M&L Meet Joaquin

Today was a day of reunions and first time meetings. Of course it started out like a normal Sunday morning, Lucia had soccer practice and then Mateo had soccer practice and then we all jumped into the car and headed to Brooklyn to catch up with Enrique, Natalia and their new baby Joaquin.

We were thrilled to meet Joaquin and apparently he was mesmerized by Miss Lucia

Still mesmerized...

Finally we get a front shot!

The happy family - Enrique, Joaquin and Natalia

Like father, like son

Happy V-Day 2012

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!. Today was V-day and for the first time ever, Mateo wrote up his own cards. It made me remember when I was young and how exciting it was to pick out which card went to which person (note: at this age/grade it is mandatory to give everyone in class a card...we even got one for the teacher). His cards were Spiderman themed and Miss Lucia, of course, had Hello Kitty.

One other walk down memory lane, all of the kids in Mateo's class made V-day mailboxes to collect all of the cards and when we arrived to his class in the morning the exchanges were already taking place. This picture captures the results of his collection as well as a card made by Lucia at her school. All-in-all a love-ly day.

M&L & Papi - Reading is Fun

Today was a fairly average Sunday. After Mateo's packed week of visitors to his school it was nice to have a relaxing normal weekend. What do we mean by normal? Well it means piano and swimming on Saturday and soccer on Sunday.

Ahhh...nothing says relaxed like a terry cloth bag of beans

A Curious George story read by Papi

And an enthusiastic audience

Mateo's Week - Mommy Day 5

Today Mommy came in as the closer for Mateo's week. Of course I was nervous because I was following a lot of impressive predecessors - flan, plants, a song and wood splitting. What was I going to do? The only thing I could do...bribe them.

Truth be told, I also brought in one of Mateo's other favorite games, the Penguin Memory Game, Pengaloo. We played that in the morning with some of his class friends.

Mateo loved playing "The Penguin Game" with Colin, Benji, and Jared

After the morning meeting, I shared all of the great items I was planning to donate to the class kitchen from my work. The kids were so excited to play with their new products and to learn about how things are invented.

We put the product to work by baking brownies...mmmm. A delicious end to a fabulously fun week.

Mateo's Week - Papi Day 4

Papi came in today for the fourth day of Mateo's week. Mateo was very excited to have him and share some of the fun he has at home with his classmates.

Papi read a book and also played "Spot-It," one of Mateo's favorite games, with the kids

Last, but not least, Papi and Mateo showed off a little by demonstrating Mateo's karate abilities - the ability to break wood.

Mateo's Week - Lucia Day 3

Ok, so day 3 at Mateo's school during Mateo's week was the cutest day ever. Why? Well because today his guest was none other than his little sis, Lucia, accompanied by Navita. From what I hear little Miss charmed the pants off of his class with her cute style and lovely performance.

Navita and Lucia participated in an arts and crafts project

And then Lucia left them with a song...

Mateo's Week - Abu Day 2

So today was the second day of Mateo's week. His special guest was Abu.

Abu mesmerized the class with his tales of how he came from Cuba and also helped them plant some flowers - an activity he and Mateo enjoy doing together during the summer. Another successful day, congrats Abu!

Mateo's Week - Aba Day 1

Today kicked off a very special week for Mateo. What week you ask? Well Mateo is student of the week. Each Kindergartener gets an opportunity to be student of the week. Part of this includes having family come in and share their favorite stories or activities with Mateo and his friends so his classmates could better understand a bit about who he is outside of school.

First day - Aba came in and spoke to the kids about one of Mateo's favorite dishes, Flan. Instead of making it there she made it ahead of time, but brought props to walk them through the recipe. First eggs...

...then condensed milk and sugar

And after a little baking and cooked sugar "Voila! Flan!"

Later Aba helped the kids play the Memory Game, one of Mateo's favorite game. From what we hear the teachers, staff and students loved the Flan...way to go Aba, you made Day 1 a success!

M&L Cabin Fever 2012

This has been a really tame winter so the idea of cabin fever never really set in. The kids have been able to play outside throughout the whole season and today was no different. With that being said, that does not mean we would pass up attending the Hoboken Family Alliance Annual Cabin Fever Event (especially since it was being held right across the street).

Lucia enjoyed playing this Monster Tic Tac Toe game from Big Fun Toy Store

Mateo got creative and colored this bear

And look who we ran into - neighborhood buddy (and daughter of Mommy's co-worker), Amelia. What pretty face painting.

Another co-worker, neighborhood- buddy -pair, Mike with his daughter Ellora

The fun didn't stop there. After Cabin Fever we headed to Tio Chino's house to celebrate his birthday and Abu's retirement.