And don't forget to PLUG YOUR NOSE!

Every year we get the same phone call from Orange County Health Department about two to three days before school lets out. It's a friendly community reminder about a killer single cell amoeba that thrives in hot, fresh water. Once exposed to the human brain through the nasal passages it is almost always fatal.

At first people exposed to the amoeba, naegleria fowleri, suffer from flu-like symtoms. Soon afterwards, the symptoms worsen. Coma, abnormal movements of the eyes, and then parts of the brain start to die.

My kids are HORRIFIED of fresh water lakes. I am horrified because of the gators that lurk among the fresh water lakes. My kids have an intense fear that the amoeba will eat their brain if they don't plug their nose while swimming . . . which they never do. We have decided to err on the side of caution and we avoid fresh water lakes altogether from June until about October or November. But this year we will be going to California and Utah for almost one month. How do I start prepping my kids now that it will be o.k. to swim in a lake there?

Mateo's Big Day

This morning Mateo graduated from Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten. I have to laugh at the word "voluntary" because according to the lady from the Early Childhood Coalition, it is Florida's goal to get all of the four year old children "off of the streets" and "into school". I can understand where this would be a priority with some children, but really "off the streets"? Do they have to be so dramatic? Think of all the millions of dollars they could SAVE if they would just get their act together in the public schools. Then Florida children wouldn't need one extra year of schooling to make up for what everyone else in the nation can crank out in grades K-12.

For those of you that know me, you know what a complete joke I think all of this preschool graduation and kindergarten graduation stuff is. For reals? Do these kids realize they are going to have another 13+ years left of schooling? What are they really graduating from anyway? I do have to say that I almost was moved to tears this morning as I watched Mateo walk across the room in his cap and gown. My little baby is not a baby anymore. What happened to the time?

Mateo was so excited about his special day. He reminded me yesterday that he needed to get a haircut and a very handsome outfit for his graduation. Thank goodness he reminded me. I seriously don't think I would have gotten him a hair cut, let alone a handsome outfit. So we went to Target and WalMart and I watched him walk through the clothing department. (If you are wondering why I didn't just go straight to Children's Place, it's because I have a huge order IN TRANSIT that should be coming in the mail ANY DAY now . . . but I digress). Mateo then looked at me and replied "Nope Mommy. There's nothing handsome here. We're going to have to go and check out Kohl's." So check out Kohl's we did. The second we got to the boy's department, he gravitated right over towards some checked shorts and picked out a shirt to go along with it. "There mommy. This is the handsome stuff I was talking about".

He has been practicing for a little over one month for his part of the cultural presentation. He was supposed to dance the merengue with another little Dominican girl in his class. Yeah, not so much. Stage fright got the best of him. And of course as luck would have it, my memory card got full the SECOND the merengue started playing. I was trying to go through and delete pictures off the memory card to give me enough space to record a little bit. I will see if I can get him to dance again this afternoon. Maybe he will do better doing a solo.

Here's the only family picture I got from the day. And do you wonder why I never get any more family pics? Can you sense the ATTITUDE vibes? Of course, I won't mention any names.

Cristian's Graduation

Cristian graduated from UCF! Did you know that UCF is the fourth largest university in the United States? I didn't. Did you know that 4th largest universities also means 4th LONGEST graduation ceremonies in the U.S.? Cristian was on the second row on the right hand side, about 4 people in from the center aisle. This means he walked about 25 minutes into the 2 hour and 30 minute ceremony. By that time, the kids had eaten their popcorn, nachos, and drank all there was to drink. Once they heard his name called and did the cheering thing, they were ready to go. They were not too happy when they found out we had to stay for the entire ceremony and that Papi couldn't sneak out and meet us at Outback Steakhouse. There were 1500+ that graduated, but I really think it was more like 15,000.

We are very proud of Cristian for this great accomplishment. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pre-graduation ceremony pictures. The kids are hot, sweaty, tired, and SO OVER IT in all the pictures, but I wanted to record this for posterity.

For future reference and note to self . . . arriving 45 minutes prior to the graduation ceremony beginning IS NOT ENOUGH LEAD TIME. We were the 4th row from the TOP . . . definitely in nose bleed territory. Too bad we didn't bring any binoculars. Mateo and Sarah were amused for about 15 minutes. About 45 minutes into the ceremony, I had to take Sarah out to roam the halls. I am NOT brave like some of my blogging friends. I wish I could have captured the photos of people that were shooting her dirty looks or the looks shot in my direction that seem to say "what kind of a mother are you and why aren't you paying any attention to your kid that is having a meltdown"? Sometimes I think when Sarah and I go out in public we should have matchy matchy bright neon shirts that have messages ironed on like "My daughter has sensory integration disorder and YOU are freaking her out" or "My mom is TRYING to listen to all the advice that my behavior therapist, speech therapist, occupational therapist, neurologist, pediatrician, etc. have given her to IGNORE this negative behavior. Please don't REWARD my tantrums with offering me balloons, candy, etc."

Meltdown Moments/Outback Steakhouse

Tragic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom

Mateo, Sarah, Tia Millie, and I went to the parks on Saturday. Tia Millie just got a full-time job offer working over at Tragic Kingdom. She didn't want to show up on her first day on the job without ever visiting the place. So she took us there on Saturday. I showed her all the ins and outs of Tragic Kingdom. And yes, it was TRAGIC. I thought that with age, Sarah would outgrow her meltdowns every time she enters a Disney park. Wrong-o Bong-o. It was a terrible experience for her and for us. In fact, Tia Millie said she will never ever take her to the parks again. That's o.k. I am not going to try taking her there again until she's at least 8 years old. It's just not worth it. For kiddos with sensory integration disorder, the place is too much. Talk about sensory overload.

After going to Magic Kingdom, we headed over to my favorite park in the planet . . . Animal Kingdom. It was wonderful . . . once we convinced Sarah that if she stopped crying she would be able to see the real animals. I had never seen the Lion King show and finally got to see it on Saturday. It was incredible! I loved it! And believe it or not, Sarah did too. We have always gone on the safari ride the very first thing when we walk into the park. On Saturday, we waited until 20 minutes before the park was going to close. It was THE BEST! There was absolutely NO LINE and we were able to see some of the nocturnal animals as they were coming out.

El fin se acerca

Cristian has been going to graduate school for about 6 1/2 years . . . but who's counting? He has taken one class at a time . . . with sometimes a semester or two off in between. He is in the graduate program at UCF studying Spanish Literature. Last week he had his comprehensive written exam. Today he had the oral exam where all the professors in the program drilled him on his knowledge of anything and everything Spanish Literature . . . early 1300s to present day 2009. He passed both exams with flying colors. What does this mean????? He will be officially finished with school in less than one month. Graduation is on May 8th. Congratulations Cristian!

La visita

This is an entry for posterity purposes. A couple of weeks ago, Cristian went to Baltimore, MD to visit his biological father. He has had only a handful of brief interactions with him since he was three years old when his parents got divorced. Juan Carlos' health is not that great and Cristian has had a feeling he needed to get up to Baltimore to visit his biological father and to get closure. He spent the weekend with his biological father, two half brothers, and their families. All in all it was a very good weekend for all. I am so happy he was able to spend time with Juan Carlos and to learn more about his life. Although my children will most likely never meet him, we now at least have some pictures to show them of their long lost tios, abuelo, and primas.

One class down . . . only seven more to go.

Last night I finished my first class. Saturday I finish my Spanish 501 class. Then it starts all over again next week. I'm only going to take once class at a time from here on out. This five week per class is INTENSIVE! I can't believe I just completed an entire semester's worth of work in five weeks. I thought I could handle two classes at a time to crank it out quicker, but there is no possible way.

Funny how when mommy's go to school and work almost full time, they still have cooking, cleaning, homework help, baseball practices, cub scouts, and everything else that is expected for moms to take care of.

You must have figured out by now that your Christmas cards are STILL sitting on the desk in Cristian's office. Maybe I'll just hold onto them for a few more months so it looks like I'm really on top of things when you receive your 2009 Christmas card with the 2008 newsletter and picture of the kids the end of November.

Back to writing my 15 page paper . . . in Spanish. UGH!

Sick Sarah

So Sarah is sick today. Let me rephrase that. She has a fever which keeps her out of school, but she seems to be absolutely fine. This is a little recap of what my day has been like so far.

10:00 a.m. Sarah: Mommy, we gonna pick up Mateo now? He done with da school.

10:05 a.m. Sarah: Mommy, it's gonna be night time. We gotta pick up Mateo.

10:06 a.m. Sarah: Mommy, I don't have anybody to play wif me. Who gonna play wif me? Mateo misses me. We have to pick him up.

Do you see the pattern here? And today was supposed to be the day where I stayed home and did homework all day long. In peace. With no kids. No interruptions. Yeah, what was I thinking???