Disney World vs. Basement

We have promised Disney World/Universal Studios for this upcoming summer. But like all kids it appears as though money just flows out of Mom and Dad endlessly. Our boys have been asking for a big flat screen TV for the basement, for what seems to be like an eternity. (we are apparently the only ones that don't have one yet. -ha ha). The continuous nagging makes it feel longer then it actually is. Needless to say, their requests for the basement exceed the cash flow in. We told them it was Disney or the Basement. To my surprise, "the basement" won. The basement project/promise was for TV, Surround Sound, Painting, Furniture & New Rug. Unlike Disney, we can do this in stages. Carlos and I ventured out last weekend, while they were at their friend's house. We decided to purchase the first part of the project...TV & Media Center. (the boys broke the old tv stand). They knew nothing of the purchase, and to their surprise. Taaadaaa! Enjoy the video of their reaction. (Even Champ was excited). Once the basement is complete we'll post ending pictures. With wrestling season upon us....looks to finish in the summer.

Carlos' Birthday

We celebrated Carlos' birthday today. And we surprised him with new Cael Sanderson wrestling shoes along with a sign that replicates the sign from his Dad's Judo school. I cleaned up the logo and had it printed and mounted for him. Unfortunately the original sign can't be duplicated completely because no one produces signs the same way they did in the 70's, technology has come such a long way. But we cleaned it up and duplicated the best it could be done. He was surprised. The gym is coming along, getting all the finishing touches.

Apparently the new "Montes" Sign will be designed in the near future. Not sure what that entails or looks like yet, but time will tell. Stay tuned.

Cross Country - 2010

Cross Country has begun. It's a new sport for our family, but one I have to say that I really like. Jacob is officially middle school this year and running for Easton. There is no more township sports he's officially an Easton Athlete. The middle school cross country coach is the high school wrestling coach, so it was an easy recruit. Because of that, Alex has been allowed to practice with the team. That's exciting for him, but on meet days, he's a little bummed.

Our first meet was at Parkland High School against 5 other teams. It was pouring. I was starting to think I attracted the rain to all running events. It rained for my half marathon, marathon relay and now Jacob's first meet. In spite of the rain and a slippery course, he took 3rd overall.

Today the team participated in the Northern Lehigh Invitational. There were 23 schools participating. Under normal circumstances, girls run together and then the boys run together. But because this event included both middle school and highschool for time purposes, all middle school kids ran at the same time. It was a ton of kids, the coach estimated about 200 running for the middle school event. Jacob took 5th overall.

The End of Summer Project

What kid doesn't dream of having the perfect "Tree House". Not the kind that mom and dad purchased from the Amish, transplanted in the suburbs. I'm talking good old fashioned "kid built" tree house. The summer was coming to a fast end, but the neighborhood kids took every minute to complete the tree house. We don't have any trees mature enough in our yard to handle a real tree house, but the boys are fortunate enough to have friends in the neighborhood that do. (I should say their grandparent do). There were a few days that from almost sun-up (or at least when they got out of bed) to sundown they worked on the treehouse. One day I think they forgot to eat lunch and inhaled their dinner, stating that they had a "hard days work". Oh to be a kid again. There were a few days that Jacob asked if he could build houses for a living. I'm thinking that the house is looking more like something I saw on the Bad News Bears or maybe even the shack that the Little Rascals had as their hideout. Needless to say I'm sure it will be a memory that they never forget.

Where Has The Time Gone!

Every year, since Kindergarten I have taken a picture on the steps before the first day of school. I'm not sure how much longer they will allow this, but they are good sports. The bus stop is directly across the street, so we get out there before anyone arrives. As long as no one sees it happening...it's ok. I'm sure the neighbors see, but they don't count.

I thought it would be fun to compare last year's picture to this year. WOW! It's scary how much they change in one year. I thought about digging the kindergarten picture out, but that might become depressing...so we'll just compare last year's.

I'm glad that it's not my picture being compared. I'm not growing any taller, but possibly wider.

Good Day Lads

We had never been to the Renaissance Faire, and this year we ventured back in time. The boys had a great time. Some of the attire was quite interesting. All I have to say is even back in the day, women tried to squeeze into clothing that really wasn't their size. It was still a great time.

I don't know if they were more fascinated with the balloon animals that he was making or the fact that the bottom of his stilts had baby shoes on them.

The window is closing where I'm allowed to take pictures in public, but I guess these costumes were cool enough to be caught on film with.

A Ride on the Hippogriff turned out to be somewhat traumatic for Chloe. The Pirate that was pushing the Hippogriff was gunning for Chloe. Of course the older cousins thought it was funny, there Jacob is laughing and Chloe hiding her head. When we saw him later in the day...he didn't forget Chloe. ; )

5 minutes being there and Alex was summoned to pick up rocks and hand them out to all the people he saw (Orders of the Queen.) Later in the day, he did give some rocks to someone who traded him for some prettier ones.

Carlos thought it would be fun to try on these garment. He was telling me to take a picture and then the lady yelled at me. I think Jacob is in shock...when she turned around, her boobs were barely in her dress.

Dog Days of Summer

Champ is almost 2 and had yet to be in water. The boys beg to have him come into the pool, but that's a definite NO! First who wants to deal with dog hair and a filter in addition the pool has a liner and Champ isn't a small dog. I'm not sure that will make for a good combination. We came up with a happy compromise....A trip to Jacobsurg Park. Being a retriever, he was a natural. The boys hiked with him up the creek about a mile and they found a few spots where Champ couldn't stand. We kept him on leash, since squirrels are his favorite thing to chase. He's becoming a good dog, just not sure how obedient he'd be with that many temptations around. The boys had a great time with him. Next time we'll bring a ball for him to retrieve and we'll give off leash a brief try.

Let The Games Begin

Jacob is turning 13 in 1 week. All he wanted to do for his birthday was play paintball. So much so that he was willing to just go with his brother, because it isn't the cheapest of things to do. We agreed two friends could come along. I have to admit, if I was a 13 year old boy, paintball would be fantastic. As a 40 year old woman, I was happy to sit in the "dead zone" and be the "water/gatorade girl". It was a hot day, but it didn't stop them from playing 7 hours straight. I believe fun was had by all.

All the gear is on. Heading for our 1/4 mile trek to the fields. I walked it a few times that day to get more water out of the car.

Playing in Tippman City, one of the many fields they played on for the day. This one was all buildings. "Not at all like Call of Duty". : )

All geared up and ready to go. They were the nastiest smelling boys by the end of the day.

Dad had to have a picture on the tank. The day is done with another 1/4 mile trek back to the car. The day was an injury free success!

Just Beachy!

Every year we head to the beach. The boys love body surfing, sand boarding and digging holes. I'm sure it will change shortly to surfing the beach for "girls". YIKES! I think that's why Jacob kept his sunglasses on the majority of the time, besides the fact that they are "cool".

The fishing club offers free fishing off the pier for kids 7-14. Jacob and Alex went to the pier this year, to check it out. They lasted about an hour and then they were back to the hotel. Not as much fun as they thought. Next year I'm sure they'll opt for sleeping in. We also rented one of those 6 person bicycles that looks more like a dune buggy. Jacob & Alex decided to drive, it was a preview of what teaching them to drive is going to be like. NOT FUN!

Ready. Aim. Fire.

I realized recently how many pictures and activities have happened throughout the summer, that I have yet to update everyone on. Jacob has recently become interested in GUNS, Alex on the other hand has been interested since he came into the world. Uncle Mark has been itching to take his nephews shooting and we finally said YES. The boys had a great time and can't stop talking about their time on the shooting range. Just a few pictures from the day. I was working, but Carlos remembered the camera. YEAH!

Getting the safety speech before beginning.

We had to try every gun, Uncle Mark brought.

Warning!

All are welcome to come swimming and/or jump on the trampoline! But if you misbehave in the pool, look out....Coach Montes will make you go to the hill and give him 20.

Just ask Jacob, Alex, Blake & Stephen.

Gone Fishin'

Well....we are making an attempt to try different things over the course of this summer. I guess you would say, we will be doing the "Staycation" thing. I would like to say its to save money, but our first venture ended up on the pricey side. Alex has wanted to fish I'd say for the past 3 years (Since Titi Chrissy & Uncle Mark bought him his first fishing pole). Ongoing projects and the kitchen remodel seemed to put it on the back burner. Needless to say, we made it to Big Brown Lake up toward the Poconos, with the new fishing pole and some old faithfuls from Pappy Smith in hand. After trying to figure out the best place to venture for our first fishing expedition, we thought this to be the best option. It's actually a fish hatchery, so you are bound to catch something. They had a great time, and fishing has now become something they would like to do more of. Bushkill Creek here we come. (It's FREE)

This was one of those days where you realize, no matter how long you know someone...you never know everything about them. I know nothing when it comes to fishing, except I'm great at putting worms on the hook. But Carlos on the other hand seemed to know everything there was to know about fishing. (Are you sure you weren't a Boy Scout Carlos?) What's Up With That!!! I did feel bad for him, 4 boys all new to fishing, made for a crazy start. We were all ready to leave, but waited for Carlos to get a bite. : )

It was a fun day and the weather turned out to be beautiful.

Happy Fishing! - e

Where To Start

It was recently brought to my attention (thanks Aunt Janice) that my last post was back in November. WOW! It's amazing how time flies. I turned 40 in November, it must be the reason for my lack of focus anymore. Just kidding, I'm only 39. ; )

Besides the holidays, work was beyond crazy and now has returned to a normal busy. I won't complain because it's a paycheck and I know there are many people without work right now. But I will use it as my excuse on not being able to keep up. Something had to give. I must say the blog and my laundry are the things that have been placed on the back burner. The boys are wearing clean underwear. I get it washed, just never folded and moved to the appropriate rooms. I believe I was meant to be rich. I dislike cleaning, cooking, laundry and anything else domestic that I may have missed. I'm really not sure how anyone can find enjoyment out of these things.

Onto what you've missed.



Somehow I've missed the entire wrestling season! Again. WOW. Jacob and Alex had a fantastic season, with Alex taking 6th at the end of the year tournament and Jacob taking 1st.





The boys went snowboarding this winter for the first time.

We had lots of snow.



I ran my first half marathon.

The dog is still alive and with us, he's actually growing on us and he's become a good running partner. Although he's only good as a 4 mile runner.




We received a surprise package from Mexico. (Thanks Papster)

The boys have decided not to play a spring sport and are wrestling off season, so there aren't a whole lot of things to up-date on in the sports world. There are 3 days left of school, so I will do my best to stay on top of the summer fun. Stay tuned. Somehow I think I've missed a ton of things, but will try and keep you up-to-date on all the crazy things the Montes' boys do weekly.

They are always bored, so any fun project ideas you can think of to send our way, we'd appreciate it.