update

I am going to finally update this blog of mine, in hopes to inspire Jenny ( or as Fernando use to call her Jenni-leeni, cutes ) to update her blog.
Let's get it moving sister!
Here is a little backtrackin of what we been up to over here at 46 Howard....

Let's see,
last friday was twins day at Jordan and Maxwell's school, so they wore their Celtics jerseys and were twins with George & Julius Quitana ( they are brothers who are each in Jordan & Maxwell's grades). They looked very cute and then afterschool George hung at 46, did the whole Wii/Xbox thang, wrestled, pigged out on pizza and soda, the whole fun kind of way 9 year old boys live to spend their days!



Then as always there were some amazing shots taken by, you know her, that amazing photographer Isabella Laila Toledo.
O Yes and this is one of those shots, call it what you want but she knows how to capture the beauty in the eyes....look at crossed cutes eyes and only dream someday she can capture one like this of you!

and
then on Saturday, awesome Gigi took Max, Bella and me to see:
it was so cute, all these years with Elmo lovers in the house and it was our first time seeing Seasame Street Live. Saw Blues Clue's, saw Dora, saw Backyardigans but never Sesame. I think Jordan would of loved it too but he was like "no thanks Ma" when we asked him if he'd like to go.
So off we went to Lowell Auditorium and my Mom drove my van (cause I was having a bad pms road rage day ) just to keep it safe.
Max loaded up on a big bag of sugary cotton candy and still mananged to stay seated the whole show. He even snuggled, like the lovebug that he is, up with his Gigi towards the end of the show.


Thank you, Gigi, as always you light up our live's!

Hopeful for our country, at last....

'What I Want for You — and Every Child
in America'
By President-elect Barack Obama


On Tuesday, January 20th 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in as our 44th President. On this historic occasion, PARADE asked the President-elect, who is also a devoted family man, to get personal and tell us what he wants for his children. Here, he shares his letter to them.


Dear Malia and Sasha,

I know that you've both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn't have let you have. But I also know that it hasn't always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn't make up for all the time we've been apart. I know how much I've missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me—about how I'd make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn't seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that's why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.

I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential—schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college—even if their parents aren't rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.

I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you'll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other.

Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country—but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free—that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.

That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something.

She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better—and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It's a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.

I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you've had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much—although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.

These are the things I want for you—to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That's why I've taken our family on this great adventure.

I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.



Love, Dad

Thank you Katie!

Doesn't my web banner look beautiful? Thank you Katie for being so kind and for your help.
love ya,
Kristin

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results. ~ Anon.

Big Daddy's 37th!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sweet Darlin'

Sammi

i don't know
how much time she has
what i do know is that
she needs help going up and down the stairs,
she has a huge dent in the right side of her head that is
making her skull vanish and her eye is always leaking fluid, which i wipe away gently with a tissue
she can't even hear me, but if i sing really loud ( cause that sounds good when I sing ) if i sing really loud to her, her favorite song like this:
"wooo ooooo oooooo ooooo ooooooooooooo sweet darlin, you gut the best of my love".... ( holla if ya know that song, it's an old one but she loves, cause she does) but if i sing it really loudly to her, you can actually see her ears rise up and twitch...
she is Sammi,
my beautiful black 16 year old labrador,
aka Sweet Darlin Senior Love
it is so hard to accept that she doesn't have much time left
and
i miss the days when she could run it and jump it and hear me sing songs to her
and she knew my voice sucked but she didn't care cause i was there and i was singin to her and
by her side,
i miss watchin her swim in the lake in nh
and
how whenever we gave hugs in front of her, she got soooo jealous she'd go crazy barking
and would jump it up on her hind legs to be apart of the hug,
i wish my kids could of known her
when she was like that and when
she was playful and chased the squirrels on the fence in mama's yard, smashin against it sometimes knocking those little scrawny squirrels right off their asses & right off the fence,
yeah, i guess i already miss Sammi
and she is still here but is she really here?
now she looks sad most of the time,
hardly does she wag her tale
but she still loves to eat ( that's my dog!)
and maybe we are selfish for holdin onto her
but
it's so hard to say goodbye.....
it's so hard to look at my mother's kitchen floor which is
covered with area rugs just for Seniors convenience, to make it easier for her to walk without slipping,
it's so hard to imagine her not laying there
whether she is just sleeping with her big nose between her old senior paws
or whether she is looking around at my crazy kids run by her or me close up in her face singin "wooo sweet darlin", ...
she is there
it's never going to be easy to say good-bye
i'm going to cry
i love u Sweet Darlin Senior Love
you are right up there with the love i feel for my kids
and
that is huge love.....
Please don't go Sammi, we want you to stay as long as you can....
but when you show us you are too tired to go on,
we will carry you....
in
my
heart
i will always carry
you.

The Band

The new instruments
and
old bongos...
Put it all together and
you get
"the Band"


and they Rock!
Here they are warming it up, sound check, mike check 1,2...1,2....





Jordan Toledo on the Bongo's!



Macky on the keyboard, breaking it downnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn



Bella Lu on the mike,
always ready to shake it!








Video coming soon!

Marley & Me

We went to see Marley & Me yesterday afternoon. My amazing Mom watched all 3 crazies and they actually played outside in the snow and had a blast! They even made this cute little mini snowman.( A, that's what ya get when ya livin in the hood, lol!)




Donald & I ventured out on "a date!", which hasn't happened in God only knows how long.
We caught the 2:15 of "Marley & Me", and I will never forget this movie.
It was so beautiful.
Cry, couldn't stop. Left the theatre with the big google-lina's ( aka Jackie O sunglasses ) on cause my eyes were so red and smudged with black eyeliner. Thank God I had my hello kitty compact tissus in my bag, I even had to give big daddy one. He was bawling too.
It touched our hearts.
I know alot has to do with the fact that Sammi ( our sweet darling senior love black lab ) doesn't have much time left here in our lives, so it really hit home hard. Really hard.
I had read Marley & Me back in 2006, when I saw it at Target right before Christmastime. I gave it to my Mom for a Christmas gift that year and then she let me read it. I cried then too when I read the book. I was so sure, as I laughed through many cutes parts in the movie "i ain't gona even cry", I was sooo sooo wrong! The movie is so close to the book.
If you want to see a touching funny loving tearjerker of a movie, Marley & Me is the one to see.
And though dogs lifespan is way way too short, having a dog(s) in your life is worth the ride & the tears because there is nothing like the love of a dog. The love they will bring to your life and you to theirs, there is nothing else quite like it.

Sweet Darling Senior Love ~ Sammi on January 3rd, 2009 ~ 16 year old black senior love...

Posin it with the mini snowman

And Jordan, too

Max, my little angel

Today

As I was sitting at Max & Bella's gymnastic's class at Flips & Giggles, watching their little selves flip & giggle and of course get spoken to more then a couple of times, such as "Max, wait your turn" and "Bella we are going in this direction on the obstacle course" ( Miss Do-Her-Own-Thang ). I was just rolling my eyes and at times laughing because Max always calls his 2 teachers "teacher", instead of their names Miss Josie and Miss Karen. He sounds like a little thug from the North End, "teacher" and I just have to laugh. It's so Max to say "teacher", as he tries to show them how he break dances and Miss Josie says "those are some gorgeous moves you gut going on there, Max!"
And as I sit there trying to read my book, I'm relaxing, this is my break so I am trying to enjoy it. Then I call home to check in because my Mom is watching Jordan and his buddy Joseph until Donald gets home from work. She is making them some old fashion popcorn over the stove and she says to me "Oh My God, John Travolta's son died!" 16 years old, reported he died in the Bahamas on vacation, suffered from a seizure in the bathroom and possibly hit his head.
I was shocked! I can't even imagine how John and his family can even deal, if I am shocked and I have no connection or bond what so ever.
It is yet another reminder of how we must cherish every moment. The good and the bad, the stressful days, the not so good nights and just thank God we have them. Because we really never know and not knowing is so scary, but since we know we are not promised tomorrow then we have to really make the best of today.
I am deciding to really concentrate on what matters: smiles and laughter from my kids, spending time with them one on one so they will always feel & know they are all equally extra special to me, taking time daily to exercise & de-stress, accepting that things will break - toys, tables, toilets, etc. but as long as I don't break then we will be ok. This is the year and time for letting go of the negative, the hurt, the anger. We all have it but what good is it for any of us?

I have decided to channel that wasted energy on giving more to people less fortunate than I am, to maybe even go back to school ( gaining knowledge is never a waste of time ), to continue moving on this elliptical machine, rockin out to my ipod ( any upbeat inspirational songs would be a great help, so leave them if you have any suggestions, i need to change up my playlist soon. )
And be with positive uplifting people as much as possible.
So I also wish everyone a year of way less negativity, lots more laughs ( cause it really is the only way to get through anything ) and all kinds of time with the ones you love and be grateful for the time because we really don't ever know when it can just be taken away. Think of John Travolta today, no money, big airplanes, or hit movies can take him back to yesterday and make this day have gone differently. It doesn't matter who one is in this world, no one is untouchable.
I pray for his family just as I would pray for the family down the street, if something like this happened to them. There is no difference.
At the end of the day people are just people.
May you find peace in your heart.