Thanksgiving

We did our usual this Thanksgiving.
We've given up the driving all over town and just spend the day at my mom's the entire time instead of leaving and going to Josh's two other aunts' houses. We love getting to see them on holidays too but it just ends up being way too stressful.
My Uncle Mike and his girlfriend Marcy were in town for Thanksgiving. It was really great to see him. He has made some big changes in his life this year and it was really amazing to see what a difference there was in him. My mom really had a great time with them while they were visiting. 
The boys were stoked to watch the Thanksgiving parade with me this year. I've always loved watching the parades so it was nice to be able to share that with them this year.
Josh brought the mashed potatoes again this year....he really does make the best. We brought a potato bar this time with three different flavors. He made horseradish mashed, country style and a garlic and mushroom. They were a big hit.
All of the food was amazing as usual. My mom made some of my grandma's appetizers that she always would make during family functions. It was delicious!!
The boys had a great day playing and running around. Floyd found this remote control dump truck that they played with non stop all day long. 

I was passed the torch this year and informed that this will be our last year for Thanksgiving at my mom's. Next year will be at our house since we have more room to be able to put a table that we can all sit at together.
I have to get on the hunt now for Thanksgiving decorations for next year!

Halloween 2011

So, for Halloween we go to my mom's house. I skipped class that night, I miss enough of the boys' lives I just couldn't justify missing getting to see them trick or treat too.
I got to mom's early since I went straight to her house from work since the bridge situation between Indiana and Kentucky has been hell lately.
I got to relax and get ready before everyone started showing up and the boys came over with Josh and Nana.

We all had a really great time trick or treating this year. The boys really got into it. They were running from house to house. It was so different than the last few years where we made it to a few houses and it was really slow going. My sister's sister-in-law came over with her husband and her son Max. Max was able to show the boys how to really do it.
We had a huge troop of adults with the kids this year. We had of course myself, Joshua, my mom, her best friend and her sisters, my sisters, my brother-in-law, my aunt, cousin and her husband, my mom's neighbors and their son, and a few more I don't remember. My step dad always stays behind and gives out candy.

My mom really goes all out every year. Her decorations have turned into an obsession I think. She is always on the look out for new awesome Halloween decorations. She has something like over 10+ large bins of Halloween decorations in her basement and it takes her a few days to get everything up.
The house always looks amazing.



Mom & Nana


Mom & Ash


Mom feeding the boys chili before we head out



Taylor




Wario, Mario & Luigi




Peach &Wario





















Mom & Cousin Bri


Ash & I



Callum


the boys had us draw on their mustaches once they were done wearing their stick on ones.


Taylor

Summer!

We thought long and hard about buying an "easy set" pool for us to use this summer. I sat on the idea for a few weeks and we finally decided to go for it. It was NOT easy by all means and was a major pain in the ass to set up, but it's been worth all the pain a million times over. This weekend alone we've been in every single day since Friday when I hit the door from work. I figure this is where I'll be most of the summer.
The boys have been having a blast in it. It's finally warmed up to almost 90 degrees thankfully. Last weekend wasn't quite as nice when it was around 80 degrees. I still managed to get a good amount of sun last week and am happily adding to my tan this weekend.
Mammaw bought them some life jackets, kick boards and pool toys to play with. The boys can reach the bottom and walk while I float around them. Today they added more squirting toys and some creepy goggles that look like lizard eyes. Taylor calls them his dragon eyes. The boys still aren't too keen on letting me try to teach them how to float on their backs, but they'll float on their bellies with the kick boards and kick their feet...so they're getting the general idea of swimming for now. Ideally I'd really like them to get swim lessons.
The pool has been a great source of entertainment and keeping us out of the house and enjoying our backyard for the summer. It makes me feel better about the boys not spending the summer inside watching tv and playing video games constantly.

I'm on a two week break from school! Thank goodness. I definitely needed it. I'm pretty happy to report that I am mostly positive that this will be another 4.0 quarter for me. Next quarter looks brutal so I am thrilled to have this break to come straight home from work, eat warm dinner with my family and enjoy our boys before kindergarten starts up sooner than I'd like to think about.




Callum is figuring out how to float and kick himself around the pool with the little kickboards. He was brave enough to float around on his back with them yesterday.




Taylor zooming around the pool with Aunt Ashley





These water shooters were the best $1 spent at the dollar store, although getting shot in the face with it is not fun.










Firefly catch and release




This is exactly how I want to spend the summer!

Mothers Day

I hope all the moms out there had a great Mother’s Day!

I had a great day.

The sisters and I took my mom and my mother in law out to brunch…well we were going to do brunch. The place we wanted to go didn’t take reservations and when we got there it was an hour to two-hour wait. We decided to drive around and find another place to go.

We ended up going to a place called Mojito Tapas; I thought their food was amazing. I think we were all pretty happy with our change at the last minute.

After lunch we went back to my mom’s house and Josh brought the boys over. We spent the day lounging around in the sun and “swimming” with the boys in my mom and Floyd’s hot tub. Taylor had a blast! Callum isn’t much for swimming. He’s still pretty apprehensive. Taylor knows he can stand up in the middle and walk around so he was good to go. I spent a couple hours in there with him pulling him around and him jumping from the sides to me.

I got some reading in on the new Sookie book and finished it up that night.

It was a perfect day. Definitely what I needed for the weekend.

School has been going pretty good. I wasn’t too happy with my last test score, but that was definitely all my fault. I didn’t put in the time I should have with that test. I thought I was good, but apparently I was wrong!

I’m definitely buckling down more this week and making sure to do my regular studying routine for our test next week.

We’ve started our clinicals this quarter. I really like it. It’s a little nerve wracking jumping right in there, but I like having that hands on training. It helps to feel a little more comfortable with the things that we’re learning in the clinical lab on mannequins.

Today is the ceremony for the President’s Award for 4.0 grades from last quarter. I actually get one! I’m not going to the ceremony since I have to work during the day, but I was so excited to receive one. I worked my butt off for it.


My momma & me around 1981