Sunday, March 30, 2008

Happy Birthday Jonathan and Andrew

It's been two birthdays since I've managed to get a post done. Where does the time go? We celebrated Jonathan's 23rd birthday last Sunday. I don't think he was quite as excited as Andrew was today, but we enjoyed having him over and had a good excuse to have cake.
Today we celebrated Andrew's birthday. He was three a couple of days ago, but it worked out better to do it today and he's not too particular about what day you celebrate on. :) So now my first baby is 23 and my last baby is 3. We had lunch after church and then cake and ice cream. Andrew really loves sweets, so cake is right up his alley. He made a big mess, but enjoyed it. The other two aren't that crazy about cake, but anxiously awaited the opening of gifts. They are suddenly very eager to share their toys with Andrew since he now has something they want to play with too. We let him open his presents and play with them the rest of the afternoon. Jonathan hung around and played a little Hide and Seek or 1, 2,3 as Juan calls it. The adults each got a little nap in too. Maicol is counting down the days until his birthday (96). He has been lamenting how long it will be since Juan's birthday in November. His birthday was just a few weeks before he came to our family, so he has quite a wait to celebrate one with us.
We had a fun day yesterday. We went to a small indoor water park. The boys took a friend with them. We told them we had a surprise for them and Maicol immediately thought of swimming. The only part they didn't get right was that we did not stay overnight as we have done the other two times we went swimming this fall/winter. They had a great time and definitely were ready to sleep last night.
We're still waiting for spring here. We'll have a day of warmer weather and then it's back to cold again. We REALLY can't wait until they can get outside and play everyday!
Grandparents - for Andrew's birthday you bought a Spiderman Mr. Potatohead, two wooden puzzles, a bubble machine and a construction toy that makes lots of noises and moves and shakes.
Here are a few birthday pictures.
Karen


Yes, that is Christmas wrapping paper. Hey, it's what I had and Andrew doesn't care!
A noisy toy!

I love cake!


"Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday dear Andrew, Happy Birthday to You."



Helping Jonathan blow out his candles.




Thursday, March 20, 2008

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

Hope you like pictures, because there are alot of them! Seems like every time I get ready to sit down and write something, I get sidetracked. These are all pictures of our weekend at Grandma's. We had a very good time. Everyone was well behaved. It was a little on the cool side, but we did manage to get outside a little on Sunday. Juan and Maicol wanted to go hunt deer, so we walked to the woods and looked for some. But seriously, how many deer do you think we would be able to sneak up on with 3 boys stomping through the woods - none of which can be quiet for more than a few seconds?! At least we tried. Maicol did take a suction cup bow and arrow set just in case. :) We did see some deer bones, but no live ones.
We also celebrated Bethany's birthday. She wanted an apple pie, so that's what we had, with 4 candles on it - one for each 5 years. I just couldn't see trying to put 20 candles on a pie. We're getting ready to have Jonathan's birthday on Sunday. Then Andrew's is next week.
Our big newspaper debut is tomorrow. The local paper did a story about our adoption. The kids did really well when the reporter came. They did ok with the photographer too. I didn't think we had a particularly interesting story until Bethany pointed out that "you are middle-aged and you did go to another country and come back with 3 kids". I guess that's not something most people do, but it seems so normal now. The article is @ www.noblesvilleledger.com under "Parents Adopt 3 Children". It's in the 3/21 issue. If you look later you'll have to do a little looking around, but it will be in the Hamilton county news. You can't see the photos they included, but you can read the story. It's not exactly what we would have written, but ok.
We've had a full week it seems. Good, but full. Hope yours has been too.
Karen

Why I love going to Grandma's!
Looking for trouble.....

Wishing they could take a spin on the tractor.
My boys.

My sister's boys.
My baby is 20.

All of the male primo's.

The "big" kids and the "little" kids.

A serious checker game.

Andrew and my cousin Ray racing cars.

The battle of the experts.

Bethany teaching Maicol to play Chinese checkers.











Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Back to "Normal"

I think we are almost back to normal. Still a little bit of coughing and runny noses, but otherwise up to their old tricks. School is back in session, complaints and whining and the usual "no's" from Juan. And to think I missed normal! :)
The weather has certainly improved. We were able to get outside and work on a little clean-up. The boys rode bikes a little and jumped on the trampoline. I helped Maicol with his rollerblading some too. They are soooo much happier when they can get outside and play(and so are we). Can't wait for spring!
We're getting ready for a trip to Grandma's this weekend. They have been wanting to go, but didn't know we already had a trip planned. Dan let it slip to Maicol a couple of days ago, so now I am having to answer the obvious question multiple times a day. Bethany is meeting us there as she starts her spring break friday. Jonathan is coming and so is my sister and her boys. Hopefully a few other relatives too. Just a chance to get together and enjoy each others company. Why wait for a holiday?
Have a great Wednesday!
Karen


Just being "normal"!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Recovering

It seems that everyone is on the road to recovery! Just some coughs and runny noses hanging around. Let's hope we don't do that again anytime soon.
We started back with their schoolwork yesterday. I think Juan has forgotten things in just a few days. Don't think we'll be taking the summer off with him for sure. Maicol complained as usual, but managed to stick with it and get his work done. He did tell me his throat was too sore to do reading (but not too sore to ask a thousand questions). I guess reading is different than asking questions. :)
We had a nice ice storm yesterday, so I let them go out to see what it was like. Little ice pellets coming down for most of the afternoon and into the evening. They didn't stay out too long, but it was a fun (and new) experience for them. Maicol went out and shoveled off the sidewalk. He also had to prove that you can ride a bike on ice after Dan told him he would slip and fall. I don't think he fell, but did slide around some while we were watching. They cancelled his Upwards soccer evaluation night, so Dan will be taking him tonight for that. He's very excited to play. Not so sure Juan understands what's going on, but we hope that just getting to play with other kids will be fun for him and encourage him to work on his English.
Have a good Wednesday!
Karen

Sunday, March 2, 2008

FLU, FLU, FLU, FLU

This is pretty much how everyone but Mama is feeling. Juan started getting sick on Tuesday night and was followed by Andrew on Wednesday and Maicol and Dan on Thursday. They have all had the flu - fever, cough, sore throat, etc. Lots of fun! I finally had to get a piece of paper out and write down who got what medicine when to keep track of it all. We're on our second bottle of Tylenol and Advil. They are all starting to feel better except the Papa. It's beautiful outside today - sunny and at least 60 degrees. Wish they felt good enough to get out and play, but I guess it will have to wait for another time. So, that's why there hasn't been a post in so long - too much sickness and I've had to work extra this week. Not a good combination.
I told Maicol I wasn't sick because I got a flu shot and he is very eager to get one now. We'll see how eager he is next fall. :)
Tkae care and wash your hands alot!

Karen