Happy Birthday Juan Pablo!

This is a belated posting for Juan Pablo's 30th Birthday! He finally turned the big 3-0 on May 15th and we celebrated with dinner and presents...but I had one surprise planned. I looked up when the Richmond Kickers (soccer) were playing and planned to surprise the family by driving out to the stadium to watch their next home game. I looked it up online several times trying to decide whether to buy tickets on line or at the gate...and I finally decided to just get them at the gate. We left in time to get there about 30 minutes early and no one had any idea where I was driving...it was so fun! So we get off the highway at the stadium and Joaquin asks what is that? (meaning the stadium) and Juan Pablo answers matter of factly , "that's a soccer stadium" as we pass by. They still didn't know THAT was the surprise. But meanwhile, my jaw has dropped because the stadium is empty!! No buses, no cars, no fans, nobody! So I say, "well this was the surprise, but something is wrong here." As we're are trying to figure it out, I ask what the date was...and JP says it's the 17th. Well, there you go....we were a week early! Funny, but not really. Anyway, we will try it again this weekend! Happy Birthday Juan Pablo! I love you!

yippee yippee yo!!

The kids had their year end performances wild wild west style. It was so cute! They had kept most of it a secret from the parents for months while they were practicing...although I knew something was up when Isabela came home singing "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" . The teachers had been collecting their artwork over the months to present on this night, too. And at the end, there was a great picnic dinner with hot dogs and dishes from all the families. The kids loved performing...Isabela did all the moves and sang nice and loud!!....Joaquin was more subdued and was not the show stopper he has been at his previous church performances! We were quite surprised....as was his teacher!

look who's five!!

She finally turned the big 5! And she says it so cute...with some kind of irish accent or something... I'm foive.

a Mary Poppins party!

I prayed for a beautiful day and I got it!! We were able to have Isabela's Mary Poppins party outside just as planned...despite the weathermen calling for storms all week. We couldn't have asked for a better day! God is good!


Let's go fly a kite:




Kite making was the craft for the party...taken off of Family Fun website. I had prepared everything ahead of time so it wouldn't take too much time to make...and I think everyone had a blast running (or walking) in the soccer field with them.

GAMES





We had lots of games planned...chimney sweep obstacle course, where they just walked across the bench with the umbrella and jumped off...sidewalk art with chalk....penguin bowling....and tuppence toss where they had to toss a chocolate coin into a bucket...most of them had melted by the time we played that one!!!

THE CAROUSEL




The carousel was the big decoration for the party. I worked on them for about two months...at night when I had time. The idea was for it to come to life like in the movie, so we used the pool noodles and stuck a dowel rod in the ground to hold them upright. It was definitely the hit of the party...I think some one asked if it really worked. So we came up with a game like musical chairs so that each person could take a horse home with them...the one that got out, got to pick which horse they wanted...of course, the older kids figured out quickly to get out already so they could pick their horse. After that, we had a horse race and that was cute.

TIME FOR CAKE


This year, I decided not to make her cake from scratch. I got a cake from Kroger and some cupcakes (they have really good cupcakes!!) and just decorated it with my own decorations...it's supposed to be the carousel. We sang Happy Birthday and then Isabela whispered in my ear that she wanted to take a bite of the cake like they do in Bolivia...the tradition is to push the birthday girl or boy's face in the cake while they are biting it. I think everyone was very surprised!

PRESENTS


Isabela truely loved all her presents!! I loved to see how excited she was to open them. And she gave each person a hug after opening them, which I think helps her rememeber who gave her each present.

an answer?

Well, Juan Pablo and I thought we had an answer to that question...at least one we both agreed on, but after all that commentary, it seems a bit more complicated. We agreed that workers seem happier in Bolivia because they "owned" their own job...they could come and go when they want (you never know when a store would be open), children could also be brought and they played with children from other stores, so rules aren't as strict...I remember some tourist getting so mad one day because Isabela and Joaquin were running around the lobby of the hotel...he was yelling something about this being a "place of business". We also noticed the Bolivians who were stressed or didn't like their jobs were ones who worked for corporations, like a bank. One of Juan Pablo's friends had quit a job as a loan processor because of the long hours (like 14) and verbal abuse from her boss! Another thing we did not take into account is our consumerism...always wanting the next best thing...I love Pottery Barn,too...but that is real and is pushed on us constantly and causes the need for large amounts of steady income. But anyway, that's what we came up with! I really loved all the feedback!

a good question

We're still having computer problems, hence the lack of pictures and me sitting in the library typing this. But I did manage to save all the photos (I think!)and we've ordered parts to have the hard drive replaced...for free I might add. Yea..Mac! So the good question is this...that I posed to Juan Pablo as we were driving around one day.
Why do you think most of the people in Bolivia that work selling bananas on the side of the road, or whatever the case may be, are basically happy...happy to go to work, happy to sit there all day, etc. and most of the people in the United States HATE to go to their job and daydream all day of their next vacation or the upcoming weekend?
(I do have an answer, I think.)

ugh! computers!

We've been having a few computer problems...after someone dropped the laptap (not me or the kids, thank God). I had to go to the Apple store twice and thought we had lost the four thousand pictures that are on it. I wasn't too upset because I'd been meaning to back them up for months, so it would have been my own fault if they were gone....but the geniuses at the Apple store were able to get it working again...and the pictures are still there. I have backed them up...and will also start printing them off. What's the point of taking them if they are only in your computer? After these last traumatizing days, my amazement at how great my computer is, is now somewhat diminished, and I'm thinking back to the simpler times of letters in the mail, picture albums and scrapbooking. Of course, now that it is working again....