A Week in Review (June 19-25)

A Week in Review (June 19-25)

Watched: Now You See Me with Jack. He wasn't really thrilled with the concept, but he loved it. It's a good mix between magic and action.  On Saturday, we just had to see the follow up movie, Now You See Me 2 at the theater.  The "magic" wasn't quite as good, but I thought it was nice follow up to the original movie. I would highly recommend taking a refresher run in the original movie before watching the second one. I don't think it would make as much sense otherwise. 

 

Read:  I was able to finish up The Girl with All the Gifts. This book was given to me by a fellow book lover, and I didn't even read the back before I picked it up. Boy was I in for a surprise. I had assumed by the title that it would be a Chick Lit book. It couldn't be farther from that as it is a SciFi Thriller. I thought the plot was a bit slow to develop at the beginning, but it really picked up. I was blown away by the end. It didn't go at all how I thought it would.  I would recommend it for SciFi fans who don't mind a bit of emphasis on relationships.  Next, I read Night.  While it is short, it is very intense. It was an emotional story. I can not imagine living through such an inhumane experience. To lose your whole family in such a short time. The brutal honesty that he speaks with is so intense that it look me quite a bit longer to read the story. I kept having to stop because it was too heavy and therefore, it took much longer for me to finish it than the number of pages dictated that it should.  After that I started on The Opposite of Everyone. It's by Joshilyn Jackson. She is one of my go-to authors when I want an easy read. It's what I needed after Night!
 

Listened: To the sounds of some crazy rain.  I was on my way to get the boys from camp and the skies just opened up. Which meant traffic came to crawl on the roads and I hated it because that meant that I would be running late. Running late totally stresses me out. I only ended up being about three minutes late since I was able to get a closer parking spot than was usually available.

Made: Our crazy summer travel plans. Jack and I will not be home for much of July as we travel to my mom's, KC, and Vegas. It will be fun and probably quite hot!  We are looking forward to seeing so many people that we love in such a short time. We are also excited about going as a whole family to watch Penn & Teller.

Felt: Like I did a lot of driving for nothing too special. Nick's work planned to get together to attend the Fan Fest for the Pike's Peak Hill Climb. Basically every year cars, motorcycles, and trucks race up the hill.  It would have to be a pretty intense feeling. The whole thing was a bit of a let down because there wasn't much to see and not many people came.  It might not have been a big deal, but I had to drive into downtown, which takes 30 minutes to get to from our place, then drive his friend home from camp, drive back down into downtown and then home again. Luckily they had shaved ice so I got some dessert that I liked out of all it. :)

Planned: To just pack Nick clothes for his work trip as normal but since he has lost so much weight, nothing really looked good on him anymore. We decided to get rid of all his too big pants and shirts (and man there were a lot!) and just go get him some new ones. He hates spending money on the clothes but I think he realized it was necessary. He looked pretty snazzy and I thought we did a great job getting three pairs of pants, two shirts, and a pair of shoes for a little over $200.  His side of the closet looks much more spacious now!

Loved: Jack's enthusiasm for his basketball camp.  He always came home with a new game idea or story to tell me. He often skipped over parts of lunch and snack and never went to the optional swimming so that he could have more time for free shooting.  That means that he spent from about 9 to 4 from Monday through Friday playing basketball. He was very glad he went. It was funny because one of the players who worked as a coach at the camp looked similar to Jack. I think the buzz cut from the week before helped seal the deal.  His nickname was String Cheese, so Jack often called himself Tiny Cheese or Cheese Curd. Haha

 

Here are the pics for the week:

A picture from our last morning of camping. They were both pretty pooped. 

Jack's in the back bottom row towards the left throwing his funky arm sign. 

Jack and String Cheese

A Week in Review (June 5-11)

A Week in Review (June 5-11)

Watched: Daddy's Home. Jack and has been wanting to see it since he saw the previews. Redbox sent me a code for a free movie so we decided to try it. It was pretty funny.  Lots of physical humor, but we laughed lots.  I wouldn't exactly call it a family flick, but it was good for our family.

Read:  I made pretty good progressing on Glory over Everything:  Beyond The Kitchen House.  I was hoping to finish it up, but it just didn't happen.  It is a good follow up on Jamie and his life after The Kitchen House.

Listened: To three boys have no idea how they could come together on an idea.  Everyone wanted to do something different and no one could really seem to come to a compromise.  Thank goodness the hat game to the rescue.  We played baseball at the park, Nintendo Land, and a water fight after the rain.  It was lots of fun and kept everyone getting along.

Made: Nick's anniversary present. He and Jack went to see the new X-men movie on Sunday. I wasn't feeling too in the superhero mood, so I stayed home.  I thought this would be a good time to figure out what I was going to get him. I went with a crystal cube that has a photo of me floating in it with the words "Love you forever" on it. I can't wait until it gets here in a couple weeks to see how it looks.

Felt: So amazed by Jack.  He's come a long way in his enjoyment vs fear on the roller coasters.  He routinely wants to sit at the front or back now.  He managed to keep the pose that you see in the photo below for the camera shot on the coaster too.  His first couple looked like he was death warmed over.  The park hasn't been too buys our last couple of times.  We even spent the vast majority of this trip at the water park and still got in a couple high thrill rides in the park.

Planned: On it always being just Jack and I at the pool at Lifetime this summer. We went for the first time on Wednesday and were excited when Coach's son splashed down in front of us. Apparently they also have a membership there. It will be nice to have a friend to meet up with occasionally.  Sadly, we didn't get to enjoy the pool very long because some lightening was in the area.  It seems like this could be a problem we face often here.  I am hoping not.  The water needs some sunshine to warm it up too. 

Loved:  Going exploring with Nick and Jack.  Nick had been told about an area about an hour away that had places where you could just go camping without seeing very many people at all.  It was a little bit crazy to get it it and we saw cattle and antelope.  Nora even lept out of rolled down window to chase the cattle.  We climbed some fun easy rock formations and I was able to get picture of Nick, Jack, and Nora.  I am definitely glad that we scouted it out before we went though because we definitely need to take different things camping.

Here are the pics for the week:

He didn't go see this movie, but Nick got this cute photo of him inside the theater

Interested in seeing what these turn into

I just love this picture of these two

What a ham!

I find it hilarious that Nick is the only one not looking at me.

A Week in Review (May 29-June 4)

A Week in Review (May 29-June 4)

Watched: Jack and his friend have an awesome time together at Elitches. We decided to use one our free passes and spend the day up there where it was 75 and sunny, rather than down here where is was 65 and overcast.  It was nice having a better feeling for the park so I had some good ideas of where to park, what to take with me, and where things were.  The lines were a bit shorter and they got to ride several things. We did the water rides and ended up drenched each time. In the collage below, you will see a framework leading up to a very tall platform. That is the Sidewinder and you have to take the stairs!!! to the top.  While it was a great ride, I don't want to climb it very often. The boys went on it three times and I only went on it once. 

Read:  I still wasn't getting into the reading vibe this week.  Luckily a book came off my hold list that I know still has a ton of people after me.  This will motivate me to read it pretty fast.  It is called Glory Over Everything: Beyond The Kitchen House.  I wouldn't quite call it a sequel to The Kitchen House, but it does share some of the same characters.  I am not very far in it, but I am enjoying it.

Listened: To Jack come in crying from basketball with his dad on Friday night. Apparently Nick was a little over aggressive with a check and it caught Jack in the mouth, which popped his tooth free.  While he was cleaning up, we realized that he had lost 3 of his 7 teeth by being hit with a ball. That's almost 43%. I think it's quite funny. He lost his first two ever that way. It was at a football practice. Then he lost one on the playground in Utah. And Friday he lost one playing basketball with his dad.  I think it just means that he spends at least 50% of his life playing with balls.

Made: Progress on my picture archiving again. It had been a while since I had taken the time to look at them, but I thought it was best just to try to get started. I was surprised to learn that Wal-Mart doesn't carry a traditional photo album in their stores anymore.  Instead of looking all over, I just bought one from Amazon.  I am sure I won't finish this summer, but it feels good to have started again.

Felt: Relieved that the gentlemen at the paint counter were able to fix my paint!  It did take adding quite a bit of violet to it to make it tone down. It took three separate tries, but we didn't give up. What I love about the new technology was that there were even able to repeat it because they are able to write down the exact number of drops that went in.

Planned: On the boys having a normal last practice, but coach just decided to have a good time with them. They got to play different baseball themed games and challenges.  At the end of practice, they had their hit-a-thon that I had donated prizes too. Jack's good friend hit the ball all 10 times. It was crazy!  I really wish the league would allow our boys to stay together longer. They make such a great team. 

Loved:  Celebrating the end of the season with Jack's baseball team.  They really are such an amazing group of kiddos and were blessed with an unbelievable coach to help guide and mold them.  Coach Dewey really loves baseball and you can tell.  The boys all really respected him and had an awesome time with him.  We, as parents, could see that and appreciate all his hard work.  Our last game of the season was on Saturday.  After the game, 2/3 of the boys were able to head to a local pizza parlor for a celebration.  They played on the machines, ate pizza and cupcakes, and ran around like maniacs.  We presented coach with a team gift and a signed baseball from the boys.  I was also able to put him together a trophy from the pieces of extra ones due to shipping mishaps.  Next, he gave the boys their trophies.  He had something nice to say about each of them.  Then I was surprised with a gift and hugs from the team thanking me for all my work as team mom and dugout monitor.  I was quite shocked and thankful.  I don't know what we will do without any sports scheduled for the next couple of months.  I am sure it will just fly by!    

Here are the pics for the week:

Doesn't it look so pretty?

Our Elitches Collage

Pizza Party

Clearly they aren't on the ball field--untucked jersey and backward hats

A Week in Review (May 22-28)

A Week in Review (May 22-28)

Watched: Jack catch a pop fly for an out.  They were in a close game with their opponent on Thursday, which doesn't happen very often for our team.  This was against the team that had beaten us once when were having an awful batting day too.  Luckily, our boys played very well.  One of our boys, who actually used to close his eyes when he got up to bat, hit a home run!  It was the first one for our team and if we were a betting crew, this kid would have the long odds.  The whole team was so excited for him.  Then, Jack and two other kids caught a pop flies.  The ended up winning.  Even though there are no official league standings, we know that we are on top of the division.  We do have a rematch scheduled with our toughest opponent for next Tuesday.  I am hoping the forecast is wrong and we are able to play!

Read:  I finished up My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry.  It was another winner by Fredrik Backman. He complete sucks you in and has you rooting for all the characters in the novel. I kept thinking on an old crotchety neighbor I had growing up. I never got to know her back story the way you get to know his characters, but I wonder if it would have made me understand her any better. I would recommend this book to lovers of fairy tales, Harry Potter, people who are "different", and those who just love a good human interest story.  I haven't found a good book to start next.  Guess I will be waiting for something to come off my holds list.

Listened: To the story of a friend.  They are going through a tough time and I was glad I could be there to listen. I even made a meal for their family.  They said a family favorite was Mexican, so I took my favorite comfort food to them which is Mexican Lasagna.  I also took over some refried beans, chips and salsa, strawberries, and brownies.  It was so great being able to do something simple for them which I know meant a lot to all of them.    

Made: A new bulletin board for the PTA for Jack's school.  The one board had set blank all school year long with old and outdated information on it.  I just couldn't handle it, so I went and got the stuff to freshen it up.  I even asked another mom to stay and help me put it up.  I am not big on asking for help, but I know that it connects more people to the school and so I decided to let go.  I am pleased with the way it turned out.  While we were there, we also decided to dig through the PTA closet.  I don't think anyone had done that in years.  It was a big tasks but over a couple of days, I totally organized it.  It took spending 50 dollar on totes to get it done. I should have taken a before and after.

Felt:  Excited that Nick was able to come home on Friday instead of having to travel from Utah, where he was attending his Higher Relationship conference, to Vegas.  We weren't sure if he would have business to conduct out there, but it didn't seem to make sense for him to come home and then go back out only a day or two later.  Luckily, things were able to wrap up without him being present out there.

Planned: On picking out a great color for the sun room with Nick.  For Christmas, he gave me the gift of repainting it, but the weather hasn't ever coincided with our free time to get it done.  Luckily, we were pretty open this Memorial Day weekend and so we decided to do it this weekend.  I knew I wanted a pale yellow.  The ones that I was picking Nick thought would be too light.  He usually nails all the paint colors I want, so I trusted his judgement.  We got home and painted a sample of it on the wall.  I am kind of freaking out because it looks like a giant banana in there.  A quick google search has told me that if I take it back to Home Depot, they can add some violet to it to help tone down the yellow.  I hope they aren't wrong.  I really don't want to lose the $40 I paid for the can, but I can't have the original color stand.

Loved: Celebrating the boy's last day of second grade.  We spent it with his close friend and his family.  First, we went to Dart Warz and even the moms played.  The boys whooped up on us and they thought that was quite fun.  Then we went down and had some yogurt from ItopIt, Jack's favorite ice cream place in the Springs.  The boys still hadn't had enough together time, so we went to Hu Hot.  It was so crazy busy there.  It just meant more time for chit chatting though.  We didn't get home until after Nick did!  My little man is a third grade teacher now.

Here are the pics for the week:

Doesn't it look so nice and clean?

Jack and his teacher on the last day

I hope this can be fixed!

A Week in Review (May 15-21)

A Week in Review (May 15-21)

Watched: A cute video that Jack made for his school's Adventure in Literacy day. Most of his class made one the day before, but since we were gone, he had to do his the day of.  He did it on the Popcorn Friday team.  It turned out pretty cute. His teacher said she would email us a link to download the videos they've made and I hope that's true.

Read:  I think I had a bit of a book hangover from Dark Places. I really just couldn't get started on any book I tried. Luckily, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry came off my hold list.  I've been pretty busy with everyday stuff and haven't made great progress on it, but I am enjoying it. I'm hoping to wrap it up before Jack gets done with school next week. 

Listened: To another little league coach be quite hard on his players.  He said to me before the game that they hadn't lost.  As the game went on, I could see why. They only used their best players at key positions. They didn't bat through their entire batting order, continually skipping over the kids who couldn't hit well.  It really makes me thankful for our coach who plays every player at every position, who encourages all of our kids to do their best and applauds their effort even when it doesn't net results. 

Made: A fun day out of Elitches. We decided to play hookie so we could take advantage of the free bring a friend tickets, without having to deal with a weekend crowd.  We went with our friends the Petersen's. Jack did his first 48" roller coasters. He thought the scariest one was the Tower of Doom, which pulls you up and then shoots you straight down. He isn't a huge fan of going upside down either.  It was one of the warmer days that we have experienced and that took some getting used too.  I found out that they no longer give out free water cups. Guess I will always need to remember to take in a water bottle for us to share.  Also, the food prices have gotten crazy. It's now $7 for a pretzel.  We will be making more trips to the car for lunch.  It was good to get a feel for what a day there might look like. 

Felt: Happy. My brother reminded me that we needed to have our monthly chat. It's what he gave me for my birthday. We spent almost two hours on the phone just talking it up. It's good to hear what's going on in his life and keep him updated on ours since he doesn't read this blog or participate in Facebook. 

Planned: On just researching what location the baseball pictures would be set up so I could tell the Kona Ice guy the best place to park.  But when I was on the main page, I stumbled across some pictures of Jack's game that another mom had taken and posted there. Jack was clearly her favorite subject.  I've contacted her so I can get full size images. It will be a while, but she says I can have them. :)

Loved:  My Wednesday. It was a great day. I found out our Chipotle fundraiser for the new fields went really well, making 1540.75.  Then I submitted a nomination for Jack's baseball coach to throw out a first pitch for the local minor league team and found out he was accepted!  I also got the contract signed for the year book for next school year. Plus, I finished up the sponsorship plaque and trophies for our team. And I cleaned the house. After school, I made my boy some semi-homemade chicken noodle soup before heading to practice, where he was given the game ball for their Monday game. 

Here are the pics for the week:

Here is the series of shots she captured of Jack. 

The finished plaque and trophy 

A selfie before a tilt a whirl ride

A Week in Review (May 8-14)

A Week in Review (May 8-14)

Watched: Jack and Nick each show off their upper body strength.  Nick wanted to get a pull up bar so that he could vary his workout at home.  We found a nice one on Craiglist and the boys got right to using it.  Even in my youthful, skinny days, I could not do a pull up.  It is so funny to see how much better Jack and Nick both are at them.  Jack has set a goal for himself of being able to do seven in a row.  I think he has maxed out at four right now.  He wanted me to take a picture of his muscles so that he could check himself out.  I laughed quite hard at that, but that I would share the picture so you could see his muscles too.

Read: On Mother's Day, I was able to finish up Stars Above, which is from the Lunar chronicles.   I really enjoyed reading some of the back stories to the original works. I am also glad that her final story wrapped it up the way it did. A great read for anyone who has read the Lunar chronicles.  Next, I quickly read Dark Places.  This book is disturbing and full of dark places you might not want to go. I read it at quite a quick pace always needing to know what happened next. It was easy for me to picture the places since it was set in Kansas. I am just about Libby's age too, so that resounded with me even more. If you want a "what the hell happened" kind of feeling, pick this book up.  I decided I would try to get another book off my shelf if in Dreams from my Father, but I must be having book hangover because I just can't get going on it.

Listened: To Nick's lament his day spent as a Watch Dog at Jack's school.  He really does not enjoy his time spent in the school, but every year, he makes sure to take a day.  While I know he dreads it, I know that Jack is on the exact opposite end of the spectrum and loves it.  I think as long as it continues to mean a lot of Jack, Nick will suck it up and spend the day in the school.  You can tell he really loves his kid when he even wears a shirt with purple on it for him.

Made: An appointment to get my haircut and colored.  I haven't had my hair colored since Valerie's wedding, almost two years ago.  I decided to splurge and go with a more expensive stylist so that I could really get a good cut and color.  I think she did fantastic.  I posted a picture to Facebook and received a ton of compliments.  That sure did make a girl feel good!

Felt: Excited about my great finds from Lane Bryant.  They sent me a coupon for $15 off $15.  I realized that I almost missed the day, so the final day the coupon was valid, I stopped by.  It just so happened to be BOGO on clearance that day.  I was able to score $70 of tops for $10!  I was pretty thrilled.  You can even see one of them in the picture with my new haircut.

Planned: On not doing anything for Jack's school outside of my normal volunteering, but I got an email from the counselor saying she was having a hard time getting business to give her donations for the final Pride Assembly, so I got right on making some calls and drafting a letter.  Overall, I think that we did pretty good for a last minute push.  We received passes to mini-golf, It'z, House of Bounce, Sky Zone, and tons for the Fish Bowl at Bass Pro.

Loved: Celebrating Mother's Day with my boys. We started the morning off with French toast. Next the boys assembled the picnic table for our backyard. Then they ran to the store to get food to grill on it. While they were gone, I was able to get a lot of my book read.  After we finished up dinner, we headed off for a Landsharks race. Jack ran the mile at 8:22. I was really proud of his pace and of how much he put into the last lap of the race.  When we got home, Jack made me a cake in a cup with sprinkles stuck inside a peach.  It was quite the fun day.  

Here are the pics for the week:

My Mother's Day Collage

Jack and Nick on his Watch Dog day

My new haircut

The boy showing off his muscles

A Week in Review (May 1-7)

A Week in Review (May 1-7)

Watched: Jack play catcher on Wednesday in some beautiful baseball weather. He was really quite good at it going for all the short balls and anything that might go foul. In the picture I snapped, he has his glove upside down, but normally he had it the right way. One of the mom's even commented to me that she really noticed how he was going after it. He was really proud that he got on base after every hit too. The whole team played really well and ended up winning by a score of 22-3.

Read:  I finished up The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend. This was a pretty typical YA book plot. I picked it up because if I realize there is a book, I must read it before watching the movie. I was quite surprised at the language in the book. Not that it is in anyway atypical for teenagers. It is just not generally written that way. While I wouldn't shy away from another book by the same author, I wouldn't rush right away and have to get it. The next book I started was Stars Above, it is a short story collection to go along with the Lunar Chronicles. It is due back to the library next week so I really had to put some time into it.  It looks like I will actually be able to get it done.  I am enjoying reading the backstories from the Lunar Chronicles.

Listened: To Nick tell the story of how Jack completing the rings in the gym when no other kid in his class could. Even though Nick had spent the rest of the week out of town, he made it back in time to attend Jack's field day. There ended up being a lot of parent helpers so Nick was able to follow Jack around. I stayed and worked a game.  I'm really glad they each got to experience field day together. I know it meant a lot to each of them.

Made: Our first trip to the gym.  We decided to enroll at Lifetime Fitness so that we could have access to the pool for the summer.  We took a tour Monday and Jack just loved it. He climbed to the top of several rock walls, played some horse, and swam around in the pool. I think we will enjoy having that option.

Felt: A bit nervous about our team's Hit-a-thon participation.  The day I had to turn in the list of names I didn't have anyone signed up to play.  It took the old fashioned asking people face to face to get a good response. By the end of the night, we ended up with 8 out of the 12 players, so I don't think that's too shabby at all.  It will be fun to see how it goes down.

Planned: A pretty awesome, and exhaustive for me, week for Teacher appreciation. In addition to the billboard from last week, we did several fun activities. On Monday, we delivered pre-ordered Sonic drinks to them. I was a bit disappointed that Sonic ran a half hour late having the drinks ready. It made delivery kind of hectic. Definitely something I will be aware of next time.  Tuesday, the PTA catered a soup, salad, and bread stick lunch from Olive Garden.  The teachers really enjoyed that. On Wednesday, we delivered over 300 carnations to staff with "Thank You" messages attached to them.  Thursday, there was a candy buffet set out for their enjoyment. Friday, we encouraged kids to wear their teacher's favorite color for Field Day.  That was a hard one for Jack since we really don't have any purple in our wardrobe.  

Loved:  Seeing my boys head off to the movies together.  It serves so many wonderful purposes.  Most importantly, they get to bond together doing something that the two of them both really enjoy.  Secondly, and not far behind, is that I don't have to watch action movies in the theater in anymore.  Lastly, it gives me some alone time to catch up on things just for me.  This time, I actually headed to bed quite early since I had only gotten five hours of sleep the night before.  It was wonderful.  The boys both really loved Captain America: Civil War too.

Here are the pics for the week:

Jack at the top of a rather challenging climb.

My candy buffet line up

Jack's baseball picture for the season

Here he is at catcher

My yummy treats

My only field day picture while I was leading cat tails