Christmas

This year for Christmas we drove out to Colorado Springs to spend the holidays with Jason's family. We left at 3am the first day and the kids did really well for that 12 hour drive, since the early hour threw them off, though they didn't really sleep any more. We went to bed early that night in the hotel and left at 4am the next day. The kids did great again and we made it to our first stop, around 3 pm, to see Jason's brother and his family in Amarillo, TX. who weren't able to make it to Colorado for Christmas.

Here is Cadence (16 mo.) and Austin (18 mo.) having a good time in the pack and play.

After a good 1 1/2 days visit with Thomas, Rebel, Christer, and Cadence, we drove another 6 hours to Jason's parent's house. We also got to see Jason's sister Auburn and her husband Jason and baby Mali (11 weeks).

The main chefs on Christmas Eve when we had our traditional Puerto Rican dinner. My Jason usually does the main dish, but Auburn's Jason did it this year.

Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus.

Christmas morning was earlier than usual. Victoria woke up at 6 am. I would normally have put her back to bed, but as she was throwing up, with probably the same thing Austin had the day before, and Karissa and Austin were awake because of the commotion, we decided to start looking at the stockings. Luckily, Victoria was able to open her stocking and gifts without running to the bathroom, but the rest of the day, she spent either sleeping or with her head in the toilet. Austin was better, but still very clingy and not eating much.

Here he is with one of his trains, which he loved and carried around for days.

He knew which Santa gift was his too.

He enjoyed his ride-on car, but liked his train the best.

Karissa got a doll house from Santa. She spent a good amount of time with it and Mommy had as much fun with it as she did!

Victoria got a princess carriage boom box with a microphone from Santa. The kids got the High School Musical III soundtrack from Aunt Auburn and Victoria was at least able to lie on the floor and sing a couple times, even though she was sick.

This is when she was better.

While we were there, baby Mali was blessed. She wore the same dress Karissa did.

Jason and I took Victoria skiing when she was fully recovered. She took lessons so we could enjoy some skiing, which we don't have a whole lot of in Michigan. She enjoyed it and especially enjoyed going down the hill a few times with me at the end. Austin and Karissa got to go to the Aquarium with Gramms and Abuelo and Auburn and Jason. They had a good time and Austin was less grumpy with them than he was with Mom during the other parts of the trip!

It was a great visit and we'll definitely do the drive again. The worst part was having a sick kid most of the time. Happy New Year!

Christmas Parties

This week for Karissa's preschool we went on a field trip to a retirement home. The kids performed the Nativity, sang Christmas songs, and passed out cards and cookies they helped make. The people there were so sweet and happy! We also got a visit from Santa who read some stories and sang songs with the kids. Then they got pizza- what a visit!

Here's Karissa as Mary in the skit.

Tonight was our ward party, complete with dinner, a small program (where Karissa got to be Mary again), and Santa. The chicas wanted to wear their Christmas attire, which looked very cute. (I just cut their hair this week).

Victoria, showing off her dress.

Victoria, talking Santa's ear off!

Austin wasn't crying this year at least, but he still didn't look thrilled!

My sweeties!

Hokey-Pokey

It was pointed out to me that at the hockey game there was some hokey-pokey going on! I know my spelling isn't the best, but I did check it before I sent it and fixed my "hokey" mistakes before I did send it. The problem was, it didn't change on the email version that was sent out, just the website itself. I think it's trying to make me look bad!

The Big Chill

We did some fun activities this weekend out in the cold. Friday night, I took the kids to see The Lights Before Christmas at the zoo. It's just a lot of lights at the zoo with Christmas music playing, but it really was amazing! Some animals were awake, but most were asleep, though we didn't plan on seeing any. The kids really enjoyed looking at the lights, as you can see from this first picture overlooking the main part of the zoo. Victoria skipped almost the whole time, singing to the songs. It was a winter wonderland! Here's a really big Christmas tree, as you can see, since Victoria is a pink speck below.

Austin was looking at the fountain and enjoying the fact that he had taken off his gloves and hat.

Victoria and Karissa were dancing to the music. The lights were synchronized with the music, it was very cool!

On Saturday, Jason and I went to the Big House again. This time to watch Michigan slaughter Michigan State in ice hockey (5-0). This was the first time the hockey players ever played in the Big House (the football stadium). They wanted to set the world record for most people attending a hockey game ever in the world-- and did they ever! The count was 113,411, about 500 more than were at the football game we attended two months ago! A representative from the Guinness Book of World Records came to present a plaque. People even came from Australia and China to be a part of this huge event, called The Big Chill! How they even knew about it way over there, I have no idea!

1-2-3

We have had three memorable moments this week; one for each of our kids.

Two years ago I sent in a description of how Victoria played so creatively, along with a picture, to a local newsletter about early childhood. It contains a question/answer section, tips on certain stages in early childhood, ideas for games and songs, resources for games and ideas, and a section about a local child who "loves to play". I sent in her picture and description about two years ago. For a while I thought they just weren't going to use it, then I forgot about it since I wasn't getting the newsletter anymore. All of a sudden, it came in the mail with a free book for her. It was pretty exciting! Now I want to send in one of Karissa, but maybe I'll wait a little... Karissa has been attending a preschool once a week that some friends of mine and I have formed. We each teach from our homes when it is our turn. This week was my turn to teach and my lesson was on Christmas. Of course I had to do the Nativity with them since I have all the costumes (thanks to my mom) and a set I made two years ago for our church Christmas party. Karissa got to be Mary, which worked out well. She is by far the oldest in the group and I knew that would be a hard part for some of the others (all of whom just turned 3), since she has to stand still for a while. Luckily, the other girls wanted to be the angels and kings (they didn't care they were kings as long as they could wear crowns and sparkles!) The boy who is Joseph is the older brother of the girl to the far right. He's already 4 and is not in the actual preschool class, but he was here because his mom was the helper that day. We have 8 kids in the class, not including him, so we need a parent helper each week since the group is so young. We were missing a boy and a girl this day. They all performed well for their moms, it was so cute!

Austin is now 18 months old! He can go to nursery at church without Jason now! He is loving all the lights and Christmas decorations. We've been listening to the soundtrack from The Polar Express and he loves to dance to the Hot Chocolate song. He still loves to dance and play on the piano. He loves things on wheels, especially his train. Lately, he's been carrying around two small dolls, one in each hand. He call them "guys". His other new words are clock, yes, and yay. He is such a good eater! He will eat his whole meal, which is a fair amount, before I get back to the table with his sisters' food. Then, he will either jump off his seat and be off to play, or ask for more. It's so nice to have a child eat so well at this age! His eating hasn't helped him much in the weight department though. At the dr. he was 22lb. and 14 oz, putting him in the 12 percentile for weight. He is 32 in. long, putting him the 41 percentile for height. He still loves to help put things back. He puts the wipes away after I change his diaper, likes to help put his dishes in the sink, put his cup on the counter when he's done with it, and always makes sure I put the cap back on the milk! I've never had such a good helper! This morning, he pulled one of my dirty socks from the hamper to sniff (gross! and yes, he still loves to sniff things). When he was done sniffing, he put it back in the hamper and put the lid back on. Amazing! If it had been Victoria, she would have dropped the sock and thrown everything else out of the hamper, before going off to get into something else, the hamper lid would never have been considered!

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we were privileged to have my cousin Celeste and her husband Richard and their baby Ellia over for the weekend. They just moved to Iowa City over the summer and are now our closest relatives, 7 hours away! I really enjoyed visiting with Celeste, since it's hard to visit a lot with any one relative at our family reunions, which are only every two years. It was also nice to get to know Richard and baby Ellia, who is 8 months old. The kids also had a great time with them. Karissa decided from the start that Celeste was her favorite cuddle buddy.

Everyone loved playing with Ellia. She especially loved playing with all the toys we have around here and being with all the commotion of kids.

Besides eating our delicious dinner, which I think Jason's turkey was his best, most moist one yet, we played lots of fun games, watched some videos of Celeste and I long ago, watched holiday videos, went to the Botanical Gardens to see the Christmas trees, Richard helped Jason put up Christmas lights, we watched football, had a surprise visit from our good friend Brad, and just enjoyed relaxing and being together. It was a great start to the holiday season!

PB and J

None of my three kids will even touch a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Karissa used to eat peanut butter and honey, but has recently decided that she doesn't even like that anymore. The one time I accidentally put jelly on it, she had a hissy fit because there was "red stuff" on it. Victoria ate one once, but she wasn't even two yet, so she doesn't remember it. Of course Austin wants nothing to do with them either, but he's still young, so it's fine.

Now, you may think, why do you even care? I don't care that much. It just makes me laugh that yesterday Victoria and Karissa went to a birthday party and both came back with a beautifully shaped, butterfly, PB and J and neither one had a bite out if it! When I asked them if they could just try it, Karissa said, "No way! It has red stuff on it!" Victoria took the tiniest bite and scowled, like it was poisoned. I ate one. It was like a dessert! Of course this one had crunchy peanut butter and strawberry jam and was on white bread, without the crust (a kid's dream!), so no wonder it was like a dessert! I don't think it matters that I buy organic jam and peanut butter, both of which are just as delicious, and serve it on whole wheat, my kids just don't like PB and J! It's a shame, though, since it's like the easiest and cheapest lunch out there!

Austin update:
This week he started saying "Uh-oh" and thank you, which sounds more like "Da dooo", but he says it when I tell him to say "thank you". He's so sweet!

"Big" Moments

The other day as we were leaving to go somewhere, I opened the van and told Karissa and Austin to get in. When I came out, Austin was happily sitting in Victoria's booster seat. I said, "Wow! Look at you Big Boy!" and he said, "Big Boy!" Of course then I had to ruin the moment by removing him from the booster and put him into his own car seat. Needless to say, he was objecting very strongly as I strapped him into the seat.

Recently, Karissa informed me that she is now a grown-up. She also asked me when she will become a mom. I told her in a least 20 years, but she said 6 years. Scary!

On Wednesday, as Victoria was getting dressed for her birthday pictures and was frantically rummaging through her clothes, she said, "I have nothing to wear!" I never thought I would hear my 6-year-old say that, especially someone with as many clothes as she has! Check out her collection.

PantsShirts (they can't even fit in the drawer!)
Skirts and sweaters Dresses

Karissa's tights are on the right, Victoria's on the left

Obviously, she is not hurting for clothes. Of course she has more shirts in her drawer now that it's getting cooler since she likes to wear the short-sleeves over the long-sleeves. Clothes are often a battle around here since Victoria and Karissa changes their outfits at least 3 times a day and leave the clothes on the floor. And, as any teenager, I mean 6-year-old, would be, she won't wear any of the suggestions I make! Oh, the life!

17 Months

Austin is now 17 months, believe it or not. Some of the things he does now that have stood out most to me are:

- he says "bye" to Victoria and her friend when they go to school and to Jason when he leaves

- he repeats most easy words or sounds he hears his sisters or me say (including screaming)

- he says "cheese" when he sees the camera and drops everything to come smile at it

- he loves to dance, especially to the song "16 Minutes" from High School Musical 3

- he loves to follow Yoda, the cat, around

- he loves trains and Victoria's zhu-zhu pet

- he always grabs his shoes to go outside and wants to go out all the time

- he loves to close the garage door and do anything else to "help" me by pushing buttons, closing doors, stirring, or cleaning

- he eats his food quickly, then gets down to play, as opposed to playing while eating, like his sisters do

- he loves being held by his dad, when he's around!

- he loves to drink water, probably more than milk

- he got into the "Dracula" laugh with all the Halloween sounds (I have it on video below. Sorry about the lines in the film, my camera has been having problems lately! Also, the lighting is bad b/c I didn't think about turning all the lights on during his good moment.)

Halloween

We have had a fun-filled week of Halloween activities. First, on Monday, I took Karissa and Austin to a special Halloween story-time at the library. They got to go trick-or-treating around the library, listen to Halloween stories and songs, and make a craft and treat. Here is Austin saying "cheese!", his new favorite word.
Karissa chose to be a princess this day.
On Thursday Victoria had her Halloween party at school. She chose to be Ariel that day, which surprised me that she didn't want to wear her "funky" kitty costume.
Here she is in her parade. I was able to volunteer for her class party, which was fun.

Friday night, the kids went trick-or-treating at friend's houses in our ward. A bunch of us opened our houses Friday night so we wouldn't have to go on Sunday. Austin was loving the idea of getting candy in a bucket. It's amazing how young the third child is when they discover candy! His sisters never had candy at his age!

Saturday, Karissa went to a birthday/costume party and was a witch for that.
Saturday night, we all went to the ward Halloween party. The kids wore the costumes that they went trick-or-treating in. Austin was Boots, Karissa was Dora, Victoria was Alicia, Jason was Diego, and I got to be Isa, the iguana. (In case you're not familiar with some of these characters, Alicia is Diego's sister and they are Dora's cousins and Isa is Dora's friend).

Here is Boots watching the cotton candy being made. These are the famous boots that were mine and both Victoria's and Karissa's.
Here's my spikes. It's not my dream costume, but at least I got a good hoodie out of it! (Yes, I plan on taking the spikes out.)
Yes, Boots' ears are a little big, but I converted his costume from Dumbo to Boots and didn't take enough out for the ears. At least he's a cute monkey, even if his ears are too big!