Diary of a Crazy Busy Mom

Time to Get Off the Couch....

2010-09-19T15:05:00.002-04:00

Wow, ever feel like the preacher is speaking soley to you and prepared his sermon just for you? That was me today. First off, I've been feeling pretty horrible the last 10 days at least - severe anxiety attacks - the moment the anxiety med wears off, instant cold sweat, rapid heart rate, shakes, feeling like I'm going to die...no joke. Seriously, getting up and getting everyone breakfast is all I can do. Having terrible insomnia, feeling so tired and weary but finding no solace because sleep doesn't arrive very often. Getting sidetracked....

Over the course of the last few months I have felt like I should go on the next mission trip our church is doing - to Kenya. Ok, I admit, I'm pampered, babied, have not lived a rough life really at all and missions have never really been "my thing". Everyone I know has gone on mission trips but I was just fine and dandy watching them go or hearing about their trips from the comforts of my "couch". So, the past week I have convinced myself I was not going to go to the information meeting at church tonight (Sunday) and I was going to blow off this mission trip. I had a million excuses as to why I wasn't going to do it. I mean come on, I did my good deed for the year, I showed up and fed people at The Ronald McDonald house. I gave 3 hours of my time.

So, at church on of my friends who is kinda on the "mission team" asked if I was going to the meeting. I said no and gave my list of excuses - I'm not cut out for it, the cost is too much, it's going to be too hard of work, sleeping conditions I'm sure were going to stink - I can't even sleep in my $2k mattress how could I possibly sleep in Africa? The flight is going to be long - on and on. Well, Rob - our minister - honest to goodness addressed everyone - every SPECIFIC one of the examples I had given to Barb before church. After the sermon as we were going to communion I saw Barb in line and said "I guess I'm going to be at the meeting tonight after all". lol

There are many reasons to stay on the couch and fast forward the yucky parts on to someone else - and we each have our own couch that is holding us back. I sure the heck hope that the reason for the panic attacks and depressive state I'm feeling is attacks from the enemy (Satan) trying to hold me back. I don't get real preachy or spiritual on my blog, heck, I'm not too spiritual in my day to day life - I fall so short of the standards I set for myself. But, eventually, you just have to trust God and make the leap I guess...

Volunteering

2010-08-27T19:44:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow we are serving lunch at the Ronald McDonald house at Riley Childrens Hospital here in Indianapolis. We are doing it with our small group from church and I'm so excited. It's exciting for several reasons: 1. We get to do something for people who are suffering watching their children be sick, 2. we get to bless others when we are overflowing with blessings and 3. our kids get to help participate and be a part of it. I would love to say I volunteer all the time - but I would be not telling the truth if I did. Anytime I do volunteer - it ALWAYS blesses me much more than the recipient. I just have been praying for the families whose children have had extended stays at the hospital and for a speedy recovery for them. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be in the parents shoes. I love Jesus and I would love to say I put Him first in everything - but again, I wouldn't be telling the truth. I put my children first almost always and that isn't the correct way on the life priority list. I need to be working on this!

Totally changing topics - with the luxury of facebook and blogs - it gives people a glimpse, well, a small glimpse into our lives. What makes me shake my head, want to scream from the mountains and then almost pee myself from laughing - is how horribly sad it is at how fake people are. They will talk like they are Jesus who is walking on water or Mother Theresa herself - with great parenting skills, patience like Job, wisdom like Einstein - the list could go on and on. But...people who have been around the aforementioned - know they are a pathetic, pathological liar who is flat out bat ass crazy. I just don't get it. I know I don't have an edit button. I know I should zip it much more often than I do - but what is going on in the lives/life of these people that requires them to have one "real" face at home, behind closed doors - and then a totally different "outward face". I'm a tell it as I see it type of person - and that type of person, like myself generally equals a love me or hate me type of reaction. But, that is fine by me. You either accept me for who I am - because I am NOT afraid to BE WHO I AM all the time. I don't need to put on super-mom who has it all together when in front of other family members or friends and then be a raving psycho-path while at home. But...that's just MY opinion.

And finally, I jump off of my high soap box to ask that if you pray - which, if you read my blog you more than likely love Jesus, believe in Him and pray - can you remember Ava and ask for healing on her tummy and acid reflux. She went to the Dr. this morning and more than likely it is acid reflux. I don't know if it's flaring up (she's never had a problem before this month) because she's been anxious about starting school, meeting new friends and all that is involved there. But, I hate seeing her in pain.

That's all I have! Not too exciting - lots of ranting and crazy talk - but that's me. heehee I vow to be a better, more frequent blogger!

What a day!!!!

2010-08-26T20:31:00.002-04:00

Wow...woke up early this morning when the alarm went off as soon as my alarm went off. Ava came down and I made her breakfast and she continually talked of a stomach ache. As a vain, horrible mommy note - I had a day full of doctors appointments that I really needed to go to so I couldn't have her staying home. I remembered the other day she complained again of a stomach ache - we gave her a tums and it went away. So, after an hour or so I had given her two Tums and she said her stomach was ok and she went off to school. I emailed her teacher and advised her about stomach problems, called all of the doctors and reaanged all of my appointments in case she went to the nurses office and called to come home.

Then, Isabella has been complaining she can't see the chalkboard or the overhead projector because her seat is towards the back of the room. So, I had to send a note in to ask for her to be moved closer to both and make an eye appointment. We have a friend who is an optomotrist and we really wanted to give him our business. Sadly, after making the appointment, they don't accept our plan. So, we aren't able to get Isabella in to the eye doctor until September 13. My eye sight is horrid, so, I'm sure she has inherited it from me. Tomorrow morning before school we have to take Ava to the Pediatrician so we can get her on some meds to calm her stomach down.

I have my 20 year class reunion coming up and I've been KILLING myself with personal training. I've been going to a girl a cheered with and was good friends with in high school. It has been torture but honestly, so much fun. Even though she kills me, I laugh all the time. She is going to make me look amazing by September 24. lol

I had to call Isabella's piano teacher yesterday because she sent a note home. Basically, all the homework that she has is interferring with her practice. She just has had too much piano "homework" and we can't get it done. We got a program set up that we are going to do regarding practice and Isabella and I did this tonight. Let me tell you it sucked BUTT big time and was the longest 30 minutes of my life. I think she finally got it, I had to research the left hand, I don't know if that is treble clef or bass clef but I didn't know what the notes were and so I wrote what the notes were on the music sheet and she had to figure out what keys were because this Mama was lost in that area.

So, while I'm doing all of this...Steve is off having a Kobe Steak and drinking the finest of wines and I had a bowl of cereal for dinner. Not a fair trade I think. lol

I suck

2010-08-23T18:28:00.002-04:00

So, school has started, I haven't updated at all. I'm just so darn busy all the time. Piano practice is kicking our Isabella and I's booties an I have to look at he music forever and google and figure out what she is suppose to do (insert here - she hates that I'm not musical like her father and gets frustrated during this period of time and just starts playing random musicical songs by ear....but that is not the assignment!!!

Ava had to stay home from school today because she was running a 102+ fever last night - broke during the night but still, kept her home due to 24 hour no fever rule.

I ran this morning (hated every minute of it), have personal training tomorrow (will not be thrilled either, I usually tell my trainer to stop talking to me - lol), worked in flower beds ALL.DAY.LONG I - think every weed is gone....my mind can rest.

First Day of School 2010

2010-08-17T06:48:00.003-04:00

Here are a few photos from the girls first day of school. And yes, I am one of THOSE Mom's that buys special, insane type of 1st day of school clothes...

My lighting is all wonky because it was sooooo hot outside and I didn't give my camera time to adjust from a 70 degree house to an 85 degree morning.

Both girls have adjusted well and are really enjoying school. Ava is already trying to be high maintenance and have me pick her up from school each day - not going to happen sweetheart. That's what the big yellow bus is for. She did ask me last night "Mom, if I'm sick and at the nurses office will you at least pick me up then?". I told her on that one, I would. lol

Piano has resumed as well for Isabella and wow oh wow! Talk about it being kicked up a notch...she has the left hand going at it, the right hand going at it - all at the same time, different beats, different notes - I don't know how she can read the music fast enough to play...she must have my Dad's blood running through her fingers and mind when she plays because everyone has said he was a fabulous piano player.

I'm resumed running yesterday. I went from being on week 2 of The Couch to 5K - injured my quad (yes, I am the most accident prone person around) and somehow had to start week 4 - per my running partner Jillian - oh, I mean Kris. lmbo

I'm doing good with the girls in school. Working slowing and cleaning each room and organizing each room in the house, tossing old toys, selling toys on Craigslist, exercising and the basic day to day chores. Oh, and I'm going to start cooking - yeah me!! lol I'll begin volunteering in the girls classrooms in September so I'm excited to start seeing them in action.

Shame on me....

2010-08-06T16:37:00.002-04:00

Almost an entire week has gone by and I haven't blogged - and there has been some stuff going on. Not real important stuff by any means - but blog worthy stuff to bore you with.

First off...the petty stuff I need to just be immature and get off my chest...I find it soooooo funny that I write about my life and my quirks and there are people pathetic enough out there who read this blog incognito and then types a quip about what I type (totally speaking opposite of every recent post I write). I'm a neat freak - sorry - can't help it, glad I am, glad I'm not a slob. I'd rather have OCD neat freakness oozing through my veins than sloppy slob genes oozing through my veins. The best part - you pathetic freak (this is not meant for the masses - it's meant for a certain person/people who know who they are - heehee) - you can take your "happy, online - pretending to be perfect wife, perfect mommy, perfect religious being you are" when those who know you even in the slightest - are seriously rolling on the ground when we see your mouth open. Enough said - sorry for the pettyness peeps...I won't let it happen again...at least not for a month or so. lol

So...last post leaves us with Alisha being crazy and going to run a 5K. We started training 2 weeks ago and this couch to 5k program rocks! It gradually brings running into your lives - and wait for it people - GASP - it makes you kinda like, almost borderline love running!!! What is up with that??? So, Kris, Lexi and I have been very diligent students of The Couch to 5K running program and have ran a minimum of 3 times a week. Cue orchestra....UNTIL...Alisha gets hurt...AGAIN. And, not from running.

I have a dear friend whom thanks to Facebook have reconnected with and she lives only 30 miles from me. She owns her own Fitness Center called HIP Fitness - check her out www.thehipfitness.com (I'm pretty sure that's her website, I will double check after I post and edit if I am incorrect). Anyway, I decided to do personal training sessions with her 2 x week (I do have a 20 year class reunion in 2 months! oh, yeah and I'm tired of being out of shape and flabby because I have been out of commission with my melanoma surgeries and my gracefulness of me falling down the stairs in March causing severe SI Joint pain) and I knew Jamie would whip me into shape! Well, I guess I pushed myself too hard Tuesday trying to impress her - lol - and strained my quad muscle. Ok, I didn't pay too much attention in school or in anatomy but isn't the quad muscle the largest muscle in your body? Well, if it's not the largest, then it's pretty darn close! Anyway, Tuesday after our first session, I just had what I thought was normal, first post workout discomfort - not any pain. Wake up Wednesday morning - my running day - and I won't embarass myself today to discuss this running session - lets just say, Kris and I definetly got an ab workout in as well from laughing our bottoms off during that days run.

I'm not going to bore you with the play by play of my pain - but lets just end it with this, I could not move my leg without using two hands to lift it to move it - and doing that literally brought tears to my eyes when I did it. I went to my personal training session today (rescheduled yesterdays for today) and Jamie is awesome she came up with a kick butt upper body workout that we are going to be getting use to doing these next 2 weeks. I think a couple of times during the workout I told her to stop talking to me because I was winded. lmbo On the way to the session this morning I went ahead and called my family Dr. and made an appointment because I knew something was going on. He thinks I have just strained my quad muscle (fingers crossed he is correct). My left quad area is SUPER swollen, like kinda gross looking swollen - well, its more than swelling - he said that that area - since the quad is such a huge muscle - has so much room for you to have fluid fill the area. So, I have a TON of fluid there, as well as regular swelling. So, the couch, On Demand movie rentals and the ole ice packs are going to be my friend for the weekend. As well as a nice round of heavy duty steriods. I can't do lunges, squats for 2 weeks but he seems to think by Monday I can do some walking and by the end of the week should be able to do a light jog workout. I really hope he is right, but he has been right about everything else when Steve or I have been to see him.

Speaking of Steve...update on him. Monday he had his endoscopy done and we found out he has some pretty nasty bacterial infection in there. Nasty enough that if left untreated it can cause stomach cancer. We are waiting on biopsy results to come in to confirm there isn't any cancer but the doctor didn't seem concerned with that. He's on a few antibiotics since the infection is one that is hard to get rid of. There was lesions that were either ulcers forming or ulcers healing. He felt that they were ulcers healing and what sent him to the ER was in fact ulcer pain because Steve had been on Prilosec (I think) for a month prior to this endoscopy and that med is used to treat and heal ulcers. Regardless, he is on it again to clear up the lesions. He should be pain free in 2 weeks. If not, he is to return back to the Doctor and I don't know what happens from there. lol

I registered both girls for school and paid their book rental fee yesterday morning. Do you fellow Hoosiers realize that book rental fee is not the norm???? Nope, we are like the only darn state that charges a book rental fee. So, wrote a nice hefty check for the girls, made deposits in their lunch accounts. I know the first day of school is going to be confusing enough for Ava, I don't want to add to the confusion and send her in with a check for lunch money and make sure she turned it in and all that jazz. Still not comprehending we have our baby starting kindergarten. Found out that Ava is going to be having the same teacher Isabella had for kindergarten. I am excited about that. We loved Mrs. Treon, I loved volunteering for her and helping her out each week and look forward to being able to do that again this year for Ava. All of the kindergarten teachers are great from what I hear but it's nice to know already this teachers teaching style, calm nature and just her overall teaching style.

Then, last night we had Ava's 5th birthday party. She had a blast! At one point though - in typical Ava style - she looks at mom, Steve and I and asked what we were still doing there? Um, sweet child - can we not be part of the fun also? Steve kinda wished I wasn't there - this store is the neatest store around. If I owned a little shop (for girls of course - which is one of my dreams but I doubt will ever happen) I would LOVE to have stuff like they have to sell - one example - a lego bracelet with little crystals between each lego! How stinking cute is that? That is just one example. I could go on and on about the neat and unique gifts this place has. I sincerely *heart* it. All of the kids Ava invited showed up and they all had a great time it seemed. The best part - you pay for the party and they have a party coordinator who runs the entire thing....aaaa-maaay-zing!

So, that's the latest and greatest. Looking forward to Monday where my Dr. has possibly given me false hopes of being 50% better and ready to walk while Kris runs. bahahahaha

What the heck!!!!?????!!!!

2010-07-31T17:55:00.002-04:00

I agreed to run a 5K race September 18 with one of my BFF's Kris and her daughter - 15 year old Lexi. Why we decided to do this - I don't know. I just know we were kinda discussing it - smart mouth 15 year old said "how hard could it be to run 3 miles" and then it kinda snowballed from there. So, Kris got us set up on the Couch to 5K running plan and - it's a gradual process and thus far it's working. We've completed our first week of running training - the only gripes are sore shins. I've been icing them and that has seemed to help - but actually when I run I actually feel really good.

The worst part of this running jazz....is I'm hungry all the time - well, mainly at night. I could eat the entire pantry. I need to just drink water, water and some more water or eat an apple or something to alleviate my hunger and attacking of whatever I can get my hands on. So, that is really the biggest adjustment. We just have to run 3 x week so it's not too brutal.

I start personal training sessions with an old friend from high school. I cheered with her and we were good friends during school but after we both graduated, we really lost touch with each other and I don't think I've even seen her since we graduated. Anyway, she lives about 30 miles away and she owns a Fitness Center and she teaches several classes. She just recently got her personal training certification and posted it on Facebook. Well, since I have been stagnet since really January when I had my biopsy on my foot and then had my melanoma surgery, fell down the steps and had a hairline sacrum fracture, another biopsy on my foot, another melanoma diagnosis, another melanoma surgery - I haven't been able to be back at the gym.

I have my 20 year class reunion coming up - and botox just can't fix everything! :) So, I'm going to drive over to Brownsburg twice a week for the next 2 months and take a beating from Jamie - train for this 5K and then also do 3xweek some hard core cardio on my own at the gym. With all of that - I should be in tip top shape for a 38 year old woman at my 20 year class reunion! I shouldn't give all my secrets away now should I? I should have kept quiet and then showed up - and act like I looked like this all the time. Oh, well....

The kids start school in less than 2 weeks. Today we went school supply shopping and picked them up some clothes for school. Both kids are set for the first couple of months of school while it's still warm. Now, when it turns cold - the pocketbook is going to be taking a deep hit...(be prepared Steve) because we don't have anything bought. Well, Isabella's tops from the cool season will still work for her this year but she has outgrown all of her 7 slim jeans and Ava has zero - and I mean zero - cool weather cothing.

Stride Rite is having their Buy 1 get 1 1/2 off sale right now so we will probably go Monday - if Steve is feeling up to it (he is having an endoscopy done in the morning) and get them their tennis shoes for the year. Well, first part of the year - they are pretty hard on them that they wind up getting a 2nd pair during the middle of the year. I'm so happy that they have outgrown (well, I have outgrown) the multiple pairs of shoes phase. I remember when Isabella was in kindergarten she probably had 10 pairs of shoes....and she went for 2 1/2 hours (Ava will be going to full day kindergarten). I know the days of multiple pairs of shoes will be arriving soon - so I'll enjoy just buying some expensive tennis shoes for now.

Tybee Island - Photo Filled - Post 2

2010-07-29T11:08:00.007-04:00

Ok, these are from my sister in laws camera. Most pictures are pretty obvious so no descriptions will be typed. Any photo with description - it will be under the photo.

My mom, sister in law, her mom and Ava all went out one day to the Lighthouse on Tybee Island. I think it was the oldest lighthouse/first light house or something like that. Isabella and Dialycia were still in bed and my back was killing me so the three of us stayed back at the cottage. Mom, Ava and Dee walked up the 178 stairs - and back down at the lighthouse. They said Ava was a trooper and didn't complain once - even when she had her picture taken a million times. I think she was just happy to be the only kid with 3 adults. lol

The three girls at The Crab Shack - pretty obvious. lol

My beautiful sister in law and gorgeous niece.

Three complaining beauties on the beach.

Grammy and grandkids

Me upstairs at Paula Deens Store. The apron had S.L.U.T.S. on it = Southern Lady Under Tremendous Stress. Yes, I moved the display for the photo.

Goodness, she is beautiful.

Can you read this sign??? No swimming within 50 feet...someone drifted over to this pier and was not 50 feet away...just sayin'

The aforementioned someone who didn't read said sign - went under this pier when wave #2 hit her

The making of a mermaid.

Bella had a BLAST - this is one of my favorite photo's of her.

Mermaid complete!

Tybee Island Vacation - Post 1 - PHOTO FILLED

2010-07-27T13:41:00.010-04:00

Ok, this is the first set of photo's - my sister in law has to upload hers tonight and then I'll add another post. The whole vacation is credited to my sis-in-law Dialevash who researched it and found the cottage we rented. It was a 5 bedroom cottage. I'd never even heard of Tybee Island, Georgia - but so glad we had a girls trip and made the trek. Even though my back flared up like fire - the laughs - so, so, so surpassed my pain.

Descriptions will be under all photo's.

The three cousins sitting in front of the fountain near Paula Deens Lady and Sons restaurant in Savannah, Georgia - which was only 15 miles from our cottage.

Don't let these cute looks and smiles fool you - there was TONS of complaining that went on while we were taking pictures.

Ava on our 90 minute trolley ride around Savannah. I never knew the deep history Savannah has! If you ever go to Savannah - pay the $22 for the tour - it was money well spent. Plus, we had 4 hours to wait until our lunch reservations at Paula Deens (we had to show up BEFORE 9:30 a.m. to get a seating time. We got to the restaurant at 8:45 and Dialevash's mom stood in line for us the entire time. The line was wrapped around the building. We got a check-in time of 2:30 and we were finally seated at 3:00)

Isabella on the trolley - can you tell it was HOT, HOT, HOT there. Oh yeah - and about 100% humidity. My hair just LOVED Georgia.

Ava - always being camera ready...

Me and my sweet girls waiting inside the restaurant waiting to be seated. After 4 hours, I finally found a ponytail holder in my camera bag. Temps dropped 10 degrees once the hair went up.

Silly cousins wasting time.

My mom and I....um, why does she not have a shiny face???? Must be the Mary Kay...I even wore oil free moisturizer, no foundation and powdered the heck out of my face the entire trip, but alas, I was still a shiny mess in every photo.

We went and ate dinner one evening at the Crab Shack - it's a huge place and very popular. Ava looks really excited to be at a seafood restaurant.

My sis-in-law and I. A near death experience would occur just a few short hours after this photo. I'm giggling thinking about it. Sorry Dee!!!!!

Ok, so Dialevash follows several beach/cottage blogs. She met one of the ladies who blogs and this lady also happens to be a realtor (super sweet lady) and she is the one who has the vacation listing for Paula Deens cottage. You can rent out her house when she is out of town. So, after dinner we drove by it...

Dee and I wanted a photo of us in front of the house. Dee had in mind standing UNDER the sign, I didn't have the same plan. I drug her booty up to the porch and stood above the sign. We were laughing so hard. Plus, the kids kept yelling from the van that we were going to go to jail and get arrested for trespassing. Picture taken and no one arrested. :)

Isabella

Ava

Me and the shining stars of my life....

Sisters, best friends, best enemies - partners in crime...

Mommy and the birthday girl...

Ava showing the world she was 5 years old...

Beach photos that were PURE TORTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grammy and her grandkids....

Me, mom and the girls...the wind was a beyotch with my hair and the sun was brutal to stare into...

Ok, this photo makes me giggle - look at Ava. She was worried about getting her shorts wet, so she was rolling them up. lmbo

We found a sweet couple to take photos of us. The wind blew my hair into a million different directions and I probably cut a few people that it whipped up against.

Ok, highlights of the trip...

The trolley ride in Savannah - I took a million photos while on the tour but can't remember what the heck they are of. The only one I remember was of the park that Forrest Gump was filmed in and the park bench he sat on with his box of chocolates.

Lunch at Paula Deens. I got the buffet - and honestly - it wasn't anything to write home about. It wasn't really expensive $13 - but it's really just Golden Corral quality buffet food. But, the experience was good - it was just one of those places you'd regret going to the town and not eating there.

Spending a good hour out in the ocean with just me and Dialevash. We were collecting sand dollars with our feet - but I laughed and swallowed a ton of salt water during that hour.

Ok, I posted about this on Facebook - but must relive the story here. The night after getting our picture taken at Paula Deens cottage, we went to the beach. My mom had bought boogie boards for the girls and Dee found one at goodwill. Well, Dee (thank goodness, she is an experienced swimmer) decided she was going to take the board out to "ride the waves". Well, we were right by the pier - the stone/concrete, barnacle filled pier. Dialevash, being the good citizen she was - warned everyone about the barnacles. This is no joke when I say she "paddled/kicked" for AT LEAST 30 minutes and didn't move an inch. You would see her be able to catch her breath between waves and she was panting. I'm shaking right now from laughing as I type this. She says she would look up to the beach to see us and all she saw was me bent over at the waist laughing my butt off. Long story short - she got a couple feet from the pier - a massive wave comes, you see her bring the boogie board up to protect her head as she is SLAMMED into the pier. She disappears for quite a while because there was at least 3-4 waves that repeatedly came and didn't let up. At this point, I stopped laughing and started running towards the ocean (like I was going to save her). A few moments later, she resurfaces on the other side of the pier - and I resumed laughing. Her foot was cut to shreads from hitting the barnacles. She said that she remembers looking up during her kicking period of going no where and seeing people looking at her, once she resurfaced on the otherside of the pier - she said the people moved to the otherside (probably to make sure a dead body wasn't floating) and they were giving her thumbs up for surviving. Thank goodness, she was a good spirit about it and didn't take offense to me laughing - but I seriously couldn't stop and still can't.

She and I agreed on the following - our hair does not do well in Georgia and after seeing photos of ourselves - we need to lose weight. lol

Quirks

2010-07-15T21:38:00.002-04:00

I saw something today that reminded me of my crazy, insane "quirks" I have. Some, while may seem as an asset, are really mentally burdensome to me. I wish, I was a go with the flow kinda gal, but my mind is all sorts of crazy and I've finally comed to live and somewhat accept who I am - good and the bad....

So, in no particular order - I'll share my crazy...and let everyone try and figure out how anyone can manage to live with me.

Being without a shirt in the kitchen (and I'm talking about the guys here - lol). I don't know why this grosses me out - but I just think it's gross for a male to be in the kitchen, heck, really any room besides the bathroom - without a shirt on.
Mowing...now, I honestly enjoy mowing. I love being able to get some exercise, break out in a good sweat and do something productive all at the same time. BUT...I'm not your average mower. Of course not! lol I like nice, perfect, straight lines (sorry for the crazy lines the last time I mowed at your house Mom - heehee). I make mental notes of which direction I mowed the previous time and then I do a rotation - horizontal, vertical and diagonal and rotate. There is something so satisfying looking out the window and the yard, freshly cut - with perfect lines/angles.
Weed pulling - weeds are the bain of my existance. Ok, I exaggerate...but I am constantly pulling, pulling, pulling. As I make a turn while mowing - I am always bent over pulling a weed. Or, I'm getting the little weed prodder/poker and digging them up that way. I don't like Weed be Gone or whatever that stuff is called - it doesn't give me the same satisfaction seeing a dead, dying weed. I want it pulled at its root and thrown far, far away from my yard.
A clean, empty sink. This one is really annoying and mentally draining to me. But, I need my sink to be clean and empty. Especially when I go to bed. And when I say clean, I'm talking, scrubbed and rinsed and then dried off so there are no water spots. I will soak the sink in bleach water a couple times a month and then even (insert everyones eye rolling that I know will take place after this is read) pull out the ole windex and spray 'er down and polish that stainless steel. Blame flylady for this wonderful trait...heavy sarcasm is dripping here...lol.
Pajama's - my pajamas need to match, not be all frumpy and worn out. Now, I'm not talking lingere or all that jazz - but my pajama's are all from Victoria's Secret - (again - not all skimpy at all), they all match and mentally, I can't mix and match - it needs to be a set. Some would say high maintenance - and I actually may agree with you on this one.
Professional pedicures/toes...enough said.
My closet...another annoying, mind crazing "habit". Clothes just need to be (for me mentally) in a certain order. I arrange things by sleeve length, color, dressy, casual...the list could go on and on. But, I will admit to possibly being a bit bossy when shirts are put where pants only go or certain Ironman pullovers are placed with the short sleeve shirts...Just sayin' that *might* have happened before. And don't get me started on shirts being hung in a different direction than the others....
Excessive planning - lots and lots of lists. Researching for trips, where to go, what to do, where to eat...deviate from above research = frazzled, stressed Alisha.
Laundry - I'm anal with this as well...imagine that. I cannot stand laundry to be in baskets. I wash, dry, fold/hang up and then put away laundry as soon as its finished. I 99.9% of the time do not start a new load until the previous load is complete and put away. I get a sick satisfaction with doing laundry. Putting something dirty, stained and smelly in the wash and it comes out clean, free of spots and smelling great - makes this ole girl happy. I love folding things neatly, pressing the clothes - I guess I enjoy it because it's something I can actually say I'm good at. That's kinda pathetic isn't it? One of the very few good qualities I can say about myself is that I'm good at laundry....ugh...:(

Well, I've shown and shared enough crazy and pathetic anal qualities of myself - so I think I'll stop before I decide to throw myself down the stairs or in front of a semi. roflmbo

Judge, roll eyes and talk away - I am who I am .... slowly but surely, I will begin to like me and these crazy quirks.

Goodnight all!

Happy 4th of July!!

2010-07-06T21:12:00.002-04:00

Well, not once single picture taken during the visit to Mitchell to celebrate the 4th of July with my family. I suck, I know, I know....

So, after Steve got out of work on Saturday, we loaded up the car and headed down to the ole hometown and rolled into my brothers house around 9:00 pm.. The kids swam as soon as we got there, of course and we hung out, had a few drinks and just visited with my brother and sister in law while the kids swam and played. Oh, and made a quick stop at my mom and step-dads firework store and LOADED up on fireworks.

The next morning, I headed into town - picked up coffee and a paper and Trent made sausage and biscuits and gravy - yum! yum!.. The kids of course swam, yet again and I watched some more Dexter, clipped coupons and got my shopping list ready. Headed to CVS and got lots of free products (I had to go Sunday morning so I could use a coupon that expired on the 4th - priorities now!!) lol Then, headed to the grocery store and bought the remaining ingredients we needed for our Independence Day meal. We had a great time prepping and cooking - we served up the following - brisket slow cooked for 8 hours, racks, and racks of bbq pork ribs, cauliflower salad, potato salad, grilled corn on the cob, deviled eggs with capers, black beans, corn, tomato and black eyed pea salad, homemade salsa, brownies and mini apple pies. Everything was so delicious and all made with love. My mom and step-dad came out for dinner as well as my sister in laws mom and dad.

After dinner we had our firework display. We had soooo many fireworks that we lit them for almost 2 hours and that involved Trent and Steve letting at some times 2-3 items at the same time. We all did get a little scared when we would hear the guys whispering "ok, you ready...on 3....1, 2, 3 - RUN." Happy to report none tipped over, no injuries happened, except for some major staining to Trents driveway. Steve and Trent made a game of "bowling" smoke bombs, directing traffic with sparklers - the list goes on and on. I think a few beers might have fueled their comic energy - but regardless - it was a good time.

The kids swam Monday morning for an hour and then we loaded up and headed home. Just back in time to unpack, do a little laundry, clean, a few doctors appointments and then pack back up and head down again for a week or so. My niece has a fastpitch tournament that is pretty close by so I wanted to drive down and support her and cheer her on, work on a tan via SPF 50 sunscreen and visit with my sweet sis in law - oh, and my brothers not too bad himself. :)

Tomorrow I have my bone scan to confirm or not confirm I guess if I have a sacrial fracture. I don't really know the reason for the scan considering nothing can be done either way. If its a hairline fracture - I still just have to take it easy for 6 months and if it's deep muscle bruising or damage - well, again, time will heal it.

So, I'm doing better at keeping the blog updated with the happenings in the Garza household - when really all I want to scream and post is my kids are driving me crazy with the constant whining...will be so glad when my foot has recovered from the surgery so we can head back to the gym and work out and swim! I'll enjoy the break while I can...not enjoying the poofy stomach...that is FOR SURE!!!!!

Weekend Plans

2010-07-03T14:58:00.003-04:00

Well, I haven't had a chance to do a photo blog post - I'd like to say I've really been busy, but truth be told, I've just been lazy recuperating from our Valley vacation. Today, I've been busy organizing closets, laundry, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming - really the day to day stuff I do but since I put it off for 3 days it's a bit more involved.

We are making a quick, unplanned trip down to Mitchell to celebrate with my brother, sister in law and niece. We are going to load up on fireworks (we have a major "in" with the fireworks store in town (my mom and step-dad own several - haha)) so we will get tons of fireworks for FREE!! Usually we get a huge load of fireworks but pay $100-$200 but with funds being tight from all of our medical bills (sidenote - I cannot imagine being without health insurance or with yucky insurance. Because, even with really good insurance we are in the thousands of what we owe). Anyway, my Mom had asked if we were coming down to get any this year and I told her we just didn't have the money to do so, well, right after we hung up from talking my phone started ringing and ringing. I didn't answer the first time because I was on the phone with Carli but when she called right back again I thought something major must have happened. Well, mom told my step-dad what I had said and he insisted we come get them free of charge. He may be a little pain in the behind at times with some long stories (lol)- but when it comes to his grandkids - they do NOT go without and he was not going to stand for them not having a proper 4th of July.

So, I had originally planned to just come down for the day and pick some up but after talking with my sister in law she said we should just spend the weekend and celebrate with them, so that's what we are doing. Steve works today during the day, but as soon as he gets home from work we are heading down and staying for a couple of days. We'll make ribs and brisket as the main dishes and then I'm sure the regular 4th side dishes - potato salad, baked beans, tomato, cucumer and onion salad - oh, the list goes on and on. The kids, Steve and my brother will be hanging poolside all day tomorrow but I will be getting groceries, helping around the house and making my weekly CVS coupon/deal run. I have a $5 coupon that expires tomorrow so I have to take advantage of the time to shop without kids when I can! Oh, how I love my CVS trips....lol

So, I should be packing, but instead I'm blogging, watching a movie and fighting off taking a nap - want to sleep in the car for once since Steve is going and I won't have to make the boring drive on my own, I'll have a driver this time - yeah!

Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July. Hope everyone uses wise judgment when using fireworks - they are explosives people as well as not driving if you are drinking. Please, think about the other people on the road if you are chosing to drive after drinking - that could be my family you hit and kill.

Happy Holiday Weekend!

Hello, Mr. Blog....oh, how I've missed you....

2010-07-01T20:44:00.002-04:00

Wow, a 3 month blogging break. I think I'm ready to go back to blogging and keeping my little online journal and exposing all of my controversial topics, witty childrens sayings and regular, old day to day boring Garza family business.

So...since we last left off the following is a synopsis of what has happened...pictures will follow tomorrow - they aren't on my laptop so I'll post a photo update tomorrow - today you get my words - and lots of words there will be. heehee

We ended off with my first diagnosis of melanoma on my foot. I had surgery in February, put on a restricted 120 no exercise recomendation. 2 days after getting my stitches removed, I took a nice tumble down the stairs. I don't know what happened - I think I was just so use to babying the foot with the stitches in it that I didn't grab onto the railing and went from a standing position to a complete, land straight on the right side of my booty and bounced down a few more steps. Steve had to take me to the emergency room because I was sure I had broken my hip or something. I was in intense pain. The bruise that followed in the weeks following - oh, how I was proud of that bruise - it was wicked. To end a very long story - 3 1/2 months later, I am still working on a proper diagnosis as to what is going on since I am in some pretty intense booty pain still (well, on the right side). Options for diagnosis are hairline sacrum fracture, deep muscle damage or something with the SI joint. Bone scan next Wednesday to confirm/rule out fracture... In the mean time, I'm on 3 month visits for body scans with my dermatologist since I had the melanoma diagnosis - had 2 moles biopsied and one came back positive for melanoma - about 2 inches from the first melanoma mole. So, I just had surgery a week ago on that.

Enough medical drama...

Isabella finished 2nd grade with straight A's (lowest % she had was 99%) - obviously we are very proud of her. She also finished her first year of piano. She had a recital in May - my mom came up for it and our neighbors JD, Ellen, Jenny, Drew and their baby Kaiden also came to the recital. That meant a lot for them to come listen to Bella play. Bella did amazing, looked beautiful and we could not have been more proud of our budding musician.

Ava will start kindergarten in August. I can't believe my baby will be old enough to be in school. Ava...is still Ava. She either has me laughing my butt off or crying. Some days, it's both. lol Both girls played indoor soccer this spring. First year for Ava and 2nd year for Isabella. Isabella really blossomed into a little aggressive soccer player this year and scored 4 goals. Ava, whom i thought would be super aggressive didn't enjoy it near as much as I thought she would. Well, she enjoyed it but she was so darn small compared to the rest of the kids so she was a tad timid. Funny story and then I'll move on...during first soccer practice (Steve coached both girls teams) - Ava kept saying "Dad, Dad, I need a rest, Dad, I need a drink, Dad, lets take a break - on and on". Steve told her that when he was on the field he was not her dad, he was her coach. Without missing a beat, Ava says "Coach, I need a break and drink of water". :) Ava's age group didn't keep score or stats but Isabella's age group did and they won first place. The parents were more excited than the kids - but once they realized they won first place - the smiles were priceless.

We made our annual Memorial day trip over to a small town in Ohio where my mom grew up. The girls love going and swimming in the creek, feeding the cows, catching frogs and just going non-stop. It was great to visit with all my cousins and aunts and uncles. Great memories were made. The girls and I have been going over to Ohio once a month since last year. I've mentioned awhile back about my uncle David (my moms brother) having stage 4 lung cancer. He's still fighting with all his might, and everyone is praying for him so I know God is definetly helping to keep him feeling good and being able to function and live just as he did really before. His diagnosis really put family in perspective for me and making it a point to visit family more often and not take them for granted. They may drive us all crazy (just as I do them) but family is and needs to be an important part of my life.

Steve made Partner with Maggiano's (I'm not for sure if he had made Partner before I stopped blogging or not) but it is a pretty presitigous honor. Right now his restaurant is making a run for being #1 restaurant (Maggiano's restaurant) in the company. This would be huge for him and the restaurant - so fingers crossed it happens. We/he should find out within a month.

We just got back from spending a week with Steve's family in South Texas. It was such an amazing time. The kids spent every waking moment with their cousins Ben and Nora. They didn't miss a beat. It was like they had been with them 24/7 for the last year - I would tear up several times just looking out the window and seeing Ben and Isabella sitting on a bench just shooting the breeze. Ava and Nora would hide in their secret hiding place and play dolls for hours. After seeing them with their cousins makes visiting Lucas and Vicky more often top priority. Vicky and I hung with our mother-in-law most of the time. Helping her around the house, watching her play Mexican bingo with the kids - she is such a good grandma and the kids love her to pieces. I also got to spend quality time with our other niece and nephews - Michael (Steve's sister Eileen - the fabulous photographer) as well as Tony and Marisa (Steve's brother Danny who lives in Colorado's kids). My sister in law Vicky got me hooked on the show Dexter - we spent hours watching DVD's of it - starting from season 1. Good, good, good.

Steve and I and the girls as well as Lucas and his family all went to the beach Sunday and spent the night, had a super fun meal and then came back to the house on Monday to spend the day before we headed home to Indy on early Tuesday morning. We spent lots of late nights with everyone talking and having a few drinks. Tons and tons of laughs. Didn't get to spend as much time with Eileen since she was super busy helping with the photography for the reunion. The nieces and nephews all spent the night with Tia Eileen on Thursday night - stayed up until 3:00 a.m. - but had a BLAST. Again, memories made that won't be forgotten. No one really spent time with our other sister in law because she chose to seperate herself from the rest of us and spend days alone in her room (no exaggeration).... which was fine actually by the rest of the crowd... I won't go into all that right now - promised Steve I wouldn't and I've said enough. It's not even sad anymore the situation. Can't deal with pathological lying and really so much more.

Anyway...next up for me and the girls is a little girl vacation to Tybee Island in Georgia. We are renting the nicest, cutest 5 bedroom cottage 5 blocks from the beach - it is going to be so much fun.

This weekend is low key (4th of July) - just hanging with neighbors/friends Sunday night - grilling out and shooting some fireworks off. The following week the girls and I are going to head down to Mitchell to watch my niece play in a fastpitch tournament that is pretty close to Mitchell and then we'll hang a few days with my niece by the pool (with sunscreen on of course!) and then head home to get ready for Tybee Island. Fun filled summer!

So, blogging break over. This pretty much catches up the past few months and tomorrow I'll load the pictures that go with all of the post. Life is good. Glad to be back.

Blogging Break Over

2010-06-30T20:21:00.001-04:00

I'll be back to posting tomorrow...watch out world...lots to say, lots to say. lol

So long...

2010-03-27T18:20:00.003-04:00

Taking a blogging break - for who knows how long...lol

Facebook is so much easier and faster to update, load pics and communicate.

So, join facebook and friend request me or just email me at alishagarza@yahoo.com to keep up to date with me.

It's been a good ride, having the blog as my therapist. lol

Or, you can use the blog like I do and just minimize the page and listen to the music on my playlist!

Tylenol is my new friend

2010-02-23T17:11:00.002-05:00

Well, I took my last pain pill this morning - its shocking how much it hurts without one in my system. I haven't been off the couch much the past week and have only been out of my pajama's once when I went to church. I shower each night and then put clean pajamas on and spend the day in bed or on the couch. It gets old after a while truthfully.

Once I received the call from the doctor that it was melanoma - I allowed satan to consume and occupy my mind. I couldn't pray, didn't want to pray actually. I just felt comfortable with being Debbie Downer and not doing anything. I went about 3 days without eating, my sleep cycle is still messed up. I had been having to get up during the night to take a pain pill because of the throbbing. So, I'd be up for an hour or two waiting for it to kick in.

I have only been getting up and doing things around the house for about 15-20 minutes at a time - once in the morning and then again in the evening. Its amazing how much my foot will swell by doing this. I keep my foot elevated constantly but eventually I'm going to have to walk on it without it swelling.

I'm dying and itching to go to the gym and at least work abs and upper body. Its killing me to eat and not go to the gym and know being on the stairmaster will be burning off the meal I jusst ate and also the meal I would be eating next. Healing comes first though - right?

That's the latest. Tomorrow is one week post op. I can't say its any better honestly but I guess I didn't know what to expect though.

Almost 8

2010-02-21T15:15:00.003-05:00

In 6 days my first born will be 8 years old. I can't believe how fast the time has flown. Isabella is such a sweet little girl with such a gentle spirit. Don't get me wrong - she can pull out the spunk when she needs and call her sister some pretty nasty names.

We are so proud of the little girl she is. She is super smart, so talented musically - she picks it up quickly and *seems* to enjoy it. She's a tad lazy (my fault) so its not like she jumps at every chance to practice. lol

She said the only thing she wants is to go to Build a Bear and get an animal and an outfit. I'm fine with that, although she will play with it probably just the first day. lol Her birthday is on Saturday but we are going to celebrate on Sunday. We are going to the indoor water park at the Holiday Inn by the Pyramids. http://www.caribbeancovewaterpark.com/index.php?pageid=gallery We went when she was 4 and she loved it. Now that Ava is older it is going to be much more fun! Except, I will still have stitches so I'll be watching from the sidelines and taking pictures.

I've been trying to not take pain pills because it makes me so foggy and I forget things but I wake up during the middle of the night because of the pain. Plus, by the end of the night/day my foot is so swollen from just being up walking around doing basic things. I hate asking for help - I'm pretty stubborn and just feel like a burden having people help me. Oh, well -you do what you have to do!

I'll post pictures after the big swim fest. Church was great today - Steve elbowed me - well, I was sitting by Joel - so he elbowed Joel and told Joel to elbow me because of what Rob our preacher was saying. It was nice to go into church and not hate God or be super upset with God. Definetly makes church more enjoyable. I'm a work in progress that is for sure!

Finally Over!

2010-02-19T19:11:00.002-05:00

The surgery is finally over! Yeah. The pain has been worse than anticipated but so has the incision - almost 5 inches! The actual mole was about the size of an eraser head but the surgeon chose to go aggressively due to family history of melanoma as well as closeness to veins/blood supply and spreading. I'm fine with that!

I really stressed so much in the weeks leading up to the surgery but it really allowed some learning on my part. I learned how awesome of a group of friends I have. My friends stepped up to the plate big time - Merran, Carli, Kris were amazing in offering assistance with taking care of me and the kids. I will remember them and will be forever greatful for their kindness. My bible study ladies - at the end of bible study Wednesday on the day of the surgery - they each prayed for me. Talk about humbling. In the midst of the group were 3 cancer survivors as well as a friend who lost her husband to cancer a couple years ago. I left that room feeling loved and blessed.

I woke up pretty early on the day of the surgery - 5:30 ish and just felt the anxiety rising. I posted on facebook asking for prayers for peace and clear pathology. Within minutes - prayer warriers immediately began praying. Its hard to talk about because I've been shunning God for such a long time lately and have just let the devil consume my mind - but asking for the prayers for peace and knowing the people responding were actually praying - corny to non-believers - but literally immediately peace was felt.

I got anxious waiting for the surgeon and during the initial description of the process but this guy is smart and like I said in a few post pasts - I know God led this surgeon to me. Too much to explain at the moment as I need to be laying down with my foot propped - but it was a basic, good, swift kick in the pants that Gods timing is perfect. Enough said!

More later - off to relax and ice. Lots of movies have been watched the last two days. Its kinda nice being lazy - well, kinda. lol

Surgery Day

2010-02-17T07:48:00.002-05:00

Nothing like wearing flip flops in 17 degree weather for 10 days.....

See - finding the positive in everything! lol

What the heck happened?

2010-02-10T16:53:00.002-05:00

I've went to hell in a hand basket overnight. I had been fine but apparently with the surgery a week a way I have had severe anxiety attacks. They started over the weekend (mildly) but Monday and Tuesday I ate nothing - had a latte each day. Steve said I *would* eat today if he had to force feed me. The taste of the food sucked but I still did eat a bit. I also have slept about 4 hours the past 2 nights. I slept for 4 hours straight today. Wonder how long it takes to catch up on sleep.

Finally, called my Dr. after I literally felt non-functioning last night and she upped my meds big time until my pathology comes back. I need to pray but I can't - I feel so alone and lost but yet surrounded by great friends. Wierd feeling.

Better

2010-01-30T08:23:00.002-05:00

Well, I think the funk has lifted and I can finally function. That or the meds kicked in. Wish that comment was a funny one but I had to call my Dr. and I just said "help me". lol I was going crazy those first few days.

Friends have been fabulous - offering help and such. I asked Steve last night if I was dying. haha because everyone has been so great.

But, I've finally stopped being so mad at God, so that's progress I'm guessing. :)

Tonight we have game night with our small group from church. Lots of great pictures to follow!

Trying

2010-01-27T19:00:00.003-05:00

Ok, I suck at blogging because everyone who reads my blog is now on facebook and I post my life on facebook. But, I'm writing tonight to express my feelings at the moment. This I guess is for me to look back on and hope things feel differently when the meds kick in. lol

So, I was leaving a Doctor appt on Friday and I get a call from my dermatologist. I knew it was bad news because if it was good news it would be the nurse or a letter in the mail. I'm no dummy. She starts off by stating the one under my arm (this was the one I was concerned with because I know melanoma spreads through the lymph nodes and I know there are lymph nodes under the arm) is totally benign. Ok....now, go on. The one on the foot though....one side has atypical nevis (which is what most of my suspicious moles come back as) and then goes on a long story about several pathologists have looked at it and confirmed that that side has melanoma. Then she goes on to say I have the best kind of melanoma to have - Yippee Skippee I think. :( Hey - you have the best type of skin cancer/melanoma to have - what great news!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She then follows it up by saying the scheduling department would call me Monday or Tuesday to schedule surgery. Um, hello - I'm a very Type A and I can't wait Saturday, Sunday, Monday and then Tuesday to find out when its going to happen.

So, all Friday I'm in shock - Steve took me shopping and I got a couple of super cute tops. We rented some movies but um, Inglorious Bastards and subtitles and the brutality of it it sent me upstairs to watch The Office DVD reruns. I stayed in shock and felt nothing Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Well, I guess I felt something - lazyness. I wanted to crawl under the covers and just waste the day away. I'm sure I was a real pleasure to be around....

I stayed away from google until Tuesday - by the end of my search - I was convinced it had grown into my bone on my foot. See - type A crazy.

My surgery isn't scheduled until February 24 - apparently my surgeon only does surgeries on Wednesday. I wanted to say - hey, schedule me with a surgeon on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday. But, I really have to pray that God has led this surgeon to work on me. I need to turn to him but I'm turning away because honestly I'm mad. I'm kinda more than mad - I'm pissed. I don't want these genes passed on to my kids. I don't want to have to go every 3 months for visits to see if I have questionable moles.

I have two of the sweetest friends I met at church - Merran and Carli. We fight constantly over who is each others BFF but I won the status last night. I guess getting cancer trumps good qualities. lmbo They came over (as a surprise) and got in touch with Steve and found out all of my favorite things and brought them...Coke Zero, Dorito's, reeces cups, twix bars, twizzlers and snickers. Um - can you say sugar high. We talked - just girl talk for 4 hours. It was the best. I love them to pieces. We get together every Thursday and I love it.

But, onto today after I slept until 9:40 (Steve got Bella ready for school and Ava played with My Little Ponies right next to me). I woke up today and realized - I have cancer. Yes, its skin cancer - the wimpy kind of cancer - but I have CANCER. It's really messed with my mind today. I'm being the worst mother, worst wife because I'm just consumed in this massive pity party for myself.

Psychologically - I really KNOW I will be fine. But, my type A mind wonders and thinks this cancer on my foot is growing by the minute why can't they understand this and take it out now....oh, yeah - I have the good kind of cancer.

I know I need to turn to God and seek him - but honestly - I'm mad at him. Why our family, why me? My uncle has stage 4 lung cancer, and prostate cancer - isn't that enough - now, there is poor me. I hate being the victim. I'm so opposed to being a victim but I don't have the fight in me yet - where are you fight? I need you.

Deep post huh? I don't know where it is coming from - just the words are coming from my fingers.

I guess I've expressed where I am - pissed and depressed. And it sucks! It sucks big time. I want to snap out of it and go back to being little miss perfect. I like her better than broken down, leaning and requiring help from other people. I'm more use to Miss Perfect.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-27T20:54:00.007-05:00

The pictures are all out of order because I'm annoyed the Colts just threw away a perfect season and I'm pouting. lol

I was a bad Mommy and didn't take pictures of every gift - they had too many and the video camera was on so ....yeah - I was lazy. lol

Descriptions Under Pictures:

What? We gave Mommy a decent annual pajama photo after only 10 pictures and no one cried?

Too cute for words!

Kris and I at the movies on Christmas Eve. We took the kids to see Alvin and the Chipmunks.

I had wrapped box, in wrapped box, in wrapped box over and over for their final presents (Bella a iPod Touch and Ava a new bike. Here they are working on Isabella's gift.

She thought she had went to all that trouble for a pair of shoes! lol

Finally!

Ava on her bike. I wrapped the little bag that goes on front and the water bottle and then had the bike hid in my trunk for about 3 weeks.

Ava working on her last present.

Activity Center

Voice operated password journal.

Ava with her Dora twin brother and sister.

Isabella with Wizards of Waverly Place Hair stuff.

Ava with her Barbie bath.

Ava HATES and hates is putting it mildly for anyone to brush her hair so I thought this might encourage her to not fight it so much. Tinker Belle hair cair.

Wizards of Waverly Place magic spell wand.

Littlest Pet Shop

Ava with a new petshop. We only have about 200 already....

The girls checking out their gift from Santa - 2 short haired hamsters. Yes, I have lost my mind. They named them Ferb (Isabella) and Chumpy (Ava - that is her nickname Isabella gave her as a baby).

Ohhh, clothes - yeah! lol But, Isabella is always giving me the peace sign when I take her picture.

Ava playing dress up at our friends house on Christmas day.

The girls had a great Christmas this year and got way too much stuff as usual but I did good and bought them stuff they would *hopefully* play with vs just buying stuff to open.

Slacker

2009-12-24T20:46:00.002-05:00

I will post pictures of Christmas - I've had bronchitis and pneumonia for a week now and still feel yucky. I have a good excuse this time...not just laziness.

Funeral

2009-12-13T05:35:00.002-05:00

Ava and I are heading down south to Mitchell to be with my BFF whose Grandmother died unexpectedly on Saturday. My heart breaks for Stephaney. Her Grandmother was like a mother to her and Steph adored her and her Grandma taught her so much. Please pray for their family during this time.

Steve will remain home with Isabella and get her off to school Monday and be home with her all Monday night. Tuesday he doesn't work until late morning so he'll be able to get her ready on on the bus. I don't know the arrangements for visitation or the funeral yet so I'm not sure if I'll be home in time to take Bella to piano this week or we just miss or I ask someone else to fill in taking/picking her up. My head can't think that far ahead yet. Will know more today.

I have to come back Tuesday late afternoon/ early evening because Isabella has a music program and art show at school at 7:00 pm..

My mind is mush....but all will be ok. This will be the first time in almost 8 years of Isabella's life Steve has had complete responsibility for her. He's never had either kid for 24 hours alone. Too bad its not Ava he's stuck with. I'd like for him to enjoy some of my crazy. lol

I stand corrected

2009-12-11T16:15:00.002-05:00

We were present at a "dairy farm" not a milk farm.

I can't help I'm a city girl......hahahhahha

The Farm

2009-12-10T07:04:00.002-05:00

I'm a city girl these days - have been for about 20 years. Grew up in small, rural town - no stop lights when I was even growing up. I'm use to the convenience of having several choices in grocery stores within a couple miles of my house. I'm use to not having to go to WalMart (I despise the place), I like having 2 different Targets I get to chose to frequent, I like I'm 15 minutes from 3 major malls. But....I love driving out to a small little town my mom grew up in (can't even get ATT cell service there). I love bringing my girls from the fast paced life we lead here with the hustle and bustle of being on the go with church, the gym, friends, music lessons, school - the list goes on and on.

We use to only visit this side of the family twice a year. Every Memorial Day we'd go to visit and then we'd all meet in Knoxville at one of my aunt and uncles. For years after I graduated high school I didn't go. I was too cool for all that mess. No cable TV, no internet, playing corn hole outside - the list goes on and on. I'm so thankful - I *am* cool enough to appreciate family now.

In April we found out my Uncle - the pillar of our family - was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. He is a good, God fearing man. A great leader, loyal to his family, friends, faithful husband, great uncle. Just the best guy around. This diagnosis shook the family the pieces. We couldn't stop thinking about it. We decided to start getting together once a month to visit. The entire family (aunts and uncles) meet once a month and eat and play cards for about 48 hours. Its the best time - seriously.

I love my aunts to pieces - during my struggle with all my miscarriages - my aunts embraced me, wrapped their arms around me, studied scripture with me and helped me understand what was going on. Had I been still too cool for them - I would have missed out on it.

I'm sure Steve has a hard time believing that when I visit in Lawshe - I love serving the men of my family. Lightening would strike me immediately if I ever served Steve a meal poor guy. Sorry Steve!!!

So, on our most recent visit (the day after Thanksgiving while all you other nuts were up at the crack of dawn getting those fabulous deals) - the girls and I were with family. We met up with my aunts and uncles and had dinner then went to a farm. A real farm. I guess its a cow farm or a milk farm. I don't know proper terms. The cows could sense I wasn't a big fan of theirs and they snorted and snotted to let me know they got my vibe. After watching them get milked we went into the barn next door and got to see some baby calfs.

Now, I could have done without this part because my hair sucked in and sealed the smell of all the cow poop in the barn. No one else got to experience this part - but me. I took one for the team that night!!!

So, here are pictures of my fearless city girl Ava meeting some new friends.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-06T18:17:00.003-05:00

Annual torture of taking picture on Thanksgiving morning. ---no making fun of Ava's outfit - she's a high fashion girl.
This was what Ava ate the entire meal - almost 2 1/2 hours at Maggiano's some of the best food around and she ate bread - the entire meal. She didn't complain so I can't complain I guess.

Family photos..

Next post will be of our trip over to Lawshe, Ohio visiting my uncle.

Who Knew?

2009-12-02T07:20:00.002-05:00

Who knew you could have almost daily/weekly struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome 11 years after an attack and how it can change you.

I went back to my Psych Nurse Practictioner and she got out her little handy dandy notebook and read word for word to me. I was glad to have an answer for how I was feeling but down right pissed off no one bothered to address it before. Some of the comments were isolation - I stay isolated or like to stay isolated. Unwillingness to accept love - that one took a long time to break through with but I still have the comments I make of feeling i'm not worthy of the love from the people around me. She said that even when Steve works nights it triggers it. Nice - huh? Being married to a chef who works nights - but Im on the right med so I should be gold to go.

End of story - she tweaked meds just a bit. Will start weaning in 6 months after the holidays of a med that my family Dr. put me on that probably isn't doing anything but she's pleased with how things are going!

Open Book

2009-11-24T19:44:00.004-05:00

Anyone who knows me knows I am an open book. I don't hide or censor my feelings or thoughts (even though there are times I should) and I pretty much lay it all out there about whats going on with me.

I saw a Psychiatric Nurse Practioner about 2 1/2 weeks ago and when I say my life has done an 180 - I really mean it. There are many reasons for why I went, many reasons for why I waited so long to go.

Growing up, I never struggled with depression. Never really struggled with anxiety - yeah, I would get nervous when I had a test in school but nothing life debilatating. I had both girls and never experienced post partum depression. Anxiety kicked up a notch after being a mom but that was to be expected, especially with my type A personality.

During my pregnancy with Ava I had severe back pain. After I delivered her it only got worse. I spent a good year working with Dr's trying anything and everything - trigger point pain injections, steriod epidurals, accupunture, pain patches, pain meds, exercise, traction, tens unit - the list goes on and on. During this time my pain management doctor told me I had "Little Miss Perfect Syndrome" and I should possibly consider going on some medicine to help me cope. It took me about 6 months before I was willing to give it a try.

I was depressed dealing with the back issues for over 3 years but I wasn't really what I considered depressed - I was more "frustrated". My anxiety level dealing with 2 small kids 24/7 thrown on top of my Little Miss Perfect Syndrome sent my anxiety into a tailspin.

Moved to Indianapolis and Dr's still kept treating my symptoms as me being depressed. Now, I was getting depressed after hearing them tell me I was depressed. I would see the drug commercials with the check off boxes to see if you were depressed and I would only answer yes to about a 1/10th of them. But - hey, they are the Dr's - they say I'm depressed - I must be depressed. No one was addressing my anxiety.

A few months ago - in an Oprah kinda light bulb moment - I realized I wasn't really living. I was barely surviving. I was getting up each morning doing just what I had to do to "survive". I actually dreaded going to bed at night because I knew I had to wake up the next morning and do it all over again. I found no joy in anything I did and I was overwhelmed so easily. I felt so sorry for Steve and my girls that they had to live with someone like this. I know I couldn't have been a fun person. I remember driving home from the library one night and told Steve I think I should go and see a Psychiatrist because I was getting tired of our family Dr. just throwing new meds that some rep was probably giving him a trip to win if he prescribed x amount of prescriptions. I had a med for depression, a med for anxiety, a med to help me sleep - the list could go on and on - and guess what - my life still sucked!

I have shed many tears with dear girlfriends discussing my struggle. I have the absolute perfect life. I have a faithful, loyal husband. I have 2 beautiful, smart, funny healthy girls. I live in a gorgeous house, I drive a great car, I am able to be a stay at home mom - forever. Heck, I don't even have to cook most nights. But - I still hated my life. I knew I needed help.

So, I humbled myself and called a "stress center" and made an appointment with a Licensed Psychiatric Nurse Practioner with lots of initials behind her name. lol She spent 2 1/2 hours discussing different scenarios with me and seeing how I responded, she asked me countless questions and she LISTENED. She was so frustrated with my family Dr. for not picking up on my signs and following what she felt was the typical "oh she's a young mom and is depressed" scenario. After talking with her she told me that my problem was my anxiety and it was ruling and controlling my life. I was controlling and handling it with excessive - obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Plus, the anxiety was so overwhelming to me I was almost paralyzed. I couldn't do hardly anything around the house without it totally stressing me out. Now, no one really enjoys cleaning toilets and dusting - but the thought that I needed and had to do it, again, sent my mind into overdrive and would keep me up for hours upon hours.

11 years ago I was brutally attacked outside my apartment complex in Raleigh. After 2 1/2 hours with this new NP she made it clear this is where it all started. It all made sense - even Steve couldn't believe we missed it. Since the attack happened I have a horrible time in crowds. I break out in cold sweats, get head aches, get dizzy - and quite frankly even a little bitchy. Any plans during the week or anything that throws a kink into my schedule of "no schedule" gets me worked up for days. She switched a lot of the meds I was taking (had me to discontinue them) - and prescribed a new med specifically for anxiety. The last 7 days - once the meds have had time to really start working - I feel like a completely different person. Steve notices it and probably appreciates it the most. Poor guy - what he had to suffer through. As he was walking out the door to the gym tonight I told him - for the first time in a long time I could actually say I felt happy.

So, bottom line in my open book post - if you are struggling - humble yourself to find the right medical professional that will listen to you and address what you are going through.

Thankful

2009-11-12T16:22:00.002-05:00

I shouldn't have jinxed myself. A few posts back I was gloating about Isabella being thankful for such sweet, non-material things. I guess that Thankful list was just a warm up for the long essay she had to turn in that came home today. I will quote her "I am most thankful for...."

Jesus, God, (ok giving major props that these are the first two on her list), my two cats and candy. My mom (I'm behind candy and the cats now???), Dad, Ava and my friends. I am thankful for my turtle and fish. And acorns. (hmmm - acorns - really?) I love banana pie and blueberry bubble gum. My family and video games and Texas. (this must make her Dad majorly proud). I love dogs. And nachos. (again, another proud Dad moment). I am glad to have the sun too. I love doughnuts and smores. And Sponge Bob (Mother of the year is coming my way - I can feel it in my bones). I like Halloween. I love animals. I am thankful for fruit roll up. I am happy for bumble bees (she must have smoked some crack before this because she is deathly afraid of bees). And hot air balloons. And my birthday. I love my teacher.

Nerd Alert!! Nerd Alert!!

2009-11-10T19:03:00.002-05:00

Most parents fight constantly with their children to do their homework. Not us. Isabella is the type that does her homework on the bus during the 20 minute ride home. Thank goodness she is beautiful and popular or else this kid could be majorly isolated and made fun of! LOL

So Much Fun!!!

2009-11-08T18:24:00.003-05:00

Steve and I had so much fun at the Colts game today. Great seats - for free!!! And we hooked up with Dan and Kris at halftime. And - the Colts won!!! Yeah!!!

Steve, me, Dan and Kris at halftime.

My BFF Kris and I.

Steve and I - me forcing him once again to take a picture with me.

Week in Review

2009-11-07T08:17:00.003-05:00

It was a great week! Steve was on vacation all week and while we didn't really do anything major it was great to have him hanging here at the house. It was also a great treat for me to be able to run errands and go to the gym without Ava in tow.

Yesterday I took the girls down to my moms for the weekend. I dropped them off, ate lunch and hopped back in the car and headed home. A vendor of Steve's gave him tickets to the Colts game on Sunday - so the girls spend the weekend with Grammy and Pa and Steve and I get lots of dates. Mom and Terry are going to bring them home on Sunday.

Last night we went out and grabbed a pizza and beer then did a little shopping. I have a slight obsession with Christmas ornaments. I just can't stop buying them. A few years ago we ditched all the ball type ornaments and have a "family" christmas tree. Steve loves (I think) my memory as we pull out the ornaments each year. I can remember who gave it to us, when or why they gave it to us, where we were when we bought it, what year we bought it and so on. Each ornament on the tree has a personal meaning to us and I just love it!!

Also, each year when we get together when my moms side of the family we do an ornament exchange. The idea is to buy an ornament that represents you or that we can be reminded of the person each year when we hang it. I love having those memories each year and an ornament from some of the most important people in my life! Plus - as a family we all buy an ornament that kinda represents us this year. I collect tea cups and saucers as well as porcelin tea pots. This year I found a tea cup and saucer ornament so I got that, I got Isabella a piano since she started piano this year, Steves is a cowboy santa with a guitar and Ava's is a frog - because she is all about frogs!! I also got Isabella a turtle one to wrap and open on Christmas because she got her turtle this year. We also buy ornaments that are personalized with their names - my mom started this tradition. And one final tradition we do is buy a picture frame ornament with the year and put our family picture in it. Its fun to see how we've changed each year as a family.

Isabella brouht home a "I am Thankful" project the other day. She had to write what she was thankful for and draw a picture. She wrote " I am thankful for my Mom (yeah, I was first!!! lol), Dad, sister, my fish, my cats and turlte. And God." The picture is of all the the above - although I literally spit my coffee out when I looked at the picture closer because she drew really big boobs on my person. lol Then she drew clouds and an angel and God in the sky. Gosh, I love this kid to pieces!!! Stuff like this just warms my heart and makes me think I'm not that sucky of a parent. She gets what is important to her and didn't draw superficial things. When we were talking about the picture she said she felt bad that she wrote God last because he was the who "started it all and made us all and he should have been listed first".

She is really reading her bible and wanted to grasp and believe. I know some churches and people really push for kids to get baptized young but I think it is so important for her to make the decision on her own with full and complete understanding of the sacrifice Christ made for us. She's really close.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-04T07:11:00.002-05:00

A little late but here are some pictures from Halloween!

Steve and I have a big weeekend - so I'll be posting pictures Sunday night or Monday for sure!

Religion and Politics - uh oh!!

2009-10-23T17:13:00.002-04:00

This is a first for me I think. I usually keep the blog pretty main stream about my family but I've just been in such a spiritual funk lately and so frustrated, annoyed and kinda fed up with so much of it all.

So, the topic that is brewing for todays post is God and Prayer in schools and Homosexual persecution. How's that for some hot topics? lol

I guess what started the whole thought process (while sweating it out on the stairmaster today at the gym) - I was looking at Facebook and saw banners/posts about Keeping God in schools. Ten years ago I would have been plastering it all over the place and argued until I was blue in the face as to why God and prayer should be kept in schools. But, as I mature I look at it differently. What if the banners were "Keep Allah in our schools", "Keep Buddah in schools"...as Christians - we would be FURIOUS since we/I do not believe my God is the Muslim Allah or Buddah or any other God. I guess I feel like to other Christians I am such a Rebel for feeling this way and even more admitting it.

Do I believe prayer should be allowed in school? Absolutely - and it is. Children and students and teachers pray daily in school. But, do I believe in organized teacher, student led prayer? No, I don't. What if your child's teacher is Jewish and they were telling our children when they prayed in Jesus name they were not praying to our Saviour and Messiah? Would we not be outraged???

I just feel that Christians who are so passionate about these things take a step back and see it from the other side. If you feel passionately about having prayer and God in your childrens classroom and curriculum then I would suggest private christian schooling or homeschooling.

Now, onto the next topic. Why are Christians and churches so darn judgmental? Especially to Homosexuals? Why does organized religion and Christians chose to exclude and down right degrade others when they talk about it? Fighting and banning gay marriages? Why this issue? Why the passion behind this issue. Yes I am all familiar with Matthew 19:5 that says "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh". But the bible also says - "Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed be kept pure for GOD will judge the adulter and all sexually immoral".

But yet - I have belonged to churches with pastors who have been divorced, elders who have been divorced, leaders in the church with known admitted affairs, pastors and leaders who were not virgins and pure when they were married (that were also christians at the time of marriage). Where is the outcry of this? I guess these are accepted "politically correct" 'sins' to commit.

Maybe I'm more passionate about it because I'm closely related to this subject because of my sister who is a homosexual. She's probably cursing me and wanting to knock me out for talking about this. lol The persecution and down right nastiness she's had to experience and endure is not fair - and this is including persecution she received from her own family - me included. Most of the persecution and abandonment is from the church and "christians".

How often does the bible speak about worry and the sin it is in our lives. But, I sure don't see churches not allowing admitted worriers to join the congregation. Or telling those who worry they will burn in hell. Christianity is a PERSONAL relationship with Christ. I don't know what anyone else's personal relationship is with God - and it doesn't involve me. I, along with anyone else, do not have a right to be so down right judgmental when it comes to those who are not like us.

God is so compassionate, loving and full of grace to us - to us who do NOT deserve it. When can we start showing the same compassion for our fellow mankind? I will end my rant with these words - spoken by Jesus himself - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Matthew 22: 37-39.

Next!

2009-10-23T17:12:00.002-04:00

Ava was the next to get the fever and cough. Life has been tiresome the last week in the Garza household.

I know we are prayed over and prayed for. Thank you all.

On the mend

2009-10-20T19:34:00.002-04:00

Isabella is doing quite well and I would say she has recovered. We are still going to keep her out of school an extra day. We had planned to send her back today (I think it was today I'm so confused from lack of sleep) but she spiked a fever yesterday afternoon so that ended that idea. Plus, while talking to her teacher she said that every single kid that returned to school that was diagnosed with h1n1 went home the same day they returned because fever returned. So, I would rather keep her out a day so to make sure the other kiddos in the class and school remain healthy.

This morning Ava was acting run down and sick - I took her temperature several times and it came up normal. I made them breakfast and during the course of that Ava wound up throwing up. Not a great way to start the day. After a bath she took a nap and seems to be totally fine.

Fingers crossed tomorrow is an easy day for me.

H1N1

2009-10-17T21:07:00.002-04:00

Isabella tested positive today for the H1N1 flu virus (swine flu). Thankfully, I was able to get her in to a local Pediatrician in the town next to where my mom lives. She was able to be started on Tamiflu within 14 hours of the first time her fever and cough hit.

She is doing pretty well - as long as I keep on schedule with the motrin, tylenol and tamiflu she remains comfortable. Otherwise if I'm even 30 minutes late on any of the meds she gets miserable pretty fast.

Isabella has asthma and the virus has been hitting kids with asthma harder than others so that is really where my concern lies. Praying for a speedy recovery for her, protection for me, Ava, Steve and also my mom and Step dad since we were staying with them when her symptoms first arrived.

Famous

2009-10-13T10:48:00.003-04:00

This is a scanned copy of a mailer being mailed out from Maggiano's corporate offices. When Steve brought a copy of it home and showed it to us - Isabella said "I'm lucky, my Dad is famous!" lol

This is the outside page...
opens up to a picture of Steve. He looks like someone said something really funny. :)

and the bottom portion of the inside of the advertisement has the following at the bottom with a business card to peel and bring in.

Ramblings

2009-10-08T15:08:00.002-04:00

This blog post is going to be about tons of different topics - all over the place.

This morning as I was getting my coffee mug out of the cabinet (my favorite coffee mug by the way. A huge, huge mug Steve got for me on a business trip in Chicago) slipped out of my hands, shattered and then knocked over a large glass that was on the counter. Both shattered and the heavy pieces of ceramic from the coffee cup as well as the shattered glass fell on my foot and sliced it open. I knew immediately it had to have cut me because the pain was pretty intense. The girls of course started freaking out when they saw the blood. I kept thinking to myself all of this before a cup of coffee - probably going to be a bad day. lol Isabella kept pleading with me to sit down and put a band aid on my cut (she is a huge worry wart). I finally got the glass all cleaned up and thrown away and bandaged up my foot. I had to use 3 bandaids because the cut is so long. Its fine now as long as I don't walk on it - when I walk on it it pulls the cut apart because of the location. But, all is well now.

Then, shortly after I go to call Steve on my iPhone and it isn't working properly. The only way you can hear is if you put it on speaker phone. Also, they can't hear me unless its on speaker phone. I called and have an appointment at the Apple store for 6:40. Since its less than 30 days old the rep told me they would probably just give me a new one. I am going to be quite upset if all the new apps I bought don't transfer over. I spent $20 of applications the past couple of days. My neighbor Jenny gave me $20 in iTunes gift cards a couple weeks ago.

The girls went Halloween costume shopping last night. They didn't like what the Party City type of stores had so we ordered some they saw online that they liked. Ava is going to be a devil - how appropriate and Isabella is going to be a ninja. What the heck is a ninja?? And a girl ninja?? Oh, well - she's never been mainstream with her halloween costumes anyway. lol

Steve and our new neighbor Shane as well as Mark and Amy went in together and had all of our yards airated (I don't know how to spell that) and then Steve went and got grass seed and seeded all 3 of the yards. Hopefully its not too cold for the new grass to grow. One thing we don't ever argue about money wise is with the money spent on the yard and flowers. I love having a nice yard and nice flower beds and working each day making it look nice.

Two posts in one week - am I back to the old, long winded, almost daily posting Alisha???? We'll have to wait and see.

Fabulous Family Filled Weekend

2009-10-06T10:52:00.006-04:00

Warning - there are many, many, many pictures of me in this post. lol I was determined to get pictures of me with all of my aunts and uncles as well as take pictures of the weekend. Half of the time I bring my camera with me but feel embarassed walking around snapping pictures and even when I do that - I'm never in the pictures because I'm the one snapping. After looking at the quality of these photos it makes me really, really want a D-SLR. But, that will probably wait until the yearly managing partner bonus in June. I can wait until then.

What is kinda sad about these visits to Ohio is growing up we would visit as a family twice a year. Every Memorial Day and also at Christmas. After I moved away to North Carolina I didn't go back at Memorial Weekend or the Christmas gatherings. When I was pregnant with Ava I decided to go with my mom for the Christmas get together. Everyone meets at my Uncle Dale and Debbies house in Knoxville, Tennesse and we spend the weekend together. We eat and play cards the entire time. After that Christmas visit I decided to head back and see everyone over Memorial Day - it was even more fun than Christmas time. Since then I have went every memorial day/New Years weekend and spent the weekend with family. Then since we found out my uncle Dave has lung cancer the family has got together every month since May and will continue to do so as long as he is sick. I will take a miraculous healing and gladly give up the monthly visits if it means my uncle is around on this earth for a long and healthy life.

I love my aunts and uncles to pieces but what makes me love them all the more is how they treat my girls. They love them like their own grandchildren. They play with them, hold them, read with them, feed them, buy them things - they just are wonderful with my girls and I'm so, so thankful I've made the effort the past 5 years to spend time with them again and really get to know them better.

Ok, enough sap - onto the pictures. Descriptions under the pictures...

Isabella and Max. We stay at my moms best friends house when we visit. She has a beautiful golden retriever named Max. He is the sweetest dog around and my girls adore him. He slept with Isabella every night. Head on her chest all night long.

Here is Max cuddling up with Ava. He is such a loveable dog.

Isabella and Mommy

C.J. (my cousins son), Tonja (my cousin), Delaney (my cousins daughter) and my aunt Barb.

My sweet, sweet niece Dialycia and me.

Me and my uncle Eddie. If you have ever watched the movie Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase and you remember the Eddie in the movie - well, my uncle Eddie resembles him quite a bit. He is the ultimate dumpster diver, yard sale shopper and auction bidder around. The last two visits he has brought my girls toys and gifts. They are quickly learning Eddie is one of their favorite people. lol Eddie wants to go on the Amazing Race with me. I'm kinda scared of that scenario - I think his patience with me would run thin - but it would be an adventure I am sure.

My mom and I.

My uncle Dale and Ava. When I was a little girl - I think around 18 months old I would stand in my uncles hand and he would walk around holding me up with me standing in his hands. I snapped a quick picture of Ava doing it. I want to scan the picture of me and post these pictures side by side. This is a great memory seeing this picture.

Here is Eddie delivering the "goods" to Ava. You know what she was the happiest about??? This diaper bag they give away to new moms in the hospital with formula samples in them. She kept saying to everyone "I can't believe he gave me the bag too!". It was cute.

Me and my sweet girls. Ava doesn't look to excited to have her picture taken with me. :)

Self portrait of Ava and I. ( I warned you all there were tons of pictures of me in this post. lol)

My uncle Dale and Aunt Debbie.

It was my Uncle Dave's birthday and Ava was right by his side the entire time. I love this picture of the two of them.

This is my Uncle Merlin (my moms fraternal twin brother) and my aunt Mary.

Dave and Barb and I. This shirt is NOT flattering on me at all. lol

Playing cards Sunday before heading home.

Blogging Break

2009-09-28T19:41:00.002-04:00

I took a blogging break for a week or so. A week or so ago Isabella's asthma flared up and poor thing was miserable. She went on prednisone to calm things down and it did the trick but wow, was she ever a grouchy bear while on prednisone. The last couple of days the temperature dropped about 20 degrees and she's back in full asthma attack mode. This is the normal time of year weather that triggers it. The school nurse called today for me to bring Isabella her inhaler because she was having trouble breathing. Poor thing is going to have to stay inside from recess until it warms up a bit.

Then, last Monday Ava spiked a high fever and horrid cough so off to the doctor again for her. We never really got a hard core diagnosis - just some antibiotics to take if she didn't get better. She ran a fever all week long and was finally fever free Saturday.

The girls and I went back to my hometown for the big Persimmon Festival. It's a great weekend and tons of people who have moved away come in town for it. We had a great time visiting with old friends and family but I'm too old to stay out and up late several nights in a row and add to the lack of sleep some cocktails here and there and I feel so sluggish. It's always hard coming "off" of festival weekend because it is such a good time that the drive home is always filled with feelings of being homesick for all my old friends. Whats worse - I didn't take one picture the entire weekend. Darn it!!

Just as I get things unpacked and laundry washed and put away the girls and I will be packing up to head out of town again. We are going over to Ohio to visit with my aunt and uncle again and celebrate his birthday. All my aunts and uncles are coming in so it will be a good visit. I will take pictures this visit I promise!

Traditions

2009-09-14T22:52:00.002-04:00

Today as I was pulling out the Halloween and Fall decorations I enjoyed looking at all the halloweens of the past. Each year I buy a halloween themed picture frame (usually from Target for $5 - yeah!!!) and put a picture of the girls dressed up in their costumes. So, I have a total 4 Halloween ones so far and each year I just put them out when the fall decorations are up and then they are stored until next year.

I do the same thing with Christmas pajama's. I have pictures each year of the girls wearing matching Christmas/Holiday pj's in a Christmas themed picture frame. The matching pj's will be stopping soon because I can't find too many options now that Isabella is older. But - they will still be Christmasy or winter themed. And like the Halloween pictures frames, I only display the PJ pictures during the holiday season.

I love having traditions and wish I did more. I do always buy a Nutcracker each Christmas as well as a new ornament from each place we vacation. I'm thinking next year for St. Patricks day I'm going to serve green foods all day.

I love being a mom (even though I complain about it often) and I want to create fun memories for the kids. Anyone have any other traditions they do - doesn't just have to be Christmas traditions?

Labor Day - Part 2 Long & Picture OVERLOAD

2009-09-11T20:54:00.009-04:00

I had originally planned to post these pictures the day after the fishing post but got sidetracked as you can see.

We spent all Saturday over at my aunt and uncles - Dave and Barbs house. I felt like a country girl this day. All the women did was cook, set the table, serve lunch, eat, clean up. Sit for 5 minutes, pick lima beans from the garden, shell lima beans, cook/prep more food, set table, serve dinner, clean up dinner and dishes. I was wore out from hanging in the kitchen the entire day but it was great fellowship with my mom and my aunts, the kids had a ball playing outside and with all the old school Little People sets and it was nice to prepare meals for my uncles who were working so darn hard the entire day.

It is hard to describe the feelings I had when I would look outside or stand on the deck and listen to the men working. My uncle Dave is the 2nd to oldest and his baby brothers - ok, so maybe they aren't *babies* but *younger brothers* all came up (1 lives in Knoxville, 1 in Champaign, IL and another in Columbus, OH) to help my uncle build this garden shed. It just showed what families are suppose to do in a time of need. Sacrifice whatever they had planned to come and help their older brother who is fighting a non-discriminating disease. I went away from this weekend being so proud to be a member of this family.

Descriptions will be below each picture.

This was around 10:00 am on Saturday. David (green hat, Dale white hat and Merlin -hidden but wearing a white doo rag (is that how that is spelled?).

Going with the philosphy of measure twice, cut once.

My aunts - Barb, Debbie, my mom and my cousin Tonja shelling lima beans (a first for me. I did try the lima beans and I'm with my Uncle Dale - they still taste horrible after all these years. Not missing much by not eating them for the last 34 years or so).

My mom and I did take about an hour away from the kitchen work to take the girls to the creek...or *crick* as it is called in Lawshe. :) Growing up when we went to visit my Grandpa - my sister, brother and I looked forward to swimming in the creek all.year.long. It wasn't until I was about 25 did I realize most people didn't swim in nasty creek water while visiting grandparents. lol

Isabella testing the water out.

Ava copping a squat on a rock. The creek was really low due to lack of rain this summer.

I wish I knew how to draw on a picture so I could circle and put a big ole arrow on the photo so you could see what Ava was doing. She had caught a toad and was throwing it up in the air. PETA...don't bother writing me - I already discussed this with Ava. :)

Ava going after another frog.

Almost catching it.

Got it!

Here Ava was just soaking up the sun! I love this kids zest for life. She wears me out - but she can enjoy the smallest things to the fullest. I love her to pieces.

Ok - Ava has finally released the frogs to freedom and she has decided to do what all of her great Uncles do while at the creek and *skip rocks*. Problem is, Ava picks up 3 lb rocks to try and skip. lol She had a blast doing it - and in the grand scheme of things, that is all that matters.

She's released this one like a discus. Her Aunt Michelle would be proud of her form. :)

We saw a crane just enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Beautiful Isabella.

Ava was so funny with this rock. She knows it is a Garza tradition to stand on a rock and have your picture taken while on vacation. So, she spotted this rock, climbed on it and said for me to take her "rock" picture. She's caught on quick and I hope she continues this tradition with her kids.

Here is a picture later in the day before dinner. They worked for over 8 hours. After dinner my uncle Merlin (my moms twin brother) had to head back to Columbus because he is a preacher and had to preach the next morning - but my other uncle Eddie (who closely resembles the Uncle in Christmas Vacation in so many ways its funny) had arrived and he took over with the construction.

Side note about Eddie - he is all about bargains. Well, free is more like it - but he brought the girls some stuff he got at an auction and so now they think he is just about the greatest thing since sliced bread. He brought them a HUGE bag of magnets. I will take a picture of my fridge with only a small fraction of the magnets - needless to say there is not any available room left - and some of the magnets are quite questionable with their sayings. He also gave us a big box of Christmas ornaments. These I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. I am addicted to Christmas ornaments and having a memory or story behind each ornament so this makes me so giddy and happy you can't begin to imagine! Also he brought a Barbie computer (working even!!) for them and a couple other toys. I love that he thought of my girls to bring this stuff for them. :) I know I'm getting off track and long winded but - hey - it's my journal/memory keeper so to speak so I'll ramble...I love watching my aunts and uncles with my girls. They love on them like they are their own grandchildren. They are constantly playing with them, hugging and holding them, pestering and teasing. It just warms my heart to see it and how the relationship develops.

Ok, enough sap....

When we were getting ready to leave for the evening the girls were sitting at the end of the driveway with Barb and my aunt Debbie. It was so cute seeing them sitting on the flower bed rocks watching the cows...even though the girls were dirty, dirty, dirty and hair falling out of ponytails.

Here is a picture of my aunts brother moving the calfs (I don't know at what age a calf isn't a calf but anyways...) from the Mama cows (probably a farm word for that as well) to another field. The Mama's were NOT happy with this move. But - my girls loved seeing the cows run by so close to them. Me - on the other hand was scared one was going to jump on my car and put a dent in it. lol

Ava crashed after a shower. It took a matter of a few short minutes and she was fast asleep in the recliner while watching TV.

Isabella flashing her peace out sign. She's so cool. lol :)

Sunday morning at Dave and Barbs church - Dale and Debbie sang the special music. It was a goose bump causing song. They sounded so good. And the bonus for us is they are going to be singing again when we all go back over in October for a birthday party for Uncle Dave. Thanks Dale and Debbie! You are such a blessing to me and my family! Love you!

And after church at a restaurant eating lunch. Ava wearing her frog princess aluminum foil crown she made in Sunday school with my mom.

There were many tears shed during this photo op by Ava but she made me promise I wouldn't post the pictures of her crying so I'm keeping my end of the deal. Now, lets hope she keeps hers by not crying the next time we visit. :)

Fishing

2009-09-07T11:03:00.005-04:00

Ok - it is no big surprise I am not a camping, fishing type of girl. But...I could get use to this type of fishing....drive up to private pond, have someone bring out the fishing poles with hooks already on them, worms in a bowl of dirt and having Joe there to put the fish on the hook, remove fish once it was caught, discard of fish, put new worm or fix remaining worm left on hook. Fish for a couple hours, leave and not smell like fish! This type of fishing I can get use to!

Since my Uncle was diagnosed with cancer we have been trying to go over to Ohio and visit with him once every 4-6 weeks. Like I said before - it stinks that we have to wait until someone gets sick to visit often. We go over to a very small, rural town - so small that you literally have to go "up the hill" in order to get ATT cell phone service. :) We stay with my moms childhood friend from school Cecelia and always play cards and visit with Cecelias sister Pam and her husband Joe. My kids think Cecelia, Pam and Joe are our relatives (they think they are their aunts and uncles) so I just let them think that. We went fishing on Joe and Pam's property - they have a pond in their back yard. So beautiful.

Isabella waiting for a bite.

Mom trying not to get her line caught in the cat tails.

Joe and Mom

Ava watching Pam

Isabella caught one! She actually caught a lot - too bad the storage cage for the caught fish was broke or we could have maybe had fish for dinner the next night. hahahahahahaha Maybe next time.

Isabella has caught another one!

Ava was over the whole fishing thing in about 5 minutes. She doesn't have the patience for it. She did always want to "touch" the fish each time someone caught one and then Ava would throw it back in the pond. GROSS!!!

Isabella proud of her catch.

Ava thought it was more fun to torture the bait instead of fishing. Here she is with a worm.

Ava and a fish before she threw it back to freedom.

The girls playing with Pam and Joes dog Lily.

Speech and the Cat

2009-09-02T18:56:00.003-04:00

Our long last cat reappeared on Sunday afternoon. We think she had been locked in a little storage shed. She was in the backyard area when the neighbor girl came and rang the doorbell to let us know she was back there. She lost soooo much weight - she was just fur and bones. It was sad. I saw the shed opened on Sunday and the lady who lives there working in the yard so I'm thinking that is what happened because it was on a weekend that she disappeared. Poor Daisy was so hungry - she was literally scarfing the food down without even chewing it. I'm glad she is ok but I was liking it better when I thought she was just living with the little old lady and we were down to one cat. Oh, well.....

Ava had her first speech appointment today. Ugh - this is going to be work. It's not something that is going to be a quick fix and definetly something we have to stay ontop of here. I can look ahead and see many tears shed - both by me and Ava during this process.

Karma came back to bite me in the behind. I was trash talking Drew about running and I ended up pushing it too hard too soon and have bursitis/tendonitis in my left knee. I've continued exercising and just icing it at night but I'm going to have to take a few days off so it can heal. Darn it!!! The Dr. put me on some heavy duty anti-inflammatory steriods to knock down the swelling quickly. Hope it does the trick - and quick. I'm impatient!

Heading away for the weekend to visit family. So off to pack and ice the old knee. Isn't aging great?

Tired of Crazy

2009-08-30T22:14:00.003-04:00

Goodness - there are some crazy - and I mean seriously mentally crazy people around me and it is somewhat tiring having to deal with them. I am just at max capacity for crazy and can't handle much more.

Can I get an Amen!?!

Girls Weekend

2009-08-30T15:06:00.003-04:00

Friday afternoon Brandy, Stephaney and Cindi came up to hang out and spend the night. I haven't laughed so hard like I did this weekend in a long time.

Here we are celebrating Brandy's 37th birthday at Maggiano's.

And a picture of our dessert platter Steve's Sous Chef Rachel made for us.

Everything was so wonderful Friday evening. I don't know if it was the good company, being dressed up or what - but it was a grand time. I did get a kick out of these 2 tables that were sitting next to our booth after the Sous Chef brought out the dessert platter. I heard one of the guys ask the waiter who was sitting at the table and if it was somebody famous! lol Rachel made us individual root bear floats and a spruced up banana split. It was sooo good.

After dinner we headed over to Bella Vita - the restaurant on the Geist Resevoir Marina. We sat on the deck overlooking the marina and had a couple drinks and many laughs. Our waiter - Eric was so fun and we had a blast and even more laughs with him.

Stephaney made Brandy the most awesome birthday gift ever. She is so creative. Must be all the 4-H training. lol She saves and remembers EVERYTHING. Usually this is not a good thing. She made this 20 page booklet spoofing America's Next Top Model. On the front it had a picture of Brandy, Steph, Cindi and Jamie and I from a dance our Junior Year in highschool (were we cool or what?). She then had pictures of people from school and little descriptions of them and their "background" and what their qualifications were to be judges or coaches on America's Next Top Model. Then, for each one of us she had one of our senior pictures and titled it our "Best Shot" and then a brief description of why we were disqualfied from the competition. It would take me too many paragraphs to continue explaining the rest but lets just say, I had to redo my make up after reading it because I was crying so hard laughing.

Last night the girls and I went down to my friend and neighbor Kris's house. Kris and I drank a glass of wine and caught up and the girls played with the dog. Today we have a tailgate party at the church for the Life Groups and a rib cookoff. It's going to be a good time!

Friday the girls and I are heading over to no mans land in Ohio to visit with my Aunt and Uncles, my mom and other great friends. We are taking the girls fishing at my moms best friends sisters house (that's a mouthful!). The girls can't wait to go fishing and are driving me insane talking about it. I may just embrace my surroundings and join in on the action.

I've had to take time off from running which makes me have to do the dreaded stair machine because I think I was running too long to quick and I strained a ligament in my knee. Can't say that I'm looking forward to running again this week because it still sucks big time to run. But, it's good for my heart and health right? That's what I keep telling myself.

24 Hours with Ava - Revisited

2009-08-26T15:27:00.004-04:00

I was going through my old blog and reading older posts - boy - I sure loved to talk on that blog. I had diarreah of the mouth most days. lol I came across a post I titled 24 Hours of My Life with Ava...it was written around her 2nd birthday 2 years ago in July-oh my, did it bring back memories. I'm copying it so those who know Ava well can get a good laugh. She hasn't changed in 2 years. :)

6:30 am - I'm playing in my room and Mommy comes in. She doesn't look happy this morning....I don't know why. My hand was a little tired this morning and to let her know I was up I thought kicking the door would let her know. She does notice my arm has come out of my nightgown though.

6:45 am: I ask for my pacifier and I'm told no. Mommy put the paci's in the closet because I wouldn't keep them in bed where she says they belong. She gets me a sippy cup of milk instead. Is she crazy? Why would I want milk over my pacifier? I tell her I want water and she says something to me about drinking my milk and something about Isabella drinking milk and look how big she is. I'm not buying it though and just hold onto the cup.

7:10 am: Fight with Isabella over who gets the good spot on the couch to watch Sponge Bob. I win, as usual.

7:30 am: Fight with Isabella over who gets to brush their teeth first. I win, as usual.

7:40 am: Fight with Isabella over who gets the best spot on the couch again. I win, as usual.

8:30 am: Head to the gym for Mommy to go to yoga. I love playing here as long as my sister is with me. I've learned if I cry just a couple of times when Bella's not there, they will call Mommy over a loud speaker and she comes and gets me early. I like it when that happens.

10:30 am: Mommy picks us up at the child center. We walk past the womens locker room and I tell her I want to go to the pool. She says no and I voice my displeasure.

10:32 am: Walk past cafe in the gym and ask for a snack. Mom says we'll eat at home. I voice my displeasure.

12:00 pm: LUNCH TIME!!! I ask for a string cheese and mommy gives me one. But, that's not what I really wanted. I wanted a pudding cup. So, I voice my displeasure and she eats the cheese and I get pudding while she's making my sandwich. I lick the side that has jelly on it and eat that side of the bread. I do this everyday and I don't know why Mommy still bothers to put Peanut Butter on it...I never lick it or eat it.

12:30 pm: Dessert!!! I want some dry cereal AND a cookie but I'm told I can only have one. I pick the cookie and eat it.

12:32 pm: I ask for the dry cereal now and Mommy tells me I can't have it since I already had a cookie for dessert. I voice my displeasure and get no where. Mommy just takes me out of the booster seat and cleans me up. I am not happy about this.

12:45 pm: Isabella is playing with the Princess and the Pauper singing Barbie and I want it, so I try to take it. She doesn't give it up too easily so I pinch her. She's loud when she screams!

12:46 pm: Mommy brings me another Barbie but I want the Princess and Pauper doll - because well, Isabella has it.

12:55 pm: I'm playing with my Dora's Talking House.

1:00 pm: My sister wants to play with Dora too, but she keeps moving things around in the house. I tell her very nicely to move, she's persistant and doesn't. I pinch her. She's loud again.

1:15 pm: Mommy comes and tells me it's time for my nap. I don't really want to nap and I tell Mommy nicely that I don't want to but she puts me in bed anyway. I guess I can suck on my paci and close my eyes for a little while.

3:15 pm: I wake up and WANT TO COME OUT NOW!!! Where in the world is my Mommy? Bella? Daisy? Mommy? Bella? Daisy?? Anyone?? Isabella comes and opens the door for me. It's about time.

3:30 pm: Go outside to play. Isabella drives me around in the Barbie jeep. I want to drive also but she won't move. I keep asking her nicely to please let me drive, but she won't give in. This time I hit her and try to bite. She tells Mommy on me. Tattle Tale.

3:35 pm: We are back inside. Apparently I don't play nicely.

5:00 pm: Mommy has dinner made despite her telling me constantly that I'm at her feet and following her around. Daddy comes home and we eat dinner.

6:30 pm: Bath Time!!! I DON'T like to have my hair washed and I want out. But Daddy tells me he has to rinse my hair. Personally, I think he just likes getting water in my eyes. I don't buy the logic I should look up to the ceiling so the water stays off my face.

7:45 pm: PJ's and book time. I go and get the Elmo book. Daddy asks me why I bring this book - we just read it last night. I try and tell him its my favorite but I don't think he understands. He reads it to me anyway.

8:10 pm: Bedtime. Mommy gives me a hug and a kiss and tells me she loves me and asks me how she got so lucky to have the 2 best girls in the world. She asks me this every.single.night. I thought Mommy's were suppose to know everything. If so, why does she ask the same question every night? I just smile and give her a kiss back.

8:11 pm: Mommy walks out and leaves me in my bed.

8:12 pm: I call out to Mommy I need a drink.

8:13 pm: I call out to Mommy I can't find my paci.

8:14 pm: I call out to Mommy I can't find my blankie.

8:15 pm: I call out to Mommy I need another drink. Mommy doesn't look too happy this time.

8:20 pm: I call out to Mommy I need a kiss. I try for a couple more minutes and she doesn't come. I think she has forgot about me.

6:15 am: I knock on the door and call out to Mommy and tell her I'm awake.

6:20 am: I knock on the door a little harder this time and tell Mommy I'm awake.

6:33 am: I knock again and this time call for Mommy AND Isabella. I think they have forgot about me again.

6:45 am: I pull all of my doll babies onto my bed. I think I have 14 at my last count. While I'm up I go ahead and pull the books off of my bookshelf and dump all of the puzzles over. Mommy LOVES picking up these. I start singing Wheels on the Bus.

6:50 am: I try kicking the door again since it worked yesterday. Mommy comes and she looks tired. But then she looks at the bed and the books and the puzzles and I think she looks mad. I wonder why?

6:52 am: I say "Hi Mama" and give her a big smile, hug and kisses on the cheek (these are her favorite) and she looks happy again!.

***the parts about Ava knocking on the doors was because she was too small to be able to open them on her own. Ava doesn't pinch and bite anymore - she prefers hitting.***

The Finer Things

2009-08-22T20:41:00.002-04:00

Isabella has learned from me quite well about liking nice things. She was taking a shower the other night in our bathroom and didn't want to use Steve's "manly smelling" shower gel so she asked me to get her something different. I pulled out of the linen closet some Oil of Olay almond butter/lavender oil bath wash. The stuff really is great - I love Oil of Olay bath products.

Fast forward a couple of days. I hear Isabella telling Steve that Ava's bath soap was in the white bottle (the oil of olay is in a purple bottle). When I investigated further - she was making sure Steve didn't use the good stuff on her and was making Ava use the CVS brand body wash.

Tonight, Isabella gave Ava a shower for me (do I have a great kid or what) and I saw Ava heading to the shower carrying her white bottle of CVS body wash. LOL

Ava the Make Up Artist

2009-08-20T15:44:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Ava got her shots at her Dr. appointment and I mentioned I bought her some make up. Today she was experimenting with it and was very happy with the outcome. She told me when she grows up she wants to be a "Make Up Person". I think there is potential there. At least she matched the eyeshadow to her clothes.

Here she is doing her "peace" signs like Dialycia and Isabella do in every.single.picture. You can also see her bandaids that she refuses to take off from the shots yesterday. She wants to keep them on for sympathy but I told her they came off tonight because she was getting a bath. She wasn't happy to hear that.

And here she is the other day proud of herself for learning to blow bubbles with her gum.

God Bless Her

2009-08-19T20:16:00.002-04:00

I was brushing Isabellas hair a few minutes ago (sidenote - it is so, so nice she is able to shower, wash and condition her hair, rinse it, wash her body, dry off, put pj's on and brush part of her hair - I finish the brushing). While brushing I told her Ava had to go to a special Doctor because of her speech. She acted so concerned and asked "Why"? "She talks just fine".

I know this doesn't come across as sweet as it was, but I wanted to get it down in writing for my memory bank.

Speech, Shots and a Lost Cat

2009-08-19T17:40:00.003-04:00

How's that for a title?

Lost Cat: We have lost one of our cats. Daisy - she is about 4 years old and the first cat we got. Last week sometime the cats were outside (they are inside cats but will sometimes go outside for a bit) and we didn't realize they were out. The next morning, Steve said Molly was sitting at the back door wanting to come inside. He didn't even think about Daisy being outside at the time. Two nights later - out of the blue - Isabella starts to panic and asks where Daisy was. Daisy is super shy and doesn't really let anyone pet her or come close to her. We searched all over the neighborhood for her, put up some signs but we still have not heard anything or witnessed any sign of her. I just hope she is safe. Isabella is having a really hard time with it. Molly - on the otherhand is rejoicing she is the only cat in the house!

Shots - poor Ava had her 4 year well check visit today. I didn't think she was getting any shots but I was wrong. She ended up getting 3 and it just broke my heart. She also is going to have to start speech therapy again. She substitutes letters often and the Dr. could only understand about 50% of what Ava was saying. I'm glad she's going to get the help she needs because she does get frustrated when we can't understand her. Isabella usually can understand and translate for us but sometimes even she can't understand it. After her shots I took her and let her get a little make up kit. She still had money from her birthday so we got it and it's made her feel better. Although - she is limping and saying "ouch, ouch, ouch" each time she takes a step. lol

We are getting in the swing of things with school being back in session. Isabella will play for an hour or so after she gets home and then comes inside for dinner, then practices piano, does homework and showers and gets ready for bed. She's been doing great with going to bed earlier - I think 2nd grade is just wearing her out.

It is on!!!!

2009-08-15T14:30:00.003-04:00

Like Donkey Kong! How 80's is that saying? lol But...it is on!

My neighbor Amy is a big runner - like a minimum of running 25 miles a week. I don't walk 25 miles in a month probably. Well, she's really been encouraging me to run with her and she is a great motivator and a great friend so I've started running again. I use to run all the time....like 12 years ago. I'm on day 4 of my "training" and each day it is getting easier. Today, I can honestly say I kinda enjoyed it. But, part of it was I drank 16 oz of this Black Powder stuff that gives you major energy (not jittery energy but just really motivates you and gets you moving faster) and I had downloaded from iTunes some Black Eyed Peas and Flo Rida - am I hip or what?? lol And i hit the treadmill at the gym.

Now - we have sweet Amy and then we have J.D. and Drew. Drew is JD's daughter (Jenny) boyfriend. He probably smokes a pack of cigarettes a day and he is taunting me. So - it is on. They leave on Sunday for Louisville to set up the IronMan triatholon down there and they will be back in a week or so. JD, Drew and I are going to hit the treadmills at Anytime Fitness (where JD works out) and we are going to go at it. Drew says he'll even run with a lit cigarette to prove his manhood. Now - if anyone thinks I'm stubborn - well, you haven't met JD and Drew. I predict I will be removed from Anytime Fitness in an ambulance but I won't get off before Drew. JD will be able to outrun me blindfolded, backwards and with 50 pounds of weights on him - he's going for moral support I think - hopefully for me. LOL Maybe I'll talk Amy into going with me and coaching me.

I save Drew and Jenny's dog (Sheba) the other day and this is the thanks I get...taunting. Bring it Drew - you are going down! LOL

I have a 2nd grader!!

2009-08-13T14:32:00.002-04:00

Isabella started the second grade today. It really seemed like just a regular day. She was a little excited (mainly because of her new messenger book bag) and woke up on her own this morning. She is in what is called the S.E.E.K. room at her school. It is a combined 1st and 2nd grade so she already knows where the room is from last year as well as her teacher who co-taughter with the 1st grade teacher last year. Here she is sporting her Smart Girls ROCK tee we had made for her 1st day of school.
And a picture of little sis hugging her before school.

It's been quiet with only one kid in the house. I'm not complaining that is for sure. :) It's nice to have that one on one time with Ava while Isabella is at school. I'm homeschooling Ava this year for preschool but we aren't starting until the Tuesday after Labor Day.

Isabella started piano lessons on Tuesday. She did great and practices often throughout the day. It will be different now that she is in school and won't have the freedom of all the time during the day to practice.

Monday evening we had several of our neighbors over for dinner. Steve smoked some ribs, chicken and a brisket and then had a pitch in for side dishes. It was so darn good. I was full to the point of being majorly uncomfortable. I couldn't even go to the gym the day after though because my legs were still sore from the 100 squats I did on Sunday. Yes, you read that correctly - over 100 squats. I would do a set of 10 after each rep of exercises. Won't be doing that anytime soon.

I've also started back with running. Let me tell you one thing - running sure isn't fun. I told my neighbor Amy I would run with her so I'm trying to get in shape to begin that torture. Today was my second day of running some at the gym - it was a bit easier (only because I drank some Black Powder beforehand) but it still pretty much sucked the entire time. But, the sweat I worked up felt awesome.

That's the latest happenings in the Garza household. Have a great weekend!

Pitching Hollywood Style

2009-08-04T13:49:00.004-04:00

I don't know why the first picture is so small - if you want to see a close up of it, just click on it and it will enlarge.

Here are a few pictures of Dialycia pitching this past week. Obviously, I'm super proud of her. I can't imagine doing this and having the pressure that was put on her during these games at the ripe old age of 11. (She was on a 10 an under team because at the start of the season she was 10). But, let me tell you - this past week I witnessed with my own eyes the TALLEST and BIGGEST ten year old girls in the States.

Hollywood and a Rant

2009-08-04T11:59:00.002-04:00

Thursday morning on the way to the gym I found out my 11 year old niece was going to be pitching at the 10 & under Fastpitch Nationals. I did a quick workout and headed home, threw clothes in a suitcase and headed out to watch her. It was awesome. She is such an athlete! She won the first game (also scored the runs to go ahead and then struck out the last batter to win the game). It was fabulous!!! Then they had to play an hour later and she had to pitch against the reigning National 10 & under Fastpitch Champions. They didn't win this game but she did awesome - also, once again was the one who scored the runs for the team.

Her teammates call her Hollywood. I have to say she got the nickname honestly. Her dad and I are pretty materialistic in the fact we like nice things and namebrand things. Dialycia always has her hair done super cute, designer shades on, Under Armour sweatbands on (I think they may be more for show than actual use), $300 bats and the list goes on and on. Oh, and she drinks Figi water. My sister in law said they originally were poking fun at her with the name but it stuck and it was adorable hearing her teammates cheer her on while she pitched. "Go Hollywood, finish her off. Let's go two six (26 is her number but apparently now a days you say the numbers seperately lol)". I was a nervous wreck!!!!!!!!!

Here is a picture of me, Isabella and Dialycia after her first game she won.

We've hung at my brothers and sister in laws for the last few days. We went to Ohio for a day and half to visit with my aunt and uncle. It was a great visit even if it was short. It really is an eye opener that you need to make time for family and not wait until someone gets really sick to start playing catch up and visiting. I have the greatest aunts and uncles around that is for sure.

And now on to my rant. LOL I am always amused by people who fill out polls and leave cryptic messages on facebook and emails. The comments about hating people who are materialistic, self absorbed, brag, shallow and so on....I know the people who write these things and I know their intentions - that is what makes it all the funnier for me. People - I KNOW I am these things. I fully and completely admit them. I like who I am. I think there isn't a thing wrong with bragging about successes you or your family members have worked hard for. I see nothing wrong with working your tail off at the gym and eating healthy because you want to stay in shape and look good. I see nothing wrong with buying name brand or expensive things if you can afford them. I also believe you usually get what you pay for - hence the reason for buying some more expensive things. I like quality. I fully believe in the motto if you look good you feel good. Who doesn't want to look their best, be healthy and feel good about themselves? I completely admit to all of the above and make no qualms about it. I am who I am and I wouldn't change a thing!

Ok, rant over. The girls and I are heading back to Indy in a couple hours and my niece is coming with us for a few days. Yeah!!! Off to pack up and get ready to go.

My Life Before Kids

2009-07-28T19:52:00.004-04:00

Most only know me as a Mommy and Steve's wife and not for all the crazy hours and hard work I put in before quitting to assume the hardest job on the earth - Stay at home Mommy.

Steve and I met at The Embassy Suites in Raleigh, North Carolina. They were remodeling the restaurant in the hotel and Steve transferred there from Dallas to open it up and run it. I was hired a couple months after he was and we opened Nicola's Ristorante. It was a great restaurant and awesome Italian food. While I was there we partnered up with a local art group and displayed local artists work in the restaurant and bar. We had twice a year art shows that had huge turn outs. It was a great first job to have in Restaurant Management. I also oversaw the roomservice and bar area. The employees at this place were INSANE. Typical restaurant workers - partying hard and with all of that came crazy situations I had to deal with.

Here is a picture of the inside of the restuarant.

Hotel the restaurant was located in.

After Steve and I got married we had to be transferred to different properties within 6 weeks since we were both managers and technically he was my superior as Executive Chef. We decided to move to Dallas where Steve had lived for many years. I stayed with the company and Steve ventured out. I took a position at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District in downtown Dallas as an Assistant Food and Beverage Director.

This was where the upscale dining restuarant called The Opus was located (tables were removed for the picture).

Front of the Symphony.

This was the main entrance off of the street - to the left was The Opus and behind where this picture was taken was a more casual dining restaurant called The Pasta Pavillion. This was by far the coolest job I've ever had. The other managers were awesome and we had so much fun. Ironically - this was the job Steve was at before transferring to Raleigh - he was the Executive Chef here. The restaurants were only opened before symphony performances and only for 2 hours. We were usually open on Thursday, Friday, Saturday evenings and then Sunday for brunch. When the Symphony wasn't playing we did huge banquets and dinners. Biggest seated dinner was for 1400 people and we had other reception type banquets for over 2000.

It was always exciting and always filled with famous people. While working there I met Kenny Rogers, Michael McDonald, Lyle Lovett, Phil Vasser, Larry Hagman (JR from the show Dallas), Angie Harmon and many many others. We did all backstage food and beverage for the performers and being management we were always backstage at some point.

After the Meyerson I was promoted across the street to General Manager (at the whopping age of 28 years old!!) at The Belo Mansion. It is an old mansion owned by the Dallas Bar Association. We did the food and beverage daily during the week for the attorneys taking continuing education classes and then every.single.weekend - we did weddings. Friday nites, 2 weddings Saturday (afternoon and evening) and then also sometimes on Sundays.

I was pregnant the last 9 months while working here. I hated this job with a passion. The money was awesome but the people who worked for the Bar Association were horrid. It was the worst job I have ever had. The people and then all the pressure and stress with being the top one in charge royally sucked. One of the happiest days of my life was pulling out of that parking lot for the last time! Within the first 2 months I was there I had to fire one of my catering managers who continued to show up to work drunk and at her functions. She was one of the top performing sales managers in the company so to say I wasn't met with resistance by people to fire her (this is after she was able to take a leave of absense for 30 days to go to rehab) is an understatement. This job just plain sucked.

Happy 4th Birthday Ava!!

2009-07-27T20:18:00.002-04:00

Yesterday our baby girl turned 4! Like I said earlier - it's been a long 4 years. Great years - but long ones. LOL Life wouldn't be complete without Ava in it.

Last night we had our great friends and families over. Mark, Amy, Jack and Christine as well as Dan, Kris, Lexi, Kourtney, Reilly and Erin came to have cake and ice cream. Ava wanted cake for breakfast so we had already cut into the cake but she insisted on round 2 of Happy Birthday when her friends came. She loved the attention!! Mark my words - this kid will be a politician - she loves the spotlight!

Round 2 of singing. Ava picked her cake - chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling with chocolate icing and a rainbow.

You would have thought it was Christmas! She woke up bright and early and wanted to open gifts immediately!

Dumb Mommy moment. At quick glance - I thought this wrapping paper was of popsicles. Upon closer look (aka - when Isabella asked why I bought baby bottle wrapping paper) did I realize they were in fact, NOT popsicles.

A closer look.

FurReal puppy from Grandma and Papi.

Happy to get a princess scooter.

Acting silly during round 1 of Happy Birthday singing.

Showing me how old she was.

Get ready to flip out Daddy!!!

2009-07-22T19:37:00.003-04:00

I think we have a budding Vegetarian on our hands. Isabella is getting very concerned about using and wearing leather and eating meat. It really is the red meat she is having the most trouble with - she loves steak but last night she just kept staring at it and saying "I can't believe this was a live cow", "don't you think it is cruel to eat a cow". As a chef, Steve has "issues" to say the least with people with picky palettes and vegetarians. Guess I need to start talking with him about acceptance a bit more. :)

Backyard Camping

2009-07-21T17:18:00.003-04:00

Here is the small tent - just a 2-3 person - which worked fine. I can pretty much guarantee there won't be 4 people ever in it.

Roasting marshmellows

We had to put the firepit on some wood so it wouldn't burn the grass and leave a dark spot.

The Good Life

2009-07-20T22:38:00.002-04:00

Life has been pretty good lately. Nothing major going on, just lots of small things to keep us busy. Last night and tonight Steve and the girls have camped out in the back yard in a tent. I've camped inside - in our high thread count sheets. Believe me - they are much happier with me NOT being out there. LOL They build a fire in the fire pit, roast marshmellows, make smores and they said they sat around the fire last night and told stories. They did take the portable DVD player out there with them so they aren't roughing it too much.

Tonight we went to an Indianapolis Indians minor league baseball game. It was the first baseball game for the girls and the first time I've been to a baseball game in quite a while. They had 10 innings listed on the score board so I don't know if they started playing more innings than before. I thought there use to be only 7??? Maybe for overtime or whatever they do in baseball?? Kris and Dan and Lexi also were there and Steve and the girls walked over and talked with them for a bit and then when we were leaving Kris and Dan and their nephew Nolan came and chatted with us. Kris and Dan are so sweet together - and Nolan - ahhh, I might want to have another baby if it turned out as sweet and cute as that little guy. We left after 5 or 6 innings - but it was fun.

Tomorrow we get our piano. Steve and Dan are driving about 30 minutes away to load it and bring it home - Bella starts piano next week so we are excited to get the show on the road. I'm ready to just have a piano in the house. We got a great deal on one - bought it off of craigslist for only $300 - it is just an oak upright piano. I of course wanted a concert pianist baby grand Steinway - but champagne taste on a beer budget - so compromise it was. :) Hopefully, in a couple years we will upgrade to a nicer upright (mahogany or black is what I'd like) and then a few years down the road a black baby grand. These girls better love playing - LOL. Although they are going to be doing it whether they love it or not. There aren't too many adults that you meet that don't wish they knew how to play the piano.

We started a small group with 3 other couples in the church. We met for the first time on Sunday. I have good, good feelings about the group and the bible study and fellowship we will be doing. The other couples all have children that are the same age as Isabella and Ava so it works out great. We are going to start meeting at one house and dropping the kids off at another house so we don't have constant interruptions. We had a babysitter last week but the kids still came in and out a lot. Next Sunday we are going to have the kids and babysitter at our house and we'll meet at another couples house a mile away.

Sunday is Ava's birthday. She'll be 4. I can't believe it. I'd like to say it's flown by but truthfully, it's been a looong 4 years. God love Ava - she's such a stinker and constantly keeps us laughing one minute and pulling our hair out the next. She is such a blessing to us though!

Mark and Amy and the kids have been on vacation this week so it's been lonely without them around. They come home in a couple days - so I'll be glad to see them and the girls will be super glad to see Jack again.

Steve and I have really started focusing on cardio for the past 2 weeks. We are up to 45 minutes now and we are pretty hard core. I'm not a sweater really - but man, oh man. I am soaked at the end of the workout. My legs are spent and like rubber for the remainder of the day - but it releases those endorphins and just makes you feel great. I better be shedding some pounds or else the endorphins better make me feel really, really, really good.

I thought my mom and I and the girls were going to be able to go over and visit with my Uncle Dave and Aunt Barb this weekend but it didn't work out with Moms schedule. Hopefully we'll get over there in a couple weeks. It really has been an eye opener to me that we shouldn't wait until someone gets sick in order to go visit those we love.

So, that's the last few days recap. Nothing major - but lots of little things.

I'll post pictures of the camp out (I gave the camera to Isabella last night) and of Ava's birthday in a few days. When I asked her what she wanted she told me a scooter, some Barbie thing for the bathtub (I took pictures of it with my cell phone for when I go back) but then she said she didn't care what she got - she just wanted "lots of presents". Typical.

Love to all!!!

Shouting from the Mountain Tops!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-07-17T13:14:00.003-04:00

Steve made partner with Maggiano's. This is huge!!!!!!!!!!! This Garza household is so happy and excited and proud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah Steve!!!! (and Jen - his GM who also made Partner).

Dinner With Friends

2009-07-16T06:05:00.005-04:00

Last night we went out to dinner with our friends and neighbors Mark and Amy and Dan and Kris. We went to a place called Bonge's Tavern. It is in the middle of nowhere, has about 10 tables and besides the awesome, fabulous tasting food their claim to fame is the tailgating that takes place in the parking lot as you wait for your table.

We went on a Wednesday night at 7:00 and had a 90 minute wait. Kris and Dan had brought a bottle of wine just in case we did have to wait - thank goodness because we sure did enjoy it. The wait was actually quite pleasant. They had some benches and chairs sitting outside so we sat down, drank two bottles of wine (we had to buy another from the restaurant. Well, actually Mark and Amy bought it - thanks guys!) and talked, laughed, talked some more and laughed some more. It was a great time.

Once we were seated I open my purse to put my sunglasses in it and this is what I see in there...
a pair of Ava's panties!!!!!!!!! Now, if that doesn't make you feel like a Mom, I don't know what will. LOL I forgot I had them in there from Monday night. We went over to some friends house and the girls were playing outside with a slip and slide and having water gun fights so they wore their swimsuits there and I brought them some panties in case they wanted to change out of their swimsuits...and obviously, Ava stayed in her swimsuit the entire time - hence the Cinderella panties in my purse. (I couldn't get a good picture with the flash on so I had to take it with it off and thats why the pic is so dark.)

Here is my handsome husband sitting out in the parking lot enjoy a great conversation.

Lovebirds - Mark and Amy. They are so sweet together and love each other so much. It is great to be around them.

Me with Amy and Kris outside.

Kris and her *friend* Dan. (inside joke - they are in a serious relationship - Amy and I practically had their wedding planned for them by the end of the night).

A crooked shot of Steve and I.

A straight foreward picture - although I like the crooked one better of us.

Another of us girls without Kris wearing her Naughty Teacher reading glasses.

Steve and Mark.

Not the best picture of me because I have a shiny face from sweat and deer in the headlight looking eyes but it shows - no deep furrow lines or deep lines on my forehead thanks to Botox! LOL

Steve showing his utter disappointment with the Colts helmet on the bottle of ketchup. I don't understand why every restaurant in Indiana wouldn't want to put Dallas Cowboy logos all over their product.

The whole gang just as our meal arrived.

Amy laughing at how small my feet are so she put her foot in my shoe to show the difference in size from her foot and mine. I don't know what I'm laughing about in the background. LOL

At the end of the night - my feet were tired from wearing the almost 4 inch heals for hours so I asked Steve if he would carry me over the gravel outside. Amy decided she wanted to give me a piggy back ride - of course I didn't turn her down. LOL *Disclaimer: all patrons had already left for the evening - we were the only ones left in the restaurant.*

We had such a great time that we vowed we were going to go out once a month as a group and try different restaurants. Next month we are hitting up a new Mexican place Kris and Dan have been to and said was great. Already looking forward to it.

Walter

2009-07-10T16:55:00.003-04:00

Introducing the newest Garza member:

The girls have been asking for a frog (yes - a frog) for the last month or so. There is a frog (or several that look alike) that appear on our front porch every evening when it gets dark. They have begged and pleaded to be able to catch one and keep it in a box. Now, I don't like frogs but I'm not mean enough to put the poor thing in a box so it can die overnight. So, we were talking with Amy and Cory (her 14 year old son) and telling them they wanted to get a frog or a turtle. Cory said they could have his turtle he's had for the last 5 years. He gave us everything - the cage, warming light, bowls, mulch, ect. We made out on the deal because we just gave him an iTunes gift card and we got all of the above PLUS the turtle.

The girls LOVE Walter to pieces. I actually like watching him eat. We are getting great use out of our garden because Walter is a vegetarian. He's been eating leafy green lettuce and cherry tomatoes. Ava wants to hold him constantly but I'm a nervous wreck when she holds him. Ava isn't the most delicate person around.

Today the girls and I went through their rooms and got a bunch of toys together to give to one of our neighbors so she could have some toys when her nieces and nephews came over to play. They only complained about 1 item each that I put in the box that they wanted so I gave it back to them - I thought great progress had been made for them only wanting one item/toy. When we walked back after dropping it off Isabella said "I love giving to charity". LOL

Introduction

2009-07-04T16:54:00.002-04:00

We are probably strangers to everyone now. Life is just busy with lots of things going on and we are outside most of the day and evening so I just don't have blogging material or the time to sit and write long winded posts. LOL So...(a certain SIL....lol) don't harass me for updates until you start your own blog and find stuff to write about daily. It's not as easy as some may think. Just kidding!!!!

Last night we had the neighborhood block party celebrating the 4th of July. Great turnout - about 80 adults and 20 or so kids. Steve grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and another neighbor Benjamin was grilling corn on the cob on his grill and everyone brought a side dish to share. Then when it got dark Steve let off some fireworks we got from my Moms store. This year was by far the best firework display - we bought some really good items.

Pam bought stuff for the kids to decorate their bikes and scooters and then later in the night we did a little parade with the kids. It was so stinking cute - they were so proud of their decorated bikes and just smiled big grins as they road up and down the road we had blocked off.

Christine decorated the Barbie Jeep for Ava - it looked really cute.

Isabella and her patriotic bike decor.

Ava sporting the dirtiest face of the night.

Me and two of the sweetest girls around. We have such a great time when we are together and we are so similar and hold back NO secrets. Lots of laughing going on with Kris, Amy and I.

Steve and I.

Buffet

2009-06-20T23:14:00.003-04:00

Isabella said to me the other day "apparently, mosquitos think my body is an all you can eat buffet".

Too busy

2009-06-15T08:44:00.002-04:00

Summer has arrived and life seems so busy - always on the go.

This week starts VBS at church so I'll be there helping everynight from 6:30-8:30. Yesterday after church I asked Ava what she learned in church and she said "God again. Every time we always talk about God." She seemed a bit confused as to why the topic never changed. LOL When I asked Isabella she told me she was learning about Moses. We asked her what she could tell us about Moses and she said "he's a really old guy who trusted God". :)

We are now on the hunt for a piano. We found a piano teacher for Isabella and she'll start in August so we are searching Craigs List to find a decent piano. Steve wants to buy a keyboard and pressed on and on for the keyboard purchase. HE wants the keyboard!!! She can only start out on the keyboard as she learning the notes and then we'll have to buy a piano. I say spend a couple hundred dollars more and just have a piano to match what she is practicing with. ugh

Steve and I went down to Mark and Amy's and played a few games of pool. It was a lot of fun. Really Mark and Steve played pool and Amy and I moved the balls around between their shots. Next up - ping pong battles!

Today we are off to the gym, then going to the pool with Jack and Amy and then home to get ready for VBS.

Soccer 2009 - Go Silverbacks

2009-06-07T08:29:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was the last game of the season and our little soccer girl scored a goal. And it was intentional. LOL She was ready for the pass. Stopped it, turned and kicked a strong kick and SCORE!!

The look on her face was better than the bragging of her scoring a goal and then as she was running down the field Steve and I looked across the field at each other and it was sweet. We just shared a look of pride as parents not coach and mom. Sweetness it was I tell ya!

Isabella showing the number 2 sign instead of #1 since the Silverbacks placed 2nd in their league.

Coach and Daddy with his daughter and player.

Silverbacks on stage receiving their trophies. The kids were so excited and all sat together in a row with Steve away from their parents. It was sweet.

Ok, now I get the bad parent, I'm going straight to hell award for sneaking a picture of Ava while they were praying. It was just too cute to pass up the photo opportunity.

Here is the team acting silly before the ceremony started.

Next year Ava will be old enough to play and I told Steve he will be coaching 2 teams instead of just 1. He wasn't overly thrilled with my statement.

Ormond Beach, Florida 2009

2009-06-05T14:04:00.008-04:00

Lots of lessons learned this trip...1) Never ever drive again. Even taking 2 days to make the trip. It still sucks. 2) 7 days on the beach - day in/day out - is too long. At least with kids this age. They wanted to swim 12 hours a day making very tired kids. Very tired kids = very stressed out Mommy. 3) Check out immediately and find new accomodations once you find out your condo has wet carpet padding from 3o inches of rain 10 days prior and makes the place stink. Also, if you smell cigarrete smoke upon entering room - and its a non-smoking room. Again, check out immediately. It WILL aggravate your daughters asthma. 4) My hair does not adjust well to the humidity.

Ok, now that all the logistics are out of the way - we did have a good time. Especially the kids. They would wake up at 7:00 am every morning and want to hit the pool immediately. We were in the pool every day by 8:30 which wasn't that big of a deal because it was almost 90 degrees that early in the morning.

When we arrived a huge thunderstorm had just passed through and we were greated by a beautiful double rainbow. It didn't rain or cloud up once the entire time until the day before we were to leave and storms rolled in. So, we left a day early.

As I headed to the grocery store to buy some necessities (aka - beer and coffee), Steve took the girls out to the beach.

Descriptions under each picture.
The girls the afternoon we first arrived jumping the waves.

Daddy and his girls searching for sea shells (we kinda had to force/make them do this each day. Don't they know you are SUPPOSE to do this when you go to the beach???).

Me and the girls (all 4 of them). LOL

Ava chilling on a raft in the pool.

Ava being Ava and throwing a fit because her sand was not coming out of the bucket.

Isabella washing the sand off of her hands.

It's still not coming out!!!!!

Ava deciding to start over and dumping all the sand from her bucket into the ocean.

Family foot portrait. :)

Ava in the ocean

Isabella testing the water. She actually swam in the ocean a couple of days. I was shocked she decided to do this. She watches way too much Discovery TV and Animal Planet and knows what is looming in the ocean. LOL

Steve throwing Isabella in the pool.

We went and played Putt Putt one afternoon. They LOVED this. Isabella did really well and was able to par most holes. Ava - not so much. She was very innovative with her method of getting the ball in the hole. The girls hair is so matted and messy because they had just got out of the pool and threw some clothes on before we headed out.

Me and the girls at the putt putt course. See how well my hair is reacting to the humidity??? This was the only time it wasn't in a ponytail or me having a hat on.

Here is a picture of Ava's method. Throw down putter and push the ball with your hands. Worked every time!

We went to Outback after putt putt and Ava ate all of Steve's green beans. She put it in her mouth like braces in this picture. LOL

Only family picture of the entire trip - other than our feet picture.

Memorial Day 2009 - TONS of Pictures

2009-05-27T18:06:00.013-04:00

I took the time to actually make sure the pictures are loaded in order of their happening.

Descriptions under pictures.

Garzas on Rocks! Enough said - the Garza family understands and will appreciate this picture.

After the creek and the pouring rain that happened while there the kids came back to Cecelias and Ava got out of her wet clothes and put a nightgown on. This was around 4:00. She played outside for about 6 more hours. Hence the dirty, dirty look she is showing. If this isn't a white trash kid, I don't know what is. Barefoot, dirty, nightgown, scraped up from falling into a barbed wire fence, and eating a cup of ice. Lord help me! (edited to add - yes, she had a bath after this and no, she didn't sleep in this nightgown.)

The Peterson Siblings. My mom and her brothers. L-R: Oren, David, Merlin, Mary (my mom - Merlin is her twin brother), Eddie and Dale.

Ok, I normally am way to vain to post a crappy picture of me but this just shows how much I love my Uncle Dave. I had my hair all pulled back because I DID get wet during the rain (just not AS wet as others) and I was a hot, sweaty mess. His arm is in a sling due to blood clots that formed after they put the port for his chemo treatments. He was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer (never smoked). BUT...we serve a Living God who is the great Physician and can heal my Uncle and that is what I'm clinging to and praying for. Please pray for Dave and my aunt Barb as they face the treatments and healing.

The kiddos walking the railroad tracks heading to the cemetary on Memorial Day.

Dialycia standing at her Veterans grave.

Ava showing the utmost respect to this former soldier and decided to sit on the stone. ggrrrrr - She was in a bad mood because she was so stinkin' tired and I was trying to tell her why it was not respectful to sit or stand on the tombstone. She had open ears the entire time. Yeah, right. She also is mad because she only has one flower to lay on the grave. She wanted a bunch.

Ok, I've now *found* (aka stolen) another flower for her but she is once again mad because there are "leaves" on it. Oh, and she decided she didn't like the previous grave she was at so we moved....once again.

Here she is after she layed her flowers down (notice the leaves off of the peony that Super Mom pulled off for her darling daughter????).

21 Gun salute. My kids just LOVE this part. The entire cemetary is silent after the first shots are fired and then you hear Ava cry out "Mommy, that is too loud and it scares me. Followed by her sobbing".

Isabella with Cecelia trying to be brave and not hold her ears during the gun salute.

Standing during the playing of Taps.

My Uncle Dave and Aunt Barb have goats on the farm to help with the weeds.

What is this??? BOTH girls looking at the camera and no one crying???

Ava, Isabella and Dialycia petting a 3 day old baby goat. I am sure there is a farming word for baby goat but I've already admitted school was a social experiment for me and not a learning possibility.

Two of the greatest people around - My uncle Dave and aunt Barb.

Ava is thrilled to have her picture taken once again.

Grammy and Ava

Dialycia feeding a 6 month old goat.

Ava feeding a goat.

Isabella feeding the goats.

Ava was given a branch with some leaves on it (these leaves she apparently likes and is ok with) and the Mommy goat would take bites of the leaves until they were all gone. Ava would giggle after each bite.

The Things I Learned.....

2009-05-25T20:38:00.005-04:00

Following is a list of the top 15 things I learned this weekend.

Crick and Creek are the same thing.
Warsher and washer are also the same.
If you get the same set of cards again the deck was apparently not "shifted" very well.
If you don't want to play certain cards in a game you can slush off instead of slough off.
Kids receive more joy from playing in the barn, searching for toads, stomping in mud puddles, throwing rocks in storm drains, playing fetch with a dog and swimming in a creek than watching cartoons or playing video games.
If it's raining and you ask someone who is getting soaked to look for an umbrella - they WILL be annoyed. Asking if there happened to be a tarp in the truck by chance will also provoke the same reaction.
I would last on the game of Survivor for probably 5 minutes.
I apparently love my brother more than he loves me.
Some of the most amazing people in the world are in my family.
One of the best feelings is laughing so hard at a home video that you almost pee yourself. Especially when it is at the expense of someone other than you.
I tasted the best cupcake EVER this weekend.
My child can possibly get dirtier than I ever imagined - and I loved every minute of it.
If you are going to arrive 5 minutes late to a Memorial Day service at church, don't wear flip flops that alert the entire congregation of your late arrival. (For clarification - I was the one wearing the flip flops).
I suck at the following games: euchre, corn hole, pass the trash and Screw Your Neighbor.
I could pretty much guarantee my Uncle Eddie was going to pass me a 2 when I traded cards with him - but yet I was a sucker and continued to trade with him. See #14.

And we're off!!!!!!

2009-05-23T09:37:00.002-04:00

In a few hours we will be off for the weekend. We are going to Isabella's soccer game at noon and then heading straight out to travel to spend the weekend with my moms side of the family in Ohio. Small town of maybe 100 people - no cell phone coverage (apparently AT&T hasn't felt the need to put towers around the area). The kids play in the barn, catch frogs/toads, swim in the creek and lots of other great fun things. My city girls LOVE this weekend and look forward to it every year.

The adults play cards until wee hours in the morning. Have cook outs, talk, take pictures and play corn hole. Minimal money is spent and the focus is just family, family, family and lots of fun. On Monday we always go to the church and have a memorial day service and then go to the local cemetary and have a playing of taps, 21 gun salute and then we place flowers on the graves of all the men and women who served this great country! It's awesome.

Steve is hanging back here at the Casa and going to the Indy 500 on Sunday. We've lived here for 2 years but this will be the first time he has gone. A vendor of his at work gave him 2 tickets. I told him to root for Jeff Gordan to see if he knew Jeff was a Nascar driver vs Indy driver - he did. My man is so smart. LOL

Then.....we leave Thursday evening to spend the week at the BEACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are taking the kids to Disney and they don't have a clue. We are going to surprise them the morning we head to the Park. Thanks for the awesome hook-up from our neighbor JD!! I in all truthfulness don't want to go to Disney but the kids will be so excited. We are planning a big trip next year and plan to spend about 7 days at Disney so this is just an appetizer until the main course next year!

Have a great weekend!

He forgot....

2009-05-21T21:17:00.001-04:00

AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isabella and the tooth fairy struck a deal this afternoon because he forgot to leave this morning as well as after school. He's giving her $20 and calling it a done deal for all remaining teeth to come out. She made out on the deal because she doesn't have that many teeth left to fall out I don't think.

Dear Mr. Tooth Fairy

2009-05-20T19:14:00.002-04:00

Please remember to make an appearance this evening under Isabella's pillow. Please do not forget like the last tooth a couple of weeks ago that ended up costing you $10. The Garza tooth fairy family has been following Dave Ramsey and we really need to start paying a more normal rate for a lost tooth. Your $10 a tooth (to pay interest or whatever for missing like last time) or your continued variance between $5 and $10 is too much. I really, really think Mr. Ramsey would agree with me. I think $2 for a big front tooth (like the one lost today) sounds reasonable and $1 for all other remaining dinky teeth.

Kindest regards,
Your wife

P.S. - I have lots to say, my list keeps getting longer and longer. Just need to find time to sit down and make a post! Will add to the list of to do's for tomorrow.

A Better Day

2009-05-15T08:57:00.003-04:00

Lord knows it has to be better than yesterday.

Recap:
Breakfast - 2 ice cream sandwiches
Lunch - bowl of Rocky Road ice cream
Supper - 1 ice cream sandwich and a small portion of pasta with chicken

Today:
Breakfast - Blackberry, raspberry protein shake.

Already off to a better start.

My surgery recovery is a slow process and I'm trying not to overdue it so I've spent lots of time watching movies with Ava. Yesterday we watched Kung Foo Panda 3 times (although we both napped a bit the during the 2nd showing).

Another blonde surgery moment - I called my BFF from high school to update her on my surgery. I apparently forgot I called her - and proceeded to call her not once, not twice - but 3 times. Boy - I'm a sharp one aren't I? LOL

Huge props to Kris and Amy for playing Mommy role this weekend. The kids spent the night with Amy on Saturday and came home Sunday late afternoon. Kris had the girls on Friday night. Also, I had to call Amy (and wake her up mind you) to drive Isabella to school on MOnday because as we were walking to the bus stop - the bus was pulling away. So, she got up and drove Isabella to school for me. I love my neighbors - Kris and Amy are far, far, far more than neighbors - they are best friends for life! BFFL!~LOL

Life is So Good

2009-05-05T19:55:00.002-04:00

There isn't any other words that would work for the title of this post. Life is just really, really good right now. I have many days where it's hard to want to put my feet on the floor and want to really face what the day has to offer - but the last couple of weeks have just been super. Nothing monumental has even happened - just savoring the greatness of the warm weather, bathing the kids after a full day of playing outside (that requires me to also clean the tub each evening from the ring of dirt they leave behind), the smell of fresh cut grass, planting flowers, reading outside in a lawn chair while the kids play, drawing with sidewalk chalk, kicking the soccer ball, long walks in the neighborhood - the list just goes on and on.

I'm so motivated when the weather is nice. I tackle cleaning projects with joy, work out with excitement and don't even get stressed when Steve has to work late, work on his day off or go into work early. You get my drift.

Today after I took Isabella to school I did 2 loads of laundry, washed the entry way rugs for all of the doors and then Ava and I went to the library. Stopped at Subway and got us each a sandwich and then spread a blanket down in the front yard and had a picnic with Ava (this just warms my heart to no end remembering that moment). Then for some crazy reason I decided to clean out the garage. And by clean out - that meant moving EVERYTHING out of it, sweeping it, getting the hose and spraying it down, using the squeegee to clear the water out, sprayed down all the shelving units, garden tool holder thing, threw tons and tons of stuff away and then organized 90% of it. I only partially messed with the cabinet that has all the yard chemicals and fertilizer stuff and didn't do much to Steves work bench. I had 5 people driving by stop to ask if I was having a yard sale because I had it all pulled out in the yard and driveway. LOL

Then, finished the day with a long, hot bubble bath and did a glycolic acid peel on my face. My face just looks so fresh after those peels - it hurts like a dickens but the end result is worth it.

Steve and I have spent the last 3 days planting flowers and he finished up his garden. The flowers are going to look amazing if I may brag for a bit. I'm really happy with our selections and placement of everything. I'll post pictures once we get mulch delivered and spread. We spend so, so much time outside during the summer and early fall that we really appreciate the flowers. Plus, if anyone knows my Mom and her yard/flowers - you know I get the desire honestly.

Then, add to the mix the fabulous fantastic neighbors and life just can't get much better. Last night me, Steve, Mark and Amy and Pam were all sitting on Pams back porch relaxing (me after taking a Flexeral that I got from Amy because I pulled a muscle trying to use a shovel for the first time - LOL). Mark volunteered to mow the yard for me the next couple weeks because I'm having a little surgery on Friday and will be out of mowing capacity for a couple weeks (I geniunely like mowing the yard because its an hour of cardio that doesn't involve me being on a treadmill or elliptical). Bless his heart - he even knows we like our lawn mowed at a higher level than most. Then, when he realized Pam pays for a company to mow her yard he insisted on her cancelling them and he would just mow her yard as well. Don't you all wish you lived in my neighborhood??? Mark and Amy are so generous and just awesome friends to Steve and I - we are so, so blessed. Plus, Mark has a riding lawn mower so he can zip around the yard in no time at all.

Oh, remembering the sidewalk chalk - a cute thing Isabella did was write Pams name on the end of her driveway - I guess to remind her where she lived so she wouldn't drive past it. LOL The girls love Pam to pieces!

So, to end this fabulous day I'm going to go relax and watch American Idol and The Biggest Loser (I'm not really an American Idol fan but Amy is so I watch it so I know who she is talking about when she mentions the show - see what a great friend I am. hahahahaha)

Slow News Week

2009-05-02T08:31:00.003-04:00

In the Garza household. A post with no pictures.

The week was spent working in the yard and flower beds tilling up the soil, pulling weeds and getting ready to plant.

Most know my love for CVS - you can get just about anything free there with a little research and coupon clipping. Well, I've had to take Ava with me for the last couple of CVS runs. I always buy her some candy at the end of the trip because I'm just a great mom. She loves Tic Tacs. After she eats them all she always asks "Can we go back to PVS Kids and get some more?" "When are we going to PVS Kids again". She plays games on PBSKIDS.org on the computer all the time so I guess she assumes I shop at a similar store. LOL

We are counting down the days until the end of school - not to much longer. Loving the beautiful weather so I can hang outside with the greatest friends in the neighborhood - Amy and Kris. They are helping me out big time next week! They are the best!

Today is soccer games and then I think we'll head to the library. Nothing major.

Cascarones

2009-04-24T07:41:00.004-04:00

Or, in English, Confetti Easter Eggs. My mother in law sends these to the kids every year and they look forward to them more than anything else. We use a few on Steve and then the remaining get used mainly on my brother. LOL He's a good sport.

Trent holding Dialycia so Ava can work her magic.

The girls ganging up on Trent.

Ava wouldn't just crush them at first she would get it and tap, tap, tap until it finally broke. It's a wonder Trents head didn't get cut.

Just a cute picture of Isabella before soccer practice. I love being a soccer mom!

My brother and I - he was picking me up so we would be close to the same height in pictures vs him being a foot taller than me.

Easter 2009

2009-04-20T18:58:00.005-04:00

Surprise surprise - pictures loaded in reverse order. So, you get the end of the day first....no patience to redo right now.

Ava and Mommy after church.

Steve and the girls before church. Well, the girls before church - Steve had to work.

No description needed. LOL

Isabella and Ava. My brother was ecstatic to see they were only in color cordinating outfits vs matching. Progress on my part. LOL

Poor Isabella was literally pulled out of bed 2 minutes before this picture was taken.

Dave Ramsey approved Easter baskets. Although there is a fabulous bible in Isabellas basket that you can't see. It is a bible written at 3rd grade level so she can take to church, read and actually understand it (I probably should read it and understand better - LOL).

Ok - the following are the day before Easter taken at Isabellas first indoor soccer game.

Ava laying on the ground in pink white striped pants with a group of kids she met. They had found a bug.

Coach Daddy and Isabella - #2 before the game. My camera setting was off and the pics are fuzzy.

The girls and Daddy reading daily bible story/prayer before Bed.

Spring Break - Newport Aquarium

2009-04-16T08:09:00.002-04:00

I'm going to be a posting freak today and get caught up on the last couple of weeks of pictures and posts. Since we are going to the beach in June we were keeping a low key spring break. We drove over to Kentucky/Cincinnati and went to the Newport Aquarium. We didn't do much else because Isabella was still recovering from her 103+ fever and was worn out.

Ava before the pool - ready to rock and roll.

Isabella armed and ready with her water gun.

Ava having the best seat in the house touring the Aquarium.

When we were at Animal Kingdom a couple years ago, Isabella got her face painted. Ever since Ava has been begging for her face to be painted. She almost squeeled when she saw the aquarium had face painting. It's not the Disney experience but it will satisfy her for a little while.

Ava still finishing up eating her chocolate chip cookie.

Easter Weekend

2009-04-11T16:39:00.004-04:00

Isabella had her first indoor soccer game this morning. She did awesome. She was aggressive and going after the ball and played goalie even for a bit and blocked several shots. Yippee!!!

More to come later. Just hoping and praying all who read this are remembering the reason for celebrating this weekend. For me and my family - it isn't about the Easter Bunny and coloring of easter eggs but Christs sacrifice for us on the cross.

My hope for everyone is to not be in too much of a rush to get to the resurrection that we forget the death and the sacrifice in which that death was for sinners like myself. The resurrection is mighty but the taste and sting of death was required!

Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?
1 Corinthians 15:55

...just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Matthew 20:28

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds WE ARE HEALED.
Isaiah 53:5

Watch Out Uncle Trent

2009-04-08T19:13:00.002-04:00

It looks like you are wondering what is going to happen to you in the next couple of weeks???

The above picture says it all!! They arrived today - so be prepared!!!!

I just love this picture of my brother that my sis-in-law took of Trent. I think he looks so handsome in it.

The beautifully painted eggs are sent every year by my mother-in-law and my kids LOVE them!!! They get more and more excited each year. The eggs are almost to beautiful to mess with - but the kids quickly get over their beauty. They are a Mexican tradition (forgive my history story telling because I don't know the back history really) - but the eggs have the bottoms removed and they are filled with confetti and then a thin tissue paper is glued over the hole. My kids smash them on their dads head (1 dozen and then 3 dozen on my brother - LOL). Occasionally Grammy, me and my sister in law will get some confetti tossed on us - but they get great pleasure smashing on Uncle Trent for some reason.

Pictures to follow of course!

What the heck?

2009-04-06T10:56:00.003-04:00

I had washed the girls winter coats and had them ready to be stored and we woke up to SNOW this morning. Crazy I tell ya!!!

It's hard to keep up with the blog and facebook. Sometimes I update the blog continually and others I'm updating on facebook. I need to learn to do both! :)

So, we survived Spring Break and a week with Steve on vacation at home. We didn't have many plans - which is a good thing. Isabella came down with a fever last Friday and ran a 103 degree temp for at least 4 days. We went to Cincinnati/Florence, KY area to go to the Newport Aquarium and swim at the hotel. Isabella felt like poo so she swam for a total of 5-10 minutes. We knew she was under the weather because she is a fish and has to be drug out of the pool. Steve and Ava ran some errands, swam and got out of the hotel while Isabella and I hung out at the hotel and watched some movies and cuddled. We went to the aquarium and the girls had a great time - I'll post pictures this week.

Steve went to yoga with me last Saturday and tore his back up again. He had always thought it was yoga that was aggravating the disc and now, it's pretty much confirmed. I gave him some pain pills and they've helped relieve the pain some. I'm just hoping this heals on its own and no surgery is required again. His toes/feet are already experiencing numbness like the last time. :(

The girls and I headed to Mitchell for a couple of days. They hung out at my moms and played while Mom and I watched Movies (Slumdog Millionaire and Marley and Me). Saturday the girls colored easter eggs but I think their Grammy had more fun decorating then the girls. LOL It was sweet hearing them say how "gorgeous" and "beautiful" their eggs were.

Well, I'm trying to be motivated on this snowy, dreary day. Went to the grocery store already this morning, roasting a chicken right now for later and getting ready to cut up some fresh fruit and veggies. Mom had a bunch of fruit cut up and seperated in containers and it made it so easy to grab something healthy anytime you opened the fridge. Ava requested chicken and strawberries (ugh - I just realized I forgot to buy strawberries while I typed this!!! Darn it!!!) for breakfast lunch and dinner. Hoping she'll do the same here!

Post filled with Bragging

2009-03-26T18:03:00.002-04:00

So, back away now if you don't want to hear bragging from me on my kids. :)

We had Isabella's parent teacher conference today. She is doing exceptionally well. She is doing math at 3rd grade level as well as reading at 3rd grade level. She scored leaps and bounds above district and national averages in math and reading. And, the little nerd...um, I mean smart girl...is doing basic algebra problems. Folks, I took algebra in 9th grade. I'm sure the training she does in Math Pentatholan helps as well. Boy, don't I feel smart next to her. LOL She has a very analytical mind and just processes and thinks much, much different than her mama!

As long as she remains socially active and not socially immature I'm all for her being a nerdy, smart girl. LOL She starts indoor soccer in a couple of weeks so we are trying to allow her to branch out as much as possible. Anyway - after the conference today we were super proud of her.

We took the girls to Chuck E Cheese for their first Tasty Tasty Club reward. They had a blast while Steve and I were bored to tears waiting for them to use up their tokens. Isabella has a 1/2 day again tomorrow and then starts spring break!!! We aren't going anywhere major but we do have a jam packed week.

Sunday after church we are heading over to Cincinnati and spending the night at the Hilton and the girls are going to swim in the indoor pool Then Monday we are going to the Newport Aquarium (we got a great package deal for the hotel/aquarium tickets). Tuesday the girls are spending the night with Jack for a sleep over. That sounds kinda funny typing it - having sleep overs with a boy. LOL But, they adore and love Amy, Mark, Christine, Jack and Corey so they will have an awesome time. Wednesday and Thursday we'll take advantage of our zoo and childrens museum memberships and head there for some fun. Friday we head to my moms for a couple of days. Steve is on vacation starting today until next Saturday - yippeee!!!!

Steve took Ava on a date this morning. He is so great about spending special one on one time with each of the girls. They went to McDonalds for pancakes for breakfast and then Ava played on the indoor playground there. Ava and I spend lots and lots and lots of one on one time together - did I mention a lot of time with each other???? LOL But, Isabella and I don't as much other than little trips to the store or Target. So, our next outing - although a couple months away - we are going to go and get a pedicure (me) and she'll get her nails and toenails painted (she just wants to get rhinestones on her toes and fingernails LOL) and then we'll do a little shopping for our trip to the beach at the end of May.

How many more weeks of this basketball stuff do we have left???? It's messing with my shows people. Survivor isn't on AGAIN tonight but The Office and Grey's Anatomy are new so I'm happy. teeheee

The Latest Happenings

2009-03-24T09:50:00.002-04:00

Wow, almost a week since a post. Life has just been busy and we've been on the run and the kids have behaved themselves so not much material to write about. :)

Isabella got her report card for the 3rd 9 weeks - all A's again. We are proud of her, of course. We have a parent teacher conference on Thursday. She's nervous about it since it's student led and has to do a lot of the talking. Plus, she has to go over the goals she made during the first conference and she's worried. One of her goals was to not miss a word on her spelling test the entire year. Well, a few weeks ago she made a mistake while writing her sentence (she spelled the word correctly on the test, but spelled it wrong when writing the sentence - the word was friends). So, she's embarassed she didn't meet her goal. Goodness - she places too much pressure on herself for 7!!! We tell her that constantly but she is who she is.

At Steve's restaurant they have a birthday dinner each month to celebrate the employees birthdays for the month. The managers all cook the food themselves and then they show a movie. Steve has been taking Isabella with him for the past 6 months. It's a sweet time between Daddy and his little girl each month. Ava and I went to yoga and had our own bonding time. The kid is glued to me so I think we may be having too much bonding time. LOL

We have been going to a semi-new church the past month. We love it so much!!! We went to it for a few months when we first moved here but just didn't really like the lead minister. Well, that minister has since moved on and the former associate minister is now lead. We love everything about this church!! I joined a ladies bible study the first week we went back and have had an awesome time meeting the sweet, sweet, beautiful ladies during this study.

Well, Ava is once again requesting a "salad sandwich with ranch" (bread, lettuce and ranch dressing) so off to pacify this crazy girl!

Laugh at yourself

2009-03-18T13:33:00.002-04:00

I wish I would have known years ago its so much easier when you laugh at yourself. I guess insecurities got the best of me when I was younger but now, I laugh at myself quite often. I can and often embarass myself - usually by opening my mouth. LOL

Last night I had made a roast and we were having roast beef sandwiches. I made a horseradish/mayo spread that I put on mine. Well, I didn't think it had as much zing as I wanted so Steve added some raw horseradish to my sandwich. Oh.my.gosh - my sinus' were burning - it was so strong I couldn't even finish eating it. I think Steve just wanted my sandwich. :)

Ava requested a "salad sandwich with ranch" last night. Translated - she wanted bread, lettuce and some ranch dressing. I did talk her into adding some beef with her salad sandwich.

Tasty Tasty Club Sucess!

2009-03-13T17:22:00.004-04:00

A couple weeks ago I started the Tasty Tasty Club in our house. I read about it on another blog. What you do is make little Tasty Club Cards with 7 round dots. When your child eats a serving of a new food or a food they think they do not like - then, they get to punch their dot. Once both kids get the dots all punched out - we go somewhere as a family to eat as a treat that the kids choose. Right now - it's looking to be Chuck E Cheese (Lord, help me!).

It has been a fabulous tool at the dinner table. I don't give them a huge serving at all but enough to equate more than a couple bites. Some of the successes have been -homemade chicken noodle soup with carrots and celery (the carrots and celery were the big obstacles - my kids like raw carrots but use to turn their nose down to cooked carrots), broccoli casserole (again, they both LOVE broccoli but with it going in a casserole, I knew I'd hear complaints), salad that has green peppers, fresh sliced mushrooms and cucumbers (they love salad but usually I don't put any fresh vegetables in it) and tonights dinner was a wild rice, mushroom and sausage casserole. When they walked in the kitchen and found out what I was making - of course, they complained and said they didn't like it. After Isabella took her first bite - she said "wow, this is actually good!". Ava only has only one more punch left and Isabella has two.

Steve has a HUGE pet peeve about people saying they don't like something. I don't have an issue with people having things they don't like - me, I can't stand peas or lima beans - would I try them if presented before me, of course but I won't load my plate up with them, that is guaranteed. My beef is parents who say their kids are so picky or will only eat 4-5 meals. I think it is such a huge disservice to the child and is sad they will be missing out on a lot of good food. Plus, going to friends houses for dinner when all the kid will eat is corn dogs, chicken nuggets, pizza or mac and cheese. It's kinda pathetic in my opinion. But, to each their own!!! That's what makes the world go round I guess.

So, I challenge you to start your own tasty tasty club - it works!

Oh - the reason I started this was I got a bunch of Paula Deen cookbooks at the library and fell in love with tons of different recipes and I wanted an incentive to have the kids eager to try the new meals out with me.

Chefs in Training

2009-03-09T13:32:00.004-04:00

Every month Steve does a cooking class at Maggianos and every few months they have a childrens cooking class. Friday my mom, my SIL and my niece came up and we took the kids to the class Saturday. I don't know who had more fun, us watching and helping them, my mom who had to stand at the table and help Isabella and Ava or Steve. Ava was hilarious and entertaining as usual. Dialycia did an awesome job making hers - she was a pro and didn't need any help.

They had their aprons and chef coats - Ava was the only one wearing a chef coat and we wrote Chef #1, Chef #2 and Chef #3 on them. It reminded me of Dr. Suess - Thing 1 and Thing 2. LOL

This is after the class with their finished product - Lasagna.

I hope they don't do this in all of the kitchens. This is how Ava tastes the food.

Isabella, listening for her next set of instructions.

Spreading the ricotta cheese.

Ava working on her lasagna.

Dialycia preparing her masterpiece.

Before class starts.

Steve with his students.

Oh, I forgot. After the class all the kids were coming up for autographs and to get their picture taken with Steve. When we walked out to the car Isabella says to me "Mom, I didn't know Daddy was famous". LOL

Birthday Dinner with BFF's

2009-03-05T16:39:00.003-05:00

Amy, Kris and I went to Maggiano's last night to celebrate our February birthdays. We had such a great time and laughed so hard it made my stomach hurt. I am so lucky we are neighbors and more importantly - great friends.

Birthday Pictures

2009-03-02T19:16:00.005-05:00

The whole group making cupcakes.

Making individual pizzas on flatbread.

Ava making her pizza.

Each girl got to decorate their own chef hat. Isabella used some lighter paint so you can't see her name and the flowers that well. Notice the water streaks behind her??? That is from Isabella and Ava spraying Molly with the water bottle last year. We need to repaint the kitchen and the family room because these spots are all over the place. :(

Ava in her chef hat.

Isabella and Emma.

Isabella and Ava after school.

Isabella with her favorite gift - MarioKart from Grandma and Papi.

Game for her Nintendo DS

This was her birthday celebration at my brothers house with the cake my mom got her. This cake was so pretty and bright and colorful! It was delicious too!

Nothing too fancy - just some random shots from her birthday and with her friends that spent the night.

Happy 7th Birthday Isabella

2009-02-26T15:40:00.011-05:00

For this child I prayed; and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him.
1 Samuel 1:27

Behold, children are a blessing from the Lord.
Psalm 127:3

7 years ago tomorrow, February 27, at 5:46 pm Isabella Grace Garza made me a Mommy. I had no idea my heart could have the capacity to love the way it did when I looked at her for the first time. Also, I was not prepared for the fears and worries that came with being a Mommy.

I'm sure the nurses at Medical City Dallas were laughing their bottoms off at me during my stay. I, for some reason, thought I was at Club Med or post pregnancy resort. I had memorized ext. 7171 immediately and would call them everytime Isabella needed her diaper changed. It wasn't until I was telling someone about being nervous changing Isabellas diaper at home for the first time when they asked who changed them in the hospital. I thought it was obvious - the nurses of course! No joke, the nurse would come and either take her back to the nursery or change the diaper in the room for me every time. LOL

2 days old

7 weeks
3 months

6 months

8 months

9 months (this one scanned funky)

1 year

My mom made the overalls for me and Steve was mortified with the hat. LOL

1 year - look at those sumo boobies. :) My little angel

1 year

15 months

18 months

2 years

3 1/2 years

4 1/2 years

5 1/2 years

School Pictures

PreK 3

PreK 4

Kindergarten

1st Grade

Thanks for looking!

Ava's Trashcan

2009-02-18T17:35:00.003-05:00

This is behind the family room TV downstairs. Behind it were several valentine sucker wrappers, I swear a roll of toliet paper it seemed, several band aids and several sucker sticks.

When vacuuming I found - no joke - at least TWENTY bandaid wrappers (Thank goodness for JD giving us free bandaids). Ava had decided to throw away the bandaid wrappers underneath the couch.

Now, after a week of Ava posts - is there any wonder why I'm crazy???

Valentines 2009

2009-02-17T10:16:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Valentines Day this year.

First - Ava wearing my UnderArmor gym headband. God help me with this kid as she ages.

Ava excited about her Love Frog from Grammy.

Isabella and some of her Valentines stash.

Ava kissing her Hersheys Chocolate bar. This kid has a serious love for these candy bars.

Heart shape pancake Steve made for the girls.

Steve was crazy busy at work on Saturday for Valentines. He said they had the biggest day dollar wise in the history of the restaurant.

Heaven Help Me

2009-02-15T18:41:00.003-05:00

The picture says it all. This girl is a hoot! Back into the cheer outfit again.

It's confirmed!

2009-02-14T17:02:00.002-05:00

I am the only one in this house that knows the following:

Where the extra rolls of toilet paper are stored.

How to remove empty roll of toilet paper.

How to install a new roll of toilet paper.

I swear, I walk into a bathroom almost daily it seems only to find empty rolls of toilet paper. Today, I busted Steve - which he tried to deny and say he was saving money because there was still some left. When I ran to get the camera to take a picture of it, he changed his tune.

When Mommy is sick & big news!

2009-02-13T11:44:00.003-05:00

Early Thursday morning (1:00 am) I was lucky to get the stomach virus the girls had last week. Steve was home until around 2:00 pm yesterday and took care of me and Ava. When he went to work Ava thankfully went down for a nap. When Isabella came home from school (thank you Kris for dropping her off at the house) I told her I'd pay her to take care of Ava and basically they had free reign to eat whatever they wanted.

This is what I woke up to this morning -

Apparently, dinner was valentines candy, chips and apple jacks. Isabella was a sweetheart and would come and check on me every couple of hours. This morning I woke up feeling so much better. Hopefully, Steve stays healthy - especially through the weekend - he's super busy at work.

So, the big news....we now have a college professor in the house! Steve is going to be teaching a cooking class next semester at the Art Institute here in Indy!!! He has always talked about going into teaching once he retires from cooking - so this was an awesome, surprising opportunity that fell at his feet! He'll teach every Monday morning for 4 hours. The semester starts in April and goes until June I think. I'm so proud of him!!!!!!!!!!

Tired

2009-02-10T19:35:00.002-05:00

I'm just now sitting down after a busy day. I don't think I ate lunch today - sad that I can't even remember.

I did 6 loads of laundry, cleaned all 3 bathrooms, dusted the upstairs, cleaned out the master bedroom closet - it looks so good - I just want to sit in it. LOL

I'm happy to say Dave Ramsey has allowed for an "Alisha maintenance" envelope and I was able to go and get my eyebrows waxed. It's been a productive day all around.

Poor Amy has what Isabella and Ava had the other day. I saw Mark at preschool drop off and he said she was in bad shape. I called Kris and found out what medicine she said stopped her daughter from puking and went and picked it up for Amy and dropped it off. I secretly wanted her to get better quick so she would still be able to go to dinner with Kris and I on Thursday. LOL

Off to fold one last load of laundry and then I'm settling in to watch some TV.

I was right!

2009-02-08T10:36:00.003-05:00

The nurse called and BOTH spots came back pre-cancerous from the dermatologist. One I have to go back and have some minor surgery on because they didn't get everything. I have to wait for the last biopsy to heal and then they will go back and dig deeper.

So - my tip for the day....have yearly body checks by a dermatologist.!!