Catch Up

My phone pics transferred!

I had these matching shirts I bought a while ago for $2 and they were just itching for a design; so I made a necklace template in AI and printed it off on freezer paper (*if you do this, make sure you iron it lightly to another piece of paper first.) After cutting out the positive space like a stencil, I pressed the paper to the shirt and painted with acrylic paint + textile medium. After peeling the freezer paper off really carefully, I was able to reuse it for the other shirt. It was such an easy project and cost me nothing since I already had all of the supplies.

I also got to indulge myself in another craft project that morning... their trick-or-treat bags. I had only 45 minutes, and after I thought I had broken my sewing machine 20 minutes into it, I thought it was a project in futility. However, press on and improvise I did, and by golly, they were finished in time for the morning Pumpkin Hunt and extravagant Halloween breakfast at Amber's. (I tried writing a quick tutorial, but I soon realize that I don't know any of the technical sewing terms and I can't give directions to save my life. Sorry, the tutorial is now in the trash.)

Juan's FIRST time ever carving pumpkins. Fantastic job, no?

Halloween was fun... a little frustrating, but fun. The girls dressed up as Fancy Nancy and Fancy Nancy's little sister. It was quite an easy costume since we're growing a little collection of dress-up clothes. Qiana actually loved it more than Siena, who refused to wear the hot pink feather boa. What's a fancy girl to do?!

As for my costume, I was a little proud of myself for putting thought into it (which is more than I can say for ANY previous year.) I went with a classic Halloween costume: a mummy. HOWEVER, as I started wrapping the gauze shreds from my feet to my head, I realized it was not as easy as it had appeared. By the time I got to my neck (a fifteen minute ordeal, mind you,) I looked down at my legs and realized that all the wrapping was for naught--it had all unraveled. I tried a second time, a little tighter, but still wound up with the same results. FRUSTRATING. So I bagged my costume, and started heading out the door.

Besides an exhausting 20-minute power struggle with Siena on our way to the car, we were able to leave in time to catch at least the last half of the ward activity. The girls spent their time well: twirling and dancing, and gobbling anything that contained fat, salt, and/or sugar. They slept their sugar coma off very efficiently, because the next day, they were up and at 'em at the crack of dawn.

Juan was in Chicago at the annual Hispanic Dental Association Conference until Sunday night, so he missed out on all the Halloween fun here, but was kind enough to document his adventures for me.

Our poster, woot woot! I scrapped it all together the night before he left, but it did the job. It was NOTHING like last year's poster because we took a different approach and because there was no prize money to work toward. Sad, but true.

Juan's colleagues from school




Chicago is known for it's architecture.









Juan's cousins just happened to be in town, so they stopped by for a midnight chat.

Inside the hotel lobby. Crazy beautiful.

500th post!

I love November... and instead of going to bed I'm going to post my 500th post to celebrate the first day of this blessed month!

Autumn is the PERFECT time of the year (right along with Spring,) in my opinion. I have been burning my warm-and-cozy-smelling candles off and on for about a month now, but I think it's officially time that those scents stick around for the next four months as we nestle up in the house, away from the cold.

As a piece of news, I would like to share my new curiosity: FlyLady.net. She's got home de-cluttering down to a science. I heard about her system at a Girls Night Out and today I was curious enough to check it out. It seems like it would work for me, but let's see if I can actually remember to DO IT. (Here are her daily routines, set out in a monthly chart.)


Happy 500th, dear blog!

Little Blue Riding Hood

Heard this on the staticky FM classics station on my way home from dropping Juan off at school the other day. Had a good laugh. "Oh, they are oldies but they're sure goodies."

We just got home from the airport where we had to say goodbye to Juan for the weekend. He's attending an Hispanic Dental Association conference in Chicago and presenting his chapter's work with some other students from Temple. Last year he got to go to Houston, and had a good time; however, with all of the stress that comes with being a fourth-year student, he's just waiting for it to be over. I hope he is able to relax after his presentation, because it's been non-stop busy for him lately and he deserves a break. So far we've heard from two Universities and it looks like we will not be going there. Today's letter was from Oklahoma, a school he was pretty interested in, so that was a bummer. Oh well, we can continue to hope for good news from the other schools, but prepare for a year-long internship in the meantime.

Whole Wheat Potato Gnocchi with Pesto--Presto!

I have a long-lost high school friend who has a SCRUMPTIOUS recipe blog. Before her decision to quit the foodie-blog work, I e-mailed her with a special request--a yummy gnocchi recipe. I LOVE gnocchi and keep a couple packages of it on-hand, but I was getting bored of the same-old recipes. Well, she e-mailed back and told me she'd keep me posted. I did notice that she made sauteed gnocchi with pesto one weekend, but it was only made mention. I assume that since I never heard back from her, the task of writing the recipe was left incomplete(... she has a life too, Stacia!) However, the void was left unfilled and those potato gnocchies were needing some lovin'.

Today, as a I sat the girls down to eat lunch, I realized that there was nothing I could feed them for lunch that screamed "Lunch!" So my mind wandered through my Tired Mom's Typical Lunch List: "PB&J- nope. Had that two days ago. Mac & Cheese- nope. It hasn't been brought inside the house ever since Siena started to disdain the stuff. Quesadilla- nope. The tortillas are too dry now." In my frustration, I looked from left to right and back again; luckily, I spied a lone gnocchi package, waiting to be rediscovered. It took just a few ingredients, and a little curiosity to come up with my new favorite way of eating gnocchi. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Potato Gnocchi with Pesto--Presto!

1 package of 100% whole wheat potato gnocchi (near the pasta) (recommended: Trader Joe's)
2 Tb. butter
1/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves
2 Tb. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup + splash of milk or cream

Directions:
Melt butter in large sauce pan and add the gnocchi. Saute over medium-high heat until soft and a golden crust forms on the gnocchi.

In a blender or food processor, add the rest of the ingredients (minus the extra splash of milk.) This will be the pesto sauce (...see how simple. I left out the pine nuts because the whole wheat in the gnocchi gives it the nutty taste, and it cuts calories to leave the nuts out.)

Back to the gnocchi: over medium-high heat, add the splash of milk to the sauteed gnocchi and stir to coat throughout. Now add the pesto and stir to disperse sauce evenly.

Done! No extra salt is even needed. Thanks for the inspiration Whitney!

The girls and I gobbled it all up with slices of fresh mango on the side and lunch was over in less than 30 minutes. A RECORD! (Siena has been testing my patience lately with her drawn-out eating, so this was a highly successful mealtime production for us all.)

Recent Going-Ons

Straightened Qiana's hair for the first time. She didn't squirm once!

Made a "Fancy Nancy"/"Pinkalicious" cake with Siena... who still talks about it.

(Just wanted to show off one of the cake stands from our wedding that my grandpa made. Gorgeous!)

Got a little nostalgic for the ol' biz when I made a little bridal bouquet for a member of the Branch the other day.

Figured it Out

I realized that the best way for me to push myself through an entire hour at the gym is to turn the channel to Food Network. I was sucked into two shows, both of which I decided to add to this week's menu. In order to justify eating Tyler's Spring Panna Cotta with Fresh Strawberries and Balsamic Syrup, Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe, Clams and Sweet Italian Sausage, and Garden Puree Bruschetta with Ricotta Salata, or Sunny's Easy Shrimp Potstickers, Pork-Fried Dirty Rice, and Quick Veggie Stir-Fry, I had to keep going.

(Actually, I was already feeling the guilt of eating it because I KNEW the meals would both carry more than the 450 calories I just worked off.)

From Chile to UT to PA

A couple of nights ago I really got into the news coverage in Chile and haven't really stopped checking CNN every couple of hours since. Now that all 33 miners are safely to the top of the shaft, I have wanted to put into words the emotions I felt as part of the millions of breathless spectators. Well, it really can't be done properly. With the emergence of the first miner, my eyes remained fixed to the TV, my heart beating fast and bursting with prayers of gratitude.

I am probably so moved by this historic event because my own father worked in a coal mine in Utah for years. After some pretty hard experiences of dealing with the deaths of his partner and another colleague in two separate mining accidents, he decided to abandon the life of a mine worker and move his family--away from his hometown, family and friends. There were definitely some sacrifices made in order to ensure that his children would have a better chance of seeing Dad at their graduations and weddings, but he and my mother made those sacrifices, and with five kids in tow. This history of his life as well as some pretty harsh facts of mining were made known to me back in August when I was visiting my family--before I was even aware that the Chilean accident had happened.

The likelihood of these newly rescued miners being able to change employment was slim to none previous to their entrapment. Many of them still say they will continue mining, although they have more opportunities than ever before. They all had people waiting for them at the top, many with young families, and I wonder how likely it will be for them to resume their normal lives in the coming months and even years. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds for them, as I'm sure the media will keep us updated. (Actually, I really don't believe that; the media tends to go wherever the wind takes them and heroes are soon forgotten amid the breaking news elsewhere.) The important thing is that they survived and made history, inspiring people globally with their stories of hope and examples of faith.

Imaginarium

Today in the bathtub Siena told me not to wash her "luna" (moon). I was completely confused. Turns out that her moon was the tip of a section of wet hair on which her eyes were fixated. If I dared touch that wet lock, she would back up to the corner of the tub and tell me with her pointing finger, "Don't get my moon wet!" (Sorry to break it to you, sweetie, but your moon was already wet.)

Qiana must have quite an imagination as well because her favorite things to do at the moment are: dress up with tons and tons of necklaces, bracelets and sunglasses like she's a movie star, make tents with the sheets, play "Grocery Store/Restaurant" with her sister, and talk on the phone (even if that phone is a plastic egg or hair bow.)

Recently the two have become better friends, for which I am SO grateful. I thought for a while there that we were going to have to hire the Super Nanny for all the kicking and bullying as well as the tattle-like tantrums. It still happens at times, but the frequency has noticeably declined.

I have a feeling that just as Siena exits this stage of selfishness, Qiana will enter it, and I will have to have learned how to deal with it better. I better get on that....

Today's class: 911 101

Once upon a time there was a family by the name of Chavez and they had two little girls. Although the girls, like their mother, were somewhat clumsy, somehow they had managed to avoid calling poison control, calling 911 (on behalf of the girls) and paying a visit to the pediatrician's office for urgent medical attention for three years.

Then one day, they broke tradition and found themselves doing all three.

(Okay, it's really a boring story, I just wanted to be dramatic.)

We were finishing up some shopping in JoAnn's today when Siena told me she needed to use the restroom. We left the cart outside the door and I carried Qiana in my arms while Siena did her business. When she was done, I put Qiana down so I could wash Siena's hands and somehow in the next 30 seconds, she managed to find an open plastic container of air deodorizing gel. In those few short seconds, she dipped her hand in the cup and plunged the goop into her mouth. Once I heard Qiqi coughing, I dropped Siena to her feet and tried to scoop out as much as I could. The concoction was like a viscous petroleum jelly, so cleaning it under water was little help. After tearing open a box of paper towels nearby, I took to the task again and was a little more successful with whatever was left on the outside of her mouth and hands. She quickly developed a really red rash around her lips and chin.

I took the cup o' gel to the manager and told him that he really needed to keep things like that off the ground because little children could easily get to them. I had looked on the cup for precautions and it said that although it was non-toxic, it should still be out of the reach of children. I wasn't worried about any crazy acids eating away her stomach, but a lady who was in the restroom at the time and who had helped me told me that I should call poison control, just in case something were to go wrong. While we were making our purchase at the register, I asked if they had a phone book or a number for poison control. They didn't have either, but said that if I just called 911, they could direct me to the right number.

I made the call.

The dispatcher told me that poison control would not be able to do anything for me, and that I should wait for the ambulance to get there. (I can't even describe how embarrassed I was. It's not like I wasn't watching my kid, I just had to put her down for second to help the other!) Anyway, the EMTs came and checked her out at the top of the escalators and told me that I needed to bring her to the ER or her pediatrician for further assessment. I declined their offer to ride in the ambulance (although that is secretly something I've always wanted to do... but only as a joy ride.) Luckily, her pediatrician was just down the street, so we went there and waited for a nurse to check her.

During this whole time, Qiana was so good and even happy after her mouth stopped burning. She coughed pretty hard a few times and vomited about 4 times, but I guess that's a good thing.

After checking Qiana, the nurse said that I should call poison control to see what the active ingredients were in the gel. This I did and after speaking to an operator, we decided that a close monitor would be the best thing rather than going to option 2: stomach pumping. No, thanks.

Poor Qiana had a hard first few minutes after eating the stuff, but it turns out that she may do this more often because she loved all the attention she was getting.

As for me, well, I feel like I have just passed through the portal to official motherhood.

Princess in Da House!

The YMCA we attend was having a princess party so, of course, we had to sign up. Siena had not yet entered the "princess phase" but was starting to show some interest after receiving a set of Disney princess books from Uncle Harper. I figured that the little girlie-girl would love the excuse to dress-up, and as luck has it, I was right. Despite her crazy dance moves and perma-pout, she remembered it as the BEST time she's ever had at the Y (...this I know because for being an extremely distracted three-year-old, she's still talking about "todos de las princesitas en el gimnasio.")

Not quite sure about the princess crown craft. Right before the party, she helped Mommy make a sparkly crown with jewels so she would look like a "real princess"; the craft foam crown was a little anticlimactic.

The leader was asking what princesses liked to do. I could tell that Siena wanted to speak up, but all the other girls were giving such good answers and I think our little princesita got a little intimidated. (She got a Silly Band anyway.)

Once the music started, her cloak of insecurity left the building. She and her friend Ashley (Cinderella) danced from one side of the room to the other until Siena discovered the Ho-Hum shuffle and Ashley discovered some breakdance moves.

After the dancing they had a tea party with cupcakes and juice, and finished the fun with a grueling game of musical chairs. (Siena kept trying to sneak back into the circle, the little chamaca.)

First Day of Preschool!

Siena is officially too grown-up and Juan and I are officially too old. Little Nena started preschool yesterday and both of us just LOVED IT! Qiana and I ran some errands, Siena had fun--it was a win-win.

So I was watching CNN this morning...

...and the topic of faith vs. religious knowledge was up for discussion. Read the whole article for an interesting next few minutes. Oh! And take the quiz.

Qiana is ONE!

I can't believe how fast this last year has gone by. She is ONE! Numero UNO! She is walking, talking (only "Mama"), waving, singing, dancing, and can blow the biggest snot bubbles I've ever seen.

The thing that surprised me about Qiqi is that she is so active. She is not, nor ever has been a cuddly baby and if you try to sit down in the rocking chair with her, she'll screech your ears off. She just likes to be where the party is at!

Some of my favorite Qiana-isms are that she tips to one side of her chair while at the dinner table and likes to look at people sideways; she also likes being chased around a room; she eats more than Siena on a regular basis; she is very adept at climbing stairs but still hesitates on the way down (we still have time for that...); she is a girl of routine; she blows forcefully out of her nostrils or mouth to entertain herself; her birthmark on her forehead matches almost exactly to the one on her knee; she still can't bend those knees while walking, but sure does while dancing; she has a really low voice for an itsy bitsy girl but her screech is definitely ear-piercing; her thigh rolls are still plentiful; her eyes go from hazel to grey to blue from the outside-in; and my favorite of all time--THE CRAZY CURLY HAIR!!!

Feliz Cumpleanos Qiqi!!!
(...or Qeekers, as Siena calls her.)

The birthday song (I don't know what light setting I had it on for it to turn out yellow?!)



No more sugar for you, or you won't sleep tonight...
"It's not fair! My parents hate me!"
"It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to."Okay, okay, you can have a little whipped cream...
Happy again.

"Okay Siena, go stand by Qiana so we can get a sister picture..."

Outer Banks Trip #2

(Marin took this amazing pic.)

Picture this: there I was, lying on a straw mat laid out over the hot sand with the light breeze blowing to the North. The Qeeks was fast asleep in her stroller while the Nena was giggling with Blake in their man-made sand swimming pool. Juan was out on the boogie board with his crew and all I needed to care about was reapplying sunscreen in an hour or two.

Now repeat that thought three more times, adding hours of boogie boarding and a few attempts at skim boarding, and you have captured just a little glimmer of the week we just had.

The last full day was spent out on the docks, crabbing. We caught some feisty little cangrejitos and had a blast watching the boys try to get them untangled from the crab net. Once we made it home with all our fellow crabbers, the boys cleaned the crustaceans and threw them into boiling hot water. Little did those 10-legged hot-tubbers know....

I'm proud to say that I ate four whole crab legs, but I have to admit that the last bite was pretty difficult to swallow. Have you ever seen a crab when it's first cracked open? Let's just say that I wish I would have been spared the scene of the sloshy, green innards which, as it turns out, are called the tamales.

(Following two pics are also courtesy of Marin)

The whole fam came home with tans (even though we applied SPF 30-50 every day,) and I'm pretty sure that I gained about 10 pounds over the course of one week (each family took a turn cooking dinner for the group and every night was a feast!)


Worth.

It.


(Trip highlights: boogie boarding in massive waves, date night (Juan and I went to Roanoke Island to a little cafe and walked along the marina,) watching Siena play make-believe Peter Pan and Tinkerbell with her friends, crabbing by the lighthouse with friends, hindering Qiana's millions of attempts to walk into the ocean without Mommy or Papi, Duck Donuts, the FOOD!, bike-riding with the family, playing at the sand dunes, and floating in the ocean, chatting it up with the girls.)

In the theater room, getting ready to watch The Princess and the Frog

No beach pictures were taken with our camera. I snapped these before we left for the beach the first day.

Zumba class

While we were there, my sis-in-law organized an extra Zumba class so I could attend. I had done Zumba once before in preparation for her class, but I had no idea what I was really in for. She is AMAZING! (...and I'm not writing that just because she might read this.) I loved every minute of it and by the end, my whole body ached.

Cooks in the Kitchen

We got a lot of kitchen time in during our trip. It was so nice to be able to cook with and for family. We like to make one big meal for each family when we visit, and this year was a little disappointing because neither meal was as big of a hit as we had hoped. We steered on the healthier side for Juan's family by preparing a Lemon-Ginger Cod with Ginger-infused Rice and Fresh Pineapple with Limed Coconut and Ginger Syrup. Sounds delicious, but the fish needed a little more seasoning. For my family, we made an Indian-inspired meal of Tandoori Chicken,Garlic Naan, Roasted Potatoes and Pearl Onions and finished with a Thai dessert: Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango. The dessert and side-dishes were great, but I think that the chicken could have been better. Oh well, we have four whole months to decide what to make next.

But wait, there was even more fun dicing, boiling, searing, and garnishing!

My Mom's Relief Society has an annual Bake-off and this year it was while we were visiting. We entered two dishes: Juan's family's Pastel Azteca (a spin on Mexican Lasagna) and my favorite summer dessert, Apple-Pear-Cranberry Crisp.

Guess who won Second Place? We did-- Woot Woot!

Juan's family wanted to have Asian cuisine, so we all took a part in creating it. One day, Sandra (J's little sister) taught us all how to make sushi and tempura vegetables. It was so yummy! Another day, we all whipped up our own Asian dishes for everyone and had a feast of Egg Drop Soup, Spring Rolls, Bubble Tea, and Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango (yep, we made it twice. Soooo worth it.)

...Qiana really liked it. She probably ate as much as anyone there.

Cousins!

...if only they were all smiling at once...

"Ava's Zumba!"--Siena thinks that's what it's really called.

I think Siena is singing along with the music in Tinkerbell. (Still her favorite movie ever.)

Well, Siena got to see her only first cousin, Ava, again this summer. It turned out how we expected: worst of enemies one minute, best of friends the next. Ava is quite the little Zumba dancer (under the unsuspecting tutelage of her mother, a Zumba teacher) and it rubbed off onto Siena. All they wanted to do was shake it! When we got them distracted enough from that they played Princesses, cooked in the little kitchen, hung out with adorable Neveah, and were chefs at their backyard playhouse restaurant (taking orders for everything at $10,000/plate.) It was great to see their imagination at work.

The Flowers...

My job was the flowers... which I have to say turned out just perfect because Tristan has good taste. The pictures don't really do them justice because they were taken after the bouquet had been in the hot sun for hours. Oh well, they capture the idea, at least.
Vintage flower pins are stuck in there along with garden roses, Cattleya orchids, Queen Anne's lace, Magnolia leaves, dusty miller, tulips, ranunculus, lisianthus, hydrangea, stock, feverfew, and freesia. Aaaahhh! It was so fun to work with all those flowers!

The table arrangements were all similar. My dad and brothers went to the mountains and harvested some beautiful Manzanita branches for me and we laid those on their side over some rugged sheet moss. Then my grandma and uncle helped build little nests from angle vine to lay beside the branches. Inside the nests were some wedding favors (which were all put together by my mom, Siena, David, Sierra, and Jerica. You rock!) Scattered around the mess of nature we replicated were vintage vases of billy balls, scabiosa pods, lisianthus, tulips, freesia, Queen Anne's lace, ranunculus, roses, feverfew, and button mums... which were all laid out by the cousins and Juan's sister. We didn't have any time between the luncheon and reception, but thanks to all of those majorly nice volunteers the set-up was all pulled off in less than ten minutes! To anyone who helped, you were all amazing and THANK YOU!

A little twist from the traditional, Tristan had pies instead of a wedding cake. My talented grandfather made those cake stands from an old oak tree in his backyard. Seriously, we have the best family, ever!

I loved this painting as a backdrop. It was painted by a family friend of the groom.