Claudia's Hospital Stays

So for two weeks it was back and forth to Florida Hospital for Children, and tonight we are finally home!!!

Last week's stay was of four days, almost five... and this week it was also four days.
We are just glad to be sleeping in our own beds tonight!
The hospital staff was simply wonderful to Claudia and made her stay as comfortable and as bearable as possible. No kid wants to be stuck in a hospital room, but the Child Life personnel always found ways to keep Claudia's days interesting.

There were lots of arts and crafts, pet therapy (Claudia got to see puppy Aluzia twice!), volunteers came and took her to the play room to do her hair and nails (purple and green :P) and R2D2 from Star Wars came in to pay her a visit!
That was FUN! I am a Star Wars freak (and Star Trek... and Transformers... yeah... I'm a geek) so when I saw him rolling down the hallway I immediately went for the camera! Oh my goodness! Claudia loved the visit, but I went nuts over it! Ha ha ha! I did manage to keep my cool but deep down I was like, "Holy cow! Is this for real???? R2D2 is HERE! OH MY GOODNESS! It's him! it's him!" My dad couldn't believe it either! LOL. Here is the video!

May the force be with y'all!

We are home now! Hallelujah!

Thank You Heavenly Father for seeing Claudia through all of this. Thank You for all the wonderful doctors, nurses and new friends we both made. Thank You Abba because in You there are no coincidences and because You used this experience for Your GLORY!
Even Claudia was able to recognize this as well.

We praise You! We love You. Thank You for taking such great care of my princess.

In Yeshua's Name,
Amen.

Just Saying...

It's a beautiful day. Thank YOU Heavenly Abba for such a beautiful day packed with blessings!

Wow! Love You my King!

Thank You for my children who are so loving and so well behaved. I am so pleased to see how much they love You. I am thankful that they are so smart and so eager to learn.

Truth is... I am very proud of my kids. Yeah... they are both simply amazing.

I am especially proud of Claudia who has been through so much during these couple of weeks, but Your promises remain for her and Your faithfulness continues.
When You speak a word into someone's life, it is REAL and it is TRUE and we simply have to cling to it and believe it.

It makes me sad to think that so many people out there take your blessings for granted and choose lies over truth even after You take the time to speak to them.
Why can't they just understand that You cannot be fooled? That's right. They can try to fool those around them, but they will never fool You.
Truth always wins! Hallelujah!

One thing that I continue to teach my children is that they must praise You, worship You and THANK YOU even when they are going through difficult times.
It is better to allow YOU to love us through hard times than to try to deal with difficult moments on our own.
You say in YOUR Word that difficult times will come, but that You are there to help us through them.

Thank You for that.
Thank You Abba! We love You. We simply love You and nothing that comes our way will take away our desire to serve You and honor You.

You don't punish Your people with illnesses or bad things. You know that those things are part of living in a very imperfect world... which is why You sent Your son Yeshua to Earth. He died not only for our sins, but He carried every illness on that cross and we are already victorious in His NAME! Amen!!!

It's simply amazing how much strength we feel when we have You in our hearts. You truly make us strong. Our Faith in You sustains us and Your FAITHFULNESS is forever present.

Thank You Abba.
B'HaShem Yeshua HaMashiach,
Amen

Sunday! Sunday!

First, we went to Menchie's for some fruity frozen KOSHER yogurt.
Then it was steak fajitas at Chili's, and finally, we went to Pet Smart to get Okelani's food and wee wee pads.
It's been a pleasant afternoon.
Now we're at home and while the kids relax I'll finish up some laundry, grade papers and listen to some praise and worship.
G-d is good.
G-d is sooooo good!!!
WE LOVE YOU ABBA!!!!

All Together Now...

We all slept together in one room because of last night's storms.
Okelani freaked out with all the thunder and well, we made sure that she was as comfortable as possible next to her mommy.

I mean, look at her cuteness! We have spoiled her rotten. LOL

Rainy Afternoon...

Love this rain!!!

It was bright and sunny this morning, and now it's rainy and gently refreshing this afternoon!

We have all decided to watch a good movie and maybe doze off early. Well, I think that I might wait until they doze off to finish up some laundry and maybe organize their school stuff.

Yogurt can wait until tomorrow! :) We are way too cozy to go out right now.

Loving Shabbat!

She wants to paint, he wants to swim, and I am about to park myself on a reclining chair in the lanai to read a good book!
Ahhhhhh yes!
The beauty of Shabbat is that you get to REST!
Then, it's off to Menchie's to give an even sweeter end to our beautiful day!

Shabbat Shalom y'all!

I Fought for You

I am crying so hard right now.
I am sooooo proud of my family. I am just so proud.

The Power of Words

Lunch with My Favorite Little Boy in the World!

After all the commotion with Claudia's surgery and all, Ricardo needed some quality time with his mommy, so we had lunch together and it was awesome! He told me all about the weather, oceanography and this new dinosaur I didn't even know existed. He also told me that there needs to be at least 100 gauss of magnetism to erase a credit card. LOL! So rubbing one credit card with another or putting it in with a cel phone will not demagnetize it. Loooooove my conversations with Ricardo.
Fun and interesting! :)

Best Mother's Day Weekend EVER!

Ok. So my mother's day weekend started off like this...

Without going into much detail, Claudia gave us a scare, the doctor ran tons of tests and scans to make sure that nothing bad had "come back". Well, nothing did. Hallelujah.
The docs have to take care of a cyst they found in one of her ovaries (unbelievable that she is getting cysts so soon!), but other than that she is doing great. We had an awesome weekend, and of course, while on this little adventure of ours I made sure that Claudia took it easy.

In spite of Claudia's hospital stay, Mother's Day weekend turned out better than I expected!
On Saturday we all went to Mizu Japanese Steakhouse! Yum! It was awesome!

Then after that, it was off to BooksAMillion! That is our other favorite place! As a matter of fact, we skipped going to the movies because we enjoy spending time there more! We all bought super cool books, enjoyed some delicious tea and left there very happy with our purchases! We even had an encounter with a singing lizard! LOL

THEN... we spent the night over at Evelyn's house! Evelyn and I go wayyyyyy back! When we were like 11 years old, she moved with her family like two houses down from mine, so we have been friends EVER SINCE! That's a long time! We both moved to Florida with our families and every once in a while we ALL get together and have a blast with the kiddos! She has two girls and boy and Claudia and Ricardo absolutely looooove spending time with Samantha, Amanda and Alex! When those five get together it's ALL about having a blast!

Ricardo totally LOVED walking Charlie (Okelani's future hubby)LOL

After the mother of all slumber parties, we all got ready to hit the waters of Wekiva Springs! BEAUTIFUL!!! Then it was off to Bahama Breeze... which was packed! We didn't stay there too long. The rest of the evening was spent with la familia and it was awesome!!! My mommy is the best mom in the WORLD!!! Love her!

Surfer Girl!

National Day of Prayer...

National Day of Prayer started off at school with the kids and with my students.
Tonight it culminates (but never ceases) with most of my family together around the dinner table, thanking G-d for EVERYTHING!

Hallelujah!

It's Italian for Dinner...

Does this sound good?

Tender boneless beef short ribs slow cooked in chianti wine sauce and served with portobello mushroom risotto and steamed vegetables...

That is DINNER to celebrate that one of my sisters is coming home from being deployed! Yay.

Let's see... since we're doing Italian, we can probably pair that up with some Panna Cotta for dessert! Yum!

Yup!
Delicioso!

Plans for the Weekend!

Look at me. It's only Wednesday and I'm already planning our weekend!!!!!

It looks like Mother's Day dinner at Bahama Breeze with good friends and their kiddos. We are definitely spending the weekend over at Altamonte Springs.
Then, it's off to Wekiva Springs with Evelyn, Amanda, Samantha and Alex! My kids are going to have a blast with their friends!
Cool beans.
It's a plan!
We're taking off because my dad is planning a special dinner with my mom... and they need their time alone together. Gotta give'em a little privacy, ya know! LOL
:)

Attention! Attention!

Attention all GOP Presidential wannabes! Please cancel all campaigns immediately! Save your $$$$ and taxpayer $$$ also. No need for an election next year! Obama will win reelection GUARANTEED!
It's a slam dunk!
I can see the headlines now: OSAMA PROPELS OBAMA TO LANDSLIDE WIN!!
The Obamanation continues....ewwwwww!!!!

We Went on a Nature Walk...

OK... so my kids wanted to walk the trails of Disney's Wilderness Preserve instead of bathe in the cool waters of Wekiva Springs. We saw everything from gators to bobcats, my heart was in my throat, it was mad hot and I wanted to go home! I love nature...but that was a death trap!

You're supposed to go on nature walks to relax, but I was on "flight or fight" mode the minute we hit the deeper trails.
This sign was not very reassuring...

Que calor hace! I need a swimming pool like NOW!

Tell them Osama is dead without proof of a body, and they celebrate.
Tell them Yeshua is dead and risen without proof of a body, and they speculate.

"I will mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." -Martin Luther King Jr.

Courageous!

I cannot WAIT for this movie to come out!
My children have never known what it feels like to have a dad in their lives and they probably never will.
So if you have the privilege of being a father, it's time to step up the game and REALLY be there for your kids.
As a mom I know that I am, even if I have to play both roles.
Thank you City of Life for sharing this link.

OSAMA BIN LADEN is DEAD!!!

Wow!
He was found living in a MANSION outside of Islamabad, Pakistan and NOT in a cave in Afghanistan!

Wow!
The dude was having the time of his life.... and our soldiers were dying all over Afghanistan's tough terrain while he was chilling in a comfortable dwelling!
Ugh.

Well... he is dead now.

Good night.

Next Week It's Wekiva Springs!

Up early!

It's more water fun in the sun! This mini vacation rocks!

Next week, if the weather holds, I might take the kiddos to Wekiva Springs National Park and camp out there.
We can go swimming at the lagoon, go canoeing, walk the trails....
Ahhh! Sounds good to simply enjoy nature in a nice and relaxing atmosphere. Yeah.
That's next week's plan for SURE!

After visiting Wekiva Springs, we'll go on a National Parks binge. Most parks are free and only charge $5 to $6 for parking.

It's a great way to have fun in the summer without breaking the bank.

A cooler with juices and sandwiches for the kids and voila! Fun on a budget!

Theme parks are not the only fun thing to do in Florida. Florida has an array of national parks, museums, beaches... and the cost for most of these is less than $10.

Gotta stretch that buck this summer! After Wekiva Springs we might take off to St Augustine and Jacksonville! We had a blast there last year, and I think that it would be awesome to go there again!

Here is a video of everything that we did there last year!