Monday, February 28, 2011

And Ain't I a Woman?

Last night I took part in a Black History celebration for my job.  I work for a non-profit organization called City Impact with their teen Leadership Academy.  The celebration was wonderful and I found myself  incredibly proud and privileged to be a involved with such an amazing group of teens. 

One part of the evening was a presentation of famous speeches by the Speaking Team.  The first speech was read by a young girl whom I have known for quite some time.  It was a historic speech by Sojournor Truth called "Ain't I a Woman?"  What stood out to me about this speech was not necessarily the words.  I had read the speech before.  It was what happened to the person delivering the speech.  As she began, she was quiet, barely audible.  But as she continued to read, you could see her posture improve and hear her voice get louder.  It was beautiful.  Almost as if the power of those words, "Ain't I a woman?" gave her more and more confidence with each utterance.

So in honor of Black History Month I'm going to post a link to the the speech here.  If you haven't read it before, please take the time to read it now.  It was powerful when it was first heard in 1851.  And its power is still evident today.

Friday, February 25, 2011

this moment

Inspired by SouleMama:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Can't Have One Without the Other



It's nearly impossible to take a picture of Lucia without Azalia sneaking in.  As soon as that camera starts clicking, Z jumps right in and asks me to take multiple pictures, then requests to see the results. Even if she isn't taking up the majority of the frame, she sneaks in somehow.  A hand, a foot, one of her toy trucks...



Lucia absolutely loves this, of course.  Her sister can pretty much do anything to make her laugh.  It's incredible to watch their relationship develop.  Z can be so sweet to her little sister.  She can also be a terror.  Lu giggles and smiles adoringly at Z most of the time.  Sometimes, she accidentally whacks Z or pulls her hair and Z immediately takes offense.  

Ah, Sisters.




Monday, February 21, 2011

Our Daily Bread

 
As part of our attempt to eliminate processed foods from our home, we are going to start baking our own bread.  We did this for awhile, before Lu was born.  But convenience foods are, well, convenient.  And after a baby is born it's all about convenience.  
 
Anyways, Joe has been cutting a lot of things from his diet due to his adrenal fatigue.  Sugar and gluten are on that list and those are in pretty much all store-bought breads.  Also, we go through A LOT of bread in this house.  We are trying to find ways to save money and this could help!  
 
So, what are your favorite bread recipes?  We are looking for low or no sugar and whole wheat bread.  Also, if you have any gluten-free bread recipes we would love to try one!





Friday, February 18, 2011

this moment

Inspired by SouleMama:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Little Bird Fly Through My Window

We love music in this house.  Z has some favorite's, which are luckily some of my favorites too.  Those include mewithoutYou, Danielson, She & Him and Rosie Thomas.  Most of the time the music we listen to is appropriate for her to listen to as well.  But lately, we've been more aware of the words of some of our favorite bands and realizing that maybe we need to have some good kid's music around too.  However, I've found that it's difficult to find kid's music that doesn't want to make me gouge my eyes out.  (Too dramatic?)

Raffi gets played a lot, but I can only take him for so long.  Seriously, listen to "Bananaphone" on repeat for 3 days in a row.  Then you will know what I mean.  The other day we were listening to Raffi on Pandora when I re-discovered another children's artist that is quickly becoming a favorite. 


I first discovered Elizabeth Mitchell through my cousin Melissa's blog.  I remember hearing her music and thinking, "I would listen to this even if I didn't have kids".  However, that thought got lost in my pregnancy fog and I didn't think of her again.  Then "Little Bird" came on Padora and I remembered how much I like Elizabeth Mitchell.  We've listened to the album through and through and I am in love.  This is kid's music that you AND your little ones will enjoy together.

P.S. The artwork on that album is done by one of my favorites...Ida Pearle!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Love, Love, Love

Remember this post a few weeks ago?

Well, look at what was on the front porch waiting for me this morning....


 And because I have a little obsession with all things little, I wanted to show you the actual size of this little bag (I can't get over how cute it is!)....

 And it's the free gift that keeps on giving....

How fun is that?!

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope that you are loved, today and everyday!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Satur-date!


Last week Joe and I went on a date.  It had been almost 2 months since we had an out-of-the-house-get-a-babysitter date.  Seriously.  This date was very, very needed. 

It was wonderful, relaxing and brought us closer together...all of the things a date should be.  I didn't worry about the girls, they were both with their Abita (Z's nickname for my mom, short for Abuelita).  Lu still doesn't take a bottle very well but she was a good little girl and slept all the way until 5 am!  Which was nice since we ended up staying out pretty late. 

Anyways....we went to one of our favorite places in Lincoln, Bread & Cup.  The menu changes on the weekends and they never disappoint (except when they run out something that looks delicious!)  I ordered a glass of the house chardonnay, which was sweet and crisp and ended up being a perfect accompaniment to my meal. We started off with a camembert plate, which was bread, camembert, apple slices and honey.  Flavor explosion!  I would have never thought of combining all of those flavors, but it was amazing.  Definitely something we will try to recreate for our at-home date nights.  For our entrees Joe ordered a three sausage plate and I ordered the stuffed pork.  Both entrees were beautiful and delicious, I wish I had taken pictures of them before they were devoured :)


We ended the evening by breaking Joe's no-sugar rule and split a slice of carrot cake.  I enjoyed mine with a little decaf french press coffee. Great food and wonderful company, such a lovely date night! 

Friday, February 11, 2011

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Friday, February 4, 2011

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.




Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Our Lives Before

There's a part of my oldest daughter's bedtime routine that I look forward to everyday.  It involves brushing the many tangles that develop throughout the day out of her beautiful, long hair and braiding it before sleep.  But it's so much more than that.  In order to get her to sit still while I brush, I tell her stories.  While it began as a ploy to stop her from moving and screaming "Ouch Mommy, that hurts!" whenever I brushed her hair, it has evolved into something more meaningful.



She asks, "Mommy, will you tell me a story?"
"What would you like the story to be about?" I reply.
"Tell me 'Once upon a time' when you were a little girl...."

And so I indulge her.  I tell her stories about school, my first puppy, when I had lice (true story!), camping trips and more.  Lately, whenever I finish a story she wants to tell a story too.  Her story is usually a summary of the story I just told, only with her in the lead role and me as a supporting actor.  She takes some creative liberties, but for the most part the original story remains.  I found this very cute and amusing for a few nights.  Then, one night it hit me.  The reason she keeps inserting herself into my stories is because she can't imagine our lives without her in them.  This same reason is why she asks "Where am I?" whenever she sees our wedding pictures, or pictures of Joe and I before she was born.  She only knows life with us in it.

I lived a lifetime before she was born, and that is hard for her to understand.  She's beginning to grasp the concept, but not entirely.  Which made me think of all the things I still have to tell her about myself.   There is much she doesn't know.  Many things will be hard and painful to explain.  I'm waiting for the day when she asks me, "Mommy, why do you only have a Mommy and no Daddy?  Where is he?"  How do I tell my darling, sweet girl that her grandfather, my father, chose the bottle over a family?  Where do I begin to explain the challenges that I faced as I grew up in a single parent home with 4 brothers and sisters?  Amidst the hardship there is joy, I know.  The joy will not be difficult to share.  It's the pain that will prove arduous.

There will be healing in the telling of these parts of my life, I know this.  However, many things in my past weren't property dealt with, simply because I couldn't dwell on them in order to survive.  So, this re-telling will require some re-opening of wounds.  It will be tough, but it will show my daughter that difficult circumstances can make you stronger.  She will see that her mother endured (as her grandmother did), and so when she faces adversity, she will also endure.