LOOK what santa bought me!!!

sam has really enjoyed this CHRISTmas! he loves everything about the holiday and i love that he understands the true meaning of CHRISTMAS. he had a pretty simple list this year....transformer (bumblebee) and a new belt with a BIG buckle (YES we have been living here too long) LOL! looks like santa had sam on his "good" list






stay tuned for future photos of "cowboy sam"..um...i mean, my son samuel, soon :)!

It's ALL about the shoes!!

so, i really wanted to come on here and fill you all in on how our CHRISTmas morning went, but...(BIG BUT), i just had to share, a little known secret about our dear princess....take a look.....


santa just so happened to know that princess and her faithfull knights (brothers) needed some new clothes. and since SANTA simply CANNOT get enough of gymboree ;) , he decided that is just what she needed. cute outfits, complete with shoes AND accessories.









BUT, as you can see here, princess gabi fell in LOVE...with the shoes!!! she has always had a secret "love affair" with her shoes, but OH MY GOODNESS, all doubts were put to rest this morning! she loved the clothes, but the shoes...THE SHOES made her gasp (YES, a full blown DRAMA queen gasp) the moment she laid eyes on them!!!!







each and every pair INSTANTLY went on her feet as she reached for the next gift, secretly PRAYING that it would contain an EVEN prettier pair. notice how she is wearing the yellow pair WHILE admiring the super cute green ANKLE strap, oh so stylish sandle ( i just KNOW this is excatly what is going through her precious little mind) LOL!!!









she was even lucky enough to recieve a cute pair of rain boots, WITH a matching raincoat AND purse....SHE WAS IN HEAVEN!!! :) :)


and yes, the rest of us had a WONDERFUL time too!!

-jeanette

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

Hello all, we have put out our milk and cookies and we can't wait to see what Santa brings! We hope you all have a WONDERFUL Christmas! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!

i told you all that it is SO HARD for me to keep up with this BLOG!!! oh well, i am trying to post once a week now that things have settled down a bit. in case you haven't heard my SCREAMS of protest, yup...we have moved...to hill..billy..ville. it is so hard for me to type those words :( i miss my old house, and my old walmart, and my old church and friends and parks and library (the list can AND does go on and on). BUT, life is "gettin" better "round" here (see, i am EVEN learning how to talk like the locals) :) i DO love that it only takes 5 minutes to get to work and that i am actually only 2 blocks from sam and gabi's preschool. john is less than a mile from his work and johnny's school so it is a win-win for both of us. i also love that i am NEVER, NEVER, EVER in traffic! that is exciting, although i have less time to catch-up with mary on my cellphone. our neighborhood is older and has HUGE yards and HUGE oak trees and i love that too. HEB (my grocery store) is only 1 mile from my house and walmart is like 3 miles away. that is about it...no target, gymboree, children's place, mall, chick-fil-a, barnes and noble, scrapbook store...etc for at least 40 miles. so, we live here for the week and spend our weekends "back home" in san antonio.
john's soccer season is starting up in about a week or so. we are looking forward to a great season and hope to make it to state! let's all pause to say a little prayer now...DEAR LORD..please help johnny's soccer team make it to state AND WIN. the team needs this, the school needs this, he needs this and i WANT this...so...he can have a better chance at getting a coaching job in san antonio next year :) silly i no, but i don't lie.
here are a few pics from the past month. the kids are doing great! sam is so loving school and has made so many new friends. gabi has decided that she likes the way her friends TASTE (yes i did just type T A S T E) and has chosen to BITE..um..urr..T A S T E them DAILY...YIKES!! actually, she has "social issues" with a certain little blond 2-year old whom we shall call "K". let's see, this child is strong-willed, fiesty, cute as can be and B-O-S-S-Y.....sound just like ms. gabi! (no wonder they don't mix). we have decided that it is best to keep these 2 on seperate parts of the playground....girls! and johnny just made the 7th grade basketball team! he is so excited and loves that he has been starting most games!

so, what have you all been up to these days?

This is hard!

Ok, i loved the idea of a blog, but it is HARD to post on a regular basis. those who know me know that it is hard for me to do anything (other than cook, clean, work, teach, drive.....the list goes on) on a regular basis, but i try :).

hmmmmm...lets see, school has started (for ALL of us), and it is going well. for those of you who have concerns about my "well being" in hillbillyville, well...i actually am enjoying it! my class is, lets see....diverse and i am learning about a WHOLE new culture and i haven't even left the country! i love that "rules" per se, don't really exist in hillbillyville. i get to park my tahoe in the "parking lot"(aka a grassy field across from the ag barn) every morning. i just love that there are no "parking lines" that i must stay within. i can park in reverse without hitting a thing(hubby is so PROUD)! the cows, sheep, goats and pigs are always so happy to see me in the morning (no, these are NOT my students, but REAL animals that i get to see and SMELL every single morning). actually it's not too bad...different, weird...but could be worse :).

sam and gabi are LOVING school!! this is such a HUGE change from how they were last year at school. sam asks every night if tomorrow is a school day and says "YES!!!" when i tell him that it is. and gabi, well she just love "ms. rachel" and "ms. donna" her teachers at school. AND, they love her! i mean, they REALLY like her and tell me she is such a sweet and angelic child who is obeidant AND well behaved!!! yup, i told you those people in hillbillyville were a little crazy! just kidding! but, i am so surprized that this is the case at school. gabi is well, GABI at home and just wait till ms. donna and ms. rachel get to know the REAL ms. gabi!

as for little johnny who, by the way is not so little anymore ;), he is learning all about why he should have been more appreciative of his years in strict and structured private schools. public school is so different for him, but i think he is adjusting well. he has joined the cross country team and keeps the same practice schedule as the varsity team even though he is only a 7th grader. his mile run is improving each week, which is apparently a BIG deal (what do i know anyway). he ran in his first meet last week and did very well. we are so proud of him because he continues to keep all A's in his classes and continues to be able to brainwash his teaches into thinking he is pope john paul. let's see how long that lasts :) but, really we are very proud of him and the positive choices he continues to make each day. about a week ago, he was offered/asked to buy drugs from another student. i must say, he handled himself, the situation and the days that followed very well. he now understands that he needs to work hard so he can get in to central catholic for high school and back into an environment where he is not faced with these issues.

what a week...(LAST WEEK THAT IS)

WOW! What a week. We were so busy last week, that i had no time to post anything and hubby was so frustrated with not being able to post sam's soccer slide show, that he just gave up! Let's see....
monday was simple enough, we hung out at home and picked up a few things for samuel's end of season soccer party.
Tuesday i taught a moring class at the scrapbook store and went in search of white canvas tennis shoes for sam and gabi. See, back in June we found out the Wiggles were coming to san antonio and we bought tickets for the show. I found a great lady on ebay who made the cutest dress for gabi and shirt for sam that they were going to were for the concert. AND of course they had to have shoes to match, so I thought we could paint our own as a fun project to do together. But, NO ONE had canvas tennis shoes so we settled on making posters instead.
Wednesday i am working like a mad woman to finish these concert posters AND i had to host a girls scout scrapbooking event at the store that afternoon!! Samuel also had his last soccer game on Wednesday night. He will begin again in the fall.
Thursday we had a great early start to our day. We attend uncle jose's retirement ceremony at Fort Sam. It was a great ceremony and we can hardly believe he is out of the military. We are very proud of him. Thursday was also the BIG concert day! I must say, it was one of the best concerts i have EVER been to (yes, even better than NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK...for those of you who knew me back when...). Johnny and I loved it as much as sam and gabi! It was so neat to see how excited they were about the concert.
friday we spent most of the day getting things in order for the big soccer party on saturday.
Saturday PARTY day! We had a great time celebrating Samuel's second season of soccer! YES (for those of you already questioning my judgemnet) this is his second soccer season and he is only 3. BUT, we are not those crazy parents who demand that their child begin intense athletic training at birth to become the next million dollar athlete (well, I am not..but hubby is a differnt story j/k) :) Samuel has always show an interest in all kinds of sports since he was a baby. and those who know him, know that he had better stay active or else you will suffer the wrath of his excessive energy! last summer he played for the Y at 2 1/2 years old and it really was just that PLAY! He ran around with his friends and put soccer cones on his head and made goals in ANY net he could find. We kept him out for the school year and then went back this summer and he is loving it. We plan to keep him in as long as he is having fun.
Sunday Church day (as we try to tell our children) but, better known as DONUT DAY ( if you are good at church and make Jesus happy). Yes, i bribe my children...and yes it is with sugar-coated Krispy Kreme donuts (uh..yeah not DONUT...but ...DONUTS) and strawberry or chocolate milk...(hey, we are keeping with our family tradition ;) )

CRAZINESS!

happy sunday!

another crazy day at our house! i spent alot of time figuring out our new internet,cable and phone service....oh joy! while trying to figure things out, i came across a new photo site and i was able to create this really cool slide show. i hope you all like it. it took awhile uploading all the photos, but it was well worth it. check it out!

on another note, last night we (samuel, gabi and i) had a great time with the cousins (ella, jack and reese). for those of you who don't know, we are so blessed to have family that lives so close to us. yesterday we went over to watch the kids while mary and jose (my sister-n-law and brother-n-law) went to a wedding. the night got off to a great start with a yummy dinner of pizza and salad (thanks mary)! after dinner we let the big kids (sam, jack and ella) watch a movie and i played puzzles with the bossy girls (gabi and reese). of course the night could not be a simple uneventful evening.......SOMETHING just had to go wrong. first it was samuel. he was playing with a toy gun and somehow cut his lip (only samuel). we decided it might be better to head outside (ANOTHER poor choice on my part) LOL! gabi was the next one to be injured with an accidental kick to the mouth by reese (yes MORE blood). after checking out gabi's injury, the game of chase continued for about 4 minutes. we were then interrupted by a third (and final injury THANK GOD). poor reese missed a step on the playground ladder and hit her mouth...more blood and tears (and MAJOR sweating on my part). she was ok, but her night was ruined. we all headed indoors for a quick bath and some calm quiet time. thank you doctors jack and ella for their assistance for the evening. i would not have made it with out you guys!

have a great night!

welcome!!

hello and welcome to our blog. yep, i did it! after reading many great and interesting blogs out there, i knew i would have to create one for us! us...our family of 5, jeanette (me), johnny (my husband), johnny (my son), samuel (my son), and gabriella (my daughter, our boss and queen) LOL..REALLY!!

johnny and i have been married for 13 years (has it been that long?). we met in college (sorta...HE was in college and i was a senior in high school) married in march of 1995 and had our first baby in june of 1995 (don't ask....you all are smart enough to figure it out ; ). johnny juan carlos was born on june 6. 1995. being young and first time parents made things both easy and hard for us. he was such a simple and easy baby (i think God was being kind, as only He KNEW what was to come with this child). it was fun and different being a parent to a single child, yet we knew we wanted another child someday. we also knew this would have to wait!

we both worked so very hard to get our degrees completed and now we have successful careers in education (john is a boys varsity soccer coach, and i am kindergarten teacher). we are both working on master's degrees...so PRAY for us...that we have the ENERGY to go on, that we have the TIME to go on, and that we don't KILL each other or anyone else in the process!

in 2004 we were finally blessed with our second child! after many years of doctor visits and various treatments samuel joseph was born on october 7, 2004. we could not be happier (little did we know WHAT he would bring us LOL :). we describe samuel simply as "samuel". he is who he is...funny, crazy, wild, silly, and oh so UNIQUE (those of you who know about his recent medical issue know EXACTLY what i am speaking of). more on those issues at another time! samuel is currently playing soccer with the Y, driving us crazy, and annoying BOTH his sibilings! that is just sam!

now to queen..er..i mean gabriella. gabi was "discovered" to exist in october 2005 (yes, you smarty pants who can do the math, THAT was exactly one year after samuel's birth)! No, i DID NOT believe the breastfeeding myth about not getting pregnant, nor was i born yesterday LOL! 100% blame lies on my doctor who assured me that it would be just as difficult to concieve another child as it was when we were trying for samuel. shortly after samuel's first birthday party, i became ill and so weak. often i would lie down for a short nap after work and would not be able to get up. i felt so sick and not myself for a few weeks that i knew something was terribly wrong. i will never forget telling johnny the day before my doctors appointment, that i knew i was either very, very ill or that i was dying (YES it was that bad) LOL!! the next day i had a scheduled sonogram to scan my liver, kidneys, stomach etc..partly as a follow-up from previous problems and also to see what the problem might be now. uh...no real problem just PREGNANT!!! and pregnant with TWINS at that! i think i was in shock. i told the tech..he needed to go back to school cause he DID NOT know what he was doing, and that i was going to go take a REAL test to see if i was pregnant!! i left and went to walgreens. the test instantly showed positive....HOLY *RAP!!

a few weeks later i had an appointment with my oband found out that baby 2 was not growing anymore, but that baby 1 (gabi) was still going strong!! Gabi joined our family (offically) on may 22, 2006, and she has been going strong ever since. she is sassy, yet sweet! she is also the queen (sorta..she battles for the title with me)!

so..like i said, i am happy to be an offical blogger! you all gotta come back and check things out (actually, you all gotta keep me on my toes so i continue to update this blog)!

talk to ya'll soon!