Innocent Children

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

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....

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)

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

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

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

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.