Funny face friday and congrats are in order

Posted on July 26, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

I made this funny face lunch for my oldest daughter today. It consisted of a mini raspberry muffin/doughnut, two mayo and cheese sandwiches, apple slices (in a bowl to look like a hat), mini marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, a big cherry tomato, and green salad. I wasn’t able to make another one for my youngest because she was resting due to a fever. 😦 Once she woke up I gave her liquids, Cheerios, and apple slices.

I also wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS to my lil’ sis whose been a great supporter of my blog (reading and liking my post entries). She was promoted today to Detective in the NYPD!

We’re very proud of you Detective!

Keep shooting for the stars and hitting them hard, but always stay safe!

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Funny face lunch times two

Posted on July 23, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

You know I love making funny faces in the form of food for my daughter, Olivia.

I made this funny face monster (apple slices, banana, marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, white cheese and mayo sandwiches) for her lunch the other day and made something else for my youngest, Sophia. Well, Miss Sophia was not happy that I didn’t make her a funny face lunch as well and the reason why I didn’t make her one is because she can be picky with her food.

Cut to a few days later and I made these funny face lunches using apple slices, a cherry tomato, banana, marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, a cheese stick, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Both girls loved seeing these funny faces, but only one of them ate the whole thing up. Take a wild guess who didn’t finish her plate, but it’s ok. She has her days and I will continue to present her with these special lunches until she says enough. Until then, bon appétit

Take good care all.

Until next time…

DIY felt Goomba, Bullet Bill, and Mario Star

Posted on July 22, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

My daughters absolutely LOVE Super Mario and friends. They’re always looking at videos on YouTube and love seeing the cartoon on Netflix. Two weeks ago my oldest found a tutorial video on how to make your own Super Mario star using felt. Inspired by that video, my husband and I decided to make a couple of star buddies for our daughters.

Fortunately, I already had a foam star from my daughter’s birthday decorations, which became a perfect template. I traced four stars, front and back, on yellow felt with a disappearing ink pen (found in the sewing aisle at the craft store). I cut those out along with four little rectangles using black felt for the eyes. That was my job. The sewing part went to my husband who’s better at sewing. We used cotton balls for the stuffing since we didn’t have anything else. Once the stars were done and presented, the squeals that ensued were proof enough that they came out great.

Then my daughter declared that she was going to make Bullet Bill. She told me that she needed black, red, and purple felt. And tape! Those aren’t exactly the colors of Bullet Bill, but I indulged her anyway. With her scissors she got to work and asked me if I could cut out two big circles from the red felt and two smaller circles from the purple felt. These circles were going to be the eyes. She tried her very best and taped something up that was supposed to look like Bullet Bill, but wasn’t quite holding up since she used tape. My husband soon stepped in and improvised with what we had in hand (supplies were running low). Without a template, just a picture of Bullet Bill and their creativity, a felt buddy/villain was created.

But that wasn’t the end. Oh no, another request, and a trip to the craft store (cotton balls finished), was made several days later. Why stop now? Let’s make one more. Let’s make Goomba! Again, with the help of a picture of this little villain as well as a sketch template of the body, which my husband did, they got to work and had a lot of fun seeing this little guy come to life, especially with its new stuffing (we purchased a 12 oz. bag of Poly-Fil 100 percent Polyester Fiberfill).

Here are the newest additions (missing a star) to my daughter’s plush Super Mario and friends toys. They absolutely love these guys. As you can see my husband added some red and pink felt streamers to Bullet Bill (not part of the original picture, but creative).

I know more characters are going to be requested and we’re going to do our best in bringing them to plush life because it’s a lot of fun.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Mini doughnut pan

Posted on July 19, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

Here in New York City, we are battling a heat wave. The temperature is above 90 degrees, but the humidity makes it feel like 100 and above. It’s horrible and disgusting. We’re doing our best to entertain ourselves at home with the AC at full blast.

Enter our newest purchase, the Wilton mini doughnut pan, which we got at AC Moore craft store with a 50 percent coupon. My husband fell in love with this pan along with the savings (the current plan is to get a second pan to make it less time consuming). He tried it out first with Jiffy’s chocolate muffin mix, but he forgot to take pictures. When it was my turn, I tried the raspberry muffin mix and it was definitely a learning experience.

I was able to make two batches (24 total). The first batch I put too much batter in the pan so the muffin/doughnuts came out like little bowls (open on one side, which is cool because you can put something inside for example whipped cream and eat/present it like that or just eat it as is). The second batch I put less batter but I still got some that came out like bowls. It’s a trial and error kind of thing. I’m figuring that with more batches I’ll get the right consistency one day. I’m looking forward to making cake doughnuts, that’s next, and of course finding a good doughnut recipe to try. Duh! In the meantime, these muffin doughnuts were delicious and a big hit with my daughters. I also like that they’re small so consumption can be kept under control.

Bon appétit!

Take good care all.

Until next time…

I went away on vacation…

Posted on July 18, 2013 by themercadoproject

…but I’m back.

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

I have a love/hate relationship with packing for a vacation. Of course, I LOVE the fact that we’re going away to someplace new or someplace where we had a great time before. I HATE having to think of all the clothes, toiletries, toys, etc. that we need to take with us and packing for three people (myself and my daughters). I try to pack outfits for each day for Olivia and Sophia, but then I start wondering, “what if it’s cool or what if one of them has an accident,” so more clothes go into the suitcase. It’s great to have options, but I don’t want to over pack, but then again I don’t want to under pack. Ugh!!! See what I mean? It’s a vicious cycle, but I think I did well last week. We were able to pack everyone’s clothes and shoes in two suitcases and an overnight bag.

Since we had a wonderful time at a resort in South Lee, Massachusetts last year, we decided to return this year. The resort (Oak N’ Spruce) does need some major upgrading regarding their townhouses (that’s where we stayed and the rug was FILTHY!), but their pools and mini golf course are great along with the location of the resort, which is situated to many great attractions.

We travelled to nearby Pittsfield, where there’s a quaint little town full of shops and restaurants along with a library, which we dropped in. The children’s section offered toys, several sitting areas, and books galore. My girls had fun playing with a dollhouse and stuff animals. Olivia was amazed with finding books that she had read in her school. It was very peaceful in there. I loved it!

Olivia finishing up a book and Sophia having fun with the puzzles at the Library

We also visited the Berkshire Mall where we saw a movie, Despicable Me 2, for the first time as a family! It was great. We had a big tub of popcorn as well as a giant blue raspberry drink. I know, it was sugar chaos/heaven, but we shared it together.

The ultimate find at the mall was a Bouncy House play area, which we went to twice. I even snuck into one of the bouncy houses and bounced my heart out with Olivia! 🙂 Needless to say my girls had a blast!

Awesome place! If we go back to Lee, Massachusetts we’ll definitely look for this place again.

We ate at some great places and I got a chance to visit the Lee Premium Outlets (got my shopping on) throughout the week. All in all we had a great time being together as a family and can’t wait to go on our next vacation in August to Virginia.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Fourth of July Flag Craft Project

Posted on July 2, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

The Fourth of July is a couple of days away and I wanted to find a craft project for my kiddos to do for this day. I found a great project with craft sticks and here’s what we did:

You will need the instructions (http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/july4/craftstickflag/), craft sticks, glue, blue paper, white stars (I used a small star puncher that I have), paintbrush, and red and white acrylic paints.

We painted the sticks, let them dry, and then glued one long stick in the back and broke another in two and glued those in the middle and on the other side of the craft sticks to make the flag sturdier. I didn’t have enough craft sticks that were required in the instructions, but we were still able to make the flag. No biggie!

My kid glued a small blue square to the corner of the sticks and then glued on the stars.

We glued the final craft stick to make the handle longer and I also used masking tape on the back of the flag and the handle to secure it better.

Happy “Early” Fourth of July

from the Mercado household and themercadoproject.com!

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Comparing First and Last day of School pictures

Posted on July 1, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

I wanted to share this idea, which I did with my daughter, that I saw on Pinterest. On Olivia’s first day of school we took pictures, of course, but I also took pictures on her last day of school so we could compare and see how much she grew. Boy, did she ever!

Her sweet, little baby face has disappeared and in its place is a sweet, little girl who had so much fun learning. I’m going to do this every school year so I can see my little girl grow into a fine adult.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Time

Posted on June 28, 2013 by themercadoproject

Time

Every night before I said goodbye,

I would whisper in your ear, “Fight, please fight.”

As strongly as I could convey, I said,

“Don’t give up, you have to stay!” I knew in

my heart that you needed time to heal, but

impatience was all everyone could feel.

We were speechless, confused souls roaming the

hospital halls. Aching for the madness

to end and just pretend this wasn’t real,

but reality came crashing down hard

when you were given 24 hours

to live. All resources were put to use.

Top meds, machines, prayers, thoughts, and even

a small tape recorder with little grand-

voices singing songs. We pressed play and your

heart rate went up. Tears streamed down your face and

the nurse said, “Please, turn it off.” No matter

how small of a reaction you gave us,

seeing is believing and it meant the

world. It meant that you were there and all you

needed was time. Time to heal and time to

come back to us.

– Angelica Mercado

__________________________________________________

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

I’ve been writing this poem in my head for a while now. Every time I see my mom, I see a strong and brave woman. I try to forget the pain that we all went through after almost losing her two years ago, but it’s really hard because I’ve never felt such raw, scary emotions before (she was given 24 hours to live at one point). It was something shocking and definitely confusing. I don’t ever want to feel that way again (fingers firmly crossed and I know I’m a bit delusional). Some family members at that time were already saying their goodbyes in their heads. The question, “Where do you want her buried?” was even spoken, quietly, but it was still asked. I answered that question even though I didn’t want to. I just wanted to know at what specific time my mother’s 24 hours began because that’s all she needed, TIME. I wasn’t going to prepare myself to say goodbye. That was the farthest thing in my head. She wasn’t going to leave us or even her grandkids. No way! I knew she needed time. In my opinion, time is needed for the medicine and the medical devices to do their jobs, but because she was on so many meds, “the best of the best”, according to the chief of the hospital, immediate results were expected. Screw that! Time is essential, plain and simple. A few days later, I received a wonderful phone call from my sister who walked into my mother’s room and saw a marvelous sight. My mom, propped up in her bed as alert as can be with her eyes beautifully opened. That was the beginning of her journey to recovery. With time, she was able to leave the hospital and enter a short-term rehabilitation center. With much needed therapy, and yes, more time, my mom was able to leave the rehab and go back to her home. Home sweet home where she’s the most happiest and back with us.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Think Breakfast

Posted on June 27, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

Yesterday was my daughter’s last day as a Kindergartener! It’s definitely amazing how I can feel as if time flew on by, but at the same time the jitters and anxiety over the first day of school are still fresh in my mind. Like they say, “it was just yesterday…”, and that’s how I’m feeling. With time, the unknown (school/Kindergarten) became familiar, but now we’re full circle and back to the unknown (1st grade). I say unknown because I have absolutely no recollection of my time in the early years of school and this is my first kid entering the school system, so there you go. Now, I can only hope that some of her new friends are placed in her new class and she’s given a great teacher like the one she had before, whom by the way I want to thank once again for writing a lovely message in my daughter’s Dr. Seuss “Oh, the places you’ll go! ” book. Her message made me cry because it was so nice of her and I couldn’t wait to show it to Olivia. I did debate on whether or not to keep the book and its messages a secret for a great surprise in the future, but then I don’t think the memory of each teacher would be fresh. At the end of every school year I’m going to do my best to get a personal message from each teacher written in that book just for Olivia. It’s a great idea and I knew once I heard about it that I was going to do it. I’m very happy that I did.

Changing subjects and making the title of this post relevant, I wanted to share with you a great program that was introduced to my daughter at school. It brings awareness to eating a healthy breakfast. There’s even a song and dance called “Think Breakfast,” which Olivia performed with her class at her school during their annual festival dance. She also received a water bottle and a pedometer (promoting hydration and exercise). The pedometer was a hit with Olivia. It simply fascinated her that this little gizmo could count her steps. Of course, she put it to the test by walking around our apartment and stopping every so often to see the latest number.

Olivia: What number is this?

Me: Two hundred and fifty-eight

Olivia: Whaaaat? That’s a really big number.

Me: It sure is. You’re walking a lot.

Olivia: I want to walk until it says 1 mile. What number is that?

Me: Ten thousand, one, zero, zero, zero, zero.

Olivia: Whaaaat?

🙂

Check out the website for recipes, videos, activity pages, and games. I had both girls watching the video, learning the dance steps and singing the song. A funny and wonderful memory just for me.

http://www.thinkbreakfast.com/

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Many thanks

Posted on June 24, 2013 by themercadoproject

Many thanks

Thank you for being Olivia’s first school teacher.

Thank you for being so kind.

Thank you for noticing her struggles and fighting for her rights.

Thank you for teaching her the tapping method, which she loves to utilize.

Thank you for the smile that appears on her face when she’s read

something at her own pace.

Thank you for teaching her songs that she loves to sing.

Thank you for being a great teacher.

Thank you for everything!

– Angelica Mercado

__________________________________________________________________

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

There is officially two more days of school here in Brooklyn and I’m sending my daughter up to the last day for two reasons. I want her to finish her Kindergarten year like a pro and I want her to enjoy the central air conditioning the school has to offer because it’s freaking hot (93 degrees to be exact)! I’m also sending my daughter with a thank you card filled with graduation pictures and those words above. I wrote them for her teacher who is a great person and I’m so glad that my daughter was able to begin her education with a smart and kind woman. She will never be forgotten and she will always be her first teacher. Thank you Mrs. Licata!

Take good care all.

Until next time…