A Girls' Night for the 6 year old!

She turning 6 came unexpectedly. Her last year has gone so fast and she has delighted us and herself with the many little and big things she had achieved. This coming August, she starts primary school ... I can't even begin to wrap my mind around it. I can STILL remember my primary years, vividly!

So for Sera's birthday party, I tossed a few ideas around with Johan first, but in the end, when I consulted with her, she only wanted a sleepover party. A small one. That is Sera, always preferring intimacy to grandiose. She chose the girlfriends she wanted to invite, went through the itinerary with me and that was that. Pretty simple and so very doable. The party started from 4pm Saturday to 10am, Sunday. It was a long party considering the girls didn't go to bed, proper, till almost 11. The girls had a good time for sure and if Sera asked for a sleepover party next year ... sure, why not?!!!

A decadent chocolate cake

Ready for the movie of the night and popcorn

A story before bedtime

All cosied up and ready for bed ... well ... they chatted for another 2 hours at least

 

Breakfast is served - buttermilk pancakes with lots of fruit

And an energising yoga session to end the party

Mother's Day

It feels like Mother's Day has been ongoing these past few days, starting with Dia de la madre (Mother's Day) on 10 May here in Mexico and now finally, 13 May, it is celebrated by the rest of the world. It's a big celebration here. It is almost a public holiday with a big majority of schools closed for the day or an early dismissal. Needless to say, the traffic is horrifying during mid-day because mothers are being treated to a lavish comida at every restaurant that has rolled out the carpet for this very special day.

For me, mother of two incredibly spirited girls ... I am still not drawn to all these designated days of so-called importance. I think it probably has something to do with my own upbringing. My mama didn't wait for special days to celebrate something. Mama always said, "to take each day as it comes", and that really sums up how we were raised. Everyday mattered, and every day, whether exciting or boring, was a celebration. And with that in mind, I try (and always remind myself) to practise that with the 4 of us. 

Here in Mexico, early morning of 10 May, Sera came running into our bedroom, arms outstretched ready to dive into me for a great big hug. "Happy Mother's Day!", she excitedly giggled. Sera is always the last to get up in this family so that in itself was a big gesture that she didn't linger in bed the minute sleepy eyes opened. I walked into the girls' bedroom and Yassy was still curled up fast asleep. I gave her a big hug and slowly waking up, she muttered, "mama, I slept all by myself." Yassy is our little 'work in progress' as we are trying (mostly in vain) to wean her from crawling into our bed every night. That was the start of my 'mother's day' and you know what, it was perfect. Of course I had also received gifts and cards from Sera and Yassy, made lovingly and patiently at school for the past few weeks. Kudos to the teachers ...

So to my mama ... and my mommy friends all over, and I also include you, Sue-Lyn, I send my love and respect. Everyday, I continue to be encouraged and inspired by each and everyone of you. Besos!!! 

Celebrate everyday!

It's in her face

We CANNOT figure Yasmin out. After almost 4 years ... she is the most complex person ever. Sigh. With Yassy, she is only extremes. She is either extremely reserved and shy ... and on the flip side, she can be loud and with no inhibitions whatsoever. So imagine when her class teacher, during a recent parent-teaching meeting, said that Yasmin was "very quiet" in class, and "needed encouragement to be more assertive" ... we were gobsmacked! I couldn't help but exclaim, "I object!". No I didn't, but my reaction was certainly close to that. Whereas Johan just sat there, quietly smirking ... probably shooting arrows at me, myself and I. Not so fast Johan!
 
So apparently, Yassy's lovely class teacher sees only one side of Yassy (lucky her). And maybe it is a blessing (for us). I love Yassy with all my heart and maybe I'm just not suppose to figure her out but learn to accept (and appreciate) her as she is ... in all her 'Yassy kaleidoscopism'. So with her, I will ignite with anger, laugh out loud and, cry tears of joy and frustration ... all in 5 minutes. Oh Yassy ... there is and never will be a dull moment with you.

* Note - I wanted to take 1 photo to send to Johan but she completely missed the point of her 'time out', got all excited about posing that my 'punishment' all but failed miserably!

I gave her a 'time out' and what does she do ... party in the corner!

I told her to face the corner!

Just 2 minutes into the 'time out' she comes to me and starts posing ...

I tell her "it's not FUNNY" but she has no fear

See what I mean???

A princess she can never be ...

A decrowned one at best!

Little gymnasts

This is what the girls do every Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Gymnastics. Just one hour a session but they love it. They lasted a semester in ballet class (thanks to this very reluctant mama) but I think this is going to be their thing for a while. As a child, from 6 to twelve years old, I trained as  gymnast 3 to 4 hours a every Saturday morning, and sometimes on weekday afternoons when competition was round the corner. It was hard work but it definitely taught me a lot of things, two of which were discipline and good posture! And most importantly, I was always fit and active as a youngster. So hopefully, these gymnastic classes are going to benefit them in more ways than one!

Yassy is naturally flexible and the parallel bars ... she loves!

Sera may be clumsy but she keeps on trying 

Las mariposas de monarco

The Monarch butterflies start their migration from Canada, through the United States and finally congregate on the fir trees of Michoacan and other parts of Mexico. This annual migration happens between the months of November through March, and we made our second trip west this weekend to visit them.

We set off on Saturday afternoon to Valle de Bravo, a pretty lake town, to have have some leisure time with another family before visiting the butterfly reserve the next day. On Saturday we did a little exploration of the town. We went on a speed boat around the gorgeous lake, and gawk at all the beautiful lake side houses. The kids had a fantastic time (as did the parents) but we made up for the carbon footprint we added during that one hour by walking around the rest of the day! The rest of the day was a spent at the local park where we were treated to a traditional pole swinging dance. A what? Well basically there's a long vertical pole erected on the ground, about 25 metres long, whereby 4 guys in traditional garb spiral down to the ground with only a rope secured around their waists. Oh wait, there is also a man standing at the top, on the pole beating a drum and playing a flute. Can you picture it? Well, it's all very extreme but also very beautiful.

We ended the day at a Churreria (Churros restaurant). Churros are sinfully delicious! It is a Spanish doughnut (long and thin, like  Chinese 'yu-tiao', here in Mexico) and is typically found all over the Americas (and France too?). The pastry-like dough is fried till crispy yet moist on the inside, then sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, but you can also fill the hollow middle with chocolate, dulce de leche ... the sweet fillings vary in different countries. Be warned, one is never enough! Look ... I didn't even have time to take a photo because all 8 hands swapped them from the plate!

Sunday afternoon, after a long breakfast, we set off to the butterfly reserve about 40 mins drive from Valle de Bravo. The 45 mins trek up meant the kids all wanted to go on horses which just added more thrill to the journey. The parents huffed and puffed behind them! All tiredness vanished when we arrived at the sanctuary. It was peaceful, breathtaking and the constant 'swishing' you hear are from the millions of butterflies all around. All we did was sit on the whatever flat ground you could find and soak it all in. I would return every year if possible just to be part of this. Eventually, we made our trek back down ... all happy, light and very awe-struck. Reluctantly, we climbed into our cars, and drove into the Sunday traffic back into the city.  Till next year ...

Yassy playing captain of the boat

Girls had a great time on the speed boat ... Yassy really did!

Before we trekked up to the sanctuary

Sera and Yassy all set to go

Parents lagging behind

Just one of millions

The moody two

Papas with their binoculars

Close up

Cooking with the girls

Today girls were off from school (yet again!) for their half term holiday. Just one day but Mondays are a little difficult for all when it's a non-school day. The girls are usually very ready to go to school after the (usually active) weekend and I am usually ready to have some time off on Monday mornings. Anyway, it's the end of the day and the girls are already in bed. 'wink'

We had a busy afternoon in the kitchen as I have a new toy, a Kitchen Aid. Ahh, if you spend time watching cooking shows like yours truly ... a Kitchen Aid is a must to have! Haha. So Johan, sweet husband of mine, bought me one of those pretty mixers and today, the girls and I spend the entire afternoon in the kitchen ... playing with it! So what did we whip up? Well, there were black, 'rotten' looking bananas on the kitchen counter so banana chocolate cupcakes! Don't ever underestimate the power of ugly, over-riped bananas. Haha. Girls were more than happy to help make their own dinner too - pizza margarita. They made the sauce from scratch but ... the pizza dough was a fail. Hmm. The yeast didn't do its work so the crust was flat and lacked the spongy, crispy bite. Shucks. Better luck next time!

My little chefs helping with the pizza sauce

Cupcakes, straight out of the oven!

Pizza margarita

Yassy is working that bicycle!

Her first attempt was in the car garage at the basement. That was last Sunday. Today, we went to the skate park nearby for her to give it all she has ... and she gave us a good performance. Of course she's thrilled that she's cycling like the rest of us but more importantly, she's on her sister's bicycle!!! For Yassy, she probably thinks she has hit the jackpot. Ok, truth be told ... Yassy has a kind of 'whatever Sera can do, I can do it too' (one-sided) competition going on. Well, thankfully Sera doesn't care because that's just her.  Bless her!

So surprise, surprise ... Yassy didn't want to get off the bicycle. Johan had to literally wrestle her off the bicycle as we didn't want her cycling along the street pavements just yet. You know, only because the traffic here is just so tranquil! Anyway we're already looking out for another bicycle for Sera. We're being rushed into it a few months shy of Sera's birthday ... but keeping the harmony at home is far more important! Haha.

Our cool rider

Yassy's first attempt

Ahh, so apparently Blogger is up and running again! I'm doing my little happy dance. So here is a video I took of Yassy trying out Sera's bicycle. We were in the car garage thus the bad lighting.

A new year ...

I'm completely frazzled by blogger. In case you're wondering, last December, I tried to post before we went on our holiday but unsuccessfully so. In January, I tried again but the same rubbish! I mean, how many times do I have to write the same text and upload the same photographs? No one from Blogger was answering my pleas so I gave up!

So it's February and I'm going to try again. First by posting this simple post without any photos, and if I'm successful ... I will carry on with this blogging.

We're all doing pretty well here despite starting the new year with each one of us falling ill. We're all on the road to recovery ... almost there but I think the symptoms are going to last as long as the weather remains chilly. The girls are all doing well in school, still eager to go to school (that's always a good sign) and usually a big grin on their faces when they hop off the bus at the end of the day.

Sera and Yasmin have started gymnastic this month and they seem to be enjoying more than ballet ... so I'm happy to say that they are not returning to ballet classes. Phew, I'm not cut out to be a ballet mom I think. Just last Sunday, Yassy tried cycling on Sera's bicycle. She managed to cycle it for a few seconds so that was very exciting. Just some practise and she'll be raring to go. Our girls are growing up so fast ... it feels like a 100m dash all the time.

I hope all of you are having a nice start to the year ... let's stay in touch!

Now, let's see if Blogger is going to cooperate with me!?!?!?!

Happy New Year everyone!