a family of leftys

Diego has taken up detailed drawing to pass the time. I love how concentrated he is when he's doing this...and he's very proud when I hang it on the fridge.


And it turns out he's a lefty...just like the rest of us...that's right...Juan Pablo, me, Isabela, Joaquin and Diego are all left handed! What are the chances of that?!!

giant nature

Tuesday, I happened to stop by a bird watching store with Diego while we were waiting for a story time to begin at the bookstore next door. Diego's always loved his "pas", as he calls them, so I thought I'd see what was in there. We've been trying to attract more birds to our yard, with little success.

We put up a new bird feeder a little over a month ago, and they barely touch it.

I found out why.

It turns out that the traditional mix we've all been using for years, from Lowe's or Walmart, is mostly just "filler" and the birds don't eat it. The nice lady behind the counter showed me some much better options (which were even cheaper than that bag of junk I spilled all over the driveway!) so we bought one. I put it in our feeder that night, and had low expectations, knowing it sometimes takes birds awhile to find it.

Well, we woke up to find this! The largest pileated woodpecker I've ever seen! (Isabela looked it up in our bird watcher's guide which we now place right by the window, along with our binoculars, for times just like this.)


It was playing hide and seek with a squirrel. And while I know he wasn't looking for the seeds in our feeder, it was quite a coincidence.


My camera was on some weird setting, so I didn't get great pictures, but I was just excited to capture it at all!


We also saw a cardinal couple, a baby woodpecker, and some other birds we didn't know. SO, if you're having trouble feeding your birds...try a new food...the one we're using is black oil sunflower seeds. It also felt great to buy from a specialty store and not one of those big chains. I don't know why I don't do that more often!

a wedding dress

In the middle of us purging the house of things we don't need, I came across my mom's almost 40 year old wedding dress. I'm not sure how this thing keeps popping up in my house. I know it went to my grandma's house at some point, but I guess I got it back and have never been sure what to do with it.
So I was on the verge of throwing it away when Isabela said she wanted to try it on. What a great idea! I'm sure it hasn't even been used since that day long ago.


She was so excited and surprised that she could actually fit in it. ( I know I wouldn't!) She even suggested she could wear it when she got married one day.


I always thought the long sleeves and high neck weren't me, and I'd love to have heard my mom's story about picking out her wedding dress. Maybe one of you aunts know it?


So for now, we're holding on to the dress. Sentimentally, it's a tangible piece of the grandma Isabela never knew, but it's also a great piece to add to the dress up collection.


(I had fun playing with the effects on these shots. I've just recently discovered how to enlarge my photos on the blog pretty easily using Flickr and am very excited about that.)

slice of life-i heart faces

This is my first time entering I heart faces. I'm not really expecting to win, but hoping to learn more about photography so I can take better pictures.

Many of you remember this photo from our day at the river....Daddy was explaining that the rocks could be slippery and woosh! his feet flew up and I happened to catch the shot...Isabela's face was priceless!

our favorite room in the house

I was inspired by Simple Mom to do some major spring cleaning in the house. I'd like to get it back to when we had next to nothing when we moved back here from Bolivia...there's so much more space, and less to clutter up and put away!

So the challenge at Simple Mom was one hot spot a week. And it started with the Master Bedroom Closet. Definitely where we needed it most. We have a very large walk-in closet...so big we even thought about making it Diego's room, except there are no windows and no heating or cooling vents...so it gets very hot or very cold in there.

Anyway two excellent pieces of advice I got from my friend Kim were
1.) Store things near where you use them...so towels in bathrooms, table cloths in kitchens, etc.)
and 2.) If it's not something you use all the time, put it in the attic (like Xmas wrapping paper).
Our closet was our dumping ground, since we don't have much storage space in the house and no one ever sees it. But we saw it all the time and hated to go in there.

You may be appalled when you see the before pictures...or yours may look just like ours did. Here they are:

BEFORE
tablecloths, hats, bins full of school papers


you can't see it too well, but there's Xmas paper and two bins of out-grown kids clothes that I consign


pillows and comforters


shoes and junk


kids' clothes, my clothes, cat box, and junk!!!


So here's the after...now I couldn't hold off until I got a couple more baskets, a large full length mirror, and some framed artwork to make it a nice space, but you will definitely see a HUGE difference.

AFTER:


One more basket will hide those toppling sheets.


Shoes are in order...there still quite a bit of clothes there, but as soon as the cold weather is gone, I'll store some more of that.


There is nothing on the floor!!


The kids were amazed and said it looked like when we moved in. Juan Pablo and I love it and sneak in here to get away from the kids....it even locks from the inside!

We've moved on to other parts of the house, and it's now in quite a disarray, but at least the closet's not! Hurray for spring cleaning!!

3.21.11

March 21 was a special day. Find out why here because her words and pictures are more than amazing.

And lately, my thoughts and prayers have been a million miles away, with the children of Reece's Rainbow. They have a beautiful downloadable calendar here...beware, the lines on the last pages will pierce your heart like an arrow. And to see the difference in just one life, of one precious child, meet Sofia.

celebrating two

Birthdays of the past have always been a huge thing here. I'm not sure how that happened. They evolved over time.
Until some I had even started planning months in advance....remember Mary Poppins? go here...or Star Wars here or even last year's Curious George here.

And while I enjoyed every minute of hand painting decorations and googling games and activities that went with the theme of the party, I decided it was too much. And really, somehow we had stopped celebrating the person who was born that day, and instead celebrated how detailed decorations, food and activities stuck to the theme.

So this year, Juan Pablo and I agreed to do away with parties. Gasp!

And as the date for Diego's second birthday neared, I got a familiar pang of anxiety. I hadn't started planning decorations....and themes were slapping me in my face...like Peter Rabbit, Dr. Seuss, and spring gardens.

Maybe we should give him a party? Maybe it's unfair? Maybe he won't even feel special? My mind was racing with doubt.

His birthday was on a Sunday this year, so we headed off to church. There were the familiar grumbles, and others like "but it's Diego's birthday"....but I wanted to start it off right, so their complaints fell on deaf ears. And even after church, I still hadn't planned what to do. The tentative plan was eat, Rita's ices for free (first day of spring!), and a park.

We agreed on Panera Bread for lunch. The kids love their soup in a bread bowl (and so do I!). As we discussed which park to go to on the way over, I gazed at the gray, cloudy sky and wondered if the rain would decide our plans for us. Ideas were thrown out....Sunday Park. The Wishing Well. The backyard.

Then we thought of Maymont. It's always fun and there's so much to do there...someone voiced a concern that there was no playground, and I quickly replied, "Nature will be your playground." (That turned out to be much more truthful than I thought at the time.)

We ran home to change, grab snacks, and I snuck the wagon in the car while JP wasn't looking. (He never likes to take too much anywhere...doesn't like to carry it later.)

Rita's was surprisingly NOT crowded compared to Sweet Frog's the day before (yeah, we've been celebrating the whole weekend). Five regular ices for $0, can't beat that! We chilled for awhile on the bench, then decided to head on.



Diego caught a snooze on the way over.


When our eyes met the amazing blossoms on this cherry tree as we walked in, it took all of our breaths away. The kids immediately wanted to climb into it's branches, and Isabela eventually lost her fear of falling out as seen in that pained look on her face.


And this boy was unstoppable...now these are the bars of real monkeys.


The tulips were gorgeous in the Italian garden.


Joaquin, get down off of that sundial!


The wagon did present a bit of a challenge going down hills and stone steps. And while I grumbled and got a bit upset when I got stuck with it in the Japanese Gardens, we both agreed it's what made the day so enjoyable. The kids were able to sit and rest on the long hauls, and we could cart all the bags and coats that got flung off during our trek.


The amazing Japanese Gardens....bamboo and it's hidden trails lets the imaginations of kids, big and small, run wild...




...Where koi fish seem like giant sharks...


And there's even time for yoga....



or to take in the beauty of spring.





Joaquin was in his element on this real life rock wall. This is definitely why I limit his intake of movies like Spiderman.



And Karate Kid.


Wouldn't you know, there was even a slide.



And we stared in wonder and contemplation as the longest train in the world went by right when we were at the train tracks. Really, could I have planned a better party?


We passed the bears, the eagles, the children's farm, and the bison...I couldn't help but feel sorry for them, who once numbered 60 million roaming free....


But Diego was amazed.


That's the whole entire park...and the kids were still going strong. (thank you, wagon.)



And I believe I heard it said on the way home, "This was the best day of my life." Spoken for all of us.


Happy Birthday, Diego.

We love two.

We love you.

moment

There is a moment. Every day. That stops time.

This moment during my day that I cherish, that I'm sure about, and that I wait for with anticipation...through all the busyness of the day that clutters my mind and fills my schedule...this moment fills my soul and satisfies my longing for peace. Not peace as in an absence of fighting, but peace as in
a state or condition conducive to, proceeding from, or characterized by tranquillity (dictionary.com)

It's not the morning sunrise. I'm not up that early.
It's not when the kids head off to school. We're just kicking into high gear.
It's not when the baby takes a nap. Time to get stuff done around the house.
It's not when I head off to the gym on my own. Radio's blaring.
It's not when I sneak a bowl of ice cream after everyone is asleep. Who likes eating alone?
And it's not when my head hits the pillow at night. Someone's snoring.

My precious moment is when I hear a little voice say, "Ma?" from behind a closed door.
Diego is just waking up from his nap.

I race to the room. I've missed him. This is my moment. He's standing in his crib waiting for me...with his blankie, his paci, and some huge stuffed animal overflowing in his arms.

You'd think he might be geared up after his long rest, ready to take on the world in all the ways his almost-two-year-old mind can think of. But he's not. He's quiet.

And I ask him, "Do you want to lie down with mommy?" And do you know what he says? What he always says?

He says, "Yes."

So I scoop him up and we fall to the bed, and we snuggle... cheek to cheek, or nose to nose, and we enjoy the moment. I breathe in his baby-ness, stare at the precious features of his face, and wonder how I could ever be filled with sorrow when I have such joy.

And while my to-do list is never-ending, I know that this will not be.

So, right now, I soak it up. This is my moment.

limericks

I was reading the kids some leprechaun stories out of this book, A Pot O' Gold, this morning, and we came upon some limericks. There is a city in Ireland called Limerick, but I don't think the poetry is actually from there.

Anyway, we decided to make up our own limericks, which turned out to be a fun lesson on rhyming, patterns (aabba), and wording in poetry and how it's sometimes different than the way we talk because of the need to rhyme.

I thought I'd share them because they were pretty funny.

I went first to show them how to do it:

I once had a girl and a boy,
Who both wanted one more toy.
Instead we said, "Maybe"
And had one more baby,
And now we're all filled with joy.

Then Joaquin made up this:

I went on a boat
And I passed by a goat.
The goat saw me
And climbed up a tree.
Then fell off and went to a vote.

And here's Isabela's:

Isabela's my name
And I played a game.
The cat jumped on it,
And I said, "Darn it."
And my cat I blame.

You can see how the last line of Isabela's had to have the words rearranged in order to rhyme. We also realized we had to rhyme with 'on it' and not just 'it', or else it didn't have the right rhythm....hence the 'darn it', which I actually thought of and had to approve since they thought it was so funny.

Have fun making up your own limerick and share it in the comments!!