Cousins Part 3

You know how you feel safe and free at the same time? I get that feeling whenever I am with good friends, safe coz I know they would never put me in a bad light or would do anything that could potentially hurt me or my family. Free coz I can be me--- loud, happy, giggly and dressed down? No problem! 

If you have cousins who are your best friends too? Priceless! 

 

Weekend review ( Labor day weekend edition)

I worked double shift Friday so I slept half of the day. Hurricane Earl left Boston without much damage and by Saturday, Bostonians saw Mr. Sun and everyone re-booked their Cape Cod hotel rooms. The kids and I went shopping at a&f because I managed to have $75.00 in gift cards. They had spend 100, get 25 back promo, and yes, you guessed how much I spent. Technically, my sister and I spent it together. I get to spend the gift cards by myself. Methinks that's fun. By the time you pick up 2-3 shirts at Abercrombie, that $75.00 is gone though, so I had to shell a few more moolah. " Aber, aber..." Hahhaha. KC and I went to the nail spa and she had her first real spa visit. Funny thing is, it was a teen age boy who did her nails.

 My DD ( Dear daughter) is a kikay too.

 I saw the cutest thing ever. Look for yourself.

I got KC new shoes and new flipflops. They are adorable.

 The boys went to the Apple Store while we did all this. I love my 2 boys--- NO COMPLAINTS WHILE Ate and Mama shop. After the spa, we met up with my sister, Janette who was visiting from Montreal. We went around malling for a bit and we went separate ways to prepare for Sunday's big event--- Joey's first bday party at the Lombardo's in Randolph MA. The kids and I had to pick up Mr. Hubbs in Holbrook, but before that,  we had our ice cream-hotdog bonding moment. We do this as often as can be. I love spending this moment with them.

Sunday was party day. Saw a lot of friends and family. Though we constantly see each other, it is good to see friends and family in a different place, all dressed up to the nines. It is one happy party. The staff at Lombardo's is awesome, the place is clean and very well prepared.  We played a lot of games and it is nice to see people relax and be on party/vacation mode, letting their guard off if only for a brief moment. There was a lot of smiles and laughter and a whole lot of love for Joey. There were cameras everywhere. The "official" and designated memory keeper is Vince. He has the nicest lens and if you see this guy in action, you will be amazed. He has the passion of a professional yet the relax mode of a playful memory keeper. I have to constantly remind myself that someone might catch me at a bad angle... joke! Have you ever been to an afternnon party where people danced like no one was watching? This is the ultimate crowd! So much fun!The day is not over yet though. The "After Party" is at Fridah's place and we had tons of food and we all gorged on lobsters. We stayed there till 11:30 pm. So, to summarize, the brunch is at 11am, party ended at 4pm, after party starts right away and the night is over by 1130pm. Did I say I worked double sHi*t on Friday? I know.

Labor Day- Since Mr. Hubbs is working, he was just going to meet us at Georges Island. Yes folks, we went to explore Boston harbor Islands, ended up exploring only Georges Island because there is so much to do. We went to take a peek at Spectacle but did not have time to explore this beautiful island. This is my family's second time here at Georges but it is still beautiful. Miss Sol and RN Eric with Grace liked the place though, so I am glad I tagged them along. Just exploring the islands seems to give me this sense of vacation, although technically we are only 25 minutes away from home. We hop on the boat in Quincy, it is so much cheaper and easier to get parking than if we did Boston. The sight of boats, water, birds, hills, old Fort Warren, war ruins and families is a sight to behold. As Boston Harbor Islands slogan says "minutes away. worlds apart."

Unfortunately, Grace had to leave the island earlier than us because she has to catch her flight out to Cali. Boo! We capped the day ( or the summer) by deciding to do a barbecue. We bought tilapia and eggplant, some okra, chicken wings, pork ribs and fruits.... called my sister and her family... INSTANT party. Again, family and friends make the difference.

How about you? How was your weekend. I hope it was fabulous like mine.

Being with kids. Again

On Tuesday, my niece Fridah ( who collects Barbie), had to go to her training. I will be babysitting for a couple of days..  She is a Practical Nurse. I do not know what the difference is from an LPN, CNA or even an RN, but, she's a nurse.  I am so lame.

I took care of her kids, they are sooooo adorable. Precious is 5 and the baby, Joel Michael is about 5 months. We call him Joey although his parents want to call him Jem for short. You know, Precious.... Jem. I know! Funny. Actually, Precious is Precious Gabrielle but I love calling her Ice. They are both adorable. Fridah dropped them off about 9AM, KC and Josh are home around 12PM because Tuesday is half day for city public schools. Can you imagine my day? I had to keep stopping Josh from kissing Jem, kept telling Ice to stop nibbling and tell KC to let Ice watch her TV show. Haayyy! But, eyelavet! The good thing about taking care of kids other than your own is that you enjoy them so much knowing that at the end of the day,  you give them bak to their parents. You know what they say about uncles and aunties, they are the ones who say yes to everything... yes to chocolates, yes to messy and yes we can get that. Who cares if the baby's gonna be hyperactive? Mom will pick them up later. WHo cares if the preschooler wants to color his shirt? Mom will wash it later. See, you enjoy the moments with them, Mom will clean them up. Hahahha!

While Jem was sleeping and Ice was watching Nick Jr.,(like preschool on TV", is their tag line), i tried ( tried is the operative work) to clean my bathroom. I tossed away my old make-up, cleansers, lotions, sunscreen, mouthwash and little things that are just occupying space. Useless and waste of money. As I mentioned 2010 to do listt, I would like to declutter my bathroom essentials. One less thing to cross off my list, yahoo! Ice came over and said,  "why you have lots of make-up?" I said i do not. She snapped back " yes, you do." I guess that's a sign for me. No more make-up, even if they are 95% off. Oh kids, they tell you things like it is.

Here she is, eating spaghetti which surprisingly she loved! "Mamu, i love it!" Really? "yes". It warms my heart. I bet she loved the Filipino style sauce. Filipinos love to make spaghetti sauce with hotdogs and make it a tad sweet. See, her mom cooks really good, so I am really happy she liked my spaghetti, without any bribe from me.

If all kids I babysit is as good as Jem, I could make this as a profession. Jem is incredibly easy. He is 5 months only, which would make taking care of babies this age a little bit on the fragile side. But Jem is so quiet, only cries if he is wet or hungry. But only for a moment. He cries only to get your attention. Once he gets to see you, he starts to smile. 

Ice and Jem

Oh, did I tell you I have to pack my kids and these 2 adorable bunnies in my car on the way to Boston,  to work, then hand them over to Hubby?  I felt like a schoolbus driver sans the rowdy kids. My kids adore Ice and Jem. I think it comes with their ages. Since Joshua is 7, he still gets a little jealous when Pherry pays more attention to them. At the same time, they fight on who gets to sit with who, and who gets to read a book for Ice and who gets to sleep over. The list goes on and on.  They had a blast being cramped in the car!

I am sure my kids and Ice had a blast spending time together but if someone loved it more than anything, it would be me. Josh is now 7, so he is not quite the baby anymore, so it is refreshing to spend time with younger ones. Babies are pure genuine happiness. Personally, it inspires me to see a baby. It makes me reflect on the simplicity of life and how to get the most of it, you know, going back to what is essential to us. Hearing Ice's giggle, makes me go back when we are carefree, not careless but carefree, when the world was all about the little things in life, when a smile can make you forget why you were upset, or when a soothing hush can make you stop the tears from flowing or when you are contented with just family, when home was your stronghold!

Don't you wish everyone around you  be as simple, honest and happy as babies?