Coming Up For Air (a good reminder - from 2013)

****I wrote this March 30, 2013****

I just completed my first 10 weeks of nursing school.....whew!  It's been quite a whirl-winded experience but I'm proud to announce that I am a straight-A student!  Woo-hoo!  Hopefully I can keep this up!  I couldn't do it without the love and support of my family :)  Yes, this past 10 weeks has been stressful for all of us.

Vinnie: This little guy appears to be riding an emotional roller-coaster.  Some days he's as happy as a clam, other days he's as clingy as snot, and still other days he's madder than the hatter.  I'm not always sure which Vinnie I'll be greeted by each day.  On my 2nd week of clinicals (I was leaving by 6:30 a.m. on those days, now I leave at 5 a.m.), he chewed me out good on the ride home from his school: "Mom!  I told you NOT to go to school!  There were no hugs, no kisses....."  How I love him so!

Gio:  My dear, swet little man has the biggest heart I know.  For the first few weeks of clinicals, he'd make a point of waking up early just so he could hang out with me in the kitchen before I'd leave.  Not that he swallowed the idea of me going back to school so easily in the beginning.  Turns out, he genuinely believed me all those years I told him I spent my days cleaning the house then just waiting around for him to get home from school.  **sigh**  To be so tender-hearted!

Ryan:  I try hard not to refer to him as "the ex."  He truly tries harder than many married husbands I know.  Every day he's here, whisking the boys out of the house if I need the space/quiet, acting as assistant coach for both boy's baseball teams and providing any other assistance needed.  He's even a pretty good sport of being a practice patient :)

My mom:  What would I do without her?  On my clinical days, she gets the boys up, ready, and off to school.  Most school days, she even picks them both up after school.  She spends hours listening to my experiences (seeming genuinely interested, too!) and tending to the boy's needs when I'm not there.


Me: I'm tired!  My mom and I calculated that my peak study hours for one given week have been 34 hours.  Good grief!  I know that my going to school has disrupted the family enough, so I've instituted a few rules:
1) I do not open any books or attempt any sort of studying until after the boys have gone to bed.
2) I do not study on Sundays.  This stems from my time at BYU Idaho.  Elder Bednar was president there at that time.  At orientation he challenged us each to fully observe the Sabbath day by including not studying on Sundays.  He promised us blessings, including that the Lord would bless us in our studies, if we obeyed this.  I took his challenge right to heart from that day forward.  I truly have a testimony of this principle - I have seen the promises fulfilled!              
              **PS: I have exams every Monday**
3) Family first.  What this means, quite simply, is that I have no life outside of family and school.  Don't ask me about the latest movies, TV shows, trends of any sort - I have no clue about these!  However, if you'd like to hear about the various locations on your body that I can give you an injection (after I pass my test in 2 weeks) I'll gladly show you!  Please, also, don't be offended that I have not talked to/texted/gone out to dinner with you since before Christmas.  We'll have plenty of time to catch up beginning January 2015. :)

Now, I have been on Spring Break this week and will return to school the day after Easter (and will have an exam on medication administration and IV calculations).  I have spent the week caring for my Vinnie (and his sick tummy), cleaning house, running a couple of errands, and studying nearly every night LOL  Thank you all for your love and support!

Don't Forget

to vote!!!

4th of July dress 2012
pattern designed by ME!

Vinnanigans

While watching tv with Nana this afternoon:

Vinnie (pointing at a little girl on the screen): That's my sister!

Nana: That's your sister?!?

Vinnie: Yeah, her name's Bay-yai-ya!

Nana: Bay-yai-ya?

Vinnie: Yeah!

Nana: How old is she?

Vinnie: She's 5, but she died - 

the s'monsters got her.

We Couldn't Miss This

Space Shuttle Endeavour on Manchester just before the 405 bridge

Historic event and proof of record gas hikes!

Worth the effort!

If all goes according to schedule, Endeavour will arrive at it's new home at the California Science Center tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m..  That's less than 24 hours from now!  If you live anywhere near Los Angeles (within 4-6 hours??): get there! Quick! Don't miss out!  This is too good to miss!!

Like Sands Through The Hourglass....

....so went the days of our summer.....

I tried a different approach to this summer: planning every day.  Honestly, I think I can count on one hand the number of times the boys claimed they were bored!  SUCCESS!  Gio's last day of school was a Thursday and the following Monday he began a two week science experiment class.  He loved it!  He tested the effects of soap on whole milk vs. skim milk; constructed and set off a volcano; created a lava lamp in a water bottle; made ice cream and performed many more experiments.  He was in heaven!

Volcano!

The next two weeks, Gio took Hip Hop Dance.  This was his 2nd round (he took it last summer, too) and he was pleased with the opportunity to shake his booty on the dance floor.

Following Hip Hop Dance, both boys took a month of swimming lessons.  Gio's fins have officially grown in, I swear - he swims like a fish!  Vinnie LOVED every minute and spent every lesson (when at the wall) dunking his head in and bobbing back up - over and over.  SO adorable!  Both boys really excelled this year and had a great time.

My fish!

Happiness is swimming lessons :)

Twice a week, in the evenings of all four weeks of swimming, BOTH boys played baseball.  FINALLY Vinnie got to participate, not just watch from the side lines!  Hooray!  Unfortunately, he's not so hot at following directions.  Oh, well, it was a fun introductory experience.

They were in 2 different divisions, same uniform

The last two weeks of baseball/swimming and the week after, Gio took an optional Spanish summer school program to help him brush up on his skills.  Even before that, I had him working in Spanish and math workbooks to keep caught up.  He seemed to enjoy getting ahead and didn't complain too much.

Gio had plenty of time to play with the neighborhood boys and even earned an allowance, for the first time, doing regular chores.  He had different assigned chores Monday through Friday and, yes, he pays tithing.  My policy was this:  do every chore, every day and earn $5 on Friday.  If he skipped even one day he earned nothing.  Hopefully, I am teaching my children to do a complete job and give it their all!

First tithing given!

There was lots of progress made this summer.  As mentioned above, Gio gained confidence in his swimming abilities.  Additionally, he finally believed me that he didn't need training wheels anymore.  Hooray!  His bike of choice is currently this beauty:

He's had it a while and it's been sitting in the garage so long it had flat tires.  So, we took it around the corner to the auto mechanic's and asked our good friend, Carlos, if he could pump it up.  He put it on the risers and lifted it a couple inches, filled the tires and gave it the whole treatment.  Gio was beaming!

It was a busy and rewarding summer :)

What Can I Say??

Vinnie started Primary
(This was his 1st day,
reverence is still not his thing)

We've been busy!

Here's a little of what we've been up to:

We visited the dinosaurs in Cabazon

Gio has lost 6 teeth so far

One last ride on Lucky

One last ride on Athena
-Horsey Grandma generously donated both Lucky
& Athena to stables that benefit special needs children

Vinnie's love for building Frosty from anything
continues to grow tall, tall, tall

The Easter Bunny visited

Gio turned 7

Gio switched baseball leagues 
& became a Yankee

Wendy & I went to Palm Springs

We went to Legoland

.......and much, much more.......

All before the school year ended!

First Grade These Days

As Gio & I walked into the book fair after school today, Gio told a kid, "I told teacher on you!"  The guilty kid looked up at me, then at Gio & back at me before blurting out: "I told him he's dumb but I don't know if he's dumb and, and-did you get my birthday party invitation???"