celebrating lots of happiness

today we get to celebrate 3 things.

may 10th is mother's day in mexico. it is not always celebrated on a sunday, like it is here is the u.s. today i get to say thank you to my wonderful mom who is my biggest example of how to be a woman, a wife and a mother. she is my hero and i adore her. thanks mom for always being there for me and my family, for your unconditional support and love.

today is also mother's day and i get to celebrate being their mom. these guys are my everything. they are why i do what i do everyday; the shuttling, the cooking, the worrying, the cheering, the studying, the listening, the comforting, the pressuring encouraging, the loving, the smiling, the laughing. i am proud to be their mom. it is the greatest job in the world.

i forgot to add celebrating the wonderful mom's in my life, mother-in-laws, sister's and friends. you all inspire me. yay for motherhood.

today we get to celebrate his 13th birthday. he was born on sunday, may 10, 2002 and he filled my heart with joy. he is the coolest 13 year old i know. he is curious and mature with a  wicked sense of humor. he is persistent and nerdy but with an easy going attitude. his heart is full of love and laughter. happy birthday andrew. you are azaming! (that means better than amazing according to andrew.)

the story behind the picture.
me: andrew do you feel loved?
a: yeah, why?
me: i just want you to know that i love you.
a: uh oh. i don't like where this is going.
i walk over to give him a hug. he doesn't let go of the game controller.
a: am i being punished?

happy sunday!

love is in the air

we celebrated lots of weddings last year.  1 sister, and 3 cousins.  along with that came lots of bridal showers.  always fun to celebrate with the lovely brides-to-be.

this year it's a bit slower, but just as special. we have 2 weddings coming up; one in the spring and one in the summer.

this sunday sofia and i went to irvine to celebrate the bridal shower of cousin amanda.

amanda and nate are getting married in tucson in the spring.  aunt beth came into town to help shower her daughter with food, family and wonderful gifts.

now i have to confess that i was not on the planning committee for this shower.  i just got to be a guest, (and i made rice too).

we had chili, winter salad, corn pudding, chips and homemade salsa and fruit with pumpkin dip.

i'm sorry i didn't get a picture of the desserts.  especially the peanut butter chocolate pie, or the strawberry cake.  it was all delicious.

one thing i love about visiting the godlewski house in irvine is their a-ma-zing coffee maker.  it makes the best coffee.

we played a few games.

best marriage advice. loved what everyone wrote.

the cottonball game.  something i remember playing at the many showers i went to with my mom as a kid.  have you seen this?  you are blindfolded and you have to scoop up cotton balls with a spoon and put them in the bowl.  but when you are blindfolded it's hard to tell If you are getting any.

well, aunt becky didn't seem to have a problem.  she won.

then it was gift time.

handmade aprons.

fiestaware.

a frog sponge holder (it's a family thing).

the kids never stood still long enough to get a good picture.

but these kids did. (the cousins)

and here's one of the lovely aunts.

i loved this one of "the girls in pink", sofia, grandma and kendall.

what a fun day.

holiday recap:: part 1

from the moment the kids got out of school we were on the go.  it started that weekend with the brockett family early christmas.  or what is now being called the brocket family express christmas.  any modern family fans reading this?

we went to irvine to visit with everyone, enjoy a turkey dinner and give out presents.

loved seeing kendall.  what a sweet little girl.  next year i'm sure she will be running around playing with all of the kids.

i made a queso dip: velveeta and rotel melted together in the microwave.  it was addictive and good.  i also made fresh salsa for those that were counting their calories.

the dessert table was full; pumkin pie, apple pie, banana cake, lemon meringue, cherry pie, ice cream and lots of whipped cream, oh my!

this was one of my favorite memories of the day, watching grady open up his toy story dolls action figures.  i remember the boys and sofia loving them too when they were his age.

and what does an almost 13 year old get excited about?  new ear phones for his ipod and a best buy gift card.

yeah, more legos... this was exactly what he wanted.

sofia got a set of princesses to add to her collection.  and she loves every single one of them.  she's giving them a group hug.  

 the cousins started a poker game that didn't last very long.  but i think it's becoming the family tradition at get togethers.

 posing in the godlewski's new kitchen.   they were great hosts, as always.

the very next day jordan and i headed to burbank to fly to sacramento.  jordan's best friend, owen, moved their after kindergarten and he invited jordan to his 13th birthday party.  the added bonus was that i got to fly him there (i was too nervous to let him fly alone) and visit with april for a bit.

the kids spent most of their time playing games, watching psych and hanging out in the backyard.  i enjoyed catching up with april, going for a run and experiencing their daily lives of tennis and drum lessons.  it was strange to be away from bobby and the other kids.  but i think it gave me a nice break during this busy time.  jordan stayed with them the rest of the week to go san francisco.  i flew home the next day. i've never flown by myself so that was a first for me.

wednesday the kids and i were invited to a cookie decorating party with some friends.  it was pot luck style.  love that.  then the kids decorated their gingerbread people and ate all their frosting.  hee hee.  at the end of the day we all decided that this will become a yearly event.  i would love to host it next year. everyone had so much fun.

that night we got a chance to celebrate the 2nd night of hannaukah with our friends. 

 oh do we love hanukkah... 

especially the food.  amy and anthony made us chicken, kugel, latkes and green beans.  everything was sooo good.  i don't think kugel is a traditional hanukkah dish but we were so happy they made it for us.

of course we exchanged gifts. gotta love the bff pajamas.

and these two goofballs.  it's fun sharing everyone's holiday traditions.  something so special about this time of year.

andrew and sofia missed jordan while he was away but it was a good bonding experience for these two.  they tend to have the most conflict.  they made puppets out of notebook paper, kitchen twine and cardboard to keep them busy.  pretty crafty don't you think?

jordan came home on christmas eve, just in time for my family's celebration.  no we didn't have tamales or buñuelos, which are traditional this time of year.  instead we had a turkey dinner with all the fixings.  for dessert i made these rocky road parfaits that were yummy and didn't make us feel guilty.

 the grandparents' gift was a photo calendar and a clip frame.  each of my siblings helped put the calendar together with photos of the grandkids and each family.  it turned out really cool.  i didn't get a photo of the finished product but maybe i'll do that.

i got my sister in the exchange this year.  i gave her some giada delaurentis products from target.  can you guess what this is?

i shared some of our christmas day photos already.  we had a quiet day.  my parents came over to see the kids open their santa gifts.  then bobby's dad and step mom came over for breakfast. and we ordered chinese food for dinner with his mom and stepdad.  the kids had fun playing with their presents and sharing time with their grandparents.

santa went to trader joe's this year for stocking stuffers.  the kids each got coal and a variety of holiday specialties.  i especially enjoyed the chocolate covered minty marshmallows.

we also have a new family tradition.  meet sam the elf.  

he came to us from the north pole (of target).  he was sent to watch over the kids and report back to santa about their behavior.  yes, it totally freaked sofia out but andrew thought it was fun to wake up each morning and find him in a different place.  those elves sure are mischievous. 

stuck in the apothecary jar 

reading a christmas book

having an m&m fight with the andre ethier action figure.

lying in our bed and watching tv.

sitting on top of the christmas presents.

it was a fun new tradition that we'll continue next year.  i've pinned quite a few suggestions about where other people have found their elves so i have a lot of ideas for next year.

are you exhausted?  i am.  and there is more to share.  

part 2: kernville, new year's eve and jordan's birthday.

take care.

40th celebration

bobby turned 40 on december 1st and we wanted to celebrate in a big way.

over the summer we went to a house warming party and the hosts had a monte carlo night.  we played roulette and black jack for a few hours and had a great time.  bobby decided that's what he wanted for his birthday.

then when school started the pto had their teacher welcome back luncheon and we hired a taco guy to cater the event.  i brought home some of the leftovers and bobby said that's who he wanted to cater his birthday.

so the party was planned.  add in 55 of our closest family and friends and we had a bash to end all bashes.

the monte carlo people were awesome.  we rented a roulette table and a craps table.

 i loved playing roulette at the first party but never had a chance to play it here.  everyone had fun betting and watching the ball go round and round.

the most popular table was craps.  first of all the dealers were great.  they helped most of us learn how to play the game.  and the game has such excitement around it.  all of the people standing around.  the pressure on the roller.  chips go everywhere.

there was cheering, yelling, laughing, mulligans, betting, throwing and all kinds of shenanigans going on at that table.  i got to play for a little bit at the end of the night.  i had to join in the party.  i think some of us gained enough knowledge to try it the next time we're in vegas.

and then my brother did us a huge favor by handling the black jack table.  he had the mat and the cards and stood in as the dealer which helped save us some money.  thanks jorge.  everyone enjoyed it.

 and of course we couldn't pass up the chance to roast bobby on his birthday.  thanks to cousin jeff, my brothers, great grandpa, and mike for saying some nice, and comical, things about bobby.

look who came out a big winner.  grandma joyce.

at the end of the night guests traded in their chips or "cash" for tickets.  then we picked winners who went home with target gift cards and bottles of wine.  not a bad party favor.

i put out a deck of cards for people to leave birthday wishes on.

 no birthday cake.  instead we sang happy birthday and ate chocolate chip cookies, cheesecake, peppermint brownies and pan dulce.

thanks to my parents for opening up their house to this occasion.  thanks to my brother for setting up his sounds system.  thanks to sandy for documenting the evening.

the night was a huge success.  bobby was a happy guy and everyone had a great time.  something tells me that 41 will be a good year to do this again.