isn't she beautiful?

getting in the spirit of halloween

letting go

yesterday i took russell to the library for storytime. before natalie started school, we all went to their "family storytime" where moms, dads, and kids of all ages were welcomed, on fridays at 11:00. I would have continued to take russell to that class but that particular time interfered with driving natalie to school. so this week i finally looked up other times/classes available and was even open to going to a new library. i decided to try a new class for russell. luckily, it was at the same library, which is less than a mile away from our house. the class is called "preschool storytime," which is limited to 3 and 4 year olds, and they go in all by themselves. i was nervous about how russell would take to something like that -- if he would cry and run out, sit and behave, be able to COMMUNICATE (since it's hard for other people to understand what he's saying), but i said to myself: this is what he needs so let's just try it! i walked him in the class at 11:30 yesterday and sat him down on his very own square mat, briefly explained to him that i was going to leave the room and how he needed to sit and be a big boy, and turned around and walked out. it felt so weird but i was excited at the same time. while he was in his "class" i was able to return, renew, and check out some library books in peace and quiet. that was so nice! when i was done i went over to wait by the door to the room he was in. eventually, one by one the kids started to walk out. i saw him, but he didn't see me right away, and then i saw him start to get upset. when he found me, he let out a small sad cry but i hugged him real tight to comfort him and let him know that i would never leave him. then he proudly showed me his craft that he made, a cutout of an apple with the letter "A" pasted in the middle. i asked him if he liked storytime and if he wanted to come back next week, in which he replied to both questions "YEAH MOMMY". i'm so proud of the little guy. he really needs stuff like this to help him progress in his speech and language, and i think that he is finally open and ready for it! me, on the other hand, i'm slowly learning to let go of my baby... =)

{love}

i love how natalie comes home every day from school singing a new song. i don't know how she remembers all of these tunes! it's so funny to hear her sing them because she doesn't know all of the words, and you can tell she is making some of them up, which REALLY makes trying to understand what she is singing almost impossible! she also has learned the Lord's Prayer, which she broke out with after we said our bedtime prayers while tucking the kids in the other night. Not to mention she has taught us a new prayer [to SING] before we eat our meals at the table. listening to her recite all of these new things is just plain adorable!
GOD, I LOVE HER SCHOOL! i so wish i could be a fly on the wall in her classroom...

on a side note:

russell had his weekly speech appointment today, and he did SUPERB!

i had a very productive day with the kids, so when russ got home slightly early because of the rain, i was in very good mood for a change!

*today was a good day*

(4 more days...)

getting ready

for some reason, these past few days seemed to fly right by. i can't believe that we're at the end of september...it's 2!!! days away from fall (of course, you'd never know it with as HOT as it's been here in jacksonville)...aaaand our yearly "summer" vacation is only ONE WEEK AWAY!!! we've been keeping pretty busy with natalie being in school, and russell's new activities, all the while trying to sqeeze in much-needed [and much-MISSED] playdates (you know, mommy needs these playdates just as much as the kiddos do, if not more...). natalie is on to her second head cold since she started school, and all i can do is laugh about it. it was bound to happen, right?!

despite her cold, we all managed to have a productive and fun-filled weekend:

on friday, i took the kids to "free-play" at MyGym, the gym that natalie used to attend, but since she started school, russell took her place; then we headed over to our traditional friday night dinner with grandma and grandpa at brooklyn pizza; natalie spent the night with them that night while russell got to ride his bike in the neighborhood and watch Kung Fu Panda (a very cute and funny DreamWorks movie) with mommy and daddy; Russ worked ALLLLLL DAAAAY saturday (9-7) while i cleaned-cleaned-cleaned the house til my back almost gave out, but since life doesn't stop when you want to, i went to run some errands (good ol' Publix, the supermarket i spend at least 2 days of every week frequenting...), then natalie returned home and i took the kids to the park to spend a few minutes of fun outside; i cooked an amaaazing dinner (if i do say so myself), something new that i threw together, which happened to turn out very delish; on sunday we attended the 12:00 mass (which we haven't been able to do as a family lately because of one thing or another); after church, natalie had a birthday party to attend -- her first classmates birthday party! they had a huge waterslide set up, a playground, hotdogs, cake, ice cream... needless to say it was a lot of fun!; when we got back home, nana and papa, and daddy's friend james came over for last minute dinner arrangements (leftovers from yesterday plus some extra goodies; and lastly before bedtime, i helped natalie with her homework. every weekend she has to work on finding and cutting out pictures that begin with the following week's "letter of the week." This week's letter was "C".

WOW, i'm tired just typing all that out! as i sat here waiting for russ to return home from his run, i decided it would be a good time to update this blog since i've been slacking lately!

oh, so do you want to know what we are "getting ready" for??? our vacation! -- which as i mentioned is only ONE WEEK AWAY! we cannot be any more excited! next saturday russ will be running in the Ronald McDonald House Children's Way 5k and immediately following, we will come home and load up the car to head down to Orlando! looking forward to all the fun and relaxation to follow :) so THAT'S what I'M getting ready for!

results

just in case any of you were wondering about the results of my labwork, i found out today that my results came back NEGATIVE for hypothyroidism. in a way i was relieved to find out i won't have to deal with taking medication and all that, but now i just wonder WHAT is causing my "symptoms". none of them are urgent concerns so for now i'll wait and see how i feel until my next check up with my doctor. really, i'm feeling fine (aside from that totally random, unexplainable and close to death experience migraine i suffered yesterday) and i definitely feel like having the internet can be a curse because having all the "answers" to your questions literally at your fingertips can certainly create unnecessary worrying!

p.s. i feel like i haven't been keeping up on here lately, so i will put "update blog" on my ever-growing, daily TO DO list soon!

Labor Day

we decided that it was best that russ work that monday. business has been really bad for him lately, due to many factors. And when business is bad, money is tight. But on a brighter note, i took the kids out back to play in the yard, thinking that with fall approaching, the weather starting to cool down and all the rain we've been getting, this might just be the last time they get to play in their summer pool! we spent hours out there and the kids had a blast, despite the ugly clouds blocking the sun!

i haven't done this in awhile, so i felt it was time to go camera crazy. you should have seen all the pictures/videos i took overall!

it looks like he was about to fall out of the pool here, and i can't remember if he did or not. lol

natalie looked so beautiful, i couldn't stop taking pictures of her

she drew the hopscotch game all by herself -- i just helped show her how to draw certain numbers

then she hopped her little heart away:

russell kept busy making this cool tower

putting the finishing touches on top

while we were outside, i happened to spot something high up in the tree. when i took a closer look, i realized that it was natalie's shirt! over three months ago, we spent father's day at my parent's house and while we were there, the kids had fun while my dad sprayed them down with the hose . natalie's shirt was soaked so when we got home that night, i put it on the chair on the back porch to dry. the next day, it was missing. it kept bothering me, not knowing what happened. all i can think of is that a squirrel snatched it for some reason. i know it sounds funny but i couldn't come up with anything else! anyway, OVER THREE MONTHS later, sitting about 20 feet up high in our backyard tree, surviving all of our summer thunderstorms (and there were a lot!), we finally solved the mystery! it was so funny to me, i had to share :)

Run for Their Lives 5k

Russ ran another 5k on Saturday. This particular race was very special for us because it was the first Pro-Life race to be held in Jacksonville.

It was a beautiful day for a beautiful event:

I woke the kids up reeeally early that morning

here's Russ running to towards the finish line

At 22 min. he placed 13th overall

an honest witness

post-race with the kids

me and donna with Rachel's Vineyard, a beautiful ministry I work very closely with

there are several different, colorful sea turtles like this all over the jacksonville downtown area, each one is unique

saturday in st. augustine

daddy didn't have to work so we decided to drive down to st. augustine on saturday. it was a beautiful, yet hot day and we had a great time.

first stop was to the Mission of Nombre de Dios grounds to walk around their beautiful green garden/trail. it is here where the very first mass in our country was held. people actually make pilgrimage to the Our Lady of La Leche Shrine which is the building it took place. LOTS of history here, considering the city of st. augustine is currently celebrating their 444th anniversary!

sitting pretty on the way to st. augustine: russell was using the trash bag as a steering wheel to help drive:

there were lots of little gazebos on the trail and the kids loved playing--and posing--in every one:

natalie would sit on every bench and ask me to take her picture:

there were lots of random tombstones around and this one read year of death: 1886. talk about creepy!

The Chapel of Our Lady of La Leche:

interesting facts:

inside the chapel:

yes, there was a HOLE in this tree!

the Great Cross, stands 208 feet tall and weighs 70 tons (look how tiny russ looks walking towards it):

the kids running around at the base of the cross:

when you look up it looks like it is swaying back and forth:

natalie took this picture! (it was windy, hence my crazy hair):

after walking around the church area, we took the kids for some yummy kilwin's ice cream off of historical st. george street. then we drove a little down the road to the little park where the carousel sits. natalie and russell were so excited to get on!

that's russell on the left:

old school monkey bars!

these swings were ridiculously tall, the kind that make you feel like you're flying!

natalie's first week of pre-k

Natalie had a great first week of school! Day One began by driving to the drop off zone and realizing that I was the only car there. All I could think of is that I was the only mom NOT walking their child into their class! All of the forms/rules that I read said they didn't encourage walking your child in, so I was trying to do the "right thing." Instead I felt super guilty. Natalie was out of the car and walking with one of the teachers towards her class within seconds! It happened so fast, I barely even said goodbye to her! Luckily there were minimal tears -- only from ME after that incident took place, realizing how big of a day in her (and my) life this really was. Natalie, on the other hand, had a big smile on her face, and was beyond ready to see what school was all about.

"Pick up" on Day One was a lot more chaotic than I expected. I was out running errands so went straight to the school about 10 minutes before school let out. I sat in a car line on the street for about 15 minutes and when I finally got up to the "front" area, I was told that I was in the wrong line! GRRRR. So I pulled around those cars, got in the "right" car line and proceeded to wait there, inching my way forward for another 10 minutes or so. Finally got to the front where Natalie was waiting for me and as soon as she hopped in the car, it was rush to get her to settle in the chair and buckle her seat belt so I could keep driving and not hold up the cars behind me. As soon as I could, I started asking her about her day, and boy did I get an earful! Her stories were all over the place and a little hard to understand. She kept talking about this boy who has "Cars" shoes (as in the Disney movie Cars). I think that is her new friend.

The rest of the week was a lot easier. On Day Two, due to my guilt from the day before, I actually walked her into her class. When I asked the teacher if I was the only mom who didn't do so the day before, I was told "Actually, there were just 3 moms who did!" So now I felt a little silly for walking her into her class! lol.

Every day that went by, things got smoother and more routine. I've gotten into a little schedule now with dropping Natalie off, hanging out with Russell while she's in school, and getting back into the car to pick her up.

Each day Natalie comes home with her yellow folder which contains her work/art from school. These are [most of] her projects from WEEK ONE:

Our first week of school experience has taught me that not only do the KIDS have a lot of adusting to do, but so do us MOMS -- it is a learning experience for us all :)

OUR night

earlier in the week, my sister offered to have natalie spend the night at her house for the first time. natalie was elated! this must have been the best week in her life -- school all week (which she loves), and then a night at Titi's house at the end of the week to top it off! Later in the week, my mom called me with an offer we couldn't refuse: her and my dad wanted to have russell spend the night with them on friday, thus giving russ and i the night to ourselves! what on earth would we do??? after a lot of thinking, we decided to take a walk on the beach and go from there.
we headed out to the beach at around 7:00, walked on the beach while we people-watched (we were amazed at how many people were out there), then we took a walk on the jacksonville pier and watched the color of the sky change as the sun set.

the pier is very long and this was the color of the sky when we began our walk:

when we first got there, we saw some amazing waves, it must be from that hurricane out there. it's hard to tell from this picture though


the color of the sky by the time we got to the end of the pier:


walking back to the stairs, we watched this guy surf for a few minutes. we saw him surfing while we were walking on the beach earlier. i can't believe how much strength and endurance he must have had swimming for so long and waiting for the perfect wave to ride. he was pretty far from the shore too, alone, with God knows what else lurking around him in the waters... talk about being fearless. i guess it's the love of the sport.

after the beach, we headed to panera for coffee (for russ) and pastries (for me):

when we arrived home we watched our netflix movie of the week which was so much better than we expected (that's always a plus), while we snacked on my favorite chips (Wise BBQ) (and it was a tasty batch!).

waking up this morning was very strange. i looked at the clock and noticed that it was past 10:00!!! what a treat! so then we ate a small breakfast and anxiously waited for the kids to come home.

having a night alone is definitely bittersweet -- we love the time together, yet miss the kids like crazy! glad to have them home!