Sandoogans' Log

We bought this ornament for our Compadre. It was the year he moved back to Mexico. 2011 This little snowman is Sami's ornament this year. It represents her starting school. 2012 This ornament is also Sami. This represented all the places she's traveled (so far). 2010 This guy is one of my favorite. This ornament is Mr. Andrade. It represents him taking off to Dubai to build the world's largest water fountain. 2009 I guess this would be considered a family ornament. We bought this in Dubai. 2009 This of course is my ornament. One of my personal faves. I love The Beatles and Christmas what perfect way to commemorate both. 2008 Our Hawaii family ornament. It was our first trip as a family to Oahu. Can't wait to go again. 2011  I know yesterday I talked about my Christmas carol s tradition and how I love playing them all month long. I have yet, another tradition. What can I say? I love Christmas! I think this might be the la

We finally got our Christmas tree over the weekend. I didn't think we'd wait this long but then again I can recall many times when my parents got our tree on Christmas Eve. I suppose it isn't too bad. Christmas has become much more exciting for me. I think the reason being is Sami is getting older and getting into the holiday spirit. She's understanding what Christmas is. My sister and I are doing an excellent job of brainwashing her with Christmas carols. I have a personal tradition in which I play nothing but Christmas carols through out the month of December. Literally. Nothing but carols. This year I couldn't wait and started a little earlier than usual. As soon as Thanksgiving was over I began with my caroling. Sometimes I'll tune in to the KOST or my Sirius Holiday Traditions station. I love singing my heart away as I make my way through traffic. Sami now has her own personal favorite carols as well. So far she loves Santa Claus is Coming to Town an

almost as much as I love Christmas. This is one of those few videos that I can watch over and over. It's not one of my favorite Christmas carols but, definitely one of my favorite comedy skits. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Happy holidays!

Thanksgiving weekeng after feeling like a fat bastard I decided to take Sami for a bike ride. She rode, I walked. I had also wanted to ride my bike but didn't feel safe doing it without Mr. A around. Sami isn't a fast bike rider so, I figured walking would be just as good as riding. The point was to get out and get some form of physical activity going. I knew Sami would be happy to get out of the house. We started by walking/riding around the block. Then we made our way into the park. I had Sami follow the new path they had just finished added not too long ago. I have to admit it was quite beautiful. South Gate did a real nice job fixing up the inside of the park. There use to be a walkway only around the park never inside. Now they have the walkway, beautiful lights and even some benches a long the little route. It was so nice to see. It kind of made me feel like I was in Central Park with the brown and orange leaves on the ground, sweater w

Amanda working her magic. Here we go. She only had 3 inches cut off. No major damage. Amanda's talented hands were making Sami sleepy. She was a good little client. Pretty much what I kept asking Sami all week. I had been telling her she was going to get a hair cut for a couple of weeks now. Each time she'd say "No!" and storm off into her room. Last week the day finally came to chop off her hair. My awesome friend (and hairstylist) Amanda did me the favor of coming over and doing our hair in the privacy of our own home. I went first thinking she would change her mind after seeing mami get a trim. I was wrong. When her turn finally came around she quietly got up and went in her room. I went in to see what she was doing and found her sitting on the edge of her bed, head down, hands crossed with tears rolling down her cheek. I was a little thrown back because I didn't think it would bother her so much. I asked her what was wrong and she

On her way to school. Getting ready to go Trick or Treating around the park. The kids during playtime. Sami with her fellow Tinkerbell classmate. The two Tinkerbells were besties by the end of the day. Sami came to visit me at work on Halloween day. I loved it! This year finding a costume for Sami was a little more difficult than the previous ones. The main reason being is Miss Sami now tells us what she likes and doesn't like. She had first said she wanted to be a pirate . So we were pretty stoked with the idea. Then, she said she wanted to be a princess. The very thought of this would make me cringe. I know that's not stereotypical in mothers since most mother prefer their daughters to be girly. Not this mom. I pride myself when my daughter does stuff out of the norm. So when she said she wanted to be pirate, I couldn't be happier! Unfortunately, it was short lived. We flip flopped like this for most of late September and early October. In the end Sami was neither

Sami had a high fever that day. Her doctor was trying to cheer her up. We ran into our family while at Kaiser. Kaylie was going in for her check up. She had been really sick a couple of weeks ago. Glad she's doing better. I know Kaiser has gotten a bad rap these last few years but I can't seem to quit them. Each year when the benefits enrollment time comes around I always say I'm switching to PPO. I get carried away with all the perks of having PPO. Then, as usual, I always end up staying with Kaiser.  One of the reasons I think I stay is the convenience. Everything is there! I don't have to go out on a witch hunt to find certain doctors for certain things. I simply have to walk from one building to another. Pretty sweet if you ask me. I see Mr. A having to go to several different places each time he goes in for a physical. I think that's one of main reasons he lags on his check ups. Thinking about it now, I guess I can finally admit I really do like Ka

Looks like someone made up their mind on what they want to be for Halloween.

 It was a family affair.  Proud sponsors of Team V-Dub My running buddy for this race. I think we both enjoyed it very much. This is why we love hanging with these kids. Never a dull moment. Roxanne and I crossing the finish line. I let her run in front of me. Kidding Roxanne! This past Sunday Mr. A and I had the privilege of being sponsored by Volkswagen for the Long Beach ICB Race. We had the option of choosing between the 5K, the bike tour and the half and full marathon. We opted for the 5K. It was exciting and scary. He hadn't done any physical activity in maybe a year and I hadn't run in almost 2 months. It didn't matter to us though, we were up to the challenge. My cousin Will had also won an entry to the race. Unlike us, he decided to run the half marathon. How I envy him. He's worked hard to get where he is and is an avid runner. I'd expect nothing less from my cuzzo. We were trying to win an entry for his wife but no dice. S

This week marks Sami's second week of school. She has moved on from  Tiny Two's  on to Tot Time. Being that she is 3 now she had to move up. This class ranges from 3-5 year old. I was a little nervous about at it so I decided to take the day off from work to take her to school. To my surprise the new class was jammed packed. One of the mom's from Sami's previous class told me they apparently cancelled the Monday & Wednesday class (the kid's go to school twice a week) and put all the kids in the am and pm Tuesday & Thursday classes. I didn't worry about it too much because sadly after awhile, parents stop taking their kids to school. Not sure if it's because their jobs get in the way or no transportation. Whatever the reason is the classes will drastically shrink by the time they're done.  The new teachers seemed nice with the exception of 2. Since it's such a large class they had about 5 teachers in

Evening ride. Man down! I realized today that my family is a bit odd. All summer not once did we do anything outdoorsy. We stayed in doors for the most part with the occasional trip to Disneyland. No bike riding or evening walks. As soon as summer was officially over we started going out for walks and finally put our beloved bike rides to use. True, we live in amazing Southern California where summer never really goes away, but still. I just find it quite silly and to be honest, I really do dig it. Most people who know me well know that I've never been one to color inside the lines. It's nice to say that my little family is the same way. 

I often think Mr. A has way more patience when it comes to playing games with Sam. I am pretty bad when it comes to playtime. I'm not sure why. I am however good at playing the mommy role. What I mean by that is bath time, feeding, putting her to sleep, etc... Mr. A isn't the best when it comes to those things (I am so in trouble when he reads this), well, maybe the feeding. I guess we balance each other pretty well. The other night I walked into Sam's room to find her and her papi playing an intense game of Candy Land. She had received it as a gift for her birthday and to be quite honest, I think her dad was more excited about playing than Sam. It was really cute to see them playing. I love seeing moments like this because they are moments Sam will remember when she grows up and they are moments we will carry in our heart. I must admit I wanted to jump in and play a game with them but had to wait till they finished. Sadly I didn't get my turn. Sam soon

I've been wanting to take Sami to a Dodger game for quite sometime now. I hadn't because I was scared for various reasons. I know plenty of parents take their kids to Dodger games but I just didn't feel quite ready. About a week ago the opportunity finally presented itself. One of Mr.A's friends was nice enough to make Sami's birthday invitations for free IF, we went to a Dodger game for him and got his son the backpack they were giving away. Sweet deal right? Only catch, we had to take Sami. They were giving the backpack to kids 12 and under which meant we had to take her. I was nervous and excited and expected to stay 2 innings minimal. My child is awesome and all that good stuff but she is also hyper and likes to run around like any kid her age.  All day we were prepping Sami telling her we were going to a baseball game. She seemed pretty excited even though she had no idea what baseball was. We get there and were all stok