The End Of An Era

My sister, Amanda, and I were only 17 months apart. My mom dressed us alike all the time. Pretty much every picture we are in together as little girls, we are 'twins'.

I had my life planned out. I was going to become 'happily married', have 2 little girls; 17 months apart. They were going to be best friends forever. I was going to dress them alike for as long as absolutely possible.

God had other plans. I didn't like His at first, but looking back now...I am so glad it went His way and not mine.

I had 2 children very close in age, all right, but it was a boy then a girl.

Then, having 3 little men so close in age was so sweet! They have been great about letting me dress them a bit similar and I think they rather like it. OK, maybe not like it, but don't mind it. I do let them wear different colors, though, to still let them have some individuality.

I have learned one very special thing from having sons. They love their mama with all their heart. Age doesn't matter: age 1, age 5, age 12, age 15 even...they love their mama and aren't afraid to be mama's boys in a very 'masculine' sort of way. Each of my sons goes out of his way, pretty much from birth, to do things to please me, gain my affection, bring me honor. (A post about just this and Miguel, will come later this week) Not that my sweet daughter isn't all things wonderful; it is just VERY different. Of course, I would love to have a little girl with my Timmy, and the Lord knows if He will ever see it fit to bless us with our Isabella Grace. But, if God wanted to give us another son, or sons, I know I would be overjoyed because the love between a mother and son is just something that is so sweet that it is truly indescribable.

So, now that Walker is 5, I am bowing out gracefully. I want to stop having them wear the same shirts before one of them says they don't want to do it anymore. It is the end of an era, indeed. However, not before even their cousins joined in one last time to give me a sweet memory to keep stored away of this precious time when 5 little boys could wear the same shirts and not feel 'weird' about it.(l-r: Christian, Walker, Tristan, Skyler, and Zack on the bottom left.)

And, no, Natalie and I did not plan this. We just showed up to church and noticed that our little guys all matched and I couldn't let the chance of this picture go. Guess it is very obvious that Natalie and I shop at the same place (Old Navy...love their clearance deals..these shirts were 6 bucks each) and think alike.

So, this era ends, but my little mama's boys...well, I know that each of them embraces that term, and I am so blessed to be their mama.

100 POSTS! (What we looked like then)

Us..100 posts ago (April 2007). The kids ALL look SO different! Miguel was still wearing glasses, Karizma's tooth was still 'out of place', Walker...well, it seems Walker never changes, Christian still looked like a baby, and Zack was only 4 months old!

18 months ago, I started this blog. Thanks to my husband's encouragement, Ivy's direction, and Jackie and Temo's patience in showing me the 'ropes'. I have loved sharing our life with those willing to read about it. Thanks to all my faithful blog readers for reading, commenting, and 'lurking', too. xoxo to all!

p.s. Good news...no more fuzzy pics for the blog! My sweetheart blessed me with a new camera...he ordered it for me and of course, he bought me a pink one. He is so sweet!

Our Home Away From Home

Since our Road trip extended over 2 days, we decided to go to our favorite place after our dino encounter...DISNEYLAND! We got there Thursday night and hung out for a couple of hours. Our first ride was on the Buzz ride. This is definitely the family favorite!

Tim LOVES this ride...probably because it is the only one he can get on. Christian got to ride with Daddy this time.

I just love to watch whichever child happens to ride with me, Zack this time, take the game/ride super serious. Zack totally thought he was hitting those targets.

We spent the night a a nearby hotel that night and even ventured over to the pool for a nighttime dip. The kids had a blast. Christian said he loved his 'new house'. (Cute story: when we got home the following night, Christian wakes up in our driveway and says, "This isn't our new house!! I don't want this old house, I want the new house!!" It took us awhile to console him and get him to stop crying. At least I know that the kids are not concerned about lack of space, if they were willing to live in a one room space like the hotel room. Hmm...wonder if it being a couple of blocks from The Happiest Place On Earth had anything to do with it?)

Friday morning Tim went to LA for a few hours to attend a hearing, and we ventured over to CA Adventure. Walker and Christian got on a ride that was so cute to watch from the ground because you could see their little feet dangling from beneath.

Walker is on the left, Christian on the right.




The new Toy Story ride at CA Adventure was broken down on Friday, but thanks to our passes, we will check it out eventually. Christian did ride the Tower of Terror for the first time. That ride is awesome, but it makes me all queazy. I am so amazed that the boys want to do these rides already.

Zack and Christian were so star struck when they met Woody. Walker thinks it's cute that the little guys haven't figured out 'the secret'.


Zack saw Goofy and was not hesitant at all to go and give him a hug. He kept calling out to him, and it was so sweet how Goofy put him on his knee and played with him for awhile.



Everything at CA Adven. is more relaxed and the characters seem more friendly. Plus, taking Zack to go see the Live Disney Playhouse show is always the highlight for me. He is a HUGE Little Einsteins fan, so when he sees the characters on stage he is in total awe. I admit that I spend the whole time just watching him instead of the show, because he is so precious.

Until our next trip....

...And Made A Pit Stop In The Past

We made a stop in Cabazon to see the big dino's. We had the boys close their eyes until we could drive right under the Brontosaurus. When we had them open their eyes they were just so blown away. We had them get out and pose for pics and Walker ran up to me, wrapped his arms around me and said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing us here, Mom. This is the best day of my life!" Wow...definitely worth the long drive. Next time we will actually fork over the cash to sit in the T-Rex's mouth like Pee-Wee got to do in his big adventure.

I Have Seen The Future

We took a road trip with Tim on Thursday to Beaumont (Riverside County), which is not too far from Cabazon...you know, where the big dinosaurs that were in Pee Wee's Big Adventure are?? (pics of that to follow) We love to visit outlet centers, so we couldn't pass up going and visiting the one in Cabazon. Of course with 5 children, we have to make lots of potty stops. Karizma had a look of total amazement written across her face when she came out. Here is our conversation:

Karizma: Mom, the toilets put the covers on for you!!

Mom (me): What are you talking about?? (most of you know I wear hearing aids, so I totally figured I must have misheard her.)

Karizma: Mom, I'm not kidding...they put plastic covers on for you so you don't have to touch it, then they get rid of it.

Mom: (I am pretty bewildered at this point...who are 'they' and how do 'they' put a cover on for you?? I have to admit I was picturing a little hand coming out from near the back pipe and gently taking a sheet of toilet seat cover, and placing it just so, then smoothing it out, and keeping a finger on it so it doesn't slip into the toilet before someone sits down...I hate when that happens!) Who wants to come with mommy to check it out?!

Walker and Christian: I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO.....

So, I walk into the ladies restroom with my 5 and 3 year old sons in tow and what do we discover? THE FUTURE! Yes, we have seen the future, my friends, and it is lookin' pretty bright.





Of course, the 2 little boys that only 30 seconds prior had promised they did not need to 'go'...all of a sudden HAD TO GO and they had to do it...sitting down, of course. They wanted to experience this phenomenon for themselves.

As you can see, it doesn't take much to impress our family. This is going on my top 10 favorite inventions!

**On a side note: I couldn't get over that they would build a contraption like this to put on a seat cover, but still had the manual lever to flush the toilet. Gross!

The Locator

Have you seen this show?

It is about a guy that goes around the country reuniting people. For example the episode I recently saw, that touched me deeply, was of a brother searching for a brother he never got to meet because his mother gave the brother up for adoption. Man, talk about a tearjerker. The brother that was given up for adoption, Brock, was adopted into a family that already had 2 children; a boy and a girl. However, both his brother and sister have since passed away. It really made me think about myself and how this show had some similarities with my life.

I will post later about that side of my life, but I figured it was time to post a picture of my brothers and sister from Houston.l-r: Adam-the middle child, Mayte'-the baby, Mariano-the eldest
(Aren't they gorgeous?!)
Do you think they have any resemblance to me?

Adam, and his wife Vanessa, got married earlier this year and are expecting their first baby! I am finally going to get to see what a niece or nephew from my side of the family looks like. I am so excited for them!

Mayte', my little sis, has been married to her handsome hubby, Ros, for about 1.5 years. She is such a sweet part of my life. I adore her more than she will ever know.

Mariano, has been married to the lovely Sylvia, for almost 8 years. When they came to visit us a while back...a long while back...we had one of the best times. They had us laughing so hard. We really hope they can come and hang with us in Cali again soon.

My brothers and sister came into my life just a short time after my sister, Amanda, passed away. They have all made efforts to come and visit me in SD. I have been out to Houston once, but they still haven't gotten the chance to meet Walker, Christian, and Zack. Maybe once my nephew or niece is born, we can all take a road trip to TX!!

Field Trip #2: Home Depot

We headed out again with my mommies group to our September field trip. It was at a Home Depot in San Diego. There must have been about 20 kids! They took a tour of the store, wearing their Home Depot aprons, and were given demonstrations on how to use 3 different saws. After the tour, we were taken outside to take part in a workshop. All the kids....umm, Moms and older siblings....got to put together their very own truck. It was awesome to see a bunch of nails and blocks of wood form this really, super, cool, crayon holder-truck. The boys haven't stopped playing with them since they made them. And get this...it was all FREE!!

Home Depot's newest (and most handsome) employee, Zack, 21 months old.


Christian found the saws too noisy, but Isabel was so amazed.


Brianna was our expert builder. She helped most of my boys put their trucks together.


I loved watching the boys play with their trucks once they were done. They all seemed so proud of their work.

Christian, Walker, Mr. Vaca-the Home Depot Rep, Jacob, and Zack.

We have the greatest kids in our group. The older kids ALWAYS are looking out for the little ones. I am so blessed to be a part of this group. Thanks again to Katie for her efforts. We all had the best time!!