Birthday Party

Yesterday we had a friends' birthday party for Michelle and Ella. It was our first drop-off birthday party. The theme was Tangled, and I think everyone had a lot of fun. The girls each had a couple of friends from school and a few friends from the neighborhood.


We started off by letting them color Tangled pictures or just play on the tramp, zipline, and swings. Then we played some actual games. Many of the games came from
Super Mom Moments and at this site.
First, we played Pin the Frying Pan on Flynn Rider's head. The kids really liked that. A couple of funny things. Maddy put her frying pan right smack on top of her brother Andrew's frying pan. We all laughed at that. Then Kodi predicted she would get it right on the bump on Flynn's head...and she did!

Then we played hide-n-seek with Pascal. I had hidden a couple of plastic chameleons (lizards) and the kids searched for them.


Then we played Tug of War with Rapunzel's braid (a rope). Then we did an obstacle course because Rapunzel had to overcome many obstacles to be reunited with her real parents. The kids had to throw a frisbee, climb up and slide down the slide, jump on the trampoline and run around a pole, then do the teeter totter and get back in line...and the first team to have everyone finish was the winner... happily the teams tied.



Then it was pinata time. (For some reason, I hear this in my head being said in Mario's voice... just like he says on the Wii game... "It's Mario time.")


Then we had cupcakes. Because Rapunzel loved to paint and decorate her tower, each child got to decorate their own cupcake... with sprinkles, frosting, heart shaped cake toppers, and so on. (This was my idea...not borrowed from anyone else! :))Then we sang Happy Birthday to the girls and ate our cupcake creations with ice cream.







Finally, the gifts were opened and the girls were thrilled with all the wonderful gifts. The kids played for a few more minutes, and then the party ended. Success!

Mother's Day Gifts

Haven't gotten around to posting about my Mother's Day. My kids were so excited about Mother's Day this year and did so many sweet things for me. In nursery, Gabby made me a darling handprint that came with a poem. Michelle and Ella painted small plates for me, made me cards and notes, and made pens with flowers on them. They gave me M & M's with a fun game (from Primary) and several other small gifts. It was very sweet. Of course, the best gift of all is to be their mother. They are all such sweet girls and I love them dearly.

Alfredo also gave me a gift... a new stove. :)

Home Renovation

What an amazing husband I have! Last weekend he had a couple of days off. He spent one of them on a field trip with our 6 year old's class. Then he spent the rest doing home renovations... he tore out our carpet which was so disgusting and probably 15-20 years old. He also tore out most of the wall between our living room and kitchen to make it more open. Our neighbor helped him reinforce it and add the drywall and such. Then he installed new flooring. In the past month, we also bought a beautiful new area rug, new pillows for our couches, and new (plastic) plants for the dining room table. It looks and feels like a whole new home.

Here are some before pictures:

Because you are probably wondering why I included a picture of my 8 year old, it's really supposed to show that there was a wall between our dining room/living room ..and the molding was in the middle of the wall.

These pictures show the old rug and kind of show the carpet... but they don't convince you of how truly awful the carpet was. We've been here almost nine years (in August) and we have 3 kids and a dog (black lab that sheds!). The family before us also had kids and the carpet was stained and worn when we moved in. Alfredo cleans it regularly, but it doesn't even look better after cleaning. So goodbye carpet.


Here are some projects while renovations were underway:



And some after shots. My normal camera lens is broken and I only have the one that takes close ups so I couldn't get any good shots of the whole room, but hopefully you can get an idea.

See the rug...doesn't it look great with the couches, floor and walls? Love it!
The hallway. Check out the floor...and the molding on the ground now.

Here are two shots of the opening between the dining room and living room.

The rug!

Here are the plants we bought for the dining room.
The new pillows for our couches. Love it all!

Everything I Need to Know I learned...

from my mom! (Some of it I had learned before I even began kindergarten...but other lessons were learned years later...and some are still being learned!)

My mom taught me to read. Long before I started kindergarten she made flashcards of all our family member's names and of high frequency words and practiced with them until I knew them. She read to me daily and took us on regular trips to the public library. I credit not only my ability to read but my love of reading to my mom.


My mom taught me to have patience...and she taught by example. My mom is the most patient person I know. I literally can only remember one time in my life that she raised her voice at all. She did not allow little things to frustrate her or make her lose her temper. Whenever I lose my temper I think of my own childhood and how peaceful it felt because wasn't yelled at and I apologize to my own children and try to be a little more like my mom.
(My mom, my sister Suzy, and I are holding my girls.)

My mom taught me to have faith. I have a letter she wrote me after my parents divorce. She said in this letter that one day she was feeling very discouraged and alone and knelt to pray. The spirit whispered to her that everything would be okay. She said she wasn't sure what that meant, but she knew it was true. She had faith that the Lord would keep His promises. That knowledge that the Lord is there and listening and that eventually things will be okay ...knowing that my mom believed it helped me to believe it and develop faith of my own which has helped me through difficult times.

My mom taught me to forgive. I've rarely heard my mom speak unkindly of others. Even when others have done hurtful things to my mom, she is quick to forgive. When my parents divorced, she could have been bitter and angry toward my dad. But she chose instead to forgive. This is perhaps the greatest lesson she has taught. I'm sure I've never been hurt to that extent, but when I have been I have done my best to follow her example and to try to let go of the hurt and anger and forgive. This can be hard, but she taught me that when you hold on to anger and resentment the person you hurt the most is yourself. Anger brings unhappiness, but forgiveness brings peace.

My mom taught me to work hard. My mom worked full time. She raised 3 girls. She nearly always had a small garden in the unforgiving, hot Arizona sun, in areas with poor soil. (I can't even grow a garden here where the soil and weather are much more agreeable...so I find this especially impressive! :)) She also served faithfully in the church wherever she was called.

My mom always made me feel important. Even though she worked full time most of my life, I always knew my sisters and I were her number one priority. She listened to us, she read to us, played with us, and devoted her life to us.

My mom taught me to listen. My mom is not a big talker. She is fairly quiet and reserved. But she is a wonderful listener. I would like to become a better listener than I am.

So much of who I am and who I want to be is influenced by my mother. Mom, I love you! You are not perfect--but you are and were the perfect mother for me!

Our Students of the Month

Our children continue to make us feel proud. Michelle was student of the month back in February (which I realize I never posted about). I wasn't able to go, but Alfredo went to the student of the month assembly. Michelle was so happy that she's been chosen each year as a student of the month... as only about 9 students are chosen per class each year, it is a great honor. (Although I must say that as a teacher it makes me feel sad for all of the other students who don't get selected!)






Then this past Friday Ella was honored as her class's student of the month. It also happened to be the month that kindergarten was singing/performing. So Alfredo was able to see her performance and be there when she was awarded student of the month. We are so proud of her progress and especially her effort and behavior.

Birthday gift

Ella decided that what she really wanted for her birthday was to get her ears pierced. So on Tuesday I took her to Claire's to get them pierced. She chose little round earrings. I thought she might cry, but she was very brave and didn't even tear up...just flinched a tiny bit when the first one went in. She's been so proud to show them to friends and teachers. My little girl really is growing up.

Planet Play

Ella is now six! Hard to believe that six years have passed since she was born (here at home, on our couch... but that's another story!)
Ella at 6 months old:

Ella at 6 years old:




She is such a sweet, spunky, sensitive girl with a beautiful testimony of the gospel. She is becoming a wonderful reader in both English and Spanish, and she is also a great writer. We are so happy that she is turning into such a wonderful little girl.

To celebrate on her birthday, we went to Planet Play (used to be Incredible Pizza Company)in Draper. They have a pizza/pasta/salad buffet that was really quite good. I think our favorite (Alfredo and I) pizza was the spud-i-licious. The food was quite good... and all three of the girls enjoyed the games...bowling, bumper cars, arcade games, etc. It was quite a fun evening and I'm sure we'll head back there again in the summertime. Fun place!





I think perhaps their favorite part was the dancing! They all enjoyed hopping, stomping and jumping on the colored shapes.

Another favorite was playing the racing games. And there was one that you lay down and your seat shakes and surprisingly, they liked that a lot too. Even Gabby, who climbed on with Ella and held her hand.

Toothless Grin

Ella lost her two front teeth about a month ago and I never wrote about it. She already lost 4 teeth on the bottom and another tooth on the top is loose. So far only 2 bottom teeth have grown in...making her have a pretty toothless grin. Sure do love that girl!