Morning Fun

I woke up to Mason telling me he didn't eat any candy this morning. This is hardly a great achievement as he knows not to eat candy in the morning but I get what he is saying since they discovered last night the stash of Pez candies that I purchased to reward Talan for using the potty. Anyway, I decided to treat Mason to making waffles as he asks for this all the time and I always say no. So we made waffles. Unfortunately for Mason, Talan woke up as we were making them so he joined us (Mason threw a small fit about as he wanted it to be a surprise "Talan you ruined the surprise"). Anyway, if you knew this waffle mix, you would understand it is inedible and therefore I made no pre-tense in my own mind that the kids were actually going to eat them. Consequently we went the silly route of decorating them to the hilt (this is their favorite part anyway). So, fast forward to about 10 minutes ago, they kids are hungry! Big surprise. I made scrambled eggs for their real breakfast. It was all good fun. I do need to get ready for school so I don't have too much more time to write and post but it was a sweet morning being silly. Talan, by the way, now insists on helping make the coffee which I wouldn't mind except it is an utter mess. He spills coffee grinds everywhere. If I were smarter, I would have it done before he wakes up. This morning I got too engrossed in the waffle project to remember to make coffee. Ask Joe, it is usually the first thing I do. I really like my coffee! The last few pictures of Talan very excited that he got to bring the newspaper in this morning. Grover's job is to get the newspaper out of the bag.

"my grove"

Talan is totally in love with Grover whom he calls "my grove". He confessed he like Grover more than his blankey which he has loved and adored since day 1. Grover is coming to California with us. I asked Talan if Grover was coming on the plane and he said "yes" and then signed Grover
"works". Talan associates flying, which Daddy does a lot, with going to work. Talan used to have Grover sign "daddy works" or he'd sign Daddy plane work. Funny how their brains work. I just asked him if I fly on a plane do I work and he smiled and said "nooooo".

Anyway, Mason finally went back to school today. He got a thumbs up so we went to the thrift store to buy a toy and he picked out a large black rubber snake! Beware Baba! Talan picked out a dinosaur on a stick, its a pick up toy. The dinosaurs mouth opens and you can grab stuff with it. Very cool. I went to the gym and actually did my boot camp class. I can't believe I made it through the whole thing. I will be sore tomorrow. After the gym, we stopped by Keira's work as Talan was desperate to see "KeKe". We visited for 10 minutes and then stopped by my science building as I wanted to get my graded test from last Thursday's exam. I got a 191 out of 200. Whew hoo!

Talan and I took a bath together which is never boring and always very wet. :) LOL We raced to speech therapy only to find out that the speech therapist had called in sick. Thanks a lot for telling us! I did zip into B's house to see the bathroom. It is looking nice. All marble tile. Then we raced to the bank to deposit Joe's paychecks and then off to collect Mason from school.

Mason is now asleep. Talan is enjoying an ice cream (bubble gum flavored) and I have class 6 to 9 tonight as we are doing BSL training (basic life support). I get to use an EAD which is an electronic defilibrater of some sort. I will be dropping the boys off at DiAnna's which will be very fun for them. She will bring them home before I get back.

We leave one week today. Yippee!!!!!!

What Talan Likes

We are all still sick and have been spending way too much time at home. I was on Facebook last night and watched this short video a friend posted. I was in hysterics. Talan came over and watched it with me and now he asks for it all the time. I am posting it here. It is from You Tube and it is titled "the worst fight ever". And it is....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1eFdUSnaQM Enjoy.
We did rally to go to the gym today. And we made it thru 20 minutes of Freddy Land without needing to pee (Talan wore big boy underwear today). He did end up peeing in his pants when he was playing outside but I made him take it all off himself and then they both ended up in the bath. That is it. We are very low key right now. Hopefully we are all well for our trip to Marin.

No real news

Just a quick note to say that life is busy. Pockets of Enthusiasm was this weekend which was wonderful. Lots of great speakers and time with program friends. I have managed to squeeze in a bit of studying time. I have a microbiology exam on Thursday. Once again I am studying the Krebs cycle. I have had to memorize this material in so many classes but it is just one of those things that I can't retain. I think I have it now but will promptly forget as soon as the exam is over. :)
The boys are really into games right now. We have played Trouble, Go Fish, Lets go Fishing, Jumping Monkeys. It is actually fun but at times frustrating as they can't follow the rules! Talan happily gives away his cards in Go Fish. He doesn't care about winning. He just enjoys the process. Mason, however, wants to win and is very dramatic when he doesn't win. Sounds all too familiar to me!
My neck is better, not perfect, but I am going to work out lightly tomorrow. It has been terrible taking a week off of working out. Plus I am desperate to hit up Grocery Outlet which is right next to the gym. Joe would be pleased to see how little food remains in our refrigerator. I am craving some fresh veggies and fruit. I hate food shopping so it takes until we run out of milk (for my coffee) to motivate me. :)

Today

I woke this morning with neck pain. It got progressively worse until I was just lying in bed wondering if I was always going to feel this way. I rallied to go see the school nurse who diagnosed me with severe muscle spasm in the neck. I now have muscle relaxers and Aleve on board and temporarily I am feeling a little better but still awfully stiff. I need to lay low for 4 to 5 days. Yes, Joe leaves tomorrow for a month on the road! Not great timing but I'll manage.
So, I asked Joe tonight to please hang Mason's new curtains as I just finally bought a rod. So the above photos are the hung curtain and Mason's self portrait which he took while we were hanging the curtains (he has a hot cocoa mustache). Talan asked where his curtains were???? Sorry little buddy. :) When will I learn that they both need to have whatever the other one has? I can't believe that I have entered this stage. And it last pretty much forever! :)

We ran the Leprechaun Scurry this AM

I added a photo from today's newspaper. You can see my head (I am between the two men in hats on the left - I am wearing a purple hat) and Matt (he is in a green shirt behind Sammi who is behind the lady in white).

It was so fun to go with a bunch of people to run a race! I saw my microbiology teacher and my CNA lab teacher during the actual race. Lori was also there with her kids. Lots of familiar faces. Anyway, the results of our times are available on this link http://mysite.verizon.net/resyhgvz/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/age_group_2009.htm. I ran slower than last year (32:49 vs 31:20)as I haven't been running at all. I am far more into my boot camp class and weight lifting class. Joe, however, beat his time from last year, he ran it in 25:30. Matt came in first, then Joe, Keira, me and then Pat and Dre came in together. Afterwards, we had breakfast at Michael D's eatery. I had Eggs Benedict! Joe ate an egg white omlete. Justyne babysat the boys as her parents were running with us (Pat and Dre). We all carpooled in the minivan. It was fun fun fun! However, after that breakfast I have been LAZY. All four of us napped together. :) That was cute and sweet. Now we are finally rallying to go out and do something fun for the boys.

The photos are from yesterday. :) We were goofing around the house.

Results from Yesterday

(These are photos from way back but just look how cute my family is!)

Last night we had our annual homeowners meeting. My contract was renewed! I didn't doubt that it would be but I didn't realize how much they valued me. :) That was a nice feeling. Joe was elected President again. :) I have a lot of work to do in terms of following up on some of the items discussed last night. But it is manageable and doable.

Yesterday Talan had his 3 year check-up. He is in the 70% for height being 38.5 inches tall. He is in the 80% for weight, he weighs 35.8 pounds. Joe says the doctor gave Talan the thumbs up. I was in class so I had to miss the appointment.

Joe brought the boys and me over to Barclay's house to see the new bathrooms. The master bathroom has been painted beige and the half bath is sage. They look great. I also checked out the master closet which now has shelves and rods. It is all coming along. I fail to realize how many steps it all is but there is forward progress. Our neighbor Carl, Terran's dad, has done all the sheet rocking and painting of the bathrooms. He is a bit of a character but he does good work for a very reasonable price. We adore Terran and so it is nice to help each other out. Terran was here all last night while we were at our meeting so the babysitter Danielle had some help as Terran definitely keeps our boys entertained. :)

I have a lab exam today. I have to do a gram stain, a negative stain and a hanging drop slide (to observe motility). We will have an unknown specimen and by doing the three tests, we should be able to figure out which organism it is. I am actually looking forward to it. :) Kinda cool and exactly what goes on every time a specimen gets send to a lab for analysis. Yes, I am a geek!

Joe and Matt went off skiing early this morning. This is the first time Joe has skied in North Idaho. We just have never had the time or opportunity with the kids being so young. So, I am excited for him and hope they have a blast. It is snowing ever so lightly so I hope they have good fresh powder up on the mountains. Our babysitter DiAnna is coming over at 10am to watch the boys. This is my long day at school. She has been missing them so I think it is going to be a good day for everyone.

I did check out the Moms' Club here yesterday. I belonged to the one in Saint Simons Island when I lived in Georgia. I took Missy and May Paul with me (and Talan). Seems like a nice group of moms and they do about one activity a week. For example, next week they are going on a fire station tour and the following week they are having a book time gathering. Of course, these events conflict with my work-out schedule so I am on the fence about what is more important, Talan being exposed to kids his age or me getting to exercise. I may trade off prioritize one over the other. A compromise of sorts. :) Who knows? I'll figure it out as I go along.

Playing Outside

It is nice enough today for the boys to play outside! A miracle or so it seems. We have been cooped up for months and finally we are getting a few nice clear days, low 50s which feels warm to us. A true blessing as Joe and I are exasperated at how incapable the boys seem to be to entertain themselves. Joe tried his best to play CandyLand and Go Fish with us but Mason's cheating and poor sportsmanship doesn't make it very fun. Yes, he gets those two fine qualities from me. Ask my dad or my sister how I would cheat at Monopoly. :)

So I have been very busy preparing for tomorrow night. It is the annual HOA meeting for our development and I am the property manager. I have had to compile lots of financial data etc. to wow them into renewing my contract. I doubt I will lose it as no one seems to want to do any work for free, which has previously been the case, but we need to put it up for discussion.
Joe has been home for a week and is here for another 6 days and then he is on the road for a month. I have had him tackle some "honey-do" items such as the light on the microwave going out. Seems like no big deal but it has turned into a bit of a complication.

We are all doing well. No one is sick at the moment. That is huge! :) Joe just spoke at an open AA meeting and he was so funny and did an outstanding job. I was so proud of him. We celebrated with a sushi dinner and then Barclay took the boys for a sleep over so we had the house to ourselves. Very nice and much appreciated.

I just learned that I will have to wait even longer to hear if I have been accepted into the RN program. Interviews will be in mid-April and then hopefully we will know by the end of April. I am assuming I will make it to the interview stage. With all the budget cuts in Idaho, the college is possibly having to shrink the size of the incoming class which would, obviously, make it that much more competitive.

I am very excited about the upcoming trip to California. The boys ask frequently "when is our flight?". Not for a few weeks. :( They love to fly. I told Mason that I had scheduled a play date with his friend Wyatt and he got so excited he said "Talan did you here that. We get to play with Wyatt!". Talan, of course, got very excited to see his brother excited which was so cute because I know he has no recollection of who Wyatt is. I love my boys. They are so silly and funny. I can't wait for everyone to see how tall Talan has become and how much he talks - non-stop!