Cruisin to Cozumel

Leeza went on her first cruise last week. I really wanted a lil get away for Sean's spring break, but Joe has too much going on a work right now and we really don't like to leave Papa for very long. I ended up with a cruise out of Tampa (super convenient) on Royal Carribean. We took Sean out of school a couple days early and sailed on Thursday and came home on Monday (the first day of his spring break). It just cruised to Cozumel and back. It was really fun! Leeza was fascinated with everything and got her bearings very quickly. "No mommy-THIS WAY to the kids pool.". Now I realize that BOTH of my children are WAAAY smarter than their mother. :)

Sadly, my camera had a collision with water and it died our first full day at sea. I have a couple pictures though that I can post. Joe and I went on the Princess cruise for our honeymoon and loved it, and we took Sean on the Disney cruise when he was 5. I have to say, Disney is my all time favorite. While I thought the kids pool on the Royal Carribean Radiance of the Seas was "lame", Leeza sure didn't. I couldn't get her out of it. She had a blast-and seeing her thru her eyes-I can't really complain about a thing-except maybe all the weight I gained. :)

Update on May 5th...wow, I never finished this post. What a slacker! Life has been busy. The cruise was fun, we got to "swim" with dolphins, and it was great. I have pics, but if i never post this, I will never move on, so I'm posting. :)

Trike a thon CUTENESS!!

Today was the Trike-a-thon at Leeza's school. Last year, we didn't go to school on Wednesday's and she was not interested in a trike or bike at all.

This year, I've tried to get her to ride a bike. She gets too frustrated and it's a losing battle. I'm sad because I have seen her swim, and run, and she has some crazy endurance for a 3 year old, and I think she would be an amazing triathlete. But, you gotta learn to ride a bike for that. I volunteered at their trikathon hoping for the best, but really didn't think it would go well.







I guess I need to go find her a bike now.....and a helmet.
We borrowed the helmet from one teacher and the bike from another. I love her teachers.She was not down with putting the helmet on at all. Finally..she agreed and I PINCHED HER CHIN! Poor kid. With a mommy like me in your corner, it's rough. Despite mommy, she did great. :)

Cooking with Leeza

I have been such a slacker on cooking lately...so I knew I needed to fix it. I figured if I involve my sidekick, it might make it more fun. Little did I know...I was so right!! I felt like one of those really good homeschool mom's who do crafts and cook with their kids everyday. Leeza loved it! It was an educational and bonding experience. I may have to do it again. Tomorrow night-she can pour the cheerios. :)

She was so excited to help-and we counted out how many we should make and how many is in our family and when she heard Joe's car in the driveway she RAN out and told Joe SHE made dinner and how she put chicken then sauce, then peppers and onions and we put it in the oven for 35 minutes. Even Sean made a HUGE DEAL about how good it was and how it was SO MUCH BETTER THEN WHEN MOMMY MADE IT. Leeza even ATE IT!

wow, I'm such a good mom.

Lucky girls!!

Happy St. Patricks Day! I think this is the first "St Patty's day" shirt I've ever owned. I do wear green, but really never thought an outfit was necessary. Of course, until I had a daughter. I found these "Lucky girl" shirts in the Target girls department..for 4 bucks each. They say Lucky Girl and they have sparkly shamrocks and rainbows and a picture of a girl. I mean..PERFECT. Leeza and I wore them today to Jungle Boogie , the mall, and out to dinner. Sean and Joe wore green, but they didn't match. Leeza asked Seanie if he was sad that he didn't have a shirt like ours. :)

We got lots of smiles and compliments, even though I am sure they were all for Leeza. She's pretty cute. :)

I was also told by a lady at Jungle boogie that "Leeza and I look so much alike" and that "she has my eyes". I wish I had Leeza's eyes, and I can honestly say, her beauty has NOTHING to do with me...she is just a blessing from God...a beautiful child with a BIG ATTITUDE. :)

Babysitting Adventures with Tyler

Karen-one of my bestest friends, had a photography seminar thingy today and asked us if we could watch Tyler! OF COURSE WE CAN!! Ryan was in school and Leeza skipped to school because she slept until 10:30 (day light savings time is a bear) AND she wanted to play with Tyler. He is such a sweet sweet baby. I was surpised to see how loving and caring Leeza was with him, and not as jealous I expected. She is a mini mommy and very helfpul. I put him down and she went to go read to him and found him toys. It was really cute. She also thought he would like Sesame Street.

She also gives GREAT tips like "Mommy, don't put Tyler in the oven, you will burn him"

She was dying to "drink him" so I let her give him a bottle. so sweet...
I really have ZERO desire for another baby, in fact, if there is NEGATIVE desire, I have that. However, if i ever changed my mind, we'll take Tyler. He's adorable.





He is the best baby. He fell asleep after getting his drink on so he's in Leeza's bed. :) Once she realized he had elephant and scooby, she removed them. She is sweet, but not THAT generous. She also think he's lame for sleeping in the day cuz it's daytime..NOT FOR SLEEPING.

Sean's confirmation at church

We joined our church when Sean was 3 (Leeza's age) because I really wanted him to be part of a church with an awesome youth group. I can't believe it, cuz here we are..and Sean has been going to Sunday school and now youth group and started confirmation classes January 9th, and it concluded tonight with the beach ceremony where they made their decisions to live their lives as Christian's. I am so glad he loves youth group and that our church is a fun place to be. I thinkSean has a good moral compass, and I know that middle school and high school is a time that compass can become confused.

The beach ceremony was beautiful and it was a lot of fun to see Sean and his buddies. Leeza was a lil miffed she could not swim, or play with sand toys. Sometimes, Leeza, it's really NOT all about you. But, i did get this killer pic of her and Sean. :)

Fun day at the Pow Wow

Today was a GORGEOUS DAY. It was 67 or so, so "kinda chilly" but sunny and the pow wow is a "mini fair" with lots of fun rides for the wee ones and they sell beer. Can you even beat that? I think not.

Karen and I took the kids, and we had a really good time. Even though Karen is the professional photographer, I have to admit I got some really great pics. Of course, Leeza and Ryan are really pretty cute, photogenic kids ANYWAY, but still. I love all the kid friendly stuff there is to do in this area. I know this time is short when she will want to do stuff with me. Sean doesn't want to so much anymore. sniff sniff...







Ryan really wanted to go on the ferris wheel so Karen took the 2 kids and I stayed behind with Tyler. It was just like the ferris wheel in Kostanai that we used to go on. awww! Here is a cool shot Karen took at the top, that's me on the bottom holding Tyler. He is such a sweetie pie.




Karen IS the professional photographer and captured these great shots on the ferris wheel. What a fun day. :)