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.

My Big Boy

It's sad, but true.  My baby is growing up.  He wants to do everything the big boys do.  If Dylan and Anthony are playing, he's got to get right in there with them.  I tried to get him to sit by me on the couch this morning, but he decided he'd rather sit with the big boys on the other couch. He even joins Dylan for time out once in a while.  I guess he figures sitting still on a mat with Dylan is better than playing alone.  It's made disciplining either boy a little trickier.  They can have fun together no matter where they are.  He decided this week that he is done with the high chair.  If I leave the tray off, it's a great climbing toy for him, but that is not where he wants to eat.  He prefers to sit up at the bar with the boys or even at the table.  He is still quite accident prone though, which makes it more difficult for me to let go of the baby stuff.  He's always falling and getting hurt trying to do more than his little body is capable of doing.  He wants to swim and play and splash in the bathtub longer and just do everything in a big boy way.  He loves to help me cook and clean and is pretty persistent until he gets his way.  He's my sweet little man that I still refer to as my baby, although there's not much baby left in him these days.  He's more like my little toddler, but I have a hard time referring to him that way.  It seems like he should still be a baby.  These kids grow up way too fast!    

A Blah Day!

I don't have anything specific to post about right now.  Actually, you're probably best skipping this one altogether.  So read at your own risk.  I ought to just go upstairs and veg out on the couch until I can fall asleep and tomorrow will be better, but I have some weird need to write about nothing and everything.  It was just one of those days today.  I think I've just tried to do way too much lately and it's catching up to me in a big way.  I woke up feeling the scratchy throat like a cold or something is coming on and had the achy, tired body to accompany it.  I'm sure it's a simple cold, but my body trying to fight it is taking everything out of me.  I don't know if poor Preston is feeling the same way, but he's been so whiny and needy lately that I just don't know if I can deal right now.  Marcos watched the kids for an hour while I was at the dentist yesterday morning and he called me while I was still in the chair wondering where I was.  No, not because he needed to get to something urgent at work, just because he'd had it - after an hour.  Oh, and to top off my need to hurry home to a whiny baby, I have a stupid cavity.  Hello!  I haven't had a cavity since way before I got married.  I was so mad!  So much for my string of perfect dentist appointments.  Okay, so I'm pretty sure that's my problem.  Not only did I not feel well today and my kids were crazy and needy also, but I am just so freaking hard on myself, it's ridiculous.  I watched Oprah yesterday and her clutter bug, clean up your messy house campaign.  I don't really think I have a messy house, but it's not where I'd like it to be either.  I feel like I clean and organize and redo everything all the time, just to have a very average, kind of tidy home.  What the heck?  I guess that's what happens with two young kids (often 3), but it makes me mad.  Watching that show didn't inspire me to get my butt in gear - it's already there - it just made me feel like I'm falling short, even though I'm trying so flippin' hard.  And I've been saving money trying to figure out coupons and sales and all this junk and then I find out how much I could've and should've saved all along.  Wasting our money for what?  Because I'm a slacker?  And I'm mad at myself because I didn't make it to the gym 6 times last week and when I did make it, I didn't do 2 classes a day (like the skinny chicks).  And after I'm finished thinking I'm a failure in every way possible, I move on to feel sorry for myself for all the things I don't have paid off that I'd like paid off and all the things I don't own and won't because there's no money there because I haven't been cutting coupons for 9 years.  See what a vicious cycle my demented little brain puts me into?  I'm just slightly psychotic, not to mention neurotic.  Actually, I blame it all on a few things.  1- society (you should always blame society first).  No, really though.  There's this need since the feminist movement for women to do and be everything instead of just becoming equal but accepting that we're also different.  And so women either work and do kids and everything else or they stay at home and create a million and one projects for themselves just to feel like they are never doing enough.  It's because we compare ourselves to others, but whatever.  2- a bad day.  What's the song?  You had a hard day, la la la la la la (however it goes)...that was me today and 3- my perfectionist mentality.  No moderation in all things for me.  I try and end up pretty moderate in the end, but what I really want is perfection.  I just want everything I do all the time to be perfect.  No problem, right?  Whatever.  I am totally rambling and I'm sorry.  This is such a random post that I'm spewing out onto everyone, but I think it'll be good for someone some day to look back on their great grandma (or whoever I am to that someone) and see that I too had bad days, despite all my effort.  Okay, I think I'm going upstairs now.  Not only is my house not PERFECT like I think it should be, but I think I hear a scratching noise that can only be coming from the inside of the wall.  I'm not afraid of much, but the idea of a mouse inside my wall (if that's what it is) freaks me out.  I'm going to run and hide now and try to sleep off my grumpy negativity!    

Happy Birthday Kamyn

My nephew, Kamyn, turns 3 today, but had a birthday party Saturday afternoon.  It was a pirate party and everything was about pirates.  The decorations were cute, the games were fun, the food was delicious and creative and the cake was amazing.  Kamyn was supposed to wear his pirate costume, but the best we could do was to get a picture of him in the outfit.  He was not in the mood for that at all.  Dylan ended up in the pirate costume.  He was excited to wear the costume and as always, he played the role of pirate very well.  Everything was pirate talk and digging for treasure the entire time we were there.  We played "walk the plank" and Marcos was a darling little gymnast.  What a nut!  He LOVES to be the center of attention - no wonder I have my little Dylan.  We also played "stop the canons" and they had to pop balloons with treasure in them, "pin the treasure chest on the map" and "toss the gold into the treasure chest".  Super cute and fun games for the kids.  We knew Dylan's blindfold was not working when he walked up to X on the map, rotated his treasure chest sticker and placed it exactly over the picture.  We made him try again...little cheater.  Kamyn got some cute clothes, a computer thing that hooks into the TV with learning games on it (from the cousins, aunts and uncles) and a cool table with a dry erase board surface on it.  Fun!  The pirate ship cake was awesome and everyone had a great time.  There were too many pictures to choose from and uploading to blogger takes forever so you can see the pictures/slideshow here.  

Grocery Shopping

My friend, Courtney, inspired me with her insane shopping skills this week.  The amount of food she bought for the money is ridiculous!  She's holding some sort of a coupon party next week where people can come and learn how she does it.  It's seriously an art, but if you're organized, you can save a ton of money.  I don't have coupons or know how to use them, but Albertson's was having a really good sale this week so I got on my computer, learned all I could, printed the online coupons, spent a bit of time getting organized so I'd have a game plan and then headed to the store.  Marcos took the kids to the park so I was flying solo on this experience.  Well, it's nothing like Courtney's crazy savings, but I was pretty pleased.  I was able to stock up on some food storage items and save a bunch of money.  I bought everything from laundry detergent, soap, shampoo and conditioner, to cake, cookie and muffin mixes.  I also stocked up on mayo, peanut butter, flour, potatoes, hamburger helper (for the nights you need something quick), Ragu, frozen veggies, soup, broth...I don't even know anymore what all I bought, but it's all stuff we will use.  They were out of some of the items I was looking forward to purchasing, probably because everyone wanted them too, but it was easy to substitute stuff from my original list. I really am going to figure this out and do my best to plan and save on a limited grocery budget.  Honestly, you should've seen me at the checkout counter.  I was definitely a virgin coupon shopper.  I had everything planned and organized, but didn't quite get the flow of things.  The checkout lady wasn't super helpful, but the bagger knew what she was doing so she walked me through it when I got confused.  Anyway, good times.  I ended up spending $79.48 for the above item.  It was a savings of $186.11.  Wa-hoo!  The bad news...although the kids had a great time at the park with their Papi, he totally forgot to feed them lunch or to put Preston down for a nap and we have a birthday party at 3:30.  I came home at 1:30 to two starving, tired, ornery little munchkins.  Needless to say, Marcos is on a little drive with them right now.  We're hoping for some sort of a car nap before the b-day party or Preston might have a serious meltdown.  Wish us luck!

Trapped In My Bedroom

Okay, it's not as bad as it sounds.  It's nothing like Preston trapped in the bathroom, which happened the other day.  It was one of those moments you dread as a mother.  He had one of those poop explosions, where you don't even know where to start with the cleanup process.  I took him into the bathroom, stripped him of his clothes, rinsed the clothes, shut the door so he wouldn't get poop anywhere else and ran down to throw the clothes in the washer before I gave him a bath (no the water was not running).  I had to hurry because I had just started a load of laundry and figured I could just add his outfit to that load.  I ran back upstairs and he had opened the drawer that is right next to the door, trapping him in and me out (I feel your pain on this one, Brandy).  I didn't even know where to start.  I had no idea if he would even understand me when I told him to shut the drawer - the toothpaste drawer.  Please tell me he wasn't eating all the toothpaste.  I watched him pull out all my soap, shampoo, toilet paper, extra deodorant...from the little crack under the door and was just praying he wouldn't open anything that shouldn't be ingested.  There was NO way - other than breaking the door and the drawer and possibly injuring him - to get in until he closed that stupid drawer.  I called Marcos, who started freaking out and asking me what he was supposed to do about it (super helpful moment).  Hello, I just needed some support.  I was nervous too!  I got him settled and decided to call my mom instead.  Sometimes women are the best way to go in situations like that.  She reminded me to be calm and just talk to him and see if I could bribe him.  Sure enough, about 15 minutes later, he responded to "Do you want a treat?  Close the door and come get a treat."  Hallelujah! 

Nope, this was not like that.  Today was another long day.  Marcos hasn't been home much at night this week.  Between work and church stuff, he's been home for maybe an hour here and there.  I'm not complaining because in general his schedule isn't as bad as some, but it's been a LONG week.  Tonight he was going to be home between 5:30 and 6 and had a scout meeting at 7 (which he informed me he needed to leave for at 6:40).  Crap.  So I took myself and kids to the gym and he picked them up there to spend a couple minutes with them before he had to leave.  Yesterday I had a bit of a lazy exercise day so I decided to push it and do 2 classes today.  I got home and he left for his meeting.  Crazy schedule!  I took over the bedtime routine and did pajamas, reading, teeth, prayers and tucking the kids in.  After that I finally decided it was  time for a much needed shower.  No sooner do I shut the door to the bathroom, than I hear Dylan at my door telling me every reason in the book why he did not want to go to bed.  I told him to go to bed, shut the door and I would see him in the morning.  I get out of the shower and find my bedroom door and the kids' bedroom door (which is across from ours) wide open.  Up pops Preston from the crib with the thought of Mommy being available to him.  Yikes!  I quickly jump back into the bathroom and proceed to open my dresser drawers from the side to retrieve my needed items of clothing.  I snuck by the dresser enough to close my door most of the way.  Yep, trapped.  I was starving and wanted to go sit and relax, but there was no way I was risking a screaming baby by walking by his open door before he fell asleep.  So I opened up my scriptures and got some good reading in early for once.  Usually I'm doing this WAY too late at night.  The good news is I got four chapters read before I dared peek out into the hallway.  The bad news is I'm reading in 2nd Nephi right now.  You know, the Isaiah chapters.  I seriously consider myself to be somewhat well read and not exactly stupid, but I cannot understand these chapters to save my life.  For a man that LOVED plain and simple words, I sure can't figure out why he loved Isaiah so much.  Sorry to be blasphemous...I'm sure it's beautiful once you uncover the mystery of it all.  I followed the part about the virgin giving birth, but that's about it.  Oh well, my Ensign came today and I'm super excited.  I'm going to read that baby cover to cover.  That may have to serve as my spiritual inspiration for the day because despite my extra reading today, I still need a bit of a boost.   

Dylanisms

Here are some more of the latest and greatest sayings from my little monkey (again written for him).  

• This fall, you were playing soccer and I was playing church volleyball.  You've become quite aware of healthy food and exercising lately.  We were eating dinner and you said, "This food is for jugadores de futbol (soccer players). But not for you, Mommy.  You don't play futbol."  Then you thought for a minute.  "I guess it's for bally ball players too."  
• You were asking me what the hard bump on your wrist was one day.  I told you it was a bone.  You said, "Mom, I just want to see my bones.  What are they made out of, nails or something?"  
• One day you were thinking and said, "Hey Mommy, who guided us when Jesus died?"  I love when you have spiritual questions for me.  
• You love the song Bear Necessities from The Jungle Book.  There is a line that says "forget about your worries and your strife" but you like to sing it "forget about your worries and your sprite."  Oh and there's no use correcting you when you think you know the lyrics to a song.  It's best just to let you sing them your own way.  It's pretty cute to listen to your interpretation of song lyrics.  They're always interesting.  
• You asked me to go with you to the basement to get some ice cream.  I wasn't jumping at your command and you finally looked at me and said, "Mom, stop dawdling."  Papi couldn't believe you knew the word dawdle.  You're such a smartie pants!
• One day I was being kind of silly and said, "Hey boyfriend, what you doing?"  I should've known you'd take it literally.  You looked at me and said, "Yeah, Mommy, you're my girlfriend, huh?"  
• The night we went to the pumpkin patch, you knew Anthony would be there too.  You kept looking for him, but couldn't find him.  I was busy trying to get some food and you finally did not want to be ignored anymore.  In a very concerned voice you came up to me and said, "Mommy, I can't find Anthony.  You have to help me look for him.  He's kind of a brownish color."  It was so cute!
• You were trying to spell boo and saying it out loud, "B-O-O" but your "b" looked more like a "p".  I told you that didn't spell boo and you said, "What does it spell then?"  I couldn't lie to you so I responded, "Poo."  You started laughing, put your cute little hand on my shoulder and said, "Mommy, that's hilarious."  
• You asked me if I knew what tannerize meant.  I said no and you responded, "It means to choke."  I have no idea where that came from.
• Anthony makes a kind of grinding noise with his voice when he eats.  I think it must've gotten him attention when he was younger and now it's a habit.  One day it was bothering you and you said, "Don't eat like that Anthony?  Why do you do that?"  Anthony said, "But I have to."  You responded in a concerned tone, "Oh you do?  Why, because the food it too sugary?"  
• One day you were talking about where everyone was from.  You said, "Mommy's from Salt Lake, Papi's from Argentina, and I'm from Salt Lake City."  Papi asked you where Preston was from.  You said, "Oh, he's from heaven."
• I came home from the gym and was trying to get a drink.  You wanted my attention and apparently I wasn't giving it to you.  You went back to Papi and said, "Mommy always never listens to me."  
• One day we were driving past a little farm that has emus.  You said, "Mommy, do emus 'moo'?"
• I told you we were going to Tony's stake center for his baptism.  You asked me what a stake center was.  I tried to explain the difference between a ward and a stake building.  You said, "Yeah, it's like a mistake.  The mistake center."  
• Were we rolling balls around in the family room one morning and we couldn't find the tennis ball.  You started looking for it and said, "Where is that tennis ball?  It couldn't have gone far.  Tennis balls don't walk.  I hope the ants didn't carry it away."  

Preston Update

Sorry to be so all-or-none with my blogging, but I've got to do it when I have time.  Here's the latest on Mr. Mischief.  

• He discovered the flushing of the toilet and is absolutely obsessed.  I'm pretty sure he flushed the poor toilet 20 times while I was trying to get Dylan's teeth brushed.  I couldn't get him to leave it alone and oh the fit he threw when I finally kicked him out of the bathroom.  
• Preston has a love/hate relationship with the vacuum.  He is so intrigued by the vacuum, but completely afraid of it.  He can be over looking at it and playing around with stuff, but the minute he hears the machine turn on, he turns and runs.  Poor little man!  I finally got him to hold still for a minute so I could put the vacuum wand up to his hand and show him what the vacuum was all about.  I showed him on my hand first and then put it against his hand.  He tried to pull his hand away at first and then once he realized what it did, he looked at me with such relief, then smiled, giggled and stuck his hand out for me to do it again.  It's very possible that he will be slightly less afraid of the vacuum in the near future.  
• He's such a cute little twirler.  He spins around and around until he falls down.  He also loves to bounce and dance and do other cute toddler-type activities.  His favorite is the little bouncing zebra my mom gave him for his first birthday.  He's always enjoyed it, but now that he's a little taller, he bounces and spins around like a pro.  So cute!
• He's starting to say a few more words, but it's pretty much still jibber jabber for the most part.  He really thinks he's talking to you though.  He'll look you right in the eyes and mutter 10-15 words and then shake his head in agreement.  It's the funniest thing ever.  I'm not sure how I should respond.  I want him to learn to speak, but I can't help but say things like "I know" and "Okay" when he tries to talk to me.  I'm sure he's looking for feedback, but I simply know not what he says.  
• Because he doesn't communicate very well yet, he's taken to leading me around by the hand.  He might not even know what he wants, but he takes me up to the refrigerator to look around until he's satisfied that he has what he wants or that what he wants is not in there.  Oh how I follow these boys around!
• When he wants my attention, he just pushes against my legs until I pay attention to him.  It happens the most when I'm in the kitchen.  He'll just inch his way in front of my legs and start pushing me back until I am forced to pay attention to him.  It's usually that he wants to sit up on the counter and help me out, but he's pretty strong.  If he wants my attention, he can definitely find a way to get it.  
• How to sum up the majority of his day?  Tornado of destruction is what comes to me first. My sister-in-law recently commented to me how busy he was.  I guess I had forgotten.  Compared to Dylan, he seems so much more laid back, but mellow and lazy are not the same thing.  He is SUPER busy.  That's the age, I know, but still.  He keeps me on my toes.  He can destroy a room much faster than I can clean one, which would explain why I feel like I am constantly cleaning only to have a messy house.
• One of his favorite things to do is to rearrange the silverware.  It's official, the non-baby-proofed drawers have been discovered.  I keep bibs, baby spoons, and other baby-type items in my third drawer down.  It's a newly organized drawer and Preston found it quickly.  He loves to take all the baby utensils and put them in the top drawer with all the other utensils...all day long.  I may very well go crazy one of these days :)  
• He loves pulling stuff out of drawers, cupboards, boxes, my nightstand, etc. and putting them back however and wherever he sees fit.  He pulls out all the videos, CD's, DVD's and drags them around all day.  He loves pulling the little shapes out of his shape sorter and trying to find the right hole to put them back again.  He pulls books off the shelf and shoves them back in some random place.  Yep, he's my official redecorator, only I do not care for his taste in decorating at all.  
• He loves sweeping and swiffering my kitchen floor.  It drives me crazy, but I try to let him help me out once in a while. 
• He loves sitting in his high chair without the tray.  He wants the freedom of getting up and down by himself, which he is getting very good at.  He's a great little climber and also a pretty good faller, which would explain the many bumps, bruises and scars on his little noggan.   
• He's finally starting to hold still a little better for books.  He's got a couple of absolute favorites that he hauls around with him all the time.  One of them has baby faces on it and oh how he smiles at those little kids.  It's so sweet!  Dylan usually takes a book with him to bed to look at after we've read and I've tucked him in and Preston has started doing the same.  I ask him if he wants to take his book to bed and he goes over to get the book and then waddles back over to the crib for me to lift him up.  When I tuck him in, he smiles and opens the book over his head like a big boy.  It's adorable! 
• He runs away and hides when he knows I need him for something.  This is especially true at bedtime or when I'm trying to get him dressed or put shoes on him.  He thinks it's the funnest game ever!

I'm sure there are a million more, but this will have to do for now.  I just wanted to update the journal portion of my blog while I was thinking about it.  

Dylan Update

Not that you need one since I blog about the kid all the time, but here are a couple of items I wanted to mention for journal's sake.  

• Current obsession: dinosaurs, dinosaurs, and more dinosaurs.  The few dinosaurs we used to have that fit in the animal tote have graduated to their very own dinosaur drawer.  My, how things change.  We check out dinosaur books every time we go to the library.  I must say, I'm getting pretty good at pronouncing dinosaur names and even identifying them.  Dylan's a pro too.  That said, if I have to read Dylan's dinosaur encyclopedia one more time for his bedtime story, I might just scream.  Trying to turn an encyclopedia into a story is quite the chore, although Dylan seems to have a talent for it.  I left him to his encyclopedia while I was brushing Preston's teeth tonight and he was telling quite the story.  That boy's got some creative juice flowing through him.  
• He's afraid of everything right now.  I don't know what kind of phase this is, but he doesn't want to be on another floor without someone there with him, which is hard in a multi-level house.  Luckily, he'll settle for anyone, not just me.  I have watched his smooth-talking many times with both Anthony and Preston.  It's cute to see him take Preston by the hand to go up to the toy room, but I'll take it.  Preston is happy to be included in Dylan's playtime and somehow Dylan is brave enough with Preston there.  
• The boys sleep with a low-watt lamp on at night (again for Dylan's sake).  They haven't been sleeping until 7 lately (which is how long I tell Dylan he has to sleep, although he often ignores my stupid rules), especially the last few nights with daylight savings messing everything up.  So I decided to try something new.  I have no idea if it will work or not because tonight is the first night I have tried it...I'll let you know.  I got out the Christmas tree timer and hooked it up to the lamp.  It's set to go on at 7:30 p.m. (even though bedtime is between 8 and 8:30...I'm hoping to help the boys know it's bedtime that way) and it will turn off at 7:00 a.m.  I told Dylan he needs to stay in bed until the lamp turns off in the morning.  I doubt it'll happen, but at least that way he has a way of knowing what time it is.  The last thing I wanted was to set an alarm, just in case the kids ever sleep in (wishful thinking)

The Office Is Finished...Basically

Oh my word!  I cannot believe it.  The office is finished...basically.  I'm an idiot and got to Home Depot 4 minutes after it closed last Saturday so we still don't have trim for the top of my new shelf and I've got a pile of CD's to sort through still, but it's basically finished!  Hurrah!  Oh, and if I get really ambitious, I may even label my paper shelves so I know what's what (I know...there's that OCD again).  It's such a relief to finally have a decent work space again.  It's the scrapbook/craft/office/kid learning area, but everything has a place and is organized and it's amazing how much space there is on the floor again now that everything is put away.  I was starting to feel claustrophobic in here.  Anyway, here's a basic idea of what it looks like now.   

Space for my papers, albums, and all my scrapbook embellishments...all organized :)

Look at all that work space.  Plenty of room to pretend to be crafty.

Here's the kid desk I put in the corner.  It fit perfectly. Dylan can work on his projects with me downstairs while Preston's napping.  Hopefully it all works out that way at least.

The bookshelves.  Nothing fancy, just cheap bookshelves we've had forever, but they're finally organized.  I've given up on actual book collection, there's just no space for it.  Half of this stuff is preschool learning material.  If I can get around to it, Dylan's going to be one smart cookie with all the stuff my mom has provided.

Now that the office is finished, I'll have to find a new obsession.  I wonder what it will be...new flooring, cleaning the old, yucky carpet, rearranging stuff in the garage, organizing the shed or maybe, just maybe figuring out the food storage area.  How in the world are we supposed to store a year's worth?  I don't know how long we could live on this stuff, but I know it wouldn't be a year and it's taking up a great big section of a pretty good-sized room right now.  I think I might need one of those over-prized shelf reliance systems that rotate your canned goods.  Ah, what serious coin some smart entrepreneurs have made in the "Mormon market".  

I'll be 102...

So my mom always jokes about a phrase my great grandma used to always say.  It starts out, "I'll be 102..." and usually finishes with something like "...I have anything nice", "...the kids stop breaking everything in sight", "...I get some peace".  You get the point.  I remember my mom and aunt both joking about it.  They never need to finish the phrase.  They just say "I'll be 102" and the rest is assumed.  Well, the older I get, the more I understand this phrase.  My boys, though I love them dearly, are boys.  They are rough and tough and rumbly and tumbly and wreck havoc and destruction on my poor home on a daily basis.  Today started out bad.  The entertainment center has two cupboards and a drawer on the bottom and the one cupboard's just had it.  I had Justin, my brother-in-law who's a magic fixer-upper type, put it back together the best he could, but in order to fix it, we had to take off the super awesome toddler magnet locks.  Thus, the once again broken cupboard.  Without the toddler lock, Preston found his way into the cupboard, pulled all the stupid videos out of there for the millionth time, and somehow managed to pull the whole door off and break it again.  Ah man!  It's on its last leg and I'm afraid there's no more "fake" wood left on the poor door to even attempt to fix it.  It might just drive me crazy.  I try to remind myself that they're young and this will pass, but I'm afraid teenagers are not much better than young children.  And then you end up with grandkids around that ruin your house all over again.  Well, I may very well be 102 before I have one nice thing of my very own that nobody touches or ruins! 

The Truth Hurts

I can't believe I'm actually telling this stupid story, but I am.  I'm an open book and this is what's on my mind for the moment.  So here goes.  

I was told by a 4-year-old that I have a big butt today.  That's right!  And just like that too. "You have a big butt" were the exact words that were used.  Well, the truth hurts, doesn't it?  Now I know what you're all thinking...Dylan.  Nope, he's WAY too smart for a comment like that.  He's long since figured out female flattery and uses it as often as possible.  I think he takes after his Papi there.  He tells me he loves my hair or my eyelashes or that I look like a beautiful princess and somewhere deep inside my fragile little ego, I love every second of it.  Nope, it was another little 4-year-old child.  I remember my niece telling me I was fat when Dylan was two days old, but I knew she loved me anyway and I WAS fat.  I had that post-pregnancy jello belly that just sits there and does nothing.  It's a fact of life those first few weeks after a baby is born.  Anyway, back to today.  At first I decided to ignore the comment and hope that she really said something else. Nope!  She continued to repeat herself until I responded.  I'm not sure if she was looking to get a reaction out of me or just really wanted me to know what she thought.  I finally said, "You're right.  I have a big bum and you have a little bum" and left it at that.  I've always been more than a little curvy and have been blessed with what I like to refer to as pioneer genes.  Man, my people could've (and did) survive well on the plains.  We're sturdy women and can keep up with the best of the men.  But that is no excuse.  I've definitely got a few "baby pounds" left to lose. My motivation after I had Preston was just not the same as it was after Dylan was born - I had a lot more on my mind that year.   My extra weight does seem to linger around my butt/hip/thigh area. It's just the way I was built.  Luckily for me, Marcos doesn't seem to mind me a little on the voluptuous side.  Anyway, what's a girl to do after a hard reality check like that?  I took my "big butt" to the gym for a good Body Combat workout as soon as Marcos got home from work.  Baby steps...   You're right, Lis... "just do it" needs to be my new focus too.   

Tony's Baptism

Saturday was Tony's baptism.  Just before we were going to leave for the church, I decided I'd better let Dylan know that I was speaking that day.  Sometimes he freaks out when I leave my seat to go to the podium.  Here's what happened.

M: Dylan, do you know that mommy gets to give a talk at Tony's baptism today?

D: Mommy, I already knowed that.

M (thinking I didn't tell him about that): How did you know that?

D: From my dream.  I had a really good dream last night, Mommy.

M: You did?  What was it about?

D: Tony's baptism.

M: Oh, who baptized him?

D: Grandpa did.  He was all dressed in white.  And you did a really good talk, Mommy.

M:  I did.  Oh good.  Who else was there?

D: Alicia and Nate and Kamyn and Justin and Angie and Connor...  

M:  They were?  

D:  Yeah, and Jesus was there too.  He was watching us over.  

M (with tears in my eyes by now):  I'm glad Jesus was there too.  What a great dream.

D:  Yeah, it made me very happy.

Holy cow, lest we forget how thin the veil really is.  This little experience helped me get through Dylan hanging off of my leg while I lead the music the next day in Primary.  I just kept thinking how innocent he is, despite his tendency to drive me crazy at times.  I love this little boy so much.  He is so close to the spirit!

We got to the church right at 1:30.  There were four boys in Tony's ward who were getting baptized that day. We got started a little late because we were in the wrong building. Two stakes in the area just recently were split into three so nobody really knew what was going on. Once we got to the other building, everything was great. Grandpa Barney baptized and confirmed Tony and it was such a neat experience.  I gave a talk about the gift of the Holy Ghost and it went really well.  I think all the kids (and the adults) felt the spirit really strong.  Tony was so cute with Preston after the program.  He was chasing him around and playing with him. I could feel how clean and pure and innocent he was.  It was amazing!  Afterwards, we went up to my mom and Barney's house for a little luncheon and ended up staying for quite a while visiting with family.  It was a lovely day and I'm so grateful I got to be a part of this special day in Tony's life.  

Melissa and Tony

Tony and Gustavo

Tony just after he was baptized

Grandpa Barney and Tony

So sweet!

Of course Dylan had to hop in one of the pictures!

Saturday Morning

This is what I woke up to on Saturday morning.  Preston was as happy as could be with his full-sized Baby Ruth candy bar.  Silly baby!

Halloween

Halloween was super busy also.  We had a doctor's appointment for Preston down at Primary Children's, which always takes forever.  We dropped Dylan off at Mercedes' house while we went to the appointment and then picked him up afterwards.  Anthony came over at 1:00 p.m. and was at our house until 5:00 p.m.  We went up to a friend's house to show them our costumes and were there for 45 minutes until we had to leave for the trunk-or-treat at the church.  That lasted about half hour and then we went up to my mom and Barney's for dinner and a Halloween party.  Everyone looked darling!  Alicia, Kamyn and Kenya were kangaroos, Melissa was an angel and Tony was some weird guy with his guts coming out (boys seem to love disgusting costumes!), my mom had a cute Halloween tie on, Jett was a dragon, Dylan was a dinosaur, Preston was a tiger, I was a witch and Marcos was an ex-soccer player (that's what he told everyone when they asked if he was a soccer player).  It was all I could do to get that boy to dress up...he doesn't exactly love Halloween.  We went trick-or-treating to a couple of my mom's neighbors to show them our kids in their costumes too, but it started raining so we didn't get too far.  What a fun day!  We were so ready for bed by the time we got home!  

My mom and Kenya the Kangaroo

Grandma and Preston the Tiger

Marcos drinking a grape soda - his favorite!

Nate and Kenya

Melissa and Tony

Our little family

Preston, Victoria and Dylan

Dylan, Preston and Anthony (a.k.a. Jack Sparrow)