Last night we dressed up somewhat and went to what we thought would be a nice dinner. We didn't dress up dress up, but we didn't wear our usual summer attire of shorts, tank tops and flip flops, that's for sure. We ended up deciding on going here:
We've been to this restaurant once, maybe 12 years ago when we lived in Amarillo, Texas. I somewhat remembered it as a nice dining experience, so off we went.
The chips/guacamole/cheese we ordered when we first got there were good. The food was horrible. The service was horrible. We were freezing the entire time because the AC must have been set to at least 35 degrees! The experience was, yep, you guessed it: horrible. The whole thing was one big, fat fiasco. The hubs and I were even on the brink of a stupid argument because everyone was on edge. (Just keepin' it real!) Oh, and the straw that broke the camel's back? I had an entire glass of ice water spilled all over my blouse and pants. People probably thought I walked out of there because I peed my pants.
Yeah.
Oh, and I'd be remiss to mention that we all left with horrible stomach aches. I think next time we'll just drive down the street to McDonald's and get a Big Mac. I think the only member of our household that had a decent dinner last night was Peditos! He ate his normal dinner of dog food that he eats day in and day out.
Let it suffice to say we will never go anywhere near the border again!
Today we celebrate all the wonderful fathers in our lives!
First of all, the hubs:
Even though he didn't grow up in a traditional home with a mother and father, he somehow learned to be a great father all on his own. My mother-in-law (RIP) would be very proud of him and the job she single-handedly did in raising him. We are! I chose this pic because it best shows his personality (: Thank you for working hard to provide for your family and being a great dad. We love you! May God bless you today and always.
And since I had a dead-beat dad, I salute the awesome people who were my father figures:
To continue with awesome father figures in my life:
My mama. She always worked so very hard to provide for us kids. And for that I will always be grateful. Thank you mom for all your hard work, dedication to your kids and teaching me how to work hard. She also single-handedly raised us kids and selflessly worked jobs that usually only men worked. For this, I am eternally grateful. We joke with her that all those years of working "men's" jobs kept her so healthy. I am proud to say that my mom is now retired and takes absolutely no medications whatsoever. That's right! She's as healthy as a horse. I thank God for keeping her so healthy and may He continue to bless her with great health for many years to come. I love you Mom!
And this post just wouldn't be accurate without mentioning my uncle Joe (RIP):
Uncle Joe is the one in the middle. One word to describe him? Excellence. He really was amazing. I love him and will treasure all the memories I made with him. I have not one single bad memory of him. Every single moment I was blessed with him was wonderful. He would come into town tons of times and drive around and pick up all of his nephews and nieces and take us to the lake, out to eat, to the theater, to the park, driving around, you name it, uncle Joe took us. And all of us kids loved it. Nobody every wanted to go home! My favorite memory? It's really hard to choose just one, but if I had to, it would probably be one day he showed up at my house very early and it was a weekday and we had gotten DUMPED with tons of snow. I used to walk about a mile to school (no lie!) and I did not look forward to walking in all that snow to school. I didn't know he was coming, but he showed up and asked me to get ready quickly because he had a surprise. I didn't know what the surprise might be, but knowing uncle Joe, it had to be pretty awesome. I rushed to get ready and imagine my surprise when we walked outside and I saw a snowmobile parked on the street! We left the house about an hour before I had to be in school and he drove me all over Alliance. It was awesome. I almost talked him into excusing me from school that day. Almost. (: Thank you so much for all the memories, uncle Joe. The mold truly was broken when you were born. Nobody could ever take your place. I miss you so very much. He raised 4 great kids and between them, they have 7 kids that would have loved their grandpa. And he would have absolutely adored them!
Then of course, Apa, my grandpa (RIP) is also on this list.
He had his faults, so I hear. I never witnessed them. He was the perfect grandpa. And he was so smart and could fix anything! And I knew he loved me. I loved to tag along with him as much as I was allowed to. I remember feeling so special when he took me to work with him when I was about 9 years old and he drove a bus. I thought I was the shizz! I'd run to sneak the salt shaker out of the kitchen and sit in his massive garden and eat tomatoes freshly picked. Yummy! And if I wanted one of the cucumbers from the garden, he was always available to peel it with the pocketknife he always carried in his overall pocket. These are awesome memories for me. Well, now that I think about it, I guess he did have one fault. He chewed this gum:
I didn't like the smell back then and to this day, I abhor the smell! Although, my kids love this gum and whenever I smell it when they chew it, I remember Apa. Thank you for all the memories and love, Apa. I love you very much and miss you so much too!
Last, but not least, I have to salute this person:
This is my MIL (RIP). She raised her kiddos by herself also. And she did an excellent job working all her life to provide for her family.
So I wish Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful men and women who stepped up to the plate and loved and nurtured kids, whether they actually were your children or you were/are a good man/woman and actually chose to. People like me truly appreciate you! May God bless you always.
My greatest wish is that my son Marko inherited the best qualities each of these amazing people have. Because sooner than I'd like, he'll grow up, get married and if God blesses him with children, he'll be awesome in his role as daddy.
Psalm 103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
When I was a kid, there used to be a television show called "Kids Say The Darndest Things" and that's all it basically was: Kids saying the cutest, most unexpected and well, darndest things. It was a fun, family show. Well, as any mom can tell you, this really does happen with kids, and unless you document it somewhere, unfortunately, many times, it is forgotten. Even with my kids being the ages that they are, we will still have a good laugh about something they say or have said. This happened twice with Marko in as many days, so I want to document it so it isn't forgotten, so if this isn't your cup of tea, or in our case, sweet tea, I apologize.
Part 1:
Anyway, I walked into Marko's bedroom Thursday and he happened to have Family Guy on the TV. I don't know the characters too well, but Brian the dog, Stewie, and a man and Jillian were all seated in a French restaurant. The man at the table and the waiter were having a conversation in French. Brian commented that he didn't know the man spoke French, to which Jillian replied "He also speaks Orange!" The man corrected her and said "It's called Mandarin, Dear."
Marko and I laughed and I left. Marko couldn't believe how funny it was.
Well, the next day, Marko was drinking orange juice and he asked Tita if she spoke Orange. Tita didn't know what Marko was talking about, so I asked him to tell her about Jillian.
Marko proceeds to tell her how they were seated in the restaurant, blah blah blah, the man and the waiter conversing in French and Jillian saying that the man also speaks Orange. Than, Marko said: "The man corrected her and said "It's called Tangerine, Dear."
Oh my gosh, I laughed at him so much and it took me a couple of minutes to be able to tell Tita what Jillian really said. Needless to say, we didn't let him live it down! It was even funnier than what Jillian said!
Part 2:
Well then last night we were driving to King Soopers for some snacks and Marko and Tita were sitting in the back seat.
This is the conversation I heard:
Tita: "Let's put a shrimp on the barbie!" (and she said it a la Jim Carey in the movie Dumb & Dumber) Marko: "Tita, I'm tired of you and your British accent!" (coincidentally, also a la Jim Cary in the movie Dumb & Dumber!) Tita: "Ummm, it's Australian, Marko!" Marko: "Oh."
We laughed and gave him a really hard time about that one too. All in good fun, though.
Here's the clip for those of you unfamiliar with this scene:
I love my kids and I love all the hilarious things they've said and done. Kids really do say the darndest things and I am truly blessed with the amazing kids God blessed me with. (:
The hubs and I bought a membership to a local gym for our family about a month ago and we've actually used it quite a bit. We've used the gym and the pool the times we've gone. We still haven't played the mini-golf or the basketball courts...but maybe in the next couple of weeks (?) Well, we went today and I decided to join Tita in the pool and take the day off from the gym. I figured the guys could go get a good workout while us girls took it easy.
When we got there, one of the large pools was being used for laps; the other pool was being used for lessons; and that only left us with two choices: The kiddie pool or the lazy river.
Since we definitely aren't "lap" people, we aren't signed up for any lessons and my children haven't been toddlers for years, this narrowed our options down to the lazy river. You know, the pool where you "lazily" or gently get pulled around the pool while you relax??
"Lazy" river MY ASS! I spent the entire time yelling "OUCH!," and "OH!" It literally mauled me because the water current was so fast! The water in the so-called "Lazy River" is about 3 1/2 feet high, so I got in and got on my knees: BIG MISTAKE! The current immediately took off with me and thrashed me back and forth around the maze. It's kind of shaped like the olympic rings but with only 3 of the rings. It immediately scraped up my knees pretty bad and I made the mistake of lifting one of my knees above water level to see the "damage." As I did that, the current kept carrying me at the speed of about 25 miles per hour (I'm NOT kidding!), so I didn't see the wall I was being slammed against until literally a millisecond before my nose would have been crushed. I turned my face at the very last second to avoid a broken nose (Thank God!), but my knees again were slammed against that same wall and got scraped again! I was absolutely mIsErAbLe. I felt like the water was possessed and I was this helpless rag doll being thrashed back and forth! The "curves" of these "olympic rings" were exits, but they were just there to tease you into thinking you could actually get out of these possessed waters. I tried to reach these exits each time I approached whizzed by one, but ya think I succeeded? Fat Chance! I even ended up with a major wedgie trying to fight the damned current! It was hell-bent on keeping me in it's grip! Tita had to literally PULL me through the current to get me out of it! I did the sign of the cross and prayed an Our Father when I finally was able to get out! Sheesh!!
Tita and I went to shower and it was wonderful because the water was so warm. In the shower I was able to examine all the damage that stupid "Lazy River" did to my legs, elbows, etc. It wasn't pretty. We met up with the boys and I was so achy and sore and scraped up.
I think the boys are the ones that "took it easy" today. I felt as though I was coming home from a 12-round boxing match in which, unfortunately, I did not win. There will be no more "taking it easy" days for me anymore. I'd much rather kick butt on the gym equipment!
I had been meaning to catch up on my blogging, but with Marko having a major ear infection for the last 10 days or so, it just didn't happen. He's finally getting better and his pain is tolerable now. Thank God.
Anyway, I posted about a two weeks ago of Marko's great report card I received in the mail, but for some reason, Tita's didn't show up until about 4 days later.
Well, she also did wonderful! She ended up with all As and 2 Bs. And I am so very proud of her. I know firsthand how difficult it is to get in the groove in a new environment because my mom moved us to different schools, cities, and states about every 3-4 months. Yes, I just typed "get in the groove." I promise I never speak that way!
My kids finished the year amazingly well even after switching schools with about 11 weeks left in the school year.
I now am the proud mama of a 7th and an 8th grader! Can you believe this is Marko's last year of middle school? So that means that next year at this time, he will be getting ready to head to (gulp!) High School??!! Yeah, believe me, that's a hard pill to swallow.
I love my babies the whole world and I am so very proud of them both!
It was a very interesting night at the our house last night. Sheesh! It all started about 11:00 while the hubs was watching TV and I was on Facebook in the garage. Yes, in the garage. Don't you do that?? Anyway, the hubs asked me to open the big garage door a little more and I told him I didn't want to because Peditos would get out. The hubs' response? "He won't leave!"
He left.
And my baby girl was absolutely devastated that her dog could not be found. She cried for hours.
The hubs was beside himself with guilt. And I was beside myself with worry. I was worried that he might have wondered off to the busy street and get hit by a car or perhaps be found by someone that decides to actually keep him instead of calling any of the three phone numbers on his tags (!) I mean, seriously, what on earth could I possibly have done to make it better for my little girl?! So I prayed. I prayed that God guide him home if he managed to get lost. I prayed that he come home quickly and that he not be hurt. The hubs and I decided to drive around (at about 1 a.m. by this point!) to no avail. Tita insisted she was going with us because she was very upset by now and did not want to wait at home, much less in bed. So off we went. We drove for quite a while and called his name and whistled for him and ended up coming back home empty-handed. And I felt so bad for my Tita.
The hubs couldn't stand watching/hearing his baby cry her heart out for her little fur-brother, so he drove off to look again, in the hopes that he would find him this time.
About 15 minutes later, the hubs called me on my cell phone to tell me that he had been pulled over by the police! Apparently, someone from one of the neighborhoods he was driving through reported a "very suspicious-looking man" driving through their street very slowly and mysteriously. They were sure this "very suspicious-looking man" was up to no good. (I wish I were kidding!) Once the hubs explained that he was simply looking for our dog, the nice policeman offered to put Peditos on an unofficial All Points Bulletin and if he were to be found, they would notify us immediately. HA!
So the hubs had the daunting task of telling his baby that again, he was not able to find her beloved dog.
More crying ensued. Any mother with a heartbroken child can tell you the horrible feeling of helplessness that just kicks you in the teeth, especially when there isn't a damned thing you can do to take their pain away.
A few hours later, I was falling asleep on the couch with my baby curled up in a fetal position and her eyes almost swollen shut from crying so much when suddenly:
The hubs walks into the house from the garage with Peditos!
My baby started crying again, but this time, from sheer happiness and Peditos licked her tears away. It was a very emotional moment for us. Nevermind that it was 4 a.m. by this time!!
The hubs said he decided to wait in the garage with the big door open a bit in case Peditos came back.
I don't know where Peditos had gone, but he came home wet, absolutely filthy and full of twigs and stickers stuck to his fur.
I can not describe the feeling of seeing my baby so incredibly happy. It was pretty amazing.
Since it was so late/early, we removed all of the twigs and stickers from his fur and I had Tita put Peditos to bed and told her he wouldn't get a bath until today.
I recently posted of our trip back to Nebraska and how much fun we had. We drove by my old schools, the house we lived in, my best friend Eleanor's house and the old Dairy Queen: my first job. We even cruised down the "Butte," which is Alliance's main street. Driving down the Butte and hearing that old familiar sound the tires made as we drove over that long brick road brought back so many memories. Good memories. It was awesome.
Well Alliance and the "Butte" made national news yesterday for something very tragic and unfortunate. There was a robbery at a pharmacy that went awry and it escalated into a very long and tense hostage situation that resulted in almost the entire town on lockdown. How scary must that have been for the people directly involved, or the people in the surrounding businesses having to be locked in and not knowing when or even if they would be allowed to go home to their families?!
I couldn't believe that what I was reading was happening in Alliance, the town where I spent so many years of my childhood and more importantly, the town that I felt the safest while growing up. I've posted of how we moved so much growing up and we did, but we always ended up back in Alliance. I just couldn't reconcile this event happening in Alliance. This was the town where I walked to school and everywhere else we needed to go to every single day with Eleanor and Elaine and can honestly say that I didn't ever have the fear of something bad happening to us. Ever. Bad things happened in other places, not in Alliance.
All day, I was glued to the updates on Alliiance's newspaper's website and finally their local radio station's facebook page. After reading that a couple police officers had been shot, I felt panic and prayed that the police could bring the situation under control without any more people being hurt. I read that the hostage was also injured while attempting to escape and I couldn't get what was happening out of my mind.
Then there was a report of a homicide at another location in town and I knew in my heart that this had something to do with what was happening downtown. Then I heard that the homicide was indeed related to the downtown incident.
I finally read that the situation was over late last night. The gunman was killed and his identity was released. He was not someone I knew, but I knew a couple members of his family. And my heart breaks for them. Nobody wins in these kind of situations.
I have so much respect for the responding police officers and their families. May God bless each and every one of them as they heal from this ordeal. Even though the police in little 'ol Alliance and the surrounding towns that responded, had always been fortunate enough to not need experience in handling these types of situations, they did an amazing job and they selflessly put their lives on the line for their community. Please keep these officers, the hostage, their families and everyone else involved in your prayers. And also pray that the people of Alliance heal from this horrible day.
Last night was pretty awesome at Casa Silva. I'm not sure why I like to check my mail very late at night. Always have. It drives the hubs cRaZy, but it's just what I do. Last night wasn't any different. I drove to my mom's to pick Tita up pretty late and of course, as I pulled into our street, I was grabbing the mailbox key out of the ashtray of Jeep to check the mail before pulling into the driveway. Tita got the mail and I skimmed through it while she buckled up again. A few bills, some junk mail. The norm. I immediately opened the envelope from the kids' middle school. I knew report cards would be arriving anytime and I was anxious to see them. I posted back in February of how we needed to switch the kids' school immediately because their old school was dishing out lots of BS I didn't agree with. Marko was held back last year and I had both of the kids in 6th grade for the first semester. The second semester started in January and by the end of that month, it was clear as day that Marko was not ever going to succeed in that "school." He was failing every single class! It became clear that Marko would again be forced to stay in 6th grade. So we switched them. We struggled with the decision because a) change is very hard. I was always being moved in the middle of every single school year and I absolutely hated it. I know kids adjust a lot easier than adults in certain situations, but still. And b) it was so late in the school year and we of course worried that Marko only had just a couple months to prove himself in a completely new environment. But we prayed about the decision and we did it. Well, as it turns out, we had absolutely NOTHING to worry about. As I've posted before, it was the best decision EVER.
My son was tested on the very first day at his new school and was immediately was switched up to 7th grade where he should have been all year long. Both of the kids were doing beautifully and bringing home fantastic grades! Marko's report card I received in the mail had excellent grades and my son is officially an 8th grader in the Fall. Even with only being a 7th grader for a little over 3 months, he did an exceptional job and his report card reflects his hard work. He didn't just pass by the skin of his teeth either. He ended up with As, Bs and 2 Cs!
I am incredibly proud of Marko and the way he worked so hard to prove himself and I am immensely grateful for the wonderful staff at the school we ended up choosing for our children. They recognized Marko's intelligence immediately and boosted his self-esteem to levels that are now off-the-charts.
We had a mini-celebration last night with the kids and it was awesome. God is good and He continues to bless me and my little family so much.
The hubs and I took the kids to Nebraska Memorial Day weekend for a graduation party for my cousin's son and we had lots of fun catching up with family we don't see too often. We enjoyed good Mexican food and we danced all night long and had a blast! I didn't take too many pictures because, well, because I was having too much fun..
On the drive home Monday, we stopped at my tia Minga's house in Cheyenne and she sent some very old pictures (of me) with me that she'd found. I hadn't seen any of these old black & white pics before, so I was happy to have them:
I was almost 2 years old in this one:
My tia said said I was 1 in this one. It's in color!!:
I actually remember this day! I was about 4 years old and we all went to the park that day when we all lived in Alliance, Nebraska. I remember my mom, my grandma, aunts, uncles and a few of my cousins were there. I don't remember pictures being taken and I had never seen the pictures of that day though. How I wish I could go back to those special carefree times when very special loved ones were still living.
I was very much a tomboy and always climbing on everything!
This was also at my grandparents' house in Alliance. I was about 3 in this pic:
My uncle and his family still live in this house, but they have since remodeled it. I love going to their house because I have lots of memories in that house.
This was also taken that day at the park. While we were in Alliance during Memorial Day weekend, we actually drove by the park and just seeing that familiar park with it's fountain brought back so many memories. It was awesome..
The other kids in the pic are my aunt Sylvia, uncle Pete and cousin Chico. The boys and me had climbed on the pillar for this picture (of course!)
I was about 2 in this picture and I'm not sure where it was taken. You probably won't believe me, but I actually remember the first time I put that jacket and hat on! It even came with a little fur-trimmed handwarmer thing that hung around my neck I thought I was the shizz wearing that faux fur jacket! (:
I noticed I wore Mary Janes in most of my pictures and that made me happy because I still love wearing them! Thanks mom!
I also got pics of my mom with and all of her siblings when they were kids and my grandparents. I tried to upload them, but finally gave up. I'll try again in a few days and hopefully it will work then.
The hubs and I took our kids to the Denver Chalk Art Festival yesterday and let me just say how aMaZiNg it was! Even after living in our beautiful state for as long as I have, I must admit I had never been to this event.
Most of the artists were finishing up, while others still needed more time. I don't think some of them even got to finish in time before judging started, which was too bad because they had worked so hard on their square.
The picture below is what the square above will look like when finished.
It was incredible to see such detail. They were all very talented!
Look at the detail on this guy's square! Unfortunately, he was another that didn't get to finish in time. Still a winner in my book though.
A young lady came all the way from Florida and did the mask below and was one of the winners. Not bad for this being her first time at the festival, huh? How exciting!
Even some of the store owners got their chalk on:
The afternoon was nice and cloudy, so that was an added bonus:
On the walk back to the car, we stopped at the Cherry Creek Trail:
There were lots of people on the trail, either walking, or on bicycles. There was even one guy on one of these:
(via Google Images)
Can you believe this is the best picture I was able to get of him??!! My back has been hurting a lot and the hubs was giving me a back rub, so I was totally unprepared...Total Fail!!
The kids had a great time skipping rocks on the water:
I even got a shot of the beautiful Mile High skyline:
I had the hubs stop the car right in the middle of a very busy street so I could take the picture and we may have had a couple cars honk their horns and flip us the bird... I seriously doubt that this is the way Denverites' wave, so it must have been road ragers, huh? Oh well..
On the way home, we stopped for dinner at Cinzzetti's and although it is an Italian Market Restaurant buffet, I of course, tried the lasagna, pizza and other Italian dishes, I must say that my favorite thing to eat there was their potato soup! Yeah, I'm that weird customer I guess. We all ate to our heart's content and even tried the gelato, which was delicious!
I am a full-time mom, wife and student. I really enjoy cooking and I LOVE any arts & crafts projects. I usually have quite a few projects going at the same time.
I live in a never-a-dull-moment household that I will randomly write about. Thanks for stopping by. I welcome comments: vimex09@live.com :) God bless you! =)
