It's Sunday updating time again

We had a great week that I can remember. A few aggravations, but other than that, it was a good week. I will say that Yamira didn't have a good week at school. She was good for two days, but the other days she was not good at all. That is very upsetting to me. She wasn't any better at home. So first her poor teachers get to suffer and then we do at home. Yesterday she was pretty good and today she has been okay. I am hoping that this week will bring a good week for her at school. I have to say that at the end of the week I am going away. I am sure that is going to be difficult due to a change in routine. Wish I could say that I didn't care since I will be away, but that would be a lie. I will feel extremely guilty not being home with my family. I am only going away for a few days to meet with others who have had the surgery I have had. Looking forward to it and yet I am not because I have so many things to do around here.

Anyway, let's see what we did last week. I wrote on Monday, so I don't have to go over that again. On Tuesday, Bill got the opportunity to work at the Fire Department. So I dropped the girls off at school and Manny and I headed off to visit a few places that I was interested in seeing for the adoption party. We checked out the Sac club, Froshinn club and the Italian American club. All were okay, but none of them was as perfect for me as Zukas Hilltop. So I booked Zukas. They didn't have the date I wanted, so I booked the party earlier in May than I wanted, but I wanted the place badly enough that it will all be worth it. I hope so anyway. Manny and I then headed to Target for diapers and a pair of sunglasses and lip gloss for him. He got a Peeps smelling tube of gloss. The girls have them, so he needed his own. We then went to get Yamira and then we went to the library to meet with our friends Bridget and Ashly. The kids had a great time playing. Before we knew it, I had a 1:00 pm appointment at the house and Bill was out of work. So we met at home and walked through the addition with the contractor. At 3:00 pm we went to get Ping from school and took her to her ice skating lesson. She was going to quit skating after this lesson, but she has decided to continue. I told her to not continue if she didn't want to and to not do it for me. The sweetie says "Mommy, your dream is for me to be an Olympic ice skater and now your wish is granted." I thought I was going to die. She said it two different ways and it was precious. I still don't think she is going to stay with it, but she does want to do another lesson this Tuesday. She likes it, but it's not like swimming or gymnastics. Other than dinner, that was our day.

On Wednesday, Bill dropped off the girls and I stayed home with Manny. At noon, our financial planner came by to review some accounts. Bill headed out at 3:00 pm to get Ping from school and took the two girls to gymnastics. I basically stayed home with Manny and did some computer work. Got some things researched and booked. It was a decent day.

On Thursday, Bill and I dropped the girls off for school and went to two places to look at granite. We are looking for a vanity top right now. We had Manny with us. He stayed in the car with Bill for the most part. After I picked out a few matches, Bill would come in and take a look. We are going to see a few more soon. We picked up Yamira from school and then fed the two before I had to take Yamira to therapy. After therapy, I grabbed Shayla from school and she and I went to a new place to get her a hair cut. We spend the rest of the afternoon catching up on homework and having dinner.

Friday brought swim class with Manny in the am. I didn't get in the water this time though. Bill did. I watched. Bill will be taking him this Friday since I will be out of town, so I thought this would be a good time to have him try it. As usual, it was quick. We then went and picked up Yamira. I was going to be the mystery reader for Ping's class at noon, but I asked Bill if he wanted to give it a shot. I knew Ping would love to see him. So he went. She supposedly screamed when she saw him. She has been wanting him to come in. I had some nice quiet time at home while he went off to do that. I fed the kids lunch and Manny had a nap. Around 5:00 pm, Bobby-Jo came over and we hung out till 6:45 pm or so and then jumped in our cars and went to Bridget's house for an Usborne party. We had a great time. I didn't leave till midnight. It was nice to be out and not interrupted every three minutes.

I slept in on Saturday. I got up around 11:00 am and got ready. Did a little cleaning and then Donna came over. She hasn't been here in 6 months. We all piled in the car and headed to the Drawbridge Theater for a puppet show. It was Jack and the Bean Stock. Very cute. The kids were really well behaved too for the most part. We met Bobby-Jo, Brooke and Autumn there with a friend of Autumn's in tow. We had a nice time. We then came home and had a late lunch. I convinced Donna to hang out longer and to go to a comedy club with me that night. I was meeting a bunch of mom's at Jose Murphy's in Worcester to see a few comediennes. Donna and I jumped in the car and went to pick up Meri and then headed into Worcester. The club was okay. The men were not all that funny. The last guy was really funny thought. Meri and Donna had a few drinks. Good thing I was driving. Their driving never mind their Facebook picture taking left a lot to be desired. Basically it was a good time out. However, I feel like I have been drinking because my head is all stuffed up. I think I am getting a sinus infection or just have sinus issues going on as I keep getting a tad lightheaded and seeing "stars." Donna passed out on my couch. I sat on the computer for a little while and then headed to bed.

I slept in this morning. Donna left around 10:00 am I was told. I stayed in bed way later than I should have. The girls went to Sunday School this morning. This afternoon it's been me trying to plan a little birthday party for Manny, order some invitations, catching up on this blog, making plans and lists for tomorrow and so on. Bill is out doing an errand or two. Soon it will be dinner followed by a bath and bedtime. I can barely wait. I love having the kids around. However, some days it is rather frustrating. I can't keep them busy 24/7 and it's frustrating. Ping has been using a new Usborne book I won the other night, so she has been more than busy for over the last hour or so. Yamira just can't stop flitting from one thing to the next. Manny had to be put in his "cage" so he would stop his running and banging. That is all he has done all day. This helps to settle him down. He is way too old for it, but it works.

Well off to post this weeks photos!

Have a wonderful week my friends.

Mama Out!!!!!!

Sasha.

Bobby-Jo, Brooke, Ping.

Donna and Yamira.

Puppets.

The group.

After living it up. Too funny

Another week closer to summer

I can not wait till the kids are out of school. I want to be able to go outside in the sunshine and enjoy some activities with the kids and with friends.

I have to think back what we did this week now. Hmmm, let me see.

On Wednesday, we had a 12:00 pm appointment, but it was canceled. So I got to stay home for the day. Bill took the girls to gymnastics in the afternoon. Other than that though, we were home and able to do a few things in the house.

Thursday Bill worked for a few hours at the Fire Department. My friend Bobby-Jo came over in the afternoon to hang out. It was great to see her and get caught up on life in general. Ping was at school and the two little ones napped for a short time, so we actually got to chat without interruption. Never long enough though!

Friday was a busy day. I had swimming lessons with Manny at 10:00 am. Bill grabbed Yamira from school and we met up at home. I took Yamira to therapy and then to the library to play with her best friends Sky and Sophie. We were not there for long as I had to pick up Ping and get to a facial appointment Sadly, Ping's feelings were hurt at school. My heart broke for her, but it's going to happen over and over in the next 12 years. I better prepare myself. I went to my facial at 5:00 pm and got home around 7:00 pm. It was wonderful. If you are local and want to know who does a great facial or massage, let me know. I love her. I watched "The Kids Are All Right" on my Netflix cd, so it was an enjoyable evening.

Saturday brought a birthday party and a Daisy event. We dropped Ping off at 1:00 pm for a Daisy tea. We then continued on to our friend Rebecca's home where we celebrated little Noah's birthday. We had a fabulous time. It was nice to meet some others from town. The kids all had a great time playing. Bill picked up Ping at 2:00 pm and brought her back to the house, so she got in on the fun as well. She had a great time at Daisys as well. We then all went directly to Milford for dinner with our friend Trish and her two kids Thomas and Julia. It was great seeing them.

On Sunday, we had two birthday parties to attend. Ping had one for her friend Lindsey at school. It was at a place where you paint wooden things. She had a blast. I have wanted to take her and her brother and sister there for some time, so I was thrilled to see the place. Ping made an adorable penguin, had cake and hung out with her friends. I chatted with some of the other mom's. It is so nice to meet the parents of the kids that Ping goes to school with. Especially since I know all the kids because I volunteer in the classroom a few times a month. We left there and came home. After an hour or so we headed out to Pump It Up for Devon's birthday party. Devon is in Yamira's class. We brought the other two because they had some available room. So it was nice that all three kids could go. They all had a blast. They had some pizza and cake and then we headed on home. The kids went to bed late because we didn't get home till late.

This morning, we woke up late. I set the alarm. I turned to Bill and said "time to take the girls to school." He ignored me and I passed back out. Oh boy. I jumped up at 10 of 8:00 am and said to Bill "GO!!!!!!!" The girls were still in bed. Unbelievable. They never stay in bed. They must have been tired. Off to school they went. Yamira supposedly had a rough day due to not wanting to come off the playground. I am so sad to hear that. I work with her daily on these issues, but some days it just doesn't work. I feel awful for her teachers. I feel awful for the other kids that are disrupted too. I have a feeling it's going to take years to work out these negative behaviors. She has just seen too much in her short life.

At 1:00 pm, I had an appointment to look at a place for the adoption party. The two little ones are sleeping. Usually Yamira doesn't, but she really needed a nap. I think she is overtired. Ping is home playing with Daddy right now. She had a 1/2 day due to professional development for the teachers. I will be bringing the girls to swimming soon. Ping has Daisys and Bill has the Masons tonight! However, I am home and catching up here, so that is a great thing. Not feeling so overwhelmed right now. I am so grateful for that.

Well I hope you have a fabulous week.

Mama Out!!!!!!!

My three babies.

My Holland girl. Shirt around waist and pants on her head.


Addition.

Addition.

The cooks.

Bobby Jo.

Chinese cake.

Ping ready for her Daisy tea.

All dressed up.

All decked out.

Thomas and Julia.

Painting party.

Cake.

Yamira.

Ping.

Yamira.

Yamira.

Manny.

Sophie.

Dad and Yamira.

The group.

Best buddies.

Good day for me

This morning I volunteered in Ping's classroom. I always enjoy that. I love getting to know the kids. The project that I was working on wasn't easy due to time constraints, but it was a cute project. I was glad I was there today as Daddy forgot to pack a drink and Ping's boots for recess. So when Bill picked up Yamira at 11:00 am, I made sure that he had both to give to the secretary for her. I love seeing Ping during the day. I love to see how she interacts with the teacher and her friends. I just adore getting to see her because going to school all day long is very long and hard on Mommy. I miss her.

The weather was decent. It wasn't warm, but it was so much nicer than yesterday and the sun was out. I canceled all plans for the afternoon and worked on some stuff at my desk. What a relief to be nearly caught up. Found out it will be 6 months before a new birth certificate becomes available for the little ones. Added them to our insurance. Talked to the state insurance people about Cobra 4 times. Bill took the truck to be looked at because he backed out of our garage last night and ripped the antenna off. That is a $400.00 problem. In addition to some of those things, I contacted the place we are ordering our new bathroom stuff from to add a few items. I spoke to the ice skating coordinator to get Ping into private lessons for a short time. I also spoke to her coach. Around 2:00 pm, I dropped off Girl Scout cookies to two places and then went to the grocery store and got Ping. When I got home, I made a couple more business calls and then called it a night. The kids ate early and we put them to bed at a decent time. Bill took off for the fire department. He had training. I decided to catch up on a little DVR recordings. I still have a movie to watch, but got everything else watched. All in all, that is a great day for me. I love being at base camp, aka my home!

Tomorrow I have an appointment and some contractors will be here, but I am planning on staying home and getting some more stuff done. Love those days.

Also working on a list to see what we want to do for activities this summer. First I should plan the adoption party, no? I will finish up first with getting a vanity top and looking into another new camera. The one I have isn't working for me. I think the images are very blurry. Not all, but more than not, they are and it's frustrating to me.

Well off to bed for the night.

Hope you had a great day.

Mama Out!!!!!!

My sweet Ping

I forgot to mention in yesterdays blog post, that we brought you home three years ago yesterday. We are so thrilled we were given you to parent. You light up our world.

What a week!

I am not sure if I can really remember any of it. It's been one of the busiest ones ever. I know I say it every week, but this one truly took the cake.

Monday started off okay. The girls went to school. Manny and I had a play date, but due to the weather, we had to cancel. It was very icy. That and there were a lot of accidents on the highway. I did a few errands in the afternoon and then we had a 2:30 pm appointment at the house to meet with Holli, the kid's social worker. She came over to discuss what we needed for court on Thursday. After she left, we took the girls to their swim lessons at the Y. They loved the class. I knew they would. After dropping off the family, I ran to get my taxes and then came home and got Ping and took her to Daisys. I went back an hour later to get her and to watch a little ceremony they were having. She got a new pin and a new badge. Bill was on from 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm. He had a call at 9:00 pm, but other than that, it was quiet. It was a busy day, but a manageable day. I like manageable days. The most important thing I did this day was to call Deval Patrick's office to discuss why Bill has yet to receive unemployment. I was told that I would hear from someone soon.

Tuesday came and Bill and I dropped off the girls together. We then went to FW Webb in Auburn to pick out a toilet, a tub, a vanity and all the stuff that goes with a vanity plus a faucet and accessories. We then drove to the school to get Yamira. We brought Manny and Yamira home and fed them lunch. We then headed to Framingham to meet with a gentleman to discuss electronics for the new family room. The kids were so badly behaved, that Bill went to the car with them and let them watch a movie, while I had the meeting with the guy. We then left so we could go get Ping from school. We then went home because the kid's lawyer wanted to visit with them. He had no idea we were doing the finalization on Thursday. He asked if he could stop by and so he did. Nice guy. He wasn't here long. I don't remember what we did once he left. I don't think we did much of anything because we were gone all day long. I believe it was just homework and dinner and then bed. The best part of the day was that unemployment called and they rectified the situation! About darn time.

On Wednesday, Bill took the kids to school and went to get my car an oil change. It was desperately in need of one. I stayed home so I could talk with the contractors about some things. At 10:00 am we had an appointment with the guy we had seen the day before. He came by to discuss wiring. I then ran out to do a few things. Bill took the kids to gymnastics in the afternoon. That was a godsend because I have had a ton of calls to make. I am trying to work on some federal tax issues and some health insurance stuff. So I was on the phone a good part of the afternoon. Once the girls were home, we fed them and got them into a bath. Today we got three unemployment checks. A miracle!!!!!!

Thursday was a huge day for us. It was adoption day. We took the kids to court for 8:30 am as instructed. Unfortunately, they didn't know who the judge was going to be and that took over an hour. By the time we went in front of the judge, the two little ones were bonkers. Yamira was spinning around a book and Manny kept throwing a book and yelling no. The kid's social worker and ours were both there. It was nice that they were able to show. I tried to hear what the judge said, but the kids made it impossible to hear or concentrate. At this point, we just wanted it over. We took a few pictures and then Yamira says "Where is the judge?" Really???? She was right in front of her. The judge even said "I am right here." At that point Yamira said "You can't be the judge, you are too big. " The judge is very tall. So the judge said "Well I am one of the taller judges." What does Yamira say? "I don't want to see you, I want to see one of the shorter judges." I thought I was going to die of embarrassment! After that, we walked out and had the kids take a picture with Holli and Maureen who were our social workers. It was freezing out. Brutally freezing. Bill went to get the car and we drove to school to drop off Ping. We then went home and changed, fed the little ones and then ran out to look at two function halls and to do an errand. Then we went back to West Boylston to get Ping and then back to Shrewsbury for the second time in a row to look at granite. I was looking while the kids and Bill stayed in the car. What a long day. Poor Manny didn't get a nap. I was exhausted and hungry and had to go to the bathroom, but never stopped long enough to do that. Once home, it was dinner and bed for the kids. I passed out on my chair the minute I sat in it.

On Friday, I had the worst schedule. At 9:00 am, I had a 10 minute appointment that went to 50 minutes. I had a 10:10 swim class with Manny that I had to drive a million miles an hour to get to. I then had 10 minutes to change and get Yamira. Bill was at the station for a shift for the entire day, so I had to take care of all the kiddos. Once I got Yamira, we headed off to her 12:00 pm appointment and then we went to social security to try and straighten out a tax issue. I hate going there. I hate going there with kids even more!!!!!! We the went to get my taxes in Clinton and then we went to pick up Ping at school. Poor kids didn't have lunch and Manny didn't have a nap. Mind you I had tons of snacks. They were not starving or neglected. However, this is no way for anyone to live for the day. Once home, I had to make three important business calls. The kids were screaming and I am trying to make these calls and see what these people have to say. Very, very stressful. At 6:00 pm, I actually sat on my favorite chair. I knew Bill would be pulling in. So I laid my head down and napped for an hour. Bill fed the kids and put them to bed. I got back up and did a bunch of things I needed to do on the computer. Finally around 10, I gave up. Enough is enough, you know? Too long a day.

Yesterday was a good day for the most part. I got up and took Ping to Chuck E. Cheese to meet with my friend Chris and her son Mason. He was my first CASA case. He is a sweetie and I was so happy to see him. Plus I love his mom. The kids had lunch and then played the games. We then took them for an ice cream. I was home shortly after 2:00 pm. We had a 3:30 pm birthday party at a gymnastics place for Molly. Ping ran to the bathroom for 2:45 pm so we could get a move on. Yamira was going to go next. She would not wait for Ping, so she tried to barge in. At that moment, Ping slammed the door. Unfortunately, Yamira got her first finger stuck in the door jam. We heard a blood curdling scream. We both paused before running because Yamira tends to be overly dramatic. However, we both knew something was wrong, so we came out running. There was blood on the door. Her fingernail was falling off. She was trembling. It was awful. Ping was bawling and apologizing like crazy. She said she wouldn't participate at gymnastics because she hurt her sister. Broke my heart. What a good sister. It was an accident. She kept apologizing to Yamira. I called the pediatrician to check to see if we should take her to the emergency room. I didn't think we should, but wanted to check. The pediatrician agreed. Not much they could do. So I loaded her up with Tylenol and we all left for the party. It hurt her, but she still participated fully. We then went back to Kirsten and Roger's house for dinner. That was great. We had a nice time. We do not see them enough. We got home later than we should have. The kids were silly and not well behaved. We put them right to bed. I then did a few things at my desk and then I watched a movie before going to bed.

Today was a great day. My friend Maura came to visit for a short time. She needed to get some Girl Scout cookies and we needed to get caught up on some stuff. So glad we had some time together. The afternoon has been a blur. I have been here catching up on the blog, making lists of stuff I have to do this week, writing my 3 to do lists onto 1 to do list. That sort of thing. Feel a little better getting caught up on things. However, I have a long ways to go. I think I am getting a cold too. Bill is putting in some wiring and I need to run and get the kids in the bath after I clean the table. Off to do that and then I can add some photos here.

Okay, the kids have had their bath, they have been lotioned up and have had a book read to them. Bill is wiring still. I cleaned everything up. All he has to do is come back over.

Have a wonderful week!!!!


Mama Out!!!!!

All dressed up and nowhere to go.

Silly kids.

All decked out.

Ready for court.

Yamira signing her name.

Just the girls.

Manuel.

Our family.

Our family with the judge.

Maureen and Holli.

Chuck E. Cheese.

Riding the pony.

Smile.

Buddies.

Mason and Ping.

Rings.

Posing.

Balance beam.

Manny.

Rings.

Cake time.

Playing at Molly's.

Blowing out her candle.

Love.

Ouch.

Her new dragon hat.