left-over-hearts

This is from Valentine's...which is late....I know. Please forgive me. Technically we are still in February.

I got this idea for making them a placemat from Jill at Baby Rabies and of course

I had to make them ♥-shaped pancakes! They loved it. That afternoon, I made them ♥-shaped pizza!

And Jonah, my little scribbler, drew all over his mat. While brother, was just interested in his chocolates...

...which he took one bite of, then decided that gooey-filled chocolates were not for him. 

My honeybun gave me a ring pop to show how much he knows loves me.

And some roses....

And I took the time to write both my boys a Valentine letter to give to them when they are older.

I hope they get embarrassed when they read it. I also hope they know how much I love them.

Let's not forget my craft. A heart shaped garland with those paint thingies you get at a hardware store.

I'm not surprised at all that February is almost done with. 

I'm glad March is around the corner. We have some weddings coming up. 

Baby bumps {unfortunately, not mine} and SPRING!!! Yeah! I know we are ALL excited for Spring. 

long travels /// short stays

Well, my hermanito came back from his missions in Mexico and it was also his birthday. 

So me and the boys packed our bags, and headed on that 5 hr long trip to celebrate. He came back redondito but he was still the same Carlitos. Never unglued from his phone. 

I purposely made sure to pack my boxing gloves because I knew Carl had some. I couldn't wait to see what would happen if there was 2 pairs of gloves in the house. :) I have to report that Jonah calls them punches and loves to wear them. He's a beast!

And of course, Carlitos brings back a luchador mask!!! 

He also brought back the most amazing pulseras {bracelets} hand-made, earrings, belts, keychains and morrales {knapsack} which I am currently using as my purse and now I feel 100% hippified!!!

 I will have to post pictures of it and my new color in my hair! 

And that night, we all gathered around to celebrate his mid-twenties---ohhh that cake was delicious! 

It is Mexican tradition to smash birthday boy or girl's face into the cake. 

Carl's usually too strong for us so we have to catch him off guard--and Moomie knows just how to do it! 

The birthday boy making a chinito face, Moomie and our Tia Betsy {Moomie's sister}. 

Like true southerners, we sat around the dining table, talked, and ate. Then talked more and ate more until the 

pastel was done. Man, you guys should have had some, it was YUM. Good times. 

The next day, one of Andrew's books he had to read {a beginner book that I picked from our library because I'm his teacher--ha!} for school was Johnny Appleseed. I don't know what made him react so strongly about the apple pies and the juicer {shown below} but he REALLY wanted to have a picnic with apples. So off Moomie and Andrew went to get some apples. And I love it when she does that.

So they made apple juice, apple pie, and apple fritters. And the boys went nuts over the apple juice.

They decided they were drinking their juice with spoons...

My family attends a homeschooling group in town and they have a P.E. hour at the local college. 

I took the kiddos so they could play and they also had such a blast. We never get to do any physical exertions when we go to the library and during playground time, it's just them two playing. So I am currently looking for something similar here in Houston for them. I would love to be part of a P.E. group like that! 

....AND good news! My sis finally received her diploma after graduating in December from UTA!!! 

Ahhh. It was almost a great week. I had a terrible headache and could NOT operate one of the nights.
The weather was so cold & windy, the boys only went outside once...

Our drive back was fun because mid-way in our trip, one of the public rest areas had a playground!
 A massive, no-mulch, no-sand, squishy-floor playground {which are the best, if you must know} so we played and played and it gave our behinds some time to un-flatten themselves. 

I returned home and finally saw my honeybun, only we were so exhausted to do anything that Friday night, that we just took a nap and stayed up later than usual :)
 I've said it before and I'll say it again -- i love my family.

documenting life

this weekend:

1. Thrifted Disney stitched characters-->art for the boys room!

2. I didn't know Dahlia's were that beautiful!

3. I made a friend. Well, my plants did. 

4. + 5. My first African Violet

6. Little boy loves throwing punches

7. + 8. Portraits 

a ring holder that gives me memories

When me and the boys go thrifting at a nearby shop, I always end up with something!  

There is never leaving empty handed...it's a bad habit, I know.

But I came upon this ceramic jewelry holder that reminded me SO much of my grandmother, who lives in Mexico. And I've found out, I miss her dearly. Like unbelievably too much. I find myself just daydreaming about being there at her house, with my 100 relatives all eating carne asada and enjoying each others company.

Anyway, she has this bureau as tall as her. And on it, she her lotions, her perfumes, some pictures, and cute little ceramic figurines from 20 years ago. Every time I visit, I always stare at her never-changing collection. 

I realized also that I don't have anything that reminds me of her. I mean, I have my Mexican memorabilia that reminds me of my home in Mexico, sure. But nothing that is hers, or that visually reminds me of her.

So when I came upon this jewelry holder at the thrift store, it just felt like I had to get it for some reason. I didn't know it then, but now I understand. It's like a subconscious thing I guess.

My sister would have highly disapproved of such thing because it has flowers on it. But I quite like it. A lot. Actually. 

I decided that it would be best to re-vamp it. Give it the Lynet make-over. And I didn't take a before pictures, don't ask me why. I didn't initially wanted to post about this, but after I figured out why I had fixated so much on this thing, I just had to. 

Now, I have something that physically reminds me of her. Even if it didn't directly come from her, I have something that makes me think of her. Something that's tangible and isn't just a memory or a picture. 

Clockwise: 

\ \ My grandmother, we call her Mami Tola because her real name is Eustolia, and my brother, Carl / / 

\ \ My grandmother in the city (year unknown) / / 

\ \ My sister Caren and I with our grandmother in the early 2000's (my hair is pink!) / / 

\ \ And my grandmother and my father when he was in his teens (gosh they're beautiful!) / / 

This is the only picture of her and my son, Andrew at 14 months, her 2nd great-grandchild.

The first time and the only time they've ever met. She's never met Jonah, my second. 

She always has and always will mean everything to us. I can't wait to see her again! 

PS. And the yellow roses were from my lover. 

LINKING UP TO LEARN.CREATE.LOVE

team spirit

ugggh! halelujah! basketball is over! ...well, our towns basketball season anyway...

but the boys really had fun going to the games and seeing their cousins. 

The husband with his 7th grade boys basketball team.

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