Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

I may not ever do a giveaway again because it's hard to make a random drawing and stick with awarding just ONE person when everyone who enters is your friend. I wanted to give the earrings to everyone, but I had to stick with the first random pick.

So the winner of the Lucky Dangles is.......drum roll please........ NYCOLE

Thanks to all who entered and congrats Nycole!

Christmas Morning

Harper won for the most clever wrapping job:







We got Harper a sweet Philly-grown gift: his very own du rag.

Sierra was left confused on how she was going to get those Calypso Braids (also a gift from Philly) into her hair.

It was a fantastic morning finished off with our traditional waffles, strawberries and cream. Yum.

Christmas Vacation

How could I have forgotten to post this?!

We'll start small. Here's Christmas Eve with Juan's family:

...and opening gifts.

Free to a Good Home

I think it's about time for another GIVEAWAY! You know how these things work: just leave a comment and a little contact info (however you want) and I'll announce the winner in 3 days. Good luck!

Lucky Dangles
(Sorry about the shadowy picture. We are experiencing stormy
weather right now, so I have no natural light to help me out.)

I learned how to make jewelry from my mom a few years ago when she was designing accessories for her Fall line. This was more of a chore for my sisters and me than a fun hobby because the pretty things we made weren't going to be for us and I, for one, didn't appreciate anything handmade. Most of the finished products were for bat mitzvahs, weddings and christenings; we made bracelets, necklaces, purse handles and hair combs from beautiful crystals, pearls, beads and rhinestones. (Wow, I just counted 3 "lists"--a journalistic pet peeve of my mother--Sorry Mom!)

Anyway, the trend is here again to make jewelry and I decided I'd give it another go. Surprisingly, I like making jewelry (although I had forgotten the toll it takes on your hands.)

I admire anyone who can sit down with enough patience to do it professionally.

"It's Keeks with a Q"

"Mom, let's not waste time cleaning the house when there are pictures to be taken!"

(Yes, those are her natural cheeks. We did not fill them with cotton.) And yes, that is my natural bedhead.

Check out her kimono outfit!
Yeah, my MOM made it.

She's pretty amazing.

I love this chub!

2009 Projects Are DONE!

So the only project I really carried over into the new year was this play kitchen for the girls......... This was a HUGE undertaking for me because if I see an idea that is clever, cute and doable, I immediately put it on the TO DO list, which inevitably grows to the point of IMPOSSIBLE. This kitchen was almost certainly destined to go incomplete forever. However, I mustered up the courage and spare time, and finished it one week ago today.

It started out as this cute, but DEFINITELY USED play kitchen with Dora and Diego stickers all over it that we bought for $20 off of Craigslist:

Before:

So the first step was to clean it and rid it of the stickers, tightening all the loose screws along the way. Once done, I resolved to add a cutting board/bar table to the side. The wood was collected at the IKEA Scratch 'N' Dent section for $0.39 and we already had the 90 degree braces so it wasn't much of an investment.

Next, I saw a picture of a kitchen with a backsplash and thought that would be a cute addition. After another trip to IKEA's S 'n' D, I came back with a large piece (around 4'x2') of 1" particle board and a 3' tall, but skinny, piece of wood, each marked at $0.29. The smaller piece of wood was to stabilize the cutting block.

I covered the larger piece with scrapbook paper I had and then covered that all with Con-Tact Paper. (There is probably a better way of finishing it off, but I already had that on hand.) I didn't attach the board to the rest of the kitchen so it is more portable when we move.

The next thing was to add a kitchen timer into the empty stainless steel hole on the original backsplash. Found one at Ross, and wrestled it into the open hole. Didn't quite fit, but I had a backup plan--my go-to project solution: the hot glue gun.

The last thing to do was to add the kitchen window and make the curtains. I had spied this decorative plate frame at a discount store and thought it would work perfectly. It was only $2 and it already had a rod that, if rotated and re-inserted, could serve as a curtain rod. I made some quick curtains with some fabric I had saved for something fun like this and the project was COMPLETE! A breath of fresh, project-free 2010 air!

Ta Da:

Siena already had all the right tools, she just needed the work station.

Talk about an AWESOME Christmas present. My mom got Siena these wooden condiment bottles and a market bag full of Velcro-y, peel-able produce... the COOLEST food you can use in the kitchen, by far.

Siena really loved it, but I had to throw this random frown pic in because it cracks me up. She cooks in her kitchen all the time now, mostly whipping up birthday cakes and soup. After I eat, she indulges herself on her imaginary cuisine and pretends to nibble at it very daintily. Why can't she have these manners when she eats her real food? ;^)

76ers Game

We got to go to the 76ers game tonight against the Portland Trailblazers and it was so fun! To be honest, I had never been to an NBA game before. From what Juan says, Utah Jazz games are way more fun to be at because of the energy in the arena, but we really enjoyed getting to go to the game tonight. The scores were really close the whole time, and we like games like that, so it was definitely a successful night (although the Sixers did end up losing.) Amber couldn't go, so Kurt talked us into bringing Siena along so he could have a date. Of course, we had to get pictures, but we didn't want to lug around the camera. That left us with camera phones and the Fan Gallery pics cemented with watermarks. Oh well, it works.

On her date with Kurt. Of course, her parents were sitting a couple rows behind her (literally three rows from the highest seating in the arena,) making sure she behaved.

Qiana did extremely well. She didn't make a peep throughout the entire game. She didn't even get hungry until we got home. I'm such a lucky mom!

Tank and Pot

We had a Girls Day Out at the doctor's office today. (Okay, it wasn't as fun as it sounds.) Qiana weighed in at a whopping 15 lbs. 14 oz! HUGE! That means she's in the 90th percentile for weight. She's only 25 in. long, so her weight definitely isn't by way of her height. Oh, I LOVE my little sumo wrestler!

And don't you love (*wink*) toddler bathroom stories? Here's one for all the moms:

Siena is getting so much better at potty training. Although we really have only had one (yes, I repeat ONE) success on the potty...and that was after 3o minutes of sitting there... she is now waddling really uncomfortably when she is wet and she's been really interested in sitting on the potty. Today, she was SO CLOSE to making it. She ran her naked little bum up the stairs as fast as she could, but didn't quite get there in time. A minute later, I was cleaning poop off the carpet as Siena repeated over and over again, "No poo poo on the floor. Poo Poo in the potty." I'm just glad she is starting to make the connection.

Another Year, Another Post.

Yes, we're back and blogging.

What's new? Well, Siena says about 20 words a second and I've got to write them down before I forget.

• "Gobay, Gobay, Gobay, Gobay"- this is Siena jibberish. I'm 80% positive it takes the place of what could be a stutter. She says "Gobay" just to fill in dead space in her sentence. It's hilarious but I really hope it doesn't become a crutch for her language development. Look at me, I am a worried mom!
• "No way, Jose!"
• "Aww, man!"
• "Pink-a-ler" - "Tinkerbell"
• "E-foof-me"- "Excuse Me"
• "Snowmain"

There are more, but I can't remember them right now.

Qiana is getting bigger and fatter, but of course, she's still so cute. She surprised us the other day and rolled over, (actually off the mattress we were sleeping on while visiting our family. I put her on the bed so I could go take a shower and when I got back, she was face-down on the floor, whimpering. It could have really been scary, but the mattress was less than a foot up from the floor. She hasn't done it since, and I'm okay with that. It's funny how with Siena, I was just so anxious for her to be able to roll, and crawl, and walk; with Qiana, I'm fine if she takes her time. Oh yeah, and she's extremely ticklish.

Juan is back in the clinic and loving what he does. He's also started the search for a part-time job as a dental assistant so he can get some more exposure to a dental office. He's also trying to organize a dental outreach trip to Peru with Kurt. They have been in contact with an organization that will help them put the plans into action. It's cool to see the process of getting volunteers, funds, practicing dentists to oversee, and finding destinations for the trip. I might be able to convince him to take me along.......

Well, I'm not up to much other than organizing our clutter at the moment. The next projects on the docket are to finish the play-kitchen for the girls' 3 WiseMen's Day gift and to get some blog headers done. Before I know it, January will be left in the dust.


p.s. Christmas vacation pics to come.

Winter Wonderland

People will be talking about this snowstorm for years.

Yes, our flight was canceled and we (technically, Juan) spent all day trying to reschedule. Once we finally got through to an airline operator, we were able to get a refund on our tickets and Juan was able to procure some tickets with a different airline for the 22nd. Happy day! It's Utah or bust, baby!

The girls loved the snow and didn't want to come back in once they realized how fun it could be. Okay, maybe Qiana liked it only a little bit.







As for our meals, well, it hasn't been so bad. We had a half a head of cabbage hidden in the crisper drawer, so I made a vegetarian Asian slaw with cold Ramen noodles, dressed it with a made-up concoction of soy sauce, white vinegar, peanut butter and honey, and sprinkled it with toasted sesame seeds, chopped peanuts, and red pepper flakes. Amazingly, it was delicious, (but that could be due to the fact that we were starving so ANYTHING would have been good.) Breakfast this morning wasn't half-bad either; I made a dish I learned in my college cooking class: Eggs a la Goldenrod on Rye. (I know, the fact that we had RYE bread in the fridge surprises me, too. Usually when I buy it, it is all eaten up within the first day, unless I secretly stash some in the freezer for later.) Tonight I'm thinking of putting those dehydrated potatoes to use in a shepherd's pie or something. By way of protein, there's a half-a-pound of ground beef and two pork chops to choose from. I think I'll go with the beef. (Like anyone cares :^)

Snowed In

It's been snowing non-stop and Philadelphia is looking at RECORD-BREAKING snowfall this weekend.


Our flights to Utah are probably canceled.


Despite this devastating news, we've found joy in this blanket of white. Siena LOVES to play in the snow and has been begging to go out again since our first adventure outside this morning.

We thought, "Oh, this is nothing. Philadelphians just don't know how to drive." So we shoveled away the snow from our car and seatbelted everyone in to take a trip to the grocery store.

We made it two-and-a-half blocks before we decided to turn back. There was no WAY we were going to make it another five blocks to the supermarket.

So, we're living off our food storage because we were trying to clean out the refrigerator for our trip. No thoughts of Christmas Ham or Figgy Pudding, just rice & beans, Mac & Cheese, canned food, flaked mashed potatoes and powdered milk.

It is kind-of shocking to admit this, but I'm happy in way. I was so focused on getting home to visit our families and give them their gifts that we so carefully thought out, that this season has been a blur of planning instead of pondering. I was made aware of my distraction while listening to the First Presidency Message, specifically President Monson's talk. In the midst of all the preparations for Christmas morning, it is so easy to forget that the ENTIRE reason for this season is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. There's nothing wrong with gifts under the evergreen tree; however, it seems to all-to-often overshadow the quiet, constant glow of the nativity scene. I think that this time under house-arrest will prove to be a spirit-booster for all of us.

Feliz Navidad!

We've Been Reading "The Little Engine That Could" at least once a day.

Siena and Qiana got a really nice gift in the mail a couple weeks ago. It was a box of picture books in Spanish from our old Branch president and his wife. (These are GOLD... picture books in Spanish are hard to find, at least at a decent price.) Among the treasures was "La Pequena Locomotora Que Si Pudo" ("The Little Engine That Could".) Siena loves it, although I don't think we have read the whole book from cover to cover... she gets a little distracted while I try to stumble my way through the hard Spanish words.

Last night around 11:30, we heard Siena shout out "Choo Choo! Choo Choo Mommy!," from her room. She also mumbled some more words that we couldn't make out. Juan and I just looked at each other and questioned whether we should chance getting out of bed to see if she was awake or asleep. Eventually we crept into her room, just to find her fast asleep. Yep, we have a sleep-talker!

Getting There

Remember this?

Qiana is catching up with her CRAZY pigtails.(They look so different!!)

Da' Girlz

Making a paper snowman ornament at the Primary Christmas Activity

Decorating gingerbread men (Siena's in a frosting daze)

This girl has the giggles now. I love LOVE love her little laugh.

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Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving this year with Amber and Kurt and his family who were visiting. The girls behaved themselves (which was a nice little gift to us,) and the whole evening was relaxing. We ate a gourmet meal, thanks to everyone there.

Although we were away from family, there was still a lot to be grateful for. Being able to sit down to a delicious meal in a warm home surrounded by friends is a blessing that is often forgotten in the rush of the holiday season. My personal goal for this Christmastime is to try to pay attention to BIG-scale blessings like those while also trying to focus on day-to-day happiness.