Mini-Vacation

I think it's safe to say that we've found our favorite family getaway destination. The Great Wolf Lodge. And to be more specific, the GWL in Grapevine, Texas. We first visited the GWL-Kansas City last fall which rendered lots of fun for the entire family that we decided to give the Grapevine location a shot over the Memorial Day weekend - which also marked our wedding anniversary. Woot! Woot! 6 years! This year we decided to forgo a Jamaican vacayand instead spent our 6th anniversary with our two little ladies. My parents along with my brothers joined in on the fun; GREAT fun for all.

If anyone is considering make a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge and can't decide between the two closest locations, this is why we prefer the Grapevine location over the Kansas City

-larger resort hence more rooms

-larger indoor water park. spacious without the feeling of being overcrowded.

-seven water slides and the slap tail pond with 3ft. waves (great for prepping the girls for the ocean)

-larger outdoor water park. two water slides

-more fun and comforts, very accommodating for all age groups

-good restaurants

-friendlier staff

-their bracelet system - serves as entry to water park, room key and with the added ability of "charge to room" if needed.

Overall, we loved it and highly recommend this location to anyone looking for a mini vacation.

I only took two pictures during our entire stay, I feel terrible. I have got to do a better job at capturing memories :( In my defense, we were busy having fun with our little girls. We simply love seeing them smile and watchingthem enjoy life.

The girls and Violet, their favorite Wolf

2013 Bucket List - a family weekender with grandparents..........CHECK!

Play dates

We LOVE everything there is to love about play dates. We love hosting them as well as being guests. No matter the size or the place, they're our absolute favorite. We've been extremely lucky in finding a great group of kiddos and wonderful mamas to become good friends with. Despite the fact that not one single family lives in Prague, we still put forth effort in meeting once a week (at least) to let the kiddos play. Okay, who are we kidding, we love having Mommy talk too! We met our wonderful friends through our Kindermusik program in Shawnee. This has been a wonderful program for our little family. The program has helped Isabel and Maya tremendously in their developments and its allowed me to meet some wonderful stay-at-home Mamas.
In my Summer 2013 Bucket List I mentioned how I'd like to host a play date once a month at our house, so far I've stayed on top of it:)
For the month of May we hosted a Painting Play Date. The children got to play with paint, learn how to mix colors and explore different painting tools. Lots of fun!


No matter how neat the project, nothing beats outdoor fun. Thank goodness for the great outdoor living space! What kid doesn't enjoy running freely, playing some good ol' fashioned hide and seek? These kids, together, have more energy and momentum than an Oklahoma tornado!



Here you have our M&M's (Maya and Marie)exploring and learning the world around them.

Sitting here blogging and glancing through images makes me realize that we're slowly setting our roots here in this small town. The place where we will raise our girls and make wonderful memories; this is our home.

Yo y mi media naranja

despues de un juego de baloncesto

(Thunder vs. Rockets)

Girly Girl Fun

"The more you dress up the more fun you'll have"

-Brian molko

I think these two have just realized what it means to have a sister......LOTS of girly girl FUN!

I'm saving these images for their wedding days.

My two loves

My loves!

What I love the most about Isa right now...

Her politeness

Her love for princess dresses

Her taste in music

How sociable she's become

How she enjoys playing video games with her dad

That she still naps

Her desire to learn

Her eagerness to teach her sister everything she knows

That she compliments me every time I dress up

How she tells me she loves me everyday

How she must tell her daddy every morning that "you always comes back"

How she loves Fabuloso in her potty.

(I mean, how cool is it not to be able to pee in purple toilet water?)

How she loves Pistol Pete

That she loves to host play dates

Her thoughtfulness for others

Her creativity

Her interest in "workbooks"

How she can't see herself without her sister

How she can't live without her pink bear

What I love the most about Maya right now...

Her sweet voice

Her sweetness

How contagious her laughter is

Her admiration for her sister

How she says Mami

Her facial expressions

How she sings, Rain Rain Go Away!

How she terrorizes every room she walks into

How she asks that I chase her with a blow dryer

How she loves to dance to Sophia's intro

How she yells with excitement, Phia! Phia!

How excited she gets when Daddy comes home

Her dance moves....hilarious!

How she loves a challenge

How she compliments herself

How she's everyone's fan

How intelligent she is

Her love for food

How she hates going to bed without her sister

How fearless she can be

How she loves for all of us to dance together

(Oh yea, we host dance parties in the living room weekly!)

Nothing melts my heart more than watching my two loves love each other.

No matter how crazy these two drive me at times, I couldn't live without them.

They are the best thing that God could've blessed us with.

Spice in our Life

I love this quote. This quote can be applied to many aspects of life but today I'm applying it in my kitchen :)

I love spicy food. I enjoy the variation of taste that spices bring out in foods. Nothing screams my name out more than a fully colored, spicy dish :)

Mexicans love to use the basic, jalapeños and cilantro. For color we use tomatoes and onions. In.every.thing! That's standard so when in doubt, you should always revert to that. And I always do.

Today the girls are feeling a little under the weather - mild cold with severe grumpiness The forecast is that of rain and chilly winds so this mama is making them a traditional Mexican soup. Lentil Bean Soup - my favorite and to everyone's surprise, theirs too!

These beans alone are tasteless so all I do is throw in the Mexican basics. Yep, jalapeños and all. Add a little salt and a dash of this, another Mexican favorite when making soups...

And you're done.

Every Mexican has this in their pantry, I can assure you that :)

My soup is ready in no time and all I have to do now is wait for lunch to roll around.

¡Buen provecho

(spanish for bon appétit)

What is your favorite spice?

Quote Junkie

I love reading blogs. Whether they're personal blogs, crafty blogs, educational blogs, whatever! I love others' ideas, creations or motives. One idea that I absolutely love is that of sharing quotes (wink, Karie). You know the ones that you constantly see throughout Facebook and Pinterest. I find myself reading every single quote that comes across my newsfeed and saving images onto my photo libraries. So, I will steal my good friend's idea and share quotes I feel inspire and motivate me to move in the direction I want to go as an individual, a wife and a mother.

So first up is this one...

....because we all have difficult people in our lives :)