Happy Easter!

I hope everyone enjoys the day with family and friends.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sugar Cookies

Since I was feeling a bit better after my root canal this afternoon, Erick and I decided to make sugar cookies with Devin (ha, that's kind of ironic now that I think about it!). It was an interesting occasion and one too many times Devin dumped almost all of the peppermint sprinkles and then the chocolate sprinkles on the cookie sheet. Ooops! We had fun though and they managed to come out pretty nice. We are bringing a plate of cookies in for Devin's teachers tomorrow. (Erick made the batch of brownies for his work.)


(*Devin is spelling out NOEL in this picture.)

Photos

Although Devin was being a "turkey" for a Thanksgiving Eve photo shoot, we managed to get a few good pictures out of the bunch. A lot of the pictures taken managed to have Devin over-smiling, head tilting back, nose scrunched up and just looking plain evil. Maybe that would have been appropriate? Nah, most of the time he's good! :)

Happy Family Photo


Precious Devin and Santa Photo
Devin refused to sit on Santa's lap. Can't say that I blame him. Santa was gracious enough to kneel down beside him and I love how that created this pose. Devin was eagerly telling Santa about all of the "Toy Story" toys he wants for Christmas!

I was glad, though, that we were not waiting in line in the middle of the mall trying to coerce Devin to sit on Santa's lap while all of the other kids and parents watched on, feeling pressured to hurry up and force him on Santa's lap or forgo our turn after waiting in line for 45 minutes! Thank God the picture studio had their own Santa! (Just saying....)

Thought I'd add...

a couple of MY pictures! Let's begin at my parent's house. Here is the gigantic turkey...it was delicious!
My dad, carving the turkey.
Mom, busy making the squash...mmmmmm!
My 76 year old Memmere and Devin. This came out so precious.
Now let's head over to Erick's Tia Tonia's house. Here is a nice photo of Uncle Brian and Devin.
Abuela, Grandpa, Uncle Brian, Aunt Courtney, and Devin all got together for a rare group shot. Came out great too!
By 7 pm the little ones were all snug as a bug in a rug watching tv....
We had an awesome Thanksgiving and were able to see both sides of our family. For that we are thankful. We are also thankful for our good health, love, support of one another, our home, jobs, and family and friends. <3

4th of July Week-end

Our week-end began with some at-home time. We got some house work done and just hung out. Devin took this time to play in his sand-box.


Then we went over to Erick's parents' house. The boys went swimming in Abuela and Grandpa's big pool. It was waaaay too cold for me! (I am a wimp!) Devin is doing really well with swimming. If he has his life jacket on, he can swim all on his on! Yay for Devin and swim lessons!



After several hours there, we headed over to our friends' house to hang out. There were a lot of kids for Devin to play with- so he was very happy! When we pulled up he said, "Kids! Toys!" Here are some of the kids waiting to roast marshmallows for S'Mores!

Here they are with their sticks!
Devin had a lot of fun and stayed up late!
On the 5th of July we went to my parents house for a BBQ. It was a nice relaxing day. Here is Devin with my grandmother. I love this picture!
And this is how Devin ended the week-end.....

Christmas Day

Christmas morning was wonderful! It was nice and slow moving. We woke up around 8:30 and slowly made our way downstairs (quite possibly the last year that will happen!). We then went to see if Santa had come. We checked first to see if he had eaten the cookies we left, along with the carrots for the reindeer. In fact, the cookies and carrots were eaten but many crumbs were left behind. We also noticed that the Magic Key was left in front of the door instead of next to the cookies where we left it! Devin wanted to look out the window to see if Santa was there. He was not.

We turned on some Christmas music (and snuck the casserole in the oven) and proceeded into the living room. We found stuffed stockings on the couch and a tool bench next to it, along with presents under the tree.
We spent all morning enjoying the presents and the Disney Christmas parade (and the sausage casserole that I made!) and around 3:00 pm Erick's parents came over for some food, presents, and family time.
New lap top!
We had such a wonderful Christmas. It is great to see the holiday through a child's eyes again. The spirit is revived and I am so thankful for everything I have and for my beautiful family!

Day 2 and Baking

Devin woke up looking better than I expected this morning. His bump/bruising/swelling isn't as bad as we thought it would be (Much to his teacher's relief~ she was so upset/nervous about the whole ordeal). You can see the purple oval bump going up and down his forehead and some swelling in between his eyes, but he is otherwise fine. It sure doesn't seem to have effected his mood, temperament, or memory as he memorized the entire Frosty the Snowman movie!!!! lol

I spent MANY, MANY hours this afternoon making 3 batches of "Cake Balls" for my Holiday Luncheon at work tomorrow, the staff at Devin's school, a friend of mine who just adores them, and yes a few for home too!

The idea behind them is quite simple. You bake a cake and then crumble it up in a large bowl. Add some frosting- not too much (about 3/4 a can per cake), but just enough to moisten the cake and form into balls. Place into the fridge or freezer to allow the balls to form. Melt chocolate )you will go through more than you think) and dip the balls into it. Cover well- sprinkle with jimmies or crushed candy canes, etc. if desired and place back into the fridge or freezer and allow the balls to complete formation.


Oh and of course there was my hand that I burned in the oven when I carelessly reached in to remove a cake. OUCH! (almost looks like a lipstick kiss in this picture, lol! I promise you it is NOT! lol)

Mission Accomplished!

Happy Thanksgiving! I would like to start with a few words about what I am most thankful for....

~I am thankful for my wonderful and loving husband who is so supportive of me and such a team player in our marriage and our parenting.
~I am thankful for my beautiful son, who is (mostly) healthy and smart and definitely loving and caring!
~I am thankful for my parents, who have always been supportive and encouraging, not only of me but of everyone that they love and care about. My parents, especially my mother, are two of the most giving people I know. I truly believe that I am blessed with the greatest parents in the world!

You can tell poor Mom is not at her best in this picture!! Rest up Mom!

~I am thankful for the opportunity to celebrate holidays and get together with family.
~I am thankful for food in my belly, a warm home to live in, and comforts to enjoy.


As I mentioned in a previous post, my mother had her knee surgery yesterday. It went well. the doctor found a torn miniscus (sp?) and arthritis and did the best he could to repair everything. The biggest challenge we had in cooking Thanksgiving dinner today was keeping my hobbling mother out of the kitchen! My mother is a natural cook~ a WONDERFUL cook! The kind of cook who just knows how to cook things, but not necessarily how to explain it or how much of each ingredient she uses. It proves quite interesting when you are trying to recreate her recipes!

Everyone pitched in today and did something to help get everything prepared and cooked.
Here you see Dad getting ready to cut the potatoes.
Here is Mark preparing the Olive and Cream Cheese Stuffed Celery.

At some points there were too many cooks in the kitchen with no one really knowing what they were doing. But Mom was never too far away, and we always went yelling to her for direction!!! She is now assured that we do indeed have another 50 year lease on her, because we would SURELY be lost without her!!!

~ I am so thankful for my mom, the heart of our family! ~

Here are Memmere (my Mom's Mom) and Marie (my Dad's cousin) relaxing in the living room (don't they look excited?!?!? lol)

Here are Erick and Devin with Erick's parents.I was trying to get a shot of Devin with his Indian band here, but he snuck out of the shot! Little bugger! I guess its better than the eyes closed shots he was giving me previously!


And no, unfortunately I did not get any food shots. I know, I am disappointed too. Things were so crazy and hectic when were getting the food on the table that the thought did not even cross my mind!

I give all of you readers who single handedly cook Thanksgiving dinner A LOT of credit! Its a lot of work! Phew!

Lastly, I hope that each and every one of you were able to enjoy some quiet moments with those you love best and reflect on what you are most thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!
~

Holiday Season

Am I the only one having a hard time believing that Thanksgiving is NEXT week?!?!?!?!? YES, that is NEXT week!!!!! I just can not believe its NEXT week! I also can not believe that I am going to be cooking my very first Thanksgiving dinner! Lord, have mercy on me! (And thanks Mom! :P) Lucky for me, my Mom will be buying all of the food and getting everything ready at her house. I will just have to cook it, because she will have a minor little problem in her way (SURGERY on her knee the day before!). Wish me luck there.

I am trying to get excited about the impending holidays, but this year just feels different. Not sure why? Maybe once we get the house decorated and Devin starts to get excited about it (I am sure he will understand things better this year) it will be more fun! Once the carols are flowing and the house is glowing we will be cheery.....I hope! :)

Here is a picture of Devin from last year:


Actually, that already is getting me excited to decorate!!!!

~