Another Year!

2010 has come and gone and now onto the new year! Things have started out really well here! We ended 2010 with Miguel's 33rd birthday and another year of a chance to wise up, I mean become wise!! After many nights of practicing good table manners, we finally took the kids to Bennihana's for a chance for them to show off their ettiquite and a chance to eat some GOOD Japanese food!

January brought lots of basketball.... and a lot more basketball....

and a mariachi band!

What??? Not really a band but a solo artist! Livi just likes to pose for the camera so anytime she can get in front of it and act silly, she will!

February brought....

a snow angel and a dog attacking.....

and some really cold weather, including SNOW!!!

Christmas 2010

So Christmas was a blast this year! We had a bunch of fun going to Grandma's house and being with family and also at our own home for the 'Big Day!'

We started our celebration with some gingerbread house making, then some family talents, and finished with opening presents! Before we left Houston, we stopped by and visited Granny Great and had lunch with her!

When we finally made it back home, we rested from all our fun all to do it again a few days later! Grandma Maritza came to visit with cousins Evan and Tristan on Christmas Eve. We had a nice dinner, opened presents...

and in bed just to do it again the next day! Santa brought Livi some....

Dollhouse furniture for her dollhouse. Santa brought Ethan some...

Rollerblades, and Eli got...

running shoes, basketball shoes and a basketball! Grandma got us....
ROCKBAND! That's been a lot of fun--we're the '5 Rockin' Saenz' Band! Can't believe Christmas has come and gone and now the New Year is here!!! Here's to another great year--2011!!

Another Summer has come and gone...

I can't believe summer has come and gone! This was a very exciting and fun summer! We did a few things this summer that we've never done before; take a vacation! Summer started out slowly but the kids and I fell right into the swing of things (i.e. sleeping late, going to bed late, going swimming a lot). Our normal summer routine includes going to the library, swimming almost everyday and enjoying free movies!

This summer Miguel and I got to go to Jamaica for our anniversary. We spent a whole week together and enjoyed each other! I would recommend this to anyone---spending one on one time with your spouse. We get so caught up in raising our children and all the day-to-day living, that sometimes we don't nourish our relationships with our spouses. Miguel and I truely enjoyed our relaxation, fun in the sun, and tropical adventures! We went ziplining, dune buggy riding in the mud, on a jamaican bobsled, on a catamaran and climbed a waterfall! All while we were doing that, the kids were spending quality time with Miguel's mom and having lots of fun!

(Miguel and I getting ready to zipline!)

Shortly after we got home from Jamaica, it was onto vacationing again! (it's a tough life but someone's got to do it!) We took a road trip! This was a lot of fun! My mom drove with us and we went to Utah. We stopped in New Mexico and went to Carlsbad Caverns and then headed up to Utah for a family reunion and also a fun time with the cousins!

(Alivia, Sterling, Owen, Maddie, Elijah, Brighton, and Ethan)

The kids had such a blast and were so good! Since they're all old enough to play with their cousins, there were times I wouldn't see them for hours at a time. Livi would play barbie's with her girl cousins for hours. She had so much fun playing with girls! She also got her ear's pierced along with her cousin, Josie! Eli would play with his cousins for hours on any type of video game until I made him get off so he wouldn't turn into a zombie! Ethan would jump and run around with his cousins (pretty much get them into trouble) all day long! We went to temple square one day, Lagoon another day (Miguel was there for that), Bridal Veil Falls and also the pool!

(Eli and Ethan at Bridal Veil Falls in Provo, UT)

Miguel was only able to join us for a short time and my mom had to fly back, so I got to drive back by myself with the kids! They were absolutely fantastic and we got to see some of the most gorgeous parts of our country.

(Driving through gorgeous mountains in Ouray, CO on our way to Durango! It was breath taking!)

All good things must come to an end, and so it is with that, that I say 'good-bye summer, see you next year!'

{Some family pictures from our Utah trip!}

(Amy, Lisa, Mom, David, and Me)

(One proud Grandma with all her 16 grandchildren; one more on the way! I only have 3 of them!)

School has come to an end----SUMMERTIME!

School has come to an end and so now summer has begun! Elijah completed the 4th grade,

Elijah and Mrs. Mize--his 4th gr. teacher

Alivia completed kindergarten,

Alivia and Mrs. Redburn-her kinder teacher

and Ethan finished his mother's day out! I can't believe how fast they are growing!

Ethan's last day of school with Mrs. Monique and Mrs. Diane--his teddy bear parade!

Next year Alivia will be in 1st grade, Eli 5th grade and Ethan in pre-k (at Mother's Day Out program). Just trying to enjoy every minute with them; especially the sleep in late mornings (around 8 or 9 am) and the late nights!

Our summer consists of a lot of pool time, going to the library and trying to wear out the childrens' energy!

Here' to summer!

Six Already!

Yes, my baby girl turned 6 already. She had her birthday last week and a party last Saturday. She was SO excited to turn 6. In fact, the day after her birthday, she woke up and said, "I'm so glad I'm 6 now!" It was precious!

When I asked Livi what she wanted for her birthday, she said she wanted Miguel and I to surprise her! She opened 2 presents before she went to school on her birthday and she got a hello kitty spinning toothbrush and a real ceramic tea set. She was so excited! We went to Gattitown for dinner (pizza and games) and played for awhile after dinner. A couple times Livi asked if she was going to get anymore presents and I told her maybe. She wasn't being a brat or acting ungrateful, she just really wanted more presents, I guess! When we got home, it was late but still did cake and ice cream!

Afterwards, I asked Livi to go get ready for bed and she asked me if she did it, would she get anymore presents. I told her she needed to obey and not do it to just get presents. As she broke down in tears (she didn't have a nap that day, she was over tired, and it was already about 9:30 and she normally goes to bed at 8pm) Miguel came in with her last present! She went from tears to all smiles in about a second!

Our next step is to take off the training wheels! So far, she loves her bike and rides it everyday outside! Still can't believe she's 6, but that means Eli turns 10 soon! Happy Birthday, Livi!

Livi's Party:
We had a party for Livi this year and she invited some girls over for some lunch, a scavenger hunt and some cupcake decorating! First, they had lunch! Then a scavenger hunt that sent them from the microwave to the grill to the trees and then ended up at the school playground where all the girls got a princess stamp that Dad hid in the slide! It was so cute to listen to all the girls sound out the words and read the clues!

After that it was time to open some presents....

...and then on to the cupcake decorating! Instead of cake (since we already had one on her real birthday) the girls got to decorate and eat their own cupcakes!

At the end of the day I asked her if she enjoyed her party and her day and she said, "I had a blast!" It made me grin from ear to ear!

So glad she's so happy to be 6! Thanks for all the birthday wishes, calls and cards!

Day trip to Wimberley & Fort fun!

I've really been trying to enjoy every moment with my kids since time is not on my side. They all just keep getting older and wiser (ha!)! I've tried not being so high strung and just go with the flow and enjoy the simple things in life. Miguel had to go to a funeral in Wimberley so I thought it would be fun to make a day trip out of it and go see what the little tourist town is about! After we dropped Miguel off, we went back into town and went to a park. Majority of our time was spent there, where the kids threw sticks in the water! After much coaxing and promising to go to a candy store, we finally left the park!

ethan trying on hippie glasses in a toy/candy store!

We went to a toy/candy store and looked around. The kids wanted everything and so I told them we were going to get ice cream and if they didn't want that, then we could come back and they could get some candy. Let's just say, they were fine with getting ice cream. Since Miguel's funeral was very long, we had to kill more time. We drove down the mainstreet and found a middle school that had a playground. I read in the car (since it was cold and I only had a light sweatshirt on) for awhile while the kids played. After that, I got out and played tag with them for awhile! When everyone was thirsty and Livi was upset and Ethan had splinters in his hand, we decided to call it quits! We waited back at the park for Miguel and enjoyed a game of "Uno" on a blanket at the park! It was a great Saturday!

Eli fake sleeping in the fort!

Then, since the kids didn't have school on Monday, I thought it would be a good idea to build a fort for the kids and let them sleep in it! I remember using every encyclopedia in the house to hold the blankets down for our fort! We built a great fort, got all the kids in it and they had fun. It didn't take long for them to go to sleep, but let's just say, the night was not great!

Ethan in front of the fort!

Livi woke up a couple of times to switch from the couch, to my bed, to finally end up in her bed. Ethan and Eli woke me up at 3am b/c they were trying to fix the fort. At a little after 5am, I had had enough. I stormed into where the tent was to see both boys awake, playing the radio with every night light on, and and an extension added onto the fort.

getting their places ready in the fort

They both had to go to their own beds and warned them not to wake me up early! It started out good, but should have known it couldn't last long! We decided we'll try it again, in a few years!!

UPDATES!!! HALLOWEEN 2008

We had a great time for Halloween this year! We went to the Trunk-or-Treat at church on the Wednesday before Halloween. This worked out well, because Eli got sick on the actual Halloween night!

Miguel was dressed as a coach, who would have thought? This is him in action--sitting in the trunk of our van handing out candy!

Eli, a.k.a. Mr. Incredible, was kind (mostly) to take Ethan, a.k.a. Tigger, around to all the cars and teach him how to load up on the candy!Althought Livi, a.k.a. Sunshine Bear had a lot of fun, apparently it was painful to take this picture!!This was the actual Halloween night! Livi was Sunshine Bear, I was a clown (check out the long rainbow eyelashes I had--they were fun!) and Ethan was a dinosaur! We had a good time going house to house. Eli stayed home, since he was sick, and passed out candy.

Just some precious kids!

I haven't posted in awhile, so I thought I'd post some pictures of my kids! They're having fun in school, soccer, piano, and just being kids!

Ethan snuck in my room and fell asleep. He looks like such a big kid! My baby is already 3!

Livi was at Tara's birthday party at a dance studio. She had a lot of fun!!

Eli (and Alayna) swimming in the pool the last week before school started!

They're getting older and older by the day! Eli's already 8 1/2, Livi's 4 1/2, and Ethan just turned 3!

"Having children makes you mature more quickly – for each of their years you age by two!"

-Stuart Macfarlane

April and Brian's Wedding--Livi's 4th Wedding!

We went to Bastrop a couple of weeks ago for a friend's wedding! Notice the hottie (ok, the short guy on the right) and the cuttie in the middle! Miguel was a groomsman for his good friend Brian, whom he's been coaching with for 9 seasons! Livi was a flowergirl and a pro by now, since it's her fourth wedding!


Livi had been so good, I told her she could have a piece of candy that was on the middle of the table--this is the shot I got! I thought it was precious!

First Day of School 2008

I always take a picture of my kids on the first day of school. It's something my mom used to do to me every year! I still can't believe my kids are all in school (ok, 2 of them go to preschool twice a week, but that counts!)

Aug. 25th: Eli's first day of 3rd grade! Miguel (he's the tall hottie on the right!) had been in school since the Wednesday before!

Sept. 2nd: Ethan and Livi go to preschool! Ethan's in the Lambs class and Livi's in the Giraffe's class.

SUMMER FUN!

I decided since I'm such a lame mom, to do something fun with the kids today. I thought it might be fun, but ended up being torturous to me! We went to the free movie at Westgate and saw....Mr. Bean's Holiday. Ok, I've never seen Mr. Bean, but I thought he was hilarious in Rat Race so I didn't think it would be that bad....boy, was I wrong. Eli really liked it. Livi kept asking when we were going to see Stuart Little 2 (that was the other option for the free movie), and Ethan...well, let's just say he's 2. The popcorn we had lasted Ethan about 5 minutes, and the cookies lasted about 2, so the rest of the movie he was pretty bored. He ran down the stairs once and Eli caught him. We went to the restroom twice just to kill time! My advice: See a movie that will catch a 2 yr.old's attention, bring enough snacks for an hour and don't go by yourself with 3 kids!

We then joined Miguel for some lunch at Chick-Fil-A and the kids got to play. We headed home for nap time. It finally rained really good this afternoon--thank the Lord! I figured since I'm being a good mom today, I could continue that and do something different. Instead of our gourmet dinner of grilled ham and cheese at the table, I thought we'd have an indoor picnic. The kids really liked it! I made little name cards for the kids and set out their plates. I asked them to all wash their hands and then wait for me in the bathroom. The kids were great! They waited just outside the bathroom in a line from youngest to oldest. I told them we were going on an adventure---an indoor picnic!

After posing for the camera a couple of times (first time I used the timer) we all cleaned up and got ready for bed! I'd have to say that today was a success!!! (besides Eli being grounded and Ethan in time-out for the rest of the night for climbing on the piano, AGAIN!)

Still Here!

Nothing really exciting has gone on, but I figured it had been awhile since my last post! Well, I turned one year older, we went to Sea World with my brother (and his family), sister (and her family), and my mom! We all had tons of fun! We also visited some family in Houston and said one last "good bye" to my brother and his family before they head off to Hotlanta! Ok, so they're going to Peachtree, Georgia, but Hotlanta is a lot more fun to say! I'm still doing boot camp everyday. I've only missed 2 days when I was sick with Bronchitis. Other than that, I've gone twice a day, a couple of times. I did get a nice earful from one of the trainers because my eating habits are not good. All I can say is that 1500 calories is like NOTHING! Oh well, if I want to be as fit as I do, than I gotta do it!

Livi was in a wedding and as cute as can be (I am biased, though)! I am officially an assistant teacher at the Preschool I signed Livi up for. And since I will be there everyday, I had to sign Ethan up too. I'm also working with a real estate agent and assisting him and trying to figure out if I want to get my license.

Miguel finally got a new car. No more having to drive around Austin in the heat without a/c.

I went to Schlitterbahn with the kids and my neighbor and her daughter! Talk about tons of fun!!! We got there around 10:30am and didn't leave until 5pm. I couldn't believe how long the kids lasted!

That about wraps it up for me and my family!