On my mind lately...

*Jake's sweet Grandma Taylor passed away this week.  She was always so cute and kind to me, and I'm glad we've been able to visit her a few times over the past year.  She celebrated her 99th birthday last month.  Amazing lady.   

I'm sure it's been a happy reunion with loved ones on the other side!   This week I've been thinking about how grateful I am that I know that families are forever.    
And, Kelly, I swiped this great picture from your blog.  Thanks!

*We find out what bases will have possible openings for Jake soon!!  I'm so curious to see what will be on the list.  And even more so, where they will assign us!  I would LOVE to stay close (well, comparatively speaking) to family, but maybe it would be a fun adventure to go somewhere we haven't thought of living before.  Dr. Zabrowski (one of Jake's fellow residents) just found out that her new station is in Turkey... followed up with a 3 year tour in Japan.  I'm not sure how I'd feel about somewhere like Turkey, but Japan would be pretty cool.

*I signed up for another marathon- The Utah Valley in June.  Crossing my fingers that annoying injuries keep their distance from me during this round of training!

*Jake's little brother David is getting married March 13.  It's coming up soon, and we're excited to see everyone!

*I've been spending a lot of time trying to finish my classes!  Had been hoping to graduate in April, but with so much going on right now, and so many big assignments left I'm starting to think I'll have to push it to August.  Ugh.  I guess once you've been at it so long though, what's another three months, right?  I was thinking I could get in a bunch of all-nighters and get soo much done quickly.   Apparently I'm turning into an old fart though because I crash by 11:30, and caffiene just puts me to sleep.

*My kids love to color, and we have been going through rediculous amounts of paper lately.  Markers, crayons, stickers and paint too.  Luke has always been careful with his markers... lids on perfectly tight after using them, crayons used until they are tiny.  He has never destroyed anything.  With Ella it's a different story!  She's great coloring for a little while but then likes to eat the crayons, bite the tips of markers off, and make huge messes.  She will yell out "mama!!" when she's finished a picture, and holds it up for me to see until I tell her how beautiful it is.  I love that girl!  Luke is proud of his work too, and puts his "masterpieces" on the fridge when he's done with them.

*Luke had been coming into our room just about every single night because he's scared of being alone (and the dark), but I think we finally figured out something to keep him in his own bed!  Every morning after staying in his own room, he gets to put a sticker on the calender.  We told him that after a few weeks of stickers on there, he'd be able to go see grandmas and grandpas in Arizona.  He's excited to go!  So, he's been doing great lately.  I'm hoping he keeps it up!   

*A big Hummer backed into the Highlander in a parking lot last week.  Of course the Hummer was totally fine, but our car is messed up for the moment.  So annoying.  At least the guy had good insurance.  He owns a few Mexican restraunts in town, and Jake wants to go try one out now.  haha.  Hopefully it will be fixed soon! 

Valentine Weekend 2010

We went to Macaroni Grill Friday night.  I got the Chicken Scaloppine.  Delicious!  Jake got the Penne Rustica which is his fav.  Luke and Ella came along with us and did awesome.  We found out that they LOVE calamari.     
*Browsed DSW.  I have been digging shoe stores lately!  Now if only I had a huge shoe budget...
*Vegged out and watched the Olympics and some movies.  (Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs and The Holiday.)  I had a textbook on my lap during all of it, and didn't get through nearly as much as I should have.  oops.
*Got in a long run Saturday.  It felt good!  This area has so many great places to run.  I'm going to miss that when we move. 
* Grocery shopping at the commisarry.
*Jake made all of us a big breakfast this morning.  It was complete with homemade hashbrowns and waffles.  Thanks Chef Jake :)
*Jake has been on call and had to go in right after breakfast for a few hours.  We had been thinking of going downtown to see a show this weekend, but didn't want to chance getting called in and missing it.  That would stink.  One of these days I want to see Le REVE. The Lion King too.  
*Ella had her first day of Nursery!  She's not quite legal yet.  18 mo. is still a few weeks away so Jake stayed with her while I taught our class.  Jake says she did great and loved the bubbles!  I really hope she will go all by herself next month!  Sitting in relief society for the first time in a long time without a baby crawling on me and getting into everything was so nice.  I had almost forgotten what that was like ;)
Before church...

*We had a lasagna dinner tonight and Jake requested banana pudding for dessert.  So, we're chowing down on pudding while we watch the All Star game.  The kids went to sleep much earlier then usual tonight (woo hoo!!) Maybe we can get another movie in to finish this lazy weekend!
I took a few pictures of our Valentines stuff...

 

Jake didn't exactly remember to buy a card, sooo...  My sweet hubby dug into my ribbon and paper and MADE me a card.  So cute of him.  Hallmark should watch its back :)  I think I want him to make me one every year now.  I'm pretty sure more thought goes into it this way!  haha.  It's much better then the one I got at the store for him!

Last but not least, my Valentine monkeys....  (An attempt to get them to sit still together)

Happy Valentines Day!

Rad Moves

What is that lightning fast blur of red you might ask?

That's Luke.  Self-proclaimed most awesome bike rider around.  He's fast and super tricky.

"Mom!  Am I going too fast?"

"This trick takes LOTS of practice.  When I get big I can do it with no arms."

He can even do "jumps" up and down the curb.

The bumpy sidewalk squares give his bike super powers and help it go faster.

Oops.  "It's Ok mom.  I'm OK.  I just need to practice more."

Yay for bikes and sunny February days.  Sometimes on our walks/bike rides we get to see the train go by too.  It's pretty awesome.

On an unrelated note, the opening ceremony for the Olympics is tonight.  Woo hoo!  I love the Olympics.  The skiing and figure skating are my FAVs to watch... Oh and halfpipe boarding is fun too.  Can't wait!!   

Super Bowl Weekend

We had some coworkers and friends over for the Super Bowl, and I walked in from the living room to see this.  Ella was on top of the table being fed cookies and cupcakes by Luke, Emma, and Kate.   This little girl knows how to work the system!  Funny kids. 

First Pedi

"Pee toes!"

She thinks they are oh, so pretty!  I love her cutie chunky little feet.

Little things from January

A few little things I don't want to forget...
*The kids and their rainboots. We got them a week or so ago when the weather here was rainy and cold. They have loved wearing them around.  Especially Ella.  Hers are a little big on her, but they were the smallest ones I could find.  She trips practically every time she tries to walk in them, but wants them on anyway!  haha.  She will bring them to me and yell 'boots peez!"  wanting me to put them on.  Here they are stylin in their PJs and boots reading bedtime stories together.   They didn't want to take them off.

*Ella is quite the little climber!  At church she just wants to climb all over the chairs, and at the grocery store she can't sit in the front of the cart anymore because she finds ways to get out of the seat belt and climb around.  I've turned around from grabbing something off of the shelf and caught her a few times just standing up in the front of the cart... yikes!!  I find her all the time on the top of the dining room table, on the bathroom counter top, and lately I find her sitting on the piano bench.  I can never sit down and play unless she's strapped in her highchair or something because she climbs up on my lap and wants to do it herself.

Caught in the act... 

* We took a trip to the 'dinosaur' park last week to feed the ducks.  It had been cold so apparently the ducks hadn't been getting their bread from park visitors.  They were CRAZY!!   From the second we got out of the car they started walking over to the parking lot for food.  Luke would throw a piece and then fifty birds would attack each other trying to get to it first.  Then they saw that Luke had a hand full and started chasing him around... it was funny!  We learned our lesson... best to go to the duck park on nice days when the birds aren't starved!  I didn't dare let Ella down because I thought they'd get her for sure!  Haha

* Luke says the funniest things and I actually thought to write some of them down lately.

In church his class was talking about why it is important to choose the right.  Luke blurted out after his teacher told them that they 'always need to choose the right'  "Or, you can choose left!"

This morning Luke came walking downstairs with a calculator in his underwear (sick).  He was just wearing his unders and a t-shirt.  I asked him what in the world he was doing and he said "MOM!  It has a weiner pocket!  Don't you know that you put stuff in pockets??"   (btw, why do they put those little openings in boys underwear??  Like they are really coordinated enough to use them....) 

We were getting out of the car and I was still singing some song that had been on the radio.  Anyway, Luke told me "Mom, stop singing. It will scare all of the spiders away."  Nice manners buddy.

Another one was "Hey, will you get me some popcorn??  If you do, I will get you a surprise..."  Hmm.... Sounds like I should stop bribing him to do things for me.

Thunderbirds

Jake and his fellow AEGD residents went to check out the Thunderbirds this past week.  It's a tradition that the residents do every year, and they get a big group picture by the planes.  Nellis AFB is the "Home of the Thunderbirds."   You could say the Thunderbirds are the rock stars of the Air Force.  There are eight planes (only six perform at a time) and eight pilots, and they constanly travel to bases throughout the year doing air shows.  It's really quite amazing to watch them do their stuff!  Luke told me that he is going to be a Thunderbird Pilot when he gets big because "They are fast and have red on them.  My favorite color is red."   Anyway, you should check them out when they're in your town. 

Here are the AEGD residents with the Thunderbirds in the background...

Drs. Zabrowski, Smith, Olson, Lee, Quilao, and Jones. 

We've enjoyed getting to know the other residents and their families.  They are truly awesome.  Good thing too since Jake has to be with them more then he's with us during this program!  Dr. Olson and Dr. Jones have cute wives and little kids about the same age as ours, so it's good times when we all get together.  

Ahhh, I just love my guy in uniform.  H.O.T   :)

More of the T-Birds...

And to quote Jake, this is the "sweetest fighter jet around."  The F22 Raptor....

I can't believe our time in Vegas is halfway over.  Jake has learned quite a bit and says he's glad that he decided to do the AEGD.  He shows me pictures of what he's been working on every now and then... good to see that he is really learning and working when he's away!  Here are some pictures of the comprehensive patient he has been seeing.  I figure maybe he'll want to see these in the blog book a few years from now!  Haha.  There's no name or face on these, so I'm thinking it's okay...
Before dental work:

He had to take off the super old temporary crowns she had on... those were her teeth underneath.  And no, these aren't "glow in the dark" teeth.  I guess the flash was bright??
Most recent appt:

These are just her temporary crowns too.  Already looking so much better!!  She still has quite a few things that need to be fixed before the end of the year, but she's come a long way! 
It was the most difficult comprehensive case they had for the residents and they gave her to Jake.  They were thinking that he probably would not be able to finish everything she needs this year but would be a good challenge for him.  He's determined to finish everything she needed though!
Good work Dr. Smith  :)

Two more inches please.

Seems like every dress that fits me really well is always two inches too short.  I ordered this dress

online from Shabby Apple and returned it because it was too short on me too.  Didn't really surprise me but it was annoying.  Boo!  The joy of long legs... nothing fits and jeans are super expensive.  I came across The Vintage Hem website this morning and ordered a slip to try it out.  Here's to hoping these solve my dress/skirt problem!  Have you tried an extendor slip before?  What did you think? 

Maybe I'll re-order my dress if I can get a little more length with these.   

Swimming

Swimming started again this week!  Luke really likes his teacher, Ms. Dominique, and was excited to see her again.  The last session ended Dec. 18, so we got a bit of a break.  Here's Luke's progress report from last session. Can't wait to see what he can do in April when this session ends!

Of BaRFiNg and Beautiful SunSeTs

Here is Ella right before church last Sunday.  She was so cute playing all by herself in the toy room that I had to take a picture.   I don't know why she is chewing on a thermometer, but it's quite fitting this day that she would be.     

At church she was being fussy in sacrament meeting and wouldn't hold still.  I decided to take her out, and we had just walked into the foyer when she threw up everywhere.  Aaaa!  So gross.  Barf was in my hair, all over my clothes, and all over Ella.  Poor girl!  So, she and I headed home and Jake and Luke stayed for the rest of church.  Luke went to his Sunbeams class (Woo hoo!) and really seemed to like his teachers, so that was good news for the day!

Little Ella started feeling better on Monday, and other then a bad case of D seemed to be herself again.  **Note to self:  NEVER cheap out and buy a case of Luvs diapers again.  Totally worth the extra couple of bucks to get the usual and much more absorbant Pampers or Huggies.**  Since Ella seemed better, Monday night we decided to go to Circus Circus for a fun FHE activity.  Luke had been wanting to ride the planes again at the Adventuredome and we had ride tickets left from our previous trip there.

We found out when we arrived that the Adventuredome is closed on Mondays this time of year.  Dang.  Our bummed little guy just walked around with us and looked at things.  We went into the gift shop to check things out, and while I was paying for a sweet Vegas 2010 calendar, Luke came over and told me his tummy hurt.  I hadn't finished the transaction before he threw up.  A lot.  I feel bad for whoever had to clean up the mac-n-cheese barf on the carpet.  So, the rest of the night I was up holding a bowl for him.

 Tuesday morning I started feeling sick and by noon I had the full-on flu too.

 We lounged around and watched episode after episode of The UpsideDown Show (Luke's FAV.. so we record it. It's normally on at 8 and 8:30 pm on Noggin/Nick Jr if you have yet to check it out!), Jungle Junction, and other kid shows.  When the kids both fell asleep I watched Julie & Julia.  Such a good movie.  Made me want to be a more adventurous cook!  By Wednesday afternoon we were all feeling pretty good again.  It's so not fun to be the mom when your family is sick.  Oh, and to the flu shots we got this year, you SUCK!  Haha.  Weeks like this remind me that I'm grateful my kids aren't sick very often.  Jake had another presentation this week at work, so he missed out on most of the puking action.  He wasn't feeling so great yesterday but for the most part, he's been able to dodge this bug.  Knock on wood...

We had lots more park and outside action on Thursday and Friday!  Luke requested that we play hopscotch one day.  I don't know where he got the idea and would never have thought to show him, but he was really good at it!  Ella thought that she was pretty awesome jumping around on the squares we made too. 

We have had some amazing sunsets lately that cover the whole sky.  Thursday night I busted out the camera to get some pictures!  Luke wanted to take some too, so some of these are his work .  He's got skills.  

Some from the back yard...           

and here are some we got from the front!

So, I'm glad it's Saturday now!  Glad the week is over.  Glad Jake is home.  Glad that I get to go for a run outside now and do some school work!

**Update... It's Saturday around 2 now, and I think I must have jinxed away Jake's good health.  He's sick.   =(