Monday, December 5, 2011

The End is in Sight!

Well, I officially have two classes this week and I will be finished with my first semester of college! I'm definitely excited to be finished, and I'm ready to get started on some fun stuff that I haven't been able to do since school started. :) You know, like reading a non-school book, getting my crocheting back out, and decorating for Christmas with the girls. Yep, I have quite a few things I want to get done with the free time I will have coming up this week, and it all starts Wednesday when I turn in my Final Argument Research Essay! I'll still have my last history class on Thursday, but I get to just enjoy that one and the history class tomorrow free of any assignments or exams. I won't go into all the details of the phenomenon of how I escaped finals for my history class, but I will say that working hard to do the best you can on assignments and exams will often times pay off very well with a professor who wants to show you they appreciate the hard work you've done! So, with two classes left I have an automatic "A" in the class, along with two other students, without having to do the final evaluation or test. :) I can't say how happy I am about that, and it was so worth all of the work I put into each assignment! Now I just hope my argument essay goes off well and I'll be done with English Comp. as well.

As for next semester....well, I'm going to be limiting it to two, maybe three, classes to make it easier on myself and be able to spend more time doing the things that need to be done around the house. This semester was a really good experience and opportunity for me, and even though it was a lot of hard work it was fun to have to use my brain a little more than I do every day with the girls. :) I think I've also learned to use the time that I have more wisely than I've done before; not that it won't be fun to relax a little bit after this week....like raiding the college library collection (that I've only been able to look at longingly) and getting some fun reading material!

I think my next post should be on the girls...who have play-dough all over the kitchen floor, in the tiniest of pieces....how delightful[sarcasm]. Speaking of that though, I should make sure that gets cleaned up before I have pieces of play-dough ground into the carpet....well, it's probably too late, but I can try. :)

Monday, November 21, 2011

So....

I'm going crazy without a camera! I feel like I can't post anything because I don't have pictures to post. It shouldn't be that way, but I love posting pictures, and it's easy to do a short post if I have some pictures to go along with it. Oh well, I'll have to see if Jacob thinks we can get one before Christmas...I need to be able to take pictures at Christmas time for sure!

Oh, and I know you all are in shock that I've actually written twice in one month, but try to keep from falling out of your chair! :)

I was thinking this week would be easy, considering that it's Thanksgiving week, but I've chosen to make it my "get ahead week," so that I can have an easier time for the last two weeks of school. We'll see if that actually happens because, although I get a whole week off from history classes, I have a full week of required English Comp. stuff to do, which includes writing out an outline for my argument research essay. I've never written an outline before and from previous experiences from writing essays, I do better when I just sit down and write instead of trying to write an outline on something that I haven't written yet! I wrote out at least a start to my outline last night, but it probably needs a lot more work, but the goal is to have it hopefully finished by Thanksgiving! :)

Enough about school though, that can get boring! I will say though, that having the requirements of homework and classes have made me feel like I'm being more profitable with my time, and even when I'm not doing homework I feel more geared to doing things that need to be done rather than just wasting my time. Of course, I'm still looking forward to the end of the semester and being able to do whatever I want without worry about homework, but I'm sure I will fill up the time quickly with all the things I want to do! :)

I probably won't have time to get back on and post before Thanksgiving, so I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and gets to spend plenty of time with family!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Well, I'm Still Here, But....

I am officially failing the upkeep of my blog. There's been times where I could have written, but I chose to do something else with my time instead...don't hate me! :) We are all doing well around here, although, Jacob and Bethany did have a sick period about a week ago. Abigail and I somehow managed to stay well though, which was a relief since I wasn't sure I could handle taking care of multiple sick people, being sick myself and keeping up with schoolwork! The end of the semester is in sight though! Woohoo! :) I'm looking forward to the break and being done with English Comp. especially. Don't get me wrong, I'm actually enjoying it a lot, but it requires a huge amount of work every week so I definitely won't miss it! I hope I can get an "A" in the class though...it would be nice to have A's in every class for this semester!

This is probably going to have to be all for now. People should be arriving soon for a bonfire and I need to get the rest of my school books put out of sight for awhile! :)

Saturday, August 27, 2011

First Week Of School....

Well, my first week of classes are over and I have one more week before my online classes start. I think those classes will really add on the work load, but I think I'll manage fine. I'm going to be doing a lot of writing this semester and I have a feeling I'm a little rusty, but hopefully whatever writing skills I had (if I had any!) come back quickly. I've had a lot of good ideas come into my head as I've been writing up my outline for my first paper (more of a question and answer essay) so hopefully they keep coming and I can do a good job. Jacob was laughing and me last night because I was on the floor in the middle of the living room in weird positions writing away! I tried explaining that sitting in one position gets old so I move around a lot.....and sometimes writing on the floor with my legs under me and my butt in the air is what works comfort wise! I mean really you gotta do what works for you and what's comfortable! He just continued to laugh at me and said it must have something to do with having been home-schooled and having the ability to move around compared to sitting in a classroom at a desk all day. No worries though, I do remain seated in class! It's just during study time that I get comfortable, so I guess I will be a constant source of amusement to him during our study times! :) Hmmm, I wonder if it'll be harder to do my computer work since I'll be limited to what I can do since I'll be having to sit at the computer the whole time....that will kind of stink, actually.
Ok, enough embarrassing myself, but hopefully you all had a good laugh....or at least those of you who know me! The rest of you are, I'm sure, just wondering what kind of weird home-schooled kid I am....well, maybe I should consider myself an adult now since I'm over the age of 21 and the mother of two children. :)

Anyway, school is going great and it's been fun to start getting back into the whole school and studying mind frame.
Abigail and Bethany now want to "go to college like Daddy and Mommy!" They've also been really good with me having to go to class a few times a week, so that's been nice for me not to have to worry about them.

Friday, August 19, 2011

School!

These are my school books for this semester...don't they look fun? :) I'm really excited about them and the classes, of course! :)

So, to catch everyone up on the latest events......

I am now a full-time student at the college near here! It all started when Jacob signed up for classes and suggested that I should see if I could get any grant money and take a baking class or something fun. So, he filled out the FAFSA and I got the full amount that they offer with the Pell Grant! So, needless to say I was very excited and signed up for the baking class.....and for anyone that doesn't know, I can bake I just thought it would be fun to learn some new things that hopefully the class will offer. :) Then as time went by and I got to thinking, it seemed a shame to have all that money that I wouldn't use go to waste, so I went back in and talked to an adviser again and got signed up for an English Composition and Microcomputer Software Application class online since both of those classes are a requirement for any degree. I also signed up for a Water Recreation class because it was the 1 credit hour class that I needed to be a 3/4 time student....a plus with that one is that I can bring the girls anytime during the week that I want....so, we'll be getting to swim most of the winter! I don't think the girls will mind. :)
I thought I would leave it at that, but no, I then decided to sign up for the U.S History class that is also a requirement. :) Also, since I scored high enough on the reading and writing test I was able to sign up for their honors class, which the adviser said I would learn a lot and have fun with....so we'll see! That class made me a full-time student, so here I am....I'm going back to school and I'm super excited about it! I think getting the books has been my favorite part so far....and I've already started my history books just for fun...of course, it won't hurt any either. :)

So, that has been the latest with me and the continuing of my education. Oh, I have decided to refresh whatever math knowledge I had because, after seeing the score on my math test, I realized that I'm not that dumb in math and I'd like to be able to take it again and prove that to myself. :) So, Algebra....here I come!

I will definitely be busy this fall, but I'll try to continue my blogging and update you all on my progress. :)

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Summer Happenings

Well, I'm sitting here all ready to go out for my run so I don't know how much I'll get done, but I figured I'd at least get started and then finish up later. I'm needing to get back into serious running if I want to do a 1/2 marathon in November with my Mom and sister, but with the recent heat wave I wasn't getting any running in....having two kids and trying to get up really early doesn't work that well. I think the weather is suppose to be cooler from now on so it should be a lot easier to get out there and start putting on the miles! As for the girls, they continue to keep me busy! Bethany is now potty trained, so hurray for no more diapers! :) It was actually surprising how quickly she picked it up...she pretty much had it all figured out the first morning and had less trouble than Abigail. Of course, I thought I was going to go crazy that first morning since we were in the bathroom, literally, every 5-10 seconds! But it's much better now and it is a relief to be done with diapers...those things are expensive! We do have trouble (since we only have one bathroom)because both the girls will decide they need to go at the same time and will be fighting over who can get to the toilet the fastest or who can peel out of their clothes first.....one of the problems with only having one bathroom.We've been spending a lot of time in the pool this summer, especially since most of the time it's been hot enough to where if we go outside it has to be to get in the pool. The girls haven't minded at all and it's been nice for me to get to lay out in the sun some....first time I've gotten much of a tan since before both of the girls were born... so, woohoo! :) Sadly, I didn't get many pictures, partly because the camera was broken, but also cause I kept forgetting.....pretty bad, I know.I love how they like to hold hands and put their arms around each other when I tell them I want a picture....it's sweet. I took some picture on my phone, one day, of them hugging each other because it was hilarious what they were doing! They would both walk in a different direction and then turn around and walk back towards each other and when they met they would hug each other while Abigail would say "I've missed you, sister!" It was making me laugh, especially when they continued to do it multiple times without seeming to mind that it had been a whole 10 seconds since the last time they had hugged and exclaimed over missing each other! Kids are definitely entertaining and you never know what their little heads are going to come up with. :)

Well, I don't really have time at the moment to go into all the details of the other things that have been going on this summer, but Jacob is back to work doing construction with his Dad after a few months of being a Correction Officer at a prison near here. That was definitely an experience, but not something any of us were happy with and it just wasn't providing enough for the hours he spent working, so it was a big relief to have him go back to work with his Dad...and thankfully construction work has been plentiful even during the heat wave so that has been a huge relief. I'm very happy to have Jacob back on a more normal routine, since while he was working at the prisons, he was working an evening/night shift and then sleeping most of the day until he had to leave again, so it was limited time of actually getting to spend time with him. The girls were effected by it too and their attitudes have changed dramatically since he's gotten into a more normal routine and has been able to spend more time with them....it's interesting changing a routine messes everyone up! So, we are all a lot happier now and we'll just pray that there continues to be construction work. :)

Jacob and I are both enrolled as full time students at the college near here, but details on that will have to wait until the next time I post, which might be awhile since my sister Hillary is coming to spend a couple days with us! :)

So, until next time!



Thursday, August 11, 2011

What Can I Say....

I feel horrible about being such a boring, non-updating blogger, but at lot has been going on and things probably aren't going to slow down much around here for awhile! I don't have time to go into details now, but I will try to blog again in the next day or so and do some major updating along with pictures. Bethany, unfortunately, pretty much broke our camera, so picture taking has been hard to do for the past month...which has made me very sad. :( I'm sure I will recover over time....or whenever we get a new one, which I'm not sure when that will be. Bethany has proven she likes to take things apart and has broken quite a few things lately...I hope she grows out of this phase soon!
Well, this will have to be all for now...it's bedtime for the girls and probably some math time for me! :)

Thursday, June 9, 2011

The Second Endeavor at Hospital Hill

Yes, we were all crazy enough to do it again this year, but it was still a fun little get away! :) I have to attempt I didn't do as well as last year and last year definitely wasn't the greatest for me, so I wasn't completely happy about that, but it was still a fun and learning experience. Last year I didn't focus on hill training at all and this year I focused on it so much that I didn't get the benefits of training without the hills. So, I was stronger on the hills, but with the combination of heat I slowed down and something was up with the pace group I was making sure I stayed ahead of, because although I was ahead of them my time was slower than them....kind of weird, but oh well. I finished and I felt much better than last year!I think the only thing that was really bothering me at the end of the race was a blister that had started to develop around 3.5 miles and both of my toenails on my big toes...one of which was already black from training on a lot of hills and my shoes needing to be a little bigger(ugh, now I know). Of course, I don't know if it's just this race (lol, or just me in general), but every time I feel like I'm about to die at the end! I was thinking though, it's kind of like when you have a baby (naturally) and you feel like you're going to die, but as soon as you have the baby you kind of forget how bad it was and before too long you're ready to do it again! Of course, the pain is no where near the same, but maybe some of you get the idea! Lol, so all that being said just to say that even though it's a tough race, you still kind of want to do it again....obviously since we did it again this year! :) We are thinking of trying a flat race this fall since no one else really got better times either and we kind of want to try something that isn't nearly as hilly! I definitely want to, I've only been running a little over a year now and not consistently (unless I was training) and I've only done two races, both of them being Hospital Hill, so I would love to see how I do on a flat course!We actually don't look too bad for having having been running 2+ hours in hot humid weather :) Although, I don't think it was quite as hot this year, it was definitely more sunny and still way too hot! I didn't get any pictures on my camera (forgetful me) so I had to steal these pictures from Hillary. :)All cleaned up and in our new "I conquered the hill" t-shirts! I wonder how many people that look at this picture would realize that the "young looking" girl on the right is our mom. :) Hopefully it runs in the genes, cause I would love to look like that when I'm her age! Of course, the lady at the desk during check out, couldn't believe that I was as old as I am or that I had two kids....hmmm, I'm not so sure that's a compliment.
We had a fun time...although for me I missed Jacob being there; he tried to get off of work, but that didn't work out so he had to stay and work and my awesome sisters Kayla and Adalie were stuck with the two "monsters"! lol :) They said they didn't mind, but looking after these two....
Add Image...isn't easy! I'm thinking next time we do a race I'll see about leaving them with someone here at home so it's easier on everyone. They did do soo well during all the driving and it was a lot of driving in two days for kids, but they were so good the whole way...of course, Bethany had to remind me at random times on the drive home that she didn't get to see me run! I don't think she's going to let me forget either, cause it's been almost a week since the race and she will still randomly say "I didn't see you run, mom",in a very injured voice...it's funny. :) Oh, and Abigail now wants me to teach her how to run fast so she can race with me...it's cute when your kids think you can run so fast and they want to be like you. :) Hmmm, I wish I could run fast! :DAdd Image

Friday, May 13, 2011

The Ornery One...

I know I've been neglecting the blogging world, but hey, sometimes that happens when you have two kids. :) Even now, Bethany is digging in the fridge, because obviously, having just eaten lunch and now eating crackers isn't enough for her. *Sighing*...she is soo much of a handful and she literally never stops needing something or getting into stuff.Doesn't she look so cute and innocent...haha...what I didn't know at the time was that she was diaperless! Yep, here I was thinking "she's being so cute and I'm getting some cute pictures"...till she decides to pull up her dress to reveal that for some unknown amount of time she has been going around without her diaper. And although she tells me quite adamantly that she will not pee on the floor, it has happened before! It did make me laugh as I ran inside to retrieve the diaper though, so it wasn't too bad. :) I guess this would be a more fitting picture of her orneriness.... :) Yep, she's definitely ornery, but cute at the same time I have to admit. :)They both love to dress up, but Abigail wasn't in the mood for pictures that day so I will have to post pictures of her playing dress up another time.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Well...

I haven't forgotten about my blog, but there seems to be a lot keeping me busy lately. Nothing real exciting, just the everyday happenings of a mom with two kids....one (Abigail) in the middle of being potty trained. Which I must say is going really well! We started about two weeks ago and after the first couple days I would forget to constantly be asking if she needed to use the potty and she would come to me and say she needed to. So I'm pretty happy with her progress, of course, we've had our share of accidents....one being that twice when Jacob or I raised our voices and it startled her she would have an accident and end up crying about it. So, I've tried to be careful about suddenly saying something when she's around. :) She's done really good when we've been out to church and stuff; I do put her in a pull-up on those occasions, but she's so thrilled about using all the different potties that she loves telling me she has to go! This past Sunday as we were pulling up to church I reminded her to let me know if she needed to go potty, to which she replied in surprise "do they have a potty?!" She usually has to remark about something in the bathroom too...I have no clue why, but lately it's been about the little trash cans so every time we go into a new bathroom she has to look for the trash cans and then talk about them! The part I really don't like....is the touching...why do they have to touch EVERYTHING! The wall, the door, the toilet...literally everything! I keep telling her that they are dirty and have germs.....*sigh* it doesn't seem to effect her. I guess I'm just used to going into a public bathroom and trying not to touch anything!
Bethany keeps telling me she wants to use the potty, but I have a feeling things would be a lot more difficult if I were to start training her right now, so we will give it a little more time. She does tell me constantly she has to go potty and I'll tell her she's still to young to potty train so she just needs to go in her diaper, to which she usually tells me "no!" I guess that's good that she doesn't want to go in her diaper, but I really think she needs more time before we get serious. I do need to start watching what I say to her, because lately every time I pick her up she pushes my cheeks together and tell me "chubby cheeks, chubby cheeks!" She's our little clown/entertainer and if Jacob and I are talking and start laughing she immediately starts laughing and then starts telling us some story! It's pretty cute when she'll randomly start dancing all crazy cause she wants us to laugh at her....it's works every time too!

Well, time has gotten away from me and the girls are up, so my day begins....hopefully soon I'll be able to post some pictures!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

We're Sick....Again

I don't know that I've even been sick this much in such a short amount of time...we're literally gone from being sick for almost 3 weeks to feeling like we were finally getting better, just to get sick again. They've both been really nasty colds and I'm beginning to think my nose has been permanently damaged(and therefore my taste buds too) because even when I had been starting to feel better I still wasn't able to smell anything very well. And those of you who know me, know that I have an extremely sensitive nose, so it's rather trying to not be able to smell very well and therefore I can't taste anything very well. I told Jacob today that I haven't been able to smell the girl's poopy diapers for over 3 weeks...not that I actually miss that smell (because I most certainly do not miss the smell of Bethany's diapers), but it makes it difficult to know when they are poopy unless I actually go around checking their diapers. Which conveniently, Abigail has started announcing (very loudly) when Bethany is poopy (I'm beginning to think she might have a nose like I do...or I rather, like I used to) and Bethany has gotten very used to backing up to me backwards so that I can check her diaper. But besides me not being able to smell most things, we've also been dealing with fevers, coughing and of course, the yucky snotty noses...I won't go into details there because, well...those of you that have kids know what I'm talking about! Kids and snotty noses = grossness, especially if they don't like to keep their hair things in!
We were able to get out to church last Sunday, which was extremely nice, but it's not looking hopeful for tomorrow...I just hope it's not another 3 weeks before we get to go again. I have been keeping stocked up on library books, which when my head isn't killing me, I've been reading so that's helped a lot. I've really not been happy with my running schedule though, especially this last week where we were having 70 degree weather and I was only able to get out one day and run because the rest of the time my head was...yep...killing me and I was coughing and dealing with nose issues. I had been looking forward to getting to start my training program on the week is was going to be so nice outside, but instead I'm going to be slightly behind where I wanted to be...oh well...I just hope I'll be able to run on Monday!

Oh, and I do have more pictures to post, but they will have to wait until next time. :)

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day



Bethany will literally do anything and everything Abigail does...including trying to look like her! I love how they held hands the whole time and I absolutely love the dresses my grandma made for them...they are so cute.
The whole time I was trying to take pictures of them, they would randomly start hugging each other and end up laughing and rolling around on the couch....it was funny and cute!I know I got a little carried away with all the pictures, but it's hard to choose just a few to post and I thought it was fitting for Valentine's Day.

Around Valentine's Day, I always remember the first time Jacob asked me to be his Valentine's
5 years ago while he was down in Texas at Tech School and I was here in Missouri working at the Capitol. We were emailing each other a lot, since that was the only way we really got to communicate...then 3 months later he asked me to marry him when he got to come home for a 3 week break after Tech school. We hadn't even seen each other since right after Christmas, so we definitely had a long distance relationship, but it was all worth it when we finally got to be together! I love my Jacob and he's still my very best friend and Valentine!


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Thursday, February 10, 2011

Random

It's time for some randomness from me.....so get ready for.....random pictures and any random things that pop into my head! Sounds wonderful doesn't it! Some days we all just need a little bit of randomness! :)And of course, life wouldn't be right without the occasional "scary spiders" to be an amusement to some of us!The girls literally would not touch or go close to these things for about a week...they would also jump and start crying if anyone put one anywhere near them! Then Bethany started to get brave so she started coming up to them and grabbing one and throwing it as fast as she could, then running away. And she would repeat that multiple times until both her and Abigail decided they were fun to play with and they now carry them around and fight over who gets which one! :)

Having smoke detectors in the kitchen are so annoying. Not that I ever burn food or anything, but you know, the occasional time something spills into the bottom of the oven and then proceeds to smoke profusely no matter what you do, while you frantically wave towels or cookie sheets at the annoying thing till it stops beeping. Talk about annoying. I guess that's part of living in a small enough area that pretty much anywhere in here is close to the kitchen. Another thing, is our computer happens to be right underneath the smoke detector, so I'm really hoping it doesn't go off again....I'm sure you can guess why. Oh, and I'm making oreo cheesecake and no, it's not burning, it's just leaking out of the bottom and then burning....so now the oven will need to be cleaned once again. I need to start writing on certain recipes to put a pan on the bottom rack to prevent this from happening...you'd think I'd remember by now though! :)
They discovered (awhile back now) how to get in the pack n' play, which provided a lot of amusement for them...not so much for me, seeing how they would literally fall on their heads into the bed, scaring me every time! What is it with kids and finding things that they think are fun, that scare their parents?! Bethany, especially, seems to constantly find things to do that involve "trying to kill herself" activities...or so it would seem.

Yesterday, Jacob and I escaped to the wonderful land of Wal-Mart, leaving the girls with his parents, and enjoyed just getting to walk around holding hands. :) We did have some things to get, but we definitely took our time and just enjoyed the time together...even if it was in Wal-Mart, which is pretty much the only place to shop in this small town. I don't think I've ever been in a Wal-Mart that got so into Valentine's Day....it was actually kind of nice with all the pink and red everywhere!

Well, now I'm going to go and cuddle with my hubby and watch a movie! :)

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Fun With Face Paint!


At first Jacob was going to paint Bethany as a cat, but then decided that a clown would be more appropriate! I would have to agree.....and she enjoyed it a lot as you can see.... :)
She got quite the kick out of looking at herself in the mirror (please excuse the clutter) and if you look closely you can see she's licking away....I have a hard time imagining it being very tasty though!
Abigail is all ready to become a cat.....while Bethany is....well, being Bethany! :)
The cute cat!

As you can see these pictures were taken before Christmas, so I'm trying to do some catch-up. It looks like we're going to be having some wintery weather for the next couple of days, so hopefully that means more time on here. We'll see though, we're also working though a cold and the girls have been rather crabby today....well, hopefully it was due to them not feeling good! :)