Hanging Out

We haven't done anything much since Christmas. We saw the first two Night At The Museum movies at home. No one really wanted to go out, except maybe Alex, who had four boys sleep over on Saturday. Anthony did go out a few times with his friend Jake. Eric is content to sit next to Anthony and watch him play games on his computer, or play on the iPad or his new toys. He finished building The Ghost and The Phantom Star Wars Lego sets today. I'll take some pics of them tomorrow.

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house on Sunday night for dinner. Grandma wanted to host her first dinner at her house. Patrick watched the Packers game vs. the Detroit Lions while we were there. The Packers won 30-20--yay! While there, Natalie, Alex, and Anthony all started playing against each other on an app called Trivia Crack. Eric felt a little left out, so I let him play on my phone or he would watch over his siblings' shoulders to see what they were doing.

We were supposed to take Grandma out to dinner tonight for her birthday. She wanted to see the Christmas lights on the Riverwalk, so we had planned to go there for dinner. The weather was chilly (40s) today, drizzly and cloudy, and she didn't want to go out in it, so she decided we would have to do that another time. Instead, Anthony went to dinner and a movie with his friend Jake. Alex was going to a movie with friends, but those plans fell through also. Because everything was cancelled, Natalie decided to go to swim practice tonight. She swam yesterday as well and seems to be on the mend.

This is pretty much a nothing post, but I just wanted to share a few details about our low-key days after Christmas. I'm so much more relaxed now that the Christmas activities are over!

Merry Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas, Everyone! I was really tired yesterday due to having to work on Christmas Eve night. I got home around 7:30am, and I was quickly greeted by Eric. We had told him the day before to not to get up until I got home, but of course he got up earlier and was reading quietly. He was very patient about waiting for his brothers to get up. He tried to be quiet in his room because Anthony is sleeping there in the top bunk right now--he didn't even notice his Christmas stocking, at least not until we asked him if he had opened it. In the last few years, we've been leaving their stockings by their beds on Christmas Eve. It makes for a more peaceful Christmas morning.

Natalie was already up when I got home also. Anthony got up surprisingly early, maybe around 9, and Alex after that. Alex is recovering from being sick. He had a fever for a day or so before Christmas, and he's been coughing. As you can see in this photo above, he was not up to smiling for the photo. I waited a little before taking the photo, but it wasn't fair for the other kids, so I gave up. I think he was afraid that if he moved his face too much, he would have to go blow his nose.

We ended up opening presents around 10:30 am. The kids separated their gifts into piles for each person. Eric remarked on how he had the biggest gift from Santa--a Star Wars Rebels Inquisitor Lightsaber. It's a fact that the presents get smaller (and more expensive) as the kids get older.

Eric also received a Guardians of the Galaxy movie and Nerf gun from his godfather. The gun is like the one I got him for his Star Lord Halloween costume. He didn't mind having two, because, "Star Lord had two". I really wish he could spend some time with his godfather, because Elmer is such a great guy and wonderful with kids.

Eric received two Star Wars Rebels Lego sets, one from us (The Phantom), and the Ghost set from my Uncle Nany. He also got a Star Wars Corporate Alliance Tank Droid from his Aunt Lisa. Grandma got him a Minion poster to hang on his wall, a Transformers Strafe toy, and a Minion shirt.

I couldn't believe that Natalie actually wanted to pose for the camera. I'm a little biased, but I think she looks really pretty in this photo. She has been wearing her father's Green Bay Packers sweatshirt to bed. I've offered to get her one of her own, but she says she wants to wear his because it's bigger and just because it's his. I think Patrick appreciates that she still shows him some affection, which could go away tomorrow.

Natalie got a Godchild ornament from her godfather, something she gets every year and looks forward to every year. She got Amazon gift certificates from her Aunt Lisa, Aunt Linda, and Grandma. Grandma thought Natalie would like to pick out her own books instead of having her Grandma pick some from her wish list. Grandma also got her some ear pods (so she can give me back mine) and a Simon game. She got an iPad Mini 3 from us--I love that she squealed when she opened it. We didn't get her anything for her birthday in August except several hours in a car traveling across the country, so this was sort of a combined gift.

I could not get Alex to look at the camera. He wanted to do this indifferent sort of pose. Again, I let it go. It's all part of the story this Christmas, after all. He got a nice Ralph Lauren orange jacket from my Uncle Nany. He's been wearing it often since then.

Grandma gave both big boys an AMC movie gift card and Grandpa gave them his usual "art folio"--i.e. 2015 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Calendar. He and Anthony love reading what Grandpa writes about the calendars every year.

I initially made all the kids wear Santa hats for the first group photo, but Anthony ended up wearing his hat all day. We got him two PS4 games--The Shadow of Mordor and Infamous: Second Son, as well as a skeleton watch that Alex helped us pick out. He loved all of them, although he probably suspected the PS4 games. For that reason, he seemed most surprised/excited about the watch.

He got his siblings presents again this year--picked out and paid for all on his own. He got a Batman watch for Alex. Natalie got shark earrings, and Eric got yet another Star Wars Lego set--General Grievous Wheel Bike.

Those were only some of their gifts. The kids are so lucky that their family (immediate and extended) are so generous. We go to Houston next week and there we'll exchange gifts with my sisters and parents. Patrick grilled our traditional steak for lunch and we spent the rest of the day playing, and in my case, sleeping. We had a wonderful Christmas, and I hope all of our family and friends out there did also!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Eric has been saying "Merry Christmas Eve" all day today. He is just a little bit excited. He has been counting down to Christmas all month, thanks in part to his Star Wars Advent Calendar. His siblings seem less excited, but still happily anticipating tomorrow.

Anthony stated when he got home, that he had not gotten any presents for his siblings. Yesterday, when I got home from work, I saw these packages under the tree. Anthony said he had gotten presents for his siblings, and that he had intentionally wrapped them very badly. I was amused by that and the how he had labeled the packages. On his present to Eric, he had put "To Cheric From Chanthony". He does sometimes call Eric "Cheric" because, as he says, "It rhymes." Regardless of the reason, Eric was tickled when he read the label. Anthony labeled his present to Natalie with "To Little Shark From Chair Potato", their nicknames for each other.

This morning, Natalie decided not to go to swim practice. She went yesterday morning for only 15 minutes due to her back still being sore. She was still sore this morning, but she still wanted to go to Starbucks. After we ate, we decided to go to Target. For some reason, I can finish most of my Christmas shopping super early, but I always have to shop for stocking stuffers late. She was actually helpful during our shopping trip, giving me ideas and generally entertaining me with her chattiness.

When we got home, I stuffed the stockings early with Patrick, since I'm working tonight and won't be home until tomorrow morning. I also took a photo of the stockings and finally wrapped our gifts to Patrick. Patrick went to church with the kids this afternoon, and I'm planning on going to the Catholic mass tonight at the chapel here in the hospital.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas Eve! I'll probably post some Christmas photos by tomorrow night.

Birthday Lunch

Since we didn't get to go out to dinner on my actual birthday, we went on Sunday instead. I like to stay home on Sunday nights, because I have to get up early for work the next day, so we went out for lunch instead of dinner. Going out for lunch also means that my in-laws won't have to drive around in the dark.

I spent the whole week trying to decide where to go for lunch. I finally settled on The Cheesecake Factory because there are a variety of dishes there for everyone to choose from. I also really like their Miso Salmon dish and although we just had salmon on Wednesday, I can never have too much salmon.

Patrick let our waiter (whose name was "Eric") know that it was my birthday, so Eric the Waiter presented me with a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with whipped cream, sprinkles, and a candle. He also announced that it was my 21st birthday before singing "Happy Birthday" with a group of other waitstaff.

The singing was fun, and the food was great, but the best part for me was that Anthony was home. He got home on Saturday night after midnight. I couldn't stay up that late, and neither could Natalie. We both went to bed earlier, and Patrick woke us up when Anthony got home. Alex was supposed to go with Patrick to the airport to pick up Anthony, but Alex fell asleep and Patrick didn't have the heart to wake him up. He did wake up Alex after they got home, and Alex insisted that Patrick should have awakened him. Alex and Anthony stayed up a bit longer chatting.

Eric didn't see Anthony until Sunday morning. He gave him lots of hugs, of course. I took this photo at The Cheesecake Factory and to me it really shows how much Anthony loves his little brother and how much he missed him. This also shows how much Eric loves Anthony and thinks Anthony is such a fun brother.

Now my birthday celebrations are officially over--on to Christmas!

Happy Birthday to Me

My birthday blog post disappeared, so I have to rewrite the whole thing--ugh!

My morning started perfectly with Eric coming into my room to give me a hug and to wish me a "Happy Birthday". That boy gives the best hugs! Natalie and Alex also gave me birthday wishes and hugs later as well. Patrick may have reminded them, but it's nicer to think that they wanted to give me a birthday greeting on their own. Anthony actually forgot until the next day, but I had expected that to be the case since he was in the middle of final exams. He is coming home tonight!!!

Patrick let me stay home while he took Alex to school. We usually go together and then go straight to the gym to exercise. I decided that I would rather go to breakfast at Magnolia Pancake Haus instead of going to lunch somewhere, even though that meant missing out on exercising. Grandma and Grandpa met us at our house, and we were at breakfast by around 9:30am. Natalie seemed a little sad when she found out that she would not see Grandma and Grandpa that day, since they were just having breakfast with us and then going home. She seemed happy that she has "seen them more in the last month than in the last year."

Patrick and I didn't even plan on having lunch because we anticipated being very full after breakfast. By about 2pm, we decided to pick up some fried pork dumpling appetizers at the PF Chang's at La Cantera Mall. We had to get Barnes and Noble gift cards for a couple of Eric's teachers anyway, so it was a good excuse to go.

The rest of the day I got to do some scrapbooking/crafting. It felt great to play with paper and glue for the first time in a year or so. I haven't scrapbooked regularly for probably two years or more, and I'm a little rusty, so I got a December Daily kit this year to give me a starting off point. I'll hopefully be able to share some pages when I actually complete them. I sent some photos/pages to Costco, but they are busy with Christmas card orders this time of year, so I had to wait more than the usual one day to get them printed.

I continued the crafting the next day, Friday, by packaging up gifts for Eric's teachers. Our kids have way too many teachers combined to get anything big for anyone, but we did get those Barnes and Noble gift cards for Eric's homeroom teacher and GT teacher along with our usual gift, Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark candies. Natalie didn't feel especially close to any of her teachers, so they all just got the candy and no gift cards. She also gave out candy canes to her classmates. Alex wanted Terry's Chocolate Oranges to give out instead. Neither Natalie nor Alex wanted their teacher gifts wrapped, so I was off the hook with those.

Patrick grilled some salmon that night for dinner. Alex stayed after school to help a friend with math. Natalie had some basketball games to attend as the team manager, so we couldn't go out to eat, in fact, it was almost 8pm by the time Natalie got home and got to eat some salmon. Patrick was very good about spoiling me on my birthday.

So that was my low-key birthday. We're planning on having a birthday dinner tomorrow with the grandparents and with Anthony. I'm sure I'll have more photos to share then.

New House

Patrick's Mom and Dad closed on their house here in town on December 1st. The following weekend, we went to check it out. Alex was off with some friends, but the rest of us went. We picked up some Rudy's BBQ for lunch on the way there. Rudy's is one of Patrick's favorite places, so I joked that he would probably stop off there whenever he went to visit his parents.

After lunch, the kids settled into the sunroom right away and started playing on their electronics while the adults chatted. We also got a tour of the house, and Patrick helped his dad bring in their new TV. The sunroom will be nice this time of year, but not so much in the summer. They don't anticipate being here in the summer anyway.

They moved to a 55 plus community so they could participate in group activities in order to meet new people. They want their own friends, and not just hang out with us, which sounds great for future happiness for themselves. Their neighborhood is right next to a golf course, and they have a gate guard at the entrance. It looks like a nice neighborhood.

The kids seemed pretty excited to be visiting Grandma and Grandpa so close to where we live. They're used to traveling for hours on a plane and then driving to their place--not anymore. We still wished they lived a little closer, so it will be easier if they need something, but they did move to a nice area. Several people that I know from work live near there, since it's pretty much a straight shot up I-35 from where I work to this area.

We've already taken advantage of their proximity to us when they came to babysit Natalie and Eric last Saturday. Last week, Patrick had lunch with them at Panera Bread. Tomorrow, Patrick and I are planning to have breakfast with them at Magnolia Pancake Haus. I really miss having family in the same city, and I really love that the kids get to see their grandparents every week if they want to.

Party Party

This is a picture of Alex trying on his tux on Friday afternoon. We went straight to the bridal shop to pick up the tux after I picked him up from school. It felt weird going to a bridal shop with my son.

Alex took part in a Quinceanera on Saturday night. One of his best friends, Jeremy, had a sister that was turning 15, and a Quinceanera is a big celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday in parts of Latin America. Interestingly, our friends, who are from Mexico, say that it isn't a big deal there. Alex has been to several (like maybe 8-10) practices in the last couple of months. Most were on school nights, but some were on the weekends. They were practicing a group dance for the party.

The bridal shop was on the south side of town, and that time of day, it took a good half hour to get there. Once there, he had to try on the tux to make sure it fit. I laughed about the fact that it took him longer to get dressed than the girl trying on Quinceanera dresses in the room next to his. Of course, his tux had many more parts to it. When he saw this picture that I took of him, he said that it wasn't a complete picture because he had not yet put on the cufflinks, he didn't have his watch on, and his tie was only hurriedly put on to make sure it fit. It took him a while to figure out how to put it on. One of the bridal shop employees had to help him with it. A friend of mine saw this picture and said that Alex looked good, but that in this picture, he "looks like he thinks he looks good". I laughed at that comment because I thought he was right--that Alex thought he looked good. After all, he let me take a picture.

I was so happy when Alex texted me this picture. He almost never lets me take pictures, and he keeps "forgetting" to send me pictures of him dressed up for parties like this. The girl in the picture with him is his "girlfriend" or rather, the "girl he hangs out with who isn't allowed to date until she is sixteen".

The party was an all day event for Alex. Patrick dropped him off for the mass at 1pm. The party wasn't starting until 6pm and lasting until around midnight. He stayed over at his friend Jeremy's house after the party, since it was going to last so late. Patrick was glad he didn't have to be driving around town with all the drunk people and the crazies at midnight on a Saturday night.

Patrick did drive around at about 10pm on Saturday, though. We had my department Christmas party at a local restaurant, the Scenic Loop Cafe. I got someone to take a picture of us near one of the trees. My friend Tripp put together the party and he did a fantastic job. We had good food, great conversation, and a wonderful time.

We didn't realize until a couple of weeks ago that the party that Alex had been preparing for with all of those practices over the last couple of months, was on the same exact night as my department Christmas party. We are so lucky that Patrick's parents are now in town and his mom didn't hesitate to babysit Natalie and Eric. They came over in the afternoon and stayed the night so they wouldn't have to drive home so late at night. We are so thankful that they are here in town and we've been able to spend a lot of time with them. We went to church together on Sunday morning, and then they went home. Later this week, I'll have to post some photos of their house and our visit with them last week.

Busy Week

We've had a really busy week. It's a mixed blessing that Natalie is not going to swim practice right now. She felt good enough that she wanted to swim this week, but with Patrick's birthday on Monday, her band concert on Tuesday, a basketball scrimmage for her (as team manager, not as a player) on Wednesday, and some of the events listed in this post today, there was no time to go to swim practice.

On Thursday, I came straight home from work, because Alex stayed after school to help a friend with Math. I wasn't home more than a half hour before I had to leave again. Patrick had gone with Eric to get a birthday present for his friend, then I took Eric to the party at the local Laser Quest.

This was my first time actually going into the Laser Quest. I've dropped off the older boys at parties there, and Patrick himself has taken the boys and their friends there before. Eric and his friends got to go in twice. I'm not sure what his stats were for the second game, but for the first game, he finished with a score that was third from last, 21st out of 23 people (mostly seven and eight year olds). That didn't matter, though. He had a lot of fun and was running around a lot.

We had to leave a little early, so we could do our weekly routine of going to Costco to get gas, and then go to Eric's piano lesson. Eric got a bath as soon as we got home, and then he went to bed. I took my shower and went straight to bed, which was around 9pm or before.

On Friday, I didn't get home until about 6:45pm with Alex--more on that story in my next blog post. I was so exhausted that I didn't even bother to eat dinner. I washed up and went straight to bed. That meant that I pretty much missed Natalie dressing up for her friend Margot's Christmas party at our neighborhood club house on Friday night. Patrick was kind enough to take some photos of Natalie for me. I chose this photo because she has the biggest smile. She was goofing off with the toy gun that Eric had gotten as a party favor. I miss that smile.

Natalie picked out this dress all by herself a few weeks ago, and she paid for it with her own money. She was shopping with her friend Margot before Thanksgiving. I was working and didn't go with her. She chose this lacy green dress because she thought it would be a nice dress to wear for Christmas. Of course, she pairs it with the obligatory sweater.

More about our busy week tomorrow.

Winter Band Concert

Natalie's band concert was this past Tuesday, December 9th, part of our busy week. So far, she still seems to enjoy being in band. At her last band concert, she complained bitterly about her band uniform. She didn't complain so much today, except for her tie. She tried to lose it at her school book fair by almost leaving it behind.

"Family Night" at her school book fair was on the same night as the band concert, so we went there early and shopped for books. Eric got a Star Wars themed book, and it was a wonderful thing to have, as we had to wait quite a bit before Natalie's band performed. She is in the "Honors Band", and they performed last. Natalie got a couple of books for herself, and one for a Christmas present for a friend. I was surprised, but there was no one else in the library, where the book fair was held, for the whole half hour or so that we were there.

I don't even bother bringing my big camera to Natalie's concerts any more. She won't let me take pictures. In desperation, I decided to wait for her outside of their Band Hall and snap away whenever she walked by. The percussionists have to put away all of the percussion equipment at the end of the concert, and there are quite a few instruments. As you can see in this picture, she found a way to always have her back turned or to have a music stand in front of her face. I found it a little humorous, thus the reason why I still snapped away despite not being able to see her face.

Interestingly, on the way home, she told me that it was "creepy" that I was staring at her during the whole band concert. She stands way in the back, so I positioned myself so I could see what she was up to during their performance. Obviously, I don't actually care about the music they play. I came because I wanted to see my daughter play. I'm not even sure why she thought it was "creepy" except that sometimes she does talk just to talk.

December Art a la Carte

Eric's monthly art class was today. He was so excited about my bringing him lunch today (the usual spicy chicken nuggets and vanilla Frosty) that Patrick said he was talking about it when he got off the bus yesterday. I didn't even see him this morning before school because I was already out of the house to take Alex to soccer practice at 6:45am. Natalie didn't go to basketball practice this morning because she had a physical therapy appointment, so at least I didn't have to take her at 6:15am also.

In any case, Eric's art class was about the abstract three-dimensional art work by Louise Nevelson. As you can see from the teacher's example bulletin board, the kids were going to use various found objects to make a collage on a heavy piece of cardboard. She will later paint the collages in the colors that the kids choose--blue, green, red, or yellow.

Several of the kids put gobs of stuff on their collages, but Eric's was rather spare. I tried to get him to fill up all that space, but he wanted it just the way it was. I am a space filler when it comes to art work. I'm sure it will look great once it's all painted the same color.

It's hard to appreciate in this photo, but the circular shapes in the middle are plastic pieces with a small bead in the middle. There are popsicle sticks next to different-shaped pieces of corrugated paper. I was also hoping he would add more texture, but once again, he really has a set idea of what he wants and doesn't want, and was not open to suggestions.

I really enjoyed volunteering for Eric's art class today. I look forward to these every month, and thankfully, he seems to also--my only child that likes seeing me at his school. He still greets me with a hug every time. That makes it all worth it.

Happy 49th!

I've been living life more than recording it, lately, which is good, but I have to document a little something today. Today is Patrick's 49th birthday.

We went out for dinner at his favorite restaurant, El Mirasol. What was really cool this year was that his parents got to go out with us and celebrate his birthday ON his birthday. We also invited our good friends Alicia and Al, along with their daughter Anna.

After dinner, we went home and Patrick opened his presents. Anthony called on Face Time, and I had Alex hold up the phone while Patrick opened his presents so that Anthony could be a part of it. Patrick's parents got him a bottle of single malt scotch. I got him a new case for his phone, a PS4 game (Dragon Age: Inquisition), a Tardis mug where the Tardis disappears then reappears at another location when the mug has hot liquid in it, and a D20 die that lights up when you roll a 20--mostly geeky gifts, but perfect for my favorite geek. :)

Now, Patrick gets to watch his Green Bay Packers team (notice the T-shirt he is wearing) on Monday Night Football on his birthday. Al came over for a little to watch with him. The only thing that would be better is that if the Packers win. Happy Birthday, sweetie!

So It Begins

Today is the first day of December. Because I'm planning on doing a "December Daily" album this year, that means I plan on documenting/scrapbooking each day in December in an album. I haven't scrapbooked in a while, so wish me luck!

Today I also let Eric open his new Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar. He was so excited about this when I bought it for him, but he was more excited about getting on the iPad after he opened this--more on that later.

He needed just a little help putting together the toy for the day, but he did seem to have fun once he got that toy. He had a very early and busy start to his day.

Today is also the first day after the Thanksgiving Holiday from school. That means that soccer season officially starts for Alex, with practices every morning at 6:45am. That also means that basketball season officially starts for Natalie, with practices every morning at 6:15am. That meant that Alex and Natalie were already up when I left for work a little after 5am. Patrick had to get Eric up a half hour earlier than usual, at 5:40am, so he could get dressed and then be taken along while Patrick dropped Natalie off at school first, and then Alex. Patrick then took Eric to Starbucks for breakfast, then took Eric to school. Starbucks won't be a daily occurrence, but Eric being driven around before school will be.

We thought Alex would also have afternoon soccer practice, but apparently it will only be morning practices. He didn't tell me this until I was already taking me time to get him after work, because I had expected to have to pick him up at 5:30pm after practice instead of right after school at 4:15pm. We didn't get home until after 5pm.

Meanwhile, Patrick was already at gymnastics with Eric from 5-6pm. No wonder Eric couldn't wait to get on the iPad. Natalie still has physical therapy twice a week, so that will be an additional place for Patrick to drive tomorrow and Thursday. She also has a doctor's appointment this Friday. By the way, Natalie signed up to be the team manager for basketball, so she could participate and see her friends. She would rather play than watch, but at least she feels a little more involved this way.

Lastly, Grandma and Grandpa closed on their house today. Yay! It's official! Their furniture gets delivered tomorrow.