Hula

Ali was part of the talent show. She is on the far left. She just might be the cutest hula dancer ever (no bias at all).

18 Months!

 This little guy is 18 months old today! To celebrate his tooth finally broke through, so he was especially happy at the end of the day. He escaped bedtime and made for the piano. He was so sweet I picked up my camera.

Natural talent? Jack loves to sing. He can't actually talk yet (he only has about 5 words in his arsenal) but he constantly hums and mumbles songs. It is pretty cute, and when he sat down to play he was singing the whole time.

Spring Break! (Belated)

 Spring break this year was a bunch of fun. Each day we did something different. Monday we made it to a park (not pictured).

 

We went to the science museum on Tuesday. 

 

We went to the zoo on Wednesday.
 

Sometimes people ask me how I go with five kids anywhere. Well I have an awesome stroller, and 5 great kids. Look at their sweet faces.

I don't know why I bother with even looking at animals. All they ever want to do is climb on things. 

 They managed to all fit in one egg shell.

 On Thursday Gaby took her boys to Mammoth to ski, and we went to the tide pools and the aquarium.

It was a pretty cold day, and windy, but it was lots of fun.
ps By cold I mean that it went all the way down to 60 degrees.

They had fun looking at crabs and anemones and sea slugs. We even saw an octopus! Jack just wanted to find rocks to throw.

 

On Friday we made it to the beach. It warmed up a little, but it still wasn't swimsuit weather.

 

 Instead they just played in the sand and built lots of castles.

 By Saturday we saw a lot of this. (Don't feel too bad for her, she just didn't want her ponytail so high on her head)

 

 Of course there was some of this too.

 Side note: Kat's spring sing was yesterday. She did so great, I am very proud of her.

  Second side note, we are moving in June, and looking at places to rent. I am thinking that we might need some kind of yard. This is Jack's favorite thing to play with on our patio. Yeah, that is just a pot of dirt.

Tar Pits

We finally made it to the La Brea Tar Pits! I remember visiting this place as a kid, and loving it. It didn't disappoint. The kids all loved it too.

Jack wouldn't stay still.

 Ali liked everything, but this wall of wolf skulls was pretty cool.

 

I finally got him to stay still.

 After looking at lots of old bones, we next door for some modern art. (Los Angeles Museum of Art)

 They loved this place.

Running through large, modern art pieces was so much fun!

Glimpse

 Just a small glimpse into my life. My sweet sweet children sometimes just take my breath away with how wonderful they are. It could also be that the last week has been attitude free (At least attitude toward me). Kat loves her brother, and look how cute they are together.

I guess there is a bit of attitude, look at these models! They both came to me wearing these awesome outfits. Ali told me, "I wanted to look colorful today, and luckily I found this (pointing to her outfit) that matches perfectly!" We might have to have a talk about patterns.

Grandparents!

 Abuelita and Tita came to visit! Of course I don't have a single picture of them. Failure on my part, especially since it was Abuelita's birthday. To celebrate we all went out to dinnner. They also took Ali to get a haircut. She got the fancy treatment, with a hair wash, cut and style. She was very proud of her look. The next day Abuelita and Tita took Ali to build-a-bear (something that she has been wanting to do for a very long time). And then, because a girl cannot have enough shoes, they bought both girls these adorable boat shoes.

 These girls are spoiled.

Then the next day Grandpa came to visit. He also spoiled the girls. (and me too since he brought me dinner!)

And just because I posted this on Facebook already, (not everyone uses facebook).

Several people commented on how much my Ali looks like me, so I decided to do a side-by side. In order for objectivity, I am wearing no make-up, so don't judge harshly

7

 Seven years ago our little Alicia was born. She was a beautiful baby, and she has grown into an equally beautiful girl.

 We had a very small party on Saturday. Just a few girls, some pizza,

pin the tail on the donkey,

 cake,

 and of course presents! So much pink! I guess it takes longer than seven years to outgrow that color.

Unfortunate week

 This week was kind of hard for us. It started the day before Valentines Day. Kat went to bed with a slight fever and a headache. The next day it spread from Kat to Ali to me. Sigh.

 

 Even sick, these Valentine girls are cute.

 Diagnosis: Kat has an ear infection in both ears, and an eye infection in both eyes. Plus she has whatever underlying cold she started out with. She is such a pretty girl.

 Poor girl. Ali didn't get either ear or eye infection, but her fever has been much higher than Kat's. Thank goodness for TV.

 Jack somehow escaped from the sickness (for now). But the poor boy has had a hard week. I gave him a bath yesterday and found these marks all over his body. His clothes had hid them. 5 points to whoever can guess what it is.

 This guys has 4 teeth, and he likes to show them off.

That's so Random

 This is about 5 minutes after dressing him. Teething makes this boy drool a LOT!

 Kat has always loved this boy (maybe too much), but now she is getting a little love in return. Maybe it is because he is older so her hugs are not so harsh, or maybe it is that her persistence has finally paid off.

 Last Friday I looked out my window and saw this! It was so crazy since I have been getting email updates about the North East's storm, so it was a shock to see it out of my window. Alas it is not a snow storm, though it looked quite like snow. It is hail and it melted way to fast for my girls' taste. "But I only got to eat a little of it!"

 Jack still loves playing with cars, but I included this picture to show off how sunny and nice it is here in LA today. For all those freezing this week, it is supposed to get up into the 80s here.

Speaking of 80s. I swear my girls wish they lived in the 80s. She would have been seriously stylin' had she been born 35 years ago. This picture also shows off my avocado tree, and Kat's new skates.

Dance dance dance

These girls have some serious moves!

Sisters

 I have the world's best sisters. They are my best friends, and they are my some of my biggest supporters. Unfortunately we all live far away from each other. With my move to Connecticut looming, it seems like that won't change for awhile, so we decided to have a girls weekend, sister style!

 Only five of us were able to make it. We all flew to Rochester, NY where we spent most of the time indoors. (It is freezing there!) From left to right; Lynette, Melissa, Jen, Adele, and Me (Steph) We spent the whole weekend laughing and talking, and of course, competing.

Planking contest, one of many such contests. I came in second. This picture was taken before the contest started. I did win the arm wrestling and the push-up contests.

 These pictures are all with my sister's phone, so they kind of suck, Yummy ribs!

 We got pedicures. There is a picture of that on one of my sister's camera. But this is us in Jen's swagger wagon.

 I like talking to my sisters on the phone. Since I have so many sisters, I am on the phone often. I guess Jack caught on to how it is done. Notice the bite marks on his arm. Dominic missed him this weekend.

Whenever I see my kids playing well together it brings me such joy. I see the closeness that I share with my own siblings, and I can only hope that my kids can have that too.