sarathesub

2012

2012-01-01T21:41:00.000-08:00

Let me begin by saying in 2011 my laptop was drenched in water - by a spillage caused by effie's cup - and this led to the erasure of all my pictures taken from june to september including the way too intimate photos of ramone's birth by becky, the death of the delete key, and also the inability to type an exclamation point. So there.

And 2011 is over. It ended with the most lovely day after a major hustle and bustle of Christmas engagements, family visits, outings, and crazy craziness. And on that last lovely day of 2011 we slept in, ate our usual pancakes - ran errands thanks to meken, then finally had a chance to play with the girls, make a ton of music together, read, draw, mess up the house, cook and cook, cook some more, take a walk, laugh with Monchis, and we all watched a movie together. We did more than that but that was the gist of it. The little ladies who played soooo well with each other alllll day went to sleep early. Celia asked if we were gonna go to a New Year's Day party - and I said "no", then she responded "yes we are", and I said "oh yeah?" and she said "yeah - we're having a party at home with our family". And she was right - as today - New years day - we spent another glorious little day - just us, making a mess, listening to music, playing music, performing music, walking, cooking, cooking, and more cooking, and more talking to Ramone - and so on and so on. It was awesome.

And 2011 was pretty awesome too. Mostly because.... it meant the end of my pregnancy and the beginning of my new crazy life with ramone. Since he was born, I've been tired, overworked, overwhelmed, exhausted, but happy, content, and overall in love in a brand new way. All the insanity and inefficiency of the household is well worth it. "Monie" (as the girls call him) has made us feel like those brand new parents that never sleep, and never rest. He's made it even more difficult to walk out of the house in a timely fashion - if not almost impossible to get anywhere. He's forced me to stop almost everything I was doing a year ago just so I can hang out with him, feed him, love him, squeeze him to pieces, and enjoy being a new mom again. He's so fun. He's the greatest gift to everyone in the house and has brought us alllll so much love. As if we didn't have enough already, he's blessed us with just that much more.

I'm gonna stop here - and get back to the dishes, laundry, picking up, cleaning up, organizing, and thinking that I can try my best to do while he sleeps. So wish me luck. Thank you for all your love and friendship and kindness to my kids. I'm so excited to start this new year with the 5 of us - and thankful for all the blessings in my life. I'm a very lucky lady. Buenas noches.

New Mom

2011-10-16T22:34:00.000-07:00

Hey friends. Yes it's been too long since my last post, but since I did give birth to the crazy kicker that lived in my womb for over 9 months I thought I'd write. I should probably be sleeping since I didn't sleep much at all last night. Maybe some 30 minute stretches here and there, but not much. Alex and I always laughed when people would say "You have a baby? oh well, good luck sleeping". Well, they said that a ton with Celia and Effie and we laughed because we always slept well. The girls didn't have extremely large burps to belch out after each feeding. Ramone does. The girls never spit up a bunch of milk after their feedings. Ramone does. The girls lovingly pooped during the day and left that business alone during the night most of the time. Ramone doesn't. The girls slept for many consecutive hours at night. Ramone does not. The girls smelled like pretty little girls. Ramone does not. Ramone is different. He has many traits that are good though that the girls didn't. Ramone likes the car, water in his face, and does not cry when you change his onesie and the onesie gets stuck over his big head. I mean, the girls would scream at those things, and Ramone could care less. But the whole sleep thing is throwing me off. The husband told a friend the other day that since Ramone has been born it's seemed like one very long day. I agree. The day he was born, almost a month ago has yet to finish.

There's really too much to tell. The birth itself was crazy. Mostly cuz the girls got to witness the exit of womb. The best part was the last push of that little sucker, cuz I pushed on my stomach the best I could with that last push and felt his little feet glide away. I knew it was the last time I'd feel those feet in the womb, and I was so ready for them to be out. In fact, of all the things I feel like saying or writing, is that I'm so honestly grateful and happy to not be pregnant anymore. Pregnancy is not easy. It was easier in my twenties, and this time around I continued to work, walk, clean, cook, take care of the girls, drive, etc... but not very well. In fact, today we were at griffith park. They've got a newly paved bike path that used to be a bike path of dirt, so we took the ladies to go ride bikes. And it was warm, and Ramone was snuggled up in his sling, and I walked and walked - , and despite the little man being heavy, despite the fact that I'm still dealing with the not fun at all fatigue and whatever not fun postpartum things you have to deal with, and despite the fact that I didn't sleep much nor have I slept much at all since I had this kid, I felt so good! I mean, I can now move without the extra 30 pounds of excess water, baby, uterus, and more. All the discomfort of having had a child to me now seems like nothing in comparison to the pregnancy. And although I didn't do too much complaining while pregnant (or did I?), now that I can lay on my stomach on the kid's bed to tuck the covers in on the wall side of the bunk bed means a lot to me. It really really does.

So thanks to Jesus, Ramone is here. Outside the womb. Happy. Healthy. So nothing else matters at all.

Over already

2011-08-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the last Friday of the summer. I guess I could go on about how fast it goes but I'll just say it quickly. It went by fast. Again. As always. I haven't necessarily tried to make the most of each day with my kids, but it's not so bad cuz we swam almost every single day. The girls rode bikes out at least 3-4 times a week. They had music lessons almost daily. I almost finished my album. I sold everything I wanted to sell on criagslist. I got a new car. Went to the beach 3 times. My kids got to Disneyland. We entertained summer visitors. Had dinner with lots of friends. Found a new chiropractor that kept me able to walk. Managed to make my kid's bedtime later and later every night. Got the girls to sleep on their own, stay asleep on their own, and fall asleep on their own. I cooked about a zillion meals. Got a new accordion. And I got to enjoy my kids and be a little lazier than my usual busy self. There were TONS of things I did not do that I wanted to do, but I have a feeling when my 35 pound uterus shrinks back to size it may be easier for me to do. Camping ended up outta the question due to the mobility factor. Working did not happen due to the large belly factor. Lots of things were a bit hampered due to the pregnancy, but whatever. It's almost over then I'll figure out how I'll be able to get things done with a newborn around. Really... it was a wonderful summer. Maybe the best I've ever had despite the large uterus, forceful baby kicks, and almost dislocated pelvis. Thank God though, we are all ok. Our family is safe and healthy right now, and to me that's all that matters. The next big thing will be to post what my big big kicker is gonna look like outside of the womb, and I can't wait to meet him/her because we've had a nice long summer together and it's about time we get to know each other even better.

Summer Belly

2011-07-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

Summer is just so fun. But I guess it's more fun when you don't have a job you have to go to everyday and can enjoy the 2 cutest girls on the planet. The sad part is two weeks of this precious time of the year are already gone :( But each day has been wonderful. We've been able to keep up with daily music lessons. The daily walks subsided due to pregnancy related pelvis shifting - but we stay busy. Today was the first day (for me) of swimming which was SO fun, and I can tell it will be a daily event for the girls now that it's warm enough and the cast was removed from Effie's arm. We also have been cooking every meal at home. We've gone out once so far - for lunch - and out once for donuts but other than that we've been able to manage around here. This is just a "checking in" post to say how happy I am with summer vacation - and that I hope you are all enjoying yourselves as well. I'll post some pics soon, but for tonight I just wanted to remind myself and the outside world of readers how fun it is to be on vacation, even if you can't go to the south of france. (but wouldn't that be nice?)

Bragger

2011-06-20T22:53:00.000-07:00

I do think I have to brag a little. For one thing, I'm relatively healthy, alive, happy, and I have the summer off (kind of). Technically we've had 4 days of summer since the grand finale of 1st grade ended, and every day has been quite.... well, nice is too nice of a word, but I guess I can say quite "awesome".

However, being pregnant has been trying to take away a bit of that "awesome". Carrying around a 25 pound belly that you didn't have 6 months ago can at times be a pain ... not really in the butt, but a pain on the back and the legs for sure. I'm getting used to it, but I keep thinking how with Celia and Effie I was pretty much able to do whatever, walk at least 3 miles a day, and go to work up until the day I went into labor. But... with this kid it's a little different. Summer (as I brag) has given us the chance to get back to walking every day, which is radical, but I'm really a slow poke. Good thing my kids don't run much, nor does their dad, so I don't have to scoot quickly. And back to the pregnant thingy, well, most people I've talked to seem to remind me that during my other pregnancies, I did not have: 2 kids, multiple teaching jobs, a thousand things on my plate, musical endeavors, or to have to take kids to school. And that's why I'm so so so so so so so glad it's summer. Cuz now, I pretty much just have the 25 pound belly, and have 2 kids. Oh, but I forgot, I still have laundry, a CD to finish recording, cooking, dishes, and places to go... but if I can get back to bragging, at least I get to take naps! Yeah... thanks to Jesus, Alex is outta school, and on summer vacation from work, which means, each afternoon, when that afternoon lull settles in, which I know hits a lot of people, not just the pregnant ones, I get that look on my face, and that fatigue seems to overpower my demeanor, and Alex says "go lay down", and I all of a sudden get this mighty wind of energy to run up as fast as I can and throw off my shoes and dive into a pillow. And to brag some more, well, my naps used to be about the length of an "Animaniacs" episode, 18 minutes or so, but now, since the husband shuts the doors and takes the kids outside, are at least an hour of super duper rest absolutely necessary for a pregnant woman to function like a non-PMSing woman or for any human being to be mentally stable enough to be kind. So, I appreciate it, and it allows the household to carry on in a plesant, well fed, and happy way.

Summer, as I continue to brag, has also brought about some new routines that have proven to be more reason for people to wish I was their mother. First, we have begun daily music lessons around here. It used to be that Celia would practice once a week or so apart from her regular lessons, but now she - and Effie get a good amount of music time each day in which they are learning the repertoire for the 9am English mass at Cristo Rey. At the rate we're going, they may be able to play all the mass sets in about a year (well), but so far they've learned about 3 songs. Celia on violin, and Effie is playing a small casio keyboard with her little left hand along with us. They are so so so amazing.

The second new routine is getting back to walking, which I will not elaborate on in detail because despite rather interesting conversations that takes place between Alex and the girls, and the extremely strange imaginary games they play with each other, like Effie pretending she left her physical body 3 blocks away and that the person actually following us is an alien twin sister of the real Effie, walking is never that exciting. I'm just happy when we're done, cuz I'm telling you. This little kicking 25 pound uterus/baby/womb/excess belly is not the most fun walking companion.

Routine number 3 is hanging out with the girls and Alex in the backyard after dark. We've been setting up lawn chairs, and for a few nights in a row, the girls make videos only lit with flashlights or flashing minnie mouse ears that light up. They just scream and chase each other around in the dark, then we sit down and take turns making up more strange stories. One of Effie's yesterday was about how this girl had a spoon that was large enough to reach the planet Mars, and that the girls who climbed it actually (and yes she says the word "actually" about twice per sentence) had to make a big helmet out of a cooking pot, which needed to be fixed in order to have a space for her eyeballs to be able to see, then decided a rocket ship, and a teeny tiny one (mind you) needed to be attached to a roller coaster that went up the giant spoon to Mars. And so those types of stories continue till I get too cold and tired and make everyone go inside. Tonight was even better though, cuz Alex set up our camping air mattress and brought out pillows and blankets so the girls could watch the few stars you can actually see in Glendale cozily. It was definitely a hit, but by the time the girls did go to bed, Effie was in tears cuz she said "that thing we were on in the backyard when we were laying down" was a lot more fun to sleep on than her bed. Wow. It really is fun to brag, and you're all lucky I don't own a personal journal, nor do I have patience to handwrite entries anymore, cuz now my personal life is just available for everyone to read.

And... I'll stop there but just say, that I am so lucky. Super lucky. Super happy. And if I'd be grateful for however many more days my life allows me to live, cuz life for me sure is good. Happy summer everyone! Make the most of it :)

Victoria

2011-05-01T21:17:00.000-07:00

I'm waiting patiently and quietly unless someone calls me. If you know me, and you know me well, you know that over 6 years ago when Celia was born, she never slept in a crib. Maybe once or for some naps, but that thing took up too much space, plus, I was much more comfortable with the kid in the bed and happy I never had to wake up in the middle of the night to warm up or fix a bottle, which she never took anyway. When the sibling came, they both had a spot in between Alex and I always cuddled warm and cozy, and that carried on until recently. About a month or more has passed since the big girls decided to use their own bunk bed. The sleep together on the bottom bunk and every once in awhile someone pays a visit to our bed in the middle of the night. But until today I was still laying down with them to read books and wait for them to doze off before crawling out myself in a state of half sleep and fatigue that was ever so consuming. But we have been trying to have chats here and there about independence, and more than anything I'm getting too big and uncomfortable to be squeezed between them on a full sized mattress and climbing over them to escape for the night. So... tonight has been that first night that I tucked em in, gave them the official countdown after their prayers (count down from 10 to zero the hero hero hero as Cathie and Dad will understand) and left. Celia walked out with an owey complaint then went back, and after about 40 minutes they were still awake, tossing around, and talking to each other. I'm actually curios so I'll go check on them. Hold on..... well, whatdaya know. Success! I even took a picture to prove it. Certain things, that to other parents came a lot earlier, to us have taken some time. In one way it doesn't seem like a big deal, but for me, it means a new sense of freedom, and really a milestone. I remember weaning the two, and thinking it'd be a huge difficult deal, and it wasn't. Having them sleep in their bed came quite naturally, even though it took awhile. They still haven't mastered the art a riding a 2 wheeler, and Celia still gets a little extra help getting ready for school, but hopefully with some hard work, they will soon be cooking breakfast and doing the laundry.

Some people say that as soon as a kid is able to do something independently, they should do it. Well, so much for that one. I'm quite aware that my kids are capable of much more than they do. In fact, I myself was probably capable of doing A HECK OF A LOT independently that I DID NOT do when I should have, but I think my parents have always been too nice. I definitely wanna be too nice too, but I think I'll try to step it up a bit when they're older. Surely I don't want to be a militant mom, but I just don't think I'll be able to do it all on my own. A new Q will be here soon. I'm gonna be on overload, so I better start getting them to do everything they can on their own right? Well, I guess I'll at least try. As for now, tonight's victory seems like a great start :)

2011-03-30T22:49:00.001-07:00

Hi. It's now March, and considering today was such a warm - well, actually hot day, all I could think about was summer. I love summer. I love not having to make lunch at 6:30am, or having to wake up a child that likes to sleep until 8:30am, and not having to drive around so much unless I want to. It's so fun. But then, I'm a lucky lady - cuz I get to be with my kids, work a little here and there, and I get to be with them so much. Other people get to too, but I am there ... most of the time... and it's all that matters to me.

I've been on vacation mode - with no Music Classes - really but in 2 weeks I'll be teaching over 10 music classes a week so I'll have to adjust. Now that I have a bigger belly that's getting in the way, and that the heat may be here to stay I can tell I'm in for it, so wish me luck.

The little ladies have done a lot of fun stuff lately. I left them with their father while I worked a few hours last week, and I asked him to do the dishes. I came home- and no dishes were washed, but the girls had made paper mache masks, and other objects, and a 10 foot collage with very odd pictures. That is something I don't do on a regular basis, so I forgave the lack of housework, because the ladies are so lucky to have a dad that won't let them be idle, who wants to create with them and let them be creative, and even though my mom may not believe it, when they are with me - they are usually playing while I clean... ok - so sometimes I don't get to clean everything - but I do get to make a mess and cook a lot.

And today the little girls got their hair chopped. Being pregnant, I'm a bit more on the lazy side. I just wanted to sit around, eat, and gossip with my friend who was over, but Effie asked for a hair cut, and Celia insisted the hair hanging on her neck was giving her a heat rash - so my friend encouraged me and got my scissors and helped me out. We just chopped away, and bam - the girls went from long haired ladies to bobbed beauties. They look adorable, and being someone who shaved her head - you would understand that I do not have much attachment to hair. It comes, it goes, and sometimes it even goes for good, so whatever, who cares.

My first born is now much closer to being a 2nd grader. My baby is almost gonna be a kindergardener. The other little kicker in the womb will be out before I know it. Time is passing a bit too quick don't cha think? I always tend to visualize the calendar in my mind - with September being the New Year - and we are just that much closer to the new year. All I can foresee is a couple of months of incredible quick movement, with teaching, mommying, the husband schooling, cooking, selling a car, having a yard sale, having numerous play dates, parties, gigs at libraries, face painting at parties, playing at church, making lunch, doing dishes, taking kids to school, picking kids up from school, going to work, working at work, working at schools, schooling at schools, dropping kids off, trying to nap, trying to plan, planning to try, and so on and so on and so on. And it exhausts me to think about it, so I'll stop. Cuz really - right now, even though tomorrow I have to do many of those things - make a lunch, make sure 2 kids are brushed, fed, pottied, and clothed, make it to music class on time, get another to school, pick another up early, go on a lunch date, take them to the dentist, get them to their Thursday Mama Lety day, clean up, get to Yoga class, then do all the night time routines and trying to cook at least 2 meals between, before, or throughout all of the above, at least right now I'm ok and rested and mentally ready.

Ciento Viente

2011-03-18T00:45:00.000-07:00

Hi party animals.

Glad to be back in the world of the writing. It's 12:46 and about 29 minutes ago, I was talking to my almost sleeping husband about my disdain for the dishes that were hanging out in the kitchen. I felt a little awkward about letting them sit there over night, since some of them still contained much food. The pile was big and frightening, and I wanted to ignore it. The husband said he'd get to them tomorrow and to relax and go to bed, but since I had a small burst of energy, I felt that if I were to tackle those bad boys tonight, then he can focus on putting them all away tomorrow, and I would not likely have nightmares about them. So I walked to the kitchen, and tried to turn on the little silver radio my sister let me borrow, but I think it's seeing its last days. It would not turn on. I'll check the batteries tomorrow and if that doesn't work, I'll have the husband perform radio surgery. Anyhow, I was not able to be accompanied by the midnight rants of the Coast to Coast programming, which definitely lends itself to being a decent "doing the dishes comrade", so I went solo. I thought of my beat up hands that shower in scalding water for 20-40 minutes at a time each day and wondered if there my come a day that I become that lady who wears yellow plastic gloves while washing. Hmmm.. I doubt that will happen. After a few minutes of my domestic duty, I felt the satisfaction of taking on the task because I knew that tomorrow, or shall I say later, when I wake up, I still have to get ready, shower, make multiple lunches, pack, get kids dressed, make sure they eat, brush, and comb some braids, not to mention other things. So, at least now in the morning, I can do those zillions of things and not have to scoff at the stupid freakin' lame poopy dishes.

And here I am. Happy to be alive amidst all the worldly chaos. Happy that my most frequent complaint about my life actually happens to be the dishes. Happy that even though my kids keep coughing they are here with me and alive. Happy that I can make others happy. Happy you are reading. And happy that I'm about to make the decision to stop writing so I can get to bed before 1:04am.

Glasses?

2011-02-21T23:07:00.000-08:00

Can't find my glasses, but I'll write anyway. It's a new year - haven't written much - not even when I've wanted too. I'm kickin myself in the butt for not writing down the many "effie-isms" that have been said lately. I mean, she's way too funny for her own good.

I'll just briefly explain - in list form some new things:

1. My bed is covered in many new pillows. They are very cozy.
2. The bed is also covered with 8 stuffed animals, a ton of change from someone emptying out a piggy bank, and clothes.
3. I'm writing in bed - on my laptop. Probably the first sara the sub blog to ever be written under covers.
4. I've been extremely lazy about doing anything. (probably cuz I'm pregnant)
5. My dishes are done - although the rest of the house looks like a tornado went through it. And to tell you the truth, at this moment, a blog entry and sleep are more important than a mess that I"ll just have to clean and re-clean for the rest of my life.
6. I'm getting bigger by the second. I can feel it.
7. I'm hungry for a full meal about every 2 hours.
8. Still doin the sub thing.
9. Still doin the music thing.
10. I'm so extra dumb busy that it's annoying but my life is so good, I'm gonna say I'd rather it not be any different.

So finally - I got a camera. That to me - besides being pregnant - has been the most exciting thing to happen to me in the last couple of weeks. I forgot the life I used to live behind a viewfinder - and it was always a life with a bit more curiosity, wit, and braver. I have gotten that feeling back. The one you get when you see a picture you want to take, but maybe you're too embarrassed to take it, cuz you don't want anyone to think you're crazy, then you think to yourself "hey, the worst thing that can happen is that they will tell you don't", and so you go on, and just point the camera and do not make eye contact and play dumb. But this doesn't happen often because my subjects are not commonly strangers - but my kids. And the girls never hesitate to pose or smile. And that's awesome.

We've been doing the same old things. Cooking. Driving. Eating. Sleeping. Cleaning. Cooking. Taking to school. Practicing. Homeworking. Not walking. Music classing. And all those things over and over again.

My girls are huge. So big. And so beautiful. They are the most beautiful beautiful little creatures on earth - and they are so excited that a little baby inside my tummy will soon meet them. They can't wait to teach the kid to talk, dance, and have fun. And the baby has been a good incentive for them to be good. As soon as they start to bicker I say. "is that what you wanna show the baby? The baby can hear you - so you better make a good example so the baby won't learn to argue". And they kind of listen, walk up to my belly, rub it, and say "hi baby", and go back to playing.

Celia's waiting for her 2nd tooth to come out. And Effie likes a lot of hair gel to keep her bangs outta her face. They are both so amazing that each time I take a good look at them, I know exactly why I was put on this earth, and I know exactly why I always felt I was destined to do something amazing in this world - and it's because of them. Making those two little girls was EXACTLY what I was born to do. And I'm sure I'll feel the same about "baby #3". He or she is going to be just as wonderful and amazing, and let's all send up the good vibes, prayers, and love that "baby #3" stays safe and gets out of that womb ok, and hopefully not bigger than Effie's whopping 9.8 lbs. Geeeeezzz.

I'll be seeing you readers around as I continue to grow and grow. Bug me and I'll write another blog before another month passes ok.

Yes. New Year. Blog.

2011-01-02T23:20:00.000-08:00

Hi people. I was fast asleep in the land of "put my kids to bed and fall asleep with them and scrap your plans of getting anything done while they're asleep", then the phone rang (thankfully) and here I am. So instead of being asleep I can dutifully write the blog I've been meaning to blog for a blong time. Hmm.

And yes - 2010 passed rather quickly I must say without much going on in the world of Sara the Sub, but with some inspiration from my pops and his new blog - I feel like I should go back to the same fervor I once had about writing about my kids and my life. I really should continue- more than anything because this particular blog has been the blog detailing what I've done the past few years considering I no longer keep a journal or diary. So I guess that means I just have to continue to publicly publish the events that occur in the world of... hmmm.. I mean... the life of... as someone else says "me".

I'm good at making lists - but to write a list of the best things of 2010 would require some brain cells containing memory of 2010 and right now it all seems like a big blur. I believe Effie was in school, Celia finished one grade and went to the other, some offspring learned Spanish, I taught, started music jobs, ended music jobs, tried to get a job, didn't get a job, got some other jobs, played at new places, entertained new faces, tied my shoe laces, etc, etc, etc.

No - for reals. I guess a lot did happen. The CD turned out to be a great success. In fact I just got word that a group of elementary school children in Argentina are listening to my CD almost daily - and according to my CDBABY sales, 3 random people from across the United States are listening as well. Ha. I never meant for the CD to go much of anywhere, but I'm proud to say that multiple parents of children who enjoy the CD have told me they are very very tired of listening to it. That must mean - the kids are not.

Nothing particularly changed this year. Besides a zillion friends popping out children - most things stayed the same. Thankfully it was not a year or crisis for the most part. My mom made it through surgery like the tough lady she is. My dad still likes donuts. My sister found a boyfriend and strange enough I kind of do not remember life "before" him much. One day soon after they started dating I saw him chillaxing on my mom's sofa, feet up and all, and I thought to myself, "has this guy always been here and I just didn't notice or what?" The dog he brought into the family has been a nice Horlick addition as well. My kids are now little "masterminders" now that Dave is around which is cool. I became a great-aunt - and my nephew is getting hitched soon. Luckily - all the events that 2010 brought were accompanied with a bit of success and very little failure. In fact - maybe no failure at all.

I'm super happy that 2010 brought a camping trip and at the tail end a small road trip to the desert. Getting away does a lot of good. My kids turned out to be very good at being entertained my books on CD, a Nintendo DS, Strawberry Shortcake coloring books, drawing pictures of "jraguns" (that's how Celia spells dragons), and looking out the window for hours at a time. Which means that since road trip number 1 went well, we will be much more likely to plan road trip number 2 sooner than later.

The holidays turned out to be crazy, and hectic, and all that jazz, and maybe the best part of the new year is being rid of that madness- but we survived and Santa was pretty good to my kids for the most part. Effie was happy she didn't get any of the mud that had been threatened to show up throughout the year.

And along with the music stuff, work stuff, school stuff, cooking, dishes, dishes, dishes, cooking, visiting, walking, sleeping, driving, cleaning, and other regular activities, we made time to change things up a bit, with new friends, play dates with wine (not for the kids), going back to school (Alex), piano lessons, piggy banks, organizing, a yard sale, and no more disneyland passes (to name a few).

But I'll stop here - just so I can post pictures - and hopefully find some inspiration that will bring the blog back a bit more regularly. Thank you for reading last year. Hope you keep with me this year. Thank you for being so awesome. If this year can be even "almost" as good as last year - I'll be ok with that.

Go Go Go!

2010-11-14T00:39:00.000-08:00

I am in a bit of a hurry cuz it's already 12:39am. I put the girls to bed around 7:45pm, and then I had set my alarm to get me up at 8:35pm. I woke up VERY hesitantly and dragged myself over to where Alex was and told him there was no way I could stay awake, and that in the morning I'd do all the things that I wanted to do. He said ok, then I went to check my email, and I got a second wind! GREAT. Good thing I did because since I re-woke up at 8:35pm, I have:

1) washed dishes twice
2) eaten tres leches cake once
3) had a cup of coffee
4) went grocery shopping
5) made a veggie platter for a party
6) made salsa for the week
7) made beans for tomorrow
8) folded laundry
9) listened to a podcast of "this american life"
10) cut up a pineapple and a watermelon for tomorrow
11) checked facebook
12) questioned my new haircut
13) almost finished writing a blog

Wow. I bet I even forgot to write something... or not. Anyhow... so all is good in my hood. It's been awhile since I've written and each day my kids get funnier and funnier. Today we went back to Vincent Lugo Park - (super duper tool as Effie would say - yes tool instead of cool) - and we did the usual jump on dinosaurs and sit in the rocket ship. When we were playing - Celia wanted to play "President and Vice President". So she was President and Effie was VP, but Effie kept insisting she was the "Wife's President", cuz that's how she understood her role. What a cookie head.

That kid is so funny, that I'm so bummed that I don't video tape her every move and word. She's amazing. Celia is equally amazing, just not as funny. She, on the other hand has gotten into being a first grader, but is such a little perfectionist that it's getting tricky around here. I won't get into detail, but let's just say homework can take a long time and we use up lots of erasers.

This is the first week in months and months and months that every remote in our house - the Wii remote, the DVD player remote, and the TV remote all have batteries. This may not be a big deal to you, but it's a big change for me. Before that, and for months we had only 2 very weak batteries that barely even allowed the Wii to function, and we had to swap them out of each remote anytime we had to use a different device. It was annoying and lame, and glory be to the heavens, we have batteries again. Not that I ever get a chance to see much anyway, but it is something I felt very important to share to whoever in the world decided to read this.

And since now it is 12:49am, I'm gonna go now. I'll try to keep up with you all, and good luck with all the holiday madness that starts to ensue starting next week. I'm gonna try to keep it on the DL.

Hace Mucho

2010-10-11T22:23:00.001-07:00

Hace mucho, means "it's been awhile".

Each and every day that I'm with my little Effie, (or should I say "big" Effie), and Celia, and Alex, I think about how much I could share with you. There have been so many wonderful moments in the past month that have made me feel like the luckiest person alive.

It's been quite an adjustment going back to work. It's also been quite hectic, crazy, emotional and eye opening.
Alex is back in school which has been an adjustment in its own. But between working at the high school almost daily, continuing with music classes, taking kids to school, teaching at daycares, cooking, cleaning, putting gas in the cars, doing never ending loads of laundry, waking kids up, putting kids to bed, reading stories, grading papers, writing curriculum, trying to get a foot in the door, and the most difficult task of them all: packing lunches - it's been ... well, I can't say easy, or hard, but I'd say.... a little bit crazy.

Earlier this school year, we lost a friend and a co-worker. Dallas Russell was the first math teacher I ever had that helped me actually "get" algebra. He used to chant "This is where the fun starts", and when he would, Vicky, Mary, Brian, and I would chant along, wiggle in our seats, and get to work. I remember vividly, drinking Snapples in his class and asking questions, while my buddies didn't fare as well. That was in 1996. Since I continued to work at the high school where I graduated from, Mr. Russell and I became friends. I remember on a few occasions sitting across from him while eating lunch at a little Vietnamese restaurant thinking: "I'm sitting across from Mr. Russell", practically in awe. His presence was always about 300 percent above everyone else. His huge stature, his stutter, his overbearing bear hugs, his high fives, and his encouragement was beyond unique.

Mr. Russell was a real buddy to my buddy, and x-boss, x-History teacher Mr. Blackford. Together, they both made it to Celia's baptism, and it wasn't until I had kids that Mr. Russell really connected with me. He told me more than any other person how SPECIAL these moments were. The moments when the children are young. When they love you more than you can ever imagine. When they depend on your every move. He constantly told me to cherish them. Whenever he'd see Alex he'd practically pick him up. And Alex is a big guy, so to see this huge teacher hug and lift my husband was always funny. But it wasn't just a hug. He connected with us in a different way as parents, and I'm glad he did. I started this blog to write about my girls. I'm glad I can look back and remember those silly, sad, happy, and always beautiful moments of my children as babies. I'm grateful that Mr. Russell told me to cherish those moments, because I still do, and always will.

He had a demeanor that other teachers envied. I heard many times, teachers saying they wished they could have just an ounce of his personality that made the students love him. Many just wanted a little of that to rub off on them to feel what he had. We could never walk down the hall together without one student after another acknowledging him. He really was extraordinary.
One day, probably 10 years ago on a lunch date with Blackford and Mr. Russell, he made us stop at the not-entirely abandoned jail on San Fernando Road near the 5 and 110 freeway. We walked in, went up to the roof to see the helicopter landing, then to an old gym. In the gym were some old time cholo types, practicing boxing, and there went Mr. Russell, hugging and high five-ing every guy in the place. Years before on his way to work, Mr. Russell would stop by that gym to work out. It was a special place to him, and meant more to him than the other 15 gyms he had membership to. He was SO happy to be there. He was SO happy to share that moment of his past. He was SO happy to show how he could bench press a zillion pounds. To me he was indestructible. I always wondered what those old cholos in there thought when they saw me, a scrawny young girl, tagging along with a middle-aged Okie, and an ex-pro football playing teacher. Although we were an odd trio, Mr. Russell never ceased to surprise me, or do something to share his happiness. We really miss him, just as thousands of his old friends and students do. Anyone who knew him had a story, and I wanted to take the time to share one too, because I don't want to forget him. I don't want anyone to forget him. I think teachers should strive to be as passionate to their students as he was. I thank him for inspiring me to be a teacher too, and showing me how to do my job and connect with students at the same time. I always bothered him for never letting me sub in his class. The man was never absent. He never missed a day. Now I wish I would have never asked him that, because now he's gone, and I did have to sub for his class a couple weeks ago. But I bet he was watching down on me - chanting for me to be the champ. I tackled some Trigonometry that day, and actually taught the kids, having never even looked at a Trig problem in my life. Maybe he just knew I'd be able to handle it.

I'll save the next posts to mention my lovely little ladies who are more darling and dazzling than ever. I hope all you readers are well, happy, and healthy. Be good. And be patient cuz I'll write more soon. :)

Super New Day

2010-09-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

Wow. I have to make the font all big so I can see what I'm writing. But yes Gabino - I'll order the damn glasses as soon as I can!

After a few weeks - I have my lap-y top-y as I call it - back. I'm very glad. It looks good, it's fixed, and now I don't have to wait in line to check email around here.

Summer vacation- sadly - is over. No more waking up late, daily walks, cooking 3 meals every day with some ease. No more watching Celia read comic books for extra extra long periods of time. No more Effie and Celia fighting all the time. No more swimming- (at least for now). No more having my big girl with us all day long. That, definitely is the worst part.

So the institution of school has taken away my baby. A friend of mine told me that she keeps asking her daughter if she likes school - and she always says "yes". She is hoping one day she won't like it anymore so she can keep her home and home school her. I totally understand where she is coming from. I guess it goes back to "there are 'baby people' and 'not baby people', and where many moms find relief in taking their kids to school each day to have their time alone - or to work - or do what they gotta do, I personally do not. Even though my big girl is happy, I'm not too thrilled. Don't get me wrong. She's in a great place, a great school, and has an amazing teacher. But that's just it. She's not with me. With us. With her sister. And it all seems down hill from here. In fact, we are seriously considering keeping Effie another year before starting Kindergarten even if the cut off date is after her birthday. We just can't bear to throw her into the system already. Boo Boo Boo. Ok. Enough complaining. It's all good.

The past few weeks things have crossed my mind and I wanted to remember them. One thing that was perty rad was our anniversary. Alex and I got to go out with friends to the Hollywood Bowl and saw Chromeo and Chemical Brothers. It was like that post I wrote about back in the day about UB40. It was one of those nights, out in the world when you realize you are not alone, trapped in your house, in your bubble of family. There are actually a bunch of crazy drinking and smoking lunatics in the thousands who like to dance in the dark to electronic music in the company of thousands of other loonies. I myself can not claim to be a crazy drinking lunatic. However, I will say that I am a very happy mother who was very happy to be out without her children watching the thousands of people, whether they were crazy drinking and smoking people or just semi-normal peeps like me. Wait.. did I just say I was normal? Hmmmm... that's something to think about.

So - how are you friends and family? Are you ok? Good? Happy? I hope so. This whole "September" thing is like I mentioned also before in another blog. September is always our New Year. School starts. Work begins. Classes get rolling. Activities increase. And I seem to function a tad bit better under the pressure of having to organize my time and juggle a zillion things to do. I may function better in a way, but I still have dishes to wash, laundry to fold, and a ton of crap in my house that I feel like throwing out a window. But the girls would get mad at me if I did that. They have a very difficult time parting with things. Ahhh.. things. To me.. they are just things.

So today I got to hear a lecture 3 times about college essays and I realized why I did NOT get into any of the colleges I applied to. Probably because my essays were compiled of a bunch of phoney baloney that was as boring and as uninteresting as can be. If I could go back... I'd probably re-write the essays and talk about something I actually liked at the time. Like Faith No More, or babysitting babies, or my Maverick. Who knows. But I'm only mentioning that, because I get now - that what I love - is what I have always loved. Kids. I can't believe that I didn't realize that my calling in life was to be a mom. I knew I always wanted a family, and again as I have mentioned before I prayed that God would not call me to be a nun. And I only mention this because every single day since I have had kids - not a day has passed that I don't stare and get lost - even if just for a second as I watch my little girls in amazement. Somehow - I created little humans, and I made the most amazing little creatures I have ever met in my life. They are so talented and funny and nice and sweet. Not a day passes that my kids don't give me "love eyes". Not a day passes that Celia doesn't hug me as if she may never see me again. And not a day passes without me telling Effie how much I love her, then she responds "but I lub you da best". They are my sweet little angels and I love them to pieces more than anything anything ever. And the worst part of all this wonderful wonderful stuff, is that they are growing up. I just passed by Effie sleeping and she's a giant. A big baby giant. Celia is still her teeny self, but nonetheless they are big and it is depressing. I'm sure they will grow up to be just as sweet and nice, but this magical part of having kids and raising babies into little ladies with pierced ears is finite. What a bummer.

But I don't want to end with the word bummer. So I'll end by saying - happy September friends. Make the most of your day, and I'll try to too. :)

Randoms

2010-08-16T00:35:00.001-07:00

My piano teacher used to write in a little notebook when she’d come for my lessons. She had a different color fine point pen called a “Le Pen”, and in the book she’d write the page number of the songs I had to practice. I can clearly see in my head her handwriting, how she wrote with her almost-old hands with always beautifully manicured fingers. My favorite color was the hot pink “Le Pen”. Her handwriting was a half cursive half printing style and her lettering was teeny tiny.

Celia started piano lessons on top of her violin lessons. In return for those lessons – I give her piano teacher’s son a lesson. I keep thinking of how I’d love to get a set of “Le Pen’s” and a notebook so that the young boy will too grow that affinity for pens. But I haven’t done so yet. However, I do have a new planner, and bought a set of “Precise” Pilot Extra Fine pens to mark all the important things I have to do. And unfortunately they are getting put to much use.

I thought summer would be relaxing. And in a way – it has been. We don’t get up till after 8am each morning. We have pancakes almost every day. We’ve taken a walk – or even two walks a day for over a month now – and the girls and I turn into “The Flash Family” and we even run. Almost every day we take the same route. In the mornings we go through the alley ways around here – and see what new plants are growing along the walls and fences. In the evening we take Kenneth Road – walk about a mile then up and back around to the house. Effie loves walking on small walls and counts her steps, then says how many points she made. Celia loves to race and always gets second place because 2nd is the best – and 1st is the worst. It’s a relief that I don’t have to carry anyone anymore. Because now at least – the walks are quite pleasant. And back to the summer stuff. It’s been one day after another of play dates, outings for the ladies with the people who love them almost as much as I do, cooking every meal, and being unorganized.

Ok. I’m writing more of what I started two days ago. So this is Part 2. I just put away 9 shoes. That means there is 1 laying around somewhere. I always pick up shoes. Everywhere I look there is a pair of shoes. I didn’t even know we had so many shoes. Apparently we do. Most of the shoes I pick up from around the house are very small, glittery, and fancy. Must mean they do not belong to Alex, although that would be cool if he wore shoes like that.

And it’s late. While I waste time on facebook, I know I should be cleaning up. I should be getting ready for the myriad of things I have to do this week. But whatever.

And I’m tired. So I’ll go now.

Some-a Some-a

2010-07-31T23:36:00.000-07:00

I’m sitting in a choir loft, behind the organ whose pedals I’m not very good at playing.
A good chuch organ has pedals. Bass pedals that you play with your feet. Considering I tap danced for more than a decade of my life you would think I could coordinate my feet to move in the right direction to hit a right note but it’s not so simple. If only I could – the music would sound better. Maybe I should look up a “how to” video on youtube on how to play church organ pedals correctly.

Oh. Wait a minute. I just forgot. I don’t usually write about those things – and I digress.

Well, I mentioned that because here I am. Sitting alone. Waiting for the right queue so I can sing the “lord have mercy” in about 45 seconds. And as I sit here, I keep kicking myself in the butt for not keeping a small notepad with me at all times to share with you the things that Effie says on an hourly basis that crack me up.

I do remember that this morning Celia and Effie were playing with their new “Polly Pocket Superheros” thanks to my sister and dad who were not afraid to take them outta the box. For some reason, Wonder Woman (Effie) said the wrong thing to mini-Supergirl (Celia), and mini-Supergirl told mini polly pocket Wonder Woman to “take it back” “Take back the words you said Wonder Woman!” Effie had no idea what to do – so I told her to say “I take it back”. So, in Effie language she said “I tate it bat”. Then she told Supergirl “I didn’t know dat wuds tat a bat” – Which translated means “I didn’t know words take a bath”. If you don’t get it – or if it’s not funny to you, no biggy. It’s funny to me.

By the way, I finished playing the “lord have mercy” – and the “Alleluia” already.
The bride- who is celebrating her 25th anniversary right now is named Celia. It’s kind of weird to be typing and hearing the name Celia repeatedly.

I still digress.

Summer is passing quickly. I feel like the time I’ve been spending with my immediate family has been so wonderful. Celia, Effie, Alex and I share 3 meals a day together, bedtime together, and playtime together, and I guess it pays off. Celia does miss school a tad, but says she is not bored. But at least one time a day she reminds me that what she loves most in the world is her “family”. I’m fine with that. Must mean I’m doing my job right. Hopefully.

Strange how cool it’s been this summer. And although it’s fine – to not be sweating my brains off all day, I do miss swimming everyday. Well, I think we are swimming almost everyday – but it’s more fun to me when it’s refreshing and not cold. Whatever.

Speaking of swimming. Celia learned how to swim. Thanks to her cousin Sasha, (who can swim now) and her little friends who are twins – who all know how to swim – she busted out her Virgo perfection-ness and was determined to learn on her own. She’s been like that with bike riding – hula hoping – dribbling a ball – and skipping. Once she wants to learn – she works very hard to do so – and she does.

I’m definitely not like that.

This has also been the summer of facepainting. Every day the girls have been painted. Alex tends to do strange designs. Effie was a pink space spider today, and Celia was Lydia from the Beetlejuice cartoon. Yesterday Effie was a pink space mouse, and Celia was a butterfly. The day before yesterday, Effie was some kind of pink thing with a unicorn, and Celia was a vampire demon. It’s all rather normal to me – but when you are walking around the streets pushing a double jogger with two kids who look like gothic babies or alien children – other people don’t usually look at them as if they are normal. What’s funny too is that those little kids like wearing “one and one”. Meaning – each of them will wear say a blue sock and a red sock. Instead of fighting over pairs of socks, they work it out amongst themselves to just share. So cute.

Well, the bride and groom are renewing their vows now. Which means I better jump back on the organ bench and get ready for the next song. Have a great week. I personally am looking forward to more organizing – more selling on craigslist – more giving on freecylcle, more swimming, more face painting, more cooking, more walking, and more fun with my little chookie kids. I lub dem so much.

My camera battery died on day 2

2010-07-15T23:56:00.000-07:00

We did it. And it was a lot of work. A lot of driving. A lot of fun.
We had our FIRST family vacation. Yes, we’ve gone to Mexico, and camped here and there, and we did Palm Springs, but this was the very first Family vacation. Just me, Alex, Celia, and Effie. I’m happy for us ☺

But camping – is work. A lot of work. Definitely worth the work but work nonetheless. And the entire time we were gone – I thought about everything in two categories. Fun. And Not so Fun. I can’t say Not Fun because nothing is really Not Fun to me, but Not So Fun worked better. So are you ready – here’s a quick run down of the camping trip in the way I thought about it the entire time.

LEAVING:

Fun: having everything packed, and knowing you didn’t forget anything.

Not So Fun: Getting on the wrong freeway and not realizing till half an hour into the trip.

Fun: Finding another quick route.

Not So Fun: Effie losing her cowboy hat to the wind on the freeway gods.

Fun: Stopping at Starbucks for a big iced coffee and giving the girls rice krispie treats.

Not So Fun: Having to pee too much from drinking the big iced coffee.

Fun: Driving up the coast.

Not So Fun: Driving up the coast with screaming children.

Fun: Singing in the car, and listening to Effie tell jokes like “knock knock, who’s there, mad- mad who – mad cat eats chok-a-lot”

Not So Fun: Singing in the car but having a little perfectionist cry because she doesn’t exactly get harmonies yet.

GETTING TO CAMP! (Limekiln State Park – Big Sur, California)

Fun: Getting a space in the beautiful redwoods when the day before the campground was full.

Not So Fun: Having to pitch a tent when it’s freezing, almost dark, your kids are hungry, and they are fighting over which chair to sit in.

Fun: Getting the tent up, and getting the air mattresses filled up, and your children fed even though it’s 9:30 pm and very dark and cold.

Not So Fun: When one of your air mattresses is dead.

Fun: Sleeping next to two cozy cute children who are so excited to be sleeping outside next to a sweet sounding creek.

Not So Fun: Sleeping next to two cozy cute children who are so excited to be sleeping outside next to a sweet sounding creek when it’s 45 degrees outside.

Fun: Dreaming crazy camping dreams every single night.

Not So Fun: Waking up every 2 hours because its so cold.

Fun: Going back to sleep next to the most wonderful family.

Not So Fun: Holding your pee so you don’t have to leave a freezing tent to go out into the freezing dark wilderness.

Fun: Waking up at 8:30 to happy campers.

Not So Fun: Having to walk down a big hill to take the happy campers to pee, and always having to carry the littlest happy camper back up the big hill.

BEING AT CAMP!

Fun: Taking a hike through an amazing green, lush, forest, alongside a beautiful rocky creek, and eating jelly bellies.

Not So Fun: Taking a hike through an amazing green, lush forest, alongside a beautiful rock creeck when you ate your littlest happy camper’s last favorite color of jelly bellies.

Fun: Finishing a hike.

Not So Fun: Having to carry the little happy camper.

Fun: When your big kid walks everywhere by herself and doesn’t need to be carried anymore.

Not So Fun: Realizing your big kid is too big to be carried anymore. ☹

Fun: Putting your feet in the creek.

Not So Fun: Putting your feet in the creek when it’s like ice.

Fun: Eating at camp.

Not So Fun: Dropping a skillet of the food you made at camp on the floor. (no 3 second rules when it comes to plant waste and dirt)

Fun: Having strange camp neighbors ask you for butter.

Not So Fun: Having other strange camp neighbors who smoke cigars.

TRIP TO THE AQUARIUM

Fun: Going to the Aquarium.

Not So Fun: Finding parking that is not $20, paying almost $30 to get in to the aquarium, and not being able to see much cuz a zillion other people paid almost $30 to go to the aquarium on the same day.

Fun: Watching the littlest happy camper fall in love with jelly fish.

Fun: Watching the two little happy campers sit in front of a huge piece of glass and scream each time the fattest fish in California swam above them for 45 minutes.

Fun: Going to a grocery store in Monterey and having the littlest happy camper put food on the “elevator”.

Not So Fun: Having to eat Carls Jr.

Fun: Listening to the happy campers talk to eachother:
Celia: Effie are you pooped?
Effie: No
Celia: Pooped means tired – are you tired?
Effie: Yes
Celia: Then you are pooped. Are you pooped?
Effie: No
Celia: when you are pooped out it means you are very very tired. Aren’t you tired?
Effie: Yes.
Celia: Then you are pooped out. Aren’t you pooped out Effie?
Effie: (no response) (she fell asleep)
Celia: Effie was pooped.

Fun: Driving for an hour down the beautiful coast when your loudest kid is asleep, your husband is asleep, and your big kid is entertained with Calvin and Hobbs.

Fun: Getting back to camp safe and hanging out at the beach and the creek for hours with your happy campers.

Not So Fun: Having to sleep in the cold. Again.

LEAVING LIMEKILN

Fun: Running up and down the hill to the bathroom with a little happy camper that got used to it.

Not So Fun: Having to pack up a campsite.

Fun: Driving somewhere new.

Not So Fun: Not knowing where to go.

Fun: Finding a hike to a waterfall and watching your kids become expert rock climbers in 20 minutes.

Not So Fun: Having to watch your expert rock climbers think they are expert rock climbers. Scary.

Fun: Getting to the big waterfall and wishing we could swim under it.

Not So Fun: Having to leave.

Fun: Eating pizza in San Luis Obispo and letting the girls play too many video games.

Not So Fun: Running out of quarters.

Fun: Finding an open campsite at a beautiful lake.

Not So Fun: Finding an open campsite at a beautiful lake full of a million not so great people.

Fun: watching your big kid slide down a hill of dry brush on a piece of raggedy cardboard with a bunch of kids you would never want your kid to associate with.

Not So Fun: Watching the mom of those kids you would never want your kids to associate with call her child Satan and scream at him as if she were Satan’s Mother.

Fun: Seeing deer, wild turkeys, strange rodents, quail, and blue jays.

Not So Fun: Seeing all of the above in a camp full of people who ruin all of the above.

Fun: Watching your happy campers learn how to go down a fire pole.

Not So Fun: Watching the above around a bunch of people you do not want your kids around. (I don't even want to give details)

Fun: Getting your kids to sleep in a noisy camp by 8pm.

Not So Fun: Having your camp neighbors scream at their kids and walk by your tent, and rummage through recycling bins while banging on them, and talking to their friend “Ro Ro” on the phone too loud to discuss the behavior of little “Satan”, and driving their cars too close to your tent with head lights shining on your tent as if they were gonna ram into your tent.

Fun: Seeing a zillion zillion stars in the sky.

Not So Fun: Having to be at that janky campsite for the night, even though your kids think that those crazy children are the most amazing humans to ever walk the earth.

Fun: Being woken up at 6am by little Satan’s mother talking on the phone to little Satan’s Dad so he could pick up little Satan. (fun because it got us up early enough to get the heck out of there before 7am)

Fun: Packing up camp in one hour with children asleep.

Fun: Eating Chocolate cake for breakfast.

Fun: Getting out of the beautiful lake campsite with crazy people.

Fun: Singing harmonies. Effie telling more jokes like: knock knock, who’s there? Chi chi man. Chi chi man who? Chi chi man forgot his underwear.

THE BEACH – LAST DAY

Fun: Getting to Jalama Beach.

Fun: Watching your happy campers at their favorite place. The Beach.

Fun: Collecting rocks and watching the big kid find sea creatures.

Fun: Making Sand houses with doors and bridges with Effie.

Fun: Sleeping on the sand while Alex plays in the water with the girls.

Fun: Reading the newspaper and LA Weekly while Alex plays with the girls.

Fun: Not getting sun burnt.

Fun: Watching your happy campers at the beach. (it really is the best)

Not fun: Sand in little happy camper butts.

So we got home safe today – cuz there were no campsites left at the beautiful Jalama Beach Campsite. But we’ll just have to go back.

Have a great week everyone. More pics on facebook.

Mas y mas y mas

2010-07-07T00:05:00.000-07:00

Click on that picture of the sandwich to see it even bigger!! Dang - it was good... really really really good.
I think I've said this before and time again, but as a day passes, I listen to all the millions of hilarious little things my little ladies say and I usually can't wait to blog about them. I mean - what do I tell you about? Maybe I should tell you about:

Effie wearing a large rubber band around her face that made her eyes look all squished while she danced like an Arabian Princess to some crazy soul-disco with Korean noodles hanging out of her mouth?

Celia asking Effie if they could pretend they were be driven around in a Porshe and could become Mexican Princesses?

Effie and Celia wearing winter coats this morning?

Playing the game "I am?" (curious ain't cha?)

Celia playing many new songs on the piano, but being obsessed with tender love songs?

Effie and her new fife? Do you know what a fife is?

Our visit to the laundry mat today and my kids devouring Popeye's chicken as if it were sprinkles on a sprinkled donut?

Selling all my belongings on craigslist? Or something about the people who buy things on craigslist? Or about the guy who offered to let me use his trailer for camping?

What about that guy who asked me to come see his fish is his backyard when I was with Effie? Hmmm. He said they were really big fish. (I did not go see his fish- what a weirdo)

I wish I could write the funniest story of the week, but if you are really interested, Cathie can forward you the email, otherwise it's not going to be posted.

How about Effie saying she was only a "naked human" when he called her a "beautiful angel" after getting outta the tub.

Well - I guess I can not go into details. But I'll post a picture or two and go to bed. It's 1:06am, and tomorrow's a big day. Until next time.

Summa

2010-07-02T02:20:00.000-07:00

2010-07-02T00:40:00.000-07:00

I kinda thought that with a new little lapy-topy I'd have more time to write blogs. Not the case.
It's too late - 1:51 - finished the craigslist listing and I am giving myself 10 minutes exactly to write something. So my fingers must type. My mom always had incredible typing speed. I'd love to see her rock a laptop keyboard... but I think she may have done best on a big fat typewriter with heavy keys.

We are almost 2 weeks in to summer vacation. I have to admit I feel a bit defeated by the whole situation. I have not put my kids in swim classes, ballet classes, or any classes. I have not been able to take them swimming regularly (too cold)
I have not been able to cook them decent meals. I have not been able to take them anywhere new and exciting ... yet. And I have not been able to teach Celia to read better, or how to ride a bike, or Effie how to hula hoop.

On the other hand - I have been able to:

Sleep in till 8:30am everyday. IT'S AWESOME!!!!!!
Cook half way decent meals.
Teach Celia quite a few piano pieces that I couldn't play until 2nd grade.
Clean my house more than usual.
Let my children watch more TV than they usually do.
Watch movies with Alex on Netflix via the Wii. I'm very very happy with this - and this alone makes it feel like vacation is here.
Keep my houseplants alive.
Have guests over for bbq's.
Visit my homegirls.
Get Celia her 2nd filling at the dentist.
Get a new pet caterpillar.
Get rid of the cardboard house. May he R.I.P
Stephanie's baby shower
Get Extra babysitting from Mr. and Mrs. H
Go to 4 different libraries - so far.

yes. My list of things I have been able to do is very not interesting at all. I can not wait to go on a camping trip so I can write about something better and more interesting and out of the ordinary.

Seriously - my child Celia barely even wants to leave the house. It's like pulling teeth to get her to go anywhere. She was happy to leave the house today for donuts and a trip to Monterey Park but it seems like since school has been out - all she wants to do it either sit in a chair, on her bed, or on the couch, and stare at comic books or picture books, or watch a movie. She is extremely lazy, and I wonder if it's a whole "school's out" thing for her. I don't know. But as long as she's happy, I'm cool with it.

Little rosey cheeks however - is in movie mode. All she wants to do is watch a movie and she'll say "pretty please with love on top". They are watching more than usual - but not more than an hour and a half or so a day. It gets broken up into a Popeye episode, then a bit a Scooby Doo, Fraggles, or some wierd show on Netflix - and this blog is boring me to pieces and 10 minutes have already passed. Let me just say that I am thankful for the non-eventfullness for the most part. The boring tv stuff, the daily ice cream in the afternoon, the sleeping in, the fact that we can take walks again, is all good to me.

I remember reading in Catch-22 - one of the characters talked about boredom - and how great it was because time passed by so slowly when you are bored - and when you have this great time doing something adventurous, time passes too fast. Well, for that reason (even though I am far far far from bored) I am grateful for not having a million things to do. At the current time it only feels like i have 100 things to do.

8 more weeks of summer vacation. I hope that the next time I get a chance to write something - it will be better than this. I'm going to post a bunch of pics from the past couple weeks to make this a better post.

Wrote this yesterday

2010-06-14T23:15:00.001-07:00

So. I got a laptop and have not had enough time to use it. But since the husband is on the other computer, and I can’t seem to borrow internet right now from my neighbor across the street, even with the window open and no cars parked in front of our houses, I’ll just write this as a document and cut and paste. Presto.

My little snookums of a Celia is done with kindergarten this Friday. I guess no big deal but big deal. I’m glad they are not doing a Graduation thing because I think Kindergarten graduations are lame even though I had one. They are having a pot luck. Pot lucks are better than graduations anyhow. Wait a minute. Celia graduated from preschool. That was cool. Oh whateva.

And Effie is big. But not too big, and not mature yet that’s for sure. She’s funny. Becky knows exactly what I’m talking about. A few others do too I’m sure. She has this thing to her. She rolls her eyes back and puckers her lips while smiling when she talks. There is something so strange and hilarious about her demeanor that makes me want to just sit in front of her all day long and watch her.

Today she flipped because she wanted a German Simpson’s comic book in her hands while eating spaghetti and meatballs. Alex didn’t want her to have comics at the table. We’ve never been good at enforcing those types or rules – like no toys while eating, no jumping on chairs while eating, no showing off your butt while eating, no playing with play-doh while eating, no reading German Simpson’s while eating, etc. So in the end the only way she’d eat the food is if she could read, so she won, yes bad bad me. But afterwards I had a little chat with her and her dad told her it was important to understand that we had to say “no” sometimes and that it would be best if when we said “no” she’d respond with “ok Mom” or “ok Dad”. We told her she was a big girl and had to understand that it was for her own good when we said no. Her response was “I pwomise I’ll undustan when I’m a gawon up”. At least she’ll get it sooner or later. Or much later.

We’ve been super busy. Not too many outings. But some manageable walks around the neighborhood. We are trying to teach the girls to sing do-wop songs while they sit in the stroller and have them sing backgrounds for us. They are not too good at it yet. They do like holding an ipod in the stroller and its cute to see both of them listening as they each hold a speaker to their ear and sing. They did that song Voulez-vou by Abba and they say “Voulez-vou….. A HA! Baby Celia!!” The real song doesn’t say that. Maybe you have to hear them sing it for it to be funny.

I got that trader joe’s vanilla cake mix today and mixed in banana and walnuts and topped it with a homemade frosting made of milk, melted butter and chocolate chips, and powdered sugar all whipped and it was so good. There’s the recipe. Go try it. It’s da bomb.

Since I’m on a random writing thing. Guess what? I know over 20 people who are pregnant. I’m not one of them.

My parents came back after abandoning us to visit friends in Texas. I’m super excited to hear about it. Once while looking at our globe I told Celia about the entire world and all the people I knew around the world, and how we could visit any one of them someday. You name it – Australia, Ireland, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, Hawaii, El Salvador. After we finished talking about all the places I asked her where she wanted to go most. She answered a very quick “Texas”.

Speaking of Texas. Aren’t people in Texas more patriotic than people in California? Well, maybe Effie should move there too. Effie had an American flag that an old teacher of mine gave me, because she said how much kids love waving flags. True that. Little Effie held it out the car window from Glendale to Eagle Rock and back, and for some reason it was the funniest thing to me. Here we are in Glendale, and to see an Armenian Flag, or a Laker’s flag riding high out a car window or on an antenna would be normal, but to see a little teeny arm holding out a big American Flag out the back seat is not. I’m surprised she held on so tight that it didn’t even fly out of her hands on the freeway. I told you she was strange.

Ok. Have a wonderful day. If I find an internet connection I’ll post this right now. Even if I have to go out on the sidewalk.

Aye Caramba!

2010-05-17T23:51:00.000-07:00

Aye indeed. I just finished using a fancy chop-stick to stir my lovely ice coffee with a little extra sugar tonight. Alex and I both get a sweet tooth in the night-time - and it stinks when you have no sweets in your house whatsoever to calm those cravings. I think he opened up a bag of chocolate chips to toss a few in his mouth - and I opted for.... extra sugar in the ice coffee that usually just has milk. So there.

And it's Monday. Monday. Almost time to think about Tuesday Tuesday. Monday for me... well.... hmmm... wasn't the greatest Monday of all time, nor was it the worst. I thought Celia had a dentist appointment today. But she didn't. I got to spend 3 hours in a music studio this morning - which was FUN. And I had no kids with me! MORE FUN! Not that my kids aren't fun, but when you are with them all the time, and the youngest always tugs on your shirt at all times or your leg, or butt, or whatever, it's nice to be free of anyone either on my back, being held in my arms, or doing that tugging stuff.

We stayed home all afternoon. The weather made me feel not so guilty about doing so. We .... ate grapes. Watched 2 episodes of Pee-Wee's Playhouse .... ate more grapes. Played "cook fake food and pretend you don't know how to eat so Effie can use a miniature spoon to put grapes in your mouth so you can pretend she's giving you purple medicine". We played - "let's fight for covers on the bed and kick eachother" (Oh, maybe that's what they played that I had to stop) Then they did homework. Effie gets homework too now. I have no idea why. Then Celia made a map. It said something like "Estamos en el cuarto. Estamos en una foto en una foto" I have no idea why. There were three boxes on the map. One with an "osito" then a "manzana" then a big "osito". Just thought I'd let you know. Fascinating or what? Then the girls took their one hour ducky (bath) so I could fold laundry. Oh yeah - and as I posted on Facebook today, I thought I was all bad-ass and this amazing cook, and remembered eating homemade pizza from my mom's old Italian buddies. Yeah - they are in their 90's and cook these super good meals all the time supposedly, and so I wanted to be just like them, so I rolled out some dough from a recipe I got (which totally totally sucked - excuse my french) - and topped it with a layer of hot bacon grease from the bacon I had been cooking, sauce, cheese, feta cheese, garlic, jalapenos, fresh tomato and mushrooms, and baked it at 425 degrees until it looked like the most amazing pizza creation ever to set foot in my kitchen. And I ate it and it was.... not very good. I'm not going to go into detail about my disappointment - or disenchantment of making my own amazing pizza. I will just say the crust tasted like I should have cut it off and mixed it with apples for a nice "pie" type dessert with vanilla ice cream. ???

And... or course the weekend was very fun. Much thanks to Rebeca Patricia for getting a Masters degree and providing some lovely festivities. Did I mention I broke the pinata?? Well, there I was sitting around chatting Skot's ear off when Becky yelled "Sara's turn!" and I grabbed that stick, and wacked the patooty out of the Chilindrina until her body broke off from her neck, and BAM! I did it! Apparently, not many people had the chance to hit that thing, and our new family member Joel said that he didn't get a chance to hit it, and now he knows not to ever make me mad. Apparently I kicked the crap outta that thing? Maybe I'm exaggerating. I'm just trying to entertain you.

Yeah - and Saturday. I can't even remember what we did! OH! Drum circle again! (FUN!) Join us if you want - email me for detailssss.... and we have a new Saturday morning tradition. Pack lunches. Go to drum circle. Drive through the boonies. Get to Sun Thrift shop in the boonies. Buy toys. Eat packed lunches. Effie nap. Go home. Play wedding. Play quinceaneara. Go home. Cook. Visit someone. Go to target. Go to store. Go to bed. Sound fun? Yeah... it is. No rest for the... non-resters.

Yeah - and Sunday! Are you ready for this! Another party? Alex and I had fun DJ'ing and I have no idea if anyone even listened to all the hits we were turning out for the Q's. Either way - it was fun. Somehow we ended up in San Pedro. For some reason, in Burbank it was sunny. Then we got on the 110 freeway and at about the 105 it got cloudy. And it was gloomy. Then we made it to San Pedro. The Korean Friendship bell had closed so we hit up that perty park that overlooks the ocean. Have you ever been there? It's nice. They have this stage where the girls played an hour long game of presenting which meant that all four of us had to do a choreographed danced to a song called "Got the world by the tail" about 8 times because Effie told us to. Wouldn't you have liked to been there watching us? Well... there were a few people in the park, none of which seemed interested in watching these people dance on a stage with their kids. Effie would send us out to the audience and then demand us back on stage immediately. She's strange. It had been awhile since we played "presenting". Effie would stand up at the edge of this stage, and fold her arms and say "Hi ebewyone. I'm Effie. Tank you audience. Dis is my mom. Dis is my dad. Dis is my sistew. Wes awe goins to sing a song fo yous. Tank you" Then she'd scramble to get us in our places. We did this whole little show after they played at the playground and some little punk ass two year old with a stinky diaper threw an acorn at Celia's face giving her a small welt on the side of her eye while his parents were making out on a blanket about 100 feet away. Yes. I talked to them and was mad. Whatever.

So, there you go. My life story as of last Friday. I hope the rest of the week is as wonderful as the last. I hope you guys are all happy and doing something interesting, so that when we talk, I can hear what you have been up to since you already know everything I do practically. Have a superb week. Don't forget to go to Celia's school for World Fest on May 22nd. Be there at 1:45 - her class sings at 2pm. Peace out.

Cositas

2010-05-10T22:43:00.000-07:00

Hello world. The small world of people that find a way to read this. How are you? I hope you're happy - cuz if you are not - that must stink. Just think right now of something really crappy..... go ahead - just think for a minute about something that happened in your day that didn't go perfectly. I'll give you a second. Now....... think of something amazing!!!!!!!! Think of something that one day made you SOOOOOOOOOOO happy!!!!!!!!!! Feel better? Good.

A lot of things made me happy this week - month - day actually. You know the sound of uncontrollable laughter from a 3 and 5 year old is the best. I have tricks to make my kids laugh. In fact - what's funny is that I had some minor aspirations as a kid to be an actress or comedian. Well, I definitely am glad I felt I had a bit of talent - because it pays off daily. My kids will point to me and say "you are NOW .... a..... girl... GORG!" and BooM!!! I become one. Or they say "Mom..... do your.... Myxlplick voice! Now Rhinokey! Now Italian man! Now.... Miss Lily!" (Myxliplick is the cosmic villain from the Super Friends and Miss Lily is a Russian mouse who teaches ballet) It's pretty fun. And it's always fun to watch Alex talk like a girl with a skirt on his head trying to convince my kids that he is me. Then I hide behind him and he lips the words that I say to make them laugh - and it's really funny. Maybe you just have to be here to get it. But either way - making my kids happy... is wonderful. (Especially when the children find a way to test every bone in your body that reserves a spot for patience and it seems virtually impossible to see the bright side in a tragic tantrum encompassing moment)

So last night - while I was putting my dear little darlings to bed Effie kicked me on accident and I said in Spanish "Eyy... me lastimo' " Then she said ...."Mom..... whats uh-steem-o?" And today she so cutely said "Mom... I wants to gos to Costa Weeka - because it sounds like da wurd make-up". What a weirdo. SHE'S SOOOOOOO cute. If that doesn't make sense or is not funny to you... well- I don't even care - cuz it's funny to me. She's so serious too. Man - I wish posting video were easier and didn't take so long.

I'm really too tired to write anything else... so I'm gonna go to bed. There's always a lot to say and write - but my brain is on "I'm about to shut down mode" so I'll just say hi to you people who happened to stumble upon this today and wish you a wonderful rest of the week. There's gonna be some partying (RPQ) this week I'm looking forward to so maybe I'll have some interesting things to write about soon. Until then. Peace out.

April Showers

2010-04-23T22:56:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone... uhh.. how are you?
I've been pretty bad at finding time to write. I think once I get on the computer I just start staring at Facebook, and then an hour passes and all I have done is read things that don't even interest me that much, or comment on things I shouldn't even talk about, or whatever. No biggy, but I'd like to be a bit more productive - so maybe this is productive. Or maybe it's not. Who cares!

So, this month - has been wonderful so far. We made it to the beach last week, and it was cold. We haven't gone to Disneyland. I finished teaching es-spanish - and now I'm in an in-between state of sorts. It feels weird to me when I don't have a hundred things to do. I don't have lessons to plan this weekend - except to try to figure out how to teach music in Italian for half an hour on Tuesday even though I don't speak Italian.

And as usual - my kids get funnier by the day. I'll have to start uploading videos - because in all honesty, I really - haven't met anyone as funny as Effie. I used to babysit - I've taught quite a few children in my days - and no one has matched the comedy that is Effie Rose. She is sooooooo funny. I really will just have to carry a notepad tomorrow and report back, because I should just write down everything she says. Do you think it's because she's my kid that I think so highly of her? Well, that is likely - but I have a feeling that even if she weren't mine - I'd still think she's funny.

To summarize some of the events that I can actually remember from this month - let me list:
- Alex and I had a double date last week - just so you all know and it's on the record.
- I rollerskated - thanks to Lucena last week for 2 hours straight. It was rad-i-cal. More than anything because I rollerskated solo to some fancy Soul Jams as my kids and husband were asleep. I should do that more often.
- We saw Betty White at the zoo which caused a big commotion among a school group that made 3 big black girls get down as they danced and sang to the theme song of the Golden Girls as they screamed how much they loved "Rose". It was really pretty awesome, because at first I thought these girls were just randomly singing "Thank you for Being a Friend", and I was like "Wow, how awesome, these girls are so amazing - just randomly shaking their butts to the theme song of one of my favorite TV shows", then Alex pointed to Betty White....(did that make any sense?)
- Stephanie and Dan and Eillen came over, and Dan told some funny ass stories about a drunk named Kenny who talks in the third person and hangs outside a liquor store in Pac-Town (Pacoima) and calls 911 a few times a week so he can just go to Olive View hospital for fun.
- We had two dogs in our house.
- We saw a rabbit this morning - and Effie freaked out - and said "it must be Spring!"
- Then we saw an orange and white cat - and Effie freaked out and said "it must be Spring!"
- Plants are taking over the house.
- We ate at King Torta twice.
- Went on my first field trip with Celia. She came home singing "Who Let The Dogs Out" ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL DAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYY and ALLLLLLLLLLLLL NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGHT - and she was able to sound just like the guy who sings it, and ignored every person in her path so she could focus on those "hoo - hoo -hoo - hoo- hoos".
- Celia learned how to use the ipod - I know kinda late - I'm sure a million 2 year olds can use them already, but she is able to navigate through it, which means we have listened to the Los Lobos cover of Grim Grinning Ghosts from the haunted mansion about 148 times today alone. You people may think I'm joking - but I do not exaggerate when I speak of these things. Come on - this is the same girl who chewed on my arm out of terror during "UP". She takes things seriously.
- Ok - I'm feeling boring - and Yeaahhh... I have to do the DISHES - and my dishes partner fell asleep - so I have to do them on the solo tip.... oh well. So good night peeps.

Until next time.

Geez

2010-04-06T00:17:00.001-07:00

So it's 12:16 am, and I have been chatting on Facebook with my cousin about all these strange apocalyptic things he gets neurotic over for way too long, and I don't want to go to bed without at least writing a blog. Not that chatting on facebook is a complete waste of time - it's just... well, chatting about how to survive two different types of nuclear explosions is not really that interesting to me. I told the guy I'd rather chat about what he ate for dinner - but he wasn't impressed. Well, seriously, on a daily basis - I think A LOT about, well, what I'm gonna make for dinner - or what my kids will eat, or how I'll get the - yes - yes - dishes done - or if there's toilet paper in the house, or if the lint dispenser was cleaned out, or if the lights in the backyard are turned off, or if I can make sure that the dead markers in the marker bin are appropriately disposed of. I do not have time to think about nuclear explosions. Plus, I don't really care. If I die in a nuclear explosion - that just could make my life that much easier right? Well, really, I am not a worry wart at all, and I'm glad my cousin is, because if he weren't then I would have never even written the word Nuclear in my blog, ever, never, never.

And this past MONTH - the longest month ever - which was the month of MARCH was so so so long. Which is good. Things dragging out to me are a blessing especially when I do not have recollections anymore of changing diapers or walking around the house at 2am with two kids in my arms trying to calm them down. Nope, I just don't remember. Boring to me - is a blessing - but a blessing I am rarely blessed with because ... well, I'm never bored. But if I WERE bored, even for a moment, I'd happily, sit and fold clothes, or read something other than ingredients on a food label, or a flyer that asks me what movie I'd like to see at the PTA family night. Not that I don't like reading those things, but reading a book - a real real book - not a baby book, not a nutrition book, not a giving birth the natural way book, not a breastfeeding book, not a children's health book, not a baby/mommy/parent/or even teaching related book - I mean a REAL book with fake characters who are not animals and who are over the age of 5 in it - would be so nice. Any recommendations? Anyone? I mean - there IS a chance that in the next few years I might HAVE the time to read one of those kinds of books. (I hope)

But I meant to say - March was crazy. My sister was gone - and for some reason her life adventures play a large roll in my life. Well, she was gone as my mom prepped her soul and body for surgery. And she's doing VERY well, I must say. (Hi mom - I'm so glad you're better.) And that was a little crazy ... but not as crazy as I thought it could be. Plus, my sister had birthday adventures. Plus I watched the movie Urban Cowboy - which was so so fun - because I was SO into John Travolta - and hated him for beating up his wife - but couldn't believe how I kind of - kind of felt forgiveness in my heart for him by the end of the movie... but that's lame - anyway - what else... March... March.... March.... well, whatever happened in March is OVER.... and that's good - because we are another month closer to summer vacation when I can spend every day with my little little ones, and I can hope that Effie never learns to pronounce the letter "G" because everything is that much cuter when your kid says "dass" instead of "grass", and "dapes" instead of "grapes" and "deen" instead of "green", and when she can't say "C's" because "dat's toot" is better than "that's cute".

There really, really, seems to be so so much going on - and the year is flying by again... but I'll try to keep you posted on what April brings our way. And let me just say, that I have the most amazing, beautiful, cute, funny, and wonderful little kids on this planet (I think), and I'm so so so so lucky. I just hope they stay toot forever.

Quehaceres

2010-03-05T00:19:00.000-08:00

Quehaceres- be da things we gots to do.

I always have things to do. Too many things to do. And tonight - the angels in heaven are singing out loud. Sara got lots of things DONE! I wish my accomplishments would include getting all my Spanish students to pass my tests - or doing a real special activity with my kids, like some cool Hello Kitty craft with felt and glitter glue, but at this moment - my big accomplishments include:

Getting my kids to eat dinner before knocking out in the car after going to Disneyland.
Getting the kids to knock out in the car and avoiding the whole bedtime routine at home.
Cleaning up the kitchen.
Washing every dish.
Washing most of the clothes.
Sweeping all the floors.
Wiping the dirt of the doorway and some walls.
Getting to Disneyland and watching Captain Eo.... (yeahhooooooooo)

And that's it. Not much more than that. Nothing heroic - and that's ok. Cuz I feel very good right now.
(Even though I'm coughing too much) - but if you know me - that's normal. UGG.

But all day, I thought I had all these really great things to blog about. I guess I was wrong. I wish I could write another blog where I'd pretend to be Alex. That guy has such funny stories sometimes, that I wish I could share with you - but I just may not. So, short story short, - I have nothing else to say right now. I'll just post a couple of pics to at least make this interesting ok? Peace out. (guess which ones Effie took!?)

Why Not

2010-02-26T23:22:00.000-08:00

I don't have anything specific to say or write about today. I just know it's been awhile since I've written.

We've been a little on the social side lately. We've had guests for dinner at least twice a week for a month it seems. And play dates, outings with friends, school, work, work, music, school, la de da de da da da.

So lots to do.

And when there's a lot to do, and when it rains, and when your kids don't like the stroller anymore, and when it is so hard to get two kids outta the house because they are building statues on top of chairs, or throwing frozen peas on the floor, or when they take about 2 hours to get dressed, or when they cry because they don't like the way the tip of their sock feels, then it's hard to:

take a walk.
talk to a spouse.
go anywhere.
clean anything.
do anything.
think straight.
get things done.
remember things.
write blogs.
stay up late.

But when there's a lot do do, and when it rains, and when your kids pretend they are Mrs. Brisby, and the old auntie from the Secret of Nihm, and when they think their grandpa is the duke from Cinderella, and they think that their Dad is Darksied from the Legion of Doom, and they think their mom is the old Rat Nicodemus, and when they dress me up in ugly hats, and when they pour gallons of water out of a bathtub, and when Effie washes a yellow shoe diligently in the sink for 30 minutes as she scrubs the sole with a toothbrush after she rubs the toothbrush on a bar of soap, and when Celia and Effie play computer chess and write down neighbors phone numbers into the "search" fields of an old computer, then it's definitely easy to:

have fun.
be silly.
not clean.
make music.
watch them dance.
not write blogs.
feed them ice cream for being so cute.
take lots of unnecessary pictures and video.
watch and watch and watch.
let the day go by - and be happy that my kids are alive, safe, happy, strange, and being the cutest of kids.

The other night, Effie giggled uncontrollably, like a little teeny baby that hears a fart noise for the first time and can't stop laughing, and her little laugh in the dark cracked me up so bad, and her laugh got harder cuz I was laughing, and I felt like I was with Monica at church in 5th grade when we'd just be laughing at the dumbest things and can't stop. Effie is a clown. And I think she just may be the one to live out my dream of being a comedian. Hahaha. I made her say a different prayer the other night cuz her and Celia had been fighting a bit too much so I told her to repeat after me. It went like this:

me: "Dear God"
Effie: "Deeoorr Gaawts"

me: "Help me to be kind"
Effie: Heolp mes to be tines"

me: "and be very loving"
Effie; (long long pause)........ "and helps me to be veweeys... verweeys... FUNNIIIEEEE!"

What a wierdo.

I love them so much, and I wish I could just play more. I wish that I wasn't as sleepy sometimes to miss out on their cuteness that's gonna be gone one day. I wish I never had to leave to work to see Effie cry cuz she needs me to put on her socks the right way, but even though I'll get beat, tired, busy, or have to leave - I'm so lucky I get all that amazing time I do get to enjoy my FUNNNIEEEE babies.

Cien!

2010-02-05T00:41:00.000-08:00

Wow. Post number 100! That's almost as cool as Celia gettin all excited about the 100th day of school!

How are you my friends? I can't help but have to say how amazing and wonderful and funny my kids are. Yesterday Effie was in the bathroom after Celia forgot to flush - and she slightly closed one eye, looked at it, and pointed and said - "Is dat Celia's pee?" She looked at me, pointed, looked at the toilet, then looked at me, then said "Ok. I'll go on top if it's Celia's pee".

Tonight I said "I love you Effie". Then she said "Are you in lub wit me?" Of course I said yes. Effie replied - "no - you're in lub with Dada and I'm in lub with Celia". She's so cute I want to shrink her. Everyday I tell her I'm gonna put her in a shrinking machine to keep her tiny forever. She gets even more amazing by the day.

Our big one is still digging the school thing. She got a bigger part in her Yellow Submarine play, and has been glued to the ipod player in the kitchen. She listens to the same songs over and over and has interesting taste. It's the cutest thing to watch her crowd over the smallest little ipod player, and hold it in her arms, and constantly bungle around trying to replay a song, or maneuver the thing. She's even worse at trying to figure that thing out than I am.

So, yes - I saw Pee Wee and it was so so so so so so so so so so so so so so and so much fun. I just wish my girls could have gone because it was so amazing. Cathie can tell you about it here
I won't go on into too much detail, but it was a great night and so much fun to hang with Monica and finally get a night out with her!! (We even hit up the Pantry for chicken fried steak) hehehehe.

And I'm back to subbin' for awhile - in fact I have to get up super early and it's almost 1am, but wanted to post these pics and check in. We've had such a wonderful year so far... and I hope you have too. I lub u guys.

Tinkle

2010-01-18T00:09:00.000-08:00

The funniest part of the day has to be when I put the kids to bed. I mean, all their silliness comes out and when the lights go out it gets especially interesting. Tonight Effie demanded everyone else shut up while she sang us her rendition of "Tinkle Tinkle little Star". And quite the comedian she is - because as soon as we start cracking up she just keeps at it. She does whatever she can do in the silliest way possible to keep us all from sleeping. We don't seem to mind much - cuz she is funny. Today she began speaking in "robot" and even gave her Russian Nesting Dolls some robotic voices. It was good.

And the week/ year so far has been good. It's nice to hear the rain outside. And it's even nicer because I don't have to make anyone's lunch at 8:30 am tomorrow or make sure we don't forget an umbrella for me and Effie when we take Celia to school.

We got to see my friends new place in Highland Park this week. (thanks for the lovely dinner) - Celia and Effie got new pajamas from Monica and wanted to wear them to our dinner on Thursday. Tonight they wore the matching pajamas again, and asked if we could go back to Lucena's just to show them off again, then go back to Monica's to wear them there as well.

Also made it to Celia's friend's house - for an evening outside watching our girls have fun in a new Pink outdoor Clubhouse. (Heart shaped window too!) They had the BEST time. Along with the family party, and the morning with the Horlicks- my girls have had a wonderful week. So have I.

My hubby turned 31 last week - and now we're the same age again.

(I started this post last week and now I'm gonna finish it)

So yeah - I was saying we had some great dinner dates the last couple of weeks, and had wonderful company over tonight - which was fun and made the girls extra silly.

And so, 2010 so far so good. Effie - still funny. She always says "Guess what" before she tells us anything. The other day we had to help Celia with her homework which was to explain her life dream for an MLK assignment she had. She basically had to do the "I Have a dream" thing - and say her dream. To help her out I began by saying "my life long dream is to have a long happy life with my family" - then Celia said in the most sincere voice "My dream for my life is to be Wonder Woman" - the Effie said in the most thoughtful voice "My dweem fo myz life is to take fishy cwakers for da animals at da zoo and feed them" , then Alex said something like " my life dream is to be a monkey at the zoo". It really was funny. Celia was dead serious. We tried to conceal our giggles.

I'm just gonna post - and get to bed soon. I do have a sink full of dishes - and don't tell my mom, but they are really gonna have to wait till morning. I'm too sleepy.

Have a wonderful day, week, month, and I'll keep you posted.

Decade

2010-01-06T22:31:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends: I made it though 2009 - happy, and healthy and I hope I'll be able to say the same next year.
Tomorrow is ..... well... I have to say that: The saddest day has come. We are all really bummed out in my house today. I'm just so sad just thinking about it. Effie is bummed. Alex is bummed. I'm bummed. And Celia is bummed too. What a bummer. This day had to come. I know it did. It didn't come too soon. I felt like we had enough time. We enjoyed the time. We relished in the time. We enjoyed each moment. But it's over now. Back to reality. Back to ................... Kindergarten. Hmmmffffff.

We've been asking Celia all week if we could home-school her. She said no. Because her teacher - she says - is the best in the world. She said she wants to stay in an institutionalized school, however, she asked if it was ok that we just mark her absent for awhile. I said no. She can't just be absent. I said - it's all or nothing honey. You either head back to school, or let me be your teacher. Well, we didn't convince her - which is fine in the end, because I haven't done enough research on home-schooling (or un-schooling) as others call it anyway. Oh well.

But it's funny. Because all around everyone is talking about how happy they are to have their kids back in school, and that they can't wait for vacation to be over for them, and all that... and here we are super bummed. But I think the real reason we may be bummed is that we have to wake them up so early. Vacation was so nice. I could get up an hour before them. Sit awake in bed with them. Enjoy pajamas till 10 with them. Make chocolate chip pancakes every morning with them without the rush. Without the "change me under the covers I'm too cold". Without the "I'm not hungry yet". Without the "Can we watch a movie before school?". WIthout the "EFFIE! YOU HAVE TO WEAR SOCKS!" Without the "EFFIE! You need a JACKET! No - I can't wrap you up in a blanket with you naked underneath!" Without the "I'm too tired for school right now". Without all that plus a hundred more things to say without the about. Oh well. Hmmmmfffff. Oh well.

But I'm gonna do what I can. I'm gonna get some clothes ready to put on Celia under those covers. I'm gonna have the pancake mix ready. I'm gonna have everything ready to make a semi-healthy - and semi-not so good for you lunch. I'm gonna leave room to be sure that Brownie can warm up. In fact - maybe I should go gas up that little wagon right now - so I don't have to roll all the way down Western without overdoing the gas pedal.

Anyway. Thank you all you readers for following Sara the Sub another year. Thanks for the fun times, hanging out, letting me cook for you, for watching my kids, taking them out, buying me birthday and Christmas gifts, and loving me and my family. See you soon, and I'm sure I'll let you know how the dreaded first day back of school went. Hmmmmffff.

I'm still awake

2009-12-25T02:26:00.000-08:00

I wonder why? oh yeah - It's Christmas, and I had to make sure Santa's note was ready, and that he ate his cookies and milk. Thank you family for all the goodies for my kids. Merry Christmas to all of you. Have a wonderful weekend, and fabulous New Year. Thanks Becky for watching my kids all day while I stayed home sick trying to figure out how to bake while feeling a bit shabby. I promise to write before the year ends... but just wanted to wish my friends and familia a superb Navidar. (that's what Celia calls it... Navi-dar)

Saw these and they made me so happy.

2009-12-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

Can't wait for summer again. I hope you are well. We are dealing with the sickies that I just mentioned last week we didn't have. Whateva. But all is good in our hood.

Except for that the other day a bottle of Fish Sauce broke in my kitchen. That was the nastiest thing ever ever ever ever ever. I'll never buy fish sauce again, no matter what the recipe says. Just ask Lety.

We did Disneyland this week, and the dance between Celia and Effie by the fountain in the Tiki Room made me crack up so hard. I'd never laughed so hard watching my kids. They acted out the most dramatic choreography between the two of them, holding each other close when the girl birds sang, then dancing like drumming mad women when the music got crazy, and ... well, it was just too good.

I gotta go - cuz I'm tired but those beach pictures just made me so happy I had to share. Have a beautiful day.

poor thing

2009-12-10T21:36:00.001-08:00

ugg... I thought we had made it this far in the clear. No one had been sick for weeks, then all of a sudden, Celia can't stop coughing. Yuck. Send up your prayers that it doesn't take long for her to get better - cuz everything is just that much nicer, and easier when you're healthy.

I think we may have pushed her a little bit - maybe with school, violin, swimming lessons, musical theatre, birthday parties, music class.... wow. Poor kids never get a chance to just chill out.

But she's ok - and happy - when she's not having a coughing fit.

And Rosey Cakes is ok. Hopefully she doesn't get the bug. She's extra cute though. I think she may fulfill what was my ultimate life long dream of becoming a comedian. She is seriously one funny lady. If you have had the chance to hang out with this young little funny one in the past week, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Her mannerisms, expressions, and choice of words all fall into one category. Funny.

Despite the sickies - we've had such a fun past few weeks. I had to leave my Saturday job for other opportunities that arose. My Fall Music with Sara class is done till January. My Brand class is also done till then... so for awhile- I'll enjoy everything - and especially enjoy how much nicer everything else is, and how much easier everything else seems.... when the dishes are done. (for now)

Celia started swim class. They just threw the child in the water... (did I mention that in the last blog?) Effie was too shy, so I'm forced to go with her now to Mommy and Me swimming - which is cool, but after swimming in a salt water pool all summer, it wasn't fun swimming in chlorine.

Celia has memorized all her Musical theatre lines and it's a riot. Effie has memorized them too. Their best buddies moved outta town, so that was the excitement for the whole week before. They left behind a gas grill that has proven to be a wonderful, soul healing addition to our family. Grilled veggies and meats make for a happy home with happy and bountiful leftovers that keep everyone in a good mood.

We made it to the Fesitval of Lights again last night for the first time this year. Don't know if the cold played a roll in Celia's illness - but she was warm and bundled from head to toe... and the walk... was... long. But FUN!

Effie has been blessed with outings with her Nina... shopping, movies, and Santa. She raved about her day all night. She told her Nina (Lety) that a woman's shawl would "definitely look great on my Dad". Luckily, Lety didn't take her advice and buy it for him. Her Santa pics are too cute with her cutesey wootsy little chin on top of her other cutesy wootsy chin.

And let me not forget to mention her "confession with Santa". The man asked her if she had been good and she went off to tell him sadly that she "broke Celia's 101 Dalmatian's Dvd", and thats what she needed for Christmas to get her a new one. Man - she's gotten the guilt complex already without having experienced CCD yet! Hahahaha.

I can't stand how cute they are. I still am boggled by the idea of making real humans... and every time I look at my own, and I can't believe how great my little humans are.

I'm gonna enjoy the fact that it's 9:22pm, and no one is awake, and there's no laundry to fold, and that there are no dishes to do. I may just watch a movie. I may just have some cereal in peace. I don't know. The possibilities are a select few, but right now they all sound good to me. Crawling into bed early with my 3 warm humans doesn't sound too bad either.

Would Rather

2009-12-01T20:53:00.000-08:00

Would rather blog than do the big big pile of dishes... and I don't know about where you live, but it's like we are living in a sand storm. All that debris from the fires that blew around stinks, and there's so much dust, and so much dirt outside that it's giving me extra work to do around here. Oh well.

And the dishes man... I don't talk about them much anymore, but I don't get where they came from. Oh yeah. Now I remember. Effie took out every pot and pan and utensil she could find to make some kind of a potion yesterday with water. At least it wasn't the kind she makes with parmesan cheese, paprika, flour, salt, sugar, and an entire bottle of chocolate syrup. At least she won't drink the potions.

So after a LONG week of:

Thanksgiving dinner once.
Thanksgiving dinner twice.
Pre-wedding party (Yeah Neal and Jasleen!)
Wedding ceremony.
Wedding reception.
Thanksgiving baking.
Monica's birthday.
My birthday.
My almost last day of work.
My vacation from work.
Celia's first violin lesson.
Effie and Celia's first swim lesson.
Birthday parties.
Moving friends.
Moving friend's leftover stuff.
Work.
Writing songs for Celia's class.
Visiting.
Not visiting.
Cleaning up.
More cleaning up.
Broken/clogged plumbing.
Getting plumbing fixed.
Not finding piojos.
More work.

Yeah, so after a week of all that - plus more... and more that I can't think of, I'm so drained that I don't want to do those dishes. All I want to do is write this out so that it's official - and that everyone knows I'm busy. I think I like to sound busier than I really am, but ... if I sit and think about it for more than 4 seconds, I always conclude that yes - I am really freaking busy. But I don't mind. I like it. And I like being ok with it. But honestly, I prefer not-busy - to busy. For sure.

Ok. Enough rambles... how are you guys? Where are you all at? I haven't seen many of you in a long long time?! Well, let me tell you how exciting I was today to see Celia jump into a pool. Her first swim lesson was a success - (for her) and she overcame her fear of water in her eyes or on her face, and jumped twice into a pool, and even let the swim instructor toss her into the water. It was so cool. I mean - I haven't had many of those "I'm so proud of my big kid" moments, but I definitely had one of those. The reason I haven't had many - is cuz my kids are so small, and usually have only small victories - like Effie saying sentences with 16 words. Small victory? Ok. Maybe big.

And Rosey Cheeks is fast asleep, after telling her over and over again the story of a Sneaky Weasel. Or as she would say "A stowee of da Sneekee Weeso" So Cute.
She was sure a handful today. Lots of tears. Lots of whining. Lots of sadness. Poor Effie. I think she knows that she's a big girl now, and that being a girl means you whine and want everyone to know when you feel bad. She just can't suck it up! But thinking back, her big sister had many moments like Effie is now having, and Effie isn't even half as emo as her sister was. We never had terrible twos.... just kinda tiring threes. Oh Effie Rose. You are the cutest wootest... still.

Ok everyone. I'm gonna go. My eyelids are falling and it's only 9pm. I'm gonna put on the radio and listen to something awful that I would be embarrassed about listening to if you walked in the room. Wish me luck. The pile is enormous. Until the next one.

parents

2009-11-23T21:04:00.000-08:00

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So last Sunday (yesterday) my folks had their 35th Wedding Anniversary. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not much of a "gift giver". I like giving gifts, getting gifts, sharing gifts, but I didn't get my parents anything. (Sorry) But I would like this to be somewhat of an "ode" to them, because, you know what? I really do like them... A lot.

I never thought about parents as much as I do now, now that I am one. Before - my folks were - well, my folks. Always will and always have loved them. Of course when I was 15 I knew more than them. And now that I'm a parent myself - it's all different.

Apparently the point of being a parent - is to hopefully be a better parent than your own right? It may not always be easy to do. But my folks and I have discussed this before. As a parent, you take the best from your own parents, use it, discard the not-so-great-, and move forward, do better, and try your best.

I have to admit - that the reason I am the way I am, is mostly due to the fact that I did have great parents. (and still do) Let me share some of my favorite child rearing practices my parents took part in.

They: (either my mother or father or both)
Took us to Disneyland a lot. (thank you)
Didn't keep too close an eye on us. (thank you)
Let us have unlimited TV access. (I don't know if I should thank you on that one)
Taught me to "Make nice"
Made sure things were nice and tidy. (or pristine for that matter)
Made me ham and eggs, just the way I liked em.
Took us out. A lot.
Let me take ballet.
Let me play piano.
Let me wear cowboy boots for a very long time.
Got us front row seats. (thanks mom)
Taught me to pray.
Took me to parties. (thanks mom)
Let me play outside alone.
They didn't let me have a dog.
Then... they let me have a dog.
I got to eat a lot of sugar. Lots and lots of sugar. (thanks for the cavities)
Took many pictures. So many pictures in fact, that it's hard to forget things. (Good thing they are all things worth remembering)

Of course there's more. And my mom and dad are both very different, and did many different things for me and my sister. I'm glad they are different, and don't think alike, cuz then things wouldn't have been so interesting.

It was always fun to say I had a saint for a mom, and a heathen for a father. Maybe I wouldn't say he's much of a heathen these days though, maybe more of a... well, I'll just say he's a nice guy.

So, my point is... I'm glad they're still here. I'm glad my kids have them too. I'm glad they get to read books to my kids, and play super friends with them, and that they don't have to work their butts off anymore - at least not in an office. I'm glad that they can still drive. I'm glad they can still kind of see and hear (somewhat), because my kids are definitely worth looking at and listening to. I'm glad that I had kids - more than anything because I think there comes a point in time where you start to forget what it is to be a kid. And even though those memories of being a kid are so vivid, you can't really feel them anymore. Then, you have a baby, have to raise a kid, and it brings it all back. You relive the fun, the feeling that you can do no wrong, and you get to watch these tiny humans smile and laugh, and all you want to do is protect them and help them enjoy the time in their life that goes by too quickly. You try to spare them any pain, because you know by now, most things are just NBD. So you have fun. Cuz it's all that matters. Fun... well... to me at least... fun matters. It may not be everything - and sure things get serious. People get rude. Parents get weird. We get mad. Kids get sad. People die. Friends move. Boys stink. Girls cry. You know... all that fun stuff. But as I always tell my buddies... we can't control what happens to us, but we can control how we handle what comes our way. So, it's much more fun... to have fun.

Happy 35th Anniversary Mom and Dad. It's fun to have fun. So go out today and have some fun with each other. I love you.

So Cute

2009-11-13T22:20:00.000-08:00

I mean ... Effie is so cute. Even today Celia said "Mom! I'm CUTE!!! But.... Effie is REALLLLLLYYYY cute." She's so right.

Effie squints her eyes when she talks, and scrunches her cheeks because she's so serious and adamant about what she has to say.

She calls my folks "Yamma and Yampa".

She makes specific requests to wear her: Batgirl Ballerina Dress. Heart Tights. Bella wand. Pink Cape. Tap shoes 3 sizes too big without laces. Red headband.

When she wakes me up in the morning, she shuts her eyes real tight and smiles so big. That's it. She just sticks her big toothy smiley face in mine, until she jumps up and shakes the dust outta the curtains to announce the sun rise. She is so sweet. She holds Celia's hand till she wakes up, and if Effie wakes her up, she's always happy and says "Awwww....Effie... I love you!". (But if I wake her up for school she says "I'm too cozy and still sleepy")

Effie dances on the chair if she likes her food, and throws her hands up then alternates - right hand up, then right hand down with left hand up, and so on.

When we play hide and go seek, if you are hiding with Effie, she'll always give away the hiding spot. She says "we're hiding in the... i.e. shower!" She always blows a cover.

Lately she says things like "Do you think my yamma misses me?" "Can we watch da mobie I was cwaywing for in the morning?" "Did I alwedy have my's Birtday take?"

I mean... I can't stand it. The 9 and a half pound little big child I gave birth to that caused me so much trauma for 16 hours happens to be such a cutey. I am actually glad I rarely recall the day I expelled that child from my womb because it was so horrendous. But I have to admit... with the bad comes the good, cuz Thank Jesus in heaven, Effie is an angel from above. And now she's an even cuter wuter little angel cuz I chopped her bangs a nice inch above her bushy eyebrows, and now you can see even more of my cutest wootest wittle big baby.

Halloweens

2009-11-01T23:05:00.000-08:00

Halloween seemed to last a lifetime this year. We had:

One kid's Halloween Party. - Fun - except that I creeped some parents out with my get-up.
My brother's Halloween Party. - Fun - He was a great Elvis
School Halloween Parade - Cute
Music Class Halloween Party - Fun - except that I creeped some kids out with my get-up.
Dreamworks Halloween Party - Nice - good food - and I went as a tree.
Q-Family Halloween Party - Fun! (Even had a clown partner!)
Treak Or Treating - Tiring - and Fun
Harmony/Glenn Halloween Party - FUN! Frankenstein and his bride were the hosts!

So, as you can see we had a lot of Fun - as always - and I'm glad I don't have to paint my face for awhile now! And I don't have to try to force Effie into a costume! We can relax for awhile - that is until Friday when I start freaking out about Effie's Birthday party right?

And I started music classes at Celia's school. Now I get to see all the little kids she talks about all the time. And I get to see what kind of little trouble makers they are. They are definitely a rowdy bunch of 5 year olds - which makes me happy. Celia is the little miss perfect one, trying very hard not to do anything outta place. Poor kid. I hope she loosens up a bit! I keep telling her that I spent most of 1st and 2nd grade in the "Thinking Chair" and that it was NBD - so to just relax.

So here are the 3 funny quotes of the day:

We fixed up Celia and Effie's bedroom today while my folks played SuperFriends with them and when Effie got back she noticed that her shoe rack was on top of her cardboard house - then when she went to look for her shoes, she saw them in a new place and said "Oh! My shoes are in anothers direction nows!"

Then in the evening while I was putting away laundry, I could hear Alex and the girls watching YouTube clips, then I heard Celia scream "I LOVE this singer SO much! What's his name again?"
Then Alex responded - "Sammy Davis Jr"
The funny part is that he was not joking. Here's the clip she so loved in case you are curious as to how funny this child is, and how funny Alex is. Not that the song or singer is funny, but what 5 year old today loves SDJ? I guess Celia.

Then while we were taking a walk in the dark tonight - and the chasing game was never ending, and the duck duck goose outside the liquor store was more fun than you'd think - Effie kept running and saying "Nah nah nah - You can'ts catch me! Runs runs as fast as you tan - you tan't tatch me I'm da Shingerbread mans!" I love my little Shingerbread man. She's so so so so cute.

Thank you everyone for all the Halloween fun. There is a lot lot lot going on right now, and it's all fun, manageable, and life is wonderful. I hope you are all happy too. Disneyland on Tuesday for Goo Goos' 3rd birthday. See you there?

Mucho

2009-10-19T00:36:00.000-07:00

There's always so much going on. And that's a good thing.... I'm sure.
The weekend was good. Real good. I'm a bit tired of one of my jobs, and every night before I have to go to it, I get cranky, complain, then say I'm gonna quit. Then I go, have fun, remember I'm not too bad at what I do, and go on from there. So whatever with that.

Celia had a day off Friday, and we stayed busy, took a late walk, and did a long music class that lasted over an hour. Saturday we made it to the beach. It had been over a year (I think, if I'm not over-exaggerating which I can tend to do) since we'd gone. And it was so so so wonderful. Effie was in a constant state of euphoria the entire time, and I had a perty good time myself.

Every time we go to the beach, I remember my parents' complaints about sand. Well... yeah, sand can be gross and get in your butt, all over your car, all over our stuff, in your hair, and is messy, but it is definitely worth the hassle to see your kids have fun. Right? Maybe my folks didn't think so, cuz they didn't take us to the beach much - they left it to my brother to take me (thank you Freddy, and don't worry mom and dad, I don't hold it against you). But that's ok, cuz now I can go whenever I want, and deal with the sand however I like right?

But something funny happens at the beach. It doesn't happen to me a lot, or in many places, but it seems that when you're at the ocean, things kind of slow down, and moments kind of just... well... they almost stop. (One other place this happens to me at is when I walk over a freeway over-pass) Maybe it happens by the sea cuz the beach is so far away from my kitchen sink and dirty dishes, or maybe cuz the beach is so immense that it makes you feel so teeny tiny. I don't know, but I like that feeling, and even though it made me sad that I kept my kids away from such a great place for so long, I was still so happy I was there.

Effie was a madwoman when it came to the waves. She wanted to literally sit underneath them. When she saw all the bubbles she'd freak out and scream screams of joy, and she could care less that it was cold. In fact, she'll only let me rinse her in the bathtub if I put on cold water. While Celia was shivering, Effie was perfectly fine. She's a cold blooded Virgo that little Effie. And hot headed too. Is that a Virgo trait? Ha. Alex scooped out a little lagoon for them, and Effie would run down the slope of sand and just jump right into it. When we got there, Celia was terrified of the waves, but as soon as we got into the water, she held my hand, and was almost as happy as Effie. It really was so much fun, and even worth the 90 minutes of traffic we had to deal with on the way home. Whatever to that too.

And today we did the carousel, and a 60 minute wait for the medium paced pony rides at Griffith Park. (not at all worth the wait) We had to listen to parents yell at their kids the entire time, who don't know how to stand still for an hour. Parents are lame. I can't even stand still for an hour. I kept telling Celia we could just come back during the week when no one was around, and she kept saying to me: "NBD mom. NBD" (No Big Deal) It's our new thing around here. Any time someone starts to complain about something, someone ends up saying NBD. It works. Really it does. Just try it. When you get pissed, or tired, or stressed out, just think to yourself "NBD. NBD". There is always something worse than what you're going through.

After we did the park stuff, we got to enjoy Tony's birthday, and an evening of story telling by the Q sisters. I was just happy to listen for a change, and not have to be the one telling Effie the never ending stories for once. Thank you ladies.

And it's late. 12:50am to be exact. And I better go. At least the beans and the carnita are cookin, so I don't have to starve for too long tomorrow. And... (too much and... I know) tomorrow is my last day as a Spanish teacher for awhile. Yeahoo!
See you kids around. Again, if you have any costume suggestions for me - or costumes to give me... holler.

Adios amiguitos y amiguitas.

Yodleyhee

2009-10-13T22:58:00.000-07:00

Hoo...

How's it going everyone? Do you still read this blog? Well... I still write it.

Today I woke up late, long story, but I remembered my dream that Alex had to walk miles in the snow with prisoners, and that I was going to the beach, and stopped at a salt water taffy place that sold deep friend hot dogs in the shape of ice cream cones. Weird.

And today, we had a long date day, cuz the kids were with the Horlicks, playing Super Friends and eating chicken, and taking a ducky. So we left the eastside, as we cruised around in the LA overcast - which we used to do a lot as youngins, and ended up at St. Vincent's as usual. Didn't get much, except a Wonder Woman costume too small for me. On the way there we passed a bar, and some East Los vatos were hanging out, and I thought... what a life those guys have. They get to chill out at a grungy bar all day, and kick it with the same old vatos all day, then Alex said, they were lucky cuz they probably go home to a nice hot bowl of caldo from their wives who let them hang out at the bar all day. Ha. Sometimes (at least to me) Alex can be the funniest man in the world. I mean, not that that last comment was that funny, but for reals, he is quite the funny one.

So Celia has begun school anxiety. She's really nervous about us getting her to school late. As of Monday she had been tardy twice. Once on the second day of school when mom and dad were just figuring the whole drive to school thing, and I was able to walk her right to her class, and the second time on Monday when Alex got Celia to the gate as they were closing it on her. So yesterday she told me "Mom. I don't want to get to school on time. I don't want to get to school late. I want to get to school early so I can get in line with my friends." Ok - fair enough.

So this morning, my alarm clock died! I mean really died. I woke up. Saw sunlight. Bad sign. Cuz Celia always wakes up when it's still a little dark. I asked Alex: "What day is it today". He said "Tuesday". I said "S#$t". I had big plans to wake Celia up early, so as not to rush. That didn't work. So, I got her up calmly. Did all the morning stuff calmly. And got her in the car calmly. Then I broke the news to her.

It went well. She didn't get upset, cuz I told her I had a note for the teacher to explain the tardy, and I'd take her to the office, etc, etc. She was a brave one, and the day ended up ok. The other morning fiasco was that there was chicken nuggets in the cafeteria today, and she wanted them, but insisted on taking her lunch box as well, so I had to write another note to ensure that she would get in the nuggets line even though she wanted to take a lunch box. (She ate the nuggets, even though she said they were a little too brown). The last time I sent her to the cafeteria, she took her lunch box with her, never got in line cuz she was too scared, and ended up eating some carrots and water for lunch. Ugg.

The other thing is that she has become a little miss I have to be good all the time. I've tried to explain to her that her mother was less than perfect, and sat in a "Thinking Chair' for most of 1st and 2nd grade, but she needs to have a "green card" everyday. No... not that kind of green card - the one they give in Kindergarten if you are good everyday. Yellow means warning, and let's not even get into what red would mean or blue ... cuz that's not gonna happen. But she was so afraid of the yellow card, that she held in potty way too long. No accidents - just a melt down when I picked her up from school. She said she had her hand raised for too long, it was un-noticed, and the teacher never saw her. Which meant, she was suffering in silence. I told the child that when you gotta go you gotta go. Listen to your body, and she said she would NEVER get out of her seat without permission no matter what. (I'm gonna have to talk to the teach about that one) It was a tough one to explain, but she wants to be so good it's funny to me. (I never seemed to care about that kind of stuff - but maybe it's an oldest child thing, cuz from what I remember, my sister was a pretty good student - minus during second grade when she had a wack teacher).

Anyhow. We can't forget the other child. She does exist you know, even though she was born second. My Effiekins. The goo goos is the funniest thing. I've been recounting to many people how we turned the lights off on Sunday and she went frantic throwing her hands in all our faces, saying "I can'ts see Mom. I can'ts see you Dads. I can't finds you Celia!!!! I'm BLIND!".

She also has a new thing about stories. Well, she's always loved us to tell her stories, but she's really into stories all day long. Whenever there is a moment of silence, you can expect Effie to say "Tells me dat storys about when Batman and Robin got their chonies on fire by Captains Colds", or "Tells me dats storys of when Effie wents to the forest of feewings, and she was with the Care Bears". Or "Tells me a stories of when I was a baby in yours tummy". I mean, you can't just tell her a story. It has to be the one she suggests, like "Tells me da storys of when Minnie walks to the forests and the wolfs has to learn to makes her a apples pie."

So cute. I know I've said it before. But the child is too cute. All day. Every day. All the time. And if you are not seeing her, or spending time with her, you are missing out, cuz this cutest thing in the world won't be cute for long. Before you know it she'll be 13 years old and not cute. So here's your chance! Hurry! Before she can properly pronounce a K or a T! Get her while she's CUTE!

So, I gotta go. It's 11:43. Still have lessons to plan, and dishes to not do cuz it's now Alex's job. Good night!

Eyyyyyy

2009-10-07T23:55:00.000-07:00

Is "eyyyyy" how you would pronounce what the Fonz says? Well, I really wish I were the Fonz.... but I don't want to be a guy. How could I be a girl version of the Fonz....?? I wanna be the Fonz cuz he always wears the same thing and it looks so cozy. I told my students today I was likely meant for sisterhood - or to be a nun, cuz I like wearing the same thing everyday... even though I never do. If I had a cozy white t-shirt, and cozy jeans- and shoes - I would like about 7 pairs of each to wear every day. Don't get me wrong. I like fancy clothes and know I'd be good at sporting them. But I also like simplicity. I went to St. Vincents on Sunday and bought a bunch of new blouses (well, new to me) and sweaters.. and I dug em all, but while I was looking at the clothes I realized why I don't have decent outfits. I'm too lazy to shop! I was tearing through the isles, and looking and looking... and all the while I wanted to do something else. Maybe it's in my blood. Shopping just ain't my thing. That's why I appreciate all you (most of you who read this) who clothe me. Thank you for your old shirts, tank tops, shoes, etc, cuz you are much better at shopping than I and I appreciate your help. Ok. Seriously.. I have some of the same shirts that I've been wearing for years, if not decades now, and it's embarrassing. Enough said.

And this past week was buusssyyy. My mama's been feeling not-so-hot so say your prayers for her - (are you better now mom?) Work has been nuts.. but FUN! Teaching Spanish is always... interesting. I mean, teaching anything to high schoolers is perty cool. They are more interesting than babies in that they laugh at my jokes rather than my silly faces. Well, they laugh at the silly faces too. You can scare them in a way you can't scare little children. You can say bigger words to them. But they are less interesting in that they are not as cute. Plus, they are pubescent. And that in itself should be considered a disease. A disease worth being quarantined for. I mean, just think about it. Well, to speak for myself, I think I should have been isolated or sent to a deserted island from 14-about 17. And I wasn't even really bad. Either way... I'm with 13-16 year olds for 4 hours a day, 3 days a week, and it's... well.... it.... uhhh.... sometimes makes me fear my future with my own children.... or .... sometimes makes me happy that some kids are actually... or can be... wonderful - even during puberty.

And Effie is so cute. Haven't I said that before. I love how she says "yours". She always says things like.

"I want to sit on yours lap"
"Alex is yours husband?"
"Can I see yours mahka?" (marker)
"I loves yours face".

And Celia has enjoyed school so much this week that not once has she asked to sleep in! I think that's a good sign right?
She has more detailed accounts these days of playing "Littlest Pet Shop" every day at lunch, where she is a character named "Poof Poof", and the game they play entails one boy who has to chase all the Littlest Pet Shop Girl Dogs around. Every time I ask her what her favorite part of the school day was, she either says "Avery" (her buddy), "Cafeteria", (lunch time), or "Leer Cuentos". (story time) So, it's going well. Today she said she loved Kindergarten " A super super bunch" with a thumbs up. Ok. So I won't take her out to home school her just yet. hahahaha.

And don't leave your kid in a car seat with a marker. In the 6 minutes it took me to pick Celia up from school Effie painted striped tights on her legs.

We put pumpkin lights around the front door today, and red streamers hanging from the front window. The girls said it was hanging fire going up... whatever that means. It's a Halloween decoration.

Ok kids. Enough said again. Have a great week. I better sleep now, cuz I've spent too much time writing this, when I should actually be doing work. Oh well.

Otra Vez

2009-09-30T23:42:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. It's so early I don't know what to do with my time. The girls were asleep before 8am. Kindergarten has done something to my first born that I wasn't anticipating. It gave her an appetite. I mean, she used to eat well, but now she wants to eat all the time. My little babies were always like little birdies, just picking away at food (but I hear birds actually eat a lot, so that it's not really a good analogy) - and now, Celia wants a full meal when she gets home from school, snacks, another full meal, then another snack, and then she sleeps. I'm cool with this though. I feel that her wanting to eat makes me a better mom, cuz now all the things I give her actually go into her stomach instead of laying on a plate that I look at with angst. It actually boggles my mind how much a 5 year old can actually consume. Good thing she's not into flaming hots yet, I can't afford that kind of habit around here.

Effie is still wearing that Minnie bathing suit - at least 5 times a week. Bath time is really the only way to get it off her. I honestly prefer it though to the Minnie costume. The kid sleeps right next to me, and sleeping next to a big sweaty baby in a big itchy Minnie costume is not necessarily annoying, but .... well... silly.

The new routine of school makes for a more human bedtime for me. By 8pm they were asleep. I feel bad cuz I broke a promise though. Last night we crashed in MP after Disneyland, and Celia and Effie were left to sleep by their lonesomes (like most normal children do), and Celia came to my old room to get me around 3am I think. So tonight she said to me:

"Mom. When I sleep in Cathie's old bed I like to sleep on her cozy pillows. But when we're at home in your bed, I like to sleep on your tummy. So tonight, promise me that you'll go to sleep when I go to sleep, and you won't wake up until I wake up ok? You can't leave, or get up until I do ok?" Well, I wanted the kid to sleep peacefully so I said ok. Look at me. A dishonest mother. Geez. But I'll creep back into our California King Sized - turned horizontally - bed in a few minutes cuz my eyes are starting to droop anyway. And yeah, the dishes are done, I mopped the kitchen, I put away about 18 pairs of little shoes, I picked up little scraps of paper from all over the floor where the girls had a scissors party, I finished my lesson plan for tomorrow, I watered the lawn, I put away the dishes, I did some laundry... and it's 11:55 and the only thing I still have to do besides brush and floss is.... put away the last of the clean dishes, move the laundry, make Celia's lunch, pack the music class stuff, print out all the music class stuff, and get back into bed between Minnie Mouse and the other one who won't know that I broke my promise.

Since I Have the Time

2009-09-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends.
I made it.
We did it.
We had a birthday party the same day I had to work, and 100 people exactly made it through the gate in the backyard to join us. So if you made it, thanks for coming, and I hope you had as much fun as Celia and Effie. There were no meltdowns, no tears, (except when Effie begged to fall asleep with the biggest tootsie roll known to mankind), thanks to you the clean up was manageable, and we all ate enough.

The adults taking over the jumper is always a fun time. I think jumpers may just become mandatory for parties in which we can not afford a 12 piece live band. ?? Why not.

And.... the days are crazy.. but for some reason now that the party of the year is over, I feel chill. I can think straighter. I don't have little details about plastic forks and appetizers on my mind, and all I have to do now is try to manage thank you cards.

Effie has become my new dishwashing partner by the way. She's good at it too. All I need is a chair for her to stand on, a good amount of soap, and I just pass her the non-glass - non-sharp - eating utensils. She just scrubs, and ends up taking a scrubber to her arms and body, but it's all good. Now that I know she can manage to stay there next to me for the 20 plus minutes it takes me to do a load of dishes, it means I don't have to save them for when she's asleep. And Celia is always down to dry - but she can't reach the cabinets, so I put em away. Fair enough.

She still isn't that into getting to school though. She likes to say "I'm too tired for school mom, but I'm not too tired to stay home with you and Dad today." Everyday she surprises me lots of new spanish vocabulary. It's pretty exciting really that she's finally getting it. And Effie likes speaking spanish too. Her favorite word is "rosa" and she loves to answer "Si, mama" to everything I say to her.

The little rosey cakes just woke up from bed right now with a nasty fever. Damn flu season. I took her to the kitchen to hit up the over the counter Mexican meds I've been stashing, but no luck. She didn't want any. Not even Grape Tylenol with sugar. To make matters worse she's wearing the biggest, fluffiest, most uncomfortable looking Minnie costume as pajamas tonight. I couldn't convince the child out of it, so I thought I'd change her in her sleep, but because of the sickey, she's not asleep deep enough to do that. She keeps saying "Not off my Minnie Tostume! It mies pajamas mommmm!"

Poor thing. Just when I was feeling good about everything starting to chill out, she has to get sick. Yuk. Poor baby. Well, I guess that means chicken soup for lunch tomorrow.

As usual I just wanted to check in with you friends out there. Take care. Lets hope Effie recovers as quickly as Celia did from her bug last week. Be good and THANK you all for all your help at the party, for all of Celia's beautiful gifts, and for spending time with us. I'm a glutton for punishment when it comes to parties but in the end it's always always worth it.

Toe Still Hurts.

2009-09-13T23:32:00.001-07:00

And 2 weeks of Kindergarten down already. Can you believe it.

I'm assuming it's going well for my first born because:

1. She doesn't complain.
2. She doesn't hesitate to leave in the morning.
3. Always has a smile after-school.

She has said the day is long, and she prefers staying home all day with mom and dad, but hey, if we were your parents, you'd say the same thing, so who can blame her?

And Effie... is so cute. I'm gonna have to start posting video, cuz she is the most beautiful funny thing I have ever seen in my whole life. She is still wearing her Minnie Bathing Suit, or Snow White Dress almost everyday. She always says: mom - did you wash mys minnie bayding suits? You washed it? Fors me? Oh, tank yous moms. So cute.

Today Celia said: "do you remember those people who came to our house to visit Earth? Remember - they stayed in my room, and came from Mexico to visit Earth? And we took them to the bus stop?"

That was funny. She was talking about guests we had from Mexico earlier this year, and how they visited California - but it was too funny to me that she didn't realize Mexico was also on the same Planet as California. hahahaha.

And since I last wrote - I've gotten busier and busier and busier and busier. I have 5 Music Classes to teach each week - not including 3 extra Piano classes on Saturdays. Back at the Arts High School 3 days a week, and trying to plan a birthday party.

Oh - We'll be at Disneyland on Tuesday after 2pm if anyone wants to join us. It's Celia's bday, and we are looking forward to getting back there. It's been a long 2 weeks without Disneyland. Ha.

And besides being busy - it's nice to be outside again, after the fire madness has subsided. And it wasn't too hot today so we got to walk. And my dumb stubbed toe still hurts, but was ok enough to begin walking again - so now I feel like a normal human. Did you go outside today? Well, it was NICE.... I must say. We took the girls out to ride bikes and scooters in front of Hoover High School, and it was mighty lovely.

Last night I made it to the New Bev at Midnight to see Breakin 2 -Electric Boogaloo. I won't write about it, cuz the name and title of the movie alone must make it obvious that I had an amazing time.

I just wanted to write to check in - and let you know that we are surviving Kindergarten the best we can. The hardest part is getting the kid out in the morning on time, and getting up so darn early, but it's proven to be good for all of us. I think.

Adios Amiguitos.

My Toe Hurts

2009-09-04T00:08:00.000-07:00

Celia made it through her first day of Kindergarten with absolutely no instruction in English.
It was a little uneventful in that she was supposed to start Monday, but due to the fires school was then canceled on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday.... so by the time Thursday rolled around - we just got her up, gave her some milk and toast by request, put a special note with a drawing of Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl in her Tinkerbell Lunch Bag, and sent her off. She got a picture with her new buddy Hudson before school, gave me a hug, hugged her teacher Senorita Carbajal, then sat on the rug. That was it.

At home, Effie wanted to be with her sister, but decided to play Super Friends with mom and dad. She told me she wanted her friends to play in the "haladustis". (The Hall of Justice) Too cute. Too cute. Oh Effie.

We picked up Celia who was wearing her new Kindergarten hat that said "Bravo! Mi Primer Dia De Kinder!" Too cute. She didn't say much except that she liked Senorita "Carnaval" instead of "Carbajal", and that Hudson could still see without his glasses.
First thing I did was check her lunch, and as suspected - it was all there. It took about 2 hours before she confessed to having a "hot dog on a stick". I still don't get why she forgot her lunch bag in the room. She said she was too shy to take it, so all I can imagine is some lunch person feeling sorry for my kid with no food and giving her a lunch tray in the cafeteria. I only wish I could have been there to watch. She said she ate the whole thing, while she ate her leftover grapes, carrots, and crackers in the car.

Just thought I'd give you all the update. In fact, I want it on record, because I believe the internet may exist in 20 years so Celia and Effie can go back and read it for themselves. I promise to report more soon. Can't wait to play Super Friends again with Rosey Cakes, and see what Celia comes up with tomorrow.

I'm ALIVE!

2009-09-02T01:47:00.001-07:00

So so so many things have been happening!! We've been so busy. It's weird -because of the fires we've been spending a lot of time here at home, but we have made it to the Getty, (thanks to Lucena for her lovely class!) - Disneyland 3 times this month already, no beach, the zoo on a hot day with Becky and got another monster snow cone that the bees kept eating with us on a day Shaq was there. I wonder if Shaq got a big snow cone too?

And it's been crazy - to say the least. My music classes are goodz - nothing real new to report - but if you wanna come - please do! I'm just busy with that stuff. By next week I'll have 5 classes, and it's cool.

We got Celia a violin for her birthday. If any of you wanna buy her a week or month of lessons for her birthday - let me know! (hint) We are looking into getting lessons for her, and applying for scholarships, so I'll keep you posted with that. It's very exciting.

And Effie is too young for Tiny Tots - so until January! But we don't care cuz that means we HAVE OUR BABY all to ourselves! It will be so nice to finally have some Effie-time considering she's the second and we've never had her without Celia around for the most part. I think she's gonna miss her big sister a lot when she's in school, but I'm sure we will keep the little lady busy. By the way.... she's SOOOOOOOO cute.

We had our anniversary last Saturday - number 6 to be exact... and it was.... fun! I stubbed my toe in the morning, (and for some reason today I'm hobbling around like a nimrod) - then work was crappy, then Effie took a too late nap, then we made a gift of a 1/2 gallon of super hot chile for a friends' housewarming that ended up all over Alex, me, the front seat of the Jeep, and the fancy calligraphed card I made them, and it was hot, but it was funny, so we made dinner for my kids and ourselves, and had a fancy date watching the fires from the roof of the Edwards Alhambra Parking lot, and ate some fancy candy and had a fancy coffee. It was a wonderful $9 date. Thanks pops.

And it's funny to go to Disneyland so often, cuz if you go and end up there 5 days later it seems like you never left. The girls have a great time - and all the rides make them happy, but for some reason the Tiki Room has its spell. Last week when we were there Celia goes "Maaooomm. I want to LIVE here at Disneyland"
I asked her why and she said "Because it's SOOOOO great."

Geez.. what have we done to her? Then this week when we went she just stared at the birds and said "Disneyland is SOOOO magical". hahahah.. Whatacutey.
And you should see Effie dancing pretending to be a totem pole. I highly recommend to anyone to accompany my children on the tiki room before they die. It's lovely.

And the bday party is coming up - for those of you who tune in - mark your calendar for September 19th - here at my house. Bring your own beer. Times are tough. However, bring your jumping shoes, and as noted on the invitation you will soon receive: "Dress Fancy". Celia requested that "Girls wear dresses - and boys wear shirts". So if any of you boys out there thought about wearing something other than a shirt - don't. Of course it's optional - but why not?

As soon as the smoke clears Celia will start Kindergarten - in Spanish - so stay posted. She'll only have 15 minutes of instruction in English a day, so I'm sure some interesting stores will evolve within the next upcoming weeks.
Miss you kids. Love you guys. Hope you are all happy and healthy and enjoying September. I am. Take care.

Poy-Sun

2009-08-18T00:54:00.000-07:00

So. Last night - or the other night, Effie - who always is playing "someone", like Minnie, or a Fraggle, said "Mom - lets play Red Fraggle. She's going to a party." So we start to play, and have a party, and have cake, then Effie says "Time fa Dinna!" and I say "what's for dinner?" and she says "Poy-Sun!".

That was weird. I didn't know she knew about poison, but it must have something to do with Snow White's apple. And she is convinced Snow White is gonna sit next to her when we go to the El Capitan to see it next month.

Tonight we went to see the movie "Ponyo" with Becky. It was good. And after we were talking about the movie "Up", and I asked her - "Did you like the movie Up?", and then Effie said - "I like da mooby Down".

That was funny.

And the reason I wanted to write about Poison today, was because I had a little chat with Poison Control.

So, you know I have a zillion things to do, that I don't always get done, like the stupid dishes that seem to pile up to the sky by the late afternoon, or the laundry that crowds my house - and I had ALL the laundry done, so I decided to wash the blankets and sheets, and pillow cases yadda yadda yadda, and so Alex dried them, and put em in a basket and left that basket on the bed. While the girls were playing Justice League in the bathtub, I decided to put on the fresh sheets. I picked up the laundry basket and had my hands grabbing onto the sides of the basket. Not where the handles are, but in the crevices on the sides. Anyhow, I feel something with my right ring finger, thinking its a piece of fussy lint that had accumulated, but wondered why it felt a little moist.

I didn't move my finger, but as I moved the basket, I decided to put it down, and throw away the little piece of dusty, moist, lint that was on my finger, so I kinda use my finger to scoop it up, then I take a look.

THERE WAS A FREAKIN DEAD BLACK WIDOW ON MY FINGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I screamed like a lunatic and said " A F@#$(*&$@$%N BLACK WIDOW!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

Considering how many we see outside, and sometimes near the doors and windows, it was bound to happen to someone around here. I did a good spray a few months ago that made them either go away, die, or hide better, so I hadn't seen one in awhile. Anyhow, the one I killed and its babies made a little home under the sides of the laundry basket and must have gotten there the night I accidentally left the backdoor wide open and the empty laundry basket next to the door, or something stupid like that.

Anyway - I flicked that little sucker into the air, and ran to the bathroom to rinse off the venom I thought was going to kill me right then and there, then I had to recount what happened about 4 times to Alex who was trying to make sense of it, and my hand and finger hurt real bad, and I know it was psycho-somatic, and I didn't want to over-react, so we did a little online research and read that a black widow bite can go un-noticed - so I called poison control and realized I would live. To make this particular long and lame story short, I was fine, it didn't bite me, and I'm proof that you can kill a black widow with your bare hand without a care in the world. But don't go and try it ok?

It just happened to be the grossest thing that ever happened to me next to getting stung by a stupid bee on my eyelid and looking like Quasimoto for 2 days during Summer Camp 1987. Yuk. Yuk. Yuk. I hate poy-sun.

And the summer is not quite over for us. I hope to see some of you soon. Be good. Take care, and check your laundry baskets.

For Cathie

2009-08-15T00:37:00.000-07:00

Cathie made a 30 Second video of my Celia. Enjoy

It's been a year... I think.

2009-08-12T00:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I feel like I started this blog a few months ago, but looking back I realize now that it has been more than a year. Hmm. Time does fly.

And at the moment I'm dealing with the butterflies in a big way. Every time I think about Celia going to Kindergarden and leaving us without her for more than 5 hours a day it makes me feel knots in my tummy. Ugg. But I'm sure she'll be fine, and maybe I'll be like my neighbor who said that once she stopped the initial crying after her kids started school, she got home and jumped for joy cuz she finally had free time. Ha. I wouldn't doubt it, but either way, I'm a little sadness more than anything because my baby isn't a baby anymore.

Summer sure has escaped us... or at least it's trying to, and I feel like I haven't seen anyone besides Becky, the Marinos, Luis, and Cathie. Everyone else has been hiding I guess, and the Q's haven't had enough parties.

But even though I haven't seen everyone... since we got back from GDL we've been acting like true Californians. We made it to the Aquarium, a Dodger Game, a Spark's game at Staples, the Zoo twice, and to the Hollywood Bowl. And remember last year when I wrote about UB40? Well, this year was just as good. You may not know Toots and the Maytals - but I do, and they played the Reggae show at the Bowl the other day, and once again, being in the crowd of thousands, listening to a singer whose voice only got better in last 30 years is too much fun. I'm glad I got to hang with my friends and listen to some beautiful music with my Alejandro too.

I feel like the funny has gone from the blog - but don't worry- it'll come back -but I can't get over my kids every day when they do things that crack me up. (I just can't remember the funny things at the end of the day!) Effie's face alone is the cutest thing in the world, and she makes me melt numerous times a day. She tays da tooest tings in da world. Like: I wants more tookies. I wants to sits on yours laps. Wares my sisters? Lela, tan I peese have yours chotate milks? She's so cute. At least she's still a baby, and I can keep her in my grasp for a couple more years.

I'll still keep you kids posted on the funnies. I'm too busy right now. I have some extra classes going on, and I'm working on a NEW BLOG - so don't abandon sara the sub, but bookmark the other cuz I'll be working on that too. And YES I'm GOING TO SEE PEE WEE HERMAN ON NOVEMBER 29th. This will make up for the life experience missed by not going to Michael Jackson's funeral. After having talked to MJ in my dream, I'm able to move on - and my other favorite person in the world - Paul Reubens, is making my dreams come true. I can't WAIT! Buy tickets and Join us - 5pm Nov. 29th at the Henry Fonda theatre. I heard it's gonna be PG-13.

Take care friends.

A Little Easier

2009-08-04T00:11:00.000-07:00

So we're still settling in I think. And for some reason everything seems a bit easier. Maybe it's that my house was cleaned for me while I was gone. Or maybe because being a music teacher isn't as hard as it was last month. Who knows. But either way. We're back. We're safe. And thank God nobody got a stomach bug or the swine flu.

And it's midnight, and even though the house was clean, and kind of still is, I'm still working on the laundry, listening to Whitney Houston, and picking stickers off the ground.

We found the jackpot of garage sales the other day and ended up with brand new princess costumes for nothing practically, and guess who has been wearing a Minnie dress, with Minnie gloves, and Minnie sparkly shoes, and Minnie ears for a couple days now? hmmm.

The guy selling them was like my twin brother but about 75 years old, and from Mexico City. He's a photographer/music teacher/piano player/singer/sell your junk vendor. It was perty funny. The guy threw in a nice pair of maracas for me for going back to buy the last bigger Minnie dress... just in case Effie is still infatuated in a year, or if the other one ends up in the dryer too long.

And Mexico was amazing. I'm so glad we decided to go, and Celia was in tears in the parking lot of Target yesterday cuz she missed Guadalajara and Mama Celia. For the first couple days Effie kept asking to go home, by car, not airplane, but by the time it was time to go, neither of them wanted to go. Celia said we should just go back in 2 weeks.

Celia's fish Ce-lia pronounced "See-ya" died the day we left. Alayna if you are reading... we need a new beta fish. And Celia saw the fish bowl outside and I did the bad mom thing of lying to her and saying she was asleep. (It was a boy fish, but she always insisted it was a girl). Anyhowz. I told her yesterday she was dead, and all she said was "Do we still have the fishbowl?" So that was easy. I thought she'd be sad on the airplane if I told her before the trip, but I guess she gets it.

Here are some funny things that child said in mexico. And more.

When a Michael Jackson video was on while her great-grandma was watching tv, Celia was eating at the table and whispered to me: "I didn't know my Mama Celia liked Michael Jackson".

She said people in Mexico must love Jesus more cuz they have more churches.

Effie wore a Minnie Mouse Bathing suit 4 days out of 11 on the trip. With little Yellow Snow White shoes. Too Cute.

Celia learned to say "whatever". It's weird.

Someone pointed out that Celia is just as pigeon-toed as I am. I'm sure other people have noticed but have not wanted to openly make fun of us. ha.

Effie can down a whole bottle of Mexican Coke as fast as any expert beer drinker can down a bottle of Pacifico.

Where's Becky??

Well... lots happened, and it was so much fun, and yet so so tiring carrying Effie around all over the place. We got to go to kid's music classes, and buy leather sandals and tons of plastic masks, and best of all..........

I hit the jackpot of bootleg Michael Jackson DVDs. Captain EO. Moonwalker. History. Live in Japan 1987. I am so super excited about these and they actually work, and have spanish subtitles. Mexican piracy has its good-side.

Oh - and that reminds me - I had the weirdest dreams in mexico. One was that I found the husband of my dreams and had to break the news to Alex, but when I realized I was married, I decided to not get a divorce. hahahahhaah. Alex thought it was funny too. hahahaha.. but here's the best one.

My first night there I had a dream I was lying on a bed with Michael Jackson. Now stop it. It wasn't gross. We were clothed. It was like kids hanging out. We were just chilling watching TV, and then I looked straight at the guy and he was wearing sunglasses and a hat, and I told him how lucky I felt to finally have the chance to tell him how much his music meant to me, and then we were singing songs together, and I told him the jams I was never fond of, and it was one of those dreams where you wake up, think it's real, then go back to sleep, and it still goes on, so in the end, I had to break the news to him and tell him he was going to die, and I was all sad, and I woke up and thought that was perty funny too. I can't remember the other ones except the one before the trip about Effie being about 1-inch tall, and me being happy that I could carry her in my pocket.

Ok. This is enough nonsense.. so I'll spare you anymore. It's 12:33am and I have a lot to do still. So good night, I'll see you around, and take it breezy.

quick and dirty

2009-07-23T16:09:00.000-07:00

hi. excuse the no caps or bad grammar, but i´m in mexico and they only use pc´s here, and it bugs the crap out of me but i can´t find the at sign, or caps, or shift, or whatever. so deal! cool. i found the exclamation point.

so, we got here fine after a great but long plane ride. celia loved listening to rock and roll on her headphones, and ate the adult pasta meal, saying how delicious it was, and then fell asleep at the end after hours of coloring and bobbing her head to rod stewart probably, and effie was asleep the first hour, and then happy just looking out the window. so that... was great.

and we have been here in guadalajara, walking a lot lot lot, carrying effie way tooo much, eating a lot, eating churros, tortas ahogadas, posole, carne asada, birotes, fresh everything, the works, and paletas de agua de limon, tamarino, guayaba, and chocolate everyday so far, and the girls are eating well, even though the first day effie almost starved herself saying she wanted to wait to eat at home.

and they are chillin watching backyardagans in spanish while alex and i are at the internet cafe thing, with no cafe. and the funniest story to me so far was that we spent our first day on alex´s cousin´s farm, and they have a small home, 2 kids, one 3 years old who played with celia and effie, and a baby who´s 1 who was a dream of a baby, just super chill, and anyway, they have pigs. smelly, and lots of them, and some are huge, like the size of a hippo, i swear. so, about 10 of them are in all seriousness the size of small hippos, about 500 pounds i´d say no joke, and anyway, effie ate a banana and she didn´t finish it, so i asked his cousin, what should i do with the peel and remains ? and she said throw it to the pigs, so i threw it to a big monster pig who freaked and trembled the ground when he jumped for it. scary.

so... a few hours later, after both my kids had napped and blah blah blah, his cousin came and asked me ... sorry about no quotation marks

which one did you feed it to? The BIG one' Well, i think she said a different word, but i thought she said big, and i said yeah. then she said, it´s dead.

oh my god. i thought........ i killed a pig. this is what they eat with. this is thier living. she said.. don´t say a word. i think he choked on the peel. it´s my fault, and don´t say anything. so, i just was sitting there, worried, and sad that i murdered a humongous pig, and she called her dad, and it was just a little wierd. anyway, a little later it turns out, to make this long story short, the pig i fed was still alive and well, cuz dummy me never went to go see which one was dead, and the one who actually died was the only male pig they have who had been good for nothing cuz he hadnt impregnanted a girl pig in a long time, and that morning the male pig actually did his business for the first time in months and months, and died after having relations. hahhahahaha.. the dad who is a vet , knew which one had died, cuz he said he was sick and a good for nothing man, so in the end i was very happy that on my first day in mexico i did not kill a zillion pound oinkster.

i have to go cuz the laundry waits. i miss you all, and will see ya soon!

sara

Mexico or Korea?

2009-07-19T23:43:00.000-07:00

So many Korean things happened to me today.

1st. I began my morning by delivering a borrowed camera to a girl I borrowed it from. She was Korean.

2nd. I went with Alex to the HK market - which is Korean.

3rd. My Friend Skot called and came by. He's half Korean.

4th. We ate dumplings and bulgogi for lunch. Korean.

5th. My sister said that in Remo Williams one of the guys says that Korean is the master race. Korean.

6th. I went to Korea town for Dinner. Korean!

7th. I ate Korean BBQ for dinner with for my friends Birthday. Once again Korean!

Wow... what a day - so cultural right! And tomorrow it'll be Mexico's turn to captivate me!

Ok, enough of that nonsense. I just thought I'd share. But once again, I'm postponing what I should really be doing - Cleaning up and Packing - but it'll happen. Some how or another everything gets done right? Right.

And since I'll be gone - for the next 11 days I wanted to say goodbye. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers that we all have a safe fun trip, cuz that's all I want. And I'm super excited about leaving LA! Yeahoo! For the past 2 years we made over 6 trips to LAX to pick up or drop off different people, and every time we went I was always a little bitter that it wasn't me who was gonna get to go on an airplane - but now it's our turn! Yippy!

And to top it all off - this past week of summer went well - and after a lot of swimming, working, lazying around, playing, seeing family, and so on, there's more fun to be had elsewhere.

See you all when we get back - and I may not be posting images - but I will definitely try to blog while I'm in Guadalajara to make a list of all the things we will be doing in the rain.

Till next time.
Sara

Post 76

2009-07-10T23:34:00.001-07:00

There are a million things I'd be better off doing but I won't - for your sake.

But I can't help but want to procrastinate so I can mention a few things that I should not share but I will.

1. I never ever ever put the house phone back on the charger.
2. Every time I walk in the kitchen I notice that there are cabinet doors open. It erks me to pieces.
(I'm the one who doesn't close them)
3. There are various children's shoes all over the house.
4. I never seem to be able to fold laundry straight outta the dryer. Ever.
5. The dishes are NOT done. Because they are NEVER done!
6. There is a chair on my front porch that belongs to Effie that I was supposed to bring in the house 2 weeks ago, and there it is. Along with Giraffe boots.
7. We have a green and hot pink carousel horse mounted in rocks on the front lawn. We must be the most interesting people on the block.
8. It would be nice to be organized. So nice. It's my dream. The dream of the future. Pray that I will make this a reality.
9. There are legos next to the gas pedal of my car. They have been there for 2 weeks as well. Why are they still there?
10. I hate dust. I think it is my worst enemy. That and dishes.
11. You know what stinks? When you make a fancy meal for your kids and they don't touch it. Hmff. All that time working while the kids veg out on tv for nothin.
12. My zucchini plant don't look so hot. hmf.
13. I had a new pair of Gold LA gear jazz shoes that I wore to death for 4 whole days and they are already dead. I'm so mad.
14. My flip flops are dead too.
15. I lost my other slip on shoes.
16. Now I have to spend wasteful time tying shoes. What ever happened to velcro? I need me some nice velcro kicks. Or new flip flops. Or Flojos. Anyone have some?
17. Celia cut Effie's hair in a big way today. I mean, half of the length on the right side of her head is gone. Now she's extra rock and roll.
18. Celia always seems "too tired". I think it runs in the family.
19. When I finally get time to do things... I like to sit and think about what it is I should be doing when I already know what to do.
20. This list of "whatevers" has 20 things, so I better stop now.

No! Never! More lists! I like lists! They make me feel organized! So let me now list some lovely things.

1. Effie drew a lovely drawing on our easel in Orange Permanent marker.
2. Celia then said - "Oh no. She used 'permative' marker mom."
3. Summer is lovely. Summer is lazy. Summer is swimmy.
4. Celia really likes to write letters. Send her a letter with her name on the envelope and she'll write you back. I promise.
5. We planted new flowers.
6. We like going to the magical gardens. Care to join us? (Descanso Gardens)
7. Got tickets to Mexico. I'm So so so so so so so so so excited. I won't have to do MY dishes at least. Other peoples dishes are never as bad!
8. We've discovered coloring pages printed online. When all else fails, print out a minnie coloring sheet from the internet.
9. Play-dough really does make children happy.
10. I've been able to live without napkins in my house for 2 months. (Lucena may understand - because she too grew up with the communal toallita) (translation - little towel)

Ok kids. Time to get to work. Just thought I'd distract myself for a moment. I love summer, and hate that it goes by so quickly. There's so much to do, and I can't seem to get any of it done, but I try. Please distract me, and come over, and help me clean the girls room if you're bored, or lets have a picnic, or steal my children whenever you'd like. Have a great day. I love you.

Wups.

2009-06-29T23:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry this has taken me so long, and either way I am in no position to write. There are way too many other things I should be doing right now at 11:36pm, I have no real funny stories that I can think of, and I have no idea what portraits I have not posted.

Anyway, either way, I am going to write and see what the heck comes through these fingers with freshly cut nails.

Well, we got snail mail today from Alyssa. That was cool. Of course the regular letters come from "ME" (mr. h) which are always well received as well. The girls love our mailman "Arsenio", and I can't help but want to bark "Hoo Hoo Hoo" while swaying my punching fist every time he brings the Penny Saver.

And these past few weeks have been overly busy, and moments of clarity have sprinkled through my life as the summer has become more pronounced. I love summer. Especially summer nights, and I'm so glad they are here, but wish I could enjoy them a little bit more.

On a side note- we threw some of our caterpillars in a jar a few weeks ago, and metamorphisis ....well.... actually happened without killing the poor creatures. Last year the girls were a little obsessed with naming each caterpillar and taking it on a walk with us, and this year - they like giving them away to people in jars with some extra leaves to eat. If you wanna see some - there are about 15 of them on display or already in a cocoon at the Glendale Central library children's department.

So, the computer is going back in the house - so I may actually write more. Walking out in the cold, or dodging skunks and raccoons, or rain, or lightning, or black widows has not made it easy for me to blog. Now that I'll have a computer within reach - you just may be hearing from me a bit more often.

And because I JUST HAD TO BECAUSE IT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MOST ANYTHING:

I had to mention a few things.

1. I love Michael Jackson.
2. Vicky and I used to listen to "BAD" without end in my 1992 4-toned Ford Escort, and even busted my speakers listening to "Liberian Girl" way too loud down Ventura Blvd. You can just imagine the amounts of men drooling over 2 strange girls blasting Michael Jackson as if it were 1985 in 1997.
3. I think hearing of the death of MJ was harder on me than finding out Captain EO was pulled outta Disneyland.
4. Mary has the MJ lifesize cut out. Enjoy him forever.
5. I still have 5 MJ t-shirts.
6. It's a shame, but MJ dying has meant almost non-stop MJ music on the radio. I used to say that any day I heard an MJ song on the radio would be a good one, so I can tell it'll be a good summer. (just too bad he had to die for this to happen. Ugk.)
7. If you are ever in a sad, bad, mood Michael can help. I promise. Just listen, or watch.
8. Yeah, I think I'm a little too obsessed, but please let me know if you are coming with me to the funeral. I'm going. For sure.
9. If it weren't for MJ, I wouldn't be the Sara I am today. No way. LIstening to the Jackson 5 in high school forever changed my music taste. Little MJ is my hero. (and Celia's too these days)
10. Dang. Liberian Girl is SUCH a good song.
Thank you Michael Jackson, for making my life so happy. You really really really did make a difference to me.

(Do you think he will read my blog from heaven? hmmm. I wonder.)

And on to other things:

I'm teaching A LOT more - music that is, and by the end of the summer I'll be teaching 5 days a week. (Not full time obviously) So, if you are interested in knowing more about what I'm doing - just email me - and you can join a class or refer someone.

And- we found out the fate of our little almost 5 year old. She'll be going to Kindergarten in September and not at her home school, but South of us a ways, as she'll be in a Spanish Immersion program. Kindergarten will be 90% in Spanish - so let's see how that goes! We're excited for her.

Ok, This will have to stay brief, cuz I have to go. Again, the new computer location will change everything. Talk to you later.

Before I forget

2009-06-08T23:31:00.000-07:00

Before I forget all the funny things I was thinking about I should write them down. Well, I probably won't remember too many funny things - but I may remember one or two.

And after that - I'll mention Celia's graduation by request of Gina ok?

Well, tonight it was really late when we were hitting the bed, and had just come back from my moms, and neither kid was asleep on the way home cuz they were taking turns listening to their favorite disney songs, from an old disney cassette tape; so this is how it was:

"My turn! My turn next! I want to hear Mr. Piano Man (an Annette song) and Ducktales!"
Then Effie would say

"Mie Toorn! DIsneywand Song Furst!" (so she'd hear tiki room, then small world, then we'd hear Ducktales over and over, then we'd skip the Tale Spin song, cuz they for some reason don't like it as much, and because of this no one was asleep, but they had peed and brushed, I grabbed the gummi vitamins and told them to march right into bed, and they did so - so I turned off the light, and was able to skip the reading books part of the night by telling them I had a surprise.

So the lights were off, we were in the bed, Celia sleeps on my stomach, Effie, under my right arm always, and Celia says:

"What's the surpize! What's the surprise!???"
"Well". I say... "I wanted to tell you how happy I was that you were in my life, and I'm so happy I had you guys cuz you are the most wonderful children. That was my surprise."

There was a bit of a long pause..... and I thought Celia might say "Aww mom, thank you so much!"

But she said:

"Hmm... I was hoping that the surprise was going to be glow in the dark".

Then as the night time bed time stories progressed she begged for stories of the wuzzles. Do you know who the Wuzzles are? Well, it was an 80's Disney cartoon about split personality animals, anyway, Celia and Effie are in love with it, and beg to watch youtube episodes, and Right when Celia was almost asleep she says:

"I'm so excited to have the Wuzzles Collection DVD".

I don't know where she's gonna get it. It's only in the UK.
Anyhow, about 2 minutes later she says " I have to pee"
And Effie says "Poo Poo"

So I take em both to the potty. They go, they wipe, they flush.

Then back in bed, I say I'll tell you one more story then you gotta go to bed.
Celia says:

"What kinda story are you gonna tell us?!"

I"ll tell you a story about your mom and dad and how we met.

"Mom, I don't want a story about you and Dad in the human world. I want a real STORY about when you and Dad traveled to the land of Wuz."

So I told them that story, which I won't recount, and they fell asleep, and so did I, but Alex woke me up and here I am.

And so Celia's graduation:

Effie and I -my folks, in-laws, and Becky and Louie were among the select few to watch this elaborate ceremony, and I really may actually try to post the video - but ... I was expecting a small thing, pass out a paper, have a paper hat on, say good bye and eat some chips.

Nope. It was the real deal.

Special seating.
Balloons.
Pomp and circumstance.
Microphones.
a PA system.
DIplomas.
Ceremony.
Entertainment.
Speeches.

This was the real deal. I felt bad that I hadn't invited everyone I knew. But I had no idea.

Anyhow, all the kids walked out to "Pomp and Circumstance", which I thought was cute, and even cuter when every kid was walking in a straight line, except fancy Celia who was strutting and gliding across the floor waving and bowing, and blowing kisses as if she were in a Disneyland parade. It was too funny.

And when all the kids were in their seats, that didn't stop my fancy child from waving, turning her head like a coy Snow White who's shying away from the prince, and holding her dress so properly. It was very hard not to laugh the entire time.

And they did a show, and sang some songs, and everyone's favorite was the "hi. my name is bill song."

Then all the kids went up to say what they wanna be when they grow up, and Celia said she wanted to be "An artist cuz I like to draw", which was rather boring in comparison to "I wanna be an Ice Cream maker cuz I like to give people Ice Cream", or "I wanna be a wrestler because I like to hit", Or "i wanna be a prince so I can slay dragons".

Ha. I guess the boys were a bit more inventive on that one. But Celia did great. Effie was so proud as well and excited for her sister, and I'm sure she'll do the same one day.

Well, that was the jist of it. Things have been quite busy and insane lately, and I'll try to keep keeping up. But hope everyone is good in the hood.. cuz I am. Good night.

Coffee in the System

2009-05-29T00:24:00.000-07:00

It's 12:24 am.
Lots to do.
Places to go.
People to see.

Did I ever mention we went camping?
Well, that was fun.
Remind me to always take water guns whenever we go camping. The girls liked that.

Did I mention we went to Disneyland?
Well, we do that here and there now, and taking Brownie there is much more fun than taking a car with Leather Interior for some reason. And Effie almost knocked over Minnie Mouse again cuz she was SO excited to see her. Well, considering that EVERY single thing that Effie wears, eats, or touches is called "Pink Minnie _____" it's not a surprise.

Did I mention we are going to San Luis Obispo?
Well, Lucena - I'm so excited! Wedding on Saturday which means I don't have to go to my Saturday Job for the first time in almost 2 months! Yeeehaww!! (Isn't it funny that I only really work once a week and I think it's too much??) Hmmm. I'm a questionable person.

Did I mention that I am so very much loving my children?
I mean.... there is no doubt in my mind that my 2 kids are probably in the top 2% of all time amazing people created on the face of this earth, so I feel rather proud.

And this is just a catch up blog, cuz if I ever figure out how to pack for a weekend trip, we'll be leaving till Sunday. You are welcome to come over and water my lawn, any of you if you'd like. And my vegetables, but DON'T steal any. I'm eating them. Well, then again, if you do come to water the lawn I will allow you to take no more than ONE zucchini and ONE small handful of Basil. Ok? But the cilantro is MINE!

And My dad left me and spent time in Alabama...... Why Alabama?? Well, if you marry a trucker you just may end up in alabama. No. My Dad didn't marry a trucker, but someone he knows once did, and blah blah blah. I'm just waiting for my chance to explore the strange south.

And... uhh... Celia graduates from Preschool next week. If you wanna go let me know. And the girls have a 15 minute Dance recital in a very tiny room this week. Let me know if you wanna go. And... It's almost summer... which means, lots of time at the carousel, the zoo, the library, the house, the neighbors' swimming pools, in the sprinklers, and trying to organize my life and find a way to survive and find things to sell to afford a trip to Mexico. I wish. Hmm.. I think I can handle it. (maybe not the trip but everything else)

And... well, hope all you peeps are ok, cuz I'm ok, and all is good. Let's hope it stays that way. One day I promise to get back on the blog train and post portraits and write every week. Oh yeah, that'll happen when I get a laptop... so probably not anytime soon.

Oh - one funny story tonight. But it's a little Rated R, but it was funny. I was trying on a dress for the wedding and I told Celia that the one I was wearing didn't look good, cuz I needed boobs like Miss Yvonne to look better in it, and she said to me :

"But Mom! Humans don't have boobs like Ms. Yvonne! She's only on TV!"... hahahahah.. little does she know...

And... our new thing after we do all those goodnight checks is: Celia and Effie beg me to tell them a Ghost Story. Then they take turns telling stories. They tell the stories into a microphone that lights up. So tonight, Effie''s story went something like this:

"Pink... Minnie.. Hello.. hello... Dere was a gost. Da gost was a big doo doo. Dee end"

Depressing!

2009-05-13T00:12:00.000-07:00

F.Y.I - I'll go back to portraits soon, as soon as I can - but for now, and for a change - here's a pic -

I know i know I know I know.... I haven't written in ages.. it's a shame. It's really bad. I didn't mean to let this happen.. but with those two children I conceived and gave birth two, anything I get to do by myself is somewhat miraculous right?

So this morning - I knew I'd have to blog cuz it was an extra extraordinary morning.
You see... I woke up pretty late. 8am on the nose to be exact - and if I wanna get anything done before Effie gets up and asks for "chocat mewk", I should be up around 6:30. An alarm of some sorts went off at 7:32 and I managed to sleep a bit longer to finish a dream about being on the freeway and dead-ending into a large mattress that covered the freeway floor near a wall with 5 identical 60's model Pontiacs.

So I got up - and Alex. Yes Alex Quintanar, said to me (for the 4th day in a row), "let's do the dishes together before Effie wakes up". I'm still having a hard time believing this one. Pinch me please. So we attack the mound of dishes I left the night before and get em done in NO time at all, cuz DISHES that TOTALLY suck can actually be manageable and not so HORRIFYING when someone helps you move those suckers out back into their chambers. SO, if that wasn't wonderful enough - Effie didn't wake up until we were done with the dishes, cleaning the counters! Wow! Yes!

If that isn't wonderful enough! Get this! Effie and Celia walk into the kitchen hand in hand, say good morning - and then say - well, Celia says:

"Mom! Effie woke me up, and we were in a good mood! I asked her if she wanted to play toys with me so we're gonna go in my room now ok? Is it ok if we play with toys before breakfast?"

Well. I was a bit flabbergasted and baffled, and Alex and I thought we were dreaming cuz normally, there is some screaming from the bed asking us to be there with them, and then complaining about something, or begging for milk, or begging to watch a "DVDB" (say's Effie), and getting out of the bed takes anywhere between 10 and 44 minutes. Anyway, their attitude was welcoming.

Then... to make things even BETTER than that - they played like sweet little blessed children and came right to the table and ate all their pancakes and fruit and Alex made them chocolate covered strawberries, and they brushed, got dressed and outta the house without a problem. I call it too good to be true. I'm so glad the morning was good cuz tonight was the first night in a long time that it took both of them an hour to get to bed, cuz Effie asked to poop about 6 different times, never went, ended up grabbing leftover chicken in the kitchen and eating a big slab of fried chicken and about 7 cherries then finally went to bed, so considering that was a bit of a headache, at least I have the memories of the morning.

And that younger offspring is way too funny. She thinks I'm Donald. Calls Alex Goofy, and Celia is Daisy, of course she's "Minnie", but only when she's not "baby Minnie" or "Mama Minnie". Sometimes I am "Mama Minnie", and yes she becomes "baby Minnie", and Celia is "Big girl Minnie", and Alex is "Dada Minnie", then we have "Minnie" parties, and Alex then becomes "Mickey", and I stay "Donald", and she gathers matching bags for everyone so they can bring the party accessories and treats, and we all have to wear matching "Minnie" hats, and talk like "Minnie" and invite the "Minnie" dolls, but we have to make sure everything there is "Pink".

She is obsessed with the color pink. So much so that at the library yesterday she wanted to make sure that the "DVDB" (DVD) she picked out was pink, and good thing the Donald Cartoon Collection had a "Pink" sticker on it, cuz then she wanted it. She checked out about 6 Barbie books the other day cuz they were the only Pink books she found, and they didn't even have pictures. They are chapter books, and she insists on reading the "Pink" things. Yuck.

And don't let me get into Celia's new obsession with the Crucifixion, cuz it's kind of weird and maybe I shouldn't go there, but I had to remove her Bible Stories for kids book cuz I keep finding her sneaking a peek at the Crucifixion page being very sad for Jesus.. ok I'll stop there....

And today while we were walking - which we do every night, and has become more torture than fun or exercise, cuz Effie always wants to be carried, or Celia needs to take her own stroller for her own baby, or they are freaking out about something, or they insist we play dogs the entire way, or they want to chew gum that I don't have or something so lame, and ridiculous, and tiring, when all I want to do is stop the insanity and put them to bed, but Alex insists that we get out just to be tortured into a very odd walk that may also include chasing and falling, and running, and waiting long numbers of minutes for Effie to get off the sidewalk cuz she feels like sitting down, or Celia to get off of someone's lawn while she pretends she's in some magical garden and needs to smell every single rose she can find.. Ugg...

But in the end I have to admit - it's fun, (yeah, I'm not lying), cuz they are just too funny, and tonight while I was holding Effie cuz she didn't want to sit in the stroller, I was holding her and thinking how cute she was in her pink pants, pink shirt, and little tap shoes, her pink lipstick, and of course a minnie mouse hat, and she was cracking up cuz I'd blow bubbles with her pink gum and smash the bubbles on her face and make her scream and it made me think of how sad it is that she won't be this cute forever, and who cares if I have to carry her, cuz I'd carry her for miles if it meant I could just keep her a little funny pink minnie loving child just a bit longer.

And I better go, cuz it's late as usual. But don't forget I miss you guys, I love you guys, and if you haven't seen my kids in awhile, you're really missing out cuz they are the funniest people in the entire world.

Better Check In

2009-04-22T23:13:00.000-07:00

Just in case you thought I've forgotten to write - well, you're wrong.
I don't have time really though- for anything besides the domestic duties, and aside from trying to figure out one kid's educational future, cooking, a new job, another little new job, and playing with the kids night and day, cooking, eating, seeing friends, making music, taking walks, carrying Effie on those walks, and all the other stuff, well that leaves little time to sit here and write.

But the only thing that matters at this moment is I'm here. And I'm so super excited as you can tell cuz there's no portrait on the blog today. Well, there is one, of "Brownie", our new car, and after about a year of checking Criagslist everyday for a Toyota Corolla Wagon pre-1984, we finally found our dream car. Yeah, it's not the color of choice, but at least the brown has those little metallic sparkles when you look up close. I'm so excited, but a little sad to not have to resort to using Logan, my sister's bug. But the bug may have a temporary home still in my driveway, so at least for now, we are a 3 car family. I'm living up to my early expectations of having various cars to choose from. What a life.

And as for life - it's good. It's crazy - and I'm on about day 4 of staying up until 1:30 am to just make the next day's meals, wash the stinking dishes, fold clothes, do lesson plans (cuz I'm teaching 3 classes every Saturday morning - baby music/adult group piano/kid group piano), and I became a cook as well. Well, besides cooking for the fam I'm getting paid to add another mouth to feed which is just fine and dandy with me, and I'm trying to keep the vegetable garden alive (so far so good), and I'm trying to keep my kids and husband happy and healthy, and Yadda Yadda Yadda.

As for the offspring - they are fine. The older one is herself, being fancy, sincere, and as smart as can be - and the younger one is talking up a storm, being the little sweetheart and most lovable little creature in the world. I'm so proud of those tiny things, and I can't wait for you guys to see them. (Those of you reading) Cuz I'm sure you miss them and they miss you.

Can you remind me to write next time about the librarian story, the human world story, and the Effie tapping story if you can? Cuz I really gotta go. It's only 11:22, but tomorrow's a busy day with lots to do, and Disneyland as well, so laters. Oh, and yeah, Brownie is so cute. I can't wait for you guys to meet him too. He is really my dream car, and I finally got him. All is too good. I better not jinx it and open my mouth and say it out loud.

Success

2009-04-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

Wow. The day is done, and I'm half awake. Surprise? Well, I did have my share of coffee today. Armenian coffee whole beans from Jons cost $3.69 per pound, and does the trick.
We haven't been doing the coffee thing much lately, but that and cat naps for me can really make the difference from being a nice friendly mom, or a maniac freakazoid ready to stomp on all the toys that get in my way like a crazy Godzilla mommy.

And with that said, today was fine. I mean real fine. I handled two mini-tantrums like a pro. Some onlookers may have said I'm not tough enough, but in my old age I've found that with my kids, yelling, being mean, and trying to show my power doesn't work as well as telling my kids that their feelings are valid, that I understand, that I too freak out, and that I love them. I also try to put myself in their situation and say things like .... "Oh, you mean, I should cry when your Dad wears a black shirt when I want him to wear a white one? Would that make things better?" Then Celia says, "No." "But I NEED Effie to wear a Pink Ballet Outfit!" But this conversation carries on until she realizes after some consoling that yeah, her crying is a little silly, and then she'll say "Oh, it's just that I really WANTED to wear the green skirt and that's why I was mad at Effie", and even though this makes no sense we carry on.

Anyhow. The day had many triumphs for me.
Including:

I woke up at 6:30am.
The kids woke up at 8:30am.
We made it to Effie's speech class on time driving Cathie's bug (which usually chugs up the 2 freeway, so I left early to take the streets)
Celia met a real handsome fireman who let her sit in the driver seat. (Lucky) Celia later said he looked like a husband and a prince - and I definitely agreed whole-heartedly. hehehehe.
The girls missed a proper breakfast but ate a proper lunch.
They had about 4 servings of fruit.
I avoided giving Effie excessive sugar. She's going through withdrawls right now, so if you see her, please only offer her grapes. Do not give her lollipops or frosting.
I made a proper lunch for my husband.
Cathie vacuumed Celia's room for me. (tankz)
Cathie let me nap for 10 minutes. (tanks)
90% of laundry done.
Did 3/9 things on my list of things to do.
Made a proper dinner - which the girls helped me make and they ate it all after eating lots of oranges and grapes. I rewarded their successful dinner habits at the table with 2 peanut butter cookies.
While I washed dishes, Celia took Effie to the bathroom, wiped her butt for her, changed her chonies for her, put her pajamas on her, and let Effie help her do the same. Ha ha. They were too cute.
They actually put their shoes away.
We got to take a walk.
We ended up walking in the rain, and it was still fun.
Voted.
Got free brownies at the polls. (So much for brushing the kids' teeth)
Made it back.
Only had to read 9 books.
Kids asleep in 7 minutes after lights out.

Now, I didn't get to draw, paint, play music, make a quilt, read a book, make any money, or do sit ups and push ups, but I'd say so far so good. And you know what??? IT'S ONLY 9:18 PM!! WOO HOO!

I didn't even mention, Alex went with us to their first day of tap class, and if you ever wanna go - it's at 5pm on Tuesdays and it's really the cutest thing you've ever seen. Effie tap dancing is seriously THE FUNNIEST and CUTEST and MOST IMPRESSIVE thing YOU'LL EVER see IN YOUR LIFE! You HAVE to go! My God! I mean... I'm such a sucker for cute babies, and she takes the CAKE!

Ok - and tonight when we got back from the walk in the rain - we changed their pjs, and Celia had her magnifying glass and little Waldo Anthology and said she needed to "Brush up on my detective skills, because being a detective is SOOOO in...gredient".

I think she may have wanted to say "In...credible", but whatever, "Ingredient" is a good long word that starts with "In" and had four syllables right?

See ya guys soon. Time to finish the last 10% of the laundry.

Jiffy

2009-04-04T22:31:00.000-07:00

there's no time for play
there's no time for fun
there's no time for blogging
there's work to be done.

there's so much to do I can't even stand it sometimes. There's outings, birthday parties, jobs, no jobs, cleaning, cooking, cleaning, cooking, walking, shopping, jumping out of the car while alex entertains the children, no tv, too much tv, cleaning, planning, organizing, uncluttering, cluttering, messing up, library-ing, thinking, not thinking, winking, eating, sleeping, (yes- I do sleep), getting bags under my eyes, brushing my hair sometimes, playing music, playing tea, playing put stickers everywhere, playing water the lawn, water the garden, water effie, then trying to make a mess, stay awake, sleep, aggravate people, keep my patience, be kind, think straight, think crooked. I don't know. I think right now I'm not thinking straight.

Probably not, cuz I don't have time to blog. In fact, I have to go. I know. I know. It's been way too long, but I'm here to say, hang tight. I'll be back in a couple days. Then I can catch up or start over. It's late and I have to check on the babies that I can't hear at the moment, and I have a husband who I haven't spoken to for more than 3 minutes for about a week and a half. Yes. We spend every day together but we have these 2 tiny munchkins constantly screaming and laughing and crying and yelling and talking and blabbing and whining and loving for us to give them every waking second of our attention. And you know what. We usually give it to them. So I have to go. But I miss you!

Walks

2009-03-22T00:32:00.000-07:00

If you know me - or us - you know we like to take walks. We usually take the same route, down Kenneth, keep going, turn around just in time before a tantrum may ensue. Sometimes we don't walk. Sometimes we consider the LA zoo the walk. Sometimes we get babysitters so we can walk. Sometimes the kids use strollers. Sometimes they don't.

I like when the kids are sitting quietly in a stroller. But that rarely happens. This is what usually happens:

I put the girls in the stroller. I go back inside for that last princess toy that needs to be in a princess bag of course with some extra accessories. I come outside and the girls are out of the stroller, and Alex says : Let them walk.

My first instinct has recently been: No way Jose. No way. Take the stroller. If they wanna walk, they can walk, but if they don't want to they can sit down. I don't want to carry anyone. I don't want anyone on my shoulders, and I especially do not want to carry two of them who don't want to be carried by the husband. But lately my fears have just been that - fears, cuz the walks without the strollers ain't so bad. Alex ends up carrying Effie who seems to like her Dad a bit more these days, and Celia just walks. Miles sometimes, all by herself.

And so, the other day we wanted to take a walk. But the big boss Celia - who insists Effie is the boss - said she didn't want to walk to see Ryan (the guy at the liquor store), or run, or sit in the stroller, nothing. But my hippy husband, and I say hippy cuz he was wearing tie dye that day, said "Take your instruments and we'll march"

"Ok! But I (stress the I) will be the leader." (said Celia)

We took off, Celia with a yellow recorder in the front.
Effie behind her with a brown recorder and a fat orange maraca in the other hand.
Me with a recorder and Alex with a blue melodica - (for those of you who don't know what it is, it's mini-teeny piano with a long tube you blow through.

I think it was the fastest mile and a half we ever walked. We definitely woke up the neighborhood. It was quite embarassing (but not as embarrassing as walking to the grocery store yesterday next to Alex who was wearing a woman's wig that Celia asked him to wear. Now THAT was embarrassing, and I will not write on that subject any further cuz it offends my nature).

But I digress. The marching band thing was pretty fun, but whenever we passed anyone, I was too scared of not blowing like a dork into the recorder out of the fear that Celia may not want to continue walking if I were to cease my screeching sounds, and I never made eye contact with the passers-by. I just kept tooting that little pseudo-instrument and stopping whenever the leader would shout "HOOOO!" It was so funny cuz Effie would always slam into her when she'd abruptly stop. Then of course commands were given to continue the march and this continued well on into a business sector of the neighborhood, then back into residential, and finally back home.

I felt like we looked like some messed up 60's wierdo family scampering the sidewalks cuz of the tie-dye thing, and nothing like the Partridge family (which would be a step up) cuz the sounds we were making were quite awful and ear piercing.

In the end we made it home, and as soon as we walked in the door, Celia collapsed on the service porch (a.k.a laundry room floor) moaning in fatigue. But she sure was a good leader.

I'm proud of the kid for walking so much. Effie made it half way and spent the rest blowing the melodica tube on Alex's shoulders.

And since it's been awhile, again, I'll just say to you all that I miss you, hope you're well, and that we can see eachother soon.
Oh, I just remembered a funny thing Celia told me the other day. The same night we did the marching walk, she and Effie Rosey cakes did one of the "let's do something crazy before bed to prolong the agony for mom things" and carefully emptied the 4 pairs of high heels I own and took turns with them all walking around the house like "fawncy ladies" (say it like an old English woman) then Celia said to me :

"Mom! Mom! Mom! Turn out the lights!!! Turn out the lights!"
"What for? So you guys can fall on your faces in the dark with those high heels?"
"No - I need you to turn off the light so that the dark matches my high heels." (she was wearing black ones)

Well, it was funny to me. And even better, cuz no one fell on their face.

Bad Memory

2009-03-14T22:13:00.000-07:00

I was listening to some program on the radio one day while washing the dishes (which is my new thing, cuz listening makes me feel like I have company while I do the dirty work) and they (who's they you ask? I don't know) were talking about how some guy who works for microsoft has been wearing a teeny tiny camera attached to his eyebrow for many years now, and at the end of each day, he watches his entire day in some fast forward version that takes 3 minutes and I guess the point is that you forget exactly HOW much you actually do in a day. And I think My point is that I wish I had one of those things, cuz various times throughout the day something happens that I want to recall for the blog, but by this time I can't remember a thing. And forget the end of each day... I haven't written in weeks and I know a zillion funny wonderful things have happened but I don't even know where to begin.

Hmmm... let's see how I can update you the best. Hmm. Ok, fine I'll make a list. I like lists. I just wish I could make lists of things to do that I'd actually do. But that's besides the point.

!. I decided to stop taking Celia to the Nazi ballet teacher. Effie refused to dance, and I got too sleepy watching Celia yawn 37 times in 30 minutes.
2. We went to the Observatory to see... Hershel, and found out that if they say you can't park up at the top, just tell em that you have to drop off two crying babies with one parent, then they'll let you go up, and there will inevitably be parking up there.
3. Offspring number 2 is talking. A LOT! She likes to say "No way Jose". But it sounds like "Naway Ze".
4. I think Alex and I have been out 2 times without babies at night in 2 weeks thanks to Mo and Tree.
5. I started working again, not much, but just enough, and it'z cool.
6. I really miss writing this blog, and hope to get back into a weekly routine, so please, be patient with me.
7. Went bowling, and found out Effie has no problem lifting 12 pound bowling balls but likes dropping them.

So as you can see things have been ... normal... I guess. A lot has happened and things haven't been too crazy. I've been able to deal positively with the girls and now am just worried about Kindergarten and the fact that they are getting too big, too fast, and it scares me.

I've gots to go, but I think that I'm gonna keep a little pen with me to write notes on my hand or a scrap piece of paper so as not to offend my father (cuz he doesn't dig the writing on the hand thing) so I can be sure to blog next time about all the freakin funny stuff my kids say everyday. And if you miss them, come visit, or call, or write, cuz the girls are absolutely incredible.

Austrollia

2009-02-25T07:29:00.000-08:00

If the girls can sleep in for at least a few more minutes, I'll be able to complete this post and post it. Let's pray.

How's it going? Hope you are all well, and that you avoided the winter colds and yucky stuff, and if you did - lucky you. We didn't exactly and Celia is getting over what Effie had for it seems weeks, and hopefully it doesn't recycle itself back into the household. That would stink.

Other than the sickies we are all good.

Lately when I've been thinking about blogging, the only thing I want to write is "Effie is so cute. Effie is so cute. Effie is so cute."

I mean, even when she was sicky, she'd say with her eyebrows at a frown, "no mom, I sicky". Too cute. In fact she says almost everything with that little confused frown as she squints her eyes, and it's so dang cute I just can't dang stand it!

You wanna know how cute she is? Well, if you didn't know already her words and speech has been a little limited till now, but the other night I was putting the little monkeys to bed, did all the night checks, and Celia was down for the count. Then, out of no where, Effie, who hasn't said more than 2 words at a time, said "I lub lu Mom". Then... a few seconds later said: "I lub lu Lela". "I lub lu too Dada". It was one of the happiest moments of my mom life.

And speaking of night checks. Celia has added one to the nighttime routine:

Did we play with our glo-sticks? Check!

The other day Alex got some glow sticks for them, and he likes to play with them at night of course, and they turn off all the lights in the house and hide them around and collect them up, then repeat this way too many times. It's really fun for them, tiring for me when I actually want them to wind down for bed. But whatever, you can't put limits on fun for a kid can you? Anyhow, last night for the second time this year, they took a glo-stick bath. You gotta see this - we turn out the lights while they are in the ducky - the bath - and drop all the light sticks in the water and they light up the bath tub. It looks like they are swimming in a park fountain. And it's hilarious. You should try it!

And I hear them, so I'll make this quick, but yesterday we were playing with Celia's imaginary friends and I heard her say "oh, how do you do? I'm from Austrollia!"
That was funny. I gotta go.

Post 65

2009-02-16T12:02:00.000-08:00

FYI - I didn't draw this - a student did.

Where have you all been? It feels like it's been 7 weeks since I've written, but it's only been about 3. Either way - internet was unavailable for a short time, and so I had to live life not only without television but internet. But it's back, and not as accessible as before, but till I get a laptop, I'll try to blog every week again.

And in case you are wondering - yes I'm alive. Yes I'm busy. Yes, I've been trying to keep my house decent, my children well fed, and all that mommy stuff. And to top that all off, I've been about 13% more organized, so I feel good.

It's been a fun past few weeks. Quite a few zoo adventures, where we walk around the zoo, and the girls keep magic powder in their pockets that protect the animals (especially the mighty sea eagle) from losing their coats/fur/skin to the evil witch of the zoo. It's perty entertaining, and a good place to walk.

We have been frequenting the library - and go once a week now with the 3rd muskateer - Sasha - Celia and Effie's cuzin, so running around town with 3 kids has been a good exercise in mommy-ing for me. The biggest pain about having 3 kids is putting 3 kids in 3 carseats - other than that, when another pal is around, they tend to entertain themselves better and it gives me a little break.

On our last trip to see Hershel - you know him, the astronomer who lives at the Observatory, it happened to be Valentine's night. We had to park WAY at the bottom of the hill by the tunnel at Griffith Park, and walk all the way up, me carrying 35 pound Celia, and Alex carrying 32 pound Effie, and it must've been 46 degrees outside, and the entire way down, Celia ran screaming as if the big bad wolf was chasing her - but she does tend to over exaggerate - and people who saw her must have thought she was running from a kidnapper or something - but it was fun - except I had to chase her with Effie in my arms. Alex was 1 step behind her to make sure she didn't run into the street cuz it was pretty dark.

But have you ever noticed all these lovey couples go out on Valentine's day? I mean, I knew the Observatory view was romantic and all, but I had to idea it was the 2/11 hotspot in LA. I'm talking a zillion couples, all cutesy, cuddly, and smoochy. Love was definitely in the air, and I never in my life saw so many public displays of affection. I felt so outta place, and wanted to warn the people out there that they better not get married and have kids if they wanna keep those butterflies in their tummies. Hahaha.. yuk yuk yuk.

We got to look at Venus through one of the monster telescopes which was cool. Celia was dressed up like Snow White, and her dress stuck out of her 3 jackets, and her cape, headband, and long dress made it apparent of who she was, and EVERY person who saw her either laughed or said how cute it was that mini-snow white was running around. Effie was Mulan, but you couldn't tell cuz she was under even more layers. Even though I was thinking in my mind "Oh heck no" when we had to park at the bottom of the hill, I'm glad we went - cuz it made for a nice first Valentine's day out on the town with the family.

And you guys? What's up with you? Huh? Any news? Well, let me know - cuz I'm interested, and I hope to see your faces soon. I'll be sure to write again soon, so stay tuned.

Sleepers

2009-01-29T00:03:00.000-08:00

I'm about 90% there.

For 3 nights in a row I've gotten my kids to bed within 15 minutes of turning out the lights. You may think that's a long time, but it used to be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour for the girls to settle with the lights out. There was always a "I forgot to make a wish", or a "Mimmy (minnie)" from Effie, or a "baby Mimmy", meaning Effie's minnie needed her baby, or "more water please", or "where's Dad", or a "Dada!", or about 20 other things.

But now... we do the routine, and by 7:45 we're in bed. Of course we do read at least 5 books, sometimes 17, but when the books are done, I turn off the lights, and I say:

"Did we brush our teeth?"
"CHECK!" (the girls say)
"Did we read our books?"
"CHECK!"
"Did we have our sippy of water?"
"CHECK!"
"Did we say our prayers?"
"CHECK!"
"Did we get in our pajamas?"
"CHECK!"
"Did we make our wish on our wishy stars?"
"CHECK!"
"Do you have Eeyore?"
"CHECK!"
"Do you have Minnie, baby minnie, and baby baby Minnie?"
"CHECK!"
"Did we have a before bedtime snack?"
"CHECK!"
"Did we give our goodnight hugs?"
"CHECK!"
"Did we give our goodnight Kiss?"
"CHECK!"

Then I sing this new lullaby that I made up and they fall asleep quick. But tonight Alex tried singing it with me, and being out of tune, and not knowing the song, and hearing him hum a tune that sounded like a Communion Hymn kind of slowed the process down, cuz I kept trying to shush him. But either way, they all (including Alex) were asleep by 8:30. Fine by me.

I ended up taking off to do my grocery shopping and saw a ton of kids at the store, and I just felt sorry for the parents. Cuz that means, if they aren't in bed by 9:30, they still have to get home, and do whatever THEY do before going to bed, and then it'll be 11pm before the poor moms can rest.

But it's 12:15 am now, and I did the domestic duty of... NO... not the dishes - they are still patiently waiting for me... but I .... picked up about 14 marker caps, put away 17 dvds in their appropriate boxes, picked up pieces of make up, toys, books, trash, crap, junk, clothes, dirty clothes, dirty diapers, receipts, the remains of trash that accumulates after making brownies, and other things that are so tiny it's so annoying to clean up. Man, all this never ends does it? I feel like I must walk miles a day just circulating my house putting things in their place. I'm serious.

But it's time for bed.
Did I do the dishes? no check.
Did I brush? Check.
Did I blog? Check.
Did I read the stupid news? Check.
Did I talk to Cathie? Check.
Did I put on a pot of beans in the slow cooker? Check.
Did I put a chicken in the other slow cooker? Check.
Did I put in another load of laundry? no check.
Did I say goodnight to you? GOODNIGHT!

Check.

Thanks for Babysitting Mom

2009-01-24T23:06:00.001-08:00

There are a few things I've been noticing lately.

One is that I don't close things or put things away - (thanks a lot Dad). I definitely inherited this trait. I think. And likely to a worse degree than Mr. H. But I never close drawers or cabinets. It's starting to get on my nerves. I also like to leave things wherever I am when I finish using them - like the phone on top of Celia and Effie's cardboard box home - (don't worry - they don't sleep in it outside or anything - it's in their room) or leaving hair barrettes above the chimney. I'm workin on it though.

And you know what? You should have seen the mound of dishes this morning. I mean - yesterday we were so busy all day and I cooked an extravagant meal - and blah blah blah, but I woke up to the dirty work and it really was dirty work. I think it took me over 53 minutes to deal with it in its entirety and when I was done I felt like a new super human. The girls watched this stupid movie about Barbie the entire time. So that's what I get for leaving them (the dishes) till morning - kids who are starting to love Barbie. (No offense to Barbie lovers) Oh heavens. And when I was about 90% done, Alex walked in, and I said to myself "he better not complain about the girls watching too much tv, cuz this is a job that can not wait", and you know what he said, "have you ever heard of that saying that mothers are saints? Well, now I can see why they say that." - yes he was referring to my domestic duties and the mighty job of dishwashing, and I told him - no - I had not heard that saying - but I know I have a long ways to go to reach sainthood - well... maybe not too long - but I'm workin on it. (at least it runs in the family - thanks Mom)

Does this make any sense?

Well, whatever - I finished, then asked Alex how much I would have had to pay him to do the job, and he said 10 bucks. He said won't do anything for under 10. Hmm. I should have considered that, but I didn't have 10 bucks on me.

And you would have thought that in all that time - during all those 53 minutes I would have thought of something more interesting to write huh? Well - not really. Even though my mind is constantly stirring with new ideas, new thoughts, etc. etc. etc - I just can't seem to figure out how to organize them into a blog post.

Ok - what you just read was written 4 days ago. It was Friday, and it's now Monday - so I'll start over.

The watching movies - doing back exercises - and having late night snacks has continued - which gives me more time to do things that take me away from the things I should be doing - like cleaning the bathroom mirror, writing a blog entry, trimming Effie's finger and toenails, or really scrubbing the stove. ugg. Please - someone send me a magical housecleaner from the sky that's free. And mom - if you're reading this - don't get any ideas - you know me - in the end I take care of business.

This is starting to get a little jumbled, and you don't know how bad I wish I could write every entry about Alex. I mean, he does the funniest things - you would think he were a comedian. You have to live with him to get it, but I would embarrass him too much if I did - so I won't - at least not now.

But I said in the headline - Thanks for Babysitting mom - cuz tonight we were able to drive and have a conversation - (yes - a conversation between me and Alex that wasn't interrupted by the screams of Celia talking to her hands and feet. Forget Nala and Simba - her hands, she has names now for individual fingers, or Effie freaking out cuz she always drops some kind of food under her butt and can't reach it), eat food in peace and quiet without any of that food falling onto my clothes, on the floor, or having to get a different fork 3 times, or a different plate, or having to warm up 2 different things after serving my kids already and then I realize they aren't gonna eat it, or getting up to get juice again, or another cup cuz the girls won't share, and more than that we were able to take a walk - a walk in which we didn't have to play Cruella De Ville - (which we now have to play every time we take a walk) where Alex is Cruella, and I become Horace and Jasper, and we have to chase the girls, and of course Celia is Anita or Perdita, and Effie is Sargent Tubbs the Cat, or whatever - cuz it gets tiring, and thanks cuz we actually took a hike and watched the sunset - which as cheesy as it sounds is so nice, so with that being said - please know how much I appreciate it. And to all the other babysitters - you KNOW who you are - muchas gracias! Take my kids ANYTIME!

(This sounds so mean doesn't it? Well, mind you I DO really miss them when they are gone - I do - I swear - you don't believe me? Come on - I said I promise)

Ok OK. I'll just say goodbye already, and say things are good. Things are actually better than good. Maybe next time I'll write about all the dejavu's I've been having. Maybe not. Ok enough already. See ya laters.

Innocent Children

2009-01-22T00:23:00.001-08:00

It's been way too long. I don't usually wait more than a week to write, but the hubby has been hogging up the computer and I've been hanging out at night doing something I don't normally do - but hey, it's a new year right.

Oh, what have I been doing instead of hanging out on the internet and writing blogs at stupid hours of the night? A... well, I've been watching movies, doing back exercises, and folding laundry. Boring. I know. Well, the movie watching thing ain't too bad, but boring for most people considering I'm watching a bunch of artsy fartsy stuff.

One movie I saw today, and yesterday - (cuz I can never watch an entire movie in one sitting, cuz that's like sitting for 2 hours, and a mommy doesn't know how to SIT for 2 hours, cuz it's impossible, or isn't ALLOWED to SIT for 2 hours, (unless a babysitter is involved) anyway - so I watched a movie called "The River", and I just knew the entire time this little boy was gonna get killed by a Cobra, and I didn't want it to happen, knew it was gonna, and it did... but after he died, this guy said - how the kid was lucky, cuz he died being a kid. He said how grownups got it bad, cuz they lose their innocence, don't know how to have fun, don't live amongst the ants, climb trees, and what not - and I do agree - kids got it so good and they don't know it, but I will prefer if my children live to be 200 years old. Even though I don't want (as I've said before) for either of my kids to grow up. They definitely will NOT be as cute as they are now bigger. Big kids - not cute. Little kids = cute.

Uggg. And ugg. And ahh, and ahh. It has been a great couple of weeks. In the sense that some organization has come into my life with the advent of school for Celia. Gymnastics for Effie. Ballet for them both. Their new ballet teacher is like Hitler, and no wonder 20 3-4 year olds shut up and listen to her - cuz she's scary - and scares me - and is as old as Hitler would have been - but I know it's good for the girls. It's about time someone shows them a bit of discipline. (cuz we all now how good I am at it) Please do not ask if you can attend their class. There are to be no disruptions in her class. No pictures. No phone calls. No talking. No smiling. Only ballet. And I've learned - no babies (Effie) are allowed to let their chair move causing squeeky sounds - it's against the rules.

Besides that - tons of things have happened. I've fallen in love with someone named Logan. (so has Alex, and if you are curious about who he is - just ask)

The girls got their shots - and Celia was a lunatic who had to be held down by 3 people - but in the end was a brave looney - who liked showing off where she got her "TV SET" (TB Test).

Alex and I got to go to the movies - and saw Conan the Barbarian. Too funny. Much too funny. I mean - if you thought it was an action film - you're wrong. It's a high class comedy.

We've been to the zoo about 6 times in January I think. I finally met the shaved ice master by name - it's Rick. Please go meet him. I think he's the reincarnation of Howie Mandel. Wait - he's not dead right? Never mind.

We started walking the town again.

And dishes are done - and not much else comes to mind. More than anything, I just wanted to say hi to you all, and let you know I'm still alive, have things on my mind, and stay tuned cuz I WILL write more soon. Have a great Thurs/Friday/weekend.

Wasn't Gonna

2009-01-09T23:35:00.000-08:00

But I will.

It's late. The house is a semi-wreck, and I'm still trying to figure out how to get organized.

In the last Bearenstein Bears book I read, Mama Bear got fed up with Brother and Sister Bears' room so she got a big box and dumped everything in it to get rid of. That's what I wanna do. But not just with the kids' toys. I wanna put the dirty dishes in it, the laundry, the bags that pile up in my car, the christmas decorations, the books on the book shelf, and more. But I won't.

Maybe I should do what Mama Bear ends up doing: She gets boxes to organize then they live happily ever after. If only it were so easy.

And... as I sat in the bed, trying to get the kidlings to sleep, after a long evening, I thought, and thought, and thought, about how it's my fault. It's my own fault that my kids don't just magically fall asleep at 7 when I put them to bed. It's cuz I've never done the right thing. The thing that all parents should do. The thing that leads to peace. Do you know what that is? Well... it's something. Not just one thing. And it includes:

Organization
Schedules
Consistancy
Routine

None of which I can seem to get right. But tomorrow's a new day right?

I can't say that I don't have those things. Cuz I do... but just a little.

There IS the routine - every night - of

Making the wish on the wishy star. (and tonight, Celia wished for Santa to come back soon, for Effie to have a good day, for Effie to play with her in the morning, for me to have a good night's rest)

Brushing teeth - telling Effie to NOT brush - just so she WILL brush.

Going to the bathroom.

Getting a drink of water - even if we do so about 16 times. (and yes, I do keep the water by the bed, but I end up having to get up for refills. I need to get a 7-11 sized cup)

Getting the gummy bear vitamins. (Red for Effie - 2 each)

Reading an outrageous number of books. (Remind me to NOT check out any more "Ameilia Bedilia"... too long.)

So - we do have routine - but it takes too long.

Every day I say to myself "this will be the day. We'll stay on track. I'll put em to bed early so I don't have to blog or wash dishes at 2am"

But that didn't happen today. No no no.

We got home at 5 after driving my sisters badical radical Super Beetle home.

I decided to make food for the kids. Macaroni and cheese. Sliced avacados. They ate a skimpy amount.

We had humpty dumpty and his girlfriend drawing contest. I won.

We then had to PLAY humpty dumpty goes to the circus. Alex was the circus. I was the audience. Effie was the "Acrobats" as Celia insisted, and she - of course was humpty's wife.

Then we HAD to play peter pan. Which meant Celia needed her Tinker Bell costume. The pony tail. The wand. The wings.

Then we HAD to bake cookies. (I'm not that cool. They were the scoop and bake kind- not from scratch tonight)

Then we had to play tap dance. That meant we all had to learn Celia's new choreography. The "Celia tap dance". "Shake your hips from side-to-side- tap your feet, shake your head". Then the "sara tap dance". (I'll spare the details - cuz I didn't make it up) Then the girls had to tap dance on the bed.

Then I gave the kids the bright idea of writing with marker on the mirror. They each had wipeys to wipe it off, but Effie decided to write on the bed sheets I just washed, my "Chairy" doll, (not to worry - it came out), her diapers, the floor, Celia's underwear. And she appropriately tried to wipe everything she wrote on.

And surpisingly it was only around 7 by the time all this had happened, and I said to myself "It's still early, but I should really put them to bed now".

Well.... to make this already LONG ass story a little longer, they did the jumping on the bed thing, the change into Jasmine thing, the put on pajama thing, then the rest of the routine thing (see above) and the lights barely went out at around 9pm.

But wait! Lights out, but Celia needed to "Fix some toys in her room". That took forever. She was curled up on her bed waiting for me to come get her cuz her legs were tired.

Then in the dark Effie tossed and turned and like every night said "food. food. food." (I usually get away by ignoring her but I had to take her to the kitchen. I tried shoving cookies and pasta in her mouth, but turns out she just wanted more water)

An hour had passed since I turned out the lights. Effie needed her Minnie doll. Then she needed her Minnie Ears. Celia was knocked out after the covers were exactly as cozy as they needed to be. Effie wanted to get up. I got her up and said to myself "If I get her up, she'll wanna get up everynight from now and forever", either way, I kicked some stupid books out of the way and was a bit aggravated at this point, and to my surprise the kid was asleep before I even sat in the rocking chair. God help me. God bless me. Cuz my kids are freaking amazing.

Ok enough. Don't forget to think 3 times before having children. And remember. Tomorrow's a new day.

That time of the....

2009-01-05T23:10:00.001-08:00

Yeah, that time of the .... week, when I finally have a second to write. Well, it may take more than a second.

Again, besides the layers of skin that got washed off my hands in blistering hot water tonight while I ... yeah, washed the... you know what, I also decided what I'd write about.

But although I decided it doesn't mean I'll write about it. Cuz my dad would say I shouldn't be embarrassing myself so much, and I should spare you. But I'll leave it short and tell you this:

After I got home from the post-office, after having just walked out of the house without telling anyone I was even leaving, I sat on the couch, cuddled next to Alex, who was sitting pretty much underneath both Celia and Effie and he said:

"Who are you right now? Jekyll? Or Hyde?"

Hahahaha. Thank God that the man has a sense of humor when it comes to that ... well, you know, that... syndrome. You know.... that monthly syndrome that starts with a "P"? I will stop there.

Soo.... yeah... besides that comedy. I can add to it with a few things that older offspring said this past week. And by the way, it's been a real nice 2009 (today alone we did the zoo, thrift store, super walk of the century, the library, plus I made rice, enchiladas, chocolate chip blankets for the pigs - or shall I say chocolate chip pancakes with sausage, had lunch packed by 8am, did no laundry, and put both kids to bed other than mine before 9 - success??? YES!)

Oh back to Celia:

This starts with me:

"Celia!!! You need to behave!"

"Maaahhhmmm! I don't LIKE being heyve"

Yesterday while coloring at the table she said.

"Dad - you know what God says?"

"What does God say?"

"He says you NEED to do ALL your homework."

Poor child is confusing her pre-school teacher with God. I think I need to up the amount of in-home catechism. Really, cuz tonight while putting her to sleep, (in her own bed) she said.

"Oh, Mom. I'm so glad we're sleeping in MY bed with all my toys. I'm SO happy that all my dolls and animals are here. And baby Jesus is here with me too. You know Mom, Santa lives with baby Jesus in the North Pole."

Well, I did not know that. Because it's not true. But it was too late to discuss the whereabouts of her two favorite invisible people: Santa, and Baby Jesus.

There's just too much. That kid is really.... ahh... interesting. I have to admit. And the other. She is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Have you seen her lately? I mean, Effie is so cute I'm practically in tears every day. She likes to lay on top of this little princess table she has, then while her tummy is on the table she does leg lifts and yells real loud "Up! Down! Up! Down!" All to herself. And in the car, when you tell her to sing, she'll shut her eyes real tight and move her mouth the way a ventriloquist's dummy does real fast and it's more distracting while driving than the cell phone. I can't stop laughing when she does that. Please, next time you see her, ask her to do it.

Well kids, have a great week. If you are up for Disneyland on Thursday, hit me up.

"We DID IT!" - (as Dora would say)

2008-12-30T00:05:00.000-08:00

We did it. We made it through Christmas. I don't know how, but it came and went. If I got you a gift, you were one of the lucky ones, and if you didn't, well, maybe you were even luckier considering some of the presents I gave out. But either way, Merry Christmas, even though it's over. I love you.

And now onto bigger and better things, cuz 2008 is almost gone. You know, I'm into the New Year's stuff. My husband is no where near as nostalgic and sentimental as I am, although he is a little, but on New Year's I always think about sleep-overs with the Aguileras (my brother's kids), my sister's New Year's trilogies, driving around Los Angeles with random friends I no longer see, Muriel's Wedding, false resolutions, and no resolutions. I'm looking forward to 2009. I can't wait to get a new calendar for my fridge. That way I can maybe organize in 09.

By the way. It's one of those days/nights when I know that all I've been thinking about lately is how much I've wanted to write, and still have no idea what to say. So I think I'll make a list. There's been so much happening. - and you know what? I've kept a journal since the 4th grade, and since I've been writing this blog I haven't written a page in my journal. So I better write at least a little about what's been going on so that I can remember or look back when I'm 73. k?

1. I taught Effie how to say "wassup fool". It's so cute. (don't tell Alex)
2. Santa made it to our house.
3. I decided that in the near future I want a dishwasher.
4. We got a sidewalk around our garage.
5. Celia can't stop singing "you're never fully dressed without a smile".
6. Effie is so freaking cute I can't stand it!
7. We had an after x-mas brunch for homies.
8. Never made it back to the light festival.
9. It's been cold.
10. We got a x-mas tree (and it may not last as long as last year's)
11. Went to the aquarium with Ari.
12. Got a double jogger stroller.
13. Sent x-mas cards to 100 people.
14. Realized this list is super boring so I'll stop now.

Ok, ok. I know. That was lame. Whateva. At least I'll be able to know in many years from now when I read this blog, (if the internet survives that long) how boring things were around here. Ok, ok. Boring ain't the right term. NOTHING is boring around here. Just ask Ari who spent 3 hours with me and my kids. They NEVER shut up. They are constantly screaming something, or mamamamamama, or dadadadadada, or "know what? know what? know what?", or "peeze? Peeze?? uppie! uppie!", or singing "Cruella De Ville" in Spanish. It's insanity at all times when the children are awake. For reals. And even more insanity if they are awake and my husband is hanging out with them. The screaming and jumping and hiding and yelling, and laughing and painting and drilling is at full force. I let Effie go outside to hangout with Alex in the garage today and she came back inside, and her white outfit turned to blue, and she was holding a 10X12 inch piece of wood with different nails and screws and hooks hanging from it, and yes painted blue, because Alex taught her how to use the drill gun.

Then... when Effie was taking her nap, I did dishes while Celia took her turn in the garage with Alex. You know what they did? They found I don't know what kind of cables and wires, and hooked up the crappy cd player we have to 2 different amps, one huge bass amp, and another large keyboard amplifier and made stereo sound for Celia to hook up a microphone so she could sing along with cds. So the whole time I was washing dishes, I couldn't see Celia or Alex, but I could HEAR (very loudly - and I'm sure the entire bottom half of our street could too) Celia and Alex singing Alvin and the Chipmunk christmas duets, that "Let's Get Together" song from the Parent Trap, and lots of Mary Poppins. It was SO loud. I mean, I'm surprised the cops didn't come. In fact, it's been awhile since cops came to our door, so it should be about time for a visit. (for more info on why cops have come to our house on 3 occasions in the past 5 years, remind me and I can blog about it some day.) There is really never a dull moment around here.

I'm gonna go now. There IS a lot to say. I DO want to say Happy New Year to all my friends. Thanks for reading. Thanks for the comments. Thanks for all the great Christmas gifts you gave my children. You all are the best.

God Bless my Heart

2008-12-22T23:34:00.000-08:00

I know you know that the dishes have become a constant theme here. So, go ahead and roll your eyes, cuz I just have to mention them again. Last night, I was feeling real sick. I got sicky, it sucks, but whatever - so I said to Alex:

"I'm so angry".

"What's the matter Sara?"

"I can't go to bed with all those dishes in the sink. I just can't. But I'm gonna cry. I feel so sick, I just need to sleep."

"Sara - look at me. Go to bed NOW and I promise to do the dishes in the morning."

"You swear?"

"I swear."

So, fine, I went to bed. Alone - cuz Effie and Celia were sleeping in thier room for once, and I slept real good.

Do you think this will end with me saying that he didn't do the dishes? Well, you are right. But he WAS going to. We woke up, played with the girls, Alex gave Effie cereal, Celia was deeply offended because she said I tried to make her a "Big Girl" by sleeping alone in her bed, and she was so upset that I left her and Effie alone over there, but anyway I saw the dishes and said:

"Oh yeah - you're supposed to do these".

"Ok."

Then I remembered why I always do the dishes. Cuz he does them with the utmost precision and care and what it takes me 20 minutes to do, it would take him about 3 1/2 hours. So I said,

"You - take care of Effie and Celia, and I will gladly do these dishes."

"No. I'll do them, cuz I don't want you getting on my case for saying I was gonna do them. I have to stick to my word."

"No, no, no. I won't get on your case. Do me a favor and DON'T do them."

So I did them in about 11 minutes. Washed. Dried. And put away. End of story.

And yeah, having kids is hard. And difficult. And crazy. But when you are sick it is like one hundred times more difficult and everything is annoying, and I feel totally inadequate as a human and mother. But I think I feel better, so tomorrow better be better.

On another note. Celia said something funny the other day. And if you don't know her, she says everything in a very proper manner. I mean, with a british accent and all.

Alex was about to give Celia and Effie a gummy worm, or something (cuz if you don't know already, Alex only gives them sweets and candy. He never offers them fruit, cuz he knows they REALLY like it when he gives them treats) and he was saying:

"Who likes gummy worms?"

"I DO!" They both said.

"Who LOVES candy?"

"I do!" They said again.

Then he said: "Ok. But if you want these gummy worms you have to promise to be good"

So Celia said for herself, and Effie real loud:

"Weeeee Promise! God bless our hearts!"

Then Alex and I were silent, and looked at Celia in a curious way. God bless our hearts? What? That was wierd, and I started laughing, and Alex said - don't laugh at her. Then when Celia noticed that I was laughing at her, she started her little nervous laugh and corrected herself.

"Oh, oh dear. I mean...... CROSS OUR HEARTS!"

Hahahaha. I thought it was so funny. I had no idea what she was tryinig to say, but she really seemed to mean that she wanted God to bless her. But she meant to say, cross our hearts and hope to die for her promise. Get it?

Anway, and anyhow, here comes Santa Claus. Only 2 more days and the show is over. Hope you enjoy yourselves, hope you have a great Christmas. I love you. I miss you. Have a great day.

Spent

2008-12-15T22:43:00.001-08:00

If you are looking for a funny "sara" blog entry, just close the page and go back to reading wikipedia or the news or whatever you do online. Cuz there's nothing funny in me tonight. Really, I can't think of anything funny. I'm trying. I really am. I mean, Effie peeing on the bed all over Alex's new pants, or pooping in the bathtub is just not funny enough material for me today.

I'm just spent. I'm tired, and for days I've literally been nervous about writing a new blog entry, cuz I just don't know what to write about. I mean, the week has gone by without any major issues. Nothing too hilarious has happened. I'm still stuck on being a "baby person", cuz every minute that goes by, my desire for my kids to never grow up gets stronger and stronger. I'm definitely gonna try to be a good mama, who lets her kids you know, leave the nest and all, but I just like them as babies.

If you know me, you know we do the family bed thing. Celia has a bed, likes it, wants to sleep in it, but Effie won't sleep without her so I have to put Effie to bed with Celia next to her, so I do it in my bed. And besides, I like having my little bed warmers with me. Effie gave me about 53 kisses on my forehead before she fell asleep tonight and kept saying... "Eigghhhtt ..... naaaaiiinneee...... TENNNNNNN!". It was so cute. And to hear her talk was almost making me cry. I'm so proud of my little, cute, sweet, Effie goo goos. Too cute. I mean.... way cute.

Celia is funny too. Right before bed, after having:

Eaten dinner (which happened at the kitchen table for once)
Watched 20 minutes of Piglet's Big Movie. (yuk - don't tell Celia I don't like it)
Fed them cookies and milk
Cleaned up spilled Yakult from the floor that went un-noticed till the night
Put their pajamas on
Convinced both of them to brush
read

she ate her vitamins, took her sip of water and let me turn off the light. Then after being quiet for about 10 minutes she got up, and said she had to make her wish.
So she went to the window, opened the curtain and said.

"Star light........ Star bright..........First star.............. I seeeeee tonight!"
"I wish I may...... I wish i might.... have the wish... I wish tonight."

"I wish for my mom and Effie to have a good night's rest full of love. And I wish that Santa will come down my chimney and bring my present. "

"Amen."

Alex was still awake and said "Hey what about your dad?"

Then she said ...

"And I wish for Alex to have a good day tomorrow".

Fair enough. My kids are so sweet I can't stand it. Of course, there are many times throughout the day that I have to use all the power within me to not freak out and scream at them, but overall, THANK JESUS! PLEASE SPARE ME WHEN THEY TURN 14!!!!

Really, really, I have to say it's been a rather boring week for us. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm gonna do about Holiday madness, and I've been spending more than enough time thinking about other people's issues when I should just stop and pay the bills and send out my Christmas cards. My problem is I'm a metiche. (look it up if you don't know what that means)

For some reason though, hearing about other people's things, problems, success, issues, whatever, always helps me put my own crap into perspective. And all this and that, has led me to think a lot about 3 things.

Once again, don't take my advice. I don't want to be responsible for any of your bad decision making.

But those 3 things are:

1. You can't chose your circumstances, but you can chose how you deal with them.

2. Stop waiting. Waiting is for suckers. If there is something you should do, or want to do - just do it now. There's never a better time, and it's not gonna get any easier tomorrow.

3. There's only so much time between now and when you're gonna die. Face it. You're gonna be dead, it's a fact - so just think about what you might wanna do between now and then.

WIth that said. Have a great day. Smile. Give someone you like a kiss today. Even if you don't like them, give em a kiss. If you see a hot guy at the McDonald's drive thru window, just give him a little wink. (this is an inside joke between me and Alex. I don't expect you do get it) Do it for me. Have a great Tuesday. Good night.

Baby People

2008-12-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

Some people are baby people. Some people are not. You just are or aren't.

I am.

Being a baby person doesn't mean you wanna have a million babies, it just means you like them.

Baby people notice babies when they are in the room, like at a restaurant, or store.

Non-baby people could really care less if a tiny, cute, sweety wittle baby is there.

I don't think non-baby people are bad at all, don't get me wrong, I just don't understand them cuz I'm very much into babies.

In fact - when I was a kid, I'd sit in my bed and make wishes that I would wake up in the morning as a baby.
I knew even back then how good they have it.

I'd also pray to God that the calling to become a nun would never shine down on me, cuz I more than anything wanted to have a baby of my own one day. When nuns would talk to us at CCD about getting "the call" from God, I'd get so nervous. I thought that at any time or moment that "call" might come. Well, God obviously answered my prayers.

I even thought the rapture or end of the world would come before I could ever kiss a boy, but God heard my prayers on that one too I guess, obviously. Ha.

Anyway. As a baby person, I knew all the babies on my block. I'd babysit for free. I just couldn't resist playing with a funny, smiley baby.

I thought for some time that after having kids I wasn't a baby person anymore. When I'd see other babies, I was so busy with my own I didn't pay them much attention. In fact, I even thought I liked other people's babies as a kid more than my own. (Now I say this in fun, but there's a little truth to it). Babysitting other people's kids was in no way, shape, or form anything like having your own kid, and not to mention pushing the suckers out. And since I've had kids, on a daily basis, it's a struggle to even get time in to play with them. I mean, as a babysitter, or a baby-person, you just get to smile at them, make goo goo faces, play, have fun, read books, whatever. But as a mommy-baby-person, you can do all that fun stuff, but- you ALSO have to wash the dishes, wash the clothes, wash the towels, clean the floors, wipe the counters, clean the toilets, pick up toys, make the bed, make the breakfast, make the lunch, make the snacks, make the dinner, plan the outings, pack for the outings, go on the outings, come home from the outings, clean up after the outings, put things away, do EVERYTHING. So, in the end, it doesn't matter when you have kids if you were a baby person or not, cuz the responsibilities that come hand in hand with mommy life can really take a lot outta you.

BUT TONIGHT, that baby person in me came back. I was so damn happy about it that I had to write about it. Even after having done all those things I listed above and more, and playing school, watching some cartoons, playing polly pockets, playing store, and dealing with whining, non-sharers, and screaming on many different occasions, I remembered why I WAS a baby person. CUZ THEY ARE SO FREAKING CUTE I CAN'T STAND IT!!!!!

Effie is just cute ALL the time. Today, after not having said more than 2 syllables that made sense she said to me "I don't like it". It was so CUTE. It made me so proud. And, she peed on the potty twice today. So cute. And when I put her to bed tonight, she hugged and kissed me about a hundred times, and while I read her the most boring book in the world "Bambi's Scratch and Sniff Adventure", she laughed so much you would've thought she was listening to Sam Kinison. And... her dad was at work while I was putting her to bed, and her and Celia were still awake in the dark but falling asleep and she reached over me and grabbed Celia's hand and said "Le-la... (her word for Celia). Le-la! ....Le-la! ...Da da? Oohh.. Da da work. Effie Sad." Then Celia said, "It's ok Effie, he'll be home in a little bit". I mean, how cute is that?

And earlier, when it was time for bed, Celia had already tucked herself in, and in her arms she had her little baby, "baby Neece". Here was our conversation.

"Mom. Can you please wrap up baby Neece like a baby in the hospital?"
"Sure".

She tucked herself under the covers real good, then pretended to be asleep.

"Here's your baby", I said.
Celia opened her eyes real bright and opened her mouth real big and said,

"Ohh, Miss Hospitaler! Thank you SOOOOO much! My baby is BEAUTIFUL!"

I tried not to laugh too hard and said,

"You're welcome. Congratulations. She's just fine. I checked her heart, her eyes, and her ears, and she's very healthy."

"Oh thank you! Her dad will be so happy!"

"Oh", I said, "Who is her father?"

"My boyfriend..... ahh... I mean my HUSBAND." (I swear, she DID say this)

"And what is your husband's name?"

"Well, there was my boyfriend before, but he died. My husband is ..... (then she whispered in a very coy voice) .... Chris-to-pher- Ro-bin."

Now, if you are a baby person, you may appreciate or even like this story, and if you're not, well, I hope you got something out of it either way. I mean, how can you resist something like this? Too cute. I'm so lucky, and I dread the day puberty strikes. I'm gonna make a wish tonight to God that my kids will be babies forever. Good night friends. Check in next week.

9 days

2008-12-01T23:19:00.000-08:00

Man. I'm still blind and all this is blurry - so excuse any typos.

I'll put "getting new glasses" on my list of things to do before I die.

Anyway, it's been 9 days I believe since the last blog entry. Sorry to keep you all waiting. Hi Brooke. I haven't seen you in so long! And Anonymous, how's it going? It was good to see your dorky face on Wednesday night.

Too many things to write about. Such little time. Too much mush in my brain. Such little organization.

Ok - no more nonsense.

Let me begin with tonight. Tonight made me think quite a bit about what my neighbor told me the other night. I've told people this already, but in case I didn't tell you - I'll just write the conversation down. She doesn't read my blog (I think), and if she did, I'm sure she'd give me her permission. And she is quite a bubbly character, so please read it to yourself and over exaggerate her part in your mind.

"Hey Sara! How ARE you?"
"I'm good - how are you?"
"Great! I saw you going out with your friend the other night! Where'd you go?"
"I went to a bar, to check it out, cuz we may go there for my birthday."
"HOW FUN! You are SO lucky!"
"Well, I didn't even drink really."
"Who cares! When you go out without your kids, even hanging on a street corner is fun!"

Now the conversation continued, and in my head I was saying "Well, I wouldn't take it so far as to want to hang out on street corners when my kids are not with me". But I just may as well be in the same boat as her, cuz tonight I willingly, and eagerly jumped at the chance to drive for 3 hours in horrific traffic to LAX cuz I knew I could have some time to myself. HA HA HA. I'm such a nerd.

And Alex, (my husband, in case you don't know him) sometimes wakes up while I'm on the computer doodling away, sometimes reading news, chatting with old friends I never see but hung out with in elementary school, looking up 70's Toyota's on criagslist, and he comes in the rooms and says "What are you doing". "It's so late. Come to bed". Then I say slowly, "I'm just on the computer", or if I'm in the kitchen washing dishes I say " I'm just cleaning this house". Then he says , "Oh... I thought you were talking to your other family in Israel".

He's convinced I have this 2nd life or something. It's kind of funny, and sometimes I erase the history on the computer just cuz I'm embarassed about how many times I may have refreshed myspace or facebook, or some ridiculous "mommy" blog that I wouldn't want to admit to reading. Anyway.

Next matter of business:

Have you ever gone to the light festival at Griffith Park? Now, waiting 2 hours in line can make you despise it entirely cuz it's not exactly mind blowing, but for the past 5 years or so, we always take a cruise through it when there's no wait, and it's fun. Last year, we'd drive through and the kids would be put to sleep by the slow ride and the Nat King Cole Christmas lullabies they play. This year, temporarily, they are not letting you drive, probably cuz of the stupid traffic. Anyway ( I like to say Anyway), we went tonight and we had our ups and downs.

When we got there, we parked at the zoo, and Effie thought we were going to the zoo. She was a little disappointed it was closed.

In the parking lot, a dad in the car across from me was yelling at his kids to get the f-*k out of the car. Good thing I was wearing my Raiders sweatshirt and Cortez shoes, cuz I was mad-doggin that guy and wanted to look real bad and tough, cuz what a JERK he was being. Then he hit one of his kids on the head and the kid LITERALLY hid UNDER a car from him. Man. Some dads suck.

Anyway, besides that, it was SO nice outside. Walking the light festival is like the coolest thing EVER. Those Christmas lullabies, or Neal Diamond's "Coming to America" blasts in your ears, and hundreds of Los Angelinos are just outside walking around. I don't think there's a place in LA besides Disneyland or the Americana where you see families walking around at night. And here, people were on dates, with their dogs, walking with their kids, taking a jog, or alone, and it was just sooo nice. I think I already used nice as an adjective. It was sooo wonderful. There.

And to continue, despite it being so wonderful and nice, some thoughts started going through my head.

Those thoughts included:

"This is a LONG walk, we should have brought a stroller"
"It's too late. Someone's gonna get mad and want me to carry them the whole way"
"We shouldn't walk the whole thing, cuz it may be too much for my tired kids"
"It's too cold."
"Celia is gonna have to pee and she doesn't like port-o-potties"
"We should have left the stuffed puppy, the santa hats, the camera, the tiara, and the purse in the car, cuz when it comes time to carry the kids, it's gonna be a bitch to carry everything else too."

Wow, you would have thought we were going to the beach considering all my pessimism.

To my surprise it was fine. Celia was dancing, walking, running, skipping, having fun, etc, etc, etc.

Effie was walking, having fun, running after Celia, holding hands, talking to the lights, etc, etc, etc.

I even saw a kid throwing a tantrum and was elated that my kids were so good and thought that the mom would be jealous that my kids were so cute and so well behaved.

Then we got all the way to the end. Effie wanted to be carried. No problem. I was just so happy to be out walking for a change.

Then Celia wanted to be carried. No problem, Alex was ready.

Then Celia's boots kept falling off.

Then Celia started freaking out.

Then either Alex or I kept dropping the hats, dog, tiara, or something.

Then Celia said her dad was being mad at her.

Then Celia reminded us while crying her brains out that when she is sad, big people are supposed to be happy to take care of the sad kid.

Then I carried Celia.

Then Celia was fine.

Then Effie freaked cuz she wanted ME to carry her.

Then other parents were looking at US probably glad that it wasn't THEIR kids freaking out.

(It was still a LONG walk back by this point)

Then I tried carrying both of them.

Then we switched crying kids around for the remainder of the light festival.

You can just imagine. It was now ME with crying kids thinking about all those pessimistic thoughts and how I should have stuck to my instinct and only made the kids walk a short distance and go back early before our luck ran out.

Well......in the end it was all good, cuz niether Alex or I lost our cool, we were happy to be out, at least Celia never had to pee, and they both chilled out by the end. Celia stopped crying and let her Dad carry her, and both of them were asleep in the car before we left the parking lot.

I don't care how insane it got. I'm going back tomorrow night. Wanna join us? Gimme a call. I promise to take strollers so none of us have to carry my kids. Good night.

30 Thanks

2008-11-27T22:37:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving kids. Hope you ate as much as I did. If you know me you know I can eat. I have some faithful readers on this blog that used to watch me eat 3 In-n-out burgers in a sitting. That's when I was young and tough, although I can't hang like I used to, I did good today. So thanks Dad for the turkey and the pie, thanks mom for the stuffing and the sighs, thanks Cat for the movie and the blouse, and thanks alex for being a strange spouse.

I'll be 30 in a couple more days, so I'm gonna give my real 30 thanks now.

Sara's thankful for:

1. Celia and Effie falling asleep miraculously at 5pm today. (I think they should eat turkey everyday!)
2. The leftovers my dad allowed into my hands.
3. All my bestest friends in the whole wide world. All of YOU of course!
4. The dishes being done.
5. The dishes being put away.
6. The laundry being done.
7. Quintanars
8. Rain - cuz now I don't have to water the lawn for awhile.
9. The yellow sweatshirt I'm wearing with 2 fuzzy skiing bears for keeping me warm.
10. Lucena for making cookies and homemade play-doh for my kids.
11. Lupe for making Alex feel good about not wearing a wedding ring. Ha ha ha.
12. Parents.
13. Lety and Becky - for being great sisters, and helping my kids be great sisters.
14. Cathie letting me drive her German car, and taking us to the movies.
15. Ms. Taylor's conversations and patio.
16. Being alive.
17. Not having any type of flu.
18. Letters, real stamps, and postal workers.
19. Cameras - cuz they stop time for you.
20. Chiropractors
21. Santa for putting fear into my kids to behave.
22. 3 decades.
23. Diary products.
24. Vitamins.
25. Common sense.
26. sarathesub.blogspot.com
27. Papers and pencils.
28. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
29. Windy days in kindergarten and Mrs. Jones.
30. The shamelessness.

And more than anything, thank you to my friends who made it out to celebrate 30 years of Sara and Monica. It's so fun to have my friends together under the same roof. It felt like a Mesa Way party from back in the day, except I didn't have to buy the beer.

Good night. Come again.

A Feeling

2008-11-23T22:28:00.000-08:00

I do have a feeling that people read this, so I'll write something for goodness sake. And considering... yes the dishes are done, (I know) I just may as well say a few things or two.

Let's begin with the last conversation I had with the husband.

It all revolved around me telling him I was decrepit. I had a pretty insane muscle spasm in my back on Friday that left me a jacked up. That's one thing.

The next was that my TMJ is really insane and the chiropractor twisted my neck around a few times to help it out. It did help. My jaw still pops, but my neck is in place, and he gave me tips on helping it not pop so much. Either way, it adds to be being decrepit.

Then.. today my knee popped real nasty. I mean it made this gross sound and it hurt. I didn't tell Alex about it until a little while ago when I told him I was his decrepit wife.

Then he said "Don't forget your small teeth and your blind eyes". Ha ha ha.

I don't know why this made me laugh so much, but it did. What a man.

Ok. So that wasn't that funny huh? Well, I already told Becky but the other day when we were sitting at the table it was the usual dinner table insanity, like Celia trying to put on make up, while Effie put all of Celia's make up brushes in a bowl of fideos and corn, while Effie dropped or spit food all over the kitchen, while Celia yelled about Effie taking the brushes, and Effie sat on the table while Celia was doing a pee pee dance in the chair and so on.

Then Alex says: Do you know what our life is like?

I say - What?

He says - It's just like that movie.

Which one?

Indecent Proposal. You're Demi Moore, and I'm Michael Douglas.

Then I said - I don't think Michael Douglas was in that movie.

Well, this may not be funny to you. But it sure was hilarious to me.

Speaking of things that are hilarious to me and not to other people - I wear this Phantom of the Opera sweatshirt a lot lately cuz it fits me pretty good, is warm, and above all glows in the dark, but I'm really actually quite embarrassed about it, cuz I've

1- never seen Phantom of the Opera
2 - don't want any one to think I like musicals - even though I do
3 - am afraid one day someone will say something to me about it, just like they do when I wear Raiders t-shirts and sweatshirts even though I've never seen a Raider game in my life.

And to continue with the comedy here - I had a dream the other night that I was taking a walk and I ran up to the mail man in his truck cuz I forgot to put some mail out. When I got up to the truck I noticed that the mailman was an old Dan Akroyd. I told Mr. Akroyd that it was because of him that I wanted to be a comedian when I grew up cuz I was a big fan of Ghostbusters 2 and Saturday Night Live. What the hell is wrong with me?

And for any of you who are into being happy, and want to pretend there is no economic turmoil - just go to the Americana in Glendale. It's just like Disneyland. Artificial Snow, Trolleys, Dixieland style entertainment, and big Christmas decorations. (But people dress much nicer here at the Armenian Grove than Disneyland) There are no signs of a recession at the Americana at Brand.

Well, have a great week. I will. I hope.

I can't see anything

2008-11-18T21:54:00.000-08:00

It's 9:55pm and I just woke up after having put the girls to bed about an hour ago. I can't see anything cuz I need glasses real bad, and I have to squint so hard to make anything clear. But having just woken up makes it worse cuz my eyes feel all googley and tired. I just talked to my sister. She knows i'm tired.

Wow. Over a week passed without me writing any adventures, and it feels like it's been years. And on the other hand I feel like nothing has happened. I've been trying to figure out what to do for the birthday, check things off of my list of things to do, and keep up with all the people I know who are either getting hitched, getting pregnant, having drama, being sick, or whatever. So much going on. And to top it all off, the freaggin season is here. Hmmff. Or do I say Hooray? I don't know.

So my lovely, quiet, 12 hour a night sleeper, who I may or may not continue to call Destructor got some speech therapy today, and it looks like it'll continue. Two people who have seen the kid agree she's a smarty pants, but a quiet one. I'm excited about her talking. Maybe I shouldn't be though considering what Celia said this week. She called her sister a loser, and told her to shut up for the first time ever. It was so rude, but the only reason she did it, is cuz she saw a kid she looks up to doing it to her little sister, so she was trying to be cool. Oh geez. Here we go. Santa threats come in handy during these situations. All I have to say it "Hmm.. Santa doesn't bring presents to kids who are mean to their sisters", and it works.

Speaking of manipulating your children, I can't get over the power Alex has with reverse psychology. The other day (when Celia's legs were still bandaged from the cuts) I spent 20 minutes trying to get the kid into the bathtub with no luck at all. I called Alex over and said:

Hey - do that thing you do to get her to take a ducky (a bath).

Then Alex says real loud and obnoxiously:

"WHoooooo Loooveess being all fuchy! I do I do!"

"Who loves taking baths in MUDDD!! YEAH! LET'S GO GET SOME MUD AND TAKE A DUCKY IN THE MUD! YEAH! LET'S BE STINKY AND FUCHY!"

You should have seen Celia. She didn't even give him time to say anything else. She didn't even twitch. She just RAN to the bath and turned on the water herself. Effie followed quickly.

Tonight I made the mistake of playing that song "Lollipop" to my kids. Yeah, it's a good song, and we all loved the Stand By Me soundtrack and used to listen to it ourselves, but I heard it about a zillion times today, and I when it was not on, I heard Celia singing, "Lollipop, lollipop, oh lali lai ali, lollipop, lollipop, oh lali ali alil, lollipop, lollipop, oh lali lali ali lollipop... ba boom um um" FOR LITERALLY NO LESS THAN 90 MINUTES STRAIGHT!!!!! She did not stop. And each time she kept going, I thought it'd be the end, then it wasn't again and again. At least Effie can say it now. Maybe I should consider it speech therapy for her sister. Hmm.

Then, later, Alex said:

"What if one day Celia wants to sing that in a talent show?"

And I said

"What if?" "So she will, who cares"

Then he said:

"Well, if she does, I'm not going".

Yaa ha ha ha. Too funny.

Mr. Sandman

2008-11-10T23:43:00.000-08:00

Woah. Remember when Joey Lawrence used to say Woah? I do. That... was funny. I even had a Joey Lawrence doll that I used to keep wearing only his underwear and a leather jacket. Cuz that... was funny.

Anyway. I say "Woah" cuz I'm so tired. Are you? I am. In fact, I don't even want to write cuz I'm so tired. I just want to cuddle up in the family bed in between Effie and Celia and go to sleep, and have some weird dreams. Speaking of weird dreams, I'll never tell you how weird my dream was the other day cuz you'd have a heartattack. Alex on the other hand, thought it was hilarious.

As tired as I am, I can't help but think of my 5 blog followers "ahem.. cough cough, hint hint" (see below), and how much I want to please them and write a tad bit.

For the first time ever, Effie fell asleep just after I put her down, covered her up, and let my sister say "shhhh" to her for about 12 seconds. If you are a mommy, you know how amazing this can be after you usually either rock, nurse, sing, drive, stroller, or do whatever you can in all your power to put a kid to sleep. It was so nice. Thanks Cathie. She should go to bed at about 8 tomorrow night, so please get there a little early ok?
hehehehe.

Some of you may or may not know that weaning never really happened. Well, it did for about 3 weeks, then the little sucker was waking up at 5am wanting to chill out, read, eat, or whatever, and she wanted to do all those things with me OUT of the bed, so I said - "what the hell" and let the child have ze ze again. You should have seen her. She was SO happy.

Having a few hours more sleep really did me some good, and to my surprise the milk was not gone, but after another month, the little addict started to get a little coo coo for her ze ze, so I decided to wean again the other day before things got worse or more difficult. She was like a little crack head, getting all crazy and jittery and having anxiety attacks for it, and now - again, after a couple nights of peace and no more ze ze again, I vow to stand my guard. I even had a dream that someone I used to know said to me, "Sara! Stick to your guns" (when talking about weaning) So, I'll take that as a sign/message, and do so. Even though, it's a little sad when your kid grows up.

We asked her the other day if she was a baby or a big girl now, and she said "baby". The destructor would get mad if we called her a big girl. Oh well. I don't mind. I don't want her to grow up and get an attitude. It's already bad enough.

Besides all that fun stuff, another fun thing happened the other day. It was another Sunday, and Alex once again said "Let's go to the beach". This time, I didn't freak out, cuz I had food ready to go, we had a full tank of gas, and the children had eaten a proper breakfast, and I had an hour to prepare, so I plopped the kids on the couch with their babysitter "Clifford the Big Red Dog dvd#4" and packed up in no time.

It was too freakin windy at the beach. I mean, blow your children over, and get lots of sand in the eyes too windy - so we went to Malibu State Creek. Which was cool. If you haven't been there, you should go. But don't go on a Sunday, cuz very loud Central American Churchy groups go there to sing real loud at the creek, and they might ask you to join them.

Anyway, Celia and Effie had fun walking in the creek that was about 2 degrees warm, and then they stood in bike paths making sand castles, then we took a little walk, and then we ate some berries, and then we changed Effie's diaper on a tree stump, and then Effie fell asleep in my arms carrying her back to the car, and then Alex and Celia raced each other to the parking lot, and then Celia tripped and cut up her knees cuz God forbid the child ever wear pants - cuz princesses do not wear pants, but after all the blood she saw she said she can make an exception now and wear them when we are "hiking at the creek".

Needless to say, that was torture. Being a mom can really suck when you have to watch your kid scream bloody murder while her dad flushes dirt out of a deep, fleshy, nasty, dirty, dirt infested wound. Yuck. Yucky yuk yuk. Ewww. Yuckz. Nasty. Wakala. Fuchy. I pray that my kids never get a cut like that again. And if they do, I'll just let the emergency room handle it, even if it's a paper cut, cuz I'm not doing that again. No way. Well, if it does happen, maybe I'll run them over to my mom's house, cuz she's tough. I bet she can handle it. But no. Not me. Not again. No mre. Yuck.

OK. Enough again. I'll hit you cats up next week for more stories. Hopefully they are pleasant. But knowing "The Destructor" and my little princess, I'm not sure if they will be. But lets all hope.

Hot in the day, Cool at night

2008-11-07T23:26:00.000-08:00

My wrist really hurts from using this dumb computer so much. So, I can't write my life story today. Sorry.

But I can write a little bits.

How is everyone? I can't help but want to talk to each one of you personally, to see what cha been up to, how you've been, and to just catch up. But there's no time. At least we can connect for a second, while you read and remember that I'm thinking of you.

Post Effie Birthday week has been beautiful. If any of you made it outdoors at all this week, you know what I'm talking about. November is special. I think we are getting a little too obsessed with taking our family on outings to thrift stores, but I got some cool stuff this week, including a keytar. Yeah, a keytar. My dream come true. ha.

So, I was washing dishes, yeah, as usual, just staring at my reflection in the dark through my dirty kitchen window, and it was quite grueling. I mean, there were SO many dishes, and I think I even used a paper plate or two today. They just didn't end. I think I heard the same news on the radio about 7 times before I finished. Sometimes I consider wearing those fancy yellow gloves while I wash, cuz my hands are all callused and kind of messed up, but whatever. Maybe they are mommy battle scars of such.

Sometimes the only time I get to talk with the huzband is late at night, when you are delirious with fatigue, and last night we were talking about all the people we grew up with who ended up being drug addicts or jailbirds and all that kind of nice stuff. Then I was telling him about how I used to be on the phone all the time using 3-way, you know - party line - conference calls - whatever, and he's like "Woah, 3 ways? With who?" I couldn't stop laughing. Even though I knew he was acting dumb, it was so funny I think I fell asleep laughing.

Yesterday we went to the observatory - yeah, to say hi to Hershel and watch the planetarium show, and on the way out, Alex was horsing around with Celia and she very seriously said to him "Dad, you are not funny." It hurt his feelings.

Today I yelled at Celia for something lame, probably cuz I was hungry, and tonight while I was putting her to bed, I said "Celia, I'm sorry for yelling at you today. That wasn't nice of me, I know." Then she replied, "Mom, that's ok, you know I love you, and I forgive you." I had no idea she knew what forgiveness was. Impressive. That kid is TOO funny.

And my little mute said 4 words in a row today! Not on her own, but nonetheless she said "Soap in my hand". Little Effie goo goos destructor is the best. And she is a destructor. She dropped whip cream on multiple kitchen chairs today, put a dish rag in a cup of chocolate milk, spilled split pea soup out on the table while I wasn't watching so she could rub her hands in it, sat in a container in the backyard filled with water and rubbed mud on her face after eating blue paint, and right before bed she found her favorite thing (chapstick), but it was a Push Up Strawberry flavored lip balm, and while I was reading the Bearenstein Bears I looked over and her whole face was red with chunks of Strawberry lip stuff. She always looks so proud of her destructor ways.

Well, the radio is still on in the kitchen, and I have to dry those dishes, fold clothes, clean the stove, and try to organize my life, but even though the gloom of the kitchen lies ahead, I'm so happy, cuz I made 2 extra meals today so that I will have my family well fed all weekend. Let me know if you're hungry, I made a extra.

Happy 2nd Birthday Effie Rosey Goo Goos

2008-11-03T23:27:00.000-08:00

Since I don't really write in a journal/diary anymore, I'll write about Effie's birthday, just to have it recorded somewhere.

Around 3pm after we took a nap while the girls watched Care Bears, we decided to begin Effie's birthday bash, just the four of us.

We asked the big sister what she thought would be fun for her little sister, and she said a party at Griffith Park.

So we went there.

Celia kept looking for all the guests, but we told her it was a private party, and she seemed to understand, and Effie was quite happy on the see-saw as usual.

Celia has a new digital camera, so she took many pictures of the event.

They got sandy and stinky enough, so we then proceeded to the next part of the birthday festivities.

We embarked on a mission to get Effie a Minnie Mouse toy at the mall.

We rarely go to the mall, so we tried to park as close to our destination store as possible to avoid any encounters. God forbid people think we are normal and go to the mall. Ha ha. You know I'm messin.

We made it to the Disney Store, not before we explained to the first born that she could not have a gift, cuz she already had a snazzy digital camera, and it wasn't her birthday. She was only upset cuz Effie didn't choose a fancy princess present. She decided on two $4 MInnie dolls. Minnie cheerleader, and Minnie fancy green dress. Score for us. And as a bonus, Celia was excited for her sister.

We then proceeded to the parking lot, but not before Celia insisted on a hot dog on a stick. (Thanks Becky) So we took her. There in line, Effie met another Minnie obsessed child. How fascinating.

Eating was not as painful as it can be at times. No yelling, spilling, falling, crying. Score.

The departure from the mall was also easy. No one hassled us, I only ran into 2 people I knew, and Celia didn't mind not going into the pet store. It was time for private birthday party adventure part 3.

Library or cake? Hmmm. What were we to do next?

We skipped the library. I was already tired, but the night was young.

We made it to a ghetto party store in Glendale, where the girls got happy birthday balloons. Effie got a ...... can you guess??? A minnie balloon. Celia got a Tinker Bell one. It was interesting. Again, no crying, gimmie gimmies, or Effie accidents. Score.

The night continued. Bowling? Cake? What to do. So we went to the Goodwill.

There were 3 vintage toys in the box for sale. A She-Ra Princess of Power Horse, another Enchanted Pegasus toy, and a radical set of 4 animal cups from the 70's, and a ridiculously large box of zoo animal figures and dinosaurs. Score. Plus, the mean ass manager hooked up a deal even though she said she was in a bad mood.

Birthday Party adventure was not over, however the kids were getting cranky. Celia insisted on holding the She-Ra toy and promised not to open it. I told her she can't have it until I determine its value. Since it's only worth about $30 bucks, I may just let her play with it, or give it to Cathie for Christmas. Either way, there was still no excessive crying or whining so we were in good shape.

After a quick stop at the bank, we made it to Whole Foods, where Effie and I ran out to pick her birthday cake. She chose a $4 mini cheesecake, and I got a chocolate one for the older kid. Done.

6 destinations later, we made it home. After a good hand scrubbing we sang Happy Birthday and Effie learned how to say "Two" after being asked how old she was. Score.
She liked whip cream more than the cake (as usual) and once she had her full, she began to squish cake and cream in her fists and then rub her fists in cups of milk then slurp on her fists. The Destructor was happy. And so was I.

Good night everyone.

"Ask and You Shall Receive" plus a "Secret of Life"

2008-11-02T01:19:00.000-07:00

1. This is my second blog of the night - so be sure to keep reading.
2. I have a lot to say so just chill out, relax, and read on if you like.
3. I didn't draw this portrait. Some kid drew a picture of me.
3. Remember, as I have said before: Do not take my advice.
4. Some things I say right now may be shameful things Dr. Laura would not approve of.

So, I've been doing some laundry for the past couple of hours only because I think tonight is daylight savings night, which means I have an extra of hour of life. Wonderful.

All this cleaning has really done a job on my brain. The more I fold clothes, the more my desires in life come out into the open. I want new chonies, and new cheese grater, some aluminum foil, and fabric softener.

The more I think about the things I want, I think about the people who help me. And for those of you who take time out of your own busy schedules each week to help me care for my kids - (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! YES YOU!) I want you to know how much it means to me, and THANK YOU and I LOVE YOU! And thank you ALSO to those who give pets and presents to my children. And to those who hook me up with their old clothes. And for those who hang out at my house every once in awhile and play Go Fish or tea with my kids while I cook, make cookies, or wash dishes. Thank you. You rock.

And you know what? This all leads to something else that was racing through my head tonight - and that is - women are much more bitchy than men. You know why? Cuz men make them bitchy.

(Don't get me wrong - I'm not bitchy today and Alex has given me and my kids an amazing week but I just felt like I should write this)

And you know what? This leads to my secret of life. Men make women bitchy for various reasons.

1. They don't understand the impact of their words.
2. They do not read our minds and do exactly what we wish they would do.
3. They are much more passive.
4. They are animals of a completely different species - where we women are kind, loving, humans.

With these 4 things stated, let me tell you how I get what I want and make peace in my life (at times - not all the time)

1. I ensure to have eaten properly before yelling at my husband. Or if the bitch begins to reveal herself - he asks if I have been properly fed. If I have not been properly fed, he will then just take the blows and wait for sanity to come back into my head after eating food.

2. If the bitch comes around and I'm really tired, I take a quick nap to ensure the proper functioning of my brain.

3. If there is something I WISH my hubz would tell me that he hasn't said - I tell him the words - word for word - that I would like him to repeat in order for me to regain sanity and to contain the beast. It really works, cuz come on - guys are not mind readers - but when given instructions sometimes they follow to your surprise!

All this may seem like nonsense - and it's quite jumbled, sarcastic, and really is silly - but what I'm trying to get at, is life is not as difficult as people make it out to be. The only thing that matters is this instant. Everything that happened yesterday is over. Something that may happen tomorrow may never come. So just deal right now. (I know this is preachy - and it's hard to practice what you preach - but I can try can't I?)

So all this being said leads to the asking part.

You know what? I really, really want a new camera. Most people who read this blog ARE SUPER GENEROUS and always give me these super duper birthday presents, from gift certificates to coin purses, and I LOVE everything. And you know what? My birthday is coming up, and I can't stress how bad I want a new camera. Well, I've asked my viejo, and he may forget about it or only have the means to get me a disposable one, so I'm calling out to readers:

IF you were thinking of so generously giving me a gift for my birthday or Christmas this year - as you usually do - can you please consider a donation towards the "Sara really wants a kick ass used digital camera so she can take super pictures of her friends and kids Fund". ??

Times are tough. I know. But I believe in the power of shameless requests. Be it 3 bucks, or 15, I'll take it. And I promise it will go towards my dream camera, that will undoubtedly take your picture many times before you die.

It can't hurt to ask huh? Trust me. One day when I strike it rich, I'll return the love. All I can give you now is about 7 minutes a week of entertainment by reading my blog. You peeps who read give me much more in return. So thank you. I love you. And I better stop this insanity so that my Dad can go ahead and make a comment.

Good night
And for any men who were offended by reading this - "Suck it up, be a man and get over it. You know it's true - and if you don't fall into those categories - you're a sissy and women will love you for it!" Ha ha ha.

Sandy

2008-11-01T23:11:00.000-07:00

Today, around 10am, Alex said "Whoooo's ready to go to the beach?"

No one said anything. My kids hadn't eaten the chorizo and eggs I made them for breakfast, but they did eat some cookies and milk, so I was making them fideos so they could eat something with a tad more nutrients. I had tons of laundry to do. Effie had already done dishes for an hour this morning. (BTW - She's quite good. I've been meaning to tell you all, but she really washes. She's fascinated with the scrubber and wasting dish soap and to top it all off - I caught her using a knife to scrape some caked-on grilled cheese off of a frying pan. I cried a tear)

Anyhow, 2 hours later, the kids watched an hour and a half of The Three Caballeros, while I:

Fed them the sopita.
Cleaned up 40% of the kitchen.
Made the bed.
Put in a load of laundry.
Got dressed.
Changed Celia from pajamas to hula gear.
Changed Effie's diaper twice.
Brushed their teeth.
Brushed my teeth.
Borrowed Mayo from the neighbor.
Made 2 chicken salad sandwiches.
Made 2 pbj sandwiches.
Packed juices.
Packed bananas.
Packed extra clothes, towels, and other stuff.
Made a vegetable/chicken soup for dinner.
Changed Celia from the hula gear to a fancy dress with a sash and rainboots.
Changed Effie from her nude self to day clothes.

Some other stuff happened, like Celia very seriously trying to learn Veracruz style Mexican folk dancing - thanks to Donald Duck, and Effie hiding inside the sofa cushions, but we made it outta the house around 12:30 and got to the beach in no time. We ate our sandwiches in the car.

When Alex says "the beach" I get a little nervous.

Well, when an outing involves SAND, lots more Sand, and Sand stuck in butt crevices. I tend to want to stay home. But I didn't say a thing and just went with the flow. Cuz I Do LOVE the beach - but with babies it can be interesting.

We got to the beach and it was rainy. I didn't say a thing.

As we walked to the beach as we passed a lovely creek with ducks, and Celia said in her over exaggerated, coy princess voice - (if you know her you know what I'm talking about)

" OOhhhh Mother!!!! Thank you SOOOO much for bringing me to the beach!!! I just Loooove walking in the dirt with my rainboots!"

The other day when we were trick-or-treating she said in front of some family -
"Ohhhhh Mother! Look at the Beeeeauuutiful stars in the sky! Aren't they LOVELY!?"

(I just shrugged and said I had nothing to do with such behavior)

Anyhow, all my fears of sand were put aside, and I just enjoyed each (as corny as it may sound) magical parent moment - even when:

Effie ate shit in the sand and a wave crashed over her head.
Effie got stuck in a big hole.
Effie got lots of sand in her eyeballs.
Effie got lots of sand in her mouth.
Effie made crunchy noises cuz sand was in her teeth.
Celia freaked out cuz she got her hair wet.
i had to clean sand out of 2 different butts.
And when I watched my car that I just washed for the first time in months get covered with SAND.

It was awesome. Thanks Alex.

I Said:

2008-10-26T23:59:00.001-07:00

I said that I would write again this weekend cuz I had something to write about. Well, I just should have written it then, cuz I can not remember what I was gonna write about.

That kind of thing always happens to me. Like when I'm holding a set of keys, and I say to myself "I'm gonna put them right here so I don't forget where I put them", or I'll have a paper and say "I think I'll put this very important paper right here in this folder so I won't forget where I put it", and of course, I can not remember. That's the downside to being unorganized, but I'm working on it, and I haven't lost my wallet in quite awhile, knock on wood.

Thank you to the blog followers by the way.

Hmm. It's really bothering me that I can not remember what I was gonna write about. I thought about it the other night, while I was up doing all the house stuff, and now, I'm in the same boat. I've been up, surfing the internet super highway, just to read about other moms who seem to do a million more things than I do. I think they just publish books to make me look bad. Whateva. But now I'm mad that I can't remember.

Remember. Remember. Come on Sara. You can do it. I know you can. I think you can... I thought you could.

Was it about your neighbor and almost losing their cat while they were outta town? no.

Were you gonna write about the neighbors who invited you to worship with them? no.

Was it about Effie wearing lots of blue eyeshadow for the Halloween party? no.

Were you gonna write about something very strange that Alex said to you? probably.

Ok. This is hopeless. Why don't YOU tell me something about yourself? Huh? I'm tired of all this writing about me. Oh, yeah, but this IS my blog. Hmff...

This is a lost cause. The world is in chaos. The markets are down. Elections in a little more than a week. My kids are strange. I have WAY too much on my mind. And I have nothing to say. Oh well. I guess it's just one of those days. I think I'll stop wasting your time, and go read a blog about one of those super mommies. Maybe I need some inspiration.

Peace out fools. I love you all.

Just Stop Thinking

2008-10-25T00:30:00.000-07:00

Hi Kids. Thank you to Becky, Cathie, and Lucena for signing up as blog followers. I'm glad you are not ashamed. Hee hee.

The more I think about what I should write about on any given day, the harder it becomes to write. For the past hour, I've been doing laundry, making mole, (mol-eh, a mexican dish, not an animal or an enlarged freckle), doing dishes, and surfing craigslist for fine, used, automobiles. During this time my mind has been racing with thoughts from the past week. We seem to do a lot even though at times it seems like we don't do anything.

Celia tends to have lengthy conversations with herself. We took a walk the other day and she insisted on taking out her "map" out of her "backpack", then creating some adventures prior to arriving at our destination. (too much Dora)

She also had a long conversation with her poop the other day. I'm shooting myself in the foot for not having recorded this but here are some of the things I remember her saying while she sat on the toilet. (Please don't tell her I wrote this down when she's older)

"Poop! Here comes some Pee- Pee! Watch out - you're gonna get wet!!"
"Oh No! This is a terrible situation! What are we gonna do!"
"Ha ha ha! Wait! No NO! Poo poo - please hold still!"
"Watch out or your butt's gonna get a rash!"

(this type of screaming went on for at least 15 minutes. I had to pick her up off the toilet or I'm sure it would have continued for a good hour)

Yesterday and today I found out what Effie (a.k.a. to some as the "Destructor") would do if I didn't take away her unfinished portions of food.

I gave her a bowl of rice, and a glass of orange juice. When she was done with both, she decided to mix rice into the orange juice, which she would then drink. Then she would remove grains of rice from the orange juice and put them back in the bowl, then eat them with a spoon.

Today I gave her a glass of apple juice at the table, which she mixed into a cup of mint chip ice cream. Later, she poured out the juice from the sippy cup onto the table, then rubbed her hands in it as if it were finger paint, then would rub her face and hair. She was all gross and sticky until I put an end to her destructor madness.

Yeah, my kids are perty funny. My dad witnessed a tantrum from the depths of the underworld today that I blame on a poor breakfast. Hmm. Good times. Good times.

I think I'll write again on Sunday, so stay posted. I actually had something else in mind to write about today, but I'll save it. And don't let me write any more dream entries. It seems like since I wrote that last one, my dreams have gotten weirder.

Oh - for those of you who make mole - and use the glass jars of Dona Maria to make it, put it in the blender first. What a world of difference that made. I think it takes about an hour out of the mole making time. Now I think I'll make mole sauce to pour over eggs, burritos, pizza, mint chip ice cream, or whatever.

44 Stories Later

2008-10-19T23:22:00.000-07:00

And now time for a dream.

If you know me - you know I like to sleep. In fact I'm almost always yawning. I'm tired a lot. Sleeping is real fun, and cozy, and wonderful, and whenever I remember my dreams, I know I've slept ok.

I'm the kind of person who can fall asleep within 20 seconds of putting my head down, and even if I get 10 minutes to doze, it'll do me a world of good. In fact, just now, I put my kids to bed, took a little nap, and now I'm up and at em.

I would've thought I was pregnant last night cuz my dream was so bizarre. But NO I'm not pregnant - but what I mean by that is when I was pregnant- those 18 combined months of being a host for a fetus - I had the weirdest dreams all the time. Some dreams included me swimming in the middle of the ocean watching cannonballs wizz past me while I was wading in the water with Danny DeVito. In another, my friend Vicky and I were on the lookout for second hand sofas on a deserted island.

Well, last night my dream included some of these things - in random order:

Driving my sister's bug to San Francisco.
Arriving in SF and receiving a collect call from Ireland where someone asked me to host a couple in my house.
Going to the dentist for x-rays.
Going to another dentist for a check up.
Seeing someone I knew at the x-ray dentist.
Then seeing them again at the check up dentist.
When I saw them at the check up dentist, that person said "Seen anyone we know lately?", and I said "Yeah, I saw you at the x-ray dentist a minute ago."
Getting a text from my sister that said she was evacuated from her house due to large announcements made by airplane that there was gonna be an earthquake.
Going back to LA to see those big airplanes.
Those airplanes turned into huge rocket ships that shook the ground when they'd fly past me.
Those huge rockets turned into aliens.
Those aliens multiplied and gave me birthday presents.
My mother-in-law asked me who got my kids those cute gifts.
I told her they were from the aliens.
There was never an earthquake.
I walked with my brother-in-law along a maze while I watched him carry my 2 kids.
One fell out of his arms but I caught her.
I ended up on a bus to mexico and saw Alex at one of the stops.
The bus driver wouldn't pick him up cuz he had 2 strollers, so he said go to the next stop.
I ran off the bus to help Alex and we ended up RUNNING miles chasing after a bus with kids and strollers in our hands.
(it was exhausting and I wasn't even awake)
In my dream at one point, I recalled the first whole part of my dream to someone telling them how weird it was.
We made it to the end of the bus route and ended up outrunning the bus.
I asked a woman for our bus fare back, cuz running was such a pain in the butt.

Ok, that was some of it. I promise not to quasi-entertain you with riff raff dreams again, but for reals, I had nothing else to write about. I mean, this week has been fun, and for the most part quite gratifying as a mother cuz I got my kids to eat breakfast, brush teeth, and get dressed before 9am for 6 days in a row. That to me is like deserving a medal. (if anyone who reads this knows Dallas Howard, tell him to bring me one next time he sees me)

Anyways - I'll write soon. Have a great Monday, etc. etc. etc. Say hi to the real world for me. Adios.

Bye Bye

2008-10-15T00:04:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile. More than a week I think, but if you know me - then you know I was busy due to the party at the park. And if you made it, thank you. It was too much fun. We could barely make it home cuz there was so much crap to pack, and ended up putting a full cooler on top of Effie's lap. She thought it was funny.

Last night I was up till 3am, yeah, doing some dishes, cleaning up, making a new schedule for my babies, and preparing a few things, and all the while I was thinking about what to write about. And as I stared at the sink, and all the water going down the drain I noticed that our new garbage disposal had a name. It's called the "Insinkerator".

"Insinkerator", I thought. "That sounds like "N'Sync -erator."

Then I remembered how last week at ballet class the teacher was blasting that song "Bye Bye", by N'Sync and making my child dance around like a looney to it. The teacher kept saying how much she loved N'Sync, and you could tell by the way she was dancing, and I felt a little disturbed at the fact that my kid was enjoying it so much. Just like that time I let my kid watch "Barbie Island Princess". (Note to parents - NEVER RENT THAT MOVIE OR LET YOUR KIDS SEE IT!)

Well, getting back to the Insinkerator. Now then whole time I was watching the water go down I kept singing that "Bye Bye" song to my dishes and thought it was only appropriate that my sink now has a name and a theme song.

I paid particularly close attention to the ballet teacher today to see if she'd do or say anything funny again worth blogging about, and no she didn't. It was a little excruciating to watch the class though cuz the teach kept trying to get 10 2-4 year olds to do real ballet and no one was listening - especially Celia who was laughing her head off during the entire 45 minutes, for what reason, I don't know.

When I got home tonight, I remembered that my neighbors were going outta town and I had to take in their trashcans. (Now in my home, mi "gordo" or "viejo" or "old man" aka husband does this chore) So there I was, listening to my kids scream at me through the screen door while I walked their cans to their backyard. By the time I was done, Alex was out in the driveway with Celia who was sitting in a cardboard box on the lawn in the dark, and Effie was next to her. They couldn't stand to see me gone for more than a minute and I was glad to be with them. And after I dragged Celia in the box up the driveway and got inside, my man was sitting on the piano bench with a very serious look in his eyes.

"Sara. When are you gonna start taking in OUR trashcans?"

(Now if you know this man, then this may be funny)

About 6 seconds passed before I responded:

"When you die."

It's late now. "BYE BYE" everybody. Oh - and for you loyal readers, I have a thingy at the bottom of this blog that says "People who read this". So if you are not scared of showing your face, go hed and represent.