An Excited Book Worm

Guys, did you know you could check out books from the library for your e-reader?!  Hello... this is awesome news!  In the past, it hasn't been available for Kindle, but now... now it is!

And it's oh, so easy!  You log into your public library database, find the e-book page, and request the book of your choice.  When it becomes available you receive an email informing you to log back on and "check it out".  Then, you go back to the site and simply check out the book, the way you would if you were buying something online.  It then forwards you to the Amazon page and Amazon will electronically send the book to your Kindle, wirelessly.  And you have 21 days before it "expires" and disappears from your Kindle library.

The reason you sometimes have to wait for a title is because each library buys a certain amount of licences per book.  So perhaps a popular book would have 10 licences.  If all those licences are checked out, they form a wait list until one becomes available.

This is TOO COOL!  Best part... you do it all from your home.  You don't have to step foot into a library!  I think I'm in love.

I checked out Before I Go To Sleep, which has been on my TBR pile for quite some time.  I can't wait to e-peel through it. 

You know how I know I'm a total nerd?  This has just made my day... possibly my week.  

Go check out your library and see if they offer this amazing service.  Free e-books?  YES PLEASE!!!

Seriously?! Thursday

It's Thursday, guys... and you know what that means?  Another episode of Seriously?! Thursday with From Mrs. to Mama.  Head on over and check out some other cool blogs.

Seriously?!  It's only Thursday?  I've been ready for it to be Friday since... Monday.  Ugh, still only Thursday.  Has this week not been draaaaging?

Seriously?!  My blog has been a little serious lately (and not in a "seriously" way).  Sorry about that.  It seems like these things just pile up.  And I have barely posted pictures, so below you will find a few as my attempt to make up for it.

Seriously?!  I am SO psyched about what's coming up on my blog.  And you should be too.  Can you say "give"... now say "away"... together now with me... "Giveaway".  I have been working to secure some sa-weet giveaways for us within the next coming months.  My goal is to have one a month.  But seriously, the first one is going to knock your socks off.  Stay tuned at the beginning of November for it.  You can get a head start on qualifying for it by becoming a follower of my blog.  Followers get an extra entry!  Momma's you are NOT gonna wanna miss it... I promise!!

Seriously?!  Check out just how effective Marco's "time out" is.  I put Marco on time out and there comes Jonas to play with him.  That does not make for a very good time out.  Marco starts watching Jonas and laughing at him and before I know it, Jonas is standing next to him, banging on the window.  Great... seriously great.






Seriously?! You know what is the problem with having 2 children?  That one always inevitably gets the short end of the stick.  Here's Jonas getting the short end.  I step away with Marco for less than 5 minutes... take him to the bathroom, put on his pj's and get him in bed for his nap.  When I get back, this is how I see Jonas.  Asleep in his Jumperoo!  Poor baby!  While it's a little funny, it also breaks my heart.  And I wish I could tell you this is the first time... but it's not.  Not the second time either.

Seriously?!  I'm making plans to visit a farm this weekend that has a pumpkin patch, pony rides, fields, petting zoo and some kind of berry picking.  I'm so excited!  Keep a look out for some uber cute pictures.

That's all I've got for now.  What made you say "Seriously?!" this week?

Conflicted and Convicted

Halloween.
Christmas.
Easter.

These three holidays pose such difficult quandaries for myself and my household.

With Easter- should we participate in the Easter Bunny?  How about Easter baskets?  Ok, how about just egg hunts?

With Christmas- Santa or no?  How many gifts, if any?  Should we have a tree?

And with Halloween- should we participate?  Dress up?  Trick or Treating or parties?

This is a big dilema.  A big one.

I'll tell you how I feel first of all.  This is where I'm conflicted.  On the one hand, I am a Christian.  I love Jesus.  I want to be pleasing to Him.  I know that these "traditions" are pagan ones and take AWAY from the message of Jesus.  On the other hand, I don't want my kids to be "those weird kids that don't celebrate holidays".  Because we DO celebrate holidays.  We just may not partake in every aspect of that holiday.  And, I want my kids to have fun and make sweet memories.

Here's the problem with what other people see about Christianity... that it strips away all the "fun".  Now, that's not true.  And, just because this is what WE are conflicted and convicted about doesn't mean that I judge YOU for not feeling the same way.  I do not think I am a better Christian or that I love Jesus more than you do.  This has just been laid on my heart and mind and what we have decided is right for our family.

As a child, my parents allowed me to participate in Halloween.  Every year I wore a costume and went Trick or Treating around my neighborhood.  The only restriction on Halloween was that I was not allowed to dress as anything scary or evil.  Basically my parents felt that they were on the safe side of the fence that way.

The way I feel about that "rule" is that it's pretty much getting as close to the fence as I possibly can without actually being on the other side.  And, shouldn't we as Christians not see how close we can get, but rather how FAR we can get from that proverbial "fence"?  That would be more pleasing to God.

Maybe God doesn't care about things like this... maybe He doesn't mind that we dress our babies as pumpkins.  But maybe He does.  And maybe by becoming callous to the TRUE underlying meaning and purpose of Halloween, we're allowing ourselves to become calloused about other things.  If that's ok, then other things should be too.  It becomes easier to put an excuse on it or turn your eyes away.

In Mauricio's household, they did not participate in Halloween at all.  My mother-in-law would hold the kids back from school that day so they weren't seen as the outsiders and she would buy mountains of candy for them to enjoy without having to go door to door.  She would also take them to Fall Festivals to enjoy pumpkin patches and pony rides.  When I asked her about this, her response was so simple, it floored me.  I asked her how the kids felt about being left out and her answer was, "They knew we were Christians".  I was convicted.

I believe that it's easy to do what everyone else is doing.  It's easy to fall into step with the crowd.  It's easy to say "it's all in fun".  But being a Christian means you don't always do the easy thing.

In Romans 12:2 it reads: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect".

By participating in Halloween, I am conforming to the world.  If I participated even though my GUT is telling me not to, I'd be conforming.  I believe that God has transformed my mind and I am able to discern what is good and acceptable and right and perfect and true.  Of course I think my kids would be stinkin' adorable all dressed up.  I've been dying to paint a moustache on Marco!  But the bottom line is I should be more concerned with what HE thinks than what my friends think, or how cute it'll be or if they'll have fun.

I know this is the right choice for my family.  I also know that it comes at a price.  And I know that although it's easy to veto Halloween now, it wont be so easy when the kids are older and aware of what all their friends are doing.  I know.  But it has been decided.  As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  In all of our decisions.  Even the not-so-fun ones.

So now you're thinking I've gotta be all or nothing.  If I'm saying "no" to Halloween, I've gotta say "no" to Christmas and Easter too... and you'd be correct, but that's a topic for another day.

Wearing Me Down

Alright guys.  I know you've read post after post about how I must win over my kids.  About how they have to be reared now in order for me to have the upper hand in the future.  About sticking to my game plan.

But guess what?  I'm tired.  Really, really tired.

Nearly every night either Marco or Jonas is waking up and making our lives unbearable.  For Marco, usually it's around 2:30.  He sneaks into my room and wants to come into bed with us.  The game plan was to walk him back to his bed and tuck him in without saying a word.  No "go night-night", no "MARCO!", no anything... just silence.  Kinda like a zombie... a very tired zombie.  But what I didn't anticipate was that this kid would have more endurance than me!  We went through this routine for 2 hours the other night.  From 2:30 to almost 5.  I was done... done.

When he does this for 2-3 days in a row, that's it, I'm completely exhausted.  At that point I don't even care about our stupid "game plan".  Screw the "game plan", I'll do anything for more sleep.  By the third night, I just sent Mauricio to sleep with him so we could all get some rest.  Marco-1, Us-0.  He got his way... he won that battle.

The worst is if he wakes up Jonas in all this mess.  Then we've really lost.  It's incredibly difficult to get TWO babies back to sleep.  So in this case, we divide and conquer deal with it.  I take Jonas and try to get him to sleep in my bed, while Mau goes to bed with Marco.  Again, Kids-1, Us-0.

But sometimes Jonas wakes up on his own, and for no apparent reason.  When this happens, the situation is controllable and bearable because it's just him.  We always rush into his room and scoop him up before he wakes up Marco.  If he wakes Marco, all bets are off.  Usually we can get him back to sleep pretty easily... but in our bed.

So it's a good night when we go 8-10 hours with no one crying, no one sneaking into our bed, and no one waking up in the bed that's not theirs.  But, unfortunately, this only happens 2-3 nights a week.  I'm starting to develop anxiety before bed time because I know it's just a matter of time before someone starts whimpering or climbing out of their beds.  I've got a good 3 hours of sleep before the most annoying wake up call begins to scream.

Truth is, I have no desire to parent from 11pm-8am.  I don't want to do it.  But I have to.  Guys, I'm at a loss here... I don't know how we're going to do it... how we're going to survive this.  It might possibly be worse than having a newborn... because at least a newborn has a reason to be waking up!  But Marco and Jonas have NO good reason, other than brattiness.

Readers:  I need help.  A word of advice.  A word of encouragement.  Many words of prayer.  Please?

Blog on Fire

The Blog on Fire Award has been passed around lately, and I was finally picked for it!  Yay!  Thanks to Mrs. Mommy for thinking of me!  Go check out her blog.  She has the cutest red-haired girl, and she's always so sweet and encouraging!

The rules for redeeming/accepting this award are:

Write 7 things about yourself

Pass this on to 10 other bloggers

1.  I love Netflix.  The streaming option is the best invention EVER.  I've been watching Greys from the beginning and I'm already at season 4.  That takes some major dedication, considering I've only been watching for about a month.  That means I watch 2-3 episodes a day.  Probably not good for me to admit that. 

2.  I have no intention of ever going back to work full time.  I used to teach middle school Chorus, and I really enjoyed it.  But now, being away for so long, I realize that what I loved about it was just the music. Not the discipline, not the paper work, not the politics... just the music.  So, my intention is to just teach private voice lessons... that's all music and no nonsense!  

3.  I need to eat more healthy foods.  I make my kids eat fruits, but rarely do I eat one.  It's not good.  Sometimes I just eat a bag of popcorn for lunch.  Oy.  It'll all catch up to me sooner or later and then I wont be able to fit into my pants. 

4.  I was born in Japan because my dad was in the military.  My parents are Cuban, but my dad never lived in Cuba (he was born in Costa Rica by chance) and my mom only lived there til she was 4.  When people ask me where I'm from, I'm always a bit confused... Japanese-Cuban-Costa Rican-American?  

5.  My birthday is coming up in December and I've been doing some soul searching... to decide what I want. haha.  I've come to the conclusion that I'd like a Starbucks gift card, to support my habit.  And also an Amazon gift card so I can buy books for my Kindle.  Coffee and books... I'd be in heaven! 

6.  I want my blog to be popular.  Like REALLY popular.  But I don't know what to do to get it there.  I know there are people that have sponsors and actually bring in an income by blogging.  I want to do that!  But how?  I don't really know.

7.  I'm like a teenager when it comes to Twilight.  I am totally Team Edward.  (Although Jacob is really easy on the eyes).  I have been to all the midnight movie showings... in line with all the squealing 15 year olds.  Heck, I was squealing too!  I'm already making plans to see Breaking Dawn... but not at the midnight show.  And I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Ok, now here's the part I'm excited about... passing on this award to 10 of my favorite blogs!  This is an awesome opportunity for you to check out some blogs you may never have seen before... I hope you find something new!

Stephanie has an awesome blog documenting her life as a military wife and mom to cute little Hunter, check her out at Doyles Days.

Amie's blog is all about food.  She challenged herself to make all family recipes during her first year of marriage.  See it all at the Kitchen Chronicles.

 Abby has two beautiful little girls.  She loves Jesus and is always encouraging and hopeful.  Get a dose of happy at Livin' the Good Life.

I love Allie's blog.  She's got two boys and #3 is on the way!  I found her blog because it's name is similar to mine.  Although now it's quite possibly the longest blog name ever.  Check it out at Table for 3- Actually make that 4- Scratch that, make it 5.

Bee's blog is awesome.  She's hilarious and cool... in a nerdy book loving kinda way.  That's my favorite kind.  She also has a cutie little girl that fills up her life.  She writes The Blarg.

Vanessa writes a blog about fashion and tv.  She's always got the best fashion tips and latest styles.  I wish I could be like her!  She travels, eats good food, dresses well and loves trashy television.  See it all at The Very Thought of You.

Beth has a sweet blog about her two boys.  They're out of the baby/toddler era and give me a hint into what my future will look like... dirty!  Read her blog at Truth With Dirt on their Faces. 

D writes a super real blog.  It's not always sunshine, but it is hardcore real.  The true ups and downs of parenting two babies.  I love reading how she knows she doesn't have all the answers, but knows that God will guide her.  Her blog is Unpolished Parenting.

Callie Nicole's blog tells of her life as a new mom to an 8 month old little handsome boy.  She has been getting her name out there in the blog world with her series "Moms and Babies" which always leads us to read other great stories.  Check her out at Through Clouded Glass.

Ok, so that's not 10 blogs... it's just 9.  But that should be good enough, right?  Can't wait to read what you all write about for your Blog On Fire Award!