End of the "YEARBOOK"

So the school year is almost done...By this time next friday my son will be a Highschooler and my daughter will be a 7th grader.. It really is hard to believe... 
They have received their yearbooks and getting many signatures from friends and teachers... What was cool was seeing a lot of pictures of them two in the book.. Joey happens to have 2 pages worth about him! A great picture from his school play and then a little article..

Raquel during Garden Club

Garden Club

Joey and "Club Live" It was PJ Day when they took that shot

Science Olympiad

Theater!!!!

 

I think I'm gonna Change our names from Salcedo to Salsado LOL.. The editors (which are children) messed up on Raquel's whole name! She was not happy..

And here is the end of the yearbook. The parents of the 8th graders were able to purchase a little spot  to say something to their kids.. Joey cried when he read it..
(and yes, there is a typo...editor's doing not mine )

AS you can see my kids have been super involved in their school.. What a year it was!

What makes me smile

I am happy to say that my guys have returned home from their East Coast Trip.. As all the parents were waiting for their kids, my boy saw me and started running, waving, totally excited to see me.. He was the first one down the escalator and into my arms... Oh how I missed that smile and hug!! A lot of parents said their kids hardly texted or called them.. My boy, however, never missed a day without a little text... It started to hit me, two days before he returned, how much I missed him.. He certainly is a mamas boy..And he's growing up before my eyes.... 

I just received Joey's High School Registration Papers and returned them on Friday.. Wow, time really is flying! Orientation is in August..Must he grow up so fast? Before you know it, it will be Graduation time..Say it isn't so ...

Changing the subject here: I found this great tip from Pinterest that really has been way cool.. Growing green onions in a glass of water....

Pretty cool right? Just put the end of your buds in water and TaDa, you have new onions!

Quiet Week

It's been a pretty quiet week without "The boys".. I've been trying to keep myself busy by doing Home Improvement things like, putting up Joey's new Lamp and Curtains... But the only thing I keep doing is making holes.. The curtain rods are a pain in my boot-ay... I can't seem to do it correctly.. Help is on the way, I hope!   Next my good friend has been helping me paint my living room after: oh gosh........ since we moved in this house! That was a good 11 yrs ago I believe! YIKES! What we have done today has made a huge difference! The color is soooo pretttty! What would I do without my wonderful friend! Love her!

Raquel and I have been making the best of things by watching funny tv shows, playing video games, making breakfast ( on Memorial Day), going out to eat, playing an iphone game called "Heads Up", and making paper bag puppets.. I think we will do some baking tomorrow... I'm doing the best I can to spend time with her.. I don't get to do that too often since she and Joey love playing together.. I know she misses him, and misses her Papa.. She doesn't talk about them a lot but I know she's ready for them to be home..
I'm missing them too.. Like I said, it's been very quiet here..  I do get my 5am calls from Joey or a text ... Even though I'm so sleepy in the morn, it makes my day just hearing my boys voice..He's having such a great time! I'm enjoying seeing the pictures of him and his class , walking the streets of Boston and NY.. What a wonderful Trip!!!

 Raquel cutting the potatoes on Memorial Day... The Hibiscus is from outside of the Souplantation... I thought it was so pretty...

One of the text Joey sent me.. He is so sweet

Lastly, the living room improvements

If you wanna see the video for "Heads Up" click below this

YouTube "Heads Up"

A night of tears and drinks

I have never been a good flyer ... I haven't flown in 12 years so that makes it much worse on me.. 

Joey and Ricardo left last night on Joey's 8th grade East Coast Trip.. Knowing that my boy is experiencing flying for the first time since he was a baby was exciting and nerve wracking... I don't like to think negative thoughts about planes and being up in the air but I do have one of those minds that think of the worse case scenario.... I KNEW the flight would be fine, but it's always in my head that something might happen.. But thank God nothing did.. My boys made it to Boston safe and sound... 

I'm so jealous that "My boys" are on this trip.. One of  My dream vacation is to go New York and see a Broadway show.. 
I'm hoping by the time Raquel is in 8th grade I'll be able to experience the trip with her.. But of course i'll be taking some Xanax on the flight LOL.. Can't really get anywhere without a plane sometimes.. Especially on a trip like this...

 It was hard leaving my precious son... I had tears..If it weren't for my friends I would be a mess... A few of us went for drinks after we left the airport... It was a much needed get together...

 This morning Joey gave me a wonderful Text... I miss him already.. And yes, the husband too.. LOLOL I'm used to Ricardo being gone, but not my baby boy.. I'm so happy and excited for him..What a dream vacation for him.. And it's an experience he'll always remember and treasure with his Papa..

"Stars"

This has been a week of proud accomplishments within our household. First my baby girl received her 4.0 GPA award certificate and my son starred as "Daddy Warbucks" in his school play, "Annie Jr."... 

I couldn't be more proud of these two "Stars"... They never seize  to amaze me.. 

If you like to see a clip of Joey's performance click on the Annie Jr. link, below

Annie Jr.

"Peter Pan" Week

  So the last week and a half has been pretty crazy. Joey performed with his MET2 cast in the play "Peter Pan" . He had major late night rehearsals that led me to sit in my car and watch movies or read. The Poway drive from my little town is a good distance so I hate to waste the gas..So I just hung out while he rehearsed..  I watched a pretty hilarious movie called "This is 40" .. OMG if you haven't seen it YOU MUST.. I was cracking up all by myself.. It was a great time killer..
Anyways, my life in the car for that past week was exhausting..Seriously... Once the cast moved onto the Theater in Poway I was able to help with the props.. The first 2 days of "propping" , as I called it, was very boring... We didn't do a whole lot considering the repeat rehearsals that the cast did. So, not a lot of moving the props..But in the end it's worth it...I loved watching Joey dance and sing.. He was my little pirate man.. 

As our time in the theater passed, so did the many days that my house was untouched, or the grocery store un-shopped, the cat box un-clean, the dust balls being blown into the corner or bills being unpaid.. That was my life for that week.. We had 3 shows in one day... That was one big blur of a day.. I couldn't remember what day it was. My mind was on adrenaline just waiting for the next show.. I barely saw Raquel and Ricardo.. They would be asleep by the time we would come home at night.. And it wasn't just the late nights, I was also hopping around town with Raquel for her Ortho appointments or Dr. apps.. I tell ya, it was one strange week.. Exhausting but worth it in the end..  

Mothers Day was great.. I finally got to see the show with my Mom and Sister.. They are always , ALWAYS 

coming for Joey's plays.. They are so supportive of him and never miss a show..I'm so grateful to them ..

A Much needed Drink after the hectic week 

Time will only tell

I have to start with this:   I"m getting a bit overwhelmed with how busy mine and Joey's week is going to be, starting this sunday day.. It actually started on Thursday night with his "Peter Pan" rehearsal.. My mind is going on overdrive because I can see us going crazy trying to go from one destination to another.. Joey has 2  different plays this month.. Both plays have rehearsal all week starting Monday after school. I'm trying to wrap my brain around on how I'm going adjust the times between 3:30 and 4:30... We have to be in Poway by 4:30 but his school play rehearsal doesn't end until 3:30.. He has to be in costume and done with dinner by the time we make to Poway.. I'll be working backstage with props, so I have to think about both of us during "rush hour"  .. He's not allowed any food in the theater, but us backstage people can have a cooler .. Plus he will have Homework.. So he'll need to take that to rehearsal and hopefully won't forget to work on it during the time he is not on stage.. Plus our evenings don't end until after 10pm..We get home close to 11Pm because the drive home is about 25 min.

 You see what I'm getting at? It's nuts right? hahaha.. I need to make a plan, with food and time management.. Wish me Luck!

On another note, I reunited with a special friend yesterday morning.. Her name is Earlee.. Funny thing is, is that we went to High School together but never knew one another. Being a part of FB we decided to become friends. We had all the same friends but never actually met.. So for a few years now we have been talking online and being there for each other through our difficult times with our kids.. Being out of HS we all some how can relate to the same things.. Both our boys have Special Needs and so this brought us closer.. So finally, yesterday we met for breakfast..She lives in Arizona but she was in San Diego for a wedding, with her husband.. It was so great seeing/meeting her! It was so great to hear her voice and see her in person after so long.. We talked about our kids and just life.. I got to meet her husband as well.. What a great morning, Except I got a call from the kids school. Joey decided, on his own, that he wasn't going to take his meds for the day.. WTH? This week was State Testing. He was having a hard time focusing on the test.. Even with the meds he might have problems, but I know him and they do help with focusing. I understand he wanted to try the day without taking them, but it wasn't the right time to start trying hahaha..I just have to laugh about it now.. He's growing up and trying to be more independent.. I get that... We had a little discussion about maybe not doing meds in the summer or on weekends.. That will be up to him..But during school it's a different matter.. I'm hoping, down the line he will learn to focus without meds..Time will only tell..

Here we are.. Two moms, friends.. Love ya Earlee!

Open Mic Night

Last week the kids school had an open Mic Night at Barnes & Noble.. They presented their poems in front of an audience. It was a really crowded evening.. I guess the kids from the school wanted their BIG extra credit for english. 
What surprised me the most was that Raquel decided to read her poem. She's my very shy girl..She does not like the attention so this made me so very happy and proud..
Joey has become such a good poem writer. His words are deep and touching. What a spirit he has..

I have posted a couple of Raquel's "Wolf Poems" and one of Joey's poems. I can't seem to find the other one. He reads both of them on the video I posted.. 
I'm pretty impressed with Raquel's poems.. They are dark and a mystery to me. That's what I love about her. She is a unique little lady. 

  

Click on this link if you'd like to see their reading

Joey and Raquel, reading their Poems

Heart of Gold

My son has a heart of gold...He decided he wanted to give all his teachers a gift for Christmas..I told him that it was gonna be pretty expensive and that maybe a small amount on a gift card would be reasonable..He then told me he wanted to pay for all the cards.. I asked him if he was sure about that..He said yes..There is one teacher in particular that I'm not very fond of..She's a very negative human being that doesn't deserve any kindness from me. In my opinion she would not get a gift from me, if it was my choice. But the kind of person Joey is, is nothing but pure love and gold. He told me even if she is crabby it's still Christmas and he wants to get her a gift card. That just melted my heart. I wish I was more like Joey. He is my role model and hero. I want to be just like him when I grow up :)  So I went out and bought 9 gift cards... My son has a heart of gold..

Back Stage pics

So Joey finished the play "The Wizard of Oz" He was the greatest Monkey and Munchkin ever! He did such a great job and I couldn't be more proud of him.. He loved being in the play so much he wants to do more.. So stayed tuned to: Joey on Stage.. :)

Lollipop Guild

Joey and his Lollipop Guild Costume for the Play: "The Wizard of Oz".. We are gonna be busy with rehearsals all week.. late nights, but fun times.. Wish Him luck!