Marco vs. Lizard

If you know me, I'm pretty vocal about how much I hate the hour before bedtime. Kids are so ornery because they are tired, often still hungry, but fighting sleep because they are afraid of "missing out." So, to combat this hour from hades, I always try to get out of the house. Sometimes we take walks, sometimes we take a drive (not ideally, though, because Lily will end up falling asleep more often than not), sometimes we go to the nearest grocery store and I let the kids pick out one thing they'd like to eat before going to bed. When it's not hot, hot, hot outside and we can enjoy our front or backyard we play. I usually pull out bikes, let kids ride around, color with chalk, play in the sandbox, or we go hunting for various creatures. I've taken them on a spider hunt, a snake hunt, an ant hunt, but never a lizard hunt. Lizards are fast, speedy little creatures, and will never let us get close to them - so even if we went on a hunt - the lizard would disappear before we were able to blink. However, this day we found a lizard just chilling near our garage. He must have been a baby, or hurt, because he wasn't too keen on a speedy getaway, nor did he dart away when we approached him.

Of course, Lily just screamed and ran around yelling, "Lizard. Lizard. Lizard." Naturally, Marco followed her example and ran around screaming the same thing, but he wasn't afraid to reach out and grab the little fella.

They say that if you grab a lizard's tail, it will fall off as it tries to escape, and grow a new one. I didn't want to find out if this was an old wives tale or if there was truth to this statement. So while, Marco got close, and grabbed him several times, I was fortunate enough to not have to have a burial service for a random lizard tail. 

The lizard ran behind bikes, in front of the car, and all around the garbage can. Marco squealed with delight every time he darted off in a new direction and we followed. But the game quickly became frustrating when the lizard learned that the best getaway was scaling the brick retaining wall. Of course Marco wasn't happy with that scenario. 

But like I said earlier, our lizard must have not been a very strong guy because he kept on falling down and trying to repeat the process all over again. 

Once he disappeared into a crack for good, the lizard game was over. It was the longest I have seen Marco sit still and wait and watch for the lizard to reappear. 

The days following our lizard adventure, Marco would waddle over and check all the spots we had been playing with him the days prior. He was pretty crushed that our lizard wouldn't come out to play on command. But, it showed me that this was only the beginning of a love Marco has for animals.

Mothers Day

Mothers Day was perfect this year.

Mostly because we spent time as a family and were invited to picnic with several other church families. This picnic was a special one though, because two of these church families were working with a Congolese Refugee family and this refugee family was able to participate in our picnic. The family escaped from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Kenya where they lived in tents for almost three years. After three years, they finally received security clearance to move to the United States. Upon moving here, it has been hard adjusting to a western way of life. Their children have had lots of medical problems as they get burnt by the oven, toaster, etc., they fall off beds, or downstairs and break bones, and get sick from the different consistency and types of foods and how they are prepared in the United States. It has been a real struggle for them to come here. And it frustrates me when people feel we should stop accepting refugees to seek asylum here. This family wants so, so badly to be able to speak English, but is struggling to learn on their own. They can't work because they don't speak English, they can't get around easily because they don't speak English, and even grocery shopping is a challenge because they don't speak English. So, for a family to invite them for a picnic must have meant so much to this family. But to make their Sunday even more special, we FaceTimed my Sister-in-law, who speaks Lingala (the same language that this family speaks fluently).  And for the first time the family relaxed, let loose, and asked her all the questions that they haven't been able to ask since moving here. They felt instantly connected in a world where they can't communicate with others. And thanks to my Sister-in-Law, this family now has her as a translator contact when they get into a situation where they need some serious help.

 

After the picnic, everyone decided to do a pick-up soccer game. Michal hurt his back and was so bummed that he wasn't able to really play. But every kid was in heaven playing soccer with their fathers right there beside them.

And while my kids were too small to really play soccer, they were in heaven with the older kids that were there to play with them. Especially Marco. I don't know why Marco has taken such a special liking to Addie, but he adores this girl and loves when she holds him. He even loves it more than when Mommy or Daddy hold him. I'm pretty sure that if Addie were twelve years old she would be babysitting for me every weekend. 

It was definitely a very, very unique Mothers Day - but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Marco is My New Helper

With Lily at preschool, and Marco not taking morning naps anymore, he has become my new helper. 

Whenever I pull out the kitchen-aid mixer, he pushes the stool over to where I am, climbs atop, and immediately wants to help me [push buttons mostly].

In the morning, I try to do all my cooking, because it's when I have the most energy during the day. I try to make something, whether banana bread, muffins, dinner, treats, or even lunch for the kids. It's become our new favorite morning tradition and I think that Marco is so excited to get the one on one attention.

Sometimes, when I'm not looking - he tries to sneak a taste. It always looks so good, but doesn't taste great until it's cooked. 

When we are all done, and I need him distracted so I can clean up, Marco is rewarded for all his help with a lollipop!

I love this little boy so much and love that he enjoys helping me! I really think that he's such a good helper because he sees how much Lily is always trying to help me. He tries so hard to emulate his sister and he's doing such a fabulous job! I can't wait to see what he's eager to help me with next. It may take ten times longer, but I find such fulfillment in my children learning new things. Their eyes light up, I can just see their brains working to process all the information, and they love spending time with me. It is so worth it!

Adventures in Babysitting

I don't know how I got so lucky, but the end of April, I was asked to babysit two different families of children who attend the same church we do.

The first family was the Snow Family. Alexis was going to be out of town at a Women's Conference at BYU in Utah, and asked if I could pick up Caroline from Preschool Thursday and Friday and then play with the kids until her husband came home from work.

I'd say that life was hard, but it wasn't - it was great! Alexis had activities planned out so well that I want to hire her to plan my next party!

I picked up Caroline from preschool and we went to lunch. 

Ice Cream was also included on our itinerary.

Then we came home and did all sorts of fun crafts until the boys got home.

The first craft lasted about ten minutes and was putting on fake nails. The girls loved them until they realized that they couldn't actually do anything with them on - so we moved onto making princess crowns.

When the boys came home we indulged and everyone chipped in with helping me make some of my signature chocolate fudge bars.

While we were waiting for the cookies to cool down, we took full advantage of (dressing up) and jumping on the tramp!

And it was a special treat when Michal came to play basketball with the older boys.

The following day we had a picnic in the park and played in the sand until the girls were tired and ready to go home.

The rest of the day was similar to the first - jumping on the tramp, dressing up, eating yummy treats, and playing basketball.

These kids are so great! And I almost felt guilty getting a "Thank You" from their parents because they were so easy and there were no major crisis that occurred. We had fun. We played. I can't wait to do it again.

The following day, the Wallin's celebrated an anniversary and left me to watch their kids overnight. I thought I'd have five children to watch - but I only had the younger three.

Besides getting Luke to go to bed, these kids were angels. They cuddled, snuggled, hugged, and loved me like I was their favorite person. They did a great job of making me feel like I was more of an aunt than a babysitter.

That night, an exciting adventure happened - once everyone was in bed - and I was closing up shop - there was a knock on the door. Someone's lip got busted during a church basketball game and they came to use Jordan Wallin's surgical kit to sew it back up. Personally, I thought they were crazy because unless a lip is split, you leave it alone - and this lip was only busted on the inside of the mouth. In addition, it took forever for them to stitch it up and for me to go to bed. I always thought being a doctor would be awesome... but watching this was not awesome. It kinda made me glad I didn't chose the medical route (even though a part of me still wishes I was a doctor).

The next day was prom, and since Cianne was camping - I got to play "Mom" and watch her get ready, get picked up, put on flowers, and take pictures. While her date was a pretty sharp guy, I still thought that Marco was much more adorable. 

Only 13 more years until I officially get to watch Lily go to one of these dances!

People say that once you babysit kids for an extended period of time that you view the parents differently, in a slightly negative way. But I don't feel that way at all. I feel like I became better friends with these people! I feel honored that they trusted me enough to watch their kids.. and I had a lot of fun in the process