When it comes to updating my blog, I have been an absolute slacker.  Rest assured though, that the rest of my life has not consisted of any slacking. Below are some updates of the happenings within the past 5 months!
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November 2010
The highlight of November was spending the week of Thanksgiving in Corpus with the family.  As usual, we had a ton of fun and tons of good food. 

While we were there, we went to a Quinceanera that my brother stood up in.  It's hard to believe that I was his age once.  That I had the same teenage mentality once before.  You know invincible, know-it-all, and worry-free.

On November 30, we also put our Christmas tree up and set out our Christmas deco's!

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December 2010
This month was Josh's 7th birthday, Christmas break, Alex's birthday, and Jesus' birthday.  

During Christmas break we went to the HEARD Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Santuary.  It was late December and it was a whopping 80-something degrees outside.  So not winter like weather, but we had fun.  

A couple of days before Christmas we cooked up some good desserts and baked some yummy cookies to leave for Santa. 

Santa left a ton of fun gifts for everyone!

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January 2011
All was quiet on the front in January.  We did manage to make to Elaine's basketball game.  Even though they lost, we had a good time watching them play.

GO UNICORNS!!
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February 2011
Oh the month to celebrate All Saints Day, and snow and ice! We had an insane amount of snow this month and not to mention the 5 consecutive days of ice.

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March 2011
During this month, every year, schools have this little thing called spring break! Josh spent his spring break up here and we went to the Science and Technology Center, the Arboretum, the Fort Worth Zoo, and Jeff took him to play some minature golf.

That's about the end of my recap! As for what's going on now, we are going to Corpus this weekend to spend 4 days with the family. I can't wait to see them all. It's been 4 months too long!

Time Flys

Well, long time no post...I know!  We have been extremely busy with, as they call it, life! 

This past week came and went so fast.  Last Wednesday, on the kids last full day here for their summer visitation, I took the kids to Six Flags.  It was super hot, but fun!  They've come so far, since the first time we all went to Six Flags together 3 years ago...we all have!

3 years ago...Elaine was 9 and Tyler was 11. Elaine and Tyler did not ride roller coasters, but I convinced Tyler to ride the Batman roller coaster. I recall that he was pretty scared, but once we started rolling, he really enjoyed it. He even wanted to ride it a second time.

Present time...(unfortunately I don't have a new pic) Elaine and Tyler rode just about every roller coaster at Six Flags, even the ones I refused to get on. I, on the other hand, have also come so far. While on some of these roller coasters, I noticed that my head seemed to hurt after getting off these rides. I don't ever remember that happening before...I love roller coasters. I guess that's how you know you're getting to old for the crazy kid rides. I took it like a champ and kept riding with the kids!

Their summer visit with us flew by pretty quickly, but we all got to spend time together and enjoy each other's company, despite a few typical teenage issues. Now, this time spent together was primarily in the evenings, due to the teenage lifestyle of staying up all night, playing video games, and sleeping all day. Ahhh, the life of a teen!


On Friday, Jeff had his 3rd follow-up appointment. All is going well. He was cleared from wearing his leg brace and he was extremely excited that he will be able to sleep more comfortably...or just more! His physical therapy is going great and he now only has to go twice a week instead of three times a week. Yesterday, we finally got rid of the CPM machine! He was also glad to get rid of this annoying machine that he had to sleep with every night, I was glad to get the ugly and large piece of unflattering furniture out of our house!

                                                        

This Friday, we start the month of July off with Josh's summer visitation. He will be here for 6 weeks this summer and I can't wait to enjoy the fun things we'll all be doing while he is here! Happy July everyone (we are more than half way done with the 2010...time flys)!

Father's Day

This past Father's Day we celebrate all of those important fathers, most importantly (to me)my husband.  I am grateful that my husband is such a great father to his children, despite all of the obstacles he faces with them living so far away.  It's comforting to know that when we decide to have children of our own, he will be an even better father.  I also celebrate one of my uncles...Joe! He has always been the father figure that I needed in my life.  Thank you for being so supportive and for going with me to those father-daughter events.  You are more of a father to me than you'll ever know!

We decided to spend the day at Lake Lewisville with friends, kids, fun, and good food.  Our plans for the day were: spending the day at the lake and later go out onto the lake in a pontoon boat.

Before we went to the lake the kiddos gave Jeff the Father's Day cards that they chose and his gift, that I chose.  They chose those fancy new cards where you can record your own personal message and that they did!

Jeff had been wanting Nike Shox, so I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to purchase a pair for him. 

Jeff and I enjoying the sun and good company.

Vick and his wife Adrienne.

Some of the group: Sina, Cesar, and Maria.

The kiddos really enjoyed spending time in the lake.  I managed to get in the water, just once, and I was extremely grossed out with how the bottom of the lake felt against my feet. 

Oh, what it's like to be kid.  I can remember going to Lake Mathis quite often, but I most certainly do not remember the bottom of it feeling so gross.  Children are so oblivious to these type of things...gotta love them!

Gotta love this silly girl! Arm floats on her ankles...creative!

We all kind of felt like this by about 4:00 P.M., or perhaps he was so tired from lack of sleep, due him being up all night long...teenagers!

Despite us all feeling exhausted and burnt out, we headed to a local boat rental company to ride away in the pontoon.  Unfortunately our boat, the boat we had rented for 4 hours, was anchored somewhere in Lake Lewisville and unable to make it back to shore in time.  We waited patiently for about an hour and decided it was time to give it up.  Needless to say, we were not very happy; however, we went home, showered, and had a great dinner at Johnny Carino's!  I'm thankful that we had such a wonderful day with a few great fathers! Until next time, Lake Lewisville!

Summer Time

Summer is officially here; I love the sun and the sun loves me!!  I've been to our pool twice so far, on Sunday and yesterday.  While Jeff was at work and experiencing the trials of physical therapy, I drove to Temple, TX to pick up Tyler and Elaine for their summer visitation with us.  Since Jeff is limited on what he can do, we're not quite sure what we're going to be doing with them for the next two and half weeks.  Sometimes life doesn't happen like we want it to.  Perhaps we'll enjoy some summer movies at the movie theater and on Blue-Ray.  We'll play board games and enjoy the pool.  Tyler's birthday was in May, so we promised him that we would celebrate with him while he was here this summer.  We've let him decide what it was that he wanted to do, so I guess we'll see what he chooses.  Whatever we end up doing, I'm sure that we'll enjoy the time with lots of laughs. 
On another note, I last reported about 2 weeks ago that I had stopped running due to my self-diagnosis of a stress fracture on my foot.  Well, I started running again with the hopes that my foot doesn't start to hurt.  So far, so good!

Easter Blessings

This weekend, while I worked, Jeff spent some quality time with the kiddos.  On Saturday, they went to the park, fed the ducks, and played football.  When I got home this is what I saw:

Josh seemed to find comfort in hanging out on the stairwell and playing games on the iphone! Apparently, he hung out there most of the time while they were at home.  Silly boy!

Tyler was doing the same as usual, playing his XBox! I caught him in action this time.  WARNING: excuse the teenage mess you see in the background.  Our living area upstairs is entirely dedicated to the kiddos and the mess that they love to create!

Elaine was downstairs hanging out with dad and playing the Wii! They all loved this video game, but surprisingly they all loved the figure skating competition of the game. 

                                                 

I played the following game until 12:00 A.M.

                                           

Considering that I had to wake up at 4:30 A.M., midnight was well past my bedtime.  While playing this video game, I couldn't help but reminisce about how simple video games use to be.  Do you remember the original Nintendo?  The remote control was as simple as A, B, up, down, left, right, start, and select.  That is so not the case now-a-days!  Of course, I had to have the kids teach me how to manipulate the remote so that I could play.  Also, while playing Super Mario Bros.,  I kept thinking about all of the hidden portals and secret boxes that there were throughout the old game.  I kept asking the children if this game had the same things.  They were adamant that there was not and they had no idea what I was talking about.  I continued playing and much to their surprise I even found a few of those hidden "non-existent" things that the kids thought I was crazy talking about.  I think I may have even impressed Elaine and Josh, even if just a little.  After all, I use to play video games when I was their age.  I thought it was really cute when Josh, with his 6-year-old knowledge, was trying to teach me how to play.  I'm sure he knows far more than I do about video games, considering that I haven't played in forever!  I told him that I use to play this game when I was his age.  I'm sure he thought I was loosing my mind, because he looked at me as if I was crazy and there was no way this game was that old! 

On Sunday, prior to the kids leaving, Jeff took them to Lake Lewisville for an Easter Brunch!  I was told by a little birdie that Tyler said "it would have been cool if Denise was here"! That is so sweet, as we all know it's pretty hard to overcome the teenage age years and hearing a statement of endearment is rare! The kids are wonderful and we truly do enjoy having them with us.

While counting my blessings this Easter, I not only think of them and the enjoyment that they bring to our lives, but also of my husband who is a great father and an awesome husband.  I think of my grandmother who I miss so much everyday.  They say that time heals all wounds, but I don't truly believe that it completely ever heals the wounds of losing someone you have loved your entire life.  I know she watches down on us all and enjoys seeing the lives that we all have continued to live.  I also think of my wonderful mother who is willing to do anything in her power for me and my brother.  I also think of my spectacular and humorous family that I missed this year.  Between my crazy aunts, uncles, and cousins there is never a dull moment!  Perhaps next Easter we'll participate in the festivities back home!  Last, but certainly not least, I think of the great friends that I have acquired.  I have been blessed with so many awesome people and things in all of the 28 years of my life!  

Most importantly, during the fun times spent with family and friends we cannot forget the true meaning of Easter, so I'll end this blog with the following:

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." ~ Matthew 28:6-10

Spring Break

Well this spring break was pretty uneventful, despite the snow we had here in Dallas on the first day of Spring.  Yes, you read right, SNOW!  After living in Dallas for nearly 4 years, I still have yet to get use to the weather.  We have longer winter's that include at least one day of snow fall.  However, this year we have had at least 4 different occasions of snow, including the record snow fall of 12 inches.

We had Josh for one week and Tyler and Elaine the following week, because their school breaks were on two different weeks.  While Josh was here we woke up by 9:00 AM every day!  We went to the park, bike riding, and to the library.  We had one goal for him to accomplish during the week that he was with us....shoe tieing!  By the end of the week he was successful at tieing his shoes at least twice. Yipee! By the way this pic is of Josh showing off his "BIG BOY" haircut!

It was quite the opposite with the big kids here.  Let me see if I can put this into perspective....Tyler stayed up until 3 or 4 every night (or morning) playing his Xbox while talking and playing with his friends.  Elaine and I stayed up until 1 or 2 every night (I was falling asleep by that hour), but Elaine stayed up even later on most nights.  They woke up every day between 12 and 3 PM.  Even though they slept in we all managed to hang out and enjoy each other's company.  We also went to Amazing Jakes and we all had a good time.  The joke of the night was how amazing everything was and how we were amazed at all of the fun we had.  We enjoyed playing video games, go-karts, bumper cars, minature golf, and rock climbing (needless to say, the kids participated in this activity alone). 

 

It's always fun having them around.  Tyler has quite the imagination and Elaine is very sweet and helpful around the kitchen.  We can't wait until they come up here to visit us again in 6 days!

Life Happens

Well blogger fam, it's been awhile since I've last updated my blog. A lot has happened since April 2008...I got married! We got married on August 16, 2008 and we are loving every minute together that life has to offer.

We purchased our first home, well townhome, of which we got to choose all of the important things we wanted in it. Now, I must say, it's not our dream home but who moves into their "DREAM" home when they're 27 yrs old?! I know what you're thinking, "she's not 27"...well no, I'm not. I'm 28, but when we moved in, I still had exactly 18 days left to enjoy being 27. So, there you have it. Anyway, we're loving the fact that we are homeowners and that we're not "throwing" our money away on rent!

In addition to getting married and buying a home, I also graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing this past December.  I just started Graduate school this January, and as of right now, I'm not enjoying one-single minute of it! How 'bout that! 

I'm sure, like most people, you're wondering when we're going have some kiddos.  Well...let me just say (hint: brutally honest) that I'm too selfish to have children of my own at this point in my life. I love buying what I want, when I want it. I love getting a new car every year or two. I love sleeping in. I love going on vacations when we want and I'm enjoying life as a wife right now.  So in the mean time, I'll let my friends have all of the cute, crying, booger-ish, adorable, wake-up-every-few-hours-because I'm hungry, can't sleep in babies that they want and I'll enjoy seeing them and carrying them for a little while.  Don't get me wrong, I love kids; hence, the reason why I'm pediatric nurse. I think that in about 3, 4, or 5 years we might consider it! Besides, I have 3 step-kiddos, and well they're enough for now.

 Well the photos are a perfect display of what has been going on for the past 2 years! Check back often, because I'm definitely going to try and keep up with this thing (at least weekly), so that maybe someday when we do decide to have kids they can have fun reading about all of the things their parents did for fun before they came into this world! We all wonder how our parents were before they had us, right?! Enjoy!

Ft. Worth Zoo

The kids were visiting us this March and we decided to take a lovely trip to the Ft. Worth Zoo. Take a peek!