and his name shall be.........

Are you waiting with bated breath??? LOL.
It's Mojito.

I lost on Johnny Cash - although I'm secretly calling him that!! We'll see, he doesn't really seem to be responding to Mojito anyways...but we figured since he IS Cuban, he ought to have a Cuban name....and what's better than mojitos?? Always make me happy.

Oh, and just becasue I've finally gotten all the pictures off my camera, I had to share this one...
sweet, sweet baby...sleep in heavenly peace....

sunny and 80...

I have been so busy the past week or so that I just simply have not had time to sit down and type and I can honestly say that I've missed it tremendously!! It really is therapy for me. I can vent to actual adult humans AND, here's the kicker, no one interrupts me or has a better idea...no, I can just vent and if you choose to continue reading then you do, and if not, c'est la vie, right??
Anyways, we spent the entire day yesterday at the beach! It was 83, sunny, very low humidity and there were actually waves. Hard to imagine that just a few days ago was Christmas... this is one of those fantastic moments when your kids are getting along and all is right with the world. They played so hard, I was shocked that there were no naps on the way home, but I can testify to the fact that there was still sand where you don't want sand today!! Ouch!


Just a few more of the kids on our fun day in the sun...the one of Princess K running makes me think and HUM "chariots of fire" and the others I just think are plain cute.
Now, onto other topics...I've had a deal pending since the end of August on a BIG house...got a call from another homeowner in the same neighborhood that the people who are "renting" the home currently - are scam artists...I pulled all their court records and they seem to move twice a year - that's how often they're evicted!!! How is it that it is not illegal to repeatedly enter into agreements with people and then never deliver your end of the deal?? How is it that these people, who are obviously, abusing the system can continue to do so time and time again?!?! I just don't understand how the judges in our court system don't see these people (a couple of the judges have had them in their courtrooms on more than one occasion) and intervene? And the beauty of it all is that as squatters, they have more rights than the homeowner! So, this is how I will be starting my 2008 - at the police station, so that my seller can gain access to his house! It is really unbelievable!! But then again, it is not illegal to steal someone's identity either. One of my best friends has LITERALLY had her identity stolen on THREE occasions! Found out the thief ordered stereo equipment, where it was being delivered and what time and the police refused to go set up a sting to catch the person. UGH!!!
For those of you who don't live here in the lovely state of Florida, you may not be aware that we have the highest rates of fraud and identity theft and scam artists than in anywhere else in the country....and guess what part of Florida they like to live in? Yep, you've got it....South Florida.
Yes, the weather is great. But at this point, really, I don't know if that's enough of a reason to stay here. If I had my way, we would be moving next week. I love my friends here. I love my church. BUT, I'm not sure this is where I want my kids growing up. But it's hard, hard to just pick up and move...for those of you who know me personally, we're not moving, we're not looking, don't worry...this is just me wishing. PLUS, I just found out that a friend of mine is moving to Michigan. Really bummed about it. It's not like we hung out, but I definitely felt a kindred spirit in this person and really care for their family. I'm happy for them, I know they'll have a much better quality of life and their kids will be happier, but the selfish side of me is going to hate to see them go.
Anywhoo, hope you're having a fantastic weekend!

i ain't gettin' nuttin for christmas....

because I got my gift yesterday. I am pleased to introduce to you (drumroll please)

How cute is this dog?? He is a 12 week old Havanese puppy - with NO name. I am interested in any and all ideas!! Help! My kids are calling him "dog" or "puppy" - which will not do. I liked the idea of calling him "johnny cash" and calling him "cash" for short - which then turned into my son calling him Dash (from Incredibles or short for Dasher, the reindeer). Sooooooooooooooooo, any assistance ya'll can offer would be GREATLY appreciated.
Have a very, merry Christmas!!!

nutcracker...

okay, so this is completely juvenile but, today on the way home from school Little Prince says "I'm gonna crack a nut" - it all began with "coconut, cracknut" then became "crack a nut" - for some reason, this had be howling with laughter. Then, he says "mommy, I'm schwedde" (sweaty) and all I could think of was Pete Schwedde and his Schwedde balls. (SNL)

Have a Fabulous Friday.

sleepwalking....

Okayt, so it's ONE AM. My Little Prince just came out of his room ten minutes ago. He was coughing and I could tell he was half out of it. I asked him if he wanted me to come lay down with him. No answer. Asked him if he wanted some water. No answer. He stumbles back behind the sofa - the play area. I'm sitting on the floor on the laptop when I hear, ever so faintly, water dripping.

I turn around, and lo and behold, he has proceeded to PEE on his train table!!! Luckily, I guess, he and hubcaps had just assembled the train (so there weren't hundreds of cars to clean up, just a few tracks)...but it was still pretty gross.

As moms, we get used to cleaning up these disgusting displays. Poop in the tub - that's a favorite of mine. Vomit of all sorts. Snot. Eeeek. Honestly, the mere sight of snot makes me dry heave. Literally. All kinds of snot. Adult snot, kid snot, baby snot. I'm not talking about the clear runny nose snot - that doesn't bother me one bit. I can wipe it off the kid's face with my bare hand and then smear it on my jeans. It's the green globby snot that hangs there, dangling in the wind....THAT snot makes me heave!! Not even the rotavirus poo made me heave like the snot thing.

I can't take it anymore. I cannot wait until I don't have to hear a "mommy wipe me" from across the house! What a glorious day that will be, no? Don't get me wrong, kids are GREAT - but come on, coudln't we have figured out some way to overcome this? You know, we are so technologically advanced and yet, we still have this "problem" - but I guess it's like Oprah says about "we all poop" - it really is the common denominator. LOL.

Well, I think that's enough of the potty humor. Have a Happy Tuesday!!

Baby It's Cold Outside!!!

Brrrrrrr. I woke up this morning with the blankets pulled tight to my ears. Poked my feet out from under the covers and shivered! Yowza....it's 53 degrees!!!!! In sunny South Florida - this is reason to break out the winter coats. In fact, when I heard the forecast last night, I actually said to hubcaps: "I don't have a coat". Oooooo, we even had a "windchill" temperature - 42!!! I cannot believe it. I pray, pray, pray that just maybe the temps can stay cool through Christmas. If I'm going to heat up my house cooking a FEAST, then I'd like it to at least be a little cooler outside, BUT, then we wouldn't be able to eat outside....it's a toss up.

Life has been pretty uneventful for me...oh, except that I got a bill from the hospital where by daughter had outpatient surgery for A THOUSAND DOLLARS. They billed the insurance company almost $6000!!! Um, my c-section only cost like $9K. So, the thousand dollars is my deductible. Didn't know I had a deductible. Because it was in a hospital, apparently they can make me pay this. Whatever. Good luck to them, because I will not pay it. Asking for an itemized bill today so I can go through it. AACK! I hate when stuff like that happens.

We've got 8 days till Christmas!! I only have a few more gifts to buy - hallelujah!
Hope you're having a good Monday....

ummmmm, is that bacon I smell??

Okay, so it's twenty till FIVE. FIVE IN THE MORNING. I am completely WIDE awake. Straightened the house, did the dishes, wrapped a ton of gifts. To top it all off, I just put some bacon in the oven! Yeah,at 442AM. Crazy, I know. At this point, I'm just going to stay up until I take Little Prince to school and come home and nap. But, we're having friends over tonight, too, so I'm feeling the pressure of having my house look decent.

Tomorrow??? NO CAFFEINE for me! I drank a large sweet tea today and then topped it off with a can of coke around 6PM. Gee, I wonder why I'm not sleepy????

The Polar Express

When I was younger, one of my favorite family Christmas traditions involved reading The Polar Express - actually, we had it on audio and my cousins and I sat around looking at the beautiful pictures and wondered if Santa was really going to be stopping at our houses later that evening!

Lucky for the me, last year (I think)they made Polar Express into a movie - it is now my daughter's favorite movie. She wants to watch it every single night before she goes to bed. Needless to say, I've now seen it about fifty times.

The thing that gets me each time I watch this movie is that the little boy who has never experienced a nice Christmas, when he realizes there is a gift for him, he hangs onto it with every ounce of strength he has. He even goes sliding and falling through all of the North Pole....and then I wonder, why do we not hang onto our faith like that little boy? Why do we not hang onto the relationships around us that are so important? Why do we not work harder at our marriages? Why do we not try harder with our kids to be better parents? Why do we not forgive the people who have hurt us? Why can't we cling to the things that are important to us the way that little boy hangs onto his Christmas present?

i'll step down off my soap box now, thank you

My little Eskimo did it! Little Prince had his very first Christmas program at school tonight! He attends a very small private school here (its actually part of the church where my hubcaps is on staff); anyways, his class dressed like Eskimos from Alaska and sang Let It Snow. Of all the classes, I think his class got the biggest applause because they were just too darn cute!! I was so proud of him! He did almost all of the motions and even smiled from stage. I was a little concerned when we got there because last night he started in on this "I'm a little nervous" thing. Where he heard and learned what nervous means, I don't know...but let me just say thanks to whoever taught it to him. BUT, he overcame and it was great!

One of my best friends and I exchanged our gifts today -she's going to be in Michigan for three weeks, so I think today is the last time I'll see her until the middle of January (ugh!)...she got me this HUGE Vera Bradley duffel and makeup bag - so cute and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Vera Bradley. But I digress..

So, I've done the Christmas Program, opened a gift, bought lots of gifts...the Christmas Season is upon us. I'm really trying hard, can you tell, to NOT say 'holiday'. For those of you who don't celebrate Christmas, I have to believe that you're not offended because I do celebrate, am I wrong? I am not offended by your menorahs and whatever those of you who celebrate Kwanzaa use... but I am very irritated by the signs for 'holiday trees' and 'holiday cookies' - what other holiday has a cookie shaped like Santa Claus? Give me a break. Yes, it's the holiday season - there are a lot of different faiths celebrating different occasions, but more than 90% of our population (USA) celebrates Christmas. Stop telling me to have a happy holiday when I've just dropped $300 in your store for wrapping paper, toys, a tree and ornaments....isn't it kind-of obvious what 'holiday' I'm celebrating?? Geesh. Have a great Wednesday.

14 Days....are you ready??

I am almost finished with Christmas shopping!! Yee Haw! Actual shopping, though, is highly overrated...I'm enjoying not standing in line, not searching for a parking space and not dealing with rude salesclerks. I LOVE online shopping. I always have, but this year, especially, it has brought new found joy. AND, everywhere I've gone has offered free shipping! What's better than that?

My SIL in California is such the sweet person - she sent each of the siblings in her family a package with three gifts, to be opened on the 8th, 15th and 22nd...that way, we will all be together in spirit, if not physically....SUCH A GREAT IDEA! This weekend's gift was a foam 3-D gingerbread house...here's mine :-)


Also, she sent the old-fashioned Jiffy popcorn and M&Ms. We had so much fun as a family doing the craft and eating the goodies; although, I didn't know you couldn't pop that corn on a glass top (thank heavens for burners on our grill!).

We had a really fun weekend...this was sitting in our backyard on Friday...it was HUGE! The tail alone was probably three feet...


THEN, on Sunday, we spent the afternoon (after church) outside! It was such a great day. Both kids were trying to skateboard -- and the Princess is going to be really good! This was her first time on one and daddy let go of her hand for a second and she totally had control....we told her no more until we get a new helmet. She wants a pink one! So, here are a couple pics from the weekend...

Well, enough of that, for all my griping and complaining about the commercialism of Christmas, I am now SO excited!! Mostly, as you moms out there can attest to, because my kids are just so darn excited about it! Princess K is constantly talking about how Santa is at the North Pole, making toys for us. She tells her baby dolls this daily!! Little Prince is going to be in his first Christmas program Tuesday night and he said this evening: "I'm getting a little bit nervous"!! Such a big boy. But their ages right now, are just so much fun. Right now, Santa can do no wrong, he's the guy to know, let me tell you. I actually had to take the little guy to my computer and have him show me what the toy was that he told Santa he wanted becuase I had NO idea what he was talking about - and he's like, "oh, Santa knows"...I made up some story about how Santa called me and wanted to make sure he had the right one. I know, you shouldn't lie...but technically, it's not really a lie, right??

Anyways, I hope you all had a great weekend!! Have a fabulous two weeks before Christmas! Bake some cookies, go to church and love the people around you. Peace.

congrats to me!!

I did it! I just received the BEST award EVER! My son told me this evening that I, yes, me, the one who thinks that if you heat it up yourself - voila, it's homemade - well, anyway, he said that I make the best cookies in the whole wide world and I do the best decorations!

Let me begin by saying that the cookies came out of the Pillsbury tube. The only thing homemade was the icing and that was only because I had forgotten to buy a tub at the store. The decorations? Oh, yeah, it consisted of red sugar crystals. That's it. Simple pleasures, huh?

Illness has been running amok at our house so little guy and hubcaps have been home all week! Now on antibiotics as of yesterday. So today we finished the hanging of the lights outside and then after dinner, we hopped in the hubcaps Jeep sans top and drove around the neighborhood looking at all the lights. The absolute best part of the whole evening was while we were driving, we started singing Christmas carols. It was cool outside (by Florida standards), we had the top off with the wind in our hair and were singing at the top of our lungs...all four of us! It was one of those moments. You know the ones. Where you wish you could freeze time and just stay in that moment for just a bit longer than you actually get. One of those moments where all is right with the world. But, alas, as my son says "you get what you get and you don't get upset" - right? You pull in the driveway, walk up the sidewalk, into the house and BANG, reality sets back in. You have to be the mommy and get little ones teeth brushed, hands washed, PJs on, and tucked into bed....and so it goes.

I hope you get one of those moments, too. They don't come along all that frequently, but when you get one, relish it! Good night.

they're just grapes!!!

I had to run to the grocery store this evening to pick up some milk (rice milk, don't even get me started - no one wants to stock it in their dairy cases for some reason), cereal and something for dinner. I went to my favorite grocery store (Fresh Market) because I find it very relaxing, even if the prices are a little more than Wal-Mart, it's a much nicer shopping experience (see earlier post).

So, I'm picking up some fruit because they have THE best selection of produce. I grab a tub of raspberries, blackberries and then saunter to the grapes. Hmmmmm, those look good, I think to myself. Wait a second, let's back it up.

I visited my shrink today. In case you've forgotten, I started a new medication two weeks ago - right now I think it is a miracle drug. I'm sleeping like a baby, not snappy and edgy BUT I have gained FIVE pounds in TWO weeks. Guess what this genius doctor says to me!?!

DR: the pills are giving you an appetite, huh?
ME: uh, if you mean only craving sweets and shoving them into my face then yeah, those pills give me an appetite
DR: well, you control how much and what you put in your mouth
ME: (staring blankly at him, trying to decide what object in the room has the sharpest point) then I stammer, uh, yeah, I know, I know
then he says:
DR: you need to surround yourself with good foods, not cookies, and eat less and exercise more
ME: (trying not to scream expletives at him) yeah, I know

Like I didn't KNOW that I'm supposed to eat less and workout more. Big dummy (see shopping at Wal-Mart post) - for those of you who really know me, you know big dummy is not the first phrase that came to mind. LOL.
So, now I'm at the grocery store, buying fruits and veggies, because I've gained five pounds in two weeks. By New Year's I'll be weighing in at the truck stop. Kidding. So, I grab a bag of grapes, my kids like them, I like them. Good. We'll snack on those instead of the butter cookies in the tin.

Now I'm in the checkout. The grapes get rung up last. I look at the screen. I actually, literally did a double take. They were $9.30!!!! NINE DOLLARS AND THIRTY CENTS. FOR GRAPES. GRAPES. A bag of grapes. Not grapes a la gold. No diamond accented grapes. Just your plain old, run of the mill, seedless red grapes.

I had the checkout girl take them back. I'm not paying what could be a bottle of wine for a bag of grapes. Ugh.

vomit and pizza and games OH MY!!

Okay - so it's been a super, super busy weekend, which is why I haven't written in a few days. The hectic life started on Thursday, my son's birthday. We celebrated by going to downtown Delray Beach to eat Cuban food al fresco and then to meet Santa Claus - you know, he comes to Florida by firetruck, and we made sure we were sitting on the corner of the street the truck comes to a halt! Santa climbed down from atop the truck and the crowd went crazy.

We then rode a gigantic 200 seat carousel. We ate caramel apples. It was a wonderful birthday for my little prince and a great way to bring in the Christmas season. A grand time was had by all.

Friday, I had invited three boys to go to Chuck E Cheese for pizza and games and then back to my house for a sleepover!! Am I crazy? Yes, I think I just might be. I made sure the adult to child ratio was 1:1, which was good. The boys had a great time, the adults even had fun, too! We ate pizza, played skee-ball and ate cake. All in all, a typical birthday party. Until, little prince says, "I think I should go wash my hands". Me: "um, yeah, that's a great idea"...his papa takes him to the little boys' room.

Unfortunately for all of us, this is when the party comes to a screeching halt!!! My little angel proceeded to fill all three of the sinks with vomit. In between purging episodes, he tells my father aka papa "i don't ever want to drink orange soda again"!!! I know I shouldn't find that funny, but I do. I think it is stinking hilarious! Now, him throwing up in my van on the way home? Not so funny.

So, on the way home, I called the other moms and asked them to meet us to pick up their little guys. We really thought he had just over-drank and played and got sick, but now, we know he actually had a little bug. Later the same evening, he had a fever of 100.9 and fell asleep playing his brand new Leapster L-Max. So sad.

So does this mean I've survived my first sleepover? Or does it mean I still have to face that challenge?? We'll see. I'm up for the challenge, let me tell ya.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and I'm so glad it was, because today has turned out to be a day from hell. More on that later. Have a good one.