GO HOME DRITY BIRDS B/C OUR BOYS ARE 7-0

I decided to surprise Lee and Lee Jr. with tickets to the Saints vs. Falcons game last night and man was my little man excited. He had NO idea when he left for school that he would be going to the game since I only found the tickets yesterday morning! I rode to New Orleans to get them and then home again to wait for the day to pass on!! Boy the smile on his face was PRICELESS as I told him we would be cheering on the Saints!! I sent the girls to play with Ellie and off we went!

Driving into New Orleans for this game was as bad as it is for Mardi Gras and parking was next to impossible to find! We did manage to park and get through the crowded streets as we watched officers trying to clear people out of the roads just so the traffic could flow!! It was ALL party last night!!

The game was an intense and AWESOME one to be at! You could feel the adrenaline all around you and the crowd was rocking! Our bless you boys sent them dirty birds home becoming 7-0!! I'm so glad we made it and my little man had so much fun!!


Lee Jr. sporting his black and gold hair and Saints tattoo which means he's ready for the game!


I think judging by this smile my little man was happy to be at the game!


Me and my little man at the game!


A glimpse of the stadium!

HALLOWEEEN 2009

The kids had a wonderful time trick or treating and got LOTS of candy!! Each of them picked out their own costume and loved them!! Lee Jr. agreed to get his first scary costume this year!! He dressed as the Big Bad Wolf and LOVED seeing the little kids shy away as he walked by!! Only last year was he one of those kids running from the creepy people!! LOL!! Olivia was planning to be Tinkerbell and at the last minute decided to be a pirate and she had a blast!! We laughed so much at her because she kept saying look at my mean pirate face and would squench up her face!! Arianna was a little cowgirl and kept pulling out her little pin kgun telling everyone to stick them up!! LOL!!

We had a fun filled day with birthday parties, trick or treating, hayrides, hotdog roasts and more parties! I'm just glad we all survived Halloween with no ER visits this year!!


Making her mean pirate face!!


Olivia LOVED her pirate outfit!


My Little Cowgirl


She LOVED being a cowgirl!!


The Big Bad Wolf!


Princess Pirate, The Big Bad Wolf and My little Cowgirl cutie!!


My family:)

A LITTLE OF THIS AND A LOT OF THAT

Time is passing by so fast and so many things are happening that I lose track of the time and forget to blog!! Our family has been super busy with the girls dancing, Lee Jr. in football, our couple's dance class and preparing for my trip to Guatemala!! I can hardly believe it's only 5 weeks away!! We're all in the countdown mode and the kids are getting so excited!! I know they're going to have a blast seeing the sights of Guatemala once again. I can hardly wait to see Arianna running and playing with her birthsiblings. They may not speak the same language but love is universal and you can tell when they're together how much they enjoy each other!

Last weekend we went to a Halloween party for Lee's company and then ventured out to Destin, Fl to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary. The trip could have been better but we made the best of our time together without the kids. I went to my very first Irish resturant and laughed so hard because I had NO clue what most of the things on the menu were!! Thank God for Susan because I was able to call her and get the low down on the irish cuisine. The steak I ordered was AWESOME and more of an american choice I was comfortable with but I did venture out and try this brown bread they brought to us. It was actually good too! After supper we ventured out to Commander's Palace to check out all the little shops and then on to Pat O' Briens to listen to the band. Let's just say I'm convinced no where in the world parties like New Orleans!! Being bored out of my mind we settled to order a pizza and take it to the room to watch a movie. I could harldy believe it but I was actually asleep by midnight which is a rarity for me!! LOL!!

The kids had a blast carving their pumpkin for Halloween the other night!! Arianna and Lee Jr. LOVED sticking their hands in and pulling all the pumkin guts out, but Olivia stuck her hand in and pulled it right out and said NO WAY!! LOL!! She was ok with helping to cut the outline out but she hated the way the inside felt!! Arms crossed with a pout face on she stood and watched them do it!! LOL!!

Arianna gave herself a new haircut yesterday which resulted in her having SHORT hair! Olivia trimmed her hair a couple weeks ago but it was saved because she barely cut anything! Well Arianna found her brother's scissors yesterday and she went to town!! They cut over 6 inches off her hair to straighten it out!! I was so sick as I watched her long beautiful black hair fall to the floor. She was upset when I first told her they would have to cut all her hair off and she cried and stomped her feet! Once we got to the salon and they cut it she was beaming!! She LOVES her new haircut but it will take mommy some getting use to!! LOL!




Us at the Textron Halloween Party!


Me and Lee outside the hotel in Destin


An anniversary supper at Mc Guire's Pub in Destin, FL and the brown bread they served. Never had it before but it wasen't so bad!


A beautiful Destin sunset!


Me and Lee at Mc Guire's in Destin


Getting ready to carve their pumpkin!


Lee Jr. cutting the top off the pumpkin!


NO WAY am I sticking my hand back into that pumpkin!!


Arianna put a lot of thought into pulling out those guts!


Lee Jr. digging out pumpkin guts!


Arianna and the pumpkin!


Olivia with the pumpkin!


Lee Jr. with his pumpkin!


All that was left of the length once Arianna was done cutting her hair!


The do Arianna gave to herself!


Arianna LOVED her new haircut!!

BRACES

Life here has been a whirlwind of activity, change and busy schedules!! Lee Jr. finally was able to get his braces on a few days ago and so far he's done really well with them. He complained that they were a little sore the second day and that evening when he had to wear his mouth piece for football, but no complaints today!! He'll go next week to have two teeth pulled in order to make room for his teeth to be shifted. He'll also have to go back in four weeks to have the rest of his top braces put on. All I can say is OUCH!! Hopefully he'll do well with them!!

The girls are attending pre-school once a week and so far they're doing good. No more tears are shed by either of us when dropping them off so I think we're good to go!! They're also back in dancing and loving every minute of it!! My girls both really LOVE music and dancing so this is right up their alley!!

I've been crazy busy trying to get through the last shipment before my mission trip in December and I'm glad to say I'm DONE packing! YEAH!! Medrano will be here in the morning to pick up the boxes and I'll be so glads to have my living room back!! Those boxes are packed to the brim with such wonderful donations that will be so life changing to the people they reach!!

Other than that life has been full of changes. Some for the good and some are still to be determined. I'm taking one of those long hard looks at my life and areas that need work and let's say it's not always a pretty sight!! I have reached a point in my life where the path splits and each direction is so unknown and so hard to choose, but I'm not giving in. Life may have me down but I'm not out. I'm trying to hold on to my faith and trust that I will be leads just where I need to be!! Please pray that all goes well!!


Lee Jr. trying to relax to get his braces on!!


Lee Jr. getting ready for his brackets to be put on!


Lee Jr. with the first part of his top braces on. He'll return in four weeks to get the back top braces once he has the two teeth pulled!! OUCH!!


Olivia sporting the outfit Suzanne made for her!! Both girls love it!!


Arianna

UPDATES

Martina did a medicine drive for Guatemala and collected all of the items in the photo!! It's such a wide varierty of medication and I know MANY lives will be changed by them!! I received antiobiotic creams, hydrocortisone creams, diaper rash meds, vitamins, iron drops, prenatal vitamins, fever reducers, stomache meds, eye drops, nasal sprays, cold meds, bandaids, and much more!! I'm simply amazed at the generous hearts people have toward those in such a great need!! These medicines will be a true blessing to everyone who receives them!!!

Just to catch you up on things in my everyday life since I have been so absent from the blog world!! I've been busy doing packing, packing and more packing of donations for the last shipment for Project Santa this year! I have received some amazing supplies to go down to Guatemala and I know the people are going to be thrilled because I sure was!! I've also been trying to figure out fundraising efforts to distribute food baskets to the villages we'll be visiting on our mission trip. I have managed to get the 26 children attending New Hope Ministries sponsored for food baskets and blankets, and 56 families in Los Robles sponsored for food baskets as well!! I think this number is amazing!! That means 82 families will receive the food they need!! That's not all that I've been working on though!!

I'm now moving on to collect as much funds as I can do to a major distribution day in Aqua Escondido. I was told of this village recently and asked to go there because the people are suffering from the food crisis! I know it's a BIG leap of faith to accept yet another stop when the trip is so close away but how could I say no? How could I say sorry I cannot try to raise the money because my life is too busy or I'm afraid to fail so they will have to continue to be hungry?? I simply could not do it and I know all I will need will be provided! I have faith on this one!! I'm praying to raise $3,000 by Novemember 27th so that we can provide as many families in this village the essentials they need. My plan is to provide beans, rice, oil and corn to as many of them as I can. If the full funds come in then we will be able to add a small amount of fresh fruits and vegetables to that list as well!! Do you know the impact this is going to have on a hungry family??

I know times are tough for all of us right now, but I hope each of you would consider making a contribution to feed these hungry people. No amount is too small to make a HUGE difference in the life of someone who is suffering senselessly from hunger!! Let's all try to give up something that is not essential this week to help a family eat! Can you imagine the true sadness and hurt in a mother's heart when she sits up at night crying and praying for the funds to come in to feed her hungry child?? Prays for work that doesn't come and a meal that is just not enough. As I look at my children I am very thankful that I can feed, clothe, and educate them so they can have an opportunity to be something and do remarkable things with their lives. It also leads me to pray for those around the world who do not have that luxury! I think it's a true tragedy when food, shelter and clothing are a luxury! To me this is a neccessity but for some it's one they cannot afford. If you can't donate right now please help to spread the word about this food program. The more eyes that are opened the more needs that can be met. I am open to any suggestions any of you may have on how to do a better job at raising the funds. I will not give up on this and will remain faithful that we will touch many lives! Thanks to each of you for helping me to help the people of Guatemala! All of you are a true blessing!!

I KNOW, I KNOW

Sorry I lefy you guys hanging again but man life is kicking my butt!! I have so much going on right now that half the time I have no idea if I'm coming or going!! Good news is the packing for Guatemala has begun and it's going great too!! I have some remarkable things to distribute and I know they'll be life changing to those who receive them. All those happy faces and sweet smiles make all the work so worth it!! On that note I still have 11 food baskets left to get sponsored for families in Los Robles. They're $30 each and would make an awesome holiday gift for that special someone who already has it all!! I will return home on December 13th and will have photos mailed out no later than the 16th so they should arrive in time for Christmas!! How exciting is that to know you fed a family in honor of that special someone for the holidays!! I know times are tough for everyone so if you can't do a full basket it's ok just make a one time donation to go toward the food distribution in Aqua Escondido!! NO amount is too small to make a HUGE difference in the life of someone less fortunate!! I'll be able to post some packing photos as soon as I get my camera in from the shop. Should be by Monday!! YEAH!