Tag: momlife

My Favorite Moments – May

The month of May was a bit of a rocky one for me, emotionally and mentally, but that didn’t stop me from cherishing those special moments with my tribe.  Here are my May favorite moments.

Kole’s First Grade Field Trip | This month Kole’s class had a field trip to the Oakland Zoo.  Ryan and I were able to chaperone which was pretty cool Kole was able to have both his parents there.  Thank God he’s still at that age where he’s still hella down with that idea!  Ryan and I were assigned 4 kids in total which was perfect because the other 3 kids happened to be Kole’s most favorite friends.  We were so grateful to be able to see the interactions of these four friends.  Not a care in the world except to have the best day ever at the zoo with their best buds.  With all the craziness happening in the world today it was refreshing to witness these kids anxiously wanting to share their snacks with each other, excitedly wanting to sit next to each other, and caring for each other enough to make sure no one was feeling left out.  I hope as they grow older and the vibrancy of the world starts to fade they’ll look back at a sweet memory at that one time in First Grade at the Oakland Zoo where they had a hell of a time with their classmates, where the kids that were their bestest buddies at the time were dope AF because they shared their Oreos, and where they got to hang with the coolest chaperones in town. 😉

Monroe | It’s amazing what a difference a month makes.  He is picking things up so quickly!  It also helps he has a big brother to look up to, aka completely mimic.  When it’s prayer time before bed, he’s all about the sign of the cross and his “amen hands”.  He is also becoming much sweeter.  As I’ve said before, he is completely the opposite of Kole.  He is a major handful and it just seemed he was born in the “terrible twos”.  *I see you future CEO, I see you.*  The other day I was a bit down and he obviously picked up on it.  He was throwing me kisses left and right and the hugs just kept coming.  I knew there was more sweet in this sour patch kid than he let on!

Nikko | Nikko is one of my closest and very best girlfriends.  We like to think we are more like sisters than friends.  She sent me a card in the mail this month and it absolutely made my day.  First, sending personal snail mail is a lost art and that in itself lifted my spirits.  Her words of appreciation for our friendship meant the freaking world to me.  She also commended me on how I am as a mother.  When you struggle with yourself trying to figure out if you’re doing the right things for and by your children you can get stuck under a dark cloud that you’ve created for yourself and feel like you’re drowning.  Her words gave me some sunshine and a breath of fresh air.  We don’t see each other very often but we always know when we need each other and how to be there for each other.  Mia sorella per sempre.

What and who saved you from yourself last month?  Keep them close and cherish them always.  I’m almost positive you’ll need them again.

End Of The Year Organizing.

When Kole started school I became a straight hoarder with every single thing he brought home.  I saved all his school work, homework, and art work.  It was almost surprising I didn’t bronze his first pencil!  Ha!  He was my firstborn and I was proud and excited about all the new things he was learning.  So yes, I kept 20 practice pages that had the upper case “A” and 20 practice pages with the lower case “a” and so forth.  Total that up and we were basically buried under a preschool.  Then he started First Grade this year and it was just getting out of hand.  I tried putting them together in regular file boxes and it was ok but I wasn’t in love with the storage technique.  It just wasn’t as organized, durable, or as clean as I wanted it to be.  Remember in the show Friends when Monica’s dad stopped the water from getting to his Porsche using Monica’s boxes and it ruined everything in it?  I’d hate myself if the hard work of those little fingers were forever wrecked.  So I had to have a sit down with my little one and get his permission to let some things go. Although, he can be somewhat of a hoarder about that stuff too, he was on board! Hallelujah!

I kept the first tries, the most improved and the artwork that wasn’t falling apart.  The pieces that were spewing glitter all over the place had to go too.  Those were my worse nightmare.  Thank goodness he was on the same OCD level about glitter as me!  Also, I kept any special certificates and report cards of course.  Now that I significantly downsized the lot, I had to figure out how I wanted to store it.  While I was at Office Depot buying file folders for this project I took a look around and realized plastic storage bins were actually what I needed and were the best way to store Kole’s things for every grade.  This would better protect his academic paper memories for years to come.

Let’s get organized.

After you’ve sorted through all your little one’s paper work, grab your keep pile and file them however you like in the filing folders.

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Since we always end up with extra of  beginning of the school year and mid school year pictures I used them to put in front of the file folder as part of labelling.  Instead of taping or gluing the pictures on, I used photo corners to hold the photos in place for added flare.  I love to hand write everything for a personal touch, as I did for the grade and year, but I know many fancy the label makers or printable tags for a more clean, uniform look.  Do you, boo. Do you.

After those folders are everything you’ve dreamed of, place those puppies in your plastic storage bin and bid them adieu until next summer.  But if you’re anything like me, you’ll keep them close by and accessible so you can just purge and fill it up throughout the school year!

Have a great summer!

HMD. 2017.


That I am, a product of a strong female.

My mom is one of the most hardworking people I know.  She literally is the first one in the office and the last one to leave.  She puts everything she has into her work, whether she is the most energetic or the most exhausted.  She’s accomplished so many things in her life and it came with a lot of struggles and that’s what’s so admirable to me.  No matter what was thrown her way, she got shit done!
When it comes to family, she is all in.  She’s the first one to help in any way she can.  She leaves no man down.  She’s always been there for me and my brother no matter how difficult we are.  Always.  How does she deal with us?  She’s a damn good mother.

The fight and the heart of a mother is the strongest of any kind.  The moment a woman feels that maternal instinct there is no stopping her.  There is no breaking her.  I, myself, know that when it comes to my boys I was always fight to the death.  I will always fight for them to know the value of hard work.  I will always fight for them to know what true love is.  How to show it and how to receive it.  I will always fight for them to know how strong they can be, not just physically, but intellectually.  I will work tirelessly to make sure they embrace equality and to be strong enough to stand up for what is right. I will fight to make sure they know chivalry is not dead and should never die.

I will always fight for them (in any capacity) because, they too, are a product of a strong female.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you strong females!