school's out

Yummy!

In case you haven't seen Carmen in a while, or have never seen here, she is growing FAST and is mind blowingly cute. She is a wonderfully happy baby.

Viva Fiesta

The kids (mostly Jamie) made fiesta floats to take to school where they had a parade. They had a great time!

Easter

We had a great Easter. We went to church in the morning and over to Scott and Kandi's in the afternoon where the kids did an Easter egg hunt and cracked cascarones on everyone's head. Carmen is seen here doing her Olivia Newton John impression.

These girls are up to no good!

I'm cute and I know it!

Alicia was chosen by her teacher to be in the Young Master's Art Show for the North East School District. We are so proud of her! I think she was very proud of herself as you might guess from the beaming picture. It was quite an impressive show but on by the district.

Softball and Baseball

Well spring is here and so is softball/baseball. Alicia and Morgan are playing on an all girls softball team and Aquiles and Zach are on the same baseball team with Jamie and Scott as their coaches. I think this is going to be a great season!

Spring Break

We went with the Segura family to Houston for 3 days and had a blast. They have an excellent children's museum and the museum of Science and Natural History was amazing. We also went to the Space Center. All in all, it was great!!!

Six Flags

We joined forces once again with the Housholders (minus Kandi since she is in school; sorry Kandi, we'll go with you next time) and headed out to Six Flags on opening day. It was a BLAST! The kids had so much fun. I enjoyed watching them as much as I did riding rides. They went on the Rio Loco water ride 4 times and came out soaked. Of course Scott didn't help matters much since he squirted them with water as they came past. I must confess that I did provide the quarters. They were frozen popsicles after that point. I couldn't believe my eyes as Aquiles and Alicia rode several rides. If you had seen them at Disney last year, you would also have been amazed. They are not know for their daredevil nature. Carmen was low key as usual and enjoyed being held or smiled away in her stroller. Boy I hope she stays that way! She is definitley a baby on the go keeping up with her big bro and sis. We had the entire Housholder clan over for dinner and played games. Sunday was church and over to the Housholders for lunch. What a great weekend. I can't wait for spring break!

Mom's Mardi Gras

Well, we've almost made flying solo without Jamie for the weekend. He went home to ride in the Joe Cain parade as he does every year. Saturday we went to the zoo and invited ourselves over to Scott and Kandi's for dinner. THANK YOU SCOTT AND KANDI FOR ADULT TIME! Sunday Carmen spent her first Sunday in daycare while I taught Aquiles and Alicia's class. Then we went to MacDonald's for lunch. The kids bought their own lunch with money they received from Grandma Holmes for Valentine's. Thanks Grandma! After lunch, we headed to Comanche state park and took the hiking (not much of a hike, more of a nature walk) trail to the library where the kids checked out books. Things got crazy after that trying to cook dinner and all the other things that need to be done. All in all things have gone smoothly; I just have to make it through tomorrow morning. Jamie comes home tomorrow afternoon.

Looks like we've made it!

Well thank God the past week is over! It was long, sick and disgusting. First Aquiles came down with a fever on Saturday and missed school Mon and Tues. His fever spiked to 103.5 and then Alicia did the same thing and stayed home Tues and Wed. The kids then had another fever Friday night/Saturday morning and yesterday was the first day they have had some energy. Aquiles came home from school Wed, Thurs and Fri and went to sleep straight away. To make life more interesting, Jamie and I contracted a disgusting flu virus (I believe the illnesses are all connected) and we were nonfunctional Sat and a good majority of Sunday. It was so bad that we had to call Anne and she came and took Carmen until late Sunday. Scott brought the kids food and drink and Kandi took over Sunday School. We are extremely grateful to our support group here and also that Carmen has not gotten sick!

Super Bowl Party or a bunch of weirdos?

We had a great time Super Bowl Sunday. First we played a game of kickball and then headed home for a Super Bowl Party. Everyone brought great food, but the company was the best!

Sadly we had to have Jolie euthanized this weekend. We miss her greatly but it was time as the cancer had done much damage. She was a great dog and I loved having her!

4 out of 5 Alonsos

Gammie recently came for a visit and spent 2 weeks with Carmen. We all had a great time. Jamie's parents are here right now and will leave after the Super Bowl. We are very fortunate to have a great family.

One Week Down

Well I made it through my first week at work and I must say it went well. My Mom is here for 2 weeks taking care of Carmen and Jamie's parents come in for the last 2 weeks of Jan. That is making the transition so much easier. My kids were great at school. I still have lots to catch up on but I am glad it went so well. In Feb Carmen will go to an in home day care with the same lady who took care of Aquiles and Alicia. We call her Mama Gina and the kids love her. They look forward to teacher inservice day so they can spend time with her. She is just another blessing in our lives.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year 2009! I hope all is well with all our loved ones. What a year we had in 2008. We went to Disney World with 2 other couples (JP, Dawn, Scott and Kandi) and their kids, where we found out we were having baby no. 3. Summer was a blast with swimming. Fall started out great with my 4th year at Judson High School. Every year gets better and better. I have great kids and am looking forward to another trip to France in summer 2009. November couldn't come soon enough (I despise being pregnant) and Carmen is a fabulous and final addition to the Alonso family. Aquiles and Alicia ADORE her and are already en route to spoiling her. We end 2008 being thankful for our family, friends and health and are eagerly looking forward to the new adventures of 2009. Jamie turns 40 this year. He will be back in Mobile for Mardi Gras and if all goes well we, along with Scott and Kandi, will be vacationing in AL/FL for the fishing rodeo this summer. Jamie will have a 40th bday party here in SA and has already scheduled Thanksgiving vacation so we can return to AL where he will have party no. 2. Carmen will turn one along the way. Soon the kids will be playing ball, swimming on the swim team and taking guitar lessons. We'll see how all that works out! We will most likely say goodbye to our dog, Jolie, who was recently diagnosed with cancer and is fading fast. We have been fortunate to have such a family friendly dog for 10 years and will have a hard time letting go. I don't know how Joe (dog no. 2) will handle it. I will be back teaching Sunday school and full time work this week. My only goal for 2009 is to take life in stride! I'll let you know if I succeeded in a year.

To all who read this thanks for being part of our lives.
Heather, Jamie, Aquiles, Alicia, Carmen, Joe and Jolie.