5 Year Old Photo Shoot

Every year for Zach's birthday invitations, I take pictures of him and put them on the invite.  I never know what kind of mood I'm going to get... he'll be in a picture taking mood, he won't be in a picture taking mood, or he'll be in a silly mood, or he'll be in a grumpy mood.  Now, I have two of them to deal with!  And she likes to clown around just as much as he does!  Lol!  Check these two little monkeys out...

They crack me up!!!!!!

Zachary Turns 5!!!!!

She was my videographer!

 We had Zach's party on Saturday, the 11th.  He wanted an Iron Man party this year.  Not sure why... yes, he is a super hero and most boys like super heroes, but Zach really hasn't paid too much attention to super heroes until recently.  I didn't even realize he knew who Iron Man was until a few weeks ago!  Lol!  But this is what he chose while we were browsing at the party store.
I had pretty much everything ready the night before.  I even had all of the groceries bought, presents wrapped, things set up.  But I still felt rushed and running around like a chicken with my head cut off all morning!!  We did have a few extra hands this year.  Uncle Tony and the boys came up on Friday night, so they were there to help as well.  Uncle Tony was kind enough to make the rice, pico and guacamole to go with the fajitas that Gabe was grilling, and the beans my Mom made.  We had a huge spread!  And it was soo good!
I borrowed a water slide from my friend Dallas for the party.  This was a hit with the bigger kids that were there.  And funny, I didn't even get any pictures of them on it.  Just goes to show how busy I was, I guess! Zach got lots of cool toys... he was very, very excited about each and every one of them.  Even if he didn't have a clue as to what it was!  Lol!  We got his reactions on video... priceless, let me tell you!  He had everyone cracking up!
Thank you to everyone that came and that helped make his birthday a success.  I know he enjoyed it! 

Opening his gifts.

Still taking videos...lol!

Concentrating hard on this one!

She's taking this really seriously!  :)

A new DS game & he could hardly wait to play it!

Yummy Yummy Cake!

Awww, how cute is he??  I can't believe my baby is 5!!!!

Robstown & The Best Raspas!

The day after Zach's birthday, we had to take the kids out of school early and head to Corpus Christi for Grandpa Zavala's funeral.  It was another long day on the road, because first we had to take Gabe to school and waste some time while he was in class.  And then we left from there.  We arrived at the funeral home in time for the Rosary.  Afterwards, we had dinner with the family.  By that time, it was getting close to 11, and me and the kids were ready for bed.  

The funeral was Friday morning at 10 am.  It was a nice service and mass.  After the graveside we all met up at a hall (for lack of a better word) and ate lunch.  We visited with family that we hadn't seen in a while and got to love on Baby Kaleb.

Since we were in Robstown, Gabe wanted to hit up the raspa (sno-cone) stand before we left town.  When he first bought me one, he claimed that it would be the best raspa I had ever eaten.  Having eaten a lot of raspas sno-cones in my time, I thought, "really?  how much better could these sno-cones be?"  But, OMG!  He wasn't kidding!!  They are delish!!!  And not only that, you pay like $2 and get a large!!  You can't beat that!  Lol!  And they have crazy flavors like: tiger's blood, pickle, margarita, etc.  So we made one more stop before we got back on the road.  Raspas for everyone!!!

I was beginning to think that getting the RED raspa was a bad idea...the kids were spilling it all over the place!  But I couldn't resist these red, cute, sticky, little faces...

 And this is how he fell asleep...really.  DS and pen in hand, feet propped up on the back of the seat.  Classic.

Now time to get ready for the big 5 year old's birthday bash!!

Look Who's...

Can we just stop for a minute... my son is 5???  Are you kidding me???  Very hard to believe on our part.  It is definitely bittersweet!  My baby boy isn't little anymore!!!  Excuse me while I go grab a tissue...

Zach had school on his birthday.  I asked him if he would like to take some cupcakes or a special treat to share with his friends on his special day, but he didn't want to.  I think he is still getting used to the whole new school thing.
The teacher gave him a birthday crown to wear for the day and he got to wear a "5" around his neck!  I think he liked the attention!
Gabe and I both picked the kids up from school because we wanted to surprise Zach for his birthday.  We then took him to Chuck E Cheese!!  They were both oh so excited!
Here are a few pics that I took while there:

This horse ride that Sophie is on was pretty funny... I cracked up!

Pizza and games at Chuck E Cheese...what else could a 5 year old ask for?  :)

Labor Day 2010

Can you believe that we went to my parents' house on the lake for the weekend and I didn't even take my camera????  I know!!  I guess my intuition knew that nothing picture worthy was going to happen!  Ha!

So we didn't get to leave until Saturday after 2pm due to work.  On our way up there, we get a few phone calls from everyone else (that is already there) asking if we can stop at the Lowe's in College Station to get a few parts for my Dad's irrigation system.  Didn't sound like it was going to be too difficult until Dan (my brother-in-law) starts naming/describing what he needs.  Ummm, yeah.... I was lost pretty much from the beginning of that conversation!!!  Lol!!!  But I was smart enough to get a very nice sales associate to help me once I got there.  I called Dan back up and just had him tell the sales guy exactly what he needed.  Much easier!!  :)

It was cool this weekend because almost everybody was there!  We were just missing Sam and Stacy.  And that is a rare occurrence to have all three families there.

It was a pretty laid back weekend.  We ate, played some shuffleboard, kids played outside, and enjoyed each others company.  This was actually Gabe's first time to be back to the lake since New Year's!!  And we don't know when we will get to go back as a family again due to work, school, etc.  So it was good to get away and relax a bit.  

While we were there though, we did hear some upsetting news.  Gabe's mom called on Sunday morning to tell us that Gabe's grandfather had passed the night before. 
It's always hard to deal with someone passing, especially when you are as close to them as Gabe was to his Grandpa.   :(


RIP Grandpa Zavala... we love you!

Second Day of School

Thought I would give an update on the second day of school...

This morning was A LOT tougher!!!!  On all of us!!!!  Zachary didn't want to let go of me and wanted to give me about 10 hugs and kisses before I could leave- with tears in his eyes, I might add.  And Sophie had to be held by the teacher while she cried and screamed for me as I walked out the door.  Talk about hard... that is one of the worst feelings as a parent!   I hate it.

Everyone today has said that the second day is the hardest because the child knows what is actually going to happen- mommy & daddy are LEAVING me here! 

AHHHHH, I just hope it gets better!

First Day of School

First day of school!!!!!  I don't know who was more nervous, me or the kids.  Lol!!!  Gabe had the morning off so that he could help me take them to school.  I wasn't sure how either of them were going to react and I prayed that everything would go smoothly.

We took Zach to his classroom first.  And to my amazement, he was an old pro!!!!  He was such a big boy!!  He hugged and kissed us goodbye, took the teacher's hand and walked over to the rest of the group where they were sitting on the floor!!  I couldn't believe it was that easy!  I was relieved that it was that simple but I still got teary eyed seeing how big my baby boy has gotten.  :(

Next, was Sophie.  She did really good too!  But I have to admit, it was hard leaving her and I really had to fight back the tears!!!

Gabe and I went to breakfast afterwards, but it was hard to enjoy being by ourselves.  Part of me was feeling guilty, part of me was sad, and I missed the kids already.

As the rest of the day went on, it got easier.  I know this is the right thing to do for them and that they will enjoy going there to learn and have fun.  It's just the initial 'hump' that we have to get over first!

I was anxious to pick them up and see how their day went.  They both had a good day, ate lunch, took a nap, and got to play outside.  They both were a little overwhelmed when they saw me though... they both ran to me with tears in their eyes.  :(  I'm sure it will get better with time...

Here are some more pics from this morning:

Just Another Hard Day At The Office

Doesn't he look so cute?

The kids haven't started at school just yet, so while I am still in "training mode" at work (that's still funny to say), I take them with me for a couple of hours.  They love to go to Daddy's work.  Not sure why, but they always seem to keep themselves entertained and occupied.  I think on this day, they were playing restaurant and taking our orders for lunch.  Lol!

Pretty Toes

This girl is a GIRL-IE GIRL!!!!  She loves anything having to do with make-up, hair bows, painting her toes, purses, baby dolls, barbies, shoes, etc... and I love it!!!  I am so blessed to have a boy and a girl.  I get the best of both worlds!!

The shirt says it all!  :)

Welcome Baby Kaleb!

We drove down to Corpus on Friday to spend the weekend meeting and welcoming Baby Kaleb to the family.  This was the first chance that we got to get away and meet our new, baby nephew/cousin!

Kelly, Gabe & Kaleb

Uncle Gabe & Kaleb

Playing with his new cousin

Ahhhh, sweet cousin love!

Sophie also liked to play momma...she buckled Minnie Mouse up for a ride.

We definitely had a busy weekend full of activities!  Friday night we had some good 'ol Kikos (Gabe's favorite).  The enchiladas there are scrumptious!!!!
On Saturday, we went to the mall to spend some money!  Lol!  Papo and Grandma Bebe treated all of the grandkids to new shoes!!  Sophie and Zach got some new tennis shoes for the new school year.  And since Stride Rite was having a sale, we also got Sophie some brown shoes for the Fall to wear with her jeans.  Cute, cute, cute.  Thank you again Papo and Grandma Bebe!
After leaving the mall, we stopped by and said 'hi' to Grandma Sally.  She was working in her antique store and it's always fun to see what's new!
Later on, we went to a birthday party.  It was the granddaughter of Abel & Esmi's friend.  The birthday girl was only turning 1, but the party was "off the hook!"  It was so neat!  The theme was like a carnival.  So they had carnival games, carnival food and even a dunking booth!  It was too too cute and so creative!
From there, we left and met Gabe's mom, sister, aunt/uncle for dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  It must have been THE night to eat there... we waited over a hour for a table and at that we didn't even get to sit all together at one table!  We had two tables directly across from each other.  But I guess it all worked out okay.  It made splitting the bill easier.  Ha!
After dinner, we went back to Papo's and went to bed.  We were all wore out!
On Sunday, we got up, had breakfast and got ready for Kaleb's 'welcome party' that Celia and John were hosting for Kelly and Kevin.

 

After the party, we had to leave and get back on the road to head home.  It was a great weekend.  Busy, but good.  We got to meet Kaleb, saw a lot of family, ate some good food, and made new friends.

Oh, and early Sunday morning, Allyson (Gabe's cousin) had her second baby girl, Avery!!  So that now makes 8 great grandchildren in the Gonzalez Family!!  :)

Change Is Good, Right??

Moving on to the next chapter... Some of you might know this already, but I have been itching to go back to work, get out of the house again, and just have something to do.  But on the other hand, I've been very nervous about putting both kids in school/daycare.  One, because it is so expensive.  Two, because Sophie hasn't been to any type of school yet.  And three, I don't know how Zach is going to react.  We all know how much he "loved" his last school. 

With that being said, it looks like God has worked his magic for us once again.  Back in mid-July Gabe received a letter stating that he was on probation (at his store) due to decreasing insurance numbers (this is a whole other story) and opening the store late in the month of June (remember, Gabe took summer school in June, so this was from his employee, Charlene).   Our initial reaction was shock.  Then anger.  Then, well if this is what happens, this is what happens. 

After talking to a few other agency operators, Gabe decided to have a meeting about this letter, which by the way, wasn't even signed by the District Manager of the area.  He wanted to be heard and have a few questions answered and "fight" for this store.  Because, in all honesty, this job works for us right now.  It allows Gabe to have the freedom to go to school, do his studies, and isn't too stressful for him to balance everything.  And it's definitely too close to him graduating to stop now!

At the conclusion of the meeting, it was decided that we should run the store as a "family affair," as I like to say it.  Charlene would have to go and I would step in and take over.  Which, why didn't we think of this sooner?  Not only do I get to get out of the house and work again, but we would save money by not paying an employee.  And as far as the kids go, they wouldn't have to go to school/daycare full time.  They would just go on the days that Gabe has school, when I would be needed at the store.

So, I started training today.  I'm back in the game!  Haha!!  There is a lot to learn, that is for sure, but I am slowly getting it.  I also looked at Kids R Kids the other day for Zach and Sophie.  It is really close to home, Sophie would be in the same class as Dane (her boyfriend), and they have a Pre-K class for Zach (in which the teachers are certified).  So it seems that everything is coming together nicely.  Wish us luck on all the upcoming changes!!

A Little Change of Scenery

Summer is winding down and to change things up a bit, we went to The Woodlands today with Aunt Becky, Aunt Sandra, and cousins Cole and Emma.  We ate at The Cheesecake Factory (yum) and I think I saw a movie star there....  :)

Ta-da!!!  Little Miss Diva!!

And then she got shy!

After lunch, we did a little shopping and I scored some polos on sale at GapKids.  Can you believe it is already time for me to start birthday shopping for Zach?  Omg... he's going to be 5!!!!!!  Say it isn't so!  My baby is growing up too fast!

An Unexpected Lunch Date

Ashleigh and Baby Gage came into town for a visit and we went and had lunch with them.  Baby Gage isn't so baby anymore... look how big he his!

And... good thing he is practicing to be so big because he will become a BIG BROTHER next year!!  Ashleigh is expecting!!  Miss Stella should be here mid-February!!  Congratulations Hansberger Family!

A Visit From Papo & Grandma Bebe

It had been a while since we had a visit from Papo and Grandma Bebe...

so the kids made sure that they had lots of fun with them... playing outside, puzzles, more playing outside!