Dominic Dancing

Dominic getting creative with his dancing:

Candles and Prayer

A week ago I got the idea of really embracing the symbolism in Catholicism. Actually, it’s more then just embracing it, but living it. As a start, I bought a candle wrapped with a picture of Christ. The idea was to have it be a tool for prayer.

Of course, there is nothing innovative about this at all. In most of the ancient [and modern] world it has been the natural language of mystical expression. In fact, Catholicism more then likely borrowed this practice from ancient Egypt.

At any rate, it’s been very effective in getting the kids more active in their prayer life. I start off by lighting the candle, followed by a “In the name of the Father…” and then circulate the candle as your turn comes up to pray. The candle seems to help them focus more and give it more of a mystical feeling to it. When it reaches the last person (me), it’s ended with and “amen” and we kiss and hug each other good night.

It’s a good tool for families who either want to improve on there prayer life or simply want something that works well with kids.

Family Drawing

New family portrait:


Drawn by Dominic with help from mommy.

Uninterested in School

I came down hard on Dominic yesterday. He’s been so uninterested with doing homework and no matter what I said to motivate him, he wasn’t interested. As a parent you start back peddling on what you have done to possibly have contributed to his lack of interest. Do I not read enough to him? Do my daily activities send him a message that school isn’t important?

Whatever it is, I plan to fix it and hopefully have him at least understand that he doesn’t have to like everything he does in school, but he does need to understand that sometimes we need to do things we don’t like in order to get to things we do.

To Mommy

Evelyn,

To simply thank you for all you have done as a mother just seems like it’s not enough. You’ve managed to raise four kids through all we have gone through. All those times they were sick, crying, or simply driving you crazy. You are amazing Evelyn.

Our kids are too small to realize what an amazing mommy they have, but if there is any indication that they are grateful of mommy, just look at how much they mirror you. It is your inner workings that have them saying “thank you”, “bless you”, “excuse me” and many more……that is work you have done……Whatever I have done to support it, is just that “support”. You are laying the foundation for their moral character and manners. They love you and need you…...You are so selfless, caring, and loving with them and I see you do this time and time again. I love you sooooooooooo much for that. You are planting seeds in them and the results will show in time.

The bond and unwavering tie you have with our children has been an absolute beauty and privilege to see. Every time you kiss and hug them I melt with happiness.

Thank you so much for fulfilling your calling as a mother and as I said above, a letter or a thank you simply doesn’t do it justice but I pray we have the time to show you as a family, just how much we love you.

Sincerely,

~Baby Gia
~Sonia
~Jojo
~Dominic
~Daddy

Fatherless Kids

I’ve come to truly appreciate the value of fatherhood. It’s not something I read or was handed down, but it came to me in forms of slaps in face. Not one big one, but many medium size slaps and I’m still growing in this area. The more I understand, the more I realize the damage done one is without one.

Just yesterday I went out to play baseball with the boys and neighboring kids came out like flies. One by one they asked “can I play?”…”Sure”…I’d respond. In a matter of minutes we had six kids on each team with me as pitcher. At that instant, I asked myself, “where is there dad’s?”…The irony is that I’ve seen this for as long as I can remember. Never once did I find it odd that fathers were missing from the picture.

I just hope I can be a good enough father to my kids to give them the tools to be the men they should be.

Tee Ball

Evelyn and I signed both the boys up for t-ball. Dominic’s desire to join was rather simple; Gabriel, a boy in his class was already part of the team and naturally Dominic wanted to join as well. Jojo’s desire was no different other then he wants to do whatever his older brother happens to get himself into. I was iffy about Jojo joining at first. He’s more animated, expressive, and emotional then Dominic and I wasn’t sure how that would translate into the field. That and he’s not used to be in a classroom type of environment where kids have rules to follow.

Fortunately, it seems to be turning out much better then I expected. The idea of being a part of something has really excited both of them to the point of them wanting to sleep with there baseball shoes and wear there game day outfits forever. Evelyn wasn’t too fond of them continuing to wear their outfits more then a day; I told her to let it go on this one. They are excited about being pirates and I didn’t think such a healthy feeling was something we wanted to interrupt. However, I could only hold back Evelyn for so many days. Besides, hygiene does eventually become a concern.

It’s been immensely fun and fulfilling to experience all this with my boys and family in general.

Addition to the family

I wasn’t so much surprised that I was nervous and enthused about our baby girl coming, but more at the fact that I was just overwhelmed with awe at how precious babies and life general is. I figured after having gone through this three times already I would be a bit more stoic and expert-like in my reactions and feelings. Not at all! I reacted like if it was my first baby all over again. I had a blast!

Good thing I stayed home with the family for a week after the birth. Life would have been tough for Evelyn had I not been there to tame the other three. Apparently they still think they are the center of the universe even though mommy isn’t feeling good. That is kids for you.

Doh!......Where are my manners?......Baby “Gia Bella Mesina” was born on January 7, 2009 @ 4:12 pm. She weighed in at a wopping 7.6lbs and was 18.75 inches long. She is adorable! See for yourself:

New Year

Happy belated New Year and Merry Christmas!

The holidays were joyous and happy for me. We met at the usual spot (in-laws), with the usual crowd. It’s always fun to see how much relatives have changed and not changed.

Well, it’s a new year and hopefully I can accomplish what I set out to resolve.

The Mist

The drive home yesterday was like something from the twilight zone. I could see the giant cloud devour the 5 freeway; it reminded me of the movie mist.

Now, there isn't anything special about fog...but...fog that devours and moves like what I saw, is simply rad! Does anyone use that word anymore?

BBQ Weekend

For some families, having BBQ’s on the weekend is like a religious practice. For us, let’s just say I can’t remember the last time we ever had one. I’ve never been a fan of having a BBQ on your 6 X 6 foot patio. Maybe if we actually had a back yard; it would be more enticing to have them more often.

Having said that, kids can have just as much fun in a 6 X 6 patio as they can in a football size backyard. They enjoyed roasting marshmallows, hot dogs, and just helping me prepare the food. So as ice cude once said “today was a good day”.

Family Movie Day

A Journey to the Center of the Earth

It’s the first movie we watch as a family without any interruptions from any of the kids. They enjoyed wearing the 3D glasses and of course the usual amenities like popcorn, soda, and such.

As for the movie, it’s a good thing we watched it in 3D. I’m not sure it would be as enjoyable if we didn’t. Things jumping out at you really steals the show. It was certainly a good movie for kids; it had a few scenes that made them jump, but that was about it. It was fun.

First Day of School

I'm so used to saying "first day of school" and talking about myself. But now my oldest son is starting kindergarten. Wow! Time sure does fly.

It is a wonderful feeling to be a father, it really is. It upsets me just to think that any man would negate such a beautiful thing.

Anyways, it's a happy moment and I used to think that only mommy's tend to get nervous when there no-longer-baby goes off on there own. Whatever feeling my wife was feeling, I shared with her.

But you know, us guys don't like to talk about it, unless it's a blog...=)

Baseball Game

So I took the boys to an Angels game and they were excited at the mere view of the front entrance with the huge red baseball helmets. At the entrance, they gave away free angels plug-in lights that got them even more excited. To top things off, the ramps that take you to the upper levels amused them to no end. We even got a small fire work show. Things seemed to be going well.

Then, at the bottom of the second, while the Angels were being pummeled, and my second youngest boy was singing “I like cotton candy, yes I do” for nearly 15 minutes non-stop, things went south. The Oakland fans behind us were getting loud, a group of drunken college kids to my left and my kids kept on saying they wanted to go home.

So, it was short lived, but we had as much fun as we could have considering the circumstances.