Perez Party of Five: 10/01/2008

This is Carissa experiencing a comical punishment. Those of you who know me, know that I discipline my children with logical consequences. What you are seeing is Carissa wearing homemade blinders. She was having a hard time staying focused on her chores and homework, so I helped her out a bit. You can see that she's not too happy, but it actually worked. I just had to take a picture of it.

At the Fall Festival, they had an area to make your own scarecrow. Trae was hanging out with friends for the day, so he didn't get to help us create Wilma. He had to meet her when he got home and he wasn't too impressed, but he was a little jealous.

We went to the Fall Festival on post and had a little fun. Everything was free. Now that's my kind of fun!! Carissa did the bungy run and it was quite hilarious to watch her run as far as she could and then get snapped backwards.

Fishing on Ft. Rucker during fall break wasn't so successful. We couldn't go fishing until I got out of class which put us in the hot afternoon sun. It was 89 degrees that day, which doesn't make for great fishing. We had fun anyway and fished at 3 of the 5 lakes on Rucker.

I worked very hard to get a picture of this butterfly, so I hope you enjoy my effort. I had forgotten how beautiful the south is. It's hard to notice when you move here in the summer, but now that fall has come around, I'm really enjoying my surroundings. We came from a very dusty, windy, and dry El Paso full of jack rabbits, dove, oryx, and stray dogs to a beautiful lush, green, Alabama full of armadillos, opposums, turtles, butterflies, and brilliantly colored cardnials and blue jays. Ft. Rucker is a quiet little post and the people are so friendly. Most of the locals, sound just like Forest Gump. It's good to be here.

This guy was just cruizing on the side of the road, so we jumped out and took some pictures with him. The kids really wanted to keep him, but I hate turning free animals into prisoners, so we let him go. Carissa said all we had to do was take him to the vet to get all the rabies and salmonella out of him. She is too funny!

I have finally finished my blog! I hesitated in the beginning because I don't have little babies anymore and so many of these blogs today have pictures of tiny kiddos. So, I got to thinking and decided to give everyone a trip down memory lane with each of my kids and show you the high lights of their lives. It was fun going through the memories. It was very time consuming beacuse I had to scan most of my pictures into the computer since I didn't have a digital camera when my kids were little. I love my children so much and miss their baby years. We have been blessed with beautiful, healthy, strong children. There is never a dull moment in our home. I have many wonderful years to come, but will always have fond memories of their younger years. Hope you enjoy the show!

Ayesha is our "peace maker". She is sensitive, kind,considerate, smart, helpful, funny, and very nurturing. She is growing into a beautiful young woman and is almost 15 years old. I just don't know where the time has gone. Ayesha is actually enjoying school this year. They have a wonderful elective in her school called "Reinforcement". This is her last class for the day and she gets to complete her homework here. She is also being taught study skills for test taking and writing skills for language arts. This class has almost eliminated her after school homework. She is enjoying her freedom and we've seen a complely different child emerge. Ayesha still loves animals, the Jonas Brothers, and Hannah Montana. She has really devloped an interest in cooking and baking with me. She is such a joy to have around.

Trae is our "entertainer". He has a very colorful personality. He can be very funny, sensitive, helpful, creative, charasmatic, entertaining, and tough. These days he is a running back and a line backer for the Ft. Rucker Falcons. "GO FALCONS". He has decided to become a trumpet player as well. What a combination that is! He still loves to cook and can make an awesome omelet! He hasn't found a "Brayden" or a "Jordan" for best friends yet, but he is good friends with two neighborhood girls. They aren't just any girls though. These girls can ride a skateboard better than he can and they're pretty tough. One of them just comes to the door and grunts when she wants to hang out with him. Most of the time, Trae runs around the neighborhood playing war with the kids using waterguns. He even has the little kids showing up at the door asking to play. Trae could play outside all day using his imagination. I wish I had his energy! There is never a dull moment when Trae's around.

Carissa is our "fashion guru". I go to her when I want to know if my outfit looks good and she can truly appreciate a cute pair of shoes. She is very helpful, insightful, cuddly, kind, funny, nurturing, sensative, diplomatic, optimistic, and playful. She dominates on the soccer field this season and has made amazing progress over the years. Her major goals in life are running faster and being stronger than most boys. Having Trae for a brother has been her motivation. She is all about proving herself this year, but still leaves time for lipgloss, fingernail polish, and high-heels when playing dress-ups. We really enjoy watching her behave like a grown-up. She can be so funny!

Precious Moments

October 2009

Once upon a time there was community of cotton farmers. Then one day a nasty little bug called a boll weevil decided to ruin everyone's cotton crops (probably a curse from all the days of slavery). Anyway, people had to figure out what to do and how to grow something that the boll weevil couldn't destroy, so some genius decided to plant peanuts. Apparently, peanuts are pretty hardy and the boll weevil didn't care too much for them, so peanuts became the new cash crop in southern Alabama. The boll weevil is worshipped in these parts. He's a pretty famous little guy. There is a Boll Weevil Circle, which is a main road through town; there is a fountain on Main Street in the middle of downtown with someone holding a boll weevil up in the air, and the mascot for Enterprise-Ozark Community College is the Boll Weevil. You should see that guy dressed up in a boll weevil costume, it is a sight to see. An annual Peanut Festival is also celebrated in honor of the thriving peanut industry. The boll weevil is an ugly little booger, but he sure saved the day in a round about way!!

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Easter

Easter egg dying went to a whole new level this year. As our kids get older the magic starts to fade away, so we have to be creative. This year the kids had 3 eggs to dye. One would think that dying 3 eggs would go by really fast. Well, not with our kids. They dyed and redyed their eggs trying to make the perfect colors. It took them almost an hour to dye their 3 eggs. The funny part is that the next day, Carissa cried when Jose ate one of her eggs. I guess the magic never really goes away after all.

Lilly May

Here is the newest member of our family. Her name is Lily. We rescued her from Save-A-Pet, with PetSmart. She is a goofy dog that is definately a product of over-breeding. She is part beagle and part terrier. She has an extra toe on each hind leg and a huge underbite, which makes her the worst water drinker in the world. She has the worst smelling farts you'll ever smell, but she is the sweetest thing you'll ever see. Thanks to the Dog Whisperer and my creative genius side, she is housebroken and quite the little lady. We love our Lilly and she has made herself at home. Angel even likes her now. They are like peas and carrots.