¡Cinco de Niños!

Well, it is official. The twins are now big boys! On Saturday, May 23, we celebrated their "first 5th" birthday. It wasn't quite the to-do we had initially planned - which would have been held with my family in WV. We had to cancel our Plan A due to my uncle's impending back surgery - prayers are definitely needed and welcome on that front - but our Plan B turned out to be pretty awesome all the same. The twins didn't really know the difference; all they knew was that there was the cake and balloons that they had requested. But before we get to that, let's talk about "their last day as four-year-olds" celebration.

Last Day As Four-Year-Olds
I clearly had a much more difficult time with them turning 5 than they did. Last week was quite emotional for me. It seemed that each day was a reminder of just how short our time together has been and how quickly it has been passing. The boys - all of them - are growing so fast, and it is hard to believe we have only been a family for 10. 5 months. On the other hand, which helped me gain perspective, Troy was very excited about their turning 5 and impending "big boyness" and all that comes with growing up and the things we have to look forward to this year.

As part of our celebration, the Aikas (pronounced "eye-ee-kah"; also known as blankets) and stuffed animal friends were allowed to go with us wherever we went. This is Daniel's Popoino (pronounced "po-po-wee-no").

Luis and Hippopotomo.

We even had lunch with our friends.

Quite possibly the coolest the part of the day; however, was when we went to Target to pick up party supplies, the #42 Target car (yes it was race week here in the Queen City) was parked outside the store. The #42 - for all of you non-race fans - is driven by none other than Juan Pablo Montoya, who is one of Troy and I's favorites because he is from Bogota, Colombia. As the boys were walking around looking at the car, and saying stuff like "Whoa!" and "Cool!", I found out that J.P. himself would be at the store later to sign autographs. So we hopped in the van, rushed home, waited for Sam to get home, got back in the van, rushed back to the store, and got in line!

Daniel is telling you, "I have touched this car. I am about to meet Juan Pablo. He is from Colombia like me." Well he would say that if he could speak in less garbled sentences. He was probably saying something like, "Look Mama, this race car cool!"

Juan Pablo Montoya. Sadly, they wanted to keep the line moving, so there were no photo ops with him, just autographs. But I did let him know that the boys were from Pereira and he tried to speak Spanish to them. The boys were so excited they just giggled, and Luis did one of his very Luis goofy things that he does.

The Twins Turn 5!
The twins were so excited (and probably already exhausted) by the time the big day arrived. When Luis woke up at 6:50 AM to go to the bathroom, I went up to ask him to go back to bed when he was finished and not wake Daniel. Well, I made the mistake of wishing him a "happy birthday" and it was on from there. He was way too excited to sleep and he woke his brothers up.

The first order of business was something the twins and I had been working up to for over a month...It was time to say good-bye for good to the Aikas. Yes, they have been dear friends, like dear aunties that watch over the twins at all times, but the boys also suck on them when they sleep and the dentist said they have got to go before the twins are old enough for permanent teeth. I am hoping the thumb sucking will resolve itself since it seemed to go hand in hand with carrying the blankets.

So, we gave them one last hug, folded them gently, said good-bye and we love you so much, and put them in ziploc bags for safe keeping. I was definitely more upset than they were. You can ask my mom about my Poocoos.

Then we were off to Dan Nicholas Park in Salisbury...

All of the boys are very into picnics. We packed sandwiches, apples, juice, chips and cookies - all of the twins favorites - into the picnic basket. Luis unfortunately has a bug phobia. I know those of you who are avid readers of our blog are shaking your head and thinking "What isn't that boy afraid of?" When we figure it out we will let you know. There were moments when he would start screaming and crying uncontrolably because a fly or a gnat came near him. Even at his turtle eating pace, and bug screaming delays, we eventually made it through before dusk or the rain came.

Sweet Daniel...doesn't he look older?

Luis being Luis...love those faces he makes.

Aren't they cute? They had cut-outs like this all over the park.

In addition to a little train that the boys adored, they had a petting zoo with goats, sheep, a donkey named Sam, etc... The boys had a good time trying to get the animals to come to them, even though none of them did (except maybe the goats who were tempted by the straw the boys were holding).

I got this sweet, little pig to come to me. She was adorable, and very vocal with her "oinks" and squeels. For any of you Facebook friends out there who play Farm Town, she literally walked up to me and fell over asleep. It was too, too cute!!!

The park also had a wildlife refuge. Here the boys are looking for the bear.

Daniel is literally doing a chicken dance here. Not THE chicken dance, but a chicken dance nonetheless.

Sam makes a solo appearance. I put this pic in because he looks so stinking cute in it, and to prove that he really was there too!

We finally got the twins on a carousel. They would only ride on the bench, but still it is a step up from the Parque del Café fiasco where Daniel refused to ride and Luis screamed the entire time. Samuel chose a horse as far from the rest of us as possible.

Pizza was the twins' pick for dinner, so we did make your own courtesy of Trader Joe's. We love this because it reminds us of Archie's in Colombia.

The dinner party. Yes Hippopotomo and Popoino joined us for dinner too! They wouldn't have missed it for the world.

The theme was dinosaurs, so we had dino-cupcakes. We also had dino-balloons and the table was covered in little dinosaurs that the boys could play with during dinner.

...or that Papa could play with during dinner. Samuel is getting to be a very good photographer. He has quite the eye.

Daniel kept telling me that he wanted a car for his birthday. I kept telling him that he has tons of cars. But what he meant was that he wanted one that was just his - that he doesn't have to share. I have never seen him happier than when he opened this gift. His face was beaming. Thanks Nana and Pop Pop Peregory!

Luis loved his too!

They had a wonderful birthday. If the weather ever clears long enough for us to go out, we will take pictures of them learning how to ride their new bikes (that's what we got them). The only hiccup in the day was when we finally went to bed and both boys asked where the Aikas were. Troy and I both felt horrible as we reminded them that they were five now and big boys and blah, blah, blah...

Our Kids Are Rock Stars

Where to begin? The bad thing about waiting so long in between posts means that there is just that much more to post.

Samuel and I went to his open house on Friday. He will indeed be in Kindergarten this year. Troy and I are pleased with this decision. After discovering just how demanding the first grade curriculum is in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system - including a lot of reading which Samuel is no where near ready for - we feel like this is the best scenario for him. We don't want him to be perpetually behind from day one, and since he has a tendency to give up on stuff without really trying, we worried that he would simply hate school and never really give it a try. He is already facing a big challenge with the language barrier. His teacher, Ms. Counselman, is excellent though and he seems to like her already. After Thursday's assessments, she pulled a bilingual boy named José into her class so Samuel will have an instant amigo. He is very excited about this, and though he hasn't met José yet he was talking about him at dinner tonight. I also met his ESL teacher and found out that she will be meeting with him 3-4 times a week which is encouraging for us.

As for English at home, Samuel has started saying "sorry" in context. He also uses the phrases "Come on amigos, let's go!" and "Oh my gosh!" Of course the twins mimic him.

Yesterday was my birthday! Yay!!!! I love my birthday. It is my favorite day of the year. Having children made the day ten times sweeter though. The boys were really excited all day. The night before during bedtime prayers, Samuel said he was thankful for my birthday (I swear I had nothing to do with this!) The boys gave me a shirt and a skirt that will both be great for work. Troy asked them what they wanted to get me and Samuel told him a blue dress like the one I am wearing in our wedding picture because I look happy - how sweet is that! My husband, who is the greatest husband in the world, made the day equally sweet because he put together a party and bought us tickets to see Iron & Wine in Asheville in November (he has even started pre-arranging childcare).

Then today we finally took the plunge and went to church. We knew today was a special service directed towards families, including the sermon. Also, with people from church bringing us meals, we knew the boys would recognize some faces. They were so good, sat still, and were pretty much quiet the whole time. I thought ahead and took the twins' blankets which I think helped keep them quiet. They of course loved the music. Troy sat with Samuel so he could translate the sermon. The theme of the service was God's Word being a lamp unto our feet. Troy was explaining to Samuel that the Bible is God's direction for our lives and Samuel says to Troy (in Spanish), "But only for me, not for Luis Angel and Daniel." Hilarious! He wants so badly for anything to just be his - even the Word! After the service they were basically rock stars since the whole congregation has been following our story on-line. Luis (our introvert) needed some cuddle time once he started to feel overwhelmed, but there were several people able to speak Spanish to them so I think they felt pretty comfortable. We skipped Suday School (one new thing at a time). However, as a part of today's "Family Sunday" theme, we had our summer picnic after church. This was a great way to further introduce the boys to members of our church family and other children in the church. It was super hot and humid, but they were real troopers. I can't believe how great they were today!

Also, one thing we have started doing is using positive reinforcement. Troy and I are so exhausted from yelling, refereeing, and policing that we thought it was time to take a new approach. So we hung some poster board up in their room and when they follow the rules and listen, they get stickers. So far, so good. We are on the learning curve right now, but there have been fewer time-outs and less yelling so I think we are getting there.

Final thoughts: This weekend has been HUGE for me. When we moved here three years ago, I did so very reluctantly, kicking and screaming. I was convinced that I would always hate Charlotte and forever mourn moving from Norfolk. While I do miss my family and friends from Norfolk everyday, I was reminded this weekend of just how far we have come. Maybe it took going to Colombia for over a month to make me finally call Charlotte home, but I am so thankful for the friends we have made here. I am also beyond thankful for the church family that God has led us to be a part of, we have felt incredibly loved by our congregation since we started attending Providence earlier this year.