Missing in action!

My internet is out and I have hardly been able to get online since Tuesday... I have so much to post about, but I will catch up as soon as the Internet company decides that I deserve Internet again.... Sigh! :(

An afternoon with Dora and Mickey Mouse!

This show was from the same people from Elmo from last week, and Dora from a few weeks ago. Sadly, tomorrow is their last show of the season, so we wont be able to see them as frequently. This one was in a crowded place, and we wouldnt have gone, except that Mickey was going to be there, and the girls were dying to see him. Mickey is one of Camila's favorite characters, so we needed to go. I left my purse at home, and hubby took one card plus a little bit of money on his pockets.. We couldnt risk to be mugged or something for that matter.. and off we went.

We didnt spend much time there mostly because the games and activities they were doing were more for bigger kids, which was their main public at the moment... But the most important thing is that they got to see them and that they had a great time while it lasted... Mimi had the chance to sit a bit with Mickey and she was sooo happy... We even got a group photo of the girls with Dora and Mickey, even though Mimi was crying (not sure why)...

Here are Mickey, Dora and the animators singing and dancing a song from Lazy Town.

Here is Mimi in her alone time with Mickey...

Here are the girls with Dora and Mickey...

After the show we went to get some Ice Cream that I promised to Mia for helping me fix the playroom. Also, that was the excuse to leave the show.. They got into a Tom thingy (Tom as the cat from Tom and Jerry):

And here is what is going through their mind while eating icre cream:
It was a fun day.. We mange to leave with no crying and all 3 very happy! After the Ice Cream, they were asking to come back to see Mickey and Dora, and I told them that the show was over.. They say that it was Ok... I guess my girls ARE growing!!

The Purple Lunchbox # 2

Here it is our second Purple Lunchbox. This week had her ups and downs, but I just need to work out more creative ideas cause so far I havent been "decorating" it as I would like... Im sure that is a down point in Gaby's case. Im planning to buy sprinkles for decoration and maybe cholocate chips to make eyes and mouth, but havent been able to find them...

Anway, here it is what she got this week:

- Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich in whole wheat bread
- 10 Cherrie Tomatos
- 1 morazella cheese stick (cut in 2)
- Dip with light mayo (made with oregano, light pepper, and a pinch of garlic..)... Gaby's favorite
- 1 Banana
Results: The cherrie tomatoes came home intact... I find out later on that a kid was making comments about Gaby eating tomatoes.. Who knows is that has some inflence on her.
Comments: Took me around 10 minutes to get it ready. The dip is one of Gaby's favorite which is why I send it with the cherrie tomatoes as she had never had cherrie tomatoes before.. It didnt work. I need to find another way to get her to eat them...

- 2 spinach wraps with ham and cheese
- Apple wedges (half of an apple in total)
- 8 baby carrots
- Strawberry with skim cheese dipping
Results: She ate all the carrots except for 2.
Comments: Took me around 15 minutes to prepare.. I always boil the carrots at least 5 minutes.

- 7 pieces of grilled chicken nuggets.. Each piece spelling: Gaby I(love)U - The "love" was a heart
- A pack of wholemeal crackers
- 1 morazella cheese stick (cut in 2)
- Pink dip (catchup and light mayo)
Results: She ate everything.
Comments: I put the nuggets together the night before, and grilled them in the morning. Too me around 15-20 mins the night before plus another 15-20 to get it ready in the morning. Hubby helped with the grill, however the poor letter G became a C... Oh well.

- 2 cheese quesadillas
- 8 baby carrots
- Pineapple rings
- Cheese dipping
Time to prepare:
Results: She ate everything except for the carrots.. The pineapple juice got the carrots get and she said she didnt like it like that..
Comments: Those pineapple ring was from a can. I normally dont buy fruit in cans, however my mother in law gave us around 5 cans and we havent use them. So, I decided to give them a try with Gaby.. She loved them! Took me around 15 minutes to get the lunchbox together.

- Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich in white bread
- 2 Ham and cheese roll ups
- Around 8 strawberries (cant remember how many) with a bit of vanilla frosting
Results: Will edit when she gets back from school.
Comments: I actually put this together the night before and put everything inside the lunchbox (including the juice) inside the fridge.. This is way she is free of veggies... She has her first quiz today, and I wanted to focus on that in the morning, and not on the lunch.

BONUS:
Since the other day I was planning to start doing a Tin Meal... Im not sure if I will participate in that meme, however I wanted to post it as I know some people has comment about how to do it if the kids are home.

This is what I did for Mia and Mimi. I used a 12 cupcake pan, and each one got 6 different things... I wish I had two cupcake pans, but I dont (gotta go out and get some different options).. Anyway, this can be done in this cupcake pan, or in anything else that comes to your mind.. It can even be packed just like I would pack it to send it to school... Your call.

As the idea of the lunch is that is has to be fun, I decided to play a little game with them to get them to motivate them to eat everything. I got some Little People toys and each one was going to get to put the Little People inside each empty hole as they were emptying them... I was sooo fun. The bonus was a Little People horse (instead of a person) for whoever would eat the carrots.. It was motivating at first, but they really just used the carrots to eat the dipping by itself...

Here is how it looked when I put it together!! It is soo colorful.. They were thrilled!!


And here is AFTER they finished eating: (By the way, the chubby blond people that is where the dipping was, it is one of my OWN Little People when I was their age).


This is what you see:
- Honey Bunches of Oats cereal (one for each)
- Apple wegdes (for each)
- 4 little ham rolls (for each)
- Prunes (for each)
- Chocolate milk (for each)
- Baby carrots and cheese dipping (same for both)

They ate everything very equally, however, Mimi ate more ham than Mia; and Mia ate more Honey Bunches of Oats than Mimi. Also, the only one that took bites of the carrots was Mia.. Mimi used the same carrot over and over again to eat cheese dipping (Mia was doing it too)...

So, were you able to take photos during the week?? Do you mind sharing them with us?? Just make a post about it today (dont forget to add our buttom with your post)... And of course, if you forgot to take photos, a description of what you sent is welcome to! Dont forget that you can participate even if your kids are home and dont go to school. Looking forward to read your comments (cause you were not thinking about posting the link and not posting a comment, right? wink wink)

Post your links here:

Back to School Night

Last night was Back to School night for the parents at Gaby's school... My mom kept the girls, as no kid is allow to go (kids always go, but I prefer to be stress free to be able to focus)... It was a great meeting, and Im pleased with everything I heard.

This school year truly promise to be an AWESOME year for Gaby and us... Tomorrow is Gaby's first quiz ever... Im honestly nervous, because Im not ready to move on from the "comments and check marks from Kinder to having GRADES.. That is something HUGE for me, and I still havent been able to figure out a reward system for her report card (the first one will be Sept. 16th.. Just around the corner).

Wordless Wednesday #4 - Mia combing Mimi's Hair: Priceless

For more Wordless Wednesday go here and 5 Minutes for Mom.

A day as a SAHM!

Im suppose to be a WAHM (Work at home mom), but there are days, like today, when I cant work and those are the days that I become a SAHM (Stay at home mom)...

A lot of people wonder how is it that I can work at home, take care of the girls (which also means spend time with them, play with them, read to them, etc), do my part of the chores, cook, help Gaby with her homework, and still have time to spend with hubby everyday...

Well, my secret is LACK OF ELECTRICITY! Yes, that is... If there is a reader from this country, they know what Im talking about... For those of you living outside of the "jungle" and have no idea what Im talking about here is what happens: There is a deficiency in the electric area, and mostly everyday I spend at least 10 minutes without electricity.. That is on the good days of course... There are days like today, when they decided to make a maintenance on the electric lines, that we spent 8 hours WITHOUT electricity!! Yes, that is right, EIGHT!!

Everyday, I know the electricity will go out at some point and I try to work while there is electricity.. As I never know how long it would be, I cant even take a nap, because what about if I nap while there is electricity, and just at the second I decide to start working, the electricity goes off for several hours??

So, that is my secret... At the second the electricity goes off, I run to do the chores.. I do this, here and there... Im grateful that I dont live in a hot house... The windows are open, and the girls can play without complaining for the lack of the fan. I do hate to cook without electricity, but I open the kitchen door and windows, and it is totally Ok... There are days where Im blessed with electricity the whole day, and I get to make my chores with electricity, but normally those days I try to work more on my business and less in the house...

I also try to do stuff with the girls everyday, even though I confess I hardly take them to the backyard... But, in days like today I spend MORE time with them than usual.. Of course, we LOVE it. Today I even did something for them that I have been wanting to do since the other day: A tin meal (I will talk more about it on Friday.. On the next Purple Lunchbox).

We got to play more than usual and we talk a lot.. Today I realized how much urge of learning how to read Camila has... Probably she is going to be like me.. I adores books since I was a little girl... Since I learned how to read and until I was around 12 or so, I used to hide a little lamp inside of my bedroom.. My mom will send me to bed and minutes later, I used to turn on the lamp under my sheets and READ and READ and READ for hours and hours... Needles to say, 3 or so years after I started doing that, I was precribed with GLASSES... It was because of the poor lighting. As an adult, my mom confessed that she knew about it, but how do you tell a child not to love reading!!


At one point I was trying to get a cute photo of Mimi with her cloth diapers but she couldnt stay still in the position that I wanted her to be...
Another thing that I did was more chores than what I get to do in a regular day, so GO ME! :) It was a fun way to show that you dont need electricity to have fun, which is why I wanted to post about this: To remember it!!!