A Little Break

In an effort to maintain our sanity we spent the last couple of days at one of our state parks. The good thing about this park is that it has an indoor pool! All the boys love to swim and Juan must ask almost everyday if he can go - somehow he doesn't get the connection that it's too cold at -3 to go swimming outside! So we took a little trip so that they could go swimming and we could get away from the daily routine. It went reasonably well all things considered. We were off looking for Andrew a couple of times because he slipped out of our sight inside the Inn. He is a quick little thing when he has an idea about checking out other parts of the building on his own! They of course didn't sleep very well the first night, but were out quickly the second night. We got to eat a breakfast buffet and I could have all the crispy bacon I wanted. Dan got to work on one of those 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles for hours. So everyone got to enjoy something a little special. The boys got to help put out seed for the birds to eat. They have a great viewing area to watch the birds and squirrels come to eat. We walked outside a little, but at barely 20 degrees it's just not that much fun. And the best part is it's 2 nights for the price of 1! Now it's back to reality - work for the Mom and Dad and school for the ninos.
Here are a few pictures of the trip and a couple of other things.
Karen

Andrew is not much of a vegetable eater, so we have been encouraging him in that department. He will put about anything in his mouth, but if he doesn't like it it will come right back out. Yuck! Anyway, we had stirfry tonight and he actually ate a few pieces of broccoli. If you look very closely you can see a small piece in his hand. I of course had to bribe him with cookies and he washed it down with chocolate milk, but I still think that's progress.

Putting out seed for the birds and squirrels.

The boys in their new robes. Maicol had been requesting a robe for Christmas, but I just couldn't bring myself to pay $20 for a robe for a 9 year old. We were at Target last week and they were marked down to about $4, so they all got one. They think they are quite handsome in them. Maicol wants to wear his all day and Juan wants to sleep in his. We're still working on robe etiquette.

Proud Parents

I'm just so proud I had to share with you a special event from today's adventures. I usually let Karen do most of the blogging, but she's busy putting batteries in new toys. We all went out to eat lunch today and found some great clearance buys at Kroger (as usual). We then went to Target to check out some kids clothes that were being clearanced. It was a leap of faith, but I put underwear on Andrew this morning instead of a diaper. He agreed to let me know if he needed to go to the restroom because he wanted to be a "big boy" and only babies wear diapers. Half way through our visit to Target, Andrew said he needed to go to the restroom. We just barely made it in time, but he was proud that he didn't get his underwear wet. We went on to find some great buys on some toys so it was almost as good as Christmas but for half the price. As we were getting ready to leave the store Juan Pablo and Andrew ran out ahead of us. We were about to go out the door when I looked up and saw Andrew with his own little toy out and watering the sidewalk just outside the door where everyone has to walk! He just looked up and smiled as if to say, "Look, I didn't wet my pants!" I pointed out the event to Karen who promptly turned away as if to say "Whose child is that?" She couldn't stop laughing when we got back to the car. I seem to be the only one who can put on a stern face during those humorous yet embarassing times when one of the kids needs to be straightened out. I never thought I would say this, but I would much rather have had wet pants on Andrew. Fortunately, Karen and I have babysitting co-op tonight so Karen and I will have a few hours to ourselves to contemplate how fortunate we are that Andrew is almost potty trained.
Sorry, but no pictures available for this post.
Have a good day!
Dan

PS: If only we had been assigned girls! :)
Karen

Our Life in Pictures

Since pictures are the most interesting part of the blog - here's a post with lots of them.

A drawing by Juan Pablo. I know the upper part is Santa and a reindeer. I think the bottom part is a bus, but I'm not sure.

These next three are in reverse order, but I'm too lazy to change it. :)

I read something recently about having a "Candy Cane Hunt" for Christmas. With my boys and my sisters boys going to Grandma's for Christmas in January an outside activity seemed like a good idea. Fortunately it wasn't too cold and it turned out very well. They actually hunted for them twice. The first time I had them give me the candy canes and we hid them again. At the end of the second round I gave each of them a dollar for their efforts. So the first picture is Andrew with his treasure, the second is a "hidden" candy cane and the third is the boys racing to find them.

Do you see it?

This is my Mom and the boys making reindeer's out of Nutter Butter cookies. They turned out very cute. Then we got a little more creative and made other animals and Juan even figured out how to make a car with a seat. He is the most creative of the three.

Andrew

Maicol

Juan Pablo

All of the boys in a big sycamore tree at Grandma's. My brother, sister and I had a picture taken in this tree when we were kids. A few years ago we recreated that, but it was alot more work to get all of us up there (and we don't quite fit like we used to)! :) So now we take pictures of our kids in the tree.

The week after Christmas we tried to go to the Children's Museum, but it was very crowded so we looked for something else to do. Jonathan's fiance suggested this park and it was wonderful! They had great playground/climbing equipment and a nature center. We can't wait to go back when it's a little warmer and not so muddy. We passed a tree that looked climbable, so of course they had to give it a try.

We're still looking for a decent snowfall. This is still a daily topic of conversation and watching the weather report on the news at least twice a day. I sure hope this isn't the first winter I can remember where we didn't get at least one decent snow.

We still see glimpses of what's going on inside their minds and that they are still trying to figure out this whole adoption/forever family thing. On the way to Grandma's last weekend for Christmas Juan asked if his foster mother was still his Mami. I told him that I was his Mami now. It's been over a year now and it seems he's still processing what it means to be adopted and having us as his Mom and Dad forever. Maicol had a dream this week in which he was taken away and placed in a different home. They were told by their foster family that if they weren't good they would be sent back, so to him I think this is still a very real possibility. He has had that on his mind alot the last couple of days. I guess the good part is that the possibility of that made him very unhappy, so he is happy to be here with us. But, I hate that he thinks that it could even be possible that he is not here forever. He has also recently been asking/stating he is our son forever and will be here forever. We've reiterated that message with all of them alot the last few days. While to us their permanence with us is so obvious to them it isn't. I think for them all the talking in the world doesn't mean much - it's the day-to-day living with us and seeing that nothing changes that is very slowly beginning to seal it in their heads and hearts.

Time for a little shut-eye. Enjoy your weekend and for those of you with snow - know that we are very jealous!

Karen

Christmas #2

Wow! After all the weeks of dreading Christmas (because of the boys behavior in the past surrounding any type of celebration) it was a wonderful day! I don't know who put what in their hot chocolate last night, but it sure did the trick! They woke up happy, were calm but excited to open their gifts, shared with each other without being required to and were happy until at least 3pm when I left for work. We went to Chinese buffet for lunch with all of our children and they were well behaved there too. They ate the food they put on their plates, didn't make a huge mess, sat still, didn't complain about anything and were able to converse with each other and us. Amazing! Now I want it to be Christmas everyday! :)
Jonathan and Bethany came over last night and slept on the couches so they could be here early for the opening of gifts. We had a good time watching the boys open their gifts and a good breakfast of french toast and bacon. Plenty of playing with new toys and cleaning up the wrapping paper mess. All in all, the best holiday we have ever had with them. Hope your day was special too.
Karen

When will the Holidays be over?!

Dan keeps asking me if I've blogged - (as if he doesn't have fingers to type) so I'm taking advantage of the fact that everyone is in bed and I'm not sleepy to do a little update.

Christmas is coming and it certainly is obvious in the behavior of the boys. All we have in the way of decorations at our house is a tree with lights. We haven't even put ornaments on yet, but just having the tree up seems to have been enough to get them excited. Here's recap of the events of Tuesday to give you a taste of what it's like at our house lately.
1. Juan Pablo found a burning candle in my bathroom, lit a piece of paper and melted part of
the toilet seat with it.
2. Juan was mad about having to do his schoolwork, so he poked Andrew's leg with his pencil
(through his pants) and punctured his skin.
3. Maicol shot me in the face with his Nerf gun.
4. Maicol and Juan broke a lightbulb in one of the pendant lights over the kitchen counter.
5. Juan took a toy sled and put the rope from it around Andrew's neck and was trying to
make him follow him by pulling on the rope.
6. Neither one of them could sit still and do their schoolwork. It took them all day to finish
what should have been 2 hours worth of assignments.
7. And last night while I was rocking Andrew I discovered the "thump" I was hearing was
Juan throwing a 2-lb dumbell weight from his bed across the room and hitting the wall
putting little dents in the drywall.
I finally sat Juan on a stool in the kitchen so I could keep an eye on him and sent Maicol outside to play by himself. Why and how do they think of the things they do?! I know that alot of it is just the excitement of Christmas coming, but they were driving me crazy that day! And so they went to bed early, becuase I hope to keep the house and myself intact a little longer! :)

We haven't had much snow, but have had some ice. The boys have been sliding down the neighbor's driveway on their sleds. The ice is evidently faster than snow and is alot of fun. They are still anxiously awaiting enough snow to really sled. They still watch the weather daily to see if there is any chance of a big snow coming.

Wish there we something more interesting to say. The days continue to speed by. Maicol's behavior and attitude are improving. He still struggles with comprehending the permanence of being a part of our family and having a mom forever, but I think he is slowly allowing himself to relax and enjoy it. We're not always as much "fun" as he would like, but then that wouldn't be reality either would it? Juan Pablo continues to show his creativity. Today he was using garage door opener boxes to make race cars and space ships to play with Andrew. He and Andrew spend alot of time playing together and generally get along very well. Andrew is growing up! He isn't going to be the "baby" much longer. His vocabulary is growing rapidly and we are enjoying him so much.

Until next time....
Andrew and Maicol playing with K'nex.

Biggest brother and littlest brother.

Andrew with my Uncle Ted. I'm pretty sure he believes that Uncle Ted is Santa, otherwise I don't think he would have been so affectionate.

When I went in to check on them the other night this is where I found Andrew. Obviously not in his bed!

Moving right along

What do you do with all those leftover boxes? If you're a 9-year old boy this is what you do...

Maicol has been saving boxes since the summer so that he and Juan Pablo could pretend to be robots and fight. Not sure where he came up with the idea, but they had a great time and they still have enough to repeat the activity again.

Guess it's not really fair to complain about other people not updating their blog if you don't update your own. :) I'm full of excuses, but none of them really very good, so here goes.

Juan Pablo is now 7 years old. We went to the fabulous Chuck E Cheese's to celebrate. We unfortunately chose a cold Saturday, so it was packed. We let them use their tokens, trade their tickets in for fabulous prizes and went to Burger King for kids meals and to open presents. The cake had to wait until the next day. As was the tradition in my family every child gets a chance to blow out the candles after the birthday child has done it. Makes for alot of relighting of candles, but then everyone gets to have a little fun even if it's not their special day. We did a very low-key small celebration and it seemed to work out pretty well. Certainly better than last year. Minimal misbehavior!

We have been seeing an improvement in Maicol and his behavior, particularly toward me. Not perfect, but certainly better - fewer highs and lows, less outbursts of anger, less complaining about what I do or don't do, etc. Juan still likes to tell me "no" about whatever it is I have asked him to do. I think he has developed a habit of immediately saying it and now I'm trying to get him to think before he speaks. Not an easy task! He threw a fit outside tonight that I know anyone within a mile could hear! When he thought I was talking to Dan on the phone he immediatly got quiet, so I know that he can stop it if he wants to. After he calmed down I told him what the consequence would be for doing that again. So, we'll see if he wants to test me or not (it's not really a matter of if, but when). He made it about 2 hours before he went to bed without getting into trouble, but I don't imagine it will take him long tomorrow to try me.

I have finally converted Andrew and Juan into pancake and waffle lovers. When we first got home we tried pancakes and they all disliked them. I tried waffles with the same results. Finally about a week ago I really wanted pancakes so I decided to make them whether anyone else wanted them or not. Imagine my surprise when both Juan and Andrew declared how much they love panckes. They have been asking for them almost everyday. Maicol is still holding out.

Life just continues to move along. School is going ok. There is the usual complaining about having to do it, but it still must be done and so while the complaining doesn't result in less work assigned (quite the opposite sometimes), they still continue to do it. I have started requiring it to be done within a certain time if they want playtime with Mom and that has helped some.

We're off to Ohio to celebrate Thanksgiving next weekend. I had to work this weekend and since my family celebrates Christmas together in January, in a way it makes sense to celebrate Thanksgiving in December. :) Really looking forward to getting away and seeing everyone.

Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy!

Andrew

Juan Pablo

Maicol

Riding the horse at Chuck E Cheese's.

Playing a firefighter game together at Chuck E Cheese's

(with Jonathan watching in the background).

Lots of tickets to trade for fabulous prizes

Checking out the birthday loot.

Blowing out the birthdday candles together.

Juan Pablo - the birthday boy.

A Nearly Perfect Day

What a great day! The weather was fantastic, school was done before noon, no major tantrums or complaining and I had dinner made by 6:30pm. So today - Maicol finished painting the cat house, we jumped on the trampoline, wrestled on the trampoline, built a fire to burn up an old wooden garage door, played hide and seek, went to the lake to throw rocks and sticks, Andrew and Juan played in the bathtub, Dan read bedtime books, I rocked everyone and I think they are all asleep! Why can't they all be like this? I guess we wouldn't appreciate the good days if we didn't have some not so good ones.

The anticipation for Halloween night was almost more than any of us could stand! Next year I am going to have to lie to them or something and say it's later because the days and hours leading up to going trick or treating were just crazy. They could hardly stand to wait and I could hardly stand them! They were so excited. Jonathan and Kristen came and took them out and evidently it went very well. I guess Andrew's system was to stand at the door and wait until he got at least 2 pieces of candy before he would say thank you and move on. That explains why he seemed to have more candy than the other two. Maicol was so excited he was running from house to house. Juan Pablo wants to sleep in his costume.

We have been trying to get outside as much as possible since I know this great weather can't last. I really dread those days when they can't get out and jump on the trampoline, run and ride bikes to wear themselves out. We've also been working on projects outside - insulating under the house, raking leaves, planting grass, and building the cat house. We're still having hot dogs roasted over the fire at least once a week. Unfortunately, winter will put a halt to that.

Maicol still has his difficult days, but most days it seems his unhappiness with me is less. He so obviously desperately wants, loves and needs me, but is so afraid to just relax and let me be his mom and take care of him. We go through days were everything is fine and then the next day nothing I do is right according to him. I think it's the up and down of one day to the next that makes me crazy. Juan doesn't like doing schoolwork (and asks me every night if there will be school the next day), but really does well once he gets going. He's trying to learn the "2-vowel rule" in reading. It's going pretty well - he can identify the two vowels in a word and knows that the first one says it's name and the second is silent. Those short vowel sounds are so ingrained in his brain it's hard for him to remember to not use them when he shouldn't. Andrew has evidently learned to count to 8 by listening to Juan Pablo. He's not sure about associating numbers and objects, but he can count. He also has started teasing his brothers by calling them "baby" and "stinky underwears". He is so much fun and so much work! He's always up to something and most of the time, it's not something good.

That's it for now. Hope you enjoy the update.

Karen



Juan Pablo - his face describes our day - good all the way around!

Juan Pablo - the Power Ranger

Maicol - Batman

Andrew - the white Power Ranger - looking cute and getting lots of candy!

Andrew, Juan Pablo, Maicol

Maicol, Juan Pablo, Andrew

Painting the cat house. They wanted to help paint the house, but we thought that wasn't a good idea. :) I guess we decided the cats don't need quite the level of workmanship that the rest of the house deserves, so we let them paint it. They think they're master painters now.

And last but not least, a picture to make the Grandma's nervous!