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

It Takes a Village... to put on a Party!

 Preparing To Glow ....
This 13th Birthday Party was so fun!

After much planning, errand running and help, my little Kaboom's party turned out to be awesome! We had a blast!

I had alot of help pulling this off. Thank god for my sister, BFF and her husband and son, husband mom and Daughter for helping make this party possible. It truly takes a village to raise a child and as much as I think I can do it all, it really took my little village to celebrate a child as well!
 Everyone helped out making invitations, cutting neon circles for decor, offering to tackle the cake, bringing equipment for music and dancing, sending money for party wares, BBQ-ing helping open Chili and Cheese cans and more.
It was definately a night to remember, full of smiles and laughs, friends & fun. My 13 year old was smiling ear to ear and enjoying herself!

 I'm pretty sure I put a dent in our household paper supply with all the notes and doodles, decorations (you'd be surprised how many items in our house glowed already) and planning diagrams, but everything turned out great. My poorly drawn contingency plan for bad weather turned out to be necessary since San Antonio had a massive storm the night before that knocked out the power and flooded most everyone's yards.

 Despite not having electicity that day until after 3pm, the hot dogs were perfectly grilled and ready, the chili and cheese and of course chips waters and some spirited drinks for the adults were ready by party time at 7pm.

There was dancing and not just any dancing, JUST DANCE on the Wii glow dancing, and glow sticks, tons and tons of glow sticks, a candy bar, a glowing drink fountain (thank you Mom for making me take it with me when we moved totally worth it) easy and fun party food a Teen Dream Come True black fondant cake with Neon frosting splatter (thanks sis) and disco lights (which may or may not have been more for us grown women to dance to in the kitchen once the party wound down) Gotta love Robin Thicke and instant margaritas!
Here is my Pinterest link if you are interested in some Pin-inspiration: http://pinterest.com/mrsfeliciac/kathy-bday/

Tweens/Teens and glow parties?

Good morning from the nook in my purple couch, more on that later. 
     The King is soundly resting before work, Kaboom and Storm-trooper off to school, java in hand and twins, Thing 1 and Thing 2,  happily busy watching Angry birds. 
          I know, I know ....Angry birds you say??? Violent maybe, selfishly exploiting the idea of animal cruelty? How dare I use television to drink my coffee when its still hot? 
      I say not cruel, unjust or irresponsible, no, well maybe just a little but a moms arsenal of household peace seldom contains crowd pleasers, and I really like hot coffee. So there. 

I am at the precipice of the week and bracing myself for what I'm sure will be just fine in retrospect, but none the less daunting to say the least. 
My daughter Kaboom turns thirteen in just 7 days!  Her first tween/teen birthday party in years is coming up in 5 days.  She has not wanted and scoffed at the idea of a party for the past 7 birthdays deeming herself not a party person and assuring King and I that she would rather go out to eat or pick an extravagant gift than have.a.party!
 Now, this is all good and fine except the last two birthdays have led us to believe that perhaps we have misread her expression while listening to her, because there was a sadness growing in her eyes that we hadn't noticed before. 

Now, I'm no tween/teen expert, as she is my first of four to reach that stage, but I do know when my baby is trying to please us. 

After digging in a lil deeper I discovered that my sweet little Kaboom has watched very carefully as we planned the Storm-trooper's birthdays and Thing1and Thing2's birthdays and that she has also listened very carefully to closed door discussions about budget, planning, schedule stresses and location woes. So after many questions and prodding my baby admitted that she did not want to burden her family by expecting a party like the little ones do. *melt*.
 So sweet, and considerate our girl is. We of course made certain to let her know that we are more than happy to throw a party to celebrate her birthday, each of our children as a matter of fact. I guaranteed that not only was it a pleasure to entertain, it really was our wish to honor her and see her smile. She did not scoff at a Neon Glow Dance Party!! Go Glow Girl!

With that, I am challenged to really make this one special. We don't have unlimited resources, but I do have an idea, unlimited imagination, Pinterest and a circle of supporters to get this party started. Six days, an armful of glow bracelets, and Neon poster boards, ...GO!!