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Celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe Day
Growing up, December 12th in my household was a very important day. I would say that next Christmas, we probably anticipated the arrival of this day the most and in quite a big way. December 12th marks the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, and as a Mexicana from a Catholic family this was a very big deal to me and to those around me.
On this day Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated in a very special way, especially in Mexico, but increasingly in the United States too. If you grew up in Mexico or in a Hispanic Catholic family, chances are that you are very familiar with the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In 1531, the mother of Christ appeared to an Indian convert named Juan Diego with a very special message to the Bishop of Mexico City, leaving her portrait on Juan Diego's mantle (or tilma, in Spanish) as proof of her message to the Bishop. This image (pictured to the left) has become an important icon and is kept at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, the most visited shrine in the world. I most recently visited this shrine soon after college with my parents and found it to be such a moving and reflective place. Our Lady of Guadalupe was declared Patroness of Latin America in 1910 and in 1945 Pope Pius XII declared Her to be the Empress of all the Americas. You can learn more about this story here.
While December 12th is the main feast day dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, preparations begin 9 days pior with a novena, a special prayer devotion repeated on nine successive days. Each evening, believers gather at a church to pray the rosary and ask for her intercession with their prayers.
I have heard and read that in Mexico City as December 12th approaches, more and more pilgrims arrive at the Basilica each day, attending the novenas in her honor and many camping out in and around the Basilica! I hope that one day I can be there at the Basilica to celebrate, it's on my bucket list for sure! Then, on December 12th the main festivities are celebrated with las Mañanitas (the "Mexican Birthday Song"), typically at midnight or early in the morning and Mass. Mañanitas are Mexican songs that area traditionally sung to people early in the morning most often on their birthday, but they are also sung on other special occasions, like an anniversary or a seranade. They are traditionally sung to Our Lady of Guadalupe on her feast day, usually accompanied by a mariachi.
Our home parish will celebrate las mañanitas for Our Lady with a Mariachi at 5 a.m., followed by hot cocoa and pan dulce! As a matter of fact, as I write this my parents are in Mexico, attending a sunrise Mañanitas celebration in her honor. Mass is celebrated in the evening, followed by more delicious treats and a piñata for the kids.
I remember getting up so early, around 4:30 in the morning, on December 12th as a child. I would bundle up in my warmest clothes and head to the super early 5 a.m. Mañanita celebration with one of my parents. In the evening, our entire family would attend Mass, we would have to get there early because it was jam packed. Kids would be dressed in traditional Mexican clothing, sometimes adults too! People were excited, happy to be celebrating such a wonderful day. In addition to the song and prayers in her honor, roses are traditionally handed out to the faithful. Why? The rose is Our Lady's flower, having asked Juan Diego to bring roses to the Bishop wrapped in his mantle to help prove her message and will to him. When asked by the Bishop to shop him what he carried in his mantle, Juan Diego opened his mantel, the roses falling to the ground, and Our Lady's image on his mantle.
I lived in Mexico until I was 5 and celebrated this beautiful tradition every year. That's me in the picture on the left, dressed in traditional Mexican clothes on December 12th when I was 3 years old, as part of the procession. I appreciated that the tradition stayed with my family when we moved to Chicago and that it grew quite a bit in our church during my childhood. Now I have 4 kids and want to pass on celebrating this tradition to them. I plan on taking my two oldest to Spanish Mass tonight and enjoying the fiesta to follow, it will be beautiful.
How can you celebrate? By far the best way is to attend a Mass or Mañanita celebration on December 12th. Check local Catholic churches to see if they are hosting any special events on this day. In the past I have hosted an Our Lady of Guadalupe party for my kids and our friends, everyone loved it! Check out the pictures from the party.
How to Have an Our Lady of Guadalupe Party
Ask parents to familiarize their children and themselves with the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe before the party.- Set up a small shrine to Our Lady in the party area and ask guests to bring flowers to adorn the shrine. Any flowers are ok, but roses are more traditional. The shrine can be as simple or elaborate as you like, but a small table covered with nice tablecloth with an image Our Lady of Guadalupe centered on it would be perfect. You may want a few vases for your flowers as well on the table. Votive candles with an image of Our Lady are also very traditional and nice for your shrine. They can be found at many Mexican grocery stores, some chain grocery stores carry them in their Hispanic food section.
- Keep decorations simple, papel picado is a very traditional Mexican decoration and can be made out of tissue paper, this a great project that your kids can do ahead of time. There are several online vendors that carry an assortment of papel picado as well. Poinsettias are a native flower of Mexico and are very popular during the Christmas season, they add early holiday cheer to any party!
- Play Mexican music in the background. I really like Our Lady of the Guitar, it's a beautiful musical pilgrimage to Our Lady.
- Once your guests have arrived, read the story of our Lady of Guadalupe. I really enjoy the book The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie de Paola. I also really like Our Lady of Guadalupe by Fransisco Serrano and Our Lady of Guadalupe in a Box.
- Next, have the guests line up for a procession, with their flowers. While singing the traditional Mañanitas they can bring their flowers up to the shrine. Click for the audio to Las Mañanitas.
- Once everyone has placed their flowers on the shrine, lead your guests in prayer. This can be as simple or elaborate as you like, but we simply had guests recite The Hail Mary in Spanish, which they were to learn ahead of time.
Ave Maria
Dios te salve, Maria. Llena eres gracia: El Senor es contigo.
Bendita tu eres entre todas las mujeres. Y benito es el fruto de tu vientre: Jesus.
Santa Maria, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros pecadores, ahora y en hora nuestra muerte. Amen.
- We followed by showing the movie Juan Diego, Messenger of Guadalupe and with a craft. The crafts can be very simple, like printing out coloring pages of Our Lady. At our party I had children decorate their very own tilmas. I ironed on an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe onto each plain canvas apron and each child personlized it with their name and flowers, with fabric markers. One of my favorite crafts is this grotto kit for Our Lady.
- Serve a Mexican themed buffet style lunch. For our party I made enchiladas, rice and beans. I also served tacitos, a salad and chips with salsa.
- For dessert serve Mexican sweet bread, pan dulce, and Mexican hot chocolate.
- Finish with a pinata!
- We asked guests to bring a small for a local women's pregnancy counseling center. Guests donated baby items like diapers, wipes, and gently used clothes to help a great cause.
- This website has many wonderful suggestions on crafts that you can incorporate into your party, depending on age of those attending. You can find more suggestions on how to have a party in Our lady's honor here.
Holiday Shopping at Home Depot & Giveaway #fiestashomedepot
I love decorating for the Christmas season, but I like to stick to a budget when making purchases that add holiday cheer to my home and I have my staple stores that I hit every year. I know from experience that they are going to provide me with a large selection of stylish and quality items at affordable prices. This year I am adding The Home Depot to my list or preferred places to shop for Christmas decorations. Did you know that The Home Depot carries a wide selection of decorating items for inside and outside the home?
My daughter and I planned our whole afternoon around our Home Depot trip last Sunday. First, we stopped for hot cocoa, of course! We hadn’t even gone into the store when I spotted two things that I love – Christmas trees and poinsettas. The live Christmas tree area was set up in the parking lot and it was busy! Since we already had our tree, I opted for two miniature trees instead. These trees are perfect for adding that holiday charm to other rooms in your home or for greeting your holiday guests at your front door. By the way, I was trying to carry the two mini trees, which were a bit heavy considering they were small, to a cart. I must have looked like I needed help - a very helpful employee brought me a cart, nice!
Right next to the minature Christmas trees I found my next “must have” item – a potted poinsettia plant. I LOVE the poinsettia, or flor de nochebuena, because they remind me of many Christmas celebrations spent in Mexico. The flower is everywhere this time of year in Mexico, including my abuelita's courtyard! Did you know that this popular holiday flower was discovered in Mexico and that the Aztecs prized them for their curative properties and red pigment? Joel Roberto Poinsett (1770-1851),U.S.’s ambassador to Mexico following Mexico´s Independence from Spain, is responsible for introducing this beautiful flower to the US and for making it a symbol of Christmastime! Ok, but I digress with the history lesson…..Seeing the poinsettias in such abundance at the store brought back a wonderful sense of nostalgia from my childhood, so my daughter and I picked this one to decorate our home.
Next, we finally made it inside the store and immediatley we were greeted with the tunes of the season over the speakers - gotta love that Christmas music! And more poinsettias and my other favorite flower - the amaryllis, so pretty!
We made our way past the large assortment of artificial trees in pretty much any size, shape and style you could want. Then we headed to the lights, but stopped and checked out the ornaments first! Wow, what a selection! The Martha Stewart brand caught my attention right away - you can pull together a very lovely and coordinated look with ornaments from the Woodland, Celebrate and North Pole collections, all very nice but different to suite any taste.
Ok, on to the lights. The store had a HUGE selection! My daughter and I browsed for about 15 minutes before settling on some super stylish Martha Stewart lighted garland and mini LED lights for my tree. In my quest to keep things "green" around our home, I made sure that the lights we pruchased this year were LED. Did you know that LED lights help save on energy costs, last longer than incandescent bulbs, and are cool to the touch when lit (super important for me because I have young kids)? The Home Depot had a very large sign above the light section outlining the different types of lights they sold, clearly comparing the various kinds, which was very helpful in guiding my purchase.
We found our lights, now on to fill a missing element in our home - holiday scent! That's right, I LOVE the rich aroma of cinnamon, nutmeg, peppermint and vanilla that fill the air, so I was very excited to find a large selection of holiday scented candles and air fresheners. My daughter loved the vanilla Glade scents, so we stocked up for season!
Now that we had all that we needed we browsed the store for quite some time. I didn't know that I could buy stockings, doormats and tree skirts too! I made a mental note that next year I need to start my decorating shopping at The Home Depot. Then I spotted the perfect gift for my husband - yay! He reads my blog, so I won't say what I bought!
I thought my daughter and I would be in and out of the store in about 30 minutes, but the trip took us 1.5 hours - there was just that much to check out! I was very impressed with their selection of decorating items, and the prices were definitely budget friendly.
So, would you like to check out The Home Depot too this holiday season too? Enter our contest below to win a (1) $50 gift card!
GIVEAWAY: (1) $50 Home Depot Gift Card
- visit www.homedepot.com/holiday and comment on this post below with something you learned by visiting the site.
- Follow The Home Depot on Twitter: @HomeDepot
- Like The Home Depot on Facebook
- Giveaway is open to US entries only for residents 18 and up.
- Giveaway ends on Sunday, December 11 at 11:59 p.m. EST.
- Winner will be emailed within 6 hours and have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.
- Prize is provided by The Home Depot.
This is part of a compensated campaign with Latina Mom Bloggers and The Home Depot. The Home Depot works with bloggers such as myself to conduct product reviews. They do not tell bloggers what to say about their products or how to say it. The Home Depot fundamentally believes that people should be free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. The Home Depot often provides product - free of charge - to bloggers for review as they did for this post. The Home Depot's policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations. The Home Depot provided me with a gift card to shop for the holidays and post my experience. All opinions expressed in this article are my own and not influenced in any way by anyone.
Sipping Milk and Mi Abuelita
One of my favorite things to do when the weather is chilly outside is to make hot cocoa for myself and my kids. We make it with milk, of course! We sit at the kitchen counter and sip our hot chocolate, usually not much is said because we are all enjoying our drink. Sometimes we take our hot chocolate and drink it outside in the backyard. The kids climb into the play structure and drink it up there while I sit on the patio and watch them. Really, it seems like for a little while as we enjoy our drinks that things are calm and quiet. With four small kids in our home, it tends to be a bit noisy around here! I don’t know if drinking hot chocolate with their family will become part of my children’s favorite childhood moments, but they do bring me a little peace and quiet!
However, I think that great childhood memories can come from very simple moments. One of my favorite memories from my childhood is centered around milk and takes place in México, in the very small town where my parents were born. My parents made sure that we visited as often as we could, so we took many road trips in my childhood from our home in Chicago to this small town in México. I loved seeing all of my relatives, but my favorite person to visit was my grandma, mi abuelita. She is pictured in this photo, the woman on the left side in the blue turtleneck, with of my favorite tías on the right.
I used to sit on mi abuelita’s porch with a cup of warm milk in my hands, in the late evening, and she would have her cup of coffee (with a lot of milk) – un café con leche. She would sip her coffee and I would drink my warm milk. Sometimes mi mama would add a dash of canela to my warm milk – yum! There were many evenings when we had the best conversations and others when we just sat, not talking too much, just enjoying our warm drinks.
As I got older I graduated from my glass of warm milk to a cup of coffee, like mi abuelita - this was a big deal! As she aged, our those conversations moved into longer periods of silence. To this day if I have warm milk or a café con leche the way mi abuelita made it, I remember those evenings. I miss her. I wish that I could have seen her more often and enjoyed those evenings even more. Nothing really remarkable happened during those moments with her on her porch, but I get incredibly nostalgic when I think about them...simple moments, warm memories. Just like the ones I have now with my kids and our hot cocoa breaks...
It's probably the Thanksgiving season, but I am feeling pretty grateful for so much goodness in my life, past and present.
Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor’s Board and Latina Mom Bloggers. You can learn more about this campaign with The Master of the Glass Half Full on Facebook or follow El Maestro on Twitter.
Early Parent Mornings
Growing up, the sun rose early in my home. My father had a job in a neighboring state, so he was always gone by 4:45 a.m. My mother would get up early too, to help my father get out the door on time. Often times, my mother would not go back to bed after my father left and I could hear her in the kitchen. She was doing dishes, folding laundry, or sewing.
Today I am up early, working on my computer while a load of laundry for today’s soccer game is drying. Not all my mornings start so early, but this has been a busy week. Actually, the stillness of the house is nice. I have coffee too! Today I needed to get up early if we are going to be at the soccer fields by 8 a.m.
Right now I feel grateful for my parents…I am sure that on so many mornings like today my parents wanted to stay in bed, especially during the freezing Chicago winters! Honestly, growing up I didn’t understand why my mom would be up so early. What could she be doing? And then there were the nights when I would get up to use the bathroom and she was up, sewing a sibling’s prom dress at 2 a.m. or working on some other project! I thought about her two nights ago when I was up at 4 making cupcakes for a bakesale because I had fallen asleep on the couch the night before and forgot to make them! Mom and dad, I don’t say this often to you, but thank you for your early mornings (and late nights) – I appreciate them so much more now that I too have them as a parent. I don't always want to get up - sometime I hate it....I am sure you did too, but thank you!
I love this picture below, reminds me of those early mornings in Chicago.
El sol salía temprano en mi casa. Mi padre tenía un empleo en un Estado vecino, por lo que él siempre salia a las 4:45 por la mañana. Mi madre se levantaba temprano, para ayudarle a mi padre poder salir a tiempo. Muchas veces mi madre no volvía a la cama después de que mi padre se había ido a trabajar. Ella lavaba los platos y la ropa o hacia costura.
Hoy yo estoy hasta despierta temprano, trabajando en mi ordenador mientras que estoy lavando los uniformes el para juego de fútbol. No todas mis mañanas comienzan tan temprano, pero esta ha sido una semana ocupada. En realidad, el silencio de la casa es agradable. También tengo café! Hoy tenía que levantarme temprano si vamos a estar en los campos de fútbol a las 8!
La verdad es que me siento agradecida por mis padres. Estoy segura de que en muchas mañanas como hoy mis padres querían quedarse en la cama, especialmente durante los inviernos fríos de Chicago! Creciendo yo no entendía por qué mi mamá se despertaba tan temprano. ¿Qué podría estar haciendo? Y hubo noches cuando me levantaba para usar el baño y ella estaba despierta, cosiendo un vestido de baile o trabajando en otro proyecto! Pensé en esto hace dos noches cuando yo estaba despierta a las 4, haciendo cupcakes para la escuela porque se había olvidado hacerlos la noche anterior! Papá y mamá, no digo a menudo esto, pero muchas gracias por sus mañana tempranas (y noches largas). Agradezco todo esto mucho más ahora que yo también las tengo como madre.
Me gusta este retrato, me recuerda de esas mañanas tempranas en Chicago.
Breakfast with 'Poty' and Nescafe's Celebra Nuestro Ritmo Campaign
I love café, yes, café, not coffee. There is a difference…..coffee is delicious, it’s one of my indulgences. But there is nothing like a cup of café, the way my abuelita prepared it. It’s funny how certain foods can bring back so many memories. Café is one of those for me. I remember mi abuelita and tias having their cup of café, late in the evening, sitting on her porch talking about the day and la familia. Even to this day when I have “un cafecito” I think about those wonderful evenings on my abuelita’s porch in Mexico. I miss them!
With the goal of celebrating Latin culture through dance, the “Celebra Nuestro Ritmo” campaign encourages Latinos to embrace their inner rhythm and passion for dance as a means to an active and healthier lifestyle. Poty is certainitly the right spokesperson for this campaign! Poty has a dynamic and energetic personality that is contagious, both on and off screen. He shared with us how he joined the military and then proceeded to study ballet as an adult. Despite the odds, he became a part of the national ballet of Spain. He definitely believes that a positive attitude can move mountains – love it! And just like dance, Nescafé Clásico has been a part of his life, so their partnership on the “Celebra Nuestro Ritmo” campaign seemed very natural to him.
You can learn more about Poty and the campaign, download recipes and find instructional dance videos and healthy living/eating tips on Nescafe Latino's FB page.
SWEEPSTAKES
Are you ready to dance? Enter and register to have the opportunity to win a trip to New York, a private dance class, two tickets to a show, dinner with Poty, director of choreography for “Mira Quién Baila”, and many weekly prizes! Vidacoco fans can enter here.
GIVEAWAY!
See the awesome giveaway pictured here? One lucky Vidacoco fan will win this Nescafé Clásico Gift Package - it could be yours!
It's simple, post on your facebook page the link to this blog. Let us know when you have and we will enter your name in the giveway, which runs through Friday September 16th.
This package includes:
Nescafé Clásico Coffee Set of Four (4)Exclusive Ceramic Mugs, product samples and an Autographed photo of “Poty”
Giveaway ends midnight September 16th 2011.
Money Saving Back-to-School Shopping Tips
The school year is just around the corner! Are you ready? With a troubled economy and the cost of many family necessities on the rise, most of us are looking for practical and easy ways to cut our spending this fall with our back-to-school shopping list.
Did you know that the back-to-school season is the 2nd largest consumer event behind the holidays? According to the National Retail Federation, an average family will spend about $450.76 on back-to-school items. Families with children going to college will spend much more! Saving money is not easy, especially when our kids seem to be wired to want the latest and most fashionable things out there! Check out the following tips, they can help you avoid emptying your wallet this back-to-school season while still getting everyone what they need.
Tips for Saving on Back-to-School Shopping:
1. Take Inventory
Look at what your children have from the previous school year and determine what can be reused for this year. Not only will you save money if you reuse, but it’s also eco-friendly. Rulers, pencil cases, backpacks, lunch boxes, sharpeners, and calculators don’t typically need to be replaced each new school year. Once you have located all the school supplies in your home, place them in a central bin so you can take a good look at what you already own before you head out to shop for new supplies.
2. Do a closet sweep
Has your child really outgrown last year’s clothes? On average, a family spends about 30% of their back to school budget on clothes, so not buying even a few items can really save you a significant amount of money. After you have assessed what clothing your child can still wear this school year you can buy what they still need. If your children are older, discuss with them what items you will be purchasing for the new school year and your budget, so they don't expect a brand new wardrobe.
3. Set your budget
Know how much you have to spend and only spend that much. This is hard for me to do, I love the feel of a new school year and part of me feels like my children should have new supplies and clothes, but even grownups can learn that it's perfectly fine to reuse and to not always have the latest must-have items. It’s helpful to bring the cash that you will need on your shopping trip and limit your purchases to just what is in your purse. I allow our kids one small extra purchase that’s not on the supply list.
Some parents set a limit to the number of character-based supplies they will purchase since they tend to be more expensive than the store brands. With older kids you may want to determine ahead of time how you will handle their requests for non-essential items. Here are some suggestions:
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They can pay for anything not only list.
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They can pay the difference between what you will spend on an item and what they want to spend.
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Let them spend more on a certain item, as long as they are aware that they must then spend less on another.
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Back-to-school season is a good opportunity to teach children between needs and wants.
4. Steer towards Store Brands
Unless your child’s back-to-school supply list asks for a particular brand, buy the store brand when possible. Many store brands work just as well and are typically about 30% cheaper than name brands.
5. Buy Quality
While tempting, it’s not always best to buy the cheaper option. Buy quality items where they matter. I don’t care if my kids have name brands markers or crayons, but I will invest in a good backpack that will last more than one school year. Hint: For backpacks it’s a good idea to look for ones with a lifetime warranty and that are non-character based. They will last longer and your child won’t outgrow the characters. I also like to get the notebooks with the plastic covers because they are very durable and I look for cloth pencil pouches that can be washed.
6. Leave the Kids at Home
I tend to spend more when the kids are with me. I can't focus on making sure that I am getting the best deals on the items in my shopping cart and somehow “extra” stuff not on the list ends up in our cart. It’s great to involve your kids with back-to-school shopping, just be strategic as to how do this. It makes sense to bring the children with you when shopping for new clothes but you can leave them behind when shopping for school supplies, especially if they are younger. If you bring them with you make your children aware that you have a budget and will limit your purchases to it.
7. DIY
I have to admit that I am not drawn towards the plain school supplies, so I don’t expect my kids to ask for them. However, my girls do love stickers. Buy the plain school supplies and let your kids decorate them with stickers, markers, pictures, etc.
8. Shop online
Shopping online is great for back-to-school items because you can instantly compare prices at stores without spending time or gas getting to the stores. Try sites like www.pricegrabber.com for finding great deals on back-to-school supplies. Shopping online is especially helpful for bigger ticket items, like calculators.
9. Think Ahead and Buy in Bulk
Buy products that your children will need during the school year now, when they are on sale, and in bulk. You may even buy some basic supplies in bulk and share the cost with a friend. Consider having a box or shelf where you keep extra school supplies handy for your kids, so when they need crayons in a few months or need a new notebook you are all set. If you can think ahead to the holidays (they will be here before you know it), go back to the store after the school year has started and take advantage of the steep discounts on school supplies – they make great stocking stuffers! You can also donate some of the school supplies that you buy in bulk to local kids in need. My children's school does a big back-to-school campaign for a local less fortunate school, so we always buy extra basic supplies to donate. Local after-school programs, shelters or churches may know of places to donate your extra school supplies.
10. Shop Early
The more time that you give yourself to shop for school supplies this season, the more time that you will have to keep an eye out for good deals. If you buy school supplies over the course of a few weeks and stick to your budget, the cost won't seem as bad if you buy everything at once. Many stores start their back-to-school sales in early July!
Happy back-to-school shopping!
Mexican Baptism Traditions
I love Baptisms. They are beautiful celebrations of the entrance of a person, usually a child, into the faith community. Baptisms in my Mexican Catholic family growing up were full of many wonderful memories and traditions. This summer we celebrated our son Anthony’s Baptism and I’m happy that my husband and I are celebrating our children's Baptisms with Mexican traditions.
Recently, I came across an old picture of my younger brother on his Baptism day. He was standing next to the piñata that my parents had bought for the party – it towered over him! Yes, our Baptism parties had piñatas – and lots of family, friends, food and fun. I was quite relieved that my husband, who is not Mexican and did not grow up celebrating Baptisms in such a big way, was on board for large Baptism celebrations. Why the big deal? Well, blame it on tradition. My family is from Mexico, where a Baptism is an important religious event but is also regarded as an opportunity to celebrate with friends and family. Es una fiesta!
How do you have a Mexican Baptism?
The Catholic religious ceremony is the most important aspect of el Bautismo. The child wears a white baptismal garment called a ropon; the white color symbolizes purity in the newly baptized. The baptismal candle symbolizes that the child is now enlightened by Christ. Parents choose the godparents of the child very thoughtfully.
Parents typically will ask a couple (a male and female, but not necessarily a married couple) to be the padrinos. The padrinos and parents of the child call each other compadres, which I would agrue that in Mexico is a very strong, life long bond. My husband and I (center) are pictured above with Anthony's padrinos, Karyme Lozano and Eduardo Verastegui.
In our family, we follow the religious ceremony with a special party, just like in Mexico. We invite our close friends and family for a big meal, complete with a mariachi band. While not as common, it's tradition for the pardrino give a "bolo" after the ceremony. I have seen the pardino throw coins, the "bolo", into the crowd after the religious ceremony, symbolizing the godson´s/goddaughter's prosperity to come.
Decorating for a Baptism
I love using white everywhere, with a splash of color. The hanging flowers are by Martha Stewart and are sold in kits. They are a little time consuming to put together, but are an inexpensive way to make any space look pretty. I hung several of these throughout the backyard. For the centerpieces I borrowed vases from my friend and filled them with flowers from the market. I added the ribbon for an extra touch.
The menu was simple but so good with "the taco" man - a local catering company that will prepare delicious tacos at your event. We also had a margarita machine! But the best part of the food was the dessert! The "sweet table" with cupcakes and other treats turned out so nice! Cupcakes are my indulgence - we got ours from Sweet Arlene's, our favorite place! They have won Cupcake Wars TWICE? They are THAT good :).
I took jars that I already owned and filled them with candy and other treats in the blue, white and brown color scheme. I decorated the containers with coordinating ribbon and labels.
The banner read "God Bless Anthony" and hung over the sweet table. I used blue and white cardstock to make it - it's really easy to put together. I printed the letters directly onto the white cardstock, cut the white and blue cardstock to the appropriate sized circles, glued them together in the layered format (with glue dots) and then used a ribbon to string them together.
And for entertainment? A mariachi, of course! And to help keep the kids entertained I set up an arts and crafts area, along with a very helpful friend to assist the kids.
My husband and I believe that Baptisms can be celebrated in a big way because they only happen once in a child’s life, unlike a birthday. We love making a big deal of this special day in our child's life. Incorporating the beautiful Mexican traditions into our child's Baptism is a real treat!
The pictures shared on this post were taken at our son's Baptism by my very talented friend Jennifer Carrillo of Bella Rosa Photography. Check out her site - amazing pictures!
Kmart's Madres y Comadres Interview
I am so excited that the Madres y Comadres webseries for the modern Latina mom presented by Kmart is up! My kids and I had a blast being a part of the campaign. See my interview here!
Madres y Comadres provides a space for mothers and wives that is genuine, intelligent and fun. The Webnovelas feature situations that many of us have experienced in our quest to raise bicultural families. My favorite webnovela clip is that of a mom telling her comadre that her child is getting straight A’s in school, but a C in Spanish – her native language! Then there is the tween boy who was baptized with 3 Spanish names but dislikes them all and wants to be called by his self given more “American” nickname. I was baptized Maria del Socorro, so I can relate to him! Who hasn’t felt inadequate at teaching our children Spanish or had children who didn’t want to fully embrace their Latino roots? Most of us can relate to the mini webnovelas on some level.
The De Verdad clips showcases real moms who are raising bicultural families in the United States. Their humor, stories and challenges are refreshing and remind us that we are not alone in our struggle to share our Latino culture with our children. It’s an honor to be featured as part of the De Verdad series. During the interview I spoke at length about my experiences as a child translator and how this impacts my parenting. As the oldest child in my family I helped my Spanish speaking parents by translating for them. Many of us who grew up with Spanish speaking parents have shared similar experiences. Maybe you made phone calls for your parents, read the mail or went on errands with them because you knew English and they did not. Many children of immigrant families serve an important role as child translators, and they are often the link between their family’s Spanish speaking world and the mainstream English world.
As college student I was fascinated that one of my professors, Dr. Marjorie Faulstich Orellana, was interested in learning more about the work of child translators. Working with her was a very rewarding experience. Her research on child translators can be found in her book Translating Childhoods: Immigrant Youth, Language, and Culture.
Translating for my parents as a child and adult is a large part of what defined me and it shapes part of how I am raising my bicultural (and hopefully bilingual!) family. I’m excited to share these experiences with the Madres y Comadres campaign!
Our HGTV Kitchen Remodel: Part 1
We are in week 3 of the HGTV kitchen remodel!
Recently, my husband and I bought a home that needs some TLC. Well, ok, it needs A LOT of TLC. The kitchen was a mess. Just look at the pictures below! Basically, we knew that if we bought this home the entire kitchen would need to be redone. How and when we would do it was not clear. Then one night my husband Dan and I were talking about what a large project the kitchen remodel was going to be and how we could best approach the project. We love watching HGTV and happen to be watching it during our conversation, so we applied to the network and to make a long story short – we were cast on a show!
We are currenty taping the kitchen remodel on our new place for Professional Grade. How does the show work? My husband and I serve as our own general contractors on the kitchen remodel. We are working on making our kitchen look fabulous on a limited budget. A group of contractors will judge our work and if we can get them to think that we spent more money than our actual out-of-pocket costs we win the difference! We can do all the work ourselves, use subcontractors or employ a mix of the two.
Honestly, the thought of taking on such a big project was a little overwhelming. Not only would we have a strict timeline to keep, but we would have to put all of our negotiation skills to work in order to get good deals on everything. AND we would have to take a lot of time out of our already busy schedules in order to devote a significant amount of time to this project.
After we were officially cast, we started to do our homework. We bought quite a few home and kitchen remodeling magazines. We started a big file of clippings of beautiful kitchens that we liked. We made a list of "must haves" and "would love" features. Obviously, we were limited by our budget, but we were excited about the challenge - to design and install a beautiful kitchen on a budget and hopefully win some money (so we could fix up other parts of the house)!
Day 1 of filming was exciting. We met our host Matt Blashaw and showed him around the kitchen and shared our vision. After getting his input on how to tackle the project, we started the demolition of the kitchen. This is still the best part of the project for me! By Day 3 we had taken out a wall, all the cabinets were gone and the appliances were out. Next to go was the old drywall....By day 7 we had done the electrical and started to drywall. This past week we finished installing the new drywall and we started to install the cabinets. This week we will finish the cabinets and start the flooring. Lots of work!
The past few weeks, however, have not come without some trouble. Despite the setbacks, we are moving along nicely and it's been great having HGTV around our place! The pictures below show some of the progress that we have made. I love how much more open the kitchen feels after we took out the wall. Notice that the rest of the house is a big construction zone too!
So far, the biggest lesson that I have learned is that when you take on a large home remodel project things will not always go as planned. Sometimes you just have to let those things go and do your best to work around the issues, especially if you are limited by time and budget (like us!). I'll keep you posted on how we are coming along!
Toddler Tantrums in Public
I was that crazy mom today that you sometimes see around town, almost losing it completely because of their child’s misbehavior. The 4 kids and I went to Jamba Juice after school. I was happy, we had all managed to keep it together quite nicely while we waited in the long line and then waited for our order. We had just found a nice spot to sit outside on the patio when my 2.5 year old son asked for cookies. Ok, why not, I was in a good mood, so we all got up and went into the Starbucks.
On the way out a nice woman held the door open for my troop…I started walking out the door when I heard it, that loud scream that seems to have become a too familiar sound in our house for the last month. My son decided that HE wanted to open door for me at Starbucks and was angry that the lady held the door for me. Picture this…the nice lady is holding the door for me, my son is on the floor in the doorway screaming and won’t get up, people are trying to get in and out, I have a baby stroller partially blocking the entryway, and I’m holding cookies and a latte. I asked my son nicely, but firmly, to get up. He naturally screamed louder and by then I was certain everyone was looking at me and my son, thinking I must be crazy because I can’t control my kids. After asking him again, I finally just scooped him up in one arm (ouch!), pushed the stroller and had him scream at the top of his lungs as we left.
We sat outside and finally after a few minutes he calmed down. I was embarrassed, but I tried to remind myself that, while it’s not easy, I have to ignore the stares from people and that my son’s tantrum is nobody’s business but mine. My baby is now 1 month old and my 2.5 year old has had a hard time with the transition. I imagine that we may be dealing with tantrums and misbehavior for some time. Oh boy, I’ll need lots of reassurance that I’m still a good parent! The links below had some great suggestions on dealing with toddler tantrums - I'll be visiting them again!
