MLK Day

Jan 16,

Today was a good day. I went running in the morning, Bella and I made a special breakfast for the family, we all went to see a really good movie, got yagoot, played a [mostly] friendly game of basketball when we got home, and had a nice home cooked dinner. It was a really good day off.

Mussels

Jan 15,

Tonight Bella made dinner with me. We made mussels for the first time ever, and she was excited about it and very happy to help. The mussels turn out really well. We were proud of ourselves.

Night out downtown

Jan 14,

Tonight the 4 of us had dinner downtown, at Via Vite. We normally don't go all the way downtown for dinner, but we had a reason. I had 2 tickets for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and Sofia and I were going afterward. The original plan was just for the two of us to go out, but it was nice to have the whole family together for dinner. It was cold, but not too cold. And downtown looked very pretty with all the lights. It felt like a special night.

Soccer class

Jan 14,

Today Bella wanted me to come to her soccer class, since Lionel always takes her and I had never been to it. We had a horrible night of sleep, because I was awake like forever and she woke up with a bit of a stomach ache, but managed to get up and get going. Even though she was tired, she definitely woke up when we got there and had fun running around chasing the ball with Diego and the other kids.

Freezing Basketball

Jan 13,

Today, after we came back from Sofia's Piano Class, the girls wanted to play basketball for a few minutes. They had been inside most of the day, since school was closed and I had to work, so I said yes. It was freezing outside so we bundled up. It was great to get moving, but we could only stay out there for so long.

The longest run

Jan 12,

According to Facebook, it was exactly 4 years ago that I completed an 18.61 mile run. That was while I was training for the Miami Full Marathon, and it is the longest run I have ever done to date. In fact, since my body didn't necessarily love training for a full marathon, that may very well be my longest run ever. Period.

Good stamps

Jan 9,

Today I stopped by the post office to mail some packages for friends of mine. Since I was there, I also bought some stamps. They had Wonder Woman ones, so of course I had to choose those.

Music show

Jan 8,

Today the girls were in a silly mood, so they put together a show for me in the basement that included guitar playing, singing, and of course gymnastics. Since the weather was not the best outside, it was great that they managed to entertain themselves inside.

Bad weather

Jan 7,

This is seriously happening. Right now. Ugh!

Rosca de Reyes!

Jan 6,

And the tradition continues. Nothing like cutting Rosca de Reyes every Jan 6th. Gabi and her family missed out because they were just coming back from vacation, but Abuelitos did make it to our house despite the crazy cold weather.

Dia de Reyes!!!

Jan 6,

Today was Dia de Reyes and the girls got some good stuff. Sofia got an Art Set, a watch, and a purse, and Bella got some paints, a set of Aquabeads, and also a purse. Since it was a school day they didn't really get a chance to play with their gifts, but they have the weekend ahead!

First snow fall!

Jan 5,

Today we finally got our first snow fall of the season. Not that I was anxiously waiting for it by any means. It was also extremely cold, and the girls' school closed. But the girls didn't seem to mind how cold it was. In the early evening they went outside to play in the snow and to sled in our tiny backyard hills.  They had plenty of fun. Because it was so cold though, I prepared a warm bath for when they were ready to come inside. When they came in they quickly shed all their wet stuff, and went to the bath to warm up.

Bad bosses

Jan 4,

Today a friend of mine mentioned that she had met somebody else she would never want to work for. We didn't really get to talk details, but that got me thinking about different types of bad bosses. There are many types of bad bosses, and in the few minutes following our conversation I quickly came up with 5:

1) Those who take credit for your work
2) Those who are always ready to throw people under the bus
3) Micro-managers
4) Those who are never ever around to help
5) Those who are straight up disrespectful or total jerks

Luckily, I am currently not under the thumb of any of these. Let's keep it that way.

Back to reality

Jan 3,

Today we all went back to reality. The girls went back to school, and Lionel and I went back to work. Getting back in to the routine is always difficult, but at least the girls didn't struggle as much this morning as I thought they would. And it is good that we are going back for a short week. 

Christmas Vacation - Day 13 - The last day of break

Jan 2,

Today was the last day of break and we made sure we enjoyed it. We had lunch with friends and then went to the ice skating rink downtown. On our way back, Bella even spent a couple of hours at her friend Linn's house. 

It is always sad when a vacation ends, but at least we enjoyed ours as much as we could.

Christmas Vacation - Day 12 - Shortest day ever

Jan 1,

Today we got up late, which was nice. But that meant the day was very short, which was not. Bella played outside with the neighbor for a while, but the rest of us stayed home all day, except for the quick trip to Kroger Sofia and I made in the late afternoon. Resting is good and all, but doing nothing the first day of the year felt weird. Kind of like the wrong way to start. Except that I was the only one that appeared to feel that way. Everybody else was cool with doing nothing and just chilling out. At least we had a special celebratory dessert that we got the night before.

Christmas Vacation - Day 11 - Chilling and New Years Eve Party

Dec 31,

Today, after my run, I took it easy the rest of the morning. And so did the rest of the family. I was cleaning all the pictures on my phone, so I could go back it up, which took forever. In the meantime the girls were hanging out and Lionel was helping Mark, our handyman, change a few light fixtures around the house. Then, in the afternoon, Sofia and I went to the apple store to fix a couple of issues on our phones. That store is always super crowded and loud, and I swear it literally gives me a headache. But it had to be done I guess.

On our way back we stopped by Trader Joe to get desserts for a New Years Eve party at our friends' house, and since we were there we also ended up also buying our food for the week. That way we could just chill the last two days of our break.

When we finally got home I took a short nap, because there is no way I would make it through the rest of the day and the party without it. After that we got dressed and ready to go. Since the party included kids (we wouldn't have gone otherwise) I thought we would be back home before midnight for sure. But nope! Everybody hung in there, and in fact the kids still had plenty of energy until we left, a bit after midnight.

When we got home I still took a couple of pictures with the Happy New Year headbands we've had like forever, and that was it for 2016. After the pictures everybody finally went to bed.

Christmas Vacation - Day 11 - Last 2016 run

Dec 31, 

Last night I slept horrible, because Bella wasn't feeling well, but this morning was the last group run of the year and I really wanted to go. So when the alarm went off I managed to find the strength to get up and go. I was going to run only 3, but one of the guys who runs my pace wanted to do 5 and wanted some company, so I decided to go for it since I was already out there anyway. It wasn't our fastest run ever, and we stopped a few times to take breaks and a picture of the beautiful sunrise, but it was still a good last run of the year.

Christmas Vacation - Day 10 - Mami-Bella Day

Dec 30,

Today was mami-Bella day and she chose to continue painting her room. When we first moved in I painted a tree and some flowers in her bathroom, but didn't have time for more than that. She wanted me to paint the family playing soccer, which I had no idea how to do. But that is what she wanted, so I was going to give it a try.

Since it was mami-Bella day we were going to take Sofia to Abuelito's house, but Bella decided that she wanted Sofia to stay and help paint. At least that is what she said. But I think the real reason is that she missed Sofia a lot the previous day, and she simply wanted her around.

When I woke up I went online, and started looking for drawings of kids playing soccer until I found some that I thought I could recreate. I finally found some, and told the girls they needed to be patient because I needed to draw them first, before we could paint them. Drawing them ended up taking me about 90 minutes, but the girls were playing in the meantime. Since I was drawing them by hand, no measures involved, I was very happy with how they turned out because they look the same size.

Once the drawings were finally done the girls came and we started to paint. They each painted their drawing, and I painted Lionel's and mine. I helped them with the edges, and some of the smaller details, but they did the rest. And at the end Sofia painted the grass. 

I started drawing on the wall at 10:00am, and we finished painting right around 5:30, so it was an all day affair. But we were super happy with how it turned out. We were very proud of ourselves.

Christmas Vacation - Day 9 - Mami-Fifi time!

Dec 29,

Today was mami-Fifi day. We got up late, got ready, and took Bella to Abuelito's house. She took Coco with her, and dressed her exactly alike. Same dress, gray leggings, pink boots, and pink sweater. They both looked cute.

For our special day Sofia chose to go to the mall, which she had been saving for. She was excited to go, walk around, go to her favorite stores, and buy stuff with "her" money. We also had lunch at Nordstrom cafe, her choice as well.

We went to Justice, Claires, Aviva, the lego store, Gap, back to Claires, and Auntie Ann, the pretzel store - among others. When it was all said and done we spent 5 hours at the mall. It was a lot of walking  and standing, so we were tired, but it was a great day. It is very rare that I get to spend alone time with each girl, so days like these are definitely special!