"Run For The Roses" Dinner

What a wonderful time we had last Friday night. My mom's church held a "Run For the Roses" dinner and it was fantastic! The whole premise was set on her Pastor's love for Kentucky. That's where he's originally from. His wife got the idea when they wouldn't be able to attend the Kentucky Derby, so they brought the Kentucky Derby to California! There was a 7-course dinner with the most amazing food we've tasted in a very long time. And of course, the hat contest. I made mine and my mother's hats. Didn't they come out beautiful? We had so much fun making them. My little sis Nicole borrowed a hat from a friend and she looked amazing, too. Here's a quick glimpse of the fun we had. AND childcare was included!! How great is THAT?

The Invite Card
Us Lil'Darlin's
Me & Ma

Me & My Gent
Corwin & Nikki
Dad & Mom
My Hat

Sorry the pictures are a little dark, but then again, they're not bad for being taken with my phone. We had such a great time. Hopefully they'll do it again next year!

Gracie Got A Potty!

"And so we begin the next stage, help us Lord!"

Sweet Potato Fries

I made some delicious sweet potato fries for dinner last night. Along with turkey hotdogs and mandrian oranges, it was a good, quick, easy dinner. I absolutely LOVED them fries! I didn't share with the rest of the family that they were not ordinary french fries, so.... When they took a bite, their tastebuds didn't expect what started dancing on the tips of their tongues. While they didn't fall over madly in LOVE with them, they ate them *with ketchup* I always order sweet potato fries from a local restaurant we frequent and can eat baskets and baskets of them in one sitting. But my family? Not so much. I will make them again, because they're healthy and I think taste really good, but I don't think my family is counting down the days on the calendar to eat them again. Try 'em, you might like 'em! Here's the recipe:

Here's What You'll Need:3 large sweet potatoes2 tbs. olive oilsalt & pepper
Directions: Cut the sweet pototes into strips, place in a bowl. Drizzle with oil and season with salt and paper. Lay the strips in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (or aluminum foil with cooking spray). Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Delicious!

Saturday Morning Shock

I woke up this morning to a peculiarly quiet house. I just laid in bed, eyes closed and heard....nothing. Larry was still asleep, but for some reason the snores that ususally bellow throughout the house were nonexistent. I turned my head and opened my eyes to find a glaring 8:45am on alarm clock. It was just two more minutes of silence later that I heard a faint little, "Mama.... Mama...." It was Grace. Right then and there I said, "thank you Jesus" because the girl has been waking up screaming lately. So I got up out of my warm, warm bed *from under my new comforter that was so heavenly* and I tip-toed over to Gracie's room. She greeted me with the sweetest smile and stretched her arms out for me to pick her up. After changing a smelly pee-pee diaper, she and I headed for downstairs. I was expecting to find Alliah and Angel all tucked in their beds since it was so quiet, but their beds were empty. We walked downstairs and it was there I found them: My two little sports fanatics. Well, Angel is more of a fanatic than Alliah. Angel is what one would call a "sports junkie" while Alliah is the "fanatic." *And this is all because of their FATHER!* I was prepared to find some what they call 'funny cartoons' on the tv, but nope. It was baseball. My son no longer desires to watch cartoons? He's only 10! He prefers the Giants to, to Spongebob??? My Angel thrives on any kind of sport on tv, especially baseball. Ugghhhh....I thought this was supposed to happen when he's like 12 or 13, maybe even 14. And as for Alliah, she loves her brother so much she sits and watches it with him. She does make comments though, asking to change the channel on the commercials, but of course there are sports commercials on in between the real games and God forbid Angel miss something. What is a mom to do when her babies are growing up too fast right before her very eyes? Advice please! I'm not ready for this!

BFFS

Bella came over to play with Gracie and what a GREAT time they have together! Isabella, Fermin & Crystal's daughter, is just 4 months older than Grace and they couldn't not love eachother more. They played for hours, with a couple of hits back and forth, but they got over it and ended up hugging eachother every time. These two will be BFF for sure! Imagine...today they're playing in the back yard and enjoying the swings at the park, and a soon-to-come tomorrow we'll be dropping them off at the mall to go school shopping together. OMG!!!

McDonalds

Yesterday, after dropping Angel off at practice, Daddy decided to take his girls out for ice cream at McDonalds. Larry is such a good dad. He always knows just when his girls need a little extra attention. You can tell by the pictures that they had a great time. Larry and Alliah had their sundaes, with a side of fries, and Gracie had some of my ice cream, along with some of Dad's french fries. These kids are growing so fast and we are taking every opportunity we can to show them they are loved, valued, and treasured. What a fun time together!


Can you see all them teeth??? (Along with a little bit of french fry)

Priceless.

Marina Giants Team Basket

Larry took a year off from coaching this year. But! Since baseball flows through the man's veins, there's no way he could not be involved so we are the team parents. Part of those responsibilities *as if I don't have enough already* is making a team basket for a raffle at the Annual Spaghetti Dinner. This was our basket. While it wasn't quite as elaborate as some of those baskets can get, ours was the classiest. When Angel saw it he asked if I could make him one just like that one for his birthday. To that I say, "That's a homerun for the team parents!" *and that'd be me and Larry* LOL

Sunday Best

I couldn't resist taking this picture of Miss Grace all dolled up for church. A friend from church, Rhonda, blessed Gracie with bags and bags of hand-me-downs. Her daughter Sarah had quite a clothing collection, now passed on to Grace. This dress was one of the many cute outfits given. When Larry saw her all ready to go, he swept her off her feet and covered her with kisses. She looked just adorable, don't you think?

Weekend Sports

We entered week three of the baseball/softball season and what a BLAST we had! On Saturday, Alliah's team wiped out the opposing Monterey softball team. She's still in pre-rookies so everybody bats, everybody plays. There's like 14 girls out on the field and some still have to use the tee. It's so cute the watch. But while most team is just "cute" to watch, there are a couple of girls (including Alliah) who are in their 3rd year of softball and they are good! Here's a pic of Alliah all softballed out.


Angel had his first experience on the pitcher's mound this weekend. Our ususal pitcher was playing at a tournament, so Angel was put on the mound. He did a really good job for his first time pitching in a game. He had one practice the day before and he studied the rule book the same evening. He struck a few out, gave some bases away, but he sure did have his stance down! He looked like a pro out there! Grandma was laughing at how serious our usual joker was out on that mound. We're so proud of you, Son! You did an amazing job!!!

Up to bat: #12 Angel Gonzales of the Marina Giants. Grandpa and Grandma Gonzales, Uncle Jesse, Tia Liz, Felicia, Tia Nicole and Isaiah all came out to see the big game. And Angel did not disappoint. After the game, Grandpa and Grandma took us all out for pizza and soda. What a great family!



Sorry the pics are closer, but they're not bad for being taken with my phone.

Easter Candy

Pictured here is Miss Gracie with a face full of chocolate with her loving Grama Felice who gave it to her. Last Easter Grace was just three months old and not quite old enough to enjoy the treats of the holiday. Well this year? The girl made up for it! She LOVES chocolate. She ate chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies, chocolate lambs...and drank lots of chocolate milk. Believe me, by 10pm she was bouncing off the walls and then by 11pm, she was OUT! She crashed...and she crashed hard. Angel and Alliah spent Easter week with Larry's side of the family in Clovis. And they had a ball! They went to the movies, went roller skating, played with their cousins, had dance contests, went kite flying and on and on and on. I'm so glad they have so much family who love and care for them so much. As for Larry and me? We enjoyed the quiet week while they were gone. We still had Grace with us, but going from three kids down to one? Piece of cake. I did good until about Thursday night. I was missing Angel and Alliah big time. Larry? Well, let's just say he thoroughly enjoyed the quiet. No baseball or softball practies, no homework checking, no one to remind to do chores or brush their teeth. He enjoyed the empty house to the fullest. Overall, we had a wonderful Easter celebration with family and friends and lots and lots of food. In all of this, the most important part to remember during this holiday is how very thankful we are that the King of kings and Lord of lords took our place in death so we can have His life. For that, and all we have, we thank you, Lord.

Smiles Of Miles

It isn't too often that we catch pictures of Gracie with a big smile on her face. She could be cracking up one minute, we pull out the camera, and she stops smiling! I don't know why, but she does it every time. We're trying to teach her that "CHEEEESE" means *SMILE!* but she crinkles up her nose and shuts her eyes instead. In this first pic she's smiling with an "Okay, you got my attention..." kinda' smile.

In this second one, we couldn't believe we actually captured this! She is cracking up laughing - Daddy succeeded. (And it only took us 15 months to capture a laugh)

And in this third one...she just looked plain cute. (I think Larry was changing a poopy diaper in this one. He was gagging and fanning his face with his hand. Grace thought that was hilarious!) LOL I just couldn't resist posting these!