Feliz Pascua (Happy Easter)!

I thought Kendall would wake up early but he didn't so I had time to hide 12 eggs before I reminded him today was Domingo de Pascua. He went downstairs and put the Abuelos package next to him on the couch then called me. There were muchos carros in the basket and a little dulce. I reminded Kendall about church. He was not pleased but I told him we will go to church every Sunday and today was Sunday. Looking for the eggs distracted him for a few minutes. He found all the eggs muy rapido - next year I'll do a proper egg scavenger hunt! He washed up and put on his nuevo ropa and we were off to church!

Listening and sitting in iglesia is something we are going to have to work on but all in all he did a good job! He went to the children's sermon solamente and spoke to lots of folks. He finally met Alyssa and Justin Schmoyer! Alyssa is close to his age and Justin can be a "hermano mayor." They both along with their Mom, Gina, attend the 8am service with us. He really wants to take communion so I am hoping he is able to do so with the current class in April.

We went to Dunkin Donuts for donuts for both of us, cafe para mi and chocolate caliente para Kendall. He helped me clean the house a bit then played with nuevo carros desde Los Abuelos. I was able to get some more housework done before we watched Buscando Nemo in 3D. This is another outstanding movie in 3D. The first time we watched this, we listened in Spanish, I did not put have the English subtitles and I was organizing paperwork so I didn't watch the entire film. This time we listened again Spanish but with English subtitles and I took the time to really pay attention. And we put our manos out during the coolest 3D parts of the movie, which was a lot! What I need to work on is giving Kendall my total attention and time, learning what we can do together and finding a balance between between work and family.

There are many photos below including Kendall before church, during church with nuevo amigos, close ups of the eggs we dyed yesterday and a nuevo vaso for our hatched chick. We are moving it to his cuarto so we can see how big it will grow.


We hope everyone has a Blessed Easter!

Allison y Kendall

Feliz Sabado!

Kendall was up a little earlier this morning about 7:30am.  He decided to not listen to me and act like a much younger niño so we ended up having a discussion about communication, eating one piece of comida at a time, chewing and eating at the table (not in our bedrooms). It was a long talk and Kendall ended up in his bedroom.  I followed him and told him when he was finished in his room, he could join Cordelia, Rosalind and myself downstairs for some fun.  That seemed to put him back on track and we enjoyed a nice breakfast.  We checked on the chick almost ready to hatch then he headed to the piscina in his bano and I headed to mine!

This morning, Kendall used room spray as cologne. The spray as been in his room on the top of his dresser but he just noticed it this morning.   When I explained to him what it was, we both had a good laugh.  Then he sprayed a few of his peluches and almohadas on his bed.  He uses perfumed baby oil and one peluche - the rabbit - was also doused with this. Too many smells at once!

We spoke to the Abuelos and everyone is excited for Domingo de Pascua.  Kendall has nuevo ropa and is anxiously awaiting opening the paquete from the Abuelos.  And he has not forgotten about the dulce!

Kendall kept saying tresde so when I typed it in google translate it suggested Tres D. He wanted to know what 3D movies we had. Then we watched Up in Tres D. Fue fabuloso and I highly recommend this movie. I did cry from the story and picked up more Spanish the second time around.

Today we were invited by Adrienne Nash Melendez and Carlos Melendez, fellow members of our church, over to their house in the afternoon. Their niece, Marielis, is in the first grade and her first language is Spanish. She speaks English but is still learning and is in ESL. We dyed easter eggs, played games, talked in Spanish and English and of course, watched TV. Adrienne plays the harp and she showed Kendall the instrument and gave him a quick lesson even though the harp was out of tune. Carlos' brother and Aunt were there also and we thank them for a fun afternoon!

We made some Nestle Easter Cookies and Kendall saw cookies for other holidays on the package. He decided that we will buy cookies for each holiday. It told him we can bake cookies by combining ingredients from a recipe and use cookie cutters to make cookies in different shapes and he liked that idea too. One of the holidays was Valentine's Day. He didn't understand what I told him so I translated Día de San Valentín es el día en que usted y yo nos mudamos a vivir juntos (Valentine's Day is the day you and I moved in together) to which he replied El día que nos convertimos en una familia (The day we became a family).

We are blessed - buenas noches!

Kendall slept until a little after 10 am. I was able to take care of Cordelia, have a few cups of coffee and get myself ready for the day. I made buttermilk waffles which rated a kiss on each cheek and a muy rico. So far the best morning ever! He wanted a third waffle but in front of the TV to which I said no, it's either TV or the third waffle at the dining room table. The TV won but he did wander once into the kitchen to check on the third waffle. He noticed that I did not the syrup on it. I had to google translate Es mejor esperar para que el jarabe de la galleta hasta que esté listo para comer porque el gofre conseguirá empapado (It's better to wait to put the syrup on the waffle until you are ready to eat it because the waffle will get soggy).

Our other conversation was about buying toys. He told me we were going to buy a toy for him today and I told him we were buying a gift for the whole family not just for him. Today we were going to buy a 3D Blu Ray player. We have a 3D TV and 2 pairs of lentes.  We discussed juguetes only for birthdays and Christmas.  I can't wait to see his list!

The first photos are Kendall's first handmade gift to me.  He must have made it at the YMCA.  The strip and the envelope had a 3 on it.  He gave it to me out of the blue right before he took his bath.  I have it on my bedside table and I love it :)

He was in the bath for quite awhile having fun in the tub.  He decided to wear the new t-shirt from the Abuelos and then we were off to Longwood Gardens (a surprise for Kendall) and to buy the 3D Blu Ray player.  He was not thrilled when we stopped at Longwood Gardens but after some coaxing he enjoyed the casas de arbols, flores, lagos and gift shop.  We left the jardin de ninos for another day. I am excited because he does not like walking but seemed to love Longwood, which is 20 minutes from our house. We also share a family membership with Shannon Chan so now we have 2 adults and 3 children that can make wonderful memories there.

We bought a Samsung 3D Blu Ray player to match the TV and he chose Hotel Transylvania as the 3D movie he wanted to watch. The choices were Hotel Transylvania, Wreck It Ralph and The Rise of the Guardians. Transylvania looks like Pennsylvania so perhaps that is why he chose it, I am not sure. 3D is absolutely excepcional and "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!" We both enjoyed the movie and look forward to our next one!

The Good Friday service was at 7:30pm and when we started our day it was on our agenda but at 7:10pm Kendall after the movie ended decided he did not want to go.  We argued until 7:40pm including tears but finally we reached an understanding church is important to both of us and we need to work together.  Kendall agreed to 9 minutes at church and he wanted a bedtime of 10pm which I finally agreed to but 10pm only reading a book- so yes, we made a deal. But we stayed until the end of the service. We did not go into the sanctuary but stayed in the back and he asked a lot of questions in Espanol.

Once back at nuestra casa, we read 2 stories about Jorge Curioso using a CD and talked about the illustrations and then called it a day.

Buenas noches!

Seis semanas juntos como Mama e hijo y la semana un pequito más de uno en los Estados Unidos (Six weeks together as Mom and son and a little over one week in the United States)...

Kendall spent the day at the YMCA and loved it!  We did have some trouble in the morning as he has decided that he is getting up too early. I cannot blame him and it is not easy for me, either! When I told him that, we came to a compromise for this morning and a new plan for next week. So we are going to take a shower in the evening and change our evening routine.  For today, Kendall washed up, got dressed, brushed his teeth and was ready in 20 minutes!

I dropped him off at the YMCA at 6:30am and picked him up at 5pm after work.  He was able to swim and play with muchos amigos from his and other schools. Él se ha adaptado a cada situación con la voluntad de aprender, escuchar y siempre una sonrisa hermosa - por eso estoy muy agradecido (He has adapted to EVERY situation with a willingness to learn, listen and always a beautiful smile - for this I am very thankful)!

We received another package from the Abuelos - he loved the clothes. This gift was for our first week together. Abuelos - I think he thought it was a juguete! He cannot wait until Sunday when he can open the Pacua paquete. There is a video of Kendall playing the paquete like a drum!  He also received his first magazine.  We checked on our egg hatching experiment and took a few photos of the two of us.  We went to our church tonight and attended an "abbreviated" Seder service.  Kendall participated and for the most part enjoyed it.  He was ready to go home after the first part of the service so we did not stay for our Maundy Thursday service. We did get gas tonight on our way home and Kendall helped me pump and washed ALL of the car windows!

We are watching Buscando Nemo.

Buenas noches!

Estrellas diarias (Daily Stars)...

In the morning before school Kendall can earn 4 stars - one for a shower, one for getting dressed, one for brushing his teeth and the fourth for making his bed.  He is great with the shower and getting dressed, so so with brushing his teeth and definitely needs work making his bed. Kendall is very proud of his peluches and this morning organized them all on two shelves in his room in an effort to earn 4 stars before we started today.  The 2 band aids on his wrist are from a "piscina" bano incident on Monday morning when he was a little loco and hurt his hand.  He has promised tranquilo solamente since then!

I created an ambitious day!  I had a dentist appointment at 8:30am in Exton.  Kendall met Nellie, my favorite dental hygienist, and my dentist, Dr. Faith Madden.  Nellie showed him what she was doing and he was fascinated by the oral cancer exam since you put on special glasses, Kendall decided by the end of the visit that the dentists was muy bueno and he will go next week for his cleaning.  I gave him 3 more stars for being so good plus he received 4 small toys from the reception area.   Then we headed to AI duPont Hospital for Children for our appointment with Dr. Amy Renwick.

Once we checked in,  he was given a new stuffed animal - a rabbit and an egg the once in water cracks and hatches.  We have added the water and are anxiously awaiting the egg to hatch!  We had a great visit the Dr. Renwick. Kendall earned many more stars for his cooperation. We were up to 10 additional stars by the end of the visit.  He played with the oxygen and vacuum line, used the stethoscope, figured out how to turn off all the lights and checked my ears.  He is curious about everything.  He did not like having his blood pressure taken or blood drawn.  He was fabulous for the blood draw even though he did get upset. Of course, he earned more stars and decided he should receive 5 just for la extracción de sangre.  I was very impressed with him noting all the ninos in wheelchairs were muy especial.  I promised McDonald's as a late lunch :)   Then we stopped quickly in all the pharmacy areas to say hello before leaving.

In the car, Kendall told me he preferred Burger King instead of McDonald's because the toys were better so we went to the Burger King drive thru.  He had to process the no caminar with the drive-thru but I think he liked it.   We had to drop off tax information for my cousin's trust.  Kendall was also excellent for that acquiring more stars.  We stopped by The Dollar Store and he picked out a blue glow in the dark trident and silly string.  He wanted to use the silly string in the car and our conversation home was why we can't do that! By the end of the day he had earned 26 stars counting in Espanol and English.

He then surprised me with choosing the movie The Pirates - In an Adventure with Scientists!  to watch.  It was a sopresa for me.  I had not seen it and we both enjoyed it. I actually bought this film for me!

The_Pirates!_In_an_Adventure_with_Scientists!

Buenas noches!