2015's Top Ten for Our Family

Well it's the last night of 2015 and we had our traditional dinner of yummy salmon, grilled vegetables, rice and champagne. We sat down as a family and gave thanks to the Lord for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us. Some good and some not what we would have liked, but God has his reasons! This is the list we came up with for our little family in no particular order.

 1. Disneyland: Our happy place! We our a big Disney family and love to spend as much time there as possible. We are annual pass holders and plan to hold onto them as long as we can. We definitely get our money's worth and try to go at least once a month if not more.  Last year we started our year with a trip to Disneyland and plan to do it again this year!

 2. Family: This is not our favorite moment of 2015, but it is an important one. We lost three incredible members of my family this year! First, my beloved Tio Angel lost his battle with cancer on January 7th. On January 18th we lost my Tia Melinda suddenly and unexpectedly. In July we lost our sweet Tia Cruz who was 97 years old! All three of these passings have left such a big void in our lives. We miss them so much and can't believe that they are gone. We know that each and everyone of them is in a better place and for that we are thankful, but it's just hard knowing that they are not here with us on earth.

 

 3. Drama! This is actually the production kind. We are so proud of our baby girl, Speedy, she works hard at her craft and has been cast in all of her productions in high school so far. She was Penny Wise in Urinetown last spring, where she stole the show with that awesome voice of hers! This past fall she was cast as the lead in A Flea in Her Ear.  We love to watch her act and sing!  This is her passion and we hope she gets to live her dream in all she does.

 

4. Squiggler has had the most things happen this year! She lost 4 teeth this year. The first two were taken out by the dentist and then she finally lost her first official tooth in September followed by another one in November. She was a late bloomer and didn't get first tooth until she was 9 months old. That is why I think she has barely started to lose her teeth.

 5. Church: Speedy made her confirmation in May and I was so happy and proud of her. She's  a bit of a rebel when it comes to religion, but she did it and for that I am grateful and proud! I don't have a picture, but Squiggler started her first year for her First Communion and I am teaching the class. I have 15 of the greatest kids in my class!

 6. Weegie! She finished MUD and started working for Estee Lauder! She loves being a make up artist and is living her dream!!  She works with some amazing people in a truly amazing company. She has learned so much and goes to work everyday happy!! She also free lances on the side and has done make up for some proms and weddings.  I am so proud of how much she has grown and how hard she works.

7. Royalty Dance Academy: This is our home away from home! Squiggler takes Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Hip Hop and Speedy takes Jazz and Ballet. We love it there and I think they love us too. All my girls have been a part of Royalty and now Weegie helps when she is needed.  I'm so glad that we belong to such an amazing place with amazing people. 

 

 8. Sports! Squiggler learned to swim and made it all the way to level 6 in swimming lessons. She also learned to ride a bike with no training wheels!!! This was my honey's summer project! He wanted to make sure he taught her how to ride a bike this summer. He has now taught all his girls how to ride a bike and made sure they were strong swimmers.

 9. Las Vegas: For the first time in her 40+ plus years the Wifa finally went to Las Vegas!! She got picked to go to an SDE conference and went with her good friend Mrs. C.  They had a blast and her friends made sure she enjoyed herself and experienced the Vegas life! She even won contest and gets to go back to the conference next year for free!  The following week her honey and Squiggler went back to Vegas for a small family vacation! So now she's been twice!

 10. College Life: Speedy won a scholarship to go to CSSSA for the summer at the Cal Arts campus. We were so proud of her, but missed her for the month that she was gone. Luckily she wasn't gone to far and we were able to visit her twice to buy her supplies and just spend some time with her. They had them jam packed with classes and activities. She really enjoyed herself and is hoping to attend next year too.

Honorable Mentions for this year!

School: Squiggler is in 1st grade while Speedy is now a Junior in High School. Both girls are doing great and Squiggler won student of the month in Kindergarten and 1st grade. Speedy still is maintaining her high grade point average and getting ready to take the SATs at the end of the month. She is also up for a Scholarship in Voice and Acting, so we couldn't be more proud of her.

 
 Love: We will be celebrating our 20 year anniversary in January and are thankful that we still love being together. He is my best friend and she is mine! We couldn't do it alone and being together is much better!!

 Family again: My grandparents were featured in a book and I was asked to write a small excerpt about them. I am now published!! LOL! It was exciting and such an honor to have our grandparent's legacy live on!!!

 So that is pretty much it for us in a nutshell. We are Blessed beyond belief and even though sometimes things might not go as planned we know there is always a reason and something better is waiting for us just around the corner. Sometimes it's hard to remember that, but we try. We have the best girls and are so proud of them. They have good hearts and try to lead a good life. We couldn't ask for more! We continue to pray that they always remember to do good in all they do. Thank you for such a great 2015!

Love! Love! Love!

I am so loving our custom illustrated picture done by Katie Moon! She is so talented and made my family even more beautiful then I could have possibly imagined! I had heard about Katie and oohmoon through Lindsay Teague Moreno and when I saw hers, I knew I had to have one too! I really wanted to just capture time right now and freeze it! My girls are at the perfect ages right now and I know it a couple of years our family will be changing! Weegie is a junior, Speedy is almost in high school and Squiggler will be in Kindergarten!

Katie did a fantastic job capturing our family and our love for each other! The girls love it and so does my honey! I have big plans for this picture in our house! Thanks Katie and to my mom for helping me get this! It's my birthday/Christmas/lots of presents for the next year gift! LOL! I also feel so Blessed and fortunate because Katie will no longer be doing these types of illustrations. So glad I met her before she stopped! God is good all the time!

Family Field Trip!

 Today we decided to go on a Family Field trip before we all have to go back to school next week. My honey decided we should go see the USS IOWA. We got a great deal on a family pass and decided to go today! It was an absolutely gorgeous day here in Southern California! We headed out early this morning and made it to Long Beach in record time!

We were able to tour the entire boat and learn a lot about Navy ships and they way the Sailors live.  Weegie and Speedy really enjoyed it and took a lot of pictures. Squiggler didn't enjoy it as much, so I didn't get as many pictures since I was watching her so much.  It was a great way to spend the day as a family. There were quiet a few people there and the boat has only been there for a few months. They are hoping to pick up on attendance. Afterwards we went to eat lunch at Ports O Call at a restraunt that one of my honey's friends recommended.  We were very hungry at this time and the food was absolutely scrumptious and they gave big portions.  We all shared everyone's meal.  This may sound crazy, but that is one thing I love about my little family, we always share our food and taste everyone's meal. It's a great way to taste a lot of different food.  (I have cousins that do not share food and so I'm glad we do.)

We walked around a bit and Squiggler wanted to ride on the little rides they had.  I love the outfit she is wearing! She is such a fashionista! Hello Kitty, Leopard, boots and shades! What more could a girl ask for?

 I love my life!

2011's Top Ten

Well now that 2011 is coming to an end and it's time to talk about our Top 10 items for the year! These are in no particular order, but if you ask Weegie she will tell you that her's is number one! LOL! That crazy Weegie!

My honey and I have celebrated 15 years of marriage! That is a wonderful and amazing thing! I always prayed for such a wonderful man and God gave me this great guy! God is good all the time and really listens to our prayers!

Speedy Cheetah made the Musical Production group at her school! It was a big honor, her first choice and she is loving it! She is doing outstanding and has found another outlet for her creative side. This is a big thing because she does so well academically and needed to be challenged in another way!

Weegie doing well in 10th grade and going to her first big dance! Homecoming! Her team won, she danced the night away and had a great time! She is becoming such a wonderful young lady and we are so proud of her. She loves going to church and serving her community!

Seeing my cousin RockBottom after 3 years! This guy here means so much to me and to have lost him for a short while was just devastating! I pray that he comes home soon and realizes how loved he is by all of us! He is also such a wonderful guy, but for some reason has decided to distance himself from our familia for a while. It was great to see him twice this year and I hope he keeps coming around!

Squiggler growing so much this year! She got on rides all by herself at our annual fiesta, she can float in the pool and can kind of swim on her own. Talking and singing up a storm! She brings such joy to our life!

Speedy Cheetah performing in public with her singing group and getting her first solo! She knocks it out of the park each time she performs and is an excellent singer!! There is nothing this girl can't do!!!

Squiggler started dance lessons! She is taking tap/ballet once a week and she loves it. She is the youngest in the class and you can tell! Her teacher has a lot of patience with her! Thank goodness!

Weegie turned 15 and had her Quinceanera! It was her special day and she thanks us constantly for the day she was a true princess! She says it was the best day of her life and that it was perfect! That makes me so happy! She is such a beautiful girl inside and out!

Our trip to Disneyland. My girls and I went by ourselves and we had such a great time! I love being at Disney. It doesn't matter how many rides I get on, but I just love being there! It really is such a special place and I loved sharing it with my girls! Squiggler really loved it and remembers her trip!

My favorite aunt and uncle celebrating 40 years of marriage! They have had their ups and downs, but true love always prevails! They met when they were 13 and got married at 20. They both retired this year and are still in love even after spending all day together these last couple of months! They taught me what it takes to have a wonderful family and I am constantly learning from them! Here's to 40 more!

I told my honey I would mention some honorable mentions, but didn't have pictures to go with these...his health is better and he had his surgery! He is always feeling so much better! Weegie becoming quiet the baker and baking up a storm this holiday season! Both girls doing well academically and on their state test scores! My honey's school going up 82 points on their API and hitting over 800! My donorschoose project getting fully funded! What a great year it has been! We are so blessed and look forward to a wonderful 2012 also filled with the love of God and more blessings!

Starbucks and Date Night!

LOL! I don't love this picture, but I wanted to put a picture of my honey and me up this was the only picture I could find of us taken in the last 6 months!! That is not good! I hate taking pictures right now, but still try to because it's not about me. When I'm gone, my girls are going to look at these pictures and not see that I don't have good make up or that my hair looks bad, I hope they see the mom that loves them so much! Okay enough with that and on to the post!
Today I went to Starbucks like I do every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. I love my Starbucks and will go out of my way to go to "my" store. When I walk in the baristas all greet me by name and will start my drink. They always ask if I want one or two because usually I only buy one. My mom babysits Squiggler and I don't pay her with money, I pay her with Starbucks. I buy her 3 Frappucino's a week and once a week I get one too. Well today I went to my Starbucks and who was sitting there in a red shirt and shorts? Santa Claus!!! I'm not kidding! Santa Claus was at my Starbucks with Mrs. Claus and on his cup it said Santa Claus. They were leaving as I was leaving and he held the door for me and was wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. He looked at me and said, "My wife would love your boots!" LOL! I thought that was so cute and funny. They jumped into a white Camaro and were on their merry way. I guess the reindeer had the night off. Seeing Santa at Starbucks totally made my day!
My honey and I also had a date night! We haven't had a date night since the summer. We put Squiggler's sisters in charge of her and we were off. We went to see a romantic comedy that isn't really worth writing about and to dinner. It was nice just to be the two of us for a little while! We had a great salad and a yummy pizza at this little italian restaurant that I had been dying to go to in forever!!!!! We then went to the madhouse known as Target to buy some baking supplies. It was a ZOO! We were in and out of there pretty fast, but the cashier told us that some brainiac scheduled only 3 cashiers for the evening! Really??? 4 nights before Christmas and they only had 3 cashiers? They had every backup team member on those lines and the store was a mess! Oh well, I hope somebody learned their lesson!

My Wish List!

Okay now remember this is for fun only and if money was no object! These things would be on my Christmas wish list. The first thing on my wishlist would be a new Coach purse! I don't know if I would really buy a pink one, but I would definately buy a Coach purse. My current purse is about 4 years old and even though that doesn't seem to old, it's starting to look a little shabby. I did almost get one about 2 weeks ago at Macy's because it was a great deal, but then I didn't. Oh well, someday I will.

I've always wanted a purple coat. My best friend has a short one and I love it! I don't know what length I would get, but it would definately be purple! I love this color and it was the favorite color of my grandpa and grandma too.

I'm not sure why I would want an ipad, but it's on my list. I think it would be fun to have. I don't even have an ipod touch because we have 3 older ipods and they work just fine. But like I said if Santa was bringing it, I wouldn't turn it away!

I would so love to have some Chanel sunglasses. I love sunglasses and wear them all the time. I have two pair of perfectly good Coach sunglasses, black and brown. The price of real Chanel sunglasses is more then the price I paid for the other two together. I think Chanel makes the most beautiful sunglasses in the world!

A Target giftcard for $500 would be on my wishlist too. That way I could take my girls to Target and buy them some toys! By toys I mean whatever electronic device they are craving right now and I'm not even sure they are craving any. I tried to see if there was, but they didn't give any hints as to something they would like. I think they might like some Wii games or something like that, but I don't even know. My girls are low maintenance in some things, but high maintenance in others.

Now this is my wishlist and I kept everything under $500 dollars. If Santa came to me tomorrow and said you could have a new car, I would want a Toyota Sequoia or a Chevy Acadia in white!!! LOL! That was kind of fun considering I never know what I want for Christmas and always ask for gift cards so that I can buy a new outfit for myself. What's on your wishlist?