Carmen

Carlos, the entertainer

2012-01-27T21:19:00.001-05:00

Everybody always tell me that Carlos is going to be a famous entertainer one day. More exactly, he is going to design rides for Disney or for fairs. He has always been fascinated by rollercoasters and all kind of wild ride and he loves to recreate them here at home. He has a big imagination and he wants to do lots of things that we cannot do here at home. His brain is always working on ideas and we feel bad for not being able to help him bring them to life. He sees things in a different way than other kids. Any kind of color light is good for rides like Splash Mountain, the office chairs are excellent for spinning kids and adults widly. He is lucky to have been born at this time, when any music he desires to hear is available in YouTube.

I usually go crazy about all this. At any time, one room of our house is being used by Carlos for a ride. He uses all kinds of things for props. Everything he sees reminds him of something in a ride and he wants to use it. I think we are the only family with two giant plastic garden carts in our family room. I try to encourage him to use the garage but it usually gets hot, even at this time of the year and he begs to let him do it inside. He has done The Cat in the Hat ride from Universal in his room, making a real mess and guiding kids in chairs with wheels while he plays the music and recites the verses. He has made Halloween rides, (at any time of the year) with strobe lights and scary music, water rides, and right now he is into Space Mountain. I rode the one he made yesterday and it was good but he spinned the chair too much. Today, all the kids in the cul the sac were outside and he immediately made one in the garage. The kids came running and waited patiently for their turn at the ride. I was nervous, thinking the chair was going to fall and one of the kids was going to get hurt. I was working in the computer and I could hear screams the whole time. They always encourage Carlos to make more and to make them as wild as possible. I kept going to the garage to ask Carlos to be gentle but I am sure he made them spin fast as soon as I went inside. I really hope people are right and all these messes in rooms are worth it.

Somebody has an Iphone 4S

2012-01-21T23:46:00.000-05:00

And it is not Don... Titi has been asking for an Iphone and for the 4S since it came out. We kept telling her kids her age did not get Iphones but of course, in this neighborhood most of the kids have one. Emilia got a 4S as soon as it came out and even Don was impressed with it. Titi saved money from walking dogs, Mema and grandpa's presents, etc. and she kept asking us to get her one. Don and I talked about it and decided she would get one. We do not want to spoil her but since most kids have one around here, she is at a disadvantage. She loves technology and gadgets and she would learn a lot from it. Carlos has not asked as much but now that Titi got one, he wants one too (and Don and I as well).

This morning, after her soccer game, Don and Titi went to the AT&T to get one. Titi was ecstatic! She has been using it all day. She loves Siri, the assistant that answers the voice commands. It is funny, because many times it does not understand what Titi is asking and she says funny things. When Titi asked Siri to text mom, Siri answered something like "I am sorry but you do not have a mother". I don't remember now but it was so funny we both started laughing. Titi told her "I love you" and Siri answered "you must say that to all your Iproducts".

Titi's Safety Patrol trip to Washington

2012-01-20T19:16:00.001-05:00

Four days after coming back from Mexico, Titi left for Washington, D.C. She went on the same trip that Carlos took last year. It is organized by the school district and approximately 1,500 fifth graders that are in the Safety Patrol program, all from Palm Beach County, go every year. They go in two trips and Titi got to go on the first trip. There were more than 800 kids going. The tradition is to go by train but it takes 22 hours to get to Washington! They say it is like a huge sleepover but the kids are very well supervised by teachers.

Titi's chaperone was one of her third grade teachers. We like her a lot so we were happy to know Titi was going to be in her group of 12 girls. Titi's roommates were Emily He., Celeste and a girl namede Julie but I don't remember her. Gigi was also in the group so I was happy for that. She is a very friendly girl and Titi and her get along very well. There were 4 groups of 12 girls and two of the teachers in charge of the other groups knew Titi very well.

I packed way too many things for Titi but I was worried about the cold. She used to not feel cold but now that she has lost weight, she seems to feel the cold much more. When we were in Mexico, she kept saying she was cold and it was not that cold outside. I never had to wear a hat or scarf but Titi did and she insisted she was still cold.

Titi was able to use her phone a lot so we kept in touch. She was fine on the train but by Friday night, she was tired and started to feel homesick. It was hard talking to her on the phone, knowing she was not feeling happy and I was so far away. The teacher assured me Titi was having a great time and that she probably was just tired. Every time we talked she seemed homesick and would say she could not wait to come home. On Sunday night, once she was on the train, she texted me for 3 hours! Last year, Carlos was only allowed to use the phone 3 or 4 times and just for a couple of minutes, this year, Titi was able to text for most of the trip back.

I could not wait to see her and Carlos and I left home early to go and pick her up at the train station. The train arrived around 5:30 and most of the girls requested "good food", they said they were tired of turkey and cheese sandwiches. Titi requested McDonalds and that made Carlos happy too. We had banners and a cake waiting at home and a happy dad waiting for his little girl.

Mexico's Trip December 2011

2012-01-20T19:01:00.003-05:00

December 2011

2012-01-20T19:01:00.001-05:00

GuatFest 2011 at Nick Hotel

2011-10-15T11:08:00.000-04:00

Mario and Tere's 25th wedding anniversary and wedding

2011-10-15T10:50:00.000-04:00

Wedding Anniversary

2011-10-15T10:42:00.000-04:00

Don and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary in Orlando. We stayed at the BoardWalk and this time we were lucky and got a room on the boardwalk. It was so nice to see all the activity, the water and even some fireworks.

Summer 2011

2011-10-15T10:33:00.002-04:00

A new school year!

2011-08-22T22:50:00.001-04:00

Today was Carlos' first day in middle school! He was very nervous during the weekend but he slept very well last night and he woke up more relaxed. He has to wear polo shirts in any color and he chose to wear a red one. He is wearing size Adult small and the shorts were also adult size. He is still very skinny but she is getting taller. It looks like he had a good day. His bus was very late because there were too many kids in the bus coming back and they had to call for another bus to take some of the kids. I waited for him at the clubhouse and he was very happy to see me. It has been a long time since I have waited for them at the bus stop.

Titi was very excited to start school. She got the same teachers Carlos had last year so she was very happy about that. She had told them her dream was to have them as her 5th grade teachers and maybe they made it happen. Don and I are so happy about it! We have known them for a long time and they know our family very well. I am sure Titi is going to have a great day and a better year!

Don's birthday

2011-05-18T21:37:00.001-04:00

This year, Don's birthday was on Easter Sunday. Since I do not really celebrate Easter, I decided we should go back to Jupiter to celebrate Don's birthday there. When we arrived at the beach we had been the year before, everything was different. We could not see most of the rock formations and we got confused but then we realized there was high tide and the rocks were under the waves. Titi was very dissapointed because she wanted to search for tropical fish. She soon became interested in the things she saw on the visible rocks. We did not stay long and we decided to go to the other park by the intercoastal. Don and the kids went to search for fish on the water and I sat on the beach. It was a very nice day and we enjoyed being outside. On the way back we stopped at a Latin market and we bought some meat to cook at home.

Passover 2011

2011-04-18T22:26:00.000-04:00

Steven, Janie, Hailey and Andie invited us to celebrate Passover at their home. We were very happy to attend and we felt so lucky to be able to share it with Mema, Grandpa, Emily, Karol, Larry, Keri, Allie, Marcy and her mom and daughter. It was a wonderful reading, most of it done by the kids. We were so proud of Carlos and Titi, they read beautifully and everybody told us that. The food was delicious as always. I had matzo ball soup twice but everything else was great too.

We had to come home as soon as dinner was over because Carlos needed to go to bed early. Tomorrow he has his Science FCAT and the school had asked us to send him to bed early. I am sure he is going to do very well. Mrs. H. has been preparing him very well. We are so lucky to have such caring and dedicated teachers in our local school.

Carlos' Safety Patrol Trip to Washington

2011-01-18T20:46:00.002-05:00

Carlos says he had a great time in Washington. I did not have such a great time while he was away. I worried too much :-).

Merry Christmas

2010-12-21T23:11:00.003-05:00

Titi had fun editing this picture of us

Halloween classroom parties

2010-10-31T11:03:00.000-04:00

I feel so lucky to be able to attend Carlos and Titi's school parties. I know a lot of parents cannot miss work to be there so I really appreciate the chance to do it. This was Carlos' last Halloween at SPE and I know he will miss all the people there. Everybody knows him by now. There are close to 1,000 students but most of the teachers know him as well as the principal and assistant principal.
The parties were at the same time so I kept going from one to the other. Carlos and Titi had a lot of fun and they got to play games, ate lots of sweets and took home some more.

A very cool candy cake that was made by one of the mothers in Carlos' class. They kids got to choose what they wanted.

Carlos with the assistant principal, Ms. Phillips and the principal. They were dressed as the pink ladies from Grease.

Titi in a contest to see who could blow the first bubble after eating some whip cream. It made the bubble gum cold so it was difficult to do it but she did it.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-29T23:54:00.002-04:00

Carlos absolutely loves Halloween. He has been thinking about it and planning for this Halloween for months. He wanted a hunted house in the garage and we made one. Don and I have lots of work and things to do at home but we know Carlos will grow up too soon and one day he won't be interested in things the way he does now. Titi loves it too but not like Carlos. She is more into the costumes than the decorations. Carlos loves both.

We already had some things and got lucky and found lots of things on sale. I made a couple of scary creatures with $1 masks, plastic tableclothes and hangers. Thanks to Ely and Tere, we found inflatables on clearance at Walgreens. Carlos was ecstatic. Then Mimi and I found black fabric and sheets at Goodwill and I was able to saw curtains to divide the garage in 3 parts. Carlos decorated, put lights, his smoke machine and then Don came with the best surprise ever, black light bulbs! Everything looks so great with this light.

Today Carlos and Titi had a costume contest and party for the kids in the cul de sac. They had been organizing it for weeks and made invitations, put a table for the judges and set the rules. I am glad they did not invite other friends because it would have been even crazier. I made them dinner and cupcakes and Don arrived from work with dry ice. The boys loved it and could not stop "playing" with it. They threw things in there to see what would happen, the blew the smoke, they put food coloring..... I was glad when the last boy left.....

Pictures from May

2010-07-04T23:37:00.005-04:00

Once again I have not updated the blog. The days go by way too fast for me. Here are some pictures from May.

These are from Titi's birthday party. She had a lot of fun. We had 22 kids at the party!

Titi became a Junior Girl Scout in a nice ceremony.

Our sweet girl is 9!!!

2010-05-28T21:47:00.003-04:00

Today we celebrated Titi's 9th birthday. She has been talking about it and planning her party for months and months. She is so excited about turning 9. She has grown a lot and we are very proud of her. She is so much fun to be around.

She woke up very early this morning and came downstairs to see the table. We always decorate the kitchen table for birthdays and holidays and Carlos and Titi always look forward to waking up and seeing how it looks. Don and I worked late to decorate and wrap presents. I think Titi was happy with her presents. We got her a snow cone machine and some craft materials. She also wants more silly bands. That is the new thing to collect and trade.

Don went to have lunch with her at school and he brought some snacks for her to share with her class. She was very happy about it. She thought I was going to go but was surprised by daddy.

Linda, from the office, made her a delicious chocolate cake. Titi loved it! (we did too)

We are going to have a Hawaiian party for her on Sunday and tomorrow I need to finish cleaning and I will start decorating and preparing food. It is going to be a busy day!

April

2010-05-17T22:51:00.004-04:00

These past weeks have gone so fast. We had a wonderful Easter at Luke and Mimi's, celebrated Rodrigo's birthday and we went to Jupiter to celebrate Don's birthday. I can't believe it is almost a month ago! We absolutely loved a place called Blowing Rocks. We spent hours looking at the little fish, crabs, shells and other little surprises we found among the rocks and in the little pools of sea water. We want to go back soon. Don really enjoyed being by the sea. I think he had a great time.

Very thankful

2010-03-20T11:15:00.002-04:00

This week was a very stressful one. CRJ was supposed to come out of bankruptcy and Don, Steven, Larry and Ricky worked very hard to finish all the details. Thank God, everything worked out well and they were confirmed by the court without objections! We are very grateful for this second chance. We all have learned a lot from this experience and we are determined to work harder to bring CRJ to a new level.

The most important thing now is to get new merchandise and to buy more gold from customers since sales are still slow. Don is using a new company called Email to Zip for advertising and he is very excited about it. He is able to email people within 5-15 miles of the stores! We have always struggled with advertising since CRJ has stores in different states but with this email program, it is less expensive and more effective. He is getting great results.

February

2010-03-06T12:17:00.004-05:00

We did lots of things in February. Some happy like Titi's soccer games and some sad like attending uncle Izzy's funeral. We are going to miss him a lot.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T21:04:00.007-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day! We had a nice day. We got to see Mema, grandpa, Izzy, Mary, Larry, Keri, Laura, Ron, Maria and Jenna. Ron and Maria invited us to brunch at their condo and it was great to see everybody.

We love the Valentine's Heart we got from Guatemala! Mayan Families is doing a fundraiser to raise funds to put cement floors in a school in Guatemala. It is called Nueva Esperanza and it is in the town of San Andres Semetebaj (We have been there). The school needs a lot of help but the first thing they need to do is to put cement floors in the classrooms. Right now they have dirt floors and it gets very dusty in the dry season and it turns into mud in the raining season. The children at the school colored hearts to thank the donors and they will be putting the hearts in the classrooms. We made a donation in honor of the whole Weinberg Family and we hope they will like the heart as much as we did.

Norman Rockwell and the Super Bowl

2010-02-11T18:08:00.005-05:00

We made it to the Normal Rockwell exhibit at the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale. We went the day before it was going to close and it was very crowded. We had to wait in line for 45 minutes and once we had the tickets we had to wait some more inside because it was too crowded. Carlos and Titi are going to think that going to the museum is always a big event. It was even more crowded at the Frida Kahlo exhibit in Philadelphia.

We thought we were going to like the exhibit more but this was the third time Don and I had seen it, once at the Rockwell museum in Massachussets and once in Chicago. The kids liked it but they only listened to the explanation of the most famous pictures, then they rushed through the rest. The highlight of the visit was seeing the war posters that we have framed in our living room.

After the museum we went to Fort Lauderdale beach. It was also very crowded because there was going to be a free concert as part of the Super Bowl celebrations. I did not think we were going to find parking but we got lucky and we found a great place for only $10!!! We were happy about that. We just sat on the wall and watched people go by.

Since the restaurants were very crowded we had junk food for dinner.

We had gone to the museum, right from Titi's soccer game and when we got there we realized we never put her shoes in the car. Fortunately, we found a pair of Don's sandals and Titi wore them all day. She walked, ran, jumped on them and never fell! She tried sandals at the beach but did not like any and decided to finish the day with these.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

2010-02-06T23:28:00.005-05:00

Carlos and Titi cannot wait to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure in Orlando. They say it will open in the Spring of 2010. We are counting the days.....

January....

2010-02-06T23:01:00.004-05:00

January passed so quicky! Even Carlos and Titi say that the weeks go by too quickly. January was a busy month for us. Lots of soccer practices and games for Titi. Her team has done so well! They played 10 games in the season and won 8 games, most of them 2-0 or 3-0, tied one and lost one. The girls are so cute, for most of them it is the first time playing in a team and they have had to learn a lot but they are so motivated. Now the playoffs are going to start and there will be games during the week. Titi has been playing defense or being the golie and everybody says she is good at it. She really is, she is not afraid of anybody and will try to get the ball every time.

School has been hard for all of us because the FCAT (state testing) is coming and the teachers and administrators have been trying hard to prepare the kids and have given them lots of extra practice to do at home. Carlos is going to have the FCAT writing this coming Tuesday and he is worried about it. I am hoping he will do well, even if it is with the minimum passing grade.

The South Florida Fair was also in town in January and I took the kids on Martin Luther King's day. It was extremely crowded but we had fun. Carlos went a second time with Don. He loves the rides and he can go on any ride without getting sick. Titi prefers to play the games and win prizes. Another favorite activity was feeding the animals. We were there for a long time.....

It was also Girl Scout cookie time. We had a hard time selling all the cookies we got. We had to do three booths in front of stores and Titi sold to some friends and family. I do not enjoy selling but Titi does very well. We are glad it is over!

We are hoping February will be more relaxing. We will see.....

Praying for Haiti

2010-01-14T17:17:00.002-05:00

I am so sad for Haiti and its people. They have suffered so many tragedies and now this. It is so unfair.

2010-01-10T19:45:00.003-05:00

We spent another New Year Eve in Orlando. This time it was at Universal Studios and we had fun. We had bought tickets during the summer and they were valid until Dec. 31st. so we decided to use them. We arrived in Orlando around 5:30 p.m., went to the hotel to drop off our bags and rest a little and then left for the park. We thought it was going to be difficult to park and enter Universal but it was extremely easy. There was less people than other times we had been there! No wait to search our bags or at the gates. In fact, the park was crowded but not too much. Last year it was very crowded at Epcot.

Titi, trying the seat the new Hollywood Rockin' Roller Coaster. She would never ride it but she likes to pretend. Carlos loves that rollercoaster. There was a 2 hour wait to ride it but he was able to ride it as a single rider. He had to wait a long time but he did not mind.

Titi had her caricature air painted. The artist was very good and she loved it. She had always wanted to do it and I don't know why we never did it.

2009-12-31T09:35:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year!

We are very grateful for our health and happiness this year but we are hoping for a little less worrying about the economy in 2010.

We want to wish everyone a healthy and happy New Year! Things will get better!

Love,
Don, Carmen, Carlos and Titi

December already!

2009-12-21T22:36:00.003-05:00

I miss posting pictures here but I have been extremely busy with Mayan Families and with work. Yes, I am back at work! I started going to help at Don's office at the beginning of November and I have been working some days at the store in Sawgrass. It is fun to be with adults, doing something different, the only problem is that I am really behind in so many things at home.

I won't be able to work now that Carlos and Titi are off from school so I am still hoping to send holiday cards :-) and to be able to upload some pictures.

The fair is here and Carlos and Titi want to go there every day.

Carlos' favorite ride, the FireBall

Titi's favorite ride:

Busy Saturday

2009-11-21T20:50:00.005-05:00

We had a busy day. Carlos did some activities towards his Webelos' badge in Cub Scouts. One of them was "Handyman" and the leader of the den showed the boys how to change a tire, check the oil and do some other maintenance on cars and bicyles. Carlos loved it! He is so proud of himself and he cannot wait to have the chance to change a tire one day. We had to be at the clubhouse at 7:00 a.m. and it was hard for me to get up early on a Saturday but I am so glad we did it.

Titi had her second soccer game and she did very well. Everybody wanted her to play goalie since she did so well last week but she wanted to try other positions and she played goalie only for half of the game. She did great. Everybody kept telling me she was a natural goalie and was very good. Her team won 5-0 and everybody was very happy. The game was at 12:15 and it was very hot! I am hoping we will have some cooler weather for next game.

Halloween

2009-11-04T12:21:00.007-05:00

Carlos loves his candy machine. He was so happy to have lots of candy to fill the little spaces.

Titi and Carlos had a lot of fun at the school's parties.

With her best friend Jake. She adores that boy!

We had a great month of October. Carlos loves, loves Halloween and on October 1st we started decorating the house. He would wake up every day with new ideas to decorate. We did not want to spend money on more decorations so I had to be creative and made some "creatures" with old costumes, fabric and $1 masks.

One of the neighbors rented a golf cart and Carlos got to ride it most of the time. There was no room for Titi so she got mad and decided not to trick or treat anymore and stayed home to give candy to kids.

2009-10-21T09:22:00.003-04:00

Wow! It has been so long since I have posted. Every day I say I am going to post and then I come to the computer and get busy with other things. Carlos and Titi have been using the computer a lot as well so if I don't use it when they are in school it gets more complicated.

Last weekend the Cub Scouts troop went camping to Tanah Keeta but we decided not to camp overnight because Don was still having a little trouble with his knee. It was a good thing. The campsite was very crowded. Close to 100 people camped in our site! They all said it was very hot the first night and kind of cold the second one. We drove early on Saturday and we were able to participate in most of the day's activities. Carlos and Titi had a lot of fun. Carlos had an activity where he learned to cook on tin foil. He loved it. He now has decided he wants to cook at home. On Sunday he cut onions, potatoes and carrots and he cooked fish in parchment paper. On Monday he made meat patties with green peppers, onions, carrots and mushrooms on tin foil. He also made bananas with butter, sugar and cinnamon. I need more recipes of things to cook on parchment paper or tin foil. He loves arranging all the ingredients and seasoning them. He is very excited.

Photos

2009-09-09T21:27:00.007-04:00

Mimi let me use her camera and I took a couple of pictures of Carlos and Titi. What a difference! I have been saving for a new camera and now I can't wait to get it.

I took these ones with me regular camera

Carlos' birthday

2009-09-08T11:20:00.003-04:00

Time has just been flying and I have not posted pictures of Carlos' birthday party. It turned out better than I imagined. Don saved the day by organizing some games and Carlos, Titi and the guests had a great time.

2009-08-29T20:29:00.003-04:00

In early August we celebrated Mario Ariel's 4th birthday. It was a fun pool party at Luke and Mimi's. The theme was Sponge Bob and the kids and I helped decorate the area.

Summer vacation is ending

2009-08-16T22:57:00.005-04:00

Time has gone really fast! I can't believe school is already here. Carlos and Titi will meet their new teachers tomorrow and will have their first day of school on Tuesday. They are not happy about it and I am not looking forward to getting up early and homework and all the pressures of school. I cannot say I have enjoyed every minute of summer vacation but I am going to miss it.

We tried to enjoy this weekend as much as possible. On Saturday Don took the kids ice skating with the Cub Scouts. They had a lot of fun. Carlos fell and he did not skate much but Titi loved it. She wanted to go again today.

Today we went to Deerfield Beach. At the beginning the kids did not want to go and once they were there they loved it. We always say we should go to the beach more often but we get lazy and we don't do it. The weather was great and it was a great way to enjoy the last day of summer vacation.

Our wonderful son is 10!!!!

2009-08-12T22:50:00.002-04:00

We can hardly believe it. Carlos is 10!!!! I still call him "baby", sometimes in front of other kids, and he still lets me do it. Don and I are so happy to be his parents and we love him so much. He is such a wonderful and affectionate child. He has a happy body and loves to move and talk a lot and he has a caring heart. We are so lucky to have him in our lives.

Another trip to Orlando! (I know.....)

2009-08-03T22:56:00.005-04:00

The plan was to go to Disney for some days and then drive to South Carolina but we never made it past Orlando. We spent a total of 14 days there!

The first days we stayed at the BoardWalk and we enjoyed it so much. We loved being so close to Epcot and not having to use the car. The kids took a picture of us in the same spot as our wedding picture and then Titi said she was going to marry us again and she performed a ceremony while Carlos took pictures. We got to say "I do" again!

City Place

2009-07-13T22:38:00.008-04:00

On Saturday we went to City Place in West Palm Beach and found a wonderful bakery/candy/ice cream shop. Carlos and Titi went crazy when they saw all the sweets they had. I went crazy with all the bright colors and the way it was decorated.

Carlos loved this picture

We all had fun with the see through glass into the girls bathroom. When you locked the door, the glass became white and you could not see through anymore. There was a wonderful pink chandelier in there. I want it....

I shared ice cream with Don and Carlos. Carlos chose "Circus", a blue ice cream with gummy bears. It was good!

Don had a delicious sandwich from an Italian deli.

This is the gelato they had in that shop!

This is the reason we went to Palm Beach. A coin show at the WPB Convention Center. The kids loved it and wanted to come back the next day.

Fort Lauderdale Beach

2009-07-09T10:36:00.007-04:00

We finally went to the beach. I wanted to go to a place where I could feel like I was on vacation so we went to Fort Lauderdale. We had not been there in a long time and it did feel like we were away for a while.

We parked by the Elbo Room and the kids swam for a while and Don and I just relaxed on the beach. It was late in the day and the weather was perfect, not hot at all. After the kids changed we walked around and went to Beach Place and Carlos and Titi had ice cream. Very relaxing.....

Fourth of July

2009-07-06T15:03:00.005-04:00

We had a really nice weekend. We spent a relaxing morning on Fourth of July and then left the house to do something. We could not decide if we should go to the beach in Delray Beach or Wellington or the Amphitheatre in West Boca. Lot of people from school and Cub Scouts were going to be at the Amphitheatre but there was not really much to do there. We wanted to see the sand sculptures but did not want to get stuck in traffic coming back from Delray.

We decided to go to Wellington but on the way there finally decided to go to Flagler St. in downtown West Palm Beach. It was the best decision. They always have a big festival with 3 or 4 stages, music, kids crafts and other entertaiment. We arrived early and found a good free parking spot and had a lot of fun. Titi made some crafts and we listened to music, watched the firefighters water fights and then the kids played in the water fountains for a loooong time. They had great fireworks.
The kids wanted to buy lots of fireworks.

Titi tried to get money from people while Don "played" his guitar.

Little Amarillis

2009-07-03T19:16:00.005-04:00

I was so sad to read on the Mayan Families website that little Amarillis had passed away. She had been brought by her parents to MF last week because she was very weak and was not eating. The parents could not afford to seek medical attention for her and by the time they brought her to Sharon at Mayan Families it was too late. Many wonderful people donated money for her medical care but she could not be saved. It is so sad when a baby dies because of lack of resources when there is so much wealth and waste in this world.

I met little Amarillis last year, when she was only a few weeks old. Her mother and siblings had come to MF to see if they had shoes for them. I knew them already because I had met them in 2007. Their shoes were in really bad shape. I gave her sister Micaela some shoes I had but I did not have small sizes for the brothers and little sisters. The kids were so cute. I took a picture of Amarillis for Micaela's sponsor. She was a beautiful baby.
These are the "shoes" that Micaela was wearing. She has to walk long distances on dirt roads.

She was happy to receive new shoes.

Getting ready to go back home

Videos on YouTube

2009-07-01T22:13:00.005-04:00

I was looking at some of the videos that we have posted in YouTube and I could not believe that one of them had more than 1,000 views. It was from 2007 when we went to the market in Panajachel and met Chabeli, the lady that we are trying to help connect electricity to her house in Tierra Linda. The kids look so young!

There is also the one we took in San Pedro and the fireworks.

But the one that has more views is the one of Carlos and the beginning of his kooky pen collection.

Here is the link to the rest of the videos: YouTube/carmiewest

What is a vole?

2009-06-29T15:34:00.002-04:00

Don has some new CR Jewelers commercials on YouTube. I think the company did really well. You can see the videos here

Quick and easy pizza

2009-06-26T21:52:00.003-04:00

I found a great recipe for pizza at allrecipes.com. It is easy and quick since you don't have to let it rise. It takes approx. 30-35 minutes from start to finish and very little work. The first time I made it Carlos ate half of it. Very surprising since he almost never eats pizza. He kept telling me it was delicious. Today I made it for all the little kids that were here at lunch time and they also liked it.
These are the directions from AllRecipes.com:
Ingredients:
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). (I baked mine at 390 because my oven is too hot) In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2.Stir in flour, salt and oil. Beat until smooth. Add more flour if it is too sticky. (I used my hands to mix it and knead it a little in the same bowl) Let rest for 5 minutes.
3.Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan or baker's peel dusted with cornmeal. (I put cornmeal in my pizza pan and spreaded the dough directly on top of it) Spread with desired toppings and bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. (I baked mine for only 15 minutes. When I make a plain cheese pizza I usually add the cheese at the very end or it burns in my oven) Let baked pizza cool for 5 minutes before serving.

The best bubbles

2009-06-24T13:37:00.005-04:00

I searched the internet for a homemade bubble liquid recipe and I found many with different ingredients. I made one that worked very well. They recommended using Joy dishwashing liquid but I used the one I had, Ajax lemon. I put cornstarch and Karo syrup. The kids had a lot of fun and played with it for hours. I am going to try again with Joy to see if it makes better bubbles.

Change

2009-06-23T14:03:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I wonder if what I could do to help somebody could really mean something to the person and I hesitate and don't do it. I always regret it but then I do it again. That is something that I really want to change about me. Sometimes it is shyness, sometimes it is doubt that they will receive it or need it and sometimes it is just laziness, I guess.

Yesterday the kids and I we came back home to have lunch and we saw the people that cuts our lawn working in our garden. It was extremely hot and humid outside, almost 100 degrees and it felt more like 110 degrees. I felt bad for the people working and I thought about doing something and then I questioned if it was the right thing to do. I don't know why. Fortunately I decided to do something and I brought them water and sodas and asked them if they had had lunch and they said no. I came inside and prepared food for them and put some groceries in a bag and went outside to give it to them. They were so appreciative and they devoured the food in an instant. They ate like if they had not eaten in a long time. Maybe that is the way they normally eat of maybe they were really hungry. I am happy that for once I did something. Of course, I regreat all the other times I have done nothing. They have been cutting our lawn for more than 7 years so I have had plenty of opportunities to help, have thought of doing it and I have not done it. I really need to change that.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T21:29:00.004-04:00

Happy Father's Day!

Don had a nice day. He did not have much time to read his newspaper in peace in the morning but he managed to read a little. In the afternoon Keri and Larry had a nice family gathering with great food as always. We were very happy to spend the day with Grandpa and the rest of the family.

Janie and I got a treat from one of their trees. Lychees!!! Don cut lots of them for us. Thank you so much Keri, Larry, Laura and Allie!

Carlos' ride night

2009-06-19T13:00:00.007-04:00

If there is one thing that Carlos loves is to go on a ride, at the fair, at Disney, Universal, Six Flags and any other place where they might have one. He loves to watch them on YouTube and he tries to recreate them with toys or any props. When kids come to the house he makes rides for them. He likes doing the Cat in the Hat. He puts a video of the Islands of Adventure ride on YouTube, makes a mess in the room and brings the kids in an office chair around the room while he narrates the things they are saying on the video.

Last week he decided to host a Ride Night. He made signs for the kids and then made and printed invitations for the neighbors. He wanted to make rides upstairs and downstairs but I did not want a bunch of kids running upstairs so I offered to help him decorate the garage. He made a Haunted Mansion ride with Halloween stuff. It worked better and the kids had a blast doing the ride and then acting it for other kids. They loved the things that had sensors and only turned on when they were in front of them. Fortunately, not all kids came at the same time so it was not too crowded. They even made a little kids ride called The Wonderful World of Monsters because the little ones were too scared of the Halloween stuff.

New belts

2009-06-17T12:25:00.004-04:00

Carlos and Titi got new Tae Kwon Do belts! Titi is now a green belt and Carlos a high yellow belt. They were very happy at the ceremony and they loved the fact that a ninth degree black belt master awarded them the belts. He wrote their names in Korean in their jackets and they loved it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!!!!

2009-06-14T16:32:00.004-04:00

Today is Grandpa's 87th birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

We love you a lot!

Don, Carmen, Carlos and Titi

Elizabeth's Baby Shower

2009-06-13T11:26:00.006-04:00

Last weekend we had a baby shower for Eli and Mario Alberto. They are expecting their second baby in August. Mario Ariel will be turning 4 right around the same time and he is very excited about becoming a big brother. It is going to be another boy!

It was a nice shower. It was mainly Eli's family and us and we had a good time. We played some games and ate yummi food. We can't wait for the little baby to be born.

***********************************

El fin de semana pasada le hicimos un baby shower a Eli, la esposa de Mario Alberto. Si, Mario y Tere van a ser abuelos otra vez! Mario Ariel esta muy emocionado pues ya quiere ver a su hermanito. El bebe va a nacer en Agosto y Mario Ariel va a cumplir 4 anos en ese mes tambien. Eli tambien es de la ciudad de Mexico y la mayoria de su familia vive aqui.

Kids

2009-06-10T16:13:00.007-04:00

I am organizing Carlos and Titi's school papers and art projects and I have found some things like these:

vampire

Bear

Alligator

Titi's definition of Peace. (I don't know why the pictures are sideways, I could not fix them)
"Peace is TV and when my brother is not at home"

The best $5 I have ever spent. Seven years ago I got this plastic slide at a garage sale for $5. The kids used it inside when they were little, then outside and now it is a pool slide. They have so much fun with it!

School parties

2009-06-08T15:07:00.005-04:00

Last week Carlos and Titi had their end of the year school parties and they had a lot of fun. I had to be there at 8:30 and I thought I was going to be able to park easily since it was early but I was wrong. There were cars everywhere and I had to park far, far away and carry the things I brought with me. I was already tired by the time I got to the classrooms.

Carlos played games outside for a while and then they had a disco party in one of the classrooms. They usually do things together with another 3rd grade class so they celebrated together and loved it. I had to leave early to go to Titi's classroom. They had a talent show and the kids were very excited. Titi was not sure of what she wanted to do but at the end she decided to do a Tae Kwon Do demonstration. They could do it on video or in person and when I filmed her at home she did great, she did it at the first try and it lasted 4 minutes. I convinced her to do it in person but she got stage fright and did very little. She was still good! The kids were impressed with her kicks.

When it was her turn, Titi was kind of shy. Later she participated in a skit with other kids and she was very comfortable.

Another month!

2009-06-01T11:39:00.011-04:00

Don and I were feeling kind of depressed this morning, thinking that it was a Monday, another month had gone by, the heat and rain were back, hurricane season was here, school was almost over (only 2 more days left), etc. We almost never feel like this but I guess we did not rest as much as we needed. Anyways, we are hoping we are going to have a nice summer. We do not have any plans yet for vacation but I am sure we will go to Orlando a couple of times. We have the annual Disney passes and we want to stay at a new Disney resort.

Some of the things we did in May:
Celebrated Mothers Day

We attended the last Cub Scout meeting of the school year. Carlos was promoted to a Webelo and he will wear a new uniform next August. He is a big kid now! He will need to be a webelo for 2 years and then he will be able to become a boy scout. We hope he will make it. I am not sure if I want to be a Den Leader next year and I am praying somebody will volunteer to do it.

Prepared to celebrate Titi's birthday. I made rainbow cupcakes for her.

She loved all the attention she got at school.

Attended "Tea with the Poets" at Carlos' class. He read one poem to the class but did not want us to take his picture. We were very proud of him.

Went to Chuck E. Cheese and to see the movie Up with Mimi, Eli and Mario Ariel. Carlos and Titi love spending time with him.

Our Titi is 8!!!!

2009-05-28T09:30:00.004-04:00

Our baby girl turns 8 today!! We are so proud of her and love her soooooo much!
This is what she saw when she woke up this morning.

She got books and crafts to keep her busy during the summer

The she went to school.

Memorial Day Weekend and home projects

2009-05-26T08:15:00.009-04:00

We had a really nice weekend. It rained a lot but we also got lots of sunshine. Carlos and Titi played with the little kids in the cul-de-sac all weekend. They go from house to house, playing for a short time, and then they move on to another house. Sometimes they play outside but mainly they go from house to house. Carlos is the oldest in the group, most are 7 or 8 years old and there are a couple of 3 years old. Yesterday there were 10 kids in the house!

On Sunday, there was a nice barbeque party at the clubhouse with food, DJ, a couple of rides and games and the kids loved it. They did not want to swim but they played the games many times. Everything was free of charge so we loved it as well!!!

Yesterday we went to the movies with Luke, Mimi and Mario Ariel. We saw the new Night at the Museum movie and we liked it a lot. Carlos and Titi were happy to see some things that they remembered from our trip to Washington, D.C. a couple of years ago. After that we went to Chuck E. Cheese. We had not been there in a long time and it was not as busy and noisy as I remembered it.

Don decided to stay home and surprised us by painting the garage floor! I have wanted to do that for a long time and I am so happy with the results. Don did a great job!!! The floor was so dirty before and it always bothered me when I saw it. Don used concrete stain and some speckles. It didn't take him long and it has made such a difference. Now Carlos wants us to paint the walls.
Before:

After:

The box is in Tierra Linda!!!!

2009-05-21T13:20:00.012-04:00

Remember the box we sent to Mayan Families and Dave and Danaya? It arrived in Panajachel a couple of weeks ago and this week they delivered it to the community center in Tierra Linda! It made Don and I very happy to see the kids playing with some of the toys we collected.

Estas son unas fotografias de unas donaciones que enviamos al centro comunitario de un pueblo que se llama Tierra Linda. Cuando fuimos ahi, hace dos anos, nos ensenaron el terreno en donde iban a ponerlo pero aun no tenian suficientes donaciones para empezar la construccion. Un grupo Canadiense llamado Conexiones dono el dinero para su construccion y Dave y Danaya son parte de este grupo.
************************************************
Dave and Danaya arrive in Tierra Linda. They went with Juan and Julio from Mayan Families to deliver supplies for the preschool and the box.

It was very heavy!

Dave and Danaya said that the big kids loved the big puzzles.

Dave and Danaya have accomplished so much in the short time they have been living in Guatemala. They will go back to Canada soon but they have already changed Tierra Linda forever. The community center now has a small library and computer classes! I love reading about their life in Guatemala on their site and their blog.

This week they invited the parents of the students to the computer class and I think it is just amazing to see these pictures of the students teaching what they have learned. This was the first time that the adults had ever touched a computer.

The very small room where the computer classes are held.

Asian Culture Festival

2009-05-16T18:02:00.006-04:00

Last week Mimi danced at the Delray Asian Food and Culture Fair and we went to see her. It was fun and I could have stayed there all day but the kids lost interest after a while and they only wanted to go to the park by the intercoastal. I am glad we got to go!

Lety, aqui esta Noemi con mi hija. Si haces click en las fotos se hacen grandes.
Hola Vivis!!!

Mothers Day

2009-05-11T18:02:00.007-04:00

Yesterday we had a little party at home to celebrate Mothers Day. It was a great day but today I am enjoying it even more. I have spent the morning uploading pictures into the Mayan Families website and it has made my heart very happy. People donated money for baskets that were given to mothers in Panajachel. The staff in Pana worked very hard to make the baskets and distribute them and I was happy to see some of the families we have met. How I wish I could be there to help!!

This is Chabeli, the lady from Tierra Linda that sells vegetables in the market. We want to connect electricity to her house. She lives on the side of the mountain and has no electricity at all. The problem is that it is expensive since the house is far from the power sources. I believe it will be close to $1300 US!! I need to start fundrasing!

I was so happy to see this mother receiving a basket :-) I had never seen her smile. She seems so ill and overwhelmed all the time. Her husband has died and she has 5 little children to support. They live in a very isolated place and have so little. Patti, a lady from North Carolina donated an Onil stove to the family and it is going to improve their quality of life so much!! Before they were cooking in a broken stove that was dangerous and smoke stayed inside the room. There is soot everywhere. This new stove is more energy efficient and has a chimney that will take the smoke out of the house.

Ernesto and family

2009-05-11T12:09:00.004-04:00

Yesterday we were talking about Ernesto and I remembered I had not posted the pictures Mimi took when she went to Mexico.
Here is Ernesto, on the left!

Ernesto, my brother Angel and brother Ismael, the youngest.

Here are my handsome nephews: Mel, Jesus and Daniel

The cutest boy! He is the youngest Morales cousin.

Camping in our backyard

2009-05-04T10:59:00.007-04:00

Last Friday we hosted Titi's Brownie Girls Scout troop for a mock campout in our backyard. Thankfully, Mimi came to help and she was great as always. It was hard keeping 12 children focused but it went well.
We ate hot dogs, made crafts, played soccer, played games

We made edible fire

Don set our big tent and the kids loved going inside.

We even roasted marshmallows

Don's birthday

2009-04-28T09:58:00.004-04:00

We have been busy. We celebrated Don's birthday on Saturday by going to the Keys. It was a wonderful trip. We all love being so close to the ocean. The colors were amazing! Carlos and Titi wanted to go all the way to Key West so we tried to go but when they told us there were no hotel available at all, we decided to go back to Islamorada. We stayed at a nice Hampton Inn and we had his birthday dinner at Outback.

Carlos and Titi loved feeding the tarpon

A small miracle

2009-04-21T12:15:00.005-04:00

In July 2007, when we visited Panajachel and the people that Mayan Families was helping, I met a little girl at the school named Natalia. I don't know why but I liked her a lot. Some days later I went to her house and was very sad to see the place where she was living. It was just a small room, made with scraps of wood and cardboard. There were open spaces in between the boards and wind and rain entered the room. The floor was dirt. They had a makeshift bed with no mattress and a few other belongings, most of them donated. Natalia's mother was a single mother and her family had allowed her to make the room on the corridor of their house. She made beaded necklaces and bracelets and earned only 1 dollar per day. I took pictures of the room and when I got home I posted them on Natalia's page on the student's blog, hoping somebody would help them with a donation to buy more boards and maybe a bed.

Well, last night I received pictures to upload on the website and I was so happy to see pictures of the new house that was built for them by Natalia's school sponsors, the students of a Canadian school, and Mayan Families. The students and parents held many fundraisers to raise the money. The house has two rooms and a cement floor and I am sure it will keep them safe and dry. Seeing improvements like this in people's lives makes the work I do for Mayan Families so worthwhile.

This is the place where they used to live:

Easter

2009-04-13T22:09:00.010-04:00

Luke and Mimi had Easter at their home and it was a feast. Daniel, one of their friends cooked prime rib and everybody loved it. Mimi and Luke made delicious appetizers, vegetables and a ham. Everybody brought something yummy for dessert. Eli made two amazing cheese pies. I was only in charge of the decorations and the egg hunt. I had gone earlier in the week to plant some flowers in the garden since Mimi was very sad about the state of their front lawn. Their sprinklers have not worked for long time and the grass and most of the plants were dead. I think everything was wonderful and we had a great time.
Titi decorated a cake

Somebody could not wait to eat

Even Beary got a lot of eggs

Passover

2009-04-13T21:59:00.002-04:00

We celebrated Passover at home. It was only us and we cooked the dinner in a very short time but it was good. I had made matzo ball soup and we had almost all the ingredients for the ceremony and dinner so when Don got home we all worked hard and we were able to start the ceremony at sundown.

Happy Birthday Mema!!!

2009-04-10T09:32:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday Mema. We love you a lot! We hope you have a wonderful day.

We had fun at the dinner to celebrate your birthday.

Disney in December

2009-04-06T10:39:00.006-04:00

I was going to post some pictures about Disney and I remembered that I never posted the pictures of the December trip. It was so much fun to go and meet Alec, Kristen, and kids, Luke and Mimi, Keri, Larry and Jennie and we even got to see Laura... Carlos and Titi loved being with everybody. Titi stayed very close to Luke and Isi and did not want to go on many rides. Carlos loved going on rides with Brandon, they got along very well. Uncle Luke was very nice and he rode with them many times. I don't know how many times they went on the Tower or Terror.... It was fun spending the New Year's Eve at Epcot although it was crowded and cold. We still had fun and it still think that Disney is a great place to spend the New Year.
We had fun at Hollywood Studios!

I got to bond with Isi

We had an impromptu tailgating party!

Another box on its way to Guatemala

2009-04-02T17:49:00.006-04:00

Do you want to see something really scary?

This was our guest room back in February. I had just thrown in there all the Christmas decorations and all the donations I still had for Mayan Families and had closed the door! I had sent a box in December to Guatemala and another one in January and I still had so much stuff. One Monday night Don came home to tell me somebody was coming to stay there on Thursday. I wanted to scream! Thankfully, everybody took pitty on me and the guest ended up staying at Larry and Keri's.

Thanks to my birthday gifts from Mema and grandpa and Don and all the wonderful donations from family and friends, today I sent another box to Mayan Families. I sent all the educational toys and materials I had. I hope they will use them at the new Tierra Linda community center. Mayan Families is opening a preschool there, the first one in the town, and I can't wait to see some children using the materials. We packed every single inch in the box. We put lots of stuff inside the puzzle boxes and every space available was filled.

My helpers.

Married for 63 years!

2009-04-02T17:45:00.004-04:00

On Tuesday, Mema and grandpa celebrated their 63 year wedding anniversary! We had hoped to visit them on that day but I had to wait for a conference call and it got too late. We did go yesterday and had a very nice time. They live in such a lovely place and it feels like you are on vacation far away. Carlos and Titi swam in their pool and loved it. It was a great way to spend the day. I forgot to take pictures :-(

My birthday at the Sony Ericsson Open

2009-03-30T17:48:00.005-04:00

I had a very nice birthday. Courtesy of Bulova, Don had tickets to the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne. The seats were great and we got to see matches with Roddick and Federer. We could not have asked for better players. Well, it would have been good to see Nadal. I did see him walk in a sea of people. He had been training and was walking back to the stadium. We have seen him play in previous years and he is so great.

Titi played beach tennis

On the way out of Key Biscayne we found a nice park. The kids had fun playing with other kids and Don and I played with his phone.

I got to eat Cuban food. Pan con bistec!

Pinewood Derby

2009-03-25T22:14:00.007-04:00

Last year I did not go to our Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby and I had not idea what to expect. Well, it was a BIG deal! Everybody was so excited to see their cars compete. Don worked very little with Carlos on his car but it did well. They also had a race for the siblings and Titi entered one car and I can say it was the prettiest of all.

The food was great. Ray brought his gas grill from home and he was busy! We were lucky and the weather was good during the picnic but right after it, it rained a lot.

Titi's car

The best part was when they launched this rocket car.

Congratulations Laura!!!

2009-03-19T13:58:00.002-04:00

Wow! Laura did it again! She was in the front cover of the Sun Sentinel and in almost a whole page in the sports section. She was named the Sun Sentinel 4A-3A-2A Player of the Year for the second straight year!! It make Carlos and Titi very happy to see her in the paper this morning!!We are very proud of her!!!

Camping at home

2009-03-15T22:12:00.003-04:00

Don did not know that on Friday he was going to get home and be asked to build a tent, right inside the house. He was a good dad and did it for Carlos.

Earlier in the day I had found Titi's small tent and Carlos and I built it for her. Since she was not feeling well, she went to lay down inside and fell asleep. Carlos wanted a tent too but his had broken earlier and he did not have one. I told him that maybe he could have the one we had used for camping since it was too small for all of us. He had made the honor roll at school and he decided the tent was a good present to celebrate it. He kept asking me to bring it down so we could build it and I kept saying we could not do it. When Don got home we decided we could do it to celebrate Carlos' good grades and we built it and Carlos slept there. Titi slept in hers. Tonight they are sleeping there again. Now we have to start working on convincing them that having tents in the middle of the living room and kitchen is not a good idea......

Luke's birthday

2009-03-15T21:59:00.003-04:00

March is a very busy month with birthdays and anniversaries. Carlos and Titi have already been to 3 birthday parties. Last Wednesday was Luke's birthday and we celebrated it at his home. Mimi was leaving for Mexico the following morning and she was busy at work so she decided to order Chinese food. I was supposed to go to the house in the morning and decorate so Luke will see it when he came back from work but he decided to work from home and it ruined our plans :-)

It was a good party. The kids and I made some paper lanterns and they colored some dragons and we decorated quickly when we got there. The food was good. I made the cake and brought some strawberries. The kids went to bed late but it was worth it.

A quick trip to Mexico

2009-03-13T10:03:00.004-04:00

Sometimes I get really homesick about Mexico. Well, mainly about the food and I crave the things I used to eat there. The closest I can get to Mexican food without going to Mexico is by shopping at La Reina supermarket in Lake Worth. It is more of a latin supermarket, founded by Colombian immigrants, but they have lots of things from Mexico. They sell sweet bread, tamales, chocolate and some authentic dishes.

The kids love going there because they have fun looking at all the "strange" vegetables and fruits they find there. We also get Mexican "paletas" or ice cream bars. I just wish it were closer to home....

Cactus leaves from Mexico

Chayotes

Zucchini flowers

Making juice with some grapefruits from La Reina. They were 9 for a dollar! I wish I had bought more since Don loves fresh juice. Titi only likes to help but she won't drink it.

FCAT is done

2009-03-12T15:48:00.004-04:00

FCAT is finally done!!! Today Carlos had his math test and he thinks he did well. I saw his teacher and she said the same thing, that he finished it fast and he didn't think it was hard. He also had 2 days of reading tests. The whole school has been and still is in FCAT mode and no visitors are allowed for two weeks. They had a rally on Monday and the kids have been receiving a protein snack!! They also got a foam brain that they could squish if they felt nervous during the test. We are glad it is over for Carlos!!

We have been stressing because Titi has been a little sick and we were afraid Carlos was going to get it. She started with a fever and kind of a cold and then she vomited at night. She missed 2 days of school and she went for only 1/2 day yesterday. Thankfully Carlos has been fine. Carlos also went to sleep late yesterday and Don and I were hoping it was not going to affect him today. We can finally relax!!!

Lake Worth Street Painting Festival again

2009-03-09T18:16:00.006-04:00

We could not miss the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival and it was as wonderful as ever. We invited Tere, Eli and little cousin Mario to come with us since they had never seen it. We had a lot of fun but it was crowded and we had to walk fast, before the kids got bored.

The kids loved the Candy Land drawing!

Bed

2009-03-05T22:25:00.004-05:00

It has been months since I last made the bed and put the pillows on it! There are days when I don't even make the bed and when I do, I only put the bedspread. I am starting to get interested in decorating again and I might make some changes around the house.

Bok choy

2009-03-04T22:21:00.003-05:00

When we toured the farm we saw some of the bok choy they were growing. It looked so healthy and nice. We got some in our box and I made it with chicken, garlic and ginger. I liked it a lot!

Another visit to the farm

2009-03-02T10:39:00.004-05:00

We were very happy to have Mema and Grandpa with us when we visited the farm's annual open house.

February

2009-02-24T12:24:00.005-05:00

Some of the things we have been doing in February:

Helped at and enjoyed the school's carnival

Attended the Cub Scouts' Blue and Gold dinner

Titi sold Girl Scout cookies

Valentine's

2009-02-16T22:12:00.004-05:00

Carlos and Titi were very excited about Valentine's Day. They loved writing the cards they sent and the ones they gave their classmates and teachers.

We celebrated Valentine's in Orlando. We had some tickets that were about to expire for one of the Disney's waterparks and we decide to go this weekend. We were very lucky with the weather. We went to the waterpark on Saturday and it was nice and warm. Don loved being able to just sit and relax.

We also went to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. The sunset was beautiful!

Mimi

2009-02-12T10:02:00.004-05:00

Last weekend Mimi participated in the Goddess Dance Festival at the Lake Worth Playhouse. It was a wonderful show. She danced in 3 acts and was very good. They did a Moulin Rouge song and Mimi's costume was beautiful!! I wish I had invited Mema and other people but like always, I was not very organized and did not pay attention to where she was going to dance and only learned it at the last minute. After the show we went to have something to eat at an outdoor restaurant with Luke, Roc, Tere, Eli and some other people. It was fun to be out (by myself) at night!

Homemade laundry detergent

2009-02-05T14:38:00.002-05:00

At the beginning of January I made some liquid laundry detergent using a recipe that I found at Down to Earth, a blog that a read. It was very inexpensive and it has worked great. I gave some to Tere and she liked it too so I am going to make some more to share with other people that I know are trying to save some money.

South Florida Fair

2009-01-29T20:01:00.006-05:00

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

2009-01-17T16:18:00.002-05:00

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

2009-01-15T10:16:00.004-05:00

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

2009-01-15T09:54:00.004-05:00

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

2009-01-12T11:03:00.004-05:00

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

2009-01-11T23:01:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-01-06T11:26:00.006-05:00

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!

Happy Holidays

2008-12-22T21:01:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

December

2008-12-22T20:20:00.004-05:00

At the Cub Scouts pack meeting we had "decorate the leader" and Don and Titi were decorated by the boys. It was very funny!

We decided not to buy a Christmas tree this year and we decorated the ficus tree we have. The kids also decorated some little ones and are busy making and wrapping presents.

This year I am so behind in sending holiday cards. I know I need to start earlier but the days just fly. This is a busy time at Mayan Families in Guatemala because school will start in January and now is the time to renew the student sponsorships. I help them by maintaining and updating the student's pages on the blog I created and I have been adding and updating many pages a day. You can take a peek here: Student's Blog. They are going to launch a new website soon and that will help me because they will be doing the updates directly from Guatemala but I don't know when they will be ready to do it.

In space

2008-12-17T23:23:00.001-05:00

Our pride and joy!!

2008-12-12T22:32:00.006-05:00

We have been very busy lately! Lots of school activities. Carlos made the honor roll and the school had a nice breakfast for the children and a ceremony to hand out the diplomas. Don was not able to go but I did and it was such a proud moment for me. They always have activities very early in the day and we can never invite Mema and Grandpa. They also had another breakfast for the third grade book club. It was at 7:15!

Titi also has had a couple of field trips. One to see the Nutcraker and another to see a dance/puppet show and an outdoor picnic. I went with her and we had a good time. She also participated in a play. She said she was nervous but she did great. After the play we had doughnuts and drinks and coffee. The teacher worked to hard to prepare everything. Carlos' teacher knew that we Titi was going to be in the play and she allowed Carlos to attend as well. We have been very lucky and all their teachers have been extremely nice!

They also had field day and they competed in different outdoor events. I was only able to attend Titi's and she did great. She was happy because she was in a team with 4 boys. Her team of 5 people won among 35 players.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T11:23:00.003-05:00

We want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! We are very thankful for our health, our family, our friends and home.

Miami Book Fair International

2008-11-16T14:06:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we went to the Miami Book Fair. I went by myself last year and this time I wanted to bring Carlos and Titi. They have become interested in books again. For some time they only read if we made them read but lately they have been reading on their own. They got an animal's facts book at the book fair at their school and they have been reading us facts all week long. They were so excited about this book that one night they woke up at 3:00 a.m. to read with a flashlight. I heard them make the plan before they went to bed but I did not think one of them was going to wake up. Well, they did, read for a while and then woke us up because they were hungry!

They had fun at the MBFI. There was a big children's area with activities. Carlos and Titi loved taking pictures with some book characters. Their favorites were the Berenstain Bears. They bought a couple of books and got one nice one for free. Don and I wished we had more time to browse and to attend the author's readings and talks but we were happy to at least attend. Twenty years ago I volunteered at one event of the fair and attended the street fair for the first time. I can't believe it has been this long..... The weather was so beautiful and Miami looked great.

After the fair we went to South Beach because the kids wanted to get in the water. It was late but they played for a while. We then had Cuban food at Larios and watched people for a while. We showed the kids the place where we met, the Clevelander, but they are remodeling it so it did not look too good.

Girl Scout Camping

2008-11-14T20:32:00.006-05:00

The leader of Titi's Brownie's troop told me that the troop needed somebody to be trained in outdoor skills before they could go camping. Since she knew I had camped with the cub scouts, she asked me if I could be trained. I said yes, not knowing that I needed to go to a night session and go camping one weekend.

It was actually very interesting. I learned how to do a flag ceremony, how to start a fire, how to make and cook in an oven box, and lots of other useful things. It was so different from cub scouts. We had a class the week before and that night they divided our group of women in two patrols. They gave us a list of items we needed to bring and a list of things we needed to do as a group. We were supposed to cook one meal on foil over coal, another using sticks and another in a skillet over a fire. It took us some time to agree on the menu but we finally got it.

Last weekend was the camp out. It started at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday and it ended at noon on Sunday. It was at the campground that is next to the cub scouts but it looked very different. This was the first time I had slept by myself away from home since Carlos came home! I can hardly believe that but I am not somebody that likes sleeping away from home. I slept in a cabin with two other women and thankfully I was able to sleep most of the night. I made sure not to drink anything after dinner so I would not have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night :-) We were lucky and we had perfect weather, not too hot and not too cold. My favorite part was going on a night hike without flashlights.... Now I need to plan a trip with the Brownies.....

So excited!!!!

2008-11-05T23:10:00.000-05:00