Sparkles – Page 2

Keeping CHRIST in Christmas

December 23, 2011 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: {phfr}, Christmas, Nativity, Picture Recap, Sparkles

Sparkles and I recently visited her Godparents (Nino & Nina). It’s a trip we love taking every year during Advent. Nina always displays the most wonderful, holy Christmas displays. The entire gang wasn’t able to join us this year but we didn’t want them to go without, so we took some pictures to share with them. Here are a few Nina’s glorious treasures that Sparkles selected to photograph and share.

Merry CHRISTmas!

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{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~ Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

eight

May 28, 2011 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Birthday, Sparkles

Sparkles turned 8 on May 18. She had been planning her birthday party since she turned seven. She went into full gear in January. Papa and Nana got word of her plans and decided to make her wish come true.

Sparkles invited a few friends and her cousins. I had to significantly cut her long guest list. I’m afraid that Papa and Nana would of needed to take a second mortgage on their home just to cater to Sparkles initial guest list. She didn’t mind one bit. Sparkles was beyond excited to be able to share her big day with others.

She worked on finalizing her invitations in February. Sadly, they didn’t get out since we misplaced them. That’s why I like waiting till the last min. ;-) She did managed to decorate the house. The chalkboards were my favorite creations.

Here are the goodie buckets that she put together.

Sparkles even created her own cake. She requested a chocolate cake with cream puffs and chocolate dipped strawberries. I was delighted to fulfill her request since it reminded me of my favorite cake, Buddy’s Cream Puff Cake.

We headed to her requested destination. The kids ate and played for two hours. Oh, I almost forgot, they watched T.V. It was the funniest thing. The dinning room that Sparkles chose had a T.V. showing classic cartoons. You could definitely tell that the girls do not get the average fix of TV viewing, they were glued to the screen.

The girls moved to the arcade area after lunch. They had a whirlwind of a time. The place was pratically empty. That’s a perk of homeschoolig.

Sparkles and her friends returned home for some free time.

They opened presents.

They jumped on the trampoline.

They played charades.

They ate more pizza.

They sang happy birthday and enjoyed cake and strawberry ice-cream.

Sparkles was graced by her friend C’s joyfilled version of Happy Birthday.

You have to listen to the video in it’s entirety.

Then they played outside some more.

The girls ate plenty of candy and ran all over the house throughout their various sessions of fun. It was wonderful to see the girls enjoy their time together in the most innocent and joyful manner.

~~~

Dad informed me after the party that Sparkles even planned what he was to wear, his shirt of her beloved Our Lady Of Guadalupe.

~~~

Thank you GOD for adding some Sparkle to our lives.

simple times

May 19, 2011 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Dragonfly, Papi, Picture Recap, Sparkles, Sweetie

~~~

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

Soccer Days

April 1, 2011 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: GFG, Picture Recap, Sparkles, Sports, Sweetie

Sweetie and Sparkles started their soccer season. They play for the same coach but on separate teams. Their first games were on March 12, after the Nun Run.

This was Sweetie’s first game, ever! She was a bit nervous at the start of the game. She plays on a co-ed team and holds her own. She plays with strength and sheer determination. Gotta love her wristband.

Sparkles was eager to join Coach E for a second year. He is great with the kids and respects our family priorities. Sparkles is the complete opposite of Sweetie (in many ways). In terms of soccer, she plays with grace and a smile. She loves to use her head. She’s been working on scoring with headers. She perfects every move I show her. Sparkles didn’t play with her wristband because it was too big for her tiny self.

Dragonfly was happy to be outdoors. Papi was exhausted from his 1 mile run/walk. Nana put him to bed while Papa kept company with Sparkles. Rose relaxed since her game was canceled. Dad enjoyed his seeds while he nursed his aching feet from the 10k. I was still pumped about running with Team ALL FOR!

Just for fun! This is me at the end of my soccer career. I hung up my dreams to serve my family. Deo gratias!

She Looks Like Me

December 13, 2010 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Our Lady of Guadalupe, Sparkles

Sparkles with her Our Lady of Guadalupe statue in our first Mary Garden

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My husband and I know little about our exact heritage. We are Mexican with some Italian, French, German, Spanish Basque and… God only knows what else.

Our eldest, Rose, looks nothing like us. She was born with blue eyes and fair skin. She resembles past generations. My grandmother and great-grandmothers (on both sides) had green eyes, light hair with fair skin. My husband’s mother has fair skin with green eyes.

Our next daughter was Sparkles. She is our “Mexican baby.”

Our third daughter, Sweetie, looks exactly like Rose.

All of our children have a beautiful devotion to Our Blessed Mother. When they were younger, their devotion was driven by which Marian apparition looked most like themselves. Sparkles would always light up when she would she Our Lady of Guadalupe. “She looks just like me,” she would exclaim. Other times she would say, “That’s me!” The sheer joy that she had knowing that Mary looked like her was heart warming.

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Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, please pray for us.

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

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