Best Things in Life are Free (Family History Journal)

The topic for Family History Journal a week ago was that it is often said, "The best things in life are free." When I first read the topic, I couldn't think of what I wanted to say. But then a few days ago, I realized I knew exactly what to share. The best thing in life (or one of them) that is free is imagination! And my kids...as well as most other kids...are filled with this great gift. I love how my kids can find new and creative ways to use toys, can find ways to keep themselves entertained without toys, and are always using their imagination as they play and interact. If only I had their imagination and creativity still!

Here are just a few examples of kids' imaginations. These first photos were taken in December, on a day when we had a house full of kids. Suddenly, they had found some ribbons, tied them together to make "leashes" and were leading each other around like dogs. So clever and they had loads of fun.



The hula hoops they received for Christmas are usually used as hula hoops. But from time to time, they are used in other creative ways. A few days ago, they began to chase each other around the table and jump through the hoop as they went. It looked a little like an acrobat, a little like tag and a little like the limbo.



Even balloons can provide tons of entertainment...as hats, as balls, etc. The greatest thing is that even without actual toys that cost money, the kids are usually so good at finding ways to play. Imagination is truly one of the best things in life that is free.

Presidents Day Outing

On Presidents' Day, the girls and I headed to Chuck E. Cheese. I let the girls bring along a friend, "Miss K". They all had fun. We had pizza and cinnasweet bread and then the girls rode the rides and played games. A fun time was had by all.

My Valentine

Love this guy!

Had a great Valentine's. On Saturday night, my dad watched the girls for us so we could go out. We saw the movie Valentine's Day and then went to dinner at Rodizio Grill (in American Fork). The best part of all...besides being with Alfredo? The whole evening was free. My dad watched them and on Friday, Alfredo's boss gave him gift cards to say thanks for being a great employee and so the whole evening was paid for. Awesome! Since my birthday is a few days before Valentine's, we were able to go out twice in one week sans kids. :)

So big!

Gabrielle is growing so fast. She is now officially 18 months old (on Thursday) and old enough for nursery. I don't know whether to be excited about all she is learning or sad that she has grown so quickly and really isn't a baby anymore. She has developed a strong sense of what she wants, she has a temper when she doesn't get her way, and she really thinks she can do everything her big sisters do.




And her language skills are exploding. Along with the 15 or so words that she had when she was a year old (dog, perro, Chester, momma, dada and so on), she can say many more, including but probably not limited to:

candy (Did I mention that she can find candy better than anyone? If there is candy anywhere in the house, she finds it! And eats it. We have to keep it hidden and way up high.)
puppy, No, up, down, want, cuckoo, book, this, comida (food in Spanish), poopoo, Jenni & Paco (neighbors across the street), dank oo (thank you), gracias (thank you in Spanish), cookie, Daf-ee (Daphne, a friend's daughter), Dante (our friend's son), mas (more in Spanish), luz (light in Spanish), baby, hot, hola (hello in Spanish), hello, bye bye, night-night, baw (ball), Milo (Alfredo's aunt's dog), and leche (milk in Spanish). She also knows poopoo, good night, thank you, more, milk, and food in sign language. Between her words and pointing, she can pretty well communicate what she wants now. At least most of the time.

She loves to say NO! She also says lots of gibberish. And she really does try to do whatever her sisters do. She runs and she now can climb the stairs standing up, although she still usually goes up and down on her hands and knees. She colors in coloring books just like her big sisters. And she knows how to turn the computer on. She loves to "talk" on the phone. And surprisingly, she is loving the Olympics. We watched some ski jumping (is that what it is even called?) and she kept clapping and squealing and jumping up and down. She was enthralled. Here are a couple of photos of her watching the Olympics.

Look at her smile!!

Simple Pleasure (Family History Journal)

This week's Family History Journal topic is Simple Pleasure: Write about something you consider to be a simple pleasure? What makes it simple? What makes it a pleasure? How often do you enjoy this "Simple Pleasure"? How long has this been one of your simple pleasures?

I have several "Simple Pleasures". Probably my favorite is reading. There is nothing like curling up with a good book, and I make sure to find time to read every day. It is how I learn, how I relax, and often a way I connect to others. But as reading is such a big part of my life, and as I write about it regularly, I wanted to share a different simple pleasure.

Most evenings, I give myself a treat. Two of my favorite treats are hot chocolate and ice cream. So nearly every evening, I make myself a cup of hot chocolate or get a bowl of ice cream. I keep both on hand year round. I love Stephen's hazelnut hot chocolate and Stephen's Irish Creme hot chocolate as well as other flavors...but those are my favorites. I also love rocky road ice cream (preferably Dreyers or Breyers brands...I stock up when they go on sale) and mint chocolate chip. I am not a fan of sherbet or of cookie dough ice cream, but I'll eat most other flavors.

I don't know when I started indulging in these treats...but it's been years. Probably back when I was still in high school. That's me in high school. Got a bunch of photos from my mom when I was home in October so eventually I'll probably share some of them.

Sweet neighbor

I just read a children's book called The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey. Great book. In it one of the main characters, Reynie has decided that there are mostly evil people in the world and he keeps seeing evidence that this is true. His wise friend and leader Mr. Benedict tells him something along the lines that while there are many evil people, there are also many good people and that whatever you expect to see, you will find. I think that is so true. I have seen so many countless examples of goodness and kindness. I know that there is evil in the world and I have seen examples of that too, but I also truly believe that I live in the greatest neighborhood and that there is still much goodness in the world and I see countless examples of that.

My dear sweet neighbor called on Wednesday after reading my blog and said she wanted to bring something to me. She came down a few minutes later with several bags of things... oranges and orange juice for the vitamin C, chicken noodle soup, markers and a book for the girls to color, bubble bath and Sudoku for me to relax and gatorade to stay hydrated. I was not feeling well (had/have an ear infection and probably a sinus infection but am on antibiotics now) and it hadn't been a good week, but I know that there are many others in greater need than me. My illness and Gabrielle's illness were neither life threatening nor that long lasting and in fact, we are both doing much better. I didn't NEED my friend to bring these things to me, but it touched my heart that she did. It is these kind, thoughtful gestures that always warm my heart and help me remember how much good there is in the world and how much I personally have to be grateful. So thank you friend as well as all my other friends and family members that have shown such kindness, past and present.

better weeks

I've had better weeks. Many of them. Poor Gabrielle has been sick since last Friday. I took her to the doctor yesterday and she has an ear infection and probably RSV. The dreaded RSV. Good news is that she's old enough that she'll probably recover fine and not need to be hospitalized. In fact, she's doing much better today than she has been. Bad news is that she's miserable.

On top of her being sick and me missing work (down to no sick days left now!), I've been sick. Just a cold, but it's weird...only the left half of me seems to be affected. I"m congested on the left side; I've had a sinus headache on the left side most of the day, and I am pretty sure I have an ear infection...in my left ear. Bizarre and not too comfortable. I guess I should be grateful, because at least I can breathe (and I finally got some sleep last night...Gabrielle slept through the night for the first time in 3 or 4 days). But it is not pleasant. Oh well. Such is life.

I've been home 3 days and done no school work and only the bare minimum of house cleaning. I feel like I've accomplished nothing. But I've held Gabrielle for hours on end and watched more Disney Channel than I usually do in a couple of months. (That was to keep Ella happy...poor thing this hasn't been very fun for her either...mom is home but unwilling/unable to spend much time playing.)

Another Michelle-ism

I forgot one in my last post (probably more than one, but you know...). Michelle refers to school assemblies as "dissemblies." Love it!

Hollywood Connection

On Civil Rights Weekend, Alfredo's cousin Sandra and her family came from Las Vegas to visit. We had a lot of fun with them... going to Hollywood Connection for the kids to play and skate, playing outside in the snow, taking a walk around the block, laughing and visiting. Michelle had skated once before (but only for a few minutes) and Ella never had. Michelle caught on pretty quickly and by the end was going slowly by herself. Ella needed help but still had fun. And they enjoyed the rides. Plus there were 2 free magic shows that we got to see. We all enjoyed that.

Michelle-isms

As I mentioned in the last post, the girls are growing up so fast. So it brings me a sort of strange pleasure when Michelle says things that are grammatically incorrect but so cute. As a teacher, maybe I shouldn't be happy to hear grammar errors and with most I do echo the correct grammar back to my kids, but there are two things Michelle says that I think are just too cute to give up quite yet.

The first is a common error. She says "gooder". That candy is "gooder" than this one. And so on. She doesn't say "goodest"; she says best. And she's starting to correct herself sometimes when she says "gooder" so this isn't going to be around for long.

The second is my favorite. When something bad happens, she says "That better hurt." NOt meaning that she wants someone to be hurt, meaning that she thinks it must hurt. Examples: Gabrielle stepped on something and cut her foot and when Michelle saw it she said, "Wow! That better hurt." If she's watching tv and a character gets injured she'll exclaim, "That better hurt!" Too cute and funny.

Happy Momma

Sometimes I am so impressed with my kids. Here are 3 things that made me feel happy this weekend:

Sunday night: Michelle read to me "Se Venden Gorras" the Spanish version of Caps for Sale. (Which according to scholastic, the English version is an end of 2nd grade reading level) She struggled on a few words, but overall was able to readx the book quite well. We read in English every night but I haven't been very good at practicing reading in Spanish. I have definitely noticed a big improvement and increase in her speaking and listening ability, but didn't realize her reading had come so far as well.

Sunday night: We talked to my sister on the webcam for a bit. Ella sang a song for her about the continents. I had no idea she knew the continents (other than North and South America). She has also memorized the pledge at preschool, learned about many symbols of America and when we started reading a book about penguins last Thursday, she told me several things about penguins that I didn't know.

Lately: Often when we pray, Gabrielle folds her arms and bows her head. She knows how to act during a prayer. Also, she can often tell me just before she gets a wet or dirty diaper. She's even gone in the toilet once. Now I have no illusions that she'll be potty trained any time soon, but between sign language and spoken words in English and Spanish, she is getting quite good at communicating. I can't believe she is almost a year and half already!

Sometimes I think my kids are too young to do something or learn something only to have them prove me wrong. They have all grown up so quickly and really are capable of learning and remembering more than I sometimes give them credit for. I am in no hurry to have them grow up; I think sometimes we (as a society) push kids to do things before they are ready. But I guess I also have to realize that sometimes they are ready for more than I realize. I am so impressed at all they have learned and remembered from our Family Home Evenings (which I am happy to report we have been doing nearly every week for 6 months now.) as well as from school and primary.