Missing our Manners

If you don’t know this (I am SURE you do) I have been smitten with Max Edward since the very moment he came into this world. He was such a great baby, an entertaining and easy toddler and has been a pleasure to watch in his first year of Kindergarten.

Alas, he is entering a phase that I am not familiar with and it breaks my heart. My well mannered, sweet little man seems to be turning into an adolescent, complete with back talk and surliness. OH NO! I traveled Monday through Friday last week and I am quite accustomed to the punishment that Pia serves up after I’ve been gone. She is a nightmare in the first few days after I return, but one that I am prepared for. I am only hoping that Max’s current lack of manners and overall obnoxiousness is because he missed me and he will get over it.

He lost his privilege to play Wii over the weekend and is working towards missing his baseball game this week. This is serious! Please pray for his safe return. I’ll keep you posted . . .

p.s. My sweet boy's manners have returned, sort of. I think he's a little overextended right now, like everyone in our house, and isn't quite sure how to handle himself. A little sleep and a summer vacation should be just what the Dr. ordered.

Dancing with the Stars

How much do you love Dancing with the Stars?!??! I don't vote, but if I did it would be for Jason & Edyta. I can't wait to see who wins!!

Where did the month go?

I could be bummed about not having more time to update our blog if we weren't so busy living this crazy, fantastic life of ours. I am not any sort of religious fanatic, nor do I think everything is puppy dogs and ice cream all the time. I MUST say, however, that Ed and I are living a charmed life. It is hectic, and stressful and all of the things a busy life should be, but we are extraordinarily blessed to have each other, our children and our extended family to keep us grounded and sane. The last month has been a blast . . .

FIRST - we got a golf cart!! That is big news at our house. A golf cart in our neighborhood is THE thing. We can take it on any 25 MPH street which leaves almost nothing off limits. So far, we have been to Max's last four baseball games in it, Pia and I cruised to the beach (FABULOUS!), we've been to weekend breakfast and lunch a few times and we just like to take it out and cruise. When we're done for the day, we plug it in to an outlet in the garage. With gas right at $4 per gallon, we are loving that!

We've celebrated three special family birthdays and enjoyed every minute of that. First, we got to see the whole Montoya gang (and more!!) when we celebrated Stacy's fiance' Eric's birthday with a party at their house. Then Max & Pia's beloved Aunt Stacy gave us a good reason for a family dinner celebration at Mario's, our longtime favorite (Thanks, Stace!!) Finally, our wild nephew, Graham, celebrated his 3rd birthday with us and that was fun for everyone! He was the cutest little redhead you have EVER seen when we sang to him.

And Max & Pia's Nana just left for Tallahassee after a long Mother's Day weekend celebration with us. She got treated to Mother's Day tea at Pia's preschool and got to see our baseball star in action. We had a great time around San Clemente and on an overnight trip to San Diego. We went to a Padres game, had dinner in the Gaslamp District and all enjoyed our time together. Max was not very happy when he woke up for the first time and his Nana was gone. For as little as they are able to be together, it warms my heart that he is so fond of her.

The end of May is bringing some business travel for Ed and me and lots of catching up from all of our recent fun. Such is the nature of the beast, I suppose. All of this good stuff is definitely not free so we keep showing up for work and hoping there's a paycheck at the end of the week!! We're definitely counting down the days until we leave for Hawaii! Those are the times that make the rest of the madness seem worth it somehow. Aloha for now