retro scrap

We have been slowly catching up and enjoying the nice weather during this late fall adaptation of 50 degree temperatures. I took some cool time to push the kids outside to play (and Chato sometime to winterize the backyard) so that I could get some serious work done. I do believe I felt some daily stress melt away...

I'm alive...

...no worries. We have been drudging through each day; each night. Lots of odd days in November, big science projects, squeaky practice sessions with the violin, and awaiting the Thanksgiving holiday. We have our food lists just about ready - ingredients and decor for the holiday just need to be gathered.

But we are living in a no picture world - the camera is gathering dust. How dare the days steal such boring everyday events away from my lens!!?? So carry on beautiful world - we will catch up soon.

long locks?

...long gone. For nearly a year now we have lived without frequent trips to the barber shop. Our surfer dude with the ever growing length of hair was very fond of his long locks. So fond that he would giggle when ever anyone made reference to it. Ah, but the downfall of man is held in the things he holds SO dear.

There's not much one can do to upset this kid, but when it is time for consequential actions to be carried out for bad behavior the removal of Wii, friends, and all out good times just don't do it. So, Brandan found the path of trouble and his Dad laid down the law...

Let me tell you...this ONE UNHAPPY KID may think twice before making a bad decision again.
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On a happier note, we are all well and recovering for our Halloween shenanigans. Aly is practicing her violin each day, screeching through the alphabet song. Brandan is hard at work on his Fall Science project. (I'm not too fond of volcanoes and don't feel it is very investigative, but his partner and he are on task and focused with making it just right.) Warm weather is predicted for the weekend ahead and I'm wondering what kind of outdoor activiteis we can do smack in the middle of November. This life is always an adventure...

Once upon a Halloween...

...cold and chilly, everyone huddled indoors...for frightful fun with friends and family, plenty of punch and some good, old candy!!

Oh! What a blast this Halloween was!

When we first realized that the holiday would fall on a Saturday - wheels started rolling. I had friends and family members helping me dream up cute ideas and lots of spooky treats. We would gather the kids, fill our tummies and head off to trick or treat until our feet would carry us no further (or the cold would get us one!) So, 14 families, 25 adults versus 31 kids, joined together and dressed up to the nines and enjoyed a Halloween to be remembered!

Cupcakes abound, Brandan cooked up a batch for his guests. Aly and I helped with the icing.

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We built an alter for Day of the Dead, celebrating some of those who joined us only in spirit on this day. Little calaveras (sugar skulls) surrounded frames and food that our deceased enjoyed.

And who couldn't pass up the Jones Soda perfect for the occasion...

Well, decorations aside - we made sure to construct a small photo op corner where our guests could show off their tremendous costumes and gorgeous smiles. We held our own shoot just before our guests arrived.

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Our Grease theme took us back to high school 1950 style, with one fine Pink lady...

Aly was a great Sandy, but she originally wanted a blond pony tail wig. I'm glad we opted not to do it - I love her teeny bopper smile here.
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Danny Zucko was waiting in the wings to flash his fifties smile.

The retro leather, dark shades and long haired do made for one cool dude...

This was all Brandan's idea from the start...way back in the summer he dreamed it up - greaser style and we were so fortunate that his sister is such a FAN she fell right in line. Aren't they cute?

SO we joined in on the fun and had a blast dressing up too! The girls were all dolled up and the dudes all decked out...

Once our guests began to arrive we knew we were in for some spooky fun! Scroll trhough these cool and creepy faces and meet some of the famous visitors we enjoyed being with yesterday...

Mariana...Bride of the Unliving

Handy Manny (Cris) and Luke Skywalker (Chico)

The cutest Cowgirl (Jessica), Bumblebee (Caitlin), and Tinkerbell (Allison)

Brandan with his best friend from Kindergarten, Military Man (Osvaldo)

The Nightmare before Christmas Clan (Famila Perez)

The Star Wars Crew (Famila Rangel)

more of the dark side (Maria and Diego)

group op for the ladies (Mer, me, Laura, and Ana)

(me, Imelda, and Monica)

Lego lady (Teresa), bumble bee (Alexis) and the adorable monkey(David)

a mix of great faces (Familia Dominguez - Carmen, Kike, Cristian, and Karina)

Vampires and villanesses (Familia Gomez)

The sweet little mouse and his protector (Josh and Parker)

Pretty Pirates (Monica and Vanessa)

Young knights protecting their mother (Imelda, Diego, and Mateo)

The YO GABBA GABBA crew (Silas Family)

Tinkerbell (Mia), witch (Bianca) and kitty cat (Margie)

The family picture time was SO much fun! There were only a few faces I missed: A complete Guerrero family, Calderon family, and of all the families...WHERE IS OUR FAMILY PICTURE?? Oh well, we had a blast, no doubt.
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The most amazing part of the afternoon was watching Brandan gather the ghosts and ghouls to game it up. All of a sudden the noise grew in a corner of the front of the house...all the kids were focused and intent on building skeltons, participating in a spooky version of bingo, and pinning the nose on the jack-o-lantern! I was so thrilled that I didn't have to lift a finger to entertain - Brandan led the way and guided everybody! It is one hard to see picture, but Brandan is calling out bingo rules and Aly is passing the cards...

Not too long afterwards, the kids headed out the door to trick or treat. Nearly thirty some kids ran off chasing one another door to door...

After a while it became hard to catch them. ALl of the pictures turned into one great blur...

The costumed crossing guards (Chico and Nolan) made sure than everyone was safe and sound.

Whatta event! I hope they don't remember the hazy, cold skies. I hope these fancy faces remember how fortunate they are to have such cool friends and family that were able to come together for one terrific holiday!!

Once everyone headed off to a safe corner to count and tally their candy, the older creatures sat back to relax with a cold drink...

...posed for a few more pictures...

...and I'm sure our favorite little fairies found sweet, sweet dreams...

THANK YOU ALL FOR A FABULOUS HALLOWEEN!!!

Off to the orchestra

Well, it won't be long anyway...

Aly began violin lessons and joined her school orchestra. We are at the very beginning, squeaky stages of implementation, but have high hopes for broadway productions in the very near future. And to think...you can say you saw her here first.

Gross and gooey

not to mention slimy and yucky, but one of the best parts of Autumn is when you carve the pumpkins and roast the seeds. Our pumpkins had been patiently waiting to be turned into lanterns for Halloween, but the weather has been so nippy and damp that we were hoping a good day would come along so the that the MESS would be outside on the porch steps and not inside on the kitchen countertop. But alas, the kids could not wait. (Of course, today the sun is out and temperatures are rising.) So last night, we pulled out the carving knife and went to work.

A bit of hard work, some sharp utensils, and some extra muscle gave us two very traditional faces to keep us company in the coming week. Aly's pumpkin was promptly named Charlotte. To me she looks like she is slobbering a bit too much.Brandan wasn't looking for a traditional name either...his is Bob O'Lantern, but Bob's fangs actually seem to create a dangerous, happy-go-lucky grin.
Our countdown has begun and our eerie recipes await a proper day (one that is finally not in the middle of the week!) to celebrate next Saturday!

But in the meanwhile, we will snack upon our tasty pumpkin seeds that we roasted last night. Sound good? Here's the recipe we use:

• 4 cups pumpkin seeds, rinsed and dried
• 1/2 cup margarine, melted
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup white sugar, divided

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Combine the pumpkin seeds, margarine, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl; stir to coat the seeds. Spread the seeds in a single layer in a 10x15 inch jelly roll pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes; stir and return to oven for 15 minutes more; remove from oven and sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over the seeds; stir to coat. Return to oven and bake another 15 minutes before removing again to sprinkle with remaining sugar and stirring. Bake another 15 minutes. Allow to cool before serving. Store leftover seeds in an airtight container.

ENJOY!!

Finally...FALL

hello Apple Hollar, dear friend. We decided late in the day that we wanted to see what kind of apples the orchard would provide us with this season. The weather has been so cold and wet we weren't sure we would make the trip at all, but today presented itself quite well; nice blue skies and 55 degree temps were reasonable to head north to Wisconsin and grab a bushel or two of some Gala, Jonathon, and Honey Crisp apples.

We hit the nail on the head this year! Juicy and large, all of the apples were in great abundance - so easy to grab and eat. The trees were overflowing with the bright red orbs! Everyone got in on collecting the "just right" ones right off the tree and filling our bag to the top!!

Cristian and Alex, Brandan and Aly loved scavenging through the rows and rows of varieties, picking up the biggest and the best; munching their way through many of them!

Of course there is always that ONE that you think is just out of reach...

...and if you can't reach it...

...you climb up after it!!

One is never quite enough...

The day was perfect.
Laura, Chico, Cristian and Alex joined up for their first trip (yes, quite the drive over the Wisconsin line, Chico) to the orchard this year. It was worth it, right? Just look at those faces full of sunshine (hence the squinty eyes!)

Squinty eyes prove that this blue sky day was worth waiting for!!

Even Momma and Papa can attest that it was a great day for the trip!

Over and under the branches...

...we gathered and ate ourselves silly. At times it wasn't worth the wait to climb back down before you got that FIRST, GREAT bite in!!

Time to move on...

...we headed back towards to rides and goodies.

Aly wrapped her day with her favorite; a pony ride. I swear this girl just might turn out to be a veternarian yet!!

By day's adventure end...

...it was another one WELL SPENT.

YUP YUP...

...the days roll by around here awfully quick. But we've seen them get colder here too. Looks to be an early winter where we skip autumn completely, which will make me completely sad. So, I figured I could add some color a la Warhol and spruce up some of my favorite smiles...Aly has already pulled out the Halloween tees and can't wait to get decked out for the season. Our costumes are ready to go, and we have started preparing for a Saturday afternoon Monster Bash.

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Yesterday, we took the kids out to see "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" in 3D. The kids got freaked out by the huge trailer posters of the "2012" movie coming out in November. They kept asking if the world was really going to end then.

My little "uptown" girl has been sporting a new look lately. She sees me arrive home from the train each day with my earphones in and tucked into my favorite winterwear. My twin has started mimicking me! Actually, Friday evening, I caught her painting her nails. Now, those of you who know my girl...she hates color on her toes and fingers!! Woooow...change approaching; eyes closed...can't handle it.

Earlier in the week, I had a guest come along for my educational journey that I make each day. Caitlin had College Career Day and chose to shadow me!! We began our day around 6am and trudged through about 10 1/2 hours of high spirited learning!

On the way home (CTA bus) she gave it a thumbs up!

Here's to a future Educator...!

I took my monkeys to see the gorillas

...at the zoo last Sunday.

Yes. These days pass by so fast that I haven't had time to get these sunshine-y pictures up to share. The kids, my parents, and I headed over to Lincoln Park last weekend. I had a workshop to attend (and a free field trip granted for my classroom for participating to boot). The rest of the gang toured the ground with a P&S camera in hand for exciting sights and shots (I've trained them well!)

I thought they did a fantastic job of catching the "wild" life.

...including some self portraits.

By the time I caught back up with them, we decide to head east across the grassy knoll, over the Drive, and to the beach.

This bridge has stretched across Lake Shore Drive for years, but for some reason we never took the time to cross over here. So cool to walk right over the crazy cars that pass through here along the lakeshore - a beautiful connector from urban life to the sandy shores on the other side.

It didn't take more than a few seconds for Brandan to rip off his shoes and roll up his pants to head into the lake. What I couldn't get him to understand was #1 these were not tropical shores, #2 it is September in Chicago, and #3 the waters are COLD and slimy, non-salt filled places.

...did it make a difference? No. Of course not. He was in so deep he left with heavy, wet jeans. Listening is not his strong suit. Head strong and brave fits him better.

...so what is good for one...is good for the other, right? At this point, whatever.

To me, even though I have lived here all my life, it still amazes me that our urban metropolis sits on a grand sandy shore.

And since we missed out on Grandparents' day this year (seeing as how all of them were nearly a 1,000 miles from us on the actual date) we took a few moments to enjoy them today.

Well, that was last weekend.
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This weekend slipped away just as quickly. We ran errands. Washed loads of laundry. Enjoyed a few moments watching tv in comfy positions.

Today, we spent the afternoon with our baby cousin Lucas to celebrate his 2nd birthday. The kids jumped themselves silly inside an inflatible and the end result was one passed out kid...

...and the beligerent "don't take my picture" girl, who hasn't been around in some time recently.

And that is life... at the zoo.

One of those "awwwww" moments...

We kissed for the first time twenty years ago this month. We married on the 4th eleven years ago. This is for my sweetheart. This for my soulmate. This is for the man I love with all my heart.