Wow, Niagara Falls is gorgeous!

We went to Canada today and saw the Niagara Falls from Ontario. The Horseshoe falls are breathtaking. We had loads of fun. :)

 
 
 
  

Pictures!

 

The Birthday boy!

 

Our children and their cousins being goofballs!

 

Pat is devoured by the University of Florida gator. My nephew and Miguel thought it was real and wouldn't go near it, LOL

 

Larisa and my mom working on their dance moves, left, front, right, back.... ;) 

Happy Birthday Patrick!!!

Today is my Dh's 40th Birthday! Not that he looks it... Anyhow I wanted to wish him the best day ever, even though I've been awake for 1 hour and realized I didn't wish him a HB or give him a hug or kiss (ooops!) He is still the studliest guy around and the most wonderful dad in the world.

Love you!

-----
We've been on the road since Saturday and I will summarize what we've done so far. Saturday we stayed in Mount Vernon, MO, we stayed in a VERY basic hotel, clean but basic. We drove to Indiana and saw my sister and her husband,kids and my mom for a while. Monday Pat was working so my mom called and took the girls to go to the mall. Miguel and I visited my sister and then I picked up Pat and we went to the NCAA Hall of Champions in downtown Indianapolis. This place is nice and located in a drop dead gorgeous park setting. WE took my nephew Gabriel and he had fun too. Then we picked up my sister and went to lunch and to shop for a little bit. Later we decidded to go to a place called Bahama Breeze that my sister recommended. Oh boy that place is fantastic! If you ever go to one get Tostones, Paella and this cake, mousse dessert with this lovely cream sauce, oh man it was YUMMY! Then we went to my sister's house and they pulled out this XBOX game where you dance on top of a mat and boy was that fun, we really enjoyed laughing at each other as we danced to music like Devo, Whip It! The girls decided to spend the night so it was just Pat, Miguel and I back to the hotel. It was nice.

Tuesday I picked up the girls and we headed out to Columbus, Ohio. We visited with my brother in law, his wife, children and his wife's family. They made us dinner and we enjoyed chatting and seeing the kids play. We are in a Hampton Inn in Pickerington, OH and boy it's a lovely room with really wonderful beds. I would stay here again.

Today we leave for Buffalo, NY. We are making a stop in Erie, PA for Pat to work. I'm hoping to see the lake area with the kids until Pat is done and then we'll head out to our hotel in NY and tomorrow we can see the Niagara Falls, our first excursion to that area of the US, well Pat has been in Boston, NY, etc before but I've never been anywhere in NY and only a few places in Mass.

So that's the news for now. I'm going to load a picture of the birthday boy :)

Packing up ...

yep, I'm packing the computer, that is a big step for me. My computer is always on and always open.

I probably not be able to use it again until Sunday night so until then, stay safe, have fun and don't get too hot with this nasty wather.

Quote of the day:

Always kiss your children goodnight - even if they're already asleep.

~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

27 months

Today Miguel is 27 months old. Let me see at his age which I guess is 2.25 years old, he is a major chatterbox, he is doing 3 word sentences, his large motor skills have only gotten more honed in and he can often hit a ball thrown at him with his bat. He jumps from a tall barstool and rolls down on the floor "military trainning camp style" He is completely potty trained and continues to sleep really good unless he has an ear infection.

This week I've been so stressed over this trip, at this point though I feel like all I have to do tomorrow is pack the stuff that you do last minute, pick up the house and just do minor cleanup. I'm debating whether I should take my expresso maker since those coffee machines in hotels are IMO awful and the coffee itself even worse.

I'm watching the Red Sox winning against the Mariners, I hope they win, as it will put them 3.5 games ahead of the Yankees.

Tomorrow I have church cleanup, I'm going early in the morning and checking up on Gabi that is in a church sleepover. Then I have a nail appt at noon, then I'm going back home for final cleanup and packing and then it's off to pick up Gabi and driving to Missouri. Sunday we will get to Indianapolis.

Quote of the day:

Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours.

~Swedish Proverb

i've been thinking of my jump in Vegas and loved this quote:

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward,
for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."

—Leonardo DaVinci

2 days left before we leave

It's been nuts around here with preparations for the trip. A lot of packing is done but of course there is always the stuff you have to save till the last minute. Gabi has the sleepover at church on Friday, I have to clean the church on Saturday, plus I have a nail appt on Saturday also.

It's been literally Hot as Hell around here, the thermostat in the car went up to 111. Gabi has been in craft camp and loves it. Her schoolwork arrived yesterday and wow its cool stuff. She has a lot of reading this year because we got her the advanced readers and I think she might actually finish the reading quite soon because she is already working on one of the books.

I want to go see "The Lady in the Water" looks spooky but cool!

Ok, need to work on more laundry and organization.

ahhh...

Miguel has slept 2 nights in a row after several rough nights because he has yet another ear infection. That poor boy always gets them in the left ear. There's something really amazing about waking up not tired or with a crick on your neck from going back and forth to and your bed to help a little kid.

Last night I dreamt we were adopting a little baby boy named Jorge, he was so tiny.

3 days before the big trip, I need to do a bit more laundry and then start to pack myself. Gabi also has a church sleepover on Friday.

On good news the Red Sox have won 2 in a row, they need it because the Yankees have been playing way good and are within 1/2 a game.

Time for coffee or else I turn into a shrew

I need relaxation

I'm emotionally spent from planning our trip so I was looking for an appropriate quote and thought this one was so cute.

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. ~Bern Williams

Not much to report around here, it's boring...

quote

If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper,
sweep streets as Raphael painted pictures,
sweep streets as Michelangelo carved marble, sweep streets
as Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.

-- Martin Luther King Jr.

School is getting closer

Last night I ordered materials for one of the girls next year. It's always so much fun to get the big box and pull out all the books and imagine the fun you'll have reading and learning. WE've chosen Sonlight which is a literature heavy curriculum, Gabi is doing the advanced readers since her reading tests put her at higher than her 4th grade reading peers. She actually scored up to the 11th grade in her vocabulary! But she is a big reader and I have pictures of her as a toddler reading magazines, LOL.

Today is Larisa's last day in craft camp and she is dissapointed it's over. She had fun!

THe pool man is coming today and I hope he can fix that godforsaken pit of agony of mine. I don't know what's wrong with the dang thing and it's driving me bananas, right now it's a lovely shade of green because I refuse to put chemicals on it because it's leaking and I can't find the leak, so in turn I don't want to waste my money in chemicals that are going to run down my yard. THere that makes sense doesn't it!

Ok, a quote and then I'm off...


He who opens a school door, closes a prison.

~Victor Hugo

last one I promise

another

here's what we do for fun ;)

ok finally video!

quote

I'm working on the video's but here I found a really powerful quote.

We should all be obliged to appear before a board every five years, and justify our existence... on pain of liquidation.

~George Bernard Shaw

quiet around here....

Haven't had much to say lately. We've been mainly hanging at home except Larisa is doing craft camp at Michaels every day from 9:30 to 11:30 am. Funny, she was so unsure about this, she really didn't want to go. AFter the first day she was begging to come back and has been pushing heavily to go back next week when it's Gabi's turn to go. He, he, little stinker.

I organized my scrapbooking stuff so that I can work more effectively on it. I bought a little album and I'm making it for pat for his birthday. I already put pictures in it of Pat's trip to Fenway in 2004. I need to find articles and other things to finish it off since that was the year that "They won it all" a promise I'd heard from Patrick for over 10 years of marriage, LOL

Yesterday I got the most awesome news that my friend from Indiana is moving to Dallas and I will get to see her all the time (well as often as you can drive 4 hours each way, which beats 14 hours anydayf!!) I'm just so thrilled!

I need to load a video of Miguel rolling his eyes, it's a riot to see that boy. Have I mentioned how utterly cute my kids are? :D Let me try to load that video...

smiles?

If you ask Miguel to look at the camera this is the face you get now....


 
 
 
  

I ran yesterday

Everyone who has run knows that its most important value is in removing tension and allowing a release from whatever other cares the day may bring.

~Jimmy Carter

Prior to Miguel's arrival in order to reduce my skyhigh stress I took up running. It's such an exhiliariating thing to do. I love just letting my body go and feel it working. I also like that moment when my body is just done and I push it just a little bit longer...

I had wanted to run a 5K and I still will, it's in my NOW list. Along with scuba diving which I have to figure out where I'm going to do.

One of the highlights of my run right now is this cute white boxer dog called Roxie that literally falls to the ground of happiness when she sees me, she is just a doll! The not so funny one is this Peacock that tried attacking me once. It was a male and I guess he thought I was trying to snatch his female or something....

I've organized the driving maps for all the days of the trip thru AAA, they have this thing called TripTiks, pretty cool program I wish they would make it downloadable so I don't have to be intereneted to use it. I'm working on how to organize the children's clothing so that they will have all set up and not arguments on what to wear. Miguel should be easy as off last week he will only wear his "Star Wars" shirt and "Thomas" shoes. Pants we can decide for him :P

Allrighty gotta go get ready for the day as Larisa has craft camp also today, she didn't want to go yesterday but then after she was there she didn't want to leave, LOL

Expedia...

is no good and they get my :thumbs down:

I booked a hotel thru expedia and while I admit I didn't read all the "cancellation rules" I cannot imagine why if I was cancelling the reservation 3 weeks in advance I am charged $25 for this service. I gotta tell you they will not get my service anymore and I have booked numerous flights and hotels thru them, that is just plain ridiculous....

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my parents 39th wedding anniversary!! I already called my mom and said Congratulations!!

I'm officially stressing over our 2 week trip, most of the route and hotels have been taken care of but the Boston/NY/DC route is causing some stress because we were told that traffic will probably delay our timeline.

I've made plans to meet people everywhere so that I can have some social fun also since the days of the week Patrick will be working in the morning and evenings.

Ok, gotta go wake up children and get them ready for church.

TTFN!

a variety of thoughts today

Firstly, I've noticed that my hit count has increased and I wanted to thank you all for visiting my blog and reading my notes :) It feels good to know my life is not as boring as it feels to me sometimes ;) Leave me a note in the comments and tell me who you are!

Larisa went to the doctor afterall yesterday and she is having an allergic reaction to the sting afterall. What a bummer! She's on benadryl and has been napping from the medicine.

I put away the crib and I'm decorating Miguel's room. I have some leftover paints and I think I'm going to make some designs on his walls to make it more boyish.

I have my mind on the people of Guatemala and of the things we take for granted in the US of A, like reading and writing. THe level of illiteracy in Guatemala is so staggering, and my little boy who is only 2 is already learning letters and loves to read. WHat a privilege for me it is to provide him with an education that he likely would not have had, what an enormous responsibility we all have to appreciate our "rights" and use it not only for our benefit but for those also who need it so critically. So here comes the quote of the day:

If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

~Attributed to both Andy McIntyre and Derek Bok

The joys of summer

Larisa was stung by a wasp on the 4th and now her hand is red and itchy... I guess we are keeping an eye on her, can an allergic reaction show up 2 days later?

Not much to say today except the dog is sick and has decorated the whole house with brown stuff so I've been chasing her with the steam cleaner, *so much FUN* ( hope you can detect the major sarcasm..)

Ok better check on Reesee and Miguel.

Fun and exhaustion.....

Wow the party was a blast but man it's exhausting also! We had 14 people plus the 5 of us. The pool was beautiful even when the weather was in turns pretty and slightly rainy. The food was fantastic, we had ribs, potato salad, pasta salad, chicken flautas made by a friend of mine from Mexico (they were out of this world..) we had strawberry/blueberry shortcake and the sweetest corn on the cob.

We had so many fireworks that we still have about 1/2 left as it started raining and thundering in the evening and since Pat had to work early this morning we couldn't stay up late.

ok more later, miguel needs me.

Independence Day

Tomorrow I'll be partying so here is my post for the 2 days.

I've never liked Cheney but i liked this quote of his:

It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you. ~Dick Cheney

I can't wait to have ribs tomorrow, they are soooo good! And i'm trying to find corn on the cob as I couldn't yesterday. WE are having strawberry/blueberry shortcake. Potato and pasta salads, chips with salsa made by a friend that makes the best salsa EVER. Watermelon... it will be fun.

So have a gorgeous and fun 4th of July!

I enjoyed this...

including the music which reminded me on my highschool days.

Boston here we come!

It's official we are making a family driving trip, we are going to Travel thru Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, NY, Boston, NJ, DC, and then I think Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and then home. 2 weeks with 3 kids in one car. Highlights will be my sister, my brother in law in Ohio, Niagara falls, in Boston we will see family and friends, except one family member that is too busy, the Red Sox, then DC should be fun, i've never been there.

It's going to be a long 2 week trip but hopefully the kids will enjoy themselves. I will have to plan so that they can be entertained although we plan on making small drives everyday rather than big ones.

I'm going to go searching for something to give me ideas to do in the way.

Pat and the kids are going to buy fireworks today. That's always intesting to see what they come home with.

The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.

~Albert Ellis