Water Babies

This has been our morning routine for the past two weeks.

Going over to our friends, T and C's house for swimming lessons.  The kids have been having a blast and learning so much from Ms. Lisa.  Tomorrow's our last day, and I'm dreading the end because I know they'd be over there all day every day if they could be.  And really, I can't blame them.  I mean I haven't even been getting in the water and I'm going to be a bit sad.  Because T and C's backyard is a dream even without the pool.  Look at these:

Even Diego knows the flowers alone make it a special place.  The first couple of days he went on and on about T's flowers and how beautiful they are.  (He also would like T not to work during swimming lessons so that he can see him during that time.  Maybe next year, buddy.)

This is Diego floating on his back.

This is Eliana trying not to float on her back. 

Diego is really beginning to get the hang of it.  We're going to have to make it to a pool to practice the rest of the summer so he won't forget!

This is Eliana's favorite place to be- sitting on the side.

Where she can dip her toes in, but not get too wet.

Okay, enough photos, Mom!

Usually, Diego can barely stand waiting for his turn on the side of the pool.  (But after numerous talks on car rides home, I think he's beginning to wait better.  So serious today.)

Ms. Lisa has even been able to coax them into crossing the deep end of the pool.

So brave.  And so sweet.

They come home proud of all their new accomplishments and also ready for an early nap! 

Thank you so much, Ms. Lisa, we've had a blast!

Talk about Making a Girl feel Special

One of my blog friends (who've I've known since we were in elementary school... or maybe she was even younger than that) nominated me for the Beautiful Blogger Award.  I'm blushing, because I really feel like I'm only beginning to figure this whole blog thing out.  Still, how sweet is it that she thinks my little blog thoughts are enjoyable enough to read? Thank you, Ginny!  Ginny writes an incredible blog of her own: The Story of Us.  Which is full of her wonderful recipes and incredible redecorating ventures.  Well worth reading!

To accept the award, I'm supposed to do two things: blog about 7 fun facts about myself and nominate another blogger for the award.  So, here I go!

1. I have a tendancy to be obsessive compulsive... except when I'm not.  I'm an all or none kind of a girl.  Either my house is going to be clean (reorganized silverware drawer and all) or a complete and utter disaster.  Usually it's the latter. I'm really trying to learn moderation.

2. I adore children's chapter books!  I loved reading to my classes when I was teaching.  It was my favorite part of teaching... my kids gathered around on the floor listening to a chapter or two right after lunch.  I can't wait until my own kids are big enough to really listen to chapter books.  I can't tell you how many times I've read The Little House Books or The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  And because I can become obsessive-compulsive, children's chapter books give me some moderation.  My husband does not appreciate it when I check out completely for a few days while I complete an Austen book, but doesn't mind it as much when I check out for a few hours to read a Newbery book.  (It's a good compromise.)  In the past couple of weeks, I've read: The Courage of Sarah Noble, Letters from Rifka, and The Fledgling.

4. Speaking of Austen, I'm not good at choosing a favorite movie, but..

I love the cinematography in the newest Pride and Predjudice. 

Love how closely the script follows the book in the BBC version of the same. 

And I pretty much appreciate any movie that has to do with Austen. 

Including this one. 

And this one.

4. Jesse is willing to watch chick-flicks with me.  (And even sometimes suggests them.)  I love him for this and about a million other reasons.  Can you believe that we will be celebrating our 7th anniversary in just a couple of weeks?  I'm amazed that he's been able to put up with all my quirks and (sometimes) down-right-meanness.  But I'm terribly thankful for it. 

He's an incredible husband and papi and I'm grateful that God saw fit to put him in my life.

5.

My kids bring me so much joy! 

I am amazed at what they force me to learn about the world, God, and myself.  Little spiritual lessons that I teach them, end up smacking me up against the side of the head more often than not.  Oh yeah, I need to not complain and learn to be content with what I have, too!  One of the things I most appreciate about my own parents is that they made tremendous financial and personal sacrifices to home school my siblings and I. ("So, that explains it!" you're saying to yourself right now.) Jesse and I hope to warp home school our kids as well... with Diego beginning to take a great interest in learning to read right now, we are gearing up to begin our own little school.  I am thankful that God is giving us the ability to do this and I am looking forward to learning many more lessons alongside Diego and Eliana in this up-coming school year!

6. And speaking of my kids, I had my sonogram today... finally. 

And I'd like to introduce you to little Cruz! 

We are excited to meet him in person and thankful that God is adding him to our family.  We pray that he will grow to be a man after God's heart and that God will give us the necessary wisdom to raise him in the Lord.

7. My husband and I have a great desire to take our kids and move away... and (at the same time) I have a great desire to stay right where I am for the rest of my life. I've been blessed with an awesome family full of my closest friends. I talk to my mom almost everyday and my sister most days. My cousin, Emily and I get together once a week so our little ones can enjoy each other, but also so we can talk and catch up. (This is just a small sampling of all the wonderful people in my family.) And with all of these friends, the idea of moving away seems like an impossibility.

But then I think of people like this group of boys.

And experiences like this.

And I remember so many kiddos with needs and deep hurts that only God can heal.

And I think of God's call on my life.

And I really hope (eventually- and preferably while our kids are still young) that we can move and make helping, ministering, and living among the least of these a part of our daily lives. This is my heart's desire. And even though, it would be hard to leave all my loved-ones behind, I know that if God wills this for our family that He'll give me the strength... and hopefully great internet connection.


That's me in a nutshell. Now, to pass the Beautiful Blogger Award along.  I'd love to nominate: Emily at Cottage Industrious... I hope you'll take a look at her blog.

Thank you, again, Ginny... this was challenging and fun!

Entering the Woodlands

My cousin, Wendy, and I hosted my sister's family shower at Wendy's house this past weekend.  To be honest, (besides desserts) all I had to do was show up.  Wendy is a wonderful party planner and it is always a joy to be in her home.  She had the place decked out and you really felt like you were entering woodlands when you arrived.

Glittered toadstools adorned tables.

This is my granny's "hutch-a-ma-call-it" in the background.  I think it looks lovely in Wendy's dining room and it always makes me reminiscent when I see it.

Isn't the glittered gnomie cute?  My sister really loves glitter even though her husband practically forbids it in their house... so it was so nice of Wendy to "sacrifice" and decorate with glitter for Elisabeth's shower. ;)

Then there was the food: yum!  Whenever Wendy and her husband, Jason cook it's a wonderful treat.

There was a southern shrimp dip, roast beef in spinach tortilla rolls (with pepper jelly), and a crab souffle that was scrumptious!

We were also lucky enough to talk my cousin, Emily into bringing her spinach pesto... one of these days we're going to talk her into blogging about it!

Okay, desserts.  I had a hard time making up my mind and then I decided one may not be enough so I made a few things.

Pine cone cakes: Orange almond cakes drizzled with chocolate ganache and covered with toasted almonds.

Mint Chocolate Ice-cream Log Roll: broken chocolate pieces created a bark and then I embellished it with the leaves Diego and I worked on last week.

And Meringue Mushrooms: In a basket this time... to eat as candy.

I think Elisabeth enjoyed the food.

This pictures is especially for Angie, who has been asking for a belly picture for a while.  (Elisabeth's belly is cute and smaller than mine... I've been asked several times if I'm farther along.  I'm not.  She's due 3 months before me.  Such is my life.)

Elisabeth walked away with a lot of great gifts... we have such generous and loving family and friends.  We are very blessed to be a part of family who we also consider to be some of our best friends!

Elisabeth received lots of diapers... of the disposable variety.  (Praise God!)

Boudreaux's Butt Paste... which is as much about the packaging (to my graphic designer sister) as it is the actual paste.

A sweet panda sweater from our sister-in-law, Jessica, who lives in Florida and couldn't be with us.

A fun little hedgehog puppet from our momma.

And did you guess right?  I had to purchase the mushroom rattle for Baby Owens... it was too cute!

But the best part of the day was being surrounded with so many ones we love!

Here's my cousin, Emily with her little one, Evie, and her mama, Lesa.  I'm always struck by the remarkable similarities between the three generations when I see them together.  They are just beautiful!

Eliana was in the middle of everything and demanded to inspect each gift for quality.

My cousin and hostess, Wendy, my aunt, Andrea, Elisabeth, my aunt, Nine (Diane to the rest of the world) and her grand daughter, Nataleigh. 

What a blessing it was to be with everyone and to spend so much time laughing and enjoying each others company.  Thank you to all who came to be a part of Elisabeth's special day!

Eating Leaves (and Friday Favorites)

My son (who won't eat anything off a salad unless it's a crouton) is more than willing  to help eat these leaves... and even though they're for Elisabeth's family baby shower tomorrow, I did let him have the broken ones.  It's only fair since he helped me so much yesterday.

I read a lot online to make sure I was doing these right.  There's some debate on what is best.  Some people suggested florist shop lemon leaves, but this sounded expensive and possibly full of pesticides, so I decided against that option.  I read other comments suggesting plastic leaves, but with so many of them made in China (and I'm guessing with even fewer regulations than kids' toys) I didn't think that was a good idea either.  Martha Stewart suggested mint leaves, but I don't have any of those growing in my backyard this summer.  Something to think about for another year, I guess.  So, I ended up researching the plants in my backyard to make sure I wasn't going to accidentally poison anyone.

I decided on lilac leaves because they looked simple.

I also chose Maple leaves because I love their beautiful shape.

I love how well you can see all the veins.  (Isn't God's handiwork beautiful?)

The maple leaves ended up being tricky to remove... so there were a couple that Diego had to take care of.  The lilac leaves were simple to remove.  Overall, it was an easy project. Painting the underside of leaves was a cinch.  The most difficult part was removing the leaf from the chocolate and keeping my hands cool enough to manipulate the chocolate without melting it.  Typically, this would be no problem, but my hands seem to always be hot this pregnancy.  I would do this again because it was simple enough and I liked the results, but I probably wouldn't waste my time with the maple leaves again. 

And because we're gearing up for a woodland themed baby shower around here.  I thought a treasury reflecting that would be appropriate.  If money were no object, I would by all the things here for the little lad!  Elisabeth was more than generous with both of my babies and I wish I could reciprocate just as well!

I did purchase one thing that's listed in this treasury for her baby... but I can't tell you which one yet because she reads this blog (on occasion).  But what I can tell you is that it turned out more beautiful than I expected.  Now, what would you buy if it were you?

Painting Leaves

We're getting ready for another woodland themed baby shower this weekend.  When Diego woke up earlier than I had expected, I decided to employ his help with my painting project.

He took his job very seriously.

Initially, I was worried that he wouldn't cover them very well.

But as you can see, he was pretty careful about getting the whole thing covered.

Do you know what the paint is?

That's right. Chocolate.  Is there anything better?

We stuck them in the fridge, I went back later and painted a second coat on everything and then waited some more for it to harden before trying to remove the leaves.  Some were not as successful as others.  But we had fun (just the two of us). 

I'll show you end results tomorrow.