Quite Possibly The Laziest Blogger In America...

That's ME! I thought it had been "awhile" since I posted on here. While checking Mason's class blog I decided to check in and see when I'd last posted... WOWZER. The beginning of the year?! Really?! I made it an entire QUARTER without a post! A-mazing. I guess I'll just swear to do better and hope that I can manage. In my defense it's been a REALLY busy few months. I'll catch ya up later! :o)

Bring on 2011!

I think Mason says it all! Wishing our friends and family a joyous, healthy & prosperous 2011. That's not asking too much, right?!

Merry Christmas 2010

May the holiday season bestow its blessings to you and your loved ones! Let's take this time to reflect upon the meaning and purpose of Chistmas and rejoice in God's love!

XOXO,

The Espinozas

Christmas In The Square - Part II

Another post from the Square before I move on to the holiday.... Mason was sick (as I believe I mentioned) the night we enjoyed Christmas In The Square. For that reason we only stayed for a couple of activities - those that I thought would bring the most return on the effort. It went without saying that one of the activities would be the trackless train. He may have outgrown his insane love of Thomas, but he is still totally gaga for trains! The line formed IMMEDIATELY after Santa landed. We made a b-line for the station, but still had to wait a solid 45 minutes to get on the train. I'm not sure how Mason managed to hold out, but I only had to warn him about 4 times over the duration of the wait that if he wanted to get on the train he had to stand next to me and remain relatively quite & still. It was a great little ride with my little man around the square. The light show was magnificent and the carriages would pass by & give Mason a thrill each time. He was more than a little taken with the horses! I don't think he's been that close to one before - atleast not a big, full-sized horse! Had he been feeling better (or had the event started earlier) I would have definitely taken him for a ride.... but it does give me ideas for things to do with him this year b/c he's very interested in the animals!

Christmas In The Square - Part I

Our town is one of the many small cities that makes up the great Dallas Metroplex. When I moved to N. Texas more than 10 years ago (scary thought!) I swore that Dallas was like Narnia... it didn't "really" exist. Everyone says they live in Dallas, but what they really mean is hat they live in Irving or Plano or Grand Prairie or Richardson or Garland... the list goes on and on! The cities that make up what most people think of as Dallas are for the most part lacking character. Some may be nicer parts of town than other, but most lack a personality distinct to the area. One of the things that I absolutely LOVE about our community is that in spite rapid growth it has managed to retain much of its community feel. It still has much of its small town feel. People are friendly and family oriented here. And... people around these parts have BIG ideas!

What other explanation could one have for a Christmas celebration (oh, wait... did someone say CHRISTMAS?!) of this magnitude put on in a community with a population of less than 100k residents? For 2 weekends the square puts on a celebration that includes all manners of entertainment from creating a hill for adults & kids alike to sled to trackless train rides to parachuting Santa & Elves! I mean, there is little that you could imagine that they do not have available for your family. It's an absolute must-do for the holiday season! In spite of the size of gathering traffic still moves fairly well and the parking couldn't be better! I actually parked in the parking garage behind the library and had no trouble at all find a spot.

I'll spend the next few posts covering our adventures at Christmas In The Square, but today's focus is on the hot air balloons they had glowing that night. I took several pictures of the glowing balloons as they are just incredible to see in person. Is there much in the world more magical than seeing an enormous hot air balloon in person? Watching its amber glow in a cold, velvetty night's sky? Oh, it was something to behold! Mason was completely captivated by them. I was, too! As we wizzed past them in our train car I was snapping away at them like I'd just caught Lindsey Lohan in a night club!

Keep posted... more to come on the enchanting Christmas In The Square event!

Everyone Should See This

In case these photos make absolutely no sense to you... it's because it's Santa Sky Diving! Every year our town puts on a big Christmas In The Square production for a couple of weekends in December. We had not made it out in previous years, but this year I found out that they were having Santa sky dive into the festivities and I couldn't resist! It had actually been scheduled for a weekend that I had to work, but it was rescheduled due to weather. Now, I was taking a bit of a risk deciding to take Mason because he was sick. He's been sick all weekend... but he held out like a champ - I'm sure effectively spreading his illness to half the kids in Frisco in the process - and we had a great time! More pictures to come.... I just figured that watching Santa and his elves parachuting in was definitely blog worthy!

The Christmas Shoes

I have 5 whole "followers". Because I am pretty convinced that my 5 "followers" don't really check this often and I'm simply putting my BS out into the universe I have chosen today's topic to be shoes. I mean, I started this as a means to keep up with the family and friends who read Mason & Gavin's Caringbridge site... but this is what I feel like discussing today. I bought these for Joseph's Christmas party at work. I should say that I bought them b/c I WANTED them... I'd longed for them for quite some time... strategizing... working out a way that I could find an excuse to get them. Well I finally did... and I even managed to get them at DSW for a discount! Let me explain to you why shoes are my favorite thing to buy:

1) They always fit.

2) They never remind you that you need to go to the gym.

3) They make other women jealous - but not in a "hold on to your husbands" kind of way.

4) They can completely change the look and feel of an outfit.

5) They can suddenly make your legs look a little longer and your butt a little more lifted - without stepping foot into a gym!

I am certain that there are many other reasons shoes are my favorite purchase, but I'm dealing with limited time today. I'm off to take Mason to school and rush to the gym b/c it's "holiday party" day today. I've got to get my workout in quick-like-a-bunny today so I can change and head over to the school... where I will NOT be sporting shoes this fabulous!