Happy 6th birthday to Gabriela Michele!

It feels surreal to think about SIX years has passed since the last day that hubby and I were a couple and then became a family.

I was re-reading last year's post about Gaby's birth and if you have never read it, you may want to do that now (click here to read it).

I was going through my mind how October 5, 2003 was one of the happies days of my life, but also the most painful. No pain I have ever felt over something else can compare to the pain I had while in labor and child birth... 48 hours of labor and 1+ hour pushing was surely painful. But then, the most gorgeous miracle arrived and Gaby was born.

Gaby has been awaiting to turn 6 since she was 4!!! At that age she was in a multiage preschool, and Pre-K kids were together with Kinder kids... So, after just a few months of class, the older ones started to turn 6. Then, last school year when she was in Kinder, kid after kid after kid was turning 6, and she was just dying to be 6! She would say all kind of things that she "still cant do because she is not 6". My mom was joking the other day that it was like Gaby was expecting some kind of super power when turning 6.

The funny thing is that I see her more mature and doing things in a different (meaning positive) way... She is a total BIG GIRL now!

In case you cant read, and havent heard about this poem before, this is what it says:

When I was One,
I had just begun.

When I was Two,
I was nearly new.

When I was Three,
I was hardly Me.

When I was Four,
I was not much more.

When I was Five,
I was just alive.

But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.
This poem was written by AA Miler, who is Winnie the pooh's creator and the real dad of Christopher!

Birthday celebration continued at home...

.... actually at my mom's house!

My mom had the ilusion of singing happy birthday to ALL of them... She didnt buy a cake for Mimi or Mia on their birthdays, so I decorated 4 cupcakes for them... They were all super excited and it was like a mini-party for them... Notice the stand is a dinnerware stand and I use it as a cupcake stand... I may do that for Gaby's mini birthday party on Friday... With cute plates, though. Or maybe small trays....

Each one had to wait for their turn (yes, we had to put them a little bit far because Ariel and Mimi couldnt wait.. LOL):

The first one was Mia, as her birthday was back in April:

Then, it was Mimi, who's birthday was back in May:

Then, Ariel, who's birthday was a couple of weeks ago on Sept. 21st.

And then, Gaby, who's birthday is tomorrow:

After that, they were honestly beat up!

Birthday celebration started at the zoo

Gaby's birthday is tomorrow, and my mom wanted to do something special for her and for my nephew Ariel (he turned 3 a couple of weeks ago)... The zoo got new animals, and we havent been there in several months, so we decided that the zoo was a great option for today... They even have a new playground area in the petting zoo and that was a big hit with the kids.

Here is the real Mimi... I hardly get her to be like she really is in front of the camera, but this photo shows a bit of her real personality and mischievous self.

This bird looks like a Rainbow Lorikeet from Australia, but it is new and it doesnt have a sign with the name... Anyway, hubby had tons of fun with him... and then, he pooped so far that it ended up in Mia's feet... She cried for at least 10 minutes, but then she was laughing as we were all doing.. It was truly funny!

Here she is happy after we cleaned her crocs and feet:

DR people DO recycle! (For my non-Spanish readers, this is a place to separate the garbage... On the left is for plastics, on the midde for organics and on the right for metals(.

My bro had class for the master he is doing, and then he meet us there... We were waiting for his train to get to where we were, and check out what I spotted... Cant get any cuter:

The whole group minus my bro (was still on the train) and me (behind the camera)... Gotta laugh at hubby's face:

The girls... I LOVE LOVE how Mia looks on this pic! Mimi wouldnt let go the zoo's brochure!

All the kids got on ponies (I should say *Pony* because they all got in the same one as the other two were having a vet's check up... A great lesson to wait for their turn...)

Here is hubby petting a cow:

Just having fun:


Mimi and Ariel

They were going up and down NON-STOP.. It was soo fun for them.

Gaby's new do!

Gaby has been BEGGING to have long hair since almost 3 years ago... Now, that her hair is stronger Im letting it grow... The main reason why she wants to have long hair is because she was a pony tail in the back.... As her forehead is kinda big, I was worried about how it will look her hair all the way to her back, so we decided to make her BANGS!

I have to confess... Im not a big fan of bangs, and even though I have Mia and Mimi with bangs, I dont like how Gaby used to look in bangs when she was little, but I wanted to give it a try... After all, if we dont like it, it will grow anyway.


This is how she looks with her bangs... She is also now wearing her birthday outfit and bow...

We also cleaned Mia's bangs and they were on her eyes already:

Mimi also got a clean up, but no photos to show it... Im sure there will be tons of pics tomorrow to show her new do.

The Purple Lunchbox # 7 - Carrot Cupcake Recipe

I couldnt take photos this week, and I have to confess that it gets kinda dissapointing... I kept Gaby's lunches looking almost the same as the ones from the previous week...

One of the readers, once asked me for the recipes that I used for the carrot cake that I made, so I decided to post that instead of the non-photo lunches.... Happily next week, there will be TONS of photos, not only because I got a borrowed camera, but also because my youngest two are starting school too, so I will get to photograph THREE LUNCHES per day!

The recipe I used I got it from Joy of Baking by Stephanie Jaworski, and it worked beautifully. I removed the ingredients I didnt used, because I wanted to show how I did it because that was the way I can comment on. The recipe was also made for 20 cupcakes, so I divided everything by half as only made 10. Another thing is that the original recipe comes with instructions for frosting, which I didnt do.

CARROT CUPCAKE - Ingredients
- 1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) safflower or canola oil
- 1 cup (105 grams) finely grated raw carrots
- 1/2 cup grated apple (approximately 1 large)
- I added coloful sprinkles instead of the nuts and raisins.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Place paper liners in 10 muffin cups.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon.

In another large bowl whisk the eggs, sugar, and oil until slightly thickened. Fold in the flour mixture until incorporated. With a large rubber spatula fold in the grated carrots, grated apple, chopped nuts, and raisins (I added the colorful sprinkles here, instead of the nuts and raisins). Evenly divide the batter between the 10 muffin cups and bake about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean (mine cooked after around 15 mins).

Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack. With a knife or small metal spatula spread cream cheese frosting on top of each cupcake. Cover and refrigerate the cupcakes until serving time.

I will continue to work with "MAGIC GREEN" for next week... I will try a variety of green veggies... We'll see how that goes... If you guys want to play along, Im open to any ideas or suggestions...

If played along this week, share your link here:

Dont forget to leave your comment, even if you didnt participate!! You guys know how much I love comments!!!!

A decision has been made and big changes are on the way!!

The debate has been on for 3 months and it is over now (at least that is the plan)... As I have mentioned before, there are 3 ages to start school in this country: The normal age, the suggested age and the mandatory age...


The normal age is 2 years old. There is a full curriculum for that age, and that is "normal" whether the mom works or not. Then, the suggested age is 3. It is normal for a child who goes to a new preschool at age 3 to be asked in the registration form the name of the previous school and even to evaluate them. Then, the mandatory age is 4. All kids are required to attend school by this age or else.


For my family and local friends it was a reason of concern that I was keeping Mia and Mimi at home in an attend to homeschool them this school year. There is no such thing as homeschooling here, so when I mention it, they dont even understand that there are actually recognized programs and even less how much homeschooling is an option that more people are considering these days... Not that this affected my decision of homeschooling, but just getting out was is going through my mind...

Anyway, Mia and Mimi have been begging to go to school since summer... Even though they were saying that they were happy with *teacher mom*, they wanted to have a lunchbox to carry to school, play with other kids, and ever wear their uniforms... Camila also has been saying that she was homework like Gaby, and that she wants to learn to write in the same place Gaby is learning...

THE DECISION? You may ask.... The girls are starting school next MONDAY!!! We got an awesome deal in a school close to home, and they will be there for a few hours every morning, and I will be picking them at noon. Camila had her evaluation on Tuesday, and my mom and I went with her... We had the chance to spend around 30 minutes inside the classroom where you will be attending and I confess Im impressed with how the kids are so well behaved but happy at the same time... Everything looks awesome, and I couldnt be happier... Mimi will be attending the 2 years old class called: Nido, and Mia will be attending the 3 years old class called: Maternal.

Among other things I will go back to walk with my mom in the mornings after I drop them off, and I will be able to go to my nutricionist by weekly appointment... Also, I will have almost 3 hours of non-stop time to focus in my work. That will allow me to have less stress by the time I get to do homework with Gaby in the afternoon, and will allow me to organize better my time with them.

We think this will work for our family and that we will all be happier, even if that means that I will become a taxi driver dropping them all in the mornings, then picking Mia and Mimi at noon, and then picking hubby and Gaby in the afternoon...