February Happenings

Here's a rundown of our month. In future posts I'll try to break it down weekly... this post is kind of overwhelming. 

  First and foremost... amazing weather!  I don't know if I should be celebrating, because isn't this just a manifestation of global warming?? But man, who's going to complain?  February has indeed been very pleasant.  I love the climate here in Spain!  It's probably what I'll miss most. 

Yesterday, Ben was invited to a military formation where the queen attended and gave a speech.  We decided against the younger kids going, especially Cosette at this stage... she's a crazy handful is all I can say.  So, it was Dad and the two older girls. I was experiencing a little bit of FOMO (fear of missing out) but was happy they could have this experience and so grateful for the awesome pictures!

And they got to meet the queen!!  Isn't she stunning?  I particularly appreciate the two photo bombers on the left and right... haha. 

She also talked to the girls for a few minutes, which is super cool.  She reportedly asked them how they liked Spain and if they were learning Spanish... Si, Señora!  

My only regret was that I didn't get them fancied up a little more.  I went on a run before they had to leave and ran out of time to do something special with their hair.

Meanwhile, keeping' it real on the home front.  James had Axle over to play with which is always helpful for me when they have a playmate.  Busy, busy boys.  Look at their creation!

 

And keeping' it real with Coze.  She is seriously keeping me on my toes all waking hours (and sometimes non-waking hours) of the day.  We managed a bike ride yesterday to town after the crew got home and these are the only photos I got!  Yes, she has pastry crumbs in her hair!  We biked to a pasteleria called Mallorca right here in Pozuelo. It's a bit of a haul on the bike trail with lots of ups and downs but the kids actually did really well, albeit they were smoked by the end.  They are getting better and better on their bikes!  They complained about going, but when they got home they were beaming with pride for finishing the ride (maybe just happy to be done?).  I love seeing that kind of progress and development in them. It's good to push our kids to do hard things!

And some more exciting (or not so exciting) events from February.  I taught a couple women from our spouse association  how to make homemade rolls... Grandma Williams's recipe. They had previously been dinner guests in our home and had partaken of the sweet manna from heaven and requested a demonstration.  We finally fixed a date and made it happen.  One other friend, Maria from Spain,  couldn't make it at the last minute.  So it was France from France (yes, that's really her name) and Ana from Portugal.

Enjoying our chicken pillows... Ana on the left and France on the right.

 With the dough we made dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, and chicken pillows... which was probably biting off a bit more than I should have (no pun intended, haha).  It took the better part of four hours to do it all, but I think they had a nice time and enjoyed learning.

Ben and I attended an '80's party for our friend Jens from Germany.  The best part of the party was the music.  So fun to dance!  But when midnight strikes, I turn into a pumpkin and am done partying. Actually, it's more like 11:00.  Can we go home now?

Also, my Spanish tutor, Teresa, who I'm totally in love with, taught me how to make Cocido, a traditional Madrileno dish.  It's basically a glorified pot roast with chick peas. The broth is pretty intense though... they add bones, lard, chorizo, and lots of other unidentifiable objects to give it flavor.  It turned out alright, but what I really enjoyed was the soup I made with the leftovers. 

Teresa, my favorite Spaniard.  Maybe some time I'll dedicate an entire post to her. 

Caroline's domineering personality is strong as ever... Signs, like this, posted on her door have become more frequent when she feels she's been served some serious injustice by me, which is quite often these days.

And at the beginning part of the month, we had the Mizell children stay with us for TEN days!  Their parents went to the states job hunting for their upcoming departure from the state department. It was challenging, mostly because Ben was gone for a good chunk of it and Cozy was extra high maintenance.  Some of the suffering was self-inflicted because I thought it would be a good time to potty train... I forget what a herculean task that is.  But the kids had a blast and it was a special time for them.  Here are some photos:

And Potty Training:  Heaven help me!  The good news is that it's done now... it only took her a couple days ago to get the hang of holding it until she got to the potty, but it's still an effort.  She still wants someone to accompany her and help her every time.  Baby steps.

We also transitioned to the big girl bed... lots of changes for this one.  But she was more than done with the crib... throwing horrible fits at bed time and crawling into bed with her siblings instead.  

She'd opt to sleep anywhere but her crib!

But now she's doing great in her bed, a much easier transition than I anticipated.

Also, this girl loves to play in the bidet!  She makes such a mess with the soap and water, but it's better than letting her have the phone, which is her first choice!

Sunday stroll around the hood.  I do love this girl...

But she's crazy. 

Ben and I spent President's Day together... so nice because the kids are in school and Karla can stay with Cosette.  We met a colleague for coffee (hot chocolate) and then wandered El Retiro and went for lunch.  Such a beautiful day!  We love the city.

Waiting for a parent-teacher conference at the school... Emily got tons of praises from her teachers. 

And I love the little photos Agatha sends from Todos Ninos.  I get to peek at what James is up to during the day.  

We hosted a Valentine Couples Party with attaches and their spouses from Italy, Germany, and the U.S.  It was a lot of work, and kind of fun.  I don't know how much hosting I'll be doing in the future. We made these amazing raspberry cupcakes... the only pic I got a picture of.  We can solely thank them for our extra five pounds because we made way too many and had a ton of leftovers. 

And that's a wrap of the month!  See you next time!

Sorolla

Testing, Testing, 1 2 3... is anybody there??

Ahem.

It's been two and a half years since I've posted an entry.  

I'm feeling a bit giddy to be back...

I stopped because life was overwhelming as we were expecting our fourth child and preparing to move back to the states.  And honestly sometimes I felt bogged down in blogging.  We'd go on a trip and I would take 1000 pictures and then to have to delete, edit, transfer, download, and post them all just got too much.  And then I'd get behind and feel compelled to catch up. Leave no photo behind!!!

But now that I can automatically upload photos from my phone without having to actually download them to my computer is a DEAL BREAKER. 

And I'm not expecting another child.

And there is no move in the foreseeable future.

And I missed this form of record keeping.

And I'm going to scale back on how many photos I take.

One thing that turned me away from blogging is that I haven't been able to find a way to make a physical copy of the blog.  As in, a book.

So, instead I turned to making digital photo books as a way of chronicling our family life.  

And I think I successfully made ONE.

Can I just say I hate making photo books??

So, back to what I know.

We are so happy in Spain.  I truly enjoy it here.  Even in the heart of January I've been able to keep my spirits up.  I had seasonal depression in Germany, without a doubt.  And winters were so dang long.  Spain has a pleasantness about it, even in the dead of winter.  Sunshine.  Plant life.  Nice people. Casa de Campo is beautiful.  It doesn't feel like everything dies in the winter... lots of coniferous trees.  The clear bright skies are incredibly beautiful and uplifting.

Yesterday Ben and I dragged all four kids to the Sorolla Museum, in the heart of Madrid.  It's not easy to do on a Saturday.  The kids have been in school all week and would much prefer to just hang out at home.  And Dad too for that matter. I can't say I blame them so sometimes I give into their desires... and sometimes I put my foot down and drag.  I knew nothing about the impressionist artist Joaquin Sorolla until my Spanish tutor/dispenser of knowledge on all things Madrid told me about him and his museum and said we had to go. (Can I just say I adore my tutor Teresa?  More about her another day). I got some exposure to his work when I visited a Mediterranean exhibition a couple weeks ago, which was absolutely delightful.  His works contain primarily beach scenes with women and children, and he's known for his striking way of capturing sunlight in his art.

These are Sorolla's gardens.  

The museum, which was his former home, was amazing and I didn't take a single photo because I had to be on my kids like a hawk.  

I swear I could hear the collective sigh of relief from the staff when we finally left.

But it's somewhere I could see myself visiting again and again.  Without children, perhaps.