Happy Father's Day

I can't let the day pass me by without wishing all the men in my life a happy Father's Day. I love you all! Here are a few pictures I found.

My dad, Mike, with my nephew, Tanner

The grandkids with Grandpa Mike in Yellowstone

My step dad, Barney

Grandpa Barney wrestling kids

My grandpa - we call him Grandpa St. George

The father of my little ones

This is how my kids feel about their "Papi"

2- Black Book, Spanish Class & Soccer Games

If you haven't read the previous post, you'll probably need that information in order to follow this next post. The numbered posts are a sequence of events in mine and Marcos' early relationship. Start with #1 and read them in order.

For those who may not know me, I have a somewhat conflicted personality. I am driven and ambitious, but super tender-hearted. I am direct to a point, but then I stew about what I have said or done for days wondering if I hurt somebody's feelings or should've handled things differently. Constant inner turmoil I cause myself. So after my first two encounters with Marcos, I found myself feeling badly about the whole situation. It wasn't so much a "I wish I had said yes" feeling, but rather a "I hope that wasn't too harsh" type of thing. The poor kid had two major strikes against him. 1. He came off as a total player, which was never a good thing in my book, and 2. I had just broken up with someone I had dated fairly seriously and wasn't at all looking for a relationship. I was definitely wanting some single, fun, hang out with the girls and just be me time. Marcos went out with my sorority sister once and nothing came of it. But I was right. After I turned him down, he was convinced he'd been put in some sort of LD sorority "black book". He still tells that story today. Not true, but that is what he either believes or thinks adds to our crazy story.

Did I mention Marcos worked in the UB? I thought I was going to die when I found out. I basically ran into him several times a day. I have a hard time getting over embarrassing situations like that so luckily he is a much bigger person than I am. Despite being publicly humiliated and "black booked" by me, :) he continued to say hi or wave hello when he'd see me around. Before long, the awkwardness had mostly faded and we were starting to become friends. Winter quarter had started and I had a pretty difficult Spanish literature class that required A LOT of reading. I'm not exactly a great reader in Spanish. I can understand most things I read, but following an entire story - real literature - was not easy for me to do in another language. So...somehow I got up the courage to ask him to help me with my homework one day. I had read the story and answered the questions. I asked him to read the story and make sure I had answered the questions correctly - to sort of correct my paper for me before I turned it in. These were not short stories or very interesting for that matter, but he was crazy (for me that is). Any time spent with me was worth it to him. I must say I took a little advantage of his generosity. I swear I really did my own homework, but it was easy to have him read the story after I'd read it and then paraphrase it for me to make sure I followed it right. He still laughs about how he'd read this long story for me, break it down into English and then I'd respond, "Okay, that's what I thought it said. Thanks for the help." Poor kid! And I was somewhat oblivious to the fact that he could still possibly like me after all the torture I'd put him through, although his kindness and smile were starting to get to me as we got to know each other better.

During the same quarter, my sorority and the Pikes (Pie Kappa Alpha - one of the fraternities on campus) were playing coed soccer together. The Pikes knew Marcos from around the UB and asked him to play with them. I went to support my sorority sisters and ended up seeing Marcos in action. I have to admit he was pretty cute playing soccer. This is where he thinks the story begins. He is convinced I fell for him when I saw his mad soccer skills. :)

1 - Our Story Begins

I have a few friends who have shared the story of how they met, dated, and fell in love with their spouses on their blogs. I LOVED following the progression of their story and learning more about some of my friends. So...with our 10th anniversary approaching, I decided I would do the same. As with most of my posts, I apologize in advance. I tend to be WAY too wordy and can't seem to leave out details even if I want to. For those who already know every last detail or who simply don't care, feel free to skip all this nonsense. :)

Fall is my favorite season!  I love the anxiety and excitement of a new school year, especially when you're in college and have some say over your future - new classes, new teachers, new friends, new possibilities. My story with Marcos started as an average, ordinary Wednesday on campus in the Fall of 1997. I was diligently trekking up the stairs of the Union Building (UB) heading for my afternoon orchestra class. Weber State was in the process of remodeling the Browning Center (fine arts' building) so we got moved to the Ballroom of the UB for a few years (not exactly what you'd call good acoustics, but we made it work). I also happened to be a pledge of LaDianaeda, a local sorority at Weber State. Wednesday was "letters" day, when all Greeks on campus wore their letters and had meetings and activities. With violin in hand and my LD sweatshirt tied around my waist, I headed up the stairway of the UB. Halfway up, I heard someone yell out 
"Hey, Maria!" 
I looked around trying to identifying the owner of the voice, but could not for the life of me see anyone I knew.  Sensing my frustration and rescuing me in the midst of discomfort, Sherice (a girl from my sorority) finally called out from the chairs below, 
"Don't worry, Maria. It's just my friend Marcos."  
Huh?  Why in the world is this dude calling out my name?  
"Oh, okay.  Hey!  What's up?" 
I waved, gave an awkward half-grin and walked to my class. 
What the...what? That was weird.

Two days later, I was studying outside the Greek offices on the other side of the UB. Let me preface this by saying there were at least 50 other people hanging out or studying in the same area. And remember, I'm one of the new girls - I was just a pledge. My best friend, Lisa, was there but other than that, I was just getting to know most of these people. I didn't notice as Marcos approached me and leaned on the arm of my chair.  I turned to see who was there just in time to hear, 
"Hey baby! You want to go out sometime?" 
*Blush* Who is this guy?  Seriously? How embarrassing. How many people just heard that lame come-on?  
I attempted to hide my face, which I'm guessing resembled a tomato at that point, while I muttered, 
"Um, no thanks.  I'm good." 
 Persisting despite my obvious humiliation, he continues, 
"Okay, yeah.  I totally get it. You don't even know me. But you know Sherice. She's in your sorority. We could double with Sherice and her boyfriend, Danny, sometime." 
With a look of complete shock on my face, I manage to somehow say no once again. 

Sensing an opportunity, one of my sorority sisters quickly slips into the conversation and blurts out, 
"I'll go out with you." 
Oh my heck! Could this moment be any more public?

Summer Camp

Dylan and Anthony went to a little summer camp for 2 1/2 hours each morning this week. They had so much fun! They sing, learn about art and do several art projects and they have lots of tactile stations set up for them to play in - water with bubbles, blue sand, red sand, regular sand with seashells they bury and find, a rice table, etc. Dylan has done this camp in the past, but did really well this year. He's finally getting to an age where he follows directions a little bit better. Every day they came home telling me about the fun things they had done, which animal they pretended to be, what snack they ate and their favorite art project. Teacher Amy is so creative - I love the ideas she has. They especially loved the frozen rainbow water (AKA otter pops) that they got at the end of the day. Yesterday night, Teacher Amy had an art exhibit for the families. We went to look at all the things they had made and watched them sing, dance and play a bit. So much fun! Here are a few of the pictures.

Kind of a weird picture but the only one I got with his face showing. He was playing in front of me the whole time so most of the pictures I took were either blurry because he was mid-air or have his back to me. This was taken as he was crunching into "chipmunk" position.

Anthony bouncing around the room

Squirrels finding nuts for the winter

Preston thought the singing, dancing and jumping around was the coolest thing ever!

I'm excited to put him in the toddler class this fall.

I can finally do something with just Preston while Dylan is at school.

Here he is waving his scarf around in the air.

More scarf action - I think this was the song where the scarves were flower petals that eventually grew on the seeds

Loving life!

Turtles

Cloud and paint bubble pictures

Wooden snakes

Dylan's house

Fish keychains they made

Paper sunflowers

Dylan's First Flight

We have an AWESOME home teacher who works on planes and plans on becoming a military pilot. He's been flying for quite awhile and offered to take us up in a small plane with him sometime. Of course my spontaneous husband jumped at the opportunity and Dylan was thrilled as well. I decided since there was only room for 4, that I would stay on the ground with Preston. Dylan invited his cousin, Tony, to go so he wouldn't be sitting alone in the backseat of the plane. The weather has been so crazy that they had to reschedule a couple of times, but they finally found an afternoon that would work - in the middle of two storms. They ended up coming back a little sooner than they had planned when they got word of a storm coming in, but they had a really good ride before that happened. Dylan was so excited and Marcos even got to take a turn flying the plane. CRAZY! At one point, Jeff (the pilot) took them up really high and then let's the plane go and you feel like you're floating. That made Dylan a little nervous, but other than that he did great. Preston and I ended up running all the errands I hadn't been able to get around to that week - poor kid doesn't know what he was missing. The guys all went to dinner afterwards and then headed back home. When they got back, they informed me they're already planning their next flight. What an awesome experience for all of them! Thanks Jeff!

Chuck E Cheese

I'm a bit behind and it's not even my fault. My computer - well the internet really - has been so slow and I'm not sure what's going on. We're trying to figure out what to do. We've been down-sizing monthly bills, not adding to them, so I'm reluctant to search for another company, but I think it's been long enough ago since we got this good deal on phone and internet that our upload speed is not where it should be. Plus, supposedly there's actually a problem with our phone line and of course nobody (including me) wants to fix it. So I've been frustrated and decided the time it takes to do all this was just not worth it. Today is a medium speed day so I'm going to attempt to catch up a couple things. Here we go!

I'm not really a big fan of Chuck E Cheese. It's loud, impersonal and makes me a little crazy trying to keep track of my bag, the kids, food, drinks, my camera - you name it. And call me crazy, but I think it's a little too much like gambling. Kids put coin after coin in hoping to win tickets for the cheapest prizes ever. We have tried to teach our kids that you get a few coins for machines and then you're done - not the never-ending supply of playing fun, but it's not easy to find the balance. In general, we don't frequent places like Chuck E Cheese...but Anthony's 4th birthday party was at Chuck E Cheese this year and the kids loved it. Preston was a bit nervous about a giant mouse that talked and pretty much couldn't take his eyes off him the whole time. Anthony, Dylan and some other friends had a blast dancing in front of the screen and seeing themselves on TV. Here are some pictures from the party.

Riding a roller-coaster simulator machine - Preston was intrigued and then decided he was done halfway through the ride. Dylan was so nervous when I unbuckled the seatbelt before the ride ended. I guess that's one rule he's got down pretty well.

Dylan taking the bike flier thing up in the air.

Preston not at all impressed with this car. Putting coins in the games and pulling tickets off was his favorite part.

Anthony asked Dylan to help him open his gifts - so cute!

This is Anthony's excited face when he opened the walkie talkies from my kids.

Dylan and Chuck E Cheese

The kids with Chuck E Cheese

Preston playing ball - he's got quite the arm

He hasn't quite figured out the underhand throw yet

A Stunning Senior Moment

I was always taught to respect my elders and even if I sometimes have to smile to myself at a grandparent's "old fashioned" ways, I would NEVER talk down to a senior citizen.  They've seen and experienced far more than I could ever hope to.  I got this in an email, but wanted to post it here.  In case you can't read the text to the side of the picture, you can read it below.

A self-important college freshman walking along the beach took it upon himself to explain to a senior citizen resting on the steps why it was impossible for the older generation to understand his generation.  "You grew up in a different world, actually an almost primitive on" the student said loud enough for others to hear.  "The young people of today grew up with television, jet planes, space travel, man walking on the moon.  We have nuclear energy, ships and cell phones, computers with light speed...and many more."  After a brief silence, the senior citizen responded as follows.  "You're right son.  We didn't have those things when we were young...so we invented them.  Now, you arrogant little sh*t what are you doing for the next generation?  The applause was amazing!  

Fun Filled Week

So I pulled myself together a bit, hunkered down and got some work done Monday morning.  I did laundry, cleaned all three bathrooms and got the kitchen tidied up a bit.  Then I spent the rest of the day running errands while I had my mom's truck.  I bought and planted three fruit trees, dropped off our old shelves at two different locations (and of course ended up chatting in the process) and then went to pick up an awesome play cabin for the kids from my cousin, Lisa.  It was late Monday night by the time I headed up to get the cabin and of course it starts pouring rain.  I'm in this HUGE, old pickup truck that I don't know how to drive and there are flash floods all around me.  Not the most relaxing of drives - and of course I had Dylan in the truck next to me asking a million questions as always.  Hard to concentrate!  There was a major power outage so half the stop lights were out on the way.  Quite the slow journey!  When I got to her house, it was barely raining, but of course starting pouring down again as we were loading the truck.  It took the two of us probably 3-5 minutes to load the truck and we were DRENCHED!  She is seriously one of my favorite people.  She is actually my dad's cousin, but closer to me in age.  I totally remember wishing I could be like Lisa when I was a little kid. She is so sweet and so  much fun!  Anyway, we were laughing so hard trying to load the truck.  I was in capris and flip flops, sliding all over the place.  I had to strip down in her house and wear an old sweatshirt of hers home so I wouldn't freeze.  Dylan was cute.  He asked me if I was okay and I told him I was wet, but that Lisa and I were just laughing about it.  Then he says, "Why, is she your sister or something?"  Maybe I only laugh when I'm with my sisters.  Who knows?  Cute though.  Thank you so much, Lisa!  We got it assembled Tuesday afternoon and the kids have been playing in it ever since.  

Tuesday my mom picked us up for a day at the planetarium.  It was originally supposed to be a campout with grandpa, but the weather changed that plan and then grandpa had to get some sprinklers fixed before the cement was poured this weekend so grandma took over the play date.  It was so much fun!  My mom commented to someone how she forgets how hard my job is because she's not with young kids all day.  She usually just has my 8-year-old nephew after school for a couple hours.  I had to laugh since it was a pretty easy and "good" day over all.  Not really a stressful day for me.  :)  We ate lunch, watched the deep ocean show in 3D (which Preston slept through - BONUS!).  The show was awesome, treats were yummy and the kids were well behaved.  Then the kids played around on all the cool science stuff and got to choose a gift from the gift shop.  Dylan picked a dinosaur...surprise, surprise.  We were ready to go, but hadn't made it to the fountains so we changed the kids and let them run through the fountains for a bit and then had some ice cream.  Such a fun day with grandma!

Planetarium

 

Fountain and Ice Cream

 

Wednesday we hung out at home and didn't get much accomplished during the day.  The fun part this day was the recognition of how fun our neighborhood is becoming.  A couple years ago we didn't feel like we knew our neighbors very well, but as Dylan is getting older, it's becoming such a fun place for him to play.  There aren't a ton of kids, but plenty, and they all play so cute together.  Pretty much since the weather changed, the kids play outside together after school.  I can only imagine what the summer is going to be like.  It's also helped the adults get to know each other better because we're always out there chatting while the kids play.  Wednesday afternoon eight kids ended up in the backyard checking out the cabin and playing.  At one point Dylan turns to me and says, "This is kind of like a party, huh mom?"  Funny!  They ended up going inside to play in the toy room for a bit.  Whenever that happens, Dylan slips into host mode.  He started handing out apples to all the kids for what he called "snack time".  I came in to find the fridge wide open and half my fruit gone.  I took all the apples back, washed them and cut them so everyone could share a little easier.  He's so funny!  He LOVES having people over.  I sat there on the deck watching them and just had to smile.  It does my heart well to remember all the fun I had as a kid running around with my friends in the summer and it looks like that's how it's going to be for my kids too.  Plus I love that the kids in the neighborhood feel welcome enough to want to hang out here.  That's exactly what Marcos and I want our home to be - a loving, safe environment where others feel welcome.  

Thursday Marcos was off work since he was working Saturday.  We decided to go down to the children's museum and then let the kids run through the fountains again.  We had a great time just hanging out as a family.  Dylan had been there before with abuela, but I never had.  It's a cute place and was easy to keep track of the kids with Marcos' help :)

Children's Museum

 

Fountain Fun - Part 2

Friday my sister, Angie, came down to hang out.  Her husband has been helping my mom and step dad with their cement and she needed to get the kids out of the house for awhile.  On her way out the door, my sister, Alicia, called to ask if we could dog sit while she was out of town so Angie brought us Alicia's dog, Belle.  Dylan was ecstatic when he heard that we would be watching her for a few days.  We took the kids to a pizza place nearby that has video games and stuff for the kids to play on.  My kids LOVE that place - probably because of the toys.  After that we played at our house for a bit while Preston took a nap.  Marcos and Dylan were supposed to be flying with a friend of ours in a small plane that evening, but when the weather changed and the storm was coming in, the plans changed.  We had a good time hanging out and chatting.  Angie's the sister closest in age to me, but she lives in Idaho.  I miss her so much!  She was always my best friend growing up and I can still tell her anything.  

Belle

Today I was trying to decide if I was going to be lazy or productive all by myself when Marcos' mom called to invite us to Cherry Hill.  We ended up meeting there at lunch time, eating pizza that abuela bought, and then playing for about three hours.  The kids had so much fun and got along so well.  Plus no one was there.  I had forgotten about the air show this afternoon.  I'm pretty sure everyone was out watching the Thunder Birds while we played in the pool. :)  We had a great time, but were pretty beat by about 3:00 so I took Preston home for a nap.  Dylan and I watched part of the Thunder Birds show from our house while Preston was napping.  It was AWESOME!  Later on, Marcos and I played our final soccer game.  The other team forfeited putting us 2nd to last in the tournament. :)  Hurray to us!  We ended up playing another team for fun.  Much less pressure.  We actually played really well.  It's been a really fun thing for Marcos and I to do together - a nightmare to coordinate babysitters, but fun for us as a couple.  

Cherry Hill

Thunder Birds

Dylan's Last Week Of Preschool

We were so blessed to find a school and teacher that Dylan loved this year.  It was a little further than I would have liked, but was still totally worth it.  Teacher Jana is so creative and has such great curriculum set up for the kids.  Dylan has had so much fun learning, playing and making friends this year.  Last week, Dylan had one final day of real preschool.  The following day, teacher Jana had a big carnival for all three of her classes.  It was a blast!  She had lemonade, cotton candy, a bounce house, a ring toss game, a parachute game, water balloon game, face painting, animal ballon making and pinatas for the kids to bust open.  They had so much fun playing!  It was a great way to end the year.  

The following afternoon was Dylan's preschool graduation.  Seriously, I am such a flippin' baby!  I was crying just thinking about it.  Marcos thinks it's funny to ask me why I'm crying so that everyone can hear when I start to get choked up and am still trying to be somewhat discrete.  Mean!  Honestly, let me see if I can pull myself together before you point it out to everyone.  Luckily the teacher was a little misty herself so I blended in with her just fine.  I can't imagine being the teacher knowing that's the last time you'll teach that group of little ones.  Holy cow...I would be a mess.  Anyway, graduation was no disappointment either.  The kids marched in one by one in their cap and gowns and received their diploma.  She played a movie of the class throughout the year and then gave them each little books with a picture of them on one of the days for each letter they learned throughout the year (like bubble day, camping day, train day, etc.)  It is the cutest thing ever and a perfect memory of his preschool experience!  She also had cute cookies she made for refreshments.  Of course, the kids finished out their day on the playground at "recess".  Here are a few pictures from his last week at preschool.

Cotton candy

Preston loving the slide and his animal balloon

The parachute game

Taking a break - playing at a carnival is pretty hard work!

Dylan's graduation

Dylan with his book and DVD

The cute refreshments (suns, ice cream cones, feet and other cute summery shapes)

Hanna and Dylan

This is one of Dylan's favorite "girlfriends" from preschool

If Kambrie decides to marry Karson, this is who Dylan says he'll marry instead :)

The Adventure Continues...

How's a mom supposed to be on strike when her children are being eaten by spiders?  Just kidding.  Seriously though, things got worse before they got better, but I'm going to get through it.  I had one of those "crazy mom" moments Friday, but I think I'm past it now.  Thanks for all the well wishes, understanding, and super generous offers to watch my kids.  I'm really going to take you up on your offer when I don't have Anthony, Brandy.  Right now I'm trying to re-prioritize my life to somehow include me in the mix.  Kind of hard to do, but I'm going to work on it.  Blogging is such a break from day to day life for me that I'll probably still be around plenty, but I have reorganized things so that I make sure I get the most important things done first (like scriptures, prayer, temple attendance and other self-boosting needs that I neglect far too often).  So if you don't hear from me for a few days here and there, I'm either catching up on my scripture reading or I've gone completely crazy. :)

Okay...don't freak out!  Dylan got this bite from my mom's house, not from ours so I think it is still safe to visit our home.  My kids' blood somehow seems to have a Bella Swan-like reaction on insects.  Completely irresistible!  Unfortunately, my children also seem to have a real sensitivity to their bites.  After watching Dylan's arm grow and grow (from Sunday night to Monday afternoon), the skin become super sensitive and hot to the touch and then find out he had developed a low-grade fever (100-ish), I took him to the doctor.  He started treating him for an infection, drew a line on his arm where the red marks were and told us to come back if the lines were going up his arm any further.  Sure enough, by 10:00 last night, his arm was swollen about two inches past his elbow and the red marks were following.  I was still thinking he would probably be fine, but my worry-prone husband decided Dylan was going to lose his arm if we didn't take him back in.  Honestly, how did I become the CALM and rational one in the family?  Not good!  The second doc said he would probably be fine once the antibiotics kicked in, but gave us steroids to slow the swelling and told us he is probably really sensitive/allergic to insect bites in general and this may just be what happens to my kids when they get bit.  GREAT!  So there's probably an infection and he also had a pretty major reaction to the histamine.  Either way, we're treating both.  But scary!  At least he doesn't seem to be one of the tiny percentage of kids that need epi-pens for bug bites.  His breathing stayed normal the whole time.  So...we've already had someone spray for spiders this year, I'm calling again to have the house resprayed and I'm buying spider traps.  Apparently there is such a thing.  Never seen them, but I'm going out in the morning to find me some.  

Here are a few of the pictures I took.  Again it's hard to get a picture that really shows just how bad it was.  Remember Popeye's arms?  Well, that's what Dylan's left forearm looked like yesterday - only really red too.  It's still quite swollen today, but it's starting to go down so hopefully he doesn't look too crazy when I take him out in public. 

Yesterday morning

What his normal arm looked like when we took him to the doc

The arm with the bite

This was his arm at 10:30 last night

Hard to see, but the swelling goes halfway up his upper arm

Mom On Strike

I've had it!  I've seriously had it.  Kids not minding, husband working late all the time, grumpy attitudes all over the place, to do list growing and growing no matter how hard I try.  I can't watch even one show on TV - I'm too busy with the kids, we're watching a cartoon or Marcos comes home and takes over possession of the remote.  I gave up possession of my radio to my children a few weeks ago and am quite sure I will not be getting that back any time soon.  It's Bob the Builder and Bear Necessities over and over in the Uboldi car.  I can't find a moment for myself.  Marcos got home tonight at 8:00 - just in time to tuck the kids in bed - and then informed me his soccer game was at 8:50.  Nice!  He can work late and still find "me" time, but I can't seem to.  Someone is always around or needing something.  I just want a boring night all to myself - or with my friends.  I thought about up and quitting my 24/7 job that pays a big fat nothing, but I know how prone to extreme measures I am (especially on days that I'm feeling rather hormonal) and that I would eventually feel guilty.  So I'm not quitting...I'm just going on strike until further notice.  To even begin negotiations with the ungrateful union, I have a few expectations that need to be met.  They include more love, support, and appreciation, less whining, fewer tantrums and more minding.  Until further notice, the following is a list of the tasks I will not be performing until my needs have been met.

No more laundry - stain removal, washing, drying, hanging, folding and ironing.  No more cooking, fixing or preparing meals.  No more loading, washing or putting away dishes.  No more scrubbing, scouring and polishing.  No more vacuuming, dusting, sweeping or mopping.  And no more cleaning icky boy bathrooms.  No more sorting and organizing mail.  No more paying bills, calling to get better prices and taking care of EVERYTHING that has to do with money and accounts.  No more errands, coupon cutting and grocery store shopping.  No more kid taxi driver.  No doctor, dentist or other appointments.  No planting, weeding, pruning or watering of the garden.  No more extra projects.  No more building and painting and fixing and deciding.  No more reading and teaching and playing.  No more parks and swimming and museums and the zoo.  NO MORE!  If you need me, I will be sitting on the couch watching movies and eating bon bons.  After all, that's what most people think we stay-at-home moms do all day anyway.