Mexico and Preparing for Turkey Day

Last weekend the kids got to enjoy some time with their cousins in California and Mexico. On Saturday we bundled up the kids (yes it was cold) and we hit a parade. Carmen hung out with her favorite cousin Destiny and "Baby Jayda" is now old enough to follow the girls around too! Carmen insisted on wearing my sunglasses the entire morning!

Later on that evening, we crossed the border and went down to Mexicali, Mexico to Abel's grandmother's house. The family surprised Carmen with a birthday bash! The party had decorations, carne asada on the grill, posters, balloons, pinata, presents, cake, and plenty of kids running around.

She loved her party! The kids played with cousins that they haven't seen in a year. Down below in this picture you can see the driveway to the house is gated and secure. Things down there continue to get worse but once we are at the house I feel safe because we are totally closed in!

Carmen whacked the pinata so hard! Can't wait to see her hit a baseball in a few months!

Abel's dad came to the party. We call him Grandpa Efrain. He gave Carmen a special necklace which she loved.

This weekend it was my recovery weekend from the Mexico trip but also my "gear up and prepare for Thanksgiving" weekend. I had a gigantic list of things to do. Here was my list for Saturday and Sunday:

-clean the house

-laundry

-plan the thanksgiving meal

-shop for thankgiving

-birthday present for Gianni's friend

-birthday party

-winter coat for Gianni

-dance pictures

-dance class

-Gianni has homework

-buy the turkey

-clean the front yard

-clean the back yard

-organize the garage

-find the Christmas tree and ornament boxes

And....I did it all! We got everything done and we still were able to watch football and have a relaxing evening with the kids. Tonight we grilled chicken for fajitas. The kids made their own fajita with the toppings of their choices. We ate dinner outside by fire light. Then we played games in the backyard. It was the perfect end to a busy weekend. We are ready for Thanksgiving and Nonna!

Halloween and Fun Fall Food

My husband is the expert pumpkin carver! He goes all out and unfortunately for him, he ends up doing most of the work. While the kids were carving pumpkins I made an apple tart that was so yummy and Gianni could not stop eating it! It was a simple recipe straight out of this month's Food Network mag from the Barefoot Contessa. Butter butter butter!

The apple tart was just dessert and they had to eat their supper first! In honor of pumpkin carving I made Stuffed Shells with  Cheddar Pumpkin Sauce. The shells were stuffed with ground turkey, onion, and spinach. The sauce was a basic cream sauce made with milk and flour. To that I added canned pumpkin, cheddar cheese, and ground nutmeg. I thought that the kids would see the green spinach and onion inside and freak out but they ate it up!

Trick or treating with Sydney Joy! The kids lined up for their normal shot at the end of the driveway. This year my two were Dorothy and Mario.

Papa took part in his first ever Halloween. He handed out candy while we took the kids around.

Abel went to Vegas the next morning so I ended my week on my own and the kids were fantastic!

Carmen Quote of the Week:

We go around the dinner table and say the best part of our day every night.

Mom: "The best part of my day was that I prayed that you kids would get up and get dressed quickly today since dad is out of town and I am by myself. You guys did it! You were perfect kids!"

Carmen: "Mom....you should pray more often and then we will always be good!"

Gianni Quote of the Week:

As we are walking into Target to buy new sneakers for him.

Gianni: "Uhhhh mom...is it okay that I have no underwear on?" 

Mom: "Gianni, what do you mean you have no underwear on????"

Gianni: "Well, when you sent me to my room to get dressed, I guess I took them off and put shorts on. I'm not sure what I was thinking."

This would be an Uncle Justin moment.