She's In!

Sofia got her letter from TAG on Friday!!! Woo hoo! She's in! We're so happy for her and proud of the hard work she put into the application. Here she is when she won the award at the district level for her piano composition.

We're all looking forward to this summer, having some time off and taking a break especially from school! We need to recharge our batteries to come back and take on the new year, which will be Sofia's freshman year and Hannah's junior year! Yikes, next year is the year where Hannah starts seriously looking into the colleges and application process...

Happy Birthday Hannah

On Hannah and Sofia's birthdays I can't help but reflect, and yes, get sentimental. It seems like a lifetime ago, and yet only yesterday that I carried Hannah in me. As soon as I came home from the hospital I missed the feeling of having her inside me, sharing my day to day with her. She was now her own little person with her own life to lead. I remember crying the whole way home from the hospital because she had to stay there a few extra days to recover from jaundice. I felt so so sad and so empty. Ricardo would shuttle back and forth from home to the hospital taking her milk and bringing back the report of how she was doing. We were so happy when he brought her home, and soon overwhelmed. I remember that being the first time I felt awash with gratitude to my mom, not only for being there to help me with colicky Hannah but for just being my mother and everything I then understood that meant.

Sixteen years! When Hannah was little I would try to imagine what she would be like by taking her baby traits and projecting them into an imaginary 16 year old Hannah. Everything I see in her now, was in her then, and yet she's a constant surprise to me too. I love her creativity, her strength, intense loyalty and sensitivity. I never expected her to be so funny! In so many ways she still reminds me of myself, only smarter and more self-assured. Every trait that exasperates me about her--impulsive, dramatic, all-over-the-map, demanding...are carbon copies of my own flaws. In her they are rawer, yet to be polished. I know that she will struggle with them as I do, and yet each of these traits belies a strength and talent. She lives life fully (dramatic) and in the here and now (impulsive). She's visionary (all-over-the-map) and knows what she wants (demanding).

Happy Birthday Hannah, I can't wait to see what lessons you will teach me next.

Prom Night

Hannah went to prom with her friend Rebecca. They looked so pretty, and had a really good time. I'm so happy for them that they can make choices like going to Prom alone, with a date or with a friend. Waiting around for someone to ask you is so demoralizing! Girls are so lucky today!

Fashion report: both Rebecca and Hannah wore short dresses, and both were vintage inspired. Rebecca's looked a little like dresses in the 60's, except with an empire waist. Hannah's dress was very 50's, with swiss dots and lots of crinoline and layers.

They got ready at Rebecca's house because I was participating in the Oak Cliff Artisan's Studio Tour to raise money for their trip to Argentina (we made a dent in the ticket at least!). Ricardo picked them up and took them to Evie's house where they spent the night. All in all, a very busy weekend!

Spring Break

Sofia and Hannah outside the Devil's Den cave

A few weeks ago we went on Spring Break. I didn' t have my camera on me and our computer was virus infected so I never got around to putting up any pictures . So here goes!

We invited Daniel to come with us, and he had never camped before. We went to Devil's Den, near Rogers Arkansas and got to visit with other cousins (Alicia, Tom and Mercedes) on the way. The weather was really pretty but cold so we had fires going every night just to stay warm. The best part for me was the hike we went on one day through some crevices and even got to see some little bats. The girls had a great time with their cousin and overall it was a really nice trip.

Cold Happy Easter

It's been a while I know...I've been REALLY busy at work, and my camera is down so some of my motivation has slipped, but I can't let this totally disappear....

What's been happening lately in Weir-dom:

• Sofia's composition won at the state level!!! We're not sure if that's where it ends or it goes onto some sort of national competition, but we're REALLY happy for her!


• Hannah and her boyfriend Pedro broke up...I won't go into details because I'm sure she'd be mortified, but I thought you'd like to know


• Nothing really new for Ricardo or I, just lots of work!

We all went camping for Spring Break--we invited Daniel, the girls' cousin who lives in Houston. We went to Arkansas and visited another set of cousins who live in Rogers. We camped at Devil's Den state park and really had a good time, mostly just around the campsite. Highlights were a hike to see some bats in a cave, renting a paddle boat, and having a nice campfire each evening.

On Friday we were so HAPPY to stay at a hotel in Eureka Springs and de-funkify ourselves, having a nice dinner and relaxing before heading back. As we left Eureka, we stopped to see Quigley's "Castle" which was really unique and interesting.

Now it's Easter weekend, and we went to Lafayette on Thursday after work and returned today. It was a short visit but lots of fun to hang out with mom and dad, my brother and his family. We came back to a really really cold Dallas. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and Parranda Venezuela is performing for the second time at the Sacred Music Concert.