His, Mine, Ours

The little things

2011-06-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it takes awhile, but in our family we remember when we tell our kids: "next time". We can't always give them what they want ALL the time but we do enjoy seeing the look of excitement and pleasure when we can make even the smallest dream come true. Ladies and gents, after 8 months of waiting... my son finally got... *drum roll, please*.... HIS IRON MAN HELMET!!

Jacob's toy was MUCH deserved after how patient he has tried to be as we (me, Alfred, Des and Kate) prepare for this year's Tahiti Fete competition. We usually park our car right in front of the halau (studio) so that he can hang out inside the car, watching DVD's, and we can keep an eye on him from inside the studio. I always ask him if he wants to hang out with me inside the halau while we sew or watch the dancers but he always prefers to stay in the car. Sometimes I sew in the car to keep him company but there are times when I am dancing too and he ends up having to take care of himself for awhile. Even though he's fine, I still feel like CRAP... definitely NOT worthy of "Mother of the Year". =P

Last Sunday was a particularly busy practice... and LONG. Again, Jacob insisted on hanging out in the car by himself so we all took turns checking in on him. Each time I asked if he was ok he'd answer, "Yup!" Each time I asked him he wanted to come outside he'd answer, "I'm good!" For the whole day, I didn't hear a peep from him unless he needed to use the bathroom. When I knew that practice was almost over, I told Jacob: "You have been so, so good today and so, so patient. I think you deserve a reward. We're going to take you to Target after this so you can spend the gift card that your Godmother gave you for your birthday." Oh man, he was so excited!

I went back into the halau and not even five minutes later, Jacob pushes the door to the studio open, waving a card in the air and yells: "Is this my gift card??" I walk over to look at what he's holding and it's Desiree's school ID card from 2008-2009 (LOL). I take him back to the car so we could find his gift card in my purse and I tell him to make sure he doesn't lose it or else he won't be able to buy his toy. I go back into the halau and he follows me shortly after so that he could show everyone his gift card and tell them that he's going to Target to get his "reward". I'm telling you... sometimes it's the little things in life and Jacob sure knows how to appreciate those small things. There's nothing like that feeling you get as a parent, when you can make your child happy-Alfred and I call it being their "heroes". We like to take turns being the "hero".

Anyway, now that we're down to the wire with this competition and practices are going to be even MORE hectic and longer than usual, I've recruited my parents to babysit Jacob while we're at practice. Jacob will have WAY more fun hanging out with his grandparents than sitting in the car all day long and we need to conserve some of his patience for the actual competition weekend. Last night, Alfred dropped Jacob off at my parents house before practice. I went to the studio straight after work to meet the family there. We didn't leave the studio until after 10pm so by the time we picked up Jacob, he was knocked out. When I woke up this morning he was still sleeping. Alfred is going to drop him off again before practice tonight. He will probably be asleep again by the time we pick him up. Repeat again tomorrow... and quite possibly for the next 8 days. I miss him so, so much already!!! Waaaaaaaaaahhhh!!

Going in a totally different direction-Katelyn is beyond excited about this competition. She keeps asking me how much longer until it's Tahiti Fete time. Between you and me, I think she's just excited about getting to stay at the hotel and having pool parties with our Kaleo fam. Preparing for this competition has taken a lot of commitment from our family, especially since me and Desiree are participating for the first time this year. Last year it was only Kate dancing and Alfred doing music. It's been long hours spent at the halau for practices, late nights sewing and re-sewing costumes. Alfred has spent hours and hours breaking down songs to teach to the "house band". I think it's all worth it, though - to see how much confidence Desiree has developed dancing this past year, the growth in Katelyn's dancing, the friends that we all have made. Sometimes it gets a little stressful but I think that it's also what makes the bond between everyone that much stronger. No matter how tired and stressed out you feel, when you feel like you're ready to give up, you have your hula sister or hula brother or "Auntie" or "Uncle" next to you (sometimes feeling the same exact way) telling you, "Don't give up! You can do it! WE can do this!" And when Siaosi and Ida start putting the production together and you start to see the story being told... you watch the dancers dance these beautiful routines, you hear the musicians sing these wonderful songs and it brings tears to your eyes or goosebumps down your arms and I always think to myself, "Man... SO worth it."

My Girl Has Got Some SKiLlZzZz

2011-03-01T21:35:00.000-08:00

Desiree has always expressed her desire to ACT or DANCE. With all the famous Disney and Nickelodeon stars popping up here and there, I'm sure most kids share the same dream. Not to say that my girl could not act or dance.... but it wasn't until last year that we discovered that her REAL talent was in ART.

Desiree has been going to a performing arts school since 6th grade. This school requires the high school students to audition to remain students for the 9th-12th grades. When Desiree decided to audition in visual arts, I have to admit... I was a little skeptical. I had never seen Desiree draw for fun, draw for work, doodle on scratch of paper, nothing! I knew she was taking an art class in 8th grade but did not have the opportunity to see her work until she showed me the portfolio she had prepared for her audition. I was BLOWN AWAY. My dad's side of the family is very artistic - my grandfather, some of my uncles and some of my cousins are very strong in painting/drawing/pottery. Obviously, Desiree has been blessed with the same talent.

I've tucked away her art from the portfolio she put together for her audition. Some day, when she is a famous artist, I can say that I have her very first ORIGINAL WORK! (LOL) But just to brag a little, here is a project she is currently working on. The object is to re-create an artist's painting inside the initial of the artists last name. The painting she chose is "Singing Butler" by Jack Vettriano. Here is the original:

And here is her re-creation inside the letter "V" for "Vettriano" - not too shabby, huh?:

I wish I had even just a smidgen of her talent! I panic when the kids ask me to draw a picture of a cat! (OMG - A cat!? That is SO hard!! Can't I just draw a happy face??) If this is just a preview of two years of art classes, I can't wait to see where she is at when she finishes high school! Get ready for her, CalArts!

Next Time

2010-10-25T21:10:00.000-07:00

I wish I had a gazillion dollars and a humongous house so that I could buy my children all their heart’s desires. Nothing is harder for me than telling my kids “no” when they ask me to buy them something. If it is in our budget we do not hesitate to buy it! Unfortunately, a lot of the cool toys and electronic gadgets are not always in our budget.

Desiree and Alana never really ask us to buy them anything. When they do, it’s not usually anything outrageous but I think it’s because they’re old enough to know what we can afford. I know that if we could afford to buy them the things that they REALLY want, they’d ask for it. Who wouldn’t want an IPAD or I-Touch? Or flat screen TV for their room? Or fabulous wardrobe? Shoot, if I could, I would – that’s a win-win for us all!

Katelyn can be persistent to the point of driving us crazy when SHE wants something. She does not take NO for answer. When we tell Katelyn no, we have to be prepared for lots and lots of crying coupled with begging and pleading that turns into anger then reverts back to sadness. The whole time she will keep talking – complaining about the unfairness of it all, arguing with us about why she thinks she deserves it or needs it, hating us for not complying with her wishes. She can go on this way for a long time, too. Sometimes we have to send her into another room to vent her frustrations because it gets too much for any of us to handle.

Jacob is still at the age where we can get away with telling him “next time”. He’s also at that age where is SO, SO cute and it breaks my heart into tiny pieces when the look of excitement on his face crumples, he puts the toy back on the shelf and says “ooookkkaaaay…” Remember when I was so concerned because all he wanted to play with was his sisters toys (princess and my little pony, to name a few)? Well, he likes toys that are for BOYS now! And I can’t always buy these for him! And it kills me!!!! He remembers all the toys he wanted to get that we ask for him to put back for “next time”. Every night, he’ll remind me: “Mommy, you buy me the Iron Man Helmet next time, ok? And the Iron Man Robot. And you get me Jessie [from Toy Story] next time, ok? And the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and Zsu-Zsu pets. You get that next time, ok?” and I tell him all the time, “Ok, baby, I’ll get that for you next time.”

I can tell the one toy he really, REALLY wants is the Iron Man Helmet:

How do I know? Well, it’s really quite easy to figure out. This is Jacob’s version of his own Iron Man Helmet:

He runs around the house, pretending to fly like Iron Man, wearing that drum over his head. He slaps the side of the drum and says, “I am Iron Man!” (the REAL helmet says phrases like this when you push the buttons on the ear). He runs up to me wearing the drum over his head, holds his hand out, palm facing me and pretends to blast me away before he swooshes off to go save Pepper Pots.

We wanted to buy him this for Christmas but I don’t know if I can hold out that long. Every time I see him running around with the drum over his head, it makes me laugh but I also kind of feel bad for him. I guess we could always get him something else for Christmas – there’s always Iron Man Robot, Jessie or the Potato Heads from Toy Story or Zsu-Zsu pets??

Oh, and because it’s only fair, Jacob has offered to buy me THIS in return:

No, I did not ask for these products but apparently he saw commercials for it and assumed that I really wanted it. We saw a commercial together and he said, “You want that, mommy? I buy you that ok? I’ll buy you OXYCLEAN.” And every time we walk down the laundry aisle in the grocery store, he sees it and reminds me that he’ll get it for me next time. How thoughtful of him. =)

Jacob singing Billionaire

2010-09-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

Gotta start 'em early... ya know?

Best night ever.. I heart ALMOST ISLANDERS

2010-08-04T22:11:00.000-07:00

It would be a crime for me not to write a blog post about Alfred’s first gig as an Almost Islander. The last time I remember having this much fun was the night of our wedding (and if you were at our wedding, you know that that in itself was a paaaaaaaaaaaar-taaaaaaaay!)

The venue that they played at is this “divebar” called McDini’s in National City. I don’t think McDini’s anticipated the amount of people that actually showed up, as the bar/kitchen seemed understaffed. Someone had mentioned that the last time Almost Islanders performed at McDini’s, the crowd was nowhere near as large as it was that night. I like to believe that I played a major part in that, since I promoted the hell out of their event! But that’s just my inflated ego talking. I’m certain that, in reality, it had NOTHING to do with me AT ALL (hahaha)!! With Alfred and Erwin being the newest members of the band, I’m sure they had their share of friends who came out to see their “debut” in addition to the Almost Islander fans that have always been around. I just hope that they can get the same amount of people to come out for their next gig… if not MORE!! And whether or not I have any impact on how big of a crowd they draw, I will keep promoting the hell out of Almost Islanders because I am THAT proud of my husband and his band!

I have to tell you that I was AMAZED by the amount of our family and friends who DID come to show Alfred their support. My sisters and their husbands, our cousins, our good friends as well as friends that we hadn’t seen in ages! It didn’t matter if they were 8 months pregnant! It didn’t matter if it had been years since they had gone out past 9pm without their kids! It didn’t matter if they had to work later that night! It didn’t matter if they didn’t like to drink or hang out at bars. It didn’t matter that the bar they WERE going to was in a “questionable” area! They came out anyway to cheer Alfred on. One of our friends told me that it just goes to show how many people love Alfred and I agree. What can I say – my husband is good peeps and we are blessed to have so many people in our lives that care that much for us.

Since I have WAY too many pictures to share of the night, I’ll just send you all over here to check them out!! =)

The only downside was that, for some reason, the security wouldn’t let anyone dance in front of the band. If you were in your booth or in the aisles, it seemed to be ok but if we traveled anywhere in front of the band (which had an open space that you would ASSUME was the dance floor??), the security guy would come and ask you to stop dancing. The crowd didn’t let that damper their spirits though…. As you can tell from THIS video… (LOL)

Here is one where Berny is singing "Naughty Girl"

And this one, Arvin is singing "Safe and Sound" (one of Desiree's favroites):

Before the last block of songs, some of the old members of Almost Islanders stepped in and did a couple of songs with the band. That was pretty cool!

Considering it was their very first gig as a "new band" with the addition of Alfred and Erwin, I think they did a tremendously good job. Of course, I'm speaking from an audience point of view. I'm sure from a technical standpoint, it might be a whole other story. But from my "layman's" POV, the songs they performed were fun, the audience had great energy, the band played off that energy really well and they looked like they were having an awesome time doing their thing for us.

If you don't trust MY opinion because, well I'll admit it - I am a bit biased (just a tad bit) then you can head on over to StarsInTheSkyProductions and read the article about the band. And if you're on FACEBOOK.... please visit the Almost Islanders page and "like" them!!

(Alfred, Berny, Harry, Erwin and Arvin. Missing Christian, who had already left for the night.)

Almost Islanders

2010-07-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

I keep forgetting that not very many people are privy to the fact that my husband can sing. He can sing good… VERY good. Unless you went to our wedding (where he surprised me by serenading me with “I’ll Always Be Right There” by Bryan Adams) or at a birthday party or the parking lot of the halau where an impromptu jam session breaks out – you wouldn’t know this.

It’s easy to take it for granted, hearing him play his guitar or ukulele and sing while I’m hanging out with the kids or doing chores around the house. Although we hear him singing almost every day (it’s something he likes to do to help him unwind), more often than not I think to myself, “Wow, it’s too bad that no one else gets the pleasure of hearing him sing.”

One day, Alfred mentions to me that he had been asked if he’d be interested in auditioning for this band. He had already decided that he wasn’t going to do it and when I asked him why not he answers, “I can’t join a band. I’m 40 years old!” Ummm... what?!?! I’m 16 days older than he is and I am for sure not 40 years old yet! He says, “… but I will be some day…” I tell him that he must be confusing musicians with athletes. Athletes may have an “expiration date” but there is no such cut-off date for musicians. Did he want to look back at his life in 20 years and wonder "WHAT IF"? He was worried about the time it would take away from me and the kids. First of all, our kids are getting older and, if anything, they would be excited about their daddy being part of a band. Second, the other guys in the band had families or were in a committed relationship. They all seemed to be on the same page about where their priorities lie. Anyway, what’s the hurt in trying, right? So, after all was said and done, I convinced my husband to go to the rehearsals on April 8th. On April 9th, he officially became a member of Almost Islanders. I wasn’t surprised. I told you he was good. =)

They had lost a few original members and gained a couple of new members so I anticipated that their sound might be a little different from the first time I had seen Almost Islanders perform. Since the band is closing near to their first official gig date as a "new band" (so to speak), a couple of the rehearsals that they had planned outside of their “usual” day landed on the same night that Desiree and I had hula class so Alfred ended up having to bring Jacob with him. Desiree and I finally got the opportunity to listen to them play when we stopped by to pick Jacob up. Ok, I know I’m a little biased…. but OH EM GEE… these are a talented bunch of guys, let me tell you! I couldn’t help it – they had me dancing all by myself in front of the garage while they played (much to the chagrin of my daughter… and perhaps my husband, as well). The second time we watched, I tried to contain myself and sit still on the chair but I told Desiree that all bets are off when I watch them at McDini’s on the 31st! She’s lucky she’s too young to come or she might be crawling under the table with embarrassment when her mama gets her groove on!! I’m so excited. Next week can’t come fast enough.

I basically invited everyone I know to this event.... and even a few people I don't really know. I told Alfred that I was his biggest fan... and possibly his best promoter.... and my girlfriend called me a "groupie wife".... all of which I accept to be the truth (and Alfred concurs)! Since we really hadn't made any big annoucements (or BLOG POSTS) about Alfred joining this band, a lot of people weren't quite sure who the heck Almost Islanders were and why the heck I was so excited about going to see them play and why the heck I trying to convince them all to come with me. Perhaps they didn't look at the photo close enough to see... "Whoa, wait! Is that Alfred?!? What the... I'm coming out to McDini's!" It probably doesn't help that the Facebook invite that I forwarded to everyone was hosted by someone we didn't know... haha! Anyway, now that I've officially announced it, I hope that those of you who don't have anything going on next Saturday night will come out and show some support for Almost Islanders! You won't regret it - I promise!

2010 San Jose Tahiti Fete

2010-07-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

You might be noticing that my order of events appears to be going backward in time. A lot has happened since my last post in April. Wow, has it really be that long since I last write a blog post?! Holy cow! To keep consistent in the backward chronological order of events, this post will be about Katelyn’s first Tahitian competition with her halau, Kaliloa O Kaleo’Onalani!

First of all, I can’t believe I haven’t posted on single thing about Katelyn dancing Hula/Tahitian. She’s been doing it for about a year and half now. Perhaps it was because she didn’t really have her heart in it until now. For the past year and a half, she went through the motions of going to practice on Mondays and Wednesdays and participating in some (but not very many) performances. When she would dance at these performances, she was always a step behind with the moves and always eye-balling the big girls. Obviously, she didn’t know the routines completely. I would suggest that she practice at home and she’d blow me off. Every time she got picked up for practice, she would cry and complain that she was too tired or too this or too that. She kept asking, “Who signed me up for this anyway?!?! Was it my dad? Did he sign me up?” We kept telling her that it was good for her to be active and dancing hula was a good extra-curricular activity. She was still very disgruntled about the whole idea.

Kate’s halau had participated in other competitions during the time she’s been taking classes but we didn’t decide to include her until the San Jose Tahiti Fete that went down during 4th of July weekend. I didn’t realize the amount of work that went into preparing for these competitions! Two weeks before the competition, there was practice every day. The practices lasted for hours. The only downside to that for Katelyn was that she would get home late and have school the next morning but she was such a trooper. It got tough toward the end of those two weeks - exhaustion was beginning to set in, most especially apparent in the little kids. I wasn't even dancing and I would STILL be tired after just being at practice with them for all those hours (and all I was doing was sitting on my butt, watching). And I didn't even go to the practices every day! I could only imagine how tired the dancers/musicians were!! Truly amazing how hard everyone worked!

Alfred had the honor of being invited to play his guitar and sing some of the pieces for their production so he had practice right along with Katelyn every day. Of course, Alfred sounded amazing singing the songs. The halau dubbed him “superstar” after that weekend!

My job, unbeknownst to me, would be to make her costume. Yes. That entails sewing. Something I hadn’t done in a long time and was never very good at in the first place. I struggled with it in the beginning but, all things considered, Katelyn’s costume came out looking decent. Ok, I’ll admit it. I kind of enjoyed making stuff on the sewing machine. The hand-sewing I could have done without but I can run things through the sewing machine all day long!

The halau placed 2nd place in two categories, which was awesome! It was great to see their hard work acknowledged. It was a great bonding experience with the other dancers and families in the halau. It helped Katelyn learn to really love what she is doing (the halau took a week off to rest after the competition and Katelyn kept telling me how much she missed everyone and couldn’t wait to go back to practice). It motivated Desiree and I to take classes ourselves (although for me it’s more for exercise than for performing in front of audiences. Thoughts of dancing in public makes me feel a little faint!)

Potty Training 101... FINALLY

2010-07-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

Jacob ran out of diapers on Saturday morning, while he was home with daddy and I was out “working on my fitness” with my girl, Sa. Alfred texted me asking if there were anymore diapers at home and I told him there was one on the coffee table but I’d need to buy more. Not too long after that, I get a picture message on my phone of Jacob sitting on his potty seat. I just about keeled over with surprise!

Yes, I know that Jacob is 3-years-old and I totally think he was ready to potty train months ago but I will admit it – I was scared. I never potty trained a boy before. I heard stories and they sounded intimidating. We tried putting underwear on him one time and he screamed bloody-murder. It took two of us (one to hold him and the other to put it on) to get the underwear on him and after we were done, he rolled around on the floor crying and screaming for what seemed like an eternity (but in reality was probably only about 10 minutes). We thought he was afraid of wearing underwear. NOW we find out it wasn't the underwear he was scared of... it was the Thomas the Train character ON the underwear that was freaking him out. Apparently, he prefers the plain white briefs. (Dude, seriously... my kids sometimes.... *shaking my head* )

So I get home on Saturday and as soon as I walk into the house, Jacob’s potty seat is sitting in front of the door with a little “surprise” in it. Alfred was letting Jacob run around with no underwear or diaper on. Apparently, he just did his business and let Alfred know afterward that he had gone. We were so excited and proud of him!

Here’s the tricky part – he doesn’t want anyone to help him. He doesn't want anyone to watch him, either. When he’s running around with no underwear on, he goes in the potty all the time with no accidents. When he has underwear on, we find that he went in the potty but his underwear is still wet. It wasn’t until I finally caught him going one time that I realized he wasn’t pulling his underwear down! (LOL) I tried to help him by pulling his underwear down but I think my presence was making him nervous because he just sat there. I ended up taking his underwear off, he ran around a little and when he thought I wasn’t looking, he sat back down on the potty seat and went! So, he’s still struggling with the whole pull-the-underwear-down-before-you go business. He’s learning, though. That’s what matters.

It's so funny watching him-he'll be playing and get this look on his face like he just thought of something and he'll run and sit on the potty. Sometimes it doesn't happen right away so he'll get up and try to play again and realizes, OOPS I gotta go!, and he'll run back to the potty to try again. Sometimes he does this a couple of times before he actually goes. Then he'll holler, "I went pee-pee!!" and we'll all clap or high-five him. What a crack up!

The other tricky part-what to do when we aren’t at home. Since he doesn’t want anyone to help him (or watch him), he freaks out ifwe ask if he needs to go and offer to take him to the bathroom. Plus, he’s still afraid of the "big people toilet". We certainly can't let him run around with no underwear on in public.... ?? I guess we'll figure that part out eventually. Baby steps, I say!

I would LOVE to not have to buy diapers anymore!!! But a part of me is also sad. That just means he's growing up, too, doesn't it? Aw.... my big boy!

Katie-My-Lady, my brand new Kinder-Grad!

2010-07-20T19:35:00.000-07:00

Katelyn had an end of school year luncheon at school today. Unfortunately, we weren’t aware that they were going to have a special program during this luncheon to commemorate their last day in Kindergarten. Not to mention a graduation ceremony. Yes, Alfred and I missed her Kindergarten graduation ceremony. Words cannot even begin to describe how utterly disappointed we are that we missed this super important milestone in her life. Katelyn used to be really good at giving us notes from school that would inform us of these things. Our home-life has been such a whirlwind of *adventures lately that I don’t really blame her for forgetting to pass along these school memos. I try to check her backback but always find these papers too late, folded into itty-bitty squares underneath the myriad of water bottles, toys, pine cones, leaves and sticks that seem to collect in there. It would have been nice to know so that we could have been there.

A stroke of luck – Alfred decided to go home from the office early and work from home. At first he was going to just go straight home and let my dad pick Kate up from school. At the last minute, he decided to pick her up himself and he was able to get this photo of her and her best girl pals (I almost cried when he sent me the picture):

Let me rewind to this morning when I dropped Katelyn off at school. She had a tray of cupcakes and a small container of cookies for her potluck. Her teacher wasn’t in the classroom yet so I decided to wait with her to make sure someone could help her carry her stuff to class. As we sat at the lunch arbor, some of the boys from her class sat with her. Kate left to grab a breakfast tray and when she returned to the table, I noticed she had forgotten to get milk for her cereal. Christian R. hops off the table and says, “I’ll get it!” He runs off and grabs a milk AND a spork/straw/napkin package for her. (We didn’t even ask him to get her a spoon/straw/napkin but he got one for her anyway! Oh my god, how thoughtful, right????) I tell Katelyn she should drink her milk, even if she doesn’t use it for her cereal, and Christian R. says, “I’ll do it!!” and puts the straw into the milk pouch for her. Later on, I hear Christian R. say to Katelyn: “I like your dress. You look really pretty.” And she says, “Thank you. I like your Hawaiian shirt.” And inside I’m thinking “TOO FREAKIN’ CUTE!!!!” (Of course, I relay this story to Alfred and he has a totally opposite reaction but WHATEVER. I still think it’s adorable!) Then Christian R. gets up to get chocolate milk for himself and he asks Kate to save his seat. When he leaves, Anthony (who was sitting on the other side of Christian R.) scooches down to sit next to Kate. Christian R. comes back and says, “Hey, you’re sitting in my seat!” Some words were exchange. I thought I was going to have to intervene. Fortunately, it ended in a civil manner with Anthony relinquishing the seat back to Christian R. Katelyn is oblivious to the whole ordeal. Those poor boys. How do I tell them that her heart really belongs to Christian H??? (LOL)

With that, my baby girl leaves behind Kindergarten and has the rest of the summer to be bored, swim, play and fight with her siblings before she starts her journey as a first grader. It doesn’t matter that she had two sisters who had this journey before her. I get teary-eyed each and every single time for all of them. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: MY BABIES ARE GROWING UP TOO FAST!!

*More posts about "adventures" to come soon! I know I've been failing miserably at keeping this blog updated so I'll have to play catch up with some of our stories!

Operation-Sleep-In-Your-Own-Room-Now-Please - TAKE 2

2010-04-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

The first attempt was an utter and complete failure but, for the record, I believe it was more our fault than theirs. Alfred and I missed them too much. We crumbled so easily at the first excuse to bring them back into our bed. I think we're having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that our babies are getting grown and no longer need/want to sleep with us because this is it - no more babies to take the places of Katelyn and Jacob in our bed!

We're only at the beginning stages of our second attempt at Operation-Sleep-In-Your-Own-Room-Now-Please. We moved the twin bed out and moved in a full-size bed. I figure Katelyn and Jacob would have an easier time transitioning to their own room if they slept together rather than in separate beds (at least temporarily). They've gotten so used to having other sleeping bodies next to them-they could at least provide each other some security.

The first night, Katelyn and Jacob were so excited about the new bed! Katelyn kept trying to convince me that she'd rather sleep alone and kept asking Jacob if he'd rather sleep in Mommy and Daddy's room. Unfortunately for Katelyn, Jacob had had a long day with no nap so he ended up falling asleep in their bed before she did. When Katelyn was finally ready for bed, she was having second thoughts about sleeping in her room. I convinced her to give it a chance (after all, her brother was already there sleeping!) and offered to lay with her until she fell asleep. Jacob ended up waking up crying at 2am and came back to our room. I was so tired, I just let him in our bed. Kate woke up the next morning in her room and was SO PROUD of herself!

The second night, Katelyn tried to tell me that she was going to "take turns" with sleeping in her room and our room. I stood my ground this time and was firm about them sleeping in their own room. Again, I offered to lay with them until they fell asleep. I went into my own room at 11pm and guess what? Both kids stayed in their room for the rest of the night!

It's been over a week now and so far so good. Once Katelyn is asleep, she is out until the morning. Jacob, on the other hand, still wakes up crying for me in the middle of the night so I have to go to their room and lay with him until he goes back to sleep. The past couple of nights, he hasn't been crying when he wakes up, just calling out "mommy?" Last night he actually didn't wake up looking for me until the morning and he's figured out that he can just walk across the hall to find me. That's progress... isn't it?

I will admit that there were a night or two where Katelyn and/or Jacob slept in our room BUT, in our defense, I had come down with pneumonia and didn't have it in me to get up in the middle of the night when Jacob woke up looking for me.

Alfred and I are still getting used to having so much space on the bed to ourselves. The first few days, we'd each wake up on the edge of the bed with all this space in between us. We're starting to get the hang of sleeping in the middle of the bed. I'm not going to lie. I miss having the kids in our bed. But I'm also thrilled to have our bed back, just to ourselves. =) Wish us luck in with Operation-Sleep-In-Your-Own-Room-Now-Please!!

Even the 6-YO is feeling the economy

2010-03-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

We usually go to Disneyland for a weekend once a year, usually around Christmas time. We spend a full day in Disneyland, spend the night in a hotel and then spend the next day in California Adventure. We skipped it in 2009 thinking that we would be going to Disneyworld in January 2010 with some friends. We ended up canceling our plans for Disneyworld. Perhaps we'll bring them to Disneyland during President's Day weekend (aka Valentine's Day weekend)? Alas, THOSE plans fell through, as well. It is now mid-March. I keep thinking that I need to plan a trip before it gets too crazy at Disneyland with Spring Break and Summer Vacation but our weekends keep getting consumed with "other things" and/or our finances going towards "necessities". When the kids, who have been waiting so patiently for their annual dose of all things Mickey, ask when we are planning to go to Disneyland, I answer "I'm not sure. I'm still saving up money for our trip." In case you've forgotten: us two adults have four children (two of whom are considered "adults" in Disneyland's eyes), which equal heart-palpitations-at-the-thought-of-how-much-Disneyland-tickets-will-cost.

One day we were driving home from somewhere and Desiree asked if we could stop by the store to pick up some deodorant. Katelyn couldn't believe her ears!

Katelyn: Deodorant?? Why do you need deodorant? Don't you know we need to save our money for Disneyland?! What would you rather have, deodorant or Disneyland tickets??
Deisree: Um... deodorant?
Katelyn: Augh! What about you, dad? What's your vote?
Alfred: Deodorant. I don't want your sister's friends to make fun of her because she doesn't have deodorant to wear.
Katelyn: Aw man! What about you, mom? What's your vote?
Me: Definitely deodorant!
Katelyn: AUGH! You're wasting our money!

Alfred reminded Katelyn that he had just bought her a toy at Target the day before to make up for the fact that she was too sick to go to a party with him and Alana. She didn't NEED the toy the way Desiree NEEDED deodorant. Katelyn didn't care. She still thought we were wasting money that could very well go toward her Disneyland ticket! Harrumph!

My SUPERSTAH!

2010-02-20T08:45:00.000-08:00

Desiree has been entertaining the idea of pursuing "entertainment" as a hobby. Actually, if she had it her way, I'm certain she would be trying to pursue it as her "career choice". Too bad for her, she doesn't have a willing "stage mom/dad". Call us old-fashioned but we believe it is important to instill in her the importance of education and a more "realistic" career choice. Actually, it's not even that we aren't "willing" to help her pursue this dream of hers. It's just that OUR reality is that we need to work Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm, in order to pay the bills, to feed, clothe and take care of 4 children, 2 fish and 2 dogs. I would LOVE IT if I had the luxury to take Desiree to an audition in Los Angeles on a Tuesday at 9am. Unfortunately, I can't.

In any event, we do show our support in the little ways that we can. Just recently, she had some head shots taken with the help of our most awesome and uber talented friends: the photos were done by Ed Atrero of Atrero Photography, her hair was done by Ghemma Espanto and her makeup was done by Cheryl Daen of Cherie & Co. *Oops, I forgot to give a shout out to my sister, Twanks, for Desiree's outfit! Thanks, sister! You always have the best taste in clothes!*

May I interject here by saying, I think we've taken Ed on as our unofficial photographer. I know a few very talented photographers but Ed and his wife, Karen, are our favorite by far, as you can tell by how I've shamelessly plastered my blog with photos courtesy of Atrero Photography! And how I highly suggest their services to everyone I know. I HIGHLY suggest them. To EVERYONE. If you don't believe me, click on the hyperlink to their website. You will get goosebumps viewing their gallery-I promise.

Originally, I was going to take Desiree up to Orange County so that she could get her hair and make-up done by my girlfriend, Jennifer Whitlow. Jen was my bestest friend ever in elementary/middle school until she and her family moved up to O.C. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we ended up having to go with PLAN B: Ghemma-the only person allowed to come near my hair with scissors in the past 10+ years. She's another one that I highly suggest to everyone I know. HIGHLY... to EVERYONE! I had no doubt she would do a great job on Desiree's hair.

We got hooked up with Cheryl through Ed. Considering we had NO CLUE what kind of look we were trying to go for, she did a magnificent job making my baby girl look all glammed up! I especially loved how she did her eye makeup - too, too pretty! And Cheryl is probably one of the sweetest people you will ever meet. She is someone I think I will highly suggest to everyone I know.... ;)

(Obviously, you are seeing a pattern here, no? I am the kind of person who really appreciates GREAT WORK! And I am not ashamed to advertise for them!! LOL!!)

When Desiree becomes a world-famous model/actress/dancer, she will have our wonderful friends to thank for helping to accentuate her BEAUTY! =) Anyway, without further adieu, here are some of my favorite shots.

P.S. Alfred and I were a little sad to see her looking so grown up. In our eyes, she will always be our little girl with the missing front teeth, who would talk non-stop and randomly end her sentences with her own made-up word ("noose"). The kid on my answering machine who would ask everyone to "please leave a mechage!" The kid who mistook the microscope that we got her for Christmas for a vacuum and asked us, "Why oh why!!!!" did we get her a vacuum??? Never mind that she's way taller than I am and catching up to her dad. She will always be our little Desiree that always makes us smile.

Rock stars in the making

2010-02-19T18:35:00.000-08:00

They look like they really know what they're doing, don't they? It doesn't hurt to start training them early. Don't be surprised if you see them performing on the Disney Channel pretty soon.

Of course, Kate does a wardrobe change when it's time for the vocals. I'm pretty sure she's singing "Eye of the Tiger" (Survivor) here. Or maybe it was "Hungry Like the Wolf" (Duran Duran), "Nine in the Afternoon" (Panic at the Disco) or "Pretend We're Dead" (L7)? Those are the only songs in their repertoire. Oh, and "Yellow Submarine" (Beatles). Jacob did his best at back-up vocals but rocking out is dang tiring.

Being FANATIC Might Be Hereditary

2010-01-04T18:36:00.000-08:00

While others are fighting over Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), Desiree’s got her sights set on Seth Clearwater (one of the “wolf-pack” who will be played by Boo Boo Stewart in Eclipse). For months she’s been asking us to take her to see Boo Boo Stewart in person. Problem is, he’s a two-hour drive away. Alfred told her that if she could improve her math grades, he’d take her. She was 3 points away from earning an A on a recent math test but Alfred (being the great dad that he is) decided it was close enough so we packed up the kids, snagged one of Desiree’s friends (Madison) to come along for the ride and headed up to Los Angeles to see Boo Boo and his sisters perform at Universal City Walk at 7pm on a Sunday night.

We got there a couple of hours early so Alfred and I posted up in front of the Hard Rock Café with Katelyn and Jacob. Desiree and Madison hung out closer to the stage. It turns out that if you purchased any of the merchandise, you’d get a “meet & greet” pass to get up close and personal with Boo Boo and his sisters, Fivel and Megan. I bought Desiree and Madison pictures ($4 each!). Katelyn started to get antsy so I ended up taking her to the merchandise table later on and bought her a button ($2!) so she ended up scoring a “meet & greet” pass too.

Desiree is STOKED because Boo Boo’s mom says she recognizes her from her Facebook profile. Makes me wonder….how often did Desiree send them messages/comments that they remember her?? (LOL – I’m kidding, I’m kidding!)

So finally 7 o’clock comes and the Stewarts do their little performance. Then the fans get in line for the meet & greet. My girls go through the line and get their autographs and photos taken.

Just to clarify: DESIREE is the big Boo Boo Stewart fan. Katelyn had no idea who he was and probably could care less prior to this night. She’s six-years-old, for pete’s sake. To be honest, Alfred and I barely had a clue ourselves. I know Desiree talks about him all the time but it’s not the kind of information I retain. That being said, I found it hilarious that I kept finding these post-it notes EVERYWHERE written by KATELYN – all over our house, in my car, stuck on the windows of my car and on Christmas day, she was writing a bunch of these and sticking the post-it notes onto her dad and her uncles. Looks like we’ve got another Boo Boo Stewart fan in our family….

This must be where Katelyn fell into "like" with Boo Boo...

$40 to fill up the gas tank to drive up to Los Angeles, $10 for the parking garage at Universal City Walk, $10 (TOTAL) for meet & greet passes, listening to the girls talk excitedly about their experience during the whole car ride home (and how many times they thanked us for taking them).... PRICELESS.

P.S. Once ECLIPSE comes out in theaters, I'm sure it will be a lot tougher and probably more expensive to have these meet & greet moments with Boo Boo! I'm glad the girls had a chance to do it now.

(Another) Secret Obsession

2009-12-01T13:57:00.000-08:00

Ok, who am I kidding? My "obsessions" are hardly a "secret" (case in point: here here here here and here). And I've never blogged about it (this doesn't count because I didn't properly express my undying love) but Johnny Depp has always been and forever will be my secret boyfriend. I think that covers all of my other obsessions...

Let me back up a little here. The "Twilight" series. I have to give my daughter, Desiree, props for introducing me to the series. She offered to loan me her books a few times but I kept blowing her off (who wants to read a teeny-bopper book about vampires?) and one day, out of desperation for SOMETHING, ANYTHING to read, I broke down and gave it a go. Thus my vampire/werewolf obsession began. I loved the books SO much that I recommended it to every single person I knew who loved to read as much as I do. Even to those who DIDN'T love to read as much as I did. And (surprise, surprise) they all LOVED IT!

Here's thing thing. Alfred will tolerate my "obsessions" as long as I keep a tight reign on that 16-year-old that will perpetually live inside of me. When there's a concert to look forward to, new book releases, new movies, etc. the fanatic in me is allowed to come out in full force BUT, eventually, I have to ask "16-YO Sherry" to go back into her little cave. That being said, a lot of my friends/family who were introduced to Twilight by yours truly.... assumed that I no longer cared for the series. Because of that assumption, poor "16-YO Sherry" was not invited to any of the midnight New Moon showings that her friends/family were planning to attend. Even DESIREE had plans to go see it with her BFF! And still no invite. Do you think I sat around and moped about it? HECK NO! I straight up INVITED MYSELF to go watch the movie with my sister and cousin! That's right... no one puts baby in the corner!

New Moon gear was a requirement to attend the movie (at least that's what we told ourselves so we would have a valid reason to buy the shirts). Me and my sis, Twanks, rocking our cute tee's!
Not only did I invite myself to go see the movie, I sort of... tricked... my friend, James, to go see it with us. It wasn't intentionally. He ASSUMED our husbands were going. I didn't clarify that they weren't. It was after his ticket purchase had been made that he realized he would be the only guy coming with us. The only guy with a bunch of cute (albeit married) women? I don't think he was complaining! Anyway, after his Facebook post questioning whether the whole New Moon stuff was "really that serious"? I had to show him JUST how serious it was.... I believe my exact words to him were "as serious as a heart attack".
I was tempted to buy James a t-shirt but I couldn't decide which team he should be on (Edward or Jacob). Too bad they didn't have Team Bella or Team Alice shirts. I would have gotten him one of those FOR SURE. He was such a good sport for going to the movie... and STAYING AWAKE for the whole thing! *high-five*, James!

My early birthday presents from my BFF, Jae, and my darling sis, Twanks... Edward and Jacob pillow cases... because I can't choose which one I love more.

Because she takes after her mommy is so many ways, Katelyn begged me to buy her this lunch box. How could I say no? And I get to borrow it when she's on vacation! hahahaha! She has a whole plan laid out. She says to me "When I bring my lunch box to school, my friends are going to ask me what it is and I'm going to say, 'It's New Moon. Didn't YOU get to go to the movies to watch New Moon?'" That's right, girl. Be Proud!!

Apparently, Jacob's only way of displaying how much he appreciates the Twilight series is by biting me. With his canine teeth. And by golly, he even punctured the skin. I don't know what came over him. We were just watching the football game and all of a sudden he decides to come over and bite me. We weren't even TALKING about vampires. How strange....

It saddens me to say it, but it looks like it's time to say "ciao, bella" to "16-YO Sherry" for a few months. She will come out to play again a few weeks prior to June 30, 2010.

Perspective

2009-10-13T11:15:00.000-07:00

Alfred attended a funeral yesterday for a friend that we lost to Luekemia. I only knew her through Alfred, as they used to work together, but on the occassions that we've had a chance to hang out, I had always found her to be a very nice person. She's a little older than us by a couple of years... had a husband and a little girl, about 3 years old.

Unfortunately, I couldn't attend the funeral. To be honest, I was a little afraid of going. I don't know if I could have handled seeing her little daughter say good-bye to her mommy for the last time. Alfred confirmed that it WAS the hardest part of the service. I'm tearing up right now just imagining it. I wasn't even there to witness it and it still makes me unbearably sad.

So then I start to think about how I've been feeling lately. A little disconnected from Alfred (which sometimes happens when we get busy with the day-to-day), a little short-tempered with the kids, a little lonely in general. I realized that instead of just stewing in these feelings, perhaps it's time to do something about it. Put forth a little more effort in repairing these negative feelings. I AM fortunate to be blessed with all that I have in my life and I should be more appreciative.

Last night, I met Alfred and the kids at Katelyn's halau and we had dinner after her hula practice. When we got home, instead of taking the kids straight upstairs to read my book while the kids watch TV and Alfred watches ESPN downstairs until HE falls asleep on the couch, I decided to hang out with my husband and listen to him play his ukelele and guitar (which I used to do way more often back in the day... and way not enough these days). He and I listened to music on my I-pod that he then tried to play on his guitar. Somehow Katelyn incorporated a pretend birthday party into what we were doing. Jacob would come over once in awhile to give us a play-by-play of the new episode of Yo Gabba Gabba that he was watching in the room next to ours (coincidentally, it was about: "FAMILY, mom!").

We had a nice night last night. I felt less disconnected, less short-tempered, less lonely... and a million times more blessed. I think Alfred felt the same. And when he asked me for a hug this morning before we left for work, that hug sure felt extra special. Sometimes it's all in the perspective.

Kids say the funniest things

2009-09-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

In the most grown-up voice that a 5-year-old could muster, Katelyn says this to me as we are driving home from Alfred's softball game last night:

"If daddy texts you, could you please ask him if we could go to Starbucks? I think I want to have coffee for dinner. I could smell it already and it smells SO good!"

Just to clarify, Katelyn does NOT drink coffee but she does love the smell of it when we brew the flavored kinds at home (shout out to Don Francisco - Hawaiian Hazlenut and Butterscotch Toffee is our fave!). The strange thing is that I didn't have any coffee in the car last night so I'm not quite sure what she was smelling. Although, in retrospect, I think it was a little bit of delirium since she fell asleep not long after making that statement.

By the time we were on our way home from the game, it was passed 8pm and none of us had eaten dinner yet so I stopped off to pick up food. Jacob was BEGGING for noodles as though he hadn't eaten in years and years during the 5-minute drive from Panda Express to our house. By the time we got home and I opened his door to get him out, he looked at me and said:

"It smells gooooood..."

I just about died laughing! Not that I find it all that amusing that my son was starving but the growing range in his vocabulary these days always takes me by surprise. His sentences are still choppy sometimes but he's been trying to tell stories. For example, how he was trying to tell Alfred about walking on the bleachers and falling down during the softball game. Except his version was more like:

"I fall down... WALKING, DADDY!! I fall down.."

And how funny was it that every single time Alfred's team came in from the outfield, Jacob would yell, "HI, DADDY!" or "HI, UNCLE!" (when he would recognize one of his many uncles on the team) and he would look at me, point to the field and yell, "BASEBALL GAME!" What my son lacks in eloquence of speech, he definitely makes up for in enthusiasm! (Anytime I write in bold, that's him yelling. And the boy is loud. REALLY loud. Many people have commented on how deep his voice is already for a toddler... we're very interested in how much deeper his voice will be after he hits puberty.)

One of my favorite Jake-isms is how he always tells me, "Good job, mom!" when he sees me in my work out clothes. He'll congratulate me even BEFORE I start working out and then do so again AFTER. Sometimes Alfred will work out with me and try to fish for a "Good job, daddy!" from Jacob but Jake will ONLY compliment mommy... maybe because I need the encouragement more than Alfred does...! Mommy HATES working out.

I will end this with a little shout out to my brand new Kindergartener, Katelyn. Thankfully she is liking school... for now... knock on wood that it continues for the next.... 17 years (if I'm lucky, she'll be done with all by then! - ha!)

Rookie

2009-07-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

When we were up in San Jose, visiting family and meeting my little sister's in-laws for the first time, we had decided to catch a late movie. We were going to watch my boyfriend, Johnny Depp, light up the movie screen in his portrayal of John Dillinger in Public Enemies. Anyway, this movie theater that we visited was pretty unique. Not only could you buy your standard movie fare (popcorn, candy, hot dogs, slurpees and sodas), you could also buy a STARBUCKS coffee. Yes! Not just coffee... STARBUCKS, my friends! We were so excited! We all wondered, why don't ALL movie theaters do this? It soon became evident why not.

My brother-in-law was in front of me in line ordering a drink for my sister - an ICED white mocha. For those of you who do not know, cold drinks are usually served like this:

So the kid behind the counter takes the order and goes to the back table to make the drink. I notice the kid standing there, with his back to us, as though he's deep in thought. He's reading off a piece paper, which I assume was instructions on how to make an iced coffee. I make a comment to my BIL that it didn't really look like he knew what he was doing and we just laugh it off - hahahahahahaha! Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the kid comes over to us and hands my BIL the drink. BUT it is in this cup:

For those of you who don't know, that's the cup they use for HOT drinks. No biggie. We assumed that they ran out of the clear cups that iced drinks are usually served it.

Now it's my turn and I order a Carmel Macchiato. This, my friends, is a hot drink. The kid goes to the back, stands there for awhile, scratches his head, starts concocting and after another eternity passes, he turns around and puts my cup down on the counter in front of me. My HOT drink is in this cup:

One of his co-workers happens to be near by and asks, "Is that a HOT drink???" and the kid says, "Yeah". She asks, "Why is it in THAT cup??" and he says, "What? It's my first day!" She says to me, "Um... well, if your cup starts to melt, come back and we'll give you a new drink." By this time, our movie has already started so we grab our drinks and head off. I can barely hold my plastic cup, it's so hot, and I have no idea how I'm going to actually drink it (through a straw?) The whole time, we are all CRACKING UP! Oh my gawd, I thought it was the funniest thing ever! And when I was finally able to drink my coffee, it tasted more like milk than coffee. But worth it for the great laugh!

I was reminded of this story because I went to a real, deal Starbucks this morning. The white chocolate mocha I ordered tastes like pure sugar. It's so sweet it's making me gag and giving me a headache. I can excuse the movie theater employee who didn't know how to make a Starbucks coffee - I'm sure that wasn't part of the prerequisites of being hired - but it's hard to excuse a Starbucks barsita. If I had to choose right now, the movie theater Starbucks hot coffee in the plastic cup might be the winner.

Growing up way "TWO" Fast

2009-06-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

Jacob recently turned TWO YEARS OLD and we threw him a Yo Gabba Gabba party last weekend (pictures to follow). He had a blast! Something I noticed about Jacob is that he doesn’t seem to enjoy parties in close quarters. When we attend a party at someone’s home, he is very agitated the whole time. Very clingy and whiney. But parties at the park – watch out now! This boy loves to wander around with no care in the world. Sometimes he’ll even stroll on over to some stranger’s party that might be going down near the one we’re attending and insist on riding the kids’ bikes/trikes. And when I try to tell him he can’t ride their stuff because we don’t know them, he is not afraid to show his displeasure in me (and that’s putting it lightly!)

Anyway, to keep the kiddos busy as we were preparing for the party, I baked little cakes for them to decorate. Check out my little man, helping me bake….

I ended up making a Brobee cake for Jacob to blow his candle out on. (The rest of the party partook in the Costco cake.)

The day after his party, we had some friends/siblings over to watch the Laker game and to try to help us consume the 20 lbs of carne asada meat that we had left-over from the party. (I’m not exaggerating about the 20 lbs either! We were unsuccessful at finishing it all so I had to freeze about half of it and gave the other half to my mother-in-law!)

At one point, I realize that I hadn’t seen Jacob for awhile. I go looking for him and there he is, in the bedroom playing with his sister and the rest of the kids. Later on, he’s outside playing with the kids. It hit me right then and there… Jacob is gaining his independence. He’s becoming less of my shadow (following me everywhere I go) and is less afraid of being away from me (“bye, mom, go to wok!”). I realized that I need to really savor this time of his life because he is the last of my babies. Pretty soon he won’t be jealous anymore when his daddy sits too close to me or puts his arms around me. He won’t be yelling for me from outside, “Moooooooom!! Swiiiiiiiiiiing!! Mooooooom!” His eyes won’t light up the way they always do when he sees me after a long day at work. He won’t be running up to me, so excited for me to pick him up and give him a kiss, looking at me with eyes that are full of love, touching my face with his little hands. Some days, when Jacob is extra whiney and extra clingy, I can’t help but think, “Jeez, I can’t wait until he’s older.” But, no, that isn’t true. I can wait a lifetime if he can just stay my baby forever.

I've got so much "passion"

2009-05-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Shamelessly Sassy for the gentle reminder that it has been a whole MONTH since my last post - what the heck?! In my defense, I did start a post last week and then got sidetracked. That would have made it only a mere 3 weeks since my last post. Augh - I know, I suck!

So anyway, to continue the post I began, I mentioned before my newfound love for all things NKOTB, right? Except that post did not do proper justification as to how far my ~~obsession~~ appreciation went. I have to admit that I was too ashamed to admit it at the time. I didn't want to admit that I listened to their new CD non-stop evey chance I got. That I changed my Google homepage to their theme. That I have a Google gadget that plays continuous loops of various NKOTB videos old and new. That I was following all the members on Twitter and having their tweets sent to my phone. That (instead of writing blog posts) I was watching NKOTB videos on YouTube. That I was contemplating selling an organ or two so that I could afford to go to the NKOTB cruise that went down a couple weeks ago. Ok, that last one was a lie. (Sort of.) Anyone who knows me knows I have this groupie/borderline-stalker mentality with anyone/anything I grow fond of. Alfred (God bless him) just rolls his eyes a lot when I get this way. My friends appreciate my "passion" for things (meaning, they still love me when I get the crazies). They know that I will eventually get over it. The thing is, when I AM caught up in my... ahem... "passions"... my poor kids go along for the ride. So now they know all the words to my favorite NKOTB songs (and they even have THEIR favorite songs):

You can't see her but you can hear Katelyn singing along in the background. She loves this song (2 IN THE MORNING) as well as SINGLE.

I was planning to take Desiree and Alana to another NKOTB concert in July (in Vegas). Katelyn is now asking if she could go too. She said "Mama? Can I go see New Kids too? Coz they are SO cute!" It is SO obvious who she takes after, right? It pains me that I can't be the hero and give in to her request. I just can't see myself spending $400 for all 4 us of to go to that concert. Heck, it hurts to be spending $300 for the three of us to go. Last time, it was just me and Desiree who went and even spending that $200 was SO hard. Then again, it might totally be worth it to see NKOTB and the Jabbawockeez - our two biggest "passions"! If you are a fan of either NKTOB and/or Jabbawockeez, you HAVE to check out the summer tour. A little birdie told me that it is going to be even better than their spring tour and that was ALREADY the biznaz! I don't want to spoil it for anyone who is planning to go to the concert but let's just say that I am SO excited about what they have in the works!

BTW - for those of you who were thinking that a NKOTB intervention was in order, I am pleased to advise that I have been listening to music other than NKOTB as of late, I have since changed my Google homepage theme to something other than NKOTB, I've changed my twitter settings so that I do NOT get their tweets via text message anymore and I haven't watched a NKOTB video on YouTube for quite some time now. Thank you for your concern.

Why can't they stay babies forever?

2009-04-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

In one of those rare moments, Alfred and I were hanging out downstairs on the couch on Saturday morning watching TV while all four of the kids were upstairs playing Nintendo Wii in the office. We heard Jacob working his way downstairs so Alfred told me to hide under the blanket. As I was hiding, I heard Jacob asking his daddy, "Mama wok? Mama wok?" (translation: Is mom at work?) and Alfred answered, "I don't know?" and slowly pulled the blanket off so that my head was peeking out. The look on Jacob's face when his eyes met mine was priceless! His face lit up and he even did a little jig, he was that excited to see that I was NOT at "wok" but at home with him!

Later that afternoon, I was busy doing laundry and stitching warm-up pants that have been overly abused on the softball field (in retrospect, I should have just tossed it in the trash or turned them into shorts - haha!) when Jacob came up to me asking for "nas" (translation: bananas). I told him to go ask his daddy and was surprised when he answered "daddy! nas!" and took off running to look for his dad and chow down on bananas.

Late yesterday afternoon, the girls were helping their dad wash the cars while I watched Jacob roll up and down the drive-way on his little scooter. It was starting to get cold so I asked him if he wanted to go inside to watch some TV and he answered, "No... bike." When I asked if he was sure he answered, "No.... bike."

When did this happen?? When did my baby go from barely comprehendable babblings to... um... well, barely comprehendable intelligent questions, the ability to follow direction and form his own opinions?? Amazing. Next thing you know, he'll be asking me to take him to the "cathay" for some lattes. I don't think I can take it... all of my babies growing up.

Disgusting... but too funny not to post

2009-04-22T12:57:00.000-07:00

My kids bite their nails. A really bad habit that I like to blame on Alfred since I'm pretty certain they inherited their love of keratin from him. For the last 10 years, I had never ever, ever, ever seen Alfred cut his fingernails with a nail clipper. I've seen him cut his toenails but his fingernails stay mysteriously short without the need for clippers. Alfred recently quit biting his nails and it was so weird to see his fingernails that long and to see him cutting them with a nail clipper - WEIRD, I tell ya! And don't even get me started with his new obsession to clean under his nails. I guess one obsession replaces the other? Anyway, I digress, I'm not here to talk about Alfred (although I am very proud of him for working so hard to kick that nail biting habit!! I know it was tough! And I am NOT being facetious here.) I'm here to talk about my KIDS who bite their nails. When they run out of fingernails.... they turn to... what else? Their toenails. I guess if you can reach them... why not? Besides the fact that it's absolutely disgusting and god knows where those feet have been, I guess it makes perfect sense.

My kids get pissed off when I tell them to stop biting their nails - fingers OR toes. They get U-P-S-E-T! They were fresh out of the bath in these pictures so I let them do it long enough to take the photos but, *augh*, so gross! I promised myself I would take pictures to show to their future girlfriends/boyfriends some day. You can never have enough embarrassing photos for when they grow up! Especially posted on the Internet! I'm sure they will be eternally grateful. You're welcome, my darlings.

The Right Stuff

2009-04-21T20:50:00.000-07:00

If it weren't for my girlfriend, Liza, I don't think I would have even thought to do it. If the Jabbawockeez were not opening for them, Liza may not have thought to go up to see them either. Thanks to the Jabbawockeez and to Liza - and most especially to her sister, Belle, for hooking us up with tickets and using her VIP status to get us on the floor - we did it... we went up to Los Angeles to see the New Kids on the Block. Alfred was supposed to go with me to the concert but since Liza's man decided to skip the concert, citing that he'd rather stay home and work on the yard or fix some stuff around the house or cut off his arm... something to that affect... Alfred "volunteered" to stay home and watch the kids. I can't believe these guys! They didn't WANT to go see Jabbawockeez and NKOTB with us?? Whah?? Huh?? Luckily for Desiree, her dad gave up his ticket to her. Luckily for my sister, Twinkle, Liza had an extra ticket. So off we go with Liza and her whole family to Los Angeles - to show our support for the Jabbawockeez and to fall in love all over again with Joey, Donnie, Jordan, Jon and Danny. Le sigh...

How disappointed was I to discover that Desiree's camera was broken - it was stuck on video and the battery kept dying so we could only capture 10-20 second increments. Anything is better than nothing, I guess.

The next day, we picked up some TODAY SHOW hot dogs from PINK'S Hot Dogs for lunch and then stopped by Sprinkles for some delicious cupcakes to bring home to Alfred and the little ones. What a fabulous weekend we had!

Starting Her Early

2009-04-10T12:27:00.000-07:00

Alfred and I go to Starbucks quite often. We are caffeine fiends, no doubt. Over time, our kids have developed their own "go-to" drinks. Desiree usually has a green-tea frappacino with no whip, Alana likes the sweetened lemonade, Katelyn and Jacob will get the Horizon's chocolate or vanilla milk that's a box drink in their little cooler section. One day Alfred was at Starbucks and they had run out of the Horizon's milk so they offered to make the vanilla milk from scratch. A couple squirts of the vanilla syrup into some milk, topped off with whip. Imagine Katelyn's delight! Alfred said that Katelyn commented that "it tastes even better than my sister's latte!" You know that we frequent the coffee shop a little more than we probably should when our 5-year-old is using the word "latte" in a sentence with such confidence.

A few days later, I pick up the kids from our parents house and have this conversation with Kate:

Me: I wonder what we should do for dinner tonight?
Kate: How about we go to the "cathay"?
Me: What's a "cathay?"
Kate: You know, a "cathay" like Starbucks.
Me: Ohhhhh. You mean a CAFE?
Kate: Yeah, a "cathay" and you can buy me a vanilla milk.
Me: But I could just buy you a vanilla milk from the grocery
store.
Kate: No, one like my daddy bought me.

That night, we didn't make it to the "cathay" so the next day I get a phone call at work from Alfred's mom asking me what this vanilla milk is that Katelyn wants from Starbucks. At the time, I wasn't quite sure how it was made so I told her I would have Alfred call her to give her instructions. Apparently, Grandma was ready to have their Uncle Archie (Alfred's brother) throw all the kids into the car and bring them to Starbucks because Katelyn REALLY wanted this drink!

When I got to the house later that afternoon, it turned out that they didn't get a chance to go to Starbucks so Katelyn started begging me to please, please take her! She fell asleep on the drive to Starbucks and I contemplated just going straight home but knew that the next day she would torture the people around her if she didn't get her vanilla-milk-with-whip fix (she IS, after all, her mother's child) so I went to Starbucks and picked up two of the fancy shmancy vanilla milk so that all the kids would be content. Oh man. I think we've created a monster.

My son is BANANAS!

2009-04-06T12:10:00.001-07:00

I think Jacob's goals in life are: "What can I do to make my mom's heart stop without actually causing her to keel over?" and "What other shenanigans can I get into that will cause my mom the most amount of work to clean up?" You don't believe me? I present to you...

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

And Exhibit C.

Oh, don't tell me that the video of him jumping on the couch is no big deal. You must have forgetten how coordinatedly-challenged my son is. If he can barely keep himself from falling on a stable, non-moving, concrete surface, there is no way standing on a COUCH is going to be any easier. He recently discovered the joys of jumping with his feet actually leaving the ground so this has been his favorite thing to do lately, as well as his favorite video to watch. Cracks him up every time!

And the photo of him covered in the sugar-candy... the boy had the audacity to LAUGH as I attemped to brush the candy off of his clothes and into the dustpan. How dare he laugh that adorable machine-gun-laugh of his (someday I will HAVE to try to capture this audio - it's the funniest laugh ever!!) while I was CLEARLY trying to scold him for making such a big mess! Couldn't he see that I was trying to be furious with him?

Alas, no matter how greatly skilled he is at aggravating me, he's still got me wrapped around his little finger. I just hope I can survive all the little jolts to my heart that he likes to induce. I'm sure as he gets older, the stuff he gets himself into will be a lot "bigger and better!" than what I'm being put through now!