Fall in South Texas

I often think about the cool breeze (sometimes freakin' freezing cold wind) that the Carolina's would bring to my skin. I loved the season wearing of a nice fluffy scarf, wool jacket and maybe even some ear muffs as I would pack my teacher bag full of graded lab reports and projects and head out the door to my wonderful "Tiger land" (our mascot was a tiger). I loved so many things about North Carolina that I was sad so many times... I missed my classroom, my friends, my house, my neighbors, my dirt that did not consist of limestone rock. Well finally this past weekend I got my fix of what was a glimpse of the color changes that I would see in NC....right here in my backyard at the Guadalupe River. I went up the road a bit to our nature river and captured this. My little North Carolina born angel playing in a fall background...it takes me back 4 years ago...ummmm....my fix.

I have to Make Some Choices

Sometimes I try to be super-momma, super-wife, super-friend, and everything else... and ya know what? I actually like it! However, since I have launched my business, I have been swamped with a million-and-one things to do. So, forgive me if I don't post here.....I will be at my business blog... go visit! Thanks!

www.cherishphotography.org

The Line

Do you or have you ever heard of "the line". Humm...this is a first for me. Lately my little princess requests to put a "line" in her hair. Sometimes I do not want to mess with a comb, brush, do-dads so no line at 6:30am for school. So what does she do? Immediately when she gets home she redesigns her hair-do and puts in her line (like the picture above). Line or no line, she is still cute!

Holy Guacamole!

I would have never thought that I could be a gardener, but I think we are. One of the best memories I have is going and picking cherry tomatoes in my daddy's garden. Ummmmm, with a dash of salt, heaven. Now we are able to do the same. In fact, it is an everyday conversation on our way from school home, we sit in wonder at what mother nature has for us in the garden when we get home, and giggle in awe when we find our treats. Lissy loves to pick the veggies. In this handful she says she has "hot radishes" and "potatoes" (for some reason she confuses the tomato and potato words). I am okay with that though, because it might be the last of her "baby/toddler mix-ups". Yes, I know, how pathetic it is that I wanna keep her little. Notice how all my conversations, thoughts, life, revolve around my angel, yep, I am addicted to this little sweet-cake.

What, Mom?

She is getting to the age now that she is not so interested in taking pictures. I ask her if I can take her picture and this is the look she gives. Cracks me up.

A Little Artist

Alyssa recently received a special art award at school. She was one of 4 kindergarten students who actually participated. One thing about Lissy is that she loves art. Auntie Monica bought her a scrapbook kit and the child never stops creating with it. In fact, it got so bad, I had to lock my craftroom door from her because she was "borrowing" my scrapbook supplies. So, needless to say, this art event was right up her alley. What is more inspiring is that at such a young age, she acknowledges the differences in others and embraces what that has to offer (her project in the above picture was the 2 hands). Mommy did not even intervene with the crooked letters...... those of you who know me realize how difficult this might have been for me :)

We are so blessed to have such a thought provoking, sensitive, and caring kiddo. I can't wait to see what else she can bring to nourish my soul.

Come to Jesus

A couple of days ago I was outside watering my flowers and had a nice long quiet talk with God. I love so many things about my life. Every single day I feel so blessed to be who I am (imperfect and all), have the family I do, have the friends I have, the passion I have for my job, the love of way to many hobbies (scrapbooking, jewelry making, gardening, photography, and the list goes on and on.....) . For some reason I just felt a strong connection to my life in that single instant and couldn't help but to ask God how am I suppose to fit so many joys into a single lifetime? I guess as I get older and see a few wrinkles, gain a few pounds, and become more comfortable with who I am, I begin to realize that there is no guarantee for us and our lifetime and we need to have the passion for life every single day. What is your passion?

She is such a Chicken!

No really, she was such a cute chick! Lissy had a kindergarten program at school and her part was to sing a song from a "chicken perspective". The song was similar to Old McDonald...go ahead, I know you know want to sing the tune..... I will wait.


Back to the story....It was super cute. Her kinder class was divided into various farm animals. Us PTA moms decorated the stage and designed costumes for our kiddos. That is when the drama came. Now, where could one possibly find a chicken costume in the spring? Maybe during Halloween, but not during this time of year. So, mommy had to get creative for the little chick she does cherish. Mommy used yellow boas sewn to one of daddy's T-shirts and one of his old baseball caps. Oh yeah, and ordered some funky tights for the chicken legs. Now, this little chick turned out to be pretty cute and sings pretty good :)

Roses are Red.... I mean Pink

Funny how people up north are shoveling inches of snow and us Texans are down south absorbing some sunshine, locating our bathing suits and flip-flops, and taking time to smell the roses (no pun intended). The weather is just perfect for the few rose bushes that I am trying to grow. I planted them a couple of years ago. They always start off great and then all of a sudden I get these nice black or yellow leaves that eventually just fall off. I think I am pretty good with plants, but when it comes to rose bushes, I have little to be desired. I am crossing my fingers that this year, my Belinda's Dream will be dreamy.

Spring has Sprung

I heard on the radio this past week that the first day of spring was here. I think it was Wednesday. So, finally it is time for me to get dirty. I love to dig in the dirt and so does Lissy. I love the spring because it seems like a fresh new start to my hundreds of plants that I started 4 years ago. Sometimes through the hustle and bustle of summer and the SA heat, I don't give my plants the attention they deserve (sometimes even forget to give them a drink of water...thank goodness the sprinkler system is on a timer). So, in the spring they start out again, healthy and new. Walking around the back yard, I found this beauty. I love this flower vine, and to think it started out similar to the size of a toothpick.

Easter

Easter was good. We took lots of goodies over to mom's house and we grilled some steak. It does not get much better than that. Each year we, well Chad and Lissy, paint Easter eggs. This year, I managed to join in on the "crafty" affair. Chad laughed that those must have been the hardest easter eggs he ever decorated. Lissy of course loved the glitz. Chad did the lady bug, I did the butterfly and Lissy did the doggie. Cute, right? The best part of Easter is that we rejoiced in all the graciousness that the Lord provides for us and thank Jesus for his sacrafices.

Spring Break Day 3-5

One of the best things we have done as a family is build our own vegetable garden. Chad and Nikko built the wooden frame (had to because we live on a huge limestone rock) and all of us picked out some favorite veggies to plant. After 6 loads of dirt, and everyone shoveling, we finally got it in our veggie box. Row by row we planted jalapenos, egg plant, bell peppers (all colors), tomatos, watermelons, melons, grapes, blueberries, radishes, onion, garlic, cilantro, cucumbers, and strawberries. I probably over packed things because they are already starting to grow very fast. I hope we get a delish harvest! Yummo! Chad has promised to make the first batch of fresh salsa, Lissy wants chocolate covered strawberries, and Nikko wants fresh tomatoes. I actually wanna try eggplant because I have never had it, but it sure is a pretty color.

Spring Break Day 2

San Antonio Lumenaria Festival. On the spur of the moment, my glass bead instructor sent me an evite to this Festival of Arts. It was grand! One thing is for sure, when San Antonio has a party, we go all out! The streets downtown were blocked off and each road was a different "Artsy Theme". My favorite street was the glass works. We saw glass blowers, lampworkers, and glass sculpture-ers. Amazing how artsy and creative some people can be. Believe it or not, yes I know this is lame, but the kiddos nor Chad have been to the Alamo since we have lived here (I came quite a few years ago, during college days). Well, the night was perfect and the Alamo was lite up by those creative people who organized the event. My little family and I took a well deserved trip into the historic building. Really amazing how so many feelings rush though you when you think about how many secrets and historic moments are underneath your feet.

Spring Break: Day 1

Spring Break is finally here. It seems like it was never going to come. The sweet days of sleeping in late, naps, being a SAHM, shopping, and going to bed at 2am. I love it. Our whole family is one this week. My sweet step-son has joined us in SA this week. He is such a cutie-patootie. He is only 15 and he still blushes when we ask him about girls. When he entered my life he was only 2 years old and now he has outgrown me, but still makes me giggle. I feel like the years, months, days, weeks, and hours are passing way to fast. A few pictures to capture him. Whoever did this graffiti in downtown SA should be an artist, amazing what vandals can do when they put their mind to something.

Bike Rodeo

I know, it has been a long time since I have been on my blog. I have heard it from my friend Sarah, my sister, and a couple of old college friends. But...... I have been working. Really. Some very special things are going on in my life and I am having to step out of my comfort zone to do it. Exciting, but scary.

Now back to what "Mommy Cherishes" well today was bike rodeo at school and it was fun. Alyssa was awarded the official safety 1st place ribbon (that every kindergarten-er received). She is wearing it scotch taped to her shirt right now. She made it around the obstacle course with only a few run in's with the orange cones and a few episodes of riding outside of the big yellow lines. She is gonna be a driver just like her momma :) Some of you know exactly what I am talking about (mom, please don't comment). All the tassles were perfect on the handle bars, training wheels were squeeky clean, and perfect little flowers on the weave basket. I so want one of those little baskets on my bike, hummm... now that is an idea.

My Car Has a Boo-Boo

I don't remember if I mentioned that I got a new car a few months back (Chad calls it a truck), but whatever it is, it has a payment, has that new leather smell, only a couple of cheetos crumbs, Jack Johnson blasting, and a dent where a kid ran into it with his car as he was backing out of a pizza shop parking lot smoking a cigarette. So concerned with a dang cigarette. Isn't there a legal age for cigarettes these day? And why in the heck would this kid want to smoke and try to kill himself with lung cancer at the nice young age of 16. I was so mad and wanted to scream but I tried to pull it together and get in the "teacher mode". I could not help to notice that he was not as upset as I was when he asked me to use a "sharpie" the dealer has to cover up the scratch. What the heck? Then he pulled out (with his dolce and gabana watch hand) his platinum american express card, cash, and insurance card listing his parents name and 5 different mercedes vehicles. And I wondered why he was not upset. It gets fixed next week and it better be just as good as new. Crazy kids maybe even crazy parents.

Abbo-Cadabo

Have you ever loved something that was so furry, stinky breath (when she doesn't have her dose of greenies), and less than 2lbs? My love is my Abbie Gayle. She is the cutest little snuggler around. I think she thinks her mission in life is to love us and beg for treats. It is so hard to believe that she is already a year old.

She Lost a Front Tooth

How time fly's. How I love being her mommy. How I love seeing her grow.

What is your best shot Monday? Check out others at Tracey's.

Oh my, is that real?

Uh Hu, yep all those bodies are the real deal! It was amazing! Lissy's school was out on Friday for a professional development day so mommy had to be the stay-at-home-mommy. I really envy those mommy's that get to do that every single day. We started out the morning eating a nice breakfast of fresh fruit and then made our agenda...museum...park...library...paint nails. Lissy saw the ad in the SA newspaper about a month ago of the "Body Exhibit" at the Witte. Me, being a biologist, was super stoked that she wanted to go (her dad, being so conservative was apprehensive if we should let her see the exhibit). Come on dad, she is addicted to discovery health channel and swears that she either wants to be a doctor or on American Idol. Support me on some little parent pressure, please.

Last Friday was our day. She was very interested in each of the displays (could not wait to dial in the audio for each of the stations). Truly phenomenal. It was like a once in a lifetime shot at looking at all your innards. Wow! Oh yeah, but we did skip over the "boy part display" (passerbys got a kick out of that). Lissy still swears that she is allergic to boys, so I think she was okay with that :)

Wordless Wednesday

Rodeo Time

This may sound kinda lame to most Texans, but even though I have lived in Texas for 4 years, I still had never been to the Professional Rodeo Circuit that comes every year. Last night was a first. Our intention was to go to the concert of Miranda Lambert (because Lissy is learning to play the guitar and loves to watch young guitar stars), and we were surprised to find out that the "rodeo" takes place before the concert. It started out awesome, parade of US flags, acknowledgment that freedom is not free, and that we have our US soldiers defending freedom who deserve a salute. I liked that part but did not like the part that seemed to be a little too rough on the livestock. It was going through my mind how some of the events are not outlawed. I don't know, maybe that is the non-Texan in me. I don't even wanna tell my sister about it because she is a PETA fanatic.

Lissy is so ready for "COWGIRL" dress up at school this month (each Wednesday in February). She has always been a cowgirl of a sense, even in North Carolina, but now it is even better because she says now, she lives in San Antonio, TEXAS! Have fun sweetheart, with your boots, hat and leather fringed vest and skirt!