Our 1st Piano Recital

 Gabriela had her very first piano recital on Saturday. She got really nervous when I told her it was at the church, because she thought she would be playing in front of the entire congregation. But she did such a wonderful job and we were all very proud of her. She looked fantastic and she had all of her pieces memorized. We were really glad to see her thrive and excel. 

 She also received a little motivation yesterday, when our new home teacher came for the first time and brought his wife, who happens to be a piano performance major at BYU. She filled our whole home with music, and the spirit, and it was absolutely inpirational for us beginning piano students, myself included. So now when we sit down to practice, I just have to remind her of Sis. Gilbert and then we focus and get down to business.  Maybe someday we will have a concert pianist of our own to fill our home with music!

Moment of Serendipity = Happiness & Fulfillment

 While I was washing dishes today, Sophia asked if she could go outside and explore the tracks in the snow in our backyard. I said sure, and was proud of myself for letting go enough to let her go out, because my gut always wants to say no. I bundled her up and watched from the window as she meandered around the yard. I then peeked my head out and suggested she build a snowman. and then I watched as she struggled to construct him. She had this tiny little head on him and then came in asking for stuff for his face.  I grabbed a carrot out of the fridge and cut a nose and grabbed some cranberries for the eyes. A few minutes later she came crying because she couldn't get anything to stick in that tiny head of his. So I quit what I was doing and went out to help her. We built a bigger head and got those eyes and nose to stick. We then built him a new middle and popped that little head on top. My hands were freezing, but we carried on. She went after some arms and I went inside to find a ribbon. Once he was looking great, I suggested she make some "snowman soup," like the book she got for Christmas and she thought that was an awesome idea.  So that is what is in the little bowl in front.

It's really isn't anything amazing, but to me it is progress. Being able to put down what I'm doing to help one of my children. To do things that I may not, at first thought, want to do. But I know that any time I spend with my children is worth it and that those moments say "I love you." I didn't let my to do list get in the way of spending a moment with my little Sophia out in the snow.

We then came in and made some hot chocolate and she is now busily working at being an artist at the kitchen table. It's the small moments that make it all worth while.

Sophia is 5!

We got to celebrate Sophia this week. She has been so excited about her birthday and has been anticipating it  for weeks. Since it fell on a Thursday, we went out as a family and spent the evening eating "chineese food" which she requested, because they give you a treat at the end, i.e. a fortune cookie. We kept it simple and went to Panda Express and then we went bowling. We had a great time!

 We then started our preparations for her big birthday party on Saturday. The main event was the birthday cake. I had a wonderfully kind lady in my ward come over and teach me how to make fondant so I could make this cake. But the best part was that Sophia got to decorate it herself. It was like a giant canvas and she used food coloring markers to decorate it. Gabriela weaseled her way in and Sophia finally decided to let her help. Our theme this year was "Rainbows," since everything she brings home from preschool is colored like the rainbow.

 This was the table spread we ended up with, complete with healthy snacks for the kids to munch on from all six colors of the rainbow. 

 Here is the finished cake. 

 Gigi made her this awesome outfit for the rainbow birthday. She got to wear it to preschool, bowling, and her party. It was perfect!

 I loved the audible gasp as we revealed what was inside the cake. It was a lot of fun to make, but it was so sweet, that most of the kids didn't even finish their cake and Sophia told me her tummy hurt. But later they changed their minds and were picking at it the rest of the day. Silly kids!

 Here she is with all of her little buddies. Most of which are in her CTR class at church. They were a hoot!

 We got her a new scooter for her birthday and when she opened it she said, "I've been wanting one of these for a long time!" So she was thrilled. 

 We then had the pinata. All of the girls were just tapping the thing and I thought we would never break it open, that is until Daniela took a swing. Our little Mexican gal, showed these little gringas how to do it! She wacked his legs off and then cut him in two! Then Julianne led a crew and shredded and gutted that thing to pieces. Poor Burro.

 And well, what do you say. This is Julianne, and all of her goofiness.

I did our annual interview with Sophia and here is a little info about her. 

My favorite food is: cheese quesadillas

My favorite sport to play is: soccer

The best show on tv is: Wild Krats

The coolest person on Earth is: Jesus

My favorite thing to learn in school is: my sounds and art

The thing I do the most awesomely is: art

If I could go anywhere in the world, I'd go to: Chuck E Cheese

My favorite color is: yellow

When I grow up, I'm going to become an: artist

My current favorite song is: Head Shoulders Knees and Toes

The book I'm loving right now is: Fancy Nancy

Three words that describe me is: Princess Sophia

My favorite season of the year is: summer

The best thing about camping is: riding bikes

The snack I like best is: fruit snacks

One food I really dislike is: tomatoes

My best friend is: Brenna

If I has a wish it would be: to be a good girl

My best memory is: snowy days

Maximus

So this is Maximus at 8 mths. old. Can you believe it? He is so cute and lovable.

I'm having his pictures taken in a couple of weeks and can't decide. Hair up? or Down? Let me know your opionion. You can also tell me if his hair just looks terrible, because honestly, I don't know. I really don't know what to do with his hair, because I've never had a boy before. So help me out people. 

A Learning Process

I've had so much on my mind lately that I would love to get down on paper. This life is such a learning process, as is was intended to be. I feel like this phase of my life is so full of lessons to be learned. About deciphering between what is really important, who I really am, what I really believe, and what I can really handle. I'm being stretched and feel like I'm constantly presented with the reality of who I am, whether it be good or bad.

Today I will now be known as"the only mom who didn't bring treats and junk to the preschool for their child's birthday." But I'm owning that one. If we still lived in the days when you could bring cupcakes to share, then I'm all about it, but I'm not purchasing store bought, unhealthy, wasting good hard earned money, just to save face stuff, all in the name of social pressure. Just not gonna do it this time. Especially when I'm throwing down a major birthday party on Saturday. Good thing Sophia is rational and she gets it. Or at least she pretends too.

Another thing I'm learning is the fact that our family can only handle so much. As much as I would like to sign my kids up for all of the amazing things there are to do out there, our family will only suffer from the overscheduling and stress that it puts on us. Our best days are the ones where there are no appointments to be at, meetings to attend, assignments to be completed, practices to struggle through. It makes me grumpy, and I take it out on the kids, and then they are grumpy, because we are in this rat race to get things done all the time. So Gabriela quit spanish this week, to be in the school play. And I was getting a wild hair to sign her up for ballet again, but that will have to wait till the summer when we don't have school and other things to do. I just know deep down we can't add that on top. Good thing we can learn from our mistakes in the past.

I'm learning that asking for help has it's benefits. My house is feeling more organized thanks to some great women in my life. My sweet mother in law came over to help me organize my pantry, since that is something she is very gifted at, and  another friend came and helped me "de-allergerize" my bedroom from corner to corner. Such a blessing. Speaking of which, I'm breathing better these days. Went to the allergist who diagnosed me with sever asthma (duh!) but got me on some meds that have made me feel much better and are controlling my breathing. What a breath of fresh air...literally! Glad I asked for that help as well.

On to other things. I feel (can you tell I'm a blue personality? I "feel" a lot) like life is sort of running away with me. I'm so stinkin' busy that I can't manage a moment to myself. I daydream about writing in my journal. I daydream about picking up that book I was reading 4-5 days ago. I daydream about going to bookclub. There just isn't a moment to spare these days. But I'm also becoming more aware of the fact that my children will only be in my house a short time, before they leave and are gone. That makes me sad, and then I'll have all the time in the world to read and write. But what will I write about then? My empty house? No, you see, now is the time to write. They give me great material to write about! So I'll have to see how I can work it in. This is really the stuff I'm going to want to read when I'm old.

Any who....I feel better that I've gotten at least some thoughts down. There is a little less weight on the shoulders. You know how you always feel better after you throw up. Well, that's how I'm "feeling" right now. I just needed to spend a minute processing and I feel much better now.

Good night all.

Almost in the ER....again.

Yesterday was not good. I had been on my inhaler the previous day and I remember taking it before bed and at around 2:30 in the morning. While managing the house and cleaning the girls room in the morning, I kept feeling tightness in my chest and finally decided I should make that appointment to my allergy/asthma doctor that I hadn't seen in over two years. Well wouldn't you know, as soon as I made that appointment for the following day, I went into a full blown asthma attack. Like, a scary one. I was fumbling around the house trying to find my inhaler while standing still every few minutes, with my hands on my knees, trying desperately to suck in air. I...could...not...breathe!!! I couldn't muster the energy to keep looking for my inhaler and was starting to panic. I had a house full of kids, I wasn't in any condition to drive, and I honestly didn't know what to do. I do not like emergency rooms, because they empty your wallet and I knew I just needed something to open  up my airways. If I couldn just find that dang inhaler! I finally called Miguel in desperation, and I started to cry, which really made it worse. I couldn't even talk.

He ended up calling a neighbor to come over and check on me, as well as his parents. They kept telling to sit down and rest and that I needed to go to the ER. I took some Benadryll hoping that would help, but to no luck and eventually I conceeded to going to the Instacare first to see if  they could help. Luckily, because my throat wasn't shutting down, they could treat me and gave me a breathing treatment, which felt like they gave me my life back, and put me on some steroids for a week. I'm about to go to the previously mentioned appointment to see if we can get this under control.

I haven't been scared about my breathing in a long time, and I hope it doesn't happen again any time soon. So grateful for the good people who came to my rescue yesterday.

Christmas and Disneyland

All right, I'm going to give you the condensed version of our Christmas holidays. On Christmas Eve, we gathered with Miguel's family and had a good time. We had a traditional Mexican Christmas meal, complete with tamales and some wonderful posole (a Mexican soup that is a family favorite). We played some minute to win it games and had white elephant gift exchanges.

 Christmas Morning:

Santa was extra good to the girls this year and surprised them with stockings full of goodies and TICKETS TO DISNEYLAND!!!

After attending church we jumped in the car and headed for California. I actually think the girls were more excited about seeing there cousins than actually going to Disneyland. We made it there that night and the girls had a lot of fun hanging out together.

Oh, and did I mention that at the last minute we decided to leave Max with Miguel's parents. He would have been miserable and totally off  his schedule if we had taken him and we was treated like a little prince at there house. It hurt our hearts to leave him, but once on the road, we were so glad they volunteered to  help. Thanks again Grandma and Grandpa!

 Day 1 at Disneyland

We got there around lunchtime and we soon found out that everybody else on earth thought it was a great idea to go to Disneyland the day after Christmas. And the ticket lady told us that it is the busiest week of the whole year. Just great. Let me tell you right now, we will no longer be visiting at Christmas again.  We hit California Adventure our first day and had a good old time. All lines were between 45-90 minutes long, but we knew we had five days to get it all done, so were were relaxed. We all loved Mickey's Fun Wheel, but the real story was when we lost Sophia in the wilderness adventure fort. Yep, for 10-15 minutes we searched and searched and our hearts were racing. It was dark and she ran ahead of us and "poof" she disappeared. When I finally located an employee they said they already had her and told me where to go pick her up. Thank you Disney!!!! Then we had to do a mad dash over to Goofy's Kitchen for our dinner reservation. I highly recommend this place for a character meal. The food was delicious! I could have eatten their brocollini forever. The characters spent a lot of time with you and Alladin was by far our favorite. He even engaged my kids in a game of chase around the restaurant. Awesome. Will definately do this one again.

 Day 2

We got up and got to the park early because the park was filling to capacity each day and if  you were already in, you were safe to come and go as you pleased. We learned that Julianne was big enough to ride everything! That was the best part. We went and rode Space Mtn. and  Thunder Mtn. with our fastpasses and the kids thought it was just great. In fact that is what they kept requesting to do, for the next three days. I was so proud of them, because I wouldn't do it till I was in my late teens. But then again, I was a big scaredy cat most of my young life. Then when the crowds were at their worst we headed over to the new pirates lair on Tom Sawyer's Island. And yet again, we lost Gabriela, and she bawled and told us it was no fun that she couldn't run and explore like she wanted too. Sorry sis, not in these crowds. Needless to say, I was a little on edge and thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown.

We went  home in the afternoon took a long three hour nap and headed out after dark. We even exposed our kids to a 1am meal at Denney's after the park closed. We rode so many rides that night, because noone was out that late. Best time to hit Fantasyland and actually, when you've been exposed to Space Mtn., Dumbo just doesn't do it for you anymore. I like these kids of mine.

 Day 3
We were now definately slowing down. We rode the train back to toontown and explored Toon Town and then we hit the tea cups, Sophia's favorite. This is the one ride we cannot pull Miguel on.

 We then went over to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for the girls makeovers. I've been really excited about this and knew that this was probably my only opportunity to do this. The next time we go, the girls will be too big and not interested. They brought their princess dresses (and nightgown in Gabriela's case) and they got all prettified. They felt like a million bucks when they walked out of there. Gabriela leaned over and whispered "Mom, don't worry, you won't ever loose us now. Everybody is staring at us!" Which she loved every minute of it.

 We then headed over to California Adventure for our lunch with the princesses. Now I just have to say, that I don't like this place. This was our second time going there and the food is not that great. It's kind of wierd. And the princesses are not that nice and pretty much wave the kids to take a picture and then they are off. Not personal at all. Oh, but the best place to meet characters is by Snow White's wishing well. We ran in to Peter Pan much to our surprise and he sat and chatted with the girls for quite a while and was really in character. So fun.

And that night is when I discovered my camera was missing. I walked all of California Adventure looking for it and asking the employees at all the rides we rode if they had it. Luckily it turned up the next day and they shipped it to me for free. Nothing like Disney, ya know. So all the rest of my photos are sitting in Miguel's phone. But for now, here is what I got, and am so glad they were recovered.