we go through these periods where we see different groups of friends and family at different times and then there are those other weekends…by this i mean, we saw a bunch of different people this weekend!

it started off with edwin, jenn, edison and joshua coming over for dinner on friday night. being as it is lent, i opted to make shrimp sinigang and seared salmon. i’d been craving the sinigang and with jenn and ramel at dinner, i decided to make it “their strength”..meaning hecka sour..hahaha! a few brownies later, jess arrived earlier than expected because traffic was actually good on the freeway! the guys were playing golf the next morning so they turned in before midnight and brother and family left for the evening.

the next day, jess caught a break in the weather and decided to head back earlier. we got ready for the party and headed down to milpitas. the rain was coming down really hard in pleasanton and seemed to follow us down to the bay area. we arrived at lucas’s 1st birthday party and caught up with kit/mir, angel/joy and fides. we headed back home and by 10:30pm my parents had arrived at our house. they had come from a friend’s birthday party and decided to spend the night. they left after breakfast and we spent the rest of the time relaxing, preparing for the week ahead.

today was quite a tiring day…what was suppose to be a quick trip to the mall ended up being an almost 7 hour day spent with one of my favorite people, my sister-in-law, venus. we’d never really just hung with just the two of us, without the hubbies or the kids so it was nice to just relax and do what girls do best…shop! although we didn’t really clean out the mall, we did get a lot of exercise walking around and shopping for the little ones. since she seems to have a person in one ear telling her that “things are too expensive at this store or that store” she quickly realized that that was not the case and there were in fact sales and bargains at the stores that she’s always wanted to shop at but always found herself turning away because of the “warnings” she received. it was great to see her actually happy and smile about shopping! we didn’t even realize that we were at the mall for almost 3 hours!

we were getting hungry so we ended up having lunch close to home. she pointed me out to a little boy who had been drinking out of his dad’s beer bottle and we were both surprised to realize that the dad was letting him drink from him and not really saying anything! a few breadsticks, salad and bowl of pasta later, we rolled ourselves over to target to walk it off…hehehe. as all females know, you cannot just step into a target and go in for what you want, you always come out with more than you bargained for!

7 hours later, we headed back (hubby was calling and was like..are you guys ok? are you coming home soon? hahahah)…it was a great day…learning all about the sister in law i’d only known til recently as “the mommy” of the bunch. i learned that not only is she a great mom, she is a great girlfriend, a good person to talk to, a fun person to spend time with and as curious as i am about things in life. and i’d like to think that today, i showed her that not everything is what people say they are and sometimes it’s worth it to take a closer look for yourself.

today i had lunch with my PP girls at some thai place in san jose. for those that know me, i’m pretty picky about food and usually stick to what i know so when it comes to thai i always get a little freaked to see if i’m going to like it or not. i must say though that my girls know me and miss anna sure picked one that i loved! we each chose a rice plate with something different and then of course had pad thai and some appetizers. check out our grub and the cute little boats they came in! lunch wasn’t complete without dessert. aww man, i just realized i forgot to take a picture of the sticky rice and mango and the fried bananas and ice cream.

since regina’s birthday was in a couple of weeks, we decided to surprise her and celebrate it a little bit earlier! we went back to anna’s place so she could open her gifts! happy birthday g!

it’s hard enough to get some time away to spend with just each other but we managed to get a few hours on valentine’s day to have dinner and watch a movie. the meal was so-so and the movie was so-so too but it was just great to spend some time with my hubby. he surprised me with flowers and chocolate sent to my work — a welcome treat for such a yucky work week. we missed the little one that night but have to admit that being able to eat and watch a movie without stopping to answer a question of “why?” and “how come?”, etc was nice…hehehe…

the only annoying thing was these s—– teen girls and boyfriends sitting behind us at the moview. they kept putting their feet on mel’s seat and their boyfriends were talking on their cell phones during the movie. i mean not just feet behind his chair but up on the seat so that the bottom of their soles were literally 2 inches from mel’s head. we shot them a couple of looks and mel pushed back on his seat but it didn’t stop them from being rude. i swear that is the part of the bay area we don’t miss..the inconsiderate attitudes of the younger generation (wow, that makes me sound old). as we saw them trying to sneak into another movie, mel just reminded me that kids like that (bad attitudes, not a care about others, obviously undeducated) were destined for what they deserve…i’ll stop there as i’m sure most of you know how that sentence will end.

we had brian, mark, jennine and aiden over yesterday for our annual christmas cookies and pizza night. a couple of things different this year, (1) it wasn’t christmas any more - the kids were sick in december and january and (2) it wasn’t an evening event anymore - we moved to the boonies so we didn’t want them driving back too late.

what started off as a fluke get together because we didn’t want to attend a company function, quickly became a tradition for the past 3 years! we get together for lunh/dinner - pizza, you guessed it! (no fuss, that’s why) and then cut out, bake and decorate cookies! the funny part is the cookies never turn out just right and the decorations, well, let’s just say, jennine makes all the cute ones, tobey and i decorate a few (same artistic level..hehe) and then the guys go crazy with their not so pg-13 decorations! once decorated, we take pictures and then we just eat them! although yesterday, we ended up playing the wii and our guests took home their cookies…well, except brian who probably would have had a hard time carrying them on his motorcycle!

we always look forward to this every year…especially as the kids get older. it’s just been tobey decorating for the kids for the past couple of years, can’t wait til aiden gets his hands on next year’s batch!

pics: (1) goofing around making cookies; (2) cookie crew; (3) don’t these look yummy; (4) this was the not so pg-13 cookie rack; (5) just the fellas

tj has been so good lately that we decided to reward him with a trip to the zoo! since hubby didn’t want to drive through numberous freeways to get to the sf zoo he suggested the sacramento zoo. those that know me know when i ask for a recommendation on something, i’m not a big fan of the reply “it’s cool, you’ll like it” or “you should check it out they have a lot of stuff there”…uh ok, like what stuff?!? (other than animals of course for all you smart a—- hahaha) being as we’ve never been to that particular one, we asked our dear friends cathy and chester for recommendations since they frequent this one often. we knew we were going to get a detailed enough response so we definitely asked the right people!

they decided to join us for our trek so we met up at their house and went on our way. it was a beautiful day..the sun was out and it wasn’t chilly at all. the kids were excited…we saw birds, giraffes, apes, monkeys, chimpanzees, snakes, zebras, flamingoes, lions, tigers, jaguars, etc…definitely lots to see! chester even had a hero moment where he rescued a little girl’s stuffed animal that had fallen into the panda exhibit. all in all it was a great visit, so much so that we will be back (at least 2 more times) to recoup the membership we purchase..hehehe tobey couldn’t stop talking about it!

on our way back we stopped off to see little bro and family…little nephew just turned 1! we hung out for a bit, grubbed on some nachos and pizza and watched a movie. we then headed back to chester and cathy’s to hang out some more (we never get sick of doing that it seems hahahaha) and more grub..i swear i’m glad i wore sweats that day! after a long and tiring day (more from the eating than the zoo..hahaha) we headed home! it was a pretty quiet ride home…my boys were out!

pics: (1) group pic; (2) soo close; (3) this was a big a– orangutang; (4) the kiddos with their flamingo impression

ok..this was a little big to send via email so i’m posting it on here instead this was funny!

…to have my dentist appointment! today is fat tuesday and i just had my appointment. my mouth is still swollen and i have little sharp pangs of pain as i’m typing this…ugh! one of the crowns on my right side is being difficult…in that, for the second time, they could not put on the permanent one due to my gums or something getting in the way. all i know is it’s not fun and i have to go back in a couple of weeks so they can try to put on the permanent one again. we’re having dinner at mom’s tonight, sucks that i will probably have to gnaw on everything like i’m a 2 yr old…:( *sigh*

we attended my nephews 1st birthday party this past weekend. it was sooo cute! a finding nemo theme complete with colorful table covers, flowers with little nemo centerpieces, crafts time for the kids making little treasure chests and of course..HECKA GRUB! it was a yucky day outdoors though with all the rain but the cool venue totally made you forget about it. it was a brand new community center with a brand new library next door. the kids had plenty of room to run around in and joshie especially had the best time running all over the place! they did a cute slideshow of his first year and had cute favors for the guests…complete dinnerware sets for the kiddos to match the nemo theme! jenn and edison were so thankful for those that were able to make it, especially in the yucky weather and they definitely missed those that could not attend.

the next day was superbowl sunday at our old family friends house. did i mention it was a baby shower too! hahahaha it was suppose to be a surprise but i guess a little one blew it and let the surprise out a little too soon! football, baby gifts, football pool, baby decorations…you know, you’re typical shower during the superbowl! and again, HECKA GRUB! we were so full from this weekend, i swear the last thing i needed was that nap!