Lucy's Christmas Eve Puppies!

After an exhausting day of preparations for the next couple of days to come which were Christmas Eve and Christmas day I went into the laundry room, looked at Lucy and said, "Lucy, please don't go into labor tonight, I am exhausted..." I turned off the light and went to bed.
Christmas Eve morning I got up and went to let Lucy outside and to my surprise she was laying in her bed with two puppies and one on the way! I yelled for James, he immediately ran in the room and sprang into action. He rubbed her head and reassured her that she was doing great. She was such a trooper. The first two pups were nursing while she was giving birth. They were all black and as cute as can be!
I have to admit, I felt horrible for not being with her all night. She was in labor all night by herself!
Lucy did not make a sound and pushed those puppies out like nothing. I was a proud grandma for sure.
After 3 black puppies born, 2 white pups came out after. My tiny miniature schnauzer Lucy had FIVE puppies!
Mommy and babies and doing wonderfully. Puppies are growing like weeds and mommy is taking care of them perfectly.

Christmas Eve 2011

My most favorite Christmas tradition is going to my Tata and Nana's house on Christmas Eve.

My handsome boys ready to go to Nana & Tata's house!

My entire family comes together to eat, drink, exchange presents and be merry! Everyone brings a dish to share and we all feast as a family. My Nana sets up her porch with tables, chairs and decorations. I remember when I was a little girl every inch of her home would be covered in Christmas decor. From villages to lights to trinkets to ornaments to her fabulously decorated tree. But, as she's gotten older the decorations have become fewer and fewer, which I understand completely. It was just a wonderful memory. My Tata and my Tio Nino (godfather) used to drench the exterior of the house with lights and characters. There would be cars driving by all night just to stop and enjoy their light display. That too has gotten fewer and fewer, but still looks great to this day.

Nana & Chloe <3

This year was so much fun! Everyone got along, I heard laughing, saw smiling faces and the kiddos running around playing with each other. From what I saw, my family was enjoying each other and there's nothing more that I want for us is to remain a close knit family.

The girls were spoiled as they were passed around from arm to arm. I was spoiled too then because I got a few hours of babyless arms! Haha! The boys played outside with their cousins all night long! Ryan and his cousin Justin always have such a great time playing together as well. They both are monster truck enthusiasts - enough said.

I really, really enjoy the holiday season and I think that is because it is centered around family. I love my family! I am a very blessed person to have such wonderful, caring yet crazy people who in turn love me back just as much. <3

Merry Christmas 2011!

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."
I am in love with everything Christmas! I love the smells, the decorations, the hustle and bustle of the stores, Santa in the malls, the excitement of children and most of all -- THE MUSIC!
As soon as Christmas music is played on a local radio station here, I am tuned in at home and in my car. I love, love, love it!
I made an advent event calendar for my children to enjoy every day in December and remember why we celebrate Christmas and the gift of giving. Some examples of the activities on the advent are:
December 4th - Gavin - Shop for your brother
December 5th - Jordan - Hug everyone in your family today
December 6th - Ryan - Surprise someone with a candy cane today
December 7th - Everyone - Make Christmas cookies while singing Christmas songs
etc...
Since having 3 boys who are different in age and developmental stage I did each day for each child and a day for the family.
It was really fun and I definitely will be continuing this new tradition in our house for years to come!

Ryan with his gingerbread house he made!

Gavin and his gingerbread house!

Jordan and his gingerbread house!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011!

I am thankful for...

James, who is the rock of our family. Whenever anything comes up, we can always count on you to pull us through. You are the epitame of a family man. Everything you do is for us. You are a hardworker who wants to give me and your children all that we desire. You are an amazing best friend who I can be myself with and tell you anything without judgment. You support me and are my partner in parenting our children. You are an amazing father who our children are blessed to have. I am so grateful for you and all you do for us. <3

Gavin, you are my sweet big boy. You are such a kind and attentive brother to your little brothers and sisters. You are talented in baseball and any other sport you attempt. You are an athlete and I love that about you! I love your confidence. You try so hard in school and I am proud of you for doing that. You are such an awesome person who genuinely cares for your friends, neighbors, family and even strangers. I am grateful to have you as my first born son!

Jordan, you are my artistic little boy! I love your creativity and your loud voice! You are so sensitive and loving. Your smile lights up the room. I am amazed at your intelligence and your ability to learn concepts at school so quickly and easily! You are an amazing baseball player with such natural talent and potential! I know you will grow into it and succeed. You are incredibly intelligent and I know that whatever you do, you will succeed! You are so amazing. I am so grateful for my creative son who I love so dearly!

Ryan, you are my wild mama's boy! I love your funny faces and crazy antics. You are so smart and caught on to talking, walking, running and riding your scooter so quickly! You are so sweet and such a kind hearted little boy. I love how you look up to your big brothers but will put them in their place also! Haha! You too are very athletic and so tough. I know that you will succeed in whatever sport you put your mind to. I am grateful for you my comical Rhyno baseball boy!

Chloe, you are my funny little girl! I love the funny faces that you make at me. You make me chuckle everytime I think of your "stink face". You are so smart already saying words and waving bye. You are so beautiful and I love seeing you learn new things and progress into a little girl from a baby. I love the way you stick your tongue out whenever you are concentrating on something, you look just like daddy! I am grateful for you Chloe and I look forward to watching you grow! 

Emily, you are my mama's girl! I love how you are so in love with me! LOL You love to cuddle and whenever you lay your head on mommy or daddy you say, "Awww...". You are so intelligent and are already standing up by yourself and even have taken a step from the couch to me! You clap your hands and wave bye. I am amazed at how beautiful you are and love to watch you change and grow everyday. I love the way you crack up when your brothers make a funny face. I am grateful for you Emily and I am excited to see you change and grow! 

Jordan's 6th Birthday Bash!

My JoJo is 6! Ahhh! He is growing up so fast right before my eyes and I can't take it! LOL

Jordan, you are my creative, uber intelligent, artistic, aggressive and loving little boy...I will always love you and cherish the moments that I've spent with you, being your mom. Thank you for your honesty, hugs and back massages (he walks on my back :)).

We spent Jordan's birthday at Xtreme Air Jump and Skate park then off to Peter Piper Pizza.

Jordan, Ryan and Gavin

He celebrated his big day with his brothers, sisters, cousins, tia, mommy and daddy, young nana and old nana and tata. Thank you everyone for coming out and honoring Jordan on his day.

Jojo, his brothers and his cousins ripped it up at the skate park with his new scooter and skateboard! They spent most of their time there.

Jordan having fun jumping!

They jumped off almost all of their energy at the jumping area of the facility.
After 2 hours of jumping and skating, we headed off to Peter Piper for some pizza, cake and games!

Jordan's favorite food is what he calls his "secret recipe". It's yogurt parfait with yogurt, granola and berries. So I wanted to incorporate that into his cake so I made a chocolate parfait cake. It was made of layers of chocolate cake, vanilla and chocolate pudding, crushed Skor bars and cool whip. It was too good to put into words!
All in all I have to say that Jordan's party was a success! He received lots of cool gifts and had a great time playing and being the king for the day. ;-)

Ryan's 3rd "Mickey Mouse" Birthday Bash

My baby boy is 3! Such a bittersweet time when one of my children have a birthday. I love to see them grow into the person who they are going to be, and then I am sad that they are just one more year away from being my baby.
We had his birthday at Airworks then at Peter Piper Pizza. His 2 favorite things, jumping places and pizza!
He jumped his little heart at Airworks, rolling around, climbing, doing flips, and sliding down the "ramps".

 

He was so happy as you can tell in the picture to the left... :)






He did not want to leave Airworks but he was so stoked to know that we were going to Peter Piper to play games and eat lots of pizza and drink soda, OH and eat his cupcakes...

His cupcakes and presents!

Ryry so happy!

All of us minus my mom, she was taking the picture.

James' 30th SURPRISE birthday bash!

 A year in the making, my mom and I worked our tails off making this party one to remember while remaining on a strict budget! The theme was of course - HUNTING!

The food was courtesy of "Ketchup in the Kitchen" a VERY affordable and tasty choice. I provided the elk meat for the elk tacos and she provided the rest - rice, beans, chips, salsa, and taco fixings.

The drinks we served were more for adults... margaritas, micheladas, and a keg, which by the way was just enough.

My mom and I made the centerpieces out of lanterns, moss, pine cones, used shotgun shells, and sticks. Everything but the lanterns were found at local parks and our backyard. ;-)

The table runners were really easy to make, I don't sew so I ironed the ends and used fabric glue to finish off the rough edges.

The venue was a beautiful one that I would use again! It was at a place called Noah's.

I made a video montague of James that was compiled of pictures of him from baby to now. It included his favorite songs, all country of course. I worked really hard on that, I wanted it to be special for his family as well to realize that they all had a hand in raising this heck of a man that I love so much.

The cake was made by yours truly. It was a 6 layered, 3 tiered carrot cake covered in fondant with camo cake tattoos and an orange Browning symbol.

He was definitely surprised and he as well as all of the guests had an amazing time! This was a great night that we will remember for a long time...

When he walked in, as we all yelled, "SURPRISE!"

The guys had a great time!