Halloween (yes, I know it's December)

I've been reminded and reprimanded by a couple of friends and family for not keeping this blog updated so here we go.

As you can see from the attached pictures, Halloween was quite a treat for our little Elmo and Tinkerbell. They had a ball trick-or-treating with Mom and a couple of neighborhood friends while Daddy stayed home and passed out candy to all the local ghouls and goblins.

Lucas' 4th Birthday

We just got the kids to come down from their Halloween sugar high and then got them all hyped up again for Lucas' birthday. The actual birthday was pretty low-key with only cupcakes with the family but the following Saturday, we hosted 19 3 and 4 year-olds at the bowling alley. It was very chaotic but a great time was had by all. Lucas made out like a bandit with gifts galore. Miguel and I joked that we should have gone out and gotten a Christmas tree and put all the gifts under it. He would have never known the difference and we would have saved ourselves a great deal of money come Christmas time.

I don't have any still pictures of this event but I know there's video. I'll need to have Miguel's help to upload it but I'll get it up soon.

Thanksgiving in UT/WY

We loaded up and headed West the Friday before Thanksgiving and returned the Saturday following. So we had a full week in the cold part of the world. After arriving at the airport in Salt Lake City, we stayed at a hotel near our favorite breakfast spot in Draper. I know it sounds silly but there are some restaurants and foods that we really miss. Jim's Family Diner is one of them. We just haven't been able to find those favorite places here in FL. So we stayed at a hotel nearby the restaurant so we could have breakfast there then we went to visit some old friends, neighbors, and Miguel's co-workers there in the Salt Lake City area before driving to Grandma's house in Wyoming. We spent a few very cold days with her then went to Ogden, UT to Aunt Becky's house for the holiday. It wasn't quite as cold there but still quite chilly. It was a nice holiday and in addition to all of Becky's family, my brother Gary was also there from MO. It was great to see them as I don't get to see them nearly often enough.

Soccer

Okay - I think with this post, I'll be caught up on recent events.

Lucas is on a soccer team and his first game was on Saturday. His team won by default because the other team didn't show (I think it was a scheduling mix-up) but of course we're not supposed to talk too much about winning and losing because at age 4 we're all winners! So we worked on some of our skills and did a little scrimmage amongst ourselves. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait until next week! Oh, and did I mention that I am their coach? I'm not much of a soccer player but if I can get them all to kick the ball in the right direction and they have a fun time doing it, I'll consider it to be a successful season. The best part of Saturday's game was in the car on the way home when Lucas told me, "your a great coach, Mom." It doesn't get much better than that.

I'll have Miguel help me put some video up here soon as well.

Oh, One More Thing - How Could I Forget About LEO?

When we got back from our Thanksgiving vacation we got busy pretty quickly on getting the house all decorated for Christmas. Lucas and Sophia did an awesome job helping me decorate our tree.

We have an "Elf on the Shelf" that we named Leo. He is our family's magical elf that watches over us during the day and reports back to Santa at the North Pole while we're sleeping. Every time he returns from the North Pole, he lands somewhere different in the house so we have a great time looking for him each morning when we wake up. We're really going to miss him when Christmas is over and we won't be able to see him again until next year.

I am going to miss Leo particularly because he is a great tool for keeping the kids in line. If they start acting up I just start talking to Leo and telling him that he's going to have to report back to Santa that they are not being nice. It's amazing how quickly their behavior turns around. I wish we could have a magical Christmas elf all year around!

More of the same...

Not much to report the past couple of weeks as things have been pretty status quo. Miguel has been working long hours and the kids and I have been going along with our routines for preschool and playdates, etc. For thos who don't know, I have been working for myself from a home office for several years now, which is awesome because it allows me to be pretty involved with kids and still make some money and stay connected to the "outside world". We have a babysitter, Kristen, who helps out a couple of days a week (she was helping out more before the kids started preschool but now she's only here for a few hours on Mon, Wed, Fri) so I can accomplish what's necessary for my work. The kids absolutely love her. Every morning they wake up and ask me if it's "a Kristen day" or "a school day" or "a mommy and daddy day". The last one - mommy and daddy day - refers to the weekends when we try very hard to make family time. Sometimes it's hard because of Miguel's work schedule and he has to work a great deal on the weekends, but even that has decreased in recent months. For example, yesterday we spent the morning at the park then went out for a sit-down lunch (as opposed to going through the drive-thru at McDonalds). Today, Miguel is out running errands and getting haircuts with Lucas and the plan is to go to the park this afternoon and play some soccer or baseball.

Regarding Miguel's work - we knew it was coming, but Miguel's company has announced that it has been sold. We're not sure yet how this will effect us but should know more by the end of the year. It's not a question at this point as to whether or not he will still have his job, but the question is where it will be located. As much as we don't care for Florida and would like to leave here as soon as possible, we're hoping at this point that they will not move his position from here in Tampa. With the economy as it is, there is no way we would be able to sell our house and even if we could sell it, we would not come out on the positive end of a sale.

The kids are getting very excited about Holloween and this weekend we got the house all decorated with pumpkins and such. They're still little enough that I don't think they're ready for all the "scary" stuff at this point but we did manage to get some spiders and witches that aren't very scary. The kids even decided on their costumes this week. Originally they were going to go as Tinker Bell and Peter Pan but this week Lucas saw an Elmo costume and immediately changed his mind. I'm sure pictures will follow as Holloween draws nearer.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

First thing we have to say: Happy Birthday, Grandma! We love you!

This weekend we went to Disney on Ice at the St. Pete Times Forum. Sophia was fascinated with Aerial from the Little Mermaid and especially Tinker Bell and Peter Pan. She said it was like watching a really big TV. When I tried to correct her and tell her that it wasn't TV but it was live people she just said "well it's really the same thing." So that's what she thought of it. Lucas thought Goofy was pretty funny but mostly because he kept falling down. Lucas thinks it's hilarious to watch people fall down whether it's baseball players, soccer players, himself, etc.

Pictures Only!

Don't have much to report today but I took some really cute pictures of the kids.

Enjoy!

October 1, 2008

Hi all. This new blog is my way of keeping you all up to speed on what our family is up to and also to have a record of my adorable kids who keep me on my toes and keep me laughing daily! It seems that every day they say or do something that makes me laugh and I always want to share it but by the time I go to share it, whatever is was had slipped my mind. I'm sure all you mothers out there can understand that.



There are no funny stories yet today (it's still early) but in general, they are great kids. Lucas will be 4 years old in just over a month and Sophia is now 2 1/2 and almost potty trained - yeah! Soon our lives will get much simpler with far less to pack when we leave the house. I'll be very happy when I can shed the diaper bag.



Both kids go to preschool (St James) Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-12 and they both really enjoy it. Sophia loves Miss Amy and Miss Adriana and Lucas thinks Miss Tab and Miss Teresa are pretty cool. Every day they bring home at least a couple of new art projects to hang on the fridge and quite frankley, it's getting a little out of control. I hate to throw any of it away so we had to create project boxes for them to keep all of their art in.



Lucas' class is learning about "things that God created" so for show and tell yesterday he was supposed to take something that was made by God. He chose to take a ladybug that he caught in the park the other day. I guess it was a big hit with his classmates. They put the container on their science table and looked at it through the magnifying glass. He was very proud that everyone loved his ladybug. I think today we are going to set it free.