Hi there!

It's me! Not here to blog about anything crazy and exciting. I actually got on to just check out the other cool blogs that I visit daily. Now, I don't know if any of you have had the opportunity to check in on any of them, but let me just recommend a few.

Here are some I visit daily:

- Color Me Katie ~ When I visit, I am truly inspired to live outside of the box of everyday life.

- Design Mom ~ She finds all the coolest, and not to mention cutest things all over the web. And how could I forget her giveaways... they are the best!

- Tollipop ~ If your an avid reader like myself, then you'll enjoy sitting back and relaxing in your favorite chair, or maybe even your bed, and reading her stories. They are so captivating... she really is so very talented.

- LOOKBOOK ~ All fashion, all the time. I love fashion, and I really enjoy looking at the creativity of some of these young people from all over the world. This is where I find my inspiration. Most of the looks are very vintage, and that's just my style.

So, that's what I've been up to today!

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An afternoon at the park

Enjoying some lunch before play time.

It was just a tad nippy out that day.

Emilio, not wanting to leave his swing.

Amiyah having class.

Amiyah, Mari, and some new friends!

Emilio and Caleb, enjoying themselves.

Cute Caleb.

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood. We couldn't resist the urge to take the kids out to the park on what was one of the coldest days this year. Emilio hated the fact that he had to put on so many layers, he screamed as though being tortured the entire time. Caleb on the other hand, he doesn't care, he just stood there and smiled. I picked up Amiyah from school and drove down the street to the park where we were to meet our friends. A couple seconds after pulling into a parking space, Lorraine pulled up next to me. Amiyah started to yell, " Shani, Mari!" as though they could hear her behind the window. She jumped out of the car, and ran to them. I believe Mari came out first. Amiyah and Mari ran to each other, it was just like a scene in a movie except they almost knocked each other to the ground because of the impact.
We also met up with little Timmy, and Mrs. Alice, and a couple of her friends and their kids. The afternoon was filled with lots of laughter. But of course, no time spent in the park would have been complete without... the occasional meltdown.

Spirit Week!

So, it's Spirit Week at Faith Christian School. Tomorrow is the last day, and quite frankly, both Amiyah and I are sad to see it go. It's the one week during the school year, the students get to wear whatever they want. Anything goes this week... well except for the kindergarteners. They had only three days they could dress "crazy" - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Being that Amiyah had never heard of such a silly day, on Monday she flat out refused to wear anything except her uniform, with socks that match her polo ( she does this everyday) , and loafers. I tried explaining to her how much fun it was going to be... but she shrugged her shoulders, and walked off. I guess I do love the fact that at such a tender age, my little Poopy, isn't a follower. Monday afternoon I got out of the car and walked to the entrance of the school to speak with Mrs. Turner. She explained to me that the kindergarteners had themes as to how they were going to dress for those three days, and if Amiyah changed her mind, Wednesday was going to be sports day, and Friday was going to be patriotic. On Tuesday, Joey and I both spoke with Amiyah, yet again, about dressing up for sports day on Wednesday. After sharing with her all the silly ideas I had, she reluctantly agreed. Wednesday morning, I woke bright and early - a new thing for me, and started prepping. Since the theme was sports, we decided to go with High School Musical. She put on her navy blue uniform skirt, with her navy blue, red and white HSM cheerleading top, and I put out her HSM socks and white sneakers, thinking she would just adore the ensemble mommy had set out for her. Amiyah, however, walked right past the socks and shoes, went straight to her sock drawer and pulled out one pink Hello Kitty ankle sock, and one red Hello Kitty knee sock. She then went to her closet and pulled down her multi-colored ( bright pink, yellow, green and orange) Nike dunks, and proceeded to put them on.
So, I know that it's "Spirit Week" and all, but this mismatching, was just a little much for me. But, whatever. I mean, I'm shocked she got into it at all. Once she was dressed, socks were on, shoes tied, she came to the table for breakfast. She sat in front of her bowl of Rice Krispies, and asked, " Mommy, can you paint my nails orange? " I took a deap breath, and without looking at Joey ( his look would only say - " Babe, don't say anything! " ) I got up and retrieved all the necessary supplies to paint her nails. One coat was enough, we had to go and they needed to dry quickly. Amiyah absolutely loved her nails, she was so shocked at how good the color looked - she usually choosed mery muted colors like nude, or shear pinks... I think she surprised herself with her choice.
If you noticed... I didn't mention her hair. You see, the one thing she absolutely refuses to do anything crazy with... is her hair. I know I know, this coming from the girl who gave herself a mullet last year? What can I say... she's growing up. So with her bob, parted off to one side, with a white flower clip in it, that's already slipping out, she took a quick glance in the mirror... and off she went. Snatched up her backpack, lunch box, and out the door, filled with excitement.
In the afternoon when I showed up to pick her up, it was funny, there were kids on the basketball courts with bathrobes on, pajama pants with gym shorts over them, mismatched shoes... I was cracking up!
So, tomorrow is Friday, and she has to dress patriotic. Amiyah has already told me what she wants to wear, guess what it is... HER UNIFORM! But get this, she said she wants to wear her navy blues skirt, white polo, and red cardigan so that she's wearing red, white and blue. Hey, she lived outside her little structured world for one day, I think that's a big enough step for now.

It's been crazy around here!

Oh my goodness, where do I start?
Well I don't have much time with you all, I just finished sticking an entire sheet of stickers on Emilio's feet, just so I can sit here. I will be interrupted quite a few times to re-apply the stickers that have decided to fall off. So let's do this quickly!
A lot has happened in the past coupe of weeks. I started a new job from home, working part-time on odesk.com - seriously... check it out, it's the best thing that has happened to me in a long time. Not only do I enjoy getting a paycheck for working from home, but I am really enjoying being able to talk to someone over the age of six. Hold on, I have to re-apply Emilio's tiger sticker...

I'm back! Now where was I? Oh yeah, odesk. I only work about four hours a day, two in the morning, and two when they go down for naps. Aside from work, we also celebrated Emilio's 2nd birthday a couple of weekends ago ( pictures up soon) and that was an absolute blast. I kept it VERY simple this year. We bbq'd at a park, and the kids played on the playground. The one thing we did do was a pinata. It was a cute dinosaur. Okay, no more about the party... that post will be up soon.
Last Friday, my niece Brianna, AKA - "Hurricane," came to spend the weekend with us. Just a few hours after her arrival ( mind you I still had Caleb plus my kids) we had to get everyone ready for cousin Mikey's birthday party at Chick-Fil-A. Phew! Joe and I were exhausted after just getting them all ready to go. Caleb left at six, and then the rest of us left the house for the party. These are the moments my husband tells me he's so happy that I'm so obsessed with my lists and schedules. Everything has to be in order, we have to do everything on schedule, from getting the kids dressed, to filling sippy cups, and packing the diaper bag with the neccesities, so that when the clock hits a certain time, we can walk out the door... and not look back. I seriously can't function without them.
Well guess what? Even after all that perfect planing... WE WENT TO THE WRONG CHICK-FIL-A!! I totally forgot they had just opened a new one around the corner from my house, and that was where the party was going to be. We drove 10-15 minutes out of our way, got all the way there, and then I said " Oh no honey, it's at the one on Commercial!" But being the man that my Obe is, he saw kids coming out of the chick-fil-a we went to with balloons and he said "Well let's just crash their party!"
He was just a hungry, grumpy Obe, that's all. Thinking with his belly again.

We turned back around and heading for the right one. Once there, we went in, and saw the party people all shoved to one side of the restaurant, next to the playgorund. It was hot, crowded, loud, and just plain stressful. The kids had a blast though, well except for Emilio and Brianna, who were afraid of the man in the cow suit. They screamed hysterically.

We had a great rest of our weekend, just keeping kids busy. We took them to the park, to the church to see a Christian Illusionist, and then to service the next day. We had a full weekend. It kinda made me thankful for those weekends when you just don't know what to do, so you end up sitting by the pool, or just hanging out at home watching movies.

Anyway, just wanted to brief everyone on what has been happening around these parts. For obvious reasons, I can no longer blog everyday, but it should be every other day at least. Thank you my sweets for tuning in... be back soon!

Race For Faith

About four ladies from our church, plus myself, headed up to West Palm Beach once again, for another race. This weekend it was - The Race For Faith.


We were in the middle of the beautiful Okeeheelee Park, on a trail that wound around such beautiful lakes. I was really excited to be there, my family and I used to visit this park quite often when I was growing up. Cooking out, fishing... it brought back a lot of memories.

I didn't run this race, I walked. My friend Lorraine has been having major back problems, and although she's a lot better, she was still having a hard time... so the wheelchair was her partner once again. She walked most of it, and I think only had to sit down once, but got back up, because she wanted to walk over the finish line. Anyhow, I wasn't going to run off and leave my girl.
We finished dead last... Yay us! It took us over an hour, but hey... we finished.
We had lots of fun!

M.A.M.A.

This is Angela Williams, the founder of - Mothers Against Murderers Association.
She founded MAMA in memory of her nephew, Torrey Donnell Manuel, who lost his life due to a senseless act of violence. In addition to that, she has also lost five nephews and two nieces to gun violence in Palm Beach County, Florida. She has made it her mission to help the families of these victims, not only overcome their grief, but be an active part in helping to educate the younger generation, equipping them, to be able to turn away from street violence. "We teach you how to come out from being the victim, we help you learn how to survive, and then teach you to be an advocate."


I had the privilege of speaking to Angela this afternoon on the telephone.She was such a sweet woman, very understanding. I told her of my families interest in volunteering, and she was excited to hear that. Since the murder of my younger brother back in May, my family and I have been looking for ways to reach these young people that think there is just no hope for them. Many of them grew up on the streets, drugs, sex, and violence... it's all they've ever known. So how do we get this message across, this message of hope... of Christ? Angela has had many opportunities to go into schools, churches, and even jails, to share with these young people.
We look forward to serving with this organization, with, Angela.



Please feel free to visit her website: www.mothersagainstmurderersassn.org
and make a small donation to help put an end to the senseless violence.




STOP THE VIOLENCE!



In Memory Of
Randall Dean Copeland
8/30/87 - 5/30/08

Today he's 2!

Our baby boy is now a 2 year old. I can't believe it.
He's climbing all the furniture, including dressers, sinks, and nightstands, and just last week I caught him swinging from one of the rails in his closet, and screaming "weeee!"
He's a good boy, he really is. He says "Tank you" when given something, but we're still working on replacing the ear-piercing shrieks, with a nice quiet, please.
He loves sports, and as of now, Joe and I think it's between basketball, football, or soccer. Or heck, maybe he can do all three. Basketball is definitely his favorite. Joey puts the goal up really high, gives the Bean the ball, and he actually shoots it. Of course he does the usual, pulling it back behind his head, like he's going to launch it, first, but when he finally let's it go... watch out!
Football is second. Every once in a while, he'll bring Joey the football and yell, "Hike, hike!"
During actual football season, the Bean enjoys relaxing afternoons with his Papi watching it on the television. He'll usually go and get the ball before sitting down, it's really cute. If there is any one thing that Joey and I have really noticed about the Bean, and his personality... it's that he's a total jokester. He doesn't like silence. He will actually come up to us, and start laughing hysterically, at absolutely nothing, but he does it just to make us laugh. Other times he'll stand in front of us if we're reading or talking, and just throw himself all over the floor going " woah, woah" and then he'll start laughing and look at us to make sure we saw him. The Bean loves to pray. It doesn't matter if it's before mealtime, or during devotions, he always holds my hand, closes his eyes... and waits. He waits for when Papi says, " In Jesus name we pray..." and then Beany bursts out and says, " Amem!" Then he laughs, of course. Ah, what a funny little guy I have.

Conversations with Amiyah

A - " Mommy, when do we get to go to heaven?"

M - " Well, just like Uncle Randall, we get to go when Jesus is ready for us."

A - " But mommy, does Jesus have one hundred beds in His house for everybody?"

M - (Laughing) " No baby, Jesus is preparing a home especially for us, for when we get there."

AUGUST - 2008
On our way to bring flowers to Randall's grave for his birthday.




A - (Holding a bunch of flowers) " Wow mommy, these are pretty, are these for Uncle Randall?

M - (With tears running down my face) " Yes baby, they are for my baby brother."

A - (A little puzzled as to how Randall would be receiving them) " But mommy, how will you send them to him? Will you send them to heaven with your tithe?"

M - ( Laughing and crying) " No baby, we are just going to set them next to his picture at the cemetery. "

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, my sweets! I pray your weekend is full of hugs and kisses to and from, all the ones you love.

What do you think?

So this afternoon, on my way to pick up Amiyah from school, the boys and I stopped off at Blockbuster to drop off Wall-E, and pick up a new movie for family night tonight. Being a stay at home mom, i don't really care all that much about what I look like when I go out... even if What NOT To Wear, is, one of my favorite shows. I wasn't all that concerned about Stacy and Clinton jumping from behind any of the movie racks, but maybe I should have been...hmmm. After finding our movie for the night - Bambi, we made our way to the register. Once there, I put the movie, and Emilio (so he couldn't run off) on the counter, and the cashier says to me, with excitement in his voice, " Wow, from back there I thought you were Rosario Dawson. I saw you when you first came in, and I almost freaked out because I thought you were her!" I said thank you to him, as he continued to go on about how much I resembled her. After paying for everything, gathering kids, picking up shoes that were kicked off, and making my way to the car, I remembered just last night laying on the couch watching the NAACP Image Awards, and watching her win the award for best actress in Seven Pounds, and just loving how naturally beautiful she was. I think we could pass as sister's, what do you think?