Sunday, December 21, 2008

Family Time

I am so happy to have the time to enjoy my children! I spent Friday running errands and attending Christmas parties at the kids' schools. Both kids had a great day and I am glad I was able to be with them. It has been so hard adjusting to not being able to make it to all of the kids activities. I have missed several field trips this year due to my school schedule. After school and a few more errands, we picked up some friends to come over for the evening. I helped Courtney, Jordyn, Andrea, Erik, and Aidan bake sugar cookies and there was lots of giggling (especially when we noticed that Andrea managed to get flour on her butt while rolling and cutting out cookie shapes). I appreciate the noise and laughter.

Saturday was spent doing a whole lot of nothing. I spent most of my day in pajamas and played board games with the kids. We spent a lot of time snuggling and relaxing. I did manage to throw a few loads of laundry in and pick up the house a little. We rented movies and it was quite comical to see Aidan's reaction to watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. He is getting into Indiana Jones now. Courtney's rental pick was The Longshots. It was a cute little movie with Ice Cube and Keke Palmer about a girl joining an all boy football team. Courtney ended up catching a stomach bug and an evening on the couch was much needed.

Today was another much needed lazy day. Andy and I spent quite some time wrapping Christmas presents. I am so glad to be done with that project. I ended up with Courtney's stomach bug today and it was not nice. Even though I was toilet bound most of the day, we braved a trip to the movies so see Despereaux. It was cute, a little dry for the younger kids, but still cute. Courtney read the book this week, so she already knew what to expect. We came home and played some board games. I beat everyone at Whoonu and Courtney won at Disney Channel Scene It. The boys even teamed up, but they were no match for us awesome girls!

I am definitely counting my blessings and not taking a single minute of family time for granted. I have truly missed being able to enjoy my family without worrying about exams and studying. I am so blessed and fortunate to have this time to enjoy. My heart and prayers go out to the Finzer Family. I am amazed by their strength and faith in this difficult time. I am not sure I could be so strong. I will continue to pray for Samuel and the rest of the Finzer Family.

As of today, Andy is still working. He has actually been working a lot lately. There are supposed to be more jobs cut in the next week, so we will see if Andy can hang on a little longer. We looked at apartments again last week. We have turned in an application to Willow Bend. It was not our first choice but it will ensure that Courtney finishes out her elementary career at Horizon. The apartment was just refinished with brand new carpet and linoleum and fresh paint. We will have to repaint because we need color on the walls. There are many more updates that could be made, but we can overlook appliances and cabinets if it means keeping our family together in a home that we can afford and enough room for all of our junk. I fully intend to do a ton of purging over the next few weeks and start packing. We will be moving during the last week of January. Our lease is up on Jan 31st. This will only be temporary until I finish school and then we will never have to worry about our finances so much.

Thursday, December 18, 2008
















FINALLY! It's Christmas Break. I have never been so exhausted in all my life. The stress of school and life has kicked my butt! I passed my last final today. I worried for nothing. We had to draw a skill out of a bowl and I drew oral meds. How easy! My final grade in anatomy is a B and for Nursing 100, a B also. I am waiting on my Nursing 110 final grade. I did great on all my finals and I can try to breathe soon. I have to get up at the crack of dawn to get cookie dough in the fridge and make some chocolate covered pretzels for Courtney's teacher. I don't know why I always wait to the last minute. Then we have a million and one errands to run, I have to brave the stores for groceries, Aidan has to get a haircut, and then both kids have their Christmas parties tomorrow. Should be a slow day, NOT! I will make up for all the chaos by staying in my pajamas and holding down the couch with a good book that doesn't have pictures of the human anatomy ALL DAY Saturday. If you value your life, you will not disturb me. :)










I will try to remember what has happened in the last month.....










Thanksgiving: We had a wonderful weekend. Lots of food and shopping. We got a lot of great deals and the kids will have a great Christmas. Courtney and Aidan got to spend some time with their cousins. The kids all created a rock band and I have to say they were all hilarious and cute as can be. Aidan was the dancer and I was rolling on the floor, laughing and crying. His moves were that good! We took a lot of good pictures that weekend. There is a pic of Courtney and Andy's grandma Margaret. Margaret has been diagnosed with breast cancer and we are waiting to hear whether or not she can sustain surgery and/or chemo. Please pray for Margaret.










School: I am done. All I have to report is studying, exams, studying, and more exams. Courtney is still doing well. Her teacher sent home an extra math packet and Courtney can't stop. I haven't seen her come out from behind the packet in days. Aidan has enjoyed school, but tomorrow will be his last day. Daddy will be in charge of taking Aidan to the library to get lots of books to keep practicing his reading until kindergarten comes around. I can't believe my baby will be in kindergarten soon.










Andy's Job: As of today, Andy is still working. We are taking it day by day and I will continue to pray for job security. It really stinks that I am so consumed with school and taking care of my family that I don't think I could juggle work right now. It will work out, it always does.










Life in general: I took my Girl Scout troop ice skating last weekend. The girls did so well! I was extremely impressed. Courtney did a lot better than I expected. I am so proud of her! I did not skate for I fear that I would have been the one to leave with a broken arm. Broken bones means sitting out for clinicals and missing clinicals means failing the course. I can't afford to flunk out of school, I have too much at stake. Speaking of injuries, Aidan decided to pounce from one side of the couch to the other to get Daddy and ended up knocking his lower front teeth loose instead. I took him to the dentist and there is no permanent damage to his grown up teeth and we were given a copy of the x-ray and it is pretty cool. Courtney had a choir concert also last weekend and she did so well. I have to say that my baby is turning into quite the beautiful young lady these days.










Ok, I am tired now, so I will submit another post as soon as I get my last grade so that I can share how well I have done. I have to say, I am amazed by how well I have done considering the obscene amounts of stress in my life.





Good Night!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Visiting Family











It has been a while! I can barely find time to breathe, let alone blog. School is going well. It is a lot harder than I could have imagined. The nursing classes are fairly easy and mostly focus on common sense. The anatomy class is kicking me in the gluteus maximus! It is fun to learn how the body functions and apply it to the general knowledge that I already have. I can now check vital signs, blood sugar, and give a head to toe assessment. Tomorrow we are learning how to give shots. Watch out! I may need a test subject! :) We started clinicals in nursing homes last week and I am enjoying it so far. My first patient was very easy and there wasn't a whole lot of learning, just checking in and keeping her company. I am meeting a lot of very nice people in class and it is very different to talk about something other than the latest episode of the Wizards of Waverly Place or High School Musical. I am able to have more adult conversations. However, it is amazing how much childish behavior goes on among so many adults. I thought adults are supposed to behave in a respectful manner, but boy was I mistaken. I feel like I am in high school again and it is scary. For the most part, everyone is great, but I am amazed from time to time how nasty people can get towards one another. I found myself becoming very negative and I had to step back and put myself in check. I want no part of the drama and negativity. School is hard enough without it. If anyone needs an idea for a Christmas gift, I would love some peace and quiet and a little sanity.










Courtney and Aidan had a really fun Halloween. They went trick or treating around the neighborhood with their friends and then we got together with neighbors and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over a fire pit. It was our best Halloween yet! Courtney was Sharpay from HSM2 and Aidan was a power ranger.










Ok, it is official. I am 30! Yeah! Woo hoo! My little sis turned 21 on Friday. Happy Birthday Bobbi! Happy Birthday Amy (yesterday)! And today is Andy's birthday. Happy Birthday Honey! I love you!










We have tried to squeeze a few visits with family in recently. I took Courtney and Aidan to see Jessica, Kristina, and Kyler the other weekend. The girls are getting so big and beautiful! They are crawling, pulling themselves up on everything, babbling, teething, and smiling like crazy. I miss those fun days! Jessica has her own apartment now and she is finally getting her life back on the right track. My kids sure loved playing with the girls. They think everything the girls do is funny.










This past weekend, we went home to visit my dad and family and had a really good time. Markie got a puppy (Butters) and she is so cute! I want a baby (thanks a lot Jess!) and a puppy (thanks Markie!). Neither one are even an option thank goodness because I can barely manage school and the 2 kids I already have. It was really nice to go home and goof off. My sisters and I are nuts and we share plenty of laughs when we are together.










Proud Mommy Moment: I received a letter from the HSC and Courtney has qualified for the gifted math program as well as the cognitively gifted program.
I am so proud of my baby!










Andy's Employment Status: The dust has not officially settled yet, so he is getting some work right now, but we are not sure where he will be next week. There are some train yards that have some work, but that would mean unpredictable hours (any shift, any time) and long drives (up to 2 hours). We are looking at apartments and I think we have one picked out. Please keep us in your prayers and I will try to keep you posted.










Well, I need to pay attention to my nursing instructor for a few minutes. By the middle of the afternoon on Mondays, I find myself dozing in class, so today I thought I would finally update my blog.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Fall Is Here



It is week three of classes and I am hanging in there. I passed my first major exam this week. YEAH! I have never studied this much EVER and after the exam I wanted to curl up into fetal position and cry, but I passed it and all is well now! I can now tell you the phases in Mitosis and the difference between an organic and inorganic molecule and I am working on taking people's vital signs. I am learning so much everyday. Thank you everyone that has been praying for me because it is paying off. Please keep it up!


Last Thursday was Fall Family Fun Night for Courtney's school and we had a good time at Circle S Farms. The kids played in the corn maze and jumped around in the haystacks in the barn. Courtney and Aidan both had friends to play with, so the night went great. By the time we got our turn to go out to the pumpkin patch, it was dark and we could barely see anything, but we still managed to bring home some good pumpkins and donuts. Circle S has the best donuts. We were thankful for no rain and mud this year. I will never forget the time the kids had to strip to their underwear to drive home because they were covered head to toe in mud. Good Times!


On Friday our GS Troop went to Stratford Ecological Center for a nature hike. I could not have asked for a more perfect afternoon. The weather was beautiful and the guide was amazing. She took basic knowledge of nature and made it fun and entertaining for the girls. There was a lot of learning going on and it was so fun, that it felt like play. The hike was beautiful, the woods are so colorful this time of year and we saw a lot of cool things. The girls got to make face paint from the river rocks and they tried to determine the age of some fallen trees by counting the rings. It was the perfect way to end a busy week.


Well, it is time to study again. Have a beautiful day!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Study Time! What's That?!?!

I started school on Monday. It was a very stressful morning. I was running a few minutes late and when I saw the traffic on 70, I panicked. Once I got on to the highway, I was so frazzled, I started sobbing. I called Andy and he tried to reassure me, but he could only do so much over the phone. I was so worried about being late to class. Once I calmed down and focused on driving, I was fine. I made it to class 15 minutes early. All was well. The day was long and after 6 hours of lectures, my brain died. I survived the day and I even managed to make some new friends. I picked the kids up from a friend's house and we came home to enjoy some time outside. I have never been so exhausted! I made it all the way to school yesterday and today with no tears. Yeah me! I am struggling to find time to study and get organized. Every time I sit down, one of the kids need something. Aaaaggghhh! Speaking of.... I have lots of reading and studying to do. Good Night!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Hi, my name is Jamie and I am a t.v. junkie.

Let's see.... how many t.v. shows can one junkie fit into a week? Let's count.


Sundays: Desperate Housewives was alright, definitely some twists and turns.


Monday: Heroes, WOW! Love it! Love it! Love it!
Prison Break: I am getting a little bored. I do want to see Mahone get revenge for the death of his son and I want to see Gretchen join Lincoln and Michael and kick some company butt!


Tuesday: Biggest Loser makes me cry every week. I love that a show promotes getting healthy and not just pushing your luck for some money. The transformations, both physical and emotional are so moving. Love Jillian and Bob!


Wednesday: Private Practice was ok. I really enjoyed it last season so we'll see.
I love Lipstick Jungle! Vic is so cute and I so want Nico and Kirby to live happily and beautifully ever after.
Dirty Sexy Money got off to a sweet start tonight! I love the chaos and scandals of the Darling family. There is never a dull episode!


This brings us to the last day of my fix, Thursday: The Office has been quite dumb and funny and romantic. Finally Jim proposes to Pam! Dwight and Angela crack me up.
ER had me crying like a baby! I didn't want to see Pratt die. It was so sad and I spent 75% of the episode trying to dry my eyes so that I could see the t.v. I have a feeling that with this being the last season, I am going to be spending many shows drying my eyes. I am going to miss this show terribly, as I have been watching since the days of Dr. Ross (George Clooney) and Dr. Green (Anthony Edwards).


I have to add Big Brother. It is over for now and I am so glad Dan won over Memphis. It is kinda getting old. How many times can you throw a bunch of people in a house and watch them back stab and self destruct? I will tune in for the next season, but it better be good or I might have to get my t.v. fix somewhere else.


And last, but not least, I finally got to watch Sex and the City (the movie) today. LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! Charlotte is too cute!


That makes10 shows and one movie. It doesn't seem so bad if you average them out to 1.4 shows per day. (The sign of a true junkie, I am trying to justify my habit.) Ok, it is late and I need to come down from my t.v. buzz and get some sleep. I have a Girl Scout meeting tomorrow night and I will need my energy. And duh, I have to stay awake late enough to get my ER fix.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Does the weekend really have to end?




The past two weeks have been insane and I don't want this weekend to end and the new week to begin! I can't remember everything that I have done in the last two weeks, but I will share what I can.



Last Saturday, Aidan celebrated his 5th birthday with a few friends at Recreations Outlet in Powell. The kids all showed up to play on the very big and elaborate swing sets and they left very tired. I really enjoy not having to cook and clean up for a party anymore. I am getting lazy in my old age. :) After the party Andy's parents came to sit with Aidan while Courtney went to a birthday party and Andy and I got to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Wow, 10 years! I am very blessed to have such a wonderful husband! I have my days when I say exactly the opposite, but hey, he has learned how to annoy me easily over our 13 years together. Love you honey, but it's the truth. We had a peaceful evening of eating our food while it was still warm and not having to make four trips to the bathroom between the fights over who gets to use the red crayon. Finally, Andy learns how to behave in a restaurant! It was the perfect gift.



This past week was filled with doctor's appointments(4), Courtney catching and sharing a stomach bug with me(fun), my six hour orientation for nursing school(overwhelming, but it is official.... I am a nursing student. YEAH! My classes are scheduled and payed for and I have a case of books sitting in the middle of the office floor), Aidan's actual birthday(my baby is growing up), a girl scout informational night(crazy), a PTO meeting(informative), and MANY MANY errands(exhausting). I am still trying to catch my breath. I really don't want this weekend to end. My housework is done, the laundry is caught up for now, and I really want just one day to not HAVE to do something. The reality is that this is going to be the chaos known as my life for many years to come. I am trying to continue looking at the bright side of things. I still have my sense of humor and my family to laugh at me when I am acting like a fool. What more could I ask for?

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Windy Weekend


Let's see, Thursday night, a suspicious package was found across the street from Courtney's school. The bomb squad ended up blowing up the package and it was nothing. That didn't stop everyone from calling each other to worry.


Everything settled down for us temporarily. Friday was Courtney's first day with the Focus (gifted) program. She rode the bus to Washington Elem. and said the new school is so cool! She went on and on about how different the school was and they even have strawberry milk in their cafeteria. She had a lot of fun and is looking forward to next week. Aidan took some toys into class to share. His teacher said that he hasn't been able to bond with his new classmates because he has been to busy missing his buddies from last year. He brought some of his Justice League figures in and that sure helped break the ice. He went on and on about how one of the girls knew so many. He was impressed.


I had a CPR class on Saturday morning. I am now certified to save lives. I can even use a defibrillator if needed. After class my Girl Scouts came over and we did some crafts to kick off the upcoming year. I then spent the rest of the night baking and trying to get my house into order.


Sunday started off great! Andy's parents came down so that we could take them to the zoo. The zoo was great. We have a Saturn (car) and every year we get a postcard for free admission and lunch to the zoo. We even ended up getting approx. 20 tickets for the kids to have free rides in the Jungle Jack Landing. Everyone had a great time, but Grandma and Grandpa had a hard time keeping up with the kids by the end of the day. Just as we were leaving the zoo, the wind started. We only saw one operational street light along the whole way home. There were tree branches everywhere and power was out from Powell to Hilliard. We got home to see that some of our tree branches were broken and our cable, phone and internet were out. We put in a movie and then I went to sleep. I was out by 7:30pm. Talk about an exhausting week!


There was no school yesterday or today due to the power outages across most of the city. We have enjoyed relaxing and I got all of Courtney's patches sewn on her GS vest and I even taught Corch how to sew. She learned how to back stitch and cross stitch. She is having a hard time threading the needle, but enjoys the sewing.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

My Worst Nightmare

So I show up at Courtney's school today to drop off some papers and I see police cars lining the fire lane. I pull into a parking spot thinking that it is just some kind of weird coincidence. Here I come to find out that a bomb threat has been called into the school. Every student was evacuated on the premise that they were having a fire drill. The school was then searched while I sat in the parking lot waiting to see a familiar staff member and ask if I can get my child. There is nothing worse than sitting and waiting. Finally, the principal, police, and several other staff came out of the building. I see them letting some other parents who happened to be there take their children, so I went up and had them get Corch. I am trying to play it cool because I don't want to panic her, but as soon as I got her in the van, I started blubbering like a fool. I start calling all my friends because I feel horrible driving away with one out of hundreds of children. I hope I didn't make the school mad by causing more commotion than necessary, but I couldn't NOT say anything. I would never be able to live with myself if something had happened and I didn't warn people. About a half hour later, they declared the school safe and free of threats. I am still glad that I brought Courtney home and we enjoyed our afternoon together. I do have to say that the school could not have handled the situation any better than they did. They evacuated all the children without causing panic and after it was all said and done, the principal went to them and explained what really happened. It really stinks that these are the things that we have to fear for our children. It definitely made me appreciate my children a little more even if they are being goobers. Praise the Lord that all is well.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

First Time Blogger




I've enjoyed keeping up with my friend Stacy and her family by logging onto her blog. I feel like I never have time to talk on the phone anymore, so I thought this would be a good way for friends and family to be able to keep up with what is going on in our house.




Courtney has been in school for 3 weeks now and she loves it. She got the best 4th, that's right, 4th grade teacher there is (Mrs. Litterer) and she has a lot of her friends in her class, so I have a feeling that this is going to be her best year yet! She has such a good group of friends. There is nothing like a bunch of sweet, beautiful little ladies that love and accept your child and make her a better person. We are truly blessed. Courtney is such a bright and beautiful lady that loves to spend her days playing and singing with friends or curled up in her room with a good book. Except for the occasional attitude flare up, she is a good girl.




Aidan started school last week and he really likes his teacher, Miss Reenie as well. Nobody from his class last year moved on with him this year. Most of them have gone on to kindergarten. He really hasn't said too much about school so far, but I am sure it won't take him long to have some stories, because my boy can talk! I don't know where he got that from! ;) He spends most of his time being a goober. He eats, sleeps, and plays Justice Leauge right now. He is all about his super heroes!




As a parent who has a bad habit of buying my kids everything they want, I have to say the $2 bucket of legos that I got at a garage sale a couple of years ago has been all the rage around here this weekend. My kids can't get enough and it is cheap entertainment . I had half the neighborhood on my front porch yesterday afternoon assembling an amusement park and all kinds of other fun stuff. Sometimes it takes a weekend of legos to remind you that they can have fun without spending a small fortune on a new webkinz or nintendo ds game and it made them use their imagination. Yeah!