Hot Weather

Well, it has finally hot enough to bust out the plastic pool. Surprisingly, Talan was far more interested in it than Mason. A huge change from last summer. I took some cute video and pictures of Talan enjoying the pool. We had such a busy day yesterday with the garage sale that was very unsuccessful, then we went to the Kroc center but couldn't enjoy the kids swim area as there was a contamination (read a kid pooped in the pool) although we did go into the lap pool for a little while. Talan was too scared to go in the lap pool so we blew ours up when we got home. Talan wouldn't come in last night he was so into his pool and it was the first thing he did this morning. He was a bit alarmed by the grass in the pool so I gave him a strainer to fish it all out! :)

Today, we just hung out at home and then went to the Kroc center. I didn't realize they had changed their daycare hours so I only got a 20 minute workout which irritated me briefly. We then got to finally experience the family hot-tub. It was mayhem there as it is so hot outside. It felt like every member was at the cove pool and a lot of them were in the hot tub. Talan LOVED it and didn't want to leave at all. Mason started complaining about his tooth hurting so we left to go home and take some Tylenol. Now it is his bottom tooth that is hurting. So frustrating. Thankfully, they are both napping right now so I have a little peace and quiet. Yippee!

Today is my Al-Anon birthday as we call it. Eight years. Very cool. And I have got myself a new sponsor, so I am excited about that. I love all the growth and friendship of the program. So glad I have such amazing people to call friends and to learn from. Hands down they have been a huge support system for me, helping making Idaho my home.

The other big news is that Talan was accepted (finally) into the NIC children's center which will be fabulous come fall when I am full time in the RN program. My dear neighbor/friend Keira works there, and Talan adores her, so he will get a lot of "KeKe" time. :) He is very excited. We went to look at his new school on Thursday. Talan loves to talk about his new school. He is very excited that it is on Mommy's college campus. Mason will be in kindergarten next Fall and I am hoping they have some sort of extended care option. That is the next hurdle.

I am busy studying for my CNA state exam and clinical test which I will be taking on Wednesday. It is the last thing I have to pass to ensure my spot in the RN program. I got an A in the class so I think the written exam should be no problem but I am nervous about the clinical component. Wish me luck.

Joe comes home tomorrow for 24 hours. I am very excited. :)

Summer Time is Here!!!!!!!!!

I finished up classes on the 13th. I got a B+ in Microbiology and an A in CNA. I am currently studying for my state exam and clinical test which I will take with my friend Amanda on June 3rd. Still, I am on summer break and loving it! :)

My parents just visited for 3 days. We had a lot of fun and some wonderful meals. I took photos from our dinner out at the Beachhouse which is right on lake Coeur d'Alene. We all fell in love with a very sweet dog named Meisha who was stationed on a boat docked at the restaurant. Everyone in my family has a huge love of animals. :)

The new Kroc centered opened on May 11th and we have been going every day. This is one of the first community centers created through a grant from the late Joan Kroc (she and her husband started McDonald's). Here is a link to it as it is too gorgeous to describe http://www.kroccda.org/aboutus.html. Today the new indoor lazy river is opening and the kids are very excited. I am too. I love the water. :)

Oh, I forgot to mention that Joe and I just celebrated 7 wonderful years of marriage. We had a night out, compliments of my folks and B, enjoying a nice dinner at Ciao Mamba in Hayden. We went on a quick shopping spree at Target afterwards (so nice to not head directly to the toy aisle) and then collected the boys from Barclay's. A very nice evening and I am so grateful the Joe was able to fly in that afternoon in order to have the evening together. Poor guy left Tennessee at 5:30am in order to make it here so needless to say he was a wee bit tired but he rallied. :)

Today I am off to Idaho Falls with 8 gal pals from program. We have a Spring Assembly to attend. I am excited to get out of town and spend some time with my friends whom I never get enough time with normally. Three whole days away! While I am not excited about two full days in the car traveling, I am looking forward to great conversations and maybe a couple of naps in the car! :) Idaho Falls is where Mason was conceived so it definitely has a soft spot in my heart!

A Wonderful Mother's Day

I had my last clinical day this morning. We stopped at 10am to have a brief party and sign cards for all the CNA's that trained us and then I was home by 11am. Joe gave me a very sweet card and the boys did too. I got a beautiful rock ladybug which Mason made at church this morning. The boys both colored coffee mugs for me. I only have one to show as Mason is borrowing one for his BB collection which we harvested at the park today. So after all the gifts and hugs, Talan left to go to Barclay's so it was just the three of us. We went for a family jog down to the Kiwani's Park. Joe and I did some wind sprints while Mason played on the playground. Then we all played bouncy ball and collected BBs. We walked home and took a group nap. It was wonderful. What a treat just to have one child for the day. After nap, 5ish, I hit the books to study for my microbiology final on Tuesday. It is an insane amount of information to absorb and I am not feeling like I really get all the material so I am just trying to memorize which may just do the trick. I have lost the chance to get an A and so since I have a 86% right now, I should be able to squeak by with some sort of B regardless of how I do on the exam. I am a bit bitter about not being able to get an A but I have finally let that go.

So, it is 10pm and Joe and the boys have just returned from Barclay's. She has finally got her bed in the upstairs bedroom so that is very exciting news for her. I am off to bed. Hope your day was great as well.

Alarming news

Our tenant in our condo in Georgia is behind on his rent so we had our property manager go knock on the door. Apparently a neighbor asked him if he knew what had happened at our unit. Robert, our manager, said "no" and so the neighbor proceeded to tell him the grisly story. Here is the link http://www.news4jax.com/news/19371644/detail.html# Truly horrifying and just so very sad. We are in shock and don't quite know what to do legally as the landlord. Needless to say, this is just one of the crazy twists of being landlords.

Soccer Week 4

Are you all glad there are only two more weeks of soccer left? :) I know I am. It was finally nice weather which definitely made a huge difference. So Talan still needed to have one of us hold his hand or else he wouldn't play. He was very distracted by a dog during the game and kept wanting to pet it. You'll see in the video that Talan is trying to go to the dog and Barclay is trying to get him to focus on playing soccer. What a concept! :) Still, some very cute moments through out the day.

In between the boys games, we went to Target (where the boys and I ate at the target cafe while Barclay looked at curtain rods) and then we went to Petco to enjoy animals while Barclay hit up Bed Bath and Beyond to look at Curtain rods again. :) As luck would have it, there was an adoption day going on and so there were tons of dogs available for adoption. I ran into my classmate Kris from Financial Peace University. She has a business walking dogs. She had lots of "cookies" available which Talan promptly feed to EVERY dog there. It was hilarious. Everyone commented that we will have a very fat dog if we do get a dog. Well, Kris referred me to a gal who specializes in placing adoptions and so the long and the short of it is that she has a dog that she thinks might be a great fit for us. And the dogs name is Mason. Funny! So, when Joe gets home I'd like to meet Mason the dog and see if he is a good fit.

So, back to soccer. Mason's team did quite well. Mason played goalie and did a decent job at it. He is no longer pouting etc. on the field. He still enjoys taking lots of breaks and he still has no clue what the game is about but there is some improvement. He is great about running back and forth constantly up and down the field but he is easily distracted.

Soccer Week 3

I am anxious to post this weeks photos as there is a hilarious video of Barclay and Talan so here are last weeks. I didn't get to go to Talan's game due to my CNA clinical rotations but I did make it to Mason's games. I loved seeing him fall asleep on the way to the game on top of his soccer ball. Too funny! The tiny pictures I grabbed off of Barclay's facebook account. Barclay said Talan had the most fun playing with his Daddy holding his hand. :)