A life full of faith, hope, love, and laughter.
Everything Espinoza family.
Today after Gino and I taught Isabel how to play “Phase 10” and playing other games around the table. We decided to make some holiday goodies.
Gino and Isabel made marshmallow peppermint squares while I made sugar cookies.
Yummy peppermint marshmallows!
After letting them sit, Gino decided they needed something…
So he melted some chocolate and drizzled it over the peppermint treats.
Some sugar cookie goodness.
Our cooling sugar cookies to be decorated tomorrow.
This afternoon we carved our pumpkins that we got over the weekend at the pumpkin patch. Enjoy!
We set up my craft table and laid out an old tablecloth and then got to work.
Gino cut the tops off for us and then we let Isabel clean out her pumpkin.
She’s so excited!!
Scooping out the insides.
She did a great job getting all the seeds and pulp out before Gino and I went in with our ice cream spade to clean up any of the harder stuff she couldn’t get with her hands.
She’s so enjoying this!
We had her draw on paper what she wanted, then we let her draw on the pumpkin with a dry erase marker. It worked out great for fixing mistakes that happened along the way.
While Gino carved Isabel’s pumpkin, I cleaned out the other 2 pumpkins.
Mommy’s pumpkin with a jolly face!
Gino didn’t get his pumpkin carved out since it was getting late and his hand was cramping up. So hopefully he’ll work on it and we can get it outside with the other ones!
The finally resting spot for our pumpkins is the back patio. We put in some votive candles and watched them through the sliding glass door while we ate dinner.
Every so often, not every day, Isabel sends us (Gino and I) “mail” that we find tucked somewhere for us to find. She also mails us “packages/surprises” that we find, usually under our pillows at night. These are small toys that she thinks we need. However, today my mail was in my drawer and Gino’s mail was in the guest room…
This was my “mail”. I think she sent this to me because I was in her room quite a bit on Sunday. She has been playing “mommy” a lot lately. She has lots of “children” which are all her stuffed animals and baby dolls. She will make a car out of her pillow and other items and “drive” her “kids” around to “school” and the “store”. Whenever I step into her room, it’s her “house” and I’m invited to play along! It’s so fun!
Gino’s “mail”. I think she sent him this because his back was hurting… I love it! He’s been working on a project for some friends at church, he’s making their daughter a bed. I will post the photos when the project is complete.
Tomorrow it’s back to school! I’m looking forward to it… Isabel however is not. She misses Mrs. W and wants to stay in preschool forever, she says. I’m hoping that this little faze she’s going through will end soon and she really enjoys going to kindergarten and her new teacher!
Since today was her last day before heading back. She decided to spend it outdoors making bread! I just love her little mind! Enjoy!
She took dried grasses from along the fence, which she called wheat, and mixed it together with different dried flowers and leaves from around the yard. She then gathered rocks to make her oven to bake the bread, she has made.
While finding more items to put in her bread mix, she found a bright green frog. She carried it around with her the rest of the afternoon until I called her in for dinner. When I happened to notice she had the poor thing “caged” inside her sandbox strainer. I went out and told her it was time for the frogs dinner too and it had to go home.
She was sad to let it go…
Adding some “fuel” to get her oven going. She actually asked me if I would lite it for her so she could bake her bread!!! I chuckled and told her, “Uh, no! let’s just pretend.”
For the past two days, Isabel and I spent getting her school supplies together. We braved the chaos and actually was able to get everything on the required list!
She needed: a school box, a pink eraser, Friskar scissors, 250-count tissues, and a backpack.
Tonight before dinner, Isabel got all her “kids” together and gathered them around the table to eat dinner.
She had booster seats for the younger ones (the little cups and her neck pillow from the car) and she’s says that all of them at dinner and they ate it fast!
I am still here… I’ve just been on a blog-vacation.
After school got out, I felt like I was free from the blog to enjoy summer but now that more then a month has gone by, I need to blog about something. We’ve remodeled a room (which had to remain a surprise until our guests arrived), we’ve planted a garden, worked more in the yard and have had guests for 2 weeks. We’ve been here and there and now we are home again before we go again! So I must catch up at some point otherwise you’ll think I’ve left… for good!
(BTW… be sure to check back to mid June, since my catching up begins there… Enjoy!)
Today we celebrated my birthday. Gino and Isabel surprised me with an ice cream cake and a new bike. Isabel even made me a homemade birthday card all by herself!
My cake, which was chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. Isabel picked it out, she said that I needed an ice cream cake.
They were singing to me here… you can see my new bike in the background. I’m excited for this gift because now I can ride with Isabel when she goes riding on her bike. Looking forward to riding when my parents get here as well since my Dad said he’s bringing his bike along.
Blowing out the candles.
Happy Father’s Day to all our Dads!
The above drawing was drawn by Isabel for her Daddy.
It’s a picture of Gino building bird houses.
Above is the gift Isabel gave to Gino for Father’s Day. It was made at school (along with a card) and he wasn’t supposed to up it until today!