Accapadi time

After we left the Burkhart house, we headed over to the Accapadi house. JP had not gotten a chance to meet Saaya. We believe that friendships are formed early so Emma and Saaya had some playtime on the blanket together. We have enjoyed a wonderful friendship with Mamta for over 14 years, and we really hope our kids can develop a wonderful friendship as well.

Emma is older by two months, but Saaya is almost as big as her. Mamta also says that the best friends will also have a wonderful protector by the name of Carlos. That was obvious when he decided to join them on the floor, by laying next to them. I bonded with Saaya by clipping her nails so she doesn't scratch her mommy and daddy. Saaya bonded with her Godfather by falling asleep on his chest. She was quite comfy for awhile even amidst all the noise from our older children.

I must also mention that auntie Mamta and uncle Jos were nice enough to teach John David and Sammy how to play thumb wars. Uncle Jos even taught them the word "distraction," so now they know how to distract you so they can take something away. It was really quite funny at first, but now they fully understand the concept.

I'm sure that after an hour auntie Mamta and uncle Jos were ready to have their quiet house back. They informed us that as soon as we left Saaya would take over the noisemaker role and their house would not be quiet. We couldn't believe them since Saaya was completely quiet the whole time we were there.

playdate with Burkharts

Today started with attending mass. After mass we went to the Burkhart home for lunch and playtime. Catherine and Carlos became best buds. Catherine was happy to take care of a baby and Carlos was content with all the attention and love he received from her. Catherine is quite strong, but her little arms will probably sore tomorrow from carrying Carlos around. Sammy and Kristen played like to peas in a pod. They both have great imaginations, and they had fun playing their own pretend games. At one point Sammy was taking the kitty, Kristen, for a walk. It was really cute how they just added to each others imagination. John David and Matthew just played with whomever appealed to them more at the time. When it was time to go...the boys were sad to leave such a fun house.

Regalado Daycare

I don't know how many of you know my big sister, Lily, but she has a 1 year old son named Gavin. I call him GG...so you might hear about him. He is waiting for a spot to open at a new daycare, so I am watching him. He is over at our house while the John David is in school, so I am still taking care of four. This was his first week over here, but he fits right in. It is nice to see him interact with Carlos. They are very cute and enjoy playing together. Sammy also loves being the oldest and showing the little ones what to do.

Singing

As most of you know I don't have the best voice, but I do sing with my kids from time to time. On thursday John David was trying to teach me a song he learned at school. It was quite funny to have him sing a line and then motion or tell me to repeat what he just sung. According to his teacher there are many more songs to come since she loves to sing.

Lion Bus again

John David wanted to ride the bus on friday...so I let him ride it. He enjoys riding the bus, and besides the seatbelt thing, there is no reason why I shouldn't let him ride it. Friday when he got off the bus, he told me that was able to put his seatbelt on by himself. That made me feel happy and proud because he is growing up and can figure out things on his own now.

Carlos can ride

Carlos is definitely eager to try anything his brothers do. For example they have a battery powered motorcycle that he just discovered he can ride. Sammy got it for his 2nd birthday, and Carlos is already riding it at 19 months. He doesn't know how to steer, so mommy ends up running besides him to keep him going in the right direction. He just gets a big grin as soon as he presses the pedal to go forward, so that makes it worth all the exercise I get. Eventhough the motorcycle can only go up to 2.5mph that is pretty quick when you are doing circles on a driveway. I used to have to do the same thing with his brothers until they learned to steer on their own. The downside is that Sammy has to share this wonderful toy with one more brother.

Apple Pie

So 5 people voted for JP's favorite apple pie. He will eat french or dutch apple, but a traditional apple pie is his favorite.

school bus

John David has been asking since the first day of school to ride the "lion bus." I will clarify that his bus is #0702, but there is a lion sticker so young kids like him can find the right bus to ride. So I am not the one giving it the name, this is something the school district does. So yesterday he asked his teacher as well. So today he rode the bus home. I asked him if he enjoyed the ride home, and he said yes. He said that there was another boy from his class on the bus. John David also told me that the seat belt was too short and he couldn't get it on. He said he even tried two seatbelts. As most of you know I am all about vehicle safety. John David still rides in a five point harness in my car, so you know I was not too happy to hear that. He then asked if he could right it again tomorrow, I told him I would have to talk to daddy.

Actions speak louder than words

The past two days Sammy has been happy, and when I asked him if he missed his brother he would just laugh and say "no." Last night JP went to check them and found Sammy sleeping on his brother's bed. They have been sharing a room for almost two years and that has never happened before. That act shows that he misses his brother and best friend.

Kinder Quotes by Sammy

Sammy was the one who missed his big brother the most. Today he learned that quiet time is not as much fun, when you don't have anyone to play with. He stepped up and was a great helper while John David was in school, but once big brother was back home he went back to his usual self. Here are his quotes about kindergarten.

"why can't I go to school with John David?"
"I don't even know what Mrs. Gottschalk looks like"
"can we all get off the car to pick up John David?"
"I'm hot...I'm hungry...where's John David?"

Kinder Quotes by John David

SO as most of you know today was John David's first day on kindergarten. He was very excited about going and we are very proud to report that no tears were shed this morning. He are some things he said about kindergarten.

"I was a big boy and I didn't cry"
"we have two potties, one for boys and one for girls"
"we need to wash our hands so we don't get germs on people when we touch them"
"mommy you packed me too many grapes, and goldfish"
"when the time runs out we have to stop eating"
"we walk in a line with our hands behind our back"
"why do we walk in a line?"
"why do we walk with our hands behind our back?"
"Mrs. Gottschalk says we put our hand behind our back so we don't touch the wall and get our hands dirty"
"Mrs. Gottschalk counted 12 boys and 6 girls, so that makes 18 children"
"can you call Mrs. Gottschalk and ask if I can ride the Lion bus?"
"Mrs. Gottschalk said that we could only play on the things that were dry, not wet, on the playground"
"my shoes came untied a bunch of times"

JP's cake update

The count is up to four since today we had another cake at his parent's house. It was a chocolate chip cookie dough blizzard cake. It was pretty yummy! As far as I can tell it looks like this will be the end of his celebration for this year.

Claire's

Today after mass we headed up to Kyle. JP wanted to go to the outlets to look for some shoes, so JP's parents volunteered to watch the kids. We left the three boys and took Emma with us. On the way there I asked JP if we could pierce her ears, and he said it depended on time. We went through our shoe expedition pretty quick, and in less than hour we had bought four pair of shoes for JP. I told him we doubled his shoe wardrobe in one day...I thought it was funny, he didn't.
We headed over to Claire's and there was no wait. I picked little round ball earrings in 14k gold for her. For those of you wondering, she cried...but for the most part she was great. Daddy and Mommy didn't cry, eventhough I was pretty sure JP was going to, but he was strong for his little girl. I will email a picture later, so y'all can see how she looks. She looks even prettier than before!

three...so far

So as of tonight JP is up to three birthday celebrations. The first one was wednesday when Sharmila brought over a lemon meringue pie when they came for dinner. This afternoon his coworkers got together for lunch and a homemade tres leches cake. Tonight we had BurgerTex and cookie cake with my family. The weekend is just starting, so we will see how many more celebrations there will be for his birthday this year.
Every year JP makes fun of how many birthday celebrations I get, but I must say that he deserves everyone of them. I know how hard he works to support our family, and to give me the opportunity to stay at home with our children. I know the past two and half years he has gotten up to go to work, while somedays I was still asleep in bed. Then coming home to a noisy not so perfect house with no guarantee of a fresh, hot dinner. I know that for me my daily motivation is our children, and I know that he only wants the best for our family. I appreciate everything he does for us, and he deserves the best as well!

Gottschalk

I'm you are wondering where I got this title...so just read on and you will find out. Today we went to John David's school for Open House. We got to meet his teacher and go to his classroom to put up his school supplies. He was quite excited walking up to his school with his backpack full of supplies. Then close to four the doors opened and we could see who his teacher was...he is in Ms. Gottschalk's class. There were 20 kids on the list today, but I'm sure all that can change. His teacher was really warm, and caring. She was very organized and greeted him by saying that she knew he was the oldest of four. She mentioned to us that she had four as well...however she had 1 boys and 3 girls. He had to color a picture of him going to kindergarten. He chose a purple crayon and got to work. He drew his head and eyes, then a mouth...in other words a smiley face. He then told me he drew ballons and a party hat. That to me was a sign that he is looking forward to some fun days in kindergarten. Some of the other parents already knew each other due to older children at the same school, but they were all very nice. We met a lady who had her little in this class, but her two older sons had been in the same class. She said Ms. Gottschalk was great, and that all the children loved her. We are looking forward to a great year!

Abuelita's Salon

Thursday we went over to my mom's for dinner and for haircuts. John David had requested that Abuelita cut his hair, since he had heard that Abuelita had cut Ethan's hair a couple of weeks ago. So John David and Sammy enjoyed getting haircuts while they watched Popeye cartoons. But there was something more exciting after their bath. They got to use the vacuum to clean up all the hair from the floor. They both wanted turn after turn, so after 30 minutes of vacuuming the clean up was over, much to their disappointment.

it's all relative

So on wednesday I went to San Marcos with the kids and my sister Julie. John David kept asking about how much farther we had to go. My sister was like you just asked that. So then he started saying that it was not as far as Grace and Tony's house. I found it quite amazing that he could relate that Austin was closer to San Marcos than to Houston. Of course anytime we drive anywhere in Houston it feels like we are in the car for a long time, and he remembered that from our trip two weeks ago.

head thump felt around the world

Raja and Sharmila came over for dinner on wednesday. While I was getting the food ready the guests were playing with the boys. Raja had always enjoyed the fact that the boys learned to head thump pretty early, and even encouraged that behavior. So while I was cutting the meat I heard Raja and Sharmila talking to Sammy about how he hurt Raja. I then learn that apparently Sammy head thumped Raja pretty hard on the temple. Raja took a time out on the sofa for awhile to recoup. So after five years of head thumping there will be no more of that for Raja.

Earring Poll Results

SO thanks to everyone who voted...even those of you who learned how to beat the system and vote twice. The results ended up being...7 yes's and 3 no's. JP also told me that he voted "yes" today, so Emma is getting her ears pierced. Now I just need to make some calls tomorrow to get it figured out, since Daddy wants to be there.

Lion bus

I had just recently had a conversation with a friend about the bus. She mentioned that she had another friend that always has her daughter ride the bus at least once during the first of school. The concept is that the first week the teachers and drivers are more aware in helping the students learn the routine. That way her daughter would be familiar with the routine if she ever needed her to ride the bus. It definitely made sense, so it was something in the back of my mind. When I checked the mail today we had received the school bus stop notice for John David. I mentioned it to John David, and show him that it said he was on bus #702 or the Lion bus. He asked if he could ride the bus. I told him we would talk to daddy and decide. He then asked me for the paper so he could show Sammy. He was obviously quite excited about the bus. He even asked to see the paper later in the day again. JP and I have not decided what we are going to do, but I am glad to see him excited.

chocolate chips

This afternoon I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready. I must have left the pantry door open, because I found Carlos in the pantry. He had found the Costco sized bag of Toll House Chocolate Chips and had opened it. This bag is generally behind the flour or sugar in an effort to hide it...apparently I didn't do a good job. His hands and mouth were full of evidence. He had a big smile on his face, until I closed the bag and the pantry door.

One more week...

So the countdown keeps getting smaller. John David starts school in one week. That means only one more week with him at home all day with me. After spending two years at home with him, I must say I will be sad to see him go to school. The house will be different without him. Sammy will miss his play buddy, but at the same will be glad that he doesn't have take turns and/or share. Carlos will soon figure out that there is no one to help him get on the bed, or sofa. Emma will not have both brothers at her side when I have to do something.
I was wanting to get out and do some fun things this week, but we will see if the weather cooperates.

yeah

So Carlos officialy has a word that is recognizable and is used appropriately. You can ask him if he wants something...he might shake his head up and down, or he may say "yeah." If he is really excited he might say it a couple of times, especially if food is involved. Today when he was suppose to be napping I could hear him saying "yeah" over and over. It was quite cute! I will try to record him saying it and then try my luck at posting the video. So check back.

Yummy for my tummy

So we are still in Edna. We drove to Victoria for lunch and went to Baytown Seafood. The boys had their usual chicken nuggets and strips. JP was also predictable with his popcorn shrimp. As soon as I saw the lunch specials I knew what I was going to order... whole fried flounder. I squeezed a bunch of lemons and chowed down. It was very yummy. The last time I had this yummy fish was in Galveston at Stingray's with Grace and Tony before we had children.

Greetings from Edna

Today we piled in the Tahoe, picked up grandma and grandpa and drove to Edna, Texas. We are visiting JP's cousin and his family. Sammy wanted to bring his Batman costume, but we had to leave it behind in Austin. Emma just chilled in the car. Overall it was a good trip. We only had to make one potty stop and since that took place at a Dairy Queen we got dessert. I had a strawberry sundae, until John David decided he wanted to trade because he didn't like the hard candies in his. In other words I ended up with an M&M Blizzard. Sammy just had a taste, but then he didn't want anymore. Carlos however kept asking for more. It is a good thing that the spoons for Blizzards are longer than normal, because it was easier to feed him since I was sitting in between John David and Sammy in the third row.

Things Happen

So over the years, I have had several turtles, I have even adopted turtles. But as of monday night the last turtle in the tank has gone to turtle heaven. I had prepped JP saying that we should expect one of the boys to notice the missing tank. Right on cue...John David asked where the tank was as soon as he sat down to eat his breakfast. I told him the tank was gone because the turtle was gone. He asked me if I threw the turtle away. About a minute later Sammy comes up to me and says "that's terrible, but it's okay...things happen." I had to hold back the laughter because he was being serious...and Sammy is rarely serious.

Batman

So this weekend while we were visiting the Sarman's we learned that Thomas likes Superman, and pretends to be him. He was even wearing his Superman pj's with a cape. Apparently Sammy has a favorite superhero, and we just didn't know. I guess he was not going to let Thomas have one up on him. He kept telling Thomas he was Batman. At one point I even overheard them arguing with each other about who was better. This argument was a traditional kid argument complete with the loud voices and the "my dad says" lines. This continued all weekend, even when they were happily swinging next to each other. It was really quite cute.
This evening I told Sammy I had a surprise for him. I took him upstairs and gave him a Batman costume that used to be John David's. My mom gave them each a Batman costume many years ago, but even my little Sammy can't fit into a size 1-2, so he had to wear his brother's size 2-4. He was sooo excited, and put it on right away. He kept running around the kitchen and living room. JP even sang the Batman tune for him and whenever he stopped, Sammy would ask for him to sing it again. He said that the cape helped him fly and even wanted to sleep with it, but since it is a costume he had to take it off. I am sure that we will see Batman again tomorrow and the next day after that and the next day and many more next days...know what I mean.

Carlos is 19 months

Carlos is very happy and active. He has a very cute and contagious laugh, and loves to give kisses and zurberts. He is brave and willing to try anything. While in The Woodlands for Aimee's party, Raja took him up the slide at Pump It Up. He was scared the first time, but he wanted to go again because his brothers kept going. So after coming down a couple more times on mommy's lap he was ready to go solo. JP thought I was crazy when I laid him on his belly and let him go down feet first. He laughed the whole way down. After this he would walk to the slide when he was ready to go up. Daddy got a chance to take him up and see how much he enjoyed it, especially when his brothers came down beside him.
His favorite things at the moment are holding his and Emma's lovies in the car. He has also started sleeping with a stuffed elephant this past weekend. He loves carrying around any bag with a handle and putting things in it. He also thinks it is funny to knock down the lego towers Sammy and John David build. I don't think they find it as funny...you can generally hear Carlos laughing, and them going "no no, Nene."

Mystery Solved

SO the hunt for a Scooby Doo lunchbox has come to an end. Raja and Sharmila found one at the Target in Kingwood on saturday. People kept asking us what the lunchbox looked like and we couldn't answer until now. It is in the shape of the Mystery Machine, and has all the characters looking out the windows. It is really quite cute. John David was excited to see Scooby. It was Sammy though who made the comment that it was "Scooby and the Gang"John David placed the lunchbox on the nightstand next to the bed that night. Then on sunday on the way back to Austin he had the lunchbox in his lap while he watched Scooby Doo videos. When we got to my mom's for dinner he took it down to show her. On monday his backpack arrived, and as soon as we opened the packaged he put it on, and then ran to get his lunchbox, and was walking around with both. John David is the happy camper as we keep buying all his stuff for school. I just hope he doesn't loose all the happiness and excitement for the first day of school.

I scream, u scream, we all scream for ice cream

So we left for Houston on friday. We decided to go tour Blue Bell. We had heard that there might be a wait for a tour, so we got there early. Turned out we were set for the 12:45 tour. It was 12:20 and we were waiting for our tour. We had not had lunch yet, because we figured if we had a long wait we could always eat while we waited. The boys were hungry, so daddy bought them a scoop of Cookies and Cream to share while we waited.
We departed on our tour and got to see them make Rocky Road, Strawberry, Moollenium Crunch, Buttered Pecan, and ice cream sandwiches. Did you know that one machine can make 120 sandwiches per minute? It was really cool to see them pour all the ingredients in gigantic quantities. At the end of the tour you get a scoop of ice cream, so John David had Rainbow Sherbet, Sammy had Cookie Dough, JP had Southern Blackberry Cobbler, and I had Caramel Turtle. (Carlos just got a bit from everyone.) While we were eating the ice cream, John David said that he got to eat two scoops of ice cream before lunch. JP and I just commented how that was their lunch. We figured that after two scoops of ice cream they were full enough to make it to The Woodlands.

Emma is 4 months

Time sure flies...especially when you are having fun. I know this is our fourth child, but it still
amazes me how quickly they grow up. She is soooo alert, she smiles, coos and of course cries. She can even sit up in her Bumbo. In the morning when she gets up she just lays in her crib and talks away. JP says she gets her chattiness from her mother. She is just so cute to listen to.
She is defininitely different from her brothers. We know every child is different, but we have to attribute some of her differences to gender. I don't remember the boys talking that much. Even Carlos doesn't talk as much as Emma. She also loves to be held, and at that in a particular way. She is definitely "la princesa." She definitley makes sure you know she is around, and that she gets plenty of attention. The boys were definitely more laid back than her.
It's a good thing she has three brothers that love paying attention to her. All of them will go up to her and talk to her and entertain her, so things can get done around the house.
It will definitely be interesting to see her little personality develop as she keeps growing.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

or should I say...Carlos see, Carlos do. He has become quite the little monkey. He is ready to do anything anyone else does. If Emma is laying on her mat or the bed, Carlos goes and lays next to her. If Sammy laughs at a video, Carlos laughs too. If John David is playing with a toy, Carlos wants to play with it too.
He may not have a vocabulary the general public may understand, but he definitely makes himself understood to us and his siblings. He has different sounds, tones, and inflexions to say and ask many things. And lets not forget his cute face that can be happy or pouty.
Today he kept going to the trash can, and trying to get things out. I told him no and pushed away his little hand. He walked to his daddy, who saw he was pouty. JP asked him what was wrong, and he made some noises and raised his hand and pushed it away the way I did. It was quite cute to see him tell his side of the story.

School Supplies

It's hard to believe that John David will start school in less than 3 weeks. Yesterday I was looking at backpacks online with him. He picked out a green backpack....big surprise. I still have some of his school supplies to buy...so I figured that I should hit the stores this week, before supplies dwindle, and definitely to avoid tax free weekend madness.
I can only guess that they will be having lots of art time. Why else would he need 16 glue sticks? They have some other random supplies on his list 100 6" paper plates, and 100 brown lunch bags. Once again more crafting comes to mind. Of course the traditional Crayola crayons and markers, #2 pencils, pencil box, Elmer's glue and tissues are also in the list. Somethings never change.
Thanks to his Grandma, and Abuelita his wardrobe is all set, we just need to get him a pair of tennis shoes. I'm sure I will blog about that experience, so check back in soon!

Grandparents

Grandparents are an interesting phenomenon. You probably are asking yourself what? But how is it that kids can walk into a room of strangers and feel most comfortable with grandparents? It doesn't even have to be their own grandparents. It is almost like grandparents are grandparents to all children. For example this evening we went to Renato and Tina's house for a mass with Fr. Tommy. Mr. and Mrs. Fragale where there at the house, and soon after mass was over, they were playing with our boys, and the other children that were there as well. My kids have only seen the Fragales a couple of times, but they felt quite comfortable with them. By watching the kids play you would have thought that they knew the Fragales pretty well. The Fragales just had their granchildren from Florida for almost a month. We even asked if they needed a break. She answered that after a week without Guga, Yara, and Giampaolo she was missing the excitement, and was ready to play with kids.
This same phenomenon occurred earlier this spring at Mamta's baby shower, where the kids played with the Accapadi and Motwani grandparents. I guess a grandparent's love is so strong that it radiates to all other children. So grandparents beware...there are lots of grandchildren to love, especially if you are around our family!

Kids miss mommy

Well at least John David. Last night he asked me if I was going to stay home tomorrow. I said yes. He said I needed to wash his clothes because he only had three shorts left. I told him daddy had already washed his clothes. He then asked, where are they. I told him, he could help me put them today. So this morning at 7:30 we were folding clothes.