Saturday

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Took these snap shots with my panorama setting on my phone.

Breakfast, Kinect play time, movie surfing, dancing & ring-around-the-rosie with Samson. But Rob got tired of the last part, so the kids took over. We are one kid short this morning. She stayed at grandma's for the night. Continuing, but still not done with spring cleaning as you can see. Crate is in the middle of the living room, because we (I) are running on neutral. Trying to get it into drive so I can finish up and move on about my day. But watching the sideshow going on is slowing traffic ;)

6th birthday delights

My lil' growing young lady is such a delight. She wears her sweet little heart on her sleeve and you will never have to question how she feels. We used to think she was shy, but as she has grown, we are discovering that is very much not the case. She knows she is special & likes to be treated that way. This year for her birthday she was really looking forward to sharing her special day with her class & taking full advantage of the recognition among them :) She had it all planned out. Girly cupcakes were to be brought to school, she was to wear her favorite new shirt, she would wear her hear down (because it's very rare that mom allows her to wear it that way to school), and she was to have a magic pointing finger for the day, meaning we had to oblige her every (reasonable) request! After a special day at school we got ice cream & went to the park for none other than a lil mini photo shoot that was all about the birthday girl, duh!

Warm weather tastes like family sweetness

This week has brought forth some very warm days. While the heat can be uncomfortable at times, I enjoyed taking advantage of the opportunities that warm weather ushers in. The theme this week seemed to be food, family, outdoor activities, and did I mention food? :) It's no secret I am a self proclaimed fan of food. It's not only that I enjoy eating it, but I get inspired by the atmosphere we can create around it.

We spent much more time outside, at the park, & going for strolls than we had in the past few months! These summer-like days gave the husband, kids, & I an appetite for summer food. We had to get some good ol' cherry chip & pistachio ice cream. We took a lil walk and happened to be near a new sandwich shop that had a pretty good special- Kid's eat for a $1 with every adult meal. Deal's always makes things taste that much sweeter! It was a nice change of pace for dinner. The subs were not only flavorful, but generously sized and they even make them with freshly sliced meats!

This week was also my mother in law's birthday. We had a nice lunch at another recently established place. Again, delicious food & great specials. This Mexican restaurant serves lunch specials for only $3.99! Now, I expected a mini version of one of their regular dishes, but to my pleasant surprise, it was not only a very full sized plate, but amazing food! Ok... I'm hungry again :/

For dinner my mother in law specifically requested hot dogs! I think the weather got the best of most of us. So a home cooked dinner it was!

The kid's played outside & went to the park for a little while.

While they waited around for dinner to be done they ate popsicles.

Family fun Birthday dinner

 This past week was my Husband's Birthday. I won't tell how old he is (aahem, 31). He chose a favorite lil spot of ours called Rocky Cola Cafe. The food is delicious, the atmosphere is fun, & the kids love it. We also love the fact that kids eat free everyday of the week with any adult meal! Music to my ears for our family of five :) 

We enjoyed a nice dinner and I caught some cute, humble shots while we were out. I got inspired by the artsy, vintage backdrop. I think I may have to return for a fun creative session soon!

 The restaurant is located in Uptown Whittier. I just love the quaint, spirited streets all lit up for the holidays!

To keep the kids busy until meals arrived, we indulged in the crayons. However, coloring is sooo last year. We built with them instead!

  Makaila was my little muse. She loves to take pictures like Mommy. So I try to get snapshots of her in her element often. Maybe for her biography in her future published work? ;)

"The Janitor" {snapshot of the day}

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"Closed for cleaning. Apply if you want to help."

She's very diligent.

Cat Nap {Snap shot of the Day}

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Quiet afternoon... Slobber, snores, and flatulence :/

Back from Maternity leave & my lingo is a bit off....

I've been out of the groove the past several days... maybe weeks. I'll have to check my productivity level by percentage of clean laundry that has made it back into drawers and last blog written and let you know for sure. But the point is that I am aiming for consistency again.

The most current focus in my life has been our new dog, Samson. As if I have all the time in the world, no children, and maids to handle my home for me... I got my husband to agree with me that it was time for us to get a dog. We had been considering one since probably our last kid and had been seriously looking into it for the past year. The timing seems about right considering our family's track record for expanding. Jeremiah is 2 years old now... so that would perfectly match the age difference between he and his new pet sibling to that of Mo & Fro (the girls).

So, most of the people who know me also know that I am a bit of a cook when it comes to entering into new situations in my life. Example? Aside from common sense... I prepared a binder with instructions, information, and cute inspiration clippings to direct my support group during the hospital stay and birth of my first born in the event that I was too busy laboring to share the specifics. (I know, admittedly embarrassing for me, funny for you). So for my new passion, Samson, there was no exception to my madness.  I researched and studied how to become a good Boxer Mommy and Alpha Pack Leader in two days. I know it is not plausible... but I gained enough info to make myself feel confident enough to take Him on. It's all about mind set people ;)

Overall, I am in love. After narrowing it down to dog breed, age, and method of adding a pup to our brood, we have adopted or "rescued" a 1 1/2 year old male Boxer. Initially I thought that I wanted a perfect, new, soft boxer pup with a red bow! Yet, in the end we decided that giving a home to a well deserving dog was right for us. Online searching and dog visits were our routine for a few weeks. Long story short, we finally met Samson. He has over exceeded my high, maybe even unrealistic at the time, expectations. Nevertheless, we were blessed with abundantly more that we asked for. He is even tempered, healthy, loving, gentle, obedient, laid back, loyal, and housebroken! Dream puppy for our family. Things are settling now and I feel urged to come back from my two-week new dog owner maternity leave.

Wanna know the ironic humor of it all? You know how when you have a new baby and you accidentally find yourself cooing or talking in high pitched tones to grown adults cuz you've been doing it all day with your newborn? Just as with motherhood to human children, I find myself carrying my lingo into other areas of my life which are inappropriate. When pleased with my husband my response has been, "Good boy!" and when Jeremiah threw his body across my desk while I was trying to write this post I scold him with, "Jeremiah....Off!" and a loud clap as to startle him.

Eh, no worries.... it'll wear off soon. I hope :/

SAMSON

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Artsy Fartsy

In the past two days I have gotten to get in touch with a side of myself that was dusty and rusty. In lieu of the "alternative fall activities" at the kids school and our upcoming event at church,  there has been a lot of artsy things going on.

Today I took advantage of my husbands latest disposition and got the chance to help out in Makaila's class. It was pumpkin carving with the Kindergartners and it was actually a really good time! A quick side story... Makaila and another girl in our group went girly and got icky about gutting our pumpkin. So this really petite, adorable little boy steps up and says in a Mr. Cool type of voice, "Let the Man handle this. I'll take care of it." And then he sort of flicked his head back as to move his shiny hair from his brow and dug right in. Gosh, kids are hilarious!

Anywho.. I was pleasantly surprised to know that our activity was educationally motivated. There were predictions and estimating. Oh, and did you know why farmers leave about a 3 inch stem on the pumpkin? Well, I do...because it keeps it from growing moldy longer. Bam--You learn something new everyday! The scientific pumpkin carving affair lasted only about an hour so it was butcher paper Indian-vest-making for me (Novembers project). Carving, playing with slime, tracing and cutting.... no wonder kids have such a carefree outlook on life. I need to do it more often!

Additionally, with the upcoming Trunk or Treat Festival that our church is holding I've gotten to paint and do a few more hands on activities that I have not partaken in in a long while. It's simple kiddy art but has been so much fun and more therapeutic than I thought it would have been. Between that and playing around with costume paint ideas I'm in art mode! Of course, I have to come up with appealing & creative ways to project information on a regular basis, but this carefree side of imaginative projects has inspired me greatly!

These are some faux-wood signs for our festival. 

A section of a sign I am still working on.

Some makeup looks we were playing around with.

Used what we had on hand so this is all "regular" face makeup.

This was our first, quick, dry run at an Avatar look.
Got the right supplies today and anxious to try it again.

And a couple of random breaks in between...

 

Jerm rocking out. 

 

Keeping himself busy and proud of his "creation"... his bed nook he made all by himself  ;)

A lil sugar

Jeramiah and I decided to baked a cake the other day for the "others" before they got home. Inspired by Jeremiah's sweet acts of kindness ("Show a little love" post) and all that sugar he was laying on mama, we made a red velvet cake in the shape of none other than a heart, of course! We used mix straight out of the box... nothing spectacular. But we had a really nice time doing it together and it was a fun experience for the lil dude. Who knows... maybe a lil' Chef one day like his Daddy?

New pet, Veggie phone, studs, & other random weekend things

I had another ordinary weekend by my standards. And by that I mean another full weekend of all kinds of random things going on, but fun!

First, I rearranged the girls' room just a tad... cleaned and organized the closet that was in much need of a lil TLC. I always enjoy a good furniture moving session! Get's the blood pumping, boosts energy, inspires me in more ways than one, and I always feel great afterward. I feel lighter, refreshed, accomplished, and the bonus is the "new" feeling I ( as well as my family) get from the space. Most inexpensive design tip ever! I think it may very well be one of my favorite pass times. ;)

Meanwhile, Husband prepared for a catering job for a family party the following day. That's always interesting. Loaded fridge, overflowing ingredients on counters, symphony of kitchen appliances running & husband conducting it all. The girls spent the evening at grandma's so that was nice for them, as well as us :) We even got to squeeze in a nice evening with a few of my favorite cool people aka some church family. Enjoyed the good ol' Lopez home hosting special: food+ movies+ conversation+ laughs+ a mini creative session.


First thing Saturday morning it was full motion, plan in action. Receiving & processing kids for showers, dress, & hair (*side note: in this family hair takes a lot of product & a lot of time, yikes!) Then shipping the babes back out... but this time, with the always appreciated, always helpful "team players", Tata & Aunty Jai. Chef boy-r-d and I packed up and headed out to set up (with a "gently" used home left behind, as always). Incidentally, on the way to the party I suddenly started feeling horrible. I spoke some Words over myself, hung in there as much as I could for as long as I could, drank lots of cold water, and then sneaked away for a lil' snooze while I waited for my body to get the memo, that the ugly headache and nausea were under eviction. (And that was the end of that!)  Soooo grateful it all went down at a family party vs. a clients, phew! Totally recuperated after a bit, just in time for the start of the party & the arrival of my kids.

People started flowing, food dishing out, and I was the side-task-handler for husband. Phone went right into the back pocket without much thought. To make a long story short, I ended up going home with a new lil pet. My phone jumped out of my back pocket and decided to go for a lil dive! With far stretched hopes, I dried it and buried it in uncooked rice (crazy, but it has worked before to remove all water damage) and I would later leave with it in a bowl :/ Yea, I know... Boo!

It was a Disney Princess birthday party. Everything was so cute, sweet, and it was an overall extremely nice, enjoyable party for the lil princess guests as well as adults! The weather wasn't too bad, and the food was dee-licious, naturally (I'm biased but it's true! Other people said so). There were thee most unique centerpieces that were handmade by a family friend (Whom wants to remain anonymous, but I think she should offer her talent). Got my diy craft meter boosted! The princess attendees got the royal treatment with very special themed gifts & treats. My Aunt said she got everything from CelebrateExpress.com And the adults even got their own candy bag! :)
Bottom line: the kids left fully loaded + pooped out= Thankful Mom

Sunday was church and it was great! I left spiritually full, refreshed, & revamped, as always. Meeks headed home solo with aunty to Grandparents' home as she likes to do frequently so she can see what goodies she can score for herself. So our smaller brood had a little Sunday lunch. Just husband, baby, Lesseya, & I... in which a random conversation led to a trip to the mall where Lesseya....... got her ears pierced. Gasp, I know! She talked the talk, so Husband and I decided to see if she was as brave as she claimed. It was less of a big deal than I would of expected it to be, and was more of what will be a noted "special one on one time" for her with us [the parentals]. Out of the whole experience, we gained an opportunity for some deep, important life conversations, believe it or not. We got to introduce the "all things in moderation" concept, explained our expectations of her as a growing young lady, emphasized the responsibility aspect that comes with any new experience in one's life, & reinforced our values with her. Yes, she is only 7, but the event made it easy to bring up some good info in a relevant way :)

She started out excited & bold, cried a few crocodile tears during the piercing, then ended on a good note. She got to check out the new studs after she pulled herself together and admired them quickly. However, she took a second glance. She looked Herself in the mirror and said,

     "I cant believe this all happened to me today!" with a big glowing grin.

I knew it wasn't the sparkling new studs that caused her to radiate with confidence, rather, was the privileged and "special" feeling she indulged in after a spontaneous, bonding afternoon with Mommy and Daddy.


We got to Grandma & Grandpa's house to surprise them as well as Makaila. Just as expected they went through the shock & awe. But Meeks had a pitty party. After I allowed her to moan, groan, and sob herself from room to room, I eventually gathered her and her dramatic dealings. We talked, well I did anyway, She listened. After getting through explaining to her the hardest part, that she had to wait a bit more for Her time, she finally came around. She had a lesson in equality. That equal parenting and love does not mean equal timing in experiences and privileges. She even got a life lesson in envy. We prayed that she would have genuine happiness for her sister and patience as well as understanding for herself. She ended with proudly having a testimony under her belt that she can share with others who ever undergo her situation: sibling envy & overcoming through the love of Jesus :)

All in all, it was another random, busy, spontaneous, special weekend of growth for our young family. I ended up with a vegetable phone aka new pet, two castle centerpieces (in pink & purple) temporarily sitting on my living room table, just scratched the surface of a new era with my growing young ladies, but most of all have a revived perspective for the fresh week!

School Picture Day Preview

 

The kid's came home with a familiar blue and white paper. It is one that I have seen too frequently over the last few years. A school picture order form. 

I've ordered the traditional school pictures every year. (Sometimes twice a year!) Of course... how can I NOT buy every school picture of my growing babies! No brainer, right proud Mommys? 

Well after considering the bland, studio-background, stiff posed picture packages that I have sitting in the back of file cabinets and under mounds of un-filed papers in cluttered drawers....I decided it was time to switch it up this year. 

With cooperation from the kids, we decided to pass on school portraits and decided to have a fun, humble, personal, lil' photoshoot of our own. We used a local library as our location. The kids ended up having lots of fun and it turned out to be a memorable experience for all of us. 

Here is a sneak peek for now, however, this one is my favorite of all of them!

Show a little love

So I was working at my desk and lil "Jerm" ran up and gave me a quick squeeze, smooch on the arm, & then went back to playing!

I just melt when he does sweet things like that out of the blue. :)

That totally changed the course of my day! I forsee cake baking and extra special play time. Give someone a hug today, it means more than you know. Happy Wednesday!

Stop it some more!

From time to time Jeremiah gets into his mischievous modes and creates all kinds of new messes. Of course initial reactions use to consist of obvious, long sighs and a few grunts. However, I discovered that with each new "uh-oh", and with each new child for that matter, I am finding every accident more and  more adorable.

I am fortunate in that my kids pretty much know what should and shouldn't be gotten in to and refrain from it. Although, I have a suspicion that Jeremiah may be a bit of an adrenaline junky and likes to get "caught". Why? Because anytime he is going to get into something or has already got into something, He says really loudly,
"Maaaa-maaa..." and then acts really surprised and caught off guard when I discover him.

Yea... real subtle, kid! Kinda like, "Stop it some more!"

Recently, he played Indian Chief with my concealer. Today was lotion bath. Here are a couple hammed up pics of the aftermath.

You see that? See the fulfillment in his eyes?

Maybe my more frequent response of, "Jeremiaaaaah? -- Hold on! Let mommy get her camera!" is not the best message sent, but I cant help myself. I may need to rethink my contribution to his growing addiction.