Spring Break

Spring Break is here! Courtney has been on break all week and I have been so busy studying for finals and wrapping up cookie sales that we haven't had a whole lot of time together. We are hoping to curl up with some popcorn and watch the Kid's Choice Awards on Nickelodeon tonight.

I put a few pictures from the school dance (Horizon Hula) that we went to a few weeks ago. Both of the kids had a good time running around with their friends.

Courtney's birthday went well. She is officially in the double digits. 10!!! Grandma and Grandpa Pfahler came down to watch her choir concert and then we headed to Olive Garden for lunch. (Courtney's absolute favorite) Later that evening, her friends came over for a night of singing, fun, and Nintendo DS. They pulled an all nighter and I felt kinda bad sending so many little girls off with bags under their eyes. Half of the girls ended up sick with some kind of virus that week. A lot of them went home from the party with fevers and headaches. Courtney ended up with the virus in the middle of the week along with a good percentage of her class. JOY!

Finals went ok. I got B's on my pharmacology and psychology finals and I failed med surg. Apparently the whole class failed. Out of 60 people, only 3 passed the final. Hopefully the professor will go back in and adjust the grades because he pulled this same stunt on our first test, the class went nuts and grades were adjusted. There has to be a problem with the exam if 95% of the class fails. There are many straight A students in our class and they failed as well. This professor is new and has had several issues throughout the term. He is used to teaching RN classes, and we are still new to the LPN course work, so he needs to understand that we are new to this. Ugh! I am not going to worry, I am passing all my classes and that is all that matters.

Cookies are over and done! Praise the Lord! I am so sick of looking at, counting, and dealing with cookies! I am glad that I don't like the cookies. I only had about 3 cookies this year, the Dulce de Leche are delicious) My troop sold an amazing 3,273 boxes of cookies this year. We are going to be able to go on some fun outings and still go into next year with some extra money in the account.

Today was fun and relaxing. Our GS Troop went to a yoga studio to work on our Stress Less patch. It was so cute to see some of my girls in their yoga poses. It was definitely a unique and interesting experience, but not something that I see myself doing on a regular basis. I am so bony that any time we had to be on our knees or our elbows, I hurt. I either need a thicker mat or no yoga for me. I did learn a few things to help me relax and reduce my stress levels if I ever feel stressed, which would be NEVER. :o) After yoga, Courtney and I met up with Andy, Aidan, Andy's mom (Sandy), Andy's sister (Amy) and her boys to go see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D. We really enjoyed it. I don't care for wearing the big glasses and they give me a headache, but the movie was very cute. Now... I get to finally kick back and read a book for fun. No textbooks for a week!

Girl Scout Cookies and a Sinus Infection

It's that time of year again.... GIRL SCOUT COOKIES! I went with two of my friends to pick up my troop's cookies yesterday and we loaded 227 cases of cookies into our two vans. That is 2,724 boxes of cookies. Wow! We had a booth sale outside Sam's Club today and I was so proud of my Courtney because she spent two hours out in the freezing cold without complaining. As a leader, I was suckered into two shifts and Courtney stayed with me for both instead of leaving with a friend after the first hour. The girls sang songs and drank their hot chocolates, smiling the whole time. The wind was awful, but we all survived and I even managed to amaze my parents with my ability to have something for every situation that arose. I was even called McGyver at one point. The GS motto is "Always be prepared." (At least I am a good girl scout) We managed to sell 210 boxes of cookies. We are raising a lot of money, so this next year will be full of fun field trips!

I have a horrible migraine tonight. My sinuses are on the rampage again. I have never had so many problems after 4 days of antibiotics. Ugh!!! I am sure the migraine has nothing to do with lack of sleep, cookie chaos or the upcoming school week! I managed to get B's on all of my midterms (Yipee!), but now I have papers to get busy on!

The new focus of our week is going to be preparing for Courtney's birthday party. She is making her own posters and I have taken her to Cord Camera twice to use their Ellison Die Cuts to cut out cool shapes and letters for the posters. Courtney will be having 6 of her close friends over for a night of walking tacos, PB pie (no cake this year) and lots of singing. If she doesn't become a big star on Disney someday, she will definitely have a future in the party planning industry. She is making the decorations, stuffing the goodie bags, and planning all the activities. I am not complaining.... all I have to do is cook the meat for the tacos and make the little peanut butter pies. Courtney is going to be 10. My baby is hitting double digits. I still remember her being a little girl with big blue eyes and pigtails and now she still has big blue eyes and the big attitude to match. Love her!

Well, it is Celebrity Apprentice time and I am looking forward to watching the drama unfold. There are a lot of colorful personalities and it appears that fighting and chaos will be abundant. Thank you Donald Trump for keeping me entertained!

Exams and a Birthday Party

Let me just say that sleep is not an option lately. I have been studying every waking moment that isn't filled with housework and taking care of the kids. I had a psychology midterm and two quizzes last week. And this week, I have a research paper for psych, a case study for pharmacology, med cards (I am going to be passing meds to my patient in clinicals this week and I need to know what I am giving and why), I also have two midterms coming up this week. Not a whole lot. :) Stress is now becoming such a norm in my life these days.

I have to say that I enjoyed my weekend. I went to bed on Friday at 8pm. Aidan curled up on the couch with me and we passed out. I got more sleep in one night than I have gotten in half of the past week. It really felt good to slow down. Saturday was spent cleaning the house and running a million and one errands. We definitely got a lot done and we enjoyed lunch at Red Robin as a family. We are all barely in the same room at the same time anymore. Between my school schedule and Andy's work schedule, we are never together.

Today was spent with family. My beautiful nieces turned 1 this week and today was their party. They are so cute and it was quite comical to watch them smash cake into their faces. (See pictures above)

Well, if you have read this, you have seen the list of homework that I need to get to.... so I am off. Just pray that I make it to the weekend. We have booked a trip to CoCo Keys indoor water resort for next weekend. I am counting down to some frolicking fun with my family and time away from the stresses of school and life. Yay! Peace is ahead.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well, I am officially off the hook. My daughter has been complaining for days that I am too busy for her, so we finally took the time to bake some cookies together. Courtney made the dough and I baked it. In order to eat a cookie, she had to say what a wonderful mom I am. I even made her pancakes this morning, so I think I have earned a few days of mercy.

I am so excited to report that I got a B on my first exam of the quarter. I thought I would fail the Pharmacology exam miserably because I didn't study. Apparently 20 minutes of cramming and some good guessing, I got a 92%. Wow! I am still waiting on my Med Surg grade. My luck would be that I failed that one instead. That will teach me for studying for hours instead of waiting until the last minute to cram. :) I have midterms next week, so now I must prepare for a busy week of reading, stuying, more reading and more studying. I am a little nervous.

This past weekend was amazing. I have finally got a few nights of decent sleep. Saturday was spent cleaning my house and running a few more errands. I got a lot accomplished.

Super Bowl Sunday was a good day. I woke up with a headache, so I skipped church to prepare for an action packed day. My GS troop went Super Bowling. The girls had a great time and giggled a lot. Courtney always loves getting out with her friends. Aidan bowled a few frames, but he was more into the pinball machine. After we got home, I spent about an hour with the neighbor, Collin, trying to chisel through the layers of ice on the driveway. With calluses on my hands, I gave up and headed off to the grocery store. I thought I would avoid the crowds by heading out during the game, but what I really avoided was getting food before everyone else. The shelves were so bare. The soda was almost gone and the snacks were few and far between. I am thankful that we mostly needed fruits and vegetables.

I am going to take a few minutes of much needed down time and watch a little t.v. Heroes is back on. Yea!!!! I love Heroes!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I don't know how anyone can blog on a regular basis. I am having a hard time finding time to breathe. When someone asks if I can fit anything else into my already chaotic life, the answer is yes.

I am back in class now. I have put all of my reading and studying off until the last minute (or until I can find time someday) and my quiz scores from this morning will definitely reflect that. I can't remember everything that has happened in the last couple weeks, but here is what I can remember.

Saturday (1/24) Courtney and I were invited to go serve breakfast to the homeless downtown with the pastor and some friends from church. We got up bright and early, loaded up on donuts (Corch) and coffee (me), and headed downtown. Courtney, Jordyn, and Sarah were in charge of the cereal table and I helped pour the milk. Everyone was so sweet and the children were too cute. We had an awesome time. I can't wait to do it again. We went out to Bob Evans afterwards and it was nice to get to know everyone a little better. After brunch, we (me, Courtney and Jordyn) met up with Andy and Aidan to see Hotel for Dogs. It was a very cute little movie.

Sunday (1/25) Church, Study with Becca, Bible Foundations class, Work
Oh yeah, Kevin asked if I would be interested in helping out with the administrative work around the office part time. I knew he would miss my wonderfulness (my new word of the day) around the office. :)

Monday (1/26) Work, class, Girl Scout cookie orders were due (and counted), I had a GS leader meeting, and more work. (Not a moment to breathe on Monday)

Tuesday (1/27) Finished counting and double counting cookie orders to submit paperwork, took Jess to an OB appt, work, submitted final cookie order online. Cookies, cookies, cookies!

Wednesday (1/28) Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Clinicals were cancelled and I spent hours getting paperwork done and watching Courtney march up and down the street with a bag of bell peppers and cucumbers as she was "running away." She was acting out because I was so busy and I couldn't help her print her birthday invitations and her party is still 5 weeks away!!! I am trying to be patient and understanding with her. It is so hard not to get irritated when the tears start flowing every time I turn around. I understand that she is not used to me being gone so much and she misses me, but crying will not help. Ugh! I spent several hours reading my Med Surg book and reviewing my notes for the quiz.

Thursday (1/29) Lecture was cancelled for the morning but I still had to come in for Labs. No sooner than I step out of my van, the kids' friends are asking to come over and play. I don't mind because the girls go sing and play and they ignore me, so I am usually able to get some studying done. On the other hand, the boys were super loud and energetic. Aidan was getting mad because his friend wasn't following his rules. I tried to stay out of it and let them work it out. I only had to intervene once, but it definitely kept me too distracted to study. I made dinner and Aidan gobbled up his fish and snap peas before I could even sit down. I used to offer him fish every time I baked it and he always refused. The first time I didn't offer it to him, he asked for a piece and he has loved it ever since. He is such a goober! After dinner I attempted to do a little reading/studying and I kept dozing off, so I just went to bed.

Well, it is Friday afternoon and I am done with class. I am taking a few minutes to sit in the empty classroom to breathe and catch up on the blog. I have been up since 5am so I could cram for my two exams this morning. I studied quite a bit for the med surg, but I am not at all confident that I did well. The pharmacology professor said that she is going to drop our lowest score, so I didn't even bother to study until right before the quiz. I am so ready for a lazy night. My body has been running on nothing but coffee for over a week now and I am waiting for my heart (and the rest of me) to give out. I am continuously monitoring my vital signs. I am looking forward to going to bed early tonight (after a million errands and other things) Then I can get up bright and early to pay some much needed to attention to my neglected bathrooms and laundry.

Well.... I am off to start running the millions of errands that I have. Have a blessed day!

Back to School

Ok, it is official, I am back in class. Ok, I don't have to be in the building until Thursday, but I have an online course that I am already starting to tackle. Clinicals have been switched to one long day instead of two short ones, so at least I only have to be out of the house three days per week. I am excited to get back to the hustle and bustle of life. No more naps and lazy days in my schedule for a long, long time. Oh well, I just keep reminding myself that it will all be worth it in the end.

GOOD NEWS..... We are not moving any time soon. Andy was able to get ahold of the landlords and they were more than willing to work with us. There is a management company that serves as the go between and apparently he had ulterior motives and mislead us. We are here for 6 more months. If Andy's work picks up, we will probably stay much longer. Yipee!

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time!!! I will gladly accept orders for the most beautiful Junior Girl Scout ever!

Aidan lost his first tooth the other week. He was a little freaked out by the blood, but after a minute, he was hot stuff. It is a bittersweet moment. It was exciting that he is on his way to becoming a big boy, yet this will be the last time that one of my babies hits that milestone. It is amazing how fast these moments come up on you.

Ok, I have psychology to get to but I will try to update my blog more regularly in between all the study sessions.

Happy New Year!

The last week and a half has gone by way too fast! I have taken enough naps to last me quite some time. We have managed to enjoy Christmas, spend lots of time with family, play games and watch movies, and just relax.

We went to my dad's house for Christmas Eve. It was nice to get away for the day and spend time with everyone, especially after getting the call and finding out that we didn't get the apartment at Willow Bend. My kids were very excited to see Butters and and their cousins. The food was delicious. My parents got us some great gifts and gift certificates that were greatly appreciated. We headed home and got ready for Santa. I took a few pictures of my kids and nephews, Chandler and Hunter. They are all so silly!

Christmas day was very nice. The kids opened their presents bright and early and I got the cutest little gift from Courtney. It was a little paper accordian and each fold has a reason why I am so special and wonderful to Courtney. I took a little nap until they got hungry and then I made a big breakfast. We had a very lazy day playing lots of board and video games. I even got another nap in. Wow! Courtney got an EZ Bake Oven from Grandpa and wanted to make us some treats until we realized that we didn't have a 100 watt bulb and the poor girl had to wait until Friday to get her bulb and bake away.

On Friday, we went out to lunch with our Chipotle gift certificate. YUM! Aidan finally tried the guacamole and loved it. That's my boy! We ran a couple errands in the rain and then headed home where it is nice and warm and dry. Rain ?!?!?!? Where's the snow? Since we got Courtney her light bulb, we spent the evening eating lots of baked goods.

Andy's parents came Saturday morning and we all went to the movies at the Movie Tavern and the kids enjoyed being waited on. We saw Bedtime Stories and it was very cute. The kids opened more presents and played some games with Grandma and Grandpa. I put a crock pot of Chili on that morning and we enjoyed a nice hot lunch.

Sunday was Church and more errands. Markie and Sarah came down and we had to pick them up from Jessica's house, so we took Kristina and Kyler their Christmas presents. I could kiss their chubby little cheeks all day! They are so beautiful. Kyler kept making silly faces and Kristina was trying to kiss everyone with that big, drooly, open mouth. I really miss those baby moments. I want to stuff the girls in my purse and sneak them home. The problem is that they are getting too big to fit in my purse. Darn!

Monday was the long awaited Mommy-Daughter Date day. Corch and I went to Olive Garden for lunch and then we made a stop at Barnes and Noble for some book shopping. Courtney is as bad as I am, cash and gift certificates burn holes in her pockets. We headed to the mall to pick up my sisters (we dropped them at Tuttle on our way to lunch). We also took a little time to look around and get a pretzel at Auntie Anne's before heading home. Yum!

Tuesday was spent cleaning and purging all day. We cleaned out everybody's closets, dressers, and toy boxes. I am amazed by all the stuff that Courtney and Aidan willingly parted with. We worked on the basement a little and we had several bags of trash to get rid of and bags upon bags of stuff to give away. It is amazing how much of our house is filled with STUFF. When we actually had to think about how often we use so much of our stuff, we got rid of almost half of everything. It feels so good to simplify. We spent the evening cleaning and getting the house ready for New Year's Eve.

Yesterday was busy, busy. I got up bright and early to take Jessica to her ultrasound. I was able to be there to see the baby on the monitor and find out that the baby is a boy. Jess and Brian were ecstatic. Their family is complete. The ultrasound technician was very kind to show me a little something extra. Due to Samuel's diaphragmatic hernia, I asked the tech if it was something that could be detected in an ultrasound. She proceeded to show me the baby's heart, diaphragm, and stomach and explain how they would detect something like that. Baby Brian is growing normally and he does not have a diaphragmatic hernia as of now. Praise the Lord for this healthy little man! After dropping Jess and Brian off, I met Melinda half way so that Markie and Sarah could go home. I came home, picked up my family, and ran even more errands. Once home, I baked some cookies and then got ready to have a few friends over. Craig came over for the whole evening, Steph stopped by for a few minutes, Becca and Ben (my friend from school and her boyfriend) stopped over for several hours, and Tiff and Lizzie spent several hours hanging out as well. We played Taboo, boys vs. girls and the girls kicked bootie! We laughed A LOT. After Becca and Ben left, the rest of us went upstairs to battle over who was the best at High School Musical Dance Dance Revolution. Andy won! The kids had a blast and many giggles were heard while they watched their parents dance to HSM songs. We rang the New Year in half asleep and proceeded to pick up a little and head to bed.

We have had an amazingly lazy day on the couch today. I have been catching up on e-mails and clipping coupons while Andy watches football. The kids have been happily playing with only a few breaks for some snacks. I am counting down to the pork and sauerkraut that should be ready in the next half hour or so. I wish everyone a Wonderful and Blessed New Year! Love ya!