2012, I'm Breaking Up With You

Dear 2012,

The last 366 days have been…interesting.  There were some pretty good moments, and a lot of necessary healing and growth occurred during our time together, but no offense 2012, I’m really hoping that 2013 is less dramatic and painful than you were.

 

Of course, it’s not to say that our time together was all bad.  There were certainly some wonderful moments peppered in with those less than savory days. 

Our time together saw Michael and I enter the Dirty Thirty Birthday Club.  It also saw us enter some much needed marriage counseling, which has been stellar.  Of course, the events that led us there weren’t so awesome.  Whatevs.  Water under the bridge, right?

This year also ushered in a new phase of our parenting: we have a preschooler now!  Sybilla ADORES school (I will never forget her disappointment that summer couldn’t end fast enough) and is flying through her achievements like nobody’s business.  Our fridge is covered in more art projects than we have magnets for, and we are deluged with constant requests on how to spell various words.  I won’t lie…I am excited to see what 2013 holds in this department!

Additionally, we were finally able to move out of our old ratty apartment, complete with pest infestation, mold problems, and paper thin walls into a two story duplex that meets all of our needs and then some.  Now that I can finally proudly display my grandmother’s china cabinet, I feel so grown up.  And a backyard!  I actually have to maintain it and set my garbage by the curb and everything too!

Lastly, the Mayan calendar ended, but the world did not.  Kinda glad for that, aren’t you?

Our time together wasn’t a total loss.  But events over the last few weeks have made me realize that all good things must come to an end, and it’s time for us to part ways 2012.  I’m sorry that it had to end on a sour note (really, 2012, wrecking my husband’s car three days prior to NYE is not exactly an endearing quality).  Maybe after we’ve spent some time apart and had a chance to be on our own, we’ll be able to look back more fondly and recall the good ol’ days with each other.  I know this is hard for you, especially with 2013 right here, but I think you’ll agree that it’s for the best.  I could try and tell you that it’s me, not you, but that would be a lie, and I still have some respect for you.

If it makes you feel any better, I’m not making any resolutions for 2013.  I can’t imagine making them with anyone else right now.  I think after all of them pretty much backfired with you, I’m beginning to think that maybe resolutions just aren’t for me.  I may come out at the end of my time with 2013 and think that otherwise, but only time will tell.

Sincerely,

Kelly  

Happy Birthday!

I ain't gonna lie...if it weren't for Facebook, I would probably forget half the anniversaries and birthdays of the people I love.  So, thank you Facebook for reminding me that today are the birthdays of two very special people: my daughter's godmother (and one of my best friends) Debi and my cousin Kari!

If you have a chance, swing by my cousin's blog, Hound Girl.  Kari has two awesome dogs, Hayley and Fred and I love reading her stories about their adventures.  Plus, who doesn't like cute dog pictures?

And if you know a Marine, hug them or tell them thank you today in honor of my friend Debi.  Debi is a Marine and she was there by my side as I was giving birth.  She was also there by my side during some of the worst depression I have ever experienced and I am forever grateful for her friendship and her service to our country.

Happy birthday ladies...you are well loved in the land of Lapiz de la Guerra!

Kelly

Happy Birthday Madel(e)ine and Weekend Recap (with video!)

We celebrated two birthdays this weekend... Madeleine and Madeline.  Madeleine was turning 5, and Madeline was turning 1.  Confused yet?  It gets better.  Madeleine passed on clothes to Sybilla who passed on the clothes to Madeline.  And I've worked with both Madel(e)ines' mama's and been to both of their weddings.  Silly similarities aside, we had a great weekend!

Saturday we went to Madeleine's birthday party where we stuffed ourselves silly on hot wings, hot dogs, and fajitas.  Well, I did anyway.  Billa chowed down on 'shie's' (goldfish) and de-boned hot wing meat.  I made Madeleine's cake for her, which was supposed to be a Tinkerbell cake, but ended up being a really lovely fancy flower cake instead.  No worries, it worked out for the better I think!

The flower cake I made for Madeleine; it was swirled pink vanilla and chocolate inside.

Madeleine's birthday was actually Monday, but when you asked her at the party, she said, "It's today!"

Sybilla has discovered a love of frosting now!

After a nap and some more baking on my part, we drive up to Cedar Park to visit the other Madeline and bring her cupcakes for her birthday party.  Her party was a family only affair, so we stayed and played on Saturday evening while her mama, Caroline, and I caught up with each other.  Billa fell in LOVE with Caroline's cat Casper, who was VERY patient.  This cat is ginormous, by the way.  Anyone who thought Gumerry was big never met Casper.  He weighs in at 27 pounds (Gumerry topped the scale at 22) and is the size of a Smart car.  OK, maybe not that big, but he's still large!  While he was very patient, he did not like being picked up or pounded on by both girls, so he made himself scarce very quickly, which is not his norm from what I understand.  I hate to break it to you, Casp, but get used to it.  Your child pet is about to change!

I made cupcakes designed to look like the Hungry Little Caterpillar...I loved these, they were so colorful!

Billa and Madeline get some instructions on how to pet Casper (bless his heart!)

And here is Madeline enjoying her cake; her mama called to tell me that she would have kept on eating cake if she hadn't taken it away from her!

Today we enjoyed a lazy Sunday, the deinition of lazy meaning "let's clean house, do two loads of laundry, the grocery shopping, and then watch a couple of movies."  It was lazy more in the sense that we didn't really cook much (hot dogs for dinner and blueberry cake for breakfast) and there was no schedule.  We just went with the flow, as you can see.

Kickin' back while watching the Little Mermaid

Billa also enjoyed her dinner which she will tell you about here:



And there you have it. Until next time!

Love,
The Guerra's

Happy Birthday Mom!

I vow to post a birthday blog for all of my friends and family this year; if anything I will at least try!  The first birthday of the year is my mom's!  My mom shares her special day with the Feast of the Magi, which is the day that we celebrate the three wise men bringing their gifts to the baby Jesus.

Today is also the day that my daughter decided to wear her tutu to school.  Never mind the fact that just last night she was brandishing a ruler as if it were a sword and huzzah-ing all over the house.  Once she saw her tutu this morning, she HAD to wear it.  In fact, we wore it to Gramma's house to celebrate her birthday.

We enjoyed yummy fried chicken, mashed potatoes, french fries, peas, and oreo cake for dessert.  Mmmm...  Afterward, we watched Star Trek and got home very very late, but my mom had a great birthday!

Happy Birthday Mama Moo!

Love,K-Boo, The Pirate Princess and Michael

One Last Thing...OOHRAH!

Happy Birthday Marine Corp...Thank you for your service and dedication to America!

And to Billa's Aunt Debi, who is a Marine, we love you!

Cheers,
the Guerra Clan

Happy Birthday Kari!

Today is my cousin Kari's birthday...happy birthday Kari! Hope you had a great day!

Love,
The Guerra Clan

Happy Birthday Kellie!

Today is my best friend Kellie's birthday. Kellie and I met a little over eight years ago through the St. Edwards theatre dept. She was a transfer student a year ahead of me and prior to her arrival, I'd been the only Kelly in the department. I hated having to share my name with someone else (is that person yelling Kelly calling me or her?) and I didn't like her at first because she spelled her name funny. But she became friends with my roommate and subsequently we became inseperable. Professors called us K Squared or K2 or the Kelly's (or Kellie's ;o) and where there was one of us, the other was sure to follow. We were each other's right hand woman during our weddings and we've been through thick and thin.

To you, my dear friend, I raise my glass and say thank you! Hope your birthday was lovely!

Love,
The Guerra Gang

Happy Birthday Malachi!

This Sunday we went to New Braunfels to help celebrate the birthday of my cousin's son, Malachi. I hadn't seen these relatives in a while so it was a real treat to catch up with my uncle John, my aunt Amparo, and their sons (my cousins) Michael, David, and Panch!

Sybilla herself had a great time playing with Malachi and his little sister Zoe, both of whom I was meeting for the first time too! Michael and his wife Heather went all out and we enjoyed hamburgers and hot dogs, veggie crudites, chips, drinks, and cake. They'd set up a bubble machine (I know what I need to buy now!), a wading pool with floating toys, kiddie croquet, bean bag toss, and bins full of rice and kitchen toys which the kids adored (gotta employ that idea too!). They also had a pinata which Billa enjoyed thoroughly; in fact it was almost disturbing how she and her cousin Zoe delighted in whacking at the thing when they got a chance. Billa also showed off her party trick, which is her "scared" or "shocked" face. She knows she gets a good laugh out of everybody when she does it too and everyone enjoyed it. Here are some pictures from our adventure:

Bubble machine!

Eating bubbles

Chilling on the hammock with Daddy

The face - just add trembling and you now have the coolest party trick of the year

My cousin Michael wraps a blind fold around Malachi

Billa gives Spongebob a piece of her mind

Spanking Spongebob on his Squarepants

Zoe gives it a go too...look at that face! So delightful..and delighted

But I want cake Mama! Why does he have cake?

Malachi makes a wish!

Finally having our cake and eating it too

Billa Bluebeard eats some cheese...the alternative to more cake ;o)

Zoe thoroughly enjoys her cake too...and yes, she had blue boogers afterwards, lol!

Zoe, Malachi, and Billa unwrapping and playing with Malachi's new toys

Have a great week,
Kelly et al

Happy Birthday Anthony!

Our friend Anthony celebrated his 29th birthday yesterday!

As in past years, we gathered for an impromptu get together and had ourselves quite the man feast of ribs, hot wings, more ribs, beer and cake. There was corn on the cob somewhere amongst the spread, but given the amount of testosterone at the shindig, I think it went largely unnoticed. Men don't need veggies, grrr! My Dr. Pepper ribs came out ah-MAZE-ing, if I do say so myself. Those will definitely be made again and you can snag the recipe here!

Not even a hint of green anywhere on this table!

I whipped up a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting for Anthony even though he said he didn't want a cake. I think he was very glad to have it anyway! Kellie and I had a little too much fun, um...decorating it.

Here's Anthony, being a very good sport with his princess themed cake:

The kids ran around in the backyard and had a grand time. The rain from the past couple of days actually made it bearable to be outside for once, which was a relief given the triple digit heat wave we've had for the past 3 months (I am NOT making that up BTW. In fact, we've broken the record now with a total of 67 days of temps above 100F). The neighbor's son just got his Halloween costume and insisted on wearing it. Too cute!

Don't even ask me what's happening here because I couldn't tell you...but it doesn't look like it bodes well for Superman!

Madeleine demonstrates her own Superman pose. Love the tats!

All in all, I'd say everyone had a great time. Happy 29th Anthony!

Love,
The Guerra Clan

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Today is Auntie Michelle's birthday! Happy Birthday Michelle! We love you!

Michelle with Sybilla (5 months)

Love,
The Guerra Clan

Happy Birthday Philip!

On this day 23 years ago, at the age of 4, I was playing in the sandbox with my younger brother David as the sun was setting in what was to be one of the most memorable sunsets in my life. Inside the house, my mom was giving birth to my youngest brother Philip who made his appearance roughly around 7 that evening. As we played outside, David and I had no clue just how much our lives were going to be changed...for better and for worse! Philip, here's to a very colorful and exciting 23 years and to at least 23 more!

The Armadillon at birth:

And now 23 years later:

Don't overdo it with the celebrating little bro!

Love,
Kelly, Michael, and Billa (and the now yours Gumerry the Gray)

Stars, Stripes and Sunburns!

Yes, I realize the Fourth of July was yesterday and that my birthday wishes for the good 'ol US of A are a bit belated. Whatever. We were too wiped out when we got home last night at about 11:30 to do anything other than rinse the lake grunge off and crawl into bed. My husband's family is very proud of me; I not only climbed in the lake willingly, but I did it twice.

I am glad I convinced Michael to go out on Saturday and not Sunday because a) Billa and I definitely needed today to recuperate and b) Billa got to see her first fireworks show last night and what a show! Being on the lake meant that just about every lakeside village/community had their own show going and we got to see about 6 or 7 of them in great detail from the widow's watch on top of the house. They were very spectactular and Billa was a trooper for staying up so late. We also did sparklers and the younger kids got some fountains and whizzmagigs and those were tons of fun too. Below is a slide show of our day. Michael went back out to the lake today as some friends of ours were headed that way today and Billa and I hung around at home and then headed to my folks house to visit to make the round of grandparent visits complete for the week :o) All in all, what a weekend! And despite the title of this entry, we actually made it through the weekend without nary a burn! We were a little pink, but not that bad.

Happy Birthday America! And speaking of birthdays, my pal Tori from high school (I am fairy godmother to her son Nicholas) turned 28 today. Happy Birthday Victoria!

I hope the rest of you all had a wonderful and safe Fourth of July!

Nighty night,
Kelly

Happy Birthday Papa and Memorial Day Weekend Happenings

After a looooong three day weekend, I am left wanting a weekend from the weekend. Michael started at Harley on Friday, and his second day was on Saturday, so Billa and I hung out all day. We went out in the afternoon to go see Daddy at his new job and meet all the nice people he works with. I tell ya what, bikers are some of the nicest people. They really get a bad rap thanks to motorcycle gangs. You don't believe me? Then Google BACA, aka Bikers Against Child Abuse. That'll make you run up to the next biker you see and practically throw your arms around them for a hug. Saturday evening we FINALLY went and saw Star Trek, thanks to Kellie and Anthony. They paid for the tickets and even babysat for us so we could go out for our anniversary! Love you guys!

Sunday we went to the lake. We visited with Michael's dad and stepmom and had a lovely day relaxing, although it was a bit stressful for me really. I am NOT a fan of lakewater, so I was a little anxious being near the lake and then totally worried that Munchkin would go and take a dive. It also got REALLY hot and I didn't drink nearly enough water. No sunburn though! No tan either, boo.

And then finally, my daddy's birthday was on Memorial Day this year, so on Monday we went to visit him and my mom and have some BBQ, chocolate cake, and homemade ice cream. Yum! Billa had so much fun playing in the garden and the fountain that she can't wait to go back next weekend when Michael and I go to Papa Carl's birthday party on the lake. My dad enjoyed the chocolate cake I made for him, which incidentally is the first time in years he has not made his own cake. After a long day, we came home exhausted but well fed.

Tonight, I am making a cake for Kellie's baby shower at school and I am ever so grateful that tomorrow is Wednesday and not Tuesday. Yay four day work weeks! Anyway, I will post some pictures later from this weekend when I am not covered in MMF and cream cheese icing.

Until then,
Kelly & the Gang

Feast of the Epiphany, Happy Birthday Mom, and Congrats Jen!

Today is the Epiphany, which means it's also the last day of the Twelve Days of Christmas. For you non-Catholic/Christian types out there, the Feast of the Epiphany marks the day when the Wise Men found the baby Jesus and presented him with their gifts of gold, frankincense & myrrh. This day also happens to be my mama's birthday, so happy birthday Mom! (It also means MY birthday is 4 months away...let the countdown begin!)

As a fun fact, most people are not aware that the Twelve Days of Christmas actually begin Christmas Day and end on January 6th. The song Twelve Days of Christmas was actually created by the Irish as a way to keep the Catholic faith strong during their time of oppression by the English. Supposedly each of the items mentioned in the song is relevant to a part of Catholic culture and tradition, but I have as of yet been unable to find those. I just keep getting distracted but I know my friend Google will help me out...someday...

And in other news, congrats to my cousin Patrick's wife, Jennifer O'Malley Dillon! If you haven't heard me brag about her before, she ran the battleground states campaign for Barack Obama. He has just appointed her as the executive director to run the day to day operations of the DNC and we here in the Guerra household are immensely proud of her. I hope that my cousin and Jen both have the opportunity to take a vacation soon; they've certainly earned it!

That's pretty much it for now until I get an opportunity to post some more pix and videos. Until then,

Happy Tuesday y'all!

K & Co.

Ooorah!

My dear friend Debi is a Marine and this day is very special to her... it's the Marine Corps' birthday! So here is a shoutout to all Marine Corps peeps... Happy Birthday Jarheads, Grunts, Devil Dogs, and Leathernecks! We have much to be thankful for, thanks to you.

Debi is also Sybilla's godmother and she was my left hand woman while I gave birth (quite literally!). She is one tough hot mama and dear to my heart. I am also a jerk and totally got her birthday wrong, so her birthday present is a blog entry devoted solely to her (not that she ever has time to read it in depth, LOL). And a really cute picture of Billa, when she stops moving long enough for mommy to get a really good one :o)

Happy Birthday Marines and Debi!

K & Co.