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..

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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

Marco and his homework

Believe it or not, little Marco who is in first grade already gets loads of homework..and he doesn't like it one bit!! He is great at math and finishes that part fast but the writing ..that takes him a little longer..

Yesterday, I sat for hours with him trying to encourage him...but he is just not interested...Anyone have any tips how I could get him to like homework..hahhahaa

Kids are back in School!!

I know, it sounds mean.. I love my kids, and I love to spend time with them. I have really enjoyed the holiday vacation but Marco and Isabella are two young children with a lot of energy, way too much for me..They were actually looking forward to starting school again. Isabella said "I can't wait to start school, you people here are no fun", Marco said "I want to see my friends again but I have gym class today and I don't really want to go".. hahahaa...

I told my bosses today that my actual vacation started today.. My boss stated if that was so I should pay him instead of him paying me..hahaha.. Ok, so its not actually vacation but I do love going to work, being able to be productive and have converstation with adults..

I hope your beginning of the work week has been eventful..Talk to you all soon..

The trouble with books

The tittle to this post is a little misleading, I love books, but when we talk about purchasing school books and all the confusion in that, its when there is trouble. Here in Spain although education is free you need to purchase books, although there is a new law that gives all first and second graders a check for the total amount of the books.

Anyway, like always I start to talk about nothing related to what I want to say. The thing is that we were given a huge list of books for a first grader, there is a math book, language book, English book, valenciano book (the offficial language of the Valencian community), art book, religion book, relacion del medio (no freaking clue what that is)..lets see am I forgetting something, probably.. but the list was not specific and I had to go to the store and fight with all the other moms to try to get the books before they were all gone. When I finally found them, (still missing 2 of them) I get to school, only to learn that they were that wrong ones and I was not the only one with this problem, it seems the list they gave us was not very explicit...so back to the store to fight some more and hunt down the right ones, exchange the others...

I just can't believe that something that seems so simple can cause so much stress, I'm still waiting for the other two books anxiously calling the bookstore daily to make sure Marco has them as soon as possible. And if that's not all, the books need to be covered with this clear plastic sticky thing and labeled.hahahahaa.. thank God Melisa our live in nanny took care of that part for me..or I would not be able to write this post because I would be stuck...

So, until next time...

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FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!

I thought the day would never come, but it is here and both Marco and Isabella have survived their first day of school. They woke up very early both eager to get to school...Isabella wanted to dress up and had Melisa our live in nanny curl her hair and put lipgloss on, she wanted to look her best. Marco was not so concerned with his image he just wanted to see his friends and eat his sandwich.

Isabella started pre kinder and loved it! her teacher named Nuria like me said Isabella is a very decisive girl and has a very strong character, hahahahaaa.. and she was only in school a couple of hours..hahhahaaa.. poor thing (I mean the teacher).

Marco didn't say much like usual just that his teachers name in Maria Jose and that they painted and that he sat next to his best friend Alvaro and that he ate his sandwich. hahahaaa.. its the important things with Marco.

Well, lets see how this school year goes for them, Marco has a lot of work cut out for him, being in first grade he has a lot of books and will have a lot of homework. Isabella, I'm not so worried about yet...

The countdown to the first day of school

Well, it has been a long summer and the first day of school is almost here. For you guys in the U.S. kids have been in school for a couple of weeks now, but here in Spain everything just takes a little longer.

Marco will begin 1st grade, I can't believe it, he is very excited and wants a new spiderman backpack with wheels and wants me to buy his books right away. Isabella starts pre kinder and wants a Barbie backpack her teacher called me yesterday to introduce herself, her name is Nuria as well, so Isabella will have no problem remembering her name.

The preparation for back to school is a little stressful, buying them clothes, books,supplies, figuring out what type of after school activities they will do and so on. I'm pretty caught up and can't wait until Friday the first official day (I know Friday, helloo...they could have waited until Monday, but this is Spain where nothing works the way its supposed to but it works).

I will keep all o you updated with the school year and the kids progressions.

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

Marco's Graduation

Yes, Marco has graduated from kindergarten and will start first grade in the fall. Today was his graduation along side all his friends. They walked in to the sound of marching music, so proud and with a joy you can't imagine. They performed a little dance and song and then sat patiently as they waited for their diplomas. It was sad to see him so grown up, I could still remember holding him in my arms when he was first born. How time flies by..Isabella starts school next year.. I don't have babies anymore..

We enjoyed snacks and drinks after the ceremony and the kids had a great time letting out some steam. Overall, it was a beautiful experience that poor Matt missed because he is working very hard on the Bocelli show..but thanks to this blog he gets to see all the action as it happens.. Love you Honey.

You can view more pictures here

School IQ test

Since it looks like I'm always writing to brag about my beautiful kids, I think many of you think I only write about all the great things they do and achieve but we all know in life nothing is perfect, specially us or our children.

Today we had a meeting along with all the other parents of Marco's class so they could prepare us a little bit for what it to become of our little ones, once they start 1st grade in September. One of the things they presented us with was a sort on mini writing and vocabulary skill IQ test which was given to them some weeks ago and showed a graph with the median score of the entire class and where our children fell. Once I heard handwriting test I knew we were in for a bad report and boy was I right.. Poor little thing.. the graph was struggling to get to the median and never quite reached it. Looking around all the other proud moms flashed their children's report which showed how off the charts they were.

I'm not sure if handwriting is something hereditary but I should have been a doctor with the handwriting I was blessed with so if I passed that on to my children, I'm sorry, I'm sure someone passed it on to me..

OK, so what do you think about IQ tests? Should I worry?\

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Marco is reading up a storm

Marco will start first grade in September but he already knows how to read in Spanish, English will come next year, they say it is better to do it one language at a time so there is so confusion, so when he is fluent in reading comprehension in Spanish, we will jump into teaching him to read in English.

He loves books and wants to read everything he could get his hands on, it is great to see. Isabella imitates him and pretends she knows how to read, which kind of annoys Marco and the daily fights start.

Ok, that is it for now...

Say goodbye to the uniform

I'm a little sad today, school is almost out for the summer and another year has gone by. The kids are growing up so fast, I sometimes wish I could just stop time (with the exception of Bella's fits, where there I wish to fast foward a bit).

School officially starts here when you are 3 years old meaning Isabella will start in September. Currently she attends a sort of nursery school, which lucky me is right in front of Marco's school. In that school, she needs to wear a uniform, and starting tomorrow until the end of the school year mid June, they no longer need to wear it, and since it is her last year in that school... today is the last day we will see her dressed like this, and I'm really going to miss it. She looks soo cute in it. boohooo...

To top things off Marco starts first grade in September, so he is not a baby anymore. (here the first 3 years of school are considered pre K). I hear they do an actual graduation and all.. I will make sure to have Kleenex ready for that.

So, I leave you with one last thought... Did you really enjoy your kids growing up? Do you wish you would have done something different? Please comment and let me know...