What a day!

I went to sleep yesterday at 1:30 a.m. I was baking a cake for my good friend DD since today is her b-day. I was also making cookies for my kids and husband (I hate playing the good samaratan without being a good mom and wife). Anyway, SO I baked everything yesteday so today I could have an easier day since Nicky had to take a test to see if she would qualify for a bilingual pre-K program.

This morning as usual my kiddos woke me up so I went to the bathroom to get myself ready for the day. Then Ian told me, "MAMA, I SAW A CAKE IN THE FRIDGE!" I told him that the cake wasn't ours, that it was our friend's DD's b-day cake. I told him that I had a surprise for him later. Then he went and I heard him talking to Hanna. Nicky and Ian were both talking to Hanna so I took my time to get ready. I was thinking about how wonderful my kids were with their little sister, and that I loved the way that Nicky talks to her and Ian...Ian...Ian? Wait, I haven't heard him for 5 minutes. So I called him, "IAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNN!" He didn't answer and Nicky kept talking to Hanna. I went to the kithcen and there he was: my little rugrat with his face full of chocolate as well as the floor and the fridge. You might be thinking what a big deal, it's just another box of cake, but the problem was that I always make my cackes from scratch. It was going to take me another hour at least, and I had my appointment for Nicky's test.

I was so angry at Ian because he deliberately disobeyed me. I punished him, and he wanted to make me happy again, so I decided to cut his hair (I did it just because his hair was ridiculously long). Anyway, he didn't fight as much as usual while I was cutting his hair. He was sad that his Sampson-like mane was being cut. He kept telling me, "MAMA, I'LL BE GOOD, BUT DON'T CUT MY HAIR!" At the end I gave him a piece of cake that he enjoyed this time without hiding. I guess it was a good thing that the cake got ruined since yesterday by mistake I made the wrong mix for the icing.

After that we went to try to get Nicky into a bilingual program. She was practicing "her spanish" so much. She has a little accent when she speaks English and also when she speaks Spanish. She didn't qualify for the bilingual program, but at least she did qualify for the English one. She thinks she is going to the Spanish class so tomorrow I'll be having a long converstation with her about it. It breaks my heart because she is SO confident about her "spanish." She even told Ian today, "WAIT, IAN, I WILL GO AND TALK TO MOM IN SPANISH SO SHE WILL UNDERSTAND." Of course when she came to me she told me in English, "MOM, IT SEEMS THAT I NEED TO LEARN SPANISH" haha (by the way, I need to mention that that baby carrier was made for her by one of my friends. Thanks Katie, I never thought she was going to love that baby carrier SO much).

Some other tibits: my sister in-law Fina came to visit for the weekend. The kids and I had fun. I think she had fun, too. I cooked and baked for her. We went together to the gym and after that we swam until we got tired. We came back home and watched movies or talked. The kids were very excited to have her here. Nicky kept bragging about how good she is with puzzles. Also Ian bragged, but he did it about how great a brother he is. Nicky even "fed" Hanna with a baby bottle toy. Hanna loves attention so she enjoys hearing her name, and she's always ready to give everybody big smiles and hugs all the time.

Hanna loves touching her feet and getting kisses from her siblings. She's still our little precious peach. She is already 4 months old and growing everywhere. She loves falling asleep while she rubs something soft on her face.

My handsome husband is awesome. He is quite tired all the time now. However he is never too tired to not play with his beloved kids. Every day before the kids go to sleep they get to play their favorite games with Glenn, and also get to hear a story read by him.

This is something that I made last week. It's like a pizza roll. The kids and I loved it. I filled them with cheese, pineapple, canadian bacon, and chicken.

I just realized that I'm going backwards in days with this post. EYB

ta,ta,ta,ta,ta,ta,taaaaaaaaa,ta,ta,tara,ta,ta,taaaaaaaaaaa

That is what my mind is humming every day since I know we have a new HARRY POTTER MOVIE OUT! I know you might be reading ta,ta, but in my mind that "ta-ta"is with music.
I loooooooooooooove Harry Potter, ever since I saw the first movie. However I think I became a bigger fan of the movies since I read all the books. I converted Glenn to a fan, too; not one of those collector-type fans, but the kind who would be anticipating the release of the movie.
He invited me to go yesterday, but my friend DD and I planned a double date for this Friday. We both are so excited to watch it. Anyway I'm trying to keep this day as holy as my kids would let me. However, I really want to watch all the movies, you know, to refresh my memory. So tomorrow we will start our Harry Potter marathon.
I'm cooking banana bread. I'm having Sadie and her family tomorrow over for FHE. Glenn is falling asleep on the couch so I better go and make him company so he can hold it until later since tomorrow is one of his days off.
I'm out.

Fun in Oklahoma!

The kids and I had a blast in Oklahoma thanks to our great friends The Hobbs. Lindsay and the kids are awesome (Ron is also an awesome friend but he was busy with all his new responsibilities). One of my favorite parts of the trip was to see that Nicky and Jay are indeed best friends. They played so well together. Ian and Grant did okay not great as I would like. However at the end they learned how to share and take turns. Ian really wanted to do everything that Jay was doing so Jay have now 2 big fans in the Walker's family. Grant does have also a big fan...Hanna who was quick to smile at him every time that he would come close to her. We got the chance to go to the "beach" which is more like a big lake with sand, pretty nice. The kids loved it. Even Ian gave it a try. We also went to watch Ice Age 3 in 3D. I was impress that Ian kept his glasses almost for the whole movie. Inflatable land, pool, splash water backyard, rides in Jay's jeep, between more activities that Lindsay had planned. We really enjoyed our trip thsnks Lins...btw tell Ron to get ready to get sick of us:)

I forgot to add that Nicky was very surprise when she saw Lindsay, Jay and Grant. Literally she really was speechless (which is unlike her)

Actually..then Suddendly....

Just random phrases that Nicky has been using lately.
(me)"NICKY, WHO MADE HANNA CRY?" (Nicky) "Actually, I was there, and then suddenly she cried, 'MOMMA!' "
(night time) (me) "Nicky, Ian, it's time to go to sleep." (Nicky) "WELL, MOM, WOULD YOU FORGIVE ME?" (my face with a shocking and worrisome expression thinking, 'what did she do this time?') "For what, Nicky?" (Nicky) "Well, I don't know actually, but would you forgive me for whatever I did wrong today?" (Now, should I feel bad for this? Or thankful that she knows we aren't perfect?).
My kids have started also with the knock knock game, that I'm not good at, by the way. Here are some of their creations:
(Nicky) "Knock knock..." (me) "Who's there?" (Nicky) "Banana." (me) "Banana who?" (Nicky) "Banana stinky head!...hahaha!"
Of course Ian can't stay behind Nicky and her cleverness; so here are 2 that Ian has made on his own:
(Ian with his childish raspy voice) "KNOCK, KNOCK!" (me) "Who's there?" (Ian) "It's me!" (me) "It's me who?" (Ian) "Ummmm...IT'S ME, STINKY BOOM!" (historical laugh) hahahahaha joined by Nicky's giggles, then both of them acting so surprised at Ian's saying 'stinky boom.'
Here is the masters of jokes that nobody gets. In the van yesterday ....
(Glenn) "Kids I have a good one..." (unison Nicky and Ian) "YES, DAD." (G) "KNOCK, KNOCK." (Kids) "Who's there?" (G) "Orange." (Kids) "Orange who?" (G) "Orange you happy we aren't staying inside today?" (then everything quiet) (G) "I can't believe you didn't laugh, it's a good joke."
(Ian) "I have one" (everybody) "Okay, Ian. Tell us." (Ian) "Knock, knock." (everybody) "Who's there?" (Ian) "Orange." (everybody) "Orange who?" (Ian) "Orange stinky boom diaper head!" (everybody hysterically laughing) HA HA HA
Well the creativity with this kind of jokes has just started. By the way, Hanna was sleeping, probably thinking, "HOW DID I GET HERE?" Ha ha I know she will join our simple and stinky sense of humor:)

Is it worth it?

I haven't excercised since I was a teen. I wish I could say since a few years ago, but no, it has been more than that. Haven't I told you that I love our new place? It is cozy and nice. We have a gym so every night (unless Glenn's on call), I go to excersie for 3o minutes or an hour. While I'm there every minute I repeat my self, "ONE MORE MINUTE, CLAUDIA. YOU CAN DO IT!" It is very hard since like I said I haven't exercised for a long time. Then I feel it, the sweatiness, the tiredness, my heart about to explode, while all that I'm listening to my Spanish music. I tell myself that probably I have been here for 5 minutes already, and then I see the clock is barely ONE MINUTE ahead! Can you tell this is SO hard for me? I have tried to not make desserts. I couldn't help it. For the 4th of July I made a patriotic and deliocus English trifle (I know, ironic) haha, but delicous. I ate like 3 pieces of it yesterday, and I have tried just to eat one today, but I actually have eaten like 4 (I just finished another piece). Glenn was on call yesterday, and it was too late for the kids so I had to SACRIFICE and eat some more.I don't know, is it worth all the effort in the gym, or should I just stop making these great recipes? Maybe just the second one. I just can't stop! I do have a sweet tooth. Gosh, I wish calories wouldn't exist in my favorite dessert. Maybe if someday Glenn and I own our own world, I will reward the good people with not having calories in their favorites foods haha.

Anyway, on another subject, we did celebrate the 4th of July. A new friend named Dee Dee showed us the way to go a parade about 30 minutes from here. The kids loved it. The most exciting thing for Nicky were the cheerleaders. For Ian, it was the fire trucks (he calls them "fire cracks" haha funny kid, and embarrassing when he says it outloud).

Favorite part for Hanna...well, for Hanna I guess it was coming back to the cool minivan. The parade was great, and Dee Dee's kids were quick to pick up candy. They shared it with my kids. Glenn had to go to the hospital in the morning, but he made it. He was on time for the beginning of the parade. On another note, I have no sewing skills, but I'm so grateful that WalMart make these cheap patriotic t-shirts so I could buy one for each of us...and a patriotic dress for Hanna (since they didn't have her size for t-shirts). I also bought patriotic bows. Ian kept asking for his flag all day long. After we came back we all took a nap.

Then we eat hotdogs. I was going to make hamburgers too but we were full. After that we went to the pool and then came back home. We all took a quick shower, sent the kids to bed, and then I prepared my lesson for Nicky's class.

I was subbing. It was very interesting since the all the kids had their own things to talk about, except the lesson for that day. At the end I tried to help them to memorize what the missionaries do. One of the answers for that question that I still laugh about was, "SISTER WALKER, I KNOW WHAT THE MISSIONARIES DO." (me) "Yes, tell me what do they do?" (Jessy) "THEY GIVE YOU 5!" haha cute kids, cute kids. I'm also very proud of myself. I let other people help me with the kids. I normally say I'm okay, thanks, but no thanks, but I saw their faces so happy to help me, so I let them help me. I liked it, too. It was my first Sunday without Glenn. It was very interesting. I'm not going to say I LOVED IT, but I survived just fine. I like the challenge, so that's going to be my challenge this year. Conquer the patience that I need to survive on Sundays with a 4 and 2 year old, and transition from newborn to a one year old. Wish me luck! The bishop had already given me a calling. I'll be teaching Beehives. I'm excited and a little worried about my calling. I have faith the Lord will guide me to do it well and help me to be a good example with these girls. Everybody in the ward is very nice. I really like it here. If it would be in my hands I would probably call it home for good. Maybe in the future. I really liked my ward in College Station, but I hated the weather there. Here I LOVE IT! even though the weather is hot, it's not as humid. I like that we have so many things to do here. The kids and I will never get bored again thinking, "WHAT CAN WE DO TODAY?" We always have a plan on how to spend the day. I have been so busy that I haven't had time to clean the apt since we moved. It's not a mess, because I normaly dust and I always clean superficially. I have vaccumed just one :S. I may do a major cleaning a day before I go and visit my good friend Linds. I'm so excited. I haven't told the kids that we'll go and see them very soon. I kind of want to surprise them. Especially Nicky. She will be thrilled to see Jay again.

Well I'm calling it off for the night. Wish me luck with my new calling, my new excercisisng hobby, which reminds me: I'm reading Twilight. I guess I'll be always a Harry Potter fan and I feel that I'm betraying him for reading this book about vampaires. However he will never know and I'm getting hooked by this new fiction book. By the way, I'm so excited for the next Harry Potter movie to finally be in theaters. I already have set up with a sitter so I'll take my hubby on a nice date :)