La Vida en Spanglish

Locket giveaway

2010-04-24T07:09:00.003-06:00

Makeit-loveit.com is having a beautiful jewelry give away. Check out her blog to see some amazing project tutorials and also to enter the drawing. Just don't bump me out of the race please. ;) (Just kidding- I will share)

my own boutique!!

2010-03-29T13:04:00.002-06:00

I have finally decided to start selling some of my more popular items. I already have four orders and don't even have a brand name yet.

Some of the things I will carry are:

nursing covers

slings

car seat canopies/ matching head rest if wanted

baby shoes

hair accessories

tutu bow holders

paci sac

hooded towels

burp cloths

diaper clutches

tutus for baby and girls

small amount of clothing for boys and girls

I am so excited. I am working on a brand name and logo right now. Soon I will have labels to sew into all of my items. Unfortunately, sales to the states will be difficult. I can bring things with me when I go but that will usually be only once or twice a year. Shipping from Costa Rica would be too expensive. I don't think anyone would want to pay the cost. Therefore, most of my sales will take place in Costa Rica.

I can't believe this is all happening! I will post pictures as soon as I finish each product!

Frugal Feedings

2010-02-19T00:30:00.002-06:00

Living in Costa Rica can be expensive if you rely on things imported from the US. So, when I calculated that I was spending a dollar a day on disposable nursing pads I decided something was going to have to change. Besides being unbelievably healthy for mom and baby, nursing is supposed to be the cheaper way to go.

(By the way, I did research the prices of disposable pads in the States. You will still spend around 33 cents a day on a pair of pads. That is almost 122 dollars a year! That would be a great starter bank account for your little one. Put that money to good use instead of throwing it in the trash can at the end of each day.)

I decided it was time to make some washable nursing pads. But not the old fashioned kind that leave you with a flashing neon sign of wet across your chest screaming "Dairy products made here!" I wanted something that would work just as well or better than the expensive, eco-damaging, wasteful alternative. Here is what I came up with.

I had soft fleece left over from some burp cloths I had made for Eisley (hence the bears). I also used a crib pad I had lying around the house (the kind designed to protect the bed when baby's diaper leaks). That's all. It didn't cost me anything and I found a purpose for those extra scraps.

To make:

1. Trace a large glass or something circular. I used brown paper as my pattern.

2. Lay one piece of fleece on top of the mattress pad. Pin the fabrics together. Trace the circle and cut out.

3. Using the zig zag stitch on the machine, stitch around the edges of the circle. Sometimes the fabric would slip a little bit so I stitched just inside the edge and trimmed off the extra fabric around the edges.

So, give it a try and enjoy the money you save and the feeling you get knowing you are not contributing to earth's waste build up!

a love for baking

2010-02-16T09:14:00.005-06:00

I LOVE to bake- just about anything. I love to decorate the things I bake too. How have I been given this love for baking and an intolerance to wheat and dairy. Have you ever tried to bake something without wheat and/or dairy. Very few recipes actually work and it can be expensive to experiment with other options. Maybe the positive side is that this is a way of helping me stay thin (because I have NO self control). If I didn't feel sick when I ate what I baked, I would bake every day (at least once) and eat it all myself. So, I guess I should be thankful for my annoying stomach problems.

If you love to bake, here is my favorite website dedicated completely to baking. Since I can't eat anything on there, if you make something, post a picture so I can live vicariously through you.

http://www.bakerella.com/

The Vintage Valentine Cookies

The Macaron Pops (the name looks misspelled but it isn't)

Mmmmm- they all look so pretty and SO yummy.

And look at these! Mini maple pancake muffins. I am trying these tomorrow.

For baking accessories (super cute ones) check out this website. I like to look and dream of what it would be like to use this stuff. It is too expensive to ship it to Costa Rica.

http://www.bakeitpretty.com/

Non-edible cupcake toppers.

Edible glitter! Look how sparkly.

Edible toppers. Aren't these buttons the cutest?

And the cutest cupcake wrappers.

Go check it out!

Matching outfits, minus two

2010-02-14T20:27:00.003-06:00

I finally had time to put the finishing touches on Emmy and Eisley's matching outfits today. I only got a picture of Emmy wearing hers though. It wasn't warm enough to put Eisley in a sleeveless shirt so her picture will have to wait. I am also working on something matching for Davin so he doesn't feel left out. Once that is finished I will post a picture of the three of them wearing their outfits. Until then, here is Emmy modeling her newest fashion.

If you want to make the twirly skirt, here is the tutorial I used. http://polkadotchair.blogspot.com/2009/03/skirt-tutorial.html

Post pictures if you make one too.

applique Jeans tutorial

2010-02-12T13:32:00.002-06:00

I found this adorable applique tut from jameehomemaker. I can't wait to try this. The added ruffle at the bottom of the jean will really help for my little fashionista since she is so tall. I have left over fabric from the matching skirts I made for the girls (pictures will be posted soon). If you make these jeans post pictures for all of us to see. If you make changes, feel free to post instructions too! Enjoy crafting.

crafts taking over

2010-02-12T13:14:00.002-06:00

It seems I have a serious addiction to all things crafty. Because this seems to be all I think about, I have decided to start posting about crafts on this blog. I will post things I have made, things I want to make and great ideas i find on other blogs that I know I will never have time to make. Recipes might pop up from time to time too. If you like crafts, you should like my new blog. Enjoy.

New Traditions I

2009-11-09T09:22:00.006-06:00

This is the start of our third week in San Jose. We are slowly getting settled. We are finding out, much like Cancun, it takes a while to get things checked off of your to do list. We are developing our own new traditions quickly here. I wanted to share a few with pictures.

-Fresh tropical flowers from the farmer's market

- feeding our daily visitor. We call him Bobo (the common name for this type of bird here). Bobo likes fresh fruit so we share a little from breakfast with him.

-baking with fresh fruit- almost daily! mmmmm
I made this apple dumpling for breakfast one morning. It was like individual apple pies- for BREAKFAST! So yummy.
Our family is enjoying starting new traditions together. Go out today and find a new tradition you can do with your family. Have a great day!

Last week in Cancun

2009-10-12T17:31:00.002-06:00

We found our house in Costa Rica!! It is perfect for us we think and are very excited to get settled and meet our neighbors. Just about 15 minutes outside of town, it is 4500 feet above sea level, slightly up the mountain. The view is beautiful, lush and green with cool weather in the mornings and evenings. Being very pregnant, I am soooo excited about cooler weather. These hot Cancun days have been roasting me. I wonder why we even shower in the mornings.

With all the excitement of new things to come, there are still lots of feelings of grief for what we are leaving behind. The closest friends we have ever had, memories from most of Davin's life, Emmy's first school, our kids' very special friends are things that are all being left in our old life as we move on to a new one.

This is our last week in Cancun. The packing is almost finished, plans are all made, airline tickets have been bought, furniture has been sold. The only thing left to do is say goodbye. We are having a party on Friday night- one last big blow out. I hope I can be calm enough to enjoy my time with friends instead of crying through it.

Please keep us in your prayers this week as we say goodbye and move to another country. We are excited about what God has for us but it will be very difficult to leave.

Pray for Nathan and our friend Chaco as they make the drive from Cancun to Costa Rica on Monday, Oct 9. They have to pass through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and then into Costa Rica. It is a long drive, the roads aren't always easy to navigate, and entering each country's border has difficulties of it's own.

Pray for the rest of us as we fly on Wednesday through Miami and then to Costa Rica. We will get there first and be in a hotel for a day or two until the guys arrive. We will have a ton of bags to keep up with but God always sends me someone helpful sitting near by on the plane.

Thanks for your prayers.

House hunting in Costa Rica

2009-10-04T21:00:00.003-06:00

It is 10pm, I am in the middle of packing, watching a video a friend lent me, and missing the kids. They are staying with friends while Nathan and I go to Costa Rica to look for a house and possibly a doctor to deliver the baby. We leave our house at 4:45am tomorrow to catch our flight so the kids are already gone to their three day sleep over. I can't believe how much I miss them already. Shouldn't I be able to enjoy at least one night without kids? Am I normal or do I have attachment issues? I have definitely earned a little break...too bad I can't enjoy it.

We will be landing in San Jose tomorrow around 1ish. The realtor will meet us at our hotel and take us all around town showing us houses. Hopefully he has enough houses to show us to fill up Monday afternoon and most of the day Tuesday. If all goes well, we will be able to fly into town in two weeks and go straight to our new house...no hotel. That would be wonderful. There is nothing like a 7 month pregnant woman living out of boxes in a hotel, unable to nest or be settled. If that is the case I should be a blast to live with.

I will post pictures of the house we choose and an update when we get back on Wednesday or Thursday.

New blog address

2009-10-03T11:48:00.001-06:00

We have a new blog address. Since we will not be in Cancun anymore, we thought it appropriate to adjust our name too. Enjoy.