Pool Time

amely's first painting .

this summer has been lax on the educational/crafty/creative activities around these parts. it's either been raining something fierce (and chilly) or disgustingly hot. two types of days that warrant playing inside (either cuddlin' up or sittin' under a fan). besides, we've been from here to there and there to here more than normal and mostly just soaking up our "vacation" time.

it's time, though, to get back into routine - and now that the house is in order (thanks to some cheapy purchases to organize the kids' closet and babysitter dan to keep the kids out of my hair) and things are organized enough to get to, we're trying to get back in the swing of things.

i pulled out some paints the other day, made a pallet out of a floppy plastic cutting board, covered the little table and threw down some paint brushes. after taking off the kids shirts (i hate laundry), i let them go.

amely had never painted before (that's why there's more pictures of her than samil, sorry kid). she preferred to use her hands instead of the brush and to paint her belly rather than the paper. oh well. samil used some letter stamps to make his name which he used like twice before switching back to the brushes.

the stamps are made out of cardboard and yarn. i made a chain with the yarn and hot glued it to the cardboard in the shape of letters. make sure you make your letters in reverse, though, because they are mirror images.

amely prefers finger painting.

and painting herself.

samil loves to paint! (you can kind of see his name on this one)these are the stamps we used.

yay! paint!

tio ya-ya

my brother in law lives with us. sometimes, especially at the beginning, it was a nuisance and an inconvenience. he is young and lives with us mostly because no one else wanted him. he graduated high school the summer before we got married and no one ever foresaw him going anywhere else with his life. he'd be driving a motocycle taxi forever, trying to get by on a few hundred pesos a day.

fast-forward five years and the kid is almost out of college, has held down a decent job in a professional environment (with almost constant "promotions") for the past four and has proven to be a spectacular uncle.

the kids love him.

(samil pre-haircut)

(amely giving kisses)

dirty face.

this little girl is such a love. she's cuddly and sweet, and has a little aggressive streak coming out (just like mami i suppose). she loves her brother with a passion, giving him hugs and kisses (and beating him on the head with his own toys!) whenever she gets the chance.

trouble with a capital T

we've spent a fair bit of time up in the campo this summer with my in-laws. it's not something i love to do, but samil does. of course his obsession with cows and other farm animals makes it the most desirable place for him to be but he also loves spending time with his cousins.

sujeidys lives with my father-in-law, and is the only cousin to spend any prolonged period of time with us in santiago (a week in january, but hopefully longer soon). these two are sweet now, but we smell trouble in the future.

what? are you talking to me?

sweet suje (soo-hay) is such a darling girl.

samil played with this palm branch for h.o.u.r.s.

they turned them into horses and ran around like "vaqueros" (cowboys) all afternoon. except poor samil kept forgetting it was a horse (which he calls "cai-yas" (for caballo in spanish) and was running around making mooooooo sounds.

finger-lickin' good.

that's a pig-roast style roasted pig, y'all.
my kids a champ.

dirt.

i bought some seeds for samil a long time ago and never got around to finding some top soil to plant them in. in a moment of inspiration, i bought a bag of potting soil at the store (apartments are great, but not when you need dirt!) and amalio rearranged some plants so we could have this long planter.

samil planted cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers - the cucs and tomatoes are doing great, but we haven't seen a pepper yet! he goes out and waters them every morning and shows his plants to people who come over. it's almost time to thin them out and re-plant in their own jars.

exercise with kids.

i've been trying to make some new habits this year. eat healthier, exercise more. be more active.
it's hard, though, to exercise with the kids around. i can't go to a gym because there's not one close enough to me. i usually strap the kids in the double stroller and head out... but, i like yoga. it relaxes me.

but. it's hard to relax with children climbing on you. so. we're training samil. that's one less child climbing on me, and one whole more really cute something beside me.

downward facing dog.

pretend medicine ball.

another beiber fan?

confession: i love justin bieber. love.
apparently my love is rubbing off on the kids.