A Week in Review (March 24-30)

A Week in Review (March 24-30)

Watched:  The first two blind auditions of The Voice.  I was worried about the impact of two new judges, but it seems to be just fine.  It seems like they turn their chair a bit more easily than Blake or Adam, but they still seem to mix well and I like the way that they act toward the contestants as well.

Read:  It was a rough week for the books!  Didn't seem to ever really want to sink my teeth into anything.

Listened: To the rest of Think of a Number (Dave Gurney, #1).  I enjoyed the main murder mystery, but felt some of the side stories got in the way.  Overall, a decent suspense novel.

Made:  Cinnamon Roll Waffles.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to give it a shot.  The results were fairly yummy.  Like a cinnamon roll cookie.  I took a picture so you could see just how tiny and darling they turned out.  Please note that the plate it is on a saucer plate

Felt: Devastated that the Jayhawks blew a late game 12 point lead to end their season and bust my bracket for good.

Planned: They layout for a new blog.  I am always looking for ideas that I can use in my classroom so I thought that I would take the time to put together my ideas so that teachers could use them as well.  I think I will put up a week's worth of lessons as I go and prepare them.  I am not sure if it will ever take off or not, but we will see.  It's called ideasforpreschool.blogspot.com.

Loved: Coloring Easter Eggs with Jack.  We only did 10 because I didn't want to have a ton left over that would go to waste.  Plus, I wasn't sure if he would want to spend any time on it.  He actually had a good time and we could have done at least a dozen more.  Oh well, maybe next year!

Here are our pics for the week:

Happy Easter 2013

We had these pictures taken on a freezing cold day.  You can still snow in the background in some of the photos. He named the black chick that you see Buckbeak in homeage to Harry Potter.  We hope you all have a blessed day!

A Week in Review (March 17-23)

A Week in Review (March 17-23)

Watched: Just a lot of basketball.  I love March Madness!

Read:  Me Before You.  This is a gripping story that leaves you thinking about your convictions and just what you might do if you were in a similar situation.  However, there is a story that goes along with this book. My book club had this for February read and, by the synopsis, I didn't think that I would enjoy it.  However, all the ladies just raved about it and so I put it on my hold list at the library.  There were a 100 holds ahead of me.  It was so hard to read how the ladies all just loved the book and I knew I couldn't be reading it with them.  I almost broke down and bought a copy, but just couldn't justify spend $16 on an ebook.  So, I waited.  When we were in at the library in my hometown, I checked to see if they had a copy.  And what do you know, it said one out of one was available.  But when I went to look for it on the shelf, it wasn't there.  I asked the librarian and he couldn't find it either.  Turns out it was still being processed for shelving, but since they could see that I wanted it so bad, they bumped it to the top of her pile and I was able to pick it up later that afternoon.  Now that is something that would never happen it a big city!  I was so excited!!
I also started reading The Host (The Host, #1), but haven't gotten very far.  My goal was to have it read by when the movie comes out which is March 29th, but that could be hard.

Listened:  I started a new audio book Think of a Number (Dave Gurney, #1).  I chose this book because I need an author whose first or last name started with a V for one of my reading challenges.  I just grabbed it off the shelf and thought it looked okay.  I am really enjoying it.  I had to leave it a climax which totally stinks, but should make for interesting listening when I am back in the car!

Made: A 600 mile road trip with a 5 year old in one day with only stop!  Yep, you read that right.  We started out on the road at 7am after he'd only had about 8 hours sleep.  He didn't go back to sleep, but contentedly watched his movies or chatted with me.  I was able to make it clear to Seward (which is just about 5.5 hours) without stopping.  When we did stop, he made it clear why he hadn't asked before.  He didn't want to go out in the snow.  haha.  I made him get out and use the restroom and grab some food.  We got back in the car and got rolling again. We made it into Iowa, which is about about another 2 hours or so before he fell asleep for the remainder of the drive.  I was chagrin to miss getting gas in Missouri, but thought that the sleeping child wasn't worth waking for a couple dollar savings.  He woke up just as we hit the traffic signal a minute from our house.  When he awoke, I asked him where we were and he answered "In a snowstorm."  Pretty funny, but totally accurate.  I was so glad that we got out when we didn't and hadn't taken any extra stops.

Felt: Loved.  I always have a good time going to see my mom.  She takes such good care of me and my boy. This time, we celebrated my birthday and Easter.  She got only a couple hours of sleep so that I could go get my hair colored and she and the boy made me a very springy pudding poke cake.  I tried to take a picture, but was so focused on them, that my cake was cut out.  Ooops!  She also did an early Easter Egg hunt for Jack.  We went into town so that she could hide them.  When we got home, she acted like the Easter bunny had trapped her in her room and hidden the eggs.  It was so fun to see the excitement in his face as he found and opened the eggs.

Planned: The lodging arrangements for my brother's graduation in May.  And it makes me share a little tip with you--plan more than 6 weeks ahead.  All the decent 2 or 3 star hotels were fully sold out and one shared that he was probably overbooked.  I am not sure how early we should have been, but I am sure it was more than 6 weeks.  We splurged and are staying at a nice hotel.  I sure hope it is as beautiful as the pictures make it look.

Loved: Spending time at the zoo with my brother and his wife. Jess is a huge fan of zoos and so I know that we needed to get a trip in with her at the Omaha Zoo.  Jack and I had never been so we had no idea what to expect.  It was a bit cooler, so there were fewer people which was nice.  However it meant that some of the fun attractions like the Skyfari and Train were closed.  Jess got some great pictures and I took a few okay ones.  They are featured in my pictures of the week below. Jack loved the burro at the petting zoo.  Funnily enough, his name was also Jack and he was 4.5.

A Week in Review (March 10-16)

A Week in Review (March 10-16)

Watched:  Our beloved Jayhawks win the Big 12 Tournament Title.  I did not like having that road go through two teams who we had to work hard to beat in the regular season.  However, they did a tremendous job against both Iowa State and KState.  I was a bit disappointed that they gave MVP to Jeff Withey.  While he did a tremendous job, I felt that Perry Ellis was real difference maker for KU.  I am excited to see him coming up as a freshman.

Read:  I finished up Life of Pi.  I would recommend this book to a very select group of people.  I am not sure how it got to be such a popular novel.  If I haven't told you that I would think you would love it, then I don't think you would.

Listened: Mostly, listened to my audio book, Dead to the World (Sookie Stackhouse, #4).  While I enjoy this series, I almost feel like I need to get myself as long as break as she did in between publishings because that way I am not feeling so frustrated with her repetitiveness.

Made: It through a rather busy week for us.  We had two swimming lessons, a karate lesson, the Big 12 tournament, dentist appointments, chiropractors appointments. I know that this is typical for many families, but something we aren't quite used too.  I am sure as Jack takes on more extra curricular activities we will adjust to this type of life style.

Felt: Relief that I finally have a nice fitting permanent crown on my one of my front teeth.  It was quite an ordeal getting it there and I feel so glad that it is over.  If you have kids, please take them for orthodontic check even if they have straight teeth.  I have learned in my adult life that there is a lot more to braces than straight teeth!

Planned:  Jack's preschool snack week.  He has so much fun thinking of things to share with this friends.  It gets pretty expensive through to feed 14 kids for 5 days.  We sent in homemade pumpkin muffins, string cheese and fruit snacks (BTW--The new Mott's Melody were a big hit and have become Jack's favorite fruit snack), cinnamon teddy grahams, sliced apples, and strawberry jigglers and pretzels.

Loved:  The two nice days of warm weather that we were blessed with.  We took advantage of it and headed toward the park.  Jack loves riding his new bike and so we explored a little further back up the trail. His father pointed out that he could make it down towards the stream and he loved it.  He had so much fun just exploring the nature and splashing around.  It really reminded me of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder .  I think that this is a great book, especially for parents for living in an urban areas.

Our pictures for the week include one fun snap shot Jack requested I take of him, one of him breaking into our giant peppermint patty that we got for Christmas, and one him splashing around in the stream.

A Week in Review (March 3-9)

A Week in Review (March 3-9)

Watched: The Jayhawks win one and lose one. Even though, they should have beaten Baylor, we still are considered Big 12 Champs. This one is tainted more than the other ones we share because we are sharing it with K-State, but what are you going to do?

Read: I finished up Foundation (Foundation, #1). It was not a book for me at all! I only gave it two stars out of five. Nick was so disappointed. While I thought that there were some decent points for discussions, the overall delivery just didn't connect with me. Life of Pi seemed to pick up a bit more after I finished, but it still hasn't grabbed me. People say it gets better after Chapter 36. I feel it's a book that I have to finish since so many people have loved it. I am going to have to pay a fine at the library because I know I won't have it back on time and it has too many holds on it not to finish it before I return it.

Listened: I started listening to a A Long, Long Sleep. I am listening every second that I don't have kids in the car. It's much more my kind of sci-fi. I'll be interested to see how it wraps up.

Made: A friend's life a little easier.  She went out of town on business and so I helped her with the transportation of her little guy to and from the sitter.  It wasn't too much harder on me and I know that it made a big difference to her!  I always find it funny how it seems like one week has things for everyone to do.  We had three evening events with karate and swimming lessons and her husband had things going on two nights that week and she was out of town.  While I felt that we were a bit more hurried than normal, I knew that it was only very short term because all of our activities are short lived! :) It makes me wonder how parents of multiple children in activities do it.  You'd really feel like a taxi cab driver who must major in logistics!

Felt: Embarrassed for my generation of parents.  We received a magazine at work that had class rings for graduating for Preschool, Kindergarten, or Daycare.  I kid you not!  What does this say about us as parents?  How is there a market for something like this?  I really wanted to call the company and ask about how many had purchased them, so that I could give you that information too.  At the bottom, you will see a picture, so you can see these are not trinkety style rings, but something resembling the high school class rings.

Planned: To take our family the see the new movie Oz on Sunday. Jack is very excited to see it. My mom was nice and sent us an AMC gift card for Valentines, so we will only have to pay for concessions, which Jack is super excited about too! I will give you a review in next week's update.

Loved: Watching Jack get his Easter pictures taken.  I found a photographer through one of my swap sites that was offering a 30 minute session with live animals for $35.  Not only did you get the experience of loving up on the little guys for that long, but you also got the CD of images for the price.  I thought I really couldn't go wrong.  She posted a sneak peak and I thought they were darling.  They are some reflections of the his personality.You can click this link to be taking to the preview:  Jack's Easter Sneak Peek

Our pics for the week.  The first is of the sweet boy that we got to help transport.  Come on, you just can't get a cuter face than that can you?  I love how the tiniest things delight the little guys!  Next, Jack is showing off his super human strength before the Easter photographer got there.  He felt so proud being able to lift such a large branch.  I didn't have a chance to tell you about it above, but Jack has really gotten into darts lately.  We play 301 usually.  He's getting pretty good.  He actually managed to smoke us this game.  I was so proud that I had to take a picture.

A Week in Review (Feb 24 -March 2)

A Week in Review (Feb 24 -March 2)

Watched:  I got all caught up on my Days of our Lives and even got the first three episodes of Smash.  I am so glad that it is back on.  It's my little dose of musical theater in a 40 minute episode :)

Read: I finished up Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness.  It was a very interesting look at the author's journey through her madness.  She did an excellent job of researching her experiences using doctors' notes and the sane people who experienced this with her.  I started the Life of Pi.  It is really dragging for me right now.  I just haven't been in a mood to read it either.  I think it's just too much in combination with Foundation (Foundation, #1).

Listened: Not much.  We ended up with two snow days in the middle of the week and that meant that we had to park Nick's truck in the driveway and a mountain of snow was piled up where his truck usually goes. Therefore, if I ever went out on my own, it was in his truck without access to my audiobook.  However, after being stuck inside for so much of the time lately, I actually enjoyed the sound of silence.

Made: a mistake.  I don't admit to these very often.  But Thursday, I got a text from Nick saying that Jack wasn't on the list for his swimming class.  I was surprised at this because I had gotten an email confirmation and had gotten the two notices about cancelled classes due to snow.  Turns out that I had Nick take him to the session that I had hoped he would get it into, but wasn't able to because he couldn't float.  Oops!  He got so much out of the class that I am really bummed he won't be continuing. My hope is that he will learn to float this class so that he can move his skills forward.

Felt: Frustrated about my new crown.  When I went in to get my permanent crown seated, it did not fit the way that the dentist would like.  Now, I am glad that she chose to send it back because if doesn't want it in her mouth, I am glad she didn't put it in mine.  They had to put a new temporary on which I have trouble keeping on.  When I woke up at 4 o'clock on Friday morning, I realized that not only had the crown popped off, but so had the entire build up.  This resulted in an emergency two hour trip on Friday.  Luckily it was tight enough fit on the sides that I was able to use some toothpaste to hold it in spot while I went about my morning errand in the planned section.  I now have a different build up style and temporary on it.  I also have what my dentist called stoppers.  She did to huge build ups on my molars so that only those two teeth can touch which will stop some of the grinding action which she felt that may have been helping pop off the temp.  It's been a unique feeling to get used too, but the temp is still on so that's good!

Planned: For my little boy to enter Kindergarten!  It doesn't seem time already, but we went to Kindergarten Round Up Friday morning.  I think that we are both really going to enjoy his first official school experience.  The teachers seemed very welcoming.  We celebrated by going out for donuts, which Jack had been asking to do for quite sometime!

Loved:  Getting out for Bunco with my gals!  It was so nice to have adult conversation where no one was  needing me to take care of them. :)  I even went out for a drink with two of the ladies afterward.  They always remind me that everyone has their own story and issues and you shouldn't judge by the way things look on the outside!

Here are pics for the week.  One is of us with our Monday visitor, Callum.  We love when we get to play big brother and aunt.  Also, there are several pics of Jack playing Daniel LaRusso from Karate Kid.  He did the tape job himself.  There is one of me in my beard that Jack made for me :)  There are two from his first swim lesson.  The booty shake shot is what I got when I asked him to show me how the trunks fit so I could take a picture for Grandma Teri.  He's been about the booty shake lately! The last one is picture of Jack eating his donut after Kindergarten round up.