A few updates

Happy Fall to all!  I am very excited my favorite season is here again :)

    ~ We have a dog.  Anyone who knows my husband's feelings about our previous dog and that experience knows how much of a miracle it is that we have another dog.  (and I haven't even graduated yet!) 

     Our new dog's name is Dobby (yes from Harry Potter) and he is an almost 4 year old miniature dachshund.  He is a barker, licker, and cuddler.  He loves to lay with whoever is sitting and sleeps in bed with us each night - unless he is sleeping with Drew!

     I think Dobby is a great addition to our family and I for one am very glad he is a part of our family  :)
   

  ~ I am feeling pretty good about my classes this semester.  I don't know if it is already being finished with one clinical (5 weeks) or that I got solid Bs on both of my first tests in clinical courses.  (Which is GOOD Mom and Dad!)  I have 5 more weeks of my OB clinical and then clinicals are finished until next semester.  I hope this semester continues to go well and I can keep counting down the weeks until my long-awaited and hard-earned graduation.

    ~ Austin is in MIDDLE SCHOOL this year.  He really seems to like it and is doing very well in all of his classes.  The 6th graders aren't allowed to do team sports so right now he is just doing intramurals.  Next year he will probably play football and maybe basketball.  The 0615 wake up time is rough some days, but he is adjusting well.

    ~ Drew is in Pre-K this year and LOVES it!!!  He goes to a church preschool near us and has made friends and hugs his teacher and can't hardly wait until after lunch to go to school each day.  I am very glad he enjoys school - this momma sort of didn't want to let her baby grow up, but it is good to see how much he likes to interact with the other children.  He is already looking forward to being 6 so he can go to kindergarten and ride the bus like his big brother.

    ~ We are starting on redecorating our half bath.  Right now it is a lovely green and pink sponge paint with a n even lovelier wallpaper border on the walls and stained carpet.  We are putting in hard flooring and painting the walls a solid color with NO border, as well as changing the towel ring, toilet paper holder, and sink faucet.  If all turns out how I envisioned it will look very nice.  If not, well Tony will make the rest of the decorating decisions!

Curtains and bathrooms and bedrooms, oh my!

     I have officially made my first decor change in our house, and it is amazing how much better it looks!  The previous owners left blue and white checked curtains on the front living room windows (big  windows!) and I have been perusing the stores for inexpensive replacements since we moved in.  Today I found some curtains and took down those old ones - -

     The new ones are an ivory color and let a lot more light into the room.  They are also calmer (to my eye) and look SO much better from the outside of the house.  I no longer cringe because my eyes are instantly drawn to the blue as I drive up to our house.  Small changes can make a big difference!

     My next two small projects are replacing the sink faucet in the downstairs bathroom, as Drew and other little ones can't turn it on and off easily, and some can't at all; and getting rid of the pink vertical blinds that are in the playroom. Maybe if I had girls instead of boys they would work better.  I have the curtains and rods to put up but just need some assistance from the hubby.  He has been busy lately at his mom's house, along with myself and his brother and wife,  renovating my mother in law's bathroom and back bedroom while she is on vacation.  This has, I think, been more of a process than we anticipated but hopefully by the time she gets back she will have an amazing new bathroom and bedroom.  (The alternative is she stays with us or my brother in law and wife until we are finished - we love her but. . .  I'm sure she wants to be in her own house). 

     Next week the boys are at my parents' house for Grandkids week (WOOHOO!!!) and I look forward to the calm and quiet, at least for a few days.  I know I will miss them before we get them back though.  They really do light up my days and I feel so blessed to be their mother.

Our Summer 2012

This summer has been HOT so far and doesn't look like it is cooling down much anytime soon.  We have been spending a lot of time at my parents' pool and it is very refreshing on the hot days.  Although our basement doesn't have any furniture in it yet, it feels so good down there, and we have taken pillows down to sit on and hang out a few times.

I am taking a beginning American Sign Language (ASL) class through the local parks department.  I am really enjoying it and learning a lot of signs.  Austin and Drew keep asking me what the signs are for different things and I love teaching them what I have learned. 

No Wildcat baseball this year for Austin and I must say I am relieved.  Last year many days were a struggle to get him to go and have a good attitude about it, and I am glad I don't need to sit in the oppressive heat this year.  Drew still has one more year before he can play, but I'm sure he will enjoy it as Austin did when he was younger.

We are doing a work share CSA again through a local farm, working 3 hours a week in exchange for vegetables.  I take Austin some days to help; he likes to seed and transfer small plants because he gets to play in dirt :)  This is still the best way in my mind to get fresh, organic vegetables from June to the middle of October.  I know for a fact the lettuce is triple-washed because I do it many weeks!  I am still looking for more ways to use kohlrabi, I've used it in salads and as a substitute for cucumbers on sandwiches, but need to figure out how to cook it so it tastes good.

Both boys are doing our library's summer reading program and are really excited about it.  Austin is officially finished with the minutes for the entire program and thankfully found a new series of books he loves.  This series has 8 books and he has finished 3 so far.  Drew is getting more into reading new (to him) books we choose at the library instead of rereading his favorites all of the time, and I must say this momma is loving the variety!   

We don't have any big trips planned for this summer and probably will stay pretty close to home.  We did get a membership to the Indianapolis Zoo so we can go down there and enjoy that zoo a few more times before school starts.  Tony's family has a reunion planned for the end of July, and of course the kids go to Grandkids week at my parents' house the last week in July.  Hopefully Tony and I will paint their bedrooms while the boys are gone and they will be thrilled with the changes. 

Just a little update on what's going on with our summer -- and before we know it school starts again.  This year Drew is in preschool and Austin is in MIDDLE SCHOOL! 

Welcome to Stress City

Hi, I'm Beth your mayor.

Somehow I have a big test and my huge assessment paper due within two days of each other. In addition to that our not yet unpacked house is just sitting here, mocking my lack of time to unpack. I feel like I am living in chaos and it is not helping me focus on my work for school.

I worked 3 hours on my paper today and hope to work some on it each day and finish it Friday. Starting Friday evening I will study for my test next Wednesday. It feels good to have a plan but executing it will be tricky. When I am home of course the boys expect me to be available to them, as it should be. So that means I trek back to school to study (or I could go to our empty rental house...hmmm).

I spent a little time tonight watching a movie to veg out after the others went to bed. Part of me feels guilty about it but another part knows I will not have time to do much other than study later this week until Wednesday at 10am, so I guess it was okay.

I know I will get through this, I am just tired of the (seemingly) never-ending stress associated with nursing school. Can't wait until after finals week!

New additions to our family

Tuesday was my birthday and I received gifts I didn't think were possible...

I was on my way to clinical and Tony called me. He said "you aren't going to believe this" and proceeded to tell me our two MALE guinea pigs now have two babies! Drew was talking to his guinea pig and said "Dad! Our guinea pigs have babies now!" Tony didn't believe him at first. Funny how the pet store that only sells male guinea pigs slipped that one though. . .

The babies are super cute and come out with fur and while they do drink mama's milk they also can eat regular food from day 1. We have no idea what we are going to do with the babies or the mom or dad. I hate to give one away but we need to separate them. She may already be pregnant again anyway - they can get pregnant as early as 8 hours after giving birth.

In other news, we went out for pizza tonight and the boys (voluntarily) sat on the same side of the booth. They did great! Usually Drew yells at Austin for getting too close to his personal 'spot' and they just get on each others nerves. We even all played I Spy while we were waiting for our food. I am so proud of them both!

Valentine's Day(s) and this week

Valentine's Day this year came a little early for me. I had clinical until 2230 (1030p) on Tuesday, so on Saturday the 11th around 4p Tony came into the living room and told me to pack Drew's bag and take the boys to his brother's house. Austin had known about this for a day or two. I took the boys and came home to a dinner of steak, asparagus, baked potatoes and dessert of homemade molten chocolate cake. It was so wonderful! He is very thoughtful because I figured we would just give each other a kiss before I went to the hospital and that would be it (good thing I had already bought him a gift!).

This week was the first week I haven't watched my brother's boys 2 days a week. I have missed them! But -- it is really nice to have a full day for just Mommy and Drew. I was also able to take my time grocery shopping and Drew and I had lunch with Tony on his break. Next Thursday I hope to take Drew down to the Indy Children's Museum.

We are searching for a preschool for Drew. The church we have been attending doesn't have a preschool, so I have been looking online at some other churches around here. If only I could transport our church and school in Greenwood up here. . .

I was looking over my goals for this year and the church and house goals are moving along. The bedtime at 11 goal is not going as well - I have been trying to go to bed before midnight so far with a future goal of 11p. Baby steps. Reading a non-school book is not a realistic goal while I am in the middle of school but I know once this semester is over and I have a break I will read a LOT. I always do, I just need to make sure I don't read only fluff books. Exercise, exercise, exercise. This seems to be my Achilles' heel. I have been playing Just Dance more often but other than that have fallen short on exercising as much as I would like.
I have been packing packing and packing boxes and it still doesn't look like we are moving for awhile if you judge by the amount of stuff I have left to pack. Seriously how did we get so much? I really need to make sorting and giving away a priority after this semester is over. Maybe we will have a garage sale in our new house!

In other news, the Detroit Red Wings just won their 22nd consecutive home game. I don't really enjoy hockey but Tony is watching the game. :)

Have a great weekend!

My Week (1/31)

I had my first nursing test of the semester this week and I got a B. I am very happy with this, since over half of the class did not pass (75% or above is passing). Only four more tests to go and a 100 page paper and this class is over!!

Austin's science fair was this past week and he got a Superior on his project. He chose to do an experiment on the effects of drag and made an umbrella contraption connected to a bag that held an egg. He dropped the contraption from different heights to see how much the egg cracked. I thought it was a great idea that he came up with for his project. We encouraged him to figure out a question and experiment himself as much as possible but helped when he asked or really got stuck. (Sometimes I feel like we are putting him at a disadvantage because we don't take over more and "help" him more but then again I want him to be able to do his own work as he gets older and not use us. I think some of his friends' parents may help more or he is in class with super-genius kids - who knows??)

My nephew turned 5 this week and his birthday party was at a local ice skating rink - but we didn't skate. They also have bounce houses set up by one of the rinks and the kids all got to play in those for awhile. My boys had so much fun running around and jumping and bouncing in those! I was cold watching them (literally right beside the rink) but they didn't seem to mind and Austin even took off his sweatshirt because he was hot! I also got to hold my baby nephew during the party and he fell asleep on me, so that was a nice bonus.

Drew has started learning how to read - really just sound out letters so far; we are doing a phonics program together. I think he is ready and he seems to like it, although he gets a little antsy towards the end. I remember Austin at this age and we used to do math and spelling while he was doing jumping jacks or some other movement to keep his body moving but still keep focus on the task at hand. This may be what Drew needs at this time also, we will see how the next few times go.

I am very proud to say that we have lived in Indy - - from everything I've heard this week they have done an amazing job of hosting the Super Bowl. I have heard quite a few people on TV saying Indy has done one of the best jobs hosting (now I don't know if they say this every year, but I can't really see that happening). The weather has even been cooperating, for the most part it has been warmer than usual. I wish we could've gone down one morning to see the Mike & Mike broadcast but it didn't work out. We are watching the big game at home and just hanging out with Tony's brother and his wife. It should be a fun and low-key time.

Feb 4 marks two years since Tony's grandma died. She was a wonderful woman who raised a great family and I still miss her. When we moved back to the Fort we started having dinner with her each week and saw her a few times a week. I'm very glad Austin and Drew got quality time with their great grandma (or as Drew calls her "the other grandma") before she passed. We were blessed to have such a lady in our lives.