Making Cranberry Bread

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Happy Birthday Elena!!

You are three and again it is another emotional day for me as I think back at our lives with you. I get emotional not because I am sad but because I am so happy that you are in my life. You are a playful, loveable, joyful daughter and we are incredibly blessed to have you in our lives.

Update: These days you are quite active. You love climbing on everything including on your Daddy and myself. You ask often to ride down our legs and say, "down the super slide." You have started to do some pretend play and want me to pretend play with you. This is new for me since you have always wanted to play independently. I am enjoying these imaginitive games with you and love to see how exciting it is for you. Unlike most little girls your age you don't enjoy playing with dolls much and you prefer to play with planes, cars, trains, and soccer balls. But I wouldn't say you seek out "boy" things either. For your birthday you made sure to ask for a pink plane. You also love Dora. Funny thing is you first found out about her through merchandise at the store. You love to hum different tunes and one of your favorite songs is Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. You also like "Al Tambor" You like to be helpful and contribute by putting some of your clothes away, putting clothes in the hamper, throwing away diapers, setting the table, putting toys away and feeding Marisa. I have to be so vigilant of this because you want to share what you're eating and it's often a big piece of food. As I take the food away from her you remind me that Marisa only eats small pieces of food. You like to dress up just to practice putting clothes on and when you can't you get frustrated and repeatedly say "ayudame, ayudame." You also like help too. You are learning so much, and I love to watch you learn and discover the world around you. My sweet Elena, I hope you continue to enjoy life the way you do. You have taught me so much and I know I will learn so much more along the way.

Pictures of the day

Around town

We've been enjoying warm temperatures for a couple of weeks now and by warm I mean the highs are in the 50's instead of the highs being in the 40's. We decided to take a walk around town so I bundled up with two layers under my jacket, gloves and a hat. When we were finished walking and got to the car I was glad that I never felt the slightest bit of cold even while out for 3 hours and concluded that I figured out how to stay warm. Sadly and much to my disappointment, I looked at the thermometer in my car and it was only 51! Should I be concerned? Well, the good thing is that while in Texas I may have looked silly in a hat, gloves and puffy jacket with temperatures such as these, it turned out I wasn't alone here and there were plenty of people with the same attire. I've learned that all the accessories, a hat, a scarf, and gloves can make all the difference in staying warm.

Halloween Fun

Before we even began the pumpkin carving, Elena was already anxiously awaiting the the event. The giant pumpkins were on our dining room floor and Elena would come over with her (kid) knife and pretend to carve. I don't remember talking about the process so she either remembered from last year, or knew from the many pumpkin books we had previously read. She enjoyed this special activity with her Daddy. She picked out this pumpkin face out of a book because it looked like a cat with it's "whiskers." She loved feeling the pulp and took an occasional taste thinking it was edible. Luckily we have one very large pumpkin left which Omar intends to make pie out of. This should be another fun learning experience. Oh, and Marisa joined in on the fun too. She intently and happily watched her big sister and especially enjoyed seeing the pumpkin once it was lit.




The businesses at our local town square gave out candy for Halloween. This made for a fun event with plenty of costumes to see. Marisa the hen rode on my back and Elena the goldfish walked or should I say swam? She did pretty well considering the distance we walked to get there, but I learned she still prefers to ride in the stroller and for that I am glad.