CLICK HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES »

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

BLAH

January is so BLAH!  It's pretty boring and slow moving with nothing to look forward to.  Well, life isn't really that boring with the kids.  I will try and make this post worthwhile though:

Ellionna has pretty much had a continual ear infection since November.  She just finished her 4th round of antibiotics.  Ear tubes may be in store for her soon.  She is crawling all over the place and pulling her self up.  She loves taste-testing all the table foods and now has 3 teeth.





Gavin is now a Sunbeam in his primary class at church.  They tell me he continues to improve every week.  I don't know what they mean by that :)  He must be a wild child or something…  
What do you do for a kid who loves playing outside in his sandbox but it's 20 degrees outside?  Let him play with lima beans instead!

We have ventured out to a few places to stay sane…. a couple children's museums and a bounce house.  For some reason, I have only gotten pictures of Jordan while we are there.  Jordan has started playing on a basketball league.  It's been good for him to have an activity he can call his own. It's been a good experience for him and something his Dad hopes that he will continue to pursue throughout his life! :)




Makenzie has somehow not found herself in front of the camera lately.  No pictures of her this post.  She is staying active with her dance and tumbling class. And is really starting to like technology and the games it has to offer.  Unfortunately, to her dismay, we do put a limit on it.  2nd grade has been full of homework and expectations…. not a favorite for either of us.  I have not been that impressed with the school system here.  But, not so dissatisfied that I will homeschool yet :)

I have been cleaning and organizing, which seems like I am always doing.  I'm slowing finishing up the series, The Great and the Terrible.  I just started the last of 6 books.  Only took me a year to read them all!  I was able to sneak out a girl's night out last week.  It was heavenly!

Tyler is on the downhill of his 2nd year of residency.  He is getting to know all the doctors at the hospital and is getting quite a variety of training.  We are in the process of getting his official license (aside from his training license) so he can pick up some extra work from other hospitals and urgent cares starting this summer.   We are starting to pinpoint some areas that look like where we would want to lay down some roots next year after graduation.  We are hoping to see our "dreams" become a reality real soon!!!  We are even scheming up plans for a home that we will build and OWN someday.

And that is about it for now.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Rock-a-Bye

Tyler got a hold of this old rocker from a ward member a couple months ago.  Tyler loves working with wood and jumped at the opportunity to refurnish it.  This was his first time reupholstering.  When in doubt, just "YouTube" it!


Before:



During:




















After:   Ta Da!!!  





Tyler, of course, can pick out all his flaws, but I am highly impressed!  It was a good little project for him to work on.  Some of my friends were jealous because Tyler would actually request to go to Hobby Lobby!  So we enjoyed a few dates to the craft store, per his request and not me having to drag him in there!

The last of 2012...

I'm afraid to say that I did not capture a single picture of Christmas day this year, except for Makenzie's note to Santa!  We enjoyed our holiday to the max, which means I was too lazy to worry about the camera.  My parents were able to come down from Chicago for a week.  The kids were happy with their presents and we feasted on all our favorite holiday snacks.  Tyler has been working in the Emergency Department.  He luckily had Christmas Eve and Christmas off, but other than that, he has been a working fool.  My dad was so kind to complete a long list of small home repairs that I've been saving up for him.  Thanks, Dad!    The stomach flu also hit our house, so we weren't able to do as much as we wanted with my parents around.

The first snowfall arrived on Friday, Dec. 21st.  It was only a dusting of snow though.  The kids were so ecstatic to see the white stuff!  They had school that day and I was afraid the snow would be melted by the time they got home, so I encouraged them to go out and take a couple rides on the sled before they caught the bus.  It was blistery cold, but they didn't care!



Luckily we got a real snow storm a week later that left about 4 inches.  You bet they were out there in a heartbeat! 


Here is their snowman.  
It's hard to see with all the white.



  Ellionna and I hung out on the couch and watched out the window most of the time.  It was great seeing pure happiness and hearing squeals of laughter come from my kids.  Snow can be very magical!