A friend from church came over yesterday to give the children knitting lessons and they absolutely loved it! It ended up being too hard for Marco, but the other two were so into it. Maria Emma could not believe how quickly Alexia learned and how well she did. Alexia did not move from the couch for 2.5 hours!! Diego loved it too, but did not get quite as much instruction so he's looking forward to doing more next week.

When we came up to bed on Monday night, this lil munchkin was fast asleep in our bed! When I showed her this pic the next morning she said she didn't remember anything.
How precious is that cuddle for daddy?!

We did competitions with these building blocks snd the kids asked to take pics of each creation. This isn't even all the pics we took!

After movie night last Saturday, Ricardo served ice cream in cups for the kids. Who do you think went running up to the kitchen to ask for her own cup?! She carefully carried it down the stairs and sat on this pillow to enjoy her treat!

Our ethnic meal this past Sunday was to a Japanese restaurant we'd never been to. We had a wonderful meal. That big boy in the left ate 19 rolls of sushi! Marco also had sushi and Alexia had a yummy chicken and rice dish. Lucia ate her weight in rice and edamame!

We had company for lunch today and this was our sandwich bar. We take sandwich lunches seriously! :)

Chef Ricky creating some awesome shrimp cocktails!

Today we had our first field trip with our homeschool group and we had a blast. It was at Dunwoody Nature Center. Our guide took us on a nature walk to look for and learn all about insects. We had a huge group so they split us into 3 groups so the pic is just of our group. The walk lasted an hour and then we played on the awesome play equipment and had s picnic lunch. We came home, started school around 1:30 and finished up just before 5:00. A great day!!

I forgot to post this...
When we returned from our bike ride, the family headed straight for the magnolia tree. This is all they want to do these days. D and A go soooo high! The only rule for climbing is that they have to pray before they climb!

Futbol!!

Diego and Marco's soccer season has started and they couldn't be more excited.  Before their first practice, Diego took Marco out the driveway to pass the ball so Marco could warm up a bit.  It is perfect because they both have practice at 5:00 on Friday afternoons.  

The girls and I watched Marco's first practice.  Alexia kept busy reading and Lucia eating popcorn...

...and walking around with her backpack and babydoll...

...flung across her shoulder...!

This past Friday, Lucia and I watched Diego's practice and Alexia asked to stay on Diego's side to watch his practice.  She set up her chair, took her sketch pad and sketched a drawing of Diego playing soccer.  What a gem of a girl!

A day off!

The last time we went to the Beltline I think it was a weekend or a holiday and we daydreamed about being able to go while homeschooling so we could enjoy all the fun without the crowds.  Well our dream came true last Thursday.  So get this...Ricardo had to go to New Orleans last week.  He left on Tuesday and returned very late Wednesday night.  He took Thursday off to spend the day with us and then flew back to New Orleans on Friday for the night.  Yes, we are grateful for this family man!  On Thursday morning Ricardo took Marco to speech therapy while I did school with the big kids and we were able to leave for downtown around 11:30.  We had an awesome lunch at Krog Street Market before hitting the bike trail. 

Ricardo stopped here for a shot of espresso to get some energy for our bike ride :)

The kids love climbing under these overpasses along the bike trail.

Yes, we had to stop for popsicles.  Oh.so.delcious.

Love this photo shoot of our bikers :)  I thought we had taken more pics, but we were too busy pedaling along the empty bike trail!  It was amazing!  After our bike ride, we went back to Krog Street for ice cream and pastries - yes, we are bad!

Late start!

Last Tuesday was a dream day for homeschooling.  Marco's speech therapy was cxld so we had the morning free.  As we were cleaning up after breakfast, I thought, "we need to go to the park!"  I told the kids that we'd have an upside down day and to get ready for the park and we'd do school later.  They all squealed with delight!

The 3 bigs took the bikes and literally had the whole park to themselves for the first 40 minutes or so.    They had a blast!

I had so much fun playing with Lucia on the toddler play equipment.  She kept so busy and loved it!

We stayed at the park for almost two hours.  I decided the fun just had to continue so we decided to go to the library and I secretly told myself "If all goes well at the library, we'll go get donuts afterwards."  I didn't mention it to the kids, and they all did awesome at the library so I let them in on the surprise when we got to the car.  And again, they squealed with delight :)

We went to a place called Davinci Donuts that we'd never been to before and we loved the donuts!

When we got home, they had some fruit before hitting the books.  This was Diego's perch for his snack time.  

We wrapped up school around 4:30 and they read for the rest of the afternoon.  

I declare this a dreamy day!

Today's ethnic meal was Chinese. The kids had never been to a Chinese restaurant, except PF Changs. It was a huge hit all around! Peyton was very excited to join us :)

Our Sunday ethnic meal this past Sunday was to a fantastic Colombian restaurant. We had a feast of meats, rice, beans, salad and plantains. A rule for ethnic night is that we try new foods without spending a lot and the children have to accept what we order for them. They looooooved this meal!!

Lucia looking adorable in her Salvadoran dress that Tia Ale brought her. Lina and her girls spent a day with us last week and Lucia and Isabella had fun dressing up together :)

The girls peaking into the school room while the boys finished some work.

We had a day of some hard labor around here last weekend. Ricardo and kids cut down trees, trimmed trees and cut wood for the woodpile.

Lucia worked so hard carrying branches up to the street- the cutest thing ever!