Christmas Ornaments 2012

We went to somewhere Magical in October with extended family, so we decided we would make Mickey and Minnie Ornaments for them for Christmas.  I found a really cool picture on Pinterest.  The only problem was that it was only a picture...no instructions.  So I set out to recreate what I saw, and for the most part, they came out really cute!
First of all, back at the beginning of November I ordered a box of glass(I realize now I should have gotten plastic, but oh well) balls from Oriental Trading.  Now, I don't think they even sell the glass ones anymore, but I know that AC Moore carries them.  The ones we got are smaller than normal glass balls, but that worked fine for me, because otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get pompons big enough for the ears. 
We poured Metallic black paint on the inside, rolled it around until it covered the whole thing, then turned it upside down on a dixie cup to drain. 
**Warning**  If you do not allow the inside paint to dry, it gets ugly.  Black all over everything ugly.
We let it set overnight to dry as much as possible, then put the metal stopper/hook back in.   Next, we painted Mod Podge on the bottom half, then dipped it into the bottle of red glitter(it was a pretty wide bottle) and turned it back upside down in the cup to dry with the glitter up.  Doesn't take very long.  On the front, we MP'd two yellow jewels for buttons and two large pompons for ears.  This time we let it sit for the afternoon then wrote "2012" on the back.

We also did a Minnie Mouse for our Maga, which was accomplished pretty much the same way, only instead of yellow jewels, we used a Qtip to MP spots all over the red glitter on the bottom, then dipped it into iridescent white glitter.  Surprisingly, it only stuck to the glued areas.  The white glitter we had poured into a bowl, as the bottle was too narrow.  We made a pretty red bow and glued it between the ears and there you have it!  Minnie Mouse!

Kindergarten Graduate!

Congratulations to my Big Girl who finished Kindergarten!!

I can't believe how she has grown, just in the last year!!

And the cupcakes came out good too!

I Can Make Anything with Candy...

Self-torture.

I made 52 cupcakes last night (they smelled soooo good).

This morning I took the Air heads, Reese's and Hershey's that I bought last night and made graduation caps for said cupcakes (now down to 50, as two were casualties named Jack).

I took the rainbow airheads and sliced them by color, also giving two little slices on the end to make a tassle.  They came out cute.

Then the mini Reese's and snack-size Hershey's(1/2) became the cap.
And voilà, a graduation cap.

Ok, to be fair, this was the guinea pig, so he looks a little rough. It kind of melted, so I put the chocolate in the freezer before doing any more and did them in batches of 20...then stuck them back in the fridge/freezer...But it's going to look really cute on top of the cupcakes!!

Fairy Birthday

Happy 6th Birthday to Our Fairy Princess!!!

She is our in-house comedic routine. She's sassy and knows when Mami is supposed to be stern but is fighting a snicker. She does things, like wear rainboots with sunglasses and polka dot shirts with plaid skorts and doesn't get why it doesn't match. She hunts bugs with the abandon of an entomologist in the Amazon. Her love of bugs is only second to her love of My Little Pony.

She's an intercessor. She prays every night whether Mami remembers or not. And she remembers prayer requests. God is going to use this child one day, sooner, rather than later, I think!

Books...

I think my biggest problem while working was how easy it was to justify buying books.
Now that I no longer work outside the home full time it's harder to justify buying them, but no less tempting.
I picked this book up last year on a whim and never got around to reading it.  I had gotten placed in a bag that I found in my closet, but I found it recently and sat down to read it.  It's actually a pretty good read.  Not too heavy, but interesting enough to want to go get more information!  We like those kinds of books.  I saw one online for Columbia, so I assume they have them for most cities.  I think it's a great way for kids to get to know the history of the cities near them.  We're not exactly in Charleston, but close enough to visit often.  I'm going to sit down with the girls this week and read it, since Our Princess is not allowed (or able) to write...

Super Princess!!

Ok, seriously, some days I feel like a really bad parent.  Yesterday was one of those days.  Friday night we left all four blessings with some friends so we could go to a council meeting at church.  They went out for a walk and while running, Our Princess fell down.  She didn't really cry and didn't complain so we went home and she slept no problem.  The next morning she didn't want to feed the dog because it still hurt.  I had her hold out both arms and saw no irregularities, no swelling.  I thought she was trying to get out of her chores.  I told her to do the best she could.  Then she complained about pouring milk into her cereal.  I checked again, but didn't see anything. 

Fast forward to Yesterday evening, 24 hours after the fall(I'm such a rotten mommy) and she says something again.  This time I see a little swelling from the wrist toward the elbow.  We decide I should take her up to the ER and the entire time I'm thinking, Am I overreacting?

Maybe, but better safe than sorry.  We get up there and our ER is relatively fast (comparatively, I think we waited 45min).  We saw a lady who had severed her index finger with a kitchen knife and a guy with a compound fracture of his arm.
Again, I'm thinking, am I overreacting?  We get the X-rays done, which was really cool, because we had just talked about X-rays last week.  The radiologist lets me sit behind the window and watch the x-ray appear on the computer screen.  She immiediately says, "Yep, there's a fracture."

I felt horrible.  My poor baby.  But she had been using it all day, twisting it and bending it.  She even put her weight on it to scoot up onto the bed.  The Doctor walked in when she did that and said, "Hey, didn't anyone tell you that arm is broken?"

I'm in awe that she wasn't complaining more.  She was more upset when she heard what she would have to wear for the next 6 weeks and that she wouldn't be able to go in the pool.

This is her, "Are you kidding?  I have to wear what?!  For how long?!  It doesn't hurt that bad!!"

Adventures in Cake Decorating...

I've begun a new hobby.
Along with scrapbooking, drawing, blogging, walking/jogging........I'm learning cake decorating.
Probably, like scrapbooking, it won't be one I use very often.
I figured with four wonderful blessings, all with birthdays within a three month period, it would be beneficial if I learned to decorate cakes. At least as well as the $30 sheet cakes you get at Walmart. I figure surely I can do that. At least. Maybe.
I actually came to the decision after seeing one too many ugly cakes at parties.
Please, don't get me wrong. If one of the ladies in our church had decorated a cake I would give her props and tell her it's lovely. I'm talking about birthday cakes that people paid money for. That look like a child decorated them. Breaks my heart every time. Cause most of them are expensive cakes.

So, some brave lady friends from church went with me to a cake decorating class. Being the good Hispanic group we are (I know, I look it, right?) we arrived late. Thank goodness, it was a class just for us, so the teacher was understanding (I knew I should have told them 5:30, not 6:00...we were all there at 6:30...*sigh* If you can't beat 'em, join 'em?)

Panamá

Bolivia

We had a blast! So many new things I never knew! I'm sure I could have mucked through it enough and eventually gotten the hang of it, but it was so much easier just to get the information in a two-hour class than to trial and error it at home!! If you haven't had the opportunity to take a class, go to your nearest Michael's or AC Moore and try one of their cake decorating basics classes. It's a skill that, as a Mom (or super Dad), will come in handy. I mean, who knows when you'll have to ice 2 dozen cupcakes for a school party? Or grab a cake from Walmart after the bakery is closed and have to write the inscription yourself?? It's also just fun.

And on Monday, we're making roses!!

What about the Children?

Oliver and I spent the weekend in Atlanta at a NAMB conference geared at the Hispanic Church. I went expecting to sit through more meetings on how to evangelize to the immigrant community, what materials to use, what other churches were doing...Who am I kidding? I really had little expectation, I was just happy to have a little vacay without the blessings (Thanks Maga and Papa!!)

I was blessed with a revelation.
Now, while I speak the language and almost all of my friends do as well, I still feel different. I'm not an immigrant, I don't know what it was like to grow up with want, to move to a new country with a new language and expect to thrive. My husband does.
There is a whole new generation growing up like me. Maybe they speak language. Maybe they (perhaps not I, though someone did ask if I was Puerto Rican) look the part. They don't know the want though, the desperation that had their parents seek a better life. They are, for all intents and purposes, American.

They are the Second Generation. They are my children.
I know the importance of my children learning the language of their father. The difficulty of trying to learn it in school. He sees the importance of learning english and bettering themselves. Most First Generation Parents don't see how important it is to raise their children to learn spanish. They send them to school, where they worry about whether they will be able to keep up and excel, not knowing the language. They may send them to stay with family one summer, so they get an idea of what their parents grew up with, but they push them to speak english. The children do learn English and they learn it well. So well that they no longer use Spanish. They answer their parent's questions in English. Then they grow up, get married (maybe to an american who has no Hispanic connection) and have children.

The Third Generation. My grandchildren.
Who grow up not speaking any spanish except a word here or there to talk with their abuelos. Who know nothing of their grandparents' country.
Who are lost at sea in their grandparents' church.
This information was a revelation. I never really understood how alienated Second and Third Generation Hispanics feel. How my children may one day feel. It's our God-Given responsibility to teach them to serve God. But these children don't really understand the Bible lesson. They may speak the language, but they were never taught to read it. So we begin doing Sunday School in English.
Then they grow up. They go to the main service and are lost.
What do we do now?
Oh, you speak English, find an English-speaking church to go to? Reject them? It's given us as a church much food for thought. In the next 10-15 years, this will be the problem our church faces. Right now our concern is will our children worship, but soon the question will be, Where will our children worship? Will we accomodate them, or remain stubborn, clinging to tradition? I suppose, on some level, it's a question every church faces, even English-speaking ones, but it's one that truly effects immigrant churches. I don't just speak of spanish-speaking, but I know of several other churches, Korean, Filipino, Brazilian...
We are a country of immigrants. It's a valid question.

New Adventures....Again...

Ok, so one of my New Year's resolutions was to get in a better shape than I am...lumpy that is...all my curves are in the wrong places and that is mainly because I am a sedentary creature. Apart from running after children and the usual housework, if I can do it sitting down, I would much prefer to do that.

I don't think I could run to save my life. I know that jumping just isn't going to happen for the same reasons I have to be careful while laughing, coughing and sneezing. Let's not even mention situps. But, we purchased an Xbox with Kinect and a dance game and my hope is to dance the inches away. Right now, I am almost 2x what I am supposed to weigh, which really baffles me. I don't feel that big. I look at pictures of me and think, am I really that big?? I am otherwise very healthy, which is why I want to do something about it now, before deteriorating health gets in the way. I made a promise to myself that I would not ever have to wear elastic. I can still fit into a size 20 jeans, and I am determined to drop at least 2 pants sizes.

So, first off is to limit myself to no more than 2 cups of coffee a day and, other than that, drink water.

Second, be deliberate about what I eat. I have a bad habit of eating something because it's there, not necessarily because I like it or it even tastes good. And I'm a horrible meal planner. So I made some healthy freezer meals that I can take out the night before and defrost for the crockpot. I just have to be careful of portion control. That's my downfall and it's one my children are learning, so it needs to be nipped in the bud.

Third, I will be deliberate about not being sedentary. My laptop is being moved to the counter so that I have to stand to use it. I am going to take the dog for a walk at least 3 times a week. If I don't have the children with me, I am going to park as far as I can from the store(even in the rain). Take the stairs. Get my own drink. You get the idea. Bring. It. On.

King Cake?

Ok, Well, I knew that the recipe was simple. I mean, that's what Sandra Lee is famous for. Unfortunately, it also had ingredients that are no longer made. You can't get breadsticks without garlic on them. That, my friend, is just yucky! So I thought I could do it with the Rustic French Bread. It probably would have worked, if I had paid attention to the stove.
Oops.
I unrolled the bread dough (that was fun) and sprinkled brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans inside(more of all of the above next time), rolled it up and stretched it to make a ring. First of all, it was too small. I think I'll have to slice the dough in half and see if I can't make it bigger. I'll post later on about if it worked out. At this rate, I might as well have just made the dough from scratch. *sigh*

Mardi Gras in March

Tomorrow is the second Friday, which means American Girl! This is our month to take over snack and craft. We picked the new historical girls, Marie-Grace and Cecile. They are based in New Orleans, so we decided that we were going to do Mardi Gras three weeks late. We will make a King Cake (a la Sandra Lee, with a few changes, cause I really don't have time to make from scratch), pralines, and masks for girl and doll. Thanks to the Dollar Tree, I got the masks last month, we just have to put all manner of gaudy sparkly things on them. The doll masks I had to create. Again, thank you Dollar tree. They had foam sheets, very similar to those bought next door at AC Moore, but thinner, which would normally bug me, but in this instance it is preferable, because it's more form-fitting to the doll's face. So I made a pattern out of 3x5 card and an oval hole punch(which I also used on the foam, it was so thin) and cut it out.

The hard part was finding something to hold it to the doll's head. I could use ribbon, but I could just imagine how many times I'd be called upon to tie it. I found some hair pretties, cut them and with a knot in place to keep them from coming free, I stapled them. Depending on the size, you may have to connect them. I used a bead beacuse while it seemed to knot fine to itself, knotting two together kept coming undone. Also, now it's adjustable to a smaller doll's head.

After that you get all the other goodies picked up at the Dollar Tree (I think it's my new favorite store), and decorate.

Ribbons and feathers we had onhand. I got some sequins from AC Moore, because I had a coupon. We used a low heat gluegun to glue the sequins on. I have to go get some round ones for tomorrow...little ones...just to drive the moms crazy. I do have one complaint...the glitter glue never dried. It's been four hours and it is still as wet as when I put it on! So I think we'll try real glitter. Maybe. Or puffy paint. Maybe just some more sequins.

Daddy-Daughter Dance 2012

I really love that my husband loves his girls like princesses. Saturday night was our Homeschool Association's Daddy-Daughter Dance and Daddy took the two oldest to dance the night away. And they did. I went along to serve in the kitchen like a wench, but I got to sneak out and take a peek as I was refilling the food tables. And, of course, I got in a few pictures. Our Princess adores her Daddy.

Our Fairy kept coming to the kitchen to give me a byplay of the evening.

Addictions...

Ok, my new addiction is Pinterest. If you haven't been on Pinterest, you're missing out on a plethora of such fantastic ideas that after ten minutes you'll feel like SuperWoman, or June Cleaver, or both. You'll be able to conquer the world with homemade foot scrub and frozen crockpot meals for a month. Oh, and don't forget the five million ways to use egg cartons...never forget the egg cartons...
That being said, you really find some creative ideas(and other interesting stuff), especially DIY, which appeals to me. I've gotten several ideas toward the organization of the girls' room. Ideas using mostly stuff I already have on hand! Big plus! Such as the piles and piles of doll clothes. We tried an over the door shoe holder. All that did was test the strength of plastic. So I found an idea to make a holder of doll clothes.

At least, it does so in a little better organized manner (which Our Princess likes) without wrinkling everything(Which Our Princess also likes). Each outfit has half a bag, though Pink and Green Mama only has like 6-8 bags per crate and I have 25 crammed into one. I have to go get another crate, so that they come out and go back easily, so that Our Fairy has no excuses. One can hope.

Maybe I'll turn the shoe holder into an herb garden.

Well, THAT was easy!!

Last week I went on our semi-annual undie run and decided to pick up some training pants for Our Oso. Because of his speech development, I wasn't planning on starting until Summertime, just because I didn't think he was ready. I think, perhaps, I wasn't ready!! Anyways, I picked out the Cars undies and he found them in the bags and decided he liked them better than his diaper. So he took his diaper off and put them on. He had a day of accidents while he realized he couldn't just go anywhere anymore and I gave him a treat(Doritos, like I said, I wasn't prepared to start yet) every 15-20 min. when I checked to see if he was still "clean and dry." I gave him a bunch every time he went in the potty and the next thing I knew I was walking past the bathroom and he was in there doing his thing, no fanfare, nothing. He does like to flush the toilet, a lot. He sits there, lets a little dribble in, then flushes...lets a little more dribble in, flushes again. Now I have to teach him about water conservation...

Mother Son Date Knight

I had a date tonight to get new shoes and have dinner at Chick-Fi-La. It was great! My date didn't talk much, and kept leaving me to hit the playground, but it was a special night. They cordoned off a section of the restaurant and put tablecloths on the table. They had shields on the table to decorate. They handed out roses to the Mamas and swords to the boys. They seated us at a table and took our orders. Our Oso probably didn't think it was all that (except the sword, the sword was all that and a bag of beans), but it was special for me to spend time with him. We don't get to spend time with just he and I very often. I can't wait until they do it again!!

Chores are Fun!

Right? Well, when you have two children who are so close in age, but so dramatically different in maturity, it's very difficult to be "fair" in asking them to do things. Our Princess is a ready worker, while Our Fairy drags her feet in everything. I'll be honest, I have a bad habit of heaping it on Our Princess because I know she'll do it. So, to make things fair and to make sure that Our Fairy is learning to do more to help the family, I made A-Day/B-Day lists. On A-Day, Our Princess is in charge of washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, and wiping the chairs down. Our Fairy clears the table before and after, dries the dishes, puts them away and wipes down the table. The next day alternate. This eliminates whining about who did it yesterday and why do I have to do it...*sigh*

The best part is, I don't have to do it and can spend that time getting the next activity going. To be honest again, our kitchen hasn't looked this clean in a while. Even Our Oso helps out. He's just helping them until he's big enough to take on his own chores by himself.
And for my two middle, strong-willed children, it's the scedule telling them what to do, not mommy, so there is less chance of rebellion...

Dodgeball Anyone?

We broke down and bought an Xbox with Kinect. Our Princess has been asking for something, anything like her friend has. I've been researching since last fall and had originally planned to get it for Christmas, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. Call it guilt for giving into the computer gaming wasteland. But, all the games we have use the Kinect, which is a full-body controller system. No handheld devices necessary, which limits the amount of flying objects at the TV (cat notwithstanding...poor kitty...not mine, but poor kitty...). We've had a lot of fun using it as a way to burn energy on days like today, when it is too wet and cold to go out. I much prefer this to her DS, which, as far as I'm concerned, could get lost in the bowels of her room forever. And the rule is it has to be miserable weather or the weekend to play, just like the TV. We'll see how long that lasts. Well, as school work doesn't get done by itself, we'd better get to it!

Titus

Titus 2:3-5 "Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God." (NIV)

The amplified Bible says it like this, "Bid the older women similarly to be reverent and devout in their deportment as becomes those engaged in sacred service, not slanderers or slaves to drink. They are to give good counsel and to be teachers of what is right and noble, So that they will wisely train the young women to be sane and sober of mind (temperate, disciplined) and to love their husbands and children, To be self-controlled, chaste, homemakers, good-natured(kind-hearted), adapting and subordinating themselves to their husbands, that the word of God may not be exposed to reproach(blasphemed or discredited)."

I like to think by older they mean more mature spiritually. I was challenged this weekend during our first annual Deacon's retreat. And convicted. Our Pastor's wife shared how when she first began serving as a Pastor's wife, she had no one to come along side of her and show her the ropes. She didn't know how she should act, what she should do, what she should wear! As a relatively new Christian, and a pastor's wife at that, she often felt inept. While there were plenty who were willing to talk about what she did wrong, no one was willing to show her how to do "right."
Am I willing to walk alongside someone perhaps not so far along in their spiritual walk? To help them seek Him and trust Him? Am I worthy? It's a humbling position. But we can't expect that our Pastor's wife be responsible for the welfare of ALL the women in the church! The Deacon's wives hold that responsibility. The mature women of the church hold that responsibility. Just from this weekend, I feel God planning a big work in me, in my husband, in our family and in our church. In 1 Timothy, Paul writes to Timothy about the roles of Deacons and their wives. The church was blessed because the deacons were there to serve. Their wives were likewise there to serve. They were trustworthy. No task was beneath them. They did not speak maliciously about others. In Acts 6, the first seven were chosen. Like those brought forth to help Moses divide the work, these first chosen ones were there to serve. And the first one chosen, Stephen, was a martyr. Halelujah.

Na

Our Oso has a Na. It's pretty bad that everyone else calls it a Na as well, instead of blanket or even blankie. Oh no, it's a Na. Well, it was filthy and had to be washed. I mean so grubby I didn't even want to think about what nastiness it contained. So I washed it Saturday morning.
The world ended.
There was weeping and gnashing of teeth.
I feared for my life.
The drama was quite extensive.
So I got Our Lady Giggles' Na (here we go again) and pawned it off on Our Oso.
Thankfully, he was appeased.
For the time being.
I broke down and bought him a new one. It has Mickey Mouse (a crowd pleaser) on it.
Do you know many College kids with a Na?

Party Animals

We love a good Quinceañera! Or, should I say, QuinceañerO? Our friend turned fifteen and we took the Littles to his party with us(the Biggies were seeing Beauty and the Beast 3D with Maga). Our Oso had a blast! He dances like his Daddy and is a Ladies' man. A "Tigre" his cousin Jeovanny calls him. Our Lady Giggles made the rounds on everyone's lap and managed to get a makeover too!

Mr. Popper's Penguins

I've tried to get Our Princess to write about the books she reads. I've even tried to get her to tell me about the story and I'D write it down, but she would lose interest... But she'll tell me about the story as she's making some project. And I'm not talking about drawing a picture, no, but she wants to do some artsy-crafty project. For Mr. Popper's Penguins, she made(WE made :0) thumbprint penguins. As she's placing all twelve on the ladder she drew, she's telling me about who it is and what they're doing...

Lady Giggles

2011 was a very busy year. Our newest addition, Our Lady Giggles was born in July. As soon as she began to smile, she started giggling. And she smiles and giggles all the time!

Reading goals

Our Princess got the Percy Jackson and Harry Potter box sets from Aunt Laura for Christmas, so our goal is to read them(and maybe have Our Princess do some solo reading, fingers crossed) this year. We've actually started reading Harry Potter from friend's books we've borrowed and are on the third one. The girls love it! I enjoy attempting to do all the voices...

** Did I mention that the library has all of these on CD?  Yep, so much easier to read in the car!!

A New Year!!

I have many New Year's resolutions this year. I believe I'm making up for past years when I never could be bothered to make any. So here goes:

1. I don't want to say lose weight, because I really don't care what the scale says. We're making plans to take our kids somewhere Magical in September and I want to fit comfortably on the rides, not live in fear that they won't be able to get the belt across or the harness down. So, in order to do that, I want to lose a few sizes. Three to be exact. If I can get to a size 16, that would be wonderful. However in order to do that, I have to have a plan:
A. Drink 1 gallon of water(at least) a day
B. Make an effort to either do Zumba or Bootcamp once a week
C. Play with my kids as much as I can
D. Begin to cook healthier meals for myself and my family
(Yeah, who'd have thought resolutions would have subsections? Beware the fine print!)Hopefully, I will be successful this year and it will become a habit!

2. I want to get back into blogging every day, even if it is only a picture or two. I think, like a scrapbook, this is something I can look back on and enjoy long after my children have grown up.

3. I'm going to begin to control the chaos that is my home. If you have chaos issues and have never visited the flylady, you don't know what you are missing! I've tried so many other methods in the past, because let's face it, who wants to have a chaotic home? and never had any success until I found her website. I'm not even sure how I found it one day, I just know that my house would be cataclysmically insane if I hadn't begun shining my sink before the third princess came along. So, off to shine my sink and swish and swipe!
Happy New Year!