November Highlights 2014

Welcome back Wendy where have you you been? Well I'm glad you asked. I know I have been away from my blog for some time now and a lot has happen this pass month that I have been beyond grateful for. In today's post I decided to share my most memorable moments in the month of November of 2014. I was pretty busy in my kitchen as well but I'll explain more in this blogs. I went through my phone photo gallery to look back at some pictures i took in the month of November and below are a list of moments that I want to share...some may be mommy related and others are more family related..the point is that they were special to me.

Family Taco night: 

It was a Wednesday night instead of the famous traditional "Taco Tuesday" we had tacos on Wednesday. For once it was a night where mommy wasn't hurting her self in the kitchen or in attempt to burn something.  It was a quick and easy dinner to make and prepare....plus the girls were independently making tacos like the big girls that they are. Joannelly wanted tacos a week before that night and it turn out to be a big success in the kitchen....click here --> Taco Blog

Birthday/Big Hero 6:

Last month Disney premier the movie "Big Hero 6" about a robotic health care provider was created then after a tragedy the robot was in the care of a 14 year old boy named "Hiro" It was a beautiful made family movie and it came out three days before my birthday (Nov. 10) I thought that was a perfect opportunity to take mommy out to the movies for her birthday.  The girls were more excited about the movie than mommy turning a year older. We had our family movie and dinner date by New Rochelle in NY.  click here ---> BIRTHDAY vlog

Baby Zoey/she turned 5 months:

So as you know by now I have a huge obsession with my latest niece..I adore her with all my heart. This month I have spent so much time with her and I couldn't ask for the best moments with her. Watching her grow and learn new things she just give me baby fever to the max and takes me back to memory lane of when my girls were 5 months. I have seen this baby come out from the most darkest place in a mother's body, I have seen this before with my first niece but it wasn't as much intensive as the birth of my fourth niece. I have the same love for all my nieces but I feel we shared a moment a special one at that.

Lunch with the little sister:

It was the day of my birthday and I had lunch with my sister over at Olive Gardens..it was our first time eating there (didn't know they had complementary wine taste) I wish I hadn't forgotten the name of the type of wine the waiter gave me..after we ate our lunch I was grilling at the pumpkin pie cheese cake on the menu that the minute my waiter asked "would you like anything else?" I look straight at her and she knew exactly what my heart wanted. Next thing I know I heard a bunch of waiters with my slice of pie singing "Happy Birthday" to me. I was at peace with my pretty pretty baby, slice of pie and a glass of some good wine I had.

2 Frozen party plus 2 other parties: 

First thing I want to mention was that I thought "Beaver Fever" was bad but Frozen fever is just to overwhelming.  Don't get me wrong I LOVE Frozen, the girls and I would watch the movie over and over till the point we couldn't "Let it go" but it gets tired at one point like these sisters are not the only Disney princess out there. But I don't mind giving the little princesses what they want. In the month of November the girls and I attend to two Frozen parties. We also went to another party for my little cousin who turned 3 and the girls grandfather who turned 60. Click here --> Frozen vlog

NYC Mommy Meetup:

As a YouTube mommy vlogger, I love watching other YouTube mom's and YouTube vloggers. The 411mommas had a mommy event with venders for kids and mommies. There was a performance and a panel filled with other YouTube mommy vlogger/bloogers. I was able to share this moment with my best-friend and she could have been the perfect person to go with it. She accepts the fact the I do YouTube videos, blogging and support me through it all. We really enjoyed ourselves a lot and left home with AMAZING goodie bags for mommy and for the kiddos too! 
Click here -->  mommy meetup vlog

Cake cupcake cake-pops:

In a week never did i thought I would be so busy in my kitchen and my oven so over heated in three days. I had two orders in one week. I guess it was a good experience for when I launch my baking business. I was impressed with myself that I was able to complete that much work in just a week. And I was very pleased with my end results, it inspired me to see that my dreams can come true with a lot of hands on work believing that the outcome would be much more then one could imagine.

Night out with the big brothers:

After the second Frozen party,  daddy and I needed a night out away from anything kid-related environment.  We ended up going to a pub downtown where a cousin of mines works. I realized there is so much more in the night life then just a night out in a club. I wanted to experience bar hopping and an adult environment where can be enjoyable without someone looking down at you. The night out with the big brothers was a pleasant night with some beers and wings.

Thanksgiving Potluck:

This was the night I agreed to bring pies and cupcakes to the girls school Thanksgiving Potluck.  It was a nice night for the kids to have a big family Thanksgiving with their other scholars and teachers. There were so many dishes and ridiculous amount of pumpkin pies. It was a crazy night for me because it was the same week I did my two baked orders and the potluck was the night before the day of the two deliveries.  In the end it was fun, crazy getting there,  chaotic with noisy kids and the food was so delicious.

Thanksgiving week: 

This pass week the girls had the entire week off from school. To me it meant an entire week of drinking extra coffee in the morning and tons of sleep because I didn't have to wake up so early (5:45 am)  I did a few clips of the week base on what we did each day as part of a YouTube video I'm working on for my channel.. Lovelynelly23. The week went by fast and the last few days was spent with my older sister and the kids in my house for three days.

Christmas list:

As I mention before the last three days of the girls Thanksgiving vacation my older sister spent it at my house. We planned a post Thanksgiving dinner for the kids but it turned into a lighting of my Christmas tree.  I had the nieces and nephews including the girls to create a Christmas list to send to Santa, I ended up with like seven 3-page Christmas lists. That was fun, the kids got a chance to decorate the tree and I helped light up the tree.  It wasn't as exciting as the Rockefeller tree but at least they got to enjoyed each other company before going back to school.

These moments are close to my heart and I love that it happen in November. Hopefully this month (December ) we can end the year with a bang! I want precious memories before a new year starts and I hope I could share them with my readers. And don't forget to click on the links mentioned in this blog post to watch my YouTube videos I do with my girls on the weekends.

Until the next Blog..

Weekend Vlog: Mommy Birthday Weekend!!

Here is another weekend vlog with us celebrating my birthday together. Since that same week the girls got sick them minute they recover we went to watch Disney new movie "Big Hero 6" it was an amazing movie to watch and I think I will buy when it goes on DVD. So I hope you enjoy this video and if you have a YouTube account you will like me to watch put it on the comment box. Don't forget to subscribe to our weekend vlog channel, where I capture all the fun things we do over the weekend..

Until the next Blog...

Taco Family Night!

So last night dinner was a fun dinner..Taco Tuesday? Nope. "Taco Wild Wednesday" I'll get in to more depth with the title in just a moment. The girls for days wanted tacos for dinner...i couldn't say no to one of the no-hassle dinners. Easy to prepare and easier to clean up..only when using paper plates! I went food shopping the other and came across the Old El Paso Taco Dinner Kit (AMAZING!!) I added a few of my favorite toppings for the tacos in the picture below. Dinner was so much fun especially for the girls, I love cooking with my girls only if they follow direction...lol Other then that making dinners like this hands on is really fun, our kids feel more involved in the kitchen. I hope i can make more kid-friendly meals with the girls in the future cause they seem to enjoy it..

  

I warm up the taco shells in the micro-wave for about 40-45 seconds

I then cooked and seasoned the ground beef.

Our Taco Buffet

The girls got a chance to make their own tacos.

Seems like they really enjoyed it!

Taco Wild Wednesday was a huge mess!...I mean success!

 Until the next Blog...

Thank You Mom.

   

On this same day and date 11 years ago was the worst moment any child has ever gone through...  but 11 years today her wounds have already been healed the day this girl heard the words "mommy" from her own child...this girl remembered the words her mother once said "no matter what happens put your faith in Him and He will take care of the rest" those words stayed true to her heart which were her stitches to her wound and in time the scares are still there of those stitches but the wounds are healed.... every year this girl never remember her mother's death but her mother's love and it has kept her from the tears of the night because those tears that are now shed from her own children when they need their "mommy"..Thank you mom for your love and crazy ways and thank you for the struggles that you went through so that your children didn't follow in your foots steps because you believe we were capable in a better lifestyle. Thank You.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMELIA!!

Yesterday was a special day for a little girl...she turn a whole hand, 5 years old Amelia. She was pretty excited for months now and i believe it had to with the fact that she is having a "Spooky" theme party this weekend. I have been her mother for 5 years now and I enjoyed every year with my little baby who is no longer a baby. She just keep getting smarter and smarter each year, there's just no words that can describe how I feel every year my kids get older. All I think about is how grateful I am to be able to hold them another year, to kiss them good-night another year. I am grateful for all the whining and crying, for the laughter from when my girls do or say funny things.  Nothing warms my heart then to know I could wake every morning with my girls in my bed.
Hearing their voices and how much they love their mommy makes my heart melt. Just to watch every milestone in their life gives me hope, which is why I am a big believer in prayer...I pray every year for my blessings which are the ones that I love. Every child is a child of God, who protects them anyway He can. We may not agree with some of His protective ways and we may thank Him for his protective ways. I have many fears for my girls just like every parent does but i do thank Him each year for their life. Being a parent means putting their needs before your own, if its freezing outside you give them the only coat you have to keep your child warmer. Parenthood is not all candy and cookies, its hard work and rewarding at the same time. So for Amelia's birthday I went to her class with cupcakes and her classmates sang "Happy Birthday" Later that day after dinner, I had asked daddy to get Amelia a cake and he got her an Oreo ice cream cake. She loved every minute of her special day and no matter how many "bad days" I get with just her happy high pitch scream it's a reminder that I am doing my job just fine. I love you baby girl wish you nothing but the best in your future and I will be by your side no matter what.

Until the next Blog...

New School...New Friends...New Teachers.

New school, new experience.... this moment I have been waiting since the day that Amelia was born (2009). Since then it was the most hardiest motherhood experience I have ever been through in my entire life (I know I'm being dramatic ). I say this because I did it without my mother,.my girl never got to meet their grandmother, she left too soon. OK tears are dry up now, I'm ready to keep writing. This past September was the day the girls started a new school...together!! I felt like a million dollars about this, it just makes my life a little bit less stressful. It was Amelia's best friend mother that push me to put the girls in charter school, I had my bad experience in Joannelly previous school and I didn't want Amelia to start kindergarten in that same school. Jojo was in public school and I'm not saying that ALL public schools are bad then again I just felt that I did my part as parent to help my child in school but I felt the work wasn't enough. I had another public school I wanted the girls to attend a pretty good public school closer to home, Amelia got accepted but it would be a little difficult for Joannelly to get in. I didn't want the to deal with the transferring Jojo to different schools it worried me a little, I had bad experience with transferring schools growing up, it sort of affected my social skills.
From preK- to elementary school i have attended about 5 different school before i reach the 4th grade, i was known as the "quiet kid" I rarely made any "close" friends. As a patent I didn't want my girls to go through that experience, I'm sure other parents have their concerns about transferring their child depending on the circumstances and then there are others that don't have a problem because they are looking out for their child best academic interest. The reason why I decided to take the risk of transferring was because I got tired of getting no answers in Jojo school, tired of hearing other parents saying "my child is in 1st grade reading at 2nd grade level" or "the teachers didn't go over that in class". I needed to do something about it...make that change that will improve their intelligence, cause Yes these kids of this generation are much smarter these days, it's the school system that needs to update their hardware of teaching. Their are kids doing homework or projects on all these new technologies. And I want my kids to be one of them, although we do get the "I can't do it" phase with our children but we they just don't to do the work, that's when we find alternatives in their learning. OK back to the new school....it's a charter school however it's still a public school it just doesn't follow the public school systems or teaching technique.

 I have my pro's and con's about charter school but what I can say is that the school really embrace the students abilities to learn and that outshines the con's. My girls love their new school, teachers and made friends pretty quickly. I love love love LOVE..it's the same homework for each grade! what I mean by that is...all first graders have the same homework and all kindergartners have their homework the same. So no matter what class they are in the students would be on the same page. I like that the students can move up a grade or if the teachers feel that the student needs just a little more help goes down a grade but never hurt their self-esteem because the student has a chance to go to the grade they started before the end of the school year. I like this idea because it doesn't back track the teachers and their lesson plan, it keeps a steady academic flow. I love my girls and I want the best for them like all parents do however I'll be just as excited if they WANT the best for themselves because they love the challenge of learning.

 These charter school scholars work really hard with their teachers practicing for the state exams which is why they have longer school days and shorter holiday off, they waste no time. So as I sit in on my with my tired scholar (Jojo) who is taking a nap as I write this it's only my first experience at a charter school and it may not apply to most charter schools but I know my girls are getting the education they deserve. OK now I have to stop writing cause my little one (Amelia) is climbing the walls in my room dancing in her sister Christmas dress from last year showing me her "Dancing Queen" moves beside that, I have to start dinner before daddy gets home or else I would be getting a survey title "Why is dinner not done yet I'm starving". So......

Until the next Blog....

Weekend Vlog (Vlog-tober Month)

Here is another weekend vlog for you guys! I have been vlogging for some time now and i like that i can share them with my readers. Vlogging on the weekends are our days off of our busy morning rush week. And i decided to vlog on the weekends because i know we will be doing a lot of stuff on the weekends. The girls enjoy them and we hope you enjoy watching them too, i also have other vlogs that i have done in the pass if you would like to watch. Our biggest hit was our trip to Disney World in Florida, it was an amazing first family trip. Keep a look out on our family weekend vlogs on YouTube!

Click here -----> Birthday Weekend

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...

♡♡Cousin Love ♡♡

The girls finally meet Zoey and it was the most unbelievable experience for me. Its like they saw a new puppy!..they so nervous and excited to meet baby zoey. It seems like Zoey was excited to meet them too she was so calm and relaxed around them. So my niece Skyla is staying with us over the summer and each girl got a chance to hold baby Zoey for the first time and you know as a mother we just have to take out our camera,  thankfully my battery life was still a little full.

 

I wipe out my camera phone and took a bunch of pictures like if i'm a professional photographer fixing everyones hand and fixing the baby head to a good shot. These moments I love to keep so wgen they get older they have memories of when they first met. All this waiting for baby zoey is finally over for my girls now theres a new member of their girls club, another girl to play barbie with and do each other hair, another girls to play dress up or to sing songs together. 

Another girl to have sleepovers with and to grow up together. The girls enjoyed having Zoey around that Jojo read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" book, which was read to her in the belly. Family is forever so not matter these girls go through even though we are missing two more girls, I just hope they all stay together. A bond of cousins is more powerful that the relationship is more like sisters and im glad (blessed) to have my cousins we always thought were the girls from the 90's movie "Now and Then" ( I was always Roberta the tomboy who is actress Christina Ricci) that movie was our holy grail movie. I hope we can share memories like the ones my sister and cousins had to the new generation of cousins..

 

Until the next Blog...

Z for Baby Zoey...

Time has come to meet baby Zoey. I stayed with my sister in the hospital till monday morning. My thoughts on labor is just as it means...LABOR! For soon to be moms (and moms with more than one kid) its takes alot of work to get to 10 centimetres, with the contractions and the pushing. She went through alot of pain which bought back alot of memories with my experiences of child birth. With Joannelly I was induced at 37 weeks and for Amelia well she was over cooked for two days. My experience with labor was much longer with Jojo than with Amelia, I spent four days in the hospital. After getting induced I waited a day and half to start feeling contractions to then be in labor another full day. With Amelia was pretty quick I was in labor at home for about 8 hours that by the time I got to the hospital and i  got checked,  I was already 7 centimetres.  I guess it's true what they say every pregnancies are different and with my sister it was totally different. After spending a day and a half at the hospital i just needed a break before i had to clean the house, not sure how my mother did this mommy job for so long but it can wear a woman off. It's been 13 years since our mother had passed and I knew that my sister was able to handle this life called "Motherhood". And no matter what she may need im just a call away. 

Baby Zoey is here and now she is the most precious human being in the world. I am so excited to see what milestones she will be going through in the future. And I ask God to protect them as they grow older for they are amazing blessings from above. So Zoey whatever you need something auntie titi will alway be there for you and loves you from the moon and back.

Graduation Week

This week my babies will be reach yet another milstone in their lives....Graduation! These are the first of many graduation but now ill focus on this year. My oldest daughter Joannelly graduated from kindergarten and my eldest Amelia graduated from prek. In the beginning of the school year till now has been a rollercoaster ride but I am grateful we made it through. There were the struggles  of getting up early, then the fights of uniforms to the point of getting to school late no matter how great the night before plans worked out. I feel to believe my one and only struggle in life is time management.  I could never seem to get it down pack. But anyways im getting off topic. My girls enjoyed their school year and learned alot, I was more excited about their graduation because they no longer going to separate school and the are going to a new school..a charter school. I still don't see whats the whole big deal about charter schools I just hope the girls do good in school with good grades and make friends. Im proud of my girls that daddy and I decided to get the girls graduation presents.  They were so surprised when we told them we are going to Toys R Us, its like thats their happy place. I explained to the girls that kids should be rewarded for their hard work in school, I dont typically buy the girls any toys just cause they want it (unless its a birthday..if they deserve it). The girls graduation was Tuesday and Wednesday, the other parents were astound that the girls graduation weren't on the same day, I on the other hand, was relief. We enjoyed both graduations...so off to another school year and grade... but for now its time for summer vacation I guess lets see whats in stored..

Until the next Blog