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...

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...

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

Spring Break Vaca Day 8 "Not Myself Day"

Mondays for me are my lazy days but this Monday i wasn't feeling like my usual self. As a mother its understandable we have those "not myself" days where our body is there but our minds are in a different worlds. And that is exactly how i felt today, i needed to get out the house for some fresh air to get my mind back to my body. It got worst till the point i ended up having an argument with my husband to the point that i found out why i was feeling the way i was feeling. Have you ever had one of those day?? I would like to know what you have done to cope with your "not myself" day. I didn't get to do laundry yesterday and it gave me the opportunity to get that fresh air i needed. The girls and i did just that and while the clothes were getting dry we went to the same pizza shop (which is now our favorite pizza shop) to get lunch and to the discount store a few stores down to finish buying all the stuff for JoJo science fair. I felt a little ok while folding the clothes, it was just something about folding clothes that keep mind off what i was thinking. It's always go to find that one thing that helps cope with your "not myself day" and its ok to get these days we are human not a machine.

Today's plan was "homework day", the girls had to finish up any homework before they go back to school this Wednesday. That plan did not go as plan but it's ok. When we were heading back home i notice Joannelly outfit and she reminded me of a little girl from our favorite store series, "
 Fancy Nancy" Its about a little girl who finds anything she does and wares very fancy to her. She love all those fabulous things and walks around like she is very fancy wearing all the girly clothes,bags and shoe. Joannelly does the same-thing she finds what she wears very fancy. I love that JoJo can pick out her own outfit, she is growing up so fast and doing thing own her own being a little more independent. I am not ready for them to grow up but i do have to prepare for those stages. The girls have one day left to their spring break vacation but surprising they are happy to go back school.

Until the next Blog...

Spring Break Vaca Day 5 "Cousin Date Day"

This NYC weather is driving me crazy! Its the middle of April and i'm feeling cold! Like I kept telling people, i am  not a  weather woman but we will have a long summer. Today was day 5 of our Spring Break activities and i'm pretty sure you all reading along thinking to yourself "oh how i wish I was those little girls" or "I would love to do that with my kids". Its funny because these are the same comments I've been getting since I started my plan. Its all about creating a plan and making sure the plan fits your budget to how much you decide to spend, most importantly do your research, I know I did. It is a lot of work to be planing and monitoring all these activities which is why I got some help. Thankfully hubby was off from work today we were able to go the aquarium today, despite the breeze weather, I made sure the girls were learning something and having fun. My niece was also off from school so I brought her with us didn't want her to stay home bored. Because of Sandy and new renovations that were going on, we really didn't see much. 

   The girls love the idea of watching fishes in a huge fish tank was amazing to them but for daddy he was making sure the girls weren't bumping into people which was impossible because it was crowded. I just want to clarify that I am not doing these vacation posts to brag about what my girls did on their spring break but help parents plan trips that are easy and affordable to do with their kids. Not many parents know what to do with their kids because either they don't have the time to search or not sure whats suitable for their child's age. I'm not rich or spend crazy money, i am just blessed to have what i have and fortunate enough to share this experience with my readers. After we finished watching whatever sea animals were able to see, we walked right over to the boardwalk to grab some lunch. I can't wait till we come back in summer to Coney Island and enjoy the attraction and the beach. I remember when I was little I came to Coney Island with my mother, brothers and a few of my cousin. I wasn't sure where I was but I do remember the beach by the boardwalk it was beautiful sun and hot sand. As weird as this weather was today I know the girls had a good time. So now i end this blog here for another adventure awaits for tomorrow. ....

Until the next Blog....

Spring Break Vaca Day 3 "Broadway Show Day"

           Today was the biggest surprise for the girls today. The plan for today was to see a Broadway musical show, which better than Cinderella!!! with Fran Drescher and Carly Rae Jepsen. The girls were very tired but excited to see the show, I guess because of the Disney story of Cinderella that they know not the Broadway version.  This morning I didn't get to clean up the house only because I was a little moody and tired from yesterday's work oh I also got the "time of the month".  When we women get our period its kinda like an off switch to our mood...everything bothers us and it makes everything we do around our surroundings so frustrating.  My mood today was off because the girls woke up extremely early.. well Jojo did and then Amelia. I was not ready to deal with children at 7 am especially on a vacation day, as a mother I shouldn't say that but as a human being its the truth. I thought maybe if I turn on the t.v. in my room (yes I do have a t.v. in my room for those days when its just me and the girls at home) maybe just maybe the girls would stay in my bed to watch t.v. while I rest for another hour. Yeah that didn't last long only one episode of Doc Mcstuffin and they were out of my room playing. Ok I got up made breakfast,  printed out our reference to pick up our tickets then i read that we had to be at the theater an hour before the show, it was 11 and I had 2 hours to get ready to be downtown by 1. That didn't sound to appealing it sound more like chaos rushing the girls to get ready and be at theater at 2. 

         As i mentioned in my pass blog about transportation, in the city we have local buses and express bus that travels from one borough to another. So desperate times calls for desperate measures, we took the express bus, its cost us triple the price of the local bus fare. We got to the theater, sat in our seats while we waited for the show to began. Lets keep in mind most Broadway musicals are about 2 hrs long so I was proud in keeping the bathroom breaks down pack and snacks only because I brought our own made lunch from home. This was the girls first Broadway show and my second (my first show was off Broadway a class trip many many years ago) so the girls didn't know what to expect. As tired as they were, they skipped nap-time, they really enjoyed themselves.  The show was amazing and funny, its a show you never expected certain part of the story to happen which makes it unique.  We laugh a lot and clap a lot despite all of that I too enjoy myself, Jojo was so into the story and Carly too. Amelia on the other hand was busy keeping herself awake didn't work cause she took a nap on my shoulders.  

           The experience was memorable cause all I kept thinking to myself that this was something my mother (who is no longer with us) would wanted us to explore different things with our children. And the fact that she admired Fran Drescher in the show "The Nanny" to now being able to see Fran in person then share it with the girls just made it even more special. To me its hard doing these adventures with my girls without my mother because she wanted to take us to do these kind of adventures that we are doing now with own children. I know if she was still with us she would have enjoyed school shows, graduation,  birthdays and family vacation trips. But the funny thing about all of this is that its exactly what she wanted for us to do with our own kids, is to have these experiences as they got bigger. I love her for teaching us that no matter who we become in life never forget where you started from. So our adventure continues tomorrow and I want to apologize if these post are late its just that I feel more free writing when everyone is asleep. If you are following us on our Spring Break vacation blogs I really appreciate you taking the time to read about the girls experience. 

Until the next Blog....

Surprise Spring Break Vaca Day 2 "Mommy had to work Day"

Well today wasn't really a big surprise, the girls had to stay with their grandmas cause I had to work. The plan for today was suppose to be a play date with one of Amelia close friend from school but it got cancel. I hate canceling dates on people its not something I like to do but in certain  cases it just has to be done. No biggie,  its OK the world is still going around. Anyways the good part about this is that something cool happen on our way to grandmas. When you are living in the city the best way to travel is through public transportation, maybe your transportation is not as great or clean but it does takes us where we need to go. In our case it was an hour and half from a bus to a train to our destination..Washington Heights. When traveling with kids can be a little difficult whether its with a stroller or you have more than one kid. And it can be scary, the kid gets left behind at the station or in the train, even worst falls into the tracks. We should always be cautious with our little ones in any situation.  OK we woke up this morning, me being the last one to wake up, fed them breakfast, got them bath and dressed to be out the door. So that took us about 3 hrs to complete. This rain was not our friend today, it was so windy we couldn't hold up our umbrellas.  By the time we were out the door the girls were getting sleepy being that this weather does make you wanna stay home all cozy up watching t.v. all day. 

35 minutes later now we are on the train, it took me a good minute to realized an ad. When I saw my eyes pass through this ad we spotted one of our favorite You Tuber Rosanna Pansino from Nerdy Nummies! If you have no idea who i'm talking about then let me explain....she does baking videos inspired by video games (since she loves video games) or anything nerdy. So if your kid has a birthday coming up who love video games check out her channel and your treats would be the life of your kids party.

              Now back to our day, I was able to drop off the girls at grandma and manage to get to work an hour early. This meant a stop at Target. I think Target is a drug because it has everything and it gets you coming back for more. So I was there getting all the Easter goodies for Sunday, just so you know as part of my preference I am not making any Easter baskets for the girls this year instead ill make some bake goodies!!. (A post of that while be up in the future) Then I bought a notebook to keep track of my sister's baby-shower, after all I am in charge of such a beautiful occasion. I did my 4 long hours of work to get home with none other...... SNOW!! Its spring time and it clearly states "April showers brings May flowers" but why more snow, the good thing is that the snow is not sticking to the ground. To end my night I was surprised to have read from a text message my husband sent me that Joannelly lost a tooth, so he wanted to award her with a little something (obviously mommy did the work for him) I also took some time to prepare our lunches for tomorrow's adventure. I learned from my older sister that everywhere she went she would always pack a lunch, it may seem weird but in some cases it would save you a lot of money.  Especially if you live in the city with small portion for a big price, unless you know a spot that's worth the price then your tummy and wallet would be happy. I like preparing things the night before that way in the morning all I have to worry about is making breakfast and cleaning up. When coming back from a trip the last thing I want to worry about is cleaning up because i'm going to be tired from being with the kids all day. So now that everything is ready to be packed tomorrow i'm going to get my rest for tomorrow adventure.

 

Until the next Blog...

Spring Surprise Vaca Day 1 - "Spa Day"

So as the title reads "Spa Day" yup! that was part of the PLAN. Well i thought of it and daddy mention it with the intent of paying for it. I mean before that even happen I just wanted to do my nails so bad before they chip off..no luck for my right thumb :( Then I figured it wouldn't be nice if the girls stay home with daddy watching Mad Men marathon while I go get my nails done. And besides they are girls, girls do manicure so why not take them. I on the other hand, was worried they wouldn't stay still and started fighting... every moms worst thought when being outside with their kids. The key is to set rules before leaving the house...that helps if the rules are strictly forward that they completely understand what your stating (this refers to children 3 and up of course, you can't stay serious at a cute little baby)

  It turns out the girls behave like girls at a nail salon getting pamper. If you have boys I don't recommend doing their nails instead take them out to the park and play sports whether its stick ball, basketball or just throwing the ball towards them or each other, the point is to keep them busy. The girls did just that they kept busy in a chair while the nail lady did their nails and the best part was no fighting or whiny just complete silence for 20 mins (for moms that's a lot of happy silence more like heaven to our ears)

Our next trip was to the fro-yo place, the place is the only one in our neighborhood and their prices are very affordable we order the medium size which we can pick 4 toppings. As a mother we encourage our kids to share so as a good mommy I had to be at the moment, the girls each had to choose two toppings. We ended the afternoon at the shopping plaza then a long ride on the bus back home to a package notice congratulating my girls on a spot in a charter school for September. And here I am at 2 am working on this blog enjoying the long silence of the girls and hubby asleep knowing I have to be up early to start another day. Hope you all enjoy reading and seeing our day in pictures and....

                         

     

                                

Until the next Blog adventure....