Happy Birthday Ottavio!!!!!!!!!

Ottavio turned 1 today, wow, where do the years go? I swear yesterday I was wondering if my bed rest torture would ever end, and today he is turning 1. He is so sweet, we are all so thankful for this little boy. To think that he might not have been a part of our crazy clan is a "yucky" thought.
Being a parent for the sixth time is so much better in so many ways than the first time. I still wonder at the growth and development, I still awe at the learning and milestones he passes through, I still find enjoyment in describing and telling all the cute and funny things he does, just as I did with my first. But I don't fret as much, I don't worry as much nor do I try to make things be the way I think they should be. I just let it be and love it and really enjoy it.
When I look at Isabella and see a bright and independant young woman standing before me, I get hit with a slight feeling of panic that all the good stuff is passing by WAY too fast. My mind is yelling "SLOW DOWN", I want to scream, cry and hold my kids tight. Alas, we cannot stop the passing of time, we must submit and learn to breath deep, logging every moment in our rapidly decaying memory, and fully enjoy the moment we are blessed with.

Happy Birthday Ottavio, we all love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh how lovely.

Jose cutting the HUGE I mean HUGE loaf of bread.

Rafa working with the earth.

cooking the blessed paella.

Saturday at the Huerta

Maravilla and Dante, dirty, but having fun! Jose Daniel, playing shy, he won all of our hearts over. How cute is it to hear a 2 year old speak another language.

Maria Angeles and Carmen preparing the salads al fresco.

Here in our pueblo everyone who is anyone has a town home and a country home. The country home is called La Huerta, because it consists of land and orchards and gardens, where they grow lots of fresh food.

The country is actually only a 5-10 minute walk out of town, but because the summers are so hot, and airconditioning is not a standard here, the Spanish spend there weekends and mostly the entire summer at the huerta home.

We were finally asked to spend the day at some friends of ours' huerta. We were very excited and feel like we have passed another rite of passage.

They asked what we wanted to eat. I told them how much I adore conejo (rabbit) and so it was decided that we would eat arroz (rice). In my ignorant American understanding, I understood that to mean white rice. I should have known that here in Spain when you speak of Arroz, you are actually meaning a paella. Even better, we adore paella, espicially with rabbit!

The property had a good sized stream running through it so the kids had a blast. Stripping down to "the nuddies" as Dante calls it. Bella was followed all day by boys her age, and I sat back and did nothing.

Glimpses of Spring in Cehegin

I love spring in Spain, well at least I the part of Spain where reside. I imagine it is just as nice all over. Maybe a bit chillier up north. At any rate, spring in Cehegin is lovely. The wild flowers are so abundant that you can actually smell the fragrance on the breeze. Too bad for Isabella and Matt who both suffer from wicked hay fever, they can't truely appreciate the plethura of flowers.

Last spring I was confined to my bed, growing a baby. So this spring has truned out to be so much sweeter than normal for me, Remembering all to vividly my time indoors.

After the kids head off to school at 9 am, Ottavio and I sometimes me alone, although this week I did find myself a running partner, set out to the "campo" ,country, which is really just outside my back yard. We exit the pueblo into the orchards and fields where all you can hear are chirping birds and running water. It really is all you could want on a morning run, or walk if you prefer.

I remember the year before we left Fresno. I would run through some of the yuckiest parts of town, and they really wern't that yucky. I would dream of how my morning run would look like when I reached Spain. No trash on the side of the road, no cars blowing exhaust in your face, no hard pavement under my feet. Today I am thankful that I don't have to visualize any thing while I run. I can just look around and breath deep in satisfaction.