It's The Last Day of the Month

I can't believe that it is already the 30th of June. Half the year is over. O-VER!!! Christmas is in 178 days for goodness sake!! Well, this Sunday I turn 38 years old. Thirty-eight! I'm feeling good about getting older. This dawn of a new year for me has enlightened me to make some changes though. I decided that just because I'm 38 doesn't mean I can't be fashion forward. I can be in style, can't I? I brought out my big hoop earrings again, and keep my toes painted for some cute peep toe slingbacks. I read a lot *a-lot* of blogs and fellow women bloggers proclaim the same. Why does getting older mean we have to look like old, frumpy bags of coal. These are the changes that I've committed to making:

1. Go to bed earlier. I've made 10pm the maximum time to go to bed.
2. Get up earlier. I'm gonna get up at 5:30am and exercise. Put that elliptical trainer to use!
3. Eat better. I'm really gonna pay more attention to what I'm eating and, more importantly, when I'm eating it. I'm vasilating on the decision of no more sweets after 8pm. {I dunno about that one though}
4. And going back to no more sodas. I stopped drinking sodas for six months and I really was feeling better, my skin looked better, I had more energy.

So, for now...this is what I'm willing to share of my "life make-over." If I think of anything else, I'll blog it to ya. :) (And if there are any crazy errors, like spelling, disregard it because I didn't spell check).

TV Strike

Today, again, we've laid down the law. No more TV. Well, we don't mean no TV at all, just not so much TV. We have a total of four TVs in our house. We have one in the living room, one in the family room, one in our bedroom, one is Gracie's room, oh and one in Angel's room (that makes five, but that only works for the playstation). It seemed like the TVs were on {all the time}. One TV would have shows Larry and I liked, another with sports (Angel) and another with girlie shows for Alliah and Grace. Tonight was the first night we made the change. Angel and Alliah ended up laying out on the couch, playing together on Alliah's DS. Me and Grace just hung out, read books, played dolls. Larry wasn't here...he went to a bible study at church (thus we didn't watch the Giants-Dodgers game) *hee-hee*. We'll see how long this "strike" lasts. Either way, we've once again gained a better perspective on how to spend our evenings. The house was nice and quiet, aside from the bursts of laughter from Angel and Alliah and occassional yell from Grace if I moved her toys. Right now, all the kids have gone to bed and Larry and I sit here enjoying the quiet. Feels so peaceful. I only hear the washer and dryer singing. Kids are asleep, the house is picked up, kitchen is clean, the diaper bag is ready for tomorrow, all is at peace. So, so nice.

They're Baaaaack!

Hooray! My kids are finally back from Fresno. I have missed them so, so much. Granted, the first week was kinda nice. We only had Gracie to take care of and going from three kids down to one was down right easy. *Easy-peasy* Alliah called us every single day and sometimes more than once. Angel called once. He called on Father's Day and it was very late when he called. Angel just has too much fun at Uncle Joe and Tia Diane's house. It is there that he enters the 'mans world' and believe you me, he loves to live there. Tia Diane is only girl in the house. So there's always wrestlings, sports on tv, two dogs to play with, bikes to ride and barbecue to eat. Angel and Daniel get along so well and miss eachother like crazy when they are apart. Alliah spent most of her time traveling from house to house. A couple of days with Alexis, a couple at Lori's with Amy and Santana, a couple at Grandma's trailer, and a couple at Tia Sandys. And that is just perfect for Alliah. Alliah is a mover and a shaker, always ready to get up and out...always on the move (she gets that from her father). When the kids came home yesterday afternoon, we were waiting for them on the front lawn. When Grace saw them get out of Grandma and Grandpa's car she literally jumped up and down screaming, "leah, leah!" Alliah grabbed Gracie up and squeezed the life out of her. Both kids came home with gifts for Grace and hugs for me and Larry. Last night we were all together again watching tv and eating ice cream. Alliah laying on my lap, Gracie on the floor playing with her new toys and Angel spread out on the love seat like a bear in its den. *Deep breath in and out* It felt so good to have all my little chicks back in the hen house. I can't imagine life without my little boogers. It would be just too quite and extremely boring. I love you guys!

My Sweet Lovebug

When I saw these pics I thought Grace looked like she was in a kids fashion magazine. This is the dress I bought for her when we spent the day in Carmel. The name of the boutique is 'Jack-n-Jane.' It's a reversable dress and is quite lovely. Well, then again, Grace can make just about anything look lovely, don't you think? :)

Big Hat!

While visiting family in Fresno, Gracie fell in love with Tia Sandy's hat. This is the hat Tia Sandy wears outside while she's in the pool. Grace must have walked around the house with it on for, at least, a good five minutes. This girl cracks me up! She already picks out her shoes, picks out the jacket she wants to wear and shakes her head "no" if I pick out a pair of pants for her if she doesn't want to wear them.


And she had no problem standing there letting me take her pictures. These two came out the best of the 5-7 pictures we took. She didn't run or fuss. She just stood there smiling, but wanted to see each picture on the camera as I took them. Little Miss Model loves the big hats!

Happy Birthday Larry

This year we decided to celebrate Larry's birthday at home. No restaurants, no big shin-dig. Just family and friends to celebrate this wonderful man. On his actual birthday, which is May 28th, our friends Jose & Yesensia came over for dinner. We ate tri-tip, hotlinks, chili beans, and salad. It is also Yesenia's birthday the same day so we ended the evening with a pie she brought. So tastey! The next day, May 29th, we decided to celebrate again. This time we had my family over. We had delicious tamales, sopa and corn and oh was it sooooo good! Below is the four layer cake I made for my true Love. The whole cake was gone in like two days LOL It was that good! So, again, happy birthday my love. I hope this next year is even better that the last. I love you!

OMG

OMG I can't believe it's been almost a whole month since I've last blogged!! Where has the time flown?! It has been a very busy, busy month. Actually, it's been a very busy last couple of months. Several people have asked me, "Kristie, how do you do all you do?!" I answer by shaking my head side to side saying, "I just do what I gotta do." And ain't that the truth. Thankfully, baseball and softball season are over. Being a team mom was a lot more work than I imagined. It was my first time being the "team mom" and not just "coach's wife." I don't think I'll do that again! Aside from planning the snack list, reminding parents of games and schedule changes, we were picking kids up, dropping them off, referring coach/parent arguements...gees...I volunteered because no one else did. Nope, I don't think I'll do that again. Let's see, what else has been going on...oh! My two kids are in Clovis. Yep, Angel and Alliah are spending some time with the Gonzales' in Clovis, CA, swimming, biking, skating, going to the movies, swimming some more, and of course baking in the 90 degree weather. They are both definitely going to look like adopted children when they get home LOL. When Larry and I left, Alliah was already two shades darker than when we got there LOL Well,time's a'flying and I'm off to the next order of business. More pics and more blogging later! I have more posts to report on...Larry's birthday, Gracie's dancing and more! Check back soon...

The Closer

Above is my baby boy, Angel. Although it's his last year in Mustang, this was Angel's first season pitching. His coach gave him a 45 minute lesson and the next game he was striking out the other team! Not only that, Angel hit his first home run this season and got paid some serious cash...big time. *His daddy was so proud* Because Angel isn't one of our teams' more seasoned pitchers, Larry and I were surprised at Angel's last game. Coach George put Angel on the mound and Angel struck 'em out 1-2-3. So proud of you, Son!