4 Words...

Adam Lamberts AMA performance...????

Your thoughts?

Boy Genius!!

I just wanted to share with you a little story about my A-dorable little D. He is so flippin' smart, it almost scares me. Now I know that ALL parents say and think their children are smart but...c'mon...are they really??? As for me, the answer is yes...he is!!!! If you don't believe me, read the following story:

So we have a rule of; no talking/texting on the phone at the dinner table. With a teenager in the house - this can be challenging - so we made a rule; CAN'T do it! Well the other night, my mom had to take a call while at the dinner table. Dominic, being the police-man of the rules in the house (all of the ones that don't apply to him of course) said in his cutest 5 year old voice E-V-E-R: "Um, excuse me Grandma but we don't talk on the phone during dinner." I quickly jumped in with "...mind your business buddy, Grandma is a grown-up and can make her own choices - so just eat your dinner, please." After I said this he just sort of looked at me with a confused look on his face; eyebrows furrowed, puckered lips etc. Then he said this: (this is the genius part) "Well, I have a...wait for it...HYPOTHESIS" That is correct, he said "hypothesis" - don't worry that it took me, his mother, about 5 minutes to remember what exactly a hypothesis was - not sure that I still fully understand the meaning of it. But, before I had a chance to process what he said, he went ahead and gave an exact example of his hypothesis. He went on to say: "...if you use the phone at the table and it is at your ear, it could slip from your ear and fall into your dinner and make a huge mess and splatter all over the kitchen" Um, what the ...?? Perfect example? Maybe not, but a pretty darn good one and a better one that his mama could give! This was not something he picked up from the Cartoon Network! I am telling you, as I sit here right now - still not sure the true meaning of the word - I am amazed!!!

So, I know what you are thinking...boy genius! Right? Right! I am telling you it was the most adorable, amazing moment ever!! All of us stopped mid-eat and just looked at him like "oh my, it's the next Albert right here before our very eyes!" Seriously, he is the most A-dorable little thing I have EVER seen in my entire life. He amazes me every single day with his new thoughts and ideas and the things he learns; completely out of the blue stuff and his cuteness astounds me - he gets better and better all the time! This is just one of the many, many, MANY stories I could (and should) share about his incredible cranium. I love him beyond words or measure and it grows more and more every day!!! Never thought that would be possible, lemme tell ya!! TTFN

Oh Yeah Baby!!

After 9 LONG years, the rightful owners of the World-Champion Title have finally returned!!!

That's correct. The New York Yankees WON the World Series for the 27th timeOn Wednesday 11.04.09

I LOVE this picture! This is just one of the 1000's of pictures captured of the celebration after they defeated the reigning champs; the Philladelphia Pillies. This was is one of my favorites. Jorge Pasada literally dives into his teammates arms. It was classic!!

So, there you have it. Way to go boys. You absolutely deserve this title!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

PS.: the "core-4"...yeah they can be the core of anything i have, any day!! Oh yeah, they can!!

Halloween 2009

Halloween this year was spent with lots of family. We got to carve pumpkins and trick-or-treat with our fun cousins! It was a GREAT day!! Here are some pics from the day/night:

So during the day, Dominic, Autumn, River and Skyler (not seen ;() sitting around the kitchen table waiting to make their creations! Looks at Dominic and Autumn, I love the expressions are their faces!!! LOL! Too cute!

My little toothless boy diggin' out all the slimey seeds!!

Did I get them all???

"...I can do it mom, I can do it"

Making a "true" Jack-O-Lantern face! Still carving away... The finished product. Dominic's "real" Jack!!! He also reminded me of the fact that he could really do it...use a knife by himself and we didn't need to "worry" about it from now on!! "...see I told you I could do it ALL by myself" and I quickly reminded him that I would decide when he can use a knife!!! Someone is gettin' a little too big for their britches!!! and during the night...we became our "real" characters!! :) Dominic was, of course a...NINJA!! I asked him what exactly a Ninja wore and he said "...all white with sword and a mask". Of course my immediate reaction was "...are you sure?" as I was thinking Ninja's wore black. Hoping to change his mind about the color of the costume because I just knew people would say "oh look that kid is dressed like Elizabeth Smart!" I tried to convince him that "real" Ninja's wore BLACK! Well, he really wasn't having any of that - he "just knew" that Ninja's wore WHITE and that was that. Since I hadn't found a costume for him to wear yet (see earlier "horrible mom" post); when my Aunt went to Party Land in search of costumes for her grandchildren I asked her to take a look around. Well, there it was, on the shelf; a WHITE Ninja suit!!! Who knew!?! I again asked him if he was sure and of course he was. So, we bought the WHITE suit and called it good (oh and Liz for short!!) He looked absolutely A-dorable in it and was happy as a little WHITE clam!!! All was well!!! His little cousins; Skyler and River were Ninja's as well (...black ones) and they had a GREAT time! 3 Ninja's Strike Back!!

Such a fun day/night!! We went trick-or-treating and then went to my Aunt's house for a big pot-o chilli (so flippin' good). I too decided to join the fun and dress up. My cousin AmberLee and her husband Kyle were a Clown and a Joker and I wanted to be a Joker to so my amazinly talented Aunt Cynthia made me a Joker costume in about...a DAY!!! It was so fun! I didn't ever get a picture of the three of us, on my camera, so I don't have pictures of that but we were so stinkin' cute, trust me!!!!

The Joker and her protector Ninja...Dominic!!!

Oh and I may or may not have dressed up during the day...at work...as a...

White Rabbit!!!! Hee, hee!!! This picture is really tiny, Sorry! But trust me, there whatn' nuttin' tiny about me or that costume!!

So all in all, great day, great night, great candy finds, AMAZING food, WONDERFUL family - Excellent...tradition!! I hope all of you had just as great of time. TTFN!

Horrible mom alert!

Ok so it's pretty close to Halloween and I DO NOT HAVE A CLUE what D is going to be!!!!!!!!! I S-U-C-K!!! Sure he has said about a 1,000 different things that HE wants to be but we haven't been able to narrow it down to 1 thing and actually create it...well buy it! Hence, I am a horrible mother!! So, what do you think?? Below are the top 5 that he has mentioned, help me pick 1:

1. Ninja
2. Batman
3. Ghost
4. Army Guy/Soldier
5. Creepy Guy (????)

So, the choice is yours (at chuck-a-rama...sorry, i had to sing that in my head). Tell me your favorite pick for the little dude cuz' we seem to be havin' some trouble choosing!! :) But, hurry cuz' Halloween is "sneeeaakin'" up on us really fast!! TTFN!

#35!?!

Happy, HAPPY, Happy Birthday to my Mario-cart!!

Mario hit the BIG #35 on Sunday September 27, 2009

I love you SOOOOOO much and I appreciate all you do for me and our family!

I am so glad that you were born and that you chose me to be with you for eternity!

(thats a looooooong time!!) :)

I hope your day was a great day (it better have been cuz' i was the one in charge!)!! Here's to another great year...and MANY more!!!

xoxoxoxo,

Luigi (me)

Happy 5th Birthday Dominic!...(better late than never :))

So, I don't have a computer at my house (or i should say i dont have the internet at my house - i know, i know - why don't i just get out a rock and chisel what i want to say and snail-mail it!) so I haven't been able to post anything about Dominic's BIG day! Plus, my camera was broken and I had to wait for the person who was kind enough to take pictures for me to email them. I am really trying not to make excuses here...oh whose kidding who?? I am such a horrible mom! Gad!! Anyway, like I said - better late than never, right...right!

Dominic celebrated his 5th birthay on Sunday September 13th, 2009! He was lucky and spoiled enough to get two WONDERFUL birthday parties that day! We went to Grandma Santos' house in the afternoon where we had yummy food, snacks, an AWESOME monster truck cake (handmade by Cat - scrumptious) and more presents than a little boy knows what to do with! I wish my camera had been working to capture the fun time we had with Grandma, Aunts, Uncles and cousins on the Santos side!!

Ok so here are some pictures from his birthday party - on the Ralston side - that same evening:

A WAY cute card from Scott and Helen! It said: "It took us ALL 5 fingers to wish you a happy birthday!"

Dominic is VERY into Army guys and Pirate guys and Police guys - this is him opening one, of many, of the aforementioned. He LOVES them and plays with them NON-STOP!

But we do take time-out to sharpen our skills in the pre-k learning book he got from Uncle Rick and Aunt Jeri! Believe me, it's a short break away from the Army guys!!

And more Army guys/stuff from Desi! Notice me saying "WOW - more Army guys - yay!"

New bike from mom and dad (helmet and pads sold separately and not pictured!)

Dominic and Skylar saving and protecting the universe!! Hee, Hee - I love it!!

Not the greatest picture of either of us but, it just kind of illustrates the present-storm that entered our living room that day!!! Again, Dominic got SOOOO many presents from our wonderful families - I know we didn't get pictures of all of them and then to try and post what we did get - I would have to create a new blog all together!! Again, so unbelievably spoiled and loved!

And the best cake EVER!! If I do say so myself!! I made a - from scratch - chocolate cake. Oh YEAH baby!! Anyway, I made a #5. Not from a mold - oh no - I cut that bad boy into the shape of the #5 with my little paring knife - oh yes, it was all me and my extensive creativity!! It was AWESOME!! I was so flippin' proud of myself and Dominic thought it was great and LOVED it!! LOL!

I thought this would be a better shot at the #5 but...I guess not! You will just have to take my word for it - it ROCKED!!

Thank you to all our wonderful family for making Dominic's day so fantastic - yet again!!

And HAPPY, happy, HAPPY birthday to our "little" boy!! We cannot believe how BIG you are getting and how quickly time literally flies! How did you get to be 5, a "whole hand"?!?! Sheesh!! We LOVE you SO, so, so, SOOOOOOO much Dominic and we are even more blessed to have you for our very own! You are the BEST "little" boy EVER and we are SO proud of you - we could have NEVER asked for anything more!! Thank you for being the greatest 5 year old there is!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"So, I was thinkin'...that I love you"

Heellllloooooooo!!!

WOW, it has been a REALLY long time since I have posted something!! Sheesh, time flies when you are having "fun" ey?!?! Anyway, since it has been such a long time - I thought I would post things that have been happening in picture form. Or, as Molly Shannon says; "my life is best described as a monologue from the made for TV movie Cybil"!!! LOL - I love her!!! J/K - I am just going to post pictures...in no particular order AT ALL!!

Fourth of July Parade!!

"We have a piper down, I repeat we have a piper down"! LOL - I LOVE the bag-pipes! Favorite part of the parade!!

Ralston Family Reunion 2009. I had forgotten my camera for most of the festivities during my family reunion so I missed a TON of fantastic moments - damn it Jim!! But, I was able to capture some really, really good times!!!

Family Softball game! Clearly my team won!!

and clearly Mario was taking the pictures!

Ricky about ready to knock it out the park!

We so ROCK!!

The future star of the New York Yankees!! 2029 season!

We had an Hawaiian theme this year as my great aunt and uncle are moving there to be with there son. We hired this AMAZING group to dance, sing and teach us to look like idiots while attempting to dance like them, to come and add to our festivities and send my aunt and uncle off with a bang! They were AWESOME!!! I was just a little bugged though because I thought that the women were supposed to dance with this hot little pineapple of a man - but I apparently was mistaken!! It was all good though, because I did get to stand really close to him while he was practicing! Much better close up!!!

This little boy sang us a little number while his sister danced. So flippin' cute!!

Thanks to my wonderful friend - Mario and I got to see Kenny Chesney in concert!! It was such a good show and he is so flippin' cute - I want to put him in my pocket and carry him where ever I go (and he is short enough that I could) I never realized how small he was until we saw him live and in person!!

Not a great picture of me but Mario wanted me to keep it - he likes it. what can I say, he has problems! Anyway, we had been camping with our friends the weekend before this and I got FRIED!!!! I mean I was a walking, barely, lobster!! I fried the crap out of my knee caps (of all things) and could barely move!! As you can see my forehead, my nose and my cheeks are just a shade of pink!! I didn't take my camera with me camping because as you can see from the outcome, it wasn't the greatest camping trip ;(!

Daddy's Day 2009! Dominic picked out and made all of Mario's gifts! We made him breakfast, in bed, made him a tie to where to church (and he has), bought him two x-box games, that they can play together and gave him several "water shoot-guns" so they can have "awesome water fights" with!!

Just a random picture. We went to a funeral for one of my family members in June. The hotel near his home was so wonderful and allowed everyone that came from out of town to stay for free. This was so awesome, I have NEVER heard of anyone doing this or offering this to people - we were SOOOO grateful!! However, the rooms (because they were so full - it was peak season and there were several people coming for the funeral) were a bit squishy!! I had to put the two chairs that went to the table together for a bed for Dominic. I had to take a picture of it because I just thought he looked so cute. He reminded me of a wee baby in a crib or something!! I know - I have issues. I can't help it - I want him to be little again. Afterall, he is about to turn 5!!!!! WHAT!!!! Stay tuned for pics from his big day!

Well, that is basically our summer recap. I know we did a TON more things but of course - I left home without my...American Express card AND my camera!!! I will try and be better about updating from now on!!! TTFN!

Fun with D and J and...M!!!

This is the absolutely adorable Jordynn and Dominic playing. Jordynn and her little sister Madysenn (see below) belong to my cousin Nicole and her husband Josh. They live in Arizona but their Grandparents (my uncle Rick and aunt Jeri :)) brought them here for a visit for a few weeks. Dominic had the BEST time with these two beauties!!! They just hit it off like they have known each other for years - it was so fun to watch them play!! These pics were taken the a couple of nights before they went back home:

Jordynn leaning in to give D a smooch

The 2nd pic was was the "mooooowah" part of the kiss (he's thrilled can't you tell!) Once again, note the excitement on D's face. He really, really LOVES them and LOVED, even more, playing w/ them - truly, he just has issues with public affection!!!

Just about the only time I could get Dominic to give Jordynn a decent hug. I swear, he better start givin' it up or he will be a lonely man when he gets older!!! Oh and when I say "givin' it up" I do mean hugs around the neck and soft, butterfly kisses on the cheek and forehead ONLY!!!!! :)

The ONLY photo I could get of little Madysenn (and I do mean LITTLE! She is sooooo tiny, you could put her in your pocket!) I tried SOOO many times to snap her mug and she kept turning away - but I finally got one good one!!!

Jordynn giving me a "CHEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEE"!! I swear that is how long she said the word "cheese"! Too cute!

Ahhhh, quiet time!!! Here we are at the end of the evening - trying ever so hard to settle down and watch a little movie. So, left to right, above and below: Erica, Dominic, Madysenn, Jordynn the tip of Tori's toes, Jake and BJ.

We had SOOO much fun with these little munchkins - they are so unbelievably stinkin' rotten cute!! Words can put into words the adorable-ness that makes them up!! You have no idea how much I wish they lived here - or even just a titch closer would be better than the 6-mo. drive it takes to go where they live!!! Thanks Rick and Jeri for sharing your time w/ us and thanks to Cole and Josh for letting your "minnie-me's" come visit, next time maybe you could join them :)!

I am trying to stop writing about these girls but in the words of Jordynn "I tan not tose it, I tan't" translation: I can not close it, I can't. OOOHHHHH, I just want to squeeze them!!!! TTFN

"Jump...Jump...Kris Kross will make you..."

I hope you are all bobbin' your heads to the tune of that little hip-hop Jump, Jump song from back-in-the-day!

Any-hoo. I just wanted to post some pics that my amazingly talented cousin Kristina (of Kristina Curtis Photography - the best photographer this side of Tallahassee who will go to ANY lengths to get the best possible shot! Plus, she has screamin' deals! What more could you ask for?!? You can see what I mean by simply checkin' out her website...let me give it to you: kristinacurtisphotography.blogspot.com) took of Dominic jumping on my Aunt's trampoline. I just love these, for a few reasons. 1st, they are of my A-dorable mouschka-cake Dominic; and 2nd, I just love that Kristina can take the most candid of moments and turn them into works of art!! Check it:

Oh, is he so freakin' GORGEOUS or what?!?!?!? Oooohhhh, I just want to (and do) squeeze the crap out of him!!!!! Oh - thanks Kristina for being so talented and for being so cute!!!

Stay tuned for more pics from the talented Mr. Ripley AND from Kristina. I am going to have our family pics done - hopefully soon :) - and you know that any photo where I look half-way decent (D and Mario will look good just cuz' they do), it's cuz' somebody REALLY talented was behind the lens!!! TTFN