Ten Steps To An Easier Quinceanera

Here are some things that I have learned along the way, while planning my daughter's quince. I still have yet to learn more as we approach....counting down we have just under 7 weeks left to go.
1. Always plan ahead and make sure that if you have a boy (chambelin) cancel out, you have someone to back his spot up.
2. If you get the girls(damas) and their mothers together when picking out dresses, things seem to go more smoothly. My daughter and I picked the top 4 dresses, then let the mothers and damas get together and decide upon the final top 2 choices. That worked out great for us because they all came in, got fitted and put a down payment on their dress, which helped us alot, and they were all happy about the choice in dress.
3. You don't need to pick out the most expensive tux's for the guys because more than likely, if it's too much, they won't be able to get it, and another thing is they don't keep the coats on very long.
4. Look for bargain prices and half off sales when going to get your quinceanera decorations and paper ware for eating. There are alot of bargains to be had at such places as Party City and Hobby Lobby. I found alot of great sales out there, but I also did this months ahead of time to allow for time in finding sales.
5. As for the Doll, if your daughter goes with a standard color of dress of pink or white or perhaps baby blue, you can find those pretty easily, but if she goes with anything else, like my daughter did in picking out a royal blue dress, most likely you will have to buy a doll and have the dress made, which isn't always cheap. You can find dolls for pretty cheap and if you know someone who sews, it shouldn't cost as much.
6. Getting the damas and chambelins together is a group effort, so you must be able to offer rides to those who need them when it's time for the dance practices and take plenty of drinks for them as they practice, especially if it's in weather such as summer. We are having our practices at 6-8 pm on Sundays so it won't be as hot, but I will still take a cooler full of drinks for them.
7. Important things to stay on top of after you have secured your party spot is the cake, your sponsers, decorations (getting those done ahead of time so you don't have to scramble at the last minute), your dj/band and the music you want played, the doll's dress, the food menu.
8. Invitations can be done at home on your home computer with as much kits they have to offer in the craft stores, or you must allow plenty of time if you are ordering someone else to do it, in case of an error in printing.
9. Talk, talk, talk, and I mean keep your mind sharp about what all you've got going on and make sure to write it all on a tablet so you can keep up with everything.
10. Give your sponsors a choice of the toast, especially if you have some that don't drink. We are going to offer sparking white grape juice as well as champagne and tie different colored ribbons on the glass to decifer which is which.

OK! Here's The Quinceanera in Her Dress

Here is my cutie-patootie!!!! My goodness how she is growing up!!! She chose this beautiful royal blue dress and actually, she tried on many different colors but this looked so lovely on her. The girls and guys standing up with her are wearing baby pink colored dresses/ tux colored shirts. We are going with the theme: Hearts for a Sweetheart.
We have about gotten all the invitations printed, and are counting down the days now. She picked out her Crown, earrings, and is going to have a heart-shaped sign in book. Now, I have to finish the invitations, and start working on getting the decorations ready. We are planning on getting a lot of us together to go and decorate so I need to have it all done and together so things will go quickly. I don't want to spend hours and hours decorating if we don't have to. I have an arch that I am going to put together and decorate here at home and then carry it to the Dance in the back of our pickup. I know that many girls are planning quinceanera's right now. It's fun, but a whole lot of work.

Still Working On That Quinceanera

Wow, time is sure flying and I am counting down the time for my daughter's quinceanera. It will be on August 16th. I am pretty much done with buying the decorations, after settling on ivy bowls for the tables, candy wrapped in tule fabric, along with hanging heart decorations and some pretty colored flowers too. I am going to set up a table in my sewing room and decorate it to be sure it will be what I want. I decided to make our invitations and bought some invitations from Hobby Lobby, got on microsoft works and wrote out what I want to say, by finding different sayings on various websites to help. I have called the guy who is going to make the cake to get that confirmed. The choreographer called last night and we will start the kids on the dancing practice at the end of the month. Now I have to make a cd of the music we are going to use. She has picked out "My Wish", by Rascal Flats for the Father/daughter dance. She has also picked out 2 cumbias for their dance "Fuego" and "No Tengo Dinero", both by Kumbia Kings. We still are lacking the introduction and the waltz, which will get picked by tomorrow. Her dress will be getting out of layaway this week so we can take some pictures of her in it for the table decorations as well. Gee, this is really getting close to time with so much more to do.

Summer Vacation Plans and Teens

We took our family vacation already, actually the next day after school let out. I wanted to get it over and done with because of the weather and since we have a quinceanera coming up soon, we will start our dance choreography practices very soon. Driving to Indiana from Texas was a very long ride and I wanted my daughter to be comfortable. We made sure that our portable DVD player was with us, along with her IPod and some of her other electronic game things. We had to stop a little more than usual to get out and stretch our legs and move around some, due to the long hours on the road. Planning a vacation with a teen can be fun, just make sure you take along their fun things, plan on stopping a little more along the way for a breather, and actually, if it's a long trip, you might find a "fun" stop along the way to break up the long hours of sitting, like we did, when we stopped in Hot Springs, Ar. Oh, and don't forget the snacks and drinks!!

Swimming This Summer?

As soon as school let out, we went up to see my folks in Indiana, not much of a vacation because my mother had a stroke and we are still trying to deal with all the things that go with it, however, we just got back and since our municipal city pool was open, I took my daughter and her friend to go for a swim. I only let her stay about 3 hours, and when I picked her up, she told me that someone had gone through their bag with their clothing and towels in it and stolen her money! I was so shocked and upset that what small amount of time she was there, someone had shuffled through her things so quickly and taken every bit of cash she had. There's nothing anyone can do at this point, but I thought that there were lockers there to keep her things in, but no. What can you do about this? Not much, except only send them with the smallest amount of money possible. Anybody else have any suggestions? Oh, and one last pointer, make sure they take plenty of sunscreen for protection.

A Tribute To Fathers on Father's Day

Here stood before me as a child, a man who I didn't grow up with. Here stood before me, a man who put in alot of blood, sweat and tears to help raise me, and didn't care that I wasn't his own child. This man treated me with all the love that a father could ever give a child. This man was a step-father, but he loved me like nobody else could. I grew up knowing that he was there for me, and as I grew into an adult, he still backed me up even when I was in the wrong. He never judged me and he never said an ugly word to me. He was a true blessing in my life.
Father's Day is a time when we can gladly show our fathers/stepfathers how much we care about them and how much we appreciate them. I am so glad that I had my stepfather for as long as I did. I miss him so much now, as he passed away on my birthday four years ago. Please celebrate your father/stepdad on Father's Day and show him how much you care. Dad's are a treasure and we need to let them know it!
I wished that my own daughter's father would show her how much he cares, but he just doesn't come around. He is sure missing a beautiful daughter.

A Closing Of The First Year Of High School

As the end of school draws near, it's so hard to believe that we have already finished her freshman year. It really seems to have gone really fast. My advice to my daughter at this time would be.....to really appreciate the time that you have in high school, because these are fun years for you and they go way too quickly. Do your best at making the best grades that you can, because they can really help you or hurt you when it comes time for college and scholarships. Respect your teachers because they are there to help you to learn. Lastly, have confidence in yourself that you will be able to do well in school.