Bday time!

The E man invited 6 of his school friends to go to a trampoline park for his bday tonight.

I took a few of them home and have concluded that teenagers are geniuses.

In one short car ride, they solved the problem of 150 million tons of oceanic plastic.

This is what I overheard:

"Take the plastic out of the ocean and give all the girls breast implants." 

"Yeah! Isn't silicone a kind of plastic?"

The epitome of romance

In light of the recent Valentine's Day, here's a true story:

Yesterday I told David about my awfully horrible nightmare (besides the part where I went to a movie theater and ate popcorn). I was distraught when I woke up.

I dreamt that David wanted a divorce.
I tried to convince him otherwise, "How can you throw 15,16, or 17 years of marriage down the drain?" I couldn't remember how long we had been married in the the dream, much like real life.
He didn't even want to go to counseling.
That's when I started stalking him: hiding under stairs, around corners, peeking through windows.

When I told David about my horrifying dream, he said something like,
"That sounds like something Porfirio would do. And it doesn't work for him"

Then he gave me a hug and said he would never want a divorce.

Note to self: Don't stalk David.

Also, here are some pics from our President's Day. I told the kids skiing was all the fun they were going to have this weekend, but I caved AFTER they did their homework and chores and took them to the mall, thinking I would study while they did their girlie things.
That was a funny plan.

 The big girls peeled off and 

I took the little girls to do a repeat of what we did at Iris' bday party.

 Glamming it up:

Elijah didn't go bc he spent the night with cousins. He has been earning money to buy AirPods (never the knock-offs). David took him to buy them yesterday. Last night, I told E he couldn't take the phone to his guitar lesson. Nevertheless, he still brought his EarPods. I saw him slip them into his ears as he walked to the front door.
Music-less AirPods = teenager.

He waketh mine ear to hear as the learned.

The last month has been pretty dang hard. At times I've felt like I haven’t had a spare moment to decide what I would like to do. It’s only been what I have to do: writing 25-to-35-page careplans after 13 hour shifts in the hospital, studying for tests and checkoffs, prepping for classes, doing as many NCLEX questions as possible, memorizing meds, plus the normal family responsibilities, which are nothing to sneeze at. And then there have been some cherries on top, like kids getting sick, me getting sick, the car breaking down, David getting the flu.
Today in church a scripture hit me: 2 Nephi 7:4 (Isaiah 50:4): “When ye are weary he waketh morning to morning. He waketh mine ear to hear as the learned.”
Spiritually wakened. I haven’t had time to read scriptures like I should, but I’ve certainly been praying more fervently, almost desperately at times.
Curiously (but not really) things happened right at the right time. Not only that, but I noticed the trend.  If the car broke down at any other hour, it would have been a disaster. If Sybil would have gotten sick any other day, I wouldn’t have been able to take her to my parents’ house. David got sick but started feeling better just in time to help with the kids on the night that they would have been home alone--he had canceled his trip to Vegas. I was easily able to reschedule an appointment with a doc that is always booked months in advance. I was able to withhold tears in front of others when the stress was mounting. I studied the right things and was able to focus better. I learned to be more effective with my time, using the crevices: minutes here and there. I have the amazing support of family and friends.
 Strategies: For the breaks and lunches on class days, I haven't allowed myself to stand up nor to chat with friends. Instead, I have been bringing my computer to write my careplans. After class, I have been using the extra 20 minutes before I have to pick up the kids to study. In the mornings, I don’t take the dog out anymore; I study (Porfirio has probably paid the biggest price in all this). I record and listen to the class lecture notes as I fall asleep at night and when I’m in the car alone. That way I don’t feel like an awful mom and I can focus on the kids when they are home. I even had time to prepare a talk and for church meetings.

He has not put me away nor cast me off forever (2 Ne 7:1).

He is here.

Skiing

This is what happens when a little girl 

sits in the back seat unsupervised 

with her Valentines Day candy. 

She's about as good as I am at taking selfies.

Valentines Day night in Flagstaff.

We ate at Burger King to celebrate Hector's 51st anniversary in the USA.

We went to Flagstaff to ski.

The 3 girls went to ski school 

(Claire wasn't willing to take any risks after her last faux-pas on the slope).

On the lift with my boy.

This is a good kid. He was checking on his sisters in school, made sure Claire was ok skiing and waiting for her on the way down, refusing to go without me even though the singles line was shorter.

This is right before our first time down the big slope. 

Of course, he was in front of me the whole time.

Then, towards the end, he waited for me and yelled, "Fuerte hasta el fin, mama!"

He preferred Spanish most of the day. He also usually speaks to Sybil in Spanish.

We got Claire out of ski school early. 

I'm not sure I've ever seen Claire's confidence wane like it did on the slopes. She was very cautious, which is a 180 from the first time she went skiing. 

Elijah was on the lift in front of us. 

He wanted me to take pick, but you can't see him well:

Then this girl got out of ski school.

She was a speed demon incarnate.

After every wipe out, I tried to convince her to go more parallel to the mountain.

She would agree and then promptly go straight down the mountain, 

passing everyone with her pizza-shaped skis.

Her last wipe out was epic. She did a few rolls and both her skis flew off her feet, into the air.

Today she has whiplash symptoms and a raccoon face.

V-Day celebrations

David took Iris to the daddy daughter dance on Saturday.

Elijah reluctantly went to a multi-stake dance, but then said he was glad he went afterward.

Claire sprint Sat night with her buddy watching Knives Out.

Sybil and I chilled. 

She is still thrilled that she knows that I'm really the Love Bug.

Painting one of her Love Bug treats:

Biggest birthday bash

I was really hoping I'd be able to go through the birthday book that my family put together for me before writing this post, but life has been extra crazy lately and I'm afraid if I don't post about my birthday now, I'll be 50 before it happens.
David had been acting suspiciously for a while. I found out eventually, but didn't know the whole story until I heard about the botched attempt at a mariachi band and I opened the door to a "Surprise!" from a crowd of people, including some of my best buddies who had flown in from out of town.

3 gourmet cakes

A slide show of pics of me with my people

A house-full of people who love me including 3 who flew in

A book with adorations and praises to my wonderfulness (I haven't read it all yet--but I can only image that's what is in there)

David knows how to do it right!

Then he got a hotel room for me and my 3 ladies who flew in.

We stayed up way past our bedtime, ate junk, and reminisced.

Shayla, my college roomie.

She got me a crocheted rat and flaming hots. The brother rat is with her in ID.

Notice the fancy pool in the background.

And then there's Anna, who I grew up with in Nola. We were also college roomies.

And Emilee, David's cousin who kinda introduced us for the first time. 

These are 40 year olds trying to take a selfie:

These are 40 year olds realizing how lame our selfie attempts are:

Heading to breakfast

Emilee came and hung with us afterward. She made these matching shirts:

"Beautiful, bodacious, blonde, beehive, babes."

That's what we used to call ourselves back in the day.

Of course Sybil got a hold of Emilee's phone and took a better selfie than 3 40-year-olds managed.

When Emilee read her a book, Sybil said, "She sounds like GG." 

A walk to McDonalds:

A bike ride to the park:

David's a good man to put this all together for me.

He's passed out on the couch now with the flu.

Poor man. I love him.

13.1

With very little training, we did it again!

Claire's goal was to beat her time from 2 years ago. 

She did it!

I think she came in at about 2:30 or so. 

But subtract at least 5 minutes from that bc we had to wait in line at the porta-potties.

There were 10 of us who participated including these fine people:

My mom completed it in celebration of her 75th birthday!

That woman rocks!

Lex and I went back to meet her and the three of us jogged over the finish line together.

I'm not going to lie, walking is hard today.

But apparently only for me.

I'm morbidly out of shape since I wake up early to study now instead of run.

Claire listened to the book Unbroken while we ran.

I was lucky enough to listen to myself reading my class outlines.

Craving is the Mother of Invention

This year we are trying to be better about what food we bring into the house.

Craving is the mother of invention.

I remember frying tortillas and freezing yogurt. 

Sometimes that was the closest I ever got to chips and ice cream.

This kid decided to make candied nuts on the stove.

He was happy to show me the fruits of his labor.

Then I asked him to please stop smiling:

He tries to withhold his smiles from me

but I have magical powers.

Sybil the Saint

Tradition: from Feb 1-14, the Love Bug visits our house daily with V-day treats.
Today, Sybil told me that Jesus told her that I was the Love Bug.
Likely story.
Then she proceeded to itemize all of the treats the Love Bug would be giving her in the next week.
Apparently, she scoured my room when I put her there in time out yesterday.
That's revelation for you.

I should be in bed

I should be in bed but David isn't home to tell me to go to bed.
So I'm awake.
I don't sleep much anymore anyway.
Too much to do.
So I have to share Sybil's new haircut. I asked David to take her, and she came back with bangs.
Claire said she looks even more like a trouble maker now, if that's possible.
Most days when I pick her up from school she tells me how many times she threw up at school.

"Why didn't your teachers call to tell me?"

 "I do it in my hand so they don't see."

I got a 96% on my first test of the semester.
The girls and I did a crazy happy dance to "Pressure," Queen.
It's my first "A" test.
I'm quite sure it will be my last.
Ok. bed.

Ugliest vs Not Ugliest

Yesterday, my good buddy Shayla sent me a treasure:

A legendary picture.

Why legendary?

Legendarily bad.

Not only bad.

I'd venture to say the worst picture ever taken of me.

This was the site of the infamous picture:

The roommates at BYU decided to go on a little road trip to Vegas.
We did a few things including riding the Big Shot:
"Strap into the Big Shot and prepare to be shot 160ft in the air at 45 mph above Las Vegas. Experience a gut-wrenching 4 G's of force on the way up, and negative G's on the way down."
And here it is:

Want a closeup?

Here you go:

Ok, just for a little balance, 

here is probably one of the best pictures ever taken of me:

Now I have a picture to look at if I'm depressed.

That big shot picture makes me laugh every time.