El Rancho Dominguez

Shooting the Eagles

2009-11-11T12:37:00.004-06:00

Our good friend, Melissa took our family photos again this year. She is so fun to work with and a wonderful photographer.

We booked her for last Saturday after Benjamin's flight. I was a bit worried with how eXhAuStEd the kiddies were after the big day, but, leave it to Melissa to take some great shots despite that....and in enemy territory! ; )

We decided to take our photos on the Ellison campus this year....and sweet Melissa (being a rival Killeen High teacher) came on over to our side of things to work with us.

Check our preview out on Melissa's site:

Melissa's Photo Blog

THANK YOU, MELISSA!! You rock!

Flying High with Benjamin....the Photo Story

2009-11-08T23:56:00.008-06:00

Last week, I received an amazing phone call. On the other end of the phone was one of the directors of Hope Therapy in Temple. She was calling to tell me that Benjamin had been nominated to be a part of the Flying Vikings program. We felt so honored and thrilled for our little guy. The Flying Vikings is a very generous program that puts together flights for special-needs kiddos. The children go up in a plane with their pilot and a parent and then are even able to "take control of the plane" and fly on their own.

Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early to head to the airport in McGregor for Benjamin's flight.

Our Little Aviator

While we were there, a photographer from the Waco Tribune followed Benjamin around for a bit. Sunday morning, we found this photo in the paper! So cool!

My four favorite guys....my parents drove up from Marble Falls for the big event! We had some time to kill while waiting for the clouds to clear, so we took a little walk around the airport.

We were in the group of flights that went up first.

This was Benjamin meeting his pilot, James.

Watching James prep the plane for our flight.

Ready to go!

I got to ride along in the back.

What an incredible experience to be a part of with Benjamin.

This was right before take off....getting excited!

This is a short video of our take-off:

Flying high over McGregor and Waco.

Benjamin said his favorite thing to look out and see was the "little swimming pools".

"Okay, James....ready to take over from here."

This is my FAVE video-- it's of Benjamin landing the plane! Look at him go!

Being presented with his First Flight Certificate and his Little Pilot's Wings

Woohoo!

Getting his wings pinned on.

This was the plane we flew. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. We really did enjoy it. Although, I felt like an old lady when James asked if we wanted to try some "zero gravity tricks"... he pushed some buttons and it felt like we were free falling for a moment. A little much for this mama. I have grown into such a wimp!

Jonathan was well occupied while we were in the air!

There were bounce houses, face painting, crafts, pizza and more.

He had a great time, too!

Benjamin's therapists, Shana and Rachel came out to cheer him on.

LOVE these ladies so much!

They are the ones who nominated him for this incredible day!

Jonathan flew his own plane, too! ; )

Doing a few crafts and connect-the-dots before we left.

This was a day that will live in our hearts forever. What incredible people the folks are who put so much time and effort into making this day so amazing for us. Thank you, Flying Vikings, especially Paul Hansen who works tirelessly to run this organization and make it so incredible! Thank you to all the directors at Hope Therapy, especially Heather! And we couldn't forget Shana, Rachel and James, our pilot! You guys made the day for our little man. Thanks a million times over!

How To Take a Sick Day When You're A SAHM

2009-11-02T13:44:00.003-06:00

For Stay-At-Home-Moms, sick days are hard to come by.

Take today for instance. I woke up with no voice, a pounding headache and little desire to get out of my bed. It appears to be the same killer cold that David (who had it last week) so lovingly passed along.

Since the boys are a little bit older and able to *somewhat* handle themselves, I have a few more liberties than I used to when it comes to getting sick.

But, in case you were wondering, and you must have been wondering or you wouldn't be reading this far into the post....this is how we've thrown it together today. It's laughable, really.

10 ways we're "making it" through the day...

10. After dressing himself, Benjamin is wearing Jonathan's Santa Claus sweatshirt from last Christmas and camouflaged nylon shorts. He somehow managed to add an extra pair of underwear while getting dressed, too. Nice.

9. Today's diet has consisted of Os....Cheerios, Spaghetti-Os and I'm pretty sure I'll be phoning Domino's for supper. Healthy.

8. Jonathan let me hold his "Baby" while I laid around on the couch all morning.

7. Benjamin told me I sounded like Daddy.

6. The candy dish magically emptied itself. I also noticed a small stool pulled up to the counter where the candy dish is located. This has Jonathan written all over it.

5. Midnight the dog was fed 15 Milkbones within a one hour span. She is now refusing them....maybe it was more like 50?

4. Benjamin learned how to help himself and his brother to juice boxes in the garage fridge. This fridge may have just become my Pandora's box since it's now become self-serve. Those juice boxes were a secret, but I gave in under the lack of desire to fix cups, lids, straws and beverages all day.

3. Both children now have random middle-of-the-forehead bruises. And refuse to explain how this came to be. I didn't hear crying, it must have not been that bad.

2. Caillou.

1. To a two-year-old, a glue stick also doubles as chap stick. I can't say there's not a small place inside of me that wishes he really had glued his lips shut. Totally kidding. Kind of.

Now back to my blueberry juice and fuzzy afghan. Six o'clock can't come fast enough.

The Longest Week Ever

2009-10-31T00:06:00.006-05:00

...still isn't over!
It's been a fun week, but wooo....I. Am. Exhausted. And we still have Trick-or-Treating and David has the big Ellison Homecoming Dance tomorrow night. So excited about that extra hour of sleep tomorrow night. I hope my kids get that message, too.

Benjamin's therapy sessions have been moved around a bit lately to where we had therapy every day this week except Thursday. For some reason, that made things even wilder....we certainly burned up the road between here and Belton and Temple a whole lot!

Wednesday evening, our church hosted its annual FUNival...

Buzz & Woody were ready for action.

These are our friends Bethany (the monkey) and her little sister, Landry (the banana)...Landry and Jonathan thought each other were pretty funny.

Our friend, Bat Girl....aka, Kylee!

Benjamin at the cookie-decorating station.

Benjamin in action at the ring toss.

This is our friend, Adam Stewart.

Jonathan spotted him from afar, pointed and yelled..."It's Jesus!"

Indeed....King of all Kings.

I have to add that the Stewarts always have the best family dress-ups for Halloween. They all got in on the BK act, too! A couple of years ago, when there were just four of them, they came decked out as the Wizard of Oz foursome.

Benjamin (although his expression doesn't quite depict it) thought it was so cool that Emily came as June from Little Einsteins.

Emily's little brother, Ty, was Leo... Jonathan and Ty are a hilarious combination.

They are a mess! Love these buddies.

Mmmm...orange frosting.

Not great later since this costume was hand-wash only!

Jonathan toured the fire truck.

The boys were so excited all day (even more-so than they were about FUNival), that our friends Sara & Danielle got to ride home with us since their mom had class late and dad is deployed right now. This was such a treat for the boys!

I tried my hand at treat toppers this year for the boys' classes.

Thursday, the boys wore their costumes to school.

Here is Ms. Mary with Benjamin.

I love how sweet Cole is grinning in the background (he was one of my Busy Bees last year).

This week was actually H² for El Rancho Dominguez....

Homecoming & Halloween.

Here are the boys showing off their arm mums

Friday night of Ellison's big homecoming game.

They thought they were pretty fun!

Before we met Daddy at the game, we stopped by our church's Halloween party for our class. Becky decorated and set everything up so cute! All of the goulish-goodies were so fun....I took photos of all of the goodies and hopefully will post them soon.

We headed over to the game to watch Ellison win 21-0! This was the first game that the boys and I stayed the whole game! In the last minute or so of the game, we headed down to the field to take pics with Eddie the Eagle. Then after the game ended, the boys were able to run and play on the field! A fun way to end our last home game of the year!

And now, I am off to bed. SO TIRED!

2009-10-29T20:21:00.002-05:00

Feeling the need to get into the holiday spirit? Hop on over to my business site for all the festive fun:

Top Three Things I Heard Out of Benjamin....

2009-10-28T12:56:00.004-05:00

....after we were told our pediatrician ran out of H1N1 vaccine. (Apparently making an appointment for a vaccine in advance guarantees, um, nothing.)

1. B: Are you kidding me? Is the doctor kidding? Don't they know I need that?

2. B: I really, really wanted that shot.

Mom: Remember it wasn't a shot, it was the nose mist.

B: So the nose mist is all gone? Does this mean I get to have a shot instead?

3. Now I am going to get sick and have to stay home every day.....wait, does this mean I get to stay home from preschool?

No matter how you feel about the H1N1 vaccine (I know many of my friends are opposed to it), I actually was going to get the mist for the boys. In fact, our doctor said she was having all three of her girls vaccinated with it. After talking to her about it and what the buzz was all about with it being "scary" and such, she convinced me it was a good thing.

After the vaccine finally arrived at our clinic last week, I called right away to get on the list. The gal put me on hold to do her "count" and there was "plenty of vaccines for us to get on the list". This morning they called to say they ran out since a lot of kids in for check-ups got most of the mists. This *slightly* frustrated me that they didn't take those kids into the count last week when I called. Really, what's the point of having a list if you're only putting a fraction of the receivers on it?

What is more frustrating is the prep I go through with Benjamin to make sure he doesn't have any major anxiety issues with a new thing. So, we went round and round about what a vaccine is, how it protects you, etc.. He was finally excited about it and ready to get it. Poor kid was more disappointed than I was.

Guess we'll be riding it out. Lots of hand washing and "coughing into our elbows" around here.

A Quick Get Away

2009-10-22T16:13:00.006-05:00

We finally had the chance to escape for a couple of days. David had two days leftover from last year's non-duty days that were to expire by the end of the month. Nothing like waiting until the last minute to use them, right? We headed out Saturday morning and traveled down to San Antonio for a couple of days.

As soon as we pulled in, we headed down to the River Walk.

We walked around and saw the sights.

Then headed to the kid-friendliest restaurant we could think of down there...Rainforest Cafe.

It had been a while since we had been to a Rainforest Cafe. The boys enjoyed the animals and thunderstorms and their flashing light cups.

After the River Walk, we headed back to the hotel for the biggest attraction ever....the hotel pool. We probably could have saved a bundle by hiding out at the hotel and just swimming the entire time (but who drives all the way to SA for that?). That's about all they wanted to do once they realized the hotel had an indoor pool. But we had other plans....

We had thought about Sea World, but Benjamin was a little more excited about the zoo. So we headed to the SA Zoo (this was the zoo I grew up going to as a kid...it's changed a bit!) The weather was awesome and it wasn't too terribly crowded.

Benjamin loved the lilypad walk in the children's area.

Jonathan loved the elephants.

A nice stroll down the main walkway. My guys...

Sunday night, we headed down to The Market area to one of my family's favorite restaurants ever. We have converted David into a big fan also. Mi Tierra is a place my parents used to go to when they were very young (my family is actually from San Antonio, I am the only native Austinite from my immediate family). They now prefer Mi Tierra's sister restaurant, Pico di Gallo, since it isn't as tourist-y. But, hey, we were tourists for this trip. So....Mi Tierra it was! And it did not disappoint.

David got us a mariachi song from these guys who were kind enough to let Benjamin join in. Despite the look of this photo....he did enjoy their rendition of La Bamba.

Hanging out in the market square.

Give him a tortilla and he's good to go.

After a fun evening downtown, we went back to the hotel for more swimming. And we had the pool all to ourselves that night! We even convinced the boys that the hot tub was just a miniature pool so we could hang out in there, too!

We headed home Monday afternoon. Our bell boys were a little sloppy, but we tipped them well anyway. . .

Adios, San Antonio!

{We're} with the Band

2009-10-16T22:42:00.002-05:00

Even though we didn't pull a win, we still had a great time at tonight's Ellison game. The band treats us so good! We love sitting with them. The boys pay way more attention to the band than the actual game (sorry, Coach McBryde....nothing personal, it's a little kid thing).

The Band Backers (their booster club) provided the boys with sticks, t-shirts and even a turn "practicing" on the big drums. Thanks, friends! See you next week when we CREAM BELTON!

Pumpkin Palooza

2009-10-10T21:18:00.005-05:00

David was invited awhile back to a speaking engagement this morning. He cooked up a plan (in conjunction with my mom) to have the boys spend the night at my parents' house so I could have a little time to catch up on "work" (it's too fun to not be in quotations) as well as, well....sleep (been lacking on that end lately with the wonderful abundance of "work"). At the last minute, the dates for the engagement were changed, but the boys still had their hearts set on a night at the grandparents'. So, we had some time to ourselves-- YAY!

This morning we drove to Marble Falls to pick them up and decided to spend the afternoon at one AmAzInG pumpkin patch (more like a pumpkin world).....Sweetberry Farms, right there in Marble Falls.

I think most of central Texas had the same idea as we did...it was packed! But, still so FUN! Literally hundreds of pumpkin lovers joined us today. The weather was great-- a perfectly fallish 60 degrees and the rain from yesterday was long gone (although it left it too muddy for the corn mazes, boo). I just feel foolish for never having enjoyed this place before. It is the epitome of autumn. (Aunt Arly, this place had your name written all over it, Miss Pumpkin Pie).

I went a bit camera crazy....but didn't even get to all of the cool photo-ops that were set up around the farm. We'll be back next year for sure.

I basically made them take this photo so I could eventually duplicate, copy and paint cute pumpkin cutouts like these for my yard (on a smaller scale). We'll see if I ever actually get around to that one. But, seriously, aren't these adorable?

I just took this one to get a (small) overview of the scene...pumpkin painting, face painting, hayrides, flower picking (gorgeous flower picking for $1 per cup full), scarecrow stuffing and more! They even had the Pumpkin Grill with homemade pumpkin ice cream and grilled corn. It smelled great, but we went to Subway since ~~we are~~ I am ~~trying to stick~~ sticking to my points.

Loved this old truck...running on pumpkins.

Why, oh why won't they look at the camera at the same time?

Looking for the perfect pumpkin.

Miles and miles of orange.

Jonathan the scarecrow

Playing in a horse trailer full of pumpkins

This was their favorite thing...the random horse trailer.

Working on their masterpieces.

Benjamin the scarecrow-- he was so proud that his hands could reach the holes!

Benjamin's perfect pumpkin face.

Lots of paint! It still isn't dry.

Can't wait to return to the farms in the summer for their strawberry-picking season!

2009-10-05T16:02:00.001-05:00

Fall-A-Licious Sale going on at my business site!

Whoops

2009-09-30T21:19:00.003-05:00

Um, apparently I forgot to post about my consignment fun from last weekend. I have now been asked/reminded/scolded by four separate people. Yikes. My sincerest apologies.

But, yes, I did go to the Mamacents sale....which sadly was not in Bell county this season. But, that's okay. Truthfully, the Austin one is so ginormous that it is really fun to shop it.

Got some awesome deals....and since I don't feel like dragging out the camera and digging through the closets (yeah, they are already washed and put away, too), here's a small sampling of what I found (courtesy of photos I grabbed online).

My FAVORITE....an L.L. Bean Barn Jacket for $12.

Little man will look pretty cute in this one:

And in the spirit of warmth, a duplicate of this Tommy Hilfiger jacket (that I pulled this photo off of ebay which was listing it for $18) for $8. Woo. Since they were babies, I have had denim jackets for each of them...I think they go perfect with everything and are a must have for the El Rancho kids.

For some reason, I lost count and bought SIX rugby shirts. They were all great deals and can work for both dressing nice for church with some khaki cords or with a pair of jeans at a football game.

Along with these deals, I found a bunch of green items for Ellison events, lots of jeans and just a bunch of all around good deals. Even found a STACK of 10 Christian kids' books for $3...including a couple of Veggie Tales books! Woo, woo!

Usually at these sales, I try to break even (not spending more than I make on clothes that I consign), however, I barely consigned much this time. I was too eXhAuStEd and crazy busy with my business to prep clothes last week. So, I did the minimum amount, brought snacks for the volunteers which scored my early bird volunteer pass, and showed up and spent about six times what I made. Oh well....I now have a big tub of clothes that didn't make it in this year but will wait for fall 2010.

Cinco, Baby

2009-09-24T14:25:00.005-05:00

I am a little behind in posting (what else is new, huh?)....but couldn't let the week get away without posting about our FIVE YEAR OLD!

When did I wake up and have this baby turn into a big kid? Our sweet, sweet Benjamin is such a delight and brings us more joy than we could imagine.

We started off the official birthday (the 22nd) with our traditional birthday cake breakfast.

I love this look....like, "watch it, kid....this is my candle!"

Cupcakes taken to preschool....which almost got dropped in this photo.

It's always cool to have the first birthday of the year for your class.

We had Benjamin's robot party last Friday night at our church building.

Welcome, Robot Friends!

The Robot Tin Can Men....these were scattered about. We're about sick of canned green beans over here. We've eaten them for two weeks straight to save enough cans. Bleh.

Robots need hydration, too.

And nourishment.

My niece, Kelly, was kind enough to trade me some cuppy-cakes for a blog re-do! I think I got the better end of the deal, here! The girl can bake.

Robot Favors...LOVE to the Target Dollar Spot for all of the last minute Robot party stuff!

Yay for the Birthday Boy!

Really...it's been five years? Five?

I can hardly type this without tearing up! This is me with Beth & Baby Max....who departed this morning for Kansas until, gulp, February! Her hubs, Brian is deployed right now. I am going to miss this girl something crazy.

Grandparents enjoying the festivities.

The bounce house....which Benjamin thought was for keeps. Imagine the disappointment when InflatablesRUs showed up after the party to pack it up and take it back with them.

Party People

All in all...a fun birthday for Bennagins. Now, I better run and pick 'em up from preschool before my name is mud.

Eleven Days??

2009-09-12T12:04:00.004-05:00

Wow....I've been quite a blog-slacker lately. It's been eleven days since I've posted. And it has been CRAZY busy around here. I'm not sure if my head is even screwed on right these days...I just can't find enough hours in the day.

I am really excited about two new things on the horizon. And a little puzzled at the same time. I have recently been contracted by two separate people to do contract work for them. And the cool thing? It's work I am already doing...photo cards, bag tag designs, etc. This is truly a dream come true, but also a little overwhelming. At this point, I plan to keep Kristi's open and keep rolling out designs...especially blog designs since this is where I get the most business and I love it so much. What I am trying to decide is whether to keep my line of taggies going (I mean it's been active for all of two weeks) or use them as contract work and strictly sell through the business who contacted me. They would take care of the printing, packing and shipping, I would just design them (my favorite part of the process). The other person who has contacted me is an awesome photographer wanting me to help her with her own line of photo cards (along with some other cool stuff)...which brings me to the next dilemma. Where to go with the photo cards? I am really thinking to help streamline it, I may just do my digital deals for photo cards this year. Excuse my rambling while I type as I think, I was just curious to get any input from some of you sweet friends who have helped me launch this business adventure. What started as a fun side job is quickly turning into full-time craziness-- what an AWESOME problem to have, loving this! Let me know your thoughts....drop me an email if you know exactly what I should do! : )

---

We were super excited to have David's parents come for a visit last weekend. It's always nice to see "Grandma & Grandpa Pecos". They arrived Friday evening and headed to the football game with us. The game got canceled due to lightning, good thing we were winning at the time!

Saturday, we headed to Salado for a little lunch and a little shopping. Grandma & Grandpa bought the boys the cutest vintage toys there...a wind-up robot for Benjamin and a wind-up train for Jonathan.

We hung out around the house for a bit Saturday afternoon while Jonathan took a long snooze. Grandma & Grandpa gave Benjamin his birthday presents-- a cool Dinosaur floor puzzle and an Atari game control with several of the vintage games on it. Benjamin (and Daddy) have a hard time staying off of the Atari!

Saturday night, we headed over to the Market Heights center for supper at Cracker Barrel, cruising Barnes & Noble and frozen yogurt at YoYo's. Sunday, we headed to Belton for Bible class and church. We came home and threw turkey burgers on the grill before having to tell Grandma & Grandpa goodbye. We miss ya already!

Back to [Pre]School!

2009-09-01T17:16:00.003-05:00

Today was a day of mixed emotions for this mama. On the one hand, having an entire day to myself (twice a week!) is pretty great....got so much accomplished! On the other, leaving the boys at preschool, and not staying myself to teach, was a little sad, too. But it is really fun to be on this side of things. This year I'll get to go on the field trips with Benjamin's class, go to my boys' classes for Muffins with Mom, go to party days and be that fun mom who occasionally surprises someone with Chick-fil-A at school for lunch. I have been looking forward to this!

A couple of my "Busy Bees" from last year are in Benjamin's Pre-K class...that's so cool to me to still see them all the time! And I got a few hugs from other Busy Bees as they scampered off to their new classrooms (weep, weep).

But, all in all....a really GREAT first day back!

September 1, 2009

Jonathan & Benjamin

First Day of School

Belton Christian Preschool

Jon Jon

Benjamin

This pic was taken last week at Meet the Teacher.

This is Jonathan and his teacher Mrs. Amy.

He is a part of the "Delightful Ducks" class, hence Mrs. Amy's fun shoes!

This was Benjamin at the Meet the Teacher last week.

He is a part of Mrs. Mary's Enchanting Elephants.

The first thing Benjamin does when he gets to his class

every day is mark the attendance chart.

Jonathan in his class this morning.

A great first day of school deserves a nice treat!

We headed to Yoyo's for some "fro-yo".

This was such a cool place!

It just opened in Harker Heights a few months ago.

I just love Belton Christian Preschool and feel so privileged to have, not only taught there last year, but have the boys there again this year. I am super excited about both of the boys' teachers this year-- both of whom also attend our church. I feel they are loved and nurtured every minute they are there.

Mrs. Amy included in her Welcome Letter a sweet prayer that she will be praying every day over Jonathan's little class...it absolutely warmed my heart knowing that sweet Amy says these words for my child:

"Lord, you have made these children

as varied as the flowers of a garden.

You have blessed each one uniquely.

And each fragile, growing child

is infinitely precious in your sight.

You have trusted me to nurture them.

And blessed me with the joy of seeing them grow.

Lord, I teach in reverence to You."

Baggie Taggies are Here!

2009-08-30T23:58:00.002-05:00

Be sure to check out the give-a-way on my business blog!

We're on the GREEN TEAM

2009-08-28T23:30:00.000-05:00

When David received his promotion last year, Benjamin kept going around saying "now, we're on the green team." We're not exactly sure where he heard that, but it was pretty cute.

And tonight....we were on the green team. I am sure this is the first of a long tradition...Friday night rooting for the Eagles. We played our rivals, Killeen High. And won in overtime! Can it get any better? (We are a little sad for our Roo friends, the Trckas, though.)

The boys and I made it through the first half, but had to head out after the halftime show...it was already past nine! But we had a great time while we were there. In fact, Daddy is still there...celebrating with his Eagles!

Go Eagles!

Jonathan and his "seat" in my lap...

bleachers and toddlers make me a nervous wreck!

More like a Nice Green Machine....but you have to have your game face on.

We ended up getting the BEST SEATS....amongst the band! It was a packed house and the band was so kind to let me and the boys bunk with them while Daddy was on duty. They were so hospitable...even keeping the boys well-hydrated with their big water jugs. We think we have found a spot to spend all of our games! And, the boys were mEsMeRiZeD by the music! It was awesome! Below is a small video of Benjamin jamming out with the Screaming Eagle Band!

CONGRATS, ELLISON EAGLES ON YOUR WIN!

WE ARE SO PROUD TO BE ON THE GREEN TEAM!

The Laundry Room: Loads of Fun

2009-08-27T14:43:00.003-05:00

While David has been so busy lately, I found myself needing a project of my own around here. I settled on the laundry room after telling my parents they could have my cabinets in there that were completely non-functional to me. My mom was so excited....she had shelves that weren't working out so well. So....switcheroo(ish). Our laundry rooms are different sizes so I ended up getting new shelves...but the cabinets are going up in their house.

Here is the blah-blah-builders' beige before:

This just wasn't functional at all. Those cabinets were so far from a normal arm's reach, that more often than not, I kept my detergent sitting on the dryer. Seriously...no storage to speak of. And I am not a person who stands at the dryer folding my clothes (although it drives my mom crazy that I don't, she "raised me better than that"). So, that hanging bar was useless as well. It too is at their house...mom is thrilled since she is an out-of-the-dryer-folder. I am just not wired that way. I have to let it pile up and then pop in Season 5 of Friends and bang it all out during naptime. Not ideal...but it (somewhat) works for me.

I present to you the new and improved El Rancho Dominguez Laundromat:

I love it. It just feels so much better. After taking out his new cabinets, my dad helped me re-route the dryer to where it is against the wall and I have room for a trash can in the middle of the two. He was also kind enough to install my new shelves. HELLO....can you say quadruple the storage (if not more)!?! The buckets on top keep all of my cleaning supplies: one for bathrooms, one for the kitchen/floors, and the other for living/bedroom areas. I can't wait to actually see how this works for me! I am hoping to just grab a bucket and then head to that particular room, instead of having to sift through the craziness of cleaning supplies that was under my kitchen sink.

I filled these canisters with detergent and Oxyclean. The brown tote containers contain liquid detergent, vinegar (awesome for laundry), spot treaters, dryer sheets, extra hangers, etc.

This little rug actually has the blue of the walls in the leaves, it just didn't photograph well. I was so excited to do the blue/chocolate thing in here!

My hope is that this room truly makes me a better laundress. A girl can always dream, can't she?

Happy Day to Sweet David!

2009-08-17T21:44:00.006-05:00

The big THREE-SIX is here. We have had one crazy weekend/Monday to celebrate Daddy...as well as stay out of his way as he prepared for a BIG day at work today: the day the teachers came back! Of course, we have had some fun birthdays for David since he has become a principal since his birthday is always in the midst of school-beginning madness. And this year was no different....but also turned into an AWESOME welcome to the EHS family with their birthday fun for him.

Saturday included a football scrimmage (for all three Dominguez boys), EHS freshman camp (for David), a birthday party for some sweet twins at church (for me & the little boys) and the EHS Back-to-School Splash for the faculty, staff and their families (and us!).

Jonathan and Benjamin hanging out cheering on the Eagles.

Scrimmages are funny.

It's tough to decide who to cheer for: the Eagles....or the Eagles?

We took our super fun babysitter, Tawny, along with us to the EHS Back-to-School Splash at the new Killeen Waterpark. We needed an extra set of hands since David would be meeting faculty and families that night. Benjamin loved having Tawny along....he kept telling us he was going to "teach her how to swim".

We loved the new Killeen waterpark....

too bad it didn't open until the end of summer.

Sunday we baked Daddy's cupcakes.

Jonathan wanted to draw on the wrappers.

Um, wouldn't that be toxic?

Soooo didn't happen, contrary to what the above photo depicts.

This morning, we were invited to head up to the school for some surprise birthday fun that David's team planned for him. Let's just say....what a WELCOME! During David's morning presentation, the cheerleaders poured into the auditorium to present a HAPPY BIRTHDAY cheer to David...they were awesome! But my camera skills were not. This is all I got from their performance. The video I took of the choir really reflects the fact that I should never be allowed behind the camera. Seriously, nothing is visible and I only recorded a whopping FOUR seconds of their beautiful song. I am just going to blame the camera....although I am sure it was the operator.

Here's the proof that I should never be allowed to shoot video. Ever.

David and the boys in his office...

which his AWESOME team decorated up for him!

Benjamin wanted to eat the eagle.

Our family celebration at home.

Mmmm....we grilled ribeyes, had garlic mashed potatoes and green beans.

And more (cup)cake(s).

We're on a sugar high, people.

And just for kicks....here was our home celebration two years ago.

I cannot believe how little the boys look!

Happy Birthday, David. Love you.

The Daycation....or Final 2009 Edition of

2009-08-08T19:27:00.008-05:00

Shamu we did not meet....but that's okay. David is swamped and heading too far out of town for three days was just not a good idea this close to school starting. He does have two non-duty days to use by the end of October and we are hoping to head to SA sometime then.

We decided to still live it up for our last Family Fun Friday and took a "daycation" to Austin, much closer and easier to do in a day.

I am still an Austinite at heart, so heading back to my hometown is always a bit nostalgic and fun.

We started the day at Zilker park riding the famous train.

My view of J & D

We had snow-cones while awaiting our departure.

It was soooo hot....I am secretly glad we did skip Sea World with the crazy August heat.

Enjoyed the train's famous entertainer... Woode Wood.

Headed downtown for lunch at Jo's.

We had never eaten there. It was quite tasty and very kitsch-y and Austinish.

Jon Jon

David & the boys

We walked down to the Austin Children's Museum and the boys had lots of fun.

Pretending to be a vet. They had a machine that actually let you hear (loudly) the heartbeats of several different animals. Benjamin loved this area. His favorite animal he treated was a skunk. Good thing it was a stuffed one.

The big exhibit right now is called "Maker Kids" where we could walk to several stations and create lots of arts and crafts.

Jonathan taking the slide in reverse.

Rockin' out in the Mexico area.

The other budding drummer.

Hopped on a Capital Metro for a quick ride.

These two drivers were a little scary though.

They seemed a little inexperienced.

One of my favorite parts of the day?

Cupcakes at Delish in downtown Austin. Mmmmm.

That's all they serve....cupcakes!

I loved my Red Velvet one but David's Mexican Vanilla was to die for.

Daycation from Weight Watchers, too, huh?

Jonathan ate every bit of his chocolate cupcake. Mmmm.

We've loved you Family Fun Fridays. See you next June with more family excitement. Back to the reality of a "normal" schedule....whatever that may entail for the new school year.

Saturday Night in Salado

2009-08-04T09:43:00.002-05:00

We had several things that kept us hoppin' this weekend, but one of the most memorable was our trip to see the Salado Legends performance Saturday night. David's boss invited us to the Tablerock play at the outdoor theater in downtown Salado. Originally we hired a sitter for the boys, but his boss mentioned they were included in the invitation and could join us. So, we all headed to "Tablerock" for the evening.

It was a play that re-enacted how Salado was formed. It had live horses, gunfire and lots of singing. The director of the play also works at Ellison with David. The performance was great! We did have to leave a bit early due to rain and a tired two-year-old (it didn't start until 8:15, so we were glad he survived the first act!).

We were seated right next to the actual "tablerock" (pictured above). We may have been a little too close to it since the audience's attention was drawn to us when Jonathan took a tumble in one of the scenes over here. He'll be staying home next year.

Waiting for the show to start.

I love how these ladies behind us posed for our photo. I have no idea who they are!

Dinner was even served before the play...we all ate on "tablerocks".

Love all the trees. And that adorable little boy.

We also had a super fun start to our week when we hosted our church play group at our house yesterday! 12 moms and 27 kiddos packed the place and had a WILD time! We had so much fun with all of our friends! Thanks for coming over.

2009-07-27T18:01:00.004-05:00

We've about come to the end of our Family Fun Fridays. We'll have one more on the 7th when we *hopefully* make it to Sea World. No guarantees....David's job is super crazy right now. But, we want to try to fit it in if possible. And see the SA relatives, too...it's been too long.

These two cool guys have had a fun summer....and worn mom out.

This past Friday Grandma & Grandpa joined us since they just got back from their "baycation" as Benjamin calls it. We went to lunch at our favorite place (Luby's, of course). They wanted to see Benjamin's last swim lesson and see our favorite new place...

The new Hope Therapy in Temple is OPEN!!! (Formerly known as Camp Hope). Could I be any more excited about this place opening? We were their second client in this new location. And even better? Our two therapists that we have used the last year and a half are coming to the Temple location for Benjamin's therapies. So excited! This is Benjamin with Rachel and Shanna and the canvas he painted for the Temple location. From here on out, Fridays are for Hope Therapy! If any of you have kiddos that are in need of physical, occupational or speech therapy, Hope Therapy in Temple is accepting new clients. Drop me an email and I'll put you in touch.

Last day of swimming lessons....which is a long story in itself. Several of you already know it. We did not end on the best note, but we'll be enrolling for multiple sessions next year. The above photo is B getting the rings off the "bridge".

The last jump in...sort of.

Saturday night, Beth & Max came over to hang out.

Jonathan ADORES Max, I mean, "Baby Zach" as he calls him. So sweet.

That baby has the prettiest blue eyes I have ever seen.

2009-07-22T15:08:00.006-05:00

Chili's Chicken Crispers are my absolute guiltiest pleasure. But, at a whopping 47 points, it's just not even close to being a good idea.

So, I found a little somethin'-somethin' to replace (sigh) the Chicken Crispers in my life. I will say, I wasn't crazy about the sauce. But, I am including the sauce in this recipe in case it just does it for your bunch. I would have preferred more of a honey mustard. Next time, I plan to just use a fat-free bottled dressing instead.

But the chicken fingers are gooooood.

Pecan Crusted Chicken Fingers with Dijon Maple Sauce

(again, use the sauce at your own discretion)

from the Weight Watchers Annual Recipes for Success 2005

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenders (about 12 pieces)

3/4 teaspoon pepper, divided

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour, divided

1/2 cup egg substitute

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

2 teaspoons olive oil, divided

Cooking Spray

Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 cup fat-free, less sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 1/2 tablespoons country-style Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons light butter

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 400.

2. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon pepper and salt. Place 1/2 cup flour and egg substitute in separate shallow dishes. Combine 1/2 cup flour, pecans, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a shallow dish.

I made my pecan pieces super fine by using a chopper.

The line up.

3. Dredge each chicken tender in flour, shaking off excess flour. Dip each tender in egg substitute; dredge dipped tenders in pecan mixture.

4. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large non-stick skillet coated with cooking spray. Add half of chicken and cook 2-3 minutes on each side or until browned. Transfer chicken to a baking sheet lined with foil. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken tenders and oil.

5. Bake at 400 for 12 minutes or until done.

6. Combine chicken broth and cornstarch; add mixture to pan used for tenders (do not wipe clean). Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook 1 to 2 minutes or until thick, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in maple syrup, mustard, butter and lemon juice; cook about a minute. Serve with tenders.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size is about 2 tenders and 2 1/4 tablespoons sauce).

POINTS Value: 6 per serving

Yum. We served it with our favorite (2 points for a serving) french fries:

Oh, and WOOHOO.....I reached the 50 pounds lost mark at my Weight Watchers meeting last night! So excited to reach this milestone.

2009-07-18T12:25:00.005-05:00

Summer sure is flying by. Since Benjamin had swimming lessons already, we decided to all throw on our suits and head to the mini-waterpark in Temple after our time at UMHB.

The Temple Lions Junction was the perfect size for our little guys. They loved the kids' play area with the huge bucket of water that spilled every few minutes. That area was my favorite, too...I could just hang out on the beach-entry area and keep an eye on everyone! Benjamin also loved the Lazy River and had fun tubin' around it with mom.

Our day was cut a bit short when the pool was evacuated...some kid had some "issues" in the actual pool. To prevent the spread of germs, they shut the place down. So, not too many pics were taken.

It was still a fun day.

We are actually awaiting the grand opening of the Killeen mini-waterpark....debuting next Saturday. It was supposed to have opened the weekend of the 4th, so we are getting a little antsy. It is just right around the corner from our neighborhood-- so exciting!

One bummer-- the park didn't allow outside food to be brought in.

So, this was the extent of our picnic...in our car.

About the only photo I got of the boys.

The kiddie area-- after it had been cleared out.

Benjamin was so bummed we had to leave early!

The twisty slides Benjamin desperately wanted to ride-- alone!

Grow a few more inches, kid, and they'll let ya!

The Next Michael Phelps...

2009-07-16T17:29:00.005-05:00

Well, maybe not quite Michael Phelps...but swimming lessons have been a major confidence booster for Benjamin. Actually, both gymnastics and swimming have shown us a very confident little boy in our Benjamin Bunny.

Every time I try to sneak into the gym area at gymnastics and take a picture, Benjamin stops whatever he's doing and starts waving at me! But yesterday from the parents' observation room, I had a great view of him swinging on the "Tarzan" rope and dropping into the foam pit all on his own! He also loves to show us all of his new gymnastics moves at home. He does forward rolls, log rolls and his favorite, "helicopters" (which at gymnastics are done on the trampoline, but here at home, the mattress from the disassembled crib really does the job-- sounds super safe, huh?).

But, I did manage to sneak into the pool and grab some photos and videos of swim lessons. Although when I was standing there, he wouldn't jump in on his own, his swim teacher told me that he did it several times on his own in the last couple of days! So excited for him. He has also conquered swimming to the bottom to capture the diving rings. We went a different way than we originally planned with the swimming lesson thing. In Belton, the UMHB campus (this is a college for those not from this area), offers one-on-one swimming lessons all summer long. What a perfect fit for Benjamin. And now, he has a cool college friend named Jordan who we think is an AWESOME swim teacher for Benjamin. These two really get each other and Benjamin adores him. Every morning he wakes up and asks if he gets to go swim with Jordan.

Although the daily grind is a little wild (I feel like I am carting around a teenager with all the activities he has these two weeks), it is well worth it.

Here are a couple of short videos from his swimming lessons. I am hoping to catch him jumping in without holding Jordan's hands in the next week. For some reason, he won't do that when I am around! He must just be modest of his swimming talents when mom is around!

Family Fun Friday (Saturday Afternoon Edition)

2009-07-11T17:06:00.007-05:00

Well, we didn't get in a Family Fun Friday this week, as Kristi and I were busy making over Jonathan's bedroom. (I'm sure Kristi will post about that one; I can't wait for everyone to see the pictures!)

But, the boys and I ventured out late this afternoon for a little bike-riding and playground climbing. (It was a hot one today, so we didn't stay out long.)

Hope everyone is doing well and keeping cool!

Benjamin thought it was TOO HOT to be out, until we got to the playground, that is...

Jonathan had a blast!

Crossing the Bridge

Baby, you can drive my car...

Climbing High

Just Hangin' Around!