happy thanksgiving to you

Happy eating tomorrow, everyone! Enjoy time with your family!

a long over due "mommy and the boys' day of FUN!"

I'm sorry I'm so bad at this!  As expected, since I joined Facebook, all my little mini updates have ended up over there, and it seems silly to double up!

Life is good. . . really good.  I'm so happy with school, with my family, with life.  I have friends going through some serious struggles right now, and I just count my blessings and thank my Heavenly Father that we are whole, healthy, and happy.  We've had a difficult year with just the sacrifices of both of us being in school, Dan working as much as he is able, and losing all but each other in regards to social life.  To my friends, I miss you!  I cherish every Girls Night Out!  It is soothing to my soul!  Our ward split a month or so ago, so there have been some big changes as far as church, being the Newbies and getting to know new people while missing the old.  Change is inevitable.  And it's OK, too.

It doesn't hurt that I just saw Breaking Dawn twice and have happy Edward & Bella feelings as I remember the books!  So fun to live in fiction for a couple hours at a time!

So, onward.  A couple of weeks ago, the boys and I all had Veteran's Day off, so we decided to have a long overdue Mommy and the Boys' Day of Fun!  Remember those!?  See our past installments (blogger isn't letting me link up right):

• http://amiedanny.blogspot.com/2009/01/mommy-and-boys-day-of-fun.html
• http://amiedanny.blogspot.com/2009/02/mommy-and-boys-day-of-fun-part-two.html 
• http://amiedanny.blogspot.com/2010/01/mommy-daddy-boys-day-of-fun.html

It had been a while!  As usual, this one was mostly about eating yummy treats!

We actually started the night before with homemade hot chocolate and a fun campfire in the backyard, and then we slept on the trampoline.  We sure love doing that!

             Some of these pics look crazy because I was using the night setting on my camera--I'm still not very good at it, you have to hold the camera super still and I just do not possess that talent yet!

            

It was warm and cozy--'specially because I was between Dan and Sean and eventually everyone kinda sank in around me!  Nice night.

The next morning, Dad was off to work and the boys and I started our day.  We took our wheels to the church parking lot and had some fun.

                      Little bit of yummies to go along with our play.

        Yes, please!

  

Then it was off to the duck pond--the same one that claimed my phone last year.  I made sure all keys, phones, and devices were a safe distance away from the water this time!  Each kiddo got a loaf of bread.

 

    From there we picked up some McDonald's (bleh) and drove to the cheapie theatre to watch. . . sadly. . . The Smurf movie.  Ugh.  Oh well, NPH made it watchable.

  From there we went back home and created some nice Happy Veteran's Day/Thank you For Your Service cards for our neighbor who used to be a marine and is now a Sheriff's officer.  We left them on his patrol car.  :)

        

It was such a fun (and busy) day!  Love my kids, and love the chances to spend extra time with them.  I'm also so grateful for the reason for this past holiday, those men and women who serve our country and bless us with their bravery.  We appreciate your sacrifice, past and present!

a synopsis of life

You can sure tell I'm nearing the end of my semester, right? My posts have gotten fewer and farther between...

One good thing about it is that man, time flies! I have another 5-ish weeks of school and then I'm half-way done with Nursing School! How crazy is that? I hate to brag, but I'm doing really well this semester (currently a 94ish %, which is pretty crazy cool), and I loved my clinical experience, so life is good. Four more tests to go (2 module tests, the HESI, and the final).

We have some fun plans for both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, so we have some really great times to look forward to. My house is a disaster right now--tidy, but not necessarily clean, you know?--and my husband has completely taken over the garden which is both cute and awesome! We have green onions and bell peppers ready for eating, carrots and tomatoes getting really close and a couple others I forget.

We're enjoying the new ward, getting used to new faces and names and callings. I'm the full-time ward organist (which is ok, except for the weeks that Dan's on shift and my two youngest are sitting by themselves making a ruckus) and Dan is the Bear's Den Co-leader. He's enjoying it!

The kids are doing great, making good friendships (for the first time, Ethan has friends close enough to go play with during the day, and Cameron has friends from our ward within walking distance!) and are busy with Scouts, friends, after school activities, the Gifted Program (for both Sean and Cameron!) and Baseball. Life goes on!

I've had allergies/cold/whatever for 3 weeks now and today it totally got 100% worse so who knows what I have now? I'm taking Nyquil in about ten minutes, then getting up early for a study session, lunch with all three kids at school, four visiting teaching appointments, packing for Sean's campout the next day, and then staying up half the night for the Breaking Dawn midnight release.

Yeah...if I'm not sick now, I will be by the time the next 36 hours passes!

And my diet? Holy toledo, I eat anything not nailed down. It's really disgusting to be honest. I just can't get control over that one part of my life. Sigh. Ready for the next big fad. *giggle*

So other than being fat and mucousy (lol) I'm good! Loving that the radio stations are playing Christmas music already and loving that the first house in our neighborhood just put up their Christmas lights. I'm ready to join them!

Laterz...

play ball!

Ethan is playing coach-pitch baseball this season, the first time in a couple of years, and he has been so very excited!  For weeks he would ask when he was to start, and then once he got his uniform, he wore it every chance he could (three times last week!)

Most of the team is a lot more experienced than he is, but there are several kids who are just his size, so he doesn't seem like the littlest rookie out there.

He got to sample a few positions on Saturday, his first game.

And he got up to bat three times, striking out once, but hitting the ball the other two times.

He never quite made it on base, but it's all good practice.

What he really enjoyed were his opportunities to be the catcher (twice).

He is so cute out there, and the equipment is by far too big for him. 

But I think he really likes this position because it gives him more chances to catch the ball.   'Course he only really caught it maybe 3 times, but again, it's experience.  

Every time I looked at him he had a huge smile on his face.  Let's hope that lasts!

He was probably happiest about running the bases at the end.

  

The team won, something like 8-2.  Originally the coach named the team the Smurfs, but none of the parents could stomach cheering for them by that name.  So for right now, they are "Blue--" and nameless.

Good job, team, and great first game Ethan!

book butterfly reviews -- october

Oh Books, how I miss you!

Your escape!  Your chilling prose!  Your unpredictable characters!  Your endless possibilities!

I've been busy with these monsters:

Amazon claims the Med-Surg book is only 6.5 lbs, but I swear it's closer to 15!  And the Pharm?  Zzzzzzzz.  A real snoozer.  I give it Negative 3 stars but just because it has a pretty purple cover.  Oy.

So, fun stuff I did read?  Not much!

"Twenties Girl" by Sophie Kinsella

It took me nearly a month to read this--not because I didn't like it, but because I was only reading a chapter every other day or so due to lack of time. It's about a gal who's 105 yr old great-aunt has passed, and then come back as a ghost looking for a long lost necklace. It's funny and engaging and easy to read. There's some light mystery and light romance.

One thing I will ask about British authors and British books in general: are curse words just not-so-cursey in foreign countries? Because there weren't any light curse words, no damns or hells, but there were about a dozen F-bombs that just seemed completely out of place and unnecessary in this book.

 

"Fearless Fourteen" (a Stephanie Plum novel) by Janet Evanovich

Giggles all around. Is it crazy that Dan and I have read fourteen of these? (almost done!)

 

 

 

 

"The Seventeen Second Miracle" by Jason F. Wright

I feel like this book took me seventeen years to read! It's good and has plenty goosebump-worthy moments, but it wasn't great enough to pull me from my nursing books.

I have to say, though, I spent most of the book in a state of puzzlement. It's one of those stories where the reader has no clue what is going on or why, and I don't feel that my questions were necessarily answered, so that bothers me. But, it IS a sweet book with a good positive uplifting message, so in the end, I'll say it's All Right for a Once Over.

 

Aaaaand, Scene!  That's it.  There are only 5 or 6 more weeks of school left and then I hope to read to my heart's content!  What have you been reading?