We're Going on a Lion Hunt!

Mia was quite insistent on being a lion for Halloween and so I tried to brainstorm several cute options that could tie us together as a group. Upon looking for the obvious Wizard of Oz collection, I found several cheap looking giddie ups (literally and euphemistically speaking). My ideas never really transformed into actual costumes. I think that the main problem came from my overall dislike of the holiday itself. I really couldn't bring myself to buy any of the costumes because they cost too much in relation to my desire. Not wanting to ruin it for everyone, we thought of a working option. We luckily have a wide assortment of Hawaiian shirts for Fernando and even one for Tiago. Slap on some black socks and sandals and you have yourself a perfect tourist outfit at no additional cost. I dawned some earthy colored clothes and a funky cowgirl hat and called myself a tour guide. Not terrific, but fun enough for the kids.

To mask my dislike of the holiday, we thought of some fun activities that would get us in the mood. We went to a pumpkin patch and splurged on a pumpkin carving kit (way worth the $5). Tiago and Mia each got a real Red Flyer wagon to bring back their pumpkin finds. Tiago took matters into his own hands when we all stopped to admire the funny looking turkey that lived near the pumpkin patch. Focused on the goal, Tiago took his wagon to the place of pumpkins. We were pretty impressed and well as grateful for the fact that he could lift the pumpkins without breaking them.


The food all followed a Halloween theme--Halloween shaped pancakes and orange juice for breakfast and even pumpkin shaped pizzas with a skeleton shaped veggie tray for dinner. Now that it is done, I can openly focus on my favorite holiday-Thanksgiving.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

What is better than Christmas morning? I'll tell you. It is the morning you come upstairs and see your daddy laying in bed where he belongs after a month in far off Texas. Nothing could match the excitement and somewhat disbelief of the kids as the clung on to any body part they could. Fernando, exhausted from the 14 plus hour drive he just finished the day before lovingly cuddled with his children giving them a gift that was worth more to them then I think either of us could imagine. Mia kept smelling him and Tiago couldn't stop kissing him. A little view of heaven.

A Bug's Life

Because I have an innate fear of bugs and especially spiders, I have worked really hard on not passing on that fear to my kids. So much so that I will constantly be pointing out strange bugs and spiders. Once we watched a spider catch a bug and wrap it up. It was actually quiet interesting. Now that it is fall, we have a plethora of grasshoppers in our front yard. Grasshoppers have to be the best of all bug worlds: they are big enough to see body parts, the jump and fly, and don't bite. Mia dumped all the chalk out of the container in order to catch the grasshopper and let Tiago get a closer look.

It's Autumn Time?

One of our favorite Autumn songs in the Children's Song books goes as follows:

It's Autumn Time, the leaves are falling down. It's Autumn Time, it's all around the town. It's Autumn Time, it's Yellow, Red, and Brown. It's Autumn Time, fresh colors can be found.

Well so far no go on the promises of the song. In fact, the leaves are more wilted then vibrant colors that accompany the fall and we have been left rosy cheeked by the heat and not the wind. Here we are enjoying a terrific "fall" day in our swimsuits while we run around in the sprinklers!



I know this is very common place for all our San Antonio and Hawaii friends, but this is the Maryland!

Reverent Awe

This past week seemed to be a perfect time to visit a local farm to get in the autumn mood. I mean what could be more charming than a bunch of farm animals? Tractors! Yes, tractors are really far more amazing than any hairy creature. Sheep, piglets, pigs, rosters cock-a-doodle-dooing, and a cow calf are nothing compared to the giant man made metal machines scattered across the farm. I even tried to lure him away with goats walking across a precarious set of timbers high above the ground, but no luck. Oh well, the animals were a little stinky anyway.


After ogling several models of tractors, we found a "pumpkin" patch (also man made) to run around in. Poor skinny bummed Tiago was running faster than his pants could keep up. More than once we had to pull up the pants to prevent indecency and tripping.

Today is Your Birthday. . .or is it Your Birthday?

So the great thing about little kids is that dates are kind of irrelevant. This proved to be advantageous this year with Tiago and my birthday. It just so happened that my birthday, Sept 22, fell on a Saturday and Tiago's, Sept 23, was you guessed on Sunday. Seeing as how my birthday wishes could all be filled while keeping the Sabbath Day holy, we decided to switch birthdays. We didn't really do anything too out of the ordinary. We played at the park, ate macaroni and cheese with octopus shaped hot dogs, and followed Mia's suggestion to stop by the pet store to see all the animals. Tiago loved it. After the pet store we stopped off at the nearby grocery store to pick out Tiago's birthday cake mix for the train cake he selected me to make. I was helping him lean towards getting the triple chocolate cake, but he seemed intent on getting the Chocolate Cake butter recipe. We couldn't find any difference with the boxes appearance except for the written words and figured we could pull a fast bait and switch. Both times we tried, he pushed the triple chocolate out of the way to find the other chocolate cake. Go to the store and look at both boxes and you tell me what made him capable of selecting the "right" cake.
Back at the house we worked together to build his choo-choo cake. It didn't look exactly like the illustration from the internet, but it was enjoyed by all.





PS Yes we are all geared up and fully committed for the Game that played later that day. Go Cougars!

Can You Feel The Love Tonight?

Mia has suddenly become infatuated with the Disney movie The Lion King. She has even convinced Tiago to be a fellow lion to tromps about the house roaring. It really is cute. This morning, while I was trying to catch a few more moments of sleep, Mia was busily scribbling on a paper. When I finally did wake up, she showed me this.

The picture is an illustration of "Simba, his uncle--Scar, and two hyenas" (from right to left according to Mia). I was pretty impressed, but I am the mom. Whatever, it's genius.