Mystery Object Revealed

Okay, I won't keep you in suspense any longer...mystery object turns out to be a...

Chile Grinder!!!!

It IS Mexico, after all, life revolves around chiles!
Those little red things are 'piquín' chiles (very spicy!) and are
quite popular here. So someone has come up with
a good way to process them into chile flakes...chiles
go in the hole and then the little stick is inserted
to grind them up...

Mystery Object

Miguel came home today with a gift from some friends...it was a mystery object to me at first. I should have known what it was, but I just couldn't put two and two together...let's see if you are more with it than I am today! lol

I Found the Stocking!

One of our favorite family traditions is the Hide-the-Stocking game...here are our rules:

1. The game is played throughout the Christmas season
2. The stocking must be hidden in the hallway or living room/dining room/kitchen area
3. Part of the stocking must be visible
4. Whoever finds the stocking gets to hide it in a different place

Here are some of the hiding places so far this year...

Yes, our retirement fund...and the stocking
is about all that you will find in that particular fund!

Of course, I found the stocking
there pretty quickly!

in the tree...

behind the manger scene...

It's fun to be sneaky!

Micah's Birthday Bash

Ready for an eyeful of pictures? I decided to just put them on one post instead of dividing them up, so here goes...

Not my best cake, but Micah loved it!

That's what counts, anyway...right? lol

Ready for the party to start!

Jkaile helped with the decorations...

JD taste-testing the nachos...

Counting off for 'weird baseball'.

After the snow that morning, I was so very thankful

that it cleared up enough to have the outdoor games as planned!

Also very thankful for Miguel and all his help with

the kids...I literally could not have done

this without him...

"Weird baseball' is somewhat like regular baseball,

but played with things OTHER than baseballs...

notice I highlighted the shoe on that pitch!

Birthday boy takes his turn...

The boys taking turns shooting the pellet gun,

no surprise that it was a big hit!

It was somewhat of a segregated party, with the boys

playing with Miguel and the girls either on the trampoline...

...or on Gracia's bed!

Birthday boy blowing out the candles...

A few of the presents...

every boy needs a trusty sword...

Apples to Apples Bible Edition!!!!

Lovin' the Legos!

Post-Party...I think it was a success!

Pass the Pigs

One of the things we love to do as a family is play table/card games. A favorite with the kids right now is Pass the Pigs, a "dice" game where you roll two little rubber pigs instead of dice. Points are determined according to their landing position (razorback, trotter, snouter, leaning jowler, etc) and if they land on laying down on opposite sides, it is a "pig out" and you lose your turn and any points accumulated in that turn.

It is interesting to watch the kids play. Micah and Gracia are pretty cautious and tend to "keep" their points instead of risking another roll and a possible "pig out". Jojo, on the other hand, will never stop rolling and therefore usually does not accumulate any points throughout the whole game! Apparently he doesn't understand the idea that he is losing points, he's just happy to keep rolling and in his words, "get loth of pointh!" :)

I shot this video of him during a game the other night...I think he thought I was going to take a picture or something, but it turned out pretty hilarious! And then he gets all embarrassed at the end...he is so cute! I love it that he's part of our family. :)