School's out, which means that the dream of maintaining a schedule for one's (my) sanity is temporarily put on pause for a couple of months. In the meantime, I must try to keep our kids entertained, ensuring that they don't get sunburned (apparently, here in Oregon that's not a problem), make sure that their television time is limited, and that they have enough social activities to get them from one week to the next. It's nice not to have to be somewhere. Yet, I find myself asking "what can we do?" School has now been out for 2 weeks, and so far we've stayed busy.
Today, Cooper had a friend from preschool over to visit. He's a shy guy with a little speech impediment that sometimes makes it difficult for people to understand him. Somehow, I do. Cooper and he have become friends over the past year, and it was hard for them to realize that Summer vacation meant you don't see each other again until Fall...Until KINDERGARTEN. So, this little guy's mom and I decided to have them get together this Summer, today being the first visit. A few minutes after arriving and becoming instantly petrified, he loosened up and had a blast. While the kids were playing outside in the yard, I pulled up a lawn chair and began to play on my ipad. Before long, this little guest was coming over to me to see what I was doing. I didn't even have a chance to say anything before he began to swipe his fingers across the screen turning pages and inadvertently opening apps; he was instantly mesmerized with it. I couldn't stop him - I gently told him no, and began to pull it away only to find that no matter the direction I turned, he was still attached! I laughed out loud, because it was so much like a drug to this little guy and he just "had to have it!" I was playing bejeweled blitz, and that's just what he wanted to do. So, I let him swipe his finger, moving one glittery block after another until the colors matched and the blocks fell, causing the sweetest, most endearing burst of cheery laughter that was great enough to make me smile and cheer right along with him. A few dropped blocks in and he suddenly remembered that there was an airplane to be ridden - So off he went.
I'm looking forward to the memories and adventures that the next friend brings with them, on one of many playdates I'm sure this Summer will entail. And I can't wait for the next burst of laughter to share with em'!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Creative Origins
Many of you know that I am half Mexican. Those who just find this out often respond to me with "okay, yeah, I see it now." ha.... I have to laugh, because I think that the fact that I don't know my Mexican history as well as I could has actually made me develop a sense of humor that some find offending. You know "who's your daddy" or "Ay papi!" kind of thing. Well, I do know who he is, and in the pictures I have of him he looks as if he probably should have played one of the main characters in Fast Times at Ridgemont high...I just don't know, nor have I ever known, where he is. There is a curiosity that remains about it all, but, at the same time do I even wanna go there? I have noticed that my Mexican roots sometimes come out in my children, especially when they talk. "Memmer' this?"....when Rayla says that it makes me think she must be mimicking Carlos Mencia. Maybe she's really just discovered her inner Mexican!! They can all roll their tongues (to an extent) and learning the Spanish language has been extremely easy for them all. My three younger children could pass as being part Mexican - My oldest, not so much. She's as white as snow, and tall. Most Mexicans aren't usually very tall. Because I am Mexican, her father is....Californian (of course it's an ethnicity!! lol) and her middle name is Rose, I have historically called her my Mexicali Rose. I do know that it's also the name of a restaurant - And if it hadn't existed before Katie was born, I might think they stole the name. Now, please don't think I'm dogging on the Mexicans. I'm not...I'm embracing the humor that be for not knowing the Mexican part of my own history. My humor and creativity that is displayed in how I present myself, and how I describe my life, comes from all angles of my history - Mexican and not.
I'm sure going to have fun with the kids in trying to explain that they're Japanese, Finnish, Mexican and Irish....holy name....what about Japafinicanish? Finicanishanese? Irifinnijapican? Hahaha....If only!
School is out for the Summer (thank GOD) and hopefully the rush of getting here and there will ease, even if only temporarily. I can say that I'm happy I'm not fighting with my daughter every day about her HOUR long hair routine every morning. She would take a shower at night, brush out her nappy curls, get up in the morning and immediately get to working on her hair. An hour later, her hair is only scrunched up with gel and her bangs look like they've had a straightener run through it a time or two. WHY does it take an hour for her to do something that would take me FIVE minutes? Seriously, aside from the straightened bangs her hair doesn't look much different from when she actually rolled out of bed. I'm fairly certain that she's modeling in front of the mirror for 50 minutes trying to make sure that her hair looks good no matter what angle she is turned in. That doesn't work for me so well. I KNOW that people just don't give a rats ass about whether or not a single strand of hair is sticking out a little further than the others. I put my hair up in a clip almost every day. Even in high school, and my friends can attest to this, I would get on the bus with a mop top, brush it then and either whisk it up into a clip, or mousse and scrunch it up to dry naturally and freely. Not my kid. If the twins can't get their act together at that age and learn to just "let go" then I'm going to lose my mind! Two of em' pulling this crap every day would be enough for me to just shave their heads. That's the new rave, right? :)
I am quite lucky, though, that all my kids have a sense of creativity, some stronger than others. Katie is creative in the way she talks smack to us. A couple nights ago, after a suggestion from dad to go to bed early, just because, Katie wished us goodnight on her way to bed with a "Goodnight FA-THER." We laughed hysterically over this into the next day. My girls love bugs, and searching for them. So much, in fact, that many of the petals of my flowers have been removed for the sake of "looking underneath" to see if the bugs are hiding there. (sigh)....And Cooper, even at this very moment, is on a mission with invisible guns and hammers, trying to find the almighty super-fly, so that he may capture and destroy him! (I won't argue, as I hate flies...I probably won't go as far as to "capture" him, but destroy I will!!)
I'm sure going to have fun with the kids in trying to explain that they're Japanese, Finnish, Mexican and Irish....holy name....what about Japafinicanish? Finicanishanese? Irifinnijapican? Hahaha....If only!
School is out for the Summer (thank GOD) and hopefully the rush of getting here and there will ease, even if only temporarily. I can say that I'm happy I'm not fighting with my daughter every day about her HOUR long hair routine every morning. She would take a shower at night, brush out her nappy curls, get up in the morning and immediately get to working on her hair. An hour later, her hair is only scrunched up with gel and her bangs look like they've had a straightener run through it a time or two. WHY does it take an hour for her to do something that would take me FIVE minutes? Seriously, aside from the straightened bangs her hair doesn't look much different from when she actually rolled out of bed. I'm fairly certain that she's modeling in front of the mirror for 50 minutes trying to make sure that her hair looks good no matter what angle she is turned in. That doesn't work for me so well. I KNOW that people just don't give a rats ass about whether or not a single strand of hair is sticking out a little further than the others. I put my hair up in a clip almost every day. Even in high school, and my friends can attest to this, I would get on the bus with a mop top, brush it then and either whisk it up into a clip, or mousse and scrunch it up to dry naturally and freely. Not my kid. If the twins can't get their act together at that age and learn to just "let go" then I'm going to lose my mind! Two of em' pulling this crap every day would be enough for me to just shave their heads. That's the new rave, right? :)
I am quite lucky, though, that all my kids have a sense of creativity, some stronger than others. Katie is creative in the way she talks smack to us. A couple nights ago, after a suggestion from dad to go to bed early, just because, Katie wished us goodnight on her way to bed with a "Goodnight FA-THER." We laughed hysterically over this into the next day. My girls love bugs, and searching for them. So much, in fact, that many of the petals of my flowers have been removed for the sake of "looking underneath" to see if the bugs are hiding there. (sigh)....And Cooper, even at this very moment, is on a mission with invisible guns and hammers, trying to find the almighty super-fly, so that he may capture and destroy him! (I won't argue, as I hate flies...I probably won't go as far as to "capture" him, but destroy I will!!)
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