A Magi Temple

Tonight I went with my friend Leslee to A Magi Temple. Yes, I am going "out of the box" this week when it comes to religion. O.K., so yes I am still an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. But just exploring a little.

Actually, A Magi Temple is "Orlando's top belly dance school". It was SOOOOOO much fun, but the hip and pelvic movements in Egyptian style belly dance are WAY different then the movements I've been learning in my Latin Cardio/Zumba classes. Unfortunately I left the camera at home so I don't have any pictures of my shimmying. It was SO fun. Oops, I already said that. I moved body parts, ligaments, and muscles that I didn't know even existed. My bet is I am going to be very very SORE tomorrow morning.

Pop Quiz

O.K. all my West coast friends and family: Here's a pop quiz question of the day.

What is V.B.S.? And who has something to do with V.B.S.? I guess that was more than one question. So might as well add one more question. What is Heidi's opinion regarding V.B.S.?

I'll post answers and pictures tomorrow. :0)

The Ultimate THREAT

I just spoke to my sis on the phone this afternoon. She just finished a lovely vacation to Vegas with her family. She wanted to know if I had seen her latest blog entries and also asked me what's up with my blog. To tell you the truth, I keep forgetting that I have a blog. I guess my whole life is a blog . . . I mean blur. Heather ended our conversation with the ultimate threat. She told me if I don't start blogging again she is going to take down the link to my blogspot on her blog page. OOOOOOOHHHHHH, that hurts. So no pictures for the day, but here's a post so I don't get banished from her blog page.

Daytona Beach

We spent the Memorial Day weekend in Daytona Beach with the Gutierrez family. Here are some pics from the trip. And don't worry I plan to get some sun this summer. Yikes! Can I be any whiter???

Sudu- what !?

So I guess I am pulling an Anne. By that, I mean, I've gone offline for almost a month and now I am going to catch up. Let's start out with a picture of Grandpa and Tino. My dad came down for a visit a couple of weeks ago. Mean mom has made a rule that there are no electronic devices (gameboy, gamecube, etc) allowed when Grandpa comes to visit. Who needs electronic devices when all you need is a Suduko book and a PEN? I don't think it shows this when I post the picture, but let me just add the little detail that this photo was taken on April 20 at 11:46 p.m. Yes, that was P.M., not A.M. You have to give and take right? No electronic devices when Grandpa comes, but Tino can go to bed at whatever hour he wants to because he is having bonding time with Grandpa.

New neighbors

So we have some new neighbors. These neighbors are VERY TERRITORIAL. In fact, yesterday, I heard a VERY LOUD, high pitched screeching noise which scientists say can be heard from at least 1 mile away. Actually, the screeching noise serves two purposes: #1 a mating call #2 it warns the significant other of impending danger. I want to know who was actually in danger. "Baseball bat flinging Mateo" and "Don't Mess with me Sarah" OR, our new neighbors. If you read my sister Heather's blog, she talks about the mean girls that live in her neighborhood and terrorize Abbie.

Back to the original question, who was terrorizing who and who is really meaner? I would think that COMMON SENSE would let the 'melos (a.k.a. Mateo and Sarah) know that if you're messing with someone that is at least 3 feet taller than you and can EAT you or at least bite your hand off that maybe they should go elsewhere and play with somebody else. I have thoroughly enjoyed the last couple weeks knowing that Mateo and Sarah can go outside and play in the backyard WITHOUT escaping to the front yard. Now they can't even play in their own backyard. Our new neighbors have NO limits. I will not be able to call a neighborhood meeting OR meet with the neighbors mothers . . . since their mothers are NOWHERE to be found. What am I to do?

Empty Plate

So . . . I bet you didn't think I could do it. But I did. Or at least, I am in the process of it. Yes, I am emptying my plate. My very inspired Branch President released me from my Primary calling (1st counselor) last Sunday. I resigned from my postion as Cubmaster with Pack 15 on Monday. This Tuesday, I will turn in my Procedures manuals for my two committee chair positions with the Vista Lakes PTA. As far as my teaching Kindermusik classes, Lake Nona YMCA doesn't have space for me to teach this summer. That decision was made for me by default. So for now . . . everything is off my plate. Now I will have more time to: Be a better wife. Be a better mother. Be a better friend.

Whew . . . my branch president tells me I am like a recovering alcoholic. NO, I AM NOT an alcoholic . . . just a WORKAHOLIC and a community service-aholic. . . in the recovering phases. He could tell by my body language and facial expressions last week that it physically and mentally pains me to let things go. It's o.k. Right? Somebody else can do it all. I don't have to.

Reason #2 I love having boys

So I was going to post only one reason a week in dedication to my sis. Heather. But, I figured I better post them as they came up. Otherwise, I might forget.

Boys are direct and to the point. No messing around, no drama, no trying to get around the point without hurting feelings, etc. They just tell it like it is . . . . and act accordingly.

Scene: Booth at Denny's Saturday morning 11:00 a.m.

Mateo turns to Tino and does a raspberry in his face and sticks his tongue out at him.

Cristian: Mateo, what did you do that for?

Mateo: It was Tino.

Heidi: What did Tino do?

Mateo: Tino was aggrabating me.

Cristian: What!?!

Mateo: Tino was AGGRABATING me. Tell him to stop.

Heidi: Why was Tino aggravating you? What did he do?

Mateo: Look! (pointing to Tino)

Translation: Mateo asked the server for chocolate milk. Tino asked the server for hot chocolate. Mateo decided once the hot chocolate was served to Cristian and Tino that he also wanted hot chocolate. Tino decided to mix things up a bit and make faces to Mateo to show him how yummy and delicious his hot chocolate was.

Now if this would have been an interaction among sisters, the drama still would have been going down.

Another reason I LOVE having boys

My sister Heather is having her first son. She is slightly freaking out. Just wanted to dedicate this post to her. I promised her I would jot down reasons that boys are fun as they came to mind. Here's one . . . fresh from the bathroom, I mean toilet. Let's take a simple task of giving brother (Mateo) and sister (Sarah) the same set of instructions. They were eatting creamsicles and it got to the very end where it starts to drip down your hand, arm, etc. Both Mateo and Sarah don't do well with sticky, gooey messes. It freaks them out. So, in order to circumvent a meltdown times two, I told them both to go throw their creamsicles in the trash can and then to wash their hands. Sarah marched to the kitchen, threw her creamsicle in the trash, and proceeded to sign the word "help". (She needed to be lifted up to the kitchen sink and get help washing her hands). Mateo was missing in action. But, never fear, I could hear him. He was in his bathroom. I could hear the toilet flushing, and flushing, and flushing, and you guessed it . . . flushing. (Is it any wonder why the toilets are always out of commission around here?) He had his entire hand submerged in the toilet water, holding on to the creamsicle for dear life. When I asked him what on earth he thought he was doing, he simply responded: "But, mami you told me to throw it away. I can't let go of the stick and the popsicle is still getting stuck on it." Yes, it was supposed to be such an easy thing to do, but boys always have a way of making a major project and/or physics/scientific experiment out of the very simplest of tasks. Now that I threw away Mateo's creamsicle and washed his hands for him, whose job is it to mop up the toilet water mess on his bathroom floor? Heather, I AM SO EXCITED for you to have a son. Let me just tell you it is a character building experience. Love ya!

Two Strikes

So I struck out big time today. First of all, Mateo has been so excited to play soccer at the YMCA. This afternoon he fell asleep on the couch as per usual. Well, it took forever to wake him up. We got over to practice and he burst out crying. In fact, he wouldn't stop crying. "I don't want to play soccer. I want to go home". Sarah quickly ran out onto the field, grabbed a pink soccer ball, and started dribbling. Too bad her lack of speech skills gives her away. Otherwise I'd try to pass her off as 3 year old MateA. Oh well. We'll try organized sports again in the fall. Mateo's 5:00 p.m. practice ended, so it was off to Tino's 6:00 p.m. baseball practice. WHAT A JOKE! The only thing I kept thinking about during practice, was that my son (the future professional baseball player) was going to absolutely LOSE IT!

Let's just say that YMCA is not about the sports. It's about building character. That's all well and good, and I support their mission 100%, except when it gets in the way of a little 8 year old's dreams. I don't think these kids on his team had ever even picked up a ball before, who knows, maybe they have never even seen a baseball before. Next time Little League and/or Pony League sign-ups roll around and I don't have the cash to pay for it, I am PUTTING IT ON A CREDIT CARD. Future note to all out there, YMCA is not the place for competitive sports. Thank goodness for being able to put Mateo and Sarah in Child Watch during practice and games. Also, yippie for my 25% employee discount. (I'm trying to look at the positive in my big blunder).