A whole lot of nada

This last week was uneventful mostly. We are in negotiations with the bank on a house-still don't know if we got it or not. I guess we'll find out this week. If it's meant to be it'll be...
This weekend we mostly relaxed-had the missionaries for dinner, Julio had a worthless job interview, went to Mom and Dad's for dinner.
I'm having an issue with Lucia's teacher. They have this thing where they can earn "wildcat paws" when they go the extra mile doing something good in class. Well, Lucia did miss a week of school, but she only has 1 wildcat paw. Other kids in her class have 8, 9, 10, up to 15. Why isn't she getting any? I ask her what she needs to do, and she knows. I ask her if she does it and she says, "I think about it, I do things sometimes, but my teacher doesn't see me." She also complains about other kids getting two stamps on their paper and she only gets one. Maybe I'm an overly concerned parent, but I don't think so. Lucia is a good girl, she's smart and I don't think she's getting enough recognition or encouragement. I did send the email to her teacher and expressed my concerns, and I talked to her on the phone about it. Nothing seems to have changed. I guess I should go get fingerprinted so I can go observe her class. I'm not going to bring it up with Lucia anymore. I don't want her to feel bad about herself. I keep saying, "Lets just homeschool you!" and she emphatically replies, "NO!!!!!" Ok then, school can't be all that bad, right?

Life-day to day

Reading "Purplicious"

"Take our picture Daddy!"

Bathy time! (Note: removed photo after seeing a news clip about a family in AZ having their kids taken away by CPS for printing bathtime photos of their small girls! Crazy!)

So, the past two weeks have been difficult. The day after we returned from our trip to LA, Lucia and Julio got sick. It dragged on with fever, cough, fatigue, sore throat, congestion...to vertigo and vomiting for Julio...for nearly two weeks! Lucia missed 6 days of school all together. Julio missed 4 days of work. Sylvie, Marco and I were spared the brunt of it, but were still sick. We did have Lucia tested and the official lab results were-SWINE FLU! Just glad we survived it.

This week I was able to go to Book Club and a baby shower-nice to be with other women- looked at more houses, caught up on shopping and laundry, did a little bit of cleaning-have lots more to do- went to the library, went to the park, taught Relief Society today at church, and had a yummy enchilada dinner at Mom and Dad's.

Now on to another busy week. Driving Lucia to school twice a day is a challenge-wish I had someone to carpool with, but don't. Waiting to hear on yet another offer on a house-could it be lucky number 10? We will find out. Julio did find out we can get our $8,000 tax credit now! So we will try for that week. I guess that's all for now. Here are some pics of the kids-they are getting so big!

Family Pictures

Valerie, Rafael, Tia Marta, Armida, Julio

Say Cheese!

Yesenia and Elliott's Wedding

Yesenia and Elliott's wedding was a beautiful event. They were married in a Presbyterian Church in Pasadena. Valerie walked her mother down the aisle which was a touching moment. The reception was at the Equestrian Center in Burbank. They had a cocktail hour (which we misswed due to naptime) and they had delicious h'ors deourves and an accoustic guitar player. Then the bride and groom had their grand entrance and a delicious dinner was served. They went all out with a DJ and a live band, the open bar (orange juice flowed freely that night), servers, a candy bar, a delicious cake, beautiful flowers. It was a perfectly executed reception. I know that they are a happy couple and we are very happy for them. We wish Yesenia and Elliott the best!

Disneyland

So, Disneyland is the "Happiest Place on Earth". We are so fortunate that Brian was able to get us in for free, again and that he and Misty were able to spend the day with us. It was a Saturday, so we were expecting crowds, but it wasn't too bad. We were able to do almost everything we set out to do. The kids were so good and had such a great time. Marco was looking forward to seeing the Pirates, but was scared to death on Pirates of the Carribean. He was more excited to go on the big Pirate Ship that floats the Rivers of America. We braved the heat for that one. The kids explored Tarzan's treehouse and then we headed over to Critter Country. When Marco saw Brer Fox and Brer Bear, he freaked out-no picture opportunities there! We did go on the Winnie the Pooh ride, which was mellow enough for all. Lucia and I got to go on Splash Mountain-which she loved and then went on again with Daddy! After a lunch break, we got on the train and headed to Toon Town. Marco didn't want anything to do with rollercoasters or the live characters, but he explored the sites there. We then moved on to "its a small world". I have to say that is one of my favorites; it takes me back to my childhood and the age of innocence. Then we went on Dumbo (that ride is highly overrated and has way too long of a wait), Snow White and Pinnochio. We went into the Sleeping Beauty's Castle where they've revamped it with scenes from the movie as you walk through it. After another needed break (a potty break was needed between almost every ride), we headed to Tomorrow Land. We stood in line for about 45 minutes to go on the Finding Nemo submarine ride. It was really cute, but come on! An hour to go on one ride?! By that time, we were all hungry and extremely tired. So we had dinner and then decided to go on just one more ride! Marco loved the Buzz Lightyear ride and exclaimed that "he killed the bad guys!" In the evening, the park gets extremely crowded, so we wandered around trying to find something we could do without standing in a huge line. Lucia and I braved the Haunted Mansion after dark-she was scared to death and covered her eyes through most of the ride! By that time Marco was asleep in the stroller, so we headed to Main Street to do our souvenir shopping and then headed out. We caught the fireworks show from the parking lot as the kids slept in the car. It was such a fun day and we are so grateful it was so affordable for us or we wouldn't have been able to do it! We made memories as a family and a little bit of magic for the kids.

Vacation-Day 1

The happy couple borrowing our baby!

The view from our hotel room.

So Day 1 of the trip, we left early and made pretty good time; making it to Pasadena at about 3 pm. The kids did really well in the car. We had to make a few potty stops-and for some reason, in the central valley, there were tons of flies everywhere! And it was stinky! We were exhausted, but had to be at the church for the wedding rehearsal by 5 pm. It was so smokey and hot from the fires, we were smoldering in the non-air conditioned church! We then went to a lovely restaurant in downtown Pasadena for the rehearsal dinner hosted by Elliott's dad. The Italian food was great! Then we were tuckered out by the end of the day.

Sylvie's Birthday

It's been a week ago already, so I better blog about it before I forget! Our baby is a year old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. She is still really tiny for her age and so I'm glad she still feels like a baby to me. She still has only 2 teeth and only weighs about 17 lbs. The thing is, she eats everything! She will eat anything I give her and she eats so much-amazing she's our smallest child.

She is hillarious! She's got the funniest little personality. She likes to imitate people-she will do the actions to songs and is learning baby signs. She loves to look at books and is always bringing them to me to read to her.

Her birthday was during the week, so we just went to Grandma's to swim. Sylvie is a total water baby and loves to splash in the pool. We did presents-which she really didn't know what to do with. She seemed a little confused about it all. She got this really funny cheerleader doll that says cheers when you press it's tummy. She just looked at it with this funny look on her face. Grandma got her a new stroller-a much lighter and more compact one than the one we had. Uncle B got her a pull toy doggy that she likes. We then gave her a cupcake which she quickly and very enthusiastically devoured.

Then, on her actual birthday we went to the mall and then to Leatherby's where they sang to her in front of all the customers and gave her her own ice cream. What a mess! She got whipped cream all over her face and hair. (we forgot the camera :-( We have had so much fun with this girl and love her very much.