Author: Yajaira

November 26th – I picked the boys up that afternoon and Eenan makes my day by showing me this story he wrote about me:

He made me all teary. I asked him, “Why’d you keep saying you give me a hard time? You don’t!” He shrugs and says, “I dunno.” He’s such a teenager LOL. My big boy :*).

The girls had a Girl Scout meeting and we were using the board room at work so leave it to me to go into work on my day off, heh. I said hi to the girls and ran upstairs with my girls and Jaylen to reply to some e-mails. Ran downstairs and had our hour-and-a-half long meeting. I was exhausted by the time we got home so my love ordered us some Domino’s. Pizza Day is usually Friday, but it felt like a Friday so *hmph*. We watched Cloud Atlas. Well, Eenan was the only kid that watched it with us and I made him close his eyes in the more “mature” parts.

November 27th – Briana, Dina and the kids were on their way to spend Thanksgiving with us and I still had grocery shopping and cleaning to do so I was panicking. Grocery shopping took an eternity since everyone else had the sense to wait till the day before Thanksgiving, like me, to shop. Got home and made Texas toast French Toast for the kids. It was SO GOOD.

Mom had an appointment at her audiologist and that place takes FOREVER. The kids were, understandably, bored. Jorge jumped into hero-mode and picked the kids up and took them back to his office/store so the kids could watch a 3D movie in one of the theaters hehe. When Mom was done and I picked them up they were disappointed LOL.

I ran an errand for Jorge…just to get to the place and find that they’re closed. Super frustrating. Those types of things only happen to me LOL.

The kids wanted snacks so we stopped at Mr. Fast for some sushi and nachos. Yes, there is a restaurant in a convenience store/gas station that sells cheap, albeit delicious, sushi and other snacks. They didn’t have nachos, so we went across town to La Hormiga to get some for Emily. Their dad picked them up that evening since they were spending Thanksgiving lunch with his family.

John came over with his homemade cinnamon buns. We laughed and caught up and I told him about my dramas with Mother. I miss that crazy dude. I remember when we’d hang out all the time and eat sushi 3x a week LOL.

Dina, Briana and the kids got here around 10pm. We sat outside on the porch talking till almost 1am. Needless to say, we got up late-ish.

November 28th – The next day we made a quick trip to Walgreens for a few things and found some amazing sales. We got the girls those pink kitty Seat Pet things and lots of stuff for Julien. Finished about 40% of the shopping in 1 visit.

Dina was in a frenzy getting everything ready. I felt almost guilty ’cause she was a whirlwind in the kitchen. All I really took care of on my own was the mashed potatoes (and that’s ’cause she started peeling them until I took them away LOL).

Half-way through I picked up my kiddos :). Missed them tons, even though they were only gone less than a day.

Jorge’s boys arrived and we got ready for the feast:

It was just so great being together and laughing. We were just missing John and Javi.

All the other photos of the boys were dark or blurry or Eenan would duck and blur out of the photo. Grrr.

Ah, the teenage thing again LOL.

We chilled out and watched a movie with the kids after dinner.

We put the kids to bed and discussed Black Friday (Thursday?) and whether we should even bother. We hadn’t thought about it at all until that moment, so we looked up ads and went to each of their rooms to confirm Christmas lists with the kids and then decided that yeah, we’d try it. Dina said she’d stay with the kids. We risked not actually finding any deals since most of the deals had already started since 6pm. I mean, really? That’s ridiculous. That’s the time we ate dinner!

Jorge and I went to Target and Walmart and found a few things for the girls. Jorge went crazy at Walmart with the Barbie things. I turned around at one point and he had his arms piled high with pink things and an excited twinkle in his eye LOL. You really couldn’t beat the prices.

November 29th – We didn’t end up going to sleep till almost 2am and I set my alarm for 5am to make it to the HEB Plus sale. I’m insane, I know. I wanted to get some T-Fal pans sets for myself and Dina, a coffee pot, an Android kid’s tablet for Julien, and some video games for the boys. I get there and the line is around the store like last year, but I’m glad that the whole event was smooth and people were polite. I didn’t get the T-Fal pots (I swear they only had like 5 in stock, ’cause I went straight for those), but I got everything else ^_^. Between the Walgreen’s shopping and the Black-Friday shopping, we got 80% of our Christmas shopping done!

Dina and Briana had family to visit so they did that. John visited and we watched stupid, funny videos with the boys. The little ones became extremely hyper after lunch and the boys were getting cabin fever so they went outside. Julien was sick with some kind of stomach bug since he’d arrived and he’d just eaten, so I stayed in with him. Emily was getting moody and stubbornly insisted I go outside with her. I distracted the girls by playing Candyland with them and Julien calmed down too. All the calm is over when Justin, Jaylen and Nick come in and Justin’s got his hand over his mouth. The geniuses got the idea to play Hide and Clap with a beanie over their heads and he ran into a mesquite tree. Sweet Jesus. I helped him clean out his mouth for at least 30 minutes. And they didn’t learn. Apparently they were doing it again when they went home later >_<. We spent the post-Thanksgiving days with the kiddos, lazying around and enjoying our time together. Jorge and I took a very late-night trip to Walmart to find one of Emily's gifts...to no avail :(. The rain and cold had calmed down a bit so we took them to the park on Saturday. [caption id="attachment_1992" align="aligncenter" width="625"] Aly and Jaylen[/caption]

Alaethia was a little upset because we went to a different park this time. We came home to get a few kids to use the bathroom and then it started raining, so we couldn’t go back to Daffodil park, the one she likes to go to. So we promised her we’d go the next day.

December 1st – We went to Daffodil park first this time and we told the boys we’d go to McAuliff park afterwards so they could play basketball.

We went back to the house, again for bathroom breaks and to pick up Alaethia’s bike and the basketball. We stopped at Dollar Tree to pick up snacks for the kids and headed to McAuliff Park.

The girls rode the bike around and were tired so we sat and they had their snacks. The boys and Jorge headed to the basketball court and played. Then we see Jorge and all 3 boys (Eenan stayed at home, again) coming back to us, with Justin looking upset. He was innocently elbowed in the face by Jorgie, in the same spot he’d run into the tree on Friday. The already-healing cut opened up and was bleeding. His face was swollen so we rushed the kids home, and instructed Mom to give them dinner because we were off to the ER clinic.

He was nervous, but we joked around and after a few hours and some X-rays, they prescribed a cream and an anti-inflammatory. His doctor was really nice and gave him an encouraging speech. It was out of left field, but it was really sweet :).

We got home, got the kids who hadn’t showered into the shower and into bed. We finished laundry and got ready for the week. It’s never a dull moment in our household!

I took this week off from work since I have some vacation days that need to be used. Mario and I are splitting time with the kids during the week so I had a day to myself today. I almost debated going into work, but I figured I should just take advantage of it.

I took my sweet time getting out of bed this morning (Mom totally banged on my door and yelled that I was super late to work, so when I shooed her away I slept till 9:30am). Had some Lucky Charms and coffee while I watched last night’s American Music Awards and then painted my nails and toenails. I bit all my nails off during the Patriots/Broncos game last night. I never thought I’d get back into football, but I have my Love to thank ^_^. I was obsessed in middle school, even played with the neighborhood boys, but I lost interest after, erm, my first serious relationship which later turned into marriage. Grr.

I cleared a few things off of my to-do list (like cleaning the bathroom) and even got a chance to watch “Pitch Perfect”. Some of it. Been meaning to sit and watch that one with my love for a while :).

I visited Gramma and hung the wreath I made for her on her door. Tia Nora and Tio Arturo arrived with Gramma’s new TV amd we caught up for a while. I meant to go to Goodwill but decided not to. It’s been open a few months and it’s near the house and I still haven’t gone.

Got home, watched the news with Mom and later folded laundry while I talked to the kids. We shared opinions about last night’s The Walking Dead episode and talked about the animals.

Hung up with the kids and Pinterest-ed some recipes for fresh green beans and made my love and epic meal, if I do say so myself. I appreciate these rare stay-at-home-mom-esque moments, when all I have to worry about is cleaning the house, running errands and making good meals.

Yes, those are Red Lobster cheddar bay biscuits. You can now buy the box at Walmart and bake them at home. I’m impressed! This was my trial run. I’ll make more for the kids tomorrow when they return :).

I guess I’ll summarize with a bit of what’s been going on since the last time I updated. My memory isn’t what it used to be, but here goes:

Work

The Wine Classic was in September. Michelle and I were chosen to work the event and I have to admit, although our feet were numb from pain by the end of the night, it was fun.

I was in charge of the Sweet & Tasty table. FML lol. AND we got to bring the extra cupcakes home!

We had a group of delegates we needed to entertain a few weeks later. I went to El Patio downtown for the first time, ever. And probably the only time, heh. It’s one of the swankier restaurants in the city, and one of the pricier ones. I had a salad with Parmesan crostini, the best tilapia in butter caper creme sauce I’ve ever had and a brownie a lá mode. And Moscato d’asti. My taste buds were in Heaven.

My love had an event at work that was pretty successful too. I was glad to be there :). 2 of the reps invited us and Jorge’s team to Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, which was awesome because Jorge got to show off his work :).

The Annual Banquet was the first week of November. It was so stressful finding an outfit, and a mask since it was a Masquerade Ball this year. All us girls were stressed out about it at work. I made no attempt to tone up but I think my love and I still pulled it off.

I was so glad Jessica’s and Laura’s husbands got to mingle with Jorge for the duration of the event. They all got along so well :).

Steve treated us to House.Wine after the event like last year. It was nice, but we were exhausted!

All my events are coming up in January and February, so work has been hectic but I love it. I’d rather have an event-filled day than a slow day that feels like it’s never going to end.

Kiddos

The girls had a carnival at school and had so much fun with their buddies.

Alaethia and her BFF are too cute!

They were invited to Leila’s party, which was the most AWESOME party ever!

Even Julien had fun!

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch and got a few pics 🙂

Only the 3 youngest wanted to dress up for Halloween.

Alaethia was Chee Chee from Teen Beach Movie. Even did the beehive ‘do lol. Emily was Minnie Mouse. Jaylen was a Reaper and I did his face paint. We took them Trick or Treating at Michelle’s neighborhood and visited Gramma :).

Eenan stayed home with Mom. We didn’t get 1 trick or treater lol.

They carved a pumpkin that weekend:

And we roasted the pumpkin seeds. It was a success!

Eenan is becoming quite the teenager. Spends his time drawing and online, but I’m glad he still keeps me in the loop about his daily life and friends and all. He’s still my snuggly Nano ♥.

We took the kids to the park last week when they were here. It was fun ^_^. And I’m so out of shape that pushing the 2 little ones in the swings caused me to be sore for 2 whole days LOL.

(There’s my Eenan being a teenager again. Make it stop!!!)

We also had a cookie-making sesh. Of course the boys were boys and mixed all the colors together and made POOP LOL.

The girls have been busy with Girl Scouts. Well, so have I, since I’m a troop co-leader. The girls have attended several activities, including their Halloween party. I’ve attended 2 trainings, one being a scary cookie training. That one makes me nervous! We have another meeting tomorrow.

Jorge and I

We celebrated our 3rd Anniversary on November 18th :). We’ve had some stresses lately (not concerning us directly), but at the end of the day, I’m glad we have each other for comfort and companionship. I couldn’t be happier :). I can’t believe it’s already been 3 years! Although, when we put it all in perspective and look at the big picture it feels like it’s been much longer :).

We’re as much homebodies as ever, and I’m glad for it. On a kid-less weekend we always tell ourselves, “Let’s go out!” And then the weekend comes and we’re like, “Ehhh…let’s just stay home.” We’d been budgeting for a while, but even now we just don’t feel like fussing with getting ready and going somewhere. If we socialize, it’s usually at our house. Like this past weekend, when we hung out with our friends for the Pacquiao fight.

Sally got to come over for a bit :). We’ve been so busy with work, the kids, LIFE that I haven’t made time for my friends in a while. I at least got to hang out with Karina for Dayse’s babyshower two weekends ago.

Karina gave me some awesome, crazy news, but I’ll leave that for when she’s ready ^_^. I shall cut this short (short, ha!) and rejoin him on this sofa to catch up on The Voice.

[Edit] Thank you, WordPress app, for screwing up my post and removing all the photos I compiled into it. Argh!!!

[Edit #2] Fixed, finally!!

I wish I could say that the title of this post means that I’ve been working out hardcore to get ready for the annual banquet, but it’s actually quite the opposite.

Albert Einstein once said that “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. That would explain how I attended the Krispy Kreme ribbon cutting this morning and had a donut.

Which, ok, having a donut wasn’t so bad…but then, while I was running around helping Gerry get ready for her meeting, I grabbed a giant cookie from a leftover Chick-fil-a tray and had that, too =\.

Then I rushed to pick up my Emmos from school, got home, and ate 3 small leftover pizza slices we made last night:

Small, but they were bread =\. MORE BREAD!

Got to work, drank a bottle of water (that’s another thing: I haven’t been drinking my 4 16oz. bottles like I’d been doing =\), had 1 of those Nature Valley dark chocolate/peanut butter crackers, or whatever it’s called. Do all the work things (it’s gonna get even more hectic, ahhh!). Head to Starbucks for Jorge ’cause he’s working late. Grab a drink for myself, a skinny caramel macchiato…and it’s gross. Head to the store to get a few things to put in a gift bag for my boss for Boss’ Day tomorrow (which, to all of our horror, we JUST FOUND OUT TODAY!!). I’m so tired I think, “Ain’t nobody got time for cooking today!” so I grab some frozen taquitos and some Rico’s cheese. One of my staple Fatty-McFatterson meals from back in the day. As I’m talking to the boys on the phone and shoving these taquitos in my mouth I can hear my inner-lost-in-the-rolls-skinny-person whispering from far away, “Doooon’t eeeeaaattt itttt!!” But I’ve already eaten 5 taquitos, licked the container of cheese till it was clean and followed it up with 5 generic Oreos and a bit of milk. Looking for what NOT to eat throughout the day? –Just re-read this post.

Ugh. I feel so disgusted with myself. It’s like I’m doing it to sabotage myself! And yes, I know I’m whining instead of getting off my ass and onto the treadmill. I’m spending some time with the girls before I have to put them to bed. And then I will start. Tonight. I’m starting T25, even though I ate like crap today. I’ve got The Biggest Loser on for inspiration. If they can do it, I can too, darnit!