10 Facts about me and my better half!

Hallie is having a little link-up with 10 Facts about Me and My Better Half! Here's mine:

1. I spotted him the first time he came to daily mass. New cute guy sitting in one of the last pews. My eyes were on him from the start!

2. We had a brief meeting (which he didn't remember), but a more formal introduction after daily mass one evening. I had just played the guitar for the mass. He told me, "You rock." I responded, "Jesus rocks." That was that.

3. Our first date was to a formal dance a few weeks after we met, and he asked me to go with him just a few hours beforehand! I happened to have my prom dress with me that a friend had borrowed. (That's the picture from our first date above...my roommate had some family visiting for her graduation and we all had a blast together and took a picture with the kids; I hoped it would be a foreshadowing, and now here with 4 kids...it was!) We went to mass and lunch the next day, and he helped me move home and met all my family.

3. He's the youngest of 7 kids; I'm the oldest of 2. Very different family and school backgrounds, but we mesh together pretty well.

4. We decided to homeschool our kids before we were even engaged.

5. He proposed in the Adoration chapel of the church where I grew up. Some old ladies were in there praying, and one happened to have a cheesecake in a grocery bag with her. She was so happy for us that she gave us the cheesecake! We both love cheesecake, but that one tasted like toothpaste.

6. We went out for Mexican food at a restaurant called Guadalajara after he proposed. It's still one of our favorite restaurants! My parents took the kids and me there a couple weeks ago, and they even brought it to me in the hospital after my oldest was born!

7. We got married almost 10 years ago! We went on our big honeymoon to Rome 6 months later. We got to wear our wedding garb and receive the Sposi Novelli newlywed blessing from Pope John Paul II on January 2, 2002 (photo down on my left sidebar). Mary Clare was born exactly a year later on 01/02/03. In a month, on May 1, she'll be receiving her First Holy Communion on our engagement day and the day John Paul II is beatified. Also Divine Mercy Sunday, which is a favorite feast of both her grandfather and her godparents who I believe got engaged on that feast! Fun stuff!

8. He is an introvert but is the life of the party. I'm an extrovert but like to people-watch and small-talk at parties. He likes to cook and I don't. He's got the smarts but I had the good grades. He likes sports, hunting, and fishing. I like dance and art. He likes camping; I like nice hotels. I'm not an animal or insect person; he's starting a beehive in the backyard next weekend. He likes falling asleep to talk radio; I like falling asleep to TV (we don't have one). We have nothing in common but everything important in common :)

9. Every now and then, he tells a story from his childhood that I've never heard before. It always surprises me because I feel like I've heard it all!

10. We make pretty cute kids, if I do say so myself :) Our girls might love ballet, but they also fish. And our boy likes baseball but also loves to draw. They're great mixes of their mommy and daddy! We hardly have any photos of all 6 of us, but hopefully that will change soon, thanks to Lerin!

I wrote out our love story one Valentine's Day, and just enjoyed reading it again. Thanks, Hallie, for the fun idea!

little way farm

Happy 5th Birthday, Gerardito!

Thanks for a fun day at the farm, Veronica and family!

growing chickens


kids having fun running around the house



running out to see the goats and the chickens


my little cowboy riding a motorcycle


and my sweet baby man just hanging out and watching everyone


ellie giving santiago a ride


loved playing baseball with enriquito


my godson santiago was very unsure about me


love how he waddles after the big kids!


a ride in the gator!


A great ending to a super fun and beautiful day at little way!

Spring in Texas!

Last week the weather was so warm that the kids decided to put on their swimsuits and have some fun in the hose! It's cooled off a little this week, but we are definitely approaching summer! They will be starting swim team in less than a month. I found some cheap goggles and swimsuits for them yesterday. I can't believe that we're almost to April already!

work

Last week we went back to work! We had BopBop (Steven's dad) here for the week, helping out around the house and being a great support as we get through these last few weeks of Steven's difficult work schedule. I got on the ball with homeschooling, making sure we got through our checklist each day. A few mornings, Mary Clare was even doing schoolwork early while BopBop had his coffee and his Divine Mercy reading time!

Yesterday I worked all day trying to add little cap sleeves to Mary Clare's First Communion dress. Just as I was nearing the end, I went a little too far in sewing some pleats, and ruined one of the sleeves. I was feeling extremely agitated and flustered by the whole thing, spending an entire day focused on this one project, allowing myself to get frustrated with the kids, and then in the end it was all for naught. A good lesson for me in priorities and considering how to use my time wisely and not overwhelm myself trying to take on too much.

Tomorrow we'll take the dress to a seamstress to complete it. After deciding that adjusting my own wedding veil was going to be too difficult, I bought a veil at the Catholic bookstore. But then I changed my mind and decided we'd create one ourselves. Mary Clare chose lace and a beautiful floral crown headpiece, which I'm putting together. Hopefully the veil won't be quite as hard of a project! I think it's a little more my speed than dress alterations :) We bought her shoes today, and are planning to have some professional photos in the bluebonnets next weekend. Hopefully it all comes together!

I'm SO excited about our upcoming camping trip! I think we're going to visit the state park we had planned to go to a couple years back. Hurricane Ike ruined our plans, so we're going to make up for it now! It will be very nice to get away and have some family time to rest and enjoy each other without the daily stresses that seem to plague a busy life with young children! April will be a busy month with ballet exam rehearsals each weekend, swim team starting the 25th, planning for Ellie's Birthday and Mary Clare's First Holy Communion, and getting ready for the rest of the end-of-year activities.

Steven worked all day yesterday, but took us to the park last night when he got home. We decided to choose a close one since it was getting dark, and ended up at the park behind the apartment complex where we lived when Mary Clare was a toddler. It brought back lots of memories of our early days of parenthood. For a short time, we only had one car and I spent many days biking with Mary Clare to the park or to a mom's group at church. Ellie came home from the hospital to that apartment and we have many fond memories at that park, pond, and pool. The hardest part was remembering Kelly and the boys. That was where we first met and got to know each other. Steven and I both remember where we were when she first told us she had cancer.

My favorite memory of Kelly at Parkside was a simple day when I was walking to get my mail. I think her older son might have been at school, but the younger one was walking around the parking lot with his mom. He had a bunch of little cars all tied together with string and was having such a fun time pulling his "train" with him! I thought it was such a creative little way to play with his toys! Oh how I sometimes long to go back to those fun times with my first babies and the early days of family life! I was realizing tonight that I need to go back and document more of the time before I started my blog in 2006.

After finally emailing our mayor and city council with my internet complaints, I've found out that there isn't much hope for improvement. They'll likely stop offering free wifi to the city at the end of the year, so it's probably time we fork out the money for a reliable connection. So hopefully I'll be back to more consistent blogging soon! Up next will be some photos from our visit to the farm!

Bluebonnets

St. Patrick's Day!

A homeschooling friend hosted a fun St. Patrick's Day playdate last week. They started with a prayer to St. Patrick.


Then it was time for crafts! They made St. Patrick puppets or foam Trinity shamrocks.


Ellie with her puppet!


Baby brothers watching the big kids. I laugh every time I see this photo; these boys are about a month apart. My boy is giant! (95th-99th percentiles at his check-up this morning!)


Irish boys


Sweet siblings in their green!


St. Patrick, pray for us!

Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo

On Tuesday we went to the livestock show with 2 friends and their kids. Last year I planned a big field trip for our homeschool group, but decided that for my sanity this year I could not commit to planning such a big outing for ~100 people! We had planned to go on Monday, but ended up postponing for a day due to stormy weather.

Here are my cowgirls and cowboys checking out the horse show!


Some of the kids standing in front of a big longhorn!


Ellie checking out the "nursery" area. This mama cow had recently given birth to a baby girl.


My little cowboy :)


Kids checking out the chickens


A baby lamb was born while we were there, but there were too many people to get up close and watch. We saw the baby on the video monitor here.


Ellie and Steven by the egg hatchery


Mary Clare watching the lady on a weaving loom


A fun exhibit with animal sounds


Their favorite outdoor activity...the Kids' Farm!


Planting his pepper seed


Harvesting corn


An animal show was a new feature outside. Here was a baby kangaroo!


And an owl! They also got to see a snake, anteater, aardvark, and sloth.


Kids waiting to watch the Mutton Bustin' where 5-6 year-olds ride sheep. Ellie didn't want to try it this year, maybe next. SJ can't wait for his turn!


Here's a little girl holding on for dear life!


Thomas spent nearly the entire time asleep in the stroller!


Since we left at 4pm, we decided to go and visit Steven's dad to wait out the traffic. We were happy to have lots of cousins come to visit and Daddy ended up coming after work so we could all stay for dinner!


What a fun, exhausting day! Yeehaw!