Night in Altamonte Springs

I took the kids to Crane's Roost Park in Altamonte Springs to see the lights and the holiday fountain show. It was awesome. I always love to see the water move in time to the music. We really enjoyed the walk and the fountain show was excellent!
Maya was all settled into her stroller.
The boys...
The gang...
What a pair!
My princess...


As you can see, the kids were taken by the light display.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day went great, but unfortunately, it was a complete whirlwind and I missed out seeing the kids expressions at certain gifts, due to so much going on at the same time. I hated that part!

We managed to keep our tradition of wrapping gifts in secret and hiding them until Christmas morning. When Esteban came home from work that morning, I got up and started stashing presents while he went to the shed and into the attic to get the rest of the stuff. While I did wrap each gift, I was sad that I never had the time to go back and dress the packages with ribbons and bows. After everything was tucked under the tree, I filled all the stockings and put one on each door. then I put the pernil in the oven and crawled back into bed to wait for the kids.

It was awesome. Jayden said look guys, Santa came! and they each had their stockings. When I went out to greet them, they had everything put back in their stockings as if they hadn't already gone through them. hehehe And during gifts, I decided to ask Ricardo to pass out gifts so I can focus on the camera and video. Even then, I failed miserably at both tasks. I should have asked Esteban to do it. He probably would have been more organized.

Anyway, the kids were thrilled, excited and giggling at all the gifts. I always love to see their reactions to clothing, especially Jayden. He usually flings it behind his back and moves on to the next package. Maya was surprisingly into the clothes and was thrilled at her new girly socks. Antony and Ricardo were utterly grateful for everything. The best gifts were Jayden and his train set, Maya and Jayden with the kitchen, Antony and his bike and new sneakers, and Ricardo with his shiny new iPod and matching Vans.

Afterwards, I made my traditional Christmas morning breakfast. French toast stuffed with a yummy cream cheese mixture and chocolate chips, topped with strawberries and bananas. Yum! Afterwards, we cleaned up and packed up the pernil along with the rest of our things and headed over to Mari's where we had Christmas dinner with family and friends. It was awesome! Except for Esteban's grumpiness (due to lack of sleep) and not having enough hands to record and photograph each moment, it was the best Christmas Day I've ever had!

Unfortunately, these are the few pictures I managed to get. Here are the kids with their stockings.Jayden got a helmet piggy bank. I love it. It's digital and keeps track of his savings. Plus it says "Score" and applauds every time you put a coin in.
Antony is a huge fan of soccer, but since he arrived he's really gotten into basketball and football, so we got him a football so he doesn't' have to use Jayden's baby sized one.
Maya and her cute girly socks, which she adored even though you can't tell from this picture.
Yeah, it was pretty much a mess and I didn't get not even one picture of Ricardo or Esteban for that matter.

Christmas Eve Service

Christmas Eve was not what I hoped it would be. Esteban had to work. The boys are used to having a fun filled 'party'esque type of celebration. I grew up that way too, but those days are long gone. Welcome to the world where daddy works holidays. Every year, I always look forward to the Christmas Eve service. It really helps to ground me and lifts my spirits and reminds me that Jesus is the reason for the season. Well, except for this year.

We were behind schedule getting out of the house. Then the boys got a last minute call from their mother right as we were finally ready to walk out the front door. Then Antony's shoes didn't match with his outfit and no one said anything until minutes before. When we got to the service, there was a bit of delay getting started and ALL the kids were antsy. I was expecting this from Jayden and Maya, but not from Antony and Ricardo. Then there was a really long pause between the time the youth group's band left the stage and the choir got on. I had to remind the boys that it's not easy to coordinate such a large group. Maya and Jayden carried on throughout the entire service and I just sat there stunned, barely able to listen to the service and all I could think of was it's not fair. You try so hard to make special long lasting memories and instead, you end up wanting cry like never before. Anyway, here are the few pictures I was able to manage...

Holiday Parties

For the first time in a long time, Esteban and I had some alone time. We went to the holiday party at his job and had a great time. It was such a relief to know the kids were safe and sound at home.

The following weekend was the kid's holiday party. Here's the Santa picture.
It was a Princess and Pirates theme. Here's my princess.
Taking a break for ice pops.
Daddy and his little pirate.
The most treacherous pirate of all...I don't know what they were thinking when they painted Maya's face, but here she is. My princess?
Ahoy Mates!
Mommy and Daddy

Maya's Playdate

Poor Maya! Ever since the boys arrived, she's been having such a hard time adjusting to the change. She's more of a drama queen now than ever. Every day she's outraged over one thing or another. "He hurt me. He's touching me. Leave Maya alone. Get out of my room." She decides every morning whether or not she's talking to any one of us. It's frustrating to deal with her, but I try to remind myself that since her brother's arrived, all my time has gone towards their adjustment thus leaving very little time for her. So I thought it best to get her out of the house for some alone time and we met up with our friend's for a play date. We took the kids to the mall and let them play in the playground for a while.

Here's Maya posing next to the Chipmunks at the movie theater.
I'm sure she would prefer this stroller so much more than her own. Sorry Maya...
A spin on the carousel...
This wasn't her first time, but for whatever reason she was frightened. This was the best "cheese" she could muster up.
Here's Nicole with Kayley and Ivy.

Day at the Park

Because Mr. Esteban Ricardo is such a popular kid, he get's invited everywhere. Today, he was invited to a birthday party and I felt bad for the other kids so I took them out to the park. They had such a great time. Jayden loves the slide, especially curvy ones...
Antony and Maya come down together...
He was diggin' the tire swing.
And the jungle bars...
Then we went for a walk down the pier to the lake. Such and affectionate kid...
Here he is trying to love on Maya, but she's not having any of that.
I said, "Cheese" Jayden!
A big thumbs up.
The many faces of mommy and Jayden...
Such a sweet angel...
There's my practical joker!
Precious Maya.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Unfortunately, I barely got pictures at Thanksgiving. Being new to the world of having four kids has rocked my world and I barely remember getting the camera, let alone taking pictures. This year, I cooked more than ever. Here are some of the highlights. My turkey was overdone thanks to using the turkey bag. Thanks Mom. My stuffing was a disappointment thanks to the lack of choices in the chorizo department. Publix, I don't think I can forgive you for that one. And the rice turned out great except for the gandules. Note to self: Don't try to "ablandar" gandules the same day you need them.

Super hits were the corn souffle and the sweet potato casserole. And of course, you can't go wrong with sugar cookies, pumpkin pie and this year's pumpkin cheesecake was a hit!

Here's a picture of Jayden wearing his get-up from the Love Feast at his school the week before. He was obviously not happy to don his masterpiece.
It was nippy out, but the kids were happy to play outside anyway. They're so cute when they aren't fighting.
My new dynamic duo! You have no idea what I go through with these two. LOL!
The new hangout is Antony's bunk! In fact, where's Chooch?
I love my sissy!
A little down time...