As a mother of a door-to-door sales rep, and two little ones while expecting number three, life can get chaotic and redundant. I find that if I don't make an attempt to get out more often I easily fall into the "wo is me," mentality because of feeling trapped at home reading Dr. Suess's ABC's for the 200th time. At the beginning of the summer I stayed at home a lot and didn't like myself much for it. So lately we've tried to keep busy despite our crazy schedules, my growing belly and my lack of extra hands around for help. I will admit it is nice at the end of the day when my hubby and my sister can come home to offer a hand. And even though they come home to eat and sleep and start it all over the next day, I am grateful for their mere presence at those late hours. So a couple weeks back, Alex and I found a sweet girl from our ward to watch our kids while we went to the temple in the early morning. I remember as a kid talking to Gio about how much fun it would be to try and visit every temple in the world. Well, thanx to this exciting job we're one step closer to completing our goal. I don't know if we'll ever make it to every single one but we've already been to quite a few within the US. It's still fun to try I suppose and has never ceased to bring us a peace of mind. Some of the other things we've tried to stay busy with is feeding the missionaries once a month and attending the summer playgroup/workout every friday in our ward. Feeding the missionaries has always been so pleasant in the past but we've never done it as often as I think we should. Since now my baby brother is out on his mission in Texas he has inspired us to do so more regularly. He said that the first four months in his area were hard and that in that area there were very few members who offered dinners to them but always expressed his deep gratitude for the few that did. It made me think a lot about how many times I've passed the clipboard over to someone else in relief society expecting that others would do it. The thoughts and spirit they bring to our home are so re-enforcing and much needed because of our crazy lives and nothing feels better than doing small acts of service anyways. Just because I can't feed my little brother doesn't mean I can't feed other missionaries in the field. We've found that this definitely lifts us out of our slumps that we constantly seem to fall into over the long summers.
Among other things, taking long walks to the park or simply riding our scooters/pushing strollers is enough to wear out my young children so much that they fall asleep at the table after dinners.
This last Friday some of the other office wives and their kids invited us to come along and splash around with them at a splash park. My son thought it would be funny to pull down his pants and pee out in the open while we were there. SO NOT something I taught him. But I was reassured by my cousin who also has a little boy, slightly older, that this is innate. Then Saturday we went to the Peach Festival out here. Above is a photo of the bushel of peaches I purchased to bring home to my family who all LOVE peaches. We made a yummy peach cobbler but still have half a basketful that is definitely not lasting. Some of them are still not quite ripe, but close, so that's kind of nice because in that way we don't have to worry about peaches spoiling faster than we can eat. But both my kids and myself can down peaches like no other. So juicy. So sweet. Back in Philadelphia, I recall a moment when we'd picked up peaches from an Amish town and my son, somehow still short, managed to pull a few of them down off the kitchen counter and took big bites out of each of them. I hadn't noticed he was getting into them until I heard a very loud, "Mmmmmm! MMmmmmmmm!!!" along with little smacking noices. I walked around the corner and surely enough there he was indulging himself, covered in peach juice that dripped from his chin, elbows and was very much slathered all over his shirt. How could I take them away? He looked like he was in Heaven. He still loves them just as much. And now I get to enjoy two little indulgent faces at peach-snacking-time. My family always tells me the story of how as a little kid I once requested a bowl of, and I quote, "Peaches con mono cochino." That's Spanglish for Peaches with dirty monkeys. I don't know where that came from. Neither do they. But it's become somewhat of an inside joke and from time to time they still call me that. Orion now gets called "mono cochino," because of me. Because he's my offspring. I guess there's no doubt we're a family of peach lovers.
While there, Orion had some fun bouncing around which he's a pro at.
And sliding.
And we got face paintings/tattoos for the first time. Well, it was the kids' first time. But my son insisted that I get one too and even picked out this pretty butterfly for me. I think he knows I like them. So I got a butterfly on my arm,
Orion picked out a "a pirate face ARrrr,"
And I picked out another butterfly for Chrysalis. So fitting, I know.
On our trips to walmart and the zoo, Orion's newest obsession has become any animal-like toys so his latest includes some dinosaurs, bugs, land mammals and sea creatures. Some of these were a gift from Grandma. I find these are also very helpful in teaching my daughter. Three dimensional creatures are so much easier to understand than the 2-D ones in most picture books. A most educational toy indeed. She actually says dinosaur very clearly now and can distinguish a lobster from a crab from a scorpion a little bit better than she could while I was asking for her to point them out from a board book that we have.
And since she's my daugher and quite possibly a future wife and mother herself, we recently picked up a baby doll stroller for her to play with. She LOVES it. Sometimes she'll stick her baby in upside down, but no matter. And if she can't strap it in quite right and it falls, she just picks up her baby, gives it a kiss and puts her back in sideways.
And Sundays we really try not to go swimming but this Sunday was the fourth of July and so after a yummy potluck dinner that the wives all put together quite nicely, Alex and the kids took a short dip in the pool. Chrysalis has been teething lately so this fun didn't last long but it was long enough for me to snap some photos. And Sunday evening we waited till dark to do a small box of fireworks and some sparklers for the kids. They slept well.
Orion was a little afraid of the water at the beginning of the summer but is now all over the place. I think he forgot how much fun it was. But I am excited to get back to Utah so that we can continue with swimming lessons. At least some to refresh Orion's memory on how to float without floating devices and because I loved the instructor so much, I also want to do a full course with Chrysalis. She's very much ready as she is fearless of jumping into the water. I remember Orion being a lot more cautious. Different personalities I suppose. I have more videos and pics to post soon but this will have to do for now. Hope everyone had a happy fourth and enjoys my random thoughts and happenings.
Among other things, taking long walks to the park or simply riding our scooters/pushing strollers is enough to wear out my young children so much that they fall asleep at the table after dinners. 
This last Friday some of the other office wives and their kids invited us to come along and splash around with them at a splash park. My son thought it would be funny to pull down his pants and pee out in the open while we were there. SO NOT something I taught him. But I was reassured by my cousin who also has a little boy, slightly older, that this is innate. Then Saturday we went to the Peach Festival out here. Above is a photo of the bushel of peaches I purchased to bring home to my family who all LOVE peaches. We made a yummy peach cobbler but still have half a basketful that is definitely not lasting. Some of them are still not quite ripe, but close, so that's kind of nice because in that way we don't have to worry about peaches spoiling faster than we can eat. But both my kids and myself can down peaches like no other. So juicy. So sweet. Back in Philadelphia, I recall a moment when we'd picked up peaches from an Amish town and my son, somehow still short, managed to pull a few of them down off the kitchen counter and took big bites out of each of them. I hadn't noticed he was getting into them until I heard a very loud, "Mmmmmm! MMmmmmmmm!!!" along with little smacking noices. I walked around the corner and surely enough there he was indulging himself, covered in peach juice that dripped from his chin, elbows and was very much slathered all over his shirt. How could I take them away? He looked like he was in Heaven. He still loves them just as much. And now I get to enjoy two little indulgent faces at peach-snacking-time. My family always tells me the story of how as a little kid I once requested a bowl of, and I quote, "Peaches con mono cochino." That's Spanglish for Peaches with dirty monkeys. I don't know where that came from. Neither do they. But it's become somewhat of an inside joke and from time to time they still call me that. Orion now gets called "mono cochino," because of me. Because he's my offspring. I guess there's no doubt we're a family of peach lovers. 
While there, Orion had some fun bouncing around which he's a pro at. 
And sliding. 
And we got face paintings/tattoos for the first time. Well, it was the kids' first time. But my son insisted that I get one too and even picked out this pretty butterfly for me. I think he knows I like them. So I got a butterfly on my arm,
Orion picked out a "a pirate face ARrrr,"
And I picked out another butterfly for Chrysalis. So fitting, I know. 
On our trips to walmart and the zoo, Orion's newest obsession has become any animal-like toys so his latest includes some dinosaurs, bugs, land mammals and sea creatures. Some of these were a gift from Grandma. I find these are also very helpful in teaching my daughter. Three dimensional creatures are so much easier to understand than the 2-D ones in most picture books. A most educational toy indeed. She actually says dinosaur very clearly now and can distinguish a lobster from a crab from a scorpion a little bit better than she could while I was asking for her to point them out from a board book that we have. 
And since she's my daugher and quite possibly a future wife and mother herself, we recently picked up a baby doll stroller for her to play with. She LOVES it. Sometimes she'll stick her baby in upside down, but no matter. And if she can't strap it in quite right and it falls, she just picks up her baby, gives it a kiss and puts her back in sideways. 
And Sundays we really try not to go swimming but this Sunday was the fourth of July and so after a yummy potluck dinner that the wives all put together quite nicely, Alex and the kids took a short dip in the pool. Chrysalis has been teething lately so this fun didn't last long but it was long enough for me to snap some photos. And Sunday evening we waited till dark to do a small box of fireworks and some sparklers for the kids. They slept well. 
Orion was a little afraid of the water at the beginning of the summer but is now all over the place. I think he forgot how much fun it was. But I am excited to get back to Utah so that we can continue with swimming lessons. At least some to refresh Orion's memory on how to float without floating devices and because I loved the instructor so much, I also want to do a full course with Chrysalis. She's very much ready as she is fearless of jumping into the water. I remember Orion being a lot more cautious. Different personalities I suppose. I have more videos and pics to post soon but this will have to do for now. Hope everyone had a happy fourth and enjoys my random thoughts and happenings.
1 comment:
Ligiecita, I worked the night before the 4th, I came back home and went to Church. I was exhausted. But I had to go. Mary Pineda taught in the Relief Society. She made a special lesson to welcome the young women into the RS. She did a very special program for Tiffany. The Bishop and his wife spoke to the young women. They put tears in my eyes. I felt to bless in Church!! and at the same time I felt so humble. Tiffany is so blessed to have such good examples in Church. She is already working at Robeks' She loves it. We were there for the opening Tuesday. The building is so beautiful. I will take pictures. OK. She is surrounded by LDS at her place of work. Here in California. What a blessing!!!!
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