Slideshow from Weekend with Abuelo and Nana

Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of my dad :(, but please enjoy the slide show....

Weekend with Abuelo and Nana

Friday afternoon, I picked up Erico from school and the boys and I were off to Cape Coral to visit my dad and step-mom. I always try to make the trip every few months, so the kids get to spend time with their Abuelo and Nana.

We had such a fun time, on Saturday I got a great surprise and Diann took me to a belly dancing class (actually two classes in a row). It was alot of fun and a great workout. My dad stayed home with the three boys for almost 3 hours!

Then when we got hom the boys went for a dip in the COLD pool and then we relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Sunday, after breakfast and then my Dad and I played baseball with the kids, I was the pitcher and he was the catcher. Erico and Elkin started off missing almost every ball, then after a few minuted they were hitting the balls across the street!

Then Diann came outside and asked if we wanted to go to the park, so while we playing at the park we had a little picnic and the kids sat on the rocks watching the waves with Nana.

In a perfect world!

With kids around and with three growing boys, they are getting to an age where they can help around the house. They see how much I have to do everyday like getting all of there things ready for school, cooking food, putting dishes away and putting them to sleep.

So here is a little something I put together to show what they have learned....... Enjoy!

Remodeling/Demolition resumes!!!

Since the holidays are over and no major holidays are to come, we decided to resume our remodeling and demolition/construction to our house.

Thursday and Friday of this past week we had our roof re-done. We had architectural shingles put on, which are supposed to have a longer roof life.

Then we started to demolish my kitchen, this is going to be hard on me, because I had to box up almost all of my dishes and find space in my pantry for my everyday things like spices and what not, but for a new kitchen, I will make the sacrifice. At the same time we are remodeling the kitchen, we will remodeling the family room. So these projects are pretty complicated and will take a few months.

I will post some pictures during the progress.

Sewing project

Wednesday of last week, I decided to finally start on my sewing project which is a pillow/bed for Scrappy. I cut the pattern and fabric then pinned most of it late in the evening while everyone was asleep.

About a month ago our Scrappy, who will be 10 years old in July, started having seizures. We have had Scrappy since he was 9 weeks old and it saddens us to see that he is now an "old' dog. he has about about 5 seizures in the past month and the vets prescribed him some medication.

Friday evening I was waiting for Elkin to wake up from his late afternoon nap so the boys and I could go on our bowling date, and I decided to just finish my project.

Scrappy seems to love the bed and every once in a while Bianca will sneak and lay down on it, if he gets up. Hopefully, I will have time this week to buy a stronger fabric so I can start on Bianca's pillow/bed.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I want to wish all of my family and friends a Happy Valentine's Day and if you are reading this, then know that I love you and you are very special to me. I figured I would take advantage of this day to express that to each and everyone of my family and friends.

I have been a little under the weather the past few days, that's why I haven't posted anything in the last few days.

Love,
Jodie

Getting weekly schedules organized!

This week I have concentrated on getting the Barbosa schedule organized. We have more things going on in our daily lives.

My daily things are taking Erico to school and picking him up, my daily household tasks like studying with the boys, reading a book with the boys, cook dinner, pick up house, give baths, play with boys, put boys to bed, spend time with Gil once kids are down and get ready for the next day.

I work Mon 9-2:30, Wed 9-1:30 and Fridays 9-2:30.

Tuesday's - Erico has soccer practice and Gil and I have our co-ed soccer game.

Wednesday's - Erico gets out of school at 1:55, Elkin has soccer practice from 5:00-5:30

Thursday's -Erico has soccer practice from 4:30 - 5:30.

Friday's are soon to become very hectic because I work from 9-2:30 and then starting in March, Erico and Elkin will both have soccer games either at 5:30, 6:00 or 6:30 depending on their schedules, and we are hoping that they will at least play at the same location instead of us having to split up between two different places. At least we have all weekend to study, read books and play. We will see.........

Gil is the coach for Erico and Elkin and thanks to a very good friend of the family, Chris Rivers, we have him as the assistant coach for both boys. Chris Rivers is 20 yrs old (I think). Gil used to be his assistant coach from the age of 10 - 18. So it is awesome that he has known all of the boys since they were in my belly, to now acting as their coach. He is a very AWESOME and responsible kid. He also plays with us on our co-ed team.

Saturday's - The whole family works on house things, like yard work, remodeling house, cleaning, playing, etc.

Sunday's Gil has his soccer game with his over 30 men's division and he is going to play at least 5 games for another premier team, and then I will try to squeeze in practice with the girls from our co-ed team in the afternoon, prepare weekly menu, buy groceries, and get ready for another fun-filled week!

And on top of all that, Tax season is here, so I have started to file taxes for most of my existing clients and now I have some new clients.

I have my personal planner that I update every evening and during the day with new tasks and now I am working on putting a family calendar together of all of our soccer practices, games times and our demolition/remodeling of the house.

At times I want to pull my hair out, but I couldn't ask for anything better. I am just very grateful that I have my days filled with things to do for myself and my family instead of being alone and with no plans.

I guess that is what is going to make me stay feeling young and during times feeling very old. I welcome all the challenges that come my way and I know that I can figure out how to keep everything running as smooth as possible.

Keep me in your thoughts and send good "VIBES" my way.

NORTH CAROLINA TRIP

We went to North Carolina on our winter family vacation that we have not been able to do in 3 years. We left on Tuesday night about 11:40 p.m., right after our soccer game, which we won 4 to 1! We drove about 4 hours while the kids were sleeping and then checked into a hotel in Savannah Georgia. The hotel was very clean and cozy, we played with the boys for about 30 minutes (at 4:30 a.m.)and then it was lights out for all. Right as Gil and I were falling into that great sleep, Esai, who sleeping in our bed, threw up all over!

Gil ended up sleeping on the bed with no sheets and wrapped up like a hot dog in the comforter and I was in the other bed with all three boys.

We left the hotel Wednesday morning and had breakfast and were on the road by 10:00 am. The ride to N.C. was pretty smooth considering that we had all three boys locked in their chairs for another 6 hours.

When we arrived at Sugar Mountain, N.C., their was snow all over the ground. Our cabin was amazing, the view was overlooking the bottom of the slope where people practice and take skiing lessons. That evening Gil went snowboarding and the boys and I played in the snow in front of the cabin.

Thursday morning when we hit the slopes with the boys it was snowing pretty heavy. We had Erico and Elkin take private skiing lessons first, Esai went to the daycare to stay out of the falling snow, and while the kids were practicing, Gil and I went skiing/snowboarding together! It was awesome! Then we took Erico and Elkin up the slopes the ski. they did very good for as young as they are and being their first time. In the evening we all went tubing, including Esai!

Needless to say, we all had an amazing time while we were there.

Friday morning we checked out and headed for Florida. But on our way home we stopped at the Mystery Hill House. You can stand at a 45 degree angle in a room and watch a ball and water flow up a hill.

Then we stopped by to visit Lisa and family, Gil's cousin. They bought lunch for us and the kids played and had a great time. After that we stopped at a fireworks superstore and bought some REAL fireworks, not like the ones you get in Florida.

We made it home at around 11:50 p.m. or so and put the kids in bed brought some things inside and set off one firework, then off to dreamland we went...

Please look at the slide show below. I will be posting some video clips soon.

North Carolina Trip Slideshow