St. Christopher Parish Festival

The festival at St. Christopher's makes its appearance before the school year is even over.  Two days before school gets out, the parking lot becomes full of rides and trucks.  Kids get giddy, the carpool lanes back up before and after school, and the feeling of summer looms over everyone as the hours left of school slowly pass by.

My kids love this festival.  It is done so well, no detail is left forgotten.  So many people put in countless hours of volunteering, many people serve on committees throughout the entire year to pull this off!  Every year, Damien helps set up on Friday and tear down on Sunday the many booths throughout the festival.

This year, we let Michael and Claire get unlimited ride wristbands.  Not only that, this was the first year that we let them go ride just with their friends- no parents.  It felt a little scary to me, but I knew that I needed to give them the opportunity to show me they could be independent.  They knew that we weren't going to leave the festival without them so if they couldn't find us, they just needed to keep looking.  I also gave them each $5 in case they got thirsty or needed a treat as it was close to 100 degrees today!

Claire ran off with her friends and I couldn't help but think of the movie BIG where Josh Baskin waits in line for a roller coaster, only to run into the girl who he thinks is super cute.  I can not believe my kids are at that age now.  Claire's friends went on a lot of rides but Claire couldn't get up the courage to go on The Zipper.  Think of a ride churning around and around, upside down, for about 4 minutes straight.  I have to admit.  As a kid- I would have been all over that ride.  I was a total thrill seeker.  It didn't help that at the age of six my Dad put me on the Super Loop (Ring of Fire) telling my panicking Mom, "She'll be fine!"  Fast forward one minute where I screamed my head off and cried for the ride to stop.  The lady in front of me said, "Shut up kid or I will shove this coin purse down your throat."  True story.  But it prevent me from becoming a thrill seeker.  I only slowed down once I had kids and thought to myself, "What the heck am I doing?  Is this safe?  I'm a Mom now!"  Well, Claire eventually worked up the courage to Zipper it up!  After a long wait in line, I got to see her scream and laugh hysterically as she flipped around and around.  Man, it brought me back.

Michael was with his friends for a long time before he came back to us.  "I'm dying of thirst!" he said.  "Ya, that's why you have the $5."  As if a light bulb went off in his head, he ran for the beverage cart to get a Coke.  He was so red in the face from the heat!  Michael was really smart about choosing which rides to go on.  He went on everything, including The Zipper- but he did not go on The Gravitron.  Michael has a history of barfing when he gets too dizzy on those types of rides.  Heck, a few too many spins on a tire swing will send him puking into the bushes!  I was proud of him for the choices he made.  He wasn't dizzy but he was about to pass out from heat stroke!

Matthew and Emily stayed with us and played carnival games, rode a few rides, and enjoyed the carnival style food in the shade.  We had a great time with them.  Both Matthew and Emily were a bit annoyed at times that they couldn't go off with their friends like their older siblings did.  They didn't want to stay with us.  It wasn't cool!  We had to show them that they can have a good time with their parents.  I think they actually believed us!

What an awesome day.  We are so blessed to be not only part of an amazing school community but to be part of a fantastic and fun parish community, too.  It's been one busy weekend with Emily's birthday and the Parish Festival- but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Emily's 3rd Birthday Party

We have been talking rainbows over here for months.  At least three times a day, I get a reminder that I need to make rainbow cupcakes.  "I know, Emily.  I will make rainbow cupcakes for your birthday party."  She nods in approval and then thinks hard about something.  "Is my birthday party today?" she asks.  I tell her that it isn't today but it will be here soon!

A few months ago, I was perusing Pinterest when Emily came along side of me and joined me in my search for creative endeavors!  And then it happened.  Emily saw a rainbow cupcake and the theme, or rather her new obsession, for her birthday was created!  I believe that this happened back in March so you can only imagine how happy I was for her big rainbow day to finally be here!

This is always a crazy weekend.  School has just gotten out, the St. Christopher Festival is going on, people are busy with summer parties, and it is right before Father's Day.  Let the festivities begin!  We decided to do a party at home because it has so much flexibility.  We knew we would have nice weather and imagined a relaxed atmosphere (blanketed with rainbows, of course) where Emily and her family and friends could have fun!

The bounce house was delivered hours before the party so I was able to keep the kids occupied as I set things up in preparation for her guests!  Gina was able to spend the night here before the party so having her here was a huge help! 

Prep was pretty simple.  I was most excited to hang some rainbow poms from the tree in the backyard and was even more thrilled when Gina offered to do it for me!  We assembled rainbow fruit skewers, frosted the much anticipated rainbow cupcakes, put out the rainbow pinata, prepped the food, and finally got Emily dressed in her adorable rainbow dress.  I fell in love with Emily's dress when I first saw it on Etsy.  A woman custom makes these dresses according to your child's measurements and then takes plain colored tshirts and sews them together to make the dress!  Genius!!!

When people started arriving, Emily gladly took the gifts they brought for her and walked them over to the fireplace where she lined them all up.  We all chatted and enjoyed the sunshine until it was time to enjoy a lunch featuring pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, my Mom's famous baked beans, fruit skewers, bleu cheese/bacon dip, and bruschetta.  It was a lot of food but definitely hit the spot!

When dessert time came, Emily couldn't wait to get her cupcake!  She took her spot front and center and basked in the glory of her birthday song.  It was awesome.  She blew out her three rainbow candles and then finally got the much longed for cupcake.

After cake time was the pinata at which Emily got to take the first swings!!!  She smacked it as hard as she could and had the scrunchie face to prove it!  What a riot!  All the other kids, in age order, swung at the pinata and wouldn't you know that while Claire swung at the pinata the bat broke!  Luckily, we have ninety five more bats so we got a replacement.  After Michael took the final hit, all the kids gathered up their sugary loot. 

Gifts were better than I could have dreamed.  Don't get me wrong, Emily didn't need gifts but the gifts she received were so up her alley!  Nonna and Grandpa sent Emily a HUGE rainbow balloon bouquet while E and Papa gave Emily some money and the most adorable headband and fun swim toys.  Emily also received a personalized E sun hat, microphone, adorable clothes, Jessie pjs, bathing suits, a Princess chair, ice cream play food, books, and so much more!  I think the thing she loved the most, however, was that she was surrounded by so many people that love her.  I mean it.  She loves loving people and certainly loves the love in return.

Happy 3rd Rainbow Birthday to our one and only EMILY!  You are so special and sparkled more brightly today than any rainbow we have ever seen.

What Makes the World More Beautiful?

Here is an essay written by Claire.  I love to see how her little mind works and love to see the tremendous kindness that she has in her heart. 

"Here are the three things that I can do to make the world more beautiful.  First, I can teach kids how to play soccer.  Dribbling, shooting, defending, and passing are the things that I will teach them.  Next, being nice is the second thing I will do.  Taking out the garbage, cleaning up, making breakfast, and reading to my siblings are some acts of kindness that I will do.  Finally, I will give to people who don't have as much as we do.  I will give to Mission Money, food drives, book drives, and fundrasiers.  Those are the three things I will do to make the world more beautiful."

Last Day of School! Last Day of School!

The most anticipated day of the school year has arrived!  The last day of school!  The start to summer!  The completion of grades 3rd and 4th!  Today is a good day and if you don't believe me- look at the faces of my kids!  The school day was ultra short today.  9:00 - 10:30 a.m.  I might have complained if it weren't for the fact that attending the one and a half hour day led us straight to summer!

The kids were exhausted this morning.  Some irresponsible parents kept them out late at a show or something.  Apparently those parents didn't get the kids to sleep until 11:00 p.m.!  They should be ashamed of themselves!  And what parent lets their kids wear the same things two days in a row!  I know that the school said for the kids to wear their Sunday Best today but really parents, just letting your kids wear the same thing they wore to that show that kept them up so late . . . you should just report yourselves to CPS immediately. 

Although tired, Michael and Claire were all smiles today.  Their short school day consisted of going to mass and then collecting their report cards while saying goodbye to their teachers and friends for the summer.  They LOVED their teachers this year.  They were truly sad to say goodbye to the teachers who made their lives brighter each and every day.

Mrs. Delgadillo was wonderful to Claire.  She taught Michael last year and he loved her just as much as Claire did.  She is patient, loving, caring, and truly cares about the well being of all of her students.  She recognized Claire's strengths and applauded her for all of her good efforts.  She made lessons fun and made learning an experience that Claire enjoyed so much.  Thank you, Mrs. Delgadillo!  We only hope you will stay around until Matthew enters the 3rd grade. 

Mrs. Bordenave was the perfect teacher for Michael.  She is a lot of fun, creative, balanced, strict and very organized.  Michael flourished this year in her class and I am so thankful that he had the opportunity to be taught by her.  She recognized that Michael was both an intelligent little guy but also understood his sensitivity at heart.  She taught the kids with perfect combination of smarts and compassion and Michael just loved it.  I only hope we will be blessed enough to have Claire be in her class next year!!!

Swim Party right after school!

What a year.  And just like that the river of time flows onward as I watch my little babies graduate from third and fourth grade.  This slow moving river creeps farther and farther down their educational and personal paths and I have the best view in the world to see the beauty surrounding my children as they move through their youth.  My little Michael and Claire are moving on to bigger and better things and I couldn't be more proud of them.  Congratulations to you both!  Now it's time for sleeping in, swimming in the pool, bike rides, and an ice cold Slurpee.  Happy Summer!

MARY POPPINS

I really wish that we were able to go to the theater more often.  I often see shows advertised that are in town and have high hopes of going!  Unfortunately for many different reasons, we've been too busy!  We knew that Mary Poppins was in town and waited to the very last minute to see if we could get tickets.  When we looked online this morning, it listed the cheapest ticket at $69.00.  Multiply that by six and we were looking at about $420.00 to see the show!  I do love the theater, but that is ridiculous!!

Damien suggested we try and call the box office to see if there were any deals for the show.  Wouldn't you know that he found an amazing deal!  If you go down to the Center for Perfoming Arts box office on the day of a show, you can get tickets for $20.00 each!  I think we will be going to the theater a lot more with these prices!  We didn't let the kids know where we were taking them tonight.  We got them dressed up, drove downtown and had some pizza, then pulled up to the theater.  As soon as they saw the sign, they went crazy!

Our seats were amazing.  Twenty rows back, center stage!  All the kids did a great job throughout the two and half hour show.  A few notables.  Emily must have had a lot of beans before the show because it sure was windy around us!  The worst part was that she would say out loud, 'I just farted!'  Humiliating and secretly hilarious at the same time.  Michael was about to fall asleep by the end of the show so I kept giving him the tickle torture.  By the end, he was singing along to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!  Another song/dance that was amazing was the song Step in Time.  The kids couldn't stop talking about how Bert could walk on the ceiling! 

After the show was over, the six of us piled into a rickshaw and got a ride back to our car.  All the kids loved this and thought it was hilarious!  It became apparent to both Damien and myself that this rickshaw just upstaged the show!  We were tightly crammed in there as the driver gave us a great ride (weaving in between palm trees and lamp posts) to the delight of my four little kids.  By the time we got home, it was 10:30 a.m. and Michael and Claire had to get up bright and early for their last day of school!  I don't think we'll be on the cover of any parenting magazine in the near future, unless they're featuring articles on exposing kids to the theater while sacrificing their performance in the classroom.  What a night, what a show.  I am so happy we took the kids to see Mary Poppins.  It was practically perfect in every way.

Got Baggage?

I was shooting hoops with Michael today when Claire called for me.  I turned my head and saw her wheeling my piece of luggage toward me.  "Mom, I have packed some really important things in here," Claire said.  I whole heartedly expected to see some of my shoes and a few of her most treasured possessions but I did not expect to see Matthew pop out!

Claire's Time Capsule



Claire's teacher Mrs. Delgadillo had her students write a time capsule about themselves.  Much like Michael did last year, they filled our a questionnaire about themselves when school started and also when it ended.  I loved seeing how Claire changed over the year but equally enjoyed how she stayed the same in so many times, too. 


A Time Capsule About Me- 2012

September 15, 2011
My Favorite Food:  Meatloaf
My Favorite Color: Light Blue
My Best Friend:  Sydney Gambelin
My Favorite Song:  Baby Mine
My Favorite Game:  Lego Harry Potter
The Thing I Like To Do Most:  Play four-square with my friends.
My Favorite Sport: Soccer
My Favorite TV Show:  iCarly
What I Want to be When I Grow Up: A Teacher
My Favorite Hobby:  Drawing
My Favorite Book: Harry Potter
My Newest Friend:  Jordan Rizzo

June 4, 2012
My Favorite Food:  Pasta
My Favorite Color: Light Blue
My Best Friend:  Sydney Gambelin and Shea Allard
My Favorite Song:  Love Song by Selena Gomez
My Favorite Game:  Ball Tag
The Thing I Like To Do Most:  Hang out with Friends.
My Favorite Sport: Soccer
My Favorite TV Show:  Sweet Genius
What I Want to be When I Grow Up:  A Teacher
My Favorite Hobby:  Writing
My Favorite Book:  Hunger Games
My Newest Friend:  Natalie Decena

Claire is a confident kid.  She always seems to be very grounded and is seldom swayed by others.  She likes what she likes and it is evident that over the course of an entire school year- a lot of her answers remained consistent.  Claire is sad to leave third grade.  She has loved Mrs. Delgadillo and enjoyed her classmates to the maximum!  I can't believe that she is moving on to 4th grade next year!  Wow.  Time is surely flying.  I love you, Clairey!!

My Mom's 60th Birthday- Vegas Style

My Mom loves Las Vegas, much like the rest of us do.  It is a great place to relax, roam freely, soak up the sun, dance, and make great memories.  My Dad came to us in November and said, "I want to take your Mom to Vegas for her 60th birthday and I would love it if you girls would meet us there!"  It was a tough sell, but we all decided to go.

Originally, we planned the weekend to be a giant surprise.  We were all going to fly to Vegas and then sneak up on my Mom with a big SURPRISE! However, my Dad used his discretion about eight weeks before the trip and told her.  At first we were bummed but then we thought, Who cares- we're going to Vegas! 

Heather was nice enough to watch my kids for the weekend so Damien and I could get away for some fun.  The kids were all okay with it, too!  Emily even had the nerve to say to me, "Mom, can you leave now?"  Heather plays makeup and lets Emily chew gum so it is a huge selling point for her to watch the kids!  We flew down to Vegas with Gina and started having a blast the minute we stepped out the door!

We landed ten minutes before my parents (who flew with Natalie) and made an obnoxious (yet predictable) scream when we saw each other.  Let the birthday weekend commence!  We decided to stay at Caesar's Palace because we all love it there.  We had a great lunch at Margaritaville and then cruised the strip a little bit.  My parents then went back to the hotel to get ready for The Beatles LOVE show at the Mirage.  Damien and I have seen it before and it is out of this world!

While they went to a great show, Gina, Damien, Natalie and I ended up at a Chinese restaurant in Caesar's that might have been the most awkward dinner I have ever had in my life.  You take an elevator up to the restaurant and then walk into a big white room.  It was super quiet and just had a weird vibe.  Don't worry about us, though.  We managed to laugh and be inappropriate enough to drown out the weirdness.

After my parent's show and the not so normal dinner at the Chinese place- we took my Mom to an Ice Bar in the Monte Carlo called Minus 5.   Everything in the bar is made of ice.  The benches, the cups, the walls, and the many ice statues around the place.  Everyone is given a pair of UGGlike boots and the four girls upgraded to the fur coat package.  Honestly- when else would I wear a huge white fur coat? (We took them off for this picture.)  We even got cute hats that we might have worn for the rest of the evening.

My Mom and Dad loved it in there.  It certainly was hilarious and something I won't soon forget.  We went to a karaoke bar at the end of the night and listened to the woman sing my Mom into her 60th year at the stroke of midnight.  It was a pretty perfect way for my Mom to celebrate the ringing in of her birthday.

The following morning, we sat by the pool for about three hours and tried to pretend that the 106 degree heat wasn't affecting us.  Nope, not at all.  Not hot.  We shared in some great laughs and walked around the circular pool talking politics.  Kind of unexpected but we managed to make even that, funny.  And for the record, my Dad walked with his hands in his pockets in the pool.

In the afternoon, my Dad took a quick nap while the rest of us walked the entire strip and ended up at New York, New York.  Natalie wanted to ride the roller coaster.  Gina peer pressured me into it and before I knew it- the three of us were buying tickets and going to stand in line.  I noticed that Natalie went and stood with Gina and left me in my own line to ride by myself. 

Gina told Natalie that she thought it would be good if Natalie went on this alone and conquered her fears.  Natalie fiercely refused.  So, I gave Natalie an offer I thought she wouldn't refuse. "Natalie, if you go on this roller coaster alone- I will never ever bring up the moment or tell people the story of you bawling your eyes out on the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland when you were eighteen years old.  I swear- it will be like it didn't happen."  She DID NOT take the offer so writing about it in detail here is perfectly legal!  By the way, she might have even had mascara streaked down her face after the haunted Mansion ride.   Anyway, the roller coaster was well worth the money if you want to feel like you are going to barf, lose your life and your lunch all at the same time.

We headed to the Venetian for dinner at one of Emeril Lagasse's restaurants called Delmonico Steakhouse.  Honestly, it was amazing from start to finish.  It was a little on the expensive side but I can tell you that we enjoyed everything we ate to the fullest.  Bonus, was that we got to see Lisa Rinna while using the bathroom!  This was my Mom's official birthday dinner and she absolutely felt the love surrounding her and had a fantastic evening.  We were sad that Jill and Jake weren't able to join us on the trip.  From the time we arranged the trip and eventually took the trip, she became pregnant with a sweet little girl!  We felt Laura and Jill there with us in spirit, for sure.

After dinner, we all took a gondola ride through the canals of Venice, I mean- The Venetian.  It was a wonderful way to bring the weekend to a close.  My Mom had a great birthday weekend.  We did so many fun things, truly enjoyed one another's company and made memories that I will NEVER forget.  Happy 60th Birthday, Mom!