First Day of School

How time flies... I can't believe that today Felipe starts 4th grade and Francesca goes to 2nd.  I feel like just yesterday I was dropping Felipe off in Pre-K.  This school year will bring new adventures as they both embark on a voyage through the Gifted Program.  I will try to continue to post on a more regular basis. Until next time!

The school year has ended!!!

Today was Felipe's last day of Kindergarten...

Felipe and Alessandra

Felipe and Salome

You would think that he was happy school was over but that was far from the truth... He was actually very upset because he wouldn't get to see any of his friends anymore especially his "girlfriends" Alessandra and Salome. Mind you, Salome is a fifth-grader that was always saying hello to him whenever she saw him.

The only joyful thing about Felipe ending school is that Francesca started doing a happy dance because that meant that come August she was starting school also.  I have never seen a child so excited to start school.

Now as the summer begins and the kids enjoy their time off I have the task of purchasing school supplies for two kids.  I am so excited that both my children will be enjoying school next year.

I muted my ears

Last night Felipe was really tired so I laid in his bed with him but I was only there for about 3 minutes because he fell asleep immediately.

He had asked me to sing Arrurru to him but I didn't even get through the whole song before I heard him snoring.  When I mentioned it to him this morning he told me... "Sorry mom but I muted my ears and didn't hear anything".

He comes up with the funniest things

Am I vertically challenged???

Today I was taking Felipe to school and since I didn't have to go to work I had Francesca with me also in the car.

The conversation goes like this...

Felipe:  Is daddy 37?
Me: Yes
Felipe: Why is daddy not like you?
Me:  He is, I am also 37.
Felipe: No, why isn't daddy like you?
Francesca: What... Tiny?
They both start to laugh and I call Adrian to tell him and he tells me that I am not tiny I am just vertically challenged.

The most interesting part of all this is that I still don't know what Felipe meant by his question.

I turned my ears off!!!

So today I was driving Felipe to school and he asked if it rained all night. I told him that I wasn't sure because I went to sleep early. He then tells me that he doesn't know either because when he goes to sleep he turns his ears off and turns them back on when he wakes up.

The funniest thing was that he was grabbing his ears and turning then like if they were a volume knob.

DIY Memory Box

I’m participating in Smarty Pants Mama’s SmartMamaLUTION.

SmartMama-Lution #1 is a do-it-yourself memory box.  I loved the box she used but since I couldn't find it I chose a CD storage case.  I decided on the storage box because when I went to Target and the only one that I liked was actually the same one my friend was using.  I ended up buying mine at Walmart along with 5x7 index cards.  I figured the larger cards would give me more space to write and also be able to include various years on one card.

For less than $12 (the box was $2.99, the index cards were $1.88 per pack and the divider tabs were $2.00) and about an hour (sorry but I am a perfectionist) I finished my box.

I have finished filling in all my cards to date and will continue to do so every night just before bedtime.

What do you think? 
All the tabs are evenly distributed and I also made sure that certain months got specific colors but they are all alternating in the same pattern. I did say I was a perfectionist.
 
All in all I love how cute and easy it was to create this memory box.  I just wish I would have known about this idea before my kids were born... It would have made it easier to remember when they did something specific.

Thanksgiving at Felipe's School

Today they had a small Thanksgiving feast at Felipe's school.  I attended just because I like to be an involved parent but I was not aware that the kids had prepared a small presentation for the parents.  They sang 10 little indians and Mr Turkey.  Some were dressed like indians and others like pilgrims.  My little one was an indian.

Video of Felipe and his classmates singing

Felipe the Mechanic

A conversation that took place on my way to pick up Adrian at work...

Felipe: Why we pick up daddy?

Me:  Because daddy's car is broken...


Felipe: Why?


Me:  His window doesn't close.


Felipe:  Why?


Me:  I think the motor that closes the window is broken.


Felipe:  OH!  I know what happened.... The crocodiles ate the motor...


Once we got to the shopping center where Adrian works...


Me: I wonder why the lights are all out.

Felipe:  It's windy... They are cold BRRRRRR.

Emily's Birthday Party

Today Felipe attended his classmates birthday party... The first of many to come.  It was really nice to see him interact with his classmates.  They all had lots of fun running around and jumping in the bounce house, they got even more excited when the pony rides and petting zoo arrived.  Felipe immediately rushed over to stand in line for the pony rides.  After his pony ride he feed some of the animals but when the kids started getting wild with the animals he continued playing in the bounce house.

Trip to the train museum

Yesterday we saw in the weekend section of the newspaper that the Goldcoast Railroad Museum had free admission the first Saturday of every month so we decided to take the kids.

When we first got there the kids seemed a bit bored but they quickly started seeming a bit more curious about all the trains. They really enjoyed the model train room.

Once we finished walking around we rode on the link train which was a huge hit with the kids.

Fireball Express

Today while driving around with the kids I noticed a Miami Heat Flag at a school we past. As I kept on driving I also saw a firetruck with the Heat logo so curiosity got the best of me and I made a U-turn. I parked in front of the school and got off the car with camera in hand. I took a few photos of Felipe with the truck and then spoke to a guy who was picking up.  He informed me that it had been Heat Day and that they had taken over the school for the day.

Happy Halloween

Hope everyone had a safe and happy halloween.  This year we didn't do much because unfortunately Felipe had bronchitis and a double ear infection so we played it safe and stayed home considering it was drizzling.

Eventhough we didn't go out I did dress them up in their costumes so my mom could see them.  She had bought them matching superhero costumes so I thought it was only fair for her to enjoy seeing them.  She came over and brought them some candy.

Early in the day Felipe had a small party at school with all his classmates.  They did a little parade around all the school and then ended in their own classrooms for their parties.

Take a look at a selection of photos I took today: Halloween Photo Album

Pajama Day



Felipe and his friend Enrique

I just dropped off Felipe at school and he was wearing his pajamas... No I did not forget to change him.  Today was Pajama Day at school and if you paid $1 to the United Way they could wear pajamas.  I didn't think many kids would do it but about 90% of the school were in their PJs including some teachers.

Felipe's 1st Day of School

I can't believe this day finally arrived... Today was Felipe's first day of school. He was very excited to finally be starting school. I thought it was going to be a difficult day for both of us but it went very smoothly. I think the person that was most affected was Francesca. She was asking for her brother the whole time that he was in school.
He must have had an exhausting 1st day because he fell asleep at around 4:30 pm and hasn't woken up yet.  Let's hope he doesn't wake up later and be all full of energy.

Now I leave you with a link to his 1st Day of School photo album.

Bob the Builder - We can build it!

Today was Target Free Friday at the Miami Children's Museum so I decided to take the kids to see the Bob the Builder exhibit.

Since this was the last Friday before Felipe started school I thought it might be a nice treat.  Since they had never really played at this museum before, the few times we have gone they were too little to enjoy anything, I wasn't sure if they would actually enjoy it.  Well to my surprise they both enjoyed the museum lot and we were there for almost 4 hours.  Felipe didn't want to leave the Firefighter section but I had to drag him out so he could see the rest of the exhibits.  Once we got to the Bob the Builder section they both started playing with all the blocks and playsets.

New and Improved Playroom

The full view of the room

Truck and Tractor parking lot

The kids finally have a playroom that can be a mess and we won't care.... As their birthday present we decided to convert the garage into a playroom for them.
It took a bit to complete but now the kids have a room to play in and we have our sunken livingroom back.

As you can see from the pictures we have foam tiles on the floor and we used my aunt's old kitchen cabinets for storage.  Let's hope it is always this organized.

Happy Holidays from The Simos

Happy 3rd Birthday Pipe!!!

My baby boy today you turn 3 and it is amazing how much you have changed in just one year. You now know your name even though you don't pronounce it correctly (Pipe Nato pillio Mimo), you take care of your little sister, and you try to do things on your own. Daddy and I are preparing ourselves for the new adventures that will come our way.

We love you Pipe!!!


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Memorial day at abuela Mali

We didn't have plans for Memorial day considering we were not sure if Adrian had to work so at the last minute we decided to have lunch at my mother-in-law's house. After lunch we headed over to the pool. We weren't there for very long because the kids hadn't napped so they were tired.

Los Indios Colorados

When you have a mischievous child like mine you should always keep an eye on them...  Today while I was trying to put Francesca to sleep my ADORABLE son wanted to find out first hand what the Indios Colorados of Ecuador look like so he grabbed my red lipstick and painted his face.
It is difficult to repremand your child when all you want to do is take a photo of them cuz they look so funny.

The only bad thing about this incident is that I no longer have lipstick... I guess I will have to go shopping tomorrow.