Briam's Family Blog

Once again, we had a few issues on the "Carpeted" areas of the house...  enough to warrant a cease fire.  Well, what does that really mean?  It means the kids have to sit in the kitchen area while watching TV in the living room if they want to drink their chocolate milks...

Its not really the first time we have tried to enforce this rule due to messy circumstances... and I am sure it will not be the last.  But the most important thing is not to get pulled into the "who's fault is is that we are not allowed to drink in the living room..."

 It does seem to be a sour spot with them.  These little battles for power that they deal with on a regular basis.... for example... when something breaks or spills.... whats the first thing that happens?

At first glance you would thing that the culprit is obvius... but that is not always the case.  Sometimes interrogation is needed to determine to true person responsible... 

...I wonder where they learn that from?  ...well, the good thing is that these little angels may be quick to point... but with a little time, they all come clean... they also like to sit down and talk about their differences to help resolve issues.

Sometimes little is said during these negotiations.... but sometimes that is for the best...

The end result is usually peace... and perhaps a little bit of lessons learned... then its back to 'normal'...and the next big project...

...what ever that is.... 

One place that always seems to be a lot of fun for the kids is the Yellow River Ranch of I78.  We had some family in town (Tia Karen and Cousin Liliana) and of course it was a beautiful day so Paola and gang, and my mom, and my sister, and everyone else who wanted to have a good time went to the Ranch.

Megan is so cute....trying to feed the deer from a distance... while I think Matthew is planning on capturing this one to use as a pack mule.

Here is cousin Liliana, cough red handed trying to help some rabbits escape.

Here is Sophia and her bag of peanuts.  I wonder how many of those she ate on her own...

....right about here I think the kids are thinking.... Turkey Sandwiches!!  If only they could unite and carry out their plans together...

Part of the entertainment is not just seeing how the kids react to the animals... but watching how Paola reacts to the animals... 

Run Rabbit Run!!  Don't fall for that Innocent face... she is just trying to lure you into her trap!!

And of course ... here are the people who had fun.... You may be asking yourself where is Briam...?  ....perhaps he took the picture..... nope...

Here I am ... and my beautiful smile.....  yeah yeah.... Where was I?  Well.... I had some problems at work... and had to work all night.... so I was just going to sleep when everyone was going out to have some fun..... maybe next time I can make it.  Well at least I got to see the pictures they took....

I would say its at age Five that I realized my little boy was not so little any more.  They grow up so fast... and start to weight more every day...

So you may be asking your self what this is.  Some might might say it is a measures of a mans worth.... or more accurately, a measure of a mans weight.  This my friends is one end of the towel holder/rack that used to hold up the towels.  I guess he is getting bigger, because one moment he is jumping up and down, the next he is trying to pull himself up the wall holding the towel holder/rack.

....just a few days ago we had Daddy Breakfast at the kids school.   I got a chance to hang out with my kids... we played a bit.... I got a tour of the classes, and we had some yummy breakfast.

It was Megan who taught me that day, that its not how good the food is.... its how much you can stuff in your mouth before someone takes the plate away.  And then, you sneak food from your neighbors plate until they catch you.  Wise one that little Megan.

 And then there is Sophia.... in this picture you see two extremes, a little boy with a pacifier, a teddy, and a blanky.....  This is the farthest that he stood away from the teacher, and that was only because she walked away quickly.  The other extreme?  most likely Sophia... Does not really need anything/anyone around.... can pretty much play independently...  Even on Daddy's breakfast day... she seemed more content to play play play....  I guess that was my gift from her. 

...a couple of weeks ago.  One Sunday... tucked away in a back corner of our church...in a little thing called Kids nursery  (a.k.a. Kid's Prison).... there is Chaos.... there is anarchy.... there is a lot of screaming.

A tribe of sugar fueled little people rally.  They work themselves into a hunting frenzy.... screaming louder and louder.  There seems like very little can calm these savages.

I think the best bet is to divide and conquer... but you cant let them smell the fear... or they will eat you alive.  I separate three of the rougher looking ones with promises of candy...  But the ultimate plan here is to make them look a little more respectable.... and that starts with a nice haircut.

Luckily the hair cut place had some monkey bars to keep the kids entertained.

The wait is long.... almost too long.  We almost lose control of the situation... but there are enough breakable items laying around to keep them entertained until it is time for the chair.

Maybe it was the stern threats of discipline or possibly the tranquilizer injections we gave the kids... but we were able to get them all at least a little trim.... next time DUCT TAPE!!

Before the end of last month, we got a chance to head down to Florida to visit some family... and to see how many miles we could add to the mini-wagon master!  There was family in town from Ecuador that we had not seen in a long long long time... (a few months).

Of course we asked these kids if they just wanted to sit around for a few days and rest... but of course they did not like that idea.  So we headed to a place that lets the kids work at doing real type of jobs... doctors, cooks, fireman..

The kids had a blast.... they did some jobs.  Then got some bling bling.... they ate some pizza.... They did have a cool little play area for kids that were too small to do the jobs (like Sophia), but it seems like all the kids wanted to play there....

We where in Florida for a couple of days, we got to see family and also got to go to an outdoor park as well.  There are tons of other pictures from that day. 

As a special treat there are also some pictures of Gabriel, Paola's brothers new baby boy.

Click on any of the pictures to go to the gallery or click HERE.