Sweet Poem from one of my regulars

I got this poem from the blog that I frequent… My Charming Kids. I thought it was awesome and I had to share it with my fellow mommies.

Song for a Fifth Child.

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

More about my husband

Katie had a similar survey as well as an old friend of mine on FB so I decided to combine them… How well do I know my husband? Let’s see shall we...

1. He’s sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
More times than not… ESPN. aside from that its probably either Entourage, Sopranos, 24 or Friday Night Lights

2. You’re out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
Ranch or Caesar 

3. What’s one food he doesn’t like ?
Hard to narrow that down to one, he’s kind of picky. He HATES cinnamon so anything with cinamon

4. You go out to eat. What drink does he order?
Pepsi or Sprite

5. Where did he go to high school?
Christ the Kind and New Utretch

6. What size shoe does he wear?
11 1/2

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be?
A-Rod and UM stuff

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?
Yellow american and salami 

9. What would he eat every day if he could?
chicken and cutlets and pretty much anything his grandmother makes

10. What is his favorite cereal?
Frosted Flakes and Capt Crunch

11. What would he never wear?
Skinny jeans

12. What is his favorite sports team?
UM, Giants and Yankees but mostly UM

13. Who did he vote for?
Shockingly, McCain

14. Who is his best friend?
Aside from me :0)… Nelson and Julio

15. What is something you ask him to do that he wishes you wouldn’t do?
Everything, lol

16. What is his heritage?
Puerto Rican

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake?
He doesn’t like cake, except ice cream cake and Louisiana Crunch Cake

18. Did he play sports in high school?
Baseball and track at one point, oh and he tried out for the basketball team at Christ the King… no chance!

19. What could he spend hours doing?
sitting in front of the tv with the laptop surfing the net for sports stats, craigslist and the daily news

20. What is one unique talent he has?
getting people to give him discounts when he’s shopping

 

21. What is my favorite feature about him:  His eyes and on the rare occasion that he actually, truly uses it, his smile

22. What is my favorite quality about him: His love for our family and his desire to spoil us even if it is a little far fetched from time to time. He works his butt off to do so

23. What is his nickname: Chewy or Ramos

24. What is his favorite color: I’m not sure he has one either… judging by our house, which he pretty much decorated I’d say blues and browns

25. What is his favorite sport:  baseball and football he likes to play flag football now too

26. Who said the “L” word first: he has no recollection of it but he said it first, but i told him I was falling in love first

27. First kiss and where:  In his dorm room when we were supposed to be watching a movie… late September- early October 2002

28. How many kids: 2 – Trey Luis, born 3/31/06 and Leilani Madison, born 10/22/07

29. Hidden Talent: decorating

30. Favorite Music:  nothing that I like, rap and r&b… specifically Kayne West and I cannot stand him!

31. What I admire most about him: his love and dedication to his entire family and friends. he bends over backwards to give give give

32. Favorite past time: hanging out with his buddies playing drinking games and UM football

33. Will he read this: nope

Marriage Survey

My cousin’s fiance had this on her facebook and I thought it would be a good idea for a post. Really I’m doing it in hopes of you guys doing it in return so I can learn more about you :0)

1. When is your “engagement” anniversary: November 4, 2005
2. When is your “marriage” anniversary: March 30, 2007

3. How long have you known your spouse: 6 and 1/2 years

4. How long did you date/court before you were engaged: exactly 3 years

5. Where did you meet your spouse for the first time? At a flag football game at PBA

. What is your spouse’s full name? Luis Ramos Jr.

7. Do you have any children? Yes

8. How many? 2

9. Do you have any house pets? No, he keeps trying to buy one though

10. Do you own a house or rent: Rent, in the process of trying to buy

11. Do you live in the country or town/city: Town

12. What is one of your favorite activities together: UM football games, hanging out with friends and vacations with our kids

13. Do you have a favorite vacation spot: Probably Orlando. We go all the time and are going back in March and April

14. How many siblings (including in-laws) do you have. 1 brother, 3 sisters-in-law

15. What church do you attend: Calvary Chapel Jupiter

16. Is this the church you were married in: no, didn’t get married in a church

17. What town is your current address at: Jupiter

18. Do you work or stay at home: stay at home but it’s more of a job then anything I’ve ever had

19. Where did you go on your honeymoon: ha Orlando, wasn’t exactly the typical honeymoon. we had trey, my mom and his ENTIRE family with us. I’m thinking it’s time to plan a real one

20.Who drives when you go out together? pretty even, me if there is drinking involved always the DD

21.How long have you been together? will be 7 years this November

22. How long did you know each other before you started dating? a little over a month, but we were kind of dating through that whole time too. so basically right away lol

23. Who asked who out? He asked me for my AIM and the rest is history.

24. How old are each of you? 26 and 25

25.Whose siblings do/ did you see the most? lately, his… but really we don’t see any of them very often

26. Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? hmmm… probably parenting

27. Did you go to the same school? same college

28. Are you from the same home town? not even close. I’m  country girl from South Florida he’s a city boy from Brooklyn

29. Who is smarter? both in different ways… but I did write a good amount of his college papers  

30. Who is more sensitive? seriously??? me obviously

31.Where do you eat out most as a couple? Duffy’s… my step-dad gets 50% off but we haven’t been in forever

32. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? New York

33. Who has the craziest exes? Him I guess but he’d probably say mine.

34. Who has the worse temper? pretty even I guess

35. Who does the cooking? Me… he makes one thing and I hate it… crab legs lol

36. Who is more social? him

37. Who is the neat-freak? he wants the house to be neat but he doesn’t help keep it that way… so neither

38. Who is the more stubborn? him!

39. Who hogs the bed? him

40. Who wakes up earlier? him on week days

41. Where was your first date? well our first date was with 2 of his best friends and we went to see Red Dragon in the theater with the couch seats pretty funny… but our first date alone was to see Sweet home Alabama.

42.Who has the bigger family? immediate him, but i have more aunts and uncles and cousins

43. Do you get flowers often? not really

44. How do you spend the holidays? with my mom’s family unless we fly to NY

45. Who is more jealous? at the start, him but now there really isn’t any reason to be jealous

46. How long did it take to get serious? 2-3 months

47. Who eats more? depends on what we’re eating

48. Who does the laundry? me

49. Who’s better with the computer? probably me

50. Do you have a piece of advice for the other couples: pick your battles

The End of an Era

It was August of 2001 when Louie moved to Florida to attended PBA with his 2 best friends, Julio and Nelson. Since then, Julio has moved back to NY after a short career as a minor league baseball star and started his own family, complete with 2 of the most adorable kids imaginable. But Nelson has stuck it out. He went from being Louie’s best friend to my big brother and the kids favorite Tio. He has been such a huge part of our lives, I don’t think we ever thought about what it would be like without him.

Well the day has come for us to find out. Nelson is moving back to New York this weekend and we are just at a loss for words. I tried my hardest to convince him to stay with a heart wrenching e-mail about how much he means to us and how I don’t want my kids to forget about him. After we both shed some tears, he made it clear that this it what he has to do. And though I am still torn up about it, I am supportive of his decision and understanding of his need to be closer to his real family. I know that there is no way I could have made it over 7 years with out mine right down the street.

With a heavy heart I am throwing him a going away party this weekend. I think more than a sending off for hims, it will be a closure for me. I am just devastated at the thought of my kids not growing up along side him and that they will forget about him in a few months. It’s the end of an era that I just don’t know if I can come to grips with.

Back in the land of the sleeping

We are back from our quick trip to NY and so glad to be getting a full night sleep. Although there are some things I’m not crazy about… the never ending snot coming out of both kids’ noses, the huge bump right in the middle of Lani’s forehead, an enormous pile of stinky laundry and an extremely dirty house. Because I’m still not 100% caught up on sleep, I’m leaving the cleaning for tomorrow and wednesday.  Katie tagger me in this so I thought I’d give it a try to pass the time while the kids rough house in Trey’s room.

1. What is your favorite thing about where you live? everything! mostly though because this is my home, I grew up here and I want my kids to also.

2. What do you get the most compliments on? These days, how cute my kids are. Pre-kids… how much I looked like Julia Roberts.

3. When did you know you were in love with your husband? The week of my 19th birthday. We had been together for about 2 months. 

4. If you could be just like someone you know, who would it be? Tough one… a mixture of all the incredible women in my life. 

5. Why? Because each has different qualities that I admire  

6. Who do you know that you dont want to be anything like? If you really know me, you know the answer to this question.

7. If you were back in time 10 years what would you be most shocked about in your life now? lol, honestly… that I’m not married to my high school sweetheart. I always thought that I’d be married to my first love by 19 just like my mom haha. funny thing is, he actually proposed but I had already started dating Louie.

8. What would you be most sad about? everything that happened in January 2005, my parents separation and the death of my Nana. Also that I’m not close with all my friends from back then.

9. How would the people that know you best describe you? goofy, sarcastic, giving.. i don’t know… alot of the people that know me best are spread out al of the US right now. I feel like I’m not my self when they aren’t around

10. What makes you laugh the hardest? (katie I love your answer, I just watched Wipeout for the first time and was dying! too funny) I laugh the hardest when Im with all my cousins having game night… never a dull moment. Also when Trey does funny things. The other day he was napping and while he was still sleeping sat up and started galloping like he was on a horse ( i was watching a movie where someone was riding a horse) it was hysterical!

11. What can put you in a bad mood faster than anything else? just after i’ve spent hours cleaning and someone makes a mess. 

12. What flaw have you recently been working on? I don’t know if this is a flaw or just a bad habit, but I let the kids watch WAY too much TV. So within the last 2 weeks the TV is never on anymore. I fell like it has increased Trey’s speech clarity so much! Also, I’ve been trying to get of my butt and become more active because I’m s depressed with m body right now.

13. describe a perfect day: a perfect day for me would include all of the things that I have loved to do throughout my life… sleeping in, a competitive volleyball game (playing not watching), football on the beach, swimming with Trey, dancing with Leilani, girl talk and walking down memory lane with my friends, watching wheel of fortune with my Nana, playing games with my cousins, and date night and cuddling with louie

14. what is your favorite holiday: probably thanksgiving… it’s around my birthday and I love the feeling of Florida Fall. It’s nice to be with family and friends without feeling obligated to give them something. :0)

15. are you a morning or night person: I have always been a night owl! when I was a kid my mom would dress me in the clothes I was going to wear to school the next day because I was so not a morning person! She also created a uniform for me because it was impossible to dress me. good thing I ended up at a private school.

16. what character trait do you respect most in a person: i don’t know if this is so much respect as it is enjoy… i love people with a good sense of humor. it’s easier for me to relate to them and feel more comfortable around.

17. favorite restaurant: I don’t even know to be honest. For a long time it was R.J. Gators but they changed their menu and now they are all closing. Probably Carabas.

It’s a new Dawn…

Sorry for the random title. I’m feeling a little out of it today.

The only grandfather I have ever known passed away today. I’m having mixed emotions about it because I know that he was suffering. He has been in a nursing home for more than a few years now, and even before that I only saw him every so often. He was kind of a bad guy when my mom was younger. Wasn’t winning any father of the year awards, that’s for sure. But for me, he was the only grandfather I ever knew and he was pretty damn good at it. He had a great sense of humor and a way of always getting me to smile. The more I think of him now, the more I see where my cousin Lydee and I get our goofiness from. We used to play games and he would tell us ridiculous stories.

The reasons I am having mixed feelings is because although I know he was suffering in the body and mind he had left, I’m not sure if he had a personal relationship with God. I know he believed in Jesus but I just don’t know if his heart was there and it saddens me to think that he never truly repented. I am praying with all my heart that he is rejoicing with angels right now, I am praying with ever ounce of my being that he is sitting side by side with my nana and they are catching up. I am praying that the God of forgiveness and love is holding him and truly loving on him and forgiving him. I loved him, I forgave him, I will miss him. I’m praying for my mom and her siblings as they try to sort out their feelings and come together in their time of loss and mourning. 

It’s a new dawn , it’s a new day… and I’m feeling lost.

Meal Plan Monday

I thought I would give this a shot since Kathleen and Tina both do it pretty religiously, I need to be better about planning means ahead of time so here it goes.

Monday- Sushi rolls from Publix with vegetable stir fry over white rice. We’ve recently fell in love with sushi so I thought I’d give it a try from publix.

Tuesday- (I’m hoping to start going to bible studying again and need to find a sitter, that being said…) Burgers and Ice Cream cake at Bruce’s for Wiley’s birthday/bible study. I plan on taking Potato Casserole

Wednesday- Junk food at the Fair. We were supposed to hit up the fair last weekend but Trey was really sick and my step-dad had to get radiation or something put in him so he had to stay away from the kids. We are hitting it up Wednesday evening. I’m sure louie with have sausage and peppers, the kids will eat anything, I’ll probably stick with pizza… any suggestions?

Thursday- Tina’s Ritz Cracker Chicken, green beans and rice

Friday- Fajitas. I’m still a work in progress when it comes to cooking so I always throw in a meal in a box. :0) 

Saturday- Chili. Louie is not a huge fan of it but I love it and the kids eat it up, I can use the left overs for Super Bowl Sunday :0)

SUPER BOWL Sunday- Left over chili, probably some wings from Duffys, Thirsty Turtle or Sal’s. Anyone who wants to come by is more than welcome.

Playing Tag

Kathleen tagged me to do this 7 interesting things about me survey. I must apologize, I know I’m not exactly new at this but I don’t know how to tag people and all that stuff, and if i have before I forgot. Momnesia is taking over. Here it goes…

1. Today, January 24, is the 4th anniversary of my Nana’s death. I miss her more than I thought possible. She lived with me for almost my entire life up until she passed away. She drove me nuts for must of that time as well, but I loved her all the same. That last thing I said to her while she was still kind of lucid was ” Tell Jesus to send me pretty babies.” I’m guessing He got the message. 

2. At this very moment, Trey is asleep outside my bedroom door with his pants and underwear off and holding them like his blanket that he can’t seem to find. Nap times have become few and far between for my little man. We are trying to come up with a solution to his lack of sleeping. Leaning towards a twin bed instead of toddler since he seems to love big beds so much more

3. I tend to have a pretty warped image of myself. More like a false sense of reality. Often, I forget that I am not the 125lbs 18 year old that my husband fell in love with over half a decade ago. It’s depressing.

4. I would love to have at least one more baby, possible two. For a boy, I love the name Cole August and for a girl Keira Isabelle, or something along those lines. Please don’t steal my names if you have a kid before I do :0)

5. I was playing peek-a-boo with Leilani today and swore I was looking at my mom 47 years in the past. I’ve seen few pictures of her as a baby but i’m sure Leilani looks just like her.

6. Once you  go Mac you never go back… haha… We recently purchased our 4th Apple computer ( one of them broke and we sold our desk top so that leaves 2). In addition to the 5 or so ipods we have. Trey can work the Itouch better than most grown adults and he’s not even 3 yet. Scary, and sad, I know.

7. I can’t wait for my kids to be old enough to take on vacations. I want to go skiing, white water rafting, take 4 wheelers up a mountain, a helicopter tour over a Hawaiian volcano. I guess I should get a job or start playing the lotto though if I want to afford those things.

To walk, or not to walk

I have finally reached my last semester of college. It’s been a long time coming. Six and a half years with a two year hiatus in the middle. Since returning to PBA’s online program last fall, I’ve thought that I would just skip the whole commencement thing. As I have gotten closer, I’ve thought about it more and more. Personally, I don’t think it matters all that much to me, but my mom has been vocal about her feelings and really wants me to do it. I honestly think Louie doesn’t want me to do it. Part of me thinks he doesn’t really see what I am doing as real school, therefore why would I participate in a real graduation. My biggest issue is having to sit through a long ceremony with the kids. Obviously they wouldn’t be sitting with me so I know my family would have to deal with them and since it’s really not all that important to me I don’t know what to do.

I’d like it if you could share your thoughts with me. Tell me what you would do in my situation. Consider your graduation day, but add 2 toddlers to it… is it worth it?

Don’t forget the true meaning of Christmas

A friend of mine recommended this song via her facebook status. I listened and it took me a minute to figure it out and then I just lost it. There is something about Christmas songs and songs about God that just really get to me. Ever since my Nana passed away a few years ago this is just a very emotional time of year for me. It’s an good emotional though, It feels refreshing to ust let the tears flow every once in a while, especially for no apparent reason. :0)

Happy Almost Birthday Jesus!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AJI3QXwg-M