The boys have started swimming lessons this week.  Van LOVES them and has really done very well.  He loves to swim.  Max loves to swim, but the first day was a rude awakening for him.  He cried the ENTIRE lesson.  He didn’t realize that Mommy would not be getting into the water with him.  Last year he had a Mommy and me class where I was with him.  This year he is in the big boy class with just a teacher and no Mommy.  He was not prepared for that!!  However, we spent the rest of the day talking about swimming with his teacher and his new friends, and he was more that excited to join the class the next day!!

As a teacher there are a few things that you look forward to when your children are growing up.  You can’t wait for them to recognize their name, then spell their name, then write their name, and finally, reading.  It’s something that every teacher dreams about.  When will it start, what will be the spark of excitement….it’s wonderful!!  Yesterday, as Mommy is cooking dinner, Max says “I’m going to spell my name.”  And just like that, he used the magnetic letters that have been on the fridge since before he was born (and has NEVER taken an interest in) to spell his name.  He even named the letters.  Of course, I needed to grab the camera and take a picture!!  Please enjoy….I know this Kindergarten teacher/Mama is basking in the genius of my child!!!

He has risen, He has risen, He has risen, INDEED!!  What a wonderful start to a beautiful Easter Sunday.  The boys woke up to basket filled by the Easter bunny.  After a morning coloring session using the new light-up markers and reading the books that the Easter bunny left, we dress in our new Easter clothes and headed to church.  Van and the other Sunday school kids performed during the service.  The sang and did the sign language to Jesus Loves Me.  I thought I was going to cry!!  I love that he loves to sing about Jesus!!  After church, we made a quick stop at Sonic (because Lent is over and Mommy and Papi can now drink Diet Coke!!!).  Then we were off to grandma and grandpa’s house for Easter lunch and hunting eggs.  They boys had a great time finding their eggs.  They were so excited about the golden eggs that they didn’t even bother with the other eggs until they found the golden eggs!!  We had a wonderful day with family!!  Hope your day was blessed as much as ours!!

Friday, after school, we went to go see the Easter bunny!!  Van was very excited but Max (from the beginning of talking about going to see him) said he was scary.  As soon as it was our turn, Van went straight to sit with him and say hi.  Max, started screamed and clawing at me!!  He was not about to let me put him down!!  So, the whole family took a picture with the Easter bunny.  After the picture the Easter bunny gave Max a candy egg and then Max was OK with him.  That proves it…my children can be bought with candy!!  Happy Easter!!!

I’m learning (slowly, but surely) that I can plan anyway that I want to….but God laughs at my plans!!!  I had a FULL spring break planned.  There was something planned for every day!!  Everything from big things like going to the zoo and going camping,  to little things like going to fly kites and picnics in the park.  Unfortunately, VERY LITTLE of that happened!!!  Max developed yet another ear infection (poor guy!!) so we spent the day at the doctor’s office.  Since he had the ear infection, swimming was out and the zoo was out due to the high winds.  Then the rain came in so the camping trip was canceled.  However,we did make it to the park to fly kites and have a picnic.  Van loved the kites, but Max was more excited about playing on the swings.  Since our Spring Break plans were all put on hold, Papi took us to the Dallas Stars hockey game.  We LOVE the Dallas Stars and ice hockey.  To our surprise, the kids all received mini hockey sticks at the door and free T-shirts.  The shirts were an adult medium, but the boys don’t care….they LOVE them and have been playing hockey in the living room ever since.  It was a GREAT end to a wonderful Spring Break!!!

It is not very often that we get snow in Texas….at least not in Dallas.  We usually get a little sleet that turns into ice.  The last time that it “snowed” was 6 years ago.  They were saying on the news that the last time we got this much snow was 32 years ago.  The boys were so excited this morning to play in the snow, but unfortunately we had to wait until school was over to enjoy it.  Once we got home, we immediately went outside.  We built a snowman, buried Papi in the snow, and had a snowball fight.  School is cancelled for tomorrow, so I am sure that we will be outside several more times tomorrow!!!  We have to enjoy this snow….it may be 32 more years before we see snow like this again!!!

If you have never been to a theatre showing of the Waxahachie High School Drama Department….you have MISSED out!!!  We have now seen three of their shows and each one is more amazing!!  Last night we went to see Willy Wonka with my parents, my sister, and my nephew, Dylan.  My kids have never seen the movie, nor do they know anything about Willy Wonka.  Van wasn’t happy about going, but I assured him that he would love it.  Of course, Mom is ALWAYS right!  He loved it.  He watched every second of it.  His favorite part was when Willy Wonka scared Charlie at the front gate of the factory (I have no idea why this is his favorite part, but he’s five..nothing makes sense!!).  I have to say that the guy that played Wonka was HILARIOUS!!!  The girl that plays Charlie’s mother has an AMAZING voice…I could listen to her for hours!!  The band was wonderful!!  Everything…….let me say it again…..EVERYTHING…was AWESOME!!  Van and Dylan made it though the show and we took pictures with Willy Wonka.  However, Max caved and fell asleep after the second act started so mommy made sure to take pictures!!  Thanks WHS drama for a great show!!!

Our little family went to Alley Cats for bowling and games tonight. After Mommy bowled about three frames, Van asked if he could bowl for me (I was eating my salad and he thought that would be the kind thing to do!). After asking to bowl for me for a couple of frames…he just quick asking and took over for me!! We had a GREAT time!! After bowling, it was over to the games. We bought 2 cards with $10 each on them…just enough to play a few games, but not enough that we would be there all night!! After a few games, I was thinking “Maybe we can get out of here without exchanging the tickets for any candy…or not exchanging them at all.” Just as I was thinking this, I used Max’s card for some silly balloon popping game. Just as I swiped the card, Max hit the play button. Needless to say…Max won the grand prize and out popped 2000….yes, I said 2000 tickets!!!! Max could have cared less about the tickets, he just wanted to move on to play another game. However, the pre-teen boys kept following me around asking if I needed help!!! After all the tickets were counted, we headed to exchange them thinking that they could get something really big with 2224 tickets. Instead my kids just wanted candy. They did end up with a few bigger toys…but mostly candy!!!

Hello to family, friends, and internet surfers!!! Welcome to The Nieves Familia!  This is a website designed to tell the world about our adventures and life experiences. Welcome to our life! Enjoy!!

Our Little Family with Mr. and Mrs. Claus