oct 3

having a new baby  is no joke especially if one already have a big family. I rearranged my scheduled to fit our new life. Last year I was taken the girls to music three to four times a week this year it will be twice a week, I am trying my best not to over schedule, I don't want to burn out.I also don't want to neglect my house by not keeping a clean organize home. there was a time that we had an outside activity everyday between tennis,gymnastic ballet and lets not forget trips my home was a nasty mess .piles of clothes everywhere ,piles of dirty dishes in my sink ,dirty floors,dirty rooms. Even the girls fell behind in every subject. I must  admit it was fun rushing in and out , the experience was a good one to have. But do I want to go back to chaos? NO definitely a fat NO. I like balance,  I don't like rushing and I hate rush hour . it was  not easy to travel with that much kids in an overcrowded train with rude people .

My goal for this year is to establish a routine  , I want to teach my girls good habits, like make your bed when you wake up ,change your pajamas,  get ready for the day.
I want the girls to follow a schedule wake up at 6 am ,get ready for the day , eat breakfast, do your academic without complaining or whining.

homeschooling this much kids mean that your child will be teaching herself , which in my opinion is important. I give them a strong foundation on reading ,math  and writing  for they could eventually could pick up a textbook and teach themselves  . I wont spoon feeding every information. being  part of a big family means that you will become independent  and responsible for your own learning early than other kids.


My husband have a way with our babies, he will almost always make them smile and laugh. .. Today he made Asanti smile , I  rush to get my camera but after the camera was turn on she will not smile .... boohoo., but it was nice to capture daddy with her little girl. I will try to post the video tomorrow.

oct 2,2013

Raising six will now change to raising seven, yeah that's right ! My family is bigger and better.
lets welcome my baby girl Asanti.
On August 8,2013 I walk in the hospital  with labor pains I was convince that this was it ,but it wasn't the doctor send me back home because I was only 3 cm open and only 36 weeks. My husband when to work and I stood home with my other 6 kids and my mother that took a day off from work to help me. there I was with pain that will go and come, I was crying because the nurses from the hospital told me that it was early that it might be two more weeks before I actually give birth, those words hunt me , how can I stay two weeks with pain....how? . There were wrong,thanks God! . At home my labor pain became stronger, I walk back and forth, I squat with every contractions ,I belly dance through my pain ,I breathe deep in filling my belly like if it was a balloon. there was time that couldn't keep control and I will lose myself in the pain and panic ,but God must be there for me because somehow I put myself together. This was the first time that I labor by myself , my husband always been there for me, I was angry that he when to work and left me with pains ,but I understand that it was a must since days before he took a day off  because I was feeling contraction,but that led to nothing . This was the first time that I was active in my labor not just laying in a hospital bed waiting for the cervix to reach 10 cm.
When I couldn't stand the pain any longer I call hubby to come home  I let him know that this was the real deal. By the time he came I was crying ,sweating ,trembling and scared. My daughter and mom help me go down to the street to meet him since I could hardly walk ,there he  was my hero , he was waiting outside with a taxi to rush me to the hospital.
The ride was the most exciting ,crazy experience of my life, I was screaming because the pain was unbearable , I though that the baby was going to pop out right there inside the taxi, the taxi driver was scared he eventually pass all the red light to rush me to the hospital . Finally we arrive at the hospital ,a man that heard me scream and heard the taxi driver scream "emergency" came to help me with a wheelchair my husband pull me out of the taxi rush me inside the hospital to the labor  floor ,nurses and doctor approach me with stupid question ,Okay they wasn't stupid questions, but I  really  didn't even had the energy to talk . Nurses rush me to the labor room pulling my pants off and shirt, lay me on bed , the doctor  put on his gloves and check me , and this are the words that bring me back  ,"she is 10cm" Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah! to me that meant the end all I needed to do was push, which I did 3 push and the Baby was born at 6:30 pm .This experience was the most empowerful experience I ever had . I labor by myself ,I was strong ,I was in control, been active  in labor  was the best.
Thank you God ,my husband and my beautiful daughter carmen who was sitting next to me in the taxi hearing me scream and holding my hands. sorry you couldn't come in to see your sister been born ,next time.

Today was a busy day , I started our homeschooling lessons with sarai aged 6 , we started with handwriting ,I am teaching her to write cursive , after handwriting we did math ,I am currently not following any curriculum this year goal for her will be for her to memorize all her math facts (addition,subtraction, multiplication,division). After math was reading ,she did indenpent reading then we read a book together.

Sarai is a very smart girl she is doing great on her reading and Hopefully she become a book lover.
Many times i feel sad and overwhelmed with the fact that i constantly feel like the girls are behind and I feel anxious to rush through materials. which is always a huge mistake. I just end being overwork and moody.
I just have to keep reminding myself that slow and steady wins the race.


Kenia (aged 8)is progressing slowly with her reading ,she is deff not at grade level which makes me feel horrible . since I am her teacher i cant blame anyone but myself.
even though her reading skill need improvement ,I must be proud of her for her math skills, she is doing great! . I am using saxon 5/4 . at the beginning of each lesson she gets a drill page of 100 addition facts she get 5 min to complete this sheet. I put on my stopwatch and she work the problem as fast as she can,unfortunately she haven't been able to finish the drill in 5 min .I am confident that she will soon.
She also did about 2hr of reading and practice her handwriting.


Eva did a lesson at readingbear.org . This is an excellence website to learn how to read phonetically . I also when to starfall.com  and we read Zac the rat.
I also using a Glenn doman method of reading with her which is the whole -word method. I believe both method are needed to be a great reader.
I know there is many arguments regarding which method is best. My thought are they both  good.

Noah who is 14 month old,I  do Little reader twice a day in English and Spanish and wink to learn Chinese twice a day. he knows many of his body part and understand both English and Spanish and some mandarin( which the older girls teach him)

I wish there was more hours in a day for I could keep enjoying my babies.

saturday. sept 1

8:14 am I heard my cell phone ring,it was my mom , she told me that my brother was on his way for I could take them to home depot workshop. I stand up ,it felt like all the gravity of the world was pushing me down how I wish i could sleep late.  But when you are a mom of 6 that is just a wish .

rush the girls to get dress ,get Noah dress ,get Eva dress , argue with carmen to hurry up, asked the girls to comb their hair ,comb eva hair. finally we are all out of the door.

walk to the mall , before heading to homedepot I made a stop at payless shoes b/c i left noah sandals at the beach yesterday, to my surprise payless shoes are close look at their scheduled that was posted on their window ,look down to sat ,they open at 10.
It now 9:30 ,hey I am not going to stand there and wait so I just when straight to home depot. The kids build a  gol post ,it was easy. while they was building I try to calm Noah down who wanted to walk  but I couldn't let him because he was barefooted.

I remember That I have to talk to Noah if I want him to talk, so I walk around showing him the different plants ,talking to him about the colors of the flowers the leaf size , show him and talking even about photosynthesis.

After the girls finish building their project we  went to the running track ,I sign up K,S and E to soccer, which start sept 15. They said they will call me if there is space for them. The girls also play with this kid that live in my building and that we just found out that he get homeschool ,we were all happy to find another homeschooler. Until they interact with the boy and notice that the boy is not nice,
I guess not all homeschoolers are nice.

Noah got his first haircut, my hubby try to give him a decent haircut but he kept moving,crying ,screamming . I wonder how barbers deal with kids this young ........maybe they give them a lollipop.
the girls said that he looks like Moe from the three stooges....lol

bye bye beach

This summer was great, I saw my girls laughing ,smiling,running playing and being free.
Of course there was also the negative, fighting ,complaining ,crying and them being unsatisfied , but overall it was great.

Today i took them to coney island for  them to said goodbye to the beach ,the last day until next summer.

My lazy spirit didn't want to go through the hassle of taking the train and packing snacks or getting dirty with sand,but I am glad I did.

seeing my girls and my baby Noah playing with the sand walking to the water, looking for shells it was worthy.
when we starting going to the beach Noah would run away from the  water ,but today he walk toward the water even letting the wave land on his beautiful toes he even grab my hand and gesture for me to take him in. once we were in he got scared, I just carry him and try to make him feel safe ,I jump in and out of the water which he thought it was hilarious . He play peek boo with his sisters,  Kenia will go in the water them pop out he love that.

Eva mi gordita enjoyed getting wet ,playing with sand finding different shapes of shells.

In our way back home Eva took the towel to cover herself  because she was cold then sarai ask her to share the towel because she was also cold but eva refused to .
moments later sarai fell asleep and Eva tuck her in with some of her towel. sweet.


I guess no matter how much they fight they still love each other and will take care of one another.

THE BOTANICAL GARDEN ROCKS!!!!!!!

Last Friday we went to the Botanical Garden with my friend D who also homeschool her daughter.We had such a great time ,First we went to the family garden,the family garden offer so many activities after 1:30 pm ,you guys should really check them out. first activity was the worm station, Eva love this! i mean she really really love this that's all she did the whole time we were there..LOL . second activity was harvest station, the girls planted lettuces and learn to identify weeds. They even got to take home carrots,beans and cucumbers. They also learn about Native American, Lenape.The girls made a husk doll and saw a wigwam .

After that we went to the children garden and the learning center ,and guess what ,they did more educational activities. they did a mini book about their favorite fruits ,and each of them got a strawberry plant to take home.

Oh did I mentioned that the weather was wonderful!!

Happy Moments

I am soooo Happy! On July,I applied for a scholarship for Tania to continue her gymnastic training . Last week I received a letter from Chelsea Pier, congratulating me about the scholarship that they approved for Tania . I couldn't believe it, I was jumping up &down , I was filled with joy. I Thanks God for this opportunity ,without the scholarship Tania wouldn't be able to continue her journey.It is hard to tell a kid that they no longer will continue what they love because of Money.

This morning , I pulled kenia tooth out , it was wiggling for over a month. Kenia was really brave about the pulling,but afterward she told me she never want another loose tooth.....LOL

K posing for daddy.

Carmen is really proud about her little buddy. Since she proof to Daddy and mommy that she could take care of this little fellow. We have decided to buy her a plant.