Melting

Last night was Bry's night to pick for our date, and let me tell you, he didn't disappoint! I knew the night would be good when he came home with roses... I {heart} roses! Though I made the mistake of telling Bry early on that I didn't like flowers because they just die, he still surprises me every now and again with them! He's the best!

Anyways, we got all dolled up and headed over to Ahwatukee to the Melting Pot... can we say oh my YUM?! We'd never been, so it was a super fun experience. We were there nearly 2 hours and enjoyed every minute of the romance, the food, and the company. This salad was the Caprese salad and OH MY GOODNESS! I wanted more, and more, and more... and I'm still craving it tonight! Everything was so perfect! Well, until this super drunk guy in a table near by started to speak loudly about "Mormons" and the kind of people we are, but I'm trying to forget about that. Thankfully, this guy being annoying was somewhat entertaining seeing as even the servers were getting annoyed with him! But, back to the awesome date... lol


I love spending time with the hubs, and there's just something about sitting shoulder to shoulder sharing yummy chocolate and feeding each other that just screams romance!

I'm so blessed to have such an amazing hubby! But now I need some ideas on how to one up him next weekend! ;) Thanks babe for being so amazing and putting so much thought into our date, and thanks even more for stopping at Filiberto's on the way home and getting me a horchata-- now THAT's love!

Spoiled

My parents have been staying with us and we are all getting a little spoiled. My kids especially. They love Papa getting up and cooking them breakfast every morning, and love even more that Papa listens to their requests! I love that my Dad likes to keep a clean kitchen so I can be lazy and the kitchen still gets done! ;)

Tonight at 10:04pm Papa was setting up for breakfast in the morning. I told him the kids were getting too spoiled and he needed to make them cereal for breakfast so that when they leave my kids don't go into total shock when they realize Mommy doesn't cook breakfast on school days. :)
Papa did say cereal wasn't an acceptable breakfast {he wanted to make chorizo and eggs or french toast} so he is making toast and sausage to accompany their cereal.

I'm glad my kids are getting time to be spoiled by Grammy and Papa. Natali gets her hair and jewelery done by Grammy every morning. I am loving getting to shower and get dressed while my kids are getting the finishing touches done to them! It's nice to have my parents around and spend time with them also! Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Birthday Boys!!!!

Today is such a special day! Two of my favorite boys in the universe have their birthdays today!
I'm sure it's not easy to share a birthday with your brother, but Andy and Giovanni do a good job at it!

We woke up at 6:30 to open birthday gifts, eat birthday breakfast {an all meat omelet for Andy and homemade pancakes drenched in syrup for Giovanni! Yum!!}, and get ready for school! The boys brought cupcakes to school with them {60 cupcakes!! YIKES!} then we brought them lunch to school... Giovanni wanted a McDonald's happy meal and Andy wanted Asian beef with rice and sushi {yumm-o!!}.

Tonight we are making Hawaiian haystacks for dinner and then having a family over for cake. Then I'll be staying up all night baking-- Giovanni's party is at 10 tomorrow morning and Andy's is at 2 tomorrow afternoon {I don't know what I was thinking lol}

I'm so happy to celebrate these boys today... they are my little lover buggers! I couldn't imagine my life without them!
{we went to Fry's today-- the boys climbed into the freezer-- I had to take a pic!!}


10 Reasons I Love My 10 Year Old {"Andy Pandy Pants"}
1. He can ALWAYS make me laugh {unless he's making me cry-kidding!}
2. He keeps me on my toes
3. He asks every day {without fail} if he can drive
4. He is one of the best helpers when he knows I'm stressed
5. He loves to read and when he's really into a book you can't even talk to him
6. He is a mans man, loves meat, guns, and pretty girls {I'm in trouble! lol}
7. He is developing a testimony of the Gospel and will make a great missionary
8. He is truly smart
9. When he puts his mind to something there's no stopping him
10. He is constantly seeking after knowledge


5 Reasons I Love My 5 Year Old {"Barky Von Shnowzer"}
1. He is my boy {just ask him, he loves me the most}
2. As much as he struggled with speaking, he tried so hard and his hard work payed off
3. He has developed the cutest little personality
4. He gives the best foot rubs EVER {and loves giving them!!}
5. He takes after his Daddy- could sit and watch movie after movie and popcorn for every meal!


Boys, I love you so much! I'm so blessed to be your Mommy! You two are my favorite boys EVER! I love you both the most-- I WIND!!! ;)

Advancing

Tuesday night Andy was advanced from a Bear to a Weblo in Cub Scouts. He also received his Religious Knot, one of the only 3 awards you can take with you in scouting. I am so proud of Andy, of all our hard work {it was as much me climbing on him as it was him lol} and of the confidence this has given him!

Part of the advancement they have a parent go up with the scout and have a contest, like eat three crackers and then try to howl like a wolf... well, Bry and Andy got a tin of whipped cream each and had to find the candy kisses hidden inside... only my hubby would end up putting the tin in our son's face when they were done and the whipped cream would fly all over one of my besties in the ward... Good thing Tera loves me and is a good sport! ;)I'm so proud of Andy. He has grown so much in the past few years. I love seeing his little testimony develop and I love seeing the example he is setting for the other kids. This does make me sad because this means it's Andy's last year in Cub Scouts , next year {when he turns 11} he will be in Boy Scouts... it's crazy to think of! But I am happy we won't have to buy a new book each year! ;)

Way to go, Andy! You're my favorite {almost} 10 year old!!

Surprise!!

This is my favorite family pic we've EVER taken-- I seriously want to use it for our Christmas cards!
Luis, Bry, Me, and GI Jen {his co-workers and buds}
Lu-E and Bry {everyone has a nickname}
So, I said I didn't want to take a pic w Jen cause I'd look too fat w her so she puffed out her cheeks-- LOVE it! lol
Alicia, Jen, Me, Jess, and Britt-- THE best friends a girl can ask for!
Me and Britty! So fun having my best friend so close!! yay!

Last Saturday I had a surprise party for Bry for his birthday! I wanted to make his 30th birthday extra special for him. It was so hard for me to keep this from him because I tell him EVERYTHING! But, I did it! I didn't even brake when we were laying in bed one night after Natali's party and he was telling me he was so happy he and I were going to spend a quiet date night together for his birthday! {Let me tell ya, I was tempted to tell him at that moment, but I didn't!}

Saturday morning I got into my "cleaning mode" now, everyone thought this would send red flags, but if you really know me I have a tendency to get in these moods where I want the house scrubbed, so I'm sure Bry thought I was just having one of "those" days. lol. We then went to Wal Mart to pick up some things and Bry diddle dawdled the whole time. He isn't a shopper, but that day he was lol. I was rather annoyed when he stopped by the booth they had set up in the front of the store and let the kids get bracelets for a donation for breast cancer and took like 10 min. lol. But finally we got home and my friend Alicia came over. I told Bry that Alicia needed some girl time so asked if he could take the kids out for a while. It worked!! :)

We were supposed to have fondue and a chocolate fountain... it turned out more like fondon't... but, I tried. So veggies, dip, and a chocolate fountain. YUM! :)

Thank you so much to our friends who helped keep this a surprise and helped me keep my sanity!

And once again, Happy Birthday to my love-- I'm so blessed to have such an amazing hubby, even though you are old... good thing I think older men are sexy ;)


Just 2 more birthday's to go this month and we're done! Let me tell you-- NO MORE KIDS BORN IN AUGUST!! {as long as that's what His plan is, too, of course lol}

30

Yesterday Bry celebrated his 30th birthday! It was a fun day, but kinda sucked because he had to work. We woke up and he got his presents-- a few weeks back he got the new Palm Pre so that was his big gift, but the kids made him a shirt, a key chain that says "We {heart} u daddy", and a plaque that says "Fathers who are kids at heart make the best daddies". Bry then left for work and I rushed to get the kids to school.

I then did something I've never done before in attempt to make the hub's bday special... I made him homemade Carmel corn! Bry is a total pop corn connoisseur, and he's always talked about his mom making Carmel corn so I got the recipe and gave it a try! It was sooo easy! After I was done {and tested the finished product} I drove and met Bry and some of his co-workers for lunch. It was fun!

We made carne asada tacos for dinner {Bry's request} and I made Bry some brownies {he had cake at work so I thought I'd mix it up a bit!}. The best thing was when we were getting the candles Andy told me how when he was little Bry put those trick candles on his cake so he wanted to get him back! So we totally did! It was awesome!!

Babe, I love you so much! I'm so glad we were able to spend some time together for your birthday. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me and I love that we have become so close. You are my best friend, my world, my lover, my everything. Happy Birthday babe!

It Sure Is Quiet Around Here

I never thought this day would come so quick, but all 3 of my "babies" are in school! Andy is going into 5th grade, Natali ("Lauren" is what they call her at school) is going into 2nd, and my baby Giovanni is going into kindergarten!! Wow!!

Last night they were all so excited we had to calm them down quite a bit before they received their Father's blessings for the start of the year. It was a nice, spiritual time to spend with our family. And I cried through all of them. After we were done they went to go get in bed and Andy said he was so excited he needed a sleeping pill- where does this kid come from?! I cracked up!! When I checked on them at 10 they were all fast asleep!!

This morning was fun, it's Bryant's 30th Birthday so we woke up, got the kids ready and then they opened gifts with Daddy while I was cooking breakfast. Then we {rushed} to get them to school on time.

I walked Giovanni into his classroom and when we got there it was crowded, so Giovanni turns to me and says, "there's no room in here, there's too many kids, we should just go home". That's my boy! lol. Too cute! Two seconds later the principal came in and said it was time for us parents to leave. There was a boy in HYSTERICS, it made me thankful Giovanni wasn't that kid. {who am I kidding? He was that kid 2 years ago on his first day of speech school}

So, the kids are all nestled safely in their desks while I'm home. All. Alone. Dishes are done, floors are swept, laundry is being washed, I'm updating my blog, meeting the hubby for a {surprise} birthday lunch. And it's not even 10am! A lot gets done with no kids around!

Though, I know this will all change in 12 short days when I start school, too!


Oh, and I think it should be noted, I didn't shed one single tear! I was pretty proud!