How I chose to honor my mother

On September 10, 2004 my mom passed away in a car accident. In 2003 my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a large lump and portion of her breast removed because of it. In 2004 right before she passed on she had another lump biopsied and was possibly getting a total mastectomy. She died on a hospital operating table from problems with her heart before cancer could consume her. Big Ro's work sponsors a team every year at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Ro's friend who is like a sister to us asked us to join the team. Ro and I finally got the funds and paid our registration. I had exactly 1 week to reach my goal of $100. It was like pulling teeth but finally on Saturday my friends and family came through and I reached it. I was very proud and excited to do something I set my mind to. This morning we woke up at 5:45. Opening Ceremonies started at 7:15 so we wanted to beat the crowd. We walked around the tents and even stopped at the refreshment tent for a bagel some chocolate milk and a bottle of water. Then Ro called our coordinator so we could figure out where our team was meeting. We finally found our team and sprayed our hair pink and glittery! We also took our team photo and talked then lined up at the starting line. We followed the runners. We had originally planned on doing the family 1k run but when we saw our group in the 5k we decided why not and joined right in. The announcer was chatting and commenting on costumes and then we heard "Okay guys, it is a beautiful day for a walk through Garden of the God's lets get going in ten!" We heard the countdown and then the screech of the bullhorn. We were off! The first 1.5 miles were all uphill! The temperature was perfect and the spirit surrounding us was absolutely amazing. I cannot explain it but the whole time I had goosebumps and felt a presence all around us. At about 1.75 miles Rowen got really winded. We were walking next to a group of survivors wearing bright pink shirts. A woman who would be around my mothers age turned to my son and grabbed his hand. She told him "Hey there little man, I am so proud of you. You will get to go to school tomorrow and say you walked 3 miles around Garden of the Gods." She walked with him and I in a straight line for 1 mile. Then she let us go. I made sure I told him we were doing this for people like her who had fought cancer and was winning. I told him we were fighting for a cure. I told him that she was the reason and we could do this for her. I never even caught her name but that woman made a huge impact on me. The last .25 miles was the toughest. The poor boy was so winded that he was almost to tears. I kept telling him how proud I was of him. I told him he was a big boy and that not many kids got this far. He just looked up and smiled at me with that toothless grin of his. Then as we approached the finish line a big beautiful yellow butterfly flew above my head. My mom loved butterfly's. I noticed a few when I felt my lowest today. I honestly think it was her way of saying "I am here with you. Thank you. Please push forward for me." I never imagined my family would be doing a 1k, let alone a 5k. But what can I say? This experience was nothing like anything I have experienced before. It was a time of being positive. A time of hope. A time where we all stood united with no differences for just one cause. Breast cancer runs in my genes. I know now not to fear it. With all those pink shirts I know I can fight and survive if I ever get diagnosed. I honestly can say I cannot wait until next year. I will make my goal $200 next year and I guarantee I will reach it. God works in mysterious ways. This is his way of bringing me comfort for a few days before the anniversary of my beautiful mothers death. I am truly blessed to have experience this and I look forward to Racing for the Cure every year until I am no longer able to take another step.

Our First Race For the Cure

Rogelio and I have had family members who have had breast cancer. This cause is very close to our hearts. We will be racing on September 9th with our family in support of finding a cure. If you have any extra funds I ask you to find it in you to donate towards our personal journey. Thank you for any consideration.

http://www.info-komen.org/site/TR/RacefortheCure/General?px=13371539&pg=personal&fr_id=2574

Our Halloween Costume...it's Never to Early!

I know, I know, school has not even started for most of my blogging friends but since the last holiday we really got to celebrate was the Fourth of July the kids start asking me about what they will be for Halloween! This year I really wanted my son to be a superhero. We have done Eeyore, Devil, Joker, Transformer, and Mario. Most of those were homemade costumes. But finally we are into buying costumes. I hate dealing with the stores. So I have this wonderful opportunity to order one from a Wholesale Costume Club.

Lil Ro and I looked through the costumes for quite a few minutes and finally we settled on this Batman costume. I placed the order on August 16th and we received it on August 24th! It came UPS and my son was beyond ecstatic when he saw the Costume Warehouse Envelope!

I patiently waited for my neighbor child to go home so we could start our modeling session. First of all I was very impressed that this is a Rubies Costume.  I know they make a good quality costume that is light but comfortable for your child. The costume is a retro batman look but honestly I did not want the Dark Knight look as the grey will reflect at night better then say black or dark blue!

My favorite things about this costume is that the bodysuit is One Piece! Also the belt is separate so I can tighten or loosen it to my son's liking. The mask and cape is attached together so you do not have to worry about losing them! I also love that the black cape is lined with a royal blue lining so you can open your wings and appear to take off! It is a very authentic looking Batman costume. The muscles are comical and make my boy look bigger then he is. I  He is absolutely in love with it so I cannot complain too much. It is for one night and it will make him feel invincible that evening.

The only negative thing I can say is that the sizing is a bit off. I ordered a size 7-10 but then the label says for kids ages 5-7. If I had known that I would have ordered a size up. However, since Halloween is less then 2 months away I know it will still fit him comfortably. Also the cuffs are a bit smaller then I anticipated. I will put in a couple of cans and try to stretch them out before his big Trick or Treat day! I honestly think this is a manufacture thing and not a company thing. Another thing I did not care for was there was only 1 Velcro at the top of the suit! But I can fix that with a safety pin or even additional Velcro.

The Wholesale Costume Club has incredible prices though! This costume is less then $30! They have this great feature where you can sign up to become a new member and you save even more money! I am definitely going to keep this site as a favorite to buy costumes and dress up clothes. They are good quality costumes with great prices and even faster shipping. It is rare to find a place like this and I hope to become a very frequent costumer of theirs! I am now looking at Rupunzel stuff there for my daughter. My son shall rise to be the greatest Batman ever thanks to this company! I know it's not even September but let's get our costume shopping done before all the good ones are taken!

A Special Event...Invite Only...The Wii U Experience Denver!

What an amazing day and an amazing event! Big Ro was invited to this event about 1 month ago. We figured what the heck and reserved a space for it. We are avid nintendo fans. Both of us have had the systems from the Original NES to the Current Wii. Some of our fondest memories are of our first nights together sitting in front of the Nintendo 64 playing Mario Party and laughing at the choices that could be made in the game. The event started at 11 am but we got there at 9:45. We were second in line until another person decided to check out a coffee shop next door. We whipped on our Mario gear and took our spots into the first of the line. The kids sat against the bare store front covered in curtains and played their 3ds'.

 The minutes counted down and we became anxious as the security guard opened the door and the staff said "Welcome to the Wii U experience." We checked in and got our lanyards and id cards. This event was by invite only and you had to RSVP. We walked into the waiting area and patiently waited for them to pull open the curtain. Finally at 11 they opened it up with a chant of Wii U...Wii U...welcome Denver.

 The kids, Ro and I ran to Super Mario U. We all three played and it was a very good game. You can have up to 5 players on one console and someone even helps you get through it. You can even play with other people online. The next game we went to experience was Luigis Mansion. This has to be one of my favorites. The person with the game pad actually plays as the ghost on the gamepad. You cannot see where he is at, you just feel the vibrations. I definitely want this game.

 Soon after Big Ro went to check out batman as I took the kids to play Sing. I honestly did not think I would care about it very much as it sounded like Karaoke at first. But when we stood up and started dancing as someone else jammed out it was a blast.

 We also played Just Dance 4. That one was really fun as one person could take the gamepad and become the puppetmaster picking every move you guys could make. I would recommend this one too. My favorite game of course was Wii Fit U. I broke a couple of records actually! You even get to use the same wii board so you do not have to buy another one. They had exclusive bottled waters and a trivia session at the end.

 Big Ro actually won the first question of the night to win a tin of star candy. I am dying to get this new system. I am hoping that Santa brings it to our family. Not very many people get to play a system before it even has an official launch date. I think however nintendo did a wonderful job getting the name and hype out there.

Wii U is definitely a different system that is going to bring a whole new level of gaming to people out there. The clarity of the system is absolutely beautiful. This was a wonderful Saturday event and well worth the cost of gas to get to it. I am eagerly announcing the release date and price so Santa can leave it under our tree!

What an Amazing Day! Just one of many I hope!

Today I got to relax with my best friend. I don't think this woman knows it yet but she is truly my best friend. Would it be ackward to tell her? I am not sure. Today I got to cuddle her adorable 11 month old son and listen to a land shark try to sell us a 2013 Ford Explorer for her expanding family. Noone knows yet about the expanding family except me and her husband and mom so I am in a very special class. Thinking of that I must be pretty important to her too. Truth be told I love hanging out with her. We went to lunch today too so it was pretty great. I ordered a plate of carne asada sopes and we ate chips with queso. Not exactly diet friendly but it was so stinking lovely.

 I woke up praying my son would have a good day. Yesterday he was a little bit chatty and the teacher told me about it. I told him we all get chatty so he gets this one free pass. Today when he went to class I rattled out our little rules. Then I told him "Remember son, when you don't listen to your teacher it makes me very sad. When you listen and behave for your teacher it makes me very happy." He looked up at me and said "You won't get mad at me mommy?" I told him no honey. It just makes me very sad. He hugged me and told me he would try his best. Imagine my surprise when i get his planner and it says "Great day :)" I hugged him tight and told him. You can do this every day! I am sure he will continue to make me proud. Roana well she is loving middle school. She is a good girl and I am pretty blessed she is my daughter. Actually I have two very good kids. Maybe having a third wouldn't be such a bad ideal. We will see what the future holds.

Sopes De Carne Asada

It's Proof the kid can do it!

Day 2 of School and I am kinda lonely

Today was day two. The only difference between today and yesterday is that I had nobody home with me. I used that to my advantage however as I cleaned the house from top to bottom and also organized a few things. I have plenty of time to think. We are on a tight budget right now. Even with my husband's promotion we are tight. Today we finally went grocery shopping. We are trying to eat as clean as possible meaning we eat a lot of fish and chicken. We bought 2 chickens, 2 big bags of tilapia, 5 lbs of chicken breast, a rack of ribs, 5 dozen eggs, 3 cantelope, jalapenos, plus a bit more for around $100. This will feed us for at least 2 weeks. It will only be tight for a little bit. Hopefully end of year we will get more coming in and less going out. Today I contacted Lil Ro's teacher. I asked how he is doing. She informed me that he is doing okay still and that we just need to work on him calling out in large group time. I reminded him this and set up a behavior chart at home for him. Good days he gets a smile face. Bad days a sad face. If he goes a week with no sad faces he gets a dollar tree toy. If he goes the whole semester I will buy him a new lego set. I figure why not give it a shot. I also think I like his new teacher. She has a lot of patience and seems to really care for the kids. I hope this year continues to be great. Roana and I finished her locker today. It was so cute seeing her hang her butterfly stickers. She has a nice unique locker now and it totally shows her side of things. All in all I am adjusting well. I am preparing for my grandmas upcoming trip here to visit at the end of the month. I can get it done. I am truly blessed no matter what I think. I will continue to love my family no matter what and know we are going to be okay.

First Day of School

So here we are again. Summer has flown by and I am sitting here trying to remember where in the heck these past 12 years of my life have gone. When did I become this woman? When did these kids grow up to become a sixth grader and a first grader? When will it be easier to say goodbye see you in a few hours. I guess growing up I looked forward to school. I guess the reason was because I was never home. My parents had me in every single summer camp they could find. I never really was wanted from my parents I think. But I digress. This blog post is not about me. It's about my beautiful children.

Today was their first day of school. Lil Ro will be returning back to his previous school. I am glad that it happened this way because he loves his classmates. He made me so proud. He listened quietly and did his work with no help and he was just the dream boy I always wanted. 

My poor daughter Roana. I truly worry for her. This is her first year in the big girl school. I just have 6 more years with her until she is grown and off to college! She asked me to shave her legs and I taught her. Where in the world did the time go? She has her own locker, a new group of friends and is even dressing more sassy. I love my baby girl and I pray the mean teens are kind to her. Only time will tell.

It was a great first day of school. We even ended up going to our favorite Chinese Buffet called The Ultimate Buffet and ate happily. I pray we have a wonderful year and that summer comes swiftly again so we can just enjoy being our little family.

Our First Monster Truck Show

So last saturday I heard there would be a free Monster Truck showing at a local pizzeria called Louie's Pizza. We went over there to see the trucks and I saw a raffle box for a chance for a pair of tickets to the event itself. I threw my name in and also my husbands. Imagine my surprise when they called Big Ro's name. My boy has been obsessed with Monster trucks since his last birthday part. We did a huge Monster truck bouncehouse plus decor for him. I gave him the good news that he would be going. Rogelio then went and bought tickets for Roana and I to attend too! It was pretty reasonable for the two of us but I would skip the pit pass next time! I thought what the heck is this going to be like. I was ready to be bored but by the time the trucks were revving I was up on my feet fist pumping like there was no tomorrow. Ro still teases me saying I am a redneck. I guess you can take the girl out of Ohio but you cannot take the Ohio out of the girl. I definitely recommend people try it one time. I think this will become a yearly event for us. Thank you Monster Truck X for you great show and good luck to all your drivers in Latin America!

What we have been up to these past 4 months

So summer vacation is almost over.  Lil Ro successfully completed Kindergarten and will be going into first grade starting Monday. It was a rough year but I did love his teacher and I am learning that he is the kid I am going to have to continue to push him and watch him carefully. He is truly a bright child and improving everyday. I just have to continue nourishing him and giving him independence.

Ro and Rowen are going to see Monster Trucks on Saturday. We won two tickets when we went and saw a real life one at a pizza place close by! They will be going to Penrose Norris Center and even got a pit pass! Big Ro will take lots of pictures and Roana and I will have a girls day in watching hunger games, eating nachos and theater candy. It should be a  good day.

Roana has now finished fifth grade. Where in the world does the time go? On Monday we had her Registration and Orientation for Sixth grade. My baby is now a middle schooler. It seems like she was born and I blinked and she turned into this young woman. She is very excited to start this new chapter in life. I am also trying to teach her more grown up things. But that is another post for another day.

Big Ro, what can I say about my Big Ro? Things have been going good for us lately. As of May he finally started his dream job. You all remember he went to school for Mechanical Drafting. Well he is now a designer. I am so proud of him. I don't see him as much as I thought I would as projects have deadlines but I know he is doing what he loves. We have some rough times honestly but in my heart of hearts I know we are going to be together for a long time.

Also we applied for to renew his Permanent Residency. I am so very happy to say Ro is a permanent resident again. We are going to inquire about getting his citizenship. I hate thinking that he could have been torn from us so we are going to go through and find out all the info.

As of me, well I am around. I am toying with having another child. I would love another baby but there are things that frighten me as the huge age gap between the three of them. I still have to lose 20 pounds per my doctor. I guess we will analyze that at the beginning of the year.

These next two years are going to be big turning points of my life. Make sure you watch my blog. I am really going to become a more active blogger again. I miss my writing. I miss just pouring it out here and I miss just having something that is exclusively mine. Here are a few pictures that have been taken in the last week.

Free Haircut from JC Penney

My big girls first locker 

Hermit Crabs our new babies

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His new haircut and lost a top tooth finally!

He is going to see Monster trucks this Saturday...won tickets when he saw this one!