Monthly review -- July 7th-July 29th

July has just completely flown by! Yup.. and I still haven't mastered the art of weekly updates! :)

So many little things have happened and I have really had trouble with staying on task with weekly updates, so now as the month comes to a close I figured I should hurry up and give brief updates on the month before we roll into August.

Madison looking like a "New Yorker" before her trip

Madison has had quite the busy month. (what else is new-- I feel like every month is busy for her) Dance picked back up for the summer and once again she is dancing far more than I could even imagine.  She does an hour on Tuesdays and the 4 hours on both Wednesday and Thursday. Good thing is that they are only 5 week summer classes, so she is off from dance after this week for a little while. The beginning of the month caused us to bump heads quite a bit because she had wanted to schedule several sleepovers, but I only allowed for one because it was a birthday party/ sleepover combo and they were friends from school.... I am trying to reduce the number of sleepovers and play dates and get togethers.  And not because I don't trust those people, but for one- Madison has expressed how she would rather go to a sleepover than to have one at her house because her house is boring and I am no fun.  Another reason-  our family is still lacking any sense of structure.  And I think that I may be to blame.  So in an effort to fix that, I am going to be having a hold on get togethers for a little while.. especially for this last half of the summer except for a few pre planned events.
     Madison also went to New York for the 3rd time this past summer.  We had decided that this would be the last time she would go for a little while.  A little bittersweet for her, but she says she had a good time.  Luques and Karina always hope to be able to steal her away for a little bit to spend some time with her, but with the schedules and rules, it never works out, but Madison and Karina texted at least so she knew they wanted to see her.  She took several pictures at the Central Park Zoo and I hope to upload those in a separate post in the near future.  They also went to see Cinderella on Broadway-- SO JEALOUS!!  I am so grateful that Madison has these opportunities and appreciative of all the people that help Damian and I out with getting her there!

Happy 3rd birthday Mayci

Mayci has had an exciting month.   She went to her friend Alyce's birthday party--Frozen themed!  She was so excited because she got to dress like a princess and decided on Belle, since that was the costume that we already had.  Of course it had to be the hottest day ever, but she had fun eating, playing on the bouncy house, and climbing in and out of the pool a couple times. Dance started for Mayci this month.  Morlock School of Dance offers 5 week summer classes, so we thought it would be best for Mayci to try out then.  She only made it to 3 of the 5 because of swimming lessons, but seems to be doing okay( that's what Liz says) so she will definitely pick back up in the fall.  I can only imagine what she will look like on stage at the recital :)  Swimming is going well.. it's a parent and tot class to familiarize the kids with the water and she did attend when she was 1, but because of the gap between, we started her from the beginning.  Timing was a little off for me and Damian so Mama (Abby) has been taking both her and Myles and getting in the water with Mayci.  Mayci comes home tired, but says that she has fun.  Another milestone is potty training.  My ultimate goal was to get her potty trained before she was 3.  She is pretty much there except for the occasional accidents and her fear of going #2 in the potty.  But we will keep working on that.  Sometimes I think that Damian and I sabotage her by putting her in Pull-ups or Diapers when we feel it is inconvenient for us to worry about the bathroom, but I am getting better. 
Mayci also turned 3 on the 27th!!  What?!?!  I know-- my baby is no longer a baby anymore.  Wearing undies and being 3- my goodness, definitely a big girl.  On the 26th, Ted and Abby hosted a birthday party at their home for her.  She was so excited.. and of course-- it was Princess themed.  I took several pictures on my phone and just a few on my camera, so I will post them in a separate post.  I am also hoping to get the pictures that Byron Dean took at her party also.  I know they will be AMAZING!!  On her actual birthday we went over to my parents house so my parents, sisters, and Jaida could sing happy birthday to her and give her her gifts.

Notice Mayci's outfits in these pics..  this is her new choice of  outfits  A "pocketbook", undies, and a shirt!!

Happy Birthday Alyce!!

Myles started soccer and basketball this month.  Whew--  who knew that the parents need to be as involved as they do hahaha.  Normally Damian takes him to both, but because of work, I had to take him. Lord have mercy- I thought I was going to pass out- running around with him in the gross heat.  Not to mention I had to keep Mayci contained as well.  I will say though, I notice a huge improvement in both sports for him.  And he seems to be enjoying them a bit more this year than last.  I am hoping to keep both sports going throughout the course of the year based on their availability, but only time will tell.  Mr Myles is getting ready to start kindergarten this year!  I try to talk about it at least once a day so that it stays fresh in his mind, especially as we draw near.  And with how fast time seems to be going, the first day of school will be here before you know it.  I worry about him a lot starting school.  This will be something so completely different for him.  He has always been with either Mama and PopUp, Damian, or me.  He acts like he understands, but I'm not so sure.  I mean, getting on a bus by yourself with a backpack and a lunchbox, then arriving at a school that you have only been to once, and having all those kids and teachers around, and trying to give someone your information so they can get you to your classroom-- seems overwhelming to me. But I am excited for him either way.  Makes me remember back to Madison's 1st day of kindergarten.  Oh, what sweet memories.

Not sure why Myles look like he is under the influence of something in this pic-- but this is the aftermath of falling off of his bed one night :(  He is all healed and back to normal now!

Damian has been playing a lot lately.  One of the bands he is in, Orquesta Espada, has been keeping him VERY busy this month.  I was able to take the kids to go see him twice.  Once at the Hartford Jazz Festival and then just this past Monday at the Monday night Jazz on the green- both at Bushnell Park.  Unfortunately Madison missed out on both performances but Mayci and Myles had a blast.  For the Hartford Jazz Festival, they were kind enough to let the kids and I "backstage" in the VIP area.  The kids could eat, have cookies, run around, and Myles even made a friend.  I enjoyed it over there, but actually prefer sitting out in front where I can see the performers more.  But I was grateful nonetheless.

This month I started trying to come up with an organizational plan for the home and our lives in general.  This is all part of "Operation get some structure in this home"  Haven't made much headway yet, but something 's gotta give.  I also ran in my first 5k this month. Lisa and I did the Run or Dye on the 19th!  Had such a great time.  But, let me clarify- I COMPLETED my first 5K, I did not run the entire thing.  I only ran 2.5 miles of the 3.1 and it felt GOOD!!  I was so proud of myself!  My friend Jen and I are running another 5K on August 24th and participating in the Fitahlon in October, which is a 5k with timed obstacles.  oh crud-- speaking of which-- I need to sign up today for that one because the price goes up on Saturday.  My goal for age 31 was to run at least 4 5K, so I should probably start looking for another one.  Lisa is interested in the Electric Run, so that may be #4 for me. 

I hope you all had a fun filled July and here's to an even better August!!

 

I think Ms. Jaida  is trying to figure out if she like Aunt Michelle-- I get this face pretty much every time I hold her

 

Before getting "dyed" at the Run or Dye

 

 

 

 

Spending some quality time with Jaida Serai

 

 

This is Mayci after dance!!

Just a few pics from the playground while Madison and Myles were off doing other things:

 

July 4, 2014 - July 6, 2014

I swear-- one of these days I am going to be caught up and on a decent schedule with this darned blog.  But until then.. you will just be surprised randomly  with various posts.. And this one happens to be about the long 4th of July weekend!

July 4th weekend was a pretty fun weekend for us.  Nothing super exciting, but I do have a few pics to share!

FRIDAY JULY 4

We spent the actual 4th of July just running errands, lounging around- I wish I could say cleaning, but NOPE..that got pushed to back burner as always.  The best part - both Damian and I were off from work so we were able to see each other several times throughout the day.

SATURDAY JULY 5
In an effort to live a more healthy lifestyle, I met up with a friend in the morning to go for a run.  It's about a 3.1 or so mile loop, but I only ran about a mile and a half to 2 miles...but it felt GOOD!  I was so proud  of myself.  Damian was off on Saturday also and I picked Madison up from a sleepover and we just hung out around the house for the majority of the day.  Damian worked in the studio quite a bit on some music.  Madison, Mayci, and I met Nicole, Gianna, Bella, Alex, Tonya, Makai, Zoey, and Zane at Manchester Community College for fireworks. Myles stayed home because Gilbert was coming over to play and Rama is probably just too cool to hang out with a bunch of old people and "babies".  But we had  SO MUCH FUN!!  I hadn't seen Makai since he was a baby and had never really met Zoey and Zane.  What cutie patooties they are and Mr. Makai has such a deep voice, he sounds like a man from far away!  And it was great to be able to see Tonya and Alex after years and years as well!  I just wish we had more time that night.  The fireworks only lasted about a half hour, yet it took us a good hour and 15 minutes to even get off of the MCC campus.  Well worth it to spend some time catching up! Makai sure did love himself some Madison... He even informed me that I NEED to have him come over to play with her soon!And both Gianna and Bella yelled at me for not having them over recently over SO CUTE!!  **and nope, I haven't scheduled that play date yet lol**

SUNDAY JULY 6
On Sunday, Ted and Abby had planned a trip to Lake McDonough in Barkhamsted.  I hadn't been there since Myles was 1 month old, so it was nice to head up that way. Damian and I didn't have any set time that we wanted to be there, s that helped meout with my stress level, since social things like this give me EXTREME ANXIETY.  We arrived by late morning and were greeted by so many family and friends: Ted, Abby, Yvette, TiTi TaTa, Melina, Niko, Monica, Jacob, Abigail, Angelina, Christopher, Natalia and her husband and sisters, Uncle Jorge... throughout the day, Zaccai, Luques, Daryl, Dalila, Iliana, Brian, TiTi Ada, Titi Ana, Amanda, Aaron, Alicia, Sammy, Nadia, Bas, TiTi Miriam, Rae-Sheilla & her new baby, Becky, Carissa, some family friends, Nilda..and several more trickled in and out throughout the day.  Unfortunately Madison, Mayci, and I left early so that I could drop Madison off at another lake in Marlborough since she had previous plans made with her friend.  But either way-- everyone had a good day.  I may or may not have forgotten to apply sunscreen to the kids and they may or may not have gotten mild sunburns.. No worries, perfect parents out there, they survived and are doing well!

Here are some pics to highlight this particular weekend, enjoy:

Month in Review-- June 2014

WOOHOOO!!  As always, I am super happy the first week of the month..any month!  I just love this time as I have said so many times before.

The month of June sort of flew by for our family!  With birthdays, milestones, sickness- time sort of got away from us quite quickly.  Good news is-- we survived and have now made it into another month to start collecting more memories.

Personally, the beginning of the month was a bit rough for me.  And  have no problem being candid about it.  Damian and I are far from being in the "perfect" relationship and I have been known to make things quite difficult sometimes,  and the first few days of June proved it for the millionth time.  We had a blowout fight slight argument about some things a little before Amanda's baby shower.  Not even anything worth a disagreement.  And because of my stubbornness, I held quite a grudge for a little bit.  So NOT the right thing to do, I know, but I'm human and accept responsibility for that.  Because of that, I had many sleepless nights and wasn't in the mood to do much of anything besides get up and sort of float through the day and then go to bed.  I am happy to say that it was short lived and all is happy in the Curtis family again!!  I don't have any problems admitting when things aren't going 100% in our home, because those are memories also, experiences that we can learn from :)

Mayci and Myles have pretty much been involved in the same things as usual.  Playing outside, fighting with each other, spending time with Mama and PopUp and staying over there every Friday night.  Damian's cousin Alicia came up in the early part of June and stayed with Ted and Abby for the 1st 2 weeks or so, and the kids definitely liked having someone else to annoy hang out with over there!  She is such a sweetheart and so good to the kids.  TiTi Ada and Sammy joined the fun around the 12th and it was so good to see them also.  Brian is also here from Puerto Rico and Nadia from Texas!!   My mom's mom, Grandma Betty came up for the first part of the month to spend some time with the family.  I am sure that we will all be getting together more and the summer progresses-- we have some exciting stuff happening this summer!!

The ONLY picture that I got during recital

Grandma Betty-- Oh how I love this lady.  This was from a girls night at the Muse Paint Bar

We celebrated Damian's 36th birthday this month!

But first, let me take a #selfie

I swear Madison is in this picture, getting down from stage after receiving 1 of her two awards-- (Citizenship Award and President's Award)

Happy Birthday Madison-- from Myles

Yup-- most of his ice cream doesn't even make it into his mouth!

Myles has been extremely focused on video games lately-- THANKS DAMIAN!!  Once you introduce that little boy to anything and I swear he becomes mildly obsessed hahaha... Sort of an extremist like his dad and PopUp!  He is also spending a lot of his time playing with Legos.  The little legos I might add.. you know the ones that always end up underneath our bare feet when you least expect it.  He is getting better and better at building neat little creations on a daily basis.  With the warmer weather here, Myles sometimes has to be forced to leave his video games and legos so he can spend some time outside in the fresh air..but once you get him out there, you have to drag his behind back in haha.

Mayci has been quite the struggle for me (#thestruggleisreal)  She will be turning 3 on July 27th and this little one still will NOT use the potty.  And its not for lack of trying.  I really have been trying.  In fact, I may be part of the reason that now she is so against it.  I found myself getting quite upset at her for not using the potty and I may have scared her a little but.  Yup, all of you judgy moms out there-- go ahead and criticize me!! We lack a lot of structure in our home(I'm working on it) and I feel that also contributes to the non potty trained child.  I am hoping the month of June will have a brighter outlook and as I type this in the first week of July, I can already say that my hopes my become reality.  Mayci has already shown even more promise in her potty training journey. 

Madison had a busy, yet sickly month with a couple of exciting events/milestones.  The beginning of the month was dance recital time for her.  Dress rehearsal wasn't the best because her tap show broke and she wasn't feeling that hot, but she did phenomenal as always on recital day, despite having to wear an old pair of tap shoes.  School was out late this year for them, June 20th.  Unfortunately the weekend before the last week of school Madison fell pretty ill at a friends house.  Thank goodness for good moms and friends.  Madison passed out and vomited and was feeling pretty icky.  Icky enough to warrant her a trip to the ER ( Call me paranoid, I don't care)  It turns out that she had been suffering from strep throat for a couple of weeks(remember when she told me she didn't feel good at dress rehearsal--there goes another notch in my "ways I screw up parenting" belt). We left with her feeling as gross as when we got there,but now we had some antibiotics to help her out.  She missed 2 days of school that week because she just couldn't get her energy up.  Went to school Wednesday and then went to school Thursday morning.  Thursday was her Grade 5 promotion ceremony!!  Can't believe she is officially a 6th grader.  I was able to go and see her ceremony but only a half an hour from being back at work I got a call from the dreaded school nurse saying she needed to be picked up because she was sick.  She ended up back at the pediatrician because he couldn't understand why antibiotics weren't attacking her fever and why her throat was worse than before--this time he said he could see a huge abscess on her tonsil.  So finally after a new antibiotic and some bloodwork-- my big "baby" is doing well!!  Missed the last day of school, but I don't think she really minded. 
     Madison celebrated her 11th birthday this month.  WOW!!  In addition to the five of us, Lisa, Ted, Abby, and Brian joined us in celebrating such a special day.  At her little celebration, Madison had a super exciting announcement to make.  She refused to let me tell anyone until she announced it at her "party".  We got word that Madison had been accepted into a magnet school.  She will now be attending the Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy from 6th to 12th grade.  She was sort of nervous at first and wasn't even sure if she wanted me to accept placement into the school, but that has started to die down and turn into excitement for her!

Damian had a busy month as usual with gigs, work, and lots of rehearsals  not to mention, during the earlier part of the day, he is home with the kids and has to keep them happy and busy.  He celebrated his 36th birthday this month-- Ted, Abby, Alicia, and Dalila all came by to sing Happy Birthday before Damian had to head off to rehearsal.  His students had their annual recital this month, unfortunately I was unable to attend.  I think this is the first one in about 5 years that I have missed :(  He also sort of got cheated out of a Father's Day, since we spent the second half of it in the Emergency Room with Madison, but he did tell her that there was no where else he would rather have been. Such a sweet and genuine daddy.. we should probably treat more days like Father's Day anyway for him!!

I have been focusing a lot more on my interests in self help/improvement; beauty; and journaling.  I have decided to start writing in my journal once a day like I used to a few years ago to help me have a handle on my crazy emotions.  I have also been trying to put more effort into my personal blog, MakeUpofMichelle  It is here that I discuss the self help/improvement, health, beauty, nails, personal thoughts that interest me-- feel free to take a peek and even leave a comment! 

Whew---  we have made it through the 1st half of the year.. I cannot wait to see what else is in store for us. I do know that for the summer, there are some pretty exciting things happening with Madison and traveling, Luques and Karina's wedding, family get togethers, spending some more time with the newest baby in the family, and getting Myles ready for his transition into school.  So excited to be able to share the events with all of you!!