Julio had a birthday

Yes, he did-a couple of weeks ago now. He is 21-again! He complains of getting old with all his ailments-new prescriptions for his glasses, a breathing machine for his sleep apnea, pain in his hip…but at heart, he’s still the same. We did get a date night and went out to dinner and went shopping where he picked out his own gifts. On his actual birthday, the kids and I surprised him at work with some treats and that night I made his favorite spaghetti with garlic chips, escarole and pancetta. He says I’ve never thrown him a party. Ummm, he’s never thrown me one!

It was hard to get a good photo!

Lucia’s essay

Lucia wrote this essay at school on responsibility. It was their character trait for the month. I fixed the spelling errors. I thought it was very insightful and mature for a 4th grader. I’m so proud of her!

I AM

I am someone who is responsible.

Someone who is honest and admits things even if it allows a punishment.

Someone who treats people in a respectful manner and tries to help with other’s responsibilities.

I am someone who is responsible.

Someone who makes their dreams a reality and takes risks to accomplish a goal.

Someone who asks to clarify questions and lets their knowledge grow stronger.

I am someone who is responsible.

Someone who takes responsibility for their actions by thinking of others and their consequences before making their next move.

Someone who uses their honesty and responsibility for harder tasks and small ones too.

I am someone who is responsible because I have honesty and respect. I try the best to use my spark and responsibility along with honesty and respect for life.

September

September has come and gone. We’ve been really busy with all of our activities. Marco started soccer. His team isn’t as good as last year’s, but they’ve won 1 game. He’s kind of a one-man show. Poor kid. But, he does get $1 from Grandma and Grandpa every time he scores a goal.

Abuela got the girls new dresses in El Salvador. (Lucia was embarrassed to have her picture taken).

Julio got to go to Crescent City for work. It’s so beautiful!

Tessa is our little poser. We are working on potty-training. She’s getting there! She’s talking away now. You can have a pretty good conversation with her.

Lucia started playing the clarinet in the school band. She also attends Activity Days in our ward and Grandma’s ward (since Grandma is the leader). I was able to go into Lucia’s class to be an art docent. Her class was so well behaved and participated and did a great job! It was fun.

“Look how tall I am!”

Sylvie is doing great in Kindergarten. I’ve been in to help out in her class a few times. They are a very well behaved and sweet bunch of kids. She’s so lucky she’s in a good class. She is learning her sight words and knows about 20 of them now. She’s smarter than we give her credit! She also gets speech therapy and resource at school (for handwriting).  We’re still doing OT once a week. The therapist is working hard on her fine motor skills. She still gets into lots of mischief. She got into the food coloring one Sunday before church and got it all over herself and the kitchen. That is just typical Sylvie.

I started subbing last month. I’ve subbed a total of 11 days so far. Some days are good and some are not. I subbed for a high school P.E. class one day and two boys started fist fighting during class. The vice principal and campus monitor had to come help me out. I won’t be going back to that school. Uncle B has been holding down the fort while I’m at work. He does a good job taking care of the girls.

Well, it’s now October, my favorite time of year! Let the holiday season begin!

Sylvie turns 5

Sylvie got to take goody bags to school on her birthday. She was so excited to do that. She also got to be the Star Student for the week. She did a fabulous job presenting her poster.

Her favorites:
Animal-zebra

Colors-pink, purple and green

Food-chicken nuggets

Place-Disneyland

Thing to do-ride a merry-go-round

If she could wish for anything in the world, it would be cotton candy.

We went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house that evening to swim, have dinner, cake and open presents. 

She is still very mischevious, but she is getting a little bit better at controlling her impulses-especially if we tell her why she shouldn’t do something. Even when we discipline her, she’ll be over it quickly and be all lovey dovey again. She and Tessa play well together-most of the time.  She is doing so well in school-learning her sight words and memorizing nursery rhymes. She’s smarter than we give her credit for.

Hopefully next year we can have a friend party for her. She is pretty easy to please, but I think it would be good for her.

Back to School

Here’s to another school year! I hope the kids learn a lot, make new friends, grow, and are happy this year. Their teachers are great and I am planning on being in the classroom more this year to help them.

Tessa is already missing her big sissy.

Sylvie’s first day of kindergarten! I was nervous for her, but she did great. She was excited.Marco would only give me goofy faces.

Lucia’s first day of 4th grade. Her teacher is Mrs. Blake-her 3rd grade teacher’s wife. She sits in the back as usual because she’s such a good listener.Marco’s first day of 2nd grade. His teacher is Mrs. Komar. He loves her and was so excited to get her. He wouldn’t smile for me though.It was so chaotic that first day of kindergarten, Sylvie was starting to be a little bit unsure.Mrs. Fitzpatrick told her she could hold her stuffed dragon if she sat quietly on rug. She decided she could do that. The whole class is so quiet and I think that helps Sylvie to calm down.

Los Angeles Trip

Last week we took our only summer road trip down to LA. We left Wed. and got to Yesenia and Elliott’s that evening. Thursday, we took the kids to the Santa Monica Pier-we were going to go to the beach also, but we forgot that everything takes twice as long in LA. I was feeling nostalgic driving around Santa Monica and the neighborhood where Grandma Cole lived for over 50 years. Her house looks totally different now, as does the neighborhood. I guess things change!  One thing that hasn’t changed though is all the crowds of people everywhere! We did enjoy going on the old Carousel and the Ferris Wheel and the kids went on a couple of other rides. It was hot and there was no shade on the pier, so after a couple of hours, we were sunburned and tired and decided to head back. It took an hour in traffic with a tired and grumpy Tessa screaming the whole way. Ugh.

When we got back, we said good-by to the kids and Yesenia, Elliott and Valerie and Julio  and I took off for Pasadena to spend a night ALONE at a the Sheraton to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Yes, it was the first time we had ever spent a night alone without the kids in 10 years! Crazy, I know! We went to dinner at Le Courdon Bleu restaurant. It was different and I can’t say I liked the food too much. Julio enjoyed his more than mine.  The only photos we got are on my phone.

We returned on Friday afternoon-after spending most of the day searching for Marco’s birthday presents (everything takes twice as long in LA). The kids were happy to see us, but luckily, they were good for their aunt and uncle. The kids had been really upset about not going to the beach earlier in the week, so Julio took all four of them by himself. (I wasn’t feeling well, so I stayed behind.)

So excited! The sand!Can’t get to the water fast enough!It’s not cold!.Sand, sand everywhere-in the hair, bum, ears.But they loved it.

Saturday was the big family day. We went and saw cousin Valerie preach a sermon at the SDA church. The church had a big luncheon afterwards where everyone came and talked to us and were so nice. One funny thing Sylvie did while we were there-she went into the bathroom and took off her clothes and came out in her undies. People laughed, but we told her it wasn’t ok to do that. We spent some time at Abuela’s house that afternoon. That night was the big party to celebrate Valerie’s and Marco’s birthdays.

with cousin Haleasleeping in.Abuela always bears gifts.Marco’s pinata-from Abuela.

All the Hernandez cousins (minus Marco).

The original Hernandez cousins. (plus Marco)

The entire Hernandez clan.

Tessa strikes a pose.Marco got his own cake.

Opening gifts.

The drive home on Sunday-Marco’s actual birthday, we stopped for lunch at Denny’s.

We made it home and had a great time hanging with the Hernandez family!