Berry Pickin'

I found a Blackberry farm about 15 minutes from our house and took the kids over there one morning. We had so much fun. It had rained the previous couple days so it was a bit swampy but the kids rather enjoyed stomping in the puddles. I think it might be something we turn into a tradition (the berry picking...not the stomping in puddles... )

We brought along Emma's best friend, her, Emma and Miguel did really well picking but Gabe kept dumping out everything he picked. He thought they were bombs and he kept trying to blow up the bushes...gotta love the boys :D

We ended up picking over 9 lbs of berries. We made a triple berry pie and blackberry cobbler. I'm saving the rest to make blackberry jam...which I'm very excited about...yum!!

WoW...let's catch up.

So....my last post was in March...like the beginning of March....I'm a slacker. I blame it on no internet connection. : D Now that we have that, I'll dive right in on what the kids have been up to these last six months.....

For those of you that haven't heard we are expecting baby #4 on November 8th. It's another little boy and we are very excited.


Emma turned 7 on May 31st. She is such an amazing little girl. She has a great heart and she is so mothering. Sometimes I have to remind her she's not the Mom and to go be a kid : D Although most of the time I'm grateful for her help. She has started getting the boys cereal in the morning (without being asked!!!), I'll come out from getting dressed or school clothes together and they will all be at the table eating. It's so helpful! She started 2nd grade just a couple weeks ago. She is doing so great!! It's 200 times better than last year. There have been no tears and she is really enjoying herself. Her Spanish skills are just exploding! She speaks it whenever possible. She really loves that she is the only grandchild at her Abuelita's that can speak it...it's their own special language. The same with her Daddy. Although Miguel doesn't think it's very cool. He is really wanting to learn now. Emma is such a great friend. She has so many kids at school that just love her. She is very compassionate. Ces and I feel very blessed to have her as a daughter. We had little birthday party for Emma with some of her friends from school. Here are some pictures from the party.


Miguel turned 4 on June 22nd. Miguel is full of life. There is nothing he can't dream up. He is always fighting monsters and shooting all kinds of made up creatures. Sometimes I'm not sure if he knows what's reality and what's not but he sure does have a lot of fun! He still has his deep voice and sweet smile which endears him to most people. He starts another year of preschool in about a week. He is very excited!!! He is an incredibly sweet little boy...He will come up to me or anybody he knows really and tell them how much he loves them. One of my favorite things he does is when I make something for dinner that he is particulary happy about and he says something like this " Mom! You are awesome!! You make the best dinners ever!! I love you so much!! Thank you Thank you Thank you!!" It always makes me feel good. He brings so much joy and laughter into our home.

Now for my Gabey baby. Gabriel is now 22 months old now and the happiest little guy in the house. As long as he isn't hungry he is laughing. He loves to follow his Bubba around the house and mimick whatever he is doing and then they just laugh and laugh. One of my favorite noises are the two of them playing and laughing together. He loves his Emma too. She is usually the one who gets him out of his crib in the morning and then all we hear in the morning is him yelling her name. He loves to tell her stories and she is sweet enough to listen and pretend he is telling her something really important. It's too cute!! Gabe is a big clown too. If he knows you are watching him he will pretend to get dizzy, cross his eyes & then fall over. He thinks this is pretty funny. He hated the pool this summer. It took us till about mid July before he would get in the pool without crying and then he'll only get in fully dressed. I'm hoping next summer goes a little smoother. : /

A Heartastic day!

On Saturday we went to the Oklahoma Heart Institute. They were celebrating their 1st anniversary. We learned about heart healthy food, heart disease and got to talk to a cardio Dr about Ces' extreme salt intake ( we were told because he has low blood pressure and is heart healthy he can have as much salt as he wants! My Mom was bummed she wouldn't be able to harass him anymore about this...), not to mention a giant anatomically correct heart that we walked through, face painting and balloon making. Miguel even convinced his Grandmama to come along! It was a fun afternoon.

Mosquitoes, anyone?

I hate mosquitoes...they are just nasty! Last year they were really bad, especially at our house. It must have been their breeding ground or something! Due to this; we found out that Miguel is highly allergic to them. Anytime he is bitten he gets a huge welt, it's red and really hot. I always felt so bad for him. There wasn't a day that he didn't have a least 2 welts on his face : ( One morning we awoke to this......


A mosquito had bite him right about his eyebrow. His eye was swollen shut for about a week. Needless to say we are not looking forward to this part of summer. Miguel has since learned that only female mosquitoes bite so he is determined to only play around boy mosquitoes...Good luck, Son!!

Daddy Daughter Date

Every year growing up I went to our church's Daddy Daughter Date with my dad and 4 little sisters. My Mom would make us all matching dresses and my Dad would take us to a fancy restaurant and then to the Church for the dance portion of the night. It was always so much fun and I've treasure those memories as an adult and it's always been a dream of mine that my daughter would be able to go with her Dad. Well, this year Emma got to attend her first Daddy Daughter Date! Since I don't have the same sewing skills as my Mom; I took her to the store and let her pick out a new dress for her date. She was so excited about going out with her Daddy.


Ces took her to a Osaka's (Japanese steakhouse) where they met two of my sisters and my Dad who were also on their Daddy Daughter Date and from there they all went to the church and partied late into the night :D

The church encouraged Mothers and sons to hang out while the Dad's and girls were away. So, Miguel, Gabe and I got together with my Mom and little brother. We ordered some yummy Mexican food and played Mario Kart on the Wii. It was a great night for everyone!!

(pardon Miguel's weird face...he had it painted as spider man at an event we went to...and it's wearing off :D )

Christmas 2009

We had a lot of fun this Christmas. It was our first Christmas in our very own home. My brother and his family stayed with us. It was so much fun!!

It doesn't snow much in Oklahoma but Christmas eve we had a huge snow storm. On our way home from my Grandparents home we got stuck just as we were pulling into our neighborhood. Luckily my brother has a jeep with huge tires and was able to rescue you us on multiple occasions. THANKS TOM!!
The kids had a blast with their cousins during Christmas. There were lots of wrapping paper on the floor and tons of giggles while playing with their new toys.

Gabriel is 1!!!

Actually he is 16 months old now, but he turned ONE on October 26. Gabe is such a fun little guy. He has the best personality. He is always smiling and super happy.

Opening presents

One of his favorite toys

Playing with Aunt Lacy

Gabe LOVES pumpkins (and his birthday is only 5 days from Halloween) , so it was only fitting to make him a pumpkin cake