What's Your Mark?

Today I attended the funeral of Culligula's dear grandma. I haven't attended a funeral in about 20 years & I must say it was a real eye opening experience. As I sat there listening to all the beautiful talks on this lovely lady's life, I couldn't help but wonder what my mark in the world would be.

Am I living everyday to the fullest or am I sweatin' the small stuff? Am I present in my everyday life or am I caught up in the 2,000 thoughts in my head? We always hear how precious life is & how we should live everyday to the fullest but do we? Or do we live day to day, just getting by?

What impact have I made, if any? I'm not sure. What I know is that I get to live. I get to breathe, I get to have all the joy & happiness I can possibly handle. I am filled with gratitude for the Savior & the plan of salvation. I rejoice in the knowledge that I will spend the eternities with my loved ones. But mostly I am at peace with life & myself.

I love those moments in life that make me stop & look at the world around me. I get to realize that I am so much bigger than my circumstances & when life gets difficult, I get to acknowledge myself & say, "It's okay, I'm okay".

Before I go, thank you to all those of you who assisted me in taking my kids today. Thank you, thank you.

The Sox Don't Always Suck

I am a definite Cubs fan so when Combi received his White Sox uniform for t-ball, you can only imagine the look on my face. It had to be some sort of mistake. Don't they know I refuse to have any sort of affiliation with that team? What if my friends back home found out? Would I be shunned forever? I was absolutely beside myself. I thought of pulling him off the team or perhaps forcing my son upon the Cubs team. I could explain my situation. They would HAVE to let him in, right? I even went as far as wanting to get a Cubs tattoo to prove my loyalty to the team. I immediately got on the phone, determined to do something drastic when all of a sudden, the most unbelievable thing happened.

Combi came out of his room with his uniform on. My jaw dropped in disbelief. He was absolutely handsome. He was so happy & so proud to have on such a beautiful uniform. How I could hate the team that my son would be playing for? I couldn't. So for now I shall make peace. But hear me now, when his season is over, it's on Sox fans!

Dedicated to my sister Vladimir who just attended a real White Sox game this week. (She's not a fan either)

Viva Las Vegas Once Again!

We've just returned from our annual Las Vegas trip & what a blast it was! We all had a great time.
First off, Culligula's parents came with us this year so it was even more fun to show them all the things we get to do when we go. We rented a 2 bedroom condo away from the strip, called the Cliffs at Peace Canyon. We've stayed there before & we really enjoy it. Since Big G & Mama Jo were with us, we had to get creative with sleeping arrangements. We took the mattress off the pull-out bed & placed in our closet for the boys to sleep on. As far as I'm concerned, we had a 2.5 bedroom condo.

The weather was perfect. Cool enough to walk around but warm enough to swim (in a heated pool). It was such a fun time & we are grateful to have created such awesome memories with our little family.

Here's what we did: riding scooters, swimming, Shark Reef, M&M store, MGM Lion Habitat, Silverton Aquarium, Adventuredome, Caesar's Aquarium, Cheesecake Factory, PF Changs, Claim Jumper, Chuck E. Cheese, FAO Schwartz, flamingos, Bellagio butterflies, playing Bingo, playing cards w/Big G & Mama Jo, & last but not least spending time with our dear Brazilian friends who live there. Believe it or not, there was still a lot we had planned on doing that we didn't have time for. Thank goodness there's always next year.
JA-JA:

You had such a great time. You were just happy riding your scooter everyday (esp. in the church parking lot). You even returned with some battle wounds from your scooter. Pretty sweet! Your other favorite thing was swimming as much as you could. No more water wings for you! You were meant to be a fish. And being the fish lover that you are, you were in heaven seeing all those aquariums. Although Shark Reef has always been your favorite, this year you enjoyed eating at Cheesecake Factory & looking at the Caesar's aquarium at the same time. My favorite memory of you is riding that roller coaster TWICE with you. Now that was fun! Also, good job on spending your money. It must have really been burning a whole in that new wallet of yours!

COMBI:

I think this is the 1st time you didn't ask to go home after the 2nd day. I loved watching you have so much fun. I also loved that you wanted to take a picture with EVERYTHING that you saw. Needless to say that I have A LOT of pictures of you. You also loved riding your scooter & returning with battle wounds. You had a fun time swimming, even if you did want to wear water wings with an inner tube at all times. You even requested a life jacket to add to your motif. I was very surprised by your budgeting on this trip. Usually you're Mr. Moneybags just buying everything you can but this time you wouldn't buy anything over $3. You were the only one to have money left over. You had a lot to show for what you spent & you still had $13 left over. Pretty amazing! Combi, you're awesome & just watching you laugh & play was my favorite memory of you.

JAYCON JONES:

We survived our trip with you. Hooray! Actually you were pretty well behaved. This is our 1st trip since we've had kids that we didn't require a playpen or diapers. I must say that was a plus. You did great! Of course, you didn't even blink your eyes once on our 7hr drive there or back. How do you do that? You were also a fan of the scooter & have the battle wounds to prove it. As for swimming, you were a maniac! We put those water wings on you for the 1st time & you were off! You were jumping in, spinning in circles, chasing your brothers in the pool... You're nuts! As for everything else, you loved all of it. Especially chasing some weird birds around. I could have done without the "I need to poop!" screams in the car. Keep that in mind please. My favorite memory of you has to be swimming with you at the pool & our quite time together at the Shark Reef as we stared at the fish.
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!!

As for me & Culligula well... we loved it all but only one thing trumps all of it for Culligula. That has to be playing Bingo with our friends. I really think he can't wait to grow old just so that he can fit in better at the Bingo rooms. I have to admit I loved it too. We are also grateful to have shared this trip with Culligula's parents. Big G soaked in some sun (on purpose) for the 1st time in a long time & Mama Jo went down an escalator & got in a pool. Just know that both those things are pretty huge for her. Thank you Big G & Mama Jo for sharing this experience with us.