Sofia's Corner

Sofia is digging for Gold everywhere she goes none stop! and she doesn't like it when I point the camera at her while she's busy digging.

In this video, Sofia stands with her back to me, that's because she didn't want me to see her picking her nose. 

Labor Day Weekend 2011

In honor of Labor Day, I cleaned the bathrooms not because I like cleaning our bathrooms but it just so happened they were due to be clean on Labor day. At any rate, we decided to do our Labor Day walk-a-thon ritual again like we did last year and as I looked at the pictures from last Labor day, this is what I found:

Raquel with no curly hair and wearing a onesie and Sofia still doing the stroller.

And here they are today.

Here's the lake last year....

...and here's the lake today. If you thought we were kidding about having the worst Texas drought in years, see for your self. It's bad.

Still some water remaining on this creek but not much.

Please help up pray for rain.

So, after our walk-a-thon, we decided to hit Braums.

One good reason you don't see me in ANY of these pictures is because I had no make up and had not brushed my hair for two days. I did wash my hair but was too lazy to do anything about it, therefore, I looked like I was ready to celebrate Halloween. 

Cooler Weather!

Today, while checking out our seven day forecast I said "Praise the Lord!!" we will finally be below 100's! But we still need to pray for rain! My water bill was high this month.

Five on Friday - Sticky!

1.What kind of magnets do you have on your fridge?

Our fridge magnets are from everywhere we have been. Last week, I finally bought one from Missouri.


2.What’s your preferred type of glue?

Elmer's Glue

3.When is it good to feel sticky?

hmmm...a very sticky question I'd rather not answer....

4.What was the last thing you wrote upon a Post-It?

Lisa's home address.

5.How much pancake syrup do you put on your pancakes?
 
I don't like pancakes anymore, therefore no syrup for me.

Arizona: Teachers Can Have Accents and Use Bad Grammar

Teach an English class with a bad accent no one can understand? No wonder our public school system is failing. Just saying. -Sandra.

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Published August 31, 2011
Fox News Latino

NEW YORK - OCTOBER 09: It's not how you speak English – it's about whether you know it at all.

That was the final word out of Arizona, where the state and two federal agencies reached a settlement over an allegation that the state was discriminating against teachers who may have thick accents or use bad grammar when teaching English-immersion classes.

The Arizona Capitol Times reports that the settlement reached by the state Department of Education will have the state consider only whether teachers are fluent, not how they speak the language.

The Capitol Times reports that a Friday letter says that the settlement ends separate investigations by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education.

The agencies alleged that application of a state law requiring English teachers to possess a good knowledge of the English language discriminated against Hispanic teachers and students.

Based on reporting by the Associated Press.

DIY: Nut Milk!!!

My New Roots - How to Make Nut Milk from My New Roots on Vimeo.

Sofia is allergic to Milk, unfortunately and she can drink milk all day but she starts sneezing and her nose runs all day and it is no fun. Therefore, last year we switched her to Organic Almond Milk VERY EXPENSIVE and today I found this!!!! Make your own NUT MILK!!! I'm going to give this a try! and if Sofia likes it we are going to save money on our groceries every week!!!!

Conversations with Sofia

John was showing and explaining the Solar System to Sofia this morning, it went like this:

John: This is the Sun and is hot!

Sofia: Wow!

John: Yeah, it has fire all over it.

Sofia: Wow!

John: This is Mercury! Say Mercury.

Sofia: Mercury!

John: Venus!

Sofia: Venus!

John: and this is Earth, this is Mars, Jupiter (Sofia kept repeating the names) and this is Saturn, this planet has rings around it.

Sofia: Wow! Like your ring daddy?

John: Sort of, yeah. Now, this is Urenus. Now, say Urenus.

Sofia: MERENUS!

John: No, Urenus.

Sofia: Merunus!

We thought it was funny! Urenus, Merenus. She thought John was saying YOUrenus so in return she replied, MErenus.

Five on Friday - Evidence

1.What could serve as physical evidence that you sometimes lose focus?

Sleep deprivation.



2.What could serve as physical evidence that you are loved?

When I'm hugged several times a day.


3.What could serve as physical evidence that you’re from wherever you’re from?

This one is easy: My accent.


4.What could serve as physical evidence that you went anywhere this past week?

When I'm too tired to wake up to go to work on Monday


5.what could serve as physical evidence that you recently caved in to temptation?

When guilt kicks in...duh.

The Help

Seeing Sin through Cinema
By: Chuck Colson
Published: August 16, 2011

Sometimes, we can look at sin right in the mirror and not recognize it. But when we see it through a camera’s lens, it’s easier to spot.

Sometimes we Christians we don't see the sin right in front of our faces; our culture, upbringing, or personal attitudes seem to block it. And that's where the arts can help us -- whether the sin is deep in the past, or very much in the present.

Last week a film opened that beautifully illustrates my point. It's called The Help, and it’s based on the bestselling novel by Kathryn Stockett. The story is set in the early 1960s, in Jackson, Mississippi, when the fight for civil rights was gaining international attention. The film tells the story of a young, socially prominent white girl named Skeeter who's just graduated from college. Skeeter wants to be a writer, and comes up with a dangerous idea: To secretly interview the black maids who raise the white children of Jackson, Mississippi, and find out how they really feel about their employers.

Their answers are a revelation. Skeeter's eyes are opened to the irony of white employers who depend on their maids to raise their children -- and yet won't allow them to use the same bathrooms. If a piece of silver goes missing, a maid can be blamed, based on no evidence whatsoever, and arrested. When a maid named Yule May asks her employer for a loan to help her sons attend college, she's treated like a simple-minded child.

Although the white employers are church-going Christians, they are often blind to the humanity of those who work for them -- blind to their right to be treated with as much respect as their white neighbors. Ironically, these same white Christians raise funds for poor African children, but aren’t concerned with the financial needs of blacks in their own area -- maids and gardeners who are badly paid for their hard work.

As Skeeter gains a greater understanding of how unfairly blacks are treated, she begins to rebel against the attitudes of her own friends and family. She ultimately pays a price for breaking the rules -- ostracized from social gatherings and a permanent breach from the boy she loves. When Skeeter's book of interviews is published, the town explodes.

The Help, of course, is a work of fiction and it is no indightment of the South; it is meant to illustrate how we all are so often oblivious to our own sins, and we are often better able to see them through fiction than by abstract theological discourses.

Biblical figures knew all about the power of a good story. Remember when the Old Testament prophet, Nathan, confronted King David about his affair with Bathsheba? Nathan didn't offer David a dry lecture on the sin of adultery. Instead, Nathan spun a story about a rich man who took the only lamb belonging to a poor man. In order to get past David's defenses, Nathan told an allegorical story.

The Help is a reminder of the racism in America's history, but more to the point, it reminds us how easy it is for us to be blinded to personal and societal sin.

The Help is rated PG-13 for thematic reasons. If you see it, discuss it with your friends over dinner. And then ask yourself a hard question: Are there any sinful attitudes in your own life that you have been blind to? Attitudes that violate the letter and the spirit of the teachings of Christ?

Sometimes we just need a little artistic help to see them.

Raquel's Godparents Announcement

We were worried we wouldn't be able to find godparents for Raquel and thankfully Yesenia and David are tying the knot so we decided who better than them! We are hoping to do it two weeks after their wedding! Pictures to come!

Movies We Watch

Movie: Captain America - The First Avenger

Everyone yawns when I say that Captain America is my favorite comic hero and after watching this movie, I have to say that I felt patriotic and Captain America is my hero. The other movie I felt patriotic was after I watched Rambo IV. If you feel hopeless about the situation our country is currently on and want to feel patriotic and full of hope that 2012 will bring a much better direction for our country Captain America will come and save the day!

At any rate, Chris Evans does a great job performing as Captain America (I thought he was hilarious as the Human Torch!)as the first super soldier against the evil Red Skull played by Hugo Weavins as the former Agent Mr. Smith in the Matrix movies (this guy is a great villain but I prefer him kicking butt against Neo.)

I LOVED IT! 5 Stars and an Oscar for the best torso! Oh, and this was a movie date night for John and I! Thanks Mom!!

Movie: Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2

This final part of the final book was pretty good but I would like to say that a movie NEVER beats reading the book. At any rate, this movie was filled with action scenes and dramatic sequences and it moved faster than the first installment of the Deathly Hallows. It was sad to watch Snape die after he was judge like the bad guy in pretty much all the seven books! I felt because bad myself Snape reveal how much he had helped Dumbledore until the end. I didn't like how the book ended with....SPOILER ALERT!!!!!.... all them getting married to each other and having kids and all that stuff but I guess Rowling just wanted to put the last nail in her series.

4 stars! And this was another movie date night for John and I! Thanks Mom!

Movie: The A-Team

Having watched the ORIGINAL A-Team series with my Dad back in the you know, 80's, I didn't have alot of hopes for this movie but it was suprisingly good, it kept me watching and I was laughing! One member of the A-Team that didn't do it for me was the guy who played Mr. T. I mean come on! "I PITY THE FOOL!" The guy did alright but it is hard to play Mr. T. At any rate, it was well written, jokes left and right for some odd reason I found funny, lots of gun shooting, dead people and the A-Team gets set up in a crime they didn't commit. Bradley Cooper was hilarious!

3 Stars.

Movie: Kill the Irishman

Based on a true story based of Danny Green an Irishman who gets caught up working with the Mafia in the 60's in Cleveland then he goes on his own against the Italian mafia. Alot of dead people and A LOT of car bombing explosions. What was cool about watching this movie was that they will show off and on real TV clips of news reporting. The Italian Mafia hates Danny Green so much they try to kill him many times to no avail including blowing up his house. Former Batman, Val Kilmer plays the cop. John kept asking if that was Val Kilmer former Batman, I said yes everytime, he's just been eating alot of donuts with other cops to play this role.

3 Stars.

Happenings of Raquel and Sofia

My heart melts when they hug and kiss each other. All the sleepless nights are forgotten.

Raquel likes to mimic what everyone does and says including our dog Lenny Boy. 

Sofia practicing cutting a tomato with a butter knife...oh and wearing her princess tiara and tutu skirt. Priceless. 

Raquel's "Don't mess with me" look. 

That's more like it!

Two weeks ago, I started training Raquel on "solo" eating, meaning, I'm teaching her how to all by herself so Mami can finally eat at the same time everyone else eats and not be the last one at the table. This moment was bittersweet because the high chair is no longer in our kitchen for the first time in 3 years! I was sad. 

It's been two weeks of training Raquel and I have to say she's really getting the hang of it. I'm still supervising but it is becoming easier. 

We visited Eva and Sofia can't stop asking about her! 

Raquel is trying on every one's shoes nowadays.