10 things I am thankful for right now

1 - my parents. I am so grateful to have them so close, literally and figurative. They help us out tremendously with our kids and my sister's kids. They often have home-cooked meals ready for us and ask for nothing but for us to do our best and be our best. I don't tell them enough but I love them and am so thankful for their health and happiness.

2-music. It's thanks to lots of driving that I am listening to a lot more Pandora lately. Love popular music, but especially love my show tunes. I am counting the minutes until Les Miserables comes out! And thanks to Amazon Prime, I am catching up on all the Glee that I've missed over the years ever since I cut back watching TV. I love singing my heart out in the car and at home. Yes, my fantasy job is being on Broadway. Another cool thing is hearing the girls sing some of my faves. Just the other day I heard Ava belting out "five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes.". Fa la la la la.

3-opportunity. Huge believer that relationships have a great deal to do with the opportunities you are given. The people I have met in my life have brought me to where I am in life- personally and professionally. Real estate has really taken off for me and I am just thrilled to be helping so many people either get out of a bad and stressful situation but also others that are fulfilling a life goal.

4-Disneyland. It is our home away from home. I've been a Disney fan for as long as I can remember and I am so lucky to live so close that we can take the family there on a whim. As I am writing this, we are headed there now. Just love how carefree I feel when I'm there and I love seeing the joy and smiles on my daughters' faces when we are there.

5-coffee. It comforts me any time of day - sometimes even five times a day.

6-Jay. The past 20 years with him have flown by. I love waking up next to him every morning. I love how he makes me laugh and how much we love and support each other. He is going through some awesome life changes too -- and it makes me happy to see him grow. He is such a wonderful husband, father and friend.

7-church. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel has become a second family. It's been great seeing our faith grow. And although we have never been extremely religious (despite the fact that I went to Catholic school), it's never too late and being at church grounds us and makes us even more grateful and humbled.

8-friends. The tv show and the real ones. I'm so thankful for my friends - some old, some new, some renewed. Thanks to my lovely iPhone, it's so easy to send and receive a quick word of gratitude or a quick joke or words of inspiration to my friends. In the hustle and bustle of life, it's these little things that make each day fun.

9-Instagram. Pictures worth so much. It takes not even a second to look at each one, but I love feeling connected to family and friends this way.

10- Sofia and Ava. At 9 and 6, they are at such a fun age where they are so eager to learn and do. They have their share of fighting, but there are even more moments where they're laughing together and talking to each other like BFFs. I just love hugging and kissing them and telling them how much I love them. Sometimes I catch myself just staring at them in amazement, listening to their voices in awe and longing for just another hug from them both.

Family photos

The very talented Brent Haywood took our family photos again this year at Mission Trails. As we were driving there, it alternated between sunny and rainy....ended up being perfect weather. With so much going on, we didn't shop for the girls' outfits until the night before. I let them "pick" with some gentle persuasion. It's so great to see how much they grow each year and how their little personalities come out in the photos. Was a very easy shoot. When it comes down to it - doesn't matter the location or the outfits, just thrilled that we are smiling together and creating special moments. Let the holiday season begin!!

Something in the air...

This is probably the first year when I actually looked forward to the end of summer (Gasp!). I usually love the hot hot hot. But this year, I welcome the crispness in the air, the wearing of sweats to bed instead of shorts, and the serenity that seems to come with fall. I am so unbelievable happy at my new job; it was the impetus I needed at this time. Priorities seem to be shifting for the better and my outlook seems to be more positive (even in this economy).

Sofia is loving the first grade. Morning drop-off is the best. I watch her play on the playground and become mesmerized when I see her laughing and smiling. I also see in her face the "challenges" of the playground: mainly getting across the monkey bars and sliding down the fireman pole. I constantly encourage her to just do it and I'll be there if she falls, but she's still not ready for either.

We had our first meeting with her 1st grade teacher and speech therapist, and I thought it went very well -- no surprises. Jay and I brought up our concerns about the two tantrums she had in school, but her teacher was not bothered by them at all..noting that they were not completely unreasonable. That was a huge relief to us, because I was very concerned. We talked about Sofia's handwriting being a bit below grade level, so we are on task to have an OT test her. Homework, reading and handwriting practice are major parts of our evenings and all four of us are so wiped out from the day, none of us can stay awake past 9:00pm.

Together, Sofia and I are taking a Filipino class at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. It is geared towards elementary school kids, but the facilitator suggested I take it too, and I'm glad I am in it. Today we had a Filipino jazz singer come in and sing the Filipino National Anthem with us. Sofia was so excited to be meeting a famous singer, she got her autograph and everything :) When we first started, Sofia kept referring to it as "Pino-Pino class" which is just so adorable (It is now what Ava calls it)

And speaking of my sweet Ava, she just amazes me every day. The potty training is coming along (slowly, that is). But she knows that it's necessary...as she said the other day: "Momma, I can't go to school to Mrs. Marvin's class until I stop pottying in my pampers" And I am so impressed at how many songs she has memorized. The latest song in the repertoire is "Don't stop believing" from Glee.

And since music has been so much a part of our every day, here's a snipit of a song that pumps me up at the gym: "Right now, hey, it's your tomorrow. Right now, come on, it's everything. Right now, catch that magic moment, do it right here and now. It means everything"

thinkplaycreate.org

So nice to finally check out the New Children's Museum. We went on Friday and ran into the Bisco family as well as the Kussalanant family. I love this photo. It was a BIG bubble that Sofia created and Ava was watching to see where it went...it ended up dangerously close to my camera lens.....

We loved it so much we went again two days later with the Alfonsos:

Good times...

lots of happy today

happy father's day to all of the wonderful dads out there especially my wonderful husband and my wonderful father....all jay wanted was pancakes for father's day, so we met up with my family at the pancake house in encinitas. love that place. wait wasn't too bad considering we had a party of 8. we all had a nice time. funny story: while we were waiting outside Sofia and Ava were playing on some stairs and whenever they see another little kid, it is no surprise for them to approach them and say hello. but this time was different. the little girl was introducing her little brother to Sofia and Ava and pointed to her parents who were a few feet away. Sofia looked up at them, walked over to them and put out her hand to shake each of theirs and said, "hello, my name is Sofia"...the parents looked at us with the most excited look on their faces and the mom mouthed to me "oh my gosh...how cute"

happy first day of summer....always one of my favorite days, no matter what! after breakfast with the family we just hung out at home for awhile before heading down to Spring Valley to visit Jay's parents. After yesterday's depressing weather, it was nice to leave the house and be greeted to sun and warmth. So we pulled into Froyo Love for some yogurt...just a nice little treat since we had no time lines, nothing to do, no where to be at that particular moment, so we decided just to BE. We ate, played Jenga and Connect Four for awhile in the store, and just enjoyed the afternoon.

happy summer vacation. now that Sofia is out of school, we like giving Jay's mom a break from spending the night at our house a few days a week to help out with the girls, so the girls hang out with them a lot in the summer. we were packing extra clothes and dvds when i saw my Ava coming down the stairs...just the look on her face and her little orange sundress just took my breath away. I asked her if I could give her a hug, while we were hugging I told her that I would miss her and that I love her....this was her response...(in a whisper)..."Mom, no matter what....." and she hugged me tighter. OMG! like i said....lots of happy today.

Honey YOU are my Shining Star

So proud of Sofia, yet again. Every week a student is chosen as the Shining Star (much like Student of the week). Nearing the end of the school year, Sofia had been very frustrated that she hasn't had her turn yet. Finally, it was her turn. In fact, her teacher approached me to tell me a week in advance that Sofia was going to be presented as the Shining Star, so Jay and I both wanted to be there when it happened. We were so proud of her. One of the duties of a Shining Star is to put together a photo collage of themselves...(of course I was so happy to "help out" with this part of the project). Here is the collage, Sofia's stats and a youtube video of the proud moment. There was a point where I thought Ava was going to try to steal her thunder...it all turned out perfectly. Love my girls!

A visit from the Tooth Fairy

Lots of excitement in the Lomahan household.  Sofia lost her tooth this week and received a visit from the tooth fairy.  Sofia wanted 100 coins but we told her that it would be too heavy for the tooth fairy to carry since she had a lot of children to visit, so she received $2.50 for her first tooth in addition to a certificate.  Jay and I were so excited to both be there when she woke up the next morning, she gave both of us a hug because she was so happy.  Always remember.

Said Cheese...

Love, love, love Sofia's Kindergarten picture.

Sunday School

My little Sofia is growing up so quickly, I cannot believe it's time to start bringing her to Sunday school. CCD at our church doesn't start until the 1st grade, but they still pull the 4 & 5 year olds out of Mass to read stories and such. I was always curious as to what they did back there. Anyway, I took Sofia to Mass with me this past Sunday because it was one of the rare occasions that I did not have to work. I talked it up all morning, and she was very excited. In total anticipation that she would be nervous, I was prepared to go with her. Sure enough, she asked me to come along, so I happily obliged. It was very sweet. The kids said prayers, sang songs, heard a story and had discussion time afterwards. The question on the table was: "how do you help others?" All the kids were anxious to answer. I heard so many sweet voices say things like. "I help my mom set the table" "I help my little sister" "I help my daddy wash dishes"....Anxiously waiting was Sofia, with her hand raised high. When the teacher called upon her, she was the only one to actually stand up to give her answer (A public speaker in the making).

"Hi, my name is Sofia and my mom's name is Jocelyn. And I help my mom........get gas......"

(Apart from laughing my head off, I thought...when has she ever helped me get gas?)

God Bless my child!!!! love them to pieces!

Gobble Gobble

Let the holiday season begin....

Jay and I both took the day off to support Sofia and her school's first ever Turkey Trot (aka Jog-A-Thon from the old days) ~ a fund raiser for the school's PTO.

The kindergarten class ran first and it was a whopping 10 minute run around the quad. And nowhere but San Diego would the kids be running in the month of November wearing short sleeve shirts and enjoying 80 degree weather in the morning. The kids had such a great time, it was so fun watching Sofia and her friends with huge smiles on their faces. It is going to be the best holiday season yet....

An apple today

Teachers don't get paid enough!

That is my opinion after my day spent volunteering in Sofia's Kindergarten class. I was very excited about today, because I wanted to peek into the typical day for Sofia in school. Myra so kindly took care of Ava while I went to Sofia's school. When I got there, the secondary teacher said..."Oh, by the way, Ms. Hale is not here today, there is a subsitute teacher and he doesn't speak English very well, so we're REALLY going to need your help today. So why don't you go get some coffee and come back in an hour." I did as she said and got my Starbucks; I should've gotten iced because when I got back to class, I immediately started to feel nervous and hot because I knew it would not be easy.

So the subsitute was a very nice, very young man from, I think the Caribbean, he was reading the kids a book that they couldn't understand because his accent was quite thick and he spoke very softly. My first task of the day was getting green, red and yellow apples cut up for the kids to do a project about graphs. I got to sit with Sofia's group and go through the project with them. All was going well. I had to help watch the kids during recess, which was easy. And at one point, their 5th grade reading buddies came in to read books with the kids.

Chaos broke out when the secondary teacher says to me.."I'm going on a lunch right now, so can you do this, this and this." Somehow we got through most of the tasks but I started to have to use my big voice with the kids because it was just the sub and me, and he was doing NOTHING to control the chaos as soon as the teacher left. I kept looking at the clock and we had about 10 minutes left before it was time to be dismissed, so what did I do? I gathered all of the kids together on the big carpet and took out my handy, dandy camera and started taking pictures of them. I called out for a happy, sad, excited, silly, etc.....types of faces! They loved it and it killed the longest 10 mintues in the history of the world! (Plus I got a few cute momentos of the day).

Sofia and I picked up Myra and Ava and went out to lunch to celebrate Myra's birthday. All in all a good day, but I have an ever-increasing respect for teachers and all they do!!!!

First Day of Kindergarten

All summer we've been preparing for this day! We had an early dinner with the Alfonsos since Olivia and Vince were also starting school the next day. We went to bed early - but not before choosing the all important first-day-of-school-outfit (courtesy of Ryan & Mia) and reading an instructional manual for the next day.

Sofia leaped out of bed in the morning because she was so excited. We got dressed in record time and ran downstairs to prepare her snack for the day. We were all too excited; I myself, could barely keep still. Sofia said she wasn't hungry, but then Jay suggested we go to Starbucks (of course), and then she decided that she was in the mood for Apple Juice and a croissant.

We were super early, so we just walked around campus and observed. Her teacher, Ms. Hale, was walking around so we got to snap a photo with her.

We eventually wandered over to the Kindergarten playground; my Sofia had a smile from ear to ear...it was the cutest thing! I could almost see her little brain just taking it all in and thinking "What should I do first?" We let her run around and play, and Ava followed. Once teacher rang the bell, all the kids got into line and this is her smiling as she was trying to peek into the classroom to see what was in store for her.

I thought that she had already forgotten about us, but she turned to me and said "Bye Mommy, I love you!" OOOHHHH MMMYYYY GAAWWWDDDD...It was one of the best moments ever.

The funniest sight was all of us parents looking into the window to see what was going on. The kids were sitting around Ms. Hale as she was reading a book, and my little angel moved her way to the front row! Everyone asked me if I cried....I didn't! (can't believe it)...but as we were walking to the car, I got a little choked up, just thinking about what a memorable day this was! I'm so proud of my girl!!!

All that holiday snuggling...

That is the only reason I can think of as to why August has so many birthdays... the most, in fact

So happy birthday to all of my fellow Augustinians....my favorite of whom is Miss Sofia....

We had the family over for cake and good-luck pancit on Tuesday. Sofia would greet people at the door with a very innocent "Is that present for me?!" My favorite memory of that night was when Sofia was attempting to blow out her candles and Ava tried to steal her thunder. This picture is classic!

Here is the Soriano - Lomahan clan (missing Joy/Noah & Mark)

Later that week, we celebrated again with her little buddies. Good ol' Pump It Up! By far, I think the Sorrento Valley one is the best. I waited too late to book a party for her, so we got the last time slot of the evening. Of course the kids didn't notice any different because they all had fun. I, myself, had a good time coming down that super slide more than once. The staff there was great, very attentive and took very good care of us.

And again, during the cake portion of the evening, I sat Sofia and Ava on the throne and as soon as we started singing Happy Birthday, Sofia remembered what happened the other day and instantly covered Ava's mouth again...It was the funniest thing I've ever seen, and I was crying through my camera lens because I have never laughed so hard in my entire life. It was just a perfect way to celebrate my baby's 5th birthday.

I love my family!!!!!

Happy Birthday, baby!

Dearest Sofia,

It is the eve of your 5^th Birthday.  Even though I am not going to be the first to kiss you on your special day since you’re at Grandma and Grandpa Lomahan’s tonight, I don’t think there is anyone more excited than me.  I thank God every day for bringing you into my life.  I look at your beautiful face and I know now what an angel looks like. 

In just a few short weeks, you will be starting Kindergarten.  I’ve been preparing myself for this day for a long time, but I still cannot believe it is finally here.  You have been going to speech therapy for two years now, so you’re very familiar with the school setting.  I know you’re going to be a superstar, but I am just not ready to let you go. Knowing you and your little personality, you’re going to want to say hello to every little kid in your class.  I know your teachers are going to simply fall in love with you.  And our responsibility is to make sure you do what you need to do to the best of your ability. 

You remind me so much of myself when I was little.  Although I don’t remember exactly how I felt when I was your age, I just know that we have so many similar traits.  Just like you, I was afraid of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland.  I don’t think I was able to ride it until I was a teenager.  So I won’t ever force you to until you’re ready.

One of the many things that I admire about you is that you’re so passionate at such a young age.  You love your sister and your friends so much.  Sometimes your passion exceeds the nth degree.  You are your sister’s biggest defender, yet when you two fight, I see you trying so hard not to fight too hard because we’ve asked that of you.  That’s just the kind of girl you are. 

Now more than ever, I am living in the moment and that is something I want to instill in both you and your sister.  The only things that I will ever expect from you are to do your best at everything you do, to live in the moment and to never regret anything that you do.  Daddy and I will work our hardest to provide for your most basic needs.  In return, I expect you to respect yourself, first and foremost, and everyone else around you. 

I love you more than you’ll ever know.  I am so overcome with happiness and love.  Happy 5^thBirthday, Sofia Grace.  

Love, 

Mommy

You've Got Kids!

Admittedly, I am a computer addict.  Not only am I on the computer almost all day at work, when I come home, I fire it up almost immediately.  So I'm sitting on the bed with my laptop looking at photos while Ava is fast asleep and Sofia is trying to fall asleep, when Sofia says to me "Momma, can you please put that thing away!"

She's a smart girl....

The Flower Girl

Finally got the official photos from Michelle and Jose's wedding back in May. Sofia was a great flower girl, this picture is just classic! It was during dinner when no one else was on the dance floor, the girls made their way out there and just had so much fun!

Pretty Flower Girl!

At the Mission De Alcala

Someday I'll be a flower girl!!!

Picture Perfect

Surprise playdate with Olivia & Emily. Daddy brought out the paints and we did not hear a peep from any of you for a long time. You were all too busy creating your masterpieces.

A fresh new look....

For Sofia....and what better way to celebrate a fabulous new haircut...
Love Boat Sushi! Yum Yum...

Here I am Baby....

Oh so proud of Sofia....she and the girls (Olivia Alfonso, Kelsey Cook, Olivia Ponce De Leon) did so great at their recital. I always get a bit nervous and my heart always beats so hard right before they come out. But as soon as the music started and I saw my baby on stage, I was overcome with emotion. I cried a little...tears of a proud Momma. Dinah told me that Sofia would steal the show somehow, because in the past, she has managed to make herself stand out a little bit on stage...sure enough she did it again. Of course it was due to not paying attention, but still.....she had a half second solo spot and if I didn't yell it out loud, inside I screamed a "Woo Hoo." They danced to "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" part of a Stevie Wonder segment...man, I love his music. They played "Do I Do" ...love that song, and then they played "Isn't she lovely" that song always makes me cry because it's the song he wrote when his little girl was born. I decided that night to add the song to my top 100 list.

Here is a picture that Sofia drew of that night...it's her and her 3 buddies dancing on stage. The little blurbs in the front on the left are me (holding flowers for her), Daddy & Ava watching her perform.

Still don't know if I'm going to continue Sofia at Danceology. She seems kind of bored with dance at the moment. I will let her have her summer, then we will decide later on....Sofia baby...you're a star!!!!