Fun Weekend...

Okay so ever since making my pact to stay a bit more upbeat and not let the lack of social life get me down things have been going good. I have two baby showers I am planning (both with help of course) I helped my lil' bro celebrate his 21st early, I was invited to a night at Chefs Market although had to decline due to my 4th child at home (Chloe the muttley) and I have had the kids take bit more time to have some fun, we took walks, we bought a little pool for the deck and so on and so forth. Needless to say, laying down and relaxing hasn't quite been in the cards buttttt soon enough my dear friends.

The girls are on summer vacation which started last Friday and already they are telling me stories of how bored they are. I have hopes to get them into the boys and girls club starting in a week for at least 2 days a week, I have a friend taking them to her house for half a day, twice a week for swimming, and at least one day a week RC will have off so he can keep them on those days. Not to mention a trip to the water park, a trip to Disneyland and if all goes as planned a trip to Arizona to say hello to all our friends. All in all I think it will turn out just fine, and I hope they don't get too bored over the next 8 really long, and utterly 'jam packed' weeks.

This last weekend was fun. My little 'big' bro (he is like a foot taller than me) is turning 21 on the 18th of this month and since he is all responsible and what not he got a job for the summer off from college and won't be able to be with us his birthday weekend, instead he will be working and of course having a college style 21st b-day with all his buddies. Of course. However being the great fam we are we got together, gave him a good yummy steak dinner, some sweet gifts (mostly containing alcohol) and my mom was soo kind as to buy him the manliest cake she could find at Costco. And by Manly I mean super ultra girly. All in all I think he had a good night but man it makes me sad to think he is already 21. I remember the days when he used to play with his dinosaurs and watch Fantasia on permanent repeat.

Either way. Happy Birthday Gabriel Dante Peralez. I heart you with all my 5 foot 1.5 inches (that sounds TERRIBLE) and I hope you have a fabulous 21st birthday that with any luck you don't remember :)







Okay well that was Saturday. Now onto Sunday. We get bored up at the house and I don't always have a million free hours but the kids do get bored so early sunday (like 11am) we headed down the hill. We got groceries, got gas (not the eat your magical beans kind), got lunch and then got a little pool for the kids. We ended up meeting up with Carina's Nana on our way back up the hill as her Aunt was having a suprise party but eiter way once we got up the hill we blew up a little pool and threw it on the deck as our lawn is way to non level, dragged the hose through the house (man next time I will get a pic of that) turned it on and filled it up. Now I say we pulled the hose through the house but picture this (since of COURSE I didnt get a pic of my ghettoness) the gray garden hose laying across our floor, carpet, linoleum, over our chairs and table and into the pool where I taped it to the edge to fill up so I didnt have to stand there the whole time. Yeah it was a site...but after only 23 minutes the pool was full and the kids were having a blast. This weekend I shall buy me saw of those sweet trifold plastic chairs that your butt falls through so that I can get a good tan while the kids splash around like fools. Hehe.



On a completely different note, remember how a couple posts back I mentioned how our garden was put in and we would see how crappy our non existent green thumbs were. Well yesterday I noticed that it had been two days since we watered our lawn and the damn plants were all shriveled from the heat, but we promptly watered them and hopefull I find them today not dieing of thirst. HOWEVER the one thing that did live and stayed perky were the strawberry plants that Carina planted. How cool is it to see your little flower buds turn into itty bitty strawberries. SUPER cool. So what did I do. Well, the same thing any other camera crazed person would do! I TOOK PICS! BUT I will only post the one and you can ooh and aww at our amazing strawberries, or rather, Carina's amazing strawberries because so far I have nearly killed all my other flowers. I can't even blame the deer for eating them because they don't, probably becuase they are thinking...

"This woman...planting flowers to mock our appetites and then she kills them...well we will show her...we won't eat them so she can only blame their death on herself and her crappy green thumb!!"

Yep I am certain that is what our neighborhood deer are saying. Well phooey on them, I missed one day. They will come back to life, don't you worry!



And to end this sweet post, here are some clips of my kids singing and being all around weird. Rian had no idea I was recording him and the songs of choice are...

"I'm a little teapot" or as he says it "I'm a little teapop shot and spip" and one that he made up that I will name...."Stop Stop STOPPPPPP" I think he may have been talking about my driving but who knows. and then of course sweet little devil child Neya dancing to none other than Justin Bieber. Just when I want to strangle this kid she goes and does something cute. ugh.

Graduation and a Game!

It is hard to believe that just 11 short years ago I was holding my baby girl in my arms wondering how on earth such an amazing little being could have come from me. She was an 8lb 10 oz ball of love and I knew right then and there I wouldn't trade her in for the world. Now, 11 years later, I sometimes watch her roll her eyes at me, I hear me yelling at the top of my lungs how disrespectful she is or giggle at how she slumps her shoulders when she doesn't get her way or how she so smoothly loves me all the sudden when we walk into any store...and I mean ANY store, hello did you know that kids even love to ask for stuff at OSH. Weird. Either way, at the end of the day she is my baby, will always be my baby. She has truly grown up into a great little girl and to see her at her graduation so proud and so darn smart I was amazed. I am amazed still that that little being, could have come from me!

Throughout this year she had to start a new school, she had to make new friends, lose some of those new friends and start all over. She learned that drama is everywhere at this age and that it's not always the hottest guy in the schoolyard that will be the nicest when you're down in the dumps. She learned to stay true to herself, she learned how she doesn't want to do drugs and she learned that middle school is a whole new world and that she isn't quite sure she is ready for it.

As she continues to mature I hope she learns that money doesn't buy happiness, that the coolest jeans don't make you the most popular and that being rude to your parents, your friends, strangers or ANYONE doesn't make you 'cool' and won't earn you friends. I hope that she learns that she paves her own path and that she can't have anyone do it for her and that she grows up to be a leader not a follower. I hope that she realizes that life is exciting and to not take every little thing so personal and that sometimes shrugging your shoulders and saying 'whatever' is the easiest thing to do in a not so great situation..becuase you can't change the past you can only make a better future.

What she grows up to be, whoever she grows up to be I mostly hope that she knows that we are here for her, we love her and although we will not agree with every decision, every friend, every boyfriend and every bad grade we will love and support her to the end.

Carina we are so very proud of you and the little woman you have become and now that you are going into middle school...yes...you can finally shave your legs!

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At Carina's graduation they played a video of all the kids from baby to who they are now which made me cry. They gave awards and Carina, unbeknownst to us all received an award. She got the Gold Presidents Education Award which meant that she not only met the requirements for her age/grade, it means she went above and beyond with other academic achievements and for that they rewarded her a 'signed' award from Barack Obama along with a little pin. So cute. We got there late so I had to stand in the back but ya know, its okay...better than standing in the front and having angry parents yell at me. haha. We got pics of course and although her Nana had to leave early what she said before she went really made me smile and feel proud. She told ME 'thank you for doing such an amazing job'. Me. A mom, and doing an amazing job. I owe my life to Carina because without her I wouldn't be the amazing mom that folks like to believe I am. Although she came earlier than we had all hoped she helped me to become the person I am today and every birthday, every graduation and every moment she isn't being a bratty tween I will remind her of this. She is great, I wouldn't ever go back and say that I would have done my life different and I hope that as she gets older she makes wise decision but can also say that when she is an adult.






Wednesday the entire 5th grade had a 'graduation' field trip to an SF Giants game. Not much to report there, kids were kids, Carina walked around with her friends, it was sort of freezing but sunny (weird) and I dragged Lauren along since I had an extra ticket and RC had to work. It was fun all around, but I will let the pics get posted because well...it was a Giants game, we had fun, ate yummy ballpark food. I mean...does anything more really need to be said ;)

29. Wow.

It is always hard when your birthday comes around and you think. Wow. Another year older. Sheesh. This year not only did I turn 29 but I also have a full week ahead that is all based around my little girl graduating from her Elementary School and moving into the bigger, better, way more mature Junior High. My Birthday weekend was happy although I couldn't help myself and I kept letting my mind wander back to just "yesterday" when she was a little girl who still liked me and now I have a big girl who often times rolls her eyes at me, tells me how uncool I am and only calls me 'mommy' if she needs money or new clothes. Ugh.

So anywho. Onto my fabulous Birthday! I have got to first say I am certain I have the best husband ever. In the 8 years we have been together (FYI I was always off by a year when I referenced us before) I have never really had a great birthday, although I do recall one birthday weekend where my friend/coworker and a few other folks took me out and we had a blast. We even ended up, grocery cart racing at 2am, hopping fences and swimming in a pool with all our clothes on, reaking pure blissful havoc. Oh those were the good ol' days. When we were young :) But anywho, my hubby wasn't even around last year for my birthday as he was in CA already and I was alone in AZ. The friends were good hubby replacements as they took me to Hooters, got me cupcakes and put huge smiles on my face. But I had treated myself and the kiddos to dinner and went home to only a face on a PC screen. Well, this year, he completely made up for it and then some.

It all started a couple weeks ago I do believe he started poking and prodding questions out of me, and was asking places I'd like to eat, things I would like to do and I didn't really even think to much of it. Then as my birthday got closer and closer he was plotting, I could tell. The friends started to ask questions, I could feel a sense of "excitement" in the air. From myself only of course, cause I was psyching myself out. haha. I didn't know when he had the time to plan much of anything but boy did he pull it up. Here is the run down of my weekend...

Friday morning was my BIRTHDAY!! WOOT WOOT. I was kinda nervous and trying not to get to excited but hey. Who doesn't! I woke up, took my shower, he was asleep, didn't say a peep. I got out of the shower, he was making lunches, the kids were awake and NO ONE said a peep to me! What the heck, did they forget from the time they went to bed until now. I mean HELLO I only mentioned it about a billion times! I got dressed, did my hair and finally Neya and Carina came in and said happy birthday, phew, but the husband. Still nothing. He did get the boy ready, and did do all the morning routines so hey, who can complain. UNTIL I walked out to the kitchen and BAM! THere was a balloon bouquet, cards (one from him and one from the kids) and there was a little gift bag. Well, that to me was the perfect start. In the gift bag was a sweet decorative Martini Glass. It had cakes all over it. Gotta love birthday cake ;) He said happy birthday, we got some pics on (only on my cell phone though) and off I went to work with a smile on my face.






Lunch time rolls around and me and Melody hit up my fave place, well really our fave place, heck, who am I kidding, LOTS of peoples favorite place, Taqueria Rosita and she treated me to a lunch. She had her little man Teagen who wasn't feeling very good but he did give me a few big smiles and although he had a nasty cough and was keeping mommy very worried he certainly added to the birthday happiness :)We had full tummies, I got to give her the CD with all Peytens 6th birthday pics on it and at the end Teagen even left me with a little gift. I got a nice wet butt from sitting on a pack of wipes while patting his back and breaking up some flem. Haha. That's what I get for helping him out! Hehe.



That afternoon I got to leave work a bit early thanks to my fabulous co-workers and head off to do some shopping. I got to the store with Rian around 3 and wouldn't ya know, Grandpa Rich (my lil bro's dad) showed up with my sister, her girlfriend and my little bro a bit earlier than expected and met me there. I got a cute dress (very grown up and respectable) and even bought some nylons which I hated but hey, a girl has to stay warm!



We all headed up the hill, after catching some grief from Carina as she wasn't able to go to dinner but now Richie was, got reshowered, let the dog out to pee, cleaned up a bit (myself, not the house haha) and headed out. We dropped Rian off at my parents, in fact their were two reasons I didn't take my kids.

1. I have picky kids. I may not have known where we were going to dinner but I know they probably didn't serve chicken nuggets and fries.

2. I wanted a night with no responsibility. See, taking my bro was one thing, he had his dad there, his other sister there and lots of other grown adults to keep him in line which meant I didn't have a thing to worry about, if I had taken my kids, even Carina I would have most likely dealt with pickiness, attitude and at some point a meltdown of how bored she was.

Anywho, we all met up with RC at his dads house, and also met Lauren there, she was heading out with us. She got me the prettiest flowers and I had NO vase to put them in when I got home so guess what. I cut off the top off a 2 liter bottle and stuck them in there. Yeah, thats me, pure class. Haha. OFf we went to dinner. RC FINALLY caved and told me where we were headed and it was to the one place I was certain he would never take me! The Melting Pot! YAY! RC isn't a big fan of melted gooey choose nor is he a fan of chocolate so I assumed we would somewhere different, but apparently he was sticking to the plan of making this day all about me. Have I mentioned I love that man!

We got to dinner, had a bit of a wait but we had now added three more folks to our party and had a total of 10! Yes, 10 folks at a super yummy place. MMM. RC's bro, his woman and his son all showed up. They were so sweet, even got me a Macy's gift card! Yay me! We had a little wait till our table was open, we got a drink and then sat and began our meal. I won't go over all the details but I will say that you go in thinking its one thing and it's totally different. You basically cook your entire meal and it couldn't have been better. It was really great and I am hoping all the folks that attended had a blast. I have some pics of the food, the cooking pot and the dessert and of course any other rare photo ops I could snag. I had a great time and I am glad that RC kept it a secret. I am glad I got dressed up and I am even more glad I spent it with such a great group of people!









Saturday was kind of odd. We woke up a bit late (830) and made breakfast, got ready and went to grab the kiddos from my parents. The original plan the prior week was to go to the Zoo but the weather had different plans. We ended up deciding on bowling but wouldn't ya know, the one place in town was PACKED and had a huge wait. We decided to go eat lunch at Mary's (Yummy) and head back later where they were STILL packed. SO we played some video games, some air hockey, won some candy and then just as we were going to leave they had (of course) some lanes open. RC and I left the older kids to bowl with Rich and off we went to the grocery store to pick up some stuff for a get together at The Snook House. We got there and the Wendts were there and we were able to get in some chit chat time. This whole dinner was just for me and I loved it! I have the best friends and even though they couldn't be at dinner Friday night they made it a point to have us over. How sweet. Heather even brought me cheesecake!!! OMG. I couldn't even decide on what kind to have so I had a piece of each. Haha. We had big plans, karaoke, some board games, anythnig really and we ended up doing none of it. Life has been busy for each of our families and I think once we all had really full bellies (with delicious enchiladas) we got a bit tired and decided to call it a night. I had a blast either way and always enjoy spending time with great folks. Thanks again Tiff and Heather for making my night extra special.










Sunday was kind of sad, we had to say goodbye to Rich, Amy, Leila and Richie but before we did that we picked out some baby shower invites for our sister Ashley, made some belgian waffles and lazed about, even if only for a bit. We said our goodbyes, made some plans to visit again (maybe next time we can make it to the zoo) and off they went into the rain, in record time I might add. The rest of the day we ran errands, got gas, grocery shopped, and came home and lazed about after grubbing on some yummy tacos.

We had originally invited my parents up to come for dinner since I was kinda bummed I didn't see much of them my birthday weekend (although they did give me an awesome present...a gift card to the outlets!) and so we invited them up for Tacos. We got all excited, cleaned up the house after we got back from running errands and even gave Chloe a bath so that 'grandma and grandpa' met her when she was so fresh and so clean clean. Hehe. Well they ended up getting a text about my cousin Martina's recital they had agreed to go to and ended up having to cancel on us (sad) but at least we got a bath in! Chloe was not a fan but hey, what dog likes baths the first go round, I think she will get used to it! At least she is small enough to do it in the tub and doesn't need to go outside and get squirted by cold hose water!

Before: When she still loved me

During: When all she wanted to do was escape that terrible white water bowl!

After: When she wanted to jump out of my arms from disliking me so much

This birthday weekend, although minus my AZ friends, was great. It was low key, it was special and it was more importantly ALL ABOUT ME! Haha.

Thank you all for making it soo special you have no idea how much I appreciate it!

Didn't want to bloat the Blog withh a bunch of food pics right smack dab in the middle (lord knows I alread have enough people pics) but I can't help but post these so you can see the yummy food we scarfed down on Friday night :)