Elsa Mora

My Nephew Alex is Turning 11 today :)

 

 

Alex today, with his Mario birthday cake.

 

I'm so proud of you Alex.

You're the nephew that everyone wants to have.

I'm a lucky Aunt for having you in my life.

You're so loving and caring and sensitive and original.

I have always loved your unique sense of humor as well. Being around you makes me always happy :)

 

Alex in 2002

I treasure all the memories of you as a little boy. I cannot believe that you're already turning 11. 

 

 

 

You have always been an animal lover. This photo is from 2002

 

 

 

Do you know how many people care about you?

Many! Because you always bring something unique to other people's lives.

 

 

Here you were graduating from Kindergarten. This is a very special picture for me. Your cousin Diego just started Kindergarten this year and one day he will be graduating just like you in this picture. 

 

Here you are with your beautiful sister Camila and your beloved doggy in 2005. 

 
 
 
Alex, today I'm to celebrating your birthday from the distance and so is Bill, and your cousins over here in Los Angeles. 

There is so much that I would like to tell you mi sobrino! But here are a few words for you:

Just between you and me: 

I know that around this age you're going to start asking yourself many questions and one of them will be: why am I different? My answer will always be an affirmation: we are all different Alex. Each one of us on planet Earth is like a small universe, there aren't two people that are the same. Thank God that that's the way it is! Otherwise imagine how boring everything would be :)

 Each one of us has a gift for something, even if that something is the smallest thing ever.You're fortunate to have many gifts. You're an extremely  intelligent boy with an amazing memory and a great curiosity to learn new things. You love to research and find out about everything all by yourself. 

Also, wherever you go, people love you because you're so transparent and authentic and genuine. I love it how you always remember people's names. Did you know that most of us have a hard time doing that? Years after you meet someone you still remember her/his name. Remember Janice? Diego's therapist? She only saw you a couple of times and she still remembers you even though she doesn't work with Diego anymore. Not too long ago I got an e-mail from her and guess what? She asked me about you, she wanted to know how you were doing.

Alex, you should know that you're a very special person, you're unique and you have a whole life in front of you for realizing your dreams. I cannot wait to celebrate each one of your accomplishments in the future. You rock Alex! Please, don't ever, for a second, think that you cannot realize your dreams. I want you to know that if you ever need my help for anything I will always be here for you. Maybe one day we will even end up designing some of the video games that I know you will be creating, that would be so exciting :)

I want to send you a big hug today!!!!

And all my love!!!

Happy Birthday!!!!

Can't wait to see you again!

Tu Tia Elsita :)

The Moon

Last night I was ready to collapse.

I was all stressed out, tired, physically and mentally exhausted from all the current demands in my life. I wasn't sad or depressed, just plain worn out from one more non-stop day. 

I had just finished cleaning the house after doing a million things, the kids were finally asleep and Bill was reading a book. So I went up to the studio to bring some art materials from the house and on my way back I stopped for a second because I noticed the full, radiant, incredible moon blinking at me in the dark sky.

It was an unexpected magic moment. The perfection of the Moon and its magic luminosity made me think of "her" as a loving and caring Grandmother. The Moon has been up there for sooo long! Imagine how much she has already seen from her quiet place in the universe. Looking at her was soothing and comforting. After taking this picture for you I went back to the house feeling renewed and happy. 

We're small imperfect human beings in the middle of a vast universe. We're going through life trying to figure out the best way to do so and while doing so, we often forget that there is beauty in it, in being imperfect. Last night I was lucky enough to stop the "race" for a second to just BE, I was just there, taking a picture of the Moon, tired but alive.

I'm so grateful to be human. Thank you Moon, for helping me remember that :)

New Cameo Pendants on Etsy :)

 

 

 

Yay!

Here is a small number of one-of-a-kind cameo pendants for you!

There are only 12 of them right now.

These are sooooo sweet in person!

Each one is unique.

I just finished listing them on my Etsy store :)

I hope that you enjoy them!

Elsita :)
 
 

 

Dolls ;)

 

Today I'm here with a colorful photo of 4 of my girls :)

From left to right: Mira, Antoinette, Carita and Valeria.

I'm in love with the 4 of them!

Soon, I will be posting individual pictures of them on my blog about dolls.

I cannot wait!

Also, I just wanted to let you know that I'm so happy!

I don't ever know why :o 

It must be because I often think about what could have gone wrong with Bill's fall in Malaysia. Then I see him and I cannot believe that he's home, alive and recovering. He could have been underground instead, do you know what I mean? But he's still with us and I hope that he will stay for about 100 more years.

Yay!!!

Diego and his New Life/School (update)

Yay!! Good news!

Diego had a great first day at school yesterday!

No crying involved at all, that was a big surprise :)

 

Different elements that had to do with such a nice beginning:

1. Great teacher

2. Great classroom Aid 

3. Great personal Aid (yay! Diego has a personal helper :))

4. A little bit of familiarity with the place (all the previous driving-around-the school-with-him planted some nice little seeds in his mind)

5. Small class size.

6. Nice and clean school (he cares a lot about things being clean)

7. Genuine positivism from Bill and I, Natalie and Miro, regarding this transition. 

8. And the fact that Diego is a curious little person, he was curious to see what the whole new school thing was all about after so much anticipation.

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His favorite thing on his first day at school?: A big yellow sponge!

I was lucky to see him from the fence (he never saw me) before pickup time. He seemed so nice and calm. With his little hand he was holding a big yellow sponge. Something as simple as that sponge was what fascinated him the most. He kept talking about the sponge on our way back home. He also said (several times) I miss you Mommy, I miss you so much (which is his way to say that he missed me when he was at school)

 

I can definitely "see" lots of feelings going on in his mind right now, but they don't seem to be out of control. I am doing my best to help him organize his mind. I talk about the things that I know he's wondering about like his previous teacher (he adores him) his old friends, old school. Our little talks seem to be helping a lot.

I wish that I had a life coach whenever there was a significant change in my life. I never had one, but now I appreciate what I learned from figuring things out by myself because I can now help Diego. Little people like Diego do need guidance in every step along the way. One day he won't need as much help as he does now, that's out goal for the future, but right now I am so lucky to be able to provide him with lots of support! 

I just wanted to share this with you and also, thank you so much for the good wishes for Diego and the rest of the family in my previous post.

All my best wishes for you as well!!

Elsita :)