What kind of face is this?

I guess I should be happy Xavi ate half of his half sandwich (without mayo) and some cucumber. 

He is such a picky eater, they all are my kids.  They eat fruits (not all types but I am happy they eat some fruit).  They love strawberries and grapes the most.

Veggies is a battle here...I've tried tricks but haven't work well.  Most of the time I feel discouraged but I know for sure one day they will have kids of their own and will think back and  say "momma was right when she told me eat my veggies" Don't we all say that at one point?...mom was right! 

So far this is a happy squiggly sideways face...

kind of like the way I feel sometimes!

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Sesons Change Second Edition...Summer Week 5

For a whole year I will try to find the awesomeness 

included in all four seasons,

perhaps the weather or a nature shot...

maybe display the holidays in turn

who knows?

The sky is the limit.

I took this picture early morning during one of my bike rides.  I  would not want to get caught sitting here waiting on a bus in the middle of the day on an above 100 F temperature.

But then again I think I'd will rethink the previous statement.
 It's cheaper to ride the bus.  I didn't tell you that about three weeks ago I got a speeding ticket in San Diego :/

Not the first one, I've gotten one before (not that I am proud of it I tell you)

I know I cannot excuse myself, but really I wasn't going very that fast. I was just going with the flow... Now I am waiting for the ticket in the mail to pay for the consequences.

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Fun under the sun

We had a nice five day weekend as my husband had 

Friday, Monday and Tuesday off. 

Well on Monday we took off for Lake Elsinore. We had been here before.  But this time we were better prepared!!

 One of my all time concerns when we are out of the house 

is the bathrooms.  Luckily the porta-potties were freshly clean and well stocked with toilet paper :)

 This time we got our own shade...life saver!!!

 We had transportation to and from the shore,

 also we had a cooler to keep drinks and food cool.

We just sat and relaxed.  I am just amazed at how people are not afraid to show their bodies, so I got the idea that next time I go to a beach or to the lake it is my goal to wear a bathing suit with one of those cover ups dresses or shorts...hey baby steps right??  Last time I wore a bathing suit was like 20 yrs ago!!

You know the kids can't get enough water play.  Valeria was the first one to bail out of the water.  She just sat and listened to her iPod the rest of the day. But the other two literally spent the whole time in there!

 

 It was fun to see the 'surfers'

So this is my family having fun under the sun!

I can't believe in less than a month the kids will be back at school.  Time really flies when you are having fun!

I can only hope you had a fun weekend too.

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Hey soul sister!

How many takes are needed to get the perfect picture??

 I say they all are perfect in their own little way!  
We celebrated my sister's Birthday last week.  We are the kinda people that takes the party where it needs to be :)

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Season's Change Second Edition...Summer Week 4

For a whole year I will try to find the awesomeness 

included in all four seasons,

perhaps the weather or a nature shot...

maybe display the holidays in turn

who knows?

The sky is the limit.

I'll be honest I knew in advance Summer was going to be one of the most challenging sections for my Seasons Change series.

  It's always easier finding things we don't like. So here is one of the things I don't like about Summer: my two tone skin...  What am I saying?  actually more tones!  These two are just the extremes.  In reality my left arm is darker than my right arm :/  Face spots? yes I have them.

So what am I to do? wear turtle necks and shorts to try to even my skin tone?  I know that in a life time I won't get it even unless I do as 'tanning mom' lol!! No thank you!

So to be on the positive side I will list some of the things I like about Summer:

• long afternoons
• kids out of school
• movie nights with the family
• no alarm clocks
• weekends in San Diego at my mom's
• no schedules
• crossing the border to Mexico more often

I'd really love to do more outdoor entertainment, 
what do you like about Summer?

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Grand Finale

My brother and her girlfriend of 10 yrs( she has the wife tittle!!), went on a road trip to San Francisco and back.  They took along 5 kids between the ages of 12 and 7 and a dog.  Brave of them,
lots of work but I am sure they had fun.
On the day they got back he called me, asked me to open the garage door and get the video ready
for their grand finale!
Me and Xavi waited for them...I was really cracking up, you can hear it on the video.

First to get off is Ivan my other brother's boy
next, is Ailani my sister's daughter,
then, Sophia my dancing daughter,
then Isaac my sister's son,
then Geome my brother's daughter (the brave brother on the trip)
then Jacqui my brother's girlfriend
THEN MY BROTHER!!  The silly one the one
everybody loves to hang around with even though he treats the kids like military style
but they still love him!
Last but not least PJ the dog everybody loves.




I apologize for the bad lighting but if you need a laugh watch the video!

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I often wonder...

I'd like to share something with you today. I started this blog as a companion to my etsy shop. 

Here is a screeshot of my first entry, that I never posted.  By the way I just learned how to take a screenshot I've been wanting to do this for a while. It's crazy how nowadays you can just google everything and have the answers at the tips of your fingers. 

I also googled ♪ ♫ ah!  I wanted to do that. 

I always wanted to share treasuries that I am included in.  Anyways, back to the first entry hard to see but it reads 'Trying to figure this one out'  dated 4/17/09 again I never posted it. I really was trying to figure it out :/

Then I just started posting new listings from my shop now and then and little by little I started sharing a bit about me and my family.  I later realized that it was a wonderful way to keep family memories, to be honest it took me more than a year to get comments.  But it has been nice, I really don't know if it has helped my etsy shop much.  But I know that I have made friendships with many fellow bloggers.  I feel fortunate because of that.

I know I don't have a super exciting blog but I often wonder how many lurkers are out there, watchers, anonymous followers on non followers??  I get visits everyday and pageviews.  Just wondering??  Anybody?  

My name is Claudia nice to meet you!

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Happy Mail

Here some more Happy mail from these past days:

Outgoing

Postcard sent to Nebraska.

Postcard sent to Kansas.

Handmade Birthday card sent to New York to dear Kary

Now I don't have to tell you that
I used my vintage typewriter do I??

A postcard for Miette in Australia a little girl who has DIPG, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, an inoperable brain stem tumor.  She wants to receive lots of mail and why not put a smile on her face!  You can also visit the blog written by her mom Miette's Journey

Miette's Journey (or just Miette)

P.O. Box 2134

Brighton QLD 4017

Australia

Incoming

Incoming from Kansas, postcard about a tornado in Greensburg Kansas in 2007

Another postcard from Kansas.

Another one from a museum in Kansas.

Postcard received from Nebraska.

Haope your weekend is great!

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Season's Change Second Edition...Summer Week 3

For a whole year I will try to find the awesomeness 

included in all four seasons,

perhaps the weather or a nature shot...

maybe display the holidays in turn

who knows?

The sky is the limit.

Sunrise, way too early I think, 
 105 F way too hot I know that :/

A real menace, a threat for some of us.
Just hoping the day goes by fast.

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Happy camper ready for contact

Till Sophia gets back from her road trip it's just Xavi and me!

Let me tell you what he did on Sunday night, he swallowed a marble.  You read it correct a marble! 

Of course I panicked, but not that much since he was breathing!  Hope he learns the lesson and let me tell you if he didn't choke I myself almost chocked him.

I guess we just have to wait for it to come out the other end :/ 

At this very moment he is happy because his sparring gear arrived yesterday. 

He has been putting it on and taking it off. 

This morning he, told me "mom I guess I have to wear my tae kwon do uniform with my gear".  I say uniform is a good idea unless he wants to fight in his underwear (underwear for him is a natural thing at home)

Although he gets a bit distracted by Sponge Bob, he is ready for contact!

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Rough days

This past week was a very difficult one for us.  I left my house on Tuesday San Diego bound.  With a hesitant feeling and uncertainty we waited for information on the funeral services.  

On the fourth of July we crossed the border to Mexico and visited Popotla a rustic and picturesque village of fisherman that bring in their goods from the ocean.  Locals and tourists alike come down to the shore to get the freshest fish you can possibly get or you can enjoy it in a restaurant. It was a cold grey day.

I apologize for the lack of pictures on the fried fish I had, also beans and rice, handmade flour tortillas and fresh salsa. But I can certainly tell you it was delicious.

We crossed the border to the US again because Sophia was to be at my brother's Wednesday night, she was San Francisco bound to our family reunion on a RV with my brother, his wife pj their dog and four cousins.

I know Xavi is missing her as we stopped at a bakery and wanted to get a piece of bread for her.  On the car Sophia's favorite song was playing and he certainly remember and mentioned it to us.  Also he wanted to catch a butterfly and save it for her.  News is she is having a lot of fun but she has been dearly missed specially these days.  She will be back on Wednesday.

 

Even though Teto my husband's cousin lived in Bonita, California he was laid to rest in Tecate, Mexico.  This is where he was to be wed and start his new family.  We spent two days there, it was very hard to see my husband saying goodbye to his dear cousin (my husband is the one of the right).  We got back home Saturday night drained with an awful feeling of helplessness and emptiness but I know we will see him again one day. Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts.

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A reminder

That was the plan Teto's wedding on August 18, 2012, he is my husband's cousin.

But the world changes in  the blink of an eye.  We got a call Saturday night ...nobody calls at 10:00 pm to say hello :(  He had been in an accident and died that same Saturday.  His life had been cut short.  Sadly, now instead of his wedding we will attend his funeral. 

Damn deadly grass.

I cannot image his fiancee's pain...his mom's pain.

For the rest of us life must go on but not without a wake up call, a reminder of  how short this life is and how fragile our bodies are.  A reminder to be thankful for the things we have, the people we love.  A reminder to tell them everyday how much we love them, to hug tighter and kiss longer. Simply because today we are here and tomorrow we don't know.

You will always live in our hearts Roberto Medina.

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