Finally... a post about Ali

Today Ali preformed her 'spring sing' in front of all the parents with her Kindergarten class.

She has been really excited to perform, and excited to sing this 'secret song' that she has been practicing only while I was not watching or listening.

Her with her teacher, Mrs. Sanders, who is amazing!

Her whole class.

Close-up

Birthday party and more

My little girl (who now isn't so little) Just turned 6! I can hardly believe it. On her actual birthday we made and decorated cupcakes.

I didn't have any birthday candles, because I failed to plan properly, so a tea light worked.

After Nick got home she opened some presents from us and from her good friend Jim. She was very pleased with everything.

The next day we had a party at Chuck-E-Cheese's.

She had a blast being the center of attention, and the big inflatable crown was a plus. For some reason I got very few pictures of the actual party, and no pictures of her doing any games, but I think everyone had lots of fun.

In other news...

Jack turned 4 months old! (Rachael, that is your blanket he is laying on. He is obviously a fan)

I just love this picture because the bottom lip is so cute. Is there a place in heaven before babies are born where they are taught, "Okay, just push out your bottom lip and your parents will be willing to give you anything."

Jack is a great sleeper. Sometimes I think he might sleep too much. I put him down on his mat for some quality tummy time to strengthen his muscles (he cannot roll over yet) and when I came to check on him a few minutes later this is how I found him. To be fair to him, he has a binky in his mouth which is very soothing. To be fair to me, Kat gave it to him while I was not looking with the excuse, "but he wanted it!" Maybe he will never roll over. :)

Sneak Peak for Halloween

Because we really have the cutest Strawberry Shortcake, I had to do a little sneak peak of what is to come for Halloween. Ali had a costume parade at school, and (I know I am biased) she was definitely the hit of the parade!

Here she is with the rest of her class. The lighting is kind of bad.

She really did have fun, despite the lack of smile. She was so excited about this parade that she woke up last night at 1am, then 2am, then 3 am... Help me!

First day of school! First day of school!

Ali is growing up! Today she had her first day of school! Not pre-school, but real bonifide Kindergarten!

Here she is on the ramp to her school. Very excited.

This is in front of her classroom. Terrible picture, sorry. But you can see her cute first day of school outfit. Thanks Abuelita!

Some kids were close to tears, but not Ali. She would have pushed me out the door if she had the choice.

This is her teacher, Ms. Sanders. She has been a teacher at this school for 13 years, so we feel lucky to have her.

Haircut!

Ali finally let me get her hair cut! I have been trying to get her to cut her hair for the last 2 years. But ever since she got into princesses she refused (princesses all have long hair). Yesterday, however, she had a playdate with her friend who donated to locks of love. While Ali's hair is not long enough, she was still excited to cut her hair. Only provision being that we go to a hair cutting place. (Apparently she doesn't like me cutting her hair)

This is Ali pre-haircut. She was so excited to be at the "salon" aka supercuts, that she was giggling the entire time we waited for them to call her name.

Not sure why she is holding Kat's foot here, but she insisted on taking a picture with Kat's foot. This is her "long look."

She even had a hard time sitting still while the haircut was in process, because she kept wanting to look in the mirror and touch the falling hair.

Not only did she get a super cute haircut, she got a lollipop too! She told me, "Mommy, I LOVE my new haircut!" What do you think?

Little girl to Big girl

What does a little girl need to grow up to be a big girl? This post will give 3 of the many things needed for Ali to go from little girl to big girl.

#1 She needs to get a manicure. Preferably one with pink flowers.

#2 She need to get a pedicure. It is not necessary to actually reach the water :)

It is not necessary, but it is extremely pleasant to do this specific task with Abuelita, Tita, AND Tia Gaby (plus Mommy of course)

#3 She needs to learn to braid. I know some people may call this very un-feminist, but every girl needs to learn to braid to become a big girl, and this week, with Rapunzel Barbie's help, Ali learned to braid. She did this braid all by herself!

In conclusion, Ali still has lots more steps that she needs to take to become a big girl, but she can now cross the first three off her list.

Kicks and punches

Ali started Karate last week. She is so girly when she does her karate that I try not to laugh the whole time. Plus you can see she is doing exactly what the teacher is telling her.

Look at those pointed toes! Maybe Ballet would have been a better choice. Nick wanted her in Karate to help counter all the girlish activities. Do you think it is helping?

For Paul

For Paul, because what father wouldn't be proud of this.

Back story for this picture : I was busy making lunch and the 3 kiddos were playing. I heard Dez laughing, and as I have wanted to catch him and Kat in their fun, I snatched my camera and ran around the sofa. This is the image I caught. Kat was no where in sight, and Dez was cracking up about his find. This is actually Kat's "special" toy. I think that he was very proud that he had managed to get her toy without her snatching it back and so that is why he was laughing.

I have been meaning to post this picture for awhile, well since the last post at least. I wanted to post a pic of Ali with her new friend. My brother Lutie got this for her at Sea World.

Skirts and tomatoes

My dad got the girls these really cute skirts, and they just couldn't help spinning with them. Do you think you could resist a spin if you put on one? Side note: Ali picked out both her own, and Kat's outfit.



I GOT TOMATOES!!!! I grew these from seeds!!! I know that it a lot of exclamation points, but in my defense, it is a HUGE deal that I was able to grow these. As a huge benefit, they actually taste really yummy. Side update: My avocado plant is still not a plant. It is just a seed with a small root system. Maybe I am doing something wrong there, but at least I succeeded with one plant.

I dyed my hair; what do you think?

Another look, plus a really cute picture of Dez.

Birthday post

I know that I have been terrible at posting, and I will try to do better, so here are 3 posts in one. I will start off with the fact that due to some really random scheduling and some real luck on our part, Nick got 3 weeks off of work. We decided to have some fun during that time. We started by taking a trip down to San Diego. We have season passes to the zoo and the wild animal park, so we used them.

The San Diego zoo is HUGE!!! And by huge I mean so big that we had never gone to the elephant exhibit before, so we decided to go. I recommend it! The girls loved these realistic statues that are meant to be climbed on.

Kat was a fan of this specific goat at the ever-a-winner petting zoo.

I know these pictures are super cheezy to put in blogs, but it took me about 10 pictures before I got one where they were looking the same direction, so I had to put it in.
After our trip south, Nick's mom, Malena came and stayed with the girls for 4 whole days while Nick and I took a cruise to Ensanada.

Here is me in the main part of the boat.

Here is Nick in one of our favorite parts of the boat.

Gettin' some sun!

We did a shore excursion to La Bufadora, which is a blow hole on the tip of Baja Cali. I didn't just want to look at the blow hole, so we decided to Kayak up to it. Here we are in our wet suits getting ready to head out. We didn't get any pictures while out there because our camera is not waterproof, but we had loads of fun and it was amazing to get so close to La Bufadora. (Link is wiki site of blow hole)
After the fun on the cruise we all headed up to Fresno for my niece and nephew's birthday party.

Here is Jasmine and Benjamin with their cake. There is Ali, planning which piece she is going to get. Every picture I took of this scene has her looking exactly like this one. Every other child is running around or looking different ways, but not Ali. She knows exactly which piece she wants and she is NOT going to look away and let another kid get it.

Me helping Kat hit that scary pinata. Maybe we will wait another year to have a pinata for Kat.
Right before Nick went back to work Ali had her first swimming lesson, EVER!!! (unless you count mommy and me, which I don't)

She was so brave the entire time. I think this girl should have been born a fish!

Here she is learning to float on her back. Just put your hands behind your head and chill!
Most of Nick's vacation took place amidst the terrors of June gloom, but the day before Nick had to head back to work the sun came out, so we did too.

We headed to the beach where Ali finally let Nick bury her. In this picture you can see her impatience to get out. You can even see the sand cracking in front of her where she had her arms out one second later. But I cannot believe she consented to even that. Just a few weeks before I would have had to bribe her an arm and a leg just to bury her feet. Anything for Daddy!
Last but definitely not least, Kat's birthday is today!!! Nick has been back to work for a week now, but he was able to skip clinic this morning to spend a few extra hours with us and watch Kat open presents.

Nick got her a candy bracelet which she refused to put on her wrist, but didn't want to put down either, so her mouth is where it stayed.

Until she found out about Pez!

Dez liked this present of Kat's the best! But maybe because we didn't let him try the Pez.

Thanks Jim!

Happy Birthday! Ali is 4 and this was her birthday package from a good friend Jim!

Ali loved everything in it. Jim ALWAYS seems to know exactly what Ali loves. Her party is tomorrow, and I promise to post some fun pics of the day.

Thanksgiving (right on time)

This year we had a great Thanksgiving at Tia Gaby and St. Paul's house. I know that I am way late posting this, but we had a great time so I had to say something about it. Tita, Gil, Gibi, Tio and Beba were all there (Nick's aunt, uncle, cousin, uncle and aunt, respectively). Gaby and Paul hosted in there newly redone backyard and it was great. The food was good and the company was better. Nick was even able to be there, but being that he was post-call, I am not sure how much of him was there.


The girls hadn't seen him for 2 days, so naturally they didn't let him eat very much.

For some reason, (probably that I was too busy eating!) I never got a picture of us all eating or pre-eating. This is after we were all done. It was so great to see everyone, it makes me really grateful to be so close to family.