It's the Journey...: June 2009

Friday, June 26, 2009

Smiles!

Gotta love brother poses! Again, this was back in late April.

Silly boys!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

First Sprinkler Run of the Summer!

Gabriel got a kick out of it...he had never run through the sprinklers before! :)

Ayden's always up for getting wet!

Here's both of them running on our jungle of a lawn before Julio had a chance to mow it! This was late April when the weather started getting a bit warmer.

I thought this was a pretty cool shadow shot! :)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

This was the Spring Fling event at Ayden's preschool! It was a lot of fun for both our kids actually. Ayden got to practice some hockey, pose with the mascot of a local hockey team and play in the bounce house. Oh and a cake walk (where they all win a cupcake...rigged, I think so!) :)

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

More Creations...

I know, I keep posting about Ayden's creations. I just can't help it...this is my current log of what my kids do, so I post everything! Here, Ayden created a rocket.

I especially loved this one. He has been very interested in all things "Jesus" lately, which makes me so happy. Here, he made a lego version of Jesus on the cross. Love it! Oh and there is a Roman soldier next to Jesus too.

I don't have a photo of it, but just the other day on a Sunday, Ayden went to his piggy bank and took out some change and said that he was going to bring it for the offering! I was so proud of him because we didn't encourage this, he did it all on his own. 6.14.09

Saturday, June 13, 2009

And We Found Him...

At the bottom of the stairs! Julio and I watch TV some evenings on our third floor since our better tv is up there. When Ayden isn't exhausted, he sometimes sneaks out of bed and finds his way to the bottom of the flight of stairs to the third floor. He is sometimes so quiet that we don't hear him there until we get up to go to bed and find him like this photo...sound asleep!

He made quite the habit of this for a couple of weeks back in April. It was so funny that we had to snap some photos of it!

Creations Around the House!

Ayden and I made this little creature in April. We found the easy "how to" on a great website for making crafts with your kids, I highly recommend it: http://familyfun.go.com/

This was my creation for Spring! What was left of it anyhow! When Spring comes around, I always get a craving for quiche! This is my favorite kind from Cooking Light. I just change the crust and use my own recipe. Here is the link for the recipe if you want: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=222369

Friday, June 12, 2009

Amberly Easter Egg Hunt & Easter Sunday

Ayden was waiting for the whistle to blown by our club director to start off the hunt!

Gabriel found an egg too! :)

This was a "Honey Bunny" from Great Harvest that we bought to support the Farmers' Market! Great Harvest graciously donated $2 of every honey bunny to the Market!

An "out take" from the Easter Sunday photo session after church!

The best out of all the shots! :)

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Playgroup Easter Egg Hunt!

The whole group after finding the eggs!

Searching...

31 is Fun!

Both Julio and I had fun birthdays this year, turning 31. They were a little more mellow than last year, being the big 3-0 and all. Oh well! :) We made Daddy some breakfast here on April 10th, the big day! I couldn't resist including the rest of these photos below...they cracked me up!

Monday, June 8, 2009

More 1st Birthday Pics!

Playing in the playroom on the big day!

He absolutely loved the bouncy house. He made it until around 3:30 and then needed another nap! :)

Give me some more cake! :)

All the gorgeous gifts! I told all the guests on the invitation to not bring gifts (Gabriel and Ayden) both have so many toys, clothes, etc. They totally ignored me! :)

Happy 1st Birthday Gabriel!!

Gabriel's 1st Birthday celebration was a week long event! His birthday was on April 4th. My mom came to visit for the week prior to his birthday party and I certainly didn't let her rest! We spent all week preparing party bags, activities, menu planning and cooking! I also tried out fondant icing for the first time. It took way to long to finish, but it turned out great! I decorated it in the party theme of shapes in the colors of blue, green and orange. I had a great time preparing for his party. All of our neighbor friends came over to help us celebrate, it was such a fun day! Ayden's first soccer game was also on this day, it was a busy week!

Gabriel didn't like his party hat much, but he had a fun party day!

Blowing out the 1st Birthday candle!

We rented a bouncy house for the day...all the kids had a blast!

I set up a "stained glass shapes" craft and a good number of the kids participated.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Ayden's First Soccer League!

Ayden started a new soccer league this Spring at the beginning of April. It is called the Futbol Club of Cary (FCC). His ability at just over four years old has really amazed me! I thought the kids on the team would be confused on the direction they were supposed to take the ball and I thought of course there would be bunch ball going on, but they are awesome! They work to get the ball going in the proper direction for each team, they block the goals (there are no goalies in this age group: Under 5) and they work together with their teammates to score goals. I have to admit, when Ayden scored his first goal, I actually cried! :) It must be because I played soccer from the time I was 6 years old until I was 16. It was a big part of my childhood and brought back some great memories. If Ayden continues to be interested in soccer, I'm sure there will be plenty more years of this sport! :)

Playdate at the Fire Station!

Ayden aboard the real driving cab of the truck!

Gabriel aboard too!

Gabriel is not quite as tall as one of the truck's tires.

The whole playgroup in front of the truck!

Wearing the souvenirs! Ayden's Friday playgroup went to the fire station in late March or early April...it was a great time.

They say the cutest things...

10.09 - Teacher at preschool: "Ayden, where are you from? (during Celebrating Cultures Week at preschool)

Ayden: "I am half of a Puerto Rican!"

6.1.09 - Ayden over dinner tonight, "I love these Rolly Ollies!" (Ravioli's)

1.22.09 - Ayden: "Mom, upstairs I heard God talking in my heart!"

1.19.09 - Ayden: "I am a scientist at legos cause I have a creative brain to make them."

12.21.08 - Ayden: "I am a really good expert!"

"Israel is not in the United States, but it is still on the Earf (Earth)!"

"When baby Gabriel was born from your tummy...let's be grateful that God gave us a baby!"

6.6.08 - Ayden:"Spiderman and God have special powers...they can control the earth!"

I love how I have filled his head with the power of God! :) He (God) comes out in his thoughts as right up there with Spiderman. :)

5.13.08 - Conversations with Ayden:

Ayden: Mom, why is it cloudy out today?

Mom: Well, the sun is there, but it is behind the clouds.

Ayden: Oh, the sun is playing hide and seek!

5.7.08 - Ayden was getting ready for bed last night and he found his children's bible on the bathroom counter and recalled his "reading" from his nap/rest time that day. He said, "Jesus and God are our friends!" I said, "Yes, they are!" He proceeded to look at the cartoon photos on the front of the book and tried to guess who was Jesus. He pointed to Noah and said, "That is Jesus!" Then he pointed to Moses and said, "That is God!" I told him that God is not pictured there, that he is up in heaven. It did make me quite proud that he was reading his bible during rest time! :)

3.18.08 - Ayden and I were talking on the way to school and he was talking about where we were going and we had also just passed our church. He said, "Only I go to school and church." I said, "Well, Momma and Daddy go to church too, but we don't go to school anymore, we are all done with college, high school, grammer school and preschool." He replied with, "When I go to college, I can go to Stanford!" I laughed and said, "And when you graduate from Stanford, you can find a job like Daddy." He then said, "I can find a job at Stanford...I can do art or painting or stamps!"

This cracks me up, it is like a combination of what Daddy did (Stanford) and the things that Ayden and I do together (crafts, etc.)! I have to admit that we did feed him a line a few weeks ago about going to Stanford when he grows up! :)

2.27.08 - He also has been curious about more complex issues and concerning himself about the future. He said today, "When I am older, I will have hair on my cheek like Daddy." Another cute thought of his was, "Daddy has to work so that we can have toys, food and our house and other things." Of course he learns these things from us, but it is cute the way he processes them. :)

2.11.08 - I was putting Ayden to bed tonight after he read his books to me. He often does this because he memorizes how his favorite ones go and he reads them to himself or rather recites the sentences from memory. :) We were trying to quiet down, which is often difficult for Ayden to do (surprise, surprise!) and after sitting there for a few moments, he reminds me that we need to pray. I said, "Who do you want to pray for?" He said the usual folks and at the end, he said "And tank you for ebrebody in our wife (life)!" This is how he ends most nightly prayers.

Oh and by the way, Ayden went pee-pee on the potty all day today! Not just a small portion of the day. We are making slow progress!

2.6.08 - Ayden was helping me vacuum the stairs. He did the whole flight of them and when he got to the top, he said, "When you've got yuckies, you have to clean them up! Then you can have juice or water or somsing (something)."

It's the Journey...