Christmas 2011

He came! Santa came and brought all the kids were wanting and then some. We went to College Station to spend Christmas with our families and spent extra long there since my sister was visiting from her new home in Minnesota/Wisconsin. We pretty much celebrated from Friday-Sunday! I was glad that my mom and Shawn watched the kids so I could go to dinner with friends and actually "enjoy" some adult conversation and vent a little. :) Only downside is I came home to two kids bouncing off the walls.

Christmas Eve we went to visit Cy & Emily to let my parents get the house in order (my kids tend to tear it up). It was great spending some time with them and the kids. Emily was preparing some yummy food for their X-mas Eve bash. Later on we headed back to my parents to prepare for our Mexican fiesta. We had tamales, enchiladas, chips, dips, tres leches and margaritas. It was just like old times with family and friends. The kids loved when my dad and Dr. Arizpe played music. See the pictures of Maddie dancing and clapping and Max playing the bongos. We stayed up and the kids opened up one gift a piece, and went to bed WAY past their bedtime again.

 Christmas Day we woke up and opened gifts. The kids got so many toys!! You can tell they are loved. Max absolutely loved his guitar from his grandpa and they both loved Maddie's new musical Elmo. Can you tell they come from a musical family? Another favorite was balls. My poor kids don't play with them often since our dog loves them too. Let's see how long we can get them to last. We were so thankful for all the gifts and I know the kids will play with them for a long time. Now its time to donate some of their old toys.

The party didn't stop there thought. We went out to Suzy's for a X-mas day brunch and the kids enjoyed seeing their Honey. We managed to eat more yummy food, but once everyone started napping we headed back home to get ready for our Christmas dinner. Since we weren't all together for Thanksgiving we had an old fashioned turkey dinner with all the sides for dinner. Oh, and we decided to clean out Dad's wine cabinet.....that was fun. Max went to bed early and Maddie was cranky and that made my cranky as well. But she eventually went to bed so I got to relax a little.

All in all it was a great Christmas and we all had fun, but it was SO GOOD to get home. Maddie loved here new pajamas she got for X-mas and the kids enjoyed circus shaped waffles for breakfast, thanks to Tia Memi. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Max as Joseph

This year instead of pictures with Santa, Max's school took pictures with baby Jesus. The boys dressed up as Joseph and the girls as Mary. The pictures turned out so cute! I was pleasantly surprised when I went through Max's Christmas cards and gifts from his teachers to find this card from the school. I think it's great that Max is learning that Christmas is not just about Santa, presents and lights, but most importantly about the day Christ was born. 

On a side note, Shawn was more surprised that Max actually put on the costume. He has never liked dressing up for Halloween so we always do something that isn't too silly, i.e., pilot and cowboy the past two years.

Getting ready for Santa

We are getting ready for Santa. So excited that this year Max is getting into it. He has learned about baby Jesus' birthday at school. He understands that Christmas is an event that is coming and he is really excited about presents. He loves all the Christmas lights and wants look at them when the sun goes down, so if we are out we drive around. 

 Just a cute one of the kids playing out front.

We really enjoyed a weekend in College Station. We got together with Justin, Lisa and Isabel. We went to the mall and took pictures with Santa. Max asked Santa for Cars and a cookie. He did great with Santa this year, but Maddie was terrified. Glad we captured that memory anyway though, hopefully next year she'll love it. We walked around the mall and even rode the train. Max loved it, and kept yelling choo-choo and random people, fun! We had a great day playing with Isabel then we went to their cousin Anabelle's 2nd birthday party. Of course the kids fell asleep on the way there and Max was a wreck when I woke him up. He had meltdown after meltdown at the party, which was AMAZING(note sarcasm). Momma needed an adult beverage after that!!! Thankfully Lisa and Isabel helped me out with Maddie who did surprisingly well. So we left early and headed home and got the kids to bed. :)

Our visit to Santa in College Station.

On the train

Daddy & Max

Max's first letter

My son is a genius! I kid, I kid, but pretty close. :) I don't want to pressure him to learn his colors, count and write his name because I feel like when he's ready he'll learn it. We have 2.5 years until kindergarten, tear. But being an educator, I always take the opportunity to teach him something. With him being in school he recognizes his name and sometimes the letter M. So I thought why not teach him how to write an M, by learning "up, down, up down". Well go figure he practices and he can do it. Without prompting he wrote this and brought it to me. I was so proud I had to snap a picture.

Self-portrait. This child loves taking pictures of himself....

 and a few of his favorite things, his shopping cart filled with toys, mardi gras bead and his microphone.

Cheesy "Enchiladas Verdes" Casserole

I've been wanting to share some recipes since I feel like I spend two-thirds of my day in the kitchen. I usually stick to my usual suspects: chicken & rice, spaghetti, meatloaf, tacos....but I get a craving every once in a while for some good ole Mexican cooking. I remember after I would visit Mexico I'd want something, but I could never get it in College Station since all you usually find is Tex-Mex, so I started to make them myself. My favorite was Chilaquiles verdes, but it was SO time consuming. I would fry my own chips, roast the veggies, make a sauce, boil the chicken. Not too hard, but I don't want to make a mess like that these days.
So I was so happy to find this Two-step Chile Stew(no, I'm not getting paid to do write this ;)). I basically use it instead of making the sauce because it tastes homemade. Tortillas instead of home made fried chips. I added some things to take away the heat for my kids. My mom always makes a delicious red sauce Enchilada casserole, so I basically copied hers with my favorite ingredients. It was so good I forgot to get a picture of the finished product, but the family loved it!

Cheesy "Enchiladas Verdes" Casserole
10-12 Corn Tortillas, cut into 1/8  pieces
1 jar of green chile stew mix
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can of cream of chicken (optional, add to take make it even less spicy)
2-3 cooked shredded chicken breast
8 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Heat oven to 350º. In a large mixing bowl mix about 1/2 jar of chili stew mix and cream of mushroom (and cream of chicken) and shredded chicken. Add more stew mix for taste for desired spiciness/heat. In a 13x9 casserole dish make a thin layer of stew mixture. Next layer the corn tortilla pieces. Then add a layer of stew mixture, top with cheese. Repeat 1-2 times. Bake uncovered for about 20-30 minutes until cheese is melted and its bubbling. Let is sit for at least 5 minutes before serving. Top with sour cream or Mexican crema.


**This jar of green chili mix can easily make 2 casseroles if you use a whole jar, both cream of mushroom & chicken, and additional chicken, tortillas and cheese. :)

Desgracias y más

For my non-Spanish readers this translates as.....Misfortunes and more

First off let me say that I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer, but when it rains it pours. Such has been the case for us in the past few weeks. My Expedition got rear-ended after picking up Max from school. Thankfully nobody was hurt, but a lot of damage was done. After some insurance issues, I am in a rental and should have my car back to new in the next week or so.

The back of my Expedition

 The front of his

 After a long weekend after Thanksgiving we came home and Max had a freak accident. We were playing and he fell flat on his face and on a toy necklace. He got the worst looking goose-egg. We freaked out and took him to the ER to have him checked out. He was fine, just a horrible bump and bruise.

The swelling/bruising the next day. He has since bumped head with Maddie and made it worse, but he's fine. He went back to the doctor for unrelated asthma/breathing issues from a cold. Thank God he is getting the proper medicine and doing much better.

In the bible study I'm doing we came across this verse that really spoke to me, particularly with my circumstances and attitude lately. I thank God for my health and that of my family. 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 

Matthew 11:28-30

She's a mess!

It's almost the end of the year and Maddie is about 17 months and what I mostly say about her is....."she's a mess"! Of course, I say endearingly because I love her but she drives me crazy. She's all over the place and hates to be told no. She throws a wonderful tantrum and squirms her way out of most situations (and my arms usually). She holds her own with her brother and has her daddy wrapped around her finger. 

She's still growing like a weed wearing 24m/2t. I know she must weigh close to 30 pounds because my arm kills me when I have to carry her for long. She still only has 4 teeth, but has about 6 cutting through (for almost a month now)!! She love Elmo and asks for him all day! She is trying to say so many words, cookie is a favorite as well as no, mommy, my, daddy, Tyson, Max, phone, book, pon pon and more. She's walking better and faster, but still stumbles on her feet. She doesn't like her hair in a ponytail and usually takes it out first chance she gets. She still does not like to get dressed and enjoys taking off socks, shoes, etc. Like I say, she's a mess, but I love her!!

 Loves to climb stairs

 See a resemblance?

Loves to feed herself, especially from my plate.

 Loves to explore on her own. At Honey's she would stray away in the woods and I'd have to chase her.

 She loves to go out the doggy door and sit in her little table.

Thanksgiving 2011

This Thanksgiving was a somber one. We drove in Thursday morning and headed to the country to Honey & Poppy's house. Richard was barely hanging on and we knew it was just a matter of time. His smiling face and amazing cooking was definitely missed. I think we're frying a turkey for X-mas in his honor, that's how he liked it. Nevertheless we all gathered one last time and shared a wonderful meal. As with any Thanksgiving we ate way too much. The kids loved the dressing, green beans and Maddie loved the yams.

After the game we came back to College Station and gathered at my Tia Rosalinda's house to watch the Aggies vs. t.u. game. I'm sure you all know it was a huge disappointment for my Aggies. This Thanksgiving was different to say the least. My sister wasn't here with us and neither was the Reyes/Rodriguez clan. Not better, not worse, just different. We shared laughs though and above all the kids were happy.

In loving memory of Richard Pollard

There have been many wonderful things happen in my life since meeting Shawn, but one of the greatest gifts is getting to know his step-dad Richard. He passed away Friday morning after battling cancer this year. In the ten years I knew him he taught me so much. This man broke the mold when God made him. I remember meeting him and having my preconceptions about him. Boy was I wrong! He was kind, intelligent, loving, open-minded, non-judgmental, friendly, knowledgeable, free-spirited people I ever met. He and Suzy were a match made in heaven. 

My life has been became richer just by knowing him.  He gave me and Shawn one of the best compliments ever. I remember he said, "You two have a great relationship, you can tell that you are really each others best friend. Those kind words showed how he genuinely cared about others and the importance of loving each other. He was such an inspiration! He also showed me so much about food and wine. One of our common loves! We swapped cooking ideas, recipes and tasted some great wines together. To this day, I'll always order a simple Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay because that was his go-to wine. I'll always think of him, cheers! He wouldn't sweat the small stuff, he lived in the present. I will miss his spirit because more than anything he was such a joy to be around. He often read this very blog, and encouraged me to keep writing about about my life as well as other things. Again, being kind and nurturing and seeing special talents in others, that was another great thing about him. He was a great husband, father, grandfather and teacher. I could add hundreds more stories on this blog (and I might later)! Richard will always be missed, never forgotten and forever in our hearts.

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Max's first Thanksgiving Feast

Max had his first Thanksgiving party at CtR. I promised him I was would come and that I'd pick him up early. Being a Kinder teacher for 5 years showed me how distraught kids can be when mommy leaves and I was not having that!!

The set-up was nice and I was actually a volunteer, but I mainly just talked with the kids. 

 It was cute to see his class walk in holding to a multicolored rope. Max was so much bigger than the others. I forget how tall he is until I compare him to other kids his age.

 At first Max didn't see me, but once he did his face lit up. Such a special moment. I was so happy to be there. It was so neat to see him in a school setting following directions and having a good time. All his teachers were bragging on what a good boy he is. Love that!

 

 Priceless.

 Then Max must have thought I'd be leaving him because he got the saddest look in his eyes, chin started to quiver and tears started to well up in his eyes. I almost cried myself, I hated seeing him sad.  This picture captured that sad face he was giving me. Finally he got over it and ate most of his food.

 Maddie came along for the ride and did a pretty good job in the stroller mostly. She eventually got sick of being in there and I let her sit with the big kids. She fit right in, cannot wait for next year!!

Of course when it was over and parents said their good-byes, the screams and tears came. Max looked terrified. I kept telling him I'd be taking him home, but I still felt so bad for the others. Not sure if I'll come to every event because I'm not sure I can deal with it. Either way I saw his class line up and go back to his class and get his things. We came home and had a great nap. Now we're getting ready to spend Thanksgiving with family!!