Thursday, June 11, 2009
Mother's Day 2009
Let's see if I can recreate my Mother's Day for you. I know it's a month late, but I've been busy!! lol
We spent a long weekend in Port Aransas. It was so beautiful and so relaxing. We had a great time! The weather was sunny and crazy hot! We stayed in a condo with a pool in our backyard and the ocean, also in the backyard, within walking distance. The condo was great! It was stocked with everything we could ever need, except for food. I hear it was much like a timeshare, if any of you have ever experienced one of those.
The first thing we did after we unloaded the car was run to the beach. Sabrina was the first one to hit the water. She obviously missed the memo that I sent out about how each child was to lather up with SPF before doing anything in the sun. Jeremy quizzed her on the water temperature. She said it was warm and I thought, yeah right, warm to who? But, to my surprise, she was right! It was warm...like bath water. For the next few days we played hard at the beach in that soft soft sand and in the warm water and big waves. Camri made a turtle and spent time looking for shark teeth. Sabrina has no fear of deep water. No matter how many times we'd get onto her, we'd still find her back in water that we considered too deep for her. She scares me a little. lol She has no fear, it seems. She actually made a little friend one day whose grandfather had a surfboard that he was helping the girls body surf on. It was really cute to see. Vanessa spent lots of time looking for pretty seashells, which were generously sprinkled all around the beach by Mother Nature. Thank you. And Mr.P enjoyed digging holes in the sand with his shovel and bucket.
We got into the routine of sleeping in, eating breakfast, and then it was off to the beach. We brought food so we didn't have to walk back for lunch. After the beach, we'd walk back to the condo and Jeremy would grill our dinner. After we ate and our food settled down a bit, we'd take a swim in the pool. Doing that in the evening was always nice because the sand was so fine, you could never quite get rid of it all and the pool helped quite a bit with that. We'd swim until the sun disappeared and then we'd make our way back inside. After bathtimes, we'd let the kids watch movies and fall asleep for the night while Jeremy and I spent our evenings out on the deck watching and listening to the ocean waves. I can almost feel the moist air now and smell the ocean breeze. It was so relaxing. We lucked out and even got to enjoy a full moon. It was really beautiful.
But, as they say, all good things must come to an end. (sigh) We stopped at a souvenir shop on the way out of town and the kids stocked up on starfish and snowglobes and polished seashells that gleamed. Our last little treat was when we rode the ferry across the water. The kids (and me too) thought it was so cool to be able to drive onto a boat that floated the car across. We watched a bird sitting on the top of a truck that sat next to us. We laughed at that bird. It seemed funny to us that he took a ride on a ferry instead of flying itself across. Lazy, I guess.
And within hours, we were home. Home to our beautiful house. Back to our usual schedules. And I'm still finding sand here and there.
We spent a long weekend in Port Aransas. It was so beautiful and so relaxing. We had a great time! The weather was sunny and crazy hot! We stayed in a condo with a pool in our backyard and the ocean, also in the backyard, within walking distance. The condo was great! It was stocked with everything we could ever need, except for food. I hear it was much like a timeshare, if any of you have ever experienced one of those.
The first thing we did after we unloaded the car was run to the beach. Sabrina was the first one to hit the water. She obviously missed the memo that I sent out about how each child was to lather up with SPF before doing anything in the sun. Jeremy quizzed her on the water temperature. She said it was warm and I thought, yeah right, warm to who? But, to my surprise, she was right! It was warm...like bath water. For the next few days we played hard at the beach in that soft soft sand and in the warm water and big waves. Camri made a turtle and spent time looking for shark teeth. Sabrina has no fear of deep water. No matter how many times we'd get onto her, we'd still find her back in water that we considered too deep for her. She scares me a little. lol She has no fear, it seems. She actually made a little friend one day whose grandfather had a surfboard that he was helping the girls body surf on. It was really cute to see. Vanessa spent lots of time looking for pretty seashells, which were generously sprinkled all around the beach by Mother Nature. Thank you. And Mr.P enjoyed digging holes in the sand with his shovel and bucket.
We got into the routine of sleeping in, eating breakfast, and then it was off to the beach. We brought food so we didn't have to walk back for lunch. After the beach, we'd walk back to the condo and Jeremy would grill our dinner. After we ate and our food settled down a bit, we'd take a swim in the pool. Doing that in the evening was always nice because the sand was so fine, you could never quite get rid of it all and the pool helped quite a bit with that. We'd swim until the sun disappeared and then we'd make our way back inside. After bathtimes, we'd let the kids watch movies and fall asleep for the night while Jeremy and I spent our evenings out on the deck watching and listening to the ocean waves. I can almost feel the moist air now and smell the ocean breeze. It was so relaxing. We lucked out and even got to enjoy a full moon. It was really beautiful.
But, as they say, all good things must come to an end. (sigh) We stopped at a souvenir shop on the way out of town and the kids stocked up on starfish and snowglobes and polished seashells that gleamed. Our last little treat was when we rode the ferry across the water. The kids (and me too) thought it was so cool to be able to drive onto a boat that floated the car across. We watched a bird sitting on the top of a truck that sat next to us. We laughed at that bird. It seemed funny to us that he took a ride on a ferry instead of flying itself across. Lazy, I guess.
And within hours, we were home. Home to our beautiful house. Back to our usual schedules. And I'm still finding sand here and there.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Sabrina's 6th Birthday
If you ever want to truly surprise your kids with a birthday party, you should really try to do it while they're little. It's so cute to see the shocked looks on their faces.
Sabrina had asked months and months ago if she could have, "...one of those birthday parties where everyone jumps out and yells 'surprise' at you." I filed that one away and when the time came, I dug it out. She's still little enough to forget when her birthday party is, so when I sent the invitations out, I convinced her that her party was on Sunday. It was actually on Saturday. I didn't let any of the invitees know that it was a surprise, as they would surely tell her. One of my good friends offered to help out, so I dropped Sabrina off at her house that morning on my way to pick up the cake. Sabrina thought she was just going over to play. I told my friend to bring her back precisely at 2:30 since I put 2:00 on the invitations; that left enough time for all of the guests to arrive.
It worked!! She was definitely surprised. We did the whole hiding thing and I told the kids that when she came through the door, I would count to 3 and then we'd say, "Surprise!" I was worried that if I didn't count, then no one would actually do it at the same time. They did it perfectly! Kindergarteners are great at following directions in groups...usually. A couple of her friends came out and tackle hugged her while the rest popped out here and there. They were all so cute!
Afterwards, we made wands (Tinkerbell birthday theme), played Tinkerbell Bingo, played a balloon stomping game, which I'm shocked no one got hurt from (lol), had a pinata and did the usual cake and presents.
It was a sweet little party. I'm hoping I can figure out how to put post a video of the surprise on here. We'll see...
Sabrina had asked months and months ago if she could have, "...one of those birthday parties where everyone jumps out and yells 'surprise' at you." I filed that one away and when the time came, I dug it out. She's still little enough to forget when her birthday party is, so when I sent the invitations out, I convinced her that her party was on Sunday. It was actually on Saturday. I didn't let any of the invitees know that it was a surprise, as they would surely tell her. One of my good friends offered to help out, so I dropped Sabrina off at her house that morning on my way to pick up the cake. Sabrina thought she was just going over to play. I told my friend to bring her back precisely at 2:30 since I put 2:00 on the invitations; that left enough time for all of the guests to arrive.
It worked!! She was definitely surprised. We did the whole hiding thing and I told the kids that when she came through the door, I would count to 3 and then we'd say, "Surprise!" I was worried that if I didn't count, then no one would actually do it at the same time. They did it perfectly! Kindergarteners are great at following directions in groups...usually. A couple of her friends came out and tackle hugged her while the rest popped out here and there. They were all so cute!
Afterwards, we made wands (Tinkerbell birthday theme), played Tinkerbell Bingo, played a balloon stomping game, which I'm shocked no one got hurt from (lol), had a pinata and did the usual cake and presents.
It was a sweet little party. I'm hoping I can figure out how to put post a video of the surprise on here. We'll see...
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Mr.P the Cleaner
So the 3 older kids are all back at school (sad face...I love when they're home) and Jeremy is back at work with no more holidays to look forward to having off anytime soon and the house is quiet during the days and back to normal with just me and Mr.P. He surprised me this evening when I called him and Sabrina upstairs to the playroom after dinner to help me clean it up. I had just told Jeremy to beware of the whining that was about to happen and when I walked to the playroom getting ready to call them up....TA-DA...it was already done!! I was really surprised. I called both of them up and asked them about it. Mr.P said that he had cleaned it and proceeded to inform me that he had cleaned everyone's bedrooms too. I just looked at him for a second and then walked to Vanessa's room. The floor was all cleaned up and every piece of clothing was jam packed into one drawer that was all the way open in her chest of drawers. I'm surprised that thing didn't fall forward with all the weight! The stuffed animals were all in a pile. He did what he could with everything in there until the floor was not only visible, but cleared. Vanessa was as surprised as I was because she had thought that I cleaned it while she was at school. Yeah, right. I don't think I've picked up any of my kids' rooms once they were able to toddle their clothes the laundry. I try to push independence as much as possible in this house. I still guide them on what needs to be done, but I don't do it. By this time, Mr.P is quite proud of himself as he's seeing the shock and pleased looks on our faces and grabs my hand to show me how he's cleaned up "Brina's" room and his own. I was really proud of that kid! I asked him why he did all of that cleaning and he said it was because I was cleaning the downstairs, so he was going to do the upstairs. What a man!!!
2009
2009 has gotten off to a pretty smooth start, at least in our house anyway. We rang in new new year by throwing a party with a few family members and some of the friends that we've made in the year and 4 months that we've been here.
Sabrina seemed to be the most thrilled about the excitement of the year change at midnight. She COULD NOT WAIT to start "screaming and yelling and making lots of noise" when it was time to count down. I'm not sure it was everything that she had dreamed it would be. lol I'm not sure exactly what she was expecting. I get this mental image of everyone at our party running around yelling and screaming with their arms flailing around in a panic.
None of us have really talked about big resolutions. Of course, Jeremy and I have talked about the usual eating healthier and exercising more. I don't think I've talked to a grown person who hasn't though. And to tell you the truth, I have yet to start that up. Yeah, I'm that focused. Vanessa did say that she'd like to learn how to type with the correct fingerings and without looking down at the keyboard by the end of the year. I'm sure I can help her reach that goal. And Miss Sabrina came home from her last day of kindergarten, before Christmas break, with a resolution written down. "My new years resolution is to spend more time with my family." I read it and thought, "What the??" I'm not sure who helped her think of that one or if she just came up with that on her own. She doesn't do much else besides spend time with her family. She's 5.
Sabrina seemed to be the most thrilled about the excitement of the year change at midnight. She COULD NOT WAIT to start "screaming and yelling and making lots of noise" when it was time to count down. I'm not sure it was everything that she had dreamed it would be. lol I'm not sure exactly what she was expecting. I get this mental image of everyone at our party running around yelling and screaming with their arms flailing around in a panic.
None of us have really talked about big resolutions. Of course, Jeremy and I have talked about the usual eating healthier and exercising more. I don't think I've talked to a grown person who hasn't though. And to tell you the truth, I have yet to start that up. Yeah, I'm that focused. Vanessa did say that she'd like to learn how to type with the correct fingerings and without looking down at the keyboard by the end of the year. I'm sure I can help her reach that goal. And Miss Sabrina came home from her last day of kindergarten, before Christmas break, with a resolution written down. "My new years resolution is to spend more time with my family." I read it and thought, "What the??" I'm not sure who helped her think of that one or if she just came up with that on her own. She doesn't do much else besides spend time with her family. She's 5.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)