Chistmas is already here

This month has gone by so fast. I can’t believe Christmas is already here. Dave put up our Christmas tree with Ethan and Heidi while Gavin took a long nap. When Gavin woke up and saw the Christmas tree his jaw almost dropped. We mostly decorate our tree with all the stuffed toys we have in the house so a tree full of toys must have been a surprise to Gavin. He stared and stared with great delight. Then he spotted what looked like a Popsicle. He worked hard to pull it out until he succeeded. I saw him trying to take a good leak out of it and great was his disappointment.


We love Christmas music. Heidi’s favorite song is Jingle Bells, Ethan’s is Feliz Navidad and Gavin likes everything. In this video they are dancing to “el burrito sabanero” song.
Ethan and Heidi were two singing angels during a Christmas representation at church. Neither one of them wanted to sing but standing in front of everyone was fun enough.
A couple of weeks ago during FHE Dave asked all of us what Christmas was all about. Heidi said: “gifts!” we had a good laughter and we did tell her she was right, because Christ was the greatest gift we could have received. The kids have watched a Christmas cartoon where the kids in the family only get one gift so I asked Heidi if she thought she would get any gifts and she said, “yes, one”.


It looks like Gavin did not like Santa at all.
Have a very Merry Christmas!

Lotions and creams

Heidi loves to put lotions and creams on her hands but usually puts too much on and ends up putting some on my hands and arms. Today, while I was busy doing some research, she told me her hands were dirty. I quickly glanced at her (not paying too much attention) while noticing a sweet smell which I initially confused with a coconut scented cream I have. I thought she had put too much cream on her hands again. I just told her to put some on my hands and while I rubbed her hands she had a huge grin on her face and then I noticed the texture of the “cream” was really heavy. When I looked down I loudly exclaimed “ahhhh ….. Is frosting!” she nodded and giggled. I then discovered she had been eating, while hiding under the table, the frosting we had for the cupcakes she had made with Ethan.

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow

What happened to Fall? Where did it go? As I was getting breakfast ready, a few days ago, I looked outside the kitchen window and there was a blanket of snow over everything. I could not believe it! Blizzard-like snow was falling. After a gasp and a WOW! A loud “Wooooohooooo!!!” followed. After an energetic celebration dance on the kitchen floor, I got the kids bundled up and sent them out to play in the snow. I love being the first one to step on a fresh blanket of powdery snow, but this time I let the kids be the first ones. I sat and watched. They made angels on the snow, built a snowman and blazed a trail. Watching their excitement was rewarding. Gavin had a hard time keeping up with the older ones and fell multiple times on the snow, face first and got his hands very cold. He was very, very, very upset. As for the Fall, well, I don’t know if we will have it back but we are getting our sleds ready! I put a movie under the pictures for you to watch.

One year

A year ago I gave birth to a boy with a strong will and who is all smiles. He has brought so much joy to my life and given me so much to hope for. Since the moment he was born he has been on the fast track. He could hold his head up at two months, was sitting up at five months, crawling at six months, standing at seven months, up and down the stairs at seven months, walking at ten months, saying seven words (mama, papa, yes, no, aha, milk, more) at eleven months and has seven teeth already with one more ready to come out. What impresses me the most about him is not his physical abilities but the strength of his spirit. I am grateful to have been a co-creator with God and to have been entrusted with him. I hope I can measure up to my calling as his mother. And he is a mama’s boy and that is just fine with me.

Fall Fun

Autumn brings a wonderful crisp cool air that I just love, beautiful changing color of leaves that put me in awe and delicious pumpkin desserts (our favorites are pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, and pumpkin bread with chocolate chips in it). But what I love the most is how much fuuuuuuun we can have. It is a total blast!!! Or as my mother in law would say, we break the fun meter!!!
Dave came home one day in the middle of September and said to me, Hon the house looks really nice but it’s still summer, Not for long! I replied and kept decorating it with fall stuff. Having all the fall decorations and colors through the house setsthe mood for the season and planning all kinds of fun activities.
We have done quite a bit this fall. We tried to take advantage of the last semi warm days left and hit the park every week. It was fun talking to friends and the kids enjoyed their last days at the playground.








We went to a fall festival at a nearby nursery and had some fun pictures taken there.


During one of our family nights we made caramel apples.

We made a giant tarantula out of garbage bags, Ethan and Heidi loved making it and Gavin loved tearing it apart. It now greets our guests as they come to our house along with a giant spider web.
We visited a nearby cider mill where we picked our pumpkins from their patch and got some freshly milled apple juice.
My children and husband are addicted to sugar. So going trick or treating is a delight, they walked for one hour despite the rain and filled their bags with loads of sugar. And you guessed it, Dave eats most of it!
Here is dave as a Hawaiian man, I am a Victorian Queen, Santa Claus, the big pumpkin and captain america loved the party and the loads of candy and sweets they got!

On Vacation

We went on a road trip to sunny California. I had my reservations about the road trip given that sometimes taking my three children on a 10 minute ride to the grocery store sometimes becomes quite a heroic effort on my part. The prospect of driving over 700 miles with them was not appealing. On the way there and back Ethan would often ask, how many more minutes are left? I would reply, we have 10 half hours left and he would then say, what? What mom? Repeat that. So I would repeat it and he would then say, so it will take forever still!!! We had quite a few stops and did break up the trip in to two days getting there and two days coming back. We survived the long hours on the road but we are definitely flying in the future.
A loooooong ride!
As I unpacked our suitcases I made a horrifying discovery, Ethan’s bag did not get loaded in the car so he had absolutely no clothes except what he had on him which was his captain America costume!
Having to buy clothes for Ethan is an experience I wish not to remember. Most items were at full retail price (you may already know that I am a bargain hunter). I purchased the bare necessities for him, but I could not find a swimsuit. One would think that with average temperatures of 80 degrees you would easily find a swimsuit , but we kept getting the same answer,” it is out of season so we don’t have any”. To Ethan’s relief we found a pair at SeaWorld and you guessed it, premium price.
An all you can eat hot breakfast was included in our hotel so we pigged out every morning. I had enough eggs and sausages every day to raise my cholesterol levels clear to the high risk zone. Ethan filled up with hot waffles with plenty of syrup.
Ethan built a large collection of seashells and now tells everyone that he collects things from the ocean.
Shamu soaked us and we loved it! We tried sitting right on the soaking area because it was so fun, when will I get to be soaked by sea lions, killer wales, and so on. We did not even catch a cold!
Legoland had fun rides for Ethan, who got caught on camera several times with a horrified face but would come out exclaiming he was not even scared, not even one bit. We dubbed him mr. speed, even though I know he is scared of speed and precipitous falls.
The Zoo was an interesting experience, let me say I am glad Dave is an IT auditor and not a safari guide because we went around in circles through the same exact path three times! While there was still the rest of the zoo to see and the park was near closing not to mention that we missed the shuttle from the same stop three times!

Our ritual

We have a Saturday ritual, which was officially created and instituted about two years ago by the one and only… Ethan. Every Saturday morning Ethan makes pancakes and smoothies with his Dad for the rest of us to enjoy. It has become a bonding time for the two of them, a needed rest for mom and a feast for Heidi, Gavin and the rest of us. Gavin equally enjoys syrup-less pancakes and the smoothie. Ethan usually comes to our room to get Dave ready to make pancakes and they both set out to work. As I lay in bed and my brain is coming and going from sleep to consciousness, I can hear the sounds of a very busy kitchen such as a loud blender making delicious smoothies, Ethan saying: “the batter is ready or make them bigger or I am turning it” and of course the microwave warming the sweet, thick, maple syrup that will make our feast complete. The unique and sweet aroma that emanates from these pancakes can fill the whole house. As I go down the stairs the scent becomes more and more appetizing. By the time I join the rest of the family. Heidi has picked up the newspaper from the driveway and is excitedly calling me to come down because pancakes are ready and the table is set and waiting. The tall pile of warm pancakes quickly disappears; Ethan can chow down four pancakes and literally licks the syrup (especially the buttermilk kind I occasionally make) off his plate! Indeed, Saturday is a special day is the day we get ready for our weekly ritual, YUUUUM!



Heidi is cooling her fingers after touching the gridle, ouch!

The runaway chicken

I imagine no chicken wants to be the main ingredient in a casserole dish and so, if alive, it must runaway from your grasp. However, the runaway chicken you will see below was not going to grace my dining table to feed the ferocious appetite of the members in this family. Nope, the runaway chicken was going to grace my living room to be admired by all who come, but alas this was not to be. Today Gavin is 11 months old and also today he displayed his strong will and his absolute determination to runaway and escape from the lens of my camera,while wearing a chicken costume. He would have nothing to do with a chicken’s head as a hat and would definitely not sit still to pose, instead he would take off the hat (I put it back on at least a dozen times) and would then runaway! So if you see the runaway chicken, take a picture for me!

Seeking the shade

A few days ago all three of the kids were restless and a little too much to handle so what better way to get their wiggles out and keep my sanity than taking them to the farm. I was also trying to take advantage of the last warm days we have left so off we went to Thanksgiving Point. Ethan and Heidi fed the chickens, sheep, goats and some ducks. They admired the other farm animals and all of us got on a horse pulled wagon and had a ride around the farm. I must admit that the rocking motion was relaxing enough that I was ready for a nap right there and then. On our way out we bought some ice-cream. We were sitting near our car by some grapevines when Suddenly Ethan was gone, I then noticed he was squatting under the grape vines so puzzled at the sight of it that I had to ask him why he was there. His reply was very straight forward, “I am in the shade so that my ice-cream doesn’t melt”. I managed to capture some pictures of Ethan enjoying his ice-cream.

Peaches and Maaaaaaaam

After the storm comes the calm, right? Well, for me it is, after the rain come the harvest. After a heavy rain our patio and backyard were soaked. I went to our backyard to check our small peach tree, which after three years has finally given us some fruit, a great total of eight peaches. In the spirit of celebrating the Fall I decided it was time for that peach tree to sweeten our souls. I wanted to take a bite out of one of those plump, delicious, juicy, sweet peaches. Yum! There is nothing sweeter than savoring the fruits of your labors. The sweetness in my soul lasted all of two bites; the peach disappeared from my hands and ended up in the mouth of each and every other member of this family.
Sunday was one of those days in which diaper changing and drool clean up twisted my stomach more than once. By the late afternoon a pile of plates adorned our sink, breadcrumbs and who knows what else filled our kitchen floor. As I stared at the mess it was as if all of it was crying out in a loud voice: Here we are waiting for you! Luckily, it is on days like this that glimpses and rays of joy come unexpectedly. Gavin, who is already walking fast and furiously (to my great horror) throughout the house at the early age of 10 months; came walking with his arms extended towards me taking short, fast, clumsy steps and with a great smile (typical of him) saying loudly maaaaaaaam. Well my heart melted and a huge smile got stamped on my face. His first word was the energy I needed to re-charge my batteries and to remind me that EVERYTHING (yes, even unpleasant diapers) are worth it and I would not change this life for anything in the world.

Great Adventure!

I have not lived my greatest adventures in the countries I have visited nor in the places I have seen. Although my adventurous spirit has taken me clear to the other side of the world and have seen amazing and breathtaking places, experienced different cultures and tasted some not very tasty treats, the most intense adventures I have lived and are actually ongoing, do not take place in exotic islands worthy of post card pictures. Nope, the adventures I have chosen to live are what some define as the mundane without any glamour. I still don't understand how anyone would view the place of my adventures in such a boring way, but the greatest adventures of my life take place in a site unknown to many, a place that could be said has been carved by my own hands. A place where among other things, I am the actual thermostat; a place where I have dominion, but not total control. I don't have to travel to get to this place. This place filled with unexpected adventures is ............. My Home. Yes, my home provides the sort of adventures and tales that even Indiana Jones would envy. No way! How could that be? Well, it all starts the moment I wake up each and every morning. All credit of course goes to the main characters in my daily adventures. No matter what I have planned for the day (I always have lists of places to go, things to do, people to see)it can all be altered in a matter of minutes by each and every one of the following characters:

Ethan- 5 years old, kindergartener, harasses Heidi and Gavin all day long and asks WHY IS....everything.

Heidi- 2 and a half years old and oficially the pink princess. To Heidi, life is pink as if she were looking at it through rose color glasses and since optimism is the key to a long life she will probably reach 100.

Gavin- 10 months old. The smiley one. So excited to be walking that the sheer excitement of it wears him out.