South Florida Fair

Carlos and I had to be in a parade at the Fair. Well, we did not have to, but they were giving free admission to the fair to Boy Scouts and leaders in uniform who will be participating in the parade. Our Cub Scout Pack went and we had fun. Don and Titi wore they t-shirts and they also got in for free, something nice now that we are in saving mode.

It was pretty warm outside and we were so hot by the time we started in the parade. There were a lot of boy scouts and lots of other groups. Carlos had a lot of fun because he got to go on rides with the other kids. Titi was happy just looking at the exhibits and walking around. Our favorite thing was seeing a cow give birth. It was so exciting.

Maaike in the Sound of Music

Do you remember our friends Henny and Gosia? Their daughter Maaike is a very talented girl. She is a great gymnast and also sings very well. She auditioned and was casted as the youngest Von Trapp girl in the Sound of Music in the Netherlands. She was on TV the other day and you can see her here:

Maaike

We are very proud of her!

Colorful Art

Carlos and Titi's school has a great fundraiser in the school. (One of many!) The art teacher chooses a theme every year and the kids do one painting each. Then they send you a catalog and you can order merchandise with their art on it. Last year we got a clock and this year pillowcases. You also have the option to order a tile for the yearly school mural. This year they did flowers and it is just beautiful. So colorful and pretty. You can click on the pictures to make them larger.

What's happening in the garden in January

Marty asked me if I was still growing vegetables in the garden and I told her that I had become lazy since we started buying our vegetables from the local CSA. I do have some tomato plants that have started to fruit, some herbs like rosemary, basil, dill and cilantro and a couple of okra plants that I started some weeks ago. I like using things from the garden and this week we ate two meals inspired by the herbs. On Tuesday morning I saw the dill and decided to do something with it. That same day we got our vegetable box from the farm and I made a cucumber, tomato, dill and yogurt salad. We ate it with a chicken salad sandwich. It was very good... Last night we had baby greens salad and pasta with olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and basil.

My favorite is this Chaya tree, sometimes called "Spinach Tree". We boil it for some minutes and then use it in place or spinach or collard greens. I got it from Lisa, from GardenWeb, a couple of years ago. It was a small stick in a pot and it has grown into a 6-7' foot tree.

Bananas! I also got the trees from friends from GardenWeb, Lisa and Robin. The first one is ladyfingers and the second one must be "Ice Cream" banana.

The little daisy we got at Rich and Marty's wedding. It is still alive!

Tae Kwon Do

Don and I had been hoping that Carlos and Titi would find a sport or activity that they liked enough to do it weekly. They have done some acitivities but they have not enjoyed them a lot. Now they are very excited about Tae Kwon Do. They took classes last year in an afterschool program but they did not learn much. It was only once a week, in a classroom and they did not have a uniform. Then they opened a new TKD school, right across from our development and Titi wanted to try it but I was not sure she would stick with it so I resisted for a while. Finally, in September she started taking classes and from the beginning she loved it! She takes 3 or 4 classes a week and she cannot wait to go back. Carlos did not want to register in Sept. but in December he decided to try it and he seems to be very happy too.

They love wearing their uniforms and I think they look very cute on them. The teacher and the parents tell me Titi is very good at TKD and cannot believe she has never taken classes in a regular school. She is very proud of the fact that she wins when she does sparring with kids that have higher belts than her. She is only a high white belt. She won a trophy at a competition in December and she loves looking at it. Hopefully they will stick with it.

Incredible weather

We love so much this weather! It has been so nice, blue skies, no rain, beautiful moon. Carlos and Titi swim almost every day. The water in the pool is cold but they don't care. They always say it is too cold but they still go in. Today one friend came to play with them and they ended up in the pool. They had so much fun.

Later we went to the beach. It was late and the kids did not go in the water but they had a lot of fun playing in the sand. I gathered shells but our city's beaches do not have good shells, they are very few and small. Still is was nice. As usual, we had lobster salad from Boston's, our favorite.

Happy New Year!

Now that Carlos and Titi are back in school I finally have time to update the blog. We had a nice holiday season. Don of course is very worried about the business but we are trying to be optimistic. We will see what January and 2009 bring.

We spent Christmas Eve at Larry and Keri's, eating good food and enjoying the company of family and friends.

Carlos and Titi did not wake up too early on Christmas Day but still it was way to early for me. We only had time to run to the kitchen and start taking some pictures. Santa brought them a Wii and they were very happy.


During the morning we watched the Disney Christmas Parade because we were at Magic Kingdom when they filmed some things and we thought that maybe Titi was going to be in one of the shots. She was! We had watchen when they filmed the Imagination Movers and Titi was perfectly on TV a couple of times. Even some girls from her school recognized her and called her to let her know. I found this video on You Tube where you can see the filming. Titi is on the middle of the video, all the way to the right, she is wearing a red t-shirt. Imagination Movers

Later in the day we went to Luke and Mimi's. Everybody dressed nicely and we had a really good time. The food was delicious as always!