While you are gone........

So Aaron is away til Thursday on a fishing trip to Mexico with his brothers. Yeah, I have to admit I'm a bit jealous, but glad he gets to spend THAT type of quality time with his brothers, whom he loves very much. Meanwhile I thought I'd try to blog about our days while he is gone so he does not miss out on the fun here at home.

Let's see..You left Saturday morning. After that we packed and got ready to move to buelito and buelitas for the week until daddy gets home. Got the girls clothes, my running clothes and Tank in the car and arrived at buelita's to a delicious mexican breakfast awaiting us, warm home made wheat tortillas and all, YUM! My mom knows how to spoil us! She wasn't done making them so the girls were happy to help, as always. After that we picked some cherries from my parents backyard, trying to get ahead of the birds who are starting to eat them. They beat us to it every year, so we thought we better star taking them down half way ripe and just let them continue to ripe in a box or something. We don't know if they will continue to ripe, but i guess we will find out. Tomorrow we are heading out there again to pick some more. We are also going in search of a fake owl to scare away the birds, per Grandpa Mark's recommendation. The girls ate a couple and discovered they weren't quite ready. After that Grandma Kelli and Grandpa Mark arrived with more fresh fruit just picked from their own back yard, strawberries. It must have been a couple pounds of strawberries. They were nice and sweet and we enjoyed every one of them.
Later that day while the girls took a nap, I went running along the Jordan River trail with my sister Nathalie and her boyfriend Don-Hee. They rode their bikes while I tried to catch up to them. Of course I never did, but stayed within sight of them the whole time. Seriously my heart felt as it was about to pop out of my chest, it was a good work out.

After that Nathalie's friend was having a birthday party for her little boy and we tagged along Mexican style, hehe! The girls had a lot of fun, petted an albino snake and a rabbit the magician had as part of the show. Naomi made friends like she always does while Jocie chased after a little Chihuahua someone brought to the party, and picked on every little ant she'd see crawling on the floor every time she'd look down. You know her, she is our little animal lover. They ate their little hearts content with candy and then we came home. Actually we stopped by blockbuster on our way home, Jocie got her hands on some candy on our way to the register and threw a big tantrum when I took it away from her, you know the type where she melts out of your arms and pushes herself away from you with her legs on your chest type of tantrum, along with some screaming and crying to top it all off. Yeah, I bet you are jealous and wished you were here instead of Cancun. We didn't get to watch the movie, it was late and the girls needed to get to bed, so I'm torturing Naomi and having her wait til Monday to watch her movie, you know me, I'm the Nazi Mormon who does not let her kids watch TV on Sunday, and yes of course that meant some more tears and kicking and screaming before going to bed. Are you jealous now? But after a while and some threatening of taking the movie back she settle for a book and a song, oh! and don't forget the back scratching before going to bed.

Today Naomi woke up screaming "Wake up everyone" I heard her and went into the room to get her. She must have been really tired because all she did was ask " Mommy, is the sun up yet?" It's been cloudy here, so she really couldn't tell if it was time to wake up. I told her no, the sun was not up yet, so she turned around and went back to sleep for another hour. Jocie slept in with tia Areli until 9 AM. Yeah, I could not believe it either. While she slept mom, dad, Naomi and I tried to take Tank and Nakon on a walk, but it started raining and we headed back. We went to church with my parents, but I had to leave during the last hour to go to our branch to teach my lesson, so the girls stayed with mom and dad for Sacrament meeting and what do you think I missed while gone? Naomi's first time going up to say her "testimony" So don't feel bad, you weren't the only one who missed it. My parents said she wanted to go up after she saw another kid go up. They said she was really cute and did not need any help with what to say.

This is what they told me she said:
Hola hnos y hnas. Vamos a ir a Mexico. Gracias por mi mami y mi papi y por Jocie, y por Tanke y Nakon. Amen.

After church we went to Grandma Kelli's and helped her pick some more strawberries. The girls played with Molly and up in your mom's little play room, they also enjoyed playing with the umbrellas. We had dinner and dessert, and visited for a while with grandma Kelli and grandpa Mark. The girls had not had a nap all day, so we headed home early to put them to bed. After pj's, a book, a song, and some back scratches they were both out. Now I'm waiting for you to log in so we can chat before going to bed.

I hope you are having lots of fun in Mexico, even though I know you'd be having way more fun with me there. Please wash your hands often and don't catch the flu. Te amo.

C is for Caterpillar part#2

Our caterpillar turned into a beautiful butterfly and flew out our window....to caterpillar heaven.

The girls were really excited to see a real caterpillar. They took very good care of it for a couple of days. They gave it a little house in a jar with leaves, even gave her a bath . They carefully carried it around the house in a little jar, or attached to Naomi's shirt, she was convinced this was her new pet and really cared for it. It took Jocie a little while to warm up to it, she was excited to see it, but wanted nothing to do with it, when she finally did she was so careful and soft with it, she'd "pet" it and talk to it. So cute. I wanted to put it back on a tree and let it go on it's merry way right after I showed it to the girls, but Naomi was so excited about it, she begged me no to do it. I kept telling her that this time we were gonna let it go only to postpone the release of the little caterpillar time after time. On the second day, I took a little branch an stuck it in the jar so that the caterpillar would have something to climb on. Did not put the lid back on and then went on with my day. When we came back to check on it, it was gone. The bad news was that I had left the jar on the counter next to the sink. We looked for it everywhere, every little crack, lifted every little thing, but nothing. I think it went down the drain! I felt so bad, even stuck my hand in the garbage disposer and took a really good look in there, but nothing. The girls had taken such good care of it and I killed it! Daddy and I were forced to tell the girls that it had turned into a butterfly and flew out the window. They believed it.

Mild is for sissies.

I don't know if I have said this here before, but sometimes I'm just amazed at how different Naomi and Jocie are. This is one of those things. Naomi hates hot and spicy things while Jocie LOVES it. She'll literally chug down tooth paste just to get that tingly feeling in her mouth, of course that only happens when I get distracted. I think it was my dad who got her started. Jocie kept wanting to eat something from my plate that we assume was too hot for her, and when I would not let her have it, she cried and whine etc, etc. So finally my dad tells me to let her have some just so that she would learn on her own that eating hot and spicy things was really not a good idea. To our surprise, she did flinch...a little...and then continued to savor her new discovery. It's in her genes!

Here are some pictures of my adventurer eater:

Savoring 'Buelita's famous pozole

Yes, pozole can do that you.
However....

Take a break, drink some water and then....

Bring it on again! YUM!

SB81 will break up good families

All,

I just read this article and wanted to share it. The author shares his opinion of what SB81 will really do. I appreciated what he had to say, and I agree with it.

For those of you who don't know what SB81 is, it is a bill that was designed to push hispanic immigrants back south.

CLICK HERE FOR THE ARTICLE

C is for caterpillar

Just a quick post.

Part of last week and this week the girls and I have been learning about caterpillars and butterflies, and the letter "C" for caterpillar. We checked out a video about caterpillars and how they turn into butterflies from the library, along with some caterpillar children's books and have been reading them all week. Today we made a "C" is for caterpillar craft and that was going to be the end of our "C" is for caterpillar theme... or so I thought. As I was getting up from the couch tonight heading over to bed, guess what I spotted right there next to me on the couch? A caterpillar! How did it get here? We most have called it into our house with all the caterpillar talking that has been going on around here lately. So I lured it into a little jar, filled with lettuce and spinach, hoping that it will survive the night there for the girls to see tomorrow when they wake up. They will be so excited!

I'm now a Soccer mom

I had noticed Naomi a little bored and distracted in her dance class. So I kept that in mind and when the next session was up for registration and asked her if she wanted to come back before signing up again. She answered immediately, not giving it much thought, and said she did not want to come back again. So I continued to offer some suggestions: Swimming, baseball, music, art, soccer... and soccer it was! This little girl knows what she wants.

I knew where to go to find a class because I'm always keeping an eye open for activities to get her enrolled in. It turned out that the the next month was already full, so we registered and waited for the following one. I figured a little break would do us good anyway. This week was our second class and she was as excited as her first week. I should have figured before that she'd like this. She's a tough little girl full of energy, it figures!

The first week the coach went over the rules and had them kick the ball around to get a feel of it. Today he had them wait in line until their turn came up to run with the ball and kick it into the goal. Every time she'd get a turn her face would change in a second and she'd get her GAME FACE on. She'd wrinkle her nose and forehead, her tongue almost sticking out, focused on that ball. It was so much fun to see. The other moms were also pretty impressed with her, commenting on how fast and good she is. She is a natural! Anyway, what can I say? I'm her mother! In my eyes she will always be the best at whatever she does and I will always be her biggest fan.

I had fun too!

Soccer girl.
Concentrating on the ball.

Look at her go! She is fast!

My mom and my sisters Areli and Nathalie all had the day off and came with us to take care of Jocie while I was with Naomi. Areli took all this pictures. Gracias Tia Areli!

Happy Dad

I wanted to take a moment and talk about something that makes me happy, my family. And more particularly, my role as the dad in the family.

Due to reasons that I may never understand, and as part of a larger plan, I have been blessed with the opportunity to be the Dad in this family, with a sweet wife, and with two little girl who happen to be two of my best friends. These three people are at the center of my main purpose in life: to make their lives good. I want to see them smile, and have fun, and be pretty, and do fun things, and learn and be smart, and shine with happiness. These are the things that I like to see. When I see these things, it makes all of my hard work worth while. When I see my girls with smiles on their faces when I leave to work, and again with smiles when I come home from work, it makes my hard work worth it. It validates my efforts and struggles away from home, to see the success that we are having in the home. The fact that my little girls get sad if I try to leave to work and I forget the goodbye kiss, that is awesome. It is a powerful connection that we have, this family. And I know that as soon as I walk in the door I will have two little girls racing to see who can get to dad first for their hug, that is just so cool. It makes the troubles of the day instantly completely disappear.

Life is good when you have a happy mom, two happy girls, all healthy and smiling. It validates dad's role when everyone is happy. When the people inside dad's stewardship are happy, dad feels good about himself and feels good about what he is bringing into the family. I love that about my family. I love to see everyone happy, healthy, learning and growing stronger. I enjoy seeing these three silly girls playing and giggling. It is what I am all about. At work I work hard and take names, and it is in part to gain a sense of worth from doing a good job at what you do. But a large reason behind working well is to make sure that your family can continue to be happy and well taken-care-of.

I want everyone to know that I am a happy man. My role as Dad is validated daily. My friendship with my two little girls is a so important and makes me feel like a king, the luckiest king in the world. My wife and I have been through a lot together and we are still buddies. I love her! I hope that all my friends have the same joy inside their roles are dads.

3 days into it.

I'm 3 days into the sugar free for 30 days challenge and I'm glad to repot I'M STILL ALIVE! I have not had desperate cravings yet, but I have had some, last night was the worst so far. My husband worked into midnight and being home alone after I put the girls for bed was hard. I found myself roaming the kitchen for something to put me at ease. I slapped myself out of it and had a glass of water instead while watching the biggest looser. Good thing that was on too. Did anyone watch it last night? They ran a marathon! A couple of them walked the whole thing! Wow! I was sitting there with my glass of water thinking how much running is a lot about a mind thing than anything else. So is this sugar free challenge. If I can ran a 1/2 marathon I can definetly do 30 days without sugar (that's what I keep telling myself) We'll see on mother's day. I'm already getting myself phsycologically ready for that. I'm not going to eat cake that day (sight). Did I mention Aaron's doing the challenge too? That alone makes it so much easier. Thanks honey! and sorry for putting you through this-mmm not really. LOL. I love you!

30 days Give it up before Summer Challenge

I heard of this on Oprah last week. I wanted to check it out then, and should have, because now I am 4 days behind. I am giving up sugar for 30 days as well, and I'm planning to loose 10 lbs doing this, plus running and exercising. Who wants to do it with me? I figured it would be funner and easier if I dragged someone with me. We can keep each other in check and follow each other's progress. Who is in?

On growing, making the change and being a teacher-big sister.

Jocie is 21 months old. A few more months and she will officially stop being a baby and turn into a little girl. I don't even know what gave me that idea, that two is the magic number for when a baby stops being a baby. Already she is going potty. This week something clicked and she started letting me know when she needed to go. She has made unbelievable progress in just ONE week. To make matters worse, for me at least, Aaron decided to change the crib into a BIG GIRL'S bed this weekend! I literally begged him not to do it, even got teary eyed, to give us at least another month to be ready, but for some reason he was so eager to make the change! I couldn't not stop him. Last night was Jocie's first night of sleeping on her newly transformed bed. She slept like a baby, no rolling off the bed accidents, yet. The 21 month old mark also got me thinking Naomi was 21 months when Jocie was born! What was I thinking!? She was still a baby! Jocie is so little right now and so was Naomi. I couldn't help but feel guilty for stealing Naomi out of time, attention and learning, but then I thought of the two together and how much they love and enjoy each other's company and I couldn't imagine one without the other. Naomi came only a few months earlier and that automatically turned her into a teacher the moment Jocie was born. Jocie is learning so much from her big sister, learning how to go potty is proof of it. I'm happy that soon we won't have to buy anymore diapers, at least for a while, but sad to see my little one growing so fast. All I can do is do the best with the little time I have left with my BABY, soon to be my LITTLE GIRL.

Daddy making the change and Jocie in her big girl CHONES (undies)
(I think I'm gonna start a Spanish word of the day or something like that)

Jocie's big girl bed.

She got ahold of her reward stickers ( I didn't even have to bribe her with candy!) and decided to cover her hands with them. She deserves them!