A Little Finicky

My Cameron may be a tad finicky. He always insists on a green plate at dinner, because that's a boy color. If Grandma is in the room, he has to have her get him a drink or change his diaper because she does it the best. If Eliza lets him borrow some "glubs" (gloves) he has to wear them all the time, like when he sleeps or eats dinner (even though it's a challenge to eat with them). After I get him dressed he often changes his clothes into his more comfortable pajama attire (I kind of understand that one) and he has a hard time taking off his argyle church socks for the plain white ones I try convincing him to wear throughout the week.

I don't mind though because he offsets his finickiness with sweet thank yous, loving smiles, and some eyelash batting. That coupled with  his cute way of speaking and explanations for his decisions makes me give in almost every time. Today he wouldn't take off his Dixie sweatshirt and hood for the life of him. He wore it everywhere, even to bed. It's been like that all week, even at stake conference. He had to wear it over his church clothes.

This little boy entrances me. I love observing him speak and watch him make choices for himself. I love chatting with him and understanding his thought process.

Octupus Dance

I snuggled up with Nicole and Cameron this morning just before joy school. Nicole laughed so hard as I tickled her with my tentacles and kissed her all over. I have captured in my mind her beautiful big smile and roaring laughter. She danced and pranced all the way to joy school where she made this cute octupus to join in her groove. This girl is full of life and love. What a joy!

Mary Sunshine

I saw this poem today. Made me think of my little Mary.

An Angel Left Her Wings

© Tina M. Marascia

I have this little angel. For me she left her wings.

She has no idea how much happiness she truly brings.

She brightens up my days with her smiles and her laughs.

She helps me to remember all the blessings that I have.

Her face, it is so perfect, she's sweet and soft and pure.

Sometimes she is willful and sometimes she is demure.

She tries her very hardest to please and do what's right.

She gives the greatest hugs from morning until night.

Every person that has known her sees this light within her soul

I know that in this whole great world, she has a special role.

She's helpful and considerate to everyone she knows

This light in her shines brighter as my angel grows.

When she sees someone is sad, it opens up her heart.

She wants to do all that she can; she wants to do her part.

She'll squeeze away the sorrow and make me forget about my pain.

She shows me where the sun is when we're hiding from the rain.

I know that God must love me, He showed me with His Grace

I knew just how completely when I saw my angel's face.

And in that very moment when she came into my world,

I knew that she was so much more than just my baby girl.

She would be my sunshine, with a sweetness that won't end.

And when she grows up one day she would be my closest friend.

She would be the reason I would always try my best.

For my little angel baby girl would be my greatest test.

When God entrusts to you an angel, who has left her wings for you.

Encircle her with love with everything you do.

Let her know God made her, and that He trusts you with her care.

Be sure to make time for special moments with her to share.

And when at night she finally says her prayers and goes to sleep

I Thank Him for my angel, and ask for him to always keep

A watchful eye and hand to protect her from this world.

Protect my little angel; protect my baby girl.

Kissing Cousin Keep Away

This morning I got to demonstrate an interactive writing lesson for Noah's class. Mrs. Bjorge was interested in learning about this shared pen technique and I really enjoyed polishing up my old dusty skills. Noah has a great class. They were so well behaved and had unbelievable participation.

Then we had a day of cousins. First Luci before kindergarten, then Elise after kindergarten....then Marcus, Luci, Elise, Annie, and Ben after school. They played a game where the girls chased the boys with lip gloss covered mouths. Kissing Marcus' cheeks was the goal and I think a few times, when his bodyguards Ben and Noah weren't close enough to help, he let the girls catch him. So cute.

But my favorite part of the day was surprising Mary and taking her out of school for lunch. Where did the kids choose to go....wait for it....McDonalds, of course...that place is so gross to me.

And congratulations to my cousin Michael and his beautiful wife who just delivered their first baby, a girl! Wish I could give that new cousin a kiss on the cheek!

No School and Family Night

Teacher in-service days mean play dates and fun for all the kids. I love having a day off from the routine every once and a while. And so do the kids. It makes for lots of house hopping with the cousins and on-and-off with the hot tub lid a few times.

For family night we had a lesson on the temple and watched our old wedding video. The kids were just kind of interested in that. Nicole told Aaron that she doesn't want to get married when she grows-up . When he asked why she replied that she doesn't want to take care of him and go to meetings. Not sure what she meant by all of it. I don't think she likes it when I leave for conference or church meetings and Aaron puts her to bed. I guess if he wasn't around I would have to be home putting her to bed instead of going to meetings? Little does she know if he wasn't around..she wouldn't be here! Love that girl!

Happy Birthday Ashton

Today was Ashton's 11th birthday. He is such an amazing young man. He is probably Noah's greatest hero. We celebrated a Cafe Rio style dinner with the family. I was in charge of the beans and rice. Instead of the canned black beans Aaron made some feijoada. It was delicious. He bought a new pressure cooker the night before and we soaked the beans over night. It all tasted incredible.

In the morning I had the kids work on decorating some notes to the homeless before stake conference. A friend of ours, not of our faith and touched by seeing those in need, helped arrange for a group of people to buy and gather "blessing bags" for 130 homeless people in our community. Then she had the idea to have families write notes or scriptures to include in the bags. I wrote my testimony of Heavenly Father and the Savior. It was such a beautiful experience being part of the project and having our children think beyond ourselves. I felt like I was sharing my testimony with others, which was a real joy.

Fixing Pipes, Basketball, and Stake Conference

Since we returned home from Disneyland, we noticed some wet areas on the exterior wall in our garage. We knew it was related to the condensation line from the heater. We know that when the pipes froze something must have cracked in pipe resulting in the damp sheet-rock and wooden stair. Just how far it went up we didn't see until today when Aaron cut the sheet-rock to reveal a pipe cracked and split and completely detached almost up to the ceiling. So, he fixed it and we dried out the wall.

Then Mary and Noah headed to their first practice of the season. Both of them are playing on the same team. We decided to keep it low key and do the Mighty Mites program instead of the more time consuming Jr. Comets, especially since it's their first experience on a basketball team. Our friend Scott is the coach and there are several church friends on the team. They loved it.

After practice Aaron attended the leadership session of stake conference and I got to attend the adult session. If there is anything I am feeling after listening to the talks, it's that I need to be a better missionary and attend the temple more. Last year, I tried to go at least once a month, but that kind of stopped in October with all the holiday and birthday hustle and bustle. I live so close it's ridiculous that I haven't been more steady.

Basque Dinner

 My mom made a delicious and traditional six-course five-star basque meal for a couple (and their guests) who purchased it at our youth auction/fundraiser last year. It was an incredible evening. Basque clothing, Basque decorations, Basque recipes, Basque music, and real live basque people! I helped by making the gateau Basque and plating the meals my mom had prepared. She really did a fantastic job. 

It's amazing how strong that Spirit of Elijah is. I feel such a desire to stay connected to our heritage and know more about my ancestors. That pull pushes me to do my family history work, especially as I see the traditions and culture slipping away into the world.

N is for noodle

I prepared for joyschool today by cooking noodles and soaking them in food colored water. The noodles were so vibrant and colorful that the kids loved eating them while trying to shape them into the letter N.

 The noodles also tied in nicely to our theme this week: different cultures. We sang songs, read stories, sorted and counted lucky charms, built pyramids, and played Chinese sticks. It was a fun day and the kids are really starting to grow and change. 

I was glad Nikki didn't bite her toenails as she did during most of joyschool on Tuesday.

Dancing Queens

The girls with their wild post-hot tubbing hair danced it up to the Frozen soundtrack. Mary watched herself dance in front of the mirror examining her moves and facial expressions. Nicole watched Mary trying to imitate her groove. It was so cute.

Victories

Noah's reading is really starting to take off. He is noticing and reading all the words around him. It's so exciting. If there is anything I have learned from teaching and motherhood it's that everyday small amounts of practice (like reading, piano practice, scripture study, blogging) is far more beneficial than large sporadic catch-up sessions. Slow and steady...

Hot Tub Fun

Yes, it's finally working...tested several times today and seems to be working properly. So exciting to have it here and able to enjoy it. Yay! The kids spent most of the day hopping from cousins' house to cousins' house and in and out of the hot tub.

EIGHT is GREAT!

Mary had her 8 is great fireside this evening. She and her 15 friends will be turning 8 this year and are preparing for baptism. She learned about faith in god and activity days programs. I'm excited for her to begin all these new adventures.

More Laughter

We got to hang out a little longer today and eat some of the old traditional food...cheese things, taco dip, soup...it was yummy and we got to celebrate Nicole's birthday next week. It was hard saying good-bye. I love them so. Plus, I got to laugh hard at their funny comments and witty remarks. I feel bad it was such a long trip home for them. The fog made their flights get cancelled so they rented a car and drove to SF to then continue traveling home.

I had an interesting conversation with Nicole about our grandma. Nicole remembers her so well since she was 12 when she died. I soaked in every word and every memory she shared. I can't wait to meet our Amatchi in heaven.

Welcome Cousins!

It's been years since we've been all together. The Irissarry cousins flew in from California and Nevada today, we took some family pictures, laughed a lot, and caught up on each others' lives. The highlight for me was eating dinner with just the adults at the Jacksonville Inn. I love this family. They hold a special place in my heart and the best part is that I got I laugh a lot.

Clean House

The house is sparkly clean in anticipation of our visitors. I don't like that I have to have some major event to get a good scrub in on my bathrooms. I'd better enjoy it now, because I have hours before its all gone and gross again.

My Mountain Man

I just love this bearded mountain man of mine. He is the kind of husband you never ever have to bug or nag, always noticing what needs to be done and doing it because he wants to. Recently, he's been proactive about helping with our elementary school's needs. A teacher came to him with a concern and he has used his people skills to push the district along to create a plan to improve our math instruction, technology spending, and disappointing test scores. He doesn't discuss the problem in a million different ways; he thinks of solutions and aims. I love his clear and efficient get-it-all-done in a kind and positive way style, just like any true mountain man.

Merry Melodies

I've got a lot of songs stuck in my head today...

Mary can play two hymns now! It's so exciting. She can play the simplified versions of Joseph Smith's First Prayer and We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet. Sarah had a brilliant idea to have the children play prelude music before primary opening exercises on Sunday. Mary is very excited to participate. She needs to have three memorized. We're so close.

Nicole is a little obsessed with the Frozen music since her play date with Elise yesterday where they acted out the entire frozen song "Want to Build a Snowman" word for word with matching actions. We went last night to the theaters to see it again for family night. And tonight Noah and I finished up his snowman for his school sharing project. We built a cousin for Olaf named Oley, with Mickey ears who went to visit Olaf at Disneyland with us. We kept playing the "In Summer" song on the kindle while we decorated it.

What "I wanna ride my bike" really means...

Cameron has it figured out....he puts on his shoes, and if I'm in the room he'll ask me if he can go out and ride his bike on the porch. I usually see him go once or twice back and forth before he disappears. If he doesn't see me in the room he'll just leave the back door open without a word. Where does he escape to? Almost always to the same place...Grandma's door step. Luckily my mom knows I never just send him, and he escapes without asking so she calls me on the phone to let me know he's there, saving me from a heart attack on several occasions. Today she didn't hear his knock but she did hear the water gushing from the outdoor faucet he turned on by her door. I tell him every time not to go to Grandma's with out asking. It happened two more times today without a word before I got smart and locked the back door.

Why you should live next door to your brother

Most Sundays one or two neighbor cousins come over to play and hang out. I love it because we don't see them a lot during the school week. All the neighbor cousins trickled in throughout today...some for a quick hello (Emma), some to help Grandma with dinner (Rachel), and some to play dead man walking with the kids (Nina). We are lucky.

Saturdays are the best!

Last night we went to dinner with the Bennetts and stayed up late talking and chatting while our kids played. That meant that we all woke up a little later this morning.  Aaron and I could hear the kids quietly making us breakfast in bed. They made toast, got yogurt and oranges. It was all so sweet. Once we finished we got to work around the house. We made their chore list a little longer than usual. There was no complaining however because they were all having play dates after lunch which was a nice incentive. Plus, it was really fun working together. Nikki went to a ballerina party, she's wearing Mary's old ballet outfit. Mary played all things girl with her friends and Noah, all things boys with his friends until dinner. It was a good day.

Brotherly Love

As Cameron is growing and changing Noah is becoming more of a playmate. They wrestle, act like dogs, build forts, ride bikes, play ball....it's awesome. Cameron jumps with excitement when Noah returns home from school each day. They got matching hair cuts today, and they just look so old.