I intended for this blog to be a weekly chronicle of our lives, so that one day my daughters would be able to look back at where we were and what we did. Shame on me. I last blogged in December. I'll try to do a better job!
So, where have we been since? Or what has happened? We celebrated the holidays much like we do every year, counting our blessings and eating till our bellies nearly burst. Don't you just love that time of year? We gather with our loved ones, reflecting on the year past and planning for the year ahead. It was, as always, a great time in our home. And for that, we are so thankful!
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| My sister Emoy's gift to Herman! |
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| Twins turn 3! |
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| Alia turns 7! |
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| Twins and Alia's Birthday! |
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| Mom's 79th Birthday! |
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| The girls and Ciara their cousin at Sea World! |
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| Daddy and his girls! |
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| Twins looking cute on Valentine's Day! |
On to 2012, we started in January by celebrating Herman's 50th Birthday! When we met, Herman was 32, a "baby" I guess, although being 8 years older than me, I always thought of him as "older" when we met. We had a low key dinner at home, that's what he wanted, not too surprised there. Then comes February, a busy month for us. Alia, Ania and Aila have birthdays. We celebrated Alia's birthday with a gathering of her school friends at home, and then we celebrated the twins and Alia at home the following week. Then we celebrated my Mom's 79th birthday, at IHOP, since this is her favorite "American" restaurant, she tells me. We gathered a bunch of her "girlfriends" mostly, family and had a nice lunch. Then we went crazy and went to Sea World for President's Day weekend. The crowds were crazy, but the girls had fun. And since we now have yearly passes, I assure you we will visit again soon. I tell you, busy is an understatement.
As I wrote in the previous post, the twins turned 3, and three is big for us. I am happy to say, they are "toilet trained!" Having bought $100 worth of diapers for the last three years every time I step foot in Costco, I am thrilled to say those days are behind us. Mind you, I hang out with a cute Dora potty chair in the trunk of my SUV, but that's okay. I can deal with that. So now the talking. Boy, can they talk. Aila has always followed Ania's lead, she seems to be the "leader" and I can say that they are now both very verbal. They really do imitate each other all day and repeat each other's words. As I've said before, it's great to see the connection they share. Although they fight, physically, they still love each other very much! We are so blessed to have them.
Anel is doing very well in middle school. She recently made it to Principal's Honor Roll, which means she got straight A's in all subjects this semester. That is quite an accomplishment, and we are beaming with joy. Middle school is a very different ball game. She gives up time during her weekends to catch up on work that she feels she needs to review, like Mathematics or Literature. I tell her, if it was easy, everyone would make it to Honor Roll right? That's just the way it is. Wait till she gets to high school and college.
Alia is doing well in 1st grade, although she has had her rough spots here and there in terms of conduct. I have bribed her with a "Mystery Bag" - if she doesn't change her behavior card for three days, she gets a treat from the bag. It has worked for the most part. Alia makes parenting the equivalent of going in for a root canal, or setting your hair on fire. Enough said.
Herman continues to travel extensively which is great for our Marriott Rewards Points, but not so great for my sanity. But I've learned to deal with it, and with the help of good friends who help me taking and bringing the girls to school, I've been able to manage.
I hope to update this blog much more regularly from here on out.
Thanks for reading up to this point, and here's hoping I blog some more this week, because, I am blessed!
