I used to wonder how parenthood could be both incredibly fulfilling as well as deeply difficult/discouraging. Such polar opposite things. This week, while taking care of my sick little Huckleberry Isla girl, I had a moment of clarity. There are alot of jobs that can have all those things-but w parenthood, and its round the clock nature, there is at least one difference.

In most jobs, you don't have a person actively following your every move to both shower you [whether you want it or not] w physical love, cuddles and attention, as well as art work and words saying how much they love you. On the flip side, at most jobs you don't also have someone following you around demanding more, needing things round the clock, complaining that your not doing it fast enough, well enough, fun enough, or coming up w the right answers, or doing it perfectly. Basically a constant, intense, very demanding adorable critic, that requires patience, discipline, love, support and consistency. And as w anything, the amount of sacrifice and time you dedicate to something, that's how much you get back.

Anywho-after a solid few days of nurse duty [among my many other titles] and a few stolen tears of tender love and full heart, cuddling my babies feeling whole, and a few stolen tears of exhaustion and discouragement during my 3rd shower to wash off the sick while my last bit of laundry washed, I came to this conclusion. And now that I'm a bit more rested, I feel at peace w it. Like the old adage, the best things are worth working for.

Anywho, these are just scattered thoughts that will exist here amongst other pictures and memories. Life moves on, and we are moving and learning and growing right along w it.


[Isla reminds me of my sister Sam and my niece Hannah when she gets sick-she just kind of shuts down, and she seems so much 'littler' if you will. I hate seeing her struggle, but I also love the one on one, cuddly, tender moments we have in those times.]



[Dr. Suess day had meant fun dress up days, like mix and match. The kids had a blast doing it, and they always make each other laugh w their secrets and jokes!]



[Park days w friends!]




[The trick we use to get them to eat even more fruits and veggies]

[Lester's potato inspired dish..I love him so much, and the hobbies we shared!]



[lots of homemade noodles and salads this week]


[delcious crispy potato and rice tahdig to go w our samosas and salads]

[bday leftovers]

[found a new delicious pie place in Boise!]

[Jessica Boots still comes w Isla faithfully everywhere. Its fun to see her now in the doll clothes my Mom made for my dolls years ago.]



[Baby Boo Boo Bear Boy had his first hair cute and it about killed me.]

[Another one of Addy's little masterpieces. Caption says 'Are family is awesome and has evrything  you want come in!'






[It was my 32nd bday this last weekend, and I got spoiled! Some friends took me out to lunch, I got a few gifts [including an amazing new violin which I just took on learning!], and we had a few friends over for the most delicious dinner of home made porchetta and Russian honey cake [to DIE for!] 


One thing that I learned growing up the way I did was to celebrate all the things. Spring time is the perfect time for this-it may not have a the hubbub of the holiday seasons but it has plenty of reasons to party! Things like new life and sunshine, but also lots of important cultural celebrations, like  Lunar New Year and Black History Month, St. Patrick's Day, Cinco De Mayo, Easter, and of course, my birthday [an important world event for sure haha]. So, this year we decided to lean into it extra hard this year, as we've been realizing how many wonderful people there are here to share our love for these cultures with, and learn more about there's!

In the end, apart from our personal little celebrations at home [or at friends house, like Giddy's, where they threw the most awesome Lunar New Year celebration], we decided the best way to share our culture and spread the beauty of diversity was to throw a cultural celebration. So, we told everyone to come party, and to bring a good from their cultures to share, and we'd have lanterns to make, and write their hopes and wishes for the Lunar New Year, and to learn a cool filipino dance that Lester worked on w his classmates [which we didn't end up having time for bc we ended up having too much fun w the other stuff haha!] Bc I had just recently gotten my 23 and me results I was excited to be able to learn more about my roots, and make foods from those cultures! So I ended up making pork buns, pancit and haupui. Everyone else really came through w the food they brought, and how willing they were to participate. It was a blast and we loved every second of the camaraderie we experienced. 











For Valentine's Day, we enjoyed a visit from my sister Sam, who also watched the kids while we went out to eat. It was fun to know we still enjoy each other, and also fun to know we can also enjoy coming home to our kids haha. I also got to throw a fun Galentine's day and bake to my hearts content and visit w some friends also, who in turn had a great Super Bowl party. Other than that, we've been playing up a storm, at climbing gyms [Addy has a love and a talent for this], going on a Mommy daughter date w Ms. Huckleberry Isla girl, being Lester's official ice cream taster as he makes his own recipes like honey lavender, orange w almond brittle pieces, lemon poppyseed, olive oil wheatgrass and salted malted vanilla, building w Bear, pants wearing to church for me, and trying to further our families environmental goals. Of course, w all that fun, we've been working equally hard so that we can continue to live this life, and do better in the coming years. Life has its ups and downs, but we keep on keeping on and enjoying this life we've built together. Love my people, and how home is turning out while we're here.









































Now on to all the March things!!



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The Pineda Family

The Pineda Family

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