Mama's Birthday Week

We've been busy busy busy this week.  After the weekend FULL of finishing up Max's birthday celebrations, we spent the week doing all kinds of different things. 


 Some of the things we did this week included Legos, Legos, Legos.    Max got a huge container of tiny Legos for his birthday.  On Monday, the boys starting playing with their Papa before he left for work.  They made all kinds of forms of transportation.  Then the fun carried on later into the morning when we built some of the things suggested in the boys' Lego magazine such as a bucket of popcorn!  The kids also had their very first Wizard of Oz experience.  Last Friday, as has been our regular routine the past few weeks, after soccer we went to the library.  I decided to pick up this classic movie for the kids to try out.  I knew that I could catch their interest by the simple mention of the tornado.  That did the trick, and they really enjoyed it!  They played off and on during the movie, but they always came back to it.  Nico and Max both really enjoyed the flying monkeys.  During the tornado scene, Max was fascinated by the things that were spinning around inside.  He commented on the cow that seemed to be flying inside the tornado.  This made my day!  You see, when I think about the Wizard of Oz I always think of my maternal grandma.  I'm not sure exactly why.  Maybe it was a favorite film of hers, or maybe we watched it at her house?  But I do remember a time when I was out there at her house on the farm and the weather got really wicked.  The wind started to pick up and there was a weather warning...probably tornado warning.  At my home we always took shelter in a hallway without windows at the center of our home....well, apparently that was not their way.  The front door was wide open for a good view of what was happening out there.  It got so windy and I remember my grandma saying in what seemed to me in an all seriousness tone (or at least in my pre-teen mind it was serious), "It's like the Wizard of Oz out there!"  Later when it was all over and the shingles had been almost completely ripped from the house's roof I remember her mentioning that she had been sure a cow was going to fly by the window.  That's still one of my favorite parts of the movie, and I get a good chuckle every time I see it.  The boys were very curious about why the movie was "brown" and then it turned to color.  Max was asking so many questions, but I wanted him to figure it out on his own.  He did an EXCELLENT job.  He realized that the color was the dream and that Dorothy was "over the rainbow".  I was impressed.  Nico and Max also thought the "horse of a different color" was awesome. 

One afternoon this week included Nico "fixing" my hair.  For some reason he just decided to do this.  He went and got a brush all on his own.  His favorite part was simply brushing my hair out of my face.  It was incredibly sweet.  Max, Nico, Belle, and I spent a good part of that same afternoon having a picnic on Belle's bedroom floor.  We had a blanket laid out, we used the kid's play dishes and food, and "ate" all sorts of treats.  We also spent some time sitting on the blanket reading stories together.  Any time that same day when Belle would get a little fussy, you could find Nico right in front of her doing a little jig.  I have not seen him do this in the past, and I haven't seen him do it since, but all day Monday he did that.  And every single time, Belle would forget her fussiness and giggle as loud as could be.  Belle has also discovered that she has the capability to express her opinion.  She certainly already knows what she wants and if she doesn't get it, or it's taken away from her, she will let you know it.  When her "bubbas" take a toy away that she's either been playing with or was eyeing to play with she shrieks at them. 

The boys have been finding it funny to hide under blankets and pop out and "scare" me.  I'm not sure if they really believe I don't know they are there or if they just pretend that I don't know.  The three guys also went swimming again this week.  Sometimes if they've not had enough energy burn during the day with me, their Papa will take them while I'm putting the baby down to sleep.  They enjoy their male bonding time.  More of the fun this week involved playing so many board games!  We have played two different Smurf games that Max's Mema and Pops gave him for his birthday.  One is like the game "Trouble" and the other is a Smurf themed game played very similar to "Candy Land".  Both are very enjoyable.  Max also got the game "Guess Who?" from his Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jon.  I have to say, one of my all time favorite games that I used to play with my brother and sister.  It has been so much fun teaching him the game and playing with him. 

Another really awesome time we had was last Friday when I sent the little guys upstairs while I set up a surprise for them in the living room.  I moved all of the furniture around and hung sheets off of the couches, recliner, pack n' play, etc. and created a huge fort that took up almost the entire room.  We had all kinds of imagination play in there.  Even Belle seemed to enjoy it, playing on her quilt getting lots of natural light directly under the window which is usually where our love seat sits.  Belle also has a new favorite toy.  It's a miniature beach ball.  She loves that thing.  She gets super upset if it gets away from her.  But she also really LOVES to play with me by passing the ball back and forth.  Sometimes she'll roll it, sometimes kick, and other times she'll try to throw it.  I can't believe she's doing these things already.  Time is just flying by so fast!  Today we spent time (well most of the day) pretending to be Mario, Luigi, Blue Toad, and Yellow Toad on a great adventure, trying to save the Princess!  We went around the house acting out different courses/worlds.  We beat the "game" and saved the princess after a final fight in a snowy world.  We got rolled up pairs of socks and had a "snowball" fight.  That was one of the best parts of the day.  We actually did that again another two times I think.  A couple of hours before dinner we all started to kind of poop out.  We'd been playing hard all day (and I tried to squeeze in some laundry and straightening up too).  I was starting to wonder what I could get the kids to do where they could just sit for a little bit and get a break, but have some fun too.  Then I saw an awesome post on Facebook.  My friend, Lissa, had posted pictures of her kiddos playing with "Magic Muck".  Not only that, she had posted a picture of the recipe!  Thanks, girl!  The idea was exactly what we needed this afternoon.  I mixed up Max's favorite color, orange, and Nicos' favorite color, blue.  Then we spent about an hour messing with that stuff.  Of course they completely destroyed my kitchen with it, but I didn't care one bit.  We had a blast!  Even Belle sat in her booster seat watching for a little while.  I tried to get her to mess with it a little, but she didn't enjoy it.  I got a little carried away with the blue food coloring and now Nico's hands may be slightly off color for a couple of days.  I scrubbed his little hands until he was sick and tired of it.  Ah well...it'll fade in time.  

recipe taken from the book  "The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions" by John E. Thomas and Danita Pagel



As some of you may realize, I had a birthday yesterday!  Seeing as my twin turned 29, I'm sure you guessed so did I!  My 28th year was so full of some of the most amazing things.  To name only a few we had our third child, we started our family blog, That's Sew Belle was established, I accepted a job as a teacher at St. Michael Academy for the Fall, our kids joined their first sports classes, and my husband turned 30!  There is just way too much to recap.  I only wish I had started my blog before to capture all of the wonderful moments of our family.  To kick off my 29th year, my awesome hubby surprised me and took the entire day off of work!  That was my first great gift.  Then when I was going to get out of bed with Belle, my guys all busted in with flowers, a balloon, and a present!  Another gift for the day was no cleaning and no cooking for Mama!  BEST GIFT EVER!  Fer made me my birthday oatmeal :)  Yes, it made me smile.  Last year I got a delicious birthday omelet in which candles were placed for me to blow out.  He gave me the choice this year and I went with oatmeal because I'm absolutely obsessed with it.  I allowed myself a nice steaming mug of coffee to treat myself, especially since I had stayed up until midnight the night before in anticipation for my birthday!  It's my own little tradition that I wait up for my birthday to begin and I stay up for the end.  The boys had gymnastics so after breakfast I spent time getting all of us ready to get out the door and at practice on time.  We thankfully, succeeded.  I'm not sure why, but it seems like having that one extra person doesn't always help with our time management....anyway, Nico and Max had their gymnastics classes at the rec center.  Afterwards the kids and Fer took me to Firehouse Subs for my birthday lunch.  I LOVE their sandwiches!!!  Then another wonderful birthday surprise that Fernando planned for me, we took a little trip over to Dallas to visit "Sprinkles" to get the most delicious cupcakes EVER!  I mean they were heaven in my mouth!  I'm so terribly disappointed they are already gone.  We should have bought a dozen of those things...well no we shouldn't have because I'd eat on them all day, but they were incredible!  Too bad it's just too far away with construction almost the entire route to go very often.  Yummy yummy yummy...We got home mid-afternoon and Fer and I spent some time playing with Max and Belle.  Nico had fallen asleep in the car and we could not get him to wake up.  Not even when we told him we were going to make Uncle Jon's birthday video, and not even when we told him we were going to have the cupcakes!  Poor guy must have been tuckered out.  Max and Fernando went off to fetch dinner at Chipotle later afternoon while Nico STILL napped and Belle and I stayed home to play.  When I said that I didn't have to cook for my birthday, that didn't mean anyone else was going to do it in my place.  They let me enjoy some of my favorite things though!  Belle fell asleep unusually early so after I put her down the rest of us spent some of the best times of the day having our very first FAMILY GAME NIGHT!!!   

Playing "Race to Smurf Village Game"

We had never had an opportunity before where all four of us could play a game at one time.  It's tough to find a game that we all enjoy or that we can all even do.  Nico is getting to a really good age where he's able to catch on to some rules, but still has struggles with many.  We first played one of Max's Smurf games because it was a good way to ease into the fun.  We all knew the directions and were able to play.  Then we played SEQUENCE!!  Surprise, Surprise!  I'm serious when I say that game is awesome.  We all love it.  Even Nico who is 2 1/2 knows the rules.  He has a hard time choosing to always follow them, but he knows them and with a little help he does very very well.  He even won a round!  Family game night was such a success.  I can't even begin to tell you how much fun it was and how much it meant to me that that was a way that I got to spend my birthday evening.  I wish Belle could have joined us, but I know that is in our future.  After the boys went to bed I got to spend some special time writing a blog post about my brother while Fernando cleaned!  Oh it was A-W-E-S-O-M-E not having to clean up!  Yes he already does help around the house a LOT, but it was even more special on my birthday.  Fernando and I got to spend some quality time together afterwards.  Fer was a good sport and waited up with me to the end of my birthday.  We watched some Pawn Stars for fun!  I'm not sure why I feel the need to wait up for the end, but I always do...well try.  Most years I fall asleep around 11:30 because I just can't make it.  Same thing happened last night, but Fer woke me at midnight when Pawn Stars was over to tell me Happy Birthday for the final time.  I'm such a blessed girl to have such an amazing hubby and three kids.  I also felt so blessed and special from all of the wonderful phone calls, texts, facebook messages, posts, emails, etc.  My mom and dad are going to kill me for saying this, but I even got the most awesome video sent to me from them singing "Happy Birthday" to me!  BEST gift I've EVER received from them!  To be sure that I do not get disowned, I have opted NOT to post the video.  But know it was greatness regardless of the fact that no one in my family has a good singing gene!  A humongous THANK YOU to everyone who made my day so special.  My 29th year has started off so wonderfully.  I'm looking forward to finding out what is in store for us next!

Another BEST birthDAY week EVER!

The boys made waffles with me on Tuesday.  They helped because it was their idea to make them.  I had already planned dinner and had it almost ready when they begged for this too. 

She loves to watch the trees moving outside so I moved her pack n' play in front of the window today so she could see out.  She is really sleepy in this picture.

 

Play time!

 

Family time.  Too bad Belle was already in bed.



Nico chilling with his sister, Belle.



Fer and the kids gave me the flowers
and the balloon.  Nico picked out goggles for me as a gift.
The Sprinkles cupcakes were to die for!



Happy Birthday, Twin Bro!

 Twenty-nine years ago today, my who was supposed to be little brother, pushed passed me to become my big brother.  Nine minutes later my stubborn self rejoined my bro to be with our big sis and awesome parents.  My "big" bro and I grew up side by side, considering he's my twin brother!  When we were little bitty kids we always had each other which helped when we had to be in new places because neither one of us cared to leave our Mom!  I remember standing beside each other, both crying for our Mom when she dropped us off on the first day of 4 year old Vacation Bible school.  It wasn't pretty, but I at least had my bro with me.  Then kindergarten started and we didn't shed a tear, but again, we had each other.  Now, we definitely were not always two peas in a pod.  Nor was that even the norm for us. 



Mirror images


We had our differences.  The poor guy had to live with two sisters so he was constantly getting suckered into playing with us.  The deal was always "if you play this with me, then I'll play that with you"....I'm really not sure how many times I made good on that deal.  Sorry, Jon.  But he had his moments too.  I strictly remember (which he won't, I'm both of our childhood memories' keeper) the time that he told me we were playing cowboys and Indians.  He handcuffed me to the swing set and went on his way.  Or the time we were five or six and he started screaming hysterically and ran towards the house...so I naturally did the same not even knowing what was wrong.  When he finally could make words through his hysterics it turns out he was running from a spider...that was ON ME!  I think we about gave Mom a heart attack.  He was too scared to get it off of me.  I still have a fear of spiders...*shuttering*.  He was a great bro when he wanted to be (or when Mom and Dad didn't give him another choice) like when I couldn't sleep if my sister was on a sleepover so he had to sleep in the room with me.  I remember him doing that lots of times for me.  Like most brother/sister relationships, ours was up and down growing up.  The teen years we had the same friends, but we were very different people and did a lot of our own things.  He was smart and athletic, I wasn't "not-smart" but I wasn't borderlining genius like the twin and forget sports.  I'm too clumsy!  We split up for college.  He knew exactly where he wanted to go and exactly what he wanted to do.  I was somewhat lost, didn't have a clue, and just kind of going with where ever and whatever I felt at the moment.  It took me a little bit longer than him to figure it out and we didn't see each other much for the first couple of years.  But after a few years of maturing, being away from each other, and discovering ourselves, I feel we found we had a lot more in common than we had differences.

This past year I feel so honored to have been able to share with my brother the experience of becoming a parent to a daughter.  His daughter, Lucy was born only a couple days more than 6 weeks after the birth of my daughter, Isabel.  It's been joked that the twins each had a twin.  I hope that the girls will have a special, close friendship much like sisters have.  And I'm excited to learn how to parent a rebellious teenage girl alongside him.  Or maybe I'm just glad we can all support each other when our daughters start to scare us!

I really look up to my big brother.  Really, he's tall!  And even though I'm "grown" myself.  I value his opinion and his insight.  I think that he's one of the smartest,trustworthy, honest people I know and I really admire him.  He's accomplished so much already.  He gives everything that he does 110%.  He committed to running a half marathon with me when he had made it clear before that he was not a runner.  I think he did it just because I asked.  He not only completed the race, but made amazing time!  He had no choice but to give his all and then some because that is his hardworking nature.  Without him I would never have pushed myself and lived up to my potential in anything growing up, and whether he knows it or not he continues to push me to make me better.  As with the half marathon that he did awesome in, I wouldn't have been able to reach my goal of accomplishing that race without his encouragement, generosity, and motivation.  That is only one example of what he has done for me.  The examples are endless.  I'm so appreciative!  It is such a blessing that he married such an amazing woman who I get to call my sister!  And together they have created a beautiful, loving family along with their sweet Lucy.  They have an incredible faith and love for God that is inspiring.  Not to mention they are a blast to be around!  Jon is the quiet type that can SURPRISE you when he busts out his awesome dance moves or catches you off guard with his wit.  Of course he's stubborn and he will tell you like it is.  But who isn't like that in my family!  Honesty is important anyway. 

So here's the part where I want to leave a special message to my twin bro on our 29th birthday:
WARNING:  It may get mushy.

Jon, I couldn't have asked for a better brother, even better, twin.  We may not have a twin connection all of the time, but you have to admit when we have those twin moments (although slightly creepy) its pretty cool!  I can't even imagine my life without having had you by my side, leading me, or pushing me to be better.  I know that those times you may have been hard on me were either sibling rivalry, jealously (obviously because of my awesomeness), or mostly because you saw something in me that I didn't see.  I am so happy to see the wonderful, happy life you have made for yourself.  I know that you've had to work for everything that you have, and you are succeeding tremendously.  My little family loves yours so very much and we want you to know that we are ALWAYS here, not too far way, if you ever need anything.  Something I love most about you is that you and Lisa are two of the most selfless people I have ever met.  You are always giving of your time and energy to anyone and everyone.  You also are able to balance making time for each other and lots of time for your little girl.  You are such an amazing Daddy and it has been so amazing seeing you play this role.  Thank you for always letting go and being yourself no matter what anyone might think.  I admire that a LOT.  I also appreciate so much the fact that any time I come up with some crazy party theme, you always put your all into it, even if you aren't looking forward to it or are very hesitant to do so!  I thank God that he gave me you as my brother.  Because you are the BEST BRO EVER!!!   

By the way...thanks Mom for your facebook picture posts.  You made my picture additions super easy on me!  You ROCK!

Max's AMAZING WATER GAMES "Smurf themed" Party

 Max's Amazing Water Games "Smurf themed" party was a splash!  Max picked out his Smurf theme months ago as well as what  he wanted to do at his party.  We were hesitant at first knowing that this time of year is incredibly hot.  We weren't sure we wanted to have an outdoor party, however, Max was persistent in his request for a water games party.  So that's what we ended up doing.  We picked a morning time frame so that it wouldn't be the hottest time of day (like we unfortunately did for his third birthday also held outside).  Fernando organized many water games for the kids to play.  When Max's buddies arrived, they were each give a water gun to fill up in the kiddie pool.  They all spent some time playing with these and eyeing the enormous supply of water balloons we were stashing on the side for some activities.  I'm sure it was so tempting for those kids to just grab them right away!  But they did an excellent job with their patience.  The kids ended up splashing around in the kiddie pool for a while too.   They played a game of water balloon throw to see how far they could get their balloons.  They had the opportunity to split up on teams and have a mega water balloon fight.  I had prepared about 75 water balloons the day before (I had to quit because it was the hottest time of the day and we were all melting) and Fernando and he little guys spent the morning of the party filling up about 125 more.  I would say yes, MEGA is the word to use.  When all of the water balloons had been used up, anyone who was wet got a small prize (cheapo prize is more like it, we know better next time).  Then, Max got a surprise.  Uncle Jon arrived dressed in his swim suit, swim cap, goggles, and water shoes ready for a fight!  He had planned an ambush on his nephew and his friends.  He jumped out of the car pulled out his water gun and a cooler filled with water balloons and began his attack!  Max and his friends followed suit by grabbing their guns, buckets, and anything else they could find.  Max and Jack even raided Uncle Jon's water balloon supply since they had just extinguished their own.  I think perhaps this might have been the biggest hit of the party.  I think at one point Max had the water hose turned on for the ultimate attack.  After that calmed down a little the rest of Fer's planned water games continued.  One being a sponge race where the kids divided into teams, had to run to the kiddie pool, soak their sponge, run back to their designated bucket, squeeze the water out, and repeat.  The team to fill their bucket first was the winner.  Unfortunately, Max got very frustrated when his bucket accidentally spilled over.  He's pretty competitive and he was not OK with that!   

 

Once the water games were complete and everyone was successfully soaked, the kids headed back to the garage for the piñata busting!  This is always one of the activities most looked forward to by my kids.  It means candy candy candy!  We found the perfect piñata at La Michocana.  We were so excited to find a Smurf one!  With the movie having come out last summer, Smurf party supplies were not as easy to find.  Luckily they were all on clearance at Party City for half price so we cleaned them out.  And then the piñata was only $15 from La Michocana.  Whoop whoop!  I LOVE a good bargain.  Anyway, the kids lined up to take their turns in front of the piñata.  The birthday boy went first.  Each child did their best to beat that thing open.  Finally the last kid came up to bat, Uncle Jon.  He did an excellent job splitting it open and all the kids had their bags ready to go to fill full of goodies.  Max had specifically requested ring pops and starbursts so there were a lot of those scattered onto the ground for them to gather.  The kids were given a lunch-size brown paper sack that they each written their name on.  That way they could keep track of what they collected for their own.  There was plenty to go around! 

After the kids collected their candy, it was time to cool off a little.  We had all kinds of drinks for the guests, but my personal favorite were the colored ice cubes covered in a lemon-lime soda.I only had two small ice trays so this took me all week to collect.  But it made for a fun little drink for the kids (and some adults too!).  We had one of Max's favorite meals for everyone, pizza, veggies, and fruit.  After everyone was stuffed (and it was clear we would be eating leftover pizza for a week) we still had the cake to do!  My mom is amazing!  She made the cakes and cupcakes for the party.  I was hoping to accomplish this myself, however the week got away from me and I overwhelmed myself with all that there was to do.  My sweet Mom offered to make them and I couldn't refuse.  She makes the most awesome delicious cakes!     The square cake was vanilla and the cupcakes were dark chocolate, Max's favorite.  He got to blow out candles for his birthday for the third time this year.  Guess he gets three birthday wishes!  We served cake with ice cream, another of Max's favorites.  We picked up some blue ice cream to go along with our blue Smurf theme and also offered vanilla for those who liked that option better.

Here's a little tip I found on Pinterest.  Scoop individual servings of ice cream before hand to save time during the party.  I lined my muffin pan with cupcake liners and placed a scoop of ice cream in each one.  I covered and placed back into the freezer and pulled them out right before serving.  It was such a time saver.  After the yummy cake and ice cream, Max opened the gifts from his family and friends.  That little guy is so blessed.  He received so many wonderful things.  We are so thankful for the generosity and love that everyone gave our little man.  WE appreciate you all for coming out and celebrating his special day!Thank you everyone!!!!  

Max's Best 5th BirthDAY party EVER!

Nico savoring his delicious cupcake (alright, just the icing maybe)



Sweet Lucy enjoying the sunshine



Our Belles :)

  

Iron Man Family (Yes Max got three Iron Man masks as gifts)



After party game play.  Aunt Lisa with cousin Lucy, Max, Mema, and cousin Jack



Max and Papa playing legos the day after the party after Mass.



Nico pretending to be Iron Man the next day



Max and best buddy, Anthony

 

Castañeda Family

The next day we had some wonderful friends who had been unable to attend the party come for a visit.  Their three kids got to play with our three.  The Gregory family is very special to us and we are so thankful they were able to come by to play.  Max, Nico, and Belle had a wonderful time playing with Kendall, Luke, and Kyson!  We love you, friends!  Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to stop in for a visit!