First Confession

Phi is almost done with year one of her First Communion preparations classes. At our church during the first year the kids make their first confession. The weekend before Phi and I attended a workshop where the kids got to make a pancho vest-like thingie to be worn at her first confession. They gave us white glue and some felt pieces. We did the best we could with the materials we had, then we went home and really jazzed it up!

We hot glued shiney stars and added fringe and a pink yarn border. We added pom-poms to the cross on the back and Phi asked that I embroider her favorite part of the "Act of Contrition" on the back. It came out really good. 

We meet in the church and they called the first 3 kids up. Phi was the third kid called. She went right over to the priest and I was so nervous for her. We had spent weeks practicing her prayers but as usual I couldn't help but think back to my first confession. When I went to catechism at that age it was still run by nuns. Very strict nuns. Before we could make our first confession we had to pass an oral exam. 

The idea of telling someone a list of all the things you did wrong is super nerve wracking, but Phi did it in less than 3 minutes. She came back to our pew and said her prayers and we were able to go home. As we were leaving she told me "Mom I do feel different. I feel lighter". 

We are so proud of our Phi! 

Good job Lovey! 

Next year First Communion! 

Fire Season

I love living in California. I don't think I could ever live anywhere else. From my house I can get to the mountains, beach and desert in one day. That is bananas. 

There are only 2 real negative about living here that we deal with. 

1. earthquakes

2. fires

As soon as the heat starts we start hearing about fire warning levels and the Smokey the Bear signs near the mountains have the arrow pointing the the red. A few weeks ago we had the first big fire of the season. It was big and it was close. 

photo credit: Joey

Photo Credit: Joey

With the smoke filled sky making everything hazy, all the sirens wailing and helicopters flying so low it sounded like a war zone.

In our area winds tend to make fires spread quickly and it took a few days to get this one under control. Fire season sucks and I hope that this year the worst is already behind us.

Rubia and the Three Osos

We are right in the middle of potty training so we have been spending a lot of time just sitting in the bathroom. We are playing with dolls, singing songs and reading books to pass the time. At our local library I picked up this book because bilingual books are my absolute favorite. These books are usually written with one page in English with the Spanish translation on the other side. My kids usually tune out when I read en espanol. In this book by Susan Middleton Elya called Rubia and the Three Osos, they have brilliantly made the story in what we call Spanglish. 

Word in Spanish mixed in with English. A great way to reinforce some common everyday Spanish words my kids are familiar with.

I really wish my girls were bilingual. Of course that would mean that I would have to speak better Spanish myself. There are certain words in Spanish that my kids know....

• Liga- rubber bands for hair
• carne- meat
• pan- bread
• chancla- sandle
• sala- living room 

The last 2 are thanks to my sister because she always tells my niece and nephew "Go get your chanclas from the sala". My Mom is also so great with talking to the kids in Spanish. I just hope that when it comes time for high school Spanish they remember some of it. 

County Fair Season Starts! Up First Santa Barbara!

The weather is starting to finally warm up and we are super excited that fair season has started. We usually hit up at least 3 during the spring and summer time. The first one is always the Santa Barbara Fair and Expo. A great medium size fair. You can spend an afternoon and see everything. 

We started the day with some pig races! 

Louie walking around with her Nana and Tata, rocking the visor just like Nana!

Cari you may have a problem.

Pops popping balloons to win a $15.00 stuffed banana for Louie. She loves it so totally worth it.

Phi and Lili waving their hands in the air...... like they just don't care.

We bought the kids unlimited ride wristbands. Best deal there! 

 This is how I run the house too.....

Man the beard is perfection...

Fair food! Between us all we had pizza, chinese food, chicken kabobs, french fries, sausage and bacon wrapped hot dogs! Of course there was kettle corn and the jumbo bag of cotton candy.

One of Phi's favorite ride is the big swings. She got on it by herself the first time. Later in the day she wanted to go again and Lili stepped it up and got on too!

Then on the third time on the swings Felix rode too. I will never forget his face, he was so excited!

And of course you can't leave the fair without an airbrushed something!

One fair down! 2 more to go!

Phi and Moms Book Club April Update

For April The Phi just had to read the second book in the Dork Diaries series. I can't blame her, as a kid I devoured each and every Sweet Valley Twin book every written. We read through this book in a matter of days. Another cute and funny story about Nikki Maxwell and how thanks to the "mean girls" at her school she gets stuck putting together the Halloween dance for her school. Of course there is a lot of mix ups and Nikki ends up having to work as a costumed rat on the same night as the big dance. And to top it all of Brandon had asked her to be his date!. In a very I Love Lucy fashion Nikki attempts to make it all work.

Again Phi loved this book so much that she hardly let me read any of it. She immediately started reading the 3rd book on her own.

Phi says "I loved this book so much. It was so funny when she kept running back to the bathroom to change her costumes". 

For May I was able to convince her to read something other than a Dork Diaries book. Thanks to a sweet friend Thomas, we got our hands on a James Patterson book for kids. So here is what we are reading for May...
 

P.S. Over at HerMamas.com today I am talking about why I admire my Mom so much and how I wish I could take back my teen years. Click Here to read.

Johnsons Baby Care Campaign

This is a paid sponsored post with Latina Bloggers Connect and Johnson's Baby. 

Mother's Day is this weekend. Since becoming a Mom I have an enormous appreciation for all the Moms in my life. Mother's Day means so much more now and I have some amazing friends and family who are spectacular Moms, and they each deserve a little shout-out on Mother's Day. Johnson's Baby Care just launched a new Facebook app that makes it super easy to send a thoughtful and encouraging note to all the amazing women in your life who you look up to. It gets even better, for every card sent, shared and liked, Johnson's Baby will donate $1.00 (up to $150,000) to Save the Children and its programs like Early Steps to School Success. 

What a great idea! I knew that I wanted to send some Care Cards and the first person that came to mind was my cousin Monique. If you are a regular reader here than you might remember Monique from when she gave birth to her first child, a premature baby boy named Matthew. The kicker? She had no idea she was pregnant! Can you imagine? She did not get the 9 months to prepare to become a Mom. One morning she woke up and a few hours later she was a Mom. Matthew is now 5 months old and my cousin Monique is already such an amazing Momma. 

Niques, I just want you to know how in awe I am of you. I have never seen you so happy. Anyone who sees you can tell how absolutely in love you are with your son. From the moment Baby Mathme was born you became the perfect Momma for him. Being a Mom has been the hardest job I ever had. It takes patience and there are just so many questions. You are a natural at this stuff and you make it look easy. Matthew is so lucky to have you. 

Click Here to see my little e-card to my cousin Monique. You can also make and send you own e-card. Take a few minutes to send a Mommy in your life a quick message and help donate to Save the Children at the same time. This is a no-brainer. A Total win-win.

Baseball Season

We finally made it to one of our nephew Felix's (aka Chavo) t-ball games. This is his first year playing and it was so fun to watch. Much like his older sister he shows absolutely no emotion when playing sports. He could have hit a grand-slam and not even bust a smile. I have no idea why they are like this.

He is one of the oldest on the team and one of the best players. He is the only boy in our family and he is completely adored by us all. Since he is a twin it's rare to go to something that is just for him.

The games lasted one hour. Each inning consisted of each player on the team hitting once. They took one base at a time. And after each player got a turn it was time for the other team to hit. I thought it was a great way to introduce kids to the game.

I know he is my nephew but Felix is one beautiful boy. Great game Chavo! We had a great time cheering you on.

Go A's!

Catching Up....

I think at this point we can just call the shrimp place in San Pedro the official HerMamas offices. I mean great food, shops, ice cream and all next to the water. We met up with our Best Friend Family, the Quevedos a few weeks ago to eat, stroll and even talk a little business. 

We love hanging out with the Quevedos. Especially Louie. I leave her with Irene and Diego for a few minutes and come back to find this....

Bye Bye Tumor

 It was a long night. My cousin Karnia's surgery didn't start until 5:50 pm. We were told that it would last between 4-6 hours. We all were prepared for a very long night. A lot of my family gathered at the hospital to just be there. I was stuck at home and I was nervous and anxious. I wanted to be at the hospital. Instead I was home and my mood was on edge. The girls were all over me since Joey was out so I set up some melting beads to keep them occupied. I sat with them and made a rainbow "K". It was something I could make and then hold on to for the next few hours. I kept the lyrics from the new Macklemore song running through my head...

this is the moment

tonight is the night

we'll fight till it's over

So we put our hands up like the ceiling can't hold us

 As it got later in the night I worked on Phi's vest for her first confession. She asked me to embroider her favorite line from the Act of Contrition....

God Have Mercy

As I worked I said it over and over.

Karina had sent me a text earlier in the day telling me that they ended up having to completely shave her hair off. She sent me a photo and of course she looked absolutely gorgeous.

As the hours went by I kept checking my phone and facebook for updates. I started seeing pictures of the guys in my family. They were shaving their heads. Right there in the hospital room. Amazing. When Joey got home I told him what the guys were doing. He didn't hesitate. He went straight to the bathroom and got out the clippers. 

It was amazing to see all these pictures start to pop up on Instagram. My Tia Mary was great at keeping us all updated with pictures. 

So many beautiful bald heads. An amazing testament to the love and support we have for Karina. Like I said yesterday, in this family no one ever goes through anything alone.

WE GOT YOU KARINA. 

It wasn't until close to midnight that we finally got the news we were waiting for. The surgery went well. Even though the tumor was much larger than they thought ( it was the size of half a tangerine!) they are confident they got it all. It did not look cancerous but we would still need to wait for the biopsy. She is in the ICU and her parents were finally able to go in and see her. Karina did great and everything went fine. Music to our ears.

 The scene from the waiting room. This rowdy bunch only got reprimanded by security to keep it down...twice. I heard they kicked Baby Mathme out because he was too young. How dare they! Don't they know who he is!

So we are very grateful that the surgery went as well as possible. Grateful for all the prayers, good vibes and positive thoughts.  Now its time for Karina to heal. If she needs us we are all here. She is young and healthy and recovering should be quick. Plus Karina is a bad ass and will be back to an even better short haired version of herself before we know it.

And our family gets even stronger and closer.

Can't Hold Us Down

On Friday my family got some news. After dealing with chronic intense headaches my cousin Karina went in for an MRI. A few hours later she was in a hospital bed and scheduled for brain surgery for Monday. They had found a tumor near the brainstem and it would need to be removed as soon as possible.

Let me tell you a little story about our Karina. Now our family is really big, and Phi is still sorting out names of people. When I told her about Karina it took her a minute to place her. Then she said "Yea she is the one who helped me when I hurt my ankle". This is what happened. We were at a big family party and The Phi was running around with all her cousins. She jumped and landed wrong and hurt her ankle. She was crying and Karina saw this happen. Instead of coming and getting me or Joey, she picked up Phi (this was not that long ago so she was carrying a 7 year old!) and carried her to me. She picked her up, comforted her and carried her. I think this story really sums up Karina. A good soul through and through. Oh and she is funny too. She has kept the most amazing positive and almost "whatever" attitude through all this. She amazes me and I am so proud of her.

We went to see her on Saturday and her room was filled with family. Tias, Tios and cousins just filling every space we could. Because here is the thing. In this family NO ONE goes through anything alone. NO ONE. We may not be able to trade places with you ( and believe me we would if we could) but we will not leave your side, your family will cut their hair off, just like you had to, to show you that you are not alone. We will text message each other updates, and send you silly pictures to keep you smiling. We will leave you baby blankets to comfort you, bring you books and magazines, and fill your hospital room with flowers so when you look around you know you are loved beyond words.

This is scary and today will feel like a million hours as we all sit and wait for news. It may be her brain they are operating on, but it is all our hearts on the table too. Because she is our family and she is part of all our hearts. As much as we are nervous and scared this family never ceases to amazes me with the love and support they give. We are so strong and because of that Karina is Strong. And a damn little tumor the size of a kidney bean is no match for this family. NOTHING is bigger or stronger than the love this family has.