the latest ramblings…
Mia’s 1st Birthday Party {You Are My Sunshine Theme}
Here it is, the MOTHER of all blog posts! This one's a doozy. Get yourself a cup of coffee/tea or a refreshing cold drink (depending on the weather) and bask along with me in Mia's first birthday post. So you've already seen Mia's "smash cake" photo session that my mom and I threw together in my backyard for my then-almost-one-year-old daughter, Mia. She officially became a whole year old on Saturday, April 27, 2013...3 weeks ago. We celebrated her special day by having close friends and family (31 adults, 8 babies/kids) over at our home in the later afternoon for food, drinks, music, sunshine, cake and company. It was a beautiful and warm day with temperatures in the low to mid 80s. A few guests even enjoyed our swimming pool to cool off. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. I know it sure meant a lot to us to have so many shining faces there to share in Mia's special day, her first birthday. I decided to go with a theme for the occasion. Ever since Mia was born, I've sang to her. … do tell more...
A Portrait A Week: 20/52
Photo: I took Mia to a local kids' indoor playground on Friday. I'll be posting about our experience there soon. She was intrigued by these plastic animals. She held them, whacked them on the table a few times and even spoke to them and danced for them. Can you guess what just jumped to the top of our "toy purchase" list? I love watching her play, learn and explore. I hope one day when she's grown, she does get to meet a real life tiger. And I hope I'm there to see it. "A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013." We're trying to remain in the top 25 blogs over at TopBabyBlogs.com. We need your VOTE (once, daily) to pull it off! All votes have been reset to ZERO so the battle is on. If you're unsure how to vote, read my post with the voting breakdown. If this isn't your first time, then vote away! Oh...and check out my new voting banner below. I made it all by myself ;) THANK YOU! … do tell more...
Blog Votes {The Breakdown}
Momista Beginnings is a blog. It's a "mommy/baby blog." It's a "mommy/baby blog" that has proudly been ranked in the top 25 blogs over at TopBabyBlogs.com for quite some time now. There are hundreds of pretty great blogs listed and we truly consider it an honor to be among some of their best. How does a blog make it to the top of the rankings? Votes. Readers can vote once per blog each day. Why do we want your votes? Well, the higher we're ranked, the more traffic we get to our blog. We love the publicity we receive because we love sharing our lives, projects, and ramblings with ya'll. What else? The more traffic we get, the more opportunities from other bloggers and companies come our way to test out new products, host contests and giveaways for our readers and the more connections we make all over the world. That's some pretty exciting stuff. Every few months, Top Baby Blogs resets all the votes for every blog back down to zero. The battle to climb back up to the top of the … do tell more...
A Portrait A Week: 19/52
Photo: I took Mia to a local park for the first time last week. She's only a year old and most playgrounds I've seen so far are built for 2 year olds and older. There wasn't much for her to do there, but she enjoyed the new environment, the outdoors and sight seeing. Unfortunately there were no other young children there that day. Mia loves to socialize with other kids and I know she would have made some new friends had there been any to make. Maybe next time. "A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013." Don't forget to VOTE for us (once, daily). Only takes 2 clicks and sure does put a smile on our faces! … do tell more...
A Portrait A Week: 14-18/52
I'm embarrassed. I've dropped the ball on the weekly portrait project that I had been participating in for the year of 2013. I have been posting my favorite photo of my daughter, one for every week that passes, and stopped after week 13. So what? We're on week 19 now! I've missed 5 whole weeks (I'll be posting the 19th week separately). Mia's 1st birthday literally took all of my extra minutes in the day to plan and prepare for. So here I am now, playing catch-up on this fun little year long project. It's about dang time. A Portrait A Week: 14/52 This bunny headband lasted about 3.5 seconds before she pulled it off...and off it stayed. A Portrait A Week: 15/52 Here's a shot from Mia's DIY "smash cake" photo session I had put together in my backyard. She was a few weeks away from turning ONE. A Portrait A Week: 16/52 Get a load of Mia's juggling act in our backyard. She loves to play fetch with her dogs...at the same time. I just love ogling over her leg chubs! A Portrait A … do tell more...
Our little sunshine has turned ONE!
April 27, 2012 was the first day of the rest of my life. That was the day that life, as I knew it, would never be the same. I brought my little Mia into my world, and what a brighter world it has become because of her. She lights it up with the slightest of ease and I think that's pretty impressive. This past year has been full of firsts, full of what-the-heck-am-I-doing's, full of awe, full of pride and full of love. Oh yeah, and there was plenty of dirty diapers, screams, cries, fusses and sleepless nights...but who's counting. I wouldn't trade a day of it for nothin'. Anyways, I'd be happy to elaborate on the past year in a later post. Today, I'm simply announcing my daughter's first birthday and sharing with you the ever-so-popular "smash cake" photos I took of her a few weeks ago. Enjoy. I created this little amateur photo shoot right outside my back door in a covered patio area. I used an old white sheet to tape against the wall of our house and drape onto … do tell more...
Easy Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas {Recipe}
I love me some Mexican food. I should...I am 1/2 Mexican, after all. Makes sense then for me to try my hand at making a Mexican dish for dinner. This, by no means, is supposed to be an authentic recipe. But it's muy easy and oh so cheesy. Works for me. Follow along with the pictures to learn how to make these. Scroll down to the bottom for a printable version of the recipe and instructions. To get my shredded chicken, I baked a whole chicken in the oven. After it cooled, I shredded about half of it and saved the rest for leftover chicken sandwiches. You can pretty much add whatever ingredients you like. I added corn and a Mexican blend of shredded cheeses. It's not shown below, but I also added a small can of diced green chiles to give these an extra kick. Olives and chopped onions aren't a bad idea, either. This step is important (as I learned the hard way). The sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish will help to keep the enchiladas from sticking to the bottom … do tell more...
Recipes
Easy Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas {Recipe}
I love me some Mexican food. I should...I am 1/2 Mexican, after all. Makes sense then for me to try my hand at making a Mexican dish for dinner. This, by no means, is supposed to be an authentic recipe. But it's muy easy and oh so cheesy. Works for me. … do tell more...
DIY
Mia’s 1st Birthday Party {You Are My Sunshine Theme}
Here it is, the MOTHER of all blog posts! This one's a doozy. Get yourself a cup of coffee/tea or a refreshing cold drink (depending on the weather) and bask along with me in Mia's first birthday post. So you've already seen Mia's "smash cake" photo … do tell more...
My art lessons for kids
How To Draw A Nutcracker
In celebration of the holiday season upon us, I had my 2nd graders draw a nutcracker in my art class. Here are the steps we followed. Note that, of course, there are variations along the way. My students were given different options and ideas on how to … do tell more...
Product reviews
Art Today, Light Tonight! {DiaNoche Designs GIVEAWAY}
UPDATE: THIS GIVEAWAY IS CURRENTLY CLOSED I'm an art teacher so art is sorta my thing. I'm also into home decor and if my bank account was bigger, my home would certainly reflect that passion. So naturally, I'm just glowing over our latest sponsor's … do tell more...
