DandMSquared

Five month update....

2009-09-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

I really have meant to update sooner but five months have past by and here we are. Let's see....

We had an awesome time at the beach. Issa loved the ocean and it was a much needed break.
I graduated with my Masters. Yeah! Still looking for a job-I know the perfect one is out there waiting for me.
Issa started horse ridding lessons. She gets to ride Flirt or Christie. She's really just learning the basics of how to be around a horse and what you have to do to take care of them plus ride on the trail or in the arena.
We went to the pool and rode bikes went for walks and had picnics. We had a picturesque summer.
Issa had lots of visitors in September-both sets of grandparents and Uncle John(she didn't want to let him out of her sight).

Next up..our annual Jeep Jamboree, Halloween and the Holidays.

Rock and Roll

2009-04-24T12:08:00.000-07:00

We have this silly song that we do gymnastics to at work with the kids. The song is called Rock and Roll Grandma; we used it in class about seven weeks ago. Today one of my kids mom's said: "Out of the blue, two weeks ago, Anna said 'Ms. Maria's grandma is turning into a rock and roll grandma!'" This actually made me laugh; thinking about Gram quite, calm and composed while here and now that she is in heaven she is rockin' it out. Let's rock n' roll, baby. Let's rock n' roll!

April SNOW brings frosty, frozen flowers

2009-04-20T12:04:00.000-07:00

We spent Easter at home and woke up to this on Easter morning:

It actually melted and we were able to go outside and hunt for eggs later in the evening. We will have to wear our fancy Easter dresses for Memorial Day or on a Monday just because.

Quilt

2009-04-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

I have been asked to post what was written on the quilt I made for my grandmother; excuse my tears but here it goes:

Gram,
This quilt was created on April 13, 2009. The squares represent your six grandchildren, five of the circles represent your great-grand children and the last circle is for those yet to be born. I am so lucky to have been in your guidance. You have taught me, inspired me, and bestowed upon me your wisdom. I will always be a torch for your spirit, instilling the gifts you have given me to all those whom I touch and inspire. I have been truly blessed by the relationship we share and will live with fortitude and grace in your memory and honor.

Love,
Maria

My heart still drops when I remember that she is gone, but I will live my words to her and do my best to make her proud of me and all that I accomplish.

We are home

2009-04-16T08:50:00.001-07:00

I have lost one of my favorite people, my grandmother. She passed away on Thursday April 9, 2009. So we all flew home to be with our family. I think I will be sad for a while, sad for many reasons. Sad because I was not close enough, sad that we couldn't do anything to help her, and sad that I wont be able to make any new memories with her. She taught me so much and I hope I made her proud.

Cowgirl Issa is now 3!

2009-04-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

Issa only had two requests for her 3 birthday party that it was a cowgirl party and that she had sprinkles on her cake.
With the awesome help from Harriet and Melissa her cowgirl cake was created; it was fabulous. We celebrated at the park and alot of Issa's favorite people were there to kick up thier heels at her western themed party. We ate mini corndogs, texas caviar, chips and salsa, and of course CAKE!

Disney World

2009-04-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

Daniel, me, Grandma and Grandpa Sanchez all took Issa to Disney World for her Birthday. We visited Epot the first day; complete with the Storybook Lunch with the Princesses. We got pictures with so many characters, but Issa was apprehensive about being near any of them. The pictures are silly. One smiling princess and one frozen little girl glued to her mommy. The next day we visited Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom. Issa liked riding the train around the animal park at Magic Kingdom she rode the Goofy Barnstormer. She LOVED it. She liked riding Dumbo, the carousal, the dinosaurs.....I was suprised about how many rides she was able to get on. Micky & Minnies houses were also a hit! The next day we went to Hollywood Studios. The rides there were mostly for us-Rockin' Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror. We went back to Magic Kingdom for more fun and for mutiple rides on It's A Small World. We spent at the Magic Kingdom. It was a blast!
Issa still asks if we can go back to Disney World after we go to school or after a nap! Hopefuly we can take her back soon. It was a great vacation.

First Movie at a Theater

2009-03-05T22:08:00.000-08:00

Issa saw her first movie at the movie theater a few weeks ago. It was her reward for completing a task chart. (By the way I love that chart.) We had try to go a week before but Issa fell asleep on the drive to the theater so we let her sleep and ran a few errands instead. She was not too happy when she woke up and discovered we were back home. Try explaining movie times to a 2 1/2 year old. So on attempt # 2 we actually made it. We (me, Daniel & Issa) had the theater almost completely to ourselves. There was only a little girl and her mom besides us. We saw Bolt. We didn't know but it is a 3-d movie and very cool to watch. They do need kids size glasses, Issa finally got tired of hers slipping off of her face by the last fifteen minutes of the movie and watched without them. She was very happy and proud to be such a big girl at the theater. I even let her pick out candy. She choose starbursts and enjoyed every second of every one of those fruit flavored squares. I took pictures on my phone, so I will have to figure out how to download them so you can see how happy she was! Cheers to many more completed tasks!

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-02-23T16:28:00.000-08:00

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Sheesh...I know its been to long!

2009-02-23T15:56:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to update this site for well months. So here is an update!

1. We now have a fence! Carlita is the happiest she has been in about four years. We have to bribe her to come inside. Weird as it seems our yard actually seems bigger.

2. We painted the living room/entry/dinning room and the desk cove in the kitchen. It feels good to be surrounded by a color other than builder beige.

3. Issa is doing great at daycare. I am happy at work and Daniel is busy at work.

4. As of today I have eight weeks left until graduation. A large and festive party will be forthcoming.

5. I'm in the planning stages for Issa's birthday and this just reminded me that I need to get the invitations out by this week.

Christmas

2008-12-26T15:31:00.000-08:00

We hope you had an enjoyable Holiday. We had to work half day on Christmas Eve. Then we went to Children's mass and it was so packed that we had to stand in the doorway of the vestibule. About half way through the service, Marissa said when are we going to church? I had to explain that we were there but there were a lot of people celebrating Jesus' birthday and there was no room for us to sit down. She accepted that, but we did have to hold her the rest of the service. The bonus was that she was infatuated with a cute 3 month old baby and her neurotic mom. (The mom told her mother in law to be very careful with the baby because her dress was very slippery. She also totally freaked out when someone sneezed. I guess I was equally entertained.) After church we went to Mark and Vicki's house for dinner. Marissa got to play with Samuel and Anthony and Rachel.

We came back home and wrote a letter to Santa, left him cookies/milk and carrots for the reindeer. Marissa went off to bed with visions of sugarplums dancing in her head. I was so excited for Christmas that I had to wake Issa up and ask her if she thought Santa had come. She was groggy at first then was stoked when she discovered Santa had left her a new baby doll. She has been taking care of that baby since then. We had a lazy Christmas morning. Then we went to give the boy's their gift. The boy's got a awesome dinosaur from Santa! It eats leaves and growls and....it was so cool. After being sidetracked for an hour we headed over to Tim & Christy's house to have dinner with them and their family. Issa got to spend some time with grandma Jean which was really nice. We have video of the kids playing the Wii. Marissa didn't care about landing the ski jump; just about becoming a snowball. Happy Holidays!

P.S.

Marissa asked me on Christmas day: "When is Jesus going to blow out the candles on his birthday cake?"

2008-12-25T07:42:00.000-08:00

M-for Marissa

2008-12-17T16:19:00.000-08:00

Tonight after dinner Issa asked us if wanted some music. It was an unusual night because of the silence-we always have music on in the background. Issa decided that she was the m.c. and wanted to know what letter we wanted to here about. She has a fridge phonics toy that helps kids learn the alphabet and phonics. I said I wanted to hear about "M" for Marissa and she said Oh, ok. M for Marissa. Now this doesn't seem like a big deal, BUT it is because this is the first time she has ever said her whole name. Since she began talking she has only called herself Issa.

This picture is of Issa trimming the tree. I just let her do whatever she wanted and she felt only one section of the tree was worthy of decoration!

Mmmmm Cookies

2008-12-11T13:36:00.000-08:00

Marissa was watching the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode "Secret Spy Daisy". Daisy is trying to keep Pete from getting Clarabelle's oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. After she watched to show she said she wanted to make Mmmmmm cookies too.

Her request is timely because it is baking season. I have been looking over all of my recipes trying to decide what type of cookies/bread to make. I have such grand ideas about what I'm going to make but in reality; I always make the same thing. Apple cake, pumkin roll and lime/lemon meltaways. Is this the year I break away? I guess we will find out Saturday when I go shopping.

In other news....I have a job. I was offered the Program Director position at TLG Smyrna!!! Daniel and I just registered Marissa for daycare. Yeah for employement.

2008-12-09T08:59:00.001-08:00

2008-12-09T08:59:00.000-08:00

2008-12-09T08:58:00.000-08:00

This is from Issa's last gymnastics class at TLG West Cobb. There were quite a few kids missing, but we had fun and Issa did her first pull over on the bar without being scared.

Whose afraid of the Big Bad...SANTA?!

2008-12-09T08:41:00.000-08:00

Well Marissa is; and I feel rightfully so! Her first Christmas, nine months old, we thought we might be able to get picture with Santa. We were wrong. She was and still is weary of men, and men with beards forget it. So this year, out of the blue Issa started talking about Santa and wanting to go see him. I just let it go. I was surprised when she continued talking about him, so much so that I asked her if she wanted to take a picture with him. She robustly said "Yes!" Yesterday we made the trek to the mall and watched the kids go through the process from the second floor. She was eager to go downstairs so we went down the escalator to go see Santa! But the reality was just to overwhelming for her. She peered at him through the set and essentially started to freak out. So we left and when she felt safe again she proudly said: "I saw Santa!"

Pilates, PTD, Swings & Ears

2008-11-17T14:57:00.000-08:00

Weird title but that's whats been going on in our lives....This weekend was super grueling to say the least. I completed my Beginner Pilates mat certification. It was very gratifying and I can't wait to teach.

I saw the Paul Taylor Dance Company perform on Saturday. They performed three dances. Its funny how I have forgotten how much dance was part of my life. Those same feelings I used to get when I performed started building in me. I was a little sad when it was over because I wanted that feeling to continue. I of course got to see my good friend Francisco perform for the first time in 9 1/2 years and it was beautiful to watch. http://www.ptdc.org/ Melissa came with me and had never seen modern dance before; she was blown away.

Daniel finished putting together Marissa's new playhouse/swing set. It is massive and amazing...we owe every thanks to my friend Bartley who GAVE the set to us. It has a rock wall and a fort and a slide and two swings and a gymnastics bar and its the new hit. Today Marissa said she wanted to go home to play on her playground!

Speaking of Marissa. She also has a brand new ear infection. She has been tugging at her ear and complaining about it for the last four days. Today we headed over to her doctor to get it checked out. We hadn't been the to doctor since March; that is an awesome record for not getting sick. Hopefully it's not downhill from here.

A Dancer's World

2008-11-10T11:51:00.000-08:00

Marissa loves to watch my Martha Graham Dance on Film DVD. She says "I want to see the dancers" and stares at the screen. She is not so much for Appalachian Spring or Night Journey(ok if didnt let her see that one), but loves to see A Dancer's World. Martha narrates and the dancers perform in the studio. I hope she continues to be intrigued by dance!

Jeep Jamboree

2008-10-26T15:31:00.000-07:00

One of Daniel's proudest moments of Issa was when she said, "Daddy I want to go off the road!" Here is a picture of the Jeeps on our Jeep Jamboree weekend. We camped out and ate wonderful food and Issa was free to run and play and of course ride her Jeep anywhere she pleased. (Down that hill was her favorite.)

Pioneer Days in Villa Rica

2008-10-26T15:25:00.000-07:00

This is Issa at the Pioneer Days festival in Villa Rica. We ate some terrible food for charity, saw lots of honey bees in a glass box, two artisans and a hayride. We had fun, but it kind of was like pioneer day's because there were so few people!

New Blog

2008-10-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to our new blog. Our easysite is currently disabled..but it may resume in the future. For now check here for new pictures and updated information.

We are excited for Halloween. Marissa is on a big Cinderella kick and has been wearing her costume around the house now for about a month. We did get to go to The Little Gym today for a costume party. I got a really good picture of Issa she even stoped to pose.