where is the dishwasher?

On days when I look over at the sink, and it looks like this, I REALLY wish I had a dishwasher.

How young is too young to have kids start washing dishes?  HA!

package love

The other day I was sitting at my desk working when I heard the mail guy ring his little bell to indicate that I had something.  I was EXCITED!

I might have mentioned before, but the only time we get mail here is when we get the Telmex bill (it has our phone, DSL and Dish Network charges on it) once a month and when we get our electric bill, which we get every other month.  So, one month we get two bills.  The next we get one bill.  And, he never rings his bell to give us the bills.  He just throws them into our patio area.

When I hear that bell it usually indicates a package slip.  The normal protocol is he gives me a piece of paper that we have to take to the post office and pick up the package.  The mail guy is a guy that rides around on a bike, with a small basket on the front.  So, you can image that he is not going to bring me packages.

But, on this day, he did!  Three of them!  WOW!

I had ordered some books off of Amazon and just had them shipped here.  In just 3 short weeks I will be visiting the States for 3 weeks.  I have already ordered a crap load of stuff and it is sitting at my mom's house just waiting for me.  I figured there is enough stuff there already, plus I will buy stuff while I am there.  So, having it mailed here just seemed like a better idea.

I ordered two art books to supplement our homeschooling curriculum, two "picky eaters" children's cookbooks, a cookbook for me and a teach your child to read book.

Five out of six of my books got here within 2 weeks!  That is awesome!  Amazon sent three shipments out and I got two of them on the same day. 

The Little Hands Art Book and Preschool Art

No Whine with Dinner and The Toddler Cafe

Antojitos

On top of those Amazon orders, my cool friend, Julie, sent me a package!  So sweet!  And, such a nice surprise.

She sent some workbooks, flashcards, writing paper, stickers and these really cool little "stained glass" coloring books.  The paper is opaque so when you color it, you can hang in on the window and the sun will shine through. Like stained glass.  So cool!

And the big hit item with me were these fall gel window stickers.  How cute are they?

We need more windows in the house!

little chicks

Yesterday the girls went downtown with their grandma.  When they walked back to our house, I noticed that they were each holding a clear plastic bag.  Inside Emily's was something blue and inside Bella's was something yellow.

I asked what they had and they held up the bag and showed me two little chicks.

What are we going to do with these two chicks?  The blue is a nice size.  Ready to leave the "nest".  The yellow one, on the other hand, is so tiny still.  He can't even keep himself warm.  I don't think they should have sold him yet. 

Last night it was like having a newborn again.  I got up throughout the night and kept checking on the crying yellow one.  I put a heating pad in a box for him so he wouldn't freeze to death.  We don't really play with him because he is just too little.  And, for being so little, he sure is quick. 

The blue one is ultra friendly.  If you put him on the ground, he will run towards your feet.  If you put your hand out, he will run and jump in the palm of your hand.  And, of course, when you set him back down in the box, he cries like a baby.  Right now he is in the closet because his chirps are so loud.

Now to figure out if we are keeping these guys or what.  I read on-line how to care for them.  If we are keeping them, when Jorge gets home, we are going to have to make a trip to the store to get supplies and proper equipment for them.

another fall craft project

I've been extremely in the mood for fall.  I wish outside reflected what fall looks like.  The weather at night here is perfect fall weather.  Now, we just need a little fire pit.  I saw one at either Sam's or Home Depot the other day.  I really have my eye on it.  It would be great to have!

Anyway, the girls are happy that we are nearing Halloween.  And, while we really aren't even officially in fall, nor are we in the month of Halloween, I figure it is not too early to start getting excited for it.

We made some contact paper/tissue paper pumpkins today.  I made a template of a pumpkin on a piece of cardstock paper and cut it out.  Then I cut little squares of contact paper.  And, cut some pieces of clear contact paper.

On one of the contact paper sheets, you place the template you cut out.  Decorate it with the squares of tissue paper.  Then sandwich it between another piece of contact paper. 

And, you have a cute faux glass art work to hang on the window.

We had fun doing it.  It takes longer to prep for the project than the actual time it takes to do it.  But, I think the outcome is great. Plus, they can be reused next year!

bye to the hot mess

When Bella was little, her hair was dead-set on becoming a mullet.  And, since I am anti-mullet, I chopped that sucker off.  The only mullets in this house will be the Mullet Men magnets on my fridge.  I used to have 5 different guys, but they were so highly desired that I think someone stole the others.

Emily's hair doesn't have a desire to become a mullet.  Her hair is just one big, hot mess!  It has a natural curl to it.  And, the fact that she will NOT let you do anything with her hair, she always looks like a crazy animal.

Last night I took care of that.  She let me cut her hair.  The only maintenance required now is to take a few minutes and blow dry it.  It is that simple.  And, now when we go out in public with her, we can claim her.

She looks super cute now.  Not that she wasn't cute before. But, that hair was a definite distraction. 

Her and Bella modeled for me this morning.  And, I haven't taken pictures of them in a while, so I am sure my mom will be happy to see these.

I know I am biased, but these are some cuties!

bulk food problem

Yesterday we went to Aguascalientes.  I think that was the third week in a row that we went over there.  Not that I am complaining or anything.  Yesterday we had a bigger purpose than just going shopping.  Not that that isn't a big enough purpose.  We needed to take my sister-in-law, Erika, to the airport there.

And, since we were already there, we should hit up Sam's Club!  I seem to be a sucker for bulk food.  I think it is just that I have it in my head that we won't be going back to "the city" for a handful of weeks and I want to make sure I grab what I think I might need.  It's has become a problem.

We *had* to buy another shelving unit at Home Depot so I could put all my stuff somewhere.  There is no pantry in this house.  I have three small cabinets that I use for food.

One for boxed, canned and misc. items.

One for chips, pretzels and bagged stuff.

And, one for all my assortment of pastas, salt, vinegar and other such items.

As you see, those cabinets are small.  There isn't much room for all the things I buy.

Not only do I have an issue of bulk buying (I mean, it's Sam's Club, there is no other choice), I have an issue of when I find something in a store that I usually don't see, I buy tons of them.  (Notice how many boxes of cake mix I have.  It is because I saw strawberry cake mix.  You don't see that here hardly at all.  So, my thought was buy a lot and the store will see that they are selling.)

Here is the new shelving unit with all our extras. 

The worst is the fridge.  Or, more like the freezer. 

I just can't help myself.  I swear my mentality is like stocking up for a blizzard.  I just feel compelled to buy everything!   

Here are a few goodies that I got yesterday.

CHEESE!  Who doesn't love cheese?  And, in my local grocery stores, it is hard to find certain cheese.  Some of the Mexican cheeses are decent substitutes.  But, if I can find the original, I'm buying it!  I got mozzarella, Monterrey jack, cheddar, Gruyere and Parmesan.  These are pretty big blocks.  I just cut them up and freeze them individually. When I need a block, I take it out of the freezer and stick in the fridge to thaw out.

And, this is really exciting.  I got a good recipe from a friend for some breakfast sausage, but I do too many things from scratch.  Finding something where it is like a shortcut is a jackpot!  So, this is great!  I had found some breakfast sausages at Costco, but they were the ready to serve kind.  Just warm them up.  Those kind aren't good for making biscuits and gravy because they don't produce enough fat.   As you can see, these are pre-cooked sausage! 

And, last, a new find!  Bagels!  I miss bagels.  And, I have looked online for recipes to make them, but they are all very involved so I have never tried.  Now I don't have to.  These keep in the freezer.  I pop one out, put it in the toaster and voila, you have a nice bagel ready for a frosting of cream cheese!  Or, the other day I made a bagel, egg, bacon and cheese breakfast sandwich.  I'm wild and crazy, I know.

Oh, how I love Sam's Club.  Although, there are products at Costco that I wish I could find at Sam's.  I am seeing a membership to both places in the near future.  Just remember, I have a problem. 

fall is coming

My all time favorite time of year is fall.  Spending most of my life in Indiana, I am used to fall being cooler temperatures, leaves changing colors on all the trees and all those lovely fall goodies, like fall scented candles, pumpkin pies, etc.

As you know, I don't live in Indiana right now.  And, there aren't any pretty trees to look at.  Most days we have sunny, warm weather.  However, the overnight temperatures are starting to drop.  And, for some reason, our rainy season is still going on. 

Yesterday and the day before it has been rather cool in the house.  I'm loving it.  This past weekend I bought a candle at Home Depot.  Apple Harvest.  That fall-like apple scent is my favorite. 

I've been burning the candle non-stop. It smells really good and works well.  Sometimes you buy candles and they really don't have a very strong scent.  This one does, thankfully.

Even though it is not officially fall yet, in my book it is close enough.  The girls and I did a few crafts yesterday and the day before to add a little fall decorations to the house.

Two days ago we made Indian Corn.  Well, a Mexican version since I only had bright colored tissue paper.  But, it still looks fall-like.  And we had fun making them.

Yesterday we made leaves.  We all colored some and then I glued them onto strips of brown construction paper and hung them over our chalkboard.

I need to buy some fall decorations when I visit the States.  Just one more thing on my list to buy.

routine

It would be safe to say we lack routine in this house.  With me working from home and the girls not going to school or anything, we are free to go to sleep and wake up whenever we want.

The problem is that the girls tend to fall towards different schedules.  Bella falls asleep earlier and wakes up earlier.  Emily tends to be a night owl and gets up later.

I want to get them on the same schedule and get ready for a more organized day when we start our homeschooling.

I find that the girls (or probably kids in general) do better with a schedule.  When they know what to expect, what comes next.  As of now we have had no bedtime routine.  There wasn't a constant from one night to the next.

I made some bedtime routine picture cards last night and when I showed them to the girls, OH, they were so excited about them. 

Of course I thought I would share them with you.  Not the most exciting of blog  posts, but I guess better than nothing. :)

I taped them to their bedroom door.  Now, every night they can see what they need to do and know ahead of time.  A visual reminder is worth more than my voice.  And, once I tell them they need to start getting ready for bed, they can be more independent with their tasks.

Bedtime has never been a chore, not to say there haven't been rough nights.  But now, I think it will be easier for them.  We'll see tonight....

ready for school

I mentioned a while back that I decided to homeschool the girls.  I know everyone has their own opinion about homeschooling.  And that is OK.  But, there were several factors that lead me to the decision.  And I'm really excited about it.

After talking with quite a few friends that currently homeschool, I feel very informed and ready to take on this challenge.  My friend, Cutzi, sent me a boatload of resources and out of those I have bought a preschool curriculum package from Timberdoodle Company.  I had to add a bunch of addition material/workbooks to the core package so that Bella and Emily could have their own things.

I wanted to get a nice area set-up so we could all enjoy doing our schoolwork.  I rearranged the room so we could have a bigger area to work in.  Plus, I want to put up some posters with letters, numbers, etc.  Although I love rearranging, I blame this on Cutzi, too.  She was update her school area and got me in the mood. 

I did find a fun little chalkboard yesterday at Cantia.  That was the highlight of the day for the girls.  They really like it.  I hope to make this as fun as possible for them (and me).

Here is a full view of their "schoolroom".  I had to piece together the pictures because my lens isn't wide enough to get the full view.

I was even smart about it as far as not spending money.  I'm really good at spending money.  But, I took one of those shelves out of the living room and used it in here.  I needed more storage space.  Now we have all our craft/art/school supplies organized.  We have paints, colored rice, flashcards, paintbrushes, markers, chalk, books and coloring books.

I'm leaving the two empty cubbies for the girls' workbooks and such.  That way they can put their stuff in their own little space. All the stuff I ordered is at my mom's house.  Once we get back from the States we will start "school".

Here is the other shelf that has the rest of the items.  Construction paper, board game, Mr. Potato Head, blocks, Playdoh, crayons, scissor and glue and other misc. items.

Other than doing school, I need to get the girls in the habit of putting things back where they go.  That is truly the most challenging task for them.

I'm still surprised about how excited I am to start homeschooling.  I think the girls will really enjoy it.