Sunday, January 11, 2009

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!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Marley & Me

marley and me Pictures, Images and Photos
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

Friday, January 2, 2009

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.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

All The Best To You In The New Year!

"Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning, but a going on with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us." ~Hal Borland



just a lil bit crossed eyes, just a lil bit drunk...

Wishing you all a very prosperous, fabulous, delicious, & nutrituous New Year!
Go 2009!!!!
Big Hugs
&
Big Love
To You All!!!!
love,
kristin

May you live all the days of your life.
- Jonathan Swift





All kinds of cutes have rocked my years & the best is yet to come!!!!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Click to play Snow Angels
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Christmas Rocked!!!!

I was just updating my blog, putting the xmas music back in the files for another year and realized I hadn't blogged in over a week! I hope everyone had a rockin wonderful Christmas with all the ones you love!
The Christmas spirit took a lot out of me. Exhaustion kicked in hardcore.
Probably because we were up until 3:00am on xmas eve wrapping presents and big daddy was putting together Bella's awesome pink babycenter, which took, i kid you not, 2 hours to put together. While he worked on that and I wrapped & we listened out to make sure no little feet were up out of bed, ( how scary that would of been, in our little house, at any second they so could of gotten up and saw us in the living room BUSTED!!!, but luckily it all worked out) As I wrapped, i ordered this really awesome movie on demand, called Where God Puts His Shoes, it was such a good movie to watch on Christmas Eve. It has John Leguizamo in it and he loses his job and him and his family end up in a shelter and he tries so hard to get a job in order to get this apartment for him & his family and no one gives him a break. It's on IFC on Comcast Demand. It really puts into perspective how tough it can be for families and it really made me count my blessings even more. Yeah, we joke about livin at 46 Howard in 5 rooms & Bella not having her own room yet, but it could be so much worse. How sad to see this family on Christmas Eve day smushed in a shelter on 2 little cots.....
Onto something not so sad. So back to 3:00 am, we were just finished cleaning up. The tree was lit up and Donald had just put out the crumbs on the plate to make it look as if Santa had just ate all the cookies. I was writing a letter from Santa to the children ( that he would leave next to the plate with crumbs on it ) and I turn and Jordan is standing right there, half asleep right next me! He sees all the wrapped presents and can't believe Santa was here. We were like "yep, Santa just left, ya just missed him!" Wow, that was a close one!
No sooner did he go back to bed, we finally set in our bed for what would be 2 and half whole hours of sleep. Then at 3:10 am, 2 little guys are at the bedroom door asking "can we sleep with you, the wind is scaring us" so all 4 of us, smush in the sweet queen size bed and by 5:15 i feel little Bella Lu climb up on the spacious queen sizer bed and that's it, 5:30 they are all up and ready to see what Santa left for them under the tree! And how cool was Santa leaving all this stuff! And how cool for the whole Toledo family to be up, RISE & SHINE it, at 5:30 on Christmas morning. Oh that was so cool.......

Thanks Santa!!!
Truly
We
Are
Blessed.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Baking Gingerbread Cookies



This past snowy Saturday evening, Bella stayed up past her bedtime and we baked lots of gingerbread cookies. I found out that it is one cookie that I can actually bake and not eat ( aka taste test ) because I am not really feeling the gingerbread taste. Nor does Bella. So we just had a ni time baking, staying up late and then decorating lots of gingerbread cookies that we later tossed. It was still worth it!
And notice the beautiful little pink heart Bella did with the pink icing all by herself! I looked over and she said "i made a heart" and she had put it right where the gingerbreads little heart would be and it was a perfect little heart, pretty good for a 3 year older.




Merry Christmas. We are getting very close to Santa's big visit!