Too Many Fun Pics...

... not to post some of them. :)

And I know I titled the post-before-last "Catch-up blog," but this one kind of is, too. Enjoy!

The above photo was when Mario was sent home from school because he was still "contagious" with chicken pox -- which, being interpreted, means: "We don't want the other mothers seeing your child had chicken pox, and freaking out on us." :)

So... Mario was home for an extra week for Spring Break -- and now he's been off for another week and a half for Swine Flu. So he really has almost missed an entire month of school... that is the way to do it if you're going to be sick...! -- but anyway, this photo was when he and Candi decided they were going to do this weird foot-hold thing all around the house... ;)

I... seriously don't know how this happens. I think I have every pair of socks in the laundry, and then it comes out like this. Matching pairs of socks can make this perfectionist go insane... and since I'm already close, I predict it won't be long... ;)

But seriously -- where do they go???

I'll give a standing ovation and three of my Japanese peanuts to someone who can give me the best answer to that...

Nereida informed me that this is what I look like in the mornings.

I disagreed.

I told her that I certainly don't smile like that (at least for an hour or so) and she's missing the bleary-eyed, dazed expression and the exploding hair that it's my fortune to wear... ;)

This past week was the Mexican celebration for "Day of the Kid" -- which is actually week/month of the child... or you would think so with all the festivities.

Part of the "fun week" for the kidlets was to dress as "crazies" for a party... and above you have the two crazies that I take care of... :)

Jenna and I were signed up to help -- her doing hair (gel, glitter, braids, etc.) and me helping with card games like Memory.

It was... mass chaos.

Seriously.

But we're still alive -- barely.

Diego, Mario, and Jose upon returning to CVE -- filled with candy, sugary juice, and gross chile suckers... yum.

Diego -- is going to be 6 ft. tall, I think... lol.

He has shot up so much in the last year... all his shorts are super-short, and yet he's still teeny-tiny around the waist...

It makes him look really, really nerdy...

... but still pretty cute. ;)

Look familiar, Dad?

Bill?

Other door/post back-scratching males???

Last weekend the kids and I had a "sleepover" in the living room of the house. It was actually a lot of fun... except sleep doesn't come that easily when you have two or three little hot, squirmy bodies jostling to sleep as close to you as is physically possible... ;)

Grandma Mildred -- you are my new heroine! How in the world did you put up with that every single weekend?!?

One day last week I decided to braid Candi's hair in dreds. She looked really, really good -- like a little Jamaican girl someone said! And with her dark skin, she was really cute, I must admit... :)

Upon taking the braids out, she was delighted to have pelo chino (curly hair, which in direct translation is actually "chinese hair"; don't ask me, I have no idea...) -- and so, of course, we took pictures!

Mom, I can't get this photo to upload correctly... but this was Diego's birthday gift to you! He came in one day and told me to get my camera. I asked him why, and he said, "I have a present for your mom." I followed him outside with the camera, and this heart was drawn! At the top you can see his name, which he has almost learned to write by himself... ;)