The cRaZy World of the Aleman's: Mario

Showing posts with label Mario. Show all posts

Friday, January 27, 2012

Oh Pinterest...I'm going to get in trouble...

Now that you know my new lover and the amount of love I have for her....I introduce you to my first project, first of many though...but let's not tell Mario ;)

The first time I searched on Pinterest, I feel in love with an idea someone had pinned (saved image) on their board. It was simple, made a statement but most of all it was displaying the true loves of my life; my husband and kids.Picture yourself playing a good ol' game of Scrabble, but instead of playing on your board, you use......YOUR WALL! Yes, your own Scrabble game displayed in your house with words you actually know, and not made up! ;) The cool thing about Pinterest is you get to save the picture and the direct link of where that item was found. GENIUS I tell you!

Once I was redirected to the actual website, I was blown away! Cassity went above and beyond to create her Scrabble letters, I'm talking about purchasing 2 x 2 or 4 x 4, sanding, priming and using a letter cutter! WHAT!? WHO!? HOW!? Can you imagine me telling Mario...."Um Babe, please sand all 32 pieces!? Thanks- love you!" I would get a big HEL TO THE NO!! So, Cassity, YOU GO ON WITH YOUR BAD ASS SELF!

Here's what we (I) did.... (yes, that's a BOLD and UNDERLINED I)

I originally was going to use the back part of the $1 wooden frames found at Michaels but when we saw them in person, both the front and back of the frame were cut out. MAJOR FAIL! We did find other frames that were perfect, but those were almost $3 each. Did I mention we needed 32 of them? Again....MAJOR FAIL! On to Plan B- Home Depot. With this plan we were going to buy actual planks of wood, like Cassity and cut them into 6"x 6" squares, but that came to a hault when the manager told us the size we wanted was too small. WHAT.THE.FUCK. She asked what I wanted to do exactly and at first I was like "oh she is going to think I've lost my mind and laugh in my face" but no- in true girly fashion, sporting her orange apron she said "Oh...that's soooo cute!" I instantly fell in love with her, not only because she didn't think I'd lost my mind holding up a picture of my project on display on my phone but because she gave us a much better idea at a fraction of the cost! What more can I ask for!?

We used the back part of the Rosette Block, which was great! No sanding, no priming, no cutting...those bad boys were all set and ready to be madeover.

That night I had to Google the font for the Scrabble game and find something similar in MS Word. I ended up using Calibri in a font size of 250, which would make the font 3 1/2 inches tall. After I printed all the letters, I then cut them out and traced them on back part of the block with a pencil.

After all 31 letters were stenciled and ready for their make-over, it was time for PAINT!

I then made my way to Walmart and picked up ½ pint of black glossy paint, along with a paintbrush set (which were awesome)!

I couldn’t wait to get home and start painting. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning! I started with Alex’s name and that alone took me about an hour. (SIDE NOTE: It’s another thing to think about when picking your child’s name- they won’t be the only ones writing their names. YOU WILL TOO!) The following night I finished the rest of the names and let them all dry overnight.

Finally, after working on this project for about 4 days….the day finally arrived to hang them!!!!!! SWEET VICTORY!

I started playing with the arrangements of the puzzle and the second one I did was the winner. I asked Mario to please help me hang the blocks, but he was too “tired”…..
EXCUSE ME!? Ummmm…. hello. I’ve been working on these blocks for about 4 days now and I want them UP! So what is a girl to do?? HANG THEM UP YOUR OWN DAM SELF! I did ask him to eye the center of the wall and to pass me a nail. Guess what happened next…..Mario was my bitch, passing the nails to the WOMAN in charge! HAHA- then we reversed rolls and I became his! No worries….I GOT MY BLOCKS UP!

And here is the finished product…..

Yes, you might notice that our Scrabble game is “Double blessed” with our two crosses- which we didn’t intend on having them like that. But it’s super cool how they turned out as this! My mom is going to flip her rosary when she sees this for Alex’s party! Which you know you should stay tuned and see the Thomas the Train creation I pull out of my sleeve ;)

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Thank you, sweet baby Jesus

It's been a rough couple of months for us. Something that I had told a certain few, but never shared on here. Mario lost his job at Interval International back in December. Although, we have made the best of it (with gracious support from our family and my Catholic Spice) it's been a blessing in disguise. Or at least that's how I take it. Mario on the other hand didn't see it that way.... but can you blame him, I don't. He got to spend time with both kids. Which that alone is amazing seeing our goofy kids grow up before you very eyes.

With many prayers and connections, Mario finally started working again. This time a little far, 50+ hours work weeks, no more weekends for us, but we do have him for 3 days straight at home. But most of all it's a great company he can move up in. Through our friends Joselyn & Pedro, Mario is now working in the Marriot Hotel. I'm so proud of him- he stuck it through for so long and we both made the best of it.

I know there were times where I wanted find a genie lamp and make a wish, but what good would that do??? I saw it as being challenged again by God. I know Mario would think it's a fucked up challenge from him- but it needs to be done. It's to open your eyes and see that we can make it through and we can make the best out of it. I know our God wasn't going to allow us to loose our home- or give us something we couldn't handle. I won't lie and say it was a breeze, because it wasn't. We now look back and say..."that was some shit uh!?"

After Mario getting the job at The Marriot, I wanted to give thanks, not only for him- but for our family. So I said to myself- to church we go! And so to church we have gone! I want the kids to know about Jesus, God, and all the beauties we have around us. I want them to learn about being grateful, giving thanks and to live our lives through the paths that were created for us. I know my faith lacks (in terms of truly believing some aspects of the Catholic religion) but my faith has always been there, and now it's time for it to come out and share it with the my family.

We have been granted two parents working (again), a roof over our heads, health, love and most of all FAITH!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

A little update...

So many things have happened since I started this blog back in 2007. I started blogging about our planning our wedding, family trips, being bless with becoming parents again, to the birth of Alejandro.

Apparently, after giving birth to Alejandro- life didn't allow me to blog anymore.... life became a little too hectic. Honestly, the last thing I wanted to do after a long day with BOTH kids was...well...blog. I knew deep down I wanted to keep our 'Crazy World' alive in blog world. So here I am another year later giving it another try.

You can say many things have happened since I last blogged- Mario and I have realized we are one set of cool ass parents! We've been blessed with two crazy, well behaved kids (sometimes)... who at times make me count to 10, while tapping my forehead and taking deep breaths. But counting or not we wouldn't change it for the world.

Gaby "The Diva" is finally in kindergarten! I still can't believe it myself. She's learning how to read, write sentences, American history, etc. It just amazes me how much she has learned since the school year started in August. She did her first Science project in January- which if I may say so myself, turned out fabulously! Although she's only 6, her mind is all about fashion, music and the latest "in" thing. Mario and I allow her to dress how ever she wants- even if that means purple polka dots with green stripes. She's a great kid and has no shame in her game!

Alejandro just turned 2 and what a talker he is! He (like his sister) love to talk. His vocabulary has blossomed in the past 2 months. It's funny when people ask "What did he say?" and Gaby, Mario and I can translate with ease. Mario decided to start potty training him this weekend but for now all Alex does is clean his pp and his back (yes, you read correctly- his back). I'm just crossing my fingers that his aim is on point ;) Alex, just like Gaby love music. He loves all kinds of music- but his favorite artist is none other than the King of Pop... Micheal Jackson!

There are so many other things that I think and believe we've been blessed with that keeps our marriage alive and going. Mario and I have been together since 98' and we know each other way too to think otherwise. We know we can count on each other for anything and I can tell him the craziest thing that this brain of mine comes up with...and what will Mario do? Give me this look and say "Aye babe". And for that "aye babe" I know he loves me no matter what! As I type this- i just look at him (playing 'Angry Birds') and believe I'm the luckiest girl in the planet... why? Because I have that crazy man next to me and to me that is the best feeling ever- being loved by your love. Cheesy much.. TOTALLY!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures- Oh how I love Pictures!!!

Gaby's graduation was this weekend. Mario couldn't make it :( She did soo good performing her Teddy Bear song. So proud I am of my little one. I also met her 2 BBF's from school, Sharon and Sofia. Such cute girls those two are and their parents were such a pleasure to meet. Of course it was great to finally put a face to a name and all the stories Gaby tells me. Sunday my mother in-law had a BBQ at her house with her remodeled back yard and brand new BBQ that she had to sport with it.

Here are a couple of pictures as Promised.