our weekend

Our Easter Weekend

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By now I should probably re-name this blog “the week after blog”… given the fact that I NEVER post when I really plan to or want to… oh well, something for me to work on.

Here’s a quick snapshot and ton of photos of our Easter Weekend. Our first as a Party of 7! 🙂

FRIDAY

We had a long weekend as a family thanks to my awesome agency that closed on Good Friday. The day off allowed me to spend some great quality time with the fam plus run some pending errands like sending my car for a much needed tune up!

With time to spare after dropping off the car, we went Bicycle shopping for Nico. His birthday was coming up and although he loves riding his Strider, he has been seeing some kiddos around his age riding bikes with pedals and he had been asking for one….

After a good amount of research from Becca and a couple of phone calls, we were able to find out the bike we wanted was at a local bike shop. After checking it out, we decided to buy it.. It was more than what we originally were willing to pay for it but we ended up getting a nice solid bike he can grow into it for a couple of years and of course depending on the condition he can hand it down to Santi or Emi or Ale… God knows we have options! 🙂

Here’s Nico’s new bike! And of course now I got Nati asking for a new one for her…

After riding bikes and scooters, we went to pick up my car and headed to the Strider BMX track where they were hosting a fundraiser for a 4 year old kid who is fighting cancer! – Hearing stories like this is one of the saddest things for us. In many occasions we’ve discussed with Becca how no one is “safe”… you think that delivering healthy babies will get you to the other side but that is not true.. that is just the beginning.. Unfortunately, many things can happen down the road. Kids from all ages have been born 100% healthy and are being diagnosed with life changing diseases, conditions, etc. I certainly pray every night to God to thank him for our kids’ health and to ask him for continuous health throughout their lives. I know something like that will devastate me.

The night was a success.. I am not sure how much money they raised but there were a good amount of people and they had a 2^nd event scheduled for Saturday. We met our good friends there and the kiddos once again had a great time racing on their Striders.

SATURDAY

Saturday was Party Time! We took the kids to one of our friend’s 3 year old birthday party! It was a super cool party at a reservation that involved a presentation of animals that live in their habitat. The kiddos got to see snakes, birds, spiders and some reptiles! I was crazy impressed at Nati… she held not 1 but 2 snakes!!! That’s 2 more than I am willing to hold! Nico was more like me and did not want any part of it.. Santi did not want any part of it either but the snake gave him no choice… (I would’ve freaked out and screamed… Santi simply froze and keep an eye on that thing that was crawling on him… yikes!).

From the party we went to our friend’s house. They recently bought it and did some awesome renovations to the house and it looks amazing! We had a beer, I got peed on by Emilio (or Santiago… fyi, they look alike.. ), we hung out for a bit and then headed out to run errands to prepare for our Easter Sunday with Family.

EASTER SUNDAY

Family events are always fun for us. We love entertaining and having people over whether it is friends or family. This year we had my mom and dad (who was visiting from Colombia), my sister and her kiddos and some of my sister’s friends stopped by later in the day.

Our day started off with an Easter Egg hunt around the house… The Easter Bunny came in, ate some carrots and left clues that led to other clues to find the “hidden treasure”. The kids loved it. This year was special because Nati has been reading so well so she got to read ALL the clues! Nico was in charge of cracking the egg open and Nati would read the clues. They had a great time reading and finding them. The Easter Bunny brought Nati a new swim suit (which she wore later that day at the pool), Nico a Lego Movie and Santi a Word World movie. The babies got some new toys. Everyone was happy.

For lunch we grilled out some steaks, brats and had them with salad and rice. It was yum! We purchased the meat from a local meat shop and we are definitely going back!

Our lunch was followed by pool time! The weather was amazing. The water was still not hot enough for my liking but the kids did not seem to mind. It was the first time they got in this year and had a great time. Previous to Easter Sunday we had already declared this coming Summer “The Summer of Nico”. Our goal is to have Nico swimming before the summer is over! We’ll see how it goes…

And of course, before the day was over, we did the “official” Easter egg hunt. We had prepared 40+ eggs with some candy and small toys. We hid them around our yard and had the kids find all the eggs. It is always fun to see their excitement when looking for these eggs and opening what they got. Shortly after, we wrapped it up — everyone went home to prepare for the week ahead.

It was a blessed weekend. We are thankful we got to spend it together as a family. We hope everyone had a blessed and fun weekend as well.

HAPPY EASTER 2015!

Our weekend

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As complex as our life has gotten with the addition of two new babies to our family, our lives seem to be full of joy, great times as a family and very fun weekends.

The weather has been amazing in Florida for the past couple of weeks so we love being outside with the kids. They love it too. Our weekend started on Friday night with Nico’s BMX Strider race. The night consists of about 15 minutes of riding their striders in the big track followed by 3 heats by age. The first 2 heats “qualify” them (although everyone moves on) and the 3rd heat is the heat/motto for placement…

Happy rider. I can’t ask for anything more.

Our Saturday began with Nico’s soccer game. This is the second season I coach the U4 team and once again I am loving it! The kids are so sweet and seem to be having a lot of fun with my silly games. Their smiles and hugs are a great reward at the end of every game and every practice. Right here we are “stretching” before our game. Go Chargers!

The future of U.S Soccer.

Soccer was followed by scooters, dress up, bike riding and Dad playing tag with the kids… Well.. it was more like Dad chasing the kids and them singing “you can’t catch me!”…. They love it!

It took us a while to become “beach people”… the amount of stuff we need to take to the beach, the mess in the car and the hassle to get to the beach prevented us to get to the beach in the past but for about 2 years now, we’ve been going to the beach with friends. We try to meet every other Sunday. It is awesome. Not only do the kids absolutely love it, but it is a lot of fun for us too! It has become an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors, enjoy Florida’s weather and beaches, have the kids enjoy time with their friends and us to enjoy time with ours! Is a win-win for everyone. It is the “takes a village” concept in full motion :).

This past weekend was no different. We arrived at the beach around 10:30am and did not leave until almost 4pm! Time flew! And we had some super tired kiddos that night. Mission accomplished.

P.S – we are beginning to master the art of taking 5 kids to the beach. It looks like it will be an insanely fun summer!

Our first family beach day! 8 details that helped us pull it off!

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This past week, Nico and Nati were on their spring break, which meant Becca took care of 5 kids by herself most of the week since I had to go to work. To give her a break and get the kids out of the house, we decided to go to the beach! Here is a list of 8 things that made our first beach day as a party of 7 a success!

Time Flexibility: Although we knew some people would be getting to the beach at 9:30, we did not stress to get there at that time.. Given the fact Emilio and Alejandro had a rough night (and therefore so did Becca and I), we had gone to bed late so we let the kids sleep in. Life with kids does not always work as planned, so being flexible and not sweating the little things help. We believe kids work better in a non-pressured environment. No rush. No stress. No fights. 🙂 The beach will be there no matter what time we show up.

A full baby is a happy baby.. a hungry baby – not so much! J . Prior to our departure to and from the beach, we made sure the babies were fed (tried to time it around their 3-4 hour schedule). This helped for a much more enjoyable beach day and for quiet car rides. 😉

Planning what to bring: As simple as it sounds, beach outings require items such as beach chairs, tent, umbrella, change of clothes, snacks, cooler, towels, sand toys among others… it ends up being a ton of stuff, so packing most of the stuff the night before (or at least having a plan of “attack” in the morning) helps for an easier and more efficient morning… This was our first time with 5 kiddos. We had to pack extra for the babies and because we knew we would be at the beach for a while — it’s not worth going through the crazy hassle for just 1 hour of fun. Which brings me to my next point..

“Plan” how long to stay at the beach: Ha! This sounds easy on paper. As parents we know most of the time things don’t go as planned, hence #1 on the list is very important. But it is good to estimate how long you’ll stay – Will you be there long enough to need lunch? Are you planning on having lunch by the beach? (do you need a change of clothes). In our case, will we be at the beach long enough so the babies would need to be fed again? Having an idea helps you prepare for things to come as the day goes by, when prepared (or semi-prepared) things flow more smoothly.

Shade, shade, shade (and don’t forget sunscreen): I must admit, I overplanned for shade this time around. I brought a canopy/tent (like this one), a cocoon for the babies to protect them from sand and sun (we have a fisher price version of this item), and a beach umbrella. Becca planned well and applied sunscreen on our other 3 kids and the boys always wear rash guards with SPF to protect them from the sun. Now, Dad is a different story… I forgot to apply sunscreen and paid the price the couple of days after. Dumb move on my part. Plan for shade. The sun is fun, but can also be harmful. Plus it’s good to have a shady spot after being in the sun for a while. Don’t forget sunscreen!

Keep an eye on the kids and relax: Huh? Yes, it can be done. As long as we know where our kids are at all times, we can relax, have a beer, talk to other adults and chill out. Some parents overprotect their kids and make the outings annoying for their kids and for everyone around them… The kids will be kids, they like to jump waves, make sand holes, run around without being careful, etc etc. We make sure we keep an eye on them, supervise and correct if/when needed and then let them get back to having fun.

Don’t sweat the sand: Sand will be everywhere. As much as you rinse off by the beach and shake all items prior to putting them back in the car, sand will find its way to be everywhere… It is what it is. I am not going to lie, it took me a while to come to peace with that and I have learned not to sweat it anymore. I have 5 kids… the days of a clean car at all times are long gone (actually not sure if they were ever there J).

Enjoy the beach and enjoy the kids: We don’t get to go to the beach every day. The beach offers so many cool things you can’t find anywhere else and is such a different “playground” for the kids! Plus, it offers super cool photo ops capturing the kids having a blast with their friends and siblings. We always come back from the beach with fun memories and a TON of pics to prove it (as seen below :)) .

More and more we are becoming comfortable experiencing things as a family of 7- as parents of 5 kids under the age of 6 and as parents of 6 week old twins. We don’t shy away from life. We embrace it. We learn and confirm we can do it! Yes, it is not the easiest and it has its challenges but the rewards and memories make every second worth it.

CHEERS TO LIFE!

OUR WEEK – A BALANCING ACT

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Throughout our six years of parenting, we’ve never been a family committed to a “structured routine”. We have been more a “go with the flow” type and that has worked for us. Yes, of course, there is a “loose” routine that we try to adhere to, but we are very flexible since every day brings on new challenges.

With Emi and Ale, things have been more structured, and although we still don’t follow a strict schedule, we do make sure they are doing things like eating and “sleeping” at the same time… otherwise Becca would be feeding a kid every hour on the hour… but that’s a whole other post.

Since Becca’s family left, we’ve been working on returning to our normal routines and making sure everyone is able to participate in their extracurricular activities. Nati attends modern dance, ballet and gymnastics, Nico rides BMX strider every other week (or we try to) and he started his soccer season once again and Dad plays Ultimate Frisbee with the Florida Masters team (33+ years of age).

I am not going to lie.. it has been hard for Becca to haul all 5 kids to dance and gymnastics, but luckily I’ve been able to take off early 2 days of the week so I can attend Nati’s gymnastics and coach Nico’s soccer team. In addition, we juggled this weekend so I could run errands for our business on Saturday morning, and then I headed out to Gainesville for our team’s practice/tryouts… Plus it doesn’t end with just their activities… we then rush home to prep/eat dinner, get lunches ready, do homework, put kids to bed, etc etc.

Last week, Nati was also asked to participate in her school’s Open House event. She and other kids from her kindergarten class showcased a few of the awesome things they’ve learned this year, and some of her art was even featured! She was so proud, and deservingly so.

Nati’s Art featured at the Open House

Nico and Santi helping get Emi and Ale to the Open House. 🙂

I mention the above because Becca told me Nati wanted to participate and asked me if we could make it. I said: “If it is important to her and she wants to do it, we’ll make it happen”, and so we did. And we always do. We believe it is important for everyone to be able to do what they want (within reason) and feel the support of the family (all of us).

I know it was hard on Becca this weekend when I left her with all 5 kids so I could go practice (Nico was supposed to come with me but bailed last minute because the weather was crappy… smart man). We knew it would be difficult, but Becca understands how important it is to me and it had been on our calendars for quite some time now. She was a champ and I was SO appreciative of her sacrifice so I could enjoy what I love.

Due to so many accidents on the interstate, I was re-routed through the country roads. So relaxing.

Horse farms in Ocala, FL on my way to Gainesville.

This past week was a great learning week for us. It taught us that although it will not be easy, we can still manage to fit in what everyone loves to do and do it with everyone’s support. Yes, there are sacrifices being made, but that’s what we do for the people we love. After this week we feel ready, very ready. Bring it on life.

This picture sums up the crazyness levels at home. LOL.

Strike a pose. Policemen version.

Some of our favorite pics from the week/weekend.

The wheels came off… How we ended up our week…

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That’s right, after a fun week that included having the kids at the office, celebrating my mom’s (nona) birthday, spending thanksgiving surrounded by loved ones and even doing some Black Friday Shopping (I know… we thought we were crazy too – shopping with 3 kids and a pregnant mom), the wheels came off on Saturday and Sunday— Nati’s bicycle training wheels that is.

Yes! After pushing it off for so many weekends, we finally committed to making it happen this weekend. Saturday afternoon we decided to take the bikes out to teach Nati how to ride without the assistance of training wheels… This was the first time I had taught someone how to ride a bike, so it was a first for both of us and I had no idea how it was going to go down…

After removing the wheels and adjusting her seat, we started off with me holding the back of her seat. After a couple of rides in front of our house and reminding her to “keep her balance” (which I read after the fact is one of the worst things you can say when trying to teach someone to ride a bike – of course…) we took a break and when we got back into it, I held less onto the seat while helping maneuver the seat to correct her balance…

After a good 20 minutes or so, I was able to let go for a second or two at a time without letting her know about it…. (all while running next to her). Little by little we both got better at it and finally I was able to let go for longer periods of time!

When I was able to let go for probably 5 seconds and then stopped the bike, I was SO happy for her! I got on my knees next to her, high fived her and gave her a huge hug for her awesome accomplishment!! She was so happy. I was so proud. She was so proud. Truthfully, I was probably more excited than she was. 🙂

I still picture that moment. The moment where she smiled back at me and we both realized she now knew how to ride a bike; it will be a moment I will never forget. It was such a great accomplishment for both of us and I will forever cherish those few seconds when we cheered and held each other in celebration.

That moment also reminds me of how awesome and rewarding it is to raise kids. The thought of so many more moments like these with Nati and our other children fills my heart with joy and anticipation for the future.

Nati will be the one that will pave the road for the other kids and the one that will fill our lives with a lot of “firsts”. She is also the one that with her life experiences will teach us how to be better parents and be better prepared for when her siblings experience similar things growing up.

So Thank You, Nati. Thanks for that amazing moment, for the many more moments to come, and for helping us weave through the parenting maze. We love you.

Our Yard Sale debacle…and the rest of the weekend.

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Sigh… where to start..

I guess, first of all this whole thing went down because since we now know that our twins are boys and we have “closed the shop”, there is no need to keep hanging on to Nati’s clothes.

This led us to look for what we had…. Which led us to find 10 full containers in the attic (always fun getting up there in a hot day… NOT) with clothes ranging from Newborn to 4T. Pants, onesies, jackets, shorts, skirts, shoes, sandals, blankets, warm PJs, light PJs, matching outfits, non-matching outfits, etc, etc, etc…

After a couple of afternoons and nights sorting through all these things and “categorizing” them, we were finally ready – or so we thought. We did not realize we had that much stuff! We had 3 tables full of pants/shorts, another one with shirts and a third one with dresses.. We also had 4 containers full of onesies, pjs, matching outfits and about 50 pairs of shoes/sandals to lay next to the tables.

I know that for most people this may sound like a piece of cake… well, let me tell you, add 3 kids and a missing wife (gone for the day at a school venue prior to pulling the tables out on the driveway) and the whole thing was not that much fun…

But wait there’s more! The day before, Becca and I decided that it would be cute to have the kids sell cupcakes and water to our visitors AND that would keep them busy while I “worked the sales floor”….

So in addition to the whole tables/containers/shoes setup, we also had to setup their sales stand.

And then we waited… and waited… A couple of go-byers here and there… after a lot of sitting around waiting for customers, we realized that our neighborhood did not really cater to young families (the average age in my neighborhood is probably 70 – and that’s because a couple of young families have moved in…:) ) and most of the people that came by were older people looking for home stuff and every now and then for stuff for their grandkids.

We did get some customers and ended selling $100+ but we still have 90% of our stuff!! Now the task continues as we try to sell these things on Facebook groups and consignment stores… sigh… I hope all the time spent on this is all worth it at the end… definitely the time spent and stress associated with this yard sale was NOT! But oh well, we live, we learn…. It was our first and more than likely our last!

P.S – the neighborhood yard sale was the whole weekend.. we woke up early, got ready to make one final push… but… when I stepped out of the house, the streets were dead and no one had set up their yard sales… So, I turned back around and went on with our day.

Our Weekend

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We really cherish weekends — with how hectic weekdays are, we really try to maximize our time together on our weekend by trying to do fun stuff that involves all of us. Yeah, of course errands and other pre-scheduled events “get in the way” but we always try to spend as much time together as possible.

For the past couple of weekends, on Saturday mornings, I’ve been coaching Nico’s soccer team (3 & 4 years old). It did not start as something I signed up for but more as something that fell on my lap (they needed a coach on the first day and I happened to be there. :)). At first I did not know if it was something I was going to like or be good at but it grew on me and Nico loved it! Enjoying time with Nico and coaching the other little ones was a blast and now it is something I look forward to and hope to continue to coach him and Santi and all my kids if I have a chance. This is the Soccer Club we signed up for.

After soccer, we went to Indian Rocks to do some product pick ups and had lunch at P.Js Oyster Bar and Seafood — the food was good and the kids loved it. Unfortunately it was too windy to sit outside, otherwise we would’ve loved listening to the Live Music (there were like 3 people outside… felt bad for the musician).

On our way back, we had to stop at our local library to check out some books for a project for Nati. We got lucky because the library was one of the early voting places so we went ahead and voted! Nati chose to do her project on White Tigers (chosen mostly because she just got a stuffed animal at Busch Gardens). She created a habitat and next to it described their classification and 3 interesting facts about them. It was her first project ever and she did a great job at it! 🙂

Sunday started off really lazy… we continue to declutter the house and setting up the new rooms for the kids — everyone is moving around (more on a future blog). After a semi-lazy morning, we finally got out of the house and went to Home Depot to get new paint for their rooms — I did not realize paint could be THAT expensive… we ended paying $70+ on 2 gallons of paint! I am definitely in the wrong business!! I guess the painting option is cheaper than a new house or full remodeling of our current one but darn!!!

After my shocking experience at Home Depot, we head out to Chipotle for lunch (Becca’s favorite) and then to Sports Authority to get some shin guards for Nati — she started playing soccer at school and the other day her legs were all bruised up! 🙁 So I decided it was time for some protection… hehe… I wish I would’ve thought about it earlier…

After a productive weekend, we ended up relaxing on our couch catching up on some TV and enjoying Brownie Moose Tracks ice cream thanks to Nico’s suggestion — one of my few cheats over the weekend– I am really trying to be good.