Eleven years ago today

was the best day of my life. It was the day our sweet Nicolas was born. He was six days early but big enough to be a week or two late 9 pounds one ounce. Eleven years ago today my heart and world changed I became a mom, eleven years ago today I held life's most precious blessing our first child. Thank you Nicolas for choosing me to be your mommy and to share your precious life with me.

Shiri Briseno's Zumba Profile

Shiri Briseno's Zumba Profile

my dad's retirement means lots of extra work for me

So I mentioned a couple of months ago that my dad decided to retire a little earlier than he had planned. Since his retirement a couple of months ago, it's been a bit of a whirlwind change your life kind of pace around here. You see, if you didn't already know my parents live right up the street from us, it works well for us actually really well. We learned right away to have some boundaries like no coming over usually without calling first and so on, so we love it. OK back to the point...my dad is a keep busy at all times kind of guy he has to have projects every single day that will take up the whole day. Thank God for this because if he was a lay on the couch and watch westerns all day kind of guy I think I would be searching the yellow pages for a good divorce attorney for my parents. I love it, he takes the boys hiking and fishing and some mornings he takes them to school for me or picks them up, I'm starting to wonder what I ever did without him. I love it and all but boy does he keep me busy, all this week we have been at my house pulling weeds, cutting bushes, digging out dead bushes (have I mentioned that I absolutely hate gophers and moles right about now). I feel at this point I could give our local landscapers a run for their money, but I won't it's really hard on my back, ouch! So as I pour scoop upon scoop of Epsom salt into my bath and sit there until I'm as shriveled as the raisins in my cereal I feel ever so grateful to have such an amazing dad who helps me in so many ways, I feel blessed that he is such a wonderful pa to my boys. Tomorrow on the other hand when I can't get out of bed, but he insists because it's planting day I will curse (quietly of course, I do have my manners) his name and will politely hand him the want adds.

Absolutely a manic monday

Today has just been one of "those days". After not sleeping so well last night I woke up feeling groggy and exhausted but up and off we ran. I dropped all the kiddos off at school went to Zumba, had absolutely no energy I'm glad I wasn't teaching today! Then had to go back to school to do reading groups with Nathan's class and totally forgot that I had promised to stay for lunch with him today but couldn't because I had forgotten to sign Isaac up for lunch bunch at his school. So instead with the whole five bucks I had in my wallet I took Nathan from school picked up Isaac at his school and darted over to little Cesar's pizza, and at this point starvation had kicked in so yes I succumbed and at two slices of peperoni pizza, I'm totally going to kick my own butt at soon as I log off. Then it was home to shower and squeeze in a nap for Isaac. All was going well and we were actually going to be on time to pick up the boys from school and take Nicolas to the dentist, well that was the plan until Isaac woke up sick to his tummy, we got all "that" cleaned up and I still thought we would make it out the door and then Isaac got all pale looked at me and in about five seconds or so we were both covered in his puke, I know TMI I told you at the beginning it was one of those days. So with ten minutes to pick up the boys and be at the dentist my whole day changed. Called my mom to pick up the boys, called and rescheduled the appointment and brought out the hazmat cleaning equipment and cleaned it all up and took yet another shower. Isaac is now resting in my bed with a puke bag handy along with some gingerale and crackers. I've been doing this mom thing for quite a while and yet it still somehow surprises me how quickly a day can change. Sometimes it can be hectic and stressful but even on days like this I wouldn't trade my life or being a mom for anything else in the world. So tonight we will have a quiet and much needed restful evening and hopefully all will be back to normal tomorrow. I absolutely need a terrific Tuesday after this manic Monday!!

Mother's Day tea

On Wednesday I was invited to have tea at Isaac's preschool. It was such a wonderful morning, the kiddos sang sweet songs and read us their favorite books and then we all went upstairs for fellowship, cake and tea. Happy Mother's day to you all!

thinking about what may have been...

Dear Johnathon,
28 years ago I became your sister, your big sister. 28 years ago I went from being an only child to a big sister to you a precious seven pound little bundle of joy, who was perfect in every way. You sweet perfect baby boy you were my brother, my baby, my love and our family's world for six short weeks.
Today I can't help but miss you and think that we were supposed to grow up being two peas in a pod, we were supposed to be best friends who would share wonderful childhood memories. We were supposed to ride bikes and build forts and walk to school together every morning. You were supposed to be in the stands on my graduation day. You were supposed to be the one I called to tell I had met the man of my dreams. You were supposed to be there when I had kids and I in turn when you became a father. Today we should be hosting a party to celebrate your 28th birthday, but instead I think of all the should haves, I wonder about all the would haves. Most May 3rds I'm OK that you aren't celebrating your birthday with us, but with Jesus I mean come on I bet He throws a much better birthday party, but today well it feels different. I feel sad, very sad and selfish wishing I was the one putting candles on your birthday cake right now. Selfishly wishing I could see your face if only for a moment, wishing I could hear what your voice would've sounded like what my name would sound like coming out of your mouth. Today I miss you very much. Today I'm wondering what you would look like, how tall would you be, would your beautiful hair still be blond? Would you be married or have kids? Would you be funny like our dad, or quiet like me?
(Would he...would he..would he? the list goes on and on) Well I do know one thing your life on earth with us was so short but you will live in my heart every day of my life, until one day I will get to see for myself if your hair is still blond, if you are quiet like me or funny like dad. One day there will be no would haves or should haves only forever making new wonderful memories with you. Happy Birthday Johnathon, I love you!

Love,
your big sister

Zzzzuuuuuuummmmmbbbbaaa!!!!!!!!!!

It's officially taken over my life, or I should say our lives. My poor little family I think I've been really neglecting them since I started teaching. They are all such good sports about the whole thing, they never complain in fact all of them are being super supportive. Isaac asks me everyday "Momma how was your zumba today? so incredibly cute and my husband is my absolute hero right now he is my number one cheerleader (minus the short skirt). He has really stepped up in helping me make this a career, he offers to help me out when he sees that my schedule is really tight, he doesn't complain when we eat leftovers for three meals in a row and one of them may or may not include cereal. He never complains in fact he is full of compliments and wonderful words of encouragement. Something I desperately need right now as my confidence still tends to waiver a little bit.
Well I better run I have two classes to go teach like I said earlier Zumba has taken over and if you happen to be living under a rock and you just haven't ditched the workout and joined the party yet you really should try it. Happy Happy Monday!

Happy 5th Birthday Isaac!!

Mmmm...mmmm Good!!

The weather out here in AZ this week has been crazy, our high temp last week was almost 80 and today we are expecting snow!! I heard a friend of mine say this week that mother nature must be suffering from a sever case of PMS. With all this crazy weather it sure is making everyone really sick all three boys and my darling husband all missed some school and work this week. It's been really yucky! So I thought I would show some love and hopefully help them all feel better so I made my man's favorite meal and since he loves it so much I thought I would share it.

Chicken Soup:
2 Tbsp Grape seed oil
1/2 a large onion or whole small onion, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
6 carrots, cute into bigger pieces
28 ounces reduced sodium chicken broth
28-32 ounces warm water
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast
Salt and Pepper to taste (I don't usually add much salt because the broth has so much in it already)
Heat oil in pan once it's hot add in all the veggies and let cook about 7 minutes or until tender. Add in the tomato paste and mix well, then add chicken broth and water mix well making sure there are no lumps of tomato paste then add the bite size pieces of chicken. Bring to a boil and then let simmer about 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. You can garnish with thyme or rosemary ( I usually don't and it's still wonderful, my garnish is usually a big hunk of yummy bread). Serve and enjoy, it's even yummier the next day.
I don't usually eat meat so when I'm making this for me I add quinoa and tofu instead of chicken and use vegetable broth instead of the chicken broth, my family loves it vegetarian style as well. I hope your family enjoys this as much as mine does. Well I have to run I have noses to wipe, medicine to dispense (Nicolas has a sever ear infection at the moment) and pillows to fluff. Have a wonderful Friday!

Trusting Vs. Texas

I write this with a heavy heart, I'm absolutely not forgetting all the many great things and huge blessings that are happening in my life right now, I couldn't! However today my heart hurts today I wrote out all the invitations to Isaac's big 5th birthday, he's really excited he told me last night "Mom when I tell how old I am I just give them a high five or a wave because that's five fingers right I'm five fingers now". So cute, he is absolutely precious and has the biggest imagination and the mouth to go with it, he makes me laugh all the time. I wrote out fifteen invitations for his party and this year I couldn't write one out to my parents or my brother because they are all out of town and won't be here for his birthday, this my friends is a first and not one I'm at all happy about. I love family, it's probably the biggest part of my whole life, in a perfect world I would have every relative living within 100 miles of us. I'm really afraid that those days are over, my parents are on there way right now to Texas and they are really considering moving there, it's full of opportunity for them and with the recession and all our little town is just not recovering as quickly as we need it to so my brother is considering taking a job in either Colorado or New Mexico and that means we will be out here all alone. So this may be the first of many birthdays, and holidays that will be celebrated without any family. I have to just pray and have faith that God will work this all out and all of us will be taken care of and be happy, I know we will all be OK and eventually all will work out and I do trust that everything happens for a reason but it still hurts my heart. I wish I could just pack us all up and move with them but I'm learning as I grow in my marriage that, that just isn't fair to my poor husband. He is my world and I love him more than anything and I need to put him and his needs first and put my feelings and wants on the back burner at least for a little while, this is something that will take time for me to get used to and he doesn't understand why this is all so hard for me, poor guy I guess he just doesn't understand the bond between a daughter and her mom and dad.

feeling like spring but...

I absolutely love this time of year, I quote a friend of my directly when I say our little town looks a little like Narnia right now, with all the beautiful trees blooming and bursting with color. The grass is green, dafodils and tulips are in full bloom it's just gorgeous around here and you can't beat this 75 degree weather. If it could stay like this year round I would be one happy camper, I dislike being too hot or too cold so I love love love spring!

Yesterday I had a house full of kiddos and I was a bit nervous because there were MORE than I had expected but thanks to my good friend spring they played outside the entire time, they didn't come in the house once it was amazing! And today my sweet friend blessed me with another gorgeous day and we spent most of it at the park on a wonderful play date with Isaac's friends from school. I'm trying to soak it all up because before I know it I will be complaining that it's once again hot in AZ.

Loving life and this glorious weather

I've been having just the best time recently, it feels like things are really falling into place for our family and I couldn't be happier. It's been VERY stressful for a while now and it has really rocked our little family. I don't deal with change and stress very well, I am a creature of habit and love structure and routine I do love spontaneity as much as the next gal but for the most part I love to know what my day will look like. I feel like all of my praying has been working, it may have taken a while but it is indeed working I'm reminding myself now to remember that everything is in His time not mine and patience is something I'm constantly working on. I will go into detail at another time I promise because trust me when I tell you, it will absolutely blow your mind how great our God is and I'm seeing how faithful and loving He is and how when something (hint hint)even from your childhood has been taken or destroyed he is so faithful in restoring it when you least expect it. So on this Thursday as I prepare to go teach my wonderful women and enjoy the afternoon with a house full of children (my husband is teasing me at this very moment saying I always seem to have all these extra little kiddos around) I am overwhelmed with joy, gratitude, and love beyond measure.

officially can shake it now!!

Our kiddos had spring break last week and all I can say is that it had the most perfect timing this year. My dad recently retired and they are working on getting their house ready to put on the market, so they decided they would load up the truck and trailer and take some of the stuff they don't use very often and leave it at their house in NM. They asked me and the boys to join us (Manuel had to work), so we did. I taught a zumba class on Monday and we left right afterwards, it was a long drive longer than usual funny because it was just my mom and I and I think that trip consisted of more stops than any other time I've driven that long stretch of I-40. Oh well. During our quick trip there I was able to see all my girls and eat some yummy Santa Fe food, what can I say I think it's the best in the world. I was able to visit with most of my family, we had a wonderful corned beef and cabbage dinner for St. Patrick's Day, it was absolutely wonderful although mine was tofu and cabbage:) I was also able to attend several Zumba classes there and I learned so much, each teacher has his/her own style and I think it's so much fun to see how other people teach it. Then my mom and I zipped home on Friday because we had to be in Phoenix all day on Saturday, it was our big day. We are now both certified/licensed Zumba instructors!!! It was the funnest Zumba I've ever done but also the hardest, we danced out booties away for seven full hours and then had lectures for another two hours, it was such a wonderful and really hard day. Here are some pics of the day, what can I say I look EXHAUSTED!!

Not so good at saying goodbye

Today I helped pack up my friend's house, and I'm very sad. She's been such a great friend to me this last year and I'm really going to miss her. She is one of those people that you meet and feel instantly connected to, someone who you can totally be yourself with. Her family is moving to NM, it's only a four hour drive from us, but with how often we get out of town I know it will probably be a long time before I see her again. So today I'm sad and a little sore (dang moving boxes!).

I'm a working mom now, wow!

At the beginning of this year I knew I wanted to venture out, try different things, push myself a little more, accomplish a little more and learn a little more about myself. I've been a stay at home mom for eleven (YIKES!!) years and I've loved every bit of it, but recently I'm coming to the realization that my time at home is dwindeling very fast. Our youngest, Isaac will be five (another YIKES!! and where does time go?!?!) next month and that means he will likely start school in August, and out here in AZ kindergarten is full day, so it has me thinking that I need to figure out what my next step is, where my next journey begins so to speak, one without toddlers.
I've been doing Zumba for a long time now and I've always loved it, I love working out anyway and Zumba just added something different and fun into my workout routine. I kinda mentioned that I would love to teach Zumba to a couple of women in my life and let me tell you, I've really had no other choice but to teach. I am not a certified instructor until March 19th but Since last week I've taught 10 classes! I think today was my best class yet, with each class I notice I get a little calmer and a lot more confident. I practice all the time and I think it's paying off, I'm feeling very prepared when I walk into the room instead of like back in my school days where I had to get up in front of the class and give some sort of presentation. I'm enjoying this way more than I ever thought I could and I'm picking up a lot of work, more than I had initially wanted but I love it so much that at this point the more the better. I'm starting to think that something that I like and do could possibly turn into a career for me and that is exactly what I wanted. I started this year just having turned thirty feeling like I was good at nothing other than being a mom and wife, I had no skills that I could use in the real world if heaven forbid I had to support myself and my children and that scared me. I'm figuring out that yes I am good at it, I can do it and the best part is that it's fun and I'm making money, and the added bonus is that it's getting me in better physical shape every day, and I get to pay it forward and help other wonderful ladies reach their goals too! I could go on and on at this point I just hope that each of you find something that you love and makes you happy!

party at my house

A Zumba party that is, I am having a Zumba party all day in my living room today. Not only because I had a bad eating day yesterday (those dang McDonald's fries, that Nathan didn't eat), but because I have exactly one week to have my routine down before I teach my first Zumba class all alone. I'm nervous and excited and can't wait to see how it all turns out. So if you're in the neighborhood stop by, the door is open, don't ring the doorbell because I won't hear it I will be moving my cadera!

sledding on the 8th hole

So with this latest winter storm that has dumped all of this wonderful glorious snow, we wanted to take full advantage of it. The roads were in no condition to drive yesterday morning so I canceled child care at church and we took the morning off, my sweet hubby made us all blueberry pancakes, eggs and for all my little carnivores some Jimmy Dean sausages. I stuck to the pancakes and coffee:) Then we ran to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things so I could make my man his very favorite meal, and then we picked up the sleds and hit the slopes...ahem... I mean golf course. We had so much fun, we stayed there for hours, watching the kids sled, taking our own drastic turns praying all the while we wouldn't break a hip or dislocate something, and sipping on some hot cider and hot chocolate, it was a marvelous day and quite a good workout, so although the rest of my fellow Arizonans are tired of the snow, I enjoy it and would welcome a lot more of it.

A snowy Sunday & Chocolate chip snow cream!

I have a hot date today!

I know I know what a lucky lady I am, I have the hottest of dates today. What can I say, to know what awaits me this beautiful Thursday afternoon! It's cleaning day, so let the hot, soapy, scum scrubbing action commence! On days when I'm not so excited about cleaning or doing laundry, on days where the beautiful weather outside is screaming my name, I just have to remember being a stay at home mommy is my number one job, I just have to remember that little boys need clean underwear or else they go commando and well that just grosses me out, I just have to remember that the toilet doesn't clean itself, although I wish it would, and remember that by me doing my job I am blessing my family. Blessing them with clean whitey tightey undies, pj's that are so comfy and soft and smell of downey, the same ones that will cuddle them as they say their prayers and drift off to sleep, and my time over a hot stove is in preparation of the healthy wonderful food that will nourish their rapidly growing bodies. I love my job, I do, with what other job in the world could I each and every day bless the people I love the most. So with that I'm off to my hot date with Mr. Clean, and yes my husband approves of the time I spend with that super clean, bald hunk of a man! Happy cleaning day, well that is for me I hope you all enjoy whatever this beautiful days has planned for you.

Home Cooked Valentine's Day

This year since Valentine's Day was on a school night, we thought it would be fun to celebrate it at home as a family. The hubby and I usually go somewhere romantic but we thought it would be a lot more fun to turn our own dining room into a fabulous Valentine themed restaurant. So there were balloons, heart shaped lights, a heart tree, and much much more. The kids and I decorated it all afternoon and they helped me make a simple but super yummy dinner (spaghetti & meatballs, with a salad) they also got to use the grown up wine glasses to drink their sparkling cider, it was wonderful we all laughed and talked about the day, the parties they had at school and about the gifts and candy they had each received. Then after putting the kiddos to sleep my hubby and I danced the night away thanks to our cable box that had a certain channel that was playing valentine themed music, it was so simple yet probably one of the best Valentines ever. It was about our family and how much we all love each other. I hope that this occasion leads to more nights just like this one!