Bye Bye Elfie Chica

Tonight is Elfie's last night with us before she "goes back to Santa" for the rest of the year. She has done a good job going back to him to report on the girls and picking a different spot every night. And the girls, mostly Sofia, have enjoyed looking for her every morning. So thank you Elfie Chica, it has been fun.  Hope to see you again next year.

Entertrainment Junction

Today I took the girls to Entertrainment Junction for the very first time. We had never been because I assumed the girls might find it boring since it is a place full of trains, but I was wrong. I finally decided to go because a friend of mine posted pictures on Facebook of her visit there with her little girl, and it looked like she was having fun.

We spent almost 4 hours there between the indoor playground, visiting Santa in the North Pole, and seeing all the trains. I was very tired by the end, but it was a good time. I am definitely glad that we finally checked it out.

Frozen

This past Saturday we went to see Frozen, and for the very first time Bella actually watched the movie at the theater with us. We went to the Mariemont theatre, which is less big and loud than the other ones. Since Bella is afraid of the loud sound, I thought we would have better odds there than anywhere else. And it worked! She didn't even whine. She did start with her jacket over her head, but quickly removed it and enjoyed the movie ... and the popcorn.

The Holidays and Family

During the holidays many people make their way "back home" to see their loved ones, the same ones who would miss them terribly if for whatever reason they were unable to make it back. But for me, I no longer have another "home" to speak off. And that makes me sad. I am lucky that my sister and my parents are close to me year round, but I have also always wished I had a larger family that cared about me. So I am jealous of those who do. Sure, I actually have a large extended family back in Mexico, but I don't know them and they don't know me. So they don't really count. They have their life, and I have mine.

Festival of Lights 2013

This afternoon we went to the Festival of lights with what appeared to be all of Cincinnati. It was a perfect day for it since all that rain from yesterday finally stopped and the weather was still not terribly cold. Lionel's parents didn't want to come, and neither did my Dad, but the rest of us made our way there with the kids.

We walked around, had some hot chocolate and apple cider, ate warm almonds with sugar, took a picture with frosty the snowman, and rode the carousel. It was a good time, but by the time we left I was definitely ready to sit down.

Back to 12

Today was a down week, so I "only" had to run 12 miles. Although it was a much shorter run than last week, it wasn't an easy one. At almost 60 degrees it was more than twice as warm as it has been in weeks, and it was very windy outside. But once again I managed to finish, and with that, I officially completed half of my marathon training. I now have two more long runs (18 and 20 miles) and after that I should be ready to go! ... as ready as I am going to get anyway.

New appliances

After 9 years in our house, several months of our oven not working at all, and years of our loud dishwasher only working so-so, we finally got ourselves a new stove and a new dishwasher couple weeks ago. It took several days for them to come in, but they were finally installed couple days ago. So we are now back to being able to bake!