No more secrets

Today the boys were pillow wrestling in the living room. Anthony is quite a bit taller than Luca and therefore, usually has the upper hand in such battles. I was trying to quietly give Luca some pointers and helps in Spanish when Anthony pipes in with, "I know what you said..." and translates my comments! That's it, I no longer have a "secret" language. I guess that's what we get for wanting bilingual kids. What were we thinking? Good thing I still have Pig Latin. Now if I could just get Ricardo to learn it...

Hey Mon!

Aiden is hat obsessed. If there is a hat around, he's going to put it on. The first thing he does after getting out of the bath is to find his baseball cap, and put it on - sometimes it's the ONLY thing he has on! It's a good thing he looks so cute!
Unfortunately, he doesn't always put his hat back where it should be at the end of the day, so he has to find a good alternative...

Last week he discovered Luca's "Rasta" dreds hat (a gift from Grandma from a Caribbean cruise). He put it on and fell in love. He wore it around all morning, and would have kept it on the rest of the day, except Dad wouldn't let him wear it outside. He cried for 15 minutes.

I think there is some definite promise as a hat model, and possibly a Rastafarian!

Out with the old, in with the new...

When we decided to become foster parents, we got so excited we went out and bought what I considered a "dream" bunk bed. Something that I would have loved to have had as a kid. It really was a great bunk bed. The bottom bed is unattached and can be moved wherever, and the top is higher than a regular bed. There is a built in desk at one end and a set of 5 drawers on the other. There are also 2 shelves on the inside of the bottom bunk. Anthony loved these because he was able to put all of his stuff on them, they were just for him. It was a great set-up, for a much bigger room!

Unfortunately, when you add two boys to the room, there isn't any play space (extremely important during the winter months indoors). So, we finally broke down and traded my dream bunk beds for something smaller that would give us more room. And viola! lots more play space and more room for clothes, and their computer. It isn't the perfect decorated room that I wanted, but the boys are happy, and I guess that's what really counts!

Yeah! I did it!

OK, so you'd think, me being a girl, and coming from a family of 5 girls, somewhere along the way I would have learned to do hair. Not so. I'm horrible at it: no talent, no imagination. And poor little Ella has suffered for it so far. Sure, I can comb it, we have lots of little clips and I can pull it to the side. I can even do a few ponytails, but that's it. Until now... I set out to french braid and I have achieved success! So enjoy, and this is only this first try. It's bound to get better, right?! It also doesn't hurt that I have the most patient and easy going little girl ever!

A little about us...

Ricardo (aka Richi, Popis, Popsalot, and most recently, Fader) is our fearless leader and all-around fun guy. He works hard all day for the City of West Valley as a Code Enforcement Officer, and then comes home to a gaggle of kids who won't leave him alone, and he loves it!

He is an amazing father and breadwinner. And if the Jazz or RSL aren't playing, always has time for his kids!

Anthony (8 yrs) is our oldest. He is my right-hand man. What an amazing boy. He is almost always willing to help me out with the little ones. His favorite past-time is soccer and is outside playing as often as he can.

He is in 2nd grade at a dual-immersion school where he is learning Spanish. His favorite subject is Math and he's very good at it.

Gianluca (5 yrs) is our sweet and very independent 2nd child. He is a jokester that keeps us on our toes! He's never stingy with his "I love you"s and can be a great friend and helper to his little brother and sister.

He is in kindergarten and he keeps his teachers busy! He is reading fluently in Spanish and has started reading everything within sight in English too.

Ella (2.5 yrs) is our only girl and the Princess. She is Daddy's girl and does not leave his side when he's around, at least not willingly.

She is very loving and is definitely a people person. If there are arms willing to hold her, she's there! When Ella is around, there is never a shortage of hugs and kisses.

This is Aiden (almost 2 yrs.). He's been with us for 8 mo. and they have not always been easy, but we love this little guy.

Talk about a bundle of energy. I have never seen someone this small move so much and not get tired. Aiden is a ball fanatic and is constantly carrying, kicking, throwing, or wrestling his brothers for one.

Well, this is us, the Ramos Family! Welcome to our blog!