Ok so it is only the 15th day of 2010 but I am pretty sure that I have clinched the title in the running for Mother of the Year: (NOT)
RING (the phone ringing)
caller id says STARBRIGHT (Quentin's School)
Hope: "NEA Health Plan"
Missy: "Hope?"
Hope: "Yes"
Missy: "It's Missy from Starbright, I have to tell you because you don't know and this is the second day in a row."
My thoughts were holy crap what has Quentin done? she continues:
"The bread that you have made his sandwiches on the past two days is MOLDY"
Hope: red face and speechless "OMG - I am so embarrassed, I had no idea."
Missy: "not a big deal but I wanted to call you so you could throw that bread away.. and don't worry I am making him a new sandwich"
I just don't even know how I am going to show my face when I pick him up today......YIKES!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
A Little Piece of Holland....
Welcome to Holland - By Emily Perl Kingsley
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go.
Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that
Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.
Thought this was beautiful and really describes how I felt when we learned that Quentin was going to be a LP. Before I actually met my "Holland" however the moment my eyes met with his I knew GOD had made the right "flight change" and I would enjoy "Holland" for the rest of my life and not look back at what "Italy" could have offered.
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go.
Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that
Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.
Thought this was beautiful and really describes how I felt when we learned that Quentin was going to be a LP. Before I actually met my "Holland" however the moment my eyes met with his I knew GOD had made the right "flight change" and I would enjoy "Holland" for the rest of my life and not look back at what "Italy" could have offered.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Christmas 2009
I can't beleive that it has taken me this long to post the Christmas pictures - here they are!
We had a great Christmas this year. Christmas Eve we spent at my mom's house she made an excellent dinner of turkey, ham and all the fixings. After dinner we played the game Apples to Apples which was super fun! We opened our traditional gifts from my mom, every year since I can remember she has given us an ornament that we open on Christmas Eve, then it was time for cookies and we watched a little bit of "A Christmas Story" my brother's favorite movie.
I had the joy of putting together a Kitchen for Adri from Santa since he doesn't wrap his gifts when he comes to our house - it was a must to put the kitchen together. I realized after looking at the pictures that I didn't get any of the damn kitchen....LORD.
Quentin went through his stocking as I made some much needed coffee....he got some art supplies and a few pairs of Batman socks in his stocking. The Batman socks were a must as he only told Jingles our Elf on the Shelf (like he was testing the poor little elf) thank goodness I overheard him make this request - PHEW!
Quentin had asked for only one thing from Santa and that was a DS - I (I mean Santa) had placed the DS and a couple games on a side table away from the stockings, it took him a few minutes to locate the gift but he was so surprised when he did....I love his face!
We had a great Christmas this year. Christmas Eve we spent at my mom's house she made an excellent dinner of turkey, ham and all the fixings. After dinner we played the game Apples to Apples which was super fun! We opened our traditional gifts from my mom, every year since I can remember she has given us an ornament that we open on Christmas Eve, then it was time for cookies and we watched a little bit of "A Christmas Story" my brother's favorite movie.
When we got home it was time to leave the cookies and milk for Santa, Quentin fell asleep in the car on the way home so I just put out the milk and cookie for Santa - Sorry Rudolph no carrot this year.
I had the joy of putting together a Kitchen for Adri from Santa since he doesn't wrap his gifts when he comes to our house - it was a must to put the kitchen together. I realized after looking at the pictures that I didn't get any of the damn kitchen....LORD.
I (I mean Santa) filled the stockings and to bed I went around 1 AM, I knew it would be a short sleep I was sure that Quentin would be up EARLY....
Quentin woke up at 7:30 not too bad, and thank goodness not much later as my mom and Ryan and Jasmine were coming over at 8 am for presents and breakfast.
Quentin went through his stocking as I made some much needed coffee....he got some art supplies and a few pairs of Batman socks in his stocking. The Batman socks were a must as he only told Jingles our Elf on the Shelf (like he was testing the poor little elf) thank goodness I overheard him make this request - PHEW!Quentin had asked for only one thing from Santa and that was a DS - I (I mean Santa) had placed the DS and a couple games on a side table away from the stockings, it took him a few minutes to locate the gift but he was so surprised when he did....I love his face!
I thought it was interesting that Quentin didn't seem to notice the cookies and milk that we had left for Santa, although when Adri woke up at 8 she went through her stocking which contained a FOO FA (from YO Gabba Gabba) doll and some bath toys and a toothbrush, she went right over to the plate where the left over cookie was and had a little before breakfast snack....it should also be mentioned that she didn't even notice her new kitchen....SHEESH!
The kids recevied many nice gifts from friends and family - I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends who remember my kids!
The kids recevied many nice gifts from friends and family - I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends who remember my kids!
After the presents were opened breakfast was ready so we ate and then it was time to "find the pickle" (DIRTY MINDS remember this is a family blog) so we play as a whole family, usually I am the one who hides the pickle and then everyone looks for it, the first one to find the pickle gets an extra gift - usually a gift card with a $20 value! Ryan, my brother suggested that he handle the pickle this year he was in charge of getting the gift card and hiding the ornament, so that I could particpate this year....GUESS what I WON!!!! You can see how happy I was, even more the gift card was for Target!
(not sure why this picture is so little - I need to replace maybe - maybe not then you can't fully see my bed head!)
(not sure why this picture is so little - I need to replace maybe - maybe not then you can't fully see my bed head!)The most surprising gift was for the whole family and from my mom - she got us a Wii! This was such a surprise as I had made a deal with my mom that she should not get us a Christmas gift, that we didn't need anything and Christmas is about the kids....well she did not listen....we have needless to say already had so much fun with the Wii!
I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and were surrounded by loved ones!
I think that I am hooked -
Thanks to my friend Kate I am hooked on this lady!! I went to Barnes and Noble and looked through the whole Cookbook section, and of course they were sold out....BOO!
I ordered a copy of her cookbook and am waiting each day with bated breathe for my phone to ring to alert me that my cookbook has arrived.
I am totally enjoying the website and although I haven't used one of the recipes yet I can already tell that I have gained a couple pounds....LOL!!
I will keep you all posted - thank goodness!
I ordered a copy of her cookbook and am waiting each day with bated breathe for my phone to ring to alert me that my cookbook has arrived.
I am totally enjoying the website and although I haven't used one of the recipes yet I can already tell that I have gained a couple pounds....LOL!!
I will keep you all posted - thank goodness!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
English Muffin pizza IMG00543.jpg
Quentin loves pizza and would eat it everyday if I let him. He also likes to "help" which can get messy...
We had a movie night a few weeks ago and I made English Muffin Pizzas.....perfect size for little ones and affordable to make.
Take an English muffin cut in half put a spoon of sauce then cheese and your favorite topping, put in the oven for about 10 minutes at 450 degrees....
Was thinking that this would be a quick and easy idea for those times when Quentin has a friend over for dinner...the kids would have fun and there would be little cleanup for the mama!
Sent from my BlackBerry®
Friday, January 8, 2010
2009 - Year in Review
With 2009 gone and a new year upon us I thought I would recap what happened with the Chavez Family in 2009.
January: I went back to work after being on maternity for leave for 16 week; Quentin was the Star of the Week at School...
February: Joe and I celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary; Quentin started to pick out his own clothes (I still struggle with this as it is interesting sometimes)
March: Adrianna turned 6 months
April: Adri sat up for the first time by herself; Quentin participated in Spirit week at School
May: Anchorage had record breaking heat for the start of what would be a FANTASTIC summer! Adri started her army crawl - she was on the move!
June: A quick trip to Seattle to see friends and "The Wiggles"
July: Nothing spectacular -
August: I turned 33
September: Adrianna turned 1!! Quentin moved to the FISH room at school; I took a quick trip to catch up with old friends to Las Vegas!
October: Halloween Quentin was a guitar (my favorite costume ever) and Adrianna was a lady bug.
November: I added some artwork to my "collection" in the form of a tattoo on my left foot!
December: Quentin turned 5 (seriously where has the time gone)
I don't know what 2010 holds for our family but I am sure that it will be full of adventures and more new beginnings for some!
I also have a couple of resolutions for 2010:
1) Get into better shape
2) Blog more
3) Do better at "self care" you know take time for myself
4) Take more / better pictures!
Happy New Year!
January: I went back to work after being on maternity for leave for 16 week; Quentin was the Star of the Week at School...
February: Joe and I celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary; Quentin started to pick out his own clothes (I still struggle with this as it is interesting sometimes)
March: Adrianna turned 6 months
April: Adri sat up for the first time by herself; Quentin participated in Spirit week at School
May: Anchorage had record breaking heat for the start of what would be a FANTASTIC summer! Adri started her army crawl - she was on the move!
June: A quick trip to Seattle to see friends and "The Wiggles"
July: Nothing spectacular -
August: I turned 33
September: Adrianna turned 1!! Quentin moved to the FISH room at school; I took a quick trip to catch up with old friends to Las Vegas!
October: Halloween Quentin was a guitar (my favorite costume ever) and Adrianna was a lady bug.
November: I added some artwork to my "collection" in the form of a tattoo on my left foot!
December: Quentin turned 5 (seriously where has the time gone)
I don't know what 2010 holds for our family but I am sure that it will be full of adventures and more new beginnings for some!
I also have a couple of resolutions for 2010:
1) Get into better shape
2) Blog more
3) Do better at "self care" you know take time for myself
4) Take more / better pictures!
Happy New Year!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)