November is here and gone...

November has come and gone, which means there is only 1 more month left in 2010.  It just seems like yesterday that we were ringing in the new  year, welcoming in 2010.  WTH?  Why does time fly by so quickly? 

November was a busy month between work and the homefront.  I started the month with a quick trip to Minneapolis.  It was a very productive trip.  Then it was back home to learn that my Tata was in the hospital. 

My Tata was taken to the ER because he was unable to get up in the morning.  After several tests, it was determined he had two strokes "recently." They kept him in the hospital for a few days then transferred him to a rehab facility.  He is home now and recovering as much as he can.  He has 80% blockage in an artery in the neck and there is nothing they can do.  He's too old for surgery and he can't take blood thinners because of his tendency to fall.  It's very scary.  He keeps saying that's not going to make it through to the end of the year.  But I think he is still going to be with us for awhile. He is a cranky old man, though!  Love you Tata! Also,  A BIG THANK YOU to my cousin Mary who stayed the week so spend time with my Tata.  I'm sure he LOVED having you there to visit with him!!

November was also the month of the SJV Fall Gala at US Airwarys Center.  This is a fun night of drinking, dancing, dinner and an auction.  I had one item I really, really wanted...the reserved parking space at church.  Well, after going back and forth with our good friend, Fred, we finally came away victorious.  I thank Fred for not making me go any higher.  I pay more parking at church/school then I do for parking in downtown Phoenix!!!  But on those days when you're barely making it to Sunday mass at 7:40 and mass starts at 7:45, it's nice to be able to pull up, park and walk right into church.  Below is a picture of Alexandra on the first day we used the space with our own RESERVED sign.

We celebrated 12 years of marriage on the 14th.  We didn't do anything, as it was a late night because of the gala.  But it was a nice day because I was able to sleep all day (after taking Mary to the airport), since the kids stayed with my mom.  They didn't want to come home! Anthony picked them up and we had dinner (Ant made brisket), then we had our "Anniversary Show" performed by the kids.  They came up with a 20 minute show of dancing, singing and jokes.  I wish I would have recorded it.  IT WAS AWESOME!  I'm lucky to have two very talented kids!

And to close out the month, we celebrated Thanksgiving.  We had a big turnout for our family dinner at my mom's.  My Uncle Joe took my Tata, so it was nice to spend a holiday with both of them.  My Tata had several generations of his family there, including at one point 3 of the 9 great-great grandkids.  We took lots of pictures to help us rememer the day.  Then the Mesquitas went to spend time with the Leals.  We were there just in time for dessert!  I also got to spend some time with the youngest ones in the family, Gabrielle (Nick's son), Andrew and Arielle (Theresa's kids).  We played a hilarious version of duck duck goose.  I think Gabrielle is still chasing Andrew!

I'm thankful for all I have and all that I'm able to do.  Thank you God, for bringing me to this point in my life.   And thank you for my family, especially my kids.

October was a good month!

October is always busy for the Mesquitas. We usually have some type of Fall Break in the beginning, celebrate Alexandra’s birthday in the middle and end with Halloween. This year was no different.

Fall break was really just a long weekend. The kids had a half day on Thursday, and then were off the following Friday and Monday. We usually stay in town because Anthony doesn’t get the time off, but this year was different. To celebrate Alexandra’s 10th birthday, we decided to go to Disneyland. Yes, I know, we’ve been there many, many times before, but this is the first time we celebrated Alexandra’s 10th birthday at the Land!

For her 10th birthday, Alexandra asked to go. That was her gift from us (plus we bought her extra souvenirs, ssshhh, don’t tell Joshua!). It was a great gift she shared with all of us. We spent two days at the parks, spending time with cousin Patti, plus our friends, the Zamudios. It was so fun to ride rides, walk around and share meals with them. They were even able to get Joshua to ride the Matterhorn for the first time. And then we couldn’t keep him off that ride! Alexandra’s favorite ride (I think) was Space Mountain. Yes, Alexandra loves Space Mountain! Hard to believe I know. And I rode it, too! I made a deal with the kids that if they rode the Haunted Mansion, I would ride Space Mountain. And although they whined, cried and held on tight, they rode the ride. OF course, they refused to get on it again! All it all it was a good weekend at our favorite place on Earth, Disneyland.

The 12th is her actual birthday.  We had Joshua's classroom Rosary night, so we had a small celebration that night.

We celebrated two Rosary nights at school as October is also the month of the Rosary. I was proud to represent 4th grade with Alexandra as we recited one of the decades. The kids also showed off their Sign Language Club skills as the group performed the Hail Mary song. (Both Alexandra and Joshua are in the club.)

We celebrated Halloween with a couple of parties, plus a trip to Talmachoff Farms in Glendale. We went through the family corn maze with our directions and finally 45 minutes later we were out with most of what we were supposed to find.

SJV held their annual All Hallow’s Eve Event on the Friday before Halloween. It was fun to see all the kids (and some parents) dressed up as their favorite characters. We then had a Halloween party at the Morenos where the kids wore their costumes for the second time.

And finally, on Sunday it was Halloween. We went trick or treating in our neighborhood, which we haven’t done in a couple of years, with Briana (our niece/cousin). Briana was Beannie Wells (Cardinals player), Alexandra was Hermoine Grainger from Harry Potter books/movies and Joshua was Indiana Jones. We all had fun and after just two blocks we headed back home to sort through candy and pull out all the Snickers for me!

Now, hard to believe, it’s November, time to prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving. Hopefully we’ll have a big family dinner, as we are trying to plan. If only we could all put aside the family drama for just a day to make my Tata happy. I’ll keep you posted!

Two other big events in November… SJV Fall Gala on November 13th and our 12th wedding anniversary on November 14th. Woo Hoo!

A Proud Mama

Today was the first day Alexandra sang in public, solo.  She sang the responsorial psalm at the SJV school mass this morning.  And I couldn't have been more proud of her.  She has a beautiful voice, she sounded like an angel.  I know I'm her mom, but she did a GREAT job!!  We are lucky to have Mrs. Honsberger as our music teacher and choir director.  The whole choir sounded great, but I'm especially proud of my daughter.  I love you, Alexandra!

What a Weekend

Well, Anthony & I were supposed to meet up with my cousin Mary while the kids spent the weekend with Grandma and Nana.  Well, our wonderful friends, Terri and Chris (OK - really Terri), volunteered to watch them instead so that the kids could stay in one place (instead of changing houses on Saturday).  So, my mom came with us.  It was a rough Friday, as I watched a friend say goodbye to her 11 year old son.  (Very sad, he lost his battle with cancer.)  I didn't want to leave my kids, I felt guilty for leaving them.  We picked up my mom, and Anthony stopped by the school so I could hug and kiss the kids again before leaving.

We're finally on the road.  And when Anthony drives, we make NO stops along the way.  I mentioned the construction and security blocks at the Hoover Dam, the 23 mile detour and now Anthony blames me for the waste of time for driving through Bullhead City and Laughlin.  We finally make it to Ceasar's Palace and meet up with Mary & Jorge and have dinner.  I enjoyed my $12 Popchicken, while my mom LOVEd her $12 grilled cheese sandwich.  Where is McDonald's when you need it?  =)  I played a couple hands of Blackjack and walked way $12 richer.  So, we finally headed to our hotel, the Plaza.

DO NOT STAY at the PLAZA hotel, which is in downtown Las Vegas.  I stayed there about 15 years ago for work and I'm pretty sure that NOTHING has been changed since then.  The wallpaper was coming off, the carpet looked like it was was from the 70s or 80s, the hair dryer didn't work and the ironing board was coming apart.  And to top it off, everytime the A/C came on, it did so with a boom.  We were thinking it was going to blow up.  And did I mention the elevators?  hahahaha  We thought we were going to freefall, but thank goodness we didn't.  But, we were so tired, we all fell asleep in our clothes!  My mom didn't even take her shoes off!

We woke up Saturday morning and decided that we were going to head home that evening, inteading of staying another night.We had a GREAT breakfast/lunch at Casa de Don Juan, then spent time at the MGM, M&M World and the Coca Cola place.  The entire time we were there, I kept saying "Oh, Alex would love this" or "Joshua would like that..."  I just couldn't get the kids out of my mind.

Later in the evening, we started our drive home, with me at the wheel.  And you know what that means, stops along the way!  We stopped at the Hoover Dam, so that we could take a good look (and my mom could take pictures) of the new, beautfiul, giagantic Hoover Dam bypass bridge that was built.  I'll have to get the photos from my mom, as I forgot my camera. 

We made it home finally, after a couple of more stops along the way.  We were finally home and slept in our bed.  It was nice!  It was a good quick trip, I'm glad we went, but I'm also glad we decided to come home early.

It was awesome to see, hug and kiss the kids!  I think Alexandra missed us, not so sure about Joshua.  =)

Seriously, where does the time go?

Why does time go by so fast?  One day you're looking forward to the end of the school year and the upcoming summer and the next thing you know you're six weeks into the next school year.  Summer is a long ago memory.  Oh yeah, we had fun.  But it's time to get back on schedule and do our every day things, like piano lessons, sign language club and Cardinal games.    It's even time for me to go back to work.

I'm working another assignment through a Wells Fargo program, so I'm still a Team Member with the company.  I'm hoping that this could turn into something permanent.  I went to Minneapolis last week and met with my new boss and new colleagues.  They are so nice, professional and just great to work for and with.  I'm looking forward to the next few months.

The kids are in to their schedule, too.  They had their first sign language club meeting today, while piano and voice lessons started last week.  This is the first year Joshua has participated in any after-school activities at school, so it's very exciting.  I'm glad that the kids are able to do this kind of stuff together.

We decided to hold off on sports activities.  Alexandra wants to play volleyball, but the team at school is for girls in 5th grade, not 4th.  Joshua wanted to play football, but I don't really think football is his game.  It was a chore to get him to pay attention during practice and the games last year.  Basketball is a different story.  You can tell how much he enjoys basketball.  Alexandra also wants to take some dance classes, so I need to look into options that are available in the area.

Anthony is still stressing about work.  He tries to not let it get to him but it does.  His goal right now is try and find us a house "down the hill."  We're tired of having to drive 15-20 minutes just to get "in to town."  Estrella is a beautiful place to live, but it's not close to anything!

That's about it for the Mesquitas this month.  God bless, MM

Anthony taking some time out of his busy day to pose with the Oscar Meyer weinermobile.  Gotta love him!

First day of school - St. John Vianney

Joshua (7) - 2nd grade/ Alexandra (9) - 4th grade

Kids after school - we always go to Baskin Robbins on the first day of school.

Another Summer, Another trip to California

Well, summer has arrived and is in full swing.  We spent time with family and friends visiting places around the valley, including the Heard Museum, a first for all of us.  We started the summer thinking our very good friends, the Morenos, would be moving to Pittsburgh, but they are not moving, after all!  That made us VERY happy!  The kids attended SJV Summer camp and had lots of fun.  And of course, there is swimming.  What is it with water?

The kids and I went away last weekend, spending and celebrating Patti's birthday at Disneyland for a couple of days.  It was nice and not very crowded, at all.  Not what I expected for the 4th of July weekend.  We then drove down for San Diego for the night, spending time with Yesenia, LJ and Tonito, and with my Tia Carmen and all her fun family.  It's been way too long since we spent some time with them.

Now the kids and I are again getting ready for another trip to California.  We are going to spend a couple of days in Oxnard and then drive to Universal Sudios.  We are finally celebrating Celeste's graduation from the 8th grade.

Hard to believe that the start of school is right around the corner.  We we get back from CA we'll be preparing for our school's registration dates, buying uniforms and before you know it, actually starting school.

August is also a big month for all of us.  We have several birthdays to celebrate.  It starts out with Joshua on 8/3, then Celeste on 8/6, Anthony, 8/8 and finally, Andres on 8/12. 

Hope everyone is doing well! Talk to you soon!

Maria

I'm ready for a break

Once again, I let time get away from me.  I was sitting at work yesterday and realized that I have just over a week left for this assignment that I'm on with Wells.  These three months went by so fast.  I was hired to work a tempoary assignment for a group within Wells to develop training material for an application that will be rolled out to commerical bankers.  It's been an interesting time for me, including some stressful times.  Lots of stuff going on.  Not a dull moment for the Mesquitas.

I have completed my first year as a RCIC teacher for 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders.  I started out with 15 students, but by Easter Vigil I was down to 10.  These kids have grown so much since September. And I'm so very proud of all that they have accomplished.

School is winding down.  Last day of school is the 28th.  Kids are excited and can't wait for summer.  The school brought back the end of year swimming celebration, so that's a sure sign that summer is right around the corner.

On the 28th we also will be celebrating a very special occasion.  Alexandra will be receiving the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion.  She is looking forward to being able to fully participate in mass.  Although she is worried about Joshua, since he won't be making his sacraments for another two years. 

I love my family! I love my kids!  I love my life!  Sure, there are bumps along the road, but I know that I'm a VERY LUCKY gal!

It's Spring Time

My goodness, where does the time go?  My last update was in January.  Since then there have been a few changes.  First, I'm back at work.  Well, at least, temporarily.  I took a "contract" position with Wells Fargo.  Severance is on hold while I work then resumes when this contract ends.  Then I'm back on severance.  So, it's all good.

Since January we've also started and finished another basketball season.  Joshua played for Coach Ernie and Coach Sal, on the Cardinals!  It was a fun season!  Had fun with some old friends and met some new ones, too.

The kids are keeping us busy.  Looking forward to the next few months of no sports.  Both kids will be taking a break for the spring.  Alexandra is still in sign language club, piano lessons, Girl Scouts and now choir.   I will be so happy when I can say "we survived 1st and 3rd grades!!!"

January Update

Hello! It's been awhile since I last updated my blog so I thought I'm try it today. As I type this, I'm sitting on the recliner, "Tata-sitting." My Tata fractured his neck back in December and is slowly recovering at my Mom's house. Family members are taking turns "Tata-sitting" as he cannot be alone for an extended period of time. He goes to the doctor on the 19th, so hopefully, we'll find out how well he is progressing.

School is back in session, after a cool two weeks off. The Mesquitas are very grateful for wonderful Christmas and New Year celebrations. We had our normal Christmas Eve, Christmas day, New Year's Eve and New Year's day schedule, spending time with all of our family.

Santa was good to the kids. He gave Alexandra the keyboard she has wanted, while Joshua now has his own 2-wheel scooter! Santa also brought the family a few new Wii games. Our favorite (OK, my favorite) is "Just Dance." Joshua and I have almost mastered the two big 70s songs/routines: A little less conversation and That's the Way. Very fun!

I hope you and yours had a great holiday season. Happy Birthday, Jesus! And happy new year, too!