Varadero, Cuba. Summer of 1960.The one on the far left and the tall one are two of my sisters, Alina and Miriam. The other 3 are cousins. During the course of the summer there would be 14 more kids - all of our cousins, from 5 families, sharing that beach house.It even had a name: Villa ObduliaI think Obdulia was the daughter of the lady who ...
Keep the faith
Look at that beautiful vine growing in the corner of the patio there.(pay no attention to my daughter and her hula-hoop, even though she is REALLY good at it, but that's not important right now)I swear. I have these four big, fat pots sitting in each corner of my patio and in them are these amazingly gorgeous flowering vines.No, this isn't like my ...
That face
I know. Look at that face.You're melting, aren't you?Is it the blond hair and blue eyes?Or is it just that expression?This is Ben. Benicio.My niece, Helen's son.Which makes him my grand-nephew.And half Garcia.He's two today.I was tempted to put about eighty of the thousands of pictures I take of him up here today, but I settled on this one.Because ...
My Perfect Day
Let me describe what, for me, would be a Perfect Day: Spend the entire day at the lake.Take along Daryl, Helen, Daisy and Ben.Sit and yak and yak and yak. ;-)Swim.Play volleyball.Build sandcastles.Come home and barbecue mass quantities of food.Have my in-laws join us for dinner.Enjoy Grandma's homemade caramel chocolate chip cookies, and fudge ...
She IS the boss of me.
It was a busy weekend for us with all the birthday celebrations and Father's Day. But I took the day off from my real life last Friday to go help out at the CKU convention in Anaheim (scrapbooking event). There was no way I was going to be able to actually attend the entire thing (which made me sad in like 10 different ways) because Lucy had a ...
God’s gift
WARNING: Intensely personal story coming up:When Eric and I first met, the one line description of my life read as follows:DIVORCED, THIRTY-THREE YEAR OLD MOTHER OF TWO.I always thought of it like that. Like an Enquirer headline. It felt so dramatic and so final and so unappealing. It felt more like:NO MONEY. NO LIFE. NO FUTURE.When I met ...
Amy Jean Jelly Bean
She looks angelic, doesn't she?This is Amy in 1985.She was 2 years old. And I know she will totally hate this, but I still see her just like this sometimes.Looking at her through the mom-lens. Today she turns 24.Twenty-four! I used to just stare at her when she was sleeping and wonder what she would look like when she grew up. I thought she was ...
Cuba Nostalgia montage
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=8046357044212722510&hl=en More Cuba Nostalgia. Enjoy the sights & sounds of, IMHO, the most rich and vibrant culture on planet earth. Viva Cuba Libre! ...
A Class Act
Yes, she's wearing real precious stones and fine gold.And yes, she's taking that turkey apart with her bare hands. Meet my sister, Helen. A class act. But she's not afraid to get her hands dirty.That's so wonderfully telling about the type of person she is. Today is her happy birthday. And no, I'm not allowed to tell how old she is, but she was in ...
Cuban Racing Monkees
Before I jumped into homeschooling, I did tons of research. I researched different types of homeschools, curriculum, schedules, and learning styles. Because I, personally, am primarily a visual learner, I read every book I could get my hands on and then I read everything I could find on the web. I took copious notes and made diagrams and ...
