MISSING THE CLOSENESS

August and September has been a busy and stressful month for me. We went to a birthday party, had Kayla's birthday and attended a wedding last Saturday. I am so glad that it is over but there is yet more to come. Next month were attending another wedding, a birthday party and of course Kaitlyn's 3rd and Ralph's 41st birthday. I am going to be so broke, but hey money can always be earned. Any how while at Ralph's nieces wedding I saw such a gorgeous little baby. She was so tiny, reminded me so much of Kaitlyn when she was a baby. I wanted to hold that baby so bad and just smell her. I had to hold back the urge to ask the mom which happens to be a relative or Ralph's if I could hold her sweet baby, I know she wouldn't mind one bit. Seeing her breast feed her baby got me teary eyed. How I wish I could have breastfed my baby longer than 6 months. I was kicking myself for not searching online about how to increase breast milk production. Maybe If I had, I would have been able to breastfed her longer. One of the factor that caused my milk to dry up was the fact that Kaitlyn was already eating baby food by 3 months and by 6 months she was already eating solid foods. I only had to breastfeed her when she takes naps and at night. I missed that closeness, the feeling of having her on my breast and knowing I am the one providing her nourishment. If ever I get pregnant again I will make sure to increase my milk production.

COSTUMES FOR US

Are you ready for the Halloween? I am so excited this year, we will be complete this coming trick or treat. I still haven't made up my mind what my girls are going to be as, that is if I have a say on it. My girls are at the age where they want to pick out there costume. Even the youngest who is turning 3 next month, she has a mind of her own. I wanted Kaitlyn to go as Jessie in Toy Story or something unique and not common. Kayla on the other hand wants to be something girly but scary at the same time. As for me, I have been going online and checking out sexy adult costumes for myself so I can treat my husband as well,lol. But seriously, I really want to wear a costume this year and maybe go to an adult costume party. If the weather was anything like last year on Halloween, I'd say I may consider getting a cute costume for myself. But knowing me being cold all the time, I probably would end up wearing a sweater to keep warm,lol. But its always good to have a back up plan and I already have a costume in mind.

UNDER THE SHADE

I attended my first ever softball game a couple of weeks ago. It was a game between two Platoons of the Wilmignton Police. Ralph was kind of worried since he has not played baseball let alone softball in 9 long years. When he was younger he and his older brother played baseball and he was the pitcher. From what I have heard he was also good at it. I was so excited and nervous at the same time. I didn't want Ralph to get injured or have his Platoon loose. We got to the baseball park about 30 minutes early, Kaitlyn and Joey the boy I baby sit got to play on the playground. Its so different when your going to a game where its mostly men, so many testosterone in the air and so much swearing and heckling going around. The kids and I took shade under a tree where the breeze was just perfect and we also were in a perfect spot, Ralph was first base catcher and we were right beside him. We get to talk to him and cheer his on and the best thing about it was he could hear us. I was so loud that my husband had to shush me when I started heckling on his team mates on having "twinkle toes". The out fielders were just so rediculous, it was as if they didn't want to be there. Anyway, my husband score a home run and hit that ball out of the field. I was so proud of him. You was cheering on so loudly, you would think it was coming from 10 people. In the end, Ralph Platoon won the game and they got all the bragging rights.. After the game it was a different story though. But according to Ralph it was all worth the body pain,lol

HANDY POUCH

Travel Neck Pouch that I ordered on Amazon.com. My first ever purchase on the popular site and I am very much satisfied. The order took about less than 5 days and before I knew it, it was in our mailbox. I was happy that it got delivered early since I bought that for our Philippine trip. All the important documents, I.D's, passports and money was in that little thing. It came in handy, I didn't have to reach inside my bag to search around for our passports and money. The best thing about the travel neck pouch is that I bought it very very cheap. This thing won't see daylight in the next 3 years until our next Vacation, or maybe not. If we do push with our plan to go to Disney next year I will be using it once again.

BY LAND OR SEA

The past weeks have been hectic for all of us. I have not been online to talk to my mom since I have been very busy. Ralph and I have not even had the chance to do our ritual of just watching a movie after the kids have fallen asleep. We usually do this on his days off when he doesn't have to wake up early to work. One of the movies that we both love to watch is comedy. We got such a kick watching RV starring Robin Williams and takes his family on a vacation on this big motor home or RV. It was so fun watching him trying to find ways to sneak away from his family to meet secretly with his boss. Due to the movie Ralph and I have talked about maybe buying an RV/ Motor Home in 4 years time.I would love to travel with the kids and visit different states. What worries him though is the motorhome repairs that would have to be done. According to our neighbor who has a Motorhome, its not as bad as long as you take good care of it and take it for the routine maintenance. It's going to be a toss up between a boat or an RV but who knows. One thing for sure I'd rather go for the RV than the boat.

IT HAS BEGUN

Fall is almost here, lurking its golden head around the corner. Our neighbor's tree has started to loose its leaves. Her tree is always the first one to go in the fall. I have also noticed birds starting to migrate. My neighbor loves the fall with the changing of the foliage from green to yellowish to golden red and then to brown. She also loves the breezed that comes with fall and loves to hear the crunching of the leaves under her feet. I know my kids will love to play in it and so would our dog. And speaking of our dog he has been going nuts barking every time our doorbell rings. Maybe its a good idea to change look into door chimes. It is just so annoying hearing him bark constantly every time he hears the doorbell..Maybe if its a different chime he will stop since he is not used to a new sound. That will be among the many projects Ralph and I will be tackling in the coming months. Hopefully we will have a mild winter like the Farmer's Almanac predicted.

ITS OUT OF HERE!!!!

I just cheered my husband on his first softball game. Ralph was a baseball pitcher when he was younger and I have heard that he was good to. All the people in there neighborhood knew the Schifano boys. Today's game was between Platoon A and C. Whoever wins gets the bragging rights so to speak. Ralph hasn't played baseball, let along softball in 9 long years. He was so excited to find out that his Platoon was taking on the challenge. We got to the park early and we were the first to arrive. I was worried about my husband getting injured in the game but I didn't let my fear get the better of me. I was the only female present with two kids at that. We sat on the grass under the shade of a tree where the breeze was just a blessing. Ralph was first base man in his team and I get to see and talk to him from the sideline we were sitting. I cheered on my husbands team like crazy, and I was so proud when he scored a home run!. I could tell my husband was also pleased with his performance and he was into the game. To bad the out fielders had twinkle toes, lol... Ralph had to signal me to shush when I shouted " come on guys we don't need no twinkle toes, we need a Diego out there to run and catch those balls". He was not upset with me but he was laughing but he didn't want the guys to hear what I was saying. To make the story short my husband's team won the game and they went out the field with their head high.

I was so happy that my hubby wanted me and Kaitlyn to be there, Kayla was at school. He may be very sore now but I know he had so much fun out in the field today and we are so proud of him..

ITS A CINCH

Every time I come across movies or books about Victorian Era I always think elegance at its finest. The big ball gowns, the beautiful coifs of the women and of course the small waist courtesy of the corsets that most women had to wear. I remember reading an article about Nicole Kidman broke a rib wearing a corset for her movie Moulin Rouge. I would love to get my hands on a genuine corset that could cut inches off my waist line. I thought Corsets were long gone with the new girdles and spanx out in the market but the demand for it is still strong. A lot of dresses, blouses, shirts and costumes have taken its inspiration from the corset. Personally I don't think I would last wearing one but I would love to try it. Maybe I will try to find a dress that has a corset design around the waist for an upcoming wedding I am attending. Maybe this time I will look like I have an hour glass figure with a small waist, lol.

COSTUMES, WHAT WILL IT BE

Can you believe it, its September already. Summer is going to be over in a few days and the temperature will start to drop. I just hope this coming winter won't be as bad as the last time. But anyway in less than 2 months another great celebration is coming up fast. Its time to think about what costumes to get for the kids. Honestly I have been thinking about what the kids will be wearing this Halloween, and I want to wear one as well. I want Kaitlyn to go as Jessie in Toy Story and Kayla wants to be Bulls Eye but who knows. Maybe will look into vampire costumes since they usually come with a cape and I could use it if its going to be cold,lol. But seriously, I hope Ralph and I could also dress up with the kids or maybe attend an Adult Halloween costume party. All I know is that we will be going out trick or treating as a family this year. How about you? Have you thought about what your kids will be wearing?

GOOFY SMILES

Hanging out with my kids outside while waiting for Andrew Juniors 1st birthday party. This was taken last Aug 14, somewhere in New Jersey. It was the second weekend of the month so we got Kayla, to bad Ralph had to go to work. We took one car going there with my BIL Angelo driving. We arrived there about 12 noon and boy were we starving. Party wasn't going to start anytime soon and my kids had to eat. I couldn't just give them potato chips for lunch, so even though the party didn't start I went and got potato salad for the kids to munch on. While waiting for the other guest to arrive we sat down on the swing and had fun taking pictures with my new phone. The kids were goofing around so much that the pictures really came out good. It was a nice day to have a party but most of all I had a great time hanging out with my two beautiful princesses. They looked so beautiful in their respective dresses.

FUTURE PURCHASE

I think I have mentioned that we have 6 working televisions in our house. Only three of the television is HD TV and two are upstairs and the third one is in the family room. The playroom however is not in high definition yet and we are planning on buying a new one next tax season. The reason for getting one is that some movies will not play if they are in high definition. The kids end up watching the flat screen T.V in the family room which I do not like for the simple reason that we can't just watch movies or shows we want due to the kids. Ralph like to read tv reviews before buying so he knows what his getting. But who knows, if the other tv's are still in good working condition there is no reason for us to buy new ones just for the sake of it. But it also good to keep an eye out for what kind or brand of television we might get if we ever need to buy one.

TIME UP

My trip going back home to the Philippines feels like it was just a dream. We were there for 20 days and It was such a short time. I didn't even get to eat most of the food I have been craving and missing. Didn't get to really see the sights and visit downtown, go window shopping. I only bought myself a couple of shirts and two pants while there. And let me tell you paying for your stuff suck specially if the wait is long. It's specially bad if the store you go to doesn't have an up to date barcode scanner that hurry the flow of your transaction. When I got back here I was so thankful for the express lane where you get to key in your own purchase and have scanners that really works. Still, I miss everything in Cebu. The smell, the noise the hustle and bustle of people and the chaos. Next time we will make sure to stay a little bit longer so we can really enjoy and experience Cebu again.

KISS

Kaitlyn giving her grandpa (my step dad) a big kiss. The first time that Kaitlyn met John he was in his Goku state with hair standing up and whole body painted with henna. He was just in a show that required him to have henna tattoo. That scared Kaitlyn and she would not even go near him for a couple of days. But eventually she realized that her Lolo (grandpa) was not going to hurt her, warmed up to him slowly. John kept his video camera on hand all the time hoping to catch a photo of Kaitlyn snuggling up to him, playing with him. He has a whole bunch of pictures of her and video as well. The week before we left Kaitlyn got really close to him, she would wait for him to come home. She would greet him " Lolo your home and gives him a big warm hug and a kiss". In this photo she was playing with her make-up and tried it on her Lolo. He would gamely endure and let her kiss him and in the process left small kiss marks on his face..

PERKS OF HOME

Summer please don't be over!! It felt like it was just yesterday that the warm Summer season started. We haven't even been able to go to the beach. Our youngest is turning 3 this October and has yet to see a beach and play in the sand. I almost screamed with envy when our neighbor across the street came over just last week asking me to keep an eye on their house. They were going on a week long vacation and guess where they were going? To Outer Banks North Carolina to spend some much needed family time with her kids. I told Sue (neighbor) that I have heard so much about Outer Banks, she gushed over how beautiful and great place it is for families going on vacation. Its specially nice if we go with another family and check out the Outer Banks vacation rentals. Having 2 kids under the age of 8 we need a place to crash and something that feels like home. And believe me when I say that when I saw the Carolina Designs of the vacation rental houses my jaw just about dropped open. A house that is big enough for two families and other amenities to enjoy like the pool,hot tub, pool table, Internet and a place for my husband to grill. That is what you call a great vacation house, a place where we have our own privacy while enjoying the perks of feeling like we are just home.

I FOR IMPULSIVE

Have you noticed that kids of the new generation are more into gadgets, computer, computer cames, hand held games and so much more? My oldest got her first Nintendo DS game at 5 years old and my youngest got her first DS game at 2 1/2 yrs old. Well, we didn't buy Kaitlyn but instead it was given to us by the dad of the kids I babysit. He had an old game lying around so he gave it to us knowing we were going to embark on a long flight hoping it would entertain her. But have I mentioned that on the day Ralph came to pick us up at the Airport Kayla accidentally broke her DS game. I was upset but when Ralph told me it wasn't her we couldn't do anything about it. I however told Ralph not to get her one right away, she has to earn it again. But the next day he went out and got it for her. I wish he had just waited a little bit since it was going to be her birthday soon and we could have gotten her an upgrade. We could have shopped online at Best Buy and picked out a new Nintendo DSi for her. My husband is an impulsive buyer, when he sees something he wants he will get it if he has the money. Even though he got her the Nintendo DS I am still going to do a little online browsing for a Netbook, this time it's going to be for my sister. I just have to save up a little bit before I could get it but I am very optimistic that by the end of this year I will have bought my sister her very own netbook.