Many Trips + Many Coupons = Big Savings

Ok, this might not be the best deal ever, but I was so happy with myself. I made 8 stops in all, which I know sounds like alot, but most of them were either on the way to work or on the way home from work. I made 2 stops during lunch and both were local (within a mile).

I got 6 packs of Goody's Ouchless hair accessories, 1 pre-school toy, 4 packs of Schick Quattro razors, 2 cans of broth, 4 cans of soup, 4 boxes of Celestial Seasonings, a package of wax paper, two packs of ziplock bags, 2 packs of cough drops, a set of Thanksgiving Day cookie cutters, one toothpaste, one chapstick, two packs of tissues, 4 packs of gum, 2 boxes of Gorton's Fish Fillets, 8 pencils, 2 packs of Hallmark cards, two packs of party favors, 1 piece of Fall decor and a Halloween costume for:

$21.24

Day at the Park

Esteban and I were home together so after breakfast, we took the kids to downtown for a walk. Jayden decided to take his bike with him and he did pretty well, until he decided to take his helmet off. Then it was no bike for him. Here he is while he was still cooperating.
He's determined.

Maya loves it when Daddy chases her!

She loves the sand. She was squeezing it in her fingers and throwing it around.

Then she got to try out Jayden's bike.

An ice cream cone for a treat later that night...

A happy ending to a happy day!

Trick or Treat!

We planned a full day of trick or treating. Esteban had to work tonight and I didn't want him to miss out on the fun. So we took the kids out in the morning to downtown Clermont. Unfortunately, we missed the activity which was from 9-11am. Downtown businesses were handing out candy for the local daycare. Even so, the kids collected some candy and had a good time.
An older gentleman passed by and offered to take our picture. That was very nice of him.

See how Maya eyes the candy bowl...

Jayden and Maya were intrigued by the vampire which spoke in a creepy vampire voice.

Here's Maya when we got home and I took away her candy pail. She had the same reaction when I removed her ballerina costume, which was a gift to her from my co-worker.

To calm her down, I gave her a lollipop.

Later that evening, we had dinner and got ready to trick or treat in the neighborhood. Crazy Jayden had a meltdown because I wanted to take a picture of him with his Spidy hat on.

He cried so hard, he made Maya cry. Well, it was the combination of the crying and the mask that did it!

Everybody's in the wagon and we're all set to go! PS The wagon is definitely the way to go for Trick or Treating!

Our first stop was at Mark's house. Elizabeth greeted us with a cauldron of candy.

We started at about 6:15 and there were still no sign of trick or treaters. The first 45 minutes was tough 'cause it was hard to tell who was participating so we started by only visiting those homes with Halloween decorations. Then, as it got darker and the trick or treaters started to arrive, it became easier. Jayden was so excited. He kept screaming, "That way, Mommy!" And Maya was running back and forth from the wagon to the houses. It was so much fun to watch them. I wish Esteban could have been there with us.

Afterwards, we met Maria and her family at Real Life. They were having a huge Halloween event. The church was huge, beautiful and packed! There were kids everywhere. They had trick or treating, a bounce house, live band and tons more. We didn't get to see it all, but we hung out for a little while and headed back home.

Devonte the Ninja and Spiderman hung out for a while!

Pumpkin Carving

This year, I thought I would try to carve a pumpkin with the kids. Well, let me tell you, Jayden took quite a bit of convincing before he actually stuck his hand in there to get the seeds out. Here you can see his reaction.
Maya didn't really have a reaction to the whole thing. She was more interested in what was going on in the living room. Probably Dora or something...

Jayden said the seeds were sticky! I thought he was adorable!

Almost ready...

Finished product! Jayden got suck a kick out of this. He really enjoyed the experience and the actual pumpkin. In fact, the next morning when he woke up, the first thing he asked about was the pumpkin...

Maya - 18 months and counting...

Maya has grown so much in the last 6 months or so. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about her is personality. She is a firecracker! Her independence is almost alarming. She gets very upset if you correct her or discipline her, but unfortunately these are things that must be done. She’s stubborn, affectionate, fussy, and happy, all at the same time. Sometimes, she grabs my leg and says “Awww!” So darn cute! But she is a total daddy’s girl. It’s crazy! And actually, I don’t know who she loves more. Daddy or Jayden?

She follows Jayden all over the house and imitates all his little tricks. They love to play together, fight together, and laugh together. And at night they giggle behind closed doors. Jayden brings all the toys to her crib and I can’t understand how she can sleep. I always have to creep in to remove the books, blocks, plushes and anything else Jayden has tossed in there.

Maya loves to color and is very fond of the ‘handy dandy notebook’, as Jayden is. They spend a lot of time fighting over it. She also loves shoes. She is always finding a pair to put on. Usually mine or Jayden’s. I think my shoes are her favorite, but she can maneuver better in Jayden’s so she tends to gravitates towards his. I got her first pair of crocs and she was so adorable. Her eyes actually twinkled. She just stared at her feet and tip toed around the house with them. At bed time, she cried when I took them off.

And her words are much more advanced than Jayden’s were at that age. It’s great to communicate with her, but sometimes I think she’s growing up too fast. Here’s her list of words:

Ma-Ma
Da-Da
Thanks (13 months)
U-oh! (15 months)
No (16 months)
Close (16 months)
Ni-Ni (16 months)
Hello (16 months)
Ok (17 months)
There it is (18 months)
Wow (18 months)
Hi (18 months)
Choo-Choo (18 months)
A-choo (18 months)
Bye (18 months)
Ca (short for ca-ca) (18 months)
Awww! (18 months)
Amen (18 months)
Yellow (18 months)
All done. (18 months)
Hola (18 months)
Cheese (18 months)
Jay-den (18 months)
Mine (18 months)

Maya is not a picky eater by any means. She loves her fruit and vegetables. She’ll eat anything you give her. I have yet to find something she doesn’t care for. Thank God because I have my hands full with Jayden’s shenanigans. Maya is pretty good with a fork, but needs work with the spoon. For now, we continue to feed her, unless it’s a finger food in which case she feeds herself. I can tell she’s going to be like her mommy in the sense that she’s got a sweet tooth.

Not only does Maya complement our family, but she completes it. I am thankful to God everyday for her smiling face and the joy she puts in our hearts.

Pumpkin Painting and Cookies at Titi's House

Sunday, we spent the day at Mari's house. We devoted it to Halloween traditions. We planned on pumpkin painting with the kids.
Jayden tried his hand at painting, but he wasn't patient enough for the stencilling process. So, I gave him a paper plate and he was good to go. Except for the part, where he painted Titi's seat cushions, he did a great job!

Here's my crazy pumpkin. Jayden picked the colors. At this point, we lost control of the situation and the kids were out of control so we put them to nap and finished up the project ourselves. It ws alot of fun!

Mari was into her pumpkin and she spent a lot of time researching and planning out her design. It was very funny.

Here's the Frankenstein stencil she created. It's starting to take shape!

Ta-dah!

Meanwhile, mine is slowly transforming.

Next, we're on to cookies! We took care of rolling out dough and cutting themout and teh kids decorated! They were so into it. I felt sad that I had waited so long to do cookies with Jayden since the last time.

Maya is a silent contributor!

Jayden has decided this is going to be his happy face from now on. I hope he outgrows this stage!

Here are two happy boys!

The finished product...

Awww. And they tasted just as good as they looked!

Oh, here's how my crazy pumpkin turned out...

The Pumkin Patch (Florida Style)

My church puts together a Pumpkin Patch as a fundraiser for the children's church and we take the kids every year. Here's Jayden loving every minute of it!

Maya, Devonte, and Jayden...Did you notice they each have their little sticks ready? For what? Who knows. Maybe they are planning on poking the pumpkin to death...

They've discovered a hole in one of the stems and are taking turns poking it with their sticks.

Maya takes a turn too!

Jayden's looking around for more trouble I suppose...

Maya tries to hug the pumpkins...