Top Ten Phrases

1. Spanglish for "Buzz Lightyear" is "Bahajar" according to Juan. (It took us awhile to figure this one out)

2. "I did it!" is Andrew's new favorite thing to say when he does something like put his own clothes on or take them off.

3. "Me no like" - what Maicol says about any food he has never tasted.

4. "Cuando jo bigger" (when I'm bigger) - followed by something specific Juan wants to do, but isn't old enough yet.

5. There is no end to questions about which animals are "nice", which animal is stronger, which animal will eat the other, which animal is faster, etc. (mostly from Maicol)

6. "Cuando Jonathan?" and "Cuando Bethany?" - they ask multiple times a day when one or the other is coming.

7. "Feel this." Maicol has been lifting weights to build his biceps. After one day he is convinced they are increasing in size. We have to check the muscles daily and the muscles of his brothers.

8. "Juan Pablo, listen to Mama!" Maicol has been saying this lately to try to keep Juan out of trouble.

9. "Kitchen?" "Cereal?" The first question of the day - meaning 'Is it too early to get up? Should I go back to bed or go to the kitchen?' and 'Are you going to get up and fix us eggs or is it cereal for breakfast?'.

10. "Mail?" - meaning "Will we be getting a new movie from Netflix today?"

Kisses for Papa.

Pucker up!

La Piscina

Watching a movie.

The Three Monkeys.

A "family" picture for our recent post placement report.

We're back from our little"surprise". Maicol complained about not knowing where we were going, but once we got there and he saw what it involved he was happy again. He can be quite the moody one. We went swimming three times in two days. The indoor pool was great - like a warm (not hot) bath and only once were there very many other people in it. They really, really love swimming. Maicol says he has never been swimming, but he can now swim without the "wings" after only going swimming 4 or 5 times. They are all fearless. Love to jump in and don't mind a bit going underwater. Andrew did slip and hit his chin and put a cut in it. I pulled it back together with a small bandaid cause I really didn't want to have to find an ER somwhere to have it stitched. Had we been home I would have gone to work and had them "superglue" it, but it seems to be pretty good today. There will be a scar, but not too bad. We walked outside a little, but it's pretty cold. Went to the Nature Center and watched birds for awhile. They have windows so that you can watch them without them seeing you, so it's very neat. They were really pretty. We walked out on a suspension bridge - it moves a little and Juan was not particularly fond of that. They watched some movies too. Got to stay up late and eat snacks too.

Back to reality today tho. We made it home in time to get some schoolwork done. Dan is putting in bypass doors for the tub/shower. They seem to have a really hard time keeping the water in the tub, so we're going to try to help them out a little bit.

Here are a few pictures for those of you who are interested.

Karen

Waa. Waa. Waa...

Seems like we have heard alot of this lately. Not sure what the reason is, but it seems like someone is unhappy about something quite frequently lately. Nothing big, just don't want to do their schoolwork, wait 5 minutes until dinner is ready, put their seatbelt on themselves, etc.
We're off for a little trip over the next 3 days. We're going to a state park for a couple of nights. It's 2 nights for the price of one, so a good deal. The one we're going to has an indoor pool, so we're hoping that will be a big hit. The water is not heated super warm, but hopefully enough to tolerate and have a good time. We'll take a couple of movies and games to play too. It will probably be too cold to be outside much, but who knows what the weather will be? The weatherman here has been a little "off" lately.
We were able to get outside and play this afternoon. I even jumped and wrestled with them on the trampoline. Hopefully they're worn out (I know I am) and will go to bed easily tonight. We rode bikes too.
Have a good weekend.
Karen

PP2

We had our second post placement visit with the social worker yesterday. Something I dread, but it went fine of course. This was the 3rd social worker we've had. The one who did our home study was there yesterday, but did not do the interview. This one is bilingual, so she was able to talk with the boys a little bit. They really enjoyed her. Maicol told her some jokes and tried to play some tricks on her. They were very cute. It was a long visit with all 3 boys in an 8 x 8 room with a few baby toys, but we managed. Dan had to work, so I got to take them. It helps that we think they're wonderful and love to talk about them. :) Just one more visit to go sometime this summer. It is nice to get affirmation that they are doing well and happy.
We missed out on the big snow again, but there was enough for Maicol and Juan to go down the nieghbors driveway yesterday. They were out for at least a couple of hours playing. Even jumped on the trampoline. Maicol is trying to figure out how to make a snow plow for his bicycle. He got out a cardboard box and some rope, but hasn't quite figured it out yet. I don't see that it's possible, but I hate to discourage him thinking and trying.
With the weather being so cold they are not able to get out as much and play. And they really, really need to get outside and play - for all of our sanities! I got out sheets and draped over the kitchen table for them to play under it yesterday. Juan and Andrew had a good time with that. Even though they're going to be late, we're going to make Valentine's tomorrow. I just couldn't get things ready in time. We celebrated Valentine's day while we were in Bogota in September, so they will have two of the same holiday just a few months apart. Maybe we will continue that.
Not much else going on. Happy Valentines Day!
Karen

Our Day

Here's what we have accomplished today: three meals made at home, schoolwork, rollerblading, bike riding, jumping on the trampoline, making a house out of a shoebox, watched The Little Mermaid, baths, rocking and bed for all 3 before 9pm. What a great day!
Maicol has been wanting to make a house, so I got shoeboxes out and we did that this morning. I'm not sure why, but he has been very interested in doing this. Juan of course wanted to make one too, so they each made one. He actually worked on it longer than Maicol did. He put a row of beads along the roof for Christmas lights. Does that tell you what we still have on our roof? :)
The weather was good today, so we got outside for a couple of hours this afternoon. They had a great time, and by the time we were finishing dinner Andrew and Juan could barely keep their eyes open. Juan actually laid his head on the table and wasn't really interested in finishing his dinner (and he really likes to eat).
I think that after 5 months, Juan is finally realizing that we are his parents. A couple of days ago when I was rocking him, he looked at me and said "My Mama?". I told him that I was his Mama and Andrew's, Maicol's, Bethany's and Jonathan's too. I'm not sure what he was thinking before, but it seems like he has had kind of a revelation or something. He has been very affectionate and repeated the "My Mama" phrase many times today. He just looks up at me and smiles. Maybe he has decided that he wants us as much as we want him.
We had a nice, peaceful dinner tonight. If you have eaten at our house in the last 5 months, this is a major accomplishment. There is always a fair amount of loud talk, belching, getting up, going to the bathroom, talking loudly, etc. Maybe the fact that they were tired and hungry helped, but it was nice. Maybe it will happen again someday.
Have a good weekend.
Karen

Update

I can't believe it's been a week since I updated. Time sure does fly! We didn't end up with enough snow for sledding, so there was great disappointment in our house on Friday morning. I think they were spoiled by the two early snows we got. Now they think any time the weatherman suggests snow it will be mucho.
We had a good weekend. I got outside Saturday and played Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-Power Rangers-Sword fighting with the boys. Never really thought I would do something like that, but then who knew I would have three boys? I don't know that I'm all that talented of a sword fighter, but it was fun. The boys got to play with friends while we cleaned the church Saturday. They had a really good time. On Sunday Jonathan came over with Kristen for lunch. They always like it when he comes over. Later Bethany came home with a friend from school, so there were lots of big kids to play with the little kids. They had a wonderful time. Bethany also gave the boys haircuts. Maicol didn't cry this time. He was unhappy with his cut last time (thought it was too short), so she just did a little trimming. We thought he looked really good with the shorter hair, but he definitely did not.
We have had two pretty good days of school so far this week. They have really been pretty well behaved in general too. I am still getting too much "no, Mama" from Juan Pablo, so I am going to try something new with him. I made a clock for he and Maicol and set it to their bedtime. Each time they tell me no (because they don't want to do something they need to) they have to go to bed 5 minutes earlier. They really don't like to go to bed earlier and definitely not before Andrew, so I am hoping this will help. Juan only lost 5 minutes today, but I know that won't last. He'll probably need to lose at least 30 minutes for it to make an impact on him.
I'm off to work for the next couple of days, so enjoy the pictures.


Getting a trim from my personal stylist.

Can I have a few blonde highlights too?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-Power Rangers-Sword Fighting with the evil Mama.

Concentration.

My train.