Twickotweet!!!

We had a neighborhood Halloween party! It was so much fun- running crazy in the green belt

Some of the boys looking "scary":

Kindergarten girls looking pretty:

And Ricky the shark, borrowing an Afro wig:

The party was fun with the kids running all over the culdesac and green belt, boys chasing the girls, girls shrieking (how do they learn this!?) and running away. There was a never-ending food buffet, followed by endless candy. After carving pumpkins we started on the trick-or-treating. At first Ricky didn't understand what was going on "Just go up to the door and say Trick-or-Treat Ricky. They'll give you candy." He followed the other kids to the door and then stood there watching the scene, staring into his bucket when they dropped the candy in. By the time he looked up, the other kids were already running to the next house. He learned very quickly and it was hilarious to see him running as fast as he could to follow the other kids- I have NEVER seen his little legs run so fast! Midway through he realized he could run faster without his bucket of loot so he would come running from the house saying "mommy!!! caramela" and hand off the bucket to me so we could run together to the next house when he would grab the baton and present it to the next neighbor. The thrill is really in the (candy) chase because I don't usually let me kids eat that much of the candy. Care packages would be mailed out this week to Tios and Tias with pounds of their favorite candy. But for tonight, Ricky could dream about swimming in chocolate and sugar, from his pumpkin bag that held more than his weight in candy. In the morning all of the kids asked if we could go Twickotweeting again!

Halloween party!

Happy Halloween from lemur, shark, dragon, and bunny!

The ring-tailed lemur costume was made by grandma, I bought the bunny used, the dragon was given to us by my cousins and we are borrowing the shark from dear Ashlea.

The Mom's group I am in planned a Halloween party for the kids with lots of games, some crafts, a pinata, costume parade, and of course good food! You can see Tonito painting the pumpkins below- mix equal parts glue and water and add in a lot of pumpkin spice so get a textured and yummy smelling clear "paint" for jack-o-lanterns. Also check out the cute hot dog mummies someone made:

All of the kids had fun running around the park with the other little ones. The weather was gorgeous and we stayed there until it was dark.


Here is the scavenger hunt: with little picture lists for each child (find 1 spider ring, 1 pumpkin stamp, 1 Halloween pencil, etc). I was laughing about the pinata because Ricky has only been home 2 months and he literally has already done at least 5 pinatas from different birthday parties, a Mexican Independence Day party, and now this Halloween party. He must think we'll do this all the time! He knew exactly what he was supposed to do: hit the pinata and then wait for the candy to fall down!

On the way home in the car the kids asked if we were then going trick-or-treating! No guys, you had enough fun for one day- we'll go tomorrow on the real Halloween!

Preview for Halloween

Halloween party #1: with our playgroup. Ricky was really confused and didn't know why I wanted to put this weird thing over his head. Once Maya got dressed up though, he wanted it back on. We tried to tell him he was a tiburon, but if you imagine the ridiculousness of it from his point of view....he's probably wondering yet again what this crazy family is up to! I told him that he could "roar" and he was happy:).

We made cookies with playgroup, Ricky ate a ton of cookie dough, and was quite scared of the masks people had on (transformers and Star Wars guys). This is a good introduction for Halloween!

He's a little confused today, but tomorrow we have another party with a lot more kids, so we are slowly easing him into this! We taught him the word shark so that when people say "What are you?" he answers "Shauk." Cutie.

Nothing cuter than dancing cupcakes!

I thought there was nothing cuter than little girls in tutus.... but pumpkins and cats and cupcakes??? This WILL make you smile!!:)

Making Applesauce

Cashier: Are they twins?
Me: No.
Cashier: But they look the same age- how old are they?
Me: They're a month apart.
Cashier: Wow, you had them a month apart? Weird.

We went to help make applesauce at the big kids' school- Maya and Ricky loved it because the other moms and teachers kept giving them more and more applesauce. My mom used to always volunteer at my school, and it was just normal for me to see her there. I hope that I can keep helping out and crashing their parties too:). It's gives you big insight to see how your kids act with their friends and peers at school versus how they are at home- very different! I also like to put faces tothe names that keep popping up. I know their friends, but sometimes it's nice to see JohnnyX who always has to "clip down" because he's always talking, JohnnyY who burps-a-lot, or SusieX who is super smart but cries-a-lot.

Kung-Fu at the Int'l Festival!

Tonito had 2 performances this weekend! He performed kung-fu at the Dragon Boat Races, and then at the International Festival. It was so awesome- he wasn't shy at all, and his kung-fu has really improved since he started less than a year ago. I admit it was hard to take all 4 kids there by myself, with the crowds and excitement- so much stimulation for the little ones.. trying to get everyone to stay by me, pus getting Tonito backstage at the right times. But we survived and they enjoyed a lot of different cultural dances and performances! Vivi loved the Indian dances (she loves the glittery saris) and the boys liked the martial arts and the breakdancers.

Do you like leche fria o caliente!?!?!?!?!

This might be my favorite all-time quote from one of my kids:

Maya had Ricky pinned down (sitting on top of him) in the trampoline and was yelling "Do you like leche fria or caliente!???"

Here's the "innocent" little angel who loves to squeeze Ricky until he cannot breathe:

(sorting/graphing Fruit Loops)
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Another funny:

Vivi: "They don't give you pepperoni at the pepperoni."
Me: "For what?"
Vivi: "At the big pepperoni. In the gym. With the principal. You don't have to eat any pepperoni."
(PEP RALLY!)

***
It was really, really hard to have Tonio gone for 2 weeks in a row. I hated it. It's really, really hard to clean, cook, take care of the 4 kids, and all of the regular house problems by myself:(. I realize many people have it way worse, I just felt like complaining. There's just no break. I think it will get easier when I can actually communicate with Ricky more and when the other kids have transitioned a little more to his arrival. That is why I revel and delight in the funny quotes my kids provide at just the right time. I can still picture Maya, pinning Ricky down... "leche fria o caliente!?!?!" hahahahaha. Phew. Calgon take me away!

Tonio's trip to South Africa

This is why I love Tonio. One day he sat me down and said "I am so sorry, I have to tell you something...." (I began to prepare for the worse and grabbed the edge of the table)... "I have to go for 2 weeks to South Africa for work, and they're taking me on a safari." He knew I would be green with envy (which I was) and he felt bad that we wouldn't be able to share the experience together. Needless to say, I really was excited for him to go and made him promise to take a lot of pictures (which he did!). Here are some of them from his safari:

How cool would it be to bring our kids there!?!?! When we win the lottery, you will be the first to see the pictures:).