Christmas!!

It has been a wonderful Christmas season for us. Christmas eve and day were no exception.

Here is Diego opening a game for the Wii that he really wanted. He was one happy camper.

Here is Christian with a favorite gift: the complete set of Indiana Jones movies. He came up to me later that night and said "Mom, the rule is: if you want to watch one of the movies you have to ask me first!"

After leaving Jose's parents we came home to get ready for Santa. Here the boys left their letters and goodies for Santa and the reindeer. They kept asking to add things to their lists.

Santa was good to them. They were all happy campers. Here is Christian in his Obi-Wan costume. He has yet to take it off and I'm thinking there is a good chance he will be sleeping in it!

Anthony was thrilled to get "Mac" from the movie Cars. He loves anything that has wheels but he has been asking for "Mac" for a long time.

So then it was off to Nana's for more presents. The day just keeps getting better!! Here is Anthony awaiting his gift. He looked so cute trying to keep his eyes closed.

And here is what he was waiting for: a giant trash truck. His cousin has one similar and loves to play with it when we go. Nana couldn't resist when she saw it at the store. He has been in heaven all day with his trash truck and "Mac."

I thought this picture was too cute. Sitting side-by-side playing their DS's...I love moments like this!

Here, Anthony is helping me listen to my new MP3 player giving his approval of songs. He loves his music!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

A Photo Op

Last week my sister blessed her baby and since we were all looking snazzy we took her up on her offer to update a picture. Here are some of my favorites. Thanks Kelli!

A Zoo Day

We had been trying to get to the zoo for days and days but it just kept raining. So this past weekend when the weatherman said it was going to be just overcast and in the 60's, I jumped at the chance and took the boys to the zoo on Saturday. It turned out to be a fun trip. It was overcast but not that many people were there so we were able to look at the animals as long as we wanted. Most animals were even outside. Not bad for middle of November!

This is one of our favorite stops...the gorillas. These statues probably would have done the trick for the whole day. Who needs the real animals!

These were the biggest turtles we had ever seen. Christian was amazed.

Now here is a big reason we came. This is the area where a deer somehow managed to get into and the lion had a little fun with it. Still not sure how the deer got in. We were hoping for a repeat but we weren't so lucky.

Instead we were treated to some loud growling (which the boys thought was great!) and watching the lion go to the bathroom...several times. This got some good "Eww!" and some laughs. Oddly we saw many animals use the bathroom that day! Lucky us!!

They have a petting farm but none of the animals would get close enough.

Christian desperately wanted to jump the fence and ride one of these miniature ponies.

The boys thought this goat was so funny since he was "playing on the playground!"

This was a new feature to at least us. It was a giant pizza that kids could play on. I had to pry the kids away.

Another play area. This was by the Prairie Dogs. The boys again could have stayed here a long time.

I was so excited to see this. If you lived in the D.C. area at least 15-20 years ago you would have found this on the "Mall" in front of the Smithsonian. Back then you were able to climb on it. It was always a highlight when we went the museums. He disappeared for a while but found out he was donated to the zoo! Definitely put a smile on my face.

So I tried to do a photo op while we took a break and had a snack. I thought this was funny of Diego. He really could have cared less!

I found a happy camper who wanted to take a picture with me!

It was a good day!

Christian

Had to post this picture of Christian. He was so proud of his outfit for church. He picked it out all by himself. You can't tell in the pic but his hair is even has gel in it. He did such a good job. He is such a perfectionist and very determined to do it all by himself. It makes me smile to see him so pleased with his choice.

Halloween

Our Halloween started out with a workout! Diego asked if he could rake the leaves. He actually wanted to. I thought I couldn't let this opportunity pass so I said "Yes!" It's not often he asks to actually do a chore!

He did such a good job. He even did our neighbors yard who then paid him a dollar. Diego was really excited that he got paid for his efforts. (Thank goodness though we live in a townhouse where the yards aren't huge!)

Diego did have to compete with these two monkeys! Never mind that the wind was blowing the leaves, Christian and Anthony thought it would be fun to throw them at each other and mess up Diego's pile.

Never wear white while raking leaves or jumping in them! This is what happens:

The marks of a good time!

After all that hard work, it was time to get ready to go trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. Thankfully the rain held off for a bit so the kids could get their pumpkins full. They had a good and successful time!

Here is Christian as Indiana Jones. Funny how he is always at least two characters for Halloween!

Here is the crew:

Trunk or Treat

This past Saturday was our ward Trunk or Treat. The boys were really excited to go and get candy. Costumes though were a different story.

Here is Christian, our Storm Trooper. Not a happy one at the moment though. He was really bummed about not being able to get a new costume (never mind that a Storm Trooper isn't what he's even going to be for Halloween). His mood picked up thankfully.

Here is Diego...aka-Darth Vadar. This was a last minute purchase because he kept changing what he wanted to be. On Friday night he told me his final choice was to be a "nut" for Halloween. What!?! He told me he just needed to dress in brown and have different colors of brown put on him. Hmm, what kind of nut is that? I haven't a clue either. So it was off to Target to find something. Christian was a little jealous about Diego having this costume.

And here is Anthony as Spiderman. This was quite the process to get him to put this costume on. If you asked him what he was going to be for Halloween he'd tell you "Batman." We'll that would have been fine but we have two batman costumes and the one he had is heart set on is two sizes to small. The legs of the costume only go down to his knees! He put up a good fight but I won in the end...and he did good.

The night started off with a chili dinner. I had threatened the boys that they better sit at the table and eat and no running around the building or we would leave and they wouldn't get to trunk or treat. I was soooo proud of them. They did really well. It's really hard when they see other kids running around but they did a great job. After dinner they had two games the kids could pick from while the parents went and set up their cars. The boys chose the cake walk.

Christian is waiting anxiously for his number to be called. Sadly he didn't win. (That would be Bin Laden behind him!)

Diego was a winner! Inside the box were two cupcakes!

Anthony was a winner also! He didn't even want to play the game at first. He started to cry when they asked him to stand on a number. Then he saw it was harmless...and he wanted a box!

We had so many people dress up this year and dress up well. This was our 'homeless man.' This is his cardboard box that he gave candy from. It was so funny to see all the cars lined up and in the middle was this cardboard box for the homeless man! Very clever!

This is my good friends' family. They decided to go as the Scooby-Doo gang. Again so clever and they looked adorable!

The boys couldn't wait to get home and check out all the good stuff they got. Here are Christian and Anthony's loot.

And part of Diego's loot.

All in all a good night. They can't wait for actual Halloween to do it all over again!

Makes me smile!

My Anthony can really put a smile on my face. This kid is a joy to be around...most of the time! He gets a kick out of himself, says the funniest things and has a real love for music. What I get a kick out of the most is when we are in the car and he gets excited about the music...or very upset if it's not a song he likes. From Sean Kingston, Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias, Black Eyed Peas and a few choice others you can usually hear him singing along in the back seat. Quite often I hear, "Turn it up!", "Louder," "Not this one!" "Wait until it's over before turning off the car!" Heaven forbid if I have to turn it down to talk to the bank teller or one of the other kids in the car. You'd think his world came crashing down.

I love my Anthony!