Disney World 2010 - Rodolfo and Gigi's first trip!

Do you see the castle in the back?

Here is Gigi riding the Dumbo ride.  Loving this smile.

My favorite character photo.  These girls were cracking me up with their "evil stepsister" expressions.

Gigi in a magic carriage.

Epcot and the Princess Lunch.

Gigi zonked out.

Here is Gigi at the Luau.  So sweet.

First Recital

Here is Georgia with her ballet friends preparing for the performance.  It was a flutter of activity behind stage.  Excitement was high and moms were tossing makeup, hairspray and tutus everywhere.  I got Gigi ready at home so I could snap a few pictures of the backstage anticipation.

Here is another ode to Degas with the ballerinas hurriedly lining up to go onstage.

The girls performed to "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polkadot Bikini".  It was pretty fun watching them walk onto the stage.  They came out in towels (see the first picture) and swayed back and forth hiding behind the towel as the lyrics sang "she was afraid to come out of the locker, she was afraid to open the door..." and then at "2..3..4.. tell the people what she wore" they dropped the towels, put their hands on their hips and shimmied around.  Pretty darn cute.  I wish I could have gotten a close-up photo of Gigi but this is the best my lens would zoom.

And here is Georgia after the performance, still dancing in the backyard.  They gave every little a girl a rose and announced each of their names at the end.  This was a special night!

ballet recital

First ballet recital.  Sweet.  Fun.  Funny.  Memories.  I loved it!  I'll put more photos up soon.  Been very busy lately!

The Magic Next Door

We found it!  This has to have been one of the first books my mom ever read to me.  Gigi and I were digging around in an old bookcase the other day trying to find a place to put all of the Barbie beds because they were just driving me crazy sitting out.  While we were moving stuff around we found The Magic Next Door.  Finding the book was like rediscovering an old memory that had been cherished but long forgotten.  This is such a sweet story, and it has great lines like: "Her hair was spread out on the tufted grass like silk from corn on the cob."  I smiled at every page remembering the images and the story.  What a great find.  This book is a little treasure to me.

Day at the Museum

We went to the Oklahoma Natural History Museum to explore dinosaur bones with Ashleigh, Michelle, Blake & Caleb today.  The girls were pretty fascinated with the animals.  This is a great age for hands-on-experiences.  Hats off to Michelle for all of her great ideas.  What a fun day it was!!

Playhouse

What do you think a busy CPA would want to do the day after tax season?  Relax?  Go to the beach?  spa?  How about build a fort?  That's right, my dad's after tax-season project was to build a playhouse for all his grandkids.  I have been amazed that every day since April 16 my dad has been out in the backyard constructing what you see above.  Since we are living here while we wait on our new house to be renovated Georgia is thrilled to the bones to have a slide in the backyard!!  Now Ellyn Claire, Anne & Kathrine need to come on over so the fun can begin.  Thanks Dad!!!!!!! 

oh the places you will go

Gigi has totally been the most beautiful ballerina today.  She was performing all day long, dancing here and there.  I guess she is ready for her recital coming up.  Even when we were on our way out the door she stopped and danced in front of the old mirror in the garage.  I had to snap her picture, she looked so pretty.  Her gaze made me think of all the possibilities and exciting things that await her in life.  The poem "oh the places you will go" came to my head. 

After our errands we came home and ate our Chick-fil-A.  Here she is drinking her chocolate milk. I sure feel blessed.

Wally's feet

On Wally's birthday he ascended the heights of a dog's life by receive a spa day.  Our regal pooch returned after his pampering bath and fluff with curls-a-shining and white hair a-glow.  He also brought the rains with him.  We admired his fluffiness for as long as we could before he begged us to go outside.  Not wanting to ruin his clean paws in the rain and mud we concocted the above booties.  Necessity is indeed the mother of invention.  These fine rain-resistant shoes are made out of nothing other than baggies and scotch tape!  They worked for about 3 minutes, long enough to take care of business.  I had a good laugh watching Wally waltz around in them.  He looked like a high-stepping horse!!  Happy Birthday you silly pooch! 

Mini Boden

Have you ever seen that catalogue called Mini-Boden?  They have the splashiest, laid-back, colorfully fun clothes for children.  I love the catalogue because they always list the names of the children modeling the clothes + they ask fun questions for the kids to answer.  Their names are always trendy European names like Mila, Giullia, Anna Luisa, Nayara, etc.  I thought I could ask Gigi some of the questions from this catalogue and document HER answers.  Here we go:

Most ticklish: sides of tummy
After school enjoys: playing dress up in O Papa's playhouse
Spots or stripes: stripes
Favourite word: candy and jewelry
Hidden talent: music
Best thing in the world: candy and jewelry
Favourite film: princess movies
Favourite game: hopscotch
Favourite sandwich: egg
Animal I'd like to be: tiger
Wants to be: princess
Collects: candy and jewelry
Worst food: yucky bananas
Favourite word: word perd (we're really into rhyming now-a-days since Aunt Laurie introduced us to it), I asked her this question again and she said her favourite word was: dinosaur, elephant, Disney World
Best thing you've found: jewelry
Favourite book: princesses book

Well, in a nutshell, that's my 3 year old!

New House!

Today Georgia and I scouted out spring weather photo locations.  I dressed her in the springiest dress I could find and we headed outdoors.  Afterwards we meandered over to our new house to see if the water was finally turned on, and it was.  We then watered our transplanted peonies, hydrangeas and tulips.  I was able to get a few adorable photos of her while we were in the garden.  I can't wait to move into the new house, but we are still in the process of renovating.  In fact, the process hasn't even begun.  We are still finalizing details on the changes with our interior designer.  Today we were told that the contractor can BEGIN the process in 3 -4 weeks.  We've always heard it takes patience when renovating and we are ready to be patient, but oh I can't wait!! :)  I will post pictures of the house once we know what we will be doing to it.  Stay tuned.

Our journey to the Dallas Arboretum

This is right before Gigi broke out into her loudest rendition ever of Sleeping Beauty's song "I know you"

Ah!

This color combo makes me calm and happy.

I was trying to get a sweet cousin shot like I did last week, but Gigi decided to put Elle in a head lock instead.

Elle after the headlock, happy and a little dazed.

sunflare practice and PEZ

Just practicing more sunflare techniques.  Gigi was out dancing with her PEZ candy that Auntie Rebecca gave her for Easter.  I just realized that she was wearing this dress the last time I practiced sunflare.  Funny!  I guess this dress lends itself to that sunny, 70s look.  Gigi has been so funny with her candy lately.  She has started sleeping with it she loves it so much.  No more Mr. Bear at night time, she wants to sleep with whatever candy she has been given most recently.  It is funny too because she doesn't eat the candy she just has it on her pillow.  Three years is a silly age!

cousin!

We really had fun hanging out with Elle this past week.  Since Elle would wake up before Georgia in the morning and afternoon I would wake Gigi up with Elle in my arms.  Georgia loved waking up to her cousin so much that every time before she would go to sleep she asked "can Elle wake me up again?"  And I said of course!!!  I am very hopeful that someday Gigi will have a sibling.  Until then, cousins are the next best thing!  Rodolfo is down visiting family in Guatemala.  Georgia has three cousins down there.  Hopefully we will be able to see them sometime soon.  My hope is that we can all meet up at Disney.  Wouldn't that be fun?

my girl

We are having fun this spring break hanging out with Omama.  Snapped this photo last night while practicing sun flare.  I didn't get my flare quite right because I only had my f-stop at 3.5 or so.  Plus Gigi wouldn't sit still long enough for me to practice.  This was the best shot I got of the fleeting sun and my fleeing daughter.  :)

Visiting dignitary

Elle belle is visiting for the week.  So glad to see this little cutie pie.  I haven't seen her since January 16!  She is walking, barking and can even say my name and Georgia's name!  I think I'll try to teach her how to say "Wally" while Mindy is out and about in Spain.

29 Palms

Just returned two days ago from a wonderful trip to the desert.  I've never been to a desert before.  I was planning on it being really hot.  Turns out that the desert can be very cold.  Who would have guessed?

I stayed at this incredible place called The Inns at 29 Palms.  Above is the little house I stayed in for two nights.  Below is the majestic hill it faced.  There were actually several little homes like this all in a row.  My home was divided into two sections.  An Australian couple was staying in the other half.  This trip was a sort of solo sojourn for me to explore photography as well as to do a little personal introspection and talking with God.  I attended a photography retreat at the inn with some amazing photographers.  I felt like a true artist on a pilgrimmage.

I never really thought of the desert as a beautiful place.  After this trip, however, I have a new respect for the desert.  Glorious, glorious, glorious!

They even had a potager at this desert inn.  Here is the gate leading to the garden.  Behind the gate you can see their abundance of produce.  So, I guess I learned two things from this trip.  First, deserts can be cold.  And second, you CAN grow food in the desert.  Actually, I learned a lot more than that from this trip, but it would take a novel to explain.

Darling dear

Dear Georgia,

I can't believe that you are already three and a half years old!  You are growing up too quickly.  The other day you told me that you wanted to marry prince Burke and that he was going to buy your wedding dress and I was supposed to buy the shoes and veil.  You seemed to have all the arrangements already made, although you did mention that you might change your mind and marry Elliot.  I sure did have fun making blueberry cobbler with you last night.  Did you get to eat any of it?  It seems like you were too distracted by It's A Bugs Life.  I think you are about to outgrow your nap.  You are 41 inches tall and you weigh 36 lbs and every ounce of you wants to play, read, talk or sing.  I enjoy your performances, especially when you sing about yours truly in your best soprano.  You light up my life!  I love you!

xoxo, Mommy

Hormigita

Georgia and Rodolfo have invented a playmate that has come to visit our house nearly everyday since his birth.  It is hormigita.  HORMIGITA!!!!  I can just hear Gigi's voice right now calling this little ant to come play with her in the playroom.  You can see a photo of this little guy above.  It is Rodolfo's two fingers, the peace sign.  And Gigi is the mama hormigita, and I, I am the grandma!!  That's right, my name has been replaced.  I am no longer mom, I'm grandma hormigita.  From the moment Rodolfo comes home from work until Georgia goes to bed she refers to us this way.  She is very bossy to hormigita, but I guess hormigita deserves it since he is always getting into trouble and never does what his mom tells him to do.  Last night hormigita was put into time out 4 times.  Ha!!  I snapped this photo last night when they were playing.  Too cute!

That Hat!

I love this hat that we bought 2 years ago.  It still fits Gigi and is totally perfect for these wintry days.

What is good health?

Change is occuring in my home and in my diet.  Last March, which I guess it has almost been a year now (goodness!), I transformed my diet.  I followed the Spleen Qi diet from "The Infertility Cure" (no wheat, no dairy, no sugar) for 6 months.  It was completely cleansing, invigorating and mind-clearing.  I never realized how food affects one's entire being until I did this diet.  Now I realize that food is a chemical and when you put it in your body you have various responses.  In September I stopped my diet.  Now that the new year has emerged and life is more on track for me I am slowly re-integrating the Spleen Qi into my daily habits.  It is amazing the variety of foods and grains I have learned about since beginning this way of eating.  Who new that there were so many grains besides wheat?  The photo above is of some grains, legumes and other foods that I have added to my pantry.  I still don't use them as often as I should but they are nice to have around when I want to mix things up.  Here are their names:
quinoa
teff
flax
spelt
amaranth
lentils (I don't actually guess these are a grain, more like a bean)
chickpeas
bulgar
semolina
wild rice
steel cut oats
goji berries

I guess vegans eat a lot of this food, but I am in no way vegan.  I love meat!!  I just love foods that are healthy and tasty.  Another great thing I have added (for the minerals) is Sea Salt.  Apparently here in the states we are very deficient in many minerals.  Eating foods grown in the ground without pesticides and from seeds without genetic modification really helps to put the minerals back in one's body.  So does sea salt!  At first I was purchasing this salt from France called Fleur de Sel-- but it was way expensive.  It is harvested from the oceans and raked over several times to meet Fleur de Sel standards-- it is a favorite among chefs.  Rodolfo gave me a very hard time about it b/c in Guatemala raked sea salt is the cheap salt you get at the market-- the more expensive stuff is Morton's.  Ha!  Isn't that funny.  He also gave me a hard time when I purchased a bottle of Molasses for $10.  Apparently molasses is the left-over from the sugar refining process.  In Guatemala molasses is the cheap sweetner.  Funny how there are trends and cycles in the food industry.  And things we are told are good for us-- bottled water-- can suddenly become bad for us.  I would like to know who is the intellgencia that gets to make these decisions.  I want to join them and sway the masses.  Ahem.  I do think, though, the Spleen Qi is truly a healthy way of eating.  It stems from the Chinese ways of eating.  Traditional Chinese Medicine considers the temperature of your body and the temperature of your food.  It considers the way it is chopped and cooked as a means to aiding your overall health.  At first I thought this was a bunch of hokey pokey razz-ma-tazz.  I first heard about it in France when I was sick.  The doctor advised me to not eat anything cold.  That's it.  He gave me no medicine.  In Guatemala my grandmother in law was advised not to open the refrigerator door to keep her body from getting chilled.  Then, low and behold, I learn about TCM and I am told to keep my body warm, especially with the food I eat.  Nothing cold-- no ice in drinks, nothing chilled and even certain foods with cold properties I was told to avoid (cucumbers, mango, etc.).  Strangely enough, having followed this advice, I have been the healthiest I have been in 10 years.  I think it is no coincidence.  Pure food from the earth that has no modifications, temperature of that food, and its preparation all contribute to a person's overall health.  BTW, not all people need to eat warm food.  Some people, those who are always hot, need to eat cold food.  It just depends on your body.  Another really healthing thing to do for your body is breath correctly.  I don't know much about it except that I have been told if you can simply learn to breathe correctly you will heal a multitude of ills in your body.  Apparently when we are stressed we take short breaths from the upper parts of our lungs.  Healthy breathing happens when we are expanding our diaphragm and breathing the way a baby does-- where the tummy rises and falls.  It is difficult to sustain breathing like this.  When the body is truly at rest it automatically breathes this way.  But we are so stressed in our day-to-day living that we tend to never breathe like that when we are awake.  I have been doing exercises where I practice diaphragm breathing the first 10 minutes in the morning when I wake up and then the last 10 minutes before I go to bed.  I have found that it aids with my circulation, my digestion and my stress levels.  Give it a try!!  Hope I have given you some information to think about.  Bon journee!               -JoDee