Chick-fil-a kind of day

Today I took Amaya, Hannah and Eva to get ice cream at chick-Fil-a after dropping Jay off at cub scouts. Sometimes you just need to treat your babies to ice cream. In this moment I can just see the years pass by and my babies no longer being babies. How I adore them! Even though there are moments every day when I struggle with my mom-duties there really isn't anything better than being a mom. I love their energy and their fun, their cuddles and their love. I've been going to an adult institute class on Thursdays this past school year and it's been awesome. The teacher is incredible. We have been reviewing the second half of church history. Today we talked about how vital it is we take our questions to the Lord. How if we aren't sure of a Chuech announcement or something said in General Conference then we pray! We find out for ourselves. How incredible the Lord would give us this ability. I pray I can instill this quality in my children so they will never stray from the truth. We also spoke of the incredible importance of attending the temple. It's time I start going more regularly so I can focus on what is important and what I can do for my babies before they grow up and leave me and face this wold on their own. I love them so, so, so much. I want to be with them forever!!! Oh and PS, the red mark in Eva's forehead is from her tripping and falling on her way into institute! They have a babysitter for $1 for the hour. Such a good deal!!!

Ballet class

This little girl has started community ballet classes. The instructor is so cute. She brings wings, crowns and wands for the girls. They learn basic ballet techniques while acting like princesses. Sounds like a win win! They also kick like donkeys, tap their feet so they don't touch the "lava", do jete's jumping over flowers and learn a little French along the way. It's a pretty fun world to be a little girl in. For the last 20 minutes of class they put on tap shoes. Oh my, it is adorable. Right now they are leaning the Shirley Temple. I love the class and I love that Amaya is leaning to love to dance, and all at a low price for me since it's run through the community center. I love the USA!

Eva the fairy

When Nonna was here she bought Eva a fairy costume from Costco for Halloween. She loves this costume, wants to wear it every day, everywhere! 

She is such a fun little girl. While she does scream a lot, especially at her sister, she is also very sweet and quick to say sorry. One thing I think is so funny is how when I ask her question instead of saying no she says, "I don't mommy, I don't!" Hahaha. Just now I asked her if she wanted the rest of her toast and she immediately said, "I don't mommy." What a cutie!

Jay Bug

Jay is just so much fun. I love my boy so much. He cracks me up and makes me so happy. Being around him is such a joy! I love having an 8 year old around. Since he doesn't have to wake up as early as a Amaya we decided it was a good idea for him to start reading after she goes to bed instead of playing on the iPad. He needs to start practicing for when we eventually move back to the states and he will be exclusively speaking and reading English in school. So tonight I got him started reading the Junie B Jones series. He wasn't too sure about it when I suggested the book but once he started he couldn't put it down. He literally had tears streaming down his face as he read because he thought it was so funny. Specifically the part where she called a hippopotamus a hipp-o-something. Hahaha! He didn't want to stop reading and asked me to make sure I marked where he was so he could continue tomorrow. It made me so happy because one of my favorite things to do is read. When I told him how much I love to read he said to me, "Oh I know mom. That's your Itis. Just like I get TV-itis or iPad-itis you get reading-itis." LOL!!! How funny is that?!?! Oh man, I love that kid!

Today I got his report card. I just can't believe what a good little student he is. I should because he has the type of personality where he just tries hard no matter what he's doing. He always manages to impress me though. Maybe it's just because I'm his mom, I think all moms know what I mean, but this kid is special. One of my favorite things this year has been seeing how much he loves math. His report card definitely reflected it. He got a 9.3 in math and the teacher raved about him and even commented on how he is among the very top and his grade in math. I'm so proud of him! He did very well in his other classes too. His top scores besides math were in music, science, and English. Of course English we knew he would do well in but it's good to know that he is excelling there too. I am impressed that even in Spanish (with all the reading and writing now) he is still doing great. I love my little boy and I love seeing the things he accomplishes as he grows. Above all I'm grateful to see his growing testimony of the Gospel and the way he truly acts as a follower of Christ in the way he treats others. What an example to me he is! There's truly nothing more wonderful than being a mom.

This girl...

Now that she's no longer taking morning naps Eva and I have been spending many mornings in the park. She is such a fun little playmate. So curious and excited about everything. She jabbers away and runs around from one place to the next and is never afraid to try to do things in her own. She definitely thinks she's a big girl these days. She especially loves the sand and pretending to make things for me to eat. She also loves the slide and the ladybug spring toy. The other day we were at the park and there was a little Chinese boy there with his dad. They must have been diplomats too. Even though she spoke English and he spoke Mandarine they communicated just fine, mostly be screaming. It was so funny to watch them go from pretending to be nice to each other to screaming in an instant. Eva didn't really know what to do when he screamed back at her! She certainly isn't used to that. She got this look on her face like, mom what the heck was that?! Hahaha! It was hilarious. She has so many great expressions. I'm so lucky to spend my days how I do. Waking up at 5:45 (not my favorite but it's good for me) to help MyMy get ready for school, working out with Bikini Body Mommy, helping Jay get ready, snuggling with Eva when she wakes up, eating breakfast with Mike and Eva (when he's home), going to the park with Eva for a long morning play, coming home to a home cooked lunch prepared by Dina, putting Eva down for a nap, working on Castle House stuff and then MyMy and Jay come home and it's the busy rush of dinner, homework, playtime and bedtime. I wouldn't want it any other way. My children are happy and love their schools, I have a wonderful relationship with my husband and we have so much love in our home. I feel so blessed!

Is There a Star on my Head?

Jay made up this cute story patterned after, "Is There a Bird on my Head?." He did it all by himself using Powerpoint. Haha! He's much better at using it than I am.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We had a great Halloween this year! School parties, embassy parties, church parties... these kids are FULL of candy. And they are veeeerrrry cute! Jay's school has a costume contest every year. Jay's didn't win but he still had fun up there! Our friend Alana made him his Gold Power Ranger costume. So cute!

We had a Gold Power Ranger, Minnie Mouse and Alice in Wonderland. Amaya sure loves to pose!

Mariana came with us to the embassy party. The kids loved it! It's always kind of crazy how crowded it gets but it was fun. I think their favorite part was the Frozen tent. The tent had shredded paper in it to look like snow. It was EVERYWHERE! The kids loved it but it was insanely messy. Especially because it started pouring rain while we were in the tent and we had to get into the car. Shredded paper + rain = huge mess. Oh well! They loved it. My favorite picture is Amaya's "snow" angel. Haha!

The ward trunk or treat was great! The best game was eat the doughnut with Krispy Kreme! They just opened a store in Bogota and our friends got them especially for the party. It was a hit! Amaya decided to go as a ballerina instead of Minnie for the party. A girl can change her mind!