Thank you

That is Emma's newest phrase...it sound way cuter when she says it. I love giving her things, so she can say it. She will tell family thank you pretty regularly, but isn't as eager with others. I definitely prefer the "thank you" over her "no" when she is having a fit. I just gave her some pirate booty so she could say it, and I could record it...so enjoy the clip.

Good Bye 2009...Hello 2010

JP and I spent morning and afternoon of the eve cleaning. We did a fabuous tag team effort and completely cleaned our house. There is still some organization needed, and some cleaning out of toys left, but I will tackle that when JP goes back to work.
We had both of our families over and provided a "taco bar" for dinner. The boys were excited to play with their cousins, and Emma was happy to prance around in her pretty dress and show off all her new baby dolls and accessories.
At six years old John David is fully able to understand the concept of a new year for the first time. He and Sammy were allowed to stay up. Emma and Carlos were in bed by 10 and both fell fast asleep despite the noise of other kiddos playing. We invited three other young families to join us...so there were four more kiddos over. All the kiddos were up and playing with John David and Sammy. However we put on a movie shortly after midnight so we could enjoy some more adult time with our friends, and they both fell asleep while watching it.
This is a time that I am thankful for all the blessings in my life. A fabulous hubby who loves me unconditionally and supports me in all I do. Four wonderful kids that make me laugh one second, and then test my patience the next. Last but not least...Good health for all!
One of my resolutions for this year is to update this more regularly, so check back for updates!

Sorry, baby girl.

Julie is back from Brown. We headed to Sea Dragon for a nice family dinner. The food was delicious and the kids were all well behaved. Towards the end, Emma fell and bumped her forehead on a chair. We got some ice for her...since it looked bruised almost instantly after the fall. However Emma was not willing to leave an ice pack in between her eyes. once we got home, we put a video on to distract her, and we tried to apply more ice to minimize the swelling. Carlos was wanting some ice, but would giggle and say cold, when I put it on his nose. I guess we will have to wait to see if it is bruised in the morning.

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.