Bling Bling

Marco has recently been interested in jewelry. He thinks of it like pirate treasure. The more you have, the richer you must be. So I found some "not so girly" beads for him to make his own bracelet. I discovered that pipe cleaners make the best string as they are rigid enough for small hands to maneuver the beads and the beads stay in place and don't fall off the other end.


"Yep, that looks like a good bead"


I think Joaquin did more clean up than actual making. But he's really not into the jewelry anyway.


Must have safety helmet for the dangerous activity of bracelet making.


I guess jewelry making can get a little heated. Not sure who won this battle.

Preschool

Marco's 2nd year of preschool is coming to a close at the end of this month. They just had their end of the year program, A Barnyard Moo-sical. Marco's class all wore chicken hats. I wish I knew how to upload videos so I can post one. After the program, they had an art show/reception in the gym.

Marco's friends


One of Marco's masterpieces.... A Green Dragon


In this picture, Marco's art is the tye-dye turkey


Marco painted the red roses for Mother's Day

Bikes and swings

I wish I could say that I had a hand in Marco learning to ride his bike without training wheels. But I can't. He was going around the cul-de-sac pushing off with his feet, and then decided that he would try the pedals. He got it on his first try. I was so amazed. Ever since, he has a new love for bike riding and wants to practice everyday. Now if he would just use the brakes instead of his new shoes.



Joaquin has caught baseball fever


Perfecting the swing


And of course Joaquin's favorite thing to do is swing

Mouse Cake

We have known about this little cake decorating shop in Euless, but we finally decided to go check it out. Among other things, you can rent various shaped cake pans for only $1. We decided to go with Mickey Mouse because we were trying to make a gift for a friend who recently had a baby and they are BIG Disney fans. Below is our first test run, which turned out OK. The middle of Mickey's face stuck to the pan a bit but otherwise the general shape is there. I did come to find that the trick in making it actually look like the picture is the frosting decorations. Of course I didn't have anything but store-bought tub frosting and that just doesn't cut it when using the star tips. The brownie Mickey I tried to make for my friend didn't release itself from the pan as I intended so I didn't even bother taking any pics of that one. Instead she received a plate of regular square brownies. Marco wanted to go back the next day to get the Transformer pan but I told him we could only do one cake a week. We still have most of the first Mickey cake we made, so I'm not sure how we are going to manage eating a cake a week. Luckily the box cake mixes go on sale quite often so if we make a few and the toss the uneaten cake in the trash, it won't feel like such a waste.


The finished Mickey


Mickey getting some hair, which according to Marco Mickey needed. I don't think we watch enough Disney movies in this house.


Marco was our main decorator


Joaquin was our main frosting eater

Fun in the sun (and sand)

It was such a beautiful day last Monday we decided to go to a park that also has a nice sand volleyball court. I don't ever see many people actually playing volleyball, but there is usually a few kids playing in the sand every time we go. Today is was just us in the sand, but we still had fun making sand castles (and then destroying them).


"Look, I found sand rocks"


Joaquin the destroyer!

The wilderness of Bass Pro

Hector took the boys to Bass Pro Shop in Grapevine last Saturday morning while I recovered (slept) after a long night at work. Surprisingly I didn't even have to remind him to take the camera so I could get some pics for the blog. I think he is catching on to this whole blog idea and what a great way to chronicle our activities with the boys.


"Did he eat anybody?"


Wouldn't you know, there is a giant fish tank and they are both squeezed into one corner.


"I got 'em by the horns Papi"

Great food with wonderful friends!

This is a family that lives in the same apt. complex as my dad and we have be fortunate to become friends with them. It started with a chance meeting as my dad was walking around with Marco one day last year. They came upon some kids playing soccer and Marco asked to join in. (even though the boys were 8-9 yrs old and Marco was only 3) They were nice to include Marco in their game and come to find out one of the boys had a younger sister Marco's age. So was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Now we visit them every Thursday night when we go to my dad's place for dinner. Marco eats his dinner as fast as he can and then asks, "Can we go to Isabella's now?" Just recently they cooked a traditional Venezuelan dish for us, arepas (sp ?) It was very tasty and I may just have to try it one day.



these are handmade and then toasted on the skillet. You then stuff them with shredded beef, cheese, sour cream and guacamole. (and I guess whatever else you want to put in there)


Richard and Marco. With all the dark, curly hair you could mistake them as brothers.


Not the best picture of all the kids, but it was all I could get before they hopped off the couch