Memorial Day

SUNDAY, MAY 30, 2010 - Let's Go Fly a Kite

ever since joshua was small, its been a tradition on memorial day weekend for us to go to the san ramon arts & wind festival. aka the kite festival. thank God for this day as its the only one out of the year where byron puts aside to go fly a kite. the month of may in the bay area has been one of the coldest ones yet. today we hit 80 degree mark - awww the sunshine never felt so good. unfortunately there wasnt enough wind to keep the kites up; long enough for ariana to see her pink rainbow heart kite flying. at one point she wanted to sit on the picnic blanket by dad and just watch him maneuver it. joshua's stunt kite got up a couple of times when he could catch a good gust of wind. we watched the kite show as the pro's flew them synchronized to music. ariana was amazed seeing "the kites are dancing up in the sky". and even when they landed them on the ground, she said "look they're on their tippy-toes just like ballet". kinda got a late start this morning, ariana woke up with a sore throat at midnite - kept asking to drink water for the next 2 hours and i got the "i'm not sleepy anymores". so here it is memorial day weekend to wear our country's true colors of red white & blue. and what do i put her in? - gymbo flower garden. patchwork top and seersucker stripe capris. also sporting the new pink SF giants baseball cap and keen sandals. perhaps i got so excited with the long awaited warm weather forecast, where i picked a summer outfit over a nautical one. plus i still have tomorrow - memorial day isn't til monday.

All Decked Out

kuya josh is driving home today for the 3-day weekend. ariana reminded him not to forget to pick her up a red sprinkled apple shaped cookie from the applefarm restaurant in san luis obispo. josh remembered me too - brought his momma a red velvet cupcake. yummy. first warning she gave him "you cant bother me or my family". in no time, josh was already at it. altho he adores her, sometimes he bugs the heck out of her. i swear if you heard them, you would never guess they were 17 years apart. sounded more like siblings being only a year apart or two. ariana said "if you dont behave, you're going to go to the problem doctor". this doctor takes all your bad manners and throws them away. she even got on her play telephone and made an appointment. "hello problem doctor, this is ariana, my kuya is bothering me." josh is so funny. he could be in his pajamas sitting down watching tv. right when i'm done taking ariana's pictures, all of a sudden he comes out dressed to match her and says "hey what about me?" josh is shy of 6 feet tall, ariana had a growth spurt in the last couple of months. she is 41 inches tall, weighs 36 lbs. ariana was a fairy the good part of the morning -slipped on a tutu and wings over her pajamas. with memorial day coming up, its time for red-white&blue. luckily i keep all nautical clothes in one drawer. come on, dont tell me you dont have a nautical drawer?? ariana is wearing gymbo bon voyage top with denim capris. stripe canvas shoes are from crazy8. the pink tutu skirt went back on - a sailor ballerina??

BonVoyage Navy

no rain insight today - yippee! gymbo bon voyage navy sweater swing top. its a kidgirl size 3, i actually bought it years ago when ariana was a baby with plans to wear as a dress. unfortunately it hung in her closet until now NWT (new with tags). and a brand new pair of white pants from janie&jack. ariana picked her l'amour maryjanes with NO socks. remember, she's an island girl and would really prefer to wear sandals or even go barefoot. i bought these shoes via ebay thinking they were navyblue, they look almost black like a midnight blue. now i'm on a hunt for a navy pair. its kinda nice with byron working swingshift, takes the pressure off of having to cook dinner. i dont get the dreaded phone call checking up on dinner plans. i know he would rather prefer a homecooked meal vs uniteds cafeteria. i'll pay for it over the weekend. so after preschool we stopped and visited lola (my mom). ran into justin, ended up going to alvarado school spring concert. he sang in the advanced choir. ran into my highschool classmates that had kids performing too. guess i better start getting used to attending these functions again, ariana starts kindergarten in september.

Knickers

the winds were blowing so strong yesterday where it ripped the canvas tarp roof on the playstructure off. so with all the wind & rain over the weekend and more forecasted for the rest of the week, you would think today was going to be a carbon copy. wrong again. by the time to take ariana to preschool - blue skies, calm breeze, 67 degrees. its janie&jack little paris knickers with gymbo pink turtleneck. ariana was so excited to wear kneesocks; she finally fits gymbo size 3-4. the maryjanes are from j&j too, not sure what line.

byron is on swingshift this week. and with byron home in the mornings, he's around to help me give ariana a bath. she had to check and make sure he was running the shower for himself, not her. we told her daddy wont be home until late when she's asleep. she's ok with it, but concerned "where will daddy eat dinner?" remember ariana used to be curious about people at their jobs and if they lived there. we explained they just work there and then go home. she's not used to daddy working at nights. we'll see how she adjusts to this schedule.

Short & Sweet

gymbo happy rainbow - short & sweet top with blue capri knit pants. ariana was happy to have the 2 men in her life home all day. i didnt even compete, as i dont exist until bedtime. she helped kuya joshua mow the backyard while she was on the playstructure, and also washed his bmw car. me on the otherhand - cleaned up after the two. see joshua will just do the basic - mow & snip. he doesnt pick up the cuttings nor pull weeds. lil miss ariana just takes out all of her riding toys and tools out - and doesnt put them back. i do have to admit - my yards does look like carlos (our ex-gardener) was here. not a single spot of dry dead grass on the lawn. josh bought new bags of playsand - we'll attempt to do the sandbox next weekend. where was byron? - he went to go get the porsche smogged for dmv registration. it failed, altho the guy offered to buy it. not sure if he's gonna take him up on it - thats his dream car "baby". we really could use a suv than a sportscar.
joshua is in his cal poly track team outfit. unfortunately his season came to an end last weekend at the Big West track & field championship @ cal state northridge. he happen to scratch on his first jump of 47-8" in the triple jump. that would have qualified him to compete in texas next weekend.

Back-up Dolly

ariana is at this point getting into things... exploring. yesterday she wanted one of her play dressup clothes hanging up. she decided to step on a plastic hamper - ended up falling through. i had always told her - if you want something to always ask mommy to get it. she has been great during all her baby years not getting into cabinets and asking permission ...until now. so this morning she gets her bathroom stepstool and puts it by her dresser. there are two top small drawers where i keep her hair accessories and things, one drawer was her back-up Dolly i bought just in case something happens to the dolly she has. ariana saw the pink stuff-doll leg, which scared the living daylights out of her. then she took it out and came crying to me. i gave the whole shabang about why we have an extra one, they dont sell dolly at the store anymores, if we leave Dolly at the hotel or loose it - then we have a backup. ariana begged me to let her play with newly found dolly for the day, and then we'll put her away tomorrow. she had a tea party, beach party, all kinds of party with all her dolls to welcome the new one. out of the blue, she told me "wheres (old) Dolly? i think she's lost." we looked all over for her, just like when we "lost" binky. ariana said "since old Dolly is lost and we have no idea, its ok because i have new dolly." smart girl huh? she actually hid her old Dolly. when daddy came home, ariana told him "i have some bad news." byron couldnt believe she did that. we went out (our second nite out since she was born) and josh came home from college in time to babysit. during the night, she told kuya josh to check the coat rack. next thing you know it - Dolly falls out. when we came home, she said josh was a great inspector in helping to find it. since she went thru all that trouble, how could i put new dolly away. with one rule - never to take her outside.
when josh was a baby, he got attached to an Ernie doll from sesame street. it was big and i always ended up carrying it or an arm or leg would be sticking out of the diaper bag. i ended up buying smaller ones, eventually one about 6 inches tall until he didnt care for it anymores. my plan backfired on me - he got attached to a pink TWIN size blanket with a satin trim. aka Smoothie. we had 2 of them - one at lola's and one at the house. plus we took it everywhere we went. i dont know what age he was that i thought he didnt need a "lovie" anymores. so i put it in a plastic zipper bag and told him he could take it out on special occasions. he cried to dad "mommy is suffocating smoothie!" a couple of days later out of the blue, he had asked dad "is today a special day?" byron goes and say "everyday is a special day". since then, smoothie was brought back out and keeping joshua company at college.

Play & Paint

ariana got 2 tinkerbell pictures and paint in her easter basket. she did it out in the garage with an apron on. 6 colors of paint and 1 paintbrush, making me go back in & out to rinse everytime she switched to a new color. wearing a IKKS nautical top, you cant see it - but there are white beads. paired it with our favorite gap sailor jeans - no snaps, no adjustable waist and they fit perfect.
it takes me a good 10 minutes trying to get a picture of ariana everyday for the blog. she doesnt stay still, moves and dances around. especially when we're in the front yard, everytime she sees a car coming down the street. she warns me with "uh oh" and karate kicks when the car passes by. i am constantly telling her to either stand straight, stay still cuz i dont have the flash on. most of the time i catch her like taking a step. other times i just snap away and fortunate to end up with pictures like these where she's off centered or at a different angle. you figure after 21 years of joshua, i should've mastered the art of taking your kids picture by now. its ariana who looks good in pictures, dont give credit to my photography skills.

Indigo

mother nature cant make her mind up for the bay area. the 65 deg temperature is nice, but when you mix it with clouds and throw in some showers - makes it hard to plan for the day. not just what to wear, but do you play outside or stay inside. and its not helping my sinuses, dont laugh at me if i just keep a tissue up my nose. i must have a box of tissue in every room at hands reach. its affecting ariana too, she'll tell you "i have itchy watery allergy eyes". sounds like she got the line from a commercial, altho she doesnt want to use the product. wearing gap indigo dress, you know me & my navy blue. its kidgirl XS 4-5, and matching leggings. at preschool, the kids drew a picture of what they want to be when they grow up. ariana drew a picture of her - pointing out she colored her brown beautiful skin and long beautiful black hair. she was holding a jar full of money coins. what does she want to be? a MONEYMAKER. if only it would be so easy as hitting the lotto.

BonVoyage

last night ariana made a deal. she slept in her toddler bed for the first time, inturn - dad will buy her a twin size bed. and i had to rub her back... under her nightgown and tshirt. i tried to slip my hand out a couple of times thinking she was fast asleep, then she whispered "under" for me to continue. ariana woke up in the middle of the night, and dad carried her back into the middle of our bed. funny when she woke up this morning, she said "hey how did i get in daddy's bed? my dream must have carried me here." we're gonna give it another shot tonight.

a nice day today, at least the winds were calmer. i was able to pick up the dead weeds i sprayed last week. can you believe, some were still green?? i have one more section to clean up. picked up ariana's pre-school graduation photos. they came out great, at least the hat wasnt smooshed on her head. i already put the 10x13 in a frame. now we'll wait how long it takes for byron to hang it up... along with joshua's grad picture (class of 2007). ariana is wearing gymbo bon voyage line. the polo top with red button down pants. they are size 3T and i prefer them to be ankle length. originally i had navy maryjanes on her, then she changed last minute to the navy saltwaters sandals right before i took the picture.

Happy Birthday BRIANNA !!

today is byron's niece's birthday - BRIANNA!! she was born a tiny little thing prematurely a month before our wedding in 1999. as much as tim (byron brother) wanted to attend and we wanted to welcome the baby - we were both there in spirit. tim has the biggest heart ever, and believe me we felt his presence all the way from chicago. i have been trying to take brianna home with me for the longest time, hey it doesnt hurt to ask. she's a daddy's girl all right, as the closest we got was to take her home from brunch to the store. and becuz she's a girl - we always send her 2 gifts for xmas and teased tim to watch out for a big toy with lots of pieces. to preschool today with rain in the forecast, ariana is wearing gap deauville top, matilda jane ruffle pants, and elefatan hi-top boots. ariana said somebody cried becuz the kids in class were making alot of noise... and added "it wasnt me". they are working on rhyming words. theres a picture of a tire which rhymes with fire. i thought it was a wheel. ariana told me "its a tire when its alone and no car on it. its called a wheel when theres a car on it. get it?"

Magilla Hawaii

i had bought this dress at a boutique way back when ariana was around a year old. maybe becuz it said "hawaii" written across or the asymmetrical hem. i tried it on a couple of times in the past years, but it just didnt fall right as a dress. now it finally fits as a tunic. the tag says magilla blue kidz, a popular italian designer for kids clothing. note it spells "MAGILLA" down the left side with each letter standing for something. i probably had a better shoe to go with the outfit, but the white saltwaters were at the door before we left for sushi sunday dinner.

Dancing Butterflys

its was the girls first performance of the little dancing ballet butterflys. they danced at Holy Spirit Catholic Church festival in Fremont. sorry i dont have much pictures or videos. i was in front of the girls becuz their teacher wasnt able to make it. altho the girls did quite well on their own. encore!

Play Ball

for the blog, our daily photoshoot consists about no more than 10 shots, depends if she is being silly or cooperative. i usually pick 1 to 3 photos to post. oh my gosh, let me tell you - the first thing that came to my mind on this shot - ariana looks like one her Godmother Stephanie (byron's first cousin in chicago). ariana's looks split us down the middle, but today she is totally a "morgan". our friday started out with playing outside, altho its still a bit breezy. ariana is wearing gap coastal top with jaffra white pants. i had plans for her to wear her silver saltwaters, instead she insisted on her black maryjane crocs. dad called us and said he was given another ticket to the giants baseball game tonight vs houston astros. had to completely dress for the cold. gymbo jeans, black turtleneck and gap motorcycle jacket. we brought another jacket and blanket on top of that. one would think we're in the dead of winter - everybody had hats, scarfs, gloves and all. brrrrr. we had really great seats, luckily they were club level section so we could always go inside. the garlic fries are da bomb. wish i could've stopped at the fruit stand in fremont for a bag of hot fresh roasted peanuts.

Petite Mouse

gymbo petite mademoiselle jeans & top. this line must have ran big. both of these are size 3T and were given on her 3rd birthday party... and they are just fitting now. the jeans dont have adjustable waist. navy swimmers saltwaters and gap sweater. ended up changing, she got all wet playing with the watering can. ballet tonight - the last lesson before the performance on saturday.

Tropical Garden to Black

everytime theres a commercial on tv for something (ie iphone, shoe under, etc), ariana always asks me "mommy do you want that?" of course i say YES, and she goes and tells dad. on make-up cosmetic commercials, ariana will ask me "do you need that so you could be like me? tan skin, long eyelashes, curly hair, smooth cheeks. according to her she doesnt need any of the stuff cause "i'm not old, i'm brand new." then she asked if i wanted magical finger nails like hers that doesnt grow old (long). little does she know i clip them in the middle of night when she's really fast asleep. ariana is wearing gymbo crochet top from tropical garden. we had this last year in a 2T, now she's wearing the 3T. the linen pants are from tea collection (via loehmans), they match perfect even with the blue thread trim. white swimmers saltwaters.

what was forecasted to be a nice day, they forgot to mention the wind. we played outside before preschool for awhile. plus its garbage day, and i had to bring in the cans. at first i was just going to change her top, but couldnt find a longsleeve one to match the pants, took off the sandals, and decided to take it all off. ended up putting on a black & grey stripe tunic from burlington. grabbed gymbo grey leggings (from little hearts line). gap fringe boots and gap fleece motorcycle jacket.

Calypso Pink by Day, Princess by Night

what a different from yesterday - at least there's no rain in sight. heres wishing for a warming trend. ariana is wearing gymbo outfit that we wore last year. its from the calypso line, kidgirl size 3. pink strappy saltwaters size 9. the pawprint bows for her two pigtails were made by my niece melanie.

from facebook i was able to get my mom's side of the family info (Rayos del Sol). her siblings, my first cousins and their kids. i ended up making a family tree using post-it notes. there are 8 of them, where 3 of them has passed away and my mother is the oldest. between all of them, there are 30 kids in my generation. most of us are married and have kids totalling 51. 3 of my nieces & nephews had babies so currently there are 4 in the fourth generation. thats alot of post-it notes, and now i just need to draw the lines. i showed byron, and of course i got "are you going to do mines (Morgan)?" i used a long roll of paper from the easel. at the same time i cut ariana a piece for her. she did a disney poster of the castle and funny clock face on its the small world. she rolled it out and showed dad, like she was explaining a blueprint. byron couldnt believe she drew it all by herself. ariana said "its because i have alot creative in my imagination."

when i told ariana to get ready for bed, look what she comes out with. she was too cute to get mad at, so i took a picture of the princess.

Sweater Dress in May

this weather is craaazzzzzy. i thought it was just gonna be a cloudy day. way wrong. around 2 o'clock it started to rain hard and the wind was blowing. i admit at one point i was thinking maybe i shouldnt take ariana to preschool today. can you imagine if we lived in chicago? - ariana would be absent cuz i couldnt brave the weather. in the month of may i dressed ariana in something she would wear in the fall or winter. its a janie&jack sweater dress, turtleneck, tights & boots. the dress is from little paris line 2007 size 3T, and its reversible too even tho we've never worn the pink side.

Happy Mother's Day

SATURDAY, May 08, 2010
Dress Rehearsal

dress rehearsal at the dance studio for the recital next weekend. the girls are dancing to "i'm a little butterfly".

Botanical Oasis

ariana declared today "no nothing day" meaning she has no school, no ballet, no going anyplace. for the most part she stayed in her nightgown. then we had to get dressed to pick up joshua at the airport. she was so excited cuz "kuya is sure taking along time again at college". he was just here 2 weeks ago, and had a trackmeet last weekend at calpoly. (he got 2nd place in the triple jump doing 45-something.) guess she kinda got used to him coming home every weekend. we played outside for a little while i cut down the tall grass with the edger. apparently the lawn mower doesnt get them. i sprayed round-up the other day on the weeds only (not the grass) around the front yard. remember, i learned my lesson last time. it said it'll kill the weeds in 6 hours, but some were still green. i'll give it another day. janie & jack botanical oasis outfit.