Aiden's Thanksgiving Play

Aiden's class put together this drama for parents to enjoy at their Thanksgiving Feast at school. In addition, Aiden also learned a few Thanksgiving songs, which he'll happily share with you the next time we see you.

Enjoy the stage performance. Aiden is in the role of Squirrel #2.

Thanksgiving!

We've had a much needed break from work, and we entertained guests. We're such "grownups" now!

Todd cooked a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner for 8 of us yesterday. He's plum tuckered out, but he deserves the rest. It was a beautiful turkey. (We forgot to take a picture of it before carving it.) He used his mom's recipe's to make stuffing, gravy, candied yams, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, spiral ham, and turkey. I can't wait for my breakfast to digest so that I can eat left-overs. Yum!

Mami, Aiden, Todd & I entertained Dustin, the very pregnant Ashlye, and our friends from church choir, Bob & Julie. Ashlye brought devilled eggs, black olives, stuffed celery, and a pumpkin cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory (decadent). Julie baked 3 pies... with Splenda because she's a sweet-heart like that: apple, pumkin, and apple-crumble. I gained 30 pounds just looking at all of the food.

We're thankful for so many things: life together, friends, health, opportunities, smiles, laughter, home, work, and our blessed family. May we give thanks to God everyday for every thing He gives us.

As an added Thanksgiving gift, Papi was transferred back to his nursing home on Wednesday! He's finally out of the rehab hospital after his leg surgery. He's on a new medication for his memory loss. (There were many days were he had no clue who we were.) Mami is doing a great job (as always) of making sure his nurses and aids know how best to care for him and his needs. I pray that they are not put-off by her supervision, but that they're thankful for the guidance.

So now is the day after Thanksgiving. We'll go visit Papi and eat left-overs. We want to avoid the early-birds shopping. I hope to get my Christmas shopping done on-line. (I've suddenly become anti-social in my age.)

We hope that all of you had a blessed Thanksgiving!

Booty? Nope. Boota.

Aiden loves dancing. Check him out.

Special Note:

He's wearing Star Wars underwear. Chewbacca is on his booty.

The reason he's wearing only his britches is because we were trying on his new Tae Kwon Do uniform. He's soooo cute.

Leaves, Football, Friends & Gold Medals

It's officially Fall. Our brown pine needles clutter our front yard. Todd keeps saying we need to get rid of our one tree and replace it with two. He's afraid that the Nazis (our Home Owners Association Police) will come by and kick us off of our property because we're not meeting the 2-trees-in-the-front-yard standard. We've successfully avoided them so far.

Football season has started too. I don't know which I like better: High School football or NFL. I've gotta say, our Texans got off to a great start. As for my Cy-Ridge Rams, well, they can improve their game. We were going to go see them play on my birthday weekend (which was on September 14th for those who are wondering), but we came home instead. We were all tired. I drank 1/7th of a margarita with my birthday dinner, so I was useless. (Todd calls me a lightweight... he also calls me a cheap date. I'm not offended in the least because it's true!)

As for friends, so many of them are going through life-changing experiences right now. Many of these situations involve babies. Others involve health. Gosh, when did we become grown-ups having to deal with grown-up situations?

Luckily, my friends are blessed to have their soul mates live through these moments with them. It makes me smile to know that my buddies are not alone. So, my dear friends, know that you're in my prayers. Know also that I believe you've chosen your husband/wife perfectly. (Or did s/he choose you? Hmmmm.)

I'll end this blog with GREAT news. Guess who won a gold medal the other day? PAPI!!!

The nursing home had wheelchair races. (Keep in mind, Papi just turned 89 on September 9th.) The residents lined up, rears in chairs, feet on floor. "On your mark! Get set! Go!" exclaimed the activity director.

The others never stood a chance against Jesus, the Lightning Bolt, Ramirez.

They pedalled with their feet... Papi wheeled with his hands. (I tell you, the daily physical therapy has increased his upper body strength incredibly.)

They ate Papi's dust, so I hear told. He won the GOLD!!! Isn't that a great story?!

Hope this finds all of you well. I'm off to grade essays. Peace out!

Back at School

I know it's been months since I've blogged. I was too busy enjoying my summer!

This summer I spent it with Aiden. What a wonderful age he was at. I decided to not take any professional development classes. Of course, I'll have to take classes during the school year, but it was worth it!

It did rain an awful lot this summer, but that didn't stop us from enjoying the outdoors. We had a good routine going for us. We'd wake up, eat our breakfast, and go the our gym. Aiden would spend an hour playing with the other kids in the gym's play-yard, and I'd exercise. (Sadly, I can't tell the difference. I hope at the very least to have healthier lungs and heart!)

We'd brunch at Chic-fil-a, and go do something together: go to the park, zoo, visit Tito at the nursing home, meet Daddy for lunch, swim at Miss Alicia's pool with Cole, or go grocery shopping. Our days were full.

Playing with him was also a blast. He's sooooo smart! He has so much energy, though. You have to be in shape to keep us with him.

Paupi babysat him for a whole week! He'll testify that Aiden is a handful.

Aiden and I also went to Monterrey for a week with Tita to visit our relatives. I know I put on 7 pounds there. Sure enough, as with every visit I've ever made to Monterrey, Abuelita was waiting for us in the kitchen with food. I love her.

Everyone seemed to be doing well, and we caught up with la familia. Todd stayed at home because he had to work. (I love my man.) Do you know that he spent every evening with Papi at the nursing home, checking in on him and keeping him compayny? Now THAT'S a man who loves me, and my family. Todd is wonderful!

Sadly, summer came to an end this last Monday. School is great! The kids are friendly and attentive. I'm sure I'll have lots of stories to pass on about them.

As for us, we're doing very well at home, spending as much time as we can together. Aiden is back at school too, and he's not complaining. He misses us, and we miss being away from him, but life and learning must go on.

I hope all of you are doing well. God bless you!

What happened in May...

I've been gone for a long time; I know. Sorry. Let's catch up!





Mother's Day...

I had one of the best Mother's Days so far. Ashlye and Dustin invited us all over to their home for a dip in the pool. Dustin grilled some steaks, Todd played with Aiden, Tia Ashlye and I drank my most favorite drink (the kick-A margaritas only Ash and D make... with at least 4 olives!), and little Maggie (dog) lounged around with us girls. Mommies had a GREAT day.

So, it rained a little bit. So what! I was way too "happy" and relaxed to mind. Thanks Ash and Dustin! Thanks Todd for driving! Thanks Aiden for making me laugh by acting "strong" and peeing in the grass. (HA!)

Is this the cutest butt, or what?!

Keith and Jan come for a visit!

At the end of May "Oo-cookie" and Aunt Jan came to hang out with us. We took them to an Astros game! We ate so much junk! Most of it was eaten by Aiden: popcorn, cotton candy, hot dogs, peanuts, ice cream, Cracker-Jacks, and water.


I'm proud to say that Aiden was able to sing along to "Deep in the Heart of Texas" during the 7th inning stretch, and his new favorite song is "We Will Rock You" by Queen.


Love you Kieffers and Jan!

School's OUT for summer!!!

School ended, and I miss my kids so much. I pray and think about them a lot. This is a picture of my 4th period class. They made me laugh so much. We became close since they HAD to see me everyday for an hour and a half! (I taught them, and then we had advisory together for another 1/2 hour.)

I learned great things from them, and (most importantly), they kept me focused on WHY I teach. Every day they touched my heart with their humanity, with daily reminders of how tough it is to be a teenager. I sure hope I did my duty and did right by them.

I'll miss all of my students!

Stay tuned for what's happened in the month of June!

Josh's wedding in Arizona

Todd and I party like rock stars in Vegas.. and have some surprising run ins!

Paupi (bless his heart) stays with Aiden for a whole week... ALONE!

Mami and Papi move to Houston!

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is a yearly celebration for me. Not because I'm Mexican. Not because I know Spanish. Not because I need a reason to drink a margarita. Nope. It's because I'm the sponsor of our school's HOLA -- the Hispanic Organization for Leaders of America!

As most of you know, I'm a high school teacher. When our school opened 5 years ago and I started teaching, a few students came up to me asking if I'd like to sponsor their club. According to them, they were in HOLA in the school they transferred from. In HOLA, they would dance and compete. They'd also have some fundraisers, such as car washes and bake sales.

I had a different idea. To me, the Hispanic Organization for Leaders of America was a title that said, "Service to our community to show that Hispanics WILL be our future leaders." It didn't say, "Hey, let's dance." So that first year, we only did community service projects and fundraisers. It was a blast!

We also started a great tradition: we registered to be in LULAC's annual Cinco de Mayo Parade in downtown Houston.

Now, five years later, I still sponsor HOLA. It's one of the biggest clubs in our schools. We added a dance section to the organization (because not all my students can or want to dance), and we still participate in the parade: just like we did yesterday!

I'm very proud of HOLA. I'll write more about it and my students in my blog. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures!

Papi's Been Approved for Medicaid!!!

Gracias a Dios!

On Friday, we went to Austin to visit with Mami and Papi. Aiden was so excited to see his little cousins again. He really loves Matthew and Joshy.

Well, Mami had some great news for us: Papi had (finally) been approved by Medicaid!!! Our prayers, once again, had been answered. I'm happy to say that my faith never quavered. I always believed in this result. The power of hope and faith are strong and good to have. Believe!

We were able to spend time with Papi at his nursing home. (The picture was taken in the lobby near the aquarium.) He's really doing well. We fed him real well on Saturday for lunch. Todd, Aiden, Matthew, Mami and I rolled Papi down the sidewalk to a restaurant. He ate like he always used to eat: A LOT! He even ate a slice of banana cream pie for dessert, and downed it with some of Mami's coffee.

[On a side note, I'd lately been wondering why Aiden eats so much. We always blamed it on growth spurts, but now I think it's hereditary -- from MY side of the family. Thanks, Papi.]

We're revving up plans to get Mami and Papi moved over here to Houston. Keep us in your prayers as we begin a wonderful new life together!

He's Three!!!

What a Week!!!

Aiden was so excited about his birthday. He knew he would be turning three, and he'd remind everyone about that fact: teachers, friends, us, strangers in the store, his teddy bear.... He invited a few friends to go bounce with him and have fun. Daddy and I loved this idea because we wouldn't have to clean the house after throwing a big fiesta. (Daddy didn't like to cost, though.)

We bought a Cars cake. Aiden love that movie. (So do we, along with his Nana and Paupi. To quote Paupi's favorite line, "I'm happier than a tornader in a mobile home park!")

Aiden did end up hitting his face during dinner. The family went out to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants after the party. Aiden started falling asleep at the table and bumbed his nose on the edge of the table. His cousins and Tia Lily were exhausted, too.

Since his birthday, I catch myself looking at my little baby so fondly. I can't believe I have a big boy! He's growing up too fast! Maybe it's time for another baby. But when I ask Aiden if he'd like a baby brother or a baby sister, his answer is always, "No, thank you." (Such a polite little man we're raising. And honest, too!)

Thank God for Aiden. Todd and I are very lucky. Thanks to all who came over, who called, who sent a card, who emailed, and who said a little prayer for him. We're blessed to be surrounded by such great family and friends. Amen.

The 50 States

We're proud parents. Aiden learned the song of the "50, nifty United States and the 13 original colonies."

He starts with the states beginning with the letter "A".. . and goes all the way to the letter... "H". Okay, so he's got a ways to go, but WE are VERY impressed. (As were his teachers!) Just give him one more day, and I bet he'll get all 50 memorized! Place your bets.

Things we're working on: wiping after "pushing" in the potty. Yeah. Todd's almost has it down. Aiden is a great and patient teacher. (just kidding)

So, who's coming over to hear the song?