A Family Tradition

As a family, I have started so many traditions with my kids to last us a long time.  I feel it's important to built those memories that kids will take with them into adulthood and pass on to their families when the time comes.  Some traditions can be as big as how you celebrate a certain holiday or where you go on vacation each year or as small as a weekly movie night.

For us, movie nights have become a tried and true tradition that we look forward to each and every Friday night.  We go through the process of choosing a movie and then we pop popcorn and dim the lights for the movie theater experience.  My kids and I love this tradition and to be honest, I can't even remember how or even when it started.  Now, movie night is as constant in our lives as our bedtime routine. 

Most Fridays, it's a Netflix movie that we all enjoy.  Sometimes, on the rare occasion, we might head to the actual theater and watch a movie we've been dying to see.  But usually movie night is at home, in front of the TV with all the comforts we know and love.  So if you want to start a tradition with your family, I encourage you to start small.  Try a monthly game night or family day (i.e. bowling, mini golf, the trampoline park, dinner out) to kick things off.  After you've established a set routine, you can move to a weekly tradition of whatever it is your family loves to do, whether it be baking or game night.  And most importantly, when it comes to traditions, make sure they are FUN!  After all, whats the fun in being stressed out about something you feel you have to do.  Let it come organically and your family will reap the benefits in the long run.  After all, for our family, movie night is an opportunity for us to spend time together as a family without any other distractions.

From Good To Worse

Don't you just hate when a perfectly great day turns to shit?  Well, let me tell you how my perfectly great day ended up in the crapper because of one little stupid decision.

The morning started like just about every other Tuesday school morning.  After dropping my hubby at the office, I came home and got the kid's lunches packed and ready.  My 19 year old sort of handles things for the 30 to 45 minutes while I'm gone, so that even my 5 year old is dressed and ready to go by the time I get back home.

I dropped the kids off but today was the day I decided to volunteer to help sell pop-sickles to raise funds for my daughter's 6th grade class, so I came back home and got ready to head back out to the school again.  This particular day, my 5 year old had a one hour late start, so it worked out perfectly that he was heading in to kindergarten the same time I was heading in to volunteer.  The day could not get any better.  The pop-sickle sale went as well as to be expected and I actually had a really good time.  The other mom volunteer and I even chit chatted about mom-life for a bit.  It was nice.  Then the shit hit the fan.

Right after we called it quits on the pop-sickle sale, I got a call from one of my son's friends' mom.  She was telling me that the transit police was giving me a ticket and that I needed to get out to my car right away.   I started to panick because HOLY F BALLS!  I had parked right in front of the school in a no-parking zone!  Everyone parks in that zone for drop off and pick up, but I had parked the car and left it in that zone for over 2 hours.  I should have know better.  And what gets my goat is that I had the car parked in front of the kindergarten drop off zone, a well designated parking zone, and I decided to MOVE IT! ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH! 

Once I got out to my car, I noticed that not only did I get a ticket but the police had taken my plates.  I could no longer drive my car around.  I wanted to die!  I am a mom that basically lives in her car.  I bring my kids to school, I pick them up.  I run daily errands and take my kids to their various activities. Plus, you know, I have a life.  I rush to find information on what I needed to do and was told to head to the local municipal office.  Once there, I was told I would have to go to the San Jose DMV by appointment to pick up my plates, but that would take THREE DAYS!  What I am to do without a car for THREE DAYS!!!  I could not help it, but I started to just bawl right there in front of everyone. 

After the initial shock wore off and I calmed down a bit, I was able to try and process the information I was given.  I made a HUGE mistake,  It was my fault and I had to pay the price.  It sucks not having a car and it sucks that I have to pay a $100 fine.  BUT it could have been worse.  I can wait three days and  I can pay the $100 fine.  And I have learnt my lesson.   

Spending Time With Friends

You know how they say it's important to have friends?  Especially as a mom, friendships can help keep you sane.  It's good to let loose once in a while with a good group of friends and just sit, chat and have a good old time.

That's what I try to do with my mommy friends at least once a month.  We alternate houses, everyone brings a treat and we just sit, eat and talk for hours.  Something so simple, yet it feels so damn good. Taking the time to make the time to be with friends is definitely worth it.

Houston, We have A Theme!

It took about a day but after he made up his mind, my 5 year old was dead set on Toy Story as the theme for his 6th birthday.  I try to stay away from 'licensed' character themes for parties because I have done those types of parties to death.  I prefer a more unique theme or even a spin on a popular character, like under the sea instead of Bubble Guppies.  But as the kids get older, they want more input in the party planning process and that includes choosing the theme for their parties.  So Toy Story it is.

I have to say, I am happy with the theme my 5 year finally picked for his party.  There is so much I can do with a theme as popular as Toy Story, especially since the new movie just came out (Toy Story 4).  The color scheme is pretty varied as well, with lots of red, blue, yellow, light green and even purple.  Also, since my kids already have a few of the Toy Story toys, I can use those in the decor setup for the party.  Now, I am not trying to win any Pinterest awards by going crazy with decor and getting extra creative with themed foods.  I just want to keep the party simple, yet fun.

I have a moon-bounce and a trampoline reserved for the day for three whole hours, so I know the kids will have a blast with that.  I will have fun foods, snacks and desserts to please even my pickiest eater.  And since most kids love candy, I'll have a pinata too.  I find the simpler, less stress parties are better and more fun.  It's also a plus when I keep parties simple because I don't drain my bank account.  I am not trying to impress anyone but my 5 year old and he is easily impressed, so I'm good there.  I just want my guests to have fun and enjoy the day.  I really can't ask for much more and it does not take tons of money to accomplish that goal.

Trying To Plan A Party

Like I mentioned in the previous blog, August just about done snuck up on me without me almost noticing.  I cannot believe we are 2/3's of the way through the year.  Just 4 more months to go before we call it quits on 2019 and that is just insane to me. 

I have a lot to plan travel wise but I have to turn my attention to party planning for a bit as I have two more birthdays coming up.  First up, my 5 year old's 6th birthday, which makes me wonder in amazement just how fast my baby boy has grown from an infant into a fully grown big kid about to head off to first grade in a few months.

Usually when I plan parties, I take a few months for the entire process.  I go all in, designing the invitations, planning the menu and creating the guest list.  Finalizing the decor and the setup.  Planning out all the games and prizes and buying the food.  Plus a whole list of to do's and DIY's to keep me organized and creative.  I loved the whole insane planning process because to me, it was fun.  But as my kids got older, the process just got to be more work than I truly wanted to handle.  I have been at this party planning for far too long and so have learned to take a much easier route.  So instead of doing it all myself, I just hire out help.  Meaning, I am going to have someplace host the party for me.

It's the more expensive route but the route that is the less stress and honestly I can do with less stress right now.  I do need to save money though, so I plan to find the cheapest party option without cheaping out on all the fun.  I will stay true to who I am however and make my list of party ideas to put my own personal stamp on whatever party we decide to throw for my little guy.  And I will make sure it will be a day he won't ever forget.

Happy August

So much has happened in the month of July that I feel as if August just ran and snuck up on us without us really noticing.  It is currently August 3rd and I can feel the seconds turn into days as the time flies right by me.  I have so much to do, not just in the month of August but in general life, that it's making me a little anxious thinking about it.  I need more time.  But while I watch the days go by, I wanted to share what we had been up to since our vacation.

 We went to see the new Spiderman Far From Home movie at the theaters and it was a pretty fun family night out.  Although the movie was just ok we made the most of it.

 The preschool and kindergarten classes held an assembly with a few fun dance presentations for the 25th of July, which is a special holiday celebration in Costa Rica.

And most importantly, for me and the hubby, we had a few day nights which were well needed.  A couple of times we went to eat and then just recently we went to a birthday party at hubby's cousin's bar.  It was a night filled with drinks, dancing and karaoke.