Our new Home!!!!

It is officially done!!!! It has been painful not being closer to see the building process but it is done and we love it!!!! We are so excited, the boys can't wait till school is over so we can hop on our plane and start getting settled. Chris and I actually got to fly out together to do our walk thru, first time ever leaving my kids, but it was so fun to be able to enjoy some time alone. My father in law flew out to watch the kiddos which was a blessing and we were so grateful. I did not know what to do with myself without the kids, the diaper bag and all the other things to lug around. I was gone for 3 days and left Chris in California to go back to peru to wait to close on the house. The boys are so excited to have something that is ours, and as Zander would say not borrowed. He told me he is tired of living in borrowed houses. I guess that was bound to happen after living abroad for almost 8 years.
We are not moving back just yet, but at least they have the piece of mind that it is ours!! I will post more pics when we get in and settled. Just a few more weeks.

Campesino!

 Story time festival!!!! Every year the parents put on a play for the kids in pre kinder and kinder for their story time festival. It is a two week period where the school really focuses on reading and the kids finding a real love for reading books. The kids get to bring books to school to share and at the end of the festival the parents put on a play.  It is so much fun, I don't like to act much but they always have dancing parts, so they can always count on me for that! This year we were campesinos, a traditional type dance from peru. I have to say it has been really fun learning some cultural dances from Peru. We danced to a song called mambo de macahuay! It was so fun to see the kids faces when we all come on stage. Zander thought it was so cool!!!!

 Our group of dancers! I did have to learn patience as everyone learns at their own pace! We spent 8 weeks preparing for this rehearsing at night.

My happy little guy, he said it was the best day ever!

La Granja!

 Last week I was able to go with Coopers class on a field trip to the granja, a farm of sorts.  We all pilled in a giant bus and drove about 45 min south to this farm. Cooper was so excited, he just loves animals and is finally loosing his fear to touch them. He is my fraidy cat!! We had a blast and I am sure we will be back for another visit as his brothers were a little jealous.

 Cooper wanted nothing to do with the tour and went straight for the animals. What farm is complete without a llama?

 Class picture!

 They went for a cart ride pulled by a donkey!

 They got to feed the animals.

 Coopers favorite was milking the cow. All I heard the whole way home was, la vaca les da leche!!

 Silly boy would not hold the bunny rabbit.

The only way I got him to hold the guinea pig was to put it in a basket. Silly kid!!

Grandparents Day!

 Every year at the preschool they have grandparents day, and the kids put on a show for all the grandparents, but since we are so far away form everyone we get to go watch!!! This was Coopers first year, and they did a cute dance. Cooper was not too sure about all the people but towards the end he got into the song a bit more. He looks so handsome and grown up!!!

 Dancing with his partner!

 La ronda!!!

 His substitute grandpa!

Here he is attempting his kick line! Happy Grandparents day all the way from peru! I hope to post a video soon.

 Every year the promotion, all the kids of each grade, have a family outing organized by the delegates from each class for an opportunity for everyone to get to know each other better. This was the first time for Zanders class, and he had a blast. This is one advantage of going to private school, small class sizes.  Zander will be with these same 76 kids from this year on till they all graduate from high school. So very different from my schooling experience.  But it really gives these kids an opportunity to make close bonds with one another as well as the parents.

 They call these Paseos Familiares, family outings, and this years was out in a place called Cieniguilla about a 45 min drive from Lima. It was warm and sunny which was nice for a change from the cold grey weather we have at home.

 Cooper made a friend from Zanders class, he's a lades magnet!

 They provide games, food, and all sorts of fun for everyone. It is an all day event, I was one of the first to get there since we came straight from Brocks soccer game so unfortunately I got blocked in and really was there alllll day!

 Last Saturday Brock had his first futbol, soccer,  game at his school. Brock was so excited he woke up bright and early the morning of to eat a good breakfast before so he would have plenty of energy. He was a bit sad because his dad would not be there, but the game must go on.

 A quick huddle before the game, everyone ready?

 Brock had a great game and some great saves! He has one proud mama.

 The team!

 Go Brock Go!

 They killed the other team, 5 to 0.

 Cooper trying to wait patiently for his brothers game to be over.

 Zander had no interest in watching his brother, no moral support from him.

Cooper my little funny guy with his famous wink!

Chris turns 33!!!!

 Happy birthday Chris!!!!!  We went a couple hours out of Lima to a place called Paracus to celebrate, it is one of Chris's favorite places to go, because he can take out the sail boats.  I even snuck a pecan pie in the car to surprise him when we got there. I am amazed I was able to keep it a secret with my little blabber mouths.  We had a great time, except that Chris was not able to go sailing until the day we left. Why you might ask? Well, the president of Peru was staying in the room next to us in the small resort we were at, and yep major security. The hotel is right on the water, so they had coast guard surrounding the perimeter, so they could have control over the waters. Which meant no one could take the boasts out. Chris was soooo upset, but he was able to go out the day we left for a while with Brock as his captain. All in all it was just what we needed, some family time. And some relaxation for Chris.

 We did it!!!! We are buying a house and we are soooo excited. The boys are over the world excited to have their own house that is not borrowed, as they say. It is in Rancho Cucamonga Ca. It does not mean we are going back stateside just yet, but we will now have our own place to stay when we do come back, that will hopefully be more often. I will update pictures as they move along!!!!!

My boys!!!

 I have to say I LOVE uniforms!!!!! This is my handsome Brock in his winter uniform for school. There are no headaches or fights as to what to wear to school everyday, it is awesome. Thankfully my kids like it as well, they have a summer and winter uniform, so I had to get a pic of this handsome guy!!!!

 Zander has a much more casual winter uniform, they get to wear this buzo, until they get into first grade and then they have to wear what Brock has on. I have to admit that Zander has the better deal!

 At the boys school they have what is called activities and every bimester the kids get to choose a new activity to try, like soccer, dance, acrobatics, karate etc. They do these classes during their day at school and it is an opportunity for each child to experience different activities. This bimester Zander had Karate and I was able to go and watch one of his classes which was so fun for this mommy! He did great, it is not his favorite activity, but he did a super job.

 Z in action!!!

 My character!

Now Brock on the other hand loves Karate, and was recently selected to go to Miami for a special international conference/competition. Can I just tell you how excited he was when he came home with his invitation! Chris and I spent a lot of time discussing on whether or not we were going to let him go, but in the end decided that it would be a great opportunity so we said YES.  He will be going in October with Chris and have some daddy son time. Now if I can just have patience with the everyday question of, How many more days till my trip mom?

Summer fun 2012!!!!

This July we went to the states for 3 weeks full of fun!!! We started off in San Diego then went to Sacramento to see my Dad and then off to see my mom and some of her family. We had so much fun, we wished that Chris could have been with us for more, but duty calls. Here are some posts of our trip. Enjoy!

 My dad, Cooper and I. This was taken by Brock.

 The boys had so much fun at grandpa Partridges house, it was full of fun and adventure. Grandpa went and bought 6 baby chicks for his coup and the boys instantly claimed which one was theirs. Zander my funny man wanted them to lay eggs really bad, and was asking grandpa when they were going to lay some. Grandpa told him that they were too little and that it would be a while before they started laying eggs. A bit later Zander comes running over to us at the pool so excited saying that the chickens had layed eggs. So Brock goes running over and confirms that it was true there were eggs in the coup. My dad kept saying no it is impossible as we went walking over, and sure enough there were 2 eggs. We all stood there for a minute and then my dad says to Zander, you went and got those out of the fridge didn't you? Zander tried hard not to smile, but indeed the little bugger had gone inside and taken 2 eggs from the fridge and put them in with the chickens. He had us going for a minute though. Funny guy!

 Brock and his chick.

 Cooper thought the chicks were fun to look at, but nothing more. He would freak out if you put one on him or tried to make him hold one.

 My dad has a fantastic pool in his backyard, with 100 degree temps, that is where we stayed all day.  My brother Taft has this dog that loves the pool and as long as the kids were in the pool he was right there with them, it was the craziest thing. The boys thought it was pretty fun.

 The boys with my brother Clark getting ready to dive into the pool.

 Ok so my dad makes the best carmel popcorn in the world, he made the kids the biggest bowl of it and the kids had fun helping as well.

 Oh my little Cooper he is my scardy cat! He was quite content just sitting on the steps at the pool, forget jumping in like his big brothers.

 The boys loved jumping off this bridge into the pool.

 Zander jumping over Cooper!

 Cooper did not like this at all, but grandpa had to torchure him a bit!

 It was only a matter of time until the kids would find grandpas tools, and boy did they have fun with the jack hammer. Brock thought this was so cool he spent hours taking up the rocks for grandpa.

 Zander thought it was fun for a few tries and then was off to do something else.

 Next it was off to the lake to jet ski. Grandpa was brave and let Zman drive solo, luckily they made it back safe.

 Brock and Grandpa, coming back from doing some cheerios in the water.

 Dad and Z.

 Zander found this giant branch and used it as a floating device in the water. Who needs those expensive toys right?

 Cooper loved the lake, no waves and plenty of dirt to play with.

Sitting poolside watching his crazy brothers!