Lake Hemet

Boy this was a short week!  Today it's our Friday!!  As Javier has Fridays off, we only had a three day workweek.  This is like how I like my weeks short and sweet.

Sophia had been asking to go to the beach.  Beaches near us are 1 1/2 hrs away either west or south Javier was not up to the driving jokingly he asked Sophia "let's stay home and watch beach movies" as he had a rough work week.  We settled for a lake.  A lake close to us that we have never visited before.

Lake Hemet, it has everything you need for a great experience, 

camping, fishing, boating and a water park for kids.

Our plan was not to stay overnight, but just to check the place out since it was our first time there 

like I mentioned before.

We just grabbed some chairs, a couple of coolers with sandwiches and drinks, a battery operated radio, some sunscreen and Javier's coloring book that amazingly he retrieves here and there to use it.  

Honestly we've all asked him to use his book!  Here are some pics I'd like to share.

It was a nice day we spent there!  The weather was wonderful in the 80's 

We did have to move once or twice to hide from the sun.  Sophie and Xavi had fun in the water park.  Emma had a great time helping switching the colors to whoever was coloring. 

Hopefully before the kids start school again we make it again this time to stay overnight! 

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take me anywhere

Today I'd like to share my brother and his Girlfriend's of fifteen years...gosh that deserves the tittle of wife doesn't it??  Anyways, they just started a road trip adventure from California all the way to Panama.  They have taken a year off work and will drive, travel and experience whatever comes along.  

She will document the trip.

PJ the dog is coming along. 

You see that little munchkin in the back?  we'll  yes, that's Xavi many moons back.

I am sure this trip will get interesting and cannot wait to see these two, well three again. 

You can follow their journey and documentation here. 

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gallery wall

This is something that I have been wanting to share with you.  I think I finished my gallery wall a little after Thanksgiving.  I wanted to put up something on my living room wall, initially I had a square mirror and two picture frames on each side.  I really wanted something meaningful for the family.

So I framed the kids art.  On the left side it's Valeria's kindergarten hearts and apples.  I think it's so cute how she wrote her and her dad's name.   On the upper right the big colorful frame is Sophia's abstract art. You see on the lower hand corner a child and her mother...well that represents me and her!  Now, the two wooden frames on the top left I painted with chalkboard paint to give the kids a chance to redo our portraits now and then.  On the bottom left it's a piece of pallet that I painted with chalkboard paint as well and made our family name sign.  That helps me complete another item on my 45 by 45 list "make something with pallets".

In the center it's the mirror that I mentioned I had there initially.  I was just too lazy to take it off.  At the bottom is Sophie's (her nickname is Moncy) and Xavi's portrait.  For some reason Xavi wanted Sophie's frame next to him.  It's funny because he just found out he is going on a snow ski trip with his cousins and my brother and the first thing he asked is Is Sophie going?...aww he loves her sister.  On the right is this living art wall decor with air plants that so far have not died on me.  I also made them out of pallets a bit crooked  I know but I am very proud of myself.. 

And finally here is the last section of the gallery.  Here are Vale's and Emma's portraits.  The fish and the flower Xavi made them with color chalk on 2nd grade and I framed them simply because I love chalk :) And finally the jazz frame that really has no meaning but thought it fit well in the mix.  I have to fix Xavi's crooked flower picture ha ha!  So funny I didn't noticed until I downloaded the picture.

So here you have it my whole gallery wall.  I am happy with it!  I love seeing it everyday.  

Have you done any diy projects lately?

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give thanks

Whether we have a big feast or a small gathering

be it less or more

modest or elegant

Let us be Happy, be Thankful and Give...and of course count our blessings!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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What She Wore

Well I have been out, not fishing though.  It took five days of eye drops for Xavi's eye to get better soon after Sophie started with cold symptoms and an asthma flare up.  Then after that Emma started with mild cold symptoms as well, she still is coughing a bit but is much better now. 

We took these pictures on the last week of October but I just could not find the time to put the post together let alone publish it :(  Long story short our laptop is dead.  Long gone by now I only have a desktop computer which is very very sloooow and it takes me forever to download pictures :(  time is precious and I really hate it that it takes so long.  Oh well, sigh.

Anyways, for this session we decided to take pictures right in our front porch.  Why not?  it was very convenient.  Xavi didn't know about the What She Wore series so he was like what are you guys up to??  that's why I let him in in a couple of pictures.  Since they were all wearing red for Red Ribbon Week why not get them all together?  So there they all all three of my kiddos in the very last picture.  I feel I have my hands full all the time with them but I know that I am blessed! 

dress:  thrifted

cardigan: forever 21

this post was linked to 

the pleated poppy

Now my friends I hope you have a great rest of the week!

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not my day...

Last week specifically on Thursday I had a not so good kind of a day.  The planetary alignment wasn't on my side. Thing after thing just happened...at the end of the day after reviewing it I tried to look for positive things in between.  Here is a review of what happened:

Xavi woke up with pink eye.  After 13 years of mothering I know what pink eye looks like and for sure know that the school was going to send him back home.

I called the doctor's and was able to get an early appointment at 9:15 yay!

After dropping Sophie at School I needed gas so we stopped at the gas station and the gas tank door wouldn't open ugggh! old truck :( so there I was 5-7 mins trying to open it asking God to please don't let me break the key because then I really would be stranded!  I really could not drive on low gas. Those 5-7 minutes felt an eternity as I had to drive 35 minutes to get to the doctor's on time! So I called Javier only to complain really because what can the poor man do on the phone for me?  it finally opened!  but the gas was pumping soooo slow or so it seemed to me!

After the gas station ordeal, there I was driving carefully but fast.  We made it to the doctor's barely on time to check in and there was an unbelievable long line to check in.  Oh yeah the self check-in kiosk!! Nope broken! Get in line!  How can the receptionists be so chatty chatty with each and every patient?? 

We finally checked in and Emma started giggling and having a conversation with everyone around her. that was cute!  de-stresser for sure.  We saw the doctor,  Xavi got his eye drops and we were out! 

easy peasy there.

OK we got the rest of the day to relax before we pick up Sophie.  Before the pink eye situation I had planned to go thrifthing that day so now Xavi had to come along.  So there we were Emma was fussing by now Xavi and I were starting to get hungry so things were a bit rushed.  I was able to find a few pieces of clothing for my etsy shop.  Time to go home really!  We stopped for a cheeseburger, that later raised my blood glucose levels :(

When I find pieces of clothing for my shop I always do research on etsy to search for the brand, figure out what people are selling and how much are they selling them for.  Wow what are the chances that I find on etsy a vintage skirt 100% silk identical as the one I bought at the thrift shop earlier? only a smaller size...and they are selling it for $46  As I was full of excitement telling Xavi about my find, he started playing around with it and stepped on it and ripped it!  Well there goes my potential profit :( 

Later I checked and had made an etsy sale that was a good thing right??  it was!! as I was packing my sale I ran out of tape, not good! that meant that the following day I either had to go buy some tape or ask the people at the post office to let me use theirs (luckily I know they are nice) so I choose the second option just to save me a trip to the store the next morning.

When we got back home from picking up Sophie from School I was shaking.  I checked my blood sugar levels and were very low.  So I ate and later refused to check it again in fear that it was too high :/ Can something else top that?

Our day ended at the park at Xavi's soccer practice with nobody being hurt which would have been the ultimate and worst thing!  I had a little time there to lay in the grass and meditate on how the day went. 

(I didn't have my camera with me to take a picture of me meditating 

so that's why I share my bird of paradise with you)

Back to the park, that's when I had to look hard to find the positive little things.  

What did I do wrong? nothing really I guess those kind of days happen right?  

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El Niño

The weather has been absolutely crazy around here lately!  One day we're baking with triple digits and the next we're steaming with humidity.  Oh yeah and some other thunderstorms showers...gaah I hate those! specially when I have to be out and about. I certainly don't want to get struck by lighting :(

We did have a nice day last week, the weather cooled off and we got a nice amount of rain.  The day was cloudy and wet for most of the day and I was certainly not signing "rain rain go away!"  it was a nice break!

That's when I decided to get my new booties out.  I got them on clearance last season.  They were about twelve bucks :)  I got them online at Kohls and shipping was free. I certainly scored as I loved them.  You know you're always at risk buying shoes online!  I think I am in love with them...and I might just become a fan of boots :)

Talking about weather, they say that this year El Niño which is a climate cycle in the Pacific Ocean with global impact on weather patterns (you can click on the link to learn more) is very strong and it's bringing a lot of water.  I really can't wait come on "El Niño" bring it on!!  I'd love to give my new booties some use.  The bad thing is that since we leave in a valley we get flooded easily :(  

Soccer season just started and you see number eight up there, yup that's my Xavi and he scored a goal! Great feeling! that's my boy!!

And now for the baby news, Emma is 7 months now!  she is a squiggly little thing.  It's like she's drank a monster most of the time.  She won't stop moving arms and legs when she's on your arms.  She grabs on hair, noses, glasses, cheeks, ears whatever she can hold on to and she is getting sooo heavy now. Almost 20 lbs...that's two bags of potatoes. sigh.  After soccer practice last Saturday we went for our flu shot hence the bandaid on her thigh.  She was a good sports though...not a lot of crying what she does not know is that we have to go back for her second dose in a month!   

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Photo Booth Fun

So here are the photo booth pictures. You can be silly and nobody really cares!  the whole point is actually being silly!  We had to wait for Emma to wake up in order for her to join in  and luckily she didn't even notice the headband on her head or else she would have taken it off.  As of lately everything at her arm's length she wants to grab.

Well let me rephrase the fun part...so much fun until a big girl, older than my son comes up and asks him to take pics with her :/ Xavi said no at first, but then his dad told him you never say no to a girl. Hmm I thought how dare an older girl come up to my little boy?...sigh.

The girl requested no props so my little gentleman granted the girl's wishes.

 

Hesitant and a bit timid lover boy took the pictures.  

Afterwards we noticed he came out looking the same in all the pictures.

No he was not that excited.

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Bravo Bravo!

This past Saturday we joined in a wedding celebration in Tecate Mexico.  Tecate it's a border sister with Tecate, California it's a lovely valley surrounded by mountains.  I was afraid we were not only going to bake but steam as well.  I was glad I was wrong because the weather was just perfect.

The invitations said ceremony at 6:00 pm, well we get there and everybody is still doing preparations. We were told by the Bride's sister that ceremony will start at 7:00 pm  She was sneaky but very smart. You see there's the pacific, mountain, central and eastern time zones and then there's the "Mexican time zone." Not very proud of that but you should know that most Mexicans are always late if you tell them be there at 3:00  they'll be there at 5:00 if lucky.  Then there's always the Mexican saying "you're never late to a party!" ...but then again we're not regular Mexicans we hate being late!  

So we got to enjoy the ceremony as planned. The Bride was my husband's cousin, she was beautiful she is a seamstress and made her own dress!  They make a very good looking couple. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs Bravo!

The ceremony took place right when the sun was hiding, the night falling and the moon coming up! It was just magical!

It was a knockout reception outdoors as well, good music (although Sophie didn't enjoy the music that much) and good food too!  Emma had a hard time once she fell asleep. The poor thing kept waking up because of the music and I bet she was not comfortable sleeping in her stroller.  When we were leaving she finally had a meltdown and cried non-stop in the car for a long time.  Javier stopped the car so I could comfort her and put her back to sleep but it took a while...sigh. Next morning she woke up fresh as a lettuce and smiled as I greeted her good morning. Oh that girl! 

This is how it all ended shoes off!  LOL!!  I don't know who they belonged to but I thought it was so funny that I had to take a pic.  I will come back this week to share a couple more pictures of the photo booth fun we had.

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