I feel like such a slacker not updating this blog; but in my defense I really do this mostly for the grandparents and since the kids (at least the big kids) have been in with their grandparents for the last month I felt less pressure to do so.
Christmas has come and gone, and like the rest of the year was very different from years past. We had to plan the entire Christmas morning experience around what would fit in our suitcases for the trip home and what would have to be packed away when we move in a couple of months it put things in a whole different view. So Santa brought the kids Nintendo DSs for Christmas. They were/are excited and I think it should make traveling especially to South America less hair pulling for me.
The best gift however came on Christmas Eve when my sister gave us a beautifully personalized frame announcing the coming arrival of their twins. We are so excited! Funny how it took me 10 years to deliver 3 grandchildren and in one swoop she will nearly double the count. My kids are so excited about the additions to our family and let me assure you tears were shed (I won't say by who) when we realized we will be in Paraguay when they arrive. Travel plans in the works, we will pray it works out.
The kids have loved their time with their grandparents. I'm so glad they got this time before we leave. Although both kids got the flu while I was away and then managed to pass it to my mother. I'm sure this was a Christmas they will never forget.
I would like to take a minute to share what I am grateful for:
I am grateful for a husband that takes care of me even when I whine.
I am grateful for parents who are willing to take care of my sick kids without complaint.
I am grateful for children who think of others and are honest.
I am grateful for a baby that makes me smile everyday.
I am grateful for a gospel that I can feel the spirit even in a language I don't understand.
I am thankful for the opportunity to learn Spanish even though it makes me want to scream.
I am grateful for a family that is selfless.
And last but not least, I am so very grateful for my Savior and Redeemer and the time given to us each year to remember his tender birth.
I hope you all had a wounderful holiday. I'll try to get Christmas pictures up soon.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Isaac's Logic
I know this is 2 in one day but my kids are so smart. I can't believe the depth of their minds. Tonight after being asked 3 times to go read Isaac got a swat to the butt. This was pretty traumatic for him since it almost never happens, but after several weeks of blatant disregarding of direction it was deserved.
When I went into talk to him about the decision he made and the consequence to follow he was looking at a picture he had drawn at church. He explained it all to me earlier in the day. The picture is of Nephi in his armor and a sword, blocking arrows in war.
Well at least he understands the concept of the Armor of God. But I wish he wasn't so willing to throw his sister under the bus.
When I went into talk to him about the decision he made and the consequence to follow he was looking at a picture he had drawn at church. He explained it all to me earlier in the day. The picture is of Nephi in his armor and a sword, blocking arrows in war.
He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "I wish I had looked at my picture before I made that choice."
"Why?"
"Because I want to be like Nephi. In my picture he is fighting with his armor on, blocking the arrows that want to hurt him. It is like he is using his sword to protect him from things that tempt him. And even when he is done fighting he has to be careful about when he takes off his armor because something might sneak up on him and kill him when he is not even looking."
"So what do you think you should have done?"
"I should have used my sword and followed directions.... (long pause) but I do have to say... it was Emma's idea."
HUH?!?
So Shawn and I finally started Spanish a couple of weeks ago. This would be the reason for my lack of blogging, I come home exhausted from trying to translate things I don't understand all day long. I have decided after completing 18 credit hours on how to teach students that don't speak English, that teachers should be subjected to a week of this training and their tolerance and understanding for that child's frustration would greatly increase. I do hope that the teachers that will be teaching my children in Paraguay will have a similar understanding.
In order to sum up how my week(s) have gone I'll share my embarrassing story with you. We had to describe the country we are going in Spanish. So I shared the capital, the weather and even what our housing SHOULD be like. I told the class that my family and I would be going and we were very excited. Now, I didn't know that word for excited to so I decided to google translate it. It offered many words to choose from but I chose the one that sound the most like excited because I thought it would be easier to remember. Well when I shared my paragraph with the class my teacher began to laugh. She quickly explained that the word I used for excited was a sexual reference and might not be nice to use in a public setting. YES, this is my life!
On other fronts, we also tackled parent/teacher conference this week. All I have to say after getting Isaac's report card is that the teachers here have it easy, compared to what CA teacher have to fill out. Of course my kids are super smart with all A's (or exceeding expectation's in Isaac's case).
I would like to end my little note today mentioning that life is short! This has really come to the forefront of my thoughts over the last few months. Recently a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, another friend has a very ill child and most recently a brother in our ward laid down to take a nap and didn't get up. He was 2 years younger than I am. I hope to be a better wife and mother, and that as I make decisions in my life that the course I choose to take will be one that will improve the life and welfare of my family.
Have a wonderful week!
In order to sum up how my week(s) have gone I'll share my embarrassing story with you. We had to describe the country we are going in Spanish. So I shared the capital, the weather and even what our housing SHOULD be like. I told the class that my family and I would be going and we were very excited. Now, I didn't know that word for excited to so I decided to google translate it. It offered many words to choose from but I chose the one that sound the most like excited because I thought it would be easier to remember. Well when I shared my paragraph with the class my teacher began to laugh. She quickly explained that the word I used for excited was a sexual reference and might not be nice to use in a public setting. YES, this is my life!
On other fronts, we also tackled parent/teacher conference this week. All I have to say after getting Isaac's report card is that the teachers here have it easy, compared to what CA teacher have to fill out. Of course my kids are super smart with all A's (or exceeding expectation's in Isaac's case).
I would like to end my little note today mentioning that life is short! This has really come to the forefront of my thoughts over the last few months. Recently a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, another friend has a very ill child and most recently a brother in our ward laid down to take a nap and didn't get up. He was 2 years younger than I am. I hope to be a better wife and mother, and that as I make decisions in my life that the course I choose to take will be one that will improve the life and welfare of my family.
Have a wonderful week!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Before I Buy More Clothes
So a couple of years ago, we went through a period where Isaac never had any socks. NEVER! I must have bought about 10-15 packages of socks for his that school year. I was so frustrated. I was sure either the washer or dryer must be eating them all because I could not image where they would go.
After the school year was out and I had some spare time on my hands (and my parents were coming) I decided that the Playroom/guestroom needed to be cleaned out. About 2 hours into my cleaning I got to the toy box. Guess what I found... yep, about 60 individual dirty socks. Apparently "Clean the Playroom" means pick up all the stuff you don't want to put away and shove it in the toy box.
That brings me to yesterday morning. Isaac and I have a deal that when he is on the last of something he needs to tell me so I can wash them. (I can't tell you how many mornings he has been out of underwear.) So he tells me he is on his last pair of pants. When I go to start laundry there are no pants belonging to Isaac to be found. But wait I remember the prior experience and check under the bed.
When Isaac gets home from school I tell him, "The weirdest thing happened. I went to do laundry and couldn't find any of your pants. Do you know where they might be."
"Well I know where one pair is. I put it under my bed."
"Why?"
"I didn't want to clean my room."
So we move his bed and find 6 pair of pants under there. His eyes got so big. I explain that I have already done laundry for the day so he will have to go to school tomorrow in his pajama bottoms. He thinks for a minute and decides he can just wear a pair of dirty pants. So he inspects each of the pants and decides on the least dirty pair of pants. I had to go along because he is using his problem solving skills, and didn't argue with me just solved the problem for himself. So today... he is wearing dirty pants.
I can pray he will remember this experience the next time he goes to shove dirty clothing under his bed, but I doubt it.
After the school year was out and I had some spare time on my hands (and my parents were coming) I decided that the Playroom/guestroom needed to be cleaned out. About 2 hours into my cleaning I got to the toy box. Guess what I found... yep, about 60 individual dirty socks. Apparently "Clean the Playroom" means pick up all the stuff you don't want to put away and shove it in the toy box.
That brings me to yesterday morning. Isaac and I have a deal that when he is on the last of something he needs to tell me so I can wash them. (I can't tell you how many mornings he has been out of underwear.) So he tells me he is on his last pair of pants. When I go to start laundry there are no pants belonging to Isaac to be found. But wait I remember the prior experience and check under the bed.
When Isaac gets home from school I tell him, "The weirdest thing happened. I went to do laundry and couldn't find any of your pants. Do you know where they might be."
"Well I know where one pair is. I put it under my bed."
"Why?"
"I didn't want to clean my room."
So we move his bed and find 6 pair of pants under there. His eyes got so big. I explain that I have already done laundry for the day so he will have to go to school tomorrow in his pajama bottoms. He thinks for a minute and decides he can just wear a pair of dirty pants. So he inspects each of the pants and decides on the least dirty pair of pants. I had to go along because he is using his problem solving skills, and didn't argue with me just solved the problem for himself. So today... he is wearing dirty pants.
I can pray he will remember this experience the next time he goes to shove dirty clothing under his bed, but I doubt it.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Did I mention "Life is a Zoo"???
On Monday we said goodbye to the wonderful family that came to visit us. We were so excited for their visit and the goodbyes come far too quickly. But while they were here we created some wonderful memories.
My family flew in super late on Tuesday night and like all bad mothers do I decided to take my kids out of school on Wednesday afternoon for some of this memory making. We picked them up at 11:30 and headed to the zoo. I love the zoo and I love it even more with my kids.
My groundhog children
We are stunning, aren't we???
My littlest man, loving the time outdoors.
I can't remember why we decided to lay down here but it was funny.
At the farm animals. We LOVE Sweetie Pie.
Fun with the Fam at Mt. Vernon
Without a doubt one of my favorite places to visit here in the DC area is Mt. Vernon. I don't know why but I love learning about George Washington. I feel everytime I go there I learn something new (or learned the last time I was there but had forgotten.)
The kids jumping of the Ha-Ha Wall.
Looking over the Potomac. (Not the Mississippi as suggested by someone in out tour group.)
Group HUG!
We went on the "National Treasure 2" tour. They showed us all the places they filmed in the movie.
One of the places they took us was the basment of the house. This was very interesting. Here you see the cornerstone of the house laid by Lawrence Washington (General Washington's half brother.)
We went to story hour and this was there for pictures. What you don't see is the note on the back instructing parents not to let their children put their heads all the way through the holes as they might get "stuck." I can only imagine the scene that cause that note to be posted back there.
The kids dressed up in old fashioned clothing.
The Fam. I am so glad we had the opportunity to build these memories together. These are moments none of us will forget.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Emma Finds Her Voice
So recently we took a trip. If you have ever traveled with our family even just to the grocery store you will know that the way my sweet husband drives make me want to scream. So we are driving down the road and my husband's "job" (offensive get where I want to go; when I want to go) driving skills kick in. As we are having a few loud disagreeing words I hear my daughter sigh in the back and say, "Gee, I can't wait to be married."
I have found that although my adorable daughters humor has taken some time to develop she does follow after her mother. Sarcasm will often get us in trouble, but it is almost always funny.
Gotta love kids!
I have found that although my adorable daughters humor has taken some time to develop she does follow after her mother. Sarcasm will often get us in trouble, but it is almost always funny.
Gotta love kids!
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