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.