dylan, spring break, and the zoo!

the kids' cousin, dylan was here visiting from virginia last week for his spring break and to celebrate his 16th birthday. the kids began their spring break last thursday and since dylan was scheduled to leave on saturday, we decided to take him to the zoo that day. it had been a while since we last went to the zoo so it was a nice treat, and we had so much fun. the weather was hot at first but we stayed until closing time and it cooled down towards the end of the day. the kids got to feed the giraffe which was an awesome experience and we also enjoyed the new dinosaur exhibit they currently have set up. while we were eating lunch at the restaurant, the black jaguar came right up to our window and started pacing back and forth over and over again. he put on a nice show for us, but we were glad that there was a nice thick piece of glass separating us because he sure did look hungry!

here are some of my favorite pics from our trip to the zoo.

unfortunataely, while dylan was here all four of us were sick with a cold virus. it started with little russell who, because of his cough, had to start back on his albuterol treatments (which we ran out of on a sunday, of all days, and had to take a trip to an urgent care center for a new prescription); then I caught the bug and fought off all of the nasty cold/cough symptoms in addition to a fever; natalie has had a mild cold throughout; and lastly, russ is fighting off [hopefully] the last of his cold virus. despite all of the sickness, we somehow managed to have a great time with dylan, and did our very best to keep him entertained.

for dylan's last night, on friday we all ate at carrabbas to officially celebrate his birthday. we were all very sad to see him go but i think we'll be seeing him again for his annual summer trip to florida.

more fun at school

natalie had an easter egg hunt with her class on tuesday (russell's class had one on monday but, sadly, he stayed home sick) and the whole school had field day on wednesday, the last day before their spring break started.

tacky day

about a week ago, the kids were allowed to wear a hat, tie, mismatched socks and sandals to school to accesorize their uniforms on tacky day. the results are as follows...

la playa bonita

"summer" is here in jacksonville!

okay, so technically we're still in spring and obviously, easter hasn't even passed yet... but with the record temps we hit this past weekend, it sure feels like summer. a good excuse to head to the beach.

the kids had a half day at school on friday, so we met up with our friends at a new spot. it was a bit cloudly and we didn't plan on staying long so i didn't wear any sunscreen. but worst of all, i failed to put some on natalie, thinking she'd be alright. i was wrong, and we both fried.

thankfully, our sunburns weren't too bad, and we were able to go back out to the beach with daddy on sunday. (don't worry, i slathered natalie and myself in 60 spf). the weather was perfect and we couldn't have asked for a better way to end the weekend.

what russell want to be when he grows up...

this week russell's class was talking about their community and people who help in their community. this led to the question of what they want to be when they grow up. russell initially said he wanted to be a "space ranger" like Buzz Lightyear (from Toy Story) but after his teacher explained that their answer had to be something real and not make-believe, he changed his answer to firefighter. today all of his friends were able to dress up and they had lots of fun.

why does it feel like friday?

this week seems to be going by reeeeeaaaaaalllllly slowly.

maybe it's because of the rainy, dreary weather we've had the past few days. i really feel bad for all the kids who are on spring break this week - no fun!

here is note that i happened to find on the living room chair today. apparently natalie wrote this some time this week.

for those of you who don't read "kindergarten" here is the translation:

Dear God, please stop rainy days but you can still make it rain

the lego, the runway, and the table

last week before school one morning, russell was playing with his legos like he does just about every day and i saw him put a teeny-tiny piece into his mouth. he was just chewing on it and it was such a tiny piece that even if he swallowed it, it proably wouldn't cause him any harm. but i just didn't like the fact that he was putting legos in his mouth so i decided to tell him a story -- a scare tactic, if you will. it involved our good friend logan who, just about a month ago, decided to put a small lego up his nose. to his surprise it became stuck and after a few tweezer removal attempts and some phone calls, his mom (heather) had no choice but to take him to the ER where it was finally safely dislodged. (i can assure you, this rendition is very simplified). i quickly described this story to russell and told him how really, really bad that would be if that happened to him, then walked away feeling pretty good about my "scare tactic." fast forward to later that afternoon after school. we were at home rushing to get ready for natalie's ballet class when russell yells out "MOM! i accidentally put a lego up my nose!" umm, "accidentally???" i immediately panicked and thoughts of heather's horrible incident with logan flashed through my mind and i began to cry. WHY DID I EVER THINK IT WAS OKAY TO TELL HIM ABOUT LOGAN'S LEGO INCIDENT?! i frantically searched for my tweezers and luckily the lego peice was so tiny it had slid down a little by the time i was ready to pull it out. within a minute or so russell's nose was lego-free and we were out the door headed to ballet. all i could do was laugh as i recounted the story to russ later on. boys are so curious. you tell them NOT to do something strange and they decide they need to try it out to see for themselves. i think i learned a lesson from that one...

the tiny lego, our new keepsake:

last night i took natalie to a "fashion show" that was being put on by a ministry from our church. when we walked in, i soon realized that even with our 25 year age span, natalie and i were two of the youngest people in that room. i knew it wasn't going to be anything like i had imagined when i first signed us up for it. as it turns out, we ran into a friend of mine who was alone and looking for company and then we realized that we knew quite a few other people there. the dinner was great and the MCs were entertaining and funny. natalie had such a good time socializing with everyone and making everyone smile. the highlight of the night was when one of the gentlemen who was volunteering (and also sitting at our table) asked natalie if she wanted to walk on the runway stage. they were having an intermission break but a lot of the people were still seated at their tables. they watched as natalie excitedly walked down the stage and posed and modeled as awkwardly and as cute as possible. she was in her glory and the "audience" loved it too. i snapped a couple of pictures with my cell phone, though it doesn't do the moment any justice. i'm not sure where natalie gets her outgoing behavior from, really. celena moved this weekend. in the process, she was letting go a lot of her things, including some furniture. we graciously inherited her kitchen table and chairs and we were very excited to put it use for the first time this evening. thanks celena, we love it!

the kids...

natalie had to make a leprechaun trap to set up in her class the night before st. patrick's day. we all worked on it together, but natalie worked especially hard and was very creative. the next morning when the kids returned to their class, they discovered a huge green mess everywhere. that crazy little leprechaun had been in EVERYONE'S trap and left a little something in each one.



russell has had 2 practices and 2 games so far this soccer season. he is the only "newbie" to the team, which has been together since last season. although he has a lot of catching up to do, he loves to play and we can tell he's happier playing soccer than he was with t-ball.

russell had wild west day at school today. you might remember when natalie had hers last year (when i dressed her up more like dorothy from the wizard of oz, rather than a cowgirl...). i decided to make him a cowboy vest which actually turned out to be fairly easy and was fun, too!

i got to spend time in their class during the festivities that day so here are a few pics:

making a twinkie cactus:

panning for gold:

playing bingo with rollos

squaredancing:

WANTED:

with mommy:

hello blog

natalie just lost her 5th tooth

russell just had his very first soccer game ever

our house is under contract

school's almost out for the summer

and i'm still here

barely...

this is my attempt at getting back into these blog updates. i really miss it. i'm constantly trying to remember what we did "a week ago," but before, when i was keeping this blog current, i had the ability to go back and actually read about the memories we made. so yes, that, i miss :)

one of my most recent posts is about the kids starting school and now, believe it or not, we have about 2 more months until the summer break! i almost cried looking at those pictures because the kids have grown SO much since i took those.

i will try to put some pics on here soon. despite getting an awesome new camera for my birthday this past october, i haven't been taking pictures as much as i used to. maybe it has something to do with the kids' keeping us so busy lately, i don't know...

so, if anyone is still keeping up with my blog updates and reading this post now, please comment on here and let me know -- i certainly could use the encouragement!

christmas cards

Every year I wait for the after-Christmas sales to buy my cards for the following year, and every year it gets harder and harder to find something that I think is appropriate for the season in addition to a style that I actually like. Once I find a card that I like I have to cross my fingers that they have enough of the same card because I have quite a long mailing list! Once I’m set with my Christmas cards I then have to choose a picture to include, print several copies, and finally cut and personalize each one. Sending Christmas cards every year can be a lot of work!

Nevertheless, it’s a Christmas tradition that I enjoy because it holds fond memories for me. When I was growing up, every year my mom would receive what seemed like hundreds of Christmas cards from friends and family. She taped them to the door in our kitchen and I always had fun reading each one and admiring the stories or photos that accompanied them. So, when I finally had my own family I felt it was something I wanted to do myself.

Fast forward to present day, about 6 years into keeping up with this “tradition”… I decided that I need to simplify things. Why not just create a photo card online, print them out and mail--VOILA--problem solved! Well, those photo cards tend to be pricey when you have so many to order, like myself, IF you don’t know the secret to “couponing”…

Here’s to trying out something new this year... Hope you all like the end result!

(If you have a blog and want to know how to get a great deal on photo cards at www.shutterfly.com, click here)

long time no WRITE

for many reasons, i've stopped writing on my blog. the biggest reason would be that there has been so much going on, i haven't had the creative energy to put towards keeping up with one more thing.

i've decided to make this blog private which i will explain more later.

but i would love to start back up with my blogging and writing, if not for anyone else, for ME (and my memory...)

don't have much time tonight, but i just wanted to write a quick note regarding my whereabouts ;)

first day of school, 2010

my babies are growing up!

natalie just started kindergarten a little over a week ago.

thankfully, she was very excited about going back to school this year.

her first day was only a half day.

she had P.E. and didn't eat a full lunch.

when she got in the car that afternoon she wasn't overly excited, nor was she sad, or upset.

just normal, happy natalie!

i tried to pry every bit of information out of her after that first week and basically she said she liked her teacher, her class and seemed very happy.

she did, however, ask me if they could put her old class toys in her new class.
(kindergarteners don't get to play whenever they want to???)

this was the only real "complaint" i got from her ;)

first day of kindergarten, 8/11:

driving to school, very excited:

watching her walk away:

the end of her first day of school:

second day of school:

*****

now on to russell.

russell began pre-kindergarten this year.

he is in the same class that natalie was in last year, with the same wonderful teachers.

i couldn't be any happier about that!

they are about to discover just how different natalie and russell are.

at russell's orientation class last week, he cried and ran out of the room after i tried to drop him off for the hour.

they said he eventually did stop crying but it took him a while.

i knew he was hesitant about going to school because of this phase he was going through.

he is not particularly a momma's boy but he didn't like being dropped off to be "alone" anywhere.

i knew that this first drop off would be rough.

his teachers and i were all a little worried about how he would react to his "real" first day of school.

surprisingly, he grew very excited about wanting to go to school and by today, his first day, he couldn't wait to go!

he got dressed early, brushed his teeth early, grabbed his backpack 30 min. before we were ready to walk out, and had a huge grin on his face all morning.

when i dropped him off, it was a total breeze.

he jumped out (forgot to kiss me goodbye- but i called him back) and happily walked to the room hand-in-hand with his teacher.

we were all a little surprised!

as i drove off (very slowly, and taking pictures) i couldn't believe that that moment was the end of the toddler era in our house.

no tears were shed at that time.

it wasn't until later in the afternoon when the doorbell rang and all was quiet throughout the house.

normally, the doorbell rings and the kids go running like wild animals to see who it is, pulling back the shades revealling themselves and all.

i'm usually racing them to the door shushing them and making sure it's not a stranger to whom i don't want to make known that we are home.

none of that today.

when i was done talking to our mailman, i went back to the office,called russ and had a silly little cry about it.

an hour later, i was driving back up to the school to pick up BOTH of my babies.

first day of pre-k, 8/23

SO HAPPY!

watching him walk away:

celebrating anniversaries, 2010

on the day of my parent's anniversary WE were at magic kingdom.

my parents enjoyed a nice dinner that night at Emeril Lagasse's restaurant, but we were never really able to celebrate their anniversary during the chaos of our vacation.

we decided to celebrate with them last weekend instead. we all got together at their house for dinner and then celena and i surprised them with cake and presents.

cheesecake factory cheesecake, courtesy of celena

dad reading our cards out loud
a monogrammed vase for the flowers i bought them


we bought this personalized frame for their anniversary 2 yrs ago, but i never put any pictures in.
i decided to steal it from their house, add the pictures and then re-gift it :)
my plan was successful -- they loved it
natalie wanted to wrap a present for grandma to open too:
princess flash cards!
russell's turn to wrap a present

opening it with daddy

watching tv in gma and gpa's bed

this is always a sign that it's late and time to go home :)

35 years together

the beautiful flowers

(and my beautiful parents)

this is the picture from orlando on their actual anniversary,

on their way out to dinner

WE LOVE YOU MOM & DAD!

our anniversary is only 5 days after theirs

we went out for dinner that night and ate at the restaurant where we had our first date

*celebrating 6 years of marriage*