we're ready!

We are now only two days away from our trip to the States!  To say that we are excited is an understatement.  We have our calendar for school that we have been marking off the days everyday.  Each morning, the girls run out of their room and ask to mark off the day before.

I am very experienced with travelling with these two girls by myself.  The first trip we took to the States, let's just say, it was not pleasant!  Emily was only 8.5 months and Bella was 23 months.  Talk about being overwhelmed.  And, our return trip home was very memorable.  But, not a memory I ever want to relive.

The girls are 4 and 5 now and much easier to travel with.  That doesn't mean that they still don't have their moments...when they are tired, being lazy, or just ready to have the travel part over with.

We leave out of Guadalajara and have a connecting flight in Dallas (Houston in past years).  Because making our way through immigration and customs isn't always speedy, and having little ones that don't understand the concept of urgency, I always leave us plenty of time between flights.  There have been times that we have had almost 5 hours between flights.  So, we always take the "blankies" so a nap can happen during that time.  Or, if we get cold on the plane (or sleepy).

It never fails the girls don't want to carry the blankets the entire time.  And, you might guess, I have enough to carry without having to carry their blankets.

I came up with an idea to make a blanket holder with a strap.  They might exist out there in the world somewhere, but I figured I would make the one from my thoughts.  This way, the girls can wear the blankets like a bag.  Their hands will always be free.  And, in turn, I won't be asked to carry the blankets.  A win-win situation.

I had some fleece that I used.  I figured that it would be soft enough to be comfortable as a strap.  It worked out really well.  They aren't the prettiest things because I just threw them together quickly.  But, they will definitely do the job.  The girls are already excited about using them.  They have had their blankets rolled up and in the carrier since I made them yesterday.

These pictures show you how simple the design is.  There is definitely no rocket science involved. 

You can see the girls are proud to model them.  Emily didn't even unroll her blanket last night.  If you know Emily and her love for her blanket, you will know how big a deal that is!

Hopefully, our trip goes smoothly!

a little sewing

This morning I sat down at my desk and started to work.  Mondays are my busiest day.  I do my usual work plus some extra reports.  All of these tasks require printing out stuff.

Well, after a few documents printed, my printer ran out of ink.  And, I don't have anymore cartridges.  I just put a new one in 2 weeks ago.  I think I got a bogus cartridge.  Not cool!

Downside of living in a small town, there really isn't any place to buy cartridges.  Once Jorge gets home, we will run over to a nearby town, hoping that they have the cartridge I need.  But, for now, I had some extra time on my hands today.

I could have used that time to do dishes, clean the bathroom, or do some laundry.  While all those sound wonderful (NOT), the people that live below us were having their water heater worked on.   Meaning, the water was shut off for a while.  All those lovely domestic duties would have to wait.

Since my friend Amber Springer has been whipping up quilts like she is running some sort of sweatshop, it got me in the mood for some sewing.  I decided to whip up a bag for Emily.

I made one for Bella a long time ago.  The other day, Emily was using it and that, of course, didn't go over very well with Bella.  Time to make Emily one.

With Emily, she is a tomboy at heart.  But, when we are out in public, I would really like people to know that she is a girl.  So, what I try to do is find something that looks like it is for a girl, but to not be girly.  I think the bag comes close.

First, I drew out the letters for her name and cut them out of cardstock.  Then, I used an old tshirt of hers and traced the letters and cut them out of the tshirt material.

I picked out some non-girly fabric and sewed the letters on and pieced together the front and back of the bag.

I'm still far from perfect for sewing around the letters.  This is as good as it gets.

While I was avoid making it girly, I had this furry fabric left over from a blanket I made for America.  I couldn't resist using it.  I know, even though it is pink, she will love it!

I put together a handle for it and sewed it on.  And, now you have one little bag ready to be filled with all sorts of goodies.

I can't wait to see if she likes!

pumpkins! orange, halloween pumpkins!

Yesterday, Jorge and I took a solo trip to Aguascalientes.  It was our 6th anniversary.  We went out to eat, watched a movie, and did some shopping!  It was a really good day.  And, the girls and I are leaving in less than 2 weeks, so this was a trip for him so he could have some retail therapy since I get to bask in it for 4 weeks. 

On our way back home, we stopped at Walmart.  I had to make sure I had enough food and treats for our dog, Colbie.  Hopefully, Jorge will take good care of him and give him his daily treats.

While at Walmart, I spotted pumpkins!  Orange pumpkins!  They were little, but pumpkins none the less!  They had tons of big light green and pale orange ones.  The shapes were beautiful.  I had never seen any pumpkins here before.  Some other expats here in Mexico have commented on finding them in other cities.  But, never me!  Times change! With us only being here a handful more days, there wasn't really a need to get the big ones.  So, we settled on buying two of the little ones.  One for each girl. Plus, we always go to an orchard down the street from my mom's house and buy big pumpkins and carve them in the States.

I had planned on them just being decorative.  Not carving them or anything.  But, I should have known that the girls would want to carve them.  I also assumed there wouldn't be many seeds inside.  I love roasting the seeds.  They are so good!

Tonight, the girls drew some faces on them and we cut them out.  I was surprised to find that they had tons of seeds!  The girls did most of the work and scooped them out and cleaned off the goopy pumpkin.

Even though it isn't dark yet, the girls couldn't wait to light them.

All the seeds are drying on the counter.  Soon, they will be fresh out of the oven!  It is really cool that we were able to do this at home.  And, daddy can help eat the seeds!

Round two in a few weeks!  I love fall!