By Lisa Gutierrez on 06/03/2011 I celebrated six whole years of motherhood, yesterday. Six years of life for my son, Nathan. It was also his last day of kindergarten!
He wanted to go bowling, so we went to a little alley a few blocks away. We were starving when we finished, so we stopped at a favorite restaurant of his for dinner. They sang to him (his face was adorable when they showed up and burst into song) and gave him a free sundae! After he was done eating it, he made a request that we make this a birthday tradition for the rest of his life. That’s right, ladies…to win his heart, just give him some ice cream topped with fudge, whipped cream, sprinkles, and a maraschino cherry. He’ll be forever yours.
Let’s look back. A photo from every year of his life–
And now, he is SIX.
Handsome and funny and full of energy!
Our first day of summer vacation is going smoothly. He has a workbook to help keep his brain from shutting down and I’m starting a chore routine of cleaning in the mornings.
Plans for the rest of the summer include: not dying from heat, planting the rest of the tomato plants, taking a Metro ride to a museum or two (& to try out the Metro Rail!), working on our reading skills, getting Andrew to learn his ABC’s, and eating lots & lots of frozen popsicles!
By Lisa Gutierrez on 05/17/2011 
Why does this time of year always seem to sneak up on me? My littlest turns 3 on Friday and then almost 2 weeks later, my oldest turns 6. You know what that means–CRUNCH TIME for party planning. The party will be smack dab in the middle of both birthdays. At what age do you think they’ll start hating me for forcing them to share a birthday party?
It will be the first time my son invites kiddos from his school to a party. His last day of Kindergarten falls ON HIS BIRTHDAY! So…we’re all pretty excited. The RSVP is now a lost art form, so I’m actually flying in the dark when it comes to preparing for the kids that show up. I’m going to be making extra everything and if NO ONE shows (oh gosh..) then I’m taking the party to THEM on that last day. Basically, WE WILL PARTY.
I’m spending the next week and a half-ish getting my house in order. I figured I should make a list of all the rooms that need to be cleaned/decorated/whatever and then check them off day by day. I can tackle one room a day, right? That’s totally reasonable! Kind of sad, but there are some rooms in our home that have yet to be really decorated properly. I just hope that once I get a room in order no one messes it up before the party. I’m going to have to be on high alert til then.
Wish me luck! I’m going to need it on the day I have to clean the boys’ room. GAHJFKLAJFLFKDJ! THE HORROR!
By Lisa Gutierrez on 05/08/2011 I’ll be spending it with these dudes:
Nathan woke me up before 8 by throwing his card at me and yelling, “Happy Mother’s day!” I got up and made a quiche and sliced some strawberries. We’ll be visiting my MIL later this afternoon for dinner & dessert (I’m making a lemon berry trifle complete with homemade lemon curd! yum).
Have a good one!
By Lisa Gutierrez on 03/24/2011 
Tell me you love gingham! I found a piece of blue gingham fabric in a remnants bin at a Jo-Ann store that was closing. That means it was something like 75% off. Since Spring was fast approaching and I knew I wanted to make this guy a bow tie some day I immediately plopped it in my basket.
Fast forward to last week and a post in the Celebrate the Boy line-up. Specifically, this one on delia creates. Bingo! I used some scrap fabric to make a prototype and check my measurements. It came out OK, but I didn’t really dig the big triangle sides, so I made a completely rectangular one and voila! Both the boy and I LOVE it.
I want to make more!
Other shortcuts I took were to draw my pattern only twice on the fabric, then fold the piece in half and sew on the lines. I didn’t really want to cut it out four times and then pin and deal with tiny seam allowances. Call me lazy, if ya want, but I made two ties in less than half an hour, including time to wind a bobbin and thread my machine. If only I could get my littlest boy to wear it. He didn’t even let me tie it on his neck.
By Lisa Gutierrez on 03/11/2011
Living in an apartment my entire life, I never really looked forward to spring and summer. I just didn’t care. We (my neighbor and some cousins) played outside in the concrete jungle of a complex and in the local washateria that had sweet arcade games (Galaga and Street Fighter were our favorites). I never had a garden or a backyard of my own, so it was no big whoop. I liked winter because I live in coastal Texas and winter only lasts about 2 weeks. I get absolutely giddy when the temperature drops below 60.
I still feel that way about winter, but I’m also finding myself amazingly excited about Spring. The grass is turning green and the sun is staying out longer. Jason comes home from work and the boys play soccer for an hour or so until dinner or dark. I’m collecting little succulents that I find beautiful and I even bought 3 edible (eventually) plants–bells, jalapenos, and strawberries! I’m not psyching myself up for them to completely succeed. I know zilch about growing vegetables, but I can try, right? Maybe my little chants of “grow, grow, pleeease grow” while I water, will persuade them to give me fruit. Who knows.
All that to say–the warmer weather is making me happy. I need this green; I need this light.
Out of all the things on my 25 before 26 list, I’m most glad I completed #1.
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