Semi-Annual Clothing Project

The other day, I ventured out to finally pull some weeds and try to make the yard look a little more presentable.  Next thing you know, I was in the shed pulling everything out, cleaning and rearranging.  Honestly, can I not just do one project at a time?  That turned into the cleaning of the garage, which is now a huge mess.  We're going to build a few shelves in there so until that is done, I was sorting through everything, which of course lead me to the semi-annual changing of the clothes project.  The dreaded but necessary process that mothers must go through.  Holy moly, between washing, sorting, piling, folding, hanging and organizing, I was working on those clothes for three days straight.  But I'm happy to announce that it's finally complete.  The kids now have closets with clothes hung in outfits (because Marcos and Dylan aren't the best at choosing outfits) and then a drawer of play clothes folded in outfits as well as pajamas and all the other kid things that end up in drawers.  But it's pretty much done.  It was way more overwhelming than I thought it would be.  We are so blessed to have not only Dylan's old clothes, but clothes from my other nephews and now from Anthony (for Preston).  So there were quite a few things to sort through and redistribute.  But hey, at least it's one more thing I can cross off my list.  Now if I can just get the other 100 things crossed off, I'll be caught up :)

This is pretty much how multiple rooms in my house looked for a few days while I sorted through everything

Oh, I hate living in chaos!

The closet with all the newly organized clothes

It doesn't look like much, but they're all clean and hung in outfits - a truly wonderful thing

Total High

Marcos and I just got back from our soccer game.  Our team lost, but guess what.  I scored a freaking goal!  That's right, I did it.  And girl goals are worth 2 points.  Wa-hoo!  Actually he and I both scored.  I am on such a high right now.  Maybe I can actually learn this game.  Our team played really well together so we're showing promise. The best part is that we did it together.  I was so excited when I scored.  I started running down the field to Marcos and he just lifted me up in the air.  Definitely one of our cute, crazy "Uboldi" moments.  We're both such geeks!  Anyway, this could be a really good bonding thing for us.  I'm totally psyched!  

Coed Soccer

Weird angle courtesy of Dylan the photographer

Marcos and I were asked to play coed soccer by a friend in our ward.  I've never played soccer before and neither have many of the players on our team so we are not exactly good.  We have had three games, but I've only been to one (I had to help Anthony's family for the first game and the second game was over Easter weekend and apparently we forfeited.  We didn't even know we had a game).  But despite our less than superior skills, it was still really fun to play.  Marcos is the seasoned veteran and has taken it upon himself to train our team.  We did get better by the end of the game last week so I'm praying there's hope for us after all.  Basically it's something we can do together and helps me get in one guaranteed workout a week, but man do I get nervous.  The butterflies I had in my stomach before the game last week were unreal.  I am so flippin' competitive!  Anyway, wish us luck.  Only a few hours to game time and I'm already freaking out!

The Toddler Adventures Continue

This is what happens when my 5-year-old decides he wants to do an art project and finds his own art supplies (a Sharpie marker) and then leaves the art supplies out for my 2-year-old to discover.  Need I say more?  Thank goodness for magic eraser.

  

This doesn't do the mess justice at all.  There was marker EVERYWHERE!

A very sad Preston sitting on timeout.  

(Notice the marker all over his arm - it was on his shirt too, but you can't tell from the picture)

HUH?

I just dropped Dylan off at preschool and saw something that caught my attention.  A young guy was standing on the corner of the street listening to his ipod.  I was at the light and figured he was waiting to cross the street.  A couple minutes of his standing in one place went by when I realized he was grasping his hands tightly and holding them out the side - as if he were holding a sign.  Huh?  I looked again and yep, that's what it looked like to me.  It reminded me a little bit of the Emperor's New Clothes.  I'm not sure if the guy really thought he had a sign in his hands or if anybody else did, but I certainly didn't see one.  Maybe it was some sort of social experiment.  I probably failed.  Anyway, odd things happen when you take the time to notice.  Made me smile though - and think - so I guess it served a purpose for me.  

The Cure To A Bad Day

The crew getting ready for our drive to SLC

Feeding the baby ducks at the park

Liv's darling baby, Soren

Maria and Liv

This post is a little retrospective in nature, but I still wanted to put it on the blog.  If you all recall, last week was a little blah for me.  I got through it, but it was not pleasant (just ask Marcos).  He's been working longer hours (for the same pay) and putting in some hours at a little part-time job so I can stay home.  A blessing, but a sacrifice on both our parts.  Two nights a week, he is usually not home until the kids are in bed (or almost) and the other nights vary.  He also has had a few crazy situations come up on the weekends that had to be dealt with immediately.  He's usually not on call, but once in awhile there's nothing he can do.  A family emergency is a family emergency and when you're the social worker, it probably involves you.  It's especially difficult when the family doesn't speak English and needs help communicating.  Anyway, two weekends in a row he ended up working (plus got called back to solve a problem in the evening).  I also felt like I was falling further behind with EVERYTHING because of the remodeling stuff.  My bad days never seemed to end so he told me he would take off on Friday so we could start painting upstairs.  When Friday rolled around, I was tending Anthony and feeling lazy and unmotivated so we switched directions.  We decided to go pick out our laminate flooring (again - I'm so indecisive on this one) in SLC and stop by to see my grandma.  I didn't even think to check first, but it was her "hair day" so she was going to be gone most of the day.  Plan B: I called a friend of mine who happened to take the day off work to catch up on some things herself.  Wa-hoo, it was meant to be! We decided to meet up at a park and go walking.  My wonderful husband watched the kids on the playground while Liv (pronounced "leave") and I walked around talking and catching up.  Liv is such a good friend to me.  We are seriously the most unlikely pair (she's hip and trendy and I'm plain and simple, which is only the beginning of the list).  You'd have to know the history to understand, but it was a rough start before we realized we were more alike than different.  It's amazing what can happen when you get to know someone instead of just assuming you already do.  Anyway, over the years, she has become one of my best friends.  She's way too busy to read blogs so she'll probably never see this, but I just had to mention her.  I am blessed to have some really great friends and to have so many family members who I also consider my friends.  Sometimes you just need someone who you know will listen, understand and love you no matter what is going on.  My best friend, Lisa, is the same way.  Poor thing gets a frantic phone call every time I'm going crazy, which unfortunately for her is quite often. :) Anyway, enough rambling.   

The following is my own personal list for curing a bad day:

• an understanding and supportive husband (unless he's the cause of your bad day)
  
• a little distance from the kids (watching them play and smiling at them from afar without the responsibility of taking care of them was perfect)
• sweet baby ducklings
• completely blowing off responsibilities to play
• lunch out (it wasn't planned, but I didn't pack a picnic so we ate off the dollar menu at Wendy's)
• a nice, long walk to get the blood flowing
• a perfect conversation/vent session with an old and trusted friend (you know the kind where you pick up where you left off and leave it again when you have to because life just flows that easily between good friends)
• oh, and weather - good weather doesn't hurt either :)

Well, that's what worked for me at least.  Thank you Marcos for understanding me when I'm crazy and allowing me the "girl time" I need.  I don't know too many men that would take a day off of work just to let his wife catch up with a friend.  And thanks to Liv (and all my other friends) for always being there to let me gripe or give me advice or whatever it is I need.  I wouldn't make it through this life without my peeps!

Well It Finally Happened...

...my baby became a toddler.  I know, it's been happening for awhile and I was just in denial, but I think it's pretty much official now.  My perfect, precious little baby is becoming more and more like a miniature little boy lately.  He took longer and is a much milder version of what Dylan was as a toddler, but it's still happening.  Here are a few of the latest events (proof if you will) that pulled me out of denial and into reality.  To start my day yesterday, I walked downstairs to find Preston's whole bowl of Trix and milk all over the floor (at least it's not carpet anymore).  He was giggling about it.  After some cleanup, I went up to shower and walked out of my room to find the entire basket of lotions, sunscreens, baby shampoo and all that junk (there's a lot in there) all over the floor in his room plus all the diapers pulled off of their shelf. Later that day, he unrolled the entire roll of toilet paper and had stuffed a good portion of it in the toilet. Disgusting cleanup job for mommy yet once again, a big old grin from the naughty little monkey.  The next morning while I was showering, he completely emptied three drawers in my bedroom and I had just finished the laundry.  There were socks and garments everywhere!  Honestly child, can't I just take a shower without needing to watch you.  Not only is he a fast-acting tornado of destruction, he also has plenty of other toddler-like behavior like throwing fits when something doesn't go his way, chucking something when he's mad, and deciding something someone else has is much better than the one he has.  He also has this weird habit of keeping juice/milk/water in his mouth with his cheeks puffed up before he swallows it.  He's done it for awhile so it's something we're just used to now, but when he's done with the drink he'll just spit the liquid out one mouthful at a time until he's soaking wet. It's usually not obvious he's spitting; he just gradually lets the liquid spill out of his mouth, which makes it virtually impossible to catch him in action.  It's especially annoying when you're driving in the car.  You arrive at your destination only to discover that his sippy cup is empty and his shirt is completely soaked through.  So I'm gearing up mentally to handle this new this piece of mischief that resides in the bedroom next to mine.  Hopefully we survive this great transition into childhood without too many tears (from either of us). ;)

The innocent look before the spitting begins

In his crib for a timeout

Just one disaster that I had to clean up that day

Dylan, Dylan, Dylan

What can I say? This kid keeps me busy. He wakes up early and is going non-stop all day. He's my active little monkey. Dylan is protective, loving, curious, funny, smart and charming all rolled into one really adorable 5-year-old boy. However, his intellectual level far exceeds his emotional level, which often leaves us both feeling frustrated. He's quick to react (overreact) and can be super stubborn, which is why some days I think I may literally go crazy. But I love my Dylan: the good, the bad and the ugly. Here is just another Dylan story to add to the collection.

He's been quite the helper with all the remodeling around here and has been so excited about carrying tools around. The first really helpful thing he did was glue a couple of leftover pieces of baseboard to the wall of the garage. Yep, I guess he thought it would look good. It's still there - I can't seem to pry them off. A few days later, he colored me a lovely picture and wanted to hang it up. I thought that meant on the refrigerator with a magnet. Of course not. I am in the process of rehanging pictures after painting (it's been a slow process because I think I need a few changes with pictures and decorations, but I'm slow to commit to anything). Anyway, I'm smart enough to put away the hammer, but apparently he found a nail on the table and used his own hammer from his toolbox to hang his lovely drawing in my bedroom for me to see. AHHH! I know it could be way worse, but all this happened while I was changing the laundry. Imagine if I let that kid out of my sight for a full half hour. Oh that damage that could be done. Well, I wasn't exactly happy about either helpful idea by Dylan, but had to take a couple pictures to remember the momentous occasions.

Dying Easter Eggs (a little late)

Here are a few pictures from our late session of Easter egg dying (it took place a couple days after Easter, but at least it happened). Dylan couldn't wait any longer so we let him stay up a little late and die the eggs after we put Preston down. I feel a little bad not making it a big family thing, but it would've been such a mess with Preston trying to die eggs that it's probably better we did it this way. Dylan was so excited about all the colors, the crayon, the stickers...pretty much everything.

Random Pictures

Here are some random pictures that I've taken over the past couple of months that I just haven't been able to share yet.  I thought I'd throw them all together in one post to help me catch up a little bit faster.

Grandpa Mike, Grandma Suzanne, Preston and Dylan

My dad and Suzanne came up to take the boys (and us) to dinner to celebrate their birthdays.  After dinner, they came back to the house for a few minutes and gave the boys each their presents (a recorder and a savings bond).  The boys loved their gift and couldn't wait to start making music!

Preston trying out his new instrument

Dylan already playing like a pro

An awesome kick by Dylan during the practice before their soccer game

(notice poor Preston hanging out behind - the kid wants to play so badly)

Popsicles and pajamas (Tanner, Preston, Connor & Dylan)

Dylan and Tony sledding (at the end of March)

Tony and Connor on the sled

Climbing trees

Sleepover, extra friends and starting a band

My darling Preston

Kenya

Laura and Milli

Movies (a.k.a. surviving the remodel)

Preston fell asleep on the 4 wheeler in Idaho all bundled up

We transfered him to the couch and he continued his nap in comfort

A picnic in the family room

(I'm praying this doesn't mean 7 years of bad luck)

Hot wheels tracks that Dylan got for his birthday

We had to test the track out all over the house (this one went from the pantry to the counter and then jumped off onto the ground - pretty awesome!)

Worth Watching

I just watched a video that really impressed me.  Youtube was wigging out on me so I found the link here.  http://hillel.harvard.edu/media/videos/550  It's basically an LDS girl named Rachel Esplin from Blackfoot, ID participating in a religious panel at Harvard.  It's not short so watch it when you have some time (I think it's around 20 minutes) but it was well worth watching for me.  Just thought I'd share for those of you who may be interested.  

Sweet Moment

I just had to share this picture.  This evening we went on a little family walk to get me a much needed soda but mainly just to get out and do something that wasn't on the "To Do" list.  We came back, gave the kids a bath while I read a couple books to them (always multi-tasking - I'm such a freak!), and then decided to start our family scripture reading back up.  Preston runs around giggling the whole time, but Dylan actually listens pretty well and follows the story (although it's hard to finish reading with all the questions and comments he has - man that kid can talk).  Anyway, it was just what we needed to readjust our priorities again.  The kids were hugging and snuggling after their bath so I ran to get the camera.  When I came back, Marcos had the picture of Jesus and was showing it to the kids.  We took it off our wall a while back when Dylan was afraid at night and put it in their room because it really seemed to comfort him.  I'm going to find a picture of Christ with children in it one of these days and make it a little more permanent, but for now it's this floating picture that moves around to different locations in their bedroom.  Both of the kids are quite cute and loving with this picture of Jesus (the way all kids seem to be with their young, innocent faith) but Preston is so darling.  He LOVES giving Jesus (Gee-zah as he says it) kisses and caressing his face with his little hand.  I took a couple pictures of his tender moment loving our Savior and this one was my favorite.  I love how Preston is looking right into His eyes and gently putting his hands on the sides of his face.  It's amazing to me that no matter how difficult life becomes, there are always magical spiritual moments waiting to greet you if you will just slow down and look for them.  

Finding Balance

I hate posting when things aren't going my way, but I do it anyway.  I suppose it's therapeutic and one day will be good for my family to know just how real life was for me.  For some reason, almost everyone I talk to or read about in out in the blogosphere is feeling down, depressed, sick, tired and overwhelmed.  Blame it on the economy, the winter that will never end or even hormones, but it seems to be affecting a whole bunch of people.  Things have been busy, crazy and overwhelming here too.  It's times like these when you need some help, but somehow it seems like instead of asking for help I'm offering it.  I mean, what do you do when everyone else around you is struggling too?  Everyone I know is busy and overwhelmed and has too much on their plate.  There have been so many tasks and so many people to help, that I haven't had one second to think about myself.  It's amazing how quickly your cup depletes when you don't take a few moments to fill it back up.  My patience is running so thin and I hate that.  Like too many of my friends, I think I need a major break, but cannot seem to fit one in.  Here are some of the things that are out of whack right now.  

• I have no patience for this remodeling project - but I need patience
• Our routine is off
• I haven't been to the gym in way too long
• I haven't found enough time for scriptures/prayer/meditation
• My kids get into everything and just are not minding me lately (which I'm sure has something to do with the interruption in our routine but still - I could go crazy here)
• I "refound" the few pounds I lost before all this chaos began (but what do you expect with no gym time and so much crappy food?)
• I feel so overwhelmed about some of the news I received about my children that it practically consumes me some days
• I feel so afraid and so protective of my kids that I feel like I can't let them into the real world right now
• Anthony's mom is sick.  It's not my place to talk about her situation, but she is not doing well. As one of his main care givers, what all this means and how he is reacting to it is very stressful and difficult to deal with.  

I could go on and on, but I won't.  I hate feeling this way and I hate talking about it even worse, but I want to journal about my whole life, which right now is way out of whack.  I can't seem to find the balance that I so desperately need.  I'm a planner by nature so here's my plan.  I'm going to try to fit in my spiritual moments, get back to the gym, and get a routine back with my kids so I will be better prepared to have patience with the end of this remodeling project.  And I'll pray for sun so we can get out of the dang house once in awhile.  Wish me luck!

Preston's Birthday Parties

Okay, so I'm going to try to catch up for a minute while Preston's sleeping. Preston turned 2 on March 15. He is just such a happy little guy. We were actually in Idaho on his birthday so we had a cake at Angie and Justin's house and sang to him. The following Thursday we had a Diego party with Marcos' family at our house. It was really fun. He had his favorite dinner "pee-pa" and then we kept the games simple for him. Toss the ball in the box and a duck pond. Holy cow, that kid LOVES ducks! He wants to get the little pool and ducks out every day. Marcos' aunt was in town and brought some of Dylan and Preston's 2nd cousins, Gianluca and Allegra. He didn't quite grasp blowing out the candles, but make more of an "f" sound when he blew. It's okay though because he had plenty of help. He got a couple really cute summer outfits from abuela and his cousins too. It was a great party!  Here's a little collage I put together with some of the pictures from that day.

 

It seemed impossible to get together with my mom's side of the family and do a party. My mom had him open his present one day when we were there, but it just didn't seem the same so yesterday after our little Easter dinner, we had his late birthday party to open the presents from the cousins. He got a little bath toy that's a basketball, some balls and a bubble lawn mower. He was the happiest kid ever! We hooked the bath toy onto the back sliding door and it's all he's played with for two days now. Good times!  Here's the collage from the party at my mom's house.

 

Next year I need to simplify a little bit. I think we'll just do cake and ice cream with family when we get together for dinner and then do a small combined friend party (if Preston even cares about having friends over yet). It's getting a little too hard to try to do big family parties and there are so many cousins that are quite a few years apart so it makes it hard to figure out how to do that. Hopefully that will work. I feel like we were having birthday parties for a month and a half. Time to simplify!

Save A Horse...

Just had to share a little story with everyone.  I'm going to get caught up with blogging soon, but in the meantime, I don't want to forget some of the little things that have happened.  We were driving in the car and I was having a bit of a bad day.  I cranked up the radio hoping that would help.  I didn't think twice about it, but Big and Rich's song Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy came on. No sooner does the chorus come on than I hear Dylan's little voice from the backseat.  

D: Mom, why do they say that?

M: (Uh-oh, think quick)  They're just being silly, bud.

D:  No Mom, but why do they say save a horse?

M:  (Not knowing how to explain) It's just a silly song, bud.  

D:  No, but why do they say SAVE a horse?  Was he is danger or something?

M: Hmmm, could be.  Good thinking, bud.  (phew)

I guess I escaped that one without too much damage.  I really try to be a good mom, but there are times that I wonder what I am doing to my poor children.  

Stop Spending Our Future

I received an email today that I wanted to share.  This is usually the easiest way for me to do that.  It's 3 short videos about the infamous bailout.  Just thought I'd put the link here for anyone who wants to see them http://www.stopspendingourfuture.org/#  I've been pretty worried about spending more money to solve a problem that came from too much spending in the first place.  Probably not the best idea.  

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! No our project is not finished, but I'm posting anyway. Thought I'd throw you off a bit. Honestly I haven't had much time to think about Easter. I'm pretty sure my brain is rebelling against me for all that I'm trying to do at once and now it just seems like I'm not with it at all. Hopefully the real me comes back sooner than later. Luckily the Easter Bunny remembered to show up at our house. That could've been a disaster. We did, however, forget to actually die our Easter eggs. We're going to do it post-Easter for family night. Better late than never I figure. Anyway, this week was another crazy one. Tending Anthony overnight while his mom's in the hospital, tending a neighbor kid whose mom needed to help someone else while their child had surgery, more painting, a 50th birthday party/girls' night out and a wedding reception Friday night, two birthday parties for four family members (two on my side of the family and two on Marcos' side) Saturday and then Easter. Oh, and Marcos got called into work at 11:00 p.m. Saturday night so I was on my own to clean up from my busy week, get Easter ready, and prepare all my Sunday stuff (I'd been thinking about primary, but hadn't found a good plan for singing time yet). Oh well, we're just getting used to the chaos now so it seems pretty normal to live in survival mode non-stop. Poor Marcos didn't get home until around 2:30 a.m. (when I was starting to fall asleep) and he still had to work on his lesson. He went to bed around 4:30. So let's just say we were a little less than enthusiastic when 6 a.m. rolled around and two bouncy, excited children sprung into the room. I tried to make them lay down and watch a movie first, but it didn't last long. Before you knew it, we were headed downstairs to check out the loot and search for plastic Easter eggs (since the real ones aren't died yet). Last night before we put the kids to bed we talked about the Easter story and the resurrection. I'm glad we at least got to put some spiritual moments into our chaotic life. I didn't even think about Easter outfits either so I was trying to match up the closest spring-type outfits I could for the boys this morning. Luckily we did get a couple somewhat decent family pictures too since another thing on my "To Do" list is getting new pictures taken. At least we have something until I get around to making an appointment to get new pictures taken. Anyway, this morning Preston basically wanted to play with a water squirter toy and the phone abuela gave him (Marcos' mom sent cute Easter stuff home with us after the birthday party last night - a phone for Preston, a dragon kite for Dylan and a basket with a fishing game and candy in for the boys to share - it was perfect!). Dylan's favorite part was finding eggs. He doesn't mind sharing, he doesn't care about the candy, he just wants to run around finding as many eggs as possible. And it works well because Preston maybe found 2 - and that was with help and much coaxing. He's way too easily distracted for finding eggs. The best part of everything was church. Preston is a gabber these days so he's a little noisy, but both boys were so well behaved today. Sacrament was incredible! I love Easter songs and I sang out with my whole heart while both boys sat more or less quietly the whole time. Primary went well too. Dylan came up to try to help me a couple of times, but sat back down when I asked him to and didn't throw a huge fit. I had some technical difficulties with my CD player, but one of the primary workers found another player at the last minute (like Brandy said, "a true Easter miracle.") My singing time wasn't perfect, but it went okay and all the kids were pretty quiet and trying to participate. I felt the spirit so strongly, which was the best part of all. Anyway, I just wanted to share a bit of our Easter with everyone. All kidding aside, I love this day. I am so grateful for a Savior who came to earth, who showed us how to live by example and who was willing to atone for our sins and die for us. And I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that He was resurrected - that He lives - and that we have that same opportunity to be resurrected and live again after we die. Happy Easter!

This is how the morning started - completely exhausted

Marcos was trying to film, but could not stay awake

I wonder what the footage looks like :)

Preston finding an egg

Dylan finding eggs (look how full his basket is)

Preston hauling around his new phone

Preston's water squirter (notice the cute basket next to him from abuela)

Dylan checking out his goods

Preston's loot

Dylan's loot

Mommy with her precious boys

My guys

Still exhausted, but happy and surviving together