Happy Halloween From Maria's Space

Friday Fill In

1. My favorite food seasoning is Adobo
2. My children singing is music to my ears.
3. Lucky is anyone who loves
4. Being a friend is something I take very seriously.
5. Many people feel alone
6. Halloween decorations was the last thing I bought at the store.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to trick o treating, tomorrow my plans include going out with the husband for the first time in 6 years to celebrate 11 years and Sunday, I want to relax, it has been a long week.

Thematic Photographic 22 - Night

ABC Wednesday - "O" Oink

Ok, this was a stretch but she was saying "oink" with her little face through the piggy cut out.

Wordless Wednesday - Colorful

Ruby Tuesday - Witch on a Pole?

Week in Pictures - October 19, 2008 - October 24, 2008

October 19, 2008 - I had to take some shots of the beautiful autumn colors that were surrounding my home. I wish I had time to Photo Shop the wires out.


October 20, 2008 - I took the kids to one of the farms near by. We have gone every year for the past 3 years. This year we didn't end up getting pumpkins. Handsome ended up with the biggest tree (splinter) under his index finger nail on his right hand. I rushed him to the pediatricians office where the doctor tried to remove this huge green splinter. He couldn't get it out and suggested the ER so they could cut it out. I phoned a nurse friend who told me what I was hoping when I called. To just leave it alone. If it doesn't become infected, leave it alone. We have been cleaning and wrapping it waiting for the opportunity when it will be removed. Unfortunately I have had to keep him out of Martial Arts and Gymnastics for fear of him injuring his finger anymore. Hopefully it will be out before the end of next week.


October 21, 2008 - My daughter and I walked around with a camera in the morning taking random photos. This home is one of many on a block near my town. I have always been interested in it because these look like little summer bungalows that are now permanent homes. This one has so much going on outside that I can only wonder what the inside looks like. The table has a lace table cloth and candelabra on it. It is never taken off and is there rain or shine. I wish I could have taken more photos but I didn't want to trespass.


October 22, 2008 - My husband got the kids a play mat from Home Depot. It's so colorful and fun. They have been playing with their cars and Little People on it every day. I love how fun and colorful this photo looks.


October 23, 2008 - When I got home today there was a box from Tristan of Maiden America. Inside was jar of home made blackberry jam. If you want to make this girl a friend for life, send home made preserves. I have had PB&J for dinner for 2 nights. Yummy. Oh, and for all your girly, girl needs, like the most adorable hair accessories, check out Maiden America. Check out my review here.
October 24, 2008 - Sue me! I Love taking her picture. She is so expressive and she cracks me up.

The Saturday Special~Halloween Ghostly Tell Tales~

1. Believe in ghosts, spirits, or the supernatural? I believe in the PARANORMAL.(Phenomena existing outside of conventional norms.)

2. Ever had a supernatural experience? I am not sure if this is supernatural but I believe it to be hypersensitive. It was the first weeks of my newborns life, I started smelling perfume. I immediately thought about my mom and her White Shoulders perfume. Let me elaborate. I was at the computer, my son was asleep in his crib. It was around 7:00 p.m. I smelled perfume that came out of nowhere. I headed downstairs to my husband in the family room and asked if he had sprayed anything. He said no. I shrugged it off and went back to the desk. I still smelled it, checked on my son and it eventually went away. The next night, at the same time, while on the computer, I experienced the same smell, I headed back downstairs to ask again. My husband insisted that he had been watching TV and that no he didn't spray anything. I checked my son again. Being a first time mom I was very worried about SIDS. The third night I was afraid to turn around. I asked out loud why are you here? I finally turned around, of course there was nothing there. After 2-4 minutes the smell was gone. The 4th night I smelled it I called my father. I told him about what was happening and that it made me nervous. I felt that she was visiting because something was going to happen to the baby and that she was there to take his soul to wherever he needed to be. In over 25 years I had never smelt her before. He told me that she was just letting me know that she was around.

The next night (5th night in a row), when I smelled the perfume at 7ish, I told her that she was making me nervous. I never smelt the perfume after that. That was almost 6 years ago now and I can say that I have not smelled the perfume since then.

3. Favorite horror film? I guess since I am not a huge fan of being scared the first A Nightmare on Elm Street would be my favorite. I am a little too afraid to watch it since then but it was a good movie.

4. Finish this line: Silently I walk in the moonless night waiting for him.

I Received An Award - Woot!

I am a lucky girl, I received a note telling me that I was received a blog award from
Saving Grace. I am touched and honored.

Thanks Gigi!!! Who doesn't love awards???

Camera Critters

I absolutely love the sweet face on this little guy. How cute! My daughter feel in love with her.

Sky Watch Friday - Autumn in Full Bloom

This was taken as a Sky Watch photo but with all this color, who is watching the sky?

Flashback That Made Me Smile

My son came into the kitchen last night with his Halloween goody bag, held it out and said, "I only got a rock." Then he ran out of the room. It took me 3 seconds and then I remembered where he got this from.

I love that he is watching and quoting something I watched when I was a child. Cute

ABC Wednesday - "N" - Niece

Click the picture to enlarge

ABC Wednesday's letter this week is "N".

I have chosen to showcase my niece. These pictures of my niece and Goddess make me smile. I love much fun they look like they are having. Being an aunt makes me so happy. I love all of my nieces and nephews. Goddess is the youngest in the family. I love watching her play with her cousins as she eats up the attention of the "big girls" in the family.

These pictures show a wonderful relationship that I find very touching and sweet. I hope that Goddess feels as she gets older that she can go to her big cousin for advice and friendship. My niece is a very intelligent, sweet girl with a good head on her shoulders. I know she is going to take the world by storm and do wonderful things. It would be an honor to have Goddess take after her cousin. I would be a happy mommy.

What is Up With The Gas in This House?

I know farts are funny. My kids and my husband find them extremely funny.

Lately, my kids have been backing up to fart on me and my husband.

What the hell? They back up, let one rip and then laugh until we push them away. Where did they get this wonderful habit? Umm...not from this parent!

I have been trying to push the "excuse me" line because really how will they learn this is only funny and acceptable at home if we don't start telling them?

When I was young I remember the whole house laughing when my father stunk up the room but really, having my kid back up onto me and fart is getting old.

Is this happening in your house?

New Blog Button-WORK IN PROGRESS

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Ruby Tuesday - My Little Devil

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This is my son's second Halloween. He was 1.5 years old. He wasn't very excited about Halloween can you tell???? His Godmother Bek and I took him around and he chose an apple over the candy which made us both very happy.

This was his second devil costume. To see his first Halloween photo check out my other blog for my Ruby Tuesday submission.

The Attack of the Monday Memes - Monochrome Monday , Manic Monday & Blue Monday

There are two kinds of light--the glow that illumines,
and the glare that obscures.


James Thurber

Join Mo for Manic Monday by clicking the bitten apple.

My submission for the bitten theme this Monday is a bit lame but work with me here. I don't get out much.

Blue Monday can be found by clicking the Blue Jay's picture

This is my very first Blue Monday. Since Blue is my favorite color I figured it would be crazy to participate in 100 memes but not this one. Glad I found it.

This is a obviously a photo of my son levitating in case you couldn't figure it out.

Kid Funnies

This morning my husband asked if I wanted a quick omelet.

Teach - "Honey, you want a quick omelet?"

My daughter, heard something else entirely.

Goddess - "Daddy, did you say, do you want to play dominoes?"

I must have laughed for 5 minutes.

BTW...the name of the omelet is the ass expander.

We also have the gut buster, belt loosener and take me down to Cholesterol City.

Saturday Photo Hunt - Family

Tnchick of Photo Hunter's theme was Family this week. This is the family picture taken last month for the kids preschool. We used to take one of these every week when my son was born. Then when my daughter was born we managed every week for the first 2 months, then every other. Now we get one at Christmas. I really want to start scheduling family photo session at least once every few months. That's not too much to ask is it????

Week In Pictures - October 12, 2008 - October 18, 2008

Scrapping is a great way because you get some photos and some journaling, but who has time for that these days?

JOIN THIS MEME by adding the button to your post and coming back to comment so that I can come see yours. You can find the button and link on my side bar.

October 12, 2008 - My Daughter loves riding on small toy cars. Usually it is a Barbie car but this time it was the prized Little People bus, a gift from Auntie Bek!

October 13, 2008 - The living room hasn't looked liked this in 5 years. 5 years ago when my son started crawling we sealed up the fireplace, moved the couch against it and forgot about it. This week my husband took the tape, sealer, plywood, garbage bags and insulation out, moved the couch and started our first fire in 5 years.

October 14, 2008 - There have been some pretty incredible skies this week. There is nothing like the colors of the trees in October and the amazing autumn sky. What is not to love.

October 15, 2008 - I have stopped my car so many times this week to take random photos. It is one of the reasons having the kids in school is good for my health.

October 16, 2008 - Like I said, we have had some truly amazing skies. This was around 6:30 p.m. and my kids and I were in the car looking at the full moon and the amazing clouds. They talked about the sky for an hour as we drove home.

October 17, 2008 - This is a Halloween decoration of a spider web but that is not why I took the photo. We were heading out to the car when I noticed a Walking Stick on the web. I took the photo and we left. When I came back he was there 5 hours later. Not sure why he hung out so long but the kids and I thought he was pretty amazing.
October 18, 2008 - Here is an old abandoned bird nest that was under the deck. The bottom was dried up mud that was as solid as concrete. My kids were so amazed with the nest and it was fun talking about why birds make nests and why.

ABC Wednesday - M - Mommy/Maria

My Two Names "Mommy" & "Maria"

Wordless Wednesday - Loving Gesture

Dialogues With Handsome - 5 Years Old

Handsome - "Mom, can I play on your computer?"

Me - "No honey, I am working on the computer."

Handsome - "But Mom, I really, really want to play."

Me - "I know honey. Find something else do to because I have to finish what I am doing."

Handsome - "Mom, Can I play on your computer? It's really good for me to play on the computer."

Me - "Oh really? Sorry honey, maybe later."

Inside my head - "Ok, now where the hell did that come from?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Me - "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Handsome - "Golfer, bowler, tennis player, baseball player".

Inside my head - "Sports? You never want to play sports."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Me - "Who is your best friend at school?"

Handsome - "Daniel."

Me - "Daniel?"

Handsome - "Yeah he's funny. *laughs* Mommy, you know Daniel? He's funny."

Me - "No honey, I don't know him."

Handsome - "Mom, you know he blew me?"

Me - "huh?

Handsome - "He's funny, he blew me. He went *insert him blowing*"

Me - "Oh"

Inside my head - "oh thank God."

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Ten On Tuesday - 10 Bands/Artists That Remind Me of High School

Madonna - Has to take the Top Slot - Who didn't want to be Madonna?


Bruce Springsteen - Bruce will always be on my list no matter what year.

U2 - Ahhh..U2. Bono and Edge were Hot!

Michael Jackson - Top of the Charts

David Bowie - Oh baby, just you shut your mouth????

Lionel Richie - He was the bomb! Who didn't want Lionel Richie singing to them?

Culture Club - Boy George was cool and had pretty eyes.

John Waite - Missing you! I was sick of this song before 1984 ended.

The Go-Go's - Ahhhhh...love the go-go's

Doesn't Belinda look like Leo DiCaprio in this video????
Pat Benatar - I love Pat! Who didn't. She was tough, strong, sexy and could sing like a Goddess.

Ruby Tuesday - Lady Bug

Click picture for more detail.

I recently found collages on Picnik so this is not the last photo montage you will be seeing from me. She was amazed with this lady bug which matches Mary's little "RT" mascot. I love the last photo of the bug about to take flight.

Amateur Mom and 3 Year Old = A No Go

Yesterday would have been the very first dance recital for Goddess. However, it didn't happen.

Leading Up: Picture this; Friday night, baby girl gets out of bath, has 10 rollers put in her hair (they asked for a high pony tail curled). Goes to sleep without a problem. Wakes up and is excited about her new curls. Wants to dance. Wants to get dressed down to shoes. Talks about being on stage and how she is dancing with Miss Jessica not Handsome.

Before the Dance: We are there before the teachers. Miss Jessica sees Goddess and tells her she looks beautiful. If you have a kid in dance you know they say this to every single girl they see. I guess dance is all about being "beautiful." Miss Jessica takes all the little girls over to a circle. "My Pretty Princesses are going to sit over here with me." (I really thought this was her way to get them into dance mode). Asks Goddess to sit next to hear. Goddess is so excited. I head over to wear the Teach and Handsome are. About 10 feet away. I head back over 5 minutes late and Miss Jessica is with her older girls who go on first. I thought that she would head back over to the girls because it is only 6 weeks into dance and they only learned their dance 5 minutes before the end of the last class.

Goddess is sitting with the other girls and seems fine. They are all sitting on the ground and I take this picture.


I told her I was right here and she waved then looked back at the piece of straw she was playing with. I headed back to the Teach. Sat down and then walked back to her to see if she was ok. More and more people where coming and it made me nervous when I couldn't see her. I must have walked back and forth about 35 times in the 20 minutes before show time.

I wanted to walk over to Miss Jessica and say, "You are going to spend time with the girls right?" She has been doing this for 14 years so I assumed she knew that these little 3 & 4 year olds needed some attention. I walked back when I saw the other teacher walk over and say they were going to practice the dance. She was gathering all the little ones into a closer circle. My little one was still sitting on the ground with 2 other tiny ones. This teacher didn't know all the students. She hadn't moved with the group and no one seemed to care that she was sitting there. There were adults standing all around her and no one seemed to notice. I couldn't get through two big women and they didn't hear me say excuse me. I bent down and called through their legs, "baby come here." Nothing. She was so nervous it was like a deer in headlights. "Come here baby. Come to mommy." Nothing, she just sat there looking at me with all these legs standing around her. Finally I pushed through the oblivious women with a "Excuse me, can I get my daughter." and picked her up. so I moved mine and the other 2 closer. I headed back to the Teach.

As the first group was going off I walked over to Goddess because her troop was going up and I didn't see a teacher with them. She was still sitting on the ground and there were three women, trying to get her to stand up, "you have such pretty shoes on, are you going to dance? Come on your group is going up." She didn't budge. I walked walked over and had to pick her up because she was to scared to come to me. I told her, "Your group is going on stage, do you want to dance with Miss Jessica?"

She threw her face down on my shoulder and shook her head. I told her it was ok but walked over to Miss Jessica. Miss Jessica said, "hi, honey come on we're going to dance." My daughter with her face still in my shoulder, shook her head. My heart was breaking for her because I could tell how scared she was.

I told Miss Jessica that she was left alone for too long, she said, "Oh ok."

Goddess and I walked back and The Teach asked what happened. I told him that she was sitting on the ground all by herself with adults standing all around her and that she was scared.

The girls started dancing, and I asked if she wanted to watch her class dance. She just shook her head no with her face in my shoulder. 2 minutes later she was asking about balloon and was fine but I will never forget how small and little she looked or how scared she was. Because she is such a big girl sometimes I didn't realize that she would need me there. I didn't know I was allowed to stay with her. I didn't know that Miss Jessica wouldn't be with the group. I didn't realize how many girls were in the class. Her class is only 6 girls, she didn't know any of the ones sitting with her because it was 3 combined class.

The next time I will not be leaving her. I would have had her sit with us until they were going on. Because she heads right into class I thought this was be the same. She doesn't look for me at all in class, I assumed this would be the same. I thought if she sat with us and not her class she wouldn't go on stage because she wouldn't be in that mind set.

It will take me a long time to get the image of her sitting all alone on the ground with oblivious adults standing all around her. Also, to see how frightened she was that there were three strangers touching her and talking to her.

When we got home I asked her what happened. She said, "I don't know, I didn't want to dance." I asked if she was scared. She said, "Yes." I told her that the next time she has to tell me that she is scared. That she can tell me anything and that I will take care of everything.

Afterward I heard her talking to her dolls. She always does both sides of the conversation. She was saying, "why didn't you want to dance?" Then, "I don't know." How come, "I don't know, I was nervous." Then "But why...." "Ummmm because I don't know."

When her father asked about the dance she said, "I didn't want to dance." When he asked if she was scared, She said, "yes." Then he told her when we were sitting on the couch that the next time she is scared she has to tell mommy.

Hopefully she got the lesson. I know I did. I will never again just think that strangers (even the ones I pay) are going to consider my daughter the way I would want them to.

This will not be happening again. Not that she will not be dancing, but I am about to become that stage mom that doesn't go away!!!

Week In Pictures - October 5, 2008 - October 11, 2008

Join my lonely meme and create a running, photo diary of your week.
I am trying to create a legacy for my children and Photos are the best way. When I look back at my childhood photo albums I wish my mom was around to tell me the details of the photo like:

Where we were going?
What was happening?
How old was I?
Who are those people?

Scrapping is a great way because you get some photos and some journaling, but who has time for that these days?

JOIN THIS MEME by adding the button to your post and coming back to comment so that I can come see yours. You can find the button and link on my side bar.

October 5, 2008 - Here is a picture of the Goddess taken at her request. She is hugging baby jaguar from Diego.

October 6, 2008 - The Goddess wants to be Pablo from Backyardigans for Halloween. She has said this since July. I was dying to dress her in something frilly and girly but she insisted. I waited until now to buy it in hopes that she would change her mind but...she never did. She couldn't wait to get it in the mail and has worn it two times since the 6th.

October 7, 2008 - We signed our son up for Tao Kwan Do and couldn't be happier. He was ecstatic when he was given his uniform and his kick pad.

October 8, 2008 - I love walking around with my daughter during the day. We explore our world and I really get to just chat with her and be. It is heaven and I love every minute of it. This picture was taken as we waited for her brother to come out of school. We were sitting on at a picnic table and she noticed a ladybug. She was thrilled to pick it up and have it walking on her hand. More photos to come for this day.

October 9, 2008 - Last week we were supposed to bring stuffed animals to gymnastics for walk like an animal week. We forget as well as EVERYONE else in the class. Crazy! I thought about it until the moment I walked out the door heading to class. My son was very excited to remember his animals this week even though we didn't need them. He didn't care and neither did I.


October 10, 2008 - We do a lot of dress up in this house. With the Halloween bins out of storage the kids are seeing things they had forgotten about. This is a hand-me-down costume from my girlfriend and my daughter was loving it.


October 11, 2008 - This is from today's dance recital. More on that later. How friggin cute are all these 3 year old's tap shoes.

Camera Critters & Wordless Wednesday - What Am I?????

I am sorry but I need some words here; What the hell is this? It was about as big as my middle finger and had two yellow eyes. It's body was very hard. I am assuming it is a Sphinx Moth of some kind but I am hoping someone could tell me what was hiding in my outdoor gazebo.

For another picture of this interesting creature, come over here to my other blog


AFTER MUCH RESEARCH I HAVE INFORMATION ON THIS CREATURE.
It is called a Tiger Swallowtail. Because of it's color I assumed it was a moth caterpillar. It is not, it is in fact a butterfly.

It took forever to find information on this guy. I was searching through archives of moth caterpillars. Doh!

Product Review - ImagiPLAY - Eco-Friendly Toys

With the holidays right around the corner, everyone is starting to think about toys!

Yippy! Toy shopping is my favorite time of year and I am not kidding. I am the biggest kid around and would totally max out any of my credit cards on toys if I could.

Looking for natural, wood, environmentally friendly toys that you can stand behind without the fear of the next toy recall?

Check out ImagiPLAY, for safe, child friendly toys.

ImagiPlay makes their toys with eco-friendly materials, with plantation-grown rubberwood being a favorite. Rubber trees produce a sap that is used to make latex products. At the end of their latex-producing years (generally 25-30 years) the trees are harvested and new ones planted. But these wonderful trees have one more gift to give us -their beautiful, splinter-free hardwood, from which ImagiPLAY makes many of its award winning, heirloom quality toys.

The toy that my kids recently received was Counting Bunnies.

The bunnies are beautifully colored ranging in the colors of the rainbow. Each bunny has a number on it, 1-8 with Momma bunny being number 1. Numbers 9 and 10 are carrots that the bunnies are going to lunch on.

The age on this adorable, whimsical puzzle is 3+. My daughter is 3 and she loves it as does my 5 year old son.

We have had to alternate nights for each child because they love this toy so much that the first night they fought over who would sleep with it.

The bunny puzzle is very popular in this house. It has gone to school as part of show and tell and just yesterday, my daughter who I have been working with on her numbers for over a year was able to point to each number. She was able to put mom and then the carrots but the numbers were never in numerical order. I had put all the bunnies on the table and asked her to point to 1, 2, 3, etc and she was able to. Shocking, she may have always known and just decided to play games with me or this puzzle helped. Either way, this mom is thrilled and the kids play with it constantly. When it is not being played with it is an adorable piece of art that sits on the shelf. I love looking at it.

Head over to the ImagiPLAY site and check out their Learning Center. It is complete with photos of animals, a descriptions of the animal and the corresponding toy. Informative and fun.

I just ordered this one for Christmas. They are going to love it.

Friday Fill In

1. One of the best concerts/plays/movies I ever saw that I really didn't think I'd like was Brokeback Mountain.
2. Chili's Terlingua Chili, Yummy is a recipe I recently made (or meal I recently ordered) that was delicious!
3. It's time for Starbuck's pumpkin spice latte

4. Seltzer with a twist of lime is quite refreshing.
5. If I never hear the word no again, it'll be too soon.
6. To one side of the curving road was a guard rail and on the other was a cliff.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to starting a new book and the new season of Ghost Whisper, tomorrow my plans include seeing my daughter's stage debut and Sunday, I want to Reconnect with the man.

The Friday Five

What is the one most important thing by your side right now? My husband and my daughter

1. Why is it so important? Because my family is my life.
   
2. Can you live without it? Oh hell no! I would shrivel up and die.
   
3. What is the one thing you can't live without? This is a little redundant but my family.
   
4. Who is the one person you can't live without? I could not choose 1 of the 3. My son, daughter and husband are all equally necessary to my life.
   
   

Sky Watch Friday

When I saw my husband cleaning the chimney I knew this was going to be my sky watch photo. Not one of my best but I love the red against the blue.

Thursday Challenge - Favorite Picture

This is the hardest meme ever! Thursday Challenge is asking for my favorite photo, person, or whatever. I am going to narrow it down to my favorite photo of the month so far because anything else would be impossible.

This is a photo taken October 4th, the day my son's beloved boxing costume came in the mail. He couldn't stop smiling and hugging and thanking me for about 2 hours. His sister's reaction when he put it on, "You look awesome!" was adorable too. I love the way she is looking at his very manly chest in this picture. She is a lot like her mom, she likes the six pack!

Quotes by Goddess - 3 Years 6 Months

When she burps, she says, "I farted in my mouth."

"Are we going to winter soon?" or "are we going to Halloween soon?" I usually answer this with, "winter is coming to us."

"I forgot to kiss Handsome goodnight."

"I am very strong!"

"Santa lives in the dark."

"I wish I was big so I could do..." blah, blah, blah.... she says this for all kinds of things like climbing ladders, cooking dinner, whatever.

"I wish you were little mama, so you could come play at preschool with me."

"Can you read me a story?"

"I just wanted to help (play, share)" Usually this is said through tears because she was stopped from doing something.

"Can I help you?" This is said when I am doing anything. Cleaning, cooking, laundry, making the bed. Hopefully she still wants to do these things long into the future.

"How come they didn't say hi to me?" I hear this at least 5 times a week. How do you explain to a child that someone people just don't say hi? I tell her that they didn't hear her or that they were busy. Today when she said hi to a little girl I told her that the little girl was shy. I also tell her that she is such a big girl for saying hello.

ABC Wednesday "L" = LOVE

I love watching my children be friends. I hear from their Preschool teachers often that they are friends on top of being siblings. They look for each other and generally want to be together. I love that they Love each other