Claudia LOVES Okelani!

A preview of Claudia's Bat Mitzvah black and white pictures.
Desperate here to post them, but as always... good things take time and we just have to wait.

Avanzando

Another day... thank You Yeshua for making my days so special.
Every day that I can seek your mercy, forgiveness, love, wisdom and strength is another blessed day.

I love You Yeshua.
I love You Ruach HaKodesh
I love You HaShem.

As imperfect as I am, I truly love You.
You see my flaws and yet You love me right through them and take the time to correct me.
I'm still learning, and that's ok, I guess.
Not quite there yet, but definitely not where I was before.

Avanzando voy... como dice la cancion.
Poquito a poco, pero avanzando! Amen!

You are awesome my King!

Um...

Rice.
That's all I have to say.

Feeling blessed that we are Spanish/Caribbean Sephardic Jews.
Rice, beans, plantains and lots of veggies and fruits to ease the pain.

Who needs bread... right?

Beans and Matzah.
One gives you the runs and the other constipation.
What a perfect match.

L'Chaim!

Happy Pesach! Hoy es UNA NOCHE DIFERENTE!

Hag Sameach! Next year in Jerusalem!

Be'ahava,

Rose, Claudia and Ricardo!

My Bat Mitzvah Girl

All I have to say is that it turned out better than we expected. We had 15 guests in total and although small and intimate, it was beautiful in all of its simplicity.
Claudia was so happy! She just glowed. My parents bought her a Torah scroll and she was so excited! We did the ceremony as a family because Claudia's birthday always falls too close to Pesach, so synagogues are mega booked with special activities and churches are mega booked with Easter plans.
I have to say that the experience was so uplifting that we felt the presence of G-d so strong! Two people came to know the L-rd after Claudia's message, and wow! To think that G-d totally took over is just awesome!
Claudia preached about how ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they decide to follow G-d, and so her message was based on the story of Ruth.
It took her like a month to research and pray and ask me for a bit of help here and there, but she did most of it and frankly, it left us all in awe! Wow!
It was testimony after testimony and HaShem was glorified!
We had set a place for Him at our table, and we just knew that He was there in person.
The way everything turned out, G-d was in the center of it all! Hallelujah.
Dad cried... a lot, and after crying he decided to preach a sermon! I have it on video, but have not posted it yet. I will do that after Pesach.
G-d is awesome. Simply awesome!
My princess loved her Bat Mitzvah! I am such a proud mommy!

Okelani is Home! Yay!

Yes! She is here and Claudia is so happy! Okelani is still getting used to her surroundings, but she slept so good last night in Claudia's bed with Claudia! Those two have bonded quite well. Next week I have to take Okelani in for her shots and everything else that goes with that.



It was hard for her family to say goodbye... but Claudia will be taking her over there when she goes to visit with her friends Annyris and Jessica!

Maya says goodbye to her pup. Awww!!!

Full Schedule Ahead!

Wow!
Ok. Today is HAIR day.

Claudia and I have hair appointments with Rocio and we are on a mission!
First, while Claudia and Janielly hang out, I help Carmen out with something she needed done for today.
Then we take off from there and do a quick lunch, and finally get our hair done.
Holy cow...
We have a full schedule ahead!
Hallelujah! You are good to us HaShem! We love You Almighty G-d for You restore all things and  make ALL things GOOD!

Okelani is Coming Home Tomorrow! Yay!

Yay!
Rocio is giving Claudia one of Maya's puppies!
She is soooo ready to finally get her Shih tzu, oh my gosh.
I'd be surprised if Claudia gets any sleep tonight. She has been waiting for this puppy forever! LOL

It is Rocio's birthday gift for Claudia and wow, we just want to say THANK YOU so much Rocio and Jessica! You guys are awesome!

So as most of you know my parents and I went crazy getting her all the puppy stuff she needed. A puppy stroller, a puppy playpen (it's huge, but we'll take pictures of her in it tomorrow) and all the other fun stuff that comes with being a new pet owner!

Check it out! Is she ready for her new puppy or what? LOL!

Up and Outta Here!

It's almost 5:30 a.m. and I am already up, ready for breakfast and ready for work. Gotta go teach a class in Kissimmee today.

Yawn.

Alrighty then!

Thank You G-d for a new day and for Your BLESSINGS! :-)

USGS for April 13, 2012

This has been going on since 2 a.m. All I want to do is bring my brother, his wife and kids to Florida, but my brother wears many hats. He is a missionary, a soldier, a business owner...
They just bought the most beautiful house and he is not about to leave everything and come here.

Dear L-rd, please be with Your people and protect them.
Protect my family Abba.
In the name of Yeshua HaMashiach, amen.

Dear Claudia

Happy Birthday.

I love you. You have taken my heart to places it never knew before.
My whole life changed for the better because of you and I am proud to call you my daughter.

Ye'simech Elohim ke-Sarah, Rivka, Rachel ve-Leah.
Yevarech'echa Adonai ve-yish'merecha.
Ya'eir Adonai panav eilecha viy-chuneka.
Yisa Adonai eilecha, ve-yaseim lecha shalom.


Te amo!

Mommy

This is What a Bat Mitzvah Is

People can do all the Sweet 16's and quinceaneros they want... but Claudia agrees with me. She wouldn't trade her Bat Mitzvah for anything that resembles a secular festivity. Even some Bat Mitzvahs have become just that. Of course, this is because of secular Jews who only show up at temple during High Holidays.
You can introduce a girl to society at the age of 15 or 16, but when you introduce a 12 year old girl to G-d's commandments and to the responsibilities that go with that, the end result is the biggest blessing ever.

It's About Him

It will be an intimate family celebration, so although small, it will be very special.
We will be thanking G-d for Claudia's 12 years.
It will be a night of praise and worship, prayer, blessings and great food!
Most of all, it will be a night when we re-dedicate Claudia to the L-rd.
With G-d as our guest of honor for this special occasion, I know that it will be memorable for her.

She will read a portion of the Torah, and she will preach about memorable women in the Bible, such as Ruth, Hannah and Esther. Then she will read her letter of gratitude to G-d.
She has been working on it for the past few days, and I know that Claudia has a lot to thank G-d for.
Claudia's Hebrew name is Ayelet, which means "musical instrument," as in Psalms 22:1 and I'll be talking a bit about that.
As Messianic Jews we will also be taking "santa cena" at home as a family. Most Messianic Jews do this, and we are not the exception. As part of this celebration we simply cannot leave out the importance of Yeshua's sacrifice, and Claudia needs to understand the importance of what He did for us.
Then of course prayer will follow, along with blessings and dinner.
This is not about how pretty or perfect, or fancy or expensive it all turns out to be. Of course we have strived to give her a memorable evening and I did save myself a great deal of money thanks to G-d's unfailing wisdom.
However, this is about Claudia's heavenly Abba and about her current and future reltionship with Him.
It's about teaching her how to place G-d first in her life.

While other people focus on parties, dj's and big events with lots of guests, we wanted to put our focus on what's really important. Of course, after this dinner, once Pesach is over, Claudia will have the opportunity to have a blast with her friends at a waterpark resort in Orlando, which I think is way more fun! It will be an awesome pajama party for Claudia, her friends and of course, for us moms too!
Our priority right now?
HaShem.
For who would we be without Him?
Teaching never stops and even through a celebration we choose to teach the children in our family that their special day is not entirely about them, but also about the One who made it all possible.

Wow. I praise Him for my children.
I praise Him for the opportunity to honor Him through them.
G-d, we love You.
We will set a place for You at our table...
Thank You so much for Claudia's 12 wonderful years!

"If a man says, I love G-d, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love G-d whom he hath not seen"  And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth G-d love his brother also."

1 John 4:20-21

Visual Styles

Choosing "pic styles" for Claudia's birthday has proven to be a bit of a challenge. My sweet daughter is into her "classic retro mode.

Therefore she has requested that all of her pictures be in black and white.
Of course, this decision of hers had me pulling my hairs out of my head, because a Spring birthday is colorful and full of life! To take black and white pictures would be to literally "kill" the momentum.

Well, thanks to the digital era, we were able to compromise.

She can have her black and white pics once they have been edited, and I can have my colorful ones! Yay!.

We are going retro either way. The color technique we requested is known as vintage style. The pictures are supposed to look as though they were taken back in the 70's. Therefore they will be more fuzzy than sharp, more worn out than anything.

This is the Weekend to Relax!

With Claudia's birthday next week, this is the weekend to relax!

I still have not ordered the wine. Oy.

Ok. Let me go ahead and do that. They have a really good winery here in Central Florida. Just need to make sure that they have what I want. If not, I suppose that any light and fruity blush wine will do.

Holy cow. Look at the time! Gotta make lunch!

The Government IS BROKE! Why Should Our Troops Pay the Price?

Well, this is where we know that the worst to come has begun.
As all these events unfold before us, we need to cling on to G-d.

HOW DARE HE (President Obama) threaten to veto a bill to fund the troops?
How DARE HE?
Shame on him! Shame on him for daring to do such a thing!

Dear Government and Dear President,
If you feel the need to stop paying our military personnel, then I think you should feel the need to stop paying yourselves. I'd like to see you support your family without a pay check! By the way, maybe if you take your pay check down to less than $100K it would help some of the budget issues in America. I'd like to see you survive on enlisted military personnel pay!

Cheeseburgers for Lunch

Everybody eats lunch in the lanai when it's nice and sunny! See those tomatoes? They were from our garden and were super delicious!!! Yum!

Claudia's Necklace

Well, here it is! Claudia designed it with help from her friend Annyris, and Diana Crockett custom created it! It's sooooo pretty and it comes with a matching bracelet! It's only missing the star of David in the center, but that will be placed on later. The flowers appear larger than they really are. They are small and delicate and she made them out of crystal. The yellowish stones are actually very small tiger eyes.
Awesome piece of work! Diana Crockett is the best when it comes to customized jewelery.

Splash Time After Homeschool!

Yeah, it was that kind of day today! He he he he! FUN!!!!!
From the last picture you can probably gather that Ricardo almost gave me a heart attack... but after giving him the "eye" he was clear about NO back flips on the shallow end of the pool. :-)
I freaked out... but you can clearly see Claudia freaking out even more in the background! LOL

Shine Where You Are!

Wherever I go and no matter what I am doing during the day, G-d always opens a door for me to minister to someone!
Somehow I end up praying for them whether at a store, or over the phone, or online... everyday it's someone new!
Time really flies when you are busy doing what G-d has asked you to do.

My abuelita always told me that we have to shine for G-d right where we are!
Hallelujah!

Well, let's keep shining for His glory!

Look At This Pic

Remember how a couple of days ago I posted another map and said that there is way too much pressure on either side of the fault above PR? Well, here is another pic, this one from today.
Just finished talking to my brother. There were almost 40 tremors along the north last night and it's still going on.

The fact that they are to the north out at sea really gives me the creeps. That can only mean that if the fault gives, the potential for a tsunami is extremely high.
People in Puerto Rico are not ready for what's coming.
They really aren't.
L-rd, I pray that You please protect your people from what is about to take place. Please put your angels around them and keep them from harm.
In the name of Yeshua HaMashiach, amen.

Enrique told me that he might make it for Claudia's birthday. That would be awesome! I pray that he does. I pray that they ALL do.

Menu (Continued)

Ok.
So here is the menu...finally! 
No hors d'oeuvres (appetizers)! This is fine dining, not the 4th of July.
Appetizers are meant for six to eight hour events where people need a snack to hold them until the meal is served.
With an event that will take less than four hours, all you need is soup or salad to get started so that you don't spoil your appetite and feel stuffed halfway through the meal. In our case, we opted for salad. This is followed by the main course, and finally at the end we have tea with very light sandwiches, mini pastries or a light fruit tart to satisfy our craving for something sweet. Nothing too heavy. Tea helps settle the stomach after a delicious meal, especially in the late evening hours.

We are Jewish... so while the kids have a nice glass of sparkling grape juice (red or white), the adults in the house will enjoy a glass or two of Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé WITH our meal.  That's our limit since wine is a flavor enhancer not intended to be taken in excess. A lot of people out there have no clue that wine contains medicinal properties. Wine contains resveratrol and polyphenol which have been found to fight cancer, lower cholesterol and even reduce the pain of arthritis.  When taken in moderation, it does the body good! Yeshua Himself drank wine... and I'm sure that He never got tipsy. Moderation is the key. A glass or two on special occasions.

Salad: Strawberry-avocado spinach salad with poppyseed dressing. Yum!

For the kids if they don't feel like spinach... FRUIT! This is how it will be served. Fun, right?

Main Dish (Two options will be offered)

Option 1: Filet Mignon

Option 2: Grilled Mediterranean fish

Both will be served with lemon-herb roasted potatoes and grilled asparagus, (with a side of chimichurri sauce for the filet mignon, and a side of lemon sauce for the fish).


Dessert/Tea Time

We like to have tea time after dinner, so tea cucumber sandwiches will be served along with a delectable lemon tart, cheese pastries and of course, Claudia's cupcakes!

Tea Flavors: We will have several options to choose from. All will be fruity herbal teas.

 Planning is DONE, and the order is in! Claudia wants filet mignon, we'll give her filet mignon! LOL

Menu

Me: Claudia, we are special ordering your menu. What would you like the main entree to be?

Claudia: Filet Mignon

Me: Ok... I thought we were doing the Mediterranean thing.

Claudia: Yes, but we need two options. Not everybody is going to eat Mediterranean. Sooooo we can special order Filet Mignon AND grilled Mediterranean fish with aged sherry-vinegar-tarragon vinaigrette.

Me: Huh? Say whaaaaat? Says who????

Claudia: Bobby Flay

Me: (Deep sigh, moving my hands like I'm Italian)... and who is that?

Claudia: "Food Network Mom ... Food Network!"

Me: "Ok. I'll go grab a knife and you go get the fishing rod. While I kill the neighbor's cow, you can go to the lake and catch some fish! I'm on a budget here!!!"

See This Picture?

This picture tells me that something is about to go down. There is pressure on both sides of the fault... and it's about to jolt.
Let me call my brother.
I hope I'm wrong... but I seriously don't like the look of it.
I give it a month... maybe less.

People in PR are not ready.
They just aren't.

REALLY OLD Pictures of My Family

Here they are... my beautiful aunts, my handsome uncles, my dad, my grandpa, and my gorgeous grandmother!
My abuelita is already in her mid 90's and very well alive. We still have her with us and she is still very beautiful, but wow! She was something else in her days! My grandpa's favorite pastime was taking pictures of her! LOL!
She is my dad's mom and I named my daughter after her... Claudia.

This first one is a picture of my grandparents and my uncles.

This second picture is my daddy!!!!

This is my uncle! He is not that serious... trust me!

This is my uncle David

Another uncle.

Table Setting TEST RUN

Ok. So this is just a test run and we have decided to NOT use the plaid table cloth because it looks way too busy. For a spring birthday theme it's ok, but I have a problem with it. Mom and I both agree that the plaid is a bit too much. We might end up using it as a table runner instead. The silverware needs to sparkle and so do the wine glasses, but we will do that later. We have to use a special liquid they sell for that.

Ok. So this is a brief preview. The luminaries need to be redone, because I worked on those very fast just to get a "feel" of what they will look like. Nothing on this picture is officially glued or cut out the right way... this is just for preview only. I just noticed that the forks are not set the right way. The salad fork needs to be on the outside... oy!
Anyways, as long as we can find a LIME green table cloth, we should be ok :)
Now we have to figure out the tea set.

This will all take place at night since it will be a candle light dinner, and I still have to work on the menu cards.
My brain is fried right now, but it is slowly coming along praise G-d!

It is simple and that is how she likes it. :) It's delicate "French country" for my Claudia's Spring birthday!

UPDATE:

Too many people emailed me to tell me that they LOVE the plaid.
Claudia likes it too.
My friend Leslie made a suggestion regarding the napkin fold and I love it.
This is how it will look...

Change of Plans

Oy! No Sea World.
That place is mad crazy today, and I am not feeling very well.
Maybe I'll just take the kiddos to a nice restaurant.

Ha ha ha!
They are reading as I write! LOL!
They REALLY like that idea.

My kids love Sea World, but not when it's so crowded that they can't even go on anything.

Ok then. This evening we are off to a nice restaurant.
Then we come home to watch the Kid's Choice Awards!

It Feels Like a Sea World Day

Today feels like a Sea World day to me...

It's our favorite Shabbat hang out.
We don't pay to go in or for parking (annual passes) and we don't pay to eat (owed perks from my hospitality work days), so technically speaking we still observe Shabbat while having fun!

A very popular singer by the name of Ednita Nazario will be performing there today, so the place will be pure chaos. I think that we'll probably just hang out on the opposite side of wherever that takes place in the p ark. LOL.

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings:  That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of G-d, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world."

Philippians 2:14-15

Friendship

There is nothing better than spending time with good friends!
I have laughed my head off today.

To my dear friends who have given me a super awesome afternoon... YOU ROCK!
Happy times!

LOL!

Tornado Time!

It is raining cats and dogs... and tornadoes and lightning!!!!
Gosh.
We have a tornado right here in Poinciana like RIGHT NOW, so the kids are in their designated "safe" area, playing games and singing songs.

G-d is L-rd of the weather too! So He takes good care of us.

Story Time

He is eight years old and one of his favorite things to do is go over his dictionary.
It varies though.
One night he reads about dinosaurs.
Another night he reads about reptiles.
After that he goes back to the dictionary.
Then it's ocean creatures.
(Yawn)
Then it's back to the dictionary again...

Yeah.
(Yawn)
I usually fall asleep before he is done with story time.
Tonight he is telling me all about the Roman coliseum.

Pretty brutal stuff. LOL! I loooooove my amazingly smart little boy!!!!

We Are All "Tangled"!

The kids and I are watching "Tangled"!
It's family movie afternoon, and this movie is soooooo cute!
Loving it.
While the kids laugh bunches, I rejoice in knowing that G-d's joy can be found even in the simplest of moments.
To watch them laugh like that is MY favorite part of the movie. :D
The horse is so hysterically funny! Maximus rocks!!!!