Our first Christmas as a family of 5!!

Our Christmas week started out with baking cookies. The kids and I have 3 weeks off from school right now and we wanted to do something fun. They also found a lot of time to go play in the snow. Ryan was lucky because we had a snowstorm warning on Christmas Eve, so to make life easier for everyone his manager said he could work from home that day. My mom did come for dinner in between bands of snow on Christmas Eve, but otherwise it was a pretty quiet night.


The kids got up really early on Christmas morning (of course) to run downstairs to see what Santa brought. They got movies, books and the boys got new sleds. Shella May got a towel that looks like a duck.
Shella May wears her duck towel every day, all day! She keeps asking me if it is dirty, so I finally said please put it in the laundry.
We got a fun family game from our friends. The kids dove right in and started playing of course. Ryan even got into one game, but I saved you from any pictures of that:)Shella May got a new running suit. She loves wearing running pants more than anything else, although jeans take a close second. The pants are way too big, so she tucks in the shirt and the jacket. She needs to eat more so her waist can catch up with her height.Merry Christmas to all our friends and family near and far. We thank you for all the Christmas cards, gifts and well wishes. We are really looking forward to 2010.

Maligayang Pasko

Note: Our camera is awful and we are begging Santa to bring us a new one before we go to Disney World this year. Please, we have been good.
Today we went to a Filipino Christmas party that the Cultural Society of Filipino Americans holds every year. We have gone the past few years, but this year was the most fun because we had Shella May with us. Shella May and Liam were invited to be part of the children's choir and have a part in the play that they do every year. (Lance was invited, but declined due to shyness) They have been going to practice for the past few weeks, which they loved, but they really liked being part of the show today. Shella May was part of the family in the play and also an angel. Liam was a king in the play.
They also had Santa come and give out gifts, blessings from Lolo and Lola, food and games. We all had a great time. Ryan even played musical chairs, but he didn't win:(

The Children's Choir singing the Christmas Alphabet Song

A scene from the skit. Shella May is part of the "family".

Our Birthday Girl!!

Shella May turns 7 today and it has been quite the birthday week. Today she was all ready to take her treats to school for her birthday and we had a snow day. We don't get them often in MN, so it is a real treat for us. We aren't really doing much special for her birthday today because we had thought we would be busy with school and church. We just keep telling her happy birthday and she is getting birthday wishes by phone and email.

On Saturday we had her family birthday party. My mom came over and I made a Filipino dinner. I tried to make Pancit, Chicken Adobo and rice. We bought some mango juice for her to drink and we had birthday cake for dessert. She opened all the gifts from family and had a nice night.

On Sunday we invited a few friends over for a friend party. I went for a traditional party of games, presents and cake. They played pin the tail on the donkey and a few other games from my childhood. She opened the gifts and loved it because her friends gave her toys (unlike boring family that gave her clothes:) They went outside for about 15 minutes also because there was a lot of energy in the sugar-filled kindergartners. Overall, I think it was a fun 2 hours for her.

Making Christmas gifts

Lance and Shella May helping sew.

Shella May helping out.

One of Shella May's jobs was to find thread of each color for Grandma.

Yesterday we decided to make some gifts for the orphanage that Shella May lived at. We are sending a few DVD's, some chocolate and "silkies" for the kids. Both the boys love sleeping with a silky, Lance started the trend at 4 months old and it still continues in our house for Liam and Shella May. My mom made Shella May one a few weeks ago and before that Liam had loaned her one. All they are is a small square of satin feeling fabric to cuddle next to when you are sleeping. Yesterday my mom did all the sewing, Ryan ironed them and I did all the cutting and anything else that needed to be done. All three kids stopped by at different parts of the day to help, but it was short lived. We worked for about 6 hours and made over 30 of them. I told my mom that we have it down so well we could go into business together. I know it doesn't look like Shella May is having fun in the pictures, but she really was excited about helping, it just doesn't show in her face at picture time.

Shella May modeling how to use the silkies.

And The Holidays Begin

Last week Grandpa and Karma came to visit for the week. It was fun because Shella May had never met them. Now she has met all her grandparents. It was extra special because the kids only had two days of school last week, so we got to spend lots of time with them. We played a lot of card games, watched movies and just had fun hanging out.
For her first Thanksgiving we had Ryan's dad and wife and his brother and family over. We had a traditional meal with all the fixings. Shella May's favorite food was the turkey and she disliked the pumpkin pie. She did like the other pies though. Overall she said it was an okay holiday, but she liked her school version better. On Tuesday they had a feast of popcorn and juice to celebrate the holiday and she loved that.
On Friday we bought and decorated our Christmas tree. She thought it was a lot of fun to go through all the crates and find the ornaments she wanted to hang up. We have a tradition of buying the kids a new ornament every year, so we looked at the Hallmark book on line. I'll take them later to pick them out. Shella May thought it was funny that most of our ornaments are Star Wars theme and I'm glad that she will add a little variety to our tree.
Hopefully with Shella May's birthday approaching and all the fun Christmas events coming up I will be blogging more.

Happy Birthday Liam!!

Eight years ago I met a little boy that has changed so much in my life. Liam has such a wonderful, unique, and caring personality. He is really smart, fun to be with and always thinking of others. An example of Liam: last night we gave him our gift and he opened it and was so excited. We gave him his own microscope and he couldn't wait to try it out. After a few minutes he came over to Ryan and told him that we spent too much money on him because good microscopes cost $300-400 and he was upset because he didn't feel worthy of that much money. Ryan assured him that it was only around $30 and he would show him the receipt is necessary. Liam went back to enjoying his gift. He loves being thought of, but not in an egotistical way. We all love our Liam and are so happy that he is a part of our lives.

Kids at play

Today I thought that I should take some video of Shella May because we don't have her on video at all. She is usually shy everywhere but home, so I thought maybe I could get her more outgoing side. Well she did talk to me for the camera, but that isn't what I posted. When I went to playback the short video I made, I found a video the kids made one night. I was really surprised that they made the video and I didn't even know it. Lance is the camera man (I think that he sounds just like me) and Liam and Shella May are the stars. You will definitely see Shella May's outgoing side. It is a little long and may be boring, so feel free to just watch the first few seconds.

Halloween

Our Princess

All the kids ready to go trick or treating!

Everyone sorting out their candy Halloween was a big event this year since it was on a Saturday. Our little princess went as Cinderella. My mom made her costume and we bought her glass slippers. Of course we had to layer our princess since it was about 35 degrees out. She had fun being Cinderella. When we were talking about dressing up during the weeks leading up to Halloween she wanted nothing to do with it. Then when we got her costume on her, she lit up instantly. We went to a friends' for pizza and social time before we went out trick or treating. Liam was his traditional Elmo and Lance didn't trick or treat this year. He did walk with the kids and some shared some candy with him. When we got home they all sorted their candy and traded it. Shella May's favorite candy was "the chocolate one".

Liam Wave Skimming at the Water Park!

One of the highlights of Liam's birthday party at the water park last week.

Keep your shorts on, Kid!

Finally a post

Wow! Where does the time go? I sit and think about all the things I should blog, but never make it to the computer to do it. There have been a few firsts lately and I wanted to do a "home 2 months" update also. There was also a birthday party for Liam and so many other fun events around out house. So, without boring you to death, here are a few highlights.

Shella May did Liam's hair one night.

Playing in our second snow of the season.

2 months home and it feels like she has been with us forever. Shella May has adjusted so well to everything. She loves school, her brothers, our routine and even the weather. She still has moments when she withdraws, but they are turning out to be more "I want my way" than anything else. She loves hugs and playing outside. She talks a lot now and we are working on her grammar now. She wants to know everything and we get a lot of why or what questions. She still sleeps and eats like a pro and is beginning to make some friendships. This is the one area she is still having trouble with, socialization. It is good for her to have two brothers to try some different things out on. Oh, she also loves church because they have doughnuts:) She has fit into our family so wonderfully and we are so happy every day that she is finally home.

Playing with all the cousins at our "fall birthday bash"

I went to an overnight conference last week and it was the first time that I have really been away from home, besides going to work or somewhere for a couple of hours, since we brought Shella May home. It was nice that Ryan could work from home and help her with me being gone. She said it made her sad, but she was fine with it and knew I would come back. Now whenever I leave for work or something she says good bye and then tells me that she knows I'm going to come back. Last week was also a week that I had someone babysit for us while both Ryan and I were gone. (I guess it was a really busy week for me). She doesn't mind being with her grandmas or grandpa when the boys are home, but she didn't like it as much when they weren't. She is still bonding with us and I know she will bond with extended family soon enough, so no worries.

Shella May went to the dentist for the first time(wow, that was last week also!) She did great in the chair and they even took x-rays. I was shocked when the dentist told me she had no cavities, but very happy. She now loves the dentist also. We are still going to doctor appointments, but nothing major. She just has a few little things they want to clear up. She is so funny because she always insists that she isn't sick. I have to explain to her that there are things in her that could possibly make her sick that we are taking care of right now.

Last, but not least Liam had a birthday party last week. Poor Liam really has slid into the middle child role. We try not to leave him out or forget him, but it is so exciting having a new little sister in the house and of course Lance being the oldest still gets all his attention. Liam went to a hotel stay/waterpark last weekend for his birthday. (Don't worry, we did it as a joint party so all the parents pitched in, we couldn't afford something that great on our own) The four boys had a great time playing video games and swimming and just plain hanging out together without any siblings.

I promise to try to blog more or at least post some pictures more often. We are all looking forward to Shella May's first Halloween!

Oh my goodness, snow!

That can be read two different ways. I exclaim that because it is too early for winter to start for me. Shella May would yell it because this is her first snowfall. This morning when she got up we had a small dusting and she thought that was pretty cool. Ryan let her touch it this morning and she even put some in her hand. She said it was cold and wanted to wash her hands. She discovered something else about it snow, it melts! On her way to wash the cold snow off her hand, she saw it disappear. It was all pretty neat to watch. Later in the day she went outside and played with Liam in the snow. By late afternoon it was all gone. Too bad later in the year it won't be gone by evening. I really should get around to buying her some boots and snow pants.

Grandma's visit

Grandma came to visit this week from Oregon and we have had a wonderful week doing things and visiting. We went to the apple orchard, the zoo, the Mall of America and the Science Museum. All of those places were new places for Shella May except the zoo. When we were at the apple orchard we went into a corn maze they had there and had fun getting lost. We even had to go up on the bridge to peek where we wanted to go. Of course the kids had to put there faces in every cut out also. We bought some apples and some cider and went home to enjoy some pies and other goodies we made.
We went to the zoo one day also. We saw every animal they had there and had a great day. We even went to the new play place they have at the zoo. The kids got to climb a mosquito and become a turtle family.

We also went to the mall, but I don't have any pictures. She loved looking all the cool rides even though we didn't go on any of them. We also went to the American Doll store and the Barbie store. There was so much to see and do. She had her first ice cream cone that grandpa bought her from Dairy Queen.
Yesterday we went to the Science Museum and I forgot my camera. She loved touching everything and playing with the microscopes. We could get three scientists out of these kids some day. We are glad she is having so much fun learning and seeing new things.