Danny's Rebirth Story

I always prayed, since I was pregnant with Danny, that he would accept the Lord into his life at an early age. Tonight, that prayer was answered. 

This afternoon, we were listening to YouTube videos of Psalty the Singing Songbook (from the 1980's record albums).  After one song about inviting Jesus into our hearts to be our Lord and Savior, Danny just said, "Me too! I wanna ask Jesus into my heart too!"

Trying not to jump out of my skin with excitement, I said, "Have you ever done that?" 

"Yeah, every morning when I pray!" 

"Hmm... Did you know you only have to ask Him one time? Would you like to pray together w mama and papa to ask Jesus into your heart?" 

"Yeah."

"Ok, buddy.... Maybe we could do that tonight, when Papa gets home." 

"Yeah!" 

So this evening, as we were putting the kids to bed, I looked at Alejandro and motioned, but he suggested that tomorrow when we don't feel rushed, and we can talk about it in depth, might be better. I mean, have you ever tried to have a deep conversation with a chatty almost 3 year old in the room?? Ha! 

I always sing to the boys before leaving the room at night and tonight, without thinking, I sung "in the morning, when I rise, Give me Jesus," and "Jesus. He died. He rose. He lives. We live through Him." (Another Psalty song.) 

Then, 20 minutes after we left the room, Danny needed the bathroom and when he was done, I invited him to cuddle w me and hang out with us for a few minutes before going back to bed. Without any prompting, Danny said, "what about praying together with Papa like we said, Mama?" 

"You mean to invite Jesus into your heart?" I asked. 

"Yeah," he said in his casual way. 

We talked for about 5 minutes. About what to pray (Jesus, I invite you into my heart. Will you be my Lord and help me live my life for you? Will you fill me with your Holy Spirit?). About how it's good to pray every morning for Him to guide us and lead us and help us follow Him better, but we only have to ask Him into our hearts as our Lord one time. About whatever came to our hearts. It was sweet and easy, and love and peace filled the room, but there was a spark of excitement too! 

Then I prayed first, for our son, and that God would guide him all of his life to live for Him. Then Danny prayed and we helped a little bit with some of the words. Then Alejandro prayed over our son and asked for grace and wisdom for us in parenting him well. It was amazing and beautiful to hear Danny's gentle sleepy little voice say, "Jesus, please come into my heart. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit." 

What an amazing gift and blessing to be able to share together!! After praying, we talked and cuddled some more. 

I asked him, "Do you feel any different since you asked Jesus into your heart?"

"Yeah." 

"Really? How?" 

"Like my heart is beating super fast! ....kinda' like super powers! Like an angel!" 

Oh! That was the best answer ever! I know for sure that God truly was moving in his little heart (physically and spiritually) and Danny's exuberance was so clear! I will remember this sweet night and thank God for it every moment of my life! Praises to Yahweh, our God and Father!! 

Buddy, let's take a picture so we can remember this special time forever!

Joy overflowing when we asked how he felt. 

Crazy faces!

Then he needed to just hug his Papa for a good long time. How beautiful it was to see Danny's heart so open and vulnerable before us and God! ❤️

"That's good pwan!"

Yesterday morning, Gianni and I had this conversation in the car: 

"Bwanna's house now? " 

"Well we have to take our groceries home and then we can go to Brianna's house."

(A few minutes later…) 

"Gwoshwies Bwanna's house! "

"You think we should just take our groceries to Brianna's house and put them in her house?"

"Yeah! That's a pwan!"

With the most adorable expression of excitement that he just came up with this genius plan so that we wouldn't have to stop at our house and we can go straight to his friends house. For the next few minutes he kept trying not to convince me what a great plan it was, saying, "that's good pwan!"

What we did last weekend...

Once upon a time, the Chinchilla Porras family bought a house. They dreamed of a home with a fireplace, green grass in the summer, snow in the winter, near mountains, near forest, and where they could raise their family. They bought their house in the dead of winter, and it had everything they wanted. Well, almost. There was some grass. But lots more weeds than grass. 

In the Spring, grass sprouted, and for a little while it was soft and green. 

But every year as Spring progressed, the weeds would grow.... 

...and well, they sort of took over. 

The Chinchilla Porras family cleared their yard and planted seeds several times. But to no avail. 

The weeds won every summer. 

Until one day, in the Fall of 2015, when the Chinchilla Porras family said, "enough is enough." They weeded. They raked. They cleared. They played in the dirt.  

He tilled. 

They watched movies. 

She watched him flex his muscles. 

Until finally, they were ready to lay down sod. 

And now.... 

...finally...

...the Chinchilla Porras family has thick, green, carpet-like grass that you can roll in, walk barefoot in, lay in and run in. All summer long. (Well, next summer they'll be able to.) 

And they lived normally ever after. 

The End. 

A Reward Hard Earned

He worked...

...and saved...

...and saved...

...and saved and saved and saved...

...and then it went on sale... 

...so we helped him purchase. 

And now...

...he is enjoying a well deserved reward! I'm so proud of him! 

(And us, I might add, for not caving and buying it for him.) 

Puzzles

Look who can do this puzzle all by himself?! 

Life with Boys

Ahahahaha!!! I just reread this one and cracked up all over again. http://www.scarymommy.com/10-things-moms-of-boys-must-do/#sthash.whMWYaze.gdHVauAI.gbpl

Today alone, I told one to get his hands out of the toilet. During a bathroom visit later today, I heard myself say, "take your head out of the toilet." And then thought, "did I just say that??" (Yes, I really did.) I told him not to touch his...because he had just gone potty. And then thought, "oh well, it's only urine," when I realized it was too late and he had already been wrapping it around his fingers, playing while he waited for me to realize he was done. The other one farted 9 inches from my face during reading (don't ask me why his rear was 9 inches from my face during reading) and I also had to ask him to please erase the detailed drawing of his friend urinating from his school writing assignment. We eat through a loaf of bread for breakfast and 3 gallons of milk per week. And there are only 2 of them and the older one's only in kindergarten. It's a different life with boys. For reals. 

Toys That Last

When my sister and I were small, my Mom made these quilted activity books for us. We played with them forever! Danny played with it when he was small. Now Gianni is playing with it. And miraculously somehow over the course of 30 years, none of the small pieces with Velcro backing have been lost! Even the plastic 3 ring binder hasn't cracked or faded or broken. Thanks, Mom!! ...especially for the extra moments in bed we are quietly enjoying right now!!

Fifteen Minutes on the Kitchen Floor

So I'm sitting on the kitchen floor reading this - http://momastery.com/blog/2015/09/30/the-erasing/ - and tears are rolling down my cheeks. The three of us - Danny, Gianni, and I slept late today. We had a big day yesterday. A good day. Filled with hard work and victories and lessons learned. It was a GOOD day. So today we slept late and we were tender to ourselves this morning (I love how she says that) and instead of school or chores or errands, we stopped for 15 minutes and they played with kinetic sand on the kitchen floor while I read this article. And I cried. And I remembered. I remembered when I used to write like this. I remembered how I have been in the expanse of nothingness and felt nothing but gray as she says. I realized how I am very much in the newness and beginning to live again and learning things all over again. Tears fall for the months which turn into several years lost to the gray. And in joy they fall for the newness that I feel again. Be tender with yourself today. Know that He loves you and designed you to thrive. Do the hard work to press through to victory today! I promise it's worth it. 

Beach Preview

Two Years Old

Dear Gianni,

You are turning two tomorrow. It's amazing and hard to believe. I know every mama says this to each one of their babes. But it seems like 3 weeks ago you curled up and fit entirely in my arms with soft wrinkles and puckery lips and pudgy hands. Your hands are still pudgy and your lips are still puckery, but you are my big littlest boy and you definitely don't fit all in my arms anymore. You still like me to rock you to sleep, and you're pretty good at getting me to rock you for a while a couple times a week. Your legs hang over the arm chair and you try to fold them up so they fit, but they just don't.

You have so many words that you say all the time:

Doggie (it started as "goggy" and now you say the D most of the time)

Mama

Papa

Nenny (Danny) 

No!!! 

You nod yes emphatically. 

Joo (juice) 

Eat! (And you point at your mouth) 

Baby (your bear blanky)

Pee-pee (you say this a lot)

Yuck! 

Nummy! 

Woah (phone) 

A-woah (hello?)

Bye! 

Ugg! (Hug - and you hold your hands open for one) 

You make kissing noises when you want kisses 

Mee-mee! (excuse me) 

Hot! 

Nigh-nigh! (Goodnight)

Bop! (Pop - for balloons)

Mow (more) 
buu! (book)

...and so many more! Sometimes I think you say entire paragraphs to us.  We just don't understand all the words.  Today you said a two-word sentence to me.  You said, "Juu-pee!" (Juice, please!) A week or so ago, you said: "Where'd it go?" (except it sounded nothing like that, and I couldn't possibly imitate it if I tried.  But it was abundantly clear what you were saying with your shrugged shoulders and hands up in the air. You can point to your eyes, ears, hair, cheeks, and teeth... And you LOVE to brush your teeth!! 

We just took the baby gate off of the stairs going up to our rooms and you are content to stay where we are most of the time. You listen pretty well, except when you don't. And then it's either a tantrum on the floor or a squeal while you high-tail it to hide in a corner. You are an organizer and you like to put things in their place - or the place you like them to be, at least. 

For your birthday, you got a play kitchen with dishes, pots and pans and a grocery shopping cart full of play food. I always wanted one of these when I was a little girl so it was so fun to give you! Every single day when we pick up Danny at preschool, you go straight to the play kitchen and pretend to microwave something. It's been so fun to watch you cook things, put them away, and tell us things are hot for the last two days. 

Last week, you folded your hands to pray with us before meals and one day you even told us to pray when we had forgotten. This week you refuse and you push back from the table when we are praying.  Sigh.... Who knows what it will be next week.  You are two. You can climb up to the table by yourself, buckle yourself in, and pull yourself close to the table... Not that you do any of these things when I ask you to.  But you have done this many times when you are hungry and impatient for a meal. You will eat just about anything in front of you. You love cereal and you rarely let me feed you anymore, although you do let me get the food on the spoon for you.

You LOVE animals. You know many animal sounds: cat, dog, horses, pigs, cows, and anything that growls, including  dinosaurs. You adore books and when you see something soft in a book like a bunny, you hug the book and say "awww!" in a high pitched voice. You frequently bring me a book and say, "buu!" and sit in my lap for me to read it to you. You love baths and markers and especially your new bath crayons. You are friends with Brianna from Jazzercise and you give her hugs goodbye. Today while we looked at pictures from your birthday party, you pointed and said, "Nanna!" every time you saw a picture of her. ...even the back of her head in the corner of the picture! 

You have the most dramatic facial expressions ever, and you are very emphatic in all that you do.  You give us dirty looks that leave us in stitches.  You command with the authority of the president and give us the most indignant looks when we don't do what you want.  You are in a screaming phase right now. I'll be super glad when that's over and all of our eardrums will thank you. You are quiet in groups, but talkative when we are alone at home or in the car.  You sing in the car and preach from your crib when it's bedtime.

You are strong willed, strong muscled (gosh, you can pick up and move the most amazing things - like a banquet sized folding table on its side) and determined. You are fearless and loud. Your name means, "Yahweh is gracious."  You have a fire in you.  You are so big and yet so small at the same time. I'm blessed to be called your mama.  You're going to do great things one day.

But for now, I will hold your pudgy hand, kiss your puckery lips, and give thanks to our God.  For truly, in giving you to me, He has been so very gracious.

All my love,
Mama

Gianni's 2nd Birthday Party