Alexander Brother finished preschool! Tear Tear! Even though it was a little different this year with plenty of COVID restrictions, he still managed to love love LOVE going to school. He was up every morning eager to start his day and go to school. I am not a morning person so it was the best thing to see his early morning energy and ambition! Something he has always been very good at; being the first one up…bright, too early and searching the fridge for his yummy leche!

Alex learned so much in preschool. He surprised me too many times with the things he would come home talking about. Alex loved teaching us all about the things he learned. He would actually do a very good job at explaining. One day he just starting singing The Pledge of Allegiance, something I had no idea he knew anything about! One of the most exciting things he learned was that his name isn’t Alexander Brother. HA! Ever since he became an older brother to Rosie he changed his name to Alexander Brother or at least that what he thought his new name was. Alex definitely takes his big brother role pretty serious. He would always tell everyone that his name was Alexander Brother, even though we explained it to him plenty of times. After a while we just let it be and loved it when he would introduce himself as Alexander Brother, it was cute while it lasted.

A lot of times I felt pretty sad and heart broken in seeing him have to go to school and wear a mask. I understand it is a necessity during the pandemic but it was just something different that I felt could change his experience during such a major milestone. I think preschool, or any first year of school for kids, is very important. It marks the beginning of their future. The beginning of their academic life where they can fall in love with education and begin to embrace the power of knowledge. It’s a big deal! Alex embraced all the differences, not knowing the latter anyway, and even loved having to wear his cool masks. So proud of you buddy!

Alex clearly shows interest in wanting to learn. I don’t think there was a single subject or thing he disliked about school. He always came home excited and proud to share about his day. He is a fast learner and can easily remember new material. During our zoom conferences with his teachers, Mrs. Shannon and Mrs. Leta, we heard nothing but good things about him! His specialty being “building” which was no surprise! Alex has adapted the byname “Lego Master” at home for quite some time now.

Alex had more good days than bad days in school. His bad days were actually pretty cute. One time he was upset at one of his girl friends because she wanted to play with another boy that day. Can you say CELOSO?! HA! Another time he was upset because he wanted a burger for lunch. Oh and lets not forget about his pockets always being full of rocks from outside play. Mrs. Shannon would remind me daily that he has rocks in his pockets, saving me plenty of times from washing them in the laundry. Eventually, we designated a special area in the yard for all the rocks he came home with.

We are super proud of Alex and all his eagerness this school year. Mrs. Shannon and Mrs. Leta are excellent teachers who supported and promoted his willingness to learn. Their creativity exceeded expectations and sparked originality in his work. The projects and bulletin boards displayed showed the fun and engaging environment they provided while teaching. It’s no wonder Alex loved school so much! Alex is now going on to kindergarten, where I am certain he will also thrive. Older brother Sebastian is very excited to hopefully see Alex around campus. The few times that they saw each other this year they would both come home super excited!

Alex, I am so happy to see school bring you so much joy! I love that you enjoy every aspect of it and hope this joy follows you throughout your academic years. Your charismatic character allows you to see learning as entertaining and fun; just as it should be. Keep working hard and embracing change and new things with such great attitude. You are capable of anything and everything, mom and dad are here to help and guide you along the way should you need it. You don’t even know it but you successfully and marvelously excelled preschool during the Covid 19 pandemic!

Love,

-Mama Bear Mimi

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Alexander Villa

Preschool

2020-2021

Yay! I finally got around to posting my reads for 2020. I had a Goodreads goal of ten books but only read seven. I’m happy about that, considering all the crazy that happened in 2020 with Covid and schools closing. Having to juggle homeschool with 3 kids was not easy but I did my best to get close to my reading goal. Sadly, I wasn’t too thrilled about any of the books I read. None of them really stuck out to be amazing reads that I would say are must reads. Some I really struggled to get through but forced myself to finish because I am stubborn like that. I know some bookworms don’t waste their time on finishing books that don’t spark them but I feel like in order to really give a genuine review I need to finish the book. I don’t think I have ever had a DNF (Did Not Finish) list of books and perhaps that was my mistake this past year. It took me long to get through even some of the easier reads because I just wasn’t that interested. This year, 2021, I will definitely choose my reads a little better. 

My Year in Books

7 out of 10 books 

Know Me From Smoke by Matt Phillips

rating- 4 out of 5 stars

193 pages

read- December to February

I picked up this read while visiting a local book store in San Diego. The book was fun to read and had a good mix of shocking twists and some more foreseeable. I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first. The beginning felt a bit predictable but it ended quite well. I was very pleased with the ending and in fact very shocked. I wasn’t expecting Stella’s reaction. Her love for Royal seemed to have been something that she’s been yearning for since her husbands death. The author does a great job and making you gasp at some of the scenes, kept me wanting to read more. I definitely would recommend this book, it was easy and fun.

Loving a Leaping Butterfly: A True Story of a Daughter with Turner Syndrome by Debbie Browne

rating- 4 out of 5 stars

256 pages

read-February to April

My one year old daughter was recently diagnosed with Turner Syndrome. My dear friend gifted this book to me and I was pretty excited to read it since it was written in the mother’s point of view. I am still learning about Turner Syndrome and dealing with a lot of emotions with our new diagnosis so I thought I might enjoy this read and learn a thing or two on how to cope with everything. I enjoyed a lot of the book but was definitely disappointed in the ending. I guess I didn’t realize the outcome wasn’t a positive one and it’s definitely not something I should have read just yet. I wasn’t ready for the ending, not as a newly diagnosed mom who is learning about TS. The book is a true story so I absolutely sympathize with the entire book and the tribute to Kellie’s life but I do wish there was more talk about TS within the book. A lot of it felt like it was more about Debbie’s personal life than Kellie’s battle with TS. The book flowed well and kept me wanting to read to find out more. Sometimes I needed to put the book down and compose my emotions but I felt I needed to finish the book in order to get the whole story. It is a good read but not the right time for me.

Terror in Tucson: The Levine Project by Dan Baldwin

rating- 1 out of 5 stars

110 pages

read- April to July

I picked this book in efforts to support local in my city but struggled to get through this book. I was highly interested in reading it at the beginning because it is a true story that happened in my town. Even though I do sympathize with the victims, this book was poorly written. As I read, I kept finding misspelled words and grammatical errors page after page. It did however raise my awareness to be cautious when hiring any company for home improvements. Which is probably the reason why this book was published to begin with.

Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living by Pema Chodron

rating- 3 out of 5 stars

176 pages

read- July to September

This book was gifted to me by my sister as en e-book. E-books are not quite my favorite but I gave it a go anyway. Throughout the book there were a lot of comforting messages and useful information to leave you with positive vibes. I enjoy reading self help books and thought this would be similar. Some books impact me better than others. This book had a lot of Buddhists terminology that were very confusing to me and therefore felt more like I was reading a school textbook. I learned a lot of things about Buddhism but not many that will stick. This book would be great for someone who is interested in learning more about Buddhism, just not what I was looking for.

It’s OK That You’re Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn’t Understand by Megan Devine

rating- 2 out of 5 stars

280 pages

read- September/November

One of my dear amigas was reading this book in hopes to cope with the recent passing of her father. I decided to tag along and read with her. I actually had high hopes in this book because of the title. Having personally experienced the tragic loss of my brother almost 11 years ago I felt like there were many things that I could relate to in this book. Loss is a difficult thing to discuss because everyone copes differently. However, one thing the author stated early on in this read was that if this book doesn’t feel right then maybe the timing isn’t right for you. There are so many grieving stages and it is very appropriate that she mentions that within the first few pages. The book gives plenty of “do’s and don’ts” recommendations, which are ok but I believe a lot of it differs from person to person. The author does a great job at making that clear. I also loved the emphasis she puts on grieving not being a problem that needs fixing. The book could have been a little shorter but I understand that in order for it to have a large audience it needed to touch base on a lot of different subjects. There are a lot of things that I didn’t agree with but I did my best to be patient while I read, knowing that it might not impact me directly but may impact someone else. I think this book would be a great read for someone to read before they actually need it or even for someone who wishes to help a friend or family member cope with loss.

In the Light of the Garden by Heather Burch

rating- 3 out of 5 stars

332 pages

read – November/December

I read this book as part of Once Upon A Book Club. It’s normally not something I would read but I enjoy the book club so I went for it. The story takes a while to get interesting and had very little excitement for me. There were a lot of things that happened in the story that felt a bit exaggerated and bizarre. Some too cheesy and predictable.  The most interesting parts for me was knowing the secret between uncle Harold and Charity’s grandmother. It’s probably the only thing that kept me reading. It was also predictable that Charity and Dalton would fall in love and I expected the cheesy ending. I was hoping that there was something more relatable in the story about loss and forgiveness, since I have experienced those struggles in my personal life, but nothing really hit home. It’s definitely targeted for younger readers, so it might be more suitable for anyone interested in Young Adult books.

Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson

rating- 4 out of 5 stars

96 pages

read – December

I read this book almost 10 years ago as part of training purposes at a bank I was working at. I just re-read it and thought it would be a good book to read to my kids. I read to my kids, ages 6,5 and 2, almost every night. Just recently they have shown an interest in chapter books so I think this would be a great book for them. For me, however, the book didn’t introduce anything new to me. I am 35 years old and have read plenty of self help books. I can recommend better books for personal development. This is an easy read, it can be read in a matter of 2 hours. This book is something perhaps a young adult would appreciate reading or even someone who is new to personal development/self help books.

2021 Reading Challenge – 10 books

Hip hip horay! Sebastian is a kindergarten graduate! He had quite an academic year filled with many exciting milestones. We actually did the entire last quarter at home due to the Covid-19 pandemic. His teacher, Mrs. True, sent assignments and met virtually with the class through Zoom meetings. It was definitely a challenge but we worked hard and pretty much turned in all assignments. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much talk about a  graduation celebration but I still had to do my own little celebration for this amazing young boy! I ordered him a cap and gown on Amazon and we had a fun/not so fun photo shoot featured at the end of this post.

I actually still remember Sebastian’s first day of kindergarten. It was just him and I that day, normally Rosie and Alex would join us for the drop off but for his first day I just wanted it to be us. It was a new school for us so I was a bit nervous for him. He was so so excited though, even amongst the chaos the first day always brings, you know…finding parking, finding his class, turning my mamarazi mode on and then having to leave him there! Ahhhh!! He, however, was just happy to feel grown and be going to school full time now.

It actually wasn’t until I got home that day when everything just hit me. I sat at the quiet kitchen table and started crying and crying! I didn’t expect to feel this way since we went through this before with preschool but kindergarten just felt totally different! He would be gone ALL day!!! Then, I found out that I couldn’t walk him all the way to his class (like I did with preschool) so I was freaking out!! I later found out it’s a security precaution the school has to ensure only authorized personnel enter the school. But at the moment I panicked and thought what if he gets lost, what if he goes somewhere else, what if there’s a back gate he can escape from?! AHHH! After I stopped crying I seriously went online and started researching other schools because (amongst other things) I was paranoid and ready to transfer him somewhere else!!! Hubs being hubs teases me and says “Ya Mimi, just cut the cord! Things will be fine!” Luckily he was right, I just had to be patient. Eventually changes were made within the school that tamed my mama bear instincts.

Sebastian actually still loves math and numbers. It makes us so happy to see him so eager to learn math, definitely something he picked up after his dad and not me…no way Jose, math is not my thing! He dislikes reading and writing though. He struggles with it the most but hopefully with our encouragement he will learn to love it. Again something he might have picked up from dad and not me…I absolutely love to read and write!

We had a few incidents in school this year. Ranging from learning to keep his hands to himself to using hand gestures to express frustration. He pushed his classmate and gave a substitute teacher the middle finger when she tried to correct him. Yeah….YIKES!!! It left hubs and I scratching our heads. It’s definitely not something we teach at home but we know he can be easily influenced by his surroundings so we had to become more strict on limiting his exposure to age appropriate shows, especially Youtube content. 

I thought hard about talking about this in my post but I like to keep it real. Hubs and I are very involved parents and Sebastian is a very smart and loving boy. We talk to our kids a lot and we especially preach good behavior. When we asked Sebastian if he knew what the middle finger meant, he didn’t know. We then asked him where did he learn it from and he said he might have seen another kid at school do it or on Youtube. Either way, it’s not acceptable and dang right we grounded him! Thankfully he didn’t have any more incidents at school, now I just had to worry about getting him to school on time to avoid getting kicked out. Yeah…that was an incident they addressed ME on. Getting three kids in the car and out the door on time is such a struggle but thats definitely a conversation for another time.

As I was writing this post I asked Sebastian what was his favorite kindergarten memory. Without hesitation he said it was when they went on a field trip! They went to the Pumpkin Patch and was so excited to get on a school bus! He mainly talked about how cool the bus was and how fun it was ride in it. I almost had my own little field trip that day with Alex and Rosie. Yup, I was tempted to go to the pumpkin patch just so we can spy on him and make sure he didn’t get lost, or go somewhere else, or find a back gate to escape from! I was still working on cutting the cord like hubs says. Yes ma, I finally get it all. This whole letting our kids grow up is hard!

Sebastian’s favorite color is currently red, last year it was pink so we will see what he picks next year. HA! When asked what he wants to be when he gets older he always responds with something in law enforcement. He cares about money a lot and one time asked if he catches bad guys if he will get any type of cash reward. His favorite lunch is macaroni and almost daily talked about what he ate at school. Sebastian’s favorite thing about school was when they were able to play outside. He learned to climb the monkey bars during this time! Hubs and I were very impressed when he showed us, he’s actually pretty good!

Next year he moves on to first grade, he’s so excited! Alex will start preschool and Sebastian is already talking about how cool it will be to see his brother in school. Sebastian takes his big brother role very serious and I’m sure is eager to teach his brother the ways. We are naturally always proud of you Sebastian and we hope that you continue to find what interests you academically. Keep working hard while remembering to be true to yourself and your values. Congratulations on graduating kindergarten, you did it!!

Love, 

Mama Bear Mimi

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Kindergarten

2019-2020

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One of my never ending new year resolutions are reading challenges. I set a goal at the beginning of the year and do my absolute best to accomplish it. The goal for 2019 was to read 6 books. Baby Rosie was only 5 month old when I set this goal and by that time I was definitely drowning in motherhood where 6 books for the year seemed like a fair challenge.  I made it to 5 books and I am ok with that considering how busy life got with the kids.

Every year I debate on writing a post about my books read but ehhhh I’m that book worm who likes to keep track of everything HA! So below I’ve included a small summary of each book I read and the reasons I read them. Enjoy!

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Becoming by Michelle Obama

I chose to read this book because everyone was reading it, HA! But also because everyone who did read it said it was such an inspiring story. The book was very inspiring. I love to read about what drives and motivates people to be who they are. I’m not into politics much, so it was nice that the talk on politics was in terms I could understand. I do wish it were a little more personal, I’m sure someone in her position has seen a lot to have very specific stories and feelings. I understand that for someone who is such a public figure it may be hard to give too many details but I guess that’s what I expect from a memoir…stuff that I can’t find on Wikipedia. It was nice to read about the details of her relationship w Barak and learn about how they started their political career.

The Saturday Evening Girls Club by Jane Healy

I read this book as part of a online book club. It isn’t something I would normally be interested in reading but I still gave it a chance. It’s a very light and easy read. Definitely YA and a bit predictable. It was nice to read about the unconditional friendships between the characters and the differences in culture and eras. It’s set in the early 1900’s and details four friendships and their struggles to fulfill or break traditions amongst their own families. A lot of the book was a bit cheesy and the storyline was definitely something a young reader would be more interested in.

My Husband’s Wife by Jane Corry

I read this book as part of a Facebook book club that my sister in law started. We all voted on a book to read together from a list of suggested reads. This book was such a thriller for me! It was the first time I read any type of murder mystery novel and it was so interesting and intriguing for me. Definitely a lot of twists and unexpected turns in the novel. I didn’t see a lot of it coming which makes it an amazing read because you want to keep reading to find out what’s next. The book is written with multiple view points, so each chapter switches between two characters. It kept me wanting to read “just one more chapter!”

The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

I don’t read poetry but I read Milk and Honey (also by Rupi Kaur) and loved it, so it only felt right to read this as well. I enjoyed the poems, a few of them I had to re-read because they were that deep and I needed to fully grasp the emotion in it. Lots of topics are discussed, plenty to really make you think beyond your limits. Some of them made me cringe at the topic but it felt real to read about sadness, grief, loss, shame and so much more.

1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 by Thomas W. Phelan

This book was recommended by a cousin as we both wanted to learn about better disciple techniques and this book was recommended to her by her pediatrician. It was a good read but I felt like it dragged a lot. It has plenty of useful information but was definitely too long of a read for something that could have been simplified a little better. I understand that in order to follow the 1-2-3 system you need to understand it but I’m sure if you’ve picked up this book there’s a desire to attempt the 1-2-3 system, there’s no need to go on and on about how great it is.

I actually tried the technique with my kids and it does work! I simplified the book to my husband so that we can both be on the same page as far as discipling. So the method does work, the book just needs to get to the point a little better.

For 2020 I have set a goal of 10 books. I already have a few books lined up that I want to read so that’s already motivating me. If you have any book suggestions or favorites please send em my way!! I hope everyone has a great reading year!

It’s that time of year! All the fun fall festivities have started and top on our list is the pumpkin patch. For me it’s more like amateur photo shoot time more than anything. The kids get to have fun and I get to capture it all! Winner winner chicken dinner!!

Every year we go to the same pumpkin patch, it’s that good! This time around we tried to do different things. Last year we didn’t go to the pumpkin field to pick out pumpkins and instead we let the boys jump on the jumping pillows most of the time. This year since Rosalia is “walking” we thought it would be fun to go to the pumpkin field and take pictures. She actually had no interest in touching anything at all and instead held my hand the whole time. We actually captured a lot of great pictures! As we were taking our own selfies a woman offered to take our picture and she absolutely nailed it! She took such a beautiful family photo of us, so thank you thank you thank you kind lady!

Alex loved the jumping pillows the most. We would just see his little body fly all over the place! It’s actually kind of funny to see. His attempts to get on are super cute since he doesn’t always make it on the first time. Sebastián said picking a favorite activity was very hard for him. He couldn’t just pick one! He always struggles to pick one thing as his favorite, a clear indication that he enjoyed it all! I think Rosie’s favorite was the tractor ride. It was so bumpy that it made her giggle and smile the whole time while I snapped as many pictures as I could.

Hopefully next year we can spend the whole day at the pumpkin patch. It seems as if we are always racing against the clock. Life is getting busier and busier for us. We try to cram too much on hubs days off, often running out of daytime to do everything. Next year Rosie will be able to do way more so I am sure we will need to make sure we can spend the whole day there. Either way we enjoy making the memories and love being able to capture it all. You want to know what our (hubs and I) favorite thing was? The fact that they got home so tired and went straight to bed!! HA! Just kidding…our favorite thing was seeing their little faces beam with excitement. We sat there and played with Rosie while the boys jumped and we said to each other how happy it makes us to see them happy. Priceless!!

Love,

-Mama Bear Mimi-

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 Pumpkin Patch 2019

#5yearsold #3yearsold #1yearold

Ohh my! Rosalia just had her one year photo session, I so wasn’t ready for all this cuteness!!! I mean I KNOW my daughter is just the cutest baby ever but seeing her play, smile and pose for her pictures in a tutu dress was such a pleasing experience!

During her photo shoot I almost came to tears watching my baby model for the camera. Happy tears of course, she’s everything I needed and I still can’t believe I get to be her mom. What I love most about having these kinds of photo shoots for my kids is knowing that they WILL see these when they are older and feel proud of them! She will not remember this, nor this stage of her life, so I’ve made it a mission to capture a lot of it for her. This is the beginning stage of what I’m sure will be a magnificent adult!

She had so much fun during her photo shoot. She kept reaching up at the flowers and pulling on the sand bag prop. We did have to take a few breaks for nursing and exploring. The umbrella studio light drew her in for curiosity and she kept venturing off to play with it. All her photos came out absolutely beautiful. My favorite one is her reaching out with her cheerful little face…it displays her true character! She smiles at everyone and everything!

Happy one year my Rosalia! Your photos came out absolutely beautiful, just like you!

Love,

-Mama Bear Mimi-

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Go places and bloom

One year old

Photos by Danielle Esparza

The sky is not the limit. Your mind is!

– Lynette Simeone

Rosalia just turned one! As always, it always surprises me how fast a year goes by.  It’s like the minute you bring your precious new baby home from the hospital they begin achieving milestone after milestone and then before you know it…bam they’re one year old! Like whaaaat, huh, how did that happen?!!!

Rosalia has a very sweet and fun personality. We think her brothers bring it out in her. She absolutely loves watching them play and tries to join them with their shenanigans. She’s definitely ready to leap into toddler world, often crawling her way into the playroom full of toddler boy toys! She is already showing clear signs of love and affection. She kisses, or at least leans in for a kiss, quiet frequently. The absolute best thing I love is the way she looks and smiles at daddy! It is definitely very different than the love she gives me. With daddy she absolutely melts!!! Daddy can simply smile at her and she instantly turns into a big cheese mush ball with a smile as big as can get! I smile at her and she instantly weeps until I pick her up, then from my arms she flirts with dad. Womb Womp…but I understand that I am her comfort and security blanket at the moment so I absolutely love her need for me.

Despite the boys currently being sick, we still managed to have a little celebration for Rosie at home. Yup, she had her smash cake which she totally enjoyed! At first she looked  around at us unsure if she can have it all but after the first taste she understood that was especially for her.  It was really cute to see her use her tiny hands to scoop up some cake directly into her mouth, never really taking a bite out of the cake. Still she managed to eat quite a bit of cake where she was up with daddy and I until midnight…sugar high indeed!

We want to wish our beautiful daughter the happiest of birthdays. We are excited for her to experience the beginning of many “firsts” to come. She is exactly what we needed and has been a complete blessing to our lives and family. Rosie mama, may you continue to thrive and develop into a tenacious kind young lady in the years to come. Reach for the stars and never quit until you have accomplished all your goals. Daddy and I will always be here to guide and support your path through life. We love you to the moon and back!

Love,

-Mama Bear Mimi-

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Rosalia Cake Smash