Happy Birthday fellow LEO's

Today is also my brother Steve's Birthday and my nephew Rhys' Birthday... I hope you both had a great Day!...


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Happy 33rd Happy 4th (susana...this is my fav pic of Rhys)

** Also a very Late Happy Birthday to my brother Paul... who turned 37 on August 3rd!

Leo's Rule!

I want to be just like my Brother!

Today was a neat day.. Dominic didn't protest when I started to disassemble his train set (Alyssa had fun helping) and out of the blue, Alyssa decided she wants to go potty... She's been telling us when she has "poo poo" and "pee pee" for the past few weeks.. It's really cute.. she'll even bring you a diaper and wipes to change her... So, in the middle of packing the train set, she comes to me and says "poo poo" while hitting her diaper... I asked her if she wanted to go to the potty like Dominic and she started going to the restroom.. I picked her up and ran.. When I took off her diaper no poop was in there so I sat her on the potty and she went!!! Can you believe that!?! Not even 15months... She did it again later in the evening but I was 30 secs too late on getting to the potty... oh well.. I think it's cool she's willing to sit and try! Oh course she decides to do this 1 week before having to go back to work... Maybe I'll try to train her on weekends.. you never know, I could get lucky... or it may be a fluke!

Can't help it!

Dominic has been so into his Thomas trains again that we find ourselves spoiling the lil guy. It really took off in Hawaii.. While shopping at the Wal-Mart in Kona my dad accidentally bumped Dominic and sent him flying.. feeling guilty he took him to pick out any toy to apologize.. Dominic picked out a motorized "Duck" train..not the traditional wooden ones... Since then he sleeps with Duck, takes him in the car, to the bathroom (where he had a most unfortunate accident once... let's just say he went for a swim) and takes him shopping.. while at stores he sets Duck free(powers him on) to run chasing him...
So after Duck came "Spencer"... he really wanted Murdoch... but we couldn't find him... Now tonight Ben went to Toys "R" Us to look for Murdoch and came back with a brand new train set for the motorized trains (since they of course don't fit on the wooden set!)

Dominic's face.... just lit up! I guess after watching "The Pursuit of Happiness" last night, it made us realize how fortunate we are that we even have the ability to spoil these lil guys..
Now don't misunderstand me.. the train set is Beautiful.. but after I put it together...its GIGANTIC! So big, it can't fit on the train table.. it had to go on the floor and I just know Alyssa is going to have a field day tearing it apart! So now I'm going to have the task of taking it apart so I can return it for a smaller set... I already explained it to Dominic so lets see how it goes in the morning...

On a funnier note... When we decided to close up the garage for the night to get the kiddies ready for bed.. the garage door came down and made a loud BANG! Startled, I sent Ben to go see what in the world happened.... Well... I am saddened to report that ELMO had an accident...

half in the garage..half out!

Come on.. you have to admit... this is the best pic by far! Sorry Elmo... walk it off!

Have you ever wondered???

Have you ever wondered what other people are talking about at their workplace... well I have an answer for you.... check out my hubby's blog... it has the current fads/stories/ and other interesting topics to read about.. its like spying into someones job

http://www.chynnamann.blogspot.com/

read on!!!!!!!!!!!!

Totally Rockin 80's Party!

Like it was a total rockin blast! We had a Tubular time! Ha ha... My 80's Themed 30th Birthday Party is here! I can't believe it! We all got dressed up and listened to the great beats of the 80's! I made jell-0 shots and had plenty of drinks/food on hand... I really wanted this to be a party for people to just relax and hang out...

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My mom came a little early which gave Ben and I the chance to finish getting ready... I had a rockin 80's outfit...and crimped my hair.. Ben went for the 80's/The Cure look.. he even had eye liner... his hair was a cross between Robert Smith and Flock of Seagulls... Rock on!

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A lot of people arrived later.. except Michelle ha ha... she cheated..shes just across the street.. she was sporting the side pony tale and her hubby brought back the short/shorts of basketball players...tube socks and all!.... We had everything from the Valley Girl look to Jelly Shoes!


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All of the outfits were GREAT... from what I saw... people were drinking and having a good time..
some even got the nerve to Karaoke....! Jeff and Kevin (my friends Irene and Letty's hubby's) stole the show! By the end of the night, all of the Jell-o Shots were gone and people looked relaxed! It ended around 3-ish! Its been a while since I stood up that late!


Thanks to everyone who came out and got in on the FUN!

Long Live the 80's

*Click here to view the rest of the pictures from my 80's party!

Jersey Boys!

After my great Bday lunch at Claim Jumper from my parents (and Black Angus from Ben the following day) My birthday gifts kept rolling in... My mom wanted to take me to see the musical "Jersey Boys" It's the story of the four seasons and Frankie Valli.... I haven't been to a real or should I say adult theater performance in a while.. I usually just see kid themed ones on field trips.. It was nice to get out without the babies.. My mom, my friend Vanessa (who already saw the show but wanted to go again), and I all went. We first had dinner at Phillipe's ... yummy... and then went on to the theater...

We sat up in the balcony... not nose bleed or anything... and had a BLAST! It was such a good show... Funny, Sad, Entertaining, and Great Music.. Even though it's not music I listen to everyday... I still knew the songs and the actors did a great job... I would Highly recommend this show.. although I think it leaves at the end of the month...hurry and go!

Thanks MOM! I had a great Time!

Dirty - Thirty!

Well.. I can't put it off any longer.. 2:15pm on Aug. 14th has come.. so I am officially THIRTY! That's going to leave a mark! I am sad to say I have now entered the club all of my friends are in... the Thirties club... according to my friend Chris, I had a three month grace period.. but its gone (he turned 30 in May)... It's a Tuesday, so not really much we could do... My parents took me out to Lunch at Claim Jumper.. I had an awesome Spinach Salad and French Onion Soup... but for lunch portions...it was GIGANTIC... soooo much food.. its no wonder us Americans struggle with weight... I was sooo full (and i didn't even touch my soup) that I told Ben to NOT take me out to dinner... we postponed it till tomorrow...

When Ben did get home he needed to run a couple of errands so I took the kids out to play.. The neighbor Kyle brought out a board game called "Apples, Apples" so we played... It was soo much fun... One person pulls a card that has a category and you look at your cards and put 1 down you feel best describes the category.. The person who selected the main category then looks at the cards and selects which one they like most... whoever ends up with the most selected wins! I was on my way to a Bday Victory... when I was ROBBED of my win... it was a conspiracy!

I headed home to find an "Ice Cream Cake" waiting for me... We all enjoyed the treat and I opened gifts... I got a new ring and goodies... Thanks my Family!

Paint, Paint, Paint

Well.. in the matter of 2 days I will hit the BIG THREE-O!!! So I decided to go out with a bang.. I'm having a 30th B-day 80's Theme!... In preps for the party at our house we decided to paint the living room! WHAT WERE WE THINKING... we have vaulted ceilings so it isn't an easy paint job... Luckily during the Block Party I asked one of our neighbors to borrow his ladder.. a 12foot ladder... We did consider hiring someone to paint it for us ...just paint.. we already purchased everything we needed, but they wanted $450.00... WOW ... I couldn't see paying that, so up I went on the ladder.. I have to say now that we've finished... I LOVE IT! We went for a red and taupe color... or according to their official names "Cranberry Bog" and "Hemp Rope" color... check it out for yourselves! (disregard the horrible mess in the background.. ha ha)

Block Party

It's finally arrived... the 1st Annual Block Party! Well, actually its a revived tradition! Michelle and I have been talking with our neighbors for the past couple of months and found there was a large interest on getting all of the neighbors together... So after weeks of getting everyone on board we had our block party... Michelle and I rolled out out BBQ's to the end of the cul-de-sac and everyone else came out and brought their goodies... We had burgers, hot dogs, carne asada, duck, kabobs, cookies, cakes, and much MORE!

In the evening my friend Vanessa hooked up the projector to show "The Incredibles" for our viewing pleasure... Dominic actually fell asleep watching the movie in his beach chair... how cute! Everyone had a good time and it was great to talk to some neighbors who all we have done was wave to each other... I have to say I really LOVE living on this block.. its a great mix of personalities and cultures and what a GREAT mix it is... of course we do have a few Anti-social neighbors...oh well Who Doesn't!?! ha ha

ALOHA!

Well we've made it back from our vacation in Hawaii! What a great time we all had! We went to Kona, Hawaii (the Big Island) and stood at a really nice 2 bedroom condo... My parents were able to have their own room and Dom slept on the sofa bed all by himself... although every night he migrated his way to our room. Here's a run down of our Hawaii Week:

Sunday, July 29th

What a mess getting through all the security checks... once through the kids were running around anxious to get on the plane and go... After 5 1/2 long hours we made it to the Big Island... Dominic never woke up and Alyssa looked beat. We got to our condo and just settled in.

Monday, July 30th

ALOHA... we decided to go to the orientation breakfast and try to plan our week... We did some shopping and decided to go straight to a beach! Hapuna Beach that is! The kids loved it! The water was PERFECT... it felt like a warm bath...

When we made our way back to the resort, Ben and I decided to go tan (kid free) at the closest pool to us... While tanning, there was this rude lady who was complaining about a lil boy who came to the pool area and yelled "mommy"... that was it.. She started this big rant that this was suppose to be a quiet pool.. she then attacked the next family that had kids there (they were super quiet) and the father snapped back at her.. she finally left.. but that's when the DRAMA begins..

Shortly after my dad shows up with the kids... they wanted to be with us.. While in the pool with them... the crazy lady returns, but with 2 security guards.. While walking through the pool area she's making faces at us... like.. she won.. I went to the security guards and asked if there was a problem... they confirmed that kids are allowed in the "quiet pool" but no rough play..duh. They're 2 and 1!

While Dom was playing on the steps, the boyfriend of the crazy lady dove into the shallow end of the pool (3ft) right by Dom making waves to purposely bother him... We decided it was time to go.. I was really bothered by this point and was ready to FIGHT cause she kept staring at us... As we walked out I made the comment.. "The pool will be quiet now!" and she yelled back "Bye, Bye, Bye, Bye..." jumping up and down in the pool waving her hand with a smirk on her face...so I snapped.. I looked at her and "flipped her the bird"... She then yelled at me "*itch" which in turn angered Ben and he yelled "F... Y.."...the ghetto side came out in us.. but if you were there you would of done the same...

Tuesday, July 31st

With Ben not feeling any better, we decided to go to the doctors.. thank goodness there's a Kaiser in Kona (actually 3!) He got his meds and we were off to the Black Sand Beach and Volcano National Park! The kids loved the black sand... they just wanted to run free! I was bummed that there were no turtles laying around. Once at Volcano Park we went to see the stem vents... I couldn't believe how hot the steam was... it fogged up my sun glasses..ha ha.. it is steam! The crater was amazing, but the best part was walking through a lava tube... They even had a second lava tube that you needed a flashlight to go through.. maybe next time.

Wednesday, August 1st (I can't believe its August!)

Today we ventured off to the other side of the Island (Hilo) and went to a Zoo that's in the middle of the Rain Forest! It was beautiful.. they had a white Bengal tiger, monkeys, etc. There was NO admission fee.. I really couldn't believe that. We ended the zoo with Ice Cream.. YUM! We jetted to see the Mauna Loa Factory and made piggies of ourselves sampling all of the chocolates! Next stop.. Waterfalls... We saw a total of 3 different waterfalls... The Akaka Falls are awesome.. only down fall was while in the Rain Forest "mosquitoes" struck! My poor ankle was attacked! It got so bad my entire ankle swelled beyond recognition! :(

Thursday, August 2nd

Today was the day to go see Sea Horses... We read a flyer and thought it sounded cool to go pet Sea Horses....WRONG.. it was a total RIP OFF.. we paid way to much to be stuck outdoors and poor Dom wasn't able to touch them because he was too young... arghhhh

SO to beat the heat we went to Spencer Beach and had a wonderful time

Friday, August 3rd HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL! Can you believe my brother is 37!

We were beat, so we took it easy.. We hung out at the pool the majority of the day, then went to the Hilton for Lunch and to see the Dolphins... We then ate dinner at Ruth's Chris... I LOVE that place!.. The steak is amazing!

Saturday, August 4th

Almost our last day... we went shopping and tanning... what a relaxing day!

Sunday, August 5th

Our last day on the Island.. tomorrow we would be back on the mainland... Since our flight was late, we went to the Place of Refuge and swimming... It has truly been a great vacation!

SEE ALL OF OUR VACATION PHOTOS AT:

www.flickr.com/photos/55941490@N00/sets/72157601316092396