So much to be Thankful for

Our little family has much to be thankful for. We have our health and we have each other. It doesn't take a day for Thankgiving to remember that, but it is nice to have a day to celebrate it. But before I get to a description of our Thanksgiving day, there were a few things to happen before that.

For the first time, I took the big boys to a movie at a theater. They had a great time. We saw Hotel Transylvania because I had heard it was very kid friendly without anything inappropriate for their age. The movie was cute and did not disappoint.

The next day the boys asked to go to the zoo. They LOVE the zoo. It was a lovely fall day, so we dressed accordingly and set out.

Sebi is changing a lot. Now he likes to walk around like his big brothers rather than be pushed around in the stroller. He's doing a LOT more talking lately too. He repeats almost anything like a little parrot, but he is starting to use language more and more each day. He turned out to be just like his big brothers with language. He didn't say much of anything up until a couple of weeks ago. Now he's a little motor mouth. He is tons of fun though. He's always trying to keep up with his brothers and does a pretty good job of it too. 

The big boys are doing well. They love school and doing homework. I know that part is not going to last long, but for now, it's cute that they are so enthusiastic about homework. They also play games with each other a lot. Equally as much, they fight with each other. I guess that's how it goes with brothers. For the most part, they get along, and prefer to have each other's company. It makes my heart smile when I see them playing nicely and showing affection towards each other.

That brings us to Thanksgiving. This year, we were fortunate enough to receive tickets to a special viewing area for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in Manhattan. We knew it would be a challenge juggling all three boys, but we decided to try it anyway. It's a unique New York tradition that we wanted to participate in while we live here. Javier and I woke up at 5am to start getting ready and we woke the boys up at 615am. They were not very happy about that. They usually wake up around 7:15 am, so this was a bit of a shock to their systems. We did manage to get them to bed early, but somehow their bodies still knew it was too early. Sebi was the most vocal about his discontent. We finally left the house around 7am and headed to the subway station to make our way to Manhattan. The boys still LOVE taking the subway. It's a major adventure for them. Sebi sits in the stroller and the big boys walk holding my hand. When we encounter stairs (and there are tons of them in subway stations), Javier picks up the whole stroller with Sebi and makes the climb. The boys walk with me. Yeah, I know I have the easy job. So we arrived in Manhattan and fought the crowds to make our way to our designated viewing area. We didn't get curbside seating, but still had a pretty good view. The boys really enjoyed seeing the big floats, marching bands, and the iconic big balloons. We did not stay for the entire parade because the boys became antsy after about an hour and a half, but for the time we were there, we saw several marching bands, clowns, Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, Whoopi Goldberg, Miss USA, and a few other entertainers we were not familiar with.

After we left the parade, we came home. The boys went down for a good long nap and I started cooking our Thanksgiving feast. Javier enjoyed some football on television. This time last year, Javier was deployed to Afghanistan and Jacob had a cast on his arm and I was utterly exhausted. So this year, we have the gift of togetherness to be thankful for. Life is good.

~Latrice

Matadors and Family pics

Well it's been a while. Not a lot has happened, but there have been a few developments. On Nov. 8, 2012, Javier and I attended the Navy & Marine Corps Birthday Ball. It was held in a beautiful ballroom of a very posh beach club. The majority of those that attended were Navy folk with just a handful of Marines present. This ball was special for us because it was the first one we have attended since Javier was promoted to Major last year. And that means he wore a new dress mess uniform. It's rather spiffy. Some call it the Napolean uniform. I think it makes him look a bullfighter or "matador". I have heard that there is a cape that accompanies this uniform. I am very tempted to buy it.

We did not take our camera this year, so that is why I don't have more pictures from the ball. We were just happy to have a babysitter and get out for some fun. All in all, it was a great time.

In other news, a few weeks back, we hired a photographer to take our family pictures in Central Park. It was a perfect fall day. Sunny, brisk, beautiful foliage, and a happy family. The photographer was very patient with our 3 rascals and managed to capture some great pictures. While he took more than 300 photos, we were able to narrow it down to our 6 favorite. Here they are:

I really love having our family portraits done once or twice a year. It warms my heart to see the evolution of our little family displayed on all my walls. It's what makes our house feel like our "home".

The coming weeks are packed with more things in our schedule. Thanksgiving is next week and we scored tickets to the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in Manhattan. That should be an adventure and I'll be sure to take lots of pictures. In 2 weeks the twins will have their 4th birthday party. We have hired a special party venue and I think it's going to be loads of fun. Then Sebi's birthday is right around the corner, then Christmas, and so on. So I expect to be busy here on the family blog. I hope all our friends and family are still enjoying the website.

~Latrice

Happy Halloween!!

Well it's been an interesting Halloween holiday this year. A little disjointed because of Hurricane Sandy. Nonetheless, we were festive, we dressed up, the boys went trick or treating and much fun was had.

The day before Hurricane Sandy rolled into town, our community held a Halloween parade and party. We loaded the boys in the wagon and walked the half mile to the parade site.

Jacob was a firefighter. Joaquin was a fighter pilot. Sebi was a police officer. Javier was a fighter pilot. And I was a nurse. So we got to the parade and find out that the community was the parade. There was a marching band and everyone who was dressed up walked along behind the band around the block. People really got a kick out of our family's costumes. The local paper took a picture of Javier and Joaquin because they matched. The boys got a kick out of being "in" the parade. 

A bystander took our photo. After the parade, there was a party inside a large building. The boys had fun with the bouncy houses and we received some freebies. It was a good time, but quickly became too crowded, so we didn't stay long. We headed home and started making preparations for Hurricane Sandy.

So Hurricane Sandy came and went. The boys don't have school this whole week. Javier also does not have to work because there is no power at his university. So Sandy gave us all an unexpected week of family time. It's been great. So today being Halloween, the weather being chilly but clear, we decided to let the boys do a little trick or treating. Sebi and Jacob wore the same costumes, but Joaquin decided he wanted to wear something different. He dressed as a knight in shining armor. 

The big boys walked and Sebi rode in the wagon. It took a few tries for Sebi to understand the concept of walking up to a stranger, holding out his bucket, and waiting for said stranger to drop candy into said bucket. By watching his brothers and with a little help from me, he got the gist and was trick or treating like a pro.

The big boys had a great time. This was the first year they really looked forward to it. They have been asking to go trick or treating for over a week. I was very proud of them when they demonstrated good manners by saying "thank you" and "happy halloween" after they received candy. 

Taking our sons trick or treating brought back childhood memories of my own trick or treating adventures. I'm so happy that we can share these wonderful and fun memories with our sons. My heart goes out to the thousands of families who are suffering from the aftermath of Sandy. We are so fortunate to have been spared and we are so grateful for all that we have. 

Happy Halloween everyone.

~Latrice