All 3 of my babies are growing up!

Aleczander's whole 7 weeks of acting as a peer model for preschool have come to an end.  In those 7 weeks though, I feel like he learned a whole lot.  He sings new songs, he knows how to draw the letter A like a champ and he knows new words. He has always been incredibly social but I feel that this really enhanced it. Last week they had a small "Preschool Celebration" for his class where they got certificates and sang a couple of songs and had some cake.  It was cute.

 

With his teacher, Ms. Vanessa.

Proud momma.

Couldn't do it without Grandma.

Proud Daddy.

If I feel like he has learned so much in only 7 weeks, I can only imagine how much he will grow when school starts back up after the summer.  Of course, he doesn't have any grasp on the fact that school is over for now, so he still asks daily if he is going to school.  He really liked school and Ms. Vanessa.  She will be his teacher again next year so that will be really good.

What was not good about the time in school was that in the short 7 weeks he was there, he came down with 3 stomach bugs and 2 colds.  Crazy stuff, those germs.  The silver lining I am looking at though is that even though it isn't pleasant, maybe him bringing home all these germs will help make is easier when it's Jolie's turn to join the school world.

Overall, Alec is a charming, loving, smart, FUNNY, charismatic little boy.  The world would be a dull place without him in it.

In 10 days, we will be headed back to Houston  for 9 days to enjoy some family time, some BBQ, and to celebrate 2 graduations; my nephew, Nigel and Alfred's little sister, Abby. The thought that those 2 are already old enough to graduate, drive, and vote is just mind boggling. We are happy we will be able to be there with them though and we cannot wait to spend some time with our loved ones.  Just like when me moved to Arizona, I'm pretty nervous about flying with the kids. Especially since it is a morning flight when they are the most alert and Jolie isn't exactly a "sit in your lap and chill" kind of baby.

Watching Blue's Clues.  

She is a book loving, crayon/pen adoring kind of baby though.  

My baby girl loves going to the library with my mom and picking out books to bring home.  At home, she sits on the arm rest of our couch with my mom and goes through books pointing at pictures with a smile on her face. From one of her favorite books (a book of first words) she has added many new words like nose, lion, tummy, hair, bow, bath, keys and eyes to her vocabulary.  My baby girl is so stinking smart.  She hates being fed and insists on feeding herself with a spoon or fork at each meal.  She loves loves loves her kanky (blankie) and loves her thumb.  And we love her.  

Loving that thumb and "kanky."

Alfred is officially getting old and in the last year of his 20's now. For his birthday last week, we went out to eat at an Italian restaurant called Oregano's so he could have some "Italian Gold" wings and a pizookie (pizza cookie).

Birthday Boy.

After dinner, we got on Facetime with his sisters, mom and dad so they could all sing happy birthday to him.  I was still in the process of baking his cake for him and since Texas is 2 hours ahead of us, I didn't want to keep every up too late waiting for it.  So as a cake stand in, I put 1 Fig Newton in each cup of a muffin baking pan and divided up the 29 candles among them for him to blow out.  Improvisation is a quality I clearly possess.  Getting everyone on Facetime simultaneously with limited devices proved to be more difficult than anticipated but we worked it out. But after that, I started to research some other group video alternatives.  What I discovered was Google Hangouts which allows up to 10 people to video chat together at one time.  We are excited to try it out soon! 

In honor of my love's birthday, here is a top 10 for him:

10 of the millions of things that I love about my husband

1. His un-wavering good attitude and upbeat personality.
2. The way he smells.
3. His sense of humor.
4. The way he loves his whole family but has a special place in his heart for his momma and his sisters.
5. How he can talk about food for hours on end.
6. The way he plays with our kids.
7. How smart he is with math.
8. The way he fist pumps after he takes a first bite of some good food.
9. How we can strike up a conversation with a total stranger about absolutely anything.
10. The fact that after almost 10 years of being together, he still makes me feel special.

Well that's the latest on my 3 babies who are all growing up so quickly.  Before I know it, it will be Alec's turn to graduate, Jolie will be driving and Alfred will still be doing stuff like this...

  

Love ya, babe!!

I would't want you any other way. <3

Grand Canyon? Check!

Grand Canyon

Yup! I can officially check that off of my list of things that I want to see before I die.  The Grand Canyon is only about 4.5 hours away from our home and the drive up to over 5,000 feet elevation is absolutely beautiful.  Here are a couple of pictures of the trip itself:

My babies all buckled up and ready to go!           

We drove up there on the Saturday before Mother's Day and stayed the night at a hotel that is on the actual rim (meaning the Grand Canyon was literally outside our window).  I cannot express it enough that words/pictures CANNOT and DO NOT do the majesty and beauty of this place ANY justice.  With that being said, here are some pictures from Saturday...

Our first look.

 A few yards away from our hotel.

My babies enjoying the view from our hotel room.

Making momma's dream's come true.

Even though we got to see the Grand Canyon, there is still so much to see of the Grand Canyon. It's not exactly a place where you can comfortably take children who don't understand the consequences of running off the canyon ledge, so needless to say we were tense and on edge a lot of the time.  I NEED to watch the sunrise/sunset over the canyon someday and experience the stillness and peace that must come with it.  I also NEED to take a helicopter ride over the canyon to see all of areas that cannot be seen from just standing on the rim.  I NEED to see the spot where Thelma and Louise ran their car off the edge. 

On Saturday night, we went outside to see what the canyon after dark beholds. Now, I am total night time person and a total geek about stars and moons.  It is my dream to own a telescope to see what cannot be seen with the naked eye and to be able to photograph nighttime skies.  There is nothing more magical to me than a clear night with sparkling stars and a beautiful moon.  So you can imagine my total awe and amazement when we got outside and found a nice little dark area to view the unpolluted and unobstructed night sky.  I have never seen so many stars in my life. It was indescribable and breathtaking. It was such a fulfilling moment in my life and I would have stayed around to enjoy it longer if it hadn't been 34 degrees outside or if I had been more appropriately dressed.  Also, the fact that we had walk by about 8 very large elk and deer to get to where we were made me a bit cautious.  With all the tourism that goes on in the area we were, we tend to forget that we are in the wild and that the canyon belongs to those animals and to nature and we are truly visitors on their land. Next time I go, I NEED to be better prepared so that I can spend hours out in a dark area and let my eyes adjust to allow even more of the splendid night sky in. 

Since it was Mother's Day and all, here are some pictures of my babies and my momma...

Boys... What can ya do?

And here are some pictures from Sunday (Mother's Day)...

That's right.  A whole lotta nada.  Here's why...

On Saturday night, after Alfred and I went to look at the stars, I took my mom for a quick glance (quick because all the wild elk and deer really freaked her out).  We were gone a whole 10 minutes and we came back to Alec throwing up.  My poooooor baby.  So that night, none of us slept well since we were all on edge with Alec being sick and Jolie coughing and not sleeping soundly either.  Alec slept through the night but woke up the next morning and the sickness continued.  We agreed that it wouldn't be right for him to feel awful and have to be moving around, walking and stuff out on the canyon.  So we decided to pack up and leave early without getting the most out of day 2.   This was an easy decision to make since we live relatively close.  While we all got ready to go, my mom got her fill by spending some peace and quite by herself with the canyon.  It truly was "mother's" day for me when I had to sit in the back seat and be on sickness patrol with a trashcan.  If you know anything about me, you know that I am DEATHLY afraid of vomit.  But when it's your kiddos and you have no choice, you seem to muster up the "cojones" to just deal with it.  Needless to say, it was the longest 4.5 hours of my life.  We almost made it all the way home without an incident.  Almost.  But I guess once is better than what I expected.  So that's why there aren't any day 2 pictures to show.  Next time...

Well that's it.  The whole Grand Canyon experience.  I have a list of things that I still NEED to do at the canyon so I NEED to go back someday.  And if visiting the Grand Canyon isn't on your list of things to do, then your list NEEDS to be updated.   You won't regret it.  I Promise...