Week Vlogs!!

If you haven't notice by now i have been vlogging a lot these past few weekends. I only vlog on weekend because the girls are so busy with school during the week there is really nothing interesting that goes on. I have been vlogging to keep the girls busy on the weekend its fun and the girls really enjoy it. I also don't post all of the footage that i record, i keep that  for keepsake family home videos. so here are some of our most recent weekend vlogs and if you have a YouTube account you can also follow our vlogs for more adventures that we do on weekends!! I hope you enjoy them.

Mommy Birthday Weekend:

Went to a frozen party:

Just a day at the Mall:

Sick all Week!!

I didn't get a chance to write on my blog last week because the girls were sick. Having both girls home away from school was pretty intense. First the week before that, at school in the morning,  Joannelly was complaining that her hand was itching and it bother her. I had baby Zoey at the time and i rush to get Joannelly from school to take her to the doctors so that we can figure out what this mess is all about. It turn out that Joannelly had Coxsackie A.K.A "Mouth, Hand, Foot Disease.  Let me break it down more if you have never heard of Coxsackie, it blister like bumps that appears inside the mouth, the inside of the hands and the bottom of the feet. This is common more on children and contagious, thankfully it didn't pass on to baby Zoey. I believe this occur due to the fact Jojo has this bad habitat of putting things in her mouth and she happen to put a rusted necklace they had but haven't wore it in a few months....Grreeeaaaatttt!! The doctor let me know that these goes away on their own without any antibiotics just keep her washing her hands and give her ibuprofen for pain. Sure that was no brainier, "she would stay home from school until the blisters goes away" I thought until it so happen that the blister pass on to the Drama Queen of the house, Amelia, so this week go pretty interesting. As a mother i made sure they didn't miss any work or homework. To my surprise went i went by the school to pick the homework packet and work for the week, I notice the stack of work the girls had to complete on top of the science projects that were due the week that they were going back to school. We as mother have to always be on top of children to ensure that they get their work done correctly until the day they end up sick the whole week then we are like "Oh shit!" (excuse my french) a week of "mommy she snatch!" "Mommy I'm tried i wanna finish later" later came..."mommy I'm tired can i finish tomorrow" but wait there's more! more whining, loud playing then some quite ready with the some giggles in between and a week filled with headaches and lots lots of love. Ok back to positive thoughts, happy thoughts. The entire week the girls spend it doing their homework any morning work that they do in class and their science project. When our kids get sick its not an easy job for us moms but we do it because they need us, all the sleepless nights and the constant cleaning of vomit or moments where they don't feel like eating anything and we don't want them to starve so we come up with so many meals as if our kitchen is a restaurant menu. And all the whining of being uncomfortable that sometimes we let things sly like letting them sleep with us at night or in their case eating popsicle all day because the doctor said it was ok. I'm
extremely glad my babies are back to themselves it does take a toll on us mom especially if don't we have much help, daddy couldn't help me because he had a crazy schedule that week so i was by myself in my house on "quarantine" like my sister calls it. Every is back to normal and i am ok with that so with that being said....

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...

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...

Amelia's First day of school!

I am so excited that today was Amelia's first day back to school, this time she is in kindergarten!! My baby is growing up too fast. So here is a video i made about Amelia first day. Just so you guys know i have a link to where i got the first day of school signs (Just click on the underlined words). I hope you guys enjoy watching her experience and our "day in the life" vlog!

Until the next Blog!

Mommy Gets a Time Out!

 For today blog i just want to vent a little, nothing about what the girls did today or our mini adventure. So right now mommy is taking a time out for herself. I've been feeling down still since i stop working and all, even with our trip to Hersey Park i haven't been feeling myself. Its our human nature to as women to feel overwhelm with work, school, children and just life in general. I felt like i needed a day for myself, we all need those days. We spent almost all of our children lives taking them everywhere we go the supermarket, salon, bank and even the gym. Some days i just want to do things by myself without worrying about the girls fighting or be precaution about our surroundings. It was just one of those days where i can do errands without my babies or have a girls night and every chance i get start to feel bad that i'm leaving my babies behind. I still feel that way til this day, i'm pretty sure its parental insecurities. Today i got up took a shower, got dressed then laid the girls clothes out on their beds, i step into the living-room while the girls were playing store and i ask them "Girls wanna come with me to the supermarket or you stay home when daddy gets here?" I was pretty surprised by their answer "We will stay home mommy, but who will stay with us" as funny as the answer was of course daddy came home just in time. So i took the opportunity to go food shopping by myself...By Myself. For a second i thought the girls needed fresh air but it turns out it was me who needed the fresh air. I enjoyed being outside for a little without the girls, it was very therapeutic the driving and get the things that i needed for myself. I always thank God for everything i have no matter the situation and i would tell myself that the downfalls are only temporary if we only make it temporary. I will get back on track in the work field my plan is to get employee by the time the girls start school (Mid-August), so this summer i will work on my resume and putting myself out there while enjoying the summer with the girls....including my nieces. Mommy time-out still continues even after the girls are sleep and i'm catching up on the show Orange is the New Black at the same time that i am blogging. For right now my mindset is to stay positive in the midst of my storm called "life", i want to be able to find something to be able to help financially at home and yet love doing it while making it my passion. I have my baking, its a passion of mines, when i am creating bake goods for someone its like i have the ability to express myself in baking and reality doesn't seem so dreadful.Then i have my Blogs, i can also express my feeling and thoughts on parenting with our little  family adventures. I still have blog posts that i haven't uploaded yet for distracting myself but they will be post so stay tune. So mommies (and Daddies) go ahead take your time-out that is much needed, enjoy it for a moment its ok to have some time for yourselves. My night continues with mama lion watching her show, papa lion sleeping and baby cubs are asleep.

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.

Things Happen and life goes on...

Hey Bloggers!

Today was the day I got fired.......its going to take me a moment to accept the fact that I will be on the no job boat once again. I actually had in mind to leave my job, didn't think it was going to be this soon but life goes on. I'm grateful to have my husband here to help me cope and my sister to help me go through the next step. I decided to write today because writing helps me clear my mind before it got clutter with so many unhealthy thoughts. I know I have to think positive and take this opportunity to evaluate the future as well as take a seat back to the present. I leave all my worries to God I believe in the higher power. Ever since I was young, my mother use to be a church woman of God and growing up in church I always kept my faith in Him. Sometimes we go through situations that we have no idea why it happen and its like God doesn't want us to know the reasons just know its part of His plan. So as I sit here in front of my computer debating with the girls about going to bed early if they want to go to the beach in the morning, there are situations I don't have control of (except putting these girls to bed) all I know is that life goes on... We can't stay negative about the situations just take a break from it and then find a time to think positively, as a mother I have to show my girls that no matter what one goes through always think about the positives and solutions that an help one cope. I'm glad I have my husband who can be very understanding and so caring. Its people like that we we need to be and stay positive.  So as I sit back enjoy the summer and babies, ill just keep working hard to get back on track again. Stay positive and dont let negativity stay where its not welcome.

Until the next Blog..

Spring Break Vaca Day 6 "Making Cookie Meaning Day"

    The girls and I did something out of the ordinary. Our Saturdays are usually me being the last one to wake up or the first one to wake up to get ready for work. This Saturday I had a plan for the girls to do for Easter and I had to be at work that afternoon. It was a crazy day for me but the girls were going to enjoy and they did. The plan for today was a cookie-decorating class and we went to the east side of the city to a place called Make Meaning. 

        The place is a craft store for children and adults  to create different things. The cookie-decorating class was a last minute thing I decided to do the day before. After so many local buses to exchanged I managed to make it the city in the express bus on time. The girls had a blast at the place, they socialize with the other kids and had so much fun putting their creative side in the cookies. As yummy as it look I was very surprised at their work, I help a little but the rest was them. We fell in love with the place we wanted to do more stuff but we had to go and i didn't want to be late for work. To end the night hubby and I went out to the city for a date night while the girls had a sleepover. I'm not all about sleepovers unless it's with family, this sleepover was with hubby long time friend. She has a daughter the same age as Amelia and the beautiful thing about this little girl is the minute the girls are together its like they are cousins. The ended well and the adventure still continues till tomorrow so...

Until the next Blog...

Zoo Trip! April 2, 2014

Joannelly had her first kindergarten but i was too please because it was the same trip as last year. We ended up going to the Bronx Zoo. I even ask if the teacher if there were going to be any more trips in the next coming months and she didn't even know. This trip was exciting for JoJo because she was able to be with her friends outside of school. I ended up leading the trip because her teacher didn't remember her way around the zoo, keep in mind the zoo is a pretty wildlife environment with tons of different animals with so many different names. If you are planing to visit New York the Bronx Zoo is one of the most beautiful places to go and explore the wildlife. On our trip we were able to see a few animals like the lions and their cubs, some rhinos, bears, alot of birds. We had to take a break because we did a lot of walking for these tiny feet. Although it wasn't a beautiful sunny day out, the whole class enjoyed themselves watching whatever animals we were able to see and we got back to the school safe. I just hope this isn't their last trip and that JoJo school would come up with better trips for these kids, im not saying that the zoo wasn't fun which it was despite the long walks and the "don't know where i am going" moments. All i am saying that my girl school should plan on more better educational trip that fit their budgets. If you think otherwise i would like to know.

Until the next Blog...

Picture Day!!

 The most exciting day for all moms! last week was graduation picture day at school for both the girls, i was excited to dress my girls as if it was a fashion show.Although my babies are beautiful in their own ways i like to make every picture priceless. When it comes to the school picture packages i like to keep it small since its for my living room and grandma, thankfully i have a art and advertisement aunt she can make copies for me!. They told me about their day and they love their outfit more than picture day...lol I don't blame look at their smiles!!

Monday- JoJo Picture Day Outfit

Wednesday - Amelia Picture Day Outfit

JoJo Outfit:

• Cardigan (Target)
• Dress (Zara)
• Belt (Target)
• Sparkling Flats (Target)
• Stockings (Children Place)

 Amelia Outfit:

• Blouse (Zara)
• Skirt (OldNavy)
• Stockings (Children Place)
• Booties ( Gap Kids)

Accessories:

• Jojo necklace (Children Place)
• Amelia flower hair clip (H&M)
• Amelia necklace (Delia's)

Winter Break! 2014

The girls had a winter break from school, that a whole week of them being at home. I wanted to plan a week of fun but it turns out the week plan itself ( as weird as that sounds it was true!). The girls and i spend the winter break either outside or inside but it was always with family.
so heres how our winter break went:

Monday: Lazy Day!

Tuesday: Pizza Night!

(Kids pizza ingredients) 

(Mommy n Daddy ingredients)

Wednesday: I made Pancakes with heart sprinkles!

Thursday - Saturday: My little niece stay with us, they had a little sleepover :)

 Saturday: We went Ice Skating!!

 and took a selfie in the bathroom...priceless moment with them..lol

To top of our week my sister cut a cake for her daughter and close friend ( excuse the blur the camera was a little dirty..lol)

The girls were sad the winter break was over and everyone had to go home but they were excited to be back in school the next day. Hope you all enjoyed your winter break as much as we did.

 Until the next Blog...