Not Me Monday!

I am not totally and thoroughly annoyed with doing a reading reflection for every chapter of every text book that I read for my classes. I did not consider just not doing the reflection for my science class that is due by midnight tonight. To that end I did not finally give in and do the reflection but only put minimal effort in to the reading and writing.

I did not have to swallow my selfishness and stay another day at my in laws. (more on that one later)

I am not so far behind on uploading pictures that I have over 200 still on my camera.

I did not put up my Christmas Tree before Thanksgiving because I really wanted time to enjoy it. And I do not still have decorations sitting around waiting to be put up because I had to finally do some homework that I had been putting off for more fun things.

I am not counting the days until Christmas break because I'm ready for a break. And I am not a little sad that this semester is almost over because it means that I only have one semester of classes left with all the wonderful friends that I've made.

I was not relieved that my grandparents in law brought a ham to Thanksgiving dinner because I do not dislike Turkey immensely.

I am not wondering where 2008 went and how it went there so fast!

Nope not me!

Bummer

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving and it was nice to be with family. I'm glad to be home and do my homework by the light of my beautiful Christmas tree. So why a bummer? Well we ended up coming home with a sick Jason. I'm pretty sure he has an ear infection. He's been grumpy since Friday but I just attributed it so being away from home and totally off schedule. Then this morning he felt a little warm. When we got home I took his temperature and it was 104. Bummer! I should have known when he didn't want to eat yesterday that it was an ear infection. Dan had been sick with a nasty sinus infection and an ear infection and both Dan and Jonathan are really prone to ear infections. But alas it didn't even cross my mind. Ready Care was already closed when we got back to Pullman so I'll be staying home tomorrow and taking him to the doctor. Thankfully I have wonderful friends who are willing to turn in my assignment for me and a teacher who is understanding as long as I have a note from the pediatrician. It feels a little high school having to have a doctor's note oh well. Hopefully we will get some meds and he'll be on the mend. And now I have tomorrow to do homework... if Jason will let me!

I'm Thankful

I'm thankful that I am covered by the blood of Christ.

I'm thankful to live in a country where I can freely worship.

I'm thankful for our troops who fight to maintain that freedom! I'm thankful for the families that support them back home.

I'm thankful for my own family.

I'm thankful to have an amazing husband and a marriage centered on Christ.

I'm thankful for my two little boys. I can't imagine life without Jonathan and Jason.

I'm thankful for all my wonderful friends.

I'm thankful for all my blog friends, both the ones I know and the ones I haven't yet met. I am blessed each and every day by y'all. I have learned so much from each of you.

God Bless! Happy Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday

Jonathan's 1st Thanksgiving (that he got to eat)

Not Me Monday

I absolutely did not wait until the last possible day to complete and turn in my student teaching application. And I was not running around the ED building like a crazy lady trying to get all my signatures before I got a parking ticket for being in a 15 minute parking place too long.

I did not spend all day Tuesday sick in bed. I have far too much school work to waste time being sick!

I did not have to hold back my laughter as my husband told me the whole story of Jonathan throwing up in the car. Laughing at that would be rude.

I am not dreading a trip to my in-laws for Thanksgiving.

I did not get a new layout for my blog while trying desperately to make a health quiz complete itself.

Nope Not Me!

My Firsts

Renee posted this and tagged anyone who wanted to participate. It looked fun so here it goes

1. Who was your FIRST prom date?
Kristopher. We went my freshman year. He was a senior and good friends with a couple of my good friends. We dated for 2 years after that... that turned out to be dumb on my part!

2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love?
NO! I haven't even seen him in years. My mom saw him in the bank a year or so ago.

3. What was your FIRST alcoholic drink?
Beer and I was like 4. My dad used to have me get him a coke from the fridge and I'd open it and take the first drink. One day he sent me for a coke and I couldn't find one so I grabbed a different can in the fridge figuring they were all the same and opened it. YUCK!

4. What was your FIRST job?
I worked at a music shop when I was in high school.

5. What was your FIRST car?
A white Oldsmobile Cutlass. My mom gave it to me when I got my license until my dad got her a Tahoe and I got her truck.

6. Who was the FIRST person to text you today?
I believe that would be Bobbi. Checking to see if I'm feeling better.

7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?
Jonathan because he was yelling in his room and I could hear him over the monitor.

8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher?
Mrs. Reagen. I don't remember much about her except that she yelled at the class when someone broke her fish bowl that she kept prizes in.

9. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane?
Alaska to Kentucky when I was 8 months old.

10. Who was your FIRST best friend and are you still friends with them?
Beth we went to preschool together. We stay in contact over facebook.

11. What was your FIRST sport played?
I started Ice Skating at 3 does that count?

12. Where was your FIRST sleep over?
Anna's house. I think I was 8.

13. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today?
Dan at 1am when Jonathan was yelling for help from his room. He had thrown up in bed! yuck!

14. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time?
My own! I was the first of my friends to get married.

15. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?
uggg I still feel like crap.

16. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to?
Clint Black, junior year of high school

17. FIRST tattoo or piercing?
I don't have any tattoos or piercings.

18. FIRST foreign country you went to?
I've never been to a foreign country.

19. What was your FIRST run in with the law?
Also 8th grade. I witnessed something and had to testify in court. I was freaked out!

20. When was your FIRST detention?
8th grade. I got busted for running in the hallway.

21. What was the FIRST state you lived in?
Alaska. Born and Raised!

22. Who was the FIRST person to break your heart?
Kristopher

23. Who was your FIRST roommate?
Jessica and it was in college. She was a dance major and a kick to hang around with. Haven't talked to her in ages.

24. Where did you go on your FIRST limo ride?
I've never been in a limo. Maybe one of these days!

And I now tag anyone who wants to fill it out! Leave me a comment so I can see your answers too!

Wordless Wednesday

Way Cool!

Well Idaho may not have won the game but our opening and only touchdown was the #2 play of the day on SportsCenter tonight! Go Vandals!

2 down 3 to go

Well I'm done with my 1st two certification tests and I think they went really well. I know I did really well on the content knowledge test. It's a 2 hour test, 120 multiple choice questions over math, science, social studies, and English that we should have learned in our core coursework or in high school. That part was pretty easy. The Principles of Learning and Teaching was more difficult. There were 20 multiple choice questions over learning theory and then 4 case studies with 3 short answer questions each. It was pretty mentally taxing but I'm pretty sure I passed. Now I just have 3 Literacy tests and I'll be certified to teach in Idaho!

The football game didn't go so well but Boise State is the number 9 team in the country so the fact that Idaho kept it close in the 1st half is impressive. We had a really good time. There were some drunk Idaho fans in our section that were pretty rude to the couple of Boise State fans in our section. I understand its a big rivalry and I love my Vandals but there is no reason to be that rude!

Ok off to order a pizza and watch whatever football is on TV.

Go Vandals!

Go Vandals, Beat Boise State!

Big Day!

Well as you read this I am taking my big teacher certification tests. I feel pretty good about them. Say a little prayer and wish me luck. I'll update when I get home!

A Giveaway

My friend Renee over at My Special Ks is having a giveaway. Her daughter Kennedy was in a wedding last weekend and her friend Lu took one of the pictures from the wedding and turned it into a beautiful painting. You can checkout the paintings here. Renee is having a giveaway and the lucky winner will receive a picture of their choice as a painting. Check it out and enter to win!

Brotherly Love

Over the last week or so Jason has taken quite the interest in his big brother. Jason thinks Jonathan is hysterical. Jonathan can do pretty much anything and Jason erupts into laughter. It has been really fun to watch this brotherly relationship blossom. I'm excited to watch them grow up as brothers. I can't wait until Jason is big enough to be up and running and playing with Jonathan. I know there will be disagreements but I hope that for the majority of their lives they will be pals.

Big Test

This week has been a long a challenging week for me. I didn't really have much due this week. And while I do have something due everyday next week I'm not really overwhelmed by it. What is overwhelming me is the Praxis. It's this Saturday and I don't know if I've studied enough. I keep hearing conflicting reports from my ED major peers. Some say that as long as I've done well in my coursework then the test is cake because I've studied it all before. Others say to study a lot because you need to. I've studied some and I have one more piece that I want to look over today. I think I feel ok but these two tests (yeah two 2 hour tests in one day) are really a pretty big deal. First of all they are $100 each so if I don't pass paying again is a big deal. Second I'm really supposed to pass them by the beginning of the semester before I student teach. That means I have to pass them by January to student teach in September. They will make exceptions but I'd rather not have to write a formal appeal. And I absolutely have to pass these tests or they won't give me a teaching certificate.

And then on top of the Praxis I managed to catch myself a cold. I feel pretty crummy this week. I actually stayed home from classes yesterday and slept. I'm feeling better but I'm just afraid that being sick will mess up my judgement on the test. I'm sure I'll do fine I'm just a little stressed.

Fun with Food

Over at 5 Minutes for Mom they are having a contest and the prize is $500 grocery card. I know I could use it and I bet y'all could to. All you have to do is post a food related picture on your blog or email it to them and you're in. Click here for all the info and then join in the fun!

This picture was taken when Jonathan was about 14 months old. By this time we were smart enough to only have spaghetti on nights when there was time for a thorough bath. We had also learned that for a 1-year-old spaghetti is a dish best eaten wearing only a diaper. We had company over this night and he was being egged on to be a wild and crazy as possible. Too bad the company left before the bath or they would have been doing clean up too!

I-D-A-H-O

My husband and I graduated from the University of Idaho in 2005 and 2004 respectively. I'm now back in school there working on an elementary education certificate. While our football is nothing great my husband and I have our Vandal Pride and we have passed it along to our offspring! What Jonathan is reading "I-D-A-H-O" off my shirt and then "Idaho Idaho Go Go Go" and "Lets go." All are excerpts from our school fight song. If you want to hear a pretty good recording of the fight song click here. Sometime I'll post pictures from the first football game we took the boys to!

Wordless Wednesday

Not Me Monday!

I absolutely did not go 143 texts over my 200 a month for the month of October and that did not cost us $14.30.

I did not sit on the couch talking on the phone to my mom while my darling husband cleaned the guest room for my dad's arrival.

That was not me doing absolutely nothing Monday night while recovering from company.

I am not freaking about about the fact that my student teaching application is due November 19th but the university can't seem to get the online application system to work. And I am not frustrated beyond belief that the application is only available from 7-5 Monday - Friday and can't be accessed on the weekends. It does not make me really really mad that they can't seem to make the application Mac compatible. And that was not me who later realized that the reason it was not compatible is because I didn't have the correct program on my computer. I would never do something like that!

I was not sitting in my stupid health class, while my professor talked about how much better life was in Colorado, writing my not me Monday!

I have not put off studying for the Praxis until the week before the test, that would be totally irresponsible of me!

Nope, not me!

My Top Tens

What I'm not crazy about

1. Driving after dark in the rain.
   
2. Walking in the rain. I hate being wet!
   
3. Clutter.
   
4. Spit up. Especially the orange I ate too many carrots spit up.
   
5. Being too hot.
   
6. Loading the dishwasher.
   
7. Folding laundry.
   
8. Cleaning the bathroom.
   
9. Changing stinky diapers.
   
10. Homework with vague directions.

Modern Conveniences
I wouldn't want to live without

1. Laptop.
2. Digital camera.
3. Email/internet/blogs
4. Cell phone
   
5. Washer & Dryer
   
6. Dishwasher
   
7. DVR
   
8. Car auto start
   
9. Google maps
   
10. Auto start coffee pot.
    

Things to see & do before I die

1. Visit Ireland.
   
2. Visit the rest of Europe.
   
3. Visit Australia.
   
4. Take the boys to Disney.
   
5. Go to NYC.
   
6. Go to Arlington.
7. Go on a mission trip.
   
8. Get my masters.
   
9. Meet my blog friends.
   
10. Learn to swim.
    

Things I would totally SPLURGE on if funds were unlimited

1. Build our dream house.
2. Personal Trainer
   
3. New cars
   
4. Digital SLR
   
5. A Wii
   
6. A nice long family vacation.
   
7. A nice long vacation with just Dan.
   
8. Pay off my school and Dan's school.
   
9. Someone to cook and clean.
   
10. New TV and video equipment.
    

The BEST feelings

1. Hanging out at home with Dan and the boys.
   
2. Spending good time with great friends.
3. Hugs from Dan
   
4. A hug from Jonathan.
5. God.
   
6. The laughter of my children.
   
7. Hot coffee on a cold day.
8. Financial security.
   
9. The Vandals winning a football game.
   
10. Christmas!
    

I tag anyone that reads this and wants to create their top 10 list. If you do post your top ten I would love it if you left me a comment telling me so I can come check out your Personal Top Tens.

I'm ready

I know its a little early but I am ready to decorate for Christmas. I want to see my home filled with that beautiful glow of Christmas lights. I want to enjoy my tree and the atmosphere it provides. I love Christmas and all the decorations. I have two big certification tests on Saturday and then the Idaho/Boise State Football game but after that I think I want to start decorating. We leave for Portland December 20 and then on to Alaska December 25 and won't be home until January. If I want to enjoy my tree I need it up. Otherwise if we wait until after Thanksgiving we will only be able to enjoy it for 2 weeks before we leave. Now I just need to convince Dan that this is a good idea.

Goin' To the Car Wash

This morning I was looking through pictures of Jonathan from the past 3+ years. I found these and they are just too good not to share. Here's the story...

Just after his 1st birthday someone had the brilliant idea to take Jonathan through the car wash.

Oh look at those chubby cheeks. Couldn't you just eat them up? I could!

Oh this looks interesting. I wonder what is going on?

Whoa! Fascinating. Seriously, what is going on here?

GET ME OUT OF HERE NOW!!! THIS IS SO NOT FUN ANYMORE!!!

Ok, thats better. I am so going to need tharapy for this!

Yeah, in hind sight not our best idea ever but he survived. I don't know that we've been through a car wash again. Yes, the only wash our cars get is the rain!

Asthma

So in July at this 3 year check up Jonathan was diagnosed with chronic asthma. It wasn't anything I was overly surprised about since asthma and nut allergies tend to come hand and hand. The doctor prescibed FloVent, which is an inhaled steroid to try and reduce the swelling in his airways. The medicine worked great but then there we the side effects.

Right after he started the medicine he started having a lot of trouble sleeping. We would go through our normal routine but instead of falling asleep in 15-20 minutes he would fall asleep in 2-3 hours. So we thought maybe cutting down to an hour nap would help. So we dropped the nap to an hour and it would still take him 2-3 hours to fall asleep. So we cut the nap altogether and he was a miserable, grumpy kid (and we were miserable, grumpy parents) and it still took him 2-3 hours to fall asleep. So we went back to an hour nap for our sanity.

Then we realized that since he started the medicine his behavior had really gone downhill. He was extremely aggressive, would have screaming, hitting, kicking, violent fits. It was to the point I thought maybe he had some type of emotional problem.

But after some thought we traced the start of all these problems to the start of the FloVent. So we decided to take a little break from the medicine to see what happened. Within 48 hours he was sleeping again and his behavior was completely back to normal. But then his symptoms came back and he was having difficulty breathing.

So on Monday I went back to the Dr and told him everything and asked if there was something else we could do. He said that FloVent is the only thing approved for kids this young so we need to try it again and see if he does better this time. He said give it some time and see. Well its been 2 days and he is still sleeping fine but his behavior has already started to change. I'm really discouraged. I want him healthy but the behavior side-effects are unbearable. I feel like he is a totally different kid when he's on the medicine. I just don't know what to do...

Wordless Wednesday

Not Me Monday

That was not me who thought it would be a good idea to let the 3-year-old have a big ice cream cone right before church. And after church I most certainly would not let him run from one end of the church to the other over and over again hoping he would run out of energy and eventually crash.

I am not so drained from a weekend of entertaining that I can't think of anything else for not me Monday.

Busy Weekend

Wow, with company in town and a trip to Coeur D'Alene this weekend has just flown by. I haven't even talked to my mom. I know my Dad is coming to town sometime this week but I can't for the life of me remember when. I need to look that up. Other than that there is nothing new here. Perhaps this week? Maybe not!

Pictures from Last Night

Jonathan was a farmer for Halloween. They had farmer dress up day at preschool last week so we just did that again. I saw a really cool pit crew for McQueen costume but I looked all over Pullman and Moscow and couldn't find it in his size. Oh well.

Out fishing. He did this game twice. The first time he got an art set and the second time he got stickers. We forgot to bring a treat bag so we started collecting treats in his hat.

The duck game. He was supposed to get three chances to get matching ducks but its hard to get a 3 year old to grasp that concept so he just kept pulling out ducks until he found a match.

Jason in Grandpa's pumpkin hat. He was really tired so I could not get him to smile at me. He fell asleep soon after.

The best picture from the jumpy castle. He had a lot of fun jumping and falling. Definitely his favorite game.

Playing the pop balloons with a dart game. This was his first throw, which Dan decided to let him try on his own. Notice that Dan is leaning back and looks scared. I would be too. That throw was so low it ended up stuck under the bleachers. Dan tried to help him on the second throw but it ended up too low too. Finally Dan just held him up close to the balloons and he got one popped.

He had a great time. This morning he asked if we could do it again today. Um no!