80th Birthday

On Saturday, the family threw Grandma Gonzalez a surprise 80th birthday party. She was definitley surprised.

The Grandkids (not quite all of them)













Sophie with her daddy



















Grandma & Grandpa Gonzalez

Christmas #3

We made the trip to Corpus on Friday to have our final Christmas with our family there. More toys! More clothes! I think the kids are set. We didn't even have enough room to bring all of the presents home with us. And we enjoyed some menudo for dinner - well, I enjoyed some ham. Everyone else enjoyed the menudo. :)

Trying Out Our New Cameras

I see you! I took a picture of Zach taking a picture of me. Or did he take a picture of me taking a picture of him? :)

Christmas

Christmas morning was exciting. I think we all got what we had asked for. Santa was on top of things this year! :) Zach woke up about 7, but didn't even remember what day it was. So I kept him in the bed with me and Gabe until everyone else woke up. We had left Santa a cupcake the night before, so that was one of the first things that Zach noticed. He said, "Santa ate the cupcake! He came!!" It was too cute. I got his reaction on the video camera.
After opening presents, it was time to get dressed and start cooking lunch. Mom was in charge of the turkey and gravy. I made everything else! I was so proud of myself! :) It turned out really good.
I think Zach's favorite toys are: camera, flashlight, puzzles, and Black & Decker work bench.
We had a laid back afternoon. After everyone left and the kids had naps, we played with our new "toys" and watched a movie. It was a great day.
Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE GONZALEZ FAMILY!

Christmas Eve/ Grandma's Birthday

Christmas Eve was a busy day. I ran a couple of errands in the morning and then had to rush home for lunch and the kids' naps. Then it was time to get ready for church. Church started at 4pm, but it is always packed on Christmas Eve. So we decided to leave before 3pm to make sure we got a seat. Church was packed! And that's because this is a new, bigger church! We did get a seat- luckily. This is a children's mass, so it was directed more to the kids and there was a children's choir. It was very nice. After dealing with the traffic after church, it was 6pm before we got home. How crazy! Considering we had the kids with us, we all did pretty good.
Now it was time to celebrate Grandma's (my mom) birthday. She opened presents- and got some good stuff. We were going to go to Outback for dinner, but there was an hour and a half wait. So we decided to go to a local steakhouse in Cypress, called Bertani's. The co-owner went to school with my dad's sister. So of course my dad had to scout him out when we got there. The food was really good. I recommend going there. Happy Birthday Mom!
Don't think I'm a bad mother and didn't get a picture of my son...he was in one of his moods and didn't want his picture taken. :)

Christmas #1

We started our Christmas celebration on Sunday, December 21 at my sister, Sandra's house. We started early because my other sister, Becky and her family were leaving for Maine the following day. We feasted on turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing and rolls (someone forgot the corn :)). And of course, we opened presents. Sophie didn't really know what was going on, but Zach was all into opening gifts this year. I think he understands a little bit better this time around. Let's just say that Sophie had enough help opening her gifts. :)
I didn't take a whole lot of pictures... I wasn't feeling too well. I had a 103 fever earlier in the day. Luckily, the kids were not affected.

Zach's Christmas Program

Zach's school hosted a Christmas program on Thursday, the 18th (I know, I'm way behind). Each class got up on the stage to sing a song or two. It was soo cute to see my baby boy (but really big boy) up there with all of the other kids. Unfortunately, we didn't get any snapshots but we did videotape the program. Zach didn't look like he enjoyed being on the stage in front of everyone. He actually looked like he could have been anywhere else! :) He sat on the front row and just kept looking at the girls around him that were singing. It was hilarious. What is funny, is that he likes to sing at home with me, but not when he is supposed to sing. We enjoyed some cookies afterwards and headed home.
I got to open my Christmas presents that he made for me at school. I got a necklace, a magnet for my fridge, and a sweet picture. It really is about the little things in life. :)

Coming Soon...

I promise that I will update soon. It has been a busy week of shopping, wrapping, cooking, baking, etc. We are heading to Corpus this afternoon to have our 3rd Christmas... so pictures and updates will have to wait till Sunday upon our return.
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Another Funny

I was really irritated at Zach because he was not listening. I said, "Gosh... open your ears!"
Zach replies, "They already are open!"
LOL... he can turn my mood from bad to good in a matter of seconds, or good to bad, but we won't focus on that right now. :)

My Funny Little Man

I am amazed every day with how my baby boy's mind works. He says some of the funniest things ever and his imagination is growing and growing. Here are some funny things that happened yesterday while we relaxed at home...

I'm at the computer, not happy with how slow the internet was going. I say, "Hellooo..." Zach says, "Hello McFly!" LOL! This is a quote from "Back to the Future" that Gabe and I say. Too funny!

Then a little later, I am still on the computer and he is busy playing on his "car" (the same toy from previous post) in the foyer. I get up to leave the office and he scoots over real quick and says, "No mom, I will open the door for you, it's locked." And he "parks" the car by switching the lever, grabs his keys, "unlocks" the door and then opens it for me. Then he "drives" it over to the laundry room and says that he parked his car in the garage. I cracked up.
This is the same toy that he was playing with one day when I asked him what he was doing. He replies, "I'm driving my golf cart" (like papa and grandma). :)

A Helping Hand

Sophie likes to help out whenever she can. And Zach doesn't mind giving sister a little bit of exercise. :)

It's Safe

It's okay, it's safe to come and visit us... we are all better. It started with Sophie on Monday. I awoke to a mess in her bed! She had gotten sick! But she seemed okay until it started on the other end. Poor baby. Then on Tuesday, after school, Zach informs me that his tummy hurts. After about 15 minutes of complaining, I notice that he is white as a ghost. Great, now he's getting sick! About five hours and a few loads of laundry later, he seems to be better- asleep for the night. Then comes 5am. I'm not doing too good...the virus "bug" bites me! But God must have been on my side. I'm glad it happened as early as it did, because I don't know how I would have taken care of the kids while hanging over the toilet. I still took all day Wednesday to recuperate- didn't have much of an appetite, just wanted to sleep. Haha. That didn't happen.
But I am definitely glad to report that we are all better. For some unknown reason, Gabe is invincible when it comes to getting sick. He NEVER catches what we have. Crazy immune system of steel! :)

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Snow in Texas... I love it! I was trying to nap (because I wasn't feeling well), when Gabe pokes his head in the room and informs me that it is snowing outside. Did I really want to get out of my nice, warm, snugly bed to see the snow? Yes, I guess I should. How often does this happen? It came down pretty good for about an hour. It didn't really stick to anything, but it was still cool to see. Sophie got to experience it for the first time. Zach, on the other hand, was still alseep (never wake a 3 year old before he gets his full rest). When he did rise from his slumber I told him to come look at the snow. He replied, "It's raining."

Will we have a white Christmas? :)

Mr. Santa

The kids and I ventured off to the mall on Monday to meet up with Jayne and Dane to see Santa. All morning long, I was talking to Zach about seeing the big guy in the red suit. I was telling him that he had to tell Santa what to bring him for Christmas, that he had to be a good big brother and set an example for Sophie, and that we just needed one picture. He actually seemed okay with all of this. He agreed to take one picture, but he didn't want to sit on Santa's lap, he wanted to stand. I felt very optimistic.
Well, we get there and luckily there wasn't a very long line. Side note: Thank you Jayne for taking us early. If not, I would have been there on the weekend with everyone else, waiting till the last minute. Okay, so we are third in line and I am still coaxing Zach. This is when he starts to change his mind. GREAT!! He wouldn't budge from the stroller. I tried everything...I will take you to see the animals in the pet store, I will buy you a cookie, I will buy you candy, please Sophie doesn't want to be by herself in the picture, Santa needs to know what you want for Christmas. Nothing worked. And I didn't want to hold the line up for the other mothers. So Sophie was by herself. Now I had to worry about her being scared and crying in the picture. But to my amazement, she was a very good girl. She didn't smile, but at least she wasn't crying. Good job, Sophie! That's my girl! I'm sure there will come a time someday when Sophie will say, "Hey Zach, remember when I had to take a picture with Santa all alone because you were scared?" :)

My Lil' Cupcake

My Baby Girl turned 10 months old on Saturday!!!!! Aren't these the cutest pj's ever? :)

December Already?

Gosh, where has this year gone? Well, I have changed my background, house is pretty much decorated, some shopping has been done... bring on the holidays! It is getting to be so much more fun to play Santa now. Zach is 3 and he is starting to understand Christmas (kind of). The ol' "you better be good, Santa is watching" doesn't always work, but he knows who Santa is and that he brings presents. I'm anxious to see how the photo with Santa goes this year. Last year, not so good. I think I might have two crying babies on Santa's lap this year.
The houses across the street from us put lights up yesterday. Zach says, "Mom, look at the Christmas lights. They are beautiful!" Seriously, what 3-year old says that? Too funny. I think he will enjoy looking at lights this year.

Black Friday Mayheim

I usually don't participate in the Black Friday Mayheim 1. because I usually am at work (lovely retail) and 2. I'm not that crazy! Well, this year was a different story...only because I found (with the help of my sister) a great deal on something I wanted to buy my handsome husband. I can't give it away or he will know! :) This store (which will remain nameless) opened at 6am and the flyer said that they had minimum 6 of what I wanted to buy. OH MY GOSH... that meant I had to rise with the chickens (or maybe before) and stand in line. Yes, I was crazy. I got up before 4am and was there by 4:30. The line was not too bad, I was maybe 11th in line. But I had to cross my fingers and hope that everyone else there wasn't wanting the same thing! The time came for the employees to pass out the vouchers and wouldn't you know... they ran out of MY voucher! OH... I could have still been asleep!!!!!! I was really disappointed. If only I had camped out, like this one couple did. Yes, you read right. Someone actually camped out in front of the store...tent and all! I did take a picture, but it didn't turn out well since it was still dark (hence why I want a new camera for Xmas). Since our getting up early seemed like a waste, we packed up and headed to Wal-mart. Talk about CRAZY!!! I have never seen so many big screen tv's in shopping carts. That's what the picture is of. As soon as I walked in and saw the lines of people with tv's, I couldn't resist. My sister said, "Everyone should experience this at least once." I think she thought differently after we stood in line for 30 minutes. Good times, good times.

Pickles!

Sophie got a taste of a pickle...and I think she liked it! But it is too cute and funny to watch her eating it.

Gobble Gobble

Just a few pics of getting lunch ready! YUM!