Halloween 2011

Sick.  Both of the adults in the family.  Too sick to move.  Too sick to eat.  Too sick to even smell candy.  Yuck!  There should be immunity for parents on holidays!  But, we rallied for dinner, kids made their own sandwiches and J.D. felt well enough to go walk the neighborhood.  The kids are having a blast, despite their ill parents ..

Captain America!

 

The Mummy!

 Miss Poodle!

 All three ready to go.

 Pumpkins.

Captain America showing off his loot.  Happy Halloween!

Florida 2011

Florida is beautiful.  J.D.'s parents live very close to the beach - and they have a pool, so it is the perfect vacation spot!  J.D.'s dad recently opened a new building for the veterinary tech school at the community college and gave the kids a tour.  They especially loved the dog kennel and the cat room!

 We didn't get to the beach the day we drove in, so the next day, being Sunday, we took a walk ... the kids couldn't help but get wet.  Gorgeous weather - beautiful water - happy kids.

 On Monday it was overcast, but warm so we spent most of the day at the beach.  The kids are posing for the camera.

 Master S was loving his body board.

 Miss Hailey was loving the sand.

 Big D was happy to just be free.

 J.D. and I got a chance to get away and went to see the sunken gardens in St. Petersburg.  Since I love all things plants, I couldn't help but take a few, well, maybe a whole bunch of pictures.

 Wednesday it was raining, so Grandpa took us to see the movie "A Dolphin's Tale".  You can see a preview here:  http://dolphintalemovie.warnerbros.com/index.html  It was a actually a great movie for the whole family - highly reccomend it!  The kids loved it.  And, apparently 'Winter' the dolphin that the movie is about, is at the Clearwater Aquarium in Clearwater, FL also where the movie was filmed, just about 15 minutes from J.D.'s parents.  So, Thursday Grandpa and Grandma took everyone to see 'Winter'.  If the kids didn't think the movie was fantastic already, they thought the aquarium was AWESOME!  They loved seeing Winter in person and got to see a baby dolphin, 'Hope' up close and personal in a show and through windows.  Here is Big D & Hope saying hi -

They got plenty of souvenirs and their 'Winter' t-shirts were the first things unpacked to wear to school the next week.

 Here is Winter, with her prosthetic fin, part of the 'Winter' show that the aquarium did.

 We went swimming on Thursday afternoon, once the clouds cleared.

 Lucky me - cute kids and good-looking guy to hang with!  And then for a walk on the beach ...

 Friday we spent at the beach again - had to soak up as much sun as we could.  Miss Lilly and Big D digging in the sand.

 Because of the storm that blew through while we were there, the waves were perfect for body boarding on Friday and Master S had a great time 'catching some waves'.  He loved it and got pretty good at it while we were there.

 Playing frisbee.

 Burying Miss Lilly in the sand - she had sand everywhere!!!!

 One last walk on the beach.

 Isn't it gorgeous!  Next year - two weeks, minimum!

the leak to my brain ...

I have some incredible pics to post from Florida!  There really is nothing like vacationing on the Gulf and staying with wonderful in-laws to slow down life a little and see what I want to, not what I have to in my daily life.  But, as with everything, it came to an end and I'm frantically trying to catch up!
My eye even stopped twitching for a few days while we were there - yea!  Now, I need to figure out how to make it stop at home.  But, coming home brings a few challenges to that.  First and foremost is the amount of information that I have to keep in my brain on a daily basis.  I sometimes wonder if I can cram anymore in.  There are schedules for each member of the family to keep track of (soccer, piano, scouts, guest lunches at school, my work, J.D.'s work, homework due dates, J.D.'s meeting days, YM's), information for work, which I firmly believe could very well overtake my whole brain if I let it - protocols, patho-physiology, lab values, aromatherapy scents, procedures, NRP testing, computer charting, safety acronyms, medications, as well as personalities (drs or nurses) to avoid or embrace.  There is R.S. (Relief Society - organization for women at church that I am heavily involved in at this moment) with lots more information on:  people, problems, service, meetings, incredible acts of kindness, incredible moments of difficulty, needs, wants, topics, teaching ....  There are also books that I'm reading, books I want to read and information on the radio, the computer, the Internet on politics, economics, history, art, science, religion ...   maybe that is why my eye is twitching, I'm trying to keep all this information in my brain, but there is a leak through my eyelid!  Which is why I'm going to apologize to Miss Lilly today - I forgot to attend guest lunch day with her ... I'm so sorry!  I'll have to blame it on my twitch ...

Nothing like the Midwest ...

There is nothing like fall in the Midwest.  Nothing.  It. is. BEAUTIFUL!  This year we've had over two weeks of gorgeous 70 degree weather, with blue skies and incredible color.  Even our trees in the front are big enough and healthy enough this year to put on some fantastic color ...

 I keep looking out the front window from the kitchen, as I sweep the floor or wipe the counters for the millionth time each day and every time I do a double take because it looks like I have a big orange paper pumpkin in the window ... but it is just the tree!  Sugar Maples never cease to amaze me with their rich, deep, color!

 There is a park close by that we love to visit.  Every time we go I make a resolution to go more often.  We took a picnic dinner and ate near a playground and then went on a hike.  Here are my boys hiking through the woods ...

 The three smiling for mom's camera under a tree ...

Miss Lilly had to have one all her own ...

Life keeps ticking away - I realized a few days ago that Big D will be the same age, in a few months, that Miss Lilly was when we first moved here.  Where does the time go?  I know where it goes - my time is spent going to work, taking care of moms and babies and enjoying every minute that I get to teach and hold and comfort,  church callings and visits and meetings and getting to know some really incredible women (yes, I am surrounded!), kids homework, soccer practice, games and more practice (this is the last week!!!), trying to think of and fix healthy meals that my children will eat and don't take hours to prepare (ha ha - just can't help laughing at that), figuring out Halloween costumes on a very small budget - amazing what creativity can do when it only has a few dollars, reading parenting books in hopes of figuring out what I really don't have figured out, finding time to squeeze in a little canning to help ease that ever tighter food budget (have you seen food prices lately?!?) ... just being a mom is an all encompassing, ever-expanding, tediously repetitious, time consuming, wonder-moments experience.  Why is it that the minutes seem forever, but the days pass like seconds?

Space Derby & School Spirit!

Master S had his 2nd annual Space Derby last week.  Last year we painted it the night before.  This year, mom got involved and vowed it would be done before the night of!  We named it the 'gold nugget' and had a great time racing it.  I think J.D. and I were as excited for the evening as Master S was.  We have a great group of leaders and cubs Master S' age - it makes evenings like this so fun! 

The 'GOLD NUGGET'

Master S was especially surprised (as was I) that he won 1st place this year! 

 Elementary Fun Run Celebration Day!  Master S and Miss Lilly all decked out in school spirit -