Winter Wonderland

People will be talking about this snowstorm for years.

Yes, our flight was canceled and we (technically, Juan) spent all day trying to reschedule. Once we finally got through to an airline operator, we were able to get a refund on our tickets and Juan was able to procure some tickets with a different airline for the 22nd. Happy day! It's Utah or bust, baby!

The girls loved the snow and didn't want to come back in once they realized how fun it could be. Okay, maybe Qiana liked it only a little bit.







As for our meals, well, it hasn't been so bad. We had a half a head of cabbage hidden in the crisper drawer, so I made a vegetarian Asian slaw with cold Ramen noodles, dressed it with a made-up concoction of soy sauce, white vinegar, peanut butter and honey, and sprinkled it with toasted sesame seeds, chopped peanuts, and red pepper flakes. Amazingly, it was delicious, (but that could be due to the fact that we were starving so ANYTHING would have been good.) Breakfast this morning wasn't half-bad either; I made a dish I learned in my college cooking class: Eggs a la Goldenrod on Rye. (I know, the fact that we had RYE bread in the fridge surprises me, too. Usually when I buy it, it is all eaten up within the first day, unless I secretly stash some in the freezer for later.) Tonight I'm thinking of putting those dehydrated potatoes to use in a shepherd's pie or something. By way of protein, there's a half-a-pound of ground beef and two pork chops to choose from. I think I'll go with the beef. (Like anyone cares :^)

Snowed In

It's been snowing non-stop and Philadelphia is looking at RECORD-BREAKING snowfall this weekend.


Our flights to Utah are probably canceled.


Despite this devastating news, we've found joy in this blanket of white. Siena LOVES to play in the snow and has been begging to go out again since our first adventure outside this morning.

We thought, "Oh, this is nothing. Philadelphians just don't know how to drive." So we shoveled away the snow from our car and seatbelted everyone in to take a trip to the grocery store.

We made it two-and-a-half blocks before we decided to turn back. There was no WAY we were going to make it another five blocks to the supermarket.

So, we're living off our food storage because we were trying to clean out the refrigerator for our trip. No thoughts of Christmas Ham or Figgy Pudding, just rice & beans, Mac & Cheese, canned food, flaked mashed potatoes and powdered milk.

It is kind-of shocking to admit this, but I'm happy in way. I was so focused on getting home to visit our families and give them their gifts that we so carefully thought out, that this season has been a blur of planning instead of pondering. I was made aware of my distraction while listening to the First Presidency Message, specifically President Monson's talk. In the midst of all the preparations for Christmas morning, it is so easy to forget that the ENTIRE reason for this season is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. There's nothing wrong with gifts under the evergreen tree; however, it seems to all-to-often overshadow the quiet, constant glow of the nativity scene. I think that this time under house-arrest will prove to be a spirit-booster for all of us.

Feliz Navidad!

We've Been Reading "The Little Engine That Could" at least once a day.

Siena and Qiana got a really nice gift in the mail a couple weeks ago. It was a box of picture books in Spanish from our old Branch president and his wife. (These are GOLD... picture books in Spanish are hard to find, at least at a decent price.) Among the treasures was "La Pequena Locomotora Que Si Pudo" ("The Little Engine That Could".) Siena loves it, although I don't think we have read the whole book from cover to cover... she gets a little distracted while I try to stumble my way through the hard Spanish words.

Last night around 11:30, we heard Siena shout out "Choo Choo! Choo Choo Mommy!," from her room. She also mumbled some more words that we couldn't make out. Juan and I just looked at each other and questioned whether we should chance getting out of bed to see if she was awake or asleep. Eventually we crept into her room, just to find her fast asleep. Yep, we have a sleep-talker!

Getting There

Remember this?

Qiana is catching up with her CRAZY pigtails.(They look so different!!)

Da' Girlz

Making a paper snowman ornament at the Primary Christmas Activity

Decorating gingerbread men (Siena's in a frosting daze)

This girl has the giggles now. I love LOVE love her little laugh.

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Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving this year with Amber and Kurt and his family who were visiting. The girls behaved themselves (which was a nice little gift to us,) and the whole evening was relaxing. We ate a gourmet meal, thanks to everyone there.

Although we were away from family, there was still a lot to be grateful for. Being able to sit down to a delicious meal in a warm home surrounded by friends is a blessing that is often forgotten in the rush of the holiday season. My personal goal for this Christmastime is to try to pay attention to BIG-scale blessings like those while also trying to focus on day-to-day happiness.

MADE:

Now that Thanksgiving leftovers are FINALLY gone, we have been able to get creative again in the kitchen. We've had Succotash with Grilled Scallops and Parsley Drizzle (pictured,) and Fusilli with Sausage, Artichokes, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. As I am writing this, Juan is mixing up some Sweet Basil Smoothies and tommorow's plan for dinner is either Chicken Chili or Blue-rugula Burgers. Ever since we moved to Philadelphia, we've relied on the Food Network website to help us with dinner ideas. I'm telling you, start a recipe box (it's free!) and start experimenting. We use it to plan out our weekly meals and for the past 2 years, we've LOVED almost everything we make. I think the trick is to sort recipes by "rating"; every 5-star recipe we've made has been a big hit. Anyway, that's my little plug for FoodNetwork.com



I've been feelin' crafty, too. This is a carseat cover for a friend who is visiting her parents here in Philly. She says she sees them all over Utah and that she wants one. I told her that I received two adorable carseat covers from my mom and Juan's aunt when Qiana was born but that I couldn't part with either; so I decided to make one for her. It was my first attempt at a satin-stitch. I love that my 20+ year-old Singer sewing machine works for projects like this. (There are only two stitch capabilities on that beast: straight line and zig-zag.) Anyway, making the little owl applique took up about 80% of the whole project, but eventually I got the hang of it.

And just for fun, this was from my day today: I was folding laundry while this little sweetie-pie
made a bunch of spit bubbles through her little grin.

Thanksgiving Dresses

I amazed myself last night after I completed Siena's Thanksgiving dress. I couldn't believe it actually turned out. I don't use patterns (as it is well-publicized,) so I was sort-of expecting a disaster; however, seersucker is a pretty forgiving fabric and the stretchiness hides most of the flaws. Anyway, I decided I would attempt some sleeves on Qiana's dress today and voilá! It worked! Maybe we can have a "matchy-family" portrait this year after all.


And just for fun...

This is what happened when we told Siena to look at her finger the whole time as we slowly pushed her hand closer to her face. Oh yeah, and the high pony-tail is SO the rage these days.

Budding Artiste

Siena has been drawing a lot (on paper, walls, bellies, legs, etc.) and her practice is paying off. She's finally able to draw something semi-decipherable. She even explained what she was drawing as she was drawing it. I can't even describe how proud I am of her for drawing a face and I'm left wondering what it will feel like when she learns to ride a bike or make a sandwich or play the piano. Aaahh, I love this age!!! (I have to write that down NOW so in an hour or so I can look back and remind myself that I really DO love this age.)

Presenting: FACE by Siena Chavez

8 Weeks

Our little Qiana is 8 weeks old today. I can't believe how fast time flies. It's been such a new adventure with her. She sleeps through the night (11:30 to 7:30!) She eats in less than five minutes. She wails her lungs out when she's tired. She makes fists with her thumb between her pointer and middle finger. She smiles a lot... especially after she eats. She is realllllly chunky, especially in her cheeks and thighs. We love her through and through!

Coldplay/Piano Junkie

Let's say there was a fire in our house and we had 10 minutes to evacuate everything that we treasured. What would I bring?

• Juan and the girls, of course.
• Our computer (it has all our family pictures and files.)
  
• The "Vital Information" folder containing important documents.
• Journals
• My purse and Juan's wallet

If we had 11 minutes to evacuate instead of 10, I'd bring:

• everything mentioned above, plus...
• The Coldplay Collection piano book
  

Okay, so maybe that's a little too dramatic (clothes, blankets, and 72 hour kits would come first,) but I have always loved Coldplay and I LOVE that piano book. Once I found it online, I realized that it's only distributed in the UK; I found a place in New Jersey that has it shipped overseas and to your door for only $4, so that was a nice break. Playing from it has taken up almost all of the "naptime break" time the last few days--"PRACTICE" being the justification.

A frustration I have when I see sheet music of popular songs is that the melody is written into the accompaniment. I like to just hear the harmonic background music and think of the melody in my head because it allows for more depth in the actual played notes. Anyway, this book has a third staff plus guitar chords so it doesn't detract from the song. Perfect! I also like that it contains every song from the albums, and not just the popular ones because some of my favorites aren't played on the radio.

Anyway, I thought I'd share my excitement, however trivial it really is in the big scheme of things.

Little Miss 'Lentes'

This girl loves to try on our glasses.

Exerci....ZZZzzzzzz

It's official: if you want to stay dedicated to an exercise routine, get a 2 year-old in on the action. Siena has been the one to tell me, "Mami, ejercisios! Musica!," every morning. It's great because she does it right beside me; it's so funny to watch, I keep going just so she will also. She and I have been doing P90X every morning and besides the buckets of sweat I'm losing, I'm also losing all the extra zzz's. We've also been trying to get in shape by eating more balanced meals and watching calories. This has been REALLY hard because I love to cook... more specifically: BAKE. We got to have a little break in the new diet this last weekend because our friends treated us to The Cheesecake Factory while they watched the girls. We hadn't been on a real date since the soccer game in July, so it was totally justified and relished.

Another new thing around here is the Merengue music coming from our walls every night. We've been taking online classes to improve our groove and because it helps us stay away from lounging on the couch watching TV at night. Hopefully we'll be semi-proficient Latin dancers at the Branch Christmas party this year. I definitely feel a little bit more confident about my dancing because I know the rules behind the moves, and Juan is getting really good at leading (...it's in his Latin blood.) Siena, of course, gets jealous because she doesn't have a dance partner, so I have to share Juan with her every few songs.

Singin' In the Rain

There was no rain today, but that didn't stop us from breaking out the umbrella for our walk today.

Halloween

The Flower Fairy strikes a crazy pose.

The Garden Gnome is sleeping on the job.

Together they are the perfect garden accessories.

At the ward Halloween party

At the Branch Halloween party

Qiana's got a really bad bout of baby acne right now. It's all over her face, scalp, neck and back (this picture was taken when it first showed up, now it's even worse. Her poor face doesn't have a smooth spot on it.) I thought it was a rash so I called her pediatrician; however, she told me it's common and that I shouldn't worry. I can't help but wonder if she was just trying to get to the next caller on hold; because of the H1N1 outbreak, I was on hold with seven callers before me and I can imagine how swamped their office is.

I really hope it's just acne.

She's getting chunky!

HDA Conference in Houston

Rubbing shoulders with the bigwigs.

They got to take a trip to NASA on their spare time. Luckily, there was an open house that day so they got to see quite a bit.

No big prizes this year... but they're going to "up their game" for next year's poster contest.

Juan really enjoyed the conference and he wants to go next year in Chicago.

Phillies '09 National League Championship Win

As I mentioned before, we have been immersed in Phillies baseball. Besides going to a few games this year, Juan got to go to the winning championship game. He and Kurt lucked out (again) with second row seats behind 1st base. The Adamson's lended us their zoom lens, so Juan got some awesome pictures of the game. (p.s. We were easily able to sell the World Series Game 1 tickets on an online ticket auction... wahoo!) Let's hope the Phil's do well tonight!

Juan's 2 seconds of fame... on the jumbo tron... taking a picture of the jumbo tron.

They got pics of practically everyone on the team, but I don't have the patience to put them all up.

Kurt's 2 seconds on the jumbo tron with his front row buddies.