Mateo's Winter Piano Recital - 2013

Mateo has been taking piano for over 2 years and he has definitely come a long way, his confidence and understanding has grown a great deal. He actually says he "likes" the piano which I never thought I'd hear. Today was his Winter recital and he did such a good job.

The program

And Mr. Gonzalez (2nd from the bottom) 

Of course, little sister, Lucia is always there for support

And I was very proud of him

Ode to Joy & Shepard's Song aDuet

Auntie Audris & Uncle Dennis Come to Visit Again

Today was a very exciting day for Mommy and the kids. Auntie Audris and Uncle Dennis were coming to visit from California.

Shortly after showing up to our apartment we went out to eat lunch at one of our favorite local restaurants. At the end of lunch, Papi had to rush Lucia to gymnastics.

Auntie Audris came with me to pick Lucia up from class and as you can see by the rosey cheeks it was pretty cold outside.

Meanwhile the boys stayed warm inside and played Bey Blades...it was a great day for all of us.

M&L Thanksgiving 2013

So today is Turkey Day also known as Thanksgiving and we were all very excited to get to see the fam. We were also very lucky because we had out-of-towners from Ohio also here which made it extra special. 

Melanie and Lucia enjoyed some time coloring

As you can see we weren't only celebrating Thanksgiving, we were also celebrating Eric and Kimm's 40th birthdays.

Boy cousins galore - Alex, Mateo, Nelsito, Ayden, Janzel and Antonio

This was supposedly their "silly face" picture...I guess these days silly means act like a zombie

And as for the girls, well they may not have the numbers, but they sure are cute

Here is one of the birthday guests, Kimm, being super sill with Tornado and Volcano (aka Ayden and Mateo)

"Here's to sexy and sassy" familia

After the kids finished playing they did what they do best...play on the ipad

A rare sighting...a mother-son moment...

...and here's another

The sign of a good night? 

Mima passed out on a couch

Lucia's Celebrates Turkey Day in Class

With the holiday coming up it was the perfect time for a Pre-K performance about turkeys, so I went to work late and decided to check out my daughter's class performance.

Lucia is prepared with hand motions and head gear

After the performance the kids all decorated their own turkeys to hang up in the classroom

If you want to take a look at the stellar performance (which really involved Lucia keeping her Turkey hat on her head and mouthing the words to the song) see link below.

Pre-K 4 Performance

Lucia Goes to Ashley's 5th Birthday

Today Lucia went to Ashley's 5th birthday. I would say that Pump It Up used to be her favorite but it has been replaced by Diamond's Gymnastics. She said she loved it and hasn't stopped talking about it. 

 Lucia was so excited to get to jump around and show off her gymnastics skills

 Look at her catch air

At the end of course there is always an energetic birthday serenade to the guest of honor...Ashley (standing in pink)

Lucia was in her zone hopping around and catching air...

She even had a partner trick

And some rope swinging

M&L Celebrate Papi's 38th Birthday

Today the kids threw an impromptu surprise party for Papi (with the help of Aba). When we got home after work there were balloons everywhere and one of Papi's favorite desserts, bread pudding. Oh yes, and of course 2 smiling kids.

Is it me or do they all share the same smile?

Happy Birthday Papi! Here's to another 38 plus years.

Lucia Goes to Tom's 5th Birthday

So today Lucia went to one of her favorite and most commonly visited birthday haunts.

That's right - Bounce U! One of her classmates, Tom (actually one of the only boys Lucia sincerely likes) celebrated his 5th birthday there.

Of course her first visit was to the "Cyclone Blast" zone where she and Vivi enjoyed 100 mile and hour winds

Then a lot of the boys got into air hockey

And so did the girls, namely my girl who was an air hockey shark

Then the play time ended with the customary "Ice Cream" Dance and

Group photo with silly faces

We then finished up with pizza and a "Happy Birthday" song to the birthday boy