Pomp and Circumstance

For the 2011-2012 school year, Vincente and I have been participating in a neighborhood co-op preschool with three other families from our ward. When I was making the certificates for their graduation, I realized that we didn’t really have a name for the preschool, and “neighborhood/ward co-op preschool” just wasn’t going to cut it. The park where we had the graduation, as well as the subdivision we live near/in, is “Jordan Meadows” so that’s what I named the preschool. The other moms seemed cool with it, but I apologize for stepping on any toes. I made the certificates kind of last minute.

Cassie, one of the moms, had the kids for the last two weeks of preschool and so she helped them prepare a graduation program. It was really cute and really well done. There is a video of a few parts of the program at the end of this post. Please excuse the droopy lens cover. Our camera has seen better days, that’s for sure.

I have really been impressed with how much the kids have learned this year. More than the content, though, I am glad they are learning how to pay attention to a teacher, listen, and obey. And how to interact with other kids their ages. Vincente has really learned a lot in preschool, even if he still doesn’t like writing his name. We’ll be working on that part.

The kids actually came up with a lot of the program on their own – they wanted to march, so Cassie had them march while they counted to 25 (the “magic number” they are supposed to know for Kindergarten this fall); they wanted to play musical instruments, so Cassie had them make some instruments (you’ll see those in the video, too).

We all took family pictures out in the shade. The weather was perfect and Cassie made some delicious and moist cupcakes with the cutest little homemade decorations that said “Congrats Grad!”

I am so glad that we went with the co-op preschool. It really was a fantastic idea, and we’re all talking about doing it again this fall with the younger siblings! Joseline probably had almost as much fun hanging out with the kids in preschool as the big kids did.

And here are the promised videos:

P90x

Although I have done P90x videos before (my favorite is the plyometric DVD. Wow, now that’s a good workout) I’m not super into them. But Michelle was working out to one in the morning, and Vince decided that he needed a little bit of a workout, too.

Tugga Tugga Stop Stop–or Twinkle A

Thanks to a generous donation from Grandma Pam and Grandpa Victor (in the form of an old student violin I played on in high school) we were able to buy a violin for Vincente for Christmas! Mom and Dad’s donation covered half of it and we were able to pay off the last half with part of our tax return.

Vincente started violin lessons in March with Elizabeth Burton, one of the best Suzuki violin teachers in Utah. She is so great with Vincente and he loves going to violin lessons. We’re working on focus and obedience – but those are normal things you work on with a five year old. What I love most about his teacher is that she understands that and is so patient with my very creative, very active little genius.

Just look at that kid!

If you missed it before, here is his performance at his very first recital! He enjoys the group class, even though it’s all girls and he doesn’t want to sit next to them in group lesson (they have cooties). I’m sure he’ll reverse his opinion about that all too soon, so I’ll let him think they have cooties for as long as he likes.

One Year Older

Vince and Joseline’s birthdays are ten days apart, and Vincente’s birthday falls on or near General Conference every year, so birthday parties don’t happen all that often for them.

This year we partied while Papai was in Paris on a French immersion.

While we were taking these pictures

he was taking these pictures

Renae and her kids were down visiting for spring break so we had the entire family there for their birthday. The cake is always a highlight, although Joseline was a little worried about all those people singing happy birthday to her.

She perked right up when it was time for presents. Especially the gift from Jordan to “Joshasilin”. In some world, that spells “Joseline”. I really can’t fault them, though. It’s a hard name to spell, even if you go with the traditional “Jocelyn” spelling. Which to me is even harder than the way we spell it. At least our way makes a little bit of orthographical sense…

In true form, Jordan gifted several of his old toys.

The duct tape covered Nerf ax was a big hit (and still is).

And I am pretty sure Jordan’s gift doubled our stuffed animal collection.

Good thing I made that zoo.

They now have Nerf guns. I’m pretty sure every kid needs a Nerf gun.

The “big” Grandma/Grandpa gifts -

Bumblebee transformer for Vincente. He’s been begging for a “big transformer” since his cousin Sam got one last November for his 5th birthday. He originally asked for Optimus Prime, but I’m pretty sure when he saw Bumblebee all he could think about was how incredibly cool he was that he now had a real transformer. Whoa.

Joseline’s big gift was a bike. She was not incredibly thrilled about it and although we got her to ride around for a little bit she really didn’t want to have anything to do with it. Hopefully she’ll grow out of that.

Jars of Clay

(this is the second in a four part series about our trip to Denver)

Saturday was another adventure filled day. We decided to explore downtown Denver and then meet up for dinner at the Aquarium.  We had heard about the restaurant at the aquarium where you eat with the fish, basically. It was a little pricey, but we thought it might be worth the experience.  Meg and Geoff actually went through the aquarium while I took the kids to the Denver Art Museum’s free day and to a little gelato place on the 16th street mall. I’m pretty sure I took the kids back to the hotel for naps, and then we met up with Meg and Geoff for dinner.

We rode the bus down the 16th street mall, and then walked the rest of the way to the art museum. I was kicking myself for not bringing a stroller with me, but Joss kept up pretty well (on the way there – the way back was a different story). The area was really pretty and we walked through a really neat park with lots of shady trees (thank goodness – because it was kind of warm).

The museum had a fun hands-on area where the kids got to make their own something out of clay. After putting some lace on a piece of clay to make a pretty design, Joss and I ended up with a snake that we textured with the lace. After stabbing his piece of clay repeatedly, Vincente finally ended up with a “waffle” (a flattened piece of clay that he cut in two directions multiple times). We left our clay creations to dry while we looked at the rest of the museum.

There were lots of fun exhibits, including one where you make shapes with your body, and the computer would fill in the holes with a piece of “stained glass” which would shatter when you “let go” of it. I hope the picture helps that make a little more sense. It was really fun. The little kids were having a rough time though because adults and older kids kept standing behind the little ones and blocking them. Eventually I went “mom” on them and asked them all to let the little ones have a chance. The littler ones weren’t as good as it, but they had fun anyway.

There were a lot of places with big building blocks and things to color and dress up clothes. I liked that instead of the “kids” area being just one area of the museum there were several different areas, so I got to see a few cool things as we walked from one place to the next. The kids enjoyed making Jaguar masks and “stealing cheese” (big foam blocks where Vince played with some big kids like mice or rats or something and stole the blocks from each other, calling it their “cheese”).

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a sack lunch on a rooftop of the museum, which reminded me of the numerous trips we made to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and how we ate our sack lunches out by the ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the roof there were some fun pieces of art. This one above that Vince is staring intently at is a stage coach or something. I think the firing gun was what fascinated Vincente the most.

You could see the Denver skyline behind Joseline. I think that we were up in the shiny black building the day before when we were visiting Grant.  

Dinner at the aquarium was kind of disappointing. The atmosphere was cheesy, not like the nice restaurant at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the tanks were itsy bitsy and only on one wall, so we didn’t even get to sit next to the fish. The food was all really rich, and not nearly worth the price. But it was fun to experience something new, and the kids got a shark and sting ray from the gift shop. They enjoyed the whole thing. Especially getting their picture taken next to this shark.

I Love to See the Temple

This year the Primary is singing “I Love to See the Temple” for the Sacrament Meeting Program.

Vincente didn’t like to sit with his class in Primary. He much preferred to sit with me at the piano (I am the Primary pianist in our Portuguese ward). So one Sunday as I was playing “I Love to See the Temple,” I looked down to see Vincente taking everything out of my bags and stacking things up. I asked him what on earth he was doing.

“I’m building a temple!”

Look – Lightening McQueen is even going to the temple!

Little Slugger

Because I just downloaded these pictures from my camera today, and we have a T-ball game tonight, I thought I would share our little slugger:

Running home -

With “coach” -

And would he be a man (or a jock) if he wasn’t caught adjusting himself?

I promise that I wasn’t trying to get this shot! He moved his hand just as I snapped the picture. I think it’s adorable.

T-ball is certainly fun. No stress, just fun, every gets a chance to hit, everyone gets a chance to “catch” (and by catch I mean, hold up their mitt, then after the ball sails past them, or falls 4 feet in front of them, run to pick it up, and throw it at – er, to – a teammate, who then throws it home), no strikes, no outs, just fun! And the last kid up to bat hits a home run by default (so all the kids can come back in and the teams can switch).

The worst drama is when two kids run after the same ball when they are playing on the field. And then there was the kid that did somersaults to second base. And the one who skipped first base altogether and decided he’d go straight to second. The fun that is 4-year-old T-ball.

Little Biker Dude

 
Vincente is getting to be quite the little bike rider. I feel bad that he’s only now discovering the joys of biking. I haven’t had a bike since we were married, and we only bought Vincente a real bike for his 3rd birthday, and we only now live in a neighborhood where we can ride all the time (the streets are relatively flat, so great for learning).

He really likes it, and I like being out with him. Russ bought me a bike for Christmas, and I just recently bought a little baby seat that mounts on the front. We’ve been meaning to take our bikes down to the river trail, but we need to get a bike rack for the car first.

A Little Backwards

I have been trying really hard to get my life in order. I have been working on being more productive, getting more things done, and taking better care of myself and all of the temporal needs of my family.

In all that quest to be an “effective mother” – meaning, having a clean house, a stocked pantry and fridge, and dressed and bathed children – I realized that I have been seriously neglecting the thing that matters most.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said this:

“As we turn to our Heavenly Father and seek His wisdom regarding the things that matter most, we learn over and over again the importance of four key relationships: with our God, with our families, with our fellowman, and with ourselves. As we evaluate our own lives with a willing mind, we will see where we have drifted from the more excellent way. The eyes of our understanding will be opened, and we will recognize what needs to be done to purify our heart and refocus our life.” (emphasis added)

I studied this talk back in January on my scripture study blog, My Soul Delighteth, but I think that maybe back then my mind wasn’t as willing to see where I may have drifted from “the more excellent way” – but last night as I prayed for the Lord to help me be a better wife and a better mother, I prayed for help to “do the most important things.” And then something President Uchtdorf spoke about came to my mind.

“...it’s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia—even during times of stress and fatigue. Because they unnecessarily complicate their lives, they often feel increased frustration, diminished joy, and too little sense of meaning in their lives.” (emphasis added)

I am a list maker. Ask my husband. I have your usual grocery lists and menus, but it doesn’t stop there. I have priority lists of things to buy, projects to complete, debts to pay off, books to read... even that list goes on and on. My to-do lists are complex and list every possibility for my day. Well, they did until last night when I realized exactly why I am experience that “increased frustration, diminished joy, and too little sense of meaning in [my life].”  It was because of the darn to-do lists. Sure, the laundry needs to be done, and the dishes need to be washed, and lunch and dinner need to be served, and groceries need to be bought. But the most important thing to do is spend time with my little ones. “We build deep and loving family relationships by doing simple things together, like family dinner and family home evening and by just having fun together. In family relationships love is really spelled t-i-m-e,time.”

I was trying to get into a strict, “efficient” routine that would help me feel like I had accomplished a lot during the day. But those accomplishments were temporal, not spiritual – not eternal. They were things that were going to last only in this life, only in this moment, and would not be as significant as the relationships that I can form with  my children right now while they are small.

From my journal last night: So I am going to try something new. Something completely different. Before the kids wake up, rather than trying to scramble and get things done, I am going to spend time with Heavenly Father and myself, meditating and studying the scriptures. Then, when the kids get up, rather than attemping to distract them so that I can complete yet more items on my to-do list, I will simply BE with my children.

It won’t be horrible if I actually get some chores done. It will be especially good if the kids help. They can sort laundry, fold laundry, help empty the dishwasher, help wash the table, help cook. I have had a little bit of a disconnect between being a mother and being a homemaker. I think that I felt like I could only wear one hat at a time (I could be a mother, but not at the same time as being a housekeeper, and neither of those at the same time as being a cook, or a courier or chauffeur). But really, the only hat I have is mother. And it is by far the most important.

The most frustrating (or rather, enlightening) part of this whole ordeal is that I just read and studied this talk barely a month ago! Why didn’t I figure it out then? I’ll tell you why. I am one of the most stubborn people in the entire world, and it takes an average of 3-4 months for me to admit that I was ever even wrong. Seriously. I think it used to take a lot longer than that when I was younger, but I have improved – probably thanks to my sweet, patient husband.

So far the past few days have been great. I have been spending more time with the kids, and less time doing dishes and laundry and washing toilets and vacuuming and cleaning up,  but you know what, my house still looks fine (not pristine, like I might like it to be, but it’s not unsanitary or cluttered or anything like that). And my kids are happier (especially Joseline – she has been a little cranky child for a looooong time, and finally she’s been pretty happy, only throwing the normal toddler fits, instead of just being ornery all the time.Vincente is being more helpful and loving.

And I feel more relaxed, and closer to Heavenly Father.

Vincente and Joseline playing on the air mattress with a friend. 

But who wouldn’t be closer to Him

around these little angels?

Rolling Along

We bought Vincente a “big kid bike” with training wheels for his 3rd birthday. We haven’t really lived in one place long enough for him to ride it a lot (until now) but while we were at my parents’ house in Arkansas he did get out a few times.

These pictures are from the first time he REALLY rode. He pedaled himself all the way down the street and back. He had a hard time stopping if he was going downhill, but he was really good at pedaling. He told me, “When you got really strong feet, the rollers will go.” Apparently, he has really strong feet.

We’ve been out a few times since we moved into our new house, but not frequently enough for Vince to really get the hang of the bike thing. We’ll be working on it this year, I assure you.

 

If you’re wondering why he’s only in shorts – it was probably 90-100 degrees that day (even if it was overcast) and around 40-50% humidity.