What a Difference a year makes!!

Ricky's 1st day of school 3 year old Pre-K

Ricky's 1st day of school 4 year old pre-k

Ricky's first day of school transitional (5 years)

Ricky's First Day of Transitional

Is the sun really in his eyes this early in the morning???

Ricky getting ready to get out of the car and being lead to the building.



Ricky acting silly before school

Silly boy

Again striking a pose.

Where did the time go? It seems just like yesterday I brought my precious lil gift from God home. I know it's not kindergarten but it might as well be.
He is no longer in the pre-K building at Windwood but the academy side. His curriculum is the same as kinder and he goes 5 days a week.
He was excited to go and tackle this new adventure head on.
I made sure that he went to bed at a decent hour since he will be waking up a little earlier than usual. In the morning he was up before I could get him up. He ate his breakfast got dressed and off we went. All four of us piled into the car to see him off on his first day.
I was very upset that we were not suppose to walk him to his class the first day. Isn't this like a mother child tradition. You walk them to class and take pictures? Isn't this when they do well but your losing it? Well I missed that part. He did get out of the car great and was lead of to his class. This is when I started getting teary eyed. My baby whose really not a baby anymore was being lead away into an unknown. I know he's fine and will do just great. He's a very likable and smart guy.
I was so excited to pick him up and hear all about his day. The teacher said he had a great day. Woo Hoo!!!! He said he played with his new friends but doesn't remember their names.
I treasure all these little things with him because I know one day which will only come way to fast he will be able to manage with out me.

Schlitterbahn Summer Fun!!

Towards the end of the day Hana fell asleep riding the lazy river. Ricky II just had to get in the picture :-)

Hana asleep

Leah and Me

Hana just went down the slide

Ricky and Hana on the lazy river.

Look to the very right - Ricky sliding

Ricky going down his favorite slide.

Ricky at the wave pool.

I decided to meet a very good friend, Leah and her family at Schlitterbahn Galveston for the day. I know Leah and I talked about going all year. Since she was down there visiting her family I thought why not.
The kids had so much fun and they were so good. I don't remember any whining or begging for anything. It was great!
We did the lazy river many times. Towards the end Hana was falling asleep and on the last go around she actually fell asleep. Even when we went on the rapids and water got on her she slept right through it.
They both loved the pipe line slide. I was very impressed that Ricky wasn't afraid especially since he had to go down alone.
I have to say it was a great trip. On our way back home we met dad and some friends at Lasagna House for some great Italian food.

Lessons in Cooking!!!

Delicious mini burgers

cat cupcakes

Hana and Ricky decorating - but it looks more like they are eating the cakes.

Lil Ricky received a cookbook and apron as one of his birthday presents. He was so excited and just ready to jump in and cook. I let him pick out 2 recipes that I would go buy the ingredients for. He chose to make cat cupcakes and mini hamburgers.
He had lots of fun making them. He was so proud of his accomplishment. I have to admit both were very yummy. We made a lot of cupcakes thinking we were going to give some to our neighbors on both sides. Well one neighbor left a text that she is about to have her 1st child via c-section. Lets just say I was stuck with a lot of cup cakes.
The mini burgers were easy and very good. Definitely will keep this one in my meal rotation.

Priceless Words

This weekend the kids had a busy but fun schedule. Sadly, it was with out me. On Friday they had a sitter because Ricky and I had to attend a rehearsal dinner in which Ricky was one of the grooms man. Saturday Ricky II and Hana had a sitter for a very long time with one of the greatest sitters. She has 2 kids of her own so my kids are in heaven. They went to the Woodlands mall, played in the kid area, rode the carousel and ate at Chick Fil A. Sunday one of my dearest friends, Steph took my kiddos to a birthday party along with her 3 kids. Yes, I know she's one of a kind and super mom.
My kids had an amazing and fun filled weekend. Ricky and I were sitting on the floor as I was asking him about it and he was letting me on all the fun that I missed, he gave me a hug and said "My very favorite thing is being with you".
There is no price tag that could be put on those words. They are priceless and will forever be treasured. I am very blessed to have such a great little guy.

Another Great Corpus Trip

The only picture I was able to get of them together. I tried everyday,

Hana playing in the sand.


The kids with Babi





I had to bribe her to get somewhat of a smile out of her.



Ricky excited about boogie boarding


Look at him go - YAY!!

She would not pose for anything.




I have no idea what he's doing but he managed to engineer something.

Nope, no smile



Hana getting ready to catch some fish.


I have decided to take the kids to visit my parents in Corpus Christi before the summer is over and school starts. They love going to the beach and visiting their grandparents. We stayed from Tuesday till Sunday. Everyday was spent at the beach. Our days went pretty much like this. We woke up, had breakfast than went to the beach till lunch, ate lunch relaxed till about 5pm and than went back out again till about 7:30pm. The morning beach time was just me and the kids. At times it was hard because Hana wanted to play in the sand but Ricky wanted to be in the surf. I had to leave Hana by herself to play. I watched her the whole time!! Thankfully at times someone would sit and play with her so she didn't have to be alone. The evening beach times my mom, Hana would be with me so it was much easier.
The beach had a lot of waves this time. I'm not very fond of waves. The kids loved it though. They love jumping them. Ricky learned how to boogie board. I was so proud of him. He caught on extremely fast and he never got discouraged when a wave would just pummel him. Seeing him catch a wave and the excitement he got out of it was priceless. A lil older boy was boogie boarding near him and just talking to him so he taught Ricky a new phrase "totally dude" so for days it was Ricky's new phrase.
I think I brought most of the beach home with me. I have sand galore in my car.
It was a great trip!!!

Happy 5th Birthdday Ricky!!

Ricky eating his Iron Man cake - yummy

Ricky getting ready to make a wish and blow out the candles

Iron Man cake

Me and Ricky

Me and Hana

Playing a parachute game at his party. Of course Hana had to follow Ricky.

Hana swinging from the rope.

On July 25 my lil guy turned 5. I can't believe the years have gone by so fast. He was so excited for his birthday to get here. He knew it was his day! He even said "on my birthday i'm going to make a mess" which I rebuttal with "the next day you'll have to clean it, because it won't be your birthday." He quickly changed his mind and decided not to make a mess. We had his birthday party at Basels Gymnastics, which was his choice. He decided on an Iron Man cake. Finding Iron Man decorations was almost non existent so it was Iron Man vs the Power Rangers. The kids had so much fun playing as did some of the adults. Ricky had a great turn out. The party was a success!!!

Dear Ricky, The years have gone by so fast. I remember holding you in my arms, you were so tiny and helpless. It seems like I just blinked and now your 5. You are an incredible little boy. You are very sweet and caring. Your dad and I are extremely lucky that God has blessed us with you. I couldn't ask for a more perfect child. I hope you never lose your innocence and your non caring about what everyone else thinks. As long as it makes you happy that is all that matters. I love going places with you for the first time and seeing your excitement and just the pure joy that you have. I love that you think i'm the best thing in the whole wide world. I love how the small things in life make you happy, like chasing butterflies, eating ice cream, having family movie night, catching love bugs, playing in the sprinklers, singing, and dancing. We are very proud of your accomplishments in the past 5 years, from learning to write your name to playing baseball and everything in between. I know some days are harder than others, but I can't imagine my life with out you and Hana. You are what makes me truly happy. It doesn't matter what I don't have in life because as long as I have you, Hana and daddy I have everything. I love you more than words could ever explain. Happy birthday my sweet little boy. I love you to the moon and back, Mommy