Happy Easter!

 

I love this picture, my sweet boys with their bunny ears. 

I know I will be able to blackmail them with this picture in just a few years, too cute!

Chore Chart

I've been having a little trouble keeping track of all the things I need to help my kids with. I'm pretty good about keeping track of all their activities; Piano, Art class, cub scouts, etc.
But when it comes to reminding them to do their chores; practicing piano, reading in Spanish, trash duty and so forth, I'm not doing so great. So I googled "chore chart template", I found several,  this one is my favorite  I found it at "The Project Girl".
I like it because I can hand write on it, customize it to what they need each week and it's cute. I can also use it for my own chores and organize myself too.

Here you go:

You can download the chart here

Let me know if you use it!

One

I can't believe my baby is already one. I know I say that about every birthday, but to me the first year always goes way too fast and I end up wishing I could do it all over again.
William is the smallest one year old I've had, he is so tiny it makes it impossible not to hold him all the time, he is a busy little guy, but he's always smiling and happy. Some people say that baby #3 is always like that, is that true in your family?

More on my trip and the Winner

Happy Monday everyone!
While I was visiting my family in Chile, we went to the beaches of Caldera and Bahia Inglesa, these sleepy little towns are so fun and quiet during the off season, I love going there.
Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Here is my Mom and William playing together, they are good friends.
Yes, her hat does match her purse, she's chic like that.
My dad and William, it was his first time at the beach, he loved it!

My sister, William and me. My sister is the one with the long legs,
she would like me to tell you she did not pee her pants, its just a weird shadow... right....

This is the old train station in Caldera, it was the first train route in South America.

My Dad is lucky 13! We went to Caldera to watch him play a soccer game with his buddies, they won!

This one is not from the trip to the beach, but is a fun one, here are a few of my aunts and cousins having tea at my parent's house. It was so loud! we had like 10 conversations going at the same time, the men always say we sound like a bunch of "gallinas" chickens. Hey, we all have a lot to say :)

On another topic, the winner of the bibs is comment #1 from Hi Pericos! Please email me with your 3 favorite bibs (1-5 from top to bottom) and your mailing info. Congratulations!!

Thanks everyone for playing, I will have more giveaways soon.

Have a great week everyone!

Traveling. Baby. Family

I use to fly to Chile at least once a year, even after I had my first 2 boys. Nico's first time in Chile was when he was 6 months, Joey 7 months. William had not been there until this past December, we had not been able to fly as a family so we decided (with lots of encouragement from my husband) I should go and take just him to meet the rest of the family, he was 8 months old.
My mom, dad and brother had already met him, but my sister, grandparents and extended family had not. To say I was nervous is an understatement, I had never traveled without my kids, every vacation we've taken had been with them and I knew I would miss them terribly.
It took me a couple of weeks to finally commit and purchase a ticket, my husband had to re-assure me a million times that they were going to be OK without me, he knew I really wanted to go, but it was hard for me to ask him to take care of the kids, house and still go to work while I was gone.
I made a calendar with all their activities with very specific instruction including "they must do their hair and have clothes that match before they leave in the morning". I know, I know I'm a control freak, but it gave me comfort to know that at least I had asked.
Traveling with a 9 month old was not too bad, the flight to Chile is long, I had a 14 hour flight and I had to change planes in Lima. Once I got to Santiago I had to wait another 4 hours for the flight to my home town of Copiapo, 1 1/2 hours later I was there with my family.

Here are a few highlights of the first couple of days, I was there for 12 days.

I had to ask this Pilot if he would take a picture with William, wouldn't you?
He said: You want ME to hold him? I said: yes, I have to take the picture, I can't hold him and take the picture (there was almost nobody left on the plane). He seemed a little nervous holding a baby, but he was really nice and it didn't hurt that he was also tall, cute and wearing a uniform ;)

Here he is with his Tia Gaby, my little sister. I should say, my younger sister because she is actually about 3 inches taller than me. She is also beautiful, sweet, smart, almost a nurse and the best sister ever. She didn't want to give me baby William back, she wanted to feed him, change him, nap with him. They got to be best friends very fast.


Here are my parents and brother, this is the day my little brother graduated High School, that's another big reason why I went. We call him Reny, short for Reynaldo, he is so funny and also helpful and kind. I miss him.
My parents are the best looking grandparents ever, people always think my kids are their kids when they take them places. I will tell you more about them some time, they are interesting people.


Here are my grandparents, grandma is 89 and my grandpa I think he is 82 (he's not sure). He still thinks he is 50 and rides his bike everywhere he goes. They have a little store in their house where they sell everyday necessities and treats, my grandpa still runs it and they are very independent.
My grandma has awesome hair, my dad is jealous (you can see above that he's starting to loose his). Grandpa not so much, he's been wearing a hat since forever, he does not show is bald head very often.

More about my trip soon, have a great Sunday!

Travel Town

LA is full of fun and cheap places to visit. I know a few and I want to start sharing them with you, I would also love to hear about your favorite places in LA.

As a family we have many favorite spots, we visit them regularly and the boys love them. One of them is Travel Town, my oldest has had his birthday there a couple of times, we bring my parents when they are in town, or we just go get sandwiches at Giamela's, then eat and watch the boys play and always have a wonderful time. It is an outdoor train museum/park, there are lots of cool old trains kids can climb in, you can bring a picnic, watch the miniature train exhibition, ride the little train and shop at the gift shop.

Is Free to get in and only $3 to ride the train. This year we took our Holiday pictures there, Ashlee Raubach did a wonderful job, she was so nice and fun to shoot with. Here are some of my favorites:





What are some places you like to visit?