New Year's Resolutions

From the nine-month old: learn to walk and continue capturing hearts.

From the 3 year-old: "Color things for Santa." I'm guessing Christmas had a huge impact on her. She still thinks there is more coming.

From the 7 and a half year-old: "I think I will not just say O.K. Mom, but I will actually do it." I am guessing this one will have a short life-span.

From the 30 year old-Stop thinking things out so much, that they never get done.

From the 32 year-old-Take his wife away somewhere...I think this is my favorite resolution.

Here's to a great 2008--Leave anxiety, frustrations, and sorrow in 2007; have joy, laughter, and love through out and beyond 2008!

Look Ma, no hands! (well almost)

Happy Birthday Patti

Have a wonderful day!

Pictures as promised

We had a wonderful Christmas and hope you all did. Now the house needs to be put back together, so the Christmas stories will be told at a later date. Suffice to say there were many sweet moments that Chris and I will cherish. We missed our extended family, but it was was great for the kids to come down their own stairs and see what Santa had been up to. Santa created a Barbie extravaganza. I guess I am passed the whole, "My girls won't ever play with Barbies" stage. Peace to all.

Merry Christmas! (Eve)

What fun we have been having with all the Christmas traditions. We have made and decorated Christmas cookies, baked biscotti (Caity help to paint butterscotch on them), created our own Ginger (graham cracker) houses, and enjoyed so many classic movies. Caity is still undecided about St. Nick. It looks like this might be the last year for that magic, but she is discovering the other joys of the season that are so much more important in the scheme of things. This morning she told the Christmas story (abbreviated and with great liberties) to Malena who was more interested in trying to take the candy off her candied house. Speaking of Malena, she is right in the thick of the 'magic of Christmas' age. It will be so great to see her face when she comes down the stairs. Colin is just pleased to get a hold of the wrapping paper and have a good ole' time. Merry Christmas!

Colin's Nine Month Resume

Objectives:

• Make it through the first year of life with my dignity intact, as my sisters have already taken to combing my hair and dressing me up in various things.
  
• Steal the heart of everyone who spends five minutes with me---So far so good.
  
• Continue keeping my mom on her toes with my ever-changing schedule—she only thought I was going to start sleeping through the night. Good thing I’m cute.
  
  Education:
  
• A steady balance of musical training and physical activity.
• Sister says that I say her name—maybe I do, and maybe I don’t.
• Begun my football training by evading my dad’s countless tackles as I try to reach for my desired toy.
  
  Experience:
• Seen the ocean.—OK, I slept through that
• Traveled across the country—I slept, but it was not my fault. The car made me do it.
• Saw beautiful Christmas Lights—Yep, I slept.
• Attend church every Sunday.—I don’t sleep at all. In fact, that is when I feel like trying to wriggle out of the grasp of anyone brave enough to hold me during this time.
  
  Skills:
• Rolling over and crawling in my own special way
• Sitting up and pulling to a stand all by myself
• Growing teeth—I have four
• Eating bananas and Cheerios—Yum!
• Babbling and Singing
• Tipping the scales at 22.4 lbs.
• 28” long
• Make Dad's eyes twinkle
• Melt Mom’s heart

Happy Birthday Grandma

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We decided to take in the lights at the Memphis Zoo which we have never done before. I got so wrapped up in the family fun that I didn't take as many pics as I had intended. It was very cold... (cold for us in the mid-south) All my northern friends stop laughing now.

We broke out the mittens, hats, and swaddled Little Man aptly. He slept through the whole evening which was nice to be able to focus on the girls. Daddy and Big Sis went on a 3-D snow ride while Lil' Sis and Mom discussed Santa Claus. She said that she wanted to give him a big hug, so he would give her a big Barbie house to take home. She gave me permission to sit on his lap and get one too--I declined.

Big Sis says that she is glad that she knows "Santa's fake" so she will not be scared of him anymore. Looks like we need to read and watch The Polar Express a few more times. We have chosen not to agree with her developing opinion. We just ask her what she thinks about the whole deal. We shall see Christmas morning.

My Apologies

So, I had my facts wrong about the artist that this blog mentions. I have searched and found out just how wrong I was by calling him late. He survived a near death experience and it fueled him for a comeback album coming soon. At least that is what I read. This site isn't a dedication page; however, I wanted to clarify.

Marc Cohn is ALIVE!
Thanks to anonymous who brought that to my attention.

Malena's take on Jingle Bells

Last night, Malena wanted to sing this Christmas song. The video is bad, but I had to use it anyway for the vocals.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way,

All when time I do the chuck,

When I'm dying to say-ay.

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,

Oh McTime I do this stuff,

ever and after that day--hey!

Cute quote #1

Malena says at breakfast...

"Mom, 'member when Colin was baby Jesus and you were Mary? 'Member that? Yeah, that was cool."

Mind you, Colin or myself have never depicted The Virgin Mary or our Savior in any way. That's Malena for you.

Caity's Dance Performance

Caity's dance class had an open class performance tonight. She looks forward to every Tuesday night when she can go see her friend and dance teacher. She is very lucky to get such intimate training with an instructor who is truly passionate. This video has an expiration date of one month. I posted it for all the family that could not make it. She will have a big recital in June that will showcase all the classes.

Reasons Two and Three why I love Colin

I don’t know if it is a boy/girl thing, just his nature, or the legacy of the ‘Martinez men’… (To be explained later) He is so EASY! Here we are now at eight months and he is sleeping through the night. I wake up in the morning still amazed at this. It has happened for a few weeks now. He literally cried for only ten minutes one night and then that was it. Now I sing him one song (I even get to chose it) and lay him down. He is out for the night!!! Now before the new moms roll your eyes and cry… I have paid my dues. The Venus children were quite the opposite. This magical moment did not happen until after the first candles were blown on their cakes. I co-habitated with Leny the first few months on the couch night after night after… Sorry, I am back now. This fact alone would be enough for my elation, but there’s more. He likes the water. I can put him in his tub and he is all about the playtime. There are squeals of delight and not torture. In fact, I have included a picture of Leny to prove that she got in the tub. This is a new thing as she usually takes a shower with me. It makes shaving very complicated, as she wants to be held during her shower. Now, I know the girls are getting picked on here, but I know the time will come when I look down at my sweet boy’s face and say…” Why can’t you be more like your sisters?”

Two More "Firsts"

The saying is a picture is worth---well you know how it goes. I fear that gone are the days of perfectly poised snap shots. Lately, it seems that our photos are stories in and of themselves.

We got back from my brother's beautiful wedding and put up our tree to bring in the Christmas season with holiday cheer. After we set up the tree and arranged a few packages, Colin crawled right to them. He was overjoyed, as was I, at this momentous event. However, Malena instantly recognized that it was her package he discovered and did not share in the holiday spirit. She only allowed his exploration to continue until this photo was snapped. Then she promptly removed his hand and grabbed the gift from him. What preceded was another first-- a temper tantrum. Luckily, Caity had another shiny toy and quickly found contentment.

What does that say?

I figured I would get few inquiries regarding this blog's site name. It is a play on the song by Marc Cohn. When we explained to our then two year old Caitlyn that we were moving to Memphis, she called it 'Menchis'.

That was over five years ago and amazing things have happen for our little family here by the Ole' Muddy River. One of these blessings is three years old and the other just turned 8 months.

I have been inspired by a few friends that have been very loyal bloggers to join the parade of mommy bloggers. I just wanted a place to share cute sayings and musings of our everyday life in Memphis with our family in the Valley. Phone calls are too short to share it all and my brain doesn't think past the present lately. I will also post Caitlyn's homeschool projects for her grandparents to see. Dioramas and the like don't mail easily.

Until next time...