progress

I am pretty proud of myself today. I started up again on the first quilt for the girls. Let's not get ahead of ourselves and say I got far on it, just proud that I am making progress.

Look it goes on forever!

I found a quilt online (can't remember where now) that I would attempt to do a similar pattern. I am sure the outcome will be really cute (very busy too with the fabric prints that I have chose), but let me tell you this is going to be a LOT of work. How do people find the patience to do quilts all the time. I am impressed.

Also, you might remember when we went white trash a while back. Well, we fixed that. With our new strict budget (I am no longer working so we only have Jorge's tiny income) we had to for go the *luxuries* which included our satellite. But, all those nice movies we watch we can once again feel like we are in a theater.

Yesterday our TV stand looked like this:

Today it looks like this:

We celebrated Emily's 2nd birthday on Saturday. I uploaded a few pics on my flickr site if you are interested. I also have a few videos that I need to download but they take forever. Hopefully I will do that soon.

***UPDATE*** (oh and such an exciting one): After posting this blog entry I did a bit more on the quilt. It is coming along. Take a look!

Emily's debut

Emily learned a little song in Spanish and she is always singing it to her baby. Of course she becomes shy the minute I bring out the video camera.
Even though this isn't the true style of how she sings it, it is still pretty darn cute.
Enjoy!

my little artists

Today I decided to have a go at the paints that I bought for the girls. This little activity, just as eating does, shows their personalities.

Emily is willing to get into her work, letting it become her.

Bella, on the other hand, doesn't want to let her hair loose and get dirty...just like her momma.

Emily's Work

Emily's Workspace after finished painting

Bella's Work

Bella's Workspace after finished painting

Here is each of them showing me how dirty they are. As you see Bella has one tiny spot of paint on her. Emily is only showing a small part of how much paint she got on herself.

I think they had fun.

another day

I just told Jorge last night that I am OK with being in Mexico. I am OK with being in the house most of the time. Actually I feel pretty good about everything right now. BUT, what I do have a hard time is spending SO MUCH time with the girls. I am just not the type to be a stay-at-home mom. It is probably my biggest challenge of being here.

My solution is to come supply the girls with things that will occupy them and make them be at peace with each other, some of the time at least.

Since the girls enjoyed the fort that we made the other day I decided I would convert their table into a fort. It is a smaller version, but does the job. Their old curtain was a shower curtain and I figured I would use it some day and the other day was the day.

Other than trying to make them happy, I have been making things to spruce up the house a bit. I made some new pillows for my bed and some curtains for the window on the door to the back patio.

Bella wanted to show off the pillow I made her last night. When she saw the new pillows on my bed she asked me to make her a pillow. So, per her request she got a pillow, too.


And, we can't leave goofy Emily out of the post.

my kind of project

I did a little sewing project today that was right up my alley. Started and finished all in one sitting.

My mom bought the girls a stroller for their baby dolls but that is not the every day use of it around here. Emily likes to be the *baby doll* and Bella is a nice big sister and pushes Emily around.

After them doing that for several months it has finally gave out and the seat has torn.

I figured it couldn't be too difficult to make a new one. I got a bunch of material from Betty Newport and one of the pieces of material was The Little Mermaid. Perfect! As soon as I asked the girls which material they wanted, both pointed to that.

It is not the prettiest of seat covers but it does the job. Now Emily can be pushed around again and again until this one tears and I can make a new one then.

practicing patience

Being with children all day and sewing are alike because both test my patience. I try to be calm and deal with each in a way that doesn't stress me out.

While in the States I bought several things I thought would help tackle being with the girls day in and day out. I love them to death but being with them 24/7 is sometimes a lot to take. And, I should admit that they do go over to their Grandma R's house a few afternoons a week, sometimes even the whole day. Thank God for that!

Even with all those lovely toys they have, kids always prefer something made up...like a fort made from a blanket and a table and couch for the supporting walls. Sometime things like this help occupy them and allows me to not feel the need to pull out my hair. It just takes the right tools.

With sewing it is a different kind of patience, but patience none the less. When I start something I like to complete it within the same sitting as when I started it. The project I have just started it is not even possible to finish anywhere near when I start it. I am making a blanket/quilt for the girls' bed. I plan to make two, one for each of them for when they get older.

I got all this really cute fabric from Hobby Lobby. I got a yard of 8 different prints. I figure I would use all of them in each blanket. That way they can be similar but I plan to make them different.


My parents got me a self-healing mat for my birthday. I used to have a rotary cutter that I had sold at my garage sale pre-moving to Mexico (May 2008). Heather was the one to buy it and found it in her house not too long ago and gave it back to me. She is so sweet. I bought one of the rulers that goes along with the mat. So now I am set.

After spending about 20 minutes and cutting 2 of the pieces of fabric, I am ready to be done with it.

After having done only this much I took a small break, went out back took some laundry off the clothes line (you know, our dryer caught fire...still waiting for the Whirlpool guy to get here) and folded them. That gave me a small enough break to come back and cut two more pieces of fabric. So now I have cut half of what I need in order to START sewing.

You might remember I started a different quilt a ways back. It is still *started*. Hopefully I can finish that one day too.

I can tell you, just like that blanket for the fort, there are certain tools that definitely help the process. That self-healing mat and rotary cutter are sent straight from heaven. If I didn't have those it would have taken me...well, let's just say I would haven't started this new blanket.

I am still a work in progress. The first step is admitting a problem, right? Just wish me luck!

settling in

I left Indy on February 5th to return to Mexico. I packed the car as much as it would let me and I headed South. I guess my early departure was a good idea because ever since I left Indy has been hit with snow after snow. I am glad to have left all that behind.

Seeing the girls and Jorge was just wonderful. Only 6 weeks had passed but the girls seemed different. Even their tiny voices seems a bit changed. They didn't want to let go of me and I felt the same way. Emily was especially clingy and even wanted to sleep with me the first night back. And I really don't need to mention how happy Jorge was to have me back.

I have been settling back into my old life and sprucing up the house the past week. It took some time to put everything away and get back into a normal routine.

Leave it to me to not ever let things lie untouched. I just want the house to feel extra homey and make everything more comfortable. So, I stirred everything up.

When we first moved here 2 years ago ( I KNOW, can you believe it has been 2 years!) Jorge bought our stove, washer and dryer used. It seems like the smart thing. We got the appliances we needed at a bargain price. Well, they have seen their day. The washer seems to do it's job well enough, but the dryer...that's another story. It burns our clothes. Even on the lowest temp setting it burns them. And the stove, it must be competing with the dryer. The lowest temp setting on the oven is around 400/410. And the burners on the stove top have only one setting...on. And when on they don't get very hot. I would would say it would be comparable to a low to medium heat. Kind of hard to boil things or simmer things. Basically cooking different dishes was always a task. So, we took care of that and bought a new stove and dryer.

The stove is AWESOME! It works like a stove should. I am going to test it out today making some goodies.

And look, it even had a temperature control gauge! Now I just need to learn celcius. Oh, I am so happy I could do a dance!

And, the dryer. Let's say for about 30 minutes it worked perfectly. That was until it caught on fire! We have to call Whirlpool for them to replace it. The portable dryer vent was (I am assuming) too close and up in flames it went. Luckily they will replace it.

So guess who had to hang dry the rest of the clothes. I wasn't go to make Jorge drag back in the old dryer and hook it up. I just hope they are fast with the replacement.

We also were in need of a new bed for Emily. She was ready to retire the crib. Jorge and I had a queen size bed and I had the idea of buying the new twin and taking Bella's existing twin and putting them together to make a king for me and Jorge. Then we could give the queen to the girls. It worked well!

Here is our new king sized bed with a newly covered headboard. Found this pretty fabric a Hancock Fabrics. I just love it.

And the girls' new queen size bed. Last night was the night they slept in it. After all the hitting, scratching, bitting and fighting, they finally closed their eyes and slept there ALL NIGHT LONG! Since I have been back most nights one or both of the girls find their way to our bed. I am over that and want to enjoy a bed free of little ones.

I found these cute butterfly lights at Big Lots for only $9. I thought they would look cute on the headboard. The girls love them. Now if I can just keep them from messing with them. I am sure the lifespan of these lights is limited. The butterflies are metal...easily broken when little hands keep bending them.

I also replaced the girls curtain...once again using a shower curtain. I think it is pretty darn cute.

For Christmas they got a play stove and a sink. And while I was in town I went to IKEA and bought this cute table and stools.


When I came down over Christmas we got a new TV stand. Our big TV is still being fixed...that is if they can track down the part to fix it. And you might notice I have a coffee table (actually it is two IKEA tables put together...only $7.99 a piece!).


Another Big Lot find...these glass with two bags of shells (total $14). I just think it looks nice.

I got a lot of fabric while I was in town...thanks to few people. I also got lots of crafty supplies so the girls and I can do fun projects. All these neat things deserve a space of their own. I now have a sewing/craft nook.

While I will miss the Target, Big Lots, Kroger, etc shopping trips and of course my State's friends and family, I am REALLY glad to be back home. I, once again, am thankful for technology because it allows me to stay in touch with everyone back in the States and anywhere else in the world...like Singapore.

going home

It has been some time since I have been in the blogging world. To be honesty I haven't really felt up to it. Sometimes it feels like work instead of something fun.

But, I am finally on the home stretch of what has been falling into place and I am feeling like I need to fill everyone in. Or at least the few people that read this.

Over the past 6 months, maybe a bit longer, I have been trying to figure out what my family should do. While looking back through this blog alone, I can see that several "plans" have been put in action.

What it boils down to is that I had no idea what I should be doing. What I have been doing is trial and error. The great thing about trial and error is that eventually you do find the solution. Sometimes it just takes a bit of time and patience. The patience part I am still working on...

So, I am announcing for the masses to know that I have found the solution that works best for my family and what feels right. I am going back. Yes, I am moving back to Mexico. Jorge knew all along that what I had planned for us to do wouldn't work out for him. He couldn't stand being away from me the majority of the time and the girls half of the time. I, on the other hand, thought I could just push aside my feelings and just go. But, that is easier said than done.

I don't know how long we will HAVE to be in Mexico, but what I do know is that I want my family to be together. The girls are too young to be put through this. Heck, at any age it would be too much to do to them.

I have many people to thank for helping me get to this point. I am in no means doing this thing without the help of them. You know who you are! I won't embarrass you by naming names.

This whole situation has taught me a lot. I had already learned quite a few lessons within the first year of this journey. But, more and more things are becoming clear. I know where my priorities lie and I am making sure they stay just where they should.

I am heading back down on February 12th. I can't wait to see my girls! And my HUSBAND!

adjusting

I am still trying to adjust. But, the girls seem to be coming along rather well...

where I am going...

I have been talking with a few friends and trying to find a solution for my life but keep coming to the same conclusion that there is not a solution, only different places to go. It seems that life is not willing to work with me so I need to find a way to work with it.

I am still not sure what decisions need to be made right away but I have a feeling I know what I am supposed to do now. Although I don't want to put it out there for the world just yet.

I wanted to check in and update those few readers that are curious of what is going on in the Life of Val Saga.

Jorge is lonely. He misses all his girls dearly. We talk to him via Skype on the web cam daily. Bella talks about him all the time and Emily is still too young to really mention him on her own. It breaks my heart.

I have found that moving back has been much harder than anticipated. I am pretty good at pushing emotions to the side and doing the logical thing. It is not happening that way. I find myself just wishing to go back.

I know some of you know how I felt when I was down there and it doesn't make sense that I would want to go back. I just can't explain it where it would make any sense. The easiest way to describe it is my family is broken and going back would put it back together. I guess it is just realizing what is the number one priority.

I have some thinking to do but I have a goal in mind of where I am going.