How I met your father...

Okay, so Lavar isn't the most romantic man on earth and he refuses to celebrate Valentines Day because he says it is only a Hallmark holiday.  I agree and I honestly don't really care.  I do, however, like to give him a hard time about not celebrating it.  But actually, last night he came home with pizza and ice cream!  He swore it wasn't for Valentine's Day, but hey, I'll take it!  Anyway, in honor of the day of love, (even though it is a day late) I thought I would share with you how I met my husband.  I think it is a cute quick little story. :)  Our entire love story is a little too long and dramatic for one post, so just how we met will do!

We both attended a small, Christian college called The Master's College in Southren California.  He played basketball and I played volleyball.  Lavar remembers the first time he saw me, what I was wearing, and where I was standing.  I, however, cannot remember Lavar during the first semester for the life of me.  I went to every basketball game, home and away, and still, not a clue.  I do remember being at a friends house and hearing two Bahamians talk and I could not understand what they were saying.  I actually asked someone if it was another language.  Little did I know how much that 'language' would be a part of my life.

Second semester around Feburary or March I was kinda sorta dating another basketball player.  We were sitting in the lounge area of the dorm when one of his friends (Lavar) brought us lunch.  I saw him walk in and the first thought I had was 'oh my gosh, he is so cute!  I wish I was not sitting with this guy right now!!'  We were introduced but that was it.  I didn't talk to him after that for a while.  Meanwhile my relationship, and I use that term loosely, with the other guy ended. 

At this time my volleyball season and his basketball season were finished, I was involved in intermural basketball.  I played in high school and decided it would be fun.  So after one of the games, my best friend Lindsey and I were sitting at the top of the bleachers and my friend Darren came up to us.  I had known Darren since early first semester and he was also a friend of Lavar's.  {little did I know, this was all set up by Lavar}  Right after Darren came over, his big, cute, black, Bahamian friend came over too.  Darren introduced us and all four of us started talking.  I don't remember how it came about, but it is very consistent in our personalities, Lavar and I made a bet.  {side note ~ he won't make bets with me anymore because now I never pay up. The beauty of marriage! haha}  We bet that Lindsey and I could beat Lavar and Darren in volleyball by more points than they could beat us in basketball.  It was on.  The next afternoon we were in the gym.  We did beat them in volleyball (Lavar is horrible) but they did beat us in basketball too, by more points... So our first date, I paid.  We went to a steakhouse, Tony Roma's on CityWalk and Lavar got ribs and chicken and a smoothie drink, while Darren was nice and ordered a simple meal and water. 

After that night we were inseperable, for a while anyway.  We have had ups and downs and have known eachother as friends, dating, not talking, dating other people, you name it.  There has been a lot thrown our way, but we wouldn't change it for the world because it has brought us to where we are now!  So happy Valentine's Day to my husband.  Love you!

Oh and I have to mention, before Lavar left the Bahamas for college he declared to his friends that he would NEVER marry a white girl!  HA!  I guess that teaches you to never say never (love JBeibs) and, well you know, I guess I am awesome like that!

What I am soooo Lovin' about Wednesday!

If you didn't know, the blogging world is huge. I don't very often link up to any other blogs or anything, but today, I felt like I had to because Jaime at This Kind of Love is hosting something called 'What I'm loving Wednesday'  And today, I am LOVING that tomorrow I leave for London!!!!  Without the kids!!! By myself!!  Without the kids!!!  I am excited.

I am so loving that I get to take this trip by myself.  I love my boys and I love my family, but momma puts in work and man, it is time for a vacation. 

I am loving my seriously awesome husband who is facilitating this.  He is keeping the boys throughout the weekend and he even has a basketball game Friday night.  He is awesome.  And hot. :)

I am loving that the friend that I am going to see is a young married with no kids yet.  So if I would have had to bring the boys, it just would have been a little harder.  I am so stoked for the fun we are gonna have!

I am loving that we are going to see a movie!  In English!  I have been to the movies in months and I am excited for candy and popcorn and English.  So much fun!!

I can't wait to be able to post some of my own pictures!  I posted a few above of things we will probably see.  I am a huge history buff and I love countries that still have a monarch, like England.  I find it so interesting.  Sometimes I just sit on Wikipedia for hours reading about people and places and things.  I know, my husband told me, I'm a dork.

Stay tuned for my own London/England pictures!! YAY!

We're a team

I never really write posts about how awesome my husband is, I actually don't write about him a lot at all.  I am just feeling overwhelmed with all of the blessings in my life, my husband, my kids, our situation, I just have to let it out! 

Just to prefeace this post.  We are not perfect, we fight.  We get angry.  Sometimes we go to bed mad, sometimes we leave the house mad.  But at the end of the day, we are still best friends and we both know that the other one always comes first.  I don't at all want to come across like my life is perfect, or even close.  I have a messy house (sorry Ashley!), I am sometimes (probably more often than not) a ditz (just lost my wallet, ugh).  I sometimes say things to my husband that I shouldn't (sorry babe, working on it!), and my kids aren't always great.  Working on that too! 

Anyway, I feel overwhelmed with God's goodness today and thought I would share.  I love my boys. They are strong and healthy and loving and funny.  Such a blessing even when I am hairbrained and not the nicest mother.  I love my husband.  God made him for me.  (I mostly know that because no one really knows how to handle me...)  He is a good strong man.  He gives me freedom, as much as I need within our financial boundries.  He doesn't stiffle me but keeps me in control.  When I have a million ideas of what I want to do in life, like one day be an astronaut and the next a hair stylist (little exaggerated, but kinda not, hehe).  He keeps me grounded.  He is my reality. 

We are a team together.  Sometimes I feel a little bad because I am not the perfect wife.  I don't handle all of the household duties by myself.  My house isn't always clean and I ask him to do the dishes every once in a while.  Then I realize, I am not a martyr.  He is my partner, not my master.  And granted, I know most of the house responsibilities fall on me, for better or worse, but he is happy to help.  He tells me that my sanity (occasionally touch and go) is more important than a perfect house or dishes done.  Today he wasn't feeling well, but I was also exhausted, Eli is cutting teeth again, I got Tae off to school, he has Eli at home.  Then we both took a nap.  He got up with Eli and got Tae from school.  He made Tae lunch as I made Lavar breakfast.  It was such a team effort to get through this morning.  I just love that. 

Anyway, that is about enough.  No one will ever know how awesome my husband is but me, and that is okay.  I guess I just feel like sometimes I have to explain him because he is big and black and scary and some people think that the only thing he can talk about is basketball.  But he is actually really funny.And really smart.  I wish people would give him more of a chance, you might find out how cool he really is! 

Just thought I would share a bit because I am so overwhelmed with my blessings today.  Thank you Lord!

I'm Back!

D'accord, it has been too long!  At the beginning of December Eli, our lovely little Eli, pulled the cord of our computer and it tugged the computer off the counter it was on.  It wasn't that big of a tug, but it certainly messed up the computer.  We lost everything.  No pictures, no videos or anything we had before.  Serious bummer.  Most of our pictures are somewhere online or on my mom's computer, so not so bad, but still a bummer because I am sure we are missing some things.  I haven't really surveyed all the damages yet.  Not sure I want to...  Anyway, now that I am back, I have a lot of pictures to post!  First I will start with some randomness.  And I am not going to do it all in one day, (sorry mom!) but there are too many.

Our little Randy! (get it, Christmas Story)

My boys

He is very smart. Already reading!

Mom!

Look at that face!

Love that smile!

funny boy

me and my boys

handsome little boogers

 

Happy Birthday Husband!

We are starting the birthday weekend!!!  Game tonight.  Please, please win!!!  This would definitely help the mood of the weekend.  Then Lavar is going out with a teammate tonight to Lyon.  Tomorrow is family day all day starting at McDo's then to Centre Dieu for some shopping and Christmas festivities.  Then home to clean and cook.  We are having some guys on the team over, so you all know that means I need to make some food!  Then Sunday we are off to church, home to nap and then family day complete with a movie all cuddled together in Mommy and Daddy's bed. 

I never knew I could love Lavar so much.  I am so blessed to have him as my husband.  Even in his imperfections he is wonderful becuase he is always working to be a better dad, a better husband, and a better man.  What more could you ask for?  I think that sums it up.  So Happy Birthday Husband!  I can't wait to make him feel as special as he is to us. 

Karaoke Night!

So the other night was family night in the Simmons house. Basically mommy had been trapped in the house all day and decided we needed a break. So we went out to get some pizza and drove around town for a bit waiting for it to be done. Then when we got back home, that is where the fun began... Karaoke!! (Tae loves it and yet, Lavar did get into it. You'll see.)

Told you! :)

DJ Daddy

So handsome

Even Eli chimed in!  (not really)

Tae is a natural star!  haha

yep, had to get on the chair. (might have been mommy's suggestion...)

And I take the pictures.  So no pictures of mommy being silly or hitting Mariah Carey high notes.  Lavar sang to Celine Dion and Bob Marley, Tae sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow, a house favorite, and mommy sang Killing Me Softly.  We all sang eachother's songs too.  Overall, it was a fun night!  I love my family!

IT'S GAME DAY, BABY!!

This is the mascot of the last away game we went to.  Tae and I were cracking up because we couldn't really tell what the heck he was?!  A cat?  A bear?  A bear-bird?  He looked like he had a beak... lol

Tonight Lavar has a game at 8:00 our time, 11:00 California time and 2:00 Bahamas time.  I wish somehow you could tune it, but I am going to try to take some video of the game to post it here after. 

They need to keep winning and Lavar needs to have a bang-up game.  Well every game he needs that, but one game at a time.  The boys and I will be cheering him on from the sidelines, yelling at the refs in English!!

ALLEZ VERTS!

❤Happy Anniversary❤

Today makes 3 years I have been married to my wonderful husband.  I love him still, three years later.  I know, I know three years is not all that incredible, but I'm of the thought process of taking one day at a time, and I want to celebrate each year that we make it!  Marriage is hard, and I think that people should get awards for making it work.  Specially us :).  The odds have been against us in the past, two different races, cultures, etc.  But we are making it work and constantly adjusting.  

Little collage I put together of our day

Here are my thoughts today.  Most of the hard times in our marriage have been because of my expectations I have of my husband.  I expect him to pay more attention to me.  I expect him to thank me after dinner and be excited to go out and do things.  The reality is: he is different than me.  Not better or worse, but difference.  When I realized that the only person I can change in our relationship is me and that I indeed did need a little work, it helped us tremendously.  When I take a look at myself and think about how I can treat him better, how I can serve him more, and what I can do to help him achieve his goals, we are both helped.  Then in return, he wants to treat me better, listen to me more, and be better for me.  It is a win-win situation.  So that is my goal today.  If I am being honest, it is not always easy.  Sometimes I want to him to change to make me happier.  But it isn't just about me.  It is about us and making it work.  Luckily, we have a lifetime to practice!  

Here are our beautiful wedding invitations:

Custom Invitations done by The Pomegranate Basket

Tonight we will celebrate with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (we have a gift card) and maybe a movie.  No kiddos involved!!  The last time we were at the Cheesecake Factory was on our honeymoon!  Here's to us!

Lavar Avion Simmons, I love you more today than I did three years ago.  I had no idea the adventures ahead of us, but I can't tell you how thankful I am we took it.  I can't imagine my life without you.  I am so thankful for the man that you are and the man that you are constantly working to become.  You are an excellent husband and father and I am so blessed.  I said when I married you that I would never have to worry and that I would always be taken care of.  I thought I knew it then, but I know it more today than ever.  Everything you do, you are always thinking about me and the boys first.  Some people go their whole lives without experiencing the love that we share.  Thank you baby.  I love you and look forward to many years to come. 

About Me!

My name is Natalia.  I grew up in little Simi Valley, California.  I have two brothers and two amazing parents who are a great example of marriage to me as they have been married for 29 years and still love each other.  I am tall and outspoken but learning to reign it in a little...  I love my God and am thankful for His blessings on me and my family.  I love my husband of three years, although not perfect, he is perfect for me.  And I love my beautiful little boys.  I don't know why the Lord chose to bless me like he has, but I am thankful and give him the glory. 

I met my husband in college 9 years ago.   He is a big black Bahamian basketball player who is oh so cute.  I was dating another guy when I first saw him and I remember thinking "oh man, he is so cute, why am I sitting with this guy right now!"  We started dating a couple months later.  We had a rough road.  Because we were interracial we had a lot of people who didn't agree with our relationship.  It made it really hard on us.  There were two times, junior and senior year during basketball that we were 'forbidden' to talk to each other.  Can you believe it??  I know crazy.  I was never one to get caught up on boys.  I don't remember spending too much time thinking about them or crying about broken relationships, but for some reason Lavar got me.  There was something different about this guy.  I couldn't put my finger on it then, but I know now.  He is perfect for me.  I have a strong personality and tend to run things when I get the chance.  I just take over.  Not really on purpose, I guess it is just a part of me.  Lavar doesn't let that happen.  He is able to take control of situations and be the man and I love it.  I could have never been married to a guy who always gave me everything I wanted no matter what, that would get old!  Lavar gives me what I need, most of the time what I want, and allows me freedom to do what I want.  He will 'put his foot down' if necessary, but trusts my decisions.  If you know me, the phrase 'put his foot down' isn't an easy one to say.  I am borderline feminist (as my husband says) and thought I would never get married because there wouldn't be a guy who could handle me.  Well Lavar handles me.  And it is soooo attractive.  I guess you have to know us personally to really understand how it works, but it does. 

Our first son was born 3 years ago.  He is handsome, funny, full of energy, sensitive, and loving among other things.  Our second son was born almost 3 months ago and he is an angel.  Super cute with his toothless smile and big dimples! 

Why do I blog?

I blog because I have an interesting life.  And I like it.  I think it is different and cool and I would love to share with people. 

What do I blog about:

As I mentioned before, my husband is Bahamian, born and raised.  He has seen things I can't even dream about.  He has had to watch friends die in his arms.  He has bullet wounds and a scar from being stabbed.  I don't know if I have ever seen a real gun.  He is black and I am white.  He is Bahamian and I am American.  As if that isn't enough, we now live between 3 countries: Bahamas, American, and France.  We live a crazy life, and we love it!  I started this blog for a way to keep up with our family and friends all over the world.  Then I realized I have some pretty interesting things to say.  I am different than most mommy bloggers out there.  I think I will write about that stuff.  So I do, I blog about my crazy life.  International flights with toddlers, being a white woman raising black boys, being in an intercultural marriage (as if marriage isn't hard enough!), living in a country where I barely speak the language, and so on. 

What is the biggest reward I get from blogging:

I feel most rewarded when I blog because I live a different, crazy life, but I love it and I am proud of it.  Some people look at me and pitty me a bit, but I love it.  I am proud of my boys, I am proud of my husband, and I love the life we have set up for ourselves. 

How long have I been blogging?
I started blogging in 2007 right before my son was born.

Let's here the story behind my blog title:
I think that the previous paragraphs when describing my life, it is pretty self explanatory where I get my title!  I love our crazy life!!

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned!

Memorial Day

Okay, so he is home!!  He made it, it is almost surreal, having him here.  Tae was so cute asking him all these questions like he was going to be gone in the morning.  "Daddy, do you have to go to work in the morning?"  You know, daddy's work in Tae's head means that he will be getting on another airplane and leaving.  "No Tae, daddy is going to be around for a while."  Oh and of course, he is protective of his daddy, even though daddy doesn't need it at all.  We would be talking and you know, sometimes it can get intense, but mostly we would be laughing about something.  Tae says "Mommy, are you talking nice to my daddy?"  "Yes, Tae, I am talking nice."  And as if Tae doesn't already have a bend toward being on the guy's side, Lavar doesn't do anything to stop him!  He just laughs and says "that's my boy!"  Ugh, guess I'm on my own...
But it has been a great help having him here.  I love it.  Just the littler things, like getting Eli when he isn't ready to eat, but still waking up.  There are those times where I literally cannot get out of bed, like it is physically impossible for me, then he will go help Eli.  The bummer is that I am still nursing so there is only so much he can do.  But he helps a ton and I cannot complain about that.  We LOVE having him home.
I have some pictures from Memorial Day.  We just went to Aunt Veta and Uncle Tim's house for a little BBQ and swimming.  Uncle Tim read a story about a soldier who gave him life to save others and it was very touching thinking about all the men who have risked their life or given it so that we can have our freedom.  Very humbling.

Apparently, Tae got thrown in the pool!  I was upstairs feeding Eli and when I came out his cousin Coby told me about it.  I guess he threw him in thinking he could swim.  Tae did great though, so I heard, he kept above water for about 20 seconds until Uncle Jeremy got him.  Coby went in the house and said to his dad: "Dad, I just did a really stupid thing."  Good thing I wasn't there and didn't see it.  It was a lot funnier hearing about it after, then I was just proud that Tae did so well.  And it didn't make Tae afraid of the water, either!  He was still swimming later.  It did, however, make him afraid of every person who walked in his direction near the pool.  He constantly thought he was going to get thrown in.  Poor guy! 

I am going to add some pictures of Tae's soccer practice too, because Lavar was there.  It is so funny.  Tae is getting better, but we definitely need to practice during the week.  He doesn't understand that you can take the ball from someone else when they are kicking it.  It is understandable when for 3 years he has been told to share, don't' take things from other kids, and be gentle.  Now we are saying 'be aggresive!' and 'take the ball from that little girl!'  I am sure he will get it soon though, he is smart.  But I do think he will be our gentle giant.