It's my favorite time..Fall Y'all!!

Fall is my favorite time of year... The spices in my favorite coffee, the air getting cool enough for my favorite sweaters, baking the kids favorite foods without breaking a sweat and of course Halloween excitement filling the air ....

Pumpkin picking starts off the season and we headed out to a local church to pick ours 

We always have lots of fun seeing all the wonderful differences in pumpkins, tall and short, wide and bumpy. 

It's a great time for smiles and laughter with the entire family. 

We like to get a little creative before we carve and have a colorful session with our bright orange friends!! The kids like to give them colors that nature could not and painting is always a great time in this house!! 

Now that our Ode to Harvest has begun

... The Hauntingly delicious recipes begin flowing with our favorite after school snack: Smoothies! 

;);););););););););););););););););););););););););););););););););)

We decided on Boo Berry today.

Here is our simply Haunting Recipe:

Boo Berry Smoothie

1-2 cups ice 

1 whole banana 

2-3 cups milk

1 10oz bag frozen blueberries

1-2 tablespoons sugar or sugar substitute 

Blend and enjoy! 

I hope you enjoyed our little fall starter blog. How do you like to start off your Harvest season? Leave us a comment below! We would love to hear from y'all!

Love, 

The Castellanos Family

...I am...

...I am... 

MOM

I am everything to everyone

I am resourceful 

I am strong 

I am intuitive 

I am steady

I am complete 

I am my own keeper

I am fiercely loving 

I am enigmatic

I am passionate 

I am patient not perfect 

I am a Wife and Mother 

... But first I am a Wonder Woman

         ... I am ...tired

By Felicia Castellanos

DIY Lipstick!

Our girls decided to try a YouTube video recipe recorded by: Ms Toi  

You can also check out the video here: 

Best Lipstick Tutorial Using Crayons - Do It Yourself - Ms Toi

ByMs Toi

1,842,781 views

So the girls decided we should try it. 

Recipe calls for: 

1/2 crayon (crayons works great and comes in wide variety of colors) 

1/2 teaspoon of 100%

 Shae Butter 

(We couldn't find 100% shae butter locally so we bought the type in the image below) 

Lastly, 1/2 teaspoon of Castor Oil (which we also found at grocery store)

The type of shae butter we bought also had oatmeal as an ingredient which worked for the most part but contained other ingredients and preservatives. The consistency was not quite right. 

We then tried a substitute to the shae butter by the way of 100% Cocoa Butter which we bought at our regular local grocery store and that formulation worked perfectly. 

Success!! Homemade lipstick using crayons !! Nontoxic, Fun & easy!! Try it at home with your kids or just for yourself, let us know in the comments if you liked this craft ;) Thanks for reading!

~The Castellanos Family 

Kids Club Back to school is finally here !!!

 My after school kids club program is getting ready with an ice cream social!!

Our Community Manager and I are putting together grab bags for the first 25 residents kids to arrive and they are adorable!!! 

Can't wait to see the kids faces when they get to put together their sundaes and get back to school goodies. I love my job. 

Oh my my, how the days fly by...

Wanting peace and quiet is probably the most selfish thing I pine after as a mother.
 There is no greater joy than hearing your children talking and giggling and having a good time.. but somedays... i wish for silence. Monday was a strange day, and I cant really wrap my head around happenings at work, and how very sad life's strange twists can be... so with that being said I woke up today.. and it eerily felt like a Monday... all over again. Work is ok, I'm a little behind, feel a little like I'm walking through perpetual sand,  as is usual during the summer,... Field trip this morning handled but I'm not ready for my week, month, year at work. I'm really not.
At home I have straddled the back to school bull and made it back to the pen. I am up to date, shopping all done, and backpacks even packed. I unplugged my kids today, and we made a tent. The twins are currently reading, Son #1 is building with Legos (Daddy brought him the Lego Batman RedBox rental last night) and Daughter #1 is playing Sims, again, but chores all done. I washed the dishes, and  made the kids breakfast and lunch, cleaned the living room, folded laundry, made coffee and yet I feel like I have forgotten something very important... I renewed the kids medical insurance, .... gave my husband a kiss before he left for work.. showered and shaved... but still feel like something has been overlooked, it's totally bizarre.
It must be that I have yet to plan in detail for my week month year,.... I used to be obsessive about details, and I'm not sure that I am no longer obsessing. I think that I am indeed obsessive, but in a positive way I hope. I fear that because I am procrastinating writing it all down I am in fact in denial of how much I have to do, and how little time there is to do anything. My days seem to fly by, and I flit from child to child, project to project, chore to chore, work to work and I am exhausted and exhilarated. I love my family, my work, my hobbies and my Friends but I feel like a Human Octopus. I need to organize my head. I must cement.
The kids are now bored to tears again, and a lil tired. Sounds like nap time to me. So, I am going to put them down for a quick rest, then feed my soul with some music, and sit down with my agenda, and a piece of drawing paper. I always think more clearly when I draw and brainstorm with my favorite tunes lifting my soul.

Camp Invention Fun for Son #1!

It's finally Friday !!!

Son finished camp invention a summer program at his elementary school and it has been a blast for him all week!!
Waking up early that first day after a long summer of sleeping in was hard for him because he wasn't sure what to expect.
I was a little apprehensive too and half expected a call to pick him up before the day was through especially being off his ADHD meds all summer long.
I'm so proud of how hard he has been working on behavior, and that is a real feat for an all day, 5 day program for these little guys.
Much to my surprise no meltdowns no calls just a great day and wonderful accounts of inventing and creating and new friends.

 Second day he woke up with a smile and hopped out of bed. The third day he got down out of bed before I even entered the room,...WOW!! By the fourth day he woke up ready for the day before my alarm even went off. I couldn't ask for more of him! I love seeing him eager to learn. Inspiring!

How I wish everyday could be so engaging and exciting during the school year.

Alas, it has come to an end, the fifth and final day, and today there was a showcase of their imaginative week long hard work inventing!! 

 

 

 

The Biggest Tower Ever!

Hurray for Camp Invention!!

I <3 Thee!

http://campinvention.org/ 

Mocha Mornings: Makings of a Monday!!

Mocha Mornings: Makings of a Monday!!: Making Mondays count is hard, but it doesn't have to be impossible!  Our kids just like most of your kids have a bed time and going back...

Makings of a Monday!!

Making Mondays count is hard, but it doesn't have to be impossible! 

Our kids just like most of your kids have a bed time and going back to school routine is getting ever closer but with daddy off today and fresh groceries in the refrigerator 

it's hard to not see the benefit of doing something a little bit of fun even if that means skewing the bedtime routine just a little. 

I read an article with a recipe for ice cream in a bag in the July issue of San Antonio Our Kids Magazine. 

http://issuu.com/ourkidsmagazine/docs/july_2013_our_kids_magazine?e=6884416/3719056

Got stuck in my head ever since, and I just had to try it With the kids. 

It looked like a very simple recipe very few ingredients and something that my kids would love to try and Make for dessert. 

Turned out to be loads of fun even hubby got into it. 

Although the ice cream consistency did not turn out as I imagined it would and it was a little softer than I had pictured it was nonetheless according to my children a very tasty recipe and definitely a do it again type of Activity. 

Take that Mondays!!! 

Oh how time flies...

Five years ago today July 14th, I was sitting on the love seat in our living room watching my 5 year old son and his speech therapist quietly working while I rubbed my enormous pregnant belly. I was 34 weeks pregnant with twins and had no clue that I was in labor. After a fitful sleep the night before I was spent, which of course was nothing new of late, as good sleep in your third trimester is rare (especially with two precious babies taking up real estate) 

Our third pregnancy was planned, I'm a planner of course, and we were anticipating a smooth pregnancy. We were experienced after all, well seasoned baby makers. Our first child, was a beautiful little girl born 2weeks overdue when we were 19 (and yet only 6lbs 3oz) was absolutely adorable and aside from the typical long labor associated with a first timer went as planned. 

Our son and second born was right on schedule a healthy 7lbs 14 oz almost exactly born on his due date, and the cutest little round cheeks. The kicker was that after a long long labor in the hospital the first time I spent the entire labor with our second in the hot wonderful shower to the point of being nagged out by my loving husband to the hospital just in time because I arrived at 9 centimeters dilated and our son was born an hour later. 

Come to think of it perhaps I should have realized then that my tolerance for pain was unduly high. 

Third time around, we were excited to see if we were getting another little princess or little prince, instead we were given the astounding news that we would be having two. TWINS!! We didn't believe it! Not possible... right?? My sexy latino husband's skin turned five shades lighter and he almost ended up on the floor instead of his chair. Our younger two children started jumping up and down with pure joy!! They had prayed for this, daughter wanted a sister, son of course wanted a brother and they prayed and wished on stars that they could both get what they wanted most! I started laughing telling our very funny doctor that he was too silly and to stop joking around. We both sat jaws to the floor as he very seriously drew a little circle with the end of his pen around the two little bumps on the ultrasound screen not one baby .... But a second baby. We were having twins! They got their wish! 

We floated on a cloud of disbelief for months until ultimately it was clear as my belly expanded beyond the point of reason and I might add beyond the point of maternity wear too, that we were indeed pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl. How lucky was that ?? Our daughter and son were elated. I was ever more uncomfortable but they were doing great, growing, and healthy. About the seventh month our ultrasound showed what i already knew and felt was true our littlest boy had turned in my belly from head down like his twin sister to across the pelvic floor hip to hip. I was in such pain all day and night. His little body was nuzzled across, his head pressed into one pelvic bone and feet pushing against the other. It was very painful. Every time the twins stretched I felt as though I would rip in two. The pressure was tremendous so by the time The babies were 34 weeks I had tuned as much of the pain as possible zoning outside of my body when it hurt most like an ethereal experience. The day I went into labor I was in the zone... So much was my concentration on managing the pain that I barely noticed my breathing was getting more and more labored in a rhythmic way. I sat watching my son labor to pronounce his practice words my husband set the coffee pot and began getting ready for work he leaned over the couch and kissed my cheek... "You look flushed honey are you ok" worried he continued getting ready quietly noting the  time on the microwave. Minutes later he was jotting down the time... "That was three minutes ago honey" I was confused. I had not realized until he told me that I was possibly having contractions. My meditation zone slowly became less hazy and I could feel it ... Tightening ... Releasing a little tightening harder... my breathing harder... The pressure like a vise around my body squeezing so hard faster and faster... Oh my god .. I was in labor! Within minutes the speech therapist packed up, our two oldest were gathered with their overnight bags and off to Auntie's house, and we were off to the hospital without making phone calls, completely anticipating and only slightly worried, thinking that we would possibly end up getting medicine to stop it and would be back home again sooner than later. We arrived and within seconds of announcing we were pregnant with twins having contractions we were in a room ultrasound machine going and hurried nurses and doctors reviewing and saying little to us, until someone finally said we would definitely need a c-section immediately. 

We were floored! My husband and I thought we would get sent home false labor or medicine and bed rest... They let us know it would be 45 minutes before the Operating room would be ready. 

We frantically called to let the kids know their babies would be born today they screamed with joy we could hear them jumping up and down, we hurriedly called family and friends and then it was time ..... I won't get into the labor delivery and lengthy hospital stay this post but they arrived! beautiful and fragile. So absolutely precious, as all babies are, a gift, a double blessing and they were perfect tiny angels. Twenty fingers and twenty toes between them, all rosy pink and delicate only slightly longer than our hands just perfect. Our littlest team mates. 

Here we are, healthy and happy. Our twin littles have grown and today they are FIVE! School ready, beautiful and bouncy sweet and smart talkative and totally ready to take on the big kid world hand in hand. Our twins... Are growing up. Happy Birthday Twin Littles!! 

HomeMade Sorbet Anyone??

Feel like having a little sorbet this summer but don't have the cash?? Head to your local dollar tree to get some frozen fruit at rock bottom prices, Then dust off your snowcone maker (mine is a manual turn and shave) and get ready to make some homemade sorbet magic Without a super fancy machine. 

 Pick your favorites. You can also make your own frozen fruit by just popping your favorites into the freezer overnight we chose to freeze some bananas To add to our mix. Our favorite Homemade sorbet Recipe listed below: 

1 pound frozen whole strawberries (washed and remove stems and leaves before freezing)

Two whole peeled frozen bananas

1 pound frozen mango

12 ounce bag frozen chunk pineapple

Pack these into your snowcone maker 

Take care to fill only to the line the ice normally would be filled up to;

and start makin some sorbet Magic. You will need a large mixing bowl to combine ingredients. 

It's definitely not a short process but as you're finished scraping each ingredient add to bowl when done fold gently altogether with your favorite spatula or spoon and enjoy. 

This is enough to make (6) 1 cup servings give or take a little. 

My kids like it  in a bowl but you can certainly serve in a waffle cone or certainly in an ice cream cone. The fruit's natural pectin will hold together well. The consistency appears to be rather like a frozen chutney but dissolves like sorbet. Absolutely Delicious and much cheaper than taking a family of six to the local sorbet chain, Not to mention you know exactly what went into the mix , for those of us with children who have allergies to certain fruits, dairy, and other ingredients this Is an awesome alternative to the unknowns in recipe mixes. Hope your family enjoys this recipe as Much as mine did. Thanks for reading! 

The lights are on but I'm not at home ....

II've written this blog at least three times already and I keep getting stuck. Maybe that's for the best as I have been a little stressed out lately. I'm not sure if its just the summer blues,.. Or if I'm just taking on too much, but I decided to try and shake it off. I was asked the other day what my plans were for Fourth of July..  I replied I don't know and that was the truth. I'm not sure what I want to do... My children want to watch fireworks and have a great time ... Truth is that is going to be tough. I am not feeling very pomp and circumstance ish. I'm very excited about our nation and independence and freedom and fireworks... I'm so grateful for every step I take in our homes kept safe by the brave and strong... But I'm sad. I'm so sad. All I can think about it that care package I've been trying to put together for my brother who's with our army in Afghanistan right now and wondering how he is... if its too hot... if he is feeling ok...  and when he'll come home. I miss seeing my family gathered for the holiday, my parents, my grandparents, my brothers and sister, cousins ..... all the guys excited to blow things up and the ladies in the kitchen getting all our favorite Puerto Rican dishes ready. My grandpa shaking his head about his grass getting burnt and my grama serving up that one spoonful too many my Mom and Dadda playing with the grand kids I miss that even though it was ages ago and everyone lives all over the US .... I just miss it. My grams is having surgery next week, one of my bestie is outta town, My husband works every holiday and I guess I'm just feeling like a dud. Oh we'll. there's lots of stuff to do in SA Texas so I gotta pump up the fun for the kids somehow even though I feel like crawling into a little hole until its over  ;)

Super Duper Saturday and other such myths...

                         

If you have had a Saturday like this.... Million questions, thousand more pleeeeeeeases, a hundred or so "I don't want to's", couple dozen "can I play the game ..... Again"... And about I don't know how many "no!!'s" then you need this as much as I do ..... A.  B R E A K!! So cheers if you drink, Nite if you nap, and ttyl if you are done with the day 

-enough said 

Summer Break??

 

Do you ever wake up wondering who the hell you have become?

Am I the mother that I dreamed I would be? Am I the wife that I planned to be? Do I even know what kind of person I am anymore? Who I really am?I don't feel like I'm having an identity crisis, but maybe I am most days. I do sometimes wonder who I've become and if I'm the person that I wanted to be when I grew up. Am I still the me I remember? I don't even look like me anymore.  I wonder.... are my Husband and  kids proud of me? Is my family back home proud of me? Are my bosses proud of my work?  If not.....  what do I do with that?  I'm not really sure what I want... if I should continue working... if I should just work at home, just stay at home and be mom? I wonder if i'm focusing enough on home and family?  At work I wonder if I'm really doing what I set out to do when I took the position. I wanted to help people. I'm not sure that I'm doing enough. When I have to draw a line between home and work I see the disappointment on the kids' faces. When I have to decide between doing more, or doing what I'm being paid for I get stuck in this lose-lose.. or maybe its win-win between doing too much and not doing enough. Somedays I'm not sure what I was thinking. My husband says I should quit one day, then the next we are both grateful for the money in hand. My kids love and hate my work. They have to share thier mommy a dozen ways and counting. 18 kids enrolled not including mine, and then the parents, and then the classes that I'm required to put together. I see in thier eyes that they feel torn just like I do. We all Love going and helping, serving the kids healthy snacks and summer lunch and being there for them to be able to ask for help, and being someone people can count on, an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, a resource whenever possible. Then, I see the look I know all too well, the one that says: "why can't we just be us,... at home together?"  I wanted so badly to have a nice relaxed summer schedule and go on vacation, hand out with the family, even if it was just nearby. I may still be able to do all that and more but sometimes I am pulled so thin that I feel like I'm going to tear away like a spider's web all delicate and fragile. Simply put, I'm going outta my mind with lists of things yet to be done, reminders, schedules and alarms up the yin-yang. As you have probably read already I have four kiddos a teen, pre-teen, twin soon to be 5year olds and a hard working husband, I work part time at a after school/summer kids program, I babysit a happy little infant full time and I am so tired. ;) I have lots of great ideas musings and fun going on in my head, but I'm so busy I don't have time to get it all out. Is it whining to say it has been a rough day everyday?? I have to be that web. Connected at various points across a vast space. I'm not the spider.. no... everyone else,... they are the spiders. They are all beautiful, tiny, pretty little spiders. They weave me and stretch me, need me over here and over there, send me this way and that and I willingly bend and flex wanting ever so much to be there. Help, holding, supportive and intricately able to do it all. Invisible if your not looking, but strong enough to sustain what is counting on me 2survive. I am the web. Glistening in the sun, planned out, strategic and simple, but beautiful. I am the web. Ever changing in design. Sometimes I may be torn asunder by a passerby who doesn't know I'm there, or stretched too thin by one string too many and break away. Other times I may give and tear from the weight of it all. Always though, I will be again glistening in the sun ready to catch the morning dew, ready to glint and gleam in the first rays of the morning sun, because my little spiders, all of them need me, and that makes me shine.So, with that I leave my hopeful blog again with a promise that I will return to write sooner than later. Back to the lists and schedules .... 

Summer Saturday ;)

 

Hello !

 It's Saturday, and a week before it's officially summer!

I got up today really late for the first time in months to find that my four children plus a sleepover friend had already served themselves cereal, and began their day. They began their day all over my house.. Cereal bowls spoons blankets and cups everywhere!

 Now this should make me feel like a terrible parent, all rested and kids fending for themselves but I was impressed that they all ate healthy and the house didn't catch fire or flood or tornados and lightning strike while I dreamed of Robin Thicke and woke up singing Blurred Lines much to my husbands confusion. Oops.

I decided that since I have energy and DayQuil for my rotten allergies, that I should do something fun with the kids today.

 It was early yet, so I busied myself with making coffee and breakfast for the King of the messy castle. After sending him off to work with a smile and kiss I realized that I was blanketed in the lovely San Antonio humidity and an outing was going to make my sinuses turn into the hulk on my face....

 So what to do ... what to do...

As my troop cleaned up their messes I decided that we could still have fun even if we stayed indoors.. The search through Pinterest was on!!!
I started thinking about all the times my children and I have had fun together in the house not just plugged into our devices and it almost always starts in the kitchen trying new recipes cooking and baking together.

Getting the kids involved in an activity is sometimes a real feat,

 

Those of you with teens and pre-adolescents know exactly what I mean.

Patience is a virtue ... Can't say its my strongest virtue. My husband likes to coin the phrase "Duck tape is a virtue" and some days I wish he was right. Those days not even Pinterest can help.

My nearly 5 year old twins are always down for helping when sweets are involved and that sometimes will set the tone for everyone pitching in. Baking it is! Sometimes, baking can be hard work, but with kids, baking really can be fun! -as long as you do it with a smile and break it down so you get time with each kid through the steps.

                Anyway you do it, is great as long as you have fun.
With summer right around the corner.... the all time favorite sweets and classic family outings are on my mind and enticing my taste buds. I almost forgot there is a whole week of school left to trudge through. Dilemma... Dilemma.... Whatever can you do when you don't want to wait a whole week or even a day for a taste of summer??
I feel like having the fun of camping but don't feel like losing a few inches in the Texas heat and humidity... Everyone agreed. So,...I'll tell you what we did.

Check out Evan B 's blog at http://sweetebakes.blogspot.com/

The recipe we used is here:
http://sweetebakes.blogspot.com/2010/07/bite-size-smores.html

 

This really is an easy and fun recipe. Thank you for your post and recipe Evan B.!!

She took the classic S'mores and created an easy & delicious way to make them sans the danger of a campfire.... If you have small children, you know s'mores can be a real challenge to enjoy outdoors, especially when their excitement is as high as the fire and smiles are at their biggest.

This recipe would be great for anyone to enjoy s'mores anywhere!

 

 

 

 

We added a tiny dollop of natural peanut butter and used a Hershey bar broken into tiny squares in lieu of the chocolate ganache just to make it easier for the kids to do. So if you are like me and want them now, need something fun to do with the kids, and like to enjoy S'mores even if its not technically summer yet take this recipe for a spin... Add blanket tents in your living room,

 

 Open Season or your favorite outdoorsy movie indoors

 

 and Enjoy!

Do you have a favorite indoor activity to do as a family when the weather is unfriendly? Tell us in the comments below.

 We'd love to read some of your  ideas! Thank You for reading ours.

Have a great Saturday!

Love,

Mrs.F.C.&Family