by: Angela Garcia

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        My mom has a home daycare and she watches six kids during the day
and two after school.  With
  Christmas just around the corner, I think it would be a great idea to make
  homemade Christmas decorations for the children to take home.  
     My neighbor across the street which also comes to my mom’s daycare after school is five years old.  The other day she asked if she could help decorate my Christmas tree, because they weren't putting one up at her house.  This really touched my heart and I feel like every child deserves to participate in decorating or other Christmas fun.  Since my neighbor won't get to decorate at home I decided to have an ornament decorating party with all the children at my mom’s daycare.  
     I will be sending out an invitation to all the parents informing them about the project and asking them to send a plain ornament with their child, I will provide the rest of the supplies.  With a little bit of paint and glitter we can come up with many fun Christmas crafts.  For the ornament decorating, we will be using the child’s thumbprint as the face of a reindeer and with a permanent marker we will draw the antlers and the nose. Google eyes can be used or you can draw those in as well and then we can sprinkle the glitter all around the ornament. This will be a very special gift for their parents and the Christmas tree will have its own special touch.
    I'm really looking forward to seeing the look on the kids’ faces when they get to decorate their own ornament.  For the children that won't have a Christmas tree, I will be giving them the chance to place their ornaments on my own tree at home.  With this I expect to get them a little more excited for the upcoming holiday.



 

by: Angela Garcia

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    Decorating for the holidays can be very exciting and something to look forward to, especially for women.  As the holidays get closer we all start to take out boxes and boxes of
decorations from the attic.  For many of us we have to go out and buy new decorations for all the festivities.  Many of us put lights around the house, yard decorations, and most importantly the one and only Christmas tree.  Decorating for Christmas usually starts to creep up on us right around Halloween, which is way too early to start thinking about all the Christmas chaos.  
     I think decorating for the holidays can be very stressful because many of us have other expenses like traveling and buying gifts.  Sometimes there isn’t even enough time to get around to decorating and before you know it all the fun is already over.  I have a few ideas that can ease the stress for Christmas decorating that could really help out, especially for families with kids. My favorite thing to decorate during the holidays is the Christmas tree, it can be very fun for the kids and you can put your ideas together with other family members.

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    Young children love to paint and color so decorating ornaments for the Christmas tree would be a great idea.  I think the best time to start decorating the ornaments would be right after a Thanksgiving lunch or dinner.  For me this would be the best time because that is when all the family is together.  Kids tend to get bored so doing this would keep them entertained for a couple of hours. It would also be great for the parents to have this quality time with their children.  Doing this over the holidays would be very inexpensive and something that could bring the family together.  Pinteresthas so many ideas with plenty of easy crafts to do over the holidays.  Most of the supplies can be found at the local Wal-Mart, dollar tree, or hobby lobby. Good luck to all of you and happy holidays.


 

By: Angela Garcia

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    With the holidays just around the corner, presents, food, and decorations are just about the only things on our mind.  All these things can be big stressors when in fact should be something to look forward too.  Black Friday is one of my favorite but not so favorite things to do during the holidays. Just the thought of waking up at six in the morning after a huge thanksgiving meal is not so pleasing.  Shopping has always been something I enjoy doing but every year on black Friday there is crazy people and chaos going on everywhere you go.  A few years ago my mom and I decided to be one of those crazy people that wake up at three a.m. to be at the mall waiting in line by four or five in the morning. My worst experience was watching two ladies fighting over a simple tee shirt.  They were arguing back and forth and tugging at the shirt as if they were children.  I think it’s so ugly to be angry and picking fights over the holidays especially over something that is not even worth it.  Most of the time, the sales going on are not even that much of a difference and being out on the road at those ours can never be safe.  Last year we decided to go to the mall at 11 o’clock almost noon, all the early birds had already cleared the mall and it was as if we were there all alone.  There were no lines to check out and even though all the morning specials were already taken down, other specials were still available as well as coupons and other promotions.  My advice for black Friday shoppers is to sleep in a little, relax, and have yummy thanksgiving leftovers for breakfast.  The mall is not going anywhere, and you will be saved from all the chaos happening way too early in the morning to even put up with.  So good luck, enjoy, and happy holidays.

 

by Angela Garcia

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    Camping is one of my favorite hobbies along with being outdoors. I have enjoyed my share of parks but I really enjoy going to Mathis State Park.  This State Park is a great place to enjoy both camping and being outdoors, plus it is close to home which makes it an advantage.  Lake Corpus Christi is the actual name of the park which was opened in 1934.  The park is a 356 acre park located in three different counties, San Patricio, Jim Wells and Live Oak.  Lake Corpus Christi was leased out by the City of Corpus Christi until 2032.  The name “Lake” Corpus Christi is because the majority of the park consists of a 21,000 acre lake that was created by damning the Nueces River.  
    Lake Corpus Christi is a great place to go out to relax and have a good time.  It would be a great place for our organization B.A.K.E to host something at the park or just recommend it to other organizations having to do with children. The park is pet friendly and the perfect place to have family reunions or any other parties.  With an extremely large lake, the park allows boats, jet skis, and any other fun water activities to be held at any time throughout the year, if the weather allows it.  Families spend their summers enjoying the refreshing water by water surfing in large tubes that get pulled by boats, or racing their jet skis across the lake.  Fishing is another great way to enjoy the water at Lake Corpus Christi.  If you don’t have a boat, not a problem, the State Park has a pier going out into the lake that allows young children to experience their first catch or any fisherman looking for a good time.

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    With proper planning, Lake Corpus Christi can be the home for summer camps filled with many activities for young children. There are many camp activities that can be done while camping and Lake Corpus Christi is a great place to do these activities.  Javelinas, deer, and rabbits are the most common animals found on the park and over 300 species of birds have been seen around the park.  There are many things parents can do here with their children and very few can say they’ve left disappointed.  Hiking and biking are 2 of my favorite things to do at Lake Corpus Christi because to me they are the most adventurous.  With all levels of trails, Lake Corpus Christi makes it a fun safe place to exercise while having fun and seeing beautiful scenery at the same time.   Children can bring their bikes and ride along with there parents.  I've been bike riding a few times and my favorite place to ride would be on the road because it's a smooth ride but you still get a good workout with all the hills.  For the ones that want a more adventurous ride, they can go into the wooded area and bike through some rough terrain and bushy trails.  There are a few hills on the park and occasionally you may run into a cave or two.  Many visitors go to the park to stay overnight and having lodging, campsites, and RV sections all around the park makes it that much harder to leave.  There is a limited amount of shelters so it is good to reserve a spot with at least one to two months in advance.  The shelters only provide a roof over your head and electricity; bathrooms are walking distance and are shared by the whole park so shower shoes would be recommended as well as body soap and shampoo.  At night, you can make a small fire and making s’mores would be a great activity for children to experience.
    I live about 45 minutes away from the park and my family usually buys year round passes to go at any time we want.   It is a fun relaxing place to go to whenever you’re feeling stressed and need a mini vacation.  I have been many times and I recommend for people around the area to go and experience living outdoors for a day or two.  It would be a great way to teach children how to survive without material things and have fun while doing it.