What is the best excuse to buy a bottle of wine???

You have to make a wine cozy for a gift... then obviously you will need a bottle of wine to block the wine cozy right???

I will be making this as well for another present. I found the pattern in Ravelry.

Cual es la mejor excusa para comprar una botella de vino??? Se necesita una botella para poder medir un cobertor de vino que quiero hacer para otro regalito. Por supuesto! tuve que comprar una botella de vino! El patron lo encontre en Ravelry.

My current project

This is my current project. I am making this sweater for my mom's 70th birthday. I have only a couple of weeks to finish it before my sister leaves to Costa Rica so she can take it with her.

I am almost done with the sweater's body... and tomorrow I will cast on the first sleeve. The pattern is from an old "Creative Knitting" Magazine from 2005. The yarn is already discontinued so I was able to get on Ebay for almost nothing... same color and everything... a lucky find.

Este es el proyecto en el que estoy trabajando ahorita. Es un sueter para mi mama, por su cumpleanos numero 70. Tengo que terminarlo en dos semanas para que mi hermana se lo lleve a Costa Rica y se lo entregue. Eso me deja solo un par de semanas para terminar las mangas y los acabados... Estoy apretada de tiempo, pero creo que si podre hacerlo. El hilo es exactamente el que se pide en el patron que como es de una revista vieja lo consegui en Ebay a un excelente precio.

Spiritual battles and difficult decisions.

Ephesians 6:12 (King James Version)
12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

I have been struggling for months about this question: How involved should a born again Christian be involved with an unbeliever or a Christian that is separated from God? How much sin around us can we and should we take? How much should we shelter ourselves and our children from all the evil influences of the world... including friends, culture, media, etc... Where do you draw the line???

I disagree with people that (in the name of Jesus) of course, get deeply involved with people who are living wicked lives. They say the want to win them for Jesus. I am sorry but that is hard to believe. Most of the time it works the other way around. When Christians get very "tolerant" and "accepting" of sin, they soon loose their biblical perspective of sin and start embracing the cultural mandate of political correctness.

I have gotten to the conclusion that there is no black and white answers, but each situation needs to be analyzed carefully and under the light of the word and through prayer. For example, if I find out that a very close friend is living in sin, I may try to talk to talk to her and encourage her to go back to the Bible principles, etc. But if the person chooses consistently to live separated from God, then I need to "draw the line", because I need to protect my own relationship with God and my own children from this person's influence.

Influence for us Christians is a lot more than what a person does and says. Spiritual influence which is the most critical, is worked in the spiritual realm. The part we don't see or hear. Ephesians 6:12

Lately I feel the Lord is calling me to build a wall to keep me and my family from the enemy. This wall is built with prayer, worship and spiritual warfare. But how often we make the mistake of not protecting ourselves from the wolves dressed as sheep. Lord, open my spiritual eyes and let me see! Let me identify those things around us, (and those people around us), that represent a negative influence to us. -The enemy in disguise.-

I want to be salt to this world, but I don't want the world to swallow me alive!

Every situation is different, and I am learning to pray over all of my relationships, and be careful and wise.

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Mathew 10:16

Some very though decisions need to be made if we are to live the way God wants us to live and I never thought it would be this hard. To love and embrace the people that God wants me to bless and share with, is not the biggest challenge, but to separate myself from people that I like and even love when their beliefs and their life style jeopardizes my own relationship with God, is by far the hardest part. And what about my kids? God trusted them to me, to rise them in his ways. I am responsible to protect them from the world influences and to teach them a godly way of living. So, how serious would I be taking on this responsibility if I didn't shelter my children?

Today I am praying for wisdom, and I trust God will grant it to me as he promises in his word. Amen.

Sewing and Knitting...

This is the result of my experimenting with wool sweaters... I decided to make longies with the sleeves and try to create a vest out of the neck-center of the sweater. These are two sets that I made from the Good will sweaters. They came out O.K. I am not happy with the finishing of the sleeve edge on the vests... They came out a little awkward and to be honest I have no idea how to fix them... but the sets are warm and they are accomplishing their mission of keeping baby warm this winter. I love them!

The Summer collection of Drops has been published! The patterns are all simply gorgeous!! I can't wait for the patterns to become available...

You can see them here.

I am still working on my leaf vest. This is an old SIRDAR pattern that I am modifying a little bit to make it look more modern. The gauge just didn't make sense to me so I am not so sure how will it come out but I am almost done with the experiment...


Arriba fotos de los dos juegos que le hice a bebe con los sweaters de lana que compre en Good Will. Con las mangas hice pantalones que tambien sirven de cubierta de panal y con el centro del sweater hice un chalequito para hacer el juego. No me gusto como me quedaron las orillas de las mangas de los chalecos, como que se paran muy raro, pero la verdad no supe como arreglarlo. Lo importante es que cumplen su cometido de mantener a bebe calientito y ademas me encantan!

La foto de abajo es de un chaleco que estoy tejiendo y ya casi lo termino.

Family Events

Dedication of Baby at the Church

What a blessing it was to present baby in the Church. Pastor M presented the family to the Church and told our story. The whole congregation extended their arms to pray for baby and his upcoming surgery. It was very special.

La dedicación de bebé en la iglesia estuvo muy linda. El Pastor nos presentó a la congregación y todos oraron por nosotros y por la cirugía de bebé.

My Birthday

Mi cumpleaños

Thanksgiving relaxation...

We decided not to do anything today. Baby was still sick and R too... Friends invited us over for dinner but we decided to just rest. It has been an incredibly relaxing day... Hubby took care of the baby most of the day. I slept like a bear and watched English movies and knit. Now this is what I call "vacation". I am so thankful that my husband does not make me cook like a slave in a day like this. He is so kicked back and we feel the same way about holidays like this in the sense that we don't feel we have to follow the crowd. We are both revels! We like to do things our way and just whatever we feel like despite the rest of the world. I love that!

Since my last post something amazing happened. New neighbors moved in the house next door... I was worried about homeschooling R because she didn't have any friends... and just like that, like an answer from God came little A. Our new friend and neighbor. I have never seen two kids that get along so well and have so much in common like R and A do. It amazes me!! Only God could have orchestrated this! Her parents are the nicest people and she is such a good girl. I am in awe!

Here they are in their sleep-over last Friday. They played hide and go seek in the dark, computer games, board games, you name it! They had a blast all day long and in the evening.

They even go together to Awanas on Sundays.

Isn't God amazing? Just in my last post I was expressing how concerned I was and that maybe I would have to stop homeschooling... and now, wow! What an answer! What an amazing way God has to show me that He knows my needs and that He has the power to fulfill them beyond all my expectations! We serve a powerful God!

Esta es A la nueva vecinita y amiguita de R. No puedo creer como Dios contestó a mis oraciones en una manera tan perfecta y eficaz. Nunca he visto dos chiquitas que se llevan tan pero tan bien. Qué grande que es el Dios que servimos, que conoce nuestras necesidades y las suple más allá de nuestras expectativas!!

Home Schooling Doubts

I think that all of us who home school have doubts from time to time. I have been thinking a lot lately about the possibility of putting R back in school next year. My head feels like spinning just to try to sort out the pros and cons of such decision. The only real reason I have to consider it is social in nature.

It is very different for families with several children. Siblings are a great way to socialize... but with R she only has "baby" and there is long ways to go before he can meet her social needs.

I have tried social groups and also play dates but those also have their prons and cons. I find myself tired at times in trying so hard to find play dates with children of similar age and interests to her. I feel tired of always been the one inviting people over but never getting an invitation from anyone else. Each new week represents a challenge as to how and where are we going to find a social opportunity and it is starting to worn me out...

Every time I see my daughter playing by herself and wondering around the house saying something to her self, I can't help to wonder if I am doing the right thing. When she was in school, both public and private, she didn't have like a ton of friends, but God always provided at least one little girl that was happy to play and hangout with her. A best friend.

I don't think I would put her in public school. There are way too many issues to avoid doing that but there happens to be a good option for a private and very small Christian school. The cons would be the driving and extra expense, not only in tuition but also uniforms and gasoline. There is also the big question mark of wether or not I would be able to get used to that routine again. Getting up early, the horrible morning rush, the driving... oh and the oh so hated homework. Oh Lord how much do I despise homework! Whoever invented it should be booed forever...

These are all big questions buzzing inside my head but thankfully I have a long time to make a decision and really think about it, if this is the way the Lord is guiding us, we will need him to come up with the financial resources to do it by then. If this his will, He will open the doors the way He always does. If not, I pray that God helps me to be more creative in finding social opportunities for R and that He provides more good friends for her...

The good thing is that if the Private school doesn't work out, we can always go back to home school in a blink of an eye and this time we will know exactly what to do.

Lots of random stuff / VARIOS

The other day I went to Ride Aid looking for a good liquid vitamin for R since her diet is so restricted, I really wanted to find something strong. I have tried some liquid vitamins but they don't pass the taste test and it is such a fight to get her to drink it. So I found this energy drink and decided to give it a try. Now, I didn't give it to R, I took it myself today. I have been feeling so, so tired lately, and I can't get anything done. Oh my goodness, it was amazing! It kept me going all day with no naps, I have been feeling fantastic and in a great mood, this is amazing specially since I am in those days of the month I am particularly grouchy. My husband says he is buying me a case and he will pay for it! :-)) This one is a keeper. Here is what is in it.
They also have the "Focus and Memory" version, so I will get that one for R.

Changing the subject, once in a while you find a little gadget that really makes a difference in your kitchen. Most of them are luxuri

es. But this little guy is awesome. It has made my life so much better. It is a pan scrubber, it has

a sharp edge that takes out all the stuff in the pan without scratching it and without scrubbing like a maniac. Where had you been all of my life??? I love this thing! It was only a couple of bucks in Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Here is another life saver... My new Mei Tai. This is an answer to my prayers and those of my husband... Lord, have this child play by himself so I can get something done! Lord, I need to do so much stuff and he does not let me do anything... Lord, help my wife have some pride in this house and clean it a little... Well, thanks to my friend Sonia, I found the solution, Mei Tais. This thing is amazing. Baby loves it. He has even fallen asleep on it. I got mine on Ebay for about $20 but they are super easy to make. It is the only way I can get ANYTHING done around here... So, thanks God for Mei Tais. No kidding!

These pictures are from a cute Gingerbread House R and I found at Albertson's. We just couldn't resist it. This is my first Gingerbread House ever! Yes ever! I am not from this country so this is not a tradition I grew up with. We had such a good time today putting it together. Note to self for the future: Do not decorate a Gingerbread House under a light bulb... (cough, cough) it melts... Fortunately, the melted look is perfect in this case because it is a Halloween Gingerbread House. So it makes it look spookier... LOL

The last picture is what I am doing with the left overs of that XL wheat color sweater. I decided I wanted to try a more fitted pattern for the longies. I am using the Katrina soaker pattern and I am going to saw legs to it. I got the idea from the longies I have seen in ETSY. I really liked the soakers I made with this pattern so I want to see what kind of fitting can I get using knitted fabric. I hope it works!

En Español:

FOTO #1: Esta es una bebida energética que prové hoy. Sí funciona, repito Sí funciona. He estado muy baja de energía y esta bebida me mantuvo trabajando sin parar, al punto que aquí estoy blogeando a la media noche y no me siento cansada, limpié la casa, hice comida, le hice el homeschooling a Rachel, fui de compras, hice la casita que se ve en las fotos, y todo con un excelente humor... Y eso que estaba en esos días del mes... Así que ya dijo J que me va a comprar unas cuantas docenas... JA JA JA

FOTO #2:

La segunda foto es de una uña plastica que me encontré para raspar los sartenes. La amo sobre todas las cosas! Se acabo el estar restregando, esto arranca todo, y solo me costo $2. Que fantástica invensión!

FOTO #3:

Es de un MEI TAI. Los Mei Tai fueron la respuesta a mis oraciones porque el bebé no me dejaba hacer absolutamente NADA! Así que lo pongo en el, y no siento ni el peso, ahí lo ando conmigo haciendo mis cosas y al él le encanta! Hasta se queda a veces dormido en el. Me costo $20 en Ebay pero es super fácil de hacer. Es un cuadrado con 4 tiras saliendo de las esquinas, eso es todo... El truco esta en saberlo amarrar correctamente...

FOTOS 4 Y 5:

Es una casita de Halloween de Galleta que hicimos R y yo. Ya venden las partes hechas y uno la arma y la decora. Me encantó hacerlo hoy con R.

FOTO # 6:

Es otro pantaloncito de lana que tengo cortado, pero de un patrón diferente a ver como me sale... Osea que de un solo sueter XL me salieron dos pantaloncitos largos! Yupi !

Modeled

And what kind of a blogger would I be if I didn't show you the finish product being worn by the handsome model?

Estos son unos pantoncitos que estoy haciendo para Ian. Son hechos de sweaters de lana de oveja o the otros pantaloncitos tejidos. Son para el invierno. Sirven de doble propósito de pantalones y de covertores de pañales. Los cafés los hice de las mangas de un suéter de lana, de unos suéteres usados que compre en Good Will. Lucre, si me vieras... creo que estarías orgullosa de mí... No puedo creer que estoy cociendo... je je

And for your entertainment, this is "a first" caught on video.... Baby's first time eating a lemon popsicle...

Y para su entretenimiento, la primera vez comiendo helado de limón grabada en video...

Experimenting with wool interlock

I got the fabric on the mail and threw it in the washer for felting. It did felt quite a bit. The description in the website said it wouldn't felt that much. Well I lost 3" from the wide, and 8" from the length! That is a lot! Especially if you are paying about 80 cents per inch! This was my second experiment. These shorties that I got from Ebay are good but the waist was very bulky and thick and the cord never seemed to be tight enough to hold the pants in place. So I stitched a line right below the ribbing and then... cut it! This was the first time that I cut knitted fabric. Unlike most people would think the knitted stitches do not get undone as long as you stitch them first. I then added the elastic interlock waist and voila! My new favorite shorties!!

The next two pictures (brownish color pants) are from my first attempt to make longies. The ones at the left came out too big. The directions didn't say to trim the edges so I used all the fabric on the arms and it ended up bunching up like this. The problem was that I was working with an XL size sweater, so the sleeves were too wide. So I went ahead and cut the little guy open again, trimmed the sides about 2 inches in each side trying to leave more space in the back for the buddy. The result was the picture on the right. Much better ha? However these are still a bit big on Baby, but that is OK. It was my intention to make the longies a size bigger because I do expect them to be wearable next winter.

Longies on the making

I have so much to blog about I don't even know were to start. So I will start with the fun part. I was able to find several wonderful wool sweaters in a different Good Will store. I was so exited! One of them was even felted already! I think it is so funny that what is a ruined sweater for someone becomes a perfect finding for someone else. I spend only $24 on these sweaters, some of which are 100% cashmere, the others are 100% wool. I know it is so silly but the day I found them, I was so exited I almost had a car accident... LOL that would have made these longies a bit more expensive... I have ordered a yard of wool/lycra interlock for the waists. A while ago I purchased a pair of shorties from Woollybottoms. They came with a very stretchy waist. I love them! they are my favorites! Baby wears them all the time, so I started researching and researching what this stretchy fabric was, until I found out it was wool with lycra. I am just crossing my fingers I can do as good of a job as the Woolybottoms lady. She does an amazing job!! Here is a sample:

See the yummy stretchy waist?

I do warn you that the wool/lycra material is very expensive. I paid more than $30 for just one yard including shipping. I just hope I don't ruin it... I am still not so confident on my sewing skills. I bought it here.

I am also knitting a pair of longies using a pattern called Itchy Fingers Longies download available from ravelry. This pattern calculates everything based on your swatch. I got a gauge of 24 sts on my swatch so I calculated everything accordingly. The longies started to look huge to me... So I revised my gauge. Turns out apparently I started to loosen up my gauge as I kept going and I ended up with 20 sts per 4" which means now I am 4 sts off. That is why my longies look so big... I was just about to frog them when I decided to try them on Baby just in case. They actually don't look bad and I was thinking maybe I can felt them a little or save them for later when he gets bigger. I am going to continue and knit an extra 2 inches on all the vertical measurements to allow for felting. We will see what happens. I hope it works!

Wood workshop

One of our home schooling friends put together a wood work shop. We have already made a jewelry box, a bird house and this time, we made a bird feeder. Although big sister has different plans for it, it came out so nice. I wish I had made my own so I can actually use it as a bird feeder.

As we get to meet more home schooling families, I realize that maybe I was not as weird as I thought, I just hadn't find "my kind". My husband used to tell me that I was the only woman who did this and that. Because I believe in breast-feeding on demand and as long as the child want to. Etc... But talking to other home school families, specially Christian families, I realize that there are many other moms like me who sleep with their babies and breast-feed for long periods of time. Many also avoid vaccination, etc. It is so nice to find other people with similar beliefs.

Baby

Baby is getting so much fun! He is really starting to want to talk, he says things like "dog" "cat" "shoe" "teeth", etc... Funny because these are all words from his "Your baby can read" videos... Also I recently discovered that he can actually read some of those words. One day I had him on my lap and the word "wave" came up on the screen. Before they actually said the word he started to wave. I was very exited! but my husband didn't believe me so I questioned myself. Last week again I was watching the video with him in my lap, the word "dog" came up on the screen, before they said the word he said "gog". I couldn't believe it! The videos actually work!

Besides that he is doing so many other cute stuff. He loves cleaning, he loves wiping and sweeping the floor. I seriously need to get him his own toy broom so I can use mine... Today I was putting away my husband's clothes and he was very busy and quiet doing something. When I went to see he was grabbing his dad's socks from the drawer and one by one, he was putting them inside the toilet. The toilet was stuffed with folded socks! It was so funny I couldn't get mad.

But the best thing of all for me as a mom is, that he is finally eating food. At 15 months he finally shows interest for food and eats quite a bit, especially if I sit him on my lap. He loves cereal and chips, beans and meat, etc. This is very important because before now, he wanted to be nursing 24/7. Hanging from momma all the time...Of course! he was hungry all the time...

I feel can get more done now that he is eating as he can play on his own longer. I heard that many breast-fed babies are very slow to eat solids and even when they do, breast-milk remains their main food. This is the case with my baby.

The sleeping situation has gotten a lot better too. He only wakes up a couple of times now and he sleeps good 10 to 12 hours.

More fleece pants and safety

I made another pair of fleece pants for Ian. This time I tried a wider waist strip. That worked out much better. Also added an "Elmo" applique on the back. Mainly because if I don't, daddy will keep putting the pants backwards... LOL! So now I can just say "remember Elmo goes on the back..." I used the option on the pattern to have a lower rise on the front. I don't expect daddy to notice the difference, so that will be Elmo's job. I am happy with the results and the fleece I got at Walmart for only $4 a yard is nice and thick. It didn't say it was "anti-pill" but I sure hope so.

On another topic, our friend Scott came to help us install the safety gate upstairs... I can not express how thankful I am, hubby and I were having a hard time trying to figure out all the pieces... Scott is so talented... he came, glanced at the instructions for a few seconds, and then installed the gate like it was nothing... Wow! Thank you so much Scott!! It is so nice to finally be able to let baby walk around upstairs without having a panic attack every time he is near the stairs... What a piece of mind...

Life philosophy

Lately I had to make some though decisions regarding my life. Mainly I have been thinking a lot about the purpose of life, or more concretely the purpose of my life. I think that God is calling me to leave a more separate life. In a spiritual way that is. I have been reading a book called REVOLUTION in missions by KP. And at the same time I felt I needed to quit a long life friendship that was not positive for my spiritual life. It was a very hard decision, one that I had been considered for a few years, but did not have the courage to make until now. It is like God is talking to my life through these two events, making me think about my life and my purpose and the futile things we spend most of our time in.

I have gotten to a place where I am tired of pretending to be "normal". I don't think I am. I don't think any real Christian fits the worldly definition of normal. According to the world, I am weird. Because if I put God first and live my life as if only JESUS matters, that will definitely be weird. But I am convince that nothing matters, only Jesus, and falling in love with him all over again, going back to my first love, is all I want right now.