Easter 2016

Easter was so fun this year! Micaela took her Easter bunny picture at the MB Village...although  it took two tries. The first time we went the power went out at the mall so we had to return the next day. She was bummed but still managed to stay happy! This year she really enjoyed waking up knowing the Easter bunny and egg tuning. She found a trail to her basket then she was so so excited!! Later that day we headed to my Parents where my sisters families and my Tio Sergio and his family celebrated with us. This year I bought all of those confetti eggs again and we had a blast playing games! There really are never enough. The Pattison family was unable to get together this year. Dad was on a trip to Michigan and Mom did not want to drive in traffic. So maybe next year we can celebrate with them. 

Micaela 2 and a half

Dear Micaela,

    You are growing up to be such an amazing little girl! You are truly thriving in everything. Your conversations blow us away!

TV: Love Toy Story and Daddy bought you a Buzz Light Year that you love! You still love Frozen and Cinderella too. Peppa Pig and Dora are also your favorites. You are obsessed with the ipad and you play endless abc.

Food: You are a great little eater. For breakfast you love oatmeal, berries, french toast and paleo pancakes.

What you say: EVERYTHING and more! You are so loving and affecionate its unreal. Yesterday you asked Daddy to marry you and you both dressed up. You with a flower scarf and daddy with a hat and tie. I asked you "how about me?" You said "all three of us can get marries and be a family" Daddy said that you told your preschool director, " Iwant to be a doctor...wait I want to be a witch and I wont put anyone in the caulderon.  You always tell us " I love you so much" "You are so beautiful mommy" You come up the funniest things and just blow our mind! You can count to 30 and know your ABC's and just know so so much!

Talents: Your memory is incredible...after telling you something once or twice you will memorize it. I told you the story of snow white and your knew "mirror mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all...it is I the witch"

Your Schedule:
Wake up: 7am-730  (potty and get dressed and you LOVE To wear the girlie stuff!)
Breakfast: 8:30 Still in your high chair! You love it and you usually watch a show.
Play time: Grandma says its hard to get you to go to the park but once you are there you love it. You love to pretend. It's amzing the stories you come up with.

Lunch 1130-1200

Nap time: 1230/1-3ish or so.  Wash up..get into pjs...You still drink 7-8 ounces of milk in your sippy. You wear a pull up while you nap and at sleep time but will never poo in it.  You get in your crib with your 7-10 lovies tucked into a corner and we cover you with a blanket. You really enjoy your nap and get really crabby without it!!

Wake up: Stand up and Yell "Mommy I need to go poop" or "Mommy I want water"

Play time..usually we go outside to play with our Goodman neighbors! You LOVE your best friend Ever! You will play with Greyson and Hailey, Blair and Grady too. You are just learning to ride your scooter and you are so funny when you play. When someone hits you or is rough you yell in their face "I DONT LIKE THAT!" haha.

Dinner: 6/6:30 You love chicken, rice, quinoa, broccoli, scrambled eggs, grilled cheese and garlic dip dip.

Bedtime: We usually get you in the bath by 7/730 but we really have to persuade you to bathe..you dont want tostop playing or watching your show. You like to pretend play with the dinasaurs and make food in the bath tub haha. We change you in the bathroom then in your room..you play with your daddy a bit. You know drink your bibi leche while we read you some books. You love room on a broom and a spanish book. We then go brush your teeth go potty which usually results in poop and story time. We pray Our Father and Angelito de mi Guarda every night tuck you in and you sleep all through the night

Our life is so amazing with your little energy and smiles. Your curiosuty goes beyond belief and we are alawys so impressed with your words.

You go to school 3 days a week and the Grandma's take turns watching you on the other two days. 

Leaving Lakewood..

This summer Barbara Bein forwarded an email that showed two history job openings at Redondo Union HighSchool. I honestly was not looking for job as I have been at Lakewood for 10 years and its my home. I decided I would apply as its so close to home. I called the principal Nikki Wesley and she encouraged me to apply. I (Dennis) updated my resume and it looked pretty amazing!! I then had to get letters of Recc so Cheryl Cornejo, Lisa Busch and Sean Mcchorter wrote them for me. I scheduled an interview and it was intimidating! There were about 8 people on the panel and they asked many tough questions. I left feeling excited and like I was myself. One of the questions they asked...Is why after being at a school for so long do you want to leave LHS? Deep down I was like "shorter commute, less ghetto kids, air conditioning" hahaha. However I answered with " I would love to teach in the community I live in blah blah blah! I drove home and ready to jump out of my suit and into my sweats and I received a phone call from Nikki Wesley. They offered me the 100% position of MW History and US History...I accepted the position but then reality hit!! WTF did I just do!!! hahah. I am leaving my work family that has been through so much with me!!!! I wrote pros and cons and really thought it over. At Redondo I would have to switch to Kaiser insurance where in LBUSD I have the best benefits. At RUHS I would be bottom of the totem poll!! I made list after list....and finally I thought ....THIS IS MY CHANCE!! I have the opportunity to switch to a better school close to home. I took the job!!


After calling my friends Matt Ruiz offered to host a BBQ to send me off! It was such a great dinner!! They printed pictures for me and gave me a list of all of my funniest comments in the lounge! Thinking about this makes me cry because I know I will never have family I had at LHS. I cried so much for the next few weeks. Packing up my classroom was also so so hard! I prayed I made the right choice!


Meeting friends?


Map activity


Email


Juli and meetings


Students


Ashley and geoff


Final eval

Hawaiian Vacation 2015

This year we decided it was time for our first family vacation! It was to celebrate our anniversary and just to be together as a family. We were a little nervous about travelling with Micaela but being she was so easy thanks to the Ipad. We stayed at the Hyatt in Kanapali  and it was so nice! Our location was perfect and we didn’t even need to rent a car. Every morning we went down to have breakfast and lounge by the pool or beach. We made it a daily routine to eat Hawaiian Ice and watch the sunset. It was so amazing sharing this adventure with loves. Hopefully we can take a trip every year as our Micki girl still talks about it! (Most pictures were taken on my iphone which Micaela dropped on the toilet so this is all I have)

Micaela 's Frozen Party

Micaela's 3rd Birthday was at Alta Vista Park on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I hired Bizzie Bee Creations to decorate for me which made my life so easy! I just had to worry about food. We had about 100 guests and most were my mommy friends from the area. All of our immediate family came which made me so happy oh  and arrived on time! haha. The Van Aukers had Merve's graduation so they missed it. The party started at 10:30 and Micaela woke up at 7am happy as can be! She was ready to celebrate. I went to set up the food while her and Daddy picked up the sandwiches. She arrived with the biggest smile on her face and was just glowing all day long. We did the piñata first which is her favorite. There were so many kids it took a little while...the Elsa arrived. She was wonderful! She entertained the kids and Micaela was in heaven. After we did the cake and she loved having everyone sing to her. It was such a magical day!! We all were exhausted but it was so worth it having our sweet girl so happy!! Happy 3rd Birthday my beauty!