Winter Flowers

Yes, it is spring right now, but this picture is from August. These gorgeous azaleas only bloom this way during winter. 

And naturally, there's a cute little monkey to make the picture even nicer ... right, and the dog, Stella, in the background. :D

The Weekend

So, it was Children's Day last Sunday. We celebrated it with a yummy barbecue the day before with the whole family, minus grandpa who was traveling. Didn't take any pictures because I've slacked off on that important job. I made the girls' favorite breakfast for them, which is crepes with homemade chocolate sauce. Thank God they like simple things, heh.

I'm in the final stretch in college and my weekends consist of studying and working on my papers, so unfortunately I wasn't able to do anything with them. However, their uncle Rafa and aunt Marina were kind enough to take them to the club later on and they had a good time swimming, eating fries, and riding bikes. Yay!

My loves! (ok, can we eat already?!)

Ready for a swim (before going to the club to swim some more):

School Stuff

A few school happenings from the past month or so.

Alina with her Science fair project: biomes

Going to receive her medal:

She came in 3rd place in the spelling bee:

These past few weekends have been a marathon for Alina. She's been taking tests in several schools because we need to find a new school for her for next year since the one she's currently in only goes up to 5th grade. The school organized a "test-taking" excursion one of the days which ended up being pretty fun. 

Alina and some classmates ready for a test:

All done! On to the next one!

Waiting for all the classmates to finish:

Heading back:

The girls of the group:

Laurie signing the book she made with her class:

 With her fried Gabi:

A classmate's birthday:

Happy 6th Birthday!

Yesterday was my little monkey's 6th birthday! Yay! We celebrated it at the Guanabara amusement park with several of her friends. Thankfully, the weather didn't get in the way of the success of the party (spring showers!), and lots of fun was had by all.

At six years of age Laurie can read and write the basics, she can add and subtract, she still loves to sing and dance (and is quite good at it, heh), she knows how to tie her shoes, she can do a front flip into the pool (as well as on the trampoline), she still loves to help around the house, and she is a good girl at school. Her current favorite food is banana milk. She's still really into Monster High dolls, My Little Pony, and all things "Frozen".

The birthday girl opening presents at 6 a.m. before going to school:

My silly goose!

Striking a pose before heading to the park:

... and another one:

Having fun with friends:

Time for something sweet:

Introducing Cousin/Nephew Arthur

... a month later ... to the day, heh.

Yes, so, Arthur is the latest addition to our family. He's my sister Ana's kid and the 11th grandchild. He's obviously still too small to be of much fun, but the girls (especially Laura) are excited to finally have a cousin in this part of the world. All of their cousins, from my side, are currently in the States and Japan and they have yet to meet them.

I will now list the cousins, both for the sake of my memory and for the girls to refer to if they so wish. There are too many now to keep track of, heh.

Sara (17, Patricia's, July 17)
Cale (13??, Kalita's, July 12)
Alina (12, Patricia's, May 25)
Alina (10, mine, November 13)
Natalie (8, Cris's, November 7)
Aidric (8, Kalita's, September 10??)
Olivia (8, Patricia's, April 27)
Anna (6, Cris's, July 22)
Laura (5, mine, September 26)
Serafina (6 mo., Angelina's, March 7)
Arthur (1 mo., Ana's, August 19)

Phew! Somebody please inform me if any of the info is incorrect. :D

Proudly holding 3-day-old Arthur:

Alina's turn: