precious moments

 

I take pictures way faster than I blog… so I’m very behind, and I don’t have a lot of time to blog today – I desperately need a shower, and then there are errands to be run (I’m even skipping aerobics, I have so much to do!) So I’m posting some of the highlights from the last little while. I’m going to put up some videos soon. I have a million adorable videos of Vince and Joseline, and I keep forgetting to upload them to the blog. So keep checking back soon – I’ll probably just do a whole “home videos” post.

 

a mossy landing

Today we went on a fun outing to Moss Landing. It is a little fishing community about 10 miles north of where we live. Right on Highway 1 there is a little produce stand with locally grown fresh produce. The prices are wonderful, and the produce is very fresh and very delicious. There are also other assorted goodies to be had. Right next door is a wonderful deli (and bar). We didn’t eat at the deli this time, but a few weeks ago when the whole family went, we had sandwiches and chips at the deli. The sandwiches were amazing!

We went around to the fishing docks and saw the “vicious sea lions” – apparently you’re not supposed to get very close to them. One was bobbing in the water right next to us, and I tried to walk past him, since only the tip of his head was out of the water. As i walked past, he rose up 3-4 feet out of the water! Ack! Needless to say, I backed off pretty fast. Vincente loved the sea lions, and the boats, of course – but what he loved the most was making me crazy by bending over to pick up the (very yucky) muscles left out on the docks and throwing them into the water. I have never been more nervous in my life.

   We went with our very pregnant friend, Dacia, and with our new mommy friend, Michelle, and her little baby “Epan” (that’s Vincentese for “Ethan”)

The weather was great. A little on the warm side, but it was beautiful and clear and made for a really great day. And we wore out both my babies (and me!) which makes for a very peaceful afternoon at the Rowleys.

 

pitter, patter, splash and splatter

 

On hot, sunny days, we like to run around in the sprinkler. By we, I mean Vincente and the neighbor kids – Isaac and his little brother and sister (twins). My neighbor Becca and I try to stay out of the sprinkler path. Unfortunately the water pressure is a little unpredictable at our houses, and even if you think you’re safe, you may get sprayed every few cycles of the sprinkler.

“Isgick” and “Bincent”

Love these boys.

 

Don’t you just loooove those gorgeous eyes! And the dirty face. Classic Vincente.

I saw a definition for boy the other day: boy (n.) – a noise with dirt on it

Very accurate description.

 

These are Becca’s beautiful twins. Left: Charlize, Right: Tristan. They are gorgeous little babies, and Tristan is a little crazy man – sitting still is TORTURE for this child. So running through the sprinklers is perfect for them.

   

Vince and Isaac eating cookies and making crazy faces at each other. Apparently Isaac is the Hulk, and Vincente is Spider Man. All the time.

Some more of my baby Vincente running in the sprinkler.

 

Had enough of the sprinklers. When he’s done, he asks for a “tower”

(which means towel, of course)

our life in pictures

 

My babies all loving each other. Joseline is wearing one of my under shirts, and Vincente is wearing… absolutely nothing. I think he had just gotten out of the shower. And we were folding clean laundry (hence Joseline in my under shirt)

Our family having Family Home Evening (FHE). We’ve been using the Church’s nursery manual Behold Your Little Ones for our FHE lessons. They are simple, and the manual also comes in Portuguese!

This is “rocking chair” time – when either Papai or I read to the babies. We’ve started including Joseline in our evening/naptime reading routine. She enjoys the books… mostly she enjoys eating them. But we hope she’ll soon start enjoying the stories they hold.

The life of a mother – laundry and playing with little children. All in the same moment. I love my family, and I love my job as a mother. I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

   

This is Papai on a normal day – playing with babies, or reading in another language (like Chinese). Left: Papai holding baby Mina. Right: Papai reading Harry Potter in Chinese (thanks, Sisty!)

Me and my baby girl. She is so precious to me. Love her love her love her.

Happy 28th, Papai! (and happy 23rd, Mamãe!)

After Joseline’s 6 month check up last Wednesday (yes, Joss’ half birthday is Papai’s birthday!), we wanted to surprise Papai for his birthday with cookies for his class. Well, the nurse took a little longer than expected to get Joseline her DTaP vaccine, so we didn’t get over to Russ’ class until about 10:50, and he gets out at 10:45. His motorcycle was gone. He went home for lunch, not knowing we were coming to surprise him.

Anyway, we went to a little playground on the post to wait for him to get back on post so we could give him his cookies. I figured that by the time we got to the house, he would be already on his way back to class.

I called our house phone about when I thought he would be there. The conversation went something like this:

Papai: Hello?

Me: Hi, honey!

Papai: How did you know to call me at home? (he had lost his phone earlier in the week, so I hadn’t had a way to get a hold of him)

Me: We’re sitting outside your classroom.

Papai: Oh! Well, I’ll pack up my sandwich and come back

Me: Okay, we’re waiting at the park across from your class.

Papai: Okay, see you soon.

What I didn’t realize was that “we’re waiting at the park across from your class” sounded to him like “we’re parked across from your class.” So we saw him drive right past us. I even flapped my arms like a dummy. But he didn’t see us.

The end of this story is happy – we finally met up outside his classroom, and ate really yummy frosted chocolate cookies. It was a pretty fun birthday party for Papai. And Vince loved playing at the park.

The family eating dinner at Olive Garden in Salinas (thanks, Mom and Dad Rowley!)

We didn’t get pictures of our family at The Fish Hopper in Monterey, but we also went there to eat (thanks, Mom and Dad Werner!)

Our birthday week was perfect -

Tuesday, my birthday, we got a sitter and went out to the Monterey Farmers Market. We ate burritos, quesadillas, and tamales. They were delish. Then that evening I got to have a girls’ night. It was fabulous.

Wednesday, Russ’ birthday, we did the whole surprise-that-ended-up-not-being-a-surprise. Then we went out to Olive Garden in Salinas. On the way back, we picked up Russ’ birthday gift at Walmart – a workout bench – decline, incline, and flat bench. So now Papai can do his workouts at home!

Friday we went out to The Fish Hopper. I had a scrumptious salad with all sorts of fishy food on it, Papai had fettucine alfredo (of course), Vince had spaghetti and meatballs, and Joseline at some bread.

Our birthday week was nice and quiet this year – just our family. And it was really nice.

in a tube

This is where we waited for Papai to get back to post for his birthday surprise. Vince loved the tunnels, and the sand, and the swings… of course, he loves parks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

There were two deer across from the park when we were there. Vince thought they were hilarious. The deer didn’t care about us. They were just laying around, and then one walked off. Obviously we were pretty boring company.

The chains on the swings were covered in the yellow plastic stuff. Vincente called them “macaroni and cheese.” Brilliant. I love my kid.

My First Flower!

An iris flower has finally bloomed in my front yard.

  These irises were taken from a huge clump in our backyard. When we first moved in, I thought it was just a grass, because it was so dense and stuck together. When I started watering the backyard (trying to get some grass to grow), the iris started to bloom! I thought, what a waste of iris sitting here in my backyard, I’ll replant it to the front yard!

Well, I had to dig underneath the big clump and then pull (and cut) apart the bulbs (which are actually not bulbs, they are rhizomes – you learn all sorts of new things when you get a new hobby). Anyway, the leaves had a fungus (I’m sure due to the extreme humidity here, and the clumpiness of the irises. They were so thick that the leaves were never able to dry out completely. That’s my theory, anyway.

Before I knew that’s what they had, I had planted all the irises in my front yard. I then learned that you are supposed to cut down all the infected plant parts. So a few days ago I went a-hacking away at my plants. They look kind of shabby, but I think the hacking helped this particular plant flower.

All of the irises are currently putting up new leaves, so I hope to have a garden in full bloom in a few months.

 

 

 

 

My torch lilies and peace lilies are also putting up new shoots and leaves, so I am going to need to get my sweet pea flowers started so I can have oodles of flowers. I can’t wait to take a picture of my flowering garden!

And on a side note – I started new tomato and bell pepper plants. This time I’m going to keep them in our office (usually the sunniest, and warmest, room in the house) under saran wrap and a lamp. I think that will help them grow better. It’s kind of chilly outside to be starting plants out there.

I also planted basil and chives in some little planters I made at our RS super Saturday. I’ll have to remember to post some of those pictures, too – but I’m a little behind on blogging, so those may have to wait.