An afternoon wtih Dora the Explorer

I became a fan in Facebook of a local Party Events Company and find out about some activities that they are going to do soon.. One of those activities was Story Time with Dora The Explorer and off we go.

We went to pick up my dad's camera and it looks like it was because it was very low on batteries but all the photos came out BLURRY!!! That is very sad, but it is better than no photos, right?

Besides Dora the Explorer, they also had Ernie from Keebler cookies and "Chelin" (that means like an small penny) who is the mascot of one local bank.

All the girls (me included) with Dora the Explorer:

Daddy and the little flowers with Ernie from Keebler cookies:

Sitting on the floor listening to the activities... Right on the left, there is Mimi sitting on top of hubby and moving a bit to the right there is Gaby and then Camila:

During Story Time... Gaby was sitting right next to the guy reading:


The girls had a blast, and even though there was some crying at the time to leave, I know they were happy to be there..

After we left, we stop by my dad's house and spend a bit of time there... Then, we went shopping for Gaby's lunchbox...

Introducing The Purple Lunchbox!

A week ago I was chatting with my friend Erica about some cool ideas to pack for lunch for school. What to pack for school has always been a challenge for me and Im always trying to come up with ideas for this.

Gaby will be going to first grade starting on next Tuesday, so it's time to think about packing her lunchbox again. Let's face it: Gaby doesnt eat breakfast... She will drink a glass of strawberry or chocolate milk, but it is not easy to get her to actually eat something. I despite morning fights and stress, so I try to play along for a hasslefree time while getting her ready for school.

The idea is that Gaby gets her glass of milk at 7:00am in the morning, then has snack time in school at midmorning, and then she comes home for a heavy lunch at 2:30pm. This means that what I need to pack for school is going to be BRUNCH (late breakfast)... I want to keep it as fun as possible so she could actually EAT it everyday!

The Purple Lunchbox was born with the idea of keep me motivated to keep up with the FUN idea of her brunch. Little details to make it more fun and appealing for her.

Why PURPLE? Because purple is her FAVORITE color, and even though I havent got her lunchbox yet (shame on me, I know), Im sure it will be purple (or have purple somewhere)....

Stay tuned for "The Purple Lunchbox" posts every Friday! I will try to take a photo of her lunch everyday to post them of Fridays with a short description of each lunch. I will have a Mr. Linky up so you can post your link if you decide to join the fun and post your lunch ideas in your blog too...

When a pet dies...

This is so beautiful that I couldnt help to make a whole post for this... Warning: Yoy may cry reading this.

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:

Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.

I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar handwriting. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies.' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away.

Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by..

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.

I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.
By the way, I'm easy to find, I am wherever there is love.

Love, God
* * *
This is one of the kindest things you may ever see. It is not known who replied, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter's office of the US postal service.

Wordless Wednesday #2 - Feeding the doll with Sassy's food

See more photos at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom.

Catching up with my blog rollcall

For the weeks that I was behind with my blog posting, I was also behind with my blog reading.... I have been catching up but it is not easy... You guys know how much I love writing comments, so if you miss me, dont worry... I will be by your blog VERY SOON!! :)

Low key weekend

This weekend was very low key... We spent most of the time at home, mostly because I had a ridiculously amount of work to do and I needed to get tons of things done. I also decided to create a group in Facebook for my shop and I added all the cards that I have in my blog, in my new group... Stop by and become a fan. It was fun!

Hubby and I also had tons of quality time which is always great.. We went food shopping with my mom and also went to visit my dad, and spent some time with my nephew and his mom there...

Now is time to hit the bed! Tomorrow I need to shop for Gaby's backpack which is the only thing that I plan to buy online (well.. I probably also buy the lunchbox and some bentos).... I may look for some pants too... We'll see.