In these days of vacation, and the weather being not so hot, the kids have been stuck home having to make up games to stay entertained…As you can see from the picture above Isabella decided it would be fun to dress up Marco and their friend Pablo with all her princess accessories..They were willing participants and had a lot of fun, although, look at Marco’s expression..hahahaha..

She then decided to put make up on herself.. Doesn’t she look lovely????

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

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

As you all know Marco although only in first grade already gets homework. He loves the math part and problem solving but when it comes to drawing of painting, he just can’t stand it…I don’t blame him because I can’t draw myself..as much as I try.

Today he had to turn in his homework and last night he fell asleep before he could complete the coloring part..What do we do? No problem, we give it to Bella for her to finish it.. Yes, we are bad parents, Bella finished his homework perfectly. She was very happy to do it, she said she didn’t want Marco to get in trouble.

I know, I know, we are not going to make this a habit and Marco needs to learn how to draw and color and also learn responsibility, don’t worry we are on it!

Marco lost his second tooth last week and he wondered who would bring him his gift, the Tooth Fairy or El Ratoncito Perez..(poor Marco he’s had a lot of concerns this week hahaha). You see here in Spain it is not the Tooth Fairy who brings you gifts when you leave your tooth under your pillow it is The Ratoncito Perez ( The Mouse Perez, Perez being his last name)..

I explained that because we live in Spain the Ratoncito Perez takes care of it here and if were were living in the United States the Tooth Fairy would take care of it there..He was still not quite convinced and asked if they knew each other and if they shared tooth stories..He was also very concerned that they may not understand each other because of course the Tooth Fairy speaks English and the Ratoncito Perez speaks Spanish.. I told him, they both spoke different languages and that they indeed share many stories.. He then asked who brought gifts to the kids in China, Italy, France?????

I told him I had to research it and get back to him..Research it I did, and actually found a website that explains everything. Toothfairy.net lets you know everything there is to know about the Tooth Fairy and more..

photo google images

Marco asked me today how many days February had. He was confused as to why it did not have 30 or 31.. I tried to explain that this year is Leap Year and that February has 29 days but that next year it will only have 28..He was very confused and concerned about the poor little boys and girls who were born on the 29th of February.. What do they do the years they don’t have a birthday..

Good Fn.. question… How the hell do I know?? I had to explain that they could be celebrated on March 1st and that it didn’t matter…Anyway, today when I picked him up from school , he had a birthday party invitation (what else is new, I have to make sure to get to the quota of freaking birthday parties this year!!!) and he said, look mom its Sofia’s birthday and she was born on February 29th so this year she gets to celebrate her birthday so we have to go to the party because it is very special for her!!!

So, there you have it, in conclusion, I have a birthday party to attend to, Marco is excited that one little girl will be able to enjoy her special day and February still has 28 days…

Believe it or not, little Marco who is in first grade already gets loads of homework..and he doesn’t like it one bit!! He is great at math and finishes that part fast but the writing ..that takes him a little longer..

Yesterday, I sat for hours with him trying to encourage him…but he is just not interested…Anyone have any tips how I could get him to like homework..hahhahaa

On our recent (very recent) trip to Miami, Marco became very interested in Cuba and Fidel Castro. He asked M.T and my dad a million questions and wanted to know all about Cuba and “el fidel malo” as he calls him. M.T and my dad were very patient and told him many stories, many true heartbreaking stories about their past, their escape, and the people left behind.

Marco was in awe an suddenly said “I want to go to Cuba”, then he said “I think we are all going to go May 5th”, he was very sure of himself..We laughed it off, but thought, what does he know that we don’t.. so today with the news of the dictators resignation, I was reminded of that statement Marco made and thought.. could it be….

source aol

photo flickr by BABAK.MOZAFFARI

For those of you who don´t know what the tittle means, I will tell you ¨green shit¨ , yes you read right, green shit.. It seems that Marco and Bella ate something that has turned their caca verde and Marco in particular is very upset.. He has asked me not to tell anyone, and of course like a bad mother I´m, I write a post about it…hahaha.

Not sure what the hell they ate but they make me look at their caca and are fascinated by the different colors!! I´m very grossed out and hope that the shit returns to normal soon…

I guess American food is not settling too well with them, although they are enjoying eating everything they see and more…

picture google

I truly almost forgot the date and when my mom called me this weekend to ask me how the packing was going, I said to her, “From Paris? I was only there for a day Mom” and she said, “Not Paris, you idiot for Miami” and that is when it hit me that in about a weeks time I would be off to visit my friends and family..

I have so much to do, and I really have until Friday because we are leaving right after work to spend the weekend in Madrid, since we leave from there on Monday. We are going to take advantage and see the Beauty and the Beast musical while we are there..The kids are very excited.. well , I think I’m more excited than they are.

I hope I will be able to see all of you there. Margie, are you ready for Disney?, Ana Marie, I don’t have your phone number I know you have given it to me on numerous occasions, please do so again, Tom and Wanda, you lost souls I hope you re appear, Alberto and Patricia, I know you will make time to come see us, Ana can’t wait to see the little new one, Leonor we will need to catch up.

Here are the details we get there Monday February the 4th, we will probalby be exhausted. I think the next day we will go up to WPB to visit Tony and family and also Evelyn will there from LA, Wed afternoon we leave for Disney and will be back on Sat, Sun the 10th is Tristan’s Baptism after that we are pretty much free, so please call me to book some time. I will not have a car and will not be able to get around, so I hope you can all pass by my dads house at the beach.

Can’t wait to see everyone there..

photo thanks to bridgepix