absolutely me

I was checking my pictures, and I can tell you that nothing does justice to how much fun we have been having over these couple of days, with Spring break going on. Nothing big, nothing grand. Just the joy of having this little family of ours together, enjoying the weather that was extremely nice for a couple of days. Getting to {finally} see the neighbors after months of hibernation. We even have new neighbors right next to us! Funny, when I went to introduce ourselves, the girl told me "we met before!". Turns out we did, when she came to see the house for the first time. Nicole saw her going in and she insisted that we go there and tell her to buy the house, because it was soooo lonely and needed somebody to love it and take care of it. Yup, that sounds like Nicole! I'm a little surprised that they didn't run out and bought property on the other side of town! New shoes. Ice Cream treats. New haircuts. Play dates for Nicole, play nights for the whole family. We all j...

This was another one of those crazy weeks, more at work than at home, but just the same, didn't give me much time for anything! I really don't like weeks like this, when it seems to me like I blink and the it's gone. And the kids are off school this until April 2 for spring break, so it will be an interesting week as well. I did find some time to scrap, though! I am so happy that I joined my friend Kathy at Scrapping with Grace , in a contest that will last a little over a month, sponsored by Cosmo Cricket (I LOVE their paper!) This week, we had a couple of challenges and I was able to get them done, woo hoo! The prizes are very cool, so I'm hoping I'll get AT LEAST ONE!!! Our team has 5 participants, let's see how we do...

Yesterday we didn't do much. I scrapped a little, Brian watched a little tv, Coco had her friend Matthew over and they played with Connor. My little cave is right besides the family room, but I don't have a direct view of it; I can only hear, because I always have the door wide open. I have a good view of the dinning room, but not the family room. Around 6, Brian came in to tell me he was going to drop off Matthew. Ok, I said. Nicole stayed with me along with Connor. Now, Matthew lives a few blocks away, so it would take Brian 5 or 7 minutes to be back. And so, about 5 minutes after he leaves, I hear Diggy boy bark. And I think, goofy boy, he's always barking! But no Brian sounds, just Nicole. Weird. But I didn't hear the door openning. About one minute later, I hear the door open, and Brian walks in, and I hear Nicole and Connor talking to him. And I hear her say, "Yes, Miss Maria just came by". So I go out into the family room, and Brian and I are listening...

Today I had an interpreting assignment in Wheaton, IL. If you know me, you know that I work from home EVERY SINGLE DAY, so I go out only to pick up Nicole at school (the morning kindergarten session ends at 11:15 a.m., what a weird time to end!), and to pick up Connor. Putting them together, it's not more than 400 yards I think, and it takes me about half an hour. So, when I have an assignment and I have to actually LEAVE home, I get all happy! I actually SEE human beings, LIVE (not over the phone or a camera!) and I get to STOP at ALL the craft stores that are on my way! (and there are plenty. Not quite on my way, in the strict sense of the sentence, but that is my story and I'm sticking to it) Now, I need to explain this. Yesterday I saw this challenge to scrap a picture that you took "today". As it turns out, I took Nicole's picture yesterday (which was yestereday's today!)because she came out of school wearing her sweater inside out. It's one of those...

I made this little book that came with my CHS March kit . Now, since my dear friend Tracie in her blog made me very aware of not posting other people's kids on my blog, I can't show all the pages inside, but I made this book to house all those little pictures of kids that exchange school pictures with my kids... I really LOVED it and made it in a night, while Brian watched tv by my side (that was SOOO COOL!) The paper is Scribble Scrabble (the one i bought like a month ago at that store that I found!), cardstock is bazzill, the stamp is by Stampin' Up!, letter stickers by doodlebug, flowers are Prima (are there any others???) Feel the itch to scrap!

Yup, you stinkeroo! I know you come lurk in my blog. I know you never leave a message, but I know you are reading. I miss you! You are my best friend, and I really miss having you home joking around. Can't wait for Thursday! I know, I know, I sound soooo corny... I told you Hilda (my sister, for those who are NOT my dh and don't know who Hilda is!) came over to visit. She hung out with the kids while I worked. She was soooo happy to see Connor. She couldn't believe he's so "grown" and he does the Frankenstein walk. She was thrilled. We took the kids to walk around the block, because the day was GORGEOUS. they say tomorrow it'll go up to 70 (can you believe it? as soon as you leave, "gringo" weather! I wasn't even wearing a jacket, though I did wear your jacket to pick up Coco). I like wearing your clothes when you're not here, they smell like you. Only this time, you did laundry before you left, so it all smells like GAIN :( We saw Kian...

Every year, I think that NEXT year I WON'T leave everything to the last minute. I will keep all my files and receipts updated. But every year, I have to spend two or three days buried underneath the mess of papers that I have accumulated during the year, organize them, and finally do our tax return. Boy, I hate it! But in the end, it's such a feeling of relief and accomplishment. Yesterday, Cesar wanted us to celebrate an "early" St. Patrick's, since he will be with his dad's family next weekend, and he doesn't celebrate the date. So, I made green ham and cheese omeletts - my style. Coco wasn't very hungry, so she's the only one that didn't participate. Kind of funny to celebrate St. Patrick's with green eggs and BEANS, but hey, this is a hybrid family, what can I say! Today was the first day that the weather was beautiful, perfect for the kids to run outside for a little. I kept my office door and the garage door open, letting the br...

I usually don't blog about these things, but today there's nothing else in my mind. I get blown away each year, right about this time of year. It's always the same. Cesar is a brilliant student, but for some reason, he starts dropping his grades. It takes a lot of grounding, lecturing, doing homework with him, meeting with teachers... I can't even count the things Brian and I end up doing to help him get back where he belongs. He's been in Academically Talented programs since second grade, and he keeps getting invited to the next one on the next grade, like now. But I don't know what it is, every year I need to threaten his summer vacation ("I promise you, Cesar, I will make you summer miserable, you can forget about your nice tan, I'll make sure you don't see the swiming pool all summer long, blah, blah, blah") in order for him to straighten up. Then, Nicole has been pretty bratsy lately, even with her good friends. Today, her best friend (and...

I really loved this month's CHS Kit ! The papers and goodies are just awsome! And the new website is up and running... go check it out!

It's just hillarious to see Connor and Diggy boy interact. As I told you in my previous post, I got a new bed for Diggy boy. Before that, we had his kennel in the kitchen. But lately, Connor was getting IN the kennel, and you could see the look of confussion in Digger's face ("Whatta...?" kindda look), and he ended up getting out of the kennel so that Connor could stay in. Well, I thought that getting rid of the kennel would take away Connor's temptation to get in there. WRONG! The scene starts always the same: Connor starts walking towards Digger, and I see Digger getting a little nervous ("is he comint my way AGAIN?"). Then, Connor tries to hug Diggy boy and goes "aaaaawwwwww", as Digger looks at me with these huge eyes ("are you kidding me???", he seems to say). Finally, Digger gets up and leaves his bed, as Connor lies on it, cuddling in it, still with his "aaaaawwwww" sound, as Digger looks at me ("Mom, Connor is b...