September 5- September 14-- Two weeks in review

Oh how I wish that I had something exciting to post.. NOPE--- not even one little thing.  And I also don't think I have a single picture from this entire 10 day time period..but I will search through my phone :)

Myles and Mayci have been battling with some weird cough thing and Madison is being her typical full of attitude pre-tween self.  So we did a whole lot of nothing over the weekend...but with the first 2 weeks of school being behind them, I think Myles and Madison were both pretty tired, so they didn't even complain much as we sat around the house and lounged.

Damian and I have also decided to lessen the Friday night sleepovers at Mama and PopUps.  Because we are trying to regain structure in our home and really buckle down on the simple things like bed times and such, we figured that on Fridays they can stay home with us(or me when Damian has a gig) and we can enforce more of that structure and those bedtimes.  And that is not to say that they don't have structure with Mama and PopUp, but let's be realistic-- Grandparents rules and parents rules vary quite a bit... and we have noticed that sometimes the kids seem to forget which house they are at, or what the rules are. 

On Saturday, I was really struggling with the kids... or should I say that the kids were really struggling with one another.  There was just fight after fight and it was really starting to wear me out.  I made everyone spend some time in their rooms, thinking about their behavior(which really meant them yelling through the doors all the reasons why they didn't deserve to be there) and cleaning up.  Later that evening, we headed out to a high school in Middletown to meet up with some co-workers of mine, Katia and Michele.  They each have a child so my kids and their played nicely together while Katia, Michele, and I ran and did some "training" for the Fitathlon that we are scheduled to do on October 4th.  BEWARE for 3 HORRIBLE far away pics-- I already told you I had nothing haha!

Sunday was also a pretty blah day.  Myles woke up early with Damian and hung out with him all day at Damian's gigs... Madison, Mayci, and I  just hung out at home for the earlier part of the day and lounged around.  We did go and visit Jaida, Grandma Virginia and Grandpa Wayne for just a little bit. Unfortunately Amanda had to work, so we missed her.  Ted called and said that he had wanted to go and see Damian play and asked if he could take the girls with him.  Madison wanted to run a few errands with me, so I dropped Mayci off to Ted and Abby and Madison and I ran to a few stores to get some necessities and go out for a quick lunch. 

Damian, Myles, and Mayci returned home later that night just in time to shower and get ready for the upcoming week.

SEPTEMBER 8 - 12

School, work, and slowly getting into routines pretty much filled this week.

Madison had some competition practices for dance this week, but the actual dance year doesn't start for her until Monday the 15th.  She still seems to be enjoying school and is making new friends daily.

Myles is slowly adjusting to Kindergarten.  He seems to be having the hardest time with the fact that he does not spend as much time with Damian anymore.  He has had several meltdowns because "Daddy is working too much and needs to start saying no to his gigs so he can be home with me and cuddle and play"  I spent a lot of time this week explaining to him that Daddy loves him and misses him too, but has to work so that we can keep our house and be able to get him the Legos that he loves to play with. Myles' response, "Well then I don't want the house anymore, then can he stop working so much?"  Oh how I wish it was that simple.  basketball will be starting soon, and I am hoping that Myles will still want to play because then it will give him something to look forward to, I hope.  We have Open House at his school on the 18th so I am also hoping to meet some of his classmates parents so that I can maybe begin to arrange some play dates.  Myles just needs some distractions and to start spending time with other kids his age outside of the school environment.  I feel this will be so beneficial to him.

Mayci, well she is just Mayci.  She is her same old spit fire self. Miss Sunshine has adapted well to not having her big brother around her ALL DAY long and I think she is rather enjoying her alone time with Daddy and Mama.  She isn't really napping as much anymore and has done EXTREMELY well with going to the potty.  We do still have some middle of the night accidents(which I am not used to because the other 2 rarely had accidents), but I would still consider her fully potty trained.  Yes, she also has accidents during the day, but they are few and far between.  We are having some trouble with doing #2 in the toilet, but we just keep encouraging!!

Damian has been incredibly busy with gigs and rehearsals.  We have only been seeing each other in passing. He is coming to bed just a few hours before I am getting up to start my day... but that's okay-- eventually OUR TIME will come and I will continue to try hard to be patient :)

FRIDAY SEPT 12 - SEPT 14

This Friday was a happy Friday for the kids. All 3 stayed at Mama and PopUp's house.  Damian had a gig and I had plans with some co-workers.  I had taken Friday off due to having some overtime, but didn't end up getting anything on my TO DO LIST done.  I did however clean up a little and rest ALOT.  I even took a nap before the kids came home from school.  I had gotten up and met Jen for a run around 7a and when I returned home Damian had been getting ready for work and decided to take Mayci with him.  So I really had a day to myself for the most part. 

Saturday morning Jen and I met yet again at 6:30a for a run.  We are getting pretty consistent with our runs!! Myles hadn't been feeling great when they went to Mama's house on Friday so I went to check on him fairly early.  By the time I had gotten there, they had already made plans to go for a nature walk and hang out, so I left them to it.  I ran to a few stores and then headed home.  The kids ended up hanging out there ALL day and I think they even got see Albert, Zaccai(both of which were in the area because they had a gig later that evening according to Facebook), Titi Tata, Dalila, and Uncle Jorge while they were there. 

Damian was one again-- BUSY BUSY BUSY!! And when he was home, he was holed up in the studio working.  By mid day on Saturday I started feeling pretty lousy, so I spent some time with some tea trying to rest.

Sunday, I was still feeling lousy so I cancelled my morning run and was hoping to sleep in. Damian had to leave fairly early for a gig and once the kids were wide awake they stated asking if we could go to a few stores.  Since we were in need of a new DVD holder for the playroom, I figured that we might as well get out of the house and maybe that would keep my mind off of how "blah" I was feeling.  So the kids were getting themselves together while I stopped argument after argument between them.  We have been having a little issue with some mice in our basement, but Damian told me that we got one in the trap on Friday so I was having pretty positive feelings that the mouse issue may have been behind house. 

Well---- maybe I was too optimistic too fast!!  I won't go into a ton of details, but lets just say we had a little visitor on the main floor of our house and since Damian was out, there was a lot of jumping, screaming, panicking, and there may have even been some tears(they weren't mine, I promise)  Thank goodness for the other man of the house, Myles, because he was brave enough to trap the mouse under a container for us scaredy cat girls!!  I immediately called Ted, who was so nice and rode his bike over to the house to help remove it.  One of the lovely perks of living so close to Damian's parents!!!!  The kids and I ran some errands and visited with Jaida and Amanda after all of our excitement.....

With dance picking up for Madison and Mayci and basketball starting for Myles.. I am pretty sure that  will start to have more interesting posts and maybe even some pictures.
I also plan to start getting back in to my MakeUp of Michelle blog as well sine I have been working out and eating better lately and I am hoping to use that blog to help me track my progress and keep me motivated,  Please feel free to check that blog out at MakeUp of Michelle.  I promise there will be some new posts on there by the weekend!!

I hope that everyone has been having a great September and is transitioning easily into the Fall Season!!!!

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:

 

The month of December

The month of December just seemed to fly by for our family this year.  I still cannot believe that it has come to an end...WOW!!!

Mayci's month seemed to consist of the same sorts of things for her: playing, spending most of her time with Myles, testing boundaries as usual; sneaking out of her bed after being tucked in, you know..the usual 2 year old sorts of things.

Myles' December included his norms as well: basketball on Saturdays, hanging at Mama and Pop-Ups house the majority of the time, expressing his MANY concerns quite loudly for all to hear, decided he is more a deejay than he is any superhero this month. He was also introduced to the world of video games(thanks Damian) and his most current obsession: DONKEY KONG!!

Madison had a pretty normal December also: school projects, dance, school vacation, the annual Christmas Show in East Hartford for dance, oh..and did I mention..dance?!?

On the 7th of this month the kids and I joined Ted,Abby, and Uncle Chuck  as we have every year for the past 8 years with picking out their Christmas Tree.  It was quite a COLD morning and we went VERY early because Madison didn't want to miss out and was performing later in the day the the East Hartford annual Christmas Show.  Umm..I have to admit that I definitely had a complete MOMMY FAIL while out hunting for the Christmas Tree.  I don't know what I was thinking by not making sure that each kid had gloves and, I don't know, like a hat? So, needles to say, we were super cold which caused us all to be just a WEE bit moody and grumpy to the end of our hunt.  But int he end, Abby picked out a beautiful tree that ended up looking nice as always in their living room for the holidays.

The Christmas Show in east Hartford that Madison danced in turned out very well. She was in 4 numbers: 2 competition numbers, one dance made just for that show, and her jazz/musical theatre solo.  I thought she did fabulous, but if course she was her own worst critic.  She also told me that she felt super supported by the number of people that took time out of their day to come and watch her: Grandma Virginia, Grandpa Wayne, Aunt Lisa, Mama, Pop-Up, Damian, Myles, Mayci, her step mother Lisa, her brother Brandon, and her step brother Lou(who also got to watch his step sister dance as well).  I am always so grateful for all who support my kids int he the things they are interested in!! THANK YOU ALL!!  I didn't take any pics that night, but I know that many have been posted on my Facebook page, so you can definitely find them there if interested.

The rest of the month kind of just flew by.  Madison took an extra day off before school vacation.  She had "earned" it due to a PHENOMENAL report card and parent teacher conference. ( everyone deserves a special break sometimes)  I know that Myles and Mayci have LOVED having her home this past week and a half and will be extremely sad in Jan 2nd when she goes back to school.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were so nice for the kids.  On Christmas Eve, Damian and the kids were able to spend time with Ted, Abby, Luques, Karina, Zaccai, Julie, and Albert.  They went out to dinner and their fav restaurant for Ted and Abby's anniversary and then sadly had to say goodbye to Luques, Karina, and Julie who were headed back to the city for Christmas Day.  I was unable to see Luques, Karina, and Julie and am hoping to make more time for them in the upcoming months and plan some long weekend trips to NewYork sans kids just to "hang out" and spend quality time with each other!!!

On Christmas Day, the kids woke up super early around 630a and immediately opened gifts and went through their stockings.  Lisa, Amanda, Grandma Virginia, and Grandpa Wayne came over a little later with their gifts for the kids and to have a little informal brunch.  Then the early evening part of the day brought us to Ted & Abby's for the rest of the day for the kids 3rd Christmas.  WOW!!! Damian and I hung out with his brothers and cousins until about 3am talking, laughing, making jokes, going to the movies....the usual.  This was my first time going to the movies with all of them in over 5 years-- and I had so much fun! I think that the kids had an amazing Christmas , as always, thanks to all of the family and friends.  Our little Christmas at home was rather small this year due to finances, but the kids didn't seem to notice, and I am thinking that we may keep it that way regardless of finances from now on!!  It definitely makes the kids more grateful for all that they do get!

All in all...this holiday season was wonderful and filled with love, kindness, and family time.  I enjoyed every moment of it and can't wait to see what this next year has in store for us!!

Hoping that you all had a great holiday and would love to hear what everyone has planned for 2014!!

Plans plans, plans

Wow... Can you believe it is November already? It's crazy how fast time really goes. Ive been realizing it mor and more lately.  But as always, the beginning of the month is always the most exciting for me.  It makes me feel like I have a clean slate to start with.  I have a lot planned for this month.  

I have decided to host Thanksgiving at my house this year.. Well, it's only going to be me, Damian, the kids, my older sister Lisa, my mom and dad, and hopefully my little sister Amanda and her boyfriend, Will.  I would have loved to invite my in laws and some of the Curtis/Rodriguez clan, but #1 I don't know if our little house could accommodate everyone and #2 my in laws always host a rather large Thanksgiving day party type thing at their house, so I would not want to intrude on that in anyway.  I am just really trying to come up with some of our own little traditions within our immediate family.  With that being said, I hope it doesn't come off that I do not want to go to my in laws, because we will definitely be joining them in the later part of the day.  The kids will want to see everyone and Damian and his brothers and cousins have a tradition of going to the movies on Thanksgiving and Christmas night.

I am also hoping to truly come up with a blogging schedule.  I don't want blogging to feel like a job, but I would really like it to be consistent as I want to use these blogs as away to look back at our family and the little things that consumed our every day lives.

YouTube has been interesting me very much lately.  I started getting into to beauty videos, and family blogs towards the middle of 2012..and it has just gotten worse, hahaha! I already have a YouTube channel that I use for videos of the kids and such.  But I have created another one called, MakeupofMichelle.  I have hopes of using this YouTube account for not only makeup and beauty things, but to chronicle my journey in life and all the things that "makeup" who I am.  As I get closer to getting something posted on that channel, I will be sure to get everyone posted...just don't be expecting anything super fancy..we all know that is not who I am.  

Now for my usual updates.  Since school has started, things are slowly picking up around here.  Unfortunately car trouble has been a constant in our world.  The van needs several thousand dollars worth of work, and the car..well...that is a whole other story.  We are slowly getting that thing back together.  With that being said, I have learned how to use the city bus.  Not nearly as hard s I could have imagined.

Mayci has transitioned from her crib to a toddler bed..she seems to be doing okay with that so far.  She is still quite the talker and has a very strong personality.  We haven't really focused on potty training yet, but I see that in the near future.  I think that one we get serious about it, she will learn quite quickly, or at least I hope so.

Madison is still dancing, of course.  She has been taking some extra classes since dance started in September, but because of the 2 weekdays off that she gets, itoesnt seem like she is there quite as much as she really is.  She is competing again and is working on 2 solos this year.  Wow..I just don't know how she manages to fit it all in and stay focused. But so far, so good.  She is in the 5th grade, has a male teacher, and has signed up for the leadership and movement team.  She still seems to be loving school quite a bit...BUT she is becoming a challenge for me in other areas that I may address In a future post.

Myles, what a kid.  He is still home during the day with Damiann the morning and then Abby in the afternoon as is. Mayci.  I am hoping to place him in a preschool setting by the beginning of 2014 so he can get some of that exposure to other kids and some of the basic rules of school down.  He has been attending church on Sundays and Wednesday with Abby over the past 3 weeks...and LOvES it.  he missed today due to being under the weather and was extremely bummed about it.  I am thinking that maybe it is time for me to return to church and begin taking the kids with me.  As a mother who claims to be a Christian, I should not be leaving the duty of getting my kids to church to my mother in law, not that she minds at all.  Myles did not restart dance this year, but is starting basketball this upcoming weekend.  He is super excited and Madison has made it her job to, train, him.  

My goal in the near future is to get both Madison and Myles into piano lessons..just have to reach out to the teacher and make sure the funds are available.  hopefully something will happen soon.

As for Damian and I, weare just trying to increase the success of our marriage all while balancing everyone's schedule.  We have been doing pretty well, and have been truly working as a team!

  I hope all is well in everyone else's world.