Testing 123, this is me blogging from my iPhone.

Grandma's apple pie

details to come!

Love letters

Oh how I love a good love letter! 12 years ago when I met my husband (online) we immediately started emailing eachother. Emails turned into handwritten letters and soon after that, phone calls. I couldn't wait to check the mail everyday to see if I had another letter from him. Usually one would be waiting for me (Cue Mr. Postman in the background please). My heart would race everytime I held a new letter in my hands. They were epic letters, sometimes as long as 5 pages front and back and almost always included a little surprise for me. He'd jot down a poem for me at work or tear the petals off a rose and fold them into the letter. Can you see yet why I'm so head over heels for him?

For over a year we emailed, wrote numerous letters and called eachother several times a week. I may not have been able to see or touch him in person, but I knew him and he knew me. When he decided to leave Texas for Guam I wasn't scared to meet him, in fact, the minute I laid eyes on him at the airport I knew that that was it for me. And as they say, the rest is history.

Now that the "how we met" is out of the way back to love letters. I have every letter Mike and I wrote eachother, every Email, every phone card. When my grandma passed away in 1997 we were unable to go to California for the funeral so a few of her things were sent to us by my aunt to remember her by. My favorite... you guessed it love letters! My grandma and grandpa wrote love letters to eachother. A fat stack of loveletters written in pencil on yellowed paper. They're beautiful and romantic. I'm not clear on why they were apart to cause such letters, but either way I'm grateful to have them.

My mom and dad also wrote love letters. My mom with her beautiful penmanship and my dads chickenscratch with his black government issued click pen. They were only seperated by a few hours drive but my mom was in high school and my dad worked. He'd drive up on weekends but write a letter for nearly everyday he was away from her, and so did she. I didn't know about these letters until long after my dad passed away but I love that I can be a witness to their courtship through these letters.

I've been married for nine years now and love letters have turned into surprise emails or quick text messages, but they still quicken my heart. I can't wait to share three generations of love letters with my daughters and I pray that one day one or both of my girls experience the thrill of sending and receiving a love letter.

Holy heatwave Batman!

Let me start off by saying IT IS HOT HOT HOT in West Texas! So hot in fact, that mom, the girls and I just got home from a milkshake run to Texas Burger. The high today was supposed to be 103, but the temp reader in my trusty toyota suggested otherwise when it immediately read 105. I'm a true island girl, raised on the beautiful island of Guam where it's warm year round and even I can't stand this heat. At least back home you could spend the day at the beach free of charge and cool off that way. Oh, how I miss my island home.


In other news I gained a new follower and it is no other than Supermom herself! I have known Supermom for a few years now, and met her on the AOL message boards when AOL was all the rage. She blogged on myspace for a bit and then started her own blog called " The adventures of Supermom". I have been a faithful reader ever since. If you haven't checked her blog out, peep over to the right of your screen and there you will find the link. Seriously, look now! I love her blog for several reasons. She is straight up and honest in everything she writes. She's open to her readers questions and also listens to her readers suggestions. She shares recipes, grocery shopping trips, and her everyday life that includes her husband and 4 kids ranging from a teenager down to a toddler. She is also very honest when it comes to herself personally sharing her trials with post partum depression, her opinions on breast feeding, and whatever else crosses her mind. She also reviews products, books, and TV shows with out spoiling them for her readers. I Heart Supermom and hope you take the chance to read her blog, I promise you will not regret it. She's incredibly funny too.


I think I have been doing a decent job as a new blogger. I know it's probably pretty boring, but I too am on summer vacation. Besides Maia's birthday and the 4th of July... nothing else has really been going on. Although I try to blog at least every other day for the few people that read this, I don't want to lose my few readers by blogging what time I woke up and what was on TV everyday. I'm trying to keep it interesting, if not funny. Hang in there with me, it will get better.


Tomorrow I'm baking an apple pie Grandma style. My grandma made the BEST apple pie I have ever had. It was blue ribbon, and won her lots of new appliances :). She passed away though in 1997 and my mom has been teaching me so I can carry on the legacy of Grandmas apple pie. I'm going to take pictures and blog step by step instructions for my sister and cousins on the Stinson side. If anyone else is interested, the recipe isn't top secret so you're free to give it a try too.


That's it for now, Mike will be home from work soon and dinner must be made. I'm thinking chicken alfredo with broccoli with a small salad. No bread, I'm trying more veggies, less starch and carbs. That's hard, I love bread, but I need to lose some weight too. (After I just said I was going to bake a pie :O)

Adios, until next time!

Celebrating Independence

The strobe lights were seriously bright!

Maia wasn't afraid of the sparklers or snap dragons, but was afraid of everything else.
One of the big fireworks. We had several that sparked, whistled, and shot up into the sky with bursts of colors. It was a blast!




So yesterday was the 4th of July ( Duh right?). Mike and I were up pretty late Friday night so sleeping in was definitely in order. The girls hate it when we sleep in so they were bugging us as soon as they woke up around 9am. We finally dragged ourselves out of (our super comfy) bed and I made breakfast. While eating Mike decided to ruin my day by suggesting we cut the backyard. I insisted that it was too hot to which he replied the weather isn't going to cool off anytime soon and it needs to be done. So I unhappily put on my tennis shoes and beat him outside to get things started. It was hotter than Hades out there, but out there I was pulling weeds, picking up dog poo and trash that our dogs like to litter the yard with. I also did all the edging while Mike did the mowing. I must admit that we're a pretty good team when it comes down to it. WE had our backyard cut and looking great in about 2 hours.


After waiting for the sun to go down we loaded the kids into the truck and headed west for some 4th of July festivities. Fireworks are legal in Texas as long as you pop them outside of the city limits. Luckily we've had quite a bit of rain and the burn ban was lifted just in time to partake in this American past time.

We stopped by truckload and spent way too much money on some really cool variety packs of fireworks. Two just for kids packs that has sparklers, strobe lights, spookers, black snakes, snap dragons, poppers, and golden flowers. We also got a Wild thing pack for Mike and I filled with the heavy artillery.I can't remember the names of the big guys, but they were FUN!

Micaylah is older now so we gave her a lighting stick and pretty much let her go crazy. She had a blast and we enjoyed watching her have so much fun. Maia loved the sparklers and snap dragons, but didn't care for the big fireworks so she hung out in the bed of the truck sticking to her favorites.

Good times and good memories were made. Although I'm an idiot and forgot my camera so the above pics off my iPhone will have to do. I hope everyone is enjoying what's left of the weekend. See you soon!

And just like that...

Maia's birthday celebrations are finally over. And thank the Lord because all this cupcake baking in this heat was totally draining me. I got up early this morning and started the baking of 48 cupcakes in already 90 degree heat. I then had to assemble the skull and crossbones, frost it and do some decorating. Luckily it was easier than I thought it would be and everyone loved it. I loved it too because I didn't have to cut cake! (It's the little things in life that keep me happy)

Not everyone showed up that was invited, but we had a decent turn out, and the important people were here. Grandma and Grandpa Armendarez, Mike and Denise with baby Elizabeth, my brother in law Roy and his wife Amy, Susan and her son Rylan, and of course Grandma Guerrero. We ate cake and ice cream, watched the guys play street fighter 4, and Maia opened some really great presents.

Now we're all just a tad exhausted from our very busy day. Tomorrow is Independence Day and we plan on popping fireworks outside the city limits. We did that last year and the kids had a blast. We can also see the fireworks from our house so a bbq sounds good too. We'll see what happens.

Happy 4th of July to all of our friends and family. Be safe and have fun!

Happy birthday Maia!

Happy 6th birthday to my baby girl Maia! Today has been a great day considering her birthday fell on a Wednesday. She woke up at 8:45am and immediately crawled into bed with me and requested her birthday song. (I am not ashamed to admit that I am the first to sing Happy Birthday to my girls every birthday.) After I serenaded her we got out of bed and grandma immediately wanted to give her a present. And so she did and Maia loves her Tinker Bell house. It's super cute, shaped like a tea pot and mom got her some extra faeries to go with it. She was so excited.

Later Mike came home for lunch and she received a few gifts from us. The fun gifts. She opened her yahtzee jr., new DS game, and Mitchie doll. She loved all of them. Her expressions are always priceless. Mike has been telling her for days that she was going to receive birthday spankings. Her PoPo is usually the one that delivers them but Mike wanted to do it this year just to torture her. Maia trying to be brave told her daddy to go ahead and give them to her. Then changed her mind, then agreed to get them. 7 taps on the fanny and she was laughing. She worried about nothing.

After lunch we loaded up and headed out to the movie theater to see "UP". It looked cute and we did not want to deal with the Ice Age 3 crowd. Thankfully NO ONE was interested in watching UP, so we had the theater all to ourselves. Ok it was us and 5 other people, same difference. Let me just tell you this movie broke my heart several times and even brought me to tears. If you have not had the pleasure of seeing this wonderful movie, I suggest you check it out before Harry Potter 6 kicks it out of the theaters. Take your spouse or significant other with you. You will not be disappointed. The girls really enjoyed UP and anytime the get popcorn and soda is a good time.

Up ended and off we went to pick up dinner. Susie made her a yummy carrot cake and pancit, and we picked up pizza and crazy bread from little cesars, becasue that's really what she wanted to eat. After dinner we sang happy birthday, she wished to be a teacher when she grows up, and she blew out her candles. It's been a great day.

I always reflect on the time I have had my girls in my life. Every birthday is a reminder of that special day when I first saw their little faces, counted fingers and toes and thanked God for all the blessings he has given us. Today I thought about Maia's delivery and how thankful I was that she was ok despite the difficult road we traveled to have her in this world. She was jaundiced for a few weeks after she was born and that was dramatic to say the least. But thankfully her pediatrician was wonderful and Maia was 100% ok in no time. I look at her now and she can read, write, dance like nobody's business, and really is the funniest kid I know.

Happy birthday baby girl! We love you unconditionally and completely. We are so lucky to have you in our lives!