As I look outside our window . . . .

. . . this what I saw during the storm.

Of all the rains I have experienced here in good ol' Cedar Rapids, nothing is like this one. The skies were dark and gray but were bright at the same time from all the ligthnings. It roared loudly from the thunder and the rain . . . . . the rain came down loud and hard. At one point, it was hailing and that too came loud and hard. Let me tell you, the experience of it was quiet scary!

Happy and Lucky to say . . . . after all the rain that day, we were not affected by the storm.

Oh, how I LOVE Pocky Stick Cookies!!!

Alerina loves to snack! Her all time favorite things to snack on are these Pocky Stick Cookies.


Whenever she sees them when we're out shopping, she'll point to them and say "Yummmie!" and that's it . . . . . . it's over . . . . . . . I have to purchase them because if not . . . . . . . little missy will throw her little fit.

Anyways, one afternoon I sat her down to snack on them and within minutes she gobbled them down. It was way too cute, not a single peep came out of her . . . . . . all you hear are the rustling sounds of the wrapper as she grabbed for more and the sounds of her crunching away . . . . . . she was way too busy eating!!!! By the looks of the picture, you could tell someone sure enjoyed their little snack :o)

Something I would not do in LA . . . .

. . . . MOW my own lawn!!!

Everybody here mows their own lawn. When I say everybody . . . . I mean, EVERYBODY!!! Everybody from teenage girls and boys to grandmas and grandpas. So . . . I needed to get into the action and see what it's all about!

To my surprise, I really enjoyed mowing the lawn. It was like vacuuming but much, much, much louder and you're outside. This is definitely something I would not be caught dead doing in good ol' LA :o)

Check out the pictures below . . . . Sebastian was my little tail the whole entire time I was mowing while Alerina was busy sweeping the grass away!

Mommy got a brand new toy!

Bac surprised me with a special gift the day before Mother's Day. It was a "All-into-One" gift . . . meaning . . . an Anniversary/Mother's Day/Birthday gift. It was suppose to be delivered to the house on my birthday but it never came until Monday, June 2nd. I've always wanted a KitchenAid Mixer and now I have one!!!! I'm SOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!

Well, 5 days into having this wonderful mixer, I've already used it 3 times this week! I baked hummingbird cupcakes with cream cheese frostings, chocolate chip cookies, and cinnamon-walnut coffee cake.

I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE the mixer . . . . . . I can't wait to try new things to make!!

"I need to play baseball!"

One day last week as we were driving home, we saw a bunch of kids playing baseball at the park. Sebastian excitedly ask me, "Mom. Mom. Mom. What's that?" I told him they're playing baseball. He then yelled out to me, "I need to play baseball!"

Ever since that day, he's been saying he "needs to play baseball". So, this past weekend, Bac bought him a baseball and a bat. He couldn't wait to get home to play.

The look on his face was priceless . . . . . keeping his eye on the ball and swinging at the ball. Sebastian did hit a couple of balls Bac pitched to him . . . . . he was very proud and excited when he did!

I Apoo* my Brother!

Whatever Sebastian does, Alerina copies . . . .

Sebastian takes a rake, Alerina wants "something" so she can rake!
Sebastian sits down, Alerina sits down as well!
Sebastian sings, Alerina sings.
Sebastian screams, Alerina screams.
Sebastian runs, Alerina runs.
Like I said . . . whatever Sebastian does, Alerina does as well!

It's really cute to see them together :o)

*Definition of Apoo = Love (After a kiss on the lips, Alerina says Apoo to you)

The Start of Summer

Saturday, May 31 was Cedar Rapid's official day that summer-swimming season starts. All the city park's pool opens to the public that day. It was a perfect 82 degrees that day so we celebrated the beginning of summer by taking the kids to one of the parks (there's 6 of them out here) to go swimming.

The place was AMAZING . . . . . . it's not like the public swimming pool parks in LA . . . . . . these parks are like a "mini-version" of a water park. Seriously, there are slides, there is a water playground thing, tons and tons of beach chair to lay on, there's a concession stand selling food, sand box to play in, the pool had a beach-like entry so it was great for the kids . . . . . . I'm telling you . . . "Mini Water Park!!!" and what's even greater is that it only cost $4 per person - can't complain about that :o)

Even though we stayed so only an hour, the kids had a GREAT time . . . . . . we can't wait to try out the other swimming pools !

Here are pictures of Alerina modeling with her new bikini before we left for the pool . . . .