Glasses for two

Other than her eyes, Gracie does not resemble me one bit. And to be honest, her eye color is very much her Daddy's so even those don't look like me. One thing we both have in common is that we are now both the proud owners of glasses.

Apparently, we both read a lot.

Mommy and Twinjas

Rock and Roll

From the back seat of the car, I hear the singing of church songs. Then, all of a sudden, Lucas stops singing.

"I'm not singing these songs any more. I only sing rock and roll."

Got it, Lukie!

Halloween 2013

Ninja and Ariel at your service!

Ferris wheels aren't for sissies

They looked like this for the majority of the ride.

Step Out Walk for Diabetes 2013

What a day this was! The day was cool and calm and Gracie walked four whole miles with Mom. I am so proud of Gracie for walking the entire way and not complaining one bit!

There were so many fun things to see at the diabetic walk including Star Wars characters. Mommy walk for the first time in several years and raised $375 all by herself. Daddy was proud of all of us for working so hard to have a wonderful day.

Gracie, Lukie, Daddy, Storm Trooper, cousins, and Tia Adris

All.Day.Long!

Gracie: "Mommy, I'm just so excited!"

Me: "Why, Gracie-Lu?"
 

Gracie (bouncing up and down): "Because tomorrow, I turn 6!"
 

Me: "That's right! Tonight is your last night being 5!"
 

Gracie: "And tomorrow, I get to wear a crown because I'm turning 6 and you are going to bring a cake to school for my friends, and Mrs. Averion is going to make you kiss my cheek and freeze so that she can take our picture."
 

*Punctuated by a bounce and a back leg kick.*
 

Gracie: "But the best thing, Mommy..."
 

Me: "What is it, Gracie?"
 

Gracie (bouncing like crazy): "It is going to be my birthday ALL DAY LONG!"

Yogurt with Mom

My children don't like ice cream. They would rather have ICEEs or frozen yogurt. Their favorite frozen yogurt is at Menchie's. They will beg to go.

Yesterday, Daddy went to a party and they convinced me to take them. We had so much fun! The hardest part is letting them be independent with making their own yogurt. There are so many things that can go wrong with toppings and frozen yogurt. So many things. 

The good news is that they are so proud of themselves when they put their cups on the scale. Little accomplishments like that go a long way.

Kindergarten Take Two

Today was Gracie and Lucas' first day of kindergarten at their new school. New uniforms, new shoes, new backpacks, knew everything! They are so excited to learn new things and get better at the things they already know.

A day at the park

Daddy and Lukie at the park.

Pirates at the Beach

Today, we drove to Long Beach and met Nana and Uncle Jimmy for breakfast. We ate at a restaurant called the Black Bear Diner and the food was huge!

Uncle Jimmy and Daddy

After breakfast, we drove to Belmont Pier and discovered pirates everywhere. It was Pirate Invasion 2013 and there were jumpies, cannons, and all kinds of craziness.

More than Lukie's feet got wet.

Gracie and Lucas asked if they could put their feet in the water at the beach. So I let them walk down to the sand and take their shoes off. After a few minutes someone named Lucas fell into the water accidentally on purpose. He was very wet, but that didn't stop him from having more fun. 

Playing in the water.

Gracie and Lucas with their feet in the water.

We walked up along the pier and saw lots and lots of pirates everywhere. We even saw a real parrot! Lucas got a tooth necklace and Gracie got a pirate scarf.

Uncle Jimmy, Nana, Lucas, Daddy, and Gracie at Belmont Pier

Afterward, we got in our car and drove around to see different parts of Lakewood and Long Beach. It was a great day because we got to spend it with Nana and Uncle Jimmy and be at the beach at the same time.

Next time, Gracie would like to build a sandcastle.

Climbing a giant tree at the pier.

Our First Trip to Disneyland!

Thanks to Mommy's friend from college, we got to go to Disneyland!  We did not tell Gracie and Lucas until this morning that we were going to Disneyland.  They went to  bed and thought they were going to school.  But, when we woke them up, we surprised them with the news that we were going to Disneyland.  Mommy made them both new hats for the day (it was chilly in the morning, thank goodness!).

Surprise!  We are going to Disneyland!

Erika met us at the front gates and took us inside for our first trip to the Magical Kingdom. She was so excited to meet Gracie and Lukie and Mommy was very happy to see her.  Thank you, Erika!

Gracie, Erika, and Lukie

We rode lots of rides.  The first, of course, was the Disneyland Tram.  Lukie asked Mommy if we were on a roller coaster.

Our first ride: The Disneyland Tram wearing the hats Mommy made for us!

Once inside, we started with Small World (Lukie was nervous about the boat).  We also road on Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain (times 2!), the Tea Cups (for Gracie), the train, Star Tours, Roger Rabbit, and Buzz Lightyear. Then, we made our way over to California Adventure and rode the Mater ride, hung out in Bugs World (and rode lots of things twice), rode the Little Mermaid ride.

Even though we did not get to ride everything, we did enough to create lots of fun memories.  One thing Mommy wants to remember forever is to thank Abue Rosi for Gracie and Lukie's gift cards.  Each card had $50 on them and Gracie and Lucas were able to spend their own money without actually carrying money!  Super Fun times!

Gracie -3 Lukie -1!

Today was the big day! Lucas and Gracie started t-ball. They were very excited for today. We surprised them by having donuts for breakfast. While we were driving Lucas all of a sudden let out a strange sound and said "Mommy, look!" when I turned around, I discovered that Lucas's tooth had fallen out. Finally, after a long time of waiting, Lukie's first tooth has fallen out!

Look!  Lukie is missing a tooth!

We stayed for opening ceremonies and had a lot of fun with new friends. Later in the afternoon, it was our very first t-ball game. It was so much fun, that Mommy and Daddy had to keep their mouths covered so that no one would see how hard they were laughing. It was a fantastic day! Gracie and Lucas are playing for the Granada Hills Blue Jays.  They each have new mitts and bats (Gracie's is Hello Kitty).  Lucas even has a bat that Bianca gave him.  He calls it his Fire Bat.

Blue Jays!

Later that night, the Tooth Fairy came and brought Lucas $5 for his first tooth. He was very excited to see what she has left him the next morning.

Lucas - Star of the Week - 2013

Lucas was sick the entire week he was scheduled to be Star of the Week.  He stayed home with Daddy and Abue Rosi.  He simply wasn't feeling well.  Luckily, Mrs. Flores rescheduled his Star of the Week for March 1.  Lukie helped me to design his poster, but he wasn't as picky as Gracie was

Lukie's favorite things include:

Spaghetti and Meatballs

The Chicago Bears

Swimming 

His bike

His sister

Gracie started the presentation with him, but since she could not hold the poster high enough, Mrs. Flores took over.

Lukie with Gracie holding his poster

Lukie presenting his poster

Gracie - Star of the Week - 2013

At Gracie and Lukie's school, each Kindergartner gets to be Star of the Week.  They create a poster of their favorite things, pictures of them at different ages, and then they get to present it to the class and lead the class in the recitation of the months of the year, days of the week, and the dates on the calendar.

February 1 was Gracie's big day.  She worked with me to go through pictures and find all the right ones to tell her story.

Here are some of the highlights:
Her favorite food - bacon
Her favorite number -16
Her favorite book - Pete the Cat
Her favorite color - pink
Her favorite princess - Ariel

Gracie presenting her poster with Mrs. Flores

 Even though I could not be there, Daddy and Tio Freddy did go.  They reported that Gracie did a great job!

Gracie with Tio Freddy (he came to see her presentation)

Gracie - 3, Lukie - 0

In August, Gracie and Lukie met the dentist for the very first time.  He was very nice and patient with them.  They had lots of fun and they think the dentist is a nice man with dolphins on his walls.  He told us then that Gracie was getting ready to start losing teeth.  Two of them would need to be pulled because she had an extra baby tooth that was crowding the others, but on the bottom, she actually had adult teeth starting to push the baby teeth away. For a moment or so, I was petrified by the idea of teeth being lost.  I mean, these are my five year olds!  They can't possibly be old enough to lose teeth!  But they were so excited about getting their "Mommy" and "Daddy" teeth, that I could not help but be excited for them.  Alas, I forgot about the Tooth Fairy.

I did not really think about how the whole Tooth Fairy thing would go.  I mean, there are some crazy parents out there.  They "glitterize" their money before they put it under the pillow or they do elaborate scavenger hunts for kids to find their treasure.  Me?  When Gracie lost her first two teeth (to the dentist), I was not prepared.  After I panicked for a few minutes, I realized that I could do something on our own and the Tooth Fairy letter was invented.  I downloaded a pretty picture of a tooth fairy and typed up letters that were left with the money under the pillow.  Gracie and Lukie get so excited when they see a letter from the Tooth Fairy.  I'm so glad I did something that worked for us.

Since Gracie's surgery, she lost a tooth at school (The envelope holding it was lost again in extended care.  Luckily, someone found it.) and she lost another one a few days ago.  Daddy has been joking with her that she has windows in her mouth.  He will play with her and say she has little Whos living in the windows of her teeth. She always giggles when he says that.

It has been a couple of days since Gracie lost the latest tooth and already, those adult teeth are pushing higher and higher in her mouth.  The gap on top, the one from her surgery, is still quite glaring, but it is getting better as it heals.

Lukie wants to know when he will start losing his teeth.  He will not be comforted by the reassurance that it will be soon.  He thinks of himself as the bigger and stronger twin and he wants to do things first.  Unfortunately for him, Gracie seems to do most things first, but he is never far behind!