Brandon's Puppy

Brandonism-vacation edition

(Last night, while explaining to Brandon that daddy and I are on vacation)

Me: Brandon, mommy and daddy are taking vacation time so we don't have to go to work on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. We don't have to go back for a whole week!

Brandon: But mommy, won't your work teachers cry for you? They are going to miss you.

Vacation Eve

As of tomorrow afternoon at 4:30pm, I will be on vacation until September 2nd 8th (I'm my state of exhaustion last night I put the wrong date)! Hubby works until 7pm, and then he'll be on vacation right along with me. It couldn't come soon enough, we are completely worn out. I didn't think it would take us this long to adapt to the boys' new schedule, but it has. Hubby is already in bed, and I'm just minutes away from joining him.
Several family members and friends have asked me if there are Orlando vacations in our future. I told them we're just too tired to do parks (oh yeah, and that money thing got in the way too), we're going on a stay-cation. Our itinerary is already filled with a wide array of activities, from rhythmic channel surfing to synchronized sleeping. In fact, I think my training for the latter should begin right about....now. Good night!

Brandonism

Last Friday I had to stop at the ATM before getting home. I had already picked up Brandon, and told him he'd need to stay in the car while I went to the machine, but before we got there I realized that I needed to go inside, so I told him that he couldn't stay in the car, he had to come with me.

Brandon: "Why, mommy? I thought you said I could stay in the car."
Me: "Parents can't leave his kids in the car because that's not safe for kids and the police will arrest the parents."
Brandon: "If the police officer takes you to jail, I won't have a mommy because I'll never see you again".
Me: "Right. But that's not going to happen because I would never leave you in the car. It's not safe."

So yesterday after picking him up, a terrible thunderstorm started. I told him I'd have to leave him in the car while I ran inside to pick up Matty.

Brandon: "But mommy, the police will come get you, and you'll go to jail, and I won't see you for a long, long time."

Me: "I know baby, but it's safer for you to stay in the car because there's thunder and lightning. The police only come if it's not safe."

Can't get one past 'im!

Little Wiggly is home

And he has a name!

Congratulations, again, my friend!

Fay, would you just go AWAY???

Tropical Storm Fay is slowly inching her way from Florida, and not a moment too soon. It's been a week since she set her sights on Florida, and has spent 2/3 of that time over Central and North Florida. My grandfather's brother's daughter (I call her my cousin, she says I'm her niece. Can any genealogy experts clarify?) sent me these pictures from her neighborhood, and these two from her friend's neighborhood, both in Melbourne, on Thursday morning. Scary, isn't it?
Neither of their homes were damaged, but not everyone was as lucky. The President declared the four hardest-hit counties disaster areas earlier today, and she took 11 lives. Fay was downgraded to a tropical depression last night, but I wish she'd just dissipate already!

Travel Talk

Hubby and I spent the evening kid-less last night, leaving the boys at my dad and stepmom’s house for a sleepover while we headed to our friends’ Early Labor Day/The Kids are Finally in School/End of Summer/Just Because party. Most of us were lamenting how we can’t afford any kind of vacation this year, and how unfortunate that is since there are so many great places to visit within our very own 50 states. I mentioned seeing the website for Branson getaways, and shared with the fellow party-goers the great deals I saw on there. At first they said, “Branson, Missouri? What’s there to do there?” I told them about the Silver Dollar City, a pretty cool amusement park with all sorts of rides and attractions. And I told them about the Titanic museum, housed within a ½ scale replica of the original ship. They couldn’t believe that some of the packages cost less than $600 per couple for 3 or 4 days, and include tickets to some of the shows and gift certificates to local restaurants. We were all really excited about the prospect of a vacation, especially an inexpensive one, but even inexpensive is too much money right now. Let’s hope it’s a different story this time next year.

Pink on the brain

Did you see my niece in the previous post? Isn't she beautiful?! After so many boys, we are all so excited to finally venture to the girl side of the stores. I know she's going to be bombarded with all sorts of dolls, dollhouses, dresses, bows, ribbons and lace as she grows up. Then again, with so many boys around, she just may become a little tomboy and dunk a basketball or hit a homerun as good as any of them (or better). But no matter what, she's got five boys that will love and protect her, and that's worth more than all the girly stuff we can buy.

Siblings

Sorry for the silence...it's been quite an adventure adapting to our new routine. Crazy days at work don't help either. I'll post a little something this evening, but in the meantime, check out this picture my cousin just snet me of my nephew and niece. Isn't it just adorable?!

First Day of School

More later, have two days of work to catch up on!

Welcome, new baby!!-Updated

Little Wiggly was born just a few moments ago, weighing 7 lbs, 5 ounces. He doesn't have a name yet, but from what I hear (new daddy called my hubby), baby and mommy are doing just fine. C-man will be meeting his new baby brother this afternoon.

Congratulations, and welcome to the Family-of-Four club!!

Update: Click HERE for a picture of the little guy!

Tropical Storm Fay update

The boys and I spent the day lounging (we all knew I wasn't going to do any cleaning...who am I kidding?!) in the living room, switching channels between kid-friendly programming and the local news. The eye of the storm passed through Key West earlier today, complete with heavy rainfall, gusty winds, and even some tornadoes before and after. Public schools are closed again on Tuesday. No work for me either, they released everyone today at noon and announced earlier that they will be closed all day tomorrow.
So far everything is fine, the satellite hasn't even flickered. Hubby got permission to stay home tomorrow since we didn't have confirmation that I would be off until a short while ago (Yes, his employer is staying open. Yes, they are nuts.)
We do expect heavier rains overnight and into the morning, but as long as we stay indoors, we'll be just fine. Have a good night, all!

A little bit of money does a lot of good, part 2

You may recall that my sister ran the Nike Women's Marathon as a part of Team in Training last year, flying all the way to San Francisco to raise funds for blood cancers. This year, I'm asking you to support my good friend WB, who joined Team in Training last week to participate in the Disney Marathon coming up in January. She's doing what she can to win the battle against blood cancers, and I ask that you support her, help her reach her goal of $2,400.00 before the end of December. We are all facing financial woes, from rising food and gas prices to employer budget cuts to the housing crisis, but it's true what they say: you have nothing if you don't have your health. Donate a few bucks towards my friend's goal and you'll not only feel good about helping someone who needs it, but you'll be giving them the gift of a healthier future.
Here's her donation page again, and if you'd like to join a team near you, you can do so here.

Thanks!

A little bit of money does a lot of good, part 1

Blogfriends Jay and Deb have hit a rough patch, and they are asking the blog community for a bit of help. They need to send the gas and electric company $1000 by this Friday, or their power will be turned off. They are just $200 shy of their goal. I donated what I can through their paypal account. If you can spare even $5, you can help them and their three beautiful kids avoid that predicament. I know that they would do the same for any of you reading this if the roles were reversed.

Thank you!

First Day of school postponed

Thanks to Tropical Storm Fay, Brandon and Matthew's (and the rest of the county's) first day of school has been postponed, and there's not yet word if they'll start on Tuesday. So far we're outside the cone of terror, which means my employer decided it would be okay for business to resume as usual tomorrow. Consequently, I'll have to take the day off as I've no one to watch the boys on such short notice.
In a way it's a good thing since I was not very efficient today. I was supposed to spend the day cleaning the house, and hubby was going to work on the lawn, but the tropical storm altered those plans. We ran some errands earlier today, figuring we'd get out of the house before the rain started. By the time we got back it was almost 5pm, and it had just started sprinkling, and the last thing I wanted to do was start cleaning. So instead of reading the gossips blogs and doing a bit of browsing on the Beautifeel shoe site I discovered a few days ago, I'll be scrubbing toilets and keeping an eye on the boys tomorrow. Trust me, I'd rather be at home than at work, but I'd also rather be lounging than cleaning.
We'll be just fine throughout the next couple of days, but please send good thoughts to those getting hit by the storm. Thanks!

Long Day

Brandon spent the day with me at work since his (now former) school was closed for a teacher work day. They were prepping the classrooms for the new fall semester, and getting things ready for tomorrow's Open House. He spent the day watching movies on the portable DVD player, playing games on the Sesame Street website and coloring pictures for my co-workers. Around 12:30pm we went to McDonald's with a couple of my coworkers for lunch, and after that the rest of the afternoon flew by.
After getting off the metrorail (which he LOVED), we stopped at the grocery store to get Matty's sitter a bunch of flowers and a thank you card. Today was Matty's last day with her (he also starts school on Monday). Brandon picked out a lovely bunch of light purple/semi-pink daisies while I grabbed a card, and we were on our way to pick up the baby. I knew I'd take my time to pack up the baby's things so she could relish her last few moments with the little guy, I just didn't count on being there as long as we were. We got there around 6:30, and left at 8pm! We even had dinner there!
Once we left, I called my mother-in-law, and since she lives so close to the sitter she asked me to come by for a while with the boys. I told her, "just for a little while", and yet we were there for almost an hour. We got home just a short while ago. It's been such a long day, I'm so glad that it's Friday and I can sleep in some tomorrow.
How was your Friday?

Not as ready as I thought we were

I was so focused on getting Brandon ready for his first day of kindergarten next week, I neglected to purchase a new backpack for Matty for his first day of school. Of course, now that I realize this, the kind of bag I had in mind for him is not on sale. I've looked at all the circulars online, and I've seen everything from Rimowa cases to camping duffle bags on sale, but no toddler backpacks. Well, not the one I want, anyway. I'm hoping it will be on sale this Sunday, since it would be a shame to pay full price after knowing it was on sale on and off all summer.
The good news is, that's all I forgot to get for him. He's got new shorts and pants, and I placed the order at the school for his shirts. Not bad for a newbie, huh?

Meme time!

My Cubanita amiguita Chanty tagged me with a meme, so here goes:

Choose a favorite book or movie or television program and name the characters you would:

- Bake cupcakes for:
- Trust with the keys to my car:
- Put thumbtacks on the chair thereof:
- Have a crush on:
- Pack up and leave if they moved next door:
- Vote for President:
- Pick as my partner in a buddy movie:
- Pair up:
- Vote off the island and into the volcano:

The first thing that popped into my head was Grey's Anatomy.

- Bake cupcakes for: Izzy. She should be baked for once in a while.
- Trust with the keys to my car: George.
- Put thumbtacks on the chair thereof: Meredith, because she drives me nuts sometimes with her back and forth about McDreamy
- Have a crush on: It’s a tie-McDreamy and McSteamy
- Pack up and leave if they moved next door: Not sure
- Vote for President: Bailey. She’s awesome.
- Pick as my partner in a buddy movie: Probably Addison. I liked her!
- Pair up: Alex and Izzy. They were great together.
- Vote off the island and into the volcano: Rose. Nothing against her, but she’s messing around with McDreamy, knowing he’s still in love with Meredith. But if Meredith keeps acting stupid about McDreamy, I'll throw her into the volcano first!

I think I'll tag WB, SarahK, Claudia, Lilli and Claudia F. for this one. And anyone else who wants to do it, of course.

5

My nephew, also known as Brandon's best buddy, turns 5 today. It couldn't come soon enough! Since Brandon turned 5 in January, he's been asking his mom when he can be 5, just like Brandon. It's been 7 months of "when will I be five, like Brandon?" Well, that day is finally here. Mikey turns five today!

He'll be spending the day with mommy, Maxxy, and a few friends at the new water park and we'll see them later at Tata and Abuela's house for cake. Brandon is so excited, and can't wait to see Mikey this evening. First thing he said this morning: "Mommy, we're going to Mikey's house today, right? It's his birthday!" Yes we are, baby. We wouldn't miss your cousin's birthday for anything!

Happy 5th Birthday, Mikey!

Itch-scratch

Poor Matty, he got a mosquito bite on his forehead yesterday, and it’s been bugging him all day (Heh, no pun intended. Really.). He's been scratching it all day, and I couldn't wait for bedtime to come so that I could medicate it. I couldn’t find his ointment and almost resorted to putting a dab of my acne medicine on it, when Brandon found the tube inside his night stand. I guess at some point it fell on the floor and Matty put it away as best he could. Can’t really complain since he tried, huh? Anyway, the bite looks worse that it is, but I do hope it gets better and the little guy won’t be bother much by it in the morning. The kid is a mosquito magnet!

Sleepyhead

All plans for today ceased when it began to rain shortly after noon. After a late breakfast I was in a mood for a nap, and even though I told hubby to wake me up after an hour, he let me sleep. I woke up after almost two hours, and since it was still raining, I took it as a sign that I should just keep on sleeping. By that time, he and Matty were also on the couch and Matty was also napping. We slept till just before 4pm. Man, that felt good!
It's now 11:30pm, and I'm not sleepy at all. The boys are in bed and I'm writing a quick post I have to get to before the night is over, and then we're going to sleep. I may not be sleepy, but I will feel it in the morning.

Mmmm....chocolate....

When I was at the store earlier, Brandon asked me if we could get a snack. I looked over at him and told him no, that he had snacks in the car, and if he was really hungry he can have something for dinner as soon as we got home. As I finished my sentence I glanced over his shoulder, and a pack of M&M’s caught my eye. I was very tempted to grab it and share it with the little guys, but I realized that not only is it a waste of money but also consumption of calories that I don’t need. And then it hit me, an absolutely brilliant idea: what if somebody decided to market diet pills resembling M&M’s? I’m sure they would be a hit, and I’ve had “diet” chocolate, it doesn’t taste too bad. I heard about a diet chocolate bar a couple of years ago, but I've never seen it. And, that's different than M&M's.
Gotta go, I have to call somebody and patent this thing.

And so it begins

In a little less than 15 minutes, the Dolphins will play their first (pre-season) game this year. Football season is here! Hubby's got the DVR ready, an ice cold drink nearby, and we'll be eating dinner by halftime.
We've got a bunch of new players, including new quarterback Chad Pennington, formerly of the New York Jets.
Though I'll miss seeing old favorite like Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor (YUM!), it looks to be a very promising season.

Go 'Fins!!

Orlando, here we come...again!

Have I mentioned that we’re headed to Universal Studios Orlando in January, in lieu of a big birthday bash for the boys? I can’t remember if I did or not. Anyway, the plan is to go during the long weekend, and since those days are in demand, I decided to start looking for a place to stay sooner rather than later. So far there are eight of us and we want to stay together, so traditional hotel rooms are out of the question. I’ve been browsing the net for Orlando vacation rentals to see if our dates are available. You see, just because we live in Florida doesn’t mean we know where the best Florida vacation rentals are located; we need to do our research just like everybody else.

Anyway, The site I used, www.vacationbyowner.com, is very easy to use, and provides details for all the properties listed. I found a bunch of vacation rentals that fit our criteria: economical, fits all of us, economical, close to the parks, economical, easy to find, and economical. Oh, and did I mention they are economical? And our dates are available! YAY!

We’re really excited about this trip. Hubby and I haven’t been to Universal or Islands of Adventure since before Brandon was born, and Brandon says, “I want to see Spiderman and the other superheroes.” And we know Matty will have a blast with all the fun sights and sounds. It’s going to be great!

Late Summer Cleaning

Lately I’m very annoyed with the large amounts of stuff we have. There are two piles of books, frames, and all sorts of other things in my room that I’ll be selling online soon. I looked around the play room last night and took a mental inventory of what we’re keeping and what we’re getting rid of. There are way too many toys in there, and hubby’s right, the boys don’t play with most of them (but don’t tell him I said that). I won't even mention the balancing act I created in the closet with new, not-yet-opened toys they got for Christmas and their birthday. Remember this set I bought Matty for Christmas? It’s in the closet, underneath three other new toys.
There are certain things I don’t want to get rid of yet, like the Geo Trax collection and the Thomas train sets, but lots of things in there can be sold or given away. I think I'm going to empty the entire closet out next weekend, lay everything out on the floor, and make three piles: keep, sell, and toss (a la Clean Sweep).
I know there are a few items I was holding onto to give away to charity, so I'll keep those on hand. I don't want to forget to donate them again.
Anyway, I'll have to remember to take before, during and after pictures to share with y'all.

Reassessment

After reflecting on it overnight, I realize I haven't really been as bad about exercising as it seemed. I walked three times last week during lunch with my friend Vivi. Yesterday morning I had to run an errand and ended up walking for about 15 minutes downtown, then ran up two sets of escalators to catch the train back to work. Oh, and I did have an ongoing fight with the waves at the beach on Sunday (they won). I guess I was just feeling down yesterday (girly matters) and focused on what I hadn't done as opposed to what I had done.
There, now I feel better. Every little bit helps, right?

Slacker

That’s what I’ve been calling myself lately. I haven’t exercised in weeks, unless taking the stairs at work when I’m rushing to catch the train counts. I haven’t taken my multi-vitamin in even longer, though I know they'll curb my appetite and increase my energy. I look at the bottle on my dresser every night, but I can’t bear to take the pills. They remind me of horse supplements and make me gag, but I won’t throw the bottle away since it’s throwing money in the garbage. And let’s dwell too long on my eating habits, m'kay? I’ll have a snack along with the kids when we got home, then dinner, then “a little something” for dessert, usually cookies or a scoop of ice cream. That's all I'll say about that.
I keep thinking about what my doctor will say four months from now when I go back for my check-up, but I’m still completely unmotivated. Does anyone know an easy, pain-free, sweat-free, tasty way out of this rut?

More Birthdays

Another busy birthday day.
My cousin-in-law Sandy, my friend Melissa, and bloggers Pam and VW bug share a birthday today.

Happy birthday, ladies!!

Iron/Wood

A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year. ~Paul Sweeney

This is one of the very first pictures hubby and I took as a couple, on his 22nd birthday. Who knew that 11 years, 4 months, 2 weeks, and 2 kids later, we'd be celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary. There are days I want to wring his neck, but my heart knows that this was the man I was meant to marry, have children with, spend the rest of my life with.

I love you, honey. Happy 6th anniversary.

A Bunch of Birthdays

Happy Birthday to Mami Hen Carrie, who celebrated the 20th anniversary of her 21st birthday this past Friday.

Friend and blogger Serenity celebrated her birthday yesterday.

And my friends Eileen, Monica, Mery and Mery's mom Nancy all share a birthday today.

Happy birthday, ladies!!!

Busy weekend

I’m so glad Matty has a check-up Monday morning. That means I can sleep in for a bit tomorrow, very much needed after the jam-packed weekend we’re having! Yesterday we went to our favorite membership warehouse and did major groceries, ran home, put away everything, had lunch, and headed to my stepbrother and sister-in-law’s house to visit the baby. We were there for a while (maybe two hours), then headed to my dad’s. It was supposed to be a quick visit, but we ended up staying till almost 11pm.
My dad was working outside when we got there, laying bricks around the columns in the covered patio he built in the backyard. He let Brandon put a couple of them, it was so cute! His next step: put in a few cabinets and a countertop, and maybe even a built-in barbeque. He even wants to install a small sink to complete the BBQ prep station, which explains the bazillion catalogs of kitchen faucets he had laying around. It’s a lot of work, but it’s going to be awesome when it’s done! But I digress…
Today we’re headed to the beach to visit my great-aunt and uncle. Sounds relaxing, right? Not really, not if you’re keeping an eye on a 5-year-old and running after a fearless 18-month-old! But I am looking forward to it, not only to spend time with my family, but to see Matty playing in the sand with his little bucket and shovel alongside his brother. Last year he was too small to really enjoy it. I foresee all of us dropping from exhaustion when we get home this evening.
Have to go now, I still have to dress the kids and we'd like to leave before 10am.
Have a great day!

A-B-C-D....

Because when you're feeling a bit blue, a soft little voice singing the ABC's (or as close to it as possible for an 18-month-old) will cheer you right up!

(Audio only)

Friday Funny

On my coworker's desk:

(I know it might seem a bit obscure to some, but I know at least four of you will get it!)