Artesanias de San Angel

Today we went to a market that seems to be very popular  and has wonderful  handicrafts from Mexico.  

It was truly a must-see place, lots of beautiful handwork and what I love the best is that most of the time, the person who sells is usually working on a project, very involved in it and we get to se how things are made. There were women and even some men sewing, knitting, crocheting, carving wood, painting, etc....

Plus, everything was delightful!!  Here are some examples of what we saw:

This fountain was decorated with fruits and flowers..amazing work!!

As we were walking, we heard a musical group playing salsa at a restaurant.  Immediately we went and put our name in to be seated...the kids were entertained by the music and mami and daddy got to dance a little.

Now we have to start searching for a place to go dancing more frequently....both Jose and I enjoy it so much, it brings back such wonderful memories of when we first fell in love!!

Now our hearts are singing!!!

How does our garden grow??

Well, our garden as of right now has only very few flowers, which for me is sooo sad!!!
I've started slowly adding more colorful tones and have plans for a small vegetable garden and hopefully a rose bush and some herbs for teas.
The house has a lime tree which has given us plenty of limes for "aguas de limon"and a wonderful fragrance when we walk close by as it seems to be blooming almost constantly.

This bouganvillea has been blooming for the last couple of months and I'm so glad because the hummingbirds love to come and drink from the sweet nectar!

So far, these are the 2 flowers in my garden that are doing the best...they keep growing, bring a smile to my face every day and keep me happy, so I think for now, I'm going to continue watering them and soaking them for quite a while with all my love and devotion!!
I love them, I think I'll keep them and take them with me wherever I go!

Nuestro primer viaje al centro de la ciudad. Our first trip downtown.

One fine Sunday, I woke up feeling quite confident, gathered my courage and decided it was time to drive around the city finally.  With Nati's help as my co-pilot we headed for downtown!!
I have to admit, I was very nervous, but luckily there wasn't so much traffic and the way to downtown from our house is very straightforward.
We did not get lost and it was so much fun!!

As we walked along the streets, we found lots of very interesting people....

Igualitico verdad?   Doesn't he remind you of someone??

And at the end, we all learned something new....for me, the fact that driving in Mexico City is not as bad as I thought it would be and the kids think going downtown on Sundays is amazing..with he street performers and the indians dancing and so much more to discover!!

Michaelmas

On Michaelmas day this year, we had a very quiet celebration at home, since we all were under the weather.  Santiago and Daniel both stayed home and we all missed the school's celebration which was from what we hear, a great success!!

But as soon as we all felt better, we made some delicious dragon bread!!

As it turned out, we were reminded that sometimes, it is the simplicity of the celebrations that matter the most.  We had a wonderful time together as a family....still missing daddy of course.
But the children and I still took a moment to thank St Michael for all his help and for helping us grow stronger inside and out everyday!

Building a sandbox

Santiago is in third grade this year and a very important part of the Waldorf curriculum includes teaching the children practical skills.
Building is one of them and I decided to give him a hands on experience at home by helping build a sand box with a mini stream.
Since daddy is not home much these days because of his job :(, we hired people to help us with this project.
The project started off with the idea of having a small creek for them to play in, with river stones and water.   As we started digging, we decided that the ground was too soft for us not to put cement on the bottom to protect the surrounding grass.  
Needles to say, the bottom of the sandbox and the creek have cement, which is not ideal, but necessary to keep the owner of the house happy!

Santiago was very involved in the process, he helped with the digging part  and learned how to prepare cement and lay bricks.

Meanwhile, Danielito helped mama with some potted plants for inside the house.




But, of course, he couldn't resist the temptation when he was given a  trowel  to finish off the top of the water play area.

The sand is in!!!! Yeah!!!

While all of this is happening, cookie thinks it's a perfect time to take a nap.  Why not ah?

Now is the beginning of long hours of play

Making canals is their favorite part

Balancing and skipping

Sweet sandy toes

Adding the finishing touches

Que felices estamos...gracias mami y papi!!

And at the end of the day...a bonfire, inside the sand box of course!!

Clase de Equitacion

We found a place to take Santiago for horsebackriding lessons and we are all soo happy!!
First because it is a beautiful place a huge open wooded area that happens to be only a few minutes from our home, where we can go and walk, feed the horses and play around.
Santiago is happy that he gets to ride "canica" once a week and he is welcome to come and feed  her and brush her whenever we want to stop by!!

I decided to start taking classes as well, so now I get to experience the great gifts that come from this sport, such as the incredible therapeutic effect of interacting with horses and I think that  since we are starting riding bareback, that makes it even more powerful and of course it has given our sense of balance a little boost.  It is definitely an amazing experience!!

We feel very fortunate to have found this little oasis in the middle of such a big city and sooo close to home!!
Daniel is also taking advantage of this... Santiago's teacher is so nice and at the end of the lesson, he gives Daniel a ride and even though he was not so sure at the beginning, now he is loving it!!

Santiago's new school

Santiago's first day of school was a little stressful for him.  He cried when I dropped him off and I could totally relate to his feelings.  Being in a different country, speaking a different language to the one he is used to, at least at school, and with different people he has never met!!
But he was so brave, he sat down for the inauguration ceremony, kept looking at me and then waved good bye eventually.  I was so proud of him!

I also cried, I love this little one soo much and to see him like that just brakes my heart!!  We had had a wonderful year together, but I knew in my heart that he was in need of more friends, of having more adults in his life who care deeply about him and also, being now in Mexico, I wanted him to be fully immersed in the language and what better way that in this lovely Waldorf school!!

The school is pretty small...more like a big house that was converted into a small school.  It reminds me soo much of my own school growing up, with all the warmth of the mexican people who received us all with a big hug, a kiss and an open heart.

By the time school was out and I went to pick him up, he had a huge smile on his face and said:  "I love my school".  I'm so greatful and as the days go on, the same enthusiasm lives in him, he wakes up in the morning and is so happy that it's indeed a school day!
He has learned to communicate in perfect mexican spanish, with and accent and everything.  He is learning how to do math in Spanish, and now is singing lovely songs and has learned all kinds of jokes from his friends at school.

His class did their first play just a few weeks after school had started and he memorized his lines and did such a wonderful job.  He was the wolf and howled at the end and spoke with confidence to Father Francis, with a hoarse wolf-like voice!
The other children were amazing too...there were villagers, friends of St Francis and they were all so immersed in their roles, it was a joy to watch!

                                              
                                                        Santiago in his school uniform

El 15 de Septiembre

When we first arrived to Mexico, there were lots of signs and people talking about the upcoming Independence Day and how this year it would be a big celebration since it was Mexico's 200th birthday.  To our surprise, we realized pretty soon that it was on My Birthday, September 15th!!
How special... we decided to go to a small town that a lot of our friends recommended us.  It is called "Valle de Bravo".  A very small town where a lot of the people from Mexico city have little rural houses to spend the weekend and relax!
We loved the town right away, with the small plazas where they sell all kinds of traditional mexican food, stone roads beautiful churches and colonial architecture...just beautiful!

Back to my birthday now.... we celebrated pretty much all day...going to town for a stroll and mariachis, to a very nice restaurant with delicious mexican spicy food...which I now like a lot!! and then a big celebration at night with big hot air ballons being sent off to the sky and of course...fireworks!!

I'm loving all the traditions and festivals and learning soo much about joy, laughter, good food, enjoying life in the sweet company of the ones you love dearly!!

Our life in Mexico City

I'm very excited to start our family blog!  Since we are away from home and want to stay close to all of our loved ones, I thought this would be a great way to do it.
I will try to keep up with all of our adventures throughout this year here in Mexico!
Also, I can see already how this space will be used to share a little more about our family, how we all grow and embrace life, how we learn from each other and how greatful we all are to be together on this journey!
So far, we have been embracing the culture, language (many new words to our vocabulary...for all of us) and even the city life!

When we first arrived to Mexico, we lived in a very small apartment and quickly found schools for the children and a home for all of us!!  We were so blessed to have met a wonderful family who was also in the same situation as we were....looking for  a Waldorf school for our children.  We fell in love with the only two Waldorf schools here in the city.  "El Bosque de Micael", http://www.waldorfmexico.com,  a Waldorf initiative school with an amazing community and a great location, with a wooded area where the children go for walks 4 days a week.   It has a mixed age early childhood class with children as small as 18 months to 6 years old.  We loved it right away and decided that was the perfect place for Daniel.  Unfortunately, this school does not have a third grade...so we looked at the second school which was far away from Danny's school, but it was just  perfect for santiago,  it has lovely teacher, a very deep anthroposophic background with eurithmy and all the wonderful therapeutic aspects of this genius of education!
Thank God we had our friends who were in the same dilemma as us and we all decided that we would commute together and keep our small children in one school and the big kids in the far away school!
And as it turns out, it is not so bad...they have an easy ride in the morning since they are going against traffic and in the afternoon is about 45 minutes due to traffic, but now, Isabel and Santiago are great friends and they talk, share jokes, and have a good time in their carpool.
I'm sooo happy we made this decision because I see now, two months after how both my children are happy and thriving!  Thank you angels for guiding our way always!!!

Then, we found our home, sweet home!!!  Yeah!!  With a big garden for the kids to roam and still be in touch with nature...for cookie to run around and chase squirrels, for mami to plant flowers and vegetables and for all of us to enjoy many lunches outside breathing the fresh air and hearing the birds sing!!

Here's what the house looks like now, after much love being poured into it!

                                                   

 Autumn is here!!

                                                          

Our bedroom and my special place for books and craft supplies

Santi's bedroom with a lovely window looking out at the big tree in front of our house and of course....a bunk bed!!  With a big bed on the bottom for guests!!!

Danielito's room with his beloved friends Mateo and blue bear