Be Jolly By Golly!

I can't believe another Christmas will be here in 15 days! The end of another year is approaching too...when you get older the years just seem to come and go...I remember when I was young, time had no meaning, really...and now 2009 is just around the corner! My friend Adrienne had a post entitled Random Musings and I thought it was fun to read, so I've decided to it here. Since, I have a bunch of random things to blog about.

• We put up our Christmas tree the other day. It was a lot of fun because the kids helped me...they had so much fun putting it up and I had just as much fun watching them carefully put the ornaments and try to be helpful. Scott's family has this tradition of giving each child an ornament every Christmas, so we have a bunch of his ornaments dating back to 1982! We have incorporated the same tradition in our family now...I love this tradition because it makes our Christmas tree more meaningful. We have a few other traditions, like opening a present on Christmas Eve and drinking homemade hot chocolate and panetón (panetón is this amazing Italian sweet bread) Scott is not fond of it, but I grew up eating it and I'm quite fond of it. I'm interested in finding out what are some of your traditions? What do you do in your family that makes it Christmas? I love traditions and I think it's fun to hear what other people do during this time besides giving and getting presents...:)
  
• Some of my favorite ornaments:

Scott's Aunt Penny gave us this ornament our very first Christmas together!

This was Brielle's first ornament and I gave this other one to Scott last year.

Braden's first ornament.

This beautiful little angel was given to us by Lenell (Scott's older brother's wife) I love it!

• Scott and I got engaged around this time 5 years ago...I can't remember the exact day in December but it was sometime in December before Christmas!!! I can't believe it was 5 years ago!

Back in the day...2003...seems like forever ago...

• Yesterday was 50 degrees here in Virginia and when we woke up this morning it was 60 degrees and at this very moment as I'm typing this post it says that it is 63 degrees!!!!! Is it really the second week of December? I guess I lived in Idaho way too long...I'm used to lots of snow and very, very cold weather around this time...and no I'm by NO means complaining! It has been gloomy though, but warm. The kids and I went on a walk yesterday and also to the playground! It was so nice for them to play outside!

I much rather this:

This is the golf course right by our house. People were golfing there yesterday!

Than this:

Rexburg last year on December 10th.

• My visiting teachers came today and I honestly have to say that the visiting teaching program is inspired and it ROCKS! I love it when they come! The two sisters that visit teach me are such amazing women! They are both young moms, one has two and the other one has three children, so they know how chaotic it gets when you have more than one child! I mean, it already gets crazy with one, but you add more and it is madness sometimes!!! They just made me feel like what I go through with my kids is normal...kids fight, they talk back, they kick you, they don't do what you ask them to do, they have MAJOR selective hearing, they run around like monkeys, etc, etc, etc...and it is ALL NORMAL!!!!!! I'm so glad that they can relate to me and I to them...because there are days when I honestly feel like such a failure as a mom...like an inept woman who got into motherhood and then realized that I HAVE NO CLUE how to raise children!!!! So many times, I feel like my children's behavior is a reflection of my parenting...and to tell you the truth it is quite traumatizing and humiliating. My visiting teachers made me feel like I'm not the only one going through what I go through with my two children!!! They uplifted me today and I'm very grateful for them!

• The sister missionaries stopped by last night to say their goodbyes. I knew that one of them, Sister Yano was going home, but then sister Bertucci announced that they are closing our ward for sister missionaries. So Sister Bertucci is leaving too. I was so incredibly sad!!! I guess not enough sisters are coming out to the field, is not that they are not busy, they are teaching like 20 different investigators. They are doing better than the Elders!!!:) These sisters were amazing teachers, I've seen them in action teaching investigators and they are awesome! I'm going to miss going out with them! :( And I'm definitely going to miss their random visits bringing us treats and randomly doing my dishes! Both Brielle and Braden loved them and always got so happy when they came to our house.

Denisse, Sister Bertucci, Braden & Sister Yano.

This is how much fun they have when the sisters come!

This picture...I chuckle every time I look at it! Braden is busy looking at the print on Sister Yano's blazer...

Super cheesy smiles!

Braden giving Sister Bertucci a high 5! We are sure going to miss them!!!

• Brielle and Braden are going through a "not so much fun" stage right now. Braden figured out how to climb out of his crib and bonked his head quite a few times until he mastered the skill. (I wish I would have filmed him climbing out, quite ingenious...) but I keep telling Scott that something is seriously going to be wrong with Braden because he falls on his head ALL the time! Anyway, I turned his crib into a toddler bed because of his climbing out everyday and I being worried that I'm going to find him dead on the floor one of these days because he keeps bonking his head....but boy did we start torture!!! He and Brielle have been staying up playing and laughing until almost 11pm. But that's not all...Brielle has figured out how to open their bedroom door...those darn child-proof door knobie things are dumber than I can say...my child is definitely smarter than its design...I guess it worked for 3 months...but after 3 months she has it figured out. So now, Brielle opens her door and they both sneak out of their bedroom and go to abuelita's bedroom...my mom just moved in with us for a few months...which I'm soooo happy about! The kids are quite excited about it too but they want to go play with her and not go to bed!!!

They look so innocent in this picture...may be I need to blow this one up HUGE and I mean HUGE and hang it on a wall...so I can see it when I'm about to give them away to the nuns in the orphanages in Ecuador because they are being naughty!!!:)

Another Brielle Story...

Here goes another Brielle story...this just happened this morning and I have to write it down before I forget about it...this morning after breakfast Brielle tells me in a very nonchalant tone: "Mommy, I'm full...I have poop in my belly." ha, ha, ha, ha!!!! I seriously couldn't not control the laughter! Every time she needs to go to the bathroom she says that she's full, what a silly girl...

Count your blessings...

During this time of year, you can't help but be more reflective than usual. When you start counting your blessings, you realize that besides every-day challenges, we really are blessed beyond measure! This Thanksgiving, we had everything good in this life: Family, good friends, food and the truth of the gospel. We got to spend good times with my family (my mom and my brother), Justin, Stacey and Jack. I, with Stacey as my right hand, cooked Thanksgiving dinner...we did everything...from the turkey, to the stuffing, to the mashed potatoes, etc, etc. We had a few minor mishaps (like forgetting the rolls and yams in the hot oven...and dropping the pumpkin pie on the oven door...but I couldn't have been able to pull it all off without Stacey. She was incredibly helpful and we managed to make a delicious dinner. We also invited the elders, it was nice to have them over. We had a house full, just like it should be on Thanksgiving...we did miss Nya, my sister (she is in Perú for 4 months). I underestimated all the work that goes into making thanksgiving dinner, but it was well worth it! We started a new tradition in our family and went around the table saying what we were thankful for. A common blessing we all shared was the gospel.

The rest of the weekend was spent eating, talking and walking (quite a bit!)!:) We spent every day going to DC and enjoying the architecture, museums, history, and thankfully good weather!!! It was chilly, but no rain, nor snow. We had sunny skies all weekend. We did quite a bit of walking, which was great exercise after all the food we ate! The kids did considerably well, (considering they were strapped in their strollers for most of the day)....except for the time when Braden screamed at the top of his lungs in the very, very quiet Library of Congress...it was extremely humiliating to say the least...and the time when Brielle opened the public bathroom door WIDE OPEN when I was sitting in the toilet to show the world that mommies do also go the bathroom!!! Besides, these and a few other incidents...I have to say that I am proud of Brielle because she went #2 both days we were in DC in the bathroom. She is completely potty trained at home, but when we go out for a long period of time, I always make sure she's wearing a diaper (just in case, we can't make it to a bathroom) specifically for #1. But both days in DC, she notified us that she needed to go #2!!!:)....I'm sure you all had a deep desire in your hearts to know this...:) ha ha!!!!

I was glad to be able to go to DC and see things that we haven't seen before, like the Library of Congress and the Museum of American History. It was pretty crowded every where we went but it was still very exciting to be there. We were glad Justin and Stacey were able to come for the first time and we were able to show them around! Thanksgiving has come and gone and I can't believe Christmas is just around the corner!!!!:)

We've been to the FDR Memorial a few times now and we finally were able to get Brielle to hold still...just waiting in line...:)

We've been to the National Museum of Natural History before but never got a chance to go to the Discovery Room they have for children...Brielle, Braden and Jack had a great time there and Brielle was NOT a happy camper when it came time to go...

Just having fun...

The Capitol.

Somehow I always manage to get a funny picture of Justin!!!:) ha ha ha!!!! (Love ya Justin!!)

The Library of Congress...an AMAZING building!!!! It is literally breath taking to be inside! Wish the lighting was better inside though...not very many pictures that we took inside turned out well...but this building is a MUST see if you come to DC. A replica of Thomas Jefferson's personal library, with some original books, is here. We got there after the last tour had gone out, next time we'll have to do the tour and learn all of the interesting facts about this building. Oh! and this is the building where Braden screamed at the top of his lungs!!...so irreverent!!!!!!!

The Lincoln Memorial...so majestic every time!

World War II Memorial facing the Lincoln Memorial

Every time we go to D.C. I see these random little houses along Constitution Avenue and I think they have so much character..I wonder what they are...I always want to take a picture by the door...and we finally had Stacey take one!!!:)

I guess President Bush was arriving at the White House when we were there...there were lots of people on the White House lawn, I think they might have been having a press conference of some sort...anyway, we didn't see Bush but we did get to see his helicopter!!!:)

Kem was entertaining Brielle at the National Museum of American History...this is where the original Star-Spangled Banner is...too bad we didn't have time to go see it but we did get to see one of Dorothy's ruby slippers from the film Wizard of Oz.

I've been wanting to see these since we got here...I don't even know why...I've only seen the movie twice...the first time I fell asleep, the second time I did enjoy it though...

My madre is so funny when it comes to being cold...she always has a MILLION layers and I'm always teasing her about it!!!

Craziness...

I can't believe we are already half way through November!!! Where does the time go?...These last two weeks, my kids seem to have acquired this out-of-this-world never-ending energy...Brielle has decided that she doesn't want to nap anymore...but then she's tired and grumpy and just not fun to be around at 6 in the evening, right at dinner time...she won't eat dinner, because she's so tired, all she wants to do is go to sleep!!! She has been talking non-stop...it seems like she's talking every single second of the day!!!! Braden has been talking so much too these last weeks, it's like something happened and he's just talking! He's been putting subjects and verbs together...the other day he said "I want"...I was surprised when I heard him say that...and I was also very surprised when he got into our bathroom, where we have all of the medicines and ate almost a whole pill of sudaphrine!!!! They are usually not allowed into our bedroom where our bathroom is, I have a child proof door knob thing for our door, but I must have forgotten to close the door because they were both in our bathroom playing with the drugs...oh my heck!!!! ...thank goodness he threw up, yeah because it probably tasted disgusting!!! I called poison control and to my relief the lady told me that he would be fine...but man! These two kids are ALL OVER the place and going NON-STOP every second of the day. How am I ever going to get the guts to have another child???...It's not going to happen for another 50 years...may be during the millenium...I've lost it a couple of times and yelled and screamed at everyone and all I wanted to do is go to a deserted island with no humans...ha ha! But for the most part we've had great days and I have found that the key to having a successful day is to fill our day full of activities...I told Scott that I've decided to run my home as a day-care, so we have our schedule written out and try to stick to it as much as we can...we have reading time, singing time, dress-up time, snack time, etc, etc, etc...it's been helping...they are both so eager to explore everything around them...I'm sure those of you with children can relate...I wish I had their energy...they are the light of my eye though and I seriously cannot see my life without them...as always we manage to have great times together.

These are super late halloween pictures, but we took the kids trick or treating and I think Scott and I had as much fun as the kids...we loved watching them approach the doors and both of them would say trick or treat! Braden kind of mumbled it but he was at least trying to say it...we had a fun night...it was the perfect fall night!

These are few pictures of our "backyard" that I took a about a week and a half ago...it's kind of a backyard, it's a slanted area full of trees...we go out there almost everyday to feed the squirrels peanuts and the kids like to throw rocks out there... I'm always nervous though, because like I said it's a slanted area and I'm afraid they are going to go rolling down the hill and hit a tree...anyway...it's a good thing I took these pictures then because all the leaves a basically gone now.

The sister missionaries stop by our house at least once a week when they are in the neighborhood, sometimes they bring us goodies or they just come by to chat for a few minutes. The other day on their service day, they came and mopped my floor, did my dishes and watched the kids while I jumped in the shower...it's amazing how attached you get to the missionaries, there is such a special spirit about each of them. The kids love them and Brielle calls them by their last name "Bertucci" and "Yano", the sisters think it's hilarious...last Sunday they were singing in front of the whole congragation during the Primary presentation in sacrament and Brielle very loudly yelled "Hiiiiiiiii Bertuuuuuucciiiiii!!!!!!"

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE our library??? It seriously ROCKS!!!! We love it! We go every Monday and I let the kids play in the kid area and they have such a great time, we read a few books and we pick out a few movies to watch throughout the week...we love going there.

These two fight a lot...but they sure love each other!!! The other day Brielle was hiding behind Braden's chair and then she'd jump in front of him...he thought it was hilarious! I think one of my favorite things about being a mom is hearing my kids laughing!

This is what I mean, when I say craziness...children, children...

That face...

Elder Withers, Sergio, Scott, Elder Shapiro & Elder Leiser

Our friend Sergio got baptized on Saturday! What a special moment for him and for everyone who attended! I couldn't hold back the tears when he was actually baptized. He has changed his life...he stopped smoking and you can tell there has been a genuine change in his heart! We are so happy for him!!!

Our dear Elder Withers, what a great missionary! An Idaho boy, from Blackfoot...those Idaho boys are great!

Oh! And to finish things off:

Brielle put her naked barbie in time-out!