Merry Christmas!

This is what we do...

When Scott comes home from a long day at school he usually asks how my day was and what we did that day. Sometimes, I feel like I got nothing done...so when he asks me, "what did you do today?"...I sometimes say, "I don't know...watched our kids all day." and then I ask myself, "yeah, what did I do all day?" He of course doesn't mean to make me feel like I didn't accomplish anything that day, he is just genuinely interested in me and my day with our children. I usually have funny stories about our kids or sometimes I vent my frustrations about the day...etc, etc. etc...most days we just end up laughing about how funny and cute our kids are.

But don't you seriously feel like some days you just got nothing accomplished at home? A lot of the things we do as moms are not tangible...for example, how do you show that you hugged and cuddled with your child that day? how do you show that you validated your child for something good that he/she did? etc., etc. There are other things that are obvious to the natural eye, like a clean home and all of your buckets of dirty clothes empty and drawers filled with nice clean underwear, or bathed children (my favorite!), etc., etc. Anyway, I just think this columnist did such a great job at putting into words what moms do and that is why I am posting this article (thank you Kelsey for emailing it to me!)...I emailed this to some people but in case you didn't get it, I hope you enjoy it and realize that what we do at home is greater than anything you will do elsewhere!

...AND THIS IS WHAT WE STAY-AT-HOME-MOMS DO ALL DAY:

Oh, and by the way...even though, it is busy to be a mom, I always have time for friends...you all know that if you call me, I'll always make time to talk unless my kids are screaming at the top of their lungs...

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!!!