Little

Words and their context and meaning swirl around in my head often as a result of being a reading teacher. 

 Lately, I've been thinking a lot about one word...little.

As an adjective, it is defined as small in size, amount or degree.  And we can use it for just about anything:

You are too little to do this or that.

I have a little headache, backache, toothache, scratchy throat.

If only I had a little more time, money, space, room.

I wish I was just a little thinner, taller, bigger, faster.

You have a little hand, please reach deep down this drain, hole, burrow.

Just eat a little more.

Please sleep a little longer.

Those little personality quirks really annoy me.

It's just a little leak.

Needs a little more salt, pepper, spice, flavor.

Give me just a little kiss.

Stay a little longer.

It's just a little confusing when you hear Don't sweat the little things and It's the little things that count.

My kids are little and I am loving it. People tell me all the time to savor these moments, for they pass too quickly.  Don't I know it.  

Salvatore's First Soccer Game

We had his first game this morning.  He was so great!  It was so hot, we could barely stand it.  But to see him in his element was all worth it.  They gathered and practiced for 40 minutes, then played two 10 minute games.  He scored 5 goals!  And the sportsmanship was abundant.  Lots of cheering, hi-fives, taking turns, and running through the tunnel of family hands at the end was the best.  We are looking forward to more Saturdays on the field.

His team name is Transformers.  About 60 boys total, so you can imagine the logistics of setting everyone up.  They all have the same number, 12.  They are all the same age, height, and weight.  If you were more than 25 feet away, you seriously could not tell which kid was yours!

(Sal is the one who scores at the end of this video, in case you couldn't pick him out either :)

How Cute is Valentina?

I'll tell you how cute...

1.  She walks better in heels than some women my age.

2. When she wants you to hush, she puts her finger up to her nose instead of her mouth.

3.  She still puts herself in timeouts.

4.  She wants her toenails painted all of the time now.

5.  She always wants to brush Salvatore's hair when he gets out of the shower.

6.  She tries to dress herself and always puts both legs in one hole.

7.  The way she shouts "PIZZA" if we are remotely close to a CostCo.

8.  She will sit through almost an entire movie in a theater now, but I must let her feed me candy just to keep her quiet for the last few minutes.

9.  She gets really happy when she sees babies, puppies, and cats in public.

10.  She is learning to recite the Our Father, Padre Nuestro in Spanish so she can say her prayers with Daddy and Salvatore each night.

Neil Diamond's Youngest Fan

For Dad's 71st birthday, Brian, Salvatore and I took him to see Neil Diamond at the Honda Center.  We got all dressed up, ate at The Spaghetti Factory, and took off to see The Legend.  Salvatore got lots of stares and adoring smiles from other fans in the crowd, as he was BY FAR, the youngest fan in attendance. I think Brian was the next youngest at 34.  Needing no opening act, Mr. Diamond put on a wonderful show and had us all captivated as he played through the hits.  Dad has been playing Neil Diamond songs for the kids for a long time, so Sal knew some of the words to some of the songs. His favorite is "Sweet Caroline", and to see Sal's face when the song started was just priceless.  Even better was the fact that he did like 5 encores of the song which kept Sal believing he was singing it just for him.  Around 10:30 p.m., my youngest (and oldest) were more tired than Neil himself, so we headed out to the parking lot to beat the traffic and crowd.  

You never forget your first real concert. I am happy to have us all remember this moment with Salvatore and Lolo. SO GOOD, SO GOOD, SO GOOD!!!

Summer of Love

 Another summer has come and gone.  We stayed close to home all summer and welcomed our favorite visitors like my mom back in June and then my sister, Beth, and her boyfriend, Bobby, in August.  (Beth, please send me some pics from your camera, as I have none to post here from mine.)

 We entertained ourselves mostly with water, using the slip and slide, the little kiddie pool in the backyard, or during swimming lessons at the high school down the street.  Both kids got really tan and hardly wore shoes for two months.  

 We spent an entire weekend at the annual Corn Festival again. Much to our dismay, there were no ponies for them to ride again, so we couldn't do our annual photo.  But, Salvatore fell in love with the Bungee Jump and we stuffed ourselves silly with fresh corn.

The boys saw a few soccer games and we all got to tour the Home Depot Center.

 We caught a few local concerts in the park.  

The highlight of our summer was seeing Neil Diamond in concert for Lolo's birthday.  I will post those pics after I download them. 

School has started once again, and we are getting back into a routine.  Salvatore has soccer games each Saturday morning and we are excited to cheer him on.  The kids are changing their minds every minute about Halloween costumes.  My mom might visit again for Thanksgiving.  

The highlight of autumn will be our visit to Mexico for Tia Maura's wedding this October!  Gotta shop for my bridesmaid dress and shoes!

When Working Out Doesn't Work Out

I've had trouble sleeping this summer. Maybe it's the heat. We don't have AC. Maybe it's the constant busyness, despite the fact that I am "off" for the summer. Maybe it's the major growing pains that both kids are going through or the sudden barking of neighborhood dogs or the fly that keeps sneaking in through the back door.  Or maybe I just need to burn off some more steam, get rid of some of this energy.  

Hey, I know! 

 I'll start working out more.

  I've got time and support. 

  When my mom was visiting, we walked together almost each morning, since she was still on Florida time and waking 3 hours before the rest of us.  I woke up with her and off we went, in the cool quiet calm of a La Habra morning.  We walked up Euclid, way into the hills, and marveled at the lovely, spacious homes.  We sprinted when the mood was right, and walked the rest, but mostly we talked and planned how many of those homes we would buy if we won the lottery. Since she could only visit for a week, I immediately missed my walking partner.  No fun talking to myself about those homes.  

Then Brian introduced me to PANDORA.  WOW! The music lover in me just about lost her mind as I searched for many a favorite station.  Yesssssssssssssss. THIS. WILL. WORK.

Then, Brian told me how he not only uses Pandora for music, but he types in our favorite comedians as well, and the world of entertainment opens bigger yet.

OHHHHHHHHHHH YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. THIS WILL SURELY WORK. 

I set Jim Gaffigan, and Brian Regan on the favorite stations and was ready to enjoy killing two birds with one stone-working out and listening to great stand-up.  

Not. A. Good. Combination.  

While I absolutely LOVED the great rotation of stand-up comedy looping through my iPhone, I could not control myself when I heard these skits.  I would laugh out loud, sometimes crying because it was so funny, causing neighbors to wonder/worry what was wrong with me (from a distance, it was not evident that I must have been listening to great comedians).  I would trip while walking down hills, miss curbs, and hold up traffic while crossing streets because I was laughing so hard at these men. Can't really call it "working out" if you aren't "working" very hard.  I even stopped getting honked and whistled at, people just stared like I was a maniac or something.  

And then, if I heard a really funny skit, I had to stop to KIK Brian or Heather, both major lovers of the same comedy.  Then I would laugh and giggle and their replies and pretty soon, I was not really working out at all.  Instead it was just a long, silly walk around town with my phone in my hand.  

If I ever decide to take this more seriously, I might have to ditch the comedic stations and stick to the hits and classics.  Until then, if you notice any change in my physical appearance at all, it will probably be all in the facial muscles-from laughing so much!:)

Familia Licona 2012

With my mom visiting, we wanted some updated family shots and we had no intention of making an appointment and sitting in some store taking turns perching on a wooden box with our feet behind the white line.  That's why you need a talented photographer in your life who makes house calls, like Sara.

 I love this one because my Grandpa Bobby is front and center and Benedict just sat down perfectly after watching us play musical chairs.

 A picture does tell 1,000 words...words like: silly, brat, uncooperative, and goofy. All words to describe Valentina during this shoot. You would never guess, though.

 Sweet girl.

 Sweet boy.

 Ok, my first thought when I saw this photo of David and Valentina is that I can GUARANTEE they will take this exact shot in 30 years when she gets married.  Like after their first dance or something, right???  So, when I loaded it into my iPhoto, I laughed because for some reason, my dates are all wrong now with each import, and the date for this import literally read July 3, 2036.  Valentina will be 26 years old.  Sigh....

 Proud Sita with her grandkids.

 Familia Licona 2012

Flashback to Familia Licona 2010.

Sara, I am gonna ask you right now to keep the first week of July open in 2014, unless we are in Brazil for the World Cup, which will surely happen if I win the lottery.