Happy Birthday Luke!

THE BIG ONE ZERO!!!  

Congratulations Lucas, we love having you in our family! 

down the street from my house is...

This lovely home and I find it completely enchanting.  

I'm such a sucker for overgrown, vine covered walls and this one fits the bill in every way.  

It is for sale.  

It has been for sale since we moved into our house last September.  

I smile every time I pass by.  

I am completely smitten by it and I think I'm starting to fall in love.  

It's way too small for my family, but I hope a nice family moves in soon...otherwise nature might take it over completely!!!

homesick

had to get out of the house this am....needed a creative outlet...this is the best i could do today

the orange trees are blossoming and the lemons are ripe on the vine all over town...i find myself a little homesick for our paloma lane house...missing home today...

Hookie

Ok, I pulled a 180 on my kiddos today and we all played hookie!

I woke up and the sun was shining perfectly through the windows and I had a thought flit through my mind that we should stay home and play today.  Then, I surprised everyone by acting on it!  The kids thought they died and went to heaven!  I'm sure they'll be asking for more days like this in the future, and while I won't be able to indulge them, it will be fun to know that it was a memorable day for them!!

**insert childhood memory here**  one of my favorite childhood memories involves a day of hookie.  i don't remember how old i was, but we were living in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, so I was under 11.  my dad always drove us to school, and on this day he needed to drive up to Menomonie, WI which is 3 1/2 hours north.  he didn't stop at the school, he just kept on going with us younger kids in the car and we all went to Menomonie for the day.  i remember we stopped by hazel & dale's place for a quick hello and then we drove around Menomonie as our dad told us stories from his childhood.  we saw the houses he lived in, parks he played in and river he swam in.  he's full of great stories, you could make a movie to rival the sandlot with all the funny things that happened to him as a boy.  we ate lunch at Marshall's rootbeer stand, they used to make the best roast beef sandwiches.  then to finish off the day we took a tour of the Mabel Tainter Theater. 

Alrighty, back to the now.  On our hookie day, we stayed in our pj's until noon, ate pancakes for lunch and then went for a walk on the beach.  It was awesome!

Super Cute Store in Puerto

I was out with Judy the other day and we came across this little gem of a store in downtown El Puerto.  They make artisan cookies that are delicious!!  How did we miss this place?  We've been living here for months and we're just discovering this little beauty now!  The store is so adorable that I immediately fell in love.  They package all their treats in little tins and have a huge selection, fun!  And the best part is that the cookies are delicious!

Something Blue

This past week I tried to get inspired to take a photo of something blue.  It was difficult.  I had thoughts in my head, but they just weren't translating into images I was happy with.  So the vision just didn't happen for me last week, but I did get a lot of really fun photos!  Wednesday I drug Judy along with me to a Ferria dress shop and the Gypsy Market to get my blues on!

*I have to put in a short disclaimer here.  I may be eating my words in a few weeks......BUT.....I just don't get the whole ferria frenzie???  People can't really tell you what it is.  Here is what I understand of it so far.  It takes place the first weekend in May.  People go all out and buy dresses that cost anywhere from 90 euro to 1000+ euro.  It's kind of like a carnival, here in Spain they don't have a city fair ground, rather it's the city ferria grounds.  Instead of carnies and carnival games, you have booths of food.  People parade around wearing traditional flamenco costumes, and finally I've heard tell that music and dancing may break out at anytime. I got my fingers crossed that it's cool because I was a bit disappointed in Carnival.

The Dress Shoppe:  it was like walking into a rainbow.  it's a good thing I didn't have the girls with me because they would have lost their little minds when we walked through the door.  The store was filled with row after row, upon row of dresses.  2 stories of them!  Everything from size 6 mo-20!  By the end I started to feel claustrophobic and had to jet outta there as quick as possible!

We drove over to Rota to see what we could find at the gypsy market.  Judy was after pho soccer jersey's and I ended up with a few for Luke too.  We came across some fun blue items!

hilarious!  this blue leg wasn't part of the display, it was cast off to the side.  we asked him to put it in the display, he thought we were crazy!  judy chalked it up to creativity!!

These guys were hilarious.  They were calling us to come over and take a picture of the younger guy in the polo.  It was funny.

The gypsy market is always filled with baby items.  Lots and lots of baby items.

These little Sevillana shoes were just to die for.  The little blue one is about a baby size 3!  It was too cute.  I wish my kids could have worn something that small, but they all came with Sasquatch feet!

This was another funny duo.  The lady wanted her photo taken, but then got shy at the last minute.  The boy tried to help loosen her up, but she was too embarrassed.  They want me to bring a copy to them next week...and I just might!

Here is a photo of an entrepreneur...just had to get one on camera!

This is how they advertise their goods.  Thought these shoes were pretty cool, but I wouldn't be caught dead in that heel....way, WAY to high for me.  That is an accident waiting to happen!

Finally, you can't go to the gypsy market without picking up some olives!  My favorite are the green ones with blanched almonds in them...delish!

Fun times at the gypsy market...until next time, Adios!

Today was the DAY!

Emry learned to ride her bike today!!  

She's been a little reluctant on the bike home front, but I'd had enough of that nonsense and decided that today was the day.  I picked the kids up from school with the van loaded for the afternoon....treats, bikes, helmets, knee pads, skateboards and camera.  We drove straight to the park and didn't leave until she was up and riding.  She even had a few extra cheerleaders (the park gardeners were working) at the park and they cheered and clapped when she had success!

**A++ for effort and perseverance today Emry!  You did it!

Tapa the cat

We are currently babysitting a kitten named Tapa.  She belongs to our American neighbors down the street who are on vacation.  She's very cute and super duper spunky!  It's been a long long time since I've been around a kitten, so I've been shocked a few times because she seems to go mental and rams around the house.  She Jumps over and under and around furniture like a crazy bullet.  I know that's normal cat behavior, but it's weird.

We've been keeping her in the kitchen at night.  The first night she was fine, no problems.  The second night she was obviously getting more comfortable around us and I found my paper towel like this in the morning.  She also licked the butter that didn't get put away...we're just not used to having her around yet!

Oh, did I mention she has claws....i was standing in the hall and she jumped up me and tried to climb me like a tree!  She's wild and nutz-O!!  Trent has so many cuts and scrapes on his hands and wrists from playing with her that he's starting to look like he needs to see a psychiatrist.  I've been trying to feel bad for him, but I just can't because he is constantly egging her on.

This is an extreme close up of a chair I really like....she's ruined it. 

She's scared the girls each a few times.  On Sunday morning we weren't prepared for the onslaught of Tapa...... she saw the girls coming in their dresses and untied sashes dragging along the floor a mile away.  They didn't have a chance.

Storytime....my brothers and sisters will appreciate this.  A long time ago when I was about 9 or 10 (I may have been a little younger, I'd have to ask my dad) my dad brought home a sick, half starved kitty from his job at Creekwood.  This was not an uncommon occurrence at my house growing up.  Both my parents are suckers for animals.  Here's a quick list of a few that I can remember.  I'm sure my siblings could add to it:

• Kiwaskum the opossum.  Mother was a victim of hit and run.  My dad came upon it and brought the remaining baby home.  He lived in a bird cage and we feed him macaroni and cheese.  We were going to give him to the zoo or a vet or something, but he died the morning we were supposed to take him.
• The painted turtle.  My dad found him walking along the highway and brought him home. He lived on our back porch in a pail of water and rocks, we made a good spot for him.  Our dog, Bingo, ended up biting it and punctured his shell.  He lived, but we let him go in the millpond in our town.
• Chip the red squirrel.  I found him in the attic one day.  My dad tried to put him back into his nest, but his mother kept kicking all the boys out.  For some reason, they were unwanted.  One died, one was healthy enough to let go outside and we nursed the last one, kept him and named him Chip.  We fed him all sorts of things, he liked baby formula and chopped peanuts he was extremely friendly.  He even rode around on our dog, max's back.  We all liked him a lot.  he met an untimely death however.  our neighbors dog, Stanley, a hunting lab.  Got into the house one day and couldn't resist the urge.  He got him.  It was very sad.
• Rosie, Pumpkin, or Kitty Kitty the cat.  A few years ago Wisconsin suffered a terribly, abnormally cold winter.  My parent's had a long porch that ran along the house outside the front door.  Sometime during this cold winter, an orange cat showed up and set up shop under the porch.  She was skittish and reclusive.  Well, of course they started feeding it.  Then on a particularly cold night, they let it inside to sleep in the bathroom.  In the morning I woke up to find my mom in the bathroom cleaning.  Apparently the thing had had diarrhea everywhere, MULTIPLE times!  Sick!  So what did they do, they let it in a second night....and now, years later, she lives upstairs in their house.  

Anyway, back to my original story.   My dad, worked the night security at a huge chicken farm and found him, this half dead cat during his rounds and brought him home.  It was winter and this little cat had been nearly frozen to death.  In fact, he lost half of one of his ears to frostbite while we were nursing him back to health.  When the cat got better he turned on us.  He became the most evil, mean thing we'd ever encountered.  I don't know if I can quite explain it.  He was crazy!  He would hunt us in our sleep.  I remember getting attacked and woken out of a dead sleep.  All you could do was pull the blankets close around you and pray there were no openings because then you'd be in for it.  You'd feel him jut a clawed foot under the blanket and jab you with his claws...ouch!  The he'd jump over and on top of you, scarring you half to death.  Next you'd have a reprieve, but you'd hear a sibling start to whimper in another room, they were getting attacked too.  We'd end up crying for help because their was no escape.  Needless to say, he didn't last too long.  My dad took him back to Creekwood, and we never heard of him again.

Ok, that turned out to be a little longer of a story than I originally intended, but there you have it.  Actually, upon reflection, these could all be very good reasons for my inability to truly like animals.  I try, I want to like them, I know they're not all evil...but it's hard.  BUT, in Tapa's defense.  She's been very good while she's been here, and I'm not sure who loves her more, the kids or Trent.  Everyone is having a lot of fun with her...even me.  I love to see the kids so happy, it may be time for me to get more serious about having a pet in the house.  Luke is so happy, he gets straight up in the morning to play with her and then again after school until bedtime.  He is such an animal person.  So for now, all is well.  I'll post again is she gets into trouble!!

Little Girls

Some random girliness and sisterly love coming your way...


Ummm, I'm not sure what to tell you about this picture except that it was about 75 degrees outside.  She just raided the winter box and decided, "hey, why not wear a scarf, hat and gloves today"!  Gotta love this one!

Emry is in an interesting stage of development.  It is sometimes difficult for me to capture her in a photo because she's just not into it.  However, today she sat for me and allowed me to capture a few real moments and parts of her personality.

We haven't taken any happy twirling photos in a loooong time!!  We couldn't resist!