The Loss of a Child

It's been over a month since I have posted.  It's been a crazy year so far.  I thought the worst of it would be my best friend's husband dying of cancer.  I was wrong.  It got worse.  Sunday, I found out my 20 year old (2nd) cousin was murdered.   The phone call with his mother was unbearable.  His mom and I are cousins, my mother and her mother are sisters, our dads are cousins, and we are three months apart in age.  Our daughters are six months apart in age.  We grew up together.  Our children grew up together.  She has three other children who are also mourning the loss of their brother.

He was in Miami last week.  Saturday night he killed, his mother was notified in New York City on Sunday; the day he was to return home.

I've been in Florida for thirteen years now and although I get to see my cousin (his mom) occasionally, it has been a while since I have seen him.  I get updates from his mom, all the trophies he won playing basketball.  He was always the smallest boy on the team by far, but always one of the top players on the team.  Recently, he began to pursue his dream of becoming a rap musician.  He was there, signed on with a small label, cut come songs, collaborated with other musicians, made music videos, and performed in different venues both in New York City and Miami.  He was twenty years old and beginning to live his dream.  He was a good boy.  Good to his mom and siblings.  As he began to experience success, he helped his mother financially.  She raised four kids on her own.  He spoiled his baby sister and niece.  He always made sure his family came first.

I don't know what happened.  I don't know why someone would take his life. Why someone would takes anyone's life for that matter.

I remember that sweet little boy with the mischievous smile and it breaks my heart.  I think, if this is killing me, I can't imagine the pain his mother is experiencing and the sadness is overwhelming.

I am sharing this because his murderer is still out there.  The  police need help finding out out what happened.  Please post this photo everywhere you can. No mother should have to bury her child and no murderer should be allowed to roam the streets freely.

Thank you.

Valentine's Day

So, what did you all do for Valentine's Day?  My husband I don't do presents.  A card, dinner together...alone, is all I ask.  Of course, my husband insists on having flowers delivered.  He was the first man to ever have flowers sent to me at work and he loves that.  He insists on continuing the trend.  I won't complain, I am thankful that he spoils me so.  Luca Loo went with his dad last night so Steve and I were able to have a quiet dinner alone.  Nowhere fancy, Ruby Tuesday's for salad and a turkey burger.  They make really good turkey burgers. 

For breakfast, I made pink, chocolate chip pancakes.

Luca Loo had to make a mail box for his desk.  At first he was very anti-Valentine.  If it is a holiday, why does he have school?  He cracks me up.  On the way to school he said he was happy he changed his mind and would not be the only kid without a box.



We used an empty cracker box.  He liked my Washi tape and insisted on the flower, because you give flowers on Valentine's Day.

 It's been a busy week, my best friend's first day back to work was Monday (she own's a spa).  She said before that coming home after work and not having her husband there waiting for her would be hard.  So, I went over and took her to dinner.  Tuesday was a PTA meeting and working the snack table at the First Grade concert. 

We made an impromptu stop at the playground on the way home Wednesday night.

He makes the funniest face, it cracks me up!

He finished his homework in one night, so we had a night of goofing around after dinner.

Wearing Steve's hat

This weekend I get to have spa day at my best friend's spa.  Then going car shopping with my daughter.  She is so excited she has the money to get a "new" (to her) car.  Highlight of the weekend.  Brunch and a drag show and by drag, I mean drag queen, cannot wait!  Hope your weekend is just as fun.

Weekend Review

I would love to say we did something fun this weekend, but we did not.  The past week at work was rough. There were several layoffs, salary cuts, etc., across the board.  Having the fate of another person's life in your hands sucks.  No other word for it.  Thankfully, it was not as bad as initially predicted.  Nevertheless, come Friday afternoon, I was done.

Steve's son was in town this weekend.  He has decided to relocate to our neck of the woods.  That consumed most of the weekend.

I spent a lot of the weekend working on my Project Life album and watching season one of Big Life on HBO to Go.  I know it is February, but I have stuck with  working on the Project Life album weekly and am current to Week 5.  I am loving it.  I like the simplicity of documenting every day life, but miss doing the all out scrapbooking and will continue to do that as well.  I'll get some decent photos of those pages soon and will post them.

Friday night my aunt called me and its been months since I talked to her.  We spent two hours on the phone!

It was great!  I miss her so much.  I have not seen her in about five years and are way overdue for a visit.  The last time I saw her, she was living in California on a military base.  Now, they live in Arizona and my uncle is a retired Marine.  The end result of that conversation is, we are all headed to Arizona in June for a long overdue visit.  She will finally get to meet my husband.  We are spending a whole week there and I cannot wait!

On Sunday, Steve helped his son move into his new place.  My daughter came over with the baby because we needed the truck she is currently borrowing from us.  A thinks it is hysterical to "shoot" the cat.

I shoot cat is what she tells me.  That's my mom in the background.

The highlight of the weekend was dinner last night.  I made a short rib mac and cheese.  You know, sometimes I impress myself :)  It was delicious.  Of course, I did not take photos of the process!  I will post the recipe and the after photo sometime this week.

Thanks all for stopping in.  I hope this week goes well and quickly.

Right Now

Sorry for the huge lapse.  I  previously mentioned that my best friend's husband was recently diagnosed with cancer.  On January 24, 2013, he lost his courageous battle.  I have been trying to spend as much time as I can with my her and her kids.

He was diagnosed in November with lung cancer.  They did everything the doctor's asked of them and unfortunately, the cancer still spread.  Eventually, there was nothing left to do but keep him comfortable.  His wife spent every single day since his diagnosis at his side, she provided around the clock care until his final days when they brought in a hospice nurse.  She would not leave his side.  He was an amazing man.  A hard worker, excellent provider, loving husband, and a fun, caring, dependable father.  I am honored and privileged to be able to say I knew him, he was my friend.  He was only 43 years old.  We will all miss him.

Of course, having a seven year old boy still at home means my home life still goes on.  Here's what's been happening in our neck of the woods.

After dinner light saber battles

The Incredible Hulk balloon at Chili's

Homemade strawberry shortcake.  It's strawberry season here and we are lucky to get them straight from the local farms

The last of my candy cane kisses :(

Movie night at LL's school

Amiya playing with my make up

She's checking her lip gloss here :)

Confetti angels at the Super Bowl....priceless!  Yeah Ravens!

He's so proud, five starts on the Wii!

His Abraham Lincoln timeline, he insisted on drawing Abe rather than cutting out a picture

We were heading to my friend's house and I warned LL  that she is very sad because her husband had to go to heaven and she might cry sometimes because she misses him. He drew these pictures to cheer her up. It's the last day we were all together, out on the boat having tons of fun.

Thank you all who have stuck around.  Things should be back to normal soon.

Monster Jam

On Saturday, Steve and I attended our very first Monster Truck event.  I will admit, I was not looking forward to going. My son usually goes with his dad every year.  This year, it happened to fall on the weekend of his dad's birthday (he normally works every time on his birthday weekend), so his dad's friends wanted to take him out on the town and I decided to surprise my Luca Loo with last minute tickets.  Saturday was a busy, busy day in the Tampa area.  Not only was the Monster Jam in town, but it was opening day of hockey season and the Gasparilla Children's Parade.  Gasparilla is an annual event that celebrates a supposed  pirate invasion of Tampa Bay.  Anyway, we knew traffic would be bad, we did not know it would take us an hour and 15 minutes for a 20 minute drive!  We made it on time and since I bought club seats, we were through the line in seconds.  It was awesome.

We had a great time!  The timed races were not as fun as the stunt portion after.  I was mesmerized by how high the vehicles jumped and some were even able to turn themselves upright after tipping over, by spinning their wheels!  Of course, seeing how much LL enjoyed it made it 100 times better.  It was a fun family night. Next up, Nuclear Cowboyz in February!  I think I am hooked in motor sports now.

Here are some photos of the fun.

Lined up and waiting their turn for the timed trials. 

Gunslinger

He's wearing ear plugs, it's a bit loud there.

The El Toro Loco car that came with his cotton candy

The event was at Raymond James Stadium which is home to our NFL team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Every time they get a touchdown, the canons are set off from the pirate ship. It really is a must see, the ship is very cool.

El Toro Loco - the truck actual blew steam from the front, like a bull!

LL loved this one

Wolverine

Sometimes they needed a bit of help to get upright

Son Uva Digger won both the timed trials and the sport event

It was more fun than I thought.  I did not think it was too loud, I thought the smell of the fuel from the vehicles was worse.  Overall, a great family night out.

Taco Cups

Last week I made this recipe and boy, oh boy, was it a huge hit.  My son ate almost four of them!  I found the recipe via Pinterest.  The original recipe used a mini muffin pan, I used a fill sized muffin pan.

Super quick, there are a ton of ways you can change it up.  Nothing better than eating with your hands!

Mini Taco Cups - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ginnerobot/3431227193

Trust me, the kids will love them.

Chicken and Chorizo

The weekend after Christmas, Steve's son and his family came for dinner.  I wanted to make something simple, yet appealing to everyone.  This recipe was inexpensive and very filling.

Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes
Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson's Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes from her book Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home.  As usual, I tweaked it a bit.
Serves 6.

3 tablespoons regular olive oil
12 chicken thighs (bone in, without skin)
2 packages of chorizo sausages, cut into 1" chunks (usually found hanging on an aisle end in the supermarkets)
1 5-lb bag of red small potatoes, leave skin on cut in half (they cook faster)
1 large red onions, peeled and roughly chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano
grated zest of one orange
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350°F and place chicken in baking dish. Put the oil in the bottom of the  roasting pan. Rub the chicken in the oil, season with salt and pepper accordingly, then turn them so the side with the most meat is up.  Add the chorizo sausages and the potatoes. Sprinkle the onion and the oregano over, then grate the orange zest over the arranged contents. 

Cook for 30 minutes and baste the contents with the orange-colored juices. Continue cooking for about 30 minutes or until chicken is done. 

Almost forgot to take a picture of the finished product!  It was so good we could not wait to dig in!

Thanks for stopping by.