Vicky's 8th Birthday!

Today was my lil niece/god daughter Victoria's 8th Birthday!It was such a hard task just getting there! The kids were not cooperating and I was really missing Ben! By the time I got to the party... let's just say I wasn't in the best of moods! oops! Dominic and Alyssa had the chance to spend time with their cousins and nino/nina! It's strange how their older cousin Raymond really does well with them.. I mean He was a kid himself a couple of years ago and now he's a teenager! Where does time go?!?



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When we got home we went to another birthday party for our neighbors lil girl Samin. She's TWO now! Their party started at 7pm so needless to say the kids were grumpy!!! When they finally warmed up and got a second wind, they were clumsy and kept getting injured, so on came the water works..! We didn't get to stay to long, but it was nice! Thank goodness Ben comes home tomorrow!!! I'm Beat!

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John's Incredible Pizza

Today Michelle and I decided to take the boys to John's Incredible Pizza Place. It is like a Chuck E. Cheese's but with a Buffet and Rides. They even have bumper cars, bowling lanes, and a miniature golf course. The boys had a good time, but I feel it's definitely geared toward older kids. They do have a toddler area and smaller rides, which the boys loved. All they wanted to do was ride the trucks and use their coins on that! Dominic loved looking at the game that has the claw where you try to grab a prize with it.. every time he sees one he tells me it's from Toy Story! How cute!

This is the 3rd week of swim class and Dominic has officially stopped crying! I'm so proud of him. He willing goes to the teacher and kicks with her! What a big boy!

To mark the end of our Friday, my mom came by and we drove up to my sis-in-laws house! What a drive! Every time I do the drive I just want to keep going to Vegas..ha ha.. It was nice to get a chance to see lil Jakob!!! He's grown so much! He's so chubby and cute.. I would have a picture if I would of remembered to take my camera out of my purse... arghhhh

Using Our Imaginations!

Today was our first day home alone! I'm already missing Ben... can you believe that! The kids and I pretty much stayed indoors. I let the kids run wild and play. They were wearing hats and having a field day!

Left Home Alone

Today Ben stood home to get ready for his LONG trip to Las Vegas! Of course it's a guys only trip for Chris' 30th Birthday... We ran sooo many errands the kids gave up and passed out in the car. Poor Babies! At least Dominic is wearing his new sandals! Aren't they the cutest!!!

More Long Days!

Well now that Alyssa is bright and chipper... Dominic and I are sick!!! We've both had fever and just look tired! So for the past couple of days, we've done nothing but watch Caillou and a wide selection of Disney Flicks... I even managed to negotiate with Dominic and watch some Days of Our Lives!!! That soap opera is too much... they brought back a character (Stefano) who must of been killed a dozen times! ha ha.... Lil Mamas has been playing Doctor/Mommy... She runs around with the ear thermometer and tries to take our temperature... what a good little helper. Hopefully this virus ends soon! I would like to re-enter the world of having energy!

A long Weekend

This weekend felt very long and drawn out... Lil mamas was burning up the whole weekend with fever!!! And boy was she letting us know she didn't feel good... We were suppose to go to a Graduation Dinner for Ben's cousin who graduated from UCLA. Air Force!!! Congrats Phillip!

But with Alyssa being so sick Ben decided to stay home with the kids... I had promised my mom to go with her to a baby shower a long time ago, so I left Ben home alone! We first went to a BBQ for my sis-in-laws brother who just finished the Police Academy! Congrats Daniel! And then we left to the Baby Shower. By the time I came home, Ben looked BEAT!!!

Swim Drama!

Well as you may have been reading, Dominic, Alyssa, and their friend Lance are all taking Swim Lessons. On Friday, we went to our class as normal. Dominic was doing really well with the teacher and as soon as Alyssa and I jumped in she started falling asleep! I started to feel her and she was getting a fever, so we immediately got out! This is where the drama starts.

I'm sitting on the side lines with Michelle, her hubby, and lil mamas. Michelle makes a comment to us about this little girl "wasting water". You know by the pool there's a shower for people to rinse themselves off? Well this little girl stays under there for at least 45mins everyday. Next thing you know, this woman comes up to Michelle and starts saying "You got a problem with my daughter (the one under the shower)?" Michelle tells her yes. They ended up arguing for a few minutes and the lady even started cussing at her. I jumped in and said it was fine if she had something to say to my friend but she needed to restrain from cussing since there are little kids nearby. How GHETTO... I wish I could of taken a picture of this lady. She literally come up looking for a fight! It felt like a bad scene from a Lil League game! Her hubby told the psycho lady to leave, but no go! She said "NO, I know it bothers you some I'm going to stay right behind you!" And that is what she did with her arms crossed!

I wish I could say the story ended there! As swim class ended, I got Dom dressed and ready to go to the car... As I was putting him in, I turn around and there is that psycho lady at my car!!! She starts asking why my friend has a problem with her daughter under the shower...blah, blah, blah.... Fifteen mins later she finally left practically in tears! She was way over reacting... Michelle simply made the comment to us and not the general population.. that lady was looking for trouble... We come to find out from the instructors that she always causes problems... Can't we all just get along!?!

Wild Kingdom!

The kids and I have been very busy these past few days... It was really nice that Michelle was home today and the kids got a much needed rest from running errands!

The day started with the kids going to the Gym Day Care... It's truly a plus that I take the kids there: 1-it forces me to workout on a consistent basis, 2-it keeps them in the routine of being dropped off (so they won't give the sitter a run for her money come September)... moving on..

After the gym we decided to take the kids to a place called WILD KINGDOM! It's a play center that has tons of Jumpers/Bouncers/Obstacle Courses all indoors(great way to beat the heat)!!! Today was Open Play Time and the first time we ever went...WHAT A BLAST!!! The boys really enjoyed themselves!
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...Alyssa even got in on the action..

Baby Allie was all smiles while the kids played! Isn't she a cutie! I love her eyes! (so jealous!) I was really proud of Dominic..for the longest time he was afraid of bouncers and now he just goes in and out all by himself.. He was still pretty scared of the large slides, but did manage to climb up and go down
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Lance is a pro at climbing up the slides!
You may think these bouncers are easy to get around, but they ARE NOT! What a workout it was chasing the boys through the obstacle course/climbing the walls/and going down the slides! I was beat! Luckily when we got home I made both kids take a nap in preps of swim class...

Today marked the start of week 2 for Swim Lessons! I made a point to get to swim class early to try to talk Dominic up about it.. We started off well, sitting on the edge with our feet in the water splashing... Once they announced class had started...the Water Works began for Dom! Alyssa did really well... she had a Water Noodle tied around her and was kicking away..she even didn't mind being on her back floating... Once it had been a good 15mins of crying for Dom I decided to go to his rescue... I switched kids with the swim instructor and to my surprise calmed Dominic down... He actually stopped crying and with the water noodle around him, holding my hands, he began to kick quietly! Peace has been restored in the pool... He even went back to the instructor for the last 5 minutes and didn't shed a tear!!! We have finally made progress... I hope this is a sign that the rest of Swim Class Week 2 is going to be great!

Staying Home

I decided to make today my day of errands!!! Since I no longer have the excuse "I have no time" I better get a move on it! We started the day just lounging....

then decided to go for a walk and hit up a few stores along the way... We were gone for over an hour... I then got super daring! I went to the gym ...... that's not the daring part... AND took the kids (that's the daring piece) They actually did well.. I made it through my entire workout and didn't get called back to the day care to pick them up... I was really proud of them! Now I know I can work out...(today was actually my 3rd day in a row.. I'm really feeling it!) Get in shape here I come!

Father's Day BBQ

Week One of Swim Lessons Ended today! Yes, you guessed right, Dom cried yet again! Lance did much better... no tears and even jumped in.. I'm hoping week two will be a little better...!

We got a call from Ben's mom yesterday and decided to have a Father's

Day BBQ at our house! So the Dad's came over, as well as, Ben's sis! She got a new camera... it's way nice! Thanks to her I have these pics from our bbq... Thanks Sis! I really liked how she was able to wear the camera around her...like a tiny purse! I really need to get one like that... I have been better about just carrying my camera around (mainly for this blog... how funny is that!) but it still has trouble making it out of the purse!

*i think this is the best pic

Susana has taken of me... thanks again

It was really just nice to spend time with the family... the kids played really well together... and just enjoyed chasing one another.. and of course Alyssa was trying to keep up with them.. she's silly! Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves! Days like these make me step back and realize how lucky I really am in having such a wonderful family!!! Happy Father's Day Dad! We love you!

Fun in the SUN!

What better way to mark the First Day of Vacation than a Pool Party? A co-worker had a Pool Party close to my house, so I decided to go... I was even lucky enough to drag my neighbor/friend Michelle (bff... how jr. high..hee hee) with me!!! It was actually a nice way to spend the afternoon! I learned that Alyssa LOVES strawberries! The were awesome! The kids had a great time going in and out of the kiddie pool, taking sand, dirt, and grass with them. I wanted to take Dom in the big pool, but every time I asked he would reply "No thanks, I'm eating my chips" This was not looking promising for swim class!

Later that afternoon we set off to Swim Class... Dom said he was going to have fun! He lied! Day 2 was another fun filled 1/2hour of screaming and crying... at one point he even kicked off his swim teachers shorts! oops... luckily he's not hard on the eyes so I'm sure no one minded! ha ha His buddy Lance didn't cry as much.. but from the look on their faces, you can see they're not digging it! Alyssa had no problem chillin in the water!

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Vacation is Here! Let the fun begin!

Today was my last day of work! It feels soooo good knowing I don't have to wake up early ANY more until late August!!!My students were really cute today.. We started the day off with the traditional "Staff vs. Students" softball game! It was sooo much fun.. I even attempted to play in my usual footwear....Flipflops..oops! I did hit the ball, but let me say Base/Softball is NOT my sport! After the game we just spent time in class... pretty much free time.. When the bell rang for the last time, a few of my Tough Six Grade Boys came up to me and said "I'm really going to miss you Mrs. Lee" and gave me a big hug.. of course I cried... On one end I'm extremely excited about being on vacation, but on the other end I'm going to miss this group of kids!

After was our luncheon: eat, talk, laugh, cry! The usual end of the year luncheon program.. It was announced that one of our staff members is Pregnant! How exciting! I always feel kind of sad cause it always seems like I'm the last to find these things out... Oh well! I should be use to it by now... it's just like High School at work. You got your In Crowd, the Loners, and the In Between Peeps... I've always been the In Between Crowd (not too popular, not completely a nerd)..ha ha... you are who you are!

As I was doing my final packing, I remembered I had a couple of gifts to open! One of my parents.. who loved challenging me for the past two years.. brought a gift to me. She said one is from the students and one is from all the parents. The students gave me white gold hoop earrings..WOW! and the parents gave me a card saying "We're sending you to VEGAS!" Can you believe that... they raised money and bought me a one night stay in Las Vegas.. apparently she had called my hubby and put him on a mission on what I would like.. I didn't even connect why Ben had been asking me what I'd like right now.. I kept saying new flip flops and he would get mad.. saying something a little nicer.. and that's when I said new earrings or a get away! I guess even when someone seems to be giving you a hard time, they do respect you! Vegas here we come!

Today also marked the First Day of Swim Class!!! Just getting there was challenging.... but we made it on time! The class is for a 1/2 hour and well...it didn't go that well today! Alyssa was okay... she just had a straight face and hung on for dear life! This year Dominic is in the Tiny Tots class, which means no Parents! He cried for the whole 1/2 hour! The instructors were actually amazing! I asked if he would be kicked out cause of the crying and they said not to worry about it... he's fine! Their patience really surprised me... I just wanted to go grab him, but stopped myself because I knew it would only set him back. He needs to learn to relax without holding on to mommy.. His little buddy Lance did much better! He only cried a tiny bit and I think it was because Dom was scaring him! Hopefully he'll adjust.............SOON!

More Swim class updates to come!

IMPORTANT

******* Any of you parents who own THOMAS THE TRAIN wooden trains.. there has been a Huge recall.. about lead in the paint... please look at the link to see if you own any of these trains.. we own one of them!**********

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07212.html

Knocked Up!!!

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My parents decided to come down and watch the kids for us so we can go to the movies!!! YEE HAW!!! I had been dying to see "Knocked Up!" We both agreed it was worth the price of admission!!! It was really a cute and funny movie. The whole premise of the movie is: Girl meets guy at club, boy and girl get wasted, have a lil too much fun and what do you know..they're knocked up! It follows the couple through the whole pregnancy...it's just funny!!! Ben thought they could of developed the couples relationship a little more, I liked it just fine...

If you already have kids you'll laugh hard... if you're still living single...you might get traumatized! ha ha...

Next movie review...."Pirates"... soon to come!

A LadyBug Party!

It's been soooo cute going to all of these birthday parties lately... Alyssa is one of four baby girls that was born last year between March - June 06. Now all the little girls are turning ONE! This was the last lil one to turn the Big 1... So our Saturday was spent at a LadyBug Birthday Party.. it was a SWIM party... what a pretty day too!!! Dom spent the first part of the party sleeping!!!


What a BUM!.........

Alyssa wasted no time to get in the water and PLAY! Her bikini kept sagging... ha ha.. it was only 12 months but shes soooo skinny it just hung on her... My poor mamas is the littlest of the babies... I wish I could say I had the same problem!!!


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6th Grade has left the Building

Well.. it's finally here.. the 6th graders are ready to graduate/be promoted!!! I'm really going to miss this group of students that I have. Although there are days they drive me absolutely crazy...overall they really are a great group of students! I'm use to having 3 or 4 graduating sixth graders, but this time around I have 12!!! WOW! I have no idea what my class is going to look like next year... I also have to admit, that this is the sharpest looking class EVER! I always give a speech on dressing nice, but some how one student always comes dressed sloppy... Not this year... don't they look great????

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One of my parents organized a special party for my class at the local park and invited me. I agreed to go as she would like me to pass out certificates to the 6th graders. She even asked if I could bring a cake....I agreed...now comes the DRAMA.... I bring the cake to school Friday and have my aide place it in the cafeteria refrigerator... reason being... our staff refrigerator is small! So after school I ask the custodian to open the refrigerator for me and he starts Laughing!?!?! I'm puzzled! He goes on to tell me NO ONE HAS A KEY except the main lunch lady!! I simply refer to her as the "Cafeteria Nazi!" (remember Seinfeld http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/mf/frame?theme=minfo&lid=wmv-700-p.1523411-179182,wmv-300-p.1523410-179182,wmv-100-p.1523409-179182,wmv-56-p.1523408-179182,wmv-28-p.1523408-179182&id=1809777301&f=1809777301&mspid=1809791458&type=c&a=0,15) This is the Soup Nazi's Sister...no kidding... She's yelled across the entire cafeteria before "LEE!!!!" all because I owed a Dollar for some bread!!!


So I have to go to the office and explain the situation to my Principal... one of the office ladies calls the "Cafeteria Nazi" and asked her if she could come back to work and open the refrigerator (mind u she lives a few minutes away) and her response was "NO! I'm going to take a shower" What an EVIL chick!!! Now we had to call district office and ask if they would send someone down for an emergency.... can u believe that!!! All in all, I finally got my cake... Can't we all just get along??? jk

Paint, Paint, and more Paint!

The morning was off to a good start... the kids were running/crawling around in their PJ's wearing shades.... Don't they look cool... hee hee

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I'm begining to really like the Youth Museum by our home... I never knew how many events they had for the kids until I signed up for their newsletter... Today was free painting so I rushed from work to take Dom... He had a blast... he was able to paint and then run around and play.. Even Alyssa got in on the action ... although she not only finger painted she also tasted the paint!!!! Gross!...

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And to our surprise... both kids went down at 8pm... I even got to make my debut back to the gym... I almost forgot how many people go to "hook up" at the gym... kinda funny... It was nice to just get out and work off stress... "End of the school year" is always nuts!!! I'm so ready for summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daddy Day Care...

Well Alyssa started to feel sick over the weekend... mainly Saturday night... I guess she didn't want us going out... ha ha! So all day Sunday she was grumpy... Come Monday morning Ben decided to stay home with the kids... Let's just say the kids gave him a run for his money... When I came home to pick up Alyssa to take her to the doctors...she looked like an orphan.. Hair was wild and clothes didn't match... Dominic was in shorts and a pajama top!!! After the doctors (Alyssa just had a virus..typical) we came home to eat dinner and before I knew it Ben was knocked out!!! ha ha... I guess the day was too much for him to handle... dads... you got to love them.!
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yeah.. that's her onesie hanging out.. exactly how she looked for the doctors!!!

I had a conversation today and it reminded me how some people can be such downers... you start off in a good mood and no matter what you say they try to shoot you down...does anyone watch "Saturday Night Live"??? if so, do you remember the character Debbie Downer http://www.pistolwimp.com/media/16135/??? This clip is for all the people who believe in "misery loves company"

We Actually Went Out... without the KIDS!

Can you believe we actually went out last night without the kids??? I'm still in state of shock.. hee hee... Last night we went to a bar/club in Old Town Pasadena..it was our friend Maria's 28th Birthday!... It's strange we finally got out and we just felt old... I guess we are so done with the "hook up" seen.. Ben and I both agreed that we were happy to not be single.. ha ha...At least towards the end they were playing 80's music... danced a little while watching everyone else from up top!

Bubble Mania

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Today was the mark of JUNE... I can't believe it's June already! Only 9 more days of work left!!!! YEE HAW! Well it being the first day of June, I heard of this Bubble Fest going on close to our neighborhood... so we decided to take the kids... They had a BLAST! Dom just loves bubbles! They even provided free snacks and a free craft (making a bracelet filled with colored sand).... Unfortunately for the bracelet it didn't make it through the night.... Dom opened on his bed!!!! What a mess!

We even ran into one of my co-workers... hi Irene~