His father's son

No need to say (much) more.

Except...

Just me and Spence

Naptime is practically torture in our house at times. I feel like I spend two hours losing every ounce of sanity patiently asking my son to keep his voice down. Some days its just not worth the effort to be down to one kid if you know what I mean.

Alfonso had some school work to get finished, so realizing I'd on my own during naptime, I thought it just might be easier for all parties if both Spencer and I left the house. It was a beautiful day, a nice break between rain storms, so we went to Contra Loma and walked around and explored. I wasn't planning to be there very long, but Spencer was really having fun, so we stayed a long while. I had my camera along and though the bright sun may have killed my chance at taking the shot I was hoping for, I wouldn't trade our fun in the sun for anything.

Nope, not even chocolate :)

Mexican Rice

A while back I found myself craving Mexican rice of the not-out-of-a-box variety. In my search I found this blog along with the recipe I used that night and a few times since then. It's yummy!

Mexican Rice

1 T oil (I used olive oil)
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped (I used bell pepper)
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (I skipped for fear I'd hear the spicy "pie-see" word from Mia)
1 cup rice (I used brown rice)
1 1/2 c. chicken stock
2 cups diced tomatoes with liquid
1 t chili powder
1 t cumin
1/2 t salt

Heat oil
Add onions, garlic, peppers and saute for 5-7 minutes
Add rice, chicken stock, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin and salt. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer until rice is done (time depends on type of rice you use)

Our train adventure

Mia's become slightly obsessed with trains so we thought it would be fun to take the Amtrak train to Sacramento for the day and go to the train museum while we were there. We made our plans the week before prior to the weather turning nasty. We knew we weren't about to get ourselves out of this trip (Mia asked about the "Choo-choo" everyday), so we headed out prepared as we could be (rain jackets, umbrella).

We hit a few patches of rain here and there, but nothing that couldn't be managed with the gear on hand. As we waited for our departure train to arrive it began to hail...A LOT! We found ourselves thankful for the shelter provided by the train station and our intuition to leave the museum when we did. The kids absolutely loved watching the icy rain fall and we found it pretty neat too considering its rarity.

Tell me what you love?

I'm going on day number two without hubby/daddy, and we miss him.  Badly.

Yesterday could be placed in the category of "awful" and it wasn't something I wanted repeated again today.  Not.fun.for.sure.

I made a (cheap) Valentine's Day craft with the kids this afternoon.  We (I) cut out paper hearts with some craft paper we had laying around and I asked the kids to tell me what/who they loved.  I figured I'd get a few interesting, but they were all precious.  The "love list" included:  Daddy, Mommy, Jesus, Daddy and Mommy, "ho-ho-ho" (that's Mia's way of referring to Santa Claus), Christmas, "tookie" (Mia loves cookies), Scooby-Doo, Mimi (Mia loves herself...never would have guessed a two-year-old would be so self-absorbed :)  ), Scout and Cooper (our doggies).

Afterwards, the kids decorated their hearts with glitter paint and plenty of it.  I'm not sure if our hearts will ever dry.

It's hard to find this look intimidating....

When I know the real boy behind the look...Winning isn't everything, but it never hurts to try all the tricks :)

Mia's a busy gal!

While Spencer and Daddy practiced, Mia kept herself busy with some very important, highly sensitive, top secret duties.She was transporting some very important material in that Tonka dump truck alright.Now she asks, "Do you think orange is a good color for me?"I know I'm biased, but I think any color is good in Mia...as long as it doesn't stain that is.

Blue Hair = Luck

Haven't you heard, blue hair brings luck?I shouldn't give the new 'do so much credit.  Spencer's baseball performance has far more to do with a very, very (did I mention very?) patient father.  In the past few weeks tears have been shed by ALL members of our household when it came time to practice.  Spencer insisted he wanted to play t-ball this year and fearing we may have a repeat performance of soccer practice of 2007, we made the kid swear he would follow through.  He insisted he would.

That was his story anyway until the check cleared, then all of a sudden he wanted to give up and call it good.  Because we love him so much (snicker, snicker) and our bank account was now minus $100, we said, "Absolutely not".  See, I said "Absolutely not", but Alfonso did all the hardwork; he practiced with that kid every single day until the tears stopped and the smiles came.  I think we've just experienced our first miracle :)

Now Spencer can catch a ground ball

He can hit like a mini-proAnd he's got quite the armWay to go Daddy!

Second post o' the night

I should be finishing up our tax paperwork, but my head just aches from all the numbers.  Maybe a few written words will help get me motivated.

She keeps me on my toes, but I wouldn't have it any other way (most days anyhow :) ).

Lazy Sunday

lazy Sunday (as in p.j.'s all day long) + extreme concentration =
RESULTS!!

A welcome distraction

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Micke Grove Park in Lodi last week. What a neat little place! We toured the Japanese Garden, a very small, but cute zoo, huge castle-like playground structure (there are several scattered about), and kiddie amusement park. Besides the amusement park, we spent less than $15. The kids had a blast and the weather was absolutely perfect. A nice day to just be.

Picture from the Japanese Garden.  A really beautiful place even in the dead of winter.  I can't imagine how nice it will look come spring.

Obligatory, but still cute.  How does he do it?!

And she sits(!), but only for a second :)

What a cutie!

Mia loved the little fishy, but I think she mistook it for a train as I caught her saying, "Choo-choo!"

Who knew a double chin could be so darn cute?!  Live it up, girl!

Enjoying life...

Alfonso surprised me with birthday money to buy a new lens for my camera. Originally he planned on purchasing a zoom lens with the belief that it would come in handy as our kids aged and played sports etc. I thought that was what I wanted too until I did a little more research. For a fourth of the price I ordered a lens that allows me to take more indoor pictures without the use of a flash. If you pay attention, you'll notice that the use of a flash really "kills" a picture by making it appear a little flat. I still take pictures with my pop-up flash, but its nice to know I can capture more pictures full of life.

This lens is very sensitive to any sort of movement so I haven't yet had a chance to capture a real goodie of Mia...the girl never stops moving, but that's a story for another time :). I took this picture of Spencer in our entreeway with the front door open. That's usually a great spot to get natural light without harsh direct sunlight and get nice catchlights in the eyes.

I made it to Grandpa's house today.  It helped that my two cousins meet me there and I waited in the car until their arrival because I just didn't think I could do it alone.

Of course I cried when I saw the makeshift "shrine" his caregiver created on Grandpa's chair.  He hardly ever left that chair and now it's empty...forever.  Weird.

When my dad called this last Sunday to tell me Grandpa had taken a turn for the worse, I knew I needed to be in that room as soon as possible.  The problem was Alfonso was at church with the car and the car seats and I had a little munchkin at home with me.  After the tenth unanswered phone call, I found myself pacing in the garage just waiting to jump in the car the moment he arrived.  I was anxious alright and I needed to focus my energy on something other than my husband's inability to answer his phone at such a critical time, so I started to pick-up a bit.  I found a few of Spencer's Sunday school masterpieces.  When I brought the papers into the house, something caught my eye.  A piece of bright blue construction paper held a message I know was sent for me as it read, "God is with me".

He is, isn't He?    

I entered Grandpa's room asking God to wrap His arms around me.  Due to circumstances surrounding my earlier years, I've grown to have a deep anxiety surrounding death or illness.  I'm not talking about the normal fear most of us carry, but rather a fear that's required years of counseling and one that will continue to require effort to overcome.  I knew Grandpa was near his end and I knew he would find peace with the life he lived, but it's still hard to let go.  

When his heart and oxygen monitor signaled trouble, I squeezed his hand a little tighter.  He fought and he fought hard.  As he took his last few breaths, I was nose to nose with the very best Grandpa in the world.  What a peaceful passing.  I've thanked God over and over for the opportunity to be present.  

Our involvement in Grandpa's life says more about him then it does us.  Really, he was impossible not to love and care for.  As my Uncle put it, "He made his own luck."  My dad has told me many times that he's never heard Grandpa speak ill of anyone or curse.  That sure makes me wish I was a little bit more like Grandpa.  I too never saw him angry.  The only time I remember him being upset with me was when I purposely stepped on a snail and told Grandma he did it.  Sure pill time would cause him to occasionally declare, "You're sure bossy!", but more for a laugh than anything.

Now that his house is completely empty, we'll begin to sift through the treasures he and Grandma found along the way.  Its hard, that's for sure, but it only hurts because we loved them both so much.

Grandpa

My grandpa passed away yesterday morning.  This last week was pretty tough as I prepared to say goodbye.  I'm not up for posting much more than this as my emotions are still pretty raw (which is why many phone calls have gone unreturned).

I took this picture a few days before grandpa passed away.  I don't usually have my camera with me when I go to his house and I'm so thankful that I felt a prompting to have it with me that day.  To me, this picture is proof that a photo doesn't have to be perfect to be priceless.

And now I'm a believer.  The above photos confirm the fact that a little boy will indeed make weapons (and related "apparel") if not provided the real deal.  Spencer found the knife in Mia's food cutting kit and then he used a nylon bag to complete the Rambo look.  He was in such a rush, he didn't have time to remove the balls from the bag, but you get the point.

Our late Christmas summarized in five pictures

When you've got kids in the picture, this is considered a keeper.

Mia is opening her wood "food".  She wasn't amused and wondered where the real stuff was.

Yes, it is indeed a apron my son is wearing, but you got to admit the 

retro space theme is pretty cute.  Plus, my window of opportunity is limited.

Practice makes (almost) perfect kids.

Be scared.  Be very scared.

We had a fantastic late Christmas.  We ate a breakfast casserole and lounged in our p.j.s all day long.  That night, Alfonso surprised me with a nice (and pre-planned) birthday dinner at Shutter's.  I had only twenty minutes to go from laying on the couch in my p.j.s to dressed and out the door.  It didn't help that I had a wicked cold and  I was pretty miserable when our babysitter arrived.  Thankfully, I have some great friends who seemed happy to see me even without a shower.  We had a fantastic time out and left after almost four hours of conversation.  We might have stayed longer but we got the feeling the place was just kept open for us :).  Although I'm not a fan of surprises, it sure made me feel special to know Alfonso had planned this night with me in mind.  He's really great.  If you need further proof you just might want to take a look at the above picture again...what a gem!