Life, Silva style!!: February 2012

Tie-dyed eggs

We tried a new method for dying Easter eggs this weekend. I saw the tie method on Pinterest and I thought I had pinned it, but apparently I didn't, so I don't have the link....sorry.

I instantly remembered it from when I was a little girl. Our babysitter made these one year and I either didn't see her gather the supplies or perhaps she only had us help wrap the eggs and then we were sent to play while the eggs were done. I'm not sure, but either way, I didn't know exactly how to make them, I just remembered having helped make them as a kid.

Anyway, you need men's (or boy's) ties.
The ties must be 100% silk or apparently, this method will not work.
You will need either eggs (right from the fridge), or the egg shells once you've made a small hole on each end and blown out the contents.
You also will need some sort of either thread or string or very thin strips of rags to tie the ends of the tie to the egg.
The hubs told me I could have his ties for this project (!) but I refrained from taking him up on the offer, so we headed to the second-hand store. These are the ties I bought from the Arc store. Arc is a local Goodwill kind of store and I paid $1.50 for a couple of them and about $2.50 for the others.

For the last month we've been carefully cracking our eggs whenever we cooked some and rinsed them out.

You begin by completely dissect the tie and cut a piece of the tie that fits completely around the egg. Oh, and the "right" side of the tie must face the egg so the pattern transfers correctly.

I used some thin strips of white fabric I had on hand to tie both ends and the center of some of the eggs.
They you simply boil them in water and 3 tablespoons of vinegar for about 25 minutes.

I carefully placed my crockpot lid on the eggs upside down to weigh them down so the eggs were entirely submerged in the water.

After the 25 minutes and allowing them to cool down so I could unwrap them I ended up with this:
Aren't they beautiful?! I think Yes!

This next few pictures show the egg with it's corresponding tie so you could see how nicely the pattern transferred.

The blue and yellow polka-dot ones are my favorites!

I made 20 eggs total. Sixteen of the eggs were the shell only and the other 4 were right from the fridge. I totally discourage using the whole, fresh egg though. I made these two days ago and I'm ready to throw them out because although I've kept them refrigerated, they STINK. Bad. I plan on making more in the next week or so and we will only use clean EMPTY egg shells (:

I have a huge test to take today and another one tomorrow and then I have a workshop on Friday evening. Hopefully I'll have my Easter decor pics up by Saturday. Fingers crossed!

Loss for words.

Disclaimer: This is actually an edited version of my original post. I'm still angry, but I will refrain from name-calling.

Ok, I am majorly PO'd and I believe I have good reason to be. If you prefer, come back tomorrow when this blog goes back to it's regular programming, because today's topic sucks.

<First, I want to clarify that my kids were NEVER disciplined for any mean, disrepectful behavior. EVER. The choice to move the kids to another school was a decision my husband and I made ALONE and only WE decided when to move them. My children were never expelled from school or anything of that nature.>

You might remember how I posted a couple weeks ago of switching my children to another school? And how I hated the way certain "teachers" mistreated not only my kids, but other kids? For example, their math teacher would make one little boy go to the front of the class everyday and lift his shirt up to show that he was wearing a belt. There were times he missed the belt loop at the middle of his back and he would send him to the bathroom to fix it. And he would humiliate the boy. Well, in spite of all of this, my kids absolutely
L-O-V-E-D the French Teacher there, Ms. Anderson. In fact, the day the kids were going to their teachers to sign off on their withdrawal paperwork, Ms. Anderson hugged both of the kids and told them she really enjoyed having them in her class, she would miss them, and to stop by to see her whenever they had a chance.

The kids' new school day starts and ends way after their old school does, so they never had that chance.

Until today.

Today was an early-release day and the kids were excited for today so they could stop by their old school and say hello to their beloved French teacher.
I had to get to class at the time the kids were released from school today my mom picked them up. They asked her if she could stop by their old school for a few minutes so they could say hello to Ms. Anderson and my mom said yes.

My blood boils at what happened next.

The kids walked into the school and the receptionist runs around her desk and points to the door and yells <in front of EVERYONE, mind you.> "Get off school grounds!"

(I'm not kidding!!)

Then she said "You no longer go to this school, you must LEAVE NOW!"
My poor kids were shocked, humiliated and confused for a few seconds before Gabriella said "We just wanted to say hello to Ms. Anderson."
Then she told my kids: "You know what, wait. You need to go to the principal's office first."
So the kids went in there and she told the assistant principal "Marko and Gabriella are here and I told them they aren't allowed on school grounds." He agreed and then he said to my kids "You guys can't be on school grounds!"
Marko said "Ms. Anderson invited us to come see her."
The AP said "I don't care. You can't be on school grounds." "Leave."

My kids were so upset all afternoon. And I felt horrible for them. And the hubs and I were so upset all afternoon.
Ms. Anderson called my husband and apologized for the way the "professionals" at her school treated the kids.
She told my kids that she didn't realize the protocol for students that previously attended that school was that they weren't allowed back. (?)
Then, she made plans to pick up my kids during Spring Break to hang out with her and maybe go to McDonalds.

She is wonderful and I am grateful to her for helping make my kids' day a little brighter after the nightmare they endured after school.

My kids go back to visit their kindergarten teacher (at yet another school) every year at Christmas time and it has always been a positive experience for them. They really look forward to the yearly visits to Mrs. Molander and always excitedly wrap the gift they chose for her.

Ms. Anderson was another teacher just as special to them as Mrs. Molander.

Thank God I got my kids out of that horrible place .
How dare they hurt my children like that!

I find it to be in VERY BAD TASTE for two adults to literally gang up on two defenseless kids. Shame on You Union Colony! This is the worst case of BULLYING ever.

If you are reading this, please give me some feedback. Have any of you ever experienced or heard of anything this crazy?

Oh, and if you read my original post...I apologize.

Happy Birthday Jackie!!

Today was a very special day. Jackie, one of Gabriella's BFFs had a birthday yesterday (Friday) and her party was today. My precious Gabriella was so excited she could hardly stand it! I was so excited for her. You see, Jackie and Gabriella instantly became best friends the very first day of school because they had every. single. class. together. until lunch.

Every day when I'd go pick the kids up from school, Jackie always walked my Gabby to the car to give her a big hug.

They missed each other terribly since my kids switched school about two weeks ago. My kids miss all of their friends but thanks to Facebook, Skype, Ipods and cell phones, Marko and Gabriella both have been able to stay in contact with their friends. Thank goodness for technology. Seriously. I've mentioned in earlier posts of how my mom, brother and I would move all of the time. Way back then, we didn't have all of the technology available to kids these days. When we moved, that was it...no more contact (!) And it was terrible.

My kids will never know how terrible that was. And for that I am very grateful.

Anyway, Jackie thought Gabriella wasn't going to be at her party because Gabriella no longer attends the same school as her. When the girls would Skype every night, the mood would turn somber whenever the subject of Jackie's upcoming birthday would come up.

Jackie didn't know that her mom had secretly planned for Gabriella to attend the party as Jackie's big surprise..

Jackie's mom rented a room at a local hotel for an awesome slumber party for Jackie and her friends to stay the night, swim, eat dinner at Olive Garden (Yes, I'm a tad bit jealous..), watch movies and eat tons of candy and chips (:

This is Gabriella ready to surprise Jackie..

She was SUPER surprised! It was awesome.

They couldn't stop giggling.. Jackie and the other girls were painting their shirts that they wore over their swimming suits when we got there.

Pretty girls (:

These are the other girls greeting Gabriella

This is Shaylynn, Zheng, Jackie, Claire and Gabriella.

Jackie's mom graciously bought all of the girls a huge stuffed animal (!) Gabriella has the crocodile.

Sweet!

They are so happy. I hope their childhood memories are inundated with special, happy moments like this. I also hope the friendships they build now last them a lifetime.

I told ya there was a huge supply of goodies for the girls..

See?!

This picture is kind of blurry, but I love it.

Happy Birthday Sweet Jackie!

xo,

...Day2

Just a quick update: I've been patting myself on the back because we are now at the second day and I have NOT given into temptation. Yay! I'm not kidding when I tell you that this is a big-time, ginormous, super-duper, supercalifragilisticexpialodocious (I'm SURE that's how you spell it..) huge thing for me. And I am succeeding. satan will NOT win. Absolutely not.

Oh, and one more thing I am crazy, over-the moon excited about is that I am finally pulling out my Easter decorations today.
Easter has long been my favorite holiday, right up there with Christmas. Yeah...that much (:
Pictures of the decorations coming very soon.

Happy Friday!

Hugs,

Lent Day 1

The last 15 years or so, I started noticing how I would start to panic if I found myself in enclosed, crowded places such as restaurants, movie theaters, malls, etc. I find myself scanning the place for the exits. I've read too many horror stories of people becoming "bottle-necked" after, heaven forbid, a fire or another emergency that requires a lot of people to immediately leave through ONE OR TWO doors at the same time (!)
I felt that panic last night. I immediately felt my hands start to perspire, I also got a headache and I felt kind of queasy and nervous. Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. The kids and I of course, went to church to receive the cross of ash on our forehead. I seriously cannot describe how crowded the church was. When we first got there, the kids and I were kind of "shoved" to the top of the stairs. This is when the panic set in. Later, we were "shoved" down to about the middle of the stairs. We were there for maybe 10 minutes (I actually felt ok there because I was standing right next to one of the exit doors!). Then we worked our way back upstairs after receiving the ash and we were able to stand right at the main entrance for the remainder of the mass. It was THAT full. I think had we not been able to stand by the entrance after receiving the ash, we probably would have left at that time.

Anyway, this of course, means that today is the first day of Lent. For those of you that don't know, it signifies the beginning of Jesus' 40 days of fasting in the desert.

It is customary to "give up" something as a sacrifice, just as Jesus did. This year I have sacrificed something that I'm hoping I can stick with it. I'll reveal what it is on Easter. If you happen to read this, please pray that I am bestowed with an abundance of willpower. The kids also decided to sacrifice something big in their lives. I pray we don't fall into temptation.

Oh, and I have to mention this because I don't want to forget it. Almost a year ago, the beloved Father from our church was moved to another church in a different city. On more than one occasion, we would catch him smoking a cigarette outside before mass.
Well, the kids asked me yesterday while I was driving to the church if the ashes used on people's foreheads came from Father Rocco's ashtray. Yeah...awkward.

I had to explain that it is customary for the palms from last year's Palm Sunday be burned for this year's Ash Wednesday...I don't know if they believed me.

Have a great Thursday!

Highs & Lows

For as long as I can remember, my kids and I do Highs & Lows every single day after school.

Right after the hustle and bustle of controlling a very excited dog (cause he hadn't seen the kids all day) while rushing to get backpacks, jackets, a trumpet, a saxophone AND my two favorite people in the world into my car and buckled up....whew(!)....and even before driving out of the school parking lot, my first question to both of the kids was "What was your favorite part of your day?"

Nine times out of ten, Marko's answer was "French class," or the occasional "lunch."
Nine times out of ten, Gabriella's answer was "French class," or "lunch."

This was always followed by "What was the worst part of your day?"

I seriously don't know why I would ask this question. I got the same answer every.single.day.
Both of my kids A-L-W-A-Y-S told me that the worst part of their day was their horrible math teacher. They were never able to do anything right in that class. Apparently, nobody ever did anything right in that class. He would always "lose" homework they turned in and then give them big, fat ZEROs for that assignment. Then he'd sometimes "find" it. But by then, their progress reports had come home already and kids had already been grounded for "bad" grades. This teacher also enjoyed belittling the kids.

My kids always had two "worst" parts of their day. Both of the kids begged me to let them quit band because the band teacher spent the entire class time yelling at the kids. Then Gabriella would tell me that the assistant principal would come into the band room and yell at the trombone players (she always reminded the kids that she was a trombone major) and tell them that they weren't doing anything right, and then she and the band teacher would laugh at the kids!
Yeah.

I couldn't get my kids out of there fast enough.
And God is big. He guided us to the correct school for our kids.

This is our daily Highs & Lows since starting at their new school. And I quote:

Me: "What was your favorite part of your day?"
Marko: "school."
Gabriella: "everything."

Me: "What was the worst part of your day?"
Marko: "nothing."
Gabriella: "nothing for me either!"

God is so good.

Coupon Chief review!

You know how I posted about getting on the coupon bandwagon a while ago and how I saved quite a bit of moolah? Well, I love getting a good deal as much as the next person.

I can't even describe the incredible ~~high~~ feeling you get while at the checkout (both in person and online), when you end up having to pay a lower amount than you anticipated.

It feels really, really G-O-O-O-O-O-D!!!

It's awesome and instantly addicting.

I love a great deal and I know you do too, so I'm going to show you how (:

I was recently contacted by the fine folks over at Couponchief to check out their website and give my honest opinion.
I must say that the first thing that I found appealing was the fact that I didn't have to register to gain access to these coupons. I also was instantly pleased at how easy their website is to navigate. There is a large search bar at the top that allows you to select the category or even the store (!) you want the coupon from. They have over 50k coupons for over 15,000 stores. Yay!!

Wanna know just a few stores they carry coupons for?? (I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.) They carry coupons for Macy's, Anthropologie, JCPenney, Kohl's, Marriott (I know!), Qdoba, TJ Maxx, just to name a few.

I love to shop online and now I will simply go to
Coupon chief first to search for any coupon (by item or by store) I might be able to use and save money! How awesome is that?!

Oh, and since I'm definitely a visual learner, as I'm sure some of you are too, I've included a video tutorial from Couponchief. Yeah, I'm thoughtful like that (:

Oh, and have I mentioned the pays-2-share feature? You have the ability to upload coupons and actually earn money when someone uses "your" coupon! Couponchief will pay you 2% of the sale. For obvious reasons, you do have to register for this feature and they don't accept duplicate coupons.

Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, or even via RSS alert.

So what are you waiting for? Go to

And watch yourself rake in the savings.

Disclosure: Coupon Chief sponsored this post; however, all ideas and opinions are mine and were not influenced in any way by the compensation I received.

Happy Belated Birthday!

Notice anything different today? Life Silva style got a make-over. Yay! I decided to get a new look since this month marks one year since starting the blog. I considered it a belated birthday gift to ~~myself~~ the blog. (:
Emily from Designer Blogs was fantastic to work with and set everything up for me. Thanks Emily.

Happy Thursday!
xo,

Hola Ciudad Juarez!

I traveled to Juarez, Mexico today with the hubs and my mom!

Ok, well not physically, but I was seriously transported to Mexico at my kids' school today.

The 6th graders organized a fantastic event called "Aztec Market," and let me tell you-they really did a superb job! I was so proud of them.

Here are some pictures of the event. They are in no particular order, and I must point out that since my kids just started at this school last week, I don't know any of the people in the pictures, except my Gabriella (2nd from the right):

This was the entrance to the Aztec Market....also known as the gym. Everyone entering received a cup filled with beans that were to be used as currency (:

The kids and their parents/grandparents did such a great job of providing awesome food....that you could literally buy for....beans. Yeah.

For those of you that have never been to Juarez, in the center of the city is a large marketplace that has a variety of vendors of different art made by local artisans and little restaurants to get some really good food. We haven't gone to Mexico in quite a few years now for obvious reasons. But we really miss going.

Anyway, there were tables with enchiladas:

Handmade beaded bracelets and necklaces:

Tissue roses.....my favorite. I was planning on paying a few beans for one, but I constantly found myself at the tables that had all of the amazing FOOD. GA!