Cartoon can be a blessing too!

I discovered Veggietales months before Raymiah was born and I knew that this ministry will both educate her and entertain her. I wish my parents knew about Veggietales during my childhood years. I love their movies and characters. I went on a Veggietales craze by buying used DVDs on Ebay and Amazon.com. Well, for those who are like "What in the world is she talking about?" "What's a Veggietales?" I'll catch you up now!

Veggietales is a Christian based cartoon created by Phil Vischer and Mike Narowski in 1993. Since then they have dozens of educational and moral values that come straight from the bible. I am mostly encouraged by "The Snoodles Tale" (2003). It was the 22nd short film of the Veggietales series. The moral of this short film is to know that God created you for a purpose and even though your peers are  not accepting of your skills and appearance, "God has made you special and He loves you very much!" It has a Dr. Suess/fairy tale feel to it and is very cute!
If you haven't had the privilege to enjoy a Veggietales movie with your children, I think you should!

My daughter's hair growth! I'm shock myself!!

For a few months now, I have been carefuly observing my daughter's hair and testing ways I can retend their lengths. Here are some of my findings:

1. It is hard for me to keep a style in their hair for longer than 2 days.
2. Their hair is extremely hard to keep moisturized. (Our hair drinks up everything!)
3. Detangling every few days is a MUST!!
4. Washing weekly prevents additional dryness and unruly hair.
5. Co-washing is best! I use shampoo when they have been exposed to dirt or been sweating a lot to clean their scalp, but besides that...co-washing (or washing with conditioner only) is our friend.
6. Daily scalp massages and attention.

With that being said, I have found out a lot about OUR hair. I use heat when drying their hair because detangling and air drying is a horrific experience and challenge for our hair. Only way to keep our hair tangle-free is to blow dry it. I use low settings when doing so. I will only flat iron their hair on special occasions or when daddy want to see some length.

Now with Raymiah, she can get away with semi blow dried hair because her hair is less likely to tangle when wet. Her hair texture is dense...dense dense and very fragile. I have to use precaution before I start her hair and her scalp is very sensitive.

Raymiah hair flat ironed March 2012

 Rylee's hair is delicate as well with a very different texture and curl pattern. Her hair is easy to style but won't hold a style without some assistance with some pomade. Her hair tends to dry within a few hours and will tangle without notice.

Rylee's hair flat ironed Dec. 2011

It is definitely a challenge maintaining natural hair but there are some great rewards in taking care of a variety of textures and learning what works best for our hair. I am learning to love it.

Juicing Maniac in the making!

Early Saturday morning (more like 2 o' clock A.M.) I was up with Ray watching movies and suddenly got the urge to use my brand new Jack Lalanne juicer he bought for me as an early birthday present. Here's what I used: 

Fresh strawberries, an apple, pear and some spinach

I enjoyed the freshness of the juice, but will have to get used to the green, earthy taste of the leafy veggies I used in my drinks! I am pleased and look forward to concocting some great juices! Ray didn't want to try my "photosynthesis", but I will start him off with strawberry banana the next time! 

Happy juicin'!

Homemade Banana nut muffins! Yum!!

On yesterday, I made some banana nut muffins from scratch. They turned out awesome...moist and delish with a hint of vanilla!! Here's the recipe. It makes 6 muffins!

1 cup all purpose flour. (You may try unbleached, whole flour should taste great, too. I will try unbleached flour next time and will tell you the results!)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 stick of soften butter
1 egg
splash of vanilla extract about a teaspoon
1/4 tablespoon baking powder
dash of baking soda
1 1/2 banana mashed
walnuts (quantity is up to you)

First cream the butter and sugar Add egg, banana and vanilla. After incorporated, in a separated bowl mix the dry ingredients then slowly add into wet mixture. Fold in walnuts. Grease muffin pan and scope your batter into pan half way. Bake for 25 minutes or until fork comes out clean. Let cool for about 5 minutes and serve. Or if you're like Ray, eat it right from the oven! LOL

Invitation to be a Featured Blogger

Thrift Finds

 About a month ago, I went on my routine thrift search and stumbled across two pairs of shoes in excellent condition. Luckily they were my size! The first pair I found were these brown BCBG dress shoes for $9!!  The last pair was some Ralph Lauren sneakers which costed me $12. The shoes were fairly new, maybe a couple of times being worn, but still fresh. I also find a pair of J.Crew jean/trousers for $4! If you are familiar with J.Crew, you know they are pricey at times. I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of them, but I will be sure to do my very first OOTD featuring the J.Crews jeans. I hit the jackpot that day! I enjoy a good thrift find. I wonder what I will find the next time? Hmmm...


Thrifting can definitely be challenging and time consuming. Almost 95% of the time, I have the kids with me. I am sure to feed them well before I go and treat them to a snack afterwards for their behavior to make my experience enjoyable and stress-free. 


Until next time...happy thrifting!

There's a little rough points to this shoe, but nothing a little grease won't fix!

Ralph Lauren Polo Sport sneakers in like new condition and quite comfy!!

Cupcake Fun!!

My daughter Rylee celebrated her 4th birthday last month! YAY..I wanted to do something creative for her. So, I decided to make rainbow cupcakes. It turned out wonderful! It is so simple. I divided the cake mix into ziplock bags and added food color in them. Then I layered the cupcake pan with the colors. Bake as directed and BAM!!! A colorful dessert for my beautiful daughter!

Here's some pictures of the process:

The batter

Layered in pan

Finished product

Blurred photo but here's how the inside looked

My Birthday Wishes (FOR REAL...but FOR FUN)

My birthday is in less than a month (April 8th to be exact) and I have a few items I would love to have. This is my wish list. **This list is for fun. But these are items I am longing to have in my home!**

Juicer/Food Processor

Mixer with attachments (i.e. pasta maker)

Brother sewing machine

Sewing fabric and tools

Hair Bow supplies

What would your birthday wish list look like? Respond below!!! I would love to see it

Truly Randomness: Puss in Boots my favorite scenes

I had the chance to finally see the film, Puss in Boots. There were some hilarious parts in the movie I'd like to share with you guys. Puss in Boots is now for sale and rent.

First the Oooo Cat:


Humpy Dumpty "I was always there-there":

(Humpty Dumpty resemble Rainn Wilson from The Office to me, but his voice is clearly Zach Galifianakis from Due Date and Dinner with the Schmucks)

I didn't expect this film to be funny, but I am happy I saw it.I needed a good laugh!

Debt Free is the way to be!

Many may not have known that I had debt...well now you know! I had credit card debt. I was at the time the only one with good credit and it was used to help build the business. While the business was booming, my credit was dropping like hot cakes! No one don't know this, well now they do, about the sacrifices we have made. Then after realizing I had some good credit, I got a few more cards at popular clothing stores. I was faithful in making the monthly payments and paid them all off. Times got hard and finances were decreasing during the winter months. If you are familiar with construction, there's usually no large jobs or construction during the winter, but anyway, I dipped into the credit.Well after nearly 5 years of financial bondage and with the conviction of the Holy Spirit and testimony of the saints at my church, we decided to pay off all I owe.

Upon our decision to take care of my debts, I received a call from the medical center where I delivered Ray 2 years ago saying I owe $4000 for his birth! I knew something had to distract me from pursuing financial freedom. It always happens that way with us. During my pregnancy with Ray, we were insured through the plumbers' union in Chicago through BCBS and they covered the cost. Come to find out, they denied the case because they didn't have Ray's birth certificate. Haha...will problem solved! I have that..DONE! I thank God for keeping me calm through that little bump in the road. I would have had a fit about that before.

But as of March 5, 2012, I am proud to announce I am debt free!!! Halleujah!! God is good! God provided and allowed us to do some major saving and now we're free!!

We told God that we would handle our debt before we left Chicago, but 2011 was a very stressful and heavy year for our family (Read: Our Journey to Texas). We postponed our promise to God which most likely had a lot to do with the mess we dealt with. But we finally buckled down and did what we had promised we do and God opened doors! Ray has a great job and we have a home to call our own. We are moving as I type!

I hope this has encouraged you to do what you promised to God and follow through! We learned a hard lesson by postponing. God rewards faithfulness. Don't let your situation affect your promises.