Manny's cute little dance

One evening after dinner, the children wanted to have

some fun and dance around together.  Everyone 

thought Manny was just hilarious with his cute little dance!

Javi had me crackin' up too!  

I'm not always in the mood for this, but I had a blast

just watching them be crazy for a little while.  At the 

end of all the excitement we all laid down and closed our
eyes as we listened to "Moonlight" Sonata and "Fur Elise."
Then it was time for bed!

Two boys and a book

I saw some sweet moments taking place and just had

to grab my camera.  Here a few snippets.

I love how Javi gets Manny all cozy with his blankee!

ooops, that's red!

I couldn't figure out what word he was saying! :)

I love how he said "fok" instead of fox.

He's been saying so many words lately, it's exciting!

Wonder what Javi was thinking...the kids think this photo is funny :)

Awww...sweet brothers.

Our growing boy!

Somebody is getting a little impatient for his lunch!

You can tell how hungry he was!  I probably shouldn't

be asking him questions when he's trying to chew!

 A little guys gotta do what a little guys gotta do!

My husband took this photo and when he showed it 

to me I couldn't help but chuckle at our cute little 

man standing on the baseboard!

I have a little lullaby that I made up for him
when he was a baby.   As I held him I thought
of how one day he'll be all grown up and I want
to teach him to be a man who loves and fears God...
It's a very simple song.

Someday you'll be a man.
Someday you'll be a man.
Little Manny, 
Manuelito, 
precious baby, 
you are growing.


I love my little guy!

A walk around the lake

I love announcing special plans to the kids, this time I decided to record it...

I could tell Manny was relishing being with his Daddy all morning!

He wanted to wear a hat to be like Dad!

Anything for a picture of that awesome spider on its web!

It was good to get out into the beauty of God's creation.  

I am hoping to do this at least a few times more before I am

waddling around "with child" : )

Hide & Seek

Nothin' like a good game of hide & seek!

Found you Javi!!

This sweet little girl came to visit me in my room

as I was getting ready to go out.  I just had to stick this on

here because I like it.  :)

We definitely have our silly moments...Brienne started it!

This little man thinks his sister is quite amusing...

He decides to try it on too!

CHEESE!!!

Of course they had to see how mommy looked in the funny "hat"!

All the kids love this little Animal Hospital toy. 

 I found it at a thrift store the other day for

a dollar or so.  All the little doors open and close

and each door has its own little keyhole so you can

lock the doors.  The kids have been playing with it

all the time.  They put their little animal toys inside

the doors and play.  I love toys like this.  It really holds

their interest and the possibilities for play are endless.

Playing with Daddy is the best!!

Daddy brings so much laughter and fun to our home.  One of my favorite things to do is just sit back and watch him playing with our kids.  It's quite entertaining!  This time Manny was the star of the show!

Forgive my blurry pictures, my camera does not perform well :(

When Daddy gets down on the floor he's fair game!  It doesn't take long for children to pile on top of him, all of them giggling and wanting to play.

Getting "trapped" is so much fun!  Sometimes Clara gets to "rescue" Javi by lifting Daddy's leg.

Daddy has skills and can tickle two (or more!) children at once!

Those are the heartiest laughs and the biggest smiles ever!

Enjoying an evening at dusk

   One of my most favorite times of the day is at dusk.  When the sun is setting and the sky is pink and orange and there is the most beautiful glow all around.  So often in the evenings we are so preoccupied with cleaning up from dinner and taking baths that we don't enjoy this beautiful time of day.  Well...one evening I decided to leave the dishes and to step out onto my back porch to take it all in.  It was beautiful.  It felt perfect with a lovely breeze blowing through my hair.  I even sat down in a chair for a few minutes and just savored the moment.  I decided not to keep this all to myself and called some children out to join me.  I grabbed my camera while I was at it.

   I love Manny in his big brother's T-shirt, he looked so cute running around in it.  To me there's just nothing better than a chubby little babe in big T-shirt or a onesie--LOVE IT!  He is so fascinated with the sky.  He looks up, inhales a deep breath and exclaims "WOWWWWW!"

   

Can't wait to do it again!

First time trying "Pop Rocks" candy (pt.4 of 4)

   The kids were given some "Pop Rocks" candy recently.  I decided to film their reaction to trying this for the first time.  I always loved them when I was a kid!

I doubt they will want to do this again!  Have you ever noticed that your kids don't always enjoy the same things you did?  Oh well, I guess we're better off without Pop Rocks candy, no loss!

Piano music and children who love it! (pt. 3 of 4)

   Amera needed to listen to her recital piece on CD to make sure she was playing it well.  We listened to other songs on it and the music playing made for an exciting time of "interpretive dance" and just plain wild and crazy kids!  I loved every minute!

Feeling better now (pt.1 of 4)

   We are so glad that Clara is feeling better today!  She spent the entire day yesterday laying on the couch, mostly just sleeping.  So I was so happy to see her up and about today, smiling and playing with her siblings.  It was challenging to get her to drink the water that she needed so I thought of a little game to play.  We sang through 3 verses of "Jesus loves me" and after each phrase she had to take a drink from a straw.  This really worked because she did not want to drink water at all and she was willing to keep at it until we reached the end of the song.  All the kids joined me in singing so I was glad to have their support!

Manny walked around for a while with a whistle in his mouth
and a stick he found outside.  He loves holding a stick.  He's
such a little explorer!  (Please take it back outside Manny!)

I just love that expression on his face!

Brienne asks if she can ride on Dakota

Brienne attempts to ride on Dakota (Dakota is not so sure she likes this!)

These kids are so creative!  

If you can't really go skiing just have fun pretending!

It has been such a full day and I have so much to share with you.  I decided to break up this one day into four posts this week.  Why am I explaining this?  I wouldn't want anyone to think that my kids never changed their clothes all week!  These four posts will all be from the same day!  Enjoy!

The littlest caretaker

Manny was very concerned about Clara and is attempting to "check her temperature"

   Little Clara is ill with a fever and has been resting on the couch since yesterday afternoon.  Some of us are not feeling so well today either.  It's time to just slow down and get better. 

   Yesterday Manny learned some valuable lessons in being a caretaker of the sick.

When caring for the sick, one must lay aside selfish desires.

(Manny really did not want to give up that water bottle!)

   And now to get a bit random...

I just love this picture of Brienne in our vacuum box
(our old one broke and we had to get a new one)

Two cute kiddos in a box!

I found Manny sitting on a soccer ball while playing with his toys!
Too cute!