Christmas Spirit

Hot cocoa anyone?


Diego and I spent one afternoon opening our own stand while Carmen napped on and on. Occasionally she'll take these mega three hour naps, which had I known, I would have joined her.

I asked him what time the cafe opened and he said, "It opens in spring."

"When does it close?"

"16:48."  (Four year old time.)  So that's what the sign says.




I remembered one year when Diego didn't know whose birthday was on Christmas so we had a little conversation in the car the other day.  I reminded him that Jesus' birthday is on Christmas and this is how the conversation unfolded:

Me:  Jesus' birthday is on Christmas so that's why we celebrate Christmas.

Diego:  Jesus has an invisible head.

Me:  What does that mean?

Diego:  No one can see Jesus' head, they can only see his body.

Me: Oh.  (It started making sense because somewhere in the Bible it says no one can look upon God's face.)

Diego: Only his friends can see his face.

Me:  Who are his friends?

Diego:  The people that walk with him.

Now if that isn't profound, I don't know what is.



Two nights ago, we set out around 7pm to look at some local Christmas lights.  You should have HEARD the incessant bickering that went on between the kids.  I believe I said the dreaded "S" word to the kids and the angels above gasped!
"Shut up!"
We threatened to go home with enough meaning in it that they finally stopped.  But there was one house that made it all worthwhile...a beautiful light show set to music on a radio station.  We even thought about getting take out the next night and parking our car in front of their house to eat...it was that cool.



I pulled out our Child's Story Bible yesterday to read the story of the holy birth to the kids and went on to read about the wonder of the star and the wicked King Herod.  It was a wonderful retelling and perfectly timed by God for when we went to the Zoo's Christmas pageant last night.   It was pretty last minute, but we thought we'd hit the 7:45pm show...and so did everyone else in Richmond.  It took us a while to park, and I even suggested we forget about it several times, but I'm glad we didn't.  Once we were parked, we stood in line for a bit while the Roman guards approached and told us to tell them if we saw where the baby to be king was.  (We knew better, of course.)

JP sprang for Krispy Kreme doughnuts and hot cocoa, so the night was perfect.  And we watched the story that we had heard earlier in the day come to life.

Our Christmas spirit continues to ebb and flow.  Joaquin even stated on the way home, "I'm much better behaved when it's not Christmas."  Aren't we all.

It's just another reminder of how grateful we are that a little baby was born in a manger long ago.

Merry Christmas!



ps.  If you're interested in making your own hot chocolate cafe, you'll probably need:
cups
cotton balls (or white pompoms)
spoons
cut up brown craft foam or paper
brown grocery bag for the sign
recycled containers
money
any other extras you can think of

Here's a link to the original idea.  Enjoy!

ornaments and other stuff

"I want to do 'crafting time'. " That's what Diego says most mornings.  (Yay, I still have one that likes that stuff!)  Well, he either says that or "I want to watch TV."  But I prefer the first.

Lately, we've been busy making ornaments.  The first were filled with natural items and a little fake snow.



We did this with the Garden Club at school, and I mistakenly bought glass ornaments.  One year, I wanted glass and the stores only had plastic, and this year, I wanted plastic and they only had glass.



Either way, these are my favorite ornaments...you can do ANYTHING with them.  I had Diego make a handprint on one...I haven't tried it with Carmen yet, but it's definitely on the 'to do' list.  Others were filled with paint, pompoms, feathers, or beads.  Anything you can find that fits in that little hole makes a beautiful ornament!



There's nothing simpler than beads on a pipe cleaner.  Diego stayed well-occupied making these.  I tied them with some embroidery thread...



...but this one is even easier and was his favorite.



This is our advent calendar.  Twenty-four is an awesome number if you have 2,3,4,6,8, or 12 kids.  They've been taking turns well, and it's all we can do not to open number 24.  I know I pinned a lot of homemade advent calendars, but I always wait until November to do that, and then there's never enough time to actually make them.



Our elf has made an appearance.  The kids have questioned him this year because he is different from those scary looking elves at other people's houses.  But ours is from Bolivia, so that makes sense.



Here's most of our tree.  The theme?  Smother it with every ornament you own without rhyme or reason.  Diego discovered a starfish ornament this year...he's fascinated with ocean animals right now...and he turned it over, saw the little hole for its mouth and said, "So that's how the starfish gets the food in his belly."



"Yes, Virginia, Coke really does own the world."  These Coke ornaments are one of our favorites.  I've heard they have these bottles again at Walmart but have yet to see them.



And here's our NEW tree!!  I fell in love with this on Pinterest.  It's fabric from IKEA and we're using it to hang our painted advent ornaments from several years ago.   You can tell I was so excited I didn't even iron the material.



I'm amazed we still have these ornaments, but they are perfect for this new tree!



And our new COMPLETED project (unlike the fireplace demolition)...a chalkboard wall!!  Well used and lots of fun.  Thanks, Kate, for the inspiration and motivation!



I guess I could have cleaned it up for the blog...but it usually looks just like this.  Still love it.

merry christmas card 2013

This year we are sending out traditional Christmas cards...as in, there'll be no picture of the family or kids.  It seemed like a good idea when I bought them on sale last year, but a friend was surprised, "You're not sending a picture of the kids?!  Everyone will want to see the baby!"  I guess I just figured that most of the people I'll be sending cards to also read the blog so I didn't want to overdo it.

I wanted us to get a family picture, but time is passing. AND the cards that I bought are too small to even fit a picture in.  So we'll do a virtual card instead.

Yesterday morning, we did a little photo shoot with just the rowdy four.

How about a vote?? Which one is your favorite?

Xmas Card #1:  Sweet and real



Xmas Card #2:  Tallest to shortest



Xmas Card #3:  Cute little hats and antlers



Xmas Card #4:  It's snowing



Xmas Card #5:  Traditional and wow everyone is looking! (This is the same picture as the funny hat one.)



Xmas Card #6:  A little blurry, but still sweet



So?  Do you have a favorite?  Whichever one gets the most votes will be our new header at the top of the blog.

thankful

My house is in shambles.  A mixed up jumble of Thanksgiving and Christmas.  There are boxes strewn throughout each room with cherished ornaments spilling out, waiting to be hung on our Charlie-Brownish tree, and a table of overflowing pumpkins and leaves ready to be stored for another year.

I'm thankful for it all.  But mostly for my family.

Let's start with the baby.  She's always on the move...and not one to sleep if there's something better to do.  And look who's getting two teeth!!


Uncle Shep discovered that Carmen has a Williams family trait in her top lip...just like her great-grandfather.  I think she looks a little like Marge Simpson, myself.  But it is so amazing to see glimpses of your grandparents in your children.



Isabela has become Betty Crocker.  She cooked this cheesecake from scratch all by herself.  I did catch one measuring error just in time...she accidentally added 1 cup of milk instead of 1/4 cup.  I just poured most of the excess into the sink.  It turned out just fine anyway.



The annual Thanksgiving bike ride from Alexandria to DC was cut short this year because of the bitter cold...only 26 miles!



Joaquin was a little nervous but did awesome and even made it up the big hill on Connecticut Avenue from the National Zoo.  They were all frozen solid when they arrived, but thawed out after some snacks and drinks.



Here's our wonderful host Aunt Beth calling everyone to order.  It was a huge gathering this year.  Carmen kept me occupied most of the time, but she finally conked just after we ate.



And these two are becoming fast friends.  She lights up as soon as she wakes up and sees Diego.



How about that Native American headdress?  I helped with the feathers, but that design around the band is all him.  I'm impressed.



And this beautiful girl is the one that made me a mom ten years ago!  Sometimes she reminds me of myself, but she is still so unique.  I think she looks like my own mom in this picture.



She's beautiful and I love her.



And she's one great big sister.  I hope those boys will realize that one day!



And then there's this handsome man.  I'm so thankful for his unique outlook on each and every thing...which might sound like code for:  he and I agree on nothing...but it's not.  I'm old-fashioned and stuck in my ways, and he's a free spirit and ready for adventure.  He provides for us, goes along with my own crazy ideas, wears out the wild boys, and patiently calms most of our storms.  For him, I'm most thankful.

Zacatecas

Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

Let's see....do you know where Zacatecas is?  What natural resource is it known for?  What does the terrain look like?

Isabela has been doing the most amazing ORAL presentations in her class this year.  The first one was on Kansas.  She does a google doc slide presentation with each one.... no notecards, no writing.

So back to Zacatecas.  It's one of the thirty one states of Mexico.  And Zacatecas has produced 17% of the world's silver.  The main silver mine is called Mina El Eden and was hand dug out by the indigenous people over 400 years ago.

Isabela made a model of it.  Diego was nice enough to share his train track with her.



Her original idea was to make a Spanish Real silver piece for each student.  These are also known as pieces of eight and are the sought after treasure of pirates of old.  Instead she just added some spilling out of her model.



Inside the mine were altars to Catholic saints erected by the miners for added protection to their dangerous job.  We learned that miners only had an average life span of 36!  They would enter the mine before the sun came up and work through the day until after the sun went down...never seeing daylight.



Zacatecas is mountainous but also has desert areas.  Isabela always likes to include information about the native animals, too.  Zacatecas has wolves, deer, porcupines, mountain lions, macaws, and wild boars.



If you'd like to see some additional pictures of Zacatecas, Mexico, here is a link to our pins on Pinterest.



Next project: marine life.  Isabela chose a shrimp.  Better study up!

should mama

Are you a tired mama?

Life as Mom wrote a beautiful article just for you.

And make sure you read this post next from Creative with Kids.  Don't let the 'should mama' ruin your kids.

quick fall decor

Diego and I had collected some amazing leaves on a walk through Forest Hill Park one weekend.  I wasn't sure what we'd do with them, but went ahead and pressed them in a dictionary.  That's cool in itself...amazing how flat they come out.

We decided to paint them with Q-tips...just polka dots and white paint.  I suggested he follow the lines of the leaves, but I think he came up with his own patterns.  I think they look pretty strung up over our window.





JP snapped this shot of Diego later in the evening around 6pm:


He is actually asleep!  He had been napping on our bed, and when I went in to check on him, it was dark and I couldn't see any sleeping figure on the white comforter.  I thought he had woken up and come out of the room, but I knew I hadn't seen him, so I turned on the light and there he was!  His Dad put him back up on the bed and he didn't even wake!  Now if I could only get him to take a nap earlier in the afternoon...

turkey trot

Turkey Trot.  Great name for it!  Our family ran... walked... trotted our first 5K as a family last weekend.  In my mind, we were going to stick together, enjoy the beautiful scenery, and encourage one another along.   Silly me.

Oh, who cares?  As long as we all crossed the finished line.  Although I did expect a little cheering at the end when I finally got there, instead of the crickets chirping...not a family member in sight.  Sigh.

But back to the start...I think just pinning these numbers on ensures that you'll run just a little bit faster.



Carmen even came along in a jogging stroller borrowed from a friend...pushed by me!  This is my non-sleeping baby.  It wasn't until about 1.5 miles into it that she finally conked.



These three are a little more competitive than the rest of us.  Joaquin was the first to cross...in under 30 minutes.  Daddy stuck with Diego who literally ran the first two miles then suddenly said, "I want to walk now."



Isabela and I encouraged one another along for awhile until she met up with a friend.  We were dodging people even slower than us (who knew?) and making our way to the grand party at the end...free Jersey Mike's subs and snow cones.  If that isn't enough to motivate you, I don't know what else there could possibly be.



And here's Carmen pre-race loving on another dog.



Isabela informed me that even Carmen beat me...since I was pushing her along in front of me.  I think my official time was around 45 minutes...I'm pretty sure that was ten minutes faster than my first ever 5K last year.  My reaction: "Woo-hoo! I won!"

Now we can bring on the turkey and pumpkin pie.

too late for pumpkins?

The weekend before Halloween, I realized we hadn't gone to the pumpkin patch.  It's always been a fun tradition, but no one had asked this year.  No one even wondered if we would carve pumpkins. (We didn't.)   I'm not sure what that means.  But it was Carmen's first Halloween, and how could we not go? So we headed off to the pumpkin patch late on Sunday afternoon.

Carmen hung out in her carrier.



"Saca ese chupi!" You might hear us tell her that.  In other words, "Get that paci out of your mouth!"



Love that expression.



By the time we got out to the pumpkin field, Carmen was ready for a nap...but mama wanted some pictures in the patch.



Isn't that pumpkin so cool, Carmen?



Not sure, ma'...let me taste it to find out!



Our rule this time...pick the smallest pumpkin you can find...you're carrying it all the way back to the car.



Anyway you can.



Here's Isabela's perfect little pumpkin.  It's still sitting on the front porch with a label on it that says 'Isabela', just in case anyone forgets.



This was our entry for Juan Pablo's annual pumpkin painting contest at work.  I found these beautiful pumpkin owls by Alisa Burke on pinterest and simply copied it as best I could.



And it won!



If you still have pumpkins around your house, here's what we did at our monthly garden club meeting at the kids' school...bird feeders.  I had absolutely nothing to do with how beautiful it turned out.  But it's really quite simple...just cut in half, scoop, tie up with twine, and fill with seeds.  I believe they notched the pumpkin a little to get the twine to stay in place.



Here's a closer look.



Or if you don't have any pumpkins...you can do the same thing with oranges.  This is what the kids got to take home.  Now we just need to hang ours and see who comes to visit!