Innocent Play

In these days of vacation, and the weather being not so hot, the kids have been stuck home having to make up games to stay entertained...As you can see from the picture above Isabella decided it would be fun to dress up Marco and their friend Pablo with all her princess accessories..They were willing participants and had a lot of fun, although, look at Marco's expression..hahahaha..


She then decided to put make up on herself.. Doesn't she look lovely????

Happy Easter 2008

We wish everyone a very Happy Easter 2008. Marco and Isabella received Huge chocolate eggs with gifts inside from the Easter Bunny. Isabella woke up at 7am as if it were Christmas Day and was very excited to see her gift from the Easter Bunny. She proceeded to eat the entire egg and around 10 am feel back asleep and didn't wake up until 1 pm. We thought she had gone into "chocolate schock"...we were scared there for a moment...Marco, only ate a little bit and enjoyed the rest of the day playing with his new toys...

photo flickr by j.terrell

Report Card Time

Well, as of today at 3 pm its Spring Break, otherwise known here as "Semana Santa" or "Holy Week" or plainly said "Easter'. Holy week is a huge event in all of Spain, there are many processions and celebrations. Very different in every part, being the most famous in the south of Spain.

But for us what this all really means is that school is out for a couple of weeks and the kids get to rest and enjoy the beginning of the great weather to come.. and with Spring Break comes the end of the second trimester and report card time....

For Isabella its still a simple is she getting it or not...and yes, she is getting all of it and then some..Her teacher commented that she was the perfect student, very obedient, very studious and outgoing....(I think there is another Isabella in that classroom and the poor lady is confused).

Marco's grades are a little more serious because he is officially in the beginning of his school career.. the grading system here is a little different than in the states where the A,B,C,D or F method is used here it goes like this.. Sobresaliente (A), Notable (B), Muy bien (C), Suficiente (D) and Insuficiente (F).. Marco received one A ,guess in what subject??? hahaha yes in English..(Might be the only A we will see from him.. hahah) He got 3 B's (Math, Spanish and Gym) 2 C's (Valenciano and Science/Social Studies) and one (D) in art... (poor thing he inherited my lovely art skills!!)..

We are very proud of both of them and have taught them that its very important to study and get good grades but more importantly is to figure out what their individual gifts are and to develop those fully, consciously to be able to share them with the world...Overall, honesty, ethics, and love..

picture google

Bella and her singing

Bella loves to sing and spends her days making up songs, singing school songs, or imitating singers like Celine or Mariah.. She states she would like to either be a painter, singer or dancer when she grows up but says that in reality she knows she will be a princess.. hahaha

Click her to view her song repertoire..


We will be recording her other famous Celine version of songs coming soon.....

Isabella helps Marco with his homework

As you all know Marco although only in first grade already gets homework. He loves the math part and problem solving but when it comes to drawing of painting, he just can't stand it...I don't blame him because I can't draw myself..as much as I try.

Today he had to turn in his homework and last night he fell asleep before he could complete the coloring part..What do we do? No problem, we give it to Bella for her to finish it.. Yes, we are bad parents, Bella finished his homework perfectly. She was very happy to do it, she said she didn't want Marco to get in trouble.

I know, I know, we are not going to make this a habit and Marco needs to learn how to draw and color and also learn responsibility, don't worry we are on it!

Bella goes to the MARQ museum in Alicante

Bella went on her first field trip to a the MARQ museum (Archaeological Museum) right here in Alicante. She was thrilled to be able to go on the BIG bus without Mama and Papa. She felt very grown up!..

I tried to ask her what she saw and to please give me a brief description of the trip and this is all I got:

"We went on the BIG bus and I sat next to Marina, we met Llumiq (I think, from what I saw on their web page that llumiq is some sort of animated animal that gives them a tour of the museum). Llumiq was very nice, they gave us a ballon, and we made put two shells with clay together"

I asked her if she saw any prehistoric things, to which she replied:

"I told you, I went on the Big bus, they gave me a balloon and I met Llumiq, that is a lot, I'm very tired!"

So there you have it Bella's first field trip...

Round Two! Bella's party at school

It's not enough nowadays to simple have a birthday party you also need to celebrated in school with all your friends.. Lucky for me I had to go and entertain 23 kids for one hour.. Yes, lots of fun.... I brought them snacks and candy and read them a story..

For the most part they paid attention but really, the rest of the time they spent yelling, screaming, crying, laughing, fighting with each other, asking me questions, telling me they had to go pipi or caca, singing, dancing, talking, climbing, painting, playing with toys, spilling things....ALL AT THE SAME TIME!! I definitely would not make it as a kindergarten teacher for more than 10 min...

Overall, the kids had a great time.. I guess.. and I have a huge headache. I'm glad the next birthday is not until December!! I think I will have time to recover...maybe...

To see the rest of the pics click HERE

Isabella's big birthday bash

You would think she was turning 21, the way Isabella and all her little friends celebrated this special day. Saturday afternoon we had the big birthday bash for Isabella who turned 4. She had been sick the day before but that didn't matter a bit when she woke up on Saturday and told us she was ready for her party.

She specifically asked for a princess cake and lots of balloons..We obliged on both accounts..She was quite pleased with the turn out and her gifts..She played with her friends and simply had a blast..The adults also seemed to have a great time..(there was lots of alcohol of course)..

Well, until next year I guess..

View all pictures HERE

Caca Verde

For those of you who don´t know what the tittle means, I will tell you ¨green shit¨ , yes you read right, green shit.. It seems that Marco and Bella ate something that has turned their caca verde and Marco in particular is very upset.. He has asked me not to tell anyone, and of course like a bad mother I´m, I write a post about it...hahaha.

Not sure what the hell they ate but they make me look at their caca and are fascinated by the different colors!! I´m very grossed out and hope that the shit returns to normal soon...

I guess American food is not settling too well with them, although they are enjoying eating everything they see and more...

picture google

In Miami one week from today

I truly almost forgot the date and when my mom called me this weekend to ask me how the packing was going, I said to her, "From Paris? I was only there for a day Mom" and she said, "Not Paris, you idiot for Miami" and that is when it hit me that in about a weeks time I would be off to visit my friends and family..

I have so much to do, and I really have until Friday because we are leaving right after work to spend the weekend in Madrid, since we leave from there on Monday. We are going to take advantage and see the Beauty and the Beast musical while we are there..The kids are very excited.. well , I think I'm more excited than they are.

I hope I will be able to see all of you there. Margie, are you ready for Disney?, Ana Marie, I don't have your phone number I know you have given it to me on numerous occasions, please do so again, Tom and Wanda, you lost souls I hope you re appear, Alberto and Patricia, I know you will make time to come see us, Ana can't wait to see the little new one, Leonor we will need to catch up.

Here are the details we get there Monday February the 4th, we will probalby be exhausted. I think the next day we will go up to WPB to visit Tony and family and also Evelyn will there from LA, Wed afternoon we leave for Disney and will be back on Sat, Sun the 10th is Tristan's Baptism after that we are pretty much free, so please call me to book some time. I will not have a car and will not be able to get around, so I hope you can all pass by my dads house at the beach.

Can't wait to see everyone there..

photo thanks to bridgepix

Weekend Birthday Parties

I guess Marco and Isabella are at that age where birthday parties are part of our daily routines. But you don't realize that parties not only take time away from you they also take money away for you. Last year I realized that I had to incorporate in our financial budget a birthday budget.

Yes, I know it sounds a little ridiculous but think about it, we have 2 kids, there are about 20 kids per class, about 10 friends in the urbanization and unfortunately or well many would think fortunate, our kids are very popular and invited to every single freaking birthday party in town.

Now, let's do the math. 2 kids times 20 classmates each = 40 kids + 10 urba friends = 50 kids. Ok, now each gift cost an average of 15 euros so 50x15=750 euros a year in birthday gifts and average of 62.5 a month. so, there you have it.. Aside from the mortgage, gas bill, electric bill, phone bill, food, car insurance and so on we now need to add a birthday party fund.. and lets not even talk about their actual birthdays, where an average party costs about 200 bucks x by 2 and now your total birthday deal is almost a grand a year...

Those of you who don't have kids yet, this gets you thinking huh?? its not just diapers and formula, with each stage there are new costs..

This month so far we have gone to 2 birthday parties and Marco had one today and Bella has one tomorrow so we are right at the 4 average that I budgeted..so if anyone else invites them this month we will have to pass...

Do you know why I like to eat my buggers?

Since, I always seem to write about how wonderful and great my kids are, I thought a post into reality now and then is always good. Today driving back from school Isabella said to me in Spanish of course..."Do you know why I like to eat my buggers?" and I said "No!!! why do you like to eat your buggers"? and she said "porque me gustan" in other words "Because they taste good" to which I had no reply!!

You just have to love kids and their sincerity, I'm sure if she ever looks back at this blog when she is older she is not going to be very happy with my sincerity.. but I thought you might all need a good laugh today..

The fish survived

I forgot to mention that over the holidays we had a little visitor we had to take care of. His name was (and is, thank God still IS) Flappy! Our upstairs neighbors went away for the holidays and left us with their daughter's little pet fish. Marco and Isabella were thrilled to have him!! as for me.. Well, this poor little guy lived in a round crystal jail and had to be cleaned daily!! Not much fun for me.. As if I didn't have enough with 3 kids (Matt is considered a child now and then), one dog and now a little wet fish.

Flappy survived Bella just as nemo survived "Darla", although she tried to "play" the straw game...(that was the game that killed our own poor little flappy.. Our little fish all of a sudden developed a little round hole which I thought was a tumor..hahahaha but later found out was a little hole from the poking with a straw!

Marco fed Flappy a little too much but at least did not play the straw game with him. The day before yesterday he was picked up by his loving family and I'm sure was glad to go..You may ask why I took a picture of him, well, for two reasons 1. in case something did happed I could take the picture to the pet store and replace him ( I know very mean, it wasn't my idea it was another neighbors ides) and 2. I thought it would make a nice post.

Just like Isabella

My dad sent me this video because he said it reminded him of something Isabella would do. And he is right!! Enjoy

Isabella's version of the victoria Beckham haircut

Isabella got a little excited with the scissors the other day and gave some of her Barbie's brand new haircuts..Matthew woke up early the other day and found traces of hair everywhere, then he saw Isabella with a pair of scissors and his first reaction was to scream "Marco, where is Marco" worried Isabella had cut off all his hair he ran to make sure he was ok, he soon found out the hair he saw all over the floor was not from Marco but from several Barbie dolls that as Bella put it "needed a new look".

My favorite cut is the one pictured above which she stated was "Beckham new haircut", not sure how she knew about Victoria and her new look, but there you have it, her master piece. Aside from the bold spots, it looks pretty good..some of the other Barbie's did not fare as well and will not be shown.. as they are in the shop for repair, Isabella wants to know if we can now add extensions to them...ummmm, I will have to think about that.

So, if you or your dolls need a touch up, don't hesitate to call and Isabella will come and help you...

Marco & Bella just want to have fun

This month has been a little stressful for all of us. After the relaxation of the summer getting back to a routine has been hard. Although the kids love school and are very happy going there everyday, they are still a little anxious and sometimes need to let off a little steam. Today they decided they just wanted to have fun so we put some music on and they just started to dance.. It was so cute just watching them try to choreograph a little piece.. They were laughing so hard, we were all cracking up..

It made me realize now and then we as adults need to burn off some steam and have some fun. It could be watching a comedy, telling funny stories with friends, or just plain dancing and screaming like little kids, they know how to have fun.

I hope all of you take some time out of your lives to simply enjoy life and have some fun.. gather the family and just start laughing.

Hit the PLAY button above to see the video......

Bella learns how to swing herself

This is not really news but for Isabella it is a big deal, she finally got the hang of swinging herself on a swing and now she just loves to swing as high as she can. We can't get her down, she feels very grown up. I realize that everyday that passes by the kids learn one more thing. It is so hard to keep up with all of their achievements now.

This summer we have to major tasks to achieve the first one is teaching Bella how to swim and the second is taking Marco's training wheels off, although I think at the pace we are going, Isabella will take hers off way before Marco. But for now we will concentrate on these two wonderful things and I will report at the end of the summer how we did

Pool Party on the last day of School

Well, its all over.. Marco and Isabella are all done with school. They are officially off for two plus months.. they are so excited, and so am I..hahahaa... I love to spend time with them but by the end of the summer I can't wait until school starts again. But, for now they are free from early mornings, extra curricular activities and they have to look forward to days in the pool and beach and long summer nights, eating ice cream and playing with their friends.
I started their summer off today by having a mini pool party in our pool. Marco invited his best friends Marcos, Alvaro, Roberto & Javier and they had a blast. They swam, played soccer, ran around, they were just so happy, it was great to see.

Isabella also had her friend Pablo from her school who happens to be Roberto's little brother.. so she was thrilled.
Here they are all eating Popsicles and making a mess.

I'm exhausted but very happy to start the summer. I wish all of you a great summer too. What plans do you guys have? Please comment and let me know. You can see more pics here

Isabella's dance recital

Ok, so I was very nervous wondering what little missy was going to do once she was up on stage. Would she cry, just stand there, start screaming her head off, or simply just walk off the stage. It never even entered my mind that she might actually dance..but she did.. a little too much, she did the choreography before she had to but really enjoyed herself. The first thing she did when she got up on the stage is look for me in the audience, as soon as she found me she started to wave and tell her friends.. there's my mom, there's my mom.. hey mom.. and waving.. (pretty embarrassing) but sooooo cute.

Pictured, I think you can recognize her, she is the one with the white bow on top of her head and the skinny legs.

The performance was great and I was very proud. You can see a little clip here.

It's 10:30 PM and Isabella is asleep

shhhhshhh... please don't make any noise.. Marco has been asleep for hours but the surprising thing is so is Bella, I think this is the first time in her entire life she has gone to sleep before midnight.. Matt is at work right now, and I can't hear a sound. I don't know what to do with myself. I have that ringing in your ear, like when you come home from a club and are drunk but you can still hear a faint ringing...do you know what I mean?

Anyway, if any of you have any suggestions on how I could get her to go to sleep before midnight, please let me know. We have tried turning off all the lights and all going to sleep, but she just gets up puts the lights on, turns on the TV and tells us she will go to bed when she is ready, if we put her back in bed then she screams at the top of her lungs for hours and hours.. the neighbors don't like that too much, we have tried medication to calm her down prescribed by the doctor but that seems to give her more energy..

Well, for now I'm going to go have a glass of wine and enjoy my mini vacation.. good night to all......