Spring forward!

I've been slacking on my blog posts, so I have some catching up to do...
Saturday was a laazzzy day...we all just kind of laid around and watched TV all day :)
Sunday was Daylight Savings day and although this is never my favorite day because it throws me off for at least 2 days with the hour difference, I was a good sport and we went to the kids' old school so the kids could play basketball.


2 pts!!

Marko also made his baskets most of the time!

As did Lynette...

My nephew was not so lucky...but he had fun anyway!

The girls and I went to the play equipment for a while and we had fun taking pictures.

You need a visual for this:  I had the camera hung around my neck and it hangs to about my ribs...Well, Lynette hung on the monkey bars and couldn't get down, so I went to help her off and was going to grab her by her shoulders and my camera swung toward her and bonked her on the head!! and hard! That was so funny...  We laughed so hard that our makeup smeared!!

Then we came home, grilled some burgers outside and watched my favorite movie...

I LOVE this movie.  I could watch it every day and not get sick of it!








It was a good day--even without that extra hour...
Until bedtime, Marko had such a horrible cough..my poor baby..He ended up losing all of his dinner and his best friend last night was the porcelain throne.  I kept him home from school today because he was still feeling under the weather.  Hopefully he'll be well enough tomorrow.

I forgot to mention that last week, I was really stressed about a test I was taking for my pharmacy class and I completely ACED it!!  I only missed ONE question!!  That made my WHOLE week  :)  Well...tomorrow, I take my midterm for that class and I just hope I'm not feeling a little 'over-confident' because of last week's test.

4 days til Friday!! :)

Ash Wednesday..

Today was Ash Wednesday, so me, Armando, Marko & Gabriella all went to church tonight to receive ash.  Mass was a beautiful and I L-O-V-E-D all of it.  Ash Wednesday is 40 days--or Lent (not counting Sundays) before Easter.  We all give something that we love up for Lent.  Armando usually goes crazy and gives up EVERYTHING except maybe celery and garbanzo beans!  I'm just kidding, of course, but it is always near impossible to cook anything that he can actually eat during Lent.  I am seriously sacrificing by what I decided to give up: SWEET TEA!!  I don't know HOW I will do it...I am Texan and if it weren't for Sweet Tea, I wouldn't get any fluids in my body...we'll see how it goes.

My favorite song at Mass last night is called Surrender.  It was sung during Communion and it was just so beautiful.  Here are the lyrics:

I'm giving You my heart

And all that is within

I lay it all down

For the sake of You my King

I'm giving You my dreams

I'm laying down my rights

I'm giving up my pride

For the promise of new life

And I surrender.  All to You all to You

And I surrender.  All to You all to You

I'm singing You this song

I'm waiting at the cross

And all the world holds dear

I count it all as loss

For the sake of knowing You

The glory of Your name

To know the lasting joy

Even sharing in Your pain

I looked it up on Youtube because I was going to post the video.. but didn't like any of the versions....guess the choir at church should record their own CD...they really put the original singers to shame.

Lynette didn't go with us to church because she had gone with Laura after school to get her new manicure.  After the service, we went to pick Lynette up and took her to the closest church so she could get ash.  Marko & Gabriella bought an elote (corn on the cob) that they sell outside of that church.

Here is a picture of Marko with his elote:

Well....Peditos must have been tempted by the smell of the elote because pretty soon the kids were in the back seat laughing HYSTERICALLY.  I turned around and was able to get some great pics of Peditos who just took it upon himself to SHARE the elote with Marko!  :

This is a typical Life, Silva style moment!  :)

Peditos just couldn't get enough of it!  Marko let him take over, and Peditos wasn't too happy when he thought Marko was going to take it away...he would growl at him!  I finally had to intervene and take it and throw it away on the sneaks!  Crazy dog!  We love him. :)

Rest in Peace Martha..

I  just got a call from my family in Texas to let me know that my stepmom, Martha passed away today.  She suffered a massive heart attack at her home today and died.  I truly hope she died swiftly and didn't suffer.
Please pray for her soul to enter God's kingdom for eternity.
Please also pray for my dad--he is not in the best of health himself and his heart is broken now that his lifelong partner is gone.  I'm sure he feels completely lost without her.  Pray that the memories he has with Martha brings him peace and comfort during this trying time.
Pray for my siblings, Greg, Ricky, Mario and Lisa, now that hey have lost their mother.
Especially pray for Nathan, Houston, Alexis, and Andrew to be able to adequately sort through and express their feelings for the loss of their beloved grandmother.  She and my dad were raising these children, and Martha was the only mother they ever knew.  Pray that they never forget how much she loved them.
May God wrap his loving arms around them all to give them comfort during this very difficult time.

Rest in Peace Martha...

Heart friends

Today has been an awesome day.   Marko got up on time with enough time to get ready for school and we left the house right on time.  Then, on my drive to school I talked to my heart friend Linda.  She and I had lost touch for quite a long time and I remember praying to find her and that she was doing well.  God is good and I found her almost 5 months ago...on Facebook! I had missed her so much. She hasn't changed a bit-she's the same, beautiful, strong latina whom I love dearly.  Linda is one of those special people that you can reconnect with after many years and talk as if you had talked yesterday!   Her friendship and the advice she gives me really mean a lot to me.  I met Linda many years ago when she began working at the company I was with and then a short time later, I began working with Linda at the office SHE was working for.  She was an excellent role-model (did I mention she could easily be a model??  I know you're laughing Linda, but it's true...) and I learned so very much from her.  I will always appreciate everything she taught me, which included her professional paralegal skills and she even taught me to knit!  She's amazing,  I miss her, I love her very much and may God bless her every single day.

I get to school and find out my test that I had studied and studied for is open-book, online, and that I have 24 hours to submit it!  I don't care that I over-studied.  Better to be overly-prepared than not at all...right??  I really didn't think my day could get better than that...

Then, as I'm leaving school, my OTHER  heart friend, Erin called me.  I was so happy to hear from her.  I didn't have her phone number anymore because I changed phones and her number didn't transfer.  I was bummed because she has medical issues going on and I was worried about her.   Again, God is good, and things are going really well for her and J.D. and the kids.  This makes me very happy.  I actually had lost touch with Erin for a very long time also, but we got back in touch a few years ago, and I actually got to spend about a week with her a while back.  We had so much fun, Marko, Gabriella, my mom and myself all flew into San Francisco and Erin picked us up.   Armando, Laura & Lynette joined us later (they drove!!)  Our vacation continued on to Disneyland and Vegas before we flew home and honestly, the best part of the vacation was the week with Erin and her family!
Then Erin and her family + JD's entire family came down to visit Colorado and we had a blast again.  I miss her. Erin is also one of those amazing friends that you can literally spend years apart, and once you talk, you seriously pick up right where you left off!  I love her and her family so much and always wish them the best.

Gotta go...I need to take my online, open-book test that I SO over-studied for!  :)
Hope your day is as good as mine has been so far!

Tick..Tock..Tick..Tock.... :)

Disclaimer:  I have not worn a  real wristwatch (wow..what a tongue-twister! Even to type it was hard!) since.....1995ish...I know, I know, some of you were not even born yet...................AND??!!


Ok, long story short...I have told you of the fact that I am a Medical Specialties student and if any of you have gone to the doctor's office, the doctors and their staff will usually be seen wearing a wristwatch.......................don't ask me why, they just DO!  Anyway, our class was informed Monday that since we were all med students- striving to work in the medical field upon graduation........you guessed it!  We must wear a wristwatch...
I have not even owned a watch since the '90's and the only reason I had one waaay baack then was because I was working at a job that awarded their employees for each year of employment i.e., the first year you got a really nice coffee mug, 2nd year you got a jacket, etc.  Well, I think I was on my 5th year and THAT anniversary meant I was awarded a very nice wristwatch!  I was so proud of it because very very few employees had one..but I did! :)  I remember I specifically asked for the men's version of the watch because the women's just didn't look 'nice' enough.  So I got the men's with the larger face on it.  I loved it!   Sometime after that, I started working for an attorney and suddenly, it just wasn't appropriate to wear my watch with my previous employer's logo on it..   After that, if I need to know the time, I simply look at my cell phone--I mean...who doesn't do that!?  Well since the good 'ole Iphone is not equipped with the seconds hand, it just isn't good precise enough.  So Armando bought me this:

Lynette took the picture 'backwards,' so it kind of gives the illusion that you're turning your head when you're really not...

I L-O-V-E it...He did so good.  I love how he paid attention to detail and actually chose this one because it matches my wedding ring perfectly!  I purposefully (is that even a word?? I tried purposely and it just didn't look right!) hid my nails because since I got a new watch.....it justifies me getting a manicure...right??!! I think I deserve a mani..might as well get the mani/pedi combo while I'm there..right??  Ok..this post wasn't all that short, sorry...  Tomorrow I'm gonna want to check the whole class's vital signs just to have an excuse to look at my new watch!

If anyone is wondering the time, just ask me!   Thank you babe.  You picked the perfect one!  :)

I have to go to bed now because I have a mid-term tomorrow.. good night all!

Thank God last week is overrrrr!!!

Last week was bad because: 1. Tita (Gabriella) was sick..  She started complaining of her throat last Monday, and by Tuesday night she felt even worse!  Wednesday, I woke up feeling under the weather too and called my professor to let him know I wouldn't be in, and right about then, Tita comes downstairs and she's burning up with a fever! I called Tita's school to let them know SHE wouldn't be in either...I wondered how on earth I was going to take care of a sick child when I felt like crap.  I took some Tylenol and started feeling better by noon..Thank God!  I went to school the next day and had my mom come over to stay with her until I got home.
Back to Tita:  I took her to the dr. that day and found out she had strep...  She was prescribed a Z-pack (5-day antibiotic.)  I started her on the Z about 3pm and kept alternating between the acitaminaphen and ibuprophen and could not control her fever.  She had a constant fever from sometime Tuesday night until Friday.  My poor baby..she was so sick that she actually lost 6 lbs from her dr. appt on Wednesday until Saturday.  Laura & Julian were planning on spending Friday night with us and we had to cancel because Tita was simply not up to it.  She couldn't handle much noise and even the light bothered her.  We pretty much sat around watching TV with the volume very low and the lights off.
I was so worried about her but God is good and she got better.  It actually took her until Sunday to feel 'good.'  What a week!

And 2. I haven't had ANY TIME to knit, sew, sand/paint/reupholster a project I bought the stuff for...Grrr...  :(

Also, anyone reading this:  Please pray that Marko takes to heart the advice his dad and I have been giving him about school.
And also, please pray that Laura finds a job and soon.  She has been so stressed about seeking employment with no success..  I told her last night she will find one, and I know she will, but I completely understand her frustrations at not having found one.  Hang in there Laura....the perfect job will come along...I just know it!

Have a wonderful week!!

"Are you smarter than a 5th grader?? Grab a pencil and a piece of paper..."

"Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

'Cause there's gonna be a test later.

Get your teacher now we're back in school.

Are you smarter than you used to be?

Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

Grab a pencil and a piece of paper.

Get your teacher now we're back in school.

Are you smart enough to rock fifth grade?"

These are the lyrics to the hit game show.  How fitting they were today....I went to Target with Marko and Gabriella and we spent a good hour and half shopping, when I came across the calculators in electronics.  I remembered that I needed one for my pharmacy class-and bad because I had been using the calculator on my Iphone.  There were other people in the calculator section of the store, so I had to manuever my shopping cart around them.  Ok, first of all...I discovered that I am seriously old-school and when I think of a calculator, I think the plain, big-keyed, white calculator...probably high-tech that runs on solar energy...   (:   .................So  I automatically reached for this:

Sharp EL 334TB for $8.99


My 10-year-old grabs my hand and says (pretty loudly, of course!)  "MOM!  you're kidding...right??!!"  "What are you talking about?" I asked.  She kinda snorts and says "Mom...you're in
C O L L E G E !!.....You need a C O L L E G E calculator!" HOW EMBARRASSING!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm sure my face turned bright red!  I thought..Ok..  So I started looking at these:


Texas Instruments TI-89 for $142.99....HA!!



Texas Instruments TI-34 for $39.99

Casio fx115ES for $17.99

I told my daughter..."I don't know how to use these calculators!!".....so my baby proceeds to show me!!..."You use the 'shift' key to get to these keys"...."and you need to..." .......I was ready to scream!!!.  She absolutely WOULD NOT let me buy the high-tech solar-energy one...so we compromised and I ended up buying this:

Casio fx300MS for  $18.99

I only hope I can find the % key while in class!!.......................I should have known better than to take a 5th grader with me to go shopping for college stuff!!!.......