The Ramos Family

On Christmas morning, Maria was the first to wake up. We had gotten home pretty late from Auntie Myra's the night before and we really didn't want to wake Bella up - we wanted her to get as much sleep as possible! Lorenzo woke up next and finally, after Maria did everything in her power to be as loud as possible, Bella finally got up! They were so excited to see all of the things from Santa - their stockings were full and he also put their bigger gifts on the fireplace ledge underneath each of their stockings - they didn't have to unwrap anything! They both got a big Glam Girl beauty box and I'm pretty sure that was their favorite thing. Bella pretty much brings it with her everywhere! We got them High School Musical 3 Dance for PS2, a double snow tube and some other small gifts. Santa was very good to me too - I got a pair of tall black Ugg boots! I must have been good this year :o)

Christmas Day was spent with the Pelletier side of the family at our house. The food was unbelievable - thanks to the awesome planning committee!! The kids had fun opening all of their gifts and Dad/Grandpa Don made us all absolutely beautiful gifts. For the kids, they each got a car/truck bank; the men all got a tool chest and the women got a jewelry box (we'll take pics and post them - my words don't do them justice). He also wrote all of us a very nice letter. Mom/Grandma Kay donated gifts in all of the grandkids' honor - here is what the card says that she gave to each of them:

In your honor, a gift has been made to Heifer International. Heifer provides livestock and training to struggling people around the world so they can become self-reliant for food and income. May this gift bring you joy as it brings hope to a family in need.

Grandma donated rabbits in the Ramos kids' names: Because rabbits reproduce so rapidly, they are a great source of protein and steady income for families with limited land. Their nitrogen-rich manure can also greatly improve crop yields.

Maria reading the card from Grandma Kay

Lorenzo playing with one of his boy toys from The St. Paul Pelletier's

We had bought a gingerbread house last year that never got put together. When I brought out all of our Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving, I set the gingerbread house kit in the dining room. The girls asked nearly everyday if we could put it together but we were always busy with SOMETHING! Finally, on Christmas vacation, Grandma Kay and the girls worked on assembling the house. Apparently the frosting wasn't doing it's job very well ~ the roof wouldn't stay on! Probably has something to do with the fact that it's from a year ago! The girls had fun anyways, putting the frosting on the pieces and then adding as much candy as possible!

On Sunday, December 21st we celebrated Maria's 7th Birthday at Wakota Arena in South St. Paul. We had a 'party' room that overlooked the ice rink and we started off with eating dinner. The kids had hot dogs, chips, pop and an ice cream treat and the adults had sloppy joes (Grandma Kay's recipe) and chips. Our final treat was the birthday cake - Maria asked for High School Musical cake and wanted the piece that had a heart with BFF on it. It was by far the piece with the most frosting.........and she doesn't even like frosting! After eating, Maria opened up her gifts then everyone got their ice skating gear on! Some of the kids play hockey so skate really well, others had never skated before - but I think everyone had a good time regardless of their skill level! Most of the adults had fun as well, with the exception of some sore ankles and arches from the high quality rental skates ;o)

Here are some pictures of Grandpa Don feeding frosting to Lorenzo. I'm not sure who enjoyed themself more, Grandpa or Lorenzo!!!

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Paul's family at Mike & Myra's house. There was SO much unbelievable food - Tita Li made all of the Filipino favorites plus everyone else brought something to share. Everytime I walked into the kitchen or just nearby, I had to try one (or two) of the goodies! As always, it was a laughter-filled, loud and fun evening! Lots of games for the kids and adults and opportunities to win money! Lolo and Lola are always so generous! Lola put a bunch of money into a jar and each person gets a guess at how much is in there - the person with the closest guess, without going over, wins all of the money. There was a jar for the adults and one for the kids. Maria guessed $50 and there was $51 and she won! She was very excited and decided she would put the money in her donation jar for Feed My Starving Children.

There was also a talent contest for the kids - it was pretty entertaining. Maria played a song on the keyboard (and later sang O Come All Ye Faithful) and Bella sang We Wish You a Merry Christmas and twirled. There was lots of Jingle Bells and Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer - TJ played his trumpet (very well) and Sophia played her recorder! Lolo had a tic tac toe game for the kids as well and all three of our kids won, they each got $10. Finally, there was the dice game for the kids and the prizes were gift cards to Target. All of the adults were watching closely, coaching (yelling at) their kids telling them to roll faster, get the $50 card, etc. It was pretty funny! Aidan & Owen ended up with the $50 gift cards, Maria got a $30 gift card! All-in-all, it was a pretty profitable night for her!

We decided to draw names for the kids this year because it was getting to be a bit much to buy for all of them. It was SO nice to just have a few gifts for each of the kids. Lorenzo got a Little Champ sports game from Sophia - it has baseball, basketball and football - yeah for sports stuff! Maria got a Hannah Montana guitar filled with makeup from Eddie and Bella got a Hannah Montana t-shirt and the Cheetah Girls - One World song/CD from Gen Gen. The girls both got a Hannah Montana doll from Lolo and Lola. Thanks everyone for the gifts!

The girls always love when it's time to go see Santa. He always starts off just talking with them, asking them questions and making sure they're being good helpers and listeners at home. He also asks them how old they are too and Bella told him she was three! I think she was a little excited! Lorenzo was all smiles so we were able to get some good photos fairly quickly. See you next year Santa (oh, and thanks for all of the gifts you brought us :o) )

On Sunday, December 13th, Maria had her first piano recital. She played three songs, Ode To Joy, The Dance Band and Here Comes the Parade. I thought she'd be really nervous but she wasn't - she got up there and played all three of them perfectly! This was Evie's first recital as well and she was one of the first kids to go and did really well too! We were so proud of them both. Auntie Juli was so nice and stopped to pick up flowers for us to give the girls - we had a rather crazy morning and didn't get a chance to stop before the recital. Thanks Auntie Juli and great job Maria & Evie!

The preschool class has a bear that the kids take turns bringing home, his name is Patchy Bear. Bella absolutely loves Patchy! He got to come with us to see High School Musical 3 - I think he liked it ;o) He has a notebook where the kids write about his visit and often times put pictures of them with Patchy in it as well. Whenever we send him back to school, Bella talks about how she can't wait until he stays with us again!

St. John Vianney had a magazine fundraiser last month. They had prizes that the kids could earn for 'selling' subscriptions and the ultimate prize was lunch at Old World Pizza in Inver Grove Heights - transported there by a Hummer Limo! Our family and friends helped both Maria AND Bella earn that prize! Thanks to everyone that placed an order and helped them out with achieving this goal! I was very happy that my schedule allowed me to go with them, it was a lot of fun! The kids loved being in the limo, especially since they didn't have to be in a car/booster seat! I have a feeling this will motivate them for next year, they'll definitely want to ride it in again!

This cracked me up...... I'm still amazed at all of the little things Lorenzo does - I think I'm just cherishing all of his milestones since I know he's our last. I want him to stay this age, it's so fun :o)

Here are some updated photos of Maria ~



She FINALLY lost her first tooth on Friday, October 24th, 2008! I had picked the girls up from school and we went straight to the movie theatre to see High School Musical 3 (Daddy met us there). It was about the last ten minutes of the movie and Maria starts crying. She had lost her tooth and couldn't find it! She settled down and was able to find it on her shirt. The tooth fairy visited that night and brought her two dollars. In fact, she woke up at 5:30am, came into our room and asked if the tooth fairy had come - much too early for a Saturday morning :o( She has since lost her other bottom tooth and claims one of her top teeth is loose :)



(L) Jada, Jaida, Anna
(R) Maria, Paige


Maria & Paige



On Sunday, November 9th - Maria and her Daisy Troop had a roller skating event at Fun Zone in Woodbury. I decided to stay and rollerskate with her and it was a lot of fun! I was a little worried since it had probably been, oh let's say 20 years or more since I'd skated! This was only Maria's second time rollerskating but she almost refused to hold my hand and was venturing out on her own quite a bit (aka - leaving me in the dust ;) ). We were able to buy a Rollerskating patch to put on her Daisy Scout vest........ now if I would just get around to buying some fabric glue and getting it on there!

GIRL SCOUT COOKIE UPDATE: We received the order forms for cookies at her last meeting. We aren't allowed to 'officially' sell any cookies until January 17th. We got to try out one of the new flavors, Dulce de Leche - it was pretty good! I'm a little bummed they don't have one of my favorites - the shortbread ones dipped in chocolate! They'll be selling the following kinds of cookies: Lemon Chalet Cremes, Trefoils (shortbread), Do-Si-Dos (peanut butter sandwich), Samoas (need I elaborate - if you've had them you know they're one of the absolute best cookies ever.......that is if you like coconut!), Dulce de Leche, Sugar Free Chocolate Chip, Tagalongs and of course THIN MINTS! Our little sales girls will be contacting you sometime in January!

Now you know why it's taken me so long to update the blog. I've been busy whipping out the HTML to put together this fun Christmas layout. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Maybe I'll actually post some pictures sometime soon!

Oh yes, it's been almost TWO months since I've updated our Blog! Life has been busy, between work, kids and trying to get in shape - and then there's this whole FACEBOOK deal! One more thing to distract me in life but it's been fun. I'm asking Santa for more hours in the day for Christmas :) Of course, now I have so much to blog about - it will probably take me all weekend! And we have a busy weekend already! Tomorrow, my dad is taking all of my siblings, their spouses, Paul & I to see A Country Christmas at Celebration church in Lakeville. Paul & I got to see it last year and it was a wonderful show (though Paul wasn't so sure at first, as one of the opening acts was "Two Steppin' Around the Christmas Tree"). Paul isn't a big country music fan, but the show ended up surprising him and he really did enjoy it! We're looking forward to seeing it again and spending time with family. After the show, we're all heading back to my dad's place where he'll be serving us dinner. He hasn't revealed the menu so we'll just have to wait and see what he's cooked up! Auntie Missy will be coming over in the afternoon to watch the kids, then Grandma Kay is coming over to relieve her so she & Matt can get some Christmas shopping done. Thanks Auntie Missy & Grandma Kay!

On Sunday, the girls have swimming lessons and then Maria has her first piano recital! She had to memorize three songs for her performance, I think she's pretty much ready. She seems to enjoy piano though she does get very frustrated with herself when she doesn't 'get it' right away. I try to reassure her that anytime we learn something new, it's going to take some time. Hopefully she'll start being a bit easier on herself!

Just a quick note about Maria's birthday - we're going to have her birthday party at the Wakota Ice Arena in South St. Paul on Sunday, Dec. 21st at 4pm. I'll send out evites but that won't happen until sometime this weekend - in between all of the other things to accomplish!

UPDATE: Since the post just below this mentions Maria wanting to have her birthday party at Feed My Starving Children, I thought I would let you know that I looked into this about a month ago and they didn't have ANY openings on weekends or evenings! I talked to Maria about this because she was really bummed one other time when she thought she couldn't have her party there. I told her that we couldn't have her party there because they had SO many volunteers, which was a GREAT thing for them. She agreed that it was good that they were so busy and we also talked about finding another time to go as a family, after the holidays. It didn't take her too long to get excited about an ice skating birthday party!

Alrighty - gotta head to bed!