The True Grill Man

Ladies, what we have here is the will to survive and eat red meat. Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays this grill man from the swift completion of his appointed grilling.
Now that's dedication.

Busch Gardens

So Much Fun! That's what I have to say about Busch Gardens. We took turns going on some of the bigger rides with Emily and Jacob. I took them to the 4-D rides,which were great. Mason rode on the carousel for the first time, and absolutely loved it. It was a long day and we were pooped when we got home but we had a blast. We're going back soon!

Brothers

Follow me!
I'll help you up.

Helpin'

Weekend Project!

We spent this past weekend putting in a new floor in the dinning room and the living room. The country blue carpet is finally gone. The new floors look so much better. Pete did a lot of the work but I did as much as I could. We finished the job in a day and a half.

Neighborhood watch

On Friday,there were two attempted child abductions in and around our neighborhood. One of them was only two streets over from ours. Luckily, both of the children got away unharmed.And were able to give a pretty good description to the police of the car and the man. I'm scared to let my kids play outside now. They are not allowed to leave the front yard. And I'll stand on the porch and watch them walk next door. I prayed last night for the families that this happened to. I know I'm freaked out but can you imagine those families fear.

I tried to call everyone I could think of around here to let them know.And to call the police if they see anything suspicious. And to my surprise they had not heard it happened. Where is the neighbor watch? Aren't they supposed to let us know of such things? I guess my neighborhood does not have one. My neighbor told me,he is one of the local boyscout leaders. He heard it from one of the parents in his troop.

I thought my neighborhood was safe but I guess your never as safe as you think.

Schools Out!

Schools out for summer break. YEA! I have no idea what we will do. Probably the usual, the library. I have all good intentions of getting to the zoo,children's museum, and a pool if I can find one.I miss Oki and my house on the hill. The pool,the beach and a park were all just across the street. I've had to cancel Gymboree for the summer :( Emily and Jacob don't want to hang out with babies. I plan to go back when school starts back in Sept:) If there are any suggestion for Summer fun I'm listening.

Emily will be going into the 5th grade and Jacob will be going into the 3rd grade next year. Can you believe I'm the mother of a 5th grader. Time passes so quickly. She'll be in middle school in only a year. Then, high school. Somehow is doesn't seem possible.

Air and Space Center

Again I'm the one taking all the pictures. I was there, I swear. It was a good way to spend the HOT day, inside in the the AC.

Granny and Papaw

My parents came for a visit this past week. The kids really enjoyed having them here. We had a good time, we went to the Air and Space museum, the botanical gardens and Virginia Beach, for a short time. It was way too hot. Thank you for the new bicycles. They will be riding them all summer.

SO HAPPY

I have a lot of pictures to share. But this one deserves its own post. I've never seen Mason so crazy with excitement as he was here. We were at the botanical gardens in Norfolk. The children's section has a huge water fountain play area. I tried to keep him out of the water because I didn't have a change of clothes with me, but I failed. I just gave up and let him have at it. He loved it. The big kids had school that day. I plan to take them back and I'll remember to bring changes of clothes. Better yet I'll just bring them in their swim suits.

Playdough Fun

Great Grandpa Munoz

My Great Grandfather passed away last night. I just called him Grandpa Munoz because its shorter. I remember him very fondly. He always called me Tommye Joy. Which in his Spanish accent sounded different. The last time I had a chance to visit with him, he remembered me. Even though he had trouble remembering everyday things. Which made me feel special. Every time we went to Nanny and Papaw's house, I always went to visit him and Great Grandma. Although he was not blood related to me, he was very much my Great Grandfather.

waffles

I'm on the hunt for a waffle maker. So many to choose from, round, square, Belgian or not. So does anyone have any suggestions? Maybe you have a waffle maker that you love.
We normally buy frozen waffles but I'm ready to start makeing my own. Just need the right equipment.

Friends

Emily and her friend Jeralyn.

I love this picture.

Mason's first bike

Look at the smile behind that binki!
He loves this new bike. It's a 3 in 1 bike, a rocker,a push bike and a tricycle. Jacob had one just like it when he was Mason's age.

Tornadoes

We are all fine! The tornadoes didn't hit us.They hit in Suffolk which is VERY close to us. About 15 miles. We were ready if they were going to hit us though. We had a plan, when I said "go" the kids were going to grab a pillow from the couch,I was grabbing Mason and heading to the downstairs bathroom. They were frightened but prepared.

I want a better life

Today, on the way to Walmart, Jacob says to me "my friends have a better life than me". I say "What are to talking about?" Jacob" My friends have everything they want." Then he goes on to name gaming systems and such. I told him "Jacob, just because your friends have the latest and greatest doesn't mean they have a better life. Things don't make a great life, spending time with family and love make a great life. And you have a great life. Things are not important." His reply "yeah,I guess".


So now I feel like I need to show him how great of a life he really does have. I don't know how I'm going to do this but I'm going to try. Any suggestions?

BPA

Bisphenol-A,what the heck is it? Its a chemical that is in plastic, mostly polycarbonate. I don't know all the plastic it is in but I do know it's in my sons bottles."Avent"brand and it's in many other popular brand name bottles.It seems glass may be the only safe alternative. I'm so angry and scared about this,Mason has been using these bottles for almost a year. And I know a lot of other kids have too. What harm has it done. None that I can tell but it's the long term that I'm worried about. Possibly early onset of puberty or worse, prostate cancer later in life? And to make it all worse Mason loves to have his morning milk in these bottles. I've tried to transition him to a sippy in the morning but he throws it in the floor and cries for the bottle. We are still working on it. We stopped heating the bottles in the microwave hoping that this is at least a little safer.
Check out this site for some good info.
http://zrecs.blogspot.com/2007/07/z-report-bisphenol-in-polycarbonate.html
Canada has already banned BPA. I think we sould follow suit. One less plastic can only be a good thing.

Sharing a Smoothie

Our MVP

He looks so grown up here.

Jacob had his first game of the season Friday,they lost that game but won Saturdays game. We took him to get ice cream that night because he had to miss McDonalds with his team. He's a good player,he hit a double in the game Saturday. Pete is the pitcher for their team, so maybe Jacob has a slight advantage. Pete says he feels guilty when he strikes out his own son. Who knows, Jacob could really be an MVP in the big league some day.