The Truth Hurts

From the first time I heard her voice, I fell in love

Mariah is my all time favorite singer- hands down

(Haters-please leave the comments to yourself! and sister I promise not to tell anyone that you sung along to her songs at the concert!)
I know she's a little coo coo at times

but you cannot deny that noone can belt it out like she does

and since she writes alot of her own music

most of the songs DO end up sounding exactly like the last one,

she repeat what she's said before

that just makes it easier for ME to learn the words,

so it's all GOOD

Love you Mariah!!

Since I have such a love for this girl

her music is always playing in my car

If I've got a 6 disc player, probably 4, if not 5 out of the 6 are full of her cd's

I know, I know, you can hook up ipods, but that's just too much damn technolgy!

Her music blasts as loud as possible from my speakers

I sing at the top of my lungs

and yes, if I'm really into it,

I'll even do the one finger holding my ear just to make sure I'm on key!

(now if you've ever heard me sing, you know just how wrong that is!!)

Since I know babies are soothed by the sounds that they hear in the womb

With baby #3, I was sure that it was gonna be something I could stand to listen to over and over

You may think I'm crazy

but to this day (my boy is now 3 1/2)

if he is/was EVER fussy, crying, screaming in the car

pop in MC (Emancipation CD is his favorite!)

within the first two bars

S I L E N C E

People are actually quite amazed at how this works,

Grandma would always yell, Where's Mariah??!!!

However as your children get older

they come to realize the truths in life

Their parents are just not quite the super human that they believed them to be

(My girls are now 15 and 12)

This is what they proceed to tell me as we're driving down the street the other day...

Teenager: I remember when I thought you could sing like Mariah

Pre-teen: oh yeah, me too

Teenager: I used to tell ALL my friends you could sing just like her

Pre-teen: I got in a fight with a kid at school about it

He said his mom could sing like Mariah

I said no, my mom REALLY does sing just like her!

Me: What do you mean? You think I don't sound like her?

Maybe it's cause I had the music up so loud

Teenager: No, I think it's cause now we're allowed to sit in the front seat!!!!

Sometimes, the truth hurts!

My boy and hubby went home the other night to an empty house

This was the first night for the girls to be at their dad's house for their weekly visit

And I had to go to off to do a show right after my day job

(I'm also in the business of putting the Passion and romance back into the lives of couples)

So there they were, just the boys

ALONE in the house

with nothing but their McDonald's in hand

he looks at his daddy and says,

Daddy, my heart is bothering me

Why? asks Hubby

Cause my sissies and mommy aren't home!

(of course by now his lip is purched out)

His daddy let him call his sisters...

he asked them to come home right now!

Aaaahhhh...talk about heart wrenching!!!!!!!!

Oh, the guilt I felt!!

Unfortunately he was already asleep by the time I got home that night.

But the next morning, he hugged and kissed me like never before

He's never been much of a mama's boy

Maybe absence does make the heart grow fonder!

Beach Comber

At this awesome resort they have their own private beach on the river.

It's really quite cool! Sandy man made beach on the river

Fully equipped with cabanas to shade you from the desert sun.

Being that we have 7 familes, 5 small kids under 5, and a buttload of teenagers we decide we need 2 cabanas! Everyone at the resort has warned us that we need to be down there at the crack of dawn to save a cabana.

So the mom's of the group decide we'll meet at 5am, oh yeah, you read that right, 5AMOf course being that we are staying at a casino, this it's not so easy to fall asleep at a decent our, so I think most of them were not in bed until 2am. None the less, 5am, let the texting begin...

you up yet?

coming down?

let's go

5:15am , here I am at the bottom of the elevator, with bamboo mats, beach bag full of towels & snacks, bathing suit and slippers. My sister and cousin are resting their heads against the wall, desk, or whatever their heads seem to land on!

We get down to the beach, WHAT? We're the ONLY ones out here? Great, we get our pick of cabanas.

So we start with the two closest to the steps...plop our stuff down

Ummm...this looks to close to the traffic that may launch their seados

Trek,trek, trek - in the sand!! to the other side of the beach, plop our stuff down

Ummm....look at all those rocks before you get into the water, that's gonna hurt the babies feet!

Trek, trek, trek- now we're in the middle of the beach

No rocks

No traffic

Awww...perfect!

So we lay out our towels and beach mats, put the bags down and try to arrange everything in a fashion that says, these are MY spots!

So off my sister and cousin go - to lay their heads back down with the little ones.

I'm awake and there's no way I can fall back asleep, so I'll hold down the cabanas til the clan arrives...

About 5 minutes later, the beach rakers arrive. Now picture these machines with a piece of metal gate attached to the back. They proceed to drive back and forth along the beach, picking up pieces of trash as they see them. I'm thinking how nice it is that this place keeps all of their facilities so tidy.

That is until crazy beach comber man starts picking up speed...

faster and faster he begins to take his loops around the beach

Mind you, I've been relaxing for the past 10 minutes or so, taking lovely pictures of the sunrise

from this angle
and this angle I'm keepin an eye on beach comber aman nd let me tell you, that's a good thing because he grabs a hold of one of our beautifully laid out towels with his gate!

So I'm RUNNING, SCREAMING....

Hey!!!

Wait!!

Hey, my towel!!! Arms flailing...I'm running

He doesn't even look my way!

I know he's got to come around

So I turn around and start running the other way...

Arms flailing (in front of him this time)

HEY!!!!!!!!!!WAIT!!!!!!!!!!

He stops his machine.

Turns around.

Now he sees that he has my beautiful blue beach towel (well actually my cousins) that has just been drug thru the sand at 40mph on one side of his gate and a piece of PVC pipe has grabbed onto the other. Then this strange evil laugh comes out of his mouth...

MUUAAHHHHAHAAHAHAHAAA!!

He never looks at me or makes any sort of notion that I'm there

I race to get my towel out from the grips of his gate as fast as I can.

Awww, success! just in time

Because off he goes again at 40 mph!

And if that wasn't bad enough...

by 9am we bring the little ones down to the beach thinking about what a great day we're gonna have in the sun and sand.

As I'm walking to the beach, the boy is complaining that he doesn't want sand in his shoes and wants to go to the pool...

Kim, Kaia, and Shaedon are already at the beach

Kaia is asking when we're going back to the hotel

Shae is 1 so he's throwing sand at the kids cause it's fun

The birds pecked open my bag of chips as we tried to show the kids the water

Needless to say by 9:15 we were packed up and headed back to the pool!

We Are F A M I L Y

This past weekend we gathered up all the kinfolk and had our
1st Annual Family Reunion

Now the funny part about this is that we actually all live within 12 miles of each other

and we probably have dinner together a few nights a month if not per week

But hey, this is just another reason to PARTY

(and if you read my blogs, you know we love to partay)

And what would a party be without goody bags?

So for the little ones they received the little blow up swimmers, an apple, and some cookies

And the adults received boredum busters, snacks, tylenol, and oh yeah...

a THONG!

We told you guys DO NOT joke about wearing speedo thongs around the pool!

Mom took it to a whole new level and brought embroidered thongs

as Father's Day gifts to all the fellas

Meet "Corny's Cob" "Nappy Head"
"Isy Big"

And my spicy hubby "Tapatio Rivas"

One of the first things we noticed as we entered the bathrooms on the main floor is this:

I was quite a bit freaked out and thought I had just planned this Family Reunion at a junkie hotel

But after walking around and viewing the patrons, I realized this was retirement heaven!

whehhh...what a relief!

Most of our time was spent down at the pool - RELAXING!

They had a fabulous pool for the kiddies so you could let your children roam without worrying

A seperate pool for the older kids and another for the adults

Ater having dinner we'd all commence at the pool again...

I said candid shots, they think that means pose!

Sat night we were able to get all the teenagers to watch the little ones and had "Date Night"

This is our final night, and we're probably missing about 1/3 of the people in this shot!

Told ya' there's alot of us!

Here's to the beginning of summer and making alot more memories!

I see Rainbows

As the boy sits in the backseat rambling and questioning everything in the universe

Why are we stopping?

Where are we going?

Why doesn't that kid have a helmet on?

Is that man mad at you again mom?Did you give him a thumbs up? (that's a whole 'nother story)

We hear

"I see Rainbows!"

Now it's about 8pm, dark as night, and

we're all wondering what in the world is the boy talking about now?

As I turn around to check him out I notice
he's got these cool 3-d shades on that he "borrowed" from cousin Papaya

"I see Rainbows!"

"But not like this (looking straight a head), like this(now with the tilted puppy dog head)!"

So that makes the rest of us curious
and one by one
The Preteen tries on the glasses
tilt
"Oh yeah!"

Then the Teenager

tilt

"Oh, cool" (yes very sarcastically, she's a teenager)

Of course I wanna try too, but I like a good driver wait for a red light!

glasses, check

tilt, check

Rainbows, check!

"Mom, the lights green!!"

ooh pretty rainbow!

Hubby thinks he's pretty cool too, but he gets in on the rainbow checking action!

Of course, really what we're seeing is the just the blur of the traffic lights

No need for the acid trip people, just get some 3d glasses!

And just for fun, I'd like to drive you crazy with some optical illusions found while searching for blurred traffic light photos

Enjoy!


I feel nauseous now...

Windy road of love

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." ~Mignon McLaughlin

Here at Days of Five Lives, I've gotta admit the roads not always an easy one to travel

First off we've got 1 full blown teenage girl complete with hormones, eye rolling, and all the peer pressure of being a freshman in high school.

Closely following is the preteen with all the pre pms "fun", trying to find her place during her first year in jr high, and middle child syndrome!

And then there's the boy! 3 going on 4, with the confusion of am I still a baby or boy...He's whining, he's not. He can do tricks on his bike, head stands like a Jabba Wokee and will fall without crying, but don't let his cousin take away his toy, 'cause he's gonna scream like the world has come to an end!

And last but not least - we're a blended family. The trials and tribulations of step parents and step kids is really a tough reality. It truly is trials of figuring out your family dynamic and working together to make it all work.

We have our downs but thank God we also have our ups.

We've got a teenager that spills her guts about what's going on in her life even though it may not be things that we're "ready" to hear! She still wants to sit on mom's lap and act like a little kid.

A preteen that is always willing to help (yes of course after a little whining), she loves to cheer anyone up if they're not happy, willing to help with dinner, make breakfast and lunch for her siblings so we're not late for school in the morning

And that little boy that brings us all together with his sweet smile and crazy antics!

We've had to find our way, decipher body language, figure out code words. Chased crying kids down the street, calmed frazzled nerves, walked away when things aren't going in the right direction.

But we've got girls that will now accept hugs without pulling away. Kids that request family night and countdown the days til we have it...

It's been a long road, and I know it's not over, but it's been worth the ride!

last night I even caught a glimpse of hubby just hanging out and talking in their room...

Those are the things that make you fall in love again.

Party Pooper

Talk about a weekend full of partying...and this aint no college party partyin'

this is some serious 4 year old party action going on!!

And really, how much fun would it be to just have 1 party in a weekend

I think 4 parties in one weekend is WAY funner!

This little guy was made for the preteens bday friend!

Ever since I learned about this talent, her friends will not be receiving any other gift...sorry!!

you give my daughter $50, i'm giving your daughter a monster made out of a sock!

It's the thought that counts right?!

(and who the hell gives their kid's friend $50 as a gift??!!,

you're setting the standards way too high! I mean, thanks!)

Next morning we were up early for Santi's bday party

Santi is the boy's BFF!

They've known each other since the boy was 4 months old and now he's 3 1/2 so that's a lifetime

Sandra of course is his "mommy", his first love, the best daycare provider you'll find!

She's loved our boy like he was her own from day one.

The boy stopped going to her last Sept,

but still talks about them everyday as if he still sees them.
He was able to spend the night last week.

He cried 'til he fell asleep when we left...that was over his excitement to see me, I'm sure!
We had to rush him out of that party and on the road to make little cousin Kaeden's party!
No pics because it was one of those organized jumpy places, once I took my shoes off and stuffed all my goods in the little cubicle, I didn't look back (or go back for my camera)

It was a ton of fun and quite surprised Ethan was able to stay awake for the whirlwind of partyin'

As we left that party, I asked the boy if he had fun

Yes, he answered.

I said, I'm pooped son, how bout you?

NO!! (with a look of disgust)

Did you poop your pants mom??!!!

Now just you wait, cause the partying was not over!

Kim was over later THAT night and we were up til midnight

(yes the boy stayed up the whole time)

while Kim made this fab DJ Lance cake - wikee wikee (that's me scratching on the turntables)

and I attempted to roll out Airheads to make monsters

I want you all to try and roll out an Airhead!

It's sort of like licking your cotton candy

then trying to fluff it back up with your fingers

FUN i tell you!

It was all for the love of that little Kaia Papaya
The monster party went off without a hitch and we had a blast!
We had to get a picture of us before we looked tired and sweaty
That's my dad and all his girls
Oh, check out Sammi's iron on, too cute!!

And here's the little monster children coloring monsters. See why we're pooped!

Monster Mash

That little Papaya girl is having her 4th bday party this weekend.

Since I'm her favorite auntie and all -

I've gotta create her a fabulous present!

It's a Monster Party so she's getting a clan of monsters!

These were my first attempts at figuring out that sewing machine mom just gave me

but alot of it was handstitched too
"TooToo" is her name cause she is just too too cute!

made from one of Kaia's old t-shirts.

I made Kaia a matching tutu so they can be monster princesses together! Of course my boy would not let me make Kaia monsters without making him one too

So meet "Patch" - he wards off bedtime monsters!

We'll call her "Frankie"

I'm obsessed with opening up my lab to create my monsters when I get home from work

I can't clean up and cook dinner fast enough!

Last night "One-da" was born

I was tempted to call her Octo-mom

but she's had enough glory

I think she might be my favorite (shhh don't tell the others)

Of course the boy knows they must all have the glamour shots after being born
so he grabbed them and set them all up for their photo shoot
he's become quite the photographer
I thought he had put them in time out

But he said "they're hiding from me"

I love 3 year old brains!

Happy Birthday Kaia Papaya

Unlimited text messages

I know texting is "the thing" to do

I get it

So of course being a mom of 2 teenage girls, I opt for unlimited text messaging

#1. We will avoid a hefty bill and any "surprises" at the end of the month

#2. We will avoid confrontations from #1

#3. It gives me something to take away when teenagers don't act right!

What I didn't get was how they used so many texts

until I begin to receive text conversations like this:

7:30am
her: Mom what day is the party

me: Sunday

her: Ok, can we go

me: Yes

her: What time is the party?

me: 12

her: ok

her again: have a good day at work

her again: bye love you

me: love you too

her: okay

her again: bye

3:30 pm

her: mom can you make me a black tutu

me: i can show you how

her: ok

her again: okay alright well thanks i will let you go

her again: okay bye

her again: bye

Are we supposed to say ok and bye 5 times before we stop texting?

Am I the only one that doesn't do this?

I crack up every time she does this, thank goodness for unlimited text messaging!