.JPG)
.JPG)
Posts
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
"Is this the face that launched 1000 ships and burnt the topless towers of Ilium?"
"Is this the face that launched 1000 ships, and burnt the topless towers of Ilium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss." Christopher Marlow
1 story that Elena just loves is the story of 1 of her namesakes, Helen of Troy. How she was the most beautiful women in the world and she was taken away by the handsome young prince of Troy. Taken across the Aegean Sea from Sparta to live in a new land with her love, Paris. It was this abduction that lead to the Trojan War. As written by one of the best playwrights of all time, Christopher Marlow; "Is this the face that launched 1000 ships, and burnt the topless towers of Ilium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss." Once in Troy- the fleet of soldiers that came to take Helen home included 1 other Rosas namesake- Achilles. Obviously the influence behind our son's name Akilean. The strongest and bravest man of his time Achilles and Helen would be forever entangled in this history and forever in my family.
Lena loves this story. She knows how to say it in both Spanish and English and loves to tell it. How she is named after the most beautiful woman in the world, some would say Aphrodite herself... the daughter of Zeus. And how Akilean was named after the bravest and strongest soldier. When Kennedy Elena was born, she was the most beautiful little girl to grace the earth. I knew that there was only 1 name for her. Well, after Kennedy, a name that I had picked out many many years before and my husband had absolutely NO say in. Elena, based on the Greek name of Helen was perfect.
My little girl is about to be 7 years old. She has grown far past the days of being a little girl and is now growing in to.... dare I say it??? A woman. Okay- well not quite. Which is good because I am not mentally or physically in shape for that event.
She has grown so much into a caring beautiful kind and creative little girl. I would love to take credit for all of her amazingness but her gift comes from within her and I am simply a spectator. But as I sit and watch her grow right in front of my eyes, I am filled with a huge peace knowing that she is amazing. From inside she has a gift of caring for others and compassion. She is creative and intuitive. She is giving and selfless.
Lena- "may the wind always be on your back and the sun upon your face. And may the wings of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars." I love you my precious Helen of Troy. You are my Aphrodite
Day of the Dead and thinking of family
This past week we celebrated the Mexican tradition of the day of the dead. I love this holiday. It is a day when our loved ones that have died get to come back enjoy the pleasures of earth for a day. Those of us that our alive set up altars and clean gravestones and have a big party with all of the favorite foods and drinks of our loved ones. This was my first year setting up an altar. We gathered some stuff from around the house and created a very nice space. We put some flowers from our garden which my grandpa Jim would have loved. He was a big gardener. We put out some candles and that created a beautiful light in the evening. We set out some limes for some color and a photo of my grandparents. It was really nice. You usually set out some favorite foods so we put out a cup of coffee for my grandma. You might remember my visits with my grandma like this one. http://rosas-standring.blogspot.com/2009/04/visit-with-my-grandma.html . She was very special to me and I to her. We would sit for many hours and drink coffee and she would gossip about her neighbors. She also loved to drink wine. It was horrible wine- but whatever. It was that bottle of Chablis with the tiny loop handle. But hey. I put out a little wine for her. For my grandpa I put out a snickers bar and a shot of vodka.
My grandpa loved snickers so much that he was buried with 1 in his shirt pocket. haha. In his younger days my grandpa was regrettably an alcoholic and did not always act the best. By the time that my and m brothers came around he had not had a drink in many years. But he always had a glass of diet 7up. That was his deterrent to drinking and it totally worked. I remember my grandpa as being a fun and wonderful man. He was always with us when we would go water skiing. The first run of the day was at 8 so we had to be in the boat at 7:30 so the 1st skier could be in the water ready to hit is at 8- so you get the best water. Grandpa was on that and every other run for the whole day. So I figured that since he did such a great job of controlling his addiction when he was alive- that this was his chance to enjoy it for a day.
My great grandpa Willet loved to grow tomatoes and cantaloupes. He was always so proud of them and he did grow huge tomatoes. This was always a little funny because he did so in a trailer park. But they were great. It is a well known fact and joke about grandpa greats love obsession with tomatoes. So I also put out some tomatoes. Ruben unfortunately does not have any photos of his family that has past. he did however get to be in Guanajuato when his grandfather was within hours of passing and that was really special to him. He had not been back to Mexico in almost 12 years so it was remarkable that he was there at that time.
Dia de los Muertos is such a happy occasion. I sort of think of it as Thanksgiving for the dead. A time when everyone gets together and enjoys their families. That is why you see so many of the skeletons with festive cloths and bright colors. We are all here for a party- dead or alive. Ruben is getting a beautiful tattoo that has the front gate of the cemetery in his town with a party going on just behind all with day of the dead figures. I think that it is going to be really amazing.
I did get my tattoo on my back touched up. It was a little light and now it is much stronger. It looks really good. I am so glad that my friend is doing my tattoos as an exchange. There is certainly not enough money for something like tattoos but luckily our website provides us with a good exchange opportunity. Olmo is also adding some green to my back tattoo that has my kids names- well the initials and 4 roses for "Rosas" which means roses in Spanish. He is also doing a sweet little arm band that will be nice and delicate but the one I am most excited about is my owl. The owl was my grandma's animal. It was her symbol for her sorority and was part of her life forever. She was always given owl oriented gifts and loved owl decorations. I am getting an owl on my left foot. My grandma is one of the people that showed me that your strongest foot might not always lead you down the right path. Sometimes things are supposed to be hard. The other person who taught me this is my momma. But I am not sure what tattoo to get for her. haha.
Anyway... Happy Day of the Dead everyone- a little late but whatever. We have all come down with Pinkeye so we have not been doing much lately. Just sitting watching movies- well listening to movies more like.
Halloween
This Halloween was great. I busted out my sewing machine and started threading away. I was making a mermaid costume and I was really excited about it. I had these great shells that I was making the top out of. and I had looked up some great ideas on the skirt. Lena and Akilean were both punk vampires. Their costumes where made up of stuff from around the house and they looked so cute.
On Friday night I grabbed the kids and headed up to Puerto Morelos to see our friend that lives there. They were doing their towns celebration in the main square on Friday so we all headed over there. It was a lot of fun. One of the best parts was that one of my all time favorite Tulum bands was up there and playing. It is the same band that Ruben had booked for my birthday. It was awesome. We listened to the music-0 danced around the square and like a pinata announcing the end of a party- the rain started to drizzle and everyone headed home. It was so much fun.
The next day I drove all over town looking for vampire teeth for the kids. It is amazing how much surplus of everything there is in the | From The Rosas-Standring Family |
On Saturday after we had gotten back to Tulum we had some friends come over and headed into town to hear our friends band play. It was a really good time. For this first night Ruben dressed up like a fisherman and I the mermaid- We looked really cute. Not to crazy of a night- we were home early and ready to have a killer Halloween.
For the actual Halloween it was awesome. We got our costumes all ready and headed to the beach for a few hours. It was a great day on the beach. As soon as I got there I had a guy walk up to me and say. "hey You are Tulum Living right?" I follow your page and love your info on Tulum." He had just moved here from Belize and was just getting settled in Tulum. It was very cool. He was very nice and I told him that I was sure that we would see him around. Tulum is a very small town and you run into everyone here eventually.
We had all of our friends meet at my house before trick or treating. We set up our Dia de los Muertos altar and some fun things around the house. It looked great. I did a Mohawk on a Akilean and it was so cute. The first night was a frizzy crazy one and Halloween it was going to be a liberty spike- but I could not get it to stand all the way. His hair has gotten very long and I would have needed more product then was worth it for him. But he did look so cute. He said he wants to wear it in a Mohawk more often- Looks like we will have to get up a little earlier for school. 
Ruben and I headed out to town and had a great night with a bunch of our friends at Bar 307. Ruben and I have such fun when we get the chance to go out. It is not very often we get to go out on the late night party up nights- Between babysitters- school- family - life and little money- it is not that often- which is fine but defiantly fun when we do get to do it.
We had such fun and we looked great. A number of our good friends were there and we had a great time dancing- laughing and hanging out. The kids were at the house the by 11 and Ruben made a great 
pancake and bacon breakfast and we just watched movies all day.
pancake and bacon breakfast and we just watched movies all day. Today however is Dia de los Muertos so we are going to get the house all set up and head to some great festivities in town. There are some wonderful celebrations and ceremonies both in the cemetery and in town. It is going to be a good day.
A hurricane! 200 Years of Independance and 100 years since the Revolution!
There were parties, fairs, parades and festivities everywhere. The kids and I spent the first part of the day on the 15th on the Yaaj-Ximbal tour. It was wonderful as always. A 4x4 trip through the jungle were we all got bounced around the back of the cars while we flew over rocks and trees in the middle of the jungle.
Lena on the other had got my and Ruben's build. Ruben is one of those really broad shoulder guys with a lot of muscles. He is the sort of guy that would never be able to stretch his arms straight above his head because his shoulder muscles are too big. I love this build in my husband. I have always had a short build and even when I danced between a little chunky or really skinny- I still had what was then referred to as "soccer legs." This usually meant short- very strong muscular legs- especially thighs. It was something that i hated then but love now. Since I have no upper body strength and now less since my severe hand injuries- I used to do everything with my legs. I used to move massive pieces of furniture with legs when I wanted to rearrange my house. Ruben was amazed on what a short 100 lbs chick could get accomplished while he was at work- especially since I had NO arm ability. 
She is a born water baby. She has loved the bath, pools and the sea and will spend HOURS in anyone of them. I often tell people that Akilean will be my fire dancing, acro-yoga instructor and Lena will be a scuba instructor or kite boarder. They are both showing more and more of their personalities and I love watching them. 
We spent the evening at the "fair" and let the kids go on the bumper cars and bought them a toy. There are very few rides here and they are either for babies or they are for adults. So we bought them a toy instead.
We stood in the centro and ate all of our favorite snacks and watched all of the talented performers on the new permanent stage that has just been built. It was a wonderful time. We then headed out to a friends house for a little party and went swimming at midnight! It was a wonderful day. Bicentenial Celebrations have commenced!!!!
Now I new that Thursday was happeneing and almost 100% likely Friday, but Wednesday????? Well, Okay. But wit? What? They are done at 9:00 on Tuesday! WOW that is a celebration of Independance indeed.
The parade was really cute. The costumes were really amazing. All of the kids in the school looked adorable and I could tell that parents had worked really hard on these costumes. Some had clearly worked very hard as some of the costumes did really look nice.
Akilean looked so handsome and wore his mustache well.
This one is better in pictures!
Wish Lists
The comment that Steve left on the previous post about prefect Summer Days got me thinking about flying space ships. And by the way, if you have never been in the Pacific Northwest and gotten to enjoy a perfect summer day... you simply have not lived! One of the best places in the world and I have been to many many places in the world. And currently live among the best beaches in the world! So I know pretty landscapes
But anyway, Lately in general, I have been thinking a lot about wish list. I have been making a lot of wish lists lately. I made 1 at the Temezcal for myself on ways that I want to improve my life and my relationships. It is all going very well. It is nice to be so happy. I know that this marriage will be a wave just like every relationship but I am really enjoying a new place that we have gotten to in trust and communication and just being and showing that we are happy. It is really nice. Learning from our past fight and just dropping the stupid stuff sooner. I am really enjoying the roller coaster right now.
I must say- this is a fantastic morning. The kids are still fast asleep and the birds are chirping, the morning sun is out and hits my backyard Mango wall perfectly... and I have coffee. This has not happened in a long time so I am inclined to just write a bit. Not sure what will come of it. The coffee is the biggest part of the equation. I did not have it yesterday and I had a horrible headache in the afternoon. Yes yes I know, I am clearly addicted to caffeine. But if drinking 2-3 cups of coffee a day is among my biggest vices- I am totally okay with that.
So back to perfect summer day's. One clear memory that I have of a perfect summer day was on the coast of Oregon. On the perfect 4th of July holiday it was amazing to be out there with my whole family. The little town of Lincoln City was packed with people and the beaches were full of kites.
I have never seen so many kites. Just off my dad's docks on the beach house were several wind tunnels of bright colors twisting like crazy and strange animals. It was fantastic. I cannot wait to go and get some great kites for the kids. I had found some once in Fresno while visiting my grandma but they fell apart pretty quick.
Kite boarding is such a huge sport here because we have the perfect conditions for kites. This is one of the things on the wish list. I am going to get the kids really well made and sturdy kites. There are not too many toys that you can bring to the beach - and there is only so much time you can play in the water. So a kite is perfect.
My wish list is ever growing and shrinking depending on my mood- 1 day it is no problem to hang my cloths on the line- then others it is a nightmare or has ruined the cloths- its a toss up on everything- everywhere - so pretty much the same, I am really trying to move forward on our small piece of land. We are going to build to VERY SKINNY t- 3 story townhouses. 1 to live in and 1 to rent. eventually rent both. But first we need to get it through the phases.
But that is my big want- to get my house to 1st level walls and roof. So- I guess I should go draw my house plans- later all!
A life altering experience.
Okay. A few weeks ago I had a life altering experience and since then I have been blessed with the very best of life. In truth I was blessed before that but sometimes did not feel it or see it. Unfortunately - all of this has been smacked on the face very horrible event.
But let me start at the beginning as to not ruin the beginning with the end. I did my very first temazcal on the last new moon. Now first of all- I am a self confessed hippie. But more of a beach hippie then a city hippie. I cannot believe that this was my first temazcal. It was unbelievable. It was the New Moon which is a very powerful female energy. It was also the day of the Solar eclipse!!! Very cool for us female hippie folk.
In the beginning we were all asked to write down some of our intentions, the things that we wanted to ask for and focus on. Some of mine were...
1) Surround myself with people who genuinely love me and care about me
2) Spend more valuable time on things that worked towards my goals
3) be me and be happy and fulfilled with it
etc. you get the idea. Then be burned them into the fire. The songs and chants and fire and steam and songs--- all was perfect. When I got home then next morning I could feel Ruben looking at me. he was not just looking at me while I slept- he was starting at me. In awe. A women can feel it. I know he loves me always - but there are times when I can actually watch him remember how much. After almost 10 years I can watch many thought go across his mind. He was starting at me in awe and I could feel. My transformation from the previous night had become to take a hold in my life. It was great.
Okay... so this is the fast version.... there is was too much to catch you up on. I went to San Francisco to pick up my niece and my nephews to come and visit us in Mexico. The way the ticket worked - I was in SF for 4 days all by myself. It was literally an onslaught of all of my favorite things. 
Other then sleeping in the Mexico City airport everything could not have gone more perfect. After arriving in SF the Bart picked me up as easy as could be-- one of my very best friends in the entire world was waiting for me on the other end. We stashed my bags and headed off to "the Haight" for lunch. As you would have it... the very next bus was for the Haight!!! We sat in the park and smoked some of the very best smoke I have in over 2 years.
***Okay disclosure**** I am really sorry if this comes as a surprise to anyone or offends anyone...but I do have a vice... this is the only one I have and I everyone in my life knows about it. I make almost no attempt to hide it as I do not feel it is anything to hide. As a self professed hippie this should really not shock anyone but.. there you go. I am really sorry for any offense- but we all have our vice and this is mine. **** It has been over 19 years and is not about to change now....
So that made my re entry to SF about as perfect as it could possible be. Plus the abundance of amazing food - readily available is truly amazing. After living in 2 of the very best cities in the United States- I have forgotten just how blessed I have been. In Portland OR we do almost everything natural, better. The fruit and veggies grow bigger and better- sweeter and more abundant, the micro beers are better, the smoke is better, the water that comes out of the ground could not be better if it came from Aphrodite's fountain itself. And in SF we literally have the whole world living there. The food is vast, varied and perfect. So anyway.
After lunch we walked back to Jordon's apartment. Jordon actually lives here in Mexico but was up working for a few weeks. We both have many kids and busy lives so to sit through a whole meal without cutting anything for anyone or clean up any mess was great. 
Later the night she took me out on a date. We got all dressed up- yes very BoHo Chic but we looked great. She took me to her restaurant which is one of the best in SF- Scalas. She ordered all the food for us and we sat there for about 2.5 hours. It was great. We thought that we would hit the town- but after such a perfect day- it was ended on a perfect note.
The next day we walked and walked and walked- It was like walking memory lane. After 10 years in SF every spot has a memory. We walked to the warf and had some coffee in the park and then went to one of my favorite spots- Washington Park. This is at the base of North Beach (the Italian district of SF) This church was were Joe Dimaggio and Marilyn Monroe were married. :) We then got some espresso and some cheese cake and walked some more.
Later the day I went to My other Friend Tara's house. I have not spent time with Tara in years. She is my oldest friend. I have known her for over 23 years and we have been close that whole time. She is one of those people that you can just laugh and laugh and laugh with- she knows everything about me- can be serious and be fun- never passes judgement and is just one of the very best people I could possibly have in my life.
After a great night with her I was back to SF. I went to the store and found a bottle of Wine- an Old Vine Zin called Elena. ( Old vine Zin is my favorite and named after my daughter) PLUS!!!! There was a special- buy 1 bottle get the 2nd for $.05. YEAH that is right 5 cents!!! So I brought one home to Ruben knowing he would love it.
That day I took myself on a date all by myself. I took my bottle of wine to my favorite restaurant in SF... the Mona Lisa. This is my favorite meal of all time- the only thing that I ever sent my husband out to get for me when I was pregnant through either kid-- and I was pregnant for like 2.5 years straight!
That night and the next day I spent it with my good friend Jasmine. It was literally perfect. By the end of my trip I realized that my temazcal intentions so far had been true. Only people that truly love me and care about me surrounded me and I was as happy as I could possible be.
Okay so that is part one!!! Part 2 is the kids..... I will update more detail later but I got the kids and we were off to Mexico. I have 3 kids with me- Willie- 1-.. Melanie-- 7 and Freddie- 5. The kids are wonderful. They are all so well behaved - so nice- so polite - it has been perfect.
The house was a little trashed when I got home but I know my hubby all to well- he has the let it get trashed and clean it right before I get home- sometimes he runs out of time and again I can see it on his face. We were bombarded with new cloths from the family which is wonderful. Sort of crazy- literally over 20 pairs of shoes. Almost all flip flops which is perfect!!!! We have been at the park- the beach- the laguna- etc. it was not until yesterday that the house acually got deep cleaned- all the laundry got folded and the floors mopped. So know that I have my sanity with a clean house I can write.
I am a little crazy about having a clean house. If my house is not clean I start to loose it a little bit. Ruben knows - if we every fight or he does something wrong- I do not want flowers- I do not need jewelry- but cleaning my house is always the way back to my good graces! hahaha,
Okay... so the other day we had a perfect day- I mean perfect day. I took the kids to Ruben's work, we swam in the pool- Ruben and I were all in love and happy and he was doughting on me which I love... We stayed on the beach really late to watch the Sea turtles come on shore. In our area- the giant sea turtles come on shore to bury their eggs. After this beautiful creature had gone back into the sea - I had set my bag down and took the kids into the water to rinse off the sand.
it was in this moment that someone stole my bag. Literally 30 seconds. I have lived in Tulum for over 2 years and never had anything taken from me. This was made even worse because of what was in my bag. My net book computer which I use to write ALL of my articles, my camera- which you all know I live be- my cell phone- my bikini top EVERYTHING! Plus my favorite bag. I am so upset about it. I am not really sure what to do about it. There really is nothing that I can do but I am devastated about it. I am so upset I have avoided calling my mom because I am so ashamed that I let someone take it. My mom and poppa Neal are the ones that had just bought me the net book to write on because they knew I was having troubles writing at home with the kids. I call my mom almost every day and I cannot even "face" her right now.
I know there is nothing that I can do about it but... well, anyway... now you know why I did not lead with that news.
A day of snorkeling in the back yard and learning!!!!
.JPG)
Okay--- First of all- I have to say that I have one of the cutest sons in the world. He has the most incredible imagination. He has always been very independent when he plays. He plays and interacts with others very well but he can sit for over and hour or 2 and play by himself.
When he was just over a yer old her loved to push around cars- trucks- trains--- anything that moved like a car. In his Montessori preschool his teacher- who was working on her masters degree asked if she could do her final paper on Akilean. That meant that she would observe him over the course of 2 years and document his development and habits. The cool part was that she gave me a copy of the paper. It talked about how he played and how and what he ate etc. One of the funniest things was that he would eat the inside of his apples, then play with the skins as if they were boats or cars. He would start with his head on the table and watch them roll. Within a few minutes he would be on the bench and in no time he would be on the floor- one arm above his head and the other pushing around the "car" after a while he would eat all of the skins.
His teacher was not sure if she should try to eliminate the behavior or not. She chose not and instead made him a mat that had roads and tracks on the them. He still plays with his cars and trains in the same position. Even at the beach. Lena has always been a water baby. Since the time she was born she loved to play in the water. Akilean - not so much. He was more land and sky. When we go to the beach Lena dives immediately into the water and Akilean falls onto the sand. 
Well anyway... sort of a digression... Yesterday Uncle Cesar had a kids snorkeling mask. Akilean asked to go snorkeling in the back yard. He first tried to fill up a cardboard box. After a while he realized that was not going to work. So he grabbed our cooler and started to fill it up. It was so cute. He must have been in there for over an hour- maybe more! It was so adorable. Also yesterday- we got the books! These are even better then I had hoped and thought. They are basically text books! The text books that we would get in middle and high school. They are beautiful!!!! They are so easy to read and really well written. They outline so many wonderful ideas.
And they are organized better then I thought. I thought that it was organized by grade level. It is done by subject. So there is a Math book, geography, technology, grammar and language, physics and natural science. Then there are 3 encyclopedia books in 3 levels. The first covers subjects like memorization, study, concepts etc. Then the 2nd covers more discussions, lectures and communication and then 3rd is history, social studies, art and culture etc. It is so very cool. 
These books are worth every peso! I am so glad that we got them. And thank you so much to those of you that helped with them. It was more then kind of you. Even my husband sat and read them for 2 hours yesterday. He said that one thing that is really cool about the kids getting to the grades that they are getting into is that we get to relearn a lot of those cool facts that we learned as kids but have forgotten. I remember a lot about a lot of stuff but there is so much that I have forgotten. One of my favorite subjects in school was always History and politics. Being reminded of all of the amazing moments of history that have led to the world being where it is today is really interesting to me.
I am really excited to be sharing that more with my kids. And it is really going to help my spanish as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)