Mommy Visits Auntie Gina

So last night Mommy flew into Pittsburgh...that's right Pittsburgh to visit Auntie Gina who is about to become a Mommy. She got married earlier in the year and now is expecting a baby boy or girl in March yah! After she moved to Pittsburgh I promised I would visit, but told her I would absolutely not go in Winter because I remember Pittsburgh winters and they were brutal.

Well, she must be pretty important because here I am in Pittsburgh, in what would be considered Winter in the snow (which means at least 32 degrees). I did, however, get to visit my old campus. CMU on the fence on the Cut in front of Hunt Library...feels very familiar

Gina (w/ baby on board) and Mommy had a great weekend

Mommy' Day in Kindergarten

Today was a very special day for me and Mateo because I was finally going to go to his school to spend some time with him and his classmates. As a working parent, I don't get to participate with his school as much as I would like and I know that he envies the kids who have a parent who doesn't work and who can participate in everyday classroom events.

Mateo is all smiles after completing our special project. We made blueberry muffins with his classmates to enjoy for an early afternoon snack.

It was a great day and Mommy and Mateo had a wonderful time together.

M&L Trim the Tree

Today the family got into the Christmas spirit a little more and decided to decorate the tree. The kids were so excited and so were the adults.

As you can see the bottom of the tree got a lot of love from Mateo and Lucia, so Mommy and Papi helped out with the middle and top.

Lucia likes the shiny ones

And now for the traditional pic in front of the tree...for some reason we can never get them to smile

Well, one out of two ain't bad

M&L Take a Picture with Santa Claus

As Christmas approaches, there is lots to do, arrange flights, go shopping, cook, bake and of course go see Santa. The flights are arranged and a tiny bit of shopping has been done and today the kids went to see Santa.

Mateo was happy to share everything on his letter with Santa, but Miss Lucia was a little scared of the guy with the velvet red suit and flowing white beard, so Mommy had to act as a buffer to get the picture taken. "CHEESE!"

M&L Get a Christmas Tree

So as is tradition, the Vielot Gonzalez family went shopping for a real Christmas Tree. We got dressed, ate, hung out and went to the local church to pick out our tree.

Picking out a tree is "Groovy baby!"

Mateo and Lucia ran around the lot and then picked out the perfect tree

When we got home, the kids and Papi set up the tree

A little later, Mateo finished up his first letter to Santa.

What a big boy!

M&L Get a Visit from Tia Raqui & Uncle Aston

"Yaaah!!" The great thing about Thanksgiving is that it brings friends and family into town. We continued with that tradition and had Tia Raqui, Tio Jon and Uncle Aston all over for a play date.

Tia Raqui Caqui and Miss Lucia hang out at the park

While Mateo makes a friend playing a game of hoops

As the afternoon turned to evening, we bundled up and headed for home

But not before a quick bro-sis picture

Later Uncle Aston came over with Auntie Gail and Mateo gave them a little performance on the piano

M&L Enjoy a Fall Day with MadMax

So today was both a happy and sad day. Happy because we got to see MaddMax again, but sad because it was the last time we would get to see them for a while.

Of course there was a start to the afternoon that included Angry Birds

Later, we headed to the park where Mateo found his buddy Matthew

The 2s crew made their way back to the playground where Max and Lucia took turns going down the slide

And then Madrina tried the same thing and discovered the slide was sized for little people

A little farewell swinging

And the end of a beautiful Fall day