Wednesday 28 October 2015

A Week in Review (October 18-24)

A Week in Review (October 18-24)

Watched: A lot more episodes in The Scrubs series.  I have almost finished it.  I have heard conflicting things about the last season when it changed networks.  I am sure I will have to watch it, or it would just feel like I was missing something.  I have heard thinking of it like a spin-off helps.  I have been discussing lots of shows to watch next with one of my girlfriends.  I haven't narrowed it down to just one yet.   


Read: I finished up Carrie.  It really got in my head causing me to have several nights of messed up dreams. However, there is just something that I felt was missing when the book ended. I have been trying to put my finger on what it was lacking, but I just haven't been able too.  I picked a random book from my book shelf and decided to start For One More Day.  I haven't made a lot of headway in, so I cant tell you what I think of it.      

Listened: The speech therapsits agree that Jack was successfully meeting his goal enough to be able move to check-in services only. We still need to make sure that we are practicing s-blends at homes, but I am glad for the interruption in his week is over.  It was a good experience where I felt everyone really worked together as a team. 

Made: The decision to buy new curtains for the living room.  The other ones just felt too spring-like.  I am very excited with the ones that I chose.  They compliment the other ones that I already had on the other window.  I did have to buy one more pair of panels because they just needed more material to make them look decent.  It was a pretty expensive way to change the look out of living room without too much work.

Felt: Conflicted about to buy an 8 year old girl with a quirky personality. Jack was invited to her party, but wasn't sure of what to get her.  Both Baby Mario and Moshi Monsters were suggested as ideas. Sadly, they don't sell either of those things in stores. Based on them,  went with Littlest Per Shop. Then, I made the mistake of asking her if she liked them. You guessed it, she told me no. So I went back to the drawing board and came up with a Magic 8 ball wrapped in a Fleece Throw. Luckily it was a hit. Phew!  Jack also had a good time at the party, so that was nice. 

Planned: A trip to the neighborhood fire station for the 2nd graders at Jack's school.  It sounds a lot easier than it actually was. The only person who schedules the field trips is rarely able to answer the phone.  When she does get back to you, her head is so full of request that she can't keep her facts straight.  But luckily, with a lot of preservance, I got them scheduled. Now I just hope that the kids have a good time and the weather is decent for the walk. 
 

Loved: Watching Jack wrestle. We had to wake up quite early on our normal sleep in day, but it was worth it. We not only got the experience of what a tournament feels like, but Jack earned second place.  His very first match he pinned his opponent. The second one, he won. The last one, he got pinned in no time flat. It was a great learning experience, but he was pretty frustrated with himself.  It gave him some great things to work on in practice. They have a tournament here in the Springs next weekend and so we are planning on going to that as well. 

Here are the pics for the week:

Old vs New Curtains


Snow capped mountains have made their debut




A Week in Review (October 11-17)

A Week in Review (October 11-17)

Watched:  The start of the new series Heroes Reborn. We watched the original Heroes series and are enjoying this one. We are a little late coming to the party, but we are enjoying it. The part where the girl enters the video game is a bit far fetched in a far fetched show. Its something our whole family enjoys. 


Read: I finished up Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.  This book was absolutely dreadful for me. I clearly do not appreciate British humor. I had moments where I thought it was going to be okay, but then it just turned bad again. I can't believe that I actually finished it. I just had to because I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss some grand finale. I will not be picking up another Neil Gaiman book, no matter what.  Next, I started Carrie hoping for a good Halloween read. It seems to be able to deliver that.

Listened: To Jack have a great time with his friend who was able to stay the night on Friday. They played pretty well together.  They woke up early and had a lightsaber battle, played football, and a ton of Mario Kart.


Made: Plans with our friends to attend a Colorado Springs Beer Festival the weekend after Halloween. It's all Colorado Brewers and the money from the ticket sales goes to charity. It should be a great time.  Since I am not a big beer drinker, I got the much cheaper Designated Driver ticket. I think it's so cool that they offer that option. 

Felt: So bad for Jack. He did not do as well as he wanted to at his state cross country meet and it crushed him. I think that there were lots of factors that contributed to his performance. Our trip to Kansas, the heat, and the fact that his running partner who helped him set the pace in Races 2 & 3 really wanted to go all out and Jack couldn't keep that pace. 

Planned: Several dinners and desserts for the teachers at Jack's school. It was amazing how few people signed up to bring things, so I was left making several things. I had a total Pinterest fail too. I attempted to make caramel apple bites and they did not work at all. Not sure what went wrong, but it was awful. I was so glad someone texted me to bail me out. 

Loved: Hearing that Jack is doing well in school.  His teachers and classmates enjoy him, which I think is great. He is making lots of friends. I am glad that he is adjusting to our move so well. 

Here are the pics for the week:

Half way done


FAIL!



Monday 19 October 2015

A Week in Review (October 4-10)

A Week in Review (October 4-10)

Watched: KU get blown out by Baylor so badly that Nick didn't even want to come back in the stadium to watch the 2nd half. We had a much better time hanging outside watching the kiddos play and hang out with each other. We are hoping that KU turns it around soon. It is making for a very long season.  Jack ended up feeling car sick about an hour from home, but luckily we made it home without any trouble. 

Read: I am trying to make my way through Good Omens:  The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. I am having a hard time following the story as it seems very disjointed too me. There are a few parts where I smile at the humor, but I am hoping the storyline starts to come together soon. 

Listened: To the cousins and Jack have a great time seeing each other. Watching 4 boys ages 9-6 talk to each other is a hoot. They come with all sorts of things to make you laugh.  It was exciting to just let them go enjoy themselves in the Hyvee Hawkzone than having to worry because they were all so little. :)  

Made: The trip back from Lawrence in one night. We were planning on staying somewhere in the middle, but I decided sleeping in my own bed and not having to rush around as much to make it to Jack's state cross country meet would be worth the long drive.  

Felt: Excited that we were able to see as many people as were in our short visit to Kansas. It's so hard to cram in years of friends in two days, but we do what can.  We are so thankful that most people's schedules aligned or could be wiggled so that we could say hi.  We even got in some of our favorite places like Braum's (ice cream for breakfast!) and BD's (where Jack likes that they call him the Tofu Kid).  

Planned: On Jack missing his first practice of wrestling because of his last soccer game. However, the game was called off due to a big storm hitting the area. They still got together for cupcake and medals at a park. We didn't stay long so we could make it to wrestling close to on-time. It was an interesting experience for me. Lots of sweaty boys in one room, with no place to sit. Not sure I will go to a lot of practices. Hopefully Nick will be able to take him. 

Loved: Watching Jack get to see Kate. They say that with true friendship, months can go without talking and then you just pick back up. That's the way it is for these two. They have such a good time together. We started out rocky because Chuck E Cheese didn't open until 11, but I had thought it was 10. After playing in the park, we tried again, only to find them closed for some sort of electrical issue. We ended up driving over to the other location and had a great time. 

Here are the pics for the week:
Medal from Coach Mike

Wrestling with his friend

Braum's for Breakfast

BD's for lunch



Exhausted, but still posing 

I don't think he made it to Topeka before falling asleep. 




Monday 5 October 2015

A Week in Review (September 27-October 3)

A Week in Review (September 27-October 3)

Watched:  The Martian movie with Nick.  Both of us were really disappointed in it.  It felt so far short of the book it was unbelievable.  They added in parts that weren't in the book (and didn't need to be) and left out so much of the book that probably should have been in there.  When are you dealing with a book that is already quite popular, it is probably best to write a script that is close to the book!  So if you do decided to watch the movie, and you like it, please pick of the book.  You will like it so much more.


Read:  As you can tell by the paragraph above, I finished up The Martian.  I am generally not a science fiction fan, but I read this book so I could go see the movie with my husband. My husband has been telling me to read it well before it was announced it was going to be a movie, but I lacked the proper motivation for reading it.   I am so glad that I read it. While I let a lot of the science go right over my head, I enjoyed the story line immensely. There is just something about Watney that you love. I think no matter who you are, you see yourself in some part of him. While the book ended more abruptly than I would have liked, I thought his closing thoughts were very accurate.  Next, I started up Good Omens:  The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.  I think I am on a book let down and haven't gotten very far into yet.  It does give me a feeling very similar to Kevin Smith's movie Dogma.  

Listened:  To some people deflate the Fall Festival spirit at Jack's school.  When we presented it at the PTA there were a little negative Nancy's around.  It is hard when you are trying to put on a new event.  People are very resistant to the change.  Hopefully we were able to come to comprises and the event will be a blast and money making success.  It's scary to lay out money when you have no idea how much will come in return.  I am sure I will have several more stories for the blog before the event gets here in 5 weeks!  


Made: A trip to the local high school's fall festival.  It wasn't as impressive as the ones I remember from my youth, but Jack had a good time.  There was a balloon artist that he liked.  When Jack went to his booth, he was gone with a sign up that said "Back in 5 minutes".  I was kind of wondering where he had went, when he walked out on huge stilts.  It was pretty entertaining to see him.  He definitely had a good time messing around with the kids that were there.

Felt: So proud of Jack.  He qualified for the state cross country meet with a time of 13:50, shaving almost two minutes off his original time.  For some reason, the boys started a minute after the girls this race.  Therefore Jack was not pushing it as hard as he could because the clocked showed that he had failed at his challenge.  You can't believe how excited he was when he realized that he made it.  The meet is the weekend we are going to be in Kansas so we will have to boogie back here so that he can run with his friends.  Two other boys from the team also made it.  His coach captured pictures of every runner from the track.  She also took one of the team waiting together before the races started.  They are below.


Planned: On having to see the early show while Jack was at a birthday party. But we got lucky, and he was invited to stay the night at the host house. He had a wonderful time and Nick and I enjoyed not having to rush back. We enjoyed a dinner and then the movie.  Being the old people that we are (haha), we turned in early so that it was easier to wake up for the early KU football game. 

Loved:  Getting all my Halloween decorations up.  It is a little later than I would normally do it, but the weather just hadn't been cooperating with that fall-feeling.  Luckily, it turned pretty cool around the 2nd of October as I was putting them up just because October had began.  I love the all the fun things that are out in the house and the whimsy that the decoration adds.  I really love the  wall of art of Jack's through the years.  It makes me smile every time I walk by it.  I really wish it could stay fall temperatures all winter long!

Here are the pics for the week: