Easter Sunday...

Our Easter was filled with much happiness as the kids LOVE looking for Easter eggs! Actually, Lorenzo even hid them and found them himself throughout the night! Not that easy for a four year old hiding 12 eggs and then only recovering 11. He is still looking for that lost egg this morning.
Anyhow, our day was great! Although, I only slept an hour because I chose to finish cleaning, have the table set, all our laundry done & prep breakfast so I wouldn't be caught in the kitchen AS ALWAYS! We made it to mass & the kids looked adorable. Lorenzo in dickie shorts, argyle vest & chuck taylors, Jordan in an outfit that kept slipping off her slender physique and Quinn adorable in his peach vest & more chucks. They loved that Daddy assisted in finding their baskets outside our front door left by the ever so great Easter Bunny! Jordan received "Enchanted" but her best item was a new stylish black hat! Lorenzo was thrilled with his goodies but most of all with the dvd of "Pink Panther". Go figure, he loves those movies! Quinn was given "Pinocchio" but loved the candy MOST!
Our brunch was blessed with the company of my mom, Sarah (eddie's girlfriend), and three of Martyne's friends from school (Noel, Travis & Kami). They were great guests and were ever so gracious on being invited to a wonderful breakfast in our home. We all had great conversation and enjoyed hearing about Eddie & Sarah's trip to Oregon. (Yeah, "Why Oregon?" you say...they randomly picked it on a map) They enjoyed their trip and brought us back some nice goodies.
Jordan, Lorenzo, Quinn & dad even enjoyed some ball time outside. They were playing baseball and their cries of joy coming from outside made me appreciate our family even more. Although, Jordan leaves us by three on Easter our time shared was nice. She attended mass with us, picked the flowers from our garden for our table and graced our brunch table with her presence. My skinny twiggy is sure growing up!
We finished off our day at the Gutierrez' home. We made it just in time for the Easter egg hunt and I gotta tell you Quinn looked like an ol' pro! Lorenzo claimed he needed help holding his basket 'til he saw little brother, Quinn was doing it all by himself with no problems. They both enjoyed the hunt and came up winners with $3, a See's candy certificate and of course MORE candy! Candy filled eggs are always a success! The boys truly enjoyed themselves as they met up with three cousins on this excursion out. Three BOY cousins!! YAHOO! (See, Steve's immediate family consists of only neices and we only see my brother's kids and again that is ALL girls!) So the boys were in Boy Heaven! They played soccer outside, hid eggs for each other, played a bit of hoops, watched Pinocchio, played the piano & WRESTLED! They were having such a great time. Their interaction and activeness reminded me of the days of when I was young and having great fun with cousins. I sure love watching my children be happy! It was even nice seeing Martyne laying on her Nino's sofa -- do you know doing what? -- yes of course, sleeping! But, I didn't complain as you see I realize even if Martyne is with us asleep she is with us. She is with us and I can watch my little girl sleep like the angel she is! All in all our day was a success! I even received a card from the kids that was the icing on the cake, thanks honey for taking them to pick it out. I love you! I love our family! I love us! In closing, I just would like to thank God (again) for my family, my mom, my husband, our health and all that we have and all that we are. God bless...

Lorenzo at Oregon State University

(by Eddie) As part of my week-long trip to Oregon with my girlfriend, Sarah, I took this photo at Oregon State University.

Beaver Stadium:

Spring football:

The university:

Kindergarten Evaluation...

Well, fourth time walking a scared little child of mine into their Kindergarten evaluation. It doesn't get easier to bribe them on going in and answering ALL the questions correctly, as I know they are capable of (wink wink)! Today's venture was bribed with sooo much, much more than I remember having to tempt the other children with. Lorenzo came out with a trip to McDonalds. Not just a trip to get food there but rather actually get off and play in the play yard! He also came up on inviting a friend to tag along & a lollipop. Too funny I would given him ANYTHING, thank God that was all he wanted at the time!

Back to the evaluation. Who writes up these tests? What child knows what the heck a wheel barrel is? I was trying to break the streak of all my children getting the wheel barrel question incorrect! Oh, wait I stand corrected (by Eddie) he got it right. He only got one wrong...address that later. Back to the wheel barrel, so I showed Lorenzo what a wheel barrel was, I quizzed and quizzed him on it "ONE WHEEL". Under pressure my son caved, he said "four". My heart sank, what the heck we prepped for this, what the heck!?! Oh well, Lorenzo at least got the one Eddie got wrong, "which is faster a plane, train or car?". Lorenzo was correct with plane, as to Eddie's train answer. (Don't tell Eddie but I've been prepping Lorenzo on that one, too! LOL)
All in all Lorenzo did awesome. His drawing of his friend led to an elaborate picture of not only his friend but also to include himself & his little brother. Lorenzo NEVER forgets Quinn, they are best buds! He proceeded to draw, answer & count perfectly. A few questions here and there incorrect but overall did great! Lorenzo ended up ranking 5 years 2 months and his 5th birthday isn't even until July. So with that GREAT JOB Lorenzo & good prepping to mom!
All this pressure for kinder now you know why our kids test well, too much pressure from MOM! Whatever it takes, whatever it costs, whatever is needed gotta learn to test well so that we are guaranteed three more into USC! Ok...maybe Oregon State, Stanford...who knows!?! But I can dream, right?

Genuine Kindness...

I was thinking the other day, how a wonderful story about Martyne was not logged here as it happened during our rainy season - December before I became a blogger. Well here is the story as it was told to me by Martyne, the generous daughter we raised.

"Mom, I have something to tell you. You know that kind of expensive Clipper ski jacket you guys bought me? Well, I gave it away. Wait mom, before you get upset I had a good reason to give it away. See, there was this mom and little girl going through a trash can near USC at the shopping center. They were picking recyclables - during the heavy rain! Mom, wait. You see I couldn't resist from stopping as the little girl couldn't be any older than Jordan and she was picking cans & bottles IN THE RAIN! They were both soaked and the girl had nothing more than a few shirts on. Mom, I couldn't but give her my jacket - it was the only jacket I had in my car and the look on her face was priceless. At first the mom said no but I insisted in my best spanish that it was to keep her daughter dry and warm. They accepted the jacket and the happiness in their eyes was payment enough - payment I was not even looking for. The feeling it gave me was a feeling of new heights! Mom thanks, thanks for understanding and thanks to you & dad for teaching me to be ME!"

Run/Walk on Team Kure 4 Karina! or donate!

So, many of you know our dear friends Beto & Veronica Sanchez. Well their daughter has once again been struck with cancer. The type of cancer she has been inflicted with is called Wilms Tumor. We do not have the specifics but that alone is enough for us to count our blessings. They are expecting child number four and going through this must be rough on Vero and the rest of the family. Last time our family sent their daughter a "Build a Bear" this time we are thinking bigger! We'd like to get a team together of walkers/runners young and old to run on Sunday May 3 in the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation "Reaching for the Cure" in her honor. Although our entry fees, donations, pledges may not help her directly the emotional stance of all of us doing this in her name will speak millions to Beto and his family. Please whether you know them or not, whether you have been touched by cancer or not, whether you have children or not...join us! Join our plight to support this family, support the cause and help give them Faith in God, in each other and in mankind! Our world is so lacking sometimes of just the simple gesture of "niceness" -- so LET"S DO THIS!

You can participate in many ways:
Half Marathon - 10K Run - 5K Run or Walk - 1K for kids thru 12 yrs old - OR Volunteer!

To wrap up the day there will be Mariachis, Interactive Video Game Truck, Rock Climbing Wall, Kids Bounce Houses, Train Rides, Caricature Drawings, Balloon Art, Puppet Show, Food & Drinks (to include a Beer Garden)

There are even prizes for what you raise:$100: Taco Bell Certificate $250: 2 Movie Passes $500: $50 Restaurant Gift Certificate $1,000: $100 Apple Store Gift Certificate Top Child Fundraiser: Nintendo Wii Top Adult Fundraiser: Cabo San Lucas 3 Night stay at Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort $500 in Resort $$ and 2 Spa Treatments

Here is the website to join our team...http://www.pcrf-kids.org/reachingforthecure
if you'd like to join our team click on "register online", then click "Register Now", create your account with Active.com, then select "Team Member", select what you'd like to run/walk, next screen will show "participants information" please pull down to join the team "Kure 4 Karina!" After paying your fees you will be logged on as part of our team.

You may donate to our team at:
http://www.active.com/donate/pcrf09/kure4karina

So far registered are Steve, myself, our 4 yr. old - Lorenzo, our 10 yr. old Jordan, our 19 yr. old Martyne. (Eddie will be capturing the event on film for Karina to view!) We also have verbal commitments from: Camille Gutierrez(our comadre), Donna Simental(my comadre), Karin Barr(friend from H.S.), Nina Cerda(old friend), Alma Montes, Gaby Johnson, Debbie Pellkofer, Julie Gimpl(All 4 women I have met at Jordan's school - dear friends), Gaby Rodarte (mom from Jordan's softball team) & her friend. That already brings our team to a count of SIXTEEN!!! Then we have most likely's from Gabriel & Nadia(steve's cousin & his wife), Tom, Lucy, Salina, Steve, Sally all members of my Spin Class! YAHOO! THERE IS GOODNESS IN THIS WORLD!

YOU DON'T HAVE TO RAISE MONEY, IF YOU DO- THAT IS AN ADDED PLUS, PLUS! Ask friends for a donation of $1 per child they have or know...every little bit counts! Or just ask for $5 from each friend as I have -- I asked them to give up one visit to eat fast food in honor of Karina...if I get that from all 75 friends I emailed...it will add up to $375!

BUT HAVING US OUT THERE IN A LARGE NUMBER WOULD BE A GREAT MOTIVATION AND BELIEVER OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY FOR BETO, VERO & KARINA!

Thanks again! Thanks to you our friends and family for coming together to support, believe and give faith to this precious little girl, Karina, and her family!

PLEASE IF YOU SIGN UP - LET ME KNOW (a-n-agomez@Hotmail.com) JUST IN CASE THEIR IS A GLITCH IN THEIR SYSTEM. WE ARE PLANNING ON HAVING T-SHIRTS MADE WITH OUR TEAM NAME SO WE WILL NEED YOUR EMAIL TO KEEP YOU POSTED ON ALL THE INFO FOR OUR TEAM ON MEETING THAT DAY, WALKING TOGETHER, TAKING PHOTOS TOGETHER & RECORDING IT ON VIDEO FOR KARINA!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET'S MAKE TEAM "KURE 4 KARINA" A BIG SUCCESS!!!

Sixth Year Anniversary...

So how many of you have celebrated your anniversary at an elegant restaurant? on an exotic island? at the theatre? at the place where it all started? ANYWHERE is better than sitting at home watching nonsense!! LOL Well that's how Steve and I have started the beginnings of our seventh year. We had planned a day at Disneyland, mind you not the most romantic to all, but this was our second attempt on getting there without the children. WELL, it didn't happen! Gramma got sick so there wasn't a sitter in sight! So, instead as much as Steve and I love each other, we love USC Sports...ok really almost any SPORTS! With that we decided to watch USC play -- unfortunately the end was gloomy and we were left disappointed. We love our boys on that team but they fell just short plus one or two calls short by the refs, but watcha' gonna do? So, Steve and I just layed around and enjoyed the boys as Jordan was out and we just vegged. Mind you veggie'ing was actually relaxing for our souls, body and mind.
Although I am still asking "what are we doing for our anniversary?". We have made dinner plans with another couple and cross our fingers to make it out this Saturday.
So, everyone that is out there found confined to their homes wondering what the entire world is doing out without them, know you aren't the only ones strapped to the couch, dvr AND KIDS!
And to those of you that have already watched your children grow up, well enjoy your freedom and offer to sit for your friends that don't have family to help out with sitting and watch their kids... they really would appreciate a few hours away. I know we count our blessings on the sitters we are blessed with.
By the way Happy Anniversary HONEY! I love you!

FIRST CRUSH...

Do you remember yours? Our little Quinn has claimed his first. Her name is "Isabel" but goes by "Isa" -- well in Quinn's eyes she is only known as "his girlfriend"! He grins from ear to ear at the mention of her and enjoys playing with her every week. She is the little sister of Lorenzo's teammate Gabriel. Lorenzo quizzes him at pre-game and post game with "Did you kiss her?". It is hilarious, this is what I have to look forward to but magnified when these boys get to high school and swoop all those girls off their feet! Since, they will be a casanova like their dad(from what I hear he roamed the halls and swooped the girls at Amat - LOL)!Well, as for now I will settle with the ballpark crush and accept Isabel into our life...not so easy to accept later in life so I'll try and condition myself now. (Right, Eddie!)

Oh, the simplicities of life when all you thought of was your little love; when french fries dazzled a girl and trading hats with each other was just too fun! Now, reminisce - enjoy the memories and wake up cuz like just ain't that simple anymore!