Homeschool Mom - Lisa

More Fun In Week 1 Of MEXICO

2012-02-16T10:45:00.002-05:00

The Luchadors are a big thing over here!

The kids pick their favorite and wear the masks, t-shirts, backpacks, etc.

Can you tell that my kids are into it too??

Not!

Alyssa bought an OWL candle holder from these ladies.

The language barrier is "muy defecil"! LOL

I love all of the little squares.

Each corner has a different square. It is the only place in the town with any trees, plants, or greenery!

I love that all of the food is smothered in cheese!

Mexico Week 1 Part 2 - Food, churches, etc.

2012-02-13T18:08:00.000-05:00

Ensalada De Pollo

We have been eating out A LOT!!

I LOVE Mexican food, so this has been GREAT for me!

Ceasar de Pollo

Fajita Taco's

Tostado's (I think. It is hard to remember!)

Yuca Taco Thingy's

These are all handmade cookie-pops!

I could not believe my eyes.

These are all handmade character cakes!

$25 Pecos is only $1.96 USD!!

All of that work for less than $2 WOW!

We don't have a rental car so we get to walk through lots of beautiful places!

I love this square!

I took this picture sitting on the steps of the church!

I love this door!

We went to the Diego Riverra Museo!

This was his home and furniture.

VERY intricate neadlepoint. Probably done by his mother!

I loved this embroidery! It is so amazing!

I had to get a picture of this old typewriter!

This was their bathroom... how cozy!

Here we all are!

I thought this was neat... This is an artist's creation of him and his "girl"! They were really neat!

We were not allowed to take any pictures of his artwork, but there were two whole floors of his paintings, sketches, and scultures!

I have always loved Pigs!

When I saw these painted on the side of a woodworkers shop I had to take their pictures!

I felt like there was such a story with these pigs.

One of the other paintings had been removed.

I wonder what they were doing? Where were they going?

We got to check out one of the many churches.

I LOVE churches! I fall in love with the artwork, embellishments, chadelliers, etc.

Well, Mexican churches are a little different...

Here is Sissy going in.

I loved how the doors had mini-doors built in them.

This is the ceiling and chandelliers.

I have NEVER before seen a mannequin of Jesus in a glass tomb before in ANY church!

It was actually kind of creepy. They had a place to pray to this mannequin.

I LOVE this door! Isn't it amazing??

It was all hand carved!

I am thoroughly enjoing my trip to MEXICO!!

Mexico Week 1 - Part 1

2012-02-12T07:30:00.000-05:00

My flight into Mexico was actually pretty good.

I loved the view when I was flying in. The green fields and mountains in the distance were breathtaking.

As we drove from Leon Airport to the beautiful city of Guanajanto I was only able to catch a few pcitures. We were going too fast!

The taxi drivers here are crazy, but this one was only a little crazy!

My first night there we went out to eat!

Afterwards we stopped for Ice Cream.

Mexican ice cream tastes like it has more ice than cream in it.

Me and My Kiddos!

This is the Ice Cream Sign... Everything in this town is soooo old!

Here is the house we are staying in. Living Room

Stairs to 2nd floor!

I love the kitchen lights.

2nd floor sitting area.

It overlooks the town.

The view from the sitting room.

The stairs leading to the Master Bedroom.

Mom and I took a walk around the town before we went to get the kids from Spanish class.

These chickens were roasting in this fire oven. Right next to the sidewalk.

I couldn't believe that there was nothing covering the oven from the people walking by.

We found a Fabric Store!

Yippy for me!

Well, What did I expect?

I'm in Mexico after all!

I though these curtains were cute!

This is one of the local bakeries.

I couldn't believe how big the donuts were!

They were at least 3x's the size of ours.

All of the pastries were just sitting out on the tables. They weren't wrapped or covered in anyway!

This is the school were the kids are studying Spanish -

Stephen, Alyssa, & Rojelio (sp?)

Dad & Manuel

I love walking around this town. It is actually bigger than I initially thought.

Here are some of the places that I HAD to take pictures of.... The University!

An Archway that we have to walk under to get to the town center.

The street by the school.

A beautiful church downtown.

I love this fountain!!!

Everything here is soooo colorful!

Detto & I in New Orleans Final Post

2012-02-11T20:30:00.000-05:00

After our romantic dinner at NOLA's we walked down to the square and took a carriage ride around the French Quarter.

The house above is called the Cornstalk Hotel! It has a ton of history!

The carriage ride was really fun!

Afterwards I wanted my picture with the horse

Then the driver asked if I wanted to feed him.

I fed him a whole orange!

We also stopped in Cafe Du Monde

For some coffee and Beignet's!

It was PACKED!!

Our waiter was so fast and efficient that Detto decided to take his picture! LOL

Here we are!

Enjoying our coffee & Beignet's!

Look what we found??We have been collecting pressed pennies from all over the USA and the world!

Sunday morning we finished our Marriage Enrichment class and we even had a re-dedication ceremony. Here is our certificate!

I had a lot of fun. Detto is such a great friend and hubby!

Detto & I in New Orleans Part 4

2012-02-11T17:22:00.001-05:00

We accidentally went onto Burbon Street...

and this is the only good thing we saw!

check out the video here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsn3XOonB44

One of the restaraunts that we went to was Mr. B's!

The food was AWESOME!!

I ordered the Mr. B's sampler.

It came with an Oyster, Spring Roll, and Shrimp Ham and Spinach!

We had Bread Pudding for dessert. It tasted so light and Fluffy!

I loved it!

We also ate at Emeril's - NOLA!

We sat at the bar and watched the Chef's cook. This girl was really fun to watch.

She cooked with a 1200 degree wood burning stove. (or at least that is what she told us!)

Detto ordered Jambalaya.

I ordered the Chicken Wing Stuffed Spring Rolls! I must say they were... different.

What I LOVED was...the sweet potato's!!

They were heavenly!

The Chef recomended this for dessert...

The one and only... Ooey Gooey!

It was homemade Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream with some type of brownie or cake in it.

It was covered with chocolate topping and served with Truffles.

The truffles melted in your mouth and we covered with coconuts!

This Steak was ordered by the lady sitting next to Detto.

He asked her how it tasted and... She cut him off a big chunk for him to try!

Don't these just look YUMMY??

We asked our waiter to take a picture of us...

and this is what we got! LOL

Then he really took pictures!

I thought this one was cute,

because the chef was posing in the background!

Too Cute

Detto & I in New Orleans Part 3

2012-02-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

More of our trip to New Orleans...

The Saint Louis Cathedral was really pretty!

There were neat artifacts in cases, I could not figure out what everything was for.

Like this umbrella. What do they do with it?

I liked the shell podium!

The statue of Joan Of Arc was really cool too!

I thought it was interesting that they comemorate the date the pope visits!

After we left the church we walked back outside to Jackson Square and look who we saw hanging out in New Orleans....

After that we checked out the gardens in the center of the square.

I love the church in the background.

This was such a peaceful garden area.

We walked around and checked out some the shops.

This one was one of my favorites.

It sold only linens... the lace and table cloths were amazingly intricate and beautiful!

The artwork from the local artist's was everywhere...

Detto and I really enjoyed looking at all of it.

This guy was a "magician"!

We walked down and checked out the riverfront.

We got to check out the Muddy Waters of the Mississippi!

Then we got to watch the train go by!

After that we stopped by Ms. Laura's Candie Shop and heard all about how "Whoopie Goldberg shopped here once. See the picture?"

Check out what Detto is standing by... LOL

I thought this was pretty interesting.

I love history!

Detto & I in New Orleans Part 2

2012-02-10T22:42:00.000-05:00

Detto and I stayed at the JW Marriot

From our window we could see alot of the city.

These are some pics from our window:

Across the street was this "Voo Doo Mart".

In Florida it would be called a Quickie Mart

I loved this billboard. Detto and I always say to each other "Just like Old times".

It's our own little "Remember When..."

This is the overview from our window.

The street below.

We were on Canal Street.

Our first Taste of New Orleans was the Palace Cafe.

It was across the street from our hotel.

This was our view from our table.

Detto tried the New Orleans Chicory Coffee!

He also had Gumbo!

I had Catfish with a pecan glaze.

Detto liked it!

For Dessert we had Banana's Foster.

It was created here at The Palace Cafe.

The history is found here.

After that we took a walk around the city.

It was our first views of the city.

I love the buildings.

Everything was so quaint and historic.

We tried to find a restaurant for dinner...So we checked out some of NOLA's famous restuarants. We tried to eat at K. Pauls, but we didn't have any luck! Oh Well! Maybe next time.

I loved the way this lamp post looked!

There were AMAZING street musicians EVERYWHERE!

They played and some people danced...

The artwork was really cool too!

Some of it was very commercial... and some was very original!

We decided to go inside this church and check it out!

I will post about that soon...

Detto & I In New Orleans Part 1

2012-02-09T14:51:00.002-05:00

Detto and I were blessed to be able to go on a Mini-Vaca while my kids were gone. I changed my flight so that I could spend an extra few weeks with Detto before I joined the kids in Mexico.

Thanks to the military's Strong Bonds program, we were able to fly to New Orleans to attend a Marriage Enrichment Seminar paid for by the Military. Strong Bonds is a Soldier Enrichment program that has been expanded to help the families cope with our country being at war and the time away from our soldiers. It has programs set up to focus on the many aspects of being a Military Family! To find out more information on Strong Bonds go here. Please encourage any military personel that you know to take advantage of this program.

So here are some of the pictures from our trip:

Detto on the bus to the hotel!

I love the architecture in the city.

I am having trouble getting my pictures to upload, so this will have to be all for now!

Kids Heading to Mexico

2012-02-07T15:30:00.000-05:00

Well, The kids are in Mexico.

We went out to eat the night before they flew out.

The kids decided that they wanted to go to the House of Blues.

The food was sooooo YUMMY!

After dinner Stephen and Detto went to a concert.

Stephen is a huge fan of August Burns Red and they were there!

Stephen went to buy tickets and a guy in front of him turned around and GAVE him two tickets!

He was sooooo thrilled!

While the boys went to the concert... Sissy and I window shopped and then we got some hot cocoa and hung out!

After we dropped the kids off at the airport we got to babysit Abby!!

She just had to play piano with Uncle Detto!

I love watching her play!

She loves playing with her car seat and with "Gackin" Aka Jackson!

I am sooo blessed!

Stephen's 13th Birthday

2012-02-07T07:30:00.000-05:00

I can not believe that my baby boy is 13 yrs old!

He is such an amazing young man. He is smart, kind, caring, loving, considerate, giving, talented, hard working, and he is such a gentleman.

I love that he is comfortable in his own skin. He has his own sense of style and he is not afraid to be himself.

He wanted a Carvel Ice Cream cake as his birthday cake!

I love all of his silly faces that he makes. He does it just to make us laugh!

He is so cute!

Abby wanted to help him with his new toys!

He took his time and put his new paintball gun together.

Isn't he hillarious?I love how silly he is!

He had fun shooting his new gun!

THen he came in to play with Abby!

She wanted to sing and dance!

Here she is attacking Stephen! LOL

She wanted him to dance with her!

It was great celebrating his birthday with my family!

Mongiovi Christmas 2011

2012-02-06T19:00:00.000-05:00

This year I made most of the gifts that I gave.

I made pillows, hats, and of course quilts!

Here is Jordan with his space quilt.

Baby Michael with his dinosaur quilt!

Dont you love that smile??

Johnny with his Red & Black Quilt!

Amara with her pillow!

Corey is showing off his Blue, Black, and Grey quilt!

Cecillia with her Pillow Animal!

David and Ora

Nana got a teddy bear!

Rudy would not sit still! This is the only picture that I got of her that was not blurry!

She sure can move!

Detto played us some music! I love listening to him play piano! It isn't Christmas without hearing Detto play carrols on the piano!

Look where I found Baby David hiding!

Isn't he adorable?

Everyone was thrilled to have Detto home!

It was a WONDERFUL Christmas!

2011 Christmas Day

2012-02-06T10:00:00.000-05:00

We all felt like our biggest present was DADDY!

But we also enjoyed the presents from Santa and everyone else!

I love the faces that Stephen makes!

Sissy got a Kanani American Girl Doll from Santa!

The kids were thrilled with their gifts!

I love my kids!

Detto finally got a robe!

I love Stephen's poses! He cracks me up!

Sissy also got a My American Girl Doll!

It looks just like us!

Detto got some toys to!

I gave Abby her VERY FIRST BARBIE!!

She is soooo adorable!

And Jackson got lots of great toys, which he proceded to destroy in under 5 minutes!

So after that he decided to take a nap in his favorite spot. As soon as I went to take the picture he popped up!

Mongiovi Update 3 - Christmas

2012-02-06T04:30:00.000-05:00

This Christmas was Great! Mostly because Detto was home!

It was also great to be surrounded by friends and family!

Detto played piano and Abby had to DANCE!!

We all sat and listened to Detto play and SANG ALONG!!

I loe watching the kids open presents!

Look at the smile on Reilly's face. I am glad that she liked the pillow creature that I made her.

Kirin

Reilly was modeling the hat that I made her.

Ishana liked her matching hat!

Sissy was thrilled to get a cookbook! She LOVES to cook!

I also made Kirin a hat!

And...

I made a quilt for Ishana!

And for Kirin!

And I made a "Southwestern Quilt" for Mom and Dad!

Here is the happy family! The only ones missing are John, Sam, & Anaia!

All of this fun wore Abby out! She is so cute!

Mongiovi Update 2

2012-02-05T16:04:00.003-05:00

Go Here to see the Kids Surprise Video of Daddy coming home for Christmas!

Detto Surprised the kids by coming home early!

He was scheduled to return home in August, however God had a different plan!

The family came over to celebrate our joyful news!!

We had lots of fun!

My and my Sister!!

Finally together again!

We really enjoyed having the Family around! And we are THRILLED to have Daddy Home!

Mongiovi Update

2012-01-31T16:07:00.002-05:00

I can not believe that it has been over a month since my last post!

Well, I have a pretty good excuse....

My hubby came HOME!! After him being gone for 10 months I needed to spend some quality time with him! We have done soooooo much since he has been home!

I will spend the next few days catching up on what we have been up to!

It was a last minute thing! We found out that he would be home the day before he got here!

We were waiting for the buses to arrive.

Everyone was sooooo anxious!

The Mayor showed up to take pictures!

And they are here....

It was soooo GREAT to see that smile!

I can not believe that he is actually HOME!!

Making Gingerbread Houses!!

2011-12-21T16:00:00.000-05:00

This year instead of making one gingerbread house, I decided to let the kids make a whole Gingerbread Village!

Sissy & Stephen started working on them.

Stephen only lasted a few minutes. Then he decided to just watch the Christmas movie that they had playing.

Sissy and Amara worked on it together!

They each got to build several of their own houses!

I caught Amara sampling the icing!

The evidence....

I think their construction is solid.

They were so pleased with the results and so am I!

I love watching these girls create!

Look...

They turned out really GOOD!!

These girls are sooo cute!

I can't wait to see what they create today when they make the ornaments!

Christmas time is so much fun, expecially when you are surrounded by family!

The House.... Part 7

2011-12-21T13:00:00.000-05:00

The dining room is finished except for the baseboards.

I love the wood floors!

Here is the living room! Its almost finished...

Sissy was in here wrapping presents.

This is Detto's office,I think he is going to LOVE it!

Here is the view of the family room from the kitchen!

I LOVE the tile!

And what is a house update without a Jackson update??We were told that he doesn't like to play with toys....

Obviously the previous owner never bought him any toys.

Jackson LOVES toys!

Look what I found??

Stephen and Jackson watching a Christmas movie together!

Snugglie little boys!

They are soooo cute!

Abby's Early Christmas Present

2011-12-21T09:20:00.003-05:00

It is really hard to hide a Giant Playhouse from a 2 year old...

So Abby got her BIG present early this year.

She got her very own playhouse!

She was nothing but smiles in it.

I cant believe how big it is. Amy did a GREAT job decorating it for Christmas. Amy told me that she is going to let Abby decorate it every year! I think that is a GREAT idea!

Abby found some new ELMO books in her house and so she decided to read them right away....Except Stephen kept opening the windows to play peek-a-boo!

Here and here are some cute and quick video's of Abby and her new house!

So, she decided to come out...

and read to Stephen (aka Stee-bee)!

Isn't this a cute picture??

Abby is looking for Stephen!

Abby decided that she wanted Jackson & Zoey to be in the house with her. Poor doggies!

Abby discovered that she LOVES walking Jackson on the leash.

Doesn't that face remind you of "Charlie Trouble"??

Abby got him...

and then she decided to poke Jackson's eyes. Poor lil' doggie. Abby fell in love. She even cried when it was time for us to leave.

The big kids went inside to check out Uncle Charlie's Newest Toy -

A 3D TV!!

The House... Part 6

2011-12-20T23:00:00.000-05:00

The wood floors are going down fast!

This is Detto's Office...Almost done!

The dining room is coming along too!

Here is another tile repair in progress.

This tile had a crack on the corner. I am glad that we are getting everything fixed!

Look, The office is done!

This is the other side of the dining room.

Things are moving along.

I am glad to see things being fixed!

I cant wait for everything to be done. It is looking soooo pretty!

Tomorrow is another day...

Decorating the Christmas Tree!

2011-12-20T20:50:00.000-05:00

This year we had some help decorating the Christmas Tree...

Amara, Corey, and Nana came to help!

Doesn't Corey look like he is having fun?

Sissy is sooo cute! In years past she only decorated the bottom of the tree and now she reaches as high as she possibly can!

Nana made sure the back was decorated beautifully!

Stephen wore his "special work clothes" to decorate!

He is so cute!

Here is the whole crew!

Didn't they do a GREAT Job?

I love the tree!

It is very pretty!

Our Newest Addition to the Mongiovi Family

2011-12-20T11:30:00.000-05:00

We have a NEW Addition to the Mongiovi Family!

We got this little fur ball on Craigslist...

His name is Jackson and he is 4 years old.

He was cover in flea's and very neglected!

He is underweight and his nails were WAY overgrown.

We brought him home, gave him a bath, and the next morning we took him to the vet!

We were told that Jackson is a poodle... but, I think he is a poodle/bichon Mix!

So after the trip to the vet we headed over to see Aunt Amy at Petco!

This is his before Aunt Amy picture...

Poor thing looks so scruffy.

While Jackson was getting pampered by Aunt Amy, the girls went to the Nail Salon to get a little attention of their own.

Sissy and Amara were loving every minute of it!

Doesn't this look like fun??

Alyssa wanted her eyebrows waxed. She has been asking and asking. I warned her that it hurts, but she said it would be worth it!

She said "It HURT, but it was not too bad."

So here is Alyssa with her new eyebrows!!

Then we went to see our Boy with his makeover!

Here is our new Fur-Baby Jackson!!

The kids are happy with the new addition!

Isn't he adorable??

Here is Jackson before his reindeer audition...

Sadly, Santa said the sleigh is full!

So he decided that maybe he could be an Elf...

He has the height part down!

We love our newest fur-baby!

Me & Abby

2011-12-20T10:10:00.000-05:00

I was told that I dont post enough pictures of me! So here ya go...

These are a few of my favorite things... Dunkin Donuts Vanilla Chai Tea & a Reduced Fat Blueberry Muffin!! Yummy!

Because our house has been in such a state of chaos, we haven't been able to put up the Christmas Tree yet. This has been bother Alyssa, so...

I bought her a small potted Christmas tree.

This way we could decorate something to hold us over until the living room floors were done!

Even though she doesn't look happy in this photo, she really was THRILLED!!

Here is a picture of the Finished Tree...

Abby is one of my favorite people in the whole world! She is just so darn cute!!

I am bessed to be able to watch her every once in awhile!

I had to share some of my latest pictures of her!

Look what I caught her doing...

Abby LOVES raisins. She went in the pantry, got them down, and went to town. All in less than 2 mins! Kids are FAST!!!

I love this picture of Abby and Sissy on the swing on the backporch! She loves this swing.

Whenever she comes over she tries to open the door and says "Weesa, Abby Wing" translation "Aunt Lisa, Abby wants to swing!" I love her little voice and the way she say's Weesa! She is sooo cute!

She loves to play on the backporch. She tries to look in the glass doors and see who's in each of the rooms! It will keep her busy for quite awhile! On and off the swing, running back and forth on the porch, smelling all of the flowers, and of course yelling at any birds in the backyard!

Another of Abby's favorite things to do at Weesa's house is play the piano!! Now isn't that a GREAT smile?

I just love my little Abby!

The House.... Part 5

2011-12-17T19:30:00.000-05:00

The kitchen has been very disfunctional lately!

Notice in the picture I have no "toe kicks" under the cabinets.

Dont you love my Island??

Well, here is the new one!

And the diswasher is no longer exposed!

It is much quieter to do dishes!

And my drawer cabinet is back!

I dont really think that you can tell the difference. The drawers are not new, just the actual cabinet is new!

Here is a before of the dining room...

And this is the "in process"!

I just love the wood!

It is sooo pretty!

The Villages Flooring is doing a GREAT JOB!!

They were almost $2,000 less then Lowes for the same thing!!

Hopefull, we will be able to put up the Christmas Tree tomorrow!

The House.... Part 4

2011-12-17T15:00:00.000-05:00

First on my list of updates are these beautys!!

I got a new Washer and Dryer!!

Detto ordered them online on Black Friday, so they were cheaper then the top loaders I was looking at! They were on back order until this week!

I am soooo happy!!

This is the dining rooms before picture!

Here is the progress in Detto's office!

This is the start of the wood in the formal living room!

The living room is coming along!

Doesn't it look GREAT!?!?!?!

So far things seem to be moving pretty quickly!

I will be posting more soon!

Band Christmas Concert

2011-12-17T11:28:00.002-05:00

Stephen played in the Jazz Band and...

This is the principal

This is Mr. Porter the band teacher!

Here is Justin Aka. Pickle

This was Alyssa's First Performance!

She played in the beginner band!

I love that they let my homeschooler participate in the Middle School Band!

Check out their video's here!

If you click on watch video's by dettonlisas, you should be able to see all of them!

There are several on YouTube!

Stephen also played in advanced band!

I am sooo proud of my kids!

The kids were so happy that their grandparents came out to watch them play!

after wards we went out for Hot Cocoa!!