Sports and Playgrounds

Now that the holidays are over, we can slow down, switch gears and really just get to know each other. The kids have one thing in common and that's the fact that they all love the outdoors. The boy's love of sports and the little one's love of the playgrounds take us out at least once a week to all of the local parks and rec areas. When possible, I take the kids to the playground while Antony and Ricardo kick the soccer ball around. When it's not possible, everyone goes to the courts or fields to play ball. They love it. There is literally no room in my trunk thanks to all the gear I now carry around.

Here are the boys at the soccer field on Hancock.
Here are the three stooges. Jayden, Antony and Maya
Antony loves to hang around.
Antony has really developed a love for basketball. He just loves to go and throw the ball. He throws it all kinds of crazy ways, trying so hard to get it in. He's got no form whatsoever. It's amusing to watch. It's also amazing how many times it goes in. LOL
Jayden is getting a hang of dribbling. And Maya is happy so long as she has her bouncy ball with her.
I love these guys...
Ricardo gives Maya a lesson and Antony gets it in one more time. Sly dog...
Here we are at Park Pals. They love this playground.
We always go for a walk and this evening, we got to see the sun setting. It was beautiful.
The playground at home still gets alot of use.
Ricardo goes for a run at the soccer field.
Antony practices his soccer tricks at home...
Ricardo found some of his school mates at the soccer field. They are gearing up for soccer season.
Antony and his soccer ball.
They are taking turns and that's Maya way up the hill...

Maya and Mommy's "Girlz" Day

Maya and I sure do need to get away from time to time for some girl time. Surrounded by so many boys all the time, we felt like we needed to get away and the Pinocchio's Puppet Theater seemed to be just the right thing. Nicole invited us out and we said "Yes!"

The theater is in the Altamonte Mall and if you haven't been, you must. It's so cute and they were playing Cinderella, which was perfect. It was a musical. The length of the show was perfect for kids. Maya and Nicole's girls really seemed to enjoy it. Even baby Billy sat through it.
Afterward, we had lunch in the food court. Here's Maya at the fountain.
Then, we let the kids play in the Toddler Play Area. The kids were pooped on the way. It was a long drive, which was great cause Maya got her nap in on the ride home.
When we got home, Jayden was so sad that we had gone out without him. I felt bad for him and explained that we needed girl time. Then Maya said she wanted to see her girls again tomorrow and Jayden said can I see my boys tomorrow? Too funny!

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.