What We've been up to...

It's been a busy few weeks, or should I say months, around here!  Since returning from Europe, life seemed to be filled with stuff.  You know the stuff I'm talking about....sports, homework, finishing up the school year, lots of activities, starting up my business.  You know the stuff that keeps me from posting as much as I'd like to.  I have been so busy working on my website and blog for the business.  I've had a handful of clients and that work also keeps me busy.  I have enjoyed growing my small business these last few months, but juggling it with my first and most important job, mommy, has been tough.  The kids have been super active these past few months!  Between JT's travel ball, and Curly and Cupcake's Karate, we've been on the go.  Add into that the numerous end-of-year activities and you've got one tired mommy! I am thankful that Jeff hasn't been traveling much these days, although with his work-load and countless nights working on his lap-top, he may as well be, right?  So, I am going to try to fit most of what we've been up to in this post, so I apologize for the long post.  So....let's seen what we've been up to:

JT has been playing travel ball and it's been a blast to watch him.  It's been very tough on our family though. We were told that our team wouldn't be playing Sunday Mornings and that it wouldn't interfere with church...well that was a big crock of bologna!  We have missed so much church these past few months, I think my friends might think we've changed churches.  We've decided that we aren't going to be doing that much anymore!

(special thanks to LollyD for this photo):



My boy turned 10 on the 13th! Can you believe it?  I have a 10 -year old!  He's has grown so much over the last year.  It's hard to believe that we're half way through our years with him under our care.  I am savoring each moment with this kid.  He is precious and sweet and loving and kind. This is how God created him, with a gentle spirit and a heart of gold!
For his birthday - we had a moms vs. boys baseball game (moms lost 16-8 with a little help from the dads)


The last day of school:


After school got out, he left for camp (last week).  He was homesick on Tuesday, but ended up having an amazing time and said he can't wait for next year!


Curly has been taking Karate (what type?  Sport Karate which is a mixture of Karate and American Tae Kwon Do) now for 3 months and he recently tested for his Yellow Belt.  He is doing amazing and has found his sport.  I love to watch him do something that he is gifted at.  His Sensei's see his drive and are so proud of how far he's come in the last few months.


He's definitely my spicy one! He often will not back down from me...It is definitely challenging to parent a child like him, but he brings so much flavor to our home, I can't imagine our lives with out him!




My baby girl turned 5 this month!  Where has the time gone?  I feel like she was just born!  She is loving and sweet and spicy and moody!


She is also taking Karate and is so darn cute to watch.  She is so full of love, it warms my heart.  She cried buckets when JT left for camp last week and hasn't stopped holding his hand since he got home on Friday!  She will start kindergarten in the fall and I will be sad to not have my buddy with me.  She has been so strong about Lulu too.  We recently went to visit her and she said she was happy Lulu was in a good family. I was so proud of her.





This was our very last preschool performance.  It was sad for me to think that this chapter of our family is closing.  I loved watching my girl blossom over the last year...still very shy, she actually sang the songs and did the movements.  She did forget the 3 words ("So Will I") that she was supposed to say.  When I asked her what happened, she said, "Mommy, there were too many people!"


We've got some fun days planned ahead for the summer and I am looking forward to savoring every minute with my little peeps.  I love having them home and seeing them all day every day!  Let's hope I can be more on top of this blog thing this summer!

Happy Summer!

Mom always cries

My little people started school today.  All 3 of them.  We had a fabulous summer full of fun and leisure.  We enjoyed lots of warm days in our pool with friends.  A few beach days with family and friends.  We joined our usual crew on Tuesdays at Wild Rivers Waterpark.  We stayed up late and slept in almost everyday.  We laughed a lot.  We saw baseball games, went to the zoo, Catalina, spent time with cousins, enjoyed a few warm nights at Disneyland.   Overall, it was a Fabulous summer.  Probably one of the best we've ever had.

Today was the first day of school.  We all woke up this morning excited and ready for a great year ahead.  We prayed for the Lord's blessings over each of the kids and their teachers. We were ready - new shoes, check.  new backpacks, check.  new lunchboxes, check.  school supplies, check.  good attitude, check.  great teachers, check.

We arrived on campus today and all 3 had big smiles and great attitudes.  Dad joined in the first day of school drop off, so we were happy to have him there.  After I left Curly's class, I walked to my car, got in and cried. I know I will miss my kids.  I loved having them home.  I enjoyed seeing their faces all day, everyday.  I always cry on the first day of school because it means my little people are growing up and with each school year time seems to fly by a bit faster.  Sure, I will enjoy having time to do things.  I look forward to having some lunch dates with my hubby and girlfriends, sans kids.  But, boy do I love these little people.  They bring me so much joy and I enjoy every minute I get to be with them.  So, tearfully we began a new school year and I am entering a new stage of motherhood - 3 days a week to myself to do all the things I can't do with my little people (started by running 12 miles this morning).  Enjoy these sweet pics of my babies today:

Birthday Weekend Fun....

Saturday I celebrated my 35th Birthday! I don't feel like I'm in my mid 30's, but I am! I had a great weekend celebrating.

Saturday night J and I went to dinner with Jon and Court and the Beasley's to celebrate. Jenni and I share the same birthday and after 7 years of knowing each other, this was the first time we were able to celebrate together! We had a great dinner at Maggianos and enjoyed some wonderful conversation!

The Birthday Girls....


Sunday we headed South to the Del Mar Races for Family Day. We had a Fantastic Day and the kids loved it!









It was a fabulous birthday weekend celebration despite my lingering chest cold!  We all had a great time!

A trip to the Colorado River....

Yes, we have been on the run this summer!  For 5 years we've heard of the fun to be had at Lost Lake Resort with the Stice Family...we finally got to experience it for ourselves!  We had a great time - we stayed cool in the river (the avg. daily temp. 118 degrees).  We arrived Friday and played all weekend before we headed to Arizona to visit D's family!  What a great trip we had...enjoy the photos:













We had a great time visiting with D's aunt and uncle in Arizona.  Boy, was it hot out there!  We spent a lot of time inside - went to the movies, hung out at their house. We had a great time visiting with them!  D's Aunt Nellie and Cousin, Alex, took Cupcake to The Glitter Box to get her hair done and she picked out a new nightgown, boy did she look adorable:

 







We were able to spend some great family time together - played fun Yahtzee (as opposed to competitive Yahtzee), enjoyed an early morning (5 am 91 degree) run with my (D) Tio, and the kids loved playing with their cousins!  All in all, it was a great mini-vacation away from the daily life in OC!

I Heart NY

Thursday we joined J on a business trip to New Jersey.  We left from JWA bright and early and the kids were thrilled to be going with daddy on a trip.





We arrived late Thursday evening in Newark.  We spent Friday morning at our hotel in Parsippany (which, by the way, is a beautiful town).  J got out of work around 2:30 and we headed into the city for a weekend of family fun in the Big City.  The kids couldn't believe the skyline and loved all the lights in Times Square where we stayed.



        

Friday night we went to dinner and dessert at Serendipity's.  They are famous for their Frozen Hot Chocolate (seen on the left and Cupcake Enjoying it above).  We also had the "Can't Say No Sundae" (which is a slice of humble pie - peanut butter pie with a graham cracker crust- hot fudge, vanilla ice cream and whip cream - truly decadent and delicious)

Saturday Morning we did the "tourist" thing and took a double decker bus tour of the city.  It was great and the kids enjoyed the top of the bus.





Curly loved the massive amounts of taxis - we had fun counting them when we got bored waiting at bus stops to hop back on our tourbus.





The kids loved seeing the Empire State building...

We hopped off the bus in China Town and walked up to Lombardi's for Lunch - we waited a while, but it was so worth the wait...





The best meatball pizza I have ever had - coal fired in the oven that opened the place in 1905.

 After lunch we hopped back on the bus and headed to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty (JT's requests were the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty).  We missed the last fairy boat to the island where she is, so we had to see her from afar at Battery Park.

 





JT was so cute with Cupcake- he let her sit on his lap almost all day and kept her laughing and happy!  What a wonderful big brother he is!  We had lots of people compliment us on him and how patient and loving he was with his siblings.  It warmed this mama's heart!

Saturday night the boys went to the Top of the Rock and saw the view of the city lights at night.



 

Sunday morning I wanted to do 2 things - Go to Central Park and Get cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery and we did just that.  Central Park was absolutely breathtaking!  It was so beautiful and so big!  The Aids Walk was taking place that day, so it was a bit crazy, but what an amazing park!

 















We got some cupcakes from Magnolia - red velvet, black and white, vanilla/vanilla and chocolate/chocolate.  We were told to get the banana pudding, which by the way, was so AMAZING.  Now you all know me and I am a cupcake fan, but that pudding was so delicious.



Monday morning we headed back to New Jersey so J could get back to work and we hung out at our hotel, swam in the pool and waiting for daddy to come home from work.  We had a nice relaxing day - which we needed after a packed weekend in the city!  Here is my girl taking it easy because she had an ear infection and sinus infection. 



Tuesday I headed home with all 3 kids in tow alone.  I felt like a Mama duck with all her ducklings following behind....they did great and I couldn't have asked for a better day of travel with 3 kids alone!

Here we are at Newark Airport waiting for our plane to arrive- notice the beautiful wet day...





Thank goodness for cupcake's pacifier - it helped with the pressure in her ears going up and coming down!