Recycled jet pack for my boys

Hello everyone! 

I know I've been terrible at keeping up with this blog there are a few reasons why one is one of my previous blogs was very personal and it made some people very upset, people being my step-dad for a man that claims he doesn't know how to use a computer he sure does keep up very well with my blog ANYWAYS!! It did cause some issues with my parents and family members who didn't agree that i should be airing out my dirty laundry for the world to read. I decided that I don't really care I like writing my blogs and I know I'm not the only one who was affected by abuse as a child sometimes Its best to talk about it. Either way here I am.

Today I decided that I would do something for my boys. It’s been a while since I’ve done any crafty stuff I’ve been really stressed out about some financial issues that we are having… but I guess it’s just something that I have to not worry about as much that would be the second reason why I haven't kept up. Crafting always makes me feel so much better it’s my therapy I suppose. And like most crafters these days I am absolutely addicted to PINTEREST! Had it not been for Pinterest I would not have found some of the blogs that I’m currently following and that would be a shame because they are AWESOME!

So today I decided to make my older son Diego a jet pack. My most favorite thing about Diego is his imagination! I love watching him play, the things that he just comes up with its so fascinating and inspiring. He always challenges me to make some crazy things for him, but this idea was very simple. I went down to the dollar tree where things actually are a dollar! I grabbed some 2 litter sparkling water bottles because i love the flavors, and these are the best size for my son who is a little skinny Minnie. I also got some silver spray paint. Today I've made two jet packs actually I also bought some little jugs of apple juice for my little baby Tenoch who is 18 months. He is in the monkey see monkey do stage and is just infatuated with his big brother. So to avoid screaming and tears I decided I had to be a fair mom and make one for the baby too.

I dumped all the sparking water into a clean jug that i had so I didn't have to drink it all right now and I washed out the bottles the same with the juice jugs. i spray painted them outside on my porch like I always do. I have to say this the spray paint was pretty good for dollar tree spray paint I thought it was going to be runny but it wasn't at all.

 I had some felt and foam in my craft room so I made the flames out of those things but I'm sure there are other materials that you can use I thought about using party streamers but I remembered how delicate they are with water so I used something a little more resistant.

  Now I already had a cardboard box that saved so I cut off the flaps to make the backing. I cut four holes in each corner for the straps.

 And I had some elastic material that I used for the straps. I just inserted them through the holes and stapled them to the cardboard you will need two straps per cardboard backing.

I folded the flames at the tip and hot glued them to the inside of the bottle.

Now I did have an issue with my glue gun. It’s so old that it only has two setting really 

HOT and HOLY MOTHER OF GOD HOT! So because of that one of the bottles started to melt a little bit but what I decided to do is...

 Put a button panel! lol what jet pack works with out a button panel!? That’s just dangerous!

So this is my little tutorial on recycled jet packs. If you have a kid like mine that LOVES to dress up and pretend these are a great way to support his passion. And it’s not expensive or time consuming at all!

La Chicana Chingona...

Sometimes I don’t understand how a person can hate their own race. I mean every race has its screw ups and people that make us look terrible but lately i have been seeing and hearing the most disgusting things… and think we are the reason that no one takes us seriously!

 I am LA CHICANA CHINGONA! I am proud of my beautiful brown skin and I tell my son that he has the most beautiful Aztec Gold skin because well he does it’s like he radiates beauty and it also might be that I’m bias since I am his mother and all. I have a few friends that I have known for years and sometimes their posts on facebook or the things that come out of their mouths bewilder me with the question…. How can you say that about your own ppl?

Don’t get me wrong I am a very proud American so proud in fact that I decided that I would stand for its freedom when I enlisted in the ARMY back in 2006. With that being said I know that I come from somewhere and this land that I walk on everyday was not once ours. I know that I am truly blessed to live in this great country but I also know that I am truly blessed to be of Mexican descent. 

  I understand why there are certain laws and rules and have no issues with them but at the same time I understand why ppl come to America I understand the struggle because I have lived it. I grew up on the Southside of El Paso TX or as we like to call it Chuco Town.  In the Segundo barrio I grew up in a small 1 ½ bedroom apartment with seven other women. My grandmother was the head of our home and she ruled it with an iron fist, but I knew why she was so assertive I knew why she always told us that no man was going to come our way and take care of us we had to be able to fend for ourselves. She was the single mother of 6 girls my mother having me at the age of 16 didn’t really help the whole living situation but my grandmother loved me endlessly she babied me and cuddled with me said the most beautiful things to me and for that I will always be grateful .

I am grateful for those three jobs she held down, for those beans burritos she put in my belly, and those French braids she made me rock… I am grateful for the nights of loteria, and the chanclas to my butt when I was a grosera. I thank her for the bus rides, hand me downs, and Bowie bakery pan con leche before bed… she made me the person I am today… and I thank her the most for the struggle that she endured so that I can sit here and listen to my iTunes and drink my café de olla…. 

 I remember living in fear of the border patrol officers that used to patrol our areas even though I was an American all the ppl that I knew would hide and run as soo as someone said “LA MIGRA!” I remember the cold white face my grandmother would get when she would be walking home and a patrol car would drive by her. She has always been the bravest person I know. When I hear ppl say that we should close our borders because of this immigrant problem and then see that they too are of Mexican descent I chuckle because with those statements they are taking for granted the struggle that someone else has endured for them…  I love seeing that Mexican American who names their kids American names and tell them that mexicans are dirty and law breakers...but they can get down on an enchilada plate when it’s put in front of them. That same person will encourage their kiddos to check the Hispanic box when applying to college. Might as well use it for something right? Hahaha… I love my husband Jorge who hates to be called George, my sons Diego and Tenoch who are proud Americans while they sport their guayaberas that their abuela got for them in Mexico.
My boys say Jefa, papi, and Orale!... love titi and their abuela, they get down on those bean burritos and tortas while quenching their thirst with some agua de horchata!
 they make me so proud every day... they are aztec gold and ill beat down anyone who calls them dirty beaners... because we are BROWN AND PROUD!

There is nothing wrong with loving this wonderful country… but also there is nothing wrong with loving yourself and where you came from. It’s sad that some ppl don’t know the love of being Chicano, the culture, the art, the food, the PRIDE! I hope that my children carry on this love and traditions… I hope their heart is not contaminated by the hate of those that may look like them… but are no where near as honorable…

 Hate is not honor it’s IGNORANT!

my birthday boy turns 1!

         

As I sit here reminiscing about where I was this time last year I can’t help and be amazed at the strength that I have. Last year at this very time I was scared out of my mind about giving birth to my second son Tenoch. I had had the worst pregnancy from the very beginning I was destined for trouble. Around May 2010 I shattered my leg in a roller derby practice and had to get surgery on mother’s day of all days. It was the worst pain I have ever endured. The morning after the leg surgery I lay in my bed screaming at the top of my lungs sweating from the pain. I felt like I had run out of tears there was nothing that I could do, no medication that I could take to make it all go away. About a few weeks later when I was going into the doctor for a checkup and x-ray I was informed that I was about less than 2 weeks pregnant... I couldn't believe it! We had been trying for 3 years and all of a sudden here was our chance! But the doctors were very skeptical they kept telling us that "we were barely pregnant" whatever that meant... I was informed because of the trauma that I suffered that I should not be surprised when I miss carry and it was best that I don't even imagine a baby in the future. I was heartbroken how could they be telling me this... but I decided that I would make the best of it if and when I happened to miss carry then I would deal with that at that time until then I was pregnant and loving it! I was still on bed rest and in a great deal of pain... but now with the realization that I was having a little baby all of those pain killers I was taking just didn't feel right so I just suffered and toughed it out..

 About a month later I suddenly had a terrible pain in my leg that felt like a Charlie horse that just wouldn't go away! The pain started to subside though I spoke to a doctor they dismissed it and I was sent home to my bed. On July 12th I woke up with a terrible pain in my lung and felt like I was drowning. when I started coughing up blood my husband rushed me to the ER where I was informed that I had blood clots in my legs that had traveled to my right lung killing part of it. I was admitted to the ICU instantly and informed that I would be put on blood thinners. The doctor told me with a stern face and a raspy voice that they were hoping I would survive the night. WHAT? What are you talking about I asked. The doctor told me the blood clot was so big that the only reason I was still alive was because I was so young or because god wanted it that way. Normally people with a blood clot that size would of died instantly. My blood clot was a little bit bigger than 4cm my little baby growing away was barely 2cm. fear came over me and as I laid in that bed alone all I could think about was my Diego... how I would miss all his great moments, how I was going to be a distant memory to him. I was so scared as I drifted off to sleep... as I woke up the next morning I for the first time in a long time was so thankful to be alive. I mean I was always happy that I got another day but when your told that this might be it when you actually wake up it’s like a wonderful feeling that engulfs you! I was told that the best thing for me was to terminate my pregnancy and wait till I was better so that I would be healthier and the complications wouldn't be there. For a split second I thought well maybe but in the end I just couldn't do it. as the months went by I was in terrible pain, I was taking injections in my pregnant belly I was told weekly that if I was to have complications during birth the risk of death was severely high. if I were to need a C-section that I would most likely die. For nine months I was terrified of my "due date" it was more like a death sentence to me! I had to deal with terrible asthma, blood clots, injections, and still the terrible pain of recovering from my surgery I was miserable! I had no happy moments in my pregnancy no one gave me a baby shower to celebrate my child, no "glowing" feeling. Just sadness and fear for the WHOLE THING! As the 15th approached I was more and more nervous so I did something that I didn't think I was going to do. I asked my mother someone that I try my hardest not to open my heart to the person that I know will always let me down. I asked her to stay the night with me. I figured that she knew my situation, the risk I was running surely if this were to be my last night on earth she would want to spend it by my side. I asked her weeks ahead giving her the reason that we would have to wake up very early to be on time at the hospital so if she could just spend the night it would be so much easier since she was going to take my son to school. She agreed but like always something was more important as I waited for her to arrive that night I got a phone call from her informing me that it was just not convenient for her and that she would just pick up my son in the morning. Anger and sadness consumed me. why!? Why out of all days was she doing this to me! I was scared I just wanted someone to hold me to tell me that I was going to be ok. I wanted to hear that this choice I had made was going to pay off, but there I lay on my sofa hysterical! I couldn't breathe and as my husband got home from work he of course didn't understand why I was so upset. it just wasn't convenient so I should just get over it. It wasn't the point! Didn’t anyone understand! I needed someone I needed comfort. I was so angry I decided just to sleep on the sofa and drive myself to the hospital the next morning, and so I did I woke up and alone I packed my bag giving my son a kiss as he slept. I headed out into the dark cold morning feeling so unbearably alone. When I got to the hospital to be induced I found out that I was already 5cm dilated!

This baby was going to be here soon!! so after a couple of hours my husband arrived and though I was still very upset with him for making me feel like my feelings were so juvenile. I decided that it was not the moment to continue that fight and I just forfeited that one and decided to be happy. as the time got closer and closer the unthinkable happened all the machines around me started beeping in high volumes and 20ppl rushed in. I was being probed and turned and all I could hear was a doctor telling me they couldn't find my baby's heartbeat. THIS WAS IT I THOUGHT! I knew it! I knew I was going to die! Everything started to muffle out I couldn't hear anyone clearly all I could hear was Diego, my little Diego how I missed him. Was I selfish? I wanted him to have a brother someone he could play with and make memories with. I wanted to have another person to love and who love me! How could this be happening! As the doctor explained to me we are going to have to prep you for surgery I felt like I was drowning in my tears.

Just then my doctor rushed in and saved the day she somehow positioned me a certain way and took me off the Pitocin and there it was the most wonderful sound ever! My baby's heart beat! About an hour later I was pushing! 3 minutes into it there he was! The sweetest baby every Tenoch Julian Chavez as I held him in my arms gooey, bloody, with that fresh baby smell. I said to him "what the fuck do those doctors know my love huh we showed them. We made it!" and my doctor replied “that's true sometimes we don't know anything” I loved him so much instantly. I had waited for him for 9 months everyone kept saying how it wasn't going to happen, that I was crazy for wanting to do this. It was all worth it. no one celebrated us and yet through it all I was holding you in my arms. This year has been a world wind tomorrow my little baby is going to be a year old and he has made my life better every single day. For 9 months I was in pain and in fear. Now for a year I have been so happy because every day that I wake up he greets me with a smile and toothless grin that makes me so complete. So here we are my love we have made it a year what the fuck do they know? You were worth every injection, every sleepless night, all the pain from lack of painkillers all of it! You were so worth it! I love you with all my heart! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

party planning stress mode will commence in...3...2...1...HOLY CRAP!!!

Now that the new year has started i have to say its going off with out a hitch so far... husband got and email saying that he has been accepted to the AGR program so i hope we will hear something about that soon!! and we registered for school i am pursuing my MBA, and i have started going to the GYM!! haha we will see how long this lasts i really do picture myself bathing suit ready this year. my little one is turning 1! and i am in party planning mode though the husband would rather just not hear about it and just show up when i even bring up the topic of anything crafty he gets this sort of glazed look on his face and just begins to smile and nod at me lol though i still go on with what i have to say so when the day comes that he has to fork over his wallet he cant say what you didn't tell me this... i can say remember we had this conversation and u smiles and said yes... i hope i can con my very good friend who i don't get to see as often as i would like La Vicky as she is called in our home lol to help me make this thing happen and of course my very talented and jack of all trades my mother in law who very rarely disappoints me... she usually goes along with all my crazy ideas. i am doing a vintage carnival themed party...i hope i can pull this off... i have been looking at some really great tutorials this week i'm feeling very crafty!