In la CASA

a bit breezy still, hopefully all the rain is gone and hoping for warmer temps up to 80 this weekend. FINALLY. so for the time being - just staying home. she woke up this morning saying she had a bad dream, but can't see it anymores. not able to tell me what it was about. ariana is wearing this outfit from pumpkin patch via nordstrom rack. kinda la spanish fiesta looking, guess i could've held out til cinco de mayo next week. ballet tonight. ariana is excited in wearing her new size 11 ballet slippers. here she is doing what she calls her "tinkerbell fairy" pose.

Happy RAINbow

just a mixed bag of weather again. it rained overnight. cloudy overcast in the morning. seemed like the sun was going to peek thru, next thing you know it - its pouring rain. have no idea how it'll be when its time for preschool. pulled out the kellys kid dress with matching tights. this was hard for me only becuz i know we recently wore this already (2 months ago in feb). i thought ariana wouldnt be wearing this outfit again til fall. gymbo happy rainbow raincoat XS 3-4 & clogs size 8.

Gap Medi Blues

gap mediterranean dress. ariana has been wearing this for a couple of years, i think i might have to look for the next size up (via ebay or on the loops). the sweater is from gap too. after i took the picture, i realized its the wrong navy so i grabbed a darker one. the navy saltwaters dont match either, wrong blue too, but didnt want to be late to preschool.

HAPPY FLOWER

SUNDAY, APRIL 25, 2010

all of us spent the day in the backyard. byron played with ariana. joshua mowed the lawn. i picked weeds and edged around the play structure. something is wrong with that picture. i think byron should've been doing the yardwork and i play. its funny cause he will be the first one to suggest - the bush needs to be trimmed, the tree needs more watering, etc. AND the last person to do anything. ariana was all over playing and pushing her lawn mower right behind josh. one point she turned it around, and wanted josh to follow her running across the yard. dad kind of put a stop to it, didnt want the lawn cut all zig-zaggy. with all the rain we've been getting every week, byron hasnt turned on the sprinklers yet. we hit about 75 degrees, and let ariana play with the water hose. she said "its ok to wet my feet, i have my rain clogs on." notice she took them off.

I'm a Grand ol Lady

when you think ariana is in her room playing quietly, come to find out she's really getting herself all dolled up. you hear this clip-clop coming into the family room "look at me, i'm a grand ol lady. how do i look?" all we can do is chuckle and tell her "you look fabulous darling". i think its a line from one of "charlie & lola" episodes. the hat is from old navy, apron from rose petal cottage set, shoes are from kohls (size 11). and ready to go shopping with her "louie" purse (louis vuitton). this morning was my mothers group rummage sale. i sold ariana's clothes & shoes, mostly some 2T-3Ts. i made a pretty good profit $$, some ladies thought my prices were too high. some couldnt believe all the clothes were for/from one little girl. got lots of comment that i had good taste though.

Holland Day Blues

this is a blue shirt dress from crazy8, paired with gymbo holland day leggings. the navy maryjanes are from gymbo too, but not sure exactly what line they are from. these are her first pairs of size 10's, altho she's a true size 9.

THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2010

R.I.P. Tita Vicky (Victoria) is the sister of a long time family friend mrs. sacramento. we attended the memorial mass at st.annes church. to return home from one funeral to another, i havent even unpacked. ariana is wearing a dress from old navy, with the cardigan shrug from tcp. i had my annual physical this afternoon. of course ariana was making sure it wasnt her appointment. are you going to the family (ob-gyn) doctor? is this a grown-up doctor? i got a clean bill of health. worried about my 202 cholesterol... borderline, where my doc said my other levels are good. and to find me a daily calcium with vitamin D to take. i got a claritin prescription for my runny nose/sinus.

Welcome Back

left the cold windy city of chicago, and came home to the same thing. i have been putting it off to bring back ariana's fall/winter wardrobe. instead i went in one of the bins. pulled out gymbo fall for monkey sweater dress. its a size 4T with plans as using as a tunic or a top this coming fall. paired it with cranberry red leggings and brown patent pair of greggy girl boots. ariana likes wearing polka dots to preschool, she said it makes her teacher happy. mrs.becky made a chart and wrote all the kids name on it, and asked them what they want to be when they grow up. ariana said she wants to be a "money maker". where is she going to make money at you ask? "at united in daddy's work building." i'm not sure if she understands that daddy gets paid for doing a job, or if she thinks he works at the united states printing mint. one girl said she wants to be a princess in a castle, find a prince, kiss him and marry him. others said a chef, baker, boxer, football player, baseball player, and even a mommy.

Jet Setter

flew home tonight. byron sat in business class, where ariana and i sat together in economy plus (coach). had to take a second look if it was coach-plus, the leg room wasnt that much compared to the first class suites. ariana pointed at the 7 inch video screen in front of us - whats that? i was looking all around trying to figure out what she was asking about."oh this is the video screen where you watch the movie." her response "oh, so wheres the remote control, huh?" once you go first, you never want to sit in the back. ariana is wearing gap mod shift dress 2008 with the matching black boots (even has the gold buttons on the side).

RIP Uncle Sol

R.I.P. Uncle Solomon W. Morgan 1924 - 2010. lately this has been our funeral dress. hopefully we'll be able to wear it to a happier occasion next time. its the trish scully dress & coat outfit scored at a consignment store, nina black patent shoes. byrons uncle sollie (his dad's youngest brother) passed last week. he was buried at a military cemetary in joliet illinois honored with a 21 gun shot solute, bagpipes and bugle playing "taps". there is only one surviving sibling (the youngest) - auntie eunice. she made quite an impression at ariana's baptism. my family loves and adores her, always asking for her at our parties.

The Only Way to Fly

we caught the early, let me say early, morning flight to chicago. i guess it was well worth it, as we sat in the new first class seats called ipte (international premium travel experience) suite. i know people were like "they got the big ol seat for this little girl". it actually came in handy since the seat reclines all the way back to fold flat to a bed. ariana slept since we got her up early to go to the airport. i was sleepy but wanted to enjoy every single perk that comes with these seats (drinks and all). cheers!

ariana is wearing our favorite and most comfortable dress from naartjie in celery (green). we had this dress for years, its a size 5 and at one point down to her ankles. now it fits perfect, not even having to roll up the sleeves. the trenchcoat is one of my latest sales find from gap. afterwards we decided to go downtown before heading south to see the family. first on the list was to get garretts popcorn. medium bag of carmel & cashew mix for me. small bag of cheddar cheese for byron. small bag of buttery for ariana. i first got hooked on the carmel - this stuff blows cracker jack away. they closed the store on michigan avenue, and we found it relocated around the corner off of 625 north michigan ave. the line was long and moved fast inside, at least it wasnt out the door. everybody is happy while we happily wait to put in our order. we even talked about coach purses, one lady thought i got mine at the coach store around the corner. only if she knew it came from the outlet in california with a 20% coupon. the sun was shining altho the air was cold (brrrr). we went to see all the tulips and sculptures at millennium park. we really had a great time and enjoyed ariana exploring all around. kind of reminded me when we use to take joshua everywheres. note the sears tower is known as the willis tower, this year united airlines will move its operation center to this 110-story building. wonder what floor(s) they will occupy??

Treehouse

gap treehouse dress (4T). pink basic tee and pink strappy saltwaters.

after i dressed ariana for bed in a gymbo nitegown of course, she comes out of her room all dolled up as the easter bunny fairy. guess she knows i'll let her stay up longer. how can i tell her to take everything off after all the time she put in.

Olive Green

a dress from when Crazy8 stores first opened up. melanie got the dress for mimi (size 4T) and later on i got the olive army green hoodie (on sale) that went with it. the metallic olive green gladiators are from crazy8 too, not sure if its from the same line. i recently purchased the olive green leggings from tcp. we went outside for awhile til dad came home. ariana drew with sidewalk on the driveway while i touched up the front lawn. joshua ran the mower over it when he came home for the weekend, but didnt weed-wack the edges. the new grass is coming in and filling up the dead dried up spaces. its still fragile for the lawn mower. i actually like the color green of it, and perhaps sprinkle the stuff all over. right now it looks like our land ends with the line-up of the house, when really theres more to the right. my vision plan (actually my dream) is to remove all the rocks currently there, extend the grass towards the neighbors. in order to this we have to clear the side of the house first to put the rocks plus a new sprinkler system. oh, byron keeps reminding me it takes money too (guess he's not gonna do it). blue skies, white clouds, sun and rainbow. ariana is the little person with the 4 scoops on the ice cream cone. luckily i took a picture of it before it rains again.

What Time is it?

out of all days i dress ariana in "born to shop" tee, that is the one thing we did not do today. she's wearing an outfit from gymbo petite mademoiselle line, navy saltwaters.

10:00 kindergarten enrollment. i had all the forms filled out. doctors document where ariana is all shot up-to-date. dr's appt card for her next physical in october, altho i cant schedule til 3 months before. birth certificate (original & copy). my drivers license. pg&e utility bill (original & copy). i had a original/copy of our mortgage statement due march 1st - DENIED!! it has to be the last current one within past 30 days. i go home and search thru all of byron's bills - come to find out its at the income tax place. now i have to go thru all this again next wed. Next on my list is to wash ariana's hair. she has pre-school pictures in cap&gown. her appt is 2:20 same time as bff. they had ask me if i could take bff. come to find out when i went to pick her up, the dads gonna take her. the photographer took 3 poses in the cap&gown, plus a diploma prop for the kids to hold. ariana was like "whats this? is it a map (like on dora)?" the photographer had to think quick - told her its called a diploma, a piece of paper when you're finished going to school. 3:00 back home, killing time till my mammo appt. why i have 4:45 in my mental calendar, i dunno. omg its for 4:00. there is no way i could get there in time or for byron to meet there for ariana. i get it rescheduled to 4:45. call byron about the time change, which he completely forgot i had an appt today. 5 minutes later he tells me we have to sign our income tax forms at the preparers office who closes at 5:00. cancel my mammo, meet him at the tax place. now he asks what our plans are for dinner. uh nothing, remember i had a dr appt?? a local mexican food restaurant it is. i leave at 6:00 to get ariana changed for 6:30 ballet lessons. byron goes the other direction to the post office. luckily i had a blank check and postage stamp in my purse. ballet monthly fees were due where i used the check for income tax. right when byron got home, he had to turn around and bring me a check for the ballet studio. 9:00 ... and to all a good night.

Shot Me

i started to get ariana dressed this morning - wearing gap madras patchwork dress. its a 3T and a tad big on her when she wore it last year. i actually picked it out for the short sleeves, perfect to get her shots. she thought we were going to preschool in the morning. umm, if i would've told her the truth - i would've never got her out of the house. once we passed her school, i said we had to go to the doctors to pick up the forms for kindergarten. you could feel the tears in her voice as she told me "i dont want the doctor to check me". quickly changed the subject going across the san mateo bridge. made it to the parking garage, in the building, reception, waiting area, and to the exam room. i kept telling her the nurse is looking at the paper to see if you need anything. i felt so bad when it came time for the shots - 3 of them, mind you. 2 in one arm, 1 in the other. apparently the district requires these extra shots if the last one was'nt given after the 4th birthday (oct). she did good sitting, staying still, head buried in my shoulder, even with the crying. ariana said "the nurse poked me, i dont like shots". aww my poor baby, i feel for her cuz i dont care for them either. plus i told her she wont have to get another shot in a long long time (hoping next year). believe leaving the parking garage, i had to pull over and put a bandaid on it. they had put a tweety bird round one, but if a disney princess one over it made her feel better - on it goes. she asked for water. i thought a drink of water, instead i put water on her towel blankie and wetted her shoulder. we went on a donut(holes) date to the nearest shop down the street and shopping downtown. all better now.

Hearts & Anchors

i know there are long sleeve shirts in ariana's nautical dresser drawer. all the other drawers have 3 stacks of gymbo lines. this one is a hodge-podge of anything red white & blue no matter what brand, be it gymbo, gap, janie&jack, etc. the drawer isnt that full as most of bon voyage stuff was size 2T. gymbo line mixing - bon voyage khaki pants & holland days navy top. the navy blue in bv is darker than holland days as long as theres no tulips.

Tuncy & Henrietta

this was my first matilda jane purchase a couple years ago - tuncy top and henrietta ruffles. the top is size 2, and i have a size 4 too for later. it was a day full of errands - byrons dr appt, drop off kinder forms at the ped, safe deposit box at the bank, post office, eat, starbucks, etc. so much where ariana fell asleep and we skipped preschool. crazy weather too - one point we were on the san mateo bridge. drizzling at one end, went thru a rain cloud of big splats in the middle span, completely dry on haywards side. patches of blue skies & sun would peek out, then cloudy or a big down pour. ariana was talking in the car (i forgot about what) but she remembered something or what she had learned. "do you know how i did that? God helped me".

Bath Time

ariana knew she was going to have a bath this morning. she had scrambled eggs & waffles for breakfast. she asked for seconds saying she's still hungry. dad went ahead and made another waffle. i told him she was just saying she wanted to eat more to stall for bathtime. throughout the morning - she would keep crying to me "i'm not ready for a bath". i keep telling her not to cry UNLESS something really hurts or is bleeding. she gave me the line "my feelings are in pain" and talking about baths hurt her. ariana said she didnt want to go anyplace anymores. hey even if we stay home - you still have to take one. our talk didnt last long, as she went crying to daddy. like he is suppose to talk me into putting it off, only giving me time to prep the tub. we have a new bottle of mr.bubbles (for sensitive skin) and a new poofy puff that changes color when you dip it in warm water. she tried one last stall and called for rubber ducky. scrub a dub dub. ariana is wearing gymbo holland days jeans & top. its one of the last home game - golden state warriors vs okc thunder. joshua was thinking about getting $10 seats up in the nosebleed section. he goes across the street to see if our season ticket holder neighbor has any tickets. perfect timing - our neighbor got a pair from his family that couldnt attend at the last minute and gave it to josh. section 102 row 3 - behind the visitors bench. we dvr'ed the game and spotted josh. go warriors!!

Little Sister

when putting away ariana's fall wardrobe, gymbo tops (whether long or short sleeves) made the cut in her room. there is the bottom drawer of gymbo tops alone. the little sister top from gymbo fall for monkey line with some gymbo jeans. i had ariana dressed by 10:00 am which is good timing for a saturday. really didnt have any plans. ariana says "the sun is sure taking a long time". so long where it practically looked like it was still morning time in the wee afternoon. ariana was a little gamer - leapster, leadpad, gameboy and kuya's itouch. thank goodness kuya josh is home - cuz i have no idea how to operate nor play these things.

Surprise I'm Home

omgosh, joshua scared the bageegees out of me this morning. i had NO idea he was coming home. all of a sudden we hear keys jingling trying to open the front door. i was like "who theres? who is it? what do you want?" didnt have time to look thru the peep hole. when byron leaves in the morning, he only locks the doorknob not the top one. here i am trying with one hand twisting the top lock, holding the doorknob lock with the other, asking all these questions at the same time. AND josh isnt even answering. i'm thinking a drunk person thinks he lives here, got the wrong house and trying to jam his keys in my door. instead of giving josh a welcome home in open arms, i let him have it. you know i have trained him eversince he got his license - to call us when he leaves, call us when he gets there, or call us if he takes a detour. out of all times - he didnt call. ask him why - "oh i didnt want to wake you up", "i just decided this morning". not once during the 3-hour drive home could he make the call. i'm pretty sure i'm one of his speed dials on his cell. also if i knew he was coming home - i wouldnt have cut the grass yesterday. josh wasnt going to be home for the next 2 weekends, and who knows when byron is gonna get to it. byron thinks its important to pay the bills "to keep the lights on" than have a green front lawn. but when your lawn isnt nice, people start to think renters live there or you didnt pay the waterbill. nor do i want to end up with a "nuisance to the community" warning from the city. i missed asking one of the neighborhood gardeners on tues. remember my weed killing incident on my front lawn? well its growing back becuz of the scotts seed thing. its too fragile to put the lawn mower over it, so i used the portable cordless thing. i have no idea how to set up the mower for the life of me. i could just see all the neighbors watching me and having a good ole laugh. dont ask me to use a gas one. i have this fear i'll loose control of the mower - it'll take off, cutting anything in its path, and maybe onto the yard next door. byron looked at the lawn and said it looked nice. then he laughed at me after finding out i cut the whole thing with the portable edger. it was a pj day until dad came home, did a quick change to head out for sushi. ariana is wearing gymbo bon voyage sweater with wywh navy gauchos.

Gap Medi

ariana says the funniest things. she woke up before me this morning and said "mom, you're taking along time to wake up." i was getting dressed and ariana was in my bedroom. i have this whole grooming morning ritual now - brush teeth, comb hair, my facial creams, etc. ariana noticed my underarm stubbs "mom, you have hair in your kili-kili (underarms in tagalog)." i told her "yea i just shaved them". her reply "becuz it thinks they are becoming a man's".

we played outside in the garage. she was the shop lady in the rose petal market, i was the customer. a couple of times she would suggest something my daughter might like. she would go into the rose petal cottage house and change into ariana herself, then back to the shop lady. wearing gap medi, i love these color combo. the snail top is retail size 3T, the shorts are from the outlet size 4T.

Sunflower

can you tell todays weather - sunflower, sunshine. get it?? its finally here and to feel its warmth. ahhhh. might hit 70 deg. finally a chance to pull a dress from her closet. picked the gap sunflower dress, putting a yellow tshirt underneath. i got this dress last year at the outlet. its a size 3T, this dress ran huge where the 4T was long like an hawaiian muu-muu.

when we picked up the girls, ariana bff said "i had fun at preschool today". ariana told her bff "i had more fun than you". i think (at least i hope) it was her way of saying she had fun too. soon as we got home, ariana got the feeling dad would be on his way home. under the dining room table she goes and stretched out under 2 of the chairs together. i told her she could play and then when we hear the car (believe me, you know when the porsche is coming down the street) - i'll let her know. ariana insisted to stay there as i listened to "is dad home yet?" "dad sure is taking a long time". all of sudden it became quiet where she fell asleep. there is no way i could crawl and slither her out. i managed to coax her to move to under the table since its higher than the chairs. i didnt want her to sit up and hit her head on the chairs or all the legs (ouch!). out of all days byron didnt make it home til 6:30. he was able to get ariana out, and she finished the rest of her nap on kuya's bed until 8:30. of course i paid for it staying up til almost midnite. luckily i have alot of episodes of "clean house" on the dvr to watch.

Abbi Knot

i received my matilda jane order from the new hammond bay line. mj is kind of expensive, altho i call it affordable boutique prices. since i dont pay "store prices" for them, i treat the clothes like they should be worn on special occasions. when really they could be worn anytime anywheres, and are comfortable. i need to relax about them and get my moneys worth. i mean, they are only clothes right? i decided to put on the olive ruffles with brown top. ariana gave me the line "i'm not a princess" when she wears pants. i tried "oh these are pretty pants, they have ruffles." didnt work. on went the abbi knot dress over. poof - i felt like the fairy godmother.

while she played in the garage with her bff, i spent the day organizing her shoes. one cabinet houses all her shoes. thats how ariana ended up wearing her sketchers. the one that makes her "super cleanup girl". she did help me - if you want to call it that when she tried if the shoe fit or not. the dont fit ones went into my mommys group rummage sale in a couple of weeks. my little cinderella has exactly 100 pairs of shoes. the breakdown - 17 boots, 31 sandals, 38 shoes, 14 tenny shoes. most are size 9s and 10's. wow maybe she should be called "little imelda" instead.

Wild One Heart

after the rain yesterday, i have no idea what to expect with this weather of ours. morning showers, partly cloudy, clearing up in the afternoon with sunny blue skies, temp not hitting 60 deg. not ready to pick from all the spring dresses hanging in her closet yet. i had went to gymbo outlet a couple of weeks ago. i pulled this dress out of the bag from wild one (zebra) line. its a size 5, shopping ahead for kindergarten this coming sept. the dress actually fits now with folding up the sleeves once. i had put away most of her leggings, so black footless tights will do. heres my attempt to french braiding her hair. i cant get really close and tight to the scalp. my sil gave ariana some of these little butterfly clips. i had planned to make 10 little rows, but ariana barely sat for me to do the 6.