FB present - Early May 2011

Quote from Brian just before painting a picture: "I'm going to paint a rainbow. As many colors as mom can handle."

Price of a small Cape in Mass purchased before the real estate crisis? To gut wrenching expensive to mention. Price of hundreds of toys purchased over the past 5 yrs? No clue (but probably also too gut wrenching expensive to mention). 3 kids playing separately in three different rooms in small cape with purchased toys: Priceless! There are some things money can't buy like silence & sanity.

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." John 15:13

My country, tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing; land where my father's died, land of the pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside let FREEDOM RING!

One more 2 year old quote: Me: "Do you want to watch The Mickey Mouse Club?" K: "Yeah! the one with the jelly bean and crack." Wow. I guess I'll have to start previewing good ol Mickey. I always wondered why he seemed so jumpy and nervous.

2 conversations with a 2 year old: "what that say?" "that says, Love God" "oh, yuv God" "Do you love God?" "No" "Why not?" "because I want a lollipop". Second conversation after she threw trash on the floor: "you shouldn't throw trash on the floor" "oh" "can you throw that in the trashcan, please?" "no" "why not?" "because I want a chocolate milk." Stellar logic and reasoning skills.

Walking in a straight line is SO overrated. Vertigo and dizziness are where it's at. Silly inner ear.

Colleen's original guacamole: 2 very ripe avocados (mashed), 2 LARGE cloves garlic crushed :-), 1/4-1/2 red or vidalia onion chopped, juice of half a lemon and salt/pepper to taste (I tend to go heavy on the salt/pepper). YUM! The garlic gives it quite a PUNCH! This guacamole is not recommended on a date.

"Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken." Oscar Wilde (I got this clever gem from the back of my daughter's Tropical Tango Punch juice pouch.)

I encourage my kids to play in the mud. It makes me feel like a good mom!

Quote from Brian while looking for the game "Trouble": "When it comes to trouble, *I* know where it is!" (And then he found it :-)

Was given Ativan yesterday, at 4pm I passed out on the couch - at 6am I woke up. During those 14 hours I remember hearing my kids from time to time & my husband telling me to go to bed. I also remember feeling my son's blanket on my head. When I stood up at 6am peanuts & rhododendron buds fell to the floor. I'm super glad I passed out among my children & not at a frat party or something worse.

It doesn't matter who you have in your life - spouse, kids, good good friends - sometimes you just need your mom. Special prayers today for anyone reading this who no longer has their mom.

The pizza on my plate looked SOOO much more appetizing after Kelly leaned over and licked it.

I thought migraines were bad but if you add in a little vertigo then you've got a real party in your head. Oh my mistake, not a party, but how you feel the day after a party (Only, I never got to go to the party).

Had a visit today from pregnant friend today, during the visit she told us she was having a girl, which prompted this conversation with my 5 yr old at dinner: "How do they know it's a girl?" "Well, there is a special camera that lets them know.""But how do they know it's a girl & not a boy?""Well, what do you have that your sisters don't have?" 1st guess:"flipflops?" 2nd: "I take showers?" 3rd: "green eyes?"

Depression is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign that you have been trying to be strong for too long. put this as your status and leave it there for an hour, if you know someone who has or has had depression. Most people won't, but its Depression Awareness Week and 1 in 5 of us will suffer at some point in our lives. Show your support. I copied and pasted, will you?

My mother is, as I type this, teacher her first ever Zumba class! Thirty four years as a high school teacher and now onto the fitness world. She'll probably need thirty four years of Zumba to undo the stress of working with teenagers for so long. :-) Go Zumba Deb!

Memorable quotes from Brian today (in his older man monotone voice): "Mom, I just have 1 question. How on earth did we hit the road so fast?" "Mom, make sure you look where you're going, because if you fall asleep and close your eyes while going fast you might bump into another car." My favorite: "Mom, whenever you say something to a new person you always say something funny."

Tomorrow's breakfast: "Eggstreme Energy Eggers with a Fire Red Glowing Force Field" (aka: scrambled eggs with a circle of ketchup around them). It should be EGGCELLENT and EGGCEPTIONALLY EGGRIFFIC!

I kid you not, there were TEARS on the car ride home from preschool when I told Brian and Kate that daddy had taken the rest of the Mario Mash to work with him for lunch. Brian said (and I quote), "That Daddy. He's always taking food that we want to eat away from us." (Which - FYI - isn't true). They had "Hero of the Rails Hotdogs" and "Pokyo Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches instead.

On the heels of my last post - Wanna guess what my kids are doing right now? Running around pretending to be Mario and Luigi with super Mario Brother powers (including a Kate's necklace with special magic powers). I think we might be having a lot more "Super" food from now on! Why for lunch we might be having Sensational Spider Man Sauce w/spaghetti!

4 yr old: : "What are we having for dinner?" me: "skillet fried chicken, mashed potatoes & salad" 4yr old: "I don't like mashed potatoes" me: "Oh silly me! I meant to say Super Mario Brother Mash." 4 yr old excitedly runs into the living room to tell her brother. She ended up having 2 bowls of "mash" (her brother had one). Super Mario Brother Mash is AWESOME!

It started raining on Sunday and it's not supposed to stop raining until this coming Sunday??!! That's it! The kids and I are going tanning!

I didn't realize that we don't get the channel "National Geographic Wild", but I'm glad. As a person who fears bees it's best that I was not able to watch any part of "Hornets from Hell" tonight.

Conversation with 2 yr old 40 minutes into our (relatively happy) 45 minute ride to see Great Nana: "I don't want to go see Great Nana, I want go home", "Well, you're going to see her", "No!", "Okay, then you can sit in the car while I go in to see her", "No, I don't want stay in a car! I want to come in with you!", "Okay, you can come in with me", "Oh! Thank you so much!" VICTORY!

Kelly (age 2) to me: "Mom, yet's play a thinking game. You go first." Me: "I'm thinking of a little girl who is cute and has blue eyes?" Kelly: "Id it me?" Me: "Yes" Kelly: "I'm thinking of something white and you." Me: "Um, is it me?" Kelly (smiling and excited): "YES! It id you!" (At least I know she's got her colors down.)

My mom just put up a post that said someone who heard my retirement speech last night said I should be a stand-up comic. Really?? I'm not sure which part of the speech that would have been - the part when I was silent & I couldn't speak for fear that tears & snot would come shooting out of my eyes & nose if I did, or the part when I was shaking/crying/talking.

has had a vodka drink on an empty stumak - :-)

Ya know...having hot grease splatter up on my face was never part of my plan for "getting all dolled up" for my mother's retirement party tonight! Grrrrrr! That's gonna leave a mark!

Today I feel like my mother is the child and I'm the proud parent. I'll be heading to her retirement party tonight and I'm sure I (and she) will be full of emotions. I can't even tell you the number of parents that have told her that their son/daughter would have never graduated had it not been for her. The teaching profession is blessed to have her - and so am I.

Picked Kate up from school, "Mom, I made the kids laugh at school. I said Diapers R Us. Everybody laughed a lot." Uh oh - please don't be the class clown - please don't be the class clown.

There is STILL a pile of dirty snow in a parking lot that has not completely melted. It used to look like a mountain, now it looks like a small hill. Unbelievable!

On Saturday Kelly gave me flowers and said, "Happy Easter". On Sunday Brian kept saying, "Happy Mother's Day" to Jeff. On Monday Kelly said "Happy Mother's Day to me" (only one day late). Today Kelly said, "Happy Birthday" to me - Her father's birthday was yesterday. They'll get it right one of these days. I'll start prepping them for the 4th of July now!

I have a love/hate relationship with FB, but at the end of the day I don't know how I would have made it past these past few years without it. It's been so great to *talk* with people, have an escape, connect with other moms, reconnect with people, & make new friends. I'm grateful for all of you! As a thanks & to spread some tasty joy here is the easiest and best apple pie recipe out there!:

I just came downstairs to hear laughter coming from the bathroom. I immediately thought, "This can't be a good thing." Without getting into too much detail let's just say that one person was trying to go to the bathroom while the other two were taking turns spanking that person's bum. Good times at the Ladino house!

First order of business: A VERY happy birthday to my wonderful husband, Jeff! Secondly: Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, kind words and support. Kate was the best 4 year old on earth! The test was still abnormal but on the positive side, Kate continues to be clinically seizure free. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family and friends.

My heart is bursting with love for my daughter. I never knew love like this before I had children. (And I'm saying this at 4:30 in the morning :-)

Hello all. I thought I would post that Kate has a sleep deprived EEG tomorrow (first one on her new medicine). We have to keep her up until midnight and then wake her at 4, and then keep her awake for the ride to Boston, for her 8:30am test. Any thoughts and prayers you can give would be appreciated. Fingers crossed this test comes back normal (and I don't fall asleep on the drive in). :-)

Hands down BEST part of my day (my life, really) was when a woman at my mom's gym thought I was in HIGH SCHOOL!!! There's a chance (a good chance) that she needs glasses, but I'll take it!!

To my beautiful children: "My heart is complete, it is healthy and strong, and it pumps love through my body for YOU all day long. The love that is pumped through my heart overflows, from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. My love can be seen in the hugs and kisses I give, and in all I'll ever do for you, for as long as I live."
Love, Mom. Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Jeff just came back from the store with Kelly. She got out of the minivan and showed me the flowers she got me for Mother's Day. Now she's on the couch drinking a hot cocoa and holding my flowers. I sat and said, "thank you for my flowers." She said, "I go and get them at the store for you." Then she took a sip of her cocoa, looked at me and said, "Happy Easter."

Leaves on the trees, flowers blossoming, and green grass are *fairly* good signs that much warmer weather is coming, but it's not until I see beer cans on my lawn from the local teens who've been drinking in the woods behind my house that I REALLY know Summer is upon us!

The kids are upstairs with their father playing with the marble track. My son just came down and said to me, "Daddy wants me to tell you something. I've got my marbles, do you have yours?" Ahahahahahahahaha, hahahahahaha, hahaha, haha ha - that Daddy, he sure is funny.

On Monday I thought it was Wednesday. It's been a long week. TGIF!!!!

Deep thoughts by a 5 year old boy: "Mom, was I born in the Fall?" Me: "Yes". 5 year old: "That must be why my birthday is in the Fall."

Down 18lbs since October. It's not coming off fast and it's not coming off easy, but it's coming off!!

I had so many people taking Tylenol and Motrin today that I had to make up a chart to know who needed what medicine and when. The best part of the day was when "K" dropped something and said, "Oops, that was an accidink." That was a nice chuckle in between cleaning up vomit and taking temps.

Without even one second of training I have been entered in the Iron "Mom" competition today. What an honor! To qualify I had to have at least two sick children, & some type of ailment myself - I have a horrific migraine! The first leg of the race is from 6am - 11am: "Breakfast/Shows/Screaming&Crying". If I can make it through without my head exploding, I'll move onto the next leg - LUNCH! Need to pace myself...

Yesterday was Divine Mercy Sunday. Yesterday was the beatification of Pope John Paul II. And yesterday GOOD conquered evil! "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

My little M-80 has a fever. Poor baby!

We've decided to call Kelly our "Little M-80" for various reasons, but her dynamite and at times explosive personality is the main reason. She makes us laugh, she's made me cry, and she consistently blows our minds with the amazing and crazy things she says and does. Why just this morning she bumped her head on the toilet and yelled, "Ow! What the heck?!"

It started raining last night - I started singing "I Love a Rainy Night" but couldn't remember the lyrics. I youtubed it for the kids & at the end of the video I heard a southern woman dubbed in saying, "We country music fans don't like people tellin us what to do. First they take away my cigarettes, my guns next, then my radio, then my battery operated luv machine...." aaaaaaand I hit esc at that point!

20th high school reunion this summer makes me feel old. Remember watching Charles and Diana get married and now watching their son (with a receding hairline) get married makes me feel WICKED old! Wicked wicked old!

"Accidental confessions of a 4 yr old": Kate to me while we were playing with dough today, "Mom, Do you remember that day you bought dough for pizza and you told me not to eat it and I ran up to my room and hid and ate it in my bed?" Me, "No. No, I don't remember that." 4 Year old with a dear in headlights look "ooooh."

Was playing outside with the kids (by playing I mean that I was sitting and watching) when Brian came up to me with a bouquet of dandelions. I said, "thank you, they're beautiful." And he said, "Just happy I could help."

I need to magic eraser this whole house.

I have no problem admitting that I've been watching American Idol this season just so that I can stare at Jennifer Lopez (some of the singing is pretty good too, I guess).

"Do It Anyway" - Mother Teresa

             People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.

            If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.

            If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway.

           If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.

            What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.

            If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.

            The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.

         Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.

         In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.

Synchronized Play

Synchronized Shoveling

Synchronized Painting

The Relationship Between Siblings

"The Silly"

"The Love"

"The Laughter"

"The Eyelid Pull"

"The Headlock"

"The Recovery AND The Mick Jagger"