Little chef helper

I decided to make an enormous batch of spinach puree. Why, because Sofia and Marcelo have gone from being great eaters to horribly picky eaters and I need to inject them with spinach puree at night while they're sleeping.  Normally, I get the organic baby spinach, but Ray likes to make my life harder so he got the regular spinach which requires that you take off the stems.  I started the painstaking process and Marcelo was jumping at the bit to help me out.  Since no one else was offering, I obliged him.  He was SO excited to be allowed to do this job. You can tell by how far back his lips are sucked into his mouth with that crazy smile. I didn't think his enthusiasm would last long but we kept making "one more batch", I think just so we could enjoy each other's company.  Of course when the spinach was steamed and pureed, my enormous batch was more like a couple of little cupfuls.  I hate how that happens.  Thanks for helping me Marcelo.

What is going on here?

Lately, I have given Sofia and Marcelo some heightened expectations with respect to their daily routines.  After waking up, they are to get dressed and make their beds independently before coming down for breakfast.  They've been quite good at doing so thanks to Accountable Kids, a program I'll have to talk about a little bit later.  It is a well know fact that I was born loathing the morning. After rolling out of bed and brushing my teeth, I then meet them downstairs as I try to pry my unwilling eyes open without causing myself an ocular migraine.  That was very unpleasant back in 2008.

So... on this fine day, after all our morning routine activities (homeschool, online preschool, lunch, playing) where completed in the downstairs of the house, I came up to the second floor with Marcelo and Peter for Quiet Time.  I love Quiet Time.  It's really quiet.  Well, most of the time.  Upon reaching Marcelo's bedroom door, I was greeted with this happy scene. It kind of made my day, for some reason. Immediately, I wondered -what the hell have these stuffed animals been up to?  And, how did they get this way?  They are always in baskets on the floor with the exception of Bear & Blanky which are usually the only ones allowed on Marcelo's bed.

Apparently, there was a big party going in Marcelo's bedroom this morning, and I didn't even know about it.  God help me when Sofia and Marcelo are teenagers.

Ice skating

Lately, I'm all about finding fun, free or cheap activities to do with the kids. On Christmas Eve day, I found out about free ice skating with Santa. Naturally, it was a must. Nevermind, I'm not much of an ice skater or adept at any activity with special shoes, and that unbeknownst to me, Ray has only been ice skating once in his life and it ended poorly, AND that we are two adults (sort of) to three small children. What exactly were we going to do with the fifth wheel? Well, the truth is, if I let my natural logical and practical mind stop to think about any of these things, we would not be going anywhere. So I've learned to dumb myself down a bit and just leave it all to chance for the sake of new experiences and fun-having.

It took us a very long time to get there because Ray's automatic pilot failed him when he spontaneously decided to get off the freeway for no apparent reason. But, it was all good, we got there still well within the free window of time. There were a lot of people there, but many were already turning in their skates after a half hour of free skating so we were able to get our skates very quickly with the help of the very nice people there who apparently are aliens because I don't think they can be from Utah. Sofia had to get skates about ten sizes too big, but again, my positive-don't-use-your-logic attitude was working. We got everyone skated up with the exception of fifth-wheel. We'd figure out what to do with him when we got to the ice.

As we step on the ice, we spontaneously (ooh, I like that word) decided I would take Marcelo who would probably require more help, and Ray being the manly man he is, would take fifth-wheel on his hip and help Sofia. Although, Ray and Sofia were moving at a snails pace, they quickly left us in the dust. For once, in my life, I wasn't too worried about falling or even looking stupid. Is that what motherhood does to you? Marcelo was such a noodle on the ice, I couldn't stop laughing hysterically for the next five or 10 minutes straight. I then realized, that even if this wasn't a fun, new experience about ice skating, it was all worth it for the way he made me laugh. It was like no one else was there, just the two of us struggling to stay upright. Marcelo's legs were ALL OVER the place. I expected him to be able to gain some kind of composure or slight muscle tone but it never happened. I resorted to holding on to his vest by the shoulders instead to keep him straighter but it was to no avail. I think it took us fifteen minutes just to make it a quarter of the way around the rink. Was it worth it? Totally. That laugh alone helped to loosen some of the cobwebs inn my soul. And I think, the kids are not too scarred that they will probably try ice skating again.

Christmas dance recital '11

Yeah baby!

Appalled

On our trip to see the Salt Lake City Library, we perused some boutiques in the vicinity, including this comic book store where Ray tries in vain to recapture his youth.  He just looks so silly in a comic book store with a stroller.

Also, Ray. I don't know how to tell you this, but I think someone stole your arse.

Wait. Nevermind.  I know where it went.

Now this, I totally agree with.  Marcelo responds with shock and awe when I ask him what he thinks of these figurines.

Aprentice Carpenter

 We finally took advantage of the free kid's activities at the home improvement store by our house and took the kids in to make a science lab.  They thought this was the s#;!  They got to hammer away and went home with a new apron and safety glasses in addition to the science lab which I actually thought was pretty cool.

Here Marcelo shows he is clearly ready to be a mad scientist.

When we got home, we tried one of the little experiments from the cards.  They were able to gather the materials. Sofia read the instructions and they really enjoyed it.

Things you say

Why go to church, when we have Marcelo to quote a wise piece of advise to us, over breakfast, this fine Sunday morning.

Mom said a long time ago, "Be nice to people. Play with people.  And the most important thing -kiss people".