Today is the kids last day of Spring Break and they start school tomorrow , but that wont last long because they are off again Thursday and Friday due to another holiday here in the Valencian Community. I’m not 100% sure but I think on Thursday April 3rd (of this year, I think it falls on different dates every year, always after Easter) is a local Alicante holiday called La Mona de Pascua: It is a day where families gather and it the typical Easter cake called La Mona (yes, the monkey, don’t ask).

In the end it just means another day off from work, school, another day to relax and since it falls on a Thursday then, hey what the hell as they call it here “puente” (bridge) to Friday and that day now too becomes a Holiday. See how easy it is.. You guys must come to Spain where between the local, national and pretty soon International holidays will be part of your everyday.

photo flickr happy outcast

We wish everyone a very Happy Easter 2008. Marco and Isabella received Huge chocolate eggs with gifts inside from the Easter Bunny. Isabella woke up at 7am as if it were Christmas Day and was very excited to see her gift from the Easter Bunny. She proceeded to eat the entire egg and around 10 am feel back asleep and didn’t wake up until 1 pm. We thought she had gone into “chocolate schock”...we were scared there for a moment…Marco, only ate a little bit and enjoyed the rest of the day playing with his new toys…

photo flickr by j.terrell

Today March 19th “San Jose” is Father’s Day here in Spain. This celebration is not as comercial as it is in the states. Here, gifts are not often given although everyday that is changing and Spain is copying a lot of the American holidays such as Halloween.. As if they didn’t have enough holidays here..
Father’s Day here is celebrated with the family gathering and a nice big lunch or dinner, what else?? We celebrated with Matt this afternoon and the kids made him lovely paintings...

So, Happy Father’s Day to all those fathers out there..from all of us here in Spain.

photo google

Well, as of today at 3 pm its Spring Break, otherwise known here as “Semana Santa” or “Holy Week” or plainly said “Easter’. Holy week is a huge event in all of Spain, there are many processions and celebrations. Very different in every part, being the most famous in the south of Spain.

But for us what this all really means is that school is out for a couple of weeks and the kids get to rest and enjoy the beginning of the great weather to come.. and with Spring Break comes the end of the second trimester and report card time….

For Isabella its still a simple is she getting it or not…and yes, she is getting all of it and then some..Her teacher commented that she was the perfect student, very obedient, very studious and outgoing….(I think there is another Isabella in that classroom and the poor lady is confused).

Marco’s grades are a little more serious because he is officially in the beginning of his school career.. the grading system here is a little different than in the states where the A,B,C,D or F method is used here it goes like this.. Sobresaliente (A), Notable (B), Muy bien (C), Suficiente (D) and Insuficiente (F).. Marco received one A ,guess in what subject??? hahaha yes in English..(Might be the only A we will see from him.. hahah) He got 3 B’s (Math, Spanish and Gym) 2 C’s (Valenciano and Science/Social Studies) and one (D) in art… (poor thing he inherited my lovely art skills!!)..

We are very proud of both of them and have taught them that its very important to study and get good grades but more importantly is to figure out what their individual gifts are and to develop those fully, consciously to be able to share them with the world…Overall, honesty, ethics, and love..

picture google

It’s not enough nowadays to simple have a birthday party you also need to celebrated in school with all your friends.. Lucky for me I had to go and entertain 23 kids for one hour.. Yes, lots of fun…. I brought them snacks and candy and read them a story..

For the most part they paid attention but really, the rest of the time they spent yelling, screaming, crying, laughing, fighting with each other, asking me questions, telling me they had to go pipi or caca, singing, dancing, talking, climbing, painting, playing with toys, spilling things….ALL AT THE SAME TIME!! I definitely would not make it as a kindergarten teacher for more than 10 min…

Overall, the kids had a great time.. I guess.. and I have a huge headache. I’m glad the next birthday is not until December!! I think I will have time to recover…maybe…

To see the rest of the pics click HERE

What the hell is that you are asking? Well, let me tell you, here in Spain the holidays are not over until we celebrate “Los Reyes Magos” (the three kings day), this holiday is one of the biggest of the year, it is as big as Christmas day, most children in Spain receive their holiday gifts today and not Christmas day. It has a more religious meaning than Santa Claus and therefore is considered a very special day.

One of my favorite traditions of this day is the “Roscon de Reyes” (pictured above) a special round cake that is consumed with hot thick chocolate.. Last night we went to a parade, where the Three Kings arrived and threw candy and toys at the kids, and after this we went to a neighbors house to have the traditional cake!

We have to compromise and the gift giving and it is done half and half so there are no issues. The kids get to receive presents twice (doesn’t mean they get more, just in two separate days). Today Marco and Bella woke up to gifts from the Reyes and were very excited. Today is their last day of vacation, so they made sure they enjoyed it to the fullest.

I’m sad the holidays are over they went way to fast but in another way I do want to get back to the routine. How were your holidays? Are you ready for 2008? You can view our first January 2008 photos here.

This year was a very special year for us because the kids are at that special age when Santa Claus is more real than they are and the joy in their hearts when they open their gifts is emense.

Marco and Bella could not sleep the night before and were very anxious to find out if they had been naughty or nice, they left Santa drawings, milk and cookies and finally feel asleep. Marco woke up around 7:30 am and came to our bed to let us know that Santa had arrived, eating the cookies, drank the milk and left a Thank You note!!! we told him to go back to sleep because we were not getting up yet… poor thing, he did as was told but after a couple of more tries we had to choice to get out of bed.

Isabella was in awe, she didn’t know what to do, she got the baby she had been waiting for, barbies and many other goodies, Marco got a game for him game boy and many other super heros and board games he had also asked for..

They were both so excited and have been playing with their toys ever since.. I envy their inocense and sometimes wish we could see life like that again..

You could see all the pictures of the Christmas morning here

Another year has gone by and as I’m sure everyone feels, it went by too fast. It’s funny how time seems to go by so slow when we are young and in a hurry to grow up and how fast it becomes when we are all grown up and just want to be a kid again. Personally, this is my last year in my thirties, next year I will turn the big 40 and a new era in my life will begin and I’m ready.

This year as every year has been full of adventures. Marco turned 6 and Isabella 3. Birthday parties with their friends and all the fun and gifts that go along with the celebration were shared. They have become closer this year and play a lot more together, although they fight a lot too. Isabella for some reason thinks she is Marco’s mother and takes care of him like if he were her own son. Marco doesn’t like that too much but sometimes I think he actually does but doesn’t want to admit it.

This year I became an aunt, my brother and his wife had a baby boy Tristan who will become my Godson in February when we go to Miami in 2008 for the baptism.

Marco continues to play the piano and is now learning to play the guitar, which my father and MT bought him for his birthday. He also continues with Judo and of course soccer. He is an avid reader and his teachers have only great things to say about him. He is becoming more responsible although he is still a bit in his own little world.

Isabella is still a hand full and thinks she is about 20 years old. She started dance classes this year and loves it. The teacher thinks she has talent, so we will see. Isabella is on to everything and spends her days asking us questions or actually giving us answers. Sometimes I think she doesn’t even need us ..

Matt is also finding himself professionally here. His Spanish is really coming a long great and is a lot more fluent and confident. He is working in a large recording studio and has many interesting projects he is working on. He is very busy and a little frustrated with the Spanish work life but is finding a way to shape people up share his enthusiasm for life.

I’,m a busy working mom that has no time for anything yet has time for it all. I’m enjoying our life here in Spain and watching the kids grow up to be two different, very different individuals. I’m still working part time in a PR firm and loving it. I started doing Yoga again and I’m hoping to find a ballet studio near (actually find the time) so I could maybe take some classes again.

Overall, we have been blessed with health and love and couldn’t be happier. Yes, there have been good times and bad but we are struggling through life like the rest of you and enjoying every minute.

I hope 2008 brings health, love and happiness to all of you. I do hope to see some of you this way next year..

Love

Nuria

Ok, I kept receiving different e-mails from a lot of you with elf yourself on the subject, I was a little busy and didn’t have time to check it out, but once I finally did, boy was I glad.. I have not laughed this hard in a long time.

You need to elf yourself if you haven’t already. All you need to do is go to http://www.elfyourself.com

and personalize your little elf’s, they do a great little dance. click HERE

to see the Dela Pola’s dance…hahahahah

Merry Christmas

We forget about the little holidays that are special to us when we are in a different country. Although Spain has plenty of holidays (pretty much, every day is a holiday here..there is a reason for celebration, or an excuse to get off work for weeks.. every month), there are still some holidays that we do miss, for example the fourth of July, Memorial day and of course Thanksgiving.

Well, this year my father and Mary Tery came for a visit and we took the opportunity to celebrate this wonderful holiday together. Although trying to gather all the ingredients here for an authentic Thanksgiving meal was a venture on its own. My dad had to smuggle the cranberry sauce, which no one has a clue what it is here, I had to order the turkey weeks in advanced from a specialty meat company and I had to search for sweet potatoes all over town.. and forget about pumpkin pie, that was one thing we just couldn’t manage to find.

But overall, we had a wonderful time. It was great to be with my dad and MT and the kids really enjoyed their visit. We spent all weekend eating and enjoying the family. My father and MT left today for a cruise and the kids are going to miss the spoiling their grandparents gave them.

If you want to see all the pictures of our Thanksgiving four day event click HERE….