Dear Anyone and Everyone,

Not that you care, but just had to let you know what I've been doing the last 24 hours. I STARTED and FINISHED Christmas shopping (5 1/2 hours, 7 stores, and 12 presents), printed off the Christmas/New Year's cards, went to the grocery store with 3 children in tow, and am now doing my holiday baking. I never thought I would have been able to pull it off.

It's all about simplification.

• The 12 brand new boxes of lights for outside? Yeah, next year I am hiring that out.
• The brand new 100 foot tree? Yeah, it is all decorated. As for the rest of the decorations that usually are throughout the house . . . who needs them? I'll just have everyone come into my great room and see the beautiful tree. That makes up for the lack of Christmas decor throughout the rest of the house.
• Thanks Cousin April for the MARVELOUS idea of 3 gifts. I completely borrowed that idea and modified it to fit our needs. Three gifts= the three gifts from the Wisemen to Baby Jesus. For our family's purposes, one gift is from mom/dad, one gift is from the siblings, and one gift is from Santa. I just sent a memo to Santa so he would know that only one gift would be from him. Yeah, I couldn't get him to comply 100% because he already had some stocking stuffers for the kids' stockings.
  
• Thanks Paige for the idea of faux-baking. I am doing some real baking, but also borrowed your ideas for the brownies with my modifications (added red and green m and m's to one batch, will add mint frosting to the other batch).
• Thanks Heather for inspiring me to get it in gear and prepare for the holidays.

Now if only I could find my cable to my camera (that has been DISCONTINUED) so I could upload photos onto my blog of our cruise to Cozumel, Tino's band concert, Sarah and Mateo's holiday program, and our other holiday happenings.

Besos y Abrazos,

heidiram

Cherished Memories: Tino's Travel Misadventure

Tino has a big writing piece due tomorrow. They use the COOLEST writing program at his school. He writes on the computer and submits his work and IMMEDIATELY gets feedback from the computer regarding focus and meaning, content and development, mechanics, organization, language use, etc. So here it is for your reading pleasure.

Kaboom! That was all I heard as the huge, silver doors closed . I stood, hypnotized, watching my family as I glanced out the dark, black, tinted windows of the train. My mom, brother, and sister were vanishing away further and further, by the second. Was this really happening to me? "No!" I exclaimed.

This whole misadventure started on a humid, extremely foggy winter morning. It was raining cats and dogs outside. Everything all happened so rapidly, but this is what I recall. We were about to go to Utah for Christmas. The vacation was supposed to be for my whole family to have a family reunion. The quest in the airport was very suspenseful and action-packed. It was a very spine-tingling experience for me and for everyone else in my family. Little did I know that I was about to get lost.

The Orlando International Airport was packed with many holiday travelers. After we checked in our baggage, everything happened so quickly. I was so excited to visit my cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents that I suddenly started roaming recklessly away from my mom, brother and baby sister without paying any attention at all. I mistakenly stepped onto a tram leading to the terminal for my outbound flight. The huge, silver, doors closed. I glanced out dark, black, tinted windows. All I could see was my mom doing two things. First, she was yelling,"No, TINO!!!" and she was chastizing my obnoxious, 3-year old little brother. She was paying more attention to my little brother than she was to me. Then the tram inched away from my family. It wandered further and further until they were way out of sight. Then I vanished. I had no viewpoint of where I was.

Could my situation get any worse? First, I was carrying my baby sister's heavy, blue car seat. Second, it was cold and my mom was carrying my jacket. To top it off, I had vanished from my family. Could it possibly get any worse than this? I had a mixture of feelings right now. I was feeling furious and miserable. Fortunately, I fought to stay tranquil. I thought for a few moments. What would I do? Would I try to find my family? Should I report myself lost? Or should I just stand here hoping to find someone to help me out? What would I eat for food if I got hungry? I should be happy I am lost, I thought caustically. The five minutes of me pondering seemed like a day at this place. It was the longest five minutes of my life. It felt as long as a voyage to Africa. I was as worried as when I had misplaced my 2nd pair of prescription glasses in a row, a couple years ago. My final decision was to step off the tram at the next stop. So I did. Now I would have to face the daring and extremely dangerous challenge of surviving in the airport. No doubt would it be a tough, grueling mission. I might not even make it out alive. The airport was so huge I had no idea of where I even was.

The airport was filled with frazzled and stressed out travelers waiting for their airliners to arrive. Suddenly, I was having trouble breathing. Now I thought again. Would I die from having trouble breathing? Was I sick? Or was it just the amount of people here? Was this asthma? Did I feel an anxiety attack coming on? I didn't have a clue. The mixture of emotions was starting to overwhelm me. And now to top it all off, I was beginning to feel scared. I was as scared as when my mom encountered a rat a few years back. Uh oh! I thought to myself.

The airport terminal was so big that I thought I was in the city. I suddenly found myself sprinting. I dodged people carrying neatly wrapped packages, animals in their travel crates, and plants in clay pots. I even passed a few small, gray golf carts carrying passengers that were about to miss their connecting flights. I halted to a stop. I had to ask for help or now one would here from me ever again. I spotted a man dressed in a navy blue uniform in the near distance. I noticed on his uniform there was a huge golden badge. I glanced, trying to guess who it might be. It was a police officer. My chance to stay alive was now. If I did not ask for help now, who knows what would or could happen to me. I had no money. I had no food. I could starve to death or die of thirst or both.

I sprinted towards the officer and asked for help. "Sir, will you help me!?" I called out."I don't know," he replied not so sure. "What is your name?" he questioned. "Why should I tell you!!!"I snapped. "Sorry for bothering you"he answered."What airliner are you riding?"he questioned."The Ted airline." I responded."I think I can help you out." I really hoped so. All I was thinking about now was getting back to my family. I was very anxious. Then I thought. He might not find my family. So I tried not to get too excited. He took out a small, shiny black gizmo. It had a little antennae on it. It read, MOTOROLA. It must be a walkie-talkie. It was. He started talking to another officer that was somewhere else in the airport. It had to be where my family was located. I hoped so. He asked me to follow him. We were enduring for a while. And then finally, I saw my mom and the rest of my family. I saw her sobbing. Somehow the other officer found my mom. At that moment, I could tell she was very miserable. Now I would be able to travel to Utah and have a great time in the white, fluffy snow with my cousins, and the rest of my family.

I learned a great lesson from that experience. Now when I go to the airport, I know that I need to be more cautious. I know not to make that same mistake I made two years ago. And that was wandering off, not having any thought where I might be going. That little, dumb mistake nearly cost my life. This was a huge lesson to be learned. I have finally learned it. And to think this was all just a memory. I would be brain sick. Or should I just say crazy.

Mr. Mateo . . . Helper Boy Extraordinaire

Mateo has loved his first couple months of Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten . . . until just the last week or two. Although the curriculum is absolutely incredible . . . and the kids learn more than their Florida public-school attending Kindergarten counterparts, he has hit the wall . . . and He.Is.Bored. He is reading. And writing. And doing math. And excelling in his enrichment program Spanish class. So now what? Instead of him being challenged, he is CHALLENGING his mother every time she walks by his classroom. And his teachers. And the Director and Assistant Director of the center. So now what? Oops, I already asked that question.

I can't have the absolute perfect child right? I figure that is why he is giving me academic challenges. Now on to his perfect characteristics: He is the best helper in the whole entire planet. Here are a couple examples:

1. On Friday, Sarah had another one of her infamous medicine-induced meltdowns at school. It's usually a snowball effect where one thing leads to another, which leads to another, etc. In this particular incident, her Cinderella princess high heel (which her mother told her was too dangerous to wear to school) had BR-OKE. And then to top it all off, her Cinderalla dress that she was wearing for Halloween got caught up in the pedal of her bike. She fell off the bike and hit her chin. Mateo was visiting another classroom (Read: Mateo was kindly invited to give his teacher a "time-out" and was sent across the hallway to another VPK class that looks out onto the "big kid" playscape/playground). He asked the teacher if he could go outside and help Ms. Meagan with Sarah. He led Sarah by the hand, walked her inside to his "time-out" classroom and said as told to me by a couple teachers that witnessed the entire incident: "Come on, Sarah. It's o.k. Big brother is here. Let me help you." He then proceeded to help her wash her hands and face to cool down, gave her a wet paper towel to stick on her banged up chin, gave her a big giant hug and kiss, and took her over to the reading corner and read her a story. Meltdown CEASED. Sarah happy. Whole world can now move on again.
2. Mateo absolutely LOVES to cook. And clean. There is actually a side story to this which I will save for another day, but it has something to do with him wanting to show me he is responsible enough to help . . . which translates into= he deserves to get a pet. Anyway, yesterday I came down with a KILLER cold. I spent the majority of the day in bed feeling downright MISERABLE. We were having the missionaries over for dinner (which I felt bad cancelling on them) . . . yet NO DINNER HAD BEEN COOKED. Mateo came into the kitchen and said "Mom, I can tell you need a lot of help. Since I'm your best helper boy (yeah, and also extremely humble), can I vacuum the floor for you? After vacumming he said, can I help you mop now?" And then he put two and two together that the poor missionaries were going to starve . . . and his family was also going to starve . . . so he volunteered to make a cake. He is able to do most of the reading of recipes. He LOVES the power that reading gives him . . . especially in the kitchen. He proceeded to go get Tino (so Tino could help him with the long vowels and crazy irregular words in the recipe that he hasn't learned how to read yet) and together they made a chocolate cake for dinner. I mean for desert. (As a side note, thank goodness for SUPER SUPPERS or the entire family and missionaries would have gone without dinner.) And speaking of Super Suppers, Mateo is my Super Suppers helper now. He goes with me each week, decides what we are going to have for dinner, and helps me assemble the meals. He thinks it's cool because he is being my best helper boy and I think it's cool because my pickiest eater in the whole entire planet is now eating better because he likes to eat the food that he has prepared.
   

Where do I begin????

It's been so long since I have blogged that I even forgot how to sign in. Now that I got that part figured out, I guess I should think about something to post.

I'll start out with Sweet Sarah. The good news about her is she has made so much progress in speech, that our insurance wouldn't cover her services anymore. She officially was released the beginning of October. As far as expressive language, her last evaluation was given at 3 years 6 months. She scored the age equivalent of 3 years 7 months. As far as articulation goes, she is making errors that are developmentally consistent with children her age.

As for other Sarah news, her OCCASIONAL seizures have gone from being all in the frontal and parietal lobes of the brain to generalized seizures happening all over her brain . . . multiple times per day. Our next step has been to start MEDS. So far we have tried two medications and they have not been very nice to Sarah. They have made her psychotic and aggressive. Leave it to my posterity to get one of the side effects that will only happen to less than .01% of the population. What has been the most challenging is that she knows something is up and is now able to communicate that with me. She will tell me several times a day in between fits of rage when she is actually able to talk: "Mommy, I don't feel well. Something's wong with me".

New Family Pics!!!!

I am so excited. It's almost like Christmas morning . . . even better. One of my friends started a photography business. And of course, I have been saying for the last year "I really need to schedule an appointment to get family pictures done". Well, we finally had the kids pictures taken. The DAY.BEFORE.JANNA.MOVED.AWAY. The kids had a lot of fun during their photo shoot. I had to laugh at the progression of the photos.

Can we play a little game? Can you guess which photos were taken seconds after getting out of the comforts of the air-conditioned van and which photos were taken towards the end of the hour-long session? Can we say sweat buckets? Thank you so much Janna. I LOVE the pictures. And if any of my close friends and family want to help Janna out with her business . . . hire her to take your family photos. She now lives in Montana and she does travel to do photo shoots. Or buy some pictures of my cute kids.

Oh yeah, most important part if you want to see my kids . . . go to client proof . . . password is "My last name" . . . As in type what my last name is all lower caps.

Back to School

I will try to post several posts a day for the next year to try and catch up with all this lost blogging time. I just found this picture on my camera. Mateo decided to have snack time and nap time once he got home from school.

Arepas

I would love to say I learned how to make Venezuelan-style arepas this summer. Let's just say I WATCHED my friend Yazmely make the dough for arepas. She was kind enough to make an extra batch that I could stick in my freezer. My kids were very impressed that I was actually successful making arepas. What they don't know is that the dough was already done . . . all I had to do was decide if they were going to be fried or boiled/baked. I'm a big giant cheater . . . who still doesn't know how to make arepas. I do however know that it's very important to always keep a supply of "harina de maiz blanco", cheese, ham, tuna and all the arepa fixins on hand. That way when hurricane season really starts, I'll just invite my Venezuelan friends over to hang out with us and ride out the storm. And of course my friends from other nationalities are also invited to hang out at my house during the hurricanes . . . just make sure you bring your own Serrano ham, cheese and diet coke.

All-Star Baseball

Silly mom worked full time over the summer. Which means, I had little to no time for blogging. I guess I better get my priorities straight huh? Tino was on the All-Star baseball team. This kept us busy for 3 weeks. Practices two hours per day, seven days a week, for THREE STRAIGHT weeks. And the big giant bust was that on the first day of All Stars, Tino got bit by fire ants during his last day of Aquatics camp. He was able to put his shoes on for Game #1. Thank goodness, the following day the boys had off. By Day #3 Tino's foot was triple the size and it was very difficult for him to get his cleats on. He hobbled out onto the field and gave it his best shot. Since he couldn't run, he was 1st base coach. His All-Star dreams were shattered due to those stinkin fire ants, but I was proud of my guy for not uttering one word of complaint . . . no matter how much pain he was in.

Double Ear Infection

Tino's tolerance for pain is pretty high. He finished aquatics camp last week and has been complaining off and on about his ear(s) hurting when he touches them. Mom of the year's response was: "Well, then don't touch them!" Just to cover our bases, I took him to the clinic this morning. Double ear infection with a recommendation NOT TO GET HEAD/EARS WET until meds have been finished. Let's just say I picked up the medicine AND some ear plugs. Poor Tino.

Big Giant Blurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Yeah, had to laugh as I pulled up my blog and read the entry for week #1 of Summer. Let's see . . . how many weeks have gone by? Here is a recap of our summer so far.

1. Summer for Me: My full-time job: H_ _ _ it. I would spell out the word, but then my mouth would have to be washed out with soap. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings from heaven right? Right!?! Those blessings better be pouring in soon. Everything else regarding the summer is one big giant blur. I do vaguely recall chaufering kids to and from camps, baseball practices and games, swim lessons, etc. Am I KICKING myself now for having 101 graduate level semester units and NO THESIS? As I have been investigating the situation, those credits are enough to give me at least one if not two master's degrees. Word to the wise: For all those out there that do EVERYTHING but the thesis . . . go ahead and power through the paper. You will be much happier in the long run and it will not send your future career(s) into a downward spiral.
   
2. Summer for Tino: Golf camp, All-Star Baseball team with one bazillion practices (2 hours per day 7 days per week for 3 weeks), Aquatics Camp times two, Cub Scout Day Camp.
3. Summer for Mateo: Playing FULL TIME with Patricio and Fernanda for 5 weeks, Refresher Infant Swimming Resource classes, loving and I mean ABSOLUTELY LOVING his new school for the past 2 weeks.
4. Summer for Sarah: Playing FULL TIME with Fernanda for 5 weeks, Infant Swimming Resource Classes (only one class left HURRAH), therapy with Ms. Jennie, therapy with Miss Lauren, LOVING and BLOSSOMING and DOING AWESOME in her new "cool" for the past 2 weeks.
5. Summer for Cristian: LOVING his new job as a Computer Engineer . . . anxiously awaiting a REAL LIVE summer vacation. (The last time he had more than 3 days off from work was when he and my dad drove the van cross-country from CA to FL. And that SOOOOO does not count as a summer vacation . . . or any other type of vacation in my books.) His job in Finance was not the most flexible of all creatures. In fact, even when he did take a day or two off from work he received a gazillion e-mails, texts, or phone messages from his co-workers regarding the various crises that were happening in the office because he had left on "vacation".
   

Tomorrow we are going on a real live family vacation that lasts for more 2 1/2 days and/or that is not a quick Saturday/Sunday weekend trip. Tino and Mateo's requests for the summer were to go somewhere and not have to rush back because Papi has to work. Request granted. We're going to Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina. It's just 10 minutes south of Myrtle Beach.

Summer Week #1

One of these days I will have enough time to blog properly and make my photos all cute and cropped. But for now, this will have to do. Since I am about one month behind in my blogging, I figured I better document what I can. Tino went to golf camp last week. It has been a couple years since he has played golf. (Two years no golf= almost two years that we have not had the perks of FREE golf at Disney).

Coach Jeff is wonderful. He has a lot of patience and does a great job teaching the kids about golf rules, etiquette, etc. I can't wait to see if Coach Jeff still has so much patience once "Tino's little brother" starts taking lessons. Cristian took Mateo for his first golf lessons a couple weeks ago . . . but unfortunately Coach Jeff had already finished up lessons for the season. Golf lessons won't start back up again until September (when it gets a little bit cooler outside).

Bikes bikes bikes . . . oh yikes!

So remember that time when Mateo was having issues leaving the house and taking his sister with him? And remember the time I had to set the alarm just so I could go to the bathroom? Well . . . then remember when Mateo kind of grew out of the phase of taking off without my permission???? Well, yeah . . . we're back into leaving the house without my permission. Now he escapes a lot faster down the street since he's got his transportation. He learned how to ride a two wheeler in about two seconds. And he is GOOD. Sarah really wants to learn how to ride a big bike also. But for now, a scooter or her trike will have to do.

Birthday Party Bash . . . BUSTED

Thirty five years ago today, right smack dab in the middle of my 3rd birthday party (pin-the-tail on the donkey game to be exact), my mom went into labor. We had to hurry and open presents, eat cake and ice cream, and send the party guests on their way home. My best birthday present of all was about to arrive: My baby brother. Happy Birthday Robbie! Oops, I mean Happy Birthday ROB! I love you! I hope you have as good as a birthday as I am having. Gotta go now because Cristian is taking me to my all time favorite restaurant Texas de Brazil. I'll eat a slab of meat in your honor.

Day #2

This will be our fifth hurricane season since moving to FL. I am COMPLETELY amazed by the whole thing. We had a couple weeks of absolutely beautiful weather. Not one cloud in the sky. Then all of a sudden the date changes and it's JUNE 1. The first day of Hurricane Season. We are now in the second day of hurricane season. Like clock work it has rained BOTH afternoons. Oh yeah, and can't forget the thunder and lightning. How does the weather know it needs to do that? Why didn't Mr. Rain or Mr. Thunderstorm visit us during the month of May? Or why don't they hold off until after June 11th?

Unfortunately, Sarah spent the better part of 2 hours on my lap yesterday with her head buried in my arms. Does this mean she doesn't do thunderstorms anymore? She kept running to me and saying "Mami, I cared, I cared. Hold me. " This is going to be a mighty long next six months if we don't nip this scared thing in the bud real quick. What are we going to do???????

Better Late Than Never

Yes, it's been two weeks since Sarah's birthday. Yes, it has also been two weeks since she had her three year old check up. And yes, I finally decided to make my life easier by changing pediatricians. The pediatrician group we have had since moving here is on the other side of town. That 45 minute drive gets really old . . . especially when we have to do the drive with a sick child or children. There is a new pediatrician that opened a practice 7 miles down the street from our house. One day I stumbled upon her Friday Mom Tour/Interview. She is FANTASTIC. And she really gets it with Sarah and her developmental issues (unlike the other pediatrician(s) in the other practice that always told me not to worry, everything is o.k., yadda dadda.) She is absolutely amazing. And I am so happy about this new change. Now I just need to make it official and get Mateo and Tino's medical records transfered as well. And can we say ALLERGY EYES? Unfortunately I think Sarah is starting to get allergies as well. She always has that "look" in her eyes (developmental delay), but it is enhanced with the swollen allergy eyes.

When is it too late ???????

I have something that has been on my mind. It actually crosses my mind about once a week . . . and then I forget about it for another week. In November 2006 Tino got baptized. Part of getting baptized is supplying your own white clothes for said baptism. Now if we would have waited an additional 10 months to have Tino baptized, it would have counted as a "convert baptism". For some reason, "convert baptisms" do not have to supply their own baptismal clothing. Yes, there are stake baptisms once a month. And yes, young boys get baptized ALL THE TIME. Can you tell me why I had such difficulty trying to find baptismal clothing for Tino????? And P.S. trying to find white pants for a 8 year old boy is next to impossible. Anyway, I ended up going to the temple the day before his baptism and explaining my sob story of how I had waited until the last minute trying to round up baptismal clothes, couldn't find any, Church Distribution would take at least one week to mail it to me, etc. So, I asked the very nice lady at the temple clothing counter if I could borrow some white pants. She checked with her supervisor, and came back and told me YES. As I was leaving, she asked if I would like a pair of white underwear as well. OF COURSE. That would save me an errand running to WalMart, Target, or any other place trying to track down tighty whities. Oh, did I mention Sarah and Mateo were with me when I went to borrow clothes from the temple?????? And did I also mention that the nice friendly brethren that greet you at the front entrance were not that nice and friendly when Sarah and Mateo were standing on the couches so they could get a better look at the Christ pictures in the waiting room area?????

Anyway, Tino got baptized, I returned the white pants ASAP. But, I couldn't find the white underwear the day I trekked across town to return the white pants. Mateo had put the underwear in his drawer. He had unofficially inherited some very special #8 white underwear. (There is a big number 8 on the waistband . . .) One month went by, and then another, and then another.

Here we are more than 18 months later and I still have the temple's white underwear. Is it too late to return it? Should I add more money to the "temple fund" next time I pay my tithes and offerings? Is it already too late and will I be going down for taking temple property and not returning it? What about my 4 1/2 year old son who wears his "special underwear" once a week? What would you do if you were in my predicament?????

The Day After

Sarah went into complete meltdown mode when it came time for opening birthday presents. She didn't appreciate being the center of attention with 40+ people staring at her as she attempted to open presents. In order to alleviate the uncomfortable situation, and to make it so she didn't truly have a doozy of a meltdown on her birthday, I took the presents back inside the house. Mission aborted. Well, Sarah took it upon herself to go into the house and open all the presents . . . ALONE. When I entered the dining room, she had all the EMPTY gift bags lined up in a row (TRUE TO HER OCD WAYS), there was a pile of tissue paper in the middle of the floor, and all her gifts were in a pile on the other side of the dining room. Do you have any idea what a challenge that makes for writing thank you notes????? Thank you Sarah.

She insisted on wearing her Disney character shirt to church last Sunday (UGH) . . . and as you can see she wasn't letting me do her hair. (Is that something new????? NOT.) I'm starting to accept the fact that the hair in eyes, messy hair, etc. will be a Sarah fashion statement. With all her other issues going on, I have come to a point of choosing battles and wars. I choose to lose at the hair wars.

Sarah's Birthday

So this is one week late. Better late than never right??? Sarah was the birthday girl . . . for about one week. Life revolved around Sarah's birthday and she made sure to let everyone know IT WAS HER BIRTHDAY . . . and she "had FWEE". (Notice the Spanish grammar "tengo tres anos" as she speaks English).

As a rule of thumb, we have always followed the guidelines for every year of birth, our children get to invite that many friends to their party. Well, Sarah had three friends to her party plus an additional fifty. Friends, neighbors, and family floated in and out throughout the evening. We had 53 people at one time. Sarah wanted a Kindermusik class at her pawty . . . but the kids (and even adults) were so entertained by the 3 in 1 inflatable that we never even did Kindermusik. That's o.k. We can save that for another time. As you can see, mom of the year never even got Mateo ready for the party. He was in his swimsuit the entire time.



I was running around the whole time, so of course I failed miserably in the picture taking department. (What else is new???) Anyway, we had a great time. Happy Birthday Sarah Girl! We love you!

V-E-N-T spells VENT!

T-Bone has done diddly squat his entire 5th grade school year. Can you give me a good reason why he hasn't had to do any projects, reports, etc. until THE. LAST. MONTH. OF. SCHOOL? And why is it that everything is all of a sudden due? I am so over this. He just finished up a non-fiction project board and oral presentation. Science Fair GROUP project consumed our week and weekend last week. History on Parade makes me want to parade someone over the head . . . Tino has been typing his research report on Henry Ford for weeks. I finally took over since it is well past bed time. Why do I feel the pressure to butt in and help him finish typing paragraph #8? Or the title page? Or the bibliography? Have I mentioned how many stores we went to yesterday trying to find a suit jacket or sports coat so he can dress up like Henry Ford tomorrow while he gives his oral presentation? Funny thing how we can't find children's suits or sports coats in FL. Could it be because the mothers and fathers would get turned in by DCF if they actually made their kids wear those things because their kids would suffer heat stroke, heat exhaustion, etc.? And will it be my fault or my kids fault when he gets docked points from his oral presentation for not having the full Henry Ford costume???

Back to the bibliography. No time to BLOG. Or VENT.

Back to Work

Yes, it's official. After a 4+ year hiatus, I am back to work. Full-time. I will definitely post more details soon, but the long and the short of it is this: Sarah is MILDLY developmentally delayed. MILD kiddos don't qualify for ANY services in the public school system. The recommendation is that she attend 3-5 days of preschool with "normally developing" children her age so they can serve as role models and she can learn from their example(s). I don't have money to put my kid in preschool one day let alone 3-5 days. So, in order to make that happen, I will be working at K*ndercare Learn*ng Center that is being built right outside the gates to my neighborhood. Can we say CONVENIENCE? Can we say WALKING DISTANCE? I will do whatever it takes to see that Sarah gets what she needs and she can continue to progress. So here I am blogging about it with 24 minutes left of my 30 minute lunch break on my FIRST DAY BACK TO WORK.

P.S. In answer to Gab's question, I have consolidated my Kindermusik schedule from 4 to 5 classes per semester to 2 classes possibly 3. I will only be teaching KM classes on Tuesday mornings. Silver Sneakers will continue at least for now . . . since at the time of hire I asked for Tuesdays completely off and Thursdays 2 hour lunch break (so I can go teach/exercise). Piano lessons will be on Tuesday afternoons and/or Saturday mornings (when it's the "off season" for baseball).

P.P.S. Mateo will also be doing Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten at my place of employment. Mateo will be in the classroom next to my enrichment classroom and Sarah will be two classrooms away. So although I am "going to work full-time", two of my three kiddos will be under the same roof as me.

P.P.P.S. I was hired to teach the enrichment classes (phonics, reading, math, Spanish, and ABC Music and Me (Kindermusik program) . I just found out today I will be focusing on phonics, reading, and Spanish. I will be training another enrichment teacher how to do the math and ABC Music and Me programs.

Infant Swimming Resource

As the weather gets hotter, I feel it is my duty to let everyone know about Infant Swimming Resource. Mateo and Sarah were first introduced to ISR two summers ago. We are surrounded by swim pools and there are over 1000 ponds and lakes in Orlando. By the end of their 6 week (daily) lessons, they had both been taught the skills necessary to save themselves in the water using ISR's self-rescue technique. ISR will be featured on the Today Show on May 14^th.

This technique IS NOT to be confused with swimming lessons. It is a survival/self-rescue technique.

Mommy Meltdown

Today was Sarah's second to last visit with the Behavior Analyst. Why? She turns three next Saturday. And ABA or applied behavior analysis, and anything else behavior related has only been a recognized field for 25 years. That means it will probably only take another 125 years until the health insurance industry will recognize behavior therapies and cover them. Since I don't have an extra $150 floating around for Sarah's weekly sessions, we have one session left.

I had a complete meltdown this morning. Not just a little tear trickling down the cheek, it was full on sobs and crying. All this fighting and advocating for Sarah and she is now "doing just fine mom . . . no need to worry". Since she does not have severe learning disablities, she is the shining star among those that are developmentally delayed. I was told in so many words she would not be qualifying for any services through the public school system. Well, thank goodness her Occupational Therapy and Speech is covered through my private insurance. She will be able to receive services at least until the insurance company catches up with us and decides she doesn't need anymore services. And hey, I even got a letter in the mail today saying she had been approved for 25 physical therapy sessions. What?!? Would it be a stretch for me to see if that would cover hippotherapy sessions? Everything is interrelated right? Right?!?

So yeah, when I had to sign the form for Sarah's ABA visit today . . . it was blank. As in not one thing written down. I glanced at the form and I didn't see ANYWHERE where there was a place to check off the section that reads: "behavior analyst unable to meet with client due to mommy meltdown". I hope she doesn't get into trouble for not spending enough time with Sarah today. But what's the worst thing that could happen?? Hmmmmmm . . . maybe cut off services for Sarah . . . effective next Saturday?

Too Busy to Blog

I have been home for 48 hours now. And I still have not posted one thing. But I have read lots and lots and lots of blogs. Have I commented? No. I've just been reading. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to read and comment so I don't have to get back to the blogs again and leave a comment? So instead of posting, I continue to read blogs. What's up with that?

Cristian left this morning to go to a conference in Cincinnati. I am absolutely exhausted. Instead of blogging, I am going to bed. Good night!

Things I Learned from My Temp Job

It's officially OVER. I survived the temp job. Here are some things I learned from this experience. (Notice how I even included a photo of myself AT THE END OF THE DAY. Nice limp, greasy hair and greasy/sweaty complexion.)

How to Distinguish Tourists from the Locals

• They visit the very upscale mall directly after spending the day at the water park(s). (Mall Attire= swimsuit and cover-up or swimsuit with towel wrapped around waist)
• WHITE PASTY legs and arms (imagine HEAVENLY WHITE) with tank top, short Daisy Duke shorts, and Universal/Islands of Adventure pass hanging around neck.
• Wearing a plethora of CHARACTER Apparel (ICK).
• Fanny pack or OVERSIZED Backpack instead of Gucci, Coach or Prada handbag.
• Busting out with the WINTER PARKA upon entering the mall. (Tourists aren't used to the cool air conditioning . . . they mistaken it for the 20-30 degrees below 0 weather they left behind up North).
  

What Not to Wear 101

• Disney Character Apparel from head to toe when you are in your 30s, 40s, 50s, etc. (It's obnoxious and embarrassing when my not even 3 year old daughter wears her Princess shirt. The embarrassing factor increases by 1 million for every year past 5.
• Swimsuit and cover up in an UPSCALE mall.

What to Wear 101

• A bra if you are size C or above. Especially if you are a DD or EE. Please do the gals a favor and strap them in when going out in public.
  

What Not to Say 101

• No tank you. We ain't do nuttin. It good. (This coming from a gentleman DRESSED to the hilt in $625 designer jeans, $250 designer shirt)
• Nope. We are in a hurry. My wife is going into labor. RIGHT NOW. (Coming from a husband that has made at least 3 trips back and forth to his car with Pottery Barn Kids merchandise)
• Neiman Marcus (It's Neiman's) or Bloomingdales (It's Bloomies). Thankyouverymuch.
  

Most Common Visitors to the $10.99 a pound Candy Shop in Bloomies

• Frazzled upscale moms

Least Common Visitors to the $10.99 a pound Candy Shop in Bloomies

• The bratty upscale kiddos that are making the upscale moms FRAZZLED.
  
• Or is it the nanny or NANNIES that had the day off from caring for the kids?

Disclaimer: As mentioned before, I have NO PROBLEMS with people that have lots and lots and lots of money. More power to ya. But, I will repeat what I said in an earlier post. Money does not necessarily buy class.

Thank You, Temp Job and Temp Job Employer for helping me to raise funds to travel cross country and attend Women's Conference at BYU and Blogapalooza 2008.

Independence Day

Scene: Ramirez House 7:00 A.M.

Sarah: (Entering SLEEPING Parents' Room)
Mami, I gotta go potty. Can I go pee? Come on mami, come on.

Sleeping Mami: Yeah, Sarah. You can go to the bathroom. Go by yourself and come get me when you need help wiping.

Sarah: O.K. mami. I do it myself. I gotta go mami. Go pee. Bye-bye mami. Go to seep. You go to seep. Close your eyes. Um . . . K?

5 minutes of SILENCE and PEACE so sleeping mom can continue to SLEEP.

Sarah: Uh-oh mami. The toy-et is seeping. It go night night. It go wshhhh . . . . . wshhhhh . . . and it don't go bye-bye. Um . . . K mami? Ya gotta come on! Come on!! COME ON!!! Hu-wee!! Hu-wee!! Ya gotta wake up. It wake up time. It da moe-ning. O.K.?

Happy Happy Birthday Heather Dear

Please go here and wish my darling sister a Happy Birthday. I love you sis! See you in 5 days!

A las escondidas (Sarah-style)

Sarah loves to play hide and go seek with her friends. Tomorrow if I remember, I'll get a picture of the tree where they do their counting. Sarah loves to have a turn. This is what it sounds like when it's her turn to be "it":

Sarah: One, two, fwee, fo-wa, fife, six, seben, ten, wev-en, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh . . .

Reason #999 Why "Stay at Home Moms" Should Stay at Home

Cristian worked from home today. When I got back home this afternoon from teaching Kindermusik and Silver Sneakers, I noticed Sarah's clothes for the day still perfectly laid out where I had left them this morning. Hmmmmmmm. Cristian usually doesn't pick out clothes, so I thought it was strange that today he decided to mix it up a bit and choose Sarah's outfit. Come to find out, Cristian sent Sarah to Yasmin's house in the same clothes "I had dressed her in this morning". Translation: She went to Yasmin's house wearing her PAJAMAS. The same PAJAMAS she has worn 5 nights in a row. The same stinky pajamas that she WILL NOT LET ME PUT IN THE WASHER. Nice. That would be my kid. Trailer park trash-a-roo. I'm over worrying about what others will think about me or my mothering skills. They already know I.AM. LOSING.IT.

Sacrifice Brings Forth the Blessings of Heaven

One of my favorite religion professors at BYU, Brother Benson used to always say "sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven." I sure hope he is right. Because I have been living through HELL the last several days as I have worked a side job to help pay for my trip to Women's Conference at BYU and Blogapalooza.

I have been working at Mall at M*lenn*a. This mall would be the equivalent of the shops on Rodeo Drive. It's very very upscale and very very posh. And very very out of my league. Has it been worth the $17 per hour, six- hour days standing on my feet in the hot blaring sun (surveying the rich and famous or rich and not so famous)? NO. WAY. I would never in a million years do this job again. But I keep thinking . . . if it weren't for this side job, there would be no Women's Conference and no Blogapalooza. So . . . let's think about the positive. These are the things I have learned my first three days on the job.

• Lots of money does not buy class.

• Bloomingdale's east parking lot (facing Ikea) is THE PLACE to park. Instead of having 50,005 cars waiting for the one available parking spot that is at the main entrance . . . there is only 1 car parked there with 50,005 empty parking spots.

• Speaking of parking . . . if it's 2:59 p.m. and you are supposed to clock in at 3:00 p.m. for the job . . . that front row parking spot is not necessarily The Secret's law of attraction working in your favor. It's most likely just a DUMB BLONDE that has bypassed the valet park barriers and taken one of their primo front row valet parking spots without knowing. But don't worry. I can attest that your car will not get towed if parked in the prohibited "Valet Parking Only" area for 6 hours . . . especially if it's a 2000 Ford Windstar van.

• Did you know that the going rate for 14 cinnamon bears from the candy bar at Bloomingdale's costs $3.41? (Yes, it would have been much better to be PATIENT and wait for the trip to Utah where I could probably buy 5 pounds of cinnamon bears for that price).

• A $905 pair of designer heels is truly AFFORDABLE since the same pair costs DOUBLE that in the U.K.
  

I'll post some other things later. I had so many good ones as I was working my shifts. I kept thinking in my head "I've got to blog about this . . . I've got to blog about that".

Dear Dad (A.K.A. Padre),

We had a busy Spring Break. Remember the project we never got around to when you visited last April? Well we (Hermano Castillo) put the caulk stuff in all the stucco cracks. We also made a big giant Costco run ($390.00). Now that we purchased one of everything at Costco, the cracks in the stucco have been repaired and our leaky roof has been fixed, we are definitely ready for a rainy day . . . and for hurricane season.

Would you like us (Hermano Castillo) to paint over the caulk . . . or should we save that project for you? Just let me know and we will either take care of the painting immediately . . . or wait until you can come and do that project for us. What would a trip to Florida be without projects????? Also, we offered to pay Brad for his services. Since fair is fair, we will also put you on the payroll for projects completed at 8XXX D.V. Lane.

Also, just wanted to let you know I have been missing you a lot lately. On Saturday night at 9:00 p.m. I was thinking about you, and my van must have been thinking about you too. My van veered towards the gas station and stopped suddenly in front of the gas tank. When I pulled out of the gas station, my gas tank looked like this:My gas tank hasn't looked like that since you filled it up last. I'm used to seeing a little bright light with the arrow pointing to the letter E. What does that silly E mean anyway? As you can see, we are ready for hurricane season. Now the only thing we are missing is the good chocolate chips from Guittard Chocolate Factory. Will you please check your freezer and see if you have any chocolate chips left? It's really hard to make good chocolate chip cookies when I don't have the good chocolate chips.

Lovin you,


Your Favorite Daughter (emphasis on the FAVORITE since Heather, Anne, and Rach will be reading this letter too)

Heidi

Dear Brad,

It's been almost two years since you visited us. That means two years of projects have been waiting on hold. According to Tino and Mateo, Uncle Brad is the only person in the world that knows how to fix things. Here's a little list of things you can now cross off of your "To-Do" list, since they were already done. You can thank Hermano Castillo next time you come to visit for doing "your" work.

• Put Tino's baseball ceiling fan into Tino's baseball-themed room. (I know . . . when you installed this fan two years ago, we had NO IDEA the boys would no longer be sharing a room).

• Install Mateo's ceiling fan.
• Put two recessed lights above piano so Friday evening piano students can SEE their music better. (Now they will have to fess up to not practicing and can't blame it on not being able to see their music because it's too dark).
• Fix the holes in the wall that are in the garage. OOPS. (I've driven too far forward one to many times and knocked the lawnmower and Cristian's other yard stuff into the garage walls).
  
• Fix the roof leak.
• Take out drywall/insulation in Cristian's office and fix whatever needs to be fixed from the above-mentioned roof leak.
• Put orange peel stuff back on the walls.
• Repaint the walls.
  

Next time I'd rather pay you to do all this work. And PLEASE bring Heather, Abbie, Mia Mia and Max along too. I've heard they are really good helpers.

Love,

Heidi
(Your favorite Sister- in -Law in the whole entire PLANET)

Spring Cleaning

At the very very very last minute, my friend and I decided we would participate in the community garage sale. I pulled everything out of the back of my van (all the stuff that was going to be dropped off at Goodwill). Of course I was so busy selling all my JUNK that I didn't have a chance to take pictures until after we had cleaned up about 99.9% of the stuff. Why do I not remember that garage sales are a lot of work? And why do I not remember that it is NOT worth the time and effort? My friend made $100+, Tino made $40.xx and I made a whopping $16.00. We couldn't figure out why there wasn't too much traffic in the early morning hours (7:00 a.m.-8:30 a.m.). Hello . . . the HOA forgot to OPEN OUR GATES. Gates were opened at 8:45 a.m. That means I could have had another 1 hour and 45 minutes of extra sleep. Oh well.



P.S. NOOOOOOOO the stroller was not for sale. No the folding chairs were not for sale. No the scooters were not for sale. No the Little Tykes table was not for sale. No the box of Christmas decorations, patio table, or end tables were not for sale either.

FOR SALE . . . SOLD AS IS

Tino has a favorite t-shirt he got last year. He wears it ALL THE TIME. It says : "Sister for Sale. Sold as is. No refunds." I just did a quick little search on the internet to see if I could get one of those t-shirts as well. Except it would say "Daughter for Sale." My parents sold my sister Heather to the gypsies when she was younger (according to Heather). To this day, I wonder how we ended up getting her back. Oops . . . I digress. Unfortunately, the gypsies only hit Florida when it gets colder up north. I don't expect to see any gypsies until at least around October or November. And that's a very long time to wait. Any takers?????

A couple weeks ago Sarah learned how to get the child proof locks off the inside of her bedroom door. This means she comes to visit us multiple times throughout the night. According to her behavior therapist, we need to: A. Continue to return her to her bed/room each time she comes in to sleep with us. B. Let her cry it out as we are holding her bedroom door closed.. C. Put a gate at her door so she can't get out of her room. (But how long will it be until she climbs over the gate OR falls and cracks her head open on the tile floor as she is trying to escape???) We've tried options #A and #B.

Last night Sarah DID. NOT. SLEEP. O.K. so I guess she took a little nap from 10:30 p.m. until 12:15 a.m. I then heard the pitter patter of little feet walking through the house to get to our bedroom. I took her to the bathroom, walked her back to her room, put her in bed, etc. 2:00 a.m. I heard the pitter patter of little feet again. I was so tired that I drifted back to sleep and figured I would ignore her . . . that lasted until 2:15 a.m. (She was complaining because she wanted me to hold her and because she wanted to go watch Disney Channel NOW. PEASE. (Anybody catching anything wrong with this picture other than the fact that A. It's 2:15 in the stinkin' morning and B. We haven't had cable or satellite with Disney Channel for 2 years . . .) This little pattern repeated itself at 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m., 5:15 a.m. Finally at 5:30 a.m. I stumbled into the family room to find a Dora video, make chocolate milk, and told her DO. NOT. COME. INTO. MY. ROOM. ONE. MORE. TIME. She came in at 6:15 a.m. and said "Mommy, wake up. Time to get up. Open your eyes. Get outta bed. NOW. . . . PEASE."

I've tried to sleep in her room with her. But she is such a noisy sleeper. She has MULTIPLE night awakenings and each awakening is VERY LOUD. If she's not screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs, she tosses and turns and shouts out who knows what. Maybe more speech therapy will help with her articulation so I will at least know and understand what it is she is shouting out while she is having these awakenings.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. At least if I had a newborn there would be an excuse for my sleepless nights, BUT this is OUT. OF. CONTROL. I am very tired, very cranky, very crabby, which turns me into an out of control mother the following day.

It's Always Fun When Grandma Comes

We had a very short and sweet visit with Grandma. It had been 10 1/2 months since she had seen Mateo and Sarah . . . 4 months since she had seen Tino and I. That was far too long. I've been spoiled in the past because I was used to visits every 4 months or so. Now that she is working full time . . . and now that I have to pay for plane tickets for all the children (no more lap riders), it's not easy on the wallet to make the cross country journey. Here's a brief synopsis of the visit:

Friday: Grandma arrives 3:oo p.m. Luggage gets lost. By the time she fills out paper work and such it's about 3:40ish. We headed straight to Mateo's pre-school. He wanted grandma to pick him up from school. We hung out at the house, went to the park, etc.

Saturday: This was the first Saturday in a long long time that we didn't have one million and one things planned. I didn't even roll out of bed until a little after 9:00 a.m. I was so happy to not have to do anything . . . that I was perfectly content with staying home and DOING. NOTHING. NADA. Grandma didn't come cross-country to visit and do NOTHING. So we settled on a lovely afternoon picnic in the park. And then Grandma watched the kids so Cristian and I could have a date. His family members "pay" him for doing their taxes in restaurant gift cards. So we went to TGI Fridays for dinner. We then went to Kohls and shopped. And shopped. And I even got Cristian to pay my Kohls credit card balance that he didn't even know existed. (I just had to open up a credit card account for the new Kohls that is less than one mile from my house. Their discounts and coupons are just to good to pass up . . .)

Sunday: Branch Conference. Long. Good. Spiritually uplifting. Then came the work. I thought the Sabbath was supposed to be a day of rest. My mom used to always tell me I couldn't get married until I knew how to A. Make homemade rolls and B. Make homemade pie crust. I guess I bypassed that prerequisite since I got married at the time of year she told me I was not allowed to get married because it's far too busy . . . (Christmas). Anyway, almost 12 1/2 years of marriage later and I made rolls without killing the yeast AND made pie crust. Now do you really want to be impressed? I also made the banana cream filling for the pie crust. Now I can get married. Right mom????

Monday: Chiropractor visit times four (Heidi, Tino, Mateo, Sarah). Errands. Outlets. Shoe shopping for Tino (who hasn't had an new pair of shoes since August). Multiple Sarah meltdowns. Fuddruckers for lunch. (LOVE, LOVE those burgers!!!) I can't remember what we did in the late afternoon/evening.

Tuesday: Kindermusik (mom attends until Sarah has meltdown). Silver Sneakers (mom attends AND participates in class). Mom takes two hour nap. Pick up Mateo from pre-school. Mateo and Sarah go to Yasmin's house. Heidi drops off Grandma and Tino at the Orlando Magic basketball game. Heidi has 4+ hours of alone time. So, I went to the movies (Fools Gold), ate a pretzel for dinner, tried on clothes at various stores in the mall, and circled around Amway Arena a couple of times. I then picked up Tino and Grandma, picked up Mateo and Sarah, arrived back home around 10:00ish.

Wednesday: Wake up at the crack of dawn 4:30 a.m. Drop off mom at the airport. Time FLIES when you're having fun.

And Tino got ACCEPTED!!!!!!!!!

I feel like we have been waiting for a mission call or something. We have been stalking the mail carrier and waiting for her to drive her little USPS truck to the corner. Tino has been riding his bike every day to the mailbox . . . . waiting and waiting and waiting. The letter we have been waiting for finally arrived. Tino was accepted into the magnet program. Some might call it luck since it was on a lottery system . . . I call it divine intervention. I am so relieved that we can cross that unknown factor off our list. Next . . .

Spring Break-One Week Early

News Flash: For all those that think Thanksgiving Break and Christmas Break are the busiest time of year at the most "Magical Place on Earth" . . . think again. I stand as a personal witness that the day after Easter is the busiest . . . when 99.9% of the children in the United States and other parts of the world are out of school. We used the last of our Disney gold so we could go to the parks with Cristian's sister and her family. When Cristian used to work at Disney we had a silver pass which allowed Cristian and I to enter the parks plus bring four friends/family members along. As an added Disney bonus, twice a year (Summer and Christmas) we got six stand alone passes (Disney gold) that we could use or give away to friends/family. We've been holding on to our last bit of Disney gold for 18 months. I would have been EXTREMELY BITTER if I had to pay admission into the parks the day we went. It was wall to wall people. Not my idea of fun.

One thing I can say is what a difference 15 months makes. Mateo and Sarah were at such a fun age to take to the parks. And get this . . . I was able to go into the parks in the "no bags" line. No diaper bags, no purses, no backpacks, etc. We even left our food and drinks in the car. (As you can notice . . . the camera also stayed in the car for the first park we hit . . . Hollywood Studios). It was HEAVEN traveling so light. We didn't even take a stroller. Of course that wasn't heaven when Sarah fell asleep or Mateo fell asleep . . . but for the most park it was SOOOOOOOOO great traveling light to the parks.

Cristian's sister wanted me to accompany her family to Magic Kingdom. Since I had to work the next day, I opted out. But Cousin Tino decided to stay. He was able to show them the ins and outs of the park . . . how to bypass long lines, how to child swap, etc. I was surprised he remembered everything since it had been over a year since he had been. They closed the park down. Tino got home at 1:55 A.M. He was up the next morning at 7:30 a.m. so he could go to school. That was Tino's second time to miss school this year. He was freaking out a little bit about missing school to go to the parks, but I think after it was all said and done he had a very fun day. Adios Disney Parks.

BA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

We were just getting into the van after Tino's baseball game. All the lights of the baseball fields were being turned off one by one. All of a sudden we heard a big giant BA-BOOM sound in the distance. The kids asked me what that was. It was definitely a HEAVIER sound than gunshots or thunder. Maybe a bomb being detonated? (Yes, we know what that sounds like since our house was built on a stinkin' bombing range and the Army Corps of Engineers have been working since July trying to find said bombs and detonate them for us). Anyway, a couple seconds later, my neighbor called me and wanted to know if I was home. She said her whole house shook and pictures on the walls tilted. Weird. EARTHQUAKE in ORLANDO?????? Nope, she just turned on the television and found out the space shuttle had just come back to Earth. Nothing to fear folks, just a sonic boom. I guess when it's the space shuttle, it does a double sonic boom. You're welcome in advance for providing you with your mini science lesson and space shuttle Endeavour information for the day.

Family Reunion

Today we had an awesome visit from an awesome family. Cristian's half-sister Mabel came to visit us from North Carolina. We hadn't seen Mabel for 11+ years. We hadn't seen Mabel's husband for 9+ years. They moved to the U.S. three years ago. Since our last visit in the Dominican Republic, both of our families have changed dramatically. We now have three children . . . they have four. Cristian's oldest half-sister Belkys hadn't seen Mabel for 22 years. Yes, 22 years. It was like a modern day Dr. Phil or Oprah happening in my own house. It was really fun visiting. What completely is A-MAZ-ING to me is how even though they didn't grow up with one another and didn't start to develop a relationship until they were adults . . . THEY HAVE THE SAME MANNERISMS, SAME LAUGHS, etc. I look forward to the next couple of days we will have to hang out with them. Tino, Mateo, and Sarah were excited to meet the cousins they never even knew they had and they too look forward to hanging out with them.

The Ark is Coming Our Way . . . Or So "They" Say

So the inside scoop (if there happens to be an inside scoop) tells us that we will be one of the next families to participate in the ark project of our stake. If that rumor turns out to be true, I figured I better post some pictures really quick. Here are some pictures of Sarah and Mateo in their Easter attire. Yeah, they actually wore it one month ago to our Carnival/Mardi Gras Festival. Since I am ever so timely in most things (such as getting out Christmas cards, remembering birthdays on the actual day of the birthday, etc.) I figured I might as well bust out with the Easter attire one month early. Tino was too busy running around and playing with his friends, so I don't have any pictures of him. Just imagine Tino wearing Mateo's shirt. We are actually having slight issues with this. Mateo has jumped up to the next size in clothing . . . which means he no longer can be matchy matchy with his little sister Sarah. Now since he is officially in "big boy clothing", I can make Tino and Mateo be matchy matchy. Who has the issues with this? Would it be Tino? Would it be Mateo? If you guessed Mateo . . . you are absolutely 100% correct-a-mundo. Mateo DOES NOT like being A same (no that is not a typo) or being a match with Tino. He wants HIS OWN CLOTHES. Whatev.

We were actually going to try to get family Easter pictures taken, but that didn't happen. I forgot that it takes FOREVER for my skin biopsies to heal. And of course I had two giant CHUNKS taken off my face. One pre-cancerous . . . and one turned out o.k. So until I heal from that, there will be absolutely NO families are forever pictures for me.

Viernes Santo

I can't make sugar cookies for Christmas or Valentine's Day . . . nor do I ever remember about the Leprechaun thing (unless I am teaching Kindergarten) . . . but boy do I make a mean habichuelas con dulce for viernes santo. We had a lovely Viernes Santo. Since Cristian's territory is all of Latin America . . . and Latin Americans are very religious, the workers he supports were off today. This means Cristian had time to go golfing AND help me with our $389 "get ready for the Ark project" Costco run. We actually decided that we were going to spend a portion of our tax refund to get our food storage replenished.
Cristian's fellow friend from the islands came over today to enjoy habichuelas con dulce with us. My kids are confused because they think that Hno. Fortunato is Abuelo Fortunato. They are CONVINCED he is their other "Spanish grandpa". Cristian and I think it's because Fortunato and Abuelo Bienvo have the same skin coloring. . . and they have the same accent when they speak Spanish. IGUALITO. Happy Good Friday!

Sitting on the OTHER SIDE of the Table

Sarah turns 3 in less than two months. This means that Sarah will no longer receive her speech, occupational therapy, and applied behavior analysis therapies through the state. She will transition into the public school system. As I was reviewing all of the paperwork from the school district, one of the things it said over and over again throughout is "Make sure somebody else comes to the transition meeting with you: Friend, family member, etc." I read this and thought, yeah I can see why it would be nice to have someone there for emotional support, etc. But then I thought to myself, why would I need anyone to go with me since I have attended hundreds of 504 plan meetings, I.E.P. meetings, and Student Success Team meetings?

It is a MUCH different experience sitting at the other side of the table. As a Reading Specialist/Literacy Coach, I facilitated the Student Success Team meetings for four years. And I had to attend the 504 plan or I.E.P. meetings of the students I taught. Although I understood all the education lingo that was thrown my way during Sarah's transition meeting, I kept feeling as though an anxiety attack was coming on. It was hard to breathe and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. Once again, where did that come from????? I have been the one fighting for the educational rights of Sweet Sarah for well over a year. I was the one advocating for her services. So it's not like this was any new news to me that my daughter has learning issues (and behavior issues).

Anyway, at the end of the meeting, I was asked to sign the dotted line on about five hundred and one forms. Imagine my surprise when someone had already signed on MY LINE. It's the line that says: Early Intervention Team Member/Title or the line that says Teacher. How many years have I not been teaching school? (This would be my fourth school year as a "stay at home mom"). It took serious concentration for me to be able to find the line on all of the paper work that says: Parent. What a bizarre concept. I am the parent of a "Special Needs" kiddo. Even though I have known this for quite some time, that whole concept is still processing in my brain.

"DO NOT MOLEST ALLIGATORS"

If my new battery for my camera wasn't in Cristian's car . . . I would run over to the lake and take a picture of my absolute favorite sign in our neighborhood. The sign says: "Do Not Molest Alligators". Can we say somebody was on the sign committee who speaks Spanish as a first language????? The verb "molestar" means "to bother". I'm thinking the message the person wanted to convey on this sign was something to the effect of "Do not feed the alligators" or "Do not taunt, tease, or in any other way bother the alligators". Why on earth would anyone even think of bothering alligators? Common sense would tell you to STAY AWAY from the alligators . . . wouldn't it? Unless of course, you are Mateo. Because if you are Mateo, you spend hours upon hours in your bedroom after "lights out" scurrying around and doing something. (As long as he is in his room and not bothering me, I don't care what he is doing). The other night, I heard a lot of noise. And heard footsteps going to and from the kitchen. About one hour later, Mateo came out of his room. (Yes, one hour past bedtime, but that's neither here nor there). P.S. The photo below has nothing to do with the post . . . just picture this cheesy grin and mischievous look as we were having the conversation below.

Mateo: Ummmmmm . . . mami?

Mami: Yes, Teo?

Mateo: Ummmmmm . . . what happens if you ride your bike off the dock at the lake?

Mami: You fall into the lake.

Mateo: Ummmmmm . . . mami, but what about the alligators?

Mami: Well, the alligators will eat you, of course.

Mateo: Don't worry, I made a snack for the alligators. See . . . it's the pretzels. I crushed them up and put them in the bag. Tomorrow in the morning when I ride my bike off the dock, I'm going to take these pretzels with me. It's a snack for the alligators. Is that allowed?

Mami: Riding your bike off the dock or feeding the alligators?

Mateo: Feeding the alligators.

Mami: Nope, haven't you seen that big sign by the lake?

Mateo: No. What it says?

Mami: It says DO NOT MOLEST THE ALLIGATORS.

Mateo: Oh, that means no pretzels for the alligators?

Mami: Yes, exactly.

Mateo: Well, what about the fishies? Can I feed the fishies the pretzel snack?

Mami: Sure Mateo.

Mateo: Well, actually, I haven't seen any fishies at the lake. That's cause the alligators have already eaten all the fishies.

Mami: You got it buddy.

Mateo: So, maybe I'll ride my bike at the park and not go into the lake tomorrow.

Mami: Great idea. NOW GO TO BED MATEO!