Cocoa the Imaginary Friend

For about 1 1/2 years now Summer has had a special friend she calls Cocoa. Cocoa Mena is her invisible friend that she loves to play with, or boss around, blame things on, etc.


Apparently Cocoa is a boy and sometimes tells her to do naughty things like play in the shampoo, etc. We do not encourage this invisible playmate, nor do we discourage it. We just kind of let her know that she can't blame things on a person who is pretend.


When she wants Cocoa to move, or come along with her, she grabs the air with her hand. It can be quite entertaining to watch her and this invisible playmate of hers.

Lizard Friend:

Summer came running up the stairs the other day screaming and saying, "Mom, come downstairs and let me show you what is in our house." I came down thinking it was a bug or something, and it was a lizard. This little lizard came for a visit and gave us a little excitement for the day. This is not the first time it has happened. It also happened the two summers previous that we have lived here in Houston. Aside from bugs, warm weather also brings reptiles. I just don't ever want to see a snake in my house.

Kinder Suprise at the U.S Border :(

Kinder Surprise, also known as a Kinder Egg (Kinder being the German word for "Children"), is a confection originally intended for children in the form of a chocolate egg containing a small toy, frequently requiring assembly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Egg

My kind mother-in-law was on her way to the states to send an Easter package to Summer. In it we asked her to send several Kinder Surprise eggs. Well, this is what makes me so upset and frustrated about the U.S. government today. They confiscated the whole lot of Kinder Surprises. Have they completely lost it? They can somehow bypass several other items that are very harmful, and some how allow toys filled with led fill our stores, but they will not allow a chocolate egg.

Part of the reason for my rant is because some of my friends back home have been politically arguing if you will through email. I think it is a little silly, but in light of them I share this post.

I just don't understand how so many people can smuggle drugs, weapons, and other suspicious items into the states, but when an innocent grandmother tries to send chocolate Easter eggs to her granddaughter they feel it might be too dangerous to enter the U.S.

To be honest I think that the officer in the booth saw them all and thought sweet, that would make a perfect gift inside my kids Easter baskets. He is probably planning on taking them home with him tonight. Or maybe he was just so hungry and could not wait for his next break, so he thought he would eat a dozen chocolate eggs, then tinker around with the toys inside while waiting for cars to come through.

Anyways, enough ranting for now, I will just fill Easter baskets with the next best thing (a plastic filled egg) :(.

Random Happenings.

For those of you who think my husband is usually a more serious type of a guy, you are probably right. However, here is proof to you all that Philip is very random, funny, and not so serious at home. I often wish we had a video camera to capture his many funny moments.

In this picture Philip came downstairs with Summer's favorite blanket wrapped on his head like a turban. In an Indian accent he said to me, "Would you like to buy a Slurpee?" Talking in accents has to be one of his favorite things to do.

Flour Power Part 2:

For those of you who have facebook might remember me posting about Summer getting into my flour bucket. That was 1 1/2 years ago.

Well, as we were about to make apple crisp she decided it would be fun to hop off the stool instead of carefully pouring the flour in the bowl. This is what resulted from that.

She immediately started bawling. It reminded me of the first incident right away. I had to snap some pictures just because it happens too often. Summer and flour don't go well together.

This was Philip's solution to the flour in her hair. Take her outside and blow it off with the blow dryer.

Awesome American Idol!!

American Idol Rocked this week!


If you are not as big of a fan and don't recognize the photo above, it is none other than Michael Jackson. I absolutely love his music. He really is such a talented person. We won't go into the other side of him that is not so glamorous. For me I like to stick to remembering his awesome music and dancing.

The Best part of the show tonight I have to say was the recap at the beginning of the show highlighting Michael Jackson.

In my opinion, this season is the best by far. Maybe it is just the most appealing. Several of the contestants have a huge chance at making it big.

Next to the awesome Michael recap I absolutely loved Adam Lambert's performance as I did last week too. I just love his sound, and he kind of reminds me of Axle Rose from Guns n' Roses.

Philip thinks I am a little High Schoolish, but I can't help it. I am seriously loving the performances especially from the following individuals.



Adam Lambert is by far my favorite, and I would totally buy his CD.


Allison is very unique and I like her raspy voice. Last weeks song would be great as a cover from her.


Alexis has great vocals too.

Scott is amazing with the piano. Can you believe he learned that MJ song just this week, and he is blind.


Anyways, sorry about the long American Idol post, but I couldn't help it. Maybe Philip is right and I do feel a little like a high school girl. Maybe if I go to a concert sometime I will start freaking out and bawling just to fit in with the rest of the young teens.

Suprise Weekend

So Friday morning Philip came home way early. I went downstairs to greet him and ask him what he was doing home when I had just called and he was in a meeting. Well his answer was go change, we are leaving for the weekend. I was in shock.

He had totally surprised me by packing our clothes, arranging a babysitter, and everything. I was so shocked and overwhelmed with excitement that I became emotional for some reason. Poor Philip was probably thinking he married a psycho.

I had been telling him for a long time that we should go on a vacation together and get a sitter for Summer. For me it has been needed for a year or so. I think I just needed this emotionally etc.

So, we left and took Summer to our friends house. We then took off to San Antonio for the night. Philip had completely pulled this off without me knowing.

This is the view from our patio looking down at the Riverwalk. It looks a lot better in person.

Enjoying the patio.

I had to take a photo when we first arrived of the room. It is not everyday that I will be staying at a nice room at Westin.

We enjoyed a fancy dinner at the Italian restaurant inside the Westin. I don't remember the name. Zocca or something. It is too dark, but that is the Riverwalk behind us.

Summer enjoyed the dress and bracelets we brought her back from the Mexican Market there.

We loved being by ourselves, and the freedom we had for a night. But we really enjoyed seeing Summer again. I think it is mandatory for couples to get out for themselves, but really who would want to be without kids again once you have them. I could not imagine it.

I am so thankful to Philip for all he does. He totally surprised me, and I don't think he really realizes just how much I appreciate all the work he did to surprise me. Thanks again for the amazing trip.