Just checking in before the holidays

Hi everybody! I just wanted to log on here today to give a bit of a life update for our family before the craziness of the holidays begins. Time has flown since we got back to Spain from our summer in Michigan. I could say that I don´t know where the past three months have gone, but I do know. And soon you will, too.

I started working in mid-September at a private academy one town over. I was looking for a teaching job this year that would let me stay home with the girls as much as possible and this position is perfect. I am with Vera and Laura all morning, drop them off at daycare around 3pm and then go to work until 10pm. Getting home that late sucks but for now and until they start preschool it is really important for me to be with them as much as possible, partly because I love being a part-time stay at home mom and partly because I really want to solidify their English before they start school. Even though they will be going to a bilingual school, I think having a strong base in English is important before they go and who better to do that than me? Jose is still at his school this year and when he gets out at 5pm he picks the girls up and they spend the afternoon together. 

Each week goes by quickly between babies and work and we have been trying to take advantage of each and every weekend for family time and every once in a while to relax. The fall was quite hot here in the south of Spain and it wasn´t until a few weeks ago that the cold of winter finally set in. With it came laryngitis and bronchitis for both girls. Woof. 

When we first got back from summer my sister in law and her family were here visiting so we got to spent some time with cousin Eva. The three girls are only two months apart and it is a riot to see them all together. None of them are very good at sharing but they spent some time together at the beach with their abuelo and abuela and loved every minute of it. My sister in law was back again recently to go to a wedding so we got to see them again. Laura and Vera love their cousin, I think more in abstract since they are always taking her picture and kissing it, than when she is actually here but that will change with time.

We of course celebrated both Halloween and Thanksgiving this fall. For Halloween we dressed the girls up in last year´s costumes and went to a party organized by a club I belong to here in Seville. I cooked a big turkey for Thanksgiving and invited some friends and their kids over on a Saturday instead of the Thursday since we were working. Thank goodness for our Costco for having turkeys on time this year!

Another weekend we finally went (we have been talking about this for years) to the Feria del jamon which takes place in my favorite part of the south of Spain, the Sierra de Aracena, a region with mountains to the north of where we live. We drove there early on a Saturday and spent the afternoon eating jamon and playing. We bought the girls a doggy balloon which was waaaaayyyy too expensive and which then later escaped from the car a few days later. So sad.

At the beginning of the month we put up our Christmas decorations, including a tree (which made me quite nervous since Vera especially gets into everything). But thankfully and since we put it in a corner behind a table, they have been ignoring it for the most part. As much work as it is to have decorations, I do love them.

We also decided we needed to go see Santa this year so we went to one of the biggest malls in Seville on Friday which was a holiday for us. We arrived 30 minutes early and got in the already long line. After waiting over 4 hours, FOUR HOURS, we finally got in to see the big man and the girls wanted nothing to do with him. Surprise, surprise. Needless to say, we won´t be visiting Santa again for a long time. It took FOREVER but after the first few hours we had already committed so much time that we had to just wait it out. At least I got some of our Christmas shopping done since we were already at a mall.

We also decided this year to get some professional photos taken of the girls to send out for the holidays. I think they turned out wonderfully but of course I am the mom so I would have to think that. I am only going to post a few of them here but since I know I have some readers who aren´t my Facebook friends I want to share with you too.

I am sure there are things that I have forgotten to mention that have happened over the past three months and for that I am going to try to make a better effort at writing more often. These are memories people! I will definitely be writing our annual Christmas card soon so check back! Happy holidays, feliz navidad and merry Christmas to all!