Happy Valentine's Day, part 2

Ok, so lately I have been making a bigger deal out of holidays, like last Christmas and now Valentine's Day, to educate Aaron. So, today, amist all of my studying, I tried to make today somewhat memorable. I made cookies with hearts on them, baked a heart-shaped cake and let him decorate (with my help, of course... I'm too OCD and a perfectionist to let him really decorate it...he put the three or four m & m's that are out of place...I'm a bad mom, I know...;-), and took him to Hallmark to pick out a card for his dad. (oh yeah and he wore a Valentine's shirt, cute huh?)

It was a fun day. Brent got home early and suggested to eat out. (By the way, he said that the test was a lot harder than he thought! He's worried he did not pass, so please pray that the did.)

We found a good sushi restaurant that serves all you can eat (good quality) sushi. We felt like we found gold. Looks like we found our new favorite restaurant. Sushi...yummmmmmo!

Anyway I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's Day! (and prayer request!)

Brent came home today with red roses and a box of chocolates. Yes, I know that Valentine's Day is not until tomorrow, but we are both super busy this week with tests, so we are not planning to celebrate. Anyway, I thought it was nice that he made an effort to celebrate. He loves to buy flowers and gifts for me, he's just that type of guy. ;-) Anyway, here is a picture of the roses, and the other flowers were from last week. (He likes to keep my vase full... cute, huh?) The week before that he bought me blue flowers. Wierd, but they were pretty.

Also please pray for our tests: Brent is testing for a promotion tomorrow. It's a big deal, if he passes he becomes a Tech Sergeant (the raise is nice too!). I have two finals on Friday, and I have about 2 days to study. Yes...same old Cathy (the procrastinator). Anyway, it's a stressful time at my house until Friday afternoon, so keep us in prayer.

Outside Play

Ok, so I'm trying to be a good mom and take Aaron out more. I am such an indoor person, that I tend to want to stay home all day, do homework, catch up on chores, and cook. I actually enjoy those things. :-) Aaron pretty much plays indoors too, but I know he longs to be outside more. It has also been really cold so I don't have much of a choice, but I know that even if it was nice out, I'd make an excuse to stay home or go somewhere indoors like the mall or something. So for the sake of my son, I have made, yet, another commitment: to take Aaron to parks and play outdoors. This past Tuesday, we had a fun day.

First, Aaron and I went to his Gymboree class. I used to take him to Gymboree classes in Corona at the mall...but our HOA holds classes at one of the community centers here in our neighborhood. So I enrolled him, because he really liked the other class he used to be in.

Then I took him to an outdoor mall somethere near the strip. It's brand new and they have an AWESOME play area. They have playhouses, slides, and a maze! Aaron had a blast running through it! The best part is that there is only one entrance and exit, so I just stood there and let him run loose. It was great! Anyway I'm excited because our HOA has several different parks and playgrounds for the kids. Once the weather gets warmer, Aaron and I will be doing some park exploring.

Veggietales: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything

Don't get me wrong, I love Veggietales, but their last full-length movie, Jonah, puts me to sleep. Aaron doesn't care too much for it either. But this movie is much better. It's not as funny as some of the 30 minute length movies, but it still held Aaron's attention (and mine) througout the entire thing. The fact that my son loves pirates made it better. Overall, it was a good movie...we will definately see it again.

School time... well sort of...

Ok, so today we started some schooling. My plan was to teach Aaron one letter today (A) and some activities related to that letter. I got his workbook out but Aaron had other ideas. He was noticing everything on the page except the letter "A". He is so stubborn. He does not want me to teach him, but he wants to decide on what we go over. So somehow, (I forgot how) we got to a worksheet on colors, specifically blue. So, today we got some learning... he went over a few colors, focused on blue... and a little bit on the letter "A". He knows a few letters, some colors & shapes, and the numbers 1-10. But mainly I am trying to get him used to me teaching him stuff in more of a pre-school setting. I am also wanting to help him improve on his vocabulary and sentence structure. (he's a bit behind in his speech.) I was getting frustrated today, but I have to remember that Aaron is not used to any type of structure. That is something that we need to work on to get him ready for preschool. I am also realizing that I should have started this a while ago. Well, we have 8 months until he starts pre-school. It's going to be a long way to the finish line....

It begins...life returns to normal.

Today was our last official day of vacation. Brent goes back to work tomorrow, and he also starts his second job this week as well. So far he is only scheduled on the weekends, so we are happy to have him home during the weeknights. My school started last week, but this week begins the actual work and reading assignments. Also, I have commited to teaching Aaron at home to get him ready for preschool and kindergarten. So his home-schooling starts this week as well. This past month (well, since Brent has returned) we have been spending time together and just relaxing around the house and venturing around town. It's been good, but we are ready to get on with our regular schedule for this season of our lives.

Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay

Some of you know that Brent got hired part time at Mandalay Bay doing security at the hotel's convention center. He was able to get us free tickets to the casino's Shark Reef Aquarium. It was a nice aquarium, but definately not anywhere near as big as the one in Okinawa. Aaron has been watching Finding Nemo over and over on my iPod for the last few days, and so he really enjoyed seeing all the creatures underwater in real life. He did get scared, however, in the end, when we saw all the big sharks. Here are some pics of our shark experience.

Helicopter Ride

I begged and begged Brent to let us ride the helicopter since I have never been on one. It was an on-going debate while we were there. But in the end, he gave in. I was super excited. But as soon as we lifted off, I got motion sickness. It was a horrible feeling. I felt really stupid afterwards, 'cause Brent told me that will happen. Oh well, we got good pictures, and at least I got to ride in a helicopter and won't feel the need to do it ever again. ;-) Next time I will listen to my husband...

More Grand Canyon Pics

Grand Canyon- First Family Trip

As soon as the Jacobos left, (we had a busy weekend), we headed to Grand Canyon. It was a VERY last minute trip. We were bored after our friends left and Brent and I basically just looked at each other and said, "Let's go on a trip." So we went! It was our first road trip together. We left about 8 pm and got there at like 1 or 2 am. We were suprised, but very glad to see snow! We planned to make a trip to the snow sometime this month, so it worked our perfectly. We stayed at a hotel for 2 nights and drove around the park during the day. In the end, we took a helicopter ride. We were exhausted by the time we got back, but it was well worth it.

The Jacobo Family

As soon as the Orpillas left, the Jacobos came! They are good friends of ours from Corona. It was a good to be able to spend some time with them. Aaron, again, had a great time with his friends, Elias and Selah (not pictured).

The Orpilla Family

We were visited by the Orpilla Family this past week. They are good friends of ours from Okinawa. It was a great to see them! Aaron also had a fun time playing with his friend, J.P again.

Aaron's Driving!

Here is Aaron using one of his many presents from Christmas. My parents bought him a Power Wheel (I think it's a FORD 150 or something like that.) He is still trying to get the hang of it. He has out-grown the small motorcycle we got him a few Christmases ago when he was about 1 year old. I hope that this one lasts a bit longer. (Yes, I know... we spoil him.)

Walking with the Dinosaurs

Tonight we went and watched a show called, "Walking with the Dinosaurs" at the Thomas and Mack Center at UNLV. The show is in Las Vegas for this week only, so we took the opportunity to see it. Needless to say that Aaron loved the show. There were a few moments where he covered his eyes, but most of the time he was watching. His favorite part was when the T-Rex came out. When we got home he wanted me to play this video I took of it, over and over. He calls it "Dia-dor!"

Role Play

Aaron loves to pretend. He has a great imagination. He owns several costumes, from Halloween and such. Every once in a while, he finds them and puts them on. He especially loves it when he finds a costume that he knows he was a movie to watch with it. For example, he usually makes me put on his Buzz Lightyear or Woody costume on him when he is watching Toy Story. Yesterday he wore his Power Ranger costume on while he watched the movie. This past Halloween, I went to Target and bought a couple costumes for like 80% off! What a deal, especially since Aaron uses them to play pretend all year long. Anyway, here are some pics of this past week of Aaron playing.

Superman!

This year, Aaron has been really into Supeman. (Well, super-heros, really...) Here he is wearing his favorite PJ's and posing with his superman toys. I just thought it was a cute picture.

Happy New Year!!!

This year we decided to countdown at the Strip. (My parents went back to Corona because they were working, but my sister stayed with us.) We did not know what to expect. We had fun, but we don't think we will be doing it again next year. It was very crowded and cold. It was, however, much tamer than I imagined. I guess most of the partying were done inside the clubs, not outside. There were lots of families around us, but of course, being Vegas, there were some crazyness also. I also spotted some people sharing the gospel.
Here is a pic of us getting ready to go. We really did not plan to go to the strip (to avoid the crowd and crazyness), we were going to do a LOST season 3 marathon and order some food, but at the last minute Brent decided to go. I think it was because my sister and I had taken a drive down the strip to see how crazy it was earlier that night (that was a fun drive... but a whole other story...) When he found out we did that, he said, he wanted to see it too, so we just decided to countdown there, regardless of the craziness. Anyway while my sister and I drove down the strip earlier that night we found vendors all ever the selling New Year's souveniers. So we put them on when before we went back out.
Here is Aaron wearing the stuff we got. By the way, those glasses broke 10 seconds after taking that picture. Aaron dropped it and it broke in half. (I guess that's why it was only $2.)

Christmas Picture of our Family

Brent has been back from Iraq for a couple of weeks now. We have been so busy since he arrived. From getting ready for Christmas to spending time with my family and sister, it's been a crazy reunion. We are thankful to be together again, and were able to spend Chirstmas together.

First Family Christmas in 5 Years!

For the past 5 Christmases, we have been in Okinawa. In addition to that, a couple of years ago, my sister moved to the Philippines to study pharmacy. This year we were able to spend a much anticipated Christmas together. We celebrated as a family a couple of days earlier in our home in Vegas. (Because planned to attend a Christmas party with relatives Christmas Eve and my mom was working Christmas Day.) We ordered a Honeybaked ham, and I prepared a few side dishes. Brent baked a pecan-chocolate pie. Later on, we opened gifts and Santa made a visit to Aaron. Oh, yeah, Aaron wanted to wear his Buzzlightyear costume that night.

Moving back home

Brent is returning home soon, so Aaron and I have made the move back to our house in Vegas. We have one week to get the house prepared, cleaned, and organized before Brent gets back. I don't have any pictures to put up because I forgot my camera in Corona. Anway, I had fun over there, thanks to all who made our season there fun. Hope to see you all when we travel there for Christmas.