Tuesday 24 February 2015

A Week in Review (February 15-21)

A Week in Review (February 15-21)

Watched: Tangled with Jack.  We have been reading about Rapunzel a lot lately, so I thought that might be a fun way to spend our early release afternoon.  We both enjoyed it.  I was so glad that they addressed how the Witch got Rapunzel into the tower. Jack has asked me several times how she got up and we finally have an answer!


Read:  I finished up Sapphire Blue early in the week. The story of the books is entertaining, but I still feel as if the book is incomplete. It was as if a need to be part of the YA trilogy movement took precedent when this book could have been delivered as one whole unit.  I started right away on Emerald Green, the final book in the series.  I thought it would hook me right away since it should be mostly climax, but for some reason, I'm not drawn too it. I am sure I will finish it up next week.  I started on a book written by one of my mom's high school friends.  It chronicles a family's life in her small hometown Trenton, Nebraska in what they believe is a haunted house. 

Listened: To 80's Pop on Pandora why I did my weekly house cleaning. I even took the time to wipe down the shelves in the fridge!  I am so thankful that I was introduced to the station. It's perfect for cleaning!  

Made: Some plans to help in Jack's classroom for Dr Seuss day.  I will read the whole class Bartholomew and the Oobleck and then we will make small batches of gak with the kids during their small group time.  I love that I have the free time to be able to help out in his classroom. 

Felt: Bad on Sunday. Jack refuses to learn to ride his bike. I have tried so many times and he refuses to really give it a go. Each time we try, it results in the same set of snotty tears. He really had the hang of it right before Nick tore his ACL and he wouldn't let me help him that summer. I feel like we missed our window and it will be a big battle from now on.  On Monday, he had the day off from school and I put the proper motivation to get him out riding. It was going well, until it wasn't. In the middle of his best lap, he just collapsed and claimed his legs weren't working anymore. It was funny and sad all at the same time. I made him walk his bike home and it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Tuesday after school, he tried again and made it a lap and half without falling. It was amazing!  He felt pretty proud of himself too.  On Wednesday, he did a whole double loop. This is pretty impressive because there are a couple inclined he has to deal with. On Friday, he even got himself started twice. Could we almost be there???

Planned: On my brother, sister-in-law, and mom showing up Saturday afternoon. But the weather had different plans. They forecasted some decent snow on the ground in areas they were traveling through and so they were able to take off a half day on Friday and make it one day. I decided to keep it a surprise from Jack and it was so hard!  His face when they walked in was pretty priceless.

Loved: That my family was able to make it here without too many problems from the snow that was threatening to impact their travel.  We spent the first night staying up, just talking and messing around until a little after 1am.  The kids took Jack to a children's museum on Saturday afternoon and we went down to Temple Square on Saturday evening.  I didn't take a whole lot of pictures from their visit as my SIL was using her camera and usually catches some good shots.  If I remember, I will post them here when she emails them to me.

Here are the pics for the week:
Jack riding his bike. It's almost impossible to tell but it was actually flurrying at this moment.  Those are the white specs you see in the air.  There were a lot more of them than you can see. 


Apparently he has skills I didn't know about.  He even got up to three hoops at one point.


The kids goofing around at Buffalo Wild Wings before heading off to the Museum of Natural Curiosity.


Sunday 15 February 2015

A Week in Review (February 8-14)

A Week in Review (February 8-14)

Watched: The first two episodes of the new series Better Call Saul. This is a spin off from the series Breaking Bad. Both Nick and I are enjoying it. There are have already been some moments that I had to turn my head from the screen as the violence was just too much for my weak stomach.  It feels like it should have a good run ahead of it.


Read:  This week I finished up The Rosie Effect. It was a follow up to The Rosie Project. While I thought that the characters stayed true, the book just didn't grab me in the same way. It was a three star book for me. I have also made decent progress on Sapphire Blue, which is the follow up to a Ruby Red.

Listened: To my doorbell ring unexpectedly on Saturday morning. Nick had some beautiful roses delivered to me as a special Valentine's treat.
Made: The craft for Jack's Valentine's Party. I didn't think that it would take me as long as it did so I am very glad I did it far in advance. The kids made just a simple heart suncatcher. I thought that they turned out neat. While the kids were crafting, I read them Falling for Rapunzel. They got a good laugh out of it too.

Felt: Glad to finally be making some progress on Jack's baby books. I wasn't the mother who wrote everything down exactly when he did it. Even though I bought his baby book almost right after he was born, I didn't have a single page filled out in it.  I have enlisted the help of Facebook (it's kinda weird how detailed of a log you can find on activities from 6.5 years ago!), YouTube, Flickr, and this blog to help me piece things together in an official format.  My goal is to have his baby book and his birthday book finished by March. 

Planned: To make some progress getting the photos of our lives organized. I had to figure out what do with all the extra prints from Jack's photo shoots, what to do with the random prints we have, and finally to have some more order for our digital files. I am so glad that I finally turned our pictures drive into a screen saver. We spent 15 minutes as a family just smiling at it the first night. I love it!  While I still have a lot more work to do, I am glad to be getting it done. 

Loved: My Valentine's Day. It didn't quite go as I thought it would. I thought Nick had some pretty big plans. Turns out, they are for the 13th of March when we go see Ghost the Musical. This really is a gift of love because Nick doesn't like romances, or musicals, and there is a chance that KU could be playing a game in the Big 12 tourney. We cooked a two course fondue meal at home. We also were able to get our internet up and running a day early.  I gave each of my boys homemade scratcher tickets. Jack scratched off a new Xbox one game. After some research, we ended up getting him a year to EA access, which allows him access to several of their older games for a year for one fee. We downloaded Peggle 2 and it's pretty fun. A combination between a puzzle, pinball, and Plinko. Jack had one game that rocked everyone's socks and he was beyond proud of it. We just had to take a picture to show everyone. 

Here are the pics for the week:





Tuesday 10 February 2015

A Week in Review (February 1-7)

A Week in Review (February 1-7)

Watched: The Super Bowl. I wasn't sure what to think of it all. I guess I am glad that the AFC won.  The halftime show was not up our alley here.  Even though I enjoyed the songs, the performances just made me laugh. I was disturbed by the Nationwide commercial. People who have lost children due to accidents didn't need that. There would have been a lot more tactful ways to bring awareness. My favorite commercial was the Fiat one.  Not sure how we will fill our Sunday's again. I guess college basketball takes over.

Read:  I finished up Ruby Red.  I found this book on a recommendation of a fellow book lover. It is a good story, but it just don't have much of a climax. I feel like this book should have been longer. I will definitely start the next one soon.  Next book I completed was The Retribution of Mara Dyer.  This was by far my favorite book in the series because it was pretty much all the climax of the story. I could have done without about 15 of the last 20 pages though. Overall, not a trilogy that I would recommend to others.  I also, surprisingly, was able to finished up another book.  First Frost I had to decide between two books and I went this route. Apparently, it was the right decision for me as I blew through the book forsaking sleep just so I could catch up with Waverly family. Although I don't think you have to read Garden Spells to enjoy this story, I do think it would add many more layers that make you smile. A must read for Sarah Addison Allen fans. 

Listened: To the kids read some of the cutest papers during their 100 days celebration.  It was a fill in the blanks like, I could carry a 100 ________, but I could not carry a 100 _________.  The things that they think to put in there just made me laugh. Jack was a speech so he didn't get do his. I am hoping he will come home with the paper so we can do it later. 

Made: The drive to get my necklace cleaned because it had gotten a piece of fuzz wrapped tightly around it.  There was a Goodwill around the corner and so I stopped in. I was so excited to find adult plates that were divided. It's the dream for those of us who don't love our food to mix. Jack thinks that they are fun too. The work well for sryups with pancakes too.

Felt: A bit more stress. I could really see how hard the job has been for Nick lately. He spent a large part of Saturday (after a Jayhawk loss) trying to get things through. It was a very line in the sand moment. It made me backslide on my nail chewing a bit. It worked out for now, but I think that there will be several more stressful moments before this project is over.

Planned: My normal meal plan, but we just haven't been good about following through it.  We are in a weird spot with our schedule. I just haven't stayed with it. I am sure we will get better again. It's much better on the budget.

Loved: That Jack was able to have a friend over on Friday. They started playing some Minecraft at the house, went to the park with pizza, and then went to Classic Skate Center. They were together for 6 hours and it wasn't enough for either of them. It's so fun to watch him enjoy his friends.

Here are the pics for the week:




Monday 2 February 2015

A Week in Review (January 25-31)

A Week in Review (January 25-31)

Watched: Redbox put out a dollar off code, so I watched The Fault in Our Stars. I liked it more than the book. I felt that they did a pretty good staying true to the story line of the book. If you enjoyed the book, I am sure you would like the movie. If you haven't read the book, you might want some tissues ready. We also decided to rent Guardians of the Galaxy as a family on Friday night. It wasn't for me. Too many explosions. Jack was super upset at the loss of one of the characters. 


Read: I finished up Love, Rosie. It's definitely a Happily Ever After book, but I liked it all the same. I am looking forward to watching the movie. Next, I started on The Retribution of Mara Dyer. I am not feeling it either. I just can't quit on a series though. I will try to push through it quickly as The Rosie Effect came off my holds list and I am excited for it. It is a follow up to The Rosie Project

Listened: I had another YA trilogy recommended to me and so I started it on audiobook. I am enjoying Ruby Red so far. It's a book about time travel as far as I can tell right now.
Made: Our landlord come out to do a bit of repair work. It sure is nice to not have that responsibility, especially with how busy Nick is at work. We have a gopher invading the backyard.  We will have to see how it turns out. If you zoom in on the picture below, you may be able to see him poking his head out on the right. 

Felt: Excited to do a little retail therapy. My co-workers gave me a gift card to Bed Bath and Beyond when we moved here and I just wasn't sure what to spend it on. I decided that I wanted to upgrade my mixing bowls and so I went in hunt of something fun.  I found several nice stainless steel bowls with lids. I also found some great clearance deals as well.

Planned: On taking more pictures of Jack's final basketball game but I didn't as I sat on the bench with the players. They had a ton of fun at their post game party at Uswirl, a frozen yogurt place. They had TVs on showing wipeouts of skiers and snowmobilers. The boys thought it was hilarious. 

Loved: Eating at the Melting Pot with my boys. We gave Jack a gift certificate for Christmas and we will all enjoyed dining on the melting out that someone else prepared.  Jack said he got himself "plumped"

Here are the pics for the week:

The gopher hole


Jack's "It's been a long day at the office" look.