Silent Sea

Yep silent, until you get these five in Gramma's pool! =)

Another photo to add to my faves! =)

Cousins ROCK!

My mama.

Oldest & the youngest

(in pool anyway! Carrie we didn't forget about you!)

The kids had much fun once again. They are going to miss this when it's time for MaryRose & Evan to go back home. =(

A Surprise for my Mama

Today is almost over & I am one exhausted mommy. Whew! My day was filled w/running here & there, shoving 2 dozen balloons into bus (Suburban), a mom coming to my rescue & p/u bday cake at Costco (thx Cheryl), 3 ice chests, 11 pizzas, chips, a bunch of girls & 2 boys... the party went off w/out a hitch & my mama, was truly surprised. It worked! A big thanks to my sister who is visiting: Rose, Amy & Bill. Thank you so very much. Daddy? Yes, you too. W/out you, none of this would be possible. Sounds like I'm at the Oscars! haha!

MaryRose & Aunt Rose leading Graciella to the parteeee!

She's got family, soccer friends & Edu-Prize friends!

Antonia & Marci

Lele & her cousin, MaryRose

In the middle of the soccer game, these 3 held their own!?? We love you Savannah! haha

Antonia & her Godfather Troy

My niece, MaryRose making her move on Paula- Graciella's teammate from AZSC!

Graciella & Riley: these two have known eachother since they were newly toddlers!

Marci & Graciella

Graciella, Mia, Leleanna & MaryRose (lil Mia can pass for one of ours!)

My birthday girl

Graciella & her bffs: Savannah & Sydney

Thank you so much everyone! xo

Melnicki's in the house----

My sister & her two kids came to visit today! We are so--- happy! I won't tell you how long it's been, it's sad. Really. We had a fun day though! I was exhausted by 10 pm. (that's early for me too!) Me, Gramma & my girls met them at airport, grabbed some lunch & ate at the park. The girls were surprised w/skateboards of their very own from HERE! (also just happens to be my nephew & his dad's company) Pretty cool huh?! He also has his name as an official brand now too on clothes! Click HERE to see! He's only 11 folks. =) After a few hrs at the skate park & Evan breaking the girls' boards in, we headed home.

Meet my nephew: Evan

My tree hugger: Antonia

That's MaryRose in the middle!

Lele had to be on her turf!

New boards! Thx Uncle John & Evan. xo

The waiting game...

Drop in!

MaryRose & Leleanna's *new* board

Graciella was skateboarding!!

Evan giving Lele some pointers. Sweet boy.

Here's a little 6 y/o kid: Andre' I met there. Let me tell you, he can skateboard! He was really good for as tiny he was! Here's a few shots of this lil guy! (I'm not the stalker. And I met his parents & will email them these pix as well. Just sayin')

We got home & the kids caught lizards, skated more, brought the bikes out & Evan had to assemble Antonia's board. I guess the 3 wouldn't fit in the shipping box. My mama had a hard afternoon too. Just a small part... she rode in Aunt Rose's car to house. She was hot & Gramma said something that wasn't so nice to say to a little kid. WHY would she do that? She just said 'I won't buy you a gift for your bday' WTH?! Really ma? Thx. Just bcuz she was the only kid in that car, she was hot & wasn't able to put window down. This keeps happening too. Is it the old age? Why? This is NOT the first time she'll say stupid ____ either. It makes me so mad. Anyone's mom just blurt out stupid crap to hurt your kids? Ugh.

Leleanna & Aunt Rose

Gia finally meets her Great Aunt Rose!

My skater girl

Gia meets her 2nd cousin! This is huge!

The nite ended well though and Graciella went to stay over Gramma's w/the rest of the family. My sister's kids are allergic to cats/dogs. Oops. I wish they weren't.

Manana is a big day & I'm hoping ALL goes well!
Sweet Dreams.
xo

(ALL these pix were taken in a 4 hr period. Whew--!)

Preparing is Hard

And exhausting! I meant to start cleaning a week before. Yeah. That didn't work. A girl came over Friday nite and stayed for about 5 hrs. Even while we celebrated Graciella's 12th bday! (I was totally ok w/this!) Saturday 8 am, she was back & didn't leave until about 530 pm! Yes, she did us some Spring cleaning! THX so much Jacquie! She is great. Thorough & great w/my girls!

Antonia was gracious enough to pass on her ice skating soccer party (Part I) so we can stay home & help clean, put things away, etc. I told her we could go to Polar Ice w/Aunt Rose when they got here! The day went quick & soon enough it was time to take Graciella to her 3 pm party at the park. Did this & had to p/u dish to bring to Antonia's 4 pm party. Ya w/me still?! Did that, had to stop at Gramma's, hurried home, got the girls ready, p/u G from her party & we were off again! Did I mention all this was happening 30 mins behind sched? Actually we were almost 1.5 hrs late for Antonia's party. I told Carlos to meet us there w/Bill bcuz he still had to get ready as well. Made it there just in time for Antonia to get her award! Too cute too. Thx so much to Shelly & Shannon for doing this for our girls! (Our soccer club awards nite was Thurs. They handed out MVP, Most Improved, Most Spirit Awards to each team. W/the younger teams: my Antonia incld, the kids don't quite get it. Only 3 kids go home w/awards. This is where 'unfair' comes into play. Feelings are hurt.) All this changed though & all the girls went home happy campers w/awards, big soccer goodie baskets, trophies, yearbks & tired from playing a big soccer game w/parents & eating lotsa of yummy food! We left there about 10 pm, so the day was a long-- one.

I ABSOLUTELY love this photo of Lele! Another one of our pretty little girls.

Katie, Jayna, Antonia, Lele, Ellie & Becky

Check out that cake! Coach Shaye's mom made it! FABULOUS! She even had all our girls' names on it!

They even sang HB to Graciella! Thx Shelly!

Aren't these two TOO cute?! Kalani & our Antonia. More pretty girls!

Are you seeing a theme here?... NO BOYS!!

Even us parents received a goodie bag. Cute idea:
Noise makers to cheer on girls, lollipops so parents can keep quiet on sidelines, mints so we smell good when we have to talk to ref, team key chain & team id tag. All of it resembled a soccer ball too! Too cool ladies! Thx again.

Happy Birthday Graciella

Happy Birthday to my mama! She turns 12 today. This I still cannot believe! She is growing up too fast! Aren't they all? With TIME having NO kinda breaks, this makes me a little sad. I'm happy for her bcuz she is a smart, pretty girl that loves to play soccer ALL the time, has GREAT grades, has plenty of friends & she's healthy... I'm sad bcuz time flies by too quick. I feel we don't have time to just sit, talk & do nothing. We have to talk on the way here or there. We have little chats when she's going to bed, but not an hour long chat-about-it-all. She is very open w/me, this I am thankful for. =) I know some girls her age do not tell mom & dad NOTHING! Gramma, Carrie & her fam came over to celebrate too. Thx mi familia! Oh yeah, and her big sister got in on the action & sang HB w/us on phone from Tucson! xo

My lil girl is now a pretty 12 y/o! Graciella, I love you! xoxo

Min - this pic is for you! =)

AZSC's Last Thunder

Ha! I like the catchy title! Our current club is: AZC Thunder. I like it. Anyway, tonite was the last practice & ALL of the club showed. Our girls had fun playing the coaches, getting awards, yearbooks & taking lotsa pix!

Graciella & Coach Beny

(haven't taken a blurry photo forever!??)

Coach Shaye, Antonia & Asst Coach Mark

Great season girls! We are so proud of you!! xo