a little bit of everything and a whole lot of nothing

My mother – My mom was going out to dinner tonight, and she wanted to tell me that I wouldn’t be able to get ahold of her, so she told me she was going to be incognito. I think she meant incomunicado.

Chicken Out - I used to work at a restaurant called Chicken Out. They sold - wait for it now - CHICKEN. Well they had a grilled chicken breast sandwhich, and after about a month of me working there, they got a new supplier. With the new supplier when you ordered new chicken breast filets, you would have to order random breasts. Do you know how much I enjoyed that. I tried to explain to my sister in law why I thought it was funny (it made me laugh because I can just imagine them going around and whacking off random breasts) but for some reason it didnt translate as funny in Spanish.

enriques journey - an awesome book. This book is about a boy from Honduras who takes the trip north to the US. No matter what your thoughts are on immigration - legal or illegal - or anything else, this is a book that I think EVERYONE should read. Its a true story. It comes in English and Spanish

Painted house - My husband painted our house. He wont tell me what color it is. Or what colors it is. All I know is that he is extremely fond of the wine/burgandy color. I hope that I dont have a wine/burgandy colored house. I keep asking him, and he wont tell me. he tells me to wait for the pictures, or maybe he wont send me pictures, maybe he will let me be suprised when I show up. Does he not realize I need to know, because if I don't like the colors, I am bringing my own rollers and my own paint when I come.

They are waiting for me - At least once a day he says that someone from the area stops by to ask if this is where the gringa lives, and when the gringa is coming. The "town" if you can call it that isn't that big. He says the people as the come by the house always ask about the gringa. Even if they just asked him yesterday.

Stair Dance - Man, I am so happy I saw this post. Its called the stair dance - learn it. If you have kids, teach it to them. Make sure you click on the link to read all about it!

Hungry Boy - I think Levi doesn't like my 3-6 month clothing, because it seems he is doing his best to get to 6-9 month clothing. Last night he ate at 8, at 9, at 10, at 11 and at 12. Six ounces each time. Then he ate at 4AM and at 7AM, then at 11AM (he was fussing to eat since 10AM, but I kept shoving the pacifier in his mouth to hold him off, LOL) then at 1:30PM, at 4PM, at 6PM and at 8PM. At this rate I am going to have to get a part time job to keep formula in the house as fast as he is going through it.

Lawyer - I have a lawyer for getting everything fixed as far as my residency goes. I am so excited. I have had him for a while, I just kept forgetting to let you all know. I was given the number and email of 4 different lawyers. I sent each one an email, and the lawyer I have now responded the next day. Two of them have yet to respond, and its been over a month since I sent them an email. The last one waited 10 days sent me an email that said they were busy right now and would send me an email with information at a later time, then after another two weeks sent me another email telling me if I wanted information I should send my husband to their offices so that he could talk to them. Um no. I want to talk to the lawyer myself so that I know what needs to be done. My husband is a typical man, he can be in the conversation and get everythign screwed up. When we went to the consulate, he asked the people there what needed to be in the letter giving me permission to register Levi, since he wouldn't be in the states. I wasn't there when he asked (thank God I thought to ask when I went to the back - but he didn't know I asked) So he called me the other day and asked me what needed to be in the letter. What makes it even worse is that this was the 8th time he has asked me what needs to be in the letter, and the last time he asked me he had already written the letter. See why I want to do this myself, and not my husband?

Johan the cat/dog/vacuum - I dont have a little boy, I think I have a rare type of cat/dog. Johan wanted a cup of milk today. Normally cups are to be drank (drunk?) ONLY in the kitchen. Somehow he got by me and was in my room with his cup of milk. He sat down in front of the TV, poured his cup of milk onto the carpet in front of the tv, then leaned over and started to suck the milk out of the carpet. He told me he didn't want to drink from a cup anymore. WTH?? Maybe he thinks he is a steam vacuum, I dont know.

Hurricane Johan

I was going to post an update on my house in Honduras, but life with kids happened this morning, that I thought you would enjoy hearing about it more... See I am always thinking of my readers, LOL.

Lack of sleep, the beginnings of a cold, (both on the adult) and an unsupervised (sort of) 2 yr old does not a good combination make.

Usually Levi wakes up once a night for me, around 2:30 AM, then he eats and goes back to sleep until around 7:00ish - which is when my alarm is set to go off anyway. And sleep with that one interuption, while not ideal, is good. I can deal with it. Well last night when Levi got up at 2:30 AM, I got up, made his bottle, sat back down on the bed with him, and within him drinking 2 ounces I was asleep. I am guessing he was too, since he didn't cry for more. The only bad thing about that was he didn't get enough to eat. So come 4:30 AM he was up again. I made him another bottle, and this time managed to stay awake long enough (barely) for him to eat all 6 ounces. Well the alarm went off at 7:00, I rolled over turned it off and back to sleep I went. At 7:15 AM Mickey came downstairs telling me I needed to do her hair. (The bus for Mickey and Isa comes at 7:30ish) Still half asleep - think more along the lines of barely alive - I tried to get her to go to school with her hair just brushed, no ponytails, but she got upset because she said her bangs kept getting in her face. So I sent her for the brush, and ponytail holders and sat up, and when she came back, I put her hair in ponytails. Not once did I open my eyes. When she asked about Isa's hair, I told her to tell Jordan to pull it back for me. (can I say as much as her constant hormonal outburts drive me nuts, I love that girl, LOL) The next thing I knew it was 8:10 AM and Levi was ready to eat again. As I stumbled to the sink - still with my eyes closed - well one was half open so that I knew how much water was going into the bottle - I double checked with Jordan that the girls got on the bus (the bus stops in front of our house, so they just have to stand at the front door - I didn't send a 3 and 4 yr old out the door to some bus stop far away all alone, I promise) and made the bottle and went back to bed.

Before I fell asleep again, I called Johan and Lana into my room, turned on cartoons, put Lana in her toy and after feeding Levi, went back to sleep again. Periodically I would hear Dora or Diego say something, and the kids respond, and I would raise my head enough to make sure all was well. Well at 11:00 AM I finally was feeling well enough to open my eyes. (yes a hungry Levi woke me up) And at the foot of my bed, this is what I was greeted with...

Hurricane Johan

Do you see how it sort of looks like what a hurricane looks like on the satelite system on your local tv station? And the poor frog - one had managed to get away, but it seems one was not quite so lucky.

Because my bed is in front of the tv, Johan was on the floor in front of my bed, and while I saw him everytime I opened my eyes to check on him, I couldn't see the floor to see what he was doing, and I assumed (you know what they say about assuming) that he was being good watching cartoons.

Lana watching Blues Clues - my view when I would open my eyes to check on them

It has been a while since Lana had formula, so I forgot how much Johan loved to eat they powdered soy formula straight out of the can. I wish my brain was coherent enough that I would have thought about taking a picture of Johan BEFORE his bath. But since I didn't you just have to use your imagination. Think powdered wig as hair, and a lovely white crustiness all over his face. And while I fussed at him just a tad - reminding him that formula is not for big boys - I really couldn't get that mad at him since I was the one who was not fully awake. He was then put into the bath, and his clothes, along with the big pile already in the laundry room, into the washing machine. He looks so innocent though when he is fresh out of the bath.

Mr Innocent

I figured that my day could only get better right? It sure did. I was done feeding Levi and went to wash out his bottle, and I stepped out of my room into the hallway. Or creek I should have said. It seems that yesterday when Andre stuck Lana in the big sink in the laundry room to wash her hands yesterday he took out the hose that drains the washing machine, and put it on the floor. Then forgot to put it back into the sink. So when he turned on the washing machine this morning, it also cleaned the floor.

I swear the laundry room floor has got to be the CLEANEST floor in the whole house. Two days ago Johan was "helping" me by dumping half a box of Dreft on the laundry room floor, and with a peice of sponge was scrubbing the floor. And that was after we got him dressed because I had to go somewhere. So I had to dump water on the floor and scrub it up then dump more water and towel dry it. Can I tell you that laundry soap - either liquid or podwer - on a concrete floor + water make a nice ice skating rink, without the ice. (I say liquid because earlier this year Mickey and Isa had dumped a whole 2.3 gallons of liquid tide - a brand new container - on the laundry room floor too, and again, we were skating all over the floor trying to get it cleaned up. Although it did make the basement area smell wonderful for weeks!)

My boys taking a nap - well supposed to be taking a nap. One is, one isn't. Can you see the mark on Johan's cheek where he made Isa mad and she scratched him. You would think he would have learned the first time she got him - she is worse than a cat.

nothing much to say today

I had a blog all written out, but I was reading the news online, and I was so disgusted and upset (I cried while reading it) by something I read, so upset that I no longer wanted to post it. I will post it another day.

Instead I just want to hold my children extra tighter so that they know that I love them, and that I would never hurt them. So instead I am just going to post a couple of pictures of my fashion challenged Lana Bear, and of my FAT boy (these pictures were taken at 3 week 4 days. Can you believe how FAT he has gotten - look at those cheeks) Can you believe that at 3 weeks he has outgrown 0-3 month clothing, and is now in 3-6 month clothing.

(by the way, in case you are wondering what exactly is Lana wearing - she has on a lovely flower hat, a white Punta Gorda dress that I have no clue where it came from, the lovely red and black samurai jacket, and some blue sweatpants of her brothers.)

I want some presents...

Ok, I dont know what happened with this whole christmas tree thing, all of my gifts were taken away, then all of a sudden I had 28,400 gifts and they were horrible items - and horrible remarks, so I am going to assume that I was spammed somehow. So I took it off.

But thank you to those who left me a gift anyway.

The Last Thanksgiving (& as requested, more Levi pictures)

First things first - madmad asked me in one of her comments where are the pics of Levi - so just for her, here are a some pictures of him making funny faces. (my favorite one being the sepia toned one. He was sleeping when I took that, and he happened to make a face and open his eyes, LOL)

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. *What? Are you a little confused? Didn't know it was Thanksgiving did you? That would explain all the turkey that was on your table yesterday* It was the last Thanksgiving that I am going to celebrate here in the US. Or at least for a while anyway. I thought I would be somewhat sad, or something. But nope. I am actually happy because with my next Thanksgiving, I will be saying thank you for being able to be with my husband again.

I went to my moms for dinner, it was just us, my mom and Rob, her husband. It was a nice calm dinner- well as calm as it could be with 7 children - 5 of whom are 4 and under. Oh wait, I keep forgetting, I only had 6 kids with me. Jordan was at her fathers house.

I gave my mom the turkey to cook, and she made mashed potatoes, green beans and had applesauce. I sent over some pudding mix, and some graham cracker crusts so that I could make a couple of "pies" for dessert. (can you really call pudding mix in a crust a pie?) I sent it earlier in the week so that it was less that I had to bring. So I was in charge of bringing milk to make the pies, as well as stuffing, or at least the mix to make when I got there.

When I left, I left with the kids, a package of hot dogs and buns (for lunch) and thats it. I didn't bring the stuffing, nor the milk.

The reason why I forgot to bring everything was because I got detained. About 10 minuted before I was ready to walk out the door my husband called, and for once, the day that I wanted to get out the door on time, he wanted to talk for more than 5/10 minutes. It was nice though, I needed to just talk to him for a while. To connect with him, if that makes sense. He had his son Sendi there with him, and by the time I hung up I was in a great mood.

Before I go any further, let me give a bit of background. There are some issues with Sendi and Gisela and I. When they met me, we got along great. They spent a couple of days with Lale and I when I was in Honduras, but the problem was they didn't know who I was. (they just thought I was a friend of their fathers, not his wife. Its a long story and maybe one day I will tell it, LOL) But once they found out who I was, I became the enemy. I became the woman who took their father away from them, and because of me, it really hit home that their mom and dad weren't getting back together. I have never blamed them for that, because I know that the way things were handled the wrong way, by both their mom and their dad. And I have been there and done that as far as being a child of divorce. So I understood. For the longest time they wouldn't even acknowledge Mickey, Isa, Johan, and Lana as their brothers and sister. But they have come around, and with Levi, they were excited for him to be born. Its been a long road these past four years, and with Gisela we are at a better place, but Sendi has never had anything nice to say about me, and has never talked to me after he found out.

Well the last time I talked to Lale, (before yesterday) Sendi was there and he actually got on the phone for a couple of minutes and we talked. Nothing big, just the how are you, hows school etc. etc. Then yesterday when I was talking to Lale, Sendi was in the background joking around with me through Lale. It was nice, and it made me happy. Maybe once we all get there, things wont be as I keep imagining them to be.

I was also happy because this is one less holiday down, and only one more big one to go - which means I got out of spending time with my one brother Dickie and his wife Angie, and their two rotton kids. I love my brother I really do. But I can't spend time with him and his family because they really don't know how to act. My brother and his wife are ignorant and 90% of the time one of them open their mouths they put their foot in their mouth. (I wrote about her in a blog last year - and I was being nice in my blog too) Or someone wants to put a fist in their mouth. Or maybe a bit of both.

I do my best not to be around them because so far I have been able to keep my temper in check, and I have done my best to ignore her, but one of these days I am not going to be able keep my mouth shut, and I am going to end up causing problems (although I am sure I would get a round of applause as well). It is sad too, that my mother doesn't like to spend alot of time with them either. How sad is it that?

So come Christmas time, I just have to be sure not to answer the phone if I see their number on my ID (which I probably wont because I think in the last 12 months they have called me once, maybe twice) and I certainly wont be calling them.

A good response to the naysayers

When people find out that I am planning to take my 7 children and move to Honduras, I get so many opinions. I don't ask these people for their opinions, but yet they feel free to give them to me. I have one friend (my landlord) who tells people he talks to through out the day (people who have no clue who I am) about me and me moving to Honduras, then he will tell me the next time we talk all of the comments that he has gotten. I keep telling him, and others, I don't care.

Its my life, my husband, my children. MY FAMILY. My choice. See the pattern? MY. The word MY - it is a word that relates directly to ME. MY has nothing to do with YOU. See how that works?

Well in one of the groups that I am a member of, someone put up something that really made me smile. I think I am going to use it when people start to talk about me moving to such a poor country. The quote is as follows...

"I had this funny conversation with God on the way thru Trujillo. I said, look at the poverty Lord. He said, what poverty? you in the US are in poverty, this is not poverty! Your country lives in such debt and doesn't own what they have. These people live simply and they
own what they have. Thats not poverty."

Tagged, and Levi's birth announcement - both by Anelys

Anelys is a friend of mine who lives in the Dominican Republic. She does awesome design work, and I had her do my birth announcements for Levi. I sent her a link to my bedding, because I love my crib bedding so much, I wanted it to match it. (Wanna see my crib bedding?)

She did such a good job with the announcements, I wanted to post it here to share with all of you!

I have them done in English and Spanish, but since the majority of my readers speak English, I will post the English version.

She also does other types of design things as well - and is VERY reasonable priced. If you want more information check out her web-page, or her blog. Then send her an email!

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I was tagged by Anelys as well.

Ok, here's the game plan. There are a few rules one must follow to play the game. When tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list eight random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to eight other people.

So, without further ado, here are 8 random things about me. (you can't wait can you?)

1. I have 3 sisters, 3 brothers and yet I am an only child. My father had 4 kids with his first wife, then got married to my mom, and they had me. My mom had 2 kids with her first husband, then got married to my dad and had me. So I am the baby - and my oldest sibling is 49 years old. The youngest besides me is 38 years old. (I am still a baby at 31 hehe)
2. I have always said I wanted to have 10-12 kids, but I don't think I really meant it. Then after I had Levi I realized I want at least 3 more kids, which would bring me to 10 kids.
3. I have issues with hairy people. Especially those with hairy chests. EEWW. I get freaked out just thinking about it.
4. I used to call one of my brothers hairball when I was younger because he used to chase me around the house in a tank top with his arms raised, trying to get his armpit hair to touch me - which I think contributed to the whole hair phobia thing.
5. I love math, and anything with numbers. I am really good at math, and good at memorizing most things that have numbers in them - phone numbers, license plates, birthdays, etc. etc.
6. We used to have discussions at the dinner table when I was growing up that most people would not be able to eat afterward. It was me, two of my brothers (my moms kids) and 2 step brothers. It was always a contest to see who could be the grossest.
7. I have very big feet. My feet are bigger than my husbands and my brothers as well. I wear a 12 in men.
8. I am so tall, thanks to my father. My father was 6'9", and wore a size 23 shoe. Of his kids, I am the second smallest. The shortest sister is 5'11". Only a half an inch shorter than me. Then my other two sisters are 6'2", and 6'3". My brother - his first born - is 6'8". My neice is 6'5".

Well I hoped that you have enjoyed learning some oddities about me and my life. I am now supposed to tag 8 people but I dont know how many of you all have been tagged or not already, so I will do it this way. If you were not tagged then you are now tagged, LOL. Just leave me a comment letting me know that I tagged you.

Twilight Zone...AKA Conversations with My Grandfather

When I talk to my brothers or my grandparents I swear I feel like I am in the twilight zone. At least my grandparents are old, and hard of hearing (that is an understatement for my grandfather - he is at least half deaf)... My brothers, who knows what their excuses are.
Here are some excerpts from conversations with my grandfather.

Background...they went to Florida to visit, and on impulse bought a condo, came home, sold all their possessions (the condo came with EVERYTHING) and decided to wait until the house sold. My poor grandparents in their house with no furniture nothing for 4+ months.

(words that are in between ** mean my thoughts, not what I said)

So Paw Paw, you bought a condo in Florida huh?

Yeah we bought a condo in Florida

It has everything in it?

Yeah it has everything in it.

I guess you are itching to move then.

What? Why would you ask me that. That is none of your business.

What is none of your business?

If I am in the nude or not. **In the nude??**

No Paw Paw. A-R-E Y-O-U I-T-C-H-I-N-G T-O M-O-V-E? You know to Florida.

No we aren't watching the news on Florida. Why what is happening?

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Background...When I was diagnosed with my crazy arthritis, I called to tell my grandmother about my arthritis issues in my feet, as she has a (different) crazy arthritis too. But she was on the cell phone with my Aunt, so I spoke with my grandfather. We were talking about I don't remember what and he asked me if I was watching this tv show.

No Paw Paw, I am not watching tv

There is this new show on. It has all of these pretty women on it carrying suitcases with money in it

Oh, you are talking about Deal or No Deal

No, it isn't called deal or no deal - it is called something else. It has these people who pick a suitcase, then the banker guy calls - I don't think it really is a banker though. They never show his face, just some shadow. Why wont they show his face? If he was a real banker he would show his face. But the banker tries to get the contestant to sell him his suitcase.

Yeah Paw Paw, it is called deal or no deal

No, that isnt the name, it is something else. I have never heard of Deal or No Deal. I don't even think that is a show.

then we talk for a few minutes

Oh wait, here is the commercial - it is called Deal or No Deal

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I have learned he hard way that when I call him on the phone, and he answers, I need to address him by saying Hey PAW PAW, so that he knows it is me - otherwise he thinks I am my mom, and listening in on those conversations is even funnier, as I think he knows who he is talking to, and he thinks he knows who he is talking to, and then as we are talking no one has a clue what the other one is talking about

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Background...When my father died, I went to the funeral home with m sisters to help pick out flowers for his casket. My father loved to go fishing, so my sisters decided to get his casket flowers to be in the shape of a fish - a bass to be exact. (can we say REDNECK) So I called my grandfather to tell him how funny/stupid that was.

Hey Paw Paw I just left the florist, you will never guess what my sisers have decided to get for the flowers that go on my fathers casket.

What did they choose?

They want to put a fish on there.

A what?

Yeah I know, isn't that stupid. How rednecky can you get?

Yeah I know they are rednecks, but what did they want to get put on there?

A fish paw paw, a fish.

WHAT?

FISH.......F......I.......S......H **here we go**

WHAT? I can't hear that last word

You know - what you find in the lake and the ocean. Ok, here, I will spell it for you. F- you know as in Frank (the name of my brother in law, Connie's husband)

Frank? I know he is going to be there with Connie right?

No Paw Paw F as in Frank. The first letter in Franks name - write that down.

Oh. F - is that what you said?

Yes Paw Paw, F. Then I.......as in igloo

I??

Yes, I. Then S.......as in Sam

S?? (actually we had problems with that one too, but can't remember what was said about it Then H........... as in ham.

Ham? You all are going to have ham there? I like ham.

No Paw Paw, well maybe there will be ham, but that is not what we were talking about. Remember I am giving you the first letter to spell the word.

What word?? **AWWW Hell**

Is grandma there paw paw? Hello? Grandma, can you tell him that the word is fish. I was trying to explain that my sisters are getting fowers in the shape of a fish, standing on its side, with its tail flipped to put on my fathers casket.

A Fish?

Yeah grandma, just tell him Fish

Hey Hun.. SHE SAID FISH YOU IDIOT......FISH

Death becomes her... And why Johan needs more brothers

Mickey is fascinated with death. She talks about death all the time. Anytime she can get someone to listen to her, she talks about going to Honduras. But what she talks about is death and killing. Not in a bad sense, but still. She tells that when she gets to Honduras, she is going to run super fast after the chickens and catch them. Then she is going to break their necks like this (as she makes the motion of wringing their necks) then she will take a knife, cut its throat, hang it upside down, then once all of the blood is out, cook it. I guess she plans on eating the feathers? While that sort of is how you kill chickens, she is 4. Well she will be 5 in March, but still. No one has told her this, and I don't know where she got the idea that she is in charge of killing the chickens, and why she thinks she is going to be able to carry around a knife either. If we get there, and start finding dead, headless chickens strung up all over the place, I know who to look for.

In one of our all about chicken books, it shows you how to clean a chicken out, once its been plucked and what not, and how to cut a chicken - down the breast bone, and anytime she has a free moment, you will find her studying that book, on that page. (the best part was when she was describing the picture to Isa. - in the picture was them cutting the breast bone, and Mickey was telling Isa that they have to cut out the butt to get all the poop out so that you dont eat a poopy chicken, LMAO)

It isn't just the chickens that she talks about killing and death. She will ask me about my father (who died back in 04) and ask me why he died. What caused it, who killed him. (He died due to heart issues, and kidney failure issues - no one killed him.) And she will tell Isa and Johan stories about who killed my father, or really about anything - but alot of the time it involves death. Tonight her and Johan were looking at an Oriental Trading catalog, and they have a set of beanie baby style animals - and this set was a set of dinosaurs. And she was telling Johan that the terradactyl one doesn't like the guy with the gun, so he is going to fly down and chop chop chop the gun guys head off. Again, I have no idea where she gets this from - there is nothing like that on Nick Jr. And she isn't saying it like she is trying to scare someone, she is talking about it like telling Johan that a banana is yellow.

And here is proof that Johan needs more brothers close to his age...

And he isn't letting them do this to him. When the girls start to change clothes playing dress up, he goes through the buckets of clothes that don't fit the girls and picks out his own items to put on.

2 weeks, Lightning McQueen, Biz's Beat of the Day and Soldier Boy

Two weeks

Can you believe the boy is two weeks old already? I know when you have little ones in the house, the time goes by much faster. Does that mean time goes by 7 times as fast in my house? He such a sweet boy, and he is a PIG. He was eating 5 ounces, then an hour later another 3-4 ounces, then waiting 3-4 hours and doing it all over again. Trying to slow it down, I added 1 teaspoon of rice cereal to his bottles, and he is no longer eating like that. Instead he is eating 5 ounce bottles every 2 hours. So far this afternoon/evening he has eaten at 4pm, at 6pm, at 8pm and 10pm. 5 oz bottles each time. Some of them had cereal, some didn't. I dont want to give him to much cereal either. At this rate he is going to be bigger than the house in no time. He is also doing well holding up his head. I will put him on his belly for a bit, and he will raise up on his arms (his forearms like) and raise his head up and look all around. He can do that for 5 or so minutes before his neck muscles get tired.

Here are some pics taken today...

Lightning McQueen

Here is a picture of Johan's Lightning McQueen car. Only to Johan it isn't just a car. It is also his Lightning McQueen skateboard. Can you guess what happens when the boy gets on?

Yup, you got it, he falls down...

He does however, have no fear. I caught him standing on the "skateboard" at the top of the steps getting ready to skate (surf?) down. Thank God I caught him before he did it, because it is to cold to have to take 7 kids to the ER tonight.

Biz's Beat of the Day

Have any of you ever seen Yo Gabba Gabba? It is a semi new tv show that is on Nick Jr. My kids love it. Well on Monday when all the little ones were off from pre-school they were sitting there watching it, and Biz's Beat of The Day came on. (Biz is Biz Markie - from Just a Friend fame) and I heard all of the little ones - Lana, Johan, Isa and Mickey - doing the beat of the day along with Biz. It was so funny, I thought I would share it with you all... (don't you all just feel so lucky)

And Finally, Soldier Boy

Also Mickey came up to me today asking me if she was singing Crank Dat Soldier Boy right. I had no clue what she was even talking about. However I quickly found out. She had heard the song a couple of times while in the room with Jordan, and Mickey, being the musical child that she is, she memorized a good portion of it. So again, I am sharing... (she got shy though seeing me with the camera, so she didn't do nearly as well as she did when she was asking me if she was doing it right, LOL - and yes that is Jordan in the background trying to copy the moves on the video)

Well after all that excitement *insert eye roll here* that is my day, I am off to veg in front of the tv for the next hour until my boy wants to eat again...

la vida no es la misma sin mi amor...

Alacranes Musicales - "Sin Tu Amor"

I finally talked to Lale today. For all of 10 minutes. He just wanted to check in and see how we were doing. Then he had to go and bring in los machos (the male donkeys) from the upper section of land, and it was getting dark. In some ways its easier when I don't talk to him than when we just talk for a few minutes. He promised to call me tomorrow and that we could actually talk. He better, because I need to hear his voice for more than a couple of minutes.

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I had fully intended to write about my husband getting the car from the port, but I am not in the mood too, LOL. I will say though that if you are not a patient person, send someone else otherwise you will be grumpy all day long. And the following day, and possibly for the following week.

I will tell you about the adventure they had on the way home though. When they ship a car, they drain out all of the water/antifreeze from the radiator, and the gas from the gas tank. Well he knew there was no gas because the car wouldn't start. So he filled the tank again and he started for Tocoa. He had his one nephew in the car with him, and he was following Beto, my brother in law who had my father in law in the truck as well. Because the car was packed so tightly full of his crap, they unloaded half of the stuff into Beto's truck. And off they went. After a bit of driving he noticed the car was running hot. Well that was because he hadn't put any water or antifreeze in the radiator. So he pulled over to put some water in, and his brother had pulled over a bit of the ways up. (but he pulled over because they were waiting for Lale to catch up - they didn't know he had pulled over to fill the tank with water) Once it was filled he pulled out in the road again, and without realizing it, he passed his brother.

Well his brother and father were waiting and waiting for Lale to pull out and after a while they got out and went looking for him. They eventually drove all the way back to San Pedro Sula to make sure that Lale got out of the port ok. Meanwhile Lale was on his way to Tocoa, angry because his brother left him. At some point everyone was headed to Tocoa - Beto figured that maybe Lale passed them, and they just never saw him.

Sometime around 11:00PM Beto and my father in law were pulled over by the police in La Ceiba, and detained because they had a truck full of stuff and no proof that it wasn't stolen. Meanwhile Lale is on his merry way to Tocoa. He doesn't have a cell phone, no one knows that he is on his way to Tocoa, they think he is somewhere in San Pedro Sula, and no one has anyway to get in touch with him. About 1:30AM or so he gets to Tocoa, and by that time Beto had already called how to say if/when Lale arrives send him back out to La Ceiba. So back to La Ceiba he goes with the paperwork showing that everything is his. They didn't get back to Tocoa until after 4:30AM. Oh yeah, can we say fun times? LOL.

why you always need your cell phone charger

Its been a while since I have been able to talk to Lale, and I was getting irritated. I talked to him last Friday to tell him about the baby, and to hear the saga of him picking up the car from the port, and all the problems that entailed. (I will be posting about that later this week). We talked for all of 15 minuted, maybe. Then on Tuesday morning he called for a couple of minutes and after that I hadn't talked to him. I asked him on Tuesday if he knew what Thursday was and he said no what was it, and I told him the 8th, and dhe laughed and said that must make Sunday the 11th. I don't know if he really didn't remember or was just kidding. But come Thursday, he didn't call. And I wasn't mad, because I know its hard to get to his moms house some days, and if he is working up on the mountainside he either stays in the house up there, or he gets back and its late. But it got to the point that everytime the phone rang I was getting upset to see that it wasn't him. Just the stupid bill collectors, LOL.

This morning I wanted to call his moms house, but I said no, I'm not gonna call because when he gets a chance to get to his moms he would call me. All day long the phone rang, and it was never him. So I finally bit the bullet and called his moms house tonight to at least see if things were ok and come to find out he was trying to call me this morning. The only problem was that his cell phone battery has died - because he left the charger here when he left, and I haven't had a chance to send it to him - and he doesn't know the phone number here. His neice was telling me the phone number that he had dialed. He was dialing my cells phones area code (which is different than the area code for the house) the first three numbers of his sisters house, and the last four numbers he was dialing was from a phone number that we had A YEAR AGO. I had to laugh. It struck me as funny though his neice told me that Lale had said maybe it will pass Jennifer's mind to call here now. And it did. But I didn't follow through with it. And that made me sad because I missed the chance to talk to him, and it made me laugh because it isn't the first time that although seperated by over a thousand miles, we are on the same wavelength.

I also had a nice talk with my father in law though, and he said that all he hears our of Lale's mouth is Jenny this, and Jenny that, and that makes me feel good. I know he misses me, but sometimes its hard to believe that he is thinking of me, and since he is alone, that he isn't out hanging out with friends and drinking and what not. I don't know why its so hard to believe that since I am here missing him too. I did find out though that he has taken lots of pictures, and a video, so even when he is telling me he isn't going to take pictures or a video for me I know he is doing it just to get my goat. Which he is good at doing. I am hoping he trys to make it back to his moms house tomorrow so that I can talk to him. I miss hearing his voice.

It Came!!!! It Came!!!!!

A couple of posts ago, I blogged that I had won something by leaving a comment on Karen's blog aka The Rocking Pony. I promised that when I got it in the mail I would tell you all, all about it. Well on Wednesday afternoon it came, but I didn't open it until yesterday. Then it took me until today to get a picture of it.

And if you look at the picture above, you will see Mickey modeling the item that came. What is it you ask? It is an Essential Diaper Case. What that means is for those who are only running out real quick, or maybe you have an older child that doesn't need a whole diaper bag full of things you can use the Essential Diaper Case. It is big enough to fit 2 diapers and a travel pack of wipes. I love it. I usually keep the size 5 diapers (for Johan and Jolani) in the pocket that is on the back of the passenger side front seat. Along with a big pack of wipes. But the diapers, when they sit in the pocket, they get all squished down and when you go to put them on, they look like they shrunk about 10 sizes. So this case keeps them nice and neat, and a pack of wipes too. Perfect for when my mom takes Johan and Lana, perfect for Sunday School drop off for them two - I don't have to take two bags, and they dont have to hunt down the main diaper bag with the infants. Even though I have a diaper bag right now, as you can see from the picture, this diaper bag is already in use! It can stay in the car, and if I go somewhere, I can grab it and throw it in the big diaper bag (which once Levi is a couple of months older, the big diaper bag will be gone too - I hate big diaper bags) and off we go. It is nice because I dont have to figure out which diaper belongs to who, since I can just pull out the Essential Diaper Case for the older two.

If you haven't yet checked out The Rocking Pony - the store, please stop by and see what neat things Karen has up for sale!

More in love with each passing day

Happy Anniversary Viejo!

4 years ago today I was in Sava, Colon Honduras and it was my wedding day. Saturday, November 8, 2003 at 1pm I got married for the second, and last time.

I was there with Mickey, who was 9 months, and with Isa - who was not yet born, but I was 8 months pregnant with her, so technically she was still there. Because I was 8 months pregnant, I was only given permission by my doctor to be out of the country for five days. Those were the shortest five days of my life, and it killed me to leave. I told Lale that all he had to do was say the word, and I would stay. I cried the whole flight back to the US. When I got home I cried because of how empty my apartment was without my husband.

It was funny how our wedding was planned - sort of spur of the moment, but not quite. But it was a civil wedding, and while we both agree that we are married, when we are together 10 years (2011) we will be having a church wedding. This is as much for me, so that I get to have a wedding with that white dress, and walk down the aisle, and my family can come if they want, as it is for him to have the proper church wedding. And even though its 4 years away, those 4 years will pass quickly.

In the past six plus years we have been together we have been through alot. There were more than a couple of times that I didn't think we would make it, but by the grace of God, and fighting for our love, we have made it so far. Its been difficult, but I wouldn't change anything.

We met at a place where we both worked and just hit it off. And from there we started to date and from our first date we were pretty much inseparable. Actually from our first date, we were together and not apart until August 17th 2003 when he went back to Honduras for those 10 months. Then once he came back there wasn't a day (well not counting when I was in the hospital giving birth, LOL) that we were apart until he left this time. I have already made it clear that once I get back to Honduras, we will not be doing this again. We will grow old together, sitting on the front porch sharing jello watching the grand kids run and play :) I thank God everyday that he put my husband in my life. I thank God that we were able to deal with some issues - and their were MAJOR issues on both parts, but we have been able to work through it all. With each day that passes I love him more. Yes he gets on my nerves - even 1000+ miles away, but that doesn't change my love for him. I truly believe that he is the one that God has for me. My media naranja as they say in Honduras (my half orange/other half of the orange - don't ask because I don't know).

The pictures below were pictures that were taken at our wedding. This was before digital cameras. Or should I say before I had a digital camera, LOL. I don't know who took these pictures, but they didn't do the best job, but they are the only pictures that I have, and I cherish them anyway.

Lana - my little miss sweet and innocent

Lana playing nicely at the train table

The boy has jaundice. He was looking a little yellow yesterday, and I called the doctor about it, since none of my other kids ever had jaundice, I wanted to make sure everything was ok. Well they sent me (ok him) for bloodwork yesterday, and told me to come to the office today for a visit. So I loaded everyone minus Jordan (who was at school) into the van and made the trek over to the doctors office.

My kids love the doctors office . Not only do I have an awesome doctor, but in the waiting room there is a train table set in the end of the waiting room for all of the kids to play with. So when we opened the door, the kids all went running to the train table. After we were there for a bit (we were really early, as usual) this woman walks in with her son Owen, and her daughter. (I know his name because I heard her say it when she was talking to him). Now the first thing out of Owens mouth when he walked in was "I wanted to play with the trains!" so she told him to go ahead and play, but to play nice and share. Then she sat down and began to talk to another lady sitting in the waiting room. Well Owen walks over to the table and grabs some of the train peices that were sitting in the middle of the table (of which there are 30 total - plenty of peices to go around) and starts pushing them around the track. (this is a picture of the table, but not of Owen)

As he is pushing his train around the table he is doing the choo choo train noise at the TOP of his lungs. Seriously screeching as loud as he could. Right by the train table is the secretaries desk - where she is making phone calls. Did his mother tell him to shut up? Nope not at all. She continued to talk to her new friend in the chair next to her. After about 5 minutes of this, I was so ready to smack the kid and tell him to shut the heck up, (only not in such polite words) because his screeching really was plucking my last nerve. Then he gets tired of his screeching and decides that all of his train peices that he has is not enough. So as he passes each of my kids who are playing as well, he is yelling at them to move out of his way, and he would take a couple of their train peices too. For some reason none of my kids said anything to him. (with the exception of Andre, he was bigger than the rest of them - about 6 I would guess, but still my kids know how to say no - trust me, I hear it enough, I know they know). Mickey went against the wall to sulk, Andre just watched him take his trains - I am assuming that since Andre is twice the size of this boy, he just let it be, Johan was playing with a car, so he didn't get anything taken from him, and Isa just went to play with something else. So he is amassing this huge line of trains (they are wooden trains with magnets on each end) and is just taking over the entire table. Then he gets to Lana. He yells at her MOVE. GET OUT OF MY WAY I WANT TO GET BY. And as he is yelling he is trying to push her out of the way with his body. She looks at him, and gets in his face and screams AAAHHHH at him. So he stops for a second and then starts it again. This time as he is pushing her with his shoulders she takes her right hand, which has one of the train peices in it, and hauls off and hits him - HARD, I heard the thunk as it connected - right in the forehead. I have never been so proud of my little girl. (a picture of the trains)

He started to cry, then they called his sister to the back. Well since it was time for him to go back, he did what any other bratty child would do. He grabbed all of the train peices he could get and shoved them in his shirt. (he made a pocket like thing by lifting up the hem of his shirt) His mother told him he couldn't take them all to the back and took one. ONE freaking toy from him, leaving him with 20, and leaving 10 on the table. So as he is going to the back he is screaming at the top of his lungs because he needs that last one. While he is in the back of the office, you can hear him screaming non stop. After about 5 minutes his mother comes back out and asks for two train engines because he didn't have any in his pile and he needed two. Come on woman give me a break. You son is a pain in the you know what, and needs a good old fashioned spanking, and to be taught some manners.

After Owen left, we were still sitting there (I told you we got there REAL early, LOL) and another family comes in. I see this family and I think MAN, this family is HUGE. I count the kids while trying not to be noticed, and they have 9 kids. Then I think - wait a minute - 9 kids, that is only two more than I have. Do I really look like I have this many kids - or close to it? When I went to the back, I asked the doctor if it was another large family, or if it was a day care. Nope its a large family, she actually ahs 10 kids, but only 9 of them were there with her today. So in the two rooms, betwen her and I we had 17 kids. That made me stop and laugh about that. The more I think about it, the more I think I want a number like 10 or 12. I dont know why, maybe its hormones talking, but that number sounds like a great number.

Why I hate Kirby salespeople

When I was in 5th grade, my mom and stepfather at the time bought a house. We lived in that house for 15 or so years. In that time period, we had a neighbor move in and we became really good friends with that neighbor. Then in early 1998 my mom sold the house, and everyone moved out. I remained friends with the next door neighbor, and I am now living in that house. (next door to where I grew up) Our friends are still the owners, so my landlord is a really good friend of mine. I love the fact that we are such good friends, but sometimes that good friendship can be annoying.

Sometime on Monday the Kirby vacuum people called my landlords house to set up a demonstration to see if they could sell her one of their vacuums. So she says sure, come on out. Well they get out and want to clean her carpet. The problem is that in 90% of her house there is no carpet. Its all ceramic tile or hardwood floors. So she says well you can go to our rental house and clean a room there. Doesn't call me to ask if I am interested or anything like that. She just sets up an appointment for 6:30pm for them to come and give ME a demonstration. Well around 3:30ish she calls me and tells me that she has someone coming by the house around 6:30pm to come and clean the living room capret upstairs. So I need to move the couch and get everything out of the living room. (ok remember now I am 4 days out from having a baby) Thank God the only thing in the upstairs living room is the couch, otherwise I would not have moved anything. She didn't tell me that they were there to give me a demonstration of the vacuum or anything else, just that they were going to clean my carpet.

So 6:30pm the guys show up, and he starts his demonstration. Scarlett (my landlord) doesn't come up to watch the demo, I get to do that. Well part of the stupid demonstration is participating in cleaning. I got to vacuum my ceiling fans, vacuum the carpet for a bit, vacuum my couch (they wanted to vacuum the matress, but I was NOT taking them to my bedroom, or any of the kids bedrooms either) and other misc. things. at 7:00pm it was time to start putting the little ones to bed, yet for some reason none of them wanted to go to bed. Could it be the strange man in my living room with the neat silver shiny thing that makes tons of bubbles (oh thank you so much Hudson for showing that to my kids - and showing them that they can pick up the bubbles and rub it all over them and what not because it is a safe product. I finally got Mickey, Isa and Lana to bed, now I just had Andre, Jordan and Johan. Johan was well behaved and sat right beside me on the couch watching the guy work. Andre and Jordan would not calm down. Jordan did her chores, then sat on the steps enthralled by all the things this stupid vacuum can do.

(did you know it comes with a leaf bloweer attachment, a pipe cleaner/blower thing in case your sink gets stopped up you can blow that clog right on out of there. It also has a bulletproof motor that if you accidently suck up a dime or other coin, it wont hurt the motor, it will actually just get bent in half? He showed us - which if he was smart he would have known you dont show something like that to kids like Andre, because that is the quickest way to not make a sale. Because if we bought the stupid vacuum he would go around blowing the pipes, and bending change)

Andre on the otherhand was like a kid in the candy store. He couldn't sit still. He was all over the place asking questions and just really getting on my nerves.

It was now 8:30pm and guess what, this guy is still here. I now want to send the older two to their rooms for bed and I wanted to go downstairs to my room to just veg and get ready for bed. I also had some tv shows on TiVo that were calling my name. He has yet to start cleaning the carpet too.

Now its 10:00pm and HE IS STILL HERE. And my kids - THEY ARE STILL UP. Jordan NEEDS her 11+ hours of sleep otherwise she becomes the evil devil child in her attitude. I kept sending them to bed, and they kept making their way out. We had company, so I really couldn't threaten them like I wanted to, LOL. It was about this time though that he gave me the price sheet. Do you know how much these stupid vacuums cost? $1684.00 PLUS TAX. That is over $1700 for a freaking vacuum. Who spends that much money on a vacuum? I mean I understand they are neat vacuums, and they may last a long time, I don't know. I understand they get crap up off the floor that other vacuums don't. But really my $45 vacuum from walmart gets the big stuff off the floor, and my floor *looks* clean. Isn't that all that really matters? If you can't see whats in/on the carpet who cares. If I vacuum and you come over, it looks like my carpet is clean. And really, its all about the appearances now a days isn't it?

I felt bad for the guy, as he did all of this, and I am not buying one. I never intended to buy one, and if they had called me to set up an appointment I would not have agreed for that reason. Let him find someone who really is interested. Plus I am moving to Honduras in 8 months. I don't need a $1700 vacuum to vacuum up a cement floor which I can SWEEP. ($1700 comes to L32,130.00. Can you imagine spending 32,130.00 Lempiras - the honduran money - on a freaking vacuum? That is almost what my wedding rings cost.)

It wasn't until 11:00pm that the guy finally left. I was so tired and so irritated and Andre and Jordan were still up. I could have smacked everyone, LOL. Plus my living room floor was nice and clean, but then you could see a line going into my dining room and hallway where he stopped, so that is always nice too.

My boy has expensive tastes - at 2 days old

Levi is going to be one of those people who likes things that cost money - I can already tell. At the hospital they give you formula in little 3oz glass bottles, and it comes with a funky nipple to attach to it. By funky, I mean the material its made out of. I can't think of what its called off the top of my head, but none of my kids ever liked those nipples.

Well, I have some bottles that I LOVE. With each of my kids (from Mickey on) I have used the Parents Choice brand bottles, and have loved them. All of the kids liked them best too. So in getting ready for Levi, I purchased a ton of these bottles (which by the way, are rather inexpensive - $2.96/3) and sterilized them. Or as Jordan told Mickey, I fertilized them, LOL. There were more than 20 bottles that I boiled the other day.

When we got home from the hospital, and it was time to feed Levi, I would dump the formula from the glass bottle into one of the bottles that I had ready to go. He would make a face, and drink it, but I could tell he didn't like the style of the nipple. Friday night he would be hungry, and when I gave him the bottle he would eat, but not to much. So come the 5AM feeding I finally took out the bottle that was in my gift diaper bag from the hospital. I had never used these types of bottles, and in all honesty, I never would think to use them. Except that in desperation for some sleep, you do what you can. So I poured the formula into this new bottle, and he drank it all like he hadn't eaten since he was born. So Saturday I went online and was checking out the prices for these bottles. The run about $3.33/per bottle. My mom went out and got me 5.

Now I have a ton of bottles that aren't being used, (maybe in a couple of months he will grow into them) and 5 that I am constantly washing. All because my son has to have the expensive things.

*sigh* to be a little baby/child and have everything go your way. What a life that has got to be, LOL.

In our house, its all about the baby. Sort of...

Everyone in the house is all about the baby. Everyone always wants to know what is Levi doing, where is Levi. Levi this, Levi that, Levi, Levi, Levi. Everyone that is, but Lana. When I came home Friday evening, she stood there in front of him with a smile on her face like ok, what is that? She wasn't sure if she liked the baby or not. She gave him a kiss and a hug, and was rubbing his back on Friday, but now she just wants nothing to do with him. LOL. She isn't mean to him or anything, she just ignores him.

I just wish Andre and Jordan would take Lana's lead. Not to ignore the baby, but to ignore eachother. I told them tonight at dinner, that there is a problem when I have 5 kids ages 4 and under, then an almost 10, and almost 12 yr old, and the oldest two are the only ones getting in trouble for acting like brats. And that has nothing to do with Levi, because this has been going on FOREVER. I keep threatening that I am going to make them share a room until they can learn to get along.

Just because I feel like sharing more pictures - here are some of the younger 4 getting along. Which with those four - they actually get along more often than not. So it isn't that rare of a thing.

Baby Levi is here!!!!

Arles Levi Santos Leon

• born 5:19PM on November 1, 2007 (after only 2 and a half hours of labor)


• weighing 8lbs 1.3oz,


• 19 inches long


• perfect in every way

Tag - I'm it.

Its 1:45 in the morning on November 1st, and what am I doing? Answering a Tag. I should be asleep since I have to get up in a few hours get 6 kids dressed and out the door as well as myself so that I can be dropped off at the hospital by 7:30AM. I don't usually get up until 7:10AM.

My plan was to go to bed early. Or at least earlier than usual - which usual has been around 3:30AM. But no - I just finished folding and put away 6 loads of laundry, packed, then repacked my suitcase 3 times. Scrubbed my bathroom shower, and toilet and sink. Re-organized my closet, picked out outfits for everyone to wear tomorrow - no wait - today. So I figured, why not answer a tag now, instead of when I get home from the hospital. so here it goes...

Karen tagged me and it seems I have to share 7 random things about me. So here we go.

1. I have a weird sense of humor - and the later at night it gets the weirder it gets, and the more funny everything else gets. I have been known to call Denny's in Canada as well as Mexico (sometimes on three-way) at odd hours of the night to ask them questions about IHOP, then when I hang up, laugh hysterically for a couple of minutes. (when I call them on three-way I would let them talk to eachother. One in spanish, one in french) I haven't done that though since 2003. But still.
2. I hate socks, and I hate shoes. If it were up to me, I would go barefoot everywhere. As it is, I try to wear my flip-flops 24/7. Yes even in the winter. Shorts too.
3. I love TiVo. I don't know how I survived before I ever had a TiVo. I love my TiVo so much - and the ability to pause, rewind, and fast forward that I have a hard time watching regular tv where there is no TiVo.
4. I don't know if I am done with 7 kids. I do know I am done for now. I want a break from being pregnant, but really 7 kids doesn't seem like to many.
5. My dream vehicle is a ford crew cab F-350 dually. A BIG truck. Although I have seen a F-450 that looks even more awesome, I have never seen it in person to make any comment on it.
6. I need a 12 passenger van at the least, but I don't want to switch to one because it is just to big to drive.
7. It bothers me sometimes that none of my kids have curly hair, and all of their fathers (man that sounds bad) had super curly hair, so you would think at least ONE of them would have some curls, but nope they all have straight hair. Only Mickey has a bit of curl at the ends of her hair. But it is barely there curls.
8. And as a bonus - last year a friend of my husbands came to stay with us for a couple of months, and that man irritates the living daylights out of me. He still does. I made my husband kick him out, which he did gladly, and everytime I see him, hear his name etc. etc. I get irrationaly irritated with him, LOL. My nickname for him is HFH - Houseguest From Hell. He doesn't know why I call him that, but I do. There is a long story to go along with why he irritates me, and maybe I will elaborate one day when I ahve nothing else to write about. (aren't you lucky)

There you go - 7 random things about me that I know you were wanting to know - without realizing it. Now I am supposed to tag 7 people, however, I am more laid back about tagging. Instead I will say if you read this post, and feel like replying, then you are tagged, LOL. If you do post 7 random things about yourself, be sure to let me know in my comments so that I can come and check them out and learn more about you.