting good rest for a few weeks now, and I'm sure there's still a little pain.  On this upcoming Saturday, also known as Fernando's 30th birthday, Lowe's is having a Build and Grow workshop (free at participating Lowe's if you are interested) where the kids can build a Madagascar 3 SUV.  We had wanted the kiddos to see the movie beforehand so they could be extra excited about it.  So tonight after Fernando got home from work, he scooped up the boys and took them to the movies.  I stayed behind with Belle so she could get some extra rest without her brothers distracting her or waking her up.  I cooked dinner and started feeding the boys a little earlier so that they would be ready in time.  While Fernando quickly ate his dinner I made some homemade microwave popcorn and bagged it up for them to take along to the theater.  A lot of times we will spring for the popcorn at the movies, however, Max is picky about his popcorn and likes his natural without any kind of fake butter, etc.  I'm not going to argue there.  Saves us money and our health.  Nico, on the other hand, will eat any ole popcorn he comes across.  Even several days old popcorn...I loaded up the diaper bag with their goodies and they headed out!  I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say that although excited for them to go see the movie, I was terribly disappointed not to share in their experience.  I do believe that having quality Papa time is very important too though.  Since having the baby, it sure seems like they are getting all kinds of good quality time.  I'm happy for them, and not necessarily jealous, but it would be really nice to get to take the boys out for a Mama and her boys day.  Good idea, Mama!  I think I'll get to planning that one.  Then Fernando can have a daddy/daughter day.  In the long run, everything about the evening worked out nicely.  I was able to bathe the baby and get her to bed with little distractions, feed myself, clean the kitchen, and start writing before they got back.  Then I got to spend time with them during their bath time, and before they fell asleep they told me all about the movie, which they LOVED by the way!  I love to see how excited they get about things.  It sounds super cute and we may just have to go again so I can see it too!

We shared many wonderful moments today, and it is so true that it's the little things that count.  I can't even put a number on how many hugs and smiles and giggles and knuckle bumps we gave each other in just today.  And the sound of your child seeing you from across the room calling out "Mama!" in an excited voice followed by a full on sprint in your direction, you knowing that you better brace yourself so you don't fall backwards...its just the BEST thing EVER.  Feeling so blessed in the moment.  Thank you God for moments like these and every DAY I get to spend with my loves.

Playdate, Papa's day, party supplies, and a new milestone for Belle

Our weekend is well underway, but there are a few highlights from the past few days I'd like to mention.  One being our Thursday's scramble to finish up our Father's Day gift for Fernando (which he's already received today so no spoiler alert here).  Our gift (thanks again to Pinterest) was a lot of fun to make and super simple (kind of)!  But it took a trip out in the heat of the afternoon, just me and the three kids.  However, looking at the picture, you'd never guess it was super hot!  Max happened to find a stocking cap somewhere hidden in our van, and he thought he'd put it on.  He had a fit when I refused to let him wear it into the store.  It was not because I cared what he looked like, but because I didn't want him overheating outside.  He reluctantly left it in the van, but when we returned he begged to put it on, eventhough he was already a sweaty mess.  After putting it on he kept walking around the house saying "I'm just sooooo hoooot!!!"  Ummmm...gangsta Max, take off your hat!!!  What a turkey.  He's always pulling something out or doing something random and he's just totally unaware that it may be a little unusual.  I admit, that's one of the things I love the most about him.  He doesn't care one bit what someone else might think and I hope that he can stay that way.  I try to encourage his uniqueness as much as I can.  I want him to always feel confident in himself and his decisions.  We got Fer's Father's day present completed and when I held it back to view our finished project I realized the pictures were in color...not sepia (think that's what it's called) for the look I was going for...Womp Womp.  In my mad rush to get the pictures selected and printed as fast as I could, I neglected to edit the pictures.  But you know what?  I think it looks great anyway, besides I can trade out the pics later on if I feel like it needs it, but Fer LOVED it the way it was so we're good.  

Friday was the last day of St. Michael Academy Summer Camp.  They were sad it was over, but they have two weeks of religious education classes at St. Michael's to look forward to.  It's a different program, but same classrooms so they'll be used to going there and I think they will enjoy them also.  So, on the last day of camp I got a text from Nico's teacher at around 10 a.m. saying that the parents were invited to gather with the kids at 12:15 for the closing song of camp.  Belle and I rushed around trying to get everything done in preparation for the crazy afternoon we had planned, we got out the door in good time, we parked and got inside, I look at the clock...12:16 so I start to walk a little faster and as I'm walking up to the overflowing classroom, I hear the last line of the camp song....I missed it!  One minute late.  Don't tell my kids, they think I was there for the whole thing.  Max had been talking about that song all week, asking me if I'd heard it and if I knew the words.  Can I get another Womp Womp (not Whoop Whoop)....The boys saw me shortly after and waved to me like crazy.  They are oblivious to the fact that I wasn't there for the song so shhhhh keep that a secret for me.  Max is always telling me that I forget things like this so I don't want him to think I forgot about him.  After the program I did something very daring, well daring for me anyway.  Max and Nico's best friends came over to play.  I spent the entire afternoon from lunch until 5 with five kids (two 4 year olds, two 2 year olds, and my 5 month old).  Unfortunately my 13 year old helper couldn't make it.  And you know what?  I survived and it was fun!  Of course after a couple of hours I started getting worn out and the boys started getting into little disagreements, but that is completely understandable.  They were exhausted from camp, no nap, and constant playing for hours and hours.  I had made sure that I had everything done that needed to get done ahead of time so that the entire afternoon we could all just play together (and mediate when needed).  Lunch was first so I had made a pepperoni pizza and chicken nuggets ahead of time and left them to cool while I picked up the boys from camp.  I had an old comforter spread out on the living room floor so we could picnic there for lunch.  They watched about 20 minutes of Mickey Mouse while they ate their "picnic" lunch then took off for upstairs.  We played board games, puzzles, kitchen, tools, tents (no girls allowed it turned out), with toy story toys, looked at books and picture search and finds, swords, trains, super heros, cars, cars, and more cars, etc.  Max was so excited about showing his toys to his friends and his friends we so excited to see different toys.  They went through things so fast I was worried they might run out of something to do!  I had to always keep one step ahead of them to suggest something new in case that happened.  Wow was it EXHAUSTING!!!  Those little guys have energy.  Belle got worn out just watching and took a wonderful nap which made it easier to play with the boys for a little while.  I'm getting pooped just thinking about it.  The kids took only a short break from their play to have yummy all fruit popsicles (peach or strawberry were their choices).  By the time Fer got home I was so ready for another adult, but then realized that the extra body in the house put off even more heat and the boys got even more hyper and excited.  Fernando and I spent the rest of the time being "monsters" or "dragons" and chased the boys around.  All they did was run around screaming and giggling and we just had to walk behind them saying "I'm a monster.  I'm going to get you. Grrrrr.." or "I'm a dragon and I'm going to breathe fire on you." and proceed to pretend to blow fire at them.  Awww the good times.  I'm so impressed with Belle and her ability to just go with the flow.  Thankfully she does not get overwhelmed very easily and she LOVES watching other kids.  One of the things that helped make it a more successful experience (besides having no chores or distractions that needed to be taken care of during the play date) was making the kids pick up after each activity instead of just letting them run to the next thing so quickly.  I didn't want to constantly make them feel like they were cleaning up the room, but I convinced them that they would have a lot more room to play their next activity if the one before was completely put away.  There were times when there wasn't a definitive end to what they were doing and that activity just turned into another so when that happened I just quietly picked up behind them.  It was awesome.  When the two little guys went home that evening, there was no extra mess to straighten up since we all had tried to stay on top of it as the afternoon went along.  There was actually less mess than a normal day around here.  Wish every day could 100% be focused on just playing, but alas I have responsibilities....yuck!  But it sure was nice to be able to devote my complete attention (as divided as it might have been between 5 kids) to play time!  We do a lot of play on a routine day, but I normally have to go in and out of it to do the chores, cooking, and other day to day things. 

I'd love to say after such a tiring day that I slept awesome last night, but unfortunately I can not.  I know I keep mentioning this, but poor Belle and her teething.  And I think she's starting to have some tummy issues too.  She's up and down all night, with long periods of wakefulness.  She's not necessarily fussy, although periodically she is, but rather "talkative", calling out with her fingers in her mouth.  A couple of days ago two bottom teeth (the ones right next to the front two bottom ones) just poked through her gums.  I can barely see it, but I can feel fit with my finger when she's gnawing on it.  The two front ones shouldn't be far behind (crossing fingers and sending up a prayer).  Hopefully she'll get some relief for a week or two before more come in.  I remember Nico got around 8 teeth within a couple of miserable days.  That boy went from no teeth to literally a mouth full overnight!  Perhaps she will follow suit.  She did hit a milestone today too!  Belle rolled over for the first time ever!  She went from her back to her tummy after lunch today while she was playing in the living room.  I layed her down with some toys while I went to clean the kitchen.  I can see her by looking over the bar and into the living room.  I glanced down to load a dish into the dishwasher, looked back and she was on her tummy!  Fernando had been sitting in the living room with the boys and saw her first, however he missed the actual event as well.  We tried and tried to get her to do it again, but she wouldn't.  I guess she doesn't like being treated like a circus monkey.  Fernando and I were cheering so excitedly and perhaps a little too loudly that she probably doesn't want to hear that again.  I'm happy and proud of her, but sad at the same time.  How did we get here so fast!? 

 We can never hold out until someone's special day to give them their gifts.  We decided that we would spend the entire weekend celebrating Papa.  So this morning after breakfast we pulled out his presents and had him open them.  Max and Nico have been holding onto their little gifts that they had made at school for weeks now (since around Mother's day).  They were extremely patient.  I had even told Max that if he wanted to go ahead and give Papa his present right away after he brought it home it would be okay.  Max only responded, "Well, is today Father's Day?" When I told him no he said, "Then no, he's going to have to wait."  He was more than ready by today to give him his gift.  Max had made his Papa a card shaped like a shirt and tie that he had colored himself.  Inside was a special poem.  Nico gave his Papa a koozie with a poem and his hand print.  Aren't their teachers pretty awesome to help them make these gifts ahead of time?  And then as you saw above, the kids and I put together the special picture frame for him.  It is tough to get the perfect shot.  I took each kid one by one into our room and just focused solely on him or her, took many shots, and ended up with some cute ones. 

  

We spent most of the morning shopping at the mall, where all three kids did amazing!  I was pleasantly surprised how well they did.  I'm not used to them listening when there are so many new things to look at, and clothes racks to hide behind.  I am NOT a shopper so I would not blame them one bit to have been annoyed the entire time.  In the afternoon we went party supply shopping.  Fernando and Max both have birthdays and parties coming up.  So exciting!!!  Speaking of birthdays, I want to give a shout out to an awesome bro-in-law, Scott on his birthday today!  Happy Birthday, Bro/ Uncle Scott! Hope this year is even better than the last! 

For kids, Party City is an exciting place to go, but for this mama and papa with these little kids, it's a crazy place to go.  The boys ran up and down the aisles and picked up anything they could grab, begging for us to buy them this and that.  Seriously, it just might be kid heaven.  We left with only one screaming-at-the-top-of-his-lungs child, another with tears in his eyes, and one oblivious-to-it-all baby girl.  At least when we got back into the car we had a peacemaking activity we told them about....swimming!  All three guys went for a swim while I tended to Belle who begins to wind down her day quite a bit earlier than the boys.  And to top off our day, we decided to get a "To Go" order from Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  Yay!  A night off from cooking!  Praying now for a much needed peaceful night for all five of us.

 Some of the BEST DAYs EVER!

St. Michael Academy Camp week and more at home fun!

 

Wow!  It's already Wednesday!  As always we are as busy as can be.  This week is St. Michael Academy Summer Camp every morning.  The boys are having a blast!  If I accidentally refer to camp as school Max will tell me "It's not school, it's camp and it's more fun!"  This year the kids get to take a make believe adventure to different parts of the world traveling by hot air balloon.  My guys are so excited about it and have so many fun things to tell me when they get home (and their hyperness is proof of the fun).  

Max trying to reach for help while in "jail"

This summer as we juggle all of our activities and the three kids, we've decided to get a little bit of help.  Our new friend, Nita, comes to play a few times a week and to help me get the kids to and from places.  It's nice to have someone new in our home who can add more imagination play for the kids!  On Monday they got one of the tents and lots of building blocks out and created a "jail".  Max enjoyed being locked in there and then busting out!  A lot of times Nico likes to just do his own thing, hence the eye rolling every time I try to get him to take a picture while he's in play mode.  He doesn't like to be interrupted to join Max for a picture.  Belle's as cute as always.  Her favorite toy continues to be Abuelita, but she now LOVES her new flowers that were handed down to us from two sweet little girls who don't play with it anymore.  The boys were also blessed this week with an awesome hand-me-down toy.  A co-worker of Fer's gave the boys an electric car they think is super cool!  We'll be fixing that up for them to play on this weekend.  Now just to find room to store that in the garage....might be taking Fer's space.     



Yeah....maybe she's getting a little bit too
big for her bouncy chair. 
I'm so not ready for her to be getting
this big already!  Fastest 5 months of my life!



Today the boys decided they wanted tattoos so I just found some random ones we had around the house.  Nico got a jack-o-lantern and Max got a Mario Cart bullet.  Oh the little things!  Nico was very happy!  One of my favorite things today was when Nita and Max decided to put on a play for me.  They wrote out a script and had me narrate.  Max played a boy on a horse and Nita played the horse.  Max had the best time riding all over the house on her back.  She's going to feel that tomorrow!  Max even delivered his lines with feeling.  I had to feed him his lines, but he did great!  I'm proud of him!  Nita also took the boys outside to run races.  Max, Nico, and I started having afternoon races when I was pregnant with Belle.  When I was so sick and couldn't get them out of the house very often it was a great way for them to burn energy and get some much needed sunshine and exercise.  The afternoon races kind of stuck and we still continue to do them.  They all took turns winning and receiving "medals".   So on another note I wanted to discuss a recent development....apparently I'm back to working out!  Yes I am!  Well, if you can count going twice in a three day time span getting back into it then I am.  I'm purposely writing about it to hold me accountable for keeping it up.  The last time I had done a formal workout was Cowtown half marathon 2011...I know long time.  I injured my knee during my half marathon training, but proceeded to participate in the event.  There was NO WAY I was going to miss that race.  My twin bro in all of his awesomeness had actually agreed to train and participate with me.  I wasn't going to let him do it and not follow through myself.  Besides, I had agonized through so much training and Saturday after Saturday doing a 9+ mile run.  I was going to complete that thing if they had to push me in a wheel chair.  Fortunately, I held on and was able to run almost the entire race.  Unfortunately, my knee hated me for it so I had to take some time off to try to heal.  During that time I found out I was preggers and the sickies started.  I know that it has been said that working out can help with morning sickness...yeah, whatever.  So my long absence from the workout scene began, continued, and continued.  And it was just easier not to pick it back up once I started feeling better some 6 - 7 months into the pregnancy.  Anyway, here I am at 5 months postpartum and I couldn't find too many more excuses.  Besides, my hubby went to the Y one day last week and just signed us up.  Now I feel obligated to go...which isn't a bad thing.  Whatever can motivate me right!  But let me tell you, it is tough.  Before I had to take a break from running due to my injury, I may very well have been in the best shape of my life.  I felt awesome, I had energy, I was the size I wanted to be....and now I'm running on empty and probably in the worst shape of my life.  I want to get back to where I was before, but I know all of the hard work and dedication that goes along with it.  I'm not one of those types that doesn't have to work to have the shape and size that I want.  I have to work HARD!  I've got a LONG LONG way to go, and I will probably have to take baby steps, but I'm determined.  I was a little spoiled after I had Nico, just from deliverying him and nursing I lost all but about 8 lbs (I gain a lot in my pregancies. Don't judge) of the baby weight and those 8 lbs (and more) melted away with my running.  With Max it took me well over a year to lose and that was a year after I started working out...I didn't start working out right away.  In fact I got to my pre-preggers weight about a month before I was pregnant with Nico.  When I found out I was pregnant with Belle I had pleasantly surpassed my pre-pregnancy weight (from Nico) and was finally at a healthy feeling place.  Now I find myself in a complete different place.  The weight is definitely not melting away with nursing like before.  I sure was counting on that.  So to the gym I must go.  I guess I wanted to mention all of this for those of you who feel like I do, who has a long road ahead to get where you want to be.  You aren't alone!!  And I wanted to write for those of you who are where you want to be or are already on your way, spread some positive encouragement towards anyone you think might need it.  Sometimes we just need someone to (sensitively) show us the way or motivate us to get started.  Probably if the hubster hadn't have signed us up on his own then I would still just be talking about signing up so thanks, babe!  (He's at the gym as I write this!)  Now I just need to get into a routine for when I can get to the gym.  As of now, I fly by the seat of my pants for those kinds of things. You know, the kinds of things that I can do for myself.  Whenever I can get to something (if I ever get to it) is when it gets done.  Just ask my poor pathetic toenails...they are in desperate, I mean DESPERATE need for a pedicure! Or my long hair that's screaming for a trim.  With all of this said, I still love my life, no matter how little of time I have to do these kinds of things.  I know that the time when there is too much time to fill without my kids is way too near.  Besides, I could have a mullet, be missing my two front teeth, and have skanky toenails and my kids would still love me.  That's all that matters. 

Best SMA camp week and first week back to working out EVER!