The Condes

Summer Time.

2010-07-12T15:17:00.000-07:00

Its been awhile since i have blogged "personally" been doing alot of adoption blogging, if you have been on top of it check it out.

Now, its been a busy summer, and i cant believe its alreayd Mid-July. We are working hard, and moving forward with many new things coming our way.

Last week we did our Destin Florida trip, and it was alot of fun! We were worried about the BP oil spill but there was no issue there on the beach that we were on. The kids had fun, as we did, and we had great company too. Five families: 11 kids & 10 adults in a big house w/ a pool. Great, Great fun! We got back yesterday to 5 days worth of work..and it catch up time.

During vacation we got great news about our adoption (http://www.ourforeverdaughter.blogspot.com/) and we are extremely excited about.....

On other news: Shocking! I mean shocking! Here it is people: the house that we were building earlier this summer, and then someone called to buy it..they put contract, made selections everything. We renewed our lease here til end of the year: well today, they called and said they are backing out!! Not sure how to feel to be honest w/ you. Happiness? Anger? Worried? I feel it all! Especially because of the time frame we are on now w/ house and the adoption. I dont know how much more emotional rollercoaster i can handle...This is crazy! So now i had to request early move out form landlord (praying they are okay w/this) i have not heard from them yet...and then to resume packing and organizing and getting moved out before we leave!

Well back to working, organizing and trying to stay calm about things...i am just not really that good at that unfortunately.....

Uruguay to Semi-Finals!!

2010-07-02T15:19:00.000-07:00

Our household, and families are super excited to see URUGUAY advance on to Semis in the WORLD CUP 2010....

My husband is sooooo happy!!!!!

Very exciting!!!

Go Uruguay!

Summer is Upon Us

2010-06-05T06:47:00.001-07:00

Life has been pretty crazy. Doesnt it always get like that towards the end of the school year? Some changes: small ones; but changes: I am now UNPACKING the boxes i had packed to move at the end of June, because we have sold the house we were building for ourselves. Surprised? yeah me neither. It was a very good decision to make business wise; but it did hit me and Noah a little harder this time. I had that house painted, decorated in my head; Noah had his best friend down the street. So it took us a couple days to "get over it". It is what it is.....we have a great house over our heads, close to all that we do. NOW, we just need to hurry the heck up and finish this house , close it in July ; so we can move forward on our new plan for our house. I know it will happen, and i just pray that it happens quickly enough to be done by the time we bring Olivia home. that may be too much to ask, but definitely by Christmas time. I would LOVE to be in our new home , with our new baby for Christmas, surrounded by our loved ones celebrating such a joyous addition. Now thats not too much to ask is it?

on other news: SCHOOL IS OUT!!!!

Wow! this year has totally ZOOMED by hasnt it. Ava is now a fourth grader. She is sooo excited about being in fourth grade, but then again, she is ALWAYS excited about starting the next grade. Now here is where my heart starts to hurt...Noah is in his last year of elementary school. Where did the time go? I sit here and i type this with tears in my eyes. I want to hold on to every moment i can in my being. I want to enjoy every little detail that i can. He is a big fifth grader now, AND on top of that...he has achieved his elementary school dream. To be on Safety Patrol! He is soooo excited! He has been dreaming about that since he started school. Now the downside to that is he needs to be at school by 705 Am.....So who will be taking him so early? Will Ava be willing to get up earlier to be at school at that time too? Will i be making two trips every day???? only the future knows...we shall see in August.

Other than that: I will try my very best to give the kids some fun this summer. We do have quite a few projects coming up work wise, that i fear will take alot of time, but i will need to schedule, organize in a way that wont take up ALL MY TIME.

And most importantly: i need to take care of myself; i havent done a really good job lately. I honestly havent. With the changes that have happened, and with the things coming up , it has affected me emotionally. I have more good days than bad, but i feel that lately its been more bad. No fault to anyone else, just myself.....i even hide it pretty well...so its not noticeable. It is taken a toll on me. I need to take a step back, breath, and do the best i can. For myself, for my kids, and especially for Leo.

I hope to make this a great summer!

what a great weekend.

2010-05-16T18:38:00.001-07:00

This weekend was really awesome! Friday we had field day at the school for the kids, and that was pretty fun.....long day of activities, relays, presentation...just plain fun. That evening we took Noah and his friend to see Ironman 2; definitely a go to movie! Very , very entertaining and child friendly. Saturday & Sunday was family fun day. We spent saturday at my sister in law/brother in law house to celebrate the our twin nephews birthday. The kids couldnt be happier! As it also brings us joy to see all the cousins together. Noah ended up staying the night, so of course the next day, they brought him home. We had a bbq at the house w/everyne. Again another day of cousins, and in laws.....very , very nice.

It has been quite a fun filled weekend......w a very unexpected surprise on Sunday; that i wont go into detail now, maybe later.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

monday

2010-04-26T05:58:00.000-07:00

I am waiting for my little princess to wake up. Today we are pouring the slab to our house.....We are so excited......and of course thinking of Olivia...in case you dont know go to our adoption blog:
www.ourforeverdaughter.blogspot.com

Life is great! Life is such a blessed thing to have, and we should live it w/much love & happiness.

Ava accomplished it again.......

2010-04-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

Ava has done it again, she has moved up another level in Tae Kwon Do. She is now a 2nd degree, level 2 Black Belt. Amazing to see how much she has completed since she started 4 years ago. We are so truly excited and proud of her. She never ceases to amaze us!

Congrats Ava!!!! We love you!

(a little late) Happy Easter.

2010-04-05T15:16:00.001-07:00

My computer has had a virus.

WOW! what a sermon we heard yesterday. It was beautiful and it really made you think.
It talked about life after death, does it really exists to have eternal life. I truly believe it does!Now here is something that was said at sermon.....You want to live w God in eternal life, and fellowship w / others, and have everything your heart desires???? You live w/ God in your heart, and do actions that show that you are. I'm not saying wearing it on your shirt....but treat others w love, kindness, and forgive and forget. Just because you go around SPEAKING that you are a child of God, or doing good things doesn't guarantee you a place in Heaven. You can be Susie Do- Gooder, but if you don't have GOD in your heart, you will not be given a place in Heaven. Imagine that! So here is my personal throw on it: All you posers that say you are a GOD willing person, but your ACTIONS speak otherwise, you better start proving to GOD and yourself that you are who you are. Because if anyone is going to see the TRUE you , its HIM. he knows your TRUE INTENTIONS.

Yes we are all human....and we will make mistakes & He will FORGIVE....

But if there are obstacles in your life that you can mend, do better, and live better, why not do that for yourself. Everyone deserves to be happy! Be happy w family & friends & fellowship.....

HE HAS RISEN!!! For all of us!

NOW ITS UP TO US TO PROVE TO HIM WE ARE WORTH HIS SACRIFICE!!!!

Happy Easter!

March Madness!

2010-03-26T07:26:00.000-07:00

And i dont mean college basketball! Life has been great, moving along. Working, taking care of family, dance, tae, school, adoption, house, summer plans.....well pretty much everything. One small change is Noah: we left the baseball team we were on. It just wasnt working out for him. It wasnt working for me either, there were things that were being said & done, that was just dis-respectful etc....And Noah wasnt happy. And i dont like to see my kids unhappy. And i have to say its been nice not having to go to baseball ALL THE TIME!!! It really controled our lives. Now we have more time to chill and really spend time TOGETHER at home, not at the baseball fields. We will find him another outlet , he wants to try something new, and i know we will be back in baseball soon enough....the girls are doing great! Ava is a second degree black belt level 2. She amazes me daily at her classes, how well she does, and all she knows off the top of her head. Its amazing! Leila ? Well our princess! She really plays that card really, really good. She loves to dance, has her classes every week, and is practically prancing around all day long. i am thinking about putting her on a small cheer team. I know ! i am the one that says dont like cheerleaders....well i think i may have to eat my words...hehehe.. Its just a thought right now.

What else?? Work is well work. We closed up one house in magnolia, they are super happy. We are working on one in Texana for a June Completion. And we are working w a couple potential clients. But i really need to get my networking / marketing done and on the ball. We have two big things that are happening now concurrently and when i think about it...WHEW! it makes me nervous.....PLUS i have 5 properties that I am sellling, and i really need to sell those! It makes my stomach hurt....that is what always happens to me.....I feel it in my stomach...

Life is good. It gets hard, but its good.
i have the right people in my life that makes it good.

just wish my sister was closer. but she is just a call, text, im, email away....thankfully!

Read our Adoption Blog

2010-03-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

A New Angel

2010-03-09T11:13:00.000-08:00

The heavens above have received a new angel today. And her name is Layla Grace. A beautiful 2 year old girl that has been battling cancer. Reading her blog has given me strenght to handle my day to day stupidities, stress, pretty much everything. Her little body, mind & spirit held on for so long fighting this ugly thing.

It hurts my stomach the pain, the loss the parents are feeling & the sisters. I can not imagine dealing with this. My heart hurts at the loss of this child. Its not fair! But God has his plan, and i guess he needed her more w/me than her family did. She is at her forever peaceful home w God. I pray for strength & support for the parents and their two daughters.

Again: this little angel has taught me to be stronger w/my life and that i can battle anything. And with God in my heart, he will fix, bring peace and take care of me.

God Bless the FAMILY.

RIP: Sweet Angel Layla Grace.

Weekend stuff

2010-03-07T15:59:00.000-08:00

This weekend was great. Leo & I started this passed week an excercise program called the P90x. I am sure you have seen the infomercials....Some intense working out! We are on day 3, and our muscles are sore! What is so wonderful is that the kids have joined forces w us. So its a family working out hour. Of ocourse they dont go AS INTENSE, but they are keeping up and doing all the stuff. They are AWESOME! So great to be young again, they feel just fine today. Leo and I are making huff and puff everytime we move ... hahahhahah!

Yesterday, worked out in the morning. Noah, Ava & I got hair-cuts, then we were off to a friends birthday party. that was fun! so good ol'time w friends.

Today: we attended Second Baptist ..... It was amazing, and i am so looking forward to the next several weeks of this HEALING FAMILY. Today was the role of the husband in the eyes of God. It was very entertaining the things Dr. Ed Young said....But i have to say: I am thankful that my husband, Leo , has done his role as husband SO VERY WELL!!! (a little teeny tiny tweeking, but we ALL NEED tweeking). I am so blessed that he loves me the way he does, the way he takes care of me, and cherishes me. Now throughout this sermon, i was thinking about a couple in our life that i WISH was there to hear this sermon.

Next week sermons: the Rold of the Wife....i cant wait to go!

Now i am sitting on my bed, and watching Red Carpet Pre-Show, then watching the Oscars!

I have a beautiful life!

Thank you Lord.

Good Friday

2010-03-05T14:42:00.000-08:00

Today was a good day.....Leo took the kids to school, Leila and I were able to sleep in til almost 9am. That was great! My wonderful husband left me breakfast already made, spinach omelet tacos. DELICIOUS!!!! Then i had an idea: Alice In Wonderland came out today, i know the kids want to see it. Why not now? So i went and picked up the kids at 11am, and we caught the 1130 showing..Alice in Wonderland in 3D. The kids were so excited! I really enjoyed the movie: i think it has a nice message for girls. Dont know if it was supposed to have it....maybe thats just the mommy part of me; I saw the message. Be Strong; You will need to fight battles, to be who you really want to be....NOT WHAT EVERYONE ELSE WANTS YOU TO BE. Great graphics! There are so many 3d movies cming out this year....with graphics that are amazing.....

Noah now doesnt feel good. Complaining of a headache, and itchy eyes. Came home, laid on the couch and fell asleep. that is not like him, so i think something is stirring up in there to get him sick. He never gets sick......Hopefully it will pass.

Okay back to laundry!

LEILA-ISMS

2010-03-04T13:47:00.001-08:00

Leila: Mommy , you know what i like????
Me: no, what do you like??/
Leila: I looooooooooooove youuuuuuuu!!!!

I love it! She says this to daddy, Ava & noah...Its so sweet!!

I adore that little girl.

Another month is leaving us.

2010-02-26T17:42:00.000-08:00

Wow! Already at the end of february! amazing how your life can truly pass in a blink of an eye. Amazing how quickly you look at your kids, and how big they have gotten. We really take advantage of the time we have with our kids and our family.

I have been following a blog www.laylagrace.org, and its extremely sad, but its so warming to see how strong the family is being; and how extremely strong Layla Grace is holding on to every last minute she has with her family. They have received a tremendous amount of support from many people around the country. Its nice to see strangers who are coming together spiritually to pray for a miracle on this child. I look at my kids, and i am so grateful that at this current moment my kids are healthy, and i have this time with them on this Earth. I pray for peace for Layla Grace and her family.

I have to say that this week has been a pretty rough week for me emotionally. There has been some changes going on, no changes happening, wanting things now! and they are not happening; finishing up work, wanting more work, its been alot on my brain and my heart. But nothing, and i mean nothing remotely close to what other people in this world are dealing with. We are graced w so many wonderful things . I talk to God daily, telling him thank you for everything and everyone that I know; for all the things that we have been able have in our lives.

take a minute today, to say i love you to your husband, wife, and kids. Give them all a hug a little tighter, for a little longer. take a minute to Pray to God, and give thanks for all your blessings and for all the protection the Lord gives upon us.

Have a great weekend.

What a beautiful Birthday Gift!!!

2010-02-05T08:22:00.001-08:00

Today is my 34th birthday....I have been on this emotional high today since i was awaken by my beautiful family (at 7am...thats sleeping in for me) ; wth birthday cheers, balloons, kisses, coffee, gifts, and hugs! It was a great way to wake up....then throughout the day getting texts, calls, songs, and many, many birthday wishes from all friends (thank you facebook) that have touched my life at one point or another. This emotional high has caused some emotional drama to my self, i have cried i dont know how many times, and i feel more to come later :). A little is a bit of stress from work...but all in all, i am so blessed to have so many wonderful things in my life. First and foremost my wonderful husband. He has shown me and continues to show me so much love everyday!! i am so lucky/blessed/grateful for that and how he takes care of me. My kids: well, love them extrememly too much i cant stand it! They really keep me on my toes, and make me laugh everyday....My family: parents, sister, all my inlaws family: well no words can express how much i care about them, love them, and how i appreciate how they are always there for good times and bad times. I know i can ALWAYS count them no matter what! My friends: my day to day chit chat, instant message, text message, facebook messages, all of that makes my day even better. Knowing that i have friends i can turn too if needed to talk about the hubbies, kids, girl stuff, or just about the weather. So good to have friends!!! Love them.

I am guilty of gettin upset over little things: i try not to "sweat the small stuff" but that is easier said than done. But i am trying.......I am so grateful for the life i live (though a few people think we are crazy at times) but it is filled w/so much happiness, laughs and especially love.

thank you LORD for blessing me with another year to enjoy every minute of my life! And thank you for all those that are a part of it.

Happy Birthday to Me! Cant wait to celebrate anniversary/birthday tomorrwo w the hubby and friends!!!

2010-01-31T08:03:00.000-08:00

Wow! 12 years ago today, Leo and I were in the Bahamas on our honeymoon. We have had an amazing marriage for the past 12 years; all the good , the bad, the love, the memories, the good decisions & the bad ones....all this has made us the people we are today. It has not made us perfect; but that will never happen to anyone. But it has taught us how to be with those that we love. We know that we love always, and love always to forgive. That is probably the hardest thing to do in any relationship , especially a marriage. In marriage you just assume that he / she knows what you want out of the relationship. We dont read minds...and even though we have been together for 14 years, everyday we learn something new about eachother as we get older. Its such a beautiful thing to be a part of it, and see how we are becoming stronger for eachother. I am very blessed to have Leo as my husband, and especially to have found him when i was 19! Thank God, i had a (somewhat) good head on my shoulders to realize this was the guy. He has made our lives wonderful, and continues to work hard for all of us. I love him dearly; there are no words to describe it.

thank you Papi for the past 12 years of a wonderful journey , that i am enjoying taking with you....

Love you!!!

So Hard to Say.....

2010-01-18T08:27:00.001-08:00

Words/Phrases that are EASY to say to anyone: (these come out naturally to anyone)

I hate you
I dont like you
its your fault
i'm mad at you
not MY fault
Your attitude sucks
i dont care

Words/Phrases that are HARD to say to anyone:

I love you
I'm sorry
Please forgive me
I like you
I didnt mean to hurt you
Im at fault
Your personality is beautiful
Your attitude is so vibrant, happy, loving etc....
Thank you!
I appreicate you.

Its sad that what comes naturally to so many is anger, or is quiet. when i mean quiet i mean it in the way that, there is no anger, but there is also no love, appreciation coming out in words to show your loved ones, friends, co workers. For so many people to be nice, to be loving is extra hard work. And it shouldnt be, especially with your own loved ones. God does this to everyone!! He naturally embraces us, loves us, forgives us. Why do we have to work so hard at it? or we let it break us down if you do it , and its not returned to you?? Just continue being your "true" self, even though at times, you doubt yourself because of the surrounding relationships you have.

Star Of Hope

2010-01-16T06:38:00.000-08:00

Last night the whole family went to a Star of Hope shelter, a small community were 207 families live. It was called Cookies & Goodnight. A simple thing as providing cookies and juice. We bought lots & lots of cookies, and plenty of juice. We arrived and set up, and little by little people came through to have a snack. The amazing thing is that something so simple , and so appreciated by many. The kids had a really good time setting up , passing them out, and meeting new people. It was a nice insight for the kids to see that not everyone lives the way we do, or our friends. Many people have it really hard. This is something we plan to do with the kids on a regular basis....the kids really enjoyed helping others out.

Something everyone should do !

Good-Bye 2009 and Welcome 2010!!!

2010-01-04T14:53:00.000-08:00

Christmas is over, New Years is done. We had a fabulous time in NY with the kids, my parents and my sister. The kids were in awe of the city, and the constant going of the people there .... Up and down the stairs, to the subway, apartment, go 3 blocks here, go 5 blocks there. It was a tiring trip, but so busy at all times, you didnt know it til the end of the day. One evening we spent it with my dad's side of the family, and the kids were able to meet some cousins of theirs. Third cousins, but family. they were all the same age, and into the same things. It was really neat watching them play with new cousins, and TIL 2 am!!! The, apartment we stayed at with really cozy and it accomdated us just perfect. The ONLY thing we didnt like was the four flights f stairs, NO ELEVATOR! so that was hard, but hilarious at the same time. Think of the five of us , going up the stairs at the end of the day, and wiht a sleeping toddler, and jogging stroller. : ) yes very amusing!

We went everywhere! Staten Island Ferry, Statue of Liberty, Rockefellar Center, Ice Skating in Bryant Park, saw the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular Show, Central Park, Dylans Candy House, Toys R Us, Times Square, hot dogs at every corner, starbucks at a every corner Ate dinner one night at SERENDIPITY for Noah's Birthday. That was super great, delicious, and we had a celebrity sighting. Kevin Connally from Entourage....that is one of Leo's favorite shows. He was sitting behind us and he sang along wiht everyone else to sing Happy Birthday for Noah. It was really neat. The kids behaved BEYOND perfect. No one will believe me, and thats fine....since they are my kids, you are supposed to say that. but they were perfect! They did great dealing with the big City.

I have to say this year has had some wonderful moments, wonderful memories, some sad moments, angry moments; but all those moments make you the person you are today; makes you appreciate what you have in life; and to really take a look at your surroundings of loved ones, and be happy that you have that in your life.

I for one: am so very blessed that i have such a wonderful husband. Leo is an amazing man, husband, and father. He is always looking out for the better for us and always finding small & big ways to show his love for us....I repsect him, appreciate him , and most of all I passionately love him. I cant say enough about my three absolutely wonderful children. these kids are just so well behaved, they always do their best at all they put their hearts too. Yes the bicker and at times i want to pull my hair out.....but oh my goodness i love those kids! they each have their own special quality about them, and that makes our family so special.

Leo and I both appreciate and love our rest of the family: their company during good times, and support during bad times. We know we can count on them whenever. And every family has their trials and tribulations, but you know : family is family, they will be there forever: they will make you happy, they will piss you off; our family is always around for the good, the bad and the ugly (we dont have too many of ugly, but it can happen).

Lord: thank you for everything you have brought to us this year. I hope we showed you our desire to make things right. Only you know the efforts that we have done on a day to day basis to have you in our life.

Lord: i look forward to 2010 for all the blessings that you will bring to us personally, business, in love, faith, family & friends.

Cant wait to see what you have in store for us this year!

(will post more NY pics soon)

Where did the time go!

2009-12-15T09:22:00.000-08:00

We are 10 days from Christmas! i cant believe its already here. AND, Noah will be turnign 10 years old also next week...My baby boy is in the double digits years now! BOOOOOOO!!!

Anyways, we have been super busy with all the kids activities, and work. Kid Update: They are all doing wonderful, Noah still in baseball, we are at winter break, Leila still twirling in dance class, and Ava is now a 2nd degree black belt! We are so proud of her!

Work has been steady: we are on the path of finishing one house up in Magnolia, and we are 60 days in on another house that we started. AND, we truley believe that lately the Lord, and my father in law has been looking over us. We have a couple wonderful opportunities that we are working on. We are just so blessed and thankful that we have these chances; and gettin ways to grow our company. this is very exciting for us!

On another note: Usually we go away for Thanksgiving, up to Breckenridge; but this year we passed. Leo surprised us by telling us that we will be spending Christmas in New YORK!!!! OH MY GOODNESS! The kids are beyond excited....And so am i ! The fact that we get to spend there with my sister, and also my parents, is just an amazing gift itself. Ava made a count down calendar, Noah is excited about the Museaum of Natural Science, and Leila, well every morning she will ask me: do we go to new woooork today? we have so many plans, so many things to see. Even better! that we get to celebrate Noah's birthday there!

So all in all. There are times we get down because of EVERYTHING going on, or things that are not happening like you want. But somehow God blesses us in other ways, and He continues to open doors for us in our business, and making things happen that we can enjoy as a family all together....

I love my life! I love my family!

Halloween Over....Giving Thanks Now.

2009-11-02T10:06:00.000-08:00

October was filled with many festivities. Leila turned 4 years old. My baby, my Princess is getting big. I tell her, "mami, i want you to stay little...She replies: No mami, i went to get big!" Funny thing: she asks me time to time, "Mami, can i please get big today? " So CUte!!! If she only knew how sad it is for Leo and me to see her , Noah & Ava get so big.

The kids had their school carnival which i took over this year to plan and organize. That was fun , exciting and overwhelming. But i had such wonderful support and help from many other moms, pto members and a HUGE THANK YOU goes to my wonderful , amazing husband!!! Unfortuantley the days before the carnival , i got really sick. I had not been sick in about 2 years.....and i believe the stress of work , carnival, and just day to day stuff, i lost this battle. Anyways, Leo helped out tremendously with meeting moms at the storage to move all the carnival stuff from storage to the school. And also for being so great through it all. The late nights i was up making posters, sending emails, and sending more emails...and more emails...and more posters. Thank you papi!!!

Then we had Halloween.....Our carnival was the same day, so i was pretty tired, but took a small nap before going trick or treating. We first hung out with family; took the kids to trick or treat with their little cousins....Poor Noah! Always the only boy in this mix....But he's a trooper and so great with all the girls! Everyone's Big Brother!!! After trick or treating here, Leila spent the night with her cousins, Addie & KK, and we went with the other to a friends place, whose son is Noah's friend, and on his baseball team. Had a good time sitting around their culdesac bonfire...talking, eating and drinking.

Today i am feeling much better! Thank goodness!

I will start my month of giving thanks:

Thank you to Leo for being such a wondeful husband and father....We are so blessed!! thank you to all those that helped out in the school carnival. So appreciated!! Thank you Noah too, that was a great help on friday for setting up to.

I love this weather! makes me sooo happy!!!

October

2009-10-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

Finally today we are having our first feel of fall. So excited! I am sure it wont last very long, but at least it will come back.

Right now we are in full swing of school, first 6 weeks are over! We met with teachers yesterday to go over the kids report cards. They did awesome! Noah had 3 As and 3 Bs, and Ava had 4 As and 2 Bs (short by a point each to make all As). Teachers gave wonderful reports on both kids. Ava's participation in class was compared to Reese Witherspoon's character in the movie "Election"; i just about busted out laughing. I can totally see Ava with hand raised in the air SO EAGER to answer the question....I KNOW I KNOW!!! The teacher even told us that she had to tell Ava , to "simmer down" her excitement, if not she will not call on her. I dont know about you, but i find that very, very amusing! Noah , once again is well mannered, very concentrated kid in the class. He is so very helpful, and always enthused to learn. Can you tell the difference between the two? Who is the laid back one and who is the one that is always "ON" ?? They are day and night....i love their unique personalities.

Leila is well fine....She knows her birthday is coming up , and she is asking for everything BArbie/PRincess for her birthday. She wants the whole pink aisle in Target for her birthday is what it boils down to.

We are doing great....working and im organizing the school carnival, so that has been a big platter to handle, but it has been fun.....

My sister comes into town next week, and we are SOOOOO EXCITED! cant wait to see her and hang out! the kids are super excited!

i think that is all for now..Happy Trick or Treating!

Mid Way thru September

2009-09-16T17:56:00.001-07:00

Well i cant believe we are already in mid September. Which means that the holidays are not that far away. Which just means another year is going/gone by. Leo just celebrated 37 years old; he looks amazing. He has really been taking care of himself with eating and working out. And he is doing a great job; and it shows :) Loving it!

Rundown on the kids:

Leila: Well she is 3 and very soon will be turning 4 in October. My baby is turning 4! So sad...it really makes me sad, to see her grow up so fast. She is taking swim and dance once a week. She loves dance; and she mimics her big Cousin Emma, who is a ballerina. When they get together Emma teaches her new things, and Leila is enthusiastic to learn.

Ava: She is in 3rd grade now, and well she loves school but she really hates having to get up so early. So now it just got worse for her: now she has to be at school every Tuesday at 715 because she made 3rd grade Student Council Representative for her class. We are so excited for her! She is going to love doing this, and it fits her personality perfect.

Noah: He is in 4th now, and 4th is tough. I am sure he will do well, with our help and his tutors help. They get alot of homework, and its stuff we didnt do until middle school....its pretty overwhelming, i think for a 9 year old. On the side, he is on a select baseball team. Practicing 3 times a week, and now pitching on Mondays...so now 4 times. He had a double header this past weekend, but it canceled due to rain. This weekend he has his first tournament...we are so excited to see him play on his new team.

in other news: we are just working along on one house, and just closed another one. We should be starting that one here in the next week or so. And working on a couple of other deals, and praying that they come through.

Its amazing how quick life just goes by. We have to cherish every moment, and recognize how blessed we are for all we have. Easier said than done, but we need to take a moment and truly think it and believe it.

I thank the Lord everyday for all that he has given our family, and our family members.

Thank you FaceBook!

2009-09-01T07:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so yes i am one of those that likes to network on FaceBook.....Go ahead and make fun of me; cant be worse than Leo. He is always making fun of me or the whole facebook community aspect of it. i have to say: its kind of cool seeing what other people are doing day to day. Its also a great place to ask for a prayer from others when you have something tough going on or if you want a prayer for something great.

But the best thing about it, is i was able to get back in touch with some really, really great friends from middle school thru high school. I am talking about true friends from back then that we knew eachother for , what 10 years or more! And yes after high school we lost touch; but that is normal. People go off to college; people get married , have kids, start a career: Starting a real life, and getting used to it; all the ups and downs; getting to know new people. But was so great, if it werent for FB, i probably would have never seen them again or even talk to them again. This has brought some friendships back together. We all have kids about the same ages, which is weird and so cool at the same time. And its weird that we are all adults now, and have husbands and kids. We can now share things on a different level.

Laugh all you want! I dont care....I have some special people back in my life.

First Day of School.

2009-09-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

Here are our first day of school pictures for this year. I cant believe that Noah is already in 4th grade. I know , i know, i will be saying that every year til he goes off to college. Its just its amazing to see him grow into this young man. Yes i have 2 other kids, but he was the first born , he is the one i really notice how big and older he is getting and the other 2 also. They were both very excited to go back to school to see their friends and meet new teachers...They are just so adorable.....Love Them!!!

And my little princess! I am going to miss her personal fashion shows that she would give me daily. I will be working in the office and she will go change every 10 mins. Come down with a whole new outfit put together! Its so quiet around here with out her. She was so ready for school! I am trying to hold on to every last minute and little girl that she still is!

SUMMER HIGHTLIGHTS!!

2009-08-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

I havent blogged in FOREVER!! Wow...so here is a wrap up of our summer.

1) We took a trip to Destin, Florida with kids, my parents, and my sister flew down from NY. We had never been to Destin and we fell in love! It is beautiful water, sand, scenery! And its economical for big families. The kids had a great time playing in the sand, water, boogie-boarding all day. We got plenty of sun and fun ! We even met up with some friends down there, that happened to be 20mins from us. The men went to play golf, while we hung out at the beach wiht the kids and then at the pool. That was alot of fun too. We have already decided that Destin is our new family destination for the summer. Hopefully next year we will go with our brother in law and family...That will be a blast of a vacation.

2) Leo and I went to vegas! Yes we took our own little trip to Sin City.....We actaully went with another couple , Morgan and Kim. That was a very exciting, exhausting trip. As Vegas alwasys is. I missed out on golf this time, but the guys went. They met up with a friend of Morgans, and apparantly went to one of the best golf courses in the States. They had a really good time; while us girls stayed by the pool all day. That was very relaxing! But honestly , I have come to like Vegas alot more the past couple times, but i think i can do with out if for a long while....I rather take a trip to a tropical place with Leo and be on the beach, relaxing that way. Maybe next year!!

3) The week after vegas we had our nieces and nephew over. My brother in law and his wife, took their little trip to Vegas. Anyways, seeing all those kids together was just so wonderful! It was non stop fun here the whole weekend. Leo took the boys out one night to an Astros game, the girls opened up their own clothing store in Ava's room, very CONTEMPO like.....Then the finale of the weekend was all the kids (boys included) gave us a fashion show! That was hilarious! They are so much fun and love to hang out with one another!

We have had a great summer, it went by pretty fast. And now maybe i can get back on track on keeping up with our life....

School is here!!!!

2009-06-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness! I am so blessed to have such a beautiful family. God has given me the pleasure to live for a man that was just made for me. Leo is such an amazing man that just fills my day with happiness, love, and teaches me each day to be a better woman. He has provided us with so many beautiful memories, and continues to be a better man everyday for us. He has given me 3 beautiful children, each radiating a trait that comes from him. Amazing to watch them grow and to watch Leo be so tender with the girls, and teaching Noah to be a respectable young man. Each moment that i look at Leo, i fall deeper in love with him (if thats even possible at this point). Thank you Lord for making this man for me; and for giving him to us.

This is our first professional family picture and I am in love! Cathy Noble the photographer, was wonderful and patient with the kids; especially Leila. Leila at first didnt want to smile at ALL! but she eventually warmed up and did her thing. I cant wait to post the rest of the kids! I cried seeing them so grown up; especially Noah. And of course wiht my excitement that i had in gettign pictures done, i completely forgot to get some of all 3 kids together! I know its crazy! But thats okay, i have already set it up to meet with her again to do those. I cant wait!!!

Here is her website: Check her out, she's great!

http://cathynoblephotography.wordpress.com/

My Sweet Little Dancer....

2009-06-03T19:10:00.000-07:00

Leila had her first dance recital last weekend. I was really , really nervous for her, since she is the youngest one in her class. She was so excited about getting all dressed up , with makeup and hair done; dancing with her bwest fwend , Hailey. So adorable! Rehearsal was tough, but we got through it (well i had to leave early, right after her second dance. Teacher wasnt happy but what are you gonna do). Anyways, she did amazing that evening. Now i dont mean Swan Lake amazing, I mean that she didnt get on stage crying or walking off. But i mean being 4 steps behind her classmates and still doing something "dance-like" on stage. In front of a full audience! My baby 3 year old on stage! Right before her 2nd dance, i was wiht her back stage, and walk her to the stage door, and she told me to "Go sit with Daddy so you can see me, mami"..i was so happy! So i ran out to sit with daddy. Then later she said, "Mommy, i want to go dance on big stage".....If i could kick everyone off the stage to put her on, I would have! believe me......She made us sooooo proud! I am so looking forward to the future in dance with Leila.....

So Exciting!!!

2009-05-20T19:42:00.000-07:00

Noah had baseball game last night, it was the first playoff game. We won! Noah had a great game last night, had 2 fantastic plays. So then we played tonight for National Title Champion. And the PHILLIES won....it got scary the last inning, but they pulled through. SO now we play tomorrow agaisnt the winner of American Title Champion, National vs American.....Wish Noah and his team luck.!

Anyways, school is almost out, and i have to say i am so excited! not sure what i am going to do with all 3 home, and starting a new contract, but i am sure we will figure it out....we have baseball camps, dance camps, tae, golf clinic, VBS schools, and plenty of time to hang out wiht family and friends at the pool....we will make it a great summer.

I will let you know how the game is tomorrow!!!!

good night.

Bittersweet Moments.

2009-05-11T16:55:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I had bittersweet moments that brought me to tears. One happened yesterday on Mothers Day. My wonderful family, took me to breakfast at one our family favorite places: Cracker Barrel. It was an hour wait, but we survived. This is what just brought me to tears: We were at the table chatting, playing the menu games and waiting for food. Our food finally arrived, we get everyone situated with their pancakes, bacon, etc....I start to fix Ava's plate while Leo does Leila. I always tear the pancakes into pieces and pour syrup for them. Mommy sets it all up. Well, i noticed that Noah was using his fork and knife cutting his own pancakes in totally the incorrect way. BUT it brought tears to my eyes. I tried to hold back but i couldnt. Well Leo asked me whats wrong? I ALWAYS do that for him, and here he is doing it all my himself, not "needing" me to help him or do it for him. It just made me think: he is growing up into a young man, and now he is doing things on his own. Now he does A LOT on his own, and has been since kinder. Has always woken up to his alarm clock, get dressed, brush teeth, fix hair: SINCE KINDER!! So i guess i am hanging on to every last thing that I CAN do for him as mommy. So something so small brought me to tears....

The second thing this weekend was on Saturday evening. We spent it w my brother in law and his family celebrating our niece, Emma and nephews, Dylan & Nicholas birthdays this month. To see all the kids: all 8 cousins hanging out and playing, was just wonderful. And just hanging out at their house, and talking, having a good time w the whole family was a bittersweet moment to me. the kids had a fabulous time! We had a fabulous time!

Thank you Lord, for all the moments you send into my life, that i will cherish forever.....

Perfect Way To End our Weekend

2009-05-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

We ended our day with a great game of Tag at the park. Its such a joy to see and hear the kids laugh out loud. I mean thsoe belly laughs that come from the pit of the tummy. They laugh at he way daddy is running, how mommy screams when daddy is chasing her, Ava saying "i never catch anyone"; Leila not really knowing who is "it", but constantly yelling: "daddy get me , daddy you cant catch me". Also with a little pick up game of basketball with the kids...lots of fun. That is a great way to end our day.

Thank you Lord for all our love and blessings in our life.

Ava's First Communion

2009-05-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had a very special event in our family. Ava celebrated her First Communion. She looked beautiful in her communion dress, with a simple clip in her hair. She is not much for dressing up alot, so this was perfect for her. It was a nice mass and moment for her. The only difference this time compared to Noah's is that , they removed the drinking of the wine due to the Swine Flu that has somewhat invaded our city. But , she didnt mind at all, since she didnt like it to begin with. Afterwards, we all came back to our house for food and cake. And we were joined by our second family The Cuadras. We all just hung out while kids played, and played. A very nice afternoon indeed.

Moving Forward

2009-04-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

Today we had an appointment set up for family photos, and due to high winds, we had to cancel and now post pone to JUNE. I'm really sad about that....We were are prepared for it, too, with new hair cuts, clothese, nails, etc.....oh well, we can wait! This week is a busy week: We have baseball practice, baseball games. Ava is learning new form in Tae, so she needs to make every class to not fall behind. Noah has Math taks on tuesday; Leila has swim, and dance. Not sure how well her teacher will take the haircut , now that i cant put it in a bun....she looks adorable though! I need to go find Leila her tan tap shoes for dance pictures and recitals. Apprantly they are hard to come by so i need to find them tomorrow...if not buy from EBAY. Leo and I have an appointment with a potential client that was recommended to us by a friend, who i am totally grateful that she mentioned us. We are meeting them on Wednesday, so we are extremely excited about that; and Leo has appt that same day for a big remodel job. So pray that both appointments go well. We are very grateful for every opportunity to comes our way. Ava has her first communion next Saturday, so I need to go buy her dress and shoes. Today at CCE, she tasted the wine and said she didnt like it. She will do it for her first communion but thats it; not every Sunday.

I cant not believe that the school year is coming to an end; summer vacation is almost here. We have not planned our trip yet, still working on some other big things right now. But as soon as we settle on that, i am sure we will be able to plan something for the summer. Hopefully my sister will be able to make the trip too, with Calo (carlos is the name, but Leila calls him Calo). Anyways: Ava will be turning 8 years old, off to third grade, and Noah off to 4th grade. WOW! where does the time go??

Anyways, thats a wrap for now....be back later this week...Good Night & God Bless

Say a prayer for the following people that are dealing with Cancer.

1) Kateli : This is my friends little girl , who is a beautiful Angel. She is 3 years old.
2) Christina Sanchez This is my closest friend's mom. She is dealing with breast cancer, and hasnt been feeling good lately. She is getting an MRI done on Tuesday.
3) Maggie This is a lady i have never met, but heard about her thru my sister. What amazing strength she has, and the wonderful support she has from her husband, friends, family.

I pray that they are all protected by GOD and given the strength to heal.

Abuelita's 90th Birthday Celebration.

2009-04-19T08:39:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday the 15th , Leo's abuela turned 90 years old. We planned a small celebration with family and friends for her yesterday. We arranged for a limo to pick her and her friends up from their building. My BIL, Marcelo was there at the time of pick up, and he said that she was in such awe that there was a limo picking her up. Abuela & her friends really enjoyed the ride in sophisticated style. When she arrived her whole family and friends were waiting for her. We listened to good music, good food, good cake, and but best of all, great memories were made once again. The whole family together celebrating such an imporant person in our life. And even though the family was not 100% complete, we all know that both dad, and abuelo were with each one of us in spirit.

I have the photos in the slideshow on the sidebar. Enjoy!

Trying to Find the Peace.

2009-04-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

I was not in the mood to blog, but i felt the need to just maybe release my thoughts and everything that we have been up to lately, for my sister's sake a bit.

It has been pretty normal living around here since my last posting. Everyone is busy, busy with activities and work. Baseball is going on well, Noah's team is 5-1; so thats pretty good. Ava is a First Degree Level 4 black belt, which is truly amazing! She has been doing this for almost 4 years. The time goes by so fast! i see it in my own kids, but i see it in my friends kids and definitely in my nieces and nephews. We had the wonderful pleasure to see them for Easter and I reallly cant express how much of a blessing that was. Seriously it was a very nice time, seeing all 8 cousins play together; all 3 brothers hanging out and talking about everything. It was a wonderful sight, and i really pray that it continues on more reguraly than what it has been in the past.

We are getting ready to celebrate grandma's 90th birthday this weekend. WOW! 90 years! The things that she must have seen in all those years. The losses that she has endured in the past and to see her so strong the way she is. I admire her so much. My sister and I didnt have the pleasure to have grandparents when growing up; i believe that is why I always have our kids surrounded by one or all grandparents every weekend at some given moment. there is that special bond between that relationship. I see Leila playing with Abuela, and i realize that there is an 86 year difference bw the two......86 years! to see these 2 generations share sweet moments of playing hairdresser or restaurant is beyond words.

Leo and i have been working too. Dealing with the finishing up of one job, and preparing to start a new job in teh next couple weeks. We are also updating our website, which really excites me. i love when our website gets new stuff. we are working on some potential job ideas, and hopefully it will all pan out soon.

I have to say i am really proud of myself and my dedication that i have had to work out rountine. Since Feb 1 of this year, i have dedicated time and sacrificed sleep time to meet Patty. She is a friend of mine that is also a personal trainer. Been seeing her 3 times a week, changed my food intake and started taking a disgusting drinkable vitamin to healthy up my body/mind/soul. And let me say this: IT IS DAMN HARD!!! really hard! But its been so much fun! Even the times when i meet her at 6am at her house (yes 6am), i start working out, we have great discussions and lots of laughs. I have come so far since then, and i have to admit, i am still a little hard on myself. I am asking waaay to much from me, but i am learning day by day to be proud and appreicative of what i have accomplished.

This is turning into a journal entry.....not so much blogging....Okay well that is all for now...

Moni: Tomorrow i will post pics......

i love you sis and i miss you!

Yeah for Noah and his team!

2009-03-31T20:13:00.000-07:00

they had a game tonight and they won, 10-7! Noah had a great hit and made a run in. They really hussled and did amazing! They were so excited!!!

good night!

Baseball Season Has Started

2009-03-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

Last night we had our first baseball game, the rain held off for us here in Richmond/Rosenberg. We played a tough team, and the boys did great! We only lost by one....Noah even pitched an inning. He did really good. Needs to practice, but he really enjoys pitching. thats the good news....

The bad news: Leo went to play basketball last night after Noah's game, and he tore his calf muscle....He was in alot of pain last night, and still is. Needs to keep ice on it, and elevated for first 24-48 hours. We will see tomorrow about going to dr, to get it checked out how severe it is. I am hoping no sugery.... :(

So he's been stuck at home today; poor baby.

Thought for Today (and always)

2009-03-25T07:10:00.000-07:00

Take time to Share

Life is too Short to be Selfish

Spring Break Is Over; so sad

2009-03-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

Well the end of Spring Break is here. I must say we had a busy week. Let see, we hung out with friends for pizza, batting cages where Ava hurt herself pretty bad. She was hit in the wrist by a fast pitching baseball. It was a minor mistake that she overlooked, but she is doing much better. Then we did bounce U and dinner with daisy & kids, daniella & Victoria, then ice cream after that. Kids sleeping in late; which they totally deserve. Friday was Noah's day with daddy. They went off to Brazos State Park, for some attempting at fishing, they went bike riding through the trails, and witnessed 2 alligators FIGHTING. Noah said it was the coolest thing he saw! they spent the whole day together, very enjoyable for both. I went to lunch w the girls at the Cupcake Cafe, then did a little spring shopping for us girls; mostly Ava & Leila. Saturday we spent the whole day in the Woodlands getting to know some areas up there, did Market Street, ate at our favorite place Lupes Tortillas, had ice cream and played tag in the park...It was a great day, weather was beautiful up in the Woodlands.

Now we are hanging out in the backyard. Noah is practicing pitching, and now the girls are playing with CeeCee, my mother in law's puppy. Grandma is here too.....we will have a small BBQ....

Tomorrow back to the grind of work and school!

Just a thought

2009-03-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

Love everyone in God's Way.
You dont get to pick and choose you who you want to love in God's Way.
Even those that you are upset with, dont like, dislike,dont know, dont know yet.
You love in God's Way all the time: Your SPOUSE, CHILDREN, MOTHERS, FATHERS, SISTERS, BROTHERS, GRANDPARENTS, FRIENDS, IN LAWS, AUNTS, UNCLES , STRANGERS...everyone!

John 3:18

Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth

Many of us speak how we WANT TO BE , but your actions speak louder than your words, your actions need to match your words. That is being true to yourself and to Him.

Big Scare at Baseball last night

2009-03-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

Last night Noah had a scrimmage game against the Red Sox......This seaon we are doing kid pitch...was waaaaay different than machine pitch. Noah did some pitching last night, and i must say he did pretty good.

Here is the part i dont like...He was at First base...opposite team hit hit the ball, one of our VERY STRONG kids got the ball and threw it to first, and the ball skimmed Noah's glove and the ball went into his face. it got his right eye and the bridge of his nose. SCARY! fortunately with the ball skimming the glove it somewhat slowed it down, with out it going full force into his face....He sat out for about 15-20 mins with ice on it, and like a true baseball player went back to the game. His eye was a bit swollen, and red;but with having the ice on it, that really helped it.

well i am off to hang out with the kids, we just finished up homework and Leo is off to watch the Rockets with his older bro Marcelo.

Camping is a no go....

2009-03-10T14:27:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately we will not be going camping this weekend.,...of ALL the weekends the rain to come and for the temperature to drop to low 40s. Now, I wouldnt mind the temp drop but i do mind all the rain that will be happening this weekend....

Kids are really sad, we were all looking forward to it for weeks now! So now we have to see about rescheduling it.....maybe in April..

Today was a VERY productive day...i clean the house top to bottom, including dusting the bedroom fans....did laundry and put it all away, changed sheets and washed them too. And i was watching Daniella, Marta's daughter..she had a dr appt; amazing that she is due in just 4 weeks or less. She is a beautiful preggo mom! We had lunch when she got back, which is something i dont do very, very often.....I need to start that every now and then with friends (Daisy & Daniella)...i owe them one already heheh.....

Need to go finish off the day...Ava to Tae:Leo will take her; I will take Leila to dance; Then i will take Noah to a scrimmage game tonight at 7; Meet Leo there and probably leave a little early to get girls home, dinner and then to bed....

March Madness......Summer is slowly creeping up....

2009-03-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

i didnt realize its been so long since my last post.....lets recap:

We are now in March...Goodness, time sure does fly by fast! All of have been busy with school, testing (yuck), work, baseball, finished up basketball, continuing tae, and dance. And lots of school study.....Some exciting things:

1) today we met with a nice couple at a chance to build their house. They came across one of our street signs, and went to our website; and still contacted us! that is so exciting! So we met this morning for about an hour or so. Very nice, young couple....i feel that the meeting went well , and now we just need to put a package together for them and see what happens. Pray for a shot!!

2) We have a new member in our family! The kids are truley excited about this, and as I am too. My mother in law got a puppy!!! Yes, she got a puppy....a little 7 week old Cocker Spaniel, that she named CeeCee or Cici, not sure how she is going to spell. She named her after a beloved dog that she owned a long time ago, that was a chow. This little thing is adorable!! The boys: Dennis, Leo & Noah accompanied her yesterday pretty much all day...started first at SPCA, and then a private owner , and ended up in Spring to pick her up. ISnt she precious? The kids had a great time playing with her yesterday...they wouldnt put her down.Leila warmed up to her, she is not used to animals...that was hilarious. CeeCee would chase her and snap at her feet.....very funny thing to see.

3) Plans coming up?? Next week is Spring Break, and we are going camping!!! The kids are SOOOOO Excited!! I have been asking for years to go camping and finally, i dont know what got into Leo, but he agreed. We have a tent, and we need to get some fishing rods....And we are going with some really close friends, well they are practicly family , really, the Cuadras....Noah and Ava are so pumped to spend a couple days with Isa and Kenneth Jr. As we are excited to spend time with Lorett and Kenneth...i am so excited...grilled hot dogs, smores, fishing, having fun in the sun....NOW the only teeny tiny thing is this: Apprantly there is a small cold front coming in wednesday...hopefully it will come and go.....and we wont need to worry about night time temperatures since we are sleeping in a tent....A very huge tent! Can not wait!

4) i miss my sister. i talk to her often, but its not the same. She has her life there, and we have ours here. I just wish she didnt have to go so far sometimes......but whatcha gonna do? she is in a very, happy relationship with Carlos. We met him last month, and he is truley gentleman...The kids had a blast getting to know him.....and Leila calls him Calo...there is no R or S, really cute.

5) We are 3 months into our adoption....WHOO HOO!!! i have a long way to go, but i need to keep my spirits and patience high! Everyday that goes by is a step closer to our lady bug.

6) Since this last disapperance of Sabrina, my friend Marta's friend....i have been really paranoid when i am out and about by myself and/or with the kids. This society we live in has always been dangerous BUT now seems the bad people are getting BOLDER with their actions. Women are being attacked in broad daylight, and no one to the rescue. Why is that? I pray every day for a great day. I pray when i get in the car for safety and protection. I pray when i get to location....again for safety and protection. I have made myself very AWARE of my surroundings, where i am parked, people that are out and about. You always have to be on alert. My friend Patty who is is personal trainer & trains the SugarLand Swat Team, taught me some moves that can help if anything ever happened. And it is terrifying to think that i may one day need to use it...i DONT EVER WANT TO, but to protect myself and especially my children, i will go to extreme lengths....I have experienced this before when I was 4 years old in NY. 2 guys broke into our apartment, and took my parents handcuffed them to a pole in our bathroom, duct taped my mouth, and ransacked our place, and stole every little bit of nothing that we had. A gun was held to my dads head to frighten me to stop looking at the suspects....IT WAS THE MOST TERRIFYING MOMENT OF MY little life at the time. I remember vivid details like if it were yesterday. I dont wish this upon no one. I pray that all women that I know, dont know, that i love and care for, protect themselves and make themselves aware of their surroundings!

okay i think that is all that i can think of right now sitting here on the floor at Tae.....

Last Weekend

2009-02-09T07:09:00.000-08:00

Well this weekend was pretty busy a bit. Friday night we had a small birthday get together for me. Just a couple of friends came over to hang out, and have a good times. Which in deed we did...did a little dancing, drinking, eating...and just had a good time.

Saturday, Ava and Noah had basketball games....Noah's team wonb 57-10, or something. didnt go to that game, it was at 8am! I had a small headached....Ava had her game later in the morning, and they also won 28-20.

that same evening, Ava had her 2nd annual Father/Daughter dance at our church. She has been truly looking forward to it for awhile now. She looked so beautiful in her dress and shoes, hair done...just looking very girlie girl. She is my little tomboy, so to see her all decked out is very nice. Daddy to her out to eat, and then they met Sergio and his 2 girls Elissa and Bella. they are BFFs i guess you can say. I have video of them dancing and its just precious to see them prancing around and dancing. ADORABLE! i wish i could have been there. they had a really good time. Next year, he will have 2 dates....Leila will be able to go with them. So that will be a treat for them....

Other news: Noah has baseball tryouts this weekend; we havent been baseball involved since last spring; he's been trying out other sports. Im actually sort of excited, i have missed it. We will be finishing up basketball this month, and Ava will be starting Tennis. We are still doing ice skating which is going great for both girls. Leila is still in dance, and still loving it. She has her first recital in May....i am so excited! they have 2 costumes and they are all going to look adorable. Its just cute to see her doing this: she is the youngest one in class...there is only one other girl that is about 3 months older, but everyone else are 4 or soon to be 4...so they are a bit more coordinated when it comes to their dance moves. But we will see if she has stage fright....

My sister is coming in 4 days!!!!!! We are soooooo exicted! ESPECIALLY The kids! they are counting down to the day. She comes in late Friday, so i will be picking her and Carlos up from the airport, and i believe Noah will be going with me. Ava has a game the next morning, she needs her rest; Leila will be asleep by 9pm...and Noah, well he can stay up all night! so he is my buddy for that night. We will be spending LOTS of time and making up for lost time with my sister! CANT WAIT.

Leo and i have been working and working.....Finishing up jobs and trying to get new jobs. Its been pretty scary with the way the economy has been and who knows how long it will last, but we are praying it all gets better (OBAMA will do it) and keep doing what we are doing....I thank the Lord for letting us be good now, and we are stable. I am looking forward ot building our new house, but i am being patient to do it at the right time. We have also starting really working out together...its alot of fun. I do train 3 days a week with Patty, and on the other days, we go running together with the kids....and at the same time go to the park to play with them. He also has been working out on his own at home with his home gym. I am so proud of him and myself. We have been reallly dedicated and it feels great!

gotta go!

Exactly today, Saturday January 31 1998

2009-01-31T12:16:00.001-08:00

This is when i married my true love , my best friend, my partner. I could of not asked for a better man to be my husband and the father of our children. I met Leo when i was 19 years old and he was 22. And here we are 12 years later, celebrating 11 years of marriage with 3 kids. We have had our downs that come in a marriage, but i believe that this is what makes us stronger and makes us work harder to be a better partner for the one we love. He has taught me alot in life, and continues to be my rock....I thank him for everything he does for us, and i thank him for everything we have accomplished as a family and couple. He works hard so i can work from home and be around for the kids at all times....and have the flexibility to take care of our family. The best part of our relationship, we still act like we just met. We have our date nights to concentrate on eachother, we have our trip once a year just the to of us. I believe its really important to take care of eachother, take time for eachother, tell eachother that we love eachother every day, kiss everyday, hold hands...etc....Always on our honeymoon.

Thank you Papi for some wonderful 11 years! For 3 beautiful kids! For a wonderful life! You are my love of my life! And i love you very, very much.

Happy Anniversary!!!

We are back!

2009-01-26T20:41:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we came back from our trip from Walt Disney World. We were there for a whole week with our friends The Cantus. Its our second time visiting, and of course Leila's first time. The kids had a fantastic time; Noah and Ava riding the big rides with daddy. Leila also rode some of the smaller roller coasters and she was exhilarated with it. She would put her hands up just like me! It was so cute. We also got to meet all the Disney Princesses, except for Snow White; which Leila kept begging for. We did a Princess Dinner for us girls only: Leila, Ava, myself and my mother in law. It was her first time going too. She had a great time also. The weather was a bit cold for Florida, but we went pretty prepared for it. All the kids did really well with all the walking, and being at the park from 9am to pretty much 9pm ... Leila did amazing too. she would take her naps if needed in the strollers..no fuss! Just happy to be running around and meeting all Disney Characters. It was a ball! It does exhaust you, but in a good way. But at the same time we are really happy to be home, and get back to reality. In Disney World you are a kid again! and its so much fun to do this with your kids is just so amazing. Seeing their faces light up when they see their favorite character, riding a BIG roller coaster for the first time and surviving it! Its really a great blessing that we were able to do this with our kids. We look forward to the next time we go.....we may be 6 at that time :)

Check out our photoshow from our trip:

http://www.photoshow.com/watch/Bu4Ap8KG

When will it slow down?

2009-01-15T20:30:00.000-08:00

Since the holidays are over, life has resumed back to school, work, family, sports, appointments, etc.....I havent posted any photos in awhile, so i put a small slideshow with pictures from Christmas, and Noah's Birthday Dinner. His birthday is the day after Christmas; so i always do his parties in January; but this year it slipped away from me. We have every weekend with something going on; plus we leave for Disney in a couple days...But i did plan a Boys Night Out for him...it was very last minute, but fortunately his friends from school can make it. He is really excited about his day of boy stuff. Like many of you know, he is SURROUNDED by girls, so he is very much in need of this.

The girls have started to take Ice Skating class. And so far so good. Ava is really enjoying it , and Leila had fun today....

We are so excited about our trip to Disney. Leila is telling everyone that she will be eating princess food (we are doing the Princess Dinner), and that she gets to go to Mickey Mouse's house, and see TinkerBell. Noah & Ava is excited too! They get to hang out with their friends Caitlin and Aidan , and play all day! who wouldnt love that!

That is all for now!

Good THings, Good Things

2009-01-07T16:57:00.000-08:00

Well so far all is well: Kids are back to school; Leila started a new class. Everything is falling into rountine again. Wew did add one more little extra curricular activity to our list; the girls are starting ice skating tomorrow. Yes Leila included. She is really excited....last week i took the kids with Babba girls to the ice rink in downtown, and Leila tried it for the first time and she loved it. So we shall see how this goes.

One thing that i am so excited about is: MY SISTER IS COMING TO TOWN!!!!! NEXT MONTH!!! So very excited and the kids too.

That is all for now!

HAPPY 2009!!!

2009-01-05T09:37:00.001-08:00

Wow! A new year is upon us already...this can be a very exciting thing and at the same time a very scary time. I am very excited for our new year in many ways: New year for business to grow; new year to enjoy my husband of 11 years (january 31: anniversary); to enjoy our kids: to see them smile, jump, sleep, hear their laughs, see them cry. Moments that come and go so fast you dont know what hit you. A new year to make ourselves better: some of my goals this year:

* More Patience (we can all use this one)
* I need to SHOW more appreciation to the people around me
* Open up my heart MORE to GOD, Faith, and Prayer ( you can never have TOO MUCH of this)
* Be a better wife
* Be a better mother
* Be a better daughter
* Be a better sister
* Be a better sister in law
* Be a better Tia
* Be a better daughter in law
* Be a better Friend

We can all use a small tune up, and what better time to start in the new year.

I pray that we all have a wonderful and prosperous New Year!

Holidays! Holidays! Holidays!

2008-12-16T11:16:00.000-08:00

The world is crazy and busy when the holidays are upon us, its fun, stressing, and out of control. But you can sum it up that it is all FUN! Over the weekend we had a wondeful thing happen , and that is we got to see our niece, nephews,and the kids were to spend some time with their cousins. The kids were so excited!!! Especially, especially Noah: He was in his element with his cousins Nicholas and Dylan. Noah is constantly surrounded by girls and not enough boy activities or boy play time. They played football, 4 square, Wii...just had fun together. Emma our niece, has turned into a beautiful , graceful young girl....she's a ballerina, that is why she is so graceful. And its so cute to watch her, when she walks and turns , she does it ballerina style. Always doing something danceful. And i believe Leila , our little ballerina currently, picked up on it. Since then, Leila will practice her little (crooked) twirls more than ever, adn she practices her ballerina arm positions. It so cute! And i know Emma had something to do with that. It was a joyous occassion for us to have them all here.

This week we will be finishing up our Christmas Shopping and also taking the kids to do some shopping for the family we adopted this year; Single mom with 2 kids. hopefully we can bring some happy holidays to this family in need.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

2008-12-15T07:17:00.000-08:00

We choose…

Every day we make choices, we choose to:

*be patient or impatient
*be kind or unkind
*actively listen or passively wait to voice our view
*act with humility or behave arrogantly
*be selfless or selfish
*be forgiving or resentful
*be honest or deceitful
*be loving or not to love
*smile or frown

Notice that I said "we choose". I did not say we "can" choose. We do make these choices every day, whether consciously or subconsciously. How do you choose?

I received this in an email this morning. Really makes you think....good way to start the week, end this year and start a new year in a new way of thinking to make yourself a better person, and the world around you a better place to live.

Have a great day.

Breckenridge was Awesome!

2008-12-03T19:41:00.001-08:00

We're back! We got back on Monday night from one of the best places in the US; Breckenridge Colorado. We had a good flight there, Leila really enjoys riding on the airplane, and she behaved really well. When we arrived, we were a tad disappointed that there wasn't much snow in Denver. We hoped it was different in BReck. But it wasn't....there was very little snow in the streets and sidewalks..still beautiful, but for some reason white snow makes it soooo preeeetty! The next day we walked around town and then Leo took the 2 older ones to snowboard. Leila and i hung out together all day at The Maggie (lounge, bar, cafeteria in one) and were people watching, she was playing, and i was reading. On the way home, i said a little teeny tiny prayer and this is what i said: Senor Dios gracias por darnos tanto en nuestra vida; pero le pido un favorsito chiquito: Denos un dia de nieve, no mas un dia, para que los ninos lo pueden disfrutar. Amen. Translation: Dear Lord, thank you for all that you have given us in our life; but i have a teeny favor to ask. Please let it snow just one day so the kids can enjoy it. Amen. He listened, but BIG TIME. The next morning (Thanksgiving Day) Noah woke us up telling that it was winter wonderland outside, and sure enough we were covered in a blanket of snow. Funny thing is: It snowed nonstop for the remainder of the time we were there. So my prayer was listened and put into effect. How He works! Amazing!

To make this a short summary: We visited Keystone and Copper Mountain, both very nice places and we hope to visit there in the future. Dinners were great, Starbucks were great, but it doesn't beat the French bakery's hot chocolate with the best Whip cream on top.....That was the best! The kids had a fantastic time snowboarding each hour on the mountain getting better and better. Leo too, he was a kid at heart snowboarding all day long. That was a pleasure for me to watch as a mom and a wife: my family having a great time, and having fun. Leila too, we made our selves comfy at a table with all our essentials: Aqua doodle, crayons, crayon books, my reading books and my drink: Bloody Mary (VERY YUMMY).

The best moments of the trip are the ones you cant record on video or even grab on photos. All the impromptu snowball fights , the laughs, the talks and my favorite: Leo told Noah and Ava we were going to take a picture of them and had them stand by a tree, almost right under it, and so they did. Leo shook the branches and they had an avalanche of snow fall on top of them....That was funny!

I can go into more detail but this would be a forever blog on this one trip.....click here to see a photoshow of our trip....

http://www.photoshow.com/watch/DG7MK7Sc

Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-24T07:29:00.000-08:00

And we are off! Tomorrow we fly out to Breckenridge to spend our Thanksgiving Holidays in the mountains of Colorado. The kids are SUPER excited; they have been counting down the days since Halloween. I can not believe the holidays are upon us. A time to reflect on all our blessings that we have with our families, friends, work, and health. If you dont already, learn this Thanksgiving day to give thanks to God for all that he does for you on a daily basis. HE is there, HE listens, and HE does. I am thankful for my husband, my 3 beautiful children who are so well deserving of everything in life, my sister who i miss dearly who always knows how to make me laugh, cheer me up, and there to just talk. I MISS YOU! Our friends who are there for to just chit chat, hang out with and have a drink and laugh! My rest of my family is who is always by our side through thick & thin, we can always count on you when needed! Thank you for being you! And most truley to GOD: for giving me all these wonderful people in my life, the strength and motivation to make the best of each day that we are blessed with, for giving us the opportunity to adopt our little girl. It will be a long journey, but you will hold us up and help us be strong.

I hope everyone has a wonderful THANKSGIVING!

Love

Leo, Cathy, Noah, Ava, Leila

WOOOOO AVA!!! 1st Degree Level 2 Black Belt!!!!!

2008-11-19T10:51:00.001-08:00

My Tiger Cub in 2005 and My Black Belt Girl now. We are so proud of Ava! It was a struggle the past couple of months to get here, but shes here! And we are so excited and proud of her. This is a huge deal for her and for us. Leo even spoke last night on how we appreciate the academy for all the training and fundamentals they teach her, which spills over to how she behaves and discipline wise. But it also hurts when she is playing with Noah, and "accidently" does a move on him....that is the only place she needs to be careful.....

Middle of the Week

2008-11-12T21:01:00.000-08:00

Downside: This whole allergy deal with Ava has had me thinking a lot about what we eat, and i have been looking at labels in our pantry and the majority of everything has soy or peanut something. So of course i wasnt sure how serious i need to take this peanut/soy allergy, its not like Ava has had a MAJOR reaction in the past with the food we have had; so i called the dr to ask: Ok Doc, she has this allergy, but how serious do i need to take this....do i need to start reading labels when i grocery shop? So i put the call in, and sure enough, the nurse said after reviewing her chart and talking to the dr, he wants me to keep her completely away from anything peanut and soy! So what does this mean? Well reading labels, and asking at restaurants is there peanut or soy in that? and keeping it away. They told me that even though she has not had a severe reaction, it doesnt mean it wont happen; AND if we continue on with her having it in whatever she eats, well its like feeding gasoline to a fire, we would be feeding into her allergy and something bad can happen. And of course i dont want that for my little girl....IT will be a change but its worth to keep her safe....

Upside: The new Walmart by our house opened today, and the kids & I went to take a stroll and buy some things...BUT we really went to go visit my mother in law in the bakery department. The kids were so excited to go see her, and they think its soo cool that their abuela works there, and now we can go say hi when we go. They also hope they get a cookie everytime we go. And well today they did get a cookie....Leila was a little confused though. She saw her hala-hala behind the counter and she had this look like , ummmm what are you doing over there? Really cute! We went on our way to do some shopping, ran into people we know checking out the new Walmart, and of course the kids wanted to go say goodbye to their Abuela before leaving. I will have to remember to always park on the bakery side. She looks so great working and keeping busy. We are really proud of her!!!

Then to end my day on the best note ever! My wonderful , wonderful husband comes home with a bouqet of lillies in his hand for me.....Oh my goodness! It really brighten up day! They are just beautiful! I think i found my favorite flower....and they smell wonderful....i have them sitting on my nightstand...

Trying to Play catch up..

2008-11-10T19:46:00.000-08:00

As you see its been a week, so we have been busy......Thankfully all is well, work is great, and the kids are doing well. Until today, somewhat....Ava has been battling ear infections for the past 3 months....and finally got her in to see an Allergist today. Well my poor little girl is allergic to EVERYTHING ON THIS PLANET!! (or so it seems)....but seriously, she had severe allergic reactions to all the pricks they gave her: Cat, Mold, dustmites, ALL trees, ALL weeds, ALL grass, even SOY and even PEANUTS....the nurse asked me if i knew she was allergic to peanuts and i was like , well no. Fortunately Ava doesnt like peanuts, peanut butter, peanut M&Ms,pb&j, nothing, so that may be the reason why we didnt know, she never had a reaction. Her asthma has been not so great, and her breathing test today confirmed her asthma and that she is not breathing well. So! we went out to buy her allergen pillow, pillow covers, mattress covers, and an allergen pillowtop for her bed.( she loved sleepig in Noah's bed for his featherbed) and in fact she has not slept in her own bed in over 2 months....She has to go back in a couple weeks for more testing, and more than likley she will be doing shots on a weekly basis.....My poor baby! The good thing is, why found out her problem, and this will help control her asthma, sinus problems, nasal problems, well pretty much everything.....

Weekend Update.

2008-11-03T16:21:00.000-08:00

Halloween Day: Christy planned a small toddler Halloween Party, for the girls' classes from church. She had it at her house, and it worked out great: the weather was nice, the kids enjoyed all the sugar they got to have....they played for 3 hours and the moms got some mommy talk time, we really enjoyed it.

Halloween Night: We went trick or treating with Dennis, Christy and the girls, and also the Babba Clan, including Lorena, in Dennis' neighborhood. Kids got so much candy its crazy! they were frightened by some creative neighbors, and they got to see 2 snkaes, and pet it.After trick or treating, we hung out at their house, saw Tinkerbell the movie, and ordered pizza. But it got to a point, that the little ones were on such a sugar high, we had to put them all to bed for the sugar crash.

I couldnt keep Addie still to stay put in the picture, but this way it captures her personality. I love it. Babba, Leila and KK had the best seat in the house, being pulled by Dennis...But KK really lives it up the right style....she took over the wagon against her Big Sis and her Big Prima...Adorable!

Saturday Noah had his last football, and his teacher came all the way from Galleria to see him play; that meant alot to Noah...Plus she was able to see some of her other past students play too. So she really enjoyed it. Then there was a coaches football game, that Leo played in, to finish off the season, and that was enjoyable to watch. All the wives, kids on the sidelines watching Daddy play football. The "big" boys had a good time....

Sunday we went to church, Leo watched a football game, then we hung out in Sugarland for a couple hours and ran some errands..then just came home, adjusting to time change....and got ready to start a new week.

Thank you Lord for a great weekend, and the start of a new week!

DONT FORGET TO VOTE!!!

Remembering Leila's First Day in our Life.

2008-10-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

My Baby was born 3 years ago today the 28th of October. At about 230 (in carpool lane) picking up Noah from school, my water broke. I started laughing i was crying. Called Leo to tell him i was in labor. He was with Ava that day, so i had to meet him at the hospital. Yes i drove myself to the hospital...Got there, they insisted i sit in the wheelchair, i didnt need to and didnt want to, but its some medical law, so i sat. Leo unfortunately that evening had tickets to U2 (his favorite band) and was going with Dennis. Well that was canceled; and he had to sell his tickets and anotoher pair he had. I actually had Halloween bunko that night, that was canceled....And 2 hours later, about 430ish, Leila Theresa Conde was born! It was a very, EASY, EASY delivery, i would of done again...and to be honest with you, I felt so wonderful, I could of gone to bunko and Leo could of gone to the concert (hee hee).

And look at our Little Princess now: (and if you dont believe me that she's a princess, look at video from yesterday's posting. That will show you.)

We all adore her little princess personality; and the sweetness that comes with it. I love to watch her play make believe...she has a very open imagination. We are enjoying her speak her language of SPANGLISH...it is very cute. And oh yeah, her singing that she does throughout the day about Noah, Ava, Babba & KK.....and she sings loud too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEILA!!!

What a BUSY, BUSY Weekend......

2008-10-27T18:47:00.001-07:00

Well Friday was great; we went to the movies with The Babba clan, Elissa and Ava are BFFs...and went to watch High School Musical 3! I was very anxious to watch it, and i was sad that i wasnt going to see it with Ava, since she got to see it AGAIN at a friends birthday party on Saturday. So i was very excited to get the call from Claudia to take the girls to see it. Even Leo and Sergio went with us....The movie in my opinion was great! We loved it...great music, great dancing and just great! Ava did not mind at all seeing it again the day after.....she was so excited! Saturday was busy, busy! Organizing and setting up the backyard for Leila's birthday party...We had tables and chairs at 830 am, dropped Ava off at church retreat, inflatables at noon, ran last minute errands in between; went to kids school to check on booth for carnival, put Leila down for nap about 2ish (she needed it). About 3ish we all started to get dressed in our costumes. The party was a success....see picture slideshow on the right. Leila received so many wonderful gifts! She is so excited with all of it. Now it was just trying to find a place for it all.

Sunday, ws a calm day: Leo took Noah and Ava to the driving range, and Uncle Dennis met up with them. He should of stayed home, since he lost a bet to Noah. Leo bet Noah $10 if he would it the 150 yd sign....And Uncle D jumped in & doubled it, if he did, after about 20 minutes: NOAH HIT IT! He came home with $30...He was happy. I stayed home cleaning and washing after the party, and playing with Word Play Doh with Leila. that was fun....it smells yummy too. When everyone came home, we went to a church carnival, and met up with Dennis/Christy & the girls. Let the kids run around and have fun...

TWO VIDEOS YOU HAVE TO WATCH:

Video #1: Leila with some of her birthday gifts...She is tooo Adorable!

Video #2: My fearless, tough cookie Little Niece Addie...At the carnival she tried the rock wall! She is one tough 2 year old!

Another Week by, October almost Good-Bye!

2008-10-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

It was a pretty quiet weekend. My parents celebrated their 34th Wedding Anniversary! Leo and I have 23 more years to go to get there....WOW! We bought Leila a little play cottage, that took daddy about 5 hours to put together. She loves it, and she had a fun time playing with her cousins in it.

This weekend WILL BE BUSY!!! Ava has CCE retreat for her first communion preparation, She also has a birthday party , and the best part of that: She gets to watch High School Muscial 3. Thats the birthday party. Then we have the carnival at the kids school, that i am helping out at for a little bit. And we will be getting the house ready for Leila's birthday party. I can not believe my baby is turning 3 already! Where does the time go?

Its time to go to bed, its getting late

good night!

Abuela's Day at Faith School!

2008-10-16T16:05:00.001-07:00

Today Leila and Addison had the wonderful pleasure of having visitors, for grandparents day at their school; "HaLaHaLa" (for those of you who know what I mean); Abuela Ruby and Abuela Aurora. They had cookies and Ice Tea; and had a really nice time showing them their school room.

Leila is taking dance class on Tuesdays, and we were lucky to have the curtains open yesterday so i was able to get some video...i took to many to post them all, but i will post one of my favorites.

Yesterday, i went with Noah to his 3rd Grade Field trip to the Museum of Fine Arts. I had never been ( i was shocked), and it was a lot of fun. The kids had a really good time, and learned some interesting things about all the paintings we saw. Myself and other moms from class, signed out our boys after the trip about 1215 and we went to lunch at Benihana, another first for me and Noah. DELICIOUS! and fun!

Wow! its been busy

2008-10-13T11:29:00.001-07:00

Well we have been fine thank our God. Work is going through and keeping us busy. The kids' school has a fall festival coming up, and that has really kept me busy: being room mom for Noah and Ava's class. Plus it falls on the same day as Leila's birthday party, so i need to work it out really carefully....I needed to take the Leila and Noah to dr last weekend, and Leila STILL has ear infection, now in both ears...and Noah does too. He is still on antibiotics, and Leila finished hers. We have follow up and well check ups next week, so hopefully ear infections are gone. The kids received their flu shots over the weekend, maybe that will protect them this winter.

Leila and Addie (my niece) had swim class together today. It is hilarious to watch them in class together , they both did really well. They are preparing them for their float test..so its pretty critical that they do what they are supposed to do. Those 2 are so different : Leila is calm and an observer: Addie is so energetic and full of life, she wants to be in the action. Love watching these 2 together. Next week i will take video of them in class to post here.

Well i am off to the post office, pick up Noah & Ava, grocery store , and then Tae class. We will throw in there homework and reading time...

Great Weekend!

2008-10-06T17:45:00.001-07:00

We had a really good weekend! Hung out with friends and family, had a birthday party, went to church, Ava had a soccer game on Saturday and Sunday, she made her first goal at the saturday game! It was fabulous! And I did some work. Leo went to watch the Texans game with Sergio, thru one of our vendors that had invited our company. They had a great time. Sunday afternoon we decided to do a "trial run" for pumpkin carvings, and i must say they came out incredible....Noah did his by himself and so did Ava. I of course stepped in to do Leila's...Take a look at photos and a real quick video and tell me what you think....I LOVE CARVING PUMPKINS!

Leila's Pumpkin is the Witch
Noah's Pumpkin is the Skull
Ava's Pumpkin is the cat (with no tail)

This weekend was fun! i am so excited for the holidays that are coming upon us...can not believe its here already, but i am really getting excited!

Tuesday: Ava and her poem.

2008-09-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

Friendship by Risa Jordan

Told by Ava Conde

A friend is a person who wishes you well

And keeps all the secrets that you like to tell.

Friends share their toys and their storybooks, too.

Friends can be older or younger than you.

Friends can be real or made up in your mind

But they're always thoughtful and always kind.

Friends can live nearby or very very far,

But your friends are your friends, wherever you are!

Monday Night

2008-09-30T18:12:00.000-07:00

I can offiially add WASP KILLER to Leo's resume. Dennis, my brother in law had a HUGE wasp nest attached to his house, and they were getting into the home. Not good for my sister in law and the girls. So Leo made a bet with Dennis (i still dont know how much) that he can get them down and kill them. Leo went to Home Depot to buy all the materials. So of course this was going to be done during dinner time, so i took what i made over there for the kids and some fish we had too. I have photos and video, i find them pretty amusing.

This is the wasp nest.

This is Leo in a painter's suit. This is supposed to protect him from about 50 wasps.

This video of Leo killing the wasps with the help of Dennis.

He was successful! Look at the size of that!

Then we just had dinner and ice cream!

End of a weekend, start of a new week.

2008-09-28T18:53:00.001-07:00

Well this weekend was pretty same ol', same ol'. Saturday, Noah had a football game won, 27-3! He was so excited, and he was part of 3 plays, that he stopped 3 touch downs....he did really well. Ava had a soccer game, they didn't win , but she as always, big smile on her face; her bff Elissa did make a goal! After all that, some friends/family came over for a last minute put together BBQ. All the kids playing outside, getting wet...adults eating , drinking and talking. That evening we had Gabriella's birthday party at Inflatable Zone. The kids had a fantastic time! All 3 of them up from about 745, and didn't get to bed til about close to 11ish.

The next morning: Noah was still asleep at 10:30am!!! That hasn't happened since he was a little toddler.....I wasn't home, took Ava to CCE, but Leo took a picture for me.

When i got back home, we actually donated 2 twin beds (mother in laws), and 2 televisions we had to a family that lost everything in the IKE storm. The are friends of our web designer, and that is how we came to help. Listening to them talk about what they experienced, really makes you count your blessings, that we have our health, family, love and friends. Its very sad to see people having to start all over again, and with 3 kids! I'm just glad that we could help out in a small way. After that, we did some major organizing and fall cleaning! it felt great! We ran some errands and then had dinner at one of our favorite places: SUSHI HANA. Yes the kids love it there, especially Leila; she really loves their Miso Soup.

Well all kids are to bed. Start of a new week, and i am going to do some adoption education classes before going to bed.

Good Night.

Fort Bend County Fair!

2008-09-26T19:46:00.000-07:00

Kids were off today for the Fort Bend Count Fair...a fort bend tradition. We took the kids about 4ish, it was a little warm, but the kids had a good time. Kids got in Free, so that was nice, i just dont remember this stuff being so costly...But all in all, we did leave the fair with some winnings......

Then we went to go eat at our FAVORITE restaurant: Lupe's Tortillas....they have the best fajitas ever..

Now, Leila is asleep, the other two are in bed, probably playing their DS. They both have games in the morning so i need to go tell them to sleep. And while i am doing this, and listening , Leo is watching the presidential debate...

Okay gotta go.

enjoy our pics from the County Fair.

almost bed time

2008-09-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

Well the kids are off to bed...or Leila at least trying too... still feeling cruddy, but what are you going to do....just deal with it and wait for it to go away. Leila has an ear infection in her right ear...she has been on antibiotics for 6 days for that reason, and it didnt work...so now she is on another antibiotic and hopefully it will work....we shall see.....

Even though i was feeling bad, I found the energy to go get a haircut with Noah, Leo and the girls went with us....and it was hard sitting there trying to be well.....but i survived and here is a photo of our new cuts.

i thought this was funny. a video of Leila trying to go to sleep, or letting me know she doesnt want to go.

Enjoy!

also go to our china adoption to hear a special gift we received today.

http://ourforeverdaughter.blogspot.com/

Good Night.

Sickness going on strong....

2008-09-24T09:29:00.001-07:00

So it has been proven that my Wonder Woman strength and powers did not keep me from getting sick...I woke up feeling like &^%$...feeling really bad; sore throat, coughing, ear pressure and so on...... So i have a Dr appt today in a couple hours. Leo is right now picking up Leila to take her to the Dr for her everlasting cough, that has been keeping her up throughout the night. then we have hair cut appointments, Noah and I do at least. I hope i survive til then....

Leila had school pictures today at her school, and this is what she wore. Let me tell you something funny though. I was in bed this morning being sick, so Leo had to take over the morning ritual with the kids: getting breakfast, bags, and take Noah & Ava to school. Then wake up Leila, give her bath and all. He asked me what to put on her. I told him this: "Go to her room, and there is a basket next to her closet, there is a red skirt in there with the white shirt, black Mary Jane's". Very clear, i think. Well he comes down with the shirt, Mary Jane's, socks and a BIG red poodle skirt that she uses to dress up.....ummmmmm yeah.....no wrong skirt. He said this is the one that was there..this was not in the basket, this was in her bucket of dress up clothes. Anyways, i love how they pick and choose what they want to hear....i thought it was funny...Can you imagine Leila in her BIG poodle skirt for her fall pictures.

sorry it was long, but i thought i had to share that.

Okay need to get ready for the Doctor apptointment.

See ya!

SICKNESS WONT GO AWAY

2008-09-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

okay, had to take Leo to the dr today to get him a shot of steriods..hopefully that will clear him of his sinus issues he has. Men are babies when they get sick, very funny and cute to witness. I feel that i too will get sick, but i have a feeling that my Wonder Woman (childhood idol) powers and strength will not allow me to get sick...we shall see in a couple days. Wonder Woman Rocks!

I am giving Leila one more day, if not she will be going to doctor tomorrow.....

Not much of anything today....Leo took Ava to Tae, I am taking Noah to football, and thank goodness for my mother in law, Aurora, she is taking Leila to dance. Yes all their activites are in the same time frame! We manage though: I really appreicate my m-i-l.....

ciao!

Adoption Link

2008-09-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

I have now created a blog for our China adoption. I continue to have the website, but i believe doing a blog will be easier to keep up with since i have our family blog....here is the link so you can add it to your blog list and keep in touch with us during our journey to China for our daughter.

http://ourforeverdaughter.blogspot.com/

Weekend was really good.

2008-09-22T10:01:00.000-07:00

The kids were off school all last week, so tried to keep them busy. Had to go to dr for Ava, she had been coughing pretty bad, so we are on antibiotics now. Leo has also been sick since Thursday with sinus pressure and headaches. We had friends over Thursday night for dinner, and the kids ran around the house, played Wii til about 11ish. Friday we took the kids to go see the movie IGOR, very cute, i really liked, the kids enjoyed it too. Saturday , Noah had football game and Ava had tae testing...I posted a video of her doing her form . Its really neat watching her do her thing.....Later that day, Leo and Noah went fishing with Uncle Dennis and friend Alex, at his matagorda bay home...They didnt get home until 2 am! But they caught alot of fish, which brings us to Sunday. Dennis and Leo made a very delicious meal for all of us...my parents came and my mil (mom-in-law). This day Leila wasnt really feeling great, slight fever and bad cough too...hopefully it will pass..

And Kids are back to school! They were very excited to be back.....they get funny when they get out of their rountine.

Finish up later!

Leila's Dance Class

2008-09-17T09:02:00.001-07:00

Here are some videos of Leila in her dance class...it kills me!!!

Here is another one of Leila learning to do spins.

After Ike

2008-09-17T08:27:00.000-07:00

We came back on Saturday afternoon when we heard our power was out. Fortunately all our food was still good, nothing went spoiled. We did have our life long friends The Cuadras at our home for couple days, since they were without power and water. That was alot of fun for us and the kids. We always have a good time with them, no matter what. The rest of our family, except my parents (due to my mothers surgery), later in the evening Sergio and his girls came over for a bbq. All the kids running, screaming, playing inside the house and outside: a very wonderful sight to see. Adults doing what we do best: eating, drinking and talking, or should i change that to YELLING! Goodness, talk about some good heated discussions! From seat belt safety to Obama, McCain, and now the very famous Palin, to taxes to health care. It was all in good fun! We had a great time!

HURRICANE IKE

2008-09-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

Well we were lucky and we left to San Antonio for the storm. Our power went out at 8pm and we took off from there; after making sure my parents were fine, and my mil and grandmother were off to my brother in law Marcelo's house, we were able to leave content. Watching the storm from SA was hard; were staying in touch with everyone, and praying for everyone to be safe. While we were in San Antonio, we actually ran into some friends from Katy (Small world), so we spent all Saturday with them: ALamo, Ripleys Believe it or not, dinner and Riverwalk. See Photos on the side bar.

Where did the Summer Go!???

2008-09-07T19:19:00.000-07:00

where did the summer go? amazing that it flew by so quickly. Noah is off to 3rd grade, i can not believe it! My little boy is so big! Ava is in second grade and so excited about doing to 2nd grade. Noah is doing flag football this season, Ava is doing soccer and tae, and leila started doing dance.....It is so freaking adorable ! it kills me every Tuesday to see her dress up in her little leotard and put her ballet shoes/tap shoes on. School, reading, sports, adoption stuff, and work is keeping us really busy.

My sister was here for the weekend, but we didnt get to see her much since she was here for a wedding for one of her best friends....I saw her twice :) thats funny....cant wait to see her again.....soon hopefully.

Thats all for now....talk soon.

August 2

2008-08-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Okay it has been over 2 months since i have done this....i really need to get back to this..I excitedly updated my face book, and i am so glad i did..i got back in touch from an old childhood friend Kathy from Miami....She moved away decades ago, but we have been in touch sporadically throughout the years...maybe with Face book we can KIT more regularly....

We recently had our vacation to Playa de Carmen, and it was lots of fun....We really enjoyed it...We had a day and half of rain, but that was cool...we still had a good time. The water there is just beautiful! Gorgeous...not as beautiful as Jamaica but i think better than Cozumel and Cancun. I would definitely go back to Playa de Carmen...

Right now, the kids have just a couple of weeks left of summer vacation before school starts. Ava is really excited , Noah is not too thrilled about it, but hopefully that will change. Leila will be attending Mothers Day Out 3 times a week this year, so im excited about that. She had so much fun last year, i believe she will take over the class!

SPORTS WISE:
1) Ava and Leila continue to do swim. this will be Ava's last month of swim, she is a kingfish and that is when Noah finished up. Leila will continue on at least for a year, we will see how she progresses..
2) Ava will be starting up Tennis again, but on a more serious tip. She will be doing a week long camp this week, and then taking lessons twice a week. I would like for her to get competitive in Tennis. It such a great sport for girls.
3) I will be signing up Leila for dance...she can start at 3, so i want to be ready for this fall for her. It will kill me to see her in that.
4) Noah will not be doing baseball this season, and will be experiencing FLAG FOOTBAL. I am okay with this since it is not full contact. I do not want full contact...At the same time, Ava will be doing cheer for his team i think. This will give me some sense if she really likes cheer, so it will determine if she continues Cheer class.
5) Last and not least, Leo and Sergio will be coaching Ava's and Eliss's soccer team this season. So that will be exciting!

Oh yeah ! Leo and I will be going to Vegas (once again). We have been twice already: The first time he was sort of sick, so no fun there, teh second time, it was in December, all clubs were dead, no shows were going on , they were on vacation. So i hope that the third is a charm and i actually come back saying i had a fabulous time, like everyone does....if i dont, that will be the last time i go! but i am very excited to go again.

I think that is all!

Our adoption is moving along too, you can check out our website on that at http://www.foreverdaughter.com/ ...

glad to be back!

hi

2008-05-19T11:30:00.000-07:00

well let see .... My sister was here not to long ago and it was fantastic having her here....the kids loved it, as the whole family did. She looks SOOOO HAPPY!!!!! and that makes me happy!!! this well be a catch up.

1) Noah did his first communion!!!! My Goodness, a little man already! It was very touching and emotional seeing him do it.
2) Leila is doing great in Swim....i want to post video but i dont know how...i need to figure it out.....
3) School is almost out! I have no clue what to do with the 3 kids here at home!!!! But i am excited that its almost done.
4) Tonight we have 2nd playoff game for Noah, they won the first one on Saturday, so if we win tonight we go to championship game!!
5) My friend Adri had her baby boy!! Giovanni Sebastian Desousa! SOO CUTE SOO HANDSOME!!!!
6) I have new updates on the adoption but i have posted it yet on our website.....i will sometime today....

I posted new pictures to the right! Click and Enjoy!!

OH MY GOODNESS!!!

2008-04-30T05:32:00.001-07:00

I did something that i have never done before! On Thursday of last week, on the computer (pretending to be working) and talking to Marta. Well we came across some fantastic deals on continental....$150 roundtrip to BELIZE....so i went! With my mother. After my husbands consideration , and his wonderful love for me to go! We had a great time...it is gorogeous in its very unique way. Nothing like Cancun, Cozumel...Jamaica etc.....it was very native, i mean native...Not americanized in anyway on the exterior. BUT VERY AMERICANIZED in their pricing! Goodness, they are not cheap at all. Its not all inclusive: so you are paying club drink prices there too, food was NOT ALL that great, but expensive. so we shared food. My plan there was just to relax, get a tan and read. I took 2 books, but i concentrated on one. It took the full 3 days to read it up until we got off the second plane Belize City to come home! The Other Boleyn Girl (thanks sis!). It was great! couldnt put it down, anytime mom and I were not talking i had my nose in that book. Really nice people, and beautiful faces on the kids. It was very relaxing. Not a place to go with my kids, they would be bored i think. They loved Jamaice, alwasy something to do...not here for their age group. When they are in their teens, then yes.

Leo did a great job with the kids...it was a little tough though, Leila got really sick with fever and really bad cough....but he did great! I am such a lucky woman to be married to a man like Leo.

Okay i have to run, i am back to reality.....Enjoy the pictures! i put them to the right !

I'm BACK!!!

2008-04-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

okay lets see! My sister is coming to town! we are all so excited! she is coming for Noah's first communion. The kids are truly excited that she is coming. They still don't understand that Tia now lives in NY, they think she is on vacation and will come back to live here....Ava was really shocked to hear that the other day. It was pretty funny.

Well Leila has been sick, congested and yucky coughs. I finally went to the Dr in like about , 2 years! Yes , you heard right, i had not been to the Dr in like 2 years. I had a small physical last year but needed that for the adoption. Anyways, i have really , really bad allergies. So they gave me Allegra, and it makes me whooozy.....didn't like it at first, but boy it was great to breathe again. So i am still taking it. Now Leo has not been feeling all that great since yesterday, and of course he wont go to the Dr....What is it with guys and going to the Dr??? Oh well.....

Work is work! It has been pretty busy, and will get busier.....We are excited but it can be very over whelming at times. Knowing all the work that may hit us, WOW! But we are taking it day by day.....

One thing i am excited about is this: Finally got a contract on one of my listings! So excited for my clients....its been a tough market out there, but its just having the patience to wait . One of my favorite quotes:

"Patience is Trusting in God's Timing" it couldn't be truer....I try to live with this quote in my head every day....BE PATIENT!!!!

I will be updating our adoption blog after this so go check it out and see what is going on with that journey. http://www.foreverdaughter.com/

I am trying to add a new photo slide show, but i cant remember how to do it. I uploaded all my photos but it doesn't show up on my drop down list when i want to add it.....MARTA HELP ME!!!

Okay need to go update my other blog and go to bed....

Good night! i will figure out the photos tomorrow....

Goodness! Time sure goes by fast

2008-04-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

Well i have to say that my life may not be as entertaining as my little sisters: all those fabulous photos from New York...places i have not seen and having been there a couple times. So now when we visit i need to physically see all these places! I truley miss her and am so proud of her, and at times envy her life. Not in a bad way, just in a WOW! way...you know....She moved away from all of us to start her life in NY, and up until now, she has done an amazing job....we are truley amazed and proud of her.....she is an inspiration! i love you lil'sis/

Ok, back to my life: It has been pretty crazy around here (as always). Ava is now a jr black belt and this time her form is really, really hard. Instead of testing for next level at 2 months, this goes to 4 months....whoa...Noah had the best game EVER over the weekend! and of course i missed it: Leila was sick, & so i stayed home and cleaned house. But Leo said he was amazing, a double play, and then something else with another team player....i dont know, but it was good i hear. Leila was sick with fever and vomiting over the weekend , but it has passed ( i think Ava may be getting it now, slight mild fever earlier). I wish i had a video camera attached to my head so i can literally video tape her ALL THE TIME, she does somethings that its sad i cant capture it on tape. But i did get some cute photos of her......This was all in the same evening. DUring the day she wore her pink princess dress to go out with us in public. I loved it! she looked so cute.....

In other news: i just updated our adoption website with little tidbits, so go check it out.

www.foreverdaughter.com

I will try my best not to take to long to blog...but like i said, my life is not that exciting like having a New City around me, or a new baby learning to walk or stand....

i am going to go check out some adoption blogs (im addicted!)

APRIL FOOLS DAY!!

2008-04-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

Today was a very extremely busy day. It was also my brother in law's DENNIS birthday today!!!Leo and I went to Conroe to find office space (for those who didnt know , we are moving our "home" office to Conroe). Then Noah had a game, his team won 6-2, but there was alot of drama! Some parents take this WAAAAY to seriously. On other good news:

AVA IS A (PROBATIONARY) JR BLACK BELT!!!! We are so proud of her. She has 4 more sessions as a probationary, and if she continues, passes all her tests, then by the time she is 8 Years old, she will be a full black belt! Amazing!!!

Here is Leila eating breakfast before heading off to Mothers Day out. She has her fork and knife, like a big girl......

I will post more tomorrow...i am exhausted! its been a long day....

check out our adoption at http://www.foreverdaughter.com/

LIFE IS CRAZY!!!!

2008-03-26T12:23:00.000-07:00

I'm back! i have been wanting to do this for sometime now, but life has been really busy and if i dont stop now to do this, it wont get done....Well let see, we have been great, kids were on spring break last week, we went bowling, watch Horton hears a Who, did kemah with my parents, and Dennis & all his girls. Then we finished off spring break by going to the Rockets on Monday night, thanks to Tio Dennis. We had a fabulous time! have some great pictures from it..

Ava with Rocket Dancers

I love you soooo much brother!

Family having fun at the Rockets, THey WON

Other than that, life has been great! Our company is rapidly growing, our family will be growing too (http://www.foreverdaughter.com/), check it out.

And this is a favorite picture of Leila: She was supposed to be taking a nap, but this is what i found instead.

2008-03-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

WOW! i have really fallen behind on my blog. We have been truly busy these past couple days...but Leo is out playing poker, Leila is asleep, Ava is watching that's so Raven, and Noah is watching the ROCKETS go for their 23rd win in a row! I am not a huge sports fan, but that is impressive!

Let see: not much has changed since the last time. The kids are on spring break, and unfortunately nothing big is planned. Just same ol sports, and possibly chuck e cheese tomorrow.

i do have some photos i want to post but they are on Leo's computer, so i have to get on the laptop to do those. Maybe i will after typing this up.

since i really don't have much to say right now, i Will stop here and get some work done.

good night!

2008-03-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

I have to start today's deal with an update on Leila's sleeping in the big bed. Last night was a little hard, she cried for about 30minutes, and finally fell asleep. i went to check on her at about 1030pm, and guess what i found? i found her asleep on the floor! yes on the floor! She got out of her bed, and i guess because it was sort of dark in the room she didnt move much, so she stayed put and fell asleep. Well of course i put her in her bed with a big kiss on the forehead. Today she is did alot better....she stayed in her bed without crying.....

Today has been an extremely busy, busy day! Let see I got up about 8ish to get the day started.....Ava had a birthday party this morning at 10 o clock at Sweet and Sassy in Sugar Land. the girls get all dressed up with fake hair, glitter and get nail done and makeup. I dropped her off there and headed to Richmond to Noah's opening day for baseball, i was in charge of baseball pictures. Our picture time was at 1045 and his game at 1145. Well i did pictures, and i had to head ALL THE WAY back to Sugarland to pick Ava up at 1130, to just go ALL THE WAY back to Richmond to grab the rest of Noah's game.....which they won 3-1! YEAH COLORADO ROCKIES!!! Leo went to the boats with Dennis to play in some poker tournament....i wont see him til tomorrow. The rest of the day we spent it with my mom doing a little shopping..... Here are pictures i took from picture day at baseball. Doesnt Noah look big! goodness!

2008-03-07T18:28:00.000-08:00

Today Leila and I went to have a picnic with Noah. He wrote his own book and it was a gift to me and daddy. A great book about baseball; his favorite sport. Anyways here is Leila smiling big with her big brother, and then eating his chocolate pudding. We had McDs for lunch too.

Last night Leila slept in her big girl bed. Its actually Ava's old twin daybed, we are getting her a new queen bed for her. And i have to say she did alright for her first night. She did turn the light on and fell asleep with the light on. But like daddy said, if that's the only issue we have , then its pretty good. Now we are moving on to take away the bottle....YES she is still on the bottle to go to sleep. Understand she is the last baby in our family, so she has been able to get away with alot compared to her brother and sister. So i threw them all away in the trash. now she has to drink her coco before bed , brush her teeth (loves doing that) and go to bed. Let see how that goes. Now my last little dilemma i have with Leila is that we are potty training, and she is doing fantastic! i am so proud of her! of course she announces to the world she has to go "caca"....its pretty cute. Anyways , my problem is this: we buy her Pullups with the disney princesses on it and there are 2 designs: One with just Cinderella on it, and the other one has 3 princesses on it, Cinderella, Little Mermaid, and Jasmine. Well she refuses, and i mean refuse to wear the one with the 3 princesses....she will only wear Cinderella, obviously her favorite princess. So now i will be stuck with a bunch of 3princesses pullups! hey as long we she continues with her potty training like she is , no problem!

Have a great weekend!

2008-03-06T18:26:00.000-08:00

today Thursday: its a school night, but the weather put us in a mood to "chill and play" . All home work was done, we didn't take Ava to Tae due to the terrible thunderstorm that was starting. So instead we ordered pizza, wings, cinnamon stix and ate in. Then the kids and daddy decided to play the Wii......so they were playing. While everyone was playing Leila was talking to her Tita Monica. She was on the phone for about 20 minutes just babbling, and Tita stayed on the whole time. Thank goodness we have free tmobile to tmobile. Not really sure what Leila was telling her, but it was alot. The other two are already asleep, and Leila is here in bed with us waiting for her bed time. she is usually in bed too, but she had a late nap today, since she didn't take one at school today. So more than likely she will be in bed about 9pm (lets hope). Its still raining and pretty cold. Maybe not as cold as NY, but cold enough for us here in Texas.

Good Night!

2008-03-05T19:06:00.000-08:00

Hey there

Well my sister told me today that i had to update my blog so i am .... I have been extremely busy lately with the kids, the hubby and our company. Fortunately all is going well....let me give you a run down on everyone:

Noah: He is doing great! Just got his report card, and all As/Bs and one teeny tiny D. But we have provided him with additional help in reading and he has really , really progressed well. We are soo very proud of him and how confidant he is about it all. He is an amazing little man; so helpful with me and the girls, Especially with Leila. He is her's personal entertainment....he makes her laugh so easy.....This weekend is baseball opening day, and let me tell you: Noah is so excited its ridiculous....the weather has not been very cooperative with us for practices, but we had a scrimmage over the weekend, and he has pretty strong team.

Ava: Well she is on her way to a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, so that is very exciting. Today she had her first trial class for Cheer...and guess what? She loved it! So now on Wednesday nights she will be Cheering! Honestly, never in my life or in Ava's little life did i see her being a cheerleader, but that is the path she has decided to take at this moment, and we are doing it....We also received her report card, and she was on A/B honor roll (1 B), and she is excelling in her reading. Teacher says that she gives really mature , insightful answers to their class discussions. I would love to be a fly on the wall to hear what that is all about.

Leila: She is truly a girly girl. She has been loving her purple Tutu that she got from her Tia Amy about a year ago, and she has been wearing non stop with everything. Its the first thing she puts on in the morning on top of pjs, and after she takes a bath and gets dressed it goes on top of that too; oh yeah, then she wears her princess rain boots with the outfit. It tops it off....incredibly cute! This Friday is her first lesson as a Starfish 2 swimmer. I am so excited to move up...she is really enjoying swim class, last week, she was floating on her back by herself! Amazing!

Leo/Cathy/Sapphire Custom Homes: As for us, we are doing good...working , working, and raising a family. Aside from going to Richmond to drop / pick up kids from school (we live in Katy), tae in Katy (3-4x a week), Baseball in Richmond (3x a week), swim in Katy(2x week), and now Cheer in Katy (1xweek) we are running a business and trying to move it forward to grow. A WONDERFUL opportunity has been brought our way and we are doing all we can to make it happen. ITS HUGE for us....i don't want to give away details just yet, (don't want to jinx it), but as soon as i know its concrete i will tell the world! So we are praying that this path that has come before us, really pans out for the company.

On another note: i miss my sister Monica. The kids miss their Tia, and of course my parents do too. I don't hear the end of it from them , but they had her at home so they feel it more. I still have moments that i cant believe that my sister as packed her stuff and moved to NY! I am so proud of her, and her strong willingness to do that. If only every woman had that courage, confidence, and support like her......Anyways, i really miss her, and i cant wait to go visit her with the whole family , hopefully this summer.....

Okay this has gotten really long! my sister will regret telling me to update....

Please continue to pray for Kateli, and please check out Marleny's blog so you can stay updated with her. Thank you to all my friends/family who have put Kateli & family in their prayers.

US

2008-02-27T19:47:00.001-08:00

Leo & I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary on January 31st. It is shocking to think that 10 years have passed and 3 kids! It just proves that life is something to take advantage of and cherish every single second you have with your loved one, and children. The past 10 years of marriage have been wonderful. We have shared our really, tough times, but we survived together. Everyday is still a new day to learn something new about eachother, and i look forward to that every time i wake up. I am so blessed to have Leo as my husband: he has been an amazing father, friend, husband and soul mate to me and to our kids. I am a very lucky woman. For our 10 year, he made it a very memorable one for us. I woke up that morning of by myself at home. He had left to work, and my mother in law took the kids to school. We were supposed to have had a meeting that morning, so i got ready for our meeting. At 730am doorbell rings, and there is white stretch limo sitting outside our house! I was in shock! Didnt know what was going on until the limo driver told me he is taking me to the airport! Well i got into the limo, and there was a package waiting for me with 4 letters. Come to find out, i am on a scavenger hunt for my husband in NEW YORK CITY! Well to make a long romantic story a short romantic story, it was amazing! i was a nervous wreck the whole day...i was anxious to talk to him, touch him just see him. He refused to talk to me on the phone...so that made it worse....I had another limo waiting for me in NY w/ a dozen roses, and he took me to my final destination: Times Square, where my wonderful husband was waiting for me in the lounge. It was the most amazing weekend ever! We ate at the best places, took a helicopter ride over New York. I couldnt have it imagined it better.

He is the best thing that happened to me 12 years ago when i met him....and to be lucky enough to find your true partner at the age of 19! I am very , very blessed.

NOAH

2008-02-27T19:42:00.000-08:00

Here is my wonderful son Noah. He is now 8 years old, in the second grade and an amazing baseball player. This is by far his favorite sport, and this is probably his favorite position to play: catcher. This year he is playing in Triple A level w/ the Lamar Little League; meaning he had to try out with 115 kids, and in front of 15 coaches. I was really nervous for him, but he did a great job....really impressed the coaches with hitting all three pitches into mid field (is that even part of baseball? i am still learning the lingo and all positions)Anyways, he is the oldest and he is a really, really good brother. A very responsible little man. Everyday (since kinder) he gets up in the morning to his alarm, and takes it upon himself to get himself ready and also TRY to wake up his sister Ava. He hates to get to school late, so we do our very, very best to get him there on time or early....usually its Ava that holds us up one way or another. He is very protective over his 2 sisters, and a wonderful helper to me when daddy is not around.Its really hard to believe at times, that he is already 8 years old. He amazes me everyday!

AVA

2008-02-27T19:41:00.001-08:00

Now here is our goofy one of the family. You want some laughs, then you go to Ava. She is such an imaginitive little girl, and just an actress. She is 6 years old, an avid reader, and one belt away from getting her black belt in Tae Kwon Do. You heard correct; for her next testing she will be testing for her probabtional black belt. Meaning by the end of this year she will be a jr black belt : At the age of 7! (her birthday is in July). Now she makes her brother's life very interesting by bugging him, making him get annoyed. That is pretty much her goal in life. But they have a beautiful relationship as brother and sister. She hates mornings, loves to sleep! I see her picking all afternoon classes when she attends Columbia Univeristy. Yes we are teaching her to put in her mind set that she is attending Columbia. Noah is planning to go to Harvard. Hey you never know! And if Tia Monica is still living in New York, she can go live with her.Ava is a huge SPORTS girl! loves to watch it, loves to play it all; very athletic (unlike her mother) She definitely gets this from her dad. Cant really expect her to clean up after herself, or to help out much, but she is trying and getting better everyday.....But we definitely cherish and enjoy her sense of humor.....

LEILA

2008-02-27T19:38:00.001-08:00

Last but not the least..our little princess Leila. She is now 2 years old and just a pure doll. She is more fufu than Ava was at her age, and i hope it continues. Leila is a ball of fun! loves to play make believe with her dolls. As a matter of fact, today we were potty training her babies, and they did a great job. Leila is also going through potty training & doing fantastic right now. She attends mothers day out 2 days a week, and is in the same class with her Cousin Addie. They are really going to grow up really close. Leila is starting to talk alot more now. I believe she is a little confused with the languages she is hearing. At home she is only listening to spanish. That is all we are talking to her in, and at school is English. She has her vocabulary words split in both languages. She started swim class about 2 weeks ago, and this last time we have been promoted to Starfish class 2! We are so excited. She was actually floating on her back with no help. I am so proud of her. And tomorrow she starts her first dance class. Well a music movement class, so we are trying it out. But i can not wait til she turns 3 so i can defnintely try out ballet. She loves to play dress up , as you can see in her pic. Leila loves to rough house with Noah , and its so sweet how gentle he is with her. She loves her brother and sister. One of her favorite things to do is visit both of them at school! She really gets a kick out of that.