Memories of Thanksgiving

When I think of Thanksgiving some of the first things that come to mind are; Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, family football games (although we didn't do this, it is something that I associate with the holiday. I love seeing all these families at the parks together playing football.), and pumpkin pies. I don't know when it started but for as long as I can remember Dad always made the pies at our house. I am passing that on to my boys (course they asked to do it, and I was only to eager to ablige!)Some of the things that we had growing up for our feast were, turkey, pumpkin pie, a pudding pie (flavor varied though the years), salad, fruit salad, corn, mashed potatoes and in later years frog eye salad. There may have been other things but these are what stand out for me.
As for the things that I am thankful for?? Many! I could not imagine my life where it is now without all the wonderful blessings we have been blessed with. I have 6 beautiful children, and although they try my patience at times, I love them. I have a wonderful husband, yea we have our days too.... and we are blessed with the simple things in life. No need to get complicated, life is complicated enough!
May you all have a wonderful day and I am thankful for you!

Kids names

Today as we were coming home from an appointment, Rojelio was amusing us with the names he has picked out for his future children. He informed us that if he had two boys he would name one Santa and the other Clause. They would be in the same class and the teacher would call Santa Clause to the head of the class. He did comment that his future wife probably would not like Santa, Clause. Then he decided that if he had three children he would name them Cookies, And, Milk. Then he was like "Hey where are my Cookies, And, Milk?", "Who ate my Cookies, And, Milk." "My Cookies, And, Milk are running away!" I so feel sorry for my future daughter-in-law, I hope that she has a great sense of humor!

Gabby qualified for the city finals!

Way to go Gabby! She qualified in the 200 freestyle and the 50 butterfly. She will do the 50 butterfly in a relay as well. Some of my friends are like "she takes after her mom" but let me tell you this girl has more talent in her than her mom did. She absolutely rocks! We challenged her (bribed more like it with $) to get her relay in a better spot, they were in third. The other girl was at least 1/2 way down the pool if not more, and she kicked butt and sailed past her and brought her team to a 2nd place finish! She is like a motor boat. Her feet can kick. You should see her freestyle it is so smooth! I love watching her swim, I wish she realized what talent she has, maybe swimming will bite her and it will become a passion, right now I think it is something she likes and knows that mom loves it, and she does it because of that. She is absolutely incredible!!!

It's a bird, it's a plane, its CAFETERIA WOMAN!

It has been a week on the job as cafeteria cashier. Not bad. I come in and take things out of boxes and put them on cookie sheets for the next day and wash my area, sweep and mop my area, set up my area, stock milk, restock milk, wash my area again and sweep and mop again. I think I do more washing, sweeping and mopping then I do anything else! Maybe it will stick with me and I will bring the habit home! My trainer warned me that the kids would steal. I guess I have a little more faith in human nature and I was like no way. Twice in one week I caught kids trying to steal juice! Not only that some just walked right by me because I was a little slow! They were on a time limit and didn't want to wait until the new girl figured it out. Good thing I am a fast learner, there will be no walking by this chick this week! Centeral High School here I come!

Oh No it is Bambi!

She got it! Her first deer, with a little help from dad. It would not die, is what I am hearing. Oh-man, she slipped into a creek and got all wet but thankfully it was not as cold today as it was yesterday. She is very happy that her dad's friend had a cart to pull the deer with and that she did not have to drag it all the way to the truck. Yuck, her hand was covered with blood. It was the deer's heart that made that mess!

First Hunt

Bambi is safe tonight! Gab and her dad didn't get their deer! They went out this morning and came home during the afternoon and then went back out later. This morning Gab saw a deer and promptly said "Papa, Papa, look there is a deer". You got it the deer ran away. We were talking to her at lunch and I said next time you see one and it is safe to shoot, shoot it, your dad will know you saw one when he hears your gun! She laughed. She was really cold too! We will see what tomorrow brings! Good luck guys.

Science project updates

Roly's bridge held 14 lbs. He was not to happy about that. He came home saying "Oh we could have done this or that and why did we make it like this...." and on and on. I told him that next year he will know better and to start earlier instead of later!
Jesus' airplane placed 5th or 6th. He was not quite sure, but he has decided that he will do the same next year. A no brainer!
Good job guys, I am happy it is over!

Mourning

Again we are saddened by the death of one of our pets. Sky died sometime on Thursday. Roly discovered him when he got home from school. This was harder on us then the first. Sky was one of our first birds. He had a great disposition. He would sit in his cage in the living room just singing away. He especially liked to do this when Genaro would come home from work and sit to relax in front of the tv. Sky would start chirping really loud and Genaro would turn and tell him to stop and Sky would stop. For a minute or two and then start up again even louder than before. Genaro would turn again and tell him to stop and Sky would. This would go on five or six times until Genaro took Sky out and held him. It became quite a game. Sky liked to sit on Genaro's shoulder. He would sit there for quite some time. When he was ready he would fly back to his cage. We loved Sky very much and are sad at his passing.

Physical?? Whatever! Science Project update

Well the science projects are finished and turned in. Thank goodness that is over.
Today I went in to get a physical for my new job. Got in the office and sat down. The nurse took my blood pressure and gave me the tb test, turned to me and said ok you are free to go. I was totally shocked. I asked her about filling out the rest of the paper and she said that usually people just fill in their weight and height off their drivers license. I'm a little confused because there is a whole list of stuff to be filled out. I just could not believe it. I looked at her and I said " I believe that I have swimmers ear. Could you please look at it?" She did and said "looks fine to me, nothing swollen or red." My ear is visibly red and it is swollen. But she kept saying nope, I don't see anything. I then made her take my weight and height. I was so shocked, that she did nothing else. I still can not believe I paid $35 for nothing. I had already started on a natural remedy for my ear and it should be better by Friday, which is when I go in for them to read the tb test, but if it is not then I will have them check it again. What incompetence

Science projects!

Wishing it was real and I was up in it!!!


Jesus and Rojelio had to participate in the science Olympiad. They each chose what they wanted to do. Jesus chose to do the rubber band airplane. He did not have to make it if he didn't want to, he could just purchase a kit and put it together. Easy enough, but we have ended up with three of them. They tend to break easy. He is finished and is enjoying playing with the plane. On the other hand there is Rojelio. He chose to build a bridge and it needs to be able to hold 33lbs. Now we have known about this for a whole month. It is due tomorrow. There is a lot of frustration going around. Lesson learned??? Hopefully! We will post a pic when it is finished!

whose science project is this?

That doesn't look like Roly.

Stretching or what???

TV (photo by Alex)

I was watching TV and my brother took a picture. The movie I was watching was a western movie that my dad put on. The movie was awesome because all the action. The movie was on channel 529 if you have direct tv.

Hey, I like this book! (photo by Alex)

This book is about school. The book's name is 'Diary of a Whimpy Kid' by Jeff Kinney. I like the book because it is funny and stuff. It took me 4 days to read the book. The next book is 'Katie Kazoo Switcheroo, Who's Afraid of Fourth Grade' by Nancy Krulik

Doing my homework (photos by Alex)

Fun in the Classroom by Gabriela

*go to the hallway
*sit down with your person
*have a chat
*sit down in the desk
*get 2 cups for us
*fill up your 1 favorite pop(Dr. Pepper, sprits, or a grapes pop)
*sit down and get up again and go to the restroom to get some napkins for us
*get some cookie like to have more than 3 if you want to just 3-7 cookies
*have a great time with us now
*I can't wait to say "Have Fun" out loud

Sunshine by Rojelio

SUNSHINE

My new bird's name is sunshine.She is yellow,white,and blue.Iam glad we have a new bird.Because I don't want my other bird o be lonely.Because he always try to escape when he dosen't have a buddy.

Azul died.

Azul is on the left side (blue and white one)
Rojelio's bird Azul died tonight. This is what Roly had to say about her.

My bird died today. I was very sad. Azul was white over her head and wings and light blue everywhere else. She was a bird who liked to fly.She also liked to bite.But she was nice. When I got out of the pet store she spoke her first words tweet tweet. :)
We had her for about six months and in those six months we had to listen to her sing. She seemed to like Papa the most. She didn't bite Papa, after the first few times, like she continued to do to everyone else. I will miss her. I may get a new bird tomorrow, that way Sky wont be lonely.

A Hunting We Will Go...

A hunting we will go, high ho the dairy oh a hunting we will go. Well not all of us. Just Gab and her dad. Genaro wanted to take us all out today to show us where he and Gab would be hunting and to hopefully find or even spot this legendary buck that has been lurking around the area. I asked Genaro if it came down to it and both he and Gabby saw it who would get to shoot it? He said that he has been thinking about bringing his brother-in-law along for the ride so that he could sit by Gab! HA! So he doesn't want to give up the big one now does he. Well we didn't catch even a little glimpse of any deer except for the poor soles that had decided to cross the road. They obviously did not look both ways now did they? Good luck Gab beating your dad to the trophy!

COLD

It is so cold today. Winter is beginning to settle in. The kids are anxious for it to snow. I can wait thank you. I like fall and the crispness of it, but I am not to fond of winter. It's not that I really mind it, but the kids get cabin fever way to much, and then we can't wait for spring to hit so that they can be outside without being cold all the time. That's what I get by living somewhere there are four seasons right.

New teacher

Alex has been struggling this entire school year. He has been suspended three times, all within a matter of a month. We have had teachers sitting with him every 1/2 hour to intervene if Alex starts to meltdown. OH and his meltdowns, once they start they don't stop until he is ready to stop. He has a wonderful principle who really truly takes the interests of his students to heart. He truly understands that there are kids out there like Alex who many not look like they need help or have problems but who have as many or sometimes more then someone who may "look" like it. Through this insight the principle has decided that Alex and his current teacher's relationship is beyond repair and it would be a good idea to switch classrooms, so on Monday Alex will have a new class. The principle was very positive about the change and feels that this new teacher and Alex will make a good match. 'They' have also discovered that preceding Alex's meltdowns it is always something that has to do with reading and Alex feeling that it is to hard of a task. (I say 'they' because I had already come to that conclusion.) So everything is in place and the teacher is on board and willing to make the needed accommodations for Alex. My little guy is a smart cookie but this reading thing has just not clicked for him. He is starting to piece things together and I think that once it does click that he will be off and running. Now give him math and he is out of this world on it! He loves that. His current teacher has him doing end of 2nd grade beginning 3rd grade math and he is thriving with it!

I got the job!

Well I went to orientation today and passed the food service test with flying colors! I was offered a full time position at one of the high schools as a cashier (which pay higher than the food prep position). I am considering taking it, although I realized after the fact that I had forgotten my commitment to the kids I teach swim lessons to. That ends on the 19th so..... I have decided that I will think things over and then decide tomorrow. Either way there are other opportunities coming available the first of the month. I would rather work an elementary school but a lady that came into the Y today said take high school if you can because they offer the full time positions, and full time gives me benefits!!!!

Check out the sky

On our way home from Gabby's swim meet we watched a storm coming in. It was beautiful. When we went into the store it was quite a ways away but by the time we came out it was right over us. The kids were all oohing over how beautiful it was so we took a picture.

HUNTING!!

Roly checking out Gab's new gun with papa.



Gab and Papa ready to go!!!





Ready or not here I come!

Gabby and Genaro are getting ready for the big hunt. She is really excited. We got the license yesterday and they are ready to go! I sure hope they get one or two.

Swimming again!!

Gabby has had her 3rd swim meet! She did fairly well, swimming the 50 butterfly and the 50 breast stroke. Had a little of an attitude today because she did not want to swim the butterfly, but she has gotten over it! Good job Gab!


This is me doing the breast stroke!

Me again, aren't I cute!

Me doing the butterfly!

Thrilled!

Election Day

Maybe I should have voted early. Of course today would fall on a Tuesday when I have to work all day. I have decided that I will wait until one of the older kids get home and then go vote. The line was out the door this morning and so I did not have time before work. I have been listening to people talk about how excited they are for this election, but all I feel is dread. I know that history will be made one way or another tonight, but I don't feel like celebrating.

Halloween

This year the kids wanted to go somewhere different other than where we normally go. So we decided to go to a neighborhood closer to the house. It was a lot of walking up and down hills. One house had a small haunted garage. When we first entered we were sitting in front of a table that had an upside down pot sitting on it. I was signing away to Gabby and not really paying attention to what was being said when the lady took the pot off and someones head screamed out! Of course all of us screamed too! Including me.

I got the job...conditionally

that is as long as everything comes back fine and I pass a test and take a class!!! But at least I got through the first part. The rest should be cake!! Now if they will just give me a school close to me!!

So we got hit again!

I am really frustrated that some people think it is okay to enter ones home without consent. On top of that thinking that they can take things from those people and trash their house. To make matters worse that the police officer in charges thinks that nothing was stolen and that he has to call CPS because he thinks that he has a messy house call. Why would I call the police myself if I wanted to turn myself in for having a messy house???? I so do not get it. While you are sitting in your car doing whatever kind of paperwork you have to , to report my messy house, the person responsible for the mess is enjoying the things that he took from me! My kids are stressing and upset. Alex asked me not to work anymore so that I could be home and then they would not come back. Today he took down the face we had on the tree because he thought that if he took it down the burglars would not know which house was ours. Poor thing. Carmen is feeling sick to her stomach and I am just pulling an attitude here. Well for that nice little policeman's information my house is cleaner than it has been in years!

I am so having a hard time remembering that others are God's children too. We can learn from this right? We will, I'll let you know later what exactly it was we learned!