Recap :Last years valentines party.

In my last post with my ideas for this valentines I mentioned what we did last year. Here it is. We had about 10 girls here! They all brought valentines to pass out. So they each had a goody bag full of stuff to take home. We also did monkey crafts. Which were fun. I served heart shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and heart shaped strawberry and orange jello with bananas in it. We played for awhile then I read a valentines book to the kids. ;) Marisol had a great time. Henry played with his little friend. They were only 4 months old at the time.

Wow. Valentines day is comming so soon!

I cannot believe It is almost valentines time again. The day of san valentine is important in our house. Last year we had a valentines party play date since marisol was in pre-k half a day. All the kids brought valentines to pass out. We had crafts, jello shaped hearts with bananas and goodie bags. I also read one of Marisol's favorite books. Froggy and his valentine. It was really cute. But as I got thinking. It would be nice to have a couples valentines party. The kids can play and then we could have a sundae bar and a movie. We shall see if it comes together. But here are some ideas I found for the kids at home too. I WILL DO A SMALL POST OF OUR PARTY LAST YEAR. ;)

A little suprise from Great Grandma.

I have the tendency to call my grandma (mama)  everyday! She babysat me as a child, while my parents were at work. Once I started school she would come and pick me up with a kool-aid jammer and a little debbie snack cake. She used to live in a corner house at the end of a street. There was a pussywillow tree in the front yard that she grew, and a large forrest with a lake behind. But it was off limits to us little ones. So we would play in the yard with yard toys, collect bugs, and watch t.v. Everyday she would walk me and my cousin down to the nearby caseys and let us pick out a piece of candy. Like air heads, or gummy watches. (It was cheap then)  She used to let me play dressup in her heels and gloves. Pretty pearls and necklaces. We would build tents out of sticks and yarn. We thought we were so cool back then we would closepin her old credit cards to the bike tires so it would sound like a motorcycle. Lol. She would always have easter egg hunts and baskets for us every year!! After she retired she would keep her tax money and buy EVERYONE a christmas present. She still does to this day. I had always kept her in marisol's life since I had such fond memories of my childhood with her. We moved out east a few years ago and I miss her dearly. We have had the opportunity to let her see the kids every year in november. The first tine henry was a month old. This past time just over a year. It has been so nice to have these memories of her with my children. I miss being at her house everyday watching cartoon's and eating hot dogs, spaghettios, roman noodles, and mac n cheese! We have had some great memories here as well when she visited for christmas in 2011. I took her around to some vintage and historic sites. And took her to a dear friend of mine who has an old outhouse. She loved it. I believe to this day my grandma is my bestest friend. :) I love her so much. As I was talking to her today, I asked if she would mind writing a letter to each of my children to look back on one day when she isn't here. I told her to tell a little bit about herself, our relationship and things she loves about my kids. I want them to know the amazing person I have gotten to know. I want them to remember her and feel her love even after she is gone. I encourage you all to do this with a beloved family member after all you have to write your own legacy!

A letter to my children.

Lately I have been so upset thinking that as a mother I am not where I want to be. I am very hard on myself. I got to thinking about how many times marisol comes to me and tells me something she is so excited about and I have my eyes on something else (cooking, cleaning, cell phone or the T.V.) and shake my head uh huh. Or thats neat. Or how easy I get frustrated when they make a mess and I am not in the mood to tackle it at that very moment. I feel guilty on how much I am missing out on. I am missing them grow up. I am missing their excitement. I am missing their needs. And most of all I am missing their LOVE. I have had so many other moms admit of doing the same things. Your not in mommy mood 24/7 you have your off days. You have your sick days. And I like to believe we get vacation time as well. ;) so thats a total of like 15 days a year. Ha ha.
But I figured Brittany. You are not perfect!!!! You are not 100% brain power. You dont know everything about being a mom. I read a blog post the other day. Talking about Drops of awsomeness from another lady of my faith. And thought this is so me. How easy it is to judge myself and rob myself of what good things I do. Making myself sound like a lazy parent who doesnt do EVERYTHING everyone else does. Well this mom takes her kids out for icecream once a week! This mom and her daughter do their nails together. This mom reads to her kids every night and doesnt miss a night even if she is sick. This mom has a perfect clean house ALL the time. What are these lies that I am telling myself. I am only stooping myself to feel un-worthy of my childrens love. So I started a chart of things I do either that day or things I have done. I thought back as far as I could and tried to think of possitive things I have done for my children so far.
I thought I have always had awsome birthday parties for them. I put hard work and love into all the handmade crafta food and decor. And surrounded them with loved ones and made their day special and all about them.
I take them to church as often as I can to learn about their heavenly father who loves them and gave me the blessing of them in my life.
I schedule playdates and fun activities with their friends. Like our awsome valentines party, halloween party, and our summer sprinkler playdate.
I fix marisol's hair before school each morning!
I kiss them and say I love you as often as I can.
I cook and clean for them.
I take them to buy books and toys for rewards of being good or after sick doctor visits.
I read to them when they bring me books or ask me to tell them a story.
I take them to the doctor when they need to be seen.
I feed them and cloth them their needs.
I help marisol with her homework.
I bath them.
I potty trained them and teach them.
I do girly things with marisol like make hairbows and paint our nails.
I do school and church activities like movie nights.
I take them to sports and activities, trips to the park,  zoo's,  museums and carnivals.
I put them to bed.
There are so many things I do and didnt even realize untill I wrote them all down. There are so many more than this small list. But even though I am not a perfect mom all the time
I am their mom. I love them with all my heart. Tears roll down when I think of not being with them. I pray every time I get to watch over them, protect them. Keep them safe and healthy. My children are my life. My purpose. My pride and joy. The reason behind all my actions and attitudes. And while sometimes I wish I was better. A better listener, more patient. I know that because I love them so much I will always fight to be better. To be stronger. To overcome my negativity. And just realize how much we all have to learn as moms. How much our children need us. How much they are like us. And how much they love us.

MARISOL- I want you to know how much I love you. I remmember the day you were born. I felt like it took forever to see you. It was a special day that day you came into our lives. Black hair brown eyed tanned skinned beauty. Exactly how I had pictured you before your birth. Grandma Eva and Grandma Gladys were the other two in the room. I saw Gladys shed tears before. I had never seen that. I knew she too was overwhelmed by our miracle. Daddy cut your cord and brought you into this world. The nurses took you and checked you, weighed you and then left the room!! I was panicked. I hated the fact that you were seperated from me. When they brought you back everyone wanted to hold you. We had sooo many visitors.
Everyone adored you. They said how beautiful you were. How pretty your skin color was.
How sweet you were. As you grew you started to show more of your personality. Putting on my headbands, jumping in your crib. The first time you walked daddy and I clapped. We video'd lots of your firsts. You had lots of energy too. (And still do)  We entered you in 2 baby contests 1 when you were 4 months old. You won 1st place in your age group. You also won 1st place in the baby olympics contest in your red,white and blue Old Navy swimsuit when you were 14 months old. And when you were 2 years old I took you to the pioneer days Little miss contest. There were 27 girls there ages 2-7 some of them in beautiful gowns. I was so nervous and thought we should just leave. I figured they would pick an older girl. But low and behold they called your name. You got so excited you jumped off the stage!!! They lady said " the princess has left the building" I took you up and they gave you a tiara and took your picture for the newspaper. Now you are almost turning 6!!! I wish I could write your whole life down on here. All the funny things you do like draw pictures all the time and tape them up all around the house. Or how friendly you are to everyone. Or your funny facea and cheesy smiles. You have a personality all your own. You make me laugh and smile all the time
Never forget my love for you and all the blessings you will get in life. You make me proud and will always continue to. Te quiero mucho with all my heart. :)
Don't forget the song grandma gladys made up for you. Marisol sol sol marisol sol sol te lleve a mi corazon! :)

HENRY- You are quite the character. You are 15 months old as I write this. I love staying at home with you. There is never a dull moment. Whether it is you taking off your diaper and going "poo poo" on the floor, yelling bob the builder to your favorite show, making funny faces and laughes, taking things out and then putting them back, or even just walking around the house like a penguin! You are just too funny. You have the cutest feet. Fat and long with short toes. You love to play! You also like to throw movies down the stairs and watch where they stop. You love bathtime. And come to nurse anytime you fall or get upset. You are my heart my son. Don't ever forget how much time we spend together. Every day you and me reading books, playing in your room together (I actually sit on the floor and play)  ha ha. And how much fun you had at your first birthday party. You loved the petting zoo. You love animals. And everyone that has met you says you are so sweet. And you are the sweetest thing! I love you mi hijo! Para siempre. - su mama

Brittany's Bow-tique/ Posh Creations

We made another headband for our photoshoot on saturday! I am so excited for it. I hope the ideas I have turn out great. :)

Working for Brittany's Bow-tique (Crafty fun!)

Marisol probably loves the fact that I make bows, headbands and tutus. She loves getting to model my items. We have set up a photoshoot on saturday with one of her little friends. I will be setting up a vintage picnic tea party. Her little friend lives on an old historic plantation. So lots of good spots for photo taking. We had beeb working on some new headbands for the shoot. We even found some cute Valentine ideas on Pinterest. Needless to say we will be using some. ;) I know she is going to have a great time. Henry will be inside playing with his little friend andrew while us girls model outside. Fun. Fun. Here are a couple cell phone shots of Marisol with our new creation. We made it out of 2 old shirts she outgrew. We are recycling our Ropa. So here it is.

DIY Table Remake

So since I had mentioned changing Marisol's room. I had got some material on sale at Joannes fabric months ago because I loved the print. It was so fun and bubbly. Just like Mari's personality
I couldnt find out what to do with it. Marisol had a disney princess table that we had gotten on black friday a few years ago. Over time one of the chairs broke and the vinyl on the top had ripped a bit. She had another chair from a different princess table from when she was a toddler, but it was purple and didnt match too well.
I was ready to throw the whole thing away......When I came to the brilliant idea of "hey maybe i can re-cover the vinyl and make it match again" so that is exactly what I did. I don't have any in the process pictures. But what you will need is
1. A screwdriver
2. 2 yards of material. (Will cover standard childrens foldable table top and 2 chairs)
3. A staple gun and staples
4. Sizzors
5. Measuring tape.
(I didnt use the measuring tape. It is optional)
I took the table to the living room floor. I unscrewed the bolts connecting the table top. The whole decorative top square comes off. I layed the material down and placed the table top down upside down. Where the disney princesses were facing the floor. The material pattern was also facing the floor. I cut the extra off the side and folded the edges over and stapled it against the table. Later i screwed the top back on the metal tabe frame.
NEXT
The chairs. I had to take the back rest part off the chair. It was 2 screws. Be careful not to strip them out. And cover it in material and staple. Then re-screw back on. Then un-screw the seats and cover,staple, and attach back. :)
Here is what ours looks like!

Maybe a change?

I have been skimming pinterest for some time now for bedroom ideas for marisol. She is going to be 6 in a few months. We had painted her room pink when we first moved in 2 years ago. But since its all disney princess I wanted to make it a little more grown up. She still likes princesses but not like before. She is growing up into a young girl. She has such a sweet personality. She is very outgoing and active. She really loves birds. So I thought about doing that as a theme, but I want to think more about it. I also didnt want to change paint, since we are in the search for a new place that would give us a little more space. I hope when we do decide she loves it.
She will always be my princess.

Raising Bi-lingual children!

I found this awsome book today! We love Dr. Suess! The kids love looking at the pictures of funny animals and curvy trees. Long feet and funny socks. When we saw it, we loved it. It is so colorful. We love that it has this "fiesta" look to it. Yay! We love books in spanish! I love that there are so many to help me teach my children their heritage and culture. It is so neat to help them learn and grow. That way when their abuelos (grandparents) are talking to them they are not looking at them funny. We are trying to help Marisol to respond back in spanish not english when being spoken to in spanish by family members. :) We love this book and hope to learn many new words and sentances. Thanks Cat In The Hat.

Thrift post!!

I always seem to find really awsome stuff for a great price. It makes me feel great to find something on sale or really cheap. So I want to start sharing my awsome thrifty finds! I went to my local thrift store to look for a basket. I came out with a Lot of Toy Story toys. They are super cute. I found the cowgirl doll for. 75 cents. The little woody for. 25 cents. I love the dino. He is a flashlight and says rawwrr..were you scared? $1 a buzz lightyear strapped to the rocket. You pull a string and it moves and talks $2 The last one is Buzz in his spaceship. He says buzz lightyear space ranger and to infinity and beyond. It is from toy story 3 and was $2!!  Thats a total of $6!!!! :) we had one happy boy when we got home!

Recent fun con la familia Hernandez!

My hubby had been working alot and decided to take the day off so we took the kids to chuckie cheese. Henry has an obsession with Bob the Builder. It has been hard since most of the stuff is not made anymore :(  To our suprise they had a new BOB THE BUILDER  ride at chuckie cheese. Henry rode it at least 20 times and cried when we would try to offer him another ride or game. Ha! I am so happy one day my kids can look back and see how funny they were. :)  My grandmother handed down some tea pots, cups and saucers for Marisol's upcomming birthday in april. We had decided on a tea party. To my suprise I caught her having a mini tea party. :)  We are so fun! Also a few pictures of our trip up to the mountain! We love pictures!!