Little Moments

Kids are precious, especially when they're your own.  I love them at bathtime with Whoville hair.

I love when their little fingers grasp Daddy's hand.

I love taking little brother on big brother's field trips.

I love that little brother thought to bring his Transformer mask on the field trip.

They make my heart sigh.

Gaby's Big Day

Gaby's birthday cake --

a construction zone with trucks,

dirt and icing - yummmm

For the third year in a row, Gaby chose a cake with dump trucks and dirt. 

Gleefully we sang the birthday song for our guiter-strumming, truck loving, machine infatuated, furniture and wall destroying, forgetful toilet flusher, adorable lisping boy wonder....

And he got trucks, trucks, and more trucks for his birthday -- even  a drill & screw driver tool with which to take apart the truck they came with.  He couldn't be more thrilled!

Christian and his friend Derek found a quiet corner to play his DS game...away from the balloons, babies, screaming kids, and big people...

Gaby baby, you rock!

Phoenix Trip

Last month we took a trip to Phoenix; it's where Mike and I met each other through our friends, Lisa and Troy.  They now have two boys named Ethan and Justin. 

An old mining town in Apache Junction

Phoenix has changed quite a bit since we moved away 11 years ago.  I also got to see my dear friend Mary.  What a fun time, and hopefully we'll get to return soon.

Sweet Simone

Last month we got to see Uncle Sergio and Simone!  We celebrated Simone's 2nd birthday when she was here, and the boys had a lot of fun playing with her.  She kept those boys in line! 

I got my girl fix, and the boys got theirs, too.

Simone has a wonderfully husky voice.  And she repeats all sorts of words like 'taquito'.

Poor Sergio had a rough trip home, though.  Simone had an upset stomach that morning.  About a half hour into their long flight from Phoenix to Raleigh, Simone projectile vomitted onto the passenger next to them as well as on herself and papa.  That passenger was so gracious and so were the flight attendants who helped ease the sour milk smell with vodka and coffee grounds as best as they could.

We miss you Simone (and you, too, Sergio)!

100 and Counting...

Christian received a "gold medal" at school yesterday for counting to 100!  He can also get there the quick way, by counting by 10's and 2's.  He's really enjoying school, and I'm looking forward to volunteering in his classroom on Friday mornings. 

Christian is also learning to read and write.  He is in the phonetic writing stage where he writes sweet notes like:  "ILFUMOM" 

Yesterday was an eventful day, though.  I got a call from a neighbor asking if I'd heard about the 'lockdown' at his school.  Oh, great.  There had been a home invasion in a nearby neighborhood so the school was placed on 'lockdown', which means they turn out the lights and keep kids away from windows.  Christian took it in stride, "It was boring, Mom. We had to stay in a dark classroom and the teachers had to find fun stuff for us to do."  Oh the good old days when we only had to have fire drills...

Hairapy

Just when I thought things were finally going to slow down enough for me to catch my breath at the end of my classes last semester, Christmas flew by, as did my brother Sergio's visit with our niece Simone!  This past month was so much fun, and even though it was busy, I've been able to at least take care of some much needed personal stuff, which will help get this year off to a good start.

Some of my New Year's resolutions and how I will set out to accomplish them:

1.  Lose 40 by the time I'm 40 (wah!)

And that's it.  I have begun Jazzersize this week, and even though I tumbled through some of the steps, it felt great to finally get into a serious exercise routine, seriously, this time. 

Exercise and cleansing the clutter from my mind through therapy.  That all plays into the turning 40 thing, along with other clutter. 

Oh, I guess there is a second resolution:

2.  Get haircuts only from professionals at professional hair salons.  At places that do not charge $10 for squirting water into my hair; chomping gum in my ear; twisting sections of hair in every direction by those who do not LISTEN when I say something like, "I like the length of my hair, I just need it shaped ..." and end up with a year's worth of growth on the floor with a hair style I did not want once again; hearing, "I learned this in beauty school..." which means they just graduated from hair school; charging an extra $2 to DRY and an extra $2 to STYLE and COMB it so I don't look like crazy Dutch Boy with flat, frumpy hair that does not resemble what I had in mind after having spend many months of growing out a bad style by someone else who one told me I needed some sparkle, even though with the extra $4 forked over my hair looks semi-dismal, but at least it's dry.  Today I walked in with sparkle...my hair was styled and pretty so the 'stylist' would get the idea of what I was aiming for, and now I look like Dutch Boy.  Christian said my hair looks "like nothing...awful".  Yup, that's what I get from places with names like *"Clip and Save" (*name changed to closely resemble the guilty).

P.S. Therapy is good for the soul.  And so is blogging.  I need hair therapy, though.

They're Coming Home!

Old friends: Mike with Bryant, Linda, and Jeff

Some of our offspring

Mike, Gaby and Jojo have had a terrific time in TN, and now it's time for them to come home.  I know  Mike has been rejuvenated by spending time with family and some of his old friends.  Gaby and Jojo got to see the children of Mike's old friends at a fun birthday party one Saturday.  I know Gaby had a wonderful time because he hardly spoke to me on the phone these past couple weeks!  He'd ask to speak to Christian, "Mommy, I already talked to you!"  And Jojo is saying some new words like 'pizza'.  I'll post some photos from their trip soon. 

Christian and I had a fun weekend.  On Friday we spent time at the mall playing in the indoor playground and we met with Tanya and two of her children.  Then on Saturday we went back to the mall so Christian could meet with Santa to ask for for a DX game player (Santa is a little low on funds this year, but we'll see what he can swing -- and why is he here before Thanksgiving?!). 

Then we went to Borders to buy a study guide I needed when we noticed there were lots of kids in pj's wandering in the children's section.  Pretty soon Mrs. Claus and her elf stopped by to read 'The Polar Express' (we have the movie and it stays hidden with the Christmas stuff only to be viewed during that time).  During the part in the book when the kids get their hot chocolate, in walked staff from the cafe with hot chocolate for all the kids who were listening to the story!  They had a craft which consisted of making a paper chain, after which the kids paraded around the store with their bells (only those who believe could 'hear' the bells ring) while holding a portion of the chain.  By the time the kids walked back towards the children's section, there were many disconnected chains and a few tears were shed by the little ones. 

Afterwards, Christian and I went to the Rio Grande Botanic Gardens and Aquarium.  We got splashed by the stingray as we watched from above the tank!  We found the secret slide in the ant colony.  And we watched the trains go by in the gardens.  It seems lately I've neglected to bring my camera when great moments like these arrive.

That evening Christian worked on painting his Santa globe with Grampa while Yaya and I went to see an excellent movie: 'An Education'.  We can't wait to see the upcoming Almodovar film with Penelope Cruz called 'Broken Embraces'; the trailer looks good.  What can I say about 'An Education'?  There's truth to every character, as my mom said.  It's a bittersweet love story based in the early 1960's England.  I'd recommend the movie to anyone.

And yesterday we wrapped up our weekend by meeting Yaya and Grampa for lunch after Mass.  We also visited Uncle Frank who is in the late stages of a Parkinson's-related illness.  Christian was very curious about the breathing apparatus that Uncle Frank now uses.  It's a horrific disease that attacked a once very active man.

This week we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with my friend Tanya's family.  We're looking forward to a fun, relaxing visit (she has the honor of cooking the turkey). 

Hope all is well.