The Herrera Family

Happy New Year!!!!!!!

2010-01-01T17:33:00.002-05:00

Here's wishing all my family and friends a very Happy New Year! We hope 2010 treats everyone well! Love ya'll. XOXO

Merry Christmas

2010-01-01T15:55:00.003-05:00

The kids are at the perfect age to enjoy Christmas and their enthusiasm has been contagious. We've enjoyed lots of Holiday activities with family and friends including a Christmas train ride and breakfast with Santa at the local YMCA. At ages 5 and 3, this is the first year the kids would dare to sit on Santa's lap!

Thanksgiving

2010-01-01T15:41:00.003-05:00

Each year at the kids' school they invite the families in for a "Family Feast". The kids sing songs and prepare a meal for their parents. This year Sophia's class made fruit salad and blueberry muffins and Lucas' class made "Stone Soup". There's nothing better to make you realize what you're thankful for.

We were also very happy to be able to host a small Thanksgiving at our house this year for the first time in many years. When you come from such a large family it seems a little weird to have such a small celebration but we were very happy that my brother, Owen, and his wife Liz were able to join us as well as my neice Aubrey and her husband and kids, Brent, Ty and Jocelyn.

Lucas 5th Birthday

2010-01-01T15:31:00.005-05:00

For the second year in a row, Lucas chose to celebrate his birthday at the bowling alley. As always it was tons of fun with friends from school and the neighborhood.

I can't believe he's now five! Where did the time go?

Fall T-Ball - NC Tarh Heels

2010-01-01T15:24:00.003-05:00

In our area, they have two t-ball seasons each year, Spring and Fall. In the spring he was a Phillie and in the fall he was on the NC Tarh Heels. Daddy keeps hoping this is good preparation for the Major League!

I have to thank my good friend Kristine for these pictures as well as many others you've seen and probably will see in the future. Thanks for sharing, Kristine!

Halloween 2009

2010-01-01T15:08:00.006-05:00

Sophia and her classmates stop to pose during their annual field trip to the pumpkin patch at their school.

Lucas and Mama at the pumpkin patch. One of the favorite field trips of the year!

Trick or Treat!

Tap & Ballet & Tumbling - Oh My!

2009-12-22T22:28:00.004-05:00

Since the gymnastics class didn't work out so well in the Spring, we searched high and low for something for Sophia to participate in. We finally found a winner at Contempo School of Dance where she goes one hour a week for a "combo" class which includes tap, ballet, and tumbling. One of the high-lights of Mamma's week is taking her to class and peeking at that sweet little face through the window as she has what seems to be the time of her life!

Back to School

2009-12-22T22:23:00.002-05:00

Lucas and Sophia are both attending St. James UM Preschool and Kindergarden. Sophia is the the 3 year old program and Lucas is in VPK (Voluntary Pre-Kindergarden) We love the school and they are both doing great. Here they are on their first day of school!

Finishing up the Summer in Venezuela

2009-12-22T22:10:00.002-05:00

We finished off our summer with a two-week trip to visit Daddy's family in Venezuela. I have to admit that it was a very long trip for all of us (including Daddy) but as always, it made us appreciate what we have. The kids handled the trip much better than Mamma and Daddy and they seemed to have a great time hanging out with their cousins. Miguel is trying to teach the kids Spanish and they understand quite a bit but they almost always respond in English. Although the kids don't speak the same language, the developed some very tender friendships.

Fun in the FL Sun w/ Friends

2009-12-22T21:55:00.005-05:00

What a fun summer we had! Mamma wasn't working so spent the whole summer hanging with the kids and their friends. We had weekly playdates at the pool, the beach, bowling, a firestation tour, ice cream shop tour, the Florida Aquarium, Tampa Bay Rays baseball, and much, much more. The best thing about FL is the great friends we've made here!!!

Just Keep Swimming

2009-12-22T21:40:00.003-05:00

Everywhere you look in FL there's water - ponds everywhere (including our back yard), pools at almost every house we visit, the beach/ocean, so when summer came, it was time for the kids to learn to swim. They were hesitant at first but within less than 8 weeks, they were swimming like little fishes.

Sophia Gymnastics (April/May 2009)

2009-12-22T21:33:00.003-05:00

Sophia had been so patient with her brother's activities (soccer and t-ball) and wanted to try something on her own. She started a gymnastics class at one of the local rec centers and while she loved it, Mom didn't care too much for the facility or the instructors so it didn't last long. She sure loved it and was the cutest little gymnast out there!

Sophia's 3rd Birthday at The Magic Kingdom

2009-12-16T21:16:00.002-05:00

I know it's hard to believe since we only live an hour from Disney World, but our first visit to The Happpiest Place on Earth came after we had lived here for over 2 years. The look on Sophia's face was priceless when she first caught a glimps of Cinderella's Castle!

The highlight of the day was the visit to Ariel's Grotto. Her face doesn't show it in this pic but this was the only thing she really wanted to do all day - Ariel and ice cream...

2009 Spring T-Ball - Go Phillies!

2009-12-14T22:17:00.008-05:00

Shortly after soccer ended last spring, then t-ball began. Lucas was on the Phillies team in the New Tampa Little League (NTLL). He loved playing and I think he got "the bug for baseball"!

Lucas (far right) with his best friends - (L to R) Ethan, Tyler, Connor

Lucas Soccer Pics

2009-02-04T09:43:00.004-05:00

Lucas only has one soccer game left for this season and we got his soccer pics yesterday. They turned out much better than I thought they would because it was a little cold that day (as you can tell from his red cheeks). We have had a really fun time this season and I'm a little sorry to see it coming to an end. But he will be starting t-ball in a few weeks and we're looking forward to that!

This weekend Sophia will be turning 3 and "we're going to Disney World!"

Alligators and Snakes and Spiders, Oh My!

2009-01-25T13:32:00.004-05:00

The kids got to experience something really cool this week. The local shopping center, The Shops at Wiregrass, has a Kids Club where they have interesting activities for the kids each Wednesday. This week, it was the reptile guy. He had a lot of really interesting creatures including a 10-foot boa constrictor, a small alligator, lizards, a huge tarantula, and lots of other creepy, crawly things. The best part was that it was a "hands-on" exhibit. For those of you who know Miguel will know that he wasn't thrilled about this particular activity but the kids and I thought it was lots of fun. I have to say, though, that it was hard for me to get over my own fears in order to let the kids participate. The surprising part for me was that Sophia was a much more willing participant than Lucas.

Sophia with an Australian Tree Frog

Petting the baby alligator

10-foot Red Tailed Boa

The children's dept. at Macy's will never be the same

Sophia, the spider whisperer...

Happy 2009!

2009-01-21T14:24:00.012-05:00

Well, it seems that I am only capable of updating this blog about once a month or so. I think about it always but then the time gets away from me then I realize that another week and another month has past. That's pretty symbolic of a lot of things in our lives, I guess.

We had a rather uneventful Christmas as we just stayed close to home and did our family celebration right here. The kids had a great time and Santa was very good to them - probably too good. We did spend some time with Uncle Owen (my brother) and his family in Gainesville a couple of days after Christmas. A good time was had by all. The kids played is his big yard that had lots of leaves for them to throw and roll around in.

We brought in the new year at our neighbor's house with a handful of families from our neighborhood. We put the kids in the bedroom with a movie and some popcorn while the adults shared in New Year cheer. The kids are all friends and play together regularly so they had a great time. They both stayed up to bring in the new year with us but Sophia got really grumpy at about 11:45. I figured she'd made it that far, I certainly wasn't going to put her to bed then! No matter how tired she was the night before, it didn't stop her from getting up at her usual time of 6:30 a.m. You'd think that if you keep a kid up for 4 hours past her bedtime that she would sleep in a little in the morning. We had no such luck.

Lucas is loving soccer and is really great at it. And I'm not just saying that because I'm the Mom. Some of the parents from the competing team stopped me after the game last week and were falling all over themselves at how fast he is and how well he handles the ball for such a little boy. I promise that one of these days I'll get some video posted.

Miguel and I celebrated our 7-year wedding anniversary earlier this week. I'm still having a hard time believing it's been that long! We got a sitter for the day but ended up not really doing too much because we ran some errands and did some shopping then before we new it, our time was almost up. We had planned to go to a movie or something along those lines but because the time went so fast, we just went out for an early dinner and called it a day. I had quite a bad cold anyway so I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. I was happy to come home and sleep!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the past month:

My precious little Oreo-faces.

Lucas - the littlest rock star

This is what happens when you let your almost-3-year-old dress herself

Mmmm - Christmas Cookies!

Sophia wasn't too fond of decorating the cookies but she sure loved eating them

Lucas took the cookie decorating VERY seriously

Lucas & Sophia with Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree

Lucas & Sophia at the Christmas Tree Farm

Halloween (yes, I know it's December)

2008-12-08T10:40:00.000-05:00

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

2008-12-08T10:30:00.000-05:00

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

2008-12-08T10:17:00.001-05:00

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

2008-12-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

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?

2008-12-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

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...

2008-10-19T14:30:00.000-04:00

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!

2008-10-06T10:32:00.000-04:00

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!

2008-10-02T18:47:00.001-04:00

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

Enjoy!

October 1, 2008

2008-10-01T11:03:00.000-04:00

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.