The Little Gym

It's Brianna's newest adventure! A new class we recently started that combines music, fine motor skills, gymnastics, balance & coordination, structured play and age appropriate physical skills, among other things. We believe this class is a better fit for her skill set than her "just gymnastics" class and she ABSOLUTELY LOVES IT!!!

Brave, independent & fearless
(Mommy is with Brianna for the duration of the class but on this particular day she was mostly taking pictures for all of you!)

Every week the class focuses on a different topic and the teachers change the gym setup accordingly. On this day, titled "body parts," Brianna had to pop the bubbles with her tummy, feet, head, etc. She learned about body parts throughout the class and its various activities. She also sang various jingles about them.

Cartwheels!

Yeah, we couldn't wait till Christmas, literally!

So we put up our Christmas tree and it took a whole evening of, mostly, broken ornaments, lights strewn all over the floor and a very anxious toddler wanting to put the star on top before the tree wasn't even fully finished ...
The things you do just once in your life! Next year we'll figure out something different!

Esta noche armamos el pinito y la gorda mayormente rompio las pelotitas toda la noche (literal y figurativamente). Nos quedamos casi sin adornitos! Asi que Mami tuvo que ir a comprar varias cosas para completar el arbolito. Y aun asi faltan algunas cositas!

Finally, the star on top!

Papi, exhausto, mostrando orgullos el proyecto completo! El anio que viene compramos un pinito ya hecho!

More domestic adventures ...

Here we're again in the kitchen trying new recipes. Brianna is sampling the tofu chocolate frosting that will cover the vanilla cake Mommy just made to celebrate baby sis' soon arrival (and obvious pregnancy craving!). She actually wanted to have ALL the frosting to herself! Daddy had to quickly put it away in the fridge!

The finished product next to the flowers Daddy got for Mommy, also to celebrate. Bibi made a wheat-free, sugar-free, flavorFUL cake that we shared with friends. Healthy can be really yummy!

Amee gave Brianna a toy iron and she Bri had a lot of fun ironing her blanket and pretending the iron was really hot! She's actually very helpful around the house and we hope to keep it that way!

Ammee's house is just so FUN!!

Last Friday Bri had a blast at Ammee's house doing a lot of things. Pictured below are cranberry cookies in the making!

Yeah, the batter is so yummy! (there were no eggs in the mix, though)

Bri and Ammee having tea and cranberry cookies. Ammee mentioned how our princess had "the proper manners to go with a high class tea party ..."

The fun things you get to do with a little girl! Guess the fun will double very soon!!!

Our BIG Announcement...

Well, we know the sex of Baby #2...

But you have to guess and tell us what you think. Look at the ultrasound below (click the picture to see it bigger), determine the sex, then click here to see if you are correct. And don't forget to leave a comment to tell us about your guess...

Bueno, ya sabemos el sexo de Bebe No. 2...

Pero tienen que adivinar lo que es y decirnos. Fíjense bien en la ecografía abajo (hagan clic en la foto para verla más grande), adivinen el sexo, y después hagan clic aquí para ver si adivinaron bien. Y no se olviden de dejarnos un comentario para contarnos todo.

The snack of the season

Is that time a year again! Time to make Daddy's fave seasonal snack: roasted and salted pumpkin seeds. Daddy & Bri worked really hard at cutting the pumpkin and getting all the seeds out and Mommy later roasted the "meat" with yummy spices.

The seeds ready to go into the oven ... Brianna is having a BLAST!!

And while the roasting happened, Brianna got all cleaned up and ready to hit the sack. She LOVED the roasted seeds!

A small political post for the season...

I have been so completely frustrated with the media bias during the election cycle, not following the basic definition of journalism: "Writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation", that I decided to make a small political comment on our blog...

When I visited Baghdad in the summer of 1990 (3 weeks before Saddam invaded Kuwait), it was very clear that Saddam was one sick dude, as all dictators are. However, I've never been a huge fan of the war in Iraq. With that said, the main stream media seems to be so completely invested in our defeat in Iraq that they are ignoring the amazing progress that has been made in the past 2 years because of the surge. Click on the headline below to read the whole article.

Winning Isn't News

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, July 07, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Iraq: What would happen if the U.S. won a war but the media didn't tell the American public? Apparently, we have to rely on a British newspaper for the news that we've defeated the last remnants of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Fun times ....

Lea, Mia and Brianna taking a bath together after a long playdate. All the girls LOVE the water!

Almost bedtime at Lea's house ... except Brianna went back home to sleep for the night

Another night for our Snow Angel (in her fave outfit)

Bri trying to give some gifts from Argentina to Amee (and not keep the purse to herself!)

Happy Birthday Tio Victor!

Tio Victor turned 29 this past Sunday and his wife Suzana threw an awesome surprise pizza party for him. Lots of people showed up and he was TOTALLY surprised! It was lots of fun!

All the kids getting ready to help Tio Victor blow all 29 candles

Tia Suzana made an AMAZING Croatian chocolate cake that everyone enjoyed

But what we're the most excited, outside of the blessing of a new year for Victor, is how God is blessing Victor and Suzana and, in turn, what an INCREDIBLE blessing they are to us on a daily basis. We thank God for their friendship every day!

Halloween Alternatives

Not even our little owl this year likes Halloween very much! Tonight we invited some of our friends to an alternative "Halloween" celebration with our church family. We're looking forward to making crafts, healthy snacks and listening to fun Bible stories. Other friends chose other creative ways to reach out to the community in a Christ-centered way tonight.

Trina Schaetz wrote an article in Christian Parenting Today's 2001-OCT issue. She suggests other alternative celebrations at Halloween:

	Mystery bowling: The family plays a regular game of bowling, but using unusual stances: bowl backwards, bowl with your weak hand, etc. Losers have to add a silly hat, wig, etc. to their costume.
	Family film festival: The family makes a home movie using a theme like a cowboy story or a science fiction tale.
	Nature walk: A family walk through a wilderness area, looking for the most beautiful leaf, the smoothest rock, the most interesting stick, etc.
	Neighborly needs: Have your family volunteer to perform a chore for the neighbors, such as: "cleaning windows, raking leaves, or washing cars together."
	Host a pumpkin carving party: Invite friends and neighbors to carve pumpkins, each with a single letter from a short Bible verse: e.g. "Jesus is Lord." Then arrange the pumpkins to spell out the phrase in your front yard. 3 From http://www.religioustolerance.org/hallo_ev4.htm