I remember my first Christmas in Hawaii, I was 11 or 12. It was warm, the sun was shining and there was no sign of snow, ever. Santa was deeply tanned, held up a “Shaka” sign and wore an Aloha shirt that exposed his bulging midriff. I imagine he’d get pretty toasty in his regular red outfit, but still… this was odd.

I couldn’t grasp the idea of this new Christmas, but ultimately it was the Christmas that would define all of my Christmases thereafter. {How many times can you use “Christmas” in a sentence?}

I was so stuck on the ways I celebrated the holiday, I saw Santa’s surfboard and just said; “Nope, that’s wrong.”, and to me it was. It wasn’t done MY way, it wasn’t done how I knew it to be. Needless to say, this was added to my list of Hawaii’s flaws and made me want to go back to New York City even more.

Christmas is celebrated worldwide in so many different ways, I had NO idea of this. I thought everyone had snow, everyone has Santa with a red suit, sleigh and all of the reindeer. Christmas is celebrated differently in every household, sometimes even, every family. 

I’ve since tried to embrace something “new” every year, something exciting, and I’m still learning about these worldly traditions!

Do you celebrate anything “different” from what you were taught as a child? Or have you picked up a fun international tradition to use in your own celebrations? How do you embrace all of these differences and explain them to your kids?

From our family to yours, we wish you the most wonderful holiday, however you celebrate. :)  

Mele Kalikimaka, Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!
{Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, in Hawaiian.}

Monique is a young mom of two and a half, you can read more of her adventures in growing with her children at Rain Babies. Have any suggestions for Rainy Day Fun, send an email- monique{AT}seattlemomblogs.com! 

 I am terrible at this, please forgive me.

Yesterday I learned that I am carrying yet another little boy and spent the rest of my day dancing around my living room; completely forgetting that it was Monday. Last week, I honestly don’t know what happened. As always, I apologize.

My family {my mother, sisters and I} never celebrated Christmas in it’s “traditional” sense. For my sister’s and I, Christmas meant that our begging all year was about to pay off. We were those obnoxious kids you don’t want yours to turn into. For my mother, Christmas meant mourning the loss of her own mother on Christmas Eve, many years before my birth. I believe that my mother felt she had to make up for her sadness, or lack of holiday enthusiasm, with gifts galore and super mega Christmas trees.

Now that I have children of my own, I am able to create my own traditions and celebrations. 
What I’d like to take precedence is our family, love and togetherness. I want the kids to understand that while we may not celebrate as a lot of others do, we still have something special. I want them to appreciate what they have. I want them to relish in the real magic holidays bring. Eventually, I want them to build their own family’s celebrations based on what they had as children, as opposed to doing what I did and going in a completely opposite direction.

How do you make your holidays special? Do you have any traditions? What do you celebrate during this time of year? What did you celebrate when you were a child? How do you keep your holidays from being “commercialized” and superficial?

And lastly- Can someone tell me where the snow is? I have none here.

I will be posting on Christmas Eve, I’ll keep it simple and make it early! :) However, I will be spending New Year’s Eve {my daughter’s fourth birthday} eating lots of junk, drinking sparkling white grape juice and watching the Twilight Zone marathon.

There are no rules, just grab that button and play along! When you’re done, come back here and leave a link behind. I’ll be sure to thank you!!

Have fun!!!

Monique is a young mom of two and a half, you can read more of her adventures in growing with her children at Rain Babies. Have any suggestions for Rainy Day Fun, send an email- monique{AT}seattlemomblogs.com! 

I have to apologize for not getting this up last week- I had a grumpy boy and I, myself was right along with him.

It’s officially December, no more complaining about holiday decorations out too early- it’s time! Vanilla Ice {yes, I named my Christmas tree} has been up in our home since before Thanksgiving. I say it was to give Caesar time to adjust to its presence, but that’s only half of the reason. The other half being, I really wanted to put it up.

So, this week it’s all about decor!

Have you started decorating yet? How do you involve the kids, without going crazy? Do you have a favorite ornament, or decoration, and why is it your favorite? Do you listen to holiday music when you decorate, or do you find yourself singing along to Sir Mix A Lot’s “Baby Got Back”? Do you have any decorations that have been around since the dawn of time?

This year, both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve {my daughter’s FOURTH birthday!!} fall on Mondays. I will not run Rainy Day Fun on these days. As a matter of fact, if I even open my laptop, I am sure Christian will give me one of his snarky looks. I apologize beforehand.

There are no rules, just grab that button and play along! When you’re done, come back here and leave a link behind. I’ll be sure to thank you!!

Have fun!!!

Monique is a young mom of two and a half, you can read more of her adventures in growing with her children at Rain Babies. Have any suggestions for Rainy Day Fun, send an email- monique{AT}seattlemomblogs.com! 

I apologize for not getting this up yesterday, car troubles kept us out most of the day, and exhaustion kept me in {and half asleep} for the night.

Thanksgiving is this Thursday! I love food, but more than any other ever made, anywhere- I love my mother’s food. We have such a smorgasbord; traditional turkey {though we will be attempting to fry it this year} ham smothered in Coca Cola and Brown Sugar, Baked mac and cheese with so much cheese there’s little room for noodles, Arroz con Gandules {what is a Puerto Rican get together without this dish?}, mashed potatoes, gravy, spicy sweet collard greens… and that’s barely half of the list.

Our Thanksgivings are full of chaos, every year there’s a new little one to add to the table, in addition to all of us. Some take their positions in front of the television; arguing over crime drama or football, others run amok, and the rest of us find ourselves in the kitchen, listening to music and laughing about something from our past, crying over old baby blankets lost, and- in my case; trying to cook {and for the others in the kitchen; laughing at my pathetic attempts and saving me from complete humiliation}.

There is always a lot of laughter, and there’s bound to be a child who breaks free of a diaper and runs naked throughout the house. I both dread, and look forward to this day with my family.

So, tell me about yours! Is Thanksgiving at your house, or someone else’s? What’s on the menu? Do you have any traditions? And, finally, what are you thankful for?

There are no rules, just grab that button and play along! When you’re done, come back here and leave a link behind. I’ll be sure to thank you!!

Have fun!!!

Monique is a young mom of two and a half, you can read more of her adventures in growing with her children at Rain Babies. Have any suggestions for Rainy Day Fun, send an email- monique{AT}seattlemomblogs.com! 

In honor of the first rainy day, Rainy Day Fun I’ve got a rainy writing prompt for you.

The tag line for my blog is “Savoring every drop in the city of rain.” It’s something I do try to live by. Take the bad with the good and the good with the bad- with as little swearing and child eating as possible.

I have pretty much always been a pessimist, the glass was never half full. It was only until I got much older {I’m 23 now, so around…. 22 :P} that I learned the value of optimism. Though sometimes I still fall back into my moany groany ways, I try to keep an upbeat and positive attitude no matter what the situation.

When it “rains” in your life, do you smile and make the best of it or do you sulk until it passes?

There are no rules, just grab that button and play along! When you’re done, come back here and leave a link behind. I’ll be sure to thank you!!

Have fun!!!

Monique is a young mom of two and a half, you can read more of her adventures in growing with her children at Rain Babies. Have any suggestions for Rainy Day Fun, send an email- monique{AT}seattlemomblogs.com! 

I have to admit, I have been looking forward to November for a couple of months now. I was waiting for midnight November 1st, so that I could start all the great projects that I signed up for.

And in my haste to get going, I yelled out “Yes! I get to write, I get to write!!” {Alright, picture me doing the cabbage patch as well, because that seems to be my dance of choice this week.} Normally, and ritualistically- the midnight that begins every month is greeted with a resounding “Rabbit, Rabbit!”.

When I was younger, around 7- and when Nickelodeon shows were interrupted with really interesting worldly facts, I learned that in some parts of the world- people welcomed each month by saying “Rabbit, Rabbit” and they were supposed to have good luck the entire month through. Since then, it has almost become an obsession for me. I’m 23 years old now, and I still blame my bad months on not saying “Rabbit, Rabbit!”
{And interestingly enough- here’s a link with more information! See, I’m not completely loony!}

So, my question to you all is;

Are you a person who wishes at 11:11, or holds your breath while you’re driving through a tunnel? Do you run far from black cats, and how, with all this rain do you avoid the dreaded open umbrella in the house? Do you have a rabbit’s foot key chain, or a horseshoe at your home’s entrance?

Are you superstitious? Which ones have you heard of, practice or avoid? Do you truly believe in them? Some superstitions vary based on heritage, does yours have any superstitions of their own? 

There are no rules, just grab that button and play along! When you’re done, come back here and leave a link behind. I’ll be sure to thank you!!

Have fun!!!

{P.S. I did post this early. I have two really busy days coming up and was too afraid I wouldn’t be able to get this done. But, I will be updating this on Mondays, lol.}

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Monique is a young mom of two and a half, you can read more of her adventures in growing with her children at Rain Babies. Have any suggestions for Rainy Day Fun, send an email- monique@seattlemomblogs.com!

Here’s a writing prompt to get the week started!

How long have you lived in Seattle? Why here, of all places? Where else would you live, given your choice, and why?

I’ll be updating this on Mondays! 

There are no rules, just grab that button and play along! When you’re done, come back here and leave a link behind. I’ll be sure to thank you!!

Have fun!!!

Monique is a young mom of two and a half, you can read more of her adventures in growing with her children at Rain Babies. Have any suggestions for Rainy Day Fun, send an email- monique@seattlemomblogs.com!

I don’t believe we’ve met;

I’m Monique, and I’ll be the one keeping your mind off of those rainy day clouds with writing prompts, silly surveys, memes and whatever else I can think of. No scraping your eyeballs out due to boredom anymore, I’m here to save you!

So let’s begin, shall we?

Writing Prompt:

Tell me about the greatest Halloween you’ve ever had! Be specific, tell me about the costumes, the weather, how you felt, etc! Don’t celebrate Halloween? Tell me about another holiday that made you grin from ear to ear!

I’ll be updating this weekly, so look for me! There are no rules, just grab that button and play along! When you’re done, come back here and leave a link behind. I’ll be sure to thank you!!

Have fun!!!

Monique is a young mom of two and a half, you can read more of her adventures in growing with her children at Rain Babies.