Here comes Santa Claus

We got together today with some college friends for our annual christmas celebration. It is great to see how all our families have grown, and how quick the kiddos are growing. At this gathering Santa makes his appearance and gives the kids a present. I wanted to make sure that everyone was going to be okay with Santa so I told the boys about our upcoming Santa meeting on friday. All the boys were excited, even Carlos.
All the kids were excited when Santa arrived. Carlos had the biggest grin, and all of them sat down to listen to Santa read the night before christmas. When Santa started handing out presents, Carlos kept saying he wanted a present from Santa. As soon as Santa called his name he walked up and got his present. Emma went with daddy to get her present, and the older boys went by themselves. After the presents it was picture time....and Carlos was ready, actually he didn't want to leave Santa. He kept going up and waving, and wanting to sit in his lap...it was very cute. Emma however wanted nothing to do with Santa, so we ended up with a picture of the boys smiling while Emma is crying in Santa's lap.
On the car ride home, the boys asked if Santa was real...I asked what they thought. Sammy said he was a fake and John David said he was the real deal. I asked Sammy why he thought he was fake, and he said Catherine and Kristin told him. Needless to say when he went up to Santa he made sure to ask for Ben 10 toys.
I love this tradition and look forward to many more years with Santa!

Snow...more like flurries.

This past friday it was a cold day and we had about five minute of flurries. Nothing stuck on the ground, and I have no pictures to prove it. I had put the little ones down for their nap, but I could still hear them talking. Sammy was watching X-men and I was putting up laundry. When I saw the flurries, I told Sammy to come. He was quite concerned about missing the X-men. I told him I would pause it and then record it for him. I got the little ones, and came down to bundle them up. By the time we made it out....the flurries were pretty much gone. I still took some pictures so we could document that we missed the snow.

book worm

It has been totally amazing to see John David's reading skills improve by leaps and bounds. He is very excited and eager to read to anyone who is willing to listen to him. His vocabulary is increasing as well. We have recently discovered one down side to the reading....we can't spell things out we don't him to know. He just puts the letter togethers and tells us the word. Then he just laughs and gets so excited that he knows what we are talking about.
Last week there was a book fair at his school. Everyday he kept asking when we could go buy some books.
On wednesday he woke up at 5:30 am, got dressed and came in our room to ask if he could go to the book fair with daddy. So we sent him back to bed, and when I went in to wake him, he woke up and came down to eat breakfast, and was ready to go quickly. JP took him to the book fair, and all the books he wanted were hardback so JP tried to limit his books. Apparently John David gave daddy the sad boy look, and two minutes later John David was excited to get his books. John David needs to remember that look he gave his dad, as it might come in handy again in the future.

She's a peach!

That would be how JP describes Emma at the moment. She has been walking for about a month. She still reverts to the 3 point crawl every now and then...but if you ask her to walk, she will do it most of the time. She is also developing her emotional side. She is definitely not a happy camper when you tell her "no" or take something away. She will through herself on the floor, and have her little drama as long as someone is watching. The moment you leave she stops. During the drama if you try to talk to her she will just say "no" and get away from you and continue the show. Sometimes it seems very comical to me, so I have to keep myself from laughing.

When are we going home?

This is the question Sammy asked me several times this morning when we were home. I told him we are home, and he looked at me and said "no...I am pretending we are at the playground." He even pretended to be on a swing and slide...he is definitely one to imagine and pretend. Last week he even told me he wanted to be a "space alien." I asked what is that, and he said..."a person who explores space." Eventhough he is no longer visiting his friends from Africa he has other things to keep him creative.

Pigeon Books

John David just discovered Mo Willems and the pigeon books. He thinks they are soooo funny, and he loves reading to his brothers and sister, and anyone else who sets foot in our house. Sometimes he can't even make it through the book without laughing either...despite that he pretty much knows them by memory now, since he brings one home every week. His school library has four of the books, and he just rotates through them. He is definitely enjoying reading now, because he will even pick up a book without being asked to read. He really enjoys reading to his siblings, and discovers he can read more books everyday as his reading improves. It is really exciting to see his reading, and vocabulary grow on a daily basis.

my butt

That would be baby boys new phrase. He did it for the first time this past tuesday. He was upstairs taking off his clothes so he could take a shower, and he came out to the landing and mooned JP and I as he laughed and said "my butt." A couple of times a day I find myself telling him to pull his pants and underwear back on. He is definitely following his brothers...and of course the brothers get a big kick of it...so why would he stop with such a great audience.

speed crawler

I think Emma is practicing to become a speed crawler...she definitely knows that she can get there faster if she crawls and she only walks if you hold her hands. If you let go she sits down...so she is following two of her brothers' footsteps. Like I said before...I am in no hurry for her to walk. Carlos will have an interesting life once she is mobile.
She loves going up the stairs and will show off that skill several times a day. Mommy has to be quick if we are already upstairs because she make a run to the stairs when she know that we are coming down. She has not attemted down the stairs, but I will have to show her. I know that she will learn that quickly, just like getting off the beds and sofas.
She will also try to hit and when she is told no....she gives you a cute laugh or smile. Her daddy claims that she has learned Diva qualities from her friend Aimee Grace. However it is just her being a girl. On the trip to Houston one minute she screams because Carlos is touching her or trying to hold her hand...and then 2 minutes later, she is screaming because Carlos will not hold her hand. girls...go figure!

tenders and boys being boys

Just a heads up, this is not about a food. So awhile back JP and I had discussed how we never gave the boys a name for their boy parts. Apparently Kung Fu Panda has done that for us. Both of the boys can be heard making comments about their "tenders." Yeterday the radio was on and the boys were dancing, and I even overheard Sammy say he was spanking his tenders. His back was towards me, so I really don't know what he was doing, except being a boy.
They both have think that booty and poop are funny things. They haven't laughed when they toot, but I think that will happen any day now. They are such boys...and Carlos even laughs with them.

Bye Bye Diapers

This is probably not the most exciting update for all of you, but it is a visible change in my checking account. Carlos no longer wears diapers not even at nite. He has been diaper free since two weeks when he refused to put on a diaper at grandma's house after his bath. I can count the number of accidents we have had on one hand...I must say that I am very thankful for that. We have even made two trips to Houston with potty success. He prefers the Elmo underwear and other Sesame Street characters are a close 2nd with the pinguinos and Wiggles in a tie for 3rd place. He only wears the non character underwear after an accident...so that way he is motivated to keep his favorite characters dry.