Picking out the perfect car

Today Agustín started his Christmas vacation. Nicolás has school until the 23rd. Nico was very disappointed, to say the least, that he had to go to school this morning and his brother didn't. Agustín and I spent a very quiet morning at home, him playing and digging through his brother's cars (which he can't do when said brother is home), and me just catching up on some work around the house. I love quiet vacation mornings...

A closer look

A closer look at our tree reveals our soft Santa Claus - one of the first Christmas ornaments Andrés and I got for our tree. There is also a gingerbread ornament the kids made a couple of years ago, and a big green car, which the kids also picked out two years ago.

I love looking at the ornaments and remembering the stories behind them.

The Pageant

Today was the big performance. It went fine. Luckily I didn't have a main part, but as you can see it was a bit difficult to fit everyone into the auditorium. Plus, it had rained that night, so everything was wet and the kids had to stand. I'm not sure Agustín could see my stellar performance.

Here he is, next to the girl in the blue jacket. I couldn't get him to look at the camera!

I had Nico with me (Daddy had to work and the rest of the family is at the beach house), and he was somewhat difficult to handle (he was so nervous being alone in the crowd while I was on stage), but later I convinced him to be good by handing him the camera.

Later that day we had the annual CEC potluck. We had a great turnout, and it was a nice time to visit with teachers that I don't always get to see or spend time with.

The food was great too. We brought Buffalo cheese dip with homemade pita chips and Noodle pudding (a Taste of Home recipe - very interesting, everything I try from those magazines are perfect!), but there was also potstickers, egg rolls, candied almonds, hamburger noodle dish, lots of cakes and cookies and breads, salad, Christmas tamales, beer :), and I can't remember what else, but everything was delicious and I definitely ate more than I should have. :)

Sheep... or Big Foot? :)

This year for the Christmas pageant at Agustín's school, the parents are putting on a show for the kids. In our grade we are doing the story of the reindeer who felt ugly, so we have to dress up like animals. I am a sheep. The costume was huge for Ecuadorians, but I barely fit into it.

Agustín is VERY excited to see Mommy out there dressed as a sheep.

A Message from Santa

We got personalized messages from Santa this year. So cool that Santa is techie.

We were fascinated. Santa knew our name, showed us his workshop, knew what we wanted for Christmas and also what we had done this year.

Wow.

In other news, at the request of almost everyone in the family, I am making some chocolate cookie desserts this year. Mostly I make Russian tea cakes, sugar cookies, pies, and a must-have (in my eyes at least): cream wafers. I have never made chocolate cookies for Christmas before, 1) because I am terrified of working with chocolate - it never turns out) and 2) I am not a huge fan, and if I am going to end up eating them all, I want cream wafers, not chocolate chip cookies. But this year, I was told that if I added chocolate to the mix, more of you would eat them. So I am trying Oreo balls, buckeyes, fudge, chocolate-covered Ritz crackers and a classic Kupferschmidt recipe - chocolate-covered, peanut-butter filled Cheezit sandwiches (Butterfinger cookies? I can't remember what they were called now...). We didn't have Cheezits so we are using cheese-flavored crackers, and they turned out pretty great. So far, so good, but now the worry is that nothing will last until Christmas. I guess I'll have to whip up some extra batches...

Family moments

We ventured out to the mall today. I used to love the crowds, the shopping, the frenzied parking and the search for the perfect present, but with kids it has become harder and a little terrifying. There are so many people everywhere, people are crabby and pushy and not polite at all, not even to little kids, and there are just way too many cars for the city. The kids complain and cry about shopping, and so most of the time we stay home. We did a lot of our shopping this summer, but I still need a few things, so will probably have to go out one of these days on my own to finish up the lists. I am nervous - only 10 more days! I have never felt so stressed during the holidays before. It has been hard for me to get into the spirit and feel somewhat on top of things.

But then I remember - this is what it is about, these are the memories too - and don't feel so bad anymore.

Another Fun-packed Episode...

The Grandpa Dan Show has become a fixture in our lives. Not only do we get a weekly front row seat to some awesome musical shows but we also received a Christmas card and (autographed) picture from the staff at the show this year.

Nice detail, let me say! I LOVE the fact that the whole family is getting involved, and staying involved. What did we use to do without the Internet?

Things that Make me Go... :)

I loved doing Picture of the Day this year. It got harder during the latter half of the year, but it kept my blog somewhat up to date, and therefore the family somewhat up to date as well. I have LOVED reading my sister's blog, and I wish everyone I know would blog so that I could keep up to date on the daily doings of their lives, but, well, it is a huge commitment and quite time consuming. Still, I think I will continue as much as possible with the idea of a daily post and picture, because more than anything it has made me so happy to look back on the year and see all of the little daily things in our lives. It has meant a bit less scrapbooking, since it feels a little repetitive at times to blog about it, and then scrapbook the same story, but I know the stories are here at least.

This year I really am thinking that I will probably do potd, but at the same time make it more ttmms (things that make me smile). A little hybrid project, so to speak. You might see a lot of this, however, so be fair-warned... :)

The Newest Addition

We have a new addition to the decorations this year. I wanted to get something special for the kids, something like the cool (yet corny) Christmas decorations I remember from my childhood, something that in 20-30 years my kids will want for their kids. I found this cheesy snowman that sings "Let it Snow!" at a Christmas shop. He moves back and forth while he sings, and then the marshmallows come up out of the hot chocolate for the chorus.

He lasted 14 hours. Now he doesn't move, but the marshmallows do.

According to Nico, Agustín broke him. But I wonder. This thing was probably cheap in the U.S. Here, it was still cheaply made, but expensive. They just don't make things like they used to, and maybe he wasn't made for lasting more than one Christmas...

I am going to try new batteries and hopefully that will work. Otherwise, we will just enjoy the marshmallow chorus.

More puzzles

The kids had a birthday pary today for Guillo Endara (3 already!?) and Tin won himself a Hulk puzzle for being the best dancer. (He often wins dancing contests - which I think is so funny because mostly he dances the robot, but oh well. I think he wins because the adults thinks he is hilarious.)

Daddy and the kids had a blast putting it together. Daddy is also a huge puzzle fan. Chips off the old block!

Sparklers were the best! They are selling them now and I decided this could be a new Christmas tradition.



We were a little nervous at first, but soon the kids got the hang of it!

The Calendar

Agustín got a calendar for 2010, and he is really excited to mark off his days. After years of thinking he might never figure out the idea of past, present, and future, he now understands dates and months! Wow.

It is a Transformers calendar.

I have to say he is a lot like his mommy. I used to love marking days off the calendar. Now it just makes me a little depressed to see how fast time flies.

He also likes decorating. This is his tree, and an ornament that he wanted to put out as a decoration.

He's got those Miller genes, all right!

Reading...ahhhh

It is still so strange for me to think that Agustín's reading. He is doing a great job in Spanish, but sometimes he surprises me and reads in English just as well. I love the fact that he can pick something up and read what it is about. Or that he can read the signs on the road, or at the store, and know what's going on. It is a huge step in independence, something that I think most of us take for granted.

Watching him decipher what things say has reminded me of how I felt at that age, realizing that there was an entire world out there in words. It has reminded me of my favorite books when I was just a little bigger than him: The Littles, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Harriet the Spy, The Boxcar Children. He is reading a book in school called Un Día Más, short stories about animals that are in danger of extinction (the animals are characters in their own adventures), and although he doesn't like having to read it for homework, I think he enjoys the stories, and being able to sit down and read it himself. We are also currently rereading the Captain Underpants series that Grandma Chris gave us this summer, and he notices if I miss any parts.

I don't know if he will become a reader, and I don't want to push it too much, but just watching him read makes me feel so happy and proud. Yet sad. He is growing up way too fast!

L is for Lips

Grandpa Dan is at it again. Today's show was brought to us by the letter "L", and featured huge lips.

I am beginning to think there is nothing he won't do. :)

Nicolás didn't make it through today's show. I think he is growing, because 8-8:30 bedtime is just too late for him lately. No more naps during the day, either, which I suppose is affecting him.

Either way, Agus always enjoys the show. What will we do when the real Grandpa Dan is here?

It's not looking like Christmas...

I am planning on using these pictures in my December Daily album, but I think it is funny that so far I have very little that really resembles "Christmas" much!

The kids, enjoying a light snack poolside.

Christmas on the Coast

It was so strange to leave Quito during the city's parties. But on Thursday the deal went through that Grandma had been working on, and now the beach house in Tonsupa is ours! We were all very excited to go and check it out - last time we were there we saw the house and met the owners, without (at least for me) really believing it would someday be ours. But everything went perfectly and now it is - furnished and all.

The view from the bedroom balcony. The pool has spigots that spit out water and make a waterfall - the kids love it!

We are just two blocks from the ocean, but the pool is so beautiful that we ended up spending most of the day here. It was a bit chilly in the afternoon though, but the kids didn't care.

The kids in their room.

The kitchen.

The living room and porch.

The house itself is two stories - three bedrooms (the two upper rooms both have balconies), two and a half baths, with a small garden in back by the car park. The caretaker and his family is so nice - they made us some delicious bolones de verde as well, and we spent a heavenly day just setting up house and hanging out on the porch. Well, we had to get in the pool for a while (believe me, it was a bit too cold for that, but I won't complain. In some parts of the world it is snowing right now! Plus, it is usually very hot so most of the time the pool will be a godsend!)

We did some real cabin-like things such as jigsaw puzzles as well. And played Bunco at night.

Ecuadorian Cowboy

Nico was a cowboy this year in the annual Freedom Fiestas de Quito program. He rented the coolest chaps - both boys were absolutely fascinated with them, and I think a trip to Saquisili or Machachi is in order to try to find a pair for each of them. They were all leather and he looked so cute doing his little cowboy dance.

This year they decided to make the program even more unbearably longer than usual - a procession through the street (35 minutes - the kids each had a balloon the colors of the Quito flag, and at one point released them into the sky all at once - very cool) with a marching bad and a float for the Quiteña Bonitas, a poetry contest, the Freedom flag contest, and they started with the election of the Queen right at the beginning, so Nico wasn't even performing until almost 11. we got out of there as soon as his number was over, because we had an appointment with the sand and surf! :)

Making books

One of my favorite schooltime memory is making a book in Mr. Johnson's fifth grade class. We gave it to our parents for Christmas and it was so exciting. This year Agustín's class is doing something similar - it isn't for the parents or a surprise or anything, but they are working on writing and illustrating their own stories. His is called The Magic Door, and the basic idea is that a kid from another planet just like Earth but with strange continents creates a door, and behind the door there are robots. Some are good, some are bad. There are also witches and pirates - both of which are bad. That is all I can really understand of it, but he is really into telling his story. Now he is creating coloring books, pop-up books, etc. Today when we got home from work, we found him at his grandma's house working on a pop-up city. Then he surprised me by presenting it to me. He is a really sweet kid!

Our tree

The kids helped me decorate the tree this year. Agus was so excited to put his star at the top. I loved watching them both choose the ornaments they were going to put up. Agustin even helped me string on the lights!

MegaMind means MegaNightmares

Daddy surprised us tonight with an invitation to a movie. Megamind opened today, and it was two-for-one. He'd been wanting to see it, but it was in 3D. The kids were a bit reluctant at first, but once the movie started they liked it. It wasn't scary at all, and had some funny parts, and all in all we enjoyed it. We didn't get to see it in English, so will have to get the DVD when it comes out, but the Spanish wasn't bad. Here the kids are, waiting - quite impatiently - for the movie to start.

I should rephrase - Nico waiting impatiently. Agus enjoys himself almost anywhere we go, so we had no trouble entertaining him before the movie started. He had enough fun putting the 3D glasses on and off to worry about the exact time the movie would start.

About a half hour ago, however, we had our first round of nightmares. Agus screaming, "Help me, help me!" from his bed. We still use the baby monitor for times like these, and Andrés ran in to see what was wrong. Agustín was out of it completely, kept saying his name was Pelota (Kickball) Paredes, but he eventually went back to sleep.

Wonder how many times Daddy will be getting up tonight.