Midnight and Lily

The two things D wanted in our new house were stairs and a dog. It seems to be that he's getting his wishes. Despite my desire for a one-story home, we did purchase one with stairs. And it seems that we now have, not a dog, but two cats. Let me clarify, they adopted us, not the other way around.

Midnight hangs around all day, despite no encouragement on our part.
Lily seems to have taken a liking to the kids' play house. I must admit that these cats have provided much entertainment for us, including myself. I find that while washing dishes, I watch out the window to see where the cats are. And I don't even like cats!

First Day of School for L

In the midst of the craziest week of our lives, L started back to preschool.

She now stays until 2:30 so she takes her lunch and a nap mat. The best part of her first day..."sleeping" on her nap mat!
Of course, everyone had to pose in front of the new house.

Mommy even got in a picture because Papi was home from work (since we were still moving) and he was able to go with us to take L to school.

In fact, Papi walked L into her class.

E was feeling especially photogenic today!

While L was in school, D and E had their third "cousin day" in a row. Our other cousins came over and entertained my kiddos.

D shows off his OWN ROOM after he and his cousin got everything situated.

MOVING...at last!

The day finally came for us to move. We did hire some movers as we could not do it on our own. They were worth every penny!

All this and more was put on that truck...
while the kids stayed entertained with their cousins.

The girls loved playing baby dolls together.

The boys just chilled.

Then lunch was served outside.

The House is Ready

When we did our final walk through, the house was completely empty!! The kids had a blast running through the house and claiming it as their own.

The stairs are probably the highlight of the new house (second only to individual rooms) so what more appropriate place for our first pictures than on the stairs.

Happy Birthday D!!!!

WOW!!! My boy is six years old!!!

He chose to celebrate a day early so that Papi could be home with us for the celebration.
Cinnamon Rolls (or balls as we affectionately called them this year) were on the breakfast menu.

Dinner was hot dog and chips and then....finally, D got to open his present. He had to wait all day.

But, judging from his reaction, I'd say the wait was worth it!

He was so pleased with his gift and just thanked us over and over again!!

Boat Birthday Party

D requested a boat party so we did our best to make it happen. He celebrated with his cousin again this year. It was so fun watching them plan the party together!!

D poses with his boat cake.
This year, for the first time, D helped me decorate his cake.

It was fun working together to get all the pieces "just so."

We were able to have all the cousins present at the party so that made it extra fun! I realize that not all people look like they are having fun in this picture, but believe me, it was a very fun party!!

We started by decorating bags for the pinata candy and toys.

D drew a boat and several motors so we could play "pin the motor on the boat."

The gummy worm relay race.

The boat pinata

P was such a good sport. He dressed up as a snorkeler so the kids could throw water balloons at him. Then to end the games, we played water gun tag.

D and his cousin M are ready to open presents.

Cake time!!

Gold Belts

Belt testing was intense today!

Blocks, kicks, self-defense...I sweated through the test and I was just watching.
The boys did AWESOME and passed with flying colors...or should I say, one flying color...GOLD!
They are proud gold belt owners.

They worked hard and deserve their new belt color.

Little E didn't have anything to do with the belt test but she looked so cute with her bag that she took to keep her busy that I just had to take a picture!!