Fred and I packed up the boys and some quickie Dollar Store purchases and headed over to Amy’s and Chris’ after dinner tonight to celebrate a time-honored tradition in our friend group:  pranking the heck out of the newlyweds’ house.

This tradition started almost seven years ago when Fred and I got married.  It wasn’t our house that got it.  It was Fred’s car.  Aside from the usual painted messages and cans tied to the back…

…the interior of the car was TOTALLY trashed.  Read the rest of this entry

I type through bleary eyes.  Yesterday’s wedding was beautiful, but whew am I exhausted.  Can only imagine how the starring couple  is feeling.   Though they have a Carribean cruise to make up for it.  Yeah, no real sympathy here.

But as tiring as the day was, it was a fantastic one.  Spent most of it in close quarters with Amy, our youngest sister Lori and our friend Jocie – assembling centerpieces and bouteniers, getting Amy all ready for the ceremony, and then celebrating a marriage I, personally, have been hoping for since around the time of my own.  Yeah, a pretty great day.

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My little sister is getting married tomorrow (more on that later, I’m sure); and the biggest impression of that the twins have had so far is that it means they’ve had to shed the mohawks they’ve been sporting for the past few weeks.

A real sacrifice in their minds.

On the other hand, they’ve been totally diggin’ the attention they’ve gotten while getting measured for tuxes and then picking them up.  Read the rest of this entry

Want to introduce you all to one of my favorite new people, Reyna.

I met her last November when I was in the throes of total intimidation at even coming to our church’s Hispanic group.  Many weeks, she was the only other woman there, so we bonded pretty quickly.  At that time, though, she spoke no English, and I spoke very little Spanish, Read the rest of this entry

You can tell that this Mamacita just discovered Liberty’s Kids on Netflix-Watch-Instantly:

[Outside, while gardening]

Jose:  Mama, do ants ever fight each other?

Me:  Yes, I suppose so.  Like if two different colonies want the same food.

J:  Oh, so some of them are British?!

[In the car]

Heriberto:  Mama, what year was it when you were born?

Me: 1978

H:  So the Redcoats were still here when you were a baby?

[Umm... no, that would've been 1778... but thanks for that]

For more TTT, visit by friend Mary’s blog carnival at NotBefore7.

Just found an excellent use for the boys’ kindergarten handwriting, spelling and math pages:

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This week, El Salvador celebrates a national holiday complete with athletic events, religious celebration, art shows, beauty pageants, food, dancing, costumes, parades, theater – and mass migration to the beaches and resorts.  It’s Las Fiestas Agostinas – the August Feasts.  One whole week of partying  in honor of the patron “saint” of El Salvador – Jesus Christ. 

(My thoughts:  If you’re going to pick a saint, why NOT shoot for the top?  And if you’re going to celebrate the Savior of the world, why not stretch it out for the whole week?)

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Tripped across this article tonight and thought it was worth passing along.  From Internet Monk: “The Terror of Faith”

July 29th is the twins’ birth mom’s birthday.  I don’t know her, never got to meet her, only have two pictures of her – one with each twin at their DNA tests during the adoption process.  But I do know her birthdate, the town in which she was born, and the reasons she gave for placing the twins with us.  I’m happy to answer the boys’ questions any time, of course, but it occurred to me last year that if I set up a time to celebrate her, it communicates to them that they are free to ask and wonder and want to see her again.

And so in our household, we celebrate P’s birthday.

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Since we’ve hit a lull in our home projects (I think of it as the eye of the “just wait till the kitchen cabinets come and we have THAT to do” storm), I’ve been trying to get to the pool every afternoon.  Want to 1)  justify the membership dues, and 2) keep the boys progressing in the water. 

Our first summer with them, they were terrified of getting IN (they “came with” an enormous water phobia when we adopted them), so we spent a lot of time on the stairs at first.

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