House full of stuff...

It's been a great weekend so far.  I had Marcos' side of the family over for a fiesta. Complete with homemade Carne Asada, rice & beans. And Mariachi music. Nothing out of the ordinary at our house, really.

After we stuffed ourselves like a pinata - we went outside to enjoy the WONDERFUL [don't be jealous] weather.  Took some pics of the kids. Well, some of the kids. Others [the teenagers] wouldn't fall for my bribes. Damn them.

Meet Elias. And just so you know - and as he tells me - it's not EE-LIE-US. It's EL-EE-US. And there's his older brother, Ethan (pronounced as it's written) above him on the slide.

This is their younger brother, Lucas. Or Luca as we call him.

He thinks he's a pirate. Or something.

Every time I pointed the camera in his direction, Mr. Ham made a face.

These are Elias' shoes. LOVE THEM! Ethan has a pair, too!

This is Nicolas. Or Nico. Or Nic. Or Nickelbutt. Or Nick, Jr.

But wait.

You already know him.

Mr. Pirate aka Mr. Ham aka Luca.

Nic. But an upside down version.

Which turned out way better than the pineapple-upside-down cake I made.

Can you say smoke-filled kitchen.

Grrr.

Cute Nic.

Handsome Elias.

Darn. I just said EE-LIE-US.

Sorry dude, it's habit.

We wanted to name Nic Elijah (and call him Eli).

But Elias was born first... and we thought that it would be weird to have two cousins with

such similar names.

Elias and Elijah.

So she [SIL] chose EL-EE-US.

We chose NIC-OL-US

My Sister-in-Law, Cristina. The mom of Ethan, Elias, and Lucas.

After they left, we had seven kids remaining. My four other nephews and my niece.

16,15,10,8

and then my three.

They had a great time, me thinks!

I made them pancakes for breakfast and then sent them off to the pool.

And that's where they are now.

Before the family showed up yesterday, we got our Saturday chores done.

One of them was grocery shopping.

I decided to pick up some fresh flowers.

I LOVE YELLOW ROSES!

Marcos is the one who told me to get them... so I did!

And then I found these purple flowers!!

Take a gander, if you will at the shelf (Goodwill find) and the small table thing (Goodwill find).

I am not sure if it's in its permanent spot, but I like having the table there.

I am going to go to Lowes tonight to find some cool knobs and maybe some gel-stain to age it a bit.

I love having STUFF in the house. The hallway doesn't seem so empty now.

I had this plant there originally... but moved it to under the utensils.

Everything seems so small in the pictures...

I promise it looks normal size IRL.

Marcos hung up my framed art.

Not MINE. But you know what I mean.

Ross - $16 each.

Sorry for the Orange Crush photo - but this is what the hallway looks like now, when you walk in. There is still a lot of hallway behind me, that you can see in this photo.

And the girl. To the left.

That's Amber. My niece.

And finally... I found these oil-rubbed bronze tin/metal/stuff things... [see #2 on this post]

And fell in love with them.

Today - I need to get another house plant (hooked on house plants!), we are going to get some blinds for the kids' rooms (finally), and some screws and anchors so I hang up my new stuff in the pantry hall.

I took down all of that colorful plastic stuff (not sure I ever shared a pic)... and am replacing it with classic stuff. I even changed up the clock.

I decided to keep the stripes... but just go for a more traditional look.

Lots to do... but first, I need to drag those kids outta the pool and get them on their way! Marcos is taking Alex to the movies. Isa and I and Nic are hanging out here - getting stuff done. I am trying to design the backyard because the Lemon and Lime trees MUST go IN this week. Now that the dog run is up, no more excuses!!

Hope you are having a WONDERFUL Sunday! It's the start of Spring Break for the kids and VACATION for Marcos and I.

P.S. Sorry for the quality of some of the pics. I am taking my camera back to Best Buy this week to try and see if I can get it replaced (there is a scratch on the lens - makes little ghosts, energies, or just dust particles - which then makes me have to change things to B&W and Sepia).  I vote for a bigger and better camera. Maybe if I get the job just posted for. Maybe.