Category: Eenan

Austin & the Kiddos!

Wednesday, June 27th

Another day at work and it was Gerry’s birthday. Which meant we were having cake, which meant I wasn’t going to be able to resist! I didn’t know, however, that we were having cake TWICE. First it was my favorite: almond creme cake and then strawberry shortcake. And I ate both. Ugh.

I spent the day collecting my “bills” at work since they were due. Requested my vacation time and it was approved, woo! Spent some time on Pinterest. Covered Rosie’s break since it was my week. 5 o’clock rolled around and I went to pick up the kiddos :). Finally!

We got home and the girls open the fridge. Their request for dinner? Pigs in a blanket. This time, they all asked to make their own :).

Jaylen making his piggie Eenan making his piggie The girls with their finished piggies

I popped theirs in the oven and then made some for the adults:

Crescent Rolls :)

Something different, and the crescents were probably super fatty, but they were SO GOOD!

We sat down for dinner, then watched their shows on the TV. Jorge got home and ate and we waited about 30 minutes before going for our jog. My knees were still in pain, but I didn’t want to NOT go. This time we went down the dirt road again. Jorge was being kind of moody and it took some convincing to get him out there, but he did. He didn’t want to jog, kept moping, so eventually I jogged half a mile on my own, then jogged back to him to go walk the rest of it with him. I was skeptical about going without him because he NEVER runs without me, but I hadn’t even started to sweat and wanted to jog. I kept replaying shoving cake into my mouth over and over again in my head. My knees were KILLING me by the end of my jog, but I didn’t stop.

We got home, I did Ab Ripper on my own while Jorge showered, and then I showered and iced down my knees as I sat with the kids to watch TV :). Jorge got over his mood and we snuggled when it was time for bed :).

Thursday, June 28th

Work was the usual. I covered Rosie’s break and by the time I knew it, it was lunch time. I ate at work, then covered the rest of the day since Rosie was out for the rest of the week since she was going on vacation. I’m glad I was up front; I finally got to take a photo with Valente Rodriguez!

Ernie! Mr. Valente Rodriguez :)

I wasn’t glad that I was up front because I had to endure the junk food sitting behind me, waiting for us to eat it:

Junk food at work, grrr

I did have 1 large chocolate cookie. And told myself I needed to jog like crazy to make up for it.

Jorge texts me later on that there’s drama happening; we needed to put up some signs and stuff at his mom’s house right after work. So I closed up shop when 5 o’clock rolled around and then we headed over there and did what we had to do. As a treat to ourselves, we picked up a Michelada from Ramos Drive Thru and some pig skins, heh. That place is a must-stop when we drive over there together.

Jorge had some buddies over that night so the kids and I just chilled out all evening. It sucked that we didn’t jog, though, because I had those few things I shouldn’t have, but oh well. We’d get back to it the next day.

Friday, June 29th

Jorge and I were running late that morning; the one morning I had to actually arrive early to cover the front desk. Beto was understanding and I got into my routine. I had a half an oatmeal cookie and some yogurt for breakfast. And coffee of course. I bought some fishing vouchers with the Deal of the Day. The rest of the day was slow, but I spent the time that I wasn’t answering phones/helping people reading blogs and my eBook. Michelle spent some time up front with me. I ran some errands during my break. We were preparing for our vacation to Austin with the kiddos :). I couldn’t wait!

I chilled out with the kiddos after work, made some Alfredo bow-tie pasta with chicken and broccoli (which the kids devoured :)). Jorge got home, ate and then we went for our jog. This time we jogged 4 miles! I did Ab Ripper while Jorge started on the brakes and rotors on the car. They needed a change and no better time to do it than before a little road trip! I’m so glad he’s so handy .

Saturday, June 30th

Jorge went to work the next morning and I TRIED sleeping in, but I knew I had stuff to do, so I got up and had a small breakfast and started sorting laundry. The girls kept calling me so I spent time with them first so I could do everything I needed to uninterrupted. I cut painted Emily’s nails, helped Alaethia tape her art onto a cardboard airplane she made (heh), read them all their library books since we needed to return them before the trip, gave them snacks, got them watercoloring AND THEN I could start on the laundry, make lunch, cleaned the ENTIRE inside of the car from top to bottom (vacumming, Tuff-Stuffing, etc., WHILE it rained and got dark on me, grr), and then I went to the grocery store to buy Mom’s stuff for the week and the snacks we’d be taking with us for the road trip. I was BEAT by the time Jorge and his boys got home. I made dinner (enchiladas), we all ate and then we started with the packing. Jorge packed his stuff after dinner and then I got my head together and made a list, which I always do before a road trip, so we wouldn’t forget anything. The kids were showered, and dressed, I laid everything out for the next day, Jorge loaded the (clean!) van and then we showered. As tired as I was, I couldn’t WAIT to spend the next few days with the kiddos, my love and his mom in Austin!

Sunday, July 1st

We woke up an hour later than we planned to, heh. We got all the kiddos ready, fast. We packed the rest of our stuff in the van and we were off!

We’re almost near Falfurrias and Emily and Eenan kept bickering back and forth. Emily screams, “Mooooom!! Eenan has his feet on the seat!” I sigh and tell her, “Mama, if Eenan bothers you so much close your eyes.” Eenan, a little offended, jokingly says, “Ohh. That’s kind of insulting!” LOL That kid always makes me laugh!

We joked and listened to music all the way to Falfurrias, where we stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast. The kids were so well-behaved. It makes me feel great when strangers look at our group and smile, almost in awe of how good they are :). They have their moments, sometimes, because they’re kids of course, but I’m so proud of their behavior *beams*.

I had my first real-sugar coffee that day, a hazelnut latte. And my breakfast was the new blueberry banana nut oatmeal. It was great!

We got back in the car and blasted the music. The boys were entertained with electronic gadgets, Jorge and I sang at the top of our lungs and the girls put in a request here and there ♥. We had several bathroom stops, but it was fun!

After one of the bathroom stops, probably somewhere after Ben Bolt, I notice that Jorge was starting to get those sleepy eyes of his. At one point he’s wearing his glasses and I say, “I LOVE YOU!” a little more loudly that I thought. Jorge becomes startled. Apparently he WAS nodding off and I scared him LOL! Thank God for that!

Stuck Like Glue comes on and he sings, “And just when I, I start to fall asleep…there you go screaming I love you again…” to the tune of the song!

I tell him, “I didn’t scream! I said it in a normal voice!” Eenan nonchalantly says, “Well. Your voice sounds different in your own head. So…” Damn boys! Hilarious!

Eenan kept calling me Mawmaw throughout the trip. At one point I laugh about it and he says, in his best country voice, “I think Mawmaw’s sick, Paw”. We couldn’t stop laughing.

I don’t know how Jorge and I started talking about the kids, and them growing so quickly and OMG, what would we do if they ever started with their relationships or heaven forbid, drugs or bad stuff like that. I look back at Eenan, who’s listening to the conversation and I glare at him and say, “If this kid ever tries anything I’ll grab him the way you [Jorge] grabs Ruffles from the neck and I’ll shake him around, I swear it! I’ll scream, ‘Tell me, tell me what you were doing, you darn kid!’,” and without skipping a beat, Eenan says in his country voice, “I tried the Ecstasy, Mawmaw!” LOL That was the running joke the rest of the trip! (I did stress that drugs were NOT a joke and WERE NOT ok, EVER !)

We joked and continued to listen to music the rest of the trip and arrived at Dina’s around 1pm. We hugged her and settled in. I looked around her apartment and my heart swelled with affection when I noticed she had photos up of all the kiddos and the one of Jorge and I at the beach . It was the best feeling!

We caught up and then ordered Papa John’s since we were all hungry already. I behaved and had 1 1/2 slices…ok maybe I didn’t behave as well as I could have; I had some of that darn garlic (BUTTER) sauce .

We finished eating and headed to the hotel to check in. We got a great rate; we paid for 4 days, 3 nights what we would have on that room for ONE NIGHT!

We checked in, and dropped all our stuff off in the room. The kids said, “This is the best hotel, EVER!!” We were disappointed that we weren’t going to have a roll-away bed, or a sofa bed, because they told us we would when we booked the room on Wednesday night. Even though Jorgie and Justin would probably stay at Dina’s (which they did), we wanted to have the option of the extra bed in case they wanted to stay with us.

We got all the kids changed and went to the pool. I honestly think that was what they were most excited about. The past two times we’ve stayed at hotels we haven’t had a chance to get into the pools at all, so this was a special treat for them.

Some of us :)

I was really nervous about letting Jaylen in the pool. It’s bad enough that I’m already paranoid about ANY of the kids being in the pool, but even moreso after having a dream a few nights before that Jaylen was drowning in a 10-foot pool ! Needless to say, I was watching them all like a hawk!

The boys found a pair of goggles and took turns using them. Dina had a soccer ball in the car and the boys and Jorge chased each other for it :). It was a great, great time!

We all got into the hot tub for a while and then went inside and washed up and changed. We went to IHOP for dinner. Kids eat free? Heck yes, hehe.

The service was really slow, which annoyed Jorge since there was literally NO ONE ELSE in the entire restaurant. All the kids were happy with their food, and the waitress did bring us everything we asked for (eventually) so it was a good meal :).

Dina got a call from work; an alarm had gone off. We parked and Jorge went in with her to check what was going on. All was well, and they returned. We headed to the hotel and changed into our PJ’s. The boys played their DS & PSP, the girls sprawled in their queen size bed. Jaylen wanted the sofa and Eenan was sharing the bed with the girls. Both girls tried kicking him out, saying there wasn’t enough space for him LOL. That’s hilarious considering they squeeze into Mom’s twin bed with her when they escape from their room, the scaredy cats!

Wed watched Disney Channel with the kiddos till we all fell asleep :).

Monday, July 2nd

I had a hard time sleeping the night before. My mind was still in work-mode and I kept worrying about weird things, like my alarm. Then I worried that we wouldn’t wake up on time for breakfast. Then I started worrying about our main bank account, which we hadn’t had a chance to deposit into while we were at home. For some reason I thought it was Wednesday and forgot to pay a bill. I even got online at 5am to look for the closest bank (there wasn’t one!) and then I realized the account was fine and the bill wasn’t due yet. Yes, I’m weird like that.

I got a few more hours of sleep and then woke up all the kiddos and got the girls ready. We headed to the dining room and all the kiddos picked their breakfast. Alaethia & Emily: cereal, half a blueberry muffin and apple juice. Eenan had the eggs, sausage, and waffles. Jaylen had eggs, sausage and a muffin. I had a little bit of everything, including French vanilla coffee. Jorge joined us a bit later and ate, too :). We got back to the room and Dina called, letting us know she’d made us tacos, aww :).

We headed over there and chilled out. We discussed what was on the agenda for the day and decided we’d do the hike that day. By the time we got the cooler, drinks, and everything ready it was near noontime. We gave each child a water bottle and I carried the snacks in my bag.

We got to the park and gave everyone a snack. They ate, we made sure everyone peed and then we were off.

Dina and the kiddos :)

All of us :)

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Jorge & Justin in the roots :)

Cardinal

The kids did wonderfully! I was worried about the girls, but they were intrigued by the fishies and froggies in the riverbed and enjoyed the walk and snacks. We even found a fossil out there and saw the rocks that had crumbled from the dryness since last year. Emily got tired at the end so we carried her. We were glad the kids enjoyed it. Or so, I hope they did, heh.

We picked up some Popeye’s Chicken on the way to the hotel. The kids were ravenous and they ate well and sat to watch TV. Jaylen wanted to play with Jorgie and Justin and asked to stay at Dina’s so he went with them. The rest of us went to the bank and then to Walgreen’s to get the girls some hair detangler. Eenan went with me while Jorge stayed with the girls and we witnessed drama between the cashier and an old lady. Oh! That reminds me! We witnessed a lady peeing outside Dina’s apartment, by the street at a bus stop. Mmhmm. Just bare-bummed, not a care in the world. Ah, Austin LOL.

We got back to the hotel and Dina and the kids met us there. We all changed into our swim suits and got in the pool. And the jacuzzi. And the pool. And back and forth because the girls kept wanting to switch. So there go Dina and I, over and over LOL. We all paid for it later that evening, when we all had knee/leg aches! Thank God I took the Motrin with me; the girls were fine in 30 minutes after taking it :). Everyone bathed and Jaylen took off with Dina and the boys again. We were hungry, so around 9pm we started looking for a place that would deliver Chinese take-out. We didn’t have much luck, so we just went to the nearest Chinese buffet and we ordered some boxes of food. AND we got a 20% off discount for going near closing time, heh. I felt bad ’cause the other kids didn’t get to eat with us, though :(.

Tuesday, July 3rd

The next morning, Jorge and I took turns bathing and then we got all the kiddos ready for breakfast. I loved the coffee there. I think that was the morning I actually had a danish, heh. We finished up and after some lazying around we went to Dina’s. Jaylen confronts me as I enter the living room about the Chinese food! He says, “I saw it on Facebook!” Dammit LOL. I promised him we’d get some when they were with me the next week :).

We sprawled and lazied around at Dina’s for a while. We decided to visit IKEA that day. We wanted to finally get our nightstands and a few other things, like replacing Jorge’s shower mirror that fell and shattered in the bathroom. Dina said she’d stay with all the kids so we could go and come quickly, but the girls wouldn’t have stayed. All the boys wanted to stay with her. She said she’d find something for them to do and we took off with the girls.

Most of the displays were under construction, so that wasn’t very exciting . We saw the nightstands and they looked much smaller than we remembered. The size of our bed would dwarf them, so we scratched that idea. We did get a few things here and there, like my loves robe (finally!), his mirror, curtains ($2.99 each!) and rods for the girls’ room, a toy for the girls, dish cloths, another moon nightlight for the boys, an over-the-door hanger for our robes for our bathroom and other random things we needed for the house.

We had lunch there (the girls ate free!).

Lunch at IKEA

I fell in love with that tea!

We paid for our stuff and got back to Dina’s apartment. She’d taken the boys to a book shop, where they all bought comic books. They were reading them when we got there :). She also took Eenan to another store, where he finally found the Pokemon game he wanted to buy with the birthday money Mom gave him.

We chilled out at Dina’s, talking, laughing. We took out the laptop to figure out what we’d do the next morning. The entire trip we’d been planning to either go to the Natural Bridge Caverns or the Safari in San Antonio on the way home. We got the kids together to take a vote, and we were split down the middle. It started to become an argument amongst them so I told them, “Ok, guys, listen! If we don’t do the caverns or safari, then how about we get a pool instead?” There was a unanimous “YES!!!” So that was that.

Emily took a nap and then Dina popped some pizza’s in the oven for dinner. We ate, waited a bit and got ready to head to the hotel for one last night of swimming together. It was bittersweet. As much as I missed home it felt great to hang out with Dina and just be together with all our kiddos :).

This time we were smart, and chilled in the pool and later the hot tub. No leg aches for us that night!

Jorgie and Justin left with Dina. I started getting all our stuff together and got the kiddos washed and changed. I cuddled with the girls and Alaethia said, “Can we stay here forever, Mama??” Emily had said, “Can we live here, at the hotel?” in her cute little voice. Aww! We watched Disney Channel again with them till we fell asleep.

Wednesday, July 4th

We woke up and had breakfast at the dining room. The boys kept saying how much they loved how they changed the main meal every day, heh. That day they had French toast. Hadn’t had French toast in FOREVER!

Jaylen and Eenan shared a waffle. The first morning we ate there Eenan got a tummy ache. Jorge reminded them, but they made and ate it anyway. I made myself two cups of French vanilla coffee (what? They’re small!) and we went back to the room. Jorge and the kids watched a movie on Disney Channel while I finished packing. Jorge packed the van while Jaylen ran to the bathroom. Jorge was right: the waffles struck again!

Jaylen was ok, after a while, and then we all got into the van, turned in our keys at the front desk and went to Dina’s apartment. We picked up the boys, said our see-you-laters 🙁 and we were off.

We blasted the music again and as always, the trip back seems faster. By the time we knew it, it was lunch time. We stopped at a McDonald’s somewhere I can’t remember. The kiddos ate, we had our bathroom breaks and continued on our journey. The girls were giggling and loud LOL, and eventually passed out. We wanted to do something awesome for 4th of July; I had it in my head we’d make s’mores and pop fireworks. Then Jorge reminded me that we can’t pop fireworks here. New Years was a close call–there were cops everywhere and we only got to pop them by 10pm by the time they swarmed the neighborhood. We were getting home around 5pm, then Mom and I had to get some stuff from Walmart, get flowers for Gramma and visit her for her birthday. Our back-up plan would be the fireworks display, but you have to get there extremely early to get a good parking spot. I didn’t want the kids to have a crappy night, and it was Mario’s night anyway, so I called to let him know he could get the kids that day after all. He said ok.

We got home and Mario was arriving as we were. I kept hugging the kiddos; I already felt sad that they were leaving for a week :(.

Jorge and I unloaded the van, put everything away and I started on laundry. We rested a while and then his boys’ mother arrived for them. Mom and I went to Walmart, got everything we needed and visited with Gramma a while. I couldn’t help but feel sad about the kids. Didn’t help that I was PMS’ing BIG TIME.

Jorge tried making the night better for me. He even planned this super adorable picnic; he was going to put a blanket on the roof so we could see the fireworks display and was going to order pizza for us. The neighbor’s tree was blocking the view, so that idea went out the window. I was becoming emotional and started to get angry and feel even worse when the neighbors started shooting each other with fireworks and there wasn’t ONE COP IN SIGHT!! I felt bad for Jorge; he tried his best to make me feel better. But I really missed the kids and felt like crap that they weren’t there.

I eventually calmed down and he sweetly asked me to climb up the ladder with him, which he’d placed in a different part of the yard, to see the fireworks. I was surprised that we actually had somewhat of a view. I told him next year I wanted to plan things right. Next year, I want to take the kids to the fireworks display.

Our pizza got here and we ate with Mom. Javi came to pick up his medicines and a few other things we brought with us for him from Austin and I calmed down a bit more. He left and Jorge and I sat outside talking about everything. He told me some super sweet things and we just reminisced :).

Thursday, July 5th

We actually slept in late! We woke up, showered and headed to our spot, Espi’s. We were too late for breakfast, so we had lunch. We ate and surfed on our phone for stores that carried the type of pool we wanted. We found one on the Walmart website. We planned to go to the movies to watch “Ted” and we had some time so we went to Walmart first.

It was the WORST experience at a Walmart, ever. No one ever helped us, and when I finally lost my patience and asked for a manager, they sent the boy I asked to come back and tell me they wouldn’t honor their website price. The price at the store was $20 more. After waiting for 45 minutes, the issue wasn’t the price-matching, it was the fact that the store had the worst customer service on the planet. When an assistant manager FINALLY came to talk to us, she basically told us they weren’t going to help us and since she had just come in for her shift, she couldn’t do anything about us waiting for 45 minutes prior. OMG. I was so mad. I sent a very angry letter to corporate! I haven’t received any type of reply, but whatever.

Jorge tried to calm me down; he doesn’t like seeing me upset. He says I’m his ray of sunshine LOL. I tell him I can’t be happy all the time, darnit! Especially when dealing with horrible, rude people.

We checked several other stores and finally ended up going to the movies before we missed the showing, again. The movie was a total guy movie, but it was funny. Jorge couldn’t stop cracking up. We had a good laugh :).

We went to a different Walmart, the one nearest to the house and bought the one they had. It was the last one!

We spent all afternoon trying to figure out how to level the ground and where in the world we were placing the pool. The one we had last year was on very unleveled ground and the water was lopsided. We didn’t want the same thing to happen again. Tony came over to visit and we researched what to do. He left and we went to bed early. We had an early day on Friday.

Friday, July 6th

We woke up sorta earlyish. I had some Lucky Charms cereal and paid some bills and argued with Furniture Row about how they were placing my payments, grr. John texted that he was coming over, so we waited a bit. When he never arrived we headed to Walmart for a few things, like a shovel.

We got back and Jorge continued with his research. He placed a stake in the ground, tied a 10-foot wire to it and spray painted an almost perfect circle. We were impressed. He started digging out the patches of grass and I helped a little. Then it was lunchtime so John and I picked up plates from El Pato. We all ate outside, including Mom, and then Jorge and I got to work. John left. We spent the rest of the day digging out grass, smoothing out dirt, and finally Jorge got an 8ft 2/4, taped a level to it, and we started leveling out the dirt. We were actually MISSING dirt so we drove to Freddy’s ranch to get some more. I entertained myself with the horses since Jorge wouldn’t let me shovel dirt. We came back home, and finished leveling. When we finally leveled the entire “circle”, we brought the huge box out to start installing the pieces. The first thing we needed to do was lay out the ground cover. We searched everywhere, opened every box and found nothing. So, after calling several Walmarts, we put everything back in the box, opened or not, and exchanged it for a brand-new one.

We got home and it was almost dark :(. I’d been on the phone telling the kiddos about the pool and couldn’t wait for them to be back :). We started to install it and it took about 30 minutes, just like the box said. Still, in total, prepping the ground and actually installing the pool took about 7 hours.

We were about to start filling it when we realized we were starving. We made a quick run to Jack-in-the-Box and ordered greasy, nasty food that we totally deserved :). We ate in the porch and when we noticed what time it was decided to leave the pool-filling for the next day. We showered and fell asleep as soon as we hit our pillows.

Saturday, July 7th

We woke up (sore) and I made breakfast. Jorge started filling in the pool and smoothing out the floor. We ate and watched TV and checked on the pool most of the day. I read some of my book and then, around 2pm, we got into the pool for a while. It was dark and overcast and it seemed like it was going to rain but it never did. We dried off, changed and I started on lunch: Alfredo pasta with chicken and veggies and mashed potatoes on the side.

We sat outside a while and then Tony, Jay and later Billy got here. The guys were getting together to watch UFC and BBQ. I’ve been sitting out there the entire time blogging this up, heh. Rudy (who was extremely sunburned) and another friend of theirs, Fernando, showed up. Jay and Billy brought this awesome fajita…I can’t even explain it. It is probably the best fajita I’ve ever had. I had 1 taco, even though my babe filled it up. We watched the fights, and now, finally I’m done with this entry! I’ll post a photo of the pool tomorrow. I plan on sleeping late, swimming (or acting like I’m swimming, heh) and then I have Dayse’s bridal shower to attend. I wish I didn’t feel lazy about going. I’m so antisocial these days!

The Girliest Post, Ever

This entry will probably make male readers–if I have any–roll their eyes or cause said eyes to glaze over.

Tuesday, June 12th

It’s not often I wake up having a good hair day. That was probably one of my worst fears when Jorge and I got together: Was he going to run in the opposite direction the day we’d wake up beside each other when he saw my unruly mane? Luckily, he says he loves my crazy hair (I think he’s just being nice). Most of the time I flat-iron it. But when I don’t have much time in the morning I add a touch of gel and leave it to curl/wave. Only now–in my late 20’s/now that I’ve turned 30–have I finally embraced my curls. So, of course I’d take a picture of my waves the ONE TIME I woke up with them looking decent:

Waves

(My complexion was behaving itself, as well :D. That doesn’t happen often, either.)

I began my “spring cleaning” early at work. Robert inspired Michelle and I with his early cleaning. All I have to do is organize our storage area in the storage room and dust the top of my desk. I need to get some frames for my photos and spiff it up a bit :).

I got out of work and was greeted by this:

Ruffs <3

I love that darn kitty! I promised him I would never, ever let Jorge throw him out. Even if he does cause us to sneeze 100 times before we leave in the morning and rubs on our legs when we’re wearing black or dripping wet, freshly showered .

I changed into shorts and sandals and went to HEB to stock up on food/snacks for the kids. I’d be picking them up the next day from Mario’s and my babe’s boys would be there, too :).

I did my shopping, Jorge got home and we had some pizza that I’d brought home from work. I tell you, it’s super hard to lose weight working there! There were 2 pizza boxes left and I brought them home ’cause no one could take them and I felt guilty having them thrown out :(. (I know, I know: excuses, excuses lol.)

We did pretty good, pizza-wise; I only had 1 slice of the supreme and it was thin-crust. I casually brought up jogging and Jorge shot down that idea right away LOL. He said he wanted to watch “John Carter” and then we’d exercise the next day, for real. I said fine. I didn’t think I’d like the movie, but I’d picked the one the night before so I let him have it.

We picked up some Red Mango (used up both certificates, yes!) and then we got the movie.

Red Mango

I felt super guilty after my TUB of yogurt. I told myself that I was definitely starting my workouts the next day; whether Jorge wanted to or not. I feel jiggly and not happy with myself right now. I have no one to blame but myself. And Pinterest.

We ate our Red Mango and watched the movie. And then Jorge made fresh strawberry/mango Margaritas. (Hey, they’re sorta healthy!) It was SUPER GOOD.

Strawberries & mango

And then I fell asleep right after that on the sofa and missed the ending . I’m a cheap date. I only need ONE, heh.

Wednesday, June 13th

The next day was spent cleaning up some more at work and in my free time I went through my Flickr pics and organized some of the photos. Sadly, there’s a huge gap from July 2010-October 2010, but that’s when the shizz hit the fan with Mario and I just lost the desire to take photos, blog, or do anything really. The photos from the past year and a half just made me so happy, though ♥. I can’t complain at all; we’ve been able to do so much with the kids, to our home and with each other :).

I left work at 3pm to pick up the kiddos and then we headed to Alaethia and Emily’s appointment. It was a completely new office and, Jesus, it took forever. The girls were at least entertained with TV and a few toys. Jaylen entertained himself in other ways:

My big baby boy lol

And then he took a nap with his earphones on. I remember when he was around 2; the only way he’d fall asleep in his own bed was if he had his little blue CD player playing his nursery rhyme CD, aww :*)!

Eenan, on the other hand, was being loud and bothering the girls, so they’d start screaming, grrr. And once, Emily found one of those small bubbles the little toys from the machines come in and stuck the lid in her mouth. It got stuck the “vertical” way and she started freaking out. I almost started freaking out until she spit it out and made this funny noise, kind of like a “raspberry”. I immediately started to scold and lecture her and Eenan made the noise mid-lecture and I couldn’t help but crack up laughing! And then I snapped out of it and started lecturing him about not encouraging her or else she’d continue to do it .

The girls WERE NOT happy about being seen by the dentist, which is crazy since they used to love it. Alaethia got her Xrays taken just fine, but when it was Emily’s turn she started crying! 🙁 Her little lip quivered as she stared at me with her big eyes and then she just started bawling. My poor girl. I went and grabbed her as soon as they were done and consoled her. She was terrified. Her dentist, a nice Turkish man with a somewhat goofy voice (heh) started making her laugh. He gave them tons of stickers, crayons and coloring sheets. And all the assistants were admiring Alaethia’s long locks and Emily’s curls at the end of her straight hair. They started feeling more comfortable and got their cleaning done. They’re leaving the sealants for the 20th, tho. .

We finally got to leave around 6:15pm. We got home, I changed and was going to start on dinner. The kids saw the pizza and wanted that for dinner. They never get tired of pizza. Alaethia ate two slices and they’re pretty big! She’s a bottomless pit, that one!

I made some simple chicken salad for us. We ate it plain, without chips or anything! Shocking!

I was pleasantly surprised when Jorge brought up exercising. He said we needed to do something. I brought up jogging at the park, he agreed. We changed, put on a movie for the kids and had Mom stay with them. I have to say, I missed that park.

Park at Night

We started off with power walking for 2 laps (which is about 2 miles) and from the 3-5 we jogged on and off. I love the feeling of the wind in your face, the expanding of the lungs, the strength of my legs; it’s just the best. We chatted about everything, discussed our old work-out regimen and what we’d be doing after the jog, and we hated on the athletic people who were jogging effortlessly, hehe.

We got home, made sure all was well with the kiddos and then we lifted some dumbbells. Alaethia asked to come in right before we started Ab-Ripper. She giggled when Jorge would struggle lol. I did every single rep. When we were doing Heels to the Heavens Jorge stared at me from his position on the floor across from me and said, “What the hell?! It’s like you never stopped!!” 😀

I am super proud of him, though. Even though his back was giving him some trouble, he did as many reps as he could :).

We finished and hobbled to the living room. We watched a bit of “Tin Tin” with them…until I passed out! He said he called me like 5 times and I didn’t wake up till Alaethia, who was resting on my hip, moved me lol.

They watched the movie while we showered. When we got out, Jaylen was falling asleep, Emily was asleep and Alaethia was totally passed out. Jorge picked her up to move her to her bedroom and she’d peed everywhere lol. Jesus. So we put the covers to wash and set the cushions to drain. I sent Eenan to bed (he likes to stick around and stay awake as much as possible). And THEN we went to bed.

Thursday, June 14th

We went in to work at 9am the next morning. We still managed to snooze till the last possible minute so we didn’t eat breakfast at home like we’d planned.

We drove to work together :). At work, I cleaned here and there and got rid of stuff on my computer. I had a few minutes before we left to the Luncheon, so I got on Pinterest. I read this article about bra sizes. Holy crap! I need to find my “correct” size. I seriously had no idea there were such things as THOSE SIZES. No wonder nothing ever fits me correctly!

I also saw this girl’s ab progress and it motivated me even more to continue with it. I wish I’d kept my photos from when I was actually doing P90X/tae kwon do religiously; I know for a fact that it works, so I’m totally going to make an effort!

We went to the luncheon and I helped with registration. Then we had lunch. It was pretty healthy: salad, fish in cilantro sauce, glazed carrots and roasted potatoes, but the fish was super salty . I had only half of my glazed carrots and one tiny potato. And then, dessert. Cheesecake. I admit, I ate most of it. But I left a little bit, which is more than I can say I would have done 2 weeks ago, heh. I even had my brewed tea without sugar and some water.

We got back to work and I continued with my tidying up. And some more Pinterest, hehe.

I got home, changed, chilled out with the kids and painted Emily’s nails while I waited for dinner dinner to finish cooking.

Tiny nails

I made fish. I had no idea they were serving that for lunch and had already planned for it . But it was good :). Jaylen even had seconds!

Jorge got home from work and ate and we watched TV with the kids while our stomachs settled, for about 30 minutes. Then we got ready and went to the park. We walked 4 and jogged 1. We felt awesome afterwards. We stopped by Exxon to get something to drink since we finished our water. Everything had TONS of sugar. Or sucralose or some other type of sugar substitute. We found some Sobe Life Waters, which had lower sugar than all the other drinks, including tea or juice. I got pomegranate and Jorge got mango mandarin. We tried the other’s drink and we switched LOL. The mango mandarin one is SO GOOD!

We get home and park in the driveway. He says, “Ok, let’s bet. I bet that Alaethia’s whining for snacks, Emily’s throwing a fit and the boys were fighting so Eenan’s in our room. What do you think?” I say, “Somewhat the same; Alaethia fell asleep though, Emily’s throwing a fit and the boys did fight, so Eenan’s playing in their room and Jaylen’s in the living room watching TV or on my computer.”

“Ok,” he says, “Let’s go see.”

So we get down and quietly walk through the garage and the laundry room and open the boys’ door. We both say, “What the–??”

Jorgie and Justin were there. All 4 boys are quietly playing, peacefully.

Jorge asks when they got there, they said a few minutes before. We weren’t expecting them that night, but it was nice that they got to come over :). They told us they had a doctor’s appointment in the morning (finally) due to their bad coughs so their mother would pick them up. We let them know they wouldn’t be staying up long. None of them were happy about that LOL.

Friday, June 15th

It was cleaning day at work and we got to wear JEANS! Since I’d already done most of the cleaning during the week, all I really had to do was dust everything and organize a few binders.

I was finished and satisfied with my work. Then I made the mistake of opening my desk cabinets up top and thought, Hmm. Maybe I should put the binders from 2010 into the storage room filing cabinets?

So I took them all out. Michelle passes by and says, “Oh my God! Your desk is messy again!”

It was awful. I had no room in the storage room cabinets and stuffed one of them to the top so now I can’t open the darn thing. Grr. BUT. I put my trays in one cabinet at my desk and freed up a lot of desk space. And now I only have current binders. I told my boss we need to go through that stuff. Some is 5+ years old!

I finished just in time for lunch and met my love at Palenque Chicken. We joked around with his co-workers and just had a good time. I love meeting him for lunch :).

I got back to work and get a text from Jorge about 20 minutes later. All hell is breaking loose with the boys. Fighting over games, picking on each other–the works. It became a HUGE drama because, of course, as much as we love each other’s kids, we both become defensive over our own children. We’re human. Didn’t help that some dumbass was making it an even bigger drama show than it should have been. (We knew this because we gathered the kids later and talked about it.) But it put a damper on the day a little.

I was scheduled to work till 3, so I went to do some Father’s Day shopping, even though I wasn’t in the best of moods. Jorge is always stealing my Iso-cool pillow, so that was one of his gifts. Too bad they weren’t in stock . I’d have to wait a week for it. I figured I’d be creative and put in a little IOU tag or something with the rest of his gifts.

I started getting prices for the girls’ future twin beds (they’re growing out of their toddler beds fast!). I wanted bunk beds, but there weren’t any in stock and the ones they had in the catalog look too masculine. As I was walking, I saw a patio table and chairs. An employee jumped at the chance to get a sale and gave me an amazing price for them, since it was the last set. We’ve been wanting a patio set, but when I asked if they were getting any new ones the employee said no. I okayed the last set with Jorge (whom I had to tell about the pillow because he was wondering why I’d go to Furniture Row all random-like) and we got it! For about a 3rd of the cost AND 6 months, no interest LOL. I’m almost done paying it, and we just got it, that’s how cheap it was!

I got Jorge some clothes at Old Navy and headed to his work to pick him up. I was slowly getting out of my funky mood, but when I had to wait an additional hour and a half…I wasn’t so cheery anymore. When he finally got out, we decided to get Subway for us and the kids wanted pizza. So that took a while longer. And then we realize the passenger-side tail light was out…and we were being followed by a cop. So we quickly stopped by O’Reily’s and he changed out the light.

I was annoyed at how late we got home. The girls were all over me ’cause they missed me, aww :*). We chilled for a bit, let the food settle, and then we went for our (quiet) jog.

We walked the first 3 miles, then jogged the last 2. I finally stopped with the ice queen facade after he bumped me several times and I grabbed his hand. We had a talk when we got home and–eventually–all was well, thank goodness :).

Saturday, June 16th

I was meeting Sally for breakfast the next morning, at Jimmy’s Egg. It’s a fairly new restaurant and one of my co-workers was raving about it and we both wanted to try it. We hadn’t hung out in a long time; probably since before our birthdays. We made plans to take the littlest ones with us.

We caught up: gossiped, talked about the kids, our love life, work. It was nice to just chill with a girlfriend. I let her know how crazy the past few months were for me, and all my time and energy was focused on my family. She totally understood.

The kids played and giggled and colored. Then our food came and OMG. I have never had better whole-wheat pancakes in my LIFE. They were cinnamon-y and so delicious! Too bad I didn’t get a photo! But Sally did take one of the girls and me:

Breakfast at Jimmy's Egg

I look so sleepy in it, but I like it :). Sally and I were too caught up in the gossip and the kids that we didn’t take one with each other LOL.

When we were done eating Sally and QC came over for a bit and he played with the girls. It’s so fun watching them play together :). The girls kinda fight for his attention, tho :P.

My boys had all eaten while we were on our way home and Jaylen took the girls’ leftover pancakes LOL. Mario came for the kiddos about 30 minutes later and Sally left. I tidied up and then went to buy groceries. My LEAST favorite chore. Other than laundry.

That’s where I found out my driver’s license was expired. And they didn’t let me buy Jorge’s Shiner LOL.

When I got back home I found a 12-pack of Shiner beer carefully placed beside the garage. My first thought? SHINER FAIRY!? But no, it was Jorge’s friend/employee, who was kissing butt for getting in trouble that morning for calling in and later busting himself partying when he butt-dialed another co-worker LOL.

I made dinner and Jorge got home. His sister came over with her kiddos and we caught up. Two of Jorge’s friends were coming over so we gathered outside in the garage. Jorge put the new patio table together (and playfully joked, “You see what she has me doing? The night before Father’s Day?!” LOL) and after he was done Briana and I came in so I could make us some Margaritas. It was seriously mostly strawberries (and 1 mango) because the strawberries looked close to spoiling and I wanted to save them LOL.

We had our drink and laughed at the guys. Briana whispers to me, “Is that really all they talk about? Farts?” Buahaha! I thought that was hilarious. (And yes, they do!)

We got a visit from Big Red, a neighbor’s beautiful Labrador, who has seemed lost in recent days because his buddy, a tiny white chihuahua, moved away :(. It’s the saddest thing. It’s like he comes to our yard to look for him, because he remembers this is where they’d play and take a short-cut to the other neighborhood behind us .

Briana and Mia left (Nick was sleeping over) and then it was midnight. We said our “Happy Father’s Day!” to everyone and the guys left about 30 minutes later. As Jorge and I were getting ready for bed I asked him, “What do you want to do for Father’s Day, my love?” He said, “Nothing,” and smiled. I asked, “Really? Nothing?” He said, “Nope. I just want to chill out at home and do nothing.”

Sounds like a plan :).

Love Love Love

I don’t know what was wrong with me yesterday. I was overly sensitive and I had these waves of sadness. I just felt like the world was going to end. I cried–no, bawled–during Ramona and Beezus. I felt a lil better when Jorge said, “It’s you!” when Ginnifer Goodwin was on screen (I seriously still don’t see the resemblance AT ALL. Emily, yes. Me, no).

We got into bed early (for once!) and he didn’t let me fall asleep until I talked about it and got everything off my chest ♥. I still can’t fully pinpoint the cause, but I’m pretty sure it was because I was missing the kids and it just branched off from that.

And I’m PMS’ing. Grr.

Work is work. I seriously can’t WAIT till October when everything starts picking up. Or at least, I hope it does.

I searched for a blueberry muffin recipe during lunch so I could rescue the sad strawberries that were nearing their demise in the crisper.

I got home after work and went straight to the hallway bathroom to clean up the girls’ step-stool; I’d read yesterday about the recall on these stools. Sure enough, took it to the store and got a gift card for $27. I found a plastic, safe-so-far replacement stool for the girls, got a few things I needed for dinner, an eyeliner and a lipgloss (both of which I needed, both of which equalled to $3, heh). And I still had some leftover!

Mario needed to bring Emily back to me and brought the other kids too since he was going to the gym . We had a talk outside about Eenan’s attitude, which he described as something that’s been happening recently, and um, no, it hasn’t. He blamed it on the video games and said that he thinks it’s a good idea to deprive them from games during the school week. I almost lost it. I kinda did, I think. Arms waving in the air and everything, I said, “Um! That was my rule! If you would have kept it that way it wouldn’t be a problem.” Oh. But last year he wanted to seem like the Good Guy and the Fun Dad and wanted to make me look like the Bad Guy and Boring, Strict Mom. But now he’s having problems with the child and NOW he worries. I coulda told him this would happen from day one ;).

Mom helped cut up chicken for the spaghetti and I started on the strawberry muffins. They were a hit :).

Strawberry muffins!

Strawberry muffins!

Eenan was a bit mopey, but then he slowly got closer to the kitchen until we started talking about cooking. I really need to make time to teach him the basics; he’s really eager to learn :).

He started telling me about his story he’s been writing since 5th grade (my God…he’s in 7th! *faints*). He talked while Alaethia and Emily both jumped around waiting for the muffins to cool. Both the girls are showing signs of a cold. Poor Alaethia; Pre-K isn’t good for anyone’s immune system :,(.

Time went by too quickly, but at least I got to enjoy my babies for a bit :). Jorge is asleep already and Emily’s asking for stories so I must be going!