The Invisible Mother

I got this from my cousin, Gail's blog, who got it from a friend of hers.  I loved it and wanted to repost it here.  So I'm not sure who to give the credit to, but here it is anyway. She also had a way cool post about Abraham Lincoln that you can see on her blog if you so desire.  Good stuff!

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response,the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously, not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? & can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?'; I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England .. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there,looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.' In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.' At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.
When I really think about it, I don't want my daughter to tell the friend she's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want her to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to her friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it here.'
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot see if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Poor Little Preston

Sometimes with a big brother like Dylan, you end up in the shadows a bit.  That's at least my maternal fear with my little Preston.  Preston is my mellow, loving little peacemaker.  He is exactly what this family needed!  He is a happy little dude and just content to live life and learn things as he goes.  He is overall a healthy little boy, but has had many referrals to different doctors and specialists.  Everything is pretty minor, but it still makes me feel bad for the little guy.  But he's tough and he's tolerant.  He is truly such a blessing!  The kid seems to attract bad luck though.  I know it happens to all little kids, but seriously...it is hard to keep him safe! Most of the time he just doesn't pay attention.  He has a habit of looking back at people as  he walks away so he is constantly running into things and getting hurt.  Last week, his "owie" of the day was my fault though and it was a doozy.  I was getting him a piece of candy from the candy jar (which is basically old Halloween candy - gross I know, but it's fun for them to have a treat even if it's 5 months old). The candy jar happens to be a heavy glass jar with a lid that weighs like 7 pounds.  Why?  I don't know.  Someone gave it to us for our wedding.  As I was getting the jar down, the lid slipped off and flew across the room with lightning speed.  The handle hit him right on the eyebrow, bounced off and hit him on the top of the head.  Poor little dude!  He had a huge bruise on his eyebrow and it's hard to tell from the pictures, but he also had a big old bump on the top of his head. But with Preston, all it took was a love from mom and a sucker and he was back to his cheerful self once again.   

Pajama Party

I should've taken a picture with kids in it so you could see it better, but it was cool!

The boys' pajama party

Last Thursday, Dylan had snowman day at preschool.  They were out playing in the snow and it was a nice day so we decided to continue the fun at home.  Dylan wanted a snow fort so we set out to build one.  Preston was shoveling water from the gutter that was trapped between the two massive piles of snow, but was easy to keep an eye on.  Needless to say, I was sweating and the kids were soaking wet with dirty slush and water by the time we were finished with our outdoor fun.  I stripped them both down and headed up for a bath before dinner.  I knew Dylan would fight me on pajamas at 5:00, but I didn't want to go through another outfit so I came up with an excuse for early pajamas - a pajama party.  I had a stake Relief Society dinner and fireside so it was perfect for the boys at home.  We made pancakes and eggs and Dylan had Marcos get changed into pajamas when he got home from work.  Dylan LOVED it and thought it was a planned party.  Brilliant!  Marcos said they had so much fun playing together that evening.  It's amazing how cheap a fun family activity can be if you use your head a bit.  We usually don't and end up spending money on something stupid, but this time we were smart about it.  So if you ever have soaking wet kids that need a bath WAY before bedtime, just have a pretend pajama party that evening and they'll think life is great.  :)

Another Big Coupon Week

I know, I know.  I'm such a geek for blogging about groceries, but I cannot help myself.  I get such a high from saving money when I'm used to spending and wasting it :)  Last week was a pretty awesome coupon week.  This is my picture of most of the groceries I bought.  I forgot to include some of my regular groceries like milk in the picture.  But it was my best savings week percentage-wise.  I spent $59.51 and saved $291.56.  That's 83% savings!  Here's what my $59 bought.  

• 8 brownie mixes
• 12 cake mixes
• 35 boxes of fruit snacks
• 5 boxes of granola bars
• 2 bags of chex mix
• 20 cans of soup
• 8 cans of pillsbury biscuits
• 6 cans of pillsbury crescent rolls
• 4 cans of pillsbury cinnamon rolls 
• 2 tubs of ice cream
• 4 packages of sliced cheese
• 8 loaves of bread (our favorite kind was on sale so I'm freezing some

plus regular stuff I needed 

• 2 gallons of milk
• 2 tubs of clorox wipes
• 1 scrub brush
• scrub brush refills

Dylan's Tooth

Tuesday morning, Dylan came running up the stairs screaming and crying. He'd done something to his tooth. He was playing dinosaur and biting on something and pulled the tooth loose. I called the dentist worried and wondering what to do, but apparently he's old enough that it was probably going to come loose anyway. What? How did my kid get old enough to have a loose tooth. Dylan was devastated and cried for the better part of the morning. I got a few tears at the idea of my baby growing up too. By preschool that afternoon, he decided he liked the idea of a loose tooth. Great! I kept telling him not to touch it in case it could harden back up again. I still thought a loose tooth before his 5th birthday was premature. So last night, Dylan comes running downstairs from his bedroom. Again I thought he was just trying to get out of going to bed, but nope, he came to tell us his tooth fell out. Oh man, here we go! Luckily the tooth fairy, busy as she was, didn't forget to come to our house, and Dylan was thrilled this morning when he found money under his pillow. Although, if you know Dylan's little inquisitive mind at all, you will understand how my morning went. Mom, why does the tooth fairy want to give me money? Why does she need all those teeth? Does she have a lot of babies or something? Do the babies need my baby teeth? Can she fly? Is the tooth fairy a girl or a boy? I can't even tell you how many of those questions we went through this morning. I don't really have great answers for any of them, but was trying to wing it. I told him we could get a book and read more about the tooth fairy. Any suggestions? He wants some answers here. Then he informed me that his other bottom tooth is loose ... and sure enough, it is. There goes my baby! He's going to have permanent teeth grow in before he starts kindergarten. That kid does everything way too early! No wonder he wants to play with the 8 year olds. :) Here are a couple pictures of the momentous occasion.  

Dylan's new toothless grin

Checking out his lost-tooth look in the mirror

The tooth

I'm So Done!

This is pretty much how I felt too.

My little snowman.

Dylan loving the snow.  

It's hard to tell in the picture, but the snow was almost to his waist.

Our big snow pile.  I wish I would've zoomed out a bit so you could've gotten a better idea of the massive amounts of snow.  As you can see, the pile was almost as tall as my car.

I get so excited the first time it snows.  I get all geared up to build snowmen and snow forts and have fun snowball fights with the kids.  It gets me in the Christmas spirit (provided it snows before Christmas).  It's really fun...and then it's not.  So I'm to the it's not fun part now.  I'm so over the snow and am seriously ready for spring.  Now that I'm a big, mature grownup, I sometimes wonder what in the world I'm doing in Utah since I feel like I need a warm vacation spot after the first two storms.  Yesterday there was a HUGE storm here.  It seems it didn't hit hard everywhere, but I was one of the lucky ones.  Yep, and of course I had a big errand day too. Preschool, doctor appointments, grocery store...  What was I thinking?  Luckily I made it through the crazy storm safe and sound and got home with my groceries with an hour and a half to spare before I had people over for a coupon class.  I had just spoken to Marcos, who informed me he'd be a little late (again!)  I clicked the garage door opener, turned my steering wheel and hit the brakes with lightning speed.  The stupid city snow plows had blocked me out again.  Freak!  I've got Preston in the backseat crying, a trunk full of groceries, Dylan begging to go to the neighbor's house, tidying up to do, refreshments to bake, dinner to fix, and I hadn't gotten ready for the day, which I thought might be a good idea with guests coming over.  Oh well, here we go.  I got my boots on, grabbed all the gear, got Dylan out and got him in snow pants, coat, hat, boots and gloves and then did the same with Preston.  I grabbed my trusty shovel (heaven forbid we get a snowblower - it's like 93rd on the list of things to buy) and started to heave snow onto the already humungous pile.  Let me just say it was the heaviest, wettest snow ever!  Holy crud! I did not think I was going to make it.  Oh, side note.  Dylan is now whining about going down to the neighbor's house who has a 4-wheeler with a plow on it because he's let him ride on it before.  I finally ignored him enough that he just walked over there himself.  By this point, Preston was feeling much as I was.  He couldn't even pick his feet up with all the gear on and the snow was so deep he kept falling over.  I finally resorted to undressing him, grabbing a sippy cup and putting on a Baby Einstein video for him.  At least I knew he would sit still that way.  Back to the task at hand.  Shovel, shovel, I don't think I'm lifting properly because this is killing my back, shovel, shovel.  And then, voila, a ward member just shows up in his shorts and boots with a shovel and starts helping me.  What the heck!  So I let him.  As much as I hate help, I knew it would be twice as fast with both of us and I needed to buy some time.  I guess if you look helpless enough, eventually people come to your aid.  Next thing I know, a neighbor two doors down comes over with his snowblower and minutes later, I've got Dylan back.  He's recruited the 4-wheeler plow guy to come help with the driveway. Oh, how embarrassing!  But at least they got the job done.  At this point, my hair is dripping and I'm so tired.  I thank everyone shyly, get my groceries in the house, peel off my wet clothes and get to work on the rest of my night.  I kid you not, Marcos walked in two minutes later.  Perfect timing!  Then when I need his help most, he sits outside talking to all of the friendly neighbors. Okay, important, but bad timing.  I had SO much to do and it had just been one of those days. Anyway, I finished pretty much right when people arrived and ran upstairs to sort of fix my hair.  I didn't have time to change clothes though, but no big deal.  The bottom 8 inches of my jeans were wet, but whatever.  This is WAY longer than I had anticipated, but I had to share. I just need the spring.  I need some sun, kids that aren't cooped up and a little less shoveling/begging for help.  Oh, and we got the friendly little postman notice today that says we will not be receiving mail until we clear a path to our mailbox.  Nice!  I HATE the city plow people. Other cities plow curb to curb.  It's a law.  Here, they plow all the snow to the end of the cul-de-sac (poor people at the end), back up and do it again and call it good.  Oh, I forgot that part.  On my way to take Dylan to preschool the guy was there plowing.  I'm sure it was his first time too.  Holy cow.  I was at the stop sign and he backs up the street and about hits me.  Now I can't just pull out into traffic with slippery streets and get killed, but he was seriously not looking at all.  I honk.  He keeps coming.  I honk again.  He's still coming full speed.  Four horn honks it took to get any reaction from him.  I don't know if he had the radio cranked up or what, but really.  You're going to back up a street without even looking behind you?  I don't care if it is a cul-de-sac - people still might be there. Okay, enough.  I just had to vent a little.  I swear I'm trying to have a better attitude, but sometimes you just need to vent.  

AAADD

This was an email I received that I thought I'd share here.  Apparently my age is catching up with me because this describes most of my days plus some added kid chaos.  Sad, but true.

Recently, I was diagnosed with A. A. A. D. D. -- Age Activated Attention

Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:

I decide to wash my car. As I start toward the garage, I notice that there
is mail on the hall table.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the trash can
under the table, and notice that the trash can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the trash first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out
the trash anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one check left

My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go to my desk where I
find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so
that I don't accidentally knock it over.

I see that the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the
refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the coke a vase of flowers on the counter
catches my eye--they need to be watered.

I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses that
I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water
the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a containerwith water and
suddenly I spot the TV remote.

Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the
remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to
put it back in the den whereit belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

So I splash some water on the flowers, but most of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up
the spill.

Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day: the car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there
is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter, the flowers aren't watered,
there is still only one check in my checkbook, I can't find the remote, I
can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really
baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'mreally tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get somehelp for it,
but first I'll check my e-mail.

GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY.
GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL
LAUGHING AT YOURSELF IS THERAPEUTIC!

FHE

Tonight we had a pretty good family night thanks to an idea I found here. It was the first lesson listed under faith and was pretty good for young children. Here's the basic idea. There was a little poem about faith we read, then the kids touched some beans, smelled an orange, saw a picture of the prophet, heard a whistle, and tasted sugar. Then I held up a picture of Christ and talked about how even though we can't touch, smell, see or hear Jesus we know He lives and that is called faith. We read Matthew 20:17 - the mustard seed scripture - and talked about how small a mustard seed is and used a measuring tape to show how big a mustard seed can grow when it becomes a tree. So it was a pretty good experience and Dylan's prayer was cute. I think he used the word wonderful 20 times - wonderful family, wonderful night, wonderful blessings, wonderful family night - but at least he was showing his gratitude! Now before you think how lucky we are to have such inspiring family nights, let me tell you the rest of the story. Dylan loves to be my helper (part of the problem he's had in Primary) and basically just loves to be in charge. Before I could even get started he was interrupting me a million times with his questions about giving a lesson. The first time he asked me if he could give the lesson, I was touched with my son's eagerness to participate in spiritual matters and quickly agreed. We were blessed with a less-than-inspiring lesson on animals and then voted on whether or not we should watch Planet Earth. He hasn't quite caught on to the fact that family night should have some spiritual undertone. So tonight he was begging to give the lesson so we compromised. I would give my lesson and then after we finished, we would have a family night lesson by Dylan on rodeos. Hey, whatever works. It helped him listen and participate. So here is a picture of the second family night that took place in the Uboldi home this lovely evening. We built a rodeo from the jenga blocks and then the kids took turns riding on mine and Marcos' backs. I just pray that down the road they remember more about family night than rodeos. :)

Playing Animal Shelter

Dylan has a never-ending imagination.  I don't have to give him ideas of what to play (although I often have to remind him of the rules of the house).  The kid has plenty of ideas to spare. Today, after his homework, he decided he wanted to play animal shelter.  It's a long story, but about a year ago when I was working, Marcos had the kids and decided to take them to the animal shelter.  They were all practically in tears when they left.  I will not be visiting until we are ready for a pet because my heart is far to tender to have big brown eyes staring me down. Now that's where Dylan talks about going to buy a pet (which for now we've told him is when he's 10 years old - we'll see how it goes).  Anyway, I was folding laundry and had the kids' hamper out so after I bought "Dylan the little puppy", it was his kennel.  He whined and whimpered until I let him out.  No big deal - I don't mind playing a role once in awhile. Anthony woke up from his nap and I was in hopes that Dylan's need for me would now be over.  Nope, the roles just shifted.  Could I have been the little kid buying a dog? Or even the cashier? Nope, I got to be the dog because they needed to buy a big dog they could ride on.  Anthony got to be the cashier who helped with all the crap Dylan bought for me.  During all the excitement, I slipped away to straighten up the kitchen and was promptly reminded that dogs do not stand. So my afternoon has been on my hands and knees carrying stuffed animals in my teeth during our games of fetch.  Ah, the things I do for my children! 

Tagged

Rules:
1. go to the document/ my pictures site on your computer
2. go to your sixth file
3. go to your sixth picture
4. blog about it
5. tag 6 people


This was fun.  My computer's a little different in storing pictures so I treated each month as a file (since that's how my PC used to store them).  This was the sixth picture in my "folder". My sweet husband, Marcos (how appropriate since it's Valentine's Day).  This picture was taken the day of the Bairgutsman (the crazy 12 + mile up the mountain race I ran in August).  I'm not sure who took the picture, but it was either Dylan or a friend he saw at the race - I hadn't crossed the finish line yet.  So here is Marcos... sweet, happy, helpful, loving...and waiting with our precious children for me to finish another crazy goal of mine.  Doesn't that just tell all!  I love you, Marcos!   

I tag:

1. Laura P.

2. Laura T.

3. Lisa

4. Courtney

5. Tiffany

6. Ann

Yellowstone Trip

We're back from Yellowstone and I'm up in the middle of the night blogging about it when I should be catching up on some sleep. But anyway, it was super fun.  I'll try to give the condensed version without leaving out anything important.  

The first night we had dinner as a big group.  There were my sisters and their families, my dad, Suzanne (my step mom), and six of their friends with three more kids.  I think there were 27 total, but my count might be off.  It was so much fun to get together as a big group in the activities' room and hang out.  After dinner we brought down a cake and present and sang to my dad whose birthday was the day before.  He was totally surprised, which was awesome!  

The next morning, we had a snow coach pick us all up at 8 am and take us through the park.  It was amazing to have a guided tour with such an awesome tour guide.  He knew so much about all the little trivial things you would never notice.  It was so informative and fun to be able to take even the little kids with us through the park in the snow.  Dylan was a sponge - as usual -and could not get enough of the animal and nature talk from Doug (the guide).  One of the kids who came with us was the co-pilot and before long, Dylan was the co-co-pilot sitting up there with him.  He was best friends with Doug in no time.  They were true kindred zoologist spirits! We ate lunch in a yuert (warming dome thing) at Old Faithful and spent some time there. Most of the group took a walk after we watched Old Faithful in action, but it was nap time so I hung out with Marcos while Preston took a short nap on my lap (it was all we got nap-wise that day). We went on a little hike with Doug and learned all about geysers and ancient bacteria and physics and chemistry that I really should remember, but didn't.  So cool!  We got back to the condo at 5pm, made dinner and headed to the pool for a couple hours.  Preston took a minute to warm up to the idea and then couldn't get enough of the water.  That night we gave Connor his month-late birthday present.  We hadn't seen them since New Year's.  It was the Geo Trax airport and he loved it! 

Morning number two, we woke up early and got the guys packed up and on their snowmobile trip.  Apparently there were some issues with climbing difficult hills and rolling off of machines, but I'll leave that for the guys to tell.  They had a great time and came back around 1pm for half of us to head out.  Nate, Alicia, Marcos and I went out for a couple hours and holy cow it was AWESOME!  I forgot how much I love the great outdoors.  I really am just a sporty chick deep down!  I have to say I impressed my hubby with my so-called "skill" and daring moves.  The kid kept egging me on trying to pass me.   I mean, what's a girl to do?  Nate found a couple of play spots for us that were awesome. He found a huge hill to climb and went on up. After he came down, I tried to get Marcos to go up and finally decided to hold my breath and go for it.  SO BRAVE!  What an adrenaline rush, not to mention earning major bragging rights with Marcos.  After a few minutes I was able to convince Alicia and then Marcos to try it and I'm glad I did.  It was pretty cool!  Then Mr. Confident followed Nate up a little side road, didn't lean his weight and ended up riding off the side of a little hill into a patch of trees.  We were chest-deep in snow trying to dig the machine out and ride away, but no harm was done.  Just a little eating of humble pie by Marcos.  :)  We headed back with some serious speed and switched the other half machines so they could go for a ride.  Melissa apparently had a little sinking moment in the snow when she followed Justin off the path for a minute.  Good times! We had another delicious meal (Melissa and I shared a condo so we cooked together) and headed to the pool yet again.  After that, Tony and Dylan went to Grandma and Grandpa's condo to listen to the wolves howl and have some birthday cake.  Everyone was exhausted after tending kids, playing on the snowmobiles and swimming so we headed to bed.  

In the morning, the guys decided to go for a ride again. A little more than we had planned, but I'm glad we decided to do it.  The girls stayed back to be mommies (sometimes you've got to sacrifice a bit, but we've got a serious girls' night out coming after this) while the guys (and my dad, Suzanne and their friends) headed up to Two Top.  They said it was awesome.  Apparently Justin and Marcos rode their machines on some ice so I'm glad I wasn't there to freak out about it.  Good guy bonding though so I'm glad Marcos could go with them.  We got together to have cake and hang out in our condos together.  It was fun chatting, but the snowmobilers were exhausted and we were pretty much done too.  That day was a little long in the condos with the kids and trying to clean and pack.  Melissa and I took our kids and headed to a gift shop to see what we could find and get out for a bit.  Angie headed home that night (in a huge snowstorm) and Melissa and I tended Alicia's kids while she and Nate went to the store (basically so she could have a little break after a long day).  We went to the pool until 9pm and then got the kids to bed again.  

The last morning we got up, packed up our things and got ready to go.  We said goodbye to Dad, Suzanne, Barry & Lisa and headed over to a bear and wolf preserve.  They actually have a cool program where kids 5 and up can hide the food for the bears to find and eat, but it wasn't until later so we just looked around.  I kept the kids (mine and Tony) at the exhibit while Marcos and Melissa headed back to help Nate pack up the truck.  Nate, Alicia and their kids came over to look around, we got a couple things at the gift shop and headed out.  We hit a couple of snow flurries, but it wasn't as bad as we were expecting.  We made it home in one piece, after several bathroom breaks and a lunch stop, got partially unpacked and put the kids to bed (which took forever because Dylan and I had a talk about being nice to ALL the cousins and hurting Tony's feelings and it turned into a sob-fest, major remorse, and apologizing on the phone to Tony). After that, Marcos and I stayed up way too late catching up on some of the recorded shows we missed and then when I should've gone to bed, I came down to blog about it all. :)  So there's the short version.  It was awesome time spent with family and friends! I'm so grateful Dad and Suzanne invited us and were able to provide such a nice trip for all of us.  Thanks again!  There were too many pictures to try to post so you can find a bunch of them HERE.  

Dreaded Questions

Okay, maybe the more appropriate term is annoying questions.  I'm not sure.  Today I received a phone call needing some information on Preston.  I had to "register" him so to speak.  I won't get into that right now though...maybe later.  The point is, we got to the part where they give you the little disclaimer that the state wants to know (since I'm sure people get mad about it) and then they asked if he was Hispanic.  I hate questions that try to fit people into some pre-defined category for statistics purposes.  I kind of paused and said, "Well, I guess yes technically.  My husband is from Argentina so I think he would be considered half Hispanic." I'm guessing she checked her little box and moved on. For me, it's a little more complicated.  I think in many people's mind being "Hispanic" means you're from Mexico, are probably here illegally, have tan skin and  don't speak English (or at least not very well).  For us, it's none of those.  My kids look much more Caucasian than Hispanic, Marcos was born in Argentina, lived in several different countries and since he came to the United States, was always here legally. Our children do understand Spanish (and speak it to some degree) but we both speak English very good (I mean well) ;)  But Marcos is very proud of his heritage and doesn't want part of our children dismissed from a checkbox answer.  So they'll probably think I'm crazy when I bring in my child after registering him as Hispanic.  I haven't had to deal with this a lot yet, but I'm sure I will once Dylan starts school.  Actually, I think Dylan was marked as Caucasian when we got his tonsils taken out, but not from anything I filled out.  They must've marked it themselves.  Marcos and I have talked about it a lot and still aren't sure what to do - check both boxes?  Check other?  Check Hispanic?  Check Caucasian?  I mean, even Obama who everyone talks about being black is really half black and half white.  I hate race and ethnicity questions for this very reason.  I'm not sure what this post is...just my venting about stupid things that shouldn't matter.  But it bugs me.  Enough said!  

Preston's Big Find

I was rearranging some things in the garage yesterday while the kids were playing in the yard and ended up bringing in a couple of baby things.  The plan is to put them in the shed or maybe even in my mom's storage (since she has more space).  We don't have a very big garage and not much storage space either...I was just being my usual slightly OCD self moving and reorganizing things.  I left this bouncy chair sitting next to the door, walked upstairs for a minute and this is what I found when I returned.  My "baby" in his new favorite chair.  He looked at me, smiled and said, "Ni-night".  Cute little stink!  I pulled him out of that poor chair bending with his big boy weight five times before I finally put it out of sight so he wouldn't be so tempted by it.  Kids are so funny.  I can't get him to sit in the high chair anymore, but he wants to sit in the baby bouncer.  

Tender Mercies

I debated back and forth between sharing this story, but was prompted to share it during church today so I feel like it's okay.  

Last night we had tucked the kids in and I was downstairs on the computer trying to finish up my preparations for singing time today.  Dylan's been horrible about staying in his bed lately so it's one of those hold your breath and hope for the best after we get the kids in bed.  Sure enough, he comes wandering down the stairs.  He practically ignored Marcos on the couch when he warned him to get back to bed.  Thankfully I was preparing spiritual things and so a little more patient than normal.  I told him to go back to bed and waited calmly.  He said, "But Mom, I want to tell you something."  Let me preface this by saying he does this ALL the time and usually throws out some random fact or story, but I decided to listen to him before taking him back to bed.  "Okay bud, what did you want to tell me?"  He responded in the sweetest, most innocent voice I've ever heard, "Mom, I heard Heavenly Father spoke to me."  I'm not sure what that does to you reading this, but hearing my child say it, my stomach jumped into my throat.  It's not at all what I was expecting.  I said, "What did He say to you?"  He replied, "He was just loving me, Mom.  He told me to sleep well and not to be afraid."  Holy cow, I was floored.  Of course the water works turned on immediately and I hugged him and told him that was great.  Then he said, "Goodnight Mom, I'm going to go back to bed now."  What the heck? How grateful I am for the tender mercies of the Lord and for my children who are so close to heaven that I don't even realize it most of the time.  It was truly a sweet, sweet moment that I hope to never forget.  It gives me such hope that someone loves, understands and appreciates my children even more than I do.  Sometimes I forget this partnership I have with the Lord to help raise HIS children.  Hopefully with the Lord's help and our earthly efforts we can raise our children in a way that would be pleasing to Him.  Sorry to ramble, but my heart is so full.  It truly was a special moment.