today while mommy went to her company holiday lunch, daddy and Alexander had their own lunch date!
Holiday Traditions!
Today we celebrated our Chavarela Christmas at Abuelita & Grandpa's. Since all except Tia Lisett & Tio Nick are going to be out of town this year, the day was packed with lots of things to do! We started with visiting Aaron and putting up a lil tree for him (Abuelita had left the cherub there 2 weeks before!) Then headed over to the Annual VFW Holiday Party where Santa Claus made a surprise appearance! and then to the house where Alexander & Rebecca made the traditional press-cookies from Abuelita's favorite recipe for the first time!! Both kids caught on very quickly and are destined to be great helpers in the kitchen, especially now that AAA has an honest to goodness chef's jacket with his name engraved! and Rebecca got a (toy) kitchen where they can practice!
we all fall down!
Christmas cookie dough
Last night Alexander helped us prepare the dough for Grandma's Christmas Cookies. Aside from a great helper, he liked the dough a lot!
Happy 2nd Birthday Alexander!
Our lil boy is two years old!! We celebrated Alexito's birthday "building" memories with close friends and family. Although Alexander was trying to "demolish" the stomach flu (his birthday was actually the 3rd day of the illness), he had a great time with his cousins, Rebecca and Dylan, and friends, Evan, Cassidy, Cathy, Jared, Natalie, Gabrielle, Drew, and Helena! The twins (Gabby & Natalie) bested everyone at "Pin the Wheel on the Payloader" and "Boulder." Daddy and Mommy were so thrilled that everyone had a fun time at AAA's Construction Party. Daddy worked hard designing the theme for the party, including screening our special shirts! The birthday cake from French's Cupcake Bakery was wonderful and displayed Daddy's payloader! The best gift, however, was that our lil boy finally felt better (after falling asleep for 3.5 hrs before we were able to sing Happy Birthday) and enjoyed the rest of the evening at home with his grandparents and tios and tias, playing with Rebecca at the condo, and opening his many, many presents.
my pad
scooter's jungle
Today Alexander had his first. bounce house experience at Scooter's Jungle in Aliso Viejo. While a bit tentative at the start, he warmed to at the end. I'm sure we'll be back.
Ariza Adventure
Today we headed out for an adventure. Mommy and Daddy decided to bet against the rainy weather and enjoy a few hours today at the San Diego Zoo - Alexander's 1st visit! Thankfully, we were able to beat the rain headed south for a couple hours and AAA was able to see orangutans (pictured here), lions, bears, elephants, and even a horse (among other ameenals)!! We got to see just enough before it started sprinkling.
fort portola
today was fort day. not bad for a first effort with one sheet.
boo!
Alexander's first real Halloween experience was awesome! Although a little unsure at first, by the end of the evening he was pointing at houses, saying 'house', saying 'treat' to get his trick or treat in and getting upset because mommy wouldn't let him open his candy right away!
click on the candy haul for more pictures!
ring ring.
apparently Alexander attempted a call earlier today...
updated. finally, sheesh.
it only took me roughly 8 months, but I finally updated the media section - you can now find photos and videos through september here. enjoy.
the idyllic farm
amazing grace
at night when I put Alexander to bed, I'll sing to him, either lullabies, movie tunes, or church songs. Of all the songs I sing to him, in English and Spanish, the one he's really taken to is the gospel, Amazing Grace. So much so, that he now sings some words of the first verse with me! and even on tune! He just constantly amazes me and I am in awe of him.
all aboard!
everyone is getting a ride today!
cookie monster!
construction!
seems we had some surprise work outside our window. Alexander took notice.
tortilla time!
Tonight, not only did Alex play in his tent for the first time, but he also made tortillas for the first time! After Mommy made the masa, he and Daddy placed the ball on the press, (which was made by Alexito's great-grandpa, Esteban), and then pressed it down to a perfectly shaped tortilla! Before dinner, Alex ate a couple of tortillas to make sure they were ok to eat! We had mini veggie-stuffed quesadillas with a doctored-up pico de gallo, blacks beans and brown rice.
tent it
it seems it doesn't take much more then a little tent to make a little boy very happy (even if it's falling apart a bit…)
amazon
a few months back, the state of california passed a law requiring online retailers like amazon to start collecting tax from purchasers in california. when it was signed into law, amazon cancelled our associates account. since then they've come to an agreement and will begin collecting tax sometime in the future and have re-enabled the associates accounts. as i mentioned when i first put it up, when you buy stuff via the link on the right (through our wish list portal) we get a small cut of the sale as advertising fees (it'll be a little less now as we contribute to the economic recovery of the great state of california!). at the time i didn't think it mattered that much, but we've managed to get a bit of cash that has been nice in offsetting some of the expenses of the little monster we all know and love.
so, should you be buying something online, why not use our account and get amazon to throw us a few bucks for doing so?
or perhaps you're looking for a book for alexander, try children's books
but anyway, thanks for helping out!