Happy Halloween!

HER: YAY!!!! for trick or treaters!!!

Tailgating

HER: What a day it has been. The first part of our Saturday morning took place downtown. Sebastian and one of his buddies from school got together for a playdate.

We took them to this play place around the Avondale/ downtown area where they would meet and spend a couple of fun hours together.

We would meet with his parents at the art market in downtown Jacksonville where we would grab a bite to eat while contemplating the St. John's river, listen to music and enjoy the scene under the sun. Right after, we would head towards the stadiwm to be part of the Florida vs. Georgia game experience. Tailgating seems to be quite a weekend event here in Jacksonville.

Star Wars Concert!

Sebastian wore his Darth Vader Custom for the occasion.

HER: At age 6, Sebastian has become quite a Star Wars fan. Fanatic of the trilogy, the characters, music and pretty much the whole adventure.

Tonight they played at the Jacksonville Arena and what a magnificent concert it was.

You can click on the following site to have a glance of what the concert was like:

www.starwarsinconcert.com

A FALL TRADITION...

Her: This is a fall tradition we enjoy at home every year.

Our pumpkin carving night. We turn the fall lights on, play It's the Great Pumpkin by Charlie Brown, and begin the activity that takes place on our living room floor. Duke and Dexter joined us this year. They were as excited as we were.

We carved a pumpkin for each pup and Sebastian carved his very own.

Saved the seeds for a later snack, and some of the pumpkin pulp for a creamy pumpkin soup.

Pumpkins 09

Sebastian posing with the pumpkins we got.

Pumpkin carriage!

Eager to start the purchase.

HER: Halloween is just a week away and we got our PUMPKINS of the season!

This time we chose the Methodist church on San Jose blvd. Just a couple of miles away from our place.

Sebastian was eager to pick his pumpkin. Picking one after another trying to make his final decision from a large variety of color, shapes, and sizes. As you see above, he was pushing the cart, wearing his "I am on a mission face".

Frank and I looked around for a while, trying to find the one for each one of us.

This activity requires quite some time for Frank. Finding the right one in shape, color, steam and of course size it is very important since it has to be able to fit his head. As you know, pumpkin head man strikes every year... and this year I will make the attempt to create a female version... =). Be in the look out for the pictures!

A Fall day...

HER: My favorite things about Fall season are:

- The beautiful trees, the often color changing leaves. I remember while living in Indiana, I will look forward to my hiking getaway afternoons, driving around, or playing outside. I would stop and take a deep breath and smile, thinking to myself how beautiful the scenario is and how lucky I was to have that view all around me.

- Pumpkin anything, Oh how I love the smell of pumpkin and spices during the fall. Looking forward to this time of the year to pumpkin pie, pumpkin-chocolate brownies, pumpkin bread, muffins, cheesecake, shakes, seeds, carving pumpkins with my boys, pumpkin scented candles, you name it.

- Decorations, lights, candles, flowers, fall colors.

- Halloween, Nightmare before Christmas movie, Charlie Brown, Halloween songs, customs. FUN!

- Weather, That I call "Sweatshirt weather", sunny but cooler air, perfect!
I love summer and winter and spring. But come on, got to focus on the positive things of each season ;).

Because of all this things, fall cleaning is my least favorite but the most fun. I find things I forgot I had. De cluttered the house. - I am the queen of throwing away unuseful things, at the same time I wish old clothes good bye with much sadness.
I feel more artsy too, while inspired of all the things I mentioned above, my artist wannabe self comes out and I become crafty somehow, I read more, I write more, my poetic side... ( I am a romantic), classical music mornings and evenings... bubble baths, my curiosity for new red wines... a lot of chick flick movies and my desire for the baking goods and new dishes never seems to go weak...

Today, the temperature dropped by 30 degrees in beautiful Florida. It was a beautiful sunny day that brought along cooler winds.. Today, It felt like a fall day to me. Today, Sebastian and I had a picnic on the living room floor while enjoying the lights we hanged up last week while enjoying the Nightmare before Christmas soundtrack. Today we toast to Pumpkin shakes while declaring a sweatshirt and sweatpants kind of day. Today we laughed of how cold we were, remembering to ourselves we were just at the pool two nights ago and the water was so warm. Today, it was my kind of day.

The first Soccer game of the Season!

Her: I know it feels like it has been forever since we last post a thing. Let's hope we can keep updating more often.

We just got back from Sebastian's first Soccer game of the season, (I feel my heart is still beating up at a fast pace from the excitement) and here I am trying to type and narrate at the same time.
Soccer at this age is quite funny, exciting and cute all together... A group of eager 4, 5 and 6 year old kids running after the ball, some chasing the other players, some waving hi to their parents cameras, others kicking to what their little bodies best allows them to, parents and relatives cheering as much as they can encouraging their little ones; reminding them what to do. Whistles, laughs, coaches, referees, people clapping, the audience growing as the game goes on, curiosity attracting other parents.
Frank, Duke, Dexter and I, all of us present for the special event.

4-4 was the final score.

What a fabulous time this was. Sebastian, son: "You are doing great" and so did the team!
All I can say is that I am really looking forward to the next game!!

Sebastian's birthday!

HER: Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you've got to start young.

- Fred Astaire.

Time flies. - Sebastian turned 6 years old. And I wonder where has the time gone..??

Truth is, It has been an unbelievable journey / surreal experience. Life has been since I became Sebastian's mom.

I know most people grow proud of their children by the minute, celebrate their successes and are there to teach them the best they can.. what life is all about. In my case, lets add how much we learn from each other. I love being a mom, I love being his mom and he keeps me simple and loved and it feels fabulous.

We all wanted to celebrate the big day and went to Magic Kingdom for a Halloween trick or treat birthday celebration. The fall decorations, nightmare before Christmas music in the background (one of Sebastian's favorite tunes), cheerful people dressed with their best customs, candy, lots of candy... And there were we.. Sebastian as Optimus Prime and us as ourselves, enjoying the night.

Road Trip...

HER: Vacation time was coming and we were about to go on our family adventure.
I had packed in advance, organizing the "must haves", "must take" and the "must not forget" items.
Frank and I had brought one of the puppy cages and assemble it a couple of times while inside the vehicle the prior weekend for two reasons; make sure it fit, and time efficiency. It was just right too! - We had enough space left for the luggage and Sebastian's seat. All that kept us motivated and in good spirits.

The day finally came and on July the 30Th after a long but successful day at work it was time to start loading the vehicle and get on the road.

Coffee cups, bottled water, pigs ears (for the dogs) activity bag for Sebastian, maps, Texy, rumble. check!
A Burger king stop and on the road we were. (*We have this tradition. Every time we travel somewhere, whether we fly or drive. We always stop at Burger King).

The original idea was to stay overnight in Nashville but we change our plans around 2am and decided to load ourselves with MC D's ice mocha's and pull an allnighter. Frank was behind the wheel, Puppies content chewing their treats and bones, Sebastian was enjoying the adventure while enjoying the audio book we were playing... " A Benjamin Franklin autobiography", I was enjoying the whole experience. It was the perfect drive. We stopped every 3 to four hours for drinks, gas, and potty breaks.
I drove the last 3 and a half hours. Avoiding all the traffic jams we were pulling into the Newkirks driveway at 8:30 am.

Recovery..

HER: Like I mentioned on the previous post. --We were sick for 16 days straight!
I still had work duties to complete.
Bed rest, countless cups of tea, shows, several naps, Nyquill, Dayquill, Advil, soup, lots of liquids, several tissue boxes and toilet paper rolls... Great family care and love... I was strong again! Luckily, Sebastian didn't get sick. In fact, he was very helpful and sweet; the puppies behaved well and kept noise to the minimum; Frank, reminded me of my daily dose of pharmaceutical supplements and vitamins. Accompanied me to tea time several times a day, kept me distracted from house work while watching House and supported my food choices by eating the same.

Frank healed faster than I did. We were both up and ready to go again just in time for our "First Family of 5 road trip ever"!.

July

We got to sneak the pups to the pool!

Legos are different now than when back when...

Sebastian welcomed a new friend.. Rumble.


Frank turned 30! and we celebrated an ice-aged birthday extravaganza at the T-Rex restaurant in Orlando.

Party table.

Behind the cool bar. Everything came to life every 10 mins.

Check out the mammoths!

Sebastian started to read whole books with less pictures!

Here ready Nate the great book of series.

HER: Things were back to normal after my parents left. We required a few extra hours of sleep to catch up with life itself.

We spent a weekend watching a Harry Potter marathon and then went to the cinema and catch the latest movie.

We got sick for 16 days!!!

Absent for the summer..

HER: Summer was great. We were a busy, happy and a very sleepy family.. =)

June: My family came to Jacksonville to visit with us throughout this month. We visited, played board games, cook, ate, shop (A LOT), went to Disney, movies, mini golf among other activities.

After watching "UP" with Sebastian, I had to convince Frank to watch it with me. We met them while at Disney!!!

Dinning at Rainforest Cafe in Orlando.

Outside the Avenues.

"Night at the museum 2 night".

My sister and I picking chickflick books.

Sebastian learnt to swim on his own this month!

My new NITRO!

I turned 27 and got to be a Pincess on my birthday =).

Potty mouth...

HER: Raising a child has been absolutely amazing in different ways.
One thing, you have to watch the things you say around the house or around him at all times, because he will hear from the other room, come running and give his opinion or ask questions of the conversations.
If you know me, I am rather polite and here at our home, we don't swear. Our friends respect our values and try to watch what they say. -----Couple of nights ago, a couple of friends joined us for dinner. Dinner was great and the conversation to follow absolutely entertaining, the funny thing was that one of our friends kept saying "O.M.G" quite a bit and Sebastian kept calling on her. She kept apologizing every time and told him that in New York they use that a lot...
Tonight I took Sebastian to a dinner event at an Italian Restaurant, I translated a few things and taught him some other phrases and while I was talking I let an OMG out.. Sebastian called on me and said.. "Mom you are talking like a New Yorker now...

Glorious caffeine!

HER: I usually start my mornings with a cup of iced green tea, which its particular bitterness helps me wake up. - Like most, I struggle most mornings, if not all. Once I am set with the tea, I am on the "go". I get Sebastian ready, pack his lunch box, a morning glass of milk, Frank's coffee, get ready and off I go.

Once I am at work, I get an iced coffee, my bottled water, diet coke or more iced green tea depending on the mood... and programmed myself to achieve the morning goals. ---- I time myself and try to beat my own timing all time, it is as if I was racing with my own self... I have been called "Machine girl", which is funny but being productive makes me feel good, plus is really like a fabulous workout for me.
Between 7:30am and 4pm I drink around 5 cups of coffee, 6 cups of diet coke, 3 cups of tea between 7am and 4pm.....
Not that was important.. but thought I would tell you anyway..

Boy times..

Cuddling after dinner,

Standing at a Best Buy, watching some video game.

Eskimos.

Morning Math is morning fun!

Amelia Island Getaway

After 3 hours of scootering we couldn't believe how cheap it was to fill up both of the scooter tanks! Could you?

Posing in front of some Shrimp Boats.

Sexy Frank ready to go!

Blurry but the only pic of both of us at the beginning of our

Scooter adverture =).

Making a puppy face while waiting for dinner.. AWwww..

Not pictured "me in aaarggg..."

Frank and I after our delicious dinner.

(We ordered so much food)

Me, reading some cards at the awesome book store.

The lay out of this place was fabulous.

Our room was very cozy..

A fireplace, jacuzzi tub..

We took the laptop and watched "House" for four hours straight while relaxing in the tub and enjoying a couple of Moscato bottles.

Chasing Ducks!

HER: Here at the famous Island with Sebastian, Duke and Dexter (notice the two heads in the water)

BUNK BED!

The three of us.

Frank, getting ready to put the ladder up.

The bunk bed is looking good.

Reading the instructions.

Playing with the pups while Frank was brainstorming...