PUKARAMA (yes, again)

I know, I know, I still haven't uploaded the rest of the Easter photos or the video I keep promising, but I've got at least a handful of really good excuses, not the least of which involves all manner of regurgitation. But you don't wanna hear about that again, do you?

Well, too freaking bad. My blog. My choice.

Puke it is.

I don't know what hit her, but at 5:30 on Thursday afternoon as I was, literally, walking into her classroom to pick her up, Saia spewed all over the brand new colors and shapes carpet. Her substitute teacher looked at me like I should do something, and I'm thinking, hey, I'm not officially on the clock yet. You deal with it, lady!

But we eventually got her all cleaned up and changed, which was ultimately all in vain because she threw up 3 more times on the way home. And then every 15 minutes, it truly seemed like, until 5am on Friday. It stopped long enough to get everyone dressed and off to school. I had my fingers crossed all day that I wouldn't get the call from school. We got home, all was fine. Fed everyone rice. Went to sleep. At around 11pm, it was Mama's turn, and then not even an hour later, it hit Chago.

Ugh!

The weekend was miserable. Mommy must've done 20 loads of laundry. We went through every single towel and sheet in the house. We're out of bleach and PineSol and wipies. We're all pallid and hoarse and overdosing on Pedialyte popsicles.

It's been an exhausting couple of days. I'm so grateful to be at work today.

I LOVE YOU THIIIIIIIIIIIIIS MUCH!!!

"Mama," says Chago on the way home from school yesterday.

"Yes, son?"

"I love you across the moon." [hear...heart...melting]

"Bubba, I love you across the stars."

"Well, I love you across the sun," he trumps.

"And I love you across the clouds," I say.

"But I love you across all the oceans," he says.

"Well, then I love you across all the deserts," I add.

"And I love you across all the forests and the jungles," he says.

"Mama?" calls Saia in between bites of string cheese.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Mama, I love you across the street."

[and there you go]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDPA DONNIE!!!

Feliz Cumpleanos!

We love and miss you very very much!!!
Have a wonderful day!!!

CASCARONES!!! ("eggshells")

Cracking Cascarones!

A brief moment of sunshine and we hauled it out to the front yard, hid and hunted for eggs, cracked 4 1/2 dozen cascarones and ran back inside just as it started to drizzle -- AGAIN!!

More pics and video tomorrow. Had some trouble loading last night.

HAPPY EASTER

It ain't about the chocolate bunnies, folks.

• Here's the true meaning of Easter as celebrated by Christians.
• Here's the meaning of the Jewish Passover.
• And here are some Easter Egg customs and traditions from around the world.

RIDING OUT THE STORMY WEATHER

Hi All,

We've been getting a few calls, so we just wanted to let everyone know that we're doing alright over here in Soggy Bottom, USA.

Although it feels like it's been raining since New Year's (with some unexpectedly pleasant sunshine this morning), we haven't personally been affected by the mudslides or flooding, thankfully. Our county hasn't yet been declared a State of Emergency, and, fortunately (or unfortunately), we're all still able to get to and from work and school with only the typical daily impediments of actually getting out of bed, getting dressed, and actually getting out of the house before 7am.

Other than that, all's well.

Even the earthquake report for today is mild:

Quakes in the Bay Area for 4/12/06

TAKING IS NOT NICE

Saia in Carmel CA

"So, what do you think, kids?" I ask on the torrential drive home yesterday afternoon. "Shall we stay on the highway or exit?"

"STAY ON HIGHWAY!" they yell, knowing this means we end up going through town and usually (on sunny days) they get to have their windows rolled down.

"Alright," I say, "I'll take your advice and let's just keep our fingers crossed that traffic is better on the highway."

"Mama?" asks Saia with a note of concern.

"Yes, baby?"

"I can still talk, though," she says, sounding a little confused.

"Sure you can talk, babe. What do you mean?"

"Well, you took my voice, so why can I still talk?"

"Oh, no baby," I explain, "I took your advice, not your voice, honey."

"Oh, okay, because Ursula took Ariel's voice and I don't want you to take my voice, too."

"No, Saia, Mama couldn't take your voice even if she wanted to." [and trust me, on more than one occasion, I've wished for a magic lamp]

"Well...but..." she continues, "taking is not nice, Mama, so you should 'pologize to me."

"Well..." I begin, "you gave me your advice, so I only took what you were already offering, so then that's okay. Do you understand?"

"Yes, but don't take my voice, okay?"

"Okay, babe."

WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THOSE DONATION ENVELOPES IN THE MAIL

Chago at Monterey Bay

"Okay, kids," says Mommy as she tears through the mounds of bills, junk mail, and donation envelopes, "who wants this sticker of the Sacred Heart of Jesus?"

They both come streaking into the kitchen screaming at the top of their lungs [and yes, this is the only volume level they know], "I DO, I DO, I DO!!!"

But ultimately the winner of the prized sticker was Chago who, with a very serious look of concern on his face, asks, "But Mommy, who is the Sack & Buckets of Cheezits?"

OUR WEEKEND IN MONTEREY!!

17-Mile Drive, Carmel CA

It turned out to be a really beautiful weekend. Hardly any rain at all, not too crowded, and a pretty easy drive back (although the traffic heading down there was insane).

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT
Hands down, the most memorable moment was getting everyone dressed for a really nice birthday dinner at the Monterey Plaza Hotel, sitting down to a fairly decent local Syrah and what promised to be a pretty fantastic meal, and then...mid-bite... suddenly being evacuated because of a fire somewhere in the hotel.

No, I'm not kidding.

We stood on the curb for almost an hour before we could even get our truck back from the valet. Chago, of course, got to go pee in the grass. The rest of us had to hold it.

The kids did get to see some very cool fire trucks in action and they even got to meet a fireman who gave them some stickers. But by the time we left, we were soooooo passed bedtime that I was literally on the verge of a meltdown just thinking about how many times they were going to be waking up throughout the night!! But we ran into a Safeway, grabbed some finger food and jetted back to the hotel.

Beds made, teeth brushed, songs sung, and it was 9pm by the time we finally got them down, but, by the grace of the birthday gods, they actually slept alright...considering. And we had sushi in bed with a side of M&Ms and some day-old wine. What more could a girl ask for?

PICTURES
To see all the pictures of our weekend in Monterey, click here.

VIDEO
Check back here tomorrow and I'll try to remember to post the little clip of the kids accosting a starfish in the touch pool.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAMA!!! (okay, so it's tomorrow, oh well)

As soon as the kiddos wake up from nap this afternoon, we're picking them up from school early and driving down to Monterey (California, people -- not Mexico).

The current itinerary includes the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a whale-watching cruise, Cannery Row, 17-mile drive, and, of course, swimming at the hotel. (But we'll have to see how the weekend plays itself out.)

Really looking forward to this little getaway. The best part of all is that I didn't have to plan a thing!!! Mommy and the kids took care of it all!!! Yay!!!

Pics and stories to come.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

THE SUN ALSO RISES -- BUT MUCH TOO SOON

I did it!!!

Ugh. Bad night. Not quite sure what was going on.

Saia was especially cranky, pissy, moany, weepy, whiny -- ALL. DAMN. NIGHT.

She would wake up crying for no apparent reason. One of us would eventually go in there, talk her down from the ledge, find out it was nothing, and get her back to bed.

This happened at least 3 times -- for EACH of us!!

In a brief moment of sleep-deprived lucidity, it finally occurred to me to ask her whether or not she'd taken a nap a school, to which she replied...(yes, I know, it's not really a surprise is it...) NO!!! No nap today!

But when I picked them up from school, did they tell me they took their naps? Of course they did. They wouldn't get their after-school treats otherwise. And now that they're in the 3-yr-old classrooms, apparently those teachers don't provide daily progress reports, so I'm having to trust them to tell me whether or not they've had a time-out, too. And wouldn't you know that according to Bonnie & Clyde here neither of them have had one all week.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking...I'm so freaking gullible. I'm calling today to set up parent-teacher conferences before the kids convince me that the world is flat.

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE GOOD DENTAL HYGIENE

"Oh, Saia, NOW I know how we can open the scorpion ball*," says Chago on the way to school this morning.

"How, Santiago? Please tell me," replies his sister somewhat mockingly.

"We can get it open because we have WHITE teeth," he says, as if he just found the cure for cancer.

"Oh!" she says, equally enthusiastic. "Good job! Now we know."

*scorpion ball is a little plastic bouncing ball from those .25cent machines that's got a clear cover and a plastic scorpion inside, whom they've been trying to free for over a year now.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF LUIS AGUILAR

Missy, Libby, Lisa, Tony, Sara, and Dan,

We were so very sorry to hear about your grandfather. He was always such a pillar of strength. The true patriarch of the family.

I can't even begin to imagine how you must be feeling today. I can only hope that it offers you at least some consolation that Grandma Queta's probably already rooked him into a great game of penny-ante poker.

All our love,
J, A, S & S

GRADUATION DAY!!!

WE'RE 3 YEARS OLD!!!

Has it really been 18 years already?

No, goofball, of course not! But they did graduate to the 3-yr-old classroom on Friday and today is their first day with the big kids.

You know, I just don't know...Hrrmph...I was gonna say that I didn't know who was more excited about this, but I think it's pretty obvious that it's definitely me. They've been so bored for so long. They just weren't getting enough stimulation with the 2-yr-olds. They spent the majority of their time stalking their teachers and the other half of their time in Time Out. I mean, a kid can only paste so many pre-cut images onto construction paper before they start concocting a plan for escape, you know?

And I really do think that's what's been happening lately. Not that I'm excusing their bad behavior, not by any means, but maybe now that they'll actually get to participate in preschool activities and not just glorified babysitting, I'm betting we'll see a whole lot less of the T.O.s -- well, that is, of course, once we get through YET ANOTHER transition period.

Smirky Smirkertons

See more photos at Shutterfly.com.