The Rosas-Standring Family

I have been so very busy that i have not written anything in so long. I hope that some of you are still checking my blog. I had friends in town so no time to write but lots to write about, I went out of town, again lots to tell but no time to do it and then I have the even bigger "problem" of being SOOOOO busy at work that i have no time to write anything personal But that is a really nice problem to have so I am not going to complain about it. I was also able to get all of the pictures from when my family and friends and I went to Chichen Itza for the Spring Equinox.

So I am very sorry but the next few posts are going to be all out of wack but it is my blog so I do not really care. I just can't wait to tell about all of the great stuff.

So the newest and by far the most exciting thing for me is that both of the kids are in school. I knew that Akilean was all set for kinder-dos but we were not sure about Lena. I knew I wanted to put her into 1st grade but she has been out of school for a year and never has gone in Spanish. Well, when we went to set her up it looked like Akilean was going to go from 8:30 to 11:30 and Lena would go from 1-6. that is not exactly what I was hoping for. Especially when it comes to needing time to work from home. And for those of you who live here, been here or have visited me that is a LOT of walking to and from town.


Ruben set out to fix the problem and after a little sweet talk, charm and "donation" to the school Lena was in. Thanks goodness. Her school starts 7:00 and the bus picks her up at 6:30 and is only 3 pesos a day. 3 pesos is definitely worth not waking her up at 5:30. She gets out at 11:00 and then Akilean goes gets out at 11:30 and there schools are near each other- so that will work well.

I must say that we had wonderful starts to school. The first morning was a little rough because we not really sure who was going where and at what time and such. So on Wednesday we headed off to see who would be where. Akilean is in at Hurricanes and was all set to start the next morning on Thursday. We spent the rest of the day trying to get Lena set and even after we did - I thought her school started at 8 not 7 so she has to wait till Friday.

But I get ahead of myself. On Wednesday night we were invited out to Crystal's house in the jungle to go swimming. It was a wonderful afternoon of exploring the jungle, chasing the HUGE scorpions that live over that way and swimming in the pool. As you can see from the pics everyone had a great time.

The next morning we all got up and got ready for the first day of school. (even though Lena would end up staying with us and working on her Spanish sounds)

Akilean loved school. I cannot wait to get his little uniform. That night we came home and I decided to make them cookies for their lunches so we got out all the needed things to make oatmeal cookies.

While we were mixing away I had a little revelation. My hand mixer was my grandmothers that recently just passed away. This thing is easily over 20 years old. While I was mixing I felt a really strong connection to my grandmother. I have missed her so much. There have been a lot of times that I would pick up the phone to call her and then remember that she was not going to answer. This was not a sad feeling though. It was a very strong connection. I think that food- above all things other then sex that when you do it you pour so much of yourself into. Your feelings and essence goes into your food and into the things that you create those lasting meals with. I was using a really old mixing bowl of hers and her hand mixer and it was a wonderful feeling.

It is no wonder that the oatmeal cookies turned out fantastic. About now Crystal came by and asked if we wanted to go watch her husband's basketball game. Since we had a ride, which is our #1 reason for going nowhere at night, we went even though I knew I would have to wake the kids from the dead in the morning.

It was great. I have not been to a sporting event in a long time and it was the first time watching one in Mexico. It was insane. There was a field for every sport and they were all being used. It was crazy. The kids had an absolute blast and wore themselves silly.


My Mom and my Dad each sent me a little money to get some of the kids school supplies and to set their room up so I could do their lessons in English. Their room looks so cute. I built them a little desk and made boards with their letters on them. I was also able to buy some little plastic buckets and such to organize the few toys they have so they could actually play with them. Lena has already sat and done her homework at her desk. While Akilean played with his tools. (well, the ones that are left and not broken)

The kids set up a little tea party which Lena had gotten from the "tooth fairy" and had their afternoon snack. After a while the neighborhood boys came over to play with Akilean's trains. It was a very successful start to the school year.

The kids came home from school and around 2:00 they both passed out. They were so tired from swimming, running playing chasing and doing all of the crazy fun stuff you get to do when you are a kid.

I am so happy that they love school. I know that they will do very well. Lena is already learning Spanish like crazy and is even picking us some Mayan words.