I got an iPhone

Yippee! Barclay and Joe have had theirs for over a week but I have just been too busy to get into mine but now I have and I can't wait. What fun. Expect a lot more short posts from me now that it is going to be a lot easier. :)
Joe and Mason went to Marin for 3 days to visit Fred in the hospital. He is doing better but looks very weak and frail. Joe will get a chance to stop in for a day on his way to Pomona on November 9th and then he will be in Marin to cater after Thanksgiving. Thank goodness he will be able to see a lot of his dad as I think it means a lot to both of them.
Meanwhile, back at the home front, I am in week 10 of nursing school. I am going ok, I need to pull my grade up 1% to pass. My clinicals are about to double to two a week for the next 7 weeks which is very time consuming as the paper work before and after each clinical takes about 10 hours. Plus I still have two lectures a week, which is usually 2 chapters a lecture, and I have my regular life. Crazy busy but I am enjoying it. Remind me of that in the next few weeks. haha

Tough Times

Mason had a "bad" day at school yesterday and was not allowed to go to school today as punishment. His crime: he threw rocks on the playground. I have never in all my years of schooling have ever been sent home for a day. He is 6 years old people! Why are there rocks on the playground if they don't think kids are going to pick them up and throw them. Joe and I are infuriated with the Post Falls Kindergarten. Deny him recess for a week or the entire school year (when he gets in trouble it is 99% during recess). Have his consequences be at school not at home. Maddening. So Mason is at Little Creations today. I needed to study. I have an all day conference in Lewiston tomorrow which is 3 hours away so I have a full day tomorrow and it won't be studying.
Joe was home briefly for one night, Monday. It was great to see him although I really didn't see him. My new clinical days are Tuesday so I had a 45 minute lunch date with Joe and that was it. He will be home next week for two weeks which is a blessing. However, we may end up taking a trip to CA to check in on Fred. He has been in the hospital since Sunday but is now having surgery today to pull bone fragments out of his spine (related to damage from Prednisone use) and will be on life support as his lungs are damaged from a recent bout of pneumonia. He is down to 167 pounds and not doing great. I am not ready to lose another Grandparent, especially "Grandma Fred". Let's all keep him in our prayers.
Between Mason expulsion and Fred's deteriorating health, I have been in tears and not able to focus on school. I did manage to study my chapter on drugs today but I am still behind on Pain Management and Bowel Elimination. Exciting stuff!
I am off to get Talan. Then Mason. Then some kiddo time before the babysitter comes at 6:30pm tonight. The day flew bye.

Cruise Photos

We went on a cruise last weekend around Lake Coeur d'Alene. It was fun and a much needed break from the frenzy of studying. I have an exam this coming Monday so I have another weekend of studying ahead of me. We have been playing games all morning. Mason has not asked for TV once in the past 4 days. A miracle and a total change in our way of living. I bought 4 different board games from the thrift store yesterday (Battleship, Zoocomafoo, Dandy Candy and something else) so we have been engrossed in learning how to play them. Considering it has started to rain and turned much colder here in Idaho, it is time for a lot more indoor playing. Of course, there are lots of battles over which game to play first etc. Mason isn't much of a good sport either which is Karma as I was a horrible sport as a kid too! Anyway, we did family fun night at the Kroc center last night. We brought Terran, our neighbor, with us. The boys paid his entrance fee from their piggy banks. It is a good lesson for them to learn how to be generous and pay for something meaningful vs. buying toys with their "own" money. Terran wants to come again this morning as we are just about to leave for yoga. I am very consistent about 10am yoga on Saturdays. I will let the boys figure out if they want to pay Terran's way again.

I will have the babysitter Danielle here most of the weekend so that I can study. I am trying hard to keep some balance in my life!