Things Ez Says

Car Party : parade

Breathe Ache : to choke on something 

In a Haze

The kids must have stolen my phone, because I just discovered a bunch of blurry photos. This pic couldn't be more accurate of what state I am currently in (and have been in for the last six days.) I have had an assault on my vestibular nerve and haven't been able to focus that well or keep great balance. It's just a horrid case of vertigo that won't quit. Luckily, it doesn't impede me too much from household tasks; however, I can't drive and THAT has been rough. I increasingly appreciate good health and fear aging from this experience.

Mommy Daughter Date

Siena and I got to go to the Provo City Center Temple Open House because the English ward in the neighborhood invited us to go with them on a special tour of the Bride's Room, Sealing Room, and Celestial Room. Of course, I kept telling her how I was excited to be there for her wedding years from now as Siena just stared with mouth wide open at all the ornate details.

February CHAVEZITOS

Ani is eating solids! Yay! She's obsessed with food, as evidenced by the extra rolls of chub on her "luscious thighs", as one friend put it. 😂 She's got all sorts of new tricks under her belt, too. She's sitting up solo, rolling over, and can pick up her chupón and work it into her mouth. Still as happy and easy going as ever....

Ezra is learning how to write his name and his artwork is getting more distinguishable. He cracks me up with his antics. A couple of his two favorite things: He loves dog-sitting Chad's dog, Stryker, and begs for gum instead of an after-school snack. He's either always wanting to be on his bike or watching a show... my kids are completely addicted to screens.  (Don't worry, they don't get it that often. I've been told by them that I'm the meanest mom.😳)

Qiana is going through a really good stage of life right now.  Though there are definite moments when she loses her cool, she makes up for the difficulty with her caring and helpful attitude.  We've been babysitting a lot of her friends and they have all been extremely picky eaters. She's tried coaxing them into eating healthier food all on her own. It's cute to see a little mom in the making.

Siena is also getting to be quite the little mama.  It's not usually this way with the girls so I  have been pleasantly surprised lately. We do, however, have a few goals we are working on with Siena.  She has been really distracted in school, specifically in her Spanish class. She's been working on keeping her focus on the teacher and the last few days has been improving significantly. She also has had to do something really hard for her: break up with a friend. Long story, short: Siena doesn't like to hurt others's feelings and especially one of her classmates' because that girl turns on her with very hurtful words whenever Siena tries to distance herself from her. Then she lures Siena back in to a controlling friendship by being nice for a couple of days.  Then she'll be awfully mean again to Siena, who then tries to distance herself (at my request) and the cycle continues. Poor Nena can't seem to escape her because she is so scared of what the girl will do or say or think.  She's just gotta find better friends....

As for Juan and myself, we are up to the same ol, same ol.

Christmas Recap

Christmas. An overall successful, however tardy and busy, holiday:

No, we did not bake Grandma Camp's ginger cookies with pink frosting. Not once did we pull out the Christmas Eve book... let alone the other fun Christmas books. I really regret not reading any of those to the kids, but I just don't know when I could have squished that in between visits with family (Tristan and Rob came out, which was Awesome with a capital A,) church activities, school programs, work parties, and extended family gatherings. We didn't talk about the nativity story in our immediate family until Christmas night to wrap up the festivities which in hindsight was a fine way to bring back the focus to Christ after all was said and done. 

To focus on things we did well, I'd have to start by saying that the kids are really enjoying this new tradition we started a year or two back of doing 25 Days of Service. Starting December 1st, we think up 25 acts of service and write each thing on a strip of paper. Then as the days go by, we create a paper chain that gets longer instead of shorter with each act of service we perform. The end result is a visible display of selfless acts with the final link--the service given on Christmas Day--always being "Give a gift to Christ." This year and last year we decided that our gift to Christ would be a day of peace and no contention.  We were not perfect  at keeping the peace that day but there was a definite effort put forth by all and a noticeable difference. We also told the kids this year that we would like to keep gifts to a minimum so others in need could have more. The past three years, we have done a Secret Santa for a few different families and the kids have loved it so it wasn't hard for them to agree to a downsized Christmas. (Man, I have AWESOME kids!!) We learned of an elderly couple in our ward who needed assistance so we went on Christmas Eve  to deliver a few gifts to the rest home and ended up visiting with a few other patients. We sang a few songs for them and then took off for the Delgadillo family Christmas Eve party. Christmas morning was fun. The kids got a couple gifts  from Santa then we went to my parents' house for our traditional waffle breakfast. Everyone opened more gifts (!) and we spent the rest of the day together there. When we got home we were met with more gifts to open from the Chavez side of the family (!!) and Juan and I realized that it really is an overload of gifts for everyone. 

Giving was fun, receiving was nice, but the most important thing was that our children needed to feel the impact of Christ in their lives. I hope that our mini devotional that night and month of service was enough to teach them and help them feel that.