Titi lost her first tooth!

Well, she didn't loose it exactly. The dentist had to take it because the root had some problems but it is the first baby tooth that Titi is missing. She didn't want to leave it for the tooth fairy yesterday but she will definitely leave it tonight. Carlos is still missing that tooth so now they have matching smiles.

Dia de los Muertos - Day of the Death

In Mexico we celebrate All Saints Day and All Souls Day on November 1st. and 2nd. It is a custom to visit cemeteries and put an altar with food offerings for the people that have died in your family. It is believed that their souls will come and visit you on those days and will eat and drink the food that you leave for them. We always put an ofrenda for my mom, sister, grandparents and other relatives. My sister also puts one at her house.

I miss the special bread the bakeries make for this celebration. They also sell sugar and chocolate skulls with names on their foreheads and you usually receive some from family and friends. I also miss the smells associated with this holiday. You usually find lots of flower vendors in the markets and streets, and it smells like flowers, specially marigolds and amaranth flowers. It also smells like candles and incense, the one used at churches. I am going to try to buy some bread at a latin store or will try to make some next week.

More Halloween

Halloween is over but who knows when we will be able to take the decorations down. I told Carlos I was going to start taking them down and he became upset. He said he wanted to keep them for a long time... I will try taking them one by one and see how it goes.

This was a busy Halloween week. On Thursday Carlos and Titi had their first school dance. I helped decorate the school cafeteria and all the kids were very excited to see the decorations. The school has approx. 1,100 students but the cafeteria can only accommodate 500 people so the tickets sold fast. Carlos and Titi didn't really dance but they were happy to see some of their classmates and walk around. They also had a decorated pumpkin contest and we brought the pirate one. We didn't win but it was fun seeing it among the other pumpkins.


On Saturday we went to the parade in downtown Delray. After school on Monday we went to a nearby shopping center where the kids were able to trick or treating some more. They also saw a magician.

On Tuesday morning the kids had their classroom parties. Fortunately they were at different hours and I was able to help in both. They had a lot of fun and they got lots of goodies.

On Tuesday night Don took Carlos and Titi trick or treating around the neighborhood and I stayed home to give candy. The came back with lots of candy. I didn't have that many trick or treaters and we had lots of candy left. We convinced Carlos and Titi to leave all the candy
we had in the front porch and see if the Big Pumpkin would take it and would leave a toy in its place. It came and it left them a toy and a stuffed animal. They are happy about it and I am super happy because the kids won't eat candy and I won't have to see it around.

Halloween Parade

On Saturday we went to the Halloween Parade. Last year it was cancelled because of hurricane Wilma and the kids were dissapointed. This is the third or fourth year we have gone. The children get lots of candy from all the downtown stores, then all the children and parents walk in a parade to the park by the intercoastal, and they have a children's festival there. The kids get free ice cream. This year we took cousin Allison too. Her dad is in the hospital and we hope he will be better soon. She is a great girl.

Football

Last week Don and Titi went to the Dolphins game in Miami. They had fun. Don said that Titi behaved very well and she entertained herself by drawing and playing with some small toys. The Dolphins lost (surprise!) but it was a good game.
I went to a plant swap and Mema and Grandpa were extremely nice and took care of Carlos.

Happy birthday Uncle Dave!

Today is uncle David's 80th birthday!! We hope he is having a great day. Congratulations!!!

Pumpkin Time!

The Halloween party at the clubhouse was nice, we all had a good time. Don and the kids wore their costumes and we decorated the 2 pumpkins for the kids contest. Titi took a lot of time deciding how to decorate her pumpkin but she finally chose a pirate costume. I helped her glue it on the pumpkin and it looked great. Carlos chose a mummy. It was a hit too. The food was good, they had a magic show for the kids, a bounce house and a train ride. They gave prizes to all the kids that decorated their pumpkins and Carlos and Titi were happy when they got theirs.




It is pumpkin time. On Friday we went to a pumpkin patch with Nico, Carlos and Titi's friend from Guatemala. They kids had a good time and we chose two pumpkins to decorate for Saturday's Halloween party in our development.

Belly dancing

Mimi invited me once again to a belly dancing/Halloween event and it was so much fun. It was held at a Tex-Mex restaurant and the food was good. Tere and Eli were able to go too. Mimi looked great, she was wearing one of her belly dancing costumes. Tere and Eli wore some costumes too. I went as myself, a "tired mommy".

The people that danced were excellent. They also had a costume contest and some raffles. Mimi won a bracelet! Tere won a session with a life coach.




HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARTY!!

Yesterday was Marty's birthday. We hope she liked the little things we sent her. Wishing you lots of health, love and happiness! See you on Thanksgiving.

One more birthday party

On Saturday we went to another birthday party for a little boy. His brother is in Titi's classroom and the parents are from Guatemala. The boys and their father are moving to Ft. Pierce and I know Titi will miss her classmate. He is a very sweet boy.

The kids had fun breaking a pinata and Don and I enjoyed the food. It was carne asada, chicken, rice, pico de gallo and tortillas. The cake was good too. They bought it at a hispanic supermarket so it tasted like the ones in Mexico.

Happy Birthday Laura!

Today is Laura's 15th birthday!! I can't believe it has been 15 years since she was born. We all remember perfectly when we first saw her at the hospital. She is now a great big girl. She is a very good student and an excellent athlete, we are sure she is going to be famous. Well, she is already famous around here :)

We went to her house to celebrate. Like always, there was excellent food. I had to leave early with the kids because it was already past their bedtime. They got to eat cake before they fell asleep in the car.

Happy birthday Mimi!!!

Today is Mimi's birthday!!! Luke invited us to go to a Japanese restaurant to celebrate. Mimi looked great and we were very happy to be with her on this special day. Carlos and Titi could not wait to see her, all day they kept asking if it was time to go to the restaurant. Mimi is so much fun and she has done lots of cool things. A couple of years ago she jumped from a plane on a parachute. Luke gave her that as a present and she loved it. She is brave!

I was happy to see the whole family together.

Butterflies

This year we haven't seen that many caterpillars outside. The wasps and lizards eat them very young so they don't turn into butterflies. We decided to bring some eggs and now we have 17 monarch and queen caterpillars. They are soooo cute! They are getting to the stage where they eat and poop a lot and we have to bring food and clean the cage twice a day. Don also found a caterpillar that looks like a tobacco hornworm but it doesn't have horns. He eats ficus and he is big! I think he will turn into a sphinx moth. They usually come out at dusk or night and feed from flowers like hummingbirds.

We released some monarch this past week, they are so beautiful.

October

I can't believe we are already in October. Carlos is very excited because he loves Halloween and has been waiting all year for this month. He loves going to the stores to look at all the Halloween decorations and we always end up buying him something. Don took him to a couple of stores and waited patiently for hours while Carlos looked at everything. He is a great daddy! Today we put some Halloween decorations inside the house and will try to decorate outside during the week.

In the afternoon I worked in the garden and Carlos and Titi played with some soil and water. They love looking for earth worms and other critters. They love getting dirty.

Mexican and Guatemalan Independence Day

Guatemala celebrates its Independence Day on Sept. 15 and Mexico's is on the 16th. Mimi and I wanted to go to Miami to the party that the Mexican Consulate organizes every year but it didn't work out. We still wanted to have some Mexican food so I decided to cook some pozole. It is a soup made with pork, hominy and chiles that you eat with some lettuce, radishes, oregano and lemon. It is cooked on special occasions and we love it. The one I made was ok, not the best but it satisfied our cravings. I also made a flan. Don was in Boston so Carlos, Titi and I went to Luke and Mimi's and we had dinner there. Roc tried it too. We also played loteria, a Mexican version of bingo, that Carlos loves playing.

Lisa's Bat Mitzvah

Don is back from New York. He went with his parents to Lisa's Bat Mitzvah. He said it was a great party and Lisa did very well. I am sorry we missed it but I decided to stay home with Carlos and Titi. It was going to be a very short trip with lots of affairs and I didn't think the kids would be able to sit through everything. It sound like everybody had a great time.

Carlos and Titi were very happy to see Don, they missed him a lot. Carlos baked some chocolate/banana muffins for him. He loves cooking. Titi was busy painting. She loves making crafts.

Guatemalan Charities

Somebody asked me about the charities we know in Guatemala. These are some of the ones we have supported. Don and I have met some of the founders and we can testify that they work incredibly hard to help people.

Project Safe Passage - Helps children and families from the Guatemala City's garbage dump http://www.safepassage.org/us/SafePassage.html
Orphan Resources International - Helps orphanages. They can receive material donations in the U.S. They also make Christmas boundles for the children http://www.orphanresources.org/index.html
Potter's House International - Helps children and families from the Guatemala City's garbage dump
http://www.pottershouse.org.gt/
Partner for Surgery - Help people get medical services, mainly surgeries for cleft lip and burns
http://www.partnerforsurgery.org/
Vamos Adelante
http://www.vamosadelante.org/
Foto Kids
http://www.fotokids.org/
Guatemala's Stove Project - Builds masonry cookstoves for Mayan families.
http://www.guatemalastoveproject.org/intro.html
Transitions Foundation - Helps disabled people
http://www.transitionsfoundation.com/Transitions_English/index.html
Casa Guatemala - Orphanage
http://www.casa-guatemala.org/english/frame2.html

Pictures

Don and his idol, Jerry Garcia

Playing with flour. We were going to make pizza but the kids started playing with flour and made a mess.

Pictures taken at Epcot

I was looking for something in my computer and I found these pictures.