What did they get?

Here is what they got. The girl asked for very unique presents. I'm so proud of her! She gets such a joy out of very simple items. I want to keep it that way. Things like this is what makes me shelter her from media, places, people and what ever I feel will make her change her contentment. They got the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid book.

She asked for this little piggy bank. By the time I posted this she has painted it like a pinata.
Here is Mocker, Locker, but his real name is Spotter.
He has a hard time standing up so I use this little block.

She asked for little blocks, we didn't know which ones, and got these two types. And here is the most colorful toy she got.
The boy is really into video games and Transformers, he even got Mom into it. I have watched the movie like a thousand times!
This is scorponok in robot mode
and then it goes in to scorpion mode.

They got the Indiana Jones, Lego game, for the DSi, this last one they didn't ask for, it was Mom's surprise.

Christmas Eve / Celebration In Lights

It's our tradition to go to the Celebration in Lights at the Newport News park, after church on Christmas Eve. I took my camera, to take pictures at every light, but found out that I'm not there yet. This photographer needs to learn many things about taking pictures. I need to keep reading the camera instructions. These are some of the pictures that came half way decent. We have gone to this place for at least 8 years and when we came to the lights about the Civil War all I heard from the kids was "Look, the flag!" Not, this year. This time they started to talk about history, why it says Once Divided, Forever United, about Abraham Lincoln, and stuff about the Civil War.
These kids have grown. I'm glad the pictures came some how good.USS Monitor

CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack)

Christmas Reflections / Presents

Tomorrow will be Christmas, we will celebrate the most valuable present we ever got: Jesus. We know that December 25 is really not Jesus birthday, but for generations it's the day that we humans have done it, and since is the best that ever happened to the world there is no way we are going to skip it. Because of how the weather turns up in the winter, I think is the best time to be reminded about light.The winter days are shorter, most of them cloudy. I would say that winter is a time of darkness, yet we Christians celebrate light. Some people have Christmas decorations on their houses and forget to turn them off in the day time, when we see them we can't really appreciate the lights that blend with the daylight, but if we drive by, when the daylight is gone, when it gets dark, then we can truly appreciate the shiny lights, that is how I see celebrating Jesus birthday in the dark winter days.


In our house Santa does not bring the presents, because we don't have a chimney, we do have a small hole in our roof, but Santa does not want to take a chance to get stuck. No, no, I'm just kidding there is another reason why.





There was a time, that I was short of money to buy presents to my kids. My church had The Mateo Tree, where people in need put their name, and members of the church bought presents for their kids. I put my name on it, to get one more present for my kids. Then someone came to my house to drop off the present. There was not only one present, there were 16 presents! The kids saw that it was God, the one who provided for the presents. That is how Santa got fired in our house.



At Christmas we get and give presents because the present that God has given us in Jesus. So tomorrow December 25, it's all about presents and this is the idea I want to rub into the kids.






At this age my kids get presents no matter what. Maybe they deserve it, or maybe not. But, one day when they become adults and do things that does not please God, and come to Him for forgiveness, they will be forgiven, because Jesus came to this world to pay for their sins. They will not deserve it, but God will see what Jesus has done on the cross. Then they will again remember about this present I have been teaching them all this Christmas. Some time in October, or even before, the kids make their wishing list. then my friends and me buy the presents and hide them. Their list is too long, we don't buy all of them, only some. They don't know which one we bought, it is a surprise! Then one day I wrap them and put them under the tree. There was a time when they sneaked and opened the presents, that is why I first wrap them in plastic bags from the store, then put them in crackers boxes or any little boxes, then put duct tape around it, and wrap them with nice and shiny Christmas paper. There is not way these kids will outsmart their mom again!!

Christmas Eve

We went to Christmas Eve Service, and heard the Gospel of Luke 2: 8-18, when the angels said the first Noel to the shepherds on the field. We sang beautiful Christmas songs, I cried of joy, it never gets old, I forever will be grateful that Jesus came to earth to redeem me. There is only one bag of candy to eat, then they will ring the bell and it will be Christmas!
The presents under the tree have been rearranged many times.The kids went to sleep on their own, mom didn't have to make them go, they only want to fall asleep and wake up as early as possible to open their presents.

languages

cat: I has wishkersh.
English: Dude, check out my mustache!
Spanish: Hey, que te parece mi bigote?

Count Down to Christmas

I wrote the story of the candy cane where I posted some pictures of these snowmen that we use to hang candy for the count down to Christmas. This year I will not use candy canes. Our family is having problems with triglycerides and we got into this strict diet. We feel much better without some weight in our bodies, we like the way we look, and hopefully the next time we go to the Lab for tests we get a better reading. But is been a little hard to not eat this or that.

I thought I treat the kids with some extra sugar and instead of one candy cane each day, they'll get nerds, gum, and their favorite candy, these sour octopus.








This year I kind of went back to be a Mommy, been cool with the kids, give them surprises... I will try to write about this, because this Christmas is been different from the lasts ones. But going back to the candy, the kids were very surprice that I bought the candy. Then I put it in plates so I can divide it into the 14 little bags and they were really confused.
I told them that I was feeding them candy for lunch and they looked at each other and said: no mom, tell us the truth, I had too much fun! Then I started filling the bags and they said: Oh, I know, we are having a party, right? I just kept going and watched them from the corner of my eye guessing what in the world was mom up to. Then the time came for me to hang the little bags and they figured it up. They really got excited, the poor ones didn't have any candy for awhile. I also wrapped the present and put them under the Christmas tree, all is left is to reach the bell and Christmas will be here.Two things come to my mind 1, they will appreciate each day their candy. Its not like the other times when they were eating it just because. This time it is really a treat. 2, Some times we get so caught up into don't eat this, don't eat that, and we don't even enjoy life. in Mexico we said: Pero me boy a morir contento. ( At least I'll die happy).

First Time Snowing

Some hours ago I was going to write about how sad we were, because our area didn't get any snow so far. I been reading blogs from all over the world and hearing the news about the white blanket covering their town, even somewhere in Texas!!But finally we got snow! It was already dark, the kids went crazy and went outside in the darkness, well, not to dark, we do live in a city, its just the photographer complaining.






They had to come back inside and bundle up good. Here I caught the shining eyes of the girl, she wanted to go outside and enjoy the snow, but she wanted to be warm.











After they played, throwing snow to each other, and got all cold they got inside to enjoy a warm cup of cocoa.




Were are so grateful for the snow, the kids had prayed for it. We also heard about some people loosing power, I want to ask you to join me in prayer for their power to be restored as soon as possible, Amen.
About the time I finished this post, it wasn't snowing anymore and the weather people said it will be cloudy after midnight. We didn't get to much of it, but it was enough for the kids to have a lots of fun.

Jet Pack

This is Jet pack trooper

He carries his jet in his backpack. When he can't handle the trouble he got himself into, he push a button, blades pop up, and he is on his way to safe land, in a blink of the eye. Sometimes he turns around and and dives to tease his enemies.





But he notice a photographer got a picture of him.He must adjust his course, and escape!

Candy Cane

There once was a candy maker who wanted to make a candy that would be very special for Christmas. He decided to make a candy cane because he knew he could include a lot of signs and symbols to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.



He began with a stick of pure white hard candy. He used white as a symbol that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary who was always so pure and holy. He made it hard and crunchy to symbolize the solid rock on which the church is founded.





He bent over the top of the candy cane to make a hook like a shepherd’s staff. He remembered that Jesus called himself “The Good Shepherd” The candy maker remembered too that the first people who come to worship Jesus at the manger after he was born were shepherds.

Then the candy maker looked at his candy cane and thought it looked a little plain. “It needs some color,” he said. Something red,” he thought. “That will give it Christmas look!” So, he began to stain the white candy cane with red stripes.

First, he put on three thin red stripes. You see, he remembered that Jesus went through terrible torture before he died and was whipped across his back. The candy maker decided that the red stripes on the candy cane would remind everybody that Jesus shed his blood for us when he died on the cross on Good Friday. The candy maker was doing well with his candy cane. He had a lot signs of Jesus in there but he wasn’t satisfied.

Then he began to pray, “Dear Jesus, help me to make my candy cane show the true meaning of Christmas.” Then suddenly the candy cane slipped from his hands. It fell upside down on the floor. When he looked, he noticed that the candy cane was no longer a candy cane, but it was the letter “J”. It stands for “Jesus.”

Jesus is really what Christmas is all about.