New years Eve superstitions/traditions

Have I told you That ever since I was really little my mom raised us with New Years expectations that if they were not completed brought on superstitious dilemmas?

Well yes! That's how its been and of course being raised like that I still follow them myself. I don't think Ive ever shared them with anyone probably because they would stare at me like what? But as I'm doing them I thought I would finally share with someone.

Curious about what I mean?

OK here it goes:

• If you want your home in 2013 to be clean and prosperous you must start off the year with a clean house. So of course I clean like crazy to make sure the house will be clean. That includes laundry, dishes etc. So yep a lot of work!

• You must all be clean and bathed before the New Year starts or for the rest of the year your condemning yourself to being filthy! So we all pick out times to take a bath before midnight so we ring in the year fresh and clean

• You must have a job before the New year starts or else you will be plagued with bad luck in the job department. Well that's a tough one for me because I'm a stay at home mom!

• You have to be with your loved ones when the clock strikes midnight because if there not with you the year that's starting you will be distanced by life. Sounds scary doesn't it? So were all together as we watch the fireworks inside or outside but we all hug each other at midnight to ring in a  new year.

Those are the main ones my family does and that I have continued. I thought about this as I read the Latina December2012/January2013 issue where on the last page of the magazine it shows a picture of a bowl of grapes that says that before midnight there's a tradition of eating 12 grapes in the last 12 seconds of the year. Its a race to see who will have good Luck for the next 12 months. So I thought of our traditions and how weird they must sound to others because this sure sounded weird to me. But guess what? I'm going to try it! It doesn't hurt to try something new and I could sure use some good luck in the New year.

How about you? What are you doing tonight to ring in the new Year? Any superstitions or traditions your family does? Share them with me or try some of mine.

Happy New Year! 

Ford Caroling Nights with Santa

Friday night we went downtown to hang out on the Riverwalk with Santa. I heard about Ford's Caroling nights with Santa and knew we had to go. They had live entertainment, caroling and Free pictures with Santa. Santa and Mrs. Claus were set up right on a barge on the Riverwalk at Arneson River Theatre. It was a beautiful location to be at and of course with all the Christmas lights twinkling it made it so much better! We got even luckier because we happened to be downtown during the Festival de las Luminarias. The festival de las Luminarias has the Riverwalk walkways lined with sand filled bags with glowing candles to symbolize the Lighting of the way for the Holy Family. Its beautiful!

Before Santa came over

Santa walking up to the barge

Santa is here and ready!

Munchkin loves to see Santa! He went twice actually to sit on his lap.



The Riverwalk lights

The Luminarias lining the Riverwalk

We then walked over to The Alamo to see the H-E-B Christmas Tree. It was beautiful of course! It was getting late so we called it a night and went home happily with great memories. I love How San Antonio has free events like Santa on the Riverwalk and the Luminarias. It gives it me such joy to live in this Beautiful city.

Have you guys been downtown to check out the lights and the tree?

In case you want to check them out the Fiesta de las Luminarias is every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through December 16.

Last Play & Learn of November

Wednesday morning off we went in the cold to The Central Library for Play and Learn. We first stopped to check out the H-E-B Tree in front of The Alamo since its on the way. It so Beautiful! Its become a tradition to get pictures of my munchkin taken there every year. I love it!

We then took the Trolley to the Library. Any of your munchkins a PBS Daniel Tiger Fan ? Well when ever were on a trolley were singing "Wont you ride along with me... ride along" Which if your kids are fans of the show you know this song. We got there and were so glad for the warmth. The them of the days Play and learn was building.

We played ants in pants game and then they read us a book "The Construction crew".

We then went off to do activities. Here's a glimpse of the fun we had:

They gave us a free Alphabet book to keep that was building tools related (we actually had that book at home checked out from the library so we were glad to be able to add it to our collection) And a white paper back that written across it said "Build and Bring back" It was filled with odds and ends and so far munchkin has been playing with the pieces and I'm trying to think what we should make.

Play and Learn was lots and fun! We always have a good time and remember that Play and Learn is free! You don't need to register beforehand. You just show up ready to Play and learn!

Here are our other Play and Learn visits at Central Library:

Visit #1 Welcome!
Visit #2 Body parts, bones themed
Visit #3 Animal themed
Visit #4 Music themed
Visit #5 Halloween themed
Visit #6 Home themed
Visit #7 Dinosaur Day!

Catching up...

Alot has been going on this past week. We celebrated Thanksgiving then Black Friday rushed by. My First giveaway (Thank you Melissa&Doug) just ended and today is my birthday! I wanted to catch up with everyone and let ya'll know I'm still here! Its only been a week but It feels like forever!

OK lets see... Thanksgiving went by too fast! I hardly slept. I cooked a bunch of turkey and yummy food that was shared with my loved ones. My munchkin loved the turkey and I was glad because so far he hadn't been into Turkey. We did some fun Thanksgiving crafts and felt really full!

That afternoon my sister and mom went out black Friday shopping. They drank alot of Starbucks and there arms and legs hurt from carrying stuff but from what they said... it was alot of fun!

Then that weekend I went on a decorating palooza! I digged through the storage and got out the tree and we put it up in the house and decorated it. Munchkin loved putting ornaments on the tree (I gave him a a handful of nonbreakable ones) except that he would put them all on the same branch on top of each other. I then set upon a huge task of putting up lights on the house and was exhausted from that! We had no ladder so I had to get on a chair and stretch with a hook to try to get the lights on the nails we use every year. I was grouchy because it was alot of trouble to get it on but in the end I was happy and loved how they came out.

Last night My Melissa& Doug Giveaway ended and a winner was announced! Nekisha R Won! She was contacted and has already responded and is excited to get her toy soon. I want to Thank everyone for entering! It was my first giveaway and I'm glad you guys all stopped by. I hope you will stick around!

Lastly today is My Birthday! Yep... I am 28 years old now.

Lets see.... I'm not where I saw my life being at this age. I Had very different goals and dreams and desires 10 yrs ago than I do now. Alot of people might see it as a failure that I'm not where I thought I would be. But, I see it very differently. I have my son, my family, good health and friends and I'm happy. I wouldn't trade my life for any dream that I had years ago because none could compare to now. I have new dreams and goals and wishes. Yes, every now and then I think of the past and my life and resent things that have gone wrong but I'm a firm believer that everything in life happens for a reason. There's always a lesson to be learned. I have grown and now my life took me down this path and I'm going to see where it leads me. I hope your here to follow along with me.

Thanks for Catching up with me!

SeaWorld San Antonio Christmas Celebration

This Saturday morning we went to go check out opening day of Seaworld's Christmas Celebration! It was the perfect day to go and get in the holiday spirit. Here's a glimpse of our day:

I love all the Christmas Decorations!

Mariachis!

Carolers

Candy cane forest during the day

My munchkin watching Clyde and seamore

Nutcrackers!

Train ride through Snowman village

Watching A Sesame street Christmas

We got to go on stage after the show and take pictures with the characters!

A Texas kind of Christmas

Going to see Santa Claus! (exciting)

Tons of Christmas Trees

A cactus wreath! (Beautiful)

All the Beautiful lights after dark

Beluga stadium 

Nutcracker stilt walkers

Candy Cane Forest after dark

 At the end of Fantasea there was Shamu Claus

 Happy Holidays!

 Finishing off our day feeling in the holiday spirit.

 We had so much fun! Made new memories and it made me want to start decorating the house. All the way home I was singing Christmas songs because that's all I heard at Seaworld. Munchkin loved it and took tons of fun pictures. I cant wait to go back! Have you guys ever been to the Christmas celebration?

Check out other fun days we spent at Seaworld:

•  Seaworld San Antonio Howl-O-Scream fun for families with young kids
• Seaworld San Antonio Howl-O-Scream after dark
• Seaworld Howl-O-Scream 2012