Busy Girl

Little Talia has big personality. As she grows and develops we get to enjoy more of that personality. Here are a few pictures and videos so you can enjoy her too. These pictures were taken the other day. Talia put every single lei on all by herself.



She loves trying to put on any clothes whether they be hers or anyone elses. She will usually end up with some shirt around the backside of her neck and try relentlessly to put someones socks on. Here she is wearing my purse slung over her shoulder.




Did you catch her hand position? She has this cheerleader pose while she walks. The protruding fist is the side that usually leads the toddling walk.

B/C just because

So I felt like I was really scraping by for B and C day. I am learning quickly how much better things could go if I thought more about the overall themes and structure.


I had high hopes of making B day focused on the body and taking the kids to a Yoga class just for their age groups, but traffic precluded us driving to the gym. I, on the other hand, made it for my Zumba class (after A day's discovery of my "real" size, I wouldn't dream of missing it). We sang songs and even learned a dance to emphasize our bodies. Breakfast had berries and lunch was peanut Butter on Bagels. The highlight for me was dinner on B day: Lettuce Wraps. You may ask, where is the B? Well, the lettuce just so happened to be Boston Butter Lettuce so there you go. The recipe was discovered at a recipe exchange and I loved it so I will pass it on to you (thanks Kimberli)

Lettuce Wraps/AKA too bad PF Changs
2-3 chicken breast (cubed and cooked in oil - or however you like, I usually use cook my chicken in the crock pot, then shred it)
5-6 lg carrots - peel and grate
1 bunch chopped green onion
1 sm can water chestnuts - chopped
1 bag bean sprouts (This only stays fresh for about 2-3 days. I've also used canned bean sprouts and it works too. Not quite as good though. I've also used sugar snap peas or edamame and that was yummy, but harder to eat.)

Add all veggies to chicken, then add approximately
1/8 c sesame seed oil
1/4 c soy sauce
2/3 bottle bangkok padang peanut sauce (bottle is 11.5 oz - made by House of Tsang... you can usually find it at Wal-mart)

Stir and let simmer until veggies are done and sauce gets sort of thick (approx 20 min)
Wash bunch of romaine lettuce (I've also used boston). Put sweet and sour sauce down the vein then add the above mix.

C day went a little better. I even busted out some letter tracing books for Tiago to practice writing c's and had Mia imagine some stories using C. It was funny because Mia made all the people with the C shape and lots of curly hair. After Library storytime we headed to the Commissary to get some Cereal and Chocolate milk. (and some other essentials, but how else could I justify it as a field trip to the kids) Lunch consisted of Corn dogs, Cucumbers, and Chocolate milk.
Snacks: 1) Chicken nests made from Carrot shavings and grapes; 2) Cherries (I felt good about paying the $3 per pound price since it was for educational purposes).

Later we busted out some shaving Cream to Create C words and pictures. Too bad it just turned into a texture exercise, but at least they did it while listening to Classical music.


Dinner was Chinese beef and broccoli stir fry which I only realized while cooking would have been a better B day meal, but oh well. With Cookies and Chocolate milk for dessert, we made up for the blunder.

Since we haven't given up on our Family Night themes, I came up with a song for Music night. The hymn of choice, "Come unto Jesus". It wasn't until I got to the second line that I realized some words might be a little difficult to explain. I introduced the story with the picture of Jesus and the 1 leper who returned to thank Jesus for healing him. This kind of helped me when I tried to teach the next lines "Ye Heavy Laden; Careworn and fainting by sin oppressed". Hmmm. . .lots of visuals including me fainting and pushing down on their fists to show how something can be opPRESSED. Yeah, pretty weak sauce, but they learned it.

The Backside of Sea World

I started off summer school with a bang or at least an attempted bang. I decided to have each day focus on a letter of the alphabet so Tiago can learn his letters and we can have some base structure. Structure was loose at best but at least our A day included a field trip to see the "Arctic Animals" at Sea World. Ok, I learned at Sea World that the penguin actually is from the Antarctic, but really it still begins with A. We brought along some friends to make the adventure a little more exciting. So I, with no stroller and 5 kids, head to Sea World on our first field trip. (the hopscotch proved to be our first distraction)

To get to the penguins, we had to march clear to the backside of Sea World. On our way, we were lured into a 4-D show about Pirates which was going to start in 1 minute. I asked the workers if they felt like it would be appropriate for my crew of 7 and under kiddos. Just so you know, when a person answers "It depends on the kid". . .just skip it.
The effects were kind of cool, but not worth scaring yours and other people's kids. (the 4th dimension was water and air that squirted on us a key moments). Undaunted we continued our march to the penguins.

Lured in by the kid friendly log ride, we detoured once again. Texas Splashdown turned out to be too scary for a few of our crew so we bailed. Gratefully the kid realized that the ride was a bit too much before we waited the 30+ minutes.
WE stopped for snacks and the much needed water and finally ended up at the Penguin Encounter.

Smell aside, it was fun to see all the penguins so close. Talia even charmed us with walking just like the penguins. It just so happens that her toddle looks quite similar to a penguin. Educated and hot we headed to the Shamu Harbor with the splash park and rope climbing jungle. Just before we made it to the Shamu Ride, Tiago disappeared. I searched frantically only to find him clinging onto the backside of some other mother. Gratefully, it was a mother and not some lady who has never had the privilege to be groped by their child. I quickly and discreetly called him over. Then I took a look at the hiney he had mistaken for mine. Not a flattering mistake. Now, I am under no illusion that my backside is any site to behold, but may be I should hit the gym a little more frequentlty.



The cool down in the splash park and run through the rope area brought our sea world trip to a close. On the way out, Tiago wanted to stop in and check out the Clyde Dale horses that come with the previous owners of Sea World. The horses seemed to be relaxed which made gender identification quite easy. Tiago was quick to point out not only the gender, but the color which was awkward for all the innocent bystanders. We have always taught our kids the correct names of body parts, but moments like these make correct terminology stick out of all conversations going on around. Everyone else who pretended not to notice the obvious additional body part tried even harder not to laugh with Tiago's astute comments.

A pretty educational day.

Summer School or Summers Cool

Mia wanted to throw an after school party. Surprise! So we invited a few friends over for a Summer School party. We made some Math Muffins,

did language arts describing our muffin making experience, (here is the recipe for anyone who is interested. You can also use a normal blueberry muffin mix and make the topping to jazz them up)

Blueberry Muffin/Bars

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup frozen blueberries (leave frozen)

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add eggs, sour cream, and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir only until mixed. Gently fold in blueberries. Spray 9 x 13 pan or use muffin tin and cups. (if doing muffins, pour 2/3 cups full).

topping
1/4 cup butter
3 to 4 Tbsp flour
3 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Mix together in a small bowl. Sprinkle over muffin batter. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.



We had storytime and music time and even dancing time:

After some recess we came in to make a craft card for Father's Day.

It was good times. I am hoping to continue this idea with my kids all summer long to help with mind growth and fill in dead time.

Field Day

Mia's first year of school is over. The last week seemed to be a particular waste of time with Mia watching multiple movies and tv shows a day. With that said, we joined her for what seemed like the best idea for end of year activities I have ever seen. The school hosted a field day (actually two field days: one for the older and another for the younger grades.)

I remember in elementary school, everyone would be forced to sit out in the hot sun watching the few elite athletes and some teachers play softball. Boring. Mia's school had 24 different stations and punch cards. The kids could only go to the stations once. That means even if you loved it or hate it, you only could go once. I loved watching Mia try to throw, hop, pull, push, and balance during the different stations.



Tiago got into some of the action thanks to some sympathetic station workers.

Talia tried but the no walking thing kind of put a damper on the whole situation. She mainly watched from my arms and the ground since the stroller was too confining for her. Smart planning Murnin. . .way to redeem yourself in my eyes.

Quick Note

So Fernando has graduated from internship and started his Anesthesiology rotation before he starts his residency program officially in July. Therefore. . .I have a husband again and we have been living it up which equals no new posts. I will post more later, but for now I am going to take a Sunday nap (minus any plastic near Talia's bed) with everyone.