village pizza field trip

while village pizza is arguably the bestest pizza this side of the rio grande, the field trip we went on was a mess (according to the adults-the kiddos, on the other hand, had a blast. maybe there's something to be said about our expectations and those of the children. if we have no expectations, then we can't expect to be disappointed. food for thought). the kiddos got to make their own slices and they had a blast and i got some pretty good pics while we were there. they have the best teachers, very patient, kind and creative. love them!

23,649.5

this is the number of calories (on average) a mom consumes on a daily basis. how do i know this? because i have over three years experience under my belt. i woke up this morning and found a 1/4 full capri sun next to my bed. i was thirsty, so i drank it. on my way to get yaya from her crib (at 530 this morning), i found some cheerios. i was hungry, so i ate them. then a piece of breakfast cookie (it was oatmeal raisin. very healthy). fixed the girls oatmeal with blueberries. they ate what they could, then i ate the rest (because there are starving children in ethiopia). milk. juice. winnie the pooh cookies. kix. crackers. turkey slices. banana. more blueberries. cheese. a sucker. tea. cheese its. (a bite of) tuna casserole. juice. winnie the pooh crackers. chocolate milk. winnie the pooh crackers. i can say, however, that i did not eat breakfast, lunch or dinner, so that cancels out all the other calories, right?

let's see...what's the gabri-ism for today? oh i got it. i got upset at her for one reason or another and she stopped me in mid-getting-mad-at-her-mode and said, "mommy, how do you make your face go like that?" talk about a reality check. i think that's her way of saying i need to chill out (or i need botox). she is only three. i am the adult. most of the time.

dog poop con papas

last night i practically twisted my arm patting myself on the back because i made real red chile (from pods), carnitas and beans and alex made his awesome mashed potatoes (mine always come out like glue...not even good glue). i absolutely have to say that this chile was awesome (alex even said it was good, and his mom is a chile making machine, so that must mean something, right?). ok, but that's not the point and anyway, it was pretty short-lived. i put some carnitas aside for the girls(for those of you who don't know what carnitas are, they are little pieces of pork, preferably fried-but i use olive oil, so they're good for you)...ok, i put carnitas in the bowl first and then a big spoonful of potatoes (not thinking that i was "covering anything up"). we're all merrily eating and chatting about our day and all of a sudden gabri's face is panic-stricken and yells, "oh gross guys: dog poop!"...she got to the bottom of the bowl and "found" the carnitas. now this is wrong on so many levels:
we don't have a dog
i've never fixed dog poop before (and don't even know of a good recipe)
and i've never made my children eat dog poop.
i couldn't stop laughing because she was so adamant that i had fixed and was making her eat dog poop.
alex didn't think it was funny. where's his sense of humor?!?!?

uh as in monkey

gabri is learning letters and sounds in school and they just finished learning the letter "p". pa-pa-pizza. pa-pa-parrot. pa-pa-panda. pa-pa-purple. on and on and on. yesterday they started on with the letter "u" (don't ask me where q, r, s, and t went). you-you-unicorn. uh-uh-uncle. uh-uh-monkey. wait, huh? "no, hita, it's ma-ma-monkey. m for monkey". "no, mommy, listen uh-uh-monkey." although i tried putting my teaching hat on and 'splaining it to the best of my (in)ability, there are some things three year olds know that no one else does.

this is her, "duh, mom" face. i'd say she has the look down pat.

in my dreams

this was the dress my flower girls wore in our wedding 4 1/2 years ago. in my dreams, i never thought i would see my little girl twirling around in it.
if there was ever a twirling contest, this little princess would win.

this one just warms my heart. those are my wedding shoes!

this is what happens when you blog

ok, so i'm really getting into blogging again and was messing around on the computer. in silence. which, as i should totally know by now, silence does not equal a good thing. "someone" left the "country" (pantry) door open and yaya decided she needed a little snackie.

note the frenzied attempt to clean up after her sister-i couldn't even get a clear picture...what exactly are the child labor laws in nm?thank goodness this happened right before palma came. speaking of which, i have another funny gabri story:
we were in walmart next to a family who was speaking spanish. gabri gets so excited and yells, "mommy! they must know palma!"

a plethora of pictures

the daisies, mom and i went to the lavender festival in july...mmm we smelled so good after leaving there:)




can you believe that gabri did not want to do the jumper? not according to this face. three hours later and promises of as many lavender popsicles she could eat and we still had quite a time trying to get her out of there.

my beautiful yaya first thing in the morning...love that bed head!



gabri's first day of school...sniffle sniffle

ooooh you can just feel the love here. well, at least you know yaya can!

jack nicholson's baby picture
(ok, not really. it's yaya...not nice, mommy!)

you've heard of "where's waldo?" this is "where's gabri?" she has never done this in her life (fall asleep while playing...she sure was tuckered out!). oh, and by the way, this is a clean room.

jefe would you say i had a plethora of (pictures)?

the girls , mom and i went to the lavender festival in july...mmm we smelled so good after leaving there:)

can you believe that gabri did not want to do the jumper? not according to this face. three hours later and promises of as many lavender popsicles she could eat and we still had quite a time trying to get her out of there.



my beautiful yaya first thing in the morning...love that bed head!

gabri's first day of school...sniffle sniffle

ooooh you can just feel the love here. well, at least you know yaya can!

jack nicholson's baby picture
(ok, not really. it's yaya...not nice, mommy!)

you've heard of "where's waldo?" this is "where's gabri?" she has never done this in her life (fall asleep while playing...she sure was tuckered out!)

i miss blogging!

i haven't been on here in centuries! i've started working more and taking fewer pictures and that is changing right this moment.
my parents, the girls and i went to the wine festival a few weeks ago. this is gabri as the ladybug princess
she had a wonderful time watching the flamenco dancers and is now in the habit of lifting up her dress around her shoulders "because that's what the 'flamencers' do"...we're trying to put that to a stop. needless to say, she is wearing shorts under all her dresses. well, in public, anyway.
yaya, on the other hand, was *so* over the wine festival. this is rare footage of her not smiling, but boy when she is mad, she doesn't hold back!

we all scream for ice cream!

we had a bunch of monkeys over for a water party: shark slip and slide, pool and water balloon tossing. it was an absolutely perfect summer day!

YaYa's first experience with an ice cream sammich

gabri and her fascination with those ladybugs!

the amazingly talented photographer brianna saban and her handsome man asher

gabri thouroughly enjoying her ice cream pop

mas please!!

Gabriella Marie is three!!

Happy birthday, little angel!

El Racho

Gabri got to meet her horse "Sunny Day" for the first time, she got to ride a horse, feed the goats and drive her Granddaddy's truck. YaYa was very content just being held. The two other kids are my nephew and niece Shane and Amira and these kids are the most awesomest kiddos ever!Are they beautiful or what?



I think this may be one of my favorite pics.



Gabri's first experience with a bug...ladybug, that is.



Hanging out with the sheep and goats

what a bunch of crop!

tee hee! now that i have your attention, here are 2 pics that i now have hanging in the foyer. i know you could just die...they are so beautiful if i do say so myself!

now for a quick gabri-ism. we were saying our night prayers and while she almost has it down pat, she still needs a little prompting. this is gabri's version of "angel of God":

angel of God my "garden" dear to whom God's love commits me here. ever this "steak" be at my side to light and guard, to rule and guide amen.

oh she makes me smile!

and yet another montage...

this is just a super quick one that i put together. i can't believe how much fun this is! if only i didn't have to eat or sleep!

american idol watch out!

my oldest girlfriend (i love saying that...i've known her the longest, but i'm actually older than her) had an american idol birthday party for her oldest, my goddaughter. here is a montage of the kiddies enjoying the karaoke machine. i'm currently working on a montage of the adults...it's hard to tell who had more fun!

here it is:jenny's gonna kill me!!

addiction? i want it!

talk about an addictive personality! if there is something out there that is remotely cool, i gotta have it or do it. i can *never* go into something and do it half-way. it has to be all or nothing. do or die. sink or swim. flight or...ok, you get the gist. so here's (one of) my new addiction(s): photoshop. my mom is my enabler. she is teaching me some super cool things to do with pictures (and saving me the $900 i would have spent on a class) and this is my latest experiment:

this is the original photo

do you see how the color is fading from right to left? man! this is like totally cool!

and another original
this one makes me want to cry, i love it so much!

uh-kay uh-kay uh-kay (my imitation of joe pesci). last juan!

original

"night"

that's my queue to say good night gracie!
g'night gracie!