No matter how one receives a child, it is a miraculous gift from God.
Once upon a time, there was a family of one. This family was blessed but had an open heart and home. By choice, we have become a family, first in our hearts, and finally in breath and being. We are an open family and hope everyone with ties to Kendall Alejandro or Allison Elizabeth stay in touch.
We both had a busy day today! I worked and Kendall spent the day with Nikki. He did get to sleep in, see Walking with Dinosaurs in 3D, McDonald's, the Caln Skating Center (of course!) and fun with Legos.
We had nachos supreme for dinner, put on our pajamas and settled on the couch with blankets and pillows. We watched watched Transformers, part of a Michael Jackson special that Miss Claudette called to tell us was on and part if Up before we headed to bed. It was the perfect ending to an old year and a perfect beginning to a new one.
We made it to 11pm. Kendall did NOT like the glasses but put hem on for me and he loves the glow sticks. Feliz Ano Nuevo - Buenas noches!
And maybe we will try to decorate our house this way next year :-) I left my purse at home today so we had to go back out to run a few errands. We were able to read 5 of 6 stories in Mrs. Glackman's homework packet. Kendall did pretty well especially since we read the story in English. He loved learning about 'knockers', the wise father, serpent god, taste buds and the Redwood Forest (he wants to visit there also)!
We watched the Adventures of Miles and Otis on the Kindle Fire and Kendall loved it! The film opens in a barn with a mother cat who has given birth to kittens. One of the kittens is Milo, and has a habit of being too curious and getting himself into trouble. We immediately thought of Liam. He finds a pug puppy named Otis, and they soon become friends. They then look after Gloria's chick, who thinks Otis is his mother. Otis convinces the chick that Otis is not his mother by acting tough on Milo and scaring the Chick. When Milo is playing inside a box floating in the river, he accidentally drifts downstream. Otis runs after Milo. Milo goes on many adventures, escaping one incident after another.
He encounters three bears; escapes from the desolate, raven-infested Deadwood Swamp; steals a muskrat from a fox cache; follows a train-track to the home of a female deer, who shelters him; sleeps in an Owl's "dreaming nest"; stays for a while with a sow pig and her piglets; catches a fish, only to have it stolen by a raccoon; is mobbed by seagulls; and evades the third bear, then a snake, then falls into a hole.
Otis, for his part, follows Milo throughout, usually only an hour behind and less than a mile out of range. Finally, the two catch up with one another while Milo is in the hole, Otis pulls him out by means of a rope. Milo and Otis are reunited, and soon find mates of their own: Joyce, a cat, for Milo; and Sondra, a pug, for Otis. After this, they separate and raise puppies and kittens. They help each other's families to survive the harsh winter and find their way back together through the forest to their barn, living together.
After church this morning, we stopped by Mrs. Timm's to say hello. We chatted for a few minutes and we will stop again next week with coffee and jelly donuts. We organized a few things at home before spending the afternoon (close to 3 hours) inline skating at the Caln Skating Center. Kendall did very well even playing a game and trying to do the hokey pokey. Kendall always got up when he fell. I haven't fallen yet but I am sure will will soon! I was sure I wouldn't be able to get up! Kendall took a bath tonight and when I told him we didn't have any bubble bath, he told me Abuelo Ricardo put some hand pump soap in the bath for bubbles. He us learning the Polish way if doing things :-) Kendall is nursing a sore foot tonight from skating so much and we are relaxing watching TV.
Our aventura today was the Caln Skating Center. Kendall was maravilloso and loved it! We went to the 12 and under skate. Kendall did very well and laughed and stood up when he fell. We bought him inline skates for Kendall at Dick's Sporting Goods and I have a pair for our next visit! We all saw the film Roll Bounce so he could some great technique and can do attitude.
We Skyped with Luis Diego and Eduardo, Kattya and Kevin at Hogar Baik. We watched High School Musical and he wants to watch High School Musical 2 tomorrow :-)
I had ordered a Toothless stuffed animal from the How To Train Your Dragon series since we are going to start reading this books next. It arrived from China and Kendall loves it! We also received a Harry and David Happy New Year gift from Adrienne and Carlos - muchas gracias. We sent them something special, too!
Kendall and I were both happy it was Friday! He had a great time at the YMCA and wants to go swimming on Saturday so he can show me what new things he has learned to do in the pool. We had a quick stop at McDonald's and then off to La Mancha. Pretty cold and I walked 2 dogs and he walked one. He finally at ate the Mrs. Prindable's chocolate and caramel covered apple, we chatted with Abuelos and watched The Smurfs 2.
We were tired tonight - both of us didn't want to get out of bed! But tonight we finished Mrs. Masishin's homework packet and had a wonderful talk with Tia Coreen Aand Abuela Ginny! Somehow we missed the person coming to do a heating maintenance check on the house so we will reschedule!
We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and the Happiest of Holidays!
Kendall tried to stay up until midnight but at 11:25 pm he called it a night. He was on the fence as to whether Santa would come. He did see Santa on the fire truck that came through our development yesterday and asked me if I saw him. He does know that Santa is not real but was excited to see what he would bring. I did tell him I let Santa know that he should stop here, that he comes only when you are asleep and we did leave cookies out :-) We both fell asleep very fast. I woke up at 2:30 am to put all the gifts downstairs. I was up at 6:30 am and was able to get coffee and relax before he woke up about 7:30 am.
He had a lot of presents and we took our time. He loved them all but here are some of his favorites: the monster trucks and racing set, hot wheels all tracks, straw glasses and fun straws, aquabot, diving submarine, a real tie from Carlos and Adrienne with Carlos promising to show Kendall how to tie it properly, one of the ukulele's that belonged to my grandfather, the telescope and gingerbread house kits from Tia Coreen and Abuela Ginny and, of course, money from Tio Juan Fabio.
My favorite comments today:
Tio Carlos and Primo John Paul always send clothes. I personally am very grateful since they send jeans and shirts he loves to wear. Why did you wrap the Laser Fingers? He had already seen them and I told him because we hadn't opened the package yet. Where are the presents on my list? I did tell him that he would not get all of them. Too many presents. And then later are there any more presents?
Too many Legos.
We went to Adrienne and Carlos's for breakfast after all of the presents at our house were opened. Kendall had more presents waiting for him there including a remote controlled car. He also played the harp with Adrienne. We enjoyed the great food and conversation. Thanks so much to both of them for spending time with us!
We went home and Kendall played with his toys. She took a bath to play with his aquabot and diving submarine. We also cleaned up a bit. I made a turkey and a very wonderful Mexican-Style Lime and Cilantro White Chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes and cornbread stuffing. We had lots left over :-). We had coconut cake for dessert.
We are relaxing watching TV in our new pajamas - buenas noches!
I worked today and Kendall was excited to spend the day with Nikki. He slept in, received a remote control car as present from her, went to McDonald's, did some homework, baked snowman cookies and watched TV before I arrived home!
I made a special tomatillo, bean, cheese, pork and tortilla dish and then we were off the to the Christmas Eve service at church. Kendall did a great job with the children's sermon, the real sermon, lighting and holding the candle with the lights out while singing Silent night and finally doing the send off to the whole congregation - Go tell It On the Mountain that Jesus Christ is Born!
We put on our pajamas, chatted with the Abuelos and then he picked 3 of the gifts under the tree to open (not all of his gifts are under the tree): The Rise of the Guardians which we are watching now, Hungarian Wedding Cake that Abuela Linda makes every year and a Lego City set. He is excited for tomorrow and we are waiting up until midnight when Jesus will be here :-)
Kendall went to the YMCA today since there was no school. He was excited for the pool. I ended up getting stuck in Longwood Gardens traffic but still was able to get gas, use the ATM and finish our food shopping. Kendall completed 5- yes, 5 pages of Mrs. Masishin's homework packet. We plan to finish her packet this week and work in Mrs. Glackman's next week.
Kendall talked with Kevin for long time tonight. One a positive note, was able to get to get all of the prentice wrapping done. But Kendall is get upset and cried while during the call since Kevin does not know a lot of English and Kendall is forgetting how to communicate well in Spanish. We need to speak only Spanish at home and none weekends to practice. We also also talked about our upcoming visit in July and that one of those 2 weeks in July we will spend in Guanacaste. Tomorrow night is a special night in Costa Rica just as it is here.
An extended bedtime since the YMCA is closed and Nikki will spend the day with him tomorrow. He is excited to sleep in.
This morning our live Christmas tree outside was down from the balmy, windy and rainy night. I wasn't happy when I pulled it up since it was not centered in the base. This will be a little difficult to fix I though to myself but it was going to have to wait until the afternoon since this morning was the Christmas Pageant.
Kendall and I were ready at the church at 9:15am. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun! Kendall was a shepherd and the class I co-teach, pre-kindergarten/kindergarten, were the sheep. Everyone was fabulous!
We headed to Burger King for a quick bit then to Bottom Dollar to do our Christmas food shopping. When we arrived home, we tackled our tree. Kendall and I argued a bit - both our faults. I need to ask him to help and show him how to do it. The hermanas in the Hogar did not let them decorate so he does not know how to do it. We fixed the tree the Polish way - we added some girth with fabric. We also lost some lights and had to change them out. Kendall decorated the outdoor and indoor tree with candy canes. We now have candy cane lights and our believe sign out. We also added lights to our deck.
Kendall cleaned up and vacuumed the basement. He did a magnificent job. We are ready for a crazy Christmas!
