101 Things to Do

*updated! anything red Omar has done. Great idea Amanda. :) (He's too responsible and too much of a homebody for a lot of these.)
The Ones in Bold are the ones I've done. Copy and paste into your blog and see how many you get.

Things I have done in my life:
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disney World - I've been to Disneyland but not DisneyWorld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child – I may one day
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked - with Billy when the thunderbird fried
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice - it was way too expensive, we just kissed on the top of every bridge instead
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language - if only...
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance - although I was not the hurt person, Rocky Donati was
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie - does a homemade movie count?
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (oops)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument

It's funny how this list makes you feel accomplished...

Jumping Ship

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This is the day Isaiah jumped the sleeping ship and landed on one nap a day. He wouldn't take his nap in the morning before church. We have late church, and then choir. When we got home I put him in his high chair with a cookie to wait for dinner to be ready. Within a minute he was asleep clutching his cookie.

He hasn't had a morning nap these last two days either. I think I've reached the end, alas. I will miss my morning get things done jag. Well, off to bigger and better.

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I just thought this was so cute. Helaman made a bed for George in the blanket basket and then reading him stories and singing him to sleep. What a sweet boy. :)

Run Away to L.A.

Omar had Friday off, and we were feeling a little stir crazy in our desert island so we decided to take a jaunt to L.A. and escape for the day. We were supposed to come back that night, but we ended up staying with Fernando and getting back late Saturday. We had lots of fun on our one day vacation. (is there any other kind?)

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When Santa Visited Helaman's Class

Santa visited Helaman's preschool class last Wednesday. It was so cute, and the kids just ate it up. The mom's were invited to come hear them sing before Santa came and then stay for the fun.

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Funny Isaiah

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Getting Ready for Christmas

We've been filling our lives with Christmas lately. I love this time of year. I love how we are all happier, and sparlier. Omar decorated the outside with lights, we watch Christmas movies everyday, listen to Christmas music, read Christmas movies, think Christmas thoughts. It's like Sunday, a break from every day problems to focus on Christ.

Here's some of our fun pre-Christmas pictures.

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Where did everyone go?

I've been debating this for a long time, but after reading about some crazy things, I've decided we need to go private. So, for any of the posts about our family, you'll have to register for the sight. You can set it to remember you, so you should only have to do it once (or once in a while if you delete your cookies) and then you'll be good to go. Sorry about the trouble. Someday we'll live in a millennial world, and if I still am blogging, I'll unlock for ya'll!

To register, scroll down to the bottom of the sidebar on the right. Let me know if you have any trouble. I don't want to lose any of you! (Unless you are a crazy stalker or something, and then thanks a lot, this is all your fault!)

A Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! Omar's family all came, and we had a blast. Lots of spending time together and dancing and motorcycle riding and eating way too much!

I was nervous about making the dinner, but it all turned out great. Well, other than the fact I forgot to make the stuffing, but life goes on!

Thanks for coming guys!

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Socking Isaiah

When Isaiah wakes up in the morning the first thing he does is get into my sock drawer, pick out a pair or two, and ask me to put them on. Well, first he tries to do it by himself, but that doesn't ever seem to work out for him.

Then he slips and slides around the house until I get him dressed. If he notices them once he's dressed he'll ask to put them back on.

And for the record, it's not that cold in our house in the morning!

A couple of days ago, while crusing socked up, he climbed into my shoe rack and couldn't get out. I don't know what he thought he was doing, but it was so funny.

I know, I'm a mean mom, but I had to leave him stuck and angry and grab my camera. Notice the socks...

Thankful Turkeys

Tonight we got to do one of my favorite family night activities. We have a tradition in our family to create these silly turkeys each year and write what we are thankful for on the feathers. It's a fun reminder of our blessing to see these hanging there as we walk by. Plus I get to feel crafty for a day.

Helaman was thankful for fruit (he wanted to write every kind of fruit he could think of, but we summarized), Family Home Evening, beans (got me!), and penguins. We were naming all kinds of things, but out of everything we named (his bike, his family) he was most thankful for penguins!

We all collaborated on what we thought Isaiah was grateful for. We chose cookies (he's a junk food addict after Amanda's own heart), Helaman said fruit, I said family, and daddy said toys--which Helaman felt was necessary to specify as his mobile.

Omar was grateful for our family, our house, Christmas, and motorcycles.

As for me, it's hard to choose, I am so blessed. I chose to talk about my boys (Helaman loves to talk about how I love all my boys), books, rain--oh how I miss rain, and the beautiful earth.

Anyway, it's silly, but fun. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Goings Ons

It's been an exciting week or so. We went to Gridley for Halloween and had lots of fun seeing all of our family. It was a fast trip, and we didn't get to see everyone we wanted to... but it was still fun. Helaman was a little sad to come back and kept telling us he wanted to live in Gridley forever. But, I think he's okay because today he told me he wanted to live here forever. Fickle kid! :)

Here's the pictures from some of our latest adventures, Halloween with the cousins, preschool, cold days, and playing at the park with some friends this morning.

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Halloween now and then...

Helaman had his Halloween party and parade at preschool today. He feels that it's very important to be a pumpkin every year (and Isaiah, too) but they don't make pumpkin costumes big enough for 4-year-olds (nor patterns for that matter). So we were all up late last night creating one. Well, Omar did the actual sewing, and he didn't think my cutting was good enough, so he re-did that also (if you know Omar...)

Nick is here visiting from Arizona and we kept him up all night talking to us while we worked in the kitchen so he couldn't go to bed. It was lots of fun!

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We have big plans for Halloween, tambien. We're going to Gridley! We're leaving tomorrow after work. We're going trick-or-treating with Omar's cousins on Friday and we're really excited to see them. And then just play for the weekend. Helaman is really excited. Okay, we're all really excited.

6 Quirks

I've been tagged by Katie, who I am really excited is blogging, so I'm being a good sport and participating...

Here are the rules: "MY UNSPECTACULAR QUIRKS"

1. Link to the person who tagged you


2. Mention the rules on your blog


3. Tell 6 unspectacular quirks about you


4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking to them


5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

My 6 Unspectacular Quirks

1. I am a germ-a-phobe. As a mom, my biggest struggle is staying calm with anything germy and grossy that goes wrong.


2. I don't like lots of noise. I'm going to need one of those background noise filtering hearing aids when I grow up (though I'd enjoy one right now).


3. I almost always skip to the end of a book about half way through, because I can't wait to see how it ends. Then I'll go back and read the rest of the book.


4. I almost always finish a book within a few days for the same reason as above.


5. Although my dad said when I grew up and had to pay for the hot water I would take short showers, I still take long ones whenever I have the time.


6. I love to be right. Always.

Now I'm going to break the rules and tag anyone who wants to play. It's fun to get to know my friends better, so if you have the time and inclination, I'd love to read about your quirks.

Voting my Conscious

A friend had this posted on her blog. It was beautiful, and I wanted to share. From Catholic vote:



May the Lord bless us to all vote our conscious and protect our families, and God's family.

Desert Empire Fair

When we first arrived at this tiny little fair, we almost turned around and left. But we ended up having lots of fun and were glad we stayed. They let Isaiah and a parent ride free on everything, which would never happen at a bigger fair. They let Helaman go on any of the rides with an adult, there were no height restrictions (he LOVED the squirrel cages). And there were no long ride lines, which was also great.I had seen pictures online of a past fair and thought it looked like a bunch of little dust bowl kids. Not too far off... at least on the dust part.

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Big Little Helaman

Helaman is getting so big. I love watching the way his mind works. This video was all him, no one was helping him with the answers.



Here's some other fun Helaman getting big stuff lately:

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Helaman is 4 *Now with Pictures!!!

Helaman had his 4th birthday on Saturday. It was an all day family fun day. I wish it was someones birthday more often!

We got up and went to donuts and yard sales in the morning. Then we let him watch some t.v. and had lunch on the golf course on base. He and Isaiah loved watching the golfers and running around in the grass while they ate.

We came home and opened presents early because we wanted him to get to use his helmet. Grandma Elsa and Grandpa Luis both sent some birthday money so we were able to buy him a motorcycle helmet. He hasn't been able to go on 4-wheeler rides with daddy since we moved here because he needed a helmet. After presents daddy and Helaman went on a loooong ride and then mommy and Helaman went for a walk and explored the desert across from our house while daddy took Isaiah for a ride. Then we cleaned up and went to the pizza place with all the games and Helaman played in the balls for a couple of hours while daddy and I spent his tokens. After that we came home and had cake. Helaman was too full of pizza, and only wanted ice cream. This he still didn't eat, but istead filled with birthday candles and wasted. Good thing it was his birthday! Then we let him stay up late after we put Isaiah to bed to build the garbage truck that Grandma Maggie and Grandpa Steve sent.

When I asked him what his favorite part of the day was he said, "Everything!"

Happy Birthday sweet boy!

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Dressed Up

Helaman: Mommy, do you know when getting dressed up is?
Mommy: What?
Helaman: It's when you take off all your clothes, put on different clothes, and go to a meeting.

(Just a deep thought he had while riding his bike in slow circles on our back patio tonight.)

Things I've Learned About Mothering Lately

The hardest and the best parts of my life have to do with being a mother. I love my boys so much, but I'm also often frustrated, short-tempered, and selfish. I have my moments where I know I'm doing a good job, but all too often I also know I'm falling short.

My parenting has come under a microscope since we moved to Ridgecrest. I didn't realize how much of that burden I shared with so much family around. Now it's just me and the boys, all mommy all the time. I've become a lot more aware and have begun to parent a lot more consciously--and I am very aware of my shortcomings.

As I've struggled to become a more Christ-like mother, I've learned some things lately I want to record for myself. This is going to be a very public list of what feel like my private pitfalls, but maybe someone else out there struggles with the same things I do...

In any event, here's my current list:

1. Nurture.
   When I've thought about being a stay-home-mom and what that means for the division of responsibility in our family, it was something really vague like this: Omar goes to work and makes the money, and I stay home and take care of stuff here. I cook, I clean, I take care of the boys, I make sure everyone eats, I buy groceries and schedule play dates and do the laundry, read to my babies, play games, clean, clean clean.
   
   A couple of weeks ago I was reading through the world-wide leadership training that came in the Ensign. In President Packer's address he talked specifically about each part of the Proclamation on the Family. As I read
   

   By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.

   
   I suddenly realized I had my division wrong. Not completely, but just enough.
   
   Frequently, when I lost my patience with my little ones, it was because I was so focused on cleaning and cooking and the long to-do list I had in my head, and they were making it take longer or not get done at all. Really, my focus needed to be on nurturing them, and everything else I had piled on was supposed to be part of taking care of that, not the end in itself. When I shifted my focus to nurturing them, it made a huge difference in my attitude, our happiness, and the Spirit in our home.
   
   That's probably obvious, or should have been, but it wasn't to me.


2. Leadership
   Omar and I were asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting last month on the topic of Christ-like leadership. At the time of the assignment, I thought it was kind of a funny topic, but as I prepared my talk, I discovered that the Lord was aware of my struggles as a mother, and had sent me exactly the topic I needed to grow and find comfort.
   
   Before this talk I hadn't thought about what I was doing in terms of leadership. I have had a lot of experience in leadership roles in my young life, and I felt like I was pretty good at taking charge and getting things done. However, I had missed two important points. Although intellectually I know that we are supposed to follow Christ in everything we do, I had never thought about it in terms of leadership. And somehow in all my busy day-to-day I had forgotten to think of my role as a mother as being that of a leader. As I studied for my talk, both of the these points became key in my personal growth.
   
   I read may good articles on the subject as I was preparing, but one by President Kimball called Jesus: the Perfect Leader seemed to speak directly to my soul. President Kimball focused on 5 points that I applied to motherhood as my talk. They were:
   
   
   
   1. Christ led from a place of fixed principles.
   
   
   2. He was unfailingly understanding and loving
   
   
   3. He was selfless
   
   
   4. He delegated meaningful responsibility
   
   
   5. He always used his time wisely
   
   
   
   Fixed Principles
   Because he was on solid ground, he was able to lead from a position of strength. This inspired our family to set a family home evening to talk about what the principles were we would run our family on, and establish some basic family rules. No when someone is violating one of the four rules, it's much easier to talk about the problem and how to fix it.
   
   This idea also helped me to parent with a purpose. Once I had thought about this, it was easier for me to try and think about my reactions, and how I planned our time, and what we did in terms of our real goal: of being a forever family and following Christ. It gave me a framework in which to think about the millions of decisions and moments that had seemed so overwhelming every day. I wasn't just reacting, I was leading. (Or that was the idea. Still working on that...)
   
   And because Christ operated from fixed principles his was a leadership of "come follow me." Do what I do, not do what I say. Don't yell at each other, don't leave messes, be kind, help, eat your vegetables, no cookies before dinner.... I need to do all those things better, too.
   
   Understanding & Loving
   Christ perfectly loved everyone he came in contact with. He could listen without being condescending, and he could reprove his disciples and maintain a good relationship because they knew He loved them.
   
   He was also perfectly patient. I LOVED this quote from President Kimball:
   

   Jesus saw sin as wrong but also was able to see sin as springing from deep and unmet needs on the part of the sinner. This permitted him to condemn the sin without condemning the individual.

   
   My kids are never being bad because they are evil and want to follow Satan (very few people ever do things for this reason--including me). When I focus on the needs behind the behavior, I get a lot further than just trying to correct the behavior. If only I could remember this all the time... When I do I finally understand how disciple and punishment are not the same thing.
   
   Selfless
   Some days it feels like this is my biggest struggle. President Kimball said selfish leaders, "make harsh demands of life and others in order to meet their demands." I want things done a certain way, and I am too often harsh demanding that they be that way.
   
   He also said manipulative leaders are selfish. And that, "One of the problems with manipulative leadership is that it does not spring from a love of others but from a need to use them. Such leaders focus on their own needs and desires and not on the needs of others." I can definitely feel that truth in that as I try to manipulate obedience.
   
   And the final nail in my coffin of selfishness, selfish leaders make decision, "Seeking to stop the present pain, creating even greater difficulty and pain later." How many times do I just give in to a fit, or hand out a cookie, or...
   
   Keeping a long-term perspective is difficult, and certainly does require present pain a lot of the time. Being unselfish in my parenting is a constant, and necessary struggle.
   
   Sharing Responsibility
   The whole idea behind leadership is that you are trying to help people grow and get somewhere better. Christ gave his followers important and specific assignments for their growth. It's a lot easier to do everything myself. It's much easier to just clean the toy room the way I want it to be, or run family night myself, or make everyone's beds. But to lead the Christ, I have to delegate and teach.
   
   He also patiently helped when those he gave assignments to struggled. Like when the apostles couldn't cast out the devil in a suffering person. He didn't go do it for them, though he certainly could of. Instead he told them how to correct what they had done wrong and do it again.
   
   Wise with my Time
   As I honestly reflected, I realized a lot of my stress came from using my time unwisely. President Kimball said leisure to renew and reflect was good. Wasting time wasn't. As I try to follow the Savior and actively parent and fill my days with not time wasting activities, I get a lot more fit into a day, am more patient because I have a greater portion of the Spirit, and I'm less frustrated. Again, I wish I could say that I now never waste any time and have become perfect. Alas, that is not the case.


3. Loving v. Problems
   As I was watching the Sunday morning session of General Conference, something President Monson said hit me with great force,
   

   Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.

   
   I realized that in my impatient disciplining, that was often what I was doing. I was focusing on the problem instead of the little one I needed to be loving. This phrase runs through my head a million times a day now, when things are spilled, or someone is disobeying, or bed time needs to happen. It's given me a way to constantly remind myself what really matters, my boys and loving them. The problems needs to be dealt with, but not in a way that undermines loving them.
   
   I'm so grateful for an inspired prophet.


4. The Atonement
   As I become more and more aware of my weaknesses I also become more grateful for my Savior. I am daily reliant on His grace and mercy. If I keep doing my best, despite all of my huge errors, through his amazing atonement He will make up what I lack. And because of His grate love and sacrifice I can fall down daily, turn to Him in repentance, and try again.

And that's what I've been learning lately.

Tagged: 8 Things

I've been tagged. So in the spirit of good sportsmanship, here are some very boring things about me...

8 TV shows that I love to watch

1. The Office
2. House
3. 30 Rock
4. Life
5. SNL
6. Designed to Sale
7. Divine Design
8. CNN

8 favorite restaurants

1. Red Robin
2. Costa Vida
3. Chipotle
4. Applebees
5. Tempanyaki
6. Matsu
7. Hoola's
8. Casa Lupe Deli

8 things that happened yesterday

1. We missed music class
2. We had our own music class at home
3. Omar and I watched and couldn't finish watching the debate where they say nothing over and over
4. We had a dance party in the living room before family prayer
5. We went to McDonald's for dinner and discovered Monopoly is back! (Now it officially feels like Fall)
6. I went grocery shopping by myself after the kids were in bed :)
7. Isaiah went to bed without nursing for the second night in a row
8. Helaman made a really cool parking garage that turned into a really cool tractor car wash with his duplos

8 things I'm looking forward to

1. Omar having Monday off while Helaman is at preschool and Isaiah is napping. Alone?
2. Going to stake temple day in a couple of weeks
3. Getting my piano cord in the mail (thanks Chris!)
4. Getting all caught up with my pictures
5. Riding bikes to the park tonight
6. Making Helaman's pumpkin costume
7. Designing a flier for choir practice on Sunday.
8. Voting

8 things on my wish list

1. Air condioting in the van
2. The majic bullet
3. Shelves for the toy room
4. Wheat grinder
5. A cadre of skilled doctors moving to Ridgecrest
6. A house on the beach (while I'm wishing....)
7. A haircut
8. Safe kids

8 people I tag

1. Amanda
2. Emily
3. Greta (write something on your dang blog!)
4. Trina
5. Michelle
6. Donna
7. Debbie
8. Melanie

Economic Crisis

I've been trying to wrap my head around the economic crisis. This is the best explanation I've found about how we got into this mess. If there are any other news-a-holics out there, this is for you.

• Glenn Beck: What Happened?



• Glenn Beck: What's Coming?



• Glenn Beck: What Can I Do to Prepare?

Same Sex Marriage

This broke my heart, and scared me to death!

Isaiah is 1!

My sweet Isaiah turned one last week. I can't believe he's already so big. And yet it seems like he's always been with us, too.

At 1 Isaiah weighs 19. 5 pounds and is long and skinny. He walks, runs, jumps, climbs, spins, and is just generally active and adventurous.

He loves animals, real or stuffed, of all kinds and wants to touch and hug them whenever possible. He's not afraid of anything (which is both good and very worrisome).

He has become a total daddy's boy, following Omar around everywhere, doing whatever Omar does, and calling him all day while he's at work. He copies everything Helaman does, too. It's sometimes funny, but not so much when big brothers are not being the best example.

He is talking so much it's hard to list the word he says, but it's so cute, I wish I could record every moment. My favorite is that every bird in the world is a duck right now. It cracks me up.

He never slows down, you only know he's tired because he starts falling over a lot. :) He goes to sleep without nursing (thank goodness) by shutting his own door, using his pointer finger to turn on the rain noise and music and then blowing kisses out the door. He has finally started sleeping through the night, but still tries to get into my bed whenever he can.

Here's the pictures of his birthday party. He can blow very well, but he couldn't quite get that blowing was the things to do with the candle. So I had to help with that afterall.

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Happy Rug

I agree wtih Amanda, it's amazing how the little things in life make you happy. I got an area rug for my living room today,and it's amazing how thrilled we all are. The boys sat on it, layed on it, rolled around on it, and giggled. And by boys I mean all of them, including (more like especially) the daddy. Such a simple thing... but so much happiness. :)

So much!

The longer it's been since I've posted, the more I want to write about. The farther behind I get, the more overwhelmed I get and I don't want to leave anything out and I don't have time to do everything I want to so nothing happens at all. (Am I talking about blogging or house cleaning or genealogy, or...)

Anyway, so here's what's happening:

As of Friday we are officially home owners! It was a close call. The previous owners were about to be foreclosed on. They hadn't understood the original contract so we had to renegotiate the price. We didn't know about the impending foreclosure at the time and were really mad, but we couldn't have gotten the house if the contract hadn't been renegotiated, so it was a blessing in disguise. And now with credit markets frozen, I think we got in just under the gun. We're excited, but this has been such a LOOOOOONG process it doesn't quite feel real yet.

We had our first rain today. The boys and I sat on the patio and watched the lighting while we waited for dad to come home. The rain waited for Omar, too. At first it was just sprinkles, but it came down pretty good for a while with some wild wind.

We were excited that we got to see some rain in the desert after all. Helaman kept going out and running around in it and Isaiah loved to reach his hand out from the safety of dad's arms and touch the rain.

It didn't get cold, though, and the humidity mixed with the heat and the broken air conditioner in my van was almost too much! We lived through it, though. I told Omar if someone had told me I was going to move to the Mojave Desert and drive a car with no air conditioning, I would have told them there was no way in the world that was going to happen. Funny how things turn out so differently that you expect...

Also last week was another big first. We took the boys to their first circus. Helaman loves elephants soooo much that he threw caution to the wind, and had a ride! Normally I am too cheap to pay out for the extra thrill, but he is normally <i>so</i> cautious that when he was willing to take such a big chance, I was exctied to let him. He loved it! He was concentrating but he would give me a look and smile when he went by. I was very proud of him. He wanted to do it again, and was very disappointed when mommy was now out of cash. I think a little disappointment will be okay. :) Other than that they both really enjoyed the circus.

The next day the cracked me up by climbing into this box together outside. Helaman told me they were being like the guy at the circus. (There was an acrobat who bent himself into a box--apparently that is an impressive skill). I kept trying to capture the excited faces, but my timing was off, and I never quite got the right picture to show the fun.

Despite being the day we finally closed on our house, it was a loooooong mommy day. By the time Omar got home I was ready to run away, or crawl into bed and just crash for a while. Of course, that's not how life works when you are a mom, but I wanted to. :)

The day started with the boys following me into the bathroom and Isaiah trying to pull everything out of my vanity while Helaman tried to stop him and they fought about it while I tried to just take care of my business in peace.

It was an okay morning. Isaiah finally went down for a nap, and Helaman played on the computer while I put him down. I sorted some laundry, and then as I walked through the room where Helaman was playing I noticed that he was <i>covered</i> in blood. Apparently he had picked his nose and was having so much fun that when it started bleeding he didn't want to come and get me. So, he bled all over himself, the computer, the floor, the desk, the chair...

So, we cleaned that up and gave him a shower. An hour later he had another kind of accident (#2) and didn't want to tell me, so he "took care of it" himself by changing and putting his dirty underwear away--in his drawer! So we cleaned that up (while keeping Isaiah from playing in the toilet, no easy task!) and while I was in the laundry room he was washing his hands, which apparently involved somehow soaking the entire bathroom in water. That is when I lost it and mean mommy reared her ugly head. That wicked mommy, why won't she stay away!

Looking back, it's just another funny story day. Why can't I keep laughing at the time?

One other random story from the last week, here's a picture of the roadrunner that lives in our yard. Apparently they are vicious birds (it looks a little scary). I think we are too big for the bird to be interested in us, so we just get to enjoy its fearlesness because it lets us get so close.

And now, a little bit caught up, maybe I'll be able to sleep peacefully tonight. :)

Thankful for Trials

I find myself thankful for my trials again today. We're getting close to the close of escrow, and we keep running into hurdles. Some of them are no ones fault. Some of the hurdles are someones fault. When it all went down last night, my initial reaction was what my initial reaction always is, ready to fight. I was angry, impatient, judgmental... I'm sure you can imagine!

When I couldn't sleep this morning I finally got around to wondering what Jesus would do. I've been reading an awesome book, "The Cost of Winning: Coming in First Across the Wrong Finish Line" by Dean Hughes. The chapter I read this morning seemed to specifically address my attitude and how we should handle the situation going forward (as a side note, I never ceased to be amazed by the amazing teaching of the Lord, and specifically in the beatitudes.)

I'm not angry, I feel filled with the Spirit, and I've learned something I wouldn't have, grown in ways I wouldn't have, if everything had been easy. And I'm really grateful for trials today.

Isaiah Walking

Isaiah is a seasoned walker now. He almost never crawls anymore. In fact, yesterday he started standing up from sitting.

Cari asked for video, and this is all I've got. Although it does show his climbing skills as well!



In other news, while we avoided it with Helaman, we were unable to avoid it with Isaiah: He has learned the word "No." It is now his favorite thing to say. Unfortunately, he even uses it appropriately. Actually, sometimes it's useful and at least as he learns to communicate better there is less crying. Except when he says no and has to do whatever anyway... then the crying continues.

Other words he says now:

Nose
Go
More
Night-night
Uh-oh
Hi
Da Da
Omar
Ma ma

It's amazing to me how fast they grow up. I still can't believe he was just being born 11 months ago. I think I need another baby...

Week in Review

It's been an exciting week. I can't believe how big both of my kids are getting. Here's some of the highlights.

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8 Years

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Thanks for these first wonderful 8 years of eternity, Omar. I love you!

Strange Ridgecrest Creatures

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Finished Painting

Our appraisal finally happened on Friday. We finished painting at 3 a.m. that morning and then got up and cleaned house and yard the next morning. We're still waiting to hear the results, but hopefully all the work will have been worth it. It's a good thing it didn't happen when it was originally supposed to because we never would have been done on time. There were so many little problems in every room that had to be dealt with, it took MUCH longer than normal painting. But everything turned out pretty nicely!

So, here are the updated pictures:

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My pictures of the rest of the house didn't really turn out. The hall is white now instead of yellow with macaroni and cheese trim. I'll try and retake pictures of the living room and kitchen. Another day. For now, I'm going to chillax (that's an Omar word) and listen to the crazy desert wind, happy that I don't have to get up and paint in the morning. :)

Desert Sky

The sky was beautiful tonight. I was tired and grumpy, but it was soul healing to look out the window. I love the colors in the desert. This is the view from my front window.

Blessedly Strange Blessings

Life has been strange lately here in the Crest. In awful and wonderful ways. I'd like to tell you about two of our family's blessings in particular.

We were back in Gridley for a few days last week to attend the funeral of a good friend of mine. It was nice to see our families for a minute.

I was supposed to make the trip alone with the boys. But when it came time to leave I had a little crying break down. My husband took pity on me and threw some things together and came with us. As we were driving home he told me he had felt like we were going to break down and taht is why he decided to come.

We drove at night both ways so the boys would sleep and it wouldn't be so awful for them. On the way home Saturday night we noticed how lonely the Tehachapi highway was in the dark desert late at night. I was really glad my husband was there with me.

Well... on the way home from Church the next day, in the parking lot as we started the car actually, our belt blew off with our air conditioning compressor. We haven't had the van to drive since then as we've been trying to finish the house before our assessment today. That's one blessing.

The second... A few days before we left to Gridley I was making Spaghetti for dinner and I as I stirred I splashed the boiling water and burned my stomach badly. It hurt to the point that I couldn't stop trembling--reaffirming the fact I do not want to burn to death, but anway.(I know, I know... I'm a spazz, but that's not the point of the story this time, bear with me!)

I'm so grateful for these two experiences. We've had  wonderful opportunity to teach Helaman about how Heavenly Father loves us and really hears our prayers.  Before we left to come home from Gridley we said a prayer that we would be safe. And we made it all the way here and dropped the belt 4 blocks from our house at church the next day. When I burned my stomach Helaman prayed for me at family prayer and in his personal prayers that night. After he went to bed  we were talking about how cool it would be if I was healed and his prayers were answered so he would learn about how Heavenly Father really hears him. Well, I woke up in the morning pain free, it never hurt again. We have talked about it a lot since then, and how we made it home safely after we prayed. I'm so grateful for the opportunities we've had to teach our son such powerful lessons about God's love lately--and I praise His name for my burnt stomach and broken car. :)

Some guys grandpa

One of the counselors in our bishopric today was speaking about the kind of way God loves us. He told a story about when he was in college and broke his tooth. He called his grandfather who was a retired dentist. His grandfather came and picked him up and helped him take care of it. He was comforting the whole time and when he dropped him off, he gave him a hug and said, "Mortality is hard, isn't it?" The amazing thing about was that his grandfather was dying of cancer at the time. But he didn't talk about how he was feeling, or suffering, he just loved his grandson.

And that is how God loves us. He's sad about the bad choices of his children, I'm sure he's busy. But in our interactions with Him, it's never about that.

That's what I need to do better. That's the kind of mom and wife I dream of becoming. There's always been this image in my head, but somehow, that story today solified to me what it really was. I need to stop worrying about how I feel and what my complaints are and focus on theirs. Even when I'm tired or stressed or busy.  This week, that's the goal...

Llael's Pictures

Jelly just uploaded her pictures to facebook, so I can post some of them now. If you missed it, there is a lot longer post before this one on what's up in Ridgecrest.

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Living in the Crest

Well, we've been here for 18 days now. It doesn't seem possible that it's been that long, and yet it seems like longer at the same time. We're making progress on our colorful house (more on that later) thanks to a LOT of help. Omar's sister Llael came down with us for two weeks. She's a slave driver and we got a lot done while she was here. Well, a lot other than sleeping--we didn't do much of that! My mom and Greta and Michael and Tara and Ava came for a day and helped tons, too! We're really grateful for the families God gave us. What would we do without them?

We've been having fun mixed in with the work, too. When my family was down here we went to Texas Cattle Company and my mom bought us all lunch. That place is fun, but SO much food! The cups are a even huge, a Liter a drink. (You don't even want to know how much soda Omar had that day!) Then we went to L.A. to visit Omar's brother and play at the beach with Llael for a couple of days. Lots of good food and good company there. We take daily trips to Home Depot where there are shoppping carts that are race cars (like Lowe's in Yuba City), which Isaiah LOVES. And there is a park close to our house that we go to almost every day.  The boys like having a back yard that isn't rocks to play in, also. Yesterday as he headed out the door Helaman told me, "Sunny days make me happy!"

Isaiah was walking when we first got here, but he refuses to walk now unless he's holding your hand. He doesn't really use you to balance, but just insists on the security. Probably had one too many falls on the hard wood floor and tile. Poor baby. He continues the tradition of crawling around and finding "ca-ca" to give me off the floor, and it's a lot easier to find without carpet!

Helaman loves primary here (that's a huge relief!) and can't wait to go, walking in and sitting with a huge grin on his face. We've been really enjoying church, too. We like our ward and so far church has been a spiritual feast every week. Plus with all these smart people (all the engineers and scientists on the base) they get into some fun discussions.  It's kind of like being in a BYU ward, for those of you that have done that. Actually, almost everyone in our ward is from BYU, so that's not far off. The government recruits heavily from there.

Helaman has made a friend at the park named Michael (who is really impressed that I have a brother by the same name). I think they were supposed to be friends. The first time we came this summer we took Helaman to McDonald's one night to let him run around at the play ground. There was one other kid there, who he actually played with (not standing there watching shyly). Michael talks as well as Helaman, but he's the same age, so it was perfect for him. He's not as cautious, and a lot more active than my little worrier, but I think that's good for him. When we ran into him again at the park we were surprised and happy. They play together at the park a few evenings a week.

As for the heat in Ridgecrest... it's not as bad as Gridley has been lately. The sun does beat down on you becasue there's no refraction from the humidity that doesn't exist. But it the shade, it doesn't feel bad at all without the humidity that doesn't exist. The trouble is finding shade in the desert!

I have a few pictures to share, I need to get the rest from Llael, she was our documentary picture taker while she was here, and I forgot to get the pictures from her camera before she left.

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Homelessness

It's official, we're moving. The truck just drove away with all of our worldly possession, and we're homeless for the next few hours. We're leaving early tomorrow morning for Ridgecrest. It still doesn't feel real. Helaman has been taking it pretty well, and Isaiah doesn't care. We're sad and excited and numb all at the same time. Crazy!

Thanks for everything everyone. We've loved living here and getting to know you. Being adults in Gridley has been wonderful in ways we didn't understand as kids. We'll miss you!

Sweet Helaman

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How did he get so big?!?

Well, Isaiah has decided he can walk! It all started when Grandpa Luis was babysitting on Friday night. He had Isaiah walking around pushing the Lion King car all night. He was doing it again on Saturday, so Greta and I decided to let him try. He walked between us a few steps and then fell. Apparently, falling is very very funny, because none of us could get him to do it again after that. He would just throw himself to the ground and laugh.

Then today, I was sitting on the coffee table in the living room and he was standing there holding on to my legs when he suddenly let go, turned around, and walked away! Well, he walked about 6 steps to the couch, but still! He has been trying to walk off and on all day now. He's not super stable yet, but he's getting there. *Sigh* How I am ever going to keep up with this one?

As a side note on his hugeness, his top two teeth broke through Saturday night, also. Now he has all four front chompers. And though I am yet to be bitten, I approach each nursing with great trepidation!

Find a Penny

My Grandma sent me this story, and I thought it was so sweet I had to share:

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home... My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.

The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.

As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.

Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny.

He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?

Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.

A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this?

"Look at it," he said. "Read what it says."

She read the words "United States of America."

"No, not that; read further."

"One cent?' 'No, keep reading."

'"In God we Trust?"

"'Yes!"

"And?"

"And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him; who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!"

Slacker and the game of tag

I've really been slacking on picture taking, blogging, and all general forms of memory keeping. Because of this, I have nothing interesting to write about tonight. However, I have--for the first time ever--been tagged (by Marla). Since it makes me feel like I'm "in", I am happily willing to play.

So, some not very interesting things about me are:

• 10 Years ago I was at home from BYU for the Summer trying not to be in love with Omar, and failing miserably. I think we were "not" dating most of that summer....
  5 Year ago I the wife of a very unhappy probation officer, living in Gridley, and just starting to get rolling with my web design business, wishing I had kids to keep me busy.


• 5 Days ago I was filling out endless forms involved in house buying, worrying about all the details of house buying and thinking about pretty much nothing but house buying.

5 Things to Do on my LIST

1. Make zucchini bread (this is on my to-do-list every day and never gets done)


2. Clean the bathroom


3. Fill out change of address forms


4. Call my brother


5. Water Tara's plants

FIVE Snacks

1. Salted Oranges


2. Strawberry Special K Snack Bars


3. Chocolate covered pretzels


4. Kirkland Signature trail mix


5. Apples

5 Billionaire Things

This was hard, I don't even know how to think about that much money!

1. Pay off all of our debt


2. Build a house somewhere that probably isn't the desert.


3. Build temples, fund missions, and build up the kingdom


4. Something helping kids, probably lots of somethings--how do you decide?


5. Finance my own political campaign to run for president. :)

5 Places I Have Lived

1. Provo, UT (a BYU baby, and then a BYU coed)


2. Palo Alto, CA (at 18 months while my dad was an intern)


3. Gridley, CA (2-18, 22-29 - most of it in the same house, all of it on the same block)


4. Albany, CA (for a year while Omar finished at UC Berkeley)


5. El Cerrito, CA (for 2 months in my Great Aunt's basement when we first got married and couldn't find housing in the Bay Area we could afford)

5 People I Tag...

1. Tara Hepworth


2. Amanda Eccles


3. Emily Sorenson


4. Becca Fire


5. Cari Potter

And there you have it... a lot of really useless information about me. :)

Our House

We bought a house! Well, we're in escrow anyway! It's very exciting and nerve-wracking all at the same time.  It definitely makes moving more exciting! Even Helaman is sometimes exciting about it. (Not always, but sometimes is a big improvement.)

Our house is right on the edge of town, which Omar is excited about. You only have to cross a couple of empty lots and one street and your out in the desert, perfect for motorcycle riding. It's got a patio on the side away from the gale force winds, so that's great, and we really like the layout. The colors, well, that's another story!

We went down to Ridgecrest on Monday and saw three houses that night and eight the next day. There were two that we really liked. Well, Omar really likes one and Jinny really likes the other. We stayed up all night making charts, and discussing, and heatedly discussing, and going over and over everything. We finally agreed on the one we thought was the best fit (well, Omar only agreed because that is what the decision matrix said, but it was his idea so...).

We made the decision, then went to bed and prayed about it. And decided to buy another house altogether, it wasn't even one of the ones we had been discussing. We followed the pattern, we studied it out in our mind, then asked, and, well, we had come up with the wrong answer apparently. Once we knew what to do we were both competely excited, there was no more "discussing" and it all went smoothly.

We called the agent in the morning and set up and appointment to see it again, then made an offer and did all the paperwork that afternoon. Then came the nerve-wracking waiting to see if they would accept our offer. We finally heart an hour after the deadline the next day that they had accepted, and we were in escrow.

Below is the video I took of the house while we were there with the inspector on Saturday. It might make you dizzy, and I apologize. I guess cinematography is not one of my talents!

Our Summer "Vacation"

We left town last Monday for our big summer vacation. No, that's just my joke, because it's the only trip we'll be taking this summer. (I always have such big plans. :) )

Monday morning we headed to Ridgecrest to find somewhere to live for the next adventure of our lives. We had planned on renting for a while, but apparently with all the base realignments, there is not much renting to be done in Ridgecrest right now. So, we were on our way to buy our first house. It seemed like a big moment before we did, boy did I have no idea how big it was! But house buying will be another post.

Omar's good friend Steven's mom, Nancy, was wonderful enough to let us stay with her while we were in Ridgecrest. We had a lot of fun with her, and she was an awesome host. Helaman loved her big t.v., more than is probably good for him. We stayed with her until Wednesday night, then went to San Juan Capistrano to spend the 4th of July with Omar's brother. Then it was back to Ridecrest on Saturday to be at our house when the inspector was there, and then a loooooooong drive home to Gridley.

It was a crazy trip, and we had tons of fun being together. For more fun details, or just details, it's all in the eye of the beholder, you can always click through the pictures.

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Start Date

Omar has a start date. We finally know what we are doing... well, more like when we are doing it. He received his official offer letter this week with a start date of September 2 (ironically, our anniversary). We're going to move the beginning of August. We've got a busy time ahead of us, I think.

In some ways, it's a relief to finally know what's going on in the world. And in some ways, it's really stressful. It's very real now. There's lots to be excited about, lots to do, and lots to worry about. And lots to miss and be sad about.

Anyway, that's the deal with us these days.

My Big Isaiah

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My baby seems to be growing by leaps and bounds before my eyes. If I cut his hair, and he looks more like a baby, maybe he'll be a little baby again? He's so much fun, so full of life and energy. Now if only he would sleep at night so I felt like I could keep up with him...

Incadesent Bulbs

Omar's been talking about this forever, I guess he's not the only one concerned. I wonder if someone will change this law by 2014?

The Mean Mommy Solution

I've been trying for a long time to find a solution to the mean mommy problem. I can be patient for a long time, but then I have this snapping point, and I become the mean mommy. I have been praying really hard for help, since just trying to exercise self control didn't seem to be working.

The answer came this week in an unexpected way. Whenever Helaman is having a hard time remembering to be kind and/or gentle, we sing this the primary song "Jesus Said Love Everyone" and it helps him remember and calm down.

When I started getting frustrated the other day, the song came into my mind, but with different words:

Jesus said love Helaman,
Treat him kindly, too.
When your heart is filled with love,
You'll know what to do.

This has worked for me every time so far. I don't freak out, and I'm able to stay calm and treat him with love, instead of getting lost in my own selfish frustration. I'm so grateful to know that Heavenly Father loves my boys and is there to help me take care of them. What a blessing to have Heaven involved in my parenting!

Father's Day

I've loved Omar for what seems like forever. We've always secretly thought we had one of those special made for each other and only each other kind of loves. I thought when I married him I couldn't love him more, but of course, the longer we are married, the more I grow to love him. But I never love him as much as when I watch him be daddy to my babies.

I love his kind heart and his patience. I love how he worries about his responsibility to take care of them. I love how he makes them giggle. He has a special gift for making people feel like the most important person in the world (I happen to know), and I love how Helaman and Isaiah's face light up when daddy comes home. I love how he is amazed by them, and teaches me to appreciate all the little wonders of everyday with those two. I love how he is always gentle when he's mad and rough when they're having fun. I love that he calls them his buddies, and wants them to go everywhere with him. I love that we are the most important things, and he lets us know that in word and deed everyday. I'm so blessed to be the mommy to his daddy. :)

My Dad

As for my dad, the older I get the more I grow to appreciate you. I know you're thinking I chose this picture to tease you about napping all the time, but I didn't. I loved watching you sleep with my baby that day in the hospital. I always love watching you love my babies. Thanks for everything you do to take care of us. I know our lives have been easier and happier because of all that you have sacrificed for our little family the last four years. Thanks for your never-ending example of selfless service. For us, and for anyone else who needs you. I learn a lot about being Christ-like from watching you, and I'm grateful to have been here to see that example at a time in my life when I was ready to appreciate it.

Thanks for your goodness, your teasing because you love me, your sense of irony, your thirst for knowledge, your integrity, and all the other things that make me grateful your my dad. I love you.

Llael's Graduation

Omar's sister Llael graduated from U.C. Davis this Saturday. She participated in the Chicano/Latino Commencement, and it was tons of fun. There was a reception before the graduation, so we got there in plenty of time to play some games at the Student Center in the building next to where graduation was going to be held. Grandpa Luis bought Helaman a bunch of tokens, and we all had tons of fun spending them (as you can see by the look on Omar's face as he "helps" Helaman do the ski-ball).

The graduation ceremony started with some Quetzecoatal Dancers doing an Indian ceremony. They had amazing costumes and drumming, and we all really enjoyed watching them, even the antsie boys I had on my lap. They were mesmerized by the drumming to the point that Isaiah actually fell asleep.

Then there was an intermission with some more Mexican folk dancing. I love the graceful long skirts as the women twirl to the music. I love all the colors and sounds and vibrancy of this culture I get to be a part of by marriage. The boys were getting pretty bored with the ceremony, but they loved the dancers. Llael said she could see Helaman bobbing along from clear down on the stage. I wish I had more pictures, but everyones camera batteries died at the same time. :(

We had lots of fun, but there was one scary moment. After the graduation as we all gathered to take pictures Helaman ran up the hill behind where we were standing. He was only a few feet from me but there was a sudden swell of people around him, and for a moment, we didn't know where he was. And he had lost site of us. When we found him he was standing there balling, calling for me. He kept asking me why I forgot him. It was heartbreaking. When I explained what happened, he seemed to be fine, but he's been very clingy today. I don't blame him. It made me want to hold on a lot tighter too.

After all the picture taking we all went out to a delicious Mexican food dinner. It was lots of fun to be together celebrating such an awesome event. Graduations are still probably not the most fun way to spend an afternoon and evening, but if you must attend a graduation, try to hang out with the Mexicans!
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Another Week Already?

People always say the older you get the faster time goes. I guess that make sense since God is infinitely old and time is supposed really fast for him. Okay, that's probably not really how it works, but the world does seem to be spinning faster these days.

It was a very busy week. Omar's Aunt Rosalba had a beautiful baby boy, Giovanni, on Monday, and we got to go visit him at the hospital. Tuesday Helaman had his final play school day and our good friend Nick is in town, so we got to spend some time with him before he moves off to his next adventure in Arizona.

Thursday we went on a picnic to Ellis Lake with Grandma Maggie and Greta and Tara and Ava Belle. We had lots of fun eating sandwiches surrounded by ducks staring and waiting for food. Well, Tara was creeped out by the ducks, but that just made it more fun for me laughing at her. Isaiah and Helaman couldn't get enough of them, though. One duck kept getting close to Isaiah in the stroller, but it never would let him touch it, much to his dismay (and my relief). Then Greta and Helaman took the crusts and leftover bread and fed the ducks. Helaman was so excited he didn't even notice that he had sat in a big pile of some nasty bird poop! So, we were off to Mervyn's to buy some new shorts.

When I went to pay for the shorts I discovered that I had no idea where my wallet was. Tara bought the shorts for me (thanks, and don't let me forget to pay you back!) while I went to search the car. I searched and searched, to no avail. I said a prayer, didn't find it, and figured it must have fallen out while we were picnicing, so we decided to head back to the "lake". I asked Tara to drive, and as we hopped in the car to leave, there was my wallet, right where I had just looked 40 (is that the right number Tara?) times before. I know it's a little thing, and maybe even silly. But I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who is involved in all the scatter brained details of my life, and loves me enough to care about the silly things that worry me.

Anyway...

That night we got to go the dinner at Tara's house and have some delicious BBQ. We lucked out because Michael had signed up forgetting that he had a class that night, so we got to go chaperone. :) The boys loved spinning in the chair together after dinner. I love when they are playing together happily. They already fight over toys (how is that possible) and Helaman derives a certain familiar joy from torturing his brother, but most of the time they love each other and love to play together. I guess Isaiah is just going to be tough, right?

I spent all day Friday sick on the couch watching the news about the awful fires in Paradise. So far no one else has gotten whatever it was, thankfully.

Saturday, I still didn't feel great, but there was no rest for the weary, because it was another big day for our family. Omar sister Llael graduated from UC Davis. Yaye Jelly! We're so proud of you.

Bringing us today, another non-stop day. We went to church then came home and had a BBQ with Omar's family for father's day. Then, Omar's friend Dennis stopped by to meet Grandma because he is going to be painting her house, and we got to visit with him for a while. Then we were off the Brent McDowell's homecoming party, and then to visit my dad and play there for a while. We finally got home and started bed-time business about 10:30. We really need to get better about this bedtime thing.

As of right now there is nothing on the calendar for next week. Will we actually have time to just "chillax" as Omar says. Somehow I doubt it.

A great long weekend

Our weekend started on Friday because Omar took the day off. Things have been so busy lately we haven't had a lot of family time with daddy, so it was nice to have him home a little extra this weekend. We always have so much fun when we are all together!

Friday started with park day, then Helaman and Omar mowed the lawn and then we did haircuts. We played all afternoon, and then we took Grandma Elsa to Red Robin for her birthday and did some Wal-Marting, then stopped at Ava's to play for a while and eat Tara's most delicious cookies.

Saturday Isaiah got to go on his first fishing trip where daddy and Michael, as usual, caught nothing, but tried really hard. Actually, Tara and I got to fish too because it was California's free fishing day. The kids had lots of fun enjoying the river, and didn't care much about the lack of fish (though I cannot say the same for the men...)

Here are some of the pictures from this weekend. You can always click a pic to get more details. :)

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Catching Up

Life has been crazy, and I have been busy and tired. But so many things have happened since my last post that I don't want to forget. So, here goes...

You can click on a picture to read more about the memory, or just enjoy some of our crazy pictures.

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Bed Knobs & Broomsticks

Helaman made my bed for me today. It made me laugh how he stacked the pillows (for watching t.v. he told me) and put the little one in the middle. That's almost how I do it...

We were all very happy this morning. Isaiah actually slept 9 hours straight last night. That's a first, and I was really excited. Although he did still end up in bed with me for a couple of hours when he woke up at 6:30. That's a little early for my internal clock. (Right, Amanda?)

When Omar's home our bed becomes a big party in the morning, and I love it. Helaman comes and gets in with us and we all just cuddle and play for a while. It's such a nice way to start the day.

As for the broomsticks today....

Helaman wanted to listen to Baby Baluga today, so Omar put in an Mp3 CD we made for him with all the kid music. We play it in our DVD player, so the TV has to be on, and it displays the songs that are playing. Omar was going to skip to Baby Baluga, but Helaman wanted to start at the beginning and "it will get to it". As he is sitting there looking at the TV he says, "Baby Baluga is number 7 and 8, dad." How did he know that? He didn't say. A minutes later he says, "Number 4 is Apples and Bananas." Now we were even more confused. I asked him what number 10 was and he sat and looked at the screen for a few seconds and then started singing "There was a farmer had a dog and BINGO was his name-o." That was the right answer. So Omar asked him what number 6 was. He looked at the screen for a while again, and then started sining Baa Baa Black Sheep!

How did he do that? Was it magic? He can't really be reading it! Has he just memorized the order and associated with numbers and then can count to the song and pick out the number? I have no idea! I'm going with magic for now. Broomsticks.

The rest of the day was spent in Chico. I had to renew my license, and that was the only thing on our list of things to do that actually got done. Omar forgot the book he was supposed to sell back, we never made it to one of the stores we were supposed to go to, Target was sold out of the TV converter boxes... nothing was working. Oddly, it was a fun day, anyway. It's fun just to be together as a family.

Since we had made the trip, and it was Thursday after all, we went to Thursday Night Market. The fruit and veggies are all coming into season, and we got lots of delicious treats. I am definitely going to miss that about Northern California. I guess we'll have to visit a lot and stock up. :)

Inspiration from House?

I was watching House with Omar yesterday. I love this show, but I couldn't tell you why. I think I feel smart when I watch it. Ha ha ha. Anyway, I think Heavenly Father used it to teach me something very important yesterday.

I couldn't explain the feeling, even to myself. This is my problem with just about everything. But it is definitely my fish.

House: You’re afraid to change. You would rather imagine that you could escape, instead of actually trying. Because if you fail, then you’ve got nothing. You give up the chance of something real so that you can hold on to hope.

If I keep holding back, I can just believe that if I tried I would be good. And I'm afraid to find out otherwise.

Now the questions is to figure out how to get over it...

Today was a good day!

Omar's done! He turned in his final report, took his last final (there's a lot of finality in that sentence) and walked off of campus at Chico State as a student for the final time. The only thing left to do is graduate. I'm so proud of him. This has been a long hard four years, but he persevered and even shined. He's graduating on Friday Magna Cum Laude, which means he was in the top 5% for the whole college (he gets a medal and everything). That's not easy to do in Mechanical Engineering, he's worked really hard. Helaman's excited to watch daddy get a medal (just like Curious George). Way to go honey, I'm really proud of you!

We went to Outback tonight to celebrate. That's been our tradition the day he finishes finals. It doesn't feel real that it is really all done. In my head, he's just on Summer break again.

And while I'm being proud and bragging...

I was playing the The Ladybug Game with Helaman today. You have to collect aphids as part of the game. He already had three, and then he drew a card to get three more. "Oh good, now I have six," says my three-year-old as he adds the numbers in his head. He did it several more times, even figuring out 8+3=11 which I have to think about every time. I think he got his daddy's genius math brain. He can count to 30 with no mistakes, counts to 10 in Spanish and can "read" numbers to 13. He never ceases to amaze me.

Between him and his already getting into everything 7 month old brother I think they are going to keep me on my toes. :)

Sweet Helaman

Helaman has been so sweet lately (other than his unexplained random acts of violence). I love to watch him with Ava, he really loves her, and is usually really soft and kind.

I think he's at the stage where he is starting to learn empathy, and I love to watch him. Tonight we were at my mom's house for family home evening. Chris was in a bad mood by the end of it. I watched Helaman notice Chris' unhappy face and then gently try to cheer him up, with such a loving face. I don't know how to explain what I saw, but I knew what he was feeling as he talked to Chris, and I was so proud of him.

Then when I was saying prayers with him tonight, he prayed, "Please help me take care of Isaiah." I had prompted him to say something about having fun at preschool tomorrow, but he was worried about much more important things. This is one of those nights when my heart is so happy to be a mommy.

Closer to Christ - Day 1

I recently bough a book called "21 Days Closer to Christ from Deseret Book. I'm a very task oriented person, so having an outline of things to do everyday to work on the relationship is really appealing to me. It came in the mail today, so I gave it a quick start. Each day has some suggested scripture readings and a challenge for the day (or week or however long of an interval you want to give each section). I think I am going to define day as a period of time, not really specific, and just move on when I feel like I'm ready.

I'm also going to share my journey here because writing about it helps me reflect and meditate on it, because it will help me stay motivated to keep trying, and because I am grateful for the opportunity to bear testimony of Christ.

Stake Conference

I really enjoyed Stake Conference today, even while contending with two (and sometimes three) boys who have a hard time sitting there in the heat for 2 hours. I didn't have hands free to take notes, but there are some things I felt that I want to remember.

The First Swim

So, as I said, it was H*O*T today! Grandpa Steve got his pool all ready, and daddy was home procrastinating finishing his final report, so we decided it was time for a family swim.

Helaman did really well. He was quite ready to go for it without the tube, but he actually jumped in to Omar, which is something we never got him to do last summer. Even at swim lessons, when all the other kids were jumping to their mom's, he would sit on the side of the pool and slide in to me, very carefully. But today--jump!

It was Isaiah's first time in the pool. You can tell exactly what he thought of it by looking at this picture. He is naturally curious and adventurous, but this was a bit much. He had loved sitting on the side of pool and kicking his feet.

By the time we were ready to get out, he was getting more brave, but most of the time he spent in the pool was just like this, clinging to me for dear life and looking at it very curiously.

We had lots of fun. I love the water, and Omar has fun when we convince him to get in.

Maybe I'll get my house with a pool someday afterall...

I'm Hot!

Boy am I hot today! It's bad enough that's it's over the 100 degree mark with the normal Northern California humidity. It's bad enough we forgot to get the window fans out and we don't have air conditioning. It's bad enough I'm tying this with my laptop on my lap, cooking my legs. All of that heat would have been enough. But no, there's more...

The California Supreme Court ruled to legalize gay marriage yesterday. Despite the vote of the people, despite the fact that we supposedly live in a democracy, and get to decide these issues, despite the wrongness of it, they did it anyway.

Mother's Day

Helaman's sweet teacher brought these cute frames for his class to make for mother's day. He really enjoyed the project and was really proud of the outcome. Too proud to share. As we were walking out of church I said, "Thank you so much for this frame you made for mother's day, I love it!" And he responded: "You're welcome, but it's mine."

A point he has not varied from. Oh well, at least he put it on the fridge so I'll get to look at it. :)

This morning a post on another blog made me curious about the origins of Mother's Day. In North America it first started with Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation of 1870. She was the author of Battle Hymn of the Republic, but after living through the horrors of the Civil War, called for women to unite in an international mother's day to celebrate the cause of peace. I was really touched by her poetry.

Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise all women who have hearts,
Whether your baptism be that of water or of tears
Say firmly:

"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of
charity, mercy and patience.

"We women of one country
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

While I understand the necessity of war, I have always been distraught by the awfulness of it. He words describe thoughts and impressions I've had, but never been able to express. I thought it was absolutely beautiful, both in it's message of peace and it's tribute to the work that mother's do, and I really wanted to share.

Happy Mother's Day!

Isaiah is Growing Up!

I sat Isaiah on this chair while I put Helaman's pajamas on last night. When I turned around, he was standing there grabbing toys. He did really well standing up. Then he would get a toy he wanted and sit on the arm of the chair and play, then stand back up to get another. I couldn't believe it, even as I watched him. It seems like I just birthed this boy. How has he grown so fast?

Isaiah had his well baby check up yesterday. It looks like he's got a Hepworth body, tall and skinny. Here's his stats:

Weight: 16lbs 8 oz (10-25%)

Height: 28.25" (50-75%)

Head: 44.3 cm (50%)

Dr. Tedford said he's probably so skinny because he's so wiggly. He looked and him and just laughed, saying "This kids a character isn't he? He's got that look in his eye. I think they call it a 'pistol'."

That's for sure!

Fun Free Friday

We took a fun day on Friday after Omar finished his Senior Project and Isaiah got his shots. First we had a picnic at Bidwell with Michael, Tara, and Ava, and then we went to play baseball and run around. We shopped a little, and just hung out together. It was nice to have a calm day with Omar around.

If you click on these pictures, you can see more fun facts about the day.
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05.06.08 - Isaiah crawling

05.06.08 - Isaiah crawling, originally uploaded by jinnyruth.

Isaiah celebrated Cinco de Mayo by moving forward for the first time. (He has scooted backwards for a while.) This video was the next day at the park, taken by Aunt Tara. I think his buns in the air maneuvers are hilarious.

He's still not very good at it, and he gets really frustrated. Today he got up on his knees and did the rocking action. I'm a little nervous, Helaman never crawled so this will be a new parenting adventure for me. I guess I'll have to vacuum more. :)

A good mommy

Just a note to myself, these are the things I've learned lately about doing my job better:

• Stop comparing myself. When Stephanie was here on Thursday I kept lamenting about all the wonderful things I saw other mothers doing. She helped me see there is a balance, and we all mother in our own way.


• Enjoy it more. I loved watching my friend Emily and her kids. They really enjoy each other and are very positive and upbeat. I want to make our home feel like a happier place to be all of the time. More play and less stress.


• Roll with it. Amanda's job sure seems harder than mine in lots of ways, more kids, more trials. But she never complains and always seems to have such a positive attitude. Do I really need to freak out that I didn't get the floor vacuumed today? Really?


• Notice all the little moments more. I enjoyed watching Nikki watch her daughter. It made me realize how much of my boys I am missing in all my stress and worry.


• Focus on them more. Lena's focus always seems to be on her kids (or whatever kids are in the room). We're all happier when I focus on everyone else. It's so easy to get caught up in the worldly idea of meeting my own "needs." And it never makes me happy. That's when mean mommy comes out.

It was great hanging out with these women Friday night. I appreciated learning from them and having fun with them. It was just what I needed.

The Weekend

It was a crazy weekend, and I haven't quite recovered yet. It's 11:15p.m. on Monday, and we are just now getting wound down from the day. I always have great plans for routines and getting to bed early. But you know what they say about intentions... they are a great starting point, right?

Friday was the Father & Son camp out for our ward. Helaman and Omar were supposed to go, but by the time Friday afternoon came around Helaman only wanted to camp in the yard, not far away. So, they had a private camp out here.

My friend Amanda was awesome enough to host a gathering for the girls while the boys were all gone.
It was nice to just be girly for a while. I stayed there way too late, but it was lots of fun. I really enjoy being around all those sweet mothers and learning how to do a better job myself.

Saturday morning, the birds woke Helaman up at 5:00a.m., and he never made it back to sleep. It was a tough day trying to keep that tired boy from breaking down. We tried several times to get him to nap, but he has an amazing ability to keep himself awake, even lying in the dark, exhausted, for long periods of time.

By Sunday, poor tired boy was sick of course. He woke up at 5 again, this time with a high fever. Isaiah is teething and not feeling great anyway, and none of us made it to church. Our friend Stephanie had a concert with the Yuba Sutter Orchestra that afternoon. Helaman was feeling better, so we planned to go, but as I was getting him ready his fever came back. He was broken hearted about not going, so we went anyway. He says he enjoyed it, but he just laid on my lap for the whole thing.

Omar came home early from work today, worried about his sick kids, who, ironically, both woke up fine and have been happy as clams all day.

We had lunch with Tara and her nephews, and then went to Marysville to smog Fernando's truck. That took a lot longer than it was supposed to, so we had lots of time to play in the park. Then we went to Jesse & Sandra's house where Sandra fed us a delicious dinner and Omar tried to rid the computer of some awful malware.

And then home, late. Hopefully Helaman will get enough sleep to be happy at preschool tomorrow. I sure could use a good nights sleep, too. We'll see. Maybe I should go to bed earlier. :)