Fun Friday: Win Tickets to the Houston Children’s Festival!

Houston friends!

You have a chance to win, right here on my blog, 4 tickets to THE Largest Children’s Festival in the United States!!! (See Giveaway info below!)

If you’ve never been to the Houston Children’s Festival, it is so much fun! There are so many games, face painting (my daughter’s favorite), sports-themed activities (my son’s favorite), plus live music & performances!!

This year, I’m beyond excited because:

1) I’m a Disney freak of all things Disney. 🙂

2) One of Disney’s biggest stars right now (and another one of my kids’ favorites) will be at the Festival — DOVE CAMERON!!

In case you’re not into Disney as much as I am (I mean, as much as my kids are … ok, as much as I am…HA!), Dove Cameron is the star of the Disney Channel show “Liv and Maddie”and the Disney movie “Descendants” where she plays the daughter of Maleficent played by Kristin Chenoweth of Broadway fame (I’m a huge Broadway fan, too!) See why I’m just a tiny little bit RIDICULOUSLY excited?

(affiliate link*)

Dove is actually having huge success with her latest video, already at 10 million+ views! It’s the Descendants-themed cover of Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in a Bottle.” (Side note: As a relatively conservative mom, I appreciated that they kept this video on the clean side, including changing a lyric to “Gotta ask me the right way.” Thank you, Disney!)

Note: The Descendants photo is an affiliate link, which means, at no extra cost to you, I receive compensation if you make a purchase using the link.

 

But wait, there’s more! It’s not all about Disney (although I’d be happy with that!) If your kids love those dudes in a half-shell who crave pizza and have “Turtle Power,” they’re going to love this!

Imagine your kids watching as Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael get out of their “Turtle Van”and maybe even your kid’s favorite turtle WAVES at them or gives them a high-five???

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be at this year’s Houston Children’s Festival both days, April 23rd and 24th, meeting fans each day.

And as much mega-sized FUN as the Festival is, it’s much more than an event designed for kids to just have fun.

The Houston Children’s Festival really has a heart for kids.

For the past 27 years, the McDonald’s Houston Children’s Festival presented by Baker Hughes has raised over $5.2 million for Child Advocates, Inc.

If you’re not familiar with Child Advocates, they are an incredible organization, helping children in Foster Care who are victims of abuse and neglect. The number of reported cases of child abuse are tragically too high in Harris County. In 2013, it was a staggering 35,729 kids. That is inconceivable. Thank God for Child Advocates and the volunteers who look out for the best interests of these precious kids; those who become the one “constant” person the child can count on during difficult times.

I thank God that the Festival’s long-time support of Child Advocates is continuing in this 28th year. My prayer is that in 2016 and beyond even more children can receive the help and support they need to grow and thrive, knowing they are valuable and very loved. So when you go to the Festival, you know your support is helping change lives.

GIVEAWAY TIME!!! 

YOU can enter to win a family 4 pack of tickets to the Houston Children’s Festival!

You have until April 8th to enter and win. All you need to do is have a little fun with this Social Media Scavenger Hunt!

If you have a computer, phone or tablet, you’re almost there!

You have three things to hunt for and complete. The links below make it easy!

Once you visit each site (on your computer or with the apps on your phone or tablet), make sure you like or follow the Houston Children’s Festival pages.

1. Follow the Houston Children’s Festival on Instagram.
2. Follow the Houston Children’s Festival on Twitter
3. Like the Houston Children’s Festival Page on Facebook

One Final Step!

When you’re done, send me an e-mail to CoppeliaMarie (at) gmail (dot) com and let me know you did it! Please include your contact info (name, address, email, phone number). That way I can contact you if you are the winner of the Family 4 pack of tickets to the Festival!

(Note: I’m receiving products or compensation for this post. All opinions are mine.)

Have fun! And I hope to see you at the Festival!

~Coppelia

 

Celebrate Easter All Year Long!

I hope your Easter was filled with a lot of colorful, confetti-egg-filled fun. How about we keep it going all year?

One way we do it is with the Bible app for kids. Seriously, my kids ages 10 and 6 LOVE it!

It’s super cute (they ask for “cartoony Jesus”), and it’s interactive, too! You click through the stories on your phone or tablet and people move, you click on diamonds and surprise little things that pop up throughout (so-called Easter Eggs, as gamers call them).

The same people who put together our favorite Bible app for kids have an actual Bible you & your kids can enjoy 365 days a year, not just on Easter!

If you click on this Bible icon,  check it out and buy it, thank you! This is my affiliate link, which means purchases made here give me a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

Thanks and have an amazing, life-changing, fun and Happy Easter that lasts you all year! Jesus is Alive! He is Risen!

 

Love,

Coppe

Skate, Spin and Save on Spring Break (and beyond!)

If you happen to be on Spring Break like we are here in Houston, and you have kids who just want to have fun, check out these two fun activities (a free one & a cheap one).

I took my kids and we had a BLAST!
Let’s go with the FREE idea first:

Discovery Green has a really cool, interactive display called “Los Trompos” (The Spinning Tops).   

  
 We were there for about an hour, running around the park, spinning on “Los Trompos” and doing it over & over again!

My son was cracking up because he thought we were spinning on Trump-os! (not sure what to do with that political statement! Haha!)

Going to Discovery Green park in downtown Houston is free, but you might have to pay for parking.

Discovery Green is free & fun all year, but Los Trompos are only there through March 22nd. Go during the next few days so you don’t miss it!

The CHEAP idea was a Family Roller Skate Night at Humble Family Skate Center. 

I have to give a shout out to my friend Stacey who said it was just $1 to go in and $2 for skate rental (you can bring your own skates & make it even cheaper!) 

Our family joined my friend Stacey’s family. All together, our kids were ages 6 to 17 and everyone loved it! Even my two kids, the younger ones at 6 and 10 years old, who are still learning to skate,  laughed and fell and picked themselves up and at the end of the night, asked if we could do it again next week.

Turns out we can, because it looks like they have regular Dollar Nights every week!

 

I hope you have a great Spring Break! Share your own ideas below! I’d love to hear them!

Fun Friday: Rodeo, free Improv and more!

It’s FUN FRIDAY TIME!!!! Woohooo! This is the part where we have fun just because it’s Friday!

Last time, I shared some Livin’ La Vida Disney fun, thanks to my sister, Emille.

Today, just in case you have kids, a limited budget and some free time this weekend, there’s a TON of ideas for what to do in Houston (for all my local peeps) to fill the next few days with fun.

Every week, my friend Vicki Powers puts together a list of Free Weekend Fun on her site, Houston on the Cheap.  I love checking it out because I always find AMAZING things to do. For example, if you’ve never gone to the Downtown Rodeo Parade, it’s tomorrow, Saturday, February 27th. And it’s totally worth checking out the fun, especially if you love all things Western. Our family is still fairly new to Texas and the first time we experienced the parade, we couldn’t believe it! There were a TON of horses, actual cowboys & cowgirls and a true celebration of western heritage. Really fun!

Speaking of Westerns and Rodeos, my kids had Go Texan day at school today. They figured that meant sister got a horsey ride from big brother. Oh, brother!

He was even making horsey faces and sounds. YEEHAW, y’all!

Thankfully, I got a nice picture of the kids, too! Did I say nice? I meant funny.

I think this is as nice as it gets. Love it!! These two are something else!

Now, if Rodeo is not your thing, how about a free improv class? That always makes me think of the TV show “Whose Line is it Anyway?” Old favorite!

Or if you’re into Disney movies like me, (and my Livin’ La Vida Disney sister), and you heard they’re doing a remake of the 1977 Pete’s Dragon (which my sister and I were freaking out over because that’s one of our favorite childhood movies), you’re going to love this!

Tomorrow night, at Central Green Park, they’re showing the original 1977 classic Pete’s Dragon … and it’s a FREE Movie Night! (Again, thanks to Houston on the Cheap for all this amazing info!)

That’s just an idea of all the fun stuff you can do in Houston THIS weekend! Feel free to pass this along to someone who needs some ideas for free (or cheap) family fun!

~Coppe

(Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, I’ll receive compensation, at no extra cost to you!)

 

Passing Traditions on to the kids: Three Kings’ Day in Puerto Rico

Christmas never ends in Puerto Rico. Or so it seems, when it’s January 5th, and the anticipation is building for yet another highlight of the most wonderful time of the year: Three Kings’ Day!

Much like Christmas Day, Three Kings’ Day is an official holiday in Puerto Rico. On January 5th, like on December 24th, instead of leaving milk & cookies for Santa Claus (which we also do in Puerto Rico), kids leave shoeboxes filled with grass. Before you think “huh?!,” it’s for the Three Kings’ camels, as they travel to bring gold, myrrh and frankincense to baby Jesus. Along their journey, they stop to bring gifts to the little boys and girls who believe (and leave grass-filled shoeboxes.)

I loved this tradition as a little Latina girl, growing up in Puerto Rico. One special place I visited with my parents, sister and brother was “La Lomita de Los Vientos” (the little hill of the winds). It felt surreal to stand on that same lomita, but this time, I’m the parent bringing my kids. Crazy!

Across from the San Juan city Capitol building (which looked beautiful and Christmasy),

you might find a long line with people of all ages, and lots of families with kids, waiting to go in to La Lomita.

This photo opp near the entrance says “Let’s celebrate our traditions at the little hill of the winds.” That’s exactly what we were doing! Tradition!! (For some reason, I heard that in my mind in the style of Fiddler on the Roof! Ha!)

Seriously, I was giddy like a little kid, almost skipping up the lomita, Periscoping everything, while my husband reminded me that I should be enjoying the experience, not just “live broadcasting” it on Periscope for no one. I reminded him that I had over 100 viewers, but he had a point.

As we neared the first stop on the lomita, my daughter exclaimed, “Mom! His head is MOVING!” She was referring to the Angel Gabriel right in front of us. It turned out that they had living Manger scenes, and special moments from the story of Jesus’ birth, recreated by actors as you climbed up the hill.

By the time we got to see the living Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus (and the Three Kings, of course), I looked up and saw the Capitol right across from la lomita. That’s when I got a little teary-eyed.

In a time when there is so much manger and Christmas symbolism removal from government buildings, it was refreshing and inspiring to see freedom of religion ringing loud and clear in the capital city of San Juan, Puerto Rico. My island. What a blessing.

It definitely felt like a blessing to be able to pass on my favorite and most meaningful traditions and beliefs to my kids in such a wonderful way.

Travel goodies!

It caught my eye like an oasis in a germy desert. Did I just hit the health jackpot at the airport? 

  

I’m a mom of two, ages 9 & 6, trying to maneuver the three of us and our luggage through Bush airport in Houston, Texas. We are on our way to a little vacation to see the grandparents in Puerto Rico, when all of a sudden, I saw it!

I had heard and read a lot about The Honest Company, but had never been this impressed. They went through a lot of trouble to meet this reluctant mom where I was vulnerable–walking through a germy airport, trying to keep my kids healthy and away from getting coughed on by sick travelers.

I say I was reluctant, because when I buy products for my family, organic isn’t King. Convenience and “the best possible choice within the budget” reign.

But how cool that The Honest Company showed up with the coolest, most friendly-looking vending machine I have ever seen, almost as if to say, ” I know you’ve thought of trying our products, so we wanted to make it easier for you.”

I just wanted to say, thanks! 

The "Worst Disney Mom" made me get teary-eyed … in a good way!

I’m teary-eyed! 

I’m a sucker for all-things-Disney. Just tonight, I was searching for “Disney Mom Blogs” on the internet after watching a show on TV that had Disney Parks footage, and I found this post about the “World’s Worst Disney Mom”:

http://www.jennysimmons.com/blog/2014/05/07/worst-disney-world-mom-ever

It almost made me cry. But in a good way.

I have loved blogger Jenny Simmons since I first played her band, Addison Road’s songs on Air 1 radio when I was a DJ there, so it was fun to reconnect with her blog … even if she made me want to cry (you know, in a good way.)

We took our kids, ages 9 and 5 to Disney World for the first time this past January. My husband & I had honeymooned at Disney 11 years ago, so it was amazing to be back with our KIDS!! 

The grandparents (my in-laws) took us and, even though I tried to plan the trip as well as I could, I didn’t feel as “perfectly planned” as my Disney-loving sister. We both love Disney, but she’s way more organized & gifted as a planner. And she’d been with her family to Disney several times already. So I connected with Jenny on the “Worst Disney Mom” feeling.

The photos & comments at the end of Jenny’s blog post about the magical moments they had at Disney, in spite of her Disney Mom guilt & lack of planning, touched my heart because she made me remember our magical moments that we could never have orchestrated. 

I couldn’t stop thanking God for the little friend my daughter Allyson became instant BFF with in line for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. (This is her at Epcot’s Figment ride!)

I thanked God for how amazing it was that we stood right by “the real” Anna & Elsa (minus their costumes) for the Electrical Parade…and that they helped Allyson not worry about how loud the music would be. They also told us to yell “BANANAS” and wave at Cinderella … and she waved BACK! 

I thanked God for the fellow puertorrican dressed as a Jedi at Hollywood Studios, who helped make sure my son Christopher could get in the Jedi Academy. 

And there were MANY other magical moments that it would have been impossible to plan or arrange. So I just thanked God for them, since I believe every good gift comes from Him.

Now that I’m reliving all these magical moments, I’ll have to remember to blog about my first half marathon EVER, with my high school best friend & RunDisney veteran, Liliana. It was a dream come true, to run thru Epcot and the Magic Kingdom. That was Epic!! 

For now, I’ll just thank Jenny for that old blog post she wrote for me and any other moms feeling like we lack the skills to plan a magical Disney vacation. We don’t need to worry; the magic is already there, just waiting for us. 

Speaking of waiting, as I write and remember all of these wonderful, magical memories … I’m dreaming of our next magical carpet ride back to the Magic Kingdom. 

🎶 The dreams that you wish 

will come true!🎶

For Future Moms

Here’s a thought from my twenty-something self: 

“I’d love to be a mom … someday. Right now, though, I’m LOVING life! I’ve dated some nice guys, even though I’m not sure any of them are marriage material. Not there yet. But yeah, one day, I’d like to be a mom.”

This is my 20-something self with my sister & brother at his high school graduation:

   

Life was good! Things were fun! Wow, I looked skinny! But let’s fast forward a few years.

Now here’s a thought from my thirty-something self:

“I’m a wife, mom, crazy busy, trying to fit in workouts, worried that we eat out too much, taking the kids to the library, happy that they love to read, worried that they stare at screens too much, hoping I can love my kids well, and definitely always praying for them and praying for wisdom.”

This is me on my latest thirty-something birthday:

When I think about my adventures in motherhood, I look back and wonder how much heartache I could have avoided if someone had shared with me some “mothering secrets” when I was in my 20s.

My mom was a great example. And I certainly felt prepared to be a mom in many ways, thanks to her. 

But no one prepared me for what happens between “regular woman” and “woman who had a baby.” We’re talking body changes that happen when you’re pregnant, other changes after the baby’s born, arguments with your husband about co-sleeping, breastfeeding, c-sections, VBACs, etc.

No one prepared me for that because who thinks about that stuff when you’re enjoying college and dealing with life in your 20s?

Not even during pre-marital counseling do you really dive into the topic of “what happens when you become a mom.”  

We discussed whether we both wanted kids, budgeting, dealing with the in-laws, all good things, all good things.  😉

But it would be nice if someone warned husbands-to-be during premarital counseling that their wives-to-be can get CRAYYY–ZY when they’re pregnant. 

The struggle (and the cravings) are real.

It would also be nice for girls to be better prepared for all the challenges that lie ahead for those who will be moms.

I thought, it would be cool to share some of my hard earned “mothering secrets” with college-age girls who might want to be moms someday.

Needless to say, when I was invited to speak about “Mothering” at Sparkle, an awesome college girls Bible study at Second Baptist Church Woodway Campus, I jumped at the chance! 

What happened, however, was that I ended up with a message that spoke to me almost more than what I hoped to share with the girls.

I’m sharing that message here, because maybe, just maybe, what I felt God put on my heart might be the “mothering secret” that comes in handy for you later.

Since I was speaking at a Bible study, here are the verses that went along with the topic of Mothering:
 

Proverbs 31:26, 28

26“When she speaks, her words are wise,

and she gives instructions with kindness.”

28″Her children stand and bless her.

Her husband praises her…”

We’ll come back to those verses. First, I asked the college girls to think about their “Ideal Life Plan.”
 
At what age would you like to get married?
At what age would you like to have kids & become a mom?
Do you want to be a stay at home / work from home / work outside the home mom?
 

I thought I’d get married & have kids in my mid to late 20s. 

(Side note: My mom put A LOT of pressure on after I turned 24. Why 24? That was the age she had me! And why wasn’t I married already? I needed to start having kids. STAT!) 

Yeah, that was fun. 😉
 

A few years later, I met this guy named Adam in church & we totally hit if off … as friends. Our friendship grew. Then we really hit it off! ❤️💜❤️ He proposed (in a super romantic Christmas kind of way!) We got married and went to Disney on our honeymoon. #Magical

But remember that “Ideal Life Plan”? Unexpected changes can happen.

Our “Ideal Life Plan” was: 

Wedding/Honeymoon/New apartment/Wait 5 years/Have kids.

What actually happened was:

Wedding/Honeymoon/New apartment/brain tumor/job offer/healing/pregnancy/relocation.

Did you notice the “brain tumor” part? 

Yeah, that was totally unexpected. 

But during that unsettling time, I felt like God spoke to me through a journal where I had written down Deuteronomy 7:12-15 — 

12“If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he promised with an oath to your ancestors. 13He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. 14You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young. 15And the Lord will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all your enemies!”

I wrote that down in my journal, shortly after my new husband’s brain tumor surgery. We had appointments with oncologists and a neurosurgeon to follow up on a craniotomy and gamma knife surgeries.

Just a few short months after that, I re-read that journal and was blown away that God had not only healed Adam and given him a clean bill of health, but I was pregnant, we were relocating thanks to a new job offer that pretty much tripled (plus a bit extra) our current income … it was crazy!!!

I was like WHAT??? Thank you, LORD!!! Wow God!!

I was SUPER excited because I was going to be a MOM! 

Thank you, Lord, for “loving and blessing us and giving us many children!” (See Deuteronomy 7!) 

Ok, so we weren’t having many children yet. We were starting with the one. 🙂 

But I felt like this was a GREAT time in our lives to become parents. 

I was ready to be a mom. 

Adam and I both believed that God had spoken to us as we prayed through the brain tumor ordeal, the job offer, the relocation. We prayed, prayed, prayed, prayed and prayed some more.

We both had peace and saw God provide in miraculous ways. Everything we needed, God provided. When things went great and when the road got bumpy, we kept turning to the Lord, praying, and seeing Him move. 

We had moved away from family for our first baby. Yet somehow, with a new job in a new town and a new church, we ended up with THREE baby showers and surrounded by more love than we had ever expected from people who had been strangers just a few months before.

Wow God.

I was ready to go into labor and get this mom thing officially started. I couldn’t wait to meet my little boy, Christopher! Come on, already!!

But here comes the “Ideal Life Plan Can Get Messed Up” thing again.

Remember that the unexpected can happen? Yeah, my all-natural, beautiful, non-medicated, drug-free birth turned into an emergency c-section after about 26 hours of labor and a rush of medical people in our hospital room, frantically trying to find Christopher’s heartbeat and wondering why my blood pressure was dropping so low.

I was not ready to be a mom like that!

But there I was, shaking (cuz that happens after birth), trying to nurse my infant, recover from a c-section and start this “mom thing.” 

It was definitely a rocky start.

It felt like I kind of limped forward a little each day (when in my mind, I was going to kick off this new mom life with more of a joyful, glowing sprint.)

My hubby and I did our best. We prayed. We made mistakes. We tried again. We lost our temper. We forgave each other. We tried to stay close as a couple, at the same time that this adorable baby boy Christopher was consuming almost every waking moment! 

Since those early “first mom” days, God has blessed us with our daughter Allyson and I have continued to grow as a mom.

I wish my 20-something self knew then even a fraction of what would lie ahead; both the mom-things you can prepare for and how to deal with the unexpected.

I can’t go back in time and do that. 

But I did share with my Sparkle college girls.

(And since you’re reading my blog -thanks!- I’m sharing with you, too!)

The three most meaningful “mothering secrets” I have learned are:

1. Grow closer to God
2. Grow closer to your husband (2become1)
3. Build a strong community

This is where we revisit those Bible verses: Proverbs 31:26 and 28.
 
First, as you grow closer to God, you’ll find that the source of all Wisdom and Kindness loves you and is here with you. He can give you all the wisdom and kindness you need to be a mom.

Wisdom comes especially handy when it comes to making decisions like staying home with the baby or going back to work; what to do with your budget; etc…

Kindness is much needed, especially when you want to throw the remote control at that cute framed picture you hung on the wall because your precious little infant will not … stop…crying…and…you… can’t … take … it.

God can fill you with kindness when you need it most.

Second, as you grow closer to your husband, you will be stronger together to handle all the changes that come with being a mom (and being a dad!) 
 
Like God’s word tells us, a three-strand cord is not easily broken.

You’ll find, like Proverbs 31:28 says, as you grow closer to your hubby, you’ll discover that “her husband praises her” will be a dream come true. How could your future hubby not praise you, his wife, when you are a three-strand cord, not easily broken, and you are a godly woman, filled with God’s wisdom and kindness? It works!

Finally, as you build a strong community, you will find that being a mom is way better when you are surrounded by people who love you and your new little family.

Adam and I had moved from our home, Puerto Rico (where we had a seemingly endless supply of family and friends), to California (where we knew one family because they were friends with my sister.) That was it.

Surprisingly, in a short amount of time, I got to know my co-workers and we made amazing friends at our new church. 

Not only did we make new friends for life (and had built-in friends for playdates for Christopher through our friends’ kids), but we had support during the pregnancy (3 baby showers!) 

We also had help finding support to help me recover both physically and emotionally from a c-section through ICAN, the International Cesarean Awareness Network. (It really is a thing! And God used them to change my life.)

Another benefit of community is what Proverbs 31:28 says about how children will bless their mom.

It’s easy to see how your children will bless you as their mom when you build a loving, caring community for them. When you have people around you to gather and celebrate each other’s baby showers, births, birthdays … and you have people to help and pray for you when things get difficult, your children will bless you for that.

I wish someone had told me, when I was a college student, how hard some parts of mothering would be. Leaving your 6 WEEK old infant to go to back work was unbearable.

There are many parts of mothering that are hard. Really, really hard. 

Even now, I still regularly feel guilty. I feel like I’m not a good mom. Many moms feel that way (at least the ones I’ve talked to.)

But as I prepared to share about “mothering” with the awesome Sparkle Bible Study girls, I felt like God spoke to me. (I actually wasn’t expecting that!)

As I read Proverbs 31, prayed and sought God to see what HE wanted me to share, He left me with my jaw on the floor, as I realized that:

I have a husband who praises me.
My children bless me (they’re huge blessings!) 
I have wisdom on tap! (And I need it 24/7)
I’m growing in kindness more each day (and I need to keep growing)
 
And I have direct access to the source of everything I need. 

The amazing thing is, YOU can have all this, too.

As a Sparkle college girl, a future mom, a 20-something hopeful for the future, you can take those “mothering secrets” with you.

Grow closer to God each day.

Grow closer to your hubby (eventually.) 😉

And build a strong community of family and friends.

You will have what you will need as a mom. And for your life.

Thank You, Lord. 🙏🏻❤️

Mo-om, I’m Hun-gry!

Mom, we’re hungry!! My kids can get tired, sluggish, cranky & whiny if they get hungry. 

But you know what? I get worse than them!

(In this photo, we’re all happy, including my hubby. Ice cream always helps.) 🙂

I’m a breakfast/snack/lunch/snack/dinner/dessert person. They don’t have to be huge meals, but I need to eat something every few hours or CRANKY MOM comes out!!!

It was really cool this morning when I got the opportunity to share the Bible verse of the day with the kids & talk about hunger. 

When we get physically hungry, we can get all sorts of crazy. Pretty much the same thing happens when we get spiritually hungry.

We were able to pray that, just as we eat food every day (and we can be very thankful for the abundance of food that we enjoy), we also need to eat every day “bread of life and living water (reading the Bible, praying & abiding in Jesus!)

“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35 ESV)

Thank you, Lord, that when we come to you we don’t ever have to be hungry or thirsty again.

❤️Coppe

Rolling in the coaches t-shirt!

Today my 8 year old son Christopher made his first touchdown … during his first ever flag football game! 

Go Wolfpack!! 

I am a very proud and excited mom, but it’s not just because my little San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick superfan made a touchdown (wooohooo!!) It’s because this Upward flag football experience is giving him a level of bonding with his dad that I had never seen before.

Baby Christopher was my firstborn; a very sleepy, very smiley, very sweet, very mami’s boy. Like we say in Puerto Rico, “el nene de mama.”

In some ways, the way Christopher expressed his preference for mommy over daddy hurt my husband. I tried to explain that was in part because I was baby food for a number of months. 

(As a side note, breastfeeding was a wonderful bonding, healing experience, especially because after his birth I struggled with postpartum depression and returning to work was challenging. Nursing my baby helped me feel like I was truly caring for him in the best way possible, even while I was away.)

Regardless, it still bothered both my husband & me that Christopher wasn’t closer to him as a baby and as a toddler. Friends and counselors told us that eventually Christopher would have a great father/son relationship. 

So we waited. 

Adam bought Christopher Lego sets and they built them together.

Adam let Christopher watch part of the UFC fights that made mommy cringe.

Adam encouraged Christopher through years of taekwondo classes and belt tests all the way to the black belt he earned just a few months ago! 

And slowly but surely, daddy saw his son’s eyes turn to him wide with excitement. All of a sudden, Daddy was going to teach him all the fun boy stuff!! 

Daddy is the best buddy for football video games AND for playing football outside our apartment. Daddy couldn’t contain his excitement (or his wallet) when he signed Christopher up for flag football and ended up getting not just the cleats, but cool new socks, gloves, a new ball and a duffle bag! 

In just two weeks of practice and the very first game today, Christopher has gone from tv/video game football superfan, to going out on the field with Daddy as assistant coach and hustling his little heart out.

And to take it an extra yard or two, THIS happens:

Daddy got an official coach shirt! Adam is filling in for the coach next Saturday and Christopher’s reaction was so amazing, it inspired me to write this blog post.

Christopher grabbed Adam’s coach shirt, carefully laid it out on the bed, and called me to come see it. He ran his hands over it, showing off his Daddy’s Coach shirt with a deep sense of pride and admiration. He stretched it to take out the wrinkles. And then he laid down on it, almost snuggling as if it was a cozy blanket.

I needed to blog about this moment because it’s one of those as a mom I don’t want to forget.

The moment I saw Christopher laying on Daddy’s coach’s shirt was the moment I realized that this is just a glimpse of the life-long, incredible impact that his Daddy is having on him. 

I’m so thankful. I couldn’t ask for a better answer to prayer for my hubby and our son’s relationship than this beautiful football bonding. 🏈💙🏈💙

~Coppe