Happy Easter

I hope you had a wonderful Easter - celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ!! We had a really nice day! It was so beautiful here - the sun was shining, there was a slight breeze, and the weather was perfect! I love California! After church and naps we headed out to the park for dinner and an Easter Egg Hunt - the kids all had so much fun . . . of course, there was candy, candy, and more candy! Lily was convinced that everything she found was "canny"!

We are blessed to attend an amazing church, Grace Community Church, to sit under the teaching of our Pastor/Teacher, John MacArthur, and equally blessed by the musicians. Today, one of my favorite singers, Jubilant Sykes, sang "Were you there" (one of my favorite songs) - it is such an amazing song - you gotta here him sing it - he is truly amazing!

Were you there when they crucified my Lord
Oh were you there when they crucified my Lord
(Oooh sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble

Were you there when they crucified my Lord
Were you there when they nailed him to the cross
Were you there when they nailed him to the cross
(Oooh sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble
Were you there when they nailed him to the cross

(Were you there when they laid him in the tomb
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb
Oooh sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb
Well were you there when the stone was rolled away
Were you there when the stone was rolled away
(Oooh sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble
Were you there when the stone was rolled away

I am completely overwhelmed by what my Lord did for me on the cross! Ellie's favorite song of late it My God is an Awesome God and I can't help but shout that from the rooftops - my God is an AWESOME God! I am forever grateful for His death on the cross so that I might have life eternal with Him in heaven.

I hope that this Easter has caused you to look at your own eternity and I hope you have the assurance that I do of where you will spend your eternity.

Ellie's tea party

This has been a fun and CRAZY week! Ellie's birthday was tuesday and on thursday she had her first ever friend birthday party! She wanted to have a tea party and that we did! She invited six little girlfriends (and her sister) and they had tea. The girls were so cute - looked like little ladies at high tea. I am not sure who had more fun, Ellie or me?! I thoroughly enjoyed (although equally exhausted) preparing for this tea party. Ellie helped me bake the cakes (each little girl had there very own little heart cake), she helped my make the heart sugar cookies, she helped decorate and prepare for this special birthday party.

Last night, after the crazy, fun, exhausting day, Ellie wanted me to snuggle with her in bed for a bit, so there I lay, with my precious 5 year old, remembering the days, five years ago, when we would lay in bed together - only she was so tiny and would fit in the crook of my arm, she would sleep and I would lay in amazement and this precious gift from God. I thanked God right there for my precious girl - she is such a blessing.

ps - I could not have done half of this without the amazing help of my mom!! She came and helped me clean on wednesday and was my all around Cinderella!!! Thanks mom for all you do!

five years ago . . .

Where were you FIVE years ago today???

Well, I was in the hospital holding my little girl! Yep, Ellie Grace is five years old today!!! It does not seem possible and yet, here she is . . . no longer my little baby who was so totally dependent upon me for everything - food, clothing, clean diapers, happiness, and so much more. Today she is a very able five year old - who, can run and jump, fill her own cup with water, get a snack out of the cupboard, buckle herself in the car, ride a bike (with training wheels), write her name, draw pictures (mostly of Ariel), color, sing, dance, play games, and so much more.

Of all the things she is capable of doing - my most favorite would have to be when she asks "Mama, can you come sit with me?" No matter what I am doing I love to stop and sit with my little girl! How special those times are on the couch or snuggling in her bed or wherever . . . as long as my girls are around us we are happy parents!

Ellie Grace,
From the moment you were born you have been a complete and utter joy to your daddy and me! It seems like only yesterday we were presented with this beautiful little girl. I remember looking at you in disbelief . . . you were really ours! We had waited so long for you and finally you had come! You were born with that little tooth - so cute and funny! You have made me laugh and cry, feel such pride and joy. We are so thankful for you and that God brought you to our family five years ago. We pray, more than anything, that God will be the center of your life and that you will serve Him all the days of your life!

We love you sooooooooooo much!

I changed my music arrangement around - the first song is the song Flavio picked for Ellie when she was just a few days old . . . so sweet!

a little bit much . . . don't you think!?!??!

I was cleaning out the closet - taking all of the shoes out from the floor to vacuum and such and this is what I found . . . these are just Flav's tennis shoes!!!! A bit excessive . . . maybe?

If you counted there are 11 pairs!

BTW - most of these were given to Flav from sponsors on the PGA Tour - thankfully we haven't bought all of these!!!!

$151.20

Interesting title . . . I know! So what does it mean???

Well, our dear, sweet, adorable (dripping with sarcasm!!!) cat has been urinating outside of his litter box!!! YUCK!!! Cat urine is the most disgusting thing I can think of! We first noticed it in our bathroom downstairs - thankfully we have tile there so it was fairly easy to clean up and remove the odor (I hope!) then we noticed that he has done this in a few other areas of the house. I was (and am) ready to kick the cat to the curb . . . sorry to any of you animal lovers . . . I went to my trusty computer and googled this fabulous topic - most of which came back that he probably has a urinary tract infection - oh goodie! I told Flavio what I had found out and he suggested I call the vet - which I did - they all came back with the same - you need to bring him in for an evaluation and probably a urine analysis (in the neighborhood of $100). Flavio was NOT going to spend any money on this - I was right there with him, but I felt we needed to at least see if something was wrong with him - be responsible for the pet. Yesterday, the girls and I went to our vet they suggested the urine analysis, blood work, and antibiotics (while waiting for the test results) - I call Flav sure he is going to say "NO!!!" - he had been so against spending the money in the first place - I tell him it is going to be about $150-165 - Mr. toughguy says - do it all!!!! Totally flaberggasted (me, that is)

Long and the short of it - $151.20 later we have a cat that appears to have nothing wrong with him!!!!! Oh, except for the fact that HE IS URINATING on the floor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone want a cat???????????

weekend update

Well we are back in town! Ellie told me today that she was glad we were back in town! She kept asking, yesterday, if we were "in the valley, yet?".

We had a great time! It was fun to see "old" friends and catch up. It was really nice to just be away for a few days with our family - just the four of us! I got to read a book!!! That was fun. The girls played - made some new friends and Flavio got to play a little golf! He was in heaven!

I'll just run through our fun time.

Thursday:
Lily bear turned two and to celebrate we woke she and her sissy up at 5:15am and put them in the car for our trip to AZ. They are really good travelers - Praise the Lord and thank goodness for the entertainment system in the car (a real treat since they are only allowed to watch movies on trips!!).

Friday:
Build-a-Bear adventure and a baseball game! The girls had just as much fun "building" their bears as they did playing in the dirt.

Saturday:
Breakfast with the Crutchfields - well, Carol and Bekah - the rest were unavailable . . . for varying reasons (love you Walter :o). We had the rehearsal and the dinner - the girls really enjoyed "practicing" their flower girl job (Aly, you will be happy to know that your cousins did a great job - no doubt as a result of your careful teaching!)

Sunday: The Big Day!!
I was giving the girls a bath before we headed out to the wedding - Ellie asked if this was the real wedding or another practice?! She was happy to find out that she was getting ready for the real deal - no more practicing, the time had come to perform!

Jessie, the bride, was BEAUTIFUL! She is one of those people who looks gorgeous without make-up, after a long run. She is just stunning and more beautiful on the inside! We had so much celebrating their big day and it was such a treat and joy to be involved.

Jessie and Tim were so sweet to include our girls and put as at such ease - she didn't care if they made it down the aisle or not and Ellie is in love with Princess Jessie! If Jess was around you were sure to find Ellie!

Monday:
Flavio got to golf :o) and then we loaded up and came home. Sad to say good bye to our dear friends in Arizona, but glad to see our own beds - although our accomodations were amazing - thanks to our dear friends

arizona

Well, we got into Arizona yesterday. The girls were great little travelers. We woke them up at about 5:15am, put them in the car, and off we went, that is until we realized (about a 1/2 mile down the road) that we forgot to bring Ellie's little kitty that Flavio had said she could bring. So we were in the car at 5:20 and then officially off at 5:26am. We arrived at about 12. . . I think. And crashed at about 7:30. I was beat!!! I can't imagine how Flavio felt. Anyways, we had a great day - we went to Build-a-Bear - the girls were given gift cards from the bride and groom (did I mention that we are here for friends' wedding, which they are the flower girls?). We have never done the Build-a-bear thing - it was really cute (I'll post pics when I get home). They picked out their animal - Ellie chose a pink bear and Lily a little chick - stuffed them, "washed" them, and picked an outfit out. Ellie's bear, named Ariel, got an Ariel outfit - really a mermaid Ariel outfit, complete with red wig! Lily chose a pink princess fairy type outfit.

Ok, I am off to bed - I will tell you more about the home we are staying in - tiny little thing (and if you believe that I have a bridge to sell you!).

Thanks for the birthday wishes for my precious Lily!!!

almost two!

Two years ago today I was anxiously awaiting the birth of our second child. We didn't know whether we would be having another little girl or welcoming a little boy . . . either way we couldn't wait to meet this new little person. I was pretty convinced that it was a boy, not sure why, and Flavio was pretty sure it was a girl!

We had to be at the hospital at midnight to be induced - our little one was 10 days overdue!!! We dropped Ellie off with Uncle Jeff and Auntie Beth for a slumber party with Ethan and off we went to gather our bags for the hospital. Long story short at 9:21am on February 28th, 2006 we welcomed our precious Lilian "Lily" Joy into the world! Our lives have never been the same and only bettered because of her!

It doesn't seem possible that that was one day shy of two years ago - in some ways it feels like yesterday and in others I can't imagine that there was ever a time without her!

Lily,
I love you so much and am so thankful that God brought you to us two years ago! You are a bright little flower - bold and strong and beautiful! I pray that you will come to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior and that He will be your strength. You are a precious little girl! I love watching you grow and learn. I love hearing you sing and watching you dance. You are discovering the world around you and I am so thankful that I am able to watch each new discovery and see your face light up as you experience something for the very first time!

How do I love thee, let me count the ways . . .

• you are tender and sweet
• and rough and tumble
• you love your sissy and want to do what she is doing, but you ARE your own person
• you are loud and funny and silly!
• you love to give hugs and kisses
• you still love to be held (all the time if I could do it!)
• you love your shoes
• you love to talk! I love hearing you put your words together- you are really getting the hang of talking!!
• you have the sweetest laugh! I could listen to it for hours!
• you love to sing
• you love to discover
  
• you love your sissy, daddy, and mommy!

just to name a few!

Happy 2nd Birthday!
I love you little girl!

Love, Mama

I know I'm a day early, but we won't be home tomorrow, so I will celebrate her birthday here today!!!

uncle dan at tmk

Today Ellie's Uncle Dan came to TMK!!! It was a special day because not only is he her funny uncle (as she has said, much to Uncle Peter's dismay), but he is also a police officer! It was really fun to see my brother in his uniform with all the kiddos - oh, and Drake's daddy. They came and showed the kids all of their equipment and then took them to the police car - each child got to sit in the car and push the buttons, if they wanted to.

Thanks Dan for making Ellie's day! I know it wasn't fun wearing all of your paraphernalia, but your niece and sister appreciate it!

I'm having trouble with photobucket again so click here for pics.

valentine's day pics

I just posted pictures from our Valentine's Day activities - check them out here
http://grace-and-joy.blogspot.com/2008/02/happy-valentines-day.html

let me clarify

Ok, I just want to clarify my comments from yesterday - I know that there are many moms out there who would love, more than anything, to be home with their kiddos, but for many reasons, are unable to do so. I completely understand that! I know that there are mommies who can't stand that they have to get up and take their babies to day care at the crack of dawn so that they can get to work and put food on the table - YOU ARE NOT THE MOMMIES I WROTE ABOUT YESTERDAY!

I just didn't want anyone to get the idea that I think all working mommies don't want to be with their babies - I hope this makes sense!

Ok, just had to get that off my chest!

registered

Ellie is officially registered for kindergarten! Boo Hoo!!!!!

As I sat there waiting for the registration to begin I was talking to a couple of the moms and listening to their conversations. A couple of them were talking about day care and making sure that they got their little ones signed up and the whole preschool conversation came up (I kept my mouth shut - hard for me to do), anyways, they were talking about how much day care/preschool costs each year - about $10k!!!! I was shocked and said something to that effect. One of the mom's proceeded to say how she just wouldn't be able to stay home with her kids - she was home with them this weekend (hubby was working or something) and she was ready to kill them - they were driving her crazy!!! I was so saddened!!! Yeah, staying home is no walk in the park, but I couldn't imagine leaving my girls with anyone all day, everyday!!!! (yes, I understand that there are mommies out there that don't have a choice - you are NOT who I am talking about!!)

I was so thankful for my mom and that she instilled in us how much she loved us and loved being home with us - because of her I wanted to do the same thing! I don't think I can match her in any way - she was and is a phenomenal mom - but she gave me a great goal to strive for. My mom was always so happy for vacations and so sad when we had to go back to school I always felt that my mom wanted us around - she NEVER was the one jumping up and down when summer was over - she was the one crying that we had to go back to school and the fun was over. All that to say, I am so thankful that I get to be home with my adorable, silly, crazy, loud, loving, funny little girls and I wouldn't trade one little moment with them!

Thanks Flav!!! :o)

birthday party!!!

Saturday was the BIG DAY ~ we had a birthday party for the girls (their birthdays are just 13 days apart with leap year). We did a family party - which is a crazy group in and of itself - I mean as far as numbers go, and well, if you know them, they are a crazy group and so much fun! Anyways here are a few pics!

We decorated cookies, Flavio took the kids down to the park for a bit, we ate pizza (love costco!!!), hit the pinata, ate cake, and opened presents! It was a great day!

I asked Ellie what the best part of the day was - thinking she'd tell me the cake or hitting the pinata or decorating cookies - nope - she said the best part was having all her family there! I thought that was so sweet!

"felf"

So, Lily will be two next thursday and her newest thing to say is "felf"!! Meaning, she wants to do it "herself". What am I thinking? She is nearly two - of course she can do everything on her own! I mean she is almost two! If you have ever had a two year old you know full well this new age of independence! I really love two!!! I don't and have never bought into the "terrible twos" (thanks in huge part to my parents) - I think it is a fun time of discovery and a lot of discipline!

I know this is short, but I've gotta get ready for a birthday party this weekend - more blogging later.

:o)

happy valentine's day

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! We did!!!

Flavio surprised us with a date! He told me he had the day off and that he had planned a date with his girls - ahhh, so cute! It was a real treat to actually have him off and then to get to do some fun things.

I will post some pictures in a little bit - that's for Karla! :o)

The day started with Flavio taking Ellie Grace with him to get his hair cut - a fun thing he enjoys doing with Ellie - they usually get a donut, but we had just had breakfast.

Lily and I got ready and packed a lunch for our adventure - I thought we were going to Disneyland - that would've been a shock - seeing as Flavio doesn't like Disneyland (that is putting it nicely). Anyways, we loaded up the car - not sure where we were going I grabbed a few extra things - jammies and jackets. We ended up at this cute little park in Beverly Hills - Holmby Park. It kinda reminded me of an extremely small Central Park (the real one, not the one in Santa Clarita) - we could see a few skyscrapers, but felt totally tucked away. The girls had a blast - mostly because there daddy was with them at the park! It was so cute to see them want him to push them on the swings and go on the slides and just run around with. Attached to the park is a small golf course - I mean small - just a fun little place to practice - we walked around this little course. There were dogs everywhere, much to Ellie and Lily's delight. We ate our lunch and then headed off to our next point of interest - Sprinkles!

Ellie and I waited in line for an hour, yes, you read that right - 60 minutes - for cupcakes! I have to be honest - their cupcakes are good, but I think I like mine better :o) and I don't have to wait in a long line for mine, but it was fun and something that Flavio knew I would want to do!

We did have to squeeze a little work into our day, but that was fine cause it took us to Malibu. We spent a little time by the beach - the girls loved running around on this little bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean - we saw about 4 or 5 dolphins swimming - such a beautiful sight! Amazing to see the beauty that God has created!

After Malibu it was back to the santa clarita valley for the castros. It was a fun day! What better way to spend Valentine's Day then with the people I love the most!
Thanks babe for a wonderful day!

dad's day

I have been looking forward to doing Master's Kids with Ellie since she was born and I would get more and more excited with each new detail I would hear. I was soooooo excited to hear about a day for the dad's to come, so from the beginning of this TMK year I have been telling Flavio about it and that he has to make sure to have the day off - which he happily did!

Ellie and her daddy had so much fun. I am pretty sure it would be a tie as to who had the most fun! It was so cute to see all of the dads going through the class and participating with their little ones. They were all made "Special Child" for the day and Ellie got to introduce her daddy. She told everyone how she and her daddy like to play "go fish" - which they do. They put her snack together (an airplane), did the crafts together, sang songs, and finally had paper airplane races - to which she was quite sad that they didn't win a prize, but it was a good opportunity for daddy to tell her that you don't always win (something that was hard for him to say, I am sure!).

Well, here are a few pics from our fun day of wonderful memories! I got to be there because I am a coordinator - one of the perks - I wouldn't have missed it for the world! Nothing warms my heart more than watching Flavio with his girls and vice versa!

not sure what is going on with photobucket - but check the pics out HERE.

on the phone

Ok, is this not too cute???

Ellie's nails were in need of a re-do, so she had a mani/pedi this afternoon after her nap - gotta be ready for Dad's Day tomorrow, anyways she was talking on the phone - doesn't she just look like one of the ladies you'd see at the nail salon chattin' away on the phone with her best girlfriend?

week of fun!

Ok, well, just about every week is fun, but this week I made a bit of an effort to do fun things out of the norm. Ellie loves to paint so we painted one day - Lily LOVED it as you will see and then yesterday (and today) we went to the new park that opened up down the street. I like this park because they actually have swings! The girls LOVE the swings. Lily tells me faster, faster, higher. She is my little daredevil - in fact she did a magnificent flip off of the swing today - landed face first in the sand! Other than eating sand she was totally fine and ready for more. They had a blast! I mean what kid wouldn't!!! They get so excited when we go to the park - the other day we rode bikes down to our little park and Lily just kept yelling "palk, palk" as if she had never been and saying "hi palk" at the top of her lungs.

So here are some pics of our fun week.

Enjoy your weekend. We have dad's day tomorrow with Master's Kids so I will put our pics up as soon as possible - should be fun! Ellie can't wait to show her daddy what she does at TMK.

If you aren't able to see the slideshow - it doesn't seem to be working on my computer - just click HERE.

building memories

I love the time after I have put Lily to bed and before Ellie goes to bed. We usually come downstairs, she gets a little treat, I pick up the kitchen, and then we read or play a game or just sit on the couch together.

Well, tonight she wanted to play Go Fish. I love this game, because it is something that she can play without help. As we were playing cross-legged on the couch I kept looking at her and thinking what a beautiful little girl she is. I love her smile that lights up her precious little face. I love how her eyes sparkle when she has gotten the match she was looking for or when she is able to get the card she was looking for from me. Or the little mischevious grin she gets when she knows she has gotten a card that I have and is just waiting her turn.

Growing up we used to say we were "building memories" - usually when we wanted to do something and my dad was a bit reluctant - well, tonight, as I sat there, I just thought about the wonderful memory I was building with my little girl.

BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN!!!

On Thursday, Ellie and I headed down to Disneyland - she was invited to a birthday party there! Gotta love having a pass!!! (as a side note - need a birthday idea for Ellie - she would love to get her pass renewed - so Disney Dollars would be great!) So, off we went to the Mouse House! It was a party from the get go - we picked up her bestest little friend Sydney and her mama. The girls watched The Little Mermaid all the way down, Jodi and I talked, it was great! We met up with all of the other girls and went on all of our favorite rides - dumbo (ok, not my fave, but I didn't have to go on it Yea!), storybook ride, casey jr, tea cups, and as we got off the tea cups one of the girls decided that she wanted to go on Matterhorn - so Ellie decided that she did too!! I was really surprised, but I figured we should jump at the chance since my dear little girl is a bit timid when it comes to bigger rides. Unfortunately, Matterhorn was closed - I actually think it is closed more than it is opened. Well, I figured that this is my opportunity to see about getting her on some bigger rides.

Most everyone left at 3pm - but there were six of us who stayed on - three little girls and their mamas. We had a BLAST!!! We went over to California Adventure - saw the Aladdin show - really well done, went on Flavio's favorite ride - Soarin' over California (again, not my fave, but I did it for my girl), then back to Disneyland we went. We all decided to go on the train ride (aka Big Thunder Mountain) - I thought the name might scare Ellie a bit so we just called it the train ride - she asked if it was like Thomas the Train - I said sorta! I didn't want her to see how fast the train went for fear she'd chicken out - fortunately it was dark so she couldn't see. We got on the train and she had the time of her life! She put her hands in the air and screamed for joy! It was the cutest thing! The girls all loved it so much we went on it again!!! I am so proud of my little girl! I think she will be surprised when we go on it during the day next time - it is a big roller coaster.

We thought about going to Space Mountain next, but . . . didn't want to scar the girls for life - that one is a serious ride and in the dark the entire time - maybe we will do that one next year!