2015's Top Ten for Our Family

Well it's the last night of 2015 and we had our traditional dinner of yummy salmon, grilled vegetables, rice and champagne. We sat down as a family and gave thanks to the Lord for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us. Some good and some not what we would have liked, but God has his reasons! This is the list we came up with for our little family in no particular order.

 1. Disneyland: Our happy place! We our a big Disney family and love to spend as much time there as possible. We are annual pass holders and plan to hold onto them as long as we can. We definitely get our money's worth and try to go at least once a month if not more.  Last year we started our year with a trip to Disneyland and plan to do it again this year!

 2. Family: This is not our favorite moment of 2015, but it is an important one. We lost three incredible members of my family this year! First, my beloved Tio Angel lost his battle with cancer on January 7th. On January 18th we lost my Tia Melinda suddenly and unexpectedly. In July we lost our sweet Tia Cruz who was 97 years old! All three of these passings have left such a big void in our lives. We miss them so much and can't believe that they are gone. We know that each and everyone of them is in a better place and for that we are thankful, but it's just hard knowing that they are not here with us on earth.

 

 3. Drama! This is actually the production kind. We are so proud of our baby girl, Speedy, she works hard at her craft and has been cast in all of her productions in high school so far. She was Penny Wise in Urinetown last spring, where she stole the show with that awesome voice of hers! This past fall she was cast as the lead in A Flea in Her Ear.  We love to watch her act and sing!  This is her passion and we hope she gets to live her dream in all she does.

 

4. Squiggler has had the most things happen this year! She lost 4 teeth this year. The first two were taken out by the dentist and then she finally lost her first official tooth in September followed by another one in November. She was a late bloomer and didn't get first tooth until she was 9 months old. That is why I think she has barely started to lose her teeth.

 5. Church: Speedy made her confirmation in May and I was so happy and proud of her. She's  a bit of a rebel when it comes to religion, but she did it and for that I am grateful and proud! I don't have a picture, but Squiggler started her first year for her First Communion and I am teaching the class. I have 15 of the greatest kids in my class!

 6. Weegie! She finished MUD and started working for Estee Lauder! She loves being a make up artist and is living her dream!!  She works with some amazing people in a truly amazing company. She has learned so much and goes to work everyday happy!! She also free lances on the side and has done make up for some proms and weddings.  I am so proud of how much she has grown and how hard she works.

7. Royalty Dance Academy: This is our home away from home! Squiggler takes Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Hip Hop and Speedy takes Jazz and Ballet. We love it there and I think they love us too. All my girls have been a part of Royalty and now Weegie helps when she is needed.  I'm so glad that we belong to such an amazing place with amazing people. 

 

 8. Sports! Squiggler learned to swim and made it all the way to level 6 in swimming lessons. She also learned to ride a bike with no training wheels!!! This was my honey's summer project! He wanted to make sure he taught her how to ride a bike this summer. He has now taught all his girls how to ride a bike and made sure they were strong swimmers.

 9. Las Vegas: For the first time in her 40+ plus years the Wifa finally went to Las Vegas!! She got picked to go to an SDE conference and went with her good friend Mrs. C.  They had a blast and her friends made sure she enjoyed herself and experienced the Vegas life! She even won contest and gets to go back to the conference next year for free!  The following week her honey and Squiggler went back to Vegas for a small family vacation! So now she's been twice!

 10. College Life: Speedy won a scholarship to go to CSSSA for the summer at the Cal Arts campus. We were so proud of her, but missed her for the month that she was gone. Luckily she wasn't gone to far and we were able to visit her twice to buy her supplies and just spend some time with her. They had them jam packed with classes and activities. She really enjoyed herself and is hoping to attend next year too.

Honorable Mentions for this year!

School: Squiggler is in 1st grade while Speedy is now a Junior in High School. Both girls are doing great and Squiggler won student of the month in Kindergarten and 1st grade. Speedy still is maintaining her high grade point average and getting ready to take the SATs at the end of the month. She is also up for a Scholarship in Voice and Acting, so we couldn't be more proud of her.

 
 Love: We will be celebrating our 20 year anniversary in January and are thankful that we still love being together. He is my best friend and she is mine! We couldn't do it alone and being together is much better!!

 Family again: My grandparents were featured in a book and I was asked to write a small excerpt about them. I am now published!! LOL! It was exciting and such an honor to have our grandparent's legacy live on!!!

 So that is pretty much it for us in a nutshell. We are Blessed beyond belief and even though sometimes things might not go as planned we know there is always a reason and something better is waiting for us just around the corner. Sometimes it's hard to remember that, but we try. We have the best girls and are so proud of them. They have good hearts and try to lead a good life. We couldn't ask for more! We continue to pray that they always remember to do good in all they do. Thank you for such a great 2015!

Top Ten for 2014!

I know I haven't blogged in a year and my girls are not happy about it! I promise to do better in 2015, but we couldn't not post our top ten from this year! 2014 has been an outstanding year!!!! Filled with so many memories that we will forever cherish in our hearts, but we know 2015 will be just as fabulous if not more!!!! These are in no particular order and we decided on them as a family this evening as we were enjoying our great meal of homemade pizzas and champagne.

 1 Royalty Dance Academy has become our second home. All three girls were involved with dance this year! Weegie was dance captain and even went to two competions with here team and they placed in both! She graduated from dance and now helps out whenever she can. Speedy joined Teen Jazz and really did well in it and was in her first recital.  Squiggler moved up from Combo classes to Pre-Everything. She does Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop and Ballet. She loves it and is always practicing. She did 4 different dances in this year's recital.

2.  Speedy Cheetah lands the lead in the school musical as a freshman! Speedy was cast as the lead in her school's production of Into the Woods.  She played the Witch, same role as Meryl and earned the final bow. She was so awesome and a star has been born! Well we always knew she was a star, but now the rest of the world knows it too!

3. Weegie graduated from high school!!! AAAAH! Where has the time gone? It was just yesterday that I dropped her off a nursery school and she cried! Her first teacher was Miss Agnes and she was so patient with our little Weegie. Now she's all grown up and graduated with Honors. We are so proud of her and she was happy to get out of that place! LOL!

 

4. Squiggler graduated pre-school!  I absolutely loved her teacher, Miss Irene! Best pre-school teacher ever!!!! She is awesome, caring, kind, patient and just an overall outstanding person. Squiggler really learned a lot and came out of there ready for Kindergarten!

5.  The Adventures of Speedy Cheetah and Daddy in the Big Apple! Speedy did not want a quincenera. Instead she chose to take a trip to New York. For Spring break her daddy and her got on a plane and traveled across the country for 5 days. They stayed with the most wonderful friends and sight seeded around town. They became real experts at getting around on public transportation and were able to see 1 off broadway show and 2 broadway shows. It was all that she hoped for and more. She is ready to go back and live there.  I don't know how I feel about that. :(

 6. Speedy Cheetah met her favorite broadway star, Jeremy Jordan!!!! I asked Speedy if she wanted to take a friend or two out to dinner on her birthday and she asked for this instead. Jeremy Jordan came to LA to give a performance at dinner show type place. We found out about it through her amazing drama teacher, who also happens to be good friends with him. After the show, he got Speedy and some other drama kids backstage so that they could meet their idol. I think it was a night that she will always remember!!!!

 Honorable Mention: Disneyland!

 7. Make Up School! Weegie started her path onto her career. Her love of make up has only intensified and she has learned some amazing things!  She is doing well and earned an A her first quarter. She loves it and we couldn't be happier for her!!!!!

 8. Weegie got her license! Since she had to get to school we also got her a car to go with the license.  She has to drive 30 minutes to and from school and take a big old make up case with her. She is also able to help her dad and I out from time to time. She is very happy with her BAE!

 9. Squiggler started Kindergarten! Our baby girl is now in school all day now. She loves it and has learned so much. She goes to a great school, with a great teacher and great friends. We couldn't be happier for her.

10. Us! My honey said to put us down as one of the ten because we are able to make it happen. We joined a gym, went on lots of dates, get to spend time together and work hard to make it all fall into place.  We have had a great year and couldn't have asked for more. Thank you God for all our blessings! We hope 2015 is an even better, more loving, joyous with continued blessings!!

Top 10 of 2013!

Well today marks the last day of 2013, and it has been quiet a year and for our little family it has been an outstanding one! We have been so blessed and couldn't ask for more. We are healthy, happy and it is all thanks to God that we have all this. God is good, all the time! That's not to say we haven't had hard times or sad times, but we try to look for the good in all things. As a family we sat down today and discussed our top 10 highlights of 2013. Here they are in no particular order.

 1. Speedy Cheetah is Valedictorian!
Our baby girl was named Valedictorian of her 8th grade class! She had perfect report cards each semester and was loved by her teachers.  She also won numerous awards and we are/were so proud of her. She received a special medal to wear at graduation.

 2. Squiggler won an award!
Her preschool class had a graduation/moving up ceremony. She was part of the moving up since she won't start Kindergarten until next year.  She received her first academic award for having never missed a homework assignment. We were so surprised and happy for her. She was excited too. The ceremony was great and so glad that she has a great teacher.

 3. Weegie passed her AP exams.
Weegie took AP classes her junior year and worked really hard in them. We were so happy when we got the results of her exams! She passed! We were at Disneyland when we found out since everything is sent electronically! Way to go Princess!

 4. Weegie is named Captain of her dance team.
Weegie and Squiggler were in their second dance recital for RDA and Cynthia was named Captain for both of her dance squads. Again another proud moment because she loves dance and works hard at it.

 5. Squiggler can swim!
This summer Squiggler took swimming lessons and was quickly moved to level 2. She was by far the youngest in her class, but did very well. Each Friday they had a chance to go down the huge water slide, but my baby wasn't scared! She is so daring and fearless!

 6. Squiggler is in prekindergarten!
Squiggler is going to class with Miss Irene again and has learned so much. She can count to 39, knows all her letter names and sounds, can write her first name perfectly and almost her last name. She is always asking how to write words and loves to listen to stories.

 7. Senior/Freshman
Weegie started her Senior year this Fall and Speedy is a Freshman! They go to the same school and both are having a great year! I can't believe that my oldest princess is almost at of school. I remember her nursery school days like yesterday. She was so cute in Miss Agnes' class and cried a lot! Speedy is taking some serious classes this semester and is doing awesome! Again so proud of our girls!

 8. Disneyland Annual Passes/Mouse Wait
This year instead of taking a family vacation, we bought season passes to the Happiest Place on Earth. We have gone about 8-10 times already this year! We are definitely getting our use out of these babies! We love Disney and have been able to enjoy the different seasons of the parks.  We plan to go at least 6 more times and hopefully spend the night, go to Goofy's Kitchen and experience so much more of our favorite place.

 9. Speedy got a part in the school play!
This is was an exciting event for us! Speedy went for it and she nailed it!She was the only underclassman to make the play, everyone else was an upperclassman.  She loved it and had a great role! She even got to sing in the play, which she loves to do! Many of my good friends went to go see her and to those great friends, I am so grateful!

 10. Family
My honey and I have been together 20 years.! (Married for almost 18.) He is wonderful and I couldn't have asked for a better husband! He said to write about us as one of the top ten, but it's not just about us. It's family! We have three amazing daughters, we are part of an awesome extended family on both sides. We were so happy that all of us were able to get together on my husband's side this Christmas. My honey really loves his brothers and sisters and I know it means a lot to him when they are ALL together! I was very proud that we were able to get members of my family in a book! This is actually the second book that my grandfather is in and the first for my mom and uncle.  There is another book coming out soon and I think my grandfather is in that one again and another uncle. My name is also in the book so I guess I am published! LOL!

 Honorable Mentions:
My honey said to say that he survived his class last year!
I had the best class ever in my 23 years of teaching!
Weegie learned to cook like a boss!
Speedy went to Chicago and takes voice lessons now too.
Squiggler turned 5 and says her best memory is Disneyland!
Sadness:
Losing my cousin Joe, my uncle Ruben and my friends Elena and Mirna.
Not seeing my cousin Rock Bottom.
My cousin Salena having breast cancer.
All the turmoil at my school, but I know goodness will prevail!
Disneyland closing the Court of Angels to the public. (We did get to take pictures there before it closed.)
Other Happiness:
Our nephew Isaiah joining the Navy.
Our goddaughter joining competive gymnastics.
Our great nephew Jordinson James being born. (First great great grandchild)
Our nephew Henry going away to college.

I'm sure there is so much more to add, but all this wouldn't be possible without our Faith in God! It is through Him we are able to accomplish what we do and for myself, I hope that this year I am able to serve him more. The other day I told someone, "When you see it needs to get done, then it is up to us to do it. Don't wait for others." I hope that I can live up to these words. I've been very busy this past semester, and stressed, but I need to remember that it's not up to me. It's up to God and with Him all things are possible! Happy New Year and may all that you wish for, work for and desire be granted to you!