Analise now has earrings

Analise has been asking for weeks and weeks about earrings. Especially when I am wearing them or when someone we know is.
She is the ultimate girl!! She loves everything girly including makeup and earrings. So, we decided to go ahead and let her get them pierced. They look so cute!
And she did great. She cried at first once they did it, but then she looked in the mirror and saw her pretty earrings and was so happy. She has loved showing them off to everyone we know. Can't wait until we get to change them and start her collection of cute earrings!
Here are some pictures of her getting them done.


Being silly while waiting.


Getting her ears cleaned for it. She thought it was funny and cold!


Getting them done. such a brave little girl.


Afterward still in the store. Such happy girl!


Showing them off for Daddy.


See, Daddy? :)


And showing them to Mommy.

Halloween

Like I mentioned in my last blog...I'm a few behind! So, here is my update about Halloween.
On the Friday before Halloween we had a party at Katie's house with several friends. The kids, and some of the adults dressed up and we played games, trick or treated around the yard and ate dinner. It was so much fun...and I think the kids had a good time too.











Then on Halloween night, we took the kids trick or treating around to family homes. We have so much family here and they get so much candy from them, there really isn't a huge need to go anywhere else. And of course, we stopped at the Hammond's house and at the Lindberg's. But who are we kidding, they are just like family to us.

Here are some pictures of the kids from Halloween. It was so fun this year, I imagine next year will be even better!

Setting Goals

I have several blogs to catch up on, but that will have to be for another day. For today, I wanted to let everyone who reads this know that I have a goal. I don't have a set number of pounds that I want to lose yet, but I know that I want to lose weight. And, I want to tone up and get into better shape.
Ideally, I would just love to get down into single digit pants again!! But mostly, I just want to have more energy to play with my kids whose energy level seems to grow exponentially by the day. And I want to feel better about myself. Right now, I just don't like how I look and it effects to much of my mental state somedays, so I want to look better so I can feel better about myself. I have so many people who love me tell me how beautiful I am...now I just want to feel that way too.
Thank you to those who have given me support so far. It helps like crazy!! But please, keep it coming.
I'm working on eating between 1200-1500 calories a day, closer to the 1200 mark but every once in a while a few more will be ok. And as of right now I'm doing Jillian Michaels' 30 day shred. It kills me!! But I always feel better after I do it.
Again, I'm begging for support because it is way to easy for me to say, oh...what's one candy bar? And that turns into pizza for dinner and ice cream. And, if I let myself slack a day on exercising it will be too easy for me to just slack daily. So, please keep checking in on me and make sure I'm sticking to it. And if I try to offer you an excuse as to why I'm not...kick my butt...please. :) Cause I'm sure it would help. I will let you know my progress as it goes. Thanks again everyone!

Oh so excited!!

I can hardly contain my excitement!! I just bought tickets for Analise and I to go see the Nutcracker in December. Ever since Analise watched some of our friends' kids do a mini ballet performance at Harvest Festival, all she talks about it is being a ballerina.

So I know this will only enhance that desire. She is so girlie, and I love it! But, she can also be tough and play ball and run and get dirty. She is the perfect combination. She is perfect (of course, I am her Momma talking so I might be a bit biased). Anyway, it is going to be awesome.

I have always loved watching the ballet. I used to go watch the Nutcracker when I was little. I am so excited to take her. I think this is going to be our yearly tradition together. Going into Vegas, grabbing a bit to eat, and then off to the show. It is going to great. I can't wait to watch the amazement in her eyes. I hope she loves it as much as I think she will. Oh so excited!! How am I going to wait for two months?!?!

Hope everyone has a great day!

My Kids Are Hilarious!

The kids are getting funnier and funnier as the days go by. Antonio has learned his whole name and these days doesn't want to be called anything else. He was outside playing basketball. He can shoot the full-sized ball into the hoop which stands a foot or so taller than him. Granted it isn't regulation size, but for a two-year old, I think he is pretty great. Anyway, he kept making basket after basket so I started chanting "Way to go Toe." He proceeds to tell me, "My not Toe, my Antonio Levi Veloz." He is so funny when he does that!

Analise loves to dance around the house. She is constantly telling me she wants to be a ballerina. And what an opinionated little girl. She rarely lets me pick out her clothes anymore. She has to have a say. She will say no to every outfit I pull out of the closet until I find the one that she wants to wear. Slightly annoying but completely hilarious!

One more story...yesterday Antonio was coloring in his coloring book. It was wide open and he stood up and tried to jump in it. He kept jumping on it saying, "I can't get in there!" He tried some more and finally said, "I guess only Dora and Boots can do that." It was so funny it made me cry I was laughing so hard. They are so funny and so sweet. I just love them to pieces!!

Here are a couple of pics of them this morning before school. They looked especially cute today so I had to snap a couple pictures. Enjoy!

San Diego 2009

My parents came for a visit last week and we all took a trip to San Diego together. We had plans to go to Sea World and the Beach. Other than that, we would just play it by ear. It was so much fun. We went to the beach twice and to Sea World for the majority of one of the days. It was so much fun and so relaxing. The kids had a blast and they keep asking to go back to the beach. I can't wait to take them when it is warmer.

Here are a few pics of our adventures.



My family on the beach.



Mom and Dad at the beach.



Ben taking the kids to put their feet in the freezing water.



Running from the water. (So cute!)



Analise checking out the dolphins.



So sleepy, Analise fell asleep waiting for Shamu.



Shamu's Believe show - so awesome!



Antonio loved it!



Antonio getting a lift from Papaw after the Shamu show.



Mimi and Antonio checking out the stingrays and giving them a pet. They felt cool!

Mickey Mouse Live! Roadshow

Last weekend we took the kids to see the Mickey Mouse Live! Roadshow. We had been planning to take them since the summer when we found out they were coming to Vegas. It wasn't just Mickey and the crew, but they were going to perform a talent show and needed friends to help. So they brought in Tigger, Cinderella, and the gang from Toy Story - Woody, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie.

The kids LOVE all those characters so I knew it was going to be amazing. They were so excited to go once we told them where we were going.

When we got in to the Orleans Arena, we got them each one souvenir. Antonio decided on a Woody hat and Analise of course chose Cinderella.


We got in, found our seats and got all settled. The 15 minutes it took for the show to start took forever. The kids were getting so antsy they could hardly wait. Finally...it started!



Their friend, Bridget, went that night too. She wore her adorable Minnie Mouse costume! :)


(Our family waiting for the show to start)

They sat there and watched in awe. I thought they would act more excited, but the truth is they were awestruck. They watched in amazement. When it came time to get up and dance they stood on our laps and danced. They loved it. It has been a whole week since we went and Antonio is still talking about! I love that they are getting to the age where we can take them to things like they and they truly enjoy it. I love it! :)