Easter Weekend 4/3/15 - 4/5/15

Four months into 2015 and I have yet to post to this blog.  I SUCK!!  Plain and simple hahaha

EASTER WEEKEND

Friday April 3, 2015  --- GOOD FRIDAY
     And a good Friday it was.  No dance or activities for the kids, Myles and Madison had no school, so the kids just hung out during the day.  Madison stayed with PopUp all day since she was planning on going to a gig with him later on.  The little ones came home for a little while and then we dropped them back off to Mama after the play at Church so they could spend the night.
     Damian also had no gigs, so we decided to head down to The Side Door in Old Lyme to see the Ralph Peterson Sextet.  This meant we got to see Zaccai and Luques play also.  Such a nice place.  I had never been before and it was quite the spot.  We also got to see Josh Evans play, who I honestly haven't heard play since Damian and I were dating. UMMM--- Talk about a great performance!!  Ralph OBVIOUSLY put on a phenomenal show and it was nice to see him as well.  The other 2 members of the band were Marcus Strickland (who I had heard of but never heard play-and boy was he GREAT) and Hailey Niswanger( who was also fantastic).  It was such a great show and I had an awesome time.  Tom, Paul, and Yvette also came to see the band and it was nice to have some time to catch up with Yvette who was enjoying day 1 of her and Paul's kid free weekend!!I also got to see Yunie, who I hadn't seen forever.  Do you see the trend-- I never see anyone-- I really need to get out more :)

It was good for Damian and I to get out and do something together, since it doesn't happen often.  Not to mention, it must have been must have been my lucky week because I also got to see Karina..and that would mean that I saw her twice in one week.  Seriously, that is a rare thing.  Between her schedule and Luques' and then Damian and mine with the kids, we HARDLY see each other.  Definitely not as much as I would like.  But we are working on that.  We try hard to stay in touch by texting/ calling occasionally, but sometimes the time lapses between texts makes me ashamed!  We are hoping, well at least I am, to start getting together more often.

Here are a couple of "selfies" from when we saw Karina when she was up for the Passion of The King play at the end of March:

Oh how I love her!!!!!!  I miss her so much and wish we didn't let so much time pass between seeing one another!  She is one of my favorite people!!

Saturday, April 4, 2015
     All the kids were at Mama and PopUp's for the morning, Damian had to work as usual, and me---  well, I was getting ready to run my first quarter marathon or 10K-- 6.55 miles.
I was meeting up with Jen, Whitney, and a few of their friends to run the Greater Hartford 9th annual quarter Marathon at the reservoir in West Hartford.  I was so nervous, did lousy, BUT-- I FINISHED!

My view at one point while I was running... the fact that I was able to take this picture shows that I really wasn't using all of my energy for the run haha

 I had to walk more than I ever would have wanted, and once I start walking, it is harder for me to get my groove back.  I will be running another one at the end of May in Mystic, so I hope to do better then.  I am also starting a new training regiment that I hope will improve my motication, discipline, and pace just a little.
 I will never be a FAST runner but I AM A RUNNER!! I am going to try to embrace that term.  Doesn't mean that I love running, but I do love the feeling I get at then end of the run.  I feel invincible! And I wouldn't trade that feeling for anything.
   For the afternoon on Saturday, Madison went off with Lisa to a birthday party at Launch Trampoline Park and the little ones and I headed over to Grandma Virginia's house to hang out and color some Easter eggs (which I stupidly left over there, uuugghh)

Me and Jaida attempting to decorate an egg.. she only lasted about a minute before deciding she didn't want to have anything to do with eggs

Sunday, April 5, 2015 --- EASTER SUNDAY
     The kids woke up pretty early to get their Easter baskets. Well, Mayci woke up them up early because she was crying about a sore throat.  Damian decided not to join us for the baskets because he was so tired, but Lisa Face-timed with us!

Note Jaida's little basket at the far left :).. then Madison, Myles, and Mayci's baskets-- we don't go to crazy for Easter in our household

Myles, was extremely unimpressed with his basket.  Unfortunately the Easter bunny got him a movie that he already had at Mama's house, a lego set thing that he doesn't like, and he has now informed me that he does NOT like M&M's anymore- yet I swear he ate a whole bag the week before, but you know-- kids....  **epic Mom/Easter bunny failure**
Madison seemed to really like the outfit she got and she actually picked out the movie she got in her basket so I know she liked that.  And Mayci-- well, Mayci likes everything- I think her favorite was the jelly beans.  Sadly though, she only ate 1 jellybean and then ended up throwing up shortly after and feeling sick for a better part of Easter morning.

Mayci's set up in the earlier part of the day-- peep the "throw-up" bucket to her right :)

We headed over to Ted and Abby's in the early afternoon and as always, they had cool treasure hunts, hidden eggs and baskets for the kids to find.  Thanks to some interesting remedy that Zaccai gave us, Mayci was feeling pretty good so she was able to participate and have fun with the rest of the kids.  Julie, Justine, Obed, Davian, and Dej all came by also.  So great to see them and the kids had a blast.  Mayci and Dej played so well together and Madison and Davian always get along GREAT!!  I love watching them interact with one another!

I swear I was taking a picture of something here... if you squint  your eyes, tilt  your head to the left and look in themiddle towards the back of the picture, you will see Madison and Davian (they sort of blend in to the trees)out on their treasure hunt  They are just sooo darn cute!!

Madison getting all  up in Dej's face while Dej is trying to look at her Easter basket in peace

They all sang Happy Birthday to Pop Up whose birthday is on April 8th

Dalila and Iliana came by to hang out as well.  It was nice and laid back.  Although the weather was rainy and at one point, there were even some snow flurries, it didn't stop the kids at all from running around outside to look for "treasures" and candy filled plastic eggs!  The kids asked to stay over Sunday night into Monday since Julie, Zaccai, and Davian were staying and because Damian and I are such pushovers **HAHAHA**  we said yes!!

Hopefully you had a fun filled weekend, whether you celebrate Easter or not!!


 

Damian has been busy

One of the bands that Damian is in, Orquesta Espada, has been keeping VERY busy this summer.  They played twice at the outdoor stage at Bushnell Park and I was lucky enough to be able to attend both gigs with the kids.  I tried to take short little videos, please enjoy:

Ray Mantilla-- Hartford Jazz Festival Monday Night Jazz Series- July 28, 2014

Don't ask-----  I think she was amazed by how big the cheeto was

Clearly Mayci is more concerned with her snacks than her daddy's piano skills

I LOVE watching this man play the piano and don't do so nearly as often as I should.  I am hoping to attend more of his gigs in the near future.  Such a talented  husband I have!

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: