New kid on the block

Well not exactly on the block, but in school.

My oldest son Erik has been attending school by my parents house (also my old elementary school)since I am so blessed to have my mom watch my kids.
My husband and I have been contemplating whether to switch him to our local school or not.
The reasons why we hadn't switched him were because:

1. I work far from home and with my husband having his own business, he's all over the county making service calls. So in case of emergencies who knows how long it would take to get to Erik to pick him up. My mom would be the one to pick him up (walking, since she doesn't drive)if we couldn't pick Erik up. Or he could just walk to her house.

2. He's been taking speech therapy since he was 3 years old and didn't want to interfere with that.

3. We weren't sure where to put him after school since our local school and my parents house aren't very close.

4.Erik didn't want to switch because he didn't want to leave his friends behind.

After much thinking and thinking.. We finally decided to switch.

1. I have asked one of my neighbors if I could get her help in case of any emergencies and she has agreed.

2. They have speech therapy at this local school. They will continue with what shows on his IEP (individual education plan)and will still meet with us once or twice per year to discuss Erik's progress.

3. They have an afterschool program within the school which they help with homework and have activities for the kids.

4. We convinced Erik that he will be making lots of new friends at school that are around our neighborhood.


He started school today. He was a little nervous when we got there.
I am nervous only because of the distance we are from the school, however I know my son will be ok.
This is for the best.




on another note. I will post a few pictures later on our vacation from last week.

What we've been up too lately

Wow, time flies. It's been a while since I last posted. It seems like there isn't enough time in the day to take care of things. But here I am posting on what we have done lately.

Since my last post, my husband ended up going to an oral surgeon to have his wisdom tooth extracted. He was in so much pain before and after the surgery. About 4 weeks later, he's finally able to eat without any problems and pain free!

Since my brother in law Henry recieved the news that he is on chemo break (hopefully forever!) my sister Emma had a little family celebration for him at their house. It was a nice evening and we ended up even dancing at the end of the evening. My sister Jolene was the main entertainment with her famous song (which I won't embarrass you Jolene), but she had us cracking up.

We also participated in the relay for life in honor of Henry and other cancer warriors. It was a really hot day, but I am glad that we were able to make it. We walked a few laps and even my boys enjoyed it, especially Adam since he could run around everywhere! Erik ended up camping with with them, he said he enjoyed it.



here are a few pictures of other things we have enjoyed this summer.
We took the boys to the Aquariam of the Pacific.




We went to Santa Barbara for a day trip.
We decided to take the train. It was about 1 hr 45 minute trip each way. It was fun and different.













We also enjoyed Six Flags Majic Mountain.





A picnic at the park, but not without another train ride first!





Tomorrow evening we may be heading to Knott's Berry Farm.


Last but not least, we leave for a late summer vacation Monday!!!
Last year we went to Puerto Vallarta and Mexico City, and this year it's a road trip to San Felipe, Mexico.
We have rented a 5 bedroom beachfront house. My sister Emma, Henry, and their kids are coming with us. My parents will also be joining us. As least my mom is. My dad is a happy camper at home, however, he may change his mind at last minute!

Unfortunately, my brother and his daughter couldn't join us, and nither could Jolene and Geric.. Hopefully we will all be able to take a vacation sometime in the near future to some awesome resort and just make memories, memories, memories.

Then we need to start getting ready for Erik to go back to school, which I believe starts on the 8th of September. boo...

until next time!

ok, I am starting to hate Thursdays!!

So last week on Thursday was Adam's little accident.


1 week later, it's not what I call an accident. Maybe a stupid choice?

My husband had been having a tooth ache for a few days. The pain was pretty unbearable, so finally he made the appointment to see the dentist.

He had already seen the dentist a few months ago. And basically they told him what he needed done and the cost. We don't have dental insurance, however we have dental discount card.

So since he hadn't had any pain since the last time he went, he just didn't go back until yesterday. He knew this tooth was going to have to be pulled out. So he was prepared for that. After a while I sent him a text msg to find out how he was doing. He told me he was pissed and not doing good. I replied back saying if you can talk, call me.

so he told me the story:
Basically it was the tooth right in front of one of his wisdom teeth. The wisdom tooth was somehow pushing this other tooth and it was just impossible to save. Although they did give my husband the option for a root canal but there was no guarantee. So they decided that the best thing would be to take out that tooth. Doctor said it was a good choice because when the tooth came out, it had a big hole in it. While she was there, she said "might as well take out the wisdom tooth out too"!

The last time he got an xray, SHE SAID the wisdom tooth was TOO close to the bone and that would have to be removed by an oral surgeon. SO my husband said "are you sure" and she said "yes I can do it". before he agreed, he asked about the consequences of pulling it out. And all she said was "a little pain afterwards and swelling" which is normal. He also asked if he could go to work the next day. The answer was "yes absolutely!".
So he trusted this doctor. Well she started pulling and pulling and tugging. Nothing was coming out. Then she went back to check on the xray. Came back and started tugging again. All she did was take a piece of the tooth. Then she said "I can't, you will need to see an oral surgeon". They gave him a piece of paper which listed the dentist he could see and sent him home with a prescription for vicodin. They also asked him to sign some piece of paper. He said "I'm not signing anything". I am glad he made that choice! I guess they just don't want to take responsibility. But they should be very responsible for what happend.

As I was speaking with him, he told me he was at home bleeding alot and his mouth was really swollen. I told him to call the dentist office back. and he disagreed. he said they couldn't do anything for him. All they did was try contacting one of the offices on the list, but it was already closed.
It was 4:40pm. I told him "YOU CAN'T STAY THIS WAY THOUGHOUT THE NIGHT"!!!

So I called the dentist office to give them a piece of my mind.
I spoke to the dentist and told her it was VERY UNPROFESSIONAL to do a half ass job (i didn't use those words) and just send a patient home in pain and bleeding. I told her there HAS to be an emergency doctor and because of her stupidity, we have to pay even more out of pocket because now it's an emergency and he has to see a specialist (oral surgeon).
She told me if he was bleeding, to send him back.

I called him back and told him to go back. Being the sometimes stubborn person, he still did not want to go back. Again I insisted that he could NOT stay that way until the next day. So I called some emergency # that was behind the discount card I carry for the dentist. I told them what happend and she put me on hold while they called the dentist office.

She came back telling me that they were waiting for him to go back.
So I called my husband back and INSISTED that he go back!! Finally he did.

Got my kids (I was picking them up from my parents) loaded them in the car and called him back on my way home. He didn't answer. I recieved a text msg immediately telling me he was at the dentist office with his mouth closed. I replied back saying I WAS COMING THERE TO THE OFFICE.

As we arrived, I told them I was there to check up on my husband Hector. They said he was doing fine and if I wanted to see him.
They all had this "worried face" so I was like "yes I want to see him!".

We walked in and he was at the chair with icepacks on his cheek. I couldn't tell how swollen it was. But the Doctor told me she was sorry we were experiencing that. She said she had checked him and there was no bleeding outside. He was basically bleeding internally! Worse!! So they had already called the main dentist which he had gone home a few hours ago. He arrived almost at the same time that we arrived.
So we went back out and sat in the lobby waiting..

about 15 minutes later, he comes out.
and the dentist told me they will see him again in the morning.
She prescribed some antibiotics, vicodin, and steroids. I was like "steroids" WHY??
she said it was because his body was rejecting what she had done, and for the swelling, blah blah blah.
Whatever they did, they will NOT admit to it! They also said they can't touch that wisdom tooth until like 2 months until it completely heals. great.. The first dentist said he had to go to an oral surgeon first thing in the morning and now they are saying they can't touch it?
So I went to fill his presciptions and he started taking them. I also made him a soup since he couldn't eat anything to rough.

This morning they saw him and said he looks better. (Yesterday it was really swollen!)
They told him he looks better and they want to see him again on Monday!!!
ugh!!!!! I just hope this hasn't caused any sort of permanent damage.

I was really surprised though. This dentist has been really good. I have seen her a few times. I was experiencing some pain mayself and she did insert a crown and voila, pain is gone!

and I do have to go back today for a teeth cleaning..

Summer, out of school, b-day celebrations and more!

We have been keeping quite busy these past few weeks.

Erik is out of school and oficially a 3rd grader! wow, WHERE has the time gone?

I have signed him up for a day camp. That should be pretty fun for him and keep him busy for a few days. They have swimming, crafts, and a field trip to boomers. I am sure he will really enjoy it. It starts next week.

I have also signed Adam up for a Mommy,Daddy, & me Gymnastics class.
that is for tiny tots around his age. I KNOW he will love it. That starts on Saturday.


Father's day was rather a calm day. We all decided to take my dad to dinner on Saturday evening so that we could beat the crowd on the following day. It was a quite little restaurant by our house. We had been there previously and really enjoyed it, however for some reason, I didn't really enjoy my dinner that day. I should have asked for another dish instead of the same one as usual. Oh well, next time.

The next day which was father's day was really cloudy. The kids and I were going to take Hector to a picnic, but because of the weather, he prefered a bar b q at home. Good ol' Costco steaks. They were delicious!!

June 19th was my nieces b-day and June 26th was Erik's b-day. My brother and I decided to celebrate their b-days together at our home. What better fun than a pool party??

The day before though, Hector and I took the day off and took the boys to Disneyland!!
Since it was Erik's birthday, he got in for free. And boy, do they make you feel special!! He got a name tag that said "it's my birthday" and with his name on it.
Every ride we got on, the operator or tour guide would say Happy b-day Erik. He liked all the attention. And it was Adam's 1st Disneyland trip! He did really well throughout the day and I think he enjoyed it himself. I would say "Small World" was his favorite ride as well as Erik's. And needless to say Hector and my favorite, because we got some rest there!

Here are some picture of the day:



Adam in aw.. he was truely amazed of everything he saw.





and here is the birthday boy and birthday girl. :)



4th of July weekend started off very eventful.
My husband had gone up to Northern California on a business trip. Since I go into work pretty early, I couldn't wake up the kids so early, so we stayed at my parents house on Tuesday and Wednesday night.
Thursday I got out of work and went to pick up the kids at my parents. Since my husband was still going to be a while before he got home, we hung out for a while at my parents.
Erik and my nephew Andrew were playing chase. Andrew was chasing Erik around the house. Erik came running 1 way and was looking back to make sure Andrew wasn't catching up to him. Well Adam was running towards him when WHAM... they crashed into eachother. Erik being much bigger than Adam knocked him over and he fell down and hit his poor little head right on the cement. It hurt me more than it hurt him! I immediately ran to him to pick him up and he had a really big lump on the back of his head. He then got really sleepy, so since i didn't want him to fall asleep, I took him a bath to try to wake him up, however that didn't help. I was hesistant about taking him in to the emergency room. Or more like scared. I HATE hospitals, but then again, who doesn't?
My older sister and her family then arrived as they were picking up Andrew to take him home. She convinced me to take Adam in to the hospital to be on the safe side. She and my Goddaugther Bianca were kind enough to accompany me, although I told them to go home.

We arrived at the hospital about 7:00pm (the accidient had happend about 6:30pm)
it was so busy, and I don't know why they call it emergency. Adam did not get seen until past 12:00AM!!!! before he got seen, I decided to call my husband. He had mentioned to me that he'd be getting home from his trip about 1:30am. So I figured he wouldn't see my car and would get nervous. I also was going to call him AFTER we saw the doctor, but looking at the time it took to get seen, I called him right before. I told him what happend and he immediatly got nervous.

Finally the doctor saw Adam. He asked if he had passed out, vomited, or anything like that. Thankfully, I said no to everything.
SO.. he gave me the choice. "We can do the CTscan, however I have to warn you, since Adam is so little, it could "fry" part of his brain and also there is a risk of getting cancer 30 years from now. It has been proven." That being said, I turned down the option and decided to watch him all night. I was told to wake him every 2 hours. So I did that. After dropping off my sister and Bianca at their house, we got home about 1:30AM.
My husband then go home at 2:30am. needless to say it was a tiring day on Friday. We were suppose to hit the beach on Friday but since we didn't expect Adam's little accident and didn't expect my husband to get home so late, we didn't do much.

On 4th of July we had a family gathering at our house.
We were actually invited to a kids b-day party at a real ranch with ponies and all. BUT since we have the pool and it's a 4th of July tradition that everyone comes over to our house, we sadly declined the b-day party..
We had a nice time though. We grilled some burgers and hotdogs, the kids swam and then we "wasted" money on fireworks. Those damn fireworks are so expensive. Since we didn't plan with time on going somewhere to watch a free fireworks show, we just sucked it up and bought a box of fireworks.

Sunday was a normal routine.

And in other good news, my brother in law Henry completed his 24th round of chemo. His last MRI was stable. Thank God. And not only that, but this 24th round of chemo was his last one. NO MORE CHEMO.. He will still get MRI's every 2 months I believe. GOD WILLING the chemo break will be FOREVER!!!

until next time. :)

The good and the sucky

These past few weeks have included both good and sucky days.

The good..

We took the boys to a local fair at our church. Erik really really enjoys any type of amusement park, so the local fair was perfect!
they sure enjoyed themselves.
the only thing was that Adam was not able to get on many rides due to his age, but nonetheless, that little guys enjoys anything that is outdoors.

here is Hector getting dizzy with Adam on the Merry go round.


Erik coming down the slide.

on the bumper cars


and now Adam and I getting ready to get dizzy too!


one day as I got to my parents house to pick up the kids, I found Adam and my dad enjoying eachother's company.



My dad had this brillant idea to put some ropes where they have some flower beds.
Why? because Adam has a habbit of stepping all over the flower beds.

um.. it didn't take long for him to figure out how to get across.



The boys are growing up too fast. They are getting ready to get their drivers license.


and a girlfriend maybe?
(note: they did this on their own!!! I was just snapping away the pictures!)they had no shame. :)








The Sucky..

One of my co-workers got laid off. It was really sad to see him go. He worked with the company about 4 years and it's like family. I mean you go to work everyday for 8 hours with the same people over and over, so it's like family. I am surprised anyone was even let go this far. The business had been really slow for a long time and unfortunately someone had to get laid off. But that wasn't all, everyones salary was cut. THAT REALLY SUCKS. We were told that they would review the business again in 3 months and possibly give us back our normal salary. Which probably means won't happen!!
although I am tired of my job, I am thankful to have it.

June 7th was my sister in law's 1 year anniversary since her death. Unfortuneatly, she lost her battle to soon against breast cancer. I knew this was going to be a really tough day for my mother in law. Since she lives in Mexico City, I thought of sending her flowers to cheer her up a bit. I found this website that actually delivers flowers, and you know what, they actually did get delivered! When I spoke to her, she was crying and she did tell me she loved my thoughtfullness. Well at least I made her smile a bit on that day. I wish I could bring back my sister in law. If I could, I would also bring back my son. But they are together in heaven.

On Saturday I accompanied my parents to look for some cemetary plots for them.
That is NEVER fun. Unfortunately, it's something we all need. So they are thinking of buying the land for now. sigh.. :(
I hope it is a LONG LONG time before they need them.


This isn't sucky, just thought I'd add it in. :)

The boys got a new pair of tennis shoes. I was able to find a pair of Vans that matched in both sizes!
how cute are they!!




until next time.

Overdue update!

It's been a while since I've updated.

I have been having a problem with blogger, so excuse if there are a lot of mistakes with spelling and any other problems. I think it may have to do with the new version of internet explorer that I downloaded!

Lot's of celebrations these past few weekends.

Since my last update, we celebrated my sister Jolene's , b-day. She has been busy herself, so she hasn't updated her own blog.

we celebrated Easter
we took the boys to a local park.

Here is Adam and daddy walking towards the park.



Here is Erik getting his face painted. He wanted 3 Easter eggs painted on him.





We colored a few eggs at home and he took them to my sister's house.



Adam in his Easter outfit.





giving his godfather Henry a kiss as we arrive to their house.
Speaking of Henry, he had a clean MRI! Thanks Be to God!!!!!!!
1 more round of chemo and he will take a break. God willing it will be a break forever! Hopefully he won't need it anymore because he will beat this horrible disease
Go Henry!!





We did the March of Dimes walk (walk 4 babies)in memory of Diego. That is a very special walk in which we help save babies lives in Diego's name. Our goal was to reach $200, however with the generosity of friends and family, we passed our goal and reached $560!!
Adam almost didn't make the walk this year. He was feeling a bit ill, but he tried his best to walk for his brother.

here is our team.
Diego's Wings






The day after we celebrated my brother in law Gerric's birthday!
sorry no pictures. :(

Here is another celebration.
Erik got chosen to be student of the month!




The next celebration was Erik's first communion!
2 years worth of hard work. You did it Erik!!! So proud of him!



He chose Jolene & Gerric to be his communion God parents.


following weekend was my God daugther's confirmation!
excellent job Bianca!




The following day we celebrated mother's day.
Mother's day has been bittersweet for me. I am happy for having my children with me, however I always seem to miss Diego more on that day. I always wonder what could have been.


This past weekend we celebrated my sister Emma's birthday!
Happy birthday again Emma!!!!!



This past Sunday wasn't so good.
as we all know, we had a little shaker.
Well, we had an accident at home which I will try to make it short.

My husband was watching T.V. in the living room and since he gets so distracted when watching a movie, he didn't notice that I took Adam to his room to sleep.
I put him in his crib and turned on the monitor, gave his his milk, turned his light
on and left his room.
2 minutes later I heard him crying, so I walked into his room and had the door shut so that no light would come in.
suddenly that is when it started shaking. Erik was using his computer in his room and I just heard Hector say "honey"!!! he thought I was outside washing (we have our washer & dryer in the garage. I grabbed Adam and was carrying him out the door, when Hector and Erik came in barging thru the door (Hector was also coming into Adam's room to grab him). Well since it was dark, Hector didn't notice I was already running out. Oh my goodness, we had a pretty bad impact. We crashed into each other (he hit his nose behind Adam's head, or maybe it was my hand) and with the impact I was pushed all the way back and fell on my back. I swear I thought I was going to hit the back of my head. I just yelled as I fell, and then Hector turned on the light. Oh my God, he had the worst bloody nose. He was bleeding a lot. He told me to run outside. But by that point, it had stopped shaking and me and the kids were in the hallway. I went to check on Hector and it was like he had a faucet under his nose. He was bleeding that bad. There was blood from Adam's room all the way to the kitchen where he went to wash up. He must of bled for like 2 hours. I was getting worried, but luckily it stopped and all he had left was a soar nose and me a pretty bad back ache (and I feel like my bottom is all bruised up). but luckily the 4 of us are ok. And I am thankful my entire family was ok as well.
We learned a lesson. We now have a plan of who gets who when another shaker comes around. God willing it won't be for a LONG LONG time!

and today, was a very special day.
last week Erik had told me that they were going to sing to the mothers for "mother's day". He asked me if I could come. I had told him I would try but I work kind of far. He told me "mommy just tell your boss, your going to be late, can you please come?" well I felt really bad. So I made it a point to go.
wow, I am so glad I went. It was beautiful.
There weren't that many students. It was about 30 2nd and 3rd graders. They lined up the kids by each table. As the mom's walked in, you had to find your child and sit at that table.
They sang 3 songs. 1st song was about family and the 2nd song was about "us" mom's. I hadn't heard them before. They were really nice songs. But the 3rd song, they actually came off the stage and went to their own mom and sang this song to us.
It actually made me cry. It was so touching.
I felt really bad though for some kids. Some were singing to an empty space as their mom's were not able to make it. :(
I was really glad I went and Erik also thanked me for coming to see him. It was totally worth being late for work.
Then they sat with us, made a paper flower and then brought each of us a cupcake to share.
I played that song again at work, thinking about Erik. I was so proud of him.

I think that is all I have for now. I am sure I missed some stuff, but I guess that's what happens when you don't blog for a while. I thought I didn't have much, and then suddenly I had so much to blog about I got lazy!

oh and here is a picture of Erik in his Karate uniform which I had mentioned I'd post a while ago.


and because I am usually the one behind the camera. Here is Adam and me.



until next time!