Piano Recital

Saturday May 22nd was Allie's first piano recital under the direction of Dr. Bob Heck.  She did so well and nailed all the notes!  Of course, I do not have a live video footage of the piece as she played it at the recital, so I asked her to play it for me at home and got that on video, so you know what her piece sounded like.  She played Appalachian Trail by Faber.  The recital was so inspiring with all these boys and girls who could bang on those piano keys like nobody's business!

Allie and her teacher, Dr. Heck, who comes to our house and teaches Allie on Tuesday afternoons.  Allie's been taking piano lessons from Dr. Heck since last Fall.

Before the recital - Dr. Heck provided small corsages for all the students to wear

Allie was so hungry by the time the recital was over, she didn't want to smile or look at the camera, Silly!

Much better

Grandma and Pops came and we were glad they could come and watch Allie play.  

After the recital, we all went to Red Robin for dinner - Allie's choice!  Here she is trying out the bike rack outside Red Robin before dinner.

Good job, Allie!

God Bless the USA

Allie and her friend Ashlyn sang "God Bless the USA" at their school's Opening Exercises early this morning.  They sang so well and I loved hearing this wonderful patriotic song.  They sang the first verse themselves and then had the rest of the school join them in singing the next time around. It was the neatest thing ever!  I haven't ever gone to Opening Exercises since school first started in the Fall, and boy, it was impressive. It made me feel like it was 4th of July all over.  I am so glad they go to a school that values America so much and teaches them to love our great country.

The students are in-charge of it, from conducting the short meeting to leading the pledge (which Allie also led today), leadership pledge (ALA's own pledge), patriotic songs and recitation of student-written leadership poems.  I love this school!!!  I took video of their song, which again I should have just used the Flip Mino  - I am not used to using the video feature on the t2i  so I ended up with a less-than-ideal footage of the song! But here it is...with the audio a few seconds delayed.

My New Maid and Mother Helper

Collin's "on-Mom-duty" vest with a badge (see close up below)

This last weekend I was down, literally, with a bad case of strep and meds-induced nausea that wouldn't go away.  Kevin handled everything from taking me to Urgent Care, the kids to their various activities, including soccer, ballet recital pictures, and Collin's first ever Let's Play Music Recital that I was so sad to miss.  Collin did so well -- sadly I don't have any pictures from that recital but luckily Kevin took some good video that I got to watch when they got home.  After the recital he took the kids to Nielsen's Frozen Custard and Ned's.  It was one big Saturday of all kinds of activities from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., literally.

One of my favorite Sunday conversations I overheard was this.  They had just gotten home from Church and the kids were looking for all kinds of snacks to eat.  It sounded like they had gotten in the freezer because Kevin said, "No ice cream until after you eat a well-balanced meal."  Not a minute later, he asks the kids, "So who wants Ramen?"  I almost busted up laughing in my bed.  I am sure they enjoyed their well-balanced meal of Ramen with Tomato Sauce.  Yep, a favorite at home.

The kids were so good, coming in my room to see what I needed.  Allie and Collin turned it into a game of "Who's on duty?"  so Collin made a cute badge that I just had to take a picture of when he came in to bring me more water.  Funny kids.

Monday I was still so nauseated that I canceled preschool and had Allie stay home from school to help out. She was just all too glad to stay home, saying it was the best day ever.  She did so well, taking care of feeding her brother and sister breakfast, cleaning up after breakfast then helping Maddie with her potty needs, getting her dressed, etc.  She managed to keep the house fairly clean and picked up the whole day.  By the time Kevin came home from work, she and Collin had the school room all picked up for me to do preschool the next day.

I am finally feeling tons better and back to normal.  And my new maid and mother helper are back at school.  They're good kids and I love them!

Backtracking to Catch up: Mother's Day Happenings

Mother's Day was special.  I got sweet homemade cards, flowers and coupons from the kids and Kevin.  Allie's coupons were so funny I wish I took a picture of a few -- there were coupons for a free day at home with mom, a movie day with mom, a free massage, etc. only to be used during school days, which means the use of the said coupons will require her to stay home from school.

Silly Allie!  I love them and look forward to what I get from her.  Allie's coupons came in a book that she made at school and was nice and thick, with all kinds of dear things in it.  They were done up so cute and there were stacks of them to last me a whole year.  Kevin got me what I wanted:  to accessorize the kitchen and family room area -- I really need to make it functional, like incorporate that big chalkboard and pinboard I was talking about here.  This I am excited about and can't wait to get started as soon as summer rolls in - mudroom is included !!!

This was Kevin and Collin's idea - from left tor right: the message should read - Mothers are a Special part of Life. I have to hand it to them for creativity!

Collin made this card with the other kids in my preschool and was so secretive about the message he wrote inside.

 Inside the card are special "heart ninjas" for me.  It says: I love you mom, you rock! I really love you so much. He also made me a book at school with pictures of me as a kid.  He described things I do for him that are so special to him - reading him his special book, fixing him breakfast and washing his clothes (although this one I can't really take credit for - because I don't do it :))

We also hosted Mother's Day dinner at home.  Our menu included Cafe-Rio style homemade grilled steak salad, burritos/fajitas (everyone got to pick what they wanted to eat) and red velvet cake for dessert.  It was so good!

Our table centerpieces: there were 6 spread across an 18 foot long table.

The family, the kids are all spread out playing a game of football, 20 total.  We are growing!

We girls gave Lorraine this necklace with all the grandkids' names on it, with room in the middle for future ones, custom made from here.

All the moms on Mother's Day: Kristie, Lorraine, me, Liz, and Megan.

Pretty, Pretty, Sparkly!

The kids requested that I take a picture of the spire

On Saturday, we went to the Gila Valley Temple open house.  We got to Pima around 4 p.m. and as we were going up to our hotel room, we ran into Todd and Jody and their kids in the elevator.  They had just gone to the temple and were on their way to Michael and Clarice's house.  They invited us over after our tour of the temple.

This was our second temple open house to go to as a family, and third as a couple.  Kevin and I got to go to the Vernal Temple before we were married back in 1997, and then to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple as a family last year.  The temple is so special and the kids were especially reverent during this trip.  As we walked through the temple, Collin and Allie kept looking at their brochures to see if the room we were in was in the brochure.  Because the carpet is so light we wore these plastic covers over our shoes to protect the floors of the temple, but Maddie didn't want to have them on, so Kevin and I took turns carrying her around in the temple.  At least she was quiet compared to last year at the Oquirrh open house, when she wanted to walk by herself and away from our group.

The tour guide would usually say something about each room as we walked through them, but when we got to the beautiful celestial room, which is representative of what heaven might be like, everyone was silent and no one said a word. Except for Maddie, of course, who had three words to say, as she looked up and admired the big, beautiful glass chandelier in the middle of the room:

In the cutest little voice ever, she said, "Pretty.  Pretty.  Sparkly."

Everyone smiled and a few laughed quietly.  It was so cute.

We took a few pictures after and then headed to Michael and Clarice's but not before stopping by Taylor Freeze.  It is a hole-in-the-wall burger joint like you see in Utah, so we knew just how good the food might be.  We sampled their burgers and got the kids each an ice cream treat.  It was yummy!!!

Then more food over at Michael and Clarice's!  It was so fun to get to see the Powers, the kids had so much fun playing with all of them.   The kids were so wanting to change their clothes before going out to the Powers' house, but it was getting late and we figured we should just head out there before it got too late, much to their disappointment.  Clarice was so nice to let Allie borrow some clothes to play in.  We visited for a while and then went back to our hotel.

 This bug landed on Megan's foot or somewhere close.  They poured poison on it, and this is the shrunken version of the bug.  It measured about 2 inches long when I saw it.  No one knows what kind it is, so any ideas?

Collin on the zip line at Michael and Clarice's

We had a nice restful night, and we were glad to stay overnight.  There is something about staying the night that the kids adore.  Allie was so happy to get her own bed this time - the sofa in the room was a sofa bed, so she declared that part of the room "her room".  The next day, of course, was Mother's Day.  Allie brought with her the book she made me at school and couldn't wait to give me.  Usually Kevin makes me breakfast on Mother's Day, which I love because the man doesn't or can't cook.  But since we were away from home, he and Collin went and brought breakfast back, and Collin made sure to pick "Special" K cereal for me to eat.  It was sweet because he kept pointing out the word "Special" on the cereal box.

Before too long, we were packed and headed back home just in time for Church.  We rolled into town around 11:45 and Church started at noon!  What a fun trip it was, though short, but what a great memory for all of us.  In the temple I know we felt the Spirit.  We hope they will remember the feelings we all felt at the temple so they will have the desire to go there when they are old enough.  In just a couple of weeks, Allie will get to come with us to witness the dedication of this temple via satellite.  How lucky she is to get to participate at such a young age!

Spelling Bee

Allie represented her 4th Grade class in their school's Spelling Bee last week Wednesday (May 5th).  She didn't know she was going to be the class representative until the day of the Bee.  She called me an hour before so I quickly called Lorraine to see if she would come and watch the kids while I dashed off to watch her. I still had preschoolers waiting to be picked up at home and I was already going to be half-hour late, since the bee started at 1 p.m.

She did well and got Third Place in her division, and was eliminated at Round 18, spelling the homonym of the word that was asked to be spelled.   Right after she was eliminated, the other two remaining contestants (both 6th Graders) got their words wrong too, and then had to face off (Round 19 & 20) to see who was going to place first.   Great performance, especially considering she was competing against 5th and 6th graders!  This kid likes to spell words!

Special Haircut

Allie's been dying to get a true, a.k.a. by-a-hairdresser-not-mom haircut, so when I went to get my hair done, she got hers done, too.  She was so excited!  Here are the before and after photos:

Before

After

Mother's Day

Motherhood has always been dear to my heart, and I love being a mother.  And lately even more so, because I feel such a great responsibility and boy, what a great privilege it is, too, to be the best kind of mother I could be.  I read, hear about, so many great mothers out there that I just want to emulate and be like.  Have you ever read or hear people say so many good things about their mothers and you say to yourself, "I want to be just like them."?  Well in the Church (and out of it, but even more so in it) it's rather difficult, because I think everyone I know is an awesome mom in one way or another, and I want to be like ALL of them.  Really!   I have been eating up this talk and want to be one of those handmaids upon whom the Lord pours His Spirit upon.

January 1981, Baguio City. From left: Mama Rina, Mama Delfa, me (3 yrs), and my nanny Tessie (?)

So as I reflect this mother's day, I am thankful for all the mothers that have come before me.  This mother's day is the first I don't have my two grandmas alive.  Last week I found a photo of me with my two grandmothers, Adelfa and Celerina (Rina), after whom I was obviously named after.  It is probably the only photo that exists of us three together (see above). Mama Rina passed on most recently, and my Mama Delfa left this earth about 16 years ago.  I have fond memories of them, and I know where I got the love of teaching children - from Mama Delf of course.  Hard work.  Creativity.  Home-cooked meals.  Love of family.  Strong desire to protect family.  So many things.  I am grateful for them.

Then there is my mom.  My mom is probably asleep in the Philippines as I write this!  So our Mom's Day celebrations will have to wait.  From her I think I learned patience, humility, and how to support husbands and to celebrate little things. She is great at that.  Because my dad is a doctor, he gets called during weird hours.  So my Mom is used to having dates and anniversaries and important dates interrupted and not finished because of emergencies like that.  She also appreciates little homemade presents from my Dad. It's cute that she gushes over presents like my dad picking flowers for her from outside, and wrapping his presents in newspaper.

My mother-in-law is special herself too.  I appreciate her!  I've really been blessed living close now.  How many times have I called her and asked her to watch the kids while I go run an errand or need to go somewhere without them? Too many times, but she's always there.   She's taught me how to make bread.  How to keep a clean house.  How to take care of yourself.  She has this uncanny skill to talk with people like she knows them from forever ago.  I think the first time I did that, I thought of her, and said to myself, so this is how she does it.  It's really neat.  I am grateful she's just like a mother. No in-law required.  I guess I can count myself lucky finding her son.

So to the mothers that have gone before me, thank you!!!   I love you all dearly.  And hope I can be like all of you.

Milestones!!

*Update 5/5 - Miss Maddie decided she was going to get the hang of #2's. No diapers at night either.
*Post update 5/8 Nervous she would pee her pants while we were gone on the trip. No siree! She's a pro at it! We just need a lot of undies because she insists on wearing about 6 different ones in a day. Seriously?! The undies have to match her outfit somehow.

We've had some major bathroom success over here with Miss Maddie.  On the day she turned 2 years 5 months (on April 29th) I put her in underwear hoping for the best.  I kinda started potty training her in March during spring break, but I was lazy and not consistent, so the poor kid didn't really get it.  Plus she just liked the pull-ups that we had plenty of.  I decided I wasn't going to buy another box of diapers (like I said in the past, this time I was really determined not to).

So on that special day I put her in her cute princess underwear, set the alarm on my cell phone, and every hour I sat her on the potty.  She wet the first two pairs of undies, but surprised me and asked to go potty 4 times after that and didn't have any accidents until she went to bed.  Kevin even found that the little potty chair needed some cleaning before we went to bed.  That was surprising since she was using the real toilet all day!  So that was our breakthrough, breaking news, whatever you call it, big moment.

Sure, we have a few accidents still and she still hasn't quite gotten the hang of #2's that well, but she wears undies all day and for the most part is now a "big girl"!  She went to Costco on Friday, Krispy Kreme and Collin's soccer game on Saturday, and Stake Conference on Sunday without accidents.

My method is pretty cut and dry.  I didn't have any rewards besides praise.  Pretty boring I know.  In many toddler Montessori classrooms, kids are potty-trained by simply putting them in training underwear and then take them in small groups to the bathroom at regular intervals (like every hour for example).  They do the whole routine (all the way to washing their hands) and practice so often that there are lots of chances that they will actually go to the bathroom during the course of the day.  There are no rewards, the kids are just expected to go to the bathroom at regular intervals.  When they do go and are successful, they are simply praised for their success.  No stickers or candy.  When they don't, they just act like it's no big deal, just finish the routine and try again later.  Being a Montessori fan over here, I was pretty excited to find the story of how Montessori classrooms did potty training (it's in the book Diaper-Free Before 3, which isn't a Montessori endorsed book, but it did have a section on how a Montessori classroom did it).   There are many other methods out there, but this one has worked (luckily!) for all my kids and I love its simplicity. I think the main key to successful potty training is consistency.

In other Maddie-related news, she also decided on Friday that she wanted a haircut. 

Miss Maddie simply said, "Mom I need a haircut.  Let's go up the mountain (upstairs) and get me a haircut."

So I gave her one. Here's another shot of her new haircut:

She also loves little zhu zhu pets.  Allie got one of these little baby zhu zhu pets and Maddie immediately took it all to herself.  Allie was so nice to let her sleep with it the first night, and took it with her to school the next day.  Well when Maddie woke up, she asked, "Hey what happened to my zhu zhu pet?"  She fell asleep holding the little creature like this (too cute!):

I think this little thing is a hamster.  I won't go for the real kind, so she and Allie can have all the zhu zhu pets they want.

Working a little harder...

I'm so proud of Miss Allie.  She's working a little harder at everything she's doing - school, piano, helping at home, tennis, etc.  She does her own hairstyles and this photo above, taken today, shows one she came up with.  She even wrote instructions on how to do it.  It's funny.  Lately though she's really been paying more attention to things of a spiritual nature like bearing her testimony at Church and reading her scriptures more regularly.  I hope the desire to do those things do not wane as she gets older.  I think of her and I think of the great responsibility that is ours to love, teach, and to help her grow closer to the Lord.  I am sure many parents out there feel the same way.  Lately with general and stake conferences, I feel the weight of the responsibility and feeling a little inadequate to the task.  So much to do, so little time!