The big concert!

Last weekend the girls spent the night at my parents while Lionel and I went out for dinner and a movie. The following morning, when we picked them up, we learned that Sofia had made a "book" all on her own. I was nicely surprised that her book was about music and that for a 7 year old it was really well done. I wanted to make sure I posted every page of it, so I waited until I was able to take pictures - which didn't happen until today. It appears that Bella didn't want to be left behind, so she also made a few pages of her own.

40!

Today is my parent's 40th wedding anniversary. It hasn't always been an easy road to travel, but they are one of the lucky few who after such a long time are still traveling it together.

I wish they celebrated it as the big deal that it is, but my parents are not party people. So they spent the day quietly, following their routine - just the way they like it.

Recital brochure

Sofia has another recital coming up, and the brochure for it features a picture of her very first recital. I don't know who was more excited about it, Bella or Sofia herself.

Small pajamas

Bella loves these pajamas, and keeps wearing them even though they are too small for her anymore. They actually used to be Sofia's, so they are also special to me. I am definitely going to be keeping them in my treasure box once she is finally done with them.

I Love You

Today Bella asked me how to write I love You. So I wrote it down in a piece of paper for her, and she then copied it ... or kind of.

Dreams ... interrupted

This morning I dreamed of Max and Sergio, two dear friends from college that I haven't seen or talked to in a very long time. I dreamed that I was walking out of a building and there they were, standing under the shade of a tree, in the company of my sister.  Seeing them made me very happy, so I walked up to them and gave my friend Max a hug. I then started asking him how come they were there - the first one of many questions I had for him after such a long time. But as I started walking by his side, my alarm went off and my dream quickly evaporated. It made me so mad...

Perfect North

Today I was supposed to be at an all day event aimed at personal and professional growth, but as luck would have it, it turned out to be a snow day. So needless to say, I didn't make it to my event since I had to stay home with the girls.

Snow days are not my best friends. It is not only because I am a working mom, but also because in my line of work it doesn't really matter if I can physically show up. Whether it is in the office or at home, I am still expected to do my job. Having a snow day means I get to stress about my kids continuously interrupting me while I am trying to work, and feeling like the worst mom ever for ignoring them - while trying to get things done.

This morning I was already mentally preparing myself for a difficult day when I realized I had an opportunity in front of me. Since I was supposed to be out all day, I didn't have any meetings scheduled and nobody was counting on me for the entire day. So whether I worked or not, it was not going to make a big difference for anybody else. Of course I had a million things to do, but nobody expected that they would be done today. So I decided I would just take the day off, and would - for once - make it a fun, true snow day. I told the girls to get ready, because we were going to go skiing. At the beginning they were quick to tell me they didn't want to do anything - especially since at the time they were watching TV - but warmed up the idea and didn't complain too much.

We arrived in Perfect North - our local "skiing" destination at about noon. Lionel refuses to go there because clearly it is not even close to being comparable to Vail, but I think it is better than nothing - especially for the girls. And the goal today was to get out of the house, and do something snow related.

We went straight to eat lunch and get our rental skis. After the initial drama of putting Bella's boots on, we finally hit the slopes a bit after 1:00 pm.  We did the same Green run multiple times and even moved to a blue. I knew Sofia would do really well, but Bella also kept up. I was afraid that she would just take off straight, without making any turns, but she was actually nice to me. She did speed up in couple occasions, but when she felt that she was starting to pick up too much speed she did try to stop or just fall to the ground.

We stayed out there until 6:00 pm, so we had a full day. The girls were exhausted when we made it home, and so was I. But I am glad we went, and that for once I was able to give my girls a fun snow day.