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!

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!

Happy New Year!

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before? Went to Disneyland by myself!
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? This last year was to take it slow and steady since I had a new baby. For 2010 I want to get back in shape.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? In 2008, yes, me, and 3 good friends. We all had baby girls. In 2009 a wonderful kindergarten teacher at my school did to a beautiful baby boy.
4. Did anyone close to you die? No one close to me, but sadly family from close friends.
5. What countries did you visit? No countries or other states this last year, but we did go to Yosemite and it was beautiful!
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? To get our finances in order because we might be taking a huge pay cut and that will not be good for our two teacher family income. We had thought about sending our oldest to Catholic High School, but we will have to wait and see.
7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? April 18th, 2009 because that is the day the Squiggler was baptized and the Tejedas became our compadres. They are very special to us and it is good to have them as family now!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Being a mom to 3 beautiful girls that are completely different. And being the teacher to 5 of my collegue's children. I am so honored and touched that they chose me to be the teacher of their children. I hope I don't let them down.
9. What was your biggest failure? Not being organized at work! It’s driving me crazy, but because I leave right after work to pick up my oldest daughter and pump during my breaks, I never have time to organize. I hope to do better in 2010.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? No! Thank you God!
11. What was the best thing you bought? Hmmm? Haven’t really bought anything. I’ve received some great gifts.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My girls!! My two older daughters are just the greatest! They are both straight A students and get compliments from their teachers. I am so proud of them because they are good sisters to each other and to Squiggler.
13. Where did most of your money go? To Squiggler! We had to get all new things because we had given everything away. Some things we bought used, but it was still new to us.
14. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Having a new baby in the house and being able to really enjoy being a mom to a newborn. I cherished every minute with her and still do. I know it goes by so fast and just want to take it all in one step at a time. No rush!
15. What song will always remind you of 2009? I've Got A Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas
16. What do you wish you'd done more of? Exercise, keep my class organized and keep my faith in the right place.
17. What do you wish you'd done less of? Getting involved in other people’s drama. I am the mother of 3 and I don’t have time for all that.
18. How did you spend Christmas? With my beautiful family. Christmas day was low key, but oh so wonderful and peaceful.
19. Did you fall in love in 2009? Yes with my wonderful hubby, my beautiful daughters and my awesome class of Kindergarteners.
20. What was your favorite TV program? Say Yes to the Dress and Gray’s Anantomy.
21. What was the best book you read this year? I did not read one book for myself this past year. I did like Moo Baa La La La. Love that book!
22. What was your greatest musical discovery? I don’t think I had one except that my daughter has really learned to play the violin well and I love to hear her play.
23. What did you want and get for Christmas? Gift cards so I can buy myself a new outfit. I seriously had not bought myself any clothes since the dress for the baptism in April.
24. What was your favorite film of this year? The Proposal with Sandra Bullock. (it's actually the only movie I saw all year except for the two movies I saw this past week and that's only because it was my bday present)
25. What did you do on your birthday? I went to Disneyland with the Squiggler and met my friend Mrs. Pooh there. We had a great time!!
26. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Staying strong and not losing my faith. I have it, but it’s not at the level that I want it to be.
27. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? This year because I was nursing it had to be easy access for the Squiggler. LOL!
28. What kept you sane? My faith!
29. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Ellen De Generes. She is always so happy and so giving!
30. What political issue stirred you the most? I stayed away from politics this year, but it just irks me on how the Education System is being handled. Our children are our future, but they always seem to come in last.
31. Who did you miss? Someone who I thought was my friend, but it turns out that person never was. That makes me sad.
32. Who was the best new person (people) you met? I haven’t really ever met her, but it would be Kelly from Kelly’s Korner. I think she would be a great friend to have in real life.
33. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009: To trust your instincts. They never let you down!
34. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: "Everything’s gonna be alright!"