September Ipsy Bag! (final bag for now)

Hey Lovelies, 

So I got good news and pretty sad news...I'm pretty sure by the picture some of you already know what this blog may be about. Can you guess??.....Ok fine i won't play the guessing game. This post is pretty late because this month Ipsy bag I've received in the mail 2 weeks ago. I can say that i am in love with this month bag much more than a few other bags in the pass. I had one flaw with this Septembers bag, but I'll get to that in a minute. For those that may not know what Ipsy is...well its another monthly beauty subscription bag were you get sent 4-5 beauty samples. In the past blog posts i mentioned a few Ipsy beauty bags, i had my like, dislike and even some of my favorites make brands. Ok so about the bad news, it may not matter to you however its my last bag and i wanted to share with you...my readers! Like i mentioned before i love this month's beauty bag, the only thing i wasn't to skeptical about was the tinted lip gloss. Below i would name the products that i have in my Ipsy bag and i would also post links to my previous blogs post of my other Ipsy bags. 

September's Ipsy Bag (2014)

1. Nourish Organics Moisturizing Cream Cleanser... This cream cleanser is a face cleansing cream. I tried it this morning and i really love the after wash feel on my skin. I really nourish your skin and i am glad it was made for all skin types. This cream cleanser is formulated with cucumber and watercress leaving that nice refresh skin after a good wash. This one is added to my favorites basket.                                                                                                                                
2. Pacifica Natural Mineral Pencil Eyeliner (Gun Metal)... I've had many pacifica beauty products in the past and my most favorite ones are the body butters (Indian Coconut Nectar and Tuscan Blood Orange).                                                                                                                    
3.  Mitchell and Peach- Luxury Hand Cream... The lotion is a hand cream and the brand is from UK. The hand Cream also contains Vitamin E, Shea butter and English honey to soften, nourish and protect the skin. Personally I don't use hand cream that much but since the cold season is approaching maybe i should start using them....uuuummmmm *tapping finger on chin.*                                                                                                                                                
4. Crown Brush- Crease and Shadow Dual Brush... from my YouTube experience I have only heard of Crown Brushes. From the first time i saw the brush i realized that the fibers on the brush are very soft. And I'm pretty excited to use this brush because when i apply my make-up it will enhance my look, whether its a day or night look.                                                                   
5. Cailyn Art Touch Tinted Lip Gloss (#08-Love Affair)...  I left my ALL time favorite make-up brand for last. Every month I look forward to the Cailyn Cosmetics in my Ipsy Bags, i have  few of their eye shadow with applicator on the packaging of the product. I love the colors and textures of their Lip Balm, it's so creamy and the colors are so vibrant colors. The Tinted Lip Gloss has a beauty shine and can make any lip stick color pop. The color Love Affair is perfect for fall, it adds a warm color on your lips and stands out. However, my one flaw about this products was that I felt that my lip gloss looked like it was not a full bottle like most full size packaging so that blew me off. Besides that little incident i love Cailyn products so sad i wont be getting more of Cailyn Cosmetics.

There all the products in this month Ipsy Bag. As mentioned before this is my last bag i should add that's only for short time and I come back to Ipsy soon so that i can share more bags with you all make enthusiasts. Don't forget to click on the links below for more Ipsy Bags mentioned on my blog page.

• September (2013) Ipsy Bag
• December (2013) Ipsy Bag
• January (2014) Ipsy Bag
• February (2014) Ipsy Bag

Until the next Blog...   

Parent Meetings in New School

The other day was the first parenting meeting at the girls new school (reminder: i will write about their experience in a new school and how they fell about it in another blog) this meeting focused on the first-graders academic progress since the beginning of the school year. I thought (as thought every parent does) that Joannelly was doing so well in her grade...turns out they weren't but it was expected from their teachers. Every kid is not going to reach their teachers expectation just yet so it didn't bother me at all. So in the parent meeting i decided to take notes in what might help JoJo do a little better without hurting her self-esteem. I know my child is smart especially the kids in this generation with all the new fancy gadgets out there, as a parent i know encouraging our children that they can do better is pretty important. Growing up i felt i didn't get that encouragement,  it was always the method of "tough love" but i knew that method did not always worked for me. Being in this parent meeting not only did i get great insight from JoJo teachers but i got a chance to see her class room. Mind you that this is a new school, so they had some new gadgets to help teach the students. The notes that i took down were based on how to help my child in their homework whether it's math or reading...trust me when i say this...i was amazed of the tips that the teacher offer to the rest of the parents. And i wanted to share with you all some of notes i jot down from the meeting, i believe this would help for other grades besides first grade...so here are they are:

1. Label and Circle the total number...This method was mentioned in the meeting because the majority of the students where getting confused by the number total of objects or whatever the category may be. The teacher stated that the "Label and Circle" method would help the students not only be organized but can get a clear answer to the math question.  For example: if the question asked there's a fruit basket on the kitchen table..how many bananas are there? how many apples are there? and there's a image of the fruit basket with the bananas and apples; that's where the "Label and Circle" method kicks in. Our kid can label how many bananas are there first then circle the last number of bananas and sort forth with the apples. I found this method a genius method because our kids won't get confuse of how many things/objects are there and have a well organized answer.  GENIUS! 
2. Language used to describe the situation... Growing up i had very few teachers,tutors and even my mother who weren't good at speaking to me about the school work that would help me get the answer on my own. I had family members say to me "you know the answer but you are not trying hard" or "you know the answer, your just so distracted pay attention!" Just to clarify that i would be able to tried harder if the way the school work was explained to me in a way i could understand. The language use to explain a problem or lesson was a challenge for me growing up so i made a promise to myself that if i ever had kids i would do my best to describe any situation to my kids in a way they would be able to understand...speak in their level. One way the teacher at the meeting spoke of was questioning our child..ask if they can see if the number is bigger or smaller. Another question that can help with homework is how is the number changing.
3. Organized objects to help skip numbers.... The definition of skip numbers is referred to when the math problem is being counted by a specific number such as 2's 10's or 5's. Jojo really hasn't been doing this at home but i know its been done in class. I want her to be able to use this method when trying to count a large group of numbers and that's what it was created for...I'll elaborate a little more. So our kid has a math problem where they need to add such number and such number together. The counter objects that are being used in this number math problem are pennies and the numbers they need to add is 23+56. The pennies can be use to organized each group numbers that needs to be added so for example: to make 23 the pennies can be organized by a group of 10's which will look like this...two sets of 10 pennies and 3 pennies. By first grade the kids should know how to count by 10's, once all the numbers that are in the addition problem is organized it would then be easier to count how many 10's are there and how many ones are there altogether.

There it is my notes that i jot done and a brief explanation about each jotted note. The rest that i had written down were just reminders of other things that are non-related to school work or homework. So i hope this makes sense and also can help a parent out there in encouraging their child to do extra better in their homework because they do know the answer, they just need the confidence to just say it. I also wanted to mention that the teacher  talked a little about reading, which is more about reading to them every night a book...but that's something else i wanted to write about in another blog....

Until the next Blog...

Our Summer

Since the last post, I've been contemplating on doing the things i needed to do. looking at my dashboard of all the drafts i have yet to complete on, so i decided to just combined them all into one post. I have a lot on my plate right now to spending so much ( not really) time on one that is 3 weeks old. Don't get me wrong i love writing on my blog, i just days where i am least paying attention to it.I'm still dealing with the lost of my job, however i keep putting myself out there, just like my motto for this year "Make it Happen"
How back to this past summer that the girls and i had. This summer wasn't an all out of this world summer but it wasn't a bad one either. I can say the girls have enjoyed their summer, needless to say it wasn't that hot they some how made it their summer. Back in June daddy and i took the girls Lego Land Discovery Center in Westchester ( although i could use a trip to California) It was a friend of mine that told me about so it was our first trip their. So we went and it was an amazing adventure. I grew up with Lego because my brothers and cousin would stay playing with Lego so it was nice to share that experience with my girls. As a family we were pretty busy at Lego-land, the girls enjoyed the Lego class and especially the Lego-land indoor playground. Our fourth of July was an incredible family getaway  to Pennsylvania, we spent the weekend going to Hershey Park. I came to the realization that i love road trips and wish my family did that more often. Joannelly is really a thrill-seeker, we didn't go on all the rides but that didn't stop JoJo. There was this one ride where it looks like you will end up with a headache even though its a ride for kids, Amelia on the other hand did not like that ride at all.

Despite the fear that Amelia had about that roller coaster she was brave enough to ride...i have really brave girls!! Before we went to P.A. my older brother had plan a BBQ for his youngest son 3rd birthday and guess what the theme of the birthday....LEGO! I also made my nephew some lego cupcakes for his birthday, i love baking so i was excited to make the cupcakes for him. Last month my older sister and i had planned to go to a Hindi Color Festival at Staten Island, somehow our time management wasn't so great that we ended up in Staten Island for just Panera Bread, can't complain the girls got a chance to the Statue of Liberty for the first time. Its these unexpected trips that makes every minute worth cherishing.


The rest of the summer was spent with one of my nieces, i was babysitting until she started school in Sept. The remaining summer was spent at my local playgrounds and eating free summer meals. I tried to keep our summer fun and affordable even with my financial concerns. I know the girls had fun, we also got a chance to go to a couple of fun birthdays which most of them where circus theme. The one moment that changed our lives and couldn't be any grateful to have in our family is the birth of my baby niece Zoey! she is the most adorable human being the world. we just can't get enough of Zoey and i am very proud of sister so far doing a great job as a new mother( i guess since is known as the fossil aunt).

Overall our summer was a pleasant summer, we enjoyed being around family, lots of sun, beaches, BBQ and memories we can keep embracing as we get older. Good bye Summer of 2014 you wasn't as hot as we all expected but we did enjoy the time we shared. Now that school had started the year is still not over.

Until the next Blog...