Triple Celebration

Yesterday, August 15, Catholics celebrated the feast of the Assumption of Mary.

This day has a very special meaning to our family.  Is the day my daughter Marah was baptized in the Catholic church.  For many years, I ignored this fact.  Until a few years back when I couldn't remember what day she was baptized, I looked at her baptismal certificate and there it was August 15, 1999.

As Catholics, the day of our baptism is a very special celebration. Its the day we are welcomed into the church as new members.

Today August 16, we celebrate my son's birthday!

Here are my two amazing kids.  Marah is 14 and Julian turned 11 today.

The reason we have a triple celebration is because my husband's birthday is coming up in just a few days.

Summer vacations are almost over here.  My daughter starts high school on Monday.  And my son will start middle school on August 26.  

I love how his birthday, is just before school starts.  He usually gets new clothes, new toys, and sometimes money.  If anyone call to inquire on what to get him. I always suggest.  Blue or khaki pants, white or navy polo shirts, shoes, or money.  Get it, school uniform!

I got him a series of books he wanted to read.  And we bought  his backpack in his favorite neon orange color.  

For my daughter's school clothes, she was blessed with a special scholarship program that provided money for her complete uniform for school.  All I have to buy her is new shoes and possibly a new backpack. 

She was also given an Ipad to use for her school work.  And the scholarship program pays for all the apps needed.  

God has blessed our family with this scholarship program.  We would only be paying $60 monthly for school activities and fees that the scholarship did not cover.  The scholarship program paid her tuition, and most of her registration fee. I paid only $50 of the registration fee that was $700.

I believe that being faithful in the small things, brings you great blessings.  I believe that if you help others in their need, God rewards you in amazing ways.  I believe God has a special plan for my daughter and for my son.  

I pray daily that God would guide me in being a good parent for my children.  That he would help us in providing the right education and needs for our children.

We had some rough times in our family.  We had sickness and we had financial problems.  But God continues to be our source of strength in our times of struggle.  

My favorite quote: God will never let you down! He promises a safe landing...not a smooth flight."

Please share with me, in what ways God has blessed you and your family.  Let us encourage one another. God bless you.

November Days

I'm back!

Its good to sit down and write down things to share with others. I get so caught up with daily activities, facebook and church activities that I forget that I have this little spot online to write more than just a few sentences.

There is much going on in my life at the moment. A roller coaster of emotions.

October was a good month for me.   A lot of anxiety and worry with doctor appointments and meeting my new spiritual director.  All my medical test are normal, nothing to worry. I am a healthy person, young and thin, just like the doctor told me.

Meeting my spiritual director was amazing.  She is a friend of my dear friend Sister Clare. Her name is also Clare, but she likes to be called Clarita. A wonderful Christian woman, mother, wife and pastor of a church. Yes, who will know that my spiritual director will be a woman of a different denomination. But all is good, she is Christian. A believer of Christ and that's what matters to me.

The two sessions with her were very helpful and awakening.  On our last meeting we talked about my god-daughters soon to be 15th birthday celebration.  I had been thinking of doing something special for my god-daughter that day.  I am her baptismal god-mother and feel I should let her know how much that means to me.

So here are some pictures of that beautiful day.

The event was amazing, very nicely organized, a family event.  The most important part for me was the Mass.  I read one of the readings and my son sang in the choir.  My daughter Marah was "Dama" similar to a bridesmaid. At the reception there was music and the quincenera court, danced a waltz with her and also a surprise dance.

This was  a practice for what we, will go through next year, my own daughter's Quincenera.

October went by and we entered November.  November 1st, we celebrated the feast of all Saints. It was also my nephew's birthday.  November 2, we celebrated the day of the death, "Dia de Muertos"

We visited the cemetery.  As usual we visited my aunt Raquel, then we walked up the hill to visit little Mateo. My friend's grandson that died of cancer.

Last week, I got a call from my aunt that lives in Texas. She said that my biological father, was in the hospital in Utah and that doctors were only giving him 2 months of life. My uncle had to go to Utah, and take my father back to Texas by plane.  I was already prepared to receive this call, however at this time, I was unprepared to be told I only have two months left to see my father.

Thursday he was flown in to El Paso, Texas.  He was taken to a hospital there for further evaluation and a second a opinion.  At the Utah hospital, my father fell and broke his jaw bone.  The doctors at the Texas hospital  made another diagnosis.  He has internal bleeding. They will do anything possible for them. But now they are giving him  a life expectancy of one month.

My sister has to make arrangements at her work and her spouse too. We will be traveling possibly by car.  We are praying for more time.  I wanted my children to meet their grandfather, but at this time is not the best time for them to travel due to school.  My kids get off this Friday.  I'm not sure what to do. Do I take them with me and have them miss a few days off school? Or just leave  on my own and later take them if God permits us more time.

I  ask you all to pray for us. My father's family needs a lot of support at this time. As for my sister and I, well this is the time we will be reunited with our biological father after 20 years. Its a bittersweet moment.  Pray for us too. Thank you. I will try to update you as much as possible.

Party Success

This is the cake, my daughter and I made for my husband's party.

Julian's 10th Birthday Party

This is the dessert table for the kids.

Here is my son.  Now 10 years old.

The two birthday boys.

For the food, we had burgers, hot dogs, tacos, pozole, salads, and pork loin.

The theme was 50's music.  We had a few of the kids show up in style.

The kids had so much fun.  They loved the cupcakes and cake pops provided by my friend Lisette. She is a good friend, that just started this new business of cake dessert tables for parties. I'm very thankful for the  awesome job she did with it, and the kids loved the treats.

I don't have pictures of the table decorations. We lost the camera twice, and forgot to take the pictures.  I also forgot about the ice cream. I bought two tubs.  I was thinking of making milkshakes for the kids and smoothies dinner style but I was just to busy with cooking food.  I even made table menus with the items we will serve.

The Party

This year, son's party theme was Star Wars. We decided to leave the planning to last minute, so I came up with a few ideas.

We did not get the table cover or the goody bags with the theme either. And the pinata was not related to the theme.

But we had fun.

My sister made the cake for Julian. Since he is our musician, she decided on a guitar instead of making something with star wars theme.  I did make some cupcakes that my sister helped decorate.  We got the ideas from just Jenn recipes

She has great ideas and easy to make. Love it.  Will be using her ideas for other parties in the future.

Husband had a birthday this past week too! So the other cake was for him to blow out his own candle.

My daughter made lifesaver labels for the food.

This reminds me that I have not shown you the pictures of her room, and the finished office.  I did some crisis clean up, on Saturday morning because  I did not have time to finish everything before the party.  This means some things were hidden out of the way to deal with them later. 

I promise to get it done this week.  No more hiding clutter away.  Next weekend the church is holding a yard sale, and I have saved a spot to sell my extra clutter there.  I hope it all goes bye bye.  But its not coming back into my house.

I hope you all had a wonderful Summer.  Most of you already started school.  My kids start school tomorrow.  So that means I am going to bed early to make it to school on time tomorrow.  My kids are all ready.  Daughter has a new look.  Show you pictures tomorrow.  She wants me to keep it a secret until all her friends see her tomorrow. 

Happy Birthday!

Today we celebrate the 9th Birthday of my son, Julian.

Wow, a year went by so quick.

Yesterday was also the Baptism anniversary for my daughter Marah on the feast of Mary's Assumption.
We went to Mass and Julian served for the first time as an altar server.

Marah has been serving as an altar server for about a year now.  And she was showing her brother what to do.

This week, I will be working in the kids rooms and home office.  I hope that by Friday, I can show you some pictures of my progress.

Thankful

I am thankful to God that my son's birthday party went well. 

We started our day yesterday, at choir practice.  Returned home and began to set up the back yard with tables and decorate with streamers and ballons.

Made a gelatin dessert, and tidy up the house a bit.  My Mother and sisters arrived around 2 PM they had lots of things to prepare some salads for the party.  My sister-in-law prepared the rest of the food.  We had a Mexican style buffet. 

We had lots of family and friends.  It was a great day.  Thanks to all my family that helped me to make this a great day for Julian.

Blessings,
Rosario

8 Years Today

For the second time, 8 years ago, I became a Mommy.  This time to an adorable boy.

You can read this  post from last year, where I tell you  the exciting moment of my delivery.

1 year old

I am thankful to God for allowing me to be the Mother of this adorable child.

And here he is all grown up. 

Learning to bake cookies,

now a member of the church choir,

a talented artist,

a can't sit still boy,

the boy that holds on to his mommy's hair

as a security blanket.

The boy that is not scared to go up high, and flip in the air.

The boy that was awarded for most outstanding personality.

This boy is my Son.

Happy Birthday Julian, Mommy loves you!

Happy Birthday!

I want to wish a Happy Birthday to my friend, Sister Clare.

From the kids and I, we wish you a wonderful day.  May the Lord continue to bless you with good health, strenght and energies to continue in the ministry that God has called you.

We miss you and hope to see you again one day soon.

Next two weeks

As you all now this are the last two weeks before Easter. And they are very special to me. Almost every year my birthday falls either on Palm Sunday or a week before. This year is a day before Palm Sunday.

I had been thinking of making something special to celebrate my 37th birthday this year. I will love to have my family and closest friend here and celebrate with me. The best thing about my birthday is that for the last 13 years I have share my birthday with my first nephew. It was a great blessing for me to become an aunt and be present at the birth of my nephew.

In the past few years, my sister has been celebrating her kids birthdays on the same day in the summertime. But I am not sure what she will do this year, since nephew will be officially a teenager.

Another event has come up. There will be a retreat on my birthday at our church for those receiving first communion this Easter Vigil. The Sister in charge of planning this event has asked me to help. I agreed. What better way to celebrate my birthday than by doing something for the church. I could always celebrate my birthday later that day. The retreat is just from 9 am to 12:30 pm.

I am so happy that God is making me useful at my parish. The Pastor has asked me to lead the parents group during the time the children are taking their faith formation class. This will probably start after the Easter festivities. But I am so happy and nervous at the same time. I will be praying daily and asking the Holy Spirit for guidance. I pray that the parents will be interested in staying for the group. Most of the parents just drop off their kids and leave. But there is a few that stay and it will be of great benefit for all of us to take part of this group. What will the group do? It will be mostly sharing our faith. Praying for each other and learning what the church teaches so that we can be good role models for our kids.

Please continue to keep me in your prayers for God to continue guiding me. Also my daughter's appointment is on Holy Thursday. We believe for a good report from the doctors regarding her scoliosis. We pray that no surgery will be needed ever. We pray that God will heal her.

My brother-in- law's immigration appointment is on the 9th of April. We also continue to pray for an aproval to his case. We pray he will be able to receive legal residency and return home with his wife and children. And their wedding will be taking place as scheduled in June.

I believe God is at work for each petition and his will will be done in each. Have a very blessed day. And God bless you aboundantly.

4 more days till Christmas

We are getting closer to the big celebration. In our home we gather on Christmas eve to have dinner and wait until 12am to wish each other Merry Christmas, then open the gifts. The kids usually are asleep by that time.

This year we will be with Husband's family. We are getting together here at my house. Since its quite a big family we use the cars garage area. We get all bundled up in warm clothes and we put a plastic in the entrance to keep the wind and rain outside. Hopefully this year we will not have rain.

I am hoping my family could join us also this year. I wanted the kids to do a skit or the talent show for husband's family.

Today is a special day. 11 years ago, my daughter Marah was born. We celebrated her birthday Saturday. Bought her a cake and she invited friends from school and her cousins. Only one friend came, two cousins and my goddaughter. They saw the new christmas movie with the air buddies. Then they watched music videos on cable on demand. The party ended early. And best of all, I did not spend as much as other years and I was not as stressed as other years.

Yesterday, I took my kids to Target and let them pick their Christmas gift. Daughter's choice a Cd of the latest pop star kid. And son chose the chimpmunks new movie soundtrack. I also bought son winter boots. They are a little big for him, but they will last him for a long time. Daughter did not like the styles they had for girls. We do not get snow here, but I wanted them to get them for the rainy season, and they are warm. Since we have those outdoor events.

I will probably write after the Holidays, I will be busy finishing the Christmas gifts and preparing for Christmas eve dinner. Have a great Christmas celebration. Filled with Joy, Peace and Love.

Party Pictures

Here are the pictures of Son's Party. You can tell that the theme was Pirates. This table decorations my sister bought for me and my other sister filled up the treasure chest with newspaper and then put beads and coins on top.


Most of the decorations my sister got at a Party store.

This boat made of a watermelon and filled with cateloupe balls, I got the idea from party ideas online.

And here is my Birthday Boy. Ahoy Everyone! I am now 7 years old.

The guests left around 8 PM. I began, taking food back in the house and washing some of the bowls and containers used for the food. I put most of the left over food in smaller containers and arranged in extra fridge we have outside. The rest went in the house fridge. I picked up Son's room again, he had opened up some of the new toys he got as presents and there were empty boxes and some toys on the floor. I then arranged all the party ware in a clear bin, where I always keep extra paper cups, plates, and cutlery for future events. I still have some stuff to wash, but I was too tired to do today. I did leave some cups soaking in warm water. It will make it easier to wash later. I think, I am going to go sleep now, it is almost 11PM. Good Night.

Birthday Party

Well today was the party, and I have been up since 5 am. I got up early to see the EWTN Mass Live. Then, began making the centerpiece, and planning my day. At 8 am we left to the store to buy the things that were needed for the food. Came back and began preparing the chicken salad. Like at around 11 am, my aunt came and helped me with some of the preparation. My Mom and sisters came around 1PM and also helped me. The party was set to start at 3PM. I was glad that only my cousin came early and she helped us prepare the guacamole, and she also help us to take the food outside were we had the tables set up.

The food was done on time. I am glad to have family here to help me. I did not invite a lot of people. Mostly my immediate family. The kids were happy. They colored pictures of pirates, played pin the treasure chest on the map. They played mexican style bingo. The pinata was next, cake, and presents.

I will post pictures later, still have guests here.

It's a boy!

I remember like if it was just yesterday. Seven years ago, I was in pain at the hospital, trying to deliver my baby. The doctors decided that I needed a cesarian right away. Oh NO! Not again. I was hoping to deliver this baby the natural way. I was rushed to the surgery room. Given an epidural. straped to the bed, to keep me from moving. My husband was brought to my side. I was not nervous this time. I knew the procedure.

Then I heard the cry and the doctore announce, It's a boy! I already knew, but was relieved to hear it being confirmed. I had been told, it was not 100% sure it was a boy.

So here we are, 7 years later. My boy all grown up. I thank God every day for allowing my children another day of life. Today is even more special because it's Sunday and we will go to church. At the end of service, they will ask, "who is having a birthday today?". My little prince will stand up and the choir will sing happy birthday.

The birthday party was moved to next Saturday. Too many birthdays this month in the family. Husband's birthday is on Tuesday, August 18. My sister's birthday is the 28th. Happy Birthday to them too.

May our Lord Jesus, continue to bless each one, with many more years of life. Amen