A full day

I got my teeth cleaned, both boys hair cut, worked out, spent 4 hours with Lori waiting for her husband to get out of surgery (for a kidney stone) and spoke at the Inpatient/Outpatient family night about Al-Anon. Whew! A full day. I just snapped some photos of BT in his new Thomas PJs. He is so into Thomas! It is very sweet. Right now BT has my camera (minus the memory card) as he wants to take photos and I want to upload the ones I just took. Today Good Morning America was here filming CDA but it was 14 degrees outside at 4am so I did not rally to go. My friend Cecilia was filmed as she had a Cold Water Creek banner. Oh well, my 15 minutes of fame will come another day.

I am working on a video montage like my friend Tina did last year and it is exhausting plowing through all my digital photos looking for the best ones. I love so many of them and they aren't in order and I hope that I will be able to sort them out later. This is something that I have been wanting to do for awhile so I am shocking myself that I am actually getting it done. I am thinking it would be nice to give to Grandma Susie as she has missed out on a lot of our pictures due to lack of internet access. I hope it doesn't take too much longer to complete. My eyeballs feel fried.

First Snow of the Season

Oh my gosh. We have had a blast today enjoying the first snow. It is so beautiful here. We got bundled up and, fortunately, our new snow outfits fit. We attempted to make a frosty but the boys enjoyed knocking the snowman down. We had snowball fight. Made snow angles, ate icicles and shed some tears (BT does not like snow, the cold, his boots or wearing gloves). Eactly like Mason was at this age. Mason however LOVED the whole experience. He didn't want to come in but after over an hour outside I was getting bored and tired of trying to cheer BT up. Here are some photos. Talan is unhappy in all of them. :( Mason is estatic. One out of two isn't bad right, especially in baseball! haha
I booked my flight to Marin for the holidays. We will be leaving here on the 18th. I am warming up to the idea already. I am sure we will enjoy a reprieve from the snow by then!
Joe just installed a new faucet as ours died yesterday. I love that he can do stuff like that. It might take him a little longer than a professional but he gets it done. And it has a built in water purifier. I really like that.

Getting back into the Game

I have been meaning to post for days now but time has an awful way of slipping by when consumed by the demands of two little guys. So since I've last posted, I have been to San Diego to visit Hillary and Paige and Baby Tate. That was wonderful and I am so glad to be of help. It made me miss my boys and Joe and I have had a new found appreciation for them. I highly recommend getting away for a few days.

Baby Talan last night said "back" quite clearly and tried to sign "please". We gave him tons of positive praise and he was so excited and proud. He even tried to say "please" and I heard a distinct "p" sound which he has never made before. He is clearly improving and evolving on his own timeline.

Mason has "adopted" a cat from his neighbor friend Jaden (age 6) who claims his family can't afford to feed him anymore. Spike comes over minimum 3 times a day for food and he is so great with the kids, its an absolute delight to have him here. Misty doesn't like him, big surprise, but they generally don't cross paths and that is a good thing. I took these pictures this morning of Mason and Spike having a little cuddle. Note Mason is wearing his new Power Ranger pajamas which we bought him last night while Joe and I went on a date (it was a shopping date). It is so fun to shop without the kids. I can focus on what I want to look at and not be dragged directly to the toy department (even though I did hit up the toy department eventually). Old habits are hard to break. Joe and I are so bad at waiting for Christmas. We gave the kids all their loot last night. As we are going to be in California for Christmas, we figure why not. BT got new Thomas the Train pajamas and 5 new trains. He was very excited. One train is a lion train and when you push his head down he roars. You can imagine the joy of hearing that to a little boy.

Joe leaves for the half marathon in Vegas on Friday. I have been getting more into running myself. Today at the gym I ran for 30 minutes at 5.0 which is a 12 minute mile. Pretty good for me. I am trying to get my regular with my workouts as I just took a two week hiatus. And this is the time of year I gain the lbs.

Slow Moving

Well, I have had a bad case of laryngitis (sp?) and BT just got diagnosed with a raging ear infection. Needless to say, we have been unwell for the past few days.
My parents visit came and went so quickly. We had a really nice time. It was mellow but quality time. The boys adore them and looked around everywhere for them Monday morning (they left on an early flight). My mom repaired many items of clothing in desparate need of a little sewing. She also took measurements on my bedroom window as she is going to make us curtains. Yay.
Joe is back from Mexico City. The family is reunited! :) I leave tomorrow from San Diego to visit with Hillary and Paige and Baby Tate. I am very excited and looking forward to the trip.
I haven't exercised since Thursday and while I feel guilty about it, I have little drive to hit up the gym (blaming it on not feeling well).
I rallied to go to the DMV today and register the car here in Idaho and also get my license updated to Idaho. I had to take the driving test again. I studied about 40 minutes and got a 92%. Thank God as I would have felt really lame to have failed but didn't want to put much energy into studying. After driving for 16 years one would hope passing a driving test would be a breeze but they always ask asinine questions.
Talan has really gotten into trains recently so it is fun to see his excitement around that. Mason hates aikido, got in lots of trouble today in class, and is currently spending the evening in purgatory (his definition not mine). :)
We have a new kitty who comes to visit us and screams to be let in as it is starving! One of Mason's little neighborhood friends brought the cat over the other night and now he thinks we are his new home. He is very sweet and you should see how Talan's face lights up when he sees the kitty. I have been bringing food outside for the kitty. I am such a softy I know. I hate to think the little guy is going hungry. :( Misty would be furious if she knew. But, she rarely ventures out from under the bed so she is clueless to his presence (so far). Misty and my Dad bonded during my parent's visit. It was very sweet. :)
It is dark here by 4:45pm now so I am going to bed early as it just seems right. Last night Joe was asleep by 8pm and Mason and I went to bed at 8:30pm. I am going to put BT to bed and enjoy a little quite time. Adios.

Thursday Delirium

Very tired. Long past two days. I finished my signing class today. Only one of the three mom's showed up as the other two had sick kids. Little did they know Baby Talan threw up on me on the way to dropping the boys off at Lori's house so I could teach the class. Despite this, the class was really nice and fun as the 11 year old daughter attended too and this mom had missed the third class so we reviewed that and they learned a bunch. I am relieved it is over and ready to teach more. I have committed to two more classes: five Tuesday evenings and five Saturday mornings. All before the end of the year. Right now I am trying to print colored brochures to bring to the Mother's Haven anniversary party on Saturday. The printing is going slow as it is in color and double sided - I've made a trifold brochure. If I had it done professionally it would be 59cents a side and that would add up quickly. I spent $11 on good paper (which I actually don't like as it is too glossy and it sticks in the printer so I have to do each one, one at a time). I am sure my next problem will be running out of ink. I am prepared! :)
My parents come tomorrow. We are all very excited. I cleaned out my car today and tried to clean most of the house. It is a challenge to accomplish too much with two little guys, especially one so sick.
Ok, that is all I've got. I am tired. Missing Joe and ready to have fun with my folks.
Cheerio!

Tuesday Recap

Well, by the time I got to Aikido yesterday Mason had fallen asleep. So I turned around. Pointless. Baby Talan was so sick last night that I had him sleep in my bed which made for a poor nights sleep but at least I was able to care for him. He needed his nose blown and lots of water throughout the night. Today he seems a bit better but he is very whiney, needy and has oozy eyes and a runny nose that won't quit. Despite his being ill, I took the boys to the gym where they probably infected many other children. We took a group nap and then went to the Al-Anon meeting which I really needed tonight. I picked up Amber on the way and so Mason got to meet Henry. Amber relayed to me that Henry did indeed drink a lot of water after our hike last week. LOL
I am trying to fit in preparations for my sign language class and the Anniversary Party at Mother's Haven (an excellent chance to market myself) while the boys are playing or sleeping. It is going so so. I definitely miss Joe's help and companionship. It is hard to deal with a sick baby alone. I hope he is well enough for my parents visit this weekend. I would hate for them to see him this whiney and clingy. LG, LG.
All of our tenants have paid their rent as of today. That is a relief. It gets stressful this time of the month to cover three mortgages. Joe and I are trying to be more relaxed about it but we do check our bank accounts frequently to see if the deposits have been made. Whew! We are very fortunate I suppose but this is definitely a challenge to stomach the what ifs of it all.
I am going to bed shortly. I have a lot to do tomorrow to prepare for my signing business. I did manage to stop at the printer's today and have a name badge made up for me to wear on Saturday for the Anniversary Party.
I feel grateful that I got to go to a meeting. It is exactly what I needed to hear. And that is a God thing.

Monday Mayhem

I am gearing up to take Mason to Aikido. He hates going. I have been having Joe take him the past few weeks as I dreaded the whole spectacle. Teacher Tom is very strict and Mason clearly butts heads with him. Having to entertain Talan (who is sick) while watching Mason not listen during class is too much for me. However, since Joe is away, I will try it again. Its been an exhausting day already since I had my Love and Logic parenting class this morning while Mason was in school. Talan was not easily entertained and made noises the entire class. Then we raced to pick up Mason and go to the noon meeting which I had signed up to lead. I hadn't thought out a topic so I just randomly choose Sponsorship. It was a great meeting. Talan fell asleep on the way home so I briefly let Mason play at a playground while I sat in the car with Talan. Talan is still asleep and we are about ready to leave home to go to Aikido. I haven't let Mason nap as he seems to do better in Aikido if he doesn't nap. Let's hope I am right. After Aikido I would love to just have some home time. I am so grateful that Joe left some meals for us as I can't imagine dealing with that as well. Mondays are always a bit crazy. That is why I like Tuesdays. We have nothing planned other than going to the gym and a 7pm Al-Anon meeting which (thanks to me) now has babysitting. :)

Sunday thoughts

I went to church this morning. I only managed to pull it off as I realized I should have set the clocks back so I had the magical extra hour to get us all fed, dressed and out of the house. The topic was being immaculate with your word. If you say you will do something, do it. There are no good excuses not to. And you will pay the price one way or another. There will be repercussions either way. If you do follow through on your word (the example was a date with your spouse on Friday night) you will have positive repercussions, ie. more intimacy, closeness, fostering the marriage. If you don't follow through on the Friday night date, well then we know how that would turn out. Someone would be pissed off, resentful, give the ole cold shoulder etc. I thought this was a very practical message. This is what I like about Unity Church. It uses biblical ideas and applies them in a very modern way.
My meeting tonight was about service and how to explain Al-Anon to a new comer. I shared that Al-Anon has permeated my life so much that I can't easily see how and where it has changed my life. All I know is that it has. It made me grow up, mature, love more kindly, judge much less and attempt to have integrity in all my affairs. Its taught me how to see my part in any problem that presents itself. I am responsible for my own actions. Blame is lame. I just made that up, but it makes the point that blaming does not do any good and only delays my growth.
Sundays, when I go to both church and my meeting, can be pretty heavy duty. Lots of things to think about for the week ahead. Gets my head on straight for the week. Especially a week without Joe.
Oh, I wanted to mention that the photo of Baby Talan on my first blog was taken after a hike with my friend Amber and her dog Henry (pronounce the French way "on-ree") on Tubbs Hill. BT loved Henry and fed him so many cheese nips that the dog started refusing them because he was so thirsty (they are very salty). Amber and I were in hysterics. BT had no intention of stopping the feeding of cheese nips so consequenly my car is littered with them. Hopefully we have not scarred Henry for life. He may have a phobia of cheese nips.

My first attempt at blogging

Joe leaves tomorrow for a week in Mexico City and I am very bummed as it has been so great having him back home. The boys and I will be lost and lonely. Joe has made a chicken pot pie and a venison lasagna for us so we won't "starve". We have become very used to his wonderful cooking and so when he is gone so are the good meals!

One highlight this week will be grandma and grandpa coming to visit. We are talking about the visit daily (sometimes hourly). I am looking forward to spending time with them and catching up.

I finish my sign language class this week and I am very proud that I have moved forward on this front. I am actively marketing myself and will start two more classes before the end of the year.

I am so happy here in Idaho and feel so grateful that we made the decision to come back. Now we just need to really orient our lives here (ie. no catering in California over the holidays). We are staying put and have no plans to travel anywhere any time soon (except a small trip to San Diego for me to meet Tate Wilson and Joe is going to Vegas the first weekend in December to run a half marathon).

Alright, I am signing off.
Adios