It’s the year 2020...

It’s been years since I’ve written in this blog. I decided it was time to finally close it down with one last post to update our lives.

It is the year 2020 and the world is a different place. I now have an 11 year old going into 7th grade. Junior high! And a 9 year old 5th grader! Jacob and Isabella have made me so proud and are growing into amazing people. Jacob has been in Boy Scouts now a couple of years, and he loves it. Lots of fun activities and learning. It was a great option for his soul. Isabella has been in softball for years now. She loves it! Her goal is to get a softball scholarship. I hope she chases that dream. 

As for me, I’m no longer a stay at home mom. I’ve worked part time as a preschool teacher and then went on to work as an instructional assistant. This year I became a full time employee following in family foot steps working in the social services field. It’s been interesting since I started just 2 weeks before quarantine! 

Oh yeah! This year we’ve also experienced the world’s first pandemic in a 100 years with the corona virus or COVID 19. Adjusting to full time work as an essential worker and distance learning with the kids has been quite an experience. However, school is now out and we’re adjusting to our new lives. 

These last couple of years I realized I needed to take care of myself. I’d gained a lot of weight with my kids and I felt terrible so I did something about it. I’m now more active and I eat more healthfully. It feels good to participate in life instead of just existing. With my new found confidence, I’ve become more adventurous. Last year, we took our first family trip, just the 4 of us, to Cancun, Mexico! It was amazing! We had the best time ever, and we can’t wait to go back!

We also added to our family! It’s a boy! We got a dog! His name is Charlie and he came to us in 2016 when he was just 7 weeks old. We decided on the name Charlie when Jacob was going through a “Peanuts” phase. He’s a cocker spaniel and poodle mix. He‘s taught us all a lot of patience and unconditional love. And he fits just right in. 

Of course these last couple of years included many happy moments and memories with awards and rising in the ranks but also heartache with the loss of loved ones and illness. We’ve taken many road trips and vacations. Going on our first cruise to the Caribbean and our first family trip to Las Vegas. But we’ve also experienced the loss of my grandfather. Jacob and Bella were so sad. And as we get older, illnesses inevitably become part of our daily lives. But, I’m still so grateful for all that I have! I consider myself blessed to be loved by my husband and kids, and to be healthy and happy. I wish nothing but the best to us all as we continue to move into this new world of the unknown.

Busy, Busy & Uhbsessed

It's that time of the year. The end of the school year! The kids here start in mid August and are out by June. So, now I'm adjusting to this busyness. Easter is right around the corner, and despite being later in the season, it still managed to sneak up on me. I also have 2 graduation parties to plan. My nephew is graduating high school and my cousin is graduating nursing school. And were having family from out of town in June. Oh, and whatever else happens to come up, like some day trips and weekend getaways. I'm already tired. But I'm sure it's going to be a fun summer and I can't wait. 

In the meantime I've been busy with work, and Easter festivities. Oh, and sick here and there. And lots of baseball games and practices. You know, our new normal. 

Other than that let's talk about Isabella's obsession with frozen again! This girl. You may or many not know that everything Frozen is sold out everywhere. Well, it got into my head to get her an Elsa dress. But these are the hardest things to come buy and I'm not willing to spend hundreds of dollars on eBay for a $40 dress. So, here comes grandma to save th day. My mom is a hobby seamstress. She took on the daunting task of making her an Elsa dress. She completed it in one week, and let me tell you, Isabella is smitten. She loooves her dress. As soon as she put it on she performed her favorite song Let it Go. It was adorable, and yes, I got it on video. Oh, and grandma is crazy. She started making a second version of the dress. Yes, a second dress. Crazy, I say.

We also had spring pictures in the last few weeks. And looking at the kids pictures makes me sad, and proud. They are getting so big. 

Aquarium of the Pacific @ Long Beach

Last Friday I took the day off to do something fun with the kids. Unfortunately, our morning started off a little rough. Jacob woke up with an ear infection which meant we'd have to go to the doctor last minute. This also meant we wouldn't be able to do anything fun with a doctor's appointment in the middle of the day. But we got lucky. We got in early! So, we decided to go to breakfast and to the Aquarium of the Pacific (AOTP). Jacob would get excited every time he woud see the AOTP commercial, despite going just 3 years earlier. Isabella was just a baby, and Jacob was only 2.5 years old.

The kids had fun but they tired quickly. We were there for just over 3 hours. My kids are chicken. They didn't want to touch anything. And Jacob came to the conclusion that he likes the California Science Center much better. We went to the Sience Center during Christmas break. He loved it and he still talks about it. Actually, I think we all liked it, a lot! So, with the AOTP out of our systems we can try something else. We'll see what we get into this summer!

La Habra Earthquake

On Friday, March 28th, we had a huge earthquake epicentered in our city. Let's just say it's been a long weekend! Literally! I took a four day weekend to spend time with Jacob over his spring break. Thursday we relaxed and Friday we had a special day trip planned. More on that trip in an upcoming post. We got home in the early evening and we were just relaxing. It was 9:00 pm and we decided to put the kids to bed. At 9:08 pm, I looked at the clock, I was taking my medication when everything started shaking. My first thought was to get to the kids! I'm not going to lie, I freaked out! I freaked out because it was big and lasted awhile. The kids were oblivious at first. They were just wondering what was happening. 

The first night after the earthquake I did not sleep a wink. We had a slumber party in our bed. The kids slept with us all weekend. One thing I hated the most was that we've had A LOT of aftershocks and we've felt most of them, at least one to 2 each hour. It has been maddening. As I type this we just had a few small ones, luckily, we did not feel. We also had a bit of reprieve Saturday night at my cousin's house for poker night. I almost did not want to leave. We also considered staying at my brother.s house who lives out in Riverside county. However, the time and effort it would take to go to these places was just not woth it. But last night I reached a limit. I was so exhausted and overwhelmed, I finally slept a few hours. 

I'm still exhausted, and luckily, fortunately, the aftershocks have decreased but I still jump every time. I' m looking forward to getting back to normal with little or no earthly disturbances, but I guess we'll see. Definitely a weekend I won't ever forget. 

Subscription Boxes

I'm sure you've heard of them, subscription boxes. If you haven't, well, look into it. To me, they're like Christmas every month. Who doesn't like to open a surprise package? But to be honest, I just jumped on this bandwagon. There are sooo many subscriptions to choose from such as beauty, baby, men's, food, and wine box subscriptions. I got my first box last month from Citrus Lane. It's a box geared toward babies, toddlers or kids depending on their age. I got it for Isabella who is 3.5 years old. It was free and it was okay. This box runs $30 a month. I also got a second box and I liked it much better than the first but I canceled cause $30 is a little pricey. I did instead subscribe to Ipsy which is a cosmetics box and I can't wait to try the goodies I get. I'll be getting my first box next month. I'll update then.

February Box

March Box

A Gray & Pink Bridal Shower

One of my favorite hobbies is creating parties. I've been doing it for quite a few years now, and the last six months are no exception. I did my cousin Crystal's bridal shower last October, and a baby shower for my nephew. More on that baby shower later. For the bridal shower, we started our design from the invitation. My cousin showed me invitations and designs she liked, and I designed and personalized her very own invitation. The colors were gray and pink with turquoise and white accents. We found the center pieces at Wal-Mart for $2 and party attendees were able to take them home and plant them. Let love grow! For the dessert table, we picked some easy handheld, bite-sized desserts. It was a big hit! All the girls loved it!  I had a lot of fun designing a party from the bottom up.

 

 

 

My Ballerina

Isabella just finished dance. This session started off rocky. For some reason, she just wasn't as comfortable as the last session. She dreaded going to class and I did too. Isabella is my strong-willed child. When she doesn't like something she'll let you know and she gave me problems going to dance, in the beginning. However, towards the end she completely changed and she was into it. My worry now is that I wanted to take a break and maybe start a new dance class somewhere else, but I'm not sure how she'll take it. 

Her last dance class and final performance.