Now that that's done!

For those of you unfortunate enough to have read my recounting of Christmas evening you will understand why I decided to delete it (now if only I had a 'delete' button!). After unloading on some good friends and a beautiful lesson in RS today I have a renewed outlook. This is the season of HOPE, even if it is hope that we'll never have a repeat of this year. Even if the people who need it the most are unaware of it It (i.e. hope in Christ) is always there. I'll post pictures and an update on my Wii-tards later, love you all and hope you have a fantastic break!

Christmas time is here!

Yesterday we had the Fire Dept. Christmas get-together with the big man-Santa! It was so fun, last year was the first year and it's great because Santa brings a gift for each child. I don't have to drag my kids to the mall or anywhere else to check that off of my list!

Graduation was last week and I got straight A's again-yeah! I start again in a couple of weeks and I sit for my boards as soon as my degree posts. The kids are all getting bigger and soon the youngest will be out of diapers (real soon I hope!). The snow has been crazy but nice, especially cuz I'm not worrying about running to school or work. If it's going to be cold it might as well snow.

Capn is working Christmas and Christmas eve-bummer, but we've planned a sleepover at the firestation. I hope the kids have fun and that it's a Christmas to remember. I'm home with a sick little one today so hopefully that will be done before the big day!! Merry Chrismas to you all and may the New Year bring more happy memories with friends and family!

I know I've been slacking!

It must seem like I'm a slacker, not updating my blog for weeks at a time but I have been really busy! Promise! I passed my test last week-hooray! That took up enough time but I also finished up my clinical rotations this week. I hadn't worked 2 12hr days in a row-I was exhausted! I do like critical care though.
Capn took J&J to the Jazz game last night. A sweet friend gave us tickets. The boys were so funny, they took notebook paper and some glue and pens and made these UTAH JAZZ ROCKS! posters. Very ummm homemade I thought they were funny!
I am nowhere near done with Christmas shopping. Mostly cuz I don't know what to get. No one really has that have to have gift this year and I think I may be avoiding a bit. We don't need anymore 'stuff' and so much of it becomes 'junk' so quickly. I don't really want to buy a $50 XBOX game when I hate the XBOX and don't let them play often as it is. I might sit for my board over Christmas break-I won't get my score til my grades post (6 weeks) but it'd be nice to get it over with.
Thanksgiving was nice. My brother and his family were here from AZ and it was so fun to see their boys! My guys had a great time with them, I wish they lived closer. Maybe I could just move to AZ? I do love the sunshine!

Out of the mouths of babes...

We rented Kung Fu Panda last weekend so the boys had to watch it over...and over...and act it out. Any way I was sitting in the kitchen eating lunch when the 5yr old came up to me and said "You eat when you're upset!"
"What a thoughtful, philosophical, deep, observant child", I thought. And what a transparent parent I must be! I was actually worried for a minute until he started reeling off other quotes and I realized it was a quote from the Kung Fu panda movie! Funny boy!
I take my big test on Dec 2nd and if I pass I get to graduate on the 12th and actually enjoy Christmas! (until I have to take my boards in Jan!). It's nice to see the light at the end of the tunnell but it's coming awfully fast now!

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting!!!

So while I was at Costco at 6pm (with the rest of the county) my real estate agent calls. He says someone wants to see the house--in like an hour! Normally this wouldn't be a biggie but I was at costo, the kids hadn't eaten dinner and they NEEDED to bathe tonight. It took like 45 minutes to get home the lines to get your reciept checked were backed up to the registers at one point. It turned out fine in the end but weird. I try not to be around when the house is shown (besides, it's hard to see the house for the kids). You both kind of feel like you're interupting eachother.

After baths the boys still reeked of testoserone so wrestlemania broke out in my living room. One of those times when it's obvious we need more space (so they can get a running start at eachother). Ran my first long run in awhile. Got sunburned (sweet!) but realized that every public restroom between here and Highland is locked up for the season. I could post more but let's just say I'm glad they don't lock the port-a-johns on construction sites :).

I'm wiped out and Kell got a chocolate creme pie @costco--see ya!

Tagged

What were you doing 10 years ago?
1. Pregnant with my first
2. Court battles with Capn's Ex
3. Working at Morgan's
4. Helping in Special K's 1st grade class
5. Teaching 5-6yr old primary


What 5 things are on your "To DO" list today?
1. Laundry (always there)
2. Mom's Laundry
3. Go to school-Pharmocology test
4. Puncture someones artery (for school-not just for fun:)
5. Feed kids without using the stove (CO problem)


5 snacks that I enjoy
1. Peanut M&M's
2. Diet Coke counts right?
3. Left over halloween candy (snickers)
4. Swedish fish
5. Rosemary & Olive oil Triscuits


5 things I'll do when I become a multi-millionaire
1. Relax...
2. Travel
3. More school
4. Build a compound
5. Take care of my mom


5 places I have lived
1. Right here in downtown PG, UT
2. Orem, UT
3. Provo, UT
4. Munich, Germany
5. Midvale, UT


5 jobs I have had
1. Jewelry (asst mgr)
2. Shoe sales-2 different companies
3. Scooper at 31 flavors
4. Mom (taxi, maid, medic, kleenex, accountant, personal assistant.....)
5. Wife (won't list those :)


5 people to tag
1. Shauna
2. Her cute girl
3. Angi
4. Kris
5. I Dunno

Thank goodness for CO detectors!

So I went to bed at about 11pm. One of the littles woke me about 12am. At 1230am my CO alarm started going off. I read it and it said like 43, I thought 'not too bad' and took it off the wall and tested it-255ppm! I know a guy at the fire station, but he had his phone turned off so I thought I should just call dispatch-yeah, they put me on hold. Luckily I could page the capn on his fancy phone and they were just going to a call. When I told him what was up he told me to start the car and shlepp the kiddos out to wait for him. Not my idea of a good time. I mean CO wouldn't be a bad way to go, right? (just kidding)-but really.
So I got the kids in the car (this couldn't happen when it's warm, of course) and of course J&J have already exchanged blows. I waited in the car with the kids while capn & crew went through the house-I have to say how glad I am that we showed the house today so everything was amazingly clean-except (of course) my brazziere lying on the end of the bed. The stove was the culprit and the capn turned it off and opened some windows and stuff and my detector reads 0. I brought the kids back and put them to bed but I have to stay up for a bit to recheck before I drift off to never-neverland....

I'm not ready!!

I guess it is November but I am SOO not ready for the snow to be falling like it is! Oh crud I just remembered it's garbage day. So now I have to actually put on shoes to drag the can to the curb! I got up to run this morning, when I was up with whiny boys at 4:30 it looked clear so I didn't even look out til I went to step out the door @6. When I saw the snow I knew my runnning buddy would not be going out so I decided to stay in too. Glad I did. So even though I was up and dressed (to run) nearly 2 hours ago I sit here back in my PJ's with my pinf fuzzy robe and haven't got a whole lot accomplished. Okay I did run the trash to the curb.
I'm sure all of the Republicans are surprised to see that the sun did come up this morning (teehee). Glad I didn't have to stand in line for long.
We've had a few showings of our house this week and the realtor has said they've gone well, but no offers yet. It's funny though on our listing it says "Motivated sellers! Bring all offers!" I would probably describe us more as wishy-washy, especially since we haven't actually looked inside a new house for us! Whatever, I just hope people don't try to lowball us.
School is still crazy and my brain is usually full by 10am. My big test is less than 4 weeks away and I feel like there's no way I will ever feel ready. I have to pass this test to be eligible for the boards in January. Graduation is December 10th, or maybe it's the 12th? At any rate I'll have a few weeks off in December. I'd better go make sure I can find the kids coats!

Boo!

Halloween is not my favorite 'holiday'.These days when I hear 'holiday' it just translates into work and extra responsibilities. Sounds selfish and cynical I know. At any rate it is done. Although the tummy aches were present there has been no vomiting as of yet (knock on wood). I am tempted to go confiscate or um just thin out the trick or treat bags to avoid high fructose overdose tomorrow. The punks have succumbed to the sugar comas.

Mr. Manning (Peyton) was the only one able to go door to door. The littles refused their costumes and I won't let them just ask for candy without being dressed up. Mr. Potter was being punished for forcing our sweet, kind ,great (and by great I mean cheap) piano teacher into retirement. Not kidding. I have learned that no matter how coordinated you are and how many bungee cords and duct tape that you cannot force an 8yr old to play the piano. He will just repeat the same few bars for 8 1/2 minutes without regard to your mental state. Capn's crew did give him a special treat of choco donuts. He was picked up by the crew a few weeks ago and when they got back in the truck they found part of a package. The boy had been sneaking to the gas station to feed his donut problem. I thought it was very funny-Mr. Potter was just glad for the donuts!

Trick or Treat

My cute boys and patient husband carved pumpkins tonight. Not my favorite thing-the smell alone is bad enough (then there's boys with knives and markers). In years past I have sorted washed and roasted the seeds. Not this year. There was a bit of whining about that but it was pack meeting so they were distracted. I wish I had picts from that, they did this Goldilocks story that was so fun!

Our house is now officially for sale, sign and all. The right thing will come along right? The nice thing is that we don't really HAVE to sell so if we can't get what we want out of it we can just stay. If we do get what we want out of it just about anything bigger is a step up. I have enjoyed our little old house but it's little and it's old....

School is going well and all my clinicals for a while are in critical care, which I enjoy. For the record though-if for some reason I was hospitalized I would not want extreme measures to be taken-no vents-no feeding tubes etc. Now that we've got that out of the way, I would want drugs-lots of never remember a thing drugs. Just in case.

I started back running this morning-it's been a few weeks and even then it was 1/2 hearted. I am planning on the Painters 1/2 in January in St George though so I hope that motivates me (anything for sunshine in Jan). Not a whole lot of other stuff going on-Capn still loves his job and his job still seems to love him so that's a good combo. Our Primary sacrament meeting was Sunday and the boys did such a cute job and next year little C will be in too and I'll be sitting ALONE!

Bleeech! Micheale and the terrible, horrible no good very bad day!

I haven't updated in a while because I've been feeling yucky. I'm finally feeling better but had about a week of yucky. Last Tuesday we all stayed home from school and cleaned up puke. Of course after we took baths and I started puke laundry the water got backed up. I felt so crappy and the Capn was on duty but I called and he came to rescue me.Yeah!
I've been trying to catch up with school ever since. Oh yeah and painting my bedroom and building IKEA closets and...and...
One of the J's is having a '5 finger discount' problem, if anyone has suggestions I've tried grounding, locking things up, guilt-and more guilt, contracts and my bag o tricks is just about empty so suggestions would be welcome. Other than that Ky had a birthday-5yrs old, how did that happen?
Nigh, night!

Phrases I never thought would come out of my mouth

     Occasionally I say things to my children and when I listen to what I've said I am truly surprised. Some examples from today--"Don't lick my pillow", "Don't wipe your nose on the rug" and a classic from the past-"Don't put any part of that cat in your mouth".  These are things that you think intuitively they should know or would at least think twice before doing. I guess I could say the same thing about swallowing cinnamon though. My voice has returned and I haven't seen the crew from the station since--although Capn assured me they watched it over and over. 

     I do love conference weekend though. The 'together time' with the family is a little grating on the nerves at times, we were all within arms reach of each other which was way too tempting. Nit picking and annoying-ness ensued. We usually take a walk in between sessions and have a picnic to get the wiggles out but with the rain we couldn't. Now that the sun is out though we are watching "The Princess Bride". I've seen it a million times but it is still delightful--a classic. I must go fetch that pitchah!  

I am a dork! (I know-newsflash:)

Okay so after my shift in the PFT (pulmonary function test) lab I took the kids by the fire station to visit the Capn'. Well since the station is forever the junior high locker room they offered up a challenge: "The Cinnamon Challenge". Sounded simple enough, the rules simply are taking a full Tablespoon of cinnamon in your mouth and swallowing it-no time limit. I thought, why not!!
I should've known better, especially when they all pulled out their cameras. I dumped it in my mouth and was fine for a minute, my mouth immediately dried up so when I went to swallow it sucked down my throat and started to BURN! Of course the chorttling around me didn't help. Needless to say I failed. It was all caught on film--lucky for me because some were claiming they saw cinnamon coming out of my nose. The film proved otherwise but nonetheless my failure was humiliating. Capn' has a new phone with video if I ever feel like sharing. The worst part is that the burning continues and now I sound like I have laryngitis. I have only myself to blame.
That was the second test I failed today. After redoing several tests and taking a bronchodilator my breathing tests still showed me as obstructed. I hate failure, okay, if you know me I hate a B (or A-).
I'd better go pay attention to the VP debate but if Sarah Pahlin calls Mccain "Maverick"one more time I think I'll gag up more cinnamon!!

Worse than crack!

Okay, now that I add it up I've consumed well over 100 ounces of pure unadulterated cool refreshing diet coke today!! It's bad! When I think about weaning myself off the stuff I just think, I'm not a quitter!! What a viscious cycle, I get one to help me get through my day and get my stuff done, one with lunch, before the kids get home--you know how it goes, before I know it I'm exhausted and definitely need one to get me going first thing the next morning. Especially if I've been awakened at 4AM with my mind thinking of the endless responsibilities I have. I've done it before but I detest the second day headaches and frankly I'm a real witch for about a week (I know, just a week huh?;).
School's going well, I send in my graduation application this week. After my shift in the NICU my other clinicals seem so boring. We're starting adult ICU soon so hopefully that will be better.
The Capn was supposed to be on shift today but ended up coming home after a visit to the doctor about one of his black toe nails (infected) from last weekend. I guess he had it drained and seemed okay earlier but is now writhing in pain.
I got the bathroom painted yesterday and for such a tiny room it sure was a royal pain. Tomorrow I will find a storage place for 1/2 our crap so it doesn't look like the 7 of us are so crammed in here. But with the Capn out of commision who knows how much I'll really accomplish. I'll have to just make sure I get a big drink early so I can make it. Cuz you know I'll probably try to quit after my next final!:)

I can do 26.2!!

Wahoo! The Capn and I ran the Top of Utah Marathon in Logan on Saturday. It was awesome! I was worried when we got up at 4:30 in the morning and it had rained. It's hard enough deciding what to wear. We met some friends (Capn's cheif and his wife) and hopped on the bus to take us up the canyon to the starting line. That is an intimidating ride. First, you have all the jittery talking excited runners just babbling, the experienced collected runners giving advice to the newbies but the most excrutiating part was the length. That bus ride was probably close to an hour long. It just kept going and I kept thinking--"are we there yet?" (it's only 26.2 right?)Anyway, we got to the ranch up the canyon and filed out and into the potty line. It was surprisingly warm and sprinkling occasionally (much like me most of the race:). The run was gorgeous, the colors were changing and of course it was mostly downhill. It only rained on us a couple of times and we even had a rainbow! The first 15 flew by, the last couple were sooo long. I was huffin and puffin like a freight train--but I didn't stop. Capn' and I stuck together and it was good. Of course the people we came with finished like 40 min ahead of us, but for me it was about finishing. If you must know a time, our chip times came in at 4:27 and some seconds. It feels weird saying this but even though it was hard, I was expecting worse. I guess that's just cynical me--expect the worst and anything else is a pleasant surprise!! We spent the night both Fri&Sat and the kids were with the inlaws. I missed them. It was a busy week and I had worked 12 hrs Thursday (in the NICU-very cool) and was in school until I picked J&J up, then they went with grandma. It was nice to come home. Thanks for all the love and support, we did it!

Hijacked! (again)

For some strange reason I think I can have grand plans about all that I will accomplish on any given weekend. They invariably get hijacked and I end up being taxi or worse yet, babysitter. For those I haven't told we're listing our house which means my list of "to do's" just quadrupeled! I thought I would atleast get our normal weekend chores accomplished but no such luck. Soccer games started at 8am to 10am. Primary activity (I was called to help) from 10am til noon. Thought we'd walk down to the station to see the Capn' (on duty) and check out the Heritage festival. About this time I had just about had it with people and noise and keeping track of my kids. Then the mother in law called she had the other cousins and thought it would be fun to take them mini-golfing (code for: I have the cousins, no parents would you come let your kids entertain them and you can stay and help). There is not enough excedrin that would make me think this was a good idea, but there is always plenty of guilt.

So I did learn a few other things-there's a reason they don't charge for the 2yr old. Watch where your standing when others are swinging--4yr old got a nice goose egg from girl cousin. When an 8 yr old hits his ball into the bushes it doesn't matter if the ball he finds isn't the same color as the one hit. A 17yr old CAN text and golf at the same time. An afternoon with grandma isn't complete without high fructose corn syrup! Of course we finished about the same time as the BYU game. I thought to avoid traffic (and making dinner) I would run by Costco. Guess where all the BYU fans went after the game on Saturday? You guessed it--Costco. I appeased myself with one of the 7lbs of bliss chocolate cakes and finally headed home. After the baths for the littles (I was still wet from being splashed) the cubmaster dropped off some stuff for the cub committee meeting I was in charge of. The near overdose on chocolate was averted by dropping the rest of the cake by the station. Not the weekend I had planned but the 'to do' list will still be there tomorrow (i.e. early out day...okay it will be there for a while!:)

You got me! Tagged again!

My own personal FEMA director, Shaunana has tagged me with : Six things that make me happy.

1. Endorphins (naturally...or any way I can get them)

2. When Colbs rubs his tummy and pats his head and says: "Yummy in my tummy!" (taught this trick by older punks)

3. Hawaiian Burger (see #1)

4. Listenning to the boys read to eachother (even if it is Calvin&Hobbes)

5. The thought that some day (soon?) we won't be living so on top of eachother

6. Knowing that I have such a fabulous network of friends and fam that keep me afloat and love me and my family and go out of their way to keep my head up. I am "seriously so blessed" teehee--oh yeah, that's another one, blogs that make me laugh outloud!

I know this sounds cheesy but it has been a crazy week and right now without too much cerebral effort this is how I feel. Now it is time to TAG soooo (drumroll) : Angie/Chris, Steph and Kris You're it! Post 6 things that make you happy and then tag 3 more. Thanks guys!

Happy 17th Keyan!!

Monday our Special-K turned 17, wow. I haven't known him from the beginning but it sure feels like it sometimes. He was just 4 when I met him, same age as our little K. That's just weird. Same age as his dad when he was born, even stranger. I am so proud of the young man he's become--before this get any sappier suffice it to say I know I am one lucky stepmom to have such a great boy, and example for the other yahoos!
Monday Ang and I got up early (after listening to the rush of the rain gutters all night) and pounded out 20 miles. I kept saying how this was the perfect weather to do this--I shut up about mile 18 when it started getting really dark. We then mentioned things like "as long as it doesn't hail" , "I just hate the wind", "as long as my shoes aren't sloshy" and, "we can do anything for 2 miles". Well, mother nature must've been listening and she must have a sense of humor because not only did it start raining but blowing sideways into our faces, then came the hail, I was lucky to have on longsleeves, Ang wasn't so lucky. We were drenched and cold and my legs felt like bricks. We were lapping a nearby park because we were short 1/2 a mile. There was no way I wasn't going 20. I would just be disappointed if we hadn't finished so we sloshed and shivered and okay, Ang thought I was crazy but I actually laughed my way through the last of it and we pulled up in front of her house just as her Garmin beeped 20!! Horray for us!
Of course this was just the beginning of a marathon day--Capn was on shift so I took all of the punks to lunch (brick oven, yum) for K's birthday. Then it was time for his makeover, he already had the shoes but we went to the mall and got him a haircut, new jeans, shirts and a belt. Talk about a marathon! The young punks managed to fight enough through the mall to get grounded from the Xbox for a week. Finally it ended with cake&ice cream at the atation with capn and crew!

Well, I had to get them dirty!

Saturday Special-K had a XC race so afterwards the Capn and I went for a run. We ran to the shoe store and K met us there cuz he needed new shoes in a bad way. Well, my new shoes got bit of a hole in the toe when I took them on the trail. Funny thing, the guy at the store asked "do you run downhill a lot?" My reply:, "whenever I can!" (duh!). At any rate Capn said I could go ahead and get some trail running shoes, so I did!








Then we went for a hike up to what Capn refers to as "Cluff Falls" (what his dad called them)

All of them hiked pretty well, even Mr. Stinky pants! Cute huh? Even cuter with a bit of dirt on them--the shoes too!

In need of inspiration?

If you are ever feeling sorry for yourself or in need of an attitude adjustment follow this link:
http://tlmackey5.spaces.live.com/

This man has handled the hardships of life with such courage and HUMOR, he is an inspiration!

Another one bites the dustah!

My Ky started school on Monday. No hesitation, no fear, no nervousness-just excitement! I ignored the stares of the other (sobbing) parents as I skipped out of the parking lot with my single stroller! When he got home I asked what his favorite part of school was, I was expecting the J&J answers, lunch or recess, but he thought for a minute and answered: 'all of it!' Yeah! He's still excited and asked if he gets to go for a long day tomorrow (wait a minute, what does that say about me?). Such a spunky kid is sure to add excitement to any preschool so I hope this teacher is ready for some serious ' 4yr old, doesn't realize he's not a 17yr old' attitude!


I started back to school today. I realized that I thrive with enough chaos that I HAVE to have a plan, otherwise it is just random chaos. Mechanical ventilation-this should keep me in chaos for the next month. Here is another funny picture, I was supposed to have a picture for the preschool but Colby doesn't understand the 'just your brother' bit yet!

Cheese!

We had the raingutter regatta for cub scouts tonight and J&J took the gold and the silver! The two littles accompanied me to the scout office yesterday to pick up awards. Other than being down a few cookies on the gingerbread houses that were on display they fared pretty well. I guess if I'm on the 'puter I should really be entering scout info since its' NEVER been done and this is now my responsibility. So maybe I'll just shut down and go heat (10 sec) the raspberry filled powdered donught and pour some milk! Night!

Back to School!!

This is our 'walking carpool' on the first day of school, they were so excited (as were we:). Ky is bugging me everyday-"is this a school day for me?", "Tomorrow? The Tomorrow after that?" On Monday he will be starting preschool-everyday!! Okay, weekdays, when school is in session. Exciting anyway.
I ran with my friend Ang on Monday and she introduced me to a new strange form of torture. We were doing 16 mi and she told me about how she was planning on an ice bath. I know, a WHAT? I've heard about elite runners soaking their legs in ice water after races but never considered this as something normal people would willingly do. Ang said to run it on cold and soak for atleast 15 minutes then soak in hot and I wouldn't be sore the next day.
I ran the bath and psyched myself up for the entry, which was painful. I brought my watch to make sure. I sat very still, Ang said the more you move the colder you feel. When I looked at my watch, sure my time must be up I found it had only been 5 minutes! My toes were FREEZING! That was probably the worst part, I kept thinking, I'd rather be running, I'd rather go 5 more miles than subject my body to that shock. When all was said and done though I must admit I felt great, no stiffness and barely sore the next day. I'm not sure if I can make myself do it again though, eventhough it may be good for me the thought makes me shiver!!

Getting Better all the time

Things are certainly looking up, for starters, Capn and I survived speaking in church today, shoosh! It was so tempting to sneak out the back door or come up with some debilitating disease or move. Secondly, J&J go back to school tomorrow!!! Ky starts next Monday, and I go back next Tuesday. I like structure. Maybe that's why I've been in a funk lately.
Speaking of funk there is suddenly a funky smell coming from our swamp cooler. I know, disgusting, I can smell it all the time. I hope the Capn can get up there tomorrow and figure it out. Or maybe we should just move. Do you sense a common theme? I'm getting the bug, looking at classifieds and pulling flyers from homes out of my range.
I would write more but I need to go feed my caffeine headache (ice cream). Go USA!!

Here I am wwilfing (what was I looking for?) on the computer when I really need to be working on my talk for tomorrow. Our topic is home storage and self reliance. Our congregation really doesn't want to listen to me complain about all the people I know/see that are mooching and how completely wrong it is, they don't want to hear me preach about food storage--again. I'm just not sure what direction to go because I'm in a kind of negative place right now and everything positive has been reiterated a million times. But really, I did find a blog about food storage, it was pretty cool--that's how I'd rather learn about food storage and preparedness, a blog!
The darn Olympics has been keeping me up every night. On Thursday I SWORE I was not staying up--sleep is more important than who one what. Then it was Nastia and I got sucked in and had to watch. Unfortunately that shot down my NO DIET COKE goal for yesterday because I needed that little pick-me-up. Which reminds me, has anyone seen that mcdonalds commercial they keep showing with all of these athletes holding their new sandwhich?? Yeah right, none of those guys would be caught dead eating at mickey d's.
I am feeling like the white trash queen. Yesterday a friend and I decided to trek it out to the county fair. It was free and our boys could earn a cub scout patch. So on our way we drove by this bank, I noticed that they were setting up for their customer appreciation day. So we went to the fair. Just a tip, DON'T WEAR FLIP FLOPS to the fair!!Open toes are not what you want chasing 4 boys through muck and mire! I succeessfully avoided the carnival section and picked up free balloons and water bottles. When the boys started complaining they were hungry I asked if hot dogs were okay-the boys said fine but were confused when we went back in to the car. We drove back to the bank and hijacked their customer appreciation day. I have a twinge of guilt-which I guess seperates me from true white trash but I do have a debit card from this bank (though I'm just on the account). Once the kids were full of nitrates and high fructose corn syrup we went back to the car without even going in the bank which they were probably grateful for since their fingers were covered in cheetoh orangeness.
I went to my moms so I could take her her laundry and mow her lawn. Because you know my able bodied brother who lives in her basement rent free and had the day off just couldn't (see first paragraph for source of sarcasm). The two littles fell asleep and it was cool enough that since I parked in the shade and opened both side doors they could stay asleep while I mowed. So they actually slept while I mowed right next to them, I was surprised. When they awoke and after I obliterated a sprinkler head Mr colbs emptied like a whole roll of TP in the toilet, which Ky of course peed on and flushed. So I spent like a 1/2 hr trying to unclog the nasty toilet (this is why I but cheap toilet paper).
The boys are sleeping at the inlaws tonight for the last hoorah of the summer (hoorah!!). So I guess that's when I'll write my talk☻

Back in service

My new shoes!

The desktop is up and running! Yeah! The laptop is still dead so I'll have to wrestle the punks for time on the desktop.

The countdown is on, school for J&J starts MONDAY!! THIS MONDAY! Unfortunately I have to speak in church on Sunday, crap. Too bad I have a conscience and can't say no.

I checked my grades for last semester-straight A's!! I can't believe it, 22 credit hrs. Shoosh. Now I need to meet with one of those academic advisors about degree paper work.

After my long run on Monday I realized the ugly blister on my foot (new shoes) was getting uglier so Tuesday I decided to do yoga. It felt great!! Problem was that afterwards I had to chase down Colby to change him. He squirmed the wrong way and I wrenched my back. Have I mentioned that I'm not a pleasant person when I'm in pain? My family can tell you. I bought some of those sticky heat pads-awesome! What I really need though is drugs. I don't keep a backstock of anything stronger than excedrin so I might have to make a trip to my source (mom).

My computer issues are still unresolved but the pump for the cool looking fluid coolant for the new system should be delivered soon (long story that I shouldn't share publicly). Needless to say my IT guy (Capn) gives no thought to administrative cost in building his system.
I have been out of school for about a week, shoosh. The wife of one of the guys in my class passed away this week so I'll have a funeral to attend next week(my favorite--not).
Capn and I went running this morning. Millcreek to brighton and boy I felt like an old windbag huffin and puffin but I haven't really been sticking to my training so I shouldn't be surprised. It was beautiful and I feel great (now). These people we went with are simply crazy, they're running little peices of the 100 miler they're doing in a few weeks. The chick was like, yeah, it's great when you get to this point and you ONLY have 25 miles left, and this is where I got sick last year and remember that time when you got pulmonary edema hahaha.Cookcoo! But really it was great of them to drag me along because I needed that. We have had many adventures that I hope to share soon.
Yeah olympics! For the next two weeks whenever I turn on the tv (day or night) there will be something positive and inspiring on!! Go USA!

Disconnected!

Both of my computers are down so I haven't had the chance to apologize for the whining last post. My mom is doing perfectly--going back to work tonight. I have one more test and one more clinical (tonight) before the end of the term and the kids go back to school August 17th so things are looking up :) We also have our Special K for a couple of weeks so maybe we can actually have some sort of summer vacation.
My posts and responses may be sporadic for a while until my IT guy (Capn) gets things figured out. Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'm off to the dentist! Joshers and Ky both have 2 cavities but it could be worse (my appt is tomorrow).

Blogspot, take me away!

Okay I have been way busy but since nobody elses' blogs seem to have new posts I'll have to update mine :).
Where do I begin? I had the clinical rotation from heck last Saturday. Capn covered someones shift before I even got home Sat and most of Sunday. Monday...seems so long ago, oh yeah, Capn was on shift, we walked over to the park by the station my mom went to Er throwing up blood.
Tuesday I had school, Corey was able to watch the kids took mom to endoscopy on my lunch break. Raced through a test because they wanted to do a flouroscopy on mom--way cool to watch. Took mom home and rushed home so the Capn could get to the station.
Wednesday, talked to mom in the morning and said I was planning on mowing her lawn. After lunch I went over to mom's but she wasn't there and wasn't answering the cell. I thought "she better not have driven herself to the ER!", she wouldn't be that silly right? I was inside moms trying to figure out how we were going to fix the borrowed lawnmower (capn' ran over the pull string) when moms phone rang, it was mom calling from the ER! Ran home to grab my scrubs, picked up the special K (Keyan) and got to the ER about 1/2 hr before my clinical. I saw mom who seemed to be doing fine, other than being anxious and annoyed after sitting in ER all day not knowing what the Dr was planning on! Luckily the gal I worked with was awesome so when they finally admitted mom I went up to be with her.
Needless to say they FINALLY performed surgery this afternoon and hopefully the problem is solved (removed the slipped lap-band). Can I take a breath now? After making sure mom was properly cared for (i.e. threatening the RN to keep an eye on her or I would hunt him down) I finally ended up at the neighborhood "Culdesac-of-Fire!" Thankfully it was about 10pm when the J's broke the rules (I am the safety-queen) and we went home.
Since I have absolutely nothing else to be responsible for I am the one who told the instructer at school I would bring a laptop on days our classes have to be given online (i.e. tomorrow). No sooner had I forwarded the link to tomorrows lecture than I heard a pop from the back of the laptop and it went black. Of course it's 11pm and too late to call so I sent out an SOS to anyone else willing to bring theirs.
The Diet Coke is wearing off now and so my bionoics are failing. I just wish I could look forward to a nice, relaxing weekend--school all day tomorrow, 12hr shift Saturday, Capn working Sun/Mon, oh yeah and I've got to take care of my mom, laundry, dishes, groceries and those little punks somewhere in there too. Sometimes it sucks being the responsible one. I'd rather do it than leave it undone so I guess I can't complain:)

MAMMA MIA!!

How funny this movie truly was!! Some of the girls and I saw this together tonight and laughed our tails off. Of course tonight I will be dreaming of a chateau on a greek island with ABBA in the background. It was nice to unwind after a hectic week and with a hectic weekend in front of me.
No sooner have we finished baseball (not technically cuz Josh has the field of dreams Aug 2nd where he gets to stand with the pros during the national anthem). But anyway, soccer practice started today. Atleast J&J will be on the same team so I only have to worry about being 2 places at once--until Keyan's season start.
School is going well and I'm kind of getting into a rhythym juggling clinicals and class. I have been in sort of a funk lately. I think it's because my routine is off. I haven't been able to run regularly and that just throws me. I tried to run yesturday afternoon (yeah, 3pm=95') stupid I know but I thought I could. I ended up walking quite a bit because I couldn't get my heart rate down. Funny cause I ran today and it was well below what it was yesterday walking. I'm not sure if anyone understood that--now maybe I'm just spewing. Regardless, I am a planner-I must plan. I need to have a plan for when the Capn' is on shift so I don't get caught up in the "I can't get up and run so I don't feel like getting up at all" cycle, which just makes me feel like crap so then I eat like crap, drink too much diet coke (if there is such a thing, sorry if I offended anyone:) and end up wwilfing (what was I looking for?) on the computer and going to bed way too late. Which, now that I mention it, I do have to be @ the hospital @6am so I'm signing off!

Summer fun

The Grotto-Payson Canyon with the inlaws
Colbs, Keyan, Kyler and Skiley
Colby-no fear
Keyan and Kyler

Pigeon?
OOps! Jacobs bday cake, don't know how to delete :)

We have been so busy! Here are some pictures of what we've been up to. Notice the pigeon. Yeah, the Cap'n brought this home from his run Friday night. He said it followed him--that still did not explain why it was in my kitchen. Of course the children had to name it-I preferred Joshua's name for it (feathers) to Jacob's name (pecker). I didn't really want to explain to Ja why I flinched when he called it but neverless the pigeon has (hopefully) flown the coop by now. If it doesn't go soon I fear that my cat may have a tasty feast. The older boys just finished swim lessons for the summer and baseball is over so hopefully we can relax and enjoy some more downtime, that is what summer's all about isn't it?

School and work (clinicals, I don't actually get paid) have kept me busy and the heat has kept me from running my scheduled runs. I have a 20mi run scheduled for this week, hopefully that will happen but I'm not sure what else I can sqeeze in. We met some friends at the park this afternoon and now it is (dreaded) xbox time. Legos have been big again at my house, they go rom being ignored to being fought over. Last week the boys and I went up to cascade springs, it was beautiful and actually a nice time. Any ideas for other fun (by fun I mean cheap) things to take the fam to this summer? The Bean museum and earth science museum as well as the botanical gardens at BYU are fun (free) local things, any other ideas?

57:12, my official chip time for the Provo freedom run 10K. Not too bad, not exactly a winning time but everybody gets a medal so we're all winners right? Keyan ran the 5k and did awesome, like 34th overall. That's how our independence day got started.
In the afternoon we went up Payson canyon to 'the grotto'. It was pretty cool, baby C loved hiking, that boy didn't slow down and certainly didn't need me holding his hand (even crossing the log bridges). I took some great picts but the laptop is pschizo and the 'home' computer is a pain to load stuff on so I'll do it later. I'll also post some shots of the boys on the slipnslide at the inlaws. We laid down some heavy plastic on the hillside next to their house and put the hose on-they had a great time then we set up the big blow up slide above it so they would slide down the blowup and plop out onto the plastic and down the hill.
I was too pooped for fireworks (I had to be @the hosp@ 6am). Keyan walked the boys over though and the cap'n gave them a ride home on the engine. It was a long full day and the kids were sure wound up, speaking 'whinese' all day long! The two littles fell asleep so that was my excuse for staying home. Anyway, sorry this is kind of a random rambling post but that's how my life goes!

Another fun game from Kris

My friend Kris issued this challenge on her blog. BTW I hope to pimp my blog soon !!

this is how you play...
1. comment on my blog including one memory that you and i had together. it doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot
2. next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. it's actually pretty funny to see the responses. if you leave a memory about me, i'll assume you're playing the game and dance down memory lane with you in your comments on your blog. if you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, i'll leave my memory of you in my comments.
3. Everyone can play-but let's play nice. I would love to hear crazy stories from a remember when scenario.... I've done some things I have repressed... come on, now, let's make me relive 'em! See? Easy Peasy.
here's an example for those visually impaired~I don't know you personally, but I remember the time when you had a wasp land on your nose and the only thing that saved you was your NINJA-LIKE reflexes

Happy (Fiscal) New Year!!

Last night the city held a 'new years' celebration at the park. We had a BBQ then everyone was invited over to the theatre for a movie. I was so stinkin' tired that I had the Capn' take his oldest boy so I could go to bed. Of course, what's New Years without fireworks at midnight? I think I vaguely remember some popping sounds after dark.
One reason I was so exhausted was that I did my long run yesterday morning. I'm not feeling 100% and I didn't really want to (or is it really didn't want to?) but the rest of the week just gets busier. I was supposed to run 18 but ended up with 17.5, that rounds up to 18 right?
I rode the bus to school again today. I think I may do it more often since they stopped providing the shuttle from our designated parking lot (Egypt). The bus takes about the same amount of time and drops me off at the door! That's just funny that I'll voluntarily run a stupid amount of miles each week but I'll take the bus to avoid walking that extra 1/2mile!! I guess if you've seen the insane amount (and size) of books that I have to shlepp you'd understand. After school we had a Tball game then Josh's game and now it's veg-time so I'd better get busy!! Oh, and Happy New Year!!

I've Been Tagged!

This is the first time I've been tagged so I hope I don't screw it up too bad!

What I was doing 20 years ago (wow, I'm old) 1988:
1."Ratting" my bangs
2.Harassing the vice principle with the Elvis hair @jr high (Brother, oh, I mean Mr, Jacklyn)
3. Sneaking into stake dances

What I was doing 10 years ago 1998:
1. Was sealed in the temple (March 28th)
2. Working at Morgan Jewelers
3. Custody battle with Keyan's mom (drama)

What I was doing 5 years ago 2003:
1. Baking in the hottest summer ever big huge prego with Ky
2. Taking Jacob to the ER for stitches on the 24th of July (see #1)
3. Enjoying not owning a television (mother in law fixed that at Christmas-she thought it was neglegent I think:)

What I was doing one year ago 2007:
1. Taking online prereq classes
2. buying a road bike
3. having my appendix removed (you all know that story)

What I've been doing so far this year:
1. Ran 2 half marathons
2. Started school full time (and more!)
3. Enjoyed the greatest friendships!!

What I was doing yesterday
1. Doing my visiting teaching @JCW's
2. Having a shake with Kell @JCW's
3. Working a clinical rotation til 2am

What I was doing today (June 26th):
1. Boys to swim lessons
2. Summer get together @Ang's (thanks)
3. Planning on a run with Ang (after 2 ball games)

What I'm doing tomorrow:
1. Taking my guys to 'Saint Kelly's' and heading to class
2. Taking a test on EKG's and CPR
3. Hopefully playing a bit before the kids go to grandmas for a sleepover

Next year 2009:
1. Pass the CRT boards and getting a respiratory care license
2. Run the Wasatch back (and like it)
3.visit my sister in Texas (since she won't come see me!)

Okay so now I don't know who to tag-Ang and I have the same friends so I'll tag my sister Steph and my sister in law, Angie! You're it! Thanks!

Fun in the Sun!!

Since my sister isn't coming out to visit this summer I have been having guilt about what to do with my kids this summer so my kids feel like they've had a vacation. Thankfully I have been getting together with some friends and their kids at the park on occasion and today we went to my friend Ang's house and played in her fabulous back yard! The kids had a great time and I got to just sit and relax with 'the moms'! This probably doesn't seem like a big deal to most of you but it was just what I needed! You see, oftentimes, fun for the kiddos equals work for mom so it was great to see them having so much fun and being able to relax and enjoy myself for a few hours (plus I got to pretend there wasn't laundry waiting for me at home). Now the little guy is asleep and the others are vegging in front of the tube. I should really go study EKG's for my test tomorrow, I know, I could overwhelm myself with the good times but I guess it's a risk I have to take.

Goodbye forever math!!!

I just got an email from my Math Prof. and ended up with an A-! Yeah,no more math (I'm doing 'the dance').
While trying to find a missing shoe for church yesturday I made the mistake of looking under the couches. I interrupted the breeding dustbunnies and am now going to make the transformation from the sweet person you all know into-'psycho cleaning girl', my alter ego that shows up a certain time each month (or when I can't stand the dust on the ceiling fan). Of course the Cap'n is in bed so he will only witness the aftermath. This will all have to wait until after swim lessons though-and after I pick up a diet coke (yup I fell off the wagon-or more appropriately jumped). I am not in the mood for today to be one of those teaching moments where I have the kids do their jobs and I don't criticize, I just want them out of my way so I can get it done. Since I know the second won't happen I'll try to assign them to things starting in their room so I can get started with fewer interruptions. I do need to get organized and have a job chart-one of the excuses I make for not having the kids assigned jobs. I'd better stop before I overwhelm myself with reasons to feel guilty!

Sigh!

This is my time of year, low 90's and sunshine! Too bad so much of it is spent indoors. I haven't even been to the pool yet. I started clinicals this week and discovered a new tired. I ran 15 miles on Thursday and was wiped out but not nearly as drained as I was after a 12hr shift on Saturday. Maybe it's just stress from realizing how much of 'an art' medicine actually is!
I took my Math final on Wednesday and had been expecting to get an A (I'm weird like that). After the final though I'm just hoping for a C so that I never have to take math again! I haven't heard how it ended up I just hope the Prof is generous in his grading! I wish I could post more but I'm off to the in-laws (worth the drive so I don't have to cook).

Happy Father's Day!!

Another crazy week has come and gone!! Jacob had his 9th birthday on Wednesay so I no longer have 2 8yr olds. These guys just keep growing. We had baseball all week too which was exhausting--Why do I sign them up when I find my self praying for the games to be cancelled? Probably 'mothers' guilt, you know that feeling of neglect if you don't let them do everything they show a passing interest in. I have to keep reminding them that they once BEGGED for piano lessons!
We had Keyan for the day today so that was great-such a great boy!! The Cap'n had to work but came home for much of the day-we watched 'The greatest game ever played'. I cooked a lame dinner (was actually thinking we'd be @the inlaws and I wouldn't have to cook). Now the kids are all in bed, the dishwasher has been run and the washer is empty. THREE MORE DAYS OF MATH!! Can you tell I'm ready to be done?
I actually rode the bus to school (the hospital) on Friday. A bit nerve-wracking but successful nonetheless. The only real problem was the lady that got on at DI and sat next to me that had absolutely no concept of personal space. I am not a touchy-feely person as it is so this was hard for me. i am now officially eco-friendly, right?

Fallen out of the blogosphere!!

It has been a jampacked couple of weeks!! Joshua had a birthday and got baptized, the kids got out of school for summer, they tried out for swim team (ended up signing up for swim lessons), school for me gets crazier every day and frankly you're glad i didn't have time to blog about Josh's baseball (rec baseball) coach. After his 2 page manifesto on his coaching philosophy, objectives for the season and expectations of parents I was ready to shove it down his throat.
I showed good sportsmanship and a lot of restraint and Josh is still on his team (I believe he is well-intended). Josh, Jacob and Kyler are all on different teams this year which means we are pretty much doing baseball 4-7 mon-thurs. Kyler is such a hoot to watch though!! He always wants to bat-no matter what part of the inning or how many times he hits if no one is watching he finds a helmet (learned from the safety-queen!) and sticks a ball on the T and starts swingin! It's fun watching the coaches get exasperated with him!!(did I say that out loud). If you have ever been around Kyler much you know that half the fun is watching how people respond to 'his ways'.
I would love to write more but I have cub scout daycamp at 7am tomorrow and I finished a big final for my RT class so my brain is empty.

Check out my Slide Show!

Memorial Day Weekend!

I have always really enjoyed memorial day weekend. In high school it was fun and party weekend. In college it was Lake Powell. Now it's totally different but nice. I live like a block away from the cemetery (I run there about every morning) and this time of year the feeling just driving by is all about family and honoring and good stuff.
I took my kids to the Provo cemetery where my family is and it was awesome (after Colby was strapped into the stroller for playing 'hopscotch'). I feel bad that I don't go back more regularly. My kids are amazing. Jacob brought home a certificate saying he tested in the top 10% nationally in social studies and math (yeah, I know, math?). What a smarty pants--he insists he would've had science too but he wasn't in class that day. Colby is so funny his new phrases are: 'that's asgusting!' and this sneaky 'hee!hee!hee!'. Hope you all enjoy the holiday!

25 Reasons I owe my Mother

A friend forwarded this to me, thought you guys might appreciate it!

25 Reasons I Owe my Mother:

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE. "If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."

2. My mother taught me RELIGION. "You better pray that will come out of the carpet."

3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL. "If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

4. My mother taught me LOGIC. " Because I said so, that's why."

5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC. "If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT. "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."

7. My mother taught me IRONY. "Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."

8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS. "Shut your mouth and eat your supper."

9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM. "Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

10. My mother taught me about STAMINA. "You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

11. My mother taught me about WEATHER. "This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."

12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY. "If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE. "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION. "Stop acting like your father!"

15. My mother taught me about ENVY. "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."

16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION. "Just wait until you father comes home."

17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING. "You are going to get it when you get home!"

18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE. "If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way."

19. My mother taught me ESP. "Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"

20. My mother taught me HUMOR. "When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT. "If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

22. My mother taught me GENETICS. "You're just like your father."

23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS. "Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"

24. My mother taught me WISDOM . "When you get to be my age, you'll understand."

25. And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE. "One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you

Feeling Guilty?

Okay, strangest thing happened today. I came home after shlepping the boys home from a friends house (thanks super-Shauna :). There on the kitchen table was a new digital camera (for me). The Cap'n said 'do I have to have a reason?' At this point frankly, YES! Wonder what he's feeiling guilty about???
Good news is that hopefully I'll upload some new pics of my guys soon! We're dog-sitting my moms little yappie dog. Why do I seem to be the token dog sitter-especially for these pampered rat-dogs. Less than a month ago I took care of The Cap'ns aunts maltese. This dog was seriously high maintenance. I hope I always have something more to do than spoil a little furball. I'm paranoid about someone 'accidently' letting the little dog out and having to call mom and tell her, I've actually thought--when would I tell her? would I wait til she got home? I guess I'd better use the new camera to take a picture so I have something for the LOST posters!!

Food=Friend

Hi. Cheer up! I Miss you! You Rock! Oops! Messages from a friend you say? Of course--Hersey's kisses!!! Emotional eating is no longer subtle, these messages found on the little flags that accompany my chocolate friends have been ignored for so long that when I actually paid attention (instead of wadding it up with the silver wrapping) I was surprised!! Chocolate has always said good things to me but now with these and the wonderful messages on the wrappers of the decadent Dove chocolates they have taken emotional eating to a whole new level! YUM
Father's and son's outing was last night. Macho man took my older boys and left the 2yr old. You'd think this would be fantastic-a relief of sorts for me. So did I, until they came home. How many loads of laundry will it take to recover? Not sure, I'm still working on it because daddy had to go to work so mommy had 3 very tired whiney little punks all day. The meltdowns started early and are still going on. It's only 7:30 but I sent them all to bed already-I started baths at like 5 cause I knew it was gonna get ugly.
I finally planned out a menu today. For some reason I think there is less guilt attached to having mac'n'cheese for dinner if it's "on the menu" :) The weather has been beautiful, unfortunately that means the grass needs to be watered, of course that means it'll just grow and make more work! I'm ready to move. When we bought this place we wanted a 'big yard', how niave we were! I guess as long as the sun keeps shining I shouldn't complain. Schools going fine, aced my first RT test Friday, I'll see if I'm keeping afloat in math on Monday. 5 more weeks of math!!! (too bad there's so many formulas and crud in RT!) Oh well, I guess I don't mind math when there's a practical application-it's all of this "how many possible full houses are there in a normal deck of cards if you have 2 sevens and 3 eights?" Like I care-the only full house I care about is the one in my hand (or not)! Oh well, by the way the answer is :24 (if you care) Run on!

Back to Crazytown!!

AHHH! Finally I can take a breathe! Yesterday was so insanely busy! The little punks spent the day with grandpa in Salem. This worried me for many reasons. He had never changed a diaper for starters and there's the pond, the horse, the electric fence as well as all the common objects these guys can use to create bodily harm. Other than a sunburn they none the worse for wear! They mowed the lawn with the riding lawnmower and went out on the paddle boat and had an overall great time! I actually am very grateful grandpa is willing to have them for the day!
Then there was scouts and cleaning the church and dinner and relief society and dinner and homework and finally bed!
I took a math test today on logic-lame but anytime I can use my suduko skills and get credit for it is good!

Monday, Monday...

Early out days ruin my life. By the time I get Kyler to preschool it feels like it's time to go get J&J. As soon as they come home we turn around and get Kyler. Now I really should be fixing dinner but I really don't want it. Blogging is a great avoidance tool.
I should really have a menu planned. That takes planning and since I have time to blog I don't have the time or energy to plan a menu! (see how I justified my slacking:).
The new camera was a no-go. Each of the boys gave me new cool stuff for my bike. A flat tire repair kit (previously my cellphone). A multitool (what's that for?) and a cyclocomputer that will track how much I'm not riding it:)! It wasn't too bad. Macho-man came home sick from work Friday, then went to a movie with Keyan and then on a search & rescue call (until 730am). Of course he was too tired (and sick) to go to church. I should stop now-I can sense the resentment oozing onto the page! We went to the inlaws and stopped by my moms house and all in all it was a good mother's day.

Thank you to the Math Gods!

AHHH! My math final finally made its way to SLCC. It only took 11 days to get that 50 miles through our beloved USPS. It is done (A).
My respiratory classes started full bore yesterday. Did I say bore? They really aren't bad. We are given time to work on stuff in class which totallt helps me. I get so easily sidetracked at home. Our instructors are pretty casual about the lectures and insist they are there to help us.
We are coming to the end of school for the boys. Kyler only has one full week left and 'graduates' from preschool the next Wednesday. Maybe I'll post pictures since I asked for a new digital camera for Mother's day. Corey insists we don't need one because we have a big fancy-schmancy one he bought for christmas a few years back. I never use it. I want a point and shoot type. We'll see! Happy Mother's day to you all out there, love ya!

Okay, so I stopped by D.I. last night and I found a little bike like the one Jacob and Josh learned to ride on. It may even be the same one. Anyway it is very close to the ground and has wide tires so if it is nice outside today I might try and help Kyler learn today. He is very stubborn though so it will depend on his mood. Or I can clean out his room and drawers so he has some shorts to wear-not that he will. He doesn't handle change well, if I actually do my hair and it's not in a pony tail he tells me to go fix it. If I wear different earings he asks what is in my ears and insists I go change them. When I get him new clothes or shoes he insists-those aren't mine. One day he will grow out of the red dinosaur shirt he wears every other day so we'll have to work through that one. Anyway, off to the next adventure!

I am the luckiest stepmom!

I just got back from Keyan's soccer game. His team won, he really is a great player! He told me tonight he'd rather run for 2 1/2 hours than endure soccer practice for 2 1/2 hrs so I think he's glad that Thursday is his last game for the season. What a great kid! His game didn't end 'til 7:45 and he's supposed to be home by 8:30 (of course we were supposed to have him @5:30). His mom insisted we couldn't switch nights so we (me and the boys) went and got ice cream and took him back. He showed me his prom pics and they were sweet.
It's been crazy town at my house today! I went to school for orientation this morning and am excited! I then went and took the drug screen and went for a run (after I dropped off moms' laundry). Took a shower, Walmart, scouts, dinner then Keyan. Now I'm just kind of sitting here waiting for things to slow down so I can catch up.
Oh, more math drama. The math final I took last Tuesday is MIA. My proctor said she took it by hand in the envelope the school provided and dropped it in the mailbox at the city center. SLCC hasn't seen it. With a zero for the final I still have a 77% for the class but the hitch is that to pass the class you have to get 50% or higher on the miderm & final. What a pain! Math and I just can't seem to get along. Grades were due today so I hope something can be done before my head totally spins around !

One of those days

I had one of those days (okay, two). You know when you finally get everyone settled down and you think 'really, I obviously wasn't cut out for this!' Okay, maybe it's hormones (hate that excuse-but it's real) or stress 'cause REAL school starts this week or that Corey has been on shift since Sunday but I just feel like I am not as nice as I would like to be. I made Kyler wear pink Dora pullups (after he took the spiderman ones off) because he had like 4 accidents yesterday. Is that child abuse?? He eventually ripped them off too and went to bed in underwear. Colby is a little sassbox-wonder where he gets that and while it is kind of cute now it won't always be.
Wow-whine, whine, wine?(just kidding). I really have the greatest boys in the world, sometimes I just wonder if I deserve them. I mean, they deserve someone who knows what she's doing-so if you meet her let me know. Until then I'll fake it til I make it!!
It's finally beautiful and in the 70's outside, I wonder how witchy I'd be if it was still cold and gloomy? The sushine helps my attitude and as Scarlet says: "After all, tomorrow is another day!"

The stomach flu is upon us!

When I heard Jacob up in the bathroom this morning I knew something wasn't right. I went in in time to hand him the garbage can as he sat there. Corey is on shift today so we had to stay home from church. I usually really enjoy fast Sunday so I'm bummed. I've heard there's something going around so I hope it doesn't get the rest of us.
It's funny, Kyler's favorite show lately is Cinderella. He thinks the mice are funny and LOVES the fairy godmother. He plays magic wands with a pencil and Joshua, who of course spews Harry Potter spells. I told Joshua today 'no curses', he insisted they weren't curses, just chants. At what point does this Harry Potter thing become unhealthy? He just started book 7, this will be the fourth time he's read all 7 books.
Went for a nice long run yesterday afternoon, longer than I'd planned but my knee felt fine,until I slowed down for a cool down walk. It's the strangest thing. I'm sick of it. I started my official marathon training this week so we'll see if I can keep on schedule-20 weeks to 26.2!
The Jazz have the Lakers this afternoon, hope they can handle Kobe!

Bring back GLOBAL WARMING!!!

I am ready for some serious sunshine! Ready to feel the sting of the first sunburn and stick to my leather couches! What is this 50 degree business-I want 80's+! I took Jacob and Josh to the pool last night. They want to try out for the swim team and since we haven't been in the water since last summer I thought I'd better make sure they won't drown. I think Jacob will be okay but I'm still a bit worried about Josh-if he gets tired instead of dog paddling he holds his breathe and sinks til he touches the bottom and bobs back up for a breath. I told him he won't be able to do that when it's too deep! we'll see what happens though! After the pool I was starving so I took the boys to 'the barn' (JCW's). It isn't often I get the chance to be alone with my older guys and it was really nice. We came home and got into our cozy jamas and watched the Jazz beat the Rockets, Hooray!! I let the older boys stay up until half time-mistake I'll pay for until bedtime tonight. ATTITUDES! :( Swimming made me miss the summertime and I can't wait to bake in the hot hot sun!
Oh yeah, I went with Kyler on his preschool field trip to the Bean museum. We didn't lose anybody but those animals were probably more manhandled than they'd been in a long time. Amazing how many 4 yr olds don't understand 'don't touch!'

Booring!

Okay, it had been a while since I sat in a classroom for a math lecture. I'm used to doing stuff online and at my own pace so I read ahead to make sure I would understand the section. What a stinkin waste of time! Oh well, I can do anything for 7 weeks and I guess if I'm bored it's better than being confused.
My knee started hurting after my run on Monday so I bought one of those knee straps and I was able to run this morning. Hope it keeps working because bad knees are in my genes! I get to go with Kyler's preschool to the Bean museum tomorrow...can you sense my enthusiasm? Could be worse I guess. I'm not even going to mention the Jazz game--until it's over tomorrow. Not much else going on tonight. Love you all!

Wow! A whole afternoon without math! I took my math final this morning and I don't start my next math class until tomorrow! Of course I had cub scouts and picking up Keyan making dinner and doing laundry to occupy me!
Keyan is such a good kid. He went to prom last Saturday and I didn't think he was going so I asked him what happened. He said a girl in his old ward had 2 guys back out and she already had a dress and everything but no date. What a sweatheart!
Not only do I have the greatest kids on the planet but my friends are fantastic! Tonight when I was getting ready to take Keyan home Kelly showed up with a bag full of goodies for my first day back to school! She knows that while I've been taking classes for a while it's been like 15yrs since I sat in a classroom so she thought I needed a new notebook and pens and pencils. What a thoughtful thing to do. This is after she watched the boys this morning while I took my final and took the kids while I was at scouts. I don't know what I would do without such great friends! I love you all!!

What a beautiful day! Last night was girls night, just me, Kelly and Ang but it also happened to be graduation, not just for BYU but UVSC as well so things were packed! We had a good time though, it's nice to be Micheale sometimes, rather than mom.
Ang and I got up and ran this morning, it was beautiful and felt great. I've been a bit worried lately because I've been drinking an INSANE amount of water lately, enough that sometimes I don't feel like eating (you know somethings wrong!). My stomach will be so full of water but I'll be parched, eventhough I just drank a gallon of water in 1/2 hr. I also get these headaches and today when it happened I just felt WRONG. I made Corey go get a glucometer from the station but my bloodsugar was fine. Maybe it's just stress or something. If any of y'all have any ideas and want to take a shot at a diagnosis LMK! :) Could be a sinus something hanging on from last week.
I got to help at the Primary activity today and it was sooo neat! It was the 'Road of Life'. They made boxcars, which represented their bodies and went to activities where they got keys that led them into the very best part at the end when they parked their cars and got to go into 'heaven'. It was awesome, I got real emotional and I hope the kids 'got it'. We have such great leaders! Well I'd better turn on the Jazz game, they need me tonight! GO JAZZ!

Eventhough the Jazz lost last night it's going to be a good day today! The sun is shining, the birds are singing and this semester will be done on Tuesday! Of course, if all goes well I'll be starting again Wednesday! I ran this morning and felt great. I wore a pedometer to try to track mileage but I just don't really trust those things. I've had 2 and decided to wear them both to compare and they were WAY different. I guess I'll have to run a measured distance (track or something) and see how accurate I can get it.
We had Keyan last night, he's such a great kid! He's been playing soccer for Provo high on Tuesdays so we have been getting him Thursdays. He's driving and dating but is still so much fun! We are so blessed! He thought it was cool that Corey and I are doing a marathon. He runs cross country in the fall. My friend was craving artichoke dip this morning (when we ran) and it's her birthday so, I'm off to make the naughty, yummy, cheesy dip!!

Okay so it's almost noon and Kyler is refusing to get out of his PJ's because his favorite dinosaur shirt is in the wash. Normally I would insist but today I figure, whatever, I don't really HAVE to go anywhere soon. I still feel like it's a bad mom thing. Corey's been on shift the last two days and I have to say it's kind of nice. I mean I know what to expect. The problem arises when he comes home and I actually expect (for some strange reason) that things will be easier. It's just more complicated because (being a man) he doesn't always communicate his plans so I make assumptions and get disappointed and round and round. One good thing about men though, they usually don't bother to read our blogs!
Kyler is so dang smart. He pulled out a kindergarten workbook I had with the coloring books and started figuring out the different activities (by himself). With Jacob and Josh I would have been sitting there going over the directions and helping him but I am just a totally different mom now. I also had a guilt trip last night because we pulled out the picture albums and I realized there is not a single picture of Colby and only baby pictures of Kyler in them!! I also saw pictures of the fun things I did when Jacob and Josh were younger-I really used to be a fun mom! Now I'm spending all of this time and energy on school stuff-is that why, or am I just burnt out on fun mom stuff and satisfied with survival mom? Hmm.