do you hear what i hear

This is a little Christmas post I stole from one my favorite blogs/bloggers. I loved it so much I thought I should share it here. If this doesn't make you feel warm and in the Christmas spirit, I don't know what will...

One of my most cherished childhood memories is making plates of holiday treats. Every year my mother would emerge from the pantry, arms overflowing with typical ingredients like flour, sugar, chocolate chips, and other holiday only items like those little gold dragees that we used to top the sugar cookie Christmas trees .

Just as essential as to the baking process were the stack of 33s stored in the credenza next to the nativity set. I loved those Christmas albums. Some we bought but most were handed out in November at the gas station when you got your tank filled. They featured a potluck assortment of singers. I can picture the faces of Mel Torme, Doris Day, Jim Neighbors, and Mahalia Jackson smiling at me from the record cover. My sister and I belted along in Spanish to Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” and giggled our way thru John Denver’s “Please Daddy, don’t get drunk this Christmas.”

But the song that always gave me goose bumps as I rolled out sugar cookies was “Do You Hear What I Hear?” It was as if Bing Crosby were asking me personally, “Do you see what I see? Heather, do you see the star?” The song would stay with me as we loaded up the station wagon and delivered plates of cookies to neighbors and friends. On the drive home, I remember laying in the way back of the car (seat belts were optional in the 70s) and staring out the back window at all the stars, and feeling blessed by them. Each one a small echo of the star that shone on the stable, alerted the shepherds, and guided the wise men. “Yes,” my heart said. “I see what you see.”

Fast-forward 15 years to the hills above Bethlehem. A big part of the Jerusalem study abroad is to trace the steps of the Savior. One night we stood huddled in the cold as our professor talked to us about what it must have been like to be a shepherd on that night of nights. He read to us from Luke 2. “Yes,” I thought. “I’ve heard this all before. The taxes, the innkeeper, the swaddling clothes.” But to my surprise, the words from verses13-14 pierced my heart: “And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of Heavenly Host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” I closed my eyes and imagined I could hear the angels sing their message, voices full of joy and praise. On that hill, for just a moment, I heard what the lamb heard, and it warmed my soul.

Now I am the mom, hauling out the flour and dragees (Which are sometimes illegal in California–go figure.) and my ever growing collection of Christmas CDs. As we bake we take turns controlling the iPod. I let them play Glee’s version of “Last Christmas” and then I get to crank Judy Collin’s “The Cherry Tree Carol.” They are learning the lyrics to the carols and last night I heard the 8 year-old serenade her 5 year-old sister on the top bunk with the sweetest version of “Silent Night.” I listened in and wondered, do they know what I know? That though life is tough, there is peace to be found in the Gospel of Christ. Truly, He will bring us Goodness and Light.

motherhood

I saw something today that really affected me. I immediately cried when it happened of course because when I gave birth to Oscar I received these new ULTRA sensitive set of emotions. I don't know what to do with them, sometimes they seem unbearable. I can't watch any story on the news that involves a child being neglected, abused, or about the wrongful death of a child without becoming very upset. It will eat at me until I fall asleep if it allows me to fall asleep. I can't hear about the horrible things being done to children in the world without being consumed by sadness. I'd call it a curse except it's opened my eyes to the need for each of us to do good in the world and to make a difference.
So what I saw today was a mother that had no food to feed her 3 yr old daughter. She was at a government agency trying to deal with someone probably to be able to get food stamps. I have no idea what happened but she slowly starts raising her voice until all of a sudden she's shouting. She starts screaming in defiance saying she will not leave until they rectify the situation they had messed up. She was screaming about how they had messed up and how she had been in there every day for two weeks trying to see someone but that no one would see her. The employees told her to calm down and that's when she really lost it. She screamed "No I will not calm down! I have no food and I have a 3 year old daughter asking me for food! What do you want me to tell my daughter that's hungry! What am I supposed to tell her!?"
The sound of her voice ripped my heart apart. I could hear the desperation, fear, and determination of a mother trying to feed her child. The sound of her voice was something I'll never forget. I thought about what I would do if I didn't have food to feed Oscar, what I would or wouldn't do to take care of his most basic needs. It was overwhelming to even imagine the scenario.
I honestly don't know how these emotions just came as a package deal with the birth of my child. It's truly amazing. I can't think of anything more powerful than the love of a mother. So here's a video that I enjoyed. Here's to you mommas


It's 8 minutes long, just to warn you.

delicioso

Who doesn't love a good bag of nacho cheese Doritos? I guess there are some people that don't but I am not one of them. I like to indulge in Doritos about as often as I indulge in ice cream or frozen yogurt. But, these little fakies right here do the trick. No they're not Doritos, so don't expect a Dorito. Nate tried these and was angry because he expected Doritos. They definitely are the next best thing though, and will for sure satisfy any craving you have for something like nacho cheese Doritos.

The sad thing about these though is that their nutritional info is very similar to the real Doritos. The only thing that's better health wise is the amount of fat. I don't count calories but I was curious to see how many less calories were in these quaker chips, and the calorie intake is almost exactly the same as real nacho cheese Doritos. So I guess I can still have my real Doritos. But, just FYI these quaker things are pretty darn delicious.

the many faces of oscar

I can't ever seem to document this little boy's life enough since he changes daily. Sorry for the picture overload but it needs to be done. These first few pictures are of him in his little walker thing. He of course thinks it is for bouncing. He'll bounce the heck out of it even though it has no springs or any way he can get the jumping satisfaction he gets in his other toys




His shirts are always permanently wet like this from the uncontrollable amount of drool he produces. I used to try to put a bib on him all the time but I got over that quickly. It doesn't usually make him cold cause his body temperature is always sooo warm.






My grandparents came to visit us Thanksgiving weekend. Oscar loved them a lot. He's in my favorite outfit here: his bed time crayon fleece zip-up sleeping sack. It's the coolest thing for babies. It's like a snuggie for babies except there is an enclosed sack type of bottom to make sure their legs and feet stay nice and toasty inside. This crazy guy throws all his blankets off at night so we needed to find something like this. Every time I put it on him we can't stop calling him the little crayon.



We had our first family Thanksgiving at Nate's parents' this year. Everything was so yummy. This is one of our few family shots.


Stole this one from Nate's mom. Brother's and their babies. That's Mabel, Oscar's cousin only 2 months younger than him.



Oscar on Thanksgiving going to town on the sweet potatoes from my plate. He loved them. He wasn't a fan of the mashed potatoes though. He has officially eaten his first Thanksgiving dinner.





Oscar doing what he does best, laughing like crazy. I'm pretty sure he got his giggles from me. He thinks almost anything you do is HILARIOUS. It's pretty great, we love that about him. I was trying to get him laughing hard like this so I could get a picture of his two teeth that came in a few days ago.


Can you see the two bottom teeth right next to each other? That's the best picture I could get. He's been pretty uncomfortable because of them, but they look so cute.


This is his adorable little head of hair. He looks so darling. I thought he was cute when he was bald, and I didn't even really realize how bald he was until he got all this gorgeous hair. We love it. He has a cowlick on the top back of his head just like Nate does. It swirls around right there and makes his hair stand up straight in the back. He really couldn't get any better. Thank you Brenda & David for the high chair he's sitting in! We love it and it's been soooo nice having it since he started eating.

delicioso but not domingo

I keep meaning to post the pictures of my treats for the Sunday posts but I forget every time. So here are the deliciosos but not on Sunday. I blew it and forgot to take a picture of the finished product of the pies. It's really hard to remember to document while you are in the middle of something. That's the way all of my life is. Poor Oscar doesn't have as many pictures as most first children do.


It's pie season but I just can't muster up the energy to make a whole pie from scratch so I made up these mini cheesepies. At least I think I made them up, let me know if someone already came up with this idea. I don't like to spend all day making food so I opted for the Pillsbury box dough that you just add water to. It's ready to be rolled out in like 1 minute.



I also don't enjoy spending more money than necessary so I mixed fresh blackberries that were on sale for $0.88 and a can of blueberry pie filling with some cream cheese. That's why I called them cheesepies.




Line cupcake pan with dough, fill with mixture, top with more dough, then bake according to boxed pie crust directions. They were delicious, and one was more than plenty to satisfy my sweets craving. So sad I don't have a finished product picture cause they were so cute and tasty looking.



These I found all over the internet and I thought they were pretty cool. I had leftover candy corn and orange and black food dye from Halloween so this was an inexpensive treat for me. Just make your own sugar cookie and frosting recipe and pipe out frosting in orange and black for the legs and eyes. And the candy corn stays on because you spread some frosting underneath it on the cookie.



And since I was running with the non-Sunday delicioso theme, I had to post this. It's one of my favorite commercials. I know it's not hilarious but I laugh every time, I just can't help it.

oscar at 6 months

Oscar in his red high tops


Today was his 6 month birthday so here are his stats from the pediatrician visit today. He also got 5 shots while he was there and found out he had an ear infection. I think he's also cutting some teeth, so he's had a really rough few days.



If you click on the picture to blow it up, you'll see percentages next to his weight, height, and head circumference. However, instead of a high 90's percentage like the others, the height category has only an up arrow and no percentage. That is because his height is literally off the chart. They brought out the growth charts that tracks the normal margins of growth on a curve and where he's been placing, and he's outside the margin limits every time. My little basketball/volleyball/soccer/football/baseball player is growing just like his daddy did and he's looking sooo much like him lately. We love him so much. He has grown some really cute hair over the past month and he officially has brown eyes. His eyes are so much prettier than mine though because they're this pretty caramel color and mine are pretty close to black.


Nate in his red high tops. I don't think Nate was even a year old in this picture. Longest legs you'll ever see.

diamonds in my arizona rough

Warning- I am NOT making any statements or stances on where I stand politically on my ideas of illegal immigration, because I myself still have no idea.

Scenario 1:
Tonight I paid a visit to one of Mesa's little nuggets of gold, Rancho Grande Super Market. It's a full size SUPER Latino super market that boasts freshly grilled carne asada Saturdays outdoors, an amazingly clean environment, an impressive selection of Latino groceries, a delicious freshly made to order take-out section, great music, and THE FRIENDLIEST smiles and customer service in the west. I first asked a teenage girl where I could find some "masa preparada" (ready made dough) for tamales and she KINDLY and HAPPILY guided me with a huge smile to the area where I could find some. I go to check out and one of the best things happens. A woman cashier in her 50's not only assumes I speak Spanish, (never happened to me in the U.S.) but talks to me in Usted which is our equivalent of ma'am or sir. She sincerely and sweetly asks me how i'm doing with a big smile on her face.

Scenario 2: Immediately after Rancho Grande I go to Target. A teenage girl is my cashier. The customer ahead of me asks how her day is going and she proceeds to complain about how she has to work on a Friday night. This is her direct quote, no joke: "There are plenty of old people that work here. You'd think they'd sign up for the Friday night shifts, but noooo, I'm stuck here on a Friday night instead."

I had no other option but to contrast the two situations right away. I mean they literally happened one right after the other in the same night. The only thing I could think of was the state of our economy and the gratitude most people have or should have for their employment, whatever it may be. I thought of the illegal immigrants that stand outside on Broadway Rd. waiting for work. You've all seen them in your own city somewhere probably. Every morning they are out on the street at 5am, if not earlier, waiting for their next gig where a stranger determines their pay and their work. And they keep going out there every day! That Target teen employee made me realize, even in these days of a national %10 unemployment rate, I still don't see any U.S. citizens out there competing with the illegal immigrants on Broadway. I've known some of those guys to make at least $10 an hr and they pick up jobs pretty consistently sometimes if they're good. So why aren't any U.S. citizens at $10 an hr skill level out there competing with them?

Scenario 3:
A situation close to home has completely been blown out of control. I wish I could give the history of this situation so that you could understand what's really going on, but that just wouldn't be right. After a long time of unemployment, some people we know have been offered an opportunity for employment in the same field as their previous career. They have not pursued or taken advantage of this opportunity at all. However, they are now PUBLICLY frustrated and disappointed with us for not doing enough for them.

After thinking about all of these different scenarios, it's really hard not to think about the all those illegal immigrants I see on Broadway everyday. They've become the talk of our state and the talk of the nation. After these people we know decided to voice their disappointment and frustration with us to others, I became extremely frustrated for the takers in life. All I could think of were the people who take, complain, expect, demand, etc. It made me so mad that even with the financial state of our country, and the state of every other country in the world, that people are still unwilling to work and expect to not have to work too hard. And then I thought of those guys out on Broadway Rd. waiting for work and they lightened my anger.

I remembered those wonderful workers at Rancho Grande Super Market, my co-workers at the Red Iguana who will be life long bussers at a restaurant, and the guys that stand out on the street in many cities waiting for work every day at 5am without any expectations, and they really brightened up my day. Their work ethic and gratitude has become a little diamond in my Arizona rough and i'm really grateful for them today.