STARLIGHT COWBOY SHINDIG!!!

well, WE HAD A GREAT TIME TODAY!!! we actually had such an awesome STARLIGHT ESCAPE!! today, we headed 110 miles outside of san antonio to LA GRANGE, TX!! it was my mil & my boys and i...it was a BEAUTIFUL DAY!!! it was not a cloud in the sky but it was windy but OH how cool it was...just PERFECT!!! we had not made it out to a STARLIGHT FOUNDATION adventure since march so we were SOOOOOOOO in need on a get away!!! we had some drama because alex, when he doen't know what we are goint to do, will tend to PANIC and say that he doesn't want to do it and just keep repeating it until he lets it take over....well, he said he did NOT like cowboy parties and he did not want to go!! after i told him he could stay with grandma if he wanted, he said, NO, i will GO...i just told him he did not even KNOW what type of party this was!!! so, we make the trip which was REALLY nice and we got there around 1200 and it was at this RANCH out there and the coordinator said that there would be some long horns that you couldn't miss...WOW, was she right!! they were HUGE BEYOND anything!! so, we get there and at first i thought, oh, this will NOT work...i had matthew in his chair and it was ROUGH terrain but we managed and as we sat down, we were given BACKPACKS for the boys (really nice) with stuff in them, each of them got a STICK HORSE (TOOO CUTE! and some where HANDMADE!), they got cowboy hats....we got to eat some YUMMY BBQ with all the fixings and just sit and enjoy the show..they had a choir out of LA GRANGE sing for us (beautiful) and then me and alex & matthew got to go on a FUN HAYRIDE!! we got pulled all over the ranch, got to touch a pony, see some long horns and just have a GREAT TIME!! then we got back and we got to eat some CAKE (my favorite!!) and then they gave us some KITES and we got to FLY THEM and they were SOOOO MUCH FUN!! and they were beautiful, everyone's flying so high in the sky!! the one that did NOT want to go, had a BLAST!!! and so did we all! another wonderful ESCAPE ADVENTURE put on by STARLIGHT!!! it was so much fun seeing all the kids have such a great time...we had a great little trip and it all turned out great!! here are some pictures of ourday!!..

matthew pointing...


my mil & josh with the choir behind...


alex haming it up for the camera..


some long horns on the ranch....


kites in the sky in front of the HUGE HUGE LONG HORNS!! :) look at that BEAUTIFUL texas sky!!!

SPRING BREAK!!!

well, we have had a GREAT WEEK....i really didn't know if i was going to do anything but we did!! just some FUN STUFF!! at the begining of the week, it was a REALLY WET time here in town...there was even some MUD RAIN!!! yeah, that was pretty freaky if you saw our vehicles!! they looked like we had all just gone MUDDING!! pretty strange!

well, on monday, we went to take pictures with the EASTER BUNNY!! awww, my sil reminded me that we had not taken them and we went to take them and here they are:




well, on wed, we went to the ZOO and had some FUN!! wow, i am so happy that we got there when it opened because when we got out of there at noon, the line was 5 deep and it was just crazy!! we got out of there right on time!! unfortuantly i forgot my camera!! i could not believe i did that!! anyway, we had a GREAT TIME and just enjoyed being with my cuz and her family!! FUN! and can't wait to go out there again!

then thursday, we went to see HORTON HEARS A WHO with a great friend of mine and her kids! we had lunch AT MCD's and then made our way over there!! NICE!! and very cute movie!! as for lunch, MATTHEW ATE A NUGGET (his first), AN ORDER OF SM FRIES, and 3 cups of POPCORN at the movies!!!! can you believe that???? that is the most he has eaten and he would have kept going! it has always been about endurence with his chewing and his jaws so i think he is building up the strength! i am so proud of him!! he is building up his strength!! YIPPPEEE!!! and we got some WONDERFUL NEWS but i will actually have it's own post!!

then friday, we basically just hung around and went to a FISH FRY at a local church and had lunch with my cuz t and her kiddos! it was fun...then we visited a aunt that i had not seen in YEARS and it was really nice to just see them and visit with them for a while!!

all in all, this week has been WONDERFUL!! this weekend will be the FIRST weekend WITHOUT NURSES!!! yep, they are both off this weekend so it will be just me and my kids! we plan to go to g-ma's house on EASTER and just hang out for a bit!! i sure wish james was there with us...

we talked to him friday and he is just so tired....can't wait to get home!!

and on a SIDE NOTE....i forgot to mention that we had attended a GREAT event by the STARLIGHT FOUNDATION on the 9th in AUSTIN!! we had soooo much fun! it was at the FOUR SEASONS there in austin and there was so much going on and the kids (and i) had a BLAST!!! i just love their events! i was so sad that we were unable to make the feb event of bowling but that was when matthew had strep!! anyway, just kuddos to them!! ALSO, for those here in our town, if you go to HOLLYWOOD VIDEO and you get that "damage protection" for 25 cents per rental, some of the procedes of that GOES to the starlight foundation!! just an FYI! i just found this out myself!!

Junie B. Jones.....

well, today we went to see this JUNIE B JONES, A WONDERFUL, FUNNY play with the STARLIGHT STARBRIGHT FOUNDATION! i was not sure how it would go because i was not sure if the boys would be interested in it but THEY WERE!! i was not sure if we would make it because joshua had started to get sick and matthew started to sound like he was working on it too ( i think the change in the weather) but we DID and i am so glad we MADE IT! alex really enjoyed the play and was laughing and just ENGROSSED in it and matthew was laughing and dancing with the show! myself, well, i LOVED IT!! i laughed SOOOO HARD and was just having soooo much fun with the whole STORY! it was a sold out show too! the place was PACKED! when the play was done, all the cast, past right by where we were sitting and the last two cast, junie & her best friend, stopped because they just HAD to say hello to little matthew...and of course, he was just FLIRTING with him and he was giving them "the lip" and just smiling at them!! they were just so funny cause they were gushing over him!! and afterwards, we were given little books and pens so the kids could go get the cast "autographs"....well, it was PACKED with everyone getting autographs so i asked alex, "are you sure you want to stand in line to do this? there are a LOT of people" and he said, "nope, i want to get autographs" so we did!! they all responded so great to his, "can i have your autograph" question (which i thought was SOOOOO CUTE when he said it) and then when they talked to matthew, awww, they were awesome!! he would hand the little book to them and they were gaga over him and would write little messages on his book...it was really cute!

we got to take a couple of pictures with JUNIE and here they are....

alex asking for an autograph from junie b jones....


matthew asking for his autograph...


us with junie b jones....


2 of the boys outside on a BEAUTIFUL day at the theater....

wow!! what a GREAT DAY today was!!! :)

today, we had a VERY BUSY but AWESOME DAY!!! we started off the day by going to a birthday party for our little buddy from our homeschool park day day!! it was really nice to see them away from the park! unfortunatly, we only could stay there for a little bit and then we had to RUN...why you say?? because we went to ANOTHER WONDERFUL STARLIGHT STARBRIGHT EVENT!!! awwww...what a GREAT TIME WE HAD! and it was a BEAUTIFUL DAY we had (we had SHORTS ON!!) it was like 75 degrees or so! i was worried that it would be TOO cold for matthew and THANK GOD, it was just a AWESOME DAY!!! WELL, let me tell you what a WONDERFUL time we had YET AGAIN with this organization! we started the day by going to the IMAX MOVIE called SANTA VS THE SNOWMAN in 3D....i had never been to the IMAX and what a awesome place that was!! I was sooooo excited!! :) ok, the kids where too!! they treated us to popcorn & drinks....the movie itself was sooooo much fun! alex didn't like to wear the glasses because it was too scary seeing everything coming at him! he told me he was worried about it...but he liked the movie and was laughing and clapping thru it all! he told me he liked it but he didn't like when it came at him!! then matthew would keep the glasses on for a bit and he would LAUGH and LAUGH when he saw them coming at him!! but then he would take off the glasses...he was watching the moving and eating his popcorn!! :) i loved the graphics on the movie! WOWOWOWOW...is all can say! maybe i can get james to go with us again!! it really was nice!!

after we finished with the movie, we went ahead and moved on to the ALAMO...we walked down there and there was this person there from STARLIGHT STARBRIGHT and he handed us some software for a new video game called 'The Tuttles Madcap Misadventures: Starlight Starbright Charity Challenge (www.tuttlesfamilygame.com)'

Los Angeles, Calif., (November 28, 2007) – Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation®, Legacy Interactive and Animax Entertainment today launched The Tuttles Madcap Misadventures: Starlight Charity Challenge (http://www.tuttlesfamilygame.com), a casual platformer style downloadable videogame that pairs having a good time with doing good. Actors William Shatner, Bob Saget, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ashley Tisdale, Dominic Scott Kay, Dave Thomas and Dave Coulier contributed their voices to the animated game. Supporters can try the game at http://www.tuttlesfamilygame.com and purchase it for $19.99 with $15 of that amount going to Starlight to brighten the lives of seriously ill children and their families.

and basically, this is a charity event that is a game....this helps raise money for the STARLIGHT STARBRIGTH FOUNDATION! soooo, if anyone is interested in purchasing this game and SUPPORTING A WONDERFUL ORGINAZATION THAT HELPS CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS, PLEASE GO TO THE LINK ABOVE!! they do such WONDERFUL THINGS!!! i got to meet some of the organizations higher ups and they had actually SEEN THIS BLOG...i was really touched that they had taken the time to see my blog and read about it...they got to read about how wonderful this organization really is and how much it MEANS to us as a family to be a part of this!!!

well, CONTINUING ON with our day! we took some pictures there at the alamo and then we went on to eat dinner at FUDRUCKERS!!!! YUMMYYYYY!!! everyone had a WONDERFUL dinner and then they surprised us with GIFTS for my kids!!! AND BOY you should have seen their faces!!! :) they hit it RIGHT ON THE MONEY with alex gift...he got OPTIMUS PRIME TRANSFORMER!!! OMG, his face was PRICELESS!!! he was just sooooo thrilled and he was just soooo HAPPY that he MUST have been good because santa bought him the toy he had CLICKED ON ON THE INTERNET!!! he told me, "mommy, this is the toy that i had wanted and clicked on in the internet!!!' YIKES!! but thank GOD he doesn't know my credit card info!! :) anyway, AGAIN, this organization did a WONDERFUL JOB and provided about 30+ families with a WONDERFUL OUTING and just a WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY for all the special needs families to get together and have a "normal" outing!!! THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN!! i can't WAIT for my hubby to be able to experience an OUTING with starlight!! i know he will be SOOOOO HAPPY and in AWE on how much they do!! :) i can't WAIT!!

sooooo, for anyone wanting to support this wonderful organization, please, click on this link: http://www.starlight.org/site/c.fuLQK6MMIpG/b.1038035/ and there is a DONATE button or just go and see what wonderful things this organziation is doing for our kids and their families.....

HERE ARE SOME PICS OF OUR DAY!!!

here is ALEX at the IMAX getting ready to enjoy his movie!


here is MATTHEW ready for his movie too!!!


here we are in front of the Christmas tree at the ALAMO!!


here is ALEX with his COOL NEW TOY that santa brought because he was A GOOD BOY!


here is MATTHEW with his cool collector edition POKEMON statue he can't keep his eyes off of!!

WOW YET AGAIN!!!

i am so OVERWHELMED yet again from the generosity of STARLIGHT STARBRIGHT FOUNDATION! today, we went to the zoo with them and we had a BLAST and were again treated like VIPS!! first, we get there and i expect from what i heard to get admission paid for the day at the zoo.....NOT SO!!! we get there and sign in and they hand me a certificate for.......DRUM ROLL PLEASE.......A YEAR MEMBERSHIP TO THE ZOO FOR MY FAMILY PLUS ONE GUEST!!!!!!! i could NOT believe it!! i was AMAZED and in DISBELIEF wondering if this was for real!! they told me YES, this is a YEAR MEMBERSHIP!!! i really could not believe the GENEROSITY of this foundation!! i was overjoyed and just freaking out!! i had ALWAYS wanted a memebership there but just could never get around to get one and NOW we have one and i can take my boys out there!!! how WONDERFUL! so we get in and they told us to meet them back at the pavillion at 1130 for lunch and when we got there they had a WONDERFUL meal for us...boxed complete lunches from a local deli with all the trimmings!!! and then, they had a singer there doing CHILDRENS SONGS on his bango...he was AWESOME and so much fun!! and of course, that was not all! they also had gift bags for all the kiddos with some pretty cool thing in there PLUS the singer also gave every family a CD of his music!!! AMAZING!!! i am just so BLESSED to have become a part of this foundation.....i know i will look forward to our MONTHLY FAMILY ESCAPES!!! i can't wait for james to be able to join us for these days!!! WHAT FUN!!!

i also gave some other people some info on this program with their special needs kiddos and now they will also join!! i am so happy and am SPREADING THE WORD! i talk to the coordinator and she said that they JUST brought this program to our town in september and this was their THIRD outing (i made 2 of them) and their headquarters had said that she needed to have 50 families within a year and she was able to get that many in 2 months!!!! there is such a NEED for this kind of program....to see all the kids there is just AWESOME!! you can not imagine how much PLANNING it takes to go out for the day ANYWHERE with a special needs kiddo!! for us, we had to make sure we had his TUBE FEEDS, HIS MEDS, HIS SUCTION MACHINE, HIS OXYGEN, and all the other small things that he needs on a daily basis! you can NEVER just grab him and take off somewhere!! during the day, he gets FOUR different times where he has his meds, THREE feeds during the day, & just monitoring his oxygen, secretions and suctioning like today since he was SICK! you just add that much more! but we are going to TRY so hard to do this once a month with this WONDERFUL organization.....THANK YOU STARLIGHT STARBRIGHT!!!

here are the boys at the ZOO enterance!!


here is matthew wanting the animals behind the bars!! HE HAD A BLAST!!


here is alex measuring up to a MONKEY!!!!


here are 2 of my boys.....

OUR FAMILY UPDATE!!

Hola everyone and HAPPY HOLIDAYS ALREADY!!



Hard to believe that the holiday season is upon us!! We hope everyone is doing GREAT! We are doing just fine, THANK YOU GOD! It has been almost SIX MONTHS since james left back in june!! AMAZING! But we are half way there now….GOD WILLING just 6 more months left and then my wonderful husband will be HOME!! Wowowowow..



Well, today I will speak about my beautiful wonderful loving husband FIRST!! Why, you ask??? Because this month, on November 18TH, he will have a BIRTHDAY!! Soooo, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!!!! WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU VERY MUCH!!! (anyone wanting to send him a email here is his address! gonzoair@sbcglobal.net and for those that have ALREADY sent him an email, THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF ME AND MY BOYS HEART!!! He told me that he had gotten a couple of emails and was soooo touched and EXCITED about it! So thanks for the cheer sent across the world to him!! You are making it more tolerable as his birthday approaches!) james will hopefully be having a GRAND birthday party that they throw for EACH soldier who has a birthday……..ok, probably not but hopefully, he will be able to EAT some of the goodies that have been sent to him from us and just THINK about us and KNOW that he is greatly loved and missed! He is doing fine. He is VERY BUSY!! Right now, he is doing 6 days on (1300 – 0100) and one day off (Tuesdays) and that is it….it leaves VERY LITTLE TIME for him to do much of anything! By the time he gets “home” and goes to sleep it is time to get up and go back to work!!! He will sometimes call after he gets off (4pm our time) and sometimes before he goes to work (about 2 am our time). He has posted some updates and I have placed them in our BLOG. He has also sent some pictures that I have posted on our blog too! So if you have not been by to visit our blog in a while, go check out all the new pics and news on our family!! But we are HALF WAY THERE now and GOD WILLING he will be home December 19th thru the 3rd of January!! I have not told the boys yet because I don’t want anything to happen to that date!! I know it will be a NICE surprise!!! We can’t WAIT!! THE COUNT DOWN IS ON!!!! I know that he will be SOOOO EXCITED to see the boys and really get to hold baby Joshua! Oooohhh how he has GROWN!! We are soooo excited!1



Well onto alex. Alex is doing REALLY GOOD! He is growing soooo much! He is very smart and very cute! He just surprises me all the time! I am so in awe of this little boy! I have to REMIND MYSELF that he is ONLY 5 YEARS OLD as of August!!!! Amazing! Let’s see…in homeschool, he knows how to read and READS ALL HIS DIRECTIONS for his CLASS!! Yep, I don’t even read those for him and he just does it and continues on!!! He also LOVES MATH!! Yep, my worst subject! He can sit there and do flash cards and add and subtract and he is really good at it!! He loves to do “math” while we are driving…I will tell him “what is 10 + 9 =” and he will yell out “19!!” and so on and so forth!! He can do pretty hard ones too with 2 numbers…I am just amazed! He is just doing really well. I can’t wait to really challenge him….i am really enjoying home schooling him and knowing he is doing really well! He enjoys our time together and the extra activities we do on Tuesday with the home school playdate with his buddies!! He is really having fun and meeting others that are also home schooled and there are A LOT!!



Matthew is doing really well. He is really working on communicating and he picked up a couple more signs. He is still such a HAPPY little boy! We are so blessed with him! He is also doing well in the PHYSICAL THERAPY area. He is really walking better and for a LONGER time now. He is trying so hard to walk and to get around more. He is always pulling up to stand when you are around and he has now mastered standing in his crib! We had to lower his crib to the lowest point and PRAY he doesn’t flip out of it! We are hoping to get him a special needs bed soon! It takes a while to get it so I am hoping it comes in by the end of jan!! but he is also doing class and we just got his progress report and she states he is IMPROVING and he is learning to recognize letter and numbers and actions and pictures!! He also loves to interact with the tv shows such as dora and diego. Anything that asks you a questions he will either nod or shake his head! He is too cute to watch! Well, right now, he is sick. He picked up a cold and passed along to his big brother! But we are just watching him. He is on increased neb treatments and also o 4 days of oral steroids. It was not the flu THANK GOD but something has messed with his lungs! He needed oxygen for his nap time but he is doing ok. We will just keep a watch on him!! he has also had some seizures....they have been SMALL THANK GOD but still they are SCARY!! we just PRAY that they STOP!!!!!!



Onto Joshua….he is doing so well! He is getting BIG! He is probably about 10 lbs now and he is just a CUTIE! And he STILL HAS BLUE EYES!!! J wowowow…what a handsome little boy! He is smiling and talking all the time! He also loves to play with his floor gym and sits there and smiles and plays with the little animals! Awwww…he is still eating like a CHAMP and just growing and growing aware of his surroundings! He loves to look around and just take it all in. he also loves to look at talk to his brothers! Matthew still doesn’t know what to make of him but he does know who he is! If Joshua starts to cry, then matthew will start to cry, then alex will start to yell and then I lose my MIND!! Yep, they all go on at the SAME TIME!!!!! Gggrrrr…matthew thinks it is the FUNNIEST THING to hear him cry!!!! anyway, he is doing GREAT!!



And onto me!! Yep, for me, I am doing FINE!!!! I am just enjoying my little family and missing my husband!!! Wow, It is hard to BELIEVE that it has been almost SIX MONTHS that james has been gone! Wowowowow…….people have asked me how I did it and HOW I always keep a positive attitude and a HAPPY attitude and I have to say that thru GOD it has keep me going and also that I could have it SO MUCH WORST!! I try HARD not to complain about ANYTHING that is going on because right now, I get the PRIVILEGE and the BLESSING to see, hear, and touch my babies and my family and friends and my beautiful husband does NOT have that right now and is SOOOO FAR AWAY from all that he loves…how can I complain about ANYTHING and how can I even THINK about being sad or upset? James and I mad a promise to each other that we would be HAPPY and we would not be UPSET with the separation of each other. Instead we would do our BEST to keep it up beat and just PRAY for the day that we can be together again as a family. And it has WORKED!! We talk on the phone and there is no tears just happy news back and forth. Our emails and letters are the same thing, just what is going on in our lives and how much we love and miss each other. It makes a difference I think, than if we were miserable and just down and out….i personally prefer it this way! It makes the days go by FASTER and just doing our best to keep the attitude for our family!!! J but I am doing fine. I have been dealing a TON with my fibromyalgia right now and it has been hard to sleep and just walk in the morning especially. It is hard to get up in the morning from bed!!! But all is well. I am just waiting for the time my family is completely TOGETHER!!! I have been sending james a carepackage every week and he has LOVED IT SOOOO MUCH! They have a small px for hundreds of soldiers (pictures in the blog of it) and they don’t get the little extras that we take for granted. So I send him tons of junk food and he told me that it really perks him up when he sees the boxes! He also get tons of crafts from the boys and also pictures of the boys. It makes me and the boys feel better when we get a box together for daddy!! We miss him so much! And we just got a care package from him and we are soooo excited!! My husband sent us some AWESOME BRACELETS that he MADE FOR US!! So awesome! And then he sent 3 little bears for each of the boys with t shirts on them with CAMP BUCCA on them. He sent us some iraq money, some cookies from there and a newspaper! He also sent us a card with a beautiful letter. He has been sending us cards and letters all the time….i am just SOOOOO BLESSED to have him as my HUSBAND…THANK YOU GOD!



Well, the new thing in our life is a GREAT foundation called THE STARLIGHT STARBRIGHT FOUNDATION…..we enrolled back in September and just got accepted in October and we have already done an event with them. They provided us with tickets to see ELMO LIVE and what a BLAST my boys had!!! We are also going to the ZOO tomorrow and wow, it sounds like they are going to be treating us like ROYALTY!! They will pull out all the stops for us!! It is a GREAT foundation and just a great way of getting the families with special needs together and OUT and helping them to have a ‘normal’ life!! James is so happy that they are helping and that his boys are having such a great time!! Here is the website for the organization: http://www.starlight.org/site/c.fuLQK6MMIpG/b.2534015/k.BB6E/Texas.htm



And MENDED LITTLE HEARTS is off and running now and I am sooo happy about it! They are a great bunch of families all pulled together due to our kiddos born with a CHD!! Slowly but surely the word is getting out and it is GROWING!!! Check out their website: http://mlhofsa.schendelsworld.com/index.htm



Well, that is it for now….not to long but hey, I am TIRED and have an infant that keeps me up late!! J there has been so many FIRST this year that is hard to believe that this year is ALMOST OVER!!! We went from a family of 4 to a family of 5, from a family together to a family apart…..birthdays, milestones etc just things that we are doing on two different countries…..WE PRAY THAT THIS WILL BE OVER SOON and JAMES will be HOME where he BELONGS!!



Anyway, we are so proud of him and we miss and love him very much. THANK YOU ALL for all your PRAYERS AND THOUGHTS for HIM as well as matthew and all of us. They are very appreciated!! THANK YOU!



Please think and Pray for ALL OUR SOLDIERS near and far especially those that are FAR AWAY from their loved ones during this holiday season......i know we will have a place at our table for THANKSGIVING for my husband to remind us that we are missing a VITAL part of our family that day!! OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH HIM AND ALL OF OUR SOLDIERS....



take care everyone and GOD BLESS!!



tons of love,

James, Maria, Alex, Matthew, & Joshua

SESAME STREET LIVE!!! :)

WOWOWOWOWOWOW!!! we got to go see ELMO MAKES MUSIC today and it was just WONDERFUL!! we had soooo much fun! it was all provided for us by the STARLIGHT STARBRIGHT FOUNDATION! here is a clip of what they do:

WHO STARLIGHT STARBRIGHT IS:
When a child is diagnosed with a serious illness, the day-to-day joys of childhood take a back seat to the rigors of treatment and hospitalization. For more than two decades, Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation has dedicated itself to improving the quality of life for children with serious medical conditions by providing entertainment, education and family activities that help them cope with the pain, fear and isolation of prolonged illness.

We understand what families go through when a child is sick, and how important it is to find relief from constant worry and isolation. Our programs have been proven to distract children from their pain, help them better understand and manage their illnesses, and connect families with others facing similar challenges so that no one feels alone.

we JUST enrolled in this program and they called us last week to ask if we were interested in going.....OF COURSE with both my boys i said YES! we were sooooo grateful to them! they provided us 4 tickets, parking, a goody bag for the boys and some drinks and hotdogs for all of us!! soooooo nice and generous....it was AMAZING....i don't think we could have done that without them...the boys (and mom) and a BLAST and it was just soooooo much fun! we had never been to one of those before and i was really happy with it! SO THANK YOU STARLIGHT STARBRIGHT for such a WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE!!!! :) all that was missing was JAMES....

here are some pics....not the best but....