Jacob's in kindergarten & the 1st day of school!

Ack! Where did the time go? I know people said they would grow fast, but I was hoping it wasn't true. The last couple of weeks have been crazy. We had kinder orientation where we met Jacob's teacher, and I found out that there were 29 kids in his class! Crazy! Hopefully that ratio will get lowered. Jacob at least knew one of the kids in his class from his t-ball days last spring. Jacob started school 2 weeks early on August 19th. The school year has changed! No more starting the day after Labor Day. Boo! Our summer was short, but we had fun.

Jacob's now been in school two weeks, and he's getting used to his new schedule. So am I. He only goes half days, and I'm okay with that. I am not okay with the fact that I don't get to spend everyday with him. I had spent everyday with him for the last 5 years. I was lucky enough to work at his preschool and be a stay-at-home mom. On his first day of school and the week leading up to it, I was emotional. It still makes me sad when I think about it. I'm not there to watch over him. I linger everyday as he walks into school to make sure, as much as I can, that he's okay. Although, I heard he got a little lost on the first day of school accidently going to the wrong class. If I was there, that wouldn't have happened, but he must learn. He must become independent. My big boy I love so much. It's time to let him fly.

Isabella also started preschool in my class this year. It's going to be nice and special to have her in my class. I think it's a unique opportunity. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure we're going to have a few challenges. She's a feisty one and somewhat stubborn, but hopefully her seeing the way the other kids act and react will guide her own actions. So far so good. But it's only been a few weeks. I will update at the end of the year. Let's see what this new school year brings!

A Bumble Bee & Batman Party!

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated the kids' birthdays. I REALLY wanted to do single parties for each, but come on, joint makes much more sense. So, joint we did. My biggest obstacle was finding a them they could share. Colors, characters, whatever worked. Colors worked this year. I decided to use black and yellow for a bumble bee and batman theme. I started with the invitation and then worked all the other stuff out. I bought most of my decorations, and made a few. To my surprise, the Batman theme gave me the biggest headache since now Batman dresses in blue. Who knew? So, I just used the logo through out, and made my usual centerpieces. I also made the cupcake toppers and candy labels. We had a last minute candy buffet that looked sooo cute! Glad I did it, but we're still eating candy. Besides the candy table, the kids also got a favor basket. I bought yellow baskets at the Dollar Tree, and I filled them with a ball, sidewalk chalk, water guns, a nifty whistle, and bubbles. The cakes! I loved them too. They were from Sam's Club. I had no idea that Sam's Club had so many licensed character cakes. Way more than Costco. For the bee cake, I just asked them to decorate with flowers and I bought sugar bees separately. For the Batman cake, I bought sugar sheets from Michaels and had my niece cut out a bat. I also bought batman rings separately and added those to the cake. Side note: Sam's had really cute Batman cakes BUT they were in blue! I didn't want the blue so I went on my own for the décor. We had a taco guy, love them! They're so easy since they provide just about everything. We all had a good time and all the kids enjoyed the pool party! I say it now, but I don't want to do another party next year! I might change my mind. Maybe.

Black and yellow candy table.

 

 

 

Bumble bee cake using sugar bees.

Batman cake.

 

Bumble bee centerpiece.

 

Batman centerpiece.

 

Bumble bee and Batman cupcake toppers.

 

Happy Birthday!!!

 

Isabella's 3 Years Old & Jacob's 5 Years Old!

I know, I know, I'm way behind! But Isabella is 3 now! We celebrated her birthday twice! On her actual birthday and a joint party (post coming soon!) for her and her brother. So, my baby girl is no longer a baby. She's a big girl. She still loves Minnie Mouse but she also loves Hello Kitty, My Little Pony, and anything pink and girly. She loves her brother to pieces, and she loves to annoy him too. They play together a lot more now. Her current shows are Peppa Pig, My Little Pony, and Sophia the First.

We also had her annual checkup. Isabella is 37.5" tall (50th %) and weighs about 40 pounds (90%). My girl loves her sweets! Her favorite is cookies. She loves to steal cookies from her grandparents' house. And her grandpa is her favorite person. We also had Isabella's first dentist visit. She has one cavity that we have to keep an eye on, but we've on top of it, and the dentist doesn't see a problem.

I love my spunky little girl to pieces! She's crazy, curious, and so cute! Everyday is different with her, and I'm very lucky to say that I am her preschool teacher this year. I can't wait to see what my baby learns this year!

A couple weeks ago, Jacob turned 5! We celebrated his birthday at the joint party and we also had a cake on his actual birthday. He's sooo big now. He's into all kinds of boy stuff. He like pirate ships, airplanes, rockets, and Batman. Oh, and anything villain related. He's so smart, and ready to start kindergarten! Yup, he's in school now.

We had Jacob's checkup last week. He's now 43.25" tall and he weighs about 43 pounds. The doctor asked him all kinds of questions about school, and he got 2 shots! He had his finger pricked, and a hearing test too. It was a big trip. He cried more when I ripped of the band-aids from his shots than he did for the actual shots. Go figure.

Jacob is a sweet, sensitive soul. He's very caring, and sweet. He's definitely momma's boy. I love with all of my heart, and I can't wait to see what this year brings for him.

Puerto Rico Summer Vacation

A couple of months ago, end of June beginning of July, me and my entire immediate family went on vacation. I was totally and completely apprehensive about this trip. Most specifically, the flight. We flew to Puerto Rico with one stop in Miami both ways. We had not been on a big trip since Isabella was 9 months old and we didn't fly, so it was the first plane ride for both kids. And let me say, it was all for nothing. My kids did wonderfully! We were even complemented. Yes, Isabella had a few outbursts but no crying for mor than a few minutes. I was so relieved! This was the beginning of an amazing trip!

We've been to PR a few times but it was the first time with the kids. We usually stay in a house and this time was no different. Our house was in San Juan and just 20 feet from the beach. The house was nothing stellar but the beach more than made up for it. And my goal for this trip was to relax. We did!

We did a lot of beach time, food eating, and family visiting time. Yup, we have family there too. But let's talk about the food! We had only one bad meal the entire time, which was 8 days (10 total), and it was from some buffet joint similar to Sizzler. And we also prepped for food places by watching some travel channel shows like Andrew Zimmern's show and Man vs Food.  We visited a market that Zimmerman went to and we also went to an ice cream shop he stopped by. The market was boring, but the ice cream shop was interesting. I was too chicken to try the flavors they offered like rice and beans, corn, oh and garlic, among many others. My brother bought garlic for us to try and that thing should not be made into ice cream. Oh, but the recommendation from Adam Richman was it!

In his PR episode, Richman visits a sandwich truck called El Churry. These sandwiches looked amazing and we all wanted a try. Lets just say we tried them twice, and we wanted a third try! So good! It's just a skirt steak sandwich with chicken, bacon, cheese, ketchup/mayo, and potato sticks shoved in. We are going to try and recreate them very soon.  The rest of the meals were filled with authentic PR fare.

Besides the amazing foods, we went on several day trips. Some of these included visiting family but we also hit up an amazing beach called Playa Sucia (Dirty Beach). It gets its name from the kelp that washes ashore, and I can guarantee that it was no dirty beach, but one of the prettiest beaches we visited. It's also tricky to get and somewhat hidden, but my brothers are great at finding hidden laces.

We also visited the Caverns/caves of Camuy, I hadn't been in probably 10 years, so we diced that it's been awhile, and not everyone had seen the caves, we would go again. This place is magical but oh so slippery. I nearly fell 2 times and I wore the most appropriate shoes - water shoes. Jacob loved the cave especially since it was a bat cave.

We made some local stops. We made a short trip to old San Juan and we went to a flower festival. We'd been to Old San Juan quite a few times, but we went for the kids. My brother played the Pirates of Caribbean theme song as we drove past the forts, and we found Jacob a pirate ship he'd been begging for. Oh, and some amazing stuffed churros who are a close second to Disneyland churros. Yum!

Most memorable event of our trip? On one of our last beach trips, my husband and I were holding onto each one of our kids. Suddenly, a huge wave hit us and wiped us out. We lost our glasses! Me, a cheap pair of $ store glasses that I loved, and him a nice, new pair of prescription glasses! Yes, I know. Why! We thought they were gone. I mean a pair of minuscule glasses lost in a giant sea. My husband was MAD! I was too. Until my brother showed up with a pair of glasses. What luck! He had been shuffling his feet and following the current when he happened to find my husbands glasses! We were so relieved and he they were in perfect condition. Whew! That was crazy. I can't wait to go back and neither can the kids. They still talk about going back. Maybe in a few years.

Now, here are a ton of pictures...

Our first day in San Juan.

Our first dinner.

 

My husband's dinner. El Turbolino.

Our first beach day at Park Place.



 

Taking a break in Old San Juan.

 

Playa Sucia.

 

Lighthouse at Playa Sucia.

 

 Above the clouds at a relative's house.

 

 Our favorite sandwich, El Churry.

 

Local flower/garden festival.

 

Last day of the trip.

On our way home.

 

 

I'm here!

I know it's been a looong time. My biggest break from blogging, but as the school winds down, I'll hopefully have more time. 

So, what have we been up to? Well, Jacob's first t-ball season is coming to a close this week. He has his last game and his team party. We've had 2 games a week! But no fretting here since he'll be doing soccer come August! 

Oh, happy Easter! Our Easter was quiet. The kids had fun. They equate it to a small Christmas. They absolutely loved their baskets!

And happy mother's day! Mine was spent quietly as usual with my family. But it was a hot one, and the kids got in their first dip in the pool. Hubs was sweet and got me flowers. He also made me chocolate dipped strawberries with a whole bunch of toppings. They looked so good! I asked him if they were store bought! lol! 

Lastly, if you look at your calendar, you may have noticed that the school year is coming to an end. That means that Jacob's almost done with preschool. We've had orientation at his new school, and he's super excited. I'm starting to get a little sad. Ready or not, kindergarten here we come. 

So, it's almost preschool graduation time, and the end of my first half-year as a teacher. It's been different and fun, but we'll see how my first real year of teaching will go.

I'm sure there were a few milestones I've missed, but I hope to be back to blogging regularly. 

Oh, yeah. Birthday season is coming up and I'm in party planning mode!

Spring Time Update

It's been awhile but now that I've been working, it's been hard to find motivation. A lot has happened in the last couple months, so I'll give a quick run down.

We went on our first weekend trip to the snow at nearby Big Bear. We left on a Friday afternoon and came back on a Monday afternoon. I'm not going to lie. I was a little apprehensive about spending a long weekend with my family, but it turned out to be a really fun weekend! We all truly enjoyed ourselves. Most importantly, the kids had a ball! They loved the snow! The cabin was a little snug, but we made it work. And we had NO TV! However, we did have VCR/DVD. We did go little crazy over that. I hope we can make it a yearly tradition!

Next! Jacob started tball! So, lets be real. He doesn't love it. He does like hanging with the other kids, but he's not a huge fan of batting or running the bases. However, he really enjoys the after game snack. LOL! There are a lot of games too. We have two a week! But we're now getting into the swing of things and Jacob now knows where the bases are. His first game he headed straight for third, but my favorite is watching him run. It's a sooo cute! He's so little wearing an oversized uniform and a giant helmet. I love it! And so does the hubs, the big baseball fan. Unfortunately, Jacob is on the Giants and if it were up to his dad it would be the Dodgers. We've been super busy with baseball.

Lastly, for now, Isabella is finally in her toddler bed. I stretched it out as long as possible, but I knew she was ready when she could go potty 99% by herself. She is Ms. Independent! She's always saying, "I do it myself!" Oh, boy! Do we have our hands full with her! But she's adorable, smart and funny.

So, there's much more that went on but those are the biggest events we've encountered these last few months! Whew!