Random Happenings

We have had to get extra creative with Max. He doesn't like to just sit for very long, so during dinner one night, Miguel got creative and came up with this. It's crazy, but it worked.

 Max really likes his baths and I realized that I don't have any cute bath pics, so here you go.

 Love this expression!

 We took Gabriela to her first BYU football game, and she was so excited about it. She felt really special and we told her it was a reward for her hard work at school and for doing her homework every night. With a score of 56 -3, she had plenty of opportunities to sing the fight song she has memorized. Papi even spoiled us with frozen lemonades and ice cream.

 Yesterday, Julianne's preschool went to good ole' pumpkin patch. The kids had fun running all over the place and it was good for us to get out. Sophia was lucky enough to tag along. We love this preschool and their teachers.

I don't seem to be able to blog much, because I'm so stinkin' busy these days. Life just seems to have gone into overdrive. It's good, but I don't seem to have a spare moment to do any of the "I want to do's" because there are so many "I have to do's. " But I'm sure it's the same for all of us. 

School Carnival

Gabriela's school had their annual carnival last Friday and the kids were really exctied about it. We bought some tickets and I had the kids earn their tickets by doing chores before leaving the house. Gabriela worked really hard to earn hers. I also made them down a green smoothie before going, because I knew they would be filling up on sugar once they got their.

Once we arrived, Gabriela found her friend and begged, or quietly pleaded,  us to let her go off on her own with her friend. We gave her her independance and a few tickets and told her she had to come back to us for her other tickets so that we were sure she would check in with us. I spied on her and took a few pictures of her. It is bittersweet when your kids no longer want to hang with you.

 Max was along for the ride and was in good spirits most of the time. You gotta love that smile!

 And one more for fun. Oh and he turned 5 months on that day! It's flying by. (sniff, sniff)

 The little ones wanted to hit the bounce houses first thing.

 You don't think she's into it, do you?

 Julianne is just a bit more cautious.

 After that, the kids wanted to try the rock climbing wall. While we were waiting in the long line, I thought it would be a good time to go look for Gabriela, and no sooner had I told Miguel that, I hear over the loud intercom from the school, "Lindsay Ruiz, your daughter Gabriela is at the front office." Yep, I guess going off on your own has it's downfall when you can't find us anymore. But she was more than happy to do the climbing wall with us.

And everything started out just peachy.

 Look Mom, look how awesome I am and how high I'm climbing!

 And up Sophia went as well.

 Can you see those faces starting to change?

 Where did the awesomness go?

 Sophia got very serious once she got up pretty high and with a straight face let go and floated down to the bottom like a rag doll.

 But not Gabriela. She had a meltdown, bless her heart. She froze and refused to listen to anyone. We told her to let go, but she just wouldn't trust us.

 And she hung there for dear life.

 And it took the guy in charge to go up and get her down. Whew, was she glad that was over.

 So we moved on to less eventful things like face painting.

 I think the face paint goes well with the remains of green smoothie and a runny nose. Why don't I ever seem to catch those things in time? But oh how we love those chubby cheeks this girl sports around.

 And before we left, we had to go get some hair color.

 When asked if she wanted princess hair or rock star hair, Sophia totally went for the rock star look.

 She may be under the spell of the toxic fumes, or she was just plum tuckered out by this time.

 and a, not so very clear, side view.

 And checking herself out at the end.

As a side note: we have since cut her hair into an A line bob. At least she had one last good run with her long hair.

Really Funny (and sort of really embarassing!) Enjoy!

So on Saturday, my dear SIL, took my two older girls for the day and I had Max and Julianne with me. Earlier that morning, Sophia, Max, Julianne and I were laying in my bed, before I got up and at em', and Julianne kept rubbing my legs. It was making me crazy, and I asked her why she kept doing that. She said she was feeling my "pokies," by which she meant my unshaven legs. Don't gasp, I know you've all had your days! So, I told  her to quit. Later that day, like around 3:00, I asked her what she wanted to do since she had Mommy all to herself and she told me she wanted to color together. I happily obliged and we were enjoying ourselves. I like to pick her brain and talk to her when we are alone and we were having a great little conversation, when she announces, "Mommy, I'm coloring her skin like yours." I happened to look over and saw this:

I said, "What? I don't have polka dot skin!"

She said, "NO, it's her pokies!!! Likes yours."

AWESOME!!!

Sorry Abby Cadabby, you're a preschool fairy with hairy legs!

Needless to say, I shaved my legs the next time I hopped in the shower. And I made sure she saw them!

The Circus

While the cousins were in town, Grandpa decided to treat us all to a trip to the circus in Salt Lake. Before the show, you could go see all of the animals outside. Kind of smelly, but kind of cool.

 Max is obviously more fascinated by his hand than the elephants.

 That little zebra is a star in the circus and once his trainer spotted Sophia's zebra pants, she tried to make the zebra smile for the camera. Can't really tell can you?

 Among her own!

 Here are the majority of cousins from Miguel's side of the family. There is one more girl, that's not pictured, in that mix. Max is thankful that he'll have a boy cousin coming in Nov. Otherwise, this is what he has to look forward too. Oh and doesn't Julieta (far right) have style! She picked that out all by herself.

Elena, Max, Gabriela, Julianne, Sophia, Raquel, Daniela, Gracie, & Julieta

 My girls were just so exctied to see their cousins. It was so cute, because they would hold hands and stick so close together. So, so fun to have them here.

 During the circus, we had our own circus going on where we sat. Julianne had a huge meltdown with my sister in law in the bathroom, because she put toilet paper on the seat for Julianne to sit on. Max was having a fit because he was starving and sent Miguel on two trips to the bathroom to get more hot water. We were all starving, but Grandma pulled one for the team when she sweet talked the door worker at the arena to let her in with all sorts of sandwiches and sodas she made and brought from home. Miguel also had to cave and buy this whopping box of popcorn. They finished every last piece too. The circus was great. I think my kids had a good time, but boy oh boy, it was long.



Gone Shootin'

 I had never held a gun in my hand until this day. Honestly, I've always been afraid. Too afraid of an accident and I would be on the bad end of said accident. No one in my immediate family was a hunter, so guns just weren't around or out where we could see them. But I have to say, I feel a lot more confident after a morning out with the boys. My brother in law took us out to the Gun Range with his stash of guns and ammo. They started me out with a rifle and we were shooting targets which was fun, but then he pulled out the AK47 and that was an interesting experience. Those things pack some punch and you can just tell you have a whole lot of power in your hands. I only shot a couple rounds and that was enough for me. I don't need that much power. Lastly we took turns trying to skeet shoot with some shot guns. No thanks. One shot and that thing kicked back into my shoulder. They could have at it, but it wasn't my thing. All in all, I'm glad I went. Thanks boys, for letting this girl tag along.

Married to a Mexican

I absolutely love being married to a Mexican.

It has changed my life and enriched it so much.

I secretely wish I was hispanic too.

I just need to perfect my amateur Spanish speaking abilities.  

The Mexican people are so warm, fun, and full of traditions. I love their history. I love that I've been to Mexico City, Cancun, Tasco, Cuernavaca, Merida, and all of the amazing ruin sites. I'm ready to add some more to that list too. I love eating at little taco stands on the street and watching all of the folkloric dances. I love hitting the local hispanic bakery and bring home Mexican pastries to share with the family. For someone who loves to celebrate and loves a good party, they offer me so many other opportunites to have fun. One of which is the Mexican Independance Day on Sept. 16th.

 A friend of ours throws a huge party in his backyard and we get to go and mingle with latinos for the evening. Everyone brings their favortie Mexican dish to share and their were probably about 400 people there. He brings in singers and folkloric dancers and then a band plays the rest of the night, so everyone can get in some good salsa dancing practice. (too bad we had to leave at 10:00 when the dancing was getting started. Max was sick and we were freezing to death). But it's fun to see my girls mingle and make friends with all the little hispanic girls. I love that they get exposed and don't get uncomfortable around spanish speaking people and are able to have experiences to embrace their cultural heritage. We love being Mexican!

Viva Mexico.....Viva!!!

Dear Gigi and Elena

My girls are obsessed with paper and markers. They spend hours creating things like this. And since they choose the biggest paper we have to write letters, this is my way of delivering them to the recipients.

Hope you enjoy!
Love, Gabriela and Sophia