sam's school pictures

when he still had teeth; so cute :)

i am one proud mama!

that's right! no more baby cribs for me!! yay!!

wish me luck.

so i had this brilliant idea that sam needs his own room. this idea of course followed by the fact that olivia should sleep in a big girl bed. so these two huge ventures include moving olivia into brandon and sam's old room and letting sam have olivia's room. so today was spent moving furniture; disassembling furniture, sorting through toys, and moving random other crap all around.
well, i must confess; i did finish watching season four of prison break and am slightly annoyed that there is another season... seriously, how much more can they drag this out. don't get me wrong. i like wentworth miller as much as the next girl, but really now...
anyways, in the midst of all this, i realized that i never gave brandon the train picture that i had framed for him. so of course i had to stop what i was doing to look for this. so this involved pulling everything out from under our stairs and trying to find where i put the stupid picture... of course, the picture is no where to be found. i think my maid hid it... that or i just put it somewhere that i would "be sure not to lose it" and then lost it. still, it's easier to blame the maid ;)
yeah, so um. the babies are upstairs making lots of noise. not sure how much sleep i'll be getting tonight, but hopefully the combining rooms thing is succesful. if nothing else, maybe sam will be a little less pissed off at having to share everything. he suffers from "only child" syndrome; which has me a little confused seeings as how we have so many kiddos...
oh well, maybe if i get the stuff finished i can post some pictures tomorrow. or at least an update on the two little monkies who are bouncing off the walls.

self portraits.

i very rarely post my own pictures on my blog. i figure that sometimes it's okay to be silly. one of my favorite things to google is images of self portraits. it's interesting to see how people see themselves. the things that define us as human beings. the whole theory behind beauty being in the eye of the beholder.




photographs can be just as beautiful as words...

button ring bling

i made these with these cute little buttons i found at the thrift store for ten cents (a huge bag!) and some elastic and needle and thread. simple and just absolutely adorable :)

i love her cute little chubby fingers!

sharing our christmas with you :)

christmas was great! (minus the drilling that ce felt the need to do at 8:30 in the morning) we opened presents, cooked all day, and then got to enjoy a nice dinner and some movies with friends. the only thing that would have made it better was having the rest of the family here! well, there's always next year :)
here's some pictures for you to enjoy!
brandon's christmas eve haircut; gotta look good when mommy's taking all those pictures!

olivia getting her hair "did" (she was their youngest customer ever *lol*)

the stockings hung "by the chimney" (okay, we had to improvise a bit!)

the kids, sitting still so i could get at least ONE good picture in front of the presents :)

michael not caring about the camera and sam cheesin'!

he really did ask for clothes!

and video games; he's just trying to look tough!

brandon still loves thomas!

the baby doll that olivia has been eyeing in the bx for weeks!

taking the baby for a walk in her new stroller :)

sam showing off some of his stocking stuffers :)

the kids brought their rockband over to the morrillo's until our wii gets fixed (i know, we're so ghetto!) brandon's the best drummer ever :)

well, the best drummer ever, right after sam...

michael and chris rockin' out :)

day after christmas messes; it's unavoidable.

merry christmas for reals :)

i love christmas. even without snow. even after i've pulled down all the christmas decorations and put them away. even after the kids are in bed. and even though tomorrow is just another day.
christmas is just one day where even though things may seem the same (kids fighting, parents losing their tempers, messes being made, etc.) it's a reminder of all that we really have. a day to truly count our blessings. to be greatful for the little things that we take for granted every day.
today, i stop and think about how lucky i am. how blessed and loved i really feel. i have four terrific children, a wonderful husband, great parents, a sister and brother that i love, and awesome friends. we are lacking absolutely nothing. not everyone can say this...
so today and always, i hope you know that if you're in my life, i appreciate you. i love you, and i count you as my blessings. i hope all your christmas wishes come true, but more than anything, i pray that you can stop just for a second and count your own blessings. that you remember just for a moment that life is about a little more than just presents and tinsel.
merry christmas and happy new year! stay safe,
love, lisa

and the stockings were hung....

there are still little mice stirring in my house (sam to be more specific) and babies talking in their beds... i can't wait for santa to get here and to see the look on their faces when they wake up tomorrow morning! the thought almost makes me forget all the naughtiness. i will post lots of pictures in the next few days!

what i got the girls for christmas! :)

okay. my friend's had these, and i decided that all of my neices (and my daughter) needed one! how great are these name necklaces? the other side is shiny, but it was too hard to take a picture of.
olivia

journee


stevee


skye

vengesta

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!!!

I passed math 103!! with the help of good neighbors, good friends, strangers who took pity and an awesome teacher who probably helped me out on a few points!! thanks and i'm soo happy!!

my favorite cups....

have all gotten broken; but they are too good to not have a picture of! this was the last one, so before i chucked it, i had to save it for posterity! click the picture to see it up close so you can read what it says :)

all he wants for christmas is his two front teeth....

and maybe some toys, and videogames and a skateboard... *lol*

what to do with those left over m&m's...

how about wish a friend a happy birthday??? :) ha ha! happy birthday harry!! :)

and yes. i realize that i need a hobby badly ;)

busy busy, busy bee...

so today is a hectic one. i'm making reindeer cookies for the teachers, trying to figure out what to get for michael's secret santa pal, finishing up my math 103 project and trying to figure out the best way to cram for my math 103 exam.... *sigh* after today i will definately be able to breathe a little bit easier. this math class is really taking it out of me. however, my grade is like a 92, but that being said, my final is worth 40 % of my grade *yikes*. still, the teacher said he would give us credit if we showed our work even if the final answer is wrong; so there is still hope? i think. ha ha.

'tis the season...

pretty in pink.

the fence: (i got this in an e:mail)

There was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, to hammer a nail in the back fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Then it gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

kumbaya.

it is natural to be drawn to beautiful things.
we all want to live a life that is perfect and sweet and falls into place the way that it should. but things are never as easy as they should be. is it better to tell the truth and risk hurting the one you love or is it better to build a candy coated world for them?
the hardest thing is finding that middle ground. loving someone enough to tell them the truth; the truth that they deserve; and being there for what follows.
we are taught that it isn't okay to cry. that it isn't okay to grieve. we are taught to forget. that forgetting somehow leads to forgiveness. we bury things under layers of dirt thinking that it will seal up the open wound. but we forget that the elements, like time, and wind, and rain, will eventually wash away the dirt, leaving us a pain that feels just as fresh and new.
i think it is time to clean the wounds. bandage them up. and let them heal.

we're bringing sexy back *lol*

and this is what we do for fun on sundays.

the best christmas gift ever!

this is what our friend got for michael; hilarious! there will be a "family picture" with the stache's ;)

it's begining to look a lot like christmas!

today was the lrs christmas party! the kids had a blast!
brandon LOVES santa!
michael thinks he's too big to sit on santa's lap:
olivia's favorite part was the cookie making table:
especially the frosting:
and she wasn't too happy when i took away her knife!
brandon loved the cookies too!
then we got a little family shot (daddy was home sick) and yes, i know, sam looks like someone kicked him.
and afterwards i got a break and went down to the alley with melissa and andreana. we bought a few hoodies, stopped in the silver house with our wheelin' and dealin' and then got our toes painted :) tonight is dinner at andrea's.
*yes, kris, we MISS you! :)