Punk Rock Parents

You call is sleeping.....

2012-02-09T13:35:00.000-08:00

... we call it recharging.

The Weird Sisters Book Review

2012-02-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

"This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own."

I am going to admit a deep dark secret. I love the Kardashians. I watch like every show combination Ryan Secreast can throw at me. The reason is I love them is because I love the dynamic between sisters. This story, The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown, is about 3 sisters. (I am one of three sisters). They are the daughters of a Shakespeare professor and each are named after a Shakespeare character. (That is kind of like me and my sisters. Except my Dad liked cartoons and all 3 of us have nicknames based on cartoon characters.)

When their Mother is diagnosed with cancer all 3 girls come back to the small town they grew up in. Each with their own life altering problems. One with marital problems, one with financial problems, and one with an unplanned pregnancy. They gather back under their parents roof and between reading books and doctors appointment the girls are forced to deal with one another and eventually to open up to one another.

What I really enjoyed about this book was how different each of the sisters personalities were. Just like me and my 3 sisters. We have similarities and people often think of us as a group. Yet we are very different. I am the more uptight, responsible oldest kid. My middle sister is the laid back, smart and maternal one. The baby of the family is the fun party girl. Despite the differences we always get along.

Over at Blogher we having so fun discussions about this book and sisterhood. CLICK HERE to join in on the fun.

Palm Springs Food Truck Festival

2012-02-07T14:03:00.000-08:00

Joey loves himself some Food Network. The latest and trendiest thing right now are Food Trucks. Now my experience with food trucks were getting burritos and sodas during late night graduate classes. These are not like that. On Saturday there was a Palm Spring Food Truck Festival! There was going to be a lot of trucks that Joey follows on Twitter and some from the Food Network shows.

Joey was brilliant and bought tickets on-line the night before. The longest line was the one to buy tickets. The weather was in the high 80's. It was so hot that I had to remove a layer from Lou's outfit.

Our first stop was Biker Jim's Dogs. Gourmet Sausages. The funniest thing happened when he went to order. As soon as he stepped up to the window, it was a Paparrazi sworm. There were 2 different newspaper photographers and a dude with a cell phone camera up close and in his face, snapping pictures. Now Joey knows how Brad Pitt feels like.

So our first food adventure was a Reindeer sausage hot dog. Yes reindeer. The dude even said "Merry Christmas" when he handed Joey the dog. It was very flavorful and super yummy. Joey opted for the cream cheese and grilled onions as a topping. Good call Babe.

The next stop was the "Dos Chinos" truck. A Latin Asian Fusion food. There was a lot of fusion going on. I loved the colors of this truck and it was my turn to pick something to eat.

I went with the whiteboard special of "Habanero Chocolate Orange Chicken" Tacos.

The sauce was as good as it sounds. The chicken was not so great. It was a take on Chinese orange chicken but it was too fried and too crunchy. But the sauce was super yummy. Like a mole sauce.

Next stop was Phi's choice. Of course she is not quite as adventurous as her parents so she went with the Tornado Potato truck.

Here she is the the original Tornado with no spices. She is a plain Jane like that. This was a bit greasy but the execution was adorable.

What I love about food trucks is the creativity that goes into naming the trucks!

Dessert Truck Haze

One of the biggest lines was for the Nom Nom truck. We didn't try it but they were on the Food Network and really popular.

Cute logo!!

Our next stop was to the winners of the Food Network Food Truck Race, Grill 'Em All. This was the longest line, but Joey waited while the girls and I sat in the shade. It was really hot.

After much thought Joey went with the "Waste Em' All" burger. Green chilis, pepper jack cheese and beer soaked onions. Yes beer soaked.

The burger was a nice medium rare, and the bread was awesome. Joey said that it tasted like a burger you would get in New Mexico, which I assume that means it's good.

Another cute name and logo. Ice Ice Shavie!

And on to desserts!

First we stopped at Mustache Mike's for a chocolate Italian Ice for The Phi. Of course Joey was a hit. He is a hit anytime mustaches and beards are concerned. The guy who served us asked to take Joey's picture with the italian ice. I am sure he will be the new spokesperson.

I was a bit skeptical about ice and chocolate but this was super tasty. So much so that The Phi (with help from Lou) ate the whole thing.

The last food stop was to Cool Haus. Am ice cream truck. An ice cream truck with a kick. Some of the flavors are....

beer & pretzels

butterscotch & rosemary

fried chicken & waffles

Joey chose the Snickerdoodle cookie with..... wait for it....................

Brown Butter and Bacon ice cream.

It was spectacular!!!! So freakin good!

Lou pretty much the whole time. Just keeping her spoon close and always ready to eat.

Late Christmas Gift

2012-02-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

Last week I picked up a package for the girls at the post office. It was belated Christmas gifts from my Bong Fong Fong and family. The Phi got the coolest owl knit cap and an owl board game! So perfect.

But Lou's gift! AMAZING!! Perfection for our little Lulu!

Introducing.....

SUPER LOU!

And no superhero is complete without her cape!

Thanks Jessica, Rick, Elias and Lucas.

We love you and miss you all!

Photo Valentine's Cards

2012-02-02T11:34:00.000-08:00

I love Pinterest! There are a ton of great photo/craft/food/clothes/art/everything ideas on there. A long time ago I saw a photo Valentine's day card and knew that when the time came I wanted to make them. This project is super simple and fun.

You will need:
1 cute kid
camera
computer & printer
photo paper
scissors
exacto knife
candy

Step 1: Head out for a photo shoot. I kept my kid in her school uniform since she is going to be giving them out at school. Shoot from up looking down. This gives the fist the right perspective. Have your subject hold their fist up and away from them so when you add the candy it doesn't cover their face. And take A LOT of pictures. Chances are you will find one great one!

Step 2: After you find the right picture upload it to your favorite photo editing program (I love Picnik and am so sad it is closing!). Here I cropped the photo with my subject towards the left with plenty of room for text. Then I added some text and a pink heart. Last I added a pink border to up the Valentine's factor. Then save to your computer.

Step 3: Once you have edited and saved it is time for printing! I printed in a 4x6 size on photo paper. This way I can get 4 on one page. The photo paper needs to be thick enough to hold a lollipop.

Step 4: Cut out all the cards and then grab your exacto knife. Carefully make a slice above the hand and below the hand. Long enough to hold your candy. First I tried it with a Twizzler.

I wasn't happy with that so I tried it with a lollipop and liked it so much more!

I love these cards! And it was hard to beat the lips and mustaches we did last year! But of course The Phi will beg for a box of Justin Bieber or some cartoon ones too!

Bragging Rights

2012-02-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

I know people hate when other people brag about their kids, but I just can't help myself.

I am gushing with pride.

I am one super proud Momma.

And The Phi is one smart and spectacular kid.

I am so lucky she's mine.

Weird Science

2012-02-01T13:48:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we heard that a lot of the LA County Museums were going to have free admission. So we decided to let The Phi decide if we should hit up the Museum of Latin American Art or the California Sciencenter. She LOVES science so I already knew which she would choose.

So off to the Sciencenter we went. You can check out The Phi's recap HERE ...

We got there about 1pm and they kicked us out at 5pm. And they were super aggressive about kicking us out. The place was jam packed and since we only saw maybe a little more than half of the place. Lou had a good time too just checking everything out from her stroller. We are thinking about taking a "family ditch day" and heading out there during the week. We missed the entire Ecosystems Exhibit and according to my Comadre (who was there the day after us!) was the best. We also learned that the Sciencenter is also always free to get in. Just have to pay $10.00 for parking.

The Phi had such a great time. In her video on her blog you can see the excitement on her face. As you know we live for that.

Walking from the parking lot was even exciting with all the jets!

Learning about arches and vaults.

Sheer Nerdy Science Happiness

Spinning tops

The Phi and Joey built this and it stood on it's own.

Louella's expression when she see's herself on a TV.

Joey's beard even looks good on black and white TV.

Family Jam Session

The Phi and Joey are super nerdy for maps. The floor of one room was a aerial map of LA. These 2 were in Cartography heaven. They had to follow the freeways to find the museum and them Grandma and Grandpa's house. Here The Phi is pointing at the Sciencenter. As you can see it is right next to the LA Coliseum.

Infra-red The Phi

And because Joey apparently loves to drive LA and Orange County freeways, we ended our day at The Block in Orange. This mall has gone a bit downhill, but still holds a special place in my heart since its where Joey and I had our first movie date.

Checking out the skater boys at the Vans store

It was a pretty windy day and Lulu's hair was electric!

Told you this mall went downhill. They have a whole store of Crocs!

Liar Liar

2012-01-30T23:06:00.001-08:00

We are kind of, sort of, maybe lying to The Phi. CLICK HERE to find out about what.

While The Phi was at Catechism

2012-01-25T10:17:00.000-08:00

Daddy got a hair cut.

O.C.

2012-01-24T10:21:00.000-08:00

On Sunday morning we hit the road to Orange County. First stop was the Orange County Market Place.

We had a blast walking around and checking out all the cool things.

Ummmm?

Joey and I really liked these!

A perfect car for Tia Mary! It's a Fiat and it has a big "pico" for her!

After the Market Place we headed into Newport Beach to try to visit Uncle Sam and to grab some dinner. Unfortunately Uncle Sam was in our home town and we were in his. :(

The Girls in the Sun

We had a late lunch at BJ's and this Berry Burst Cider hit the spot!

No doubt for these 2 Life Is GOOD!

My Lovies

As we all looked over at the waves crashing onto the shore The Phi says "It looks like beer" She is making her Tata proud!

A homemade camera filter. I put my new blue blocker glasses in front of my camera!

One of my favorite pictures. So who does Lou look like?

My beautiful Phi!

Another lovely day with my loves. And we got home in time for Uncle Sam to visit us at home! Bonus!

Meeting Jacey

2012-01-20T14:23:00.000-08:00

It is no secret that my family is everything to me. And this doesn't just mean my immediate family. I adore all my cousins. All 60-ish of them. Things like step and in-law don't make a difference. When you become family you become family. And now a lot of my cousins are having babies and in the Mexican culture, your cousins kids sort of are like your nieces and nephews. I think this is because your cousins kids are usually the same generation and your siblings kids. And most time you and your cousins are tight like siblings. Plus it is a sign of respect for elders and all that.

Confused? Yea I know. So let me give you an example. My cousin Monique (who is super awesome) is my first cousin, and my girls call her Tia (aunt) Momo.

ANYWAYS! There was a point to this. See sometimes your cousin and their significant other don't always last. And when there are kids involved it would be so easy for that significant other to not think about or ever care about my side of the family. And to me that is understandable in certain circumstances but still heartbreaking.

I am so happy that Monica is so not like that. Even though Monica and my cousin, have since parted ways, she has allowed me (and other family members) to stay connected to our little baby Jacey, mostly through Facebook. But on Monday we were able to meet up and I was able to meet this beautiful little branch of our family tree.

She didn't have to meet us. She doesn't even have to communicate with us. But I am so very happy that she is a wonderful and loving person and she happily met up with me and my family.

Cousins are such wonderful friends in your life.

And my girls got to meet and spend time with Cousin Jacey.

Solvang with the 71.4%

2012-01-19T11:33:00.000-08:00

We spent another glorious weekend in Santa Barbara. On Sunday 71.4% of the family headed to Solvang (10 out of the 14 of us!). It is a nice 20 minute drive from my parents house. We hyped the kids up by telling them about this awesome bakery. And and of course when we got there is was closed for remodeling. The kids still had fun.

It was a nice sweater wearing kind of day. Seriously these kids could do print work!

Until Louella is a bit taller, Tata will have to fill-in.

And of course there is the picture in the shoe....

With Nani Day-day you have to specific. You can't just say "Get in the shoe!"

Lots of cute shops with fun stuff.

While The Phi and Lili shopped for new outfits for their American Girl dolls, Lou played with this adorable Calico Critter table. She would put the baby bunny in the high chair and say "Eat!". And yes it was the cutest thing ever.

I ask them to pose in front of this window.

Nana works out so she can swing her grandbabies around like this!

Even the drive home was beautiful.

You can see The Phi's recap of the day... CLICK HERE!

Scarred for Life Moment #1

2012-01-17T14:14:00.000-08:00

There are moment when raising these 2 little punks where I think, "Are they going to be scarred for life because of this?"

The other night while the girls were TAKING a bath Lou did something she has only done once before. Something that my good girl, The Phi never did. She pooped in the tub. The last time was not too bad, she was still in the bath seat so it was.....contained.

The other night I hear The Phi singing. Then the music suddenly stops and I head Phi say "Lou?.....Lou?....MOM!!!!" When I turned around The Phi was jumping out of the tub, Lulu was sitting there was a confused look on her face, and there was shit in the tub.

We panicked, we cleaned and then we laughed. Later I worried that this incident would scar The Phi for life. And then life went on and I forgot about it. Fast forward to yesterday to at The Phi's dermatology appointment with the handsome Dr. Love. He asked The Phi how she was doing and in her conversation she mentioned the poop in the tub incident. Dr. Love got a weird far away look in his eyes. If we lived in a sitcom we would have heard harps. Then he went on to tell us about how when he was little his younger brother did the same thing to him. He told the story so vividly and which so much disgust. He then admitted that it was an incident that scarred him for life.

So I guess it is safe to assume that when The Phi is an adult she will have some strange fear of bath tubs.

Just a day at the park

2012-01-12T11:41:00.000-08:00

There is something so amazing and beautiful about photos of everyday things. Just normal moments in life with my girls and my Joey.

Just a simple Sunday afternoon at the park, riding scooters and running errands.

Even in its simplicity
looking at my life during ordinary times
through photos is so beautiful.

Sunday at the Antique Mall & My Most Expensive Kids Book

2012-01-11T14:12:00.000-08:00

I have the hobbies of a 75 year old woman. Knitting, reading and antiquing. We were on a hunt for a new wall piece for the bathroom. I was looking for something really cool and mermaid themed. We did not find anything for the bathroom but we did see a lot of cool and sometimes creepy stuff!

Super Scary Monkey

Cute Porcelain Elephants

This bag should be in the closet, packed and ready to go at all times.

Bert and Ernie Radio!

This is the first Little Golden Book of Magilla Gorilla. My Pops (Felix) gave all us girls nicknames from cartoons. I was the lucky one who is called Magilla Gorilla. Magilla for short. I sent my Pops this picture and he told me I had to get the book. So I did. Lou kept pointing and crying and saying "book" for as much as we paid for the book I had to tell her "no, Momma's book"

My sister Ouie (nicknamed after Baba Louie from the Hanna Barbara cartoons) likes elephants and we thought these would be cute for her until we remembered we bought her a Kindle for Christmas and a Kindle sitting between 2 bookends would be silly.

re-purposed smug pots

I really really wanted this. If I had one I would type my blog posts and then scan them and post them!

Love this color combo!

Cool old photos

Felix would love this guy.

How cool is this! As a kid Joey was a big fan of the Fonz. Once at a doctors appointment the doctor asked him his name and Joey responded..."Joey Daniel Fonzarelli"

Which One Bribed Santa?

2012-01-09T14:53:00.000-08:00

We got to my parents house at like 11pm on Christmas Eve. The kids were still so amped up. We had one little surprise for them. The Phi had asked us if we would read them The Night Before Christmas before all the kids went to bed. I thought it was a good idea so I sectioned out the story so all the adults got a part to read. The surprise part was that Tia Uh-laine and Kelly had recorded and emailed me their parts. When my sister and Kelly's voices came out of the Bose the look on the kids faces was priceless. They were so happy to hear them.

The kids told us that they had gotten together and were planning to be up at 6 am on Christmas day. We all laughed because, yeah right! We had to go in and wake them up at 9.

Christmas Day, like always, was a whirlwind of wrapping paper. After some technical difficulties we got Elaine and Kelly up on Skype from their hotel room in New Orleans. It is not the same as having them there but it is super awesome to see and talk to them.

I don't know which one of these kiddos bribed Santa, but they were all spoiled. Nintendo 3DS's and American Girl Dolls were flying all over the place!

The Phi got one from Santa and Felix got one from Nana and Tata. You can read here how we are dealing with this new obsession.

I love the PJ's and the messy hair.

A very cool gift from Tia Uh-laine and Kelly. The Phi collects smashed pennies so they bought her a new book and some pennies from DISNEY WORLD!

Elaine and Kelly giving Joey and subtle hint.

Mom and Pops looking at the book Elaine and Kelly sent them.

Lou loved her "bobbob" slippers.

My brother Tommy recently bought his first rifle so he got a lot of gun related stuff!

Her American Girl doll from Nana and Tata. She was so excited. First she named her Sierra and then 5 minutes later named her Renee. Lily got one too and we are already planning her birthday at the American Girl Doll Cafe.

When we were in Bass Lake Luis tried some cinnamon whiskey. He liked it so we bought him a bottle.

This face. This is the face. Mission accomplished!

I was so excited to give my sister her gift. We got her a kindle. Or as well call them Ken Doll's.

I think Mom liked the gift we got her.

She has been wanting this on a canvas print forever. In fact a few nights before Christmas she asked me to show her how to order one on Costco. haha. And yes this is what my Mom looks like first thing in the morning. Be jealous.

Joey loves his pricey T's so the girls and I each got him one.

After an awesome pozole breakfast, (complete with boiled pig feet) we packed up the car and headed to Joey's family for even more food and even more gifts.

This pretty much summed up Lou's Christmas. A stack of gifts and a blank stare. She didn't quite get it. Next year she will!

This year was really an amazing holiday. The one thing that would have made it perfect was to have Elaine and Kelly with us. My parents not only spoiled the grandkids, but us kids made out too! Being with my family, all together is always the best thing ever. The gifts were a big bonus.

1 Minute with Lou- A Sunday Afternoon Stroll

2012-01-09T12:02:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve and I Only Cried a Little

2012-01-06T13:28:00.003-08:00

I recently wrote about Christmas Eve and how bittersweet this one would be. It ended up being so much fun with all my family and all the food and so much laughing.

There were tamales, rice, beans, salads, and so many treats and of course Lou sees a bunch of bananas and she has to have one. These bananas will be part of a good joke later in the night.

Lou and the girl on TV are doing the same thing. WEIRD!

Baby Michael is the best hype man around. This kid was so awesome and the clapping and the hollering. Next time I go to a concert I am taking this little man with me.

Just like her last encounter with Santa, Lou was not having it. Until a present was given to her. She still wouldn't sit on his lap but at least she stopped crying.

She had just told me how she wanted some combat boots! Man Santa knows all!

The Phi got a Hex Bug. Yea I don't know what they are either.

Andres was mesmerized!

Look how handsome my cousins are! Such handsome men!

Angelica took this picture and I love it!

I thought this picture of my Pops was funny because if you look on the wall on the left me and my sisters.

So there was a white elephant gift exchange. My Tio Javier picked a drill. Such a perfect gift for him. Then it was my cousin Arnie's turn and he stole the drill from my Tio. When Arnie opened the box he found a bunch of bananas! It was so funny.

My Mom with almost all her sisters.

CuCoGo

A very small % of the grandkids. Seriously this is not even half. Maybe 1/4.

Even the late hour couldn't being Lou down.

You want to photo bomb me, then of course it goes onto the inter-webs.

While things started to wind down I went around and took as many pictures of my grandparents house as I could. This was when I started to get teary eyed. But with the voices and the laughing and the love surrounding me it did not lost long.

Always the hostess with the mostess my Tia Mary made this amazing treats. I think they were rolos with pretzels and they were fantastic!

My and my Nina/Buddy Buddy Josie.

So the last Christmas Eve turned out to be one of the best. Leave it to my familia to go out with a bang,

Christmas Plays x2

2012-01-06T13:28:00.001-08:00

Christmas time is always so hectic. Just to make our lives a bit more complicated our church and Phi's school decided to have their Christmas plays on the exact same day. Must be our punishment for sending her to one religion and practicing another. Anyways our day was school, straight from school to church, straight from church back to school. We ate dinner at a Denny's at 9pm.

The first performance was awesome. Because we think everything our kid does is awesome. It was her small class singing the "Our Father". They had these cute crowns and since they are 1st graders they got to go first!

The Phi was super excited about this performance. Or maybe she was excited about the cookie exchange afterwards. In this picture she is looking directly at the tables and tables lined with cookies. If you look close you can see she is drooling.

Then we packed up and headed to the school to get to the BIG performance. Her class had been practicing for weeks. This year the 1st grade were simply the background chorus but there was sure a lot of songs.

I took The Phi to her class and found her costume on her desk. She was a star. The costume consisted of a yellow sheet and some kind of garland holding up a cardboard star. It did not fit very well and in the middle of the play I noticed that it was falling. The Phi had to mess with it, hold it up and then eventually figured out how to get it back on.

I was freaking out the entire time this was happening. I was a very shy kid and I know that if I was on stage and my costume was falling apart on stage I would have been SO FREAKED OUT. It took everything I had to stay in my seat and not run up on stage, push aside some 2nd graders and HELP HER!

EVERYTHING I HAD PEOPLE.

The Phi was so not into this gig. When she wasn't singing she was like this.....

Seriously every picture I took was like this........

Even with the lack enthusiasm, the blank stares and the wardrobe malfunction she is my Super Star!

Tiffany Blue

2012-01-06T13:24:00.000-08:00

We have lived in our house for almost 8 years now. In those 8 years we have done a few home improvements here and there, but not nearly as many as needed.

When we first saw the house there was so much mauve on the walls. Our home was previously owned by a very nice retired couple. A lovely couple who loved a nice Dusty Rose. Of course like all new owners of a "used" home we simply said "Oh we can paint". HAHAHA. In 8 years we have painted 2 rooms. Well 3 if you count the nail polish exploding incident in the kitchen and the red stains on the wall, cabinet and ceiling. Yeah I don't either.

So I had just finished reading a novel by The Crafty Chica all about these strong independent crafty Chicanas. And being the good follower my parents raised I had to get some crafty-ness out of my system.

My victim?

Our mauve fire place mantle.

I saw this as a do-able project. Not too big. Paint would not cost very much. So I just had to pick a color. As I talked to Joey about my plans I told him I couldn't decide on a color. So he said "Well take a picture then use photoshop to change the mantel color" and I was like "or I can just close my eyes and imagine different colors."

Man Joey really lacks...

So after closing my eyes and using my IMAGINATION I decided on a Tiffany blue color. It is bright and pretty and Breakfast at Tiffany is my favorite movie and I hope to one day own more pieces of jewelry from that store.

So a quick $15.00 trip to the Do-It Center (haha do-it ) and 3 coats of paint this happened...

Yea the Dusty Rose has bit the Dust. I love it so much.So much that I threw some paint onto the front door frame to force myself to paint that too. When I was done I wanted to paint EVERYTHING this color. I keep eyeballing our dining room table chairs.

Los Lobos Goes Disney

2012-01-05T14:06:00.000-08:00

I have talked about kids music before. Having to listen to Barney 24/7 was a big fear of mine before we had kids. Over the last 7 years of parenting we have found some really good kids albums out there. I even took The Phi to my old stomping grounds UCSB to see Ziggy Marley perform his kids album.

Normally at work I listen to Heidi and Frank, but if I run out of talk radio I head over to Spotify or Pandora. I was in the mood to listen to Los Lobos so I put them into the search box and was super suprosed to find that back in 2009 Los Lobos came out with an album called "Los Lobos Goes Disney". Very interesting. After the first song I was hooked.

Check it....

The track list is:

Heigh-Ho- love the Spanish thrown in
I Wan'na Be Like You - I like anything that involves a Louie
Not In Nottingham
The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room- My Pops loves that place!
Grim Grinning Ghosts
I Will Go Sailing No More - a beautiful sad song
The Ugly Bug Ball
Cruella De Vil - yes we sometimes call Lou, Louella De Vil
Bella Notte - oh so romantic! When the mariachi comes to our table I am requesting this!
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah- a slower more mellow version
Bare Necessities- Baloo reminds me of my Pops, mix that Los Lobos and this song IS my Pops!
Oo-De-Lally
When You Wish Upon A Star/It's A Small World- Perfection!

Most of the songs I recognized. There were a few that I couldn't place, but with a Disney song you can't go wrong. Now I am not a Disney fanatic. Although every time we go to Disneyland I have to fight the urge to become one and start collecting anything and everything Disney. But Disney movies are a part of my childhood. Many of these songs are from classic Disney films and from the Magic Kingdom itself!

All the songs are obviously kid-friendly and somehow Los Lobos were able to add some Los Lobo-ness to each song without losing the feel of the original song. And let me tell you I love me some Los Lobo-ness. The voices the guitars, the saxophones, it all brings me back to my childhood.

I am so happy I stumbled upon this and I can't to put this on the girls iPod.

HB

2011-12-30T18:44:00.001-08:00

My Honey Badger sits in the Target cart backwards. She doesn't give a .....

2011 Rewind Part Two

2011-12-29T09:21:00.000-08:00

2011 Rewind Part 1

2011-12-28T10:16:00.000-08:00

The Last Time

2011-12-24T15:35:00.001-08:00

In a few months my grandparents will be moving out of the house that they have lived in for over 40 years. Which means today will be the last Christmas Eve we spend there. I have spent all my Christmas Eves there. From my very first one where I was 2 months old and Patty was 3 months and they dressed us up in pretty red dresses. To this year where Patty and I will dress up our kids in snazzy outfits. And all the ones in between.

It is so bittersweet. Saying goodbye to a family tradition. Some of our Christmas traditions have changed. We no longer have a talent show or draw names for a gift exchange. But we do still have a white elephant gift exchange, Santa still stops by and brings all the little kids a gift, we still eat tamales. But the house has always been the same. I know exactly where the mistletoe will be hung and where the tree will be standing and where my Nana's nativity scene will be displayed.

I understand that in life things change. And I know that this move is the best for my Nana and Tata but knowing that Christmas Eve will never really be the same is sad. And to be honest it scares me. My family has always been very close knit, and I don't know what the glue is that keeps us that way. I don't know what change might change all that. What "thing" might makes things different.

One thing I know is that even though that house may have been the backdrop to our childhoods. The front and back yard may have been the scenery for countless memories where my cousins became my best friends. The bedroom where I hung my NKOTB posters an plugged in my purple cassette player. The brownish orange beads, the china cabinet, the plate on the wall with the Presidents on it. The rack of mugs. The red velvet fans in the hallway. It all was just a stage and the love, laughter and memories will not be boxes up when my grandparents things are moved. For a while I was so sad because I kept thinking that the house held all our memories. But as I drive down to spend Christmas Eve there I know that 4 walls could never be big enough or strong enough to hold all that live and all those memories.

The long way home

2011-12-19T09:47:00.001-08:00

After church and lunch on Sunday we didn't have any plans for the rest of the day. So instead of hopping on the freeway for the 15 minute drive home, we took the long way home.

Sometimes the long way is the perfect way home. We drove up the hill through Oak Glen. We were hoping for some snow, instead we got some rain and weather cold enough to see our own breathe.

I love these impromptu detours we take in life. Those unexpected memories that we make on a whim. When I look over at Joey and say, "Let's drive though Oak Glen" and he says "sure". We made a couple of stops and were able to cross off the last person on our list after finding the perfect gift.

My beautiful Phi

Apple Orchard

Joey finally found a pair of opera glasses. He has been looking for years!

Happy Christmoose

Lou gets heavy. We all have to help out carrying her around.

Pickles on the counter.

Lou and a pet rat.

Louella is crazy and wild and sometimes just so stinking cute....

bathroom graffiti

it was really that cold.

you can't see it here but The Phi was looking at her own breathe.

Me and my girls and a worn looking reindeer

giant tree, one ornament

I hope my girls remember things like the times we decided to take the long way home.

Right Place at the Right Time

2011-12-19T09:46:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we went to a friends wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony and we were so happy to be a part of the celebration.

Afterwards since we were out and about we drove around to look at Christmas lights. The Phi loves to do this and Lou seems to enjoy it too. So as we were driving around Joey found this little street that he has always liked. It is a narrow street with trees in the middle of the street. It is almost like it's own little community the way the house are arranged. As we drove up we notice a sign and then a little girl with a flashlight and a Santa hat came up to our window. She asked if if we were there for the show and directed us to a parking space. We parked and she told us to change the radio to 107.3 fm. We looked at each other like "What!?" and then this happened.......

We left wide eyed with big smiles on our faces and feeling very Christmas-y.

December 12th

2011-12-15T10:23:00.000-08:00

The Feast of La Virgen de Guadalupe has to be my favorite mass of the year. I love it more than an Easter Mass or even Christmas. It is such a joyous occassion. I love how when you walk in the smell of roses fills the air.

This was my first Dec 12th at our new church and it was fantastic.

The mass was bilingual and I was surprised at how much of the Spanish prayers and songs I remember from childhood.

And the singing. Oh how I loved the singing. You can hear the joy in everyone's voice. Just listen. There is even a "grito" at the beginning.

And this was at the end of the mass. You leave filling so happy, comforted and loved.

The Phi has always been familiar with La Virgen. I have a pretty extensive collection of Virgen items in our house. (I also have a lot of Frida Kahlo stuff up so she often gets them mixed up.)

That night as I put the girls to bed we started a new December 12th tradition. Instead of reading a book I told them the story of San Juan Diego and La Virgen de Guadalupe.

My baby praying for her friends and family.

I loved sharing this with my family.

Lou's Hair

2011-12-14T07:26:00.000-08:00

This blog, like many blogs, tend to show off the happy and fun times of parenting. When my kids are older and looking back on their childhood I want them to have a realistic idea of what are everydays were like.

So grown-up Lou, taking care of you was not always unicorns and rainbows.

Example #1

Ocho

2011-12-13T11:10:00.000-08:00

All my past relationships had an expiration date of 4 years. After 4 years I was done and it was over. Something told me that it was not right and it was time to move on.

And then I met Joey. When we hit our 4 year mark I was not bored, or unhappy, or ready to leave. It was the opposite, I was completely happy and looking forward to the next 40 years. And today we doubled my record. Today Joey and I have been together for 8 years.

8 wonderful, exciting and easy years. When I met Joey that was my big revelation. Relationships could be easy. They didn't have to have drama and fighting and awkward moments. It could just be good and fun and lots of laughing. Life is stressful enough, I can't imagine being in a relationship where you have to be angry or jealous. Having to wonder how the other person feels about you.

Joey is not a man of many words. He is like Silent Bob. Or Ferb. When he says something it is deep, profound and true. So all those years ago when he told me, out loud, he was in love with me I knew that it was deep, profound and so very true. I have never once questioned that.

Being with Joey is really being with my best friend, everyday. Cliche? Maybe. But it is totally true.

Happy Ocho Babe. 8 years ago we were at a punk rock show. Tonight we will be at our daughter Christmas play. How times change huh? Maybe we can make out in the parking lot. Just to keep something the same!

P.S. I love you, forever and today.

Diego 125

2011-12-08T08:34:00.001-08:00

As I opened my google homepage I was happy to see the Google logo all Rivera-fied!

The summer I spent in Cuernavaca, Mexico was life changing. I spent the days in such a beautiful place surrounded by amazing art. We would walk through the zocalo daily and stroll next to the Palacio De Cortez, and on the walls of this palace were these amazing murals by Diego Rivera. It is amazing to me to think we could spend the day just gazing at these amazing pieces of art work.

Today we celebrate the 125th birthday of the master of Mexican Muralist. During this time period in Mexico the greats like Orozco, Siquieros (my favorite!), and Rivera left their mark all over Mexico. Of course he is also famous for his dysfunctional yet passionate marriage to Frida Kahlo.

If The Phi had been a boy, his name would have been Diego. After an amazing and important artist.

Diego Rivera is not my favorite artist. He is not even my favorite Mexican muralist, but his work reminds me of a summer of being surrounded by great works of art and living in a beautiful place. Being an "adult" for the first time, making life long friends and exploring ancient places.

Happy 125 Diego.

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

2011-12-05T16:56:00.001-08:00

We spent a little time over the weekend putting a little Christmas cheer up in our house.

Making these beautiful faces happy makes it all worth it!

A Very Weiland Christmas

2011-12-02T09:52:00.000-08:00

Something really weird about us. We really love Christmas music. Once KOST starts their 24/7 Christmas music, it is always on in the car. And it is no surprise that we love ourselves some rock music. I am a fan of Stone Temple Pilots, and of the lead singer Scott Weiland. (Not as big of a fan as Tia Uh-laine) I even dig his side project Velvet Revolver.

But Scott ........This kind of scares me a little bit.

I keep waiting for the music to change to some awesome guitar riff. And for him to come out shirtless with eyeliner on. But it never happens. This is for real yo.

Fudge and Eagle Condensed Milk

2011-11-29T12:08:00.001-08:00

I like to leave the baking in the family to my sister Cari. She is a really good baker and me, well, not so much. So when Eagle Brand sent me a few cans of their condensed milk to try out I was kind of stumped. My Fed-Ex driver, who also happens to be a friend, suggested that I make fudge. I have never made fudge, mostly because I thought it was really complicated. Turns out it's not!

There are only 4 ingredients! 4!!!

3 cups (18 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Fat Free Sweetened Condensed Milk
Dash salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Then just 3 steps! 3!!

LINE 8- or 9-inch pan with wax paper.
MELT chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk and salt in heavy saucepan. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Spread evenly in prepared pan.
CHILL 2 hours or until firm. Remove from pan by lifting edges of wax paper; peel off paper. Cut into squares.

Almost as simple as Top Ramen!

So why would Eagle Brand send me condensed milk? It's simple, they wanted me to let you know about their "What is the Secret to a Perfect Dessert? Recipe and Essay Contest." Now through December 7 you can enter the contest by submitting an original recipe and a 100 word (or less) essay about why Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk is the "sweet secret" ingredient in the recipe. Each recipe must use at least one 14oz can of Eagle Brand Condensed Milk and be in one of the following categories:

fudge
cheesecake
pie
cookie bar
other

Just click on the picture below for all the info and to enter!

Click Here for More Information

Good Luck!

1 minute with Lou- Coloring at Nana and Tata's House

2011-11-29T12:02:00.000-08:00

1 Minute with Lou........

Coloring at Nana and Tata's House

I get my book recommendations from movie trailers now

2011-11-21T10:26:00.001-08:00

Now that Lou has been allowed into the playroom she spends a lot of time in there playing. And to Lou, playing is basically taking everything out of it's place and leaving it on the floor. This means that I have to clean up a lot more at night, but it also means that I have more time to read during the day. Also reading bonus! I can read my kindle in the car without getting super queasy.

The last book I read was super good and recommended to me by a movie trailer. I saw the movie trailer for the new George Clooney movie and thought, "wow that would be a good book to read". So I checked on Amazon and of course it was a book before it was a movie. So I downloaded "The Descendants" by Kaui Hart Hemmings onto my Kindle and I devoured it in about 3 days.

So what would you do if your significant other is in am irreversible coma and due to their will they are being taken off of all life support? You are gathering her friends and family to say their goodbyes. During this time you find out that your significant other was not only having an affair, but planning and working towards a new life without you. How would you react? This is what happens to Matt King, a descendant of Hawaiian royalty. With his 2 daughter and Sid by his side Matt King island hops to find this man and give him the opportunity to say good-bye. The relationship between Matt and his daughters is so dysfunctional and so real. It made me smile and it made me cry. The book is set in Hawaii and I must warn you, it will make you want to buy a plane ticket and head to the islands.

Now that I have read the book, I am ready to see the movie. Maybe over Thanksgiving weekend at my parents Joey and I can sneak out of the house and head to a theater. Think my Mom and Pops will notice if we just leave the kids at their house?

Now like with all good books. It ended way too soon and now I am left scrambling to find something good to read.

Hipstamaticed Train Ride

2011-11-17T11:18:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we surprised The Phi with a Metrolink ride to Olvera Street. You can see her take on the day over at her blog (Click Here) . We started the day by heading over to the San Bernardino Station just to be told that they were working on the tracks between San Bernardino and Rancho Cucamonga.Instead of taking the bus provided we drove to Rancho to pick up the Metrolink.

I took my Nikon camera but decided to put the new iPhone camera to use and I used the Hipstamatic app for photos of the day. All random settings.

So here we go....

On the weekends you can buy a pass for $10.00 and ride the Metrolink all weekend long. Joey has always wanted to do this with the kids and it was a great idea! The train ride there was fun. It was more packed than we expected and finally got a good seat with a table for the last half of the ride.

Daddy and Lou on the Metrolink

We arrived at Union Station in Los Angeles. The Phi loves LA so she was super excited to be there.

Olvera Street is right across the street from the train station. So the first thing we did was decide where to eat. We ended up at Juanita's.

Our tiled table.

And of course a trip to Olvera Street would not be complete without some taquitos with gucamole sauce. So good.

My plate. Cheese enchiladas with 2 beef taquitos.

We spent the next few hours wandering the shops. Our favorite thing to do.

Much like the Clifford picture on Santa Monica pier. A man handed The Phi this flower made from a palm leaf and then asked Joey for a donation.

Flower made from a palm leaf

Still lots of skulls to buy.

Beautiful embroidered Mexican tops.

Cream filled churros from Mr. Churro and a Horchata latte.

View from the plaza

Entrance

Masked Phi

Schmonkey looking damn good in a hat

The Phi browsing

Sofia right next to Angelica. Sounds about right.

Doggy Bank

Figurines

My girls in front of Mr. Churros

Left over Sugar Skulls

The view from the store fronts

Huraches for sale

I think my Pops needs this for his bathroom.

Such cute coffee mugs!

After shopping and treating ourselves to churros, a horchata latte and some very good champurado we headed back to catch the 5:39 train.

One last bathroom break before boarding the train.

Louella didn't sleep all day which made the train ride home a bit challenging.

It was a beautiful fall day spent in a beautiful place with my beautiful family.

Dia De Los Muertos with the Dre's

2011-11-17T11:00:00.000-08:00

We thought the Riverside Dia celebration was awesome and then we went to the one in Santa Ana. My Comadre Patricia invited us to meet them there for the day. It was amazing and huge and there was so many amazing altars.

When we got there we waited a few for the Dre's to get there. Once we all met up we were all hungry. So we found a taco shop to eat. Between eating, feeding babies, and diaper changes it took us awhile to get started!

I love this! Caution: Education Chicano Crossing.

Skull made of Starburst wrappers.

I LOVED this little ceramic piece. Just fell in LOVE with it.

It was so cool. As the sun was getting ready to set the Aztec dancers went around and blessed all the altars with copal. After the blessing people lit the candles on their altars.

Now some kid cuteness....

Arghh the cheeks!!

It was such a great event. It was good to see my Comadre interact with her students and colleagues. (She is a professor). The Phi loved being with her God-parents for the day and hanging out with her cousins. This is such a good event! We will so be there next year!

punkrockparents.net

2011-11-15T14:56:00.001-08:00

So after blogging for over 6 years I have finally broke down and bought a proper address for this place. Of course you can still find us at our blogspot address but if you want to tell all your friends about us. And I know you do! Just tell them...

"Check out this blog with this weird Mom who takes a lot of pictures, and there is a Dad who, no joke, has the most amazing beard I have ever seen, and they have 2 really cute and funny kids."

And your friends, family, co-workers, strangers on the bus will say "what's the address?"

and all you have to say is "www.punkrockparents.net". You could even drop the www.

Because .com is so lame. Only losers use .com. It is so 1998. Plus it was already taken.

So remember you can still find us at www.joeyelissasophia.blogspot.com, but that is really long. Save yourself 1.5 seconds a day and just use punkrockparents.net instead!

Dia De Los Muertos- Riverside

2011-11-11T14:30:00.000-08:00

On Nov 2nd, after our make-up was on we headed out to the Annual Dia De Los Muertos Celebration in Riverside. We learned from last year and went early. This event is so awesome, but it is so packed!! The space to walk around the altars is so teeny tiny and there are just so many people. We say it every year but they need to expand!

The Phi and her awesome mask

My friend Denise had a booth set up. She had all her amazing stuff on display. I had to pick up a set of coasters.

This is always my favorite part of the event. Adding Roman's name to the community altar.

Now that The Phi is a full fledged writer, she made her own.

I could not get enough of these adorable dolls. Just the thought of The Phi snugging up with a little Frida doll was too much! Oh if I was made of $$!

Dia De Los Muertos Make-Up

2011-11-10T09:07:00.001-08:00

We love Dia De Los Muertos! This year we went to a couple of events. For the first one The Phi and I went all out with the face paint. This was the first time I had to do the makeup and it was a learning experience.

First off The Phi wanted a full face paint. She also wanted to look like the character from her book Rosita and Conchita. So here is how we did it. The day after Halloween we stopped at a Halloween shop and took advantage of their half off sale and bought make-up. So first I circled her eyes with a black make-up crayon.

Then I used a sponge and covered the rest of her race with white grease make-up. I started to fill in the black around her eyes with the make-up crayon. It was not as dark as I wanted so I busted out my caboodle and used a black eyeshadow to fill it in. You can see the difference.

Then I realized that my liquid eyeliner pen was the best way to "draw" on her. I added the cross, outlined the heart, outlines her eyes, colored in her nose and drew on her mouth.

Almost done. I filled in the heart with a red make-up crayon and some lipstick. Next I outlined the "petals" around her eyes. I used a tube of pink Halloween make-up and my lipstick brush to fill them in. And The Phi was done.

Not as good as Dad could have done. But The Phi was happy.

I went for the half face.

We were ready for Dia De Los Muertos!It's been a learning process and found that my make-up worked a lot better than the stuff bought at the Halloween store. Anyone have any tips for us?? What kind of make-up do you use?

Super Girl and the World's Shortest Giraffe

2011-11-08T16:10:00.000-08:00

Halloween on a Monday is tough. So we got an early start. We headed out to a Trunk or Treat event Sponsered by the police department. Can't get much safer than that right?

Here are the girls in there costumes. The Phi was Super Girl! And she was so cute. And Lou used a hand-me-down costume from The Phi. She was a giraffe. A very short giraffe.

Lou had a tight grip on her candy bag. Even at just 17 months old she understood that by holding this magical pail people would give her candy.

On the way back from the Truck or Treat we spotted a church having a Halloween Carnival. So we thought. Why not? It ended up being a blast!

The best part by far of the whole entire night was the square dancing. The Phi LOVES to dance. (Click Here to check out here sweet moves) So when the band called for people to come out to square dance The Phi headed right out. A lot of people where going out there and a big crowd was forming. Since I was holding Lou and the camera Joey went out with her.

Now if you know Joey at all you know that he very rarely dances. I think we have danced maybe 3 times in the 8 years we have been together. I knew that one day he would have to dance with his girls. But I really thought it would be on their wedding day. Instead it was on Halloween 2011.

This is how much my husband loves his girls.

There is video but I am pretty sure he would leave me if I posted it.

Here is the mini-giraffe.

The Barista and The Giraffe. It was weird because all night people kept referring to Lou as "he" or "him". Without the hair I guess she looks boyish.

A quick pick-me-up before the last round of trick or treating. Relax it is empty. Just one of my props!

We headed home to trick or treat our own block for the first time ever! That's right in the 7 years we have lived in our house we have never trick or treated, or passed out candy. It is amazing we never got egged. Before we headed home we stopped at a Dominos to pick up dinner . Because who wants to cook on Halloween? And they had a stand outside and where giving out pizza slices to the kids! That's right we trick or treated at Dominos!!

Once we got home we realized that we live on a very boring block. Only 4 houses were giving out candy. And that included ours!

The Phi got a real kick passing out candy to kids.

And then the best costume showed up at our door.....

SHUFFLEBOT!!!!!

(Click Here is you don't know who I am talking about!)

I gave this kid a crap load of candy and then made him take a picture!

So all and all it was a great Halloween!

A thousand emotions

2011-11-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

At Eli's party I took over 300 photos. As I went through them all I stopped at this one. It looks like a normal picture. The Phi playing a toss game with Eli standing by looking on. But as I looked at it I was overcome with emotion. This was a simple picture of two kids. My kid and Crissy's kid. Our kids making life long memories. It is just so amazing to me that I have these friends in my life and have had then for so long. Some for 30 years. Crissy and I meet as high school freshman and were even college roommates. You can only imagine all the things we have been through together. All that time spent wondering who we would marry and how many kids we would have. And now, in the blink of an eye, here they are. Those kids. Our kids. It is a whole new chapter in our lives. We went through driving lessons, homecoming dances, college life. And now we are at the married young kids stage. It's just so fantastic that we are still in it together.

Birthday Lunch at Brophy Brothers

2011-11-08T14:17:00.000-08:00

After the Pumpkin Patch we headed to the beach. We were getting together for my birthday lunch. Even though my sister Tia Uh-laine couldn't be there she recommended the restaurant! We headed over to the harbor for some Brophy Brothers. I was sad that Hornblowers was now gone but Brophy Brother's did not disappoint.

I love the Ventura Harbor. I have so many wonderful memories there. I made another one while celebrating my 34th birthday.

My beautiful family and a beautiful mural.

The Grandbabies. I do not know why Felix looks so evil here. But the more I look at it the more scared I get.

We kept joking with him about his hair. We kept telling him to stay away from balloons.

A birthday drink. Jack and Coke

Okay so now we know where The Phi gets her love for cutouts.

Trying to see the boats in the harbor.

I had the thresher shark sandwich. Yes shark and it was fantastic!

My sister and family bought me this purse for my birthday. Isn't it gorgeous! I love the colors so much!

Louella started to get a bit rowdy.

And being the good eater she is she attacked the pieces of shark I gave her.

Even Uncle Tommy got in on the cutout action

The 3 Amigos

Of course we missed Uh-laine and Kelly but there is nothing better than all of us at a table, eating, talking, laughing.

Pumpkin Patch- Old School Style

2011-11-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

And by old school i mean it was free. Even the hay ride and the corn maze. All free. It is crazy how much you can spend on one of these new pumpkin patches. In the town we grew up in, it now cost $12.00 just to get in! Then you have to pay for everything else once you are inside!! So over the weekend, my sister and family, Mom and Pops and us 4 went to a small pumpkin patch in Santa Barbara.There were wagons, goats, horses, hay, corn maze, pumpkins and a scarecrow. And the kids had a blast!

They could be triplets!

Just think how much more horrible doing dishes could be Ouie?

Hay Ride!

Felix with his pumpkin

Lulu with her pumpkin

Lili with her pumpkin!

Joey giving the scarecrow a lift

She is almost as tall as her Momma!

All the babies!

BFF's

Nino Luis helping Lou pick the right pumpkin

The Phi and her pumpkin

In the hay pit

Lost in the corn maze. We were about 10 minutes away from knocking down corn stalks. We were so lost.

Lou hugging Felix. She loves him so much.

As I was putting this post together I can across this.....

and it is SO true!

Early Bday Bash

2011-11-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

My BFF Crissy had her baby boy 2 days before Christmas. This makes it hard to throw a good birthday party. And Crissy can throw a party.This year Baby Eli is turning 3 and instead of squeezing in another party in the middle of all the Christmas madness she had the brilliant idea to celebrate early. It also gave her an excuse to throw a Halloween party.

Everyone had to dress up. So even Joey and I got into the spirit. Him as a lumberjack and I went with my standard Starbucks barista outfit.

All the little details and decorations were absolutely fantastic!

And the birthday boy was dressed as a shark. But not just any shark, a "bad, bad" shark.

There were fun Halloween games like hot pumpkin and pin the tail on the black cat.

Eli is really into sharks and baseball so we bought him some shark pj's and a baseball glove. He LOVED he glove! I even got a text later that night of Eli still up playing with his baseball glove.

All the kids were so cute. It was a hot day so Lou's costume was already off.

Crissy had a ton of candies, cookies, cupcakes and even these amazing homemade caramel and chocolate covered apples. So instead of a big cake there was a big cookie! Great call Cris!

Momma singing to her birthday boy.

My Super Girl!

Told you, he loved the glove. And he is a pretty good catch too! When you toss the ball he doesn't even flinch!

Alyssa was a cute Gypsy.

Hey Dorothy aren't you suppose to have a dog not a shark?

Almost the whole family. Eli is giving us his best "bad bad" shark face.

During a rowdy game of freeze dance Eli was giving the best faces!

Aunt Crissy and Lou. Lou had a blast wandering around and stealing cookies from plates. There was one point where I caught her walking around about to take a drink from an open orange soda. Crazy kid!

As usual it was a great party for a great little boy. We love you Eli. Always remember that your Momma named you after me, and that we love you very much!

Pumpkin Patching x 2

2011-11-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

I don't know know whose bright idea it was to head to the pumpkin patch on a Sunday but man was that a mistake. (okay okay it was mine, whatever). The place was super duper packed and it was no joke like 95 degrees in the shade. (Bad high school yearbook reference.) It took over an hour and $8.00 just for The Phi to get on this jump thing. She stood in line in direct sun for over an hour. I kept going over her and giving her something to drink. It was cray cray hot for the middle of October. I am convinced it's time to shift the seasons. Fall needs to start in like late November because it was freakin' Summertime at the Pumpkin Patch!

Thanks to the long lines and the fact that Grandma Kim was heading over to our house for lunch we had to leave the pumpkin patch after only letting The Phi get on some rides. We promised we would come back on Tuesday evening. So after her catechism Halloween party we headed back to the patch. It was dark, chilly and EMPTY!

Lou was very confused by the pumpkins. At first she kind of stayed away and just ohhed and ahhed over them.

Then she found some her size an liked carrying them around.

We felt very protected since we had Super Girl with us!

Then it was time to head home for dinner with Grandma and some pumpkin carving!

After we took the pumpkin outside and lit it up Lou was completely dumbfounded. Check out her WTF face.

2011-10-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

We spent a cold and foggy Saturday in Santa Monica.

It was fantastic!

The famous sign

Lou loved the birds

Yes this picture cost us a $1.00 "donation"

Just some Lou cuteness!

Bored because she can't get on any rides

Skeeball. She is really really good.

adding to her collection

Life is like a box of chocolates

Really foggy

My beautiful babies.

To see The Phi's video from our day you can visit her blog at www.phiseyes.blogspot.com

Like a Freakin' Miracle

2011-10-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

It is like a freakin' miracle. And instead of being excited I am so terrified that it is a fluke and we are going to be back to where we were.

The last time I wrote about The Phi's eczema she was about to start light therapy. She went thorough about 3 months worth of treatments. Twice a week we took her for her dose of UV-B. You can see a session from The Phi's perspective by clicking here . About half way though her treatments she began to experience pain when taking a bath. It was like I was dipping her in acid. There was so much crying, screaming and it was emotionally exhausting for all of us. It was a daily battle we fought because she had to bathe. So I stopped the light treatments. Her skin was still so blotchy and red and her itchiness was at an all time high. Nothing was helping and I could not deal with her hurting in the bath. Just the mention of bath time brought tears. My theory was that the light therapy had given her a severe sun burn and her skin was sensitive to water. I hoped that with time her skin would heal so if we could get back to just the eczema and not the pain I would be happy.

A month after we had stopped the light therapy we were still experiencing the painful baths. So I broke down and I used steroid lotion mixed with vasoline on her after a bath one night. The next morning it was like a miracle occured. Her skin looked so much better.

So why hadn't I used the steroid lotion earlier you ask? Well I had given up on steroid lotion a long time ago. We had been using it for her eczema since she was about 1 year old with no results. It never worked and instead doctors kept prescribing stronger doses and instead of getting rid of her rashes it was discoloring her skin. Her hands and feet were starting to lose the color pigment in them. And of course I can't see what if any damage it was doing to her liver. That's why I stopped.

This time just one application and it worked. After just a few days her skin looked the best it has ever looked. Amazing smooth, skin toned skin. The Phi is no longer itchy and he skin feels like skin and not sandpaper. Like I said it is a freakin' miracle. I mean look at the before and afters. It is like my prayers have been answered but at night I still pray. I am still terrified and I pray that it doesn't come back.

The other day when she stepped into the bathtub she made a noise. I immediately asked "Does it hurt?" and she laughed and said "No Mom it feels nice and warm".

34

2011-10-25T11:57:00.000-07:00

"yesterday i got so old
i felt like i could die
yesterday i got so old
it made me want to cry
go on go on"

-The Cure


This is what 34 looks like on me.

Yesterday I turned 34 years old. And what an overwhelming day. Thanks to social networking I received something like 100 birthday greetings. I really thought my heart was going to explode as my phone kept beeping. (and thank to my amazing parents it is the new iPhone 4S!)

Thanks everyone so much for thinking of me.

And then we came home from dinner and The Phi turned out the lights and Joey sat Lou in his lap and the three of them sang to me by candlelight. The Phi was so excited to give me the cake she picked out, Lou sat with that silly smile and Joey sang to me and said "Elissa" instead of "Mom". And that was just the thing to make my heart burst.

I don't think I will ever really feel my age. The fact that I am THIRTY FOUR is mind blowing. But I love birthdays and how cozy and warm and fuzzy they make me feel. Just like the new gorgeous sweater wrap my hubby and girls bought me.

As I went to bed last night I was a very.......

Happy Birthday Lou, I mean Roo. ROO!

2011-10-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

Happy 8th Birthday to our first "baby". Today our puppy Mr. Buck-a-Roo Fantastic (Roo for short) is 8 years old. The only blondie in a family of brunettes. We love you so much Roo.

And were sorry we named this latest kid Lou, which sounds way too much like Roo. And sorry she is so rough with you. But I have to give you credit. You are so much more patient with this one that the first one.

You must be mellowing in your old age.

Happy Birthday to you
   Happy Birthday to you
           Happy Birthday Dear Rooti
               Happy Birthday to YOU

and MANY more

Strolling For Diabetes

2011-10-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we headed out to Valencia to participate in the annual American Diabetes Association's " Step Out Walk to End Diabetes". My amazing cousin Patricia (That's Dr. Patricia to you!) sets up Team Garcia every year. We had not been able to go the last few years, but this year Joey, Me, Phi and Lou were REPRESENTIN'. The weather was perfect and we had such a blast on the 4 mile walk with my familia!

Here is our group photo. TEAM GARCIA FOR LIFE BABY!!

It is well known that diabetes is a problem for Mexican families. In our family our Tata in on dialysis 3 times a week from kidney issues from diabetes. As my Tia's get older a few of them are now struggling with it. When Patty and I were both pregnant we each dealt with gestational diabetes. This disease effects us and this is what we do every year to help raise money and show our support.

This was Lou's first time and she was so good. She just chilled in her stroller, drinking water, eating cookies that Rosie gave her, and then having a banana. But it was The Phi who I was super impressed with. This kid who starts complaining in the mall parking lot about her legs hurting, walked the whole 4 miles on her own. I think it was the fact that she was with Nana and Tata that helped. Also the "pep" talk from Tata about 1 mile in helped. And by pep talk I mean "Stop running around and just walk so you don't get too tired". Man my Pops can really inspire!

Lou's badge

And every year my cousin Erika (that's Erika with a "K") gets us awesome team shirts. Here is the back of this years T's. So Freakin' Rad. I want to wear mine every single day.

The event is so well run. Things were on time and the food, booths and registration tables ran so well and quickly.

And bonus they had a photo booth. We LOVE photo booths.

After the walk we all headed out for breakfast. Any time with my family is always awesome. Next year let's try to get more people participating. Imagine how awesome we would be if we were ALL there. We would take over!!

TEAM GARCIA POR VIDA!

Here's a song about Jellyman Kelly, He loves jelly the most. Ah, but most of all, Jellyman Kelly loves jelly on toast.

2011-10-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

(okay lets get the formalities out of the way. I was approached through email to blog about this and was sent a very nice gift basket. Did I love jelly before that? yes. Do I love it still? yes. Okay here we go)

In our house family is always first. Always. We have a big ol' loving beautiful family that we adore. I love the family stories that are passed down through the generations. I also love the recipes that are passed down. I think it is so amazing that my kids can taste a delicious dish that their great-grandmother perfected even when my family can't all be together.

Smucker's is hosting their annual essay and recipe contest, where "your favorite recipe could bring one family together for their dream reunion". So here is a little about the contest. The contest is open until November 16, 2011. Head over to www.smuckers.com and enter your favorite original made with at least 1/4 cup of Smucker's jelly, jam, preserves or fruit butter. Along with your recipe you will need to enter a 200 word easy about the recipe and how it is part of your family tradition and how it makes family gathering special. 5 finalist will be flown to NYC for a live demo and judging. The grand prize winner will receive.....wait for it.......$20,000.00 towards a dream family reunion.

That's right your favorite family recipe could win you a family reunion. They say food can bring family together. In this case it can literally bring all your family all together.

For all the official contest rules please visit www.smuckers.com or www.smuckersenespanol.com

Little Lulu at the Park

2011-10-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

She had such a fantastic time.

Bro

2011-10-11T15:00:00.000-07:00

You know how sometimes people just kind of fall into your life? Like one day you didn't even know thier name and then something happens and just a few short weeks later you are inseperable. That was me and Tommy. He just happened to fall into my life. He was my then husbands boss, who we found out lived in our apartment complex. To me, from the moment I met Tom he just "fit'. Like he was always suppose to be there. He was immediately the brother I never had.

And it wasn't just me. My parents, my sisters and the kids all took to Tom like he was one of the family. And really he is. Like after all those years of all girls we had a boy in the family. We love him and support him like one of our own. Family portraits and summer vacations are not complete without him

And like all good big brothers Tommy makes the long drive and comes to visit once in a blue moon.

and we try to impress him with our local Tahi cuisine.

And the kids show off their paintings and just over all cuteness.

And I get to catch up a little bit with Tommy. Because sometimes our (almost) weekly phone calls are not enough. Sometimes its nice to be like the old days with just me and Tommy in the Pathfinder heading off on another adventure. Even if these days adventure just means a Thai dinner.

Church Shopping

2011-10-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

So the rule is you are not suppose to talk politics or religion. So this post here is going to be a rule breaker

I grew up Catholic. I went to catechism classes for 11 years. I was baptized, made my first communion and confirmation. My parents took all 3 of us to church every Sunday morning. Well really it was more like D-R-A-G-G-E-D us to church every Sunday. Joey on the other hand grew up with almost no religion in his house. His parents had him baptized and since his Dad's side of the family is Catholic he would watch with jealousy as his cousins got to go to catechism and he didn't.

After I left my parents house and gained some independance and more education I began to question the Catholic Church and never really went back.

Joey and I have lived together now for over 7 years and our religion was not something we discussed until we got pregnant with The Phi. We were obviously not the perfect Catholics. Here we were living in sin with a baby on the way OUT OF WEDLOCK! Aye Dios Mio!

So why did we have The Phi baptized? Well 2 reasons really. Even though I was not the picture perfect Catholic I had been raised in that religion and I felt that it gave me a very strong foundation in just being a good person, period. And reason number 2 was that I wanted my kid to have god-parents. More importantly I wanted her to have Patty and Jovan as god-parents. This is a super special relationship and I know how much I look up to and lean on my god-mothers and I wanted my kid to have this relationship with Patty and Jovan because they are some really GOOD people.

So we baptized The Phi and when it was time we baptized Lou to give her a foundation and just as equally amazing god-parents to shower her with extra love and guidance. And then we never really thought about religion again. Until this school year.

See The Phi goes to a private religious school that is NOT Catholic. It is still Christian and I have loved the way that this school has not only taught her so much academically but it has also given her a loving heart. Then it came time to think about if we were going to send The Phi to catechism for her first communion. We decided that yes we would so naturally we signed her up at the local Catholic church and we thought we were done.

Oh no. Since A mixture of The Phi starting catechism and a personal family need for some faith we went to Sunday mass. We ended up at 3 churches in 3 weeks.

Church #1 Pros:

very close to home
baby room where Lou can roam
same church The Phi was attending cathecism

Church #1 Cons:

baby room is a balcony and no matter where you sit you can't see
no stereo system and we could not hear one word of the service
cry room is also the teenager hang-out room

Church #2 Pros:

Newly built church
nice baby room
same parish as the church where The Phi is attending cathecism

Church #2 Cons:

baby room is to the right and behind the altar and you just see the back of the priest.
Speaker system in baby room not working so we couldn't hear anything
The priest had a very thick accent and when we could hear a word or too we couldn't understand what he was saying.

Church #3 Pros:

an amazingly beautiful church
a state of the art functioning sound system
a giant video screen where words to all the songs are displayed
a priest who we could understand
during the gospel kids between 5-10 are invited into the adjourning chapel to listen to the gospel explained in their terms.

and then after church, in the parking lot was this........

Yes there was a beer truck.

Arts and crafts

BBQ

Games and Rides

We happened to go on the weekend of their big festival. So after I made sure that Joey and The Phi understood that it would not be like this every Sunday. We decided as a family that despite the extra travel time and a little paperwork in switching The Phi's catechism class, we had found a new church.

And our church shopping is done.

.

2011-10-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

We got to spend a day at the LA County Fair a few weeks ago. If you want to see The Phi's episode on it you can head over to See & Say . We met Nana and Tata there and that made the day a million times better.

Now if there is one thing that The Phi cannot resist it is those head cut out photo ops. And at the fair there were TONS of them.

And of course The Phi could not be the only one in on the fun. Schmonkey took his fair share of photos too!

And then the ultimate photo op for The Phi and Schmonks!

It was a super warm day so we spent a lot of time inside the buildings checking out the cool exhibits.

You are what you eat.

Lou got to spend some time wandering around with Nana and Tata. She ate popcorn, and a giant, and I mean giant cookie.

Poor The Phi was stuck with a banana and milk. Just kidding this was just a snack. She got her fill of candy and corn dogs.

Seriously doesn't Joey make the perfect pirate.

This has to be my favorite photo of the day. I know my Mom is like the best Nana ever.

We stayed way later than we should have. But it was such a fun day.

2011-09-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Elaine.

All our love,

Joey, Elissa, The Phi, Lou and Roo

The Brat-Ban

2011-09-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

Check out my thoughts on the idea of a "Brat-Ban"

Click Here

If I knew then what I know now.

2011-09-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

In our house we LOVE TV. These days our days are packed and so Joey and I get about 2-3 hours a day to watch TV. Between 8-11 we plant ourselves on the couch and catch up on whatever is on the DVR. (And seriously how did we live before the DVR?)

And now with the fall premieres we are getting back to some of our favorite shows. I really like the NBC show "Parenthood". I am a sucker for shows about big families. I was a big Brothers and Sisters fan too. In the first episode there is a scene where the daughter leaves her mothers 40th birthday party early. The Mom is upset and when she talks to her own Mom about it she reminds her that at her 40th instead of being at her Mothers party she went out with a boy on his motorcycle. She told her that it was the worst party she had ever had.

This scene struck a chord with me. I have 2 daughters now. Looking back at my teenage years I shudder at what I put my Mother through. But back then I didn't think twice about stuff like that. I really had that "this is my life and I am going to do what I want" mentality. At like 17!!!

Okay story time...

I had just moved out of the house to go to college. I was back home for Christmas break and went to a bar and then a house party at a high school friends house. Long story short I didn't come home until the next morning (Christmas Eve). I never called to let my Mom know. I just left for bar and never came home. In my mind I was 21 years old. I was living on my own (for a whole 4 months!). I didn't once think to call her, even though I had a cell phone. I remember walking into the house and my Mom was in her robe. She gave me this look and I immediately felt like crap. I knew she had been worried. She didn't yell, I didn't even get in trouble. She simply asked me that if I am going to do that again to call her.

So fast forward and here I am a Mom of 2 daughters and I can put myself in my Mom's shoes (or in this case slippers). I would have been out of my mind worried. I was have been torn between "She is 21, on her own and she can do what she wants" and "OMG CALL THE POLICE!"

Believe me if I knew then what I know now I would have been so different. I would think more about what my actions would do to my parents. Especially to my Mom. But I guess it is like karma. Just like on the show Parenthood. My Mom was once a teen and my Nana had to deal with her. And my Nana was once a teen and her Mom had to deal with her. And so forth and so on. And now I have my 2 daughters who will break my heart and drive me crazy once in awhile.

Man you can learn a lot from TV!

Karina & Enrique Por Vida

2011-09-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

I love weddings. Watching two people commit to each other. The beginning of a beautiful life together. I especially love family weddings. Add another person to the tribe. It's kind of like initiating a new person into our exclusive club.

My already beautiful family, all dolled up. The babies in little dresses and suits. And everyone is so happy.And there is good food, good music, and dancing. I love watching the people in my family dancing.

I also love photographing weddings.

To see all the individual pictures you can click here

She said Mom!!!

2011-09-20T14:17:00.000-07:00

Going Old School

2011-09-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

Recently I have found myself with some old-school stuff on my "i want" list.(My list also includes very new school things too like an ipad, iphone5 and some D&G sunglasses)

The first thing is an old school typewriter. For what? I have no idea. But I would love to have one to you know, type stuff. At Macy's the other day they had one as part of a display and it was so awesome. Can't you just hear the clickty, clack, ding.

Now the next thing on my list has been on my list for awhile. A push mower. I enjoy mowing the lawn and I think that if i didn't have to haul the big gas powered mower from the back yard to the front yard I would do it more often. When I tell people (by people I mean Joey, my Pops, even my father-in-law) they laugh and think I am crazy. Something about it being a lot of work. Blah blah blah. I still want one.

I could spend my weekends mowing the lawn and then typing about it.

What's in a name

2011-09-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

Our girls have beautiful names. Sophia and Louella can thank their father for their names. Joey named both of the girls. With the exception of Louella's middle name. (Blu is all me!) So I have made the executive decision that IF, and these days that is a really big IF, we have another kid, I get to name them. Any name I want and as many names as I want. I mean it is only fair. I didn't even get to name the dog.

And why yes I already do have some lists going.

Boy Names

Cinco Gomez (after my Pops)
Gomez Cinco (because the Adams family is cool)
Joey Danger (because that is just a bad ass middle name)
Grover (after the muppet not the president)
Bruno
Brando
Sonny

Girls Names

Lola (this was what I wanted to name The Phi)
Deliliah (this is what I wanted to name Lou)
Eliza (because I love Audrey Hepburn movies)
Marigold (isn't Goldie a cute nickname)
Marybell (I had a friend in grade school with this name and always loved it)
Frida (because I want one of my kids to be an artist, the uni brow is a given thanks to Joey)
Sunny

These are some of the name I like. I haven't even started with the Aztec middle names I like.

Do you now see why Joey did not let me name any of our kids?

Spontaneous

2011-09-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

There are many things I love about my husband Joey. One of them is his go with the flow, easy going attitude. One Friday after work we were running boring errands like buying The Phi her school shoes when Joey said where to now?

I had nothing planned. So I said let's go to Idyllwild. I have seen the signs to Idyllwild everyday. It is a small mountain town only about 40 minutes from us. So with no plan we headed up the San Jacinto mountain.

We passed a cute little lake and saw some spectacular views along the way. When we got into the small center of town we got out of the car and we all took a deep breathe of the pine scented air. The Phi exclaimed "It smells like Bass Lake". We walked around the shops and restaurants. Most things were closed but we still managed to have a fun time exploring.

Last seasons American Idol contestant Casey Abrams is from here.

We drove around and settled on "Goodtimes" for dinner. Nothing amazing, just a quaint little mountain restaurant.

An unexpected afternoon with our girls. Making memories, exploring new places.

The First Day of First

2011-08-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

This is the 4th First day of school for The Phi.

Pre- School

K-4

K-5

1st Grade

And this is me crying like a baby because my girl is growing up so damn fast.

Thank goodness we had that second baby. She is crazy and wild enough to curb my desire for more babies.

The Phi woke up super excited. Before she went to eat her breakfast she hugged me tight and bounced up and down saying "school school school".

We were on time. (let's see how long we can keep that up!) And she kissed Lou bye.

I made her take one last picture with me. I hugged her so tight and started to tell her to have fun and good luck and how much I will miss her but I started to get chocked up and my voice was getting all wobbly. So I squeaked out an "I love you".

# of first days of school= 4

# of first days of school where The Phi cried= 0

# of first days of school where I cried= 4

Then she grabbed her "Victorious" lunch box and her new owl messenger bag (Thanks Aunt Crissy!) and she (with Schmonkey hidden safely in her bag) skipped off. Ready to start 1st grade.

Good Luck my Phi.

You will be awesome.

You will kick first grades ass.

Because you rock school like a boss.

Promises Promises

2011-08-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we spent a beautiful day at Big Bear Lake. All day Joey tried to convince The Phi to go on the Alpine Slide Ride with him. It took her all day but she finally agreed. We headed over and got there at exactly 6pm, when they closed. After seeing the ride The Phi really wanted to go and after Joey had talked it up all day he made a promise to The Phi. He promised he would take her back to ride the Alpine Slide before she started school. This place has special meaning to Joey and I.

Last Tuesday found us back at Big Bear Lake and at the Alpine Slide Ride.

They bought tickets.

And hitched a ride to the top of the hill.

And then down they sped.

She will never forget this day.

And she will know that her Daddy keeps his promises.

A Beautiful Sight

2011-08-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

The afternoon sun was coming through the blinds. I walk into my room to see my baby sitting quietly flipping through a book.

My loud and rambunctious baby was quiet and still.

I love that I am raising another lover of books.

Links!

2011-08-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

Head over HERE to read a recent article I wrote on "Stranger Danger!"

Then head over HERE to check out The Phi's new web-series "The Sophia and Family Adventure Show"

You will thank me come Christmas time.

2011-08-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

The other day I was at Rio Ranch Market. It is like me new favorite store these days. While looking for a garlic press I can across (stop laughing Joey) this...

I immediatley sent a picture to my Mom saying "I just cut your tamale making time in half!" She responded with "Buy me two of them. Serious".

So I did. My Mom and Pops make tamales at home AND my Mom and her sisters make all the tamales for the family Christmas Eve celebration. They have always used the complicated and time consuming traditional practice of using the back of a spoon. (Really I don't know how tough this is to master. I can remember spreading masa on husks with a spoon as a kid!)

So this contraption is suppose to make the task of spreading masa a breeze. But really I can't sell this better than this video can.

So let me warn you before hand about this video. This is Sandra Vasquez and she invented this amazing product. BUT she says the word masa in the most annoying way possible. And she says it 50 times in this video. I know. I counted. (Plus I kept thinking about Mario Lopez and how he did not like his baby-momma's first name so he calls her by her last name, Mazza. But since he is all super-Latino when he says it, it sounds like masa.)

Was it just me or was Sandra really turning quite bitchy towards the end there. It was almost like she was totally annoyed with me and was fed up with having to demonstrate over and over again.

Anyways she claims to have made 5 dozen in about 7 minutes. Now lets do some math. At my Nana's house they make about 40 dozen tamales in one day. So by my calculations it should take them 56 minutes to spread masa on 40 dozen tamales. But WAIT! I bought 2 spreaders so really it should only take 28 minutes!!! Less than half an hour people!! To spread masa on 480 husks. With that barbaric spoon this would have taken all day!

So here is what my Tia's should do. If they each get a spreader they can have 40 dozen tamales done in about an hour. Filling and folding included! So with all that extra time they should book a spa day. After so many years of hard spoon spreading tamale making they deserve some pampering.

Summer Jams

2011-08-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

It seems that every summer has a soundtrack. I can remember those awesome summers when my sisters and I would hang at the beach everyday and we would make mixed cd's. Now when I hear Story of the Year I am taken back to 2003.

So what have we been rocking out to this summer?

First I am in love with this song. Mostly because after watching "The Voice" I have figured out just how extremely sexy Adam Levine is. I mean seriously, he is the perfect combo of pretty boy and manly man. He has the high pitched voice and skinny jeans and the hairy chest and tattoos. Anyways this song is a good "dancing in the kitchen" song. It was also a good reason to give The Phi another lesson in music by explaining that the song goes "Moves like Jagger" NOT "Lose My Swagger". And telling her who and what Mick Jagger is.

Thanks to my God-daughter Lili this song will always remind me of summer 2011. From the moment we got to Bass Lake Lili constantly talked about how "Everyday I'm Shufflin''. And let me tell you, this 5 year old can shuffle. Everyday.

This has by far become Lou's favorite song. When it comes on she cannot resist the urge to clap and dance.

Now I use to pretty much only listen to R&B and hip-hop and rap music. My musical tastes have changed over the years but once in a while a hip-hop song or artist will catch my attention. Nicki Minaj was one of those. She is such a bad-ass rapper. I love her crazy weird style and this song is awesome. I have had a softness for songs about bass every since the "We like the cars, the cars that go boom" by L'Trimm

You can't seen to run fast enough to get away from this song these days. It is on every radio station all the time. It is a super fun song but the video makes it better. So funny and so high school.

This song is just for me. We dig some Lady Gaga in our household, but this song I fell in love with. Love the bluesy vibe. The video is all kinds of weird, but what else do you expect from The Gaga.

So what songs are going to remind you of Summer of 2011? What are you listening to these days?

I tried to imagine...

2011-08-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

When we took this picture you were in my belly probably the size of the lemon. We had no idea what you would look like or how you would change our lives. All we could do was wonder.

Those empty little shoes, handed down from your big sister were just waiting for you. Even before you were conceived those shoes were waiting for you. We knew our home and our family was not done.

And today you literally filled those shoes.

The little person we were waiting for all those years. You are more amazing than we ever could have imagined.

Post WANtrum

2011-08-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

So my parents held the first ever WAN (grandkid edition). They took 4 of the 5 grandbabies to Legoland. It was a super awesome day for all the kids. Filled with popcorn, pizza, lemonaid, candy, rides, gifts. You know just general spoiling. They all came back with giant smiles on their faces.

My parents and the kids all spent the night on Friday and after a nice breakfast my parents and the kids headed back home. As they were leaving I told The Phi that she was going to have to take a bath. She immediately started crying. Her skin was starting to get really rashed out and she was itching like crazy. I knew she had not had a bath the night before. The crying got worse and I asked her to go to her bedroom. Once she was done crying then I will take her a bath. After awhile she came into my room, still crying and asking to postpone her bath. I told her no that she needed a bath and she had already wasted so much time that we had missed the library end of summer party.

And then...

She lost her shit.

For the first time ever we had to deal with the pounding on the wall, the crying, and the screaming "BUT I WANT TO GO" and a few "I WANT TO GO NOW!"'s thrown in there. All together it last maybe 10 minutes, but it felt like hours.

So how did I handle it? I completely ignored her. I made Joey ignore her. Then when it was over I explained to her that what just happened was called a temper tantrum and that it was how baby's acted and I would not accept that kind of behavior and if it happened again she could say good-bye to her playroom and all the toys in it.

What happened I like to call a post-Wantrum. According to my Mom The Phi is not the first to experience this. My Mom has her theories about them. Here is what I think happened.

The Phi had spent the night before Legoland with her cousins at Chuck E Cheese. They stayed up late and woke up super early. The day with my parents was filled with fun, rides and really anything her little heart desired. Then she came home and I told her it was time for a bath and reality mixed with exhaustion and disappointment that the fun was over combusted and we had ourselves our first temper tantrum.

Here are my thoughts on the whole thing. The Phi is a good kid. She gets good grades, doesn't get into trouble, listens to Joey and I and is even helpful with Lou. She deserves to have days like my Mom and Pops gave her. All the kids deserve it. And you know what, my parents have been damn good parents who have worked really hard and they deserve to spoil their grandbabies.

The situation made me think about the Charlie and Chocolate Factory movie. I want The Phi to be like Charlie. See all the other kids were brats and when confronted with all their hearts desire they became even brattier and ended up kicked out in horrible ways. Charlie was the good one and he ended up with the whole damn factory.

We try to teach our kids how to deal with disappointment and bad times, but I want my kids know how to deal with the good times too. Sometimes in her life she is going to have some really good times. She needs to learn how to take the good and take the bad, you take them both and there you have, the facts of life.
I want The Phi to be able to enjoy the good times without the backlash of reality.

So it took over 6 years for The Phi to have her first temper tantrum. I am really hoping that it never happens again. Because I really don't want to pack up all those toys.

Lou needs an Agent

2011-08-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

About a week ago my friend Yvonne texted me and asked if I had seen the new trailer for the Spy Kids 4 movie because the baby reminded her of Lou.

So I checked out the movie poster.

That baby does kind of look like Lou!

Lou could have totally made this movie!!

I mean I look just like Jessica Alba and Joey is a spitting image of Joel McHale so our kid would totally fit as their movie baby. Duh!

But really, someone get this kid an agent asap!!

Imagination

2011-08-10T11:21:00.000-07:00

I always thought The Phi was one of those kids who just lacked imagination. She was not one to play pretend, or set up elaborate back stories for her Barbies. Except for Schmonkey. See Schmonks (as we refer to him) has been The Phi's since she was in the womb but for over 4 years he stayed in the stuffed animal bin. When I was pregnant with Lou, The Phi found Schmonkey and they have been inseparable (except the times she leaves him places and we have to frantically run through Target looking for him) since.

Schmonkey is one interesting character. According to The Phi the following statements about Schmonkey are true:

His full name is Schmonkey the Monkey Bass Lake Lerma
His birthday is July 16th and for some reason only turned 2 this year.

He is very accident prone and has broken almost every bone in his body.
His Grandmother's name is Sarah and lives in New Orleans. Schmonkey takes trips to visit her often.

He is very afraid of all Targets. When we go to Target he stays in the car.
He eats once every hour.

He hates waking up in the morning so The Phi lets him sleep in as long as possible.
How to Train Your Dragon is one of his favorite movies.

He often vacations in Mexico. Most of his vacation trips are exactly 8 hours long.
His nickname is Greg but only his monkey family calls him that.

His body temperature runs at 205 degrees and today is heading to Antarctica for a short vacation.

Loumaggedon

2011-08-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

So it begins....

Really it began a few weeks ago. I just didn't want to admit it. Then a friend stopped by the office and asked if Lou was walking yet. I told her "No". Then to make a liar out of her own Mom, Lou walked from the copy machine to the conference room table. A good 15 steps. My friend just says, "I call that walking"

So here it is.......

My baby is walking and our lives will never be the same again.

Modern Technology!

2011-08-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

I swear kids are learning how to use all these crazy gadgets so young. Heck I didn't even have an email address until AFTER high school. Ugh I am old.

Anyways Lou at the age of 1 has figured out my Kodak Zi8 camera.

Observe.

I predict this kid has her own iPhone by age 2.