Lovin' school (:

Yesterday was day 3 of this semester and I think I am going to
L-O-V-E my classes.  I've mentioned that I am taking three journalism classes.  One is an advertising class that I'm pretty darned excited about.  My professor for this class is simply amazing.  A couple of other classes seem like they're going to be a little challenging, but fun, but oh, my gosh-- my absolute favorite class will be my visual journalism class.  Everyone will be issued a camera and a video camera for the semester, but my professor told me I could use my new camera the hubs recently bought me.  How cool is that?!  I am so looking forward to using it and getting a little more practice with it.  Hopefully, by the end of the semester, I'll be a little closer to mastering the million and one buttons on it.  How cool will it be to finally take the darned thing of of Auto?! HA!

Fingers crossed!

Have a wonderful Thursday!!

Milestones

My summer officially ended yesterday.  I start classes today and I'm very excited.
I am more than ready for school, homework, alarm clocks, and my chaotic life to get even more, well, chaotic.

With Fall being my absolute favorite season, I am so excited for the cooler weather, leaves changing color in our beautiful state, and of course, wearing all those delicious Fall accessories like hoodies, scarves and boots.

I mentioned to the hubs yesterday that this semester marks a huge milestone for me.  It's kind of a weird milestone, but to me, it means a lot.
I've mentioned in previous posts of constantly moving while I was growing up.  I'm talking about 3-4 moves every single year.  It sucked, for lack of a better word.
I was always the new kid in school and I honestly had never started a school year in one school and actually finished the school year in the same school.  Never.

Until last year.  The 2011-2012 school year marked the very first time in my life that I was able to do that.  And it felt awesome (:

As I start school today, I actually will know where the hell I'm going and I'm sure I'll actually see some familiar faces and professors.
I realize this milestone for me might not be believable to some of you, but I promise it is true.  And it is huge for me.

I am taking 12 credits this semester and three of my classes are journalism classes!  I am so excited I can't stand it!!

I'll let you know how my first day of classes went.  It's pretty late now and I have to get to bed, because it is, after all, a school night for me (:

Have a great day!

Chocolate Ships (!)

Poor grammar is perhaps my biggest pet peeve.  In English or Spanish.  I can't help it, it's just something that has always bothered me.

My kids will tell you how I will immediately correct them if I hear them pronounce a word wrong or spell something wrong.  It drives me crazy.  Yeah, I'm that annoying mom.  And now that I'm taking all of these journalism classes, well, it's only natural that I have become an even bigger pain in the rear grammar police (:

You want to know what really drives me crazy?  When people who should really know better (but for some reason, don't) get their there and they're or your and you're mixed up. I mean, seriously, how did they get past middle school, or (gasp!) even college without mastering this?  Anyway, this makes me cringe just about as much as if someone's nails scratching a chalkboard.  Just the thought makes me clench my teeth and suck my cheeks in.

Well my Gabriella is a chip-off-the-old-block, that's for sure.  She sometimes beats me to issue those Poor Grammar Infractions to our family.  She's even corrected moi on occasion and I am absolutely ok with that.  Good for her!

Well now that summer has ended and school has started for the kids, I've been home alone with Peditos.   I've been catching up on a few things I didn't get to during the summer.  Important things like cleaning and organizing under all the bathroom sinks and the kitchen sink.  It sure felt awesome to accomplish that yesterday.  I had put that off long enough.

School for me begins Monday and while I've certainly enjoyed the lazy days of summer and the awesomeness of actually forgetting what an alarm clock sounds like, I'll admit it:  I'm so ready for school.  Besides, Gabriella has been handing out those Poor Grammar Infractions to me a lot lately, it seems.

This is just one example:

The hubs and I took the kids shopping in a city nearby and stopped by a drive-thru restaurant for a drink on the way home.  The person behind the microphone just could not hear the hubs when he was ordering, so I leaned over the middle console and ordered it myself.  Not that I have a big mouth or anything, but the order-taker was able to hear and understand me.  Sort of.

It went something like this:

Order Taker: "Would you like an apple pie with that?"  (or something like that.)
Me: "No thank you.  But I'll take a Chocolate SHIP chake."

Egad!!

Picture the shock and horror at my realization.  Chocolate ship chake??  Really?

I was so disgusted with myself.  Wow.  Gabriella probably was too because this is completely unacceptable.  After that sloppy attempt at ordering a shake for my son happened, I turned to Gabriella and asked "WHO AM I?" (:

Then my little Grammar Police joked:  "Mom, you really need school to start!"

(Except she might NOT have been joking..)

Hahaha

This is Peditos' fault.  Whenever I talk to him when we're home alone, he NEVER corrects me.

Hope your day has been wonderful..

XO

Really?!

Those of us blessed with children know that awesome pride you feel whenever you teach your child anything from their ABCs or how to count, how to read or how to spell their name, right?  The list of things we teach our children is seriously endless.  And so much fun!
Well, I was certainly one of those parents that felt so proud to send my children off to kindergarten knowing way more than they needed, or were expected to know.
Well, I naively thought all parents did the same thing.  I honestly did.

Until now.

Everyday when I pick the kids up from school, the first thing we talk about is their Highs and Lows from their day.  Well, the kids inadvertently mention (almost daily (!)) of downright ignorant things said in school.  I won't mention any names, of course.  You know, to protect the innocent (:

Anyway, I decided to blog about it because I need to document it somewhere so I don't forget.  Where better than this blog? HA!

Ok, so today, Gabriella tells me: "Mom, my teacher handed out a map of earth in class, and can you believe one of the students actually asked the teacher where the back part of earth was??

Me:  "You're kidding, right?"
Gabriella: "No!"
Me: "So, what did your teacher tell the student?"
Gabriella: "He tried explaining it to her, but she didn't get it."
Me: "Wow."

Christmas in August

Christmas came early for me this year.  I'm not sure why, it just did.

I mentioned receiving a couple new toys in my previous post and boy, was I surprised!  A couple weeks ago, I woke up to find the hubs and Tita gone and didn't think much of it.  I figured they had gone to the grocery store or the gas station for something.

They got home a little while later and the hubs handed me a huge box that contained this:

(via Google)

To say I was shocked was a big, fat understatement.


I had this camera for a couple years and while I am completely comfortable using it, it's capabilities were somewhat...limited and I felt I had outgrown it.

(Via Google)

I had been wanting a Big Girl camera for quite a while, but didn't expect to actually get one just yet.

I have been watching the DVD that came with the camera, plus reading up on the manual.  Hopefully, I'll learn some basic functions on it soon.  I'm so anxious to use it and actually know what the hell I'm doing.

As if that weren't enough, the hubs also bought me a new sewing machine.  My old machine literally broke down during Finals week, so I didn't have it all summer.  Big-time bummer because I had so many projects I wanted to work on during my long summer break from school.

Needless to say,  I was absolutely speechless, which, if you know me personally, doesn't happen often. (:

Again, I don't know what I did to deserve my Christmas early.  Maybe Santa had heat-stroke with the heat wave we'd been having.  You think?

I am so thankful and blessed for my husband's thoughtfulness.

Thanks Babe.  What you did is very much appreciated.

Love you,

Where did summer 2012 go??!!

Today is/was a big deal for us because today was the kids' first day of school.

I thought I had this whole Hop-in-the-car-to-drop-the-kids-off-at-school thing down packed.  I've certainly done it long enough.

I remember clearly dropping my little 3-year-old Marko off at Preschool with him kicking and screaming and begging me not to leave. UGH!  That was very tough.  I saw some parents sneak out of the room while their little one wasn't looking and I couldn't believe the look of shock, confusion and hurt on the little kids' faces when they realized their parent was gone.  I could never do that, so I sat with Marko for a while until I thought he was comfortable and I kissed him a gazillion times, Lo percine (made the sign of the cross) and told him how much fun he was going to have and that I would be back to pick him up when the other parents picked their kids up.
Since I was always blessed with the opportunity to be a stay-at-home-mommy, this, of course, was even more difficult for me!  I actually had a difficult time driving away from the school with only my 2-year-old toddler in the back seat.  Marko's empty car seat  was a huge reminder that I had left half of my heart at the school.

I got home, gave Gabriella a snack and played with her a while before getting her bath water ready when the phone rang.  Miss Terri called to inform me that Marko wasn't too thrilled to be there and that he wouldn't stop crying.  I remember dropping everything, grabbing my keys, toddler and my purse -- not in that particular order, and driving like a mad woman across town because my son needed me! I remember driving there on two wheels....well, not really, but almost!  I was racked with such terrible guilt, thinking Marko probably thought I had abandoned him or something!
I remember pulling up to the school, quickly unbuckling Gabriella out of her car seat and racing inside.  Marko and I sobbed all the way home.  It was horrible!
We tried again the following week and he did much better.  After that, he loved going because his friend Noah was there.

Here is one of Marko's preschool pictures.  All of his classmates had little siblings, so the photographer took one of the "student" alone and one with siblings. (:

Well, here we are, literally 10 years later on the first day of school.    It's still hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that my Gabriella and Marko are in the 7th and 8th grades, respectively.  This means that this time next year, Marko will be a freshman in high school!!  I know I'm going to have a hard time with that one!

Oh, and here is a picture of the kids today:

The hubs recently surprised me with a couple of new toys.  One of which was my new camera.  When I asked the kids to let me take their pic, they wanted me to take one of them jumping in the air. I tried.  I still have LOTS to learn on it...obviously (:

Here are a few of the out-takes, HA!:

Hahaha.  I very obviously DO NOT know how to even use the continuous shot thingy.  I'm working on it!


So as I was saying, this morning the hubs and I took the kids to school.  Things sure are different now, well some things are the same:  I kissed them both and did the sign of the cross on them both before they got out of the car.

I guess the only thing different is that this time, I was the one feeling a little abandoned and I was the one that had to refrain from kicking and screaming!

I sure missed my kiddos today.

Patience

Anyone with kiddos can tell you how patience starts wearing a little thin toward the end of summer.  Especially during a summer that includes an incredibly long heat wave that doesn't even allow the kids to step outside because it's 105 degrees!

Well, I have been praying for patience with my kids because I started to become very short with them. Especially if it was that time of the month. UGH!

Well, you know how God doesn't just make you a more patient person, but rather puts you in certain situations in which you yourself can practice being a little more patient?

It happened to me the other morning.  Well, to clarify, I woke up about noon that day, but it was still morning to me.  I'm just keeping it real.
Anyway, I woke up in not the greatest mood because, well, you know how cramping and bloating happens sometimes with your period?  And now that I'm on the subject, why the hell does my skin STILL break out as if I were FIFTEEN years old??!!  I get so frustrated because I'm seriously closer to menopause that I'd like to admit, but I still get the stupid pizza face during my period!

Anyway, my "morning" wasn't so great.  I woke up, made the bed and came upstairs.  Tita was already up and asked me if I wanted a licuado (smoothie.)  I said yes, she made us all one and brought me mine.  So thoughtful of her!

And then this happened:

Her glass slipped out of her hand and she had blended strawberries, banana and milk all over her AND the carpet.  The look on her face says it all, huh?

 I loved the look on her beautiful face when I started laughing and she saw me reach for my camera.

It even splattered up onto her face!

Thank you God for answering my prayers!

I love my Tita.  Crooked glasses and all (:

Betty Schmetty

My mom planted a garden that has literally exploded with tomatoes, jalapenos, cucumbers, and zucchini, among other veggies.  So she has abundantly supplied my family with lots of goodies.
Nearly every day, we eat something that came from her garden!

Well, today we decided to give Betty Crocker a run for her money:

The zucchini bread baked beautifully and it is so yummy!

The best part?
Five loaves + kids that don't like zucchini bread = more for moi!  (:

Have a great Tuesday!!

Doggie in the Window..

Last night was pretty odd.  We went to the grocery store in a town very near us because we had coupons for that store, and we took Peditos with us.  We love our dog and only take him with us if he's not going to be in the car alone very long and of course, if the weather permits.  We would never leave him in a sweltering or freezing car!
When we do take him, he lays on the back dash and looked out the window waiting for us.  Well as we walked out of the store tonight, I noticed a man standing by his SUV parked near our car.  I didn't think much of it, but as we got to our car to load our groceries, he approached me and asked me how long we'd had our dog.  We've had Peditos since Thanksgiving 2010 and I thought the question was odd, but I told him.
He said that one of his friends had seen Peditos in our back window and called him, so he immediately drove to the parking lot and waited for us to come out.  He became so emotional as he told me how he lost his dog in December 2011 and tears ran down his face as he told us how much he missed and loved his dog!  Tita was holding Peditos by this time and the man asked if he could hold him.  We of course said yes, and he kept kissing and hugging Peditos and crying (!)


I felt horrible for him.  He and his wife waited by our car until we came out hoping against hope that our dog laying in our back window was their dog!  He immediately realized Peditos was of course, not their dog, but he was so hopeful at the possibility, so he became so emotional and we honestly didn't know what to do or say to offer some comfort.  I mean this grown man (that we didn't know)  had a meltdown right in front of us!  The man mentioned that fact that he and his wife didn't have human children, so this dog was literally their baby.


Peditos usually plays "guard dog" around strangers and barks and growls a little to act tough, but surprisingly, he didn't do it this time.  It was as if he instinctively knew this stranger needed to hug him and love on him for a little while because he missed his dog so much, so he let him.


I posted a couple weeks ago of how we couldn't find Peditos for a couple of hours one night and it was heartbreaking for us especially because our baby girl was devastated!  We drove around praying we would find him and came home with a heavy heart to tell Tita we didn't find him.  I laid on the couch trying to comfort a crying little girl with a broken heart.
Imagine the look on our faces when the hubs walked into the house carrying Peditos!  Apparently, Peditos found his way home by himself and we slept pretty good that night.  It was a close call, and we are even more careful to never leave the door on the garage open.


Well, the man told me he printed 1,000 copies of the following poster and that he's posted them everywhere in the hopes of finding his dog.  So I thought I would post it here on my blog in the hopes that somebody near has seen him and can reunite him with his owners.  All the drive home, I couldn't help but think about that man and hope he finds his beloved dog.

Isn't he CUTE??!!  Hopefully, his owners can find him soon.