Another Year

Wow, the year has sped through on hyper-drive, hasn't it? It has been a trying, rewarding, and amazing 2009. As I look back and reflect on all that has taken place in Team Och's life this past year, I am filled with such an overwhelming sensation of gratitude. Here I am attempting to write a passage more eloquently befitting the trials and blessings we have experienced, but I'm finding it hard to do so. I am just thankful. I know that is so redundant of me. I don't know how many posts I've published on here exclaiming that same point. But I am.

Thankful

...for having love. My Mister Och and our Three. Plus one rat-looking diva Dog. My family. We've weathered throught the trials of a five-month deployment and have emerged stronger and more dedicated to each other than I could ever have imagined. Yeah, there are gazillionaires out there who can't figure out what else to do with their mulah. But I wonder how many of them have what I have in the form of a family who will love you unconditionally: impatience, hormonal imbalances, yelling bouts notwithstanding. I have that. It makes my heart feel so rich and full.

In this upcoming 2010, I vow to keep this biggest blessing in the forefront of my mind and never lose sight of what is really important.

So here's to a happy love-filled new year, everyone!

Enunciation

The beauty of little children starts with their progressing speech and language skills. There is nothing cuter than hearing a toddler try to say "yellow" or "doooo ittttt".

Well, here's another one...but it's only cute when it is spoken in the car amongst family only. Because, frankly, if anyone else heard it...it would sound horribly inappropriate.

Little Liv calls clouds "FOGGY-FOG."

The only problem is, in that context, she can't properly pronounce the "G" sound. Instead, it sounds like a "K".

You do the substitution and sound it out yourself. LOL.

Winding Down

Christmas has come and gone. I'm feeling just a tad bit lost. Does anyone else feel this way? It just seems there's such a big crescendo building up to the 25th of December. Days are desperately balanced between relaxing and enjoying the family and frantically searching and purchasing goods to wrap for the kids. It is hard to believe it was just a week ago. And now, the presents are unwrapped, the garbage bins brimming with discarded wrapping paper so meticulously selected and folded before they were ripped to shreds.

So now, what do I do? I loved everything about Christmas. I loved seeing the children's faces, knowing Mister Och and I once again created that holiday magic for them that morning as they saw Santa had come and eaten their cookies and left a bunch of goodies in their stockings.

There was so much purpose in the past weeks...I'm unsure if I CAN relax.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve, we drove down to Holladay to deliver the gifts to our Sub for Santa family. It was a touching and moving experience, one that the kids will be taking with them for years to come. It's been so rewarding, we are planning to do it each year.

We got home, opened the one gift we are allowed to open on Christmas eve: pajamas, and hunkered downstairs to munch on fresh-baked cookies and a showing of "It's a Wonderful Life."

Don't you just love those polar bear jammies on this grown man?

Christmas morning!

Sleds brought to the kids from Santa!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Traditions Old and New

This being the week before the big day, it's been crunch time for us, shopping whenever the moment allowed, wrapping presents while the kids slept, and performing our annual traditions for the holidays.

This was our first year trying out the lights in our city. Usually, we'll just wander the outdoor mall or visit Temple Square. This time, we opted for the hayride provided by Burger Stop that toured us around the myriad of lights in the park.

Here we are waiting for the hayride to start. The admission for a family of five is 6 bucks, that's it! We got stuck at one point, the truck we were on sporting the baldest tires I have ever seen. But once we were off, there were no other htiches.
This was my favorite part of the ride...going under the long archway of changing lights.

It was a kid-oriented display, full of animals and fantastical creatures. The kids absolutely loved it, playing I-Spy and pointing out the more original displays.

Then on Sunday, I had my sis and Miz Brandie help me out in whipping up four batches of the Ochoa chocolate peanut butter balls for the annual neighbor treat giveaway.

I can't wait until Christmas!!!!

So There!

The girls have a morning ritual in which they lay on either side of me on the bed and fight over who loves Mommy more. It's not an event I look forward to, but mornings are never complete without it.

Today, the event started as usual. Liv, having curled her whole body around my left arm and nuzzling her face into my neck, said, "I love my mommy."

Sophia countered with splaying her limbs across me, invading territory Liv had otherwise claimed. "Ha! I love MY mommy!"

Liv calmly unfurled herself from me, reached across, and ran one wet fingertip across the lens of Sophia's glasses. She then purposefully settled herself back down beside me, the SMUGGEST little smile I've ever seen on a two-year-old.

A very happy toddler won today's battle as her older sister conceded defeat as she furiously sprayed her lenses with cleaner.

Christmas Miscellaneous

Gingerbread house time!!! This was the first time all three kiddos participated in this messy sticky endeavor. We bought a pre-built house as I didn't want to mess with keeping the structure standing while the three mauled it.

And it seems the Ochoa rule to demolish it immediately afterwards. Here's Dylan suddenly discovering he didn't like the taste of gingerbread after all.

Look at the new member of the four-eyes club!

Mom and Dad are blind as bats, so it's not much of a surprise at all. She got them yesterday and has taken to them quite well. Walking out of the clinic with them on, she scanned the room in awe, "Wow! Everything is so nice!' Poor thing, we had no clue she saw things blurry.

Speaking of the four-eyed monster....here is a laundry basket of ALL of her presents. After purposefully flooding the master bathroom, and urging Liv to follow suit, she was commanded to collect all of her presents under the tree because she did NOT deserve them any longer.

She was given the opportunity to collect them back one at a time if she displayed exceptionally good behavior from now until Christmas.

Wow, the threat of losing all of those treats was the key to the drastic 180.

So, during the middle of the night, Bobbert the Elf returned from the North Pole and placed all of the presents back under the tree.

To Shut Up or Not to Shut Up

I don't care if somebody brags about themselves or their family or their genius children. It's human nature, after all, to trumpet your accomplishments and blessings. I'll smile and partake in their joy, maybe share a few of my own stories and call it a day.

I can't stand, however, someone who inflates their anecdotes to the extent that it leads others to believe facts about their lives that are UNTRUE. I have friends of friends who have a bad habit of doing this. It gets back to me because, frankly, we talk about other people some times. (Yes, I gossip...but mostly it's good stuff about people I know, unless of course it's another discussion about seeing untethered children bouncing around in the back of a moving car.) And it is absolutely amazing the bullshit that is being fed to my friends.

So here's the question....do you sit there and smile and let it pass? Or do you speak out and tell your friends they are being duped by borderline liars? I've done both. Initially, I would smile and laugh...hahaha...and not say anything else. But lately, I've been letting it slip....i.e., "You know that's not really true...."

I've had someone tell me that I'm not the one being directly lied to anyway, so what does it matter? I seriously don't know. I guess I just don't like my intelligence insulted.

Just a rant...

Parent Stuff

Sophie comes sauntering into the living room and announces, "I'm pretending I have a husband."

Walking blindly into it, I ask, "What do husbands and wives do?"

She shrugs, "Parent stuff....and say bad words!"

Hmmmm, is this a hint I should watch what I say around this living breathing sponge?

The Theme for the Year...CANDY!

I decided to forego the usual Martha look this year since I've been in desperate want of more festivity and fun. The rest of the fam likes to poke fun at my "designer" tree tendencies, relegating all handmade decorations to hang on the bottom one downstairs. But at least this year, it is fun. Lollipops, candy cane swirls, starkiss drops, and all sorts of green, red, and white ornamentation. The pic doesn't show a topper...I haven't found one good enough for it yet....hehehe.

This will be the last year for this particular faux evergreen. The lights have gone wonky and it has now refused to stand straight. We've had a good six-year run with this baby, so it wasn't a waste. Unfortunately, we cannot take advantage of those after-season sales this time around, since we do not know where we will be next Christmas. But once we find out, it's off to Frontgate I go for a new awesome one!

Aftermath

This is what happens after letting your little ones run amok unsupervised with their friends for several days without cleanup time downstairs.

Actually, these are pics AFTER we collected everything that was on the floor...

the first phase of cleaning up.

I couldn't wrap my mind around the chaos when I first went down there,

I didn't think to capture the calamity on camera.

Five laundry baskets and five hours later, I can actually breathe down here. Although I must admit, I was laughing the whole time.

Heartbreak and Hope

So I've been following one particular story lately. A while back, I had followed this blog written by a mom who was struggling with her young daughter Peyton's leukemia. When she emerged cancer-free, I rejoiced in their victory and gradually drifted away into the outer reaches of blogland. Well, now I'm back to following the story...same site, same family, only now, it is Mister Mayhew behind the virtual blog pen, writing about his wife's recent stroke and their fight to get her recovered.

I tell you, it breaks my heart reading about it, knowing what this family has already gone through. But at the same time, I can't help but keep reading, checking in to search for any updates on Anissa's progress...but also because there is so so so much hope as well.

Check her story out at

www.hope4peyton.org

Keep them in your prayers.

Kid-Free

Last night, the Mister and I were able to enjoy a whole TWO HOURS sans kids!!!! The neighborhood no-kids-allowed Christmas party was held last night across the street, and thank the Lord Mister D is finally old enough to watch the girls at home by himself!!!

The evening was a semi-blur, what with all the sugar-infused treats everyone brought (and of course I didn't even try to resist), and the manic around-the-world ping pong games. There was the traditional white elephant exchange, in which we came home with a complete set of gaudy Christmas ornament themed plate ware, and a snowman candy jar that I am not even ashamed to admit I think as cute.

Thank you to the J's for such a lovely gathering!

Forget the Mac

I've always wanted a Mac...whether it be desk or lap top. BUT, I never could bring myself to make the switch, considering all the pricey software I had for PC. The Mac always seemed SO cool. But I think it needs to watch out for its newest competition. There's this big giveaway happening in several blogs...and they are giving away THIS! HP Touchsmart 600. Ooooooh, I likey!!!!

Yeah, I'm worried about OCD tendencies kicking in and wiping the touch screen down every five seconds or so...but holy techie, isn't it pretty? My desktop is fried downstairs in the office, and so the hubby and I have been relegated to our respective laptops. Wouldn't this one just be SO stinkin' nice?

Unfortunately, a new PC is not something in the budget right now. Mister Och insists the next purchase from the electronics department would be one to replace the 26 inch tube TV I purchased when I first entered the military. He's feeling mighty sorry for himself that everyone, including the children have flat-panels mounted on their walls, and we have to settle for one that isn't even an LCD! The world is coming to an end I tell you! (no sarcasm there whatsoever)

So I think I'll keep on dreaming of this baby, unless I get extremely lucky and win this giveaway. If you want your chance at winning one, check out:

MckMama

If not, then just cross your fingers for me.

My 101

My high school classmate and now fellow blogger friend KCB of Team Bolina introduced me to an amazing idea. She had created a list of 101 goals to accomplish in the span of 1001 days. I briefly looked over her site one day, and it was a bolt of inspiration.

You see, I'm a master of procrastination. I NEVER get anything DONE. I have tasks and goals and dreams and hobbies hidden in every nook and cranny of my life. And they sit there...untouched, forgotten, or simply put aside until a rainy day, which of course gets spent doing nothing instead.

I am in the process of creating the list. I want to use it as my own little checklist to tick off all the little projects I want to finish, plus those that I think will assure some personal enrichment of some sort. I'm on #71 right now.

Soon, I will be creating another site to piggyback onto this one, with a blog button available on this so you can access it to view my progress. It's especially exciting since MISTER Och has jumped the bandwagon as well and is also drafting his own list.

January 1 will be Day 1 and will officially commence the goal accomplishment countdown. Wish me luck!

Snow Angels

It is officially snow angel season in our part of the world!

Speaking of angels...my girls were riding on a monstrous sugar high this afternoon, filling the house with their shrieks, screams, giggles, and stomping. Desperate for a brief respite, I sent them to their respective opposing corners to calm down a bit.

After a while, I heard a soft giggle and a whisper, "Soph! Soph!"

Then the quiet reply, "What, Liv?"

"I love you, Soph!"

"I love you, too, Liv!"

It was way cute, I freed them from their prison and they met in the middle and embraced. I had to take a picture. And then it turned silly again...

The Gift of Giving

In our search for a family to gift our newly won Nintendo Wii to, we learned of a family...a disabled single mother with five and seven year old girls who is looking to clean house in exchane for reduced prices on used toys because she only has a budget of $30 combined for gifts for her girls. She had attempted to sign up for a Sub for Santa program, but was turned away due to a missed application deadline.

We had already made contact this morning, and I tell you, nothing compares to hearing this woman near tears telling us how unbelievably grateful she is. And still, she offered to pay the $30 she had for what we wanted to give her.

Now, after that conversation, how could we have left it at just that? We didn't spend anything towards that Wii anyway. So, in addition to the Wii, we're thinking of upgrading this thing to a full-blown Team Och Sub for Santa deal for this family (unbeknownst to them). Miss Soph is already in the process of figuring what other toy to gift the girls.

It seems giving is contagious...as family from across the country has offered to add to what we want to give as well.

I can't begin to describe how heartwarming this project is. We are so blessed as a family, and it gives us a chance to give back in some small way. Not to mention the life lesson we are imparting to our children the importance of giving and appreciating the blessings we are so fortunate to have. This is definitely going to be a Team Och Christmas Tradition!

Luck of the Draw

Team Och attended another great base-sponsored event at the Solomon Center in Ogden. It started with Santa riding in on a fire truck, followed by a pizza party upstairs complete with a balloon animal artist, raffle drawings, and a showing of Fantastic Mr. Fox.

During the raffle drawing, Mister Och and I joked about even bothering to check our ticket numbers while they announced the winners. I recall him saying, "What will we do with a second Wii system anyway?"

I had shrugged, "I dunno. It would be best if we gave it to a family who's not having as great a Christmas as ours..."

With Lou's enthusiastic approval of that suggestion, I think we became destined to win the grand prize of the night. By the time they had gotten around to the final prize, I had already tuned out the announcer. I vaguely heard, "5-8-6. That's us!" The next thing I knew, my hubby was walking back to our table with a Nintendo Wii in the crook of his arm.

And so right now, we are in the search of a suitabe family who would appreciate this item but otherwise cannot afford it for their children this holiday season. We think we've found one. I'll update soon.

It feels good to give, doesn't it?

Letting it All Hang Out

...Twitter...Facebook...Blogger...MySpace...Friendster...

I love social networks. With my friends and family dispersed around the world, they are THE most convenient means of keeping up with communication lines I would have otherwise neglected if left wholly reliant on telephone, e-mail, and snail mail. I get a kick out of knowing what my high school classmate in Chicago is doing at this very moment, or finding out this one-third of the cute little triplets I babysat for had just updated her status to "in a relationship."

One thing I am not a fan of is this oversharing of highly personal matters. Yeah, yeah, I share A LOT. Heck, this blog is public for all to view. I'll talk about my kid pooping in the bathtub while I'm in it with her. I'll gush on and on about how much I love my hubster. What you won't find me posting about are relationship problems, big or small.

I've read so many FB posts lamenting on a current heartbreak. "I'M SOOOO OVER YOU NOW!"

And then two hours later from the same account: "I'm so sad and lonely."

THEN a couple days later: "I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!"

WTF????

There's nothing like a series of oversharing posts like those above that scream out:

"HI EVERYONE I HAVE NO SELF-RESPECT WHATSOEVER!!!!!"

I don't freakin' understand it. WHY????

I'm done ranting.

I had to close out of Facebook after seeing this:

"Once again I left my heart open and you ripped it out."

Oh, brother.