Sir Lancelot Du Jack

Behold my pint-sized Knight in Shining Armor. Is he not the cutest thing ever...?!?

Sir Lancelot was prepared to fight dragons and other scary things on All Hallows Eve. He was so prepared that he even remembered to take his "paci" along for courage (see his left hand.)

Since the kids were little we have had a tradition of having the ENTIRE Rivera family get together at our house on Halloween. The host family TREATS to pizza, I make Witches Brew (lime sherbert & 7up) for the kids, and the adults bring their own "spirits" and TRICK the older trick-or-treaters with water, etc... We usually invite friends to join us in our driveway celebration. Even Nana and Grandpa from Oklahoma have made it down for the celebration in the past. This year, Paco requested that the celebration be moved to his house since Jayce is so particular about his bedtime curfew. It was neat to see all the cousins together with other little friends. We had superheroes, cowboys, pirates, specters, princesses, rock stars and knights in shining armour. For Jack & Jayce this was the first time they were old enough to participate going door to door and actually get to eat some of the candy. The latter they embraced with reckless abandon.
"Jack & (his friend) Jude went up the street to fetch a bunch of candy.... Jack discovered Skittles (and is now addicted). Jude prefers lollipops. And they both got belly-aches thereafter!" j/k ;)

Cousins Sir Lancelot du Jack and SpiderZeke considered dueling, but were easily distracted by the sweet bounty which abounded.

Summer Swim League Laughs....

When we signed Robbie up for summer swim league, we did not expect to be as entertained as we were.  Summer league, it seems, is as much about swimming as it is an unintentional comedy show.  You see, summer league, it turns out, is for the recreational swimmer and for the serious swimmer who wants enrichment.  The result is an eclectic mix of children with varying degrees of athletic ability and experience.  Robbie looked very much like a rookie at the beginning of the season, but learned quite a bit in a short time.  His form went from "what stroke is that supposed to be?" to "hey that's not half bad."  Below I have included some pictures of Robbie swimming at the beginning of the season, and then at the end.  If you know anything about swimming, and you haven't gone to the bathroom lately, I must advise you to "go" before scrolling down in order to prevent an unfortunate accident.....

The picture below was taken at the start of an event in the beginning of the season.  Robbie, in the middle lane below, had no trouble taking off from the block and diving into the water unlike others.... 

Robbie "tries" to do the backstroke at the beginning of the season.

About to take off with confidence in the 25m backstroke towards the end of the season

Better Backstroke form later in the season...

Breaststroke was his best event.  He won individual ribbons consistently in this event and was always was the "breaststroker" in the A medley relay.

This is Robbie in the 25m Butterfly.  He almost always earned a ribbon in this event because not many of the summer leaguers could even do the stroke, and those who could, were not strong enough to make it across the pool without getting disqualified.

The meets started too dang early, and were HOT, but fun.  Even Jack, who slept in and came later with daddy and Katja got into the cheering.  Jeff claims that he can coach swimming- "go faster, go faster!"  Is it a wonder we are not a family of swimmers?

Robbie's First Communion

April 26, 2008

Robbie receives the Body of Christ for the first time

Robbie drinks the Blood of Christ for the first time


Robbie displays his 1st Communion Certificate


Robbie with Grandma & Papa


Nana & Grandpa came from Oklahoma for the special ocassion!




Paco & Michelle (the Godparents)

Aunt Kerrie & Uncle Paco

Cake by Mommy!

(Ponque Puertorriqueno)
Mommy & Rob outside of church

Our World in a Picture....

This is going back a bit to the end of December, but the kids haven't exactly changed much since then. It only took about one million pictures to get all three kids to look at the camera and smile at the same time. A feat which has not been accomplished since then, thus, the necesity of using this one even though it is April....