Friday, January 25, 2008

One year ago today....

Every now and then, I like to look back at my posts from the same date from the previous year. I just did and WOW! ....I can't get over how much the kiddos have grown! Enjoy the walk down memory lane.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

1st Outing of 2008

I arrived at the Salazar home this morning to find 2 smiling, energetic faces waiting for me at the front door. Their cute little faces plastered to the glass with shouts of CC! CC! brought immediate joy to my heart. Maya & Isabela were more than ready to head out for our 2nd adventure in painting their own pottery. I hardly had a chance to even say hi to Ash, before they were pushing me out the door. We headed out to pick up Gabriela from her other grandparents' house, as she spent the night with them last night. We pull up to the drive and there she is - waiting at the front door, all cute and ready to go.

Of course, we had to review the "painting" rules...and surprisingly, they remembered. Don't touch anything. Point to what you need and CC will give it to you. Only paint on your piece of pottery. Do not paint on anyone else's piece or anyone else, for that matter. Do not paint on your clothes, hands, feet, face, shoes, etc....you do have to be specific, because if you're not, and they paint their leg, they'll just say - but CC, you didn't say we couldn't paint on our leg. Therefore, we basically recite every body part and that way we're covered :)

Gabriela chose to paint the letter "G" to hang on her wall, as well as a small heart for Valentine's Day. Maya followed suit with the letter "M", well actually it's a "W" but we just flipped it over and I doubt that anyone else will notice. She also painted a heart. Isabela did not follow the crowd and repeated stood her ground on the fact that she was going to paint another fishie. She painted a fish the last time, and she wanted another one to add to her collection.

Gabriela is quite good with her choice of colors - everything matching, working well together ~ even added in her own polka dots without any assistance. Isabela is very serious when she paints. She is so concentrated and doesn't make a sound. I believe she must have put at least 10 coats of paint on that tiny little fish, but hey ~ that's art! Now, Maya....I believe she was done after about 4 minutes of painting...and that's while she's been looking around at anything and everything else. So, I helped her finish her artwork up.

We pile into the van, only to be asked, so CC ~ where are we going for lunch? Granted it was lunch time, but I honestly wasn't planning on taking them out. However, those 3 cute little faces and sweet little voices begged me to take them to Jason's Deli. Gabriela told me that it wouldn't cost much, because they would all share the big fruit plate and who know, CC, that's good for us. Oh ok....man! When did she get so smart? For those of you who are familiar with Jason's Deli, one of the best things about it, is the free soft serve icecream....and yes, of course, we did partake in it.

While we were eating, Gabriela hugged my neck and said, "CC, do you know how much I love you?" I said, "I bet not as much as I love you!" "Oh, CC, I love you more more more more more" "I love you more more more more, Gabriela" Then Gabriela said, "CC, I love you so much I can't even find the words." And with that, my heart was full.

What better way to spend a Saturday!

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Christmas Celebrations with the Crews clan....

We celebrated Christmas 3 times this year! Other than when I was traveling with the African Children's Choir (1995), this is only the 2nd time, we haven't all been able to be together on Christmas Day. We've been fortunate to have gone on for this long with being able to do that.

I've combined all the pictures from the 3 gatherings and put them on Picasa. Here is a link to the slideshow ~ enjoy!