A Very Special Day

Today is a Special Day!!!

Alerina is turning 3 today!!!

It's amazing to see how she has grown. She's now a very, very girlie-girl . . . . . . who's into dressing up, playing kitchen, tea parties, and of course, bothering her brother :o)

Our Dear Alerina . . . . Brother, Daddy, and Mommy just wanted to say:

Happy 3rd. Birthday, Sweetie!!!

We LOVE you very, very much!!!

Enjoy your Special Day!!!

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Happy 5th. Birthday, Sebastian!

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A Very Special Day

Today is a Very Special Day!!

Why you asked??? Well . . . . . . Today
Sebastian turned 5 years old!!!

We can't believe it!!! It seems like it was yesterday when we brought him home from the hospital . . . . . all teeny-weenie and oh-so-tiny and NOW . . . . geesh-louise, he's heavy, tall, and growing up WAY too fast before our very eyes!!!!

To our dearest, Sebastian . . . . . Mom, Dad, and Alerina just wanted to say:

Today is Your Special Day!!!
We love You VERY, VERY much!!
Stay sweet and enjoy every minute
of your Special Day!!
Happy 5th. Birthday, Sebastian!!

We hit a New Milestone :o)

Today is the First Day of School!

Sebastian started Kindergarten :o)

I was very nervous at the thought of him all on his own for such a looooooooong time (7.5 hours) but he WAS ready!!! He woke up early, ate ALL his breakfast quickly (which he rarely does), got dressed and was anxious to get on the bus!!!

Today he got to use his new shirt, shoes, and backpack!! The funny thing is that his backpack look more like a parachute on his back than a bag because it was sooooo HUGE on him!!!

When we were already we all walked to the bus stop. The bus stop was 2 houses down from our house - which is VERY, VERY nice!!! :o) Believe it or not, almost everybody here takes the school bus. What's even more surprising is that the school is only 3 miles away AND he still rides the bus . . . . how GREAT is that!?!?!?!?!?! So from now on, Sebastian will be picked up at 8:19 every morning and will be drop-off around 3:45 ish.

The bus was a little late today (first day and all) but it finally came! Sebastian totally surprised us because he was SOOOO excited when the bus came. He quickly said goodbye to me and wanted to get on the bus RIGHT THEN AND THERE!! I had to yell at him to say bye to Alerina and Bac. And before we knew it, he was getting on and in the bus and was gone :o(

Sadness came over me but I was Good . . . I didn't cry . . . teary-eyed but not crying! That counts right for not crying, right??????

The day was quiet without Sebastian. It was just the 3 of us. Today, we did our usual thing around the house and before we knew it was time to pick him up at the bus stop. It was almost 8 hours since I've seen him and surprisingly enough, it flew by!!!

When, Sebastian got off the bus, he was Happy :o). He seemed to enjoy his first day of Kindergarten (Thank goodness!!!) and he was actually looking forward to going back!!! Phewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww :o)

As sad as I am knowing that this IS the very first day of the start of my little boy growing up and being out there in the real world, out of my protective 24/7 bubble . . . . . . . I am happy because I know Sebastian will do just fine :o)

Check out more pictures:

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How many years?!?!?!?!

On the 26th., Bac and I celebrated our Wedding Anniversary! Can't believe it's been 6 years already?!?!?!? Like I always say, "Geesh-Louise . . . . . Time Flies!!!"

For our anniversary, we had dinner at home WITHOUT the kids!! Our friends watched the kiddies for couple of hours while we enjoyed a quiet, no interruption dinner. We did all the prepping in the afternoon so after dropping the kids off (we walked 2 houses down) we started cooking/baking away.

We had a Caprese Salad to start off our dinner, followed by the Entree (pan-seared fish - forgot the name of the fish but it was yummy because it was not fishy, with grilled garlic asparagus, and garlic mashed potatoes), and to end the meal we had a Molten Lava Cake!

The food was GOOD . . . . . BUT . . . . the fact that we got to eat slowly and take our time, had dinner without one of the kids hanging from us or yelling for us, without the noisy background from the TV or the kids yelling at each other, just made the meal 100% BETTER!!!!

It was a nice little treat for us :o)

Happy 6th. Year Anniversary, Honey!
Love you much xoxo's

OH . . . they're SOOOO Yummie :o)

Ever since living in Iowa, I have become a better baker and cook! When I was in LA, I hardly ever bake let alone cook! I think the fact that there's not alot of restraurants to choose from around here, I am forced to bake something or cook something when I'm craving it!

I have been introduced to a new blogger from a friend and I LOVE her!!!! She cooks all these great yummies that I can't wait to try. Last week while checking out the blog I came across some onion strings! I haven't had onion rings/strings in ages (almost a year now) so after reading the recipe over and over, I could not get my mind off the onion strings! I HAD to make them!!!

Boy, was I glad I did because . . . . . . . OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH man, they were SOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!! They were good when they were hot and crispy and they were even good cold!! Bac and I ate them all up! The frying was a bit time consuming but boy-oh-boy, they were TOTALLY worth it!!!

All I can say is "YUMS!!!" Can't wait to try more of her recipes -- I'm getting hungry just thinking about them!!

Garage Sale Season Kickoff!

Garage Sale Season has officially kicked off here in good ol' Cedar Rapids. It's been about 2 weeks now and the Penny Saver/Craiglist/local paper have more and more ads for garage sales going on. Last year, my neighbor hosted the very first neighborhood sale and we weren't able to join because we were still in the "unpacking" stage but this year . . . . we participated!!! I was SOOOOOOOO excited cuz' it my very first garage sale ever!!! I 've always wanted to do one in LA but never had the chance to.

So . . . with 2 weeks to prepare I searched and searched every single cabinet, corner, boxes, you name it . . I checked it out and cleared it out! I found TONS of toys that the kids have outgrown. I also found tons of clothes that I never, ever wear anymore, little knick-knacks around the house, and of course, kid's clothes that they've outgrown or worn-out. The first week I was busy hunting for stuff, the second week I was busy pricing, and helping my friend set up.

With 6 families joining in to participate, she had her 3-car garage jammed-pack full of stuff/junk. We did a 3-day garage sale, Thurs. (3-7) , Fri. (8-2) and Sat. (8-12). The day of, I started bringing my goods over to her place at 1:00 . . . thinking I had 2 hours to set up. But believe it or not, at 2:00 people started showing up. Well . . . let's back track a bit by 1 day, Wednesday afternoon, my friend had someone come to her house wanting to get an early preview . . . my friend couldn't say No so . . . $160 later she made her very first sale. The day of . . . while playing outside with the kiddies (noon time) . . . I saw a lady walking toward my friend's house, and guess what . . another person wanting a "preview" and $300 later another sale.

So . . back to the story . . . at 2:00 people started showing up and my friend (again) could not say No so . . . because 1 showed up and shop . . more and more came and before we knew it, it was in FULL swing with TONS of people shopping, rummaging through bins and bins and bags and bags of stuff not unpacked yet before our official start time which was suppose to be 3:00.

By 4:00 on our first day, I was already tired of cleaning up and setting up!

It's amazing how anxious and popular garage sales are around here!!! We had cars parked all over the block and people kept on coming and coming and shopping and shopping! The first day, of course, was the busiest. The second day, not as much, and by the third day, it was totally and utterly slow but overall, we did pretty good selling our stuff/goods/junk! It was FUN :oD . . . . I can't wait to have another garage sale!!!

Garage Sales are BIG around here because like the saying goes . . .
"One man's junk is another man's treasure!"

Check out more pictures from this link:

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