Chip off the 'ol block

I posted yesterday of my 14-year-old son, Marko, and his unique taste in music.
I also wrote of how this drives his 13-year-old sister absolutely cRaZy!!

Well,  history has a bizarre way of repeating itself and some people don't believe in it happening, but it does!

Many, many years ago when the hubs was about Marko's age (yes, that long ago!), his younger sister Nacha would listen to what was very popular music at the time.  She is about 4 years younger than the hubs, and she listened to groups such as Los Temerarios, which happen to be one of my favorites in Spanish music.  Here is a video of what she used to play at that time:

And she'd play this music pretty loudly at home.  Until her older brother (my hubby) got home and started playing his classical music full blast:


And...my mother-in-law would have to hear Nacha yelling "Amá!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Just as I do with Gabriella.  All the time.  In fact, there are actually times that I even have to hear the hubs whine about Marko's music.  I wish I were kidding.  Ugh!

But you know what's funny about this is that until the hubs saw firsthand how Marko is doing the same thing with Gabriella, he realizes how crazy he must have driven Nacha with his choice in music!

And Nacha, I'm sure, would love to know that Karma has come to bite the hubs in the butt, and make him pay for what he did to her all those years ago! Haha!

My favorite intern (:

My son, Marko never ceases to amaze me.  Ever.  He has always been awesome and as the years pass, he just continues to be more, well, awesome!

Something that I love about him is the fact that he is so original.  You know how some people "copy" what others say, or do, or the way they imitate someone's handwriting or signature or style, and try to pass it off as their own?  Probably because they're not cool or original enough to come up with their own? Yeah, well, Marko has never done that.  He is as original as they come.  With Marko, it really is "What you see is what you get."  The style of clothing he chooses, the musical instruments he chose to learn all by himself, and even the genre of music he loves is all his own.  And I'm not kidding.
Most anyone would expect a 14-year-old boy in this day and age to listen to whatever is popular amongst people of Marko's generation, right?

Well, for some reason, the music Marko prefers is not what his peers listen to.  Not by a long shot!
First of all, Marko has always loved oldies.  And not what I, or even my mom (his grandmother) would consider to be oldies.  I'm talking oldies as in, well, oldies.  And I really am not kidding.
His favorite singer is none other than Al Jolson.  Never heard of him?  Well, neither had I.
Actually, my mom hadn't either (!) Ha!
Jolson sang as a child (he was born in 1886).  Yes, you read that right, and he performed professionally from about 1911 through maybe the late 1940's. Here is a clip of Jolson, his wife, and Jolson's parents. The clip is from one of Marko's favorite movies: The Jolson story, of course:

I can't tell you how many iTunes cards Marko has used to buy all of his music for his iPhone.  He seriously loves that old music!
And believe me, he's been teased a little from kids at school who have heard Marko jamming out to Jolson at school.  But Marko just lets it roll off his back.  Marko is Marko and he doesn't care if anyone has a problem with that (:

Well, imagine how excited Marko was one day some months back while he was searching the radio dial and came across an oldies station that actually plays music from way, WAY back in the day.  He was super stoked about it and quickly programmed it onto my car stereo for easy access. (I probably don't have to tell you that his 13-year-old sister isn't too thrilled about that!) Hahaha!
(Tomorrow's post will be something very funny and beautifully ironic about this!)

Well, not too long ago, we were driving home and I pointed out the radio station to Marko.  He had no idea it was a local station, by the way.  He quickly called his dad, who, coincidentally, was a long-time-extremely-successful- Spanish radio personality, to ask him if he would go with Marko to the oldies station to see if he could perhaps do some sort of internship with them.

They went.

And this is what Marko did last Friday:

He was introduced "on the air" and became one of the team.  He will be at the station every Friday through the summer.  And he is on cloud nine (:

Isn't it amazing how DNA works?  I mean, he definitely got his radio genes from dad, and well, radio is a media, which is journalism...and I am a journalism major, after all.  (:

I am so proud of him.  I love sitting back and watching him shine!

Names

Just recently, I was driving my kids home from school when my daughter nonchalantly asks me from the back seat "Mom, why did you name me 'Gabriella'?"
Me: "What?!... I L-O-V-E your name!"
Gabriella: "You should have named me Naomi."

I literally felt my heart break into a million pieces.  I devoured every baby name book I could get my hands on while I was pregnant with her to make such an important decision!  And here she was telling me she "hates" her name.

I was undecided for quite some time on what to name her.  At about 7 months of my pregnancy, I had it narrowed down to Claudia, Isabella, Monica and of course, Gabriella.  I decided early on, as when I named Marko, that my children's names had to be beautiful (in my opinion) in both English and Spanish, and that they would be pronounced correctly in both languages.  There are some beautiful names in Spanish, but when they are pronounced in English (or at least attempted), they literally get slaughtered.  I absolutely didn't want that for my kids.
So, as my scheduled C-section date of May 17th came closer, I finally decided on Gabriella because it means "God is my strength."  And I wanted it spelled with two l's rather than just the one.  I seriously put lots and lots of thought on her name.  I mean, it is an important decision, after all.
And she hates it. Ugh.

I guess I could chalk this up to Karma because I remember having this same conversation with my mom at about the same age.  And I regret it.
Especially when my mom told me that I had been named in honor of her baby sister that had passed away as an infant.
Yeah, I felt so incredibly small and so stupid for complaining about my name.

My son, Marko, on the other hand, has never once complained about his name.  Even though throughout his entire life, he has had to put up with having somebody inevitably say "Polo" every.  single.  time.  his name is called.  It doesn't seem to bother him.  He has had to hear that so much that he might have thought his name was Marko Polo for at least the first two years of his life!  Poor kid.  Other names I considered for him were Aaron and Robert.  Oh, and the reason his name is spelled with a K rather than the traditional C, is because I lost a bet with the hubby on whether our son would have a full head of hair or not.  He didn't. (:
Marko's name means "War like," which is pretty fitting.  I was in labor for almost 48 hours and after pushing for about 8 hours (NOT kidding!), he was delivered by emergency C-section.  We both almost died during the delivery, so yes...war like is perfect.

One reason for his name is, coincidentally, in honor of my uncle, my mom's oldest brother, that passed away the year I was born.  His name was Marcos, and I wanted some variation of that name.  And also...my son may or may not carry the name of the artist playing while he was conceived.  Haha.  Kidding.....sort of.

Anyway, all this to say that this is how I ended up with my name.  And I have embraced it ever since I found out the reason my mom decided on it.
Thanks, Mom!

Just a Silva-kinda day (:

Ok, so this post is about something that happened to Gabriella the other day that I literally laughed so hard about that my face hurt!!

Last week, she had her best friend Xochitl (pronounced soul-chee) spend the night on Saturday.  The girls watched movies, played games, ate pizza and munchies to their heart's content and giggled all night long.  Normal 12-year-old sleep-over behavior.
Well, Sunday, the girls were in the family room watching the rest of their movie from the night before and when it was over, Gabriella apparently got on the treadmill.  And put it on HIGH.  And climbed on.

I wasn't in the family room, so this is what Gabriella told me.  The girls were laughing so hard they had a hard time explaining it to me, but Gabriella said she fell to her knees almost immediately after getting on it and that she didn't have a choice but to run on her knees really, really fast because, remember I told you she had put it on HIGH??!!

Yeah.

Well, Xochitl turned it off (Thank goodness!!), but after about 15 seconds because she could not stop laughing.  She had tears in her eyes and was slapping her knee as she told me about it... so she didn't immediately stop it.  But Thank God she stopped it before my baby was hurt!  And since she wasn't hurt, the two girls and I laughed our butts off.

Here are the two pretty girls:

All these pics were taken AFTER the treadmill misadventure, so you can see my baby is just fine (:

These kind of misadventures are definitely Life, Silva style!

Have a fantastic weekend and God bless. 

Good things come to those who wait!

Quite a few years ago I picked the kids up from school when Marko was in 2nd grade and Tita was in 1st.  It was Mother's Day 2006.  The kids ran to meet me in front of the school.  They could hardly contain their excitement at what they carried in their little arms and you could see the pride in their beautiful little faces.


The kids had been working on their Mother's Day gifts for a couple weeks and finally, the day they could take them home to mama was here.
Tita presented me with a painted picture and a card and they were just beautiful and perfect.
Marko presented me with a small cup with what he said was a flower he planted himself with a few seeds.  It also was beautiful and perfect.
When we got home, I put my beautiful painted picture on the front of the refrigerator with a magnet and I placed the flower in a cup and set it by the kitchen sink and watered it.
Well, throughout the years, it never really grew, but it never died either.  So I hung on to it and continued to water it.
And throughout the years, every single time we moved to another house, the thought actually crossed my mind to toss it because as I said earlier, it just never grew.  But I always nixed the idea and kept it and continued to water it even though it was basically just a stump.  A green stump at that!
There were actually many times that I'd end up forgetting to water my stump and when I'd remember, I would water it and the entire thing would rise about 5 inches above the water!  I actually had to hold the clump of dirt containing the stump down so that the water could slowly work its way into the clump and it would finally sit in the cup right.  If it wasn't such a special gift, believe me, I would have chucked it long ago.
But I didn't.  And I am so glad I never did.


Here's why:

It finally started growing!  That's right. You can imagine my surprise!  And you can probably get a visual of me doing the Happy Dance.  Because I totally did (: 


It took six whole years later for it to finally do this:

Here's a picture of the bottom of the plastic cup Marko brought it home in.  Can you see his name?

Can you believe those rich, green beautiful leaves!  It's going to keep on growing, I just know it.
And I can't tell you how excited I am!....Not that I've let on...right?


I am going to buy the perfect pot for it because this old plastic one I found in the garage just isn't good enough.  It was good enough when it was a stump, but not now!  Those beautiful leaves deserve a beautiful pot...Right?  I think Yes.


You know, I couldn't tell you what kind of flower it is to save my life, nor could I ever explain the super-duper long delay in sprouting, other than it wasn't going to sprout until it was good and ready.  And it took 6 whole years for it to decide it was time.


It's as if Marko gifted me with it all over again.
And I don't think I have to tell how it makes me smile every time I walk by it.


It kind of reminds me of how I had to wait so many long years until I finally held my beautiful, perfect newborn miracle baby in my arms after resigning to the fact that I was never going to have a child of my own.  And then shortly thereafter, God gifted me with another miracle baby.


Good things really do come to those who wait.


Thanks again Son!  I love it all over again.




Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Dude, You're awesome!

Just need to brag on my brilliant 13-year-old's artistic abilities.  My son, Marko was born with such amazing talent and I am so very proud of him.
Just take a look at his latest creation:

Pretty awesome, huh?
He just saw the newest Spiderman movie and it must have inspired him to draw the Joker.
Not bad, especially since he doesn't have a formal education in art!  I can only imagine what he'll do in the future.
I foresee an amazing future for my awesome, handsome, talented Marko.


I love you Marko!  Continue to shine as you have until now.


One Proud Mama (:

Are you kidding??!!

You know how I've told you that my kids started a new school back in February?  Well, everything has been fantastic for the kids, except for one thing.  The only negative thing that has happened since starting there was Marko's Ipod was stolen by this kid in Marko's PE class.  Marko got it back, the kid got into trouble at school and everything has been good, and forgotten.

Until today.

During PE today, Marko and his friend were listening to Marko's Ipod (remember Marko's injured foot?  He has been excused from participating in PE until it heals.)

Anyway, the kid that stole it in February had the nerve to ask Marko: "Dude, can I use your Ipod again?"

Marko: "What do you mean, can you USE my Ipod?!  The last time you HAD my Ipod was because you STOLE it!"

Wow......REALLY??!!

Marko's misadventures..

The hubs picked up the kids from school and then they picked me up from my school.  The second I got to the Jeep, I heard all about Marko jumping a hurdle in PE and landing wrong on his foot.  I had him take his shoe off and his foot instantly swelled up.  Poor guy was in a lot of pain.
Off we went to Urgent Care where, after an hour and a half, the doctor told us that he could see what appears to be a hairline fracture in his ankle.  He also said that he would consult with the orthopedic doctor in the morning to confirm whether or not it is in fact a fracture.

So they sent him home with this:

He and Tita were actually excited when the nurse wrapped the purple gauze on it because purple is their school color.  Gotta show that school spirit anyway you can! (:

When we finally got home, we helped him to his bed where he played a 3D game for a while.

I don't know if anyone reads this, but if you do, please pray for my son's foot to heal quickly and that it not be fractured.

Thanks.

My sonshine (:

I need to brag on my favorite boy in the whole world: My son Marko.
Marko is 13-years-old, so handsome, so amazing, so smart, so talented and just so, you know, plain awesome.
He taught himself to play guitar and he is very, very good at it!  I love listening to him play.

He's playing his acoustic guitar before leaving for school in this picture.  Gotta live by that motto of Practice makes Perfect (!)

Not only are his self-taught guitar skills amazing, but have I told you how he is also an INCREDIBLE artist?  I think I have.  And yes, THAT talent is also self-taught. 

I first noticed his natural artistic talent when he was about 2 1/2 years-old.  He loved to dance to Michael Jackson's music and I even made him a sequined jacket and glove.  He NEVER wanted to take them off!  He danced every single day.  All day long.
He also loved to color like most 2-year-olds and he LOVED this movie:

Anyone with toddlers can tell you that when your toddler likes a movie, you will literally watch that movie 24/7.  Right?
Since his favorite things when he was this age was "Spirit" and coloring, he would color while watching the movie.  I'll never forget the day when he proudly brought me his first masterpiece.  He ran to the kitchen with it and he was so happy about it he couldn't stand it.  He said "Honey, Honey, Spirit!!"
(Yes, my babies both called me Honey.  I don't know why, they just did.  They now call me Mom, but still refer to me as Honey when they mention me in conversation with someone else.)
Anyway, here is his masterpiece:

I excitedly told him how awesome it was and how proud I was of him!  I'll never forget his beautiful smile and how proud he was when I grabbed a magnet to put it on the front of our refrigerator.  I'd catch him walking by the kitchen just to see his masterpiece on the fridge.  I remember I asked him why Spirit had so many legs and my beautiful baby said "Running!"

Duh.
I was amazed at how at his age perceived Spirit's legs while running and that he thought to actually draw them the way he visioned it.  I absolutely treasure this drawing.

I am so proud of him.
This is a drawing he did last weekend:

Pretty amazing, huh?
I believe my son has sketched every single picture ever taken of Bob Marley.  (Not kidding.)
Oh, and I must mention that all of my son's talent, of course, comes from (cough) my side (cough) of the family (:
I love you Marko.  And I am so proud to be your mama.

You truly are my SONshine. (:

Student of the Week!

Ok, I'm back.  I have NEVER posted this many times in one day, but I could hardly contain my excitement on the drive home after picking up my kids from school.

You know how I've posted of how my children are doing so wonderfully in their new school?  And how they are FINALLY being recognized for the wonderful, smart, respectful children I know they are?  Honestly, the kids continue to tell me horror stories of that "jail" they used to go to "school" at.  Thank God I got them out of there!

Things are so different now.  The kids come home every single day excited about their day and their wonderful teachers at their "real" school.

Marko brought this home today:

It is a "Power Pass" and he was named "Student of the Week."  Marko was one of a select few who got to have a pizza party for lunch with one of the awesome teachers.  My handsome son had a wonderful, perfect day.  So that made my day pretty wonderful and perfect too. (:

Oh, and in case you haven't noticed....it is AFTER 3:30 p.m.  You know what that means!  Yes, that means it is now Spring Break!!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend!
One proud mama (:

The A-Team

You might remember one of my posts this last week was about the kids and I doing Highs & Lows every day (You know, where I ask them what the best and worst part of their day was) and I told you that ever since the kids changed schools recently (and I'm seriously talking from Day 1 at their new school) the kids happily tell me that their "High" was SCHOOL.  That's right.  Their entire days are perfect.  This of course, makes my day perfect.  My kids have not had a "Low" since the hubs and I made the best decision of our lives in switching the kids' school.

The only "Low" they had was Monday after school when THIS happened with those damned trolls.

Well, I had class today until 8 p.m. and today was also the kids' parent-teacher conferences.  But it just so happened to be the hubs' day off.  So he took the kids to the conferences and I drove as fast as I could right after taking my test to get there in time for at least some of the conferences.

All of the teachers told us how impressed they were with Marko and Gabriella because they were both doing so awesome and every single teacher commented on how respectful the kids were.   Did I mention the fact that Marko has 104% in Life Science?  Yeah..that's my boy.

I got to meet his math teacher who also kept telling the hubs and I how she loved having Marko in her class because he is so smart and respectful.  I've always known that about my Marko, of course, but I let her go on and on (:

After that, the hubs took Marko to meet with another teacher while Gabriella and I walked into her Social Studies class.  Her teacher just couldn't stop praising her for her work.
Gabriella's math teacher said that she will definitely be placed in advanced math classes in the fall.  I'm not suprised in the least.

The kids and I were bummed that I wasn't able to make it to all of the conferences.  I just couldn't help it with my class running so late.  Oh, and did I mention that it was snowing hard when I left the university?  Yeah.  Driving on two wheels was not an option tonight.  But I made it in time to meet with a few of each of the children's teachers and for that I am very grateful.

The teachers love the kids and my kids love every one of the wonderful teachers also.  Within 5 minutes of meeting them, I clearly understood why school is the kids' "High."

The kids' self-esteem is off-the-charts and they both have so many A's, I think I'll just call them the A-Team (:

Oh, and just in case you're wondering...my "high" today was seeing the look of satisfaction, extreme happiness and pride on my beautiful children's faces.
Thank You God for all your blessings.

(One proud mama)

Loss for words.

Disclaimer:  This is actually an edited version of my original post.  I'm still angry, but I will refrain from name-calling.

Ok, I am majorly PO'd and I believe I have good reason to be.  If you prefer, come back tomorrow when this blog goes back to it's regular programming, because today's topic sucks.


<First, I want to clarify that my kids were NEVER disciplined for any mean, disrepectful behavior. EVER.  The choice to move the kids to another school was a decision my husband and I made ALONE and only WE decided when to move them.  My children were never expelled from school or anything of that nature.>


You might remember how I posted a couple weeks ago of switching my children to another school?  And how I hated the way certain "teachers" mistreated not only my kids, but other kids?  For example, their math teacher would make one little boy go to the front of the class everyday and lift his shirt up to show that he was wearing a belt.  There were times he missed the belt loop at the middle of his back and he would send him to the bathroom to fix it.  And he would humiliate the boy.  Well, in spite of all of this, my kids absolutely
L-O-V-E-D the French Teacher there, Ms. Anderson.  In fact, the day the kids were going to their teachers to sign off on their withdrawal paperwork, Ms. Anderson hugged both of the kids and told them she really enjoyed having them in her class, she would miss them, and to stop by to see her whenever they had a chance.


The kids' new school day starts and ends way after their old school does, so they never had that chance.

Until today.

Today was an early-release day and the kids were excited for today so they could stop by their old school and say hello to their beloved French teacher.
I had to get to class at the time the kids were released from school today my mom picked them up.  They asked her if she could stop by their old school for a few minutes so they could say hello to Ms. Anderson and my mom said yes.

My blood boils at what happened next.

The kids walked into the school and the receptionist runs around her desk and points to the door and yells <in front of EVERYONE, mind you.> "Get off school grounds!"

(I'm not kidding!!)

Then she said "You no longer go to this school, you must LEAVE NOW!"
My poor kids were shocked, humiliated and confused for a few seconds before Gabriella said "We just wanted to say hello to Ms. Anderson."
Then she told my kids: "You know what, wait.  You need to go to the principal's office first."
So the kids went in there and she told the assistant principal "Marko and Gabriella are here and I told them they aren't allowed on school grounds."  He agreed and then he said to my kids "You guys can't be on school grounds!"
Marko said "Ms. Anderson invited us to come see her."
The AP said "I don't care.  You can't be on school grounds."  "Leave."


My kids were so upset all afternoon.  And I felt horrible for them.  And the hubs and I were so upset all afternoon.
Ms. Anderson called my husband and apologized for the way the "professionals" at her school treated the kids.
She told my kids that she didn't realize the protocol for students that previously attended that school was that they weren't allowed back. (?)
Then, she made plans to pick up my kids during Spring Break to hang out with her and maybe go to McDonalds.


She is wonderful and I am grateful to her for helping make my kids' day a little brighter after the nightmare they endured after school.


My kids go back to visit their kindergarten teacher (at yet another school) every year at Christmas time and it has always been a positive experience for them.  They really look forward to the yearly visits to Mrs. Molander and always excitedly wrap the gift they chose for her.


Ms. Anderson was another teacher just as special to them as Mrs. Molander.


Thank God I got my kids out of that horrible place .
How dare they hurt my children like that!

I find it to be in VERY BAD TASTE for two adults to literally gang up on two defenseless kids.  Shame on You Union Colony!  This is the worst case of BULLYING ever.


If you are reading this, please give me some feedback. Have any of you ever experienced or heard of anything this crazy?

Oh, and if you read my original post...I apologize.



Happy Birthday Jackie!!

Today was a very special day.  Jackie, one of Gabriella's BFFs had a birthday yesterday (Friday) and her party was today.  My precious Gabriella was so excited she could hardly stand it!  I was so excited for her.  You see, Jackie and Gabriella instantly became best friends the very first day of school because they had every. single. class. together. until lunch.

Every day when I'd go pick the kids up from school, Jackie always walked my Gabby to the car to give her a big hug.

They missed each other terribly since my kids switched school about two weeks ago.  My kids miss all of their friends but thanks to Facebook, Skype, Ipods and cell phones, Marko and Gabriella both have been able to stay in contact with their friends.  Thank goodness for technology.  Seriously.  I've mentioned in earlier posts of how my mom, brother and I would move all of the time.  Way back then, we didn't have all of the technology available to kids these days.  When we moved, that was it...no more contact (!)  And it was terrible.

My kids will never know how terrible that was.  And for that I am very grateful.

Anyway, Jackie thought Gabriella wasn't going to be at her party because Gabriella no longer attends the same school as her.  When the girls would Skype every night, the mood would turn somber whenever the subject of Jackie's upcoming birthday would come up.

Jackie didn't know that her mom had secretly planned for Gabriella to attend the party as Jackie's big surprise..

Jackie's mom rented a room at a local hotel for an awesome slumber party for Jackie and her friends to stay the night, swim, eat dinner at Olive Garden (Yes, I'm a tad bit jealous..), watch movies and eat tons of candy and chips (:

 This is Gabriella ready to surprise Jackie..

 She was SUPER surprised!  It was awesome.

 They couldn't stop giggling..  Jackie and the other girls were painting their shirts that they wore over their swimming suits when we got there.

 Pretty girls (:

 These are the other girls greeting Gabriella

 This is Shaylynn, Zheng, Jackie, Claire and Gabriella.

 Jackie's mom graciously bought all of the girls a huge stuffed animal (!)  Gabriella has the crocodile.

 Sweet!

 They are so happy.  I hope their childhood memories are inundated with special, happy moments like this.  I also hope the friendships they build now last them a lifetime.

 I told ya there was a huge supply of goodies for the girls..

 See?!

 This picture is kind of blurry, but I love it.

 Happy Birthday Sweet Jackie!

 xo,

Highs & Lows

For as long as I can remember, my kids and I do Highs & Lows every single day after school.

Right after the hustle and bustle of controlling a very excited dog (cause he hadn't seen the kids all day) while rushing to get backpacks, jackets, a trumpet, a saxophone AND my two favorite people in the world into my car and buckled up....whew(!)....and even before driving out of the school parking lot, my first question to both of the kids was "What was your favorite part of your day?"

Nine times out of ten, Marko's answer was "French class," or the occasional "lunch."
Nine times out of ten, Gabriella's answer was "French class," or "lunch."

This was always followed by "What was the worst part of your day?"

I seriously don't know why I would ask this question.  I got the same answer every.single.day.
Both of my kids A-L-W-A-Y-S told me that the worst part of their day was their horrible math teacher.  They were never able to do anything right in that class.  Apparently, nobody ever did anything right in that class.  He would always "lose" homework they turned in and then give them big, fat ZEROs for that assignment.  Then he'd sometimes "find" it.  But by then, their progress reports had come home already and kids had already been grounded for "bad" grades.  This teacher also enjoyed belittling the kids. 

 My kids always had two "worst" parts of their day.  Both of the kids begged me to let them quit band because the band teacher spent the entire class time yelling at the kids.  Then Gabriella would tell me that the assistant principal would come into the band room and yell at the trombone players (she always reminded the kids that she was a trombone major) and tell them that they weren't doing anything right, and then she and the band teacher would laugh at the kids!
Yeah.

I couldn't get my kids out of there fast enough.
And God is big.  He guided us to the correct school for our kids.

This is our daily Highs & Lows since starting at their new school.  And I quote:

Me: "What was your favorite part of your day?"
Marko: "school."
Gabriella: "everything."

Me: "What was the worst part of your day?"
Marko: "nothing."
Gabriella: "nothing for me either!"

God is so good.

Hola Ciudad Juarez!

I traveled to Juarez, Mexico today with the hubs and my mom!

Ok, well not physically, but I was seriously transported to Mexico at my kids' school today.

The 6th graders organized a fantastic event called "Aztec Market," and let me tell you-they really did a superb job!  I was so proud of them.

Here are some pictures of the event.  They are in no particular order, and I must point out that since my kids just started at this school last week, I don't know any of the people in the pictures, except my Gabriella (2nd from the right):

This was the entrance to the Aztec Market....also known as the gym.  Everyone entering received a cup filled with beans that were to be used as currency (:

The kids and their parents/grandparents did such a great job of providing awesome food....that you could literally buy for....beans.  Yeah.

For those of you that have never been to Juarez, in the center of the city is a large marketplace that has a variety of vendors of different art made by local artisans and little restaurants to get some really good food.  We haven't gone to Mexico in quite a few years now for obvious reasons.  But we really miss going.

Anyway, there were tables with enchiladas:

Handmade beaded bracelets and necklaces:

Tissue roses.....my favorite.  I was planning on paying a few beans for one, but I constantly found myself at the tables that had all of the amazing FOOD. GA! 

So I didn't get one.  Boo.

There were beautiful handmade purses

See?  I told you.  There were so many tables with FOOD.  Ugh..

There was traditional Mexican music playing over the loudspeaker.

And people "selling" quesadillas...

Didn't the kids do a wonderful job with the decorations??!!

Yes, that would be my daughter..

This is what I saw in front of the school as soon as we dropped the kids off at the gate:

 I told ya these pictures were in no particular order..

Here I am with the hubby and our baby girl.  Marko wasn't at the event because it was only for the 6th graders.

 Aren't these little girls in the outfits adorable?!

 Gabriella and her team sold quesadillas and sopapillas!  Yummy (:

 I just had to take these kids' picture!

So that is how we spent our Wednesday morning.  It was so much fun and I was so happy for Gabriella to have participated in this event.

Hasta luego!