a small thing

i know this is probably a small thing, and i'm probably behind. but...i found some trial photo software that allows me to do the selective coloring (most of the picture is black and white with a little bit of color). i've been trying to figure it out forever. here are a couple that i have done so far.

thank you, momma

most of you that have been around jacob know that he talks quite well. you may also know that he is a stubborn little boy. (i have no idea where he gets that from.) whenever i want him to talk or say something specific, he absolutely refuses.

the main culprit..."please". trying to get him to ask nicely for something has been a thorn in my side. he's getting better though. they've been working on it at daycare, and it's sorta becoming part of his routine.

well, yesterday, we were eating dinner. as usual, halfway through, he feels he's had enough (rice and strawberries...hey! he's eating, ok!) and he wants to get down and play. we don't try to force eating because it just backfires on us.

later, he comes back and wants another strawberry. i kindly hand him one, not thinking anything of it.

he walks away, stops, turns around with a huge smile on his face and says...

"thank you, momma."

one small step for most, one giant leap for me.

basketball jones

okay, for most, you've already seen this and are tired of it. but for me, it makes me almost cry every time!

enjoy!

i guess i should explain in case you're wondering what he's saying. if you've ever seen space jam (with michael jordan and bugs bunny), there's a song on there called "basketball jones". jerry sings it constantly to jacob and jacob finally picked it up. this is his rendition.

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happy anniversary!

today is mine and jerry's 3 year anniversary! wow! 3 years. it seems like yesterday. i remember our wedding day...every little detail. i remember the look on his face when my dad handed me over. i remember the gaze in his eyes as we repeated our vows. i remember the feel of the first official married kiss. i remember the moment i was introduced to the world as his wife. i remember the most amazing feeling the morning after, waking up seeing him laying next to me, knowing it would be that way forever.

of course, this morning i woke up to a little boy kicking me in the back! jerry's in del rio and won't return until tomorrow. the day remains cherished just the same.

though our wedding feels like yesterday, our life together feels like eternity. somewhere in my heart, he has always been there. the first day i saw him, my heart was given to him and would never return. every day, the love i have for him grows immensely.

jerry,

you are my husband, partner, lover, best friend, father to our child, and so much more. the image of the first time i saw you has never left my mind. i remember seeing the most gorgeous blue eyes i had ever seen. they were mesmerizing. they drew me in and never me let go.

i remember looking forward to coming to school every day just to see you for 5 minutes. of course, there was a lot of flirting going on. i don't think i ever smiled so much in my life. i would come home daily with some new story to tell kylah about you.

i knew one day, you would be my husband. here we are 3 years later. you have made these the happiest 3 years of my life. i can only look forward to what God has in store for us in the next chapter of our life together.

i will relish in every moment!

i love you!

crystal

shrek update

okay, so shrek the third wasn't really as good as the first two, but seeing my little boy sitting in his own seat made it all better.

he sat through the entire movie, the majority of the time with his little hands behind his head, just kicked back and relaxed. he was so cute!

here he is before the movie, so excited.

here he is in his little booster seat.

here he is with his daddy. so cute!

and here he is in front of the shrek poster.

so much fun!!

shrek

shrek the third comes out today.

no, we're not going tonight. i can't even imagine taking jacob on opening night.

but tomorrow, we will brave it. it will be his first movie in the theater. shrek is his favorite character. i am so excited!

even more so, after shrek, we are going to ichiban's to celebrate our 3rd anniversary! it's not actually until tuesday, but jerry will be in del rio on an audit.

back to shrek...

expect pictures of jacob next to the shrek billboard and sitting in his little theater seat! i can't wait!

enough

okay, the shoe polish on the car was sweet.

but today, 7th period, one of my students comes in and asks if i like my car?

what??

not only do i have shoe polish, i now have streamers attached from every place possible.

the worst part...

i'm afraid they're not done!!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my husband

a couple of weeks ago, jerry came and got my car from work, without me knowing. he took it to be washed and brought it back. i never even noticed until i got in the car and had a card waiting for me.
it read as follows:

(on the front)
Do you know what I love most about us?

(inside)
You.

(his words)
I know life has been fast and crazy lately. So, I wanted to take a moment totell you how much I love you. Thanks for being such a GREAT wife and mother. Jacob and I love you more than anything in this world. I can't wait to see you.

I love you,
Your Husband

things like this just make me melt.

i love my husband so much!!

i feel so loved

okay, so most of you know i do not like my current job. of course, i only have 2 weeks left of it, so that's a plus.

one of the hardest parts is that i'm a certified teacher but i co-teach all day long. i had to move into someone else's classroom and i'm generally thought of as the "aide" even though we are supposed to be equals.

i've never really felt like a true teacher.

in fact, today i had a teacher call my co-teacher and ASK if i could come up to the credit recovery lab to help some students out...like my co-teacher was my boss or something. it just really irritated me. (she is a long-term sub and she didn't know any better)

but, when i got back to my room, two of my senior girls told me to come to the window and look at my car. they had written all over it with shoe polish!

most would probably be irritated and mad because they now had to wash their car...

but to me, today, it made me feel like a teacher...an acknowledged, appreciated, loved teacher.

they wrote things like #1 teacher, karina loves u, and even sexy mama.

a very small thing, but it kinda made my day.

maybe i can make it through the next 2 weeks after all.

the new look

for a while, jacob has had this cheesy look on his face every time i would take a picture...it was all teeth...
he has now developed a new one...

he thinks it's so funny and just give a sly little smile after...

may 15

this day...

are there ever days that you would like to take back or redo?

this is one of those days. not today as in may 15, 2007, but today in the past.

the day has gotten easier as the years have past, but still lingers in my mind.

without the details, mistakes have been made, the price has been paid, forgiveness has been given.

but this day...

love it

being mother's day weekend, you would expect a mother to be shown more love than a normal day...

but to my baby, every day is mother's day.

take a look...

it's friday...

enough said.

my mother

mother's day is fast approaching. it is such a great day. before i had jacob, it was a day to celebrate others. but now, it's also for me. i enjoy being recognized for being a mom. i love celebrating the joy of my role.

i've never really made a big deal about the day before i was a mom. but now that i am, i realize how important it is to recognize others.

this is for my mom...

she will probably never read it because she's not a computer person. on the off chance that she does, i want her to be honored.

mother,

i want to take this time to tell you how much i appreciate you. i know you don't hear it often from any of your children. you have done so much for us....too much. you always put us before yourself. though the others may not understand, i do. i have seen the sacrifices you have made for us. you continue to love and take care of us regardless of how old we are or where we live. you deserve to be celebrated, to be honored, to be respected. you deserve to be LOVED. here's me telling you i love you! you are my mom! i couldn't ask for anyone better!

i hope you have a wonderful mother's day!

crystal

here's an e-mail i got this morning...

As you got up this morning, I watched you, and hoped you would talk to me, even if it was just a few words, asking my opinion or thanking me for something good that happened in your life yesterday. But I noticed you were too busy, trying to find the right outfit to wear.

When you ran around the house getting ready, I knew there would be a few minutes for you to stop and say hello, but you were to busy. At one point you had to wait fifteen minutes with nothing to do except sit in a chair. Then I saw you spring to your feet. I thought you wanted to talk to me but you ran to the phone and called a friend to get the latest gossip instead.

I watched patiently all day long. With all our activities I guess you were too busy to say anything to me. I noticed that before lunch you looked around, maybe you felt embarrassed to talk to me, that is why you didn't bow your head. You glanced three or four tables over and you noticed some of your friends talking to me briefly before they ate, but you didn't.

That's okay. There is still more time left, and I hope that you will talk to me yet. You went home and it seems as if you had lots of things to do. After a few of them were done, you turned on the TV. I don't know if you like TV or not, just about anything goes there and you spend a lot of time each day in front of it not thinking about anything, just enjoying the show. I waited patiently again as you watched the TV and ate your meal, but again you didn't talk to me.

Bedtime I guess you felt too tired. After you said goodnight to your family you plopped into bed and fell asleep in no time. That's okay because you may not realize that I am always there for you. I've got patience, more than you will ever know.... I even want to teach you how to be patient with others as well.

I love you so much that I wait everyday for a nod, prayer or thought, or a thankful part of your heart. It is hard to have a one-sided conversation. Well, you are getting up once again. Once again I will wait, with nothing but love for you. Hoping that today you will give me some time.

Have a nice day!

Your friend,

GOD

so, in the process of reading this e-mail, it felt as though God was talking directly to me.

i woke up late this morning, hurried around to get ready, kissed my boys goodbye and went to work. once i got to work, i had free time, but just sat around.

luckily, i got this e-mail early this morning and had every intention to correct myself. yet again, i got busy.

it breaks my heart to think how i'm acting.

in fact, i called jerry at lunch and he talked to me for like 2 seconds. i was so mad when i got off the phone.

but at least he said hi. that's more than i can say for myself.

so many times we forget to "talk". but this e-mail sums it up perfectly. He is so patient and loves us so much. He will continue to wait for us.

i am so thankful for this.

i am so thankful for our God.

i got a new job! i got a new job! i got a new job!

guess what...

i got a new job!

i've been waiting and praying for over a year now to get out of my current job. finally, with much persuasion from a few friends and people high up...i'm in.

my new title...

middle school math teacher -- glenn middle school

i'm not sure what grade yet. it's not all finalized.

the best part...besides being on the other side of town, having my own room, and not teaching high school...

no special ed!

i'm so incredibly excited!

thank you to those who have been pulling and praying for me. it paid off!

stupidity

here's the current conversation in my class...

"miss, have you ever smoked weed?"

"uh, no. i'm not stupid!"

"it's not stupid. people do it all the time."

i walk away.

"man, i had to go to the hospital this weekend...i hurt my back and they gave me morphine. i was so high! it was crazy. it felt like that time at the park..."

why me??

down by 3

okay, so as you know i've been trying to eat better lately...

lately meaning the past 5 days or so.

yesterday, i'm at work and one of my students made a comment about me and i asked what they said.

"you had a baby, mrs. ramirez, and you're skinny."

skinny?? ha!

but, i did feel much better yesterday. my clothes were fitting better and that comment definitely helped.

when i got home after school, i decided to weigh myself. it's only been 5 days, but something could've happened.

i take my shoes off...
step on the scale...
wait for it...
wait for it...
minus 3 pounds!!

needless to say, i was in a really good mood the rest of the day!

starving

have you ever noticed when you're trying to eat right, anything and everything sounds good?!

this is what i'm experiencing right now.

yesterday, i had a granola bar for breakfast, rice cakes for a snack, 300 calorie lunch, and then a grilled chicken salad for dinner.

i was so proud of myself because i didn't even have a snack after dinner!

right now??

i think my stomach is eating itself!!

okay, a little exaggeration...but i'm so hungry and i still have 1 hour till lunch!

be strong, crystal...be strong...

skinny

so, a few posts ago, i wrote about wanting to exercise...

of course, that is yet to happen.

but, i have been trying to eat better. i've tried to go back to my 100 calorie snacks and small lunches with moderate dinners. it's only been a couple of days, so no results so far.

my motivation??

my mother-in-law.

for most, you're thinking, "what??"

due to not-so-good circumstances, in the past month, she's lost like 15 pounds. the woman is not big by any means. she now weighs like 124 pounds!

how sad that i'm jealous of my mother-in-law!