Simple Monday

Today was a good day. Preston and I walked Dylan to school and then went to the grocery store. I blogged while Preston watched his favorite show and then we waited for Dylan to come home from school. We had some lunch and ran to Home Depot and then I put Preston down for a nap. His favorite book is called "You've Still Got Me" and he absolutely LOVES it. I had to read it to him 3 or 4 times before I put him down and then he went down without a fuss (an unusual occurrence for us lately). Dylan and I changed into our grubby clothes, I scooted our super heavy new shoe rack built by my brother-in-law out to the driveway and we put a coat of primer on it. Dylan was really helpful and excited that I actually let him help me. I figured it's not a project that needs to look perfect and it's just the primer so as long as I check on him to make sure there aren't big runs or globs of paint, it doesn't matter. He even decided to finger paint on one of the shelves and I just let him. He commented to me how much fun he was having and how he loved to spend time with me. Oh, to have such peaceful days more often! After we painted, we did some reading and then I let him watch a show while I laid by him on the couch. I love that snuggle time so I decided against being productive with my office piles and just hung out with my son. Preston woke up and the kids rode bikes until Marcos got home. We had a gift card to Subway so we went and got Subway for dinner and then went to the park to feed the ducks and kick the ball around for family night. We had tons of fun feeding the ducks and playing a bit and then brought the kids back for bedtime. I read to the kids while they were in the tub so we could speed up the bedtime routine a bit and Dylan told me one of the books was the best story he'd ever heard (it was about a penguin family). Dylan "read" his memorized book to Preston and then I read scriptures to the kids. We read part of Alma 14, which talks about the people Zeezrom had taught false doctrines too who ended up burning scriptures and people who believed in their doctrine while Alma and Amulek watched. We got to the part where Alma was constrained by the Spirit from stopping the burning. Okay, I'm not very good at telling scripture stories. Here are the last few verses we read.

11 But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in ^aglory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the ^bjudgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the ^cblood of the ^dinnocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.

12 Now Amulek said unto Alma: Behold, perhaps they will burn us also.

13 And Alma said: Be it according to the will of the Lord. But, behold, our work is not finished; therefore they burn us not.

Dylan had quite a few questions about it so I did my best to answer them. D: Why did those people burn them? M: They were bad people and they made a bad choice. Remember how we make choices and we try to choose the right. They made a bad choose and were following Satan instead of Heavenly Father and Jesus. D: What about the judging? M: Well, Heavenly Father will judge all of us after we die and decide if we have lived a good life or not. And when we make a mistake we need to change and say we're sorry. That is called repenting, remember? D: Yes. So you mean like a judge. Like with a table (making a gavel-like motion with his hand). M: Yes Dylan, kind of like that. He'll judge us.

I went in the other room to get a book for Preston and when I came back in, Dylan said to me softly, "Mom, kneel down by my bed." Of course I said okay and knelt down. We had already said our family prayer and Marcos had gone downstairs already (Marcos usually says goodnight and then I do the official tucking in). I thought Dylan was going to ask me to say another prayer with him. Instead I had one of those sweet parental moments. D: Mom, while you were gone, Jesus spoke to me. M: (with excitement and shock in my eyes but a calm voice) He did? What did he tell you? D: He said, "My son, I don't know why." I asked him what he meant and he said, "About the people getting burned mom." M: Oh, did you ask Heavenly Father about that? D: Yes. M: In your heart and mind or in a prayer? D: No, it was a prayer. M: You prayed to Heavenly Father and He told you that? D: Yes, I asked him why the bad people burned the other people and he told me, "My son, I don't know why." He always hears us when we pray, Mom. M: I know He does bud, and he answered your prayer didn't He? D: Yep.

I tell you those little children are so close to heaven. At times I feel that with every sensory organ I possess. It amazes me really! There are so many "barely surviving motherhood" moments I experience on a regular basis. But once in awhile I am blessed with moments that remind me why it is all worth it. Today I got a glimpse of the spirit with whom I have been entrusted. Now I sit here in solitude...in silence...in awe...reflecting on the magnitude of my calling as a mother. What incredible spirits I must guide through this life and what a huge responsibility that is. I pray with all my heart that I don't fall short.

Birthdays Weddings & Fun, Oh My

Last week was crazy! It seemed like we were constantly running to a birthday party, a wedding reception or some other fun event. Friday was my sister-in-law, Laura's, 30th birthday. We didn't celebrate it until Sunday though because Friday was her father-in-law's wedding. We went to the wedding reception that night and wished her a happy birthday, knowing we would be getting together in a couple days.

Saturday was absolutely insane. My sister, Alicia, threw a surprise 30th birthday party for her husband, Nate. I was in charge of music and the cake so I ran around trying to get a bunch of stuff ready on Saturday morning. Getting naps in before the big event was also a challenge, but very important. The party turned out great. He had no idea and was pretty surprised by the whole thing...and maybe a little disappointed. :) He was blindfolded and I think he thought it was some exciting surprise date. Maybe next time, Nate. ;) We helped clean up from that and then rushed down to a neighbor's wedding reception. We had two we were going to try to get to on time and decided to stop at the one in Layton and then the one in Bountiful. Big mistake! We were in line over an hour at the Layton reception. We could've hit Bountiful and been back for the one in the Layton for sure. But it was great to see the happy couple, a bunch of friends from our ward and former ward...and I ran into a good friend from college who happened to be the girl's cousin. What a small world! We had to leave earlier than I wish we would've, but we wanted to try to at least say congrats to the other couple. They were having a dance at the end so I figured we could maybe hit the end of it. That's exactly what we did. Food was gone, stuff set up, but the people were still there boogying the night away. We gave them a hug, found the guest book and then tried to pull our children away from the fun.

Sunday was my first day in YW and it went really well...mainly since I didn't have to teach. :) The new President gave the lesson and she did a great job. I felt the spirit the entire time. I don't know how I'm going to teach the way she does. But I know I'm supposed to be there so I'll be guided somehow. After church, we attempted but failed to take a nap and then headed down to Laura's house for her birthday celebration. We had a delicious BBQ and we all ate way too much. And...I forgot my dang camera. So those of you who know Laura will have to see the pictures on her blog when she posts them. Sorry, some days I just don't have it together.

This week will be some more of the same. We've got a BBQ this Friday at our house and then a wedding Saturday. And I do have to teach Sunday - YIKES! And then another adventure Monday. More pictures to come! Gotta love busy summer days! :) Here are the pictures from Nate's surprise birthday party.

Cherry Hill with Lisa

We went to Cherry Hill with my BFF, Lisa a couple weeks ago. We had so much fun that I was lucky to get this one picture of my kids with "Aunt Lisa". Too much catching up to do to worry about snapping pictures. The same thing happened this week with my mom. She was shocked that I didn't even remember my camera. Hey, I had three kids, picnics, four towels, sunscreen, snacks, goggles, sunglasses and our passes to remember. I think my mom did manage to snap a couple pictures when both Anthony and Preston fell asleep. It was PERFECT! My mom sat with the younger sleeping ones and I went on the big "scary" slide with Tony and Dylan. Good times! We really have been playing hard and neglecting our household chores a bit. But hey, it's summer and you've got to take advantage of the time you have with family and friends. So the house is a little out of order, but my kids have a million memories from the past two weeks alone. :)

Children's Museum and Fountains

Last week I braved the children's museum and fountains by myself with three kids. We were there for almost 4 hours. I can't believe we all survived with very few melt-downs. We played at the museum for almost 2 hours and then went back to the car to change into swim suits and get our picnic. You should've seen me in the parking garage. I got out the stroller and locked up my escape artist. I changed Anthony, slathered him with sunscreen and put him on the backseat of the stroller with his sandwich. Onto Dylan. Clothes off, swimsuit on, sunscreen on, sit in the trunk with your sandwich. Then I unstrapped Preston and got him ready. The two older kids were finished with their sandwiches before we even started walking towards the fountains. I loaded up the back part of the stroller with the cooler and towels and we were off to the fountain to cool down and finish our lunch. The kids had a blast and took a nice nap on the drive home. :) Some days I can be super mom, other days I'm completely lazy. I should shoot for a little more balance every day. Oh well.

My own little Bob-the-Builder in the construction area

Making horse shoes for his horse on the farm

Climbing the rock wall

Preston playing in water - need I say more?

He could play with these little balls in the water forever

Cashier Dylan

Making some pretty good music - NOT! :)

Water or balls and Preston is pretty content

Dylan loves sitting and waiting for the steam to come on

Eating their lunch while they dried off after a good run through the fountains

Anthony LOVED the fountains!

He's come a long way - he used to be terrified of water.

Zoo

I didn't take many pictures at the zoo last week, but it was super fun. Marcos' mom, Mercedes (abuela) called to invite us spur of the moment. Sometimes it's so fun to do something spontaneous like that. Dylan, Anthony and Preston all enjoyed themselves so much and the time flew by. We could've stayed another couple hours easily. Here are a couple pictures I managed to snap during our outing.

4th of July

We were up late on the 3rd of July so we skipped the parades. Marcos and Dylan went to the park to play tennis and Preston and I slept in. What a treat! We tried to catch up on my neglected chores a bit and then got ready for another night of celebrating. We met my family at a park by my mom's house that evening. They serve Greek souvlaki and my mom treated us all to dinner. The kids played ball, at the playground and around our blankets and chairs. It took a little coordinating to keep track of that many kids, but it was well worth it. They had a blast playing together. The DJ was blaring the music and we were all gettin' down a little. You should've seen Dylan - I'm afraid he takes after me. There isn't much dance talent there, but I have no power to stop myself from gettin' my groove on when the rhythm hits me. :) It was so much fun! As it started to get dark, a plane dropped a few local sky divers off who landed in front of us. It was AWESOME! By that point, we strapped Preston in his stroller. He tends to be a bit of an escape artist these days and we'd had enough of chasing him around the park. We all settled down with our treats to watch the fireworks together. What a great night! Here are a couple collages I made of our day. For those who want to see more pictures, you can find them here.

Aside from the fun celebration part, I just want to say how grateful I am to be an American. I think our freedom is something that we tend to take for granted. Most people are apathetic when it comes to the political process. Although often tedious and frustrating, I feel it my civic duty and am involved as often as possible. After all, if I'm not representing my views, then who is? I've always been pretty patriotic. I tear up every time I hear or sing the national anthem and especially when I see a veteran saluting the flag. I know our Constitution was Divinely inspired and am grateful for brave men (and women) who fought for what they knew to be right. God bless America!

July 3 - Cherry Hill, Dinner & Fireworks

Marcos was off of work on July 3rd, so we decided to head to Cherry Hill for some family fun. My friend, Liv, decided to meet us there with her baby, Soren. Apparently we weren't the only ones with the idea to go to a water park on Marcos' day off. It was pretty crowded, but we still had a blast. The kids played forever and it turned out perfect to have Preston take a late nap since we were going to my grandma's for dinner and then to watch fireworks that night. Another fun filled day! No wonder my house is never clean - we play WAY too much! :)

Baby Soren

We ran into our friends there and Dylan rode around the lazy river with his girlfriend and future father-in-law :)

Dylan and cute baby Soren

Liv and Soren splashing in the water

Papi drenching poor Preston

Chillin' Dylan :)

Marcos enjoying himself in the lazy river

Preston playing in the water

Preston playing with GG that evening

He loves "honking" her nose and she finally honked back :)

GG with Dylan and Preston

Marcos & Dylan waiting in line for one of the bounce houses

Dylan bonded with one of my grandma's neighbors while we were watching fireworks from her front yard - cute!

Marcos' Work Party

We went to a little work get together a couple weeks ago. One of the nurse's owns a beautiful home on a big piece of property. It was the perfect place for a party. It was a little rainy, but cleared up in time for the kids to play outside. Dylan found a treehouse and was in heaven. He absolutely LOVES treehouses. Preston played with a big soccer ball, in these popup tent things and with his new little buddy, Cole. When the sun went down, we all sat outside and watched Night at the Museum projected on a big screen on the side of the house while we ate treats and popcorn. It was like the drive-in movie all over again. Good times!

Marcos' co-worker, Sheila

Another co-worker, Sean

The boss, Bonna, and her husband

Preston loving his new buddy, Cole

Preston in Cole's cute hat

Dylan's dream come true - they had a treehouse

Idaho Waterslide

Thanks for letting me reminisce a little bit. It's good to look back and remember the little things that brought us together. Now I've let myself get a bit behind. A couple weeks ago, we were invited to go to Idaho to a really cool place. It's actually a great big sod farm where the owner's live and have turned it into this nice family hangout place. There's a big hill with a black mat they've put down to create a waterslide. They also have a zip line, trampoline in the ground, swing set, big sand box and a fire pit - not to mention acres and acres of awesome grass to play on. It was so much fun for our whole family. We will definitely be visiting again. Here are a few pictures of the fun!

One of the older kids buried Dylan. I'm not sure he liked it, but it's a pretty good place for timeout. I'll have to keep that in mind next time he's naughty. :)

Dylan and Kambrie playing in the sandbox

Preston was content to run around in the grass with a ball. Look at that kick!

Marcos on the zipline.

They have this candy canon so the candy shoots out everywhere instead of just falling to the ground. It was AWESOME! Like an Easter egg hunt, but without all the work.

Marcos and Preston on the waterslide

Dylan sliding without the tube

Preston and Mommy - that kid loved sliding. He would not give us a break. Marcos and I fought over who had to take him because it was nonstop - walk up the hill, slide down, then repeat.

The end of the day without a nap. I was doing my best to entertain Preston while Dylan made s'mores before we hit the road.

Dylan just parked himself on the Bishop's lap to roast his marshmallows. What a kind and patient Bishop we have.