Brock's 1st Day 2011

I still have a hard time with the way the school year is here, having school start in March, Christmas in the summer, easter in the fall, it gets my internal calendar all confused. So yes the school year has just started for us, and Brock was so excited. He wakes up every morning by himself at 6:45 and gets dressed and most of the time makes his bed, and comes down stairs for breakfast. If I try to go in his room to help him I ever so gently get told to "get out I can do it by myself." It is amazing to me how fast they grow up and how fast they learn and process everything that goes on around them. The other day I was helping Brock make sentences with some word strips he has for reading homework, when Chris walks in and asks if he can make a sentence for Brock to read with the strips. Brock replies yes and Chris proceeds to make his sentence. Brock reads the sentence out loud and says "Dad that was not a very intelligent sentence." I could not help but bust out in laughter as my poor husbands face looked at me in shock as if to say "did he really say what I think he said?" Oh you gotta love the little stinker.

Summer

I am just going to give a few highlights of our summer 2011, and all the fun stuff we did. We had family visit, beach house, and lots of playing. Stay posted as I am almost up to date.


Lima just opened this place called Divercity, that is really fun for kids. They have stations where the kids can go and learn about natural gas, vets office, chef school, hospital, firefighting where they get to get in a small fire truck with uniforms and put out a pretend fire. They even get to go to driving school to get their license and test drive cars for Toyota. So here is Zander and his friend Lilly getting ready to go change gas on the gas truck. It is basically like a mini city where the kids participate in everything. We had a blast and the boys can't wait to go again.

Lilly and Zander waiting so patiently to drive after going to driving school.

Z man driving, but had to stop for some gas!

Here is the Coopster with Iris and Sara. Iris is the girl that has been with me for the last 2 years helping in my home, she is the best, but has just left because she had her baby a couple of weeks ago.(She will be back though yupeee!) Sara, the other girl is new to our home and we love her as well. She is super sweet and really good with the boys. What a team I will have when Iris gets back. I am so grateful for the help that we are able to have in our home, and that we were able to find such magnificent women to be a part of our family.

Just a shot of Cooper checking out these goats. In Peru they have Granja's(farms)everywhere. This one is at the mall, they have a bunch of animals the kids can pet and feed, and Cooper was just mesmorized with all the animals. Brock and Z love to feed the baby pigs bottles they just go crazy when they see them walking over with the bottles.

As I had mentioned in another post we rented a beach house for the summer. (Summer here is Dec-march) So here are the boys playing with Iris and Lucy digging holes.

To top off the summer we got the chance to have uncle Joe come and stay with us for 3 months while he did his internship here in Peru. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun my 3 guys had with uncle Joe. In this picture uncle Joe is letting the boys draw all over him with markers. What a trooper right? The funny thing is it was his idea. He is so good with my boys and it was so much fun to have him here with us. In fact one day Zander thought it would be nice to make a special drink for unlce Joe for lunch that consisted of: limon, water, sugar, chunks of bananas and Ice cubes. It looked so disgusting but Z was so proud of what he had made and so when Joe got home he was presented with this drink. Much to my delight Joe drank it and made a big deal about it and Z was so excited. His own dad would not drink it, so big props to Uncle Joe.

Brock turns 6

In February Brock turned 6, I can hardly believe it. I still remember our first move abroad when he was 5 months old and now look at him, he speeks 2 languages and goes to school. For his birthday he got a bike with no training wheels, and learned to ride it in about an hour. He loves being a big guy, and also rubbing it in with his brother. Brock is still my sweetheart and always thinks of others. He loves school, football(soccer) and karate. He is such a special boy and always tells me how the bitter truth. We love you big guy.

Cooper turns 1!!!!

I can't believe how fast time flies my baby turned 1 in January. Cooper is such a wonderful baby, he is a good sleeper and has such a fun personality. They call him "Gordo," and the people here just die over his blue eyes and chubby legs. He started walking before Christmas so nothing is safe now and Brock and Z are having to deal with him tearing through all thier toys. For Cooper's big day we let him eat pretty much whatever he wanted. I think his favorite was getting his hands on a big chorizo at lunch, well and of course his cake. We have a tradition in our family that for all the kids first birthdays we have angel food cake with whipped cream and fruit, so of course he loved that as well. I feel truly blessed to have Cooper with us, it was such a rough time through the pregnancy all the way to his birth, he is a real tresure.

Birthdays!

I know I am behind, but I have to start from the beggining of the year to feel like the blog is complete so bear with me as I recap for the first part of the year.

In January Zander turned four but thinks he is six. He is such a funny kid and has more energy than he knows what to do with. He is very smart and catches on to things very quickly. He loves to talk, and makes friends every place he goes. He will walk right up to someone and say "Hola me llamo Zander, y tu como te llamas?" There is never a dull moment and I am so glad he is my son and we have been blessed with his sweet spirit in our home.

Blogging Bug!

Wow, can time go by any faster? Time has been flying by and for what ever reason I have not found the time to update my blog, but fear not I have caught the bug! My goal is to get caught up, and keep on track!!!

Since January we have been running. Birthdays, starting new school year, Chris has had work events, and much more. We rented a beach house for the summer here in Peru in Asia, which has been fun. The boys have loved having the freedom to ride thier bikes on the boulevard and swim and play until they crash. The house we rented was right on the beach so the boys could play and I could be with Cooper in the house. I have lots of pictures to come so stayed posted. We have also had Chris's brother Joe here with us since January. He is here doing an internship for a few months which has been fun. Also Chris's other brother Josh came for a week as he is coming on board to work with Chris. So it has been very busy but very fun. Keep posted as the flood of pics rolls in.

Happy Holidays!

We had a great Christmas, a little crazy but I would not expect anything less. Zander got Chicken Pox a few weeks before Christmas, gotta love the vaccine! He had a mild case but I was scared that Cooper would get them. Luckily no one else got them. We had a few people over on Christmas eve for dinner and our annual fireworks show which gets more amazing every year. . Stayed up late, woke up early to open presents and then we were off to Puerto Rico. We had a great time, but crummy weather.

We kept Christmas very small this year since toys are so expensive here and we would be able to buy some things in PR. So Santa laid out all the kids presents on the sofa's and when Brock woke up he said he thought Santa had been mistaken, because he wanted the things Santa had left for Zander. Oh you gotta love the little ones and how they think. We love you all and hope that you had a wonderful holiday.

Holiday Shows!

The last few weeks have been crazy busy, with end of the year shows, school meetings and getting ready for the holidays. It is the end of the school year here so we are now on summer break, so weird to say that, and after three years I am still having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. Brock's school did Toy Story for their end of the year show and it was great. As you can see Brock was Rex. He did a great job, and loved performing.

Brock and his class!

Zander's show was great as well, he was a lion trainer. All the boys were trainers and all the girls were lions, so what message are they trying to send these little ones??? Zander looked so cute, and really got into his part. He thought it was great because he had 2 lions to train and the others had one.

Here is my little Papa Noel! I dressed Cooper up for each of the boys shows, and the people just ate him up. He makes a great mini Santa though right?

Year end Reflection!

As some of you know this year has been especially challenging for me personally and our family. It seems that even though this year has been so challenging it has also been the most rewarding as crazy as that might sound. I have had a lot of time to reflect on the things that are most important in this life, and how short the time we have is here on earth. Things don't matter, clothes don't matter, cars, houses all the material stuff that we sometimes get caught up in thinking we must have just don't matter in the end. I have found a new love for many things this year, I ran my first 10k, enjoyed playing with my kids more and helping them develop their talents, serve, and be served, be a supportive wife even when it is not easy, and to always listen to those little promptings!
In January Cooper was born and we both almost died, a real scare, both of us recovered very well thankfully. I feel so blessed to have had my baby here in Peru, I had such wonderful doctors. I am incredibly grateful for 3 beautiful healthy boys that have been sent to me, and for all the joy they bring me evryday.
In July I was diagnosed with Melonoma, but thanks to some great doctors and plastic surgeons I am free and clear for now. We kept this pretty private, but as time has passed, I really feel that the awareness for this disease is very low, especially for the teenagers who think they are untouchable. You always here "Oh it won't happen to me." My boys now know the routine of the everyday application before school, if fact if I forget they remind me. Brock says "we don't want to get a sicky mole like you mommy!" Being careful with your skin it is so important and I was lucky that I was able to get it taken care of early. So please be careful everyone and put on your sunscreen!
The rest of the year thankfully has gone by with out any other health issues for anyone. But work has been crazy for Chris, keeping up with all the kids activities, school pick-ups and all the fun mommy stuff has made for a really busy year. This year I feel my bond with my kids has increased ten fold and my appreciation for the little things has grown as well. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I won't ramble anymore, we love you all and send our love from Peru. Besos Grandes a Todos!!!!

Cooper 10 months!!!

I can't believe how fast 10 months have gone, time has just blown like the wind. Cooper is such a good baby, and a happy one at that. He brings such joy to our home with his sweet smiles. He is my fat bundle of joy. He is very content watching his brothers play, or listening to a conversation, and of course loves his food. He wants nothing to do with crawling and wants to walk straight away.

Check out the rolls on the back of the legs! Poor lil guy, Roxy wants to bite his diaper.

Sweet little face, we love you Coop.

Cardboard houses!

What to do with those giant refrigerater boxes? Well we made houses each with their own style. The boys loved playing in them, and they are still usable to this day. Now with the puppy they think it is fun to hide in them with her. Fun days, free days!

Finally I caught the boys singing, they never want to perform for the camera. Sorry folks it is spanish, they play mostly in spanish together. Poor boys when we ever get back to the states, it is ESL for them.

Doggie!!!!

This is Roxy the newest member of our family! She arrived this morning and I am still not to sure about the whole thing. I am not really a dog person, but my boys have been asking for one for the longest time. So a friend of ours had puppies and low and behold we now have Roxy. I have to say she is really cute, but I have no idea what I am doing, and she cries all the time.
Chris has been traveling a lot lately, and is home just for today, so we decided to keep the kids home today and play with the new puppy. Bummer though Brock woke up sick so has not been able to enjoy the new puppy. Z on the other hand is in love. He keeps hugging me and telling me how much he loves Roxy. So I guess it is all worth it right?

The happiest boy in the world right now!!! The kid has not left the yard yet, and she has only been here for a few hours.

Big Event!

This last Sunday Chris had a huge event that he put on for the founder of Gano Excel and his boss. It was amazing what Chris put together for this three day conference. We literally did not see him for the entire month before hand while he was trying to put together the last touches. On Sunday night they had a huge event with over 6 thousand people, and sadly had turn away a couple thousand due to space. The kids and I went and sat front and center which they thought was so fun, but got quite tired of everyone wanting to take their picture. This picture is of the boys in the VIP room backstage being as patient as they can, thank heavens for my little friend DS, nintendo. They do not get to play it very often so they had the time of their lives. Chris worked so hard, and everything went wonderfully. Way to go Chris!!!

The boys!

Just loved this pic of my gordo, he is such a happy guy, and was so good the whole night.

Halloween!

Happy Halloween, well not like in the states, but we had a great time. There was no trick o treating for us, but we did have quite the bash. Pics below!! This is Cooper's friend Benjamin at his birthday party.

Ok, so I was toying around with having some kids over to decorate halloween cookies, ya know something small, and this is what we ended up with. Yep my boys convinced me to throw a full blown fiesta complete with bounce house. We did decorate halloween cookies, but added the bounce house, good food, and good friends. What a fun day, and my kids were on top of the world. This is the view from the balcony of my room!!

Is he not the cutest giraffe you have ever seen? I think so but I am his mom. Poor guy I could not zip it all the way to the top because of his triple chin,

Batman's to the rescue. This is Z and Luke as super heroes. Z is the black batman.

The kiddos decorating cookies, which lasted all of about 5 minutes and then they were off to the bounce house. Can you believe it kids passing up treats to play!

Random!

Crazy hat day at Zander's school, and a mom with no ideas, so this is what you get. It was one of a kind that was for sure. I used a pair of Cooper's old pants and a little paint and you have a crazy hat. Everyone thought it was pretty crazy so A for us!!!

Just thought I would share a cute picture of chubbers, he is such a good baby we all love him dearly.