This is how much snow we woke up to the day after Christmas. We stayed in Woodland Hills at my parents place. Good thing we did, since my dad has a plow and a snow blower! We had a fun day of sledding and snowmobiling! The boys LOVED it. They would even go down the hill by themselves! It was so cute.

Here is our nativity. I was in charge of casting. I made my 2 boys the angels, my brothers girls the "wise-women", my dad the star, my mom the narrator, Jared & Rebecca were Joseph and Mary and thier baby Owen was baby Jesus. Pat and I were shepherds and my uncle was the Inn keeper. It was so cute! I love doing the nativity.

Merry Christmas 2008!

It's a little late, but MERRY CHRISTMAS! It's been a busy time getting things ready, but it has been a magical Christmas and so much fun. The boys have been playing together more (and fighting more actually) and Pat finished his finals and has been home more. I love that we get to do nice things for people and think of the Savior more. We had a fun time with the Mendoza side of the family, eating and singing and staying up 'til midnight on Christmas eve. We spent Christmas afternoon with my side of the family eating, doing the nativity (so cute) and sharing gifts. Mostly I have loved watching the excitement and joy in Lukas and Max's face as they help put up Christmas decorations or shop for gifts for each other or make cookies or doing "Secret Silent Night". And waking up Christmas morning to see their eyes light up and see the gifts that Santa brought! Although I must say I'm sad that I can't use the "Santa won't bring you gifts if you're naughty" threat anymore. It's been a fun holiday and I'm sad it's already over!!

The boys have been doing so much lately. And they crack me up:

• Lukas noticed that the Santa at preschool and the Santa at the mall look different! Uh oh!
• Max's favorite thing to say is "poop" after everything. (Twinkle twinkle little poop!)
• Pat came in my craft room to sew on a button before church, and Lukas saw him in there and said, with a surprised look on his face, "Dad, I didn't know you knew how to craft!"
• Max came to R.S. with me on Sunday b/c he fell asleep and was so tired, so I just held him. A little girl walked by him and wanted to hand him a toy. He kicked his foot out at her and said, "Go away!"
• Lukas came to me one day and said, "Mom, can we make gingerbread cookies and popcorn ball Christmas tree ornaments?" It made me wonder who he's been hanging around with, Martha Stewart?!
• Max desperatley needs a hair cut. His hair is hanging in his eyes and he brushes it aside with his arm all day. When I ask him if I can cut his hair, he starts to shake his head really fast and runs away. I guess he'll just have long hair!
• We were playing Perudo (a game with lots of dice and cups) and Max plays with us and his answer is always "I have two sixes"!
• Max will ask a question and then repeat the answer, like so; Max-"What happened to your thumb?" My answer- "I got an owie". Max- "Oh, you got an owie". Or, "Where's Lukas?" Me-"He's downstairs watching cartoons". Max-"Oh, he's watching cartoons."
• The boys love to be naked and will run around and say "NAKED-ee".
• Lukas nightly routine consists of helping Max into his PJ's and brushing his teeth. It's so cute how he helps him.
• They boys will start singing, "It's toooo late...to 'poligize" and we were singing along with our singstar on PS2 and Max kept singing, "Got much back". Hmmm, we need to be careful what we sing! haha
• Every year we do the 12 days to someone in our neighborhood. Lukas calls it "Secret Silent Night". So cute!!!!!
• Pat and I stayed up late one night to catch up on cleaning our dirty house. In the morning, Lukas said, "Did Santa come to clean the house?"

The Big "2-9"

Pat had a birthday last week. He turned 29. We took him to Souper Salad for lunch (his pick) and then I sent him off to Nicklecade with the boys while I set things up for his surprise party! He thought we were having a nice dinner at home while the boys were with a baby sitter, then we were going to go bowling and get some icecream. I set the table to look like it was just for two and put candles by it just to throw him off. While he was gone, my family came and some of our close friends. It was so fun to see his reaction. He had no idea! Jake and Steve got him with silly string (which the kids LOVED). We had a fun night eating and visiting. Pat was so happy that so many people would come for him! It was a great birthday. Pat is so fun and does so much for us. We're happy to celebrate him!

Wintertime

Not that I'm excited (AT ALL) for the winter to be here, but if it has to come, let it snow! That is...as long as I'm nice and warm inside. This past weekend was so fun. The boys loved the fresh snow (cute hats courtesy of Jyl's Creations) and we did so many festive things. We made cookies and went to the mall with Whitney and Holden to see Santa. We had fun despite the massive crowds and driving in the snow to get there. Max wasn't even scared of Santa and they both smiled for the overpriced pictures. I do love the holidays!!

Brotherly Love

I'm always worried about my boys not getting along. They fight constantly and can't share or agree on anything. It is disheartening to me to see them at each other all the time. Tonight, I sent them upstairs to get their pj's on and I went about my routine, picking up things and Pat was doing some stuff on the computer. The boys were gone for quite some time and it was TOO quiet upstairs (this never happens, there is always screaming when they are alone together). I slipped up there to see what was going on and I peek in their room to find this:

• Lukas: Ok, now just put your leg through there. And stand up, can you stand up? There. Good job. We did it!
• Max: Okay Lukas. Yay, we did it!
• Lukas: Now we have to get your arm through here. Are you tired? I know, that's why we have to get your jammies on. Is it taking too long?

Then I ran to get Pat so he could see and Lukas closed the door so we couldn't see anymore. It was SO cute to see Lukas helping Max get in his pj's. It made all the naughty things he'd done today seem obsolete. I guess there is hope after all. And look how cute they are in front of the Christmas tree today. It made my heart melt!

Power of Positivity

I think I could make cookies every day. I love making them, eating them, smelling them, sharing them. Mostly eating them! It's a happy thing in my life. I also feel very strongly in the law of attraction. My thoughts have sometimes been negative and I find myself complaining. And for good reason, I mean, life can be tough. But I want to be grateful for my life, and really I am. I just need a little reminder now and then. So I make cookies as often as possible because it's easy and it makes me happy. Well, things were so crazy there for awhile that I was putting the most important things last and there certainly wasn't time to make cookies. I realized that this life is too short to not make the most of it. And make the most of it with those who are most important. I want to turn things around, and here's how I'll start...

• Instead of saying, "Oh no, I've got piles of laundry to do every week." I will start saying, "Yeah, laundry! Look at all the clothes we have!"
• Instead of saying, "No way can there be dishes in the sink again!" I will start saying, "Wow, we always have something to eat."
• Instead of saying, "What are you whining about now?" I will start saying, "You learn from me, so I will always say things sweetly."
• Instead of saying, "More orders! I don't want to sew!!" I will start saying, "People like what I make and it helps pay the bills. Keep 'em coming!"
• Instead of saying, "Pat is gone again. I'm all alone." I will start saying, "Man, I'm lucky to have a husband who works so hard and goes to school so he can get a job to support our family for the rest of our lives. I'm a lucky girl."
• Instead of saying, "I think I'm going to SCREAM if you kids wake me up in the middle of the night again!!" I will start saying...no, I really will scream if they keep waking me up.

As like quickly passes me by, I want to cherish each moment. I know I will look back on what I thought were "hard times" and laugh at how easy I had it. Thank you Lukas and Max for seeing me at my worst and still loving me. Thank you Pat for supporting me and sacrificing so much for us, and loving me. Life is what you make of it, so I want to make cookies! Warm and sweet and every bite worth taking!

My Little Sponge

They say kids are like sponges, absorbing everything around them. Well, here's some things I've heard Max "absorb" from me:

• "Mmm, that smells nice."
• "Oh my gosh, are you kidding?"
• "Gonna get a present taken away."
• "What the heck, Santa!"--actually I've never said this, I dont' know where he got this from. Lukas perhaps?
• "Lukas at preschool like a big boy."
• "It's tooo late....it's too late." (mimicking the song from One Republic Apologize).
• "Sometimes I falling in the ocean. " (another song from Blue October that he picked up on).
• "Lukas hit me in the eye." --I've never said this either, but whatever happens to him, whether Lukas is there or not, this is what happened to him. Lukas inevitabley hit him in his eye.
• "Good morning sweetheart."

Max is just so cute. I love the phase he is in. Still innocent (kind of) and so easy to please. He says so many things and still has the cutest lisp. He's my squishy.

Bootie Trap

Yes, that's what I said, Bootie trap. It caught me off guard, too. Hearing Lukas and Tommy say it over and over while they were playing. I couldn't understand how they would know what a "bootie" is and why it would need a trap. Then I realized they were meaning to say "boobie trap". I had to laugh as I listened to them set up "bootie traps" for the toys they were playing with. And they said it so seriously, "Then Kung Fu Panda set up a bootie trap for Tai Lung and then Batman came in and saved Tiger".

M.I.A.

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged. First of all, my computer's hard drive crashed, so it took us a while to get things back in order. (What a pain!) And now that December is here, it feels like things are busy again. I'm winding down and getting my orders done so I can enjoy the holidays! I like doing boutiques, but I'm worn out. I just want to play now. Pat is in finals week. He's studying like a mad-man and almost done. This will be his 1/2 mark. Only two more semesters of Nursing school! Yay Pat! I am proud of him. He's worked/studied so hard. I'm impressed with him. He puts his mind to something and he gets it done. Nothing exciting to post about, so this is a short one.