Just when you think life can't get any more crazy or worse... it throws you a curve ball and of course, I always hit and miss! The past few weeks we have had our share of ups and downs. Just going back to Monday makes wonder how I ever made it to Wednesday. Monday was Memorial Day and Cheeto had a tee time with Dad at 8:45am. It was a good stress reliever for Cheeto. He has had a pretty rough couple of weeks so I didn't feel bad that I didn't get to go. The kids and I did some picking up around the house through the morning. Mom wanted to go to the movies. After looking at what was available we decided there wasn't much out there for kids. We settled on Nim's Island. It wasn't a kid movie like Horton's Hears a Who but it was a cute movie and all 3 kids did great. Afterwards, we all took some quiet time. Though, not all of us took naps- ie Cade and Kelson. At 4:30pm we started packing up bikes to go for a picnic dinner in the park. I thought this would be a great evening for it since Cade didn't have homework and we didn't have to wait for Cheeto to get off work. The picnic part went pretty well but the bike ride was a total disaster. Cade's bike is a bit big for him. Both of the boys are very timid when it comes to bike riding. Neither one of them enjoy going fast and total fear sets in as soon as they start to see a downgrade and they freak out. Cade got so upset and kept threatening to quit. Cheeto kept telling him he doesn't get to quit that easy. Cade ended up walking his bike half the time. That was just the beginning of a rough week for Cade. We have yet to find our groove with him. He has the teenager big brother attitude that snaps and talks back to almost everyone! This morning was awful! I hate sending him out the door when we are both mad at each other. I pray the groove will come soon.

Yesterday we had an extra 5 year old with us. A friend from Cheeto's office needed some babysitting help so I offered. She was really easy to watch. I ran errands all morning and managed just fine with all three of them. I went to check out another fitness center called The Rush. I really liked it. I don't know if it's in my price range but I really liked it. Kelson fell in love with the kids care center. We had some quiet time and then I had to start getting ready for an impression party I had in Virginia. The party went really well. It was for the Arellano side of the family. Can you say white girl and lots of Mexicans? That's what it was. Well, mom was there too, so 2 white girls and lots of Mexicans. We had a good time and the party went well. It was worth my time. I spent this morning fighting to get Cade out the door and finalizing some of the party details. I had a physical therapy appointment this morning. My side pains have returns since I did all the yard work last week. I jumped to get it fixed rather than letting it fester too long. I was glad. Lindsay said it was good and inflamed and needed some work. I have some stretches and strength work to do to get it better. Man, I had started to feel so well I forgot how awful it use to be. That is one blessing- finding Lindsay! I recommend her to anyone!

Funny Kid Quote of the Day
We were in the car and Cade was being sassy and rude. I called his name many times trying to get his attention just to tell him he needed to talk nicer to Kelson. Granted I was trying to be nice and not yell. When he finally responded, I asked him what took him so long to answer me. His reply, "Mom, you were interrupting me! I was yelling at Kelson!"

Sewing, Girls Night, Camping, Hair cuts, Cleaning and Roaches

SEWING
Oh what a week! If anyone knows me, and I mean really knows me. They will tell you that crafting is my thing. I can't get enough of it. So just because I have 4 or 5 things already in progress, it's so like me to add one more to the mix. I have been working on making these "Creation" FHE visuals. They have been pretty time consuming punching die cuts and finding the necessary papers. So far I'm working on it one day a week with some friends from church. That's just one project. Last Sunday as I was looking for Analise a dress I realized she really only had one that still fit. I didn't want to spend the time and gas going around town looking for an adorable dress with the right price, so I decided to make her some with fabric that I had collected over the past few years. Cheeto rolled his eyes and I knew what the look was. "Do you really have the time and energy for this?" Answer: "YES! If I want our daughter to be adorable!" :) I will make time. Thursday morning I woke up and started looking through fabric. Analise came to explore her options as well. She found some Steelers fabric which she pulled out screaming with joy! She was so excited about her findings. She immediately started saying "make steelers dress mommy!" Can anyone say Daddy's girl? Cheeto was still snoozing when she ran in to show him her findings. I wanted to make the red bumble bee dress before the steelers dress just in case I didn't have time to finish another one. Analise did not like that I made the red one first. When I would ask her to try it on she would say "NO! Not steelers dress!" Can a 2 year old really refuse to do such things? She is not nicknamed 'Sassy' for no reason! Friday morning as soon as Cade was out the door at 7am, Analise had that Steelers fabric on my lap asking for her dress. I had it finished by 9am. I was sewing in between cleaning up breakfast dishes, showering and doing my hair but it got done and Analise was all grins for the rest of the morning. I put it on her and she said, "Me Steelers Princess!" She then proceeded to twirl and fluff her hair. She is such a girly girl! I love it! Cheeto had stopped by unexpected for a minute shortly after this. Analise went running for the door and stood on the porch step to model her dress for her #1 Steelers fan- Daddy! Cheeto loved it! I made one more dress that morning. Of course the Steelers dress will not be worn at church but the other two will be good for summer church dresses. After all my sewing of Analise's dresses, Cheeto asked me when his pants would be mended or his pillow sewn back up. Sorry, honey- later. Mending just isn't as fun as creating.

GIRLS NIGHT
The boys were going on a Father-Son camp out with the ward. It was only appropriate and expected that the girls were going out as well. However, it was going to be nothing like camping! Mom, Lettie, Analise and I went to Cafe Pasta in Old State Street. I'm not a huge restaurant pasta fan because the sauces can sometimes be pretty extravagant for my tastes. However, I got some Chicken Tortilini that was awesome! Analise won't eat spaghetti at home so I kinda knew she wouldn't go for the pasta but she loved the chicken. Analise is somewhat of a carnivore. She loves her meat! Afterwards we went to Target to find Sassy some sunglasses. Mom and Lettie looked for a few things and then we went to get Sunday dinner groceries next door. After the shopping trip we went back to my house to watch a good chick-flick, "PS I Love You." It was so sad. I'm glad I didn't watch it with Cheeto. Definitely a tear jerker! Analise was being good and Tia Lettie was enjoying her company so I let her stay up with us. She ended up sleeping with me that night. I have to say it's so much fun having a daughter on these Father-Son campout nights. We had lots of fun. Just wished Melissa and Lil' Lettie could have joined us. I'm sure Adam and their little boys would have fun with guys as well. Since Marcos has been camping with us before he was asked about and missed by Cade and Kelson.

CAMPING
Two weekends in a row for camping! The boys are on cloud 9. I'm not sure Cheeto and Dad were! They went to a place called Camp Gilrock. The ward reserves a bunch of spots and you just show up and pay $2 per person to camp. Cheeto and the boys have been doing this weekend for the past couple of years. It seems to be a lot of fun. There are lots of kids there for the boys to play with and they have various activities for them all to do. The rest of this is going to be second-hand stories from what I heard from Cheeto. The boys had requested Papa's burritos for dinner. They go camping and the only thing they cook were smores. Kelson and Cheeto played catch for a bit and then another boy from Cheeto's primary class joined them. Kelson enjoyed playing with the 'older' boys. Cade was playing something with light savers or exploring or something. I'm not sure. Later, Kelson and one of his friends were playing with sticks in the fire. The other boy accidently burned Kelson behind the ear with his stick. Dennis, our trusty medical supply friend was there in a flash to fix him up. Thanks Dennis- for saving my baby! :) After cooking smores the boys usually go right to bed, well not that night. Cheeto said it was after midnight for Kelson. That explained his grumpiness all day yesterday! The boys were home shortly after 8:30am. They picked up McDonald's breakfast on the way home. Cade and Kelson said they liked it when Grandma and Mommy went camping with them. I'm sure it's because they have to help less and all the meals are cooked for them. We are planning one more trip to Hanging Rock soon. Hopefully, Marcos can come with us. We shall see! The boys love their Tio to camp with them. (Even if he screams like a girl when he finds a tick! :) Good news: all came home tick free this time! NOTE: Even though I sent my camera with Cheeto- it came back with no new pictures. I took the picture of Kelson's burn after the fact.


HAIR CUTS & CLEANING
We wasted no time getting the house picked up and hair cut. By 10am 3 heads had been shaved and the house was clean. Only the laundry was left to do. We were going to get to Costco but Cheeto said he could barely keep his eyes open. I told him he wouldn't be driving. This made Cheeto go take a nap. He slept an hour and a half. I fed kids and kept the laundry going. I even mended his pants, pillow and the boys NC State aprons. We left about 12:30pm. Analise was out shortly after sitting her in her carseat. Kelson was fighting it. By the time we got home from Costco, I was ready for some quiet time. Cheeto was ready for another nap.

ROACHES
We slept until about 4pm and then decided to try out the Ortho Home Defense stuff my friends had recommended. I had used it around the house and it has seemed to be working so we decided to go through our shed and do the same. The cockroaches were 'seeming to get bad' out there. "Seeming" didn't even come close to describe it! They were awful, gross, disgusting.... the list could go on. The boys had helped Cheeto take out all the stuff and spread it out on the lawn. I went out to see if I could help. I probably wasn't the best help, but I sucked it up and did it. We found about 3-4 nests in there just on the flour. Thankfully not in my golf bag, carseats or strollers! Cheeto would pull out a sheet of wood or something and they would all start to scatter. My job was to start spraying them as soon as he would pull something out. It would take them a few minutes to die. They would climb up the walls and ceiling and then fall when they couldn't hang on any longer. One ran across my bare toes in flip flops. I screamed and flipped my flop across the shed. It made Cheeto jump and Cade laugh at his mother. Cade and Kelson thought it was hilarious as their mother would squeal. It was so nasty, it's still giving me the creepy crawlies! These were far from little things either- some were 1-2 inches long! Lettie asked us to go help her move some furniture in her house so we sprayed them all really well and left them to die while we went to help her. When we got back they all lied dead on the floor. Cheeto swept them up and moved things around a bit while I fed and bathed the kids. I then left Cade to babysit while I finished helping Cheeto. It looks so much better. I hope the Ortho stuff keeps them out through the summer. The stuff is pretty cheap at $7 a gallon. If it works, I'm going to be using this stuff Spring and Fall. So far it has taken care of our ant situation.
Cheeto and I were exhausted even after our naps. Cheeto has had a stressful week at work and was unable to sleep last night. He is completely opposite from me when it comes to stress. When I'm stressed I fall sleep like crazy- stress wears me out. Cheeto stays up all night. It was almost 4:30am when he went to sleep this morning! Poor guy! He'll be "Max" at church today. (Family joke!)

OH.... a clean house!

I started yesterday morning off to just picking up the house. After camping it seemed like there were just piles of stuff everywhere. Well, 'picking up' led to much more. I got a cleaning spree. Ashley called early and asked if Kelson could go play with Jacob. He was out the door before 8am. I used the time wisely and started cleaning. Analise was a great runner for things. She helped me as much as a good lil' 2 year old could. When I went to pick up Kelson he was so upset with me that I cleaned without him. Weird kid! We enjoyed our afternoon quiet time and waited for Cade. Cade doesn't have homework all week because of end of year assessments. This allowed me to run a few errands. I was going to go pay for swimming lessons so I put $70 in my back pocket to do so. At the last minute I changed my mind. When I got home from the other errands, the money was gone. It must of fell out of my pocket at Harris Teeter or something. OH! I'm so mad! Pure stupidity! I was hoping some honest person would turn it in, but what are the chances of that happening in our world today? Slim to none! I almost wanted Cheeto to be mad at me because I was so mad at myself. However, he is Cheeto. He helped me look for it around the house and just acted like everything would be fine. He is so good at keeping a positive attitude when I'm so down on the world! I married an incredibly forgiving man. So this morning, my goal is to get the lawn mowed before it starts to rain again. Our yard is the white-trash of the neighborhood. Perhaps mowing will work off some built up anger from losing the money. I keep thinking of my friend, Ashley, who lost hundreds of dollars last winter. So, perhaps I should be grateful that it was only $70. Still...... how frustrating!

Camping? Like- real tent camping?

We had been taking the kids camping for quite awhile. We were going to go Mother's Day weekend but it didn't work out so this weekend was the weekend. Cade and Kelson were counting down the days. The kids LOVE to camp! In our minds, we feel like it is one of the cheapest ways to take the kids somewhere overnight and the bonding time with them is much greater than if we just took them to hotels, museums, or amusement parks. When there are no electronics distractions on our part or the kids you really get to play, talk, and understand them. Besides, what child doesn't enjoy rolling around in dirt for 2 days! Mom and I went grocery shopping Friday morning to get the necessary camping food. We ran into a couple of friends from our ward. One saw us getting hot dog buns. He asked if we were having a cook-out. I told him no we were going camping. His reaction, "Camping? Real camping? Like with real tents?" I assured him it was real camping but with a bathroom facility close by. He was a bit shocked we were doing this. We walked around getting the rest on the list and ran into another friend and he had the same reaction, almost identical. Do people not go camping anymore? Cheeto got off work early, Cade got out of school early and we headed south to Badin Lake Friday afternoon. Cade tried his hardest to convince me to check him out at 9am. That's how excited this boy was to go camping. I said 2pm- we compromised at 1pm. Papa and G'ma Arellano went to get him since the school is extremely close to their house and then they headed over to help finish loading kids. We did have to wait a few minutes for Daddy to get home but the kids were fine with that.
Analise slept all the way there, while the boys were playing the "are we there yet?" game. The way the GPS took us had dirt roads the last 5-6 miles. When the campground check-in guy (I have no idea what his official title is) came by he asked us which way we came in and apologized we had to come in on the dirt road. Both Mom and I looked at him and assured him that that was one of the nicer dirt road we have seen. And continued to tell him that both of us grew up on farms in Idaho and dirt roads are a way of life there. He chuckled and understood then why the roads didn't upset us too much. We had a single site, which we thought was going to be to small but ended up enjoying it like that. We pitched the tents and canopy and started the fire. By this time the kids were starving and it had started to rain off and on. Thank goodness we had a canopy. We are getting this camping thing down pretty well. We cooked the dogs and cleaned up when we decided it was time to go exploring a bit.

Cade has been on an 'Indiana Jones' kick ever since I brought home a box of cereal with him on it. Cade has a cowboy hat and soccer bag that he has been toting around with him for days. He carried a rock/'crystal' in his bag the entire time. Talk about carrying around unnecessary weight! It was cute how explorer-like Cade got on this trip. He loved the hiking parts!

We got back to camp and played some games and such until it got dark for smores. We all love making smores! I got a phone call from my little sister. She asked if I was at home, I told her we were camping. She asked, "Camping? Like real Camping... with real tents?" I assured her it was real camping. She then asked, "Do people in the south really know how to camp?" I told her that camping really wasn't a western invention. Funny girl! I wish I could've been paid for each time I had this conversation. Wow!

I started placing sleeping bags in the tent. It wasn't too long before I realized that our tent doesn't fit all of us anymore. We asked Papa and G'ma if Cade could sleep with them. They were happy to do it. We kept Analise and Kelson with us. The shared one sleeping bag and body heat to keep them warm. Analise struggled a bit at first to get to sleep. She kept talking to Papa and G'ma from inside our tent. Papa at first kept answering. Cheeto had to tell him to be quiet and to ignore her so she would go to sleep. I woke up at 1:30am having to go to the bathroom. If any of you know me well enough, you know that I have a huge fear of the dark, even inside my own home. There was no way I was going to walk to the bathroom by myself. An hour later Cheeto offered to walk with me but I felt bad asking him to do that. I sat there for another hour or so weighing my options. Mom said she would just always go just outside of camp in the bushes if she ever had to get up in the night. I didn't really want to do that either. I had brought diapers for Analise and had to laugh at myself to think that I was that desperate. Of course, I would have never done that! I just forced myself to sleep and tried to ignore my bladder growing bigger every minute. Finally at 5:45am I decided it was light enough outside that I could walk myself. :) How pitiful am I?
Of course, when you go camping everyone is up early. We were making eggs and bacon by 6:15am. Cheeto fought getting up as long as he could. Mom and I started the fire and got the ball rolling. Chemo insulted us by asking if we really had a fire going and if we could see actual flames. Come on Dad.... do you really think that the women couldn't start a fire? We did just fine! Kelson even said it was better than Papas! :) He might have been just trying to suck up too. We did go to girls camp for crying out loud! We cleaned up camp and got most of the stuff packed up. Everyone but Mom decided to go for another hike. Analise ended up riding on our shoulders most of the time, which was fine with me. She is still so little and close to the ground that I didn't really like that she was rubbing up against every leaf and bush as we walked. There was a tree had fallen into the water that all the boys had to walk out on. Dad got nervous and actually fell in. It gave us all a good laugh. Bummer for him- he had to walk all the way back with wet socks, shoes, and pants. Dad's balance is not what it use to be. I was nervous with him holding hands with the kids as crossed tree bridges and such. Cade and Kelson did really well on their own. Just before Papa fell in he had Cade out there. He was holding Cade's hand. He started to wobble some and it almost looked like he was going to take Cade in with him. He says it was Cade that was wobbling- but both Cheeto and I say that Cade was doing fine. It still is fun that Papa would come play with us.

We got back and headed home. Analise was asleep before we even got out of the campground. Camping is exhausting. After we got home we unpacked and did a tick check. We were all clean but Dad wasn't so lucky. He had to go to the Urgent Care and get an antibiotic. Mom had brought this bug cream that she took to the Phillipines that I rubbed on all of us. Mom used it as well. Dad was the only one that didn't use it. I hope he learned a lesson and uses it next time. We all crashed the rest of the afternoon. After sleeping 3+ hours we all were in bed by 9ish, well, Cheeto wasn't. He never goes to bed early. We had a blast! I hope we can get one more trip in before it gets too hot. The boys are going this weekend for the ward father-son campout. No girls allowed! I'm sure the girls will hang back and do something fun!


Funny Kid Quote of the Day
Kelson found himself a good walking stick as soon as we got there. He carried the entire hike. Towards the end he was getting tired of carrying it. I then showed him how to use it as an walking stick. He said, "Mom, you only have to do this when you get really old. I'm still little. I don't need to do it like that!"

where did they come from?

My biggest beef for the day is ants! I went into the kitchen this afternoon to do a little cleaning up after lunch and found many ants on the floor, dishwasher, sink, and counter tops. We bought our house new in 1999. So I guess after 9 years ant free, it was bound to happen at sometime. I hear in the south everyone has ants. It's just something that happens. I guess I should consider the cup half full on this one. I haven't had to deal with them thus far. Oh to live in Idaho! I called Cheeto and he came over to inspect the situation as well. Analise was cracking us up. She kept saying "Spider Mommy! Save me!" She didn't like that I sat her on a stool. Cheeto told her they were ants and could crawl anywhere so it didn't matter that she was on a stool. I think Cheeto spooked her a bit. After he left all she wanted to do was call Tio Marcos. I'm not sure why. Perhaps to just tell him about the spider, well- ant, incident. We never did pinpoint one spot they were coming and going from. It remains a mystery! Kelson and I stood with a tissue in hand and started smooshing ants. He thought it was fun. Odd! I did some cleaning and sprayed some ant killer aroundthe floor where they were mostly seen. We are going to get some ant bait thingys and see if that helps the problem. I'm not to the point where I want to hire professional help. They charge so much and require signing a yearly contract. I don't think that is necessary yet.


Funny Kid Quote of the Day
Yesterday for Kelson's pictures he wanted "daddy's" gel in his hair. He was worried that dad would be upset with him for using it without asking. I assured him I would deal with dad if dad was mad. Of course, he wouldn't really care! After the gel had dried it freaked Kelson out. He was barely touching his head and said, "Mommy, my hair feels creepy! I don't like daddy's gel anymore." I told him he meant crusty. He said, "NO! IT'S CREEPY!" Kelson mixes things up from time to time. The other day we were having problems getting the boys to cooperate through FHE> Kelson kept saying he had to lie down because his tummy was hungry and if he sat up his tummy was mad. I'm pretty sure he meant he had a stomach ache not hunger pains.

I'm not sure what happened.....

I'm not sure why I'm such a bad blogger lately. I just can't seem to get my act together. This post will be long just to update us. I have lots of pictures with a few stories to go along with them. Thursday night we were the center of a bad thunderstorm/tornado path. It rained and hailed ice for awhile. It was enough to keep us up most of the night. There were a few planes that were blown around the airport as well as many people left without homes after the tornado. It was crazy. I was hoping that Cade's field trip would still be on.
Cade had a field trip to Cedar Rock Park in Alamance County of Friday. This threw off my entire weekend. Usually I do laundry all day on Friday, of course that didn't happen. I wasn't about to start it late that night so it didn't get done at all this weekend. I'm tellin' y'all by Sunday morning when we were all searching for slips matching socks, and pants I was sad that I procrastinated on that one. I have learned my lesson. DO THE LAUNDRY- NO MATTER WHAT!!! The park was fun. Cade was pretty well-behaved. He wanted desperately to go the Hoppers game that night with Tia Lettie and Kris. We'll come back to that. I'm so pleased with Cade some days. When I get in a class situation I'm glad my kids don't act like they've never been anywhere and can keep their hands to themselves. Let's just say, there are just some kids that get on your nerves. Here are a few pics from Cade's day.

Well, we got back in time to have some 'forced' quiet time. I knew the boys would be up late at the baseball game watching the fireworks so I was really trying to push a nap. Neither one succomed to my threats. Lettie has a suite with her work and they wanted to take the boys. I'll have to remind her to send her pics to me.We paid for the late night by Saturday afternoon. The boys had a great time at the game. However, Lettie sent us a text about 10:30pm saying that Kelson wanted to come home to mommy. Awwww..... He still does love me the best! I was already asleep. Cheeto went to get him. When I got up with him in the morning he was ticked that Cheeto had brought him home. He said he really did want to stay at Tia's. He wanted Cheeto to take him back at 6:30am so he could breakfast at her house. Funny kid! She already had plans to have them at Waffle House for breakfast.
I had to be at the church by 8:30am for an enrichment activity. I really didn't want to spend any money for Mother's day so for my gift I I told Cheeto I didn't want to clean the house this week. He happily said that was fine. He simply said, "OK!" "NO, honey, I still want it clean! I just don't want to be the one to do it." I knew he knew what I was asking, he was just being Cheeto. So while I was at the church Cheeto and the kids cleaned my house. That was better than any gift! I got home from enrichment to get kids in the car to go pick strawberries. There is a fresh strawberry farm here that we love to go to in the spring. I go every year, I just don't think I have ever taken the kids or Cheeto with me. We had so much fun. Cade was happy to fill the baskets but we couldn't get him to taste one. Even though he eats my jam made from the same berries. Weird kid! We came home to eat and have an hour of quiet time. The quiet time didn't happen so we decided to play outside in the nice 80 degree weather. The kids and I washed the cars and Cheeto did a little yard work. After the big storm on Thursday our cars were plastered with leaves. People kept telling Cheeto it would be fine that he waited to wash leaves off. BIG MISTAKE! After some serious washing, he had permanent leaf prints all over his paint. I called my dad and he told me to get this rubbing compound and rub on the spots. Thankfully, it worked like a charm! I was going to be so said that Cheeto's new white car looked like gray leaves had been painted on it. You couldn't see them as bad on my car since it's such a dark blue. We played outside all afternoon. After some baseball, car washing, and many popsicles later, we ordered out for pizza just getting ready in time to get to the boys to the Dynamo Soccer game for the awards ceremony. They were getting backpacks and trophies during halftime. Analise was beyond exhausted so we dropped her off at Tia's on the way out to the park. The boys had a great time- a bit whiny- but good. It was kind of cold so we didn't stay for the entire game and it was getting late. Church the next day required some sleep!

Sunday morning I was honored to sleep in! We made some cinnamon rolls and got ready for church. Analise was a bear. Cheeto asked more than once to stay home with her. I kept telling him we just had to get through sacrament meeting. She would be fine in nursery. Thanks Lettie- for remembering my flower. Cheeto got a lot of compliments for getting me a corsage to wear. Many wives were a bit jealous. On mothers day Mom and I do nothing to help with dinner except make the request of what to have. They made us stake and potatoes! Man- it tasted good! The rest of the afternoon was just spent lying around relaxing. It was great!
Monday we had a field trip planned at the Natural Science Center with a bunch of mommies from the ward. Kelson wasn't real excited to go but after getting there I had to bribe him to leave. We had so much! It's great to get to know other mom's in the ward! Thanks Susie for thinking of us! We had FHE at G'ma's about lying. Kelson has come to that age. I hope the story of the Crying Wolf will help him!

This morning Kelson had his 5 year pictures. Here is his latest! Cute little guy!

mmmmm... what can I say? I'm so stinkin' excited for this movie to come out. However, there is a part of me that is just scared to see the movie. Scared- not because it's going to be gory or anything. Scared because I don't want my seeing the movie to ruin the greatness of the books. I loved these books. We are having a Twilight overnight party out here when the 4th book comes out. Melissa is even flying from Utah to be with us. It's going to be great. No boys, only Twilight book fans! I'm excited. I had to post this just to get others excited!

OH WHAT A DAY!

Yesterday had to be one of the craziest Saturday's in a long time. But before I go on to explain our day I have to say before I forget... CHEETO PASSED ANOTHER TEST! Only 5 more to go. He is even thinking of taking a week off. I'm so excited to have him a night or two this week. I don't want to get use to it though. We have to keep pushing just to get it done! I'm very proud of him. He is working so hard. It's a blessing to have a self-motivated husband. He enjoys his work and that makes me happy.

I also have to explain why I haven't posted in days/weeks. Mother's day is approaching and I have had some impression appointments filling spare time. And if like I had more time to fill, I started restoring an old desk I had bought a few weeks ago for $2. I had to buy some sandpaper but already had the stain and sealer. So really the desk only cost me $7. Sweet deal- eh? Kelson and I started stripping the paint and such on Thursday and finished it Saturday. I think it looks great. Well, it couldn't look any worse than it did.



Ok... onto Saturday. We woke up early to finish some house cleaning and cut all the boy's hair. It was way past due which took me longer to cut it. They all look like my boys again. We had to be to Cade's final Soccer game by 10am. Well, actually a bit before so we could get there pictures taken. The field assignments were all messed up and we walked up to find the game had already started. Rats.... what about pictures. Oh well they'll just have to be taken all yucky and sweaty after the game. Hey, whatever works! Kelson whined just about the entire game. Tio Marcos and Haley were in town so it was fun to have them there as well.


We came home for a quick lunch and a quick power nap. We had about an hour to do both. Kelson's final game started at 1pm. Only one other player showed up from his team so they just combined with another team with the same situation. They ended up playing drill games and such. I think Kelson enjoyed that more anyway. So after all that explaining... I'm excited to say that soccer season is officially over. We do have an awards game to go Saturday, but I think we can handle that!
Lettie and Dad were having a birthday party at 5pm. It was only about 2:30pm at this point. Cheeto wanted to go look at more parade of homes. This is one of favorite things to do. Cheeto and I love to look at houses! We are both very big critics when it comes to looking at houses as well. We know what we like and definitely know what we don't. For the most part, our likes and dislikes are alike. (How many "likes" could I write in one sentence?) We had the kids with us and decided to try taking them. To be a bragging parent, our kids were great! They folded their arms and walked quietly through about 5-6 houses. One house the bedrooms had these little 'nooks' off the room. One had a disney mural painted all over the wall. They loved that. I think it slowed us down a little bit by taking them, but it was fun to have them with us. I think our days of having to have a babysitter for everything we do are getting less. We had a nice afternoon with the kids. This was one of the homes that we both loved! We had to take a picture of it! We like the detached garage look. Cheeto wants to have his office above the garage so it's completely away from the noise and chaos.

We came home, changed clothes- fast, and headed to Mom and Dad's. They had so much yummy homemade Mexican food! Being married to a mexican has it's pros- I'm tellin ya! I'm spoiled! I have these stomach aches that
have hit me almost every night this week. Last night was not the night to have a stomach ache. I wanted to eat that good food. Our Tia Alicia had made Tomales- YUM! I was a bit bummed to say the least. The party was mostly outside and my allergies were driving me nuts. After spending almost the entire day outside by last night I had had it with them. I spent most of the evening inside talking with other guests. It was still a nice party.

Funny Kid Quote of the Day
As we were looking a $1 million home, Cade says, "Dad, is this house for sale?" Cheeto replies,"Yes." Kelson, "Do you think we can buy today if we like it?" Cheeto and I both chuckle and jokingly said, "Probably not, maybe in a few years." Kelson states, "Ok, maybe tomorrow then."

I thought this picture was so cute. I think I mentioned that Kelson got these window markers made by Crayola for his birthday. They have been the activity of choice all week. This was the first time we broke them out. They all loved them!