Tuesday 27 January 2015

A Week in Review (January 18-24)

A Week in Review (January 18-24)

Watched:  Nick totally break the rules at paint night for his company's winter party. I'm kind of surprised that he set down at all.  It's funny how in Utah, no one really know what KU is. I, on the other hand, attempted to follow the directions. I thought it turned out kind of funky. I'll probably hang mine in our bedroom. 


Read: I finished up The Evolution of Mara Dyer. It was not my cup of tea. It was too paranormal and too much teen angst lovers. Sadly, it ended in a cliffhanger and so I'll have to read the third one. Sometime this week, I saw a list that stated a book that they felt embodied each state. I have already read the one for Kansas, In Cold Blood. I figure I need to read the ones for Nebraska and Utah too. Nebraska's is a YA book called Eleanor and Park. I was able to get it on audiobook and have really enjoyed it so far. I don't quite get how embodies the entire state. However, maybe it's because I didn't grow up on the eastern side of the state.  Utah's is The Executioner's Song. It looks pretty intense. I also started Love, Rosie. I saw it was going to be a movie that looked like I wanted to see, so I had to read the book first.  It's been a very easy read so far. 

Listened: To the sound of a V8 engine warming up in my driveway. I took my car in for some recall repairs and they didn't have the parts ready when they thought they would so they gave me a loaner truck. I was given a full size extended cab  Silverado z71. It was crazy big for me. I utilized the back up camera a lot!  I felt so funny getting out of it. It didn't have a running board step so I had to slide out of it. Jack thought it was a fun change of pace. I was glad when they called and let me know my car was ready.  

Made: A bulletin board out of the penguins that I made with Jack's class the Friday before.  The picture doesn't do their cuteness justice. I am always glad when the projects turn out well. 

Felt: Relaxed. It's been nice not to have a week jammed full of things to do or deadlines that needed met.

Planned: On making Poor Man's Lobster for dinner one night. The issue is I can never remember the recipe and I have a hard time searching for one that is similar to how I made it the first time. To save myself some heartache, I decided to take a screen shot of the recipe and attach it here so I can upload it to Pinterest.  It's a yummy dinner that goes great with the Bisquick cheese biscuits. 

Loved: Jack got a self cleaning fish tank for his birthday and we used his day off school to pick out a betta.  Jack picked him out and named him Paintbrush.  The tank does work pretty well for cleaning.  He loves to come to the tank and talk to you.  I got a bit nervous when I saw bubbles in his tank but apparently that means he is nice and happy. :) I hope he stays healthy and alive for quite some time. 

Here are the pics for the week:













Sunday 18 January 2015

A Week in Review (January 11-17)

A Week in Review (January 11-17)

Watched: My kiddos play well at soccer. They had two scrimmages this week and did well at both of them. It does help that we have a kid who has pretty advanced skills. They really have a lot of heart and I love that about them. 


Read:  I finished up The Maze Runner. I thought it was a well done Young Adult dystopian novel. The author created quite a bit of his own slang so it took me a while to get used to reading it. Since I have such a large pile of books to make it through, I spent most of time in between loads of laundry on Tuesday finishing it up. If you liked the Hunger Games series, I would recommend this book to you.  It doesn't have quite as much of the love story aspect, but it still worth your time.  Next, I finished Mortal Heart for my book club on Saturday night. I pushed it to the limit making sure I finished it, even reading the last 20 pages in my car after our soccer game. It was easier to pick up because I was already familiar with the characters in the story. Unlike the majority, of my book club I didn't like the way it wrapped up. It went too far to the fantasy for me. Next, I am going to finish up The Evolution of Mara Dyer before it is due back at the library. 

Listened: To a bunch of excuses from the people at Best Buy about as to why my gift card that shipped on the 4th hadn't arrived yet. I spent probably an hour on the phone and couldn't get what I wanted.  So I decided to take my issue into the store, the manager totally got my needs and took care of me above and beyond what was necessary. It was such a refreshing change of pace from most big box experiences. It really lifted my mood.
Made: A lot of fun things for his party. I made a piƱata that doubled as a table center piece. I also made a fun "chest" for them to pick their winnings out of. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I really like it!  Balloon spiders look pretty cool when our guest first walk in and didn't take much time to make.  I also made Creeper blocks for a game that I used for decoration. Jack requested TNT Sugar cookies. They aren't my favorite thing that I have made, but he loved them. I also printed off a Minecraft game for the boys to play. Overall, I think everyone had fun.

Felt: Frustrated getting ready for Jack's party. We wanted to keep it small because we were having it at the house.  The first three that we invited only had one kiddo respond. I was ignored on repeated attempts of contacting the other kids parents.  We invited two more boys and didn't hear from their parents quickly either. I am not sure what is says about our culture that people treat each other without common curtesy.  In all, three boys showed up. One sent me a text on Friday late afternoon. So odd.

Planned: A presentation of my career for Jack's school, Career Day. It was fun thinking about what I would present about my career. I didn't know the ages of the classrooms I would be rotating through, so that made a bit more challenging to prepare for. I ended up doing all first grades because she felt that I could bring the presentation to their level. I think it went pretty well and the kids had lots of fun. I made a small batch of play-do for each of them to keep and we talked about all the different things you can teach while you are playing with play-do. I had to use 17 cups of flour to make sure that I was ready to go. :)

Loved: Celebrating my boy's birthday with him. It is so hard for me to believe that he is already 7!  He had so many plans for his "yes" day that I don't think he could have remembered them all if wanted too. But here is how his day went: He woke up at 7:00 to excited to sleep anymore. Then he had 7 donuts for breakfast. I took pizza for his classroom snack, Nick and I picked him up from school. We opened presents. We set up his Xbox one. He played a ton of Minecraft. We got dressed up and went to see his teacher in her wedding dress. He came home and played some more Xbox. He fell asleep while reading his book for his school.  All in all, it was a pretty awesome day.

Here are the pics for the week:





Birthday Pics



Pictures from his hunt for his Xbox. He would have preferred that I just wrap it. He's kinda of out of luck.


 
The clue was to look under a box in your bathroom. In this photo, even though he is staring right at the box, he can't figure it out. 


He gets in here




















Now birthday party pics















Tuesday 13 January 2015

A Week in Review (January 4-10)

A Week in Review (January 4-10)

Watched:  10 Things I Hate About You. I had never seen it before, but  I thought that it was a pretty decent flick. I liked watching Heath Ledger and getting taken back to my youth.

Read:  I am in one of those more books to read than I have time for modes!  I have figured if I want to stay on goal I need to read 65 or more pages a night.  I have been having a hard time committing to reading that much every night.  The books on tap are The Evolution of Mara Dyer, The Maze Runner, and Mortal Heart.  I also have Love, Rosie waiting for me to pick up from the library, but I think I will put off picking up as long as I can.

Listened: To Nick's report on his day of being a Watch DOG.  He seemed to have a better experience here than last year, so I am thankful for that.  He got to listen to Jack's classmates read their baggie books.  He also listened to readers in older grades and played math games with some students needing practice.  He also got to spend a lot of time on playground too.  Jack enjoyed having his dad at school too.

Made: My first thing with my new KitchenAid mixer.  I am giving a talk for career day at Jack's school and so I thought that I would take in Play-do as part of my presentation.  I figure every kid likes playing with it for a while and it will be an excellent talking point about how many things you can teach while using play-do.  I loved being able to just pour the ingredients and let the mixer do all the work.  So much nicer on the hands.  I think I am going to love using my mixer for all sorts of a good things.

Felt:  Lonely.  We spent the last two weeks surrounded by so many wonderful people.  I knew that Nick was going to have to pay a price for being out of the office for as long as he was.  I didn't get to fall asleep with at all during the work week.  He put in ridiculously long hours.  It is hard to believe that design work could really take so much effort from so many people, but it is amazing.  I hope we start to get some relief.  He even had to put more hours in on the weekend than normal.  Therefore, things were just a bit off with us.  Our usual play date still had company in town, so we didn't have a chance to catch up either.

Planned: On Jack having a small Minecraft party.  We only have had one RSVP so I am bit a nervous.  We will hope that we get a series of replies soon.  It will be different to have a small party for the boy.

Loved: Being able to go sledding with Jack in 40 degree weather.  I knew that the snow wouldn't last much longer so I made sure that we made it out Monday after school.  We had a lot of fun.  I decided to take a video and just happened to wreck into at the same time.  You can see it, and get a good laugh, HERE.

Here are the pics for the week:

My new frames

Photo bombed by my kiddo

Sledding in 40 degree weather!

Jack and Nick on Watch DOG morning

Jack wrapped himself in the blanket like this.  Nick and I took it as an opportunity to explain that in some cultures women have to dress in a similar fashion.  He found it almost inconceivable.  Guess it is pretty hard to wrap your almost 7 year old head around such a concept.  


Tuesday 6 January 2015

Week in Review (Dec 28- Jan 3)

Week in Review (Dec 28-Jan 3)

Watched: My mom's new kitten, Gordon stalk Jack like he was his newest prey.  Gordon had never seen a kid before and his reaction was pretty hilarious. I got a picture of Jack trapped behind a glass door and Gordon waiting for him on the steps.  Gordon loved to try to get Jack to play with him by batting at his toes and getting in his way when he trying to brush his teeth too. 


Read: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikrey. If you are a book lover, then I would totally recommend this book to you. Just reading all the titles mentioned in this book could give you a great reading list. Besides the way the literature is combined into the novel, I also enjoyed the story line. While parts are a bit jerky by advancing the time line several months with no smooth transition, you still really bond with AJ and the other characters.  This book earned a rare 5 star ranking from me.

Listened: To my mom and Blas finally exchange vows. They decided after 15 years they weren't going anywhere and it was a lot more financially responsible to carry insurance as a couple rather than as two singles. We had fun at the short ceremony and got some cute pictures.
Made: My way through two weeks of mail. There were 29 Christmas cards in my stash. It was quite enjoyable to see so many wonderful faces all at once. Now to just get all the running around down that I have missed over the last two weeks. It was so worth it, escaping reality and seeing our friends and family!

Felt: Thankful that we continued to have good weather on our drive. My mom texted me and said there was a blizzard the day after we left. Wyoming had plenty of blowing snow and they didn't have any precipitation within the 24 hours before that.  I can see why they have to close the interstate as frequently as they do.

Planned: Some fun Minute to Win It Games for our NYE celebration. We had seven teams in total and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Certain games led to a lot of laughs. I didn't get any pictures on my phone as we used it for a timer the majority of the time. Our team came in tied for 4th and we won a whole bag of  Christmas Jelly Beans. :)

Loved: Exchanging gifts with my family. We made Christmas cookies together first.  We then texted a picture to Nick's Aunt Debbie and she crowned the winners of the prettiest and the ugliest cookie. What do you think?

Here are the pics for the week: