Christmas Tamales

For all you Denver locals, a friend of mine, Erika Melendez, is going to be selling her amazing homemade Tamales this year!! The sale will take place on Dec 5th, from 9-2. But Erika will be accepting orders up thru Nov 30th. Leave a comment or email me if you'd like to order some!

The price is $2/tamale or $17.50/dozen. About 2-3 tamales make a meal for an adult.

The three different types she will be making, which are native to Northern Mexico (for all you tamale connoisseurs) are Pork and Red Chili sauce, Jalapeno and Cheese, and (sweet) Pecan and Raisins.

Feliz Navidad!!!

Some things never change

On thursday night I was at a friend's house with some other girl friends. We'd all brought old photos/home videos/old journals. I've never laughed so hard in my entire life.

i didn't have any photos to bring, so i brought my 7th Grade journal. The first entry was in Feb 1989. It read something about my friends, playing in the snow, and how I had a goal to write in the journal every day for a month to receive an achievement award at church.

The next entry was Nov of 1990. (And there was no mention of snow, or playing, or anything innocent and sweet. It was completely drenching in 7th grade drama, crushes, girl-fights, hurt-feelings, more crushes, more drama--someday i really should type it up and post a few entries here)

And although many things about me have changed (e.g. I no longer dedicate songs on the radio weekly), it appears that my ability to KEEP GOALS regarding journal-writing has not.

Truth be told, there hasn't been anything compelling enough for me to write about it. And that's probably what happened in Feb or 1989.

But a goal is still a goal. And excuses are still excuses. And i'm still really bad at the one and really good at the other.

Butterfly Pavilion

Do you know what happens when you take a cold, cold camera into a hot and humid pavilion? a little thing called condensation. And i couldn't get rid of it. So, all the amazing photos i could have taken of the butterflies landing on Abby (grace liked to look but didn't want to touch)--didn't happen. So, just squint and look at this one.
A few weeks ago we met up with some friends from Boston. It was so fun to see them, and the kids had such a great time looking at all the bugs and other creatures.

The zip-line.

Abby, Grace and my friend, Meredith gave it a try....I wimped out.

Giant Spider Web for the....

Giant spider!

Grace was enthralled by this tarantula, but wanted nothing to do with touching it. Abby, on the other hand wanted the "I held Rosie" sticker bad enough that I don't think she really even thought twice about what she had to do to get it. Check that thing out!!

And again, Grace wanted nothing to do with the gi-normous praying mantis out front, so we just got Abby and Eliza in this pic.

Believe it or not, Grace had a great time...she's just not very "hands on" with things like this :) She has since decided that it wasn't really that scary, and that when she's five she'll stand next to it :)

Thanks, again, for the invite, Meredith!

something i never want to forget

Eliza has spent the majority of her crawling life with shoes (namely crocs, but not always) on her hands. Given our tendency to....um....not put things away? she never really had to look far to find a new pair. I literally could have taken hundred of pictures of her like this.

It's a good thing I think she's so cute...'cause that girl has got a "strong personality"--as the people behind us in church put it the other day :) She's the sassiest, loudest, most stubborn and temperamental lil' thing I've ever seen. But I love her guts. Can't even help it.

Call me what you want

I've spent the last 3+ years not knowing what to call myself. I've used the V word several times, just because I think I'm pretty close. But i'm not a true vegetarian. Namely because I eat meat. Granted, it's not very often 3-4 times a month, max. But still, I am sure that true vegetarians would be disgusted to hear me use that term when I was seen sinking my teeth into a big juicy burger just a few weeks ago.

But the other day all my etymological woes disappeared when I stumbled upon this word: Flexitarian

Here are some excerpts from a few different websites defining the term

-- “Flexitarians” — a term voted most useful word of 2003 by the American Dialect Society — are motivated less by animal rights than by a growing body of medical data that suggests health benefits from eating more vegetarian foods.

--Flexitarians adhere mostly to the vegetarian diet as a healthy lifestyle rather than following an ideology. They feel an occasional meal that includes fish, fowl or meat is acceptable.

--Flexitarians: Include the groups below:
•Vegetarian: Those who say they are vegetarian, or "almost vegetarian," but use some meat, poultry or fish.
•Vegetarian inclined: Replace meat with meat alternatives for at least some meals, usually maintain a vegetarian diet, or eat four or more meatless meals per week.
•Health-conscious: Strive for a balanced eating plan or eat two to three meatless meals per week.

--Flexitarianism might be the answer for you. A flexitarian — or flexible vegetarian — is someone who eats mostly plant-based foods but occasionally eats meat, poultry and fish. Want to give it a try? It could be the jump start you need to begin eating healthier.

--It's for people who want to be vegetarians most of the time but "don't want to sit at a barbecue in their neighborhood with an empty bun," It is not just about eating less meat. The most important part is eating more healthful vegetarian foods, such as beans, nuts, whole grains and produce.

So, there you have it. That's what you can call me (along with a large list of other things).

Truth be told, most people I know (Kristin, you are not included in this group) would probably see themselves as some sort of flexitarian. More and more people are realizing that 3-5 servings a day of fruits and veggies isn't really enough. And one of the best ways to get more of those in your diet is to base meals around the veggies, and cut down (or hold off) on the meat.

When people find out how many veggies/fruit we eat in a day, and that we rarely have meals with meat, they ask WHAT DO WE EAT?!?!?! Well, since none of you asked, lemme just tell you. Some of my favorite recipes are from vegetarianation.blogspot.com - a blog that my friend, meredith set up-- that I and other veggie-lovers contribute to. So, if you want to become more FLEXible, but don't know where to start, i'd suggest trying the Oven Chimichangas (you gotta use quinoa in these--delish!), the Roasted Veggie Quesadillas or this delicious Fiesta Pasta Salad. And for those of you with that famous my-husband-won't-eat-meals-without-meat excuse, I can almost guarantee that he'd be happy with any of those three meals :) For all you know you're married to a closet-flexitarian...and he's just waiting for you to open that door...

I love this girl

I, along with almost everyone else who knows her, have been noticing that over the past 2 or 3 months Grace is really growing up and changing. She's overcoming her debilitating shyness. She's cooperating when she's asked to do things. She's "pushing buttons" less and less. She's "asking" for negative attention less and less..and I'm enjoying being her mom more than ever.

Five months ago when the 4-11 year olds from church stood up front during church and sang a Mother's day song, Grace completely freaked out and wouldn't even consider doing it.

Today, during the children's Primary Program, Grace stood in front of our entire congregation (along with all the other kids) and sang all the songs, and even spoke her one little line into the microphone. We'd been rehearsing all week, and she was as prepared as possible--but that's never mattered in the past. Months ago she would have followed the lead of the two kids before her who completely froze up and couldn't say their lines. But not today--she spoke clearly and perfectly and said "I can strengthen my family by saying my prayers" right into the microphone. Reid and I literally got teary.

People have been telling me for over 2 years that she'd grow out of this. It's taken me until just recently to really believe it.

Granted, she has her setbacks. For example, when Reid's parents were here she was quick to tears, and acted out quite a bit. As with all kids, certain kinds of attention (e.g. adoring grandparents and aunt) unfortunately bring out the worst in her. But even that is something that she's overcoming.

She has the kindest heart you'll ever see in a 4-year-old. She loves her sisters so much. She has recently fallen in love with knock-knock jokes. And she wants to know how to spell everything (and what everything spells). She's still so good at entertaining herself, and her sisters. She loves to play pretend. She's constantly hungry (I am not exaggerating--it's constant!!) And she loves, loves, loves clothes--she goes through 3-7 outfits/day.

She's a great oldest-child. She's very aware of the influence her example has on her sisters (mostly Abby), she's very responsible and is really good at listening to her conscience. Once she really understands why something is right or wrong, she's very good at choosing what is right.

I'm so glad she's in our family. I love her a million times more than the day she was born. And that was something I didn't think was possible.

Halloween 2009

Grace was Wonder Woman --she loved her costume, had a great time carving pumpkins, enjoyed ripping off the chain links of our "halloween chain" and said the words "trick-or-treat" at all seven houses we went to.
Abby was Tinkerbell--she loved telling everyone what she and Grace were for Halloween, and every single time she'd say it they'd look at me with a big ? on their face. She loved the Monsters vs Aliens tv special, and she kept telling us how beautiful she looked in her costume.
Eliza was a cow--she cried every time we put the hood up, she had her first candy bar...and she loved it.

And we handed out whistles, parachute dudes, and play-doh.Happy Halloween!

(you could probably figure out how much i care for this holiday by the amount of blog space I'm giving it)