no worries

So, yes, Joaquin asked for the Littlest Pet Shop for Christmas, which seemed a little unusual...he's such a dare devil, motocross, skateboarding, stunt trying, bad guy obsessed kind of boy. But I just had to snap these shots of how he had set it up! He hasn't changed a bit!

uh oh, stairs

This proud boy made it to the top of the stairs...didn't he just learn how to crawl?


He turned around to head right back down...thankfully we only have about five stairs in the house.

grandma's house

We arrived at grandma's just in time for lunch on Christmas morning. Isabela was all decked out in her clothes made by Mrs. Claus.


Joaquin in his too small hat and gloves.


I think this picture looks so presidential...maybe it's the books and that light in the background....foreshadowing, Kate?


Isabela forced everyone to play a game of Bop It! with her...it was quite funny.


And the traditional picture of the girl cousins...which looks much better cropped with just our faces, but would not post like that for some reason... of course!


**To all of our disbelief, grandma has recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Having her home to be able to spend Christmas with all of us was an answered prayer. If you would please remember her and my aunts and uncles that are taking care of her in your own prayers, we would be so thankful.

no coal for us!

Despite my fervent belief that Santa would overlook our house this year, we woke up Christmas morning to a room full of presents. Isabela was officially the first one up...although Diego and I had been up long before.


Rock on, girl! One of her favorite presents...a Hannah Montana guitar.


And one of Joaquin's...the Littlest Pet Shop...don't ask...that's another post.


Diego loved this ball he received...it was just his size...now he won't bump his head under the chairs trying to get it.


He was the official taster of all tags and presents.


And yes, our living room looked just like yours by the end.

a full day

We woke up early yesterday morning wanting to sled...so we called our friends who have a great hill in their yard and they said they'd already been out on it...and to come on over. Isabela missed out because her pants were still drying and she didn't want to wear any of Joaquin's.


We had so much fun....Joaquin was surfing on his board and then all the neighborhood kids were holding on to each other's sled and going down at the same time. Those are the good ol' days.


Back home, at some point, I tried to get a good family shot...still trying....this is what I ended up with...


...and this.


Then I pulled out the sewing machine to see if I could get it working...and it worked!! We used some of our material scraps to make a pillow (Isabela's keeping it for herself)....


and Joaquin made this for Diego for Christmas. He was so proud of it, and I think the colors are amazing!

that's a lot of snow!

I think we got a foot of snow!



Don't forget to feed the birds...ours are a little choosy...they don't seem to like our birdseed, but we keep trying.

snow driving

Friday night was quite an adventure for us. Our friend, Daniela, from Bolivia, was due to arrive at the downtown bus terminal at 5:30pm and since JP was working, I was the one to go down and pick her up with the three kids. Well, of course, the huge snowfall had just started. We left the house around 4:30pm because I had to make a quick stop and then I didn't want her to have to wait for us there. I told the kids to pack a snack in case they were hungry, but they assured me they wouldn't need it. You can see where this is going right?
All the kids fell asleep on the drive down, and so I just parked the car in the tiny lot out front and waited....watching the snow gently falling. I called Daniela at 5:45pm when she wasn't there yet to see what was up...she said they were still on the way, but she wasn't sure where she was. Here's the play by play details of what ensued.... eventually, the kids woke up....watched the snowfall...wondered when Daniela was going to arrive...said they were hungry...I found a spare funsize pack of M&Ms which we all split...watched the snowfall...ate some snow that was collecting on the side mirror...talked about leaving Daniela there...told bad knock knock jokes...cried because they were hungry, bored, thirsty, had to go to the bathroom...screamed because they wanted to leave....all until 7:30 when the bus finally got there!!
By now the snow was thick on the streets...very treacherous driving. I literally drove 10 miles an hour down the highway towards home. This was the first time I was ever scared driving in snow. I wanted to just stop...but I knew the snow would just keep falling so we pushed on...past spun out cars and blinking hazard lights. We slipped and slided along the road at a snail's pace...and finally got stuck...in our own driveway!! Daniela was able to move the snow away so we could pull all the way in and we finally made it home at 9pm! Almost 5 hours in the car!

we love Upward!

Isabela got her cheering uniform last night at practice. We couldn't wait for her to try it on when we got home! Ever since that cheerleading birthday last year...that's all she thinks about. I'm so excited to see how she enjoys cheering at her first real game!

poinsettias

We enjoyed reading this book this week as we learned about Mexican Christmas traditions.


Did you know the poinsettia is NOT poisonous? I always heard that it was. Anyway, we made this fake garland just to be on the safe side. It sure brightened up our mantle.

a christmas story

Let me start by saying we have been doing soooo good about not eating out. Only once in about a month and a half...and I've lost 5 lbs! Not even exercising! But last night, we were out of food in the house and it was too late to go to the store shopping on an empty stomach...so we picked up Domino's Pizza (large is 5.99!) and ate it while driving around looking at Christmas lights. Very fun, until Joaquin had to go to the bathroom...of course!
Shortly after we got home, Daddy walked in the door! A great surprise to us! So we had decided to watch A Christmas Story. I know I shouldn't say this during this season, but I'd never seen it...bits and pieces...but never the whole thing. And, of course, no one else in the family had ever seen it before, either. When it started, I wasn't sure it would be that good...a little slow in the beginning...but we all LOVED it and ended up laughing so hard. My favorite part was when the boy stops himself on the slide down from Santa, when he finally remembered what he wanted...and then the Santa says "You'll shoot your eye out, kid" and pushes him down the slide with his foot. So if you've seen it, what is your favorite part?


Here's a pic of the kids watching the movie...Diego just loves to do this to Joaquin.

photo shoot

We put the baby in the manger a little early...but I'm just not sure we're going to find time for official Christmas pictures this year. It was funny trying to get them to all look...as most of us know. (I did yell a little, but it was still fun.) The best photos normally are the ones when they're not looking...but then, it's hard to get them all to not look, too!

the nutcracker

Today, Isabela and I braved the excessive rain to go see the Nutcracker. We'd been talking about it all week. We couldn't wait...not only to see the ballet, but to have some one on one time together doing something special. We rarely get that.


It was in the beautiful Carpenter Center...we were full of excitement as we walked (well, ran in the pouring rain) up to the theater... seeing the marquis lights, the heavy ornate doors, that crazy colored carpet, the many, many stairs to our seats high in the balcony, the red velvet cushions on the seats, the stars twinkling in the ceiling, the orchestra tuning up, and then hearing those familiar notes by Tchaikovsky.


It was everything we hoped for...I had even bought her a small nutcracker from Kohl's so she could remember the first time she saw the ballet. She was so thankful for the wonderful day, too, which was a nice surprise for me. She also said the sweetest thing..."I wish I was watching you dance, Mommy."

an easy craft

This was a fun little craft we did the other day. We just layed strips of tissue paper across a rectangle of contact paper, decorated it with sequins, then covered the other side with contact paper. I drew a shape of a Christmas tree on the contact paper, and the kids cut them out. In the daytime, it looks like there is snow on them from the white tissue paper they used.

Merry Christmas from England

We finished up learning about English traditions with a special dinner.


We each made a cracker filled with surprise trinkets from around the house. We crossed arms at the table to open them. Even though there was no POP!, it was still exciting.


These were Juan Pablo's toys. Our other crafts were those Christmas cards, and pomander balls...do those smell good or what?!!

crafts at chippokes farm

Last week, we visited Chippokes farm one more time to learn about crafts from colonial times. We made green paper...which still hasn't dried by today. The kids want to send it as a Christmas card to some lucky recipient.



And we rolled candles from beeswax. They smell wonderful and are apparently better for your health than regular candles.

daily living

I know I'm not Catholic...although for some reason, growing up, I always wanted to be...but I love this writing by Pope John XXIII...I found it on one of the blogs I like to read. My favorites are number two and the ending sentence.

Decalogue for Daily Living
1. Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.
2. Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behavior; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.
3. Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.
4. Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.
5. Only for today, I will devote ten minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.
6. Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.
7. Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure no one notices.
8. Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.
9. Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world.
10. Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness.

Indeed, for twelve hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.
Blessed Pope John XXIII

cards!

This summer at a yard sale, I stumbled upon a few of those fabric sample books that designers use (for a dollar!) and knew we could do something with them.


We finally have put some to good use. Touch and feel Christmas cards.


We had an awesome time making these yesterday. I could have done it all day, but the kitchen was covered in scraps and glitter.

go, Diego go

A good book. Who knew? This was what finally got Diego moving forward. He's officially a crawler now!

If you'd like to see it...this is the second time he ever crawled right on video!

feel like Christmas?

Somehow, it just doesn't feel like Christmas yet to me. But a little baking.....(this is the lebkuchen we made...tasted like gingerbread to me, but no one else likes it)...


And a little decorating could change the mood. I couldn't stop making these cute paper cornucopias the other day. This is Joaquin's which he watercolored...it is filled with a treat from St. Nicholas.


And here's our new tree. We thought a fake one would be a little safer for Diego crawling around...no sharp pine needles to swallow...it's a little Charlie Brownish, but it grows on you.

the grand illumination

For the first time, we ventured downtown to be part of the grand illumination. It was SO crowded. We got down there at 5pm, before most everyone else and were trying to figure out what all the fuss was about. So we ordered a funnel cake and sat down to watch.


It sure was cold...but we were bundled up.


Luckily, Diego needed a diaper change or I don't know that we would have seen all the cool things inside the buildings.


I love his amazed expression as he looks up at the giant Nutcracker.


Letters to Santa go here!


A cute little igloo scene.


It felt like New Year's Eve with the count down to light up.


You can see some of the buildings in the background.


We snapped this as we were being herded off of the grass...oops! we didn't know we weren't supposed to be up there.


As we were headed out, we got front row seats to the marching band. That was exciting and we nearly leapt out of our boots when they started up.


We also hit the Radio Disney booth to pick up some free stuff they were handing out...people were going crazy trying to grab these mesh stockings. Of course, they weren't filled with anything...it wasn't until we got home that we realized they were supposed to be filled for area kids for the Salvation Army. So we filled ours for a boy 6-8 years old. The kids had fun picking out things for it, and it was hard to stop. Amazingly enough, the advent activity for this week is to be an "angel" for somebody else...by donating toys or clothes to an organization. I so love when life's events work out like that.


Our parting words from the grand illumination...."never again". But we're glad we did it once.