Passing it on...

The other day I realized that I still have several bags full of clothes from when the girls were little, from 6 to about 18 months old. I thought I had already given everything away, but I guess I must have held on to them hoping that Gabi would one day have a girl.

It is hard to let go of things from when your kids were little, but I am sure there are people out there who could really appreciate the clothes so there is no point in me holding on to them. Tomorrow, when our cleaning lady comes, I will give them all to her.

62

Today was Abuelito's 62th birthday but he didn't want any celebrations, which didn't surprise me at all. He has never been much into celebrations of any kind, and I guess for him the perfect gift is to just be in peace. But we did at least stop by for a little bit to see him and give him his birthday gift. Even if he doesn't care to celebrate, it just doesn't feel right to completely ignore the date.

Tareita

Today I spent over an hour doing homework with Sofia. Given all the patience I exhibited, I am pretty sure I am going straight to heaven.

4.5 Miles

All last week I struggled with a cold, so after running Friday night and playing tennis yesterday morning, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get up this morning and run. But I did, and Gabi and I ran 4.5 miles - the longest I ever ran before. It took us almost 50 minutes, but the important part is that we finished even though it was cold, and windy. It is hard to believe, but we are already half way through our 10K training!

Run Like Hell

This past Friday Gabi, our friend Ruth and I ran the Run Like Hell 5K. The weather was absolutely awful - it was very cold and it had been raining all day.  But we had been looking forward to it for a while, we had our costumes ready to go, and it was something fun, different, that we normally would not do.  So we bundled up, crossed our fingers so it stopped raining while we ran, and slowly but surely made it to the very end.

After the race we went back to Gabi's house, where our costumes became the favorite new toy for the girls.

Pumpkin Field Trip

This past Friday I was able to get away from work to chaperone Bella's field trip to a pumpkin farm close to school. The kids watched a short play about pumpkins, ate popcorn, went on a hay ride, picked a pumpkin, went through a hay maze, and quickly walked by some farm animals.  All of that in a span of couple hours. Bella didn't think much of the pigs because she didn't like how they smelled, but overall she enjoyed the trip despite the cold weather - which was killing me, but apparently she could barely feel.

Bella did not like the pigs

Orthodontist

Earlier this week I took Sofia to the orthodontist. When they pulled her records on the computer we were able to see the picture they took of her the last time we were there. She looked so different, like such a little girl, that I had to ask when the picture was taken. Turns out, it was taken only 10 months ago. I couldn't believe how much she has changed in such a short period of time. Even she had to acknowledge the giant change, saying "I looked like Bella in that picture!".

Too much

A month ago my Dad had a heart procedure. About two weeks ago I learned that the sister of a friend of mine - who is probably younger than me for a couple years - has an early stage of thyroid cancer. Last week I learned that somebody from work was diagnosed with some sort of Leukemia. Yesterday I learned that the mom of a co-worker was having surgery, and today I learned that one of my kid's teachers is having a mastectomy. It's just too much.

Photos by Biro

My friend who took pictures of us the other day sent me last week the high resolution files. Here are my favorite ones.

The infamous Tia move

Tonight the girls were allowed to watch TV for a few minutes before going to bed. When I told them it was time to turn it off and go to bed, Bella said she would do it herself. So she got up from the couch, approached the TV, and put her little finger right next to the power button ... but she just stood there, not moving her finger, but not turning it off either until I finally did it for her. That was such a typical Tia move when we were kids. She would put her finger on the control remote and point it to the TV, but not turn it off until my Dad would finally yelled at her.

Pumpkin patch

After a failed attempt last week due to bad weather, this weekend we finally made it to the pumpkin patch - and we couldn't have asked for better weather to walk around and be outside for a while.

Our visit started a little shaky when Bella started whining right away and I had to step outside and sit her in timeout. I was trying to take a picture of her and she started fussing even though I had given them heads up that I wanted to do that, and that the sooner we got it done the sooner we could move on. I always go out of my way to plan fun and different stuff for the girls, and the only thing I ask for is a decent picture so I can remember our times out and about. After all I do, I truly don't think that is too much to ask.

I don't know how come we didn't go there before, but the farm we went to is really close to our house. Even though the hay ride was shorter and lamer than in other places, everything else was much better as there were many activities for the kids. Sofia went into the hay maze, and both of them rode play tractors, touched a snake, got a teddy bear made of balloons, and played couple games.

Tia, Tio and Dieguito left a little earlier than us, but not before he got his very first hay ride!

Kid's humor

Girls:  "Mami, you know how else you can say forty-four, forty-five, etc?"
Girls [without waiting for me to respond]: "farty-four, farty-give..."
Girls: Laughing out loud

Night out

Last night tia and tio babysat the girls so Lionel and I could go out for dinner and catch a movie - a belated birthday celebration and something we hadn't done in a while. The girls also spent the night, which they were excited about. For me it was weird starting the day without them, but Lionel really needed and enjoyed the quiet time. And for what tia tells me, the girls had fun playing with Diego, getting out of the routine, and going to bed really late.

My Birthday Cards

From Monique

From Zoey

From Gabi

From Fifi

From Lionel

From the girls

My Birthday 2012

My birthday was 5 days ago, but since this year it was on a Wednesday that made it difficult to plan for anything to celebrate. Also, I have been so busy all month with work stuff that I didn't even get a chance to anticipate my special day the way I always do. That was too bad, but at least we did get together to eat cake - as that is one tradition I don't like to break.