A Busy Three Days

Well, give German Lopez a three day weekend and look what he can do! Of course he drags me along too, sometimes willingly, like this past weekend, sometimes under protest, like when I watched him demo our kitchen two years ago as I wrote report cards! We began by moving the pool table to the basement, which was surprisingly easier than I thought! I was living in dread of the day we attempted this one, but G and I did it, with little trouble! It fits down there quite nicely and prompted a clean out of the rest of the basement. (We started that last weekend!) German's workshop currently looks great! Take a look at the picture, there will probably never be another posting of our basement!! All of our storage is better organized, the Christmas decorations are finally (officially) down and put away and the sun room is now set up with some of Sof's larger toys. The heater vents are open and; while it is cooler than the rest of the house, it isn't too cold, so please don't think we are regulating our child into frigid temperatures! The move has created a LOT more livable space in our home! The Sun room looks more like a room you want to spend time in and the living room looks more home-y and less playroom-y. It is very satisfying!

Another big step we happened to take, very spontaneously, was to move Sof into a big girl bed! We found a cute platform bed with shelf and drawer storage and cute bedding that she got to pick out. (She went with butterflies, while G & I wanted flowers!) This prompted more cleaning out and we have moved the changing table out to become a TV stand for further notice. (Until we are in need of a changing table again, which is not yet in the works!) Sof now has more livable space as well for playing in her room and for stretching out while she sleeps! She adjusted very well and thanked us 100 times for "..getting me a big girl bed. I love it so much!!" She is so sweet! She played in her room for hours this weekend and was thrilled to see the sunroom become her other new play area as well! Now she has more room for scootin' on her new Dora scooter and bouncing on her Little Mermaid bouncy ball. She has had a big weekend! German and I feel like we need another three days off to recover from all the moving and cleaning! The garbage we just dragged out to the street in 10 degree weather was a sign of our hard work! Let's hope for a snow day so we can enjoy the fruits of our labors!

Post Christmas Blog

Well here is the long overdue Christmas blog. Due to having to share my laptop and to upper respiratory illnesses, and going back to work after the holidays, I have been too busy to blog. I am anxious to get back to it!

In a nutshell, Christmas was great! We loved seeing Uncle Andy and having Molly here after the holiday. We loved having more time to spend with Sofia and just time to be home and get projects done. Oh, and catch whatever bug Andy brought us from Boston! (thanks, Andy!)

Sofia was so cute this year. She was full of anticipation and was loving all the preparation and special things that go on. She loved (and still asks for) Christmas bedtime story books, The Nativity, illustrated by Julie Vivas has to be our favorite. She loved decorating the tree, seeing Christmas lights as we drove around, decorating the house, and the Christmas Carols that we heard on the radio the whole month before the actual day. (Her favorite, which she still tries to get me to find on the radio is Feliz Navidad!) We hosted Christmas Eve snacks after church with the Grandparents and Uncle A sleepover (the best sleepover ever!) and Xmas day hoopla! It was fantastic, hours of gift opening and playing and eating. Bob & Tasha and Albertha joined us for dinner and games in the evening and it was a nice relaxing day!

Here are some pictures. Sof and Uncle Andy got a thing that can be called nothing else but an "ewwwwy ball", a squeezy ball that you have to say ewwww when you squeeze it, it is impossible not to (thanks, grandpa!) Sof is in her new Spiderman Jammies, eating Xmas morning monkey bread, two relatively new and enjoyable Hinter-Lop traditions. German with his stocking and a pillow with feliz navidad on it. Sof and I reading one of the many Dora books she got,"I love mami." There is an "I love Papi" book incidentally, which she and Daddy read together too! Grandma with her gift from the 'kids' a membership to Genesee Country Museum, so for all of you out of town visitors, it's a great place to visit this summer, hint, hint! Other fun and memorable gifts were remote control helicopters for the boys, a shake and go race track, and the much and highly anticipated Dora cash register! A good time was had and memories were made! We are truly blessed with a family that gets along during the holidays (unlike some of the crazy holiday movies that are out there!) and with our lives and good health (now that the antibiotics have kicked in!) I wish you all a prosperous 2008 that is filled with blessings of family, comfort, and good health!