Mother's Day

I am the mother of three amazing kids.   My love for them knows no bounds. 


Maddie:
These past few months have brought many changes in her life.  We moved and she started school (in a public elementary).  She had always been at home with me.  It was a huge adjustment for her to go to school.  But she has done great!  I love her teacher, Mrs. Pochini.  She is an answer to prayers.  She is just what Maddie has needed to make this transition. She did great the first week.  However about the second week I think she started realizing that this was not just a temporary change and started crying a lot before and after school.   Thanks to some great ideas from her Aunt Leslie, she is doing so much better.  She carries a special token in her pocket to school.  I also have one and JL has one too.  She can hold it any time that she misses us and remember that we will be together forever.
Here are some things that I really want to remember about Maddie at this age (7):

*She loves her family.  Every day we get notes from her, hugs and kisses, and repeated reminders of how much she loves each one of us.
*She loves doing shows.  She gets her brothers to practice with her, but when it comes time for the actual performance, they often do not want to participate.  Which usually ends in tears for Maddie.   So she loves when cousins or friends come over and they will actually do the performance with her. 
*She is learning to love to read.  It has taken a while, but she is finally catching on.  Lately when I have come to check on her at night she is reading a book!
*She loves money.  She will do anything to earn money.   She loves saving it and spending it!  She loves to go into a store and buy things with her own money.  Many cashiers have been surprised at her knowledge of money.
*She has been taking ballet and tap since September.  Her teacher always tells me how graceful and beautifully that she dances. 
*Since beginning school she has made many new friends and has caught on quickly to the concept of "playdates" and wants to have one every day.
*When we moved she finally got her own bedroom.  It is on the third floor.  I really didn't think that she would sleep up there all by herself, but she does!!! 
*I wanted to write down something that actually happened a few months ago, but I don't want to forget it.  We were on the subway in NYC one evening.  It is very common for musicians or dancers to get on the subway at different stations and perform and then ask for money afterwards.  A man got on and starting playing a saxophone....pretty badly.  At first no one was too bothered, but then he kept going and going and it was getting worse.  Some people were laughing, even jokingly saying that they would pay him to stop.  But Maddie seemed oblivious to all of the mocking.  When he finally finished, no one was giving him any money.  Maddie looked at me and said, "Could I please give him some money?"  I didn't have any cash with me.  But then she remembered that she had a couple of dollars in her pocket.  She ran over and put it in the man's hat.   He walked over to where we were sitting and said "God Bless you little girl."  And then he proceeded to serenade her. Maddie was beaming.  Many people had watched what she did and stopped laughing at him.  It was a really sweet moment.  She has a very generous heart and continues to be an example to me.
*She loves gardening!  We finally have a yard where she can plant seeds! 
* She has a very sweet testimony growing.    Last Sunday our nephews and niece had come to stay for the weekend.  On Sunday, on the way home from church, they boys were complaining that they wouldn't have anything to do since they couldn't watch TV.  But Maddie reassured them the whole way home that she would help them have fun even on the Sabbath Day.  When we got home she gathered everyone together and made a list of what they could and couldn't do.  They had a great afternoon together, thanks to Maddie.
*She goes by Madeline at school.  Her teacher had called me before she started and asked what she likes to be called.  I told her that we call her Maddie.  When we got to school on the first day, her teacher asked her what she likes to be called and she said, "Madeline."  We exchanged looks and a smile, so that is what she goes by at school.
*She loves pink!
*She is loving spelling.  She studies hard all week to get 100% on her spelling test and be a Spelling Master for the week.
*Maddie is extremely cautious of her tree nut allergy.  She asks before she eats any packaged food.  I got a call from the school nurse a couple of weeks ago asking about some donuts that had been brought in for a birthday party.  Even though I told her they were fine, Maddie wouldn't eat them. So she sent them home with Maddie in a napkin.  She finally ate them after I saw them and told her they were fine.
*She LOVES crafts and will spend hours doing them.
*We got to go to the baptism of a little girl in our branch last night.  I was very emotional thinking that in just 10 months that will be Maddie.  She is so wise and smart.  I know that she will be ready.
*She loves to be scared.  You should have seen her at DisneyWorld.  She loves all of the scary rides.  I won't even go on them!  Tower of Terror, Haunted Mansion, Mt. Everest, Space Mountain, etc.



Daniel (4)

I remember when they first placed Daniel in my arms.  He had his hand against cheek as though he were thinking deeply.  I have had this image in my mind ever since.   He is a good thinker.  I love watching him when I can tell that his mind is racing.  In December, a good friend that runs a preschool in her home, had two spots available.  The boys have loved every minute of it.  It is only two mornings a week, but they have loved having something that is just for them.  Just with two days, it was like a light switched on in their heads and they can count all the way to 100 and write the numbers and have started reading three letter words.  They love it!

Some things I want to remember about Daniel:
*He is my by-the-rule guy.  He loves routines and will willingly remind me if we forget to do something.  He is so good at reminding us about family prayer and scriptures.  Even in restaurants he usually insists that we say a prayer.  He loves Family Home Evening as well and always reminds us about it.
*Daniel is very social.  He makes friends easily and is also catching on to the "playdate" concept.
*He is surprisingly brave.  He also really surprised both JL and I at DisneyWorld.  His all time favorite was Big Thunder Mountain.  I wish with all of my heart that I could have recorded him on that ride.  He would raise his hands above his head while shouting, "I love Thunder Mountain Woohoo!" at the top of his lungs!
*He is a good sleeper.  He is almost always asleep first at night.
*At our new house we have a train that goes by literally in our back yard.  It is a ways back, but we have regular talks about how they should not EVER walk on the train tracks.  One of our first nights here, we parked in the back.  At that point, the kids had only seen the train through the window.    It was still really cold, so they had not been in the back yard.  So we pulled up that night just as the train passed by.  Daniel's eyes got really big as he realized the train was right next us.  He said, "Mom, the train goes through our back yard?"  I answered "yes."  Then he said, "Oh boy Mom, you really need to watch us!"
*He has a little shake to his head that he does when he is bragging.  "Oh, yeah, well, when I am in kindergarten....."
*He loves to wrestle with his Daddy!
*Daniel loves Spiderman!  I find it funny that he does because he has never seen any movie or TV show about him.
*He is really good at sharing.  Most of the time he is a very good peacemaker.  He will give up something so that Maddie or Ryan will be happy.
*He loves to play outside.  He loves to ride his bike to the school to pick up Maddie.
*I love his serious look.
*I love his smile!
*He loves to ask questions.  "Why is the grass green?"
*He loves to play games.  He would sit for hours and play "Go Fish" or "Checkers" with me if I would let him.
*Last week we were at the park playing baseball.  He was hitting the ball and I was telling him how maybe next year he could be on the t-ball team.  A few minutes later, he said excitedly, "I am almost a Yankee!!!"  It was one of the moments that I wanted to wrap him up and let all of his dreams come true.
*During the night, Daniel and Ryan will often sneak into our bed.  Most times I don't even hear them come in.  When I wake up, there they are next to me.  A few months ago, I was trying to give them incentives to stay in their bed all night.  I told them I would give them a sticker if they stayed in their bed all night long.  The  next morning  (after they had both come into our bed during the night) they were both upset that I had come into their room during the night and had brought them into our bed!!!
Tonight when I was putting Daniel in bed, I said, "See you in the morning!"  He said, "I'll see you in the night when I come to your bed!"   Looks like we still need to work on this!



Ryan (4)

Ryan is very tender hearted.  He loves his preschool and his family.  He has always been a good snuggler. I can always count on him to wrap his arms around me when I lay by him at night time.

*He is quiet a lot, but has a very feisty side to him as well. 
*He LOVES to wrestle with his Daddy.
*Ryan is very athletic.
*He and Daniel have started taking swimming lessons.
*In the past few months Ryan has become increasingly bothered that he is a twin.  He LOVES Daniel but he likes to be his own person too.  Whenever we are out in public, we are asked at least two or three times if they are twins.  Ryan gets mad at me if I answer yes.  He doesn't want to wear the same thing as Daniel or buy anything the same as Daniel.  He has even asked that we celebrate his birthday on a different day as Daniel and Daddy this year (yes JL shares a birthday with the boys).
*Ryan loves babies.  He loves his little girl cousins too.  He has always had a special place in his heart for his cousin Emma.
*This actually happened a while ago.  We had been visiting my parents.  JL had stayed in NY to work.  It had been about a week and everyone was really missing Daddy.  Daniel and Maddie (especially) had been very vocal about missing him.  Ryan hadn't said anything about him.  We were sitting in sacrament meeting.  Ryan was looking at a book of our family pictures.  He found a picture of Jorge Luis and started looking at it.  My mom noticed him first.  She tapped me on the shoulder to look at him as well.  He kept touching the picture.  He brought it over to me to look at and pretty soon tears were streaming down his face.  That got me and my mom started going too.  Because he is not as vocal, it is easy for me to forget how very tenderhearted he is.
*He likes to play "baby."
*He is always asking questions about Jesus and the Holy Ghost.
*Ryan had endless amounts of energy.  In NY we used to go to a track to run and Ryan would run and run and run and run.............
*He LOVES mangoes!!! 
*He likes to carry around stuffed animals.  For awhile he had a stuffed polar bear that he called "Kitten."



I feel so honored and blessed to be the mother of these three.  Each day I love them more and more.  I am grateful for my own mother.  What an AMAZING woman!   She continues to be such an great influence in my life.

                                          DisneyWorld March 2011 Ryan, Maddie and Daniel