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???????