Wednesday 29 April 2015

A Week in Review (April 19-25)

A Week in Review (April 19-25)

Watched: Jack play his first machine pitch game. He did a pretty good job, but his whole team is kind of like the Bad News Bears. They really don't seem to understand the baseball concept.  It was super sunny and pretty hard to see and harder to get pictures.  We will definitely want to take our ball caps next time.  I missed the Thursday game since I was in KC, but Nick sent me some text updates and it sounded like it went a bit smoother. 


Read: I made it through The Death Cure, finally!  I thought this was such a disappointing end to the series. I felt like the characters became more shallow and that the book was really rushed in parts and extremely slow in others. I was a fan of the ending though, so that made me give it an overall three stars where the rest of the book would have had it be about a 2.5.  I completed all of the novella Fairest.  It is from the Lunar Chronicle series that I have been reading. Next, I started up Vanishing Girls. It is a pretty quick read so far. I hope it continues that way since I have two more that need to be read soon too.

Listened: To Jack countdown the days to my trip.  He was so excited to get to have the time with just Dad.  They seemed to have a great time, as Jack is already asking when I will take another trip. He did concede that he missed me quite badly at bedtime. Dad just couldn't compare in the snuggles department. 

Made: A quick stop before I left for the airport. My friend who spent 7 years in Lawrence has family in the KC area. She knew that I was leaving my luggage half open for any garage sale deals that I might find and so she asked me to take some of her hand-me-downs to her sister in law. It was great because I knew just how much stuff I had space for on my return trip!  And if you're wondering, I did find some good deals in KC to bring back with me. 

Felt: A horrible case of allergies as soon as I landed in KC. I never really had a problem with seasonal allergies so I was quite unprepared for it.  I can see why so many people complain about it. It is quite an intense issue to deal with the mucus and itchy eyes all the time. 

Planned: On eating out more while I was on vacation, but I was treated to a couple delicious home cooked meals with my friends. I am lucky to be friends with people who are good cooks!  Much better for me than restaurant food. :)

Loved: Seeing everyone in KC. I didn't get to see absolutely everyone I would have liked to or for as long as I would have liked, but it brought me such great joy to spend time with those I could.  I am so glad that I could make it back in time to celebrate the last Bunco before one friend became a Mrs and another became a mama!

Here are the pics for the week:

Here is the bride we celebrated.


And the mama to be


So sad I don't have regular access to this 



My new shower curtain


Monday 20 April 2015

A Week in Review (April 12-18)

A Week in Review (April 12-18)

Watched: Jack have a good time along the walk called the Temple of Sinawava at Zion National Park. It was such a beautiful place to be. If you ever want to feel small in this vast world, take a walk along that path. These mountains just raise up above you and force you to think about how long it took to create.  So glad we were able to make it there. 


Read: I almost finished up The Death Cure. I have three books that have come off my hold shelf and one more that I need to read for book club.  Luckily I have two plane flights so hopefully I will be able to make a small dent in the list then.

Listened: To 100 very excited kids participate in the Monster Math competition.  On the day before the event, I was helping Jack's teacher (who had to run the event due to having a Student Teacher) get ready. I asked her if she could use a spare hand the next morning and she said sure.  It's a good thing that I asked because the other teacher who was slated to help suddenly couldn't. The event went well and we had to send the eateries off for judging. I'll be very interested to see the scores when they are done. 

Made: A mistake as to what library held the DVD that Jack wanted. But luckily there was an awesome park nearby and we decided to play there instead. We loved it and will definitely go back with more time to play and a have a picnic dinner there.

Felt: So thankful for the fact that I didn't have to shovel with Wednesday's snow storm. The roads and sidewalk for still warm enough that nothing would stick.  The snow collected plenty on the ground and the National Weather Service reported we got 6".  It was the best 6" of snow that I have ever been a part of. 

Planned: On trying out some local garage sales in the area. I was thinking that maybe I would find some pants for a Jack for next season. Instead, I found several cute clothes for my friends upcoming baby girl and fun new toy for Nick and I. It is a SmartThings hub and accessories. Our favorite thing is that you can control light bulbs with it, which is excellent for Nick coming in late. He hates walking into a dark house and I don't like leaving the lights on. This gives us the perfect solution. 

Loved: My new shower curtain. My mom sent me a Target gift card so that I could buy myself a new shower curtain for my birthday. I'm pretty pleased with the immediate change in the bathroom. I also love my double sided shower hooks that made it easy to change the curtain out.

Here are the pics for the week:























Jack posing before his jog-a-thon


And pouring some water on himself post run







Wednesday 15 April 2015

A Week in Review (April 5-11)

A Week in Review (April 5-11)

Watched: Jack open all his Easter Eggs and try to solve the clue to figure out where the Lego set was hidden that he was sure the Easter bunny had left.  He did find it and was very excited to start putting it together. It was a nice relaxing Easter with just the three of us. 


Read:  I finished up Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography. It was a cute story and really informed me about a lot of projects that he had going on that I didn't know about.  It seems like he really is in a good place. It will be interesting to see if his children ever make the tabloids.  Next I started The Death Cure, which is the third book in the Maze Runner series. Hopefully, I read it quickly since it has a wait list at the library and I am overdue.  Paying a few dollar in fines is still cheaper than buying the book!

Listened: To Jack have a blast at Chuck E Cheese and the indoor pool at the Rec center.  Since it was Spring Break, we tried to do something a little fun every day.  We even were able to take a picnic, albeit a little chilly and windy, at a new park with friends.  I love that I am lucky enough to be able to go on these adventures with him.  I hope the memories last a lifetime.

Made: Several stops around town to take pictures with Flat Keegan. It was fun seeing all the places that Jack would take him too. It also made me appreciate some of the different things that we can experience here.  I posted a couple of the pictures below. 

Felt: In awe at the majesty of Bryce Canyon. It made you feel so small in the grand scheme of things. I have seen a lot of red rock, but nothing like that before. The formations were just amazing.  There were really neat lookouts and Sunrise and Sunset Points, which were a short walk too. We walked partially into the valley, but chickened out about walking all the way down after we saw some extremely winded looking people at the halfway mark. It felt like we were far enough down that we didn't miss anything. 

Planned: On seeing more things around the Duck Creek Lake area. But it wasn't the right season. As several of their signs informed me, it was still the Winter season, which runs from November to May. Navajo Lake, where there is supposed to be good fishing, was frozen over. Most things were still closed or inaccessible. We did get to see a lot of wildlife and our cabin was wonderful, but it wasn't exactly what I thought I was getting. It did have limited cell service which reminded me how very different life was before we had them!

Loved: My birthday.  Since I love birthday's, it's hard to not like getting older.  Jack gave me some "yes" minutes to spend.  I used some of them to take a picture with me on the "edge" of Bryce Canyon.  You can see by his face that he wasn't thrilled.  Nick gave me a trip back to KC to play Bunco.  I am so thrilled!!!  There weren't any real bakeries in the area, so Nick and Denise cooked up a clever plan to make me a beefcake.  I had to laugh.  It was an awesome day filled with lots of birthday wishes and love.  Looking forward to another wonderful year!

Here are the pics for the week:

Some of our Easter Celebrations


Pics from Chuck E Cheese





A couple of our Flat Keegan pictures


Look at these old man hands (and his funny old man face!)

A giant rocking chair outside of our lunch stop on the way to Duck Creek Village

Some shots of our cabin. We enjoyed the pool table and dart board a lot. Jack, of course, invented his own game for the pool table. 







Frozen Navajo Lake




Bryce Canyon
A panoramic taken with Nick's phone


Several shots from my camera







My birthday "beef" cake


Wednesday 8 April 2015

A Week in Review (March 29-April 4)

A Week in Review (March 29-April 4)

Watched: Jack at his first week of baseball practice. He seemed to have a great time. He is playing machine pitch and the ball comes out around 36mph. He got a hit at his second time at bat, so he did better than I would have! He really seems to be enjoying himself. 


Read: I have fallen into a bit of a reading funk. While I am enjoying the Neil Patrick Harris autobiography, it just doesn't draw me like I am needing. 

Listened: To Jack have a blast with all the Easter activities we did. We had an egg hunt with his classmates. We also went to an indoor swimming pool to have a water egg hunt. And of course we colored eggs. We tried some Wilton's dye and it made some vibrant eggs.
Made: Banana bread to celebrate a sweet 2 year old birthday.  It was the first time
I was able to use my mixer to make it and that made it even more wonderful.  I didn't even have to mash the bananas!  What an awesome appliance. 

Felt: Tricked. For all the jokes I had planned (see below), both Nick and Jack were able to still get me. Jack was so excited for the day that he couldn't sleep.  He came to me just as I was on the verge of waking up and said "Mom, I pooped my pants."  It startled me awake and the he said "April Fool's". I should have been prepared, he had even made two jokes for his teachers. For one we sneakily cut open a Hershey's bar under the back flap and took out the chocolate. Then he put in paper with about the same weight that said April Fool's on it. He did something similar to a stick of gum too.  Nick, on the other hand, didn't pull any tricks on Jack and I thought he was too tired to pull any on me. I should have known better. He had the leader of the construction send an email at around 10 in the evening (which really is when an email like this would come in) saying that although Nick had been trying to pan the trip off on someone else, he was now booked to go to Phoenix on the 8th with an open return date.  Of course, this meant that not only was our vacation ruined, but so was my birthday. I shed a few silent tears before he told me it was a joke. Ahh man, he got me good. 

Planned: A ton of April Fool's jokes for Jack. My favorite was putting gel food coloring up in the faucet of his tub. When he turned it on the water ran pink. It was hilarious. It lasted quite some time. I also put Saran Wrap over the opening of the shampoo bottles in the house. I rubberbanded the spray nozzle on the kitchen sink. I drew a mustache on Jack as he slept hoping he wouldn't notice before he went to school (it didn't work!). I put a note on every door of the house telling them to try another door because I had something going on like wet paint, freshly shampooed carpet.  I was busy!

Loved: Going back to Liberty Park and playing some catch with my boys.  The space is just perfect and it really doesn't allow you to worry about anything else that needs done.  It also fun to teach Jack some ball catching skills. Catching with a glove is a lot different than just catching a ball. 

Here are the pics for the week:



April Fool's 

     Can't tell it's open, can you?


We finally rode the Ferris Wheel at Scheel's. 


Check out the view that came with it. 

Jack and Nick played Rollerball 


I was craving try someplace new to eat so we went to The Bohemian. My quick and sweet summary would be go for the beer and dessert. Leave the overpriced dinner behind.


Our Easter activities