Samsung Tab2 8G

By far the best investment I have made in years.  My husband and I couldn't figure out what to get the girls because they are so tech savvy and it dawned on us that for the price of this tablet we can basically get them more than we could imagine.

For my 8 year old, she's setup on a Kindle account and knows how to download free books.  She understands how to use the Android Market she downloads a lot of free games such as Angry Birds, Fruit Slices and many more.

The most amazing part is that so many parents are complaining their children are attached to their tablets and won't let go of them. We give our girls guidelines.  They respect them and have shown to be responsible.

I love that they can access anything from a book to a game all in one tablet. The setup is easy and even I have fun with it ocassionaly.  I download Pinterest on my daughter's tablet. :)

Cooking in 1 2 3

For Christmas Santa was extra nice to me (My Dad...hehehe)

He bought me this Black & Decker 8 cup food processor. It has been fantastic. I have cut my cooking to less than half the time.  I now make by sofrito in this processor.  Can you believe that for the last 10 years I have manually been making my sofrito. Yes, meaning I have spent hours in the am chopping up all my ingredients, blending and then freezing. What was I thinking!

The nice thing about this processor is that it has a lock in security and aside from also mixing things for me it has the blade with four settings for slicing and shredding.

For the price you can't go wrong.

New Year-Restart or Renew?

I recently heard my daughter tell me, as she often does, "mom tomorrow is a new day and we get to start all over again."

I love the sincerity of a child's mind.  She speaks the truth because we have the opportunity to wake up everyday and make a choice to live a better life.  So many people walk around in a rush, angry, think too much and people just need to SLOW down.

This past Sunday at mass Father said, we have to believe that we are right where GOD wants us to me.  We have to be willing to listen and sit still long enough, to hear his grace. It's true, at least for me I feel that when I'm at peace and one with myself things go smoother in my life.

Last night I was reminded of just that, as my little one was lying sick in my bed she was whiny.  I embraced her and rubbed her back, comforting her. My husband was a little more abrupt and tired, not understanding why she was so whiny if we had given her everything.

I looked at him and realized he was frustrated because he felt helpless.  I looked at him calmly and told him that all she wanted was for him to embrace her and comfort her and speak to her softly.  He looked down at her with that soft look he has and embraced her. It was a beautiful sight.

It was then that I realized that it's not always about making people see things your way but to learn together, grow together and teach a better way of living life. So everyday make an effort to renew your look at life.  Everyday is a restart, make it count.

Kaela's Glitz

Kaela's Glitz was my teen's baby.  She came up with the concept of selling a little bit of everything for the everyday buyer.  Here are some examples of what we're doing.  To purchase or view more visit our site at www.kaelasglitz.com.

Thanksgiving

A few things I learned this Thanksgiving:

1.  I still don't like Black Friday
2.  It's an advantage to have a teen who can do the Black Friday shopping for you since she's so eager to drive her car :)
3.  I still LOVE turkey
4.  I love having my kids help me in the kitchen to learn traditions and cooking
5.  Last but not least, THE CHRISTMAS TREE

I absolutely love the feeling of pulling out the Christmas Tree and feeling all warm inside.  I love the feeling when I drag my family by force to help me decorate the tree.  It makes the process so much more meaningful when I feel my loved ones that have passed near me.  My lights on my tree are shining brighter this year.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Always remember to be grateful for what you have.

Happy Holidays!

My Most Precious Angel

A grandmother's love is unique.  It comes unconditionally from even before your born.  It comes from a woman that has prepared herself to be the most seasoned example to any child born, to teach them unconditional love, to show forgiveness, to teach history and most importantly to show you how you are the most valuable possession in the world.

A grandmother takes you by the hand and shows you how to make taquitos at 5am in the morning, walk with you as you talk about nonsense, give you money from her hidden bra purse to buy a pop and chips, a women who tells you of all your parents faults and assures you that you are loved.  A women who whispers in your ear and tells you that your parents aren't perfect but that they are the most priceless possession you will ever have. 

A being so special that God has seasoned to perfection to teach you the most valuable concept of the world....to seize the day and keep moving forward no matter how much you get stepped on, because in the end the trustworthy, the champions and the faithful will come out on top.

Grandma I know your with us in our hearts, in our minds and soul, now and forever.  I know you are watching over us now. Thank you for being our guardian angel.

Learning from my past

I heard some sad news today that reminded me of things that happened to me in my past. What I realized was that my past experience helped me get this person through a traumatic situation.  I was grateful that I was able to reach out to this person and share my experience.  She was grateful for me to have shared my story with her because it lifted her spirits and helped her realize that things will be okay in the end.

What I have learned over the last few months is that God is preparing us all in some way, for bigger things.  I saw Joyce's sermon on Sunday and she talked about how God puts obstacles in our way to face, deal with and move on.  She states that makes us stronger people and if we elect not to deal with things he puts more difficult situations in front of us until we listen, face it, deal with it and then move on.

I see it as Life hitting me in the face and saying SNAP OUT OF IT! In recent months I think I've snapped out of it and have my feet grounded and know what I want to do.  I just have to do the things necessary to get there!

What was your Snap out of it moment?