Mientras

I got away from the family for a few minutes and managed to make it to the internet cafe. I have internet on my cell phone, but it sucks, so I can´t do anything on it as far as the blog goes. Or anything else for that matter, LOL.

Things here have been going well. Well sort of. If you count Jordan getting stung by an alacran (think black scorpion) a couple of weeks back, then later in the week she was walking in the kitchen (cement floor) barefoot, and the floor was wet, and she fell and hit her head on the floor. Then an hour or so later she dumped a huge pot of boiling beans on her foot and hand and got burned real bad. But other than that, everything is going well. Oh and yes Jordan is fine now, LOL.

Oh and one of our dogs got hit by a car (the person purposly swerved to hit the dog, who was on the side of the road) and died. That was a sad thing for the kids to see.

I now have a fuego, which means fire. Its an outside fire stove like thing. I had pictures but someone erased all of the pictures off of y SD card, so I can´t show you. Well I dont have a card reader either so even if I did have them, I couldn´t show you.

I may be coming to the US for 10 days later this month, and if I do, I will upload all the pictures from my laptop to show you all. And I will have time to be online (because it will just be me and Andre and Levi at my MOMS house. You know what that means right? Nana does everything, and I get a vacation. Just kidding mom.) and I can tell you all the stories of the milkman, the crazy lady, the little girl on the bike and Isa and her boyfriends. My internet time is up now, otherwise I would tell you now, LOL. I miss you all though, more than you know. I miss not being able to check in on you all. Be sure though that if I do go back to the US for those couple of weeks, I will catch up with ALL of you!

Hello from Honduras

Hey you all!!

I finally was able to find a cafe with a halfway decent internet connection. So now when I am able to get out of the house child free (or close to it) I know where I can go to get online to update.

I have so many pictures and stories that I want to share, but no time right this moment. But I fingured that I would come on and at least say hey, and that everyone is doing well. Even Andre, after his bee sting.

Levi has been sick and we are trying to get him better, but other than that we are all doing well.

Matt - Just so you know, there is a house, and it is a nice house. I know you were scared that I would get here and there would be no house, LOL. It still needs some work - the back porch needs to be done as well as the garage. But other than that it is great.

Thank everyone who has been worried about me and thank you mom and Alan for updating what you could for me.

I miss you all, and hopefully sometime in the next two weeks or so I will be back with a REAL update!!

Hello my fellow bloggers

Hello all!
This is Alan (Jen's bro) letting all of you know how she is doing. I talked with her on Saturday (June 14th) via the phone and it was just awesome to here her voice! She wanted to let each of you know that she is doing fine (except for the bugs) and was concerned for all of you who enjoy her blogg. Please feel free to check out my blogg as I may post there from time to time about Jen until she finds a better internet source. The cafe she went to took two forevers to load up just one page of here emails. So as we can see the internet part has been difficult but she is doing well. Jen

WOO HOO

By now I will have reached my in-laws house, and will be heading to my own house soon. I will be back hopefully this Saturday to update you on how crazy my life has been.

Hope you have a good week!

I should be in the air by now!!!

As long as I am on time, then we should be in the air by now. Hopefully Levi wont cry, and Jordan's ears wont bother her to much. I have been giving her Sudafed so she wont be stuffed up. Pray that the kids sleep for a good part of this flight. PLEASE!!!!

I am on my way...

As of right now, I am on my way to the airport to check in and get through security, and just get there.

How hard is it for everyone to look one way??

Obviously, in my family, it is beyond hard, because no one can do it.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

So many times have I started to update this blog, only to get irritated, and frustrated and erase it. I have so much stuff going through my mind right now, that anything I try to do, it becomes a chore. My mind right now is pure chaos.

Two days from now I will be loading up the luggage and the children and be on my way to the airport. 2 more days. Where did the time go? I remember when I thought that I never would have been able to survive the 7 and a half months until time to go. And now here it is just a couple more hours (ok more than a couple of hours, but really not much).

My last day of work was the 5th of May. But I still went in 8 more times to work off the clock. Why? Well for a couple of reasons. I worked so that I could get some free food this last week for the kids, so I wouldn't have to cook. Although I am only taking advantage of it on Monday. I think the biggest reason I went was so that I would have something to do, instead of sitting here looking at the 4 walls all night long. I mean it isn't like I have a whole house to pack up/clean up for a move right?

What have I done to get ready for the move? Hmm...

• Monday night was the Panda Buffet with my landlord and his wife and kids. They are also good friends of ours. I worked Monday night too.
• Tuesday night was the Eastern Buffet with Gloria and the kids. I worked Tuesday night too. Milton also came over after work (12:45AM) and hung out until after 5AM, after he left, I went to sleep, and then was up at 7AM.
• Wednesday I was a grump all day and exhausted because I only got an hour of sleep the night before.. Wednesday night I wanted to go to bed early, but due to the fact that my ex-husband was coming by to get a dresser after work, I couldn't. (he gets off work at 12:30ish).
• Thursday was fill the trailer with trash and crap day. And I spent the day loading that up for a trip to the dump.
• Friday was meet my grandparents and my mom and Rob at the old country buffet for a good-bye dinner.
• Saturday was a take Jordan to her fathers and then come home and sit around the house day. Milton came over tonight at 10:30PM to get the TV, TiVo, entertainment table, and other odds and ends so that I would be less stressed. However he is so much like my husband, you wouldn't believe. He is talking to me on the phone, knowing I am stressed beyond belief, and he is giving me a hard time to piss me off. Just like Lale, I swear. I got so mad that I was crying. And for what? For nothing.
• Tomorrow is church and cleaning the house real well. But here it is 2:15AM and I am still sitting on the couch.
• Monday I have to go to the laundry mat to wash blankets and last minute clothes and what not. Oh yeah, and find someone to buy my crib, and see if who is supposed to buy my van still wants to buy it. And if not, find another person to buy it. HA. Good luck to me, right?

So as you can see, other than loading the trailer with stuff for the dump, I really haven't done much have I? Oh sure I have plans to clean tomorrow today, but lets see if I can procrastinate even more.

I am stressed. I just want for it to be over and done with and me on my way. I have people who are supposed to come and get stuff, and yet they still haven't, and that is adding to my stress. All I can say is, its a good thing I work well under pressure. I know come Monday night, I will be cleaning like crazy.

Once I leave though, don't expect an update until at least the 24th, if not later. I don't know if the first weekend if I will be able to make it to the internet cafe, but I will try.

I will have my camera and a notebook and pen though, to write about my trip - well as much of it as I can, since Levi will be on my lap for most of the trip. Should be fun, Myself, with 7 kids who have been up for most of the night (and who are kids that need 12 hours of sleep), on a 4 hour flight, then an hour layover, an hour long flight, another hour layover, then another hour long flight. Then getting myself, those same 7 children, who now have been up for more than a little bit, and who by then will probably be crazy, all my luggage (yes, all 16 peices of it - 800 pounds of luggage) through customs, and immigration to finally see my husband on the other side. Then we get to load up the luggage and the kids (who will be split into two - possibly more - different vehicles) and go on an hour and a half ride to my in-laws house, visit for a bit, then another half an hour or so to my house. I CANT BELIVE I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO SEE MY HOUSE!!!!! Then it is time to begin my life in Honduras. Time to get a schedule down.

But I will be writing blog material as each day goes by, I can promise you that ;) Oh and I promise pictures of my house too. Since no one ever sent me any... humph.

Something different...

Today was one of those days. I had a headache almost from the time I got up, one that my migraine meds wouldn't help. Any guesses why? Here let me give you a hint, and see if you can see what is different about me this evening.

Here I am before



And here I am after

Other than the fact that I am tan. (Really I am not that odd looking - color wise, its got to be the camera. Or maybe its the fact that this year I have aquired tons of freckles and they all want to come out and play??)

Can you figure out what is different? It has something to do with having $352 less than I did this morning. Still no clue? Well maybe we should ask Johan and Isa what is different about me.

This morning while I was still asleep in bed in the shower, the kids were on my bed, and I didn't even realize it. Either Isa or Johan (it depends on who you ask) got ahold of my glasses. So either Isa or Johan (again, it depends on who you ask) knew that their brother/sister would get in trouble, so they decided they would *help* them out and take the glasses from him/her. And a struggle occured, and my glasses were the victim. So I was blind until this afternoon when my mother was able to come over and take me to Lens Crafters so that I could get an eye exam, and spend a super crazy amount of money on new glasses. I really liked a different pair, but the nose guard thing made me mad, so I didn't get them. It makes me want to cry at how much I wanted to get those.

I will say though, having a migraine all day, and also not being able to sleep does great things for my eyes. Really. My eyes are green, with brown in them. BUT unless I am crying, you would think that they were brown. But today, with being bloodshot and what not, it really brung out the green. Not as green as if I was crying, but still.

See?? (can you really see the green? *I* can, but am I crazy expecting you all to? If not, then when I am crying, I will take a picture to show you how green they really get)

Looking for Love

This is Jose Fermin. He goes by Jose, or Fermin. My nickname for him is House Guest From Hell (HGFH). In 2006, he came to stay with us from April to August. A total of 4.5 months. And I hated every second of it. He got on my last nerve and I couldn't wait for him to move out. He is my husbands friend, and even Lale wanted him out of the house. Now that he is out of the house (and has been for almost 2 years) he doesn't get on my nerves so much, LOL. I can stand him for about 5 minutes a month, and now that we are so close, I thought I would help him out.

Fermin has been in the US for 2 years, and his girlfriend that he left back home, the one who promised to wait for him, etc. etc. has a new man. Well not such a new man, because she has had him for over a year now. Anyway, that means that Fermin is all alone. He is looking for love. I told him I would put his picture online with a brief description about who he is, and maybe we could find a love match.

Let me tell you a bit about Fermin. He is a 35ish yr old hard worker. Well when he feels like it. Right now he is working two jobs. (see his McDonald's shirt, and notice he is in front of KFC? No worries about food if you are with Fermin). When he gets paid, I am sure that he would gladly spend his money on you. He would gladly buy you many many cases of cervesa - usually Corona, sometimes MGD - each week. He would help you drink it too. He doesn't discriminate against woman. Ago doesn't matter to him. Just ask his last girlfriend. She was 60ish years old.

Oh yeah, and Fermin is from Honduras, and El Salvador. I am not sure if he was born in El Salvador, and his dad is Honduran, or if he has papers from both sides because his mom is from El Salvador, and his dad is from Honduras. (Or maybe his mom is from Honduras, and his dad is from El Salvador. I think he told me, but this was when he was living with me, and I ignored him the best I could) He has 2 children of his own, and he has 3 others that are not his, but he has assumed as his, and takes care of. He is not together with the mother of his kids, as she has a boyfriend.

All in all, I think he would be a good catch for the right woman. Any takers? Leave me a comment with a contact email, and I will hurry up and get you all set up ;)

Oh yeah, and he told me to make sure I put down that he would quite the catch. That he is el mas guapo de la familia - the most handsome one of the family.

So come on ladies. Lets find him some love...

More Goodbyes...

Well over the last couple of days my brother in law, Milton, stopped by as well as my nephew, Carlos. Both came by to say good-bye and so that I could take some pictures of them for their family in Honduras.

It was nice and we all hung out for a bit. The kids got to play with their uncle and cousin. It is sad, because they are such a big part of my family, and I am going to miss them so much. The kids will too. The kids love when they come over to play with all of them. They both work so much, but still try to get over here a couple of times a month. Who knows when we will see them again. Both Milton and Carlos have been here since early 2004, so really none of the little ones can remember a time without them. Mickey was barely 1. Isa was just a baby, Johan, Lana, and Levi weren't even born yet. So while they may not realize that its going to be awhile, I do. And that makes me sad. Jordan and Andre are sad that they have to say goodbye to them. In the picture with Carlos, Jordan did her best to not smile, as she was going back and forth between being sad to say good-bye, and being happy and goofing off with Carlos. Andre didn't want to take pictures with Carlos or Milton. He does his best to forget that we have to say goodbye, so if he doesn't take pictures he figures that he isn't saying goodbye. He is alot like his mother that way. If we ignore it, maybe it wont happen. Or saying goodbye will be easier to deal with, LOL.

Here are slide shows of the kids enjoying their uncle and cousin. Isn't Milton such a cutie? Ever since the first time I met him, I have had a mini crush on him. (not a bad crush, LOL. Like a schoolgirl crush. He is just a cutie.)

MILTON

CARLOS

I also cried for the first time today. Well not cried for the first time ever, but cried for the first time in relation to my moving. I was talking to my mom about why Rob was acting like a jerk, and she said well he sometimes does that when he doesn't know how to handle the situation. Meaning me moving. So I said well is he upset because we are leaving, or because of how hard it is going to be for you. And she didn't say anything. Which, in our family only means one thing. Tears. I told her to stop because I couldn't handle her crying. And I can't. I am going to do my share of it in Honduras because I am so going to miss her. She is like my best friend. We talk ALL the time. I mean, like 5+ times a day. I wont be able to do that in Honduras. It will be more like once a week or so. I think that is going to be the biggest and hardest adjustment for me. Actually I know it will be the biggest adjustment for me. Up until today I have been blocking it out of my mind, and I have been fine. So now I am trying to put it back to wherever it was, so that I don't think about it. But it is hard.

Pics - of my hair, and Levi - and a note to Mr/Ms Anon

First off, here is a picture of my hair. Not the best picture, but the best one you are going to get of me, after work and a shower, and exhausted. :) It does show off my forehead quite nicely, LOL.





And because I took a couple of pics of him tonight, here are a few of my poor little man. The poor baby, no one feeds him. He is just wasting away.



Levi is now almost 6 months old. Can you believe it? He will be 6 months old next Thursday. Where did the time go? He can sit up by himself, he can hold his heavy bottle (10 ounces!!) He can crawl - backwards. Although today he has learned how to get on his hands and knees and sort of throw himself/flop forwards, so by the end of the week he should be moving forward.





This whole getting ready to move, it has me somewhat hormonal. I can fly off the handle at the slightest provocation. I would love to say more about it, I am going to bite my tongue, and just try to make my point as nice as possible. This probably wont come across the right way, but it isnt meant to be snarky, or bitchy or anything like that. I am just responding to the comment.

To the anon poster that left me a comment today I am just going to say a few things. While I appreciate your concerns, you obviously only know about a portion of our past, in which I have blogged about, but you know nothing about our present, or our future. Nor do you know the whole story about what happened. He probably does seem like he is doing fine without me there. And he probably is. I am doing fine here by myself as well. But that isnt a marriage. A marriage is two people. It is a partnership. And that is what we are. Yes we had issues - caused by BOTH of us, and because of those issues, we both have grown in who we are together, as well as who we are seperately.

You also do not know or understand who my in-laws are. My in-laws would not lie to me to cover up for their son. They are not those type of people, thank God. It has already been proven.

And let me point you in the direction of something. My daughters will be fine. My sons will be fine. Their education will be more than fine. I am a mother first, above all else. I am doing this for my children as well. They deserve to have a mother and a father who are together. You talk about the missed opportunities for schooling because they will be in Honduras. Which, with homeschool, I am taking care of those opportunities. No worries. But by staying in the US, they will be missing out on all sorts of LIFE opportunities.

Oh and, if you care so much why not post who you are.

Lastly, does he really love me? That he does. That he does. He is at our house, by himself. Not with the mother of his children. (she is at her house with her husband - and if you had a clue as to how their relationship is with one another, you would know how I know for sure). You said alot of you are doubting his heart? Well good for you. Who and what you doubt means nothing to me. What matters is if I doubt his heart, or his sincerity. And I don't.

ACK... look at the time... like my hair, its getting shorter

Do you see these numbers? Do you see how few there are? Have you seen my house? Of course you haven't because I haven't posted pictures. I would show you pictures, (and I will, I promise) but my camera has some issues and it went in for therapy. Don't worry though, it should be back tomorrow. (Its about time too. I havent had a working camera of my own for a while now. I can't wait to get it back).

MySpace Generators

Due to what I am calling stress and/or a moment of insanity, I cut my hair. I came home Monday from work, went into the bathroom, getting ready to take a shower, looked into the mirror and said, I need to cut my hair. It was something that I *had* to do, right then. So I did.

If you know me, you know that I have had long hair for a LOOONNNGGG time. There is a reason for that. My hair grows so freaking slow. Or at least it seems like it. It probably grows on the slow side of normal, but it is so thin, and so fine, that it seems to take forever. I am very picky with my hair too. In the past 5 years, I have had my hair cut 3 times. Yup, 3 times. Once in Feb 2003. Once in April of last year, and once in June of last year. I usually do the trimming of my hair. However, Monday, I did a bit more than trimming. I took off more than 8 inches of my hair. It barely touches my shoulder. I can get it into a mini ponytail though, and that is all that matters.

I don't regret it, I am just shocked that I did it. And I messed up the back, because when I cut so much off (with non-hair cutting scissors) I didn't do it the right way. I just pulled it into two pony tails, and said sniiiip. So I had a couple of spots in the back that were no where near close to even. So what did I do? I took my mostly dull fabric scissors to KFC and had my manager fix it up for me.

Life can't get any better than that, can it? Its like the Hair Cuttery, catered. I didn't tell my brother yet. He is going to cry. He loves my hair. He calls it the corn silk hair. That is what my manager at KFC said to me too. She said I have corn silk hair, and she would love to just sit there and brush my hair all day, LOL. I also didn't tell Lale yet either. Well I haven't talked to him since I did it, but I don't know if I am going to tell him, or just suprise him by showing up with short hair. He doesn't like me with short hair, but when I asked him last year about cutting it this short, and what did he think, he said he didn't care. So lets see how much he freaks out when he finds out, LOL.

Here is a picture of me last April, when I got my hair cut and colored. See how long it was?

This was one year ago Friday. I know it was my birthday, so why wasn't I smiling ? LOL. I don't know what was going on with me, and why I wasn't smiling. But anyway, see how long my hair was?

See my color that I had done? I LOVED LOVED LOVED it.

To bad my hair doesn't hold color, and within 2 weeks it was all back to brown. Stupid hair)

Once I get my camera back (please let it be tomorrow, please, please, please) I will take a picture and show you all my new hair cut, and you can tell me what you think. Depending on what I end up doing, I may decide to color my hair too. Who knows. Thats my problem with my hair though. If I leave it alone, I do ok. Once I start messing with it though, I start to change it over and over and over. It becomes addicting.

Oh wait, here is another picture I found on my photobucket account of my hair back in January 2004. Isa was almost a month old when I took this picture. (which explains the extremely large boobs - they almost take over this picture, dont they, LOL) I love how it looks here, with how dark it is (my natural color) and that it has some curl. My hair is pin straight, and when I am lucky enough to get some curl into it with a curling iron, that curl lasts all of 5 minutes. The somewhat curl that I have on the serious picture way up there, that was 30 minutes after I left the salon, and my hair was VERY curly when I walked out the door. My hair just wont hold a curl.

Going to the chapel...

Lale and I got married in a civil ceremony in Honduras in November 2003. He had issues with a church wedding, because that means that it is forever. (what and 5 children isnt, LOL) So I agreed to wait until we had been together for 10 years to have a church wedding. Then he would feel comfortable enough to know that it was a forever relationship. (I know, I know) Well I have been hearing from a bunch of little birdies - that are my inlaws - that Lale is planning our wedding for when I get there. Which is awesome. It means he has realized, 3 years ahead of schedule, that we are forever.

The only problem with that is, I dont know when it is supposed to happen. Which means, I can't tell my family and friends when it is, so that they can to come down. What am I supposed to do for a dress? I found one that I am going to get, but it is custom made, and it takes 16 weeks or so to get it. What if I get there, and I lose alot of weight, then I have to have the dress taken in, that adds extra time to it as well. So many what ifs. And I can't ask him when he is planning the wedding, because I am not even supposed to know. AARRGG. Men. Doesnt he understand that this is something that he shouldn't be doing on his own?? Doesn't he realize that it is the BRIDES day?

Anyway, here is the dress that I am going to get, only instead of the red color, it is going to have blue instead. (I think. I still haven't totally decided). What do you think?

The Front

Detailed Front Picture

The Back

Aliado del Tiempo

If you don't speak Spanish, you can just ignore this post. I just really, really, really miss my husband.

*I so can't wait until I am in Honduras*

TENGO GANAS DE TOCARTE TODO TU CUERPO,
SER ALIADO DE LAS LARGAS HORAS Y EL TIEMPO,
PARA PODER DETENERME A CADA SEGUNDO,
Y TENER LA DICHA DE SEGUIR RECORRIENDO
TU CUERPO DESNUDO Y HACERTE EL AMOR.

EN TUS BELLOS OJOS HE ENCONTRADO ESE BRILLO,
Y EN TUS LABIOS EL SABOR QUE TANTO ME GUSTA,
EN TU CUERPO LA PASIÓN QUE LLEVO ENCENDIDA,
Y TU ALMA ME PROVOCA ALGO QUE ME ASUSTA
QUE ME ESTA ATRAYENDO Y CREO QUE ES AMOR.

NO ENCONTRABA LA MANERA DE HACERTE EXTENSOS,
TODOS MIS DESEOS Y MIS MAS BELLOS SUEÑOS,
NO SABIA COMO DECIRTE COSAS HERMOSAS
Y POR ESO TE LO DIGO EN ESTA CANCIÓN.

TE AMO, ESPERO QUE TAMBIÉN TU SIENTAS LO MISMO,
QUE NECESITES PARA VIVIR MIS BESOS,
TE AMO, TE AMO Y QUIERO PROPONERTE UNA COSA,
SI ESTAS DE ACUERDO QUIERO HACERTE EL AMOR.

EN TUS BELLOS OJOS HE ENCONTRADO ESE BRILLO,
Y EN TUS LABIOS EL SABOR QUE TANTO ME GUSTA,
EN TU CUERPO LA PASIÓN QUE LLEVO ENCENDIDA,
Y TU ALMA ME PROVOCA ALGO QUE ME ASUSTA
QUE ME ESTA ATRAYENDO Y CREO QUE ES AMOR.

NO ENCONTRABA LA MANERA DE HACERTE EXTENSOS,
TODOS MIS DESEOS Y MIS MAS BELLOS SUEÑOS,
NO SABIA COMO DECIRTE COSAS HERMOSAS
Y POR ESO TE LO DIGO EN ESTA CANCIÓN.

TE AMO, ESPERO QUE TAMBIÉN TU SIENTAS LO MISMO,
QUE NECESITES PARA VIVIR MIS BESOS,
TE AMO, TE AMO Y QUIERO PROPONERTE UNA COSA,
SI ESTAS DE ACUERDO QUIERO HACERTE EL AMOR.

TENGO GANAS DE TOCARTE TODO TU CUERPO,
SER ALIADO DE LAS LARGAS HORAS Y EL TIEMPO,
PARA PODER DETENERME A CADA SEGUNDO
MI VIDA Y HACERTE EL AMOR.

Blog of Distinction...

Wow. I got an award from Damama. She choose me as a Blog of Distinction. I am honored. And for once, speachless.

It was created by Working Mum On The Verge to honor blogs that make you, "think, laugh, cry or sigh." The only rule is you should pass it to another 5 blogs. This will be difficult since so many blogs I read fall into this category. I will pass it on to:

The More, The Messier - because as a fellow mom to many children, she lets me, as well as the rest of the world, know that I am not the only one who is surrounded by crazy children, LOL.

La Gringa Mas Bella - because she is going through the whole immigration battle, and still does it with a smile on her face, and can joke about it.

Mr. Smith Goes To Delhi - anyone else who can move a crew (of 6 kids) to a different country, and can blog about the cultural differences, in such a funny way, deserves some type of an award.

Rocking Pony - Karen is a down to earth, very nice, and very funny woman who I can count on to make me smile, and her handsome son Micah is such a sweetheart, he has my heart. Plus she is supermom. She has her own (AWESOME) etsy store, has a breeding kennel, horses, and a couple of kids. Like I said. Supermom.

Honduras Sprouts - Adjusting to a new life in a new country is a hard thing to do. Mama Sprout is doing it, and shares her wisdom with me - via blog and via email - and I appreciate it more than she knows.

Thank you Damama for the vote. It makes me feel special and appreciated.

Now I am off to let everyone know how special they are.

And for those of you who didn't get an award, you are still special to me. I just had to chose 5.

30 days

30 days. Thats it. 30 days from right now I will be stacking my luggage out the front door, and saying good bye to this house. I wonder if I will be upset, or if I will be ok. I think I will be just fine. It helps that my mom isnt giving me a ride to the airport, but one of those airport limo/vans are instead. This day has been a long time in coming, and I can't wait. My new life.

I sit here and think about what my new life is going to be like, and how different it is going to be. I have an idea of what my life is going to be like, and I am going to post it here, so that later, I can come back and post what its really like and see how off I am.

Let me start with what my life is like now. Right now, I have an easy life, LOL. On days that I work, I get up, get the kids dressed and fed breakfast, take them to the babysitters, and work my 6-8 hours. Andre puts dinner in the oven (or I put it in the crockpot in the AM) before I get home. I get home, everyone eats dinner, gets a bath, and off to bed. I sit online for a bit then go to bed myself.

I sit here and think about what its going to be like in Honduras. It drives me crazy because I am a person that, while it seems like my life is chaos, I like order in my life. I like to have a schedule and everything - even if it is in my head. I know that in Honduras, clothes will be washed in the pila, by had. More than likely I will be washing clothes every day. I know that the cows have to be milked twice a day. Eggs have to be gathered. I have to get up early to make breakfast and lunch for Lale, so that he has comida when he goes arriba. (Ugh, and I am on of those that prefers to stay up late, and sleep late). Homechooling the kids has to be thrown in there somehwere as well. Dinner has to be made as well. Plus daily cleaning. I am sure my husband is going to want some ironing done, and I think I am going to have to teach the kids how to iron, because I don't iron. I think, in my almost 32 yrs of life, I may have ironed 5 times. Maybe. I hate to iron. Looking at this list, it doesnt look like there is much to do, but I seriously know that it is going to be crazy.

Plus the heat. I sooooo do not like the heat. So that will be another big adjustment. Although it used to be that in the middle of winter, I would be sitting in the house in a t-shirt and shorts, while everyone else is bundled into pants, socks, sweatshirts, and blankets. But after I had Levi, my whole body has changed. All winter long I wore socks in the house. And sweatpants. And sometimes two shirts. If you know me, you know that so is not me. Today it was almost 80 degrees, and I was wearing shorts, a tank top, and a hoodie. So maybe my body is saying it is ready for some Honduras heat, LOL.

As far as culture shock, I don't know how its going to affect me. I know that it will. I have done my research by reading about what has affected other people, and I think that in general I will be ok. But I don't know. The hardest thing for me is being so far away from my mom. She and I talk ALL the time. Seriously, we talk usually 5 times or more a day. That is going to be the hardest thing for me to give up. My friends, well I don't have many in real life friends that I talk to on a regular basis. Most of my friends are online, and I will be able to talk to them. Maybe not as often, but I can still talk to them. The only other person that I talk to usually on the phone is Gloria (my sister in law). But we talk usually once or twice a week if that. I am sure that I will talk to her when she calls her moms house. So no biggie there. I speak fluent Spanish, so that is a big plus for me. Most of my interactions are with people in Spanish, so I dont think that is going to bother me. I also look at this as an adventure, and a learning process. I hope that my outlook will help me adjust too. I also hope that I am able to help the kids adjust. Jordan shouldn't have a super hard time. She speaks Spanish ok, and makes friends real easy. Andre is going to have a harder time. He has a hard time with change in general, so this big of change is hard for him. And he has a hard time making friends too. And his Spanish isnt very good. I just hope that once we move, he will be ok. I know he can pick it up (the Spanish) and being immersed in it, its the best way to learn. The little kids, they are small enough, they can adapt without to much problems. Thats my hope anyway.

One thing I am sort of worried about is the change in culture. When my husband was here, we got along pretty well. I mean we are both stubborn, so we had our issues, but in general we were fine. We have similar thoughts on how the kids should be raised and all of that. But I have heard that once we get there, we may have some issues, because he is back in his culture, and he starts to see things as the right way. And to me they arent the right way. And because I am a very outspoken independant person, that too may cause some issues. His culture is all about machismo and appearances. The other week when I talked to him, I told him that I was worried about that, and that I hope he didnt expect me to change who I am, because I wont. I told him I understood about the difference in culture, and I can be a little bit quieter - well thats not right. Um I dont know how to say what I am trying to say. I guess I can keep some of the appearances up when out and about, but at home, I will still be who I am. Does that make sense? I reminded him that we are a couple. A pair. Equal. El no me manda, no yo a el. He laughed and said that in Honduras it is what he says that goes. But then he laughed and told me that he knows that I wont change, and that he doesnt want me to change. It calmed my fears some, but we will see once I get there what happens.

There are other things that I am going to have to work on as well. And it is going to be hard. With the exception of my sister in law Angie, I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut when I see something, or when someone is treating me rudely etc. And from what I understand, that is to be expected. Not just because I am a gringa, because they treat their own the same way. And I am not for injustice to anyone.

I dont know. I am in for a big change. I am ready for it. Thats all I know.

More of my twins... UPDATED WITH WHO IS WHO

Two posts ago, I posted a picture of my twins Isa and Lana, born a couple of years apart. I went through my pictures that I did have (not many of Isa) and I thought I would post some more on here and see if you can guess who is who.

this is ISA

this is LANA

this is LANA

this one is ISA - this one was hard, even for me.

If I didn't recognize the couch, I would have thought it was Lana.

this is ISA again

You could be a super model...

I had a post in my head for today. And for once, it had somethign to do with me moving to Honduras. I mean, I started this blog for that main purpose right? It is called Following My Catracho, not Living with 7 Kids, LOL. But I have less than 35 days until I go. 35 DAYS. Looking around my house, I have a mini panic attack. I have so much STUFF in my house. I just want it gone. I want to wiggle my nose, and it be gone. But it doesn't work that way.

Anyway...

excuse the poor quality of the pics, my camera is in the shop, and I had to use Andre's.

At my good bye cookout thing, my nephew Matt told Isa, he said, Isa, you are so beautiful, you can be a super model. As I looked at her today, you know she may very well be. I mean she can already do the crazy hair things that they do on the runways. And you know, it is a stereotype that models are... well they are a few eggs shy of a dozen. That is Isa as well. She was playing with Levi today, and talking to herself, and this is what she said.

• I am starving. I am starving to pee. as she runs off to the bathroom
• When I gro up tomorrow, I am going to be a doctor too.
• When I be older, I want a bike.
• I want to go on a roller coaster. Roller coasters are fun. I want to be on the front of the roller coaster because it is mostest fun in the front. this coming from the biggest scaredy cat in the house.
• Levi you can go on the roller coaster too. You want to sit in the front where it is mostest fun with me? You have to go in the car seat. Do you have your car seat? Lets get socks on you so you can go in your car seat and go in the roller coaster with me today. Lets go Levi.
• Your cheeks are so big and big and big.
• Levi!! You cheeks are big still.

My favorite thing she says to me though is she loves me.

• Mom, I love you because you got us toilet paper.
• Mom, I love you because you got me a cup of water.
• Mom, I love you because you got us some yummy food.
• Mom, I love you because you washed our clothes.

You know, reading it, it sounds like buying toilet paper, giving her a cup of water, getting yummy food and washing the clothes is a rare thing.

Lets Celebrate You Leaving The Country... or something like that.

A long post with picture overload. :)

This past Saturday my mom had a family cookout. Sort of a good-bye cookout. I asked my mother who would be invited, and she said it would be me, and youngest older brother Dickie, and his wife Angie.

This is Dickie. I thought I took a picture of Angie, but I couldnt find one on the SD card.

I know how this sounds, and to be honest, I really do love my brother, and his wife. I just hate to spend time with them. Or talk to them on the phone. Not a visit (or talk) goes by without one (or both) of them saying something stupid or offensive. Today was no exception. I really don't know how I am able to keep my mouth shut, but I do. Maybe because despite the things that come out of their mouth sometimes, I still love them both.

Anyway, this post isnt about what was said, it was about that day. On Friday night I was missing my oldest older brother Alan, (well not quite my OLDEST older brother - that would be Tommy, but my oldest older brother that I talk to - confusing I know. Never mind) so I called him up. I was wishing that he could be here for Saturdays cookout. Especially since I was going to be able to see him in June, (that was when I was going to leave in June) but because my flight date got moved up, there was no way they would be able to get up here to see me before then, and there was NO way I would be able to afford to go and visit them. ANYWAYS... while talking to him, I felt that something just wasnt right with him, and I thought to ask him if he was here in MD. (He lives in KY). He told me no he was at home. Well my brother, who is going to be a pastor is a liar. Because when I got to my moms house on Saturday morning, guess who was there. Thats right my brother Alan, his wife Trisha, and their kids Alex, Matt and John. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. Although, maybe I shouldn't say he is a liar, that is kind of harsh. Maybe I should say he is a good truth stretcher. I mean after all , he was at moms home, and moms home will always be our home right??

Let me introduce you to Alan.


Oh wait, thats not his best side :)

Maybe this one is better... (can you see where I get my goofiness from?)

This one is better. As you can see, Mickey loves her Uncle Alan lots and lots.

And I would like to introduce you to Trisha, Alex (with Lana), Matt, and John.


It just made my day like you wouldn't believe. I missed him so much. I missed all of them. So I got to spend the day with them, as well as with Scott, Angie, my nephew Seth, my step sister Teresa, her hubby David, and their son Noah. The weather was perfect, and the kids had a blast and I just had a good time catching up with everyone.

And this is Seth.


I was able to get an ok picture of all the grandkids that were there. Although Noah didn't want to get in the moon bounce for a picture - but seeing everyone that was in there, I don't blame him ;)

Yes more than half of the kids in this picture are mine. There are 3 of the grandkids missing form this picture. Noah, who didn't want to get in the moonbounce, Jacob - who wasn't there, and Nick, who also wasnt there.

My mom got in the moon bounce too. I have proof.


Lana loved the moon bounce, so much so, that she fell asleep to all the bouncing. Levi hated it. (look at the grandkids picture above to see how much) I think the feeling scared him - even though no one was bouncing while he was in there.


Levi also got to spend time with his Aunt Trisha, and his Uncle Alan. Uncle Alan did an awesome job at putting Levi to sleep.

And I think he loved Alex the best, because he spit up on her quite a few times on Saturday and Sunday.



Lana also had an awesome time. She will grow up to be a great supervisor! And no kissing the supervisor while she is on duty. Johan came over to give her some loving, she wasn't having any of that thank you. She kept saying, DONT WANT PICO. (pico = kiss). I love my Lana bear, she is such a rough and tough cookie :)

And look at my twins. They were born 2 years 7 months 6 days apart. They look so much alike, its scary. I have pictures of them at the same age, and you can't tell that they are different kids.