2012...The Finale.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

This Christmas was awesome.  I spend it with my beautiful family, I was on vacation from work (that's always a plus) and the weather was pretty pleasant for the most part.  It didn't actually snow until Christmas Day.  It was just enough to blanket the ground with a soft wisp of snow.  

I made this cute little winter hat for my precious Luna.  She looks so adorable in it.  She is the perfect little model for all of my hat creations. I just adore this little girl.

My hubby and I were invited to a friend's home for some Christmas celebrations.  It was a Posada, a Mexican form of caroling where you go and sing to a family and they sing back to you from in their home.  You ask to come in for food and they then open their doors to you to come inside for their traditional food and drinks.  It was very nice.  Quite similar to my Puerto Rican Parranda.  The only real difference, I think, was the type of music and the food, but basically the same concept.   

My hubby helped me put up the Christmas tree, which did not take long to get completely surrounded by presents for, WHO? 

Luna of course.  Her mommy and daddy didn't hesitate to spoil her for her first Christmas. +Briana Cordero  and Tony Walker.

And then of course there is a picture of my little spoiled snuggle bug. Pain in the derriere, but I love him.  It was also his first Christmas with us. 

This is one of the gifts that I was working on, and as you can see, I had a guard keeping it safe until it was completed.  {Really, I think he truly believed it was for him.}

See, what I mean....

after the finished product.........

Yep, that's what I thought. :/

Sorry Kitty, I'll have to make one just for you later on.

I was pleased with myself for having finished the blankets that I wanted for my new grand-babies that are on the way.  I can't wait to see them wrapped up warm in their blankies from Grammy Mima. :-) 

"E" for Elias. +Vanessa Cordero and +Sonny benitez 

And this one is for my beautiful Princess. 

My poor Kachi, upset at me because I was taking pictures of him with his hoodie.  He does not like it, and likes pictures even less.





Here's Nannies taking over the sofa, as always.  She has her new toy that she sometimes believes to be a baby when you squeak it. So she grabs it by the neck gently and lays it right by her side.  Silly girl. I love her so.  She would have been a great momma too.

These are the treats that I made for all the doggies.  For Cheyenne, Kachi, Valkyrie, and Yuma.  My doggies and grand-doggies. These treats are very easy to make and very yummy too. I ate some of it myself.

 http://www.dogtreatkitchen.com/easy-homemade-dog-treats.html

I have to say that this was a very blessed year. 

 My daughter +Briana Cordero started her family and of course my Luna Bella was born this year.  You all know how I feel about her. <3 

I got a gorgeous new daughter-in-law, +Kat Cordero and two precious grand-babies in law, and that makes for a very happy son. +Kevin Cordero.  The universe only knows how much I wanted that for him.

My remarkable daughter +Vanessa Cordero and her hubby Sonny are going to become parents. MY NESS IS GOING TO BE A MOMMY!!! 

My son +Sean Cordero had the wonderful opportunity to travel out West and work and visit Yellowstone National Park, where he obtained great experiences and made new friends and connections.  That took a lot of guts, and I'm  very proud of him for that.

Really, what more can I ask for, but for the happiness of the ones that I love.  I hope this year brings more happiness and love to ALL my children and their loved ones and anyone that may be connected to them.  Because after all, my happiness comes from seeing my loved ones happy. 

I truly believe that this new year is the year that we ALL need to look inside and find what makes each and everyone of us really happy and try to concentrate on that and make it grow.  Forget about the past, it's past, you can't do anything about it, don't worry about the future, it's not here yet.  Concentrate on the moment that you have in front of you and make the BEST of that moment. That moment, and what YOU choose to do with it is what will decide the future. Make it a good moment...heck, make it a GREAT moment.  

I wish for you all the best that life has to offer.  Remember, money isn't happiness, material possessions are not happiness. Happiness comes form inside, for free...and who doesn't like free. ;-)

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. 
Dalai Lama 
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/happiness.html#mG1dzs7vxpvZOodb.99 



Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties. 
Helen Keller 
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HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

Thanksgiving 2012

 

 

Thanksgiving 2012 was a fantastically, spectacumagicalistic day!!!!!!!!

 

 

I really wasn't looking forward to Thanksgiving this year because thanks to that *$%^*# Teacher Strike that we had this year, my budget has been so completely messed up.  But, I have to thank my wonderful kids for making this year happen.  They took me shopping on Monday, and got me all prepped up for a few days of kitchen slavery. Lol.  It was great though, no complaints.  Well, there is one.  My son Kevin wanted to get the biggest pernil (Pork Leg) that he could find, but little ol' me could hardly lift that monstrosity.  I ended up dropping it on the floor while I was trying to transport it to the kitchen table to get it ready to put in the oven at 4 a.m., thankfully I had it all wrapped in plastic, than I had to move it into the oven.  That when my other son Sean came to Momma's rescue and did all the lifting for me.  My hubby was snoring away, so he didn't even notice.

 

I started preparing for our meal, on Monday by making my "Pasteles".  

 

This is the machine that gets it all pureed. 

 

 

 

 

My hubby is the machine that gets it all peeled first.

 

 

He also got the meat all cut up for me to prepare for the inside of the pasteles.

 

 

 

 

This is the "Masa" or the outer part of the pasteles, which I would describe as a Puerto Rican tamale.  I use bananas, pumpkin, plantain, potatoes and yautia, which is a type of root.

 

 

I spread out the masa and spoon in some of the filling.

 

 

Then, I wrap it in some aluminum foil.  Traditionally it is wrapped in banana leaves, or some people use cooking paper.

 

 

This is what my set-up looks like.

 

 

It was great, I expected to make about 25 or 30 and I ended up with 40. YUM!!! More to enjoy!!

 

One of the highlights of this thanksgiving was going with my daughter and son-in-law to find out the sex of their baby.  IT'S A BOY!!!  I'm going to have a grand-son.  This new year I will be the grand-ma to two beautiful girls and one handsome boy. TO EXCITING!!!

 

 

I woke up nice and early to make sure my turkey and pernil were cooking and hopefully be ready about 3ish.  It was all perfect.  After coming back from the ultra sound place (First Peek)  I started on the dessert...banana pudding!!  It came out delicious, if I say so myself. :-)  (...as I give myself a little pat on the back).

 

 

My table is getting longer every year.  <3  I love it!

 

 

 

That's my boy.  Kevin  <3 LOVES <3 my banana pudding.

 

 

Even the family pets were all together, and they had a ball.  Granted, my apartment is NOT big enough for all these guys and gals, but they managed to play around like crazy.  Incredibly enough, we manage to move around that sea of fur and drool.

 

 

Ooops, a little spill.  I got that. :-)

 

 

After all the feasting, it was time to just sit, relax and let the food settle, and make some room for more dessert, of course.

 

Yes sir...this Thanksgiving was definitely a very wonderful and memorable one.  I am very thankful to my children, you know who you are ;-), for coming through for the family and for me.  I have never not cooked for Thanksgiving in all my years of being a wife a mom.  I know someday I will be a guest instead of a host, but till then, bring it.

 

I hope everyone had a special day with their loved ones, whether family or friends, or both.  Remember to take a second out of every day to be thankful for something or someone in your life.  Count your blessing and may your yarn ball never run out. 

 

HAPPY DAY!!!

 

PEACE & LOVE

Wonderfully warm weekend.

Hello there!!!!

Here we are.  Clouds over head, but it's beautiful!!!

 

 

Tony and I went back to Illinois State Park this weekend and enjoyed a really nice bike ride.  It was truly exhilarating, mainly because it was very, very windy and there was a constant threat of rain. We got there and took out the bikes and then headed towards the north branch of the park.  I have been there several times but have never gone towards the Marina, so we decided to ride there.  It was a great ride. We rode through forests and a small street.  That lead us towards the power plant where I thought we had reached a dead end, but it turned out to be the entrance to the other area of the park.  The air felt great. 

 

It's a real shame that a beautiful piece of land was taken over and used for a power plant, and now there is the risk of finding asbestos material wherever you walk.  I just love the rocks at the beach, but then you find the signs warning you not to pick up certain materials due to the risk of asbestos.  I have also read that the lake is still being used as a dump.  Why?!!!  This is a beach that is used by many families every summer, it's a camp ground that is used by locals and tourists.  It scares me to think "what" you are swimming in.

As we continued to ride, after my complaining and venting about the waste and destruction of our beautiful land, we came across a very peaceful and serene area.  It had little mounds and some sand dunes. 

 

We went up to explore, and it seems to be an area where people come to spend the day grilling and bird watching.  They have these really cool postings of bird types and what they look like in flight.  It was really cool.  I totally want to go back with my binoculars and spend some bird watching time.

We rode some more and finally got to the area of the marina.  Wasn't too impressed.  Just a bunch of empty boat docks and a huge building.  Not sure what was there.  Probably a nice tourist spot, but I prefer the outdoor area.  The sky put on the real show for me.  It got much windier and the clouds started to come faster and it began to drizzle.  That was our cue to skedaddle. 

We rode our little hearts off. Mostly because the wind was strong and we were riding against it.  No wonder we had a smooth ride there, the wind was helping us along, now....it was one heck of a workout.  IT WAS GREAT. On top of that we had to get back before sundown. I sure didn't need to get a ticket or have my car towed.  That was definitely an incentive to move those legs. Lol.

We made it back just in time to get a few pictures of the sunset and catch our breaths before heading out. Now.......to go get us a nice dinner.  We deserved it after that workout. Culver's here we come.

There is my little beautiful "Jelly Bean". I love that van. :-)

 

The "Jelly Bean". <3

We stopped at the Culver's for a super delicious burger and some fries....YUMMMMMMM!!!  I don't know if it was as good as it tasted, or I was just starving, but it was GOOD!

Yummy!!!

 

After getting out of the Culver's, I spotted a Piggly Wiggly and just had to check it out.  It was OK.  Some things were a good price, others were too expensive and some were the same as any other store.  My conclusion.....shop around for sales.  It's what I always try to do.

 

Finally we got home for a well deserved rest and it felt wonderful to take off the shoes, shower and just throw ourselves into bed and veg out to some TV.  AHHHH. I love long weekends.  Still had two more days to enjoy. Tomorrow, just take care of the house and do some crocheting. :-)

Well folks...til the next.  Enjoy your moments and as I like to say, may your yarn ball never run out. :-)

PEACE!!