I heart…

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

Happy belated Valentine’s Day!

There’s a lot of pressure when “I heart day” rolls around, but I simply tell my husband that as long as he gives me a box of chocolates, we’re good.  That’s all I want, chocolate.  Oh, and a sweet kiss from him, of course.  Anyway, I always like to gift my girls something as well as my husband and this year I stumbled upon some great “I heart you” gifts.

IMG_6365text

I got these cute balloon doggies for my daughters who love balloon animals, but hate when they deflate or pop!

They’re POP! Mini Series Balloon Animal ‘Pups’ 3 inch toys and they’re vinyl according to the description.  They come in different colors, but you can’t pick the colors.  It’s a surprise once you get it.

http://www.kidrobot.com/ShopAll/DesignerToys/MiniFigures/POPMiniSeriesBalloonAnimalPupsToys3Inch.html

IMG_6369text

I got this cool T-shirt for my husband who absolutely love it!

Purchase your own here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/112240997/beer-shirt-growler-t-shirt-drink-locally?ref=shop_home_active_6

IMG_6372text

Add some boxes of chocolate and my little family was very happy on Valentine’s Day

IMG_6374text

I heart how you, Olivia, passionately tell me what you’ve learn in school while we’re walking back home,

I heart how you, Sophia, pretend play with your toys especially Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach,

and I heart you, Angel, and your everlasting love and commitment to me and our family.

Take good care guys.

Until next time…

Advertisement

Merry Christmas 2013!!

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well and enjoying Christmas Eve, at least in my part of the world!

I want to say first and foremost, THANK YOU for taking time and visiting my blog.

I want to wish everyone a SAFE and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  May all your wishes come true and may the coming new year bring you the peace, love, and success your heart desires.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Christmas Picture 2013text

Dads Take Your Child To School Day

IMG

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

Today was a special day at my daughter’s school.  It was their annual “Dads Take Your Child To School Day” (A project of the NYS Office of Children and Family Services and NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance).  It’s special in my household because I’m normally the one that takes my daughter to school while my husband goes to work early, but today Olivia got to walk hand in hand with her daddy all the way to school.  Just them, and the smile on her face as I waved goodbye from my window was priceless.  It’s very important for children to have a male figure they can count on in their lives.  The flier that was sent home with my child inviting dads to this event also stated that “If dads are unavailable to attend the event, invite grandfathers, foster fathers, step-fathers, uncles, cousins, big brothers, significant male caregivers or male friends of the family.”

I applaud this project and their efforts to promote awareness that everyone in the family plays a very important part in a child’s life.  My husband absolutely loved taking part in this event because he’s a devoted father and he’s always curious to see how things run, especially his child’s school.  He was able to see Olivia in her class first hand and she was able to introduce him to her classmates.  It was a win, win situation that’s worth it in the long run.

Start building a great relationship with your child and their school today.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Celebrating a couple of anniversaries on vacation

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

We’re back from vacation again.  This time around we invited our family members to join us for a week at a Massanutten resort http://www.massresort.com/v.php?pg=2 in McGaheysville, VA.  The place was lovely and the condo we stayed in was spectacular, but your wallet takes a beating if you want to do several of their activities.  We mainly stuck to the playgrounds and the pool, which were free.  The one activity we decided to pay for was going on a pony/horse ride along with petting and feeding the farm animals.

My daughters and I rode on a horse for the first time ever.  This was pretty exciting and the smiles on their faces filled my heart with sheer joy, especially my youngest who we thought was going to bail, but instead her grin extended from one ear to the other and it stayed put from the moment she got on the horse until we said goodbye to “the horsie”.  I was very proud of them because when you’re far away from the horse and just looking at them, it seems like it’s not such a big deal, but once you’re up close and about to get on, it’s a different story.  The ride wasn’t long, but it was definitely a great introduction and there are a couple of riding schools where we live that I’m going to be looking into.  Hey, you never know and the more experiences they get out of life, the better.

IMG_5775text

   IMG_5783text

 My cowgirls!

We also had fun at the feeding/petting farm.  I was definitely hovering over my youngest because she was getting a little bit too close to the animals and I was afraid of them biting her.  There were ducks, a turkey (who looked pretty mean so we stayed away from its cage), goats, donkeys, a camel, alpacas (my youngest, Sophia, couldn’t stop feeding these guys and she giggled the whole time with them), pigs, rabbits, and a zebra.  Yes, a zebra.

IMG_5773text      IMG_5765text    IMG_5756text          IMG_5761text

Olivia was fortunate to be able to feed a baby camel named Clyde.  She also had a lot of fun feeding the donkey who was eating up a storm.  Sophia’s faved animal was the alpaca and she also enjoyed feeding the zebra.

During our vacation I celebrated my blog’s first year anniversary.  It sort of crept up on me and I was shocked that a year had gone by even though it’s around the same time as my wedding anniversary, which I also celebrated.  My sweetheart husband and I have been happily married for twelve years now.  Our family members made a special dinner and we enjoyed it together.  We didn’t need to go out by ourselves because we wanted to be with our family and to make things less stressful we decided to not give gifts, just celebrate together and enjoy being on vacation.  By the end of the week, Olivia desperately wanted us to stay for another day and my four-year old nephew was not happy that we were leaving.  In fact, he was down right mad and didn’t want to say goodbye, but I still kissed him on the forehead real fast.  🙂  The kids not wanting to leave just showed me that they had a wonderful time together and we will definitely be doing this again come next year.  I told my sister-in-law, “Let’s make this family vacation a tradition because we all had a great time.”  I just need a calendar for 2014 so I can jot it down asap.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Queens Botanical Garden

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

One can live in a certain place for a long time without ever visiting certain tourist attractions or landmarks.  In my case, I regrettably never visited the Twin Towers here in New York City, which is why I’ve decided to venture out more with my family and see what this great city has to offer.  I’m done with taking advantage of it.  It’s time to explore and make memories.  Plus, we have a COOL Culture Family Pass (http://www.coolculture.org/programs/cool-culture-family-pass), which is a pass that offers families free admission to 90 cultural institutions if they have children enrolled in Pre-K or Kindergarten.

This past Saturday, we visited, for the first time, the Queens Botanical Garden at 43-50 Main Street, Flushing, New York.  We went around mid-morning and this place can be easily described as beautiful and absolutely peaceful or as my husband put it, “completely Zen.”

IMG_4673_NEWtext IMG_4665text

As you can see my daughters had a blast.  My youngest, Sophia, loved running around the grass while my oldest, Olivia, loved throwing herself and laying down on the grass.

IMG_4604text IMG_4639text

I had fun taking pictures of all the flowers and…

IMG_4667text

…this little fella.   I got close enough to zoom my camera in and take a great pic of him or her!

IMG_4599text

At the Wedding Garden everything is set up so you can get married there.  Isn’t it wonderful?

IMG_4678text 20130504_112205text

My husband enjoyed the Herb Garden and I greatly enjoyed visiting the Queens Botanical Garden with my family.  We will definitely be visiting again soon.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

It wasn’t hard to find Nemo!

Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  We woke up to another snow day here in Brooklyn, NY, a blizzard named Nemo, and this time there was a lot more snow to play with.  You can already imagine the joy in my daughter’s heart when she looked outside and saw everything covered in glorious snow.

IMG_3945text

IMG_3947text

Miss Cool Shades

IMG_3961text

Happy Clam

IMG_3948text

Making it snow

IMG_3966text

Here’s my mini snowman!

mini snowmantext

Here’s what I did to my mini snowman using the app Doodle Buddy on my ipad.  Hilarious!!

IMG_3968text

Time to build a bigger snowman!

IMG_3969text

IMG_3980text

Yup, this snowman likes his beer cold!

IMG_3981text

A family who plays in the snow together, stays together!  We had a lot of fun.

Bundle up and take good care all.

Until next time…

and the resolutions have begun

Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Happy New Year!  Well, it’s out with the old and in with the new.  Time to start making those resolutions, if you’re into that, and trying really hard not to break them, at least for the first week!  When I was younger, I really didn’t care much for resolutions, but as I got older I started jotting some things down and then it became a full-blown resolution list.  Last year’s resolutions didn’t go so well.  With the exception of a couple of them, the others are being placed again on this year’s list and I have to let fear fall at the waist side and accomplish what I want in my life.  No more excuses!

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!  Live the life you’ve imagined.  – Thoreau

IMG_3770text

I decided to take pictures before my daughter went to sleep.  The youngest was sleeping already.  They’re not used to staying up so late so the new year’s festivities will have to wait until they’re much older.

IMG_3771text

Olivia gave me a couple of silly faces, which I loved.

happy new year 2013text

My husband took a picture of my youngest the next day, photoshopped her into the above picture and using a green screen app he put us in the middle of Times Square.  Funny, huh?

Take good care all and if you start a resolution list I wish you good luck.  May this year be a very good one.

Until next time…

The day after

Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  I had a wonderful birthday.  At first, it felt like any other day until I started receiving numerous text and phone calls wishing me a happy birthday.  I was walking back home after dropping off my daughter at school when my mother called me to say that she loved me and that she wished me a very happy birthday.  She then started crying.  I said, “Ma, don’t make me cry.  I’m outside.  I will call you when I get home.  Love you.”  🙂  I definitely didn’t want to be walking home with tears coming down my face.  Once I got home, I called her back and we laughed about it.  She’s the best!

Then, in the evening my darling husband brought home dinner from one of our favorite restaurants, Bamboo Garden, along with a lovely and delicious cake.  My daughter desperately wanted to keep the cake a secret.  She told me not to look in the refrigerator.  Then she said, “Mami, sit down and close your eyes because Daddy is coming with the…”  She stopped herself before she uttered the word “cake” and placed her hand over her mouth.   Her eyes were wide and I couldn’t help but laugh, and my daughter said, “I almost told you the secret.”  So sweet and innocent.  She ran back to the kitchen to help her daddy bring in the surprise.

IMG_3587text

Surprise…my yummy butter cream marble cake.  It was delicious!

I gave my youngest a small slice and she finished it off fast.  So fast, that she asked for more, saying, “I want more cake.  Cake, cake, cake.”  That was definitely the sugar speaking there.  We finished my special day with gifts and then like every other day, it was back to our normal routine, bath time and bedtime.  Thank you my sweet family and friends for a great birthday.

IMG_3607text

One of my gifts from my husband.  I’ve been eyeing this piece from Lisa Leonard Designs.  If you want something bad, you have to drop some hints! I love it!  Thanks hubby!

Stay alert, stay alive.

Until next time…

Happy Thanksgiving 2012!

Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Happy Thanksgiving and we hope you all are able to spend time with family and friends.  A special THANKS to those who are serving in the military and protecting our country.  You’re forever in our thoughts and may you have a safe return back to your families.

My husband who’s a great cook made our Thanksgiving lunch, which is also going to be dinner as well.  We sat around the table, held hands, and gave thanks.  Now there’s football on the television and our bellies are full.  Have a great holiday!

Our traditional Thanksgiving food! It was yummy!

Stay alert, stay alive.

Until next time…