Santa!!! I Know Him!!

I have chronicled over the years Shelby's extreme fear of Santa and this year we had the major breakthrough we had been waiting for.  Yes, the picture you see is for real.  There is no photo shopping involved.  In fact this is only one of the four times that Shelby sat on Santa's lap on Sunday!!  AMAZING!

Of course as she continued to process this Santa through out the day she was quick to figure out that it wasn't the "real" Santa and made sure before she went to bed to confirm with Pratt that it was just a man dressed up like Santa.  Then the next day she announced that she still didn't want him coming to our house, but we will take the baby steps:)

Color Vibe

A few weeks ago Shelby and I did our first race together.  There was much excitement on my part as I love to run and had all these great ideas in my head of how the day would go and how this would be a big love fest for Shelby and I; well....maybe not so much.  I am not sure Shelby will ever run again, but we did it!

The race that we ran (actually we only ran the first mile and then we walked the rest, but I was extremely impressed that Shelby ran the first mile as we did absolutely nothing to train for it) was called the Color Vibe.  It is pretty neat.  Along the race they have color stations set up where they throw the color at you. 

I am not sure if you know this about Shelby but she likes to be IN CHARGE all the time; no ifs, ands or buts!  This was not a race for someone like her.  You really don't have control over a lot of elements and I quickly realized that she was not enjoying it so much.  We made it through the first color station fine, but then we started walking and she started, in her own little way, panicking.  First sign was that she held my hand for two miles.  This girl does not like to hold hands but she held on tight and every time someone came running around us she would grip tighter and tighter.  The second sign was that she asked a million questions..."Mommy, why is everyone so loud?  Where are Jack and Miss Erin?  Where is Miss Erika?  I can't see them anymore" etc, etc.

If you asked her today if she like it she will tell you yes, but take it from me, it is not something high on her list of things to do again in this life.

Making Beds

I feel like I have completely fallen off the blogging bandwagon and every time I sit down to write one I just can't...blogger's block maybe??? 

Anyway, I have succumbed to the pressure of my parents and my husband and hopefully this post will be the one that gets me going again.

The age old question: Why is it so hard to get your children to make their beds in the morning.  Six months ago both of my children were making their beds everyday before school and then summer came.  It seems like all rules go out of the door when summer hits and they completely forgot how to make their beds.  I guess I have to take some of the blame as I didn't make them make their beds everyday but these last six months have been a battle everyday to get this simple task done.  Sometimes I wage it and sometimes I just say it isn't worth it.

Anyway, one morning after a success I walked into JP's room and found this arrangement on his bed.  It was too cute and I couldn't resist taking a picture.  Every time he makes his bed this is how it can be found.

I wonder what makes him decide to cover up his tiger and monkey with his blankie??



Boys Night/Girls Night

Last weekend JP and Pratt headed off for a fun night of camping at Hampton Lake.  We figured this was a good way to introduce JP to camping.  They have everything you need at Hampton Lake so off the went for a night of guy stuff. 

The boys had so much fun!  They boated, fished, danced, had a fire, ate all kinds of food, etc.  Unfortunately the fun didn't last all night for Pratt as he got some kind of food poisoning or something.  Let's just say getting sick while camping, no matter how nice the arrangements is no fun; but leave it up to a child to make you smile even in the midst of feeling the worse.  When JP woke up Saturday morning he peaked his head out of the tent to find Pratt barely alive and said, "Dad, dad, two amazing things...first, I slept in my clothes all night and second I still haven't brushed my teeth!" 

Both really enjoyed the camping thing and will probably give it another try soon as the evening temperatures are starting to cool off.

While the boys were off on their adventure, Shelby and I opted to have a nice girl's evening.  We started out with dinner at Truffles with Grandmother (Shelby really wanted Grandmother to join us and asked if she could call her to invite her that morning.  Since it was 7am and I knew mom didn't have to work I told her that I would make sure to call Grandmother.  She couldn't quite understand that Grandmother probably wasn't up yet.).  After a very nice dinner we walked next door to Lovin' Spoons for some yummy yogurt!!!  As always, my eyes were bigger then my stomach, but I mustered up the strength to scrap the bottom of my bowl....so glad that my whole family loves that place.  PS-Rarely will I ever turn down an invite to Lovin' Spoons-hint, hint:)

After a quick trip to the store we came home, put on our pjs and settled into my bed to watch Yes to the Dress.  It was so much fun and I really cherished my time with my not so baby, baby girl!!  I love her so much!!



First Day of School 2012

Last Tuesday we started the new school year.  While a lot of mom's across our town were fighting back tears, I was very excited to send my children off on a new adventure.  Is something wrong with me??  I mean, I love my children to pieces, but I also have no problem watching them grow and go off on new adventures.  Maybe it is because I loved school sooo much that I get all giddy at the thought of school supplies, books, learning, etc that it overrides my sadness as a mom watching her children getting bigger by the moment.  Don't get me wrong, I do have moments of realization that take my breath away but when it comes to sending my children off to school I don't.

Anyway, before we loaded up to head to school we tried to take our yearly first day of school pictures.  We tried our hardest to get a good picture, but most of the time the children, especially Shelby, were more interested in being silly then serious.  At first this was rather frustrating, but then I said to myself, "Hey, if she wants to be silly, let her be silly.  What better way to capture their little personalities then when they are being goofy."

This first picture is actually the best one we got but most of them.....

were like this

or like this...

Then we moved onto individual pictures. 

JP's first day of kindergarten.

(Don't ask me what the leaf was about.  They both decided they needed a prop to pose with.)

Shelby's first day of 2nd grade.



Okay, now I am ready to cry:(  Where did the time go and I miss my babies!!!! 

Can I get a Witness?

JP is actually listening...well, sometimes....

Sunday at church during the children's sermon Pastor Bill asked the children what was the only way to Heaven?  The children (at least most of them) quickly replied, "You die."  Of course we adults got a huge kick out of that.  We knew the answer that he was looking for, but children are quite literal so they gave him an incorrect correct answer.  As he went on to explain more about Jesus and what he did on the cross and through is resurrection so that we could spend eternity in Heave with God he asked the children where Heaven was and my sweet, shy JP who never speaks up said, "Straight up."  I was unaware that it was him until the end of the service so you can imagine my surprise when Rachel told me.  What a stinker!!!

Monday morning Shelby was walking around the house pretending like she was dead, but she could walk.  I think that she might have said the word zombie but part of me can't believe where she would have heard that word so I am not sure.  At any rate, she made a comment about walking around dead.  JP said, "Everyone walks around dead."  So I told JP that there was no such thing as dead people walking around.  And without missing a beat he said, "Yes mom, we are all dead in our sins."  HOLD UP!!!  Did he just say that?!?!?! was the response in my head but what I said was, "You are right JP; you are so right.  How do we become alive?"  He replied, "God makes us alive."  Then I asked him what God did so that he could make us come alive.  And he said, "Jesus died on the cross."  Bingo!!!  So impressed that he seems to be getting it:)

All this time I supposed everything went in one ear and out the other, but somethings are actually sticking.

So, About the Rest of July....

So what did the rest of July look like??

Well, we sent off our cousin back to Argentina in style.

The kids and I enjoyed some pool time at Grammy and Papa's house.



I braved our first sleep over while Pratt was away. (In case you are wondering, it went off without a hitch.  The children had a great time and stayed up way too late, but that is what you are supposed to do at a sleepover.)

We played tourist for the day with our friends, the Dalzells, complete with a day at the beach and a trip to Coligny Plaza where we found Sweet Carolina Cupcakes, Frosty Frog, and The Frozen Moo.



The girls tried to take down Uncle Matt when he came to visit.  I think it was a tie.

JP went to camp at school and the theme was Circus.  My sweet little clown!  I mean, it doesn't get much cuter than that<3>

Shelby also went to camp at school with her bff and our neighbor Neely.  The girls had a blast and Shelby really enjoyed showing Neely her school.

All in all it was a great month and it flew by.  After June seemed to drag on and on I just can't wrap my head around how fast July came and went.  We are now at the one week count down for school to start and fall activities to begin.  Shelby is super excited about Tumbling class and we are hoping to get JP some golf lessons.

It's Pinteresting

Have you heard of the insanely addicting website called Pinterest?  Well, if you haven't then don't go there!!  Consider this your warning.

In an effort to keep track of things I thought that it might be fun to blog from time to time when I try new recipes.  Lately my obsession with Pinterest has ignited in me a desire to try new recipes so here is my first post. 

This morning I was going to try Blueberry Oatmeal Bake but was out voted 2 to 1 by my children who thought that the Pancake Muffins.  The deal was that I had to have all the ingredients in the house and sure enough I did.  Well, I actually went out on a limb and modified the recipe just a tweak and thankfully they were a huge hit!!!

My recipe for Pancake Muffins:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Line muffin pan with liners (I always try to use liners when cooking muffins because it is such a pain to try to clean a muffin pan!)

Mix: 1 cup of Bisquick, 2/3 cup water (I think the next time I am going to use milk), 1 egg, 1/2 cup syrup

Fill muffin cups about half full

Sprinkle chocolate chips/blueberries/whatever topping you like

Bake for 13 minutes

Enjoy!!!

Two happy campers at breakfast!!!

Other recipes I have tried and the result:

Quinoa Cakes: they were all right, the recipe I tried called for tons of pepper and let's just say they turned out extremely peppery!!  Might have to try that one again.

Oven Fried Zucchini chips: very tasty!!  Definitely have to put this one on the rotation to break up the steamed veggie train we ride in this house.



Happy 4th

Fourth of July is always so much fun!!  It is about spending time with family and celebrating our country and our freedom.

We swam with Grammie on Monday.  JP is definitely becoming very brave and agile in the water. 

He also had his first driving lesson with Uncle Matt. 

"Look Mom!  No hands!!"

Okay, so we have some work to do (thank goodness he is only 5).

Fourth of July is also about wearing matching t-shirts!!  We almost looked like twins except for the whole eye color, hair color and skin tone thing.

 Happy Fourth of July from our family to you!!! 

Lakehouse

Last weekend we enjoyed an amazing, relaxing weekend at the lake house.  This place is very special to our family and never disappoints in fun and memories! 

As soon as we got there the children put on there suits and headed out back.  JP spread out this towel beside me and as he was laying down he said, "I just love days like this."  I said, "Days like this?"  And he replied, "Yeah, just relaxin' and..."  He got distracted by something mid sentence and ran off.  I laughed out loud!  What five year old boy says he likes days just relaxin'???

Even though the rope swing was broken, the children (and adults) had fun swinging on the rope that was left.  Pratt was amazing at it I must say.



Pratt and Gerrit thought it would be great fun to throw the children in the lake with their clothes on.  The children thought it was the best idea ever.  JP is still talking about swimming with his clothes on.  They giggled and laughed and had a ball!

It is hard to believe how much these two girls are growing up.  We have a picture of Shelby and Neely when Shelby was just a few days old and Neely was a few months old.  They are propped up next to each other on our couch.  Now look at them!!!!  Practically adults:(





Sawyer and Sienna

On May 16th, 2012 the Arquez family grew by two.  Pratt's sister Suzy and her husband Patricio along with Sebastian welcomed their newest members into the world.  Sawyer and Sienna were a little early and a little itty bitty but they were healthy and we are so thrilled to have them.  Sawyer weighed in a 3 lbs. 6 ozs. and Sienna was 4 lbs. 5 ozs and every bit of them is precious.

Shelby can't get enough of "Sianna" (a true southern girl always elongates syllables:).  She asks everyday if she can hold her.

JP isn't quite sure what to make of these tiny little beings, but he humored me long enough to capture this pictures.  He is pretty content with a quick glance and then runs off to play boy stuff with Sebastian.



Uncle Pratt and Sawyer getting in some guy time.  I can't even begin to describe how little these sweet babies are.  What a blessing!!!



Selling the House

We are selling our house and hopefully sooner rather than later, as the longer it is on the market the harder it is to stay on top of cleaning and keeping organized.  The children are really into it and so excited about moving to the new neighborhood.  Last month one Saturday morning we got a call from our realtor that he was going to be showing the house so we kicked it into high gear getting things put up and cleaned up.  As I was moving from room to room I found myself in Shelby's room making her bed and putting things away.  She had a small stack of clothes (like 3 things) that needed to be hung up so I just laid them neatly on the edge of her bed so I could hang them up later because we were running out of time.  I moved on and started focusing on getting JP ready for his ball game.  About 3 minutes later Shelby comes flying out of her room with her hands in the air proclaiming, "Nobody is ever gonna buy this house!  My room is a mess and no one is ever gonna buy this house!"  I said, "Shelby, what do you mean your room is a mess?  I was just in there."  She said, "My room is a mess!  There are clothes everywhere!"  Needless to say, I promptly hung up the three items of clothing and she was satisfied.  Pratt and I are still laughing about how into it she is:)

May Days

Let's see, where to begin.  May was a busy month as we wrapped up school, celebrated a wet Mother's day, took a trip to Belize, welcomed our new baby cousins, and did whatever else we did.  Hey, May ended like forever ago and I can barely remember what I did 30 minutes ago so you will have to bear with me:)

I actually think this first picture is from April (oopppss).  Shelby went to a birthday party at some stables and they did pony rides.  She loved it!!!  We recently purchased approximately 2.6 acres of land at auction in a horse community and Shelby decided that we needed to buy a horse.  We are NOT buying a horse, but it will be fun to be close to horses and maybe we can make friends with some of the neighbors that have them.

One of our favorite activities to do around here is go to Lovin' Spoons.  It is one of those fro-yo places and we are all ADDICTED!!!  Can we say "support group"?? 

JP's tball team wrapped up another fun filled season!  It was truly amazing how much he grew and changed from last year to this year.  His confidence on the field was out of this world compared to last year and there wasn't one game that we had to twist his arm to get him to go to.  He truly loved every game!  It is kind of scary to think that next year he will be moving up to coach pitch.  There are some bigger boys on those teams.  Oh my baby is growing up:(

One of the biggest things we did in May that didn't involve the children is take a super fun trip to Belize with two other couple friends of ours.  YIIIPPPPEEEE!!!  It was so amazing and soo much fun!  Here is a girls pic at one of my favorite Belize places, The Palapa Bar. 

The day after we got back from Belize we celebrated Pratt's 34th birthday.  Shelby and JP really got into it and spent time decorating the house for him.  When Pratt pulled into the driveway Shelby had us all hide, she turned out all the lights and when Pratt walked in we all jumped out screaming "Surprise!  Happy Birthday!"  It was so much fun watching Shelby and JP get into celebrating their daddy.

Then we wrapped up school with the end of the year parties.  Here is JP with one of his buddies, Harrison.  They had a blast together.

Shelby and one of her buddies, Lauren.  Shelby, Lauren and Kendall are like the three musketeers; when you see one usually the others aren't far behind:)

We closed out May with a visit from Uncle Matt.  It was so great to see him!!  Hopefully soon we will get to see him more often.  We love you Uncle Matt!!!

And that my friends is the short version of May.  Soon I will post pictures of our new baby cousins.  My sister-in-law delivered twins the morning we left for Belize.  They were teeny-tiny and healthy!

Sandbar Sundays are Back

One of the best things about summer in Bluffton is Sandbar Sundays!  Our whole family loves them and looks forward to spending time out on the water the whole winter and spring.  This past Sunday was the first Sunday we were able to get out there. 

Now, some of you may be wondering what exactly is "Sandbar Sunday"???  Every other Sunday when the tide is low during the late morning/early afternoon time frame there are two sandbars that pop up out of the May River.  People come from all over to hang out, swim, and enjoy the sun.  Our favorite spot is the upper sandbar.  It is a little bit more calm then the lower one and there tends to be less people.

Shelby and Daddy all smiles:)

JP and Daddy all geared up for fun in the sun



My little surfer dude

It was the most beautiful day!  The sun was shining and just when it was about to get too hot the clouds would roll in for a bit.  The water was surprisingly warm for this time of year.  Shelby and JP had tons of fun swimming with their new friends (people are so friendly and someone you may have never met before suddenly becomes your best friend at the sandbar).  We even found a live horseshoe crab!! 

The next available Sunday we will be out of town, but since Pratt has the weekends off now I see a lot of Sandbar Saturdays added to our list:)

Take Me Out To the Ball Game

The 2012 Tball season is in fully swing.  This year we are the Cubs and the boys and girls are just sooo adorable!  I mean, every single child on the team is a joy to be with.  They all listen attentively, are respectful, and are excited to be there.  It makes it so much fun and then to get to hang out with moms and dads that you know is just a cherry on top.  After last year we lost a few boys to coach pitch and I was slightly nervous about how things would shake out and now I find myself wondering how we are going to keep this group together.

JP has come along way since last year and loves being involved in almost every play.  Last year he was a little hesitant to get in front of the ball to stop in and this year he jumps right in. 

I am not sure what these two are talking about but I would like to think that JP is saying, "Hey, nice hit."  And then the other little boy is saying, "Thanks."  Maybe????



One of my favorite memories-I just love that Pratt is involved with the team.  We have the best coaches around.  All of them have put so much into these children.  Everything they do is filled with encouragement and genuine joy.  Thanks coaches and dads!!!

Throw it here.  I am ready

Good game Cubs!!!

We are already at the halfway point in the season.  It is hard to believe how fast the time has flown by!!