Yesterday, I was reading a Woman’s Day magazine, when they had an interesting article about children’s crafts. Instead of saving every piece, save the best ones, but take photos of the rest. Use a software like Blurb to create books of these photos.

I have saved every piece the kids have created since they were babies. It’s now getting a little crazy. Therefore, it’s time to let go of them and start getting real. Definitely a book is better than piles of crafts.

My parents did that when we were growing up. Whenever we entered the house, we were banned from speaking anything but Spanish. It worked. Whenever we went to a Panamanian party, we were the only offspring who spoke both languages perfectly.

I am doing my kids a huge injustice just speaking English to them. They are losing all the Spanish words they knew when we lived with my parents. I am going to start on the 1st because tomorrow is scrambling day trying to get everything prepared for the New Year’s Eve party I’m throwing.

My goal is that by the time we go to Panama in April, they will begin understanding some words.

“I was happy to see him so excited”

How I did it: We headed to the pumpkin patch with the entire family and spent the entire day there.  On Sunday, we headed to the bowling alley, and the children played for awhile.  Their cousins came over, and they had a blast painting the pumpkins and playing games.

Lessons & tips: Listen to your child and think about a budget.

Resources: My own experience

It took me 10 days.

It made me happy

“Exhilarating and exciting time”

How I did it: I decided to go for my son’s birthday and invite the entire family.  We had five hours of fun, and we were beat afterwards.  It was definitely worth it!

Lessons & tips: Look for coupons and go around mid-October when everything is at its prime.

Resources: Internet, DC Our Kids, WashingtonPost, and experience

It took me 15 days.

It made me extremely happy!

Isabelle doesn’t have a soccer game, so we are taking the opportunity to head to the Belvedere pumpkin patch. I have been going here since Cebastian was two, and I was carrying Isabelle in my arms. It’s a yearly ritual that we do, and I want to continue the tradition.

The pumpkin patch is amazing. It has a huge corn maze, rides, authentic kettle corn, apple butter, pumpkins, hay ride, zip lines. I love it! I made it the place for the family to meet to celebrate Cebastian’s birthday. After his behavior at school, I wasn’t sure about it; however, a child’s birthday is very important.

If you get a chance to go to a pumpkin patch, don’t hesitate. It’s worth it.

I have decided that on Saturday we are heading to the pumpkin patch, and then on Sunday, we are going bowling. He will have a great time, and that is exactly what I want. The beginning of school caused an increase of what we have to do every day, so we all need the break.

The kids and I have been adjusting to our new routine more and more each day. I have been taking them to all of their practices, and I am FINALLY sleeping at a decent time. Not going to lie, yesterday, I let them stay up a little bit. Isabelle and I passed out at 8:45 p.m. cause we were exhausted. I think it was all of the mosquitoes that were kicking our butts when we were watching Cebastian run. We met this nice lady, and we hung out with her the entire time joking around.

Kids need routine, and I think adults do as well. I am glad that I am finally in a routine that I can live with. This weekend is going to be exciting because Cebastian has his first meet, and Isabelle is getting her soccer pictures taken. I plan on going to yoga and body pump in the morning, and then heading to watch her at her game. I will be going incognito because she doesn’t play because she is attached to my hip. I plan to watch Cebastian on Sunday, and I think I might do the 5K charity race for the FPYC. I need the exercise, and I am always up for helping with a good cause.

When this routine is going for a few weeks, I’m going to add a dog to our small family.

Routines are the best, and everyone should have one.

I have been taking the kids to all of their practices. The issue is my daughter Isabelle. She won’t even attempt to play soccer. If you would see the way she is behaving, you would think that I am the one forcing her to play. However, the truth is she was begging me for months to let her play. I was apprehensive after the disaster of trying to get my son Cebastian to play at that age, but I finally agreed. Now, I am fuming because she is constantly crying, standing around, and not listening to the coach. Today I took all of her dresses, which is the only article of clothing that she will wear, out of her room. I said that she needs to play or else she won’t get her dresses back. She said she would play. However, I can’t help but think I am being too harsh. Should I just take is as a loss and not take her to the practices and games? Grrrr….

The first day of school didn’t go off with a hitch. You can read more about that here http://dcfemella.com/blog/2008/09/the-bus-fiasco/ . Other than that, the routine is running pretty smoothly. I am getting the kids to their practices, and they are getting to school on time. It’s time to start working on my writing schedule now that they seem to be doing fine. We’ll see how things go when we add homework to the mix.