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Fe, Esperanza y Amor |
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December 17 I'm here!What a semester! I'm not completely done but I'm done w/ Chemistry! That class kicked my butt but I think I did well. The last week, when I should have been studying for the final and the Ch. 11 exam - I was so done w/ it that I had a hard time concentrating. I didn't do so well on those exams - but I'm sure I still passed. I have my final in Medical Terminology tomorrow and I think I'm ready for it. I was ready to take it last week and get it over with but it wasn't posted. I'm so EXCITED for next semester! I finally get to take a class that I've always wanted to take - Photography! It's another Saturday class but it's the only time I could fit in a class because of the CNA class that I HAVE to take. CNA - Certified Nurse Assistant is 5 weeks long, 4 nights a week, 6-10 p.m. ---It's intense! I will be certified after I pass an exam but I couldn't put in any other classes w/ that one unless it was offered on Sat. So, for 5 weeks I will be in the trenches. I don't start till Feb and will end in March and then it's close to spring!! I also enrolled in the fitness center for a half a credit - should get in shape after all these years!
All is well over here...kids are thriving, Clint's still loving his job and I'm happy to take it easy for a few weeks! Christmas is upon us and I didn't do much of the shopping or any of it...Clint enjoys it and I don't. I will bake and make candy and wrap presents...i enjoy those things.
At any rate, enjoy the photos and I'll try not to neglect this blog! October 09 End of summer highlights/fall is hereLooking back on our summer, I think we all had a pretty good one. My highlights from summer started when I went out with some neighbors to a baby shower for an old neighbor. It was held at a really nice place called Vinology, where the food was expensive and the drinks cost just as much. After having a good time even though I didn't know the majority of the people that was there. They all spoke spanish and even though, I could understand, I was too embarrassed to speak out loud. All these women were from all over the latin countries. It was fun but I didn't get dressed up to be home by 10, so I asked one of my neighbors if she wanted to go out for a drink and that girl, surprised the heck out of me because she lead us (another girl ran to catch up with us after we left the place) to a club that was happening. That single mom, studious PHD in political science exterior had me fooled. I guess whenever her boy was spending the night w/ our boy, she was out on the town. We had so much at this club. There was a live band doing covers of all my favorite 90's music. We were the first on the dance floor and the last to get off. I had so much fun, so much that somewhere between leaving the club and walking the 4 blocks to catch the bus home, I lost my camera. I think when we got to the bus stop and were trying to figure out if the buses stopped running or not, I might have left my camera on the bench when we hailed a cab. There were so many pictures on that camera from the fun we had that night, but it was worth a lost camera. I hadn't had that much fun out with girls in a looong time! So sad that two of these great women have moved away. I did end up becoming good friends w/ the woman who caught up with us. She's from Equador and has a daughter that is named the same as mine. She lets me speak to her in my spanglish and I'm getting good at speaking all fast like in the telenovelas!
We sent the oldest sonny to visit family in AZ for 3 weeks. Less than a week into it, I had a little - just a little freak out about him. A mix of all the things mothers worry about - you just hope that you do right by your kids and show them love along the way. He had a good time catching up w/ cousins and other famiy members. 3 weeks was long enough.
We moved into our 3 bedroom - a stone's throw from our old 2 bedroom. This place has a different layout and even though it's still the same square footage, it feels so much roomier for me. I'm still in the process of getting things on the walls and buying things to make it look like I want. I'm liking this "gather" sign from Sundance catalog that I think would look nice on the empty wall behind our dining table. I need an expert opinion before I make the purchase. The livining room needs some wall art - I was sick of the Guardians poster I had up. I would like a new couch first because the one I want is a really nice hip blue and I would like to decorate the walls with that in mind. I doubt we'll get that room the way I want anytime soon. So many other things that need to be purchased. We just bought a double bass and anyone that knows string instruments - they run very expensive. That's our beach vacation and our car repair and our...
At any rate, we really love our neighborhood. I always say there are 2 neighborhoods in A2 I want to live in and I'm living in one of them. The other neighborhood is the A2 hills that have the most beautiful homes that some back up into the huron river or the arb. Most of the boys' friends live there, it's not far from us. a bike ride away.
Another highlight was going to Huron river days and kayaking. Every summer I always say to the boys that they should save their money and buy a couple of kayaks, but then I remember that they can't walk them to the river even if we can ride our bikes there. We would need to buy roof racks for our van and that is where the expense lies. To rent kayaks is so expensive, so we'll just have to go during the free events. We had a good time doing that now that our littles are old enough to go with us. We didn't do the geocaching like I had wanted but I guess I will wait till Alex's human comes for a visit someday and teaches me how to use that darn GPS.
Jack went to a 2 week camp in the gorgeous Torch Lake area. He had a good time, but has already said he doesn't want to go again next year. He's a homebody and likes to do things but only if he has the say. I would be worried if he didn't do anything at home but he's always doing something. He paid for half his trumpet and can play songs by ear. I know it's probably not that amazing, but for someone like me - I'm in awe. He loves playing the trumpet. He loves baking and cooking. His summer favorite was crepes but now he's moved on to omelets. He loves cooking for all of us and is always asking if we are hungry. He made sugar cooking last night and they were really good. I'm not a fan of them, but these were very good. Of course, if he's not baking he's at the soccer field. So, he's good if he doesn't want to go to camp next year. You can't force these things on them. The biggest surprise of all was getting to go to D.C. with Clint. We hadn't planned on going and then it worked out that we could all go and Jack could see his best friend. We all had so much fun. Sladie had been there w/ his class earlier in the summer and he was the best tour guide. I was so amazed at all the info that he had retained and was able to point out things that I might have missed. It was a lot of work with the littles - at one museum Crispin had fallen on the escalator and the security guard had to run and turn it off and she was so pumped w/ adrenalin that it looked like she was going to fight me for being a crappy mom. She didn't even ask if he was okay, she just looked at me and was walking around me like she was waiting to swing. I was pissed because it wasn't like I was letting him run wild, he was behing the boys and in front of me and the stroller and he just tripped on his own feet. I was afraid his pants would get get caught on the bottom and get his skin ripped off and that is why I was telling the boys to get him before we got to the bottom. I couldn't get to him because I was behind the stroller or else I would have. I hate it when people look at me like I'm incompetent in caring for my kids. I don't get it often but if I get a hint of it, I get all defensive. I looked at the security guard and sarcastically said, "He's fine, Thank YOU" Because of all the hoopla, we had to wait around for her supervisor and give them our info. I was pretty warn out by that point but still had 2 other places to visit. Crispin asked dad last night if we could move to D.C. - he loved everything about it, I'm surprise to hear that because he did a ton of walking. We had to walk so much. We didn't use our van the whole time we were there and took the metro or walked wherever we needed to go. It's so expensive there. Even more than here - Our friend is paying double what we pay for rent and we pay double what others pay. Clint would have to make some good money for us to move there or we'll have to sell a couple of our kids. Hopefully, we'll get to go again next year if he has training.
Fall is here and it's looking beautiful, as always. I'll get more pictures in the next few weeks. Mikaela is dealing w/ her first sniffles. She is not happy if she can't breathe and has to take her chupies out of her mouth. I think she got sick because on Monday she didn't have that chupies and was putting her fingers in her mouth and probably picked up some of the yuckies that is going around. Poor Sladie boy - he had the worst asthma on Sunday and clint took him to ER because he wasn't getting better and wasn't going to be able to sleep. They didn't get home till 3 a.m. and then when he woke up he sounded worse than the night before, so off again to ER. He's better now, but fall is one of the worst times for him because of his allergies and he hasn't been on any meds for almost a year. He's been riding his bike to school and there are hills and such that wind him out, so that and the fall air was not a good thing. He had cleaned his room earlier in the day and they think the dust might have contributed. Any excuse to not clean his room - great.
Gots to go
October 01 It's my birthdayI wanted to write so much but I'm way too busy to be on the computer. Nothing special is planned for the day. I'm having jack make me the most yummiest rocky road ice-cream I've ever had. I can't wait. I've been waiting weeks for it. Friday, I have a planned pedicure party w/ a few girlfriends. It should be fun. I've been wanting to do this for a long time and finally made the time to do it. We are allowed to bring all the drinks and food we want, so I stocked up at Trader Joe's on some good stuff.
I finally came across all my old baby photos, all 67 of them - just kidding, there might be 72 total. My mom was a total slacker when it came to taking photos of me. Check out my brothers photos- they have whole complete albums. Mine are in a little white box that is smashed and needs to be replaced. Someday. At any rate, I had sladie boy scan these in for me while he sat in front of the computer doing nothing. He said it took him a good 40 minutes. I know I tried scanning but gave up because I didn't know where the heck they were going to and didn't have the time to figure it out. Some cute photos in there of me and my dolls. My mom loved finding collectors dolls and I loved playing with them. I'm pretty sure I still have most of these in the attic - I should have looked the last time I was there.
So much to say, but no time. I 've been studying like real people study. I never knew I had it in me to buckle down and study. It's exciting to see that I can understand things that at first glance made my head spin.
Will write more after my pedicure party. funny things is - nobody knows it my b-day. September 23 Two year old girl and other stuffWhile I had the time (avoiding chem work) I wanted to post pictures of our girl's 2 year b-day before the end of the month. She had a nice low key one this year. It was my first day of my chemistry class so we had to celebrate it later. that's partly the reason for the Trader Joe's strawberry shortcake. Clint was too busy watching the football game and Jack was at the game, so they couldn't bake any cakes. She didn't seem to mind. She got all the things she wanted - the 3 B's: Bike, backpack and baby.
She's been everything we ever wanted in a little girl. We all love her so much. She's super feisty w/ Crispin - She's not one to back down w/ that boy. It's not often they bump heads, but it's already been way more than the boys ever bumped heads. She's potty-trained for the most part-again her doing and not mine. I've only made sure she remembers that she doesn't have a diaper on. I still put one on her at night - but she hasn't woke up wet in more than 3 weeks. She'll have accidents a few times a week, so sometimes I don't know if this whole thing is a fluke. Oh well-that's the beauty of being home with her.
Boys started school this month and so far everything is going very well. Big son is LOVING his school. He knows he is so lucky to be in that school You tell anyone what school he's in and everyone has nothing but positive feedback. Clint's at capsule night (open house) right now. We are hoping to learn more about his school schedule -seems like he has a lot of time to be walking around downtown eating at neighboring places during the day. Everyday he'll tell us where he ate. One of his friends said they could eat lunch for $2 a day, so I have been giving him $10 a week and if he spends more then it's out of his money. They do pretty well and eat at some really nice places. There is not one greasy gross fast food chain nearby.
Jackie is doing super. I couldn't be prouder of how he's adjusted to middle school. He's on top of his game - but I woulnd't expect anything less from that boy. He's doing school soccer as well as competitive. This season in his comp. soccer has been a bit rough - they got moved up 3 divisions and they lost all their players to better teams. He wanted to stay w/ his coach and 3 of his friends. We had all decided to stay w/ the coach and not try out for other teams. So, because of all their success last season they got moved up but now they have boys on their team that aren't as good. They haven't won a game yet. He's feeling it. He works hard out there on defense, so he feels especially beat-up when they lose.
Kiki is kiki climbing trees and riding his bike like a madman. So many neighbors have come to my house to tell me that he's up so high in a tree that they are scared. I go over to where he's at and he's fine and not scared. I tell him to come down a bit because he's scaring the neighbors. I always think they are coming to tell me that's fallen or that he's stuck, but that's never the case. He's made friends with a litlte girl from France. They play so nicely together and for hours and hours and hours. I just love it! If she's not here then he's there.
That's all that's happening right now. I'm busy w/ school and doing daycare. I have the twins 2 days a week and today was the first day they didnt' cry the whole time with me. good stuff. Clint's still loving his work - so that's always a plus.
ciao September 18 High School FlashbackI had to steal these from Lettie's facebook and add them here. If you ever wondered what I looked like in High school - here I am in all my red lipstick glory and long fingernail chic. Look at how chubby I used to be - I had chubby cheeks where people would pinch them while talking to me. Not even grandmas or old aunties - people my age had the urge to pinch my cheeks and say how cute they were. After having Sladey - i lost all that fat and then some. Nobody has pinched my cheeks since. Although, I do feel like after having #4 I have reverted back to the way I looked in HS. My scale spits out the same numbers it did back then but now my physique has that "flub" that isn't quite stretched skin but extra stuff - thank goodness it isn't in my face and at least I can conceal it w/ the right kind of clothes.
It's funny that these pictures have come up now because in the last year I have felt like I dealt with all the ugly haunts from high school years. The body issues, the pain of being hurt, fallouts w/ friends, envy and pissy attitudes. I've dealt with it all this past year in different phases. I worked my little tushie off at the beginning of the year going to the Y 4 days a week and cutting my food intake as best as I could. Feeling upset when the scale read the same after all that effort. I hadn't worked out or even got on a scale for at least 10 years. I always THOUGHT about working out but never quite did. After having Mikaela, my body went south and I just thought it would go right back to normal like it did 3 x's before. When I saw that it wasn't after a whole year, I begun to feel It was all going downhill fast and I had better start stressing about it. I read that stress would do you no good in the weight loss dept, so I gave myself more time and added on more cardio and weights. Finally, I didn't lose any weight but gained some muscle. I haven't worked out since beginning of summer and have come back to lovin' my body again - as is. As long as I eat as healthy as I can and do get out for walks, I'm going to be just fine w/out those washboard abs. Get this - I even wore SHORTS this summer and wore my bikini w/out a shirt once this summer. I haven't owned a pair of shorts since Jack was born and would never have even considered wearing something that didn't cover my belly. How's that for being totally fine w/ your body image?
The other things have worked themselves out as well. Good friend and I have made up, wounds have healed from hurt, envy has vanished and attitude is back on track. I've been making time out to engage in open dialogue with old friends and new friends via email or phone chats. I've made so many new friends in my little neighborhood that it's so nice to walk outside and start chatting with someone about nothing. I've especially enjoyed talking w/ women from all over the world - from Korea to Pakistan. It's nice to feel like I'm living instead of that feeling of surviving.
Good stuff - after returning to school this fall since the spring of 1998 - I am happy to report that I received a 90 on my chemistry test this week! I did it! I have another exam coming up this week in my other class, I hope to do as well as I did in chemistry. Send up some heavy-duty prayers for me! |
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