I Wanna be Her Today

A smiling happy momma who's children are smiling and happy too.

Look at that girl telling her momma that she loves her... unlike mine who told me this morning that she just loves papi. *sigh* It's not an unusual thing around here, and I know she does the exact opposite to Jesse, but still, it can knock the wind out of you.

But most of all, I want to be her because she's lying around not doing laundry and (most importantly) not having to discipline kids.  That puts me in a sour mood quicker than anything. 

Why can't they be perfect little angels like this little girl frozen in time so all of our time can be happy? Oh yeah, they were born into sin just like their mami was.

God, help me to extend grace an receive grace today. Amen.

Sunday Afternoon Snapshots

Diego and Eliana wanted different places for lunch... Wendy's (Diego likes mandarin oranges better with his nuggets) and McDonald's (Eliana prefers apples).  Jesse was obliging enough to do both. Happy kids!

Cruz has discovered the swing is not such a bad place after all.  (He's taken to falling asleep in it.) Happy mami!

Working on birthday invites for a special girl... more later.

Have a blessed Sunday!  (And may your favorite team win!)

Little Man

How did you get to be 3 months old?

I know things have been a fog, but good grief! Didn't you just enter our lives yesterday?

So far you've had two colds and one stomach bug.  I suppose it's the lot of the third child to be kissed so much you get sick easier.

So, even though you aren't always well, you are always well loved.

You've recently discovered how interesting ceiling fans are.

You love to blow spit bubbles.

And you've discovered your tongue.

Mami is the apple of your eye.

But you are pretty cool with just about anyone (as long as you're not hungry).

And you're hungry a lot.

In fact, it's only been in the past week or so that you've been sleeping 6 hours straight at night consistently... something your brother and sister did much earlier.  (Then again, you've reach weights much earlier than they ever did.)

All around you're a pretty laid back kind of a kid.

Unless you've had enough... at which point you're not afraid to let us know about it.

We love you, Cruz, and thank Jesus for blessing us with you!

It Finally Arrived (and Friday Favorites)

It stopped working correctly about a year ago.  For a long time I thought I just wasn't doing something right because it's not an area of expertise for me, but back in November I finally had my momma look at it... since she's the Home Ec. Major and knows about these things, right? And she couldn't figure it out.  So, I submitted to the fact that I was going to have to take it in.  I was afraid they were going to laugh at it and tell me I bought a bad machine (even if it was a Singer) and try to sell me something else. Gulp. So, I put it off... until two weeks ago when I finally bit the bullet. Hooray! When he saw what it was he said: "I wish they still made them like this, it's a good machine."  Jesse picked it up for me today.

SO, I finally completed a project I started a year ago!  (It took about 5 minutes to finally complete.)  Last year, the kids and I took shave red and pink crayon pieces and melted them between two sheets of wax paper with an iron.  Then I traced a bunch of hearts and cut them out.  And stopped right there.  The project sat around my house for a year... until I dug it out today.

I sewed them into strings with red thread and tacked them up in my windows!  Pretty Happy Valentines! And it's a super cheap project... as long as you don't have to spend $60 fixing your machine.

Here's a peek at my friend Mindy's super cute and affordable Valentine's wreath.  Pretty, pretty!

And here's a peek at what I want for Valentine's Day:

What are you doing to decorate for Valentine's Day? 

Happy Friday!

Little Frog's Tail

My kids have been on-again/off-again sick this week... Eliana gives me hope that she's better one day and then she loses her lunch the next.  All of them have been sick sometime this week.  There's a little Spanish rhyme that translates: "Heal, Heal, little frog's tale." Jesse and I debated whether or not frogs actually have tails... I said yes, right before morphing into fully adult frog stage.  He thought no, that they only have tails as tadpoles.  I found this today.  Who wins this round? Oh, yeah! Ahem, I mean, I humbly accept that I just happened to be right.

On another note, today is Chinese New Year!  I hope that everyone who is healthy and in a place that's warm enough to actually leave your house will go support a local hole-in-the-wall Asian restaurant tonight.  I had hoped to make fried rice tonight... we'll see how many of us feel up to eating it.

Since however, we are stuck in our house because of weather and illness, our celebration has been rather...um, lame.  It's consisted of the kids watching Ni Hao, Kailan episodes off the net.  And this evening I plan to watch Owl and the Sparrow on Netflix.  Looks cute, and it's only rated PG, which in my book is a good thing... I won't have to worry about covering eyes through some ridiculous love scene. But I guess it's won some awards, so I'm hoping it'll be good.

I told you I'm going to start working on a quilt for Eliana's room sometime (soon hopefully).  Here's a collage of the fabrics I've found on Etsy.  Some of them are Alexander Henry, some are Kaffe Fassett, and some are from Japan... so cute! I'm excited to start receiving them in the mail.

Hope you all are staying well, but if you're sick like we've been: "Sana, sana, colita de rana."

Happy Chinese New Year!

A Peek at the Girl's Room

Very few people have seen the upstairs portion of my house. And there's a reason for that.  Namely, it's usually a big mess.  Well, my whole house can get messy, but this... There's paperwork and clothes to be put away and our upstairs bathroom is still in the remodeling process... we started that process before Eliana was born and she's almost three. 

But my kids rooms--most of the time they're pretty tidy.  I do try to at least create some semblance of order for them and it's in their rooms that I'm best at creating that order.  But because my room remains a crazy mess, no one is invited upstairs.

I realized today as I was taking pictures of my kids in Eliana's room (for my new header) that even though there are still things that I would like to do to her room (paint the trim, install a doorknob on her closet, and put shelves above her windows... the girl has 9 windows) that over all her room is pretty nice.  It's an enjoyable place to be.  And even though all the things on my list to do to her room aren't done, most likely, when they are, I'll have another 5 to add to the list because my living spaces tend to be in a constant state of evolution... partly because there's only so much time in the day and only so much money to be spent and partly because I'm constantly finding new things to add or change.  (That's part of the problem with looking at so many wonderful blogs, there's always something new to want to do.)

So, here is Eliana's room as it is.  Do you feel privileged to see it?  I can name only about 6 other people who have ever set eyes on it, so you really should. ;)

To the very right, is a fish mobile that Elisabeth picked up for Eliana in Thailand. The mirror was in our upstairs bathroom before we began remodeling.  And the lampshade is one I recovered with a vintage embroidery piece that was too stained to do much else with.

I started collecting knick-knacks for her room long before she came along... long before I was married.  In fact, a few of the things sitting on her vanity were purchased when I was in high school.  (I've always had a thing for Asia.)

I picked up these hooks in San Antonio at a World Market... about 7 years ago (with the intent of using them in a little girl's room).  They were installed about 2 months ago.  Emily made the tutu for a birthday present.

I found the crib at a garage sale last summer for a few dollars... when I make her bedding (future post) I hope to make something for this crib too. The chairs, table, and chair cover were all from garage sales... Eliana loves to have tea parties.

Jesse made the kitchen for her birthday last year.  The kids spend a lot of time here creating all sorts of concoctions.  My momma made this baby quilt... it doesn't cover her entire bed, but she still uses it.  I love all of the colors in it!

We keep her "silverware" in the tea canister I picked up at an estate sale.

Alright, now you have a better idea of what my upstairs consists of... I'll soon be posting some stuff pertaining to this room (because the little girl is turning 3!!! this month).

Have a blessed day and stay warm!

Saving Up

I get migraines fairly regularly... well, if I don't stay on top of things I get migraines.  Most of the time, if I get caffeine in me, I'm okay.  Sometimes, it takes Excedrin Migraine and caffeine to make it through the day.  But there's a pretty good chance that if I don't have one or both of these things on hand, I can get sick super fast and be out of commission for the rest of the day.  Not good if you're responsible for three little ones.

Back in the day, I used to work at a coffee house, so I know how to make myself a coffee.  But lets face it, it's really nice to be able to have someone else make your coffee.

So, Starbucks has been my habit.  Some of you may not know that Jesse used to work for Starbucks... they have great benefits and many great people working there! I love going to our Starbucks--we still have friends there from when Jesse was working (over 2 years ago). My kids adore Adelita and are thrilled when she's at work... but want me to roll down their window so they can say hello to whoever is working the drive-thru. I get my drink and they get a chocolate chunk cookie to split... it's a win for all of us.

But recently, I've been trying to cut back on trips to one of my favorite places in the world.

And I've been using my espresso machine with much more frequency than I've done in the past.

I even made myself a coffee station in my dining room so I can be more intentional in not make excuses for not making myself a drink.

Why the change? Because my dear friend, Angie, is getting married to Pepe this June. In Mexico City.

And I intend to be there. There are very few things that could entice me to cut back on my trips to Bux.

But this is a biggie.  In the meantime, I'll use my Starbucks cup and pretend I'm there.

Stay warm and make yourself your favorite hot drink today...

P.S.- Dear Starbucks, I'm about to run out of espresso, so I'll be back to get more sometime soon.