Late Nights All Around

I have had some good posts lately.  There was the one about the yard, about Tristan's eating, about Isabelle's potty training, Easter of course (didn't you like the egg hunt pictures), and the progress in the basement.   What! You don't remember any of those!  OK, so that is some of what I would have written about if I had time.  The last two weeks have been crazy busy.  First off all my students turned in their research papers.  It takes me 10-15 minutes to go through each one, so that ends up being around 30 hours of correcting.  That of course is just the research papers and not anything else they have turned in.  I am down to about 40 of them left!  I might finish this week.  They are actually doing testing, which is a great time to get some of it done.  To show how busy we have been, let me tell you about our week. 
On Saturday Thomas was supposed to take pictures of my brother's family.  It was an outdoor photo shoot, and it got postponed until Monday due to rain, so that is how our week started.  We rushed home from work. Thomas was late because of a meeting at work. We took the kids to Grandma's and we went to do the pictures.  On the way home we stopped to pick up some pictures of Isabelle for her spotlight poster at school that was supposed to be done over the weekend, but we forgot to get the pictures printed.  We then we to Grandma's house to get the kids and look at her washing machine, which had been having problems. It didn't seem like a big problem, but it took longer than expected to fix. Plus Castle started and I got sucked in.  We didn't get home until about 10.  Late night for everyone.  
Tuesday was the one day we didn't have anything planned ahead of time; however, the washer was put back together wrong and was leaking.  Back we went to Grandma's house to fiddle with the silly machine.  After an hour or so, the great oracle (otherwise known as the internet) was consulted and they found the offending seal and how it should be installed.  Second late night.  I think that was also the day Husband went to the doctor to get  vaccinations for his upcoming trip. He got stabbed about four times. He complained all day about his sore arm and his Typhoid Fever symptoms.   Apparently they are noting compared to the Yellow Fever he is getting this Monday.
Wednesday  was parent teacher conferences. I had forgotten to tell Thomas about them, and he had forgotten to tell me that he was working a double.  Due to complications with the schedule he had to open and close.  Luckily he was able to come home and pick the kids up and watch them until Grandma got home when he went back to work.  It was about 8 when I got there to pick them up. Third late night for Thomas, normal night for the rest of us.  Normal being sometime after 9:00 but hopefully before 10:00.  Yes that includes the three year old.  She is such a night owl, and the sun being up later is not helping. 
Thursday was Book Club.  This is one of my favorite nights of the month. It is one of the few times I get to go out and socialize. This month's book was called Elegance of the Hedgehog..  It was an interesting book, and we had some interesting discussion; however, I was only about half way through the book.  I always stay later then I intend to because I have so much fun.  This month's book club host is actually Grandma's neighbor, so everyone else had played at Grandma's while I was gone.  By the time I got back to grandma's house, finished visiting there, and went home, it was almost ten.  Another late night.
Friday we had Tristan's 9 month doctor's appointment.  I went straight from work to day care, and from there I went straight to the doctor's office.  We got there right on time.  The receptionist however, could not find us in the computer.  Turns out that our appointment was the day before.  I know that we scheduled the appointment for Friday.  They usually give us a reminder call, but they didn't this time.  There may have been a small scene in the reception area, but we won't go into all that.  Suffice it to say that even though the doctor was not there (camping I think is what they told us) we were able to see his nurse who told us that there aren't any shots at 9 months.  We were also able to weight and measure him.  He is still 0 percentile for height and 5th percentile for weight.  We think he seems huge, but apparently he is still on the bottom of the chart.  That just means he is easier to lug around.  After that we went home and had dinner.  Thomas' uncle is in town, so he went to visit him.  I went to my aunts house to pick some things up that got left behind at Easter.  Then it was home to bed. 
Saturday I actually ran in a 5K.  I got up and rode my bike to the Jr. high were the race was starting.  When I was about half way there I realized I was thirsty.  Luckily they had water bottles they were handing out.  I did not run the race, but I didn't walk the whole thing either.  I would speed walk for a while, then jog a few paces usually passing irritating Jr. high students.  The race went past my house.  Thomas and the kids were in the driveway watching.  It was cute and he said they had a lot of fun. I finished in almost exactly 42 minutes, which was better than expected.  I rode my bike back home and got some snacks.  I started having tunnel vision, my arm went numb.  This was followed by a headache, which lasted all day.  We have decided that I maybe got overheated, but mostly was dehydrated.  This made my other Saturday activities (helping change the oil in my car and a surprise birthday party for my brother in law) less enjoyable.  I was also supposed to go with my husband to go see Uncle Bob again, but I stayed home instead.  I gave the kids their bathes, and we all went to bed.  The end of a very long and busy week.

Did you notice that the first four days involved going to grandma's house. 

Also, Tristan has started crawling.  He generally doesn't go very far.  Today however, he went from the office into his sisters room, where she had left a half eaten piece of chocolate.  needless to say, Tristan has now enjoyed his first chocolate.  I hope that things are better next week. I am going to post this and then go to bed.  The entire family will be in bed and possibly asleep by 9:30! That is amazing.

I  should also be getting some pictures up soon.  Is it too late to put up Easter pictures? I also have some race pictures.

Little Bud Needs a Space

I have not had a good post in a while, and I am not sure that this will be one either.  Part of my problem is the time.  I have trouble finding time when I can use the computer.  This is mainly because of one small boy.  Before he came along, we had two bedrooms and an office.  It worked out well. Husband and I had a room, Daughter had a room, and the omputers had a room.  Along comes my little man who must also have a room.  Since there isn't a room available, he gets to shares with the computers.  Now, I can't say that this doesn't have some advantages.  For instance, computers put off a lot of heat.  Having my baby sleep in a room with two computers, at least one laptop, and various other computer clutter, I don't usually worry about him getting cold, even when other parts of the house are a little bit chilly.  Despite this advantage, it has the huge drawback of being unable to use the computer when little buddy is sleeping, a prime computer using time.  I can only use the computer when he is being entertained by his toys, which generally only happens in short chunks. Frankly, I am surprised how long this particular moment has lasted. Not that he doesn't love his toys.  He also goes from perfectly fine and happy to inconsolable when he sees his mother. Despite how much fun he is having, he realizes that he isn't being held and he should be. Although lately I have had a harder time holding him because he has decided that I am in fact a jungle gym.  I think that we will all be happier when he starts to crawl.  However, that will bring its own complications.  Anyway, to get back to the computer issue, it is not meant to be permanent. The computers want to live in the basement.  The basement is currently unfinished and lacks a couple of key items.  1) heat 2) power outlets in the area where the computers will go.  I was hoping to do some framing over spring break.  Thomas was supposed to take a day or two off, but the person at work who does the schedule told him that this was a bad week and it just wouldn't work out.  (Did I mention that Thomas is the manager and is the one who does the schedule?)  We did finish up our taxes last night and we are getting a refund.  Maybe we can use some of that on the basement project. The biggest problem is really just finding time.  I think that is one of those things that needs to be planned and scheduled, or it won't ever happen.  Plus there is the part where I mentioned Tristan is getting ready to crawl.  Not being able to crawl does not make him stationary.  He is developing a fascination with cables the extend out the back of computers, off of desks, and anywhere else that is in his reach.  This to me says that something must be done soon.  He has become very talkative lately.  I can hear him now talking to his toys. Currently his favorite consonant is B. "Bababab Babababa." I did hear a "Ma" yesterday, but is was only once.  I tried to get him to repeat and get a "Mama," but no such luck. 

A couple of unrelated side notes:

1) I was really wanting something chocolate and snackish the other day, so I decided I would make brownies, "to share" with the new neighbors.  I felt like that was a valid excuse to make such a horribly delicious and fattening recipe.  After much anticipation, they turned out horrible.  I forgot to add the flour.  I have never done that before. I couldn't believe that I had done such a thing.  I had to throw out most of them.  The crusty parts tasted OK, but the rest was gross. It made me so sad because I was really looking forward to them and because they are kind of expense. (An entire box of butter, 8 eggs, the cocoa and vanilla!)

2) Saturday when we went swimming, I made it an entire  length of the pool without stopping.  I really wanted to stop, but I pushed through.  Now I just need to be able to do it consistently, then I can start working on going down and back, which most people consider a single lap.

3)  We actually made a plan to do some yard work on Saturday as well, and it happened.  Maybe making plans is the way to go.  I have a whole post I need to do about the yard, but that will have to wait for latter.  Child #1 finally got out of bed and is asking for breakfast, and Child #2 is no longer entertained by his toys.  He says that someone needs to come pick him up.  I guess we will go and make breakfast.

Thursday Again

I can't believe it has been a whole week since I posted last.  It has been really busy plus I have had a nasty cold.  My students started doing research today and I thought I was going to die from a coughing fit in the middle of explaining how to use the encyclopedia.  I am not catching on to the swimming thing as quickly as I had hoped that I would.  I think that it is actually a difficult sport to learn because it can be hard to see exactly what the instructor is showing you and for them to see what you are doing.  Especially on things like breathing. I also think that twice a week is pretty intense.  I am half way through.  After today, I will only have two lessons left. 

My other class is reading Romeo and Juliet, which I am enjoying a lot more than I thought I would.  They have to memorize the prologue.  I never had to memorize it, and since I like memorizing things I am working on it too.

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventur'd piteous overthrows
Doth, with their death, bury their parents’ strife.  
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children's end, naught could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

I have most of it; I am just struggling with that third quatrain. I'm sure that I will get it down by tomorrow.

Random Tidbits

I don't like daylight savings time.  I have been tired all week.  I can't seem to get to be on time; I can't get up in the morning. I am dragging all day long.  I am looking forward to the weekend when I can sleep in.  Hopefully.  Lately the children have been getting up before we want them to. 

Today was my second swimming lesson.  I think that I did pretty good.  I can almost breathe, and I only choked on pool water about a dozen times.  She made us do laps, which I was mostly able to do, although not with out pausing to breathe or rest. 

This is a crazy week at work, and I am way behind on stuff.  I brought piles of stuff home, and amazingly I got a lot of it done.  Only because Thomas had the children.  Thank you so much!  I love you lots, and not just for the baby-sitting. 

Tristan has a bad cold.  He has been coughing and had a little crusty in his nose.  The last two days he has become very congested.  I have also not felt 100% this week.  I had a headache Sunday, which lasted until Monday night.  The glands in my throat also felt swollen, and it hurt to swallow.  Otherwise I felt fine.  Last night I also became very congested.  I can no longer breathe, and I am coughing.  I am hoping I feel better tomorrow.  I should load up on vitamin-C. 

Swimming Lessons

Today I had my first swimming lessons.  I will have them twice a week for three weeks.  It is a one-on-one class, meaning that the instructor gives us some group instruction, but spends most of the time working with us individually.  What do we do when she isn't working with us?  We practice, of course.  I was either the best one in the class or the most invisible because she worked with me the least.  I was trying to work on my breathing.  I know how to swim; it is the putting it into practice that isn't working for me.  I can do the crawl; I just can't do it while I breathe.  I found that I naturally breathe through my nose.  This does not work well when your nose is full of water.  I had to concentrate really hard to remember to blow out my nose and in my mouth.  Maybe it was playing the flute that messed me up.  It was always in the nose and out the mouth. 

One other item of interest.  Some of you may remember that I got a new swimsuit, workout shoes and swim cap for my birthday.  I remembered why I don't like shopping online when both the shoes and the suit didn't fit.  I was able  to sell the shoes to a girl in my aerobics class, but I still have a very nice size 24 Speedo swimsuit.  That is equivalent to someone about age 10.  If you know anyone looking for a suit that size let me know.  Anyway, the only one of my birthday presents that wasn't the wrong size was my cap.  Thomas got the cap to match my suit, but since I got a new suit - it no longer matches.  I finally wore my cap today for the first time. I couldn't get it on, and  I kind of felt silly about wearing it.  I decided to just leave it on the side of the pool.  However, I did not put up my short hair, and it was getting everywhere.  I decided to try the cap again.  I learned today that swim caps are tricky to put on.  I think that I needed another hand of two.  I never did get my hair in it.  It just held my hair down. I will have to have Thomas give me lessons on how to don a swim cap. We will have to see how Thursday goes.

My Weekend

This has been a great weekend.  Part of that was because it started a day early!  My sister decided that it was time for her to go through the temple.  Her session was at 2:00.  This meant that I had to miss some of work, but not all of it.  I really wanted to take the whole day, so I did.  What is the point of hording your personal days?  What if I never get to use them and they just go to waste?  I have been a little overwhelmed lately with all they things I am supposed to be working on.  I spent my day catching up on stuff for work and doing laundry.  I know, not the best use of a personal day, but it helped me feel less bogged down.  Thomas came home early and we drove to Ogden together.  I took my endowments out in the Ogden Temple as well, so it was fun to think back to my first experience.  Also it was nice to get a chance to go through one more time before the temple is closed, remodeled and then not quite the same place.  My talked to one of the temple workers about it.  They said that they are taking away most of the current building and redoing it.  They will leave some of the original building however so that it will retain the spirit of what took place there before.  If they razed it, that spirit wouldn't have anywhere to go and would be lost.  I thought that was an interesting idea, and it made sense.  After we went to dinner at Mimi's Cafe.  I have only been there once before, so I didn't have a favorite thing. I tend to get the same thing every time I go to a restaurant.  I don't like paying for something I might not like.  Thomas wouldn't let me get the turkey breast, (which is what I got the one other time I was there, and what I usually get at Marie Callendars) so I got pork chops in a honey mustard glaze.  It wasn't my favorite, but it was pretty good.  After that we headed home to relieve my sister-in-law who was watching the kids.  I really appreciated her, especially since we took longer that I thought we would.
 

 

Saturday was mostly a work day.  I finished up one of my work projects, did a bit more laundry, and cleaned the house.  I didn't get everything done that I wanted too, but it was a pretty good chunk.  The upstairs was pretty much finished, (it feels so nice to have it clean and vacuumed.) I almost had the kitchen clean, but then I found my cookie cutters and I asked Isabelle if she wanted to make cookies.  What three year old would say no to that? Instead of finishing cleaning, I made a mess.  She had fun though.  She usually makes cookies with her daddy.  She like to sit on the counter and either watch or help pour stuff into the mixer.  We made sugar cookies, which was a new experience for her.I rolled out the dough, and then she helped me cut out the shapes. I haven't made them in a really long time, and the first set didn't turn out.  They didn't have enough flour, so they stuck to the counter.  Instead of shapes they came out as globs.  I added some flour, and the second set worked much better.  When the trays were full we put the rest of the dough in the fridge. We are partial to cookie dough at our house.  Isabelle, wanted to take a glob of it up to here room.  I told her it had to stay in the kitchen.  She left the dough on the table and went up to here room.  I could hear her rummaging around, then she came back with her play rolling pin.  She rolled out her little piece of dough and cut it with her plastic knife.  It was really cute.  She has had the cooking set for a while, but I don't think she realized before what the rolling pin was for.




























My mother-in-law has been having trouble with her internet, so Tristan and Thomas went to grandma's house to help.  Isabelle and I went shopping.  I have been having some closet issues lately.  Several shirts that I like and wear often developed holes (all in the same spot - which I found interesting and puzzling) We headed to Old Navy.  It happens to be time for their stock up sale! Thomas was worried about me going shopping because I don't really like it, especially when I can't find things that I am looking for.  When I pulled in the parking lot and saw the sign for the sale, I was confident it would be a productive trip.  The t-shirts were on sale for $5.00.  I was a little disappointed in their selection.  They had a lot of funny colors and not as many good colors.  I ended up getting a navy and white striped shirt.  The tank tops were also on sale for $5.00, which was very exciting because they are usually $10.00. I never understood why the tank tops were more than the t-shirts.  We got Isabelle a pair of shoes and a pair of flip flops for the summer.  I also got Tristan socks.  I debated about what size to get.  The 0-6 month ones fit him pretty good, but he is 7 months old.  The 6-12 month ones looked huge.  It is better to be too big than too small, so I ended up with the bigger size.  They are a bit big, but he will grow into them.  All in all, it was a pretty good shopping trip.





That evening we watched The Truman Show.We got it for Christmas last year and hadn't watched it.  I hadn't seen it since it was in the theaters.  It is a pretty fun film.  Not at all a typical Jim Carry film, although he still has a few moments.  Isabelle fell asleep on her daddy's lap and we carried her up to bed.  As we were getting ourselves ready for bed Thomas reminded me that it was daylight savings. Yeah!  We get to get up early.  Despite that, we were both close to the end of the books we were reading and staying up latter then we should have.  I finished Jacob Have I Loved, which I knew was about a set of twins, but I thought it also had to do with a boy named Jacob.  When I was halfway through the book and Jacob had not shown up, I started wondering what else the title could mean.  I decided that maybe it was a reference to Jacob in the bible.  About 50 pages latter it quoted a scripture about Jacob and Esau.  I was so proud of myself for figuring it our ahead of time.  Anyway, it wasn't my favorite book, but it was interesting.  It did win a Newbery Medal.

Sunday was daylight savings.  Thomas looked at his watch, which is atomic and updates automatically, and thought he had plenty of time.  When he got out of the shower, I told him that church had started.  He told me I was wrong and went around to various clocks to prove me wrong.  Apparently only half of his atomic clocks updated.  I thought it was pretty funny.  On the whole it was a nice day. I even went for a walk with the grandkids. They love their walks, and it helps get their energy out before family dinners. 

Presidents Weekend

It was Presidents Day weekend.  I wanted to share some of the things I accomplished

• Cleaned my bedroom
• Cleaned the family room
• Cleaned the office/ baby room
• Worked on the kitchen, but didn't get it all the way finished
• Did several batches of Laundry and put them away
• Worked on homeowork
• Played a game with my family
• Cooked dinner for my family (brothers and sisters and thier kids)
• Took a long nap

I felt very productive this weekend, and I had fun.  I think that every weekend should be a long weekend.  The only think I should have done and didn't was go to aerobics.  I didn't make it on Saturday like I usually do, so I made arrangements to go on Monday.  I then slept in instead of getting up.  It was good though to get some extra sleep, and I know my daughter needed it too.