Blog Award

I could hardly believe my eyes when I was reading my friend Tiffany's blog to find out she was nominating me for this blog award.  I have no idea what it means (I think it may be in Portuguese), but it's flattering that someone out there thinks my blog is worth reading.  I'm passing it along to Gail.  Gail is my first cousin once removed...I think.  My dad and her husband are cousins.  Gail posts often about anything and everything.  She has a great family and is always there for them.  She is always honest and stays true to who she is as a person.  So for what it's worth, here's this very fun blog award.

Crazy Coupon Week

Here's the mess I made in my food storage area this week.  Now I've got to reorganize and find space for this crap.  They had a crazy awesome sale at Albertson's and I spent some time and major money stocking up on some staples around our house.  I'm not great at this yet, but I'm learning.  It was a good enough sale on items my mom uses that I even went once for her, along with my own two trips.  So here's the damage this week.  I spent $299.82 ($105.58 was for my mom) and saved $652.84.  It ended up being about 68.5% savings and that was with quite a few regular groceries mixed in with the sale items.  Not too shabby.  That included a bunch of baby items that were only 20% off, but I was out of baby wash, lotion and wanted some diapers so I got some stuff from that sale too.  Kind of chaotic trying to check out with millions of coupons, but the few I forgot, they gave me cash for at customer service.  I figure I don't need to buy laundry detergent, fabric softener or dish soap for probably a year and many of the other items like diapers, paper towels, and toilet paper for 3-4 months.  Hopefully.  It's hard to estimate this stuff, but I sure like not paying full price.  Hurray to coupons! 

We're Going To Yellowstone

Yep, you heard me right.  My dad and step mom are taking us to Yellowstone.  They've got a time share so we'll have a couple condos and rent some snowmobiles to ride while we're there. My dad's also getting two of those coaches (big vans with skis on them) so we can take all the kids into the park without freezing our patooties off.  We told Dylan and he is so excited - it's all he can talk about.  When are we going to Redston? (sometimes he calls it Redstone - I guess he feels like it flows better than Yellowstone). That's a lot of days.  Oh, it's before my birthday.  Good.  Will we be back for my birthday party?  I'm going to have a dinosaur birthday party.  Are we going to see buffalo? What other animals are there?  Is it like a real park?  What kind of park is it?  Does it have a playground?  Can I drive the snowmobile?  Do I get to ride it?  Is there a swimming pool?  Really? Can we go swimming?  Do we get to sleep there? How many nights?  Wow, that's a lot.  Who's going?  Do I get to have a sleepover with my cousins?  Did I mention his new habit of nonstop talking?  It's almost more than a mom can take. His mind just keeps going and going and his mouth follows suit.  Anyway, we are so excited to finally have something that resembles a real vacation and not just visiting family somewhere. We'll have to take turns going out on the machines, but my sisters and their kids are all going so we should have enough adults to balance moments of fun with those of responsibility.  We're just as excited to stay in a condo and go swimming as we are for the rest of the trip.  Anyway, I just thought I'd share our excitement.  

Library Experience

Today I took the kids to the library to get some new books.  Dylan loves the library because they have a never-ending selection of dinosaur books.  There was a class of mentally disabled teenagers who were there reading, many of them by the children's books.  One boy introduced himself to me.  His name was Phillip.  He kept asking me who my kids were and when he found out I had two boys he told me how lucky I was because he has two sisters that are always bothering him.  It was so cute!  Dylan showed him how many books we had in our basket and told him that most of them were dinosaur books.  Phillip thought that was pretty cool. It was the sweetest thing ever.  I'm sure Dylan didn't even realize that intellectually Phillip was probably only about 6 years old, although he was physically around 15.  To Dylan all that mattered is that he was a boy who was interested in him and willing to listen to how much he liked dinosaurs.  And everything that Dylan said he liked, the boy agreed with.  Phillip told Dylan he really like fire trucks and Dylan said, "Yeah, they're pretty q-el (that's how he says cool)."  Dylan brought him a book and said, "Look at this dinosaur book I'm getting today." With a look of true appreciation, Phillip responded with, "Wow, that's great."  Oh how sweet it was for me to watch the interaction.  Both innocent souls connecting and caring about what the other had to say, not just trying to shut the other up or hurry along because there was no time to talk.  Even when we went to check out, Dylan was commenting about the older boy that was talking to him. It was truly a precious moment that I hope I never forget.   

Child Labor

Marcos has been working late a lot the last month or so.  What with the crazy economy and frozen job salaries, no matching of 401 K's, etc. he's just playing it safe.  And since Anthony (the little boy I've tended 2-3 times a week since before he could walk) just started preschool, my little part-time income just got slashed by 2/3.  So while Marcos was out bringing home the bacon, I decided I'd better get outside while the sun was shining and try to move some of that slightly slushy ice off of our driveway before another storm hit (or before it froze again).  I was out there with my helpers when two more showed up from across the street.  I swear some day we'll be the ones who help others instead of always needing help.  They're such good kids who are always so sweet to my kids.  We've been quite blessed in the neighbor department.  So here it is - evidence of my own use of child labor :)

Here's Preston shoveling away

(you've got to train them young)

My hard worker, Dylan

My work crew

Have You Ever Been The One...

people feel sorry for?  Hmm...okay, probably everyone has, but not in the way I mean.  I honestly can't believe I'm writing this, but I feel like a bit of a fraud posting all my pictures of the past few weeks and not really talking.  The reason I was not talking is I didn't know what to say.  It's been a freaking hard month or two and I can't tell you exactly why - it just has.  I'm trying to refocus with personal and spiritual goals, but it's still all I can do to not lose it.  Part of it is frustration with my kids - behavior, worries about this development or that, stupid perfectionist attitude that makes me feel like an incompetent mother - and the other part is just me.  I'm so flippin' hard on myself when I don't do everything perfectly, which is obviously always.  Hello, we're not going to be perfect in this life, we're just supposed to strive to be. Anyway, Sunday was the moment.  New primary teachers, room full of nervous and excited kids sitting with their new classes, new song to learn with a great singing time all planned out (along with much of the year thought out and laid out on paper).  Okay, I think you get the picture. But for some reason Dylan did not want to sit with his class.  I think he was nervous about being in the "5-year-old" class because he's not 5 year, nervous about a new teacher, not to mention a whole new section to sit in.  Or maybe it's a control thing or maybe he just wants to torture his mother.  Who knows?  If you do, please advise so I can help him get through primary a little bit better.  So I should've understood and just let his behavior go.  I sat with him during sharing time and then went to do singing time and I've got my little shadow not only following me around, but clinging to my leg, saying he hates church, and who knows what else.  A few times when that's happened, I've given the cue to the primary president to take him to Marcos, but Marcos was teaching his first Gospel Doctrine lesson (his new calling).  Holy crap!  What's a mom to do?  His new teacher finally got up to take him out and I completely lost it.  It's like all the thoughts of my kid being the naughty kid and not being able to deal with primary while I'm trying to teach all these little spirits the songs - their gospel doctrine - just got to me.  I'm such a lame-o cry baby that I'm sure they had no idea why I was crying, but it was BAD.  I could not pull myself together.  I saw one of the counselors slowing making her way towards me as I was trying to choke back tears and pull myself together, but it took forever.  Everything was in slow motion.  The room was completely silent while everyone waited to see what would happen. Singing time was a blur.  Try teaching the kids "The Family  is of God" after that.  I got through it and then went into the hall to try to compose myself before the senior primary came into the room.  As I turn the corner, there is the primary president out giving a pep talk to the new teacher.  It's like we need 5 people to deal with our family.  Talk about feeling like a misfit!  So I went in the bathroom and my emotional moment turned into a sob-fest, until the primary president came in to give me a pep talk.  Poor lady is dealing with her own personal problems right now and is a saint to begin with and here she is trying to hold the entire primary together herself.  Oh man!  While I'm talking to her about how I don't know what else to do with him, like 3 ladies (that I don't know) come in and out of the restroom offering hugs and advice and telling me to get help early because their son just committed suicide.  What?  Not helpful lady. That is not what I needed to hear when I'm worried about my kid's behavior.  He's 4.  I was so done.  We walked to the primary room and by the time we finished talking, one of the counselors had given her sharing time for her so she went in to do my singing time since I was obviously not going to be capable of doing that.  Marcos came to tell me about  his lesson and instead got to try to talk me down off my wall.  Everyone saw me in the hall either during this or after church and everyone wondered.  I had one lady hug me and tell me she didn't know me very well, but she'd like to and to call her.  I don't know who she is, but cool.  I'm not trying to be rude, really.  I would do the same thing if some pitiful soul was sobbing in the hall of the church.  But it SUCKS to be the one that people feel sorry for.  I didn't think about it, but I went to enrichment tonight (although I was late because Marcos worked until 7:30) and it hit me that over half the ladies in that room witnessed (to one degree or another) my little meltdown. I hate feeling like the crazy girl that needs help all the time, but I guess we all are that way at one point or another.  I just hate to admit it.  Sorry about the rambling, but it's been in my head.  It's a new year and I'm renewing my goals and trying harder with the things that are my problem and hopefully that will help me cope with the things that are beyond my control.  Our Relief Society is doing something called "Feeling Divine in 2009" and it's all about helping us be better and keep our goals.  You get points for doing visiting teaching, reading scriptures, praying, reading the ensign...even exercising.  I'm hoping that'll help give me a little extra boost and motivation too.  There's maybe just a lot of people struggling and dragging for some reason or another and hopefully this'll help buoy us all up as ward sisters.  Anyway, I just had to share my pathetic embarrassing moment with the world.  In case anyone didn't know already, now you do!  

Multi-tasking Kid Style

Book - TV, Book - TV, Book - TV.  What's a kid to do?  BOTH!  These pictures were just too priceless not to post.  Dylan honestly could not choose what he wanted to do more.  Oh, and I hope that rule about not sitting too close to the TV is an old wives' tale because ever since the new kid-sized folding chairs arrived on Christmas, my children think they have their very own front-row seats. It may be time to put the chairs up for a few days and give their little eyes a rest  :)

New Year's Eve

dog pile on grandma

Alicia, Tanner, my mom & Melissa

Maria & Angie

Preston was so excited to play with Belle (Alicia's dog), 

although he needed some help from Papi to be gentle

What with all my thoughts on the new year and what I want to do with myself, I failed to talk about New Year's Eve.  Nothing fancy, just hanging out with family at Alicia and Nate's house with some yummy food and fun games.  The shocking part - both of our kids stayed up until midnight.  That's a first for sure!  Last year I was the ONLY one who stayed up.  Marcos and Dylan fell asleep around 11:00 and Preston was in bed at 8:00 so this year was a complete surprise.  Sure, they're often awake at midnight, but not because they stayed up.  For some reason my kids don't sleep through the night almost ever.  No wonder I'm so exhausted all the time.  Anyway, poor Preston was so tired he couldn't figure out what to do with himself.  He was excited and running around one minute and falling on the floor with exhaustion the next. They were both gonners the second we put them in the car.  Angie and Justin surprised us all by showing up during the party.  It was good to spend some time with them since we hadn't seen them for awhile.  The weather's been too crazy for travel and Justin has to plow when it's snowing, which makes winter trips more difficult.  Anyway, I guess I had too much fun playing games because I didn't take many pictures.  Here are a few I did manage to take.

Why I Don't Mind Tending Tony

For those who may not know, Tony is my sister, Melissa's, son.  He turned 8 in October.  Let me just tell you, having an older child around is not the worst thing in the world.  Sure, there's the whole battle for control and the occasional issue with sharing or not playing well together, but overall, if you're smart about it, having an older kid around can be great, especially one who is visiting and on his best behavior.  Tony is such a cute kid!  He has always loved his younger cousins, especially the babies.  He was really cute when Dylan was born.  He was 3 1/2 and said such sweet things like "him cute" or "him need me".  He loves toddlers so it is really fun to watch him interact with Preston.  Preston LOVES older kids (well, he loves everyone) and just follows Tony around waiting for Tony to help him when he can't do something like the rest of the big kids.  When we had lunch, I gave each kid a different color plate so I could keep track of who had eaten what (they're those plastic plates with the dividers in them).  Tony was sweet about letting Dylan have the blue one since it's his favorite color.  While we were eating, he asked me what we were doing next.  We had been playing in the snow, played with toys, cleaned up and now we were having lunch.  I told him after lunch I would clean up the kitchen, then we'd have stories and then Preston and Anthony would take a nap and he and Dylan could either play a computer game or have a movie.  He looked at me with a grin and said, "Oh, kind of like preschool."  It was quite the compliment to me that he saw my ordinary daily routine as a type of preschool - so cute!  Then the idea hit me.  I had Tony read to Anthony and Dylan while I got the kitchen cleaned up and put Preston down for a nap.  That way Tony got his reading done and I found an extra 30 minutes in my day.  Brilliant!  I could use more older kids to occupy my busy bunch once in awhile.  Anyway, it was really fun to have Tony over for a little visit and he seemed to appreciate my routine and willingness to play with all of the kids.  I'm sure glad Dylan has such a great cousin! 

This picture is too cute!  Tony pulled the love sac out in the middle of the room and I looked over to find all of the kids sitting together captivated by some cartoon.  I love how Tony is holding Preston on his lap.

The best story time ever!

Snow Days

I watched Tony last Monday while school was still out and my mom was out of town. It was fun to have him over to play for the day. He made playing outside in the snow much more fun. We all bundled up to go outside in the best outfits I could come up with since Anthony hadn't brought anything but a coat with him.  He ended up wearing some rain boots and didn't mind one bit.  After a couple of minutes of walking, falling and getting trapped in the snow, Preston was DONE.  I took him inside to warm up and watch a Baby Einstein's DVD. He didn't move a muscle the whole time the other boys were outside playing - he was completely content. Unfortunately, the snow was pretty frozen and crunchy so we couldn't build the snowman Tony was hoping for, but the kids did have a pretty fun snowball fight.  It was fairly even with Tony against Dylan and Anthony, although Dylan didn't seem to think so.  He thought it was fun to throw snowballs until they started coming back at him.  It was hard to capture the moment with so many kids screaming, crying or needing my attention, but here are a few I was able to take.

Preston trying to figure out the snow

Poor kid kept falling and getting stuck.

By this point, he was done having fun.

Happy to be warm inside relaxing with a movie

Tony jumping off the playground into the snow

Anthony & Dylan

The boys having fun

The Pursuit Of Happiness

Marcos and I watched Oprah tonight after we put the kids to bed.  It was all about the pursuit of happiness.  I'd seen it before, but it drew me in and I found myself watching the entire episode.  Not that I'm unhappy, but sometimes you have to make a conscious effort to find your happiness.  The psychologist on there talked about what he called destination addiction.  It basically means you're always thinking of the next thing you need or want that will help make you happy - living in the future, not in the present.  Okay, so here it goes.  My name is Maria and I'm a destination-aholic.  Is that how it would go?  I live way too much in the past and future and not nearly enough in the present.  They also touched on the stay-at-home mom and how she seems happy, but is living so much for everyone else and not for herself.  That's a tough one.  Serving others and putting their needs first is noble, but to completely FORGET yourself takes a toll on you.  I forget to eat lunch sometimes even though I feed everyone else because I'm too busy cleaning up and just being a mom.  Then at 2:00, I wonder why I'm starving.  It's all about finding balance and acknowledging your own needs as well.  The other thing that really struck me is how he talked about finding happiness inside ourselves instead of always chasing it.  I get this part - I really do - but I think that's one of the biggest problems we have as a society.  All this debt and greed and getting in over your head to have the biggest and best stuff is all in an effort to find happiness.  We're in a big mess right now because we've been neglecting what matters and seeking happiness in material things.  I have had the privilege of working with some people who have plenty of means and others who have very little and can attest to the fact that money does not buy happiness.  

Okay, so enough of my speech.  I just had to set up my night for you.  What this did for me was cause me to think hard about my own happiness and how I can remain happy through thick and thin.  A few months ago, I was beaming.  I was so happy, it radiated from my very being.  I could feel it and I grinned from the inside out.  I'm not sure what happened, but a part of that is missing right now.  It's not anything major and I don't need an intervention...relax.  It's just hard to maintain that level of happiness what with the whole "opposition in all things".  Part of it is simple and probably stupid.  I am happier when I know I'm doing my best in life and I'm hard on myself when I'm not - no matter what it is I'm working on at the time.  I'm an over-achiever, what can I say?  Anyway, after we watched the show, I headed up to my bedroom for some scripture study and overall meditation.  I read a little in the Book of Mormon and then found myself in the topical guide looking up happiness.  So here's what I learned (or rather reminded myself of) during my little study session.  There was a lot in there about not finding happiness in iniquity but in finding happiness in righteousness.  But one scripture really spoke to me.  It was John 16:33 and it says:

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

That may have been just what I  needed to focus on this Christmas season.  

So with New Year's resolutions on the brain, this is what I think will be my main focus this year.  Not that I don't have a page-long list of stuff already, but I think this truly is what makes or breaks everything else.  I want to live in the present, have more peace, and maintain my happiness a little bit better by focusing on the good news that is our Savior.  

The Things I Do For A Free Beanie

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

Yin and Yang

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

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

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

Christmas Recap

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

Diego Tub Trike from Abuela

Leah & Dylan - such cute cousins!

Uboldi Cousins

Matching jammies from Abuela

Marcos' new exercise equipment

Amy, Maria & Laura with our new scarves & vests

Complete chaos attempting a cousin picture with new pajamas

Christmas morning - spoiled parents

Spoiled kids

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

Dylan's jungle set from Santa

Christmas afternoon at my mom's house

Our new little giant ladder from my mom and Barney

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

Dylan was so excited - Grandma spoiled him this year! 

Dinosaurs from Grandma

Gustavo, Marcos & Nate

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

Tony loving Preston

Preston, Tony, Dylan, Kenya, Kamyn

Connor & Tanner were in Idaho

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

Playing trains at Grandpa Mike & Grandma Suzanne's house

Presents

Preston loving GG Betty

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My favorite holiday moments:

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

What Is Up With My Kids?

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

Christmas Tag

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

16. Favorite Christmas song? Little Drummer Boy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

25. Who do I tag? Anyone reading!

Lights at Temple Square

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

Lisa and Maria posing by the pink "girlie" lights

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

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

Did I mention it was FREEZING...?

Our little family

Marcos and the boys

Maria Dylan Marcos Preston Lisa Greg

Precious Moments

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

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

The Reason I Hate Christmas

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

Fingers Crossed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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