Happy Birthday to ME!

So it is official. I am no longer in my mid-twenties. I am in my late twenties and I have to say that I have never had a better birthday. Not only did I have a wonderful time celebrating with family and friends, but I finally feel like I am starting to understand myself and maybe even like myself more. I feel more comfortable with who I am today than any other time in my life. But enough about that.

Friday, after we picked Raven up from school, we picked up the Alvarado Family and met Nana and Uncle Jesse for a little retail therapy. It was one of those great shopping trips where everything you really want is on sale. Seriously, I found 4 pairs of shoes for under $35. You can't beat it with a stick. We also got Becky some really cute maternity clothes. We then met Gary and my Dad for dinner at Red Lobster. Even after waiting for over an hour they could not seat us all at the same table so my parents sat with the kids. I was bummed that I did not get to spend time with my parents but then again I got to sit at a table of grown-ups so I can't complain. After dinner my family gave me this awesome jewelry box that matches my bedroom furniture. It is huge. I cannot wait to fill it up!

Saturday was a day out with the girls. My mom, Becky, Michelle S., Susan, Michelle M., Aunt Sanza and Lindsay all got to come out for the day. We met for lunch at Island Burgers -yummy- and had so much fun chatting we were almost late for the movie. AHHH the movie. P.S. I love you. Let me just say that this is one of the best chick flicks of all time. I cried the entire time. Really not 5 minutes in to it and I was bawling. The plot was great but the best part was the settings and the men.
Settings -New York and Ireland. Two places on my list to visit before I die. Beautiful.
Men - Harry Connick Jr.- He sings he acts and he is beautiful
Gerard Butler- Was the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera but I had NO idea if you know what I mean
Jeffery Dean- Denny from Grey's Anatomy and the dad from Supernatural (why did he get killed off in both shows?)
So all I am going to say is Irish accents, an exposed backside and tattoos.

After Frozen custard I met Gary and we went out for sushi and to see National Treasure. The movie and food was good but the night out with my husband was great!!! I felt like I was playing hooky from my life all day!

Be on the lookout girls. I am going to make sure that we have girls’ only days more often!

Raven's Post

to day i went to my friend maddison s house. to day she hide me from a boy. they have the same scooters as us. we played cops ans roberts. she has washable crayons. her room does not have enough toys but they have toys in there play room and i haved fun.

Happy New Year

I know, I suck at blogging. Christine kind of scolded me this morning so I got busy! I know everything is kind of old but this is the stuff I meant to post but never got around to.

So as everyone knows, we found out on New Year's Eve that Baby Alvarado will be making an appearance soon. I was totally jazzed but also bummed since Andy kinda went into shock and they could not go out with us. -It's okay Andy, crying and vomiting are natural reactions to finding out that you are going to be a father.- Gary and I went out with his sister Josie, and her husband Jason. I love hanging out with them. They are so easy going and up for almost anything.

We went to dinner at Cooper's Town and then to a pub to hang out. Now I will admit that I may be a little to "Fountain Hills/Scottsdaleish" (Andy teases Becky and I about our sheltered upbringing and what we consider slummin' it constantly) but seriously, this place smelled like an outhouse. On the up side, we were the best looking group in the place- I am not being conceded, one of the guys there looked like the love child of Elvis and Sloth from the Goonies. They also had 1664. 1664 is the best beer in the world. It is hard to find here but it is all I drank in London.

* note to self - take a vacation, you need something else to talk about.*

Our friend Selina showed up and we got to meet her guy, Doug. He was super nice and she seems really happy. He has one of those familiar faces, like you know him from somewhere.

KIKI LEE I LOVE YOU!

So the other day Kaidence was over at our house and we noticed she was missing part of her eyebrow. When asked about it, her mother confessed that she may have left her razor with in reach. I was SHOCKED - Becky shaved her legs? Guess that explaines the bun in her oven.

Tooth Fairy

On December 27th Raven lost a tooth. Her first. It was a big deal. I knew the days was coming but I could not get up the nerve to do it myself. Raven can be pretty dramatic and I did not want to have to live with her if I caused her physical pain. Lucky for us Nana came to the rescue!

Ode to Hint of Lime Tostitos

Oh, Hint of Lime Tostitos
Every time I see you, I stop dead in my tracks
For the evil voice in my head yells ‘you must not eat those’

But oh, how I love your light crispiness
Your salty, tangy goodness
My need is quickly turning into obsesivness

The slight tingle you leave on my lips
The crunch in my ear and explosion if taste
I am embarrassed to say I even lick my finger tips

My addiction is becoming so severe
I used to be able to hide it but I can no more
The 2 bags a week have settled on my rear

That Kid X 2 and their crazy mom

Let me just start off by saying that I was never going to be that mom.... You know that mom that gives lame generic answers and drops off her kid at school before she showered. The mom that always seems a little frazzled no matter the time of day.

Alas, I am that mom. I have come to accept it, maybe even embrace it. I tell my children "because I said so". I tell them " We'll see" just to avoid a public fight even though I know for a fact the answer will be no. I check to see if the windows are open before I yell (what would the neighbors think). I bribe them in the grocery store and I use the " when your father gets home” threat. That being said, maybe I should have expected to have "that kid" but I didn't. I surely did not expect to have THAT KID X 2!

RONIN - THE NAKED KID
Let me just say that I do get Ronin dressed daily. Multiple times every day but that kid is always in his underwear. I swear, every time I turn around, that kid has stripped. He does not care that it is cold. He does not care that the neighbors can see. In fact being outside seems to intensify his need for nudeness. You know I probably would not care so much if no one could see but we live on the green belt. All of our neighbors walk behind our house to get to the mail box and guess what they can see as the walk by. Our back yard and our living room and kitchen. Basically the three places that Ronin is the most. Good neighbors of PCS in the QC... I am sorry. Please advert your eyes.

RAVEN - THE CLASS CLOWN
I know that Raven is a funny kid. She cracks me up on a daily basis. She is also very witty and dramatic. Sometimes I think she is a 16 year old in a 6 year olds body. Even though this is funny at home, it is a little embarrassing at school.

ie. There is a 3rd grade teacher that comes into Raven's class just to see if she has said anything funny. One time while he was there, Mrs. B asked Raven's table to line up. Raven was sharpening her pencil and says "Well this is awkward. Do I sit down or do I line up?" Seriously what kindergartner thinks like that? Raven also has trouble keeping her lip zipped. I could tell she had been crying when I picked her up from school Tuesday so I asked her what happened. She burst in to tears and told me that she had to flip her card. The note from her teach simply stated "Very talkative today". (I have no idea where she gets that from ;0)) Raven of course cried all day about it. I CAN NOT WAIT FOR PUBERTY!!!

I guess the silver lining in all of this is that I do not have THE STINKY KID.


Just another random comment before I go. I was reading Deanna's blog a few minutes ago. You know the one about watching what we say in front of our kids and the one about listening carefully before answering. This is a picture of what my children talked me into without my knowledge right before dinner. Yeah that is the gingerbread house we made 3 days ago. Notice that Ronin has no pants. DIRTY WORD!