Updates, Breaking News & Random Randomness

I am truly trying to get back into the swing of things... Half of the month has gone by, and I feel like I've accomplished nothing.

I take that back...
We planned, executed and survived my grandpa's memorial service. I was the lucky one who prepared grandpa's obits and also wrote the program and tribute. I also read the tribute at his memorial service.
As in - with a micro-phone. As in - with Nic coming up to the stage every 5 seconds "Mom!" "Mom, can I talk into that thing?!" - to which at one point, I laughed nervously and claimed, "That one isn't mine. I promise."
To which, Father Brian* replied, only loud enough for the table he was at to hear him, "He's not MINE either!"

*Some names have been changed to protect the innocent. Or maybe since he's not my Father, I can't really remember his name. Sorry!

With grandma settling into her new routine, we've started to settle into ours.

Marcos and I had a few shopping trips this weekend. We went to Home Depot to buy some rose bushes. We will be planting those on the side of the house. We went to Best Buy to purchase a new mouse for me... and a cover for my Kindle Fire {love that thing}... and we went to Barnes and Noble and purchased a few books.

Nic and I are starting to read some of the Magic Tree House books. I remember those books being for 1-3rd grades. Now they are listed as Pre-K - 3rd. What the heck?!

We should have started in order, but Nic loves Pirates and he loves Mummies {he's already planning his Halloween costume for this coming Halloween}.

We finished Chapter 3 last night... after each chapter I ask him questions to ensure he is #1 listening and #2 understanding. If nothing else, it's awesome cuddle time with my baby.

At Barnes and Noble I also picked up One Pot Meals by Weight Watchers - it has over 300 recipes. Looking forward to trying some of them out. Who doesn't love one pot meals?! Easy peasy.

Isabel and I had to make an impromptu trip to Wal-Greens on Saturday night...
I had to seriously consider if I wanted to share this with you all on the blog. But after thinking about it for a while, I've decided to go ahead and put it out there.

#1 Reason?! It's *my* journal - I want to remember these things. I want my kids to be able to read back on them and remember....

#2 Reason?! When she sent out a text message to all of her friends that said "I am now a woman!" - I figured the news was fair game.

;)

Marcos had to go back to work yesterday, but I decided to keep up with the errand trend. While Alex went on his first {uhem} date {accompanied by his girlfriend's 9 year old niece}, I took the girls and Nic to IKEA.

Let's pause for a swoon moment.

SWOOOOON!

I was in desperate need for a new down comforter. My old one was actually for our old queen-sized bed, which Alex now has. I had a hard time picking out the cover{sheet?!}... but I love the one I ended up with.

I know... I need to work on my bed picture taking skills. And my bed making skills... sorry everything was so wrinkled. Just keeping it real, folks. ;)

Since I had my camera up in my room, I thought I'd show you what I wake up to every morning...

Doesn't even look real, does it?!
Some day there will be houses behind the pool, so I will miss the view of the mountains and such. /sigh
Until then, I will continue to soak it up as much as I can.

Wow - what a recap. This all brings us to today. Today, I am off {I work for a bank, remember!} and the kids are off... so Alex and I are getting my OFFICE squared away.

Marcos has decided to move out.
So I get my whole entire office to myself!! That means no more crafts on the formal dining room table (which already houses a nice modge-podge "stain").

YAY!!

Of course, I *will* miss the husband, but I am sure we will meet in other parts of the house.
 If he's lucky!

;)

If I didn't think Bank of America would miss me too much...

I'd quit my job and become a wreath maker.

Seriously.

{unless someone from BofA is reading this, then please know that I *love* my job and I wouldn't abandon it for all of the tea in China}

I was a focused wreath maker yesterday.
I started Nic's birthday wreath and made two Christmas wreaths for outside... and worked on our front door Christmas wreath.

Nic's {going to be Cowboy themed} Birthday wreath:

Here are our outside wreaths:

You can see I put up my iron decor again! I figured if asked, I would tell them that it's part of my Christmas decorations! lol... they will come down when the rest of the decorations come down!

P.S. The green pillows will be swapped out for more festive ones. :)

Here is the one for the front door:

I thought it was done, but I am wondering if it's too plain?
I wanted it to match, but not match the other two. There is going to be a lot going on when the lights and other decor are introduced, so we will see if I end up adding to it later on.

I used a flat wood wreath for this one. Got it at Michael's (and probably spent way too much. i ♥ hobby lobby).


As usual, for the first three, I used the plastic covered straw wreaths from Hobby Lobby ($4.99) and some pretty ribbon. For the Christmas ones, I used blue and gold. We are incorporating the blue into our color scheme this year. All of our outside lights are blue!

I think I am getting pretty good at making bows!!

Anyway - that's the only thing I've worked on for Christmas so far. I need to get past Nic's birthday party this Saturday and then I will drag the rest of the Christmas decor out and get all jolly-like.

So exciting.

Maybe I can make more wreaths for the inside of the house?!
Become the weird wreath lady of the neighborhood?!
It's a thought.

{Weak}

This kid *kills* me.
He does.

I heard him moaning and calling from the other room. After a few "mooommmmm"'s, I decided to check it out.

/sigh.

It's all about the details...

Fall in a box...
Literally. Maybe.
All of our fall stuff is now packed away.

And now it's Nic's turn. He will be 5 next Friday and we are having a Vintage Cowboy party for him.
I've spent all day creating his decorations. I am trying really hard to use what I have and not spend any more on the decor. So far, so good.

And thank gosh we live in a new {and growing} subdivision... we have tons of scrap wood and stuff all over the place.

And really... when it's about Nic's party... it's all about the details.

I am committed to this theme, as you can see.
I've made banners, signs, labels, etc.

I figured I would get all of this done now and then next Thursday and Friday, I will get the grocery shopping squared away and the cupcakes figured out.

I have a feeling the next few days are going to go by so quickly. As have the last five years.

Sniffle. Sniffle.

Say it ain't so, pardnar!

I am finding it VERY difficult to believe that my little man will be 5 in just a few short weeks.
Not only because I hate to see him grow up so fast, but also because that means there are another hundred things added to my To Do list; his birthday party deets being a few of them.

To help get me in the spirit, I went ahead and created Nic's invite.

He wanted a very commercial party, like Buzz. Groooaaan.
So, my cousin suggested a Woody and Jessie party. Which has since turned into a vintage Cowboy theme.

I love how the invite turned out...  Can't wait for the party!

Here are last year's invite. And last year's Pirate party.

Marcos & Jaime go to... What? What?!

Pardon the interruption from the regularly scheduled road trip updates...
{admit it, you need a small break!}

While I will share our Texas adventures with you tomorrow, for sure - I wanted to spend a little time today to brag on my three biological and one "adopted."

Alex, Isa and Nic have been WONDERFUL during this transition time. Makes me VERY proud of them.
Now that's not saying that Nic hasn't been a little crazy, excited, annoying, etc... He has been very loving and accepting of the situation and of Abby.

He wants her to be his girlfriend. She constantly has to remind him that that's not even legal in ARKANSAS! =)


Today is Abby's first day of school. She was N.E.R.V.O.U.S. but I gave her some pep talks (or was it Pepto?!) Hmm.  

Abby is fabulous. Bottom line. I know she is going to do just fine!

We went school shopping for her, got her almost a whole new wardrobe (different climate here), new Vans, a new backpack (they had lockers in AR and NC, we don't have them here), school supplies, make-up, etc.

Here is her First Day of School Picture:

She got a new Beatles shirt and opted to wear it for her first day; she wanted to be comfortable and herself!
Nic wanted to know who "all those girls" on her shirt were... =) 

Oh Nickelbutt - you crack me up!

Would you like some wine...

with this cheese?

Nic's First Day of Pre-K

Try explaining "PM class" to an anxious 4 year old.
I dare ya.

He was roaring and ready to go to school at 6am.
He even offered to walk himself, promising to use the cross-walks.
His school is 2 miles away. But I do trust him. It was a hard decision, but for the sake of showering you with the obligatory pictures, I decided to go ahead and drive him. At least for his first day. Tomorrow? I may not feel like leaving my office. We will see.

Here is my Nickelbutt...

HE LOVES [L.O.V.E.S!!] when Daddy comes home in the van (which is not often, Dish Network corporate people, if you are wondering). He decided to use his lunch break to see Nic off. Nic also loves that his "name" is on the van (give or take a letter). He always says his "second" name is Nick Jr. No, really. He does! It drives me INSANE! I gave him a perfectly lovely middle name - Joaquin - and he prefers Junior. Too bad, kid. Your daddy's name is Junior. Well, it's Marcos - but he's a Junior. As in a second Marcos, not as in me = cougar. OK....Moving on..

As you may [or may not] know, this tree was planted this year.

I decided to claim it as Nic's tree - and we will use it as his Back 2 School backdrop each year going forward. Can't wait to see how he they grow!

He LURVES his Bumble Bee [Transformers] back-pack!

That FACE!!

This last one?

I spy something..........

Tune in tomorrow!! 

Same Diff

Last Wednesday (of last week, hence last and not this past) - before Isabel was out for summer, Marcos took Alex and Nic out to the mountains for a hike.

I was excited for them; male bonding time! Marcos took the day off of work specifically for this hike.

They had a great time.

Nic was so excited about going on his first real hike.

I think they did a nice job of posing for the husband's camera phone.

The pictures came out quite alright.

My main squeeze sent these to me as he was taking them, so while I was at home working, it felt like I was experiencing the hike with them. Minus the heat, of course! =)

Nic couldn't wait to tell me all about it! 

He went on and on about the cactus, and the snakes (they didn't see any) and about how much he LOVED Funny Mountain. 

From the pictures, I couldn't quite place where they were. But for sure, I'd never heard of Funny Mountain.

Ohhhhhh!!!



He meant Silly Mountain.

Same diff.

nic's first t-ball practice

Nic had his first T-Ball practice this past Wednesday.
It was an adventure. =)

It was weird... Nic was really the only kid who went after the ball. No matter where the ball ended up, Nic went running after it - from 3rd base. It was super cute.

There were times when Nic was more interested in the rocks on the outskirts of the field then with actually playing ball - but I kinda expected that. Also, there was one play where Nic was running from 1st to 2nd - and instead of sliding in - HE SERIOUSLY did a SOMERSAULT into 2nd base. It happened sooo fast, I couldn't get a picture of it. He had all of the parents laughing so hard.

Next practice is Wednesday - and then they have a game on Saturday. Can't wait! ;)

Isabel starts practice on Monday - and has it 3x a week. Alex's first game at the H.S. is Thursday - and he's been practicing 6x a week.

I am still in bed due to my back. I went to the ER yesterday and was given a medicine cabinet full of drugs; nothing seems to be working though.

The husband as me hooked up though - the laptop and this:

42" Panasonic.  We were planning on getting a flat screen for the bedroom, he just expedited it.  He worked hard this weekend to run all of the cables and lines in the wall. Eventually, the power cord will be in the wall as well, he just didn't get a chance to move the electrical box. He's also been feeding me really well and doing a bunch of other really sweet things. I am the luckiest gal, really.

I have so much to do - and I am so behind on everything... I cannot wait to get out of this bed and back to my normal, chaotic life.

Random: Thursday

  

Evidently, Nic was mad at Alex because Alex wouldn't play X-Box with him.

So Nic went up to the window in Alex's room and pushed the screen.

It fell to the ground a good 10-15 feet below.

[scary thoughts raced through my head as Nic told us this story]

Ellis used the screen as a chew toy.

Outside of my office window.

Which is how I found out about it.

I wonder why Alex didn't say anything last night.

Or go get the blasted thing.

/sigh.

Anyone know how much a new window screen cost?

Dragon LOVER of Softball

First, my dragon lover:

Found this while searching through my Picasa program. I have so many great pictures saved there. It's fun to go back and reminisce. Nic LOVED his walker - and that dragon!! (Yes, I was - still am? - a big dork, with prolly too much time on my hands!)

And then I found my lover of softball... and with the season starting in 3 weeks, I think the timing is appropriate. Isa will be starting with a new team this year; we can't wait to get started and to meet new people!

Awwww! An ode to Nic

The other morning (was it just yesterday?!) I was up really early, and was looking for a picture to include in this post.

I never did find that picture, but instead, found a gazillion pictures I'd love to (re)share.

We will call this An Ode to Nic.

A long story. But this is an African Fertility Doll that one of my overseas friends sent to me. We tried for 6 long years to have Nic. Within one week of this dolls arrival, we got pregnant. No lie. Crazy, huh?

Too weird?! lol...

Last pregnant picture. Little did I know, Nic would be here a week later.

He was born at 28 weeks.

A horrible picture of me with my eyes closed (sorta), but it shows you just how small Nic was.

Yeah, San Antonio kicked our butts. =(

Look at the eyebrow. It earned him the nickname "The Pebble"...

after the Rock (Dwayne Johnson?!)... but Nic was much smaller. So, the Pebble. lol...

After his first haircut, with grandma.

Seriously, Nic's been into Cars for forever! This was over two years ago! lol...

Okay - that's enough for now. But I am glad I did this. When I go to print this blog off (someday), I will have all of these great memories captured!

P.S. Most of these pics are "signatures" from an online forum I belonged to.