Project Life: Weeks 11-17

Week Eleven

A quieter week. Some laundry, some crochet, a cute book came home with nico this week (seen in the insert).

This is the only insert I've done so far, but I'm ok with that. So far the album is so much fun to go through, not sure each week needs more. Just going to go with the flow I guess. A lot of excitement below as the kids were given permission to ride from Grandma's house to home in the front seat. How cool was that!?

Week Twelve

The kids went to the stadium on Sunday and got Liga shirts (it was Nico's first time at a game) and so soccer fever has started!

Some shots of "Mommy School" as well!

Week Thirteen

It's been a rough rainy season, and although we had planned a beach trip every weekend in March and April, the landslides on the highways have prevented it. Things opened up for Easter break, though, and the kids were dropped off to spend a week there with their grandparents alone (well, we stayed on the weekends, just not during the week). Bati and Gaby came but can you believe I didn't get one picture of them? Crazy.

Week Fourteen

Andres turns 40, we spend some days in the city alone (catch a movie and go out for drinks a couple of times!), then back to the beach to pick up the kids.

Week Fifteen

Easter egg hunting and dying, bowling night, and some very cold weather makes up this week.

Week Sixteen

As I said, the soccer bug has bit. Back to the stadium. Some crochet for me. Some cleaning for Nico (he wasn't even asked! He loves to sweep with that little broom - great purchase!) More ephemera this week - I love that and want to do more. I feel like I'm filling things up with too many photos and not enough words and stuff. Will be more mindful to do so...

Here I did get some journaling in from the kids' teacher conferences and also a little about our "wild" Saturday (started with books form the library and ended with Shushu being rushed to the hospital. It turned out to be a pinched-nerve-like thing in her shoulder, but very painful. Thought it might be her heart so didn't want to take chances.)

Week Seventeen

And here we are - all up to date. Again with super bad, blurry pics. Sorry!

This Sunday we saw Pirates in the theater. Nico won first place in a drawing contest (Tin won third!), we had an ice cream break on Monday, the kids got soccer gloves from Grandpa for their outstanding report cards, Mommy and Daddy went downtown to a super fancy restaurant, and Nico shadowed me all day Saturday, then ended the day doing some nifty acrobats for me!

Wow. Just when you think your life is a bit on the boring side, you go back and see how absolutely blessed and lucky you are.

As Agustin would say, "This family rocks."

He also likes to say "thingamadoodle."

Project Life: Weeks 7-10

More from my Project Life binder. Again, horrible photos. I know. They make me want to cry. Oh well. 

Week Seven

Valentine's Day, with some of the cards I gave the boys. An insert from the chocolate heart Tin received. Pictures from Family Game night, and some pics of A wrestling with the boys.

Week Eight

Carnaval weekend, lots of soccer as you can see.

Week Nine

This week saw us back at the beach, as well as starting swimming lessons again. A few samples of the kids school work (studying for tests) as well.

Week Ten

Back at the beach again, after a big storm. Birthday week as well - Nico turned 6 and Shushu 66! Some pictures from our secret mission that led to the birthday gifts. That was so much fun to put together.

The photo of the balloons on the left hand side where the balloons I put up the night before Nico's birthday. I laughed so hard when he came out. He just looked at them, looked at me, and then in his voice that says you-must-be-crazy said "What'd ya put up all the balloons for?" Still cracks me up!

Playing Project Life Posting Catch Up: Weeks 3-6

I have been really good about keeping up with Project Life. In fact, I look forward to it all week, and some weeks it goes by too fast. I did run out of photo paper one week and had a hard time finding some in the stores, so I got a little behind, then proceeded to run out of ink the next week, but I am finally all caught up and things are working just fine. I am using the DayOne app to jot down little things - I haven't used it every day but two or three times a week, which helps record some of those little moments that are hard to remember at the end of a week.

I am going to go ahead and post each of my weeks, because I like to get a general feel for the album this way. I am doing it in terrible light, however, because during the day when the sun's out the kids are following me around and it's harder to get it done. So excuse the horrible horrible quality of the pics. Maybe someday when I've got tons of extra time to spare I'll re-photograph them.

Week Three

A pretty normal week around here. Not much going on out of the ordinary.

Week Four

The kids had an event going on at school. Andres and I took some time off and went to watch it. Had a lot of fun, although it was so cold outside!  And wet.

Week Five

A birthday party for a girl in Nico's class, another event at Tin's school to celebrate the Tarqui Battle. Some of the kids art work...

Week Six

A trip to Ibarra this weekend, an event at work (nice and fancy, haha), a meeting with an old student of mine, some family time.

Cosmic Bowling

The other day Nico mentioned that even though we said in January that we would go bowling in Quito, we hadn't been bowling here yet. So we made reservations for a lane for this afternoon at 5:30 and went for a little bowling foray!

Unfortunately, the kids had had a really busy and active day at school, hadn't eaten well at lunch, and therefore were very crabby and difficult to handle. The bumpers at the bowling alley had broken and they were awaiting an import, so even though they told us upfront, I opted to go anyway. I figured it would be fun, even if we didn't hit too many pins.

My bad.

Mostly we just heard whining and watched kids hold back their tears because they were last, they only had 11 points, they couldn't hit the pins, etc, etc.

Even with help, they were not happy.

And actually it was almost worse to help them, since if - God forbid! - we didn't hit a pin ourselves, we had to really hear it!

It did not make for very pleasant bowling but Andrés and I tried to make the most of it and see the humor in the situation. Maybe in a few days or weeks or years it will seem funnier.

Brrrrr

It was really cold tonight.

You can't even walk around the house without three or four layers.

Axl....?

We have been getting a lot of lip lately.

Sometimes I blame school. Other times I think it is age. But tonight Nico informed me that it's because that's how Axl (from the TV show "The Middle") acts, and he's cool. Ummmm, ok, maybe no more "Middle"?

The face above was because I mentioned that we'd need to take a bath tonight.

Dying eggs - our Easter tradition

It's become something of a tradition, dying eggs. We can find white eggs now, and while they aren't as popular as the brown eggs, they're in most supermarkets.

The kids made a couple two-toned eggs this year. Daddy gave them the idea. They turned out cute!

We made deviled eggs with most of them, ate the others as hard-boiled eggs.

Happy Easter 2012

Today, at the crack of dawn, I couldn't figure out why the kids were up - it was 5:55 and the kids were awake and rearing to go. I told them to lie down next to me for a while and let me sleep a little more. Finally, Agustín said, "Mommy, if you want we can just look for our baskets alone. Or, maybe you'd like to watch us?"

Oh, right! It's Easter!

HAPPY EASTER!

Of course, we immediately went downstairs to search. The bunny had left eggs all over, filled with candy and money. It didn't take too long this year to find the baskets - Agustín's was under the dining room table, on a chair, hidden by the tablecloth, and Nico's was in the toy box (Agustín found it for him).

Some of the eggs were a bit tricky to find...

Here's the stash. Fun - books and toothbrushes!!!

And candy, of course.

A Good End to Spring Break

Back at the beach again! Woohoo!

I could really get used to this.

Of course, from a blogging point of view, it was quite boring. Same old, same old: pool, ocean, pool, seafood, etc, etc, etc.

The kids did get some play time in: Angry Birds, the card game! (Quickly becoming a favorite, and a classic! - thanks Aunt Kimmy!)

The kids didn't seem all that excited to see us (the parents) because Bati was there, and they couldn't get enough of him (Yet oddly I don't have one picture of them with him - bummer!).

But I am sure they were excited to get lots of bedtime reading in, especially with our favorite English book The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog.

It was hot, still, and the kids got to use their fancy M&M's fans.

I caught Agustín reading the paper one morning (it was a Miami Herald Andrés had brought from work). He informed me, very seriously, that he was "reading about London. It's really interesting. I don't really understand much, but I know it's interesting."

We left for Quito on Saturday, hoping to beat the holiday traffic by a day, and were glad we did. There had been a landslide on the highway we normally take (only 20 miles north of Quito! Such a bummer - so close, yet so far...) so we had to take the Sto Domingo highway. It had been years since we'd taken this route, and they've done a lot to the highway to improve it - tunnels and two lanes both sides, more signage. Man was it ever gorgeous! The "new" highway can't compete at all - and it is pretty too, but the Sto Domingo road is full - FULL! - of waterfalls and volcanic rock and breathtaking drops off the edge. Absolutely awe-inspiring. We were all speechless - except for Andrés, who actually had to drive it. Still as dangerous as ever, the highway is super wind-y with tons of hairpin turns, and of course it rained and was foggy all the way to Quito - quite stressful, not to mention the extra hour and a half it added to the already long drive.

But I got to see the Devil's face! Yay! I thought it had been demolished with all the construction.

Creepy.