Meet Erika

Hola!  I’m Erika, a Hispanic Mama from Central America.  I arrived in the wonderful U.S. of A. when I was only five years old (many moons ago) and ever since have called this lovely country my home.  My beloved, Todd, and I live near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Western North Carolina with our five (yes, FIVE) little blessings….four little gentlemen and only one little lady!  Since a very young age, I tried to teach my dollies and stuffed bears how to read…so naturally I studied to be a teacher.  We are a homeschooling family and enjoy every minute of it (even on the rough days).  Before “retiring” to become a full time home educating mama, I taught for almost 15 years in public, private, and parochial schools with a strong concentration in Reading and Language Arts (most of my time in the Middle School grades-and loved every minute of it).

Blessing #1: Gil just recently became a full fledged teenager o.O (mouth and all) just last week…but we are enjoying watching him eat us out of house and home and growing like a weed (literally).  He is truly a wonderful young man with a HUGE (gargantuan, actually) heart.  He is a wonderful big brother to his four little siblings!  Running, playing tennis, and reading books (with special interest in anything SciFi) are part of his weekly routine.  Gil has an incredible ear for music and plays the piano, violin, bells, chimes, accordion, and guitar.  Though he loves any instrument he will continue his studies in the violin going forward (my favorite).

Blessing #2: Jojo is a B-O-Y, boy in all sense of the word…if any scientist wanted to examine what boys are like, Jojo would be his best research participant.  He loves dirt, mud, mud pies, outdoors, bikes, dirt, mud, did I mention dirt and mud?  (seriously, the boy could live outdoors if I pitched a tent and brought him oatmeal three meals a day-he would be happy as a lark!)  Jojo just turned six this month.  He looks up to his brother, Gil, and loves being a big brother himself.  He thinks girls are weird and complicated (those are his words) and if he had to marry one, he’d just marry his sister, “since he already knows her” and “doesn’t want to have to go through THAT [getting to know and understand a girl] again”, what can I say, he’s all BOY!  He loves Math, numbers, learning about dinosaurs and the all the ins and outs of the human body!

Blessing #3:  Katie is 4.5 going on 30, she is true to the phrase, “mother-hen”.  She takes care of all of her brothers, including the teenager (though he would say she bosses him around instead of “taking care” of him).  Katie-Anne is athletic and loves competition and climbing trees, but she loves books much more.  You will find her with a book under her arm everywhere she goes (after her Mama’s heart).  She walks with such assurance and at the same time is such a girly-girl…pink and purple are her favorite colors!  Loves dresses, dollies, bows, but her obsession has to be SHOES!!!  She is so NOT like her Mama (a simple girl), lol!

Blessing #4: Noey is 2.5 but you wouldn’t know it by his speech and size.  He takes after his daddy in that he is tall and loves sports.  From a very young age (around the time he started standing) we knew Noah was going love football (actually one of his first words was “FOOTBALL!!”) because of his rough and tough nature.  In addition, he is so naturally funny which makes it difficult for this Mama and Daddy, as well, to get mad or serious with him about things!  Our little football player is really my little “Sunshine” as his dimples and sweet smile can light up a room.

Blessing #5: Dommy will be a year old this April though it feels like he was born just last week!  Our smallest little blessing joined our large family and fell right into the groove of things…he is just the perfect addition!  He, like our other little blessings is a fun and energetic little boy.  He is sweet and strong tempered at the same time.  Only time will tell what this little one will offer in our family dynamics, in the mean time he is enjoying being mothered by his sister and protected and rough housed by his three older brothers.

Toddy is my beloved husband, he and I share many things in common but among them are the same birthday (he is, naturally, older than I)!  When Todd and I met, we were a mere 1,500 miles apart…we met online on a singles site…can you believe it?  Only God could have made this perfect match!  Todd is an Internet Marketing Specialist here in NC (SEO/SEM/PPC) and spends a lot of time in front of his computer to make homeschooling possible for us!  During his free time, Todd enjoys working out at the Y, playing tennis, reading Theological books, and spending time with the kids.  We enjoy cooking together and watching good movies.

I love reading…especially religiously based books (Catholic/Christian) especially books by Scott Hahn and children’s books (I have a Masters in Reading Education K-12), and enjoy digital scrap-booking, photography, genealogy, and cooking!  I love reading good blogs and have a couple of them myself.  I volunteer at my church and enjoying helping others, especially with technical issues.  Our homeschool participates in a Homeschool Co-Op and I love teaching Journalism/Yearbook there.  Also, since I come from a traditional Hispanic family with over 60 first cousins living all over the world from California to Florida and even some in Italy and Costa Rica, Facebook has become a great part of my life to aide in keeping in touch with my incredibly large family.  Parks, sports, play dates, and get togethers are a part of our every day homeschooling life for this family but we always, ALWAYS, make time to pray and thank God for the many blessings He has bestowed on us!

I am delighted to have been selected by Kelli to help 3 Boys & a Dog with reviews as a contributor and such and look forward to befriending the readers of this wonderful piece of the world wide web!  It is an honor to share with you!  Blessings!!!

Other places you can find me:

Raising Little Saints Blog

Raising Saints on Twitter

Erika Drain on Facebook

Raising Little Saints Facebook Group Page

Catholic Mom Contributor Profile

Chasing Castles in the Sky (Genealogy Blog)

Cor Iesu Academy (homeschool personal blog)