Christmas Fun

It was a good day here at the Salinas home. It wasn't an early day. The boys woke up about their usual time with Diego being the first. We forgot to tell them that when they wake up they are suppose to come into our bed and wait for everyone to be awake. I actually thought about this before I went to bed but didn't think it would be a problem since most of the time at least two of the boys end up in our bed by morning anyway. Anywho...Jose and I woke up to Diego happily coming into our room saying "Santa left me a DS!!" Jose and I both rolled over and said "What? What are you doing? You are suppose to wait!" I think we made him feel bad since he started to cry a little but it wasn't really his fault. So we waited for Christian to wake up and we had to wake Anthony up and then the fun began:

Here are the boys waiting on the stairs while we make sure that Santa came and we get all the camera's ready.

Here's what Santa left for Diego

Here's what Santa left for Christian

Since Anthony is still little and doesn't quite get Santa yet, he was happy with a little stocking filled with his favorite: Dora!

Christian is a huge Ben 10 fan. He got a Ben 10 coloring book. (Dollar Tree if anyone else has a fan of Ben 10)

It was about time that Anthony received his own light saber. There were too many fights over who was going to go without.

Diego is looking at some books of Dinosaurs. After all these years he still has a passion for them.

After opening presents at our house, we went to Joses parents and had lunch and presents there. After a few hours there we headed over to my parents for opening presents there. It felt like a mini-christmas each time. After we left my parents it was back home to play with our presents. Because it was Christmas...doughnuts for dinner!!

We hope everyone had a great day and we wish you well in the new year!

Santa ???

Last night was our ward Christmas party at church. We excited the kids by telling them that Santa would be there and they'd get to tell him what they wanted for Christmas...but they'd have to sit thru dinner and not run around the church. I was very proud of them because they made it to Santa! But they were a little hesitant about actually sitting on Santa's lap. Here is Diego telling Santa what he'd like. I think it's so funny how he looks like he is focused really hard on Santas eyes like he can make Santa really bring him what he's asking for if he looks deep enough. Then here is Christian who can't even make eye contact with Santa. He was really up there for the little present they received after talking with Santa. Ah, and then there was Anthony. Notice how Santa is in the back ground? This is as close to Santa as he would get. We kept asking him if he wanted to go up...the answer was always a definite NO! Can you tell how unsure he is of that guy in red?! I had to throw this in here as well because I think it's so cute. I have a group of very talented friends and one shared this great idea with me. This makes a great gift for a neighbor or someone you visit teach especially if they have kids. Fill a container (pint jar, the small jelly jars...really any small container) and fill it with candy. But you have to count how many candies you put in because attached to the outside of the jar will be this cute little saying: Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way Can you guess how many candies are in this jar today? Have everyone guess how many candies are in this jar. Then open up the envelop to find out the correct number. Have fun. Merry Christmas! Love, Now my friend does jelly beans so the poem reads Jingle Beans, Jingle Beans instead of the candies. But because I'm not a fan of jelly beans and I had a couple coupons for candy I went this route. I found my jar at the dollar store. A really good candy is the red/green M&M's. I just didn't want to have to count that many for this size jar! Attach saying and an envelope with the answer(next year I'm going to find smaller envelopes) with a ribbon and happy giving! Hopefully if you were struggling for a gift for someone this will help and if not there is always next year!!

This can't be comfortable!

I know this is my second post today but this was too cute to resist. I was putting away my groceries today and Anthony had wondered off to be by himself (that's his way of letting my know he's pooping!). When I was done I went looking for him and this is what I found: He had fallen asleep! Sadly this didn't last. When I tried to move him he woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep. How is it that they can fall asleep anywhere and in any crazy position?

Easy Soup Base

A couple of Enrichment nights ago we had a class on canning. It was a good class and we were able to learn how to make this soup base and bring one home. In the jar is: potatoes, carrots, onions and celery. For the teachers taste test she added some canned roast beef (I know...from a can but it actually wasn't bad). She said this made Sunday dinners really easy. She would throw a couple jars in a pot add the meat and bring to a boil and by the time they were done changing clothes, dinner was ready. I made my family this dinner the other night with some bread from the bread machine and it was really good. I would probably add another can of meat for the next time though. They boys weren't a fan but they did have to have a couple spoonfuls before they could give up. Their favorite was the bread. Such a simple/fast meal. You can also add flour and milk to make it a creamy soup. If anyone's interested I have the exact recipe. Just let me know.

Maybe 3 kids is o.k.!

It is after a moment like this when I think that 3 kids is good for me. While I was cleaning up the kitchen last night, Anthony decided to keep himself busy by doing some art...on my toilet seat! This kid will be the death of me. Though this was an easier clean-up than his stint with the powder. There are many times when I'm begging him to be independent and not constantly by my side, but I might have to rethink that! He's lucky he is so cute!

Fall Fun

After school today I let the boys get some fresh air and play outside for a few minutes (it was a little overcast and sprinkling). Our little neighbor friend came out and the boys started having a leaf fight. They really did enjoy themselves and they got out some much needed energy since the last few days have been rainy.

Diego loves to climb the tree in the front yard. He wasn't too happy though that he couldn't "hide" in the tree anymore since all the leaves have fallen.

I asked Christian if I could bury him in the leaves for a picture and he happily agreed. To my surprise, Anthony laid down next to him and said "Me, Me, Me!" Anything the other two boys do, Anthony is right behind them trying to do the same thing. He even tried to climb the tree just like Diego!

I was talking with our neighbor and Diego got a hold of the camera and this is what you get when boys are being silly.

Christian really isn't angry here, I believe he is doing a serious fighting stance. They like to use their sticks as light sabers and swords. Boys, boys, boys!

Trick-or-Treat!

Our festivities actually began last Saturday at our ward's trunk-or-treat. The boys have been on a candy high all week but have still been looking forward to today with great anticipation. Our day was full of fun. Diego and Christian both had parties at school which they said were very fun. Jose took the day off so when Diego came home from school they carved their pumpkins.

Diego and Christian giving Jose instructions

Anthony checking out the "guts" of the pumpkin.

Jose getting down to business. Diego is making sure Jose is doing it right. Diego is proud and excited about his pumpkin. Christian and his pumpkin. Here are their pumpkins lit up.

When I told Anthony I was taking a picture of the pumpkins he went and got the other little pumpkins that were in the bushes because he thought they needed to be in the picture. Anthony was our little Batman. The mask didn't even make it out the door. He sure did enjoy going to everyone's house though. At one, he held out his hand, said "Trick Tweet" and looked at the lady like "I'm holding my hand out, where's the candy?" (he couldn't carry his pumpkin anymore because it was too heavy). He was too cute.

There are two pictures here of Christian but there should actually be three. Leading up to Halloween he couldn't make up his mind on what he wanted to be. One of the consistent answers was "Ben 10" ( a cartoon where the boy, Ben, turns into different Aliens to save people). I actually found a costume of that at Toys r Us on sale (otherwise I wouldn't have paid any money for it.) He wore this costume for our wards trunk-or-treat. Then today at school they had a parade and he decided to be Spiderman. Then tonight he wanted to be Batman, with muscles. Thank goodness we have a good supply of dress up clothes.

And then there is Diego. We finished reading a book about spiders a few weeks back so he decided to be a Black Widow Spider. This had me worried because when he would carry his pumpkin he looked just like a boy dressed in black. But this beat out his earlier suggestion of being an ant. He just can't get away from the animal thing. Oh well, he was happy.

Here are the boys with their loot. We were surprised on how many people made "goody bags" that were filled with candy instead of just handing out pieces of candy. Their pumpkins were so full they each asked if we could hold their pumpkins for them. Thank goodness we had the stroller to hook them to. We were able to go around the neighborhood with our neighbors and had a great night.

Styling 101

So yesterday Christian was on a kick to cut his own hair. He kept saying "mom, just like Aunt Kelli cut your hair, that's all I want to do." He kept trying to get real hair cutting scissors to cut his hair. He doesn't have a lot of hair to cut, so I wasn't concerned about that. What I was concerned about was the sharp scissors and him poking himself. I wasn't allowed to do it. He wanted to do it himself. So after much crying and screaming (on his part) I found a pair of baby scissors (for cutting the baby fingernails) and let him use those. The following pics are of him telling me the process for his styling techniques. He is quite a kid.

Here he is with his "hair cutting scissors." I knew he couldn't do too much damage to himself since they have a blunt edge and I didn't think they would cut very well.

He was very focused and kept telling me "See mom, just like this!" How could I have doubted him!?!

Like the good little barber he is, he cleaned out the sink that actually had quite a bit of hair in it.

The next step was to wet his hair down before putting the gel on.

Now time for gel. You would have thought he had long hair like a girl for how much get he put in his hands. Just keep picturing in your head that he is telling me step by step on how this should go.."o.k. now you do this mom."

Now you carefully put the gel on. Ever so carefully making sure you pat your head and get it all over. Here is the finished product. He was very proud of himself and loved that he was just like dad.

Jose takes a hike!

sorry for the underlining on the top half of the post. I can't figure out how to fix it. Ctrl u isn't working. =( Jose is the 2nd counselor in the Young Men's Organization at our church. Most of the activities of that age group are in the scouting program. Seeing as how we have 3 boys of our own, it was only a matter of time before we had something to do with scouting. Jose really enjoys it. So about two weeks ago they decided to climb "Old Rag." This is a mountain about 1 1/2 hours away from us in the Shenandoah Mountains. They couldn't have picked a prettier time of year to go. The leaves were beginning their change of color and the weather was nice and cool.

Here they are starting their climb up. So pretty isn't it?

A couple views from along the trail.

Here is the whole group stopping for lunch. There was one adult per kid with one extra kid.

Here is our hiker. He is smiling here but the next day, he was pretty sore. But he had a great time and can't wait to take our boys there. He's thinking sometime in the near future...I think he's crazy!!