Safari Party

A few weeks ago Isa turned 4 and next week Abigail turns 6, so last weekend we celebrated both of their birthdays with a Safari party at the church. Matt was a huge help - he and the girls made all of the animals on the cake. All the kids were great and went along with all of my sometimes kooky games.

Hace unas semanas que Isa cumplió 4 años y la semana que viene Abi cumplirá los 6. Por eso la semana pasada hemos celebrado los dos cumples con una fiesta compartida. Funciona muy bien que ya tienen muchos amigos en común. Matt me ayudó un montón - que hizo con las niñas todas las figuritas del pastel. Y todos los invitados eran geniales y participaron muy entusiasmados en todo. Bicos a todos los que queríamos invitar y no pudimos por la distancia tan larga!

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Now playing: Paul O'Rellly - Dock On The Bay
via FoxyTunes

Grace Begins - handcrafted jewelery and more

My friend Grace has just launched her own line of hand-crafted jewelery as she prepares to embark on the journey of stay-at-home motherhood (she's due at the beginning of March with her first). So here's the link to her site: Snowcloud Jewelery where there is lots more to look at as well as her contact info should you be interested in a purchase. Thanks Grace and I can't wait to meet that baby!

Mi amiga Grace acaba de estrenar su propia linea de joyeria artesana como se esta preparando para el camino de ser mama y cuidar al nin@ en casa. Sale de cuentas al principio de marzo con su primer hij@. Aqui esta el enlace de su pajina web: Snowcloud Jewelery donde hay muchas ejemplares y tambien sus datos de contcto si le interse alguna cosita. Gracias Grace y no puedo esperar a conocer al peque!

2/25/08 update: no longer borrowing space on a friend's site, Grace has launched her own space with her own name: GraceBegins. Enjoy!!

Kings Day - El Dia de los Reyes

Today the girls were SO excited that it was Reyes. Last year we celebrated in the home of our dear friends Guillermo and Yolanda where we all devoured the Roscón together. So this morning we retold the story of the Kings (wise men or astrologers) - how they listened to God and made themselves able to be used by him. We found a recipe for roscón online and we made it together. It wasn't quite the same - we had to substitute jelly beans for the candied fruit, but the sentiment was there and the girls loved it. Abigail got the bean and Eden got the prize.

Hoy las niñas despertaron tan emocionadas por ser el día de los reyes. Hace doce dias que les había visitado Papá Noel con todos los regalos. A pesar de eso, las niñas estaban eléctricas igual y decidían que querían hornear un roscón juntos. Después de contar la historia de los reyes (o magos, o astrólogos) hemos buscado una receta de roscón por internet. No fue exactamente lo que comimos los años pasados - tuve que sustituir unos gominolas por la fruta encima - pero fue lo mejor que pudimos encontrar aquí. A Abi le tocó la haba y a Edén la sorpresita. Echamos de menos a nuestros amigos y a las tradiciones que hemos adoptados. Y para todos nuestros amigos en España, ¡Feliz día de los Reyes! ¡Feliz 2008!

La Bici - The Bike

Yesterday, (finally!!) I got out on my bike with Abigail and Eden and did some errands. They both did great. Eden loved it! We took some books back to the library and I picked up a couple of things from the store. It was really fun being outside, getting a bit of exercise, and doing errands all at once. The picture is of me with Isa in front. Getting going is the hardest part, and once there's a bit of momentum, it's not too hard. Hopefully now that we know it can be done, we'll be able to get out a bit more before it gets REALLY COLD.


Ayer, (por fin!) monte la bici con Abi y Eden para hacer unos recados. A ellas les encanto! Fuimos a la biblioteca y al supermercado. Me diverti mucho estar fuera, hacer un poco de ejercicio y hacer recados todo a la vez. El video es con Isa en la cesta porque ella queria hacer una vuelta tambien. Empezar a ir es la parte mas dificil, pero al coger un poco de monentum, no esta muy mal. Espero que ahora yo se que lo puedo hacer, salre en bici un par de veces antes de que llegue EL SUPER FRIO.

Another Move- otra mudanza

Hoy estamos mudando del piso de iTeams a nuestra casa en Hoffman Estates. Estoy animada, estresada, y lista para esta mudanza. Aun estan embaladas las cosas que hemos enviado desde Espana. Estoy lista para deshacerlas y tener un solo lugar para la familia y sentir como "nosotros" otra vez.

Today we are moving from our apartment at iTeams to our house in Hoffman Estates. Iam excited, stressed and ready for this move. Our boxes that we shipped from Spain are still packed. I'm ready to un-pack and settle in and feel like "us" again.

BICOS

I blog a ton

No, really, I do. Or at least I come up with tons of great posts while I am running. Once I get into a groove and my body isn't protesting so much that I have to will myself just to put one foot in front of the other, then my mind starts to wander a bit. I don't know how many times my mind has mulled over a great quote or an issue or a verse, and I've been so sure that it would be the best post for this blog, only to return, shower, and get sucked back into daily life where my great post fizzles out. I have done some of my best blogging while out jogging.

I also am able to pray while I'm jogging. During the day my mind is so distracted that quiet moments to pray are rare. But while I'm out running, the hard work and rhythm of the breathing and footfalls allow my mind to focus. Friends in need, things in my life God is trying to work out, our marriage, our kids, our world, things I'm thankful for, things I'm repenting of. . . it's easy to sink into it and forget how far I've run, or how long I've been praying for.

I used to pray and think a lot in the pool, too. Something about distracting my body with something challenging and repetitive really allows my mind to dig in - whether it is some yet-to-be-typed blog post or talking to Jesus. Good thing for me that prayer works nothing like blogger - no logging in, passwords, or computers required!

The Move - La Mudanza

Oh the boxes! I will be so glad when the shippers come and take them away! Ay las cajas! Estaré tan feliz cuando llegan los transportistas para quitarmelas!

"We must become holy not because we want to feel holy but
because Christ must be able to live his life fully in us."

- Mother Teresa

New (Cheap!!) Glasses

It was time for new glasses - not only had my prescription changed, but one of the girls had snapped off an ear piece of my older glasses, so I was only wearing (dangling) them at night at home. However, I didn't want to pay an arm and a leg like you can at some eyeglass places. With frames and everything the cheapest pair I could find at a store in town here in Santiago was going to cost me well over $100. I kept putting it off until Matt saw this post on Boing Boing describing a blogger who had found inexpensive yet quality eyeglass dealers online. I decided it was worth the risk.

So I went to the Glassy Eyes blog and chose a store. I decided on Optical 4 Less and above you have the result. For $66, I purchased two pairs of glasses, and was very pleased. This included shipping as well. I probably won't buy glasses in a store again.

Veggie Time!

Last night Eden ate her first ever vegetable - zucchini - and she loved it. So here are a few photos of her first experience of going green:

You know you have three girls when. . .

. . . you can do an entire load of laundry and every item in the load is pink.

Seriously, last night I washed a load of the girls' clothes that was all pink. I now have four piles whe I sort laundry: whites, darks, lights, and PINK.

Wow.

Healthy Communication

Just read an interesting blurb on Time.com that talks about how in people who use two or more languages regularly throughout adulthood, the onset of dementia is delayed by 4.1 years. Perhaps we should rethink having a second official language in the states . . .

You can check out the article here.

Healthful Eating

I've started a new blog, called Healthful Eating. Many of you may know that Matt was diagnosed with high cholesterol right around when Eden was born and since then we've been eating "heart-healthy." His cholesterol is significantly lower (as is his weight!) than when we began and I've come across a number of great-tasting new recipes. Since meal planning and cooking is a significant part of what I do, I thought I would start a blog to record some of my new findings as I'm learning to cook all over again.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Today it is RAINING. Let me paint a picture for you: Matt worked this morning so I had to get the girls to school by myself. Eden is all bundled and strapped into her stroller which is covered in a nice plastic bubble. Attached to the stroller is a step with wheels on it that Isa rides on. Abigail is walking with her little rainbow umbrella and rain boots. I am pushing the stroller with one hand and clutching an umbrella with the other trying to keep Isa and myself dry.

While my backside is getting wet because of the way I have to hunch over to get enough leverage to get some momentum, my boot-cut jeans are getting soaked through up to the knees. It is at this point that I begin pondering the practicality of the fashion trend I have yet to adopt: tucking your jeans into your boots. I am of the opinion that this only makes my post-baby hips look even hippier (not hip-er) so I continue to wear my jeans outside my boots in that oh-so-two-years-ago way.

Anyway, about halfway to school is stops raining and starts POURING. Here we either all start whining and crying (yes, myself included) or we choose to make the best of it. Today I had the strength to choose to laugh (believe me there are days, when I don't) and we all ended up shouting at the top of our lungs the song, "Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day! Rain, rain, go away! Abigail and Isa and Eden and Mommy want to play!" In that moment our singing didn't make the rain go away, but it did make me feel better.

Later this morning I switched out with Matt at the café and after three teas I'm warming up and serving hot beverages to all the brave souls who've been out in this weather. Most days the rain doesn't really bother me, but today when one of Isa's teachers greeted me and said that the weather today was a horror, I looked down at my baby-under-the-bubble, felt the cold wet denim around my calves and agreed.