Krusing Along

Can You Spot The Bunny?!

2012-01-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

The dogs are now comfortable with their new little brother, Thor. Here is Zar (black dog) on the hunt for a squirrel while Thor is directly behind him wondering what he is doing. They touch noses a lot. Too cute!

Zoo!

2012-01-07T09:21:00.000-08:00

Thank you Mima and Papa for the wonderful year membership to the Fort Worth Zoo! We now have our official zoo membership cards and were off to see the zoo! Dean loves the lion exhibit. His faces crack me up!

Worms!

2012-01-07T09:18:00.000-08:00

Dean is obsessed with worms. Every time we go outside to play he wants worms. Daddy hunts down the worms in our leaves compost pile and gives Dean a bundle of them. These poor worms have such a short life span when Dean "plays" with them. I don't know why he was pretending to eat them. <> yuck!

Merry Christmas 2011 Part 2!

2012-01-07T09:13:00.000-08:00

We went to the Nonno's to celebrate Christmas dinner! Before we left Dean and Daddy made sure to get some snuggle time with Thor while watching cycling videos.
Dean really loves hanging out at the Nonno's house. He reminded me that the Nonno's have the BEST Christmas tree ever! Thank you Nonno and Nonna for another wonderful Christmas! Dean loves his animal game!

Merry Christmas 2011!

2012-01-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and New Years! Dean was so excited this year. He woke up early and was so excited to see that Santa not only ate the cookie we left for him, gave Rudolph the carrot and drank most of the milk but he also let Dean a note!
Dean was also surprised that he received so much from Santa since he said: "I did try to be a good boy but wow, it was HARD!". No...kidding child.
Dean was very much surprised to see that he got all the robot hot wheels that he wanted. He also got two super hero fleece blankets and two homemade super hero pillow cases. I love his dinosaur slippers. Cracks me up. One of the GREATEST gifts this year was from Mima and Papa. Thank you both for giving all three of us a year membership to the Fort Worth Zoo! We already received our cards and I will post pictures soon!

THOR!

2011-12-17T19:53:00.000-08:00

Meet the newest member to our family: Thor! Thor is a New Zealand mixed breed. He is only 7 months old and weighs in at 11lbs. The story behind Thor: growing up, I have always had rabbits. One of my favorite pets was my rabbit, Mickey. Mickey lived to be 9 years old and was fully potty trained. So after many years of not having a rabbit I got the bunny fever again. Looked online at the Humane Society and found Thor. He was scheduled to be euthanized on Tuesday, the 13th. To make matters worse, he was originally named "Galleta" which means Cookie in Spanish. So a male rabbit, neutered and named "cookie" about to be put down? No way! So Dean and I busted him out! DaDa told me that it was up to me if I really wanted him and to see how we do for about a week. Little did DaDa know that he too would become attached to this large beautiful boy and I think we have officially adopted him for good! Red and Zar (our two very large dogs) have already gotten use to Thor and Red sleeps next to Thor's crate at night in the garage. We haven't let them all loose in the yard yet and will wait a LONG while to do so. So here is Dean's new buddy, Thor, helping him fight off evil in his world of super heroes!

Dean's Christmas Program!

2011-12-17T19:43:00.000-08:00

Dean's school had a beautiful Christmas program. All month long Dean has been singing most of the songs to this program. I thought Dean was going to be singing his heart out and one of the loudest of the group(s). Boy, was I wrong!
Dean pretty much froze when he saw that the auditorium was filled with parents and relatives. I felt so bad for the little guy. I could tell he wanted to leave and kept giving me "those eyes". Which are the "Mamí, get me OUT of here" eyes. I did take videos but most of them are of me shaking the camera and telling him to do something as I'm singing along.
Later he told me: Mamí, I didn't think there was going to be ALL those people there! I don't like that!
So he just sings for us at home; which is just fine with me!

Dean's Second Home Depot Project!

2011-12-17T19:39:00.000-08:00

As I posted before, The Home Depot has a Children's Workshop every first Saturday of the month. This month Dean made a snowman napkin holder! He had mixed emotions about going. He wanted to build something but didn't want to build something. So he demanded a hammer so he could feel like he actually built something. Let me just say that he is very proud of his snowman napkin holder. I will post a picture of it soon!

Pow Wow!

2011-11-13T09:42:00.000-08:00

Dean had his first school production this Friday, November 11th. He was "Fast Arrow"! The four and five year old classes did an adorable production of the Indians for us and the three year old classes. I love it that Dean loves school so much!

Kids Workshop!

2011-11-13T09:37:00.000-08:00

Every first Saturday of every month Home Depot has a Kids Workshop. This Month (November) was Dean's first time to attend. He surprised the workers (Daniel and Connie) with how well he assembled his picture frame. He knew the places where the glue needed to be applied, how much glue, how to hammer in the nails and screw in the grips! Not surprising that Dean painted the frame green. He received two pins and a certificate for a job well done! I love his apron. Stay tuned for the next workshop in December!

Hulk Says Happy Halloween!

2011-11-13T09:32:00.000-08:00

Dean was The Incredible Hulk this year for Halloween. Lets just say he makes the BEST Hulk ever! This was his first year going door to door trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. He was so excited and didn't want to stop!
He told us what kind of pumpkins to carve this year. He wanted a happy pumpkin, a scared pumpkin and an angry pumpkin. I did the scared and angry pumpkins while DaDa did the happy one. Halloween 2011 was a success!

Happy First Day Of Fall!

2011-11-13T09:28:00.000-08:00

I took Dean to one of the nurseries here for a Fall celebration. He loved decorating his pumpkin, planting grass, balloons and munching on popcorn!

A Day At The Park!

2011-11-13T09:20:00.000-08:00

A little catching up here: Back in August 28th Stan, aka: DaDa, had a bad cycling accident. I would post pictures but prefer not to since they do look a little gross and I don't want people to worry. The reason why? Because if you look at this picture, which was taken exactly a month after his accident, one wouldn't have guessed that Stan was in a bad accident! To think he received a total of 17 facial stitches, a separated shoulder bone and fractured the L1 and L2 on his back. You wouldn't have guessed he was injured if you looked at these pictures huh? We are so proud of DaDa for being so brave and healing up like a champ!
Back to this post: This is one of my favorite parks in Dallas, TX. The park has a beautiful waterfall and plenty of grass to lay around and have a picnic. Years ago someone made these amazingly beautiful teddy bears from granite. I'm so happy to be able to share one of my favorite places with Dean! This is now one of his favorite places as well!

More Letters!

2011-11-13T09:17:00.000-08:00

Dean loves to practice writing his letters! I'm so proud of him picking to practice writing his letters over watching tv! I just love this boy!

Homework!

2011-11-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

Not really. He does love to practice writing his letter! My studious little boy!

First Day Of School!

2011-11-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

It's official! Dean is in Preschool! This year he is part of the Carebear class. He picked out his outfit for the first day of school. Surprise, surprise he chose a green shirt! Here he is with his best friend, Connor! I love these boys!

Meet The Teachers!

2011-11-13T09:07:00.000-08:00

This was taken back in August 29th. Sorry for the delay in posting, so much has been going on.
Here is Dean, all dressed up for "Meet the Teachers"! He was so excited about meeting his teachers: Mrs. Kinney and Mrs. Buzcko!

Story Time!

2011-11-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

Dean loves going to the library! What does he love most about it? Sharing his library books/stories with everyone; including the dogs! Here he is reading to Zar (black) and Red (blonde).

Tiger, Tiger!

2011-07-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

I took Dean to the library summer reading appreciation party this morning. He really enjoyed seeing his favorite librarians and talking about the books he read. We were a little late for the face painting so I had to pick some up at Party City. This is the end result: Two tigers - Dean and Daddy. Tiger, tiger burning bright....

Dean's 4th Birthday Party!

2011-07-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

Dean's friends came out to celebrate his 4th birthday at the Howard Moore Play Pool. He had such a wonderful time playing in the water with his friends! We want to thank everyone (family: the Nonnos, and friends) who came out and helped us out! Happy Birthday Dean!

New PJs!

2011-07-23T12:40:00.000-07:00

Just a few silly pictures of Dean modeling his new Dino Land pajamas.

Congratulations Dean!

2011-07-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

Dean's drawing was selected for the UPS Safety Awareness! Congratulations Dean! His drawing was of dinosaurs attacking the UPS warehouse. The Fantastic Four, Avengers and Batman saved the day and helped get the UPS men/women to safety. He received a UPS hat and two gift certificates to Toys R Us. So proud of you Dean!

Happy 4th Birthday Dean!

2011-07-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

Dean is officially 4 years old! He had a wonderful full day at the play pool and topped it off with a great homemade cake! He has really grown up in the last year. He now helps me around the house, folds/puts up his laundry, makes his own bed, picks up all his toys when told to do so and much more! He loves to play, swim and ride his bike. I couldn't ask for such a wonderful, healthy and happy little boy! We love you Dean!

Visit To The Botanic Gardens!

2011-07-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

I took Dean to one of my favorite gardens, The Botanic Gardens, here in Fort Worth. He loved exploring with me and the weather (back in May) was perfect for it. One of those rare cool days. I like showing him little treasures like this. I hope, once the weather starts to cool down again, to take him to one of my favorite parks in Dallas.

Our Garden!

2011-05-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

We are finally enjoying the wonderful vegetables from our garden! As you can see we have already harvested sugar snap peas, yellow squash and now our wonderful zucchini are starting to grow! Dean is so excited to help me pick the vegetables. It really surprises me and makes me feel great to know that he loves to pick the grape tomatoes from the vines and eat them as is. Thank you Mother Nature!

Back To Blogging

2011-04-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

First, I would like to thank everyone for all the kind words and letters. I truly appreciate it. It has been a long time since I have blogged so here is a recap on the recent adventures of Dean. He decided that 2010 was his year to be Spiderman for Halloween. He had a blast trick or treating and even was comfortable around Batman at our neighbor's party.
Dean and I went up to Dada's work to celebrate his 25 years of safe driving with UPS. Dean has managed to grow up so much over the past few months. He made out like a little bandit for Christmas. Santa even gave him a bike! I know this is the compressed version of what happened these past few months but I figured the pictures would speak for themselves. So, enjoy!

Soon...

2011-01-12T20:51:00.001-08:00

Dear friends and family, I know we haven't been posting since the passing of my brother, Dean's Uncle Iván. It has been a difficult time for us and we appreciate all the well wishes and sympathies you all have sent our way. I will try to post in the next month. Dean is growing up so fast and not to worry, we are taking pictures and videos. Thank you once again for your support and patience.

Sabbatical

2010-11-09T21:24:00.000-08:00

We have and are still taking a small break from blogging for a little while. My brother and Dean's Uncle, Iván, passed away on the 19th of September. Please no comments on this site. We love you and miss you dearly Iván. Rest in peace.

Dean's 1st Day Of School!

2010-09-05T22:35:00.000-07:00

Well, our little baby is getting to be a big boy! Thursday, September 2nd, was his very first day of school. He is in the Super Star class! He was so excited to go and was such a good student! He even went the entire day without an accident! YAY Dean! Needless to say I cried when we left him in his class. I'm still nervous about taking/leaving him there but guess I'll have to get over it huh? We are so proud of you Dean! Our little school boy!

Yummy Steamed Veggies!

2010-09-05T22:29:00.000-07:00

I love how Dean really enjoys eating steamed veggies! His dinner went something like this:
Dean: "ROAR!!! I'm a big dinosaur! I eat trees for dinner! Mama, what's this?"
Me: "Dean, those are..."
Dean: "Not DEAN Mama! DINOSAUR!"
Me: ahem "Excuse me, 'Dinosaur', those are steamed carrots and broccoli."
Dean: "Silly Mama, not broccoli, TREES! What are carrots?"
Me: "They are a vegetable, now eat your dinner please."
After much roaring, munching and pretending to be a dinosaur passes by...
Dean: "Mama, Dinosaur likes trees and carrots!"
Me: just smiling away!

Rice Milk!

2010-09-05T22:26:00.000-07:00

With Dean's allergies it was getting very hard to find other types of food to introduce to him. So I decided to give rice milk a try. HE LOVES IT! Dean loves to drink his rice milk with a little bit of chocolate syrup.

Trip To Houston!!

2010-09-05T22:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry for taking so long to update. We spent a great weekend in Houston in early August. Dean loved swimming with Aunt K.K., playing the drums with Uncle Count and watching movies as well! As you can tell Dean loves a lot of things: his dinosaur books, playing on Uncle Count's drums, showing everyone he has a "boo boo", and most of all snuggles with Aunt K.K.! Thank you Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count for a wonderful time!

Summer Time Fun!

2010-08-04T16:05:00.000-07:00

Once again we are beating the TX heat with Dean's kid pool. Here he is eating a quick PB&J snack before heading to the pool. Yes, he is allergic to peanut butter but the doctor said it was time to reintroduce it! YAY! So far so good! The "wet spot" is from his drink. He has finally transitioned to a big boy cup!
We are also hitting the potty training real hard since he starts school on the 2nd of September. Dada has agreed with me that we are going to start a new tradition of taking the day off to be there when he goes to school and when we pick him up. I like this and I'm sure he will come to like it too. But we are really working hard on getting him fully potty trained by then. So far so good! Keep your fingers crossed!

Peaches!

2010-07-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

My friend in Granbury, TX has a peach tree. I came home with all these peaches and the tree still has a ton left! Mmmmm we are going to be eating peaches for a good while! Thank you Ian!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

2010-07-12T22:03:00.001-07:00

Yes, I turned 36 this year. Dada made me a cake, which was "delicious" as Dean now likes to say. It was a wonderful birthday filled with tons of Dean cuddles and kisses! What more could a 36 year old mother want?!

Cool Canada!

2010-06-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

Auntie Naomi gave Dean this Canadian hockey shirt when she came to visit. It was a little too big for him when he tried it on in May. Not now! I can't believe how much he is growing! Too fast! Dean loves his Canadian shirt and especially loves to say "Cool Canada!" when he wears it. :) Thank you Naomi for the shirt!

Happy Birthday Kalina!

2010-06-30T07:36:00.000-07:00

Dean's cousin Kalina turned 8 this weekend!! Happy Birthday Kalina! I love her smile!

Steve and Lisa's Wedding!

2010-06-30T07:14:00.000-07:00

We were invited to Dada's friend's wedding reception this past Friday. Steve and Lisa are the sweetest couple. I love her dress! The entire reception was just wonderful. Steve's little niece couldn't get enough of Dean and kept dancing with Dean. Thank you Steve and Lisa for sharing this special moment in your lives with us! (Notice that Dean was more interested in playing with my necklace than actually taking pictures?)

Block Party!

2010-06-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

The neighborhood got together today to have a block party! We had such a wonderful time together. Great food, conversation and company. Thank you Wilkinsons!

Mima Playing Happy Birthday For Dean!

2010-06-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Dean!!!!!!

2010-06-13T20:59:00.000-07:00

Our little boy is officially 3! He had his (second) cake with all of his favorite things on it: dinosaurs, Sesame Street, sea animals, zoo animals and Mickey Mouse! He received his favorite Cars characters in a Lego set (thank you Uncle Hugi, Aunt Yoshiko and Cousin Kalina!) and tons of sticker books from his Mima (Thank you Mima!). Dean's Aunt Yoshiko made him a book bag for when he starts school in the fall (Thank you Aunt Yoshiko!). Happy Birthday Dean! We love you very much!

Trip To Museum!

2010-06-13T20:46:00.000-07:00

We treated Dean to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. He really liked seeing the dinosaurs. Even though the exhibit is a lot smaller than I remembered it way back when I was a child. Oh well. He had fun running around the little kid section and getting to actually touch things. He loved the dinosaur that was in front of the museum (not pictured) that we had to drive by three times for him to see. What can I say? Our Dean loves dinosaurs!

Mommy's Helpers!

2010-06-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

The boys helped me clean the house for Mima's visit. I like this, a lot!

Yummy Broccoli!

2010-06-13T20:39:00.000-07:00

Dean loves broccoli. Steamed and roasted vegetables is not a problem for this child! How lucky are we?! He even loves salad! YES! Below is a picture of our tomatoes from the garden.

Yum Yum Broccoli!

2010-06-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

Ready For School!

2010-06-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

Dean comes to me this morning and tells me that he is ready for school. He is ready to go to school with his purple teddy bear backpack. I'm sure he is ready but is Mama ready?

Only Real Men...

2010-06-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

Play patty cake! I love watching the boys play together!

Dean's First Bike Race!!!

2010-06-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

Dean had his first bike race on Memorial Day and did great! He finished his race and won a medal! We are so proud of him! I tried to load the video but it was too big for this blog. So I'll e-mail it to anyone who wants to view it. I did post the after video; which is hilarious. YAY Dean!

Dean After His First Bike Race

2010-06-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count!!

2010-06-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count came to celebrate Dean's birthday this past weekend! YAY! Dean loves his Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count so much and couldn't get enough of them. Aunt K.K. helped me make Dean's birthday cake and she decorated his Mickey Mouse cake. We all loved it! Thank you Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count for coming up to visit us and spending time with Dean! We miss you both very very much!

Fruits and Veggies From Our Garden!

2010-06-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

Our blackberry bushes have been producing a lot of wonderful and sweet blackberries this year! We can only imagine what next year will bring! Dada picked two very green tomatoes from the garden and one green pepper from the back garden and I picked two from the front. I took advantage that Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count were in town for Dean's Birthday to make them a wonderful bell pepper egg white omelet! YUM!

Auntie Naomi!

2010-06-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

Auntie Naomi came in for a visit from Canada. Dean loved having her here and was really happy when he opened up the playmobil pirate that she and Sebastien gave him. Thank you for the visit Auntie Nai!!

Lourdes!

2010-06-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

I love this picture of Dean and my cousin Lourdes. Thank you Lourdes for the visit!!!! We miss and love you!

Strawberries!

2010-06-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

Dean enjoying a wonderful snack of fresh strawberries. YUM!

Having Fun!

2010-06-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

We know how much Mima loves it when the bushes next to the house bloom so Dean and I wanted to take these pictures just for her! Dean has a habit of sitting in his toy box while eating, reading, drinking or watching TV. Too funny.

Happy Easter!

2010-06-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

Dean loved Easter egg hunting with his Nonno! He had a blast and enjoyed all the little dinosaurs that were hidden in his eggs. HAPPY EASTER!

Spring Garden!

2010-06-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay on updating the blog. We had computer problems and then it took a while to load some pictures. But we are back! These are the pictures from late March to early April when we planted our vegetable garden. I love the wisteria and always try to take a picture for Dean's Mima.

Spring Time!

2010-04-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

We are celebrating Spring by playing outside as much as we can! Dean LOVES riding his little bicycle everywhere. He convinced me to make a large Cookie Monster and Elmo on our driveway. I love his outfit, talk about riding in style!

Peach Tree!

2010-04-05T07:21:00.000-07:00

Couldn't resist taking these beautiful pictures of morning sun greeting our little peach tree.

Big Boy's Room!

2010-04-05T07:15:00.000-07:00

I decided to redo Dean's room so that he could have another place to play/read. Got a couple of bookshelves, which were really easy to assemble and this cute rug. He loves his new room! Might have to get another bookshelf because the boy has so many books! I can't wait for Dean to get a little older so he can get his very own library card. He loves going to the library with me and always asks me when he can take books out.

Hawaiian Boys!

2010-03-31T06:58:00.000-07:00

Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count went to Hawaii for their friend's (Uncle Joe and Auntie Jenny) wedding. Aunt K.K. said she couldn't resist and had to get the boys matching ukulele shirts! Dean actually has matching shorts for the summer and a real ukulele! How cute is this?! Thank you Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count! We love the shirts!

Modeling!

2010-02-22T14:14:00.000-08:00

Dean is such a model. Here he is modeling his new jeans. It is hard to tell but the first picture is of him giving us a kiss. He loves picking out his clothes for the day. Sometimes we have mini-arguments about what he can and can not wear. It goes something like this:
Mama/me: What do you want to wear today?
Dean: Pirate pants!
Me: What "pirate" pants?
Dean reaches in the short/swim short drawer and pulls out his swim trunks: THESE!
Me: No Dean, those are for the summer time.
Dean (pouting): No, Pirate pants...NOW!
Me: No, how about we wear some jeans and your Cookie Monster shirt?
Dean: NO!
Me: Jeans?
Dean: O....kay
Me: Cookie shirt?
Dean, reaching into the drawer and pulling out his yellow dinosaur shirt: No. Dinosaurs! ROOOOAAAARRRRRRR!!! And...dinosaur socks!
Me: Ok, the dinosaur shirt it is but your socks are dirty, you wore them yesterday and I have to wash them.
Dean, as he puts on his shirt and jeans: Awwww man! sighs O....kay
This is one of the milder arguments.

RED DOG!!!!

2010-02-22T14:04:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when it is a little too cold outside we let Red and Zar in the house. Zar is still too much of a puppy and gets in too much trouble. Red is a great little pup. He sits next to the heater and just relaxes while I cook. Dean wanted to pet Red today and Dada made sure Red stayed down for Dean to give him some love.

STICKERS!

2010-02-22T13:58:00.000-08:00

As you can tell Dean LOVES stickers. If you look behind them you will see that the wall of Dean has stickers all over it. Now the wall of the potty training section is completely covered with stickers. So today Dean decided that Dada needed stickers all over his face. Well, it wasn't all Dean's idea. Mama kind of started things and, well, we got sticker happy!

Fallen Branch :(

2010-02-22T13:31:00.000-08:00

One of the branches from the magnolia tree couldn't handle the weight of all the snow. Poor thing. I hope it will heal soon.

More Fun In The Snow!

2010-02-12T13:45:00.000-08:00

Dean and I couldn't resist and started building forts. He had a big pile of snow from when someone tipped over our snowman. I made an igloo fort! After 2 1/2 hours I was tired and wet but Dean was not at all ready to come back in. We both have a bad case of cabin fever.

More Snow!!

2010-02-12T07:24:00.000-08:00

Well, the snow stopped falling at about 3am. If you look at Dada's truck you can see how much snow had fallen since 7pm. Dean is more than eager to get back out in the snow. I will post more pictures soon! Hopefully a better snowman since some kids knocked ours over.

SNOW DAY!!

2010-02-11T11:55:00.000-08:00

We woke up today to SNOW! Dada made a mini snow man with the snow that was on his truck. Dean was able to play in the snow and helped Dada start a snowman. Dean loves the snow!

Bye Bye Highchair ... Hello Big Boy Table!

2010-02-11T07:22:00.000-08:00

We decided that Dean is ready to sit at his own table. Thanks to our wonderful neighbors (thank you Bold family!) we now have a little table and chairs for him to sit at. He loves to color, play and eat at this table. It has now moved to the living room. I noticed that he is eating more with this new table. Before he would just pout and not want to finish his food in the highchair. Now he can walk away and eventually returns to finish his food. Who knew that kids need to play a bit in between bites?

SMILE!

2010-02-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

Look into my eyes....you want to love me, hug me and give me cookies!!!!!

Ready For Cycling!

2010-02-11T07:14:00.000-08:00

Dean saw Dada getting ready to ride on the trainer and decided to get dressed in his cycling gear. We turned around to hear and see this: "Look at me! I'm Da Da! I ride too!". He put the headband on all by himself...too funny!

I Help DaDa Play Chess!

2010-02-11T07:05:00.001-08:00

We have this Chess game on the Wii that Papa and Mima gave us for Christmas. One morning Dean was very interested in "helping" Dada play. I love these pictures.

New Kitchen!

2010-01-18T19:26:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone and sorry for not posting for a while. Things have been hectic around the Kruse household and here is why. We had our kitchen remodeled! Yes, DaDa's Christmas and Anniversary gift to me was a new kitchen! This includes: new counter tops, back splash, a dishwasher (we have been 5 + years without because the house didn't come with one), a new one basin farm sink and a new faucet! Oh and he even had them extend a working area for all of my baking!!! We are so excited and I can't wait to get back to cooking! Here are the before, during and after pictures. Enjoy! - Thanks DaDa!

Merry Christmas 2!!!!

2010-01-04T18:10:00.000-08:00

Sorry for taking a while to post up the second round of Christmas pictures. We all had a wonderful Christmas at the Nonno's. The food was excellent, as always. Dean loved handing out the gifts and then opening them for everyone. Kalina played the piano and let me say she has talent! Oh and Kalina, Uncle Hugo and Aunt Yoshiko gave Dean a wonderful kitchen play set for Christmas! It was Kalina's old play set that the Nonno's gave her. Can't express how wonderful it is to see Dean play with the same toys his cousin had! Oh and no, Dean doesn't need glasses, he just got a hold of some frames from Nonna and was "posing" for the camera. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry (White) Christmas!

2009-12-25T09:56:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! This is Dean's 2nd Christmas and boy, did this young man have a wonderful time opening all the gifts that Santa (Mima, Papa, Aunt K.K., Uncle Count, DaDa and Mama) left him! Dean got the cutest little turtle (that came with a baby turtle) from his Aunt Naomi in Canada (thank you Nai!). Tia Bea and Tio Javi got Dean some wonderful children books in Spanish, a Christmas plush toy and they gave us two wonderful cookbooks, which will be used a lot! Thank you Bea and Javi!
Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count gave Dean wonderful outfits, Japanese slippers and Rudolph toys! AWESOME! Thank you!
Mima and Papa gave Dean some much needed wonderful books. He has two Elmo Christmas books that are now his favorite. Thank you Mima and Papa!
After breakfast, opening gifts and playing we all managed to go outside and build a nice snow man! Hope you enjoy the pictures. Merry Christmas everyone and thank you all for the wonderful gifts!

A Snowy Christmas Eve!!!!

2009-12-24T14:22:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Eve!! It snowed today! Dean had fun playing in the snow but was more than ready to come back in. He was "cold"... yep, he's my summer baby!

Happy 49th Birthday DaDa!

2009-12-24T14:18:00.000-08:00

DaDa turned 49!! Yes, I made him wear a ribbon that said "It's My Birthday!". We ate out at his favorite restaurant and had a wonderful time with friends. Thank Nonna and Nonno for watching Dean for us! Happy Birthday DaDa! Oh and I made him two chocolate cakes with mocha icing.

Dinner Time Again!

2009-12-24T14:14:00.000-08:00

Last Crop of the Season and Dinner Time!

2009-12-24T14:11:00.000-08:00

This is the last crop of the season. We didn't have as many tomatoes as the years before but they were still delicious! The habanero peppers were fire hot this year! And how could I resist taking pictures of our boy eating all his dinner?!

First Snow!

2009-12-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

Early this month (December) we woke up to snow! Dean really hasn't seen snow and was really amazed with the snowman that DaDa made. Happy snow day!

I Love My Nonna and DaDa!

2009-12-24T14:06:00.000-08:00

Playing Chess with DaDa and Papa!!

2009-12-24T14:00:00.000-08:00

Papa (GPK) came to visit! Here he is playing chess with Dean and DaDa. Don't remember who won since Dean was really interested in rearranging the chess pieces.

Happy Birthday Nonna!!!!!

2009-12-24T13:53:00.000-08:00

Nonna had a wonderful Birthday celebration! DaDa turned into the paparazzi and Dean wasn't happy. I'm also showing off Dean's monkey latching abilities to his Uncle Iván. Happy Birthday Nonna!!!

Monkey Love!

2009-12-24T13:48:00.000-08:00

Dean loves to play with his ABC Leap Frog that his cousin Kalina gave him. This particular morning he was more interested in giving his favorite monkey (thanks Uncle Count and Aunt K.K.!) some monkey love. I love how he just tackles the thing!

Playing Chess With DaDa!

2009-12-24T13:45:00.000-08:00

DaDa is teaching Dean how to play chess. He likes to put the pieces on the board and count them more than play. I like Dean's look on the first picture...classic!

Happy Birthday Uncle Iván #2!!!

2009-12-24T13:40:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of Uncle Iván's 2nd Birthday celebration! His friends, Kristina and Leah arranged it all and I was able to make him a chocolate mocha cake. YUM! It was great to see so many people show up for his party!

Lounging Around!

2009-12-24T13:34:00.000-08:00

Dean loves stickers. So one morning we just lounged around the house playing with his dinosaur stickers, wearing his dinosaur pjs and dinosaur slippers. Oh and this is what I found when I told him to put up his toys.

A Day At The Zoo!

2009-12-24T13:17:00.000-08:00

We took Dean to the Fort Worth Zoo back in November. He wasn't all that impressed with some of the loud animals. He also spent most of the time with his hands covering his ears. That is what he does when he is scared or doesn't like loud noises. We did get to see his favorite animals though: Hippos, Giraffes, Lions and a new favorite is the kangaroo. Here's hoping the next time we go he will get use to all the "loud" animals.

Happy Birthday Uncle Iván!!!!!!

2009-12-24T13:10:00.000-08:00

Sorry for not posting in a LONG while. So much to catch up on.
Dean's Uncle Iván just celebrated his 37th Birthday! I put some trick candles on his cake but he managed to blow just hard enough to put them out for good. Happy Birthday Uncle Iván!!!!!

1967 Volkswagen Bug/Jasper!

2009-11-07T18:49:00.000-08:00

We normally don't publish posts that aren't about Dean but this is a special post. You see, back in 1966/1967 my Father, Dean's Nonno, bought a brand new 1967 Volkswagen Bug. This bug has been loyal to our family and we have been loyal to this bug. It was, after all, my first car. Nonno taught me to drive in this car. Nonna was pregnant with all three of us in this car. Scary to think we were tossed around in the back since it didn't come with seat belts. Interesting how times have changed. I really loved this car. So much that I gave it a name. Jasper. It suits it.
Well, back in 2004 Nonno and I came to realize that we needed to say goodbye to this wonderful car. Enter the kind gentleman shaking hands with Nonno, Mr. Barger. Now Nonno wanted to make sure that when we sold Jasper that the new owner would take good care of him. Mr. Barger gave us a promise that he had planned on restoring Jasper to the way he was when Nonno bought him. 5 years later we get a wonderful visit from Mr. Barger. He was so excited to let us know that not only did he keep his promise but he invited us to visit Jasper in a car show! Most of the parts are the originals. Mr. Barger even managed to find the exact body paint that Jasper came with when Nonno bought him! How amazing is this?! Ahhh, what wonderful memories we have of this car! Notice the original jack, tool kit (barely visible), bumpers and console. Just a few things that sparkle with new life from the hard work of Mr. Barger and his friend!
Thank you Mr. Barger for keeping your promise to me and most importantly to my Father! You have worked hard on this car and it shows. Beautiful! Thank you!

Our Big Boy!

2009-11-06T20:25:00.000-08:00

Well, the time has come when we think Dean is enough of a big boy to wear his big boy undies! So I went out and bought him some Sesame Street undies. Now Dean is mostly potty trained. He just hasn't quite learned that #1 needs to be done in the potty as well. So I'm hoping that this will help him get fully potty trained. Keep your fingers crossed! Our "Baby" Dean is now our Little Boy Dean!!!!!!

Sleepyhead!

2009-11-06T20:20:00.000-08:00

Dean has been doing a great job sleeping in his crib all night (knock on wood, salt over the left shoulder, etc...). Nap times are a different story. Sometimes he will take a nap. Other times, well, he would rather be hyper all day. This week he has been a little off with the time change. He does go down for a nap but it usually takes us a while to get him there. Nap times are my favorite times because I get to snuggle with him! One morning we both took a wonderful nap. So wonderful that little Dean didn't want to get up. Usually he is the one to wake me up and get me going for the day. Not this time! He just didn't want to get out of bed and kept pulling the covers over him. How could I NOT take pictures of this?!

Happy Halloween!!!

2009-11-02T07:27:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween everyone! Dean really enjoyed this years trick-or-treating! His first stop was at the Nonno's house. As you can see Dean was a purple wizard this year. Of course a purple wizard needs his trusty dragon basket to help catch all of those treats! Cousin Kalina stopped by to trick or treat as well! Dean loves his Cousin Kalina and kept chasing her around the house. I'm loving the pictures of the family together, Uncle Ivan and Kalina, and of Uncle Ivan and Dean trick or treating together! Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful night!

Pumpkin Carving!

2009-11-02T07:11:00.000-08:00

Dean helped with carving his two pumpkins this year. He and DaDa removed the seeds while I carved. We tried to carve Elmo and Bert. Unfortunately Bert lost one of his eyes during the carving. They look great though!

Dinner Time!

2009-10-25T23:09:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share some pictures of Dean enjoying his dinner. Here he is having boiled potatoes with olive oil and turkey patties. Of course he has to eat them with "boop sauce". "Boop" meaning ketchup. So every time he dips his food in the "boop sauce" he has to say "BOOP!". Oh and notice his dinosaur slippers. He loves wearing these instead of his socks. I just noticed how much he has grown. Still hard to believe he is 2! His head barely reached the top of the chair when we seated him for his first "solids". Our little baby is now a little boy!

Pumpkin Patch!

2009-10-25T23:03:00.000-07:00

We took Dean to pick out his pumpkin. All the orange ones were already taken so we decided to go ahead and pick up a few green ones! Dean really liked picking his own and even now he points to it and says "Dean's pumpkin"! We bought some orange pumpkins and have carved two of them. Pictures of those soon to come.

Visiting Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count Part 2!

2009-09-26T22:42:00.000-07:00

We are so grateful to Sonja, Clara and Mimi for sharing their home with us during our visit to Houston! On our last day Clara and Mimi were holding a lemonade and banana bread bake sale. It was so wonderful to see the girls and Dean play together! Thank you Sonja, Clara and Mimi!
Now I know you are probably wondering why I took pictures of clouds. Well, we were driving and Dean pointed directly in front of us and shouted "DRAGON!". Sure enough, the clouds looked exactly like a dragon! I thought it was neat!
My favorite pictures are of Uncle Count holding Dean, Dean asking to see Aunt K.K.'s turtles and Dean asleep in his car seat. He was a trooper in the car. The trick, lots and lots of stickers! Thanks you Aunt K.K. for giving us a bag full of stickers! You just don't know how much easier it is to have a 2 year old in the car when he is pleasantly occupied with putting stickers all over his legs!
Thank you again for such a wonderful visit Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count! We love you!

Visiting Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count!

2009-09-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

(Sorry for taking so long in posting these) Back in August we all decided to pack up the car, fill the cooler with goodies and make a wonderful trip to visit Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count for the weekend! Dean just loved Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count's house! He immediately fell in love with all the toys and figurines they had around the house. He was so happy playing the piano and drums. I bet he was thinking "FINALLY, I get to make some NOISE!". Much to our surprise, and Uncle Count's delight, he was very good with the drums. Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count had a jam session playing different versions of Twinkle Twinkle. Now it's Dean's favorite song. Thank you Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count for such a wonderful visit! Can't wait to do it again!

Swimming With Nonno!

2009-09-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

Dean loved counting to three and jumping off the side of the pool into Nonno's arms! We use to have fun doing this when we were kids and I love that Dean gets to do it too! I had to take a picture of his wild hair after the pool.

Beach Time With Uncle Iván

2009-09-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

Dean and Uncle Iván enjoying some time together on the beach.