Japenese Tea Garden

We took the kids to a Japenese Tea Garden located right before the San Antonio Zoo. It's so close that I didn't know it was there! We had never noticed it before!! The place is beautiful and mesmerizing. Aesthetically pleasing to the eye especially if you appreciate nature and its natural surroundings. The kids loved it and enjoyed watching the coy fish, turtles, and a family (with their mother) of ducklings. Walking through the garden was so soothing. The beautiful waterfall at the middle of the garden was breathtaking. After reading a little about its history I was compelled to learn more about it. So I researched it in the internet after our trip. It's things like this that shows us that we need to be more appreciative of what we have and our family. This is a perfect example of taking care of our earth and "going green".

Capturing plant life Taking a nature walk & Cooling off A mesmerizing waterfall
The beautiful Coy Fish

Downtown Aquarium

After our short stay in San Antonio we headed to Houston where our hosts, Manuel & Judy Gonzalez (family friends), took us to the Downtown Aquarium in central Houston. It was another fun adventure for the kids. Like at the Tea Garden in San Antonio, the kids encountered many animals such a Macaw bird, Poison Dart Frog, various fish, sting rays, a 20 ft. long snake, and even an incredibly beautiful White Tiger!
Awesome picture with "Reef" the white tiger! It was as if he had posed for us.


After the Aquarium, it was time for the Diving Bell (like a ferris wheel) without the men because they are afraid of heights. Finally, we went to the Galleria. Even though the girls' and Charlie's hearts were set on ice skating, we didn't do that. I felt they were still too young and would have gotten hurt just trying to stay on their two feet! We enjoyed the rink just as spectators this time around. Petting the sting rays who were very friendly
Under the sting rays!
Our shark voyage
We were told by Judy that Charlie got scared of the popping shark, but he was such a good sport

Above the Diving Bell
After having breakfast at IHOP, we were back on the road to Laredo. We'd like to thank the Gonzalez's for a great weekend at their home and for being great hosts. We had so fun much in such little time. It's amazing how much you actually get done when you have limited days to do it in. I guess it's true when they say that things come out better when they are not planned. All this took place on a three day- and much needed weekend!

Charlie's First Holy Communion

After two, long, and much anticipated years of CCD classes, my "baby boy" made his First Holy Communion. Although I knew this day would come, I never thought it would fall the day before Mother's Day. Which is why this day was so exceptionally special for me. I felt so blessed that one of my Mother's Day gifts would be that my son receive the next sacrament after baptism. I am so proud of him. We were also blessed that Father Michael (the same priest that baptized him) was able to officiate the ceremony (He had had a heart attack not so long ago and was in critical condition). This was his first official mass since his incident. He even got to do Charlie's reconciliation a week before. He admitted to me later that he was nervous about confessing his sins to Father Michael. I'm glad to say that went well. Now we prepare for Cristina's ceremony next year....

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Easter Sunday

We started the day by going to mass in the morning. We returned home for what would be the most anticipated event for the children. We decided to spend Easter at home this year. Some of Charlie's friends and relatives came over to spend it with us. They day turned out so nice and the kids had a blast.

My own little space

After Charlie's Dad had closed the garage and decorated his own "work shop" space, I was left with a small enough room to hold my washer & dryer and small storage space. After a converstation with Charlie, I shared my thoughts on the future of the small space left between our garage and the door that led to the inside of the house. I wanted this room to serve two purposes- a laundry room and a place to store my scrapbook supplies (that I stored in the dining room). As soon as we received our income tax we began purchasing the supplies needed to begin this project.
After my father-in-law dedicated many tidious and countless hours working on my little space (which took about a month) it began to take shape and eventually morphed into a space I never expected to ever have. It actually turned out better than I expected! My Scrap Room- as I like to call it now-has become one of my favorite places to spend time in. Between the Spring Break and Easter holidays I've already dedicated countless hours in it. I got so inspired that already finished one album and six pages. I am so proud of myself! I hadn't scrapped for a while so this is a big accomplishment for a scrapbooker. Needless to say I will be scrapbooking in my little room during the summer!
I want to say thanks to my Father-in-law for his artistic carpentry, my brother-in-law, Jerry for the electrical wiring, my second brother-in-law, Bobby, for wiring my Direct TV, and my husband for supporting my love for scrapbooking. Thanks you guys!!! And yes, I will be making a page about my new little space!

Here are some before and after pictures.

Making Cascarones

We almost decorated the Cascarones on a rainy day (as our local meteorologist had predicted). Unfortunately, not a single drop fell from above. In any case, the kids were just as excited to make their own cascarones whether it rained or not. They made a total of a dozen and half cascarones! As with any child activity, this was enough to last for their short, but not under estimated, attention span.

Cristina has been so active since she was a little baby. She could never truly sit still on my lap or stay in her swing. So you can imagine our surprise when we experienced the milestone of ability to walk at the tender age of 10 months. (She only crawled for about a week on her ninth month). Besides her participation at her former day care recitals, Cristina has really never had formal lessons in dancing. She started dancing since she was two and has never looked back. I guess it comes to no surprise to us when she shares with us that she wants to participate in a dance camp. We thought she would develop a stage fright at the moment she began to perform. Boy, were we ever wrong! She loved to perform and at the end of her performance she came to me and asked, "Did you like how I danced Mommy?" I was so proud of her three minute performance. She says she wants to continue dancing because "she was born to dance." How does a seven year old little girl know exactly what she wants to do at this age? By the way, she has also expressed-continuously- how she will become a veterinarian when she grows up. I'm just glad that she has these dreams and aspires to achieve them one day. Take a look at her performance. Let me know what you think!



Here is another video sample of her free-lance dancing-she choreographed it herself!