our last 3k school program

the 3's put on a very sweet program for mother's day.  they performed many songs, and even did sign to one of them.  they also made several presents which they presented to us after their performance.  evan kept calling me during the performance..."mami, i wanna come sit with you".  of course, he was the only one who decided to do that, and then tried to sneak off the stage while they were performing...oh well.  he got really shy all of a sudden during that program.  it may have been cause he was in the front row. 
we all enjoyed a reception after the program of kid-friendly snacks and mommy-friendly snacks.  it was so special that mima was able to be there too.  i know it will leave a lasting impression for him to have a grandmother present.

the presents that evan made me...a personalize poem, a painted pot with his picture, a corsage and some tea.

here's one upclose

joel and i waiting for evan's class to come in.

here he comes...

this is when he started getting shy...he stopped doing the hand gestures.

here he is making a silly face while acting like he's playing an air guitar.

once we got home we needed a picture.

mima and evan in front of our home.

for the momas

happy mother's day 2011!  we spent most of the day at home, but ventured out after our naps, and once papi got home from a call at the hospital.  today is his last day of call till june!  this afternoon we went for a stroll through the birmingham botanical gardens.  the roses are blooming, and it's just a magical place in the middle of mountain brook.  it's a two mile drive down the road, and your in a secret garden.  we had a relaxing walk around the gardens, checking out all the hidden paths, and what lay around the bend.  the boys had lots of fun.  joel took a dive, but papi was happy that he missed his teeth.  the way joel toddles around it's easy to see how he falls almost daily...i live in a constant state of fear with that one.
after our stroll we went for yogurt in crestline village.  it was a picture perfect afternoon.  i never thought i'd say this, but i miss not having sunday soccer!  it's just another example of how much more diverse and interesting life becomes because of your children.  now that i'm a mother, i appreciate things like soccer games, yogurt shops, and rough housing with the boys. 

here comes trouble...the kind you wanna kiss all over!

me and the boys.  the best thing i'll ever wear around my neck...their arms!

exploring the japanese gardens

it's so hard to keep them still.  they wanted to run across this stone bridge.  talk about danger with a capital d.

checking out what's in the water.

mima with her grandsons.

ringing the bell in the bell fry, but where are the monks?

a motley monk.

strolling boys

a special mother's day is one spent together.

remarkably joel didn't get pricked.

evan posing at the gate.

this is one of the couple photos that were taken.  joel just won't stay still.

as we were leaving evan wanted to show joel were the pollen was in these pansies.

last sunday may 1st was evan's last soccer game of the spring 2011 season for mountain brook soccer.

there's evan (yellow shorts) at the line at his last soccer practice.

he did awesome, and even made is first goal during the game...we really don't think that it matters that it was into the other teams goal!  oh, threes soccer league is so sweet.

mima came flew up from florida to watch evan's last game!  he was so happy to have her as his cheerleader.

evan was so proud of this photo that he took of his papi.

we're really gonna miss sunday soccer.  it was a nice family time that we looked forward to each weekend, and the other families were all so supportive.  evan had lots of friends from his class on other teams there too.

restful easter

we had a wonderful weekend celebrating easter for the first time here in b'ham.  the boys and i went to an easter egg hunt at evan's preschool on saturday that was sponsered by mountain brook baptist church.  they got way too much candy, and even got to interact with a non-creepy easter bunny.

getting ready to start hunting on the playground of evan's preschool.

evan was so excited, but joel just liked dumping all his eggs out onto the ground.

still hunting...

notice all the open eggs...evan would open them, and dump them out into his basket.

checking out the easter bunny.  they were both very interested, and evan did all the talking.

i accidently hit the record button.  it's funny to watch us try and get a photo set up...not so smooth!

joel got stanley in his easter basket.  this is a new face for joel!

happy easter!  we love you, jesus.

First soccer game of the Spring season

Here's a short clip of Evan's first game on Sunday March 27.  He's on the blue team this season.  They've been doing great, and have one all their games so far.  Each season he gets better.  Last season he ran up and down the field, but wouldn't touch the ball.  This season he keeps on running, but is now making contact with the ball.  It's fun to watch him, and the watch has been perfect for Sunday Soccer. 

(This is my first video upload!  Matt got me a Kodak video camera, like a Flip video for my Christmas gift.)

Sew In Love

Sew, I mean, So! Can you tell where my brain has been lately. I have really been having fun at making burpies and bibs for new babies. Hobby Lobby has the cutest materials. They always have bits of fabric left over that you can buy for a steal, and burpies require very little fabric. I am still perfecting the closures of the bibs. I had been using velcro, but I'm gonna try it with snaps next time. Next time will be tonight. I've got a couple new babies coming up, so time to sew!

Our January

Here's a brief run down of our January 2011...

Keeping to tradition, each year we celebrate Three Kings day on January 6. All that's left out of the Christmas decorations is the nativity sets. The formal Willow Tree collection, and the boy's Little People set.

It snowed a couple days later. We had just had snow on Christmas day, but this one lasted for a couple of days. It was so much fun to play in, cause it came down big and fluffy. Matt and our neighbor Paul took on the big hill that's across from our house. Matt used the lid of our trash can...yuck. Can ya'll tell we're from Alabama now...hahaha.


On January 20, Joel turned two! We celebrated with a cake from Publix once Matt got home. It was a quiet day, but a good one. Joel knew it was his special day. Sometimes I feel bad that Joel's birthday is in January. It's easy to still be recovering from the Christmas presents and the all the traveling from the holidays. I decided this year that from now on I will try to throw Joel a party for his birthday.


The following weekend we celebrated Matt, Mark, my Dad and Benjamin's birthdays down in Chiefland and Ocala, Florida. We stayed several days with Mark and Wendy. We enjoyed these really cute mini animal cakes that Wendy made. They were so cute! The kids also got to go to Sun Country to play among all the gym equipment. Unfortuantly, I wasn't able to do anything that entire day. I was suffering from a very bad head cold. I spent the day in bed! I was really disappointed not to be able to spend quality time with Aidan and Ben. On Saturday before going down to Ocala we had the boys photos taken by Amanda Cannon. They turned out great! Later that evening we surprised my Dad with a party at a restaurant, Latinos Y Mas. Some of his friends and family were able to make it all the way from Miami. Even his brother, Alfredo came up with his wife Maria. It meant the world to him. He was in total shock. I'm so glad too. It was his 75th birthday, and he needed to know just how special he is to everyone.


Thanks to Ruth for taking the pictures, and to Marty for picking up the cake!

To Know Your History Will Grow Your Future

Here's a formal apology for not keeping up with our family blog.  These last few months I've had time to do a lot of reading at night.  I've gotten to indulge myself with historical fiction and non-fiction on American greats.  I love to read, something I've acquired from my father's love of reading books, and my mother's love of reading magazines, and her devotions, and for that I thank them.  Anyways, I've come to realize that I haven't been practicing what I preach with regards to value history.  This blog is an historical document of our family, and I haven't given it the attention it deserves.  So here we go again...let the blog continue.

weekley savings

Can I get a big woo hoo?  I went to publix last night for my weekly grocery outing and I saved more than I spent!!!  I bought 32 items, spent $50.54, and saved $50.96.  I know, I know, there's not much of a difference there, but don't take my thunder away.  Woo hoo!

homemade love

We just wanted to show you the sweet shirts Manina (Susie) made us, even though she's about to have her third baby anyday.  Aren't they just darling!  We love wearing them and hope to get good use out of them.  I hope to try my hand at making some of these too.  I have a wonderful template to follow now.  Thank you Manina!