The Things I Do For A Free Beanie

My gym had this little competition over the holidays.  You had to go to 25 fitness classes, each one representing 100 miles, since it's like 2800 miles to the north pole from Utah.  Something like that.  I was doing pretty good, but between my sore neck/back, a vacation, and the crazy week of Christmas, I fell behind a little.  The last time they had a competition it was the Olympics and I ended up with silver instead of gold.  Like two classes short of gold.  It was almost more than I could bare.  So with an insane amount of work left to do, I headed to the gym to put in three hours tonight and will do two classes tomorrow morning.  Yep, I'm that crazy!  Not because I care about the beanie, but to get so close to something and not finish is just not something I can deal with again.  I can feel the blisters forming and achy muscles settling in already so it should be an interesting New Year's Eve, but it's worth it.  I'm going to earn that stupid beanie if it kills me :)

Yin and Yang

I love my boys, that's all there is to it.  Sure I often find myself on the verge of losing it, but I would be lost without them.  But there could not be two more different kids.  Other than the fact that they physically share many similarities, they are night and day.  And yet somehow their relationship works - they are such great buddies.  The other night the two of them were sitting on the counter eating chips. Dylan devoured chip after chip, but refused to even taste the salsa, while Preston used the same chip over and over to spoon the salsa into his mouth.  It's weird, but it made me start to think about just how different the two of them really are.  I think the Lord knew what He was doing when he sent us two such different personalities to raise. Our very own yin and yang seem to balance out our little family quite nicely.   

• Dylan is an achiever.  He is as competitive as a kid can be.  He walked early, he talked early, he wants to grow up so quickly.  He talks to me like an 8-year-old.  The things he says and does always amaze me. 
• Preston is content just to be.  He has his own pace and doesn't push himself.  He is fine to pick up a skill at his own rate and not when someone thinks he should learn something. 
• Dylan loves broccoli, but hates peas.  He likes chips, but not the salsa and will not touch cottage cheese.  He prefers oranges and orange juice and his favorite drink is chocolate milk. 
• Preston is the complete opposite.  He'll eat almost anything, but can taste the smallest piece of broccoli and pulls it out of everything.  He'll dunk his chip in the salsa and eat the salsa, but keep the chip as a spoon.  And the kid pulls the tub of cottage cheese out of the fridge for me to feed him almost daily.  He prefers apples and apple juice and would rather have plain milk than chocolate.
• Dylan generally gets angry when something goes wrong.  He takes everything personally and just gets mad.  His time outs require much more patience to follow through with because of his persistence and constant testing of boundaries.
• Preston gets sad.  His little lower lip curled under is a sight we know well and it's a tough one to ignore.  He gets a lot of leverage from his sensitive side.  He rarely needs a time out because telling him no usually is all the reminder he needs.  He is obedient by nature and doesn't feel a need to challenge authority.   
• Dylan is more of an instigator and has to win when something doesn't go his way.
• Preston even sensing tension will walk around the house hugging everyone and caressing our faces.  He's our own personal peacemaker sent to make our house more loving I suppose.
• I wouldn't say either of our children is shy, but Dylan loves to be the center of attention. He loves to be the helper chosen for everything.  He's got guts.  He has a shy moment here and there now that he's getting older, but he's more courageous than I am in front of a crowd most of the time.  He's definitely a performer by nature.
• Preston prefers one-on-one attention.  He'll go up to strangers and sit by them, but prefers the attention one at a time rather than in front of a big group.  
• Dylan loves animals and dinosaurs and setting up his own play situations.  
• Preston is content with a ball to throw, kick or roll on the ground.
• Everyone knows Dylan.  You can't not know this kid.  He makes himself known to all.  
• Preston is the one with the captivating smile that no one can quite remember.  The quiet one of the two boys that sometimes gets lost in the background.
• Dylan is way independent and does not want help figuring things out - even if he's struggling with something.
• Preston will still let my nephew feed him.  It's okay with him if someone tries to make his life a little easier.  He'll take the help.

I know there are probably a million more of these, but this gives you an idea of just how different my two little men really are.  They both challenge me differently and make me so grateful for them in different ways.  It's nice to have such differences to balance out the needs in our home.  

Christmas Recap

Christmas Eve Party - corn sacks from Gabi Mason Diego & Kylie

Diego Tub Trike from Abuela

Leah & Dylan - such cute cousins!

Uboldi Cousins

Matching jammies from Abuela

Marcos' new exercise equipment

Amy, Maria & Laura with our new scarves & vests

Complete chaos attempting a cousin picture with new pajamas

Christmas morning - spoiled parents

Spoiled kids

Preston's squishy ball from Dylan - he played with it all morning

Dylan's jungle set from Santa

Christmas afternoon at my mom's house

Our new little giant ladder from my mom and Barney

Still in love - Nate caught us kissing on camera : )

Dylan was so excited - Grandma spoiled him this year! 

Dinosaurs from Grandma

Gustavo, Marcos & Nate

Preston won the award for most Christmas hugs - he was so cute!

Tony loving Preston

Preston, Tony, Dylan, Kenya, Kamyn

Connor & Tanner were in Idaho

Cute hat, scarf & mittens from my best friend, Lisa (and Greg)

Playing trains at Grandpa Mike & Grandma Suzanne's house

Presents

Preston loving GG Betty

Those were just a few of my favorite pictures.  For those who need to see the full effect of Christmas 2008 click here.

I'll try to keep my recap as brief as possible, although I'm a pro at the long version of everything. Details are my specialty.  : )  Here we go...

Christmas Eve day I finished up the cover for the video I made for Anthony for Christmas.  I put it off too long and was up really late several nights in a row, which probably was a big part of my bah humbug attitude this year.  We took him the gift that afternoon, visited with his family and watched the video.  It turned out great!  We rushed home so I could put together the last minute parts of my homemade gifts (FHE kits and an i spy jar for the nieces and nephews) that I had mostly done, but still had to put together.  We finished just in time to rush out the door to my mother-in-law's house for Christmas Eve.  The kids were already a little tired so we tried to keep things moving this year.  We had yummy pizza and some good treats, got a white stocking to hang for Jesus that we are supposed to put our presents for Jesus (goals/ways we can improve), sang a couple songs and opened presents.  Everything was really nice other than my nephew, Diego, who had croup.  Poor little guy!  The kids loved their gifts and were really cute about the homemade gifts they made for each other.  We finished up by 10-ish so it was still a respectable bedtime.  We often stop by Marcos' aunt and uncle's house for a late Christmas Eve party, but we decided it was too late and the kids needed their sleep this year.  So much for that idea!  Marcos and I wrapped everything and got all situated and were in bed around 1:00.  At 3:00, Preston woke up and we swept him out of the room to not wake Dylan.  Marcos laid on the floor in the toy room while he fell back asleep and 5 minutes later, Dylan was in my bed wide awake asking all sorts of questions about Santa and his reindeer.  Did I leave out the celery and carrots?  What about cheese for Santa Mouse?  And cookies and chocolate milk? Did he bring the presents already?  Can we go look?  HONESTLY!  I told him Santa wouldn't come until he was back asleep, which did not happen until 5:00.  Chatty little man!  We slept until 7, when he started the excited talk once again.  We made him wait for Preston to wake up, which happened around 8:00. 

Our little family Christmas was really fun.  The kids exchanged gifts that they picked out from the .88 cent novelty toy section at Walmart this year.  They were both really cute about the whole thing.  We gave them the traditional three presents from mom and dad - a need, a want and a spiritual gift.  Just little things, but it's a fun tradition.  Sometimes I wish we would just do one gift, but it's fun to have meaning to why we do it this way.  It's because the wise men brought three gifts for Jesus.  Santa brought each boy a toy - a jungle set for Dylan and a cruise and crawl ball thing for Preston.  The stockings were filled with fun little things and not much candy - hurrah!  Everything was great.  Marcos got some new clothes and I got clima-warm gloves and a heart rate monitor.  

We got dressed and headed up to my mom's for lunch and some presents.  We had delicious taco salads, which my poor mom had prepared herself after shoveling the snow four times so we would be able to get up the driveway.  Grandma spoiled the kids - as always - but they all had fun playing with their stuff.  Dylan got the geotrax airport, some match box cars and dinosaurs and Preston got a dry erase table and chairs, which he loves to sit at, and a ride-on train.  Marcos and I were like kids at Christmas when my mom gave us our little giant ladder.  We have been borrowing our neighbor's ladder for almost five years so it was a much needed and wanted gift!  We stayed and played games, thinking the storm would pass and ended up braving it during the worst of it.  It took us an hour and a half to drive home when it usually takes between 20 and 30 minutes.  It was a total blizzard!  Luckily I am crazy and won't leave home in the winter without coats, gloves, hats and boots so we were prepared.  We stopped to get some gas just in case so we knew we could keep ourselves warm if anything were to happen.  Half of the stupid pumps were frozen because the snow was blowing into them so hard.  Crazy stuff!  We got home safe and got the kids tucked in bed after a long, fun day with no sight of the previously grumpy parents.  

Friday I was lazy and we played with new toys.  We exchanged a little fridge magnet we bought for Preston that he didn't seem to love for the one he did and then spent a few hours hanging out with Marcos' brother's family.  The kids showed each other their new stuff and we just talked for a while.  

Saturday we had a Christmas party at my dad and Suzanne's house.  Alicia ended up not coming because her kids came down with croup too and Angie and Justin are basically snowed in up in Idaho.  It was a quiet house with just my two kids, Tony and my little niece Taylor, but it was still a lot of fun.  The kids each opened a gift and received savings bonds and I got some earrings and money and Marcos got a cute picture that says "A father carries pictures where his money used to be" and some cash that he's already spent on new shoes.  It was yummy food and great company. We had a great time visiting and came home late that evening.  

Overall it was a really fun few days.  Now if only I can be a little more on the ball next year so I won't be so behind and stressed out and can enjoy more than just the holiday itself.  I told my friend how funny it was that I was neglecting my kids to get everything done, which made them naughty and me grumpy just so we could have this perfect moment for the kids.  Kind of ironic, huh?

My favorite holiday moments:

• Watching Anthony's parents watch the video I made for him
• Uboldi cousins exchanging their homemade gifts
• Preston's loves and hugs to everyone
• Preston sitting in a big boy chair and loving it
• Matching vests and scarves with the sisters-in-law
• Marcos on the floor while Preston slept
• Me up for two hours chatting with gabby little Dylan in the middle of the night
• Preston throwing, chasing and rolling balls around Christmas morning
• Dylan excitement about Christmas
• Delicious taco salads mom made after shoveling her sidewalk four times - what a woman!
• The kids' faces as my mom pulled out more than one gift each
• Playing games at my mom's house Christmas afternoon
• My dad's train set
• Gifts on the doorstep from Greg & Lisa
• Kisses from my hubby
• Perfect presents - cute vest and scarf, heart monitor, hat, gloves & scarf set, ladder
• Family, family, family
• Snowstorms and scary moments on the road - okay not my favorite, but memorable for sure!

What Is Up With My Kids?

I'm going crazy here! Is it that Christmas is in two days? Is because I've gotten so behind with Christmas preparation that my boys haven't had my complete attention? The past two days, everyone's been naughty and out of control. What is up? Whatever it is, I'm going to scream (again!) if it doesn't stop soon. I'm one breakdown short of canceling Christmas (whatever that means). I'm sure it's just their way of crying out for attention so I'm going to do my best to get back to normalcy, even with my 4 page "to do" lists. And so help me, if I have to put that baby back in his crib one more time, I'm going to lose it. Crazy kid! He's been an almost perfect sleeper to this point, but the second he realized he could climb out of his crib, he took full advantage. No naps, late bed time, coming downstairs enough times that Papi gives in and holds him while he watches soccer. Ahhhh! After an hour and a half of that nonsense, I pulled another super nanny move (apparently I didn't follow through long enough last week) and went and sat in the boys' bedroom putting him back in his crib a couple of times before he remembered that I must be serious if I was actually sitting in the room. He lay in the crib happily clicking his tongue for quite a while. You should've seen the desperate me sitting in the corner all hunched up with my old lady back trying to decide in the dim glow of the nightlight if it was safe to make my move. I could tell by Dylan's deep breathing that he was a goner, but didn't dare make a sound in case Preston's wiggles meant he wasn't actually out yet. I'm seriously doing my best to enjoy this season, but somehow the odds are stacked against me. Did I mention Marcos slid off the road yesterday and busted something around the tire - axils or something. Yep, a one-car family we are this Christmas. I should just be grateful he's okay (which I am) and get over it but I've got the whole "glass half empty" attitude right now. Stupid Murphy's Law! It's hitting hard this year!

Christmas Tag

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper, but I use gift bags whenever I am lazy or run out of paper.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial. One day maybe I'll get an artificial tree, but not right now. I'm too cheap and it's too high maintenance for me. It's like pets. I would love one, but with the monkeys I already have to take care of, I don't know if I can keep anything else alive and well - including a tree!

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the day after Thanksgiving.

4. Do you like eggnog? Yep, but I do thin it down with milk.

5. Favorite gift received as a child? A scooter. Not like the Razors they have today - those scooters that had small bike tires and bike handle bars. I didn't think we would ever get something that cool for Christmas, but we did and I loved it! We rode all through the dirt hills across the street - sometimes in the middle of the night. Ah, the good old days!

6. Hardest person to buy for? Well, we've simplified Christmas and don't exchange names with my siblings any more, but I would say Justin, my brother-in-law. He always wants tools or something super manly that I know nothing about.

7. Easiest person to buy for? Dylan. He has never not liked something he received and has always been very predictable. He loves animals and dinosaurs. It doesn't matter how many he has, that's what he plays with all day every day.

8. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. One that I bought when I was in Costa Rica that's made of clay and is cute and almost cartoonish with big eyes. The other is new this year. My mom bought all my sisters one last year. It's made of glass and painted. Super cute too!

9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, but it did not happen this year. Sorry everyone! I'm off my game for some reason.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Encyclopedia. I would appreciate it now, but didn't as a teenager.

11. Favorite Christmas Movie? Probably A Christmas Story, but I love them all!

12. When do you start shopping? End of November-ish, but I was horrible at getting anything done this year.

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not real Christmas gifts, but stuff that came from white elephant parties I sometimes give away if I can't use it.

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Anything sweet : )

15. Lights on the tree? Yes. We bought a tree with the lights all built in last year and it has been fabulous. It saves SO much time.

16. Favorite Christmas song? Little Drummer Boy

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home. We have family close by so it's easy for us.

18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes! Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen, and Rudolph!

19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither. We've looked and looked and never found one that stays up or that we like.

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Both. Christmas Eve parties are what they have in Argentina so we usually have our Christmas party with Marcos' family Christmas Eve and open those gifts and then have our little family open presents Christmas morning and then go to my mom's for another party and presents Christmas afternoon.

21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Pressure to do everything and buy everything and forgetting service and celebrating our Savior's birth.

22. Favorite ornament theme or color? I don't know. Right now we have a boring, but pretty tree with blues, silvers and grey colors. In the past we've had one formal tree and one for all the ornaments that are from different things. This year, we can't even keep the bulbs on the one tree from being destroyed. I'm glad we went more simple with the trees this year. Preston's killing me with all the destruction he's causing.

23. Favorite thing for Christmas dinner? Probably funeral potatoes, but I love having chocolate milk or eggnog and a pastry for breakfast that day. Nothing like starting off the chaos with massive amounts of sugar!

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? Kids that mind!

25. Who do I tag? Anyone reading!

Lights at Temple Square

Friday night we met my friend, Lisa, and her husband, Greg, at Temple Square to see the lights. It was FREEZING, but we still had a good time.  Greg wasn't feeling the best so he went to JB's to relax and save us a table while we walked around to see some more lights.  I love walking around Temple Square this time of year.  It's so beautiful and peaceful.  We saw what we could until we were all frozen and Dylan had his and my gloves soaked through.  I should've brought water-proof ones, not cotton - duh!  Oh well.  Dylan's favorite part was seeing all the horses pulling carriages around the town.  He couldn't get enough of the "caballos".  Thanks for the fun memory, Greg and Lis!

Lisa and Maria posing by the pink "girlie" lights

Don't you LOVE her coat, hat and scarf? ... so CUTE!

I look a bit like an elf with my pointy hat and rosy red cheeks and nose

Did I mention it was FREEZING...?

Our little family

Marcos and the boys

Maria Dylan Marcos Preston Lisa Greg

Precious Moments

We've had a weird week.  Preston up all night hopping out of the crib, sitting next to him for hours and putting him back in (like the Super Nanny suggests) for hours on end, not to mention my lack of preparation this year for Christmas.  So I'm exhausted and am still looking for the Christmas spirit I usually have four days to Christmas.  It peeks its head out now and then, but has been hiding much of the season.  But I had one of those sweet moments a couple of days ago that helped a bit.  Preston finally slept in one day after not sleeping well for 3 days in a row.  He woke up at like 9:30 or something crazy like that (mind you he'd been up at 4:00, but still).  I walked up to check on him and he was just standing in his crib smiling at me.  I walked into his room and started talking to him - just the usual "good morning sunshine" bit.  Anyway, I scooped him up in my arms and he cupped my face in both of his little hands and gave me a big "ah mmm" right on the lips.  That's how he kisses.  He just makes this letter m sound and presses his lips to your face.  It was so sweet.  He pulled his face away, smiled at me and did it three more times.  Talk about melting my icy old heart!  

Primary helps too...usually.  Singing Primary Christmas music always makes me tear up.  Today I managed to maintain my composure for most of the meeting.  And although Dylan was driving me CRAZY thinking he was my singing time helper for the matching game we were playing, he gave his first talk today and did an awesome job.  We used like 7 pictures of Jesus' life from the gospel kit and I just had him talk to me about what the pictures were.  That's how we "wrote" his talk.  Then we practiced it.  He was nervous for a minute - something about the microphone freaks him out for some reason - but then he did so good.  He knew just what to say.  So by the end, the proud mama in me finally seeing a "good" moment during Primary choked up just in time for the closing song.  Oh well, two really precious moments from my two kids this week that I hope to never forget!  

The Reason I Hate Christmas

Today Dylan went to preschool.  They had a little Christmas party and exchanged white elephant gifts.  The instructions were to bring a $1 wrapped white elephant gift to the party. There are only three boys and six girls in his class so I figured I'd better play it safe and get a unisex gift.  We ended up finding one of those packs of mini playdough containers that I thought would work for girls and boys.  Apparently the teacher had the boys exchange and the girls exchange so we could've bought a dinosaur or something, but I didn't realize that's what they were doing.  So the little kid who opened Dylan's gift yells out, "I don't want playdough." Nice!  Dylan told me the whole story.  He was a brat about it and the teacher politely told him that she was sorry but that was his gift.  I asked Dylan what he did and he said, "I just gave it to him anyway."  So cute and big of him.  I hate stuff like this.  I would've bought something different had they given different instructions, but what's a mom to do?  You don't want your kid to be the one with the "crappy" gift.  I was trying to follow what the teacher had instructed so all the gifts were similar.  That's the whole reason they tell you a price.  I hate that kids receive so much that they can't appreciate anything.  It drives me crazy.  My own kids have plenty, but we have tried really hard to help them appreciate what they have.  We talk about how other kids don't have toys and some don't even have homes or clothes or food and Dylan always responds with some comment about wanting to take some of his toys to them.  That's why we do it.  I've been lucky. Dylan is a naturally excited person who so far enjoys and loves everything - presents big and small - and always thanks and shows appreciation.  But I think part of that comes from our teaching.  Kids do and say mean things all the time, but you have to help them through it.  I'm so sick and tired of kids that don't even know what Christmas is truly about.  It's all about "me me me" and how much they get.  I struggle with the commercialization of Christmas, but fall victim to it to some degree, but my heavens.  We're trying to get our kids to ponder the meaning of Christmas and maybe even get in some service this season.  We're not in a position to do a sub for Santa, but when we are, that is something we will probably do. Anyway, I had to vent and share the first of probably many frustrating "spoiled kid" moments I will witness this season.  

Fingers Crossed

This is how Preston walked around the house all day yesterday.  Since the little guy doesn't speak much more than gibberish right now, I've been trying to figure out what it means.  What could have a 1 1/2 year old walking around the house all day with his fingers crossed?  Here are my top ten theories for this new unusual phenomenon.  

10.  Wishing we could go see the Christmas lights again when he's not throwing a fit.

9. Hoping Santa brings him something really great since no one seems to understand Prestoneeze.

8.  Hoping Dylan doesn't get mad at him for eating most of the gingerbread train.

7.  Hoping mom leaves the pantry door open again so he can help himself to treats, garbage can digging, or swiffering to his heart's content.

6.  Fingers crossed that mom doesn't remember to unplug the TV so he can turn it right back on every time she walks away.

5.  Hoping mom is too busy shoveling the icy driveway to notice as he pulls everything out of the garage.  

4.  Hoping mom and dad continue to think he must be sick or needing something every time he wakes up.  (Suckers!)

3.  Crossing his fingers that Dylan continues to take the fall for everything that goes wrong while the quiet toddler silently slips under the parent radar.

2.  Hoping mom doesn't notice the broken ornaments on the ground that he used for baseball practice.

1.  Hoping he doesn't break an arm or leg jumping out of the crib (his new favorite trick).

Well whatever it was, it sure was cute to watch his tiny fingers crossed for most of the day.

In Awe

I don't know what else to call this post.  It sounds a little lame maybe, but I think it's appropriate. I don't know what my problem is.  I've been a little out of it.  Between busy Christmas planning, my "injury" or whatever you want to call my back/neck problem, a trip to St. George and daily life of kids and cleaning and all the mundane stuff that never goes away, I've just been overwhelmed.  Enough so that I've just let myself get behind on all the amazing things I thought I was going to do for Christmas.  They're just not going to happen and it's going to have to be okay. Making these huge "To Do" lists every day was just wearing me out and Marcos, as helpful as he is, hates extra projects and things that are not every day tasks.  He's a bit of a grinch, although I'm not sure why...needless to say, the outside Christmas lights didn't get up and will not be going up this year - and a million other things that we've had to make our peace with.  I LOVE Christmas!  I love the sights, the sounds, the smells, the brisk air, the snow, the songs, the presents, the giving, the family, the friends, and the celebration of the birth of our Lord.  I love it all, but forgetting which parts of Christmas are the MOST important can be a challenge and I think that's what was happening with me.  There was not enough time for everything after days of pain on the couch and a quick, spontaneous trip to St. George and I was feeling a bit like a failure (Not to mention some other stuff that happened that's got me questioning not only my ability to listen to promptings, but also my abilities, talents, and how others see me.  The whole ordeal is stupid and childish, but has definitely thrown me for a loop emotionally. Let's just say there have been some major tears shed here the past week or so and I'm not exactly sure how to get my mojo back).  So in an attempt to save Christmas, we are trying to focus on what matters and hope that the other stuff will work itself out.  

My sister's birthday was last Wednesday and we were still out of town.  The plan was to have a birthday dinner for her today, but my mom has caught some sort of gombu that we prefer not to be exposed to so we stayed home today.  So here's where my depressing story gets a little better.  Primary was good today - at least Jr Primary.  I don't know what was up with the Sr Primary group, but they were on one today - just another reason for me and my pity party to question myself.  The Primary President talked about Samuel today and had her husband walk in while we were singing "Samuel Prophesies of the Baby Jesus".  It was so cool.  He had a patterned Aztec-looking throw over his shoulder and a walking stick and spoke for several minutes about his story.  Holy cow, I've never seen a group of kids more reverent.  Dylan didn't move a muscle except when he heard the word Lamanite and reached for his pretend sword. And they weren't just quiet - they were truly listening.  It was awesome!  You didn't have to say anything...the Spirit testified to each of those children today.  Then we learned the second verse to the song and sang some other Christmas songs and a few fun songs since the Sr Nursery was there to get used to singing time a little bit.  After church, I fed the family (courtesy of my mom sending the food that was meant for dinner today - thanks mom!) and went visiting teaching which was really good too.  We all took naps and spent some time together as a family.  Tonight, I had Dylan tell Marcos the story of Samuel to see what he remembered from Primary.  This is where the "in awe" part starts.  It was amazing!  He's just got a style all his own, but if you can find a way to work with his strengths, he's an awesome kid.  He became Samuel.  He got a sword (since he thinks all Lamanites need swords) and told us he was Samuel.  He got on his wall (the couch) and prophesied.  Whenever he would forget little parts, we would ask a question or steer him back to the story and he knew everything.  We shot arrows at him and he told us they didn't hit him because someone (he said with a smirk and a smile) was protecting him.  I said, "Who was protecting you?"  He said, "Heavenly Father."  M: Okay, get down off the wall now that you're done prophesying.  D: Heavenly Father helped me to know what to tell the Nephites.  M: Isn't that amazing?  You'd better thank him.  D: I know.  The story is over and we figure it was a neat little memory and we move on.  A couple minutes later Marcos and I are talking on the couch and we see the curtain move.  M: Dylan, what are you doing behind the curtain?  Come out now, okay?  D: Shhh...I'm praying. 

Can I tell you how sweet that moment was?  He was back behind the curtain saying his private prayer to Heavenly Father.  Man, if only you could bottle up these little moments to help you get through all the other frustrating ones.   

But wait, it gets better (or at least stays just as good).  Dylan asked if we could have Family Night.  What are we going to do, say no?  Sure, we can have more than one a week if we want. It'll probably do us some good, especially to get some with real lessons in.  Dylan lead our song, Preston muttered something that may have been a prayer, and then I read a little thing about being like Wise Men and following Christ's light.  Preston was completely antsy so we went up to the living room by the nativity scene and I had Dylan tell us what he knew about the birth of Jesus.  He did pretty good and again we filled in parts he may have missed.  Preston was just happy to have something to hold and play with.  After that, Dylan asked if he could give a lesson on dinosaurs.  I told him he could give a lesson, but it had to be about something from the scriptures.  He thought for a minute when I saw the little lightbulb go off in his head.  He went up to the toy room and brought down his little Noah's arc and started giving us a lesson.  Man, it's amazing how he imitates us.  Here is what I remember about his lesson.  

D: (standing on the window seat) Now who can tell me what this is?

M: a boat

D: Good.  And who do  you think's boat this is (that's how he said it)?

M: Mary

D: Nope

Papi:  Nephi

D: No Papi.  Nephi's boat didn't have animals.  Sister Roff even just taught us that Nephi came to the land in a boat, but it didn't have animals on it.  

M: You're right.  Good.  Hmmm...is it Noah?

D: That's right.  Good try, Mommy.  And what was on the boat?

M: People

D: (grin) There were some people, but what else?

P: pelotas de futbol (soccer balls)

D: No, Papi

M: animals

D: Yep, that's it.  Hmm...

M: And why were they all on a boat?

D:  Well, it was raining and raining and there was a flood...

M: So were the people righteous or wicked during the time of Noah?

D: Wicked

M: And one day Noah saw a rainbow so he sent a dove out to see if there was dry land.  Do you know what a dove is? 

D: Yes, it's a beautiful bird.

M: Yes, a white bird, right?  And the first time the dove came back without anything and Noah knew that it wasn't time to get out of the boat yet.  But the next time the dove came back to the arc, he had a branch of an olive tree and Noah knew that they had reached dry land. 

D: That's right, Mommy.

Then we went upstairs forgetting that this was Family Night.  Dylan reminded us that we had forgotten to sing our closing song and "commanded us" (as in, "I command you") to go back downstairs.  We were wicked and refused, but sang "Book of Mormon Stories" while we brushed teeth and had our closing prayer be our bedtime prayer.  Quite the spiritual day I must say.  I can't believe the things Dylan learns, even through his wiggles and naughty moments (especially during Primary), he seems to be getting it and gaining a testimony of the things he is taught.  What a sweet, sweet night with the family! 

 

Hello Everyone!

Holy cow...things have been so crazy!  I got behind on my blogging the week of Thanksgiving and then everything got messed up.  Let me just say Thanksgiving was awesome!  We had Thanksgiving at my mom's house.  We had quite the crowd.  Angie and Justin didn't end up coming down until the next day because Justin got home late from a hunting trip, but my sisters, their significant others and all the kids were there, my step sisters, my aunt, uncle and two of my cousins.  I think there were 13 adults and 8 kids.  I may have counted wrong, but something like that.  We had a ton of fun.  I didn't brave the crowds on "Black Friday" but I did end up stopping by Sam's Club to get some of the Christmas presents I'd already picked out. We're trying to do a more simple Christmas anyway so the need to get up early for cheap stuff we don't need was not there. Saturday we had a late Thanksgiving with my dad and Suzanne. We had a great time there as well.  It's just great to be able to spend time with family around the holidays.  We're lucky to have so many people close by.  I posted the pictures from Thanksgiving at my mom's and Thanksgiving at my dad's on my little website so click HERE if you want to take a look at those.  You'll have to click the Dad's Thanksgiving link to view the pictures from Saturday.

Last Tuesday I woke up stiff as can be.  I'm not sure what I did, but my back and neck were killing me.  I had practically no range of motion and was in tons of pain.  I ended up going to the doctor, who referred me to a physical therapist and to a chiropractor that day.  I think I sat on the couch for the majority of the week trying to get better, but feeling miserable.  I couldn't get into the physical therapist until this week so I went back to the chiropractor Friday while a dear friend watched my kids (thanks Brandy) and also went to a massage therapist that night.  I spent a whole lot of money I did not have searching for the slightest bit of relief.  By Saturday I was still in pain, but it was manageable so after our ward's Christmas breakfast, we went to St. George to visit my grandparents for a few days.  The Primary had to sing for the Christmas party and it turned out really cute.  We borrowed some clothes from a friend and dressed some of the oldest primary kids up like the people in the nativity.  It was so cute.  The girl who played Mary even had her baby brother play baby Jesus. He's probably 6 months old, but was on the verge of a nap and was so precious in her arms.  We sang Picture a Christmas, Away in a Manger and Silent Night.  It was really cool.  Even just practicing for it, I could really feel the Spirit.  The kids were so sweet and obedient and reverent - at least for that part.  Once Santa showed up, it was a mad house.  Anyway, it was a cool Christmas party.  

St. George was really fun.  I tried to be careful with my back and neck, but I did some activities that would help loosen the muscles.  We went hiking a couple times, took the kids to this fun plastic bounce toy place called Jumpin' Jacks, went to church with grandma (where I actually got to go to Sunday School and Relief Society and both kids were good in their classes), had WAY too much good food thanks to my talented chef of a grandma, went shopping for a couple Christmas items and needed work clothes for Marcos, and just had fun spending time with the family.  We went for a walk one night just to see the Christmas lights.  That was probably the highlight of the kids' visit - go figure.  Sometimes it's the simple stuff!  I'll have to post pictures from St. George when I have a minute.  Right now I've got to run pick up Dylan from preschool. But I'm back...hopefully for good.  Now I've got to catch up on all the Christmas stuff I've been putting off.  I hate not being prepared - it's so not my style!!

Day at the Park

Yesterday we ventured out and ended up at the park.  It was a beautiful day and just so nice to get out and do something.  The kids were playing on the playground and then we ended up running around and rolling down the hill.  It was a lot of fun.  Dylan and Anthony decided they wanted to play soccer.  We didn't have a ball, but Marcos called to say he was coming home for lunch so I had him stop by with the ball.  Oh man, we are both WAY too competitive.  It's ridiculous!  We ended up playing our own self-made game.  But here is the best part.  We had no idea, but Dylan got the camera out and was taking pictures of us playing.  I LOVE it!!  It's our moment at the park from his perspective.  The pictures are a little out of focus, but I think he did a pretty good job considering we were running around everywhere.  

Climbing

Trying to roll down the hill like the big boys

Rolling down the hill

Sliding down the fire pole thing

Marcos mocking me...as if!

Me taking the ball with my mad soccer skills

Take a good look, Anthony grabbed Marcos' leg to slow him down

Catch me if you can

Marcos' foot in action

That was all I had, but Marcos liked a lot of the pictures so I added a few more so you can see just how competitive our little game really was...

Dinosaur Park

I mentioned in my Twilight post that Marcos had the day off last Friday.  He took Dylan to the Dinosaur Park while Anthony, Preston and I took a nap.  They both really enjoyed themselves. Dylan is obsessed with dinosaurs right now and Marcos just likes to get out and do things.  It was perfect for both of them!  Dylan even took $1 from his allowance so he could buy something from the gift shop.  I'm so glad Marcos enjoys spending time with his boys so much. It's fun to watch him be a Papi.  Here are a couple of pictures they took while they were there.  

Twilight Weekend

I feel like such a teenager!  I was totally one of "those" girls this week.  My Twilight weekend was a bit out of character for me, which is probably why I'm going on and on about it.  First, I rarely go to movies these days.  Just not in the schedule or the budget.  Second, I'm not much of a trend follower.  But I have to admit, this was dang fun.  I read Twilight after some coercing and was surprised at how captivating it was.  It was an

 easy, fun read that I could not put down. So when some friends of mine asked if I wanted to go to the movie opening weekend with them, I told the

m I was in.  They decided to get tickets Saturda

y night, which was perfect.  A girls night out - dinner and a movie.  A few days after agreeing to that, my sister-in-law called me about going opening night with her and some of her friends and relatives.  I told her I was going with some frien

ds Saturday.  Stupid peer pressure.  I called her back the next day and told her I had changed my mind and would go with them.  What the heck!  Spontaneous Maria came out of nowhere and paid for the same movie twice in one week.  Oh, and everyone was apparently buying shirts so of course I had to go buy a shirt too - a nice, teen-sized shirt that was way too tight.  On my way out the door, my shocked husband manages to

 mutter, "Wow, you look hot!"  Not exactly the look I was going for...stupid skinny teenagers.  But wait, it gets worse. We didn't get tickets to the 12:00 showing. Nope, we got tickets to the 2:30 a.m. showing. That's right, the nine of us went to bed for an hour or two (minus Jen who is pregnant and somehow managed to fall asleep at 5:00 p.m. the day before) just to get up and get ready for the movie. Let me just say getting u

p and ready for a movie two hours after you've gone to bed sucks really bad.  But once we were in the car chatting away and laughing at ourselves, it was really fun.  I had WAY too much Diet Mountain Dew fearing I would fall asleep in the middle of the movie though.  It was crazy! We had some mixed reviews from our critical group, but overall most of us liked it. Edward's character bugged me a bit with his super serious acting, but other than that, I was actually surprised by how much I did enjoy the movie.  I LOVED Bella and most of the vampire characters.  Not exactly like the book, but close e

nough for me.  My advice: don't reread the book the week you go see the movie.  You'll be far too critical of all the missing details.  I got home at 5:45 a.m. to find Dylan asleep in my bed.  Nice!  I threw on some pajamas and went down to the couch for an hour until I felt kids climbing on me.  Luckily Marcos stayed home that d

ay (not for my sake, he was taking it off anyway) so at nap time, he took Dylan to the Dinosaur Museum and I was able to rest a little bit more while the other kids slept.  Here's a picture of our crazy group.  

This better picture with all of us in it came from Laura's camera

Here's the picture from my camera that cuts Annie in half

Saturday I met at my friend's house so we could carpool.  Six of us drove together and we met up with two other friends who brought family members with them.  I think there were 11 total. We met for dinner first and then had to run over to the movie.  We were running late, but we made it just in time.  One of my friends had a gift card so we all got drinks and popcorn free. Fun stuff!  It was so much fun just hanging out with friends at dinner and a movie.  I really need to be better about planning stuff like that.  Anyway, I was having too much fun to remember to take a picture during dinner or after the movie, but I got one at the bakery we stopped at for dessert.  We were missing one of my friends who came with her sister-in-law and left after the movie and my other friend's sister and husband so the picture is not complete, but it's all I have.  Thanks everyone for keeping me young and spontaneous.  It felt good to kick back and be slightly irresponsible with the girls.  I won't give any more of a movie review.  All I can say is ... good times! 

Preschool Humor

I was driving Dylan to preschool and he was in one of his "silly" moods.  Somehow he had the Sponge Bob Square Pants song stuck in his head and decided he would make it his own.  He started with "Squonge Bob Quare Pants" and continued from there.  I decided I would join in the fun and added "Squonge Bob Spair Pants".  You would not believe the belly laugh that one produced.  Preston, not sure what was going on, but plenty able to follow social cues, looked over at his brother and let out a sympathetic laugh.  It was one of those moments you wish you could freeze.  As silly as we were being, the three of us laughing, all for different reasons, was priceless. 

For those of you who may be a bit out of touch with preschool humor, let me enlighten you. Here are some basic rules.

• Saying anything in a silly way - mixing up words, throwing a random word in a song, etc. is hilarious
• Basic slap stick comedy rules apply - i.e. The Three Stooges... pretending to run into things, hit yourself on the head, or bop yourself in the eye and then proceed to fall down definitely calls for a good laugh
• Anything potty goes - words, noises, etc.  If it has to do with the potty, it's apparently pretty funny

So there, now you know what makes Dylan tick - for now at least. 

Our Peaceful Day

Is that precious or what?

Prestonian

Anthony and Dylan

Climbing the "tower"

Serenity

All three boys playing

Searching for wild animals in the Savannah

Thanks to a tip from one of Dylan's old Primary teachers, we found a fun little path today.  It was great to get out in nature, stretch our legs, and feel like we had the whole world to ourselves.  It was so nice.  I wish it had been a little less hazy in the background - these pictures would've been amazing with a clear blue sky!  I'm not exactly sure how to capture the moment with words.  It was just...PEACEFUL - even with three crazy boys.  

Here's my list of highlights from the day

• Discovering a new place we never knew existed
• Peace and quiet out in the "open country"
• Getting a little exercise
• Actually soaking in a few rays in November - we could use the Vitamin D boost right about now
• Watching the boys play with tall, marshy grass as their backdrop
• Our favorite songs coming on the radio during the drive there and back
• A pretty fun bike ride around the cul-de-sac
• Watching the boys play in the backyard before lunch
• Wiggle-skate cars (otherwise known as plasma cars) that Anthony brought today
• Building a planet puzzle
• Pumpkin spice muffins - a healthy, yummy snack

Minor setbacks to our peaceful day

• Head bonks - how many times can little boys possibly collide
• Time out - that's a daily thing around here
• Forgetting to dry the kids' sheets before naptime
• Dylan listening to my ipod during Preston and Anthony's nap.  He was bustin' a move to "Another One Bites the Dust" with no idea how loud he was singing, stomping his foot or talking.  We finally moved the ipod-fest to the basement so Anthony wouldn't be disturbed.