Counting my blessings



Gabo's Horn of Plenty for school.

 Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Wow, I cannot believe we are already here.  Thanksgiving Day again and as usual running behind on most everything.  I literally just put the pumpkin cheesecake in the oven (fingers crossed because I haven't done this recipe in years). 

I know for many this day is about giving thanks ( which I believe should be done all the time), I consider myself a good Christian mother.  I acknowledge my Lord in everything and granted sometimes I don't pray in a daily fashion but I always make sure to thank him for being my alarm clock in the morning and for the day I had in the evening.

I am a blessed woman and mother. 

I am blessed for everyday my Lord gives me to go out and discover His purpose for my life.

I am blessed for my son.  Some of you know my son has SPD, which made for a very rocky beginning on some of his milestones and school.  But as a wise woman once told me God does not give you things you cannot endure.  So this challenge came my way and I received it with open arms and all my heart.  Putting the Lord first in everything I do.

Being a stay-at-home mom.  Now, financially this has been very HARD.  Again, with God first we've found a way to make it work.  I have been able and blessed with seeing first hand my child's development as he has reached all his milestones on time thanks to my Lord, therapy and his hardworking teachers.  This has enabled me to carry-on at the house what he is working on at school.

Being a voluntary parent at Gabo's Head Start.  Boy have I learned a lot. When I was younger I wanted to be a teacher very badly.  Because I love children, and I love being surrounded by them.  When I was a teenager I remember telling mami that I wanted to have a huge family.  About 6 kids.  She would always laugh and tell me that wanting them and having them is not the same thing.  She is the second oldest of 7, imagine that.  But as a grew and I saw how complicated life can be, when the time came to choose a concentration for my bachelor's degree I chose to be a teacher.

Being a mom.  I can't say this enough.  And I am thankful for this event all the time.  Many times a day.  Never did I think I could possibly love someone in such an immeasurable way.  I am in complete shock, sometimes I find myself talking to Papá (the Lord) telling him how lucky I am to be Gabo's mom and sometimes I cannot find the word to describe this amazing feeling that fills all of me all the time.

My family.  We do not see eye to eye all the time and we sometimes become the Bickersons from Bickerville.  Very often actually, but that's okay because at the end of the day we are still family and I would not trade that for the world.  Now more so that mami y papi live in Miami and my sis and I  are still in Puerto Rico.

People I have met along the way... you know who you are.  I love you all and I consider myself blessed to have met you and have you in my life.

So now I am going to go, because my Gabo wants to cuddle and we still have to get ready for my family's lunch.  That's what we do, a Thanksgiving lunch son in the afternoon we can go pick a tree and start decorating although Xmas started already for some of us.  And I am thankful for that.

May your Thanksgiving festivities be full of good food, laughter, great company, love and the presence of our Lord.  Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!!!  I know I will.


 "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the Glory of God."   1Corinthians 10:31



Till next time... make it a Thankful day.

Lucy

Lady... you could have killed me!!!!!!!

I am writing this post under duress.  I need to vent and let this out.  An hour ago I almost died, thanks to a reckless driver.

Today was a normal day.  I woke up and prepared Gabo for school and gathered the snowmen and the candy canes that I made for the classroom last night.  We got to school and I helped with breakfast, as usual.  I drove Gabo's dad to his appointment and went back to school. 

It was a very exciting day for me, well for everybody, because today we were receiving a new student.  when I got back, the new student was already there.  He is a child with autism.  As a parent I see this as a great learning experience for my son and his classmate.  There are other special needs children in the classroom, my son included, but he is the only one with Autism.

He is such a loving boy.  He very quickly wanted to be picked up and carried.  and I was telling him about the colors.  And the teacher started to read a story in the circle, but he wouldn't sit.  He was mesmerized by the light of the Christmas Tree.  And the desire to go back to school and finished my degree burned more than ever inside.  I was loving all this interaction with the new kid. 

As the end of the day neared, the children were taking home all the drawings and crafts that we made in November.  The teachers were handing the things to the parents and I started cleaning the classroom and gathering the materials needed to finish the snowmen for tomorrow.

In Puerto Rico the speed limit in a school zone is 15mph.   I, like a lit of parents, parked the car on the sidewalk, to avoid traffic jams, because there is no parking at the school.  So like any normal day I go out to the car and I was getting my son on his booster seat.  Out of the corner of my eye I see a brown reflection coming towards me, way faster that 15mph.  I immediately brought myself as close to the car as I could and held my son to protect him and allow the other car to go by.  All I remember is I was grazed with the rearview mirror on my lower back and I heard the commotion.  When I stood properly, I was almost missing the passenger door.  I checked that my son was okay and yelled to the person on the other car, who was parked at the corner.  The person came back, it's a 22 year old girl with no driver's license.  She is also a mom at the school.  Her reaction "I am so sorry about you car, and the door.  I can't help you because I have no license and this isn't my car."  My reaction "Oh I am  sorry you are sorry but I have to call the cops."  The lady "But I said I am sorry.  This is the second time this happens to me.  Bad things happen, can we arrange this without the cops.  I am very sorry for your car."  Mama "Lady, I don't give a damn about the car... you almost killed me.  If I didn't push myself to the inside of my car as much as I could you would have pinned me in between.  I am calling the cops".

Needless to say, she accompanied me to the precinct and to my surprise was very honest with the events.  She apologized again for the car, apparently my life wasn't important.  We filed the report and she got cited for driving without a permit and reckless driving in a school zone.

I am shaken up.  What if I hadn't catch the glimpse in the corner of my eye.  What if my son would have been standing there...

Guess tomorrow I am going to city hall to request a police officer posted there when the kids come out, AGAIN!!!  I would hate to see that they are going to wait until a tragedy does occur.

Anyway, thanks for listening to me, reading me I should say, whoever you are out there.

Till next time... make it a great day.


Lucy

DIY Junior Fire Chief

Last Friday was Career Day at Gabo’s Head Start.  The kids had to go dressed up.  For the longest time my son has said that he wants to be the doctor to The President (if you ask him who that is and he’ll tell you “My cousin, Tavo”.)
 

Anyway, when I got the calendar and I saw Career Day programmed I knew what we were going to make our own.  Everything seemed fine and I was cool because making a doctor white coat is not something complicated (thank you 8^th grade home economics).  Thursday morning my son threw me a major curve ball.  “Mamá, I want to be a firefighter!, he said to me when his father and I were dropping him off at school.  I was shocked “What! Didn’t you want to be a doctor? What happened?", I said .  "My friends are all going to be firefighters and I want to be a firefighter too” he said and I looked at his dad and thought “Wow, he just took a major pay cut”, but then again I believe in encouraging whatever dreams he has.  I don’t usually go buy new costumes or things for his activities unless absolutely necessary, I believe in being creative and recycling everything and anything. 

This time was no different like all the previous times, except I was freaking out with how pressed for time we were and I actually consider spending $30.00 on a costume that he was very likely not going to wear again.  So I went to Pinterest for inspiration on a DIY fireman costume and helmet; and sure enough there is a lot of inspiration some more intricate than others but all doable.   Eureka!!! I found a super-duper easy, out of this world cheap, way to make him look like a firefighter with a recycled helmet.  I found inspiration for a DIY Fireman Shirt, thanks to Kelsey from Fancy That Notion.

Her project seemed so simple and quick.  So we went to the store and I bought a black shirt, but I do not find acrylic paint in the colors I was looking for.  So as we are browsing through the store, his dad came across duct tape. Not the standard Duct Tape, but in a lot of colors and widths.  So we found this super bright yellow one that kind of looks like reflective tape and it served the purpose.  We also did the logo and the hat's shield out of the tape.

 

 

 

The hat and the letters are completely recycled.  I had a cardboard box like around the house. The first attempt was with a paper plate that I measured around my son's head, but guess what... he has a HUGE head.  He always has, it measured 14 1/2 inches when he was born, on Thursday it measured 21 3/4 inches (still Huge).  Anyway I didn't like how it looked.  So I came across the cardboard that I was saving for something (don't remember what), I cut out something that resembles an oval big enough to fit Gabo's head and still have a little left on the side of the head.  The idea came because I remembered that Oriental Trading has a Fireman Hat Kit, but I didn't have time to ordered it.  I cut the a hole in the center close to his measurements and then measured again to adjust.  I painted it red with acrylic color.

 

 

 

The red letters for the logo and the shield I made them with a paper plate that I painted the same red as the hat and cut them out.  The border of the logo and the FD I just painted with a black sharpie.

 

 

 

 

Now, I don't know if the tape will hold in the washer (probably not, I'll update you).  But my son was so HAPPY with his Fireman Shirt.  Whereas most parents bought a costume my son made it clear that his costume was made by his Mamá. I was so proud, he had something unique.  Now, he loved it do much that I will tackle Kelsey's idea with the paint, because he wants to wear it all the time.

 

 

There you have it, $7.00 and 2 1/2 hours later (paint had to dry) we had a Fireman shirt and I saved $23.00, very, very happy with that.

 

Thank you Kelsey for inspiring me...

 

 

Until next time...Make it a great day!!!!!

 

 

Lucy

 

 

Gabo: "Pues tú te quedas y yo me voy con mi papá."

No sé cuántos de ustedes han tenido la oportunidad de ir al cine con sus familias a ver la película Big Hero 6.  Yo estoy loca por verla y no he podido.  No por las razones que quizas puedas pensar sino por una aún más fuerte, mi Gabo está aterrado del muñeco de la película a quien ha llamado Ballooney.  No puede ni ver los cortos sin que le de terror (gracias a Dios que la película ya empezó y casi no hay cortos en TV).

Resulta que ayer ibamos en el carro Gabo de 4 años, su papá y yo (edades anónimas por favor y gracias).  Estabamos hablando de las películas que queremos ir a ver y yo comento que quiero ver Big Hero 6...

Gabo:  NO! No, no, no.  Mamá no puedes ver esa porque Ballooney es malo.  Dile a papá que no la baje.

Mamá: Pero yo la quiero ver.  Además Ballooney es el bueno, él proteje al nene y usa el traje rojo como si fuera Iron Man.

Gabo: Pero mamá a mí no me encanta Big Hero 6.  Papá no lleves a mamá a verla.

Papá:  Luis, Balloney es bueno, el es el amigo del nene...

Mamá:  Tú le tienes miedo al malo, no a Balloney.  Balloney es el bueno.

Gabo: Te dije que no quiero ver a Balloney, quiero ver a Mamamasgar (The penguins of Madagascar).

En este punto pensé que podría convencerlo... Jaja.

Mamá: Pero mamá no quiere ver a Madagascar, quiero ver a Balloney...

Gabo: Pues me dejas con abuela y vas a ver a Balloney y después vamos a ver a Mamamasgar...

Mamá:  Pero a mamá le da miedo los pinguinos.  No podemos ver a Madagascar.

Gabo:  Pero mamá los pinguinos son buenos y mi favorite es Skip.  Y el león de Mamamasgar es tu amigo y mi amigo y van en el avión...

Mamá: Que no los quiero ver.  Los pinguinos no son buenos, son traviesos.

Gabo: ¿Papá, verdad que los pinguinos son buenos?  Dícelo a mamá.  ¿Podemos ir a ver a Mamamasgar hoy?

Mamá:  Gabo, mamá no la quiere ver porque no me encantan los pinguinos...

Gabo:  Yo te tapo los ojitos para que no te asustes.  Yo te defiendo de los pinguinos.

Mamá:  Pues hagamos un trato... tú vas a ver Big Hero 6 con mamá y yo voy a ver a Madagascar contigo.

Gabo: No mamá no.  No quiero ver a Balloney, ya te lo dije.

Mamá: Pues yo no quiero ver Madagascar, ya te dije.

Gabo: Mamá pues te dejo en casa de abuela y me voy solo con mi papa a ver Mamamasgar y después te busco...



Evidentemente rompimos en risa su papa y yo.  Me tomó totalmente por sorpresa.  La psicología que traté de hacerle me la estaba hacienda él a mí.  Es que si no fuera tan bello...



¿Qué aprendí?...  La psicología no funcionó con mi hijo.  Resultó más inteligente de lo que me esperaba.


¿Qué te han dicho recientemente tus chicos que te ha tomado por sorpresa?


Hasta el próximo dia... Make it a great day.


Lucy