Three Reasons To Smile

Day 129

2010-05-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

Day 65

2010-03-06T05:24:00.000-08:00

Alberto's boss, Congressman Rohrbacher talking to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen.

Alberto's boss speaking at the commissioning of the USS Dewey.

Day 64

2010-03-05T05:24:00.000-08:00

Sophia fell asleep on the way to the airport to pick up Daddy. :)

Day 63

2010-03-04T05:23:00.000-08:00

Liberty snuggling with Ben.

Ben feeding his little monkey.

Day 62

2010-03-03T05:23:00.000-08:00

Sophia had strep throat and missed Green Eggs and Ham day and Wacky Wednesday at school. We did it at home though and the girls wore Ben's clothes and he wore their clothes. We also had ice cream for breakfast and green eggs and ham for dinner, along with other wacky things throughout the day.

Day 61

2010-03-02T05:23:00.000-08:00

Ready for bed!
Ben is starting to give little smoochy kisses now! :)

Alberto made a battery powered humidier for our RV when we don't have a plug in and we need to run the heater (rather inventive, if you ask me!). So Sophia created this "heater" that doesn't need to be plugged in. You blow in the box and the plastic container cycles the air back onto you. Ahhhh...my little engineer. ;)

What baby boy with 2 older sisters doesn't love a purse? LOL.

Day 60

2010-03-01T05:23:00.000-08:00

I love how rosey Ben's cheeks are when he wakes up.

Day 59

2010-02-28T05:23:00.000-08:00

Mr. Potato Head make a great pillow for Liberty. :)

Day 58

2010-02-27T05:22:00.000-08:00

Maya and Ben watching the rain.

Day 57

2010-02-26T05:22:00.000-08:00

Sophia helped me make dinner.

A big "flamily" pile on Daddy!

Day 56

2010-02-25T05:22:00.000-08:00

Talking to Grandma Bonnie

Day 55

2010-02-24T05:22:00.000-08:00

Sophia's friend had his birthday party at a park and had a bubble guy there teaching them how to make giant bubbles!

Maya liked playing in the soapy water. ;)

Day 54

2010-02-23T05:21:00.000-08:00

Getting ready to have the kids picture taken. LOL!

Philip holding Gavin during his temper tantrum. :)

Ben was so happy to have Pop-Pop Dennis carrying him in the box.

Day 53

2010-02-22T05:29:00.000-08:00

Sunset at Huntington Beach Pier.

Finally got the two boys together for a photo!
This is serious, Mommy.

Pop-Pop Dennis, Maya, and Grammy Fran.

Day 52

2010-02-21T05:29:00.000-08:00

Crazy Uncle Philip. :)

Oops! What happened?
Sophia, Maya, Molly, Gavin, and Ben!
Watching gliders off the La Jolla coast.
Keeping each other warm!
Pop-Pop Dennis and Ben at the La Jolla aquarium.
Dancing in the rain!

Day 51

2010-02-20T05:28:00.000-08:00

Alberto and Sophia at Stephanie and Mike's post-wedding party.

My sister, brother, and me!

Philip, Crystal, and Gavin.

Elga and Popo.

Dad and Fran.
Mom and Jon.

Stephanie, Mike, and Molly with their cake...and Sophia popping out behind them to smile. ;)

Day 50

2010-02-19T05:28:00.000-08:00

I'm so proud of Sophia! She read Ten Apples Up On Top to Maya today!

Day 49

2010-02-18T05:28:00.000-08:00

Ben swiped the bag of hotdog buns and had a little snack!

Day 48

2010-02-17T05:27:00.000-08:00

I taught Sophia's Meet the Master's class today. They recreated the artwork of Rosa Bonheur, a French realist, who's artwork was often of animals. I loved the abstract version all the kindergarters ended up with!!! ;)

Day 47

2010-02-16T05:27:00.000-08:00

Day 46

2010-02-15T15:54:00.001-08:00

Day 45

2010-02-14T15:54:00.000-08:00

Cooper has the best smile! It always makes me so happy to see his sweet little face!

Ben was decorating cookies at Cooper's Valentine's Day party.
Cooper's party! Such a great time!

Sophia and her best buddy, Ben.

Maya and Sammy...awww, it's love!
Emily and Ben. He loooooves her!

Ben and Kaeden were little stinkers. Yes, that is Vanessa's hand taking a photo of the baby fight too.

The Johnson's came over for dinner and poor Titus was getting poked by Ben.

This series of photos is all about Kaeden and for Vanessa. Kaeden's thinking, "You want me to stand with these people?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, it's not going to happen."

Notice all eyes are on Kaeden. LOL.

Ben's thinking, "Come on buddy, we are allllll waiting for you."

Maybe Kaeden will do a little dance? Ben's apparently not impressed. ;)

"Ben's giving me a mean look, Mommy!"

"Ahhhh, just where I wanted to be, with Lizzie!" ;)

Day 44

2010-02-13T19:43:00.001-08:00

74 degrees and perfect outside today. :) We had a picnic at Irvine Park.

Our adventuresome little Maya.

Day 43

2010-02-12T19:42:00.000-08:00

100 days of school! The kindergarten classes had a celebration today. Sophia and Summer try to catch the donuts.

Day 42

2010-02-11T19:42:00.000-08:00

Cookie decorating with friends!

Liberty has a new friend!

Day 41

2010-02-10T19:42:00.000-08:00

Sophia brought home a Fun Pack from school today, because she was Friend of the Day. Grandma Bonnie, Maya, and Sophia were playing the penguin game that was in the pack!

I'm a pretty little girl?????

NO!!! I'm a handsome little BOY!

With a chubby little belly!

Day 40

2010-02-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

Watching the rain.

Day 39

2010-02-08T19:41:00.000-08:00

Day 38

2010-02-07T06:15:00.001-08:00

"It's lip gloss, Ben. You smear it all over your face and it sparkles."

Day 37

2010-02-06T06:14:00.000-08:00

Ben was trying to help Daddy fix the cabinet in the bathroom. Sophia thought it was funny that he was going to hammer her...until she realized he's got a hard swing!

Scary baby coming at me with a plastic hammer!

Day 36

2010-02-05T06:14:00.000-08:00

Ben being a little stinker.

Poor Maya was so tired. She stole Ben's binky and passed out on the sofa!

Day 35

2010-02-04T06:14:00.000-08:00

Maya was fixing Ben's hair. LOL.

But I don't want to look like a girl!

Day 34

2010-02-03T06:14:00.000-08:00

After messing up the wine bottles, I think Ben was trying to hide. ;)

Day 33

2010-02-02T06:13:00.000-08:00

Sophia's 100 Day project for school, made out of 100 hand prints, finger prints, fist prints, thumb prints, and fingertip prints. :)

Sophia was in "mommy mode" and decided she was going to supervise the little kids playing.

Day 32

2010-02-01T06:13:00.000-08:00

The USS Los Angeles is docked at a pier at the Port of Los Angeles for its decommissioning ceremony.

Alberto is sitting in one of four bow torpedo tubes. These tubes can fire either Mark 48 Torpedos or Tomahawk Cruise Missiles.

USS Los Angeles (SSN 688) Fast-Attack Submarine.

Day 31

2010-01-31T09:25:00.000-08:00

Day 30

2010-01-30T09:24:00.000-08:00

Day 29

2010-01-29T09:22:00.000-08:00

Alberto helped Maya look at the moon. It was the brightest moon of 2010!

Day 28

2010-01-28T16:40:00.001-08:00

Alberto was out flying with the US Coast Guard over the Port of Los Angeles in Long Beach today. One of the few things that I have actually done before Alberto was fly in a helicopter, so I had fun teasing him that he finally caught up to me. ;)

That is not Alberto coming out of the helicopter. LOL!

Port of Los Angeles, Long Beach. You can see the snow covered mountain in the top right (behind the smog).

Day 27

2010-01-27T16:35:00.000-08:00

Happy? I thought it was funny that his outfit says Happy, but he was angry.

Day 26

2010-01-26T10:06:00.000-08:00

Ben's new found skill is climbing on the kitchen table. I haven't been able to figure out how to keep him off the table. *Sigh* He usually is asleep when Sophia is doing homework, but wasn't today. He thought he would be able to help her. ;) I also learned that homework time REALLY needs to be during Ben's nap time!!!

Day 25

2010-01-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

With Maya being sick, I didn't take any other pictures, so this is all I have for the day. Our neighbors trees were so overgrown and dense, that they were causing our wall to cave into our yard. She had a bunch of the trees removed and the wall repaired today.

Day 24

2010-01-24T20:02:00.001-08:00

The fastest ER visit ever. We were in and out in 1 hour 10 minutes, including parking! Maya has croup and her breathing treatments weren't working, so I had to take her in. The good news is that the steroid is working for her now.

Day 23

2010-01-23T21:07:00.000-08:00

Ben was trying to take his own photograph. :)

We thought going to the park -- following a week of heavy rain -- would be a great idea. We didn't think about the ground being soaking wet still. Sophia thought the mud was funny. Maya blamed the mud on Sophia. ;)

Sophia calls these things "Monkey Guts". I think she's silly.
This is the expression that Alberto makes when he thinks I'm being a dork. LOL. I'm sure he'll make this same expression when he sees that I posted this on my blog. LOLOLOL!

Day 22

2010-01-22T17:22:00.000-08:00

Sophia got glasses today!!! She picked them out all by herself. It's hard to tell in the picture, but they are a light purple and the arms have little yellow flowers.

I had Maya's Zhu Zhu pet out of the box for about a minute and hadn't even had a chance to tell the girls about the TWO warnings on the box saying to keep it away from hair...

Day 21

2010-01-21T16:38:00.001-08:00

It's raining, it's pouring... Sophia lures Ben out into the rain.

And they splash in puddles.

Ben is climbing now and it is making me crazy. There is nothing he will not try to climb on.

Day 20

2010-01-20T15:06:00.001-08:00

What's not to love...a (little) man who wants to help with the dishes and give me flowers? lol

We started our morning with a rainbow just after sunrise. :)

Day 19

2010-01-19T15:30:00.001-08:00

Riverfront homes?
Leaving school today.
Sophia's school yard.

Day 18

2010-01-18T15:27:00.000-08:00

Liberty loves Ben. :)

When Ben sleeps in his swing, Liberty just sits next to him.

Day 17

2010-01-17T19:34:00.000-08:00

My big boy!

Maya riding her big girl bike!
Sophia can ride without training wheels! Although, wow, I'm realizing how awfully low her seat is after looking at this photo!

Day 16

2010-01-16T19:27:00.000-08:00

My niece, Molly's 3rd birthday. Ben with his typical photo pose. ;)

The do-it-yourself cake decorations for the kids.

Making their own pizzas.
Molly with her pizza.
Ben wondering why he doesn't have a pile full of candy too.
What's up with this pose?????? My silly Sophia all dressed up.
Grandma Bonnie, Ben, and Sophia.
My wild little Maya.
After A LOT of sugar and running around, this was Maya 1 mile down the road on the way home. I'm pretty sure she was asleep, even though her eyes were open. LOL.

Day 15

2010-01-15T04:46:00.000-08:00

The photo doesn't show how funny the moment was, but Ben was trying to climb the bookshelf. Sometimes when the kids won't listen to me, I point to my nose and tell them to look at me, to get their focus away from whatever they are doing. I was telling Ben that babies don't climb on bookshelves and Maya told me she would do it. She started telling Ben "Look at me, Ben. Look at me." It worked, because he sat down and looked at her like she was crazy. :)

Piled on Daddy. :)

Day 14

2010-01-14T20:25:00.001-08:00

Hmmm, we didn't use butter with dinner, yet I found this on the kitchen counter. Who could it be, who could it be??? If you know my kids, it's an easy answer. LOL!

Maya, Sophia's friend, Summer, and Sophia at our afternoon in the park with all their classmates.

Maya is great buddies with the younger sister's of Sophia's classmates.

Ben decided he was a big boy and didn't need to hang out with the mommies.

Day 13

2010-01-13T11:15:00.000-08:00

Big dog, little baby. :)

The kids got a trampoline for Christmas. They love it so much that I still haven't moved it out of the family room. I loved it, because I thought it would burn off all their extra energy. We must have a defective one, because the kids are still super hyper after bouncing all afternoon. ;)

Maya put on her own lip gloss. (And look at little Sophia in the background. She still had baby chub. *sniff* *sniff*)

Sophia finished her breakfast and vitamins, until I noticed her plate at a slight angle. ;)

Day 12

2010-01-12T07:08:00.000-08:00

Liberty stole Maya's sausage this morning. She also told us that the Statue of Liberty is a huge statue of our dog. ;)
The way Sophia starts every morning. She's slow to warm up. ;)

Sunrise today! The girls really liked the streaks going straight up in the sky.

Day 11

2010-01-11T18:47:00.001-08:00

A box is the best toy ever! ;)

Grandma Elga and Pop-Pop Popo came over for dinner tonight.

Day 10

2010-01-10T18:46:00.000-08:00

For Daddy's first day home from Qatar, the girls set their play table and served him nacatamales for lunch. He then taught them that the proper way to drink soda out of a teacup was to put your pinky finger out. ;)
I don't know what his rush was, but Ben grabbed some paper from his sisters, ran away, and quickly tried to eat it.

Day 9

2010-01-09T16:10:00.000-08:00

Ritz Carlton in Qatar. The capital, Doha, can be seen in the background. The water is the Persian Gulf.

Day 8

2010-01-08T16:10:00.000-08:00

Alberto riding a camel with the Persian Gulf in the background.

Camel crossing! Alberto with two other congressional staffers.

This was one of the vehicles in Alberto's caravan touring the sand dunes in Qatar. He said it was a thrilling experience and the video he took really brought it to life.

Some members of his group rolled down the dunes and then faced the grueling task of getting back to the top! :)

Sunset in the Qatari desert.
Persian Gulf with Saudi Arabia in the background.

Alberto said he got a second wife while on the trip. It's a good thing I find him so funny. LOL! ;)

Day 7

2010-01-07T16:09:00.000-08:00

Watching Roger Federer play tennis.

Day 6

2010-01-06T16:09:00.000-08:00

Alberto at what is Qatar's version of the House of Representatives. This is the only elected body in the country.
Texas A&M entrance. Alberto said the educational facilities were extremely high tech. Each desk was fully wired. Classes were taught simultaneously on different sides of the world, complete with voice triggered video cameras so people could instantly see who was speaking.

A little bit of home...the balcony at the US Embassy.

A night shot of the Museum of Islamic Art.

Day 5

2010-01-05T16:08:00.000-08:00

The Museum of Islamic Art.

Al-Jazeera's Newsroom.

A painting on the wall at Al-Jazeera's headquarters.

Day 4

2010-01-04T16:08:00.000-08:00

Downtown Doha in the background.

Falconry is a big sport in Qatar.

Various buildings in downtown Doha.

Day 3

2010-01-03T16:08:00.000-08:00

Hotel nightstand with the Qur'an and the arrow pointing toward Mecca.

Day 2

2010-01-02T16:08:00.000-08:00

Alberto flew through Houston and was able to meet some old friends for dinner during his layover.

Day 1

2010-01-01T16:07:00.000-08:00

Packing Ben for Daddy's trip to Qatar.