She is Seven Today

In the early morning hours 7 years ago today, our much anticipated first baby was born. She was a delivery surprise and as Patrick and I had agreed that if it was a girl I could name her, she became Ella Grace. She was a beautiful easy-natured baby quite content to entertain herself, but eager to please her parents. Seven years later she is still like that. 

In honor of my baby getting so big I decided to go back through her birthday photos. I couldn't find a couple of the years, reminding me that I need to get the photos off my mother-in-law's hard-drive before her computer is kaput and I lose the memories forever. Anyway, below is a photo montage of Ella's birthdays.

Here is our firstborn on the day of her birth. November 28, 2001.

Her first birthday.  Jackson was born 6 days later. Patrick was hoping he would be born that same day so they could share a birthday.

I couldn't find a photo from her second birthday, so I used one from Jackson's first birthday. Too bad cause her cake was really cute. It was the Wiggles logo. We also learned that birthday not to put sparklers on a cake unless you want to burn your house down or at least fill it with smoke.

Third birthday with vintage Care Bears figures. (They were mine and my sister's growing up)

Darn it I couldn't find the 4th birthday photo either and that cake was REALLY good. A 3-D unicorn head complete with purple mane and sparkly horn. This photo was August 2005 before her birthday. (I am missing alot of my 2005 photos, so cut me some slack, I know the photo below is not really that great)

On her fifth birthday she woke up knowing exactly what she wanted to wear. Her white dress since it had 5 flowers on the front. She surprised me on that since I didn't even notice it had 5 flowers on the front and we had never talked about it. 

On her sixth birthday we begin to notice the emergence of personal style. Gotta love the cowboy boots with the fancy dress. And yes she went to school that way.

And here she is today. She helped me make her barbie doll cake this afternoon. You know the kind that the cake part is Barbie's poufy dress? I will post photos tomorrow if I can.

Happy Birthday my sweet baby girl. You are growing up too fast.

Thankful

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. South of the border they do not celebrate Thanksgiving, but thanks to our ex-pat friends we will be sharing turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and friendship tomorrow night. Since we have American television programming we will even be able to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. 

In honor of the holiday, Jackson's class had a Thanksgiving play. I guess because there is a lot of American children attending the school they recognize the holiday and get tomorrow and Friday off of classes as well. It was funny today seeing all the Mexican children pronouncing their "Five Little Turkeys" song and saying what they were thankful for (in English). Most of the kids were thankful for their mom or dad or their families. So sweet. My kid? Click below to hear what he was most thankful for...

That's our boy. We sure are proud of him. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you wherever you are and remember to count your blessings and give thanks....even if it is only for a basketball.

We interrupt this broadcast...

Sorry for the brief hiatus on the blogging front. My mom and dad are visiting us! So we have been having fun with family for the past week. It hasn't been the greatest weather, but we're still having fun. As long as Mom can go home with a little suntan she doesn't need to spend every minute at the beach right?

Anyway, next week, back to blogging. I'll share some pictures of what's been going on with us lately. Promise.

You're Gonna Miss This

You're gonna miss this

You're gonna want this back

You're gonna wish these days

Hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times

So take a good look around

You may not know it now

But you're gonna miss this.

-You're Gonna Miss This lyrics, Trace Adkins

I was reading a random blog titled "You're Gonna Miss This" and it got me thinking of my kids and how they are growing up too fast and all the things I'm going to undoubtedly miss about right now in the years to come. Sure we have a crazy life sometimes and I get mad and scream at the kids more often than I'd like, but I guess what the song and that blog reminded me is that you don't get these years back. Me and Patrick are the center of my kids' world right now. Yes, they are slowly expanding that world, but for this moment in time we are the most important people in their lives; the people they like most and want to hang around. This is especially true with our youngest, Kaley.

Lately Patrick has started to jokingly call Kaley my shadow. It is true that wherever I am is where Kaley usually is. Whether I am sitting on the couch on the computer with her at my side or in the kitchen cooking with her sitting on the counter she is usually right there beside me. While I do like hanging out with Kaley I must admit that I also try to shoo her away at times as well. I know that as the years progress things will shift and she will be the one to start to shoo me away as I try to be up in her business (as her shadow) and I will miss all the times she fought Jackson and Ella to be the one sitting thisclose to me; to be my shadow.

Another thing I know I'm gonna miss is Kaley's raggedy old blanket...her ever-present friend, her comfort item. Kaley brings it on the drive to school in the morning and leaves it in the car to wait for her return. Actually she takes it in the car wherever we are going. If she leaves the house, the blanket leaves the house. Luckily we've only had one incident in almost losing her blanket, but I know the day will come when she'll be ready to leave her blanket behind for good. (She says 6 years old, but then quickly changes her mind to 10) When that time comes I know I'll miss the little girl with her favorite smelly old piece of blanket at her nose sitting contently watching tv and all the times I yelled "hurry up" while she ran to find her blanket while we were rushing out the door.

The very same things that make me frustrated right now will most likely be things I'm gonna miss in the future. For instance there is one dress in Kaley's closet that she insists on wearing like EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. We argue (me and my 4 year old) over if she can wear it or if she needs to change into something else. It aggravates me to no end. And it brings her to tears more often than not. In the big scheme of things, I know that in a year that dress will be outgrown and stashed away and one day I'll pull it out and remember how much Kaley loved wearing it and lament over how she is no longer that little to even fit into it anymore, much less wear it everyday. 

Bottom line is there are so many things that my babies are doing now that in a few months or years will only be a fond memory. I mean how much longer is it going to be that Kaley will still sit content on my lap and then turn to me and say so innocently "Mama, you look pretty" or "Mama you're my best friend." How much longer will it be that I won't have anyone to yell at or clean up their messes or wash their uniforms at 5:30 in the morning or compromise on watching cartoons for only a little while and then I get the tv (well I guess I'll always have Patrick). 

You're Gonna Miss This. Yep, I sure am.

Sportsmanship

As you know, I used to play a little soccer in my day. And not to toot my own horn or anything, but I was pretty darn good. So of course after I had kids I dreamed that one day they would be a solid part of a winning team who I would be wildly cheering from the sidelines and reliving the glory years.

Well, Jackson joined the school soccer, excuse me, futbol, team this year. And he is part of a winning team and I am cheering wildly from the sidelines at every game. The problem is my boy is not what you'd call a solid player. The first game of the season he kind of kicked it the wrong way. More than once. Of course this is his first year and he is the youngest one on the team and this IS Mexico, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Plus his coach coaches in Spanish, so that is one more difficulty for him to overcome. He does play the whole game, every game and he is a very fast runner, he's just not very aggressive. At all. Like another player with the ball might be right in front of him and he will wait for one of his teammates to try to get it. The aggressiveness may come in time or it may not. I might have to live with the fact Jackson might not even be into soccer. Right now he wants to be Troy from High School Musical, so he's asking to play basketball. And after the season is over if he decides he's not interested in playing soccer again that will be fine. 

What I am proud of and have seen him display it every Sunday on the field is his great sense of sportsmanship. He is ALWAYS the first one to run over and high five one of his teammates that made a goal. I've seen him walk with his arm slung across another players shoulders as they headed back after a goal. He is concerned for players that have fallen and gotten hurt and helps them up while the rest of the boys are fighting over the ball halfway down the field. And the best? Today after every goal (6 of them...none by him) he ran around that darn field like a world cup player celebrating. I saw running with hands spread in the air to the crowd, cartwheels, and fist pumps. That's what I call team spirit! He didn't even make a single defining play and yet he was celebrating like it was a championship game and he made the winning goal. And seeing that makes me proud no matter what direction he's kicking it on the field.

*I forgot the camera in the car today, therefore no photos of the celebrating. I'll try again next weekend*

Hair today, gone tomorrow

This afternoon I got my hair did. I really like it. I got color and a new cut. I'll show you the after at the end of the post, but while I was driving to the salon I was thinking of all the hairstyles I've had in the last 10 or so years. I decided to go through our photos and see how my hair has changed (or not). Fortunately we didn't have a digital camera for all those 10 years because I know there are a few styles that were definitely a "what was I thinking..." So here are some from more recently, like 5 years ago.

Below is a photo about a week after Jackson was born. December 2002. No real "style" here, but I guess I can give myself some slack since I had a newborn and a just-turned-one-year-old.

Here is when Kaley was about a year old. July 2005. Definite "mom" hairdo. You'd think I was in my mid-forties with a minivan...wait I think we DID have a minivan, oops!

This one is post LASIK, so we got rid of the glasses. I got a layered, wispy cut while vacationing in Mexico and I thought it turned out pretty good. But then I forgot my hair was pretty wavy and we lived in a pretty humid climate so it took a little taming for it to always look good. I'm not real good at that whole "taming" thing so mostly I end up looking sloppy.

May 2008. This one is one of my favorite pictures and hair days. Patrick would say it was the best since he is in it. I like my hair nice and sleek and straight. Ah the power of the straightening iron. Problem is where I live it doesn't stay that way for long, but it's nice while it lasts. 

And here was this morning before my hair appointment. Sorry, I'm not really that washed out. The flash was too close. It's hard getting a good photo of yourself when you are the one taking it!

I just noticed I did not include any of my favorite hair do...the ponytail! Or her twin sister the ponytail and baseball hat combo! Yeah, I did that on purpose even though that is how my hair is 99.9% of the time. I want my published self to look at least semi put together even if the put together is a bit lame.

And here is today after the salon.

I'm digging my new 'do. I also got color. It has reddish tints..can you tell? Well no, not really in these pictures, but it's there. The kids didn't say anything about the cut or color so I'm assuming they just didn't notice. Actually the cut is not so noticeable or drastic, but it sure looks better than this morning. And I have bangs for the first time in a long time. Granted they are pretty long bangs, but they are bangs. We'll see how the upkeep goes. 

So, what do you think?

My friend Pico

So, I have a new friend. Well, not really new, but we are a lot closer now. His name is Pico de Gallo. Did I mention this friend is a Mexican condiment? Anyway, I have always like Pico, but really the only places I could get it where we have previously lived have been few. St. John, yes I'm talking to you. You cook up a mean conch fritter, but Pico is almost non-existent.

Here in Mexico the pico and tortillas are served like the bread baskets in most restaurants in the states. Doesn't matter really what kind of restaurant you are in. They also have a girl making it fresh in the Wal-Mart and other grocery stores so you don't even have to bother learning how to make it. 

Except I did. Since I am currently into trying out new things since I am getting bored at home I decided to try to make it myself. I got a pretty good recipe from here while surfing my favorite sites, so I set out to make myself some pico. (The irony of finding a recipe on the internet from a country girl while I have a wealth of knowledge right here in Mexico is not lost on me, but I don't know enough Spanish yet or have any Mexican friends okay?) The ingredients are pretty dirt cheap here also so I figured if I messed up it wasn't too big of a waste.

The end result? Here is what I am eating this morning for breakfast...not on eggs, with chips. Seriously.

I originally planned to save it until a snack later on today, but it looked and smelled too good. Don't judge. Now where are the rest of those Tostitos?

Twilight

I may not be able to understand most of the pop culture here in Mexico, but I do have internet and cable tv coming to me directly from Atlanta and San Fran (East and West Coast programming..yeh!) so I am at least a little up to date on the world of pop culture in the US. 

Yes. Pop Culture. I am 30 years old and I am still into this stuff ok? 

Anyway, I have been seeing the commercials for the book-turned-movie Twilight. Have you read this book (or the following 3 books in the series)? If not, get up off your couch, drive yourself to your favorite bookseller and pick up a copy. Then spend the next day ignoring your children, husband and household responsibilites while you read it because if you are like me, you won't want to put it down. The book is categorized in Young Adult fiction, but don't let that fool you. It is still a great read for any age. And it's about vampires. Yes, a  90 year old vampire (stuck at age 17 cause you know vampires don't age once they are turned into vampires) that falls in love with a 17 year old mortal girl and the love story that plays out over the next 500 or so pages. 

I promise it really is good no matter how cheesy I just made it sound.

Anyway, the movie is coming out in a couple weeks and even though I loved, loved, loved the book, I am not sure if I really want to see the movie or not. I have read many books that have been turned into movies and most of them really didn't do it for me. Not to say that if I had seen the movies without reading the books I wouldn't have enjoyed the movies. It's just that the books are always so much better.* I've heard that the Twilight movie follows the book pretty closely so that is good news, but I'm just apprehensive to pay to see the characters I liked so well in my imagination come to life possibly in a different way than I imagined. It's like saying my version was wrong or something.  Already just from the snippets on the commercials I've seen I'm not sure the main character, Bella, was cast right. She seems way too serious.

From what I understand there is a kind of cult following for the Twilight books sort of like the Harry Potter series. Now I've never read or seen any of the Harry Potter books or films, so I can't compare, but I do know those books/movies were pretty popular. And I'm assuming most of the people going to see the movies are the fans of the books, so were the movies a fair representation of the books and the characters?

Needless to say there will probably be hundreds of people lined up to get tickets to the Twilight movie as soon as it is released. Me? I don't even think it's showing here in Mexico until at least a week after the US release and then I would have to find it in English (with Spanish subtitles). I think I would like to see it though, just for comparisons sake since I really, really, really liked the book(s). Oh yeah and the guy that plays the role of Edward is kind of hot - in a vampirish kind of way. :)

*the only exception I can think of that I liked the movie better than the book it was based on is The Notebook.

Trapped in Tourist Town

When you live in a touristy type town, and especially if you live say, in the most touristy area of said touristy type town, your choices of entertainment tend to run toward the touristy type stuff. 

Was that one too many touristys? Is that even a word?

Anyway, at the mall we live next to, where I sometimes have to walk to to use the internet cafe, or just get some Haagen-Daaz ice cream, there are many forms of entertainment for visitors. Problem is, my kids do not realize they are not visitors and think these things are everyday type stuff. Everytime we go to the mall they want to swim with the dolphins, pay to get a picture with the performers/characters or do this:

Yes, that is my first born daughter, flying and flipping 20 ft in the air and loving it. The guy in charge was the one to encourage the flips. Oh and he also pulled her waaaaaaay forward and let her slingshot back. It was thrilling and scary at the same time...but the kids have done this twice now and it's beginning to be an expensive habit. 

No worries though, there are plenty of less expensive forms of entertainment. Like posing with Spiderman. 

Or a totally gold Davy Jones.

Livin' the life in tourist town. Gotta love it.

Calling all Snickers, Twix, Kit-Kats, M&M's....

So I told you about all the local candy the kids got on Halloween, but I thought I would provide some photographic documentation of some of the specific candies they got. Not your average fun size Snickers or Twix around here.

So these are not all that weird, just marshmallows which are pretty popular here. It is a little strange to see an individually wrapped marshmallow though. The weird thing was that at one of the houses we went to the maid had an open bag of (unwrapped) marshmallows and gave one to each kid to eat while they trick-or-treated. What was that they say about opened candy.....

I actually tried the Kranky. I just like the name. They are like chocolate-covered cornflakes or frosted flakes. Didn't make me cranky!

This one is a mango and strawberry sucker covered with chile powder and it has gum inside. 

Not exactly sure what this one is, but it says tamarind (a flavor I don't care for) and Enchilada, which is a little weird for a candy. Pass. 

Another chile flavored lollipop.

I did separate all this candy out so that the kids did not unknowingly unwrap a piece and pop it in their mouth. And they did get a lot of regular candy too; Smarties, tootsie pops, lollipops, even some Skittles. I guess chocolate is not a popular option since I only saw one lone Milky Way (which I immediately swiped). Anyway, we are on sugar overload here and now I can't wait until all the candy is gone.

Disney stars got nuthin' on us!

Lately the kids have been really into singing and acting out the music, so I decided to tape them today. Jackson gets really into his High School Musical and Camp Rock songs. His current favorite is Now or Never from High School Musical 3, even though we won't be able to watch it in the theaters here. I think it comes out this week here, but they are only playing it in Spanish, so we wouldn't be able to get the full impact. I guess we'll wait until DVD or maybe on our next trip to the states if it is still playing. Anyway, below are a couple videos from our video session. Watch out Disney Channel, here we come.

Move over Troy and Gabriella....

And you Camp Rock kids....

The Morrows are ready to rock!