Take Me Out To The Ball Game

For our preschool theme this week we checked out books about sports, counted balls, played soccer outside, and today we are at a baseball game. City league, not a big huge deal, but still fun! We're enjoyng the fresh spring air and the cool evening breeze. We missed our cooking day, but we had a BBQ on Saturday last week, and then again on Sunday, so we're kind of BBQ'd out. We may make some cracker jacks tomorrow, and we're learning the baseball game song at the game. So far I'm pretty impressed with how our first week of themed preschool has gone! I'm looking forward to next week.


What topic should we focus on next week? Music? Weather? Seasons? Writing? Something else?

-- Post on the go

One Year Older

Joseline turned 1 on March 23! She’s growing up so fast. Still not walking, but she’s my little sweetheart. She is so precious and snuggly and such a good eater (she ate that whole mini cake above. Probably in under 5 minutes)!

Grandma Shirley bought Joseline a pretty green Easter dress for her birthday (turns out I have two Easter babies!)

After church (and before the cake madness) we did a photo shoot of Joss in her pretty new dress.

 

We tried to get a few pictures of Joseline with her cousin, Annie, but I don’t think we ever got them to both look at the camera at the same time. I tried to get Joseline to walk – as you can see, she does a great job holding on with one hand.

She didn’t really like the feel of the grass on her feet, and kept trying to inch toward the sidewalk.

I am in love with this little girl. I’ve been listening to the General Young Women’s broadcast on my iPhone, and I just can’t help feeling so blessed to have this beautiful baby in my life – who will one day be a beautiful young woman! I feel very privileged to be the mother who will get to sit with her at the General YW meetings. To be the mother who gets to teach her to pray and to love Heavenly Father. I am in such awe of this beautiful little girl. I just want to be the best mother for her and Vincente. They are a precious responsibility that Heavenly Father has placed in my hands. I can’t do it without Heavenly Father, I know that for sure. Good thing He’s with me in this child-raising thing.

     

How does being a mother make you feel? Do you counsel with Heavenly Father every day, pleading with Him to help you be a better mother? Do you feel His strength with you as you strive to be a better mother?

Where Did All These Pictures Come From?

So I was about to sit down and write a little post about Joseline – because she’s a sweetheart, and I haven’t dedicated a post to her in a while.

Then I realized that it’s been a while since I got the pictures off my camera’s SD card.

Now I am downloading 214 pictures.

Whew.

Well, once I sort through them, I’ll be able to post some of the good ones.

And we’re going to buy Photoshop. Hooray! Elements AND Premier, so we can do home videos, too!! Yay!

Until then, you’ll just get the regular old what I’ve got from my camera pictures :)

I Know About Sports!

Day one of Themed Preschool has gone GREAT! We checked out a bunch of books at the library – I Know About Sports, Michael’s Golden Rules, Casey at the Bat, J is for Jump Shot, This is Baseball, T is for Touchdown, Just My Friend and Me, and Mia Hamm: Winners Never Quit!

So far we’ve only read 1 1/2 of them, but we did go to story time at the library, and it’s been GREAT weather, so we’ve been outside a lot.

Unfortunately, the weather is supposed to get cold and rainy and windy starting Wednesday morning. Yuck. So we’re moving our sports outing to tomorrow. We’re going to go to Uncle Brady’s soccer game! It’ll be a fun time, and Vince will bring his soccer ball and get to play during half time. Or between periods. Or whatever they have in soccer (can you tell this week is for me as much as it is for Vince!)

I’m excited for our weekly themes!

What did you do with your preschooler today? Do you have any sports knowledge for me to share with my preschooler tomorrow?

My Wonderful, Fabulous, Amazing, Very-Good Day!

Today I woke up at 5am.

Did some stretches (i.e. Yoga… it felt great) (did I tell you that my quads feel as if they have been mauled? More about that later… ),  studied the scriptures, blogged a bit, went for a three mile run, did some laundry, took the kids to story time, checked out books from the library, ate lunch, played with the kids outside, went to the chiropractor (really needed that!), ate Coldstone ice cream with my sweetheart (the best part was being with my sweetheart), did some more laundry, made dinner, had FHE with the babies, tutored for an hour, and now… I am going to get in my jammies and snuggle with my sweetie again while we watch a movie.

What a great day!

What did you do today?

Preschool Week 1 - SPORTS

In honor of Spring baseball starting, and the fact that the entire household seems to go outside in the now warm evenings to play catch, I decided that this week should be sports week.

Today – we will go to the library and check out books about sports. These books will be our main source of reading material this week, and it will be my goal to read to Vincente each day. He loves to be read to, and I should really do better about that. Eventually I want to start reading chapter books (the classics – Alice in Wonderland, etc) to him and Joseline, even if they don’t quite understand it yet.

Tuesday – plays sports outside. Hopefully we’ll be able to organize a little soccer game or some kickball or something relatively easy for a little guy like Vince. Luckily his little cousin, Samuel, is here (Sam is about 6 mos older than Vince). Sam also loves to play outside, and his mom is here, so maybe we’ll have some willing opponents ;)

Wednesday - “academics” This day, I’ll print off some “color by number” sheets, counting sheets, etc, and we’ll practice the “sit still at the table and follow directions” activity. Ha ha. We’ll see how that goes! I will not give up! We’ll also gather up balls and count them, and maybe start experiencing “number conservation” (there are the same number of basketballs as there are baseballs, even though baseballs are smaller). We’ll also practice our letters – probably the letter B, since most sports involve a ball.

Thursday – attend a sporting event. This will most likely mean a baseball game. Possibly a soccer game. And we may switch this around to another day, because it mostly depends on when Vince’s uncles have games. (but I’m pretty much sure there is a game every night this week, so we shouldn’t have a problem).

Friday – COOKING DAY! We’ll make home made cracker jacks, and maybe have hot dogs for lunch. And learn the song “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and maybe some other sports-themed songs.

What are you doing this week with your preschooler? How are you helping your preschooler learn and grow at home? What ideas do you have for a theme for another week?

Sincere Desires

I posted today over in my scripture blog about refinement. Russ and I read an article last summer in the Ensign called "Our Refined Heavenly Home". It was a great article, and at the time reminded me of a lot of things. Then it was of course put in the recycle bin, and the article was forgotten. But not entirely.

Today, or maybe this was last night, as I was studying the words of the Prophet and other Church leaders, I was reminded of a few Ensign articles I had read that had a profound influence on me. This one about refinement was one. This article about a great mother was another that had a deep impact on me.

So I printed both articles to a PDF on my desktop so I can read them regularly. It’s not often that I feel so deeply affected by an Ensign article or a talk. Sure, many talks and articles have stirred my soul and increased my testimony, but occasionally there is a talk or article that feels like the author was sitting down with you in private conversation, answering your very concerns and questions – giving voice to the sincere desires of your heart.

Well, there is a lot in both articles – too much for one imperfect person like me to become in less than a lifetime, but I want to work on the things in each article.

This week I am going to work on being more refined in my speech. I want to speak with “purity of thought and sincerity of expression.”

I don’t want to be only refined in my choice of words and in my language, but also in what I talk about.

“Refinement in speech is reflected not only in our choice of words but also in the things we talk about. There are those who always speak of themselves; they are either insecure or proud. There are those who always speak of others; they are usually boring. There are those who speak of stirring ideas, compelling books, and inspiring doctrine; these are the few who make their mark in this world.”

So there it is. My goal for the week. My soul’s sincere desire. I have faith that as I come to Him in sincere prayer, Heavenly Father will bless me with the ability to become more than I am.

How do you want to be more than you are? Are there any General Conference talks or Ensign articles that seemed like the speaker/author had sat down in private conversation with you?

Defining Moments

I am currently trying to have a better defined theme of this blog. I have a gazillion other blogs (which have seriously suffered due to the move) that have really well defined themes – gardening, healthy living, scripture study, and a sort-of personal finance blog.

I originally started this blog to post my general thoughts about, well, everything. Then I started using it to post pictures of the kids so that family (mostly grandmas and grandpas, and aunts and uncles) could keep up with what the kids were doing, and how they were growing. But I kept posting my random rambling thoughts.

So, to make the blog a little more coherent, I am going to start a blogging schedule, and I am going to add some widgets or whatever they are to illustrate the growth and development of our kiddos.

Sunday – my day. On Sundays I will blog about my thoughts, feelings, and general goings on in my life. I will try to keep these thoughts related to personal things in my life – my family, friends, etc.

Monday morning – I will post our preschool theme and schedule for the week. We will learn about our theme through playing, cooking, reading, going on outings, and coloring. Since it’s already Thursday, we’ll start next week with SPORTS (since all Vince’s uncles play sports, and spring sports are in full swing!)

Two days mid-week – Joseline and Vincente days. I will try to give each kid their own post each week, with an update – pictures, milestones, etc along with any fun things they have said/done.

I will add some things on the side of the blog that will help you keep up with what we are doing each day.

I also want to make goals related to my other blogs, so here goes:

The Present – post three times/week (min) – an update on me, an update on Vince, and an update on Joseline

How Does your Garden Grow – post at least once a month on a gardening topic (in May I will start posting progress on some plant that I decide to buy – and I  will have Vince plant a seed and take care of it this summer)

A Word of Wisdom – have a theme for each month and post once a month about a health/green living related issue. Have guest posts once a month from different friends who are also into the whole nutrition/green living thing

So that is a total of 3 posts a week for our family blog, and 1 post a month for the garden and healthy living blogs. I think I can handle that.

I will be consistent for 6 weeks in a row, starting the week of April 19, and ending the week of May 24. If I am consistent, then I will reward myself by buying myself this book. Hopefully that will get me into a habit, and I will continue being consistent.

Tutor.com

We are back "home" in UT and loving our time with Russ!

In other news, Russ and I have made a decision that I will just stay at home with the kids this fall. It will be a time of a lot of transition for the kids and we feel it would be best if I am home with the kids, so they have at least something stable.

We're keeping the MIIS option open, but in the meantime, Russ is going to try to prepare himself for a job in information security. We have some connections, so that will help. And my uncle has taken it upon himself to be Russ' mentor in his career path, which is great, because my uncle has experience in that field.

I have been hired as an online tutor for tutor.com, which is fabulous news for me! I just need to brush up on my calculus skills, and then I will be making me some snowflakes! It feels good to be a financial contributor for the family.

On that note, general conference was fabulous, although we only got to watch Sun. I've been listening to the talks from Sat AM, and I am always bouyed up by the world of our leaders. I have a lot to think about, and I will probably post on my scripture study blog soon. Things are mellowing our here, which is a nice change to the last several years of our lives.


-- Post From My iPhone

Post Grad

On Thursday, Russ graduated with honors from the Presidio of Monterey Defense Language Institute. He received a certificate in Chinese and may transfer some credits to get an associates of arts in Chinese language and area studies.

I went to the graduation ceremony with Dan's wife and family. I am so proud of Russ! Graduating in Chinese from DLI, especially with honors, is definitely an awesome achievement.

We are headed back to UT for a month until Russ goes to AZ for even more military training.

We are so proud of our soldier-Papai!

Congratulations!!

-- Post From My iPhone

Vincente has quite the little attitude.

And lately he is getting kind of jealous of the attention that Joseline gets. Which is odd, since he's never been jealous before 8-o

As I try to approach Vincente (for ... anything, really) "No, Mamãe, you walk away!"

Today when I was talking to my friend, Michelle, "Mamãe, listen to me talking now!"

Vincente's prayer... every time.... "Dear Heavenly Father, and thank you for this day, name of Jesus Christ, AY-men!" Even at meals :) When we try to tell him "Remember to say 'Thank you for the food'" He tells us "No! It's MY turn!" and proceeds to start at the beginning again.

Me or Grandma: "Vincente, do you want some ___ (fill in the blank with food item)"
Vincente: "No, I just want ___!" (fill in the blank with a more preferred food item)

Vincente, upon finishing his sandwich: "I want a new one!"

Vincente, upon receiving said new sandwich: "Ooooh, THANK you!"

Vincente, when we want him to go to bed/eat his food/do pretty much anything "I don't think so!" (or, alternatively, "Eu ascho que não!")

2+/2+

Russ' DLPT scores! For those of you who are not familiar with the military and their arbitrary language test scores, this is a VERY good score! He has done REALLY well! His course is finished! Hooray! And he graduates on April 1. I will be flying down to CA with the kids on Tuesday next week to celebrate with him and to help him and the Wildes move back to UT.

We are pretty excited to see our sweet hubby/Papai next week! Especially with all the stress of DLI Chinese behind us! What a great adventure! We are glad it is over, and we are grateful for all the things we were able to learn and experience - especially the new friends we have made, new places we have seen, and new things we have learned to love!

He reports to his (more) training in AZ on the 14th of May. Until then, he is ALL OURS! We love him so much.

We are so proud of you, Papai!!

Staying Afloat

I love this picture of Vincente. I love the boats behind him, the still water, and the fact that the sun is too bright. :D

There is so much going on in our lives right now. There is a new adventure around every corner, and I’m trying not to get too stressed out about everything. We’re loving pretty much everything that is going on, and the kids are growing up so fast! I have been a total slacker with taking pictures of the kids, but I will start again.

I have come to the realization that I don’t do anything if I don’t set a goal to do it. I am going to blog once a week every week for the next six weeks. (Trying to start a habit, here!) Each blog post will contain at least one picture from the previous week. This will keep me taking pictures. I really wish I had a DSLR and some cool lenses and flashes. Some day.

I’ll probably try to post every  Sunday. I need to come up with a better blog theme, too. Actually, I really love my theme (the present), I just need to better define the theme. So I’ll work on that the next six weeks – defining the theme of my blog. Don’t forget to follow the “front page” blog so you can be notified when I update this blog.

Happy reading!

Running Total

So I figured I should post an update about the running situation. I have been a big slacker about, well, just about everything since we got here. mostly I blame it on adjusting to living in a new place, and reconnecting with old friends who I have been missing terribly.

I am reminded every day how blessed I am to have such great friends.

I think I was stuck in a little funk. Not really sure exactly where I wanted to be more... Back in CA, or here in UT. Now I feel like here is where o am supposed to be, so that helps.

Well, I finally did things that I kept telling myself I would do, like setting up the running swap with a friend (we talked about it a few weeks ago, but I never followed through... Story of my life).

So now I have a running partner, I take my kids to story time, and I sent off my application for ARL. This week my main goal (besides running again) is getting letters of recommendation from old employers.

I really am feeling motivation and purpose.

I heard a quote from one of the brethren a while ago that went something like this:

"When the why is strong enough, the how will take care of itself."

I believe that.

My why is getting more defined in my head, so the "how's" are coming along a lot better.

Thanks for all the concerned comments! I love to have a sounding board for some of my emotions. Your encouragement has really helped.

So far I have run 3 miles this week. My goal right now is just to be consistent at 9 miles a week, running 3 miles, 3x's a week. So far, I'm on target to reach my goal! Thanks to all my great encouraging friends.

I'm trying to have more faith. It's a work in progress!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Fail, or Quit?

I am back living with my in-laws. It's great, they are fabulous, I love them to death!

I miss my friends in CA. I miss having that great relationship with people nearby. I REALLY miss running with Deann. Well, we never ran together, but we did a running/kid swap (I watched her kid while she ran, then she watched mine while I ran). It worked out really well, and I was consistent, and because I was consistent, I was able to improve.

I felt like I was achieving something. I was climbing a mountain and getting closer to the top. It was a great feeling. I just felt AMAZING. And happy. I feel happy when I run. Something about those endorphins, I'm sure.

So I made a goal. I want to run a half marathon at the end of the summer. 13 miles. I just KNOW I can do it. Well, I knew I could do it back in CA when I was running three times a week, usually 9-10 miles a week. I just knew I could do it. If I kept running like I was running, and climbing that mountain, I would make my half marathon goal, I would!

Enter moving to UT.

So, no longer do I have Deann to run with :( So that means I don't run as often. I would ask my MIL to watch my kids for me to run (and she would do it) but I feel bad asking her to do any more. We're already mooching enough, living in their house. I just don't want her to feel like she has to raise my kids, too. I have nothing to give back, because she doesn't need anything from me. Except for me to keep my kids quiet so she can nap. But that's not really me doing anything anyway, since we're already in the way making noise so she can't nap. That means that me keeping the kids quiet is simply undoing the damage I've already done by having my kids here.

Let me clarify - my MIL does not make me feel bad for living here. It's something I do all to myself.

But anyway, so I haven't been running. We've been here for nearly 3 weeks, and I've ran a total of 3 times, for a total of about 5 miles. Yeah. Lame. Well, first off, the altitude is higher here anyway, so I knew it was going to take some adjusting.

On top of that, I live too far away from anyone really to take advantage of friends who want to do swaps with me. And I live at my in-laws, so it's not really great to have MORE kids here... which would mean that I would always been driving long distances to get to someone else's house. Lame.

So I'm faced with a horrible moral dilemma.

Do I quit my training? (for now... I would pick right back up where I left off if I can find someone close to watch the kids, or when I am in AR) Or do I just keep trying to train, and fail miserably?

I'm not a quitter, and I can't stand failure.

So what do I do? I don't have a good answer. Maybe you do?

Apples and Veggies

My babies love their food. Joseline loves veggies - green ones, mostly.


And Vince loves his apples!! He doesn't care much for veggies, but he likes apples, strawberries, and sometimes bananas. Mostly he's a bread and cheese kind of kid. We're hoping it's just a phase.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Brand New Day

Here we are in Utah. Finally settled in. I would have pictures, but I'm writing this post on my laptop since the kids are sleeping in the bedroom with my big desktop. I will probably move either the kids or the computer (probably the kids, I have to talk to my MIL first. It would be a lot easier for them to sleep in their own room, and there is an empty room. And in the event that someone needs to come use that room, we could always move the babies back into the big room. Although it would probably be easier to just move the computer out of the big room... probably we'l do that.)

It has been fun to be back because I feel like we're moving on - moving forward, which is good.

Russ has decided officially that he wants to be an interpreter. We always knew that he wanted to use his languages, but he was never really dedicated to one "career." If anyone knows of any businesses looking for Chinese interpreters, Russ would love to interpret in Chinese this fall.

We'll move anywhere in the western US if the job pays enough.

Home Again

We are on our way back to UT -we being me, Vince, and Joseline and Russ' mom. Russ is going to stay in CA to finish up his course at DLI while the kids and I go back home to get a job and get out of his hair.




We miss him already, and we're only just past Bakersfield. Oh yeah, I'm writing this blog post in the car and I plan on posting it to my blog as soon as I am finished. Russ got me an iPhone as a going away gift because he is the greatest man in the world. I love him so much and he is so thoughtful.

Wish us luck, and we can't wait to see all our friends in UT again (and all you friends in CA we will miss you terribly!!)



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Whale of a Tale

Things have been quite busy around here (hence no blogging) but I’m  blogging right now before I have to get dressed for a run.

We got lots and LOTS of boxes last night (and a tape gun!) so I will hopefully be able to pack most of the house today. It’s starting to get me down – the thought that we’re leaving beautiful Monterey and the ocean and all the wonderful friends we have here.

Thankfully a lot of those friends are in the Utah National Guard as well, so we’ll see them occasionally. But there are a few precious friends who are dear to our hearts that are active duty and will be sent to far away places. We will miss them SO much. We will probably have to take some vacations out that direction (a few of them are going to Ft. Bragg) and visit. It would be neat to see the other ocean!

My little family is doing wonderfully. They are growing up so fast.

We went Whale Watching on Monday with Sanctuary Cruises. Vince loved the boat. Joseline slept. Russ got sea sick. And I got to play hero and take care of everyone.

We saw one whale. It was magnificent. He only surfaced about 3 or 4 times, but it was really cool. And now Vincente has seen a real live whale. He probably won’t remember it much, but we’ll remind him about it. Especially since we will probably never go whale watching again. We have decided that we are not ocean people. At least, we’re not the riding-on-the-ocean type people. We like the beach! Does that count? 

Mais – the real thing

Joseline signing “Mais”