Nominada.

Pam from Gingerbread Snowflakes has just nominated me for the Creative Blogger Award, and I am so excited! Thanks so much, Pam, for thinking of me. This means a lot.
First thing I have to do is write 7 things fellow bloggers might not know about me.

So here goes...

1. I was born in New York to Puertorrican parents, lived in Puerto Rico from age 8 to 21, married a Mexican, and have lived in Mexico ever since.

2. I was a gymnast. That's how I met my husband, he was a coach in Puerto Rico (he sumersaulted into my life, hehehe).

3. My Mom is a famous Yoga teacher in Puerto Rico (Her name is Lollyana). I miss her so much...haven't seen her in 4 years (sniff sniff).

4. Although I love Puerto Rico very much, I feel Mexico is my first home at this moment. I love the people, the food, the country, everything. That's why I started this blog. I think in "Mexican" now.

5.I love to read. I can read both in Spanish and English, but in this aspect I prefer reading in English.

6. I also love crafts! I wish I could dedicate more time creating things...knitting, sewing, woodworking, anything!

7.When I was small, I dreamed of having a Pen Pal. For some reason, there was nothing of the sort in Puerto Rico. Now, so many years later, and with this bloggy thingy, I am getting to know so many people from so many places. I dare say I even have made "good friends" with a few fellow bloggers. I cherish friendship very much, and it is very important to me.
So now you know I much I appreciate having all of you read my blog. Thank you!


Now I have to nominate 7 bloggers. These are the blogs:

African Kelli : One of the most creative women I have met on the blogsphere. Her recipes are awesome, her crafts are inspiring, and her thoughts are touching.

Glenrosa Journeys: Arizona through the lens of Candace. Beautiful images of this incredible state.

Tobycat Creations: This crafty lady, Char, teaches her girls so many beautiful patchwork projects. And she posts how to make them.

Sew Chic and Unique: This lovely woman inspires other on making a new sewing creation every two weeks. Maybe you would like to join her.

Kitty Garden Makes: I have been following this blog for a very short time, but I LOVE all the projects it features!

Viva Luna: Through Luna's blog we can visit Germany. Her photographs are really beautiful!!

Sofia's Sketchbook: A very creative woman. She paints and sews (gotta love her owls). Her artwork is very original.

So there are the 7 nominees. Very difficult to choose with so many creative bloggers out there. Hope you go visit each one, and enjoy their uniqueness.

And now the nominees have to do the following (of course, if they want to):

1. Thank the person who nominated you for the award and link to their blog.
2. Copy the award to your blog.
3. List 7 things people don't know about you.
4. Nominate 7 bloggers, link to their site and leave a comment on their blog advising them of the nomination.

And if you want to take a beautiful trip though some of U.S.A's incredible national parks, visit Pam's entry. Makes me want to take my backpack, and follow her steps...thanks, Pam!

Wishing you all a lovely evening!!

¡Felíz Día del Amor y la Amistad! (San Valentín)

Hope you have a Happy Love and Friendship Day! Or St. Valentine's Day!

In Mexico, this day is celebrated mostly the same as in the U.S. Lot's of hearts, pink and red decorations, balloons, etc. It is very commercial. Hershey's chocolates are sold everywhere. Same with heart lollipops. In our family we don't usually celebrate this day in a big way. But since my students at school bring me gifts, I made them some heart bookmarks I found at another blog (mmmcrafts). And I had the girls make some heart baskets with a tutorial from Pam's blog Gingerbread Snowflakes.

As always, the girls went crazy. I have them make a simple craft, and they add their own ideas. Here are the photos.

I used simple colored bond paper for the baskets.

I used a pattern I made, and marked the lines for the girls to cut.

I gave them two colors to combine in any way.

I kept the pattern simple with only two "legs" for weaving.
Here is one the the first finished hearts.

Another color combination.

Then all of a sudden out came the colored pencils
and markers.

And they started decorating the hearts.

Where do they get these ideas?

Imagine what they would do with
a bottle of glue and glitter!

These are my "plain" hearts.
They look sad compared with the girl's hearts.
This was a very easy and cheap craft.
The marking, cutting, and assembly can be done
in 10 minutes.

And these are the bookmarks I made for
the girls. I used colored stockboard
so they wouldn't get dirty so fast.

One of the girl's mom made these for the whole classroom.
Rice krispies with marshmellows.
I don't like marshmellows too much,
but these tasted pretty good.

All the girls brought something for each other.
Here's one girl's treasure.

And some of the gifts I recived from the students.
Do you see the celophane bag? Inside was a box of chocolates and....

.....a tiny mug that reads "With love, for my teacher".
I think it's really cute.

As I said before, we usually don't celebrate this day, but after seeing Pam's cake recipe on her blog, I've decided to make it tomorrow to celebrate one more day of living as a loving family. My kids will probably celebrate a "day of loving cake". So I guess everybody will be happy.

Hope you have a beautiful day tomorrow, whether you celebrate St. Valentines Day or not. And wish me luck with the cake, I'm not the world's greatest baker.....

P.S. As you can see, I found the cable for downloading photos from my camera. Where were they? Under my bed!!!!

Ayyyy!

Ouch! Two reasons for not blogging all this time:

a. Lot's of work at school 4th, 5th and 6th graders will be participating in an Itercollegiate Academic Tournament with the other schools that belong to the same system in the Mexican Republic. There are about 86 schools in Mexico.
I have been chosen to help the 6 students that will participate in Oratory. They have to talk for 3 to 4 minutes in English about the following topics: honesty, humility, and collaboration. Only two of the students are fluent enough to write their speech in english. I had the rest write it in spanish, and I translated them (four speeches!). Then I recorded the speeches in my voice so they can hear the pronunciation (they all speak understandable and fluent English, but their accent is not so good). And now we are practicing pitch, modulation, and body posture. We've been staying at school every day for an extra hour to practice. This is our third week! One more week and they're off to Mexico City!
It is HARD work, but I'm enjoying it very much. These kids are very dedicated. I really hope they don't get nervous over there. I really don't care if they win of not, I just want them to do their best and enjoy themselves ( I mean, multiply the 86 schools by two students per grade, and there will be about a zillion competitors).

b. The secon reason is that I can't find the cable for downloading photos from my camera to the computer!!! Arggg!
So today I posted three photos from last's year trip to Morelia. This is the acueduct at that city.

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And to some of the winners of the giveaway, some packages were returned. Supposedly, the postage was incorrect. Why it took so long? Go figure.....these things happen over here. I opened the packages, and nothing was missing, so I put a extra gift to compensate you having to wait so long, and they're on their way again, whew! Hopefully you will get your package in 2 weeks (or so the girl at the counter assures me). Thank you for your patience.

Well, I've got to keep on looking for those cables. Hope I'll find them soon.
Wish you all a great week......