Memories...

We went to my stepdad's funeral today. It was sad, but good at the same time. A lot of memories were shared while we were there, so I thought I would share a few of my memories on here.

*Mike LOVED popcorn! When I was little I remember we had this old school popcorn maker that you poured the kernels in and had to put a bowl under it to catch the popcorn as it came out. I swear that thing was one of the most used appliances in our house!

*Mike would always let me drive his car. When I was little he would sit me on his lap starting at the bottom of our road, and he would control the gas and brakes and I would control the steering wheel. One time when I got older he let me drive on my own while he was in the passenger seat, and I backed over our neighbors sprinkler so he had to replace it. I think I was in maybe 4th grade.

*Mike would always pay attention to whatever new thing I was into or name brand clothing, and he would surprise me at random times by bringing it home for me. He bought me a scooter when I was little, and put it in our bathroom then made some excuse that he needed me to get something out of the bathroom so I would go see it. One time he gave me batteries, and then when I was reading the note he said that maybe I could put them in this (and when I turned around he had a new discman for me). He was always very giving.

*Mike's family spends their summers in Montana at Seely Lake, and we had lots of fun trips up there. Mike taught me how to water ski when I was just little during one of our trips there.

*Mike was an avid Neil Diamond fan, and to this day I can't hear a Neil Diamond song without thinking of him.

*Mike probably to this day has an 8 track player in his basement. He hated to have to upgrade to new things when his old things were still working, but when he could no longer find his Neil Diamond on 8 track or cassette he didn't have much of a choice but to upgrade. He used the same theory with his cars. He used the same cars until his 2 older kids ended up wrecking them, and he had no choice but to get a new one.

*Mike was also very supportive. He was constantly driving me to and from dance classes, and he would sit for hours through my millions of performances.

*Mike liked to take us to movies or waterparks. He continued that tradition with his grandkids. When I was little it was Classic Waterpark or Raging Waters that we went to. The first time I went anywhere with Mike by myself (I was 3) he took me to a movie. My mom had the little talk about having manners. I wasn't suppose to ask for anything and I was suppose to make sure to say please and thank you for things he did buy me. Me being the clever little child that I was told him when he picked me up, "My mom says I'm not suppose to ask you for anything, but if you want to buy me something that would be ok."

...There are many more memories I have about Mike considering we lived with him for 11 years, but I will stop right there so I can go relax and spend some time with my family :)

What's going on in the Quintana household???

Lots is going on around here as usual. Last week my step-dad passed away. He has been fighting cancer for about a year now, but they only found out last month that he had it. He was given 6-8 weeks left at that point, and he only made it 2. I had lost touch with him until recently, but I am very glad I was able to get in touch with him again before he passed away. As sad as it is that he is gone, I am glad that he is no longer suffering. The last 2 or 3 months were pure misery for him. My mom and I were able to go see him a couple of weeks ago, and I am happy to have had that last visit with him. We will be heading to Ogden this Saturday for his funeral :(

Then yesterday my mom found out she has a form of skin cancer. She had a mole looked at last week that her dr decided to biopsy, and it's cancerous. It isn't deadly, but it will be recurring. I am just sick of that stupid word cancer all together. It has claimed too many people in my life, and I hate it. It also makes me scared to death that I could get it since it is obviously so common in my family.

On a lighter note, my sister came over yesterday to pick up my nephew and she brought her stuff to wax my eyebrows. While we were at it we did Syd's for the first time too. She looks so much more grown up to me! See for yourself.....



I know she is only 9, but when you have an aunt who does that stuff for a living and you have your sperm donors bushy eyebrows/unibrow you have to tame them! We have started doing stuff to both my girls young. My sister likes to play with their hair. Tasia had highlights when she was only 2, and Syd had them for the 1st time at 3 and has had them quite a few times since. It's fun to do little girly things like that with them. Syd loves her eyebrows. I think they have always made her a little self-concious.

Valentine's weekend

Anthony and I got to have a night to ourselves on Saturday night. The kids slept at Anth's parents house, and we went to the tattoo convention to get our tattoos. After I had been getting mine done for about 10 or 15 minutes the guy came and told Anth he was ready for him, so he had to leave me. I was a little nervous, but I made it through lol They both took about an hour to finish. Anth got Tasia's full name, and I think it's the first time he realized just how long her name really is! Mine is the angel wings with the nickname Syd gave my Grandma that stuck with her through all 3 of my kids. My Grandma used to sing Old McDonald with Syd all the time, but instead of singing E I E I O Syd would sing I E I E O so she started calling my Grandma Ahee since she associated her with that song. These pictures are right after they finished, so they are red and obviously have some healing to do. I think Anth's tattoo looks sexy!

Afterwards we went shopping for the kids. We got them each a stuffed animal and a cute little tin with some candy in it, and we bought a Wii for the family. I think Anth and I love it as much as the kids! We played bowling, tennis, baseball and golf together. Then after the kids went to bed Anth and I kicked each others butts at boxing lol It gives you a little bit of a workout, and my arms are a little sore. I think we need to do a family Wii party! We also got the new Super Mario. It's definitely a fun, classic game. I think the next game I want to get is Just Dance, and the Wii Fit.

What else is new???

As always we have a busy weekend ahead. Syd and Dom had a birthday party last night. I ended up picking Dom up early though, because the girl whose birthday it was has this older brother (he's 13 and in junior high) that felt the need to pick on my son. Poor Dom was sitting on the curb wanting to come home. The dang kid bit him! That's right, a 13 year old BIT my 7 year old. The dang mom didn't do much about it either, and I was pissed so I went and got my son. Today we have baseball sign-ups for Dom, and after that we are going into Costco with my parents to stock up on groceries. Then we will come home, go pay bills, get kids ready and head to Sandy to drop them off so we can have our night out!!! We are going to dinner at the Olive Garden (one of my favorites!) and then heading to the tattoo expo. I think I am getting a tattoo that will be a tribute to my Grandma. I'm pretty excited! Anth still isn't sure what he's getting, or if he's getting anything at all. Stay tuned for pics!!!

Anastasia (Tasia)

I just realized I haven't done my post that's strictly about Tasia! See what happens when you feel like life is shitting on you left and right. Oh well, we are working on getting back on track, so we shall see how things are over the next few weeks.







My little Tasia is the child who will give us a run for our money! She is extremely stubborn, and thinks she can run the household already. In fact, she thinks she is Dom and Syd's 3rd parent. Tasia is into everything girly. She loves Dora and the Disney Princesses. She loves makeup, and is constantly getting into mine. She has to have perfume put on her when I put mine on everyday. She likes me to put mascara on her when I am trying to do my makeup. Tasia is constantly walking around singing. She seemed to be the entertainment as we walked the aisles of Costco a few weeks ago. She was belting out "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus at the top of her lungs, and people just smiled and giggled at her. Tasia is extremely smart, and always has been. Her dr told me at her 1 year old check-up that she had a 2 year old vocabulary. She has recently learned to write her own name, and loves to try to write new letters everyday. She is also a little parrot. She pays attention to things that you would never know she was paying attention to. The other day we were sitting at a stop light, and when it turned green and nobody went she yelled "Green means go people!". Apparently she wanted to get somewhere, and they weren't moving fast enough for her. She is equally a mommy and daddy's girl. My mom would say she is a Grandma's girl, but I will have to argue with that. Tasia has a perfectly comfortable bed in her bedroom she shares with Sydney, but she insists on sleeping on a bed made out of blankets on Dom's bedroom floor. If she does decide to sleep in her room she still chooses to lay on the floor rather than her bed. She will argue that she isn't tired, so she doesn't want to nap or go to bed at night but within 10 minutes she is usually out cold. On the nights when she isn't tired she has a tendancy to get caught sneaking into candy or some other snack foods. She ate her whole bag of Halloween candy one night, and the next night she ate about 4 pieces of sandwich sliced cheese. Tasia is a dare devil child. She tries to climb and jump off of everything, and it doesn't even phase her. The kids went through a phase where they liked to watch Big Momma's House 2, and Tasia decided she was going to try to jump off the top bunk onto her mattress because the little boy on there jumps off of everything. Tasia doesn't have a favorite color. She just tells me that every color in the rainbow is her favorite. Tasia is VERY attached to her purple blanket. We have bought her many blankets, but for some reason it is the only one she will use. She likes to take it everywhere with her, and it gets dirty easy and we have to fight with her to wash it. She eventually agrees to let it be washed, but after about 10 minutes she is whining that she wants her blanket back. It makes for a very long process! Tasia is also helpful. She likes to help me clean up. She loves to help me with Boston. Anytime Boston cries she is the first one there trying to talk soft to her to get her to stop, or giving her a toy to try and make her happy. She loves to make Boston laugh, and she loves when Boston will give her hugs and kisses. I'm sure that as Boston gets older they will be good friends. Having Boston around makes me worry less about how Tasia will react when we have another baby. Tasia likes to sleep in her underwear. She has lots of cute little jammies, and we get her in them every night but they NEVER stay on her. As with all of my children, Tasia likes to have a routine. If we mess with her routine at all she can get pretty cranky. I'm sure that's her OCD coming out. She definitely shows characteristics of OCD like me. She has to put toys away just the same as they were when she took them out. She lines up everything...blocks, movie cases, shoes, pillows, bottles of shampoo, you name it she probably at some point has put them in a line across our floor. I think that about covers it for now. She is our little wild child, and we love every minute of it!

Have a good weekend

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I've got a busy one ahead as usual. Saturday I am going to my cousin's baby shower with my mom in Ogden. After that she is taking me to the hospital out there, because my old step-dad (my mom and him were married from the time I was 6 until I was 13) isn't doing so well. They found out a couple of weeks ago that he has cancer, and it has spread extremely fast. In less than a year it has spread through basically his whole torso area and more. Anyway...he had a biopsy done Monday, and wasn't stable afterwards and has to stay in the hospital for a while. He only has an 8% chance to live with the cancer even, so I definitely need to get up there to see him. It's scary and hard, because it's been a lot like the situation with my Grandma. They said he had gallstones, he isn't eating and is starting to become dillusion, etc. It's making it all a little hard to deal with. On a brighter note, Syd is probably going ice fishing with my dad Saturday, and Anthony will be cleaning out the garage. Then Sunday, of course, is the Superbowl and I am pretty sure we are going to my parents to eat munchies and hang out. Neither of us are big football fans, and neither one of the teams is even the team Anth likes, but it'll still be nice to get together and hang out with family. I need to go start scrubbing the house (another inspection is coming next week). I have already warned Anth that when I pick him up today I probably won't even be showered yet...pretty nasty huh!!!