Mexico's Day of the Dead

Día de los Muertos is not Halloween but a chance to honor the dead. I remember the first time I took Justin to a graveyard to hand out flowers. He was almost a year old. You won't find me in a graveyard the whole year but on Día de los Muertos. November 1 honors departed children and November 2 honors adults. I started believing in this Holiday for one reason in hope I would find comfort in losing my baby before Justin. Not looking at death in a negative way helped me become a better mother to Justin.  I have celebrated this Holiday every year since. It took some convincing on my part with my hubby as he didn't see a point and thought it was silly. We took our boys to hand out flowers on graves on Halloween before we headed home. To wish the dead a happy stay as they visit their love ones. 

This year was Christopher's first time. I waited with him because he is emotional child sometimes. He did very well. I have never cooked for a particular person. I have always just put flowers down.  I may not know them but at least they know someone cares. 

This year we picked a section that looked like a whole family was laid to rest here in the above picture. We came across a mother and child grave. Life cannot exist without death. It may be sad at times. Looking for a positive in death will help you survive another day.  Live life to the fullest because tomorrow is never promised.

Making my own schedule

I have been working on my own for awhile now taking pictures. I love taking pictures. It's fun to just capture Life as it is. No direction just letting it move as it does daily.  Here are a few pieces of my art.

I'm in heaven when I'm at the beach it's a strong calling. I took the family to the beach to watch the sunrise. It was beautiful in every way possible. The way the light hit the water as the sky opens up.

I simply adore my family! I think this will be our Christmas card picture. It's a classic everything in the picture is working. The light hitting the water everyone is smiling. My family is the object of my affection. I love to make them the center of most of my pictures. 

My hubby is stunning in this picture I was able to capture of him. He is not a picture kind of person but I think he is getting use to me taking his pictures all the time. Please tell me what you think. 

Small deeds make a huge impact

The other day we went grocery shopping Justin started collecting carts. Taking them back into the store. This summer we ran into a lot of people hitchhiking standing outside stores that we ended up giving money to. There is a hotel that is run down and left to rot away near our house. My son asked if we could buy it to let the homeless live there. His thought is they could pay rent by up keeping the place. He wants to do things that would make a person smile. It's a great idea I'm not sure if we are able to do that right now. I will be checking into it. It's definitely a good thought to keep in mind. He is collecting dog and cat food right now for the shelter we donate to. He loves animals. 

We are collecting blankets , food, treats, cat litter, anything you can think of right now. 

#40daysofgenerosity

It's not hard to make a person smile. 

Small things will make a huge difference.

We as a family try to do something for someone else everyday. We love helping people. It warms my heart that my children are now thinking on their own what to do. 

What can you do to help? 

It's been awhile

I'm simply astounded by Justin's new found family he has in his wrestling team. They are a group of very talented young men in the making. They support each other. They never give up on themselves or the team. The Vipers are a family.

This is by far the cheapest sport Justin has ever played since he was four years old. The kicker is  he loves it. Which is great no matter the price of any sport. We have always encourage him to follow his heart. I just think now he has found something he really likes.

I was a little concern for Justin since he is not aggressive person by nature. He is a happy go lucky all sunshine and rainbows kind of person. He still is that way even with wrestling but I think he has found his place. I can't tell you how much that makes me happy now excited that these boys on his team are so nice. Talking to his Coach and wife the team is really a family. They look out for each other. They have help a few boys coming into the high school showing them around even sticking up for them with bullies. Most of all that just blows me away with this group of young men is they so young full of life. They won't let anyone fall. I hope they stay that way as life throws bricks in their way. I do wish more of the parents were involved with their kids life. They are really good at their craft. 

Justin did very well on his first tournament he won. 

All the boys did great. I have some learning to do since I have no idea how they keep score. Palm Bay is Saturday. We are looking forward to it win or lose I don't care as long as he has fun doing whatever he wants. If it brings a smile like the above picture I'm all for it. Even if I have to smell body odor that makes me hold my breath. 

Turning 5

Happy Birthday my little one you are five today. You woke up this morning singing Happy Birthday to your self. You are amazing in every way. I love your smile. Today is a big day.

We celebrated Christopher birthday last Sunday. We had an awesome turn out with 20 kids who showed up from school,T-ball practice the YMCA and story-time. He is loved by many. I'm so glad it didn't rain for our bounce house. My house is small for that many kids. He wanted all of them to stay over for a sleep over. I don't know where I would even put them. Christopher had a blast his first birthday party since we left Michigan. Up until now we have taken the kids to Disney, water parks whatever they wanted. I think he really liked having a party so much that we forgot to bring out the pinata that is filled with six pounds of candy. We are taking it to T-Ball practice tonight. My baby is growing up so fast. I love your face. You are funny, creative and just adorable. Happy Birthday!!!